San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans HEATHEN will release their fourth studio album, "Empire Of the Blind", on September 18 via Nuclear Blast Records. The lyric video for the first single, "The Blight", can be seen below. "Empire Of the Blind" was for the most part engineered, produced, mixed, and mastered by Christopher "Zeuss" ...
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EXODUS bassist Jack Gibson spoke to the "Dabghanistan" podcast about the band's plans to enter the studio to record its long-awaited new album. The San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' next disc will be the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was their first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of ...
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Former MACHINE HEAD guitarist Phil Demmel has teamed up with EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza, former SLAYER and current SUICIDAL TENDENCIES drummer Dave Lombardo and RANCID bassist Matt Hoffman to record a "quarantine" cover version of the DEAD KENNEDYS classic "Police Truck" as part of Phil's new series "Collab-A-Jam". Phil uploaded the video to his ...
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EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has defended BABYMETAL against the "gimmick" tag given to them by critics. Established in 2010, BABYMETAL is the offshoot of the Japanese pop idol group SAKURA GAKUIN that performs a distinctly Japanese mix of schoolgirl J-pop and heavy metal. BABYMETAL's members — Suzuka Nakamoto (a.k.a. Su-Metal, who handles vocals and dancing) ...
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In a recent video question-and-answer session with fans, EXODUS's Steve "Zetro" Souza was asked how he stays motivated after all these years. The 56-year-old singer responded (see video below): "I'm a ball of energy. I never say die. I'm not ready to die or check out yet. I have so many things that I want ...
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EXODUS's Gary Holt and ANTHRAX's Scott Ian are among the musicians who have slammed conceret giant Live Nation for reportedly planning to make significant changes to its policies regarding concert tours and festivals when touring is expected to resume in 2021. According to a Live Nation memo circulated to talent agencies and first
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EXODUS will enter the studio in September to begin recording its long-awaited new album. The San Francisco Bay Area thrashers' next disc will be the follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out", which was their first release since the departure of the group's lead singer of nine years, Rob Dukes, and the return of Steve ...
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A trailer for "Empire Of The Blind", the forthcoming album from San Francisco Bay Area metallers HEATHEN, is available below. The disc is due later in the year via Nuclear Blast Records. "Empire Of The Blind" is the follow-up to "The Evolution Of Chaos", which was released as a 10th-anniversary remastered reissue on January 31 ...
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In a recent video question-and-answer session with fans, EXODUS bassist Jack Gibson was asked to name the "most annoying thing about being in a band." He responded (see video below): "You're dealing with four other people and their opinions and their emotions and everything, and it's kind of like having four girlfriends, because you're all ...
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Guitarist Phil Demmel of reunited San Francisco Bay Area thrashers VIO-LENCE spoke to CBS SF about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's new EP, tentatively due in 2021 via Metal Blade Records. Regarding how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the band's touring activities, he said: "We were supposed ...
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Gary Holt says that SLAYER's November 30, 2019 performance at the Forum in Los Angeles was indeed the band's last-ever concert. "To my knowledge, to what I know, it [was the final show]," the guitarist told Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast (hear audio below). "People say, 'Oh, maybe they'll come back in a ...
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Vocalist Sean Killian of reunited San Francisco Bay Area thrashers VIO-LENCE spoke to Ted Aguilar of DEATH ANGEL about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's new EP, tentatively due in 2021 via Metal Blade Records. Asked what the new material sounds like, Sean said (see video below): "It is a cross between ...
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EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has been writing "crushing" new riffs for the band's forthcoming follow-up to 2014's "Blood In Blood Out" album. On Friday (May 29), Holt took to his Instagram to share a photo of a couple of his guitars, and he included the following caption: "New @exodusbandofficial riffs are flying out today, and ...
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DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll has returned behind the kit for the first time since spending almost two weeks on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at a Northern California hospital. The musician — who tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus — first got sick when he and the ...
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Late 2020 will prove to be a busy time for first-wave thrash metallists TRAUMA, as they will release their fourth full-length album and tour throughout Europe on a bill also featuring ROSS THE BOSS and BURNING WITCHES. Comprised of Donny Hillier (lead vocals), Kris Gustofson (drums), Greg Christian (bass, ex-TESTAMENT), Joe Fraulob (guitar) and Steve ...
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OVERKILL/SHADOWS FALL drummer Jason Bittner has teamed up with EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza, EXODUS bassist Jack Gibson and ANGOR/ex-SHADOWS FALL guitarist Felipe Roa to record a quarantine cover version of MEGADETH's "Wake Up Dead", with each musician separated in his own home. Bittner uploaded a video of the performance to his YouTube channel, writing ...
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DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll says that too much has been made of the fact that he had dreams of visiting the afterlife before waking up from a 12-day coma after testing positive for coronavirus. The 47-year-old musician was hospitalized at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco after catching the virus on a ...
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Vocalist Sean Killian of reunited San Francisco Bay Area thrashers VIO-LENCE spoke to the "Heavy Metal Mayhem" radio show about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band's new EP, tentatively due in 2021 via Metal Blade Records. Asked what the new material sounds like, Sean said (hear audio below): "If you listen to ...
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TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson spoke to Metal Master Kingdom 's Alex Stojanovic about how he is dealing with the coronavirus crisis and what the touring circuit might look like post-pandemic. Asked what the TESTAMENT guys are doing to generate revenue while they are unable to tour, Eric said: "Before this happened, ...
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DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll says that he "strongly" believes "everyone's collective prayers and positive energy" played a big part in his recovery when he recently woke up from a 12-day coma after testing positive for coronavirus. The 47-year-old musician was hospitalized at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco after catching the virus ...
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Guitarist Phil Demmel of reunited San Francisco Bay Area thrashers VIO-LENCE spoke to EXODUS frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza's YouTube channel, Zetro's Toxic Vault, about the progress of the songwriting sessions for VIO-LENCE's new EP, tentatively due in 2021 via Metal Blade Records. He said (see video below): "We've got two songs done. We've got ideas ...
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Danish/American rockers VOLBEAT have released a new animated video for "Leviathan", the latest single off the band's seventh studio album, "Rewind, Replay, Rebound". "Leviathan" was directed and animated by Steven Mertens and is based on a painting by Karsten Sand that originally appeared in the album artwork for "Rewind, Replay, Rebound". In "Leviathan", frontman Michael ...
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It is probably due to British thrash metal's failure to ever produce a world-beating band that SHRAPNEL have yet to truly register on the global radar. In terms of quality, you may find it hard to fault anything the band have released to date: both 2014's "The Virus Conspires" and 2017's "Raised On Decay" were ...
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TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy doesn't know exactly how he contracted COVID-19 but he believes he might have gotten it from DEATH ANGEL drummer Will Carroll, who almost died from the disease after the two bands toured Europe together. Carroll, who spent almost two weeks on a ventilator in an intensive care unit at a Northern ...
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In a brand new interview with MACHINE HEAD frontman Robb Flynn's "No Fuckin' Regrets With Robb Flynn" podcast, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt talked about his COVID-19 diagnosis and what the touring circuit might look like post-pandemic. The San Francisco Bay Area-based axeman, whose wife was also tested, got his results in late March, a couple ...
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Maryland rockers CLUTCH have released a new studio recording of the track "Smoke Banshee". The single is the latest in a series of new studio recordings that comprise the "Weathermaker Vault Series". The original version of "Smoke Banshee" appeared on CLUTCH's 2001 album "Pure Rock Fury". "As 2019 drew to a close, we started digging ...
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EXODUS singer Steve "Zetro" Souza has offered an update on his bandmate Gary Holt, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, after returning from a European tour with TESTAMENT and DEATH ANGEL. Speaking in a new video on his YouTube channel, Zetro's Toxic Vault, Zetro said (see below): "I ...
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The first of three episodes of the revamped 2020 "Menza Mega Video Vault" featuring the late MEGADETH drummer behind the camera filming some very rare unreleased intimate and funny backstage moments can be seen below. The 10-minute episode is hosted by EXODUS frontman Steve "Zetro" Souza. "Behind The Scenes With Nick Menza" consists of clips ...
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As most of the globe adjusts to the new reality of life under self-quarantine in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, a number of artists have taken the show online to share some musical joy during these trying times. One of the latest acts to look for a new, temporary way to bond with fans ...
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DEATH ANGEL members Will Carroll (drums), Damien Sisson (bass) and Rob Cavestany (guitar) spoke to San Francisco's KPIX 5 about how they contracted COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, during their recent European tour. The five-week "The Bay Strikes Back 2020" run saw DEATH ANGEL sharing the stages with ...
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