ALICE IN CHAINS To Release ‘Rainier Fog’ Album In August

ALICE IN CHAINS will release its new album, “Rainier Fog”, on August 24. The latest single from the effort, “So Far Under” can be streamed below.

About “So Far Under”, ALICE IN CHAINS vocalist/guitarist William DuVall says: “It’s about feeling completely up against it — outnumbered, surrounded, facing seemingly unbeatable odds and being really pissed off about it. It was inspired by personal circumstances, as well as events in the wider world. But it’s not as resigned to defeat as it may seem. The lyric is a cold, hard assessment of a difficult situation but the music has a message all its own. There’s still room to flip the script. Every aspect of writing and recording this song will always be remembered with a lot of joy — from recording the basic tracks and the guitar solo at Studio X in Seattle to doing further overdubs at Nick Raskulinecz‘s studio in rural Tennessee. Everyone in the band and our studio team really stepped up and knocked it out of the park on this one. We’re extremely proud of this song and the entire album.”

“Rainier Fog” marks a few firsts for ALICE IN CHAINS: in addition to being their first album in five years, it’s their first album for BMG and their first time recording in their hometown of Seattle in more than 20 years (worth noting that the album title is a tribute to Seattle). They recorded at Studio X, the same facility where they tracked 1995’s self-titled “Alice In Chains” album (back when the studio was known as Bad Animals). The “Rainier Fog” recording process also saw the band spend time at Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles and at the Nashville studio of producer Nick Raskulinecz. “Rainier Fog” is the third straight ALICE IN CHAINS album recorded with Raskulinecz and engineer Paul Figueroa. The album was mixed by Joe Barresi (QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, TOOL).

“Rainier Fog” track listing:

01. The One You Know
02. Rainier Fog
03. Red Giant
04. Fly

05. Drone
06. Deaf Ears Blind Eyes
07. Maybe
08. So Far Under
09. Never Fade
10. All I Am

Guitarist and co-vocalist Jerry Cantrell told Guitar World about the upcoming LP: “It’s not that we were keeping it a secret — we just didn’t want to say a whole lot about it until we had something to say. And we certainly have something to say with this one. It’s a fucking strong record.”

As for the musical direction of the new ALICE IN CHAINS material, Cantrell said: “It’s a record we haven’t done yet, I can tell you that. But it’s also a record that has all the elements of anything you would expect from us. It’s got our fingerprint. And we’re really proud of the material that we wrote and the performances we captured. There’s some really heavy shit, some really ugly stuff, some real beautiful stuff, some weirdo trippy shit… it’s good!”

Cantrell also addressed the fact that it has been five years since the release of ALICE IN CHAINS‘ last album. “It’s a lot of work doing a record,” he said, “and I think it gets harder the older we get. But we just wait until we’re ready and until we have enough material that’s up to the ALICE IN CHAINS standard, and then we do what we do. This is just the racket that we make when we get together.”

“The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” was the band’s second disc with Duvall, who joined in 2006 following the death of Layne Staley.

“The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” sold 62,000 copies in its first week of release. It followed up 2009’s “Black Gives Way To Blue”.

The first two singles from “The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here”, “Hollow” and “Stone”, both hit No. 1 on the rock radio airplay charts, while the album itself debuted on the Billboard album chart at No. 2.

METAL ALLEGIANCE ‘Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty’ Features Members Of OVERKILL, ACCEPT & Others

METAL ALLEGIANCE — with its four core members: David Ellefson (MEGADETH), Alex Skolnick (TESTAMENT), Mike Portnoy (THE WINERY DOGS, ex-DREAM THEATER) and Mark Menghi — began as a celebration of heavy metal, powered by the almost tribal bond shared between the extreme music community’s most revered trailblazers, armed with a list of contributors onstage (and off) that read like a Wikipedia entry on the genre itself.

The band will release its sophomore album, “Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty”, on September 7 via Nuclear Blast Entertainment. The thrash-worshiping disc merges old-school legends with the modern metallers of the scene to produce groove-driven, adrenaline-soaked anthems while tackling the frustrating state of the world.

Guest musicians on “Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty” include Trevor Strnad (THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER), John Bush (ARMORED SAINT), Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth (OVERKILL), Mark Tornillo (ACCEPT), Max Cavalera (SOULFLY), Floor Jansen (NIGHTWISH) and Johan Hegg (AMON). The album also marks the return of Mark Oseguesda (DEATH ANGEL) and Troy Sanders (MASTODON).

The official video for the first single from the disc, “Mother Of Sin”, featuring Ellsworth, can be seen below.

“Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty” was produced by Menghi and Skolnick while Mark Lewis of MRL Studios handled the mixing and mastering. The cover artwork was created by renowned artist Marcelo Vasco (SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, SOULFLY, HATEBREED) and Rafael Tavares.

“Volume II – Power Drunk Majesty” track listing:

01. The Accuser (feat. Trevor Strnad)
02. Bound By Silence (feat. John Bush)
03. Mother Of Sin (feat. Bobby Blitz)
04. Terminal Illusion (feat. Mark Tornillo)

05. King With A Paper Crown (feat. Johan Hegg)
06. Voodoo Of The Godsend (feat. Max Cavalera)
07. Liars & Thieves (feat. Troy Sanders)
08. Impulse Control (feat. Mark Osegueda)
09. Power Drunk Majesty (Part I) (feat. Mark Osegueda)
10. Power Drunk Majesty (Part II) (feat. Floor Jansen)

ACCEPT To Release ‘Symphonic Terror – Live At Wacken 2017’ In November

German/American heavy metal legends ACCEPT will release a live set, “Symphonic Terror – Live At Wacken 2017”, on November 23 via Nuclear Blast. Fans can expect a unique ACCEPT show, shot on August 3, 2017 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival, where the band played the biggest and most extraordinary show of its career in front of 80,000, on top of thousands more fans watching via a live stream.

The two-hour concert was divided into three parts, showing the full creative power of ACCEPT: The first part featured the premiere of new tracks “Die By The Sword” and “Koolaid”, as well as some of the band’s most popular songs, such as “Restless And Wild” and “Pandemic”. The middle part featured guitarist Wolf Hoffmann accompanied by a symphony orchestra, presenting the best tracks from his recent solo album, “Headbangers Symphony”, which includes metal versions of some of the world’s biggest classical compositions (e.g. from Beethoven, Mozart, Vivaldi). And in the last but not least part, fans were able to bang their heads to ACCEPT anthems (also accompanied by the orchestra), such as “Princess Of The Dawn”, “Breaker”, “Fast As A Shark” and “Metal Heart”, as well as to newwe songs like “Stalingrad”, “Shadow Soldiers” and “Teutonic Terror”. The finale was an eight-minute version of ACCEPT‘s classic song “Balls To The Walls”.

“This was a mash-up of intensity and precision,” Wolf Hoffmann says about the fusion of heavy metal and classical music. “The fans are extremely open-minded, but I was nervous ’till the last minute before the show anyway. After all, it’s still a metal festival! But I think that, after many years of ACCEPT combining both worlds, fans have started to really accept this concept.”

After the Wacken performance, Hoffmann told TotalRock‘s Whitney Alyson Ribbins: “It was phenomenal. We didn’t really know what to expect. We did some rehearsals and stuff, but that was the first time we were ever on stage with an orchestra. It was totally different to what we normally do, but it sounded fantastic and it felt great. Everybody was smiling, the orchestra people had a lot of fun, the conductor was in a great mood and everybody was, like, ‘This is fun.’ It all went really, really smooth and it couldn’t have gone better.”

He continued: “A lot of preparation went into it — months of talking about it and organizing everything and writing the scores and writing all the sheet music for everybody, because playing with an orchestra, you can’t just jam.”

Asked whether this was something he would like to do again, Wolf responded: “Yeah, I’d love to. For me, classical music… the sound of an orchestra is something that has always fascinated me. My whole life I have wanted to combine the two elements together. I’ve done it by using classical bits and pieces in my solos over the years, then I made a solo record, then I made a solo record with an orchestra and now finally live on stage with an orchestra like that, fifty people, it was a dream come true.”

What started as a world premiere at Wacken will be continued in early 2019. ACCEPT is planning to tour with an orchestra across Europe in the spring of next year. “I really hope we will be able to fulfill our dream — we are working hard on it!” Hoffmann says. “What I can already say now is that there will be lots of optical and musical surprises that fans of ACCEPT have never experienced before. We want to multiply what we have achieved in Wacken and are happy about every bit of support we get. One thing is for sure: 2019 will be exciting!”

SUNFLOWER DEAD To Release ‘C O M A’ Album

 

SUNFLOWER DEAD TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM C O M A VIA EMP LABEL GROUP 10/19. ANNOUNCE UPDATED LINEUP INCLUDING POWERFLO/EX-FEAR FACTORY BASSIST CHRISTIAN OLDE WOLBERS.

6/19/18

Los Angeles, CA

Los Angeles Hard Rockers SUNFLOWER DEAD have announced they have signed to EMP LABEL GROUP, who will release the band’s upcoming third album C O M A, October 19th.

The album, produced by Dave Fortman (Slipknot, Evanescence) features an updated lineup of the band, including founding members Vocalist (and Accordion player) Michael Del Pizzo, Guitarist Jaboo, and Jamie Teissere (Droid), rounded out by Powerflo/Former Fear Factory bassist Christian Olde Wolbers, and Brian “Brett” Weir, formerly of Starset, on drums.

The follow up to 2015’s It’s Time To Get Weird, which featured the Active Rock Top 40 hit, and title track, “It’s Time To Get Weird”, featuring Jonathan Davis of Korn, C O M A is a stripped down, raw beast of a modern Hard Rock record, to match the band’s recently stripped down image. Starting life, and continuing through 2 records with intricate costumes and heavy, zombie-esque, stage makeup, C O M A sees the band step out from behind the image, and put the focus on the songs.

Says vocalist Del Pizzo, “Though we are extremely proud of what we have accomplished on our own with the more theatrical version of the band, SFD has grown considerably. The entire process of writing and recording this album was fueled by a sense of aggression unlike anything in our previous output. It was clear to everyone involved that this was the moment to strip off the makeup, sign with a label and let the music speak for itself. So we did. And when it came down to it, EMP was definitely the right place.”

He adds, “We have known Thom (Hazaert) forever. He actually helped launch SFD’s first album and got us our first national tour back in 2012. Combine that with having David Ellefson on our side, and this was an easy decision.

Adds guitarist Jaboo, “The music on C O M A is more focused, vicious and emotionally dialed in than any of our previous work. This record is like the rebirth of the band similar to what Christopher Nolan did with the Batman saga. That rebirth is that much stronger with the addition of Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory, Poweflo) on bass and Brian “Brett” Weir (Downplay, Starset) on drums.”

Says EMP’s David Ellefson, “Sunflower Dead is a great, hardworking band who truly embodies the type of DIY ethos that EMP was built on. They have not only released their own records and had great success at radio, but also managed to tour the World supporting major artists, all without the support of a label. We’re proud to welcome them into the EMP Family!”

Sunflower Dead spent the last 3 years on the road supporting Weird including dates with SNOT and KORN in the UK, both legs of IN THIS MOMENT’s “Hellpop” Tour, as well as runs supporting AVATAR, HELLYEAH, and MUSHROOMHEAD. The band will hit the road again in the Fall to support C O M A.

CLUTCH Announces North American Tour With SEVENDUST

Maryland rockers CLUTCH have announced U.S./Canada fall dates for their “Book Of Bad Decisions Tour 2018”. CLUTCH is making the following special offer for this tour: The price of a ticket when purchased in advance online includes a physical CD copy of CLUTCH‘s new album, “Book Of Bad Decisions”. Fans will receive information on how to redeem the album after purchasing the advance ticket online. Offer valid through October 29, open to U.S. residents only. Not valid on resale tickets. Offer only valid for CLUTCH headline dates. Festivals, Canadian headline dates and the October 13 date with SYSTEM OF A DOWN are exempt from this offer. Tickets go on sale to the public on Friday, June 22 at 10 a.m. local time.

Support on the tour will come from SEVENDUST and TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN.

Tour dates:

Sep. 16 – Chicago IL – Riotfest **
Sep. 18 – St Paul, MN – Myth Live
Sep. 19 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
Sep. 21 – Houston TX – House of Blues

Sep. 22 – San Antonio TX – River City Rock Fest **
Sep. 23 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Live
Sep. 25 – Orlando, FL – House Of Blues
Sep. 27 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
Sep. 28 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
Sep. 29 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade *
Sep. 30 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life **
Oct. 02 – Denver, CO – Ogden Theater
Oct. 03 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
Oct. 05 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
Oct. 06 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
Oct. 07 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SODO
Oct. 08 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom
Oct. 09 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
Oct. 11 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom
Oct. 12 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theater
Oct. 13 – San Bernardino, CA – Glen Helen Amphitheater w/SOAD ***
Oct. 14 – San Diego, CA – North Park/Observatory
Oct. 15 – Tempe, AZ – The Marquee
Oct. 17 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom
Oct. 18 – Sauget, IL – Pop’s Nightclub
Oct. 19 – Grand Rapids, MI – 20 Monroe Live
Oct. 20 – Detroit, MI – The Filmore Detroit
Oct. 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE
Oct. 23 – Toronto, ON – Rebel
Oct. 25 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
Oct. 26 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
Oct. 27 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
Oct. 28 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory

* No SEVENDUST
** Festival date; CLUTCH and festival bill only
*** Date with SYSTEM OF A DOWN; no SEVENDUST

CLUTCH‘s new album, “Book Of Bad Decisions”, will be released on September 7 via the group’s own Weathermaker Music label. The disc was completed at Sputnik Sound studio in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Vance Powell. The album cover was designed by renowned photographer Dan Winters.

Singer Neil Fallon previously explained that the “Book Of Bad Decisions” title came “from a song on the album, which, to me, it’s a pretty dark song. I was trying to write lyrics that were kind of like a Cormac McCarthy novel in about three and a half minutes,” he said. “But anyone in their life does bad decisions, and you can look back and see the repercussions of that spread out like a pebble thrown into a pool. We’ve made bad decisions; we’ve also made really good ones. Thankfully, all of us are surrounded by good people that ride our wheelhouse when we get a little tipsy.”

SLASH FT. MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS To Release ‘Living The Dream’ Album In September/Announce North American Tour

SLASH FT. MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS will release their new album, “Living The Dream”, on September 21 via Slash‘s own label Snakepit Records in partnership with Roadrunner Records. The follow-up to 2014’s “World On Fire” is Slash‘s fourth solo album, and third with his band featuring Myles Kennedy (vocals), Brent Fitz (drums), Todd Kerns (bass, vocals) and Frank Sidoris (guitar, vocals).

For “Living The Dream”, Slash and his band re-teamed with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette (ALTER BRIDGE, IGGY POP, INCUBUS); the group is currently putting the finishing touches on the powerful 12-song collection.

The band will support the disc by embarking on tour of the U.S. and Canada in early September.

The artist pre-sale starts tomorrow at 10 a.m. local time on each stop. Use the password “SLASH18” to fet your tickets at SlashOnline.com.

Tour dates:

Sep. 13 – Whisky A Go Go @ Los Angeles, CA
Sep. 15 – The Van Buren @ Phoenix, AZ
Sep. 16 – Kaaboo Del Mar @ Del Mar, CA
Sep. 18 – The Depot @ Salt Lake City, CA

Sep. 19 – Fillmore @ Denver, CO
Sep. 21 – Paradise Cove Margaritaville @ Tulsa, OK
Sep. 22 – Winstar @ Thackerville, OK
Sep. 24 – Stubbs @ Austin, TX
Sep. 26 – House of Blues @ Houston, TX
Sep. 28 – Louder Than Life @ Louisville, KY
Sep. 29 – Four Winds Casino Resort @ New Buffalo, MI
Oct. 01 – Wellmont Theatre @ Montclair, NJ
Oct. 02 – Fillmore @ Silver Spring, MD
Oct. 04 – Casino Rama @ Rama, Canada
Oct. 05 – Pier 17 at South Street Seaport @ New York, NY
Oct. 06 – Mohegan Sun @ Uncasville, CT
Oct. 09 – Paramount @ Huntington, NY
Oct. 10 – Electric Factory @ Philadelphia, PA
Oct. 11 – House Of Blues @ Boston, MA
Oct. 14 – Aftershock @ Sacramento, CA

 

Back in March, Slash said that he was “excited” about the material that was written for the upcoming SLASH FT. MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS album. “It’s got some cool songs and it’s got a great live feel,” he said.

“I’ve been working with Myles, Brent and Todd for about eight years now. It’s been an amazing ride so far; as a band we continue to get better which is great. With the addition of Frank since the ‘World On Fire’ tour, I feel we have hit a great, creative stride which I definitely think shows on this next record.”

After Slash and the CONSPIRATORS toured “World On Fire”, rumors about the long-awaited GUNS N’ ROSES reunion tour began to circulate and were confirmed in early 2016.

The current GUNS trek — which features Slash and fellow original members Axl Rose and Duff McKagan — launched in April 2016 and has since grossed more than $400 million, with more dates coming this summer and this fall.

Despite the success of the “Not In This Lifetime” reunion tour, there has been no indication that GUNS intends to record a new album anytime soon. The last GUNS studio album, “Chinese Democracy”, came out in 2008 and featured only Axl Rose from the band’s classic lineup. The last album on which Rose, McKagan and Slash appeared together was 1993’s covers set “The Spaghetti Incident?”

Kennedy‘s debut solo album, “Year Of The Tiger”, was released on March 9 via Napalm Records.

MONSTER MAGNET Announces Fall 2018 North American Tour

March of 2018 saw the release of the latest MONSTER MAGNET masterpiece “Mindfucker” on Napalm Records. Following three exclusive Northeastern U.S. shows, the band headed across the pond for a European headline tour. Now they are ready to return to North America for a full headline tour this fall.

The band will hit the road in North America on September 28 in Toronto, Ontario. The tour will run through October 28 in Boston, Massachusetts. Support on the tour will come from ELECTRIC CITIZEN and DARK SKY CHOIR. A complete list of dates can be found below.

A message from MONSTER MAGNET frontman Dave Wyndorf: “Can’t wait to hit North America with the ‘Mindfucker’ tour! Warning: This is REAL ROCK music, made loud to be played loud! A MONSTER MAGNET show is a face melting celebration of electric madness made all the better and fueled to peak intensity by the attendance of excitable human beings. Hope you’re part of that equation! See you soon!”

Tour dates:

Sep. 28 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
Sep. 29 – Pontiac, MI @ The Emerald Theatre
Sep. 30 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life *
Oct. 02 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge

Oct. 03 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze
Oct. 05 – Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theater
Oct. 06 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
Oct. 08 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
Oct. 09 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
Oct. 10 – Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
Oct. 12 – San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside
Oct. 13 – Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock *
Oct. 15 – Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory
Oct. 16 – San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick
Oct. 17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Rebel Lounge
Oct. 19 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
Oct. 20 – Dallas, TX @ Canton Hall
Oct. 21 – Houston, TX @ White Oak (Upstairs)
Oct. 23 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Oct. 24 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East
Oct. 26 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
Oct. 27 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
Oct. 28 – Boston, MA @ The Sinclair

* Festival appearance

Dave Wyndorf told Big Music Geek in a recent interview that the title of MONSTER MAGNET‘s latest album, “Mindfucker”, was inspired by the current political situation in the United States.

“‘Mindfucker’ was one of my favorite words when I was a kid,” Wyndorf said. “For this record, I was, like, ‘Well, it’s 2018 and I’m in a rock band. Why wouldn’t somebody call a record ‘Mindfucker’?’ It’s perfect for me because I’ve been mindfucked since the [U.S. presidential] election [in 2016], ya know? But that’s the state of the 21st Century right now. It’s pretty much a mindfuck to me. It’s both fascinating and scary and it sounds so cool. It’s ‘Beavis And Butt-Head’-ish and it’s really, really simple, but I wanted to have something butt-ass simple to say, so I just said to myself, ‘If I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it’. It’s stupid and it’s juvenile, but it’s also really cool. If somebody doesn’t play it, because they can’t reference the title… It’s the title of the album, but there’s no reason why they couldn’t play other songs. It didn’t scare me to take the risk of not being let in a couple of other doors, so I was, like, ‘Wow, man. You have to call it ‘Mindfucker’.'”

He added: “I don’t think we’re doing anything in particular except living through one of the biggest mindfucks you could possibly live through. It’s totally jaw-dropping. It’s, like, ‘Really? Are people really that stupid? Are they really as stupid as we thought they were? As it turns out, yes they are.”

Wyndorf spoke in greater detail about the inspiration for the “Mindfucker” title during a separate interview with Icon Vs. Icon. He said: “When it came time to write the lyrics, it was after the last election went down and [Donald] Trump was elected. We kind of watched the information age flip. Now it’s, like, ‘Fuck! There are a million ways to lie and people are taking advantage of it!’ It’s almost like it’s okay to lie now. [Laughs] ‘Fuck it! We’re just gonna make shit up every day!’ [Laughs]”

He continued: “Within six months of the time he got elected to now, the whole nature of how people pay attention to information has changed.

“I don’t know how many people are into the whole Trump thing, but I truly can’t believe that the whole rest of the world and the rest of America are just sitting back, sticking their fingers down their throats and saying, ‘Gag me. This is bullshit. This is just total horseshit. It’s a giant man-baby just bullshitting. He doesn’t know what he’s doing and there’s nobody at the wheel.’ Meanwhile, the news outlets are going crazy and fighting each other! It’s a total mindfuck! It really is. [Laughs] It’s, like, ‘Wow! You really can get away with anything!’ That’s what I was stuck with. The week that he got elected, I was, like, ‘Really? This is the time I was going to write my sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll record?’ I just couldn’t keep it out of my head. I didn’t want to be RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE either. I didn’t want to go in there and be some super, super political, as if I know what I’m talking about. I didn’t want to get too moral about it either.

Wyndorf added: “These days I don’t think I should actually have to teach people how to be a good person, you know? It’s pretty fuckin’ obvious. Be fair. [Laughs] I didn’t want to be too politically incorrect either because I’m not that way. I’m too cynical. I just couldn’t keep it out of my head, so I wrote songs and tried to go along with the sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll thing. I tried to write songs about girlfriends and things like that, but the creeping paranoia of 2018 was there. It crept and it found its way into all of these lyrics. I found myself looking at lyrics that included the word ‘brain’ like a million times! My aching fucking brain! [Laughs] ‘Lie’ was a word that was in there a lot too. It got a little weird. In the end, it is what it is. It’s an honest document of a guy sitting in his kitchen in January of 2018 going, ‘What the fuck?’ Basically, that’s it, and it’s all I can hope for. Like I said, I didn’t want to get into it with this, but I had to deal with it.”

GHOST Announces Fall 2018 North American Tour

GHOST has announced a massive North American fall tour. The trek, which includes the Swedish band’s previously announced headline arena dates at The Forum in Los Angeles, California and Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, will kick off on November 1 in Chicago, Illinois and wrap on December 15 in Brooklyn.

A special BLABBERMOUTH.NET presale will begin on Thursday, June 14 at 10:00 a.m. local time and end on Thursday, June 14 at 10 p.m. local time. When prompted, type in the presale code “BLABBER” to access tickets before the general public.

General admission tickets will be available for purchase starting Friday, June 15 at 10 a.m. local time.

Tour dates:

Oct. 26 – Tulsa, OK – Cox Business Center Ballroom
Oct. 27 – Kansas City, MO – Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland
Oct. 29 – Louisville, KY – Palace Theatre
Oct. 30 – Indianapolis, IN – The Murat Theatre

Nov. 01 – Chicago, IL – Aragon Ballroom
Nov. 02 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center – Theatre
Nov. 03 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee
Nov. 04 – Ames, IA – Stephens Auditorium
Nov. 06 – Omaha, NE – Orpheum Theater
Nov. 08 – Albuquerque, NM – Kiva Auditorium
Nov. 09 – El Paso, TX – Abraham Chavez Theatre
Nov. 10 – Phoenix, AZ – Comerica Theatre
Nov. 12 – San Diego, CA – Spreckels Theatre
Nov. 13 – Sacramento, CA – Sacramento Community Center Theater
Nov. 15 – San Jose, CA – City National Civic Center
Nov. 16 – Los Angeles, CA – The Forum
Nov. 17 – Las Vegas, NV – The Joint
Nov. 19 – Midland, TX – Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center
Nov. 20 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall
Nov. 21 – New Orleans, LA – Orpheum Theatre
Nov. 23 – Orlando, FL – Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts – Walt Disney Theater
Nov. 24 – Miami Beach, FL – The Fillmore at Jackie Gleason Theater
Nov. 25 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall
Nov. 27 – North Charleston, SC – North Charleston Performing Arts Center
Nov. 29 – Mobile, AL – Saenger Theatre
Nov. 30 – Atlanta, GA – Roxy Theatre
Dec. 01 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theatre
Dec. 02 – Charlotte, NC – Ovens Auditorium
Dec. 04 – Richmond, VA – Dominion Energy Center
Dec. 05 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
Dec. 07 – Laval, QC – Place Bell
Dec. 08 – Toronto, ON – Sony Centre for the Performing Arts
Dec. 10 – Baltimore, MD – The Hippodrome
Dec. 11 – Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theater
Dec. 13 – Albany, NY – Palace Theatre
Dec. 14 – Boston, MA – Wang Theatre
Dec. 15 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center

GHOST‘s new album, “Prequelle”, landed at position No. 3 on this week’s Billboard 200 chart. The disc, which arrived on June 1, shifted 66,000 equivalent album units in the week ending June 7. Of that sum, between 61,000 were in traditional album sales.

GHOST‘s first week benefits from a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer in association with the band’s spring U.S. theater tour, as well as a pair of arena dates later this year.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

“Prequelle” was tracked last year at Artery studios in Stockholm with producer Tom Dalgety (OPETH, ROYAL BLOOD) and mixed in January at Westlake Studios in West Hollywood, California with Andy Wallace (NIRVANA, SLAYER).

GHOST played the first official show of the “Rats! On The Road” U.S. tour on May 5 at Riverside Municipal Auditorium in Riverside, California.

The band broke its show up into two sets, with the first featuring 12 songs and the second consisting of 11 numbers. The group spread out the new material across both sets, interspersed with fan favorites and hits like “Cirice”, “From The Pinnacle To The Pit”, “He Is”, “If You Have Ghosts” and show closer “Square Hammer”.

The band has expanded its onstage lineup to include at least eight musicians, not including a guest appearance from Papa Nihil, the aged “original” Papa Emeritus.

VOIVOD To Release ‘The Wake’ Album In September

Canadian progressive sci-fi metal innovators VOIVOD will release their new studio album, “The Wake”, in late September via Century Media Records. “The Wake” is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2013’s “Target Earth” album and the 2016 mini-album “Post Society”.

Commented VOIVOD drummer Michel “Away” Langevin: “We are thrilled to let you know that our new album, ‘The Wake’, is completed! The music is like a futuristic prog thrash metal trek with many twists and turns, and the story involves the usual Voivodian topics: disasters, chaos, conflicts, strange plots and alternate consciousness. We are excited with the result and can’t wait to get the material out to you this fall! Also, try to catch us when we tour Europe in September and October. It will be a great opportunity for the band to test some songs from our upcoming album.”

Langevin told the Impact metal channel that the band’s next record would be “a concept album, very intricate. It’s very progressive thrash. Lots of psychedelia as well. The songs are pretty long. There is only one short rocker; all the rest is progressive music. It’s a continuation of [2016’s] ‘Post Society’ [EP].”

The “Post Society” EP was issued in February 2016 via Century Media. It was the follow-up to 2013’s “Target Earth”, which marked VOIVOD‘s first album of new material written without original guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour‘s leftover riffs.

VOIVOD singer Denis “Snake” Bélanger told Metal Wani about the passing of Piggy and the eventual addition of Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain prior to the making of “Target Earth”: “Of course, the loss of Piggy was a terrible thing. We couldn’t do, really, anything for two or three years; we didn’t know what would be the future of the band. And we finally found a guy [Chewy] that could play VOIVOD [music]. And it’s sort of a mixture of circumstances that happened. It’s, like, ‘Okay, maybe there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe if we pick up this guy who learned, actually…’ The first thing [Chewy] learned [to play] was VOIVOD. The first show he saw was VOIVOD. And the [day after] he saw VOIVOD, he bought a guitar and started playing Piggy‘s riffs. So, for us, Chewy was the best option.”

VOIVOD European tour dates:

Sep. 07 – Prague (Czech Republic) – Futurum *
Sep. 08 – Poznan (Poland) – U Bazyla *
Sep. 09 – Warsaw (Poland) – Hydrozagadka *
Sep. 10 – Krakow (Poland) – Kwadrat *

Sep. 11 – Bratislava (Slovakia) – Randal Club *
Sep. 13 – Cluj-Napoca (Romania) – Flying Circus Pub *
Sep. 14 – Belgrade (Serbia) – Elektropionir *
Sep. 15 – Budapest (Hungary) – Durer Kert *
Sep. 16 – Vienna (Austria) – Szene *
Sep. 18 – Bologna (Italy) – Locomotiv **
Sep. 19 – Rome (Italy) – Largo **
Sep. 20 – Milan (Italy) – Santeria **
Sep. 21 – Winterthur (Switzerland) – Gaswerk **
Sep. 22 – Seyssinet Pariset (France) – Ilyade **
Sep. 24 – Barcelona (Spain) – Boveda **
Sep. 25 – Madrid (Spain) – Nazca **
Sep. 26 – Porto (Portugal) – Hard Club **
Sep. 28 – Marseille (France) – Jas’ Rod ***
Sep. 29 – Paris (France) – Petit Bain ***
Sep. 30 – Nantes (France) – Ferrailleur ***
Oct. 02 – Southampton (UK) – The Joiners ***
Oct. 03 – Cardiff (UK) – The Globe ***
Oct. 04 – Leeds (UK) – Temple Of Boom ***
Oct. 05 – Glasgow (UK) – Cathouse ***
Oct. 06 – Manchester (UK) – Rebellion ***
Oct. 07 – London (UK) – Underworld ***
Oct. 09 – Brussels (Belgium) – Magasin 4 ***
Oct. 10 – Amstelveen (The Netherlands) – P60 ***
Oct. 11 – Eindhoven (The Netherlands) – Dynamo ***
Oct. 12 – Cologne (Germany) – Luxor ***
Oct. 13 – Hamburg (Germany) – Logo ***
Oct. 14 – Copenhagen (Denmark) – Pumpehuset ***
Oct. 15 – Stockholm (Sweden) – Klubb Nalen ***
Oct. 17 – Helsinki (Finland) – Tavastia ***
Oct. 18 – Tampere (Finland) – Klubi ***
Oct. 20 – Oslo (Norway) – John Dee ***

Support bands:

* MAGGOT HEART (from September 7 until September 16)
** NIGHTRAGE (from September 18 until September 26)
*** BIO-CANCER (from September 28 until October 20)

Former DIO, AC/DC, QUIET RIOT Members DREAM CHILD Debut Album Due In September

DREAM CHILD, a brand new band featuring former members of DIO, AC/DC and QUIET RIOT, will release its debut album, “Until Death Do We Meet Again”, on September 14 via Frontiers Music Srl.

The fist single from the album, “You Can’t Take Me Down”, can be streamed below.

DREAM CHILD is:

* Craig Goldy (DIO, GIUFFRIA): Guitar
* Wayne Findlay (MSG): Guitar, Keyboards
* Simon Wright (AC/DC, DIO, OPERATION: MINDCRIME): Drums
* Rudy Sarzo (QUIET RIOT, OZZY OSBOURNE, WHITESNAKE, DIO): Bass

* Diego Valdez (HELKER): Vocals

Goldy stated about “You Can’t Take Me Down”: “It’s about when all the people, circumstances, obstacles and so forth that life can throw at us take a turn for the worst and that no matter what, we can and will prevail!”

The guitarist previously said about DREAM CHILD‘s formation: “The band DREAM CHILD was conceived during a brainstorming session with Serafino (president of Frontiers) and I one day while discussing other matters.

“I had been listening to my favorite bands a lot recently, DEEP PURPLE and RAINBOW‘s ‘Rising’ album, among others in that style, and had noticed that many people who also love those bands often have the very same comments as one another: ‘They don’t make music like that anymore!’ Even though I said that in passing, Serafino asked me a question that would forever shape my future. He simply asked, “Well, can you?” and I said, ‘Yes!!!’

“During the very first public memorial for our most beloved Ronnie James Dio, I had mentioned that whenever I do start writing original material again that I would utilize everything that I had learned from working side by side with the Master for so many years in such a way that I would hope to make him proud… and here it is! The name is inspired by one of his lyrics on the ‘Dream Evil’ album and the nickname he gave me at the time, Dream Child!

“We are so very fortunate to have bassist Rudy Sarzo as a featured guest, Simon Wright on drums, Wayne Findlay on guitars and keyboards, and a surprise vocal discovery from Argentina, Diego Valdez, whose voice will send shivers up your spine!

“This album will bring back memories of the days most people have thought were long gone and never to return, yet it is also new and fresh enough to be unique with some unexpected twists and turns!! No more ‘same old, same old’ here, no fillers. Every song is an oasis in the desert and a rare gem in the coalmines of life in this new world that thinks the past greatness of rock would remain in the past. We’ve brought it back to life once again!!

“I am very proud of this album and all who have made this become a reality. There are some big names who’ve lent a hand in the writing and I am amazed at the new and aggressive sound that producer Alessandro Del Vecchio has brought to these songs! I hope you all agree….”

“Until Death Do We Meet Again” track listing:

01. Under The Wire
02. You Can’t Take Me Down
03. Game Of Shadows
04. It Is What It Is
05. Playin’ With Fire
06. Light Of The Dark
07. Midnight Song
08. Until Death Do We Meet Again
09. Washed Upon The Shore
10. In A World So Cold
11. Weird World
12. One Step Beyond The Grave