metal: Last News

Tool bassist Justin Chancellor has revealed that the band got frustrated while working on their 2019 album ‘Fear Inoculum’, and nearly threw out the whole record – see what he had to say below.In a new chat with NME‘s Liberty Dunworth, Chancellor spoke of the band’s upcoming UK tour, their long hiatuses between albums and potential new material. He also spoke about the band’s acclaimed 2019 record ‘Fear Inoculum’, which came 13 years after 2006’s ‘10,000 Years’.When asked about the band’s new aversion for long waits between records, Chancellor revealed that the 13 year wait between ‘10,000 Years’ and ‘Fear Inoculum’ wasn’t done on purpose: “It was never an intention of ours to do it that way! As time went on it just took longer and longer, and I think that stems from the pressure of trying to excel and trying to outdo yourself.”He continued: “There’s always a danger of looking back and comparing ourselves to what we’ve done before, so there’s a certain amount of stuff we had to work through to get to the place where we could create something new and pure and of its own right.

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler has opened up on the chances of the band getting back together for one final show – see what he had to say below.Earlier this month, Ozzy Osbourne revealed that he would “jump at the chance” to play a final Black Sabbath show with co-founding drummer Bill Ward, who backed out of playing the band’s reunion shows between 2011 and 2017 over an “unreasonable” contract.Now, Butler has chimed in on Osbourne’s desire for a final Black Sabbath performance with their original line-up, telling SirisuXM‘s Eddie Trunk that he and Osbourne have “agreed” to play one last show.As transcribed by Blabbermouth, Butler said: “Of course there’s an interest [on my part to do it], but there’s a big ‘but’ — you’d have to speak to Bill [Ward] about it. Everybody wants to do it [but I don’t know if he is] capable [of pulling it off].”Butler added: “Ozzy was hoping to finish it all off next year back in Aston, at the Aston Villa [football stadium in Birmingham].

‘Fear Inoculum’ – the follow-up to 2006’s ’10,000 Days’.However, recent months have seen the band reassure us that the era of waiting over a decade for new material is behind them, and that they’ll be heading to the studio after their upcoming tour dates to crank out album six.“It’s surreal, because I remember it coming out like it was yesterday,” bassist Justin Chancellor tells NME of ‘Fear Inoculum’ hitting its fifth anniversary. “That being said, we’ve had a really good run for it.

Metallica have played ‘Inamorata’, their longest song to date, live for the first time – check out footage of the performance below.‘Inamorata’ is taken from the band’s 11th studio album ‘72 Seasons’, and it runs at just over 11 minutes. Metallica are currently touring Europe in support of the album as part of the ‘M72’ tour, and gave the song its live debut on Sunday night (May 26) in Munich, Germany.“This next song, we have never, ever played live before,” frontman James Hetfield told the crowd, as captured in fan-shot video.“And, you know, in our band we don’t recognise the word ‘mistake’, because there are no ‘mistakes’.

Tool song, which he has said makes “Dream Theater look like Weezer”.Portnoy, who rejoined the Boston prog metal band in October last year after a 13-year absence, took up the challenge from the Drumeo YouTube channel to learn Tool’s 12-minute track ‘Pneuma’, from 2019’s ‘Fear Inoculum’.The percussionist was given six hours to master the track, in what Drumeo described as “the most difficult challenge we’ve ever given anyone”.Over the course of the video, which you can watch below, Portnoy studies footage of Tool drummer Danny Carey and scouring the sheet music to decipher the song’s complexity.“This makes Dream Theater sound like fuckin’ Weezer,” Portnoy exclaims at one point. “With all due respect to Weezer, I love Weezer.

Tony Iommi has responded to Ozzy Osbourne‘s recent plea to play one final Black Sabbath show.Earlier this month, the frontman admitted he would “jump at the chance” to play a final Black Sabbath show with drummer Bill Ward. He dropped out of their planned reunion in 2012 citing an “unreasonable contract”.

Metallica has given a particularly spectacular performance in Munich thanks to the help of a thunderstorm.The heavy metal band recently paid a visit to Munich’s Olympiastadion last night (May 24), where they closed out their show in a rather striking fashion.Metallica’s shows are known for their lighting setup, which sees the band surrounded by a circle of eight glowing lights that shoot lasers from the top. At Munich last night, this was made all the more impressive with the help of lightning, which struck just as the band commened their classic ‘Master of Puppets’.A fan has captured the moment the lightning struck in the sky, writing: “Went to the Metallica concert in München today, a thunderstorm happened and it made for the coolest fucking intro of all time”.Watch the incredible moment below:went to the Metallica concert in München today, a thunderstorm happened and it made for the coolest fucking intro of all time pic.twitter.com/Ta4eQHYckd— Jane (@SunsetGirlJane) May 24, 2024NME reviewed Metallica when they visited Amsterdam, giving their live show four stars: “Metallica have always been a gateway band for heavy music, but there’s a renewed excitement around them now.

Bambie Thug, this year’s Irish Eurovision entry, has announced a 2024 UK and European ‘Crown The Witch’ tour.Bambie, who placed 6th in this year’s competition with their showstopping performance of ‘Doomsday Blue’, is now set to tour around the UK and Europe.They will kick off at Brighton’s Chalk in August, before making their way through Manchester’s Gorilla, Glasgow’s King Tuts and London’s Heaven in September. Bambie is also due to visit cities such as Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin and Stockholm.

Bring Me The Horizon have shared their long awaited new “real concept album” ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’ – listen to it below.The Sheffield band surprise released their first LP in five years at midnight (May 24) after sharing the news with a minute-long teaser yesterday (May 23).Speaking about the record, frontman Oli Sykes said: “It’s a real concept album, with a full narrative that connects to the first record [‘POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR’], but the concept is hidden and buried.“Some people aren’t going to be interested, but for some people it could be like a self-help book. There’s a lot of things in there, some of it’s quite clear, but a lot of it cryptic and hidden.

Bad Omens have announced they have cancelled their summer UK and European tour dates due to “extreme burnout”.The metalcore band were due to finish off their tour in the UK/Europe from June until July, including a huge co-headline show with BABYMETAL in Toulouse, France.However, they have taken to social media to confirm they will not be playing their remaining summer shows, with frontman Noah Sebastian writing he was experiencing “what can only be described as extreme burnout”.“While all the touring and work that we’ve put into this album cycle the last several years has been so rewarding and gratifying, it has also pushed me to the limits of my mental bandwidth,” he added. “Putting my mind and body in conflict with one another in ways that are becoming detrimental to my health on the road.”Sebastian wrote that after “heavy consideration”, the band have decided to cancel their remaining summer dates in the Europe and UK, continuing: “This decision is in the best interest of my health and wellbeing, and of the long term sustainability of Bad Omens.“We need to protect and restore all of the energy that will be demanded of us again soon as we transition into the next chapter.”The band recently announced their ‘Concrete Jungle’ soundtrack, sharing its first single with HEALTH and Swarm called ‘The Drain’.‘Concrete Jungle [The OST]’ will drop soon on May 31, and has been described as an experimental extension of Bad Omens’ hit 2022 album ‘The Death Of Peace Of Mind’ and the soundtrack to their ‘Concrete Jungle’ comic book universe.

Ozzy Osbourne has revealed his greatest fear in an episode of The Osbournes podcast.In a clip of The Osbournes podcast shared on YouTube Shorts, the Prince Of Darkness’ son Jack asked his family – consisting of Ozzy, his mother Sharon and his sister Kelly – what their greatest fears are.Ozzy went first and revealed that he is scared of rats and then followed that by saying “And your mom,” referring to his wife and manager, Sharon. Rats seemed like an odd response following his legendary 1982 incident where he bit off the head of a live bat during a concert in Iowa.Kelly went on to respond to Ozzy saying that his fear was Sharon by calling him “such a dick”, with Sharon agreeing with her.Sharon went on to reveal that her greatest fear are both heights and fire and Kelly shared that she is currently “dealing with” being “faced with death in everything” that she does.Elsewhere, Sharon recently revealed that she “felt terrible” over her and Ozzy‘s daughter Aimee not being in their ’00s reality series The Osbournes.In an appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Osbourne was asked how she handled Aimee’s decision to stay out of the limelight.“Yes it was [a discussion] in the beginning,” she said.

Bring Me The Horizon have announced the release date for their long-awaited album ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’ – confirming it is coming tomorrow (May 24).The Sheffield band shared the surprise news in a post on X/Twitter this afternoon (May 23), dropping a minute-long teaser for the project and confirming that it will be out at midnight.“BMTH invites you to Ascend!+,” they wrote in the brief caption. “‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’ [out midnight 24.05]”.While no official release date had been shared up until now, the long-delayed album was expected to drop at some point this summer.It marks the follow-up to 2020’s ‘POST HUMAN: SURVIVAL HORROR’, and was scheduled to arrive last September after being announced during the band’s headline debut at Download Festival.

Slipknot percussionist Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan was absent from the band’s headline show at Sonic Temple Festival last weekend due to “medical reasons”.The masked group played a 14-track set at the Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio on Sunday (May 19) as part of the hard rock and metal event’s final day.Early in the gig, frontman Corey Taylor told the crowd that Slipknot were “missing one of our brothers”. He went on to explain that Clown had “broke a tooth [and] had to have it removed” the day before.Taylor continued: “There is an issue.

Slayer guitarist Kerry King has revealed that he “can’t be bothered” with Iron Maiden‘s more recent output – see what King had to say below.Speaking to RIFFX and transcribed by Ultimate Guitar in a recent interview, the Slayer axeman opened up about listening to Iron Maiden’s newer albums when asked if he had head frontman Bruce Dickinson‘s recent solo album ‘The Mandrake Project’.King said: “Haven’t heard Bruce’s new album, but I have a friend who told me it’s better than [Iron] Maiden. Wouldn’t surprise me — nothing against Maiden, but their songs have gotten so long, man, I just can’t be bothered with it. And my attention span isn’t that much.”The guitarist’s comments seem to reference Iron Maiden most recently releasing two double-albums: 2015’s ‘The Book of Souls’ and 2021’s ‘Senjutsu’.

Anthrax singer Joey Belladonna has announced a new tribute band in honour of late metal icon Ronnie James Dio.This past weekend (May 18), Belladonna took to social media to announce that he and his wife Krista have formed a new Dio tribute band, and will be performing four shows in August.Over the course of the tribute concerts, the tribute band will play music from the late Dio’s solo career and his stints in Black Sabbath and Rainbow. According to Belladonna’s official website, the concerts will see Belladonna tackle Dio’s most iconic releases including ‘Holy Diver’, ‘Rainbow In The Dark’, ‘Heaven And Hell’, ‘Neon Knights’ and more.All four of Belladonna’s Dio tribute concerts are due to take place in various cities across Florida.AUGUST 202415 – Captain Hiram’s – Sebastian, FL16 – Piper’s Pub – Pompano Beach, FL17 – OCC Road House – Clearwater, FL18 – Conduit – Winter Park, FLKrista and I are proud to announce our new tribute band to Ronnie James Dio! A night of songs from Dio, Sabbath, and Rainbow!@ronniejamesdio #ronniejamesdio #diocancerfund #anthraxPosted by Joey Belladonna on Saturday, May 18, 2024Tickets to Joey Belladonna’s Ronnie James Dio tribute concerts will go on sale soon via his official website.The legendary Dio died in 2010 following a battle with stomach cancer.

Slipknot fans have begun referring to the mystery member who replaced keyboardist and sampler Craig Jones last year as ‘Samples’ following the reveal of the band’s new masks this week.Jones’ departure was announced almost a year ago with his replacement introduced almost immediately after, just prior to The Nine’s headline slot at that year’s Download Festival.Impressively, Mr Samples’ identity still remains unknown. At the time of them being brought into the band, they were christened ‘Greg Bones’, ‘The Gimp’, ‘Leatherface’, ‘Zipper Dude’ and ‘Hoodie Guy’ by fans.The new nickname came about, however, when Slipknot posted photos of each member’s new mask to Instagram.

AC/DC kicked off their huge European stadium tour in Germany last night (May 17), marking their return to touring for the first time in 8 years.The tour, in support of their 2020 comeback record ‘Power Up’, began at the 62,000-capacity Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen and was the first featuring new bassist Chris Chaney, who is best known for his tenure in Jane’s Addiction. He replaced Cliff Williams after he retired from touring.Their setlist was almost identical to the one in their comeback gig at Power Trip Festival in October, albeit with the order of some of the songs changed.

Skindred have announced new UK tour dates set to take place this Autumn – see the full list of dates below.Earlier this week, the Welsh band took to social media to announce a new slate of tour dates across the UK, marking the second trek in the region in support of their 2023 album ‘Smile’.Dubbed the ‘Smile (Again)’ tour, Skindred will begin their run of shows in Hull on October 18, and will conclude the tour at the O2 Academy in Oxford on November 2. Other shows include Liverpool’s Olympia, Glasgow’s Barrowland and Leicester’s O2 Academy among others.Tickets to all shows – excluding Leicester and Oxford – are on sale now.

Ozzy Osbourne has shared that he would “jump at the chance” to play a final Black Sabbath show with co-founding drummer Bill Ward.Originally, Ward was part of the November 2011 Black Sabbath reunion but pulled out in early 2012, attributing an “‘unreasonable contract” as his reason for departure. Drummer Tommy Clufetos stepped in and performed live on the Black Sabbath Reunion Tour and the swansong The End Tour.Appearing on the most recent episode of The Madhouse Chronicles, Ozzy opened up about his career in Black Sabbath with his close friend Billy Morrison.

Slipknot have confirmed a new track called ‘Long May You Die’ is on the way – marking their first new material with Eloy Casagrande.The US metal icons took to Instagram to share the news of a new song in a brief, but very exciting post.In the update, which was shared last night (May 15), the band shared an image of the line-up and addressed the speculation from fans in the caption.“Slipknot fans are talking amongst themselves about ‘Long May You Die’ being a new song written during the recent recording sessions,” they wrote, before simply adding: “You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”A post shared by Slipknot (@slipknot)At the time of writing, further details about the forthcoming track remain limited, and the band haven’t yet shared an official release date with fans.However, it is confirmed that the song will mark their first new material with Eloy Casagrande as the drummer.

Forbes has released its annual 30 Under 30 list for 2024 in Asia, which features the likes of Voice Of Baceprot, IVE and more.Released today (May 16), the annual Forbes 30 Under 30 list shines a light on individuals aged below 30 who have made a significant impact in their respective fields, including entertainment and sports, science and activism, entrepreneurship and more.This year’s entertainment and sports portion of the list is headlined by Indonesian metallers and stars of NME’s The Cover, Voice Of Baceprot. Trailing behind them are K-pop outfit IVE, Japanese pop-rock group Atarashii Gakko!, Filipino rapper Ez Mil, Indian rapper Arpan Kumar Chandel (aka King), Japanese singer Aina The End and Indonesia’s Mahalini Raharja.The list also includes Chinese-New Zealand actress Jess Hong, Thai singer-actor Vachirawit Chivaaree, also known as Bright, and Indian singer-songwriter Pavithra Chari.This year’s North American 30 Under 30 list featured the likes of Boygenius, Ethel Cain, Dominic Fike, Gracie Abrams, Latto, Reneé Rapp, Ice Spice, Peso Pluma, Trippie Redd, Kali Uchis and more.This year’s European 30 Under 30 list features PinkPantheress, Nia Archives, Cat Burns, FLO, Holly Humberstone and more.Last year’s Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 list included K-pop girl groups NewJeans and Le Sserafim, Cambodian rapper VannDa, Singaporean singer Shye, South Korean singer LØREN, Indian singer-rapper Ambika Nayak – known professionally as Kayan – and Hong Kong singer Michael “MC” Cheung Tin-fu.The entertainment and sports category of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list was judged by ONE Championship co-founder and Group President Hua Fung Teh and Caldecott Music Group CEO and founder Kuok Meng Ru.