Category: Rock News

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SOULFLY leader Max Cavalera says that he is "very hurt" by the things the band's former guitarist Marc Rizzo has been saying in the press since his departure from the group. Although Rizzo's departure from SOULFLY wasn't officially announced until August 7, it was widely speculated that he was out of the group two days earlier when it was revealed that FEAR FACTORY's Dino Cazares will play guitar for SOULFLY on the band's upcoming U.S. tour, which kicks off on August 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Max touched upon Marc's split with SOULFLY in a new interview with Heavy New York. Regarding Dino's addition to SOULFLY's touring lineup, Cavalera said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I'm hugely inspired and excited and happy that Dino is doing this with us. Dino is an old friend. Our friendship goes back to the early days of SEPULTURA coming to America. I believe we met on the 'Beneath The Remains' tour. For sure by the 'Arise' tour we were friends. He tells the story better, but he had to wrestle me [over] the [FEAR FACTORY] demo tape that had 'Big God' on it. I loved it. I was listening to it on his Walkman. I didn't wanna give it back to him. And it was his only copy. And we had to wrestle. He finally got it out of me. But I ended up bugging [then-Roadrunner Records A&R executive] Monte Conner at that time and saying, 'You're a fool if you don't sign this band.' I think I even called them 'the future of metal' at that time. I was, like, 'This is the future of metal.' If you pass on it, you're a fool. And then Monte signed them, and the rest is history, as they say." He continued: "That's why this link, this possibility, the situation that happened and we needed somebody to fill in, I couldn't think of a better person than Dino — musically and as a friend. 'Cause we're still very hurt, mostly from the stuff that Rizzo has been saying — it hurts us a lot. And it's good to have a friend that you could talk about it. And then musically I think it's insane. To think of songs, especially the songs that have crunchy guitars, I close my eyes and I imagine Dino's sound on some of those songs, like 'Downstroy' and 'Babylon'… 'Cause there's a lot of chugging — SOULFLY always had chugging. But Dino is a whole another level of chugging. [Laughs]" Last week, Rizzo told Pierre Gutiérrez of Rock Talks that he "got no support from SOULFLY" during the pandemic. "There was no sort of loans that were taken out for the bandmembers or the crew," he said. "This is just the honest thing of what happened. I had to go back and get a day job. I was doing home renovations, working very hard, 10 hours a day. A [SOULFLY] live record came out [last year]. I never saw a dime off that. So, basically, within the [first] six months, seven months of COVID, I just said, 'You know, man, I don't want this anymore. I gave you guys 18 years of my life.' And it was a great time. Back in the good years, it was great. But the last I'd say eight to 10 years have not been very good. [I was] away from my family. Scheduling is crazy. It was impossible to have a personal life, see my family, make plans with my family. So, basically, six months into COVID, it was just, like, I don't even wanna do this anymore. I'd rather just concentrate on my solo project and spend time with my family where I'm happy, where I get my credit for everything I do. "I put 18 years in," he continued. "It's a long, long time to be in the band. When COVID hit, I felt like, what have I been doing these last 18 years? Normally, you work a day job, you get support during a pandemic like COVID. And I was working very hard. I was doing plumbing, electric. Finally, my very good friend Nic Bell at Godsize Booking, he was, like, 'Listen, dude, I can get you back on the road to the states in America that are open.' So he got me to Montana, Texas, Florida, doing my solo project. And I was able to quit my job and get back on track playing music for a living and making money. Big props to Nic Bell, 'cause he was one of the few people that supported me during the pandemic and helped me to get back on the road. Again, I got no support whatsoever from anyone else. So, it's a good thing. Again, I'm very excited about the future." Asked if it's fair to say that his decision to exit SOULFLY was based on a financial issue, Marc told Rock Talks: "I would say that was one of [the issues] — for this year, yes. There were years that were good financially, but this year — again, there was no loans, there was no, 'Hey, let's do a live video to make money for the bandmembers or maybe let's do a special merch deal.' A lot of my friends, they were doing special merchandise deals. I mean, if you look online, SOULFLY didn't do anything for the bandmembers or the crew. It's just not right to do that to people during a time like this. "So, whatever, man," he added. "They have the right to run their business however they want to, and I have the right to do I want to do. So, again, I'm very excited to do my solo project. That's what got me through COVID, back to being on the road and doing what I love to do as a living. And then this spawned Tony [Campos, STATIC-X, FEAR FACTORY] and me finally getting together to do a project that we've always talked about. So we're excited with HAIL THE HORNS — we're very, very excited to get that going. I've got my death metal project REVENGE BEAST. And these were guys that called me. They were, like, 'Hey, what's up, man? How are you? How are you doing?' I never got a phone call from anybody in the SOULFLY camp during COVID. It just opened up my eyes this year about what I should be doing in 2021." Rizzo also confirmed that he hasn't had a conversation with Max since they last saw each at the final pre-pandemic SOULFLY show nearly a year and a half ago. "I haven't talked to Max since [March] 2020 when we played the Hell & Heaven festival in Mexico," he said. "I had no contact with him. I don't think he has a phone, so it's not like I can call him." Rizzo joined SOULFLY in 2004, and has since appeared on all of the band's subsequent records, including "Prophecy" (2004), "Dark Ages" (2005), "Conquer" (2008), "Omen" (2010), "Enslaved" (2012), "Savages" (2013), "Archangel" (2015) and "Ritual" (2018). In 2007, Rizzo became a member of CAVALERA CONSPIRACY, the side project of SEPULTURA co-founders, brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, and has performed on all CAVALERA CONSPIRACY releases including "Inflikted", "Blunt Force Trauma", "Pandemonium" and the critically acclaimed 2017 LP "Psychosis". Rizzo was originally a member of New Jersey Latin metal favorites ILL NIÑO, appearing on their classic 2001 Roadrunner release "Revolution Revolucion" and the 2003 follow-up "Confession".

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Jeff Scott Soto says he would have been better accepted by JOURNEY fans during his time with the band if former JOURNEY vocalist Steve Perry "was no longer with us." Soto, who previously sang with Yngwie Malmsteen, joined JOURNEY about a week and half into a six-week summer 2006 tour with DEF LEPPARD, after Steve Augeri began having vocal issues. Soto had earlier worked with JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon and drummer Deen Castronovo in the short-lived side project SOUL SIRKUS. JOURNEY named Soto its permanent lead singer in December 2016 before firing him just five months later. Jeff discussed his time with JOURNEY during an appearance on a recent episode of the "Breaking Absolutes With Peter Orullian" podcast. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "One of the hardest parts about singing for JOURNEY… Okay, first of all, replacing Steve Perry, Steve Augeri already had that task. But now I had the task of replacing the guy who replaced the guy. Now, if it were QUEEN, if it were a situation like QUEEN or AC/DC where the singer is deceased, there's no way that singer's ever gonna sing those songs again, so for the bands to forge on, they have to get a new singer. Stop whining, stop bitching, stop moaning — the band's moving forward with a new singer because their original singer is no longer with us. Steve Perry was alive and well. Nobody knew his whereabouts, nobody knew if he was recording; all he ever said was, 'I'm retired from singing, retired from performing.' But the fans, especially the fairweather fans who are not watching all the Blabbermouths and all the talk and all the gossip, the fairweather fans will just come to a JOURNEY [show] and all they'll say is, 'That ain't Steve Perry.' Because they don't even know he hasn't been in the band for 20 years. All they know is, 'Who's that guy? This ain't JOURNEY. What's going on here?' They feel duped. So that was probably the hardest part about singing for JOURNEY for me, was going on stage every night when a good portion of the audience was going, 'Wait, Steve Perry's alive. He can still sing, I bet. Why isn't he doing this? Why do they have this guy?' If Steve Perry was no longer with us, I think it would have been a little easier transition." Perry sang on many of JOURNEY's best-known hits, including "Open Arms", "Any Way You Want It", "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Who's Cryin' Now". Two years ago, Soto told "The Robbcast Podcast" that performing JOURNEY's classic songs originally sung by Perry was no easy task. "It was difficult — it was really, really difficult to adapt," he admitted. "First of all, my voice was already kind of going through its changes. If I had gotten that JOURNEY gig even five years earlier, I would have destroyed, I would have just killed the range, the intensity of what Perry left behind." Asked if JOURNEY ever made him an official member of the band, Jeff told "The Robbcast Podcast": "In December of 2006, when the entire DEF LEPPARD run was done for the year, there was an official press release that they inducted me as their permanent singer at that point. And this is the part that kind of pisses me off still to this day, because there's zero mention, there's zero attention brought to the fact that I was even in the band and I did those tours. You look at the JOURNEY web site, I don't exist — my name is not there. It goes from Perry to Augeri to Arnel [Pineda]. It's like it didn't exist. It's kind of strange. How can that not exist when I have… I have photo clippings. I even still have URL sites that show you when I was officially made a member of the band. And then for them to act like it didn't exist or to say that they wanted a signature sound and I was only supposed to be a hired gun and just to get them through the tour, that kind of bums me out, man. 'Cause have at least enough respect to tell the truth or to even sugarcoat it and say, 'Yeah, Jeff was a permanent member of the band, but we realized, as we were going into that, that it was a decision we had to change and that's why we moved on or eventually got Arnel,' or whatever. Because I was in the background listening to Neal doing interviews when we were doing the European tour, saying I was their new singer and that we could finally get past the ghost of Steve Perry and blah blah blah. I was there, and I heard all of that. And to not have that acknowledgement now, it just hurts."

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Fan-filmed video footage of Yngwie Malmsteen's July 31 performance at Warehouse Live in Houston, Texas can be seen below. Yngwie's new album, "Parabellum", was released on July 23 via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group. Only four of the songs on the LP feature vocals. The album title is Latin, translating as "Prepare For War". After working with some of the top hard singers of the past four decades, Yngwie now handles much of the lead vocals himself in his own band, backed by a lineup that includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist/vocalist Ralph Ciavolino and drummer Brian Wilson. In June, Yngwie announced a month-long fall 2021 U.S. tour. Support on the trek will come from former MARILYN MANSON and current ROB ZOMBIE guitarist John 5. During a recent YouTube livestream for his 58th birthday, Malmsteen was asked if he would ever consider making an album that is reminiscent of his earlier efforts, as requested by some of his biggest fans. He responded: "Obviously, I'm very flattered that so many people like what I do, but I'm also aware that a lot of people don't like what I do. So what I end up doing is I don't make albums on request — except [2019's] 'Blue Lightning' [which paid homage to those from the blues world who have inspired him] was a little bit like a request album, a little bit, although I did what I wanted anyway. But especially on this last album, 'Parabellum', it's a very, very honest album. It's exactly what comes out of me — exactly. And some people have heard it and they say that it reminds them of the older days. And that's fine. And if it doesn't, it doesn't. It wasn't intentional." He continued: "I just do what I feel like doing. And what I've done in the past is in the past. And I'm not gonna go back, 'Oh, yeah, maybe I should do that. Maybe I should not.' I don't work like that. I actually let it flow naturally. It has to come to me like a spontaneous thing for me to love it. And even though I actually could do things on request — if you want me to, I can write a country and western song right now; I could do that, but I don't want to do that. I wanna make music that comes from within me as a spontaneous, honest expression. And if people love it, I'm very happy. If they don't, I won't change it anyway."

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Fan-filmed video footage of Bruce Dickinson belting out an a cappella version of "Tears Of The Dragon", the first single from his second solo album, 1994's "Balls To Picasso", during his August 7 spoken-word show in Nottingham, U.K. can be seen below. Earlier this week, the IRON MAIDEN singer confirmed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 after being vaccinated. Dickinson received a positive diagnosis just days after he abruptly postponed the last two dates of his U.K. spoken-word tour because a member of his immediate household contracted the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Bruce told Rolling Stone he took a lateral-flow COVID test after he started feeling like he was getting a cold, and it came back positive. "I thought, 'Oh well, shit,'" he said. "I was kind of sneezing a bit. For a couple of days, I felt a bit groggy, kind of like the flu, and that was it. And I'm 63 years old. I've pretty much got no doubt that had I not had the vaccine, I could be in serious trouble." IRON MAIDEN's new album, "Senjutsu", will be released on September 3 via BMG. It was recorded in Paris with longstanding producer Kevin Shirley and co-produced by bassist Steve Harris. The video for the LP's first single, "The Writing On The Wall", was made by BlinkInk based on a concept by Dickinson with two former Pixar executives. It followed a month-long teaser campaign and global "treasure hunt" for clues about the track title and concept.

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With Bloodstock Open Air 2021 well under way, the festival is already be looking ahead and announcing a swathe of bands for the 2022 event, which is set to take place on August 11-14, 2022 at Catton Park, Derbyshire, United Kingdom. Headlining one of the days on the Ronnie James Dio main stage will be mighty groove metal overlords LAMB OF GOD. Frontman Randy Blythe says: "It's been way too long since we've rocked the festivals of Merry Olde — what better way to announce our return than a headliner slot at Bloodstock? Until then, pack your wellies and stay safe, England — LAMB OF GOD (and Roger Brilliant) will see you summer 2022!" Saturday's main stage headliner will be the previously announced King Diamond-fronted heavy metal icons MERCYFUL FATE, who roll over a year after global issues prevented their appearance at this year's festival. The band says: "MERCYFUL FATE comes to Bloodstock…this will be a dangerous meeting you don't want to miss. This time we are going to bring the Devil himself." The remaining main stage headliner is yet to be revealed. Also landing main-stage slots across the weekend are PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS playing their PANTERA set, DIMMU BORGIR, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, GWAR (in a U.K. festival exclusive), BURY TOMORROW, SACRED REICH, LIFE OF AGONY, BUTCHER BABIES, VIO-LENCE and BLOODYWOOD. Over on the Sophie Lancaster stage, headlining Thursday night are THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA and closing out Sunday night will be STATIC X, in their only U.K. show of 2022. Also landing a slot across the weekend are HEATHEN. Stay tuned for more band announcements soon and check out the first 2022 trailer below. Early bird weekend camping tickets are available at the on-site box office across the duration of the 2021 event, then will go on sale online at 9 a.m. Monday, August 16, priced at £135 (+ booking fee) from the ticket store, as well as Serpents Lair VIP tickets, child tickets, and camper van passes (which always sell out very quickly, so don't snooze if you're after one). For more information, click to www.bloodstock.uk.com.

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SEETHER's upcoming album, "Vicennial - 2 Decades Of Seether", tells the remarkable story of the South African quartet's career and chart-topping success. The 20 songs on this compilation have amassed 16 No. 1 chart positions and all are Top 5 multi-format radio hits. This collection is an audio summary of the first 20 years of Billboard's No. 8 all-time Mainstream Rock artists, which covers the 40-year history of the chart's existence. The album, due for release on October 15 via Craft Recordings, was carefully curated by frontman Shaun Morgan and highlights tracks from his band's eight full-length albums — including early breakthrough singles "Broken" and "Fine Again"; the recent No. 1 on both the Rock and Active Rock charts, "Dangerous"; as well as their fan favorite cover of WHAM's "Careless Whisper". Known for their dedication to their fans, SEETHER selected fan submitted artwork for the album cover. Pre-orders for "Vicennial - 2 Decades Of Seether" begin today, including a Seether.com-exclusive 1,000-unit limited-edition custom mixed opaque purple 2-LP vinyl. On October 7, to celebrate the album's release, the band will perform all 20 tracks in sequence live one time only At Ace Of Spades in Sacramento, California. This event is an Aftershock After Party for the opening night of the sold-out Aftershock festival, where the band will be appearing on October 8 with METALLICA, RANCID and others. Since SEETHER isn't able to tour outside of the U.S. right now, they wanted to find another way to bring this special show to their fans around the world. On November 11, the band is hosting a special "Vicennial - Live Online" event through a partnership with the premium digital live platform Moment House. There will be shows at 6 p.m. PST, 6 p.m. GMT and 6 p.m. JST where fans are able to vote for that time zone's 10-song set. Additionally, the band will be appearing live for question-and-answer sessions and virtual meet-and-greets. Tickets for "Vicennial - Live Online", as well as bundles that include merch and an exclusive 500-unit limited-edition custom mixed opaque pink color 2-LP vinyl of "Vicennial", are on sale now at Seether.com. Reflecting on the band's career, Morgan says: "Twenty years is a major milestone for us; we've been on an amazing ride — alongside our fans — and we plan to continue that journey. Putting 'Vicennial' together gave us a chance to look back on our body of work over the years, and to rediscover some of our older songs during the pandemic that brought us all to a standstill. We hope that everyone enjoys the compilation as much as we do now, after this historic lockdown, and we look forward to seeing our fans again at live shows in the future." "Vicennial - 2 Decades Of Seether" features the following tracks: 01. Fake It 02. Remedy 03. Fine Again 04. Broken 05. Words As Weapons 06. Country Song 07. Let You Down 08. Rise Above This 09. Weak 10. Tonight 11. Nobody Praying For Me 12. Careless Whisper 13. Truth 14. Gasoline 15. Betray And Degrade 16. Breakdown 17. Same Damn Life 18. The Gift 19. Driven Under 20. Dangerous SEETHER is the newest addition to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's popular "Right Here Right Now" exhibit. "Right Here Right Now" focuses on the evolution of rock and roll and its impact on the current generation of artists by taking visitors on an intimate journey into the stories of chart-topping acts. Utilizing personal artifacts, thought-provoking text panels and interactive displays, "Right Here Right Now" helps fans discover how SEETHER has influenced the new millennium. SEETHER joins other luminaries in the exhibit, including Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, ALABAMA SHAKES, Taylor Swift, THE LUMINEERS, Kacey Musgraves and The Weeknd.