Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows has said in a new interview with Billboard the band is already looking ahead to making its eighth studio album, although he cautioned that it’s very early in the process: “There’s no new songs. We’ll probably talk for a couple months before we even start writing. There’s just so many cool new influences and even just the idea of sparking us to think of different things outside of the box, I just know it’s going to be different and cool. A lot of times it’s just hard to find inspiration, but once you find inspiration, it’s usually a lot easier process.”
The band issued its most recent LP, The Stage, in October 2016, although Shadows admitted that they may not want to “drag (The Stage) out too much longer.” A deluxe edition of The Stage arrives this Friday (Dec 22nd). It features seven additional studio songs plus four previously unreleased live tracks recorded during recent shows at the O2 Arena in London, recorded unbeknownst to them by their late engineer, “Shirt.”
Avenged Sevenfold recently confirmed the details of an early 2018 North American headlining tour with Breaking Benjamin and Bullet For My Valentine. The trek will begin on Jan 12th in Nashville with shows booked so far through Feb 11th in Fargo, ND.
Shadows also hinted at the group going out on a “really big summer tour” next year, although he did not provide any more details. He suggested that Avenged could enter the studio after that trek concludes.
Avenged Sevenfold became the first rock band to ever release an album with no advance promotion, surprising their fan base with the sudden arrival of The Stage in October 2016. The group announced the LP’s release with a live-streamed performance on the rooftop of the Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, CA. But the plan more or less backfired, resulting in the lowest-selling LP from the group in years. (Thanks Billboard via The Pulse Of Radio.)
The Offspring will return to the studio next month to resume work on its new album. Asked about the status of the veteran punk act’s next LP, guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman told Front Row Live this past Friday (Dec 15th), “We’re working on it. We were in the studio all this week. We finished up for the holidays on Tuesday, Wednesday, and then we’re gonna get back in the studio as soon as the new year (rolls around), in January.”
The band’s 10th studio effort will follow up 2012’s Days Go By. Wasserman said about the band’s writing process, “We kind of show up and throw everything at the wall with the microphones running . . . But it’s very relaxed, it’s very fun — it’s just a different way of trying to create songs, but it’s no less creative, for sure.”
Frontman Dexter Holland told us a while back that the Offspring like to branch off from their punk roots: “I love that sound, and that’s what inspired me to start a band and that’s what saved my life, but I’ve always just kind of gotten bored, you know, if that’s all we do. So I’ve always tried to stretch it a little bit, even back to our first record, Ignition, which had a song called “Dirty Magic,” which was different for us and stuff. But always tried to mix it up, kinda just to keep it interesting. It’s a great feeling to feel like, creatively, we can kind of go wherever we want.“
The Offspring spent 2014 on the road promoting the 20th anniversary of its 1994 breakthrough album Smash, performing the disc in its entirety at a number of shows. Last April, the Offspring played its 1992 album Ignition in full at a benefit show in Berkeley, CA, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of 924 Gilman, a nonprofit music and art community space.
Meanwhile, a little over a year ago, Dexter Holland completed his dissertation and graduated with a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Southern California. Holland began his studies before The Offspring achieved major success, but put his education aside to focus on music. He returned to his studies five years ago and his thesis was on HIV, its causes and possible paths to a cure. He also flies his own plane and has a line of hot sauces under the name Gringo Bandito. (Thanks Blabbermouth and The Pulse Of Radio.)
Ozzy Osbourne in a jam band? Yes indeed! According to Brave Words, he joined all-star covers act Royal Machines on stage Saturday night (Dec 16th) at the Roxy nightclub in West Hollywood, CA to perform six songs, including his solo hits “I Don’t Know” and “Crazy Train” as well as the Black Sabbath classics “Paranoid” and “Iron Man.”
Royal Machines is the “all-star covers fun-times band” featuring former members of another popular Hollywood covers act, Camp Freddy. The lineup includes Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, ex-Cult bassist Billy Morrison, singer Donovan Leitch, Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath and acclaimed drummer Josh Freese.
Ozzy was invited to jam with the group by his good friend Morrison, who told Yahoo! Music, “I have never asked Ozzy for anything, which is possibly why I’m one of his closest friends.”
Black Sabbath played its final shows earlier this year, but Ozzy has continued to do solo shows and plans to head out on his own solo farewell run next year. The trek will begin in May 2018 and is expected to end sometime in 2020, after which Ozzy will end extended touring but may still play select shows from time to time.
Blabbermouth reporting on May 8, 2016, Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor played a sold-out solo acoustic set at Koko in London, England. The full performance has just been released for the first time to the public at thecoreytaylor.com (free e-mail sign-up required).
Taylor states: “London is a city that holds a special place in my heart and I’m so happy this night was captured for you all to see. It was certainly a show I will always remember.”
During his solo performances, Taylor plays a bunch of songs from his catalog, as well as a number of surprising covers, including The Cure‘s “Lovesong.”
The setlist for the Koko concert was as follows:
01. I’ll Be Your Lover, Too (VAN MORRISON cover)
02. Bother (STONE SOUR song)
03. Friend Of The Devil (GRATEFUL DEAD cover)
04. Snuff (SLIPKNOT song)
05. Taciturn (STONE SOUR song)
06. SpongeBob SquarePants Theme (PAINTY THE PIRATE & KIDS cover)
07. Zzyzx Rd. (STONE SOUR song) (with Christian Martucci)
08. Have You Ever Seen The Rain? (CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL cover) (with Christian Martucci)
09. Dying (STONE SOUR song) (with Christian Martucci)
10. Hard Luck Woman (KISS cover) (with Christian Martucci)
11. The Travelers, Pt. 1 (STONE SOUR song) (with Christian Martucci)
12. Tired (STONE SOUR song) (with Christian Martucci)
13. The One I Love (R.E.M. cover) (with Christian Martucci)
14. Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) (BUZZCOCKS cover) (with Christian Martucci)
15. 30/30-150 (STONE SOUR song) (with Christian Martucci)
16. Lovesong (THE CURE cover) (with Christian Martucci)
17. Farm Song (LIFE SEX & DEATH cover) (with Christian Martucci)
18. Name (GOO GOO DOLLS cover) (with Christian Martucci)
19. Folsom Prison Blues / Mystery Train / American Nightmare (with Christian Martucci)
20. The Conflagration (STONE SOUR song) (with Christian Martucci)
21. Through Glass (STONE SOUR song) (with Christian Martucci)
22. Take It Easy (EAGLES cover) (with Christian Martucci) (preceded by “Free Bird” tease)
23. Spit It Out (SLIPKNOT song) (preceded by “Never Gonna Give You Up” tease)
Guess we’ll have new cover songs for the next Cover It Up special edition of hardDrive!
Blabbermouth reporting the official music video for “Glass Houses,” the debut single from Stereo Satellite — the new band featuring Disturbed bassist John Moyer, Adrenaline Mob members Mike Orlando (guitar) and Jordan Cannata (drums), and ex-Rockstar Supernova singer Lukas Rossi — can be seen above. Stereo Satellite will make its live debut at the ShipRocked cruise on Tuesday, Jan 23, 2018.
Says the group: “After years in the making, we are very proud to be finally sharing our new band with the world… Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Stereo Satellite. By melding hook-filled melodies within heavy guitar riffs and hard beats, Stereo Satellite shows their ability to compact a vast array of influence and experience into a signature sound with substance, style, and spirit.”
Orlando and Cannata were both involved in a crash last July that resulted in the death of Adrenaline Mob bassist David Zablidowsky.
Orlando states: “Over the past recent months, I have learned a lot about how cathartic music can be, especially after going through such a heinous life-changing tragedy. It’s been a complete uphill battle in even trying to begin to heal physically and mentally. I have a long road ahead, for sure, and will have to undergo many more procedures and ongoing therapy. I don’t think I’ll ever fully heal mentally, but I’ve been moved to write songs again with my brother Lukas, who I feel is an amazing songwriting partner, and start this new band along with my brothers John Moyer and Jordan Cannata. I find it really helps me to cope and I can’t wait to share all the music we’ve written and start touring again full-time.”
Moyer admits to having mixed feelings about the band being dubbed a supergroup. “We hate the supergroup thing because it’s a new band in its own right,” he says. “But I think it’s important for us to say we’ve been around the rock music scene for a long time and in various ways. Stereo Satellite is a new beginning for us all, and I’m looking forward to sharing our new music with the fans very soon.”
Rossi concurs, saying: “I can’t wait to release our new songs and perform them live with these awesome guys. Regarding the supergroup thing, look I don’t care what you call us, just call us!”
Back in 2006, Rossi was declared the winner of the second season of “Rock Star” and assumed frontman duties for Rocksar Supernova, a band comprised of MÖTLEY CRÜE drummer Tommy Lee, former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke.
Moyer joined Disturbed in 2003 and has appeared on the albums Ten Thousand Fists, Indestructible, Asylum and Immortalized.
And finally today, and this is for Lou Brutus who has a thing about UFOs,
Former Blink 182 guitarist Tom DeLonge‘s paranormal research organization was cited in an article from the New York Times this weekend. Former Pentagon official Luis Elizondo, who is now part of DeLonge’s To The Stars Academy of Arts & Science, confirmed the existence of a UFO-related investigative program at the Pentagon called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program. The program launched in 2007 and was allegedly shut down by the Defense Department in 2012, but reports indicate that the program has continued to operate clandestinely within the Pentagon.
The obscure name was designed to disguise the fact that the U.S. Department of Defense was spending $22 million on searching for UFOs, according to the Times. Elizondo resigned from his Pentagon post in October due to what he said was “excessive secrecy and internal opposition.” DeLonge found a role for Elizondo with To The Stars after he quit the Pentagon.
New declassified videos posted to To The Stars‘ YouTube channel show footage of a glowing, rotating aircraft filmed from Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets in 2004. The Times also included the footage in its article. DeLonge told the New York Daily News after the report was published that “all the things (people have) heard about and seen are the first step of 20. There’s a lot more s**t coming.”
DeLonge’s split with Blink in early 2015 was at least partially due to him wanting to spend more time on his other pursuits, including UFO research and the development of films and books related to that topic.
