Judas Priest have announced additional Epitaph screenings along with the previously announced dates in London and New York.

Eddie Trunk will be hosting the New York screening on May 14th along with frontman Rob Halford and guitarist Richie Faulkner in attendance.

Below are a list of all US screens currently confirmed. More being added daily:

Bridgeport, CT/Showcase
Chicago, IL/Marcus Orland Park
Cleveland, OH/Capitol Theatre
Denver, CO/Landmark Greenwood
Detroit, MI/Landmark Main Art
Los Angeles, CA/Laemmie Music Hall
Lowell, MA/Showcase
Moreno Valley, CA/Harkins Moreno Valley
New York, NY/Clearview Chelsea
Phoenix, AZ/Harkins Tempe Marketplace
Providence, RI/Showcase Providence Place
San Antonio, TX/Alamo Drafthouse San Westlakes
San Diego, CA/Landmark Hillcrest
San Francisco, CA/Landmark Embarcadero
Springdale, OH/Showcase Springdale
St Louis, MO/Landmark Tivoli
Tuscon, AZ/The Loft
Worcester, MA/Worcester North

Visit judaspriest.com/Epitaph-Cinema for up to date listings.

For New York Screening Tickets, please visit www.movietickets.com.

For more information about this special event, please click here.

Former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing has posted the following message at his official website:

“Hi everyone!

Well, it has been a while. I haven’t been hibernating this winter but often thought of doing so. Hopefully the worst of the weather is behind us and we can look forward to a great festival season.

I had a call from one of the world’s great singers Geoff Tate who I guess knew that I would be available to guest on one of the tracks of his new album. Despite the sad division within the band at the moment, in the name of music I decided to go ahead. Queensryche as you know have long since galvanized their position in the world of Metal and are known and respected for the hard work that they have dedicated to music over so many years. Priest have had the pleasure many times to have played alongside the band and I can say openly that I have many great memories of the fun and crazy times that we shared whilst on tour. I remember one incident that nearly killed or at least maimed me – that was DEATH BY SOFA!

Let me explain. One night after the show – mentioning no names – one of the Queensryche- guys suggested levitating a ginormous sofa between just four of us using just one finger each. After quite a few beers something was destined to go wrong. Anyway, we proceeded and it was amazing until the thing was over our heads. Then two of the guys dropped out. As the thing came careering in my direction, I had immediate visions of a hospital bed. By the skin of my teeth I somehow managed to escape the flying sofa. My tour could have well and truly ended there! Anyway someone said: “who’s for a beer?” and the night went on. However, I often think of what the headline might have been: “Rock musician killed by a sofa! ”

Anyway, now back on safer ground in the UK I have been trying to create a circuit that unsigned bands can tour without paying to get on. It is not easy but I guess it’s early days. So if you are close to Wolverhampton Slade rooms on the 16th of May or Birmingham Asylum on the 17th please swing by for a full on metal night with Hostile, Moray Firth (from France), Under Blackened Skies and Left Unscarred for the start of Future of Metal.

Talking of great singers I was speaking to Ripper recently and he told me of his plans to open his own bigger and better venue soon in his hometown. So watch this space for updates on that. I am sure the opening party will be very metal and one not to be missed.

Have a great summer festival season and thank you for feeding the flames!”

source: kkdowning.net

Legendary Seattle rockers Queensrÿche are back with their new record simply titled Queensrÿche. The album will be released on June 25th via Century Media and is the latest addition to the band’s multi-platinum musical catalog. From the opening sound of the intro of X2 to the final notes of the closer Open Road, it is apparent that the signature sound that captivated fans for over 30 years is alive and well. Fans were treated to a taste of the new album when the band released Redemption in March and have been garnering praise since it was released. The song has been listened to over 150,000 times on YouTube since it was released last month. The cover for the album was designed by Craig Howell who has worked on designs for Star Wars, Slipknot and American Idol to name a few. Queensrÿche was mixed and mastered by famed Queensrÿche producer James “Jimbo” Barton who is known for working on the band’s classics Operation: Mindcrime and Empire. Originally slated for June 11, Queensrÿche marks the debut from the lineup comprised of Todd La Torre (Vocals), Michael Wilton (Guitars), Parker Lundgren (Guitars), Eddie Jackson (Bass) and Scott Rockenfield (Drums).

“This gets said often by a lot of bands, but we believe we have recorded some of our finest music in years. The collaborative effort of everyone on this album is something we are extremely proud of. Working with Jimbo and the addition of Todd has revitalized the band in ways we never knew until we heard the final results. We know you have to wait a little longer but are excited for all of our fans to hear it. Queensrÿche wouldn’t be in this position if not for your unwavering support,” exclaims drummer Scott Rockenfield.

Queensrÿche first burst onto the music scene in 1982 with the release of their self-titled 4 song EP Queensrÿche. They very quickly gained international recognition and performed to sold out audiences around the world. With the follow up first full-length album The Warning in 1984, and the ground breaking 1986 release of Rage For Order, Queensrÿche continued to prove their worldwide dominance as one of the most respected and creative bands of the 80′s. In 1988 the band turned out yet another monumental album Operation: Mindcrime, which would go on to become one of the TOP 10 best selling concepts records of all time, and set the stage for continued sold out performances around the world. With the release of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Empire in 1991, the band earned multiple Grammy Award nominations and won the MTV “viewers choice” award for the #1 chart topping hit Silent Lucidity. During the next ten years, the band continued to release albums and tour the world to sold-out audiences. Queensrÿche has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and have continued to break new ground and push their creative process.

The track listing for Queensrÿche is:

1. X2
2. Where Dreams Go To Die
3. Spore
4. In This Light
5. Redemption
6. Vindication
7. Midnight Lullaby
8. A World Without
9. Don’t Look Back
10. Fallout
11. Open Road

Gary Graff of Billboard.com reports:

Cinderella frontman Tom Keifer’s first solo album, The Way Life Goes, comes out April 30th, but it’s been in the making for nearly 18 years.

Keifer, who now resides in Nashville, tells Billboard that he got the idea for a solo album “in the mid-90s, when the band broke up after we were politely asked to leave our record company during all those shifts in music trends during the ’90s. I started thinking about the record then, but it got put on the back burner” as Keifer dealt with vocal problems (paralysis of his left vocal cord that requires continuing treatment) and Cinderella ultimately regrouped as a touring entity. “I finally got back around to it in 2003,” he adds, “and by then I had this big pile of songs and just started recording tracks.”

Keifer says he did everything on his own ” ’cause I didn’t want anybody breathing down my neck. I wanted to take the time and get it to where I wanted to. The idea from the beginning was when it’s done, it’s done and then I’d shop the finished product. I didn’t think it was going to take 10 years, but every record has its path. There were a variety of things that took me away from it and brought me back, and I think that provided some objectivity. It was kind of a piecemeal labor of love process, but it worked.”

Fans will notice a characteristically broad stretch of styles on the album, reflected by its first two singles — the rootsy, melodic The Flower Song, which went to AAA radio stations in early February, and the swaggering Solid Ground, which was serviced to rock stations on March 11th.

“I always like to try to do that,” explains Keifer, who wrote some of the songs with his wife, fellow songwriter Savannah Snow. “I grew up on bands that always had a lot of dynamics on their records and took you on a journey. The (Rolling) Stones and (Led) Zeppelin would go from acoustic music to driving rock and everything in-between. I think that makes for a more interesting album. Even with Cinderella, starting with our second album (1988′s Long Cold Winter) and even moreso on (1990′s) Heartbreak Station we started mixing it up more. Those are the kinds of records I like, so I’m trying to keep that tradition alive.”

Keifer is currently on the road previewing The Way Life Goes, and he hopes to do more touring following its release, though he notes that he’s taking the proverbial “one day at a time” approach. Meanwhile, Cinderella is slated to return after taking a hiatus this year, and Keifer isn’t ruling out the possibility of the band recording another album, its first since 1994′s Still Climbing.

“We would certainly welcome the opportunity,” Keifer says. “We actually signed a deal in the late 90s to record with one of those big record companies, who will remain nameless. The deal wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be and we wound up in the courts, which left a pretty bad taste in our mouths. So we’d be very cautious about entering another deal, but we’d be open to it. I’ve been part of that band for many years. They’re my brothers. This (solo) album is just something else I’m doing.”

Watch the videos for The Flower Song and Solid Ground below.

source: billboard.com

Judas Priest, the heavy metal legends whose influence on generations of musicians and metalheads is incalculable, celebrate their 40th year as recording artists with the global cinema release of the live concert Epitaph. A unique live career retrospective, Epitaph will be shown at two very special cinema events — one in New York at the Clearview Chelsea on May 14th and the other at London’s Forum in Kentish Town on May 15th. It will then be released in cinemas on May 16th across the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Bulgaria, Estonia, Romania, Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Central America, with many more to follow. Fans will have a limited opportunity to re-live the excitement of the final show of the band’s last-ever world tour, which was filmed at the Hammersmith Apollo London in May 2012.

Cinema locations and ticket purchasing information can be found at JudasPriest.com.

Says the band, “The Epitaph world tour came to an exciting conclusion at the renowned Hammersmith Odeon (now known as the Apollo) in London. Knowing our fans around the planet recognize that venue for many legendary metal moments, and of course with Judas Priest being a British metal band it was the perfect gig for us to film and record. Big thanks as always to you our metal family of fans — so start banging your heads one more time with us as we scream together ‘The Priest is back!’”

A unique live career retrospective, Epitaph will be made available on Blu-ray and separate DVD on May 28th through Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment. This release precedes a new studio album by Judas Priest which the band are working on now.

Epitaph track listing

1. Battle Hymn (L)
2. Rapid Fire (F)
3. Metal Gods (F)
4. Heading Out To The Highway (G)
5. Judas Rising (M)
6. Starbreaker (C)
7. Victim Of Changes (B)
8. Never Satisfied (A)
9. Diamonds And Rust (C)
10. Prophecy (N)
11. Night Crawler (L)
12. Turbo Lover (J)
13. Beyond The Realms Of Death (D)
14. The Sentinel (I)
15. Blood Red Skies (K)
16. The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown) (E)
17. Breaking The Law (F)
18. Painkiller (L)
19. The Hellion (H)
20. Electric Eye (H)
21. Hell Bent For Leather (E)
22. You’ve Got Another Thing Coming (H)
23. Living After Midnight (F)

Album index:

A – from “Rocka Rolla” (originally issued 1974, on Gull Records)
B – from “Sad Wings Of Destiny” (originally issued 1976, on Gull Records)
C – from “Sin After Sin” (originally issued 1977, on Columbia Records)
D – from “Stained Class” (originally issued 1978, on Columbia)
E – from “Hell Bent For Leather” (originally issued 1979, on Columbia; aka Killing Machine in UK)
F – from “British Steel” (originally issued 1980, on Columbia)
G – from “Point Of Entry” (originally issued 1981, on Columbia)
H – from “Screaming For Vengeance” (originally issued 1982, on Columbia)
I – from “Defenders Of the Faith” (originally issued 1984, on Columbia)
J – from “Turbo” (originally issued 1986, on Columbia)
K – from “Ram It Down” (originally issued 1988, on Columbia)
L – from “Painkiller” (originally issued 1990, on Columbia)
M – from “Angel Of Retribution” (originally issued 2005, on Epic Records)
N – from “Nostradamus” (originally issued 2008, on Epic)

Following the overwhelming response to the initial announcement of just four tour dates, Black Sabbath have now confirmed a full 20-city North American tour. Beginning July 25th in Houston, TX, the tour will include shows in Philadelphia, Boston, Tinley Park (Chicago), San Francisco and other major markets, along with the previously announced stops in Holmdel, NJ (NY-area), Los Angeles, Seattle and Toronto, ON. Tickets for the newly announced dates will go on sale starting Friday, May 3rd at LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.com. A full list of cities and on sale dates for the dates is below. Beginning today, fans can go to http://bit.ly/Sabbath_RSVP to RSVP for early access to presale tickets available Thursday, May 2nd. VIP Packages are also available at VIPNation.com.

Black Sabbath launched their world tour on April 20th with two shows in Auckland, NZ. They are now in Australia for performances in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide, before heading to Tokyo for the first-ever Ozzfest in Japan on May 12th.

Along the overseas tour, Black SAabbath–Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler–are previewing music from their forthcoming 13. On the new album, due out June 11th, the band that defined heavy metal picks up immediately where they left off with eight sprawling songs (five of them are over eight minutes) that possess every ounce of the maniacal vitality of the Grammy-winning, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees’ trailblazing work in the ’70s. Songs such as End of the Beginning, Loner, Dear Father and Age of Reason reinforce 13’s testament to the enduring relevance of Black Sabbath’s long-running reign. Produced by Rick Rubin (seven-time Grammy winner, two of those as Producer of the Year), 13 will be released on Vertigo (worldwide) and Vertigo/Republic in the U.S.

Black Sabbath North American Tour Dates

Jul 25th Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Jul 27th Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Jul 29th Tampa, FL Live Nation Amphitheatre
Jul 31st W. Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre

Aug 2nd Bristow, VA Jiffy Lube Live
Aug 4th Holmdel, NJ PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug 6th Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
Aug 8th Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
Aug 10th Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center
Aug 12th Boston, MA Comcast Center
Aug 14th Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre
Aug 16th Tinley Park, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug 18th Indianapolis, IN Klipsch Music Center
Aug 22nd Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Aug 24th Seattle, WA Gorge Amphitheatre
Aug 26th San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
Aug 28th Irvine, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug 30th Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center

Sep 1st Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Garden Arena
Sep 3rd Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles Sports Arena

*Previously announced date.
^On sale Friday, May 3rd
+On sale Saturday, May 4th
~On sale, Friday May 10th
>On sale TBD

Megadeth are streaming the title track from their new album, Super Collider, listen to it below.

[Super Collider] kind of came from that Symphony of Destruction corner of my mind,” Mustaine told Guitar World in the new June 2013 issue. “You can’t always play aggressive, thrashy stuff. Sometimes those aren’t even songs; they’re like musical rams.

“But because I’m not a pop guy, I’m also not really comfortable playing sing-along songs. To me, Super Collider made sense like a normal song — a verse-chorus-verse-chorus kind of thing. It’s written the way a real songwriter would write the song, instead of just taking all these musical twists and turns.”

Super Collider will be released on June 4th release through Dave Mustaine’s new label, Tradecraft, which is distributed by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe).

additional source: revolvermag.com

Brian Thomas Tichy and his partner Joe Sutton have decided to bring their Bonzo Bash/John Bonham celebration to New York and New Jersey for three shows commemorating the life of rock’s ultimate drummer. The spectacles, sponsored by Modern Drummer Magazine, have been booked on May 30th, May 31st and June 1st to pay tribute to John Henry Bonham on and around what would have been his 65th birthday. 

Since the first epic/never done before Bonzo Bash (The Groove Remains The Same) on Zeptember 25th, 2010, which brought 18 of the world’s best drummers together on one drum kit in West Hollywood, Tichy and Sutton have done a total of five Bonzo Bashes with each one gaining more momentum and much deserved attention.  With a list that is far too long to include here, it should be noted that 50 drummers and 30 guests have performed over 100 songs through the course of these marathon shows! The last Bonzo Bash, on Jan 24th 2013, the most talked about show at the NAMM music convention, sold out and a second night could have been added. 30 drummers played with a total of 52 performers over the course of 5 hours.

Tichy said, “I had this idea back in 2010 when one day it occurred to me that John Bonham and Led Zeppelin were the only band I had never stopped listening to for over 30 years. The idea literally came to me in that instant. I was going to go for a backyard party or a kegger in a rehearsal room, but then figured if all these drummers actually get together and make it a “thing,” it should be made available for people to see so I talked to promoter Joe Sutton, a Zep Head himself, who happened to have the exact night on hold at Key Club and that was that!  

The concept is simple: each drummer chooses his or her favorite Led Zeppelin song and plays it on an amber acrylic drum kit with house band The Moby Dicks. This coming together of the world’s best drummers also brings with it an undeniable, communal spirit that is very hard to find at any other type of rock show. We all have a great time as it’s all about celebrating the amazing drumming of John Bonham and his timeless impact. The energy is thick, the egoless vibes prevail and we all walk away with great memories! I’ve never seen so many smiling faces at a rock show. 

People constantly ask for us to take this juggernaut on the road but in theory, it’s not unlike a river crossing of wildebeests during migration season! But, by going to a city like New York with my home state New Jersey next door and inviting the best drummers in the area, it became apparent that we may be able to pull this off after all. 

So, grab a couple tickets and get dazzled by a great house band and one of the most unique shows you’ll ever see featuring some of the world’s best drummers around.

Bonzo Bash East Coast Dates:

Thursday, May 30th, The Gramercy, NYC                
Friday, May 31st, Revolution,  Amityville, Long Island, NY    
Saturday,  June 1st, Bergan PAC, Englewood, NJ  

Drummers: (appearance info. goes by  ”NYC, LI and/or NJ”)

Carmine Appice  (Drum Legend/ Co-hosting ONLY)  NYC/ LI/ NJ
Michael Cartellone (Lynyrd Skynyrd/ Damn Yankees)  NYC/ LI/ NJ
Liberty Devitto  (Billy Joel)  LI/ NJ 
Joe Franco  (Good Rats/ Twisted Sister/ Widowmaker)  NYC/ LI/ NJ
Jerry Gaskill (King’s X) NYC/ LI/ NJ
Jojo Mayer (Nerve) NYC/ LI/ NJ
Johnny Kelly (Danzig/Type O Negative) NYC/ LI/ NJ
Jonathan Mover (Aretha Franklin/ Joe Satriani)   NYC/ LI/ NJ
A.J. Pero (Twisted Sister)  NYC/ LI/ NJ
Mike Portnoy (Adrenaline Mob/ Winery Dogs/ Dream Theater) NJ
Thommy Price (Joan Jett/ Billy Idol) NYC
Van Romaine (Steve Morse) LI/ NJ
Bobby Rondinelli (Rainbow/ Black Sabbath) NYC/ LI/ NJ
Matt Starr (Ace Frehley/ Burning Rain)  NYC/ LI/ NJ 
Chad Szeliga (Black Label Society/ Breaking Benjamin) NJ
Brian Tichy  (Whitesnake/ Foreigner/ S.U.N.)   NYC/ LI/ NJ
Steven Wolf  (Alicia Keys/ Pink/ Britney Spears) NYC/ LI/ NJ

Special Guests: 
Russell Allen (Adrenaline Mob/ Tred) NYC/LI/NJ
Randy Jackson (Zebra) NYC
Sass Jordan  (S.U.N.) NYC/LI/NJ
Mike Orlando (Adrenaline Mob/ Tred) NYC/LI/NJ
Eddie Trunk  (That Metal Show)   Hosting NJ

***Many more drummers and special guests to be announced!***

The Moby Dicks:
Rob Clores  (Black Crowes/ Enrique Iglesias)  Keys (East Coast Moby Dick/Special Guest)
John “JD” DeServio  (Black Label Society/ C.O.P.)  Bass  (East Coast Moby Dick/Special Guest)
Chas West  (Bonham/ Lynch Mob)   Vocals   (Moby Dick)
Brent Woods   (Vince Neil/ Sebastian Bach/ Brentwood Forest) Guitar (Moby Dick)  

For more information, please visit facebook.com/bonzosbirthdaybash.

Metallica’s new 3D film, Metallica Through The Never debut on IMAX’s chain of super-sized screens on September 27th. It will open wide a week later.

“To be at the forefront in this situation where IMAX has never done this is very exciting,” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said. “It’s also a bit of a confidence booster. Being in the movie-making business is not necessarily our forte and it’s been a very interesting three years. We’ve learned a lot about a lot of different things. The recognition from IMAX and to be able to have our fans and people that are interested in this film to see it and experience it in the IMAX format is super cool.”

Ulrich, in his first interview about the movie, chuckled at the long road the film, directed by Nimrod Antal, has taken to near completion. It remains in post-production where concert and narrative footage are being knitted together with CGI effects to create something the band thinks will be completely different from the average concert film.

“Any filmmaker hopes people like a film,” Ulrich said, “but what I can guarantee is that it will be unlike anything that anybody’s ever seen before – so at least that’s something. And for that I’m pretty excited.”

Ulrich, speaking by phone from Cape Town, South Africa, where the pioneering metal band will play this week, didn’t want to go too deeply into details about the film. It stars young “Chronicle” actor Dane DeHaan as a member of Metallica’s concert tour crew who’s sent on a special mission by the band. The movie follows two parallel story lines – DeHaan’s scripted narrative and the band’s concert – which intertwine throughout.

The band built a stage to film its concert pieces so fans will have the feeling of being inside the performance.

“There’s no secret there are parts of Metallica’s career that have been quite theatrical, of the different live experiences that we’ve had,” Ulrich said. “And so we thought that we would give some of those theatrical presentations a kind of 2012 upgrade, especially for a bunch of our fans who were very, very young who have only heard about what happened in the `80s and `90s.”

That the movie’s release slipped into 2013 turns out to be a good thing in retrospect. Even if it’s taken a few more checks than the band expected.

“Metallica (has a) tendency to jump and then start asking questions on the way down, then realize that as we get closer to the ground that there’s no safety net and realize we should have asked more questions on the way down,” Ulrich said. “But that’s part of the rush. We jumped and this seemed like a pretty fun undertaking.”

additional source: billboard

Last week,Black Star Riders vocalist Ricky Warwick and guitarist Damon Johnson dropped in on Eddie Trunk at SiriusXM Radio’s HQ while in New York City on a promotional tour for their debut album All Hell Breaks Loose – due out in North America on May 28th. The result was the definitive live radio interview covering the historical context and each band member’s history leading to the creation of the rock world’s latest super group: Black Star Riders.

Listen to the audio interview in its entirety on the Nuclear Blast Soundcloud page here.

ABOUT Black Star Riders: In 2012, the touring members of Thin Lizzy began to seriously consider utilizing the vast songwriting talent within the band and spoke of it freely in the press. When Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey and keyboardist Darren Wharton bowed out of a new album and the subsequent tours to support it, the remaining members decided to band together under the Black Star Riders name allowing them to forge forward from – yet informed by – the historical legacy that the Thin Lizzy name is infused with.

The Black Star Riders line-up features Thin Lizzy members Ricky Warwick, Damon Johnson, Scott Gorham and Marco Mendoza together with drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (Alice Cooper / Megadeth). Produced & mixed by the legendary Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Aerosmith, Rush), their first studio album All Hell Breaks Loose features cover artwork by Gil Elvgren – the most renowned pin-up artist in the history of American Illustration.

The Bound For Glory single can be purchased on iTunes.

Hear the backstory and watch Ricky & Damon’s acoustic performance of Bound For Glory for The Orchard’s Stairwell Series below.

The track listing for All Hell Breaks Loose is:

1. All Hell Breaks Loose
2. Bound For Glory (view the lyric video here)
3. Kingdom Of The Lost
4. Bloodshot
5. Kissin’ The Ground
6. Hey Judas
7. Hoodoo Voodoo
8. Valley Of The Stones
9. Someday Salvation
10. Before The War
11. Blues Ain’t So Bad

The album will be released as a standard CD and also as a special edition digi-pak featuring a bonus track Right To Be Wrong and a Making of DVD.

A 24 minute compilation of behind-the-scenes video reports from the band’s studio time in Los Angeles can be viewed below.

For more information, please visit BlackStarRiders.com and www.facebook.com/BlackStarRidersOfficial.