Author: Editorial Team

Don Dokken dropped by the latest episode of The SDR Show with hosts Ralph Sutton and Aaron Berg, and the conversation covered a lot of ground: Dokken playing the first Rocklahoma, his early years in an orphanage until age six, starting out on drums and guitar in a musical family, working as a sous-chef for his uncle, landing in juvenile hall after stealing quarters, then moving in with his dad in Los Angeles.

He also got into writing “Dream Warriors,” the physical hits he’s dealt with (including a paralyzed arm and a shattered ankle), and the ongoing “what if” around one more release with George Lynch and other classic-era Dokken members before he finally calls it.

When asked if the classic Dokken lineup still has a real shot at making a new album, Don laid out where things stand right now (via Blabbermouth): “Well, the last 20 or so shows we’ve [the current lineup of Dokken] done in the last few months, George was coming on as a special guest. And he would play two songs with us, or three. And we’re old — we’re too old to bicker and fight, even though a couple of years ago he went at it again with the lawsuits. But that’s in the past. So, we’re both gray-haired now.”

“And then the last show he just did, he brought his whole band, the Lynch Mob, and they opened for us. And he still came on stage at the end of the night and did two songs, or three maybe. He did three songs… So we talked about it. And I said, ‘But the problem is I can’t play guitar anymore.’ And I said to George very openly, I said, ‘And you don’t write as I write.’ He’s got his own trip. If you listen to the last four Lynch Mob albums, they have nothing to do with Dokken. And you listen to [former Dokken bassist] Jeff Pilson‘s solo albums, they have nothing to do with Dokken,” he continued.

“It comes out of your mind, your spirit, God. I can’t stand when people go, ‘How do you write a song? You get a piece of paper, and you sit down, and you start playing your guitar, and that sounds cool. And start writing lyrics.’ I’ve never written like that. I wait — I wait for the moment. And the bitch is sometimes it doesn’t happen for, like, three weeks. I’ll write four songs. I’ll come back to ’em in my studio and go, ‘It’s crap.’ Or ‘I just repeated myself,’” Dokken elaborated.

For anyone hoping a reunion album would magically appear because George has been jumping onstage lately, Don made it clear that playing a few classics live and writing new material as a unit are two different beasts, especially when everyone’s styles have drifted.

He also pointed out that they already tried testing the waters years ago, and it went about as smoothly as you’d expect when history and pressure are both in the room: “So I talked to George — to answer your question — and a lot of labels keep approaching us. And we did an experiment — what’s it been, like seven years now? — We did an experiment, and we said, ‘We’ll write one song together’. And that was ‘It’s Another Day’. And we wrote, recorded it, and made a cool video. Original members.”

“We went to Japan. I said, ‘I’m not doing America. We’ll go to Japan, and we’ll see if we don’t kill each other.’ And that’s exactly what I said. We did the Japanese tour. It was a disaster, mostly because of me. I just wasn’t on my game. We did that song, ‘It’s Another Day’, put the video out, and we just came back, and I said, ‘I don’t think this is gonna work.’ So that was the end of that,” he added.

If an EP happens, Don wants it to hit like Dokken, not like a side project with familiar names.

“So now I’ve talked to George when we played, and I said, ‘I might be up for an EP only.’ But I said flat out, ‘It has to sound like Dokken. I’m not trying to insult you, George, but I’ve listened to all your records. It has to be Dokken.’ That’s what the fans want. They don’t want to hear tripped-out stuff… George puts out what he puts out, but it has nothing to do with the way I write.”

Pressed to confirm that the Dokken EP idea is “still on the table”, Don added one more detail that makes this whole thing even stranger: “We haven’t got down to the nitty-gritty. George is now my neighbor, which is weird. I live in New Mexico. He lives in New Mexico. He actually dropped me off from the airport two weeks ago.”

The post DON DOKKEN On Likelihood Of New Material With Classic-Era Members: “If It Happens, It Has To Sound Like DOKKEN” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

For a lot of heavy bands, the big moment comes from a single push: one monster single, one radio cycle, one label gamble. For Iron Maiden, the path stayed simpler and harder. Adrian Smith said the band made its name the way metal fans actually care about: turning up, playing loud, and leaving towns with new believers.

Talking about why that road worked, Smith pointed to a truth that every hard rock lifer recognizes. Iron Maiden was never built for the mainstream machine. Their sound, their length, their attitude, none of it screamed “easy playlist placement.” So the band worked the only angle that made sense: get on the road and put the songs directly in front of people who would actually listen.

That approach matters even more now that people keep saying the band is “bigger now” than “it has ever been”. Here is how Adrian Smith put it (via Ultimate Guitar): “Yeah, people say that. I mean, it’s wonderful, isn’t it? I have to say, though, that the band’s philosophy has always been to take music out to the people, because it was never music that was going to get mass radio play. And I think, when you build a career like that, it lasts a bit longer than just having a few big hit records.”

Smith was basically saying that bands that build their crowd face-to-face get a longer runway, because the relationship becomes real. And he backed it up with the kind of detail that sounds like scars, not marketing.

“You know, we’ve actually gone to all these places. We used to do 15-day tours in France and go to every little city. In England as well, all over the world. It hasn’t always been us playing massive gigs and everyone coming to see us. We’ve always taken it out there. People remember that. I think that’s why a band stands in good stead, you know, later in their career. Because people remember that. It’s like an honest way of building a career.”

That is the grind a lot of newer acts skip. Small cities. Repeated loops. The slow conversion process. You can hear the pride in how he frames it: Iron Maiden went to the crowd first, and the crowd grew into arenas later.

Longevity like that usually comes with drama, lineup wreckage, or burned bridges. Yet in the decades since Steve Harris started the band in 1975, the story around Iron Maiden has stayed unusually steady by rock standards. Even when members moved on, the band often kept things friendly.

From Harris’ perspective, staying functional comes down to managing ego and keeping the temperature lower than the music. He described the day-to-day reality of being in a band for the long haul like this (via Music Radar): “You have to put things to one side. I think the older you get, the easier it is to deal with, in the sense that you just bite your tongue and get on with it. You don’t let things get bogged down where they might have done a few years before.”

There is nothing glamorous about that quote, which is exactly why it rings true. Bands break up over tiny stuff when everyone feels like winning the argument matters more than playing the next show. Iron Maiden made room for people to breathe and kept moving, and the results show up in the only scoreboard that counts: the band still fills venues.

And they are not acting like a nostalgia act ready to coast into retirement, either. Dave Murray summed up the idea of quitting on your own terms, while making it clear that the moment is not around the corner: “We’re nearly hitting the seventies mark now, but I think we will all know when it would be time. It would be a mutual decision. I think there’s a time and a place to bail out with dignity and grace – as opposed to dragging it out. If you can leave it at that high level and then bow out gracefully, I think it would be satisfying for us. And not just flog a dead horse, when you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”

Right now, the momentum is still pointed forward. Iron Maiden is lining up the next stretch of dates for the second European leg of their current “Run for Your Lives World Tour,” with more runs across the Americas slated for later next year.

The post ADRIAN SMITH Breaks Down IRON MAIDEN’s Key To Success: “The Band’s Philosophy Has Always Been To Take Music Out To The People” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Dream Theater have been living on the road behind Parasomnia since the record landed in February 2025, and by Jordan Rudess’s count, the cycle has stretched into a full-on marathon. In a new chat with Costa Rica’s Backstage Magazine, the keyboardist framed the last stretch as the kind of run a band only gets a few times in a career — especially with a major lineup piece back in place.

Rudess put it plainly (transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Well, it’s been a very exciting year. We’ve been on tour for over a year now… We’ve been having a great year. It’s been wonderful to have Mike Portnoy back in the band after so many years. He kind of came back home, if you will, which has just felt so good. So, the whole last — whatever it’s been — 15 months of running around the world and playing shows and putting out our Parasomnia album has been pretty, pretty awesome.”

“It’s been a great time in a very long career. And I guess to kind of like top it off, ’cause when we see all of you [in Central and Latin America], it’ll be the last phase of the world tour, it’ll be a nice way to do it because we know the fans are really great and they’ll be excited. And I’m sure that’ll just be a great celebration for everybody,” he added.

For anyone who’s followed Dream Theater through the years, that “back home” line hits the core of what longtime fans wanted: chemistry that feels natural, and a band that sounds locked in while still taking the same risks. Rudess makes it clear that the touring grind has felt rewarding rather than routine, and the final leg in Central and Latin America is being treated like the send-off lap.

He also dug into what it’s like to stand in front of big crowds night after night playing music that leaves very little room to breathe. The band’s live headspace, as he describes it, is equal parts adrenaline and focus, and that balance is part of the job.

“What we do is pretty interesting because when you think about people like us, bands or any entertainer, artist being in front of large audiences and getting the kind of love and emotion and energy from the audience, plus the emotions that we feel just in our internal world, just the band by being together and making music for this many years and all that, you can really get hit with a big wave of kind of intensity, and it can be very joyful. It can be really amazing.”

That’s a solid way to describe the Dream Theater experience from both sides of the barricade: the room pushes, the band pushes back, and the songs demand full attention. Rudess took it further, talking about how that intensity becomes a life skill, especially for younger musicians learning how to perform under pressure without letting the moment take over.

“It’s always been an interesting thing for me and something that I’ve tried to even share a lot with younger people, younger musicians or anybody who has to get in a situation where they have to be in front of the public and have to deal with emotions that are more than just sitting in their own home and just hanging out or being with a friend, because we all get kind of pushed into these situations where life can get kind of challenging and challenging not always in a bad way, but even in a way, like, something’s happening, and it’s a big emotion and you have to know how to kind of deal with it and keep thinking clearly and keep kind of being aware and, in our case, being able to play intricate music while there’s a lot of stuff going on, whether it’s the audiences cheering or there’s noises or we’re playing a really hard section of the music.”

“So, for me, that kind of being able to focus and being able to absorb those emotions and still remain calm is probably one of the biggest life lessons. It’s allowed, I think, all of us in the band to kind of become the people who we are and to refine our craft in a way that we can get up there and we can play a complicated Dream Theater song. And I mean, we’re human beings — we make mistakes certainly — but just to be able to perform at a high level and to do it and to feel the joy and to put out the energy and to share that with everybody, it’s kind of a big deal,” he summed up.

Next up, Dream Theater are taking that mindset into a spring 2026 Latin America run, continuing the “An Evening With Dream Theater” format. The plan celebrates Parasomnia by playing the album in full, and it also brings back a major centerpiece: the entire seven-movement “A Change Of Seasons,” being performed for the first time since Mike Portnoy returned, alongside other staples and fan favorites pulled from across the catalog.

The post JORDAN RUDESS Says “It’s A Big Deal” To Be Able To Perform DREAM THEATER’s Complex Music “At A High Level” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman recently came back to one of the biggest “what ifs” of his early career: the late-’80s audition for Ozzy Osbourne’s band. In a new interview with Argentina’s TCDG Guitar Lessons, he laid out the situation as he remembers it: down to the clothes, the scene, and the feeling that he walked into the wrong movie.

“They actually called me when I lived in San Francisco. I was in Cacophony at the time and completely broke, almost homeless. But [Ozzy’s wife and manager] Sharon Osbourne called me up and said if I wanted to go to L.A., they’d fly me out to L.A. to audition. I’m, like, ‘Wow, that’s cool.’ So, I did the audition and played,” Friedman remembered (via Blabbermouth)

“I thought I did a good job. But I didn’t really match the vibe of the band very much. They were full-on L.A.-metal type of guys with handcuffs in their belts and Jack Daniel’s t-shirts, and they were all decked out for rehearsal. And I understood doing that for a show, but at rehearsal, they wore cowboy hats and all kinds of necklaces and jewelry. And they were full-on Sunset Strip rock mode. And I came in a t-shirt and jeans. I looked like a regular guy waiting for a bus or something,” Friedman added.

From his side, the playing part felt solid. He learned the material, ran through the set, and left thinking it sounded fine. The bigger issue came from everything around the notes: who fits, who hangs, who looks like they belong in that specific machine.

“I played, and I thought it went well. And it did sound fine to me, and it was no problems. I learned, like, four songs, and we did ’em bam, bam, bam, and it was fine. But we were in this rehearsal hall. There were all kinds of envelopes with cassettes and resumes, and so they were probably trying hundreds of guys. And so I never heard back from them. And then finally Zakk Wylde got the job. And he was just perfect. He was so much better than I would’ve been for that gig. He was just right, and he plays really well. So I understood it, but at the time I thought, ‘Well, I did a good job, but I don’t think those guys are gonna [pick me].’ They probably went out drinking and partying right after rehearsal, and I was a real good-boy type of guy. Really boring.”

That same story came up again when Friedman talked about it publicly at Rock ’N’ Roll Fantasy Camp’s Metalmania III event in November 2023 in Los Angeles. His takeaway stayed consistent: the performance side held up, but the image and chemistry carried more weight than most players want to admit: “I failed miserably. I think it was probably because of the way I looked.”

“I was practically homeless at the time, living with my then-girlfriend and dealing with the rent and all that stuff, as California rock musicians do. And I was so happy to get the call. So I learned the music, went down to L.A. — they flew me down to L. A. to play with the band. And it was, I guess, the guys who were in the band at the time. And I thought I played everything absolutely just fine, and I thought it sounded great. Everybody was friendly enough. But our images were very different. It wasn’t like these three guys are gonna get together and jell, even though it sounded fine, I thought. I mean, I thought I played everything correctly.”

For metal and hard rock fans, it’s an honest reminder of how many moving parts exist behind a “dream gig.” You can walk in prepared, nail the parts, and still miss because the band wants someone they instinctively click with. Friedman put it in blunt terms: vibe first, chops second.

“Being in a band is so much more than playing. And, actually, the playing is kind of down on the list. If you have the same kind of vibe with the people, you can just kind of smell it: ‘This is the guy I wanna hang out with.’ And it was different on that level… They smelled like L.A., and I smelled like San Francisco, which was a different smell. Neither of us smelled very good. But they were cool. Everybody played everything great. They were auditioning thousands of guys. So I didn’t get it,” Friedman mused.

“A band is just… It’s more about the personalities between the people. Because there are so many great players who can play every gig, you know what I mean? It’s really about who you wanna hang out with? I would have loved to have gotten the gig, but they were probably just getting ready to go back out drinking, and I’m not a very big drinker, so it wouldn’t have jelled so well. But at the time I was, like, ‘Oh, I played it perfectly. Why didn’t they call me back?’ But I get it [now].”

The irony, of course, is that missing that audition never slowed him down. He helped shape shred guitar alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony, became a defining piece of Megadeth’s rise in the classic thrash era, and built a solo catalog that leans hard into his “Marty-esque” phrasing and the mix of Eastern and Western ideas; fifteen solo records and counting.

The post MARTY FRIEDMAN Remembers Auditioning For OZZY OSBOURNE: “I Did A Good Job, But I Didn’t Match The Vibe Of The Band” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

In the hard rock and metal world, fallouts rarely stay private. One comment turns into a thread, a thread turns into a rumor, and soon fans argue like they were in the van back in ’84. That’s the backdrop for Jeff Scott Soto talking openly about wanting a clean reset with Yngwie Malmsteen, decades after their early run together on Rising Force (1984) and Marching Out (1985).

During a recent interview with Artists On Record With Stefan Adika, the legendary singer explained how, when people keep asking about a broken relationship, silence becomes its own headline.

“Well, you gotta pay a little more attention to Blabbermouth and all that stuff going on out there, because if you did, you’d know that there’s absolutely no relationship between Yngwie and I right now. I’m trying to change that,” Soto said (via Blabbermouth). “Even on your show, I’ve been trying to extend that olive branch and trying to fix and change it. And the thing is, everybody thinks I want something out of Malmsteen, that, ‘Oh, you’re just doing this ’cause you’re trying to get back with him. You wanna work with him.’ No. I just want peace. I want love and harmony between me and everybody else I’ve ever worked with in my career.”

“And that’s why I keep extending, overextending that olive branch, because I’m 60 years old. Who knows how much longer I’ve got on this planet? I wanna walk away with no enemies, a clean slate. Everybody in my life, I just wanna have good relationships with them. And Malmsteen [and me], we have no speaking relationship. We don’t talk. I don’t go to his shows. He doesn’t come to mine. But hopefully one day we can change that,” Soto added.

The recent noise came from Yngwie Malmsteen taking aim online at some former vocalists for “trying to capitalize from his brand”. Jeff Scott Soto says fans immediately assumed the post targeted him, and he had to put the fire out fast.

“My phone was blowing up for two days [after Yngwie posted that]. Everybody thought he was talking about me again. And he wasn’t. He was talking about two other former singers who are going out and doing shows based on a tribute to Yngwie or a tribute to the time that they spent with Yngwie. And I guess that they were promoting that, and he caught wind of it, and that’s where that came from. Nothing to do with me,” Soto explained.

He also drew a hard line between celebrating history and cashing in on it. That distinction matters in this scene, where “tribute” can mean respect or opportunism depending on who is telling the story.

“I’m not doing anything where I’m going out doing Yngwie shows or trying to capitalize on his name or his legacy. Not at all. All I do is I post things online to celebrate — celebrate my involvement, celebrate the things I did with him, because I have a legacy too, in my own world, or however you want to call it. It’s part of my history too, so I celebrate that. I’m not trying to toe the line, I’m not trying to do anything, and try to get anything from him in those terms.”

Then there’s the other part of Yngwie Malmsteen’s jab: asking what certain singers have “recorded” and “created [in] the last 30, 40 years”. Jeff Scott Soto answered that one like a working musician who keeps receipts.

“You definitely can’t put that on me, because if you look at the past 30, 40 years, I’m on easily over a hundred records. Just my solo records alone, I’ve got eight solo records. Then you do the W.E.T., you’ve got Talisman. So I’ve been busy. You can’t ask, what have I done? I’ve done a lot,” he reflected.

“Everybody thought he was referring to me,” “They’re sending virtual hugs: ‘Dude, we got you, man. We understand what you’re going through. We read this stuff, and it’s not fair.’ I say, ‘Hey, he wasn’t talking about me. It’s cool.”

Whether you love his voice or not, that’s the reality: Jeff Scott Soto has stayed active. In metal, longevity is its own argument.

The most interesting part is how practical this whole thing is. He says he has no direct line to Yngwie Malmsteen, so he uses interviews and public appearances as the only available “message in a bottle” approach. It sounds old-school, but it fits: most legacy feuds survive because nobody wants to make the first human move.

“I wouldn’t know how. I don’t have any numbers, any contacts, or anything, so I wouldn’t know how to reach out to him. But there’s enough I put out there when I do interviews or do anything, even Cameos. I put it out there all the time that I would love to just bury the hatchet, whatever that hatchet is, and just walk away as friends again one day. I’d love to go to shows and be in the audience watching the show and not saying, ‘Oh, man, hopefully one day he’ll have me back.’ It’s not about that at all. I did my time with him. If someday, one day, he wanted to do something like that, I’d absolutely be open to it. But I’m not looking for that. I don’t need that in my life in terms of that’s the only thing I have going for me. I got a lot going for me. I just wanna be the guy’s friend again.”

And when pushed to address Yngwie Malmsteen directly, he went straight to the point: shared history, respect for the work, and a request to clear the debris.

“Hey, listen, Yngwie. We’ve got a lot of history, man. We go back over 41 years. We made some great music together. I got to sing on your two classic records that everybody loves, and somewhere along the way we’ve stumbled on some blocks, on some roadblocks, on some walls. Let’s put ’em aside. Let’s break bread again. Let’s be buddies. I don’t need anything from you. You don’t need anything from me, but I just wanna be your friend again. There’s my olive branch extended once again. I love you, I respect you, and I cherish and treasure everything I ever did with and for you. So if we can fix this someday, I’m all in.”

Finally, he framed it as bigger than business; more like unfinished life stuff. That hits different in a genre built on pride, independence, and grudges that last longer than band lineups.

“I know his wife. I never met his son, and that would be a nice thing. I’d love to meet the next generation of the Malmsteens, his son. He’s got a kid. I know his wife. Everything was cool. We had a great relationship. There were times when I was possibly coming back and singing with him back in the day. These things didn’t pan out — whatever. I don’t want or need that. I would like to just say, ‘Hey, let’s be buddies again.’”

The post JEFF SCOTT SOTO Says YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Recent Online Rant Wasn’t Directed At Him, Explains He Would Love To Reconnect: “Let’s Break Bread Again” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Hard rock and metal have always sold the myth that willpower beats everything: pain, age, bad luck, bad gear, bad promoters, bad everything. But every once in a while, someone says the quiet part out loud. In a recent interview with Spain’s MariskalRockTV, Dave Mustaine described how these decisions actually start: messy, practical, and tied to whether your hands will do what your brain is screaming at them to do.

Asked if he remembered the exact time when he decided it was time bring Megadeth‘s career to an end, he explained (via Blabbermouth): “No. No, ’cause I just brought it up. I didn’t decide. We were working in the studio [on Megadeth‘s upcoming self-titled album], and it had been a really difficult few weeks. We were trying to get everything done, and it was obviously important to us to make sure that the record was done right. And we had a bunch of deadlines that we ran up against, which made it hard and stuff like that. And my hands were hurting really badly. And then one day, I said to my management, ‘You know, I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna be able to do this.’ I didn’t say, ‘Hey, I wanna retire right now.’”

There are two realities inside that quote that metal fans will recognize instantly. First: the studio pressure. Deadlines don’t care that you’re trying to make something worthy of the name on the cover. They don’t care that you’ve built a legacy on precision and speed. They just show up and squeeze.

Second: Mustaine‘s line to management was not a retirement speech. It’ was closer to the grim, honest check-in you have when you realize you might not be able to “push through” this time.

Mustaine didn’t speak about it like a mystery or a vibe. He named it and showed it: “Yeah, you can look right here on this hand. There’s a line right there that’s sticking up. That’s something called Dupuytren’s contracture, and it’s gonna make my finger come down like this. It’s already started, where it’s kind of bunching up a little bit. And then if you look at the tips of my fingers, they’re severely arthritic. So, all those bumps make it really painful to play.”

From the outside, it’s tempting to treat surgery like a reset button: get it fixed, rehab, return. But Mustaine framed it like a risk calculation, because that’s what it is when your hands are your livelihood.

“I’m gonna wait for that until I’m ready to try it, because if I try it now and I’m 95 percent, and I do a surgery and it sets me back, that would’ve been a bad decision. If I wait until my hands are causing a problem and I try it and it doesn’t work, well then I’ve toured everywhere, I’ve said farewell to everybody, and I’m not leaving stuff unsaid or unfinished.”

That’s a very metal way of thinking about it: not “How do I preserve the brand?” but “How do I avoid leaving the job half-done?”

Metal is full of survival stories, and fans love them for good reason. But there’s a difference between overcoming something and pretending you can outrun biology forever. Listening to Mustaine here, you can hear someone trying to manage that line: staying active without turning the whole thing into a compromise that feels dishonest.

The post DAVE MUSTAINE Opens Up About His Battle With Dupuytren’s Contracture And How It Sparked MEGADETH’s Farewell Tour appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Back in 2022, Godsmack frontman Sully Erna talked as if the band’s eighth studio release, Lighting Up The Sky, would be their final album.

“This is the last record we’re ever gonna do. This is the last run around the mill for us. We put every single ounce of energy and emotion into this album,” he told several outlets like 93X and the Everblack podcast, describing it as a full-stop moment for the group’s studio output.

He wasn’t claiming Godsmack were calling it quits, but he did suggest their time making new records might be over: “I’m not saying the band may be breaking up. What I’m saying is I think this may be the last body of work you get musically from the band.”

Since then, Godsmack have gone through major lineup changes, most notably, longtime guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin leaving earlier this year. Even with that chapter closing, Erna has repeatedly said the split was friendly and free of behind-the-scenes mess. And now, those changes also seem to have reshaped how he thinks about what comes next creatively.

In a recent appearance on Kylie Olsson’s Life In Six Strings podcast, Erna sounded much less locked in to the idea that the band’s recording days are finished. When he was asked if a tenth Godsmack album could happen, he answered: “I think there will. I said there wasn’t going to be, and at least I know there won’t be with the original members.

“Shannon and Tony have officially retired, and very honorably, and we’re still really good friends. There’s no drama there. I’m putting some new people in place. I’m still in some trial periods, but we have some plans coming in 2026 that we’re excited about. And it’s gonna be good. I mean, the band’s coming into the height of our career. All these years later, we’re hitting another moment where we’re doing our best attendance. And it’s kind of come full circle.”

With that shift in tone, it’s fair to wonder whether there were quieter creative tensions between Erna, Rombola, and Larkin, even if nobody is calling it conflict. For now, Godsmack are moving ahead, with a run of tour dates already on the calendar, hitting a couple of DWP Presents festivals (Welcome to Rockville & Sonic Temple) in 2026, plus a handful of dates in Europe.

The post SULLY ERNA Hints at the Possibility Of Another GODSMACK Album: “I Said There Wasn’t Going To Be, But I Think There Will” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Inspired by a famous monologue from the legendary 80s blockbuster Blade Runner, Tailgunner dives into epic songwriting with the second single from their upcoming album, Midnight Blitz, out on February 6, 2026, via Napalm Records.

“Tears In Rain,” named after a phrase the movie’s antagonist, Roy Batty, uses in his last words, showcases Tailgunner frontman Craig Cairns’ broad vocal skills and the band’s ability to deliver huge, infectious choruses. No wonder the young British band even got heavy metal legend K. K. Downing himself on board as producer. “Tears In Rain” – contrary to the original movie quote – will definitely not be lost in time!
 
“‘Lost in time, like Tears in Rain…’ The most iconic monologue in cinematic history, and one of most legendary on-screen moments of the 80s. ‘Blade Runner’ has been a focal point throughout writing our new album, and none more so than here, on our new single ‘Tears in Rain’. Carrying a chorus for the ages, this is a track we can’t wait to take out on the road and have you sing with us, deep into the night. Made for those moments where the light fades, and things get that little more epic, ‘Tears in Rain’ is an all-time anthem, here for the modern day,” says the band.

Pre-order the album here.

Bursting onto the scene in 2022, their sophomore work draws heavily from classic British heavy metal, but just like those influences, the band is determined to push forward. Always crafting their sound and building on what they have, whilst never compromising on what they started with – pure heavy metal. In an astonishingly short time, the emerging British heavy metal talent has found support in the very heroes they follow: after making a strong impression supporting KK’s Priest, legendary guitarist K.K. Downing went on to produce the upcoming album, Midnight Blitz.
 
Midnight Blitz is classic heavy metal without being a pastiche. This is a band for the here and now – not just worshipping at the altar, but determined to stand upon it as the Metal Gods of a whole new generation of headbangers. Tailgunner prove their skills effortlessly, carving themselves out as heavy metal’s future and grabbing the torch from the legends themselves. Catchy hooks, killer riffs, and appealing to every heavy metal fan – join K.K. Downing and discover your new heroes now!

The post Rising Heavy Metallers TAILGUNNER Pay Homage To Classic 80s Movie Blade Runner With New Single “Tears In Rain” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

A lot of progressive metal lives and dies on the details: the tuned-to-perfection rigs, the playback and monitoring, the production pieces that make the heavier moments hit the way they’re supposed to. So when a band loses gear, it’s rarely “just equipment.” It’s more about momentum, hard work, and a carefully built system that took years to perfect.

That’s what Vola are dealing with after a fire at Nettolager, a storage facility in Copenhagen. Nobody was hurt, but the part of the building where their unit was located reportedly burned down completely, wiping out most of what they rely on to rehearse, record, and tour.

If you’ve ever watched a band level up from club stages to tighter, more technical live shows, you already know how much infrastructure sits behind the scenes. For Vola, that entire backbone was sitting in one place.

Here’s the band’s full statement, in their own words: “Last week, a fire broke out at Nettolager, a storage facility in Copenhagen. The section of the complex where our unit was located was completely burned down. Everyone is safe, but everything that allowed us to function as a band is gone. Most of our Vola equipment was stored there.”

“This was the whole infrastructure behind Vola. Instruments, touring rigs, audio and monitoring systems, recording equipment, merch, vinyl, and years of accumulated tools built specifically for this project. Among the items lost are those that cannot be replaced, not to mention the immense time it takes to build these racks and systems,” the band explained.

“Members of our crew lost essential tools required to do their work. Rebuilding even a minimal live setup also means enabling our front-of-house team to continue working and earning a living. This project has always been bigger than the people on stage,” they added.

“We have set up a GoFundMe, and any support will go directly toward replacing essential gear, rebuilding the live system, and getting us ready to play live again. If you want to support us, the best ways are to buy tickets, buy merchandise, or contribute here if you are able. Sharing this page also helps more than you think. We are deeply grateful for every message, every share, and every form of support. Thank you for helping us keep Vola moving forward.”

Vola later added an alternate route for anyone who asked about another way to contribute: “Since you asked, those who want to donate via PayPal can do so via mail@volaband.com”

However you feel about crowdfunding, this is one of those situations where the ask is simple: replace the essentials, rebuild the live system, and get back to doing the thing that brought people to the band in the first place.

The post VOLA Launch GoFundMe Campaign After Most Of Their Equipments Get Destroyed In Storage Unit Fire appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

There’s a particular kind of trust that sits quietly in the background at heavy shows. Fans trust bands to deliver. Bands trust crews to keep the machine moving. And photographers, often working in cramped pits with strict rules and tighter time windows, trust that the work they create won’t end up somewhere it shouldn’t.

That’s why the allegations aimed at Sleep Token this week are landing with extra weight in the metal and hard rock world, where merch is more than just clothing and becomes identity, community, and a major revenue stream.

Photographer Laura Ioana V says she discovered that a live image she captured of Vessel was altered and used on official, commemorative merchandise sold at Sleep Token’s November 10, 2024, show in Frankfurt, Germany, without her permission. She states the original photo was taken earlier, during Sleep Token’s June 15, 2023, performance at Copenhell festival in Copenhagen, while she was working on an editorial assignment for a magazine.

If you’ve ever shot a festival set, you know how much labour is packed into a handful of songs: the sprint to find an angle, the battle against lighting, the split-second timing, the long edit after the gig. That effort is exactly why licensing matters. Whether the final image ends up in a magazine, a press cycle, or a poster run, the permission and terms are the whole point.

Laura Ioana V put the situation into plain language in her Instagram post: “This year I found out the photo I took in 2023 at @copenhell festival (on an editorial assignment for a magazine) was used for merch in 2024, without my permission. I have not signed any contract granting anyone the licensing rights to these photos.”

For readers who don’t live in the photo world: that one sentence is the hinge. Editorial access and assignments don’t automatically translate into “free for anything.” Official merchandise is a commercial use, and commercial use is where licensing, contracts, and payment aren’t optional niceties. They’re the baseline.

What pushes this from “messy misunderstanding” into “scene-wide conversation” is the communication gap Laura Ioana V describes. She says she tried repeatedly to reach the band and its representatives, without success: “I have sent emails myself and sent a lot of DMs on socials as well, but I haven’t been successful in establishing a communication line with the band directly.”

That line will resonate with plenty of creatives, not because it’s dramatic, but because it’s familiar. When you’re a photographer (or designer, or videographer) without a big agency behind you, a closed door can stay closed for a long time. The power imbalance is real, and the silence can feel like part of the strategy, even when it’s just bureaucracy or mismanaged inboxes.

There’s also a practical reality here: official merch can involve multiple layers: management, merch companies, designers, printers, tour staff. Any of which could be handling assets. Sometimes that complexity becomes a shield, intentional or not. If accountability is spread everywhere, it can feel like it’s located nowhere.

Still, if the claim is accurate, the “how did this happen?” question doesn’t erase the “why wasn’t it cleared?” question. In a genre that prides itself on authenticity, it’s not a great look when the people documenting the culture feel ignored.

The most pointed part of Laura Ioana V’s post isn’t even about Sleep Token specifically: it’s about what it feels like to be the person on the other end of the machine. She says a settlement was proposed by someone involved with the merchandise, and she felt the offer wasn’t fair. She also claims she was labelled “aggressive” for pushing back.

Her words: “As a small creator, it is a bit disheartening when you do something with passion, and it gets stolen for profit and dismissed like this… it seems to not be an isolated case.”

That’s a heavy accusation: not just “this happened,” but “this has happened before.” And whether or not it ultimately proves true, it speaks to a bigger tension in music: the people who help build the visual mythology of a band often have the least leverage when that mythology becomes monetised.

After asking followers to share her post in hopes of reaching the right people, Laura Ioana V later added an update saying Future History Management — Sleep Token’s management company — had been in touch: “Management finally got in contact so let’s see what solution they will have to this.”

As of the information provided here, there hasn’t been a public statement from Sleep Token or their representatives addressing the specific allegation.

Because if metal is a community, then the people capturing its most iconic moments shouldn’t have to go public just to be heard.

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