Finnish black metal band Uhrattu announce the signing of a new deal with Black Lion Records for the release of their debut full-length instalment in 2027. More details coming soon.
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Category: news
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Mastodon Play Secret Show With Baroness’ John Baizley – See Video
Mastodon pulled out several rarities and debuted songs from their latest LP, 'Marrow Deep.' Plus, Baizley will be joining them on their upcoming tour! Continue reading… -
Soliloquium – Unveil ‘Time Stands Still’ Single
After recent new album announcement, Soliloquium now present a lyric video for the first single called “Time Stands Still”. The upcoming music output Upheaval will land in stores on October 23rd, 2026.
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Nicko McBrain Wants To Play Drums on the Next Iron Maiden Album
Nicko McBrain has not played live with Iron Maiden since December 2024, when he stepped off the stage at the final show of the Future Past tour. He is still, officially, their drummer. Speaking exclusively to Metal Hammer, the 74-year-old says that if the band go back into the studio he’d be “delighted” to get back on with them — with one condition attached, and two specific songs in mind as the model.
STREAM THE METAL BREAKDOWN DAILY NOW:Scott Penfold covers the latest hard rock and metal news stories on today’s Metal Breakdown Daily. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play and get it every weekday morning.
What he said
McBrain’s position is straightforward and he didn’t dress it up.
“If Iron Maiden went into the studio, I’d be delighted to get back on with them.”
Then the condition: “But it’d have to be something more simple really.”
And he named what he means. “Stranger In A Strange Land” and “Wasted Years” — both from 1986’s Somewhere In Time. His line: that kind of song. He’d love to do something like that.
Which is a more interesting answer than it first appears. Those aren’t filler tracks. “Wasted Years” is one of the best songs Adrian Smith has written and one of the most enduring things in the entire Maiden catalogue. “Stranger In A Strange Land” is a fan staple. Neither is a gallop, neither is technically punishing, and both are built on feel rather than stamina.
He isn’t asking to be carried. He’s asking for the kind of song he can still play properly.
LIVE & LOUD: Stream the World’s Hardest Radio Station 24/7What actually happened to him
The context matters, and he’s spoken about it with no self-pity at all.
In January 2023, McBrain suffered a transient ischaemic attack — a mini-stroke — that paralysed the entire left side of his body. He continues to live with the effects.
And there’s a detail in this interview that stops you cold.
He was due to have cataract surgery that same day.
His words: the miracle was that he had the stroke in the morning, rather than while he was under the twilight anaesthetic.
An hour or two later and he’d have been sedated on an operating table, with nobody in the room looking for the signs.
He toured for eighteen months anyway
This is the part that makes the man.
McBrain played the entire Future Past run — eighteen months — and has now revealed he could only feel seventy percent of his hand while doing it.
His account: it was incredible to get any use back out of it at all. And then the specific.
He couldn’t play the drum fill in the intro of “The Trooper.”
He had to adapt it.
Sit with that for a second. “The Trooper” is from 1983. He’s played it thousands of times. That intro is one of the most recognisable drum figures in heavy metal, and he rewrote it mid-career so he could get through the set, in front of arenas, without telling anyone why.
He says Steve Harris and the band were enormously supportive, but that his body just wasn’t bouncing back.
He stepped down from the live lineup in December 2024 at the last show of the tour. Simon Dawson has played the shows since.
We Recommend – Iron Maiden Albums Ranked: All 17 Studio Albums, Worst To Best
Bruce called him a hero, and meant it
Speaking to Loudwire in 2024, Bruce Dickinson didn’t hedge about what he’d watched.
He said McBrain was paralysed entirely down his left side. That in May 2023 they were supposed to be rehearsing for a huge tour and Nicko wasn’t even sure he could play drums.
“He couldn’t hold a fork.”
Three months after that, Dickinson said, he was on tour. And then the question that lands hardest — can you imagine how hard that is for a drummer of Nicko’s calibre, in front of ten thousand people?
The bit nobody’s connecting
Here’s why this is a bigger story than a retired drummer saying he’d like to work again.
Bruce Dickinson has already said he’d rather Iron Maiden make another album than head straight back out on the road.
So put the two together.
The singer wants a record. The drummer — who is still officially in the band — wants to be on the record, and has named the kind of material he can play. That’s two of the three people whose enthusiasm actually determines whether a Maiden album happens.
The third is Steve Harris, who writes most of them and decides when they get made. He hasn’t said anything either way.
Their last album was 2021’s Senjutsu — five years ago, and their longest gap between records in some time. If there’s a seventeenth Iron Maiden album, the pieces of it are quietly assembling in public and nobody’s noticed.
It’s also the second story in two days about whether a founding-era band has one more record in them — Tony Iommi revealed yesterday that he turned down exactly that offer for Black Sabbath, and that door is now permanently shut. Maiden’s isn’t.
Also – Judas Priest Albums Ranked: Full Discography
What he’s doing instead
He’s been busy for a man who retired.
His autobiography, Hello Boys And Girls, arrives October 22 via Harper NonFiction. The publisher’s pitch is a thrilling, hilarious and deeply personal account that takes readers behind the scenes of one of Britain’s biggest bands.
And he’s on the road right now in the United States — with his own Iron Maiden covers band, Titanium Tart.
Read that back. A man who stepped away from Maiden because his body couldn’t take the tour is currently touring America playing Maiden songs in a tribute act he put together himself.
That tells you everything about why he wants back in a studio.
Where Maiden are right now
The band are in the States continuing the Run For Your Lives world tour, marking fifty years.
The setlist is drawn entirely from their first nine albums — 1980’s Iron Maiden through to 1992’s UK chart-topping Fear Of The Dark. Those same nine records get a vinyl box set on December 11.
Fifty years on, and still one of the two or three bands that define what British heavy metal actually is, alongside Priest and Sabbath.
Nicko joined in 1982. He’s played on every album since Piece Of Mind. And he’s still in the band.
TL;DR
- Nicko McBrain says he’d be “delighted” to drum on Iron Maiden’s next album if the band go back into the studio, telling Metal Hammer he’s still up for recording.
- His one condition: the material would need to be simpler. He named “Stranger In A Strange Land” and “Wasted Years” from 1986’s Somewhere In Time as the kind of song he’d love to do.
- He suffered a mini-stroke in January 2023 that paralysed his entire left side — on the same day he was due to have cataract surgery. He has said the timing was a miracle, because it happened before he went under anaesthetic.
- He toured for eighteen months afterwards with seventy percent feeling in his hand, and had to adapt the drum intro to “The Trooper” because he could no longer play it as written.
- He stepped down from live duties in December 2024 at the final Future Past show. Simon Dawson has played the shows since. McBrain remains officially Iron Maiden’s drummer.
- Bruce Dickinson has already said he’d rather the band make an album than tour again immediately.
- His autobiography, Hello Boys And Girls, is out October 22, and he’s currently touring the US with his Maiden covers band Titanium Tart.
FAQ
Is Nicko McBrain still in Iron Maiden?
Yes. He stepped down from the band’s live lineup in December 2024 at the final show of the Future Past tour, and Simon Dawson has handled touring duties since, but McBrain remains officially Iron Maiden’s drummer.
What happened to Nicko McBrain?
He suffered a transient ischaemic attack — a mini-stroke — in January 2023, which paralysed the entire left side of his body. He continues to live with the effects, and has said he had only around seventy percent feeling in his hand throughout the eighteen-month Future Past tour that followed.
Will Nicko McBrain play on Iron Maiden’s next album?
He has said he would be “delighted” to, on the condition that the material is simpler than some of the band’s more demanding work — citing “Stranger In A Strange Land” and “Wasted Years” as the kind of song he’d like to record. No new Iron Maiden album has been announced.
Who is Iron Maiden’s drummer now?
Simon Dawson plays drums on tour, having taken over from Nicko McBrain in December 2024. McBrain remains the band’s official drummer.
When is Nicko McBrain’s book out?
Hello Boys And Girls is published on October 22, 2026 via Harper NonFiction.
The singer wants an album. The drummer wants to be on it. All that’s missing is Steve Harris saying yes. Do you want another Iron Maiden record, or is Run For Your Lives the right place to stop? Tell me below. And keep it locked on the Loaded Radio stream — follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.
The post Nicko McBrain Wants To Play Drums on the Next Iron Maiden Album appeared first on Loaded Radio.
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10 Best Rock Songs About Ghosts
So many people are afraid of ghosts. But I have a different philosophy. If I ever see a ghost, well then that will prove something to me something that has never been proven before. For something just based on belief, if I see a ghost, to me that means there is life after death. I don’t care if it’s a scary ghost; I’m hoping it’s a Friendly Ghost like Casper. Regardless of whatever type of ghost I see, I will know that there’s something beyond, and that will be comforting. I think? # 10 – Ghosts Are Gone – Stevie
The post 10 Best Rock Songs About Ghosts appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.
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Celine Dion Begins Her Paris Comeback Concert Run
Her long-awaited concert return highlighted a side of the French-speaking superstar rarely seen in the United States. -
The Fall ‘Post Script’ – Album Review
A strange, visceral and fitting final mutation from The Fall orbit, with lost Mark E Smith vocals reborn inside new industrial soundscapes.
The post The Fall ‘Post Script’ – Album Review appeared first on Louder Than War.
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Love Is Noise – Will Put Out 4-Track EP Next Month
Next month, on October 9th, alternative metal collective Love Is Noise will put out a brand new EP dubbed The Space Between Happiness And Heartache. The latter was mixed by Sam Bloor and mastered by Bob Cooper.
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Scardust – Present Cover Of Clean Bandit’s Song ‘Symphony’
Scardust are thrilled to unveil a powerful rendition of Clean Bandit‘s song “Symphony”, featuring guest perfromance by Mia Asano on violin. It was mixed by Joost van den Broek at Sandlane Recording Facilities. Orchestration and programming by Joost van den Broek.
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Nihil Admiral – The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits Review
Veiled in mystique, Nihil Admiral proves elusive as details about them dance outside my reach. Lacking a traditional landing page on socials or the Archives,1 I’m forced to draw conclusions and inferences without the comfort of cross-reference materials I usually take for granted. I’m not flying completely blind, though, as Nihil Admiral’s promo materials mention that this Trondheim, Norway troupe features members from Misotheist, Corroder, Goat the Head, and others. While no specific band members are mentioned in the press kit, the Bandcamp page for single “Life’s Lower Phase” offers a few names, though it’s unclear whether they’re all full-time members of Nihil Admiral’s debut. Regardless, involvement doesn’t necessarily beget quality, so let’s dive in and test how sharp The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits really are. From the gritty production to the grainy, snowbound album art, The Axes could only be raw black metal. And as you might expect from a name like Nihil Admiral, the atmosphere is rife with lawlessness and wiolence. Given the raw aesthetic the band perpetuates, Nihil Admiral recalls early Darkthrone and Satyricon seen through the lens of Paysage d’Hiver. Misotheist supplies another suitable reference point, as The Axes’ furiously driving compositions remind me of the most aggressive moments in Misotheist’s discography, even if Nihil Admiral’s song lengths better map to crossover thrash. Given the high regard these inspirations engender, it should be no surprise that from moment to moment Nihil Admiral delivers wonderfully wicked black metal.
Rime-ridden, icy fury whips at each track on The Axes, defining the black metal onslaught permeating Nihil Admiral’s debut. Rabid tremolos fill scant runtimes along with manic blast beats and coarse, deathly roars (“The Axes, the Flesh Hooks, and the Spits”), which submit a welcome contrast against the requisite blackened rasps.2 Nearly every track launches its assault with frenzied riffs and an ugly barrage of snare ‘n’ kick abuse, and Nihil Admiral does it convincingly. “Stare” begins with a thrashy lick guaranteed to get heads banging while a scorching guitar gallops past with Hellrippering speed and riffcraft. Conversely, penultimate track “Southern Cross” enters with a slower, synth-forward build before loosing the tempestuous fury Nihil Admiral commands so well. Over eight lean tracks, The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits slash and skewer with keen edges.
However, despite the murderous precision of Nihil Admiral’s instruments, The Axes leaves more impression than impact. The band sounds properly pissed off, but I struggle to remember any of The Axes’ songs besides the back half of “The Eye of Logic,” and that’s only because of its similarity to Ramin Djawadi’s Game of Thrones title sequence. Otherwise, The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits’ meager runtime passes by in a scathing yet fleeting flurry. And speaking of the runtime, Nihil Admiral’s twenty-five minutes aren’t enough to satisfy. I usually applaud a less-is-moar approach, but given that The Axes doesn’t do enough to develop their arrangements, such a concise runtime suggests a lack of ideas that would have been better off marinating rather than serving half-baked. Closing track “Its Own Beyond” provides an apt example, where horns subtlety support guitar trems as they blur into an exciting mixture before the song just… ends. Potential abounds, and refining the songwriting to intentionally mold tension would have gone a long way towards delivering a more effective conclusion to The Axes, and applied across the album would have manifested a better experience altogether.
Though I’m left disappointed by Nihil Admiral’s debut, I’m excited by their potential. Captivating second-wave worship lives here, with glimmers of originality shimmering through the cracks. Unfortunately, the album is held back by an abrupt duration that doesn’t allow tracks to mature into their best possible forms. The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits doesn’t shy away from remorseless music subscribed to nihilism, but neither do these deadly implements hook me with their blackened burs. Even though The Axes miss their mark, with more deliberate songwriting I’m confident that next time Nihil Admiral wrests the reins of chaos, they can seize listeners with an experience worthy of their rank.
Rating: Disappointing
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Rekviem
Websites: Bandcamp3
Releases Worldwide: August 14th, 2026The post Nihil Admiral – The Axes, the Flesh Hooks and the Spits Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.