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Taking place at Beyond The Streets in Los Angeles from October 13-18

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Apocalyptica has released “Upperhand,” a song built for the video game Control Resonant, with Katrine Stenbekk of Norwegian alternative folk band Kalandra on vocals. The track grew out of the instrumental main theme the Finnish cello rockers wrote for the upcoming title from Remedy Entertainment.

The song draws on the game’s eerie, paranatural setting and turns its tension into a dark, cinematic metal anthem. Mournful cellos and heavy rhythms collide with Stenbekk‘s airy vocals, giving the track a sound that would suit a film score just as well as a concert stage.

Eicca Toppinen, the founder of Apocalyptica, explained where the song began: “The first version of “Upperhand” was written as intro music for the game’s opening sequence. It reflects the uneasy emotions of the main character in transition to the unknown.

“I wanted to expand it into a full song with lyrics, and we were so lucky to get Katrine from Kalandra with her unique voice to carry this where it was supposed to go.”

Toppinen added that shaping the band’s signature strengths to fit the world of Control took some effort, but the payoff was worth it.

“This song combines multiple special qualities of Apocalyptica, and getting those qualities to serve the world of Control was a challenging but exciting and rewarding journey. I truly hope Control and Apocalyptica fans will find this as special as we do.”

“Upperhand” sits on the line between fear and curiosity that defines Control Resonant. Sweeping cellos, murky textures and Kalandra‘s otherworldly vocals bring the game’s mysterious universe to life and show Apocalyptica at its most cinematic and emotional.

The band came together in 1993 at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, where classically trained players started out with the oddball idea of covering Metallica on cellos. The 1996 debut, Plays Metallica By Four Cellos, caught on fast enough that the group was opening for Metallica within months.

Nine albums and more than six million records later, Apocalyptica has carved out its own identity and taken it to festival stages around the world. Collaborators have included Ville Valo of Him, Corey Taylor of Slipknot, Bullet For My Valentine and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo. The bond with Metallica has grown from admiration into friendship, and Apocalyptica played the band’s 30th-anniversary shows in 2011. Its latest album, Plays Metallica, Vol. 2, closes the loop with guest spots from Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo and frontman James Hetfield.

Control Resonant follows Remedy Entertainment‘s multi-award-winning Control. The story unfolds in a surreal, reality-warping New York, where Dylan Faden wields paranatural abilities and transforms the Aberrant to face powerful enemies and bosses. Remedy designed the plot to welcome newcomers while taking returning fans deeper into the universe.

Remedy Entertainment developed and published the game, with Annapurna Pictures as co-financier and co-producer. Control Resonant arrives digitally Sept. 24, 2026, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Steam and the Epic Games Store. Petri Alanko composed the original score, while Apocalyptica wrote “Upperhand” for the opening sequence.

The post APOCALYPTICA Turns a Reality-Bending Video Game Into a Cello-Powered Metal Nightmare With “Upperhand” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

“Patient zero” has long been associated with virus outbreaks and fictional health investigations. It was coined in the 1980s, by accident.

Enthroned for all eternity, He presides!

There are many tests that can determine greatness, but few are as sure as tenacity, and with 43 years of plugging away in the heavy metal scene while occupying a very unique niche, Orange County, California’s own Stryper exemplify this fact all but to a fault.

Like many stalwarts of the 80s that ended up falling on hard times during the subsequent decade that shall not be named, they’ve enjoyed a highly fruitful and prolific renaissance since the turn of the millennium, forging a sound in keeping with the modern conventions of the present, but still holding true to the old-school hard rock and heavy metal stylings that put them on the map when The Yellow And Black Attack first hit store shelves. Of particular note has been their longstanding run with Italian metal and AOR label Frontiers Records, which has seen a highly consistent qualitative output since 2013’s Second Coming and has now seen Stryper land on their 18^th career studio LP with Throne Of Thorns.

True to their roots, this finely-tuned metallic quartet matches uplifting lyrical content with a hard, aggressive bite that betrays a greater affinity for the likes of Judas Priest and W.A.S.P. than the lighter glam bands they were often associated with in the past. The twin guitar assault of helmsman Michael Sweet and Oz Fox follows a similarly dynamic scheme to the one pioneered by Tipton & Downing, featuring a crisp, rock-solid riff foundation with flashy dueling solo segments that reminisce heavily upon the extravagance of the mid-1980s.

Bolstered by a massive drumming display out of brother and co-founder Robert Sweet that channels the power and pizzazz of Vinnie Appice and the steady bass grooves of de facto new guy Perry Richardson, the rhythm section of this outfit wants for very little. But the lynchpin that ties this holy package together and gives it its distinctive flair is the Dennis DeYoung meets Dio display out of Michael Sweet at the microphone, bringing an air of theatricality to an arrangement already bursting at the seams with pomp and fury.

In contrast to the elaborate showcases often trotted out by the competition, Stryper opts to play it straight and to the point from the very start. The opening foray of riff-happy power and title song “Throne Of Thorns” enters the fray with a swift drum fill out of Robert before landing on a swift, shuffling stride like it’s 1984 all over again. One can’t help but be immediately captivated by the massive wall of harmonized voices accompanying Michael’s dynamic roar during the chorus as well, adding a hymn-like quality to what is otherwise an Iron Maiden-oriented up-tempo romp.

Other fast-paced banger entries like “I’m Alright (I’m Okay)” and “Beautifully Broken” play up more of a straight rocking vibe while still painting the fringes of the arrangement with plenty of consonant choral flourishes like the procession of a Lutheran service; meanwhile, the somewhat less speedy assault of “Carry The Flame” lands in heavier territory and matches a chunky riffing display with a double-kick and fill-happy drumming performance.

Though generally sticking to a more stripped-down display of guitars, bass, drums and a variety of vocal devices, the manner in which these elements are employed is fairly eclectic. Much like the genre’s progenitors Black Sabbath, Sweet and company are not averse to pulling the tempo back to a slower pace and trading flash for heaviness, with the deep-trudging banger “Here In Your Heart” and the Heaven And Hell-inspired epic march of “Hollywood” ramming the point home with a rich assortment of infectious hooks and crafty melodic guitar lines.

The downtempo end of the spectrum sees another crushing metallic anthem in “Falling” trading blows with more modern rock-tinged entries like the partly acoustic semi-ballad “Ashes To Roses” and the full-on saccharine-steeped power balladry of “Waiting For You”, each one coming with its own sense of charm and never slouching when it comes to singing voices trading blows with singing lead guitars. But when all is said and done, Stryper seals the deal by going full Judas Priest mode with a blazing speed anthem in “Shadowbreaker” to close things out on a killer note; bringing new meaning to the concept of saving the best for last.

In the grand scheme of Stryper’s more than 4 decades-long career, Throne Of Thorns stands tall amid the latter-day entries of their catalog, and manages to hold a respectable candle to the magnum opus that was their 1985 debut LP Soldiers Under Command. Insofar as older bands associated with the high period of the Sunset Strip go, they are still pulling zero punches and bringing the fire in a manner that the likes of Skid Row and Mötley Crüe would struggle to match at present.

Whether one chalks it up to clean living, accidentally coming into contact with the mythical fountain of youth, or the enduring power of The Holy Spirit, this is a band that has been going full steam ahead for well over 20 years now and shows zero signs of slowing down. Those amenable to or otherwise unbothered by the message will find an inspiring experience in 11 parts, while all the rest should check it out anyway for the full-on melodic metal master class that it brings to the table.

Release Date: September 25th, 2026
Record Label: Frontiers Music SRL
Genre: Melodic Metal/ Hard Rock

Musicians:

• Michael Sweet / Lead Vocals, Lead and Rhythm Guitar
• Robert Sweet / Drums and Percussion
• Oz Fox / Backing Vocals, Lead and Rhythm Guitar
• Perry Richardson / Backing Vocals and Bass

Throne Of Thorns Tracklist:

1. Throne of Thorns
2. Here In Your Heart
3. Falling
4. I’m Alright (I’m Okay)
5. Waiting For You
6. Carry The Flame
7. Hollywood
8. Beautifully Broken
9. Ashes To Roses
10. Alone Again
11. Shadowbreaker

Order the album here.

The post STRYPER – Throne Of Thorns (Album Review) appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Nickelback has released “Make Me Love You,” the third single from its upcoming album, Everything Under The Sun. The song premiered on BBC Radio 2, and the record arrives Oct. 30 through Virgin Music Group.

The single comes after “Rattle The Cage,” which features John 5, and “Leave Me Behind.” According to the band, “Make Me Love You” ranks among its most personal songwriting yet. It looks inward at the doubt and exposure that come with letting someone in.

The song sits in the narrow gap between hope and heartbreak, where the chance of something real can be thrilling and terrifying at once. It makes the case that leaving your heart open is as risky as shutting it down, and the track lives inside that tension.

Each single shows a different side of the record. “Rattle The Cage” opened the album era with heavy riffs and arena-sized energy. “Leave Me Behind” told a vulnerable story of loyalty, perseverance and letting go. “Make Me Love You” turns to romance and the anxiety of wanting affection while knowing it might hurt.

That range runs through the whole album. Everything Under The Sun treats love with the same candor it gives heartbreak, resilience and reflection, and it keeps the big melodies and unmistakable sound that have defined Nickelback for more than three decades.

“Leave Me Behind” served as a counterweight to the chart-topping “Rattle The Cage.” Both trail “Bones For The Crows,” a No. 1 single that was the band’s first new music since 2022’s “Get Rollin’” and the first taste of the album.

Together, the three tracks preview an album that lives up to its title. Expect towering arena anthems, huge guitars, hooks that stick, reflective lyrics and the chemistry that made Nickelback one of the biggest rock bands on the planet.

The band started out in Hanna, Alberta, and grew into one of the most successful rock acts of the 21st century. Silver Side Up and the era-defining “How You Remind Me” launched it worldwide, and the catalog has since piled up Grammy Award nominations, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and JUNO Awards.

Nickelback has sold nearly 60 million albums worldwide and pulls in billions of streams and more than 50 million monthly listeners. Its music keeps landing with new generations, and a loyal fanbase has packed arenas for over two decades.

Everything Under The Sun builds on that momentum while facing forward. It works as a victory lap and as proof that the band’s creative fire still burns. It also marks the group’s first release with Virgin Music Group, a global partner to independent labels, artists and entrepreneurs.

Jacqueline Saturn, president of Virgin Music Group North America, welcomed the band to the roster. “Nickelback have built one of the most remarkable careers in music, and it’s a huge honor for everyone at Virgin Music Group to work alongside a band with such an enduring legacy and global impact.

“We’re thrilled to partner with them as they begin this exciting new chapter and can’t wait for fans to experience Everything Under The Sun.”

Over 30 years into its run, Nickelback keeps evolving without giving up the sound that made it a defining name in modern rock. With Everything Under The Sun, the band makes a case that its biggest moments could still be ahead.

The post NICKELBACK Drops Third Single “Everything Under The Sun” From Upcoming Album “Everything Under The Sun” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Album Review: Smoulder – Witch Wife in an Alien World

Reviewed by Sam Jones

Smoulder are easily one of the most underrated newest forces in heavy metal right now. Formed in 2013 out of Toronto, Canada, the band now primarily reside in Finland, and though it took some years before their first Demo released word of their prowess exploded with their 2019 opus Times Of Obscene Evil And Wild Daring. Such rapport only increased with the release of their second record, Violent Creed Of Vengeance four years later. Now, due October 9th, Smoulder return again for their third full length record titled Witch Wife In An Alien World. Released independently Smoulder’s new release sees the band, one of the most stable lineups around, prepare to unleash a third assault of epic heavy and doom metal in the veins of Cirith Ungol. This was one record I was plenty excited for.

I feel the vocals this time round have been dropped in the mix somewhat, they don’t feel as pressed forward as they have in previous releases. One side to this is the riffs and other instrumentation is given more room to work with and thus we can appreciate what they bring a little more, the flips side is the vocal impact is considerably reduced and Sarah’s vocal stamp, a longtime force in Smoulder’s identity, doesn’t feel as prevalent now. Her strength and presence is here, let’s not forgo that entirely, but it feels noticeably quelled. Like much of the band’s performance the vocals are conveyed with this softer, nigh smothered, aesthetic where they’ve maybe wished to blend their varying components together with better ease however it makes for an impact that’s greatly lessened as a result.

The guitar work mirrors this concept too for the riffs have opted for a steadier, safer approach perhaps to reel in as many newcomers as possible. But the others side of this approach has smoothed out all the sharper and more obtuse edges Smoulder’s blade so passionately wielded. Their songwriting is still entertaining and with a multitude of sequences to draw you in and keep you invested, yet I couldn’t help but feel I’m listening to a band performing at seventy-five perfect their potential knowing the great heights they’ve previously scaled. Even many of the chords and licks feel like they’ve been unnecessarily muted in their strength whereby their sound is constantly having to push forth as opposed to bulldoze their way across naturally.

Since the riffs don’t hit as completely as you wish I think it’s made it harder for their songwriting to be conveyed as cohesively as before. Due to songwriting that isn’t sticking the landing at every turn it’s caused tracks to be that little harder to follow since they possess less memorability if you ask me. Even though I know I’m happy listening to Smoulder’s record here and acknowledge I’m enjoying it, I don’t think I could relay any favourite of mine because of the reduced memorability these songs have. With that said, I don’t think there’s as much replayability nor variety with this record, for I ventured halfway into the record and realised I couldn’t tell one track from the other all that well, albeit with maybe a single instance throughout each track.

The instrumentally shining example on record though are the drums for they really carry the songwriting across. It’s far from the same patterns or 4/4 beat, especially when Smoulder play a variation of epic heavy and doom metal where drums typically aren’t the most technically demanding, but as one listens you’ll pick out changes and differences that help them stand out. These can be small pieces but they help break up what you expect out of such a record, creating a more exciting and lively experience. Given how the guitars and vocals don’t feel as strong here, the drums are exceedingly important now, applying a responding nature to the songwriting whereby what the drums provide is dependent on the songwriting’s tone. More jovial? The drums are lighter. Heavier in weight? The drums will break out the bass some more. The band are going for more sustained pieces? You’ll find the drums implementing more unexpected fills and utilise the full kit.

In conclusion, I’ve found Witch Wife In An Alien World to be a record with strengths and considerable weaknesses. On the whole however I don’t think it’s an outrightly “bad” record, I think it’s been failed during the mix process; I can’t help but feel when the time comes for this material to be performed live, it’ll be received far more positively than it is on record. I think the mix has really reduced the potential of the vocals and riffs, their power feels terribly muffled, softened, rounded off with minimal impact and allure. As a record I don’t feel the need to revisit this knowing the bangers Smoulder have cranked out beforehand, and yet I think there’s something here for those seeking a steadier, perhaps more accessible epic heavy metal release that’s going to hold their hand some more. Perhaps multiple listens is the key to understanding this record but upon an initial listen I’m happy sticking with Smoulder’s earlier pieces. But who’s to say time won’t be on this record’s side? Metal, like any music, is subjective. Let’s see how the wider community responds to this record upon its release for it changes nothing on how I view Smoulder, as one of today’s most underrated acts.

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

The post Album Review: Smoulder – Witch Wife in an Alien World appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

Plus Turnover, Wednesday, Meat Puppets, Nothing, Gouge Away and many more.

The post The Jesus And Mary Chain, Trapped Under Ice, Incendiary, Etc. Booked For 2027 ‘Something In The Way’ Festival appeared first on Theprp.com.

Suicide Silence has put out a video for “Make Your Exit,” a clip directed by Nathan Karma Cox. The song is the latest preview of Graceless, the band’s new album arriving Nov. 20 on Century Media.

Few bands did more to move deathcore from cramped rooms and internet forums into the wider metal conversation than Suicide Silence. Coming out of California’s Inland Empire, the group welded death metal savagery to hardcore attitude and a heavy dose of groove. It has since shared tour bills with Korn, Slayer, Megadeth, Cannibal Corpse, Lamb Of God and Behemoth.

The Cleansing, No Time to Bleed and The Black Crown rank among the records that shaped modern extreme metal. The band’s best-known track, “You Only Live Once,” has passed 150 million plays on YouTube and remains the calling card for its low-end growls and bounce.

The Graceless lineup is guitarists Chris Garza and Mark Heylmun, bassist Dan Kenny, vocalist Hernan “Eddie” Hermida and drummer Ernie Iniguez. Together they pull threads from every chapter of the band’s history and attack them with renewed appetite. Grief, reinvention and backlash have all come and gone, and the group has come out sounding meaner rather than mellower. Graceless brings the story full circle, this time with sharper fangs.

Suicide Silence has always worked as a unit. Its best material comes from bodies packed into a room, amps turned up and arguments that gradually harden into song structures. That teamwork gives the album an odd warmth beneath the noise. The result is ugly, physical and immediate, and it sounds like the work of a band that outlived every opinion about what it should be.

Garza described the mindset behind the record. “Just get out of the way and serve that band logo. When we choose to do that, great things follow.

“We’re back to doing it exactly as we did it when we were kids: just playing heavy shit and doing it from the heart.”

Critics once used the word deathcore as a ceiling. Now it works as a banner staked into the ground. Nearly a quarter-century after its first racket out of SoCal, Suicide Silence occupies a rare spot among bands that lasted without going soft.

The Reminders Of Hell Tour arrives this fall with Emmure, Angelmaker and Synestia in support. It starts in Riverside, Calif., and finishes in Los Angeles:

The current lineup of Suicide Silence:

Hernan “Eddie” Hermida / vocals
Mark Heylmun / Guitar
Chris Garza / Guitar
Dan Kenny / Bass
Ernie Iniguez / Drums

The post SUICIDE SILENCE Unleashes Video For “Make Your Exit” From Upcoming Album “Graceless” Video appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Slovenian extreme metal band NOCTIFERIA have unveiled the video for “Aeon Shift,” the first preview of their eighth studio album, due in November 2026 through Nika Records. The song introduces a new recording chapter with vocalist Miloš Mihajlović and drummer David Bordon joining the lineup. The upcoming album follows the band’s return to live performance […]

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The Back To The Beginning trailer has landed, and the film built around Ozzy Osbourne’s final concert reaches cinemas on 28 October through Trafalgar Releasing, with tickets going on sale today at backtothebeginning.com.

Titled ‘Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning’, it documents the 5 July 2025 show at Villa Park in Birmingham — Black Sabbath’s first performance since 2017, their first with all four original members since 2005, and the last time Ozzy Osbourne ever sang in front of an audience. He died seventeen days later. Alongside the trailer came the confirmed song list, thirty performances deep, and the way it has been assembled tells you exactly what kind of film this is going to be.

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Scott Penfold breaks down the latest hard rock and metal news on today’s Metal Breakdown Daily. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play and stream the show now.

What The Trailer Actually Shows

It is not a highlight reel of the bands. That is the first thing worth saying about it.

The trailer runs on the four men who started this and the people closest to them, and it lets them talk. Sharon Osbourne, on why the show happened at all: ‘That’s all he wanted to do. He wanted to say goodbye and thank you.’ Tony Iommi, on the day itself: ‘It was a closure for the band and it was a good way to go out, I think.’ Geezer Butler describes what he felt from the crowd as ‘pure love. It was just a wave of love.’ Bill Ward, who has had a rough few years health-wise and whose participation was genuinely uncertain right up to the announcement, says he ‘felt completely at home in a place where I belong. Almost felt like a dream.’

And Tom Morello, who assembled the whole all-star end of the bill, puts the frame on it: ‘There’s never been anything like that in rock and roll history.’

He is not overselling it. I have watched a lot of farewell shows get announced, and most of them are a tour with a word on the poster. This one had a hard stop attached to it and everybody on that stage knew it.

The Full Song List

Thirty performances made the film. Here is the running order as published.

1. Ozzy Osbourne — ‘I Don’t Know’
2. Mastodon — ‘Supernaut’
3. Rival Sons — ‘Electric Funeral’
4. Anthrax — ‘Into The Void’
5. Halestorm — ‘Perry Mason’
6. Tool — ‘Hand Of Doom’
7. Ozzy Osbourne — ‘Mr Crowley’
8. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. David Draiman, Jake E. Lee, David Ellefson, Mike Bordin, Adam Wakeman — ‘Shot In The Dark’
9. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Whitfield Crane, Scott Ian, Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, II, Adam Wakeman — ‘Believer’
10. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Yungblud, Nuno Bettencourt, Frank Bello, II, Adam Wakeman — ‘Changes’
11. Lamb Of God — ‘Children Of The Grave’
12. Alice In Chains — ‘Fairies Wear Boots’
13. Gojira — ‘Under The Sun’
14. Pantera — ‘Electric Funeral’
15. Slayer — ‘Wicked World’
16. Ozzy Osbourne — ‘Suicide Solution’
17. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Travis Barker, Danny Carey, Chad Smith, Tom Morello, Nuno Bettencourt, Rudy Sarzo — ‘Symptom Of The Universe’
18. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Billy Corgan, Tom Morello, K.K. Downing, Adam Jones, Rudy Sarzo, Danny Carey — ‘Snowblind’
19. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Sammy Hagar, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith, Vernon Reid — ‘Flying High Again’
20. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Papa V Perpetua, Vernon Reid, Nuno Bettencourt, Adam Wakeman, Rudy Sarzo, Travis Barker — ‘Bark At The Moon’
21. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Steven Tyler, Ronnie Wood, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo, Travis Barker — ‘The Train Kept A-Rollin”
22. Tom Morello’s All Stars feat. Steven Tyler, Nuno Bettencourt, Tom Morello, Andrew Watt, Rudy Sarzo, Chad Smith — ‘Walk This Way’
23. Guns N’ Roses — ‘Never Say Die’
24. Metallica — ‘Hole In The Sky’
25. Ozzy Osbourne — ‘Crazy Train’
26. Black Sabbath — ‘War Pigs’
27. Black Sabbath — ‘N.I.B.’
28. Black Sabbath — ‘Iron Man’
29. Black Sabbath — ‘Paranoid’
30. Ozzy Osbourne — ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’

Ozzy And Sabbath Got Everything. Everyone Else Got One Song.

Read that list again and the editorial decision jumps straight out.

Ozzy’s solo set at Villa Park was five songs, performed seated on a black throne because standing for a full set was no longer possible. All five are in the film. Black Sabbath’s reunion set was four songs. All four are in the film. Nothing from either set was cut.

Now count what the bands got. Metallica: one song. Guns N’ Roses: one song. Tool, Pantera, Slayer, Gojira, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, Anthrax, Mastodon, Halestorm, Rival Sons — one song each. These were fifteen and twenty-minute sets on the day, and every one of them has been reduced to a single track.

I think that is the right call and I think it is also a slightly brutal one. A film that gave every band on that bill three songs would run four hours and it would be a festival document. What this is instead is a film about Ozzy Osbourne with a very expensive supporting cast, and Trafalgar and Mercury Studios have clearly decided that the audience buying a ticket in October is buying it for the throne and the four men from Aston, not for Mastodon’s twenty minutes. Anyone turning up hoping for their favourite band’s whole set is going to be disappointed, and they should know that going in.

The exception is Tom Morello’s all-star block, which keeps eight performances. That makes sense too — those were one-off collaborations that will never happen again, and there is no other recording of Billy Corgan singing ‘Snowblind’ with K.K. Downing and Adam Jones behind him.

They Moved ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ To The Very End

This is the detail I keep coming back to.

On the day, Ozzy’s solo set ran ‘I Don’t Know’, ‘Mr Crowley’, ‘Suicide Solution’, ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ and finished on ‘Crazy Train’, and then Black Sabbath came on and closed the night with ‘Paranoid’. The published song list does not run that way. It puts ‘Crazy Train’ at twenty-five, runs the four Sabbath songs, and then lands ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ last — after ‘Paranoid’, as the final thing you hear before the credits.

That is not how the concert happened. That is a film-maker making a choice, and it is not a subtle one. They have taken the song Ozzy wrote about going home, moved it out of sequence, and used it to end the picture about the last show he ever played. If that does not land on you in a dark room with Dolby Atmos, nothing will.

The film is credited to Ben Wainwright-Pearce as screen director, with Tim Van Someren directing the live concert capture and Jim Parsons, Jamie Silk and Dan Seliger producing for Mercury Studios. It is going out in Dolby Atmos and 5.1.

Two Versions Of ‘Electric Funeral’ Survived The Edit

Small thing, and nobody else is going to flag it, but it is on the list twice.

Rival Sons play ‘Electric Funeral’ at number three. Pantera play ‘Electric Funeral’ at number fourteen. Two different bands, same Sabbath song, both kept in a film where Metallica only got one track.

I am not complaining — Pantera’s version with Zakk Wylde on guitar was one of the heaviest things that happened all day, and Rival Sons taking a run at it early is a completely different reading of the same riff. But when you have cut Tool down to one song and left the same cover in twice, somebody in an edit suite had an argument about that and somebody won it.

We Recommend – Ozzy Osbourne Solo Songs Ranked: The 40 Best

Jake E. Lee Is In This Film

Number eight on the list: ‘Shot In The Dark’, performed by David Draiman on vocals with Jake E. Lee on guitar, David Ellefson on bass, Mike Bordin on drums and Adam Wakeman on keys.

Jake E. Lee has spent forty years being the most written-out guitarist in Ozzy Osbourne’s story. He played on ‘Bark At The Moon’ and ‘The Ultimate Sin’, he was in that band for four years, and he has been treated as a footnote between Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde for most of the time since. He was shot three times outside his home in Las Vegas in October 2024 and survived it.

And there he is, on stage at Villa Park, playing the song he wrote the music for, in the last concert film Ozzy Osbourne will ever be in. If you have never properly gone through his run, it holds up better than the reputation suggests.

Check Out – Zakk Wylde’s Ozzy Albums, Ranked

Why This Matters Beyond The Nostalgia

The show at Villa Park was already the most significant single day in heavy metal in a decade before anybody knew what was coming. Sabbath had not played since The End tour wrapped in 2017. Bill Ward had not played with them since 2005. Ozzy had retired from touring in 2023 with Parkinson’s disease and a spine that had been through multiple surgeries, and the honest expectation among most people I talked to was that he would never perform again in any form.

He did. Seventeen days later he was gone.

The Grammy-winning performance from that day — ‘Changes’, by Yungblud with II from Sleep Token, Frank Bello, Adam Wakeman and Nuno Bettencourt, which took Best Rock Performance at the 68th Grammy Awards in February — is number ten on the list. That is worth knowing if you only watch one thing.

But the reason this film matters is simpler than any of that. There is now a definitive, properly shot, properly mixed record of the last time Ozzy Osbourne stood in front of his audience, and it goes into cinemas in October. Everything else about it is detail.

TL;DR

• ‘Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning’ hits cinemas 28 October 2026 through Trafalgar Releasing. Tickets are on sale now at backtothebeginning.com.
• It documents the 5 July 2025 show at Villa Park, Birmingham — Black Sabbath’s first gig since 2017 and their first with all four original members since 2005.
• Thirty performances made the final film.
• Ozzy’s five solo songs and all four Black Sabbath songs are included complete. Almost every other band on the bill is cut to one song each.
• Tom Morello’s all-star segments keep eight performances, including the Grammy-winning ‘Changes’ with Yungblud and II from Sleep Token.
• The song list puts ‘Mama I’m Coming Home’ last, after ‘Paranoid’ — a change from the running order on the night.
• Screen director Ben Wainwright-Pearce; live concert director Tim Van Someren; produced by Mercury Studios. Dolby Atmos and 5.1.
• Ozzy Osbourne died on 22 July 2025, seventeen days after the show.

FAQ

Thirty performances, and Metallica only got one of them. Tell us which set you’d have given more room to in the comments — and whether moving ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ to the very end was the right call or one step too far. Follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post Ozzy’s Last Concert Hits Cinemas. Check Out The Trailer And See The Song List. appeared first on Loaded Radio.