The complicated history of Iron Maiden has taken a “harrowing” and controversial turn. Wes Orshoski, the acclaimed director behind the upcoming film Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer, has revealed that the current members of Iron Maiden and their management officially refused to participate in the making of the documentary.
Labeled a “massive bummer” by Orshoski, the snub highlights the deep, unresolved tension surrounding the band’s original frontman. As the film prepares for its June 9, 2026, premiere, it promises an unvarnished, “warts-and-all” look at a man who spent his final years in a wheelchair, battling both physical decay and the “demons” of his own legacy.
“Not Unexpected”: The Rod Smallwood Rejection
In a revealing new interview with Billboard, director Wes Orshoski (who also helmed the definitive Lemmy documentary) didn’t hold back regarding the lack of support from the Maiden camp. After signing the contract with Cleopatra Entertainment, his first move was to reach out to the band’s long-time manager.
“Maiden manager Rod Smallwood was very kind, but immediately told me that neither he nor any of the current bandmembers would be participating,” Orshoski stated. “Obviously, it was a massive bummer, but not unexpected.”
While Steve Harris and the rest of the band appear in the film via archival footage, the refusal to sit for new interviews suggests that the “Beast” of Paul’s era remains a polarizing figure within the multi-platinum machine of modern Iron Maiden.
The documentary, shot between 2017 and 2023, captures Di’Anno at his lowest ebb. Orshoski describes a man of extreme duality—an “absolute sweetheart” who could transform into a “demon” without warning.
“I tried to show both sides in the film,” Wes explained. “When he was in a great mood, he could be super fun and a blast. Zero ego. But when the Mr. Hyde side of him reared its head, it could be ugly for everyone within earshot. And he was sort of unapologetic about that nastiness.”
The film even captures a raw moment where the director and Di’Anno are seen screaming at each other on camera while Paul was in a care center in Croatia. Orshoski later called Paul in Mexico to apologize, only to find the singer more interested in his lunch than the argument—a testament to the strange “grace” Paul possessed even in his darkest hours.
A Heroic Return Fueled by Fans
While the “official” Maiden camp stayed away, the film documents the incredible efforts of the fans who kept Paul alive. London’s Kastro Pergjoni and Croatian writer Stjepan Juras spearheaded the crowdfunding campaigns that allowed Di’Anno to receive the surgeries and care that U.K. doctors had reportedly refused to greenlight.
The documentary follows this journey from a wheelchair-bound nosedive during the pandemic to a heroic return to the stage, proving that despite the professional snubs, the global metal community never abandoned the voice of Killers.
FAQ: ‘Di’Anno: Iron Maiden’s Lost Singer’ Premiere
When does the Paul Di’Anno documentary come out? The North American premiere takes place at the Lumiere Music Hall Theater in Beverly Hills on June 9, 2026. This is also the official release date for digital VOD, Blu-ray, and DVD formats.
Are there other metal stars in the film? Yes. Despite the current Maiden line-up’s absence, the film features appearances by James Hetfield (Metallica), Gene Simmons (Kiss), and members of Exodus, Slayer, Megadeth, and Sepultura.
What years does the documentary cover? Director Wes Orshoski filmed Di’Anno on and off from 2017 to 2023, capturing his health decline, his time in Croatia, and his final return to live performance.
Director Wes Orshoski reveals that Iron Maiden management and members refused to participate in the new Paul Di’Anno documentary, calling it a “massive bummer.” The “warts-and-all” film, premiering June 9, 2026, documents the late singer’s final years, his health struggles, and his fan-funded recovery in Croatia.
Is Iron Maiden’s refusal to participate a move to protect their brand, or does it disrespect the man who helped build their foundation? Let us know in the comments.
Lately, people have been worried about Phil Collins’ health. Collins, now 75, sustained nerve damage in a 2007 spinal injury. On Genesis’ 2022 farewell tour, Collins wasn’t able to play the drums, and his son Nic took over. In an interview published last year, Collins said that he hasn’t been able to work on new music lately: “The thing is, I’ve been sick. I mean, very sick.” Today, though, Collins says that he’s generally doing better, though he won’t perform when he’s inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame this year.
Last August, Philly’s Chemical released their self-titled debut EP, which was then followed up by the single “She She” in March. That single was not a one-off. Today, they’ve announced a new EP My Little Dogma and shared another song “Saturday’s Child.” For a moment I thought I was listening to three different songs. No.…
Welcome to this weeks edition of Devil’s Island! Every week we maroon a band or artist on the island and see what they get up to, how they cope with being all alone on a small island in the middle of the ocean. It’s not your average desert island and we’ll see just how each person copes with the extreme conditions.
This week when we arrived at Devil’s Island we find Small Town Saviours sat on the beach. The island is far from their home, so how did they end up here and how did they cope with life on Devil’s Island?
Find out now…
Welcome to The Razors’e Edge and our somewhat lovely, warm desert island. Don’t worry about it’s name I’m sure it’s not as bad as that would suggest.
You’re marooned here on this island, but before you ended up shipwrecked you chose one album that you couldn’t live without. Which album did you each chose and why?
Lance Skybaby – The Beatles Rubber Soul. It’s just a great album that opened my mind to many styles of music.
T-Bone – The wildhearts – Earth Vs the Wildhearts. Can’t argue with this Monster!
Carl D – Motley Crue – Motley Crue with John Corabi singing because he’s an awesome vocalist!
Skinny Pete – Blink 182 – Enema of the state. If im on an island i may as well have some fun with those scamps!
There’s also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What’s your tipple of choice?
LS – Kiss – Destroyer. It’s more like a classic painting than an album cover.
TB – Appetite for Destruction. The coolest skulls you’ve ever seen!
CD – Master of Puppets. I just think it looks cool!
SP – Green Day – Insomniac. I’ve always found it to be an interesting cover.
There’s also a bar on this here island. But alas each of you only get to choose one drink for the entirety of your stay. What’s your tipple of choice?
LS – Bumbu Rum.
TB – I’ll have a Pale Ale please!
CD – Red Bull.
SP – Fosters ( or Roo Brew as i call it ).
Your suitcases were lost when your ship sank, but you each managed to salvage one item of band merch. What’s the merch and for what band?
LS – My Kiss Hotter than Hell T-shirt.
TB – Small Town Saviours beer mat (for my Pale Ale).
CD – I wouldn’t save anything , I’m not sentimental like that.
SP – My Insane Clown Posse cassette tapes.
You’re sat on the island thinking “I’m stuck here on this island with my bandmates for eternity”… who would you rather have been shipwrecked with?
LS – Rob Zombie, Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys), John Lennon.
TB – Im happy with my fellow Saviours!
CD – My band mates are enough for me.
SP – I’m going with a tactical answer and say Ray Mears as he’s a survivalist.
There’s a walkman in your pocket, on the tape inside is the recording of the one live show that stands out for you. It could be any show, from any band, anywhere in the world. What show is on that walkman?
LS – Queen – We Will Rock You live in Montreal 1981.
TB – Green Day – Bullet in a Bible. I went with lance, it was a f@@king awesome gig!
CD – Scott Sorry live at the 100 club.
SP – No Doubt – Live in the Tragic Kingdom 1997.
You’re getting desperate, you decide the only course of action is to put a message in a bottle and hope someone finds it. Your message could be to any member of any band, but should be the most suitable for a rescue attempt. Who is it?
LS – Sting!, He knows just what to do with a message in a bottle.
TB – I’de message Bruce Dickinson to fly by and pick us up.
CD – I would message Kiss as i hear they have a good collection of helicopters.
SP – Tom Delonge as i’m sure he has some alien tech that could teleport us out of here!
You’ve been stuck here a while and food supplies are running low. There’s only one thing for it… which fellow band member gets sacrificed to help the others survive?
LS – T-Bone. I hope he tastes like his namesake!
TB – I ain’t eating anyones A….Rump steaks!
CD – I don’t eat junk food!
SP – Carl would be the healthy option on the menu.
Finally, when the ship sank you each managed to save one person from the wreckage. That person is the one musician that has influenced your career the most, shaped your way of thinking and your outlook on life. Who did you save?
LS – Ginger Wildheart.
TB – Duff McKagen. Without him i would never have picked up the bass.
CD – No one gets left behind!
SP – Again Tom Delonge as he must have that alien tech on his person haha.
Seattle heavy pop and progressive alternative rock quartet The Home Team have announced a headline UK tour for November 2026. The major autumn run serves as a celebratory precursor to their highly anticipated live appearances at Slam Dunk Festival this coming weekend, where they are scheduled to share stages alongside the likes of President. The … Continue reading The Home Team announce November 2026 UK headline tour
Enigmatic, anonymous metal outfit President have officially announced the details of their highly anticipated debut full-length album, Blood Of Your Empire, set for release on 4th September 2026 via Atlantic Records. In tandem with the album announcement, the band has mapped out a 13-date autumn headline campaign across the UK and Europe. Operating under a … Continue reading President announce debut album ‘Blood Of Your Empire’ and autumn 2026 UK tour dates
Acclaimed biographer Jimmy McDonough’s new book Gary Stewart: I Am From The Honky-Tonks goes deep into the rough-and-tumble life of Stewart, one of country music’s unsung greats. My own first exposure to Stewart came via an incredible cover of his song “She’s Actin’ Single (I’m Drinkin’ Doubles)” on Wednesday’s 2022 album Mowing The Leaves Instead Of Piling ‘Em Up. The cover quickly became one of my all-time favorites, and it piqued my interest about the source material. So I’m excited to share this new essay from Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman discussing her love of Stewart’s music and reflecting on McDonough’s book. —Chris DeVille
I am often late to the party when it comes to artists who may have already been around for years. I will admit that Plini and Sungazer were both bands who were really in peripheral vision only prior to this Electric Bristol show.
I was unsurprised that a virtuoso guitarist, whose debut album Electric Sunrise prompted Steve Vai to comment over a decade ago that “When I saw Plini play, I felt that the future of exceptional guitar playing was secure,” could have a good pop at filling one of the bigger venues in Bristol.
There are many people who find this music deeply absorbing. For me, it was a night of discovery and appreciation of true high-level ability.
Plini – Electric Bristol – 21 May 2026. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
Plini (Plini Roessler-Holgate) takes the stage flanked by a trusty trio of musicians. Simon Rowe on bass, Jake Howsam Lowe on guitars and drummer Chris Allison provide the vehicle for the Australian to showcase his talent, and over the 90 minutes of the show, all four demonstrate why technically Vai was correct.
The musicianship flows beautifully, with each member of the band (apart from Allison) switching to instruments with more strings. Eight-string guitars, six-string bass? No worries. It is all here.
It is a set based on his most recent album, An Unnameable Desire, with six tracks, including two of the opening trio, the title track, and Ciel getting an airing.
Plini – Electric Bristol – 21 May 2026. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
Virtuosity only counts for so much, though, and although the healthy-sized audience was soaking up every note, there were times I found my attention wandering.
It is ironic that I had spent the previous weekend in Zottegem, Belgium, lapping up post-rock bands of all shapes and sizes. Ironic because this is another outfit who avoid lyrics. But Plini has a couple of key strategies to maintain attention. The main one is getting the audience a little “weirded out.”
At various points in the evening, we have the audience making farmyard animal noises instead of applause or cheers. Of course, getting the crowd to moo is suspiciously close to a boo, something that Empyre used to make their own strategy.
Plini – Electric Bristol – 21 May 2026. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
At the start of the penultimate song, The Time Will Pass Anyway, there is a surreal wall of death, one side mooing and the other imitating a rooster, before a gentle yet lively mosh pit briefly kicks into life.
It is something of a challenge to watch musicians as skilful as this. Rowe looks like he could be out for a walk on a Sunday, whilst Allison’s controlled percussion anchors everything. And Howsam Lowe is no slouch either, trading licks or solos with the main man.
Plini – Electric Bristol – 21 May 2026. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
It is a lively evening, closing with Electric Sunrise to a huge ovation. Plini is a maestro, his band are exemplary musicians, and it is an honour to watch such talent up close. I may not have the attention span needed for such intricate work, but I can certainly admire and appreciate it.
Sungazer – Electric Bristol – 21 May 2026. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
Sungazer
With 56,000 streams a month, Sungazer are hardly unknowns. Tonight they strike a nerve, which is welcomed.
Their avant-garde progressive jazz fusion is compelling, as is the between-song banter from bassist and founder Adam Neely. Having missed the band at ArcTangent in 2025, this was the perfect opportunity to find out why the band straddle genres.
Sungazer – Electric Bristol – 21 May 2026. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
It is the dominance of saxophonist Jared Yee that stands out, although once more, the combination of Neely, drummer Shawn Crowder and guitarist Joshua De La Victoria make this such a compelling band.
Their style is relaxed, consummate musicians going about their art with a gentle confidence. The songs are driven yet not forced, with the interplay between Neely and Crowder and the audience a true highlight. They have the audience dancing, well, shuffling to the Sungazer two-step, and there are smiles all round.
Sungazer – Electric Bristol – 21 May 2026. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
A striking uniform approach is there on stage, too. The band appear in matching tie-dye outfits, which look like whoever oversaw laundry had made a drastic cock-up.
But their skill is in making things look easy, and they do that magnificently. They even eschew the laptop and click track for the last song. There is a ceremonious closing of the equipment before they hit a very impressive cover of Return To Forever’s Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy to close out a massively enjoyable set.
How miserable do you want your chugs? Because just in case your answer was “very”, Lithuania have seen fit to export abject desolation for your waiting ears. The order of business here is a withering combination of sludgy breakdown onanism meeting shrill, unnerving ambience hovering overhead, like vultures circling the gladiator pit. There’s an enfolding, ethereal feel to it – those simple but piercing melody lines smothering you while syncopated chugs take hammers to your limbs. Diaphanous veils of drifting refrains that inject this forlorn character into each track on top of the constant thuggish beatdowns. This approach is more often than not formidable. “Skleistis” feels like being trapped in a collapsing steelworks, the sickening plunge of downtuned open strings like tumbling girders while lachrymose plucked notes echo out over crumbled walls.
Vocalist Vaidotas Darulis has a particularly agonised bellow that felt almost like schadenfreude to enjoy. He howls like a man with problems, this jagged hardcore roar dripping with pathos. It’s a loud, forceful album that washes over and through you. Waves, waves, waves. A horde of tidal swells. There’s something meditative about water. It applies here too; distortion borne on cliff-edge tsunamis, pale stallions cresting Poseidon’s raking fingers. The album feels like a deluge; almost ambient in texture. The sheer heaviness of it blurs into static, somewhere below the earth flows, liquid clasp about an iron core, it’s a body of matter, a thing built of enshrouding distortion, “Skepsis” at 4.02 bears down with a combination of impossibly downtuned riffs boring mantle elements out black miles down below and the high-pitched screech of the flayer’s work up above. The grooves are brutal; “Svertas” is less a song than five and a half minutes of uppercuts to the guts, one groaning bottom-string riff after another, each thudding home with the implacable thump of an underslung grenade launcher. But that compliment is one that could more or less apply to every song on here – and therein lies the rub.
As effective as it is, there does come a time where the album feels to have rather made it’s point, and attempts to spice things up – a rattling hip hop beat on “Trukmè” for example – are interesting but don’t necessarily gel well with the downbeat punishment elsewhere. I think that if the band had sporadic moments where they really accelerated it could do a lot to contrast the groove that they prioritise, taking the album from one that flattens you to one that could straight smash you through the floor. The band have done this before to great effect – “lavondemes” on their “Savigaila” album opens by angle grinding your face to the bone with weaponized blastbeats and sickly, jarring chords. Something similar would have gone leagues towards salving the somewhat one-note impression the album leaves you with. I find that I enjoy each song in isolation but altogether in a tracklist, it’s undeniably a bit on the repetitive side.
Do you like Heriot? Or The Acacia Strain? How about Nemertines or Humanity’s Last Breath? If your answer to any or all of the above is “yes” then you owe Erdve your attention. It’s a churning caldera of unsavoury downtempo grunt, and even if I would welcome a touch more variation the pure heaviness of it on a case-by-case basis cannot be gainsaid.
