Day in Rock Report for 12/19/2021

Wolfgang Van Halen recently explained that it was frontman Axl Rose who wanted him to join Guns N' Roses on stage to jam their classic hit "Paradise City".

His solo band Mammoth WVH opened for Guns N' Roses on their U.S. summer tour and he joined GNR on stage at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL back in October. (read more)

Byzantine shared the very sad news earlier this week that their former drummer Matt Wolfe had "passed away from a long battle with addiction." He was 46.

Wolfe appeared on five of the group's albums, including their 2004 debut, "The Fundamental Contempt", before he parted ways with the group in 2015. (read more)

The Hellacopters have shared their brand new single "Reap A Hurricane". The track comes from the group's forthcoming album, "Eyes Of Oblivion," which is set to hit stores on April 1st 2022.

"Eyes Of Oblivion," is the follow-up to the band's 2008 "farewell" album "Head Off". Nicke Andersson had this to say, "The album has 10 songs and although it's obviously not easy to be objective at all, I think musically it sums up everything we've touched upon from the start in 1994 up until now.

"Some of the songs date back as far as 10 years or more, and some were written more recently. It's rock and roll played with high energy, so for lack of a better term I say High Energy Rock And Roll.

"You could say it sounds like The Beatles meets Judas Priest or Lynyrd Skynyrd meets the Ramones but the best way to describe this album is that it sounds like The Hellacopters today." Stream "Reap A Hurricane" (read more)

Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd has released a new single called "Petrichor". The track comes from his forthcoming solo album, Echoes & Cocoons", which will arrive next March.

He had this to say about the song, "I come from a place in the world where the sun is almost always shining, and as wonderful as that is, it does carry with it a kind of bias towards happiness and a constant stress around well being. (read more)

(hennemusic) Metallica are streaming pro-shot video of a performance of their 1991 classic, "Sad But True", from a November 4th show at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL.

The concert was part of the band's fall US tour, which will wrap up this week with two nights at the Chase Center in the group's hometown of San Francisco, CA as the centerpiece to a weekend of 40th anniversary events. (read more)

(hennemusic) Queen revisited the 1992 Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert on latest episode of their 50th anniversary video series The Greatest. Following the singer's November 1991 passing of complications from AIDS, Freddie's bandmates were determined to give their best friend the 'biggest send off in history'.

The episode sees Roger Taylor and Brian May reflect on the making of that historic day, joined by Joe Elliott and Taylor Hawkins recollecting appearing on stage in front of 80,000 people and live on radio and TV to a billion people in 76 countries around the world. (read more)

Helloween have released an animated video for their song "Out For Glory", which comes from their self-titled album and was implemented by the students of Bachelor of Design (Animation & Interactive Media), RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia

Guitarist Michael Weikath had this to say, "I had an idea for a video where all band members are depicted as dinky, odd noble courtiers and ministers. All of us should be floating in the clouds, [vocalist Andi] Deris as a nutty emperor... and after a while, more and more details came up and at one point in time we wrote everything down and sent the video concept to the Australian animation team." (read more)

Urge Overkill have released their brand new single "How Sweet The Light". The track comes from their forthcoming album, "Qui", which is set to hit store son January 28, 2022.

"Qui" marks the iconic band's first new album in over a decade. "How Sweet The Light" follows their release of a cover of the George Michael classic "Freedom". (read more)

Italian rockers Hell & Then have released their cover of the classic Motley Crue hit "Dr. Feelgood". The track will appear on the band's forthcoming debut EP.

They explained why they decided to cover the track, "When we decided to add a cover among the tracks of our first EP, we ended up choosing quite naturally 'Dr.Feelgood'. (read more)

Bourbon House have released a music video for their latest single, "I Got Trouble." The song comes from the group's third studio album, "Into The Red".

Jocelyne Berumen directed and produced the new video and they group had this to say about the clip, "We basically got to time travel for a day with the making of the 'I Got Trouble' video. (read more)

Amazon Music have shared a trailer for The LCD Soundsystem Holiday Special, an innovative virtual event that will be streaming this coming Wednesday (December 22nd).

We were sent the following details: Comedian, actor, and writer Eric Wareheim (Tim & Eric) will direct and star in the special, which also features a star-studded cast including Macaulay Culkin, Christine Ko, and Aparna Nancherla portraying the band in a '90s-inspired sitcom titled All My Friends. Amazon Music invites fans around the world to watch on the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and Prime Video beginning at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST on December 22. (read more)

He Was A God have released a lyric video for their brand new single "Amadeus". The track comes from the supergroup's just released debut EP, "The Smile & The Scar".

The band features Tony Pellino (Transfixed Movement, Adva), Chris Densky (Genitorturers, Deadstar Assembly, Adva), Ray Zvovushe (King Sexy, Adva), Dan Perrone (Adva, Odessa), and vocalist Benjamin Curns. (read more)

Wolfgang Van Halen had a top 21 story from June 2021 after he said that the Covid-19 pandemic prevented his father Eddie Van Halen from receiving cancer treatments that appeared to be helping and ultimately prevented a final Van Halen kitchen sink concert from happening.

Eddie was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in late 2017, and Wolfgang told The Washing Post that Eddie flew to Germany for treatments that appeared to be helping, but he was unable to continue to receive the treatments when the pandemic shutdown occurred. (read more)

Aerosmith Star Doubts Band Will Ever Play Live Again was a top 21 story from June 2021: Aerosmith guitarist Brad Whitford has shared his doubts that the legendary band will ever perform live again because his own and his bandmembers ages are becoming a "real factor".

Whitford made the comments during an appearance on Joe Bonamassa's streaming interview series "Live From Nerdville". He made the comments after Joe asked Brad about the band's planned European tour. (read more)

Paul Stanley Discussed KISS Biopic 'Shout It Out Loud' was a top 21 story from June 2021: KISS frontman and cofounder Paul Stanley discussed "Shout It Out Loud," the forthcoming biopic about the legendary band, during a recent Download Reloaded interview with host Kylie Olsson.

The band's manager Doc McGhee revealed early last year that the biopic was in the works. Paul said of the film project, "I would rather not do it than do it half assed or poorly. Our director is the real deal; he did Maleficent 2 and he's not some hack. He knows how to make movies. It should be great. (read more)

Black Stone Cherry Founding Member Exited Band was a top 21 story from June 2021: Black Stone Cherry took to social media on June 2nd to share the sad news that they have parted ways with bassist Jon Lawhon, who decided to leave for personal reasons.

The band wrote, "To all of our amazing fans, it is with a heavy heart we inform you that Jon Lawhon has decided to take an indefinite sabbatical from music and touring for personal reasons. As such, Jon will be stepping down as a member of Black Stone Cherry. (read more)

(hennemusic) Anthrax Revisited Early Milestones On 40th Anniversary Series was a top 21 story from June 2021: Anthrax members revisited some early milestones for the band in the band's 40th anniversary video series. While continuing to win over new fans with each show in support of 1990's "Persistence Of Time", the group share memories of teaming up with Slayer and Megadeth on the Clash Of The Titans tour.

"We're almost a year into the album cycle, playing the biggest shows we've ever played," recalls Scott Ian. "It was a triple-headline bill; the three different managements involved came up with a flip-flopping rotation .. so it was decided in advance that Anthrax would close New York. We would close in Madison Square Garden so, for us at that point in time, there was nothing bigger for us." (read more)

The Pretty Reckless Recruited Soundgarden Icons For Video was a top 21 story from June 2021: The Pretty Reckless have released a music video for their single "Only Love Can Save Me Now". The track and video both feature Soundgarden icons Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil.

Taylor Momsen had this to say, "It's hard to describe the feeling around our song 'Only Love Can Save Me Now'. The song was born out of tragedy and brought to life by two of my favorite musicians of all time - Matt Cameron and Kim Thayil. Hearing them play it is simply surreal. (read more)

Judas Priest's Rob Halford Wants To Collaborate With Babymetal was a top 21 story from June 2021: Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford has performed with Babymetal in the past but he recently shared his desire to collaborate with the group in the recording studio.

Halford reflected on performing the Judas Priest classics "Breaking The Law" and "Painkiller" with the group at the 2016 Alternative Music Awards during an interview with Metal Hammer. He said, "I was delighted to be asked. It was such a hectic day that it was over in a flash, but it was a blast." (read more)