Twisted Sister Recruit Mike Portnoy For Farewell Tour

"I'm trying to tread lightly on the whole thing," Hagar tells the Las Vegas Review Journal as he promotes his own upcoming live album with supergroup The Circle. "Every time they do something, I'm like, 'Oh my god, can these guys do anything worse to their reputation and to the level of the music of the band?"

"They've got some pretty rough vocals," Hagar said of original frontman David Lee Roth's appearance on the project, which was recorded in Japan in 2013.

"We have not yet seen the actual lawsuit papers, and thus cannot comment on the substance of the lawsuit brought against GWAR by Dave Brockie's father, William Brockie, but we can say that the claims in the Style Weekly article are false. We did not steal Dave Brockie's ashes, or anything else that belonged to him. In fact, all of the items mentioned in the article, including Dave's ashes have been available to his attorneys for weeks. At all times, and under very trying circumstances, we have acted in good faith to honor the wishes of our dear friend. Dave left no will or instructions for final arrangements, and so we have done the best we could to honor what we believe Dave Brockie would have wanted.

"The accusation concerning Dave's ashes is particularly troubling for us. Following Dave's passing, the first thing we did was notify his father, who signed over Dave's body so we could have him cremated. We were told by Dave's father that he did not want to be involved in making Dave's final arrangements. For this reason, Slave Pit assumed that responsibility, paying for his cremation, arranging two memorial services (one public and one private), and purchasing a plot for Dave in Richmond's famed Hollywood Cemetery. Dave's father did not attend either of the services held for his son in Richmond.

"Over 30 years of working and living with Dave, several of us had heard him say that he wished for his ashes to be kept at Slave Pit, so he could "keep an eye on GWAR" while we worked. In the weeks following his death, we developed a plan for a memorial fund that would raise money to honor Dave's memory with a statue in Hollywood Cemetery and work to continue his passionate support of the arts. We felt strongly that a portion of his remains should live at the site of his proposed monument in Hollywood Cemetery. When William Brockie later approached us, we released a portion of the ashes at his request, so he could spread them in the location where Dave's brother and mother's ashes were dispersed.

"Concerning the other allegations in the article, there was certainly no effort on the part of anyone in GWAR, including drummer Brad Roberts, to steal or hide Dave's belongings and personal effects either from his home or office. Dave, like the rest of GWAR, was paid upfront for his final leg of touring with GWAR. The claim that we failed to pay his share of royalties from Slave Pit Inc. is false, and we have the records to prove that. We have been in correspondence with William Brockie and his lawyers for months. They have access to the band's financial records, and Dave's payments and share of royalties are clearly recorded. Likewise, William Brockie's attorneys have an itemized list of the small collection of Dave's art and belongings at Slave Pit. There was never an attempt on the part of Slave Pit to withhold these items from William Brockie. When his attorneys finally identified the particular things they wanted, we made arrangements to return them immediately. Dave's remains, as well as his belongings, including the instruments and the gold record mentioned in the article were given to our lawyers, who in turn notified the Brockie estate that they could retrieve them weeks ago.

"The Dave Brockie Fund did indeed raise money toward our initial goal of building a monument to Dave in Hollywood Cemetery. Unfortunately, its mission has been put on hold because William Brockie's attorneys claim that the Brockie estate should have control of the Dave Brockie Fund and the money contained therein. If we are ultimately unable to use the funds for the purpose for which they are raised, the funds will be returned to all contributing donors.

"Finally, our manager, Jack Flanagan has been unjustly accused of signing a bogus release. At the request of our attorneys, he signed some paperwork to make his position clear on what he thought Dave would have wanted, which is something that the law of Virginia specifically asks for, given Jack's relationship with the band and with Dave. There is nothing bogus about this.

The veteran metal group recently confirmed that they have recruited Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro into the band and that Lamb of God's Chris Adler would be playing drums on the new album.

Mustaine took to his Twitter account on Monday to update fans on the progress they made on the new music. He tweeted, "We're done writing and start tracking drums next. I am so excited! #Megadeth15"

On Tuesday he posted another message. He wrote, "I'm stoked so many people have reacted so positively about Kiko and Chris playing on this next record! Falling Upward again!"

Then yesterday (April 7th) he posted, "15 songs finished being written. Just waiting for Jr. to arrive. He is gonna freak over Chris and Kiko. #Megadeth15".

The new digital reissues were encoded from 24-bit / 96 khz high resolution masters and then remastered for iTunes according to the announcement. The remastered titles include the studio album's "Iron Maiden," "Killers," "The Number Of The Beast," "Piece Of Mind," "Powerslave," "Somewhere In Time," "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son," "No Prayer For The Dying," "Fear Of The Dark," "The X Factor," "Virtual XI," "Brave New World," "Dance Of Death," "A Matter Of Life And Death," and "The Final Frontier."

Band founder Steve Harris also selected two compilation albums and two live albums for the digital reissues: "Somewhere Back In Time," "From Fear To Eternity" (2CD), "Live after Death" (2CD) and "Rock In Rio" ( 2CD).

Harris had this to say, "The Mastering For iTunes procedure allows the listener to experience the music as close as possible to the way the artist intended it to be heard. So of course I was very keen for the Maiden albums to be mastered in this way. The records have been available digitally before, when this medium first became a platform for music distribution but that was mastered with CDs in mind.

"The iTunes process involves a different approach and it's great to finally deliver the music to our fans in as close to a pure and accurate sound as we could possibly achieve.

"For example, as most people know, I was never really happy with the sound on the first Maiden album but listening to it now, the guitars are louder, the drums more substantial and the overall tone is so very much improved in my opinion.

"Tony Newton and Ade Emsley who worked closely with me on the project did a terrific job recapturing everything from the original masters and together we've re- mastered them all digitally and I'm really happy with the results."

Newton had this to say, "The process started with locating all of the original album mix tapes (or whichever format they were mixed to). Then the choice of analogue to digital convertor was chosen for the most accurate capture to make it as close as possible to the sound of the mix as it was intended by the band.

"When a lot of these tapes were last captured it was in the 1980's, early days of digital and only 44.1khz/16bit files were possible. On top of this the new A/D convertors are far superior now, and of course it is possible to produce files of far higher resolution.

"The result of this is that the songs now sound more defined with added depth and warmth. I was very excited to be asked to be part of this project, I honestly feel that there is a massive improvement in the quality of these classic albums."

In a statement, the band say: "Unfortunately, due to our guitar player Jeremy Brown's passing, this week's show in London will be postponed until September 3rd.

The tour will be kicking off on May 3rd at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, FL and will be concluding in Los Angeles on May 31st at the Greek Theatre.

The trek will also include two-night-stands in Montclair, New Jersey; Westbury, New York; Windsor, ON and St Charles, IL where the band will perform different set lists each night.

The video is for the track "Her Bullets Energy", which comes from Garcia's debut solo album. He had this to say about the video and the upcoming tour, "I'm super excited to announce this summer run along with the world premier of my video with living legend Robby Krieger from The Doors!" Watch the video here.

"I've got a lot of new songs and songs I've written over the last couple of years," Jagger tells Rolling Stone. "I've done really good demos for all of them, which I would love to record. So, let's hope so."

King says in new video interview with Loudwire that recent media reports that suggest otherwise are not true. "Jeff Hanneman isn't physically playing on this record.

"Somebody reported some bulls-t. People say s-t when they don't know what's actually going on. Even though Jeff's song, "Piano Wire," was recorded during the last album cycle [World Painted Blood], I played all the guitar. I've been doing that for years. Since he has no lead on that song, he's not on it."

The band describes the clip as "a black and white Cohen Brothers-Esque nod to film noir. The video follows a man (Finch's Alex Linares) through the forest carrying a body bag and a shovel. What or who is in the bag? You'll have to wait until the end to find out." Watch the video here.

The video release comes as the band kicks off a spring tour with Yellowcard. The North American trek will run until May 10th when they play the final show in Agoura Hills, CA at The Canyon Club.

The new album is set to be released on April 24th which features their new vocalist Ronnie Nyman and was produced by Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, Devin Townsend, Soilwork) and George Nerantzis at Dugout Productions in Uppsala, Sweden.

Guitarist and founding member Marios Iliopoulos had this to say Revolver about the new track and video, "'Stare into Infinity' is one of my favorite songs on our new album The Puritan.

"It has all those elements that are Nightrage - heavy riffs, emotional melodies and brutal vocal hooks. The whole arrangement of the song is very simplistic and in your face. The verses are very thrashy with straightforward riffs and pounding drums, creating that feeling of power and metal mayhem.

"The chorus is where the song really lifts up with those signature Nightrage melodic guitars and big '80s metal riffs played with a thrashy and more modern approach. And Ronnie�s vocals, singing with such a great passion and old school melodic death metal vibes, makes for a really cool contrast on that part.

"Lyrically, it's a song that has to do with leading you out of dark times, reaching the light at the end of the tunnel and leaving everything that's troubling you behind - searching to find your inner self.

"The production and sound that Daniel Bergstrand and George Neranzis did for the song made all the difference in the world; they really gave the song the needed power and loudness to create such a strong and beautifully loud brutal/melodic sound."

They returned to the studio in January to begin work on the follow-up to 2013's double release The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side Of Hell. And on his Instagram update, Bathory confirms the process is nearing completion.

The pop- and rap-friendly annual event organized by the music industry magazine is notorious for ignoring rockers - even within the "rock" category. Recent "Top Rock Album" winners have included pop artists like fun and Coldplay over actual rock acts like Foo Fighters and Green Day.

Fish, who's aiming to retire in 2017, will then embark on an eight-date run of shows across the UK in December to play the hit album live for the the last time.

He says of the record: "It holds a lot of memories from a period that was very exciting and crammed with experiences both dark and magical. The lyrics hold a very special meaning to me as they were written by a young man on the cusp of fame and dealt with a lot of personal issues.

"It was not only a breakthrough album for the band but also for me as an artist because I was finally discovering my own individual style as a lyricist and singer."

The group say: "Drum recordings for the new album have started! Stay tuned for studio updates." Last year the band were left frustrated when their planned US tour with Machine Head was cancelled.

Discussing the potential for taking the Sonic Highways TV show to other countries, the chat turned to Brazil, where Grohl's fellow guest, Fast & Furious actress Jordana Brewster, lived as a child.

Grohl says: "You know what's crazy? One of my favorite heavy metal bands of all time is from Brazil. This band called Sepultura. I mean, Sepultura, they're amazing, but one of the crazy things they did, they made this album called 'Roots'.

She describes one of the tracks, Mechanical Heart, as a love song for her husband Scott Guetzkow. She says: "It was my way of saying, 'yeah, I don't have a healthy or normal heart, but I'm going to figure out a way to bring you everything you need and want in life.'"

And she says Trouble is "a brass balls song about a female who says, 'I didn't come here to make trouble, but the bottom line, it's a whole lot of fun.' It's a bad girl song."

Both 2011's Dear Lord, No Deal and 2012's Clairvoyant Fortnight are now out of print and the tracks from both will be included on Home Of The Newly Departed.

Also included on the CD is Happy Half-Life, Dear Friend which was previously only available on the b-side of the band's 2009 debut single Pissed Up On Brake Fluid.

He tells Prog: "It is an instrumental, bluesy, prog-jazz album. The studio sessions were fantastic and everyone played great. We have about 55 mins of music and it is really varied and both exciting and atmospheric."

But things are looking up, as King announced on Tuesday that he was leaving the hospital. In a message posted to Facebook, King announced "I want to thank everyone for their concern and good wishes. I'm feeling much better & am leaving the hospital today."

The tune follows the video for the project's lead track, "Stormbringer", and "Burn." The group's 12th album sees frontman David Coverdale re-recording classic songs from the Deep Purple's Mark 3 and Mark 4 records he appeared on: "Burn" (1974), "Stormbringer" (1974) and "Come Taste The Band" (1975).

In addition to Coverdale, Whitesnake's current lineup includes guitarists Reb Beach and Joel Hoekstra, bassist Michael Devin and drummer Tommy Aldridge.

The promo video lists the new lineup along with a plug for fans to sign up "for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to experience sessions from the inside" - without providing further details at this time.

The follow-up to 2013's "Super Collider" will be Megadeth's 15th studio album. "I'm stoked so many people have reacted so positively about Kiko and Chris playing on this next record!," tweeted Mustaine. " Falling Upward again!"

The fifth album will be released on May 25. The video is directed by David Solbjorg and Kjetil Kolbjornsrud of Twitchy Films, who have previously worked with the group.

The band say: "The Price was the obvious choice for us to make a video of. It's straight to the point, technical, focused, catchy and shows a new side of Leprous.

Every year in the month of June, my fianc�e Taylor and I take off a couple of weeks from whatever projects we're working on to get recharged and inspired by volunteering and living at the Kerrville Folk Festival. The year leading up to our last retreat in 2014 was one that needed a lot of chewing before it could be properly digested. The project I had been working on with the band was "Water Walker" and at that point we'd already been working on the record for around two years. During those two years, Taylor was attending school at Texas State in San Marcos, and I was juggling living on the road and cooking at a country club. I was feeling very disconnected from my creativity and started joking saying, "I don't write songs anymore," and I was starting to believe it and didn't know what to do about it.

That's about when Taylor and I found out we were gonna have a baby. Like most unplanned pregnancies, it freaked us the f*** out, but rather than freaking out we decided to accept the challenge. We saw it as a opportunity for a much needed change in pace. Like Bob Ross always said, "There are no mistakes, just happy accidents." So we started working harder. I picked up a third job mowing lawns and Taylor started working at the infamously sh*tty Gil's burger broiler, which we called Gil's Bug Broiler. Anyway, despite the hard work, we were very happy and very excited about our child and our new lifestyle. Then we got a huge slap in the face when we lost our son Hadley to a miscarriage at 17 weeks. We realized it's very common and had a lot of support from our friends and family, but it was none the less heartbreaking and sat me right back down deep into a disconnected depression.

Strangely enough, I found comfort again in the same quote from Bob Ross. (Thanks, Bob.) We quit our jobs and we packed up with our baby savings and headed to Kerrville. All I can say about the festival is it's absolutely magical. Two weeks wasn't enough, so we decided to extend our time off and drove to Breckenridge, Colorado. We stayed there for a week with Taylor's family who happened to be on vacation at the same time. That's where I was sitting on a three-story condo porch looking over snowcapped mountains, picking on my guitar and I came up with a quick line for the first lyrics I'd written in months, "Don't fight, let it move you, it's the bloodline running through you, it's deeper than the river running through the hills, deeper than the shiver giving you chills." It felt like the mountains were singing it to me. Maybe it was the altitude or those funny smelling cigarettes they sell there, but, whatever it was, it was healing my heart... so I pulled out my notebook and wrote it down and put it away and forgot about it like it never happened.

We realized we didn't have enough money to make it home so I called a friend of mine, Kevin Shaw, in Denver to see if he could hook me up with a gig somewhere for some cash. His kids have a band called Our Generation, so he's pretty connected in the music scene. He called back with something like five gigs, and that extended our stay in Colorado about another week. We crashed in Kevin's man cave in Denver then decided we had enough money to make it to Utah for the Rainbow Family Gathering so we were out another week. Then we headed back to Texas via Missouri where we camped out on the Elk River in Pineville with my grandparents, parents, and brothers -- that was another couple weeks. We knew our adventures were nearing an end and we were ready to get back into to the grind and finish the album.

My family left a day ahead of Taylor and me, and the next afternoon I found myself having one of the most enlightening conversations with my Uncle Jack (my dads brother) who I hadn't really spoken to in years. He is a paster of a church in Fayetteville, Arkansas called Regeneration. He's one of only two preachers I enjoy talking with, the other being my friend, Aaron Edwards. Anyway, the conversation was very open-minded and inspiring from both sides and never turned into an argument like most conversations with religious folks do. When I got home two days later, my brothers and I set up to practice for our first show in a month, which was at Courville's in Beaumont. While we were checking our amp tones and tuning up one of the guys asked if I'd written any songs while I was traveling. I thought about it for a minute and said, "No, but I wrote down some lyrics or something when I was in Colorado. I don't know if they're any good or not but I'll try to work them out." After we got set up the guys went inside to eat some lunch, so I picked up my guitar and the song just flowed out like water. The second verse and all three choruses are inspired directly from the conversation I'd had with my Uncle Jack. The guys came back out to the shed and I told them I'd just written a song. We were all a little surprised but we worked it out and played it the next day for our good friend Rich Courville. We showed the song to Jeffery (our manager and producer) and he liked it so we tracked it at Blue Rock Studio in Wimberley and it became the single for "Water Walker." And there you have it. The story behind, "If It Don't Kill You."