Today's Day in Rock Stories

Def Leppard, Poison, Tesla Announce North American Tour

Metal legends Sabbath landed the top spot on the tour with a gross of $10,396,394 for the Latin American leg of their final outing with shows in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo where they played to over 152,000 fans.

Speaking with Louder Noise in late 2016, Frehley admitted, "I haven't heard anything from Paul and Gene, but if it's going to happen it should happen next year, I would assume. 2017 seems like a ripe year." If that sounds hopeful, Frehley was quick to caution. "But, you know, we'll have to wait and see," he added.

Paul Stanley disagreed, though. After appearing on Frehley's solo album, Origins Vol. 1, he batted away rumors about a full reunion. "I don't see it," he said.

Mustaine, who was the original guitarist for the thrash giants, made the revelation for a special series called "My Life In 15 Songs" and he picked "Ride The Lightning" as one of them.

He said of the track, "There's certain riffs that you hear, and you just know who the songwriter is. And I'm not talking about just when I write. So there are certain parts of 'Ride The Lightning' and 'Leper Messiah' and the first album, all that stuff, you can tell little things that are similar with Megadeth's guitar playing 'cause you know there's so much you can do with an instrument. I think they did great with it.

The supergroup, which features Hughes alongside Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin, Foreigner) and keyboardist Derek Sherinian (Dream Theater, Billy Idol), is working on the follow-up to 2012's Afterglow. A near-four-year hiatus was previously reported as caused by tensions between Bonamassa and Hughes.

But in a recent interview with Icon Vs. Icon, Hughes stated: "One thing I want to make clear to everybody is that Joe Bonamassa and I never fell out. It just happened that after Afterglow was recorded and released in the fall of 2012, there was no touring schedule set. Being that there was no touring schedule set, I decided to leave the band simply because I needed to go back to my solo career. There was never falling out. Joe was continuing with his solo career and it just never worked out that we could do a lot of touring.

"Over the course of the years, we have spoken to each other and we had lunch the spring. We said, 'Wouldn't it be great to make another record? Maybe the time is right to do that.' There's certain times when people get back together for reunions and if they have their material, they have a good insight."

The tour continues tonight (January 13th) in New York City at BB King Blues and the veteran group has announced dates that so far run until April 22nd with a show in Palm Springs at the Fantasy Springs Casino.

The new album, entitled "Doris and the Daggers," is set to be released on March 24th and Kannberg recruited Grandaddy's Jason Lytle to play the part of Spiral Stairs in the new video, which can be seen here.

Frontwoman Simone Simons had the following to say, "The energy that lives within 'Beyond the Matrix' is extremely contagious. It will sweep you off your feet when the melodies enter your mind. The video embodies the spirit and liveliness of Epica. Transcend together with us and shine past the sky"

The tour is scheduled to kick off on February 16th in Agoura Hills, CA at the Canyon Club and will finish up on March 8th in Phoenix, AZ at the Rogue Bar. Watch the promo video here.

The trek dubbed USA Takeover: Part 1 will feature support from Can't Swim, Light Years, and Sleep On It and is set to launch on March 10th in Providence, RI at The Met.

The band had the following to say, "In 2007 we put out a record called Rise or Die Trying, starting us down a path that would lead us all over the world, and drastically change our lives.

The music legend lost his 18-month battle with liver cancer in New York on January 10, 2016 at the age of 69. Bowie's official site shared an animated collage by Helen Green, writing, "We can be Heroes, for ever and ever @Helengreeen has created this beautiful animation referencing all 28 Bowie studio albums #BowieForever"

The singer's widow - model, actress and entrepreneur Iman - posted a photo of a double rainbow over the New York City skyline that was taken on the day of his passing, adding "Jan 10th, 2016 NYC Skyline #ForeverAndEver #ForeverLove #BowieForever"

Guitarist Lee McKinney had the following to say, "We are beyond excited to break the silence on what we've been up to this past year. 10 years ago we were seniors in high school in Chicago and spent our spring break recording a record that we had no idea would massively impact our lives. The New Reign was something we all believed in, and for that reason we were all anxious and curious to see how it would be taken.

"This past year we decided to re-record our debut. I know what you're thinking.... 'they took the album and sent it to someone else to re-mix / re-master and they are going to re-package and re-sell it'. Wrong! We went to the studio, re-recorded the entire thing, changed guitar riffs/drum parts/bass/vocals and even recorded a new song that I wish made it onto the original version 10 years ago. This song 'Glorious Day' was made before some of the other songs that made the original recording.

"I must say, it's crazy to still be in our 20's and be on a 10 year anniversary. I'm so thankful for this... and I must thank the fans for supporting us every step of the way, as well as Sumerian Records for believing in us all of this time."

The comic book series is based on Slayer's "Repentless" music videos, written and directed by B.J. McDonnell (Hatchet III) and scripted by director/ producer Jon Schnepp (Metalocalypse, The Venture Bros., The Death of Superman Lives).

"Twilight Zone" artist Guiu Vilanova created the inside artwork, while Eisner Award-winning British comics artist Glenn Fabry drew Issue #1's cover, and Eric Powell (The Goon, Hillbilly) created the variant cover.

Belew will begin the trek on February 28th in Vienna, VA at Jammin Java and will crisscross the U.S. and Canada before wrapping up on May 20th in Nashville, TN at 12th & Porter.

Bassist Andrew Jacobs had the following comments about their new effort, "At the end of last year, we found some old demos we thought had been lost, which led to a discussion about putting together an EP. We planned on releasing the demos along with a couple of new songs but once we got started, we had more and more ideas for new songs and the plan quickly evolved into making an EP of brand new tracks.

"Our fans have stuck by us through so much, and as we kept working, we felt we were selling them short with just an EP, so we pushed on and turned it into a full album.

"We've now been in the studio for almost a year and have put together what we think are our best songs to date. It's Mutiny Within but evolved, more extreme, longer songs, but still with everything that made people excited about us. My favorite part; it's all real. The drums, the vocals, the shred, and most of all, the passion we've always had for our music... We tried to capture the energy as if we were on stage and we've done that.

The band is currently wrapping up work on their debut full-length album, which is being produced by AWOLNATION's Aaron Bruno and they have recently released a music video for their track "Hookers." Watch it here

Frontman Jari M�enp�� had this to say about the album title announcement, "That's right folks, we'll leave you pondering a bit what this name means. Next week we'll release the album tracklist and everything will become very clear to you! Promise!"

The trek is set to get underway on May 23rd in Orlando, FL at The Beacham and will run until June 27th where it will be concluding in New Orleans, LA at the House of Blues.

The band had these comments and reveal their lineup for the outing, "We are excited to get back out on tour with longtime friends and death metal brothers Suffocation as main support. We have also added the technical thrash metalers Revocation and newcomers Withered to what will promise to be a great night.

"No prison can stifle this hunger [�] Desires of molten iron�" these are the words that best describe Empyrean Throne. Taken from our new single, Haereticus Stellarum Part II, we wanted to send a clear message: we are a group of fire-wielding chaos gnostic foot soldiers that will trample those who try and stand in our way or silence our voice.

The song at its core is an emancipation of the spiritual and is an invocation of the hidden power within the individual. It is ritualistic in nature, make no mistake. It is a call to ignite the inner flame. It serves as a conduit of power by the Undercurrent of Chaos for the individual. It is the final song of the concept storyline on our debut record, "Chaosborne," and we wanted to make it sound as visceral, raw, lumbering, and haunting as possible.

As a band, we believe and promote Chaos Gnosticism and Liberation Ideology. It is an extreme form of gnostic teaching that focuses on the individual and the power that they can harness. Haereticus Stellarum Part II is, at its core, about ascension or the achievement of enlightenment. In this spiritual realm, there exist three veils through which one must cross in order to ascend. These veils are Chasek, Bohu, and Tobu. The symbols for these three veils appear on the banners of each stage of the ritual in the music video. To pierce these veils requires sacrifice on the individual's behalf. Performing the crossing of these perspective thresholds is the striking Luzia Lowe, a fellow left-hand path foot soldier.

This song represents the triumph of what this band has set out to achieve and become with the release of our debut record Chaosborne. Empyrean Throne has gone through several trials and tribulations. These experiences have made us battle-hardened, cunning, and ready to stand the tests of the unknown. With every challenge, we seek opportunity. With every pitfall we encounter, we never despair, but turn our energy toward the course of action that will direct Empyrean Throne to new heights.

We know not what the future holds and which roads Empyrean Throne is destined to travel. However, we embrace the changes and challenges that lie before us. The hunger inside us cannot be stifled and our desires burn with passion and willful resolve. We worship Chaos, and embrace its mantle as we prepare for a new chapter in this band's history and a new journey in our lives.

Into Chaos, Towards the Beyond, Ever Vigilant.