He released his record Frequency Unknown in April, while the other Queensryche, fronted by Todd La Torre, launch their self-titled work in June. A court hearing in November will decide which of the two outfits get to keep the name.

The artwork on Frequency Unknown features a fist bearing the initials "FU," which La Torre recently slammed as a "cheap shot" � but Tate says that's not the case.

He tells Jam: "It's an abbreviation of the album title. It's a metal thing. I've seen tens of thousands of fists punching the air at Queensryche shows. There is nothing out of the ordinary about it. I get criticised because I'm not metal enough � now I do an obvious metal album cover and I get criticised for that!"