The band has two new members: Clint Graham from John Cougar Concentration Camp and the Waste Aways and Billy McCowan from Behind The Wagon. Their most recent release,
Homeless Sexuals Demos 2004-2006, came out on singer Davit Buck's Full Contact Rock 'N' Roll label, named after his local rock memorabilia shop.
The Judas Priest frontman recently told Consequence Heavy that he battled prostate cancer during the 2020 global pandemic. "I had my little cancer battle a year ago, which I got through and that's in remission now, thank God...that happened while we were all locked down, so things happen for a reason as far as time sequence of events. I have nothing but gratitude to be at this point in my life, still doing what I love the most." Halford has added a chapter about his health issues to a newly updated paperback edition of his autobiography
Confess, where he writes "2017. "How did I feel? I felt a combination of shock, horror, and oddly, relief - at least now I know!...'Am I going to die?' It was all I could think of. I know blokes who've died of prostate cancer. 'No, you're not going to die, Rob,' said Dr. Ali." Halford underwent surgery in July 2020, followed by additional radiation therapy after more cancer was discovered, and then an appendectomy after a tumor was found on his appendix. "It's been a draining year, I can't deny it, but I'm delighted to have come through it. I feel like I've had the most thorough MOT (moment of truth) that a Metal God can have." Halford also has a new box set called
50 Heavy Metal Years Of Music.
"Our second album,
Wrath of the Bastard, is being released on November 12th via Antrum Records and we are beyond stoked to finally put this out," reports the band. "Preorders are now available for digital download and limited run CD, as well as you can stream the first single, “Chaos Unearthed” through our Bandcamp." The album artwork was created by Varises Otak.
Mire features Ryan Glisan (ex-Allegaeon, Pyrithion) and vocalist Benton Mckibbe, along with former As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa. "Very stoked to share some new music from my band Mire," said Hipa when the band was announced in 2021. "Ryan, Benton, and I started this journey together in 2017, with the simple desire to create stylistically unrestrained music based on mutual admiration for riff based songwriting." A video for their single "Refined" is streaming online. Says Hipa, "It’s a decently pummeling tune that represents just one facet of what we’ve created together."
A new single drops November 5, "Danny Loves A Fight," produced by Pete Steinkopf from The Bouncing Souls. "Had to go punk rock while we are still young," laughs Pinto. He's currently on a tour that will take him through North and South Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, before returning to California for a coastal tour that includes a December 2 date at Winstons in OB.
November 8 will see the release of a new EP called
Cleared IV Takeoff.
With a new single called "I'm An Idiot," the pop singer's current album
Big Hug is the followup to
Little Hug. "The goal of my Big Hug LP is simple: Give my listeners a big hug. Because I write, play, produce and mix my own music, I wanted to make something that really felt like this moment. We're all emerging from our caves, full of fear, apprehension and social awkwardness. I wanted to make a record that helped people get through this. It has moments of bliss and self doubt—of anxiety and self depreciation, but hopefully, it acts as a transformative record for a transformative time. Like, it's kinda perfect that my song 'I'm An Idiot' was picked up by Spotify's New Music Friday. It's an anti-anthem for our post-post-modern generation, celebrating the joy of not knowing—and knowing you don't know. I admit, I'm scared, just like you. We're little apes on a little rock in a sea of nothingness, in the midst of a moment that crystallizes and highlights our impermanence and futility. But dude, we have each other. And after all, life's all a lot better when we get a big hug."
The band's debut self titled album, which drops October 29, is being released on Geza X Records, the label founded LA’s Godfather of Punk Geza X, producer for Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, the Germs, and “Bitch” by Meredith Brooks.
Collective members Bostich + Fussible have a new single, "Convénceme," featuring singer Rubén Albarrán, who was also recently heard in the Color Forty Nine's animated music video for "What Would I Know / ¿Yo Que Sé?" Bostich + Fussible will perform October 16 at The Front.
With a new solo album in the works featuring Jerry Montano (HELLYEAH), the 65 year-old occasional Ratt singer is plugging
Nothing To Lose - A Stephen Pearcy Rockumentary, available now on ASY TV. "Follow RATT singer Stephen Pearcy's story from his childhood home in San Diego to the world-famous Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood," reads the press sheet, "eventually finding platinum success and playing to sold-out arenas around the world." Pearcy's other recent solo releases include a single for "Night Flight," a cover of Duran Duran's "Girls On Film," and a music video for a previously unreleased solo song, "Don't Wanna Talk About It," featuring guest guitarist Ferentinos, Mike Duda on bass, and Greg D'Angelo on drums. As for this year's version of Ratt, it apparently only includes Pearcy and bassist Juan Croucier from the classic lineup, backed by Croucier's drummer Pete Holmes (Black 'N Blue), guitarists Jordan Ziff (Razer), and Frankie Lindia.
On October 20 at the Music Box, the band will debut their album
Keep On Rising - Act I: The Sex Sells, Love Drugs, Rock N Roll Society, the first of a three-part rock opera being released by Blind Owl Records. Guitarist Daniel Cervantes describes the setting as “an ultra-sexualized reality where drugs are available on every corner and rock and roll is a normalized way of life. There is no taboo, all is equal, nothing is sacred and everything we’ve ever known is subject to change with the wind.” The bill includes Thunderbeast and Moxi & Loon.
The frontman for Manual Scan, the Shambles, and True Stories will debut his first official solo EP
66/68 on November 16 via local Pacific Records and European label Snap!! Records. Mendoza covers four classic songs that originally hit the airwaves between 1966 and 1968. The tracks were recorded over the last two decades for various projects which never came to fruition, including "Different Drum" (inspired by the Linda Ronstadt & The Stone Poneys version), the Turtles' "Happy Together," "Beechwood Park" by the Zombies, and "Sunny," originally by Bobby Herb.
The bluegrass/Americana band recently performed at the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) World of Bluegrass event in Raleigh, NC. They're currently in the studio finishing a 13-song full-length titled
Stories & Memories, preceded so far by a single for “Make It Up.”
Their new album
Witchcraft 2 is being promoted with a performance video shot for Hidden San Diego, taped at the abandoned Marshall Scotties amusement park.
