Some rather bittersweet news from the Iron Maiden camp to wake up to.  After 42 years of manning the drum throne, Nicko McBrain has announced his retirement from recording and touring with Maiden.  It's definitely sad to see him go, but at the same time, it's the right thing to do.  The man is 72, Maiden music is demanding to play, and especially since he went through his stroke in Jan 2023.  He says he will still be involved behind the scenes with Maiden on ths business side, and will remain active in other business projects he has.

After 12 long years, the wait is finally over!  Shadows Fall have released their first new song since 2012, and it's crushing!  The official video for the new single "In The Grey" can be streamed down below.  I have to say that this also features the best production quality they've ever had.

Since reuniting in 2021, the band have played a bunch of festivals and are playing shows this year celebrating the 20th anniversary of The War Within.  The new single is the first taste of the new record that is scheduled to come out in 2025.  I speak for everyone when I say that we are thrilled to have Shadows Fall back after all these years!

2025 seems to be shaping up another big year for Machine Head, because in addition to the European festivals they'll be playing next summer, including a headlining slot at next year's Wacken Open Air, they just announced another massive North American tour for April and May after a really successful one earlier this year.  To make it even more special and gargantuan, they got an eclectic lineup of special guests with In Flames, Lacuna Coil and Unearth.  That's four very different bands, making for one smoking night out.

On top of that, the band have announced that a new studio album is slated for release around the same time that the tour kicks off (April 2025), and one song, titled "These Scars Won't Define Us" is a collaboration with members of all four bands on the tour lineup, and the other bands will add vocals to the track, making for what they call a "Wu Tang Clan-level thrash collaboration", and is slated to be released this Friday, November 15 at midnight.  This ought to be dynamite!  You can see the complete list of dates below.

Apr 05 - Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre
Apr 07 - Phoenix, AZ @ Van Buren
Apr 09 - San Diego, CA @ Observatory
Apr 10 - Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
Apr 12 - Las Vegas, NV @ Sick New World *
Apr 13 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Union Event Centre
Apr 15 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
Apr 17 - San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre
Apr 18 - Houston, TX @ House Of Blues
Apr 19 - Dallas, TX @ House Of Blues
Apr 21 - Raleigh, NC @ The Ritz
Apr 22 - Silver Spring, MD @ Fillmore
Apr 23 - Brooklyn, NY @ Paramount Theatre
Apr 25 - Reading, PA @ Santander Arena
Apr 26 - Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
Apr 27 - Montreal, QC @ MTELUS
Apr 28 - Toronto, ON @ History
Apr 30 - Cincinnati, OH @ Andrew J Brady Music Centre
May 02 - Detroit, MI @ Fillmore
May 03 - Chicago, IL @ Radius
May 04 - Minneapolis, MN @ Fillmore
May 05 - Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings Theatre
May 07 - Calgary, AB @ Grey Eagle Event Centre
May 08 - Edmonton, AB @ Midway Music Hall
May 10 - Kelowna, BC @ Prospera Place

90s kids rejoice!  It's the reunion that many of you have been screaming for for the last 11 years, and that is Three Days Grace and Adam Gontier.  After a period where there seemed to be division between both camps, fences have been mended and after seeing Gontier make a couple of special appearances on stage with his 3DG bandmates last year, it was a no-brainer to welcome him home.  However, his successor Matt Walst, who has done a phenomenal job holding his own and creating three albums since Adam's departure, will remain with the band, officially making the band a quintet, which I think is an awesome choice.  If Helloween can have Michael Kiske and Andi Deris, why can't 3DG have Adam and Matt, right?

What an absolute surprise to wake up to.  Metallica will be extending their M72 World Tour into 2025, which was obviously no surprise.  14 new cities have been added to the schedule, and this time however, it's a 50/50 split with some cities getting the No Repeat Weekend setup, and other cities getting one night only, and two festival stops are also included.  Support on the tour will come from Pantera, Suicidal Tendencies, Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills.

Suicidal Tendencies is a nice change-up to the list of bands that have been touring with them, and Rob Trujillo will get to tour with one of his former bands.  Limp Bizkit is definitely a really odd choice, while Pantera and Ice Nine Kills have already been touring with them on the previous North American legs.

The tour is set to begin on Apr 12 with a festival appearance at Sick New World in Las Vegas, and run through the weekend of June 27 and 29th in Denver.  Tickets go on sale next Friday, September 27 (a significant day), while the fan club presale begins on September 23.  You can see the full routing below.

M72 WORLD TOUR 2025

Apr 12 - Las Vegas, NV @ Sick New World
Apr 19 * - Syracuse, NY @ JMA Wireless Dome
Apr 24 * & 26 ** - Toronto, ON @ Rogers Centre
May 01 * & 03 ** - Nashville, TN @ Nissan Stadium
May 07 * - Blacksburg, VA @ Lane Stadium
May 09 & 11 - Columbus, OH @ Sonic Temple Festival
May 23 ** & 25 * - Philadelphia, PA @ Lincoln Financial Field
May 28 * - Landover, MD @ Northwest Stadium
May 31 * - Charlotte, NC @ Bank Of America Stadium
Jun 03 * - Atlanta, GA @ Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Jun 06 ** & 08 * - Tampa, FL @ Raymond James Stadium
Jun 14 ** - Houston, TX @ NRG Stadium
Jun 20 **& 22 * - Santa Clara, CA @ Levi's Stadium
Jun 27 ** & 29 * - Denver, CO @ Empower Field

* Support from Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies
** Support from Limp Bizkit and Ice Nine Kills

Blog author:  Alex Stojanovic

Earlier this year, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine announced that they're joining forces for what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest metal tours of 2025, where the two bands will go on tour together on the Poisoned Ascendancy Tour and celebrate the 20th anniversaries of Ascendancy and The Poison by playing the albums in their entireties.  If that's not a smokin' night out, I don't know what is.  It's not the first time that Bullet have played The Poison in full, but it's the first time Trivium have ever played Ascendancy in full, so history will be made with this tour.

They promised the tour to be a full blown world tour, with festivities kicking off in the U.K and Europe at the start of 2025 with special guests Orbit Culture.  Since then, the rest of the world has been clamoring for the bands to announce legs in the other territories, especially North America.  Well, after 8 months of waiting, North American dates have finally been announced, so you can all breathe easier now.  I swear, as a North American, it makes me cringe to think that North Americans think they deserve everything.

Anyway, it's a really exciting announcement, especially for us who listened to these albums in our high school days.  The tour is set to take place in the spring, starting on March 30 in Vancouver, and run for 32 shows across the U.S and Canada before wrapping up on May 18 in Raleigh.

Special guests on the tour will be August Burns Red on all the dates, with Sylosis playing the dates from March 30 to April 17, and Bleed From Within playing the remainder of the dates from April 19 to May 18.  Tickets go on sale this Friday, September 20 at 10 AM local time.  Are you excited for a huge nostalgia trip back to 2005 or the mid-2000s in general with this upcoming tour?  Don't lie, of course you are.  You can see the full routing of dates below.

Mar 30 - Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
Apr 01 - Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theatre
Apr 03 - San Francisco, CA @ Masonic
Apr 04 - Wheatland, CA @ Hard Rock Live
Apr 05 - Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort Theatre
Apr 08 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore Auditorium
Apr 10 - Las Vegas, NV @ Pearl Concert Theatre
Apr 11 - Los Angeles, CA @ YouTube Theatre (No Sylosis)
Apr 12 - Phoenix, AZ @ Financial Theatre
Apr 15 - Dallas, TX @ Gilley's South Side Ballroom
​Apr 16 - San Antonio, TX @ Boeing Centre @ Tech Port
Apr 17 - Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Centre
Apr 19 - Chesterfield, MO @ Factory
Apr 20 - Omaha, NE @ Steelhouse Omaha
Apr 22 - Green Bay, WI @ Epic Event Centre
​Apr 23 - Grand Rapids, MI @ GLC Live @ 20 Monroe​

Apr 25 - Prior Lake, MN @ Mystic Lake Casino Hotel
Apr 26 - Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom
Apr 27 - Detroit, MI @ Fillmore
Apr 29 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
​Apr 30 - Philadelphia, PA @ Fillmore
May 02 - Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall
May 03 - Laval, QC @ Place Bell
May 04 - Toronto, ON @ Great Canadian Casino Resort
May 06 - Washington, DC @ Anthem
May 07 - New York City, NY @ Rooftop
May 09 - Bethlehem, PA @ Wind Creed Event Centre
May 11 - Nashville, TN @ Pinnacle
May 13 - Corbin, KY @ Corbin Arena
May 14 - Atlanta, GA @ Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre
​May 17 - Charlotte, NC @ Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre
​May 18 - Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheatre

After 14 years in the lead guitarist spot, Reece Scruggs has stepped away from the Havok due to scheduling conflicts.  As many of you know, Reece has been touring with Machine Head for the last couple of years​ as a fill-in for Vogg until he announced his departure from the band.  Given that both Machine Head and Havok are active touring bands, it's no surprise that it has come to this for Reece.  However, given that Machine Head is a much bigger band, that means bigger exposure and also a better paycheck as well, so from a business perspective, Reece made the right decision.  It won't be long before Machine Head announces Reece as the band's new permanent guitarist.