AND IN OTHER NEWS...
With a remarkably sunny Download and Glastonbury in the bag, the rest of 2017 looks similarly bright on the live front. One of our favourite rock festivals, Ramblin’ Man Fair, returns to Maidstone on July 29-30, starring ZZ Top, Saxon, Black Star Riders, Rival Sons and UFO, with loads more on the bill. Then in Derbyshire on August 9-12 it’s the turn of the world’s happiest heavy festival, Bloodstock, where Megadeth, Ghost, Skindred, Black Moth and many more likeminded beasts will be vying for your attention. In October, Seether and Kentucky Headhunters both play shows in the UK, while Royal Blood, Michael Schenker and Opeth embark on tours here in November.
Before that, 80s hero George Thorogood releases his first ever solo album (August 4), bonkers gypsy-punks Gogol Bordello have their new album Seekers And Finders coming soon (August 25), and Paradise Lost release their fifteenth LP, Medusa, in September.
Looking further ahead, British heavy metal titans Judas Priest are quietly working on their eighteenth studio album. “We’re still doing what we love to do,” singer Rob Halford told Planet Rock, of their as-yet-untitled record. “Priest is a working band more than anything else. It’s that Midlands ethic, the work ethic of anybody that goes to work… And now we’re moving through into other stages, we’re preparing for another big world tour, getting stage designs sorted, lighting designs sorted...”
Meanwhile, over in the US, Pennsylvanians Halestorm are hard at work on the follow-up to 2015’s Into The Wild with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Rush, Mastodon, Ghost et al). “It’s been pretty epic so far,” singer/guitarist Lzzy Hale has said. “We have a lot of tracks.”
Grunge veterans Alice In Chains are also in the studio making a new album. No titles or precise details – in fact nothing at all – had been revealed as we went to press, but it’s expected in early 2018. Also in 2018, Megadeth are expected to release a new record, and Steven Wilson will return to London’s Royal Albert Hall, among many other UK venues, to showcase his upcoming new album To The Bone, which hits the shops next month (August 18). Even further ahead, most likely in the second half of 2018, Muse are hoping to have a new album, but have also said fans can expect new songs before then.
To keep abreast of all the music news as it comes in, head to classicrockmagazine.com