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Former ICED EARTH singer Stu Block says that Jon Schaffer "fucked up real bad" when he got involved in the violent protest at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 that left several dead, including a Capitol police officer. Four months ago, the ICED EARTH leader pleaded guilty for his role in the Capitol riot. Although he was initially charged with six crimes, including engaging in an act of physical violence and targeting police with bear spray, he pleaded guilty to only two charges: obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress; and trespassing on restricted grounds of the Capitol while armed with a deadly or dangerous weapon. Block, the Canadian-born vocalist who had fronted ICED EARTH since 2011, officially quit the band in February, stating at the time it was "the best decision in many ways" for his "personal and professional growth going forward." Stu addressed Jon's involvement in the Capitol riot as well as his departure from ICED EARTH in a brand new interview with Canada's The Metal Voice. Speaking about his former bandmate, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "We all make bad decisions, man, and [Jon] fucked up real bad. And I'm sure he knows it, and I think everybody with half a brain knows it… The line that was crossed with going in and all that kind of stuff… He had so much going on. It was a shame. It hurts, 'cause you've got plans, and all of a sudden, you can't tell someone what to do — you can't tell a very strong-willed individual what to do; you can't. And so it would be lost words." He added: "At the end of the day, I don't hate him. I'm not writhing in hate for him. I feel sad. I feel bad that everything went down the way it did. And maybe one day we'll talk. I don't know. I'm not too sure. But I think he knows that I still have a place in my heart for him, because I've seen that man do a lot of amazing, wonderful things for people. But I just wanna move on. And that's what it is." Following the initial reports that Schaffer was involved in the riot, his ICED EARTH bandmates distanced themselves from his actions. Block and bassist Luke Appleton later posted separate statements on social media announcing their resignations. BLIND GUARDIAN frontman Hansi Kürsch also quit DEMONS & WIZARDS, his long-running project with Schaffer. The allegations also apparently affected Schaffer's relationship with his longtime record label Century Media, which had released albums from both ICED EARTH and DEMONS & WIZARDS. As of mid-January, the Century Media artist roster page did not list either band. According to CNN, prosecutors and Schaffer's attorneys agreed to recommend that he get between three and a half and four and a half years in prison, based on how fruitful his cooperation is with the government. The government agreed not to oppose Schaffer's release during the sentencing phase. As part of the plea deal, Schaffer agreed to cooperate with investigators and potentially testify in related criminal cases, according to CNN. In return for Schaffer's assistance, the Justice Department might later urge the judge to show leniency during his sentencing. As part of the agreement, the Justice Department has offered to sponsor Schaffer for the witness protection program. Earlier this month, Block announced his permanent return to his pre-ICED EARTH band INTO ETERNITY. Before joining INTO ETERNITY in 2005, Block began his musical career singing for various bands in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After two albums with INTO ETERNITY, Block joined ICED EARTH in 2011, with whom he recorded three LPs: "Dystopia" (2011), "Plagues Of Babylon" (2014) and "Incorruptible" (2017).

In a new interview with "The Paula Faris 'Faith & Calling' Podcast", John Cooper, the frontman and bassist for the Grammy-nominated Christian rock band SKILLET, spoke about his intensely strict religious upbringing where all pop music, black clothes and even Christian rock music was banned. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I am the product of an incredibly faithful mom. My mom was a Jesus fanatic. I'm talking about everywhere we went, my mom was sharing Jesus with every single person at the grocery store. I am a product of a very faithful, praying mom, but I do think that my childhood did have a lot of what I would consider to be a little fundamentalist, a little bit of that legalism and maybe a lot of fear — a lot of fear of what's gonna happen in the world, rather than focusing on the fact that we can be full of God's presence in order that we would be a light going into the darkness." He continued: "My mom passed away when I was 15, so a lot of this kind of got shaped after that, I would say, taking my mom's zeal, my mom's passion and my mom's love for the Bible and realizing that I'm so thankful for her, even though there are some things that I don't think we'd disagree on now if she was alive because I think that she was on this journey — she was on this journey to what I would consider to be a more liberating place in the spirit as opposed to the opposite." Asked how he reconciled the fact that his mom once said that rock music was the tool of the devil with him being the frontman of a successful rock band, Cooper said: "I will tell you something that I don't know if I've shared on a podcast before. And after 25 years, that's a big deal. I think the hardest thing about it was this: all right, my mom loved God, [and she] really believed that rock music was evil. I mean, the drums were Satanic, the guitars were Satanic, the long hair, the black [clothes] — the black was a sign of death. I mean, all of it. Christian music, to her mind, was even worse, because Christian music had all those aspects but it also had the deception — wolves in sheep's clothing — that Christian music was just like the worst thing in the world to my mom. "How I worked through this was this: Having to come to terms with honoring your father and your mother, but at some point, I'm an adult. I'm 18 years old. God's called me to do something in my life, and I feel in my heart I've got this burning, burning desire to play music. And I believe that I want to do that because it's a calling from God — not just because my flesh wants it. I don't wanna be a rock god — I wanna be used by God to spread a message of hope through music. "But here's the thing I haven't shared before," he continued. "On my mom's deathbed — she fought cancer for three years — I did not get to see her for the last nearly three weeks of her life. She didn't want me and my siblings to come see her because she thought that we would lose hope and we would lose faith and maybe we wouldn't be praying for her, and she wanted to be healed. So I did not see her, but I've been told in her last days and the last day [before] she passed away, she was beginning to have visions on her deathbed. Apparently one of the things that she said was, 'I'm so concerned for John. John is going to be used by the devil to play rock music. And John's going to help bring the king of darkness to the earth and this and that and the other' — because of rock music. That weighed very heavily on me because I respect my mom so much — she is the reason that I am who I am today. "So to answer your question, how I worked through that. I was reading my Bible and I came to this remarkable passage," he added. "Do you remember when Jesus told this man to follow him, and the man said, 'I want to follow you. First, let me go home and bury my father.' And Jesus says, 'No, no, no. You let the dead bury the dead. You come follow me now.' The call is for now; the call is not for the future. I remember reading that when I was getting very serious about the Bible, when I was about 18, and I remember thinking, 'Is that what the call is like for me, I wonder.' And then I read another thing that Jesus says when he says, 'Anyone who's not willing to hate their father and mother for my sake is not worthy to be called a disciple.' I read that and I thought, 'Okay, I know that Jesus doesn't want me to hate my father and mother, but I wonder if what God is saying, through this passage of scripture, to me is that there comes a time when we have an ultimate authority. Yes, my mom and my dad are my authority, but they are under authority. All authority belongs to God. So if they are under authority and God tells me that I am supposed to go do something as an adult, then it's right for me to circumvent a wrong authority that is acting outside of his godly bounds to obey the lord. God used that to totally shape my mind and to realize, okay, in the end, God's given me this dream. It was a passion — something I believe he wanted me to do for his name's sake. And so that's my story." This past April, Cooper told the "Undaunted.Life: A Man's Podcast" that it was perfectly fine for Christians to play rock music. "I would say that music is created not by the Devil; [it is] created by the Lord," he said. "All things were created by God. So instead of thinking that the Devil owns a genre of music, I would say capture that music and bring it back into subjection under the lordship of Christ." Cooper recently published his first book, titled "Awake & Alive To Truth (Finding Truth In The Chaos Of A Relativistic World)". It "tackles the reigning philosophies of our day of post-modernism, relativism, and the popular view of the goodness of man-and combats these viewpoints by standing on the absolute truth of the Word Of God," the book's description reads. In various interviews over the years, Cooper has said that he "always had faith in God." He also claimed that he was willing to put his career on the line to take a stand for Christ.

SHINEDOWN drummer Barry Kerch has tested positive for the novel coronavirus after being vaccinated. The 44-year-old musician, who lives in Jacksonville, Florida, revealed his positive diagnosis in a video message earlier today. He stated in the clip (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "In the 20 years of SHINEDOWN, I have never missed a show — until now. I regret to say that I, unfortunately, during rehearsals, contracted COVID. And before you get all crazy on me, I got fully vaxxed in April. I followed all the rules — wore masks, washed my hands, et cetera. Unfortunately, I'm one of those ones that got it even though I was vaxxed. So, unfortunately, I'm still testing positive. I'm quarantined. My health is good, which is good news. I've had symptoms, but I'm okay, and I will be okay. But until I finish my quarantine and test's negative, I'm stuck in these four walls. I can't risk it for my band and my crew; they're all doing fine." He continued: "That being said, woe is me — move on. The shows are still gonna happen. Our good friend Dustin Steinke — I remember him from a wonderful band called SIXX:A.M. — he's gonna be filling in for me. And he's gonna kick ass, and the band's gonna kick ass. And I'm happy that the shows can continue on. And as soon as I'm healthy and able, I'll get back out there. So that's the news, folks. Till next time." Kerch, like many others, is showing that while vaccines are exceptionally effective in preventing death and severe illness from the coronavirus and its known variants, some are far from foolproof in preventing infection altogether. Most of the people with so-called "breakthrough" infections are asymptomatic. According to Centers For Disease Control And Prevention (CDC), large-scale clinical studies found that COVID-19 vaccination prevented most people from getting COVID-19. Research also provides growing evidence that mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna) offer similar protection in real-world conditions. While these vaccines are effective, no vaccine prevents illness 100% of the time. For any vaccine, there are breakthrough cases. New variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 illness are spreading in the United States and other countries. Current data suggest that COVID-19 vaccines authorized for use in the United States offer protection against most variants. However, some variants might cause illness in some people after they are fully vaccinated. SHINEDOWN is scheduled to play the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport, Iowa tonight (Thursday, August 5) before playing seven more shows in August and then returning to the road in early September. View this post on Instagram A post shared by SHINEDOWN (@shinedown)

SEPULTURA frontman Derrick Green spoke to El Cuartel Del Metal about what the post-pandemic return to the live stage might look like. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, it's already coming back pretty quickly. I think people are very anxious for live shows. I just watched Lollapalooza live, which was taking place in Chicago, and it was a very crowded show. And I just hope everyone was as safe as possible. "It's difficult times," he continued. "It's difficult to be that band that's gonna be the first to play after a pandemic or when a pandemic is still kind of going on. And depending on where you are, people are looking at it in different ways. People are feeling the pandemic differently as well. There's some people that have had family members that have passed away or died because of it. There's other people that haven't been affected in that way and see it in a completely different light. There's people in different countries who are able to get the vaccine and other places where they aren't at all. And so, depending on your view or where you're located has a lot to do with it. And I just hope that everyone is being responsible and safe so that we're able to have full-capacity shows and shows where people aren't stressed out about getting sick." Last month, SEPULTURA announced the "North American Quadra" 2022 tour. The 30-day trek will kick off on March 4 in Sacramento and will make stops in Toronto, Cleveland, and New York before concluding on April 8 in Berkeley, California. The band will be joined by SACRED REICH and CROWBAR with openers ART OF SHOCK. Formed in 1984 in Brazil, SEPULTURA has gone on to sell over 20 million records and solidify its legacy as one of the greatest metal bands of the 1980s, 1990s, and beyond. Today, SEPULTURA is still going strong, 15 albums deep into one of the hardest-hitting discographies in history. While the pandemic paralyzed the entire world and prevented bands from touring, Latin America's biggest metal export SEPULTURA refused to sit back and feel like animals trapped in a cage. Therefore, in early 2020, the band seized the moment to start its own weekly "SepulQuarta" video podcast in which they invited other famous musicians from all over the world to not only discuss important topics but also perform a track from SEPULTURA's massive catalog together with the group. The resulting full-length compilation will now be released on August 13, with the album containing 15 classics featuring internationally renowned guests and friends. SEPULTURA comprises Green, guitarist Andreas Kisser, bassist Paulo Xisto Pinto Jr., and drummer Eloy Casagrande. SEPULTURA was formed in Belo Horizonte by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, who are no longer with the band.

In a new interview with Brazil's Wikimetal, legendary bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes (DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTRY COMMUNION) discussed the rapid popularization of the Internet technology and how it changed the way people listen to music and communicate with each other. "Back in the days, before the Internet, you didn't get to connect with anyone," he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). "It was run by record executives; some of 'em didn't have a clue what they were doing. Most record executives don't understand music at all; it's all business. And that's the problem I've got with a lot of music today — it's all about business and it's all about money, throwing money into something that maybe isn't fantastic. It's all corporate. No one's getting developed — no young artists are getting developed, like they used to do 30 years ago. That's the problem I've got. But on the other side, if we don't embrace the now, if we don't embrace the change, those people that don't embrace will get left behind. So I've embraced the Internet. I have a social network team and we embrace it. I connect with as lot of people on the Internet. I enjoy the back-and-forth. But music is my life. Nothing comes before the music. So I'm always about making new music to give and to perform to new music fans — and old music fans." Hughes made his live debut with THE DEAD DAISIES on June 23 at Boca Black Box in Boca Raton, Florida. He is joined in the band's current lineup includes Doug Aldrich (DIO, WHITESNAKE) on guitar, Tommy Clufetos (BLACK SABBATH, OZZY OSBOURNE) on drums and David Lowy (RED PHOENIX, MINK) on guitar. THE DEAD DAISIES' latest album, "Holy Ground", was released in January. Recorded at La Fabrique Studios in the south of France with producer Ben Grosse, the LP is the band's first to feature Hughes, who joined the group in 2019 as its new bassist and vocalist, replacing John Corabi (MÖTLEY CRÜE) and Marco Mendoza (THIN LIZZY). Drummer Deen Castronovo announced his exit from THE DEAD DAISIES in January, two days after the band's publicist revealed that Clufetos would rejoin THE DEAD DAISIES when they hit the road in support of "Holy Ground". Clufetos previously toured with THE DEAD DAISIES in 2015. THE DEAD DAISIES will embark on a full U.S. tour in the late summer/early fall. Support on the "Like No Other" trek will come from the "rock and roll comedian" Don Jamieson.

Last month, TIMES OF GRACE, featuring Adam Dutkiewicz and Jesse Leach of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, released its long-awaited second album, "Songs Of Loss And Separation", via the band's own imprint label, Wicked Good Records, distributed by ADA Worldwide. Asked in a new interview with Australia's Maniacs what led to the decision to go the independent route, Leach said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "A long time of negotiating and just kind of weighing where we are with the band and where we are in this world right now. We have KILLSWITCH, we have our career, and with TIMES OF GRACE, it just felt like, 'Let's keep this free.' There's no guarantees what's gonna happen with it. We don't wanna owe a record label a bunch of money. We don't wanna have any pressure to have someone say, 'You need to tour on this.' 'Cause if you're signing a record contract, there's a lot of things that go with that. And we had some pretty crazy offers with some really staggering money. And it was just, like, that's not who are. That's not what we're trying to do. So we're able to steer the ship in a whole different way. We're calling all the shots. And if the album sells well, if people care enough to buy a record these days, which that's not an expectation of ours, we're gonna see a ton more money from album sales, which is nuts. And then owning the rights, retaining the rights to it, years down the line, we can remix it, we can do whatever we want and not ask anybody permission or have to go through a lawyer. There's none of that; we took it all out. And it just seemed like a quote-unquote risk to take. "If you've got the means to do it… ADA, the distribution company we work with, they fronted some money, but not half as much as you would get with a record label," he explained. "It's low risk, and it potentially is better for the future, for what we're gonna do. And retaining your ownership, I think it's really important these days, 'cause no one's really selling a ton of records, so it's not about that anymore." As for whether he would advise up-and-coming bands to release their recordings themselves instead of signing with a record company, Leach said: "Yeah, but I think the landscape is changing. I think that being said, even where we are with streaming and Zoom, there's so many possibilities now for younger bands to take advantage of. You don't have to go out and sell a ton of records or pound the pavement on the road for two years and go broke anymore. You could have an incredible streaming thing in your own living room with Internet cameras and an audio rig. You can do so much on your own and build your audience and have streaming numbers that promoters will look at and go, 'Wow. That person did it all on their own. They didn't need a record label.' I would say the one thing that you're gonna need is Internet presence and you're gonna need promotion." He continued: "As far as a record label, they're pretty much just a bank that gives you a loan and then helps you figure out how to do stuff. But in this day and age, there's so many independent people you can hire on yourself — P.R. people, marketing people — that are kids. There's so many people just doing it rogue. You don't really need to sign a contract anywhere. So I would say take full advantage of everything you've got and just be smart and be careful who you do business with. It's like the Wild, Wild West right now with the Internet. And now that we've got a way to stream, there's so many things you can do with that. You don't need anybody." TIMES OF GRACE's debut album, "The Hymn Of A Broken Man", arrived in 2011, nearly a decade after Leach's exit from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, the pivotal New Wave Of American Heavy Metal band the duo co-founded with friends in 1999. The first music from TIMES OF GRACE materialized during Dutkiewicz's arduous recovery from near-crippling back surgery. A collection of songs the multi-instrumentalist and producer knew would suit his once and future bandmate. The first album earned acclaim from BBC Music, The Aquarian and Rock Sound. It willfully upended expectations, with flourishes of shoegaze and ambiance in its songs. Photo credit: Hristo Shindov

METALLICA has teamed up with Amazon to create "The Metallica Podcast". According to the band, the podcast will launch with eight episodes taking a look behind the scenes at METALLICA's self-titled 1991 LP, better known as "The Black Album." An exact release date for the podcast has not yet been announced. "This album was the right combination of songs, right combination of producer with the right combination of desire, tenacity, [and] lineup of ideas," drummer Lars Ulrich said in a teaser clip. "The insanity that we do just to keep our own sanity, people identify with it and the fact that they're not alone and we know that we're not alone is what makes it all happen for me," frontman James Hetfield said. "I'll just sit there and keep on playing for fucking 24 hours if I need to," guitarist Kirk Hammett said. The Black Album is one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed records of all time. Its 1991 release not only gave METALLICA its first No. 1 album in no fewer than 10 countries, including a four-week run at No. 1 in the U.S., its unrelenting series of singles — "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad But True" — fueled the band's rise to stadium headlining, radio and MTV dominating household name status. The album's reception from the press was similarly charged, building over the years from the top 10 of the 1991 Village Voice Pazz & Jop national critics poll to becoming a constant presence in the likes of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. The album's impact and relevance continue to grow — as proven by one indisputable fact: The Black Album remains unchallenged as the best-selling album in the history of Nielsen SoundScan, outselling every release in every genre over the past 30 years. To commemorate its 30th anniversary, the Grammy-winning, 16-times-platinum-certified Black Album is receiving its definitive re-release on September 10 via the band's own Blackened Recordings. Remastered for ultimate sound quality, The Black Album remaster will be available in multiple configurations including 180-gram double vinyl LP, standard CD and 3 CD expanded edition, digital, and limited-edition deluxe box set (containing the album remastered on 180-gram 2LP, a picture disc, three live LPs, 14 CDs (containing rough mixes, demos, interviews, live shows), 6 DVDs (containing outtakes, behind the scenes, official videos, live shows), a 120-page hardcover book, four tour laminates, three lithos, three guitar picks, a METALLICA lanyard, a folder with lyric sheets, and a download card). METALLICA's self-titled LP in 2014 became the first album to sell 16 million copies since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. "Metallica" was already certified 16 times platinum on December 13, 2012 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America) for shipments in excess of 16 million copies in the U.S. The album in 2009 surpassed SHANIA TWAIN's 1997 record, "Come On Over", as the best-selling CD of the SoundScan era. "Metallica" was the first of four collaborations with producer Bob Rock, with whom the band clashed throughout the recording of the disc. METALLICA performed "the black album" in its entirety at a number of European festivals in 2012. Coming soon... The Metallica Podcast! We’re starting with eight episodes taking a look behind the scenes at "The Black Album." Subscribe for free wherever you like to listen and stay tuned for details: https://t.co/UlA4kEUfv1#BlackAlbum2021 pic.twitter.com/XpaOwCwsig — Metallica (@Metallica) August 5, 2021

California rockers PAPA ROACH have unveiled their swagger-packed motorcade music video directed by Darren Craig (SLIPKNOT, RIHANNA, BIG SEAN, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE) for their new track "Swerve". The high-octane thrill ride featuring the outspoken frontman of FEVER 333, Jason Aalon Butler, and rising Los Angeles-based rapper Sueco is the first track pulled from the band's forthcoming studio album. "This track came at the very end of the writing process for our upcoming album and truly feels like the culmination of years of experimenting with our sound coming back to a new version of PAPA ROACH," shares PAPA ROACH frontman Jacoby Shaddix. "Filming this music video with Jason and Sueco was one of the most fun experiences we've had and I am so excited to share it with the world." The genre-bending banger was produced by Colin "Doc" Brittain and Nick Furlong (ALL TIME LOW, A DAY TO REMEMBER, AVICII), and features the saxophone stylings of co-collaborator Spencer Nezey, showcasing PAPA ROACH's bravado at an all-time high. "This is one of the favorite songs I've ever made," Sueco shares on the collab. "PAPA ROACH has been an inspiration of mine since I was a kid, so working with them was super dope and a dream come true!" Butler adds: "I've said it before and I'll say it again — this band has somehow managed to be a legacy AND relevant all at once. So, naturally, when I got the call to hop on this track there was no question. With Sueco doing his thing, the track's got three different vibes that all work together. This shit is different and that's exactly what rock needs. More DIFFERENT shit. Thanks to these modern legends for making sure it happened." Along with the song release, PAPA ROACH also announced that it has entered into a new global distribution and marketing services agreement with ADA (WMG's independent label and artist services arm). Of the partnership, Cat Kreidich, ADA president, shares: "We couldn't be more elated to have PAPA ROACH in the ADA family. With our talented teams and strong relationships across various territories, we look forward to activating an even wider global audience, as we support them in this new musical chapter." In addition, PAPA ROACH has also reactivated its own label, New Noize Records, a second incarnation of the band's early 2000s label enterprise. PAPA ROACH will be joining BREAKING BENJAMIN on a handful of shows this fall while also taking the stage at both the Blue Ridge Rock festival and the inaugural Rebel Rock Fest.

FEAR FACTORY's Dino Cazares will play guitar for SOULFLY on the Max Cavalera-fronted band's upcoming U.S. tour. The 33-date trek kicks off on August 20 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and will make stops in New York, Chicago and Austin before concluding in Tempe, Arizona on September 25. The final date will be a family celebration as it will include performances by INCITE, GO AHEAD AND DIE and HEALING MAGIC. Joining the band for select dates are NIVIANE and SUICIDE PUPPETS. Cavalera comments: "I'm very excited to be sharing the stage with Dino. He is a true OG riff master, It's going to sound heavier than SOULFLY has ever sounded before! Dino's legendary FEAR FACTORY crunch guitar sound mixed with SOULFLY is going to sound insane." Cazares states: "The first time I met Max in 1991, I knew we were going to be longtime friends. I was standing at the bar, he grabbed my arm and yelled 'Papa Capado.' I was like 'who the F@#% are you? He said 'I'm Max' and from there we just hit it off. That same night I played him the FEAR FACTORY demo tape on his cassette Walkman in his hotel room while we were attending a music convention in Los Angeles. He liked it so much that he wouldn't give it back, so I had to wrestle him and take it out of his Walkman, haha. It was my only copy. Max told Monte Conner, the A&R director from Roadrunner Records, that we had a new demo that he needed to check out, so our manager at the time sent our demo to Monte after many labels turned us down. The rest is history. "Over the past 30 years, I've guested on a few of Max's projects and jumped on stage whenever and wherever I could. Now it's a great honor to be doing this tour alongside Max as the second guitarist. It's going to be amazing for all the fans to see the two of us playing a selection of SOULFLY songs and a few familiar extras. "Much respect to Max and his family — thank you for always making me feel at home with the SOULFLY Tribe. Let's do this!!!! Um Dois Três Quatro". Longtime SOULFLY guitarist Marc Rizzo has not yet publicly commented on his apparent exit from the band. Rizzo recently announced that he will hit the road with the heavy metal honky tonk duo WHISKEYDICK later this month. Back in 2018, Max praised Rizzo, telling "The Classic Metal Show": "He loves what he does; he loves playing in SOULFLY; he loves working with me. We are totally connected. He gives 150 percent every show, no matter if there's ten people or ten thousand, which is rare. Sometimes when there's not a lot of people, it's hard to go out there and still be excited and he does it. I do believe he's underrated big-time, but I'm kind of happy about that because if he gets too big, then he will go away. He will join a big band. I'll be out looking for another guitar player and it would suck. It would really suck to lose Marc. I'm kind of happy. It's almost like a secret thing that we have, this treasure that we have. He's fantastic. He's an amazing guitar player. I sit sometimes around the dressing room just to hear him play. Just go in the dressing room to hang out while he's practicing just to hear him playing some of the flamenco sections in the dressing room or when he's just shredding. He's killer. He is a true, true guitar hero."

Joey Jordison's SINSAENUM bandmates have paid tribute to the recently deceased SLIPKNOT drummer, saying "his love and passion for music was unmatched" and calling him "one of the most influential" musicians in the extreme metal genre. Jordison's family confirmed that he passed away "peacefully in his sleep" on July 26 of an unspecified cause. He was 46 years old. Earlier today (Thursday, August 5), the remaining members of SINSAENUM issued the following statement: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and brother Joey Jordison. He was of course one of the most influential drummers in the genre, completely rewriting the game of metal drumming, and it was truly an honor to share even just a small part of that with him. He brought something to the table that no other musician could, and his love and passion for music was unmatched in a world of jaded artists. "For us Joey was family, and like family we argued and cried, but mostly laughed, and cared deeply for one another. His public image had a serious tone, with an evil exterior, yet he had the biggest heart, and we were lucky to be able to see the softer side of him. Joey also had his demons, and nothing hurts more than knowing that we did everything in our power to help and couldn't get through to him. He never felt he was better than anyone and would go out of this way to put everything, and everyone above his own needs. "Our hearts go out to [his ex-girlfriend] Amanda, to his family, and to the true friends that were checking in on him. "And to all our fans and friends who reached out to us in this time of mourning, thank you. "Considering everything; moving on will be difficult at first, especially since we had already started writing the new album, but we will persevere, and will honor his legacy in everything we do moving forward. This next record will be dedicated to the memory of him, as that's what Joey would have wanted. "Hails, and Horns as Joey would say. We miss you Jsaenum, and will love you forever." Last month, SINSAENUM's Frédéric Leclercq (formerly of DRAGONFORCE and currently in KREATOR) blasted TMZ for sharing the audio of the 911 call placed by the former SLIPKNOT drummer's ex-girlfriend after she found him dead. On July 29, the tabloid site posted the two-and-a-half-minute phone call in which Joey's ex-girlfriend — who continued taking care of his bills and maintaining his house even after their split — can be heard getting very emotional when she went to his home to check on him after he hadn't returned her messages. During the call, she indicated that Joey was "a really bad alcoholic" with "health issues," and she revealed that the motion sensors on the house hadn't detected any activity in days. SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group. The same year that he exited SLIPKNOT, Jordison launched the band SCAR THE MARTYR and later, VIMIC. SINSAENUM released its latest album, "Repulsion For Humanity", in August 2018 via earMUSIC. The rest of the band consists of Sean Zatorsky (DÅÅTH, vocals), Stephane Buriez (LOUDBLAST, guitar), Heimoth (SETH, bass) and Attila Csihar (MAYHEM, vocals). "Echoes Of The Tortured", SINSAENUM's first album, was nominated as "Best Debut" by Metal Hammer Germany and was praised worldwide as one of the freshest and finest approaches to death metal. We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and brother Joey Jordison. He was of course one of the most... Posted by Sinsaenum on Thursday, August 5, 2021