Jon Wiederhorn

Dave Mustaine breaks down every track on Megadeth's The Sick, The Dying… and the Dead!

(Image credit: SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images) Megadeth’s 16th original studio album starts with the sound of swooping wind and mournful cries of “bring out your dead.” A suitably ominous mid-paced arpeggio sweeps from left to right before the…

Megadeth's Dave Mustaine and Kiko Loureiro go deep on the tragedy and triumph that fueled The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!

(Image credit: Cameron Nunez) Less than 20 minutes into a lengthy conversation with Dave Mustaine, Megadeth’s mercurial frontman has revealed multiple sides of his complex personality. His greeting is warm and sincere, and it isn’t long before he’s…

Richie Faulkner: “Getting the guitar back in my hands was what I needed to do to get back on track – to give me the strength to keep going”

(Image credit: Mario Skraban / Getty) For Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner, September 26, 2021, started out like any other gig day. The band was scheduled to play support to Metallica on the fourth and final night of the Louder Than Life…

Gary Holt: “I had one job in Slayer and one job only. Go out, play killer, bang your head and play a little bit of a guitar hero role. I wear a lot more hats in Exodus”

(Image credit: Javier Bragado / Getty) During the last part of Gary Holt’s tenure as Slayer’s second guitarist, he sometimes felt like he was neglecting his main band, Exodus. As honored as he was to be in Slayer, a group he had loved since their…

Phil Demmel: “I wanted to do five really good songs that were like rapid punches to the face and then get out ”

(Image credit: Gary Wolstenholme / Getty) When influential bay Area thrash band Vio-lence fell apart in 1993, co-founder Phil Demmel soldiered on for a few years with the ill-fated Torque. Then, in 2003 he joined ex-Vio-lence guitarist Robb Flynn in…

Halestorm: “Everybody was just on 11, pushing ourselves and playing these parts as if the world was never going to get back to any semblance of normalcy”

(Image credit: Judy Won) They’ve always looked confident and comfortable onstage, but no one would call Lzzy Hale or any of her Halestorm bandmates ego-fueled rock stars. They’re pretty much the opposite – ever-friendly, self-deprecating, in awe of…

Lostprophets Find Themselves After Brush With Death, Embrace Pop Influences On Third LP

Music Band looks to the Clash, Duran Duran for Liberation Transmission inspiration. During a day off from recording on the Hawaiian island of Maui, Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins was almost swept out to sea. The singer was calmly wading in the…

Jason Newsted Says Frantic Pace Of 'Rock Star: Supernova' Is 'Asking For Miracles'

Music Bands have just 45 days to write, complete album. They've admired each other's music for years but had never played a note together until last month. Now, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, Voivod/ ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and former Guns…

Good Charlotte Celebrate Happier Sound, Sober Outlook On Good Morning Revival!

Music Band scrapped at least two albums' worth of songs before arriving at new LP. After scrapping at least two albums' worth of material, Good Charlotte have finally completed their fourth disc, which is scheduled for release in February and is…

Judas Priest's Nostradamus Concept LP: A Heavy-Metal 'Phantom Of The Opera'

Music Album about French prophet will include orchestration; live show will have 'more costume changes than Cher.' Some people believe he had foreseen the rise of Hitler, the Kennedy assassinations and the terror strikes of 9/11, but it's safe to say…

Sparta Return With New LP, Outlook, Tour — And No Need For 'Hipster Points'

Music Frontman Jim Ward talks about walking away from band, finding his way back. At the end of an April 2005 show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Sparta frontman Jim Ward walked offstage and told his bandmates that he couldn't finish the last scheduled…

Saliva's Scott Plans Song With Daughtry, Referees Suicide Girls Brawl

Music Frontman, former 'Idol' finalist hope to collaborate on movie soundtrack. For the past four months, Saliva's comeback single "Ladies & Gentlemen" has been perched near the top of Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Clearly, the…

After Tragic Accident, Bayside Show Strength On The Walking Wounded

Music 'We wanted to show everyone we could really get back in there and put out a great record,' says frontman Anthony Raneri. The members of Bayside were asleep in their van on Halloween morning 2005 when the vehicle hit a patch of ice near…

Radiohead Debut Seven New Songs, Please Crowd With Hits At NYC Show

Music Some new material rocks harder than anything since OK Computer. NEW YORK — In the past decade, Radiohead have been called dour scientists who use the stage as a sonic laboratory. But during the first of their two shows at the Theater at Madison…

Megadeth Heading Back To The Old School With United Abominations

Music After a tough few years, 'I wanted to go back to the way the stuff was done in the beginning,' says frontman Dave Mustaine. When Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine named his band's 2004 album The System Has Failed, he seemed to be commenting on…

Alcoholism, In-Fighting Couldn't Derail Lamb Of God's Top 10 Album

Music 'It felt like I was being torn in 8 million pieces,' singer Randy Blythe says of tumultuous year. Six months ago, life looked pretty bleak for the technical thrash-metal band Lamb of God. The group was wrestling with material for its fourth…

Senses Fail Frontman Says Depression, Anxiety Made New LP Better

Music 'It was good because that emotion came across on the record,' Buddy Nielsen says of Still Searching, due Tuesday. When Ridgewood, New Jersey, band Senses Fail started working on their second full-length album in January, their initial instinct…

New Iron Maiden LP Is So Deep That Even The Band Doesn't Get It

Music 'We are still getting to grips with the album ourselves — and we made it,' frontman Bruce Dickinson says. Since 1999, when longtime singer Bruce Dickinson returned to the fray after an eight-year absence, Iron Maiden have striven to write the…

Saosin Stop Screaming, Start Smiling, Thanks To — Tracy Chapman?

Music Frontman Cove Reber credits childhood love of Chapman, Dire Straits with sunny outlook; tour with Senses Fail starts at end of month. There's one thing Saosin singer Cove Reber really hates about the screamo and post-hardcore scenes that…

Judas Priest Frontman Avoids Killing Producer On Halford IV

Music Rob Halford recalls how a medical emergency turned into comedy while recording Made of Metal. Last spring, [artist id="1301"]Judas Priest[/artist] frontman Rob Halford was in the studio working on material for his new album Halford IV — Made of…