Away Team

For those who were either born too late or living in the wrong part of the world while music which has now become legendary was exploding from the Bay Area’s thrash metal scene in the early-to-mid 1980s, here’s your second chance to re-live history.

With a very special All Ages show marking the 10-year anniversary of former EXODUS singer Paul “Pavel” Baloff’s passing, “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance” will take place at the Oakland Metro Operahouse on Saturday, February 4th, 2012 and features the evening’s headliners EXODUS plus POSSESSED, FORBIDDEN, HEATHEN, and MAD AT SAM on the Main Stage. Playing the Second Stage are ANGERHEAD, MUDFACE, THE VENTING MACHINE, HELLFIRE, and HYSTERIA.

The evening is well on its way to being a SOLD-OUT event and may very well turn into the second installment of the recent Bazillion Points book Murder in the Front Row (which can be purchased here), so don’t miss out!

Of the event, EXODUS guitarist Gary Holt has previously stated:
“[We] knew it was high time we do something special to remember the legend of Paul Baloff, so we decided to put together a show the Bay Area will not soon forget. There are some nice surprises in store as well! It will be ten years and two days since the thrash world lost one of its greatest frontmen ever, and we will always make sure his memory lives on and is never forgotten. Long live The Destroyer!”

Advanced tickets for “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance” can be purchased at this location.

EXODUS, POSSESSED, FORBIDDEN and HEATHEN are among the bands who will perform at a special concert to mark the 10-year anniversary of former EXODUS singer Paul Baloff‘s passing. Dubbed “Bonded By Baloff: A Decade Of Remembrance“, the event will take place on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at the Oakland Metro Operahouse and will feature “a mind-blowing lineup that will rock your socks off!” according to a press release.

Scheduled performers:
Main Stage
EXODUS
POSSESSED
FORBIDDEN
HEATHEN
MAD AT SAM

Second Stage
ANGERHEAD
MUDFACE
THE VENTING MACHINE
HELLFIRE
HYSTERIA

You can purchase advance tickets at this location.

It was almost a decade ago — on January 31, 2002 — that Paul Baloff suffered a major stroke and was brought to Highland General Hospital in Northern California, where he remained in a coma until he was declared brain dead. On February 2, 2002, his doctors shut off his life support, leaving him to die in his sleep. He had no previous known health problems, and the stroke was a complete surprise to everyone around him.









For more EXODUS click here.

“Red White And Blood“, the new video from GENERATION KILL — the crossover metal outfit featuring EXODUS frontman Rob Dukeshas finally seen the light of day.

“Red White And Blood” is the title track of GENERATION KILL‘s debut album, which was released on September 16 in Europe and September 27 in North America via Season Of Mist.









For more GENERATION KILL click here.

TESTAMENT frontman Chuck Billy has confirmed to Terrorizer that drummer Paul Bostaph (SLAYER, EXODUS, FORBIDDEN) has left the band.

Bostaph was absent from the recording sessions for TESTAMENT‘s new album, “The Dark Roots Of Earth“, which will be released on April 27, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. The Dark Roots Of Earth features Gene Hoglan on drums because Paul has been out of action due to a “serious injury” and unable to record or tour.

Chuck explains that Paul has decided to step down permanently, leaving the band with the task of finding a new member.

“We just found out last week Paul Bostaph is not coming back to the band, he’s starting his own new project and doing some things on his own. So we’re actually going to be holding a couple of auditions with probably small group of drummers that we chose – we don’t want to have a revolving drum stool, we have a new record, we want a permanent drummer.”









For more TESTAMENT click here.

Following the tremendous success of ACCEPT’s comeback album Blood Of The Nations and the accompanying world tour (more than 180 shows around the globe), these German heavy metal legends have now withdrawn from the stage to start work on their next CD.

The band is currently writing material for their new album with British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY) at the helm.

Comments ACCEPT guitarist Wolf Hoffman:
“ACCEPT and Andy Sneap have the perfect synergy. This was so clear with Blood Of The Nations and we are excited to continue on that path. Andy is not only an amazing and prolific producer, but also a very good friend who has long become a member of the ACCEPT family.”














For more ACCEPT click here.

MACHINE HEAD

UNTO THE LOCUST

Roadrunner Records

10 out of 10

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the album of the year. Your search is over. Just give in to the monstrosity that is Unto The Locust, declare the search for 2011’s #1 album over, crank it to eleven, and behold the majesty that is Machine Head. You’ll thank me later.

Ok, now that the dick sucking is out of the way, let’s get to the real meat of this album. It. Fucking. Shreds.

Machine Head have outdone themselves and have achieved a feat I didn’t think they could do, and that is follow up their best album ever, The Blackening, with what is arguably without a doubt their best album ever.

Welcome to Unto The Locust. The opening 3 part song I Am Hell sets the tone and raises the bar for Machine Head once again. Less than halfway through the eight and a half minute opus your hair is blown back, your dick has been knocked into the dirt and the massive riffs and monster drum sound pummels you into submitting to the notion that there is nothing out there that can possibly compete with Machine Head today. Their finest showing so far in a storied career and we’re only three minutes into the damned album.

The harmonies in the chorus of Be Still And Know will raise the hairs on your arms and the back of your neck, as the solo kicks in and knocks your teeth down your throat. You are now deep in the embrace and holy shit, hello twin guitar solo. There are so many styles of guitar bursting all over this album it is hard to keep up. You’ve read the interviews, and you’ve heard that Robb even took guitar lesson recently to be able to play parts of this album he had already written but couldn’t play properly, or as well as he wanted. In one song alone, you have the modern thrash high toned, thin guitar sound prevalent through most of the verses, then the break down goes into dual guitar wielding solo of the classic NWOBHM style of Maiden and Priest, there’s even some good old chugga-chugga-chugga of Prog Metal thrown in to temper the whole thing. Again, we’re talking all of this in one song. And we’re not talking St. Anger kitchen sink riffs here, we’re talking a madly cohesive sound tinged with a schizophrenic touch of multiple guitar styles to flavor the song, not to saturate and lose focus within (ala St. Anger).

Machine Head may well be the one band that can take Modern Thrash, Blast Beats, NWOBHM twin guitar solos, acoustic, melodic, Prog, and weave them in and out of each of their songs without losing the plot or seeming to be truly skitzo and jumbled. Their first single Locust starts out a bit … eh… But when it gets to the acoustic breakdown and Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel trading off on the guitar solo it pushes itself into contention for the strongest track off the album.

I am trying not to go song by song here but as each new song starts, I can’t help but … The acoustic intro to This Is The End going into the hyper guitar riff sends chills down my spine. The hyper-frenetic tempo will snap necks live.

Darkness Within… Three Days Grace? Emo Metal? It works, but pushing that Emo Metal thing a little close. They close the album out with Darkness Within in acoustic form, so I wonder how that will come out. I will say this: Machine Head has never had better guitar solos. Ever. Halfway through the album and every solo is epic! And Darkness Within goes from Emo Metal to Death, to Thrash, and back to Emo. Incredible really. Again, this isn’t hodgepodged, this isn’t piecemeal, this is great song craftsmanship.

And welcome to the traditional Bay Area Thrash epicness that is the opening of Pearls Before The Swine. Harkening back to Testament and Exodus, Pearls runs right through the heart of the Traditional Bay Area Thrash sound.

The children’s choir at the beginning of Who We Are is disconcerting at best. The Beast of Machine Head behind them, it must strike fear into the hearts of soccer moms and t-ball dads all over. And this slightly anthemic ditty closes out the regular version of Unto The Locust. Again, I have to bring up the solos, from a classical Prog sounding chugga chugga to twin guitar thrash, Phil and Robb have outdone themselves. If Unto The Locust is recognized for anything, it must be for the outstanding guitar solos that run consistently through the album. Every song is given an unforgettable solo that is completely unique to itself.

The expanded version (which includes a DVD) has three extra songs on it. The Sentinel, Witch Hunt and the acoustic version of Darkness Within.

The Sentinel is a cover of the classic Judas Priest song. And the beginning is spot on. A great cover. The band keeps it close to the original, the vocals are awesome. Flynn has a great voice but no one can properly cover Halford (save Tim Owens). They do deviate from the original on the guitar solos, but they manage to come up with some great stuff that fits the song just fine. This is where Machine Head add their own touch to the song.

Witch Hunt sees Machine Head taking on the stylings of none other than Rush. Not being a Rush fan, I can’t tell you how it stacks up to the original, and I’m not about to go find out. (Hello cowbell!!!!!) It is an odd choice at first listen. I mean you can totally see in your mind’s eye Machine Head rocking out the Judas Priest, and maybe a certain Rush song here or there, but Witch Hunt musically doesn’t quite fit them, or vice versa maybe. Not that they are not musically capable of covering Rush, Machine Head is quite adept musicianship wise to do so, but the song itself doesn’t sound like a Machine Head song. And this may be why they chose it. It doesn’t fit the feel of the rest of the album however. Again, even The Sentinel stands up to the rest of the original Machine Head works on Unto The Locust, but Witch Hunt just seems a bit out of place here.

Which leaves us with Darkness Within the acoustic version. And I can happily say that the acoustic version removes the Emo Metal feel of the first part of the song. And it works well acoustically so far.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Machine Head’s Unto The Locust. My current (and most likely final) pick for Best Album of 2011. You cannot go wrong by running out and grabbing this immediately. You must not miss out on this masterpiece of metal.

Go HERE and purchase it right now. Go on, you know you want to. You NEED this album. You do. Trust, you do.









For more Machine Head click here.

Get ready for hell on earth, because for the first time since they tour together on Ozzfest 1999, Rob Zombie and Slayer are teaming up to hit the road, bringing a glorious purgatory to fans in 12 North American cities. The co-headline trek kicks off Wednesday, July 20 at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA. Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 1 at 10:00AM local time.

“We haven’t toured with Zombie since Ozzfest 1999, so you can expect no less than ‘hell on earth,’” said Slayer’s Kerry King. “Total sonic annihilation and a visual bludgeoning. Bring your own body bag…”

“Total destruction on stage and off is what this combination promises,” states Zombie, “Seriously, how much more Hell could you ask for? The answer is none more Hell.”

Both Zombie and Slayer will present their full headline sets at every show, and both bands will close shows over the course of the tour. San Francisco’s thrash-metal band Exodus has been confirmed to open all shows.

Slayer has been performing its classic 1990 Seasons In the Abyss album in its entirety over the past several months, but will instead draw from its entire 30-year catalogue for this tour’s setlist.

Never one to play it safe, Zombie will be bringing his legendary stage show out in full force. Audiences can expect an exploding non-stop barrage of sin, sex and Satan guaranteed to rip your face off. This a true rock and roll spectacle at its finest.

Dates for the Slayer and Rob Zombie tour are as follows:
JULY
20 Sovereign Center, Reading, PA
22 DTE Amphitheatre, Detroit, MI
23 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
24 Heavy T.O. at Downsview Park, Toronto, ON Canada
27 MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB Canada
29 Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon, SK Canada
30 Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB Canada
31 Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB Canada
AUGUST
2 Save-On-Foods Memorial Center, Victoria, BC Canada
3 Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC Canada
5 Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR
6 WaMu Theatre, Seattle, WA

For more ROB ZOMBIE click here.
For more SLAYER click here.

EXODUS are pleased to announce their confirmation to perform at Ieperfest in Belgium and Rock im Betonwerk in Germany. For their August 10th performance at the Metal Hammer Festival in Katowice, Poland, EXODUS will be opening for British metal legends Judas Priest.

Guitarist Gary Holt has the following to say about the upcoming opportunity:
“I can’t believe that after getting to play with Iron Maiden in Chile, now we can announce that we will be sharing the stage with Judas Priest in Poland! How much better can it get? Two shows with two of our biggest heroes! Now if only I can select the set for them… I can dream, can’t I?! It’s gonna be awesome; to say we’re excited is an understatement.”

View video footage of Gary Holt playing live with SLAYER at the Brisbane Soundwave Festival on February 26th in Australia below.














For more EXODUS click here.

As announced by SLAYER, Gary Holt of EXODUS will be temporarily filling in for guitarist Jeff Hanneman during SLAYER’s upcoming tour dates. He will immediately join Slayer members Kerry King, Tom Araya and Dave Lombardo on their five-date Australian Soundwave Festival that begins February 26.



Gary Holt offers the following comments about his upcoming stint as touring guitarist for one of metal’s most venerated bands:

“How can I put into words how excited I am to have been asked to play with SLAYER? Hard to describe for sure. Legendary band, check. Old friends since the birth of thrash metal. Check. Get to play ‘Angel Of Death’ live, priceless! I’ll do my best to live up to the standard they’ve set for so many years, while we all wish Jeff a speedy return to health and his rightful place in SLAYER.”

SLAYER guitarist Jeff Hanneman is currently recuperating at home after emergency surgery on his right arm after contracting a serious infection, possibly caused by a spider bite. He is expected to make a full recovery and will return to the SLAYER line-up as soon as he has fully recovered.

For more SLAYER click here.

Slim Jim’s Top Ten of 2010

SHOOTER JENNINGS – Black Ribbons
The 70’s big classic rock – ball trippin’ – brain smokin’ – ear melting heavy tuneage of old is not dead. Shooter Jennings has created the heaviest album of 2010. In pure sonic fury, huge epicness, and massive songwriting. This isn’t Outlaw Country, This isn’t your daddy’s classic rock, this is Shooter Jennings and Hierophant (his band) racing along your brainwaves, fucking with all you thought you knew about music, and tainting what may come in the future. Take a little WHITE STRIPES, sprinkle some MUSE, add a dash of BLACK KEYS, smoke it with some Pink Floyd and dose repeatedly with Shooter himself, and you’ll get Black Ribbons. While the music will kick your ass, the lyrics will fuck with your brain, and the whole experience will make you think this whole fucked up industry could simply be saved if they’d just put out more solid music like this. This album should propel Shooter into Arenas and onto your grid faster than the clap takes hold of your sad tiny withered cock. But it seems the world would rather listen to the likes of sluts like Ke$ha, or 16 year old pubescent boys like Beiber than embrace the monster that is Shooter and Hierophant. WAKE UP people… If you haven’t experienced Black Ribbons… GO NOW. Do it here. You’ll thank me later. Oh, yes, Don’t Feed The Animals… And… FUCK YOU I’m FAMOUS. Did I mention there are 20 songs on this disc? 20! All of them will fuck with you, tie you in psychedelic knots and drip musical ecstasy semen out of your earholes. And don’t forget the indelible STEPHEN KING. Oh yeah, how could I forgot the title track Black Ribbons? It is quite simply the best Bruce Springsteen song that he never wrote.

ELEPAHNT MOUNTAIN – The Last Days of Planet Earth
Joe Altier and Slider from BRAND NEW SIN reunite to form ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN. The best Southern tinged Hard Rock album of the last year or three, and they hail from SYRACUSE, NY! If you’ve heard of BRAND NEW SIN, and have heard their first two records, then you’ll know exactly what ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN sounds like. And you’ll love it. You can spread the herd here.

THE BLACK KEYS – Brothers
Raw. Stripped. Deeper grooves than the ones fading on your wrist. Monochromed Stereophonically challenged. Bluesier than 20 quarts of Papa’s Jambalaya. More soulful than the most devout Methodist. The more I listen to this the more I want to go find all my ex’s. And slap the unloving chaos addicted shit out of them. The ultimate break up album. As it spins right now, I’m thinking it should move UP my top ten list. Fuck it. Ten Cent Pistol just reinforced the fact. And this is now my #3 best album of 2010 (As I originally wrote this, it was set at 7). You can join the Brothers here.

FILTER – The Trouble with Angels
An amazing return for FILTER. Raw, punishing, beautiful. Read my original review here.

ACCEPT – Blood of the Nations
Another reunion of sorts for ACCEPT. A new singer and a new lease on life. A great album that reminds us all why ACCEPT are Fast as a Shark. Read my original review here.

DISTRUBED – Asylum
More melodic than the past albums. More straight forward guitar solos than before. And more David Draiman. What more could you ask from a DISTURBED album? You can join the Asylum here.

SLASH – Slash
Slash gets a bunch of singers to sing on his album instead of going around singing on theirs. Great songs, great singers like Myles Kennedy (ALTER BRIDGE), Lemmy (MOTORHEAD), Ian Astbury (THE CULT), Ozzy, Chris Cornell (AUDIOSLAVE, SOUNDGARDEN), and many more. The most notable standout track and singer is Fergie (FERGIE, BLACK EYED PEAS) on the track Beautiful Dangerous. The woman should be singing balls out Rock N Roll all the time, not this pop pap shit with BEP. She has a great voice and holds her own amongst the more traditional and legendary vocalists on this album. You can get Slashed here.

AVENGED SEVENFOLD – Nightmare
Never a big A7X fan. But after seeing them this year at the Rockstar Uproar Festival with Disturbed I found a new respect for them as a live band. I figured out my problem with the band. M. Shadows has a good voice, but as he sings about dark lyrics, and leads the crowd into chants of ‘fuck you’ his voice has a rather high range to it. Making the music seem lighter and more lilting than the lyrics therefore belying the heaviness of the music. At times making it seem rather jokish or tongue in cheek. However after seeing their amazing performance live, I now get it. And can move past the vocal issue. The album is their best by far. Blazing guitars you’ve come to expect, full stream riffs crunch and chunk along getting your head and feet involved tapping along. Definitely deserving of anyone’s top ten list. You can become the Nightmare here.

EXODUS – Exhibit B: The Human Condition
EXODUS simple continues to pummel you into submission with their latest album. It is the fourth album in their return that does not fail to impress. The one drawback may simply be Rob Dukes‘ dry vocal style. But the brutal beating that you endure while listening to the album more than makes up for the lack of dimensions in his voice. Albums 6 – 10 will continue to beat the ever loving fuck out of your brain and spleen. I have no doubts about this. The band has never sounded better, tighter, or more focused than here. Which can only mean great things on the horizon for us fans. You can witness the Human Condition here.

DEATH ANGEL – Relentless Retribution
Any year is a good year when DEATH ANGEL releases a new album. The most important part of this is that the band promises to tour endlessly for this release. So that means we get more live Death Angel than ever before. And this boys and girls is a good thing. You can read my original review here.

DEVILDRIVER will embark on the 2011 installment of the “Bound By The Road” North American tour in January with support from CANCER BATS and BAPTIZED IN BLOOD.

Bound By The Road dates:
Jan. 20 – Oakland, CA @ Oakland Metro
Jan. 21 – Reno, NV @ Knitting Factory
Jan. 22 – Chico, CA @ Senator Theatre
Jan. 24 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory Concert House
Jan. 25 – Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
Jan. 26 – Prince George, BC @ The Generator
Jan. 27 – Calgary, AB @ Republik
Jan. 28 – Edmonton, AB @ The Starlite Room
Jan. 29 – Saskatoon, SK @ Louis’ Pub
Jan. 30 – Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick Centre
Jan. 31 – Thunder Bay, ON @ Crocks
Feb. 02 – Toronto, ON @ Opera House
Feb. 03 – Grand Rapids, MI @ The Intersection
Feb. 04 – Flint, MI @ The Machine Shop
Feb. 05 – Dayton, OH @ McGuffy’s House of Rock
Feb. 06 – Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
Feb. 08 – Fort Collins, CO @ Aggie Theatre
Feb. 09 – Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
Feb. 10 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theatre

DEVILDRIVER has set “Beast” as the title of its fifth album, due on February 22, 2011 via Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at Sonic Ranch studios in Tornillo, Texas with producer Mark Lewis (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, ALL THAT REMAINS) and is currently being mixed by acclaimed British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, EXODUS, MACHINE HEAD, NEVERMORE, ARCH ENEMY) at his Backstage studio in Derbyshire, England. The band recorded 14 songs during the “Beast” sessions, with 11 or 12 tracks expected to make the final cut.









For more DEVILDRIVER click here.

Los Angeles thrashers WARBRINGER will headline Thrashgiving, the heavy metal benefit concert to feed the needy, on Saturday, November 20 at Cheyenne Saloon in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Commented the event organizers: “Two years ago we debuted the concept of Thrashgiving bringing together out-of-state and local artists performing thrash metal music for the benefit of the needy and we’re doing it again. Even bigger and better this year in an attempt to make this an event held annually in Las Vegas. All proceeds from the show will go to the Rescue Mission and Boys Town. So attend a good show and know that your charitable ticket price will be donated to these organizations to help the less fortunate have a nice holiday.
This year’s lineup will be headlined by WARBRINGER. This band closes out a two-year touring cycle for their sophomore album, ‘Waking into Nightmares’ (Century Media), which has seen them share the stage with MEGADETH, KREATOR, EXODUS, HATEBREED, TESTAMENT, SLIPKNOT, and many more in that time. Joining WARBRINGER is a hand-picked bill of quality up-and-coming thrash metal from California and Arizona, featuring HATCHET, HEXEN, VEKTOR, and SACRIFIAL SLAUGHTER as well as buzz-worthy local openers CONTROL THE CHAOS and MALUS REX!”

Tickets are only $8 in advance or $10 at the door ($1 off if you bring a sealed can of food).

For more information, visit here.
For more WARBRINGER click here.

Canadian progressive metal icons VOIVOD are the latest acts confirmed for confirmed For 70000 Tons Of Metal, “The World’s Biggest Floating Heavy Metal Festival.”

Thus far, 35 out of 40 bands are confirmed: AGENT STEEL, AMON AMARTH, BLACKGUARD, BLIND GUARDIAN, CRIPPER, DARK TRANQUILLITY, DEATH ANGEL, ENSIFERUM, EPICA, EXODUS, FEAR FACTORY, FINNTROLL, FORBIDDEN, GAMMA RAY, ICED EARTH, KORPIKLAANI, MARDUK, MOONSPELL, NEVERMORE, OBITUARY, RAGE, RAVEN, ULI JON ROTH, SABATON, SANCTUARY, SAXON, SODOM, SONATA ARCTICA, SWASHBUCKLE, TESTAMENT, TROUBLE, TÝR, UNLEASHED, VOIVOD, WITCHBURNER.

70000 Tons Of Metal will sail Monday, January 24, 2011 aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty Of The Seas from Miami, FL to Cozumel, Mexico and will not return you to the real world for four days until Friday, January 28, 2011.

Make no mistake, 70000 Tons Of Metal is not your grandma’s cruise. It’s also not one of the cruises that share the ship with normal cruise guests. This is an all heavy metal cruise! Can you imagine that? A whole luxury cruise ship full of metalheads? And since there is no backstage area you will have the opportunity to mingle side-by-side with the artists in this incredibly fan-friendly scenario that has no comparison. It’s like everyone has a backstage pass!

Ticket prices start at US$666 plus US$249 taxes and fees per person and include all on-board entertainment, all meals, non-alcoholic and non-carbonated beverages at the dining rooms, most on-board restaurants and 24 hour room service!

What are you waiting for? You might even need a vacation from this vacation when all is said and done! Check out 70000tons.com for more information and book your cabin now!

Florida based death metal legends MALEVOLENT CREATION are happy to present, in conjunction with Blood-Disgusting.com, the too shocking for Youtube video clip for “Slaughterhouse”! The track comes from the bands 11th studio outing entitled Invidious Dominion, and was shot in Florida and Central City Studios in Los Angeles by young up-and-coming director Chris Cullari (WESTLAND, THE APPRECIATION POST). The video can be viewed here.

“We shot a video for ‘Slaughterhouse’ the week in between our headlining tour and the ‘March of Brutality’ tour with EXODUS,” commented the band previously. “It is both a brutal homage and clever twist on horror films such as Hostel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, using MALEVOLENT CREATION’s music as a soundtrack to madness. 20 plus years and still no one can destroy this MALEVOLENT CREATION!”
Still pics from the production can be found here.

Former EXODUS frontman Steve “Zetro” Souza has quit DUBLIN DEATH PATROL (DDP), the band in which he shared lead-vocal duties with TESTAMENT singer Chuck Billy.

Commented Souza: “I usually keep myself very quiet and reserved; I don’t spill what’s going on with me outside of music, [because] it’s nobody’s business! If you know of me, you know what I do, and what I am.
“This subject has to do with the way people act in my circle.
“At my DUBLIN DEATH PATROL show [on Saturday, September 18], while I was on stage giving all of our DUBLIN DEATH PATROL fans the show of their life, a typical Dublin idiot doesn’t know how to act and creates a silent problem for me and someone I love.
“I don’t air my dirty laundry to anybody, but this is fucking bullshit.
“My girlfriend and for you fans who know her, Vickie, was disrespected again for the fourth DUBLIN DEATH PATROL show in a row by someone who’s trying to make my life and her life difficult, for whatever reason.
“So this is what I have to say… You have been successful; what you are trying to achieve finally worked.
“It’s been an ongoing thing. Those involved know who the parties are. For these reasons, I have decided to leave DUBLIN DEATH PATROL. It was supposed to be a fun thing with all my bros and my so-called friends.
“The whole ‘DDP for life‘ thing is the biggest oxymoron I’ve ever seen. There’s more senseless unnecessary drama from that camp than any of my bands put together.
“If you thought you were being smart, you just fucked yourself and everybody else! This is a final decision. I kind of expected it and told myself beforehand if [it] happened yet one more time, you can fucking count me out. So guess what? Count me out! I am done! Fini! No mas! Fed fucking up!
“Those who know about this know who to go to; blame them, not me.
“You think you’re going to treat me or any of my people like shit, guess what… FUCK YOU! So when this filters through, because it will, remember my decision is final and can’t be swayed.
“For the six other guys that this started with, it’s nothing personal to them, but I think that everyone was aware of what was going on, so nobody can act innocent. It was brought on by itself and I just ended it.
“I hope you enjoyed me up there Saturday night and got a good visual, because that’s the last time ever. Goodbye!”

For more DUBLIN DEATH PATROL click here.

*EDITORS NOTE* I think we’ll be hearing a lot more about this in the days to come.