LIVE REVIEW: Leprous @ O2 Forum Kentish Town, London

It takes a special band to pull off an ‘Evening With…’ set without crossing the line into self-indulgence or boredom. It takes an even more special band to leave you wanting more. It’s a good thing LEPROUS are that kind of band. The Norwegian prog magicians bring their extended show to London’s O2 Forum Kentish Town, with their reputation as a magnificent live act on stake. By the end of proceedings, it is only enhanced.

Leprous live @ O2 Forum Kentish Town, London. Photo Credit: Karolina Janikunaite

Opener Silently Walking Alone throws us deep into the arms of drama. LEPROUS sound huge from the offset, and the infectious refrain is sung back at them by over two-thousand people, as are the ‘ahhs’ of fan-favourite The Price. Glitchy prog (Illuminate), epic balladry (I Hear The Sirens) and metallic trip-hop (Like A Sunken Ship) follow to showcase the band’s stunning versatility. Throughout the many shifts in style, one thing is for sure – LEPROUS mean business tonight.

Vocalist Einar Solberg, normally seen behind his trusty keyboards, has taken the leap to becoming an out-and-out frontman. Liberated from his instrument, his freeroaming role adds an extra element of visual engagement, as his tall stature parades around the stage with arms aloft in interpretative gestures to the music, underpinning his powerful vocals and soaring falsetto. Deputising Solberg on keys is homegrown talent and permanent touring member Harrison White (NOVENA). The Brit plays his part admirably and is clearly delighted to be playing in front of a packed local crowd.Leprous live @ O2 Forum Kentish Town, London. Photo Credit: Karolina Janikunaite

While the setlist leans heavily into 2024’s Moments Of Atonement, it also offers a detailed walk through their discography, with each of their eight albums spotlit through at least one song. In a selection full of highlights, special mentions go to the ten-minute prog lunacy Forced Entry (which Solberg introduces as being from before they learned how to write songs), and the slow-burner of Distant Bells which builds and builds for five minutes before exploding into one of their greatest climactic crescendos.

The sextet are by now a well-oiled machine on stage, throwing their bodies around in time with the music whilst showing a complete mastery of their instrument (and some, of additional instruments – no fewer than four out of the six people on stage play synths at some point through the night). The pick of the bunch is tireless drummer Baard Kolstadt – a celebrated percussionist who appears to have twice the number of limbs and thousandfold the metronomic ability of a typical human. He and White occupy the upper end of the two-tier stage setup whose steps are often pierced through by simple yet effective floor lighting. Leprous live @ O2 Forum Kentish Town, London. Photo Credit: Karolina Janikunaite

An interval and three slower numbers give us all a well-deserved breather, before cult favourite Passing off their debut album contorts band and crowd with its avant-garde rhythmics. For the climax of Faceless, LEPROUS bring out a choir of friends which includes some familiar faces like HAKEN’s Ross Jennings and IAMTHEMORNING‘s Marjana Semkina. A box-office combo of Castaway Angels, From The Flame and Slave rounds out the second act in powerful fashion.

Two and a half hours of music still leave the question of an encore an unequivocal certainty. Atonement shows its potential as a synth-djent banger, and the iconic, angular outro of The Sky Is Red brings proceedings to a close. With all this, LEPROUS leave us with the enduring memory of a glorious show. Protect this band at all costs, we don’t know how lucky we are to be witnessing them in their pomp.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Karolina Janikunaite here:






















































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ALBUM REVIEW: Solace – Stinky

French hardcore outfit, STINKY, are back with their latest record Solace. The album itself has been five years in the making where, since their previous record, STINKY have gone through a line-up change with a new bassist and two new guitarists. But despite the change, the band still promises to remain true to their original mission and sound, but unafraid to expand their musical catalogue.



Opening the record, we are first greeted with dark ethereal sound effects that are borderline sci-fi on Down In The Dumps. A low strumming guitar starts to come through, blending in nicely with sounds, before the full band joins and everything kicks off with a heavy hardcore sound and brutal rough vocals, nicely balanced with some melodic undertone. Across the track, and the record itself, we hear vocals that go between rough and clean, showing STINKY’s versatility.


A fun part about the album is that while the focus is on all things heavy and brutal, we’re also treated to elements of lighter sounds within pop and punk, as first show on Grass Snakes, featuring Lou Koller of SICK OF IT ALL. The track itself can be described as fast punk with heavy undertones; to be more specific, it’s like a love child between RISE AGAINST and ARCHITECTS and is overall a thrilling song.

This is also heard on Nothing Can Fix It and Soft Sand where the style is easily described as anthemic pop-punk, again with heavier undertones, however, it’s in the latter that we hear the first issue of the record. As previously mentioned, the vocals go between rough and clean, and, in a record where the production is highly polished with at times loud and dramatic sections, it’s important for the vocals to match that quality otherwise they risk getting lost. And it’s during Soft Sand and Alignment, a more hardcore focused song, the vocals are let down and are left sounding whiny and weak. Luckily, things improve as both tracks progress, but it’s still enough to stand out.

Outside of the punk sound, we also hear examples of STINKY branching out into the world of industrial rock and nu-metal. In Mourning Flowers, which opens with a more mellow yet moody track, you find yourself reminded on early noughties nu-metal, complete with some fun smaller breakdowns and even a pop melody to bring everything together. And then on Moonbow and Natural Savior, we hear them bring industrial rock into tracks that also experiment further with punk and even with a flair of the dramatic. This likely won’t be for hardcore purists with its experimentation and poppier moments, but STINKY have shown that punk has no rules in a strong statement of intent with Solace.

Rating: 8/10



Solace is set for release on February 21 via self-release.

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LIVE REVIEW: Spiritbox @ Alexandra Palace, London

The rise of SPIRITBOX to metalcore superstars has been a sight to behold over the past few years, with the band now embarking on their biggest headline tour to date with their biggest ever show so far at London’s Alexandra Palace to open the run.

Stray From The Path live @ Alexandra Palace, London. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

They’ve brought friends with them, too; STRAY FROM THE PATH are opening tonight, coming off their underplay last night at The Underworld. Fortunately for them, they start almost an hour after doors so the legendarily slow queue has still managed to get a reasonable crowd in. Opening with a storming salvo of Needful Things into May You Live Forever, it’s a furious assault replete with snare bombs and snarled diatribes against the state of the world. They also don’t suffer from the often-lacking sound supports get landed with here, and they tear through a thirty minute set with barely disguised glee to be in a venue so huge.

Rating: 8/10Periphery live @ Alexandra Palace, London. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

PERIPHERY are even more of an outlier on the bill, but the djent outfit make themselves at home with a huge Wildfire to kick their set off, including saxophone breaks. Some of the intricacies are lost in the cavernous hall, particularly with an echoey drum mix, but it doesn’t detract too much from an otherwise solid set. It’s as tight as ever – as it should be, with music so complex – but it feels as if there’s a certain amount of charisma or personality lacking from the staging. The overly technical moments can feel indulgent, but they crack jokes between songs and ensure the crowd are kept mostly engaged throughout, particularly when they close with the brutalising Blood Eagle.

Rating: 7/10Spiritbox live @ Alexandra Palace, London. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

SPIRITBOX, in stark contrast, are hellbent on making tonight as memorable for everyone as possible. Whispers of a select few getting an advance play of upcoming album Tsunami Sea plus a band Q&A circulate, and the band are recording the entire show. Bursting onstage with an electrifying, balls-to-the-wall heavy rendition of unreleased track Fata Morgana, there’s no doubt SPIRITBOX belong in front of this capacity crowd. Giant video screens sit behind them, a backdrop of visualisers and effects-laden camera views of the band, along with a tiered drum riser with its own screens and walkways for the band to make use of. It’s a treat for the eyes, but the real delight is in just how good the quartet sound in this huge, historic venue.

They exude confidence, Courtney LaPlante having grown into one of the most magnetic frontpeople in metal with understated dances all while delivering a powerhouse vocal performance. Her voice is unsurprisingly brilliant, imperious roars and soaring melodies captivating the room. Both Zev Rose and Josh Gilbert have cemented their places in the band too, practically in lockstep as the rhythmic backbone of the band. Mike Stringer is clearly having a blast too, peeling off deceptively simple riffs and losing himself in the performance. An early Perfect Soul shows their knack for making gorgeous melody that fills the room, the crowd near drowning out the initial intro with enthusiastic cheers. Spiritbox live @ Alexandra Palace, London. Photo Credit: Serena Hill Photography

An extended transition builds the tension and expectation before the band re-emerge to Circle With Me that detonate like a bomb, the crowd roaring its “cut down the altar” opening and “this could all be yours” before the final chorus. “Are you guys having fun?” Courtney beams afterwards to deafening cheers, admitting the seemingly ludicrous fact they didn’t think that arguably the biggest metalcore band in the world couldn’t sell out the show. When there’s an earth-shattering Soft Spine followed by tender The Mara Effect, Pt. 3 and No Loss, No Love into Holy Roller threatens the building’s foundations? It’s hard to believe there was ever any doubt at all.

It’s difficult to understate just how well SPIRITBOX have risen to the occasion; the staging is stunning (pyro during Hysteria’s outrageous breakdown, anyone?), they sound better than ever, and there’s a clear love for the fans that have propelled them to these heights, even allowing two long time fans onstage for a proposal. If there was ever any doubt remaining, SPIRITBOX have deserved every ounce of hype and their rapid ascent to dominance in the scene.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Serena Hill Photography here:


































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BAND FEATURESFEATURESPOWER METAL Fellowship: We’ll be happy metal

The United Kingdom isn’t exactly known for its power metal. You have DRAGONFORCE and POWER QUEST of course, but for the most part the majority of success stories from this popular subgenre are coming from overseas, namely mainland Europe. However a band from England has been rising through the genre to fill that void. What FELLOWSHIP have managed to achieve in their relatively short career would be the envy of many aspiring artists. From a debut show at a leading festival, to a tour supporting power metal royalty in Japan it’s an impressive career for a band to achieve off the back of one album.



Now towards the end of 2024 the band are releasing their anticipated second album The Skies Above Eternity. FELLOWSHIP vocalist Matthew Corry reminisces on where the band have come from. “Every band, when they start, wants to do something that they think is fresh. But, having been in many bands most of the time what you are doing isn’t actually that fresh. With FELLOWSHIP, we lucked into it. We had our core musical songwriter Cal who writes very power metal stuff and I am very musical theatre. This is a marriage that works very well and hasn’t been done somehow.”

Managing to build a cult following early on with a viral cover of a Disney classic, FELLOWSHIP performed to a filled New Blood Stage at Bloodstock Festival in 2021. Despite the positive response to this debut performance, the band took it as an opportunity to work out how to take their live show to the next level rather than focus on the potential success off the back of their show. “That was the beginning of us realising how out of our depth we were in terms of the logistics of performing. Everything in our heads about success went out the window after Bloodstock, we thought ‘we need to fix this, and this, and this,’ and that was all that we cared about for the next year.”

When The Saberlight Chronicles dropped to much praise in 2022, FELLOWSHIP got to work spreading their music as far as they could. Bringing their unique brand of majestic metal to many different countries including: Germany, Denmark, the US, Japan and many more. All this while shows in their native UK were becoming a somewhat rare occurrence. When asked why the band were focusing on shows overseas rather than the UK, Matt explains. “It was less about what was more exciting and about what was more viable. We got these opportunities elsewhere which economically speaking are much more viable for us. People outside the UK know how much it costs to get us there so if they want us there the people bringing us over are ready to part with that much money unlike doing a show in the UK.”


Having proved themselves with their live shows, and with a well received album behind them, FELLOWSHIP found themselves on a tour across Japan with power metal legends TWILIGHT FORCE. Throughout the few years of travelling to many different places, this tour continues to be a career highlight for Matt. “The first moment for me in the band that was truly unforgettable and I will carry with me till the day I day, was after the third show. We were packing all of our stuff and for some reason it took us forever that day everyone was really behind. When we got out of the venue it was half past midnight and as soon as we got outside there were fifty fans who had stayed there the entire time waiting and they acapella sang, with harmonies, The Saint Beyond The River. That was instant tears.”

After all these opportunities and great reception to the debut album, FELLOWSHIP needed to somehow come back down to earth to start work on their long awaited second album The Skies Above Eternity. “We wanted to release an album this year. We’ve toured the first album long enough so it’s time and we have music in us that we want to share with people.” As with the first release, FELLOWSHIP are planning to release a book alongside the album for fans to delve even deeper into its narrative. Matt recalls when he decided to turn his writing skills to the band. “Initially it was a writing tool. We were halfway through the album and I could feel connections between the songs so I wanted to explore that more. It wasn’t intended to be a novel but it started working and I couldn’t resist so I wrote the thing. It just gave an extra access point to the music for people who are more fantasy nerds as opposed to power metal nerds.”

Musically FELLOWSHIP’S second album will be what fans loved from the debut. Despite Matt’s admission that The Skies Above Eternity will be a touch darker than Saberlight Chronicles, the music is still their unique blend of majestic and triumphant power metal that is more joyous than what you would typically expect from heavy metal. “I will die on this hill. Not only can metal be happy, metal should not be something that we put these boundaries on. If we take what metal is, just by what traditionally fits into metal, then metal is not particularly friendly to the LGBT+ community, not particularly happy and doesn’t have the ability to make social commentary in the same way other genres of music do. And yet, we can spend two minutes on Google and find metal that does all of those things better than any other genre. So it’s nonsense that metal can’t be happy or can’t be LGBT+ friendly. If FELLOWSHIP is happy metal, then great. We’ll be happy metal.”

The Skies Above Eternity is out now via Scarlet Records.

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HEAVY MUSIC HISTORY: Symphonies Of Sickness – Carcass

Rewind the clocks to the closing years of the 1980s and heavy metal was about to change forever. Having enjoyed a period of widespread popularity through the hugely successful NWOBHM movement in the late 70s and early 80s, bands like VENOM, HELLHAMMER and a little band called METALLICA were taking the blueprints of traditional heavy metal and ripping up the rulebook to take heavy music to much darker and more extreme territory. And from Liverpool, England, a band named CARCASS were at the forefront of the expedition.



Having birthed the visceral Reek Of Putrefaction in 1988, despite its primitive production – something the band would later voice their displeasure to – the record had established CARCASS as an explosive name in the blossoming extreme metal scene. Being picked up by the late Radio 1 DJ John Peel certainly added stock to the band’s fledgling reputation, and intending to strike the iron whilst its hot, attention quickly turned to Reek Of Putrefaction‘s successor.

In the summer of 1989, the band bunkered down at The Slaughterhouse Studios in Great Driffield, East Yorkshire to construct their sophomore record. Initial legwork for Symphonies Of Sickness was made for the debut Peel Session earlier in the year, but like any good sequel, album two took the foundations of Reek Of Putrefaction and presented a new and improved version of the CARCASS sound.

The grindcore bedrock of their debut was there, but this time round, the band looked to feature more traditional death metal structures and longer songs. Where Reek Of Putrefaction boasted 22 songs of short and savage grindcore, Symphonies Of Sickness is more refined in its execution. More complex song structures, beefier production courtesy of Colin Richardson, and a more ?? approach to the compositions from the trio helped showcase the growth of the band’s creative spark, all the more impressive given how quickly the band took to crafting album number two.

Released in December 1989, Symphonies Of Sickness was praised by critics and fans alike and instantly reinforced the band as a vital name in extreme music. Ned Raggett of Allmusic praised the album’s depth compared to its predecessor in his four star review and cited Exhume To Consume as “an all-time CARCASS number” and Decibel‘s Greg Pratt cited the same song as a “classic death metal cut”.


But as the years passed, the impact of Symphonies Of Sickness was greater than anyone, let alone the band, first thought. Today, it is now considered a landmark release in helping to establish deathgrind with Decibel inducting the record into their Hall Of Fame in 2018 whilst Loudwire declared the record as the best goregrind record ever made. Here on our shores, the late and great Terrorizer Magazine cited in 2009 ranked Symphonies Of Sickness as number four in their list of essential European grindcore records. Accolades aside, what is even more impressive is just how influential the record has been to some of the heavy hitters in extreme music decades later after its initial release. Just take a dive into the works of EXHUMED, MISERY INDEX or CATTLE DECAPITATION and you’ll find breadcrumbs of the CARCASS DNA sprinkled throughout.

Today CARCASS remain a bonafide extreme metal heavyweight with 2013’s comeback record, Surgical Steel, and 2021’s Torn Arteries both sitting comfortably in their discography. With Symphonies Of Sickness though, the band hold a genuine gamechanger in their arsenal and the fact it still sounds as foul and venomous today as it did when it was first unleashed 35 years ago is testament to CARCASS‘ enthusiasm to push heavy music to nastier depths.

Although material from Symphonies Of Sickness are of trim pickings in the live arena as CARCASS have an extensive back catalogue to draw from, but the likes of Exhume To Consume and Reek Of Putrefaction still often receive airtime to fans’ delight. Often, these throwbacks to their second record come as the standout moments of the band’s live performances, as attested on this summer’s festival run at the likes of Bloodstock, Brutal Assault and Sweden Rock. We can only hope that we receive a full album playthrough tour in the future.

Visceral and rotten to the gore, in the winter of 1989, three young men from Liverpool pushed metal to a more much violent and gory place. Without Symphonies Of Sickness, the world of extreme music in 2024 would be incredibly different indeed.







Symphonies Of Sickness was originally released on December 4th, 1989 via Earache Records.

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BATTLE BEAST Announce European / UK Tour 2025; DOMINUM And MAJESTICA

Finland’s Battle Beast have announced a massive 35-show European tour as the first leg of their upcoming world tour. Kicking off with a bang on October 17th with their biggest German headline show to date at Hamburg’s Inselpark Arena, the tour will keep the band on the road until mid-December.

To complete the bill with melodic metal superiority, the band is thrilled to welcome Germany’s metal sensation Dominum as their special guest, and Sweden’s rising power metal force Majestica as their opening act.

Tickets for the tour go on sale on Wednesday, February 19th at this location.

The Helsinki-based sextet is currently delved deep in studio work, recording their seventh album, set for release before the tour kicks off.


”We are dying to take the new songs out on the road and let everybody see and hear what we’ve been working on. Everything about this tour will be bigger, better, and more than we’ve ever done before. We can’t wait to see all our friends again—and hopefully make a whole bunch of new ones while we’re at it!” comments bassist Eero Sipilä.

With six albums, over 300 million streams, and four consecutive #1 records, the band has spent nearly two decades conquering the metal scene. Now, stronger than ever, Battle Beast is ready to unleash their most grandiose show yet upon the metal-loving masses. The best is yet to come.

Tour dates:


October
17 – Hamburg, Germany – Inselpark Arena
18 – Berlin, Germany – Huxleys Neue Welt
19 – Den Bosch, Netherlands – The Rock Circus
21 – Birmingham, UK – O2 Institute
22 – Manchester, UK – O2 Ritz
23 – Bristol. UK – O2 Academy
24 – London, UK – Shepherd´s Bush Empire
25 – Paris, France – Elysee Montmartre
26 – Toulouse, France – Bikini Toulouse
28 – Madrid, Spain – Sala La Riviera
29 – Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apolo
30 – Lyon, France – Transbordeur
31 – Filderstadt, Germany – FiLharmonie

November
1 – Wiesbaden, Germany – Schlachthof
2 – Antwerp, Blgium – Trix
4 – Hannover, Germany – Capitol
5 – Roskilde, Denmark – Gimle
6 – Huskvarna, Sweden – Folkets Park
7 – Gothenburg, Sweden, Trädgårn
8 – Stockholm, Sweden – Fryshuset Arenan
9 – Oslo, Norway – Rockefeller Music Hall
28 – Leipzig, Germany – Felsenkeller – Ballsaal
29 – Nuremberg, Germany – Löwensaal
30 – Vienna, Austria – Arena Wien

December
1 – Bratislava, Slovakia – Majestic Music Club
2 – Budapest, Hungary – Barba Negra Red Stage
3 – Ljubljana, Slovenia – Cvetlicarna d.o.o.
5 – Munich, Germany – TonHalle
6 – Pratteln, Switzerland – Z7 Konzertfabrik
7 – Trezzo sull’Adda, Italy – Live Club
9 – Lausanne, Switzerland – Metropole
10 – Saarbrucken, Germany – Garage
12 – Oberhausen, Germany – Turbinenhalle
13 – Zlin, Czech Republic- Sports Hall Datart
14 – Warsaw, Poland – Progresja



Photo by Jaakko Manninen

OZZY OSBOURNE On Performing At “Back To The Beginning” Birmingham Show – “I Am Doing Little Bits And Pieces With Them, Where I Feel Comfortable”

The original Black Sabbath – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – will perform together for the first time in 20 years when they take to the stage to headline Back To The Beginning on July 5 at Villa Park in Birmingham, England.

The all-star event will celebrate the true creators of heavy metal and will see Ozzy – who is battling Parkinson’s Disease – play his own short set before joining with Black Sabbath for his final bow.

On a new installmet of his SiriusXM show “Ozzy Speaks”, he revealed “I’m not planning on doing a set with Black Sabbath, but I am doing little bits and pieces with them. I am doing what I can, where I feel comfortable. I am trying to get back on my feet. When you get up in the morning, you just jump out of bed. I have to balance myself, but I’m not dead. I’m still actively doing things.”

Formed in Birmingham in 1968 and going on to become one of most successful metal bands of all time, Black Sabbath have sold over 75 million albums worldwide across their legendary career. Setting the blueprint for the many routes heavy metal took, Black Sabbath’s influence and importance is as vital today as it was in the early 1970s.


Music Director Tom Morello said: “This will be the greatest heavy metal show ever.”

Back To The Beginning will feature sets from Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Halestorm, Alice In Chains, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon.

The all-day event will also feature a supergroup of musicians. Artists announced so far include Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns ‘n Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), KK Downing, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), Sleep Token ii (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen and Zakk Wylde.


More names will be announced shortly.

Tickets are on sale at LiveNation.co.uk.

All profits will go to the following charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.



A message at the Aston Villa FC website reveals:


The concert is part of Aston Villa’s broader strategy to establish Villa Park as a world-class live events venue, combining the excitement of football with year-round entertainment.

The Club recently underwent a strategic redevelopment of Villa Park, designed to generate new revenue streams and reinforce Aston Villa’s position as an economic driver for West Midlands and beyond.


This project includes the recently announced North Grounds redevelopment and opening of The Warehouse, a new multi-use venue set to become a centrepiece of the matchday experience, a hub for year-round entertainment, and a must-play music venue for touring artists.

Chris Heck, President of Business Operations at Aston Villa FC, said: “We are delighted to host Birmingham-born legend Ozzy Osbourne at Villa Park.

“Live music events have and will continue to play a major role in our strategic plan for Aston Villa. They drive additional revenue streams that allow our Club to comply with stringent Premier League regulations, while ultimately solidifying our position as a world-class organisation capable of continually competing and winning at the highest level.

“By drawing in new audiences and keeping them engaged for longer, events like Ozzy Osbourne’s concert will play a key role in our continued success, on and off the pitch.”

This music event builds on a legacy of collaboration between Osbourne and Aston Villa. In July 2024, Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath bandmate Geezer Butler played an integral role in Aston Villa’s first-ever Adidas kit launch for the 2024/25 season.

Then, in October 2024, Aston Villa announced another exciting collaboration with Osbourne, with Adidas launching a limited edition Predator football boot and a specially-designed Villa shirt that paid homage to the ‘Prince of Darkness’ and his legendary band, Black Sabbath.

Most recently, Aston Villa and its supporters paid homage to Osbourne by displaying an awe-inspiring tifo depicting the Prince of Darkness at its Champions League game against Celtic.

Osbourne’s upcoming concert at Villa Park promises to be an extraordinary event, combining his unparalleled musical legacy with his undying love for the club. As a lifelong Villa supporter, this performance will be an emotional homecoming for the Prince of Darkness, who has always been vocal about his support for Aston Villa.

For full details on the show, including on tickets – and to register your interest for hospitality – click here.



Says Metallica: “We are beyond honored and humbled to be invited to perform at Black Sabbath’s final show, back where it all began in Birmingham, England. On July 5 at Villa Park—home of Aston Villa—Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward will reunite to play their first show together in 20 years. Tickets go on sale at 10 AM, GMT on Friday, February 14, via Ticketmaster UK and Live Nation UK.

“As part of this huge celebration of nearly six decades of Black Sabbath, we’ll hit the stage just before a short solo set from Ozzy Osbourne, followed by the mighty Sabbath closing the show. Anthrax, Alice In Chains, Gojira, Halestorm, Lamb Of God, Mastodon, Pantera, and Slayer will also be a part of the massive night.

“An incredible lineup of musicians from around the globe will also be on hand to pay tribute, including Billy Corgan (The Smashing Pumpkins), David Draiman (Disturbed), Duff McKagan & Slash (Guns N’ Roses), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Fred Durst (Limp Bizkit), Jake E Lee, Jonathan Davis (Korn), K.K. Downing, Lzzy Hale (Halestorm), Mike Bordin (Faith No More), Rudy Sarzo, Sammy Hagar, Scott Ian (Anthrax), II (Sleep Token), Papa V Perpetua (Ghost), Tom Morello (Rage Against the Machine), Wolfgang Van Halen, and Zakk Wylde.

“All profits from the night will go to the following charities: Cure Parkinson’s, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, and Acorn Children’s Hospice, a Children’s Hospice supported by Aston Villa.

“Our admiration for Black Sabbath runs deep, and we cannot wait to be a part of this historic event! We’ll see you in Birmingham!”



(Top photo – Ross Halfin; Insert photo – Aston Villa FC)