As BLABBERMOUTH exclusively reported as a rumor on December 22, Florida-based metallers TRIVIUM have now officially confirmed that they have recruited Alex Bent to play drums on their upcoming European headlining tour.

Bent, a member of BATTLECROSS and DECREPIT BIRTH who previously played with TESTAMENT as the fill-in for that band’s longtime drummer Gene Hoglan, will make his live debut with TRIVIUM on February 11 in Dublin, Ireland.

Bent’s official audition video can be seen below. TRIVIUM bassist Paolo Gregoletto explained via Twitter: “Alex sent us this video two days after being put in touch with him. We also had a few weeks of rehearsal together in November.”

Bent is also a member of TESTAMENT guitarist Eric Peterson’s DRAGONLORD project, whose long-awaited third album, “Dominion”, ...

**UPDATE**: After this story was originally published, Paul Wandtke tweeted that it’s “false” to say that he learned about his exit from TRIVIUM by reading BLABBERMOUTH.NET. He explained: “All that I meant is that I didn’t know who was playing drums. I was informed way before.”

Wandtke’s latest comments contradict what he told a fan on December 22 — right after the original BLABBERMOUTH.NET story about his rumored departure was first posted. Asked in the comments section below one of his YouTube videos if he would continue playing with TRIVIUM, Paul responded at the time: “yeah totally”. The drummer also made it clear in the Rock Feed interview — which was conducted last week — that he only learned “a few days ago” that he was no longer a touring member of TRIVIUM...

Winners in 31 technical and creative achievement categories were announced at the 32nd annual NAMM TEC Awards, presented annually by the NAMM Foundation and held January 21 in Anaheim, California. The annual event celebrates the best in professional audio and sound production and is held during the NAMM Show, the world’s leading global music industry trade event. Comedian Sinbad returned to host for the third time.

Joe Perry, one of music’s most significant artists and executives, received the evening’s highest honor, the Les Paul Award, presented to remarkably distinguished and accomplished individuals from the music industry...

Supergroup of Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and members of Rage Against the Machine perform together for first time in nearly 12 years

Audioslave, the supergroup featuring Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell and members of Rage Against the Machine, reunited onstage for the first time in nearly 12 years Friday night at the Anti-Inaugural Ball concert in Los Angeles.

“12 years is a long time comin’,” Cornell told the crowd at the Teragram Ballroom. Together, Audioslave performed three tracks off their 2002 self-titled debut LP, “Like a Stone,” “Cochise” and “Show Me How to Live.”

Cornell and his former band mates Tom Morello, Tim Commerford and Brad Wilk last performed in concert together in November 2005...

During Friday night’s (January 20) broadcast of “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC, host Rachel Maddow opened the program by drawing an unlikely connection between the 2010 “American Carnage” tour featuring SLAYER, MEGADETH and TESTAMENT and President Donald Trump’s grim inaugural address, which painted a bleak picture of the America he now leads, declaring, as he had throughout the election campaign, that it is beset by crime, poverty and a lack of bold action. “This American carnage stops right here,” Trump declared in his speech. “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this moment on, it’s going to be America first.”

Maddow stated at the start of her show: “I have somebody to introduce you to on this fine inaugural Friday. His name is Tim Araya [sic]...

Jerry Cantrell (ALICE IN CHAINS), Billy Morrison (BILLY IDOL), Chris Chaney (JANE’S ADDICTION), Erik Eldenius (BILLY IDOL) and Dave Kushner (VELVET REVOLVER) are among the musicians that took part in Friedman Amplification’s pre-NAMM concert Tuesday night (January 17) at Lucky Strike Live in Hollywood, California. Fan-filmed video footage of the show can be seen below.

ALICE IN CHAINS opened the first five shows on GUNS N’ ROSES’ 2016 North American stadium tour, and completed a headlining trek last fall.

ALICE IN CHAINS frontman William Duvall told the WRIF radio station last June that it was “too early” to talk about the band’s new music, despite the fact that it’s been more than three years since the release of their last studio album.

“The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here” came out in 2013...

3 DOORS DOWN frontman Brad Arnold has defended the band’s decision to perform at President-elect Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration”, saying that “it’s all about America.”

3 DOORS DOWN will perform at the concert on Thursday (January 19), one day before Trump is inaugurated as the new President of the United States. The event, which is open to the public and taking place on the steps of Washington, D.C.’s Lincoln Memorial, will also feature country artists Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood, the Piano Guys and actor Jon Voight.

Other participants in Trump’s inauguration plans include “America’s Got Talent” singer Jackie Evancho, THE ROCKETTES and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, although members of both the latter groups have expressed concern about performing at the even...

Before Lamar Odom voluntarily checked into rehab last month, he appeared on an episode of The Doctors to talk about his battle with addiction. In the interview, the former Los Angeles Lakers star revealed he “wasn’t in a good place mentally” before he nearly lost his life to a drug overdose four months ago and said he and his wife at the time, Khloe Kardashian, were “going through some things.”

Now that Odom is back home – he checked out of Casa Palmera Treatment Center in San Diego, California on January 5th – Odom returned to the show on Tuesday to give an update on his life.

“I feel good, man. I’m great,” Odom said. “Living. Sober. Hopefully I long life ahead of me.”

Odom touched on a number of topics in the hour-long episode, ranging from how he was “basically just committing sui...

Paul McCartney has filed a federal lawsuit against music publisher Sony/ATV, claiming ownership to songs he wrote with the Beatles. The singer-songwriter hopes to regain his copyrights to songs such as “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude” and “The Long and Winding Road” in October 2018. A rep for McCartney said that the paperwork, filed in a U.S. District Court in New York, is meant “to confirm his ownership” of the songs “which are granted to him by US copyright law.” The lawsuit claims McCartney has been making several such legal filings since 2008.

The former Beatle is seeking a “declaratory judgment,” according to The Hollywood Reporter, to ensure the transfer will not be prolonged...