International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Today is Tuesday, January 27, 2026 - International Holocaust Remembrance Day. People around the world observe this day to honor the six million Jewish victims and the millions of others murdered by the Nazi regime.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an international memorial day on 27 January that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust: The genocide of one-third of the Jewish people in Europe, and countless numbers of individuals of other minority groups, by Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. This date was chosen because it marks the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in 1945.

The Jewish people were the primary target of the Holocaust. Other groups were also victims: Jehovah’s Witnesses, Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, people with disabilities, Slavic peoples, trade unionists, socialists and others were imprisoned in concentration camps or killed during the Holocaust.

Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day): This is the day observed primarily in Israel and by Jewish communities worldwide. Its date varies based on the Hebrew calendar. In 2026, it will begin at sundown on Monday, April 13, and end at nightfall on Tuesday, April 14.

RUSH - Red Sector A" (from the 1984 Grace Under Pressure)

[This song was inspired by Geddy Lee’s mother, a concentration camp survivor: this is a portrayal of life inside a concentration camp.]

All that we can do is just survive

All that we can do to help ourselves is stay alive

Ragged lines of ragged grey

Skeletons, they shuffle away

Shouting guards and smoking guns

Will cut down the unlucky ones

I clutch the wire fence until my fingers bleed

A wound that will not heal

A heart that cannot feel

Hoping that the horror will recede

Hoping that tomorrow we'll all be freed

Sickness to insanity

Prayer to profanity

Days and weeks and months go by

Don't feel the hunger

Too weak to cry

I hear the sound of gunfire at the prison gate

Are the liberators here?

Do I hope or do I fear?

For my father and my brother, it's too late

But I must help my mother stand up straight

Are we the last ones left alive?

Are we the only human beings to survive?

RUSH - Red Sector A

EDDIE VAN HALEN - born on January 26th, 1955

Edward Lodewijk Van Halen (January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020)

Born in Amsterdam to Jan (a Dutch jazz musician) and Eugenia (an Indonesian woman from Java), Eddie and his family moved to Pasadena, California, in 1962. Arriving with just $50 and a piano, Eddie and his brother Alex didn't speak English and were often bullied as "minority" students. They found their voice through music, though not in the way their parents expected.

Eddie was a child prodigy, but a rebellious one. Although he began piano at age six and won three consecutive competitions at Long Beach City College (1964–1967), he never actually learned to read music. Instead, he would watch his teacher's hands during recitals of Bach and Mozart and simply improvise by ear. While his parents hoped for a classical career, Eddie was captivated by the "British Invasion." His world was blown wide open by bands like The Beatles, The Dave Clark Five, and especially the "mind-blowing" sounds of Cream.

In a twist that changed music history, the roles were originally reversed: Alex started on the guitar; Eddie bought a drum kit. One day, Eddie heard Alex play the drum solo from "Wipe Out" and realized his brother was a natural behind the kit. They swapped, and Eddie began a lifelong obsession with the electric guitar. As a teenager, he was so dedicated that he would practice for hours with his bedroom door locked or walk around his house with his guitar strapped on.

Eddie’s style was a unique cocktail of his influences. He famously learned every Eric Clapton solo note-for-note but admitted that Jimmy Page’s "reckless abandon" was closer to his own spirit. He eventually pioneered the two-handed tapping technique, allowing him to play lightning-fast arpeggios that earned him the #1 spot in Guitar World's list of greatest guitarists.

From his first fourth-grade performance with "The Broken Combs" to selling over 80 million records worldwide, Eddie never lost that sense of wonder. As he said himself at the Smithsonian in 2015: "We came here with $50 and a piano... Now look where we are. If that’s not the American dream, what is?" (This information is from Wikipedia)

Van Halen - On Fire (Demo) (1976)

Mark Reale(Riot) 1955-2012

in remembrance of Mark Reale (Riot) (June 7, 1955 - January 25, 2012)

The guitarist Mark Reale is inextricably linked to the veteran heavy metal act Riot, a group he established and spearheaded throughout his career. As the primary creative engine and the only member to remain through every iteration of the band from 1975 until 2012, he guided Riot through numerous stylistic evolutions and roster changes. Under his leadership, the band earned a reputation for combining technical accuracy with a strong sense of melody. Riot’s studio history features several pivotal albums, particularly the 1981 release Fire Down Under, which is widely regarded as a significant contribution to the early American heavy metal movement. In the years that followed, Reale’s work on recordings such as Thundersteel helped pioneer a high-speed, aggressive form of power metal that served as a blueprint for later artists in the genre. Mark Reale passed away on January 25, 2012, at the age of 56, due to complications from a lifelong battle with Crohn’s disease. His death occurred shortly after the band completed the album Immortal Soul, marking the end of his nearly four-decade tenure. To honor his memory and continue his musical legacy, the surviving members of the band's most famous lineup rebranded the project as Riot V, continuing to perform the songs Reale composed.

Below you will find the article that Blabbermouth published in honor Mark Reale. In addition, below you will find an article from Louder Sound about Riot. I think that both articles explain well why the music of Riot is worth exploring if you are a fan of traditional heavy metal.

Founding RIOT Guitarist MARK REALE Dies At 56

January 25, 2012

Mark Reale, the founding guitarist of the legendary metal band RIOT, passed away earlier today (Wednesday, January 25) in a San Antonio hospital due to complications of Crohn's disease — an ailment he has battled for most of his life. He was 56 years old.

Reale had reportedly been in a coma for the past two weeks after suffering a subarachnoid hemorrhage on January 11.

RIOT said in a statement: "To friends and fans of Mark Reale and RIOT, we are deeply saddened to confirm that Mark has lost his battle with a lifelong illness. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated by Mark's family, friends, and bandmates at this difficult time."

Upon learning of Mark's passing, Brian Slagel, founder and CEO of Metal Blade Records, said, "I was a huge fan of RIOT's 'Fire Down Under' album and got to interview them for my fanzine. Great guys and I was lucky enough to finally reissue 'Fire Down Under' and the other early RIOT albums on Metal Blade. We signed the band for their second run, so to speak, and put out some records in the '90s that did well, especially in Europe and Japan. It was a pleasure working with them and Mark was always a kind soul — an AMAZING player who really has a big time place in the history of metal. One of the really nice guys who put out some incredible stuff."

Mark is survived by his father, Anthony Reale, and was preceded in death by his mother, Frances Reale.

RIOT played two shows without Reale last week — on January 18 at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill in New York City and on January 20 at Montage Music Hall in Rochester, New York — and is currently taking part in 70,000 Tons Of Metal, a four-day all-heavy metal cruise which set sail on Monday, January 23 aboard the Royal Caribbean Majesty Of The Seas from Miami, Florida.

Mark spent most of his life working and performing while enduring almost constant pain and the side effects of treatment for Crohn's disease. He was in Texas bravely attempting to practice for the shows, but was felled by a severe onset of Crohn's symptoms, leaving him in the Intensive Care Unit at an undisclosed facility. Mark was struggling with these symptoms throughout the production of RIOT's new album, "Immortal Soul", and guitarist Mike Flyntz recorded a major portion of the guitars on the LP with Mark's creative direction while Reale was unable to perform.

RIOT's original singer Guy Speranza died on November 8, 2003 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 47 years old. Often regarded as the best RIOT vocalist, he sang on the group's first three full-length albums — "Rock City" (1977),"Narita" (1979) and "Fire Down Under" (1981) — before being replaced by Rhett Forrester. Forrester himself left in the mid-'80s to pursue a solo career, only to be murdered on January 22, 1994 in Atlanta.

Singer Mike Tirelli, who toured with RIOT after Mike DiMeo officially left the band in 2007, was diagnosed with stomach cancer in the fall of 2008 and underwent treatment for this life-threatening illness. All the treatments were reportedly a huge success in eradicating the disease.

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The story of Riot, the unluckiest band in the world

By Peter Makowski

last updated 8 February 2021

In the late 70s, Riot were the Great White Hopes of American rock. But that was before the public ignored them, their label disowned them, and their singer quit. And then things got really bad…

This is a story of heroic failure. Of bad luck and lousy timing, misguided decisions and clashing personalities. Of a band who fell foul of the machinations of the music industry, the fickleness of the record-buying public and the dark side of the rock’n’roll dream.

The band in question is Riot, a bunch of New Yorkers whose determination to succeed was exceeded only by their repeated failure to do so. Between 1977 and 1981, they released a string of albums that should have turned them into superstars, one of which – 1981’s Fire Down Under – remains one of the great hard rock records of the era.

They’re fêted by everyone from Lars Ulrich, who has cited them as an influence, to Lady Gaga, who took inspiration from one of their anthems. They had the songs, the look and the determination.

What they didn’t have was the breaks. The Riot story has all the ingredients of a true heavy metal epic: the youthful dreams, the missed opportunities, the dogged perseverance, the repeated failures, the frustration, the farce, the bickering, the violence, the drugs… and the deaths of not one but three key members.

It’s Spinal Tap without the jokes; The Story Of Anvil without the happy ending. It’s a cautionary tale to anyone dreaming of rock’n’roll fame, and a reminder that for every band who make it, there are thousands who don’t.

“It’s just amazing that anything ever happened,” says drummer Sandy Slavin, who was a member of the band during their early-80s heyday. “When I played with Ace Frehley we’d be sitting on the bus and everybody would be telling you their music business horror stories. Mine was always just that little bit more horrifying."

“To be successful, you have to be a great performer, play the game and work with the press,” says Billy Arnell, who co-managed the band in the late 70s and early 80s. “Riot wasn’t that great at that stuff. They didn’t understand that being in the music business, a multi billion-dollar industry, took more than thinking like a Brooklyn kid.”

Former guitarist Rick Ventura – a man who lived through the worst parts of the story – puts it more bluntly: “Talk about a band with bad luck.”

If one man was the driving force behind Riot, it was guitarist Mark Reale. A tall, skinny Montrose fanatic with thinning hair – which he later covered with a series of wigs – the unassuming but quietly ambitious Reale would be the only constant member throughout the band’s history.

It was Reale who founded the band in his native Brooklyn in the summer of 1975 with bassist Phil Feit, drummer Peter Bitelli and vocalist Guy Speranza. A wiry Italian-American with a striking afro-style hairdo, Speranza looked at first glance like the archetypal 70s rock god-in-waiting. But his unobtrusive manner suggested that he wasn’t necessarily cut out for a life in rock’n’roll.

“Mark told me that he had to talk Guy into joining the band,” recalls future drummer Slavin. “He was singing with a Top 40 band in Brooklyn – he could take it or leave it. Guy was very adaptable; he was like a blank slate. When he joined Riot, he became the singer of Riot. Whoever he was hanging out with, that’s who Guy was going to be.”

Like Speranza, Reale had served time in several going-nowhere teenage bands, serving up Humble Pie and Foghat covers to drunken schoolfriends at backyard parties. But Riot were different. Reale and Speranza were writing their own material, for starters. They knew they had more to offer; they certainly hoped they had more to gain.

In a taste of what was to come, their timing was atrocious. New York in the mid 70s was in the grip of disco fever: glitterball hedonism and white powder were the order of the day.

Elsewhere, the burgeoning punk scene had taken root at infamous dive CBGB, spearheaded by the likes of The Ramones, Patti Smith and Television. At that time in the Big Apple, if you were a rock band who weren’t called Led Zeppelin, you faced an uphill struggle to get noticed.

But Riot had what most other rock’n’roll hopefuls didn’t: a go-getting management team in the shape of Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb. Arnell was a chain-smoking hipster with a machine-gun repartee who wouldn’t have seemed out of place in the creative department of a Mad Men-style ad agency. The more laidback Loeb was one part hippy, one part hustler; as a kid he had run around with future Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley.

Over the next decade, Arnell and Loeb would play a pivotal part in Riot’s career – sometimes for the good of it, sometimes not. Arnell had carved out a career writing jingles for an ad company before teaming up with Loeb to buy a studio, Greene Street, in Manhattan’s SoHo district. They were looking for a band to launch to their new label, Fire Sign Records. Initially, they were keen to sign something edgy – a punk or New Wave band. But when they stumbled across Riot playing in a club in the summer of 1976, they instantly saw something in the fledging outfit.

“They sounded great, looked good and had some fantastic material,” says Billy Arnell today, before pausing to mutter: “Little did we know what was coming.”

In late 1976, Riot entered Greene Street with Arnell and Loeb to record their debut album, Rock City. As well as releasing it on their own label, the two managers opted to produce the record themselves – sowing the seeds of a clash of interests that would impact on the band further down the line.

The album took seven long months to produce, and was a disjointed affair, though it did contain a trio of cult classics in the shape of Warrior, Tokyo Rose and the title track. It also introduced the band’s mascot, Tior, a ludicrous axe-wielding half-human, half-seal hybrid that prompted as much derision as it did admiration, not least among the band themselves.

Released in late 1977, Rock City found little favour in a year dominated by Fleetwood Mac and Donna Summer, and it sank without trace in America (though it cause a stir in Japan).

Undaunted, the band started work on the followup, Narita. Produced once again by Arnell and Loeb at Greene Street, it was a vast improvement: the band sounded infinitely more confident, and it housed another terrific song in the shape of future live staple Road Racin’. But by now, Riot were even more out of step with everything going on around them in New York, and the spotlight had been dragged to the opposite coast, where a similarly inclined band named Van Halen were rapidly making a name for themselves.

Narita – named after the main international airport in Tokyo and featuring their man-seal mascot Tior dressed as a sumo wrestler on the cover – was released in June 1979, but initially only in Japan. Once again, America wanted nothing to do with Riot.

By the time of their second album, Riot had already gone through several of the line-up changes that would define their career. Original bassist Phil Feit had been replaced by Jimmy Iommi during sessions for the debut album, while second guitarist LA Kouvaris had quit shortly afterwards, with Rick Ventura filling his shoes.

“It was Mark’s band,” says Ventura. “He started it. Sometimes, we had some conflicts because he wanted the band to be a certain way.”

Now, between finishing Narita and releasing it, they’d got a new drummer, New Jersey native Sandy Slavin.

“I’d never heard of Riot,” admits Slavin today. “Mark called me and said his band had just got rid of their rhythm section. I thought, ‘These guys are idiots – they’ve got a record out. Why the fuck did you break up your band?!’ But Mark seemed real nice. We we were both big fans of Montrose.”

But there were bigger problems than a revolving-door membership. Riot were struggling to get a break in their home country, and Arnell and Loeb realised they needed help to give their charges a leg-up. They opted to go into partnership with Fred Heller, a powerful music-business figure who had represented Ian Hunter and Lou Reed.

“Fred made a huge difference because he could get on the phone with label executives,” explains Arnell. “Freddie knew how to make people dance.” Heller made his presence felt immediately, bagging a deal with Capitol Records for the US release of Narita and wrangling a tour supporting AC/DC in Texas. After three years of having the door slammed in their faces, Riot figured that they were on the verge of stepping into the big time.

"They were the first arena shows any of us had done,” recalls Slavin. “We were like, ‘Yeah, we’re rock stars now!’ Billy and Steve were like, ‘What colour Mercedes do you want?’ We acted like idiots and busted up some hotel rooms. We went from a zero to a thousand.”

The reality was that Riot were still struggling to make their mark – a situation which led to some drastic brainstorming on the part of Arnell and Loeb. In late 1979, they called a meeting with the band. Slavin: “They said, ‘There’s no market for hard rock – you need to change your whole sound, get skinny ties and go New Wave.’ We were young and full of piss and vinegar. We said, ‘Fuck this crap!’”

The prospect of a potentially disastrous career change averted, Riot found their luck temporarily changing. Thanks to the support of taste-making British DJ Neal Kay, the band had gained a sizeable following in the UK, and in February 1980 they were offered a slot supporting Sammy Hagar on his British tour.

It was such a success that a few months later they were back, having bagged a spot at the inaugural Monsters Of Rock festival at Donington, though not before yet another line-up change, with bassist Kip Leming joining on bass.

“It rained and there was mud everywhere,” recalls Leming with a laugh. ”I went out into the audience to check out the band and got pelted by lumps of turf.”

Riot returned home in triumphant mood. They started worked on their third album, Fire Down Under, with the wind in their sails. Little did they know that the ship was about to be holed below the water line.

Looking back on Fire Down Under today, guitarist Rick Ventura recalls a band putting their struggles behind them.

“It was one of those moments,” he says, “where the chemistry was right, the attitude was good and everyone was playing great. It all came together.”

Mark Reale and Guy Speranza wrote together, with Ventura bringing in fully assembled songs of his own. Everybody chipped in with arrangements. After half a decade of turmoil, the band were finally pulling in the same direction.

“We had reached the point where the band was tight,” says Billy Arnell. “They’d started to get an artistic identity. As producers, Steve and I couldn’t really fuck it up.”

Fire Down Under stands as the high point of Riot’s career, and a landmark early-1980s hard rock record. Bridging the gap between Reale’s beloved Montrose and the nascent thrash scene that would emerge a few years later, it balanced its melodic chops with a tight energy and walked a lyrical tightrope between fantasy and gonzo rock’n’roll.

Its undoubted highlight was anthemic opener Swords And Tequila, a song that has been rightly fêted as a classic by Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris and Metallica’s Lars Ulrich. Surprisingly, it also influenced another more unlikely musician.

“Listen to the beginning of Swords And Tequila, then listen to Lady Gaga’s track Electric Chapel,” says Sandy Slavin. “The guitar intro on that is so fucking close it’s unbelievable. Not just the notes, but also the sound. She’s really into 80s rock, right?”

After two false starts, Riot had at last made their masterpiece – the album that would book their place at rock’s top table. At least that’s what should have happened. Instead, Capitol refused to release it.

The official line was that the label deemed it ‘commercially unacceptable’ – too heavy for the climate of 1981. But Slavin suggests that the real reason was down to a failed power-play by Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb.

“There was a song by Rick called You’re All I Needed Tonight that our A&R guy liked,” says Slavin. “He said it was a big hit, and he took a tape to the executives in LA and played to them. Then Billy and Steve don’t put the song on the album – it was their way to put the A&R guy in his place. Of course, the A&R looks like an idiot. That’s when the label decided that it was ‘commercially unacceptable’.”

Whatever the reason, the knockback was disastrous for Riot. Arnell decided to go toe-to-toe with the label and get the fanbase involved. He sent out a postcard to all the fans on their mailing list, invoking their axe-wielding, seal-headed mascot: “Tior is held captive in the ivory tower by the maniacal company executives.”

He worked up a petition to get the album released, signed by fans and such high-profile supporters as Iron Maiden. The cause was picked up by the British music press, if not their American counterparts.

Rather than having the desired effect, the campaign only made things worse. Not only did Capitol refuse to release the album, they weren’t inclined to let Riot go. While things hung in limbo, Riot’s funds dried up. Cracks were growing between the co-managers and the members of the band who weren’t Mark Reale and Guy Speranza.

“The band’s money was cut off,” says Slavin, still fuming at the memory. ”I had to give up my apartment in New York, move back to New Jersey. It was fucked. Billy and Steve had kept the money [from the deal with Capitol], so they could have kept us going. Then they sold it to Elektra. They sold the fucking record [Fire Down Under] twice.”

It was Elektra Records, fired up by the enthusiasm of hotshot A&R man Tom Zutaut, who proved to be Riot’s saviours. The new label helped extricate Riot from their Capitol deal, and finally released Fire Down Under. To the relief of the band, it was a success, selling more than its two predecessors combined (it would eventually sell more than 500,000 copies in the US).

Yet Riot’s capacity for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory was unmatched, and once again their world was about to come crashing down around them. In November 1981, while supporting Grand Funk Railroad, Guy Speranza – whose nickname was Buddy – dropped a bombshell.

“Guy turns to me and Mark and starts talking in the third person,” recalls Slavin. “He says, ‘Hey you guys, Buddy’s packing it in.’ We thought he was joking, so we didn’t say anything. Then we get back to the hotel and he says, ‘I’m really quitting.’ He announces that he’s getting married and his wife-to-be doesn’t like rock’n’roll.”

In a career defined by terrible timing, this was the worst timing of all. The band had finally made their breakthrough, and now their frontman was walking away from it for love.

Today, everyone has a different take on Speranza’s departure. Bassist Kip Leming suggests that the singer was unhappy with the idea of “putting on the leather pants and sparkly clothes – it wasn’t about music”. Sandy Slavin says that the singer was “fed up with Billy Arnell and Steve Loeb – he was tired of touring and not getting any reimbursement.”

Unsurprisingly, Arnell himself has a different take on the matter. “Guy was a very mellow, gentle person,” he says. “For a frontman, he wasn’t very confident. He was a great writer, and he was very identifiable, but it takes more than that.”

Whatever the reason, Speranza had made up his mind. He played his last show with Riot on December 22, 1981, the second of two sold-out shows supporting Rush at the Meadowlands Center, Rutherford, New Jersey.

“I have a picture of Guy from that show,” says Sandy. “He has his coat over his shoulder, he’s walking out of the dressing room, and that’s the last time I ever saw or talked to him. He was just glad to be gone.”

Speranza left the music business and became, of all things, a pest controller. One apocryphal story has Lars Ulrich, a Riot fan, calling a pest control company to sort out an infestation of rats in his New York apartment; he was shocked when it was Guy Speranza who knocked on the door.

Years of struggle culminating with the loss of a key member would have been a fatal body-blow for most bands. But for Mark Reale, there was no question of stopping after all his band had been through.

Riot returned to New York, bloodied but not broken. They held a few low-key auditions and quickly found a replacement for Speranza in the shape of Rhett Forrester. A bandleader’s son from New Jersey, Forrester had chiselled features, blonde hair and a cocky style developed in an assortment of cover bands.

With their new singer on board, the band entered the studio to record their fourth album, Restless Breed, a tougher, more metal-centric record that predated Quiet Riot’s sonically similar though much more successful Metal Health by almost a year.

“Not having Guy there was bad enough,” says Slavin. “But with Rhett, it was always about putting on a show. It didn’t feel genuine.”

It soon became apparent that Forrester was a volatile and insecure character. He became prone to picking fights. Worse, he was unreliable, as the band found out on their first tour with him.

“We got to Nashville, and we hear that Rhett’s going to make a later plane, which is always a bad sign,” recalls Slavin. “Suddenly, there’s a call for our tour manager. He comes back and says, ‘Fellas, the tour is over – Rhett’s in the hospital.’” It transpired that Forrester had attended a Queen show at Madison Square Garden, and ingested something at the aftershow that saw him hospitalised for four days.

Forrester got his act together enough to make another album, the underwhelming Born In America. But the band were losing their way, and so were their managers. Producing the album, Steve Loeb would go into the studio during the day and Billy Arnell at night, the latter accompanied by two bodyguards for protection.

By this time, Arnell had had enough. He quit the management team, cutting his losses. Today, he makes a successful living in the computer industry, while writing and producing music on the side. Now flying solo, Loeb tried to take Born In America to other labels following a dispute with Elektra, but no one was interested.

“And then Steve had the balls to turn up at Elektra with the album as if nothing had happened,” says Slavin. “They called security and threw him out of the office.”

Rick Ventura, who found it hard to disguise his lack of enthusiasm, was pushed out of the band. They embarked on one more tour, supporting Kiss, before deciding to call it a day. Their swansong show was at L’Amours club in Queens, in May 1984. “That was a show I put together,” says Slavin wryly. “We made more money on that date than we did on the whole Kiss tour."

Even if what passed as their glory days were over, Riot itself weren’t. Mark Reale relocated to San Antonio and briefly formed a new band, Narita (named after Riot’s second album), before resurrecting his old band’s moniker.

He would record another 10 albums with a series of different Riot line-ups, though none came close to Fire Down Under (and one of which, the horn-driven Privilege Of Power, was an unmitigated, experimental disaster).

Riot’s run of bad luck didn’t stop with their initial split. On January 2, 1994, Rhett Forrester was shot and killed during a car-jacking in Atlanta.

“The police guess he was reaching for something in the glovebox and whoever was standing outside the car, probably selling him something, thought he was going for a gun and shot him in the back,” says Sandy Slavin. “Rhett then drives the car away and crashes it into a police car. That’s Rhett!”

On November 8, 2003, Guy Speranza passed away after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. In an interview, Mark Reale revealed that his wife believed this was related to the chemicals he handled every day for 20 years in his job as a pest controller.

Then, on January 25, 2012, Mark Reale died of complications from Crohn’s Disease, the crippling stomach ailment that he had been battling for most of his life. He was still flying the Riot flag, until his illness got too bad for him to continue. A week before Reale died, Rick Ventura turned up to jam with the current Riot line-up in New York.

“I planned on going down and surprising Mark,” he says, “but he was too sick to play. I miss Mark, and I miss Guy too.”

It’s a stretch to say that Riot were cursed, but they seemingly spent their career caught in a perfect storm of misfortune, apathy and bad timing. But while theirs was a career template not to follow, they made a lot of mistakes so that other bands didn’t have to. It’s to their credit – and especially to Mark Reale’s credit – that they persevered in the face of it all.

Thirty-one years after their masterpiece, Fire Down Under, the surviving parties have bittersweet memories of Riot. “The thing I remember about Riot is the laughing,” says Sandy Slavin. “We always had a lot of fun.”

“The band has its place in history and it seems we’ve influenced a lot of people,” says Rick Ventura. “I’m really proud of that.”

“I guess for a time,” adds Kip Leming, “we were the biggest small band in the world.”

Riot V, who formed in 2013, continue to fly the Riot flag and have released two albums: 2014's Unleash the Fire and 2018's Armor of Light. This feature originally appeared in Classic Rock 174.

Riot - Warrior (from the 1977 album Rock City)

Riot - Sign Of The Crimson Storm (from the 1988 album Thundersteel)

Riot - Thundersteel (opening and title track of the 1988 album Thundersteel)

Sean Reinert(1971-2020) - Death, Cynic drummer

Sean Landon Reinert - (May 27th, 1971 - January 24th, 2020)

The highly skilled drumming of Sean Reinert (1971–2020) was admired by metal fans and musicians alike. According to Metal Archives, at the age of 19 Sean joined Chuck Schuldiner to record Death’s 1991 masterpiece Human, an album that became a cornerstone of technical death metal. He used his background in jazz and fusion for the intensity of death metal. Sean brought a high level of sophistication and polyrhythmic complexity to the genre. His drumming for Death and Cynic influenced a generation of drummers to move beyond raw speed toward a more cerebral, multifaceted style. Sean was also a founding member of the progressive metal band Cynic. On their landmark 1993 debut Focus, he further integrated jazz-fusion elements, utilizing synthesizers and intricate percussion to create a sound that defied traditional categorization. Throughout his career, he remained a prolific artist, contributing to projects like Æon Spoke, Aghora, and Gordian Knot, while also working as a composer for film and television.

Death - Flattening of Emotions

Cynic - Veil of Maya

In remembrance of Jimmy Bain(1947-2016) - Rainbow and Dio bassist

Jimmy Bain (Metal Archives: December 19, 1947 - January 24, 2016) (Wikpipedia: December 19, 1947 – January 23, 2016)

James Stewart Bain was a Scottish musician, best known for playing bass guitar in the bands Rainbow and Dio. He also worked with Kate Bush and Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, co-writing on his solo albums. Jimmy Bain, for many heavy metal fans, is known for his time with Rainbow and Dio, and for the making of several legendary albums. According to Metal Archives, he played bass on Rainbow's excellent album Rising (1976) and Dio's famous 1980s albums Holy Diver (1983), The Last in Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), and Dream Evil (1987), in addition to other Dio albums. Metal Archives shows that he played bass with a whole bunch of other musicians, projects, and groups.

Bain was asked to join Rainbow after Ritchie Blackmore had watched him performing at The Marquee in London. He recorded the studio album Rising with them and played on their following world tour. While on the tour, he played on Rainbow's first live album, On Stage.

In 1978, Bain formed a band called Wild Horses. Jimmy was the lead vocalist, songwriter, as well as bassist for the band, which also included ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Brian Robertson, drummer Clive Edwards, and guitarist Neil Carter. Wild Horses released two albums on EMI in Europe, Wild Horses (1980) and Stand Your Ground (1981), the latter featuring John Lockton in place of Carter, before Robertson and Edwards both left in June 1981. Robertson joined Motörhead the following year while Edwards joined former Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden's S.O.S. Bain regrouped Wild Horses as a five-piece with ex-Lautrec members Reuben Archer and Laurence Archer, and The Next Band's Frank Noon, but they disbanded shortly after. Jimmy then worked with the former Family mainman Roger Chapman, Roy Harper, Gary Moore, and Kate Bush (on 1982's The Dreaming).

Bain worked with Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott for his two solo albums. A keyboard player as well as a bassist, he toured the material playing keyboards with Lynott's band. Their song, "Old Town," was re-recorded by The Corrs in 1999 and became a big hit worldwide.

He was secretly brought in by the German hard rockers Scorpions to play bass guitar on their 1984 album Love at First Sting. Guitarist Rudolf Schenker wanted him to join the Scorpions as full-time bassist, but their management wanted to keep the lineup German, so Francis Buchholz was brought back and Bain's bass tracks were said to be deleted.

In 1982, Bain linked up again with ex-Rainbow vocalist Ronnie James Dio for the band Dio. A central figure within Dio, Bain co-wrote "Rainbow in the Dark," "Holy Diver," and two additional songs which appear on their 1983 released first album, Holy Diver. Bain co-wrote several other songs for the following albums: The Last in Line (1984), Sacred Heart (1985), Intermission (1986), Dream Evil (1987), and Killing the Dragon (2002).

In autumn 1989, Bain left Dio during the recording of Lock Up the Wolves (an album he does not appear on) and formed a band with vocalist Mandy Lion called World War III. Bain's solo project, The Key, utilized a far more melodic and commercial approach. The guitarist on the project was Tracy G, borrowed from Dio's band, who was also the guitarist for World War III. Ronnie James Dio's concept project Magica (2000) saw Bain's return to the Dio lineup, and he played on the albums Magica and Killing the Dragon.

On 23 January 2016, Jimmy Bain died while in his cabin on Def Leppard's "Hysteria on the High Seas" cruise. He was due to perform on the cruise with his group Last In Line the following day. The performance did not go ahead, and band members informed fans on the cruise that he had been battling pneumonia for some time. The cause of death was determined to be lung cancer. Bain had not been diagnosed with cancer and was aware only of his pneumonia. He is interred in Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills), not far from his bandmate Ronnie James Dio. (Information from Metal Archives, Blabbermouth and Wikipedia.)

I enjoy Jimmy Bain's big bass lines on this Dio song.

Dio - When a Woman Cries (2016 Remaster)

Manfred Schütz (1950-2025) - SPV Records

Manfred Schütz (July 5, 1950 - January 3, 2025) - SPV Records

Manfred Schütz was the influential founder of SPV Records (Schallplatten Produktion und Vertrieb GmbH), which he established in Hanover, Germany, on January 1, 1984. He helped SPV grow into an important metal music record company. After he left SPV, he founded MIG Music (Made In Germany Music) in 2010.

The story of Manfred Schütz signing the German early extreme metal band Sodom is legendary. In 1984 he attended a heavy metal festival in Frankfurt that featured Destruction, Tankard and Sodom, but Sodom was notoriously incompetent as a band. After watching their set, Schütz famously approached the band and told them something like, "You guys are so bad, you will sell a lot of records!" I have read other versions that say, "You guys are so bad, I have to sign you!"

The band couldn't play their instruments well, but they, following the imagery of Venom, had a great energy loved by the growing tape-trading underground. Despite early reviewers hating the low-skill noise of the early Sodom recordings, Sodom was able to fake it until they made it, and later on got better at their instruments when guitarist Frank Blackfire joined the band. It is said that Schütz continued to have a love-hate relationship with Sodom. Years later, in 1993, once Frank Blackfire was out of the band, when they presented him with the punk metal recordings of the album Get What You Deserve, he reportedly screamed at them over the phone, asking what they were wasting his money on.

Below is the article that Blabbermouth published in honor of Manfred Schütz.

SPV Founder MANFRED SCHÜTZ Dead At 74

January 6, 2025

Manfred Schütz, founder of SPV and founder and managing director of MIG Music, passed away on January 3, 2025 at the age of 74 after a long and serious illness.

Manfred was a driving force in the music industry. By founding SPV in 1984, he created a platform that enabled independent artists and labels to gain worldwide recognition. SPV grew to become one of the most significant entities in the independent label sector, particularly in the rock, metal and electronic scenes, and for many years was the largest independent music distributor in Europe.

After leaving SPV, Manfred founded MIG Music, where he dedicated himself to preserving musical treasures from oblivion. Thanks to his immense musical knowledge, many remarkable releases have been realized.

MIG Music says: "We often received e-mails from fans expressing their gratitude for the work of MIG Music.

"Manfred was not only a music enthusiast and businessman, but also an open and warm person. His office door was always open and he always had time to listen to his employees.

"We will miss Manfred very much. We are not only losing a boss, but above all a dear friend.

"We fully agree with the words of Ecki Stieg, a friend and companion, in his tribute: 'With Manfred we are losing a label boss of the 'old school' with all his quirks and eccentricities, as well as a true connoisseur and fan.'"

MIG Music will continue under the management of Tanja Michaelis and Volker Pape.

It was January 1984 when SPV metal/hard rock sub-label Steamhammer, named after Schütz's favorite band, released its first own production, an album titled "Common Times Heroes" by local act HARDWARE. Within just a few years, the label, having enlisted groups such as SODOM, DESTRUCTION, ASSASSIN and IRON ANGEL, flourished both on a national and an international level. At the time, Steamhammer also licensed acts such as METAL CHURCH, TROUBLE, LÄÄZ ROCKIT and LEATHERWOLF.

The following decades saw several generations of talented bands and artists, such as Axel Rudi Pell, STEELER and ZED YAGO, develop into globally successful acts under Steamhammer's aegis. In the 1990s, Steamhammer became home to numerous international icons such as MOTÖRHEAD, DIO, JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON, LYNYRD SKYNYRD and MOLLY HATCHET. In the new millennium, additional globally successful releases by WHITESNAKE, ALICE COOPER, HELLOWEEN, KREATOR, GAMMA RAY, KAMELOT and Doro followed.

Francis Buchholz (1954-2026) -- Scorpions

Francis Buchholz(February 19, 1954-January 22nd, 2026) - bassist for Scorpions

Metal Archives shows that Francis Buchholz was the bassist for Scorpions from 1973 to 1983, and 1984 to 1992. Below is the news article that Blabbermouth published in honor of Francis:

Francis Buchholz, the original SCORPIONS bassist who provided their rhythmic heartbeat during their ascent to global superstardom, passed away yesterday at the age of 75. His family confirmed that he died peacefully following a private battle with cancer.

Buchholz was the original bass player for the SCORPIONS' most definitive lineup, joining the group in 1973. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, his precise and melodic bass lines anchored the band's signature sound — a blend of high-octane hard rock and the power ballads that defined a generation.

Fans worldwide recognize his work on the band's most enduring anthems, such as "Rock You Like A Hurricane", "Still Loving You" and "Wind Of Change", a song that became the unofficial soundtrack to the fall of the Berlin Wall and remains one of the best-selling singles in history. During his tenure, the SCORPIONS sold over 100 million albums, and Buchholz was honored with more than 50 gold and platinum awards worldwide for his contributions to rock history.

In 1992, shortly after the SCORPIONS reached a commercial peak with the "Crazy World" album, Buchholz made the decision to step away from the spotlight. His departure came shortly after the birth of his twin daughters, as he chose to trade life on the road for a life dedicated to his family.

"Our hearts are shattered," his family said in a joint statement. "Throughout his fight with cancer, we stayed by his side, facing every challenge as a family — exactly the way he taught us. He was a family man through and through, and our grief is beyond words."

Following his parting with the SCORPIONS, Francis worked as a music consultant and later on enjoyed a celebrated return to music, most notably touring and recording with Michael Schenker's TEMPLE OF ROCK. This project saw him reuniting with former bandmates Michael Schenker and Herman Rarebell, and taking their music to fans in dozens of countries across Europe, North America, South America, and Japan.

Francis is survived by his wife, Hella, their son Sebastian, and twin daughters Louisa and Marietta. The family has requested privacy as they grieve their loss.

Scorpions - Blackout (Rockpop In Concert, 17.12.1983)

Interview with DAWNBREAKER, American black metal (Part 4) - What is the depravity of the human soul?

Dawnbreaker has released six albums since 2018, including the most recent one titled Pactum Sanguine Novo, released on January 2, 2026. Dawnbreaker has a most unique history reaching back to 2004: Before Dawnbreaker, there was Angelcide—vile black metal of horrendous blasphemy that crashed and burned upon contact with God. In a shocking turn of events, Angelcide died and Dawnbreaker was born; the black metal that had for decades mocked God became a bondservant of Jesus Christ. In this fourth installment of the interview series with Dawnbreaker, we begin with a discussion of the concept of the depravity of the soul of the human race.

Metal Bulletin Zine (MBZ) -- Previously, we saw that in 2018 the debut album Deus Vult came out; Dawnbreaker was officially public, up and running. Your previous blasphemous black metal music called Angelcide is now behind you. Moving on to September 10, 2019, the second album Total Depravity was released. It begins with the sounds of battle and gunfire for a song called "Man of War"! Why did you use the sound of gunfire and the title "Man of War" for an album called Total Depravity as your opening statement?

Dawnbreaker (DB) -- I had been exposed to what I felt was a mostly “defanged” Christianity at the time. But I was reading the Bible and I was taken aback at how violent and destructive much of it was. "Man of War" comes from a verse in Exodus: “The Lord is a Man of War.” I wanted to further illustrate this side of God and Christianity that is left out in many modern churches.

MBZ -- What do the words of the album title Total Depravity mean to you? What is the "depravity" as you view it? Is it the condition of the world? Is it your view of power, politics, business, religion, and the world? Is it about the human race and a biblical view of people? Is there a general plan, direction, or concept for the album?

DB -- Total Depravity is a concept within Christianity that mankind is so naturally depraved (due to the original fall of man) that it can’t possibly choose to obey God without God’s explicit intervention. I thought that concept was really metal—that mankind is just naturally and infinitely depraved! I guess that also was my personal experience with people in general, and especially myself. I had the music before the theme came about, but the theme quickly came together as I attributed lyrics to each of the songs and arranged the full composition of songs that appear on the album.

MBZ -- What is the cover of the album Total Depravity? Is it a painting? How did you go about choosing the art?

DB -- Yes, it’s an old painting of the Tower of Babel that I edited with Photoshop software. I wanted artwork that was close to some old albums from Xasthur and Dark Funeral, which is where the blue theme comes from. A cold feeling, indeed. The Tower of Babel represents the theme of the album, mostly explored in the track “The Dark Tower.” It’s the ultimate testament to man’s arrogance, pride, and ultimate folly. I also felt like mankind was building its own modern Tower of Babel as it rejected Christianity and religion and opted for its own intellectual universalism. It will be the same outcome in the end!

MBZ -- In the first song—a brutal, blasting attack of a tune—you observe that many Christians "preach on morality" but that, actually, "Christianity is war." Are you tired of Christians reducing Jesus to some type of "I'm okay, you're okay, peace and love" hippie?

DB -- Yes, absolutely. It’s a spiritual war, and a war against the world. The world tells you to self-indulge, “follow your dreams,” and seek endless pleasures of the flesh. Christianity is contrary to all of this and puts you in direct opposition to what our modern culture is teaching you.

MBZ -- The fourth song is called "Secrets of Enoch." Enoch is quoted in the Bible in the book of Jude, but the Book of Enoch is not included in the Bible as Holy Scripture. Enoch was, according to the Bible, a hypothetical righteous person. Have you read the Book of Enoch? Is the song about the story of Enoch in the book of Genesis?

DB -- Yes, and yes, it’s the same person. It goes into further detail on some of the early Genesis chapters. The fact that it was referenced in Jude, and found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, always fascinated me. It was clearly read and known by the early Christians and the Israelites that came before them. A very strange and mysterious book with some terrifying passages!

MBZ -- After four intense black metal songs, you threw me for a loop with the seven minutes of "ambient horror" keyboard/synthesizer/sampled sounds of "Waterless Places." It's not a song, but rather an interlude. What was your thinking or your objective with this track? Did you play it for seven minutes on the keyboards, or is it a segment of, say, 10 seconds looped for seven minutes?

DB -- I played all of the notes throughout the entire song—there is no looping or copy-pasting. The album is told in two halves, each with an ambient ending. The metal section is the war and the ambient sections are the aftermath: the ruins, the wastelands. I wanted some pronounced ambient sections in the songs. It reminds me of the DSBM bands I liked when I was younger, around the time I wrote many of these songs. Some of the early one-man bands, like Burzum and Graveland, had a lot of ambient tracks in their works.

MBZ -- Then, the music returns to intense extreme metal for another four songs. The album ends with another "ambient horror" track featuring verses from the book of Revelation. So, we have: four black metal songs, an ambient interlude, another four tracks, and a postlude. It's about 16 minutes of ambient and some 27 minutes of intense black metal. Can you explain this structure?

DB -- Yes, it was meant to be two large battles and two desolate aftermaths. I followed in the footsteps of Burzum’s early works by separating the album into two halves, with an ending ambient section to drift away after a dose of metal carnage. In this album’s case, it’s meant to give it a more mysterious and unsettling feel. The battles conclude, with waste and uncertainty remaining.

MBZ -- By the end of 2019, you have two albums released. How were you feeling at the end of 2019?

DB -- 2019 was possibly the best year of my life. It’s the year I got married, adopted my dog, and got a decent raise at my job. I was living in an apartment I loved on the Upper East Side. Everything was going great. I would watch TV in the evening and was playing SNES and PC games often. I read a lot of Christian writings around this time—not only the Bible but also works from the Saints and Reformers. But I was also experiencing a lot of New York City culture: plays, concerts, symphonies, and frequent dining at exotic restaurants and markets. All of the fun stuff you see in the movies!

MBZ -- Since you basically do everything that we hear on the Dawnbreaker albums, it must be an incredible amount of work. Do you have time to even listen to other people’s music?

DB -- By now, I’m not really keeping up with other music and current bands. I had a phase when I would listen to hundreds of bands—mostly in my late teens and early twenties. By now, though, I know what I like and I don’t spend much time checking out anything new. However, around 2015–2018, I spent a lot of time diving into Christian black metal history—listening to the greats like Antestor, Slechtvalk, and Crimson Moonlight, but also some lesser-known classics like Sanctifica, Vardoger, and Grave Declaration.

MBZ -- Speaking of free time and reading—given the importance of the Bible in your lyrics—how do you approach reading it? Back in 2019, how often were you reading the Bible? It is not easy reading; it’s a text from two thousand years ago, and we live in a different time, culture, and language.

DB -- In those years, I would read every day and participate in Bible studies. I read it many times in different translations. I also read a lot of other writings from Saints and reformers. Sometimes I would read study Bibles that provided commentary for each of the passages, but other times I was reading without any commentary.

MBZ -- Let's look at the year 2020. On October 31st, 2020, you released the third album, Vanquished Horrible Night. 2020 was the year of COVID. Were you able to keep working at your job? Were you more productive, musically speaking? Did you find yourself being more depressed or isolated?

DB -- Yes, I work in healthcare, so I was fortunate to stay employed during COVID. I worked every day and was extremely productive during this time. I recorded not only Vanquished Horrible Night but also Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam and the newest release, Pactum Sanguine Novo. I was in great spirits this year, for the most part. I was used to being alone, sitting in my basement playing video games as a kid, so I wasn’t bothered by the isolation. I had many years of training in this already, haha!

MBZ -- Politically, 2020 was crazy too, because COVID became a political issue. The left tried to pin every single death on President Donald Trump, and the Trump administration had to deal with unemployment and the virus itself. Things were not going well for the administration. The spring and summer of 2020 were marked by violence and looting in the name of democracy and social justice. How were you doing at that time?

DB -- The protests drove me crazy. I was so angry that there wasn’t any policing being done. In New York City, a lot of buildings were boarded up; storefronts were full of cardboard. It looked like a post-apocalyptic society. Protesters would march down my street chanting despicable things. I felt a lot of anger that probably channeled into the music to some degree.

MBZ -- Getting back to Vanquished Horrible Night (2020), it is definitely a symphonic black metal album, and it seems to have lots of melody. The more I listen to it, the more I see the difference between this album and the one before it. Making an album every year, do you ever feel like you might be repeating yourself?

DB -- My plan was to change styles with each album so they all sounded significantly different. I always wanted to do a symphonic album but didn’t have the confidence to put the keyboards together. But the label Vision of God offered to do a vinyl for the third album, so I thought it would be a great time to try the symphonic style. I forced myself to study symphonic bands and how their keyboard placements were—what instruments and octaves they used, etc. I made myself experiment. Being stuck at home during the pandemic gave me a lot of time to work on this!

MBZ -- Metal Archives says that the artwork is a work by Gustave Doré. Is it a ghost and an angel? A ghost and a traveler? I personally do not know much about Gustave Doré.

DB -- A friend of mine did the cover and layout—the same guy who did the logo, actually. I asked him to do something "Dore-esque," and he did some copy-and-pasting to arrange an original piece. The art was more his interpretation, so I can’t comment much on it. I see it as a haunting over the earth and a figure rising to oppose it.

MBZ -- What does the introduction, "Summoned by Christ's Vicar," mean? It sounds like a traveler on a bandwagon pulled by horses, maybe?

DB -- The album has sort of a Castlevania theme—a warrior is called by the Pope to confront a great spiritual darkness that has arisen on the Earth. The "Vicar of Christ" is the Pope.

MBZ -- "Evil's Bane" kicks off the music, then "The Virtuous Quest" follows. I notice the symphonic black metal feel. I don't think I'm a very good listener, because I hadn't noticed this aspect on the previous two albums. Do you play the keyboards, or is it sampled/programmed?

DB -- Three of the albums are heavily keyboard-driven; this is the first of them. The first two albums also have a heavy keyboard presence in some songs, but on this album, they more or less take the spotlight. All of the synth is orchestrated in a MIDI program—I’m not physically playing the keyboard like I was on Total Depravity. This was the first time I really taught myself how to compose orchestrations to make a truly symphonic album.

MBZ -- The first song, "Evil's Bane," has some melodic singing from guest Brian Gawaski from the black metal band Abazagorath and The Ciem Show (who has also worked with Funebrarum). How did that collaboration come about? How is your friendship with those bands? Did you and Brian talk about the lyrics and your Christianity? It looks like you have maintained many friendships despite your change in music and personal beliefs.

DB -- Brian is one of my best friends. In Abazagorath, we were the guitar players for many years and were a great team. He is a much better musician than me! We did a lot of touring—from Texas to Chicago to Boston—covering much of the USA. We also recorded an album together. He is an outstanding vocalist, and a lot of my favorite symphonic albums have clean vocals. So, I insisted there be a clean vocal section, like on the Abazagorath album we did together. Most of my closest friends supported me in my change of religion. Brian, in particular, really liked a certain Christian podcaster and listened to him frequently. Other friends, however, rejected my beliefs and ended our friendship over it.

MBZ -- Finally, you ended the album with an instrumental ambient track of 4 minutes and 43 seconds. Why did you choose to end the album this way? It feels like the album ends with a "feeling of the night," and the darkness is not vanquished. Or is it? Wait, maybe that’s your point? Evil on Earth is never vanquished as long as we live on it because this is not the Kingdom of God yet?

DB -- The story ends with our hero martyred in Track 8, having a vision of the Virgin Mary in Track 9, and entering heaven—ultimately escaping the Outer Darkness. But the Outer Darkness still lingers; the track represents hell, and its threat remains for many even after this particular story ends. “The Outer Darkness—where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth.” And yes, the darkness is not vanquished; the war of the ages continues in the follow-up album Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. The albums were united in theme and sound, so this was intentional; it was not meant to be conclusive but to continue the journey on the next album.

MBZ -- I have presented a ton of questions to you, and I wasn't able to get to the year 2021 and the album Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. Let's leave that for next time.

DB -- I look forward to us continuing the journey!

Total Depravity (2019) by Dawnbreaker

Vanquished Horrible (2020) Night by Dawnbreaker

https://www.facebook.com/dawnbreakerworship/

If you enjoyed this conversation with Dawnbreaker, maybe you would like to see the previous one. https://metalbulletin.blogspot.com/2025/11/dawnbreaker.html

INPATHOS - Radiance (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) melodic death metal

Some five days ago the Bellingham, Washington, USA melodic death metal band Inpathos put out a new music video. The following is what they wrote on Facebook about it. "Radiance" is the closing track from their 2025 album Apparitions.

“Radiance” music video now streaming! Check out the premiere on The Circle Pit’s channel on YouTube where we run our newest member through a guantlet of trials to test both his mettle AND his METAL \m/

Vid in bio ⬆️

With that said, we’re also super stoked to formally introduce our newest member, guitarist Alex Mattison @acm_three! A member of Asystole and formerly of Vacant Eyes back in his home state of Massachusetts, Alex brings his exceptional talents as a guitarist and songwriter to Inpathos. Outside of his day job and writing/performing music, Alex also works as a producer/audio engineer around the PNW region and even as a music video director (the “Radiance” video included). He is also the host of the new podcast @heavykettlepod, so be sure to check it out!

A huge thank you to @zachp34 for his incredible video work, as always, and a massive thank you to our friends that allowed us to act like fools on their property and work with the true GOATs (and goats) of this video: Pazuzu, Muffin Man, and Mayhem. 🤘🏼🐐

INPATHOS - Radiance (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO) Melodic Death Metal

Apparitions by Inpathos

https://www.facebook.com/InpathosBand

Happy birthday to Steve Rowe (Mortification)!

Happy birthday to Steve Rowe (Mortification)!

Steve Rowe - vocalist/bassist for Australian extreme metal band Mortification

Wikipedia: born 19 January 1965

Metal Archives: born Jan 24th, 1965

The following brief biography comes from Wikipedia: Stephen Andrew Rowe is an Australian musician who is the founder, vocalist and bass guitarist of the Christian death metal band Mortification, which is considered to be a pioneer in the genre. Prior to forming Mortification, he was in a traditional heavy metal-styled Christian band known as LightForce. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1997, but made a full recovery. He is currently the owner and head of the Rowe Productions record label. In 2015, Rowe announced his retirement from Christian music. However, his career has continued, while Mortification has been inactive the members' side project, Wonrowe Vision, have remained active.

Steve was first introduced to heavy metal bands like AC/DC and Deep Purple by his older brother Scott when he was just eight years old. By the time he reached the age of 15 his favourite bands were Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Judas Priest. Because Steve grew up in a Baptist home with strong Christian values he became disappointed that the music he enjoyed appeared to be so focused on themes that cut against his faith. In 1980 he began to feel as if he did not fit in with the people he knew at church and started spending his spare time partying with his heavy metal friends.

In 1983 Steve purchased his first bass guitar and began learning how to play. The main influences on his style as he was learning were Lemmy of Motörhead, Joey DeMaio of Manowar, and Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. In that same year a youth pastor from the church he used to attend invited him to come back to church and gave Steve a copy of a Resurrection Band album. The album changed Steve's views on what Christian music could be like and was a major factor in his decision to return to the church. Seeing how much rock music combined with a Christian message had helped him, Steve vowed to form a Christian metal band that would change the world. Initially, he formed a band with a few friends back at his church, but it soon became clear that finding people with the same vision and goals would not be an easy task. It was while he was attempting to start this band that Steve became unhappy with the Church he was attending, and as a result, he left and joined the Harvest Christian Centre, which had engaged in outreach to groups like metalheads and punks. It was here that Steve finally found a home for his Christian metal vision.

After several failed attempts with different bands and constant lineup changes, Steve formed LightForce in 1986. Initially that band was a failure as well as their first lineup, which was disbanded after only one show. Steve then reformed the band with a new lineup that won the "Melbourne Heavy Metal battle of the bands competition" in which it was competing with five secular metal acts. LightForce was instantly accepted into the Australian metal scene and went on to record their first full album Battlezone and tour across Australia. In 1988 the band released the album Mystical Thieves. The album went on to sell very well and they toured constantly in support of its release, opening for bands such as Stryper, Whitecross and Leviticus.

Just when it seemed set for LightForce to make a big name for themselves in the Christian metal scene, two of the band's members announced they were leaving the band. Steve spoke with the remaining members about forming a more extreme thrash metal oriented LightForce with him handling vocal duties as well as playing bass. The remaining members did not think it would work so Steve reformed the band with guitarist Cameron Hall and Jayson Sherlock on drums. The band changed their name to Mortification in 1990 and recorded Break The Curse which was later released in 1994.

Mortification went on to record many more albums and the band is considered to be one of the pioneers in the extreme Christian metal scene. The 1992 album Scrolls of the Megilloth is considered to be a great classic of death metal. In 1997 Steve was diagnosed with leukemia. Despite doctors giving him only hours to live on several occasions and a seemingly failed bone marrow transplant, Steve managed to make a full recovery. Mortification then went on to release the 1998 album Triumph of Mercy which dealt with the personal issues Steve faced while receiving treatment for the disease. Mortification is still currently making music and to date has released 13 studio albums. Steve is also the owner and head of the Rowe Productions record label and has performed guest vocals on a song on Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm by Tourniquet.

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Steve Rowe, the founder and bassist of the Australian metal band Mortification, has faced several severe health challenges throughout his career.

In September 1996, Steve was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. His battle with the disease was intense and involved several near-death experiences: 

• Failed Transplant: He underwent a bone marrow transplant in early 1997 which was initially thought to have failed. 

• Secondary Cancer: In mid-1997, he developed a secondary cancer in his spinal fluid. On multiple occasions, doctors reportedly gave him only hours to live.

  • Recovery and Impact: Despite the odds, he made a full recovery from the leukemia by 1998. However, the treatment and the spinal cancer left him with L1 Paraplegia. He typically performs while sitting on a stool and uses a wheel walker or cane to assist with mobility. 

Subsequent Health Issues

• Coma: Following his cancer recovery, Steve fell into a coma after attempting to stop morphine treatment "cold turkey" due to the extreme pain he was experiencing. He survived this episode and eventually regained enough strength to tour. 

• Stroke (2016): In August 2016, Steve suffered a stroke. This setback required him to undergo extensive rehabilitation to relearn how to walk and process thoughts. In updates from early 2017, he mentioned that the stroke had affected his memory and his ability to work on computer files, though he remained optimistic about his recovery. 

Current Status (as of 2025/2026)

Recent reports and social media updates from close associates indicate the following:

• General Health: He is generally described as "doing well" considering the cumulative impact of his cancer battle, paraplegia, and stroke.

• Privacy: Steve has become more private in recent years and is less active on social media.

• Musical Activity: While Mortification has been largely inactive as a touring or recording unit recently, Steve has remained involved in the music scene through his side project, Wonrowe Vision, and his record label, Rowe Productions. 

Mortification - Scrolls of the Megilloth

Stefan Prokopczuk(1958-20008) - Gaskin (New Wave of Britsh Heavy Metal)

Stefan Prokopczuk(1958-2008) - Gaskin (New Wave of Britsh Heavy Metal)

Stefan Prokopczuk (1958 – January 17, 2008) was the bassist for the New Wave of British Heavy Metal band, Gaskin. According to Metal Archives, he played bass on their 1981 album End of the World and was a member of the band from 1980 to 1982. His time with Gaskin eventually led him to the band Ace Lane—a group whose music I have heard, though I know very little about their history.

To me, Stefan’s legacy is defined by that Gaskin album because it’s the one I know best. While Gaskin has a long history and remains active today, I want to specifically recommend End of the World, because of Stefan. The album features melodic heavy metal with pleasant vocals (no "banshee screaming"), strong songwriting, and a certain maturity in its overall sound.

In a way, I am surprised by how mature the record is; in that sense, it feels like an exception for its time. There are no gimmicks, no shock-value artwork, and no desperate maneuvers for attention. It feels like the band was entirely focused on the music. For those reasons, the album resonates with me on a personal level. It isn’t the heaviest, fastest, or most commercial album, but that doesn't matter. I enjoy it and appreciate the attitude behind it. In fact, I enjoy this album and the Gaskin discography far more than this little tribute would suggest!

I would recommend the entire album, but here I will reluctantly limit myself to one song. If you really enjoy the vibe, then dive into the album.

Gaskin - Victim of the City