Heavy Metal News & Interviews: The Loaded Radio Podcast

Jim Root has confirmed Slipknot are tracking their eighth studio album — the first without Sid Wilson, the first with Eloy Casagrande, and the first with no record label since 1998. Producer Matt Wallace is behind the board and the band went in with around fifty song ideas. Also on this episode: King Diamond breaks his silence on splitting with Andy La Rocque after forty years, explains why Gus G is replacing him, and reveals he wrote seventy percent of the band's music himself. And As I Lay Dying finish their ninth album with twelve songs recorded and only te...

Tuesday, September 8, 2026. Live Nation tease "The Great NOLA Trendkill" at New Orleans' Lakefront Arena, with a rumored lineup including Pantera, Down, Crowbar, Corrosion Of Conformity, Eyehategod, Power Trip and Pig Destroyer. Gene Simmons speaks at length with Michael Moynihan about Ace Frehley's death, his influence on a generation of guitar players, the empty chair at the Kennedy Center Honors, and his current relationship with Peter Criss. And Enjoy Wrestling co-owner Kurt Hackimer issues a full statement to KDKA on what happened to Andy Williams at Saturday's event in Pennsylvania. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under...

Friday, September 4, 2026. 70000 Tons Of Metal reveals the first thirty bands for its January 2027 sailing — Exodus, Arch Enemy, HammerFall, Moonspell, Obscura and more — with public tickets going on sale Monday and only 3,000 spots available. Static-X, Tony Campos and frontman Edsel Dope file a lawsuit against filmmaker Matt Zane alleging copyright infringement, false light and more, seeking damages in excess of $1 million. And Wage War announce their new album Landfall for October 9 via Fearless, premiering the title track. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five minutes. Full stories at loadedradio.com. Stream Loaded Radio 24/7 or down...

Thursday, September 3, 2026. Iron Maiden bring their Eddie's Dive Bar meetups to the United States for the first time — ten dates alongside the Run For Your Lives leg opening Saturday in New Jersey, free and open to the public, pouring the new Trooper West Coast IPA brewed with Lagunitas. Scorpions postpone their Planet Hollywood residency by a full year, citing unforeseen circumstances, with new dates in September 2027. And Carcass reschedule their Australia, New Zealand, China and India dates after drummer Dan Wilding is faced with a family emergency, while urging fans to still attend Bangalore Open Air. Scott Pe...

Wednesday, September 2, 2026. Alex Van Halen receives the Netherlands' highest civilian knighthood in Nijmegen, the city he and Eddie left as children in 1962. Stryper's Michael Sweet explains why he'd never join King Diamond's band but would tour with Mercyful Fate in a heartbeat, and tells the story of meeting Kim Petersen backstage in Mexico. And AJ Rebollo publicly corrects his own account of leaving Bad Wolves, confirming Dolly Parton's team blessed the "Jolene" cover and that founder John Boecklin approved the release. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five minutes. Full stories at loadedradio...

Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Rush add four new US arena dates to the Fifty Something tour, with Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson explaining they built in recovery time they turned out not to need. Epica announce a 25th anniversary show at London's Royal Albert Hall on October 6, 2027, with a full orchestra and choir. And former Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg opens up to HeartSupport about seeking therapy after his November 2023 dismissal, describing the search for the right therapist and why the first one not fitting shouldn't be the end of it. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five...

Monday, August 31, 2026. Bruce Dickinson greets a Toronto crowd by noting Iron Maiden "crossed the Lake Of Ontario" — a pointed nod to the executive order directing the lake be renamed, and a line that drew one of the night's biggest reactions at Scotiabank Arena. Sharon Osbourne publicly defends Marilyn Manson on The Osbournes podcast, saying she doesn't believe the allegations against him, as a November 2027 jury trial approaches in a separate civil case. And Five Finger Death Punch's Zoltan Bathory tells Metal Hammer exactly how he manages his relationship with Ivan Moody, in terms involving supplies and a hiding place....

I Prevail frontman Eric Vanlerberghe joins Scott Penfold on the Loaded Radio Podcast. In May 2025, I Prevail lost the clean-vocal half of their identity when Brian Burkheiser stepped away following an Eagle syndrome diagnosis. Nine days later they lost Dave Shapiro, the agent who built their career, in the San Diego plane crash. Four months after that they released Violent Nature — the heaviest record of their career, with Eric singing every note on it. We get into what that actually cost him: rebuilding his voice to carry both screams and cleans, surviving a full album cy...

Friday, August 28, 2026. Anthrax will play the grand re-opening of Brooklyn's Saint Vitus Bar on September 4 — two and a half years after the beloved 250-capacity venue was shut down mid-show by the Department of Buildings — ahead of their first album in a decade, Cursum Perficio. Carnifex announce More Than Misery for November 6 via Sumerian, recorded with Whitechapel guitarist Zach Householder in a first-time production pairing. And Sid Wilson appears in a studio photo with rapper Rome Fortune three weeks after his Slipknot exit, captioned with the name of his own label. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in unde...

Thursday, August 27, 2026. Tobias Forge tells Kerrang! why Ghost are on hiatus — he's exhausted after 70 shows, he doesn't have an idea for the next record, and he won't force one. Maynard James Keenan reveals he underwent a hip replacement on August 26 after an unexplained injury in Luxembourg, and confirms all 27 shows across 18 countries with Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer are going ahead. And Decessus vocalist Ignacia Fernández performs her own band's death metal song at the Miss World 2026 talent competition — for the second time in her pageant run. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five...

Wednesday, August 26, 2026. Soundgarden play the halftime slot at the Seattle Seahawks' season opener at Lumen Field, fronted by Taylor Momsen with Pearl Jam's Mike McCready joining — only their fifth performance since Chris Cornell's death. Bad Wolves are removed from Skillet's fall tour, and vocalist Sara "KILLBOY" Skinner goes public with what Skillet's fanbase found and what the band did about it. And Staind frontman Aaron Lewis announces a 12-date solo acoustic run, opening up about sobriety and getting better before he can't. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five minutes. Full stories at lo...

Tuesday, August 25, 2026. In Flames and Trivium announce a 26-date European co-headline run for spring 2027 with Paleface Swiss and VOLA, trading top billing by territory. Ghost announce 2 Big To Rig, a 19-track live album recorded in Mexico City — and Tobias Forge explains the food poisoning that cancelled the first of three planned filming nights. And Alice Cooper's 24th annual Christmas Pudding returns to Phoenix on December 12 with Dee Snider, Lzzy Hale, Joe Hottinger and John 5, raising money for his Solid Rock Teen Centers. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five minutes. Full stories at lo...

Monday, August 24, 2026. Dave Mustaine reveals in the new Metal Hammer that Bruce Dickinson — a fellow throat cancer survivor — gave him something no one else could during his 2019 diagnosis, and it wasn't thoughts and prayers. Ice-T confirms the next Body Count album is titled Death Wish, at least a year away, and will only be released if it beats Merciless. And Bret Michaels cancels eight dates on doctor's orders after attempting a comeback show following recent surgery, admitting he may have gone back sooner than he should have. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five minutes. <...

Friday, August 21, 2026. Alpha Wolf announce a mutual split with longtime vocalist Lochie Keogh and cancel their European headline tour along with every remaining 2026 show. Crystal Lake end a turbulent year by naming PK of Prompts as their permanent frontman — a Korean-born vocalist who says the band is the reason he moved to Japan to pursue music. And Nita Strauss returns to SoFi Stadium for her seventh season with the Los Angeles Rams, joined this year by her husband Josh Villalta on drums, ten weeks after the couple welcomed their first child. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in...

Thursday, August 20, 2026. Demon Hunter file suit against Netflix, Netflix Studios and AEG Presents over KPop Demon Hunters, with a fan's $500 ticket mix-up cited in the complaint. Jack Osbourne confirms the 2027 Ozzfest at Villa Park will be a single day, with a headliner announcement due within weeks and a slot reserved for at least one unsigned band. And Alex Terrible tells Metal Hammer he'll never escape the Nazi allegations, while owning up to the tattoos and drawing a line on what he says he did and didn't do. Scott Penfold breaks it all down in under five minutes.<...

Wednesday, August 19, 2026. Frank Beard, ZZ Top's drummer for 56 years and the only member of the band without a beard, has died at 77 at his ranch in Texas — leaving Billy Gibbons as the last man from a lineup that never changed in half a century. The documentary Heavy Healing, about people who leaned on heavy and aggressive music through serious illness and recovery, gets a September 22 digital release with Jesse Leach, Lou Koller, Vinnie Stigma and Michael Alago among those featured. And MTV has quietly dropped the Best Rock category from the 2026 VMAs, a year after staging a major Ozzy Os...

Tuesday, August 18, 2026. Dave Mustaine reveals at least two songs left over from Megadeth's final album — "Bloodlust" and "Farewell My Love," plus a possible third he isn't sure he invented — and explains why chemo brain makes his own memory unreliable, and why he may never release them. Ozzfest confirms its first edition since 2018 will take place at Villa Park in Birmingham, the ground where Ozzy Osbourne played his final show 17 days before his death. And Chad Gray admits he still hasn't heard about any big Mudvayne plans for 2027, saying there have been "mutterings that that's it." Scott Penfold brea...

Monday, August 17, 2026. Sid Wilson ends two and a half weeks of chaos by quietly updating his Instagram bio to read "@slipknot 1997-2026" — a definitive answer with no statement attached, and a start date a year earlier than most reporting has used. Fan photos and sightings suggest Limp Bizkit are back in the studio working on their seventh album, with Wes Borland saying the band are the biggest they've ever been. And Queens Of The Stone Age announce their ninth album, Perfecth, via a game of five-finger fillet that scratched out its own release date. Scott Penfold breaks it...

Scarlett O'Hara guitarist and founding member Logan Burns joins Scott Penfold on the Loaded Radio Podcast. The South Texas metalcore band have spent 2026 releasing three singles — REDRUM, BREAK ME and COMMON SIDE EFFECTS — each pushing further into cyberpunk-industrial territory than anything in their catalogue. We get into where that turn came from, how far it can go before it stops sounding like Scarlett O'Hara, and why nostalgia is the last thing on this band's mind eighteen years in. We also go back to the beginning: getting signed to Rise Records out of high school in McAl...

Friday, August 14, 2026. Tony Iommi will discuss his life in music at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire on September 17, months after being made an MBE and ahead of his new solo album From The Dark. Louder Than Life releases set times for its 2026 edition in Louisville, with Iron Maiden, My Chemical Romance, Limp Bizkit and Tool heading nearly 200 bands — plus Pantera's only US show of the year and a stack of reunion sets. And Korn's Jonathan Davis expands his Freak On A Leash pet brand into cats, with 10% of sales going to animal shelters. Scott Penfold breaks it all do...