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We’ve seen bassist Duff McKagan shake off the drama of old and take the stage with Axl Rose, but will the true Guns N’ Roses reunion of Slash and Rose ever happen? According to guitarist DJ Ashba in an interview with Australian radio station Becko, it’s best not to hold your breath.

“That’s completely false,” Ashba said, replying to a rumor that the estranged duo planned to play together. “I know Axl really, really well, and he basically said that it would be a cold day in hell [before they work together]. But, that being said, obviously I don’t know the inside insight, and I’m just happy to be in the shoes of an amazing, legendary guitar player. It’s really a treat for me to stand onstage next to somebody like Axl and [the rest of] this band. Everybody in this band is just top-notch musicians.”

Ashba joined Guns N’ Roses in 2009, replacing guitarist Robin Finck, who left to rejoin Nine Inch Nails. The legendary act has gone through a cavalcade of members since 1997. But even with a whole new lineup, the classic Guns N’ Roses lateness to the stage still continues to plague the band with legal problems.

The first night of the current Australian tour was marked with the band starting over an hour late and going over the mandated curfew of 75 minutes. “It isn’t even Axl that’s late,” Ashba joked on the issue, “it’s always our room service that’s late. We’re waiting to eat before we go on.”

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Judas Priest are packing it in after 40 years of heavy metal power and glory. That’s right, the British metal legends announced that their 2011 world tour will be Priest’s final trek. But fret not, Priest fans. They’ll blanket the planet with one final victory lap dubbed ‘Epitaph.’ Clearly, Priest will be going out with a bang on one last major global trek, and we can’t blame them.

While it will be painful to imagine a world without Judas Priest on tour, we acknowledge that Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, K.K. Downing and Ian Hill are already in or approaching their 60s and they’ve been touring since they were young men.

They’ve colored our world with heavy metal for 40 years, and it’s not a crime to retire from live performing.

Priest promise that they will hit all their major markets and that they will develop a set list of the songs that made them a metal institution and household name since their inception.

Priest will launch the tour in Europe, with the following festivals already confirmed. The band will announce more dates imminently.

Judas Priest farewell tour dates
6/9 — Sweden Rock Festival, — Sweden
6/11 — Sauna Festival — Finland
6/17 — Copenhell Festival — Copenhagen, Denmark
6/19 — Hellfest — Nantes, France
6/22 — Gods of Metal Festival — Milan, Italy
6/25 — Graspop Festival — Belgium
7/23 — HIgh Voltage Festival — London, UK
8/5 — Wacken Festival — Germany

Well here’s some surprising news to start your morning: Metal Underground is reporting that Judas Priest will do one last tour, and then retire as a band.

I kind of don’t believe it, because we hear artists announce their retirement all the time, and then it doesn’t stick, either ’cause they get bored or greedy or whatever (see: Ozzy). And yet, some part of me hopes it’s true. Even if their last couple of albums have been a little lackluster, Priest live shows are still all kinds of awesome, and the band has never done anything to embarrass themselves. It would be nice to see a revered act like JP quit while they’re ahead for a change.

Shelby Cobras of Illogical Contraption must be trying to stir up shit, or as we so fondly call it in Interhole jargon, trolling. Because some of his choices on his “Top 20 Shittiest Metal Releases of 2010” list are just downright infuriating: Tryptikon is shittier than Korn? Nachtmystium is shittier than both? REALLY?

Of course we take these things in stride here at the MS Mansion because we’re professional trollers ourselves. But some of you will most certainly take things quite seriously which always makes for interesting comment fodder. It’s like pulling puppet strings, I tells you.

Wait until you see what his #1 Shittiest Metal Album of 2010 is. Go read the list, then come back here and tell us  What’s your #1 shittiest metal record of 2010???

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There are two poignant Pantera anniversaries this calendar year. The band’s essential ‘Cowboys From Hell’ album celebrated its 20th anniversary with a reissue earlier this year. Today also marks the sixth anniversary of the tragic, unexpected shooting death of guitarist Dimebag Darrell Abbott. His death still hurts for the majority of metal fans, his former bandmates and his brother even though over half a decade has passed since the incident.

While most of the music world is reminiscing today about the 30th anniversary of John Lennon‘s also-senseless murder, the metal community is mourning the loss of one of the greatest guitarists to ever pick up an axe.

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Noisecreep spoke to both Phil Anselmo and Vinnie Paul earlier this year about various topics, both Pantera-related and otherwise. Of course the pair separately spoke about how Dimebag’s loss still impacts them, especially when curating the reissue of ‘Cowboys From Hell’ without him.

In our exclusive chat, Anselmo mused about Dime, wistfully admitting, “I will say that with each passing year, it gets harder and harder and harder. This year was really rough … When I look around today and see what an impact that we made, and where heavy metal is at today, and I think of what could have been? What should have been? It’s very hard. It’s hard to come to grips with it. However, with that said, I am a man who likes to live in the now. All I can do is — like everyone else, like you, like any other fans, and anyone walking the streets that has love in their heart for what Pantera has done — is sit back finally and listen to it as a fan.”

Paul also spoke about how it’s doubly hard for him, having lost his longtime bandmate and his brother, saying, “Of course it’s bittersweet for me. The band was the biggest part of my life for the longest part. We had 14 amazing years, six incredible records and it was great till 1996, when things went sideways with certain people and it got real difficult. The beautiful thing was Dime loved the music he made and he will always live on through the music. It was his heart and soul, from the CFH logo to T-shirts that were his design.”

Mick Hutson, Redferns

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