#helloween

#helloween

It was always more rough and violent, says Destruction vocalist and bassist Marcel Schmier Schirmer of Germany's initial approach to thrash. We never tried to be the best musicians we tried to write songs that punched hard. On English heavy metal albums, it was always the first song on the album and the first song on the second side of the vinyl that were the fastest tracks.

It started out as an album full of death metal songs with speed and aggression. Then Chris had the brilliant idea to keep half of those death metal songs and add some groovier songs in the vein of the early SIX FEET UNDER material.

We wanna do two days in Aston Villa [in Birmingham] and then come to America. And we wanna hear from everyone where we should go in America. And also we've gotta find a lot of young, new talent, because that's what [Ozzy] would want. That's what Ozzfest was all about. That second stage, that was the incubator - that's where so many [bands] came out of.

Sepultura have been making their way through a very long farewell since 2024 and now they've announced a 2026 trek that they say will be their final North American tour. They'll be joined by a pretty incredible batch of bands for this, including thrash legends Exodus, metallic hardcore veterans Biohazard (who are fresh off making a big comeback with last year's great Divided We Fall), and new-school death-metallers Tribal Gaze.

I'm extremely excited to get back out on the road supporting our newest album This Consequence! We are hitting major cities and bringing along with us an absolutely killer lineup with the legendary Robb Flynn and Machine Head, thrash masters Iron Reagan, and rounded out by the mighty Havok. This is a stacked and powerful crew of bands that will electrify and dominate wherever we roll up to.