Don de Leaumont sits down with legendary German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell to discuss the project's longevity and the creative process behind "Ghost Town," the 23rd studio album, set for release on March 20, 2026, through SPV/Steamhammer.

In this conversation, Axel reflects on the writing and recording process behind "Ghost Town," continuing a career spanning decades in melodic hard rock and heavy metal. He discusses the album's themes and musical direction, and how the band continues to evolve while maintaining its signature Axel Rudi Pell sound.

The album also features a standout collaboration on the track “Breaking Seals,” which includes a powerful duet between longtime vocalist Johnny Gioeli and German metal legend Udo Dirkschneider.

Follow Axel Rudi Pell:

https://www.instagram.com/axel.rudi.pell/

Line-Up:Axel Rudi Pell (guitars)Johnny Gioeli (vocals)Volker Krawczak (bass)Ferdy Doernberg (keyboards)Bobby Rondinelli (drums)

#gcshoutout - This video's shoutout is to the band: Vor die Hunde

https://www.instagram.com/vor_die_hunde/

The Usual Suspects:

Interview by Don DeLeaumont

https://www.instagram.com/southeastofheaven/

Editing by Omar Cordy

https://www.instagram.com/ojcpics

Theme music by Salted Wounds

https://www.instagram.com/saltedwoundsnyc

Check out our linktree - updated daily with top stories:

⁠https://linktr.ee/ghostcultmag

#AxelRudiPell #GhostTown #JohnnyGioeli #UdoDirkschneider #Steamhammer #HeavyMetal #GhostCult #DonDeLeaumont

From the underground to the big time, it's New Music Friday for March 27, 2026

What’s the most explosive new release this Friday?

The Academy Is… – Almost There (I Surrender Records)

Acidosis – Arrival (Self-Released)

Aggressive Perfector – Come Creeping Fiends (Dying Victims Records)

Anisum – Autumn Embrace (Avantgarde Music)

Barbaric Oath – Sword, Sorcery, Vengeance EP (Caligari Records)

Black Label Society – Engines Of Demolition (MNRK Heavy)

Chez Kane – Reckless (Frontiers srl)

Cruel Force – Haneda (Shadow Kingdom Records)

Cryptworm – Infectious Pathological Waste (Me Saco Un Ojo Records)

Dan Lucas – Age Is Just A Number (Pride & Joy Records)

Dark Heart – Evolution (Pride & Joy Records)

Dark Ride – Blade Manor (Massacre Records)

Deadnate – Mosaic (Dead Records)

Defacing God – Darkness Is My Crown (Apostasy Records)

Evildead – Annihilation Of Civilization & The Underworld Re-Release (Steamhammer Records)

Evildead – The Underworld Re-Release (Steamhammer Records)

Festering – Compendium Of The Horrific Re-Release (Caverna Abismal Records)

Final Coil – 1994 EP (Nyctophobic Records)

Flesh Planet – First Flesh EP (Self-Released)

Foetorem – Incongruous Forms Of Evergrowing Rot (Everlasting Spew Records)

Funelore – The Dissolution Of Consciousness EP (Me Saco Un Ojo Records)

Godsticks – Void (Kscope Records )

Grain Of Pain – Behind Us All (Noble Demon Records)

Growth – Under The Under (Wild Thing Records)

Heaven & Hell- Breaking Out of Heaven Boxed Set (Rhino Records)

Heavy Metal Shrapnel – Heavy Metal Hairspray (Nameless Grave Records)

Hegeroth – Soaked In Rot (Self-Released)

Hellripper – Coronach (Century Media Records)

Horion – Doom EP (Void Wanderer Records)

Intoxicated – The Dome (Redefining Darkness Records)

Iron Savior – Awesome Anthems Of The Galaxy (Perception Music)

Iron Slug – Deceit And Misery (Road To Masochist)

Kal-El – Astral Voyager Vol. 2 (Blues Funeral Recordings)

Këkht Aräkh – Morning Star (Sacred Bones Records)

Kerrigan – Wayfarer (High Roller Records)

Lili Refrain – Nagalite (Subsound Records)

Lion’s Share – Inferno (Metalville Records)

Lou Gramm – Released (HNE Records)

Mad God – An Age Of Ash (Mongrel Records)

Mallavora – What If Better Never Comes? (Church Road Records)

Malum – From The Voids (Dark Essence Records)

Midnatt – Skräckfylld Förtjusning (Jawbreaker Records)

Midyrasi’s Kult – Italian Dark Sound (Dying Victims Records)

Miserate – Weaver Of Witchery EP (Rekviem Records)

Monsternaut – Approaching Doom (Heavy Psych Sounds)

Moodring – Death Fetish (SharpTone Records)

Myrath – Wilderness Of Mirrors (earMusic)

New Dawn Fades – Lores (Self-Released)

Only Human – Planned Obsolescence (Season Of Mist)

The Order – Empires (Massacre Records)

Party Cannon – Subjected To A Partying EP (Unique Leader Records)

Pet Needs – Elbows Out! This Is Capitalism (Xtra Mile Records)

Pop Evil – What Remains (Midnight Edition) (MNRK Heavy)

Rain Diary – Night Church (Inverse Music)

Ram-Zet – Sapien (Vicisolum Records)

Resistor – Bite This! (Self-Released)

Samurai Pizza Cats – Press Start (Century Media Records)

Siege Perilous – Becoming The Dragon (Self-Released)

Sons Of Eternity – Human Beast (Massacre Records)

Teeth Of Lamb – Deathward (Kernkraftritter Records)

Teratoma – Longing Veracity (Me Saco Un Ojo)

Tulus – Morbid Desires (Darkness Shall Rise)

Valdrin – Beyond The Forest (Avantgarde Records)

Valyear – An Invitation To Chaos (SelfMadeRecords)

Varmia – Lauks (M-Theory Recording)

Wildernesses – Growth (Floodlit Records)

AND

Zerre – Rotting On A Golden Throne (Dying Victims Records)

The Usual Suspects:

Micaela Petersen

⁠https://www.instagram.com/micaeladeadeyes

Omar Cordy

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ojcpics⁠⁠

Fahad Syed

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/fahanzi

🎸 Want your music featured in our weekly New Music Friday list?

Hit us up here well ahead of your release date to secure your spot!

https://bit.ly/submityourmusictoGhostCult

Catch up on what you missed in the world of Rock and Metal news this week! 2026 Livestream Price Menu! Answer your questions - Still freeGeneral support $3Buy us a Coffee $6We rate your song $25 liveMusic business consulting call $75Support us https://cash.app/$ghostcultmaghttps://ko-fi.com/F2F1F2PLPhttps://paypal.me/ghostcultmag Get hooked up from Fable Beard co products with our codehttps://bit.ly/FableBeardGhostCultMagTimestamp: 0:00 Intro ✅: Greetings2:00 Announcements ✅:55:00 Outro ✅: Please Like and Subscribe

Keefy sits down with Lee Harrison, founder, primary songwriter, and drummer of legendary Florida death metal pioneers Monstrosity.

Formed in 1990 in Fort Lauderdale, Monstrosity has remained a defining force in the Florida death metal scene, with Harrison serving as the band’s sole original member and the architect behind its relentless sound.

In this interview, Lee dives deep into the band’s new album Screams From Beneath The Surface, out now via Metal Blade Records, including a track-by-track breakdown of the record. He discusses the songwriting, themes, and musical direction behind each song, giving fans a detailed look inside the creation of Monstrosity’s latest chapter.

The conversation also covers the band’s legacy, the evolution of their sound, and their upcoming return to the stage.

MONSTROSITY will head back to Europe this spring for the Screams Across Europe Tour 2026, alongside Bio-Cancer, Reject The Sickness, and Deadwood.

#Monstrosity #LeeHarrison #DeathMetal #FloridaDeathMetal #MetalBladeRecords #ExtremeMetal

#gcshoutout - This video's shoutout is to the band: HARBOURED

https://www.instagram.com/harboured_music/

The Usual Suspects:

Interview by Ghost Cult Keefy

https://www.instagram.com/ghostcultkeefy

Editing by Omar Cordy

https://www.instagram.com/ojcpics

Theme music by Salted Wounds

https://www.instagram.com/saltedwoundsnyc

Check out our linktree - updated daily with top stories:

⁠https://linktr.ee/ghostcultmag

Keefy sits down with Patrick Brink, creator and organizer of the Mojave Experience, a brand-new desert rock and culture festival taking place March 20–21, 2026, in Joshua Tree, California.

A High Desert native and longtime musician, Brink is also the frontman of the band Volume and previously served as the lead singer of desert rock legends Fu Manchu in 1990. Drawing on decades in the scene, he launched the Mojave Experience as a gathering celebrating the music, culture, and spirit of the desert.

In this conversation, Brink talks about the vision behind the festival, the influence of the desert rock community, and what fans can expect from this inaugural two-day event in the heart of Joshua Tree.

Keefy sits down with Patrick Brink, creator and organizer of the Mojave Experience, a brand-new desert rock and culture festival taking place March 20–21, 2026, in Joshua Tree, California. A High Desert native and longtime musician, Brink is also the frontman of the band Volume and previously served as the lead singer of desert rock legends Fu Manchu in 1990. Drawing on decades in the scene, he launched the Mojave Experience as a gathering celebrating the music, culture, and spirit of the desert.In this conversation, Brink talks about the vision behind the festival, the influence of the desert rock community, and what fans can expect from this inaugural two-day event in the heart of Joshua Tree.

Ghost Cult is a proud sponsor and media partner of the debut Mojave Experience

Buy tickets:

https://www.mojaveexperience.net/

Follow Mojave Experience:https://www.instagram.com/mojave_experience_festival/https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580292038991&sk=aboutFollow Volume:https://www.instagram.com/volume_rocks/#MojaveExperience #PatrickBrink #JoshuaTree #DesertRock #StonerRock #Volume#gcshoutout - This video's shoutout is to the band: SPINAhttps://www.instagram.com/spina_band/The Usual Suspects: Interview by Ghost Cult Keefyhttps://www.instagram.com/ghostcultkeefyEditing by Omar Cordyhttps://www.instagram.com/ojcpicsTheme music by Salted Woundshttps://www.instagram.com/saltedwoundsnycCheck out our linktree - updated daily with top stories:⁠https://linktr.ee/ghostcultmag

From the underground to the big time, it's New Music Friday for March 20, 2026

You can pick one album this week - which one is it?

Abrogation – Widerschein (Massacre Records)

Aerosmith – Aerosmith (Legendary Edition) (Capitol Records)

Axel Rudi Pell – Ghost Town (Steamhammer Records)

Bong-Ra – Esoterik (Debemur Morti Records)

Calvana – Sub Janus (Adirondack Black Mass)

clâm – clâm (Self-Released)

Clocktowers – Genesis (Self-Released)

Crimson Riot – Third Time’s A Charm (Leg Lamp Records)

Cultist – Spiritual Atrophy (Awakening Records)

Decipher – Thelema (Transcending Obscurity Records)

Deimler – Darkness Falls (Awakening Records)

Diatribes – Degenerate (Brutal Records)

Dragsholm – From The Bloodlines Of Bram (Faithless Records)

Egregore – It Echoes In The Wild (20 Buck Spin)

Empire Of Disease – While Everything Collapses (Xtreem Records)

Engorgement – They Rot Beneath Our Floor (Comatose Records)

Evermore – Mournbraid (Scarlet Records)

Exodus – Goliath (Napalm Records)

Flatwounds – Chain Of Command EP (Blue Grape Records)

Following The Signs – Evolve EP (Self-Released)

Gaerea – Loss (Century Media Records)

Graufar – Via Necropolis (Self-Released)

Gutvoid – Liminal Shrines (Profound Lore)

Hell Trepanner – The Consecration Of Eternal Impurity (Awakening Records)

Holeum – Ensis (Lifeforce Records)

Ignescent – Eternal (Frontiers srl)

Kate’s Acid – Hellbender (High Roller Records)

Lord Of Confusion – The Weight Of Life (Morbid And Miserable Records)

Lost In Hollywood – Lost In Hollywood (Arising Empire Records)

Mclusky – I Sure Am Getting Sick Of This Bowling Alley EP (Ipecac Records)

Misty Route – Ethos (Bitume Records)

Mizery – Mizery EP (Flatspot Records)

Mystfall – Embers Of A Dying World (Scarlet Records)

Necrogore – Ectoplasmic Rape Phenomena (Awakening Records)

Norma/Legbiter – Norna x Legbiter Split EP (Pelagic Records)

Papa Necrose – Anthropomorphy Execution (Awakening Records)

Persecutor – Casualties Of Violence (Self-Released)

Poison The Well – Peace In Place (SharpTone Records)

Putred – Blestemul Din Adanc (Awakening Records)

Radian – Subterfuge (Self-Released)

Sick Shooters – Super Sonic Rock Saga (Wap Shoo Wap Records)

The Silver – Looking Glass Hymnal Blue (Gilead Media)

Stainless – Lady Of Lust & Steel (High Roller Records)

Stonus – Space To Dive (Ripple Music)

Temptress – See Re-Release (Ripple Music)

Turbowitch – Under Haunted Skies (Time To Kill Records)

Tusmørke – Balderdom (Karisma Records)

Tyketto – Closer To The Sun (Silver Lining Music)

Vain Valkyries – Wonders (Self-Released)

Venus 5 – March Of The Venus 5 (Frontiers srl)

Via Doloris – Guerre et Paix (Season Of Mist)

AND

Warsenal – Endless Beginnings… (Massacre Records)

The Usual Suspects:

Micaela Petersen

⁠https://www.instagram.com/micaeladeadeyes

Omar Cordy

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ojcpics⁠⁠

Fahad Syed

⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/fahanzi

Want your music featured in our weekly New Music Friday list?

Hit us up here well ahead of your release date to secure your spot!

https://bit.ly/submityourmusictoGhostCult

Catch up on what you missed in the world of Rock and Metal news this week! Donate to Filth after their van was totaled on tour: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-filths-tour-after-crash-totaled-vanPlease support the Neill Jameson (Krieg, Decibel Magazine) fundraiser: https://gofund.me/20903151fPlease donate to Jeff Lyres fund as wellhttps://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-jefflyres-cancer-battle-2026. 2026 Livestream Price Menu! Answer your questions - Still freeGeneral support $3Buy us a Coffee $6We rate your song $25 liveMusic business consulting call $75Support us https://cash.app/$ghostcultmaghttps://ko-fi.com/F2F1F2PLPhttps://paypal.me/ghostcultmag Get hooked up from Fable Beard co products with our codehttps://bit.ly/FableBeardGhostCultMagTimestamp: 0:00 Intro ✅: Greetings2:00 Announcements ✅:108:00 Outro ✅: Please Like and Subscribe

Keefy speaks with Todd Severin, founder, President, and CEO of Ripple Music, as the independent label celebrates its 15th anniversary. Known in the heavy music community as “The Toddfather,” Severin launched Ripple Music in 2010 alongside co-founder John Rancik with a mission to champion independent artists in the worlds of heavy metal, doom, and stoner rock.

In this conversation, Todd reflects on the growth of Ripple Music over the past decade and a half, the label’s role in supporting underground heavy music, and the philosophy behind building a community-driven record label.

Beyond his work in music, Severin also leads a remarkably diverse professional life. He is a professor of ophthalmology at the University of California, Berkeley, and a practicing eye surgeon. Recently, he expanded his creative pursuits into fiction writing with the release of his debut thriller novel, Deadly Vision, published in spring 2025 by Penmore Press.

The discussion explores music, publishing, entrepreneurship, and how Severin balances his work across medicine, literature, and the independent music world.

#RippleMusic #ToddSeverin #TheToddfather #HeavyMetal #StonerRock #DoomMetal #IndependentLabel #GhostCult

#gcshoutout - This video's shoutout is to the band: Truckstop Dickpill

https://www.instagram.com/truckstopdickpilltn/

The Usual Suspects:

Interview by Ghost Cult Keefy

https://www.instagram.com/ghostcultkeefy

Editing by Omar Cordy

https://www.instagram.com/ojcpics

Theme music by Salted Wounds

https://www.instagram.com/saltedwoundsnyc

Check out our linktree - updated daily with top stories:

⁠https://linktr.ee/ghostcultmag

Catch up on what you missed in the world of Rock and Metal news this week!

Please support the Neill Jameson (Krieg, Decibel Magazine) fundraiser:

https://gofund.me/20903151f

Please donate to Jeff Lyres fund as well

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-jefflyres-cancer-battle-2026. P

2026 Livestream Price Menu!

Answer your questions - Still free

General support $3

Buy us a Coffee $6

We rate your song $25 live

Music business consulting call $75

Support us

https://cash.app/$ghostcultmag

https://ko-fi.com/F2F1F2PLP

https://paypal.me/ghostcultmag

Get hooked up from Fable Beard co products with our code

https://bit.ly/FableBeardGhostCultMag

Timestamp:

0:00 Intro ✅: Greetings

2:00 Announcements ✅:

104:00 Outro ✅: Please Like and Subscribe

In this new episode - ​ @GhostCultKeefy666  sits down with  @SebastianBachOfficial  (ex  @SkidRow ) to discuss his 2024 album, "Child Within the Man," a record that showcases Bach’s unmistakable voice, sharp songwriting, and continued connection to classic hard rock.In the conversation, Sebastian discusses the inspiration behind the album, the writing and recording process, and what it’s like to have his son, Paris, perform alongside him in the band. He also reflects on how he continues to evolve creatively after decades in the spotlight.This interview took place before the announcement that Bach would front  @TwistedSister ) for their 50th-anniversary celebration. At the time of this chat, he was preparing to bring the music back to the stage on “The Party Never Ends Tour 2026,” a North American run stretching through the spring with additional appearances planned for the summer. The tour includes many dates with Stitched Up Heart and Blaze Francisco, with shows ranging from theaters to casino stages.Buy the album:https://sebastianbach.rpm.link/childwithintheman Thanks to Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR of C-Squared Music and Marketing for setting up this interview for us. #gcshoutout - This video's shoutout is to the band: Hobo Wizardhttps://www.instagram.com/hobowizardband/The Usual Suspects: Interview by Ghost Cult Keefyhttps://www.instagram.com/ghostcultkeefyEditing by Omar Cordyhttps://www.instagram.com/ojcpicsTheme music by Salted Woundshttps://www.instagram.com/saltedwoundsnycCheck out our linktree - updated daily with top stories:⁠https://linktr.ee/ghostcultmag#SebastianBach #ChildWithinTheMan #ThePartyNeverEndsTour #HardRock #MetalInterview #GhostCult