Music

STYX‘s Todd Sucherman was among the drummers who paid tribute to Neil Peart during the Modern Drummer Festival 2020, the twentieth annual edition of the festival. The pay-per-view event took place on September 12, produced and distributed by LiveXLive. Sucherman‘s contribution to Modern Drummer Festival 2020 consisted of “13 For NP”, an original piece of music composed specifically for the event. He explained: “I tried my best to compose a piece that honored a man who always composed his parts, and it was an honor to be asked to participate in this tribute. As well, it was fun to compose this tribute to pay my respects. ’13 for NP’ is in 13/8 subdivided 2-2-3-3-3 or 2-2-3-2-2-2 or 2-2-2-2-2-3. Thanks to Modern Drummer Magazine, JR Taylor and Eric D...

KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons recently took part in the “15 Minutes Show” hosted by international artist Tomer Peretz. In Peretz‘s “15 Minutes Show”, the artist creates portraits of universally known icons of today live on Instagram. Each subject is carefully curated to be leading pioneers in their field, whose passion and talent speak for themselves. Speaking about KISS‘s nearly five-decade career, Simmons said (see video below): “We’re very fortunate. We’ve been around 47 years, since the first tour. And we continue touring. We’re gonna go back out as soon as this pandemic is over.” Gene also talked about KISS‘s unparalleled live show, saying: “We invite all the new bands to get up on stage with us, and we...

An amazing meeting took place on August 31, 1996. That’s when Eddie Van Halen spent the day with a guy who had followed in his footsteps playing alongside David Lee Roth — Jason Becker. Jason had been diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and was not in good shape. Van Halen came to Jason‘s house to give love and support — as well as a guitar — to his friend and to film an ALS awareness promotional video. During that time, Eddie told stories, talked about his creative process, and played amazing music, instantly sounding exactly like Eddie Van Halen even when playing Jason‘s guitar through a small practice amp. The never-before-seen footage below shows a side of Eddie Van Halen that goes far beyond his brilliant musicianship: a sweet, caring, generous persona...

RATING: 8/10 There are numerous ways to uphold the values and musical ethos of old-school heavy metal, but not all of them produce believable results. Fakes and poseurs are legion at this end of the metal spectrum, but every now and then a band rolls into town and delivers the traditional goods with something approaching evangelical zeal. Finland’s SATAN’S FALL are so obviously the real deal that it’s frequently hard to believe that “Final Day” isn’t some long lost gem from 1985. Steeped in the melodies and might of ’80s metal, with plenty of speed metal fire and a dash of deathly menace, these songs may share plenty of DNA with the NWOBHM revivalist contingent, but there is nothing sepia-tinted or nostalgic about their execution. Instead, this fiv...

During a recent appearance on the “Hardcore Humanism With Dr. Mike” podcast, HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale spoke about how rock music has long been an outlet for youthful rebellion and how it has served as the musical voice of its time, but not the mainstream voice — the underdog voice. “The beauty of music, and specifically rock music, is that it has always stood up for the downtrodden, always stood up for the freaks, the people that don’t necessarily have a place at the cool kids’ table,” she said (hear audio below). “And what we’ve ultimately cultivated in our band community and all of that, and our career, but also, we didn’t invent this — this is just something that exists and we are very proud of — being proud of your flaws, or y...

Wolfgang Van Halen spoke to Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3 about “Distance”, the first single from his solo band MAMMOTH WVH. Wolfgang wrote the song while his late father, legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen, battled cancer, “imagining what my life would be without him, and how terribly I’d miss him,” as Wolfgang explained in a statement. Asked if the overwhelmingly positive response to “Distance” helped him in his grieving process, Wolfgang said (hear audio below): “The whole process in general has certainly helped a lot, but I don’t think it’s ever anything that can be fixed. So while I am so thankful and overwhelmed by the positive response, it’s kind of a wound that can never reall...