Alternative Music
Avatar Announce Summer 2022 North American Tour
Swedish heavy metal band Avatar have announced a Summer 2022 North American tour with Light the Torch and Otep. The outing launches on July 6th in Toronto and runs through the end of July, wrapping up with a July 31st date in Tucson, Arizona. Pre-sale tickets are available beginning Wednesday and Thursday (use code ROADIE), with the standard on-sale set for Friday (April 29th) at 10 a.m. local time. Get tickets via Ticketmaster. Advertisement Related Video “They don’t let us out much while we make our albums, so this summer will most likely turn out very dangerous for everyone involved,” remarked Avatar in a press release. “For all the tours we’ve done in North America, we have spent very little time there in the summer. Surely this must have led to a lot of unnecessary suffering that we a...
A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel Announces Solo Album and 2022 North American Tour
A Perfect Circle mastermind Billy Howerdel has formally announced his debut solo album, What Normal Was, arriving June 10th. Howerdel will be supporting the LP’s release with a Summer North American tour. Dates kick off June 11th in Ventura, California, and run through July 20th in Phoenix. Along the way, Howerdel will link up with his APC bandmate Maynard James Keenan by opening for Puscifer in Los Angeles (June 12th) and Rochester Hills, Michigan (July 1st). Tickets for all headlining dates go on sale Friday (April 29th) at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster, with pre-sales beginning Thursday. Advertisement Related Video What Normal Was will house 10 tracks in total. Howerdel self-produced the record and calls it a return to his formative years as a musician. “This is me stepping back i...
Composer Ramin Djawadi on Uncharted and Jamming With The National in Westeros
Ramin Djawadi, the Emmy-winning composer behind the scores for Iron Man, Pacific Rim, and Game of Thrones, isn’t sure that he has a signature sound to his works for film, TV, video games, and more. “I don’t know if I can analyze myself and say, oh, I sound like Ramin,” he tells Consequence. “I can definitely think of other composers when I hear their music, but I’m not sure if I can say it about myself. I don’t know. I think it’s up to others to decide if I have that or not.” While he might not be able to hear what makes it distinctive, Djawadi has nonetheless become quite in demand. His latest film, the Tom Holland-starring adaptation of Uncharted, is now available for rental, and on the horizon this year are two massive TV projects: Djawadi will be returning not just to compose the music...
The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain – WATAIN
RATING: 8/10 Any kind of extreme music act that sticks around for several years faces the challenge of knowing how to proceed once it is three or four albums deep into its career. Pushing the intensity, whether it’s speed or heaviness or whatever, will reach a ceiling at some point, but Scandinavian black metal maniacs WATAIN have successfully challenged expectations for years. They’ve proven that they’re an extreme band that remains relevant years after their inception, much like bands as varied as IMMOLATION, GOATWHORE and NAPALM DEATH. With “The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain”, the Swedish band’s seventh full-length, WATAIN has created one of the best albums of its career just one year shy of being a quarter century old. “The Agony & Ecstasy ...
A Hell In Living Flesh – FLAYED DISCIPLE
RATING: 8/10 Blending thrash and death metal has always been a good idea, but currently there seems to be a small upsurge in examples of the form going on. Hooray for that. Returning after a reasonably lengthy hiatus, FLAYED DISCIPLE were always dedicated to a monstrous blurring of subgenre boundaries, and now they sound more militant about the whole thing than ever. “A Hell In Living Flesh” is absolutely fucking vicious, and casually outstrips the band’s 2012 “Death Hammer” debut by virtue of being at least eight times more intense. As formulas go, FLAYED DISCIPLE‘s is not a particularly complex one. “I Am Leviathan” sets the band’s stall out as aggressively as possible: this is thrash metal by design, but death metal in delivery, and ...
JOURNEY To Release New Single, ‘You Got The Best Of Me’, Tomorrow
Legendary rockers JOURNEY will release a new single, “You Got The Best Of Me”, on Tuesday, April 26. The song is taken from the band’s upcoming album, “Freedom”, which will arrive later in the year. A short teaser for “You Got The Best Of Me” is available below. This past February, founding JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon shared the “Freedom” track listing in an Instagram post. It is as follows: 01. Together We Run (4:49) 02. Don’t Give Up On Us (5:23) 03. Still Believe In Love 04. You Got The Best Of Me (5:33) 05. Live To Love Again (5:30) 06. The Way We Used To Be (3:35) 07. Come Away With Me (4:02) 08. After Glow (5:22) 09. Let It Rain (4:40) 10. Holdin On (3:14) 11. All Day All Night (3:38) 12. Don’t Go (4:58) 13. United We...
ALTER BRIDGE Announces Fall 2022 European Tour With HALESTORM And MAMMOTH WVH
Rock titans ALTER BRIDGE have confirmed an extensive European tour this winter. The “Pawns & Kings” tour will hit 25 cities over 18 countries, kicking off on November 1 in Hamburg, Germany and wrapping up on December 12 in London, England. Bursting with riffs, ALTER BRIDGE is currently hard at work recording its seventh studio album, the follow-up to the highly acclaimed, 2019-released “Walk The Sky”, which brought the group the No. 1 spot on over a dozen charts around the globe. The band has been sharing behind the scenes photos from the studio on their social media to whet fans’ appetites. With the as-yet-untitled album expected to be released later in 2022, those snapping up tickets for these dates will be the first in the world to hear the new songs li...
Karol G Announces 2022 North American Tour
Karol G has announced her 2022 “$trip Love Tour,” which will visit 30 cities across North America. Kicking off in Chicago on September 6th, the trek will make stops in New York, Toronto, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and more before closing out in Vancouver on October 29th. See the full schedule below. An artist pre-sale (code: AMOR) begins Tuesday, April 26th at 12:00 p.m. local time here, with tickets available to the general public via Ticketmaster on Friday, April 29th. Advertisement Related Video Coming off her appearances at both weekends of Coachella, Karol G next hits the road for a string of dates in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Her last album was 2021’s KG0516, and she recently linked up with Becky G for their hit collaboration “MAMIII” before dropping her la...
New York Times Documentary Elon Musk’s Crash Course to Examine Tesla Autopilot Deaths
The documentary series The New York Times Presents has announced Elon Musk’s Crash Course, which aims to examine Tesla’s artificial intelligence system Autopilot, and “how Autopilot has been a factor in several deaths and dozens of other accidents that Tesla has not publicly acknowledged.” It premieres May 20th on Hulu and FX. Musk has called self-driving cars a “solved problem,” and he’s made A.I. part of the central pitch at Tesla. Earlier this year, he hyped up investors with Tesla’s burgeoning robotics program, the intelligence for which will build on Autopilot. Musk said these robots have “the potential to be more significant than the vehicle business, over time.” But even as he continues to expand the applications for the Autopilot system, Elon Musk’s Crash Course...
How to Get Tickets to Karol G’s 2022 Tour Dates
Karol G is following up back-to-back Coachella appearances with news of her massive “$trip Love” tour coming to 30 cities across North America this Fall. Get tickets here, and read on for more details including pre-sale dates. What Is Karol G’s Next Tour? Karol G’s 2022 North American tour begins in Chicago on September 6th before covering the East Coast with shows in Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Washington, DC, and Toronto. She then spends three nights in Florida with Miami on September 22nd, Orlando on the 24th, and Tampa on the 26th, followed by four nights in Texas with Houston on September 29th, Hidalgo on the 30th, Austin on October 4th, and Dallas on October 5th. Advertisement Related Video Moving west, Karol G hits Denver on October 9th, Phoenix on October 11th, then plays ...
MATT SORUM Says Disintegration Of GUNS N’ ROSES’ ‘Use Your Illusion’ Lineup Was ‘Nobody’s Fault’
Although GUNS N’ ROSES never officially split up, guitarist Slash left in 1996, drummer Matt Sorum was fired in 1997 and bassist Duff McKagan quit later that year. Asked in a new interview with SPIN what misconceptions about the band he wanted to clear up in his autobiography, “Double Talkin’ Jive: True Rock ‘N’ Roll Stories From The Drummer Of Guns N’ Roses, The Cult, And Velvet Revolver”, Sorum said: “It’s nobody’s fault, really. The band was way too big at the time. There’s a lot of people with their paws in the pie, a lot of distractions, too much money, and too many drugs and alcohol. Young guys don’t make clear decisions. I look back and go, ‘If that was me now, I’d make a phone call and have a conver...
JORDAN RUDESS Says It Was ‘Probably Cool’ For MIKE PORTNOY To See Current DREAM THEATER Lineup Perform
Ex-DREAM THEATER drummer Mike Portnoy attended the group’s concert on March 4 at Beacon Theatre in New York City. It was the first time Portnoy witnessed his former bandmates perform live since his exit from the iconic progressive metal outfit more than 11 years ago. According to DREAM THEATER fans who attended the show, singer James LaBrie gave Portnoy a shoutout from the stage and Mike waved. Several fans also took pictures of Portnoy at the venue, with Mike and his wife reportedly watching the performance from near the Beacon Theatre soundboard. The next day, Portnoy shared a few backstage photos from the concert and he included the following message: “After 36 years, I finally got to see my 1st DREAM THEATER show last night! It was a wonderful evening and it was such a plea...
