Alternative Music
DINO CAZARES: Why I Have Yet To Reveal Identity Of New FEAR FACTORY Singer
In a new interview with “The Garza Podcast”, hosted by SUICIDE SILENCE guitarist Chris Garza, FEAR FACTORY guitarist Dino Cazares opened up about his band’s search for a new vocalist following the departure of Burton C. Bell nearly two years ago. “A lot of people are calling me out for not announcing our new singer,” Dino said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). “[They’re saying] ‘What’s up? You were gonna announce a new singer? What happened?’ What I was gonna do is announce the new singer just before the STATIC-X tour [with FEAR FACTORY] that was supposed to happen right now. So I was gonna announce it, I was gonna release a track just before the tour, just to get some hype for the tour [and] introduce the person. But the tour...
EDDIE VAN HALEN Left ‘Substantial’ Donation To Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation In Support Of Music Education
The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation (MHOF), which supports music education in at-risk public schools, announced it recently received a bequest from the late rock guitarist and innovator Eddie Van Halen. As U.S. schools are experiencing a greater need than ever before, this transformative donation will be significant in increasing the nonprofit’s capacity to support music programs across the country. Before his passing in October 2020, Eddie Van Halen spent over a decade nurturing a close relationship with MHOF and his passion for the nonprofit’s mission to help students develop a love of music led him to leave a meaningful percentage of his estate to the organization in his will. The donation will enable MHOF to fulfill requests from a greater number of schools, add employe...
Y&T’s DAVE MENIKETTI To Undergo Five Weeks Of Radiation Therapy For Prostate Cancer
Y&T frontman Dave Meniketti, who went public with his prostate cancer battle in February, says that he will undergo five weeks of external radiation starting in May. The 68-year-old guitarist/vocalist discussed his diagnosis and treatment during an appearance on today’s (Wednesday, April 20) episode of SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk”. Regarding how he found out that he had cancer, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Back in 2018, I hurt my back and was completely out; I mean, I could not play. We had to cancel an entire European tour in the fall, which we do religiously every year. And I’m laying on my back and I’m in amazing pain and it was the first time anything like that had ever happened. But one of the things that I ...
Smashing Pumpkins’ Jeff Schroeder: “We Finished That Big, Epic Album”
Today is one of the greatest days we’ve ever known, because Smashing Pumpkins’ next album isn’t too far away. Speaking recently on the Audio Ink Radio podcast, the band’s guitarist Jeff Schroeder revealed that they’ve finished their next LP. “We finished that big, epic album we were working on,” Schroeder told host Anne Erickson. Though he added that there’s “nothing I can give details on quite yet,” he had previously noted that the long-awaited project is the third in a years-spanning trilogy, following Smashing Pumpkins’ 1995 masterpiece Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and 2000’s Machina/The Machine of God. It shouldn’t come as too much of a shock that Smashing Pumpkins are still chipping away at new music, considering they’re about to embark on their “Rock Invasion 2 Tour” a...
Eddie Van Halen Left a Seven-Figure Donation to Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation
It goes without saying that the late Eddie Van Halen will continue to influence young musicians for generations to come. And now it’s been revealed that the rock icon left a “transformative” financial contribution to support music education in at-risk public schools via a seven-figure bequest to The Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation. Prior to his passing in October 2020, the Van Halen guitarist was very involved with Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation, supporting the nonprofit for several years and making appearances at a number of the organization’s events. On Wednesday, April 20th, it was announced that the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer’s will provided for a huge donation to the foundation. “Eddie’s support and friendship over the years meant the world to us and to his fans. His passion for music...
The What Podcast Enlists in Pondo’s Army
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Amazon Music | Radio Public | RSS Bonnaroo typically welcomes anywhere between 80,000 to 100,000 festival fans every year. Even amongst crowds that size, there’s one frequent Roovian who stands out. With his viking hat and Flava Flav-esque giant clock around his neck, Pondo has become an instantly recognizable presence on The Farm. Related Video Having attended every Bonnaroo since 2008, Bryan “Pondo” Blake has become a fixture there, gathering members of the ever growing “Pondo’s Army.” The army is more ethos than battalion, with its members adhering to a “listen to whatever you love” creed that promotes love of all music, regardless of genre. Over his years at ‘Roo, Pondo ...
Lykke Li Unveils New Song “Highway to Your Heart”: Stream
Lykke Li is back with “Highway to Your Heart,” the second single from her upcoming audiovisual album EYEYE. Check out the song and its accompanying music video below. Tender but devastating, “Highway to Your Heart” allows Li to mourn a lost love with slow, simmering keys and reverberating harmonies. “Night falls, it rains, I wake up alone,” she chants. At this point, loneliness is a routine: “Get high but it won’t last/ I’m still alone.” The single comes with an equally dramatic video directed by Theo Lindquist, which sees the artist engulfed in a mix of flames and rain following a car accident. While Li previously shared a teaser of EYEYE’s visual component, “Highway to Your Heart” offers listeners the first complete video from the album, which features several clips directed by...
ANTHRAX’s CHARLIE BENANTE To Release RUSH Tribute EP ‘Moving Pitchers’ This Weekend
ANTHRAX drummer Charlie Benante will release a RUSH tribute EP titled “Moving Pitchers” on Saturday, April 23 as part of this year’s Record Store Day. The five-song EP, whose baseball-themed title is a play on the title of RUSH‘s classic 1981 album “Moving Pictures”, is limited to 1,500 copies. It includes two tracks off “Moving Pictures”, “Red Barchetta” and “YYZ”, along with “Subdivisions”, “Freewill” and “La Villa Strangiato”. Benante is joined on the effort by TESTAMENT guitarist Alex Skolnick, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and KORN bassist Roberto “Ra” Díaz, CROBOT vocalist Brandon Yeagley, and TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA keyboardist Mee Eun Kim. The musicians’ RUSH covers ...
Devil’s Bell – AUDREY HORNE
RATING: 8.5/10 It may be because they come from Bergen, Norway, rather than anywhere near the Sunset Strip, but AUDREY HORNE have never quite hit the heights that their music seems to demand. Even back on early albums like “Le Fol” (2017) and the Norwegians’ superb self-titled record (2010), they were writing ridiculously memorable and exhilarating hard rock bangers at such an alarming rate that world domination seemed inevitable. A decade or so later, “Devil’s Bell” is yet another album full of songs that deserve to be heard by absolutely fucking everybody, preferably at full blast through a car radio. Maybe this time, the world will pay attention. AUDREY HORNE are perfectly successful in their own right, of course. Having been so consistent over the ye...
UDO DIRKSCHNEIDER On Turning 70: ‘It’s Just A Number’
Former ACCEPT frontman Udo Dirkschneider, who turned 70 years old on April 6, spoke to A&P-Reacts about what it feels like for him to reach this milestone birthday. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I feel quite good. No problem. Getting 70 years old, it’s just a number. I think the most important thing is how you feel inside. And that’s a… I don’t wanna say ‘very young,’ but I still feel young. [I] keep going, and if you keep going, that keeps you fresh and young, especially in this kind of music, what we’re doing. We feel, like, ‘Yeah, we’re going forward.’ And that’s a good thing about this.” Asked how he still manages to keep his voice in such great shape after all these years, Udo said: “I t...
BLACK STONE CHERRY To Release ‘Live From The Royal Albert Hall… Y’All’ In June
BLACK STONE CHERRY will release “Live From The Royal Albert Hall… Y’All” on June 24 on CD + Blu-Ray, LP and digital via Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group. On Wednesday September, 29 2021 — the year of the band’s 20th anniversary — Kentucky’s favorite sons BLACK STONE CHERRY realized their childhood dream of playing at the legendary Royal Albert Hall, London. Sat on the stage at the iconic Victorian building, singer-guitarist Chris Robertson pauses, looks around and says: “When you’re a kid, and you see your heroes’ playing places, and then all of a sudden you find yourself sitting on the stage, it’s pretty emotional. But we’re gonna royally rock it this evening. You better believe that.” And they don’t disappoint as ...
Editors Add Blanck Mass to Lineup, Release New Single “Heart Attack”: Stream
Editors have promoted longtime collaborator Blanck Mass, aka English electronic producer Benjamin John Power, to a full-time band member and ushered in a new era with their first single in three years, “Heart Attack.” Guitarist and lead vocalist Tom Smith describes their latest offering as “a song of obsession, about losing yourself in someone; a love song, a morbid love song.” Though the subject is dour, there’s no denying the passion behind it as Smith unleashes the blistering refrain of “No one will love you more than I do/ I can promise you that.” The cinematic production’s collage of guitar syncopations, sweeping synths, and propulsive drums form a sheen around the band’s sharp-edged sound, and yet it doesn’t come across as an attempt at dulling it but rather a method to see the barbs...
