Alternative Music
Greta Van Fleet’s Josh Kiszka Acknowledges Appropriation of Indigenous Culture
Greta Van Fleet singer Josh Kiszka has acknowledged that he appropriated Indigenous culture in the past. The vocalist was the target of a recent hashtag campaign (#SpeakUpGVF) calling for him to address and remove a series of photos on his Instagram page showing him and his friends wearing Indigenous garments back in 2017. The mission statement of the #SpeakUpGVF campaign read, in part, “Indigenous fans and those practicing allyship have tried to contact Josh and ask him to remove the photos and address the cultural appropriation, but he continues to stay silent and the photos continue to stay up. Remaining silent on this is upsetting and is ignorant as it upholds racist ideologies that Indigenous cultures are simply a costume, when they are sacred, and not open for appropriation. Fans cre...
Lorde’s “Solar Power Tour” Lights Up Radio City Music Hall: Recap, Photos + Setlist
She has risen. Lorde returned to the stage in New York City — on Easter Monday, no less — just days after postponing a number of shows due to laryngitis. Maybe there was some residual throatiness to the Kiwi pop megastar, but it barely registered. The beauty of her full-fledged “Solar Power Tour” production at the iconic Radio City Music Hall was enough to cure any ill feelings. Talking about “post-pandemic live music” is already becoming cliché, but we can’t discount how the last two years impacted performances. On one hand there are acts like Lorde’s opener, former Artist of the Month Remi Wolf. Here’s someone who broke out during a lockdown where the only music absorption came via streams and TikToks. Now, with touring back in full swing, she’s playing Radio City. Think about the mental...
UNDEATH – UNDEATH
RATING: 8/10 These are heady days indeed for fans of death metal. Some may question the value of the genre’s ever-expanding diversity, but few would argue that we are experiencing anything other than a new golden age. Pleasingly, for old bastards at least, it is the defiantly uncommercial, old-school wing of death metal that seems to be the healthiest of all, virulent bouts of sonic leprosy notwithstanding. UNDEATH blew lots of people’s heads off with their 2020 debut “Lesions of a Different Kind”, as this Rochester, New York quintet demonstrated an instinctive disregard for repeating the past; eschewing old-school cliches in favor of a highly evolved hybrid of sludgy primitivism and Florida-style technicality that resounds with the spirit of the Ancient Ones. Two y...
TONY IOMMI’s Longtime Guitar Tech Is In An Induced Coma
Tony Iommi‘s longtime guitar tech Mike Clement is in “an induced coma” after taking a “serious tumble while working at his business.” Clement has worked with the legendary BLACK SABBATH guitarist tech for more than three decades. Before hooking up with Iommi, Clement was MOTÖRHEAD‘s tech for three and a half years. Earlier today (Tuesday, April 19), Iommi shared a photo of him with Clement on social media and he included the following message: “Ongoing sad news about my tech and good friend Mick Clement who took a serious tumble while working at his business. He’s been in an induced coma and is thankfully starting to show signs of progress. Our thoughts are with his family, he has been a keyman with me for over 30 yrs.” According to Hom...
METALLICA’s KIRK HAMMETT Is ‘Insecure And Nervous’ About Release Of His Debut Solo EP
METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett will release his debut solo EP, “Portals”, on April 23 via Blackened Recordings. Speaking to The Mercury News about what it feels like to be stepping out on his own for the first time in his career, Hammett said: “Usually when there is an album release — it’s the four of us [in METALLICA]. We all have each other’s backs. We are all supporting each other, because it’s kind of a nerve-wracking sort of emotional and mental thing. Usually, during this time, we have each other to talk to about any sort of insecurities or whatnot. But now that I have put out a solo album, I am the guy who bears the whole burden of all that. I said to James [Hetfield, METALLICA frontman], ‘This is weird. I have an album release and usually...
AARON LEWIS Tells His Fans Not To Believe The ‘Propaganda Machine’, Insists He Is Speaking ‘The Truth’
STAIND frontman Aaron Lewis has once again attacked the national news media, telling his fans at a recent concert that they should “stop listening to the bought-and-paid-for propaganda machine.” The 50-year-old Lewis, an outspoken conservative rocker who reinvented himself as a solo country artist in the last decade, voiced his views on what he is seeing and hearing from the national news media before performing his controversial single called “Am I The Only One” during his recent concert at Rivers Casino & Resort Event Center in Schenectady, New York. He told the crowd (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I can sit here and tell you that the Democrats are responsible for everything. It’s bigger than that. This is the people that are above the peop...
Netflix Loses 200,000 Subscribers, First Loss in Over Ten Years
Netflix has reported a loss of 200,000 subscribers so far this year — the first time the customer base has declined in 11 years. As Bloomberg reports, the bleeding may have only begun. In an earnings report, Netflix said it expects to lose an additional two million subscribers in the second quarter of 2022. This is despite the fact that Netflix signed up an additional one million new users in Africa during the first quarter. Those gains were offset by losses across the rest of the globe, especially in the US and Canada, where 600,000 people cut their service after a price hike, and in Russia, where the company lost another 700,000 subscribers after ceasing operations in response to the invasion of Ukraine. Advertisement Related Video The Big Red N boasts a total of abou...
Block-Shaped Man Jason Momoa to Star in Minecraft Movie
Warner Bros. are getting their casting squared away on the film adaptation of the blockbuster — and block buster — video game Minecraft. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, Jason Momoa, a man who looks like he was carved out of stone, is in final negotiations to play the lead role. Plot details haven’t yet been unearthed. But Jared Hess, best known for helming Napoleon Dynamite, is set to direct. Production will come from Dune producer Mary Parent and Godzilla vs. Kong producer Roy Lee. Minecraft first became public in 2009 and received a full launch by Sweden’s Mojang Studios 2011. The massively popular game sets players in a blocky, algorithmically-generated world, mining resources to create earthworks, machines, and structures that range from th...
Randy Blythe Tests Positive for COVID-19, Lamb of God to Perform with Chimaira’s Mark Hunter on Vocals
Just six shows into Lamb of God’s Spring 2022 North American tour with co-headliners Megadeth, frontman Randy Blythe has tested positive for COVID-19. Instead of canceling any shows, Lamb of God will perform on Tuesday night (April 19th) in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with Chimaira singer Mark Hunter and a “few friends” on vocals. This is the second leg of the two headliners’ “Metal Tour of the Year,” which had a successful run this past fall. The first leg went off without a hitch, but unfortunately, COVID has reared its ugly head early in the current leg. A statement on Lamb of God’s Facebook page reads as follows: “Grand Rapids – Randy Blythe tested positive for COVID over the weekend and has been isolating away from the rest of the band. While his symptoms have been mild and he’s on t...
Ezra Miller Arrested Again in Hawaii, Charged with Second-Degree Assault
For the second time in as many months, Ezra Miller has been arrested in Hawaii. Per a police report, the star of The Flash was taken into custody at around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning for allegedly throwing a chair that struck a woman in the head. Law enforcement responded to a call at a private residence in Pāhoa at around 1:10 a.m. They determined that Miller “became irate after being asked to leave,” whereupon the actor allegedly hurled a chair in the direction of a 26-year-old woman. The victim was left with a half-inch gash on her forehead, though she declined treatment for the injury. Police located Miller on the roadway and arrested them during a traffic stop for assault in the second degree. They were released at 4:05 a.m. pending further investigation. Advertisement Relate...
LAMB OF GOD’s RANDY BLYTHE To Miss Grand Rapids Concert After Testing Positive For COVID-19
LAMB OF GOD frontman Randy Blythe will be forced to miss the band’s concert tonight (Tuesday, April 19) in Grand Rapids, Michigan after testing positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. He will be temporarily replaced by CHIMAIRA‘s Mark Hunter and “a few friends”. Earlier today, LAMB OF GOD released the following statement via social media: “Grand Rapids – Randy Blythe tested positive for COVID over the weekend and has been isolating away from the rest of the band. While his symptoms have been mild and he’s on the mend, he will not be able to perform tonight at the Van Andel Arena. However, the show will go on! We are working to put together a special show with our brother Mark Hunter from CHIMAIRA taking over the mic and a...
MICHAEL ANTHONY Says His Proposed Autobiography Wouldn’t Include On-The-Road ‘Dirt’ About Original VAN HALEN
In a brand new interview with Darren Paltrowitz, host of the “Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz”, former VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony was asked if he has given any thought to writing an autobiography. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I have people after me all the time about stuff like that. Obviously, somebody wants to get another perspective from one of the original VAN HALEN guys on all the dirt from the band, and I don’t know if I’m ready to come out with something like that. Obviously, it wouldn’t be the dirt like some people would wanna hear it, because I’m not that kind of person. A lot of stuff that went on back then is what is understood, between the band, it’s the secret brotherhood of ‘what’s on ...
