Alternative Music
ARCH ENEMY’s MICHAEL AMOTT: ‘Music Is Something That We Still Feel Very Passionate About’
ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott spoke to Knotfest.com about the musical direction of the band’s 11th studio album, “Deceivers”, which will arrive on July 29 via Century Media Records. He said: “We have a style that we’ve established in our 25-plus-year careers, but music is something that we still feel very passionate about. That is the driving force. There’s always something that we haven’t tried. Either ‘We’ve never started a song like that,’ or ‘we’ve never used this kind of melody or chord structure,’ there’s always little new things you can try out. Music is pretty much endless. But we still stay true to the ARCH ENEMY sound. We don’t want to stray too far from our roots. And I say that, but r...
SACRED REICH Cancels More Shows Due To Frontman PHIL RIND’s ‘Ongoing Respiratory Illness’
Arizona thrashers SACRED REICH have canceled one more show on their North American tour with SEPULTURA due to frontman Phil Rind‘s “ongoing respiratory illness.” Rind was hospitalized last Saturday (March 19) with a non-COVID-19-related illness. The trek, which kicked off on March 4 in Sacramento, California, also features support from CROWBAR and ART OF SHOCK. Earlier today (Wednesday, March 23), Rind released the following statement: “Unfortunately due to the ongoing respiratory illness I am experiencing SACRED REICH will not be playing tonight in Greensboro. We are truly sorry. “The nature of my recovery is uncertain. The doctors in the hospital said I have three different viruses along with my asthma and it’s just going to take time. “We are co...
EVERCLEAR, SOUL ASYLUM, CANDLEBOX And FILTER To Headline California’s FLANNEL NATION Festival
EVERCLEAR, SOUL ASYLUM and CANDLEBOX are among the artists who will perform at the Flannel Nation music festival, set to take place August 13 at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California. Also scheduled to appear are FILTER, SPONGE, FASTBALL and CRACKER. The ’80s were neon and big hair; then the styles changed and the music changed with it. Flannel and long hair came into play and the world saw the rise of bands like ALICE IN CHAINS and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. But along with the Seattle scene, there was a plethora of bands that broke style molds like the fuzz guitar of FILTER, the poppy hooks of SOUL ASYLUM, SPONGE, EVERCLEAR, and many more. Fans are being invite to enjoy “a day of live music with some of the era’s top bands, tons of delicious food trucks, craft beer,...
SUM 41 Announces ‘Heaven And Hell’ Double Album
In an exclusive interview with Rolling Stone, Grammy-nominated band SUM 41 has shared a first look at the details of its upcoming eighth studio album. Vocalist Deryck Whibley revealed that the double album, titled “Heaven And Hell”, is shaping up to be the most ambitious of the band’s career; half of the album, “Heaven”, brings SUM 41 back to its pop punk roots, while the other half, “Hell”, is strictly metal. “As I listened to almost all of [the newly written songs], it just kind of dawned on me. Did I just make a double record on accident?” Whibley recalled. Regarding the inspiration for the metal half of the album, Whibley said: “Some of the metal stuff comes with a lot of anger for people who have stolen from me and hurt me in...
Zola Jesus Announces New Album Arkhon, Shares “Lost”: Stream
Zola Jesus is back with her first album in five years. The singer-songwriter otherwise known as Nika Roza Danilova will release Arkhon on May 20th via Sacred Bones, and as a preview, she’s shared the single “Lost.” Zola Jesus has long been a solo project for Danilova, but on Arkhon, the musician set aside her pride and tried out collaboration. “At some point, I had to work with other people,” she explained. “I needed new blood. I needed somebody else.” She worked with producer Randall Dunn on the project, and also enlisted Matt Chamberlain (Fiona Apple, Bob Dylan) for drums. Allowing other people to contribute to her art allowed Danilova to play with spontaneity instead of meticulously crafting every detail of the record. At times, this allowed the classically trained singer to d...
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Break Up
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion have broken up, frontman Jon Spencer has confirmed. The New York blues trio announced a hiatus in 2016, but Spencer says the band no longer has plans to regroup. Hot off his time in Pussy Galore, singer-guitarist Spencer formed the Blues Explosion with guitarist Judah Bauer and drummer Russell Simins in 1991, fusing blues and rock and roll guitar carnage with punk and soul. The trio released nine studio albums across their career; their last release was 2015’s Freedom Tower – No Wave Dance Party 2015. In a new interview with Kreative Kontrol podcast, Spencer said that shortly after their last album’s release, Bauer contracted a respiratory illness that made it difficult for the band to continue. “We had a good run,” Spencer said. The artist released his...
Miley Cyrus’ Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Being Struck By Lightning
Miley Cyrus’ plane was forced to make an emergency landing in South America on Tuesday after being struck by lightning. In an Instagram post (see below), Cyrus shared a video of the lightning struck and a photo of the subsequent damage caused to one of its wings. Fortunately, “My crew, band, friends, and family who were all traveling with me are safe,” Cyrus wrote. However, as a result of the incident she has canceled a concert in Paraguay scheduled for Wednesday. Advertisement Related Video Cyrus is amidst a South American tour, which has included appearances at Lollapalooza’s festivals in Chile and Argentina. As of now, she is still scheduled to play Lollapalooza Brasil on Saturday. Last month, Elton John’s plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the UK following a hydraulics fa...
Gorillaz in 10 Songs
This article originally ran in 2017 and has been updated. Ever felt overwhelmed by an artist’s extensive back catalog? Been meaning to check out a band, but you just don’t know where to begin? In 10 Songs is here to help, offering a crash course and entry point into the daunting discographies of iconic artists of all genres. This is your first step toward fandom. Take it. Isn’t it frustrating not being able to box something in? Not being able to name it because the goddamn thing is so busy evolving that it slips through your fingers? Sure, they might be a bunch of cartoon characters, but there’s always been something a little darker than meets the eye going on with Gorillaz. They’re pockmarked and weathered, garish, rough around the edges, the residents of Banksy’s Dismaland as counterpoin...
LINKIN PARK’s ‘Numb’ Surpasses One Billion Streams On SPOTIFY
LINKIN PARK‘s hit song “Numb” has surpassed one billion views on Spotify. It’s the band’s second track to reach that mark, following on from “In The End” which hit the milestone last June. Back in November 2018, the music video for “Numb” surpassed one billion views on YouTube. Following the death of singer Chester Bennington in July 2017, fans of the group launched an unofficial campaign to get the “Numb” video to that milestone, a mission that was completed nearly a year and a half later. “Numb” is taken from LINKIN PARK‘s 2003 sophomore album “Meteora”. It was the 13th and final song on the LP and was released as the third single from the record. It topped the Alternative chart for 12 weeks a...
Dread Reaver – ABBATH
RATING: 8/10 Banished from the frostbitten IMMORTAL nest, Abbath (the man) and ABBATH (the band) have made light work of establishing themselves as a fiercely independent creative force in extreme metal. Although not quite as brashly definitive as the illustrious classics that made the Norwegian so notorious, both 2016’s self-titled debut and 2019’s “Outstrider” were full of blistering, bombastic moments, all still rooted in the thunderous, fervently pitch-black heavy metal that seems to ooze from the singer / guitarist’s every pore. As you might expect, “Dread Reaver” offers no radical departures, and we should all be thoroughly grateful for that. There are few things more exciting than the sound of Abbath (the man) at full pelt, and the opening &...
JUDAS PRIEST: ‘Screaming For Vengeance’ Graphic Novel To Be Released In July
JUDAS PRIEST recently teamed with the rapidly growing entertainment brand Z2 Comics for an original graphic novel to be released in July, in time for the anniversary of the British heavy metal legends’ highest-selling album, the indisputable classic “Screaming For Vengeance”. Several new photos of the members of JUDAS PRIEST posing with copies of the graphic novel can be seen below. Teaming with writers Rantz Hoseley (“Comic Book Tattoo”, “The Heroin Diaries”) and Neil Kleid (“Savor”), and artist Christopher Mitten (“Hellboy And The B.P.R.D.”), JUDAS PRIEST bestows upon its generations of fans the band’s first-ever graphic novel. 500 years from now, a ring of cities orbit high above the surface of a dead world, control...
MINISTRY Announces Fall 2022 European Tour With THE 69 EYES And 3TEETH
MINISTRY will embark on the “Moral Hygiene” European tour in the fall. The trek, which will include a couple of festival appearances, will feature support from Finnish goth rockers THE 69 EYES and American industrial metallers 3TEETH. Tickets will go on sale on this Friday, March 25 at 11 a.m. CET / 10 a.m. GMT. Tour dates: Oct. 28 – DE – Dortmund – FZW Oct. 29 – BE – Limburg – Sinners Day Festival (MINISTRY only) Oct. 30 – NL – Tilburg – 013 Oct. 31 – DE – Frankfurt – Batschkapp Nov. 02 – UK – London – o2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire Nov. 03 – UK – Glasgow – SWG3 TV Studio Nov. 04 – IRE – Dublin – National Stadium Nov. 05 – UK – Manchester –...
