Alternative Music
Popular Ukrainian Underground Heavy Metal Merchandise Shop KOLOVOROT Heavily Damaged In Russia’s Attack
Kolovorot, the cult Ukrainian underground heavy metal merchandise shop which is situated in historical part of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, was heavily damaged during a barrage of Russian air and rocket attacks earlier this week. On Friday (March 4), the organizers of Ukraine’s Metal East Nove Kolo heavy metal festival uploaded photos of the destruction at the store and included the following message: “Here is Kolovorot shop in Kharkiv. The cult Ukrainian place of underground merch, the place from which Metal East: Nove Kolo is mostly organized. It is the very small part of the results of Russian invasion in Ukraine. “We are all in Ukraine now. We continue to fight for our land. “We ask bands which have played at our festival, bands with which w...
MESHUGGAH’s TOMAS HAAKE On ‘Immutable’ Album: ‘We Definitely Took Our Time With This One’
MESHUGGAH drummer Tomas Haake spoke to Valentino Petrarca of the WSOU radio station about the band’s upcoming ninth studio album, “Immutable”. Due on April 1 via Atomic Fire, the follow-up to 2016’s “The Violent Sleep Of Reason” was recorded at Sweetspot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden; mixed by Rickard Bengtsson and Staffan Karlsson; and mastered by multiple Grammy Award winner Vlado Meller (METALLICA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, SYSTEM OF A DOWN). Visionary artist Luminokaya once again created the stunning cover artwork. “We’re pretty stoked how it came out,” Tomas said. “We definitely took our time with this one. And compared to most other albums we’ve done, those have always kind of been very stressful —...
Leonard Cohen’s Estate Sells His Catalog of Music
Leonard Cohen’s estate has sold the rights to his catalog of music. According to Variety, Hipgnosis Song Management purchased Cohen’s complete catalog for an undisclosed sum. Under the terms of the deal, Hipgnosis received songwriting rights to the 211 songs composed by Cohen from the beginning of his career through 2000, and total ownership of the 67 songs he wrote between 2001 until his death in 2016. All told, that amounts to a total of 278 songs — including Cohen’s best known works like “Hallelujah,” “Suzanne,” and “Bird on a Wire.” “To now be the custodians and managers of Leonard Cohen’s incomparable songs is a wonderful yet very serious responsibility that we approach with excitement and fully understand the importance of,” Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis said in a statement.&nb...
SLIPKNOT’s COREY TAYLOR Says His New Mask Came Together More Quickly Than Any His Previous Ones: ‘It Was So Killer’
During an appearance at last month’s installment of Days Of The Dead, a fan-run and fan-oriented horror convention, at the Sheraton in Atlanta, Georgia, SLIPKNOT singer Corey Taylor discussed his new mask which he debuted last September at the Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “My new [mask is] pretty rad. I really sat down and tried to figure out… I worked with a guy named Conor Deless. He’s a young kid; he’s actually a fan. And I can remember laying out traits that I wanted to see and a lot of the stuff that inspired him. And when he sent me the preliminary sculpt — he didn’t even sketch it out; he sent me a tiny sculpt — and it was so killer that I was, like, ‘Yes. That’s it.’ I mean, he ...
Ex-PANTERA Bassist REX BROWN Confirms Collaboration With JUDAS PRIEST Guitarist RICHIE FAULKNER
In a new interview with Tone-Talk, former PANTERA bassist Rex Brown was asked if there are any guitarists he would still like to work with. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I did a record — it’s not out yet — I did it with Richie Faulkner [of JUDAS PRIEST]. Richie and I have become really good friends. And it’s really progressively heavy and cool. Richie is a very melodic player, and then it’s got my drummer that played on my first solo record. They tracked him playing on one of those electronic kits, and they sampled the sounds into a real kit — which I’m not too crazy about; that’s not the way I would do it. But it’s Richie‘s record. And he’s got a new singer now. I don’t know when that’s coming out. Tho...
HENRY ROLLINS: DAVID LEE ROTH Is ‘A Multi-Lingual, Multi-Disciplined Self-Starter’ With ‘A Blazing Intellect’
In a new interview with The Hype Magazine, punk rock icon Henry Rollins was asked about his involvement with VAN HALEN singer David Lee Roth‘s “Crazy From The Heat” 1997 autobiography. He said: “I worked with DLR closely on that project. At one point, he expressed interest in being onstage and telling stories from the book, I think. As I remember, I suggested that he have someone onstage with him to ask him questions that would prompt the stories. I think the record idea sprang from the fact that he did the book out loud on to tape. Almost 100 hours, which I have listened through three times. “The man has a blazing intellect,” Henry continued. “He is a multi-lingual, multi-disciplined self-starter. He is a voracious reader and student of history. M...
BRUCE DICKINSON Reflects On Aborted THE THREE TREMORS Project With ROB HALFORD And GEOFF TATE
During the question-and-answer portion of his March 1 spoken-word show at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson reflected on how the title track of his 2005 solo album, “Tyranny Of Souls”, was composed specifically for the proposed THE THREE TREMORS project, also featuring JUDAS PRIEST‘s Rob Halford and QUEENSRŸCHE‘s Geoff Tate. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We were gonna do this thing with three metal singers — myself, Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford. However, for reasons that [didn’t make much sense] — managerial bullshit or whatever — there was some opposition, not from me, to having Ronnie there, which I thought was crazy. So the suggestion was that we would have Geoff Tate instead. So Ro...
Fede Álvarez to Direct New Alien Film for Hulu
The Alien saga isn’t over just yet. Fede Álvarez, the Uruguayan director of horror films like Don’t Breathe and the 2013 Evil Dead remake, is set to write and direct an original standalone Alien feature for 20th Century Studios. Ridley Scott — who directed the iconic first Alien film in 1979 and two of its successors — will produce the new project. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Álvarez, a massive fan of the franchise, pitched the idea to Scott years ago. Álvarez’s installment will be made for Hulu as part of 20th Century’s goal to put out at least 10 movies a year for the streaming service. The Alien franchise is a series of horror/sci-fi films that focus on a merciless otherworldly species called Xenomorphs, who inflict terror on humans by placing ...
SOILWORK, STRATOVARIUS, Ex-NIGHTWISH Members Guest On JANI LIIMATAINEN’s New Solo Album, ‘My Father’s Son’
Frontiers Music Srl will release of Jani Liimatainen‘s (THE DARK ELEMENT, INSOMNIUM, SONATA ARCTICA) new solo album, “My Father’s Son”, on May 6. The Finnish musician’s impeccable talents are on full display on this new LP and he’s got a stellar cast of friends lending their talents to the proceedings. The album’s first single, “All Dreams Are Born To Die”, which features guest lead vocals from Tony Kakko of SONATA ARCTICA, can be streamed below. “My Father’s Son” includes guest lead vocals from Björn “Speed” Strid (SOILWORK, THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA), Tony Kakko (Sonata Arctica), Timo Kotipelto (STRATOVARIUS), Anette Olzon (THE DARK ELEMENT, NIGHTWISH), Renan Zonta (ELECTRIC MOB), Pekka Heino (BROTHER FI...
Watch: QUEENSRŸCHE Plays First Show As Support Act On JUDAS PRIEST’s North American Tour
QUEENSRŸCHE played the first show of its North American tour with JUDAS PRIEST last night (Friday, March 4) at Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois. The band’s setlist was as follows: 01. Queen Of The Reich 02. Warning 03. En Force 04. NM 156 05. Empire 06. Blood Of The Levant 07. The Whisper 08. Operation: Mindcrime 09. The Needle Lies 10. Take Hold Of The Flame 11. Screaming In Digital 12. Eyes Of A Stranger Fan-filmed video of the entire concert can be seen below. QUEENSRŸCHE was originally set to support SCORPIONS on their rescheduled “Sin City Nights” Las Vegas residency in March-April 2022 but pulled out of the dates in order to take part in the JUDAS PRIEST tour. SCORPIONS have since tapped SKID ROW as the new opening act for the Vegas residency. Last November, ...
SEVENDUST’s LAJON WITHERSPOON Has Been Writing With Country Singer JIMMIE ALLEN
In a recent interview with RadioactiveMike Z, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM radio program “Wired In The Empire”, SEVENDUST frontman Lajon Witherspoon spoke about the progress of the songwriting and recording sessions for his long-in-the-works debut solo album. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “I’ve still been doing some work. And I actually got to work with my buddy, a country artist, Jimmie Allen, and we did some writing. And I’m just real excited. I’ve got a couple of more writing projects that I’m gonna take my time to do. After the SEVENDUST run, I’ll go back in the studio again and finish up some stuff. But, yeah, there’s some good stuff there. Actually, somebody sent out an e-mail today talking about me signing to a label....
SHINEDOWN’s ZACH MYERS: ‘I Vehemently Disagree With 80 Percent Of What EDDIE VEDDER Says Politically’
SHINEDOWN guitarist Zach Myers spoke to Ethan Jackson of Topeka’s rock radio station V100 about the lyrical inspiration for the band’s latest single, the title track of SHINEDOWN‘s upcoming seventh studio album, which will arrive on April 22 via Atlantic Records. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We’re living in a world where there’s no shortage of things to talk about. But ‘Planet Zero’ is kind of about people being silenced of their opinions. “We live in a society now where everything has to be a hardline,” he continued. “Listen, I vehemently disagree with 80 percent of what Eddie Vedder says politically; I’m still gonna listen to PEARL JAM. We live in a society where if you disagree with someone, that m...
