Alternative Music

PEARL JAM singer Eddie Vedder has released the trailer for an exclusive, intimate conversation between Vedder and Bruce Springsteen presented by Amazon Music. In the special, which was filmed on Bruce‘s farm in New Jersey, the two break down Vedder‘s new album, “Earthling” — from production and appearances by Stevie Wonder, Ringo Starr, Elton John and Andrew Watt, to Vedder‘s songwriting. Directed by Thom Zimny, the special will debut on Amazon Live tomorrow (Friday, February 11) beginning at 2 p.m. EST and will be available exclusively for 48 hours. The interview will be made available on Vedder‘s YouTube page beginning Sunday, February 13. “Earthling” is Vedder‘s first album since 2011’s “Ukulele Songs” and his first...

Wolfgang Van Halen spoke to 100.3 The X morning personalities Jeremy “Nic” Nicolato and Jeremi “Big J” Schlader about his penchant for facing his online detractors head on, never failing to fire back even harder against people that trash him, his music or his parents. “I pick my battles,” Wolfgang said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET. “There are some that make it very easy to just throw it right back at them ’cause it’s just more about them than it is about me in any way. “I’m very clear in everything that I say and everything I put out there, and I use the best of intentions, so when people try to misconstrue that and muddy my own truth, I very much like to correct it — in a funny way or in a serious way,” he expl...

RATING: 8/10 Regularly tipped as heavy music’s next big thing, ZEAL & ARDOR mastermind Manuel Gagneux may be beginning to wonder what more he has to do to bewitch bigger audiences. After two widely acclaimed albums, his band are still being touted as the next big thing, and even if you came to this new record cold, without ever having heard ZEAL & ARDOR before, there is a solid chance that you would come to the same conclusion. Marking a small but significant evolutionary step for its creator(s), “Zeal & Ardor” offers an upgraded version of all that went before and the most strident and convincing expression of Gagneux‘s vision yet. The subversive shades of soul, blues and gospel music that made 2016’s “Devil Is Fine” such a striking de...

Fan-filmed video footage of Bruce Dickinson belting out an a cappella version of the iconic English hymn “Jerusalem” during his February 8 spoken-word show at Warner Theatre in Washington, D.C. can be seen below. “Jerusalem” has been a staple of English national culture for more than a century and is one of the most famous hymns around, a sort of alternative national anthem for England. Dickinson‘s two-month North American spoken-word tour kicked off on January 17 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and will run through the end of March. Bruce‘s spoken-word show is split into two parts. The first section sees him take a humorous and often satirical look at the world from his own very personal perspective, treating the audience to private insights into his drive ...

Former MACHINE HEAD and current VIO-LENCE guitarist Phil Demmel recently filled in for LAMB OF GOD guitarist Willie Adler during the band’s January appearance on the ShipRocked cruise. The reasons for Adler missing the cruise have not been disclosed. Adler‘s brother, Chris, departed the band in 2019. Demmel‘s appearance with LAMB OF GOD marks his third high-profile fill-in gig in four years. Demmel stepped in for SLAYER guitarist Gary Holt for four European shows in the fall of 2018 after Gary returned home to be with his dying father. Demmel also subbed for Dave Linsk at OVERKILL‘s November 13 concert at The Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey. In a new interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Demmel discussed how he became such an in-demand hired gun: “The SLA...

Dutch/Norwegian rockers THE GATHERING will release their first studio album in almost a decade, “Beautiful Distortion”, in April via Psychonaut Records. Produced by Attie Bauw, who previously worked on 2006’s “Home” and 1998’s “How To Measure A Planet?”, the band’s 11th studio LP will contain eight songs with a running time of nearly 50 minutes. The official music video for the album’s second single, “We Rise”, can be seen below. THE GATHERING comments: “‘Beautiful Distortion’ is a typical eclectic THE GATHERING album, although it may be our most dynamic and melodic album to date. THE GATHERING‘s signature atmospheric and electronic rock sound is topped with the warm Nordic vocal lines by Silje ...

HIGH ON FIRE‘s Matt Pike will release his debut solo album, “Pike Vs. The Automaton”, on February 18 via MNRK Heavy. The official music video for the LP’s latest single, “Land”, can be seen below. The track features a guest appearance by MASTODON guitarist Brent Hinds, an old pal of Pike‘s. “‘Land’ was written after I had just come home from a tour,” Pike said. “It’s like an old blues song. I was thinking of it as like a bunch of old dudes in a subway doing a doo-wop thing. It has the feel of a two-step like my mom used to dance to, like country western. It’s totally about depression and leading a hard life. Later I was playing the song for Brent Hinds from MASTODON who had come out to Portland to jam with ...

10 YEARS will release “Deconstructed” on March 4 via and Mascot Records / Mascot Label Group. The album will include 19 alternate takes of the band’s most popular songs from their 20-year career. Previews of “Wasteland (Alternate Take)” and “The Unknown (Alternate Take)” are available below. The complete track listing of “Deconstructed” features “Halos”, “Lucky You”, “Say Goodbye”, “The Unknown”, “I Wish”, “Waking Up”, “Patiently”, “Seasons To Cycles”, “Survivors”, “Running In Place”, “Knives”, “Soma”, “Fix Me”, “Fault Line”, “11AM (Daydreamer)”, “Planet...