Alternative Music
BLAZE BAYLEY: Why Heavy Metal Is ‘The Devil’s Music’
British heavy metal vocalist Blaze Bayley, who fronted IRON MAIDEN more than 20 years ago, spoke to Metal Pilgrim about how the rise of grunge in the early 1990s forced most hard rock bands off the radio and MTV, with album and tour sales plummeting. Addressing the cyclical nature of trends, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “For a few of is, metal never went away. And we didn’t want grunge. I think largely the journalists said [about grunge], ‘This is the next big thing.’ “When I was in WOLFSBANE, we are happy-go-lucky guys, trying to be positive and enjoying life. Grunge comes, they’re all looking at their shoes, they’re miserable, they’re suicidal — the opposite of WOLFSBANE, and the opposite of a lot of bands at the time. R...
IDLES Announce 2022 North American Tour, Share “CRAWL!” Video: Stream
IDLES have expanded their 2022 international tour by adding a string of North American dates in the spring and fall. The first of the new dates is a March 23rd show in Mexico City. It will be followed by appearances during both weekends of Coachella sandwiched around concerts in Denver and Salt Lake City. The British post-punks will return to North America in late August for a second leg including stops in Kansas City, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Brooklyn, and Washington, DC. Alongside the tour announcement, IDLES shared a new music video for “CRAWL!,” a song off the band’s 2021 album, CRAWLER. In an exclusive Track by Track breakdown of the LP, vocalist Joe Talbot told Consequence that the song is “a good anthem for me to discuss with people who aren’t on the other side or who aren’t sober.” Adv...
Fox Acquires Gumby, Announces Gumbyverse of New Content
Fox has acquired the rights to Gumby, and they plan to stretch out the claymation classic into a multi-platform Gumbyverse of new content. Created by Art Clokey in the 1950s, Gumby and his friend with bend-efits Pokey have starred in two television series and one feature film. Fox will broadcast existing episodes of The Gumby Show and Gumby Adventures on Tubi, but that’s hardly the extent of their plans. Gumby will star in a new animated series, as well as a live-action (?) film. Besides that, the characters will be rolled up and sold off as action figures, merchandise, and even NFTs. We don’t want to speak for Gumby, but NFTs seem more like a plan cooked up the villainous “G” and “J” Blockheads than something our green hero would endorse. Advertisement Related Video In...
Obituary Announce Spring 2022 US Tour
Death metal pioneers Obituary are hitting the road this spring for the “RedNeck Run III” US tour. Fellow revelers of death metal Gruesome and 200 Stab Wounds will support the outing. The primarily East Coast route kicks off March 18th in Jacksonville, Florida, and runs through April 10th in Birmingham, Alabama. Tickets go on sale Friday (February 11th) and can be purchased via Ticketmaster. Obituary offered up this humorous press statement to prepare fans for the third edition of the “RedNeck Run”: “It’s time to put away the leather jackets and boots, bust out the FlipFlops & TankTops and prepare yourself for an outrageously, awkward yet undeniably amazing evening that could possibly turn into the best night of your life. The Florida Boys are at it again and are firing up the RV, check...
Where to Watch Every 2022 Oscar Nominated Film
While streaming services have slowly but surely been easing their way into awards conversations over the last several years, 2021 was a real watershed year for watching the most celebrated movies of the year from your home. Now, with the 2022 Oscar nominations officially announced, you might be wondering: Where do I actually watch most of this stuff? A goodly chunk of titles in this year’s Oscars conversation came from streamers — Netflix and Apple TV+, for instance, made tremendous inroads with films like The Power of the Dog and CODA — but even those titles that started out in theaters have moved to streaming faster than ever before. (2021 was, after all, a year where most people saw new-release Warner Bros. movies day and date on HBO Max.) But save for a few big movies that are sti...
HEART’s ANN WILSON To Release ‘Fierce Bliss’ Solo Album
There is a calm, serene spirituality about Ann Wilson in 2022 which instantly draws you to her. She feels like a warm, wise someone who has seen enough bullshit to know how to avoid it calmly, and someone who is at peace with whatever she needs to be at peace with. Perhaps that is why the soul (and, indeed title) of her latest album, “Fierce Bliss” (set for release April 29 via Silver Lining Music) offers such universally entertaining, engaging, honest and safe harbor from these unpredictable times. Take “Greed”, the powerful first single. “‘Greed’ is that thing in our animal nature that makes us want MORE,” Wilson declares. “Whether it be money, sex, power or ecstasy, it fires our craving. It happens with all of us. When you turn aroun...
SABATON Singer: ‘It Will Take The Threat Of Prison Or Bankruptcy To Stop Us From’ Touring
Swedish metallers SABATON were recently forced to postpone their European arena tour, which was supposed to happen in March/April 2022, “due to continuing COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on global live events and travel.” However, SABATON frontman Joakim Brodén told Finland’s Tuonela magazine that he and his bandmates are still expecting to return to the road later this year. “That’s our main priority,” he said. “And the only reason that we are not on tour is that we physically can’t or aren’t physically allowed. It will take the threat of prison or bankruptcy to stop us from doing that. Unfortunately, when it comes to touring, dealing with a tour in several countries is much more complicated than a single one because of governments. So ...
DESTRUCTION Announces Spring 2022 North American Tour
German thrash metal veterans DESTRUCTION will not only will celebrate their 40th anniversary by dropping their mind-blowing grenade of a new album, “Diabolical” (out April 8, 2022 via Napalm Records), they will also hit the road in North America on a 26-date headline tour this spring. Featuring direct support from prime thrash metal force and labelmates NERVOSA, the tour will also feature special guests SUNLORD and VX36. The run will kick off on April 28 in Brooklyn, New York and hit a slew of cities before coming to a close with a DESTRUCTION-only performance at Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore, Maryland on May 29. Tickets are on sale now via individual venues. DESTRUCTION bassist/vocalist Schmier says: “Yes — we are super thrilled: the first tour of the new record, ̵...
NITA STRAUSS Has No Intention Of Ever Handling Lead Vocals In Her Solo Band: ‘Absolutely Not’
In a brand new interview with Metal Edge magazine’s “Another FN Podcast With Izzy Presley”, Nita Strauss, the Los Angeles-based guitar shredder for the ALICE COOPER band, was asked why it took her so long to incorporate vocals into her solo music, as she is doing on her upcoming sophomore solo album. She responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Honestly, I didn’t really imagine it happening it at all. I wasn’t planning on ever doing a solo record that wasn’t an instrumental shred thing. Instrumental shred is kind of my passion; it’s what I’ve always wanted to do. And it wasn’t really what I set out to do, doing radio stuff — I wanted to kind of stay true to my identity as a guitar player and just make guitar music. But the...
Amanda Seyfried Practices Her Fake Baritone in Trailer for Hulu’s The Dropout: Watch
Over the past few years, Stanford dropout Elizabeth Holmes went from being the country’s youngest self-made female billionaire to one of the most infamous scammers to come up in Silicon Valley. Today, Hulu has unveiled the official trailer for their forthcoming limited drama series The Dropout, which stars Amanda Seyfried as the disgraced Theranos founder and CEO. Premiering March 3rd, The Dropout documents Holmes’ career trajectory from an ambitious chemical engineering student to the defendant in a highly-publicized criminal trial. The trailer nods to plenty of Holmes’ trademarks, from her black turtlenecks, bright red lipstick, and messy buns, to that phony baritone speaking voice. Seyfried doesn’t quite nail Holmes’ low timbre, but we’ll let it slide because it’s important to...
ATEEZ Are Just Getting Started
“Did you see the new Spider-Man: No Way Home?” asks Yunho, one of the eight members of ATEEZ. “His famous line is, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ We have more and more fans coming in, and we want to carry that responsibility well.” It’s a thoughtful — and fair — observation. Since the last time they were in America, ATEEZ have exploded. Three years ago, the eight-member group (Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Mingi, San, Yeosang, Wooyoung, and Jongho) played a venue in Los Angeles that held 1,500 people; on January 30th of this year, they appeared before a sold-out crowd at The Forum (capacity: 18,000). This change is an easy way to visibly quantify the group’s growth, but feels like too basic of a measure of the show ATEEZ puts on. The January 30th concert at The Forum ran over...
2022 Oscar Nominations: See the Full List, Updating Live
As the last few years have shown us, you can always count on awards shows to persevere, even in the most trying of times. The 2022 Oscars nominations, if nothing else, represent the inspiring endurance of this annual tradition, while also highlighting some of the year’s most exciting creative achievements in film. This year’s nominees represent a number of significant trends. Take, for example, Netflix, which has established a presence in the Oscar race and has some serious contenders in its stable, including The Power of the Dog, Passing, Don’t Look Up, and The Lost Daughter. Oh, not to mention tick, tick…Boom!, which is not just one of many musicals in contention for recognition this year, but also one of the several projects which might help Lin-Manuel Miranda complete his EGOT. (Though...
