Alternative Music

RATING: 8.5/10 Veterans of the Swedish death metal underground, SARCASM first formed in 1990, split in 1994 and re-emerged in 2015 with a revamped sound and Hell’s flames blazing in their eyes. Three albums later and it seems likely that “Stellar Stream Obscured” is exactly the record the band would have dreamt about making back in the day: epic, grotesque and steeped in the grand, grim traditions of MORBID ANGEL, DISSECTION and POSSESSED, it’s also a ferociously contemporary piece of work. “Through The Crystal Portal” may be the most unhinged album opener in recent memory. Spikily melodic, but relentlessly violent and willfully angular and obtuse, it’s the kind of sonically punishing old-school riot that keeps the arcane metal flame burning throug...

California rockers PAPA ROACH have released the official music video for their anthemic new single, “Stand Up”. Produced by Jason Evigan (Dua Lipa, G-Eazy, MAROON 5), the song brings massive energy and unique arrangements to singer Jacoby Shaddix‘s uplifting and motivating lyrics. The track seeks to provide a signature, bouncing anthem for a world that is energized to stand up against injustice, complacency, and opposition, further exercising their agency towards the obstacles in this new year. “‘Stand Up’ is inspired by the social unrest of marginalized people throughout the world. It’s about feeling of wanting to give up when you’re backed against the wall. For the ones that have been oppressed for so long that a sense of hopelessness is al...

In a recent interview with the METALLICA fan-club magazine So What!, the band’s former bassist Jason Newsted was asked how he dealt with the huge commercial success of METALLICA‘s 1991 self-titled album — better known as the “Black Album” — when it first happened. He said: “All of us experienced some kind of swelly head at different levels for different amounts of time through this three-year span. [It was] inevitable and impossible for it not to happen… I remember me personally, when I went shopping with [METALLICA guitarist] Kirk [Hammett] in Paris, and he took to me a couple of nice, nice stores, and I threw down a lot of money for some nice clothes and shoes and stuff. I’d never done that before. And I thought I was the shit… So I did get caught in t...

HALESTORM‘s previously announced European “An Evening With Halestorm” European tour has been canceled. The trek was scheduled to kick off on February 1 in Frankfurt, Germany and run through March 13 in London, United Kingdom. Earlier today, HALESTORM released the following statement: “To all of our European Freaks, we’re sorry to inform you that due to the different restrictions in all of the countries we were planning on traveling to, it is logistically impossible to bring our Evening With Tour to mainland Europe this February. These shows have been canceled. Check your inbox for refund information or get it at your point of purchase. We hope you all understand that this was out of control and we are looking forward to announcing some exciting shows in the fu...

A MetOnTour video edit of METALLICA performing the song “Trapped Under Ice” on December 17, 2021 at Chase Center in San Francisco, California can be seen below. The show was the first of METALLICA‘s two 40th-anniversary concerts which featured different setlists. They were part of METALLICA‘s “San Francisco Takeover”, a four-day citywide celebration of the band’s 40th anniversary that also included a film festival, photo exhibit and curated lineup of smaller venue shows featuring other acts. The 40th-anniversary shows marked METALLICA‘s return to Chase Center for the first time since the September 2019 “S&M²” concerts that also served as the venue’s grand opening. Those two shows grossed more than $4.1 million over the c...

Dave Mustaine says that MEGADETH‘s sixteenth studio album, “The Sick, The Dying And The Dead”, will finally arrive this summer. The MEGADETH leader, who turned 60 in September, touched upon a possible release date for the band’s new record while promoting the next U.S. leg of MEGADETH‘s “The Metal Tour Of The Year” with LAMB OF GOD, which will kick off on April 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada and run through May 15 in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Asked by Forbes if fans can expect this second leg of the tour to be the first tour in support of the new MEGADETH LP, Dave said: “No. This is wrapping up the remainder of last year, but I know that our actual official record release date had gotten moved back again with all of the distribution stuff, and all of ...

Swedish extreme tech-metal pioneers MESHUGGAH have released “The Abysmal Eye”, the first single from their upcoming ninth studio album, “Immutable”. You can now listen to the song below. 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. Full of surprises and yet instantly recognizable as the work of metal’s most idiosyncratic force, “Immutable” redefines and redesigns the MESHUGGAH so...

IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson, who flew his group around the world in their customized jumbo jet dubbed Ed Force One, named after MAIDEN‘s iconic mascot Eddie, has told the Associated Press that he will not be sitting in the pilot’s seat when he and his bandmates return to the road later this year. “Oh, no, no, no, no,” he said. “We’re going to be flying and I’m going to be in the back. Hey, look, I’m 63 — I’m 64 in August. You know, when you get to 65, if you’re an airline pilot, they just take you out the back and shoot, right? So, I’m going to be sitting in the back being the backseat driver.” According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), commer...