Alternative Music

Industrial metal pioneers MINISTRY have released the official music video for their song “Believe Me”. The track is taken from the band’s 15th studio album, “Moral Hygiene”, which was released last October via Nuclear Blast Records. The “Believe Me” video is a departure from the two previously released professional clip from the album and became a total DIY effort, with each of the bandmembers — drummer Roy Mayorga, guitarists Cesar Soto and Monte Pittman, bassist Paul D’Amour and keyboardist John Bechdel — gearing up for the upcoming tour at home and purchasing an inexpensive green screen to contribute their parts to the performance footage that was then melded together. MINISTRY hopes to encourage other artists to do the same during these d...

EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt says that he is working on two new solo projects, including a follow-up of sorts to his debut solo album, “Schizophonic”, which came out in 1997 on A&M Records. On Wednesday (January 26), Bettencourt took to his social media to write: “NEW MUSIC ANNOUNCEMENT 2022!!! “I’m departing on a new and exciting journey. Working on two seperate solo projects. On one of them I have a full album already written and recorded and will form an exciting new band for it. “I am doing a worldwide search for an incredible singer/frontman , an amazing Rthm section with a killer bass guitarist and drummer that can lock in together and sing bvs as well. “Please submit a video of yourself killing it on stage and any music performance...

Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen‘s project SMITH/KOTZEN played the fourth show of its U.S. West Coast tour last night (Wednesday, January 26) at Goldfield Trading Post in Roseville, California. Joining Smith and Kotzen as part of their touring band is Richie‘s wife, internationally acclaimed bass player Julia Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock band BARRA DE SAIA. With a strong pedigree in rock, Lage has played alongside the likes of Pat Travers, Elliot Easton (THE CARS), Nuno Bettencourt (EXTREME) and Mark McGrath (SUGAR RAY). In addition, SMITH/KOTZEN has enlisted drummer Bruno Valverde of ANGRA for the U.S. West Coast dates. Video footage of the Roseville concert, including SMITH/KOTZEN‘s rendition of the IRON MAIDEN classic “Wasted Years...

Sebastian Bach has thrown shade at DISTURBED singer David Draiman for praising Spotify‘s announcement that it would remove Neil Young‘s music two days after Young demanded that his catalog be taken off in response to “fake information about vaccines” being “spread” on the platform via Joe Rogan‘s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience”. In a now-deleted post on his web site, Young said the music and podcast platform is “spreading fake information about vaccines — potentially causing death to those who believe this disinformation spread by them.” “I want you to let Spotify know immediately TODAY that I want all my music off their platform,” he wrote, according to Rolling Stone. “They can have Rogan or Young. Not...

Seven years after re-assuming the vocalist role after the departure of Dave Padden, ANNIHILATOR mainman Jeff Waters will return to focusing on his original position as the band’s lead guitarist. Current INTO ETERNITY and former ICED EARTH vocalist Stu Block will take over vocals for at least some of the future live performances. Block can also be heard on “Metal II”, the re-worked version of the band’s 2007 “Metal” studio album. “Metal II” also features former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo. In a new interview with BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Waters was asked whether his recent bout with COVID-19 affected his vocals. “It might make them better,” he said. “The way I sing, it might make them better. Finally, I can do a raspy voice without...

GHOST kicked off its co-headlining tour with VOLBEAT this past Tuesday night (January 25) at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nevada. During its 16-song set, GHOST debuted another song from its upcoming “Impera” album, called “Kaisarion”. Multi-camera fan-filmed video of the performance can be seen below. GHOST leader Tobias Forge told Kerrang! magazine that “Kaisarion” — which features the line “We’re building our empire from the ashes of an old” — has to do with intolerance, and replacing the old by force. “There was a building called Caesareum in ancient Alexandria,” Forge explained. “Roughly what happened was that the teacher and philosopher, Hypatia, was murdered by Christians. She was molested and murdered inside ...

The AR Firm‘s motto “Beyond Unreal” became firmly based in reality when they created an app that brought California artist Robert Varga‘s mural to life. Van Halen‘s image seamlessly continues to sing and play and can be seen in the video below. The mural itself measures a massive 17 feet by 105 feet. The mural was entirely painted by hand, without the aid of templates, stencils, or projections, and can be found at the iconic Guitar Center location at 7425 Sunset Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90046. The AR Firm CEO Roman Gora explained: “Eddie Van Halen was an icon that fans worship to this day. We knew we had a chance to create something really special. This way Eddie will shred forever.” “Augmented reality technology is the next wave of experiential e...

The largest three-day rock music and camping event in the U.S. has announced next summer’s lineup. Rock Fest 2022 will feature headliners SHINEDOWN, DISTURBED and EVANESCENCE and will take place on July 14, July 15 and July 16 in Cadott, Wisconsin. MUDVAYNE, HALESTORM and LAMB OF GOD will also perform alongside more than 70 bands over the course of the event. After industry-wide postponements and cancellations of live events in 2020, Rock Fest was the first rock festival in the nation to return last year. Under the watchful eye of other festivals, and hell-bent on reviving the family reunion attendees have looked forward to for nearly three decades, Rock Fest 2021 turned out to be a sell-out year. Festival promoter Wade Asher said 2021 gave the team a reinvigorated understanding of t...