Hard Rock
Volbeat Officially Cancel US Tour After Previously Hoping to Reschedule the Outing
Like most bands, Volbeat were recently forced to postpone their spring US tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Danish rockers originally hoped to reschedule the dates for the fall, but have now decided to outright cancel the outing, which was set to feature support from Clutch and The Picturebooks. The tour was slated to run from April 4th in Tempe, Arizona, to May 13th in New York City. Upon announcing its postponement back in March, Volbeat informed fans that they were looking to reschedule the tour for September and October. Now, with a growing consensus that concerts won’t return to the States in earnest until 2021, the band revealed today (May 18th) that the tour is officially canceled. Volbeat issued the following statement explaining the decision: “We hate to be another band start...
Lzzy Hale: “Most of the Bands You Know and Love Won’t Make It Out of This” Pandemic
Lzzy Hale has painted a bleak present and future for music acts in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, remarking that “most of the bands you know and love won’t make it out of this.” The Halestorm singer-guitarist made the comments on Instagram while also warning her supporters that states are reopening prematurely. Even though Halestorm have a strong following and several rock hits to their name, the financial and emotional hit of the pandemic is taking its toll on the band and its crew — as it is for most touring artists. In her Instagram note, Hale pointed out the “audacity of some people to assume that just because I’m someone of note, that I am not suffering because of all this.” As a majority of the United States starts to reopen in varying phases, Lzzy proclaims, “Without a vaccine,...
Remembering Ronnie James Dio 10 Years After His Passing: Interview with Wendy Dio
It’s been 10 years since the world lost one of the greatest voices of heavy metal and hard rock, the iconic Ronnie James Dio. The singer had a legendary career, ranging from doo-wop bands in the late ’50s to a reunion with his onetime Black Sabbath bandmates as Heaven & Hell in the 21st century. Born Ronald James Padavona on July 10, 1942 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Dio was raised in Cortland, New York, and became a trumpet player at an early age. Eventually, his vocal talents led him to singing in a variety of doo-wop and rock ‘n’ roll bands (including Ronnie Dio and the Redcaps). By the time he became the singer in Elf (earlier going by the name the Electric Elves), he began to find the style of music that best suited his voice – hard rock, and later, heavy metal. Elf opened shows ...
The Pretty Reckless Return with Heavy New Song “Death by Rock and Roll”: Stream
The Pretty Reckless are back with the new single, “Death by Rock and Roll”, a guitar-driven anthem highlighted by singer Taylor Momsen’s powerful pipes. The new song comes shortly after it was announced that the band had signed a new deal with Fearless Records. The track kicks off with a heavy guitar riff and features Momsen singing about the deaths of various characters, ending each of their stories with, “But on my tombstone when I go/ Just put ‘Death by Rock and Roll’.” Momsen’s vocals range from silky smooth in the verses to a full-on scream toward the end of the song. “In a lot of ways, this new album feels like a rebirth and our first single, ‘Death by Rock and Roll’, represents that salvation that my favorite music brings me,” said Momsen in a press release. “Rock is freedom and thi...
The Who’s Live at Leeds Remains a Peerless Document of Rock and Roll Power
Today, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of arguably the greatest live rock and roll album of all time. June 1969. Back from the brink, The Who are bigger than they ever imagined possible. With Tommy selling 200,000 copies in the first two weeks in the US alone, it was a remarkable turnaround for a band who, only a few months earlier, neared bankruptcy and calling it a day. In what must have seemed like the blink of an eye, the rock opera was born, and, with it, Pete Townshend ascended to his throne, the last high king of 1960s counterculture. With FM-friendly Tommy A-sides “Pinball Wizard” and “I’m Free” refining their “maximum R&B” down to proto prog-inflected rock, The Who found themselves zig-zagging across the world, topping major festival bills and — full testament to their expan...
Alice Cooper Unveils New Song “Don’t Give Up” to Offer Encouragement During Pandemic: Stream
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect communities around the world, Alice Cooper is offering words of encouragement in the form of a new song, “Don’t Give Up”. The rock legend shared the music video for the track, which was recorded remotely during isolation. Cooper recently invited fans to participate in the video, which features his band members performing separately while in quarantine. More than 20,000 fans responded, with many of them seen holding signs of the song’s positive lyrics in the clip. “‘Don’t Give Up’ is out today,” Cooper said in a press release. “It’s a song about what we’ve all been going through right now and about keeping our heads up and fighting back together. And whatever you do — don’t give up!” The song is pure positivity, a mid-tempo rocker that begins ...
Rock and Metal Album Covers Get Reimagined With Simpsons Characters
The Bart Simpson parody poster of Nirvana’s Nevermind has adorned its fair share of desktop wallpapers, but Instagram account “Springfield Albums” has taken the concept even further. Artists Edgar Portelo and Lila Rouge “Simpsonize” rock and metal album covers, inserting characters from the long-running animated show The Simpsons into classic sleeves by Metallica, Alice in Chains, and many more. No band or character is off limits, with Portelo and Rouge parodying everything from Exodus’ thrash masterpiece Bonded by Blood — with Bart taking the place of original’s siamese demon — to Korn’s Follow the Leader, which sees Homer about to hopscotch off the cliff. Another thrash parody, Slayer’s 1983 debut, Show No Mercy, is adorned with “Evil Homer” from the season four episode “Whacking Da...
Avatar Announce New Album Hunter Gatherer, Unveil Single “Silence in the Age of Apes”: Stream
After teasing new music on the way, Swedish metallers Avatar have announced details of their upcoming album, Hunter Gatherer. In addition, they’ve unveiled a music video for the first single, “Silence in the Age of Apes.” The LP, which marks Avatar’s eighth full-length, hits stores on August 7th. It comes after an extensive touring cycle in support of the band’s 2018 album, Avatar Country. For Hunter Gatherer, Avatar worked with producer Jay Ruston (Anthrax, Stone Sour) at Sphere Studios in Los Angeles. Each song on the album was recorded with the band members performing together at the same time, which is the way Avatar recorded their 2014 record, Hail the Apocalypse. The dark and aggressive “Silence in the Age of Apes” is streaming now via a music video showing off the group’s new wardro...
Fever 333 Team Up with Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels on New Remix of “Animal”: Stream
Fever 333 have joined forces with legendary Run-DMC rapper Darryl “DMC” McDaniels on a new version of their song “Animal”. The track was remixed by producers J Randy and Nellz. The original version of “Animal” appears on Fever 333’s 2019 debut album Strength in Numb333rs. For the remix, singer Jason Aalon Butler trades verses with DMC in what is a dream come true for the Fever 333 frontman. Butler discussed his reverence for Run-DMC and McDaniels in the following statement: “I learned most of what I know and utilize in my life musically, socially, and intellectually via hip hop music. I was obsessed with the idea of taking the adversity of the culture experienced and turning it into a song that moved to the beat of the human pulse while telling a story in a way that only adversity influenc...
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson Clarifies Health Status: “My Days as a Singer Are Numbered, Rather Than Days to Live”
After revealing that he was “suffering from an incurable lung disease” and that his “days are numbered,” Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson has issued a statement to clarify his comments. The legendary rocker assures fans that he’s still reasonably in good health and that he meant his “days as a singer are numbered.” The initial news of Anderson’s health came out of a preview clip for his appearance on Dan Rather’s AXS TV show The Big Interview, which aired on Wednesday night. In the video, Anderson told Rather, “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anybody in public before — I am suffering from an incurable lung disease which I was diagnosed with a couple of years back.” He went on to say specifically that he suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). While the c...
Members of Anthrax and Suicidal Tendencies Rock Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” While Social Distancing: Watch
Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante has kept sharp during the coronavirus pandemic by playing covers with fellow metal musicians while social distancing. He’s posted the performances on his YouTube channel, and for his latest video, he’s once again teamed with Suicidal Tendencies bassist Ra Diaz to play through Billie Eilish‘s pop hit “bad guy”. Benante (drums and guitar) and Diaz (bass) play along to Eilish’s vocals, and as expected, rock out a bit with the arrangement. For Eilish fans, it hints at what her music would sound like with more of hard rock vibe. As it is, Eilish has already shown her appreciation for heavy metal acts like Type O Negative and Rob Zombie with her onstage attire. The fandom goes both ways, with the longtime metal musicians Benante and Diaz both sharing their admirat...
Slipknot, Coheed and Cambria, and KISS Cruises Rescheduled for 2021
Slipknot (photo by Raymond Ahner); Coheed and Cambria (photo by Thaib A. Wahab); KISS (photo by Kevin RC Wilson Planned 2020 rock cruises led by Slipknot, Coheed and Cambria, and KISS have all been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as announced Thursday by the events’ producer Sixthman. A number of the production company’s other cruises and vacation festivals have also been moved to next year. Slipknot had already announced that their Knotfest at Sea cruise would be postponed, but now some specific details have been revealed. Instead of setting sail from Barcelona, Spain, as it was scheduled to do this August, Knotfest at Sea will now depart from Athens, Greece in August 2021. Exact dates will be announced shortly. In addition to Slipknot, the 2020 lineup was to feature Be...
