Touché Amoré have shared the latest single, “I’ll Be Your Host”, from their upcoming new album Lament (out October 9th). “I’ll Be Your Host” is another emotional tour de force from the screamo veterans. It follows the pattern of excellence laid out by previous singles, “Deflector” and “Limelight” — tracks that placed Lament firmly among our most anticipated fall metal albums. The track is multidimensionally meta, concerning singer Jeremy Bolm’s meditations on how his lyrics and songs affect listeners. The title, “I’ll Be Your Host”, becomes quite literal, with Bolm grasping how fans might “find catharsis in their own loss while he is still processing and dealing with his grief,” according to the press release. Likewise, he explores how that dynamic affects himself in turn. “‘I’ll Be Y...
Bring Me the Horizon have unleashed a new song, “Obey”, featuring frontman Oli Sykes trading verses with UK singer Yungblud. The track is the latest single from BMTH’s forthcoming series of Posthuman EPs. The new song once again demonstrates Bring Me the Horizon’s recent propensity for melding various genres, although there is a return to the heaviness of the band’s earlier work. Sykes offers up some metal screams over thick riffs, with electronic and industrial elements throughout. A music video for the track depicts Sykes facing off with Yungblood as they each control a throwback giant robot in their own likenesses. The clip ends with an unexpected twist that we won’t give away. According to a press release, “‘Obey’ is a soaring ode about how, as a society, oppression has been so normali...
It’s no secret that musicians have been hit hard during the pandemic, but Behemoth frontman Nergal insists that it’s all about what artists make of the circumstances. As he puts it, “You can … whine or cry like a baby, or you can do something with the situation.” With the concert industry shut down, it’s been a scary time for bands, as live shows have become a main source of revenue amidst diminished album sales in recent years. With no end to the pandemic in sight, many artists are wondering whether they can financially survive this tumultuous time. Behemoth, like other bands, are looking at creative ways to engage their fans and support their craft at the same time. The Polish metallers recently announced an immersive livestream concert event, dubbed “In Absentia Dei”, during which the b...
Lamb of God have announced two livestream concerts, taking place September 18th and 25th. The band will play its 2020 self-titled album and 2004’s Ashes of the Wake in their entirety during the respective shows, plus other favorites during the encores. The September 18th event will mark the “live” debut of Lamb of God’s acclaimed self-titled album, which came out amidst the pandemic on June 19th. The band would have embarked on a massive co-headlining tour with Megadeth in support of the album, but have postponed those dates until 2021. Instead, Lamb of God have turned to paid livestreams as physical concerts remain mostly on pause. The streams will begin at 5 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. PT on their respective days, with on-demand viewing available through those weekends. Tickets are $15 per show or ...
Power Trip’s Riley Gale, photo by Jon Hadusek / Trivium’s Matt Heafy, via Roadrunner Records Trivium paid their respects to late Power Trip singer Riley Gale, covering the latter’s “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” on a livestream over the weekend. Trivium played the cover on their “Deepest Cuts” livestream in honor of Gale, who tragically died last week at 34 from unspecified causes. Of all of Power Trip’s riff-laden thrash metal songs, “Executioner’s Tax” is arguably their signature anthem due to Gale’s chorus refrain — “Swing of the axe!” — which instantly went down in heavy metal lore when it was released on 2017’s Nightmare Logic. “Talking about love and talking about good times, we had the pleasure of touring with Power Trip on one of our greatest UK/European to...
Metallica’s steady journey to immortalization will continue with a set of statues honoring the metal legends. High-end collectible maker KnuckleBonz has announced a new series of Metallica figurines slated for release in early 2021. KnuckleBonz has been a go-to company for creating life-like mini statues of notable rock and metal acts, having released a set of Pantera figures last year. Other previous artists represented as part of KnuckleBonz’s “Rock Iconz” series include Marilyn Manson, Lemmy Kilmister, AC/DC’s Angus Young, and more. The Metallica figures are modeled after the band’s latest look, beginning with their 2016 album Hardwired … To Self-Destruct and including their massively successful “WorldWired Tour” in support of the LP. Frontman James Hetfield is depicted singing into a m...
Down played their first show in four years over the weekend, celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album, NOLA, with a livestream concert dubbed “Quarter Century Throwdown”. During the set, filmed at an undisclosed venue in New Orleans, singer Philip Anselmo paid tribute to his fallen Pantera bandmates Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul. The 15-song concert, which streamed for $9 on Saturday (August 29th), saw Down perform all of 1995’s NOLA (except for the instrumental track “Pray for the Locust”) and three songs from 2002’s Down II: A Bustle in Your Hedgerow. It also marked the live return of founding member Kirk Windstein, who had parted ways with the band in 2013 before rejoining the group late last year. Prior to performing “Lifer”, Anselmo dedicated the song “to all the bands ...
Mastodon (photo by Carlo Cavaluzzi), Bill & Ted (Orion Pictures), Lamb of God (Amy Harris) Not only has the highly anticipated movie Bill & Ted Face the Music arrived in theaters and on VOD, but its jam-packed soundtrack is out, as well. Among the highlights are brand-new songs from metal heavyweights Mastodon and Lamb of God, along with new cuts from Weezer, Cold War Kids, FIDLAR, Big Black Delta, and more. Mastodon’s song “Rufus Lives” is a particular highlight, with the title an ode to the late George Carlin’s character from the first two Bill & Ted movies. It’s a fast-paced track powered by some hard-hitting drumming by Brann Dailor. After releasing a stellar new album earlier in the year, Lamb of God add another new song to their 2020 canon with “The Death of Us”, a relent...
Sevendust are gearing up to release a new album called Blood & Stone, and the Atlanta-based metal act has unleashed the first original song from the upcoming set. The band previously released a cover of Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried to Live” as the first single from Blood & Stone, but “Blood from a Stone” marks Sevendust’s first original tune since their acclaimed 2018 album All I See Is War. The track has a vintage Sevendust vibe, with thick, moving riffs from Clint Lowery and John Connolly; heavy rhythms from bassist Vince Hornsby and drummer Morgan Rose; and powerful, soaring vocals from Lajon Witherspoon. “’Blood from a Stone’ was inspired by the endurance and threshold of our band, the wins and the losses, the good and bad years. That we have more to give, more to say an...
James Hetfield (photo by Amy Price), Atheris hetfieldi snake (via Dr. Luis Ceríaco) Pretty soon, Metallica are going to need to open their own aquarium to house all the species named after them. A newly discovered venomous snake species has been named after frontman James Hetfield just months after a mysterious deep-sea creature was named after the band. The snake, a species of bush viper, has been dubbed Atheris hetfieldi. It was discovered at Bioko Island in the Gulf of Guinea by a team of Portuguese and American scientists, led by metalhead Luis Ceríaco. According to the official finding, “The newly described species presents a series of morphological characters that clearly differentiate it from all of its congeners.” We’re not really sure what that means, but we’re guessing the snake...
Dave Grohl doesn’t back down from a drum-off, even when he’s challenged by a 10-year-old prodigy. The Foo Fighters frontman answered the call when talented youngster Nandi Bushell threw down the gauntlet to the onetime Nirvana drummer. Nandi has been getting the attention of prominent rockers with her recent YouTube performances. Her rendition of Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerrilla Radio”, on which she played drums, guitar, and bass, received the seal of approval from Tom Morello. In fact, Morello even shipped her one of his new signature Soul Power Stratocasters, which she then used to rock Audioslave’s “Cochise”. More recently, Kirk Hammett offered her praise for her performance of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. Now, Grohl is going head-to-head with Nandi, who two weeks ago tweeted her d...
Renowned extreme-metal acts Enslaved, Kataklysm, and Ihsahn all released new singles with accompanying music videos on Friday (August 28th), delivering a thunderous dose of new music to metalheads everywhere. Norwegian metal veterans Enslaved have unleashed “Urjotun” as the third single from their upcoming album Utgard, due October 2nd via Nuclear Blast. “The lyrical idea for ‘Urjotun’ had been spinning around in the chaos in the back of my head for quite a while, when Ivar sent me the riff-demo last autumn,” stated Enslaved singer Grutle Kjellson of the song. “I knew instantly that this was it, the very soundtrack of the rise of the primeval giant, the Urjotun! Our mutual love and fascination for that early krautrock scene and for bands like Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk, finally fully as...