TOOL, who are currently on tour in support of their GRAMMY Award® winning album Fear Inoculum, take it back to their beginning, celebrating the 30th anniversary of their first commercially-available release, Opiate, with a re-imagined and extended version of the EP’s title track and an accompanying short film. “Opiate2” is available via DSPs on March 1, with the Blu-ray only visual companion available on March 18.
Visual artist Dominic Hailstone (“Alien: Covenant”, “The Eel”) worked with Jones on the 10-plus minute film, which is the band’s first new video in 15 years. The clip continues TOOL’s knack for merging the aural and visual worlds, creating an all-encompassing experience for the listener that has been a hallmark of the outfit since their inception. Hailstone and Jones also collaborated on the filmed pieces featured on the current Fear Inoculum tour.
The physical release features a Blu-ray housed in a 46-page art book with behind-the-scenes and making-of photos as well as interviews and insights from special guests. “Opiate2” pre-orders are available now.
Some of you may be curious about how to best celebrate the night after Valentines’. Besides the obvious tradition of stocking up on steeply discounted chocolate, I would suggest heading out to a rock’n’roll burlesque show. Glitter! Butts! Glory! by Naughty Noir featuring acoustic performances by none other than Eric13 was the show to attend. I would argue itwas a big contender for a pretty badass Tuesday night.
Eric13 is known for his multifaceted career in the rock ‘n’ roll scene as a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wears many hats and you’ll find his name in multiple bands such as: Sex Slaves, Candy Volcano, The Pinheads, and Combichrist as well as his solo projects. The Naughty Noir burlesque troupe was founded by Puss-n-Boots and Mistress Ginger in New York City. Prior to this date, both Eric13 and Naughty Noir had collaborated as a virtual act. Tonight would bring the two together for the first time.
It was a full-on experience of amazing tunes and performances by the numerous burlesque dancers. My favorite moment however was during Eric13’s opening act. Picture this: Eric13 on his acoustic guitar strumming and singing along. When a dancer wearing a white wolf mask and a red sequined blazer and shorts combo struts onto the stage. Eric13 sang about Little Red Hood’s misadventures while the wolfy-lady tantalized the crowd. I’ve posted a snippet of this performance on Instagram for all those curious. I promise it was a sight to be seen.
The show was far from over. Music was aplenty and a welcoming ambience surrounded by musicians and dancers throughout the venue. In the second act, Eric13 worked up the crowd with his rendition of Billy Idols’ Rebel Yell and David Bowie’s Five Years. Afterwards, Naughty Noir’s Mistress Ginger joined him on stage for her dance routine to his single, Black Lipstick. Towards the end of the set, drummer Texas from Banana Fish Zero joined Eric13 and punched up the acoustic performance.
As with all good things, the glitter, butts, glory, and music came to an end. However that only means that in order to get a glimpse of this artistry all you have to do is check them out at their links listed below.
James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix an American musician, singer, and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most influential electric guitarists in the history of popular music, and one of the most celebrated musicians of the 20th century.
Saul Hudson better known as Slash, is a British-American musician, songwriter, and record producer from Stoke-on-Trent, England. He is best known as the lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Prince Rogers Nelson was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Widely regarded as one of the greatest musicians of his generation, he was known for his flamboyant, androgynous persona and wide vocal range, which included a far-reaching falsetto and high-pitched screams.
Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk.
Ray Charles Robinson Sr was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers ever, and he was often referred to as “The Genius”.
Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer and guitarist. She attained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and electric guitar that was extremely important to the origins of rock and roll.
Ellas McDaniel, known as Bo Diddley, was an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and music producer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll.
Richard Wayne Penniman, known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. Described as “the architect of rock and roll”, Richard’s most celebrated work dates from the mid-1950s, when his charismatic showmanship and dynamic music, characterized by frenetic piano playing, pounding backbeat, and raspy shouted vocals, laid the foundation for rock and roll.
Trivium singer and guitarist Matthew Kiichi Heafy has shared more details about his long-awaited and much-anticipated IBARAKI project.
The project’s debut album Rashomon will be released on May 6 via Nuclear Blast.
Today, the band has shared the video for “Akumu” (Feat. Nergal). Watch it here.
“‘Akumu’ translates to ‘nightmare’ — and with this piece, I encourage the listener to work to find their interpretations of what they feel from the lyrics, music, and the haunting visuals of the music video,” says Kiichi. “I have always been fascinated by Sagazan’s ‘Transfiguration,’ and for years, I have wanted to pay homage to his works with a performance art piece; to finally be able to immerse myself in his style was an intense experience.”
He finishes, “Having Nergal guest in this Ihsahn co-written piece allowed me to combine many of my long-time influences; and when I presented with Nergal of the challenge of translating my lyrics into Polish, it brought the song to another level.”
Last month, Ibaraki offered fans a taste and a tease of the music by sharing the video for “Tamashii No Houkai,” featuring special guest Ihsahn of Emperor fame, who is a core contributor and partner in this project. Watch the video here.
Fans will be able to listen to “Akumu” and “Tamashii No Houkai” by pre-saving here.
Pre-order the album Rashomon on CD, vinyl, cassette, and T-Shirt + CD bundle here.
IBARAKI — the name for a terrifying Japanese demon taken from feudal legend and the new project of Trivium’s Matthew Kiichi Heafy — is more than a solo record. It’s the end-result of a journey of an artist finding his voice. Its inspirations include everything from an adoration for the extremes of black metal to the exuberant storytelling of Gerard Way to the adventuresome worldliness of tragic bon viveur Anthony Bourdain. It’s a reflection of Kiichi’s multifaceted interests as well as a profound affirmation of his Japanese-American identity, and one that led him to confront one of his family’s most tragic moments. Like the artist behind it, there is much to the story of Ibaraki and it began with a timid email to one of black metal’s most revered and influential figures.
Kiichi, a fan of black metal before he even started Trivium, reached out to label reps for Ihsahn of Emperor, and the artist personally responded. He recalls, “It was so cool to get that nod and it inspired me to start checking some of his solo stuff. He’d just released his own solo record and I’d never heard anything like it — saxophones, clean singing, jazz chords. It was incredible to me. He’s this non-stop inventor. So I started writing in a totally different way.”
The exposure to Ihsahn’s solo work that would inspire the gradual craftsmanship that would eventually become Ibaraki. It was also the beginning of a friendship and creative collaboration that would eventually compel Ihsahn to take a leap of his own into a newfound role as producer on the project. While much of the material for Ibaraki was assembled over those months and years — as much a songwriting process as an exchange of ideas between friends — it wasn’t until the pandemic that the space was created and the idea could really flourish.
“It was very loose,” says Ihsahn. “We just had rough demos for a very long time because we’re arguably pretty busy people, but suddenly, everything was cancelled and we had time on our hands for the first time, so it was like, ‘OK, let’s do this.’ We never got to work in the same room; he’d track guitars and send them to me, I’d run them through my studio and send them back. It was a new way of working, but it was like he was there on the other side of the glass. Matt is a very, very positive energetic and passionate music fan — we have similar attitudes to music and open mindedness. We hit it off, and it’s been really rewarding to me.”
The creative interactions between the pair are the result of a deep trust borne of a commonality of their experience. “We both started our respective bands when we were 13,” Ihsahn says. “We got signed when we were 16. That’s young, and in essence we both found our path in life at an early age. We’ve talked a lot about that and our different experiences with that, because it’s like we know nothing else.”
While material was primarily written by Kiichi, Ihsahn engineered and produced and contributed some song structures, plus Trivium drummer Alex Bent and bassist Paolo Gregoletto and guitarist Corey Beaulieu contributed to various tracks. Ihsahn’s wife Heidi even sampled some natural sounds from the forest near their home and his entire family. Additional guests include the aforementioned Way and Behemoth’s Nergal.
Ihsahn also encouraged Kiichi to seek out new avenues for lyrical inspiration, namely his Japanese heritage. While an array of stories have been told via the tattoos on his body, such as the specific ancient Japanese story of gods, goddesses, and monsters from the Shinto religion taught to him by his mother, he began pouring the stories into lyrics.
While the rich mythology and folklore of Japan that would give IBARAKI its unique aesthetics and influences, it also provides the artist with the catalyst to contemplate his own identity and to consider how recent tragedies stateside have highlighted the need for better representation in metal.
Acclaimed Viking overlords and modern masters of heavy metal, Amon Amarth have today revealed their brand new, pulverising single “Put Your Back Into The Oar”, an ode to the epic Viking row. The standalone single was recorded & mixed in January 2021 at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden with producer Jens Bogren. Released via the band’s own label Victorious Music, the track was exclusively premiered on SiriusXM’s Liquid Metal yesterday and was subsequently played every hour throughout the day. Find “Put Your Back Into The Oar” on streaming platforms here and watch the accompanying music video here or by clicking the image below.
Amon Amarth comment,
“We’ve been quiet over the last 2 years, but we’ve been at home in Sweden hard at work behind the scenes. Much has been said about fans coming to our shows to have fun and doing the “epic Viking row”. Well we thought it was a good idea to write a song about it! This one is for you, the fans, wherever you are – and may Odin guide you as you row to your destiny in uncharted seas! Enjoy the song and video while we continue to work on a new album. We can’t wait to see all you heathens soon.”
The official video also premiered today on the band’s YouTube channel. Shot in England over 3 days in October 2021, the atmospheric, cinematic video was produced by Twin V and directed by Ryan MackFall at Crashburn Media.
In conjunction with this epic new song, the band have also announced the release of a limited edition 12’’ picture disc and a range of special merchandise available from the band’s Victorious Merch store and EMP. See below for full details.
From EMP: 12” 1-track picture disc – black/white variant (limited to 1000) T-Shirt – black and white Girlie Shirt – black and white
From Victorious Merch: 12” 1-track picture disc – coloured variant (limited to 1000) T-Shirt – coloured Hooded Zipper – coloured Girlie Shirt – coloured Girlie Long Hoodie – grey scale
NYC/New Jersey metal collective TOMBS and Atlanta blackened heavy metal outfit CLOAK will be embarking on a run of co-headlining live shows throughout the East Coast this spring, in which they will be supported by RESTLESS SPIRIT! The trek will kick off on April 5 in Providence, RI and will conclude in CLOAK‘s hometown of Atlanta, GA on April 10. TOMBS will then return to Brooklyn, NY for a homecoming show on April 16 along with EVOKEN and RESTLESS SPIRIT. The full run of dates and ticket links can be found below!
CLOAK will be supporting 2019’s ‘The Burning Dawn,’ which was named one of the Best Albums of the year by Metal Insider (#6), A&P Reacts (#8), Treble Zine (#11), and many others. The album streamed, downloaded, and ordered HERE.
TOMBS/CLOAK U.S. Dates (w/ Restless Spirit): 04/05: Providence, RI @ Dusk 04/06: Philadelphia, PA @ Silk City [TICKETS] 04/07: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery [TICKETS] 04/08: Winston Salem, NC @ Break Time [TICKETS] 04/09: Greenville, SC @ Radio Room [TICKETS] 04/10: Atlanta, GA @ Boggs [TICKETS] 04/16: Brooklyn, NY @ Kingsland* *Tombs only, no Cloak
Los Angeles-based rock sensation Bad Omens has released their stunning visual stream for “The Grey”. The song is from the band’s forthcoming album ‘THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND‘ out next Friday, February 25 (via Sumerian Records). Prior to today’s release, Bad Omens have shared music videos for the album title track “THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND“, “ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE” and most recently “Like A Villain” which combined have clocked up 3.8 million views on YouTube, and the single releases (also including “What do you want from me?” and “Like A Villain“) have totaled over 16 million streams and counting across platforms. Watch “The Grey”here or at the link below and pre-order ‘THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND‘ here.
THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND BAD OMENS Track Listing:
1. CONCRETE JUNGLE 2. Nowhere To Go 3. Take Me First 4. THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND 5. What It Cost 6. Like A Villain 7. bad decisions 8. Just Pretend 9. The Grey 10. Who are you? 11. Somebody else. 12. IDWT$ 13. What do you want from me? 14. ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE 15. Miracle
Fans also have their chance to see Bad Omens hit the stage on the Voyeurist North American Tour with Underoath, Spiritbox, and Stray From The Path. For ticket information, please click here.
Voyeurist Tour Dates February 18 – Dallas, TX @ Southside Ballroom February 19 – Houston, TX @ Bayou Music Center February 20 – San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre February 23 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren February 24 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern February 25 – Anaheim, CA @ House Of Blues(Sold Out) February 26 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield February 28 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo March 1 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater March 2 – Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory March 4 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex March 5 – Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theatre (Sold Out) March 7 – Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore March 8 – Chicago, IL @ Radius March 9 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore March 11 – Toronto, ON @ History March 12 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora March 13 – Wallingford, CT @ The Dome March 14 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues March 15 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE March 17 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel March 18 – Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore March 19 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore March 20 – Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom March 22 – Cincinnati, OH @ Icon March 23 – Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore March 25 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle March 26 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live (Sold Out) March 27 – St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Live
Bad Omens slither through boundaries, only to ultimately choke convention in the process. The quartet—Noah Sebastian (vocals), Joakim “Jolly” Karlsson (guitar), Nick Ruffilo (bass), and Nick Folio (drums)—materialize with ghostly atmospherics, striking hooks, and the tingles of sensual high-register harmonies uplifted by cinematic production. Racking up over 250M worldwide streams to date and earning acclaim, the band presents an uncompromising and undeniable vision on their third full-length album, ‘THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND’ (Sumerian Records).
“Making the record changed us as songwriters and musicians. In many ways, I feel like it set me free as an artist because every decision made in the writing process was for myself, with no fear for anyone else’s expectations of what our third album should sound like. Be it our fans or our record label.”
They’ve always wielded this level of magic though…
The group’s 2016 self-titled debut, ‘Bad Omens’, yielded fan favorites such as “Glass Houses” and “The Worst In Me” which eclipsed 23 million Spotify streams. On its heels, 2019’s ‘Finding God Before God Finds Me’ spawned “Dethrone” (11.5 million Spotify streams) and “Careful What You Wish For” (10 million Spotify streams). Along the way, they toured with numerous marquee acts and received tastemaker praise.
After their first headline tour was canceled mid-way at the top of the global pandemic, the band found themselves at home in Los Angeles with plenty of time. Where they absorbed and imparted a different palette of unexpected inspirations. Channeling what the frontman describes at times as a “cursive sound” they embraced newfound confidence and boundlessly loose creativity. Anything went in the studio, and all “rules” were broken. Noah and Jolly wrote, produced, and engineered the music themselves while GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer and songwriter Zakk Cervini (Halsey, Grimes, Poppy, blink-182) lent his talents with the mix and master. Challenging himself, Noah decided to “make a track sampling items around the house, none of which were musical instruments”.
This ultimately became the framework for the first single “THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND”. Claps puncture the icy soundscape as his voice stretches from a breathy moan into an evocative and entrancing hook, breaking from a whisper into the seductive chant, “It wasn’t hard to realize. Love’s the death of peace of mind.” It culminates on a climactic scream uplifted by a distorted crunch.
“The whole record really details the loss of peace of mind,” he explains. “The lyrics in the title track are a little more specific in terms of the conflict at the heart of something more intimate and personal.”
By speaking it aloud, Bad Omens offer a level of comfort and empathy, with a sinister shroud. At the same time, they also give rock music a sexy new shape on‘THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND’.
“Sonically, we want to do something you can’t arrive late or early too,” he leaves off. “You can’t cheat your way to the final act. You have to get on the ride and process it until the end. The songs are meant to be heard from start to finish. We want you to take the whole trip with us.”
The Podcast That Rocked for 2/15/22. Talk on the Ghost and Volbeat co-headline tour, rock bands becoming scarce, Starset sending out Rebels packages, and more.
Seeing Ghost Live & Starset Rebels Box
The Podcast That Rocked on Spotify
Discussion Topics: -We went to see Ghost & Volbeat live on tour. -Ghost pays tribute to Ghost. -Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey talk about how rock bands are becoming scarce. -New tour announcements and postponements. -Starset sent me a Rebels package. -Billboard Top 3, more.
Thanks to everyone that tuned in live on Twitch for the live recording. We stream the podcast every Tuesday at 8PM EST at HTTP://twitch.tv/rockednet. We also have New Music Night every Sunday at 7PM EST, covering all the new music that drops through the week in rock, alternative, metal, indie, industrial, punk, etc.
So What?! Music Festival has announced an updated lineup for their 2022 festival that includes Wage War, Lil Skies, Mod Sun, Pouya, State Champs,Hail The Sun, Rebecca Black, Kublai Khan TX, Hawthorne Heights, Big K.R.I.T., Oxymorrons and many more, with additional special guests to be announced. Along with acts like Texas In July, The Higher, Chunk! No, Captain Chunk, and Close Your Eyes reuniting for the festival, other notable sets include I Set My Friends On Fire performing the album Can’t Spell Slaughter Without Laughter (2008), and the original lineup of A Skylit Drive performing the EP She Watched The Sky (2007)for the first time ever.
So What?! Music Festival will be held at Choctaw Stadium (formerly Globe Life Park) in Arlington, TX on Memorial Day Weekend 2022 (May 27-29).Tickets are available to purchase now at sowhatmusicfestival.com.
The festival will merge metal, rock, rap, hip-hop, alternative and pop-punk genres for a weekend of performances. The first wave lineup announced performers I Prevail, Parkway Drive, The Ghost Inside, Blackbear, Simple Plan, Sum 41, 2 Chainz, Rae Sremmurd, Trippie Redd, Tyga, Knocked Loose, The Maine, Princess Nokia, 3OH!3 and many more, gaining the attention of Grammy.com, NYLON, Loudwire, COMPLEX, and other notable outlets.
“This year’s So What?! line up is us basically saying, who cares about a genre!” shares festival founder Mike Ziemer. “Everything is blending together more and more. There are so many hip-hop artists collaborating with rock artists. Travis Barker is working with like every type of artist. This festival brings together all the hype and energy of what’s current and what’s exciting to the fan that misses Warped Tour but also attends Rolling Loud.”
Puscifer bring their unique theater-meets-concert experience to stages nationwide this Summer as the Arizona-born outfit featuring Maynard James Keenan, Mat Mitchell, and Carina Round tour in support of their highly-regarded 2020 album, Existential Reckoning (Alchemy Recordings/Puscifer Entertainment/BMG).
The dates, which kick off June 9 at The Smith Center in Las Vegas, include the group’s largest scale performances to date with shows slated for Los Angeles’ venerable Greek Theatre (site of Keenan’s one-time-only Cinquanta mini festival), Brooklyn’s movie palace-turned-concert-hall Kings Theater and the state-of-the-art Mission Ballroom in Denver.
Over the years, Puscifer tours has traversed the Arizona desert, explored the barn dances of the American South, and tapped into the technicolor world of the Lucha libre. With Existential Reckoning the Pusciverse expanded into the cosmos. A taste of the live outing was hinted at with the ground-breaking and bedazzling “Existential Reckoning: Live at Arcosanti” livestream event. An on-demand/VOD version of the concert film and its accompanying soundtrack were released in November 2021, with physical versions of the soundtrack and film (vinyl and VHS) available via retailers on Feb. 25 (https://puscifer.lnk.to/LiveAtArcosanti). Puscifer TV is the online repository for all things Puscifer including the aforementioned “Existential Reckoning: Live at Arcosanti,” as well as “Billy D and The Hall of Feathered Serpents Featuring Money $hot by Puscifer,” “What Is… Puscifer,” and “A Curmudgeon’s Guide to Divine Collisions and Pythagorean Oenology.”
Pusciforce Agents Merkin, Round, and Mitchell have intercepted a coded message, which appears to be extraterrestrial in nature, emanating from the mysterious and elusive Briefcase, that translates as follows: “An Existential Reckoning is imminent.”
Agent Dick Merkin went on to say, “Utilizing a hybridized form of highly classified 1st Order Triangulation and Uber Eats delivery tracking software, we have been able to construct a predictive model mapping out specific coordinates for future sightings/appearances of this afore mentioned Briefcase. We will be there. We will be ready. Let the probing Begin.”
Existential Reckoning tour dates:
June 9 Las Vegas, NV The Smith Center – Reynolds Hall June 11 Phoenix, AZ Arizona Federal Theatre June 12 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre June 14 Albuquerque, NM Kiva Auditorium June 15 Austin, TX Bass Concert Hall June 16 Dallas, TX McFarlin Memorial Auditorium June 19 Manchester, TN Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival June 21 Atlanta, GA Coca-Cola Roxy Theatre June 22 Durham, NC Durham Performing Arts Center June 24 Philadelphia, PA The Metropolitan Opera House June 25 Brooklyn, NY Kings Theatre June 26 Wallingford, CT Toyota Oakdale Theatre June 28 Boston, MA House of Blues June 29 Pittsburgh, PA Stage AE July 1 Rochester Hills, MI Meadow Brook Amphitheatre (Pavilion) July 2 Chicago, IL The Chicago Theatre July 3 St. Paul, MN Palace Theatre July 5 Omaha, NE The Admiral July 6 Denver, CO The Mission Ballroom July 7 Salt Lake City, UT Eccles Theater – Delta Performance Hall July 9 Portland, OR The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall July 10 Seattle, WA McCaw Hall
Tickets are on-sale this Friday at 10 am local time with VIP package details to be made available in the coming days. Moodie Black open on all headlining dates.
