Rock ‘N’ Roll Hall of Famer Alice Cooper will release a new single “Don’t Give Up” on May 15 (through earMUSIC), inspired by the challenges everyone has been facing due to the pandemic. The song had been started in Detroit, and was completed using remote participation, produced by Bob Ezrin.
Alice has invited his fans, with an announcement on all of his web and social media sites, to participate in the video, which Cooper and band members are filming separately during quarantine. He is asking fans to submit photos of themselves holding up signs with one word from the lyrics to the song for possible inclusion in the video.
Said Alice, “This is a way for fans, regular folks who might be at home with free time and no place to go, to do something fun and positive that they’ll remember from this quarantine time instead of just remembering being cooped up.”
Fans can preview the lyrics and submit their photo at www.AliceCooper.com or via any of his social media sites.
Alain Johannes, co-creator of the highly influential ‘90s alternative rock band Eleven as well as a key contributor on releases from Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures and Chris Cornell, releases Hum, his third solo album, on July 31 via Ipecac Recordings.
“It’s more about me than probably any album I’ve ever done,” says Johannes about the collection that follows a period of tragic loss, extreme illness and rebirth. “It was something I was striving for and needed to communicate. Coming out of a difficult period, I was liberated. I had lost people who were very close to me. I went through struggles with my own health. There’s a personal energy behind the way it was recorded and the feel of the songs. It’s a document of my life right now.”
Johannes is seen playing the album’s title track in a video released this morning. The clip, which showcases Johannes performing the song in the woods near his Los Angeles home, was shot by Frank McDonough and edited by Felo Foncea.
“You can think of the album title, Hum, a few ways,” adds Johannes. “Of course, there’s a musical hum. There’s an electrical hum. To me, it suggests a sense of mystery. When you stop and listen to silence in nature, the hum is underneath the threshold of hearing. It’s a mysterious and magical sense of something existing, beautiful, and alive. It’s a blanket word for the sound of the ether—something that’s always been there, always will be there, and everything comes from it. It’s the common connection to everything.” Album pre-orders, which include an instant download of “Hum,” are available now: https://lnkfi.re/AJHum.
Today THE HU releases “Song of Women” featuring Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and kicks off the pre-order for the album on which it can be found – the Deluxe edition of the band’s critically acclaimed album, THE GEREG.
THE GEREG Deluxe edition is out on July 10, 2020 and will be available in CD, double vinyl and Digital formats. This version includes 3 of their tracks, re-made with special featured artists.
“THE HU is the real deal. Don’t sleep on this!” – Jacoby Shaddix (Papa Roach)
“Yuve Yuve Yu” featuring Danny Case of From Ashes To New was the band’s first-ever radio single. The song peaked at #4 on the rock radio charts and established the band at the format. The band’s current single “Wolf Totem” featuring Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach is well on its way to the top of the charts. The third track exclusive to the Deluxe edition is the brand new “Song of Women” featuring Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. There will also be 3 acoustic tracks on the new release.
The video for “Song of Women” features Lzzy Hale of Halestorm. Lzzy’s performance with the band was filmed prior to the coronavirus quarantine. “I’m so thankful to THE HU for welcoming me, my words and my melody into this song,” says Hale. “I can count on less than one hand the number of times where a project has changed the course of my spirit and renewed my faith in humanity. This was one of those projects. I’m still levitating.” May is a month filled with events honoring women – Mother’s Day on 5/10 and Women’s Health Week from 5/12- 5/18, so the band felt it important to release the song in May.
“I’m crazy about a Mongolian band called THE HU. They are just the greatest thing I’ve heard in a long time. My band of the year!” – Elton John (Beats 1 Rocket Hour)
The band is involved in the film THE RETALIATORS, a high-octane horror-thriller, starring Michael Lombardi (FX’s Rescue Me), Marc Menchaca (Ozark, The Outsider) and Joseph Gatt (Dumbo) with special guest appearances by some of rock music’s biggest names. THE HU band members play a small part in the movie and contributed “Wolf Totem” featuring Jacoby Shaddix of PAPA ROACH to the soundtrack.
THE HU has been making waves across the globe with sold-out shows and festival appearances presenting their signature brand of “hunnu rock” –a one-of-a-kind mixture of Western rock music combined with traditional Mongolian instrumentation and throat-singing in their native language.
The band has achieved wide critical acclaim and appeared on many 2019 year-end best-of lists. Loudwire listed THE GEREG among its Top Albums of 2019 and Revolver Magazine listed the band’s video “Great Chinggis Khaan” among the year’s Top 10. In the UK, THE GEREG placed among Top Albums of 2019 in Classic Rock and Metal Hammer magazines.
Michigan’s own, POP EVIL, have released two new singles “Let The Chaos Reign” and “Work”, marking the first taste of new music from the band since their Pop Evil full-length in 2018. The new tracks arrive as a twin assault of invigorating readymade hits for 2020, from a forthcoming album filled to the brim with a dozen tracks each worthy of a dedicated spotlight. “Let the Chaos Reign” is the heaviest single the band has ever dropped, a rousing fight song of self-determination and rising to meet any challenge with courage and strength. By contrast, “Work” puts its heavy guitars atop grooving rhythmic punch, as it champions the working-class heroes struggling to persevere across all industries today.
Speaking on the new singles and upcoming album, frontman and band founder Leigh Kakaty stated:
“We won’t bore people with the same song over and over. When you come to our live show, we feel like there should be an ebb and flow, peaks and valleys, that are similar to real life. Sometimes you’re up, sometimes you’re down. We like to take people on a journey when they listen to our music or come to see us live.”
POP EVIL has been a staple at major festivals and in theaters and clubs for over a decade, despite the group’s relative youth. As they’ve ruled the roost with No. 1 Billboard Rock singles like “Trenches”, “Deal with the Devil”, “Torn to Pieces”, “Footsteps”, and “Waking Lions”, they’ve taken their inspired message to the people, on tours with modern rock titans and veteran acts alike. The band bunkered down in Los Angeles in the winter of 2019 to put the finishing touches on the yet to be titled new album due out later this year via Entertainment One (eOne). The band also enlisted new creative teams of producers and collaborators to emphasize the uniquely varied aspects of the band’s sound. As “Let The Chaos Reign” and “Work” might suggest, the contrast and fearless genre-defying cross-cultural pollination have never been stronger than on album number six. The preproduction process yielded close to 30 songs, whittled down to the most potent 12 that represent everything POP EVIL is about. This new effort will be the highly anticipated follow up to their self-titled album that came out two years ago to high critical praise with outlets like Loudwire saying, “their self-titled effort continues that delivers a solid top-to-bottom listen.” Collectively, the band’s previous five albums account for over 600 million worldwide streams.
Earlier this month, POP EVIL also shared the news that their North American The Versatile Tour is postponed with details to follow regarding new dates.
The Podcast That Rocked episode for April 29th, 2020 featuring Geaux Gretchen. Discussion on: potential new music from Linkin Park, Guns N’ Roses, Slipknot; Shinedown & Five Finger Death Punch both supporting COVID-19 relief, 20 Years of Papa Roach’s Infest, Top 3 Of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart, and more. Click below for discussion topics and links.
New Linkin Park & New Guns N’ Roses?
The Podcast That Rocked on Spotify
Discussion Topics: -Linkin Park are writing new music? -Guns N’ Roses are recording new music? -Slipknot are writing new music and working on ideas while in isolation -Butcher Babies say they have to wait for COVID-19 to stop in order to produce their new album -Shinedown & Five Finger Death Punch both donate huge proceeds to COVID-19 relief -Papa Roach’s Infest was released 20 years ago -Top 3 of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart
Los Angeles born superstar guitarist, Nita Strauss, one of the most sought after and respected musicians in the world, has launched Rock Guitar Fundamentals – a 3 module online guitar teaching program suitable for learners of all levels. The course is available at www.iwanttoplayguitar.com and for a limited time, Nita is offering fans a 50% discount. No code required.
Rock Guitar Fundamentals is an online teaching program developed by Nita with a simple goal – getting guitars in as many people’s hands as possible and helping to improve their playing. Nita developed a 3 module system where aspiring learners can jump in wherever their skill level is, from picking up the guitar for the very first time to advanced players who want to brush up on music theory or learn some shred tips and tricks.
Module One is designed for the brand new player and goes over the anatomy of the guitar and all the basics like how to hold the pick correctly, fret the notes, tuning and more.
Module Two is highly focused on technique and theory, approached from a rock player’s perspective to be very easily understandable for the modern musician.
Module Three is where you start to find the bells and whistles of sweep picking, legato, whammy bar tricks, and more.
Nita says of the course,
“I see so many people online saying they want to play guitar, but have no idea where to start. And many more experienced players that get frustrated by technique and theory! So I wanted to create a step by step course that explains everything clearly from a rock guitar player’s perspective. If you’ve never picked up a guitar before and you start this course from the beginning, as long as you’re willing to put in the time you’ll end up with a great knowledge base to play solos, write songs, and play on stage with a band!”
Earlier this year, during NAMM, Nita launched 3 new signature products:
Two new versions of her Ibanez signature JIVA guitar, the more affordable JIVA Jr in fan favorite “Deep Sea Blonde” finish, and the high end, Japanese made JIVA X, a sleek transparent black quilted maple.
D’Addario & Co released a special tool kit designed by Nita and named the“Hurricane Kit” – a gigging guitarist’s emergency kit with every tool you might need at a moment’s notice.
Nita has also been busy writing and recording for the follow up to her enormously successful debut album, ‘Controlled Chaos’ which came out on Sumerian Records in November of 2018. Watch this space for more news on that in the coming months.
A video album review on Heartwork, the eighth studio album from The Used. Get ready to have your emotions played with all over again.
The Used – Heartwork | Album Review
The Used is an American rock band from Orem, Utah that formed in January 2001. The group consists of vocalist Bert McCracken, bassist Jeph Howard, drummer Dan Whitesides, and guitarist Joey Bradford. They have enjoyed much success with their albums achieving gold and platinum statuses in many countries worldwide. Heartwork is the eighth studio album by American rock band the Used. It was released on April 24, 2020. In addition to the new album, the band plans to release another album within a year because they recorded about 27 songs during the recording session.
Click below to hear music from the new album.
“Blow Me” (ft. Jason Aalon Butler)
“Paradise Lost, a poem by John Milton”
“Cathedral Bell”
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Trivium – What The Dead Men Say | Album Review
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With a new election on the horizon and America still on the brink, Ministry’s Al Jourgensen has re-entered the studio to create his missives that will become material for a to-be-announced new album on Nuclear Blast Records. The first taste comes today with the bold new track “Alert Level” accompanied by a provocative lyric video, created by Agent Ogden.
The song is the first new material from Jourgensen in two years and has a timely message as America—and the global population—faces epidemics, environmental crises, political corruption and one of the biggest elections of our lifetime. Regarding “Alert Level,”Jourgensen says, “We finished the song in January and it sounded great during rehearsals for our Australia/Japan tour dates, before we went into quarantine. The original plan was to finish the new record before the July ‘Industrial Strength’ US tour so we could have an Election Day release, but in lieu of the circumstances—and how relevant the song feels for these bizarre times—we decided to release ‘Alert Level’ now. Considering that this song features the question ‘How concerned are you?’ I’ll be interested to see how folks answer it themselves.”
Hear Jourgensen discuss more about “Alert Level” on Bill Burr’s latest episode of his “Monday Morning Podcast”.
With the release of “Alert Level,” fans are asked to be a part of the larger conversation by answering the question posed by the song’s central message, “How concerned are you?” Fans should upload videos, 30 seconds or less, to their social media profiles with the hashtag #MinistryAlertLevel. All the members of Ministry will be watching from home and selecting the videos most meaningful to them, which will be later shared.
Ministry also encourages fans to voice their concerns by voting in the upcoming 2020 elections and has partnered with Head Count to help voters to become registered in time. More info can be found here.
“Alert Level” will be included on Ministry’s upcoming 15th full-length release and the follow-up to the acclaimed 2018 record, “AmeriKKKant,” which was a return to form for the industrial juggernaut and garnered international tour dates, a collaboration with Wax Trax! and a support slot on Slayer’s final tour.
The long wait is over, Katatonia’s new opus City Burials is out today through Peaceville Records!
Having delighted fans earlier this week with the release of their 3rd single “The Winter Of Our Passing” the band, on release day, are premiering the accompanying stunning animated video, created by the incredibly talented artist Costin Chioreanu of Twilight 13 Media.
”The Winter of Our Passing – masterly percieved by Costin Chioreanu. The letting go of what once was of great importance, now reduced to just another loss. Let’s bow before the flame we’ve all deserted. But thank you for listening.” Jonas Renkse
Three years in the making, City Burials is another huge statement from the legendary band that are eleven albums into a career that spans three decades. City Burials stands as Katatonia’s new triumph of deep, progressive rock with what has come to be a rejuvenating, stirring and profound chapter in the band’s legacy – a catalyst for the burdens of its creators, a collection of moments constructed out of the fragments of an evolving life, all compiled into one of the band’s most important modern works and statements to date, with the voice of Jonas Renkse guiding us through these latest trials of loss and ruin.
The album was recorded at Soundtrade Studios, Tri-Lamb Studios & The City Of Glass, throughout October & November 2019, with engineering work handled by Karl Daniel Lidén. The album also features a guest appearance by Anni Bernhard, the voice behind Stockholm based act Full of Keys. Artwork appears courtesy of Lasse Hoile, the image itself representing the ongoing era of the Dead End King.
City Burials is available now on CD, deluxe mediabook CD with bonus tracks, black and coloured vinyl LPs with a bonus track and digitally. The album is available to purchase HERE.
As the current Covid-19 virus has meant that many of festivals and shows Katatonia were due to play over the summer have been forced to be postponed, the band, not wanting to disappoint their fans worldwide have confirmed they will perform a live show on May 9th from Sweden’s Studio Grondahl. The band will be performing the live premiere of 3 new songs from City Burials.
Australian metalcore outfit IN HEARTS WAKE will release their fifth studio album KALIYUGA on August 7 via UNFD, marking their first new music in three years. Known throughout their career for their passion and dedication to environmental awareness, the band have minimized their environmental footprint on the release by carbon offsetting the entire process and using recycled materials to create physical products for the music.
IN HEARTS WAKE today have shared a new single/music video for the track “Son Of A Witch” (see below) that follows the previously released debut single/video for “Worldwide Suicide” for which the band vowed to plant one native tree per every 1,000 views it receives.
“Son Of A Witch” is influenced by IN HEARTS WAKE frontman JAKE TAYLOR‘s experience of the devastating Malibu Fires in 2018. This experience kindled the creation of the single, which was penned before the great burning of the Amazon Rainforest and the destructive 2020 wildfires in Australia. Filming for the song’s live action clip was restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Coronavirus turned our video cartoon,” says TAYLOR of the animated video. “These challenging times are forcing us to adapt, evolve and discover new ways of doing things. I scoured the internet for an animation team who could bring to life this emotive, sensitive and archetypal narrative about humanity’s neglect and mistreatment of Mother Earth. I’ve never written or directed animation before, but it opened up new possibilities and for that I’m grateful.”
IN HEARTS WAKE calculated the recording process of the album to be 26.37 tonnes of CO2e which has been entirely offset through the purchase of carbon credits in the Yarra Yarra Biodiversity Corridor of Western Australia. The album will also be packaged and manufactured plastic free.
“During the recording process for ‘Kaliyuga’ we measured every power socket, counted every light, pound of freight, food consumption, driving mile and airfare taken,” says TAYLOR. “We were then able to find the total carbon footprint and offset it by supporting a rewilding project in Australia on First Nations land.”
He continues, “Our mission to help support and sustain life on Earth has made us realize that less is more. Many industries are evolving, and as musicians we feel it’s time to do our part. It’s been challenging to navigate the retail hurdles, find sustainable materials and successful companies that embody our ethos, but through a bit of research we’ve discovered that there are many solutions out there.”
KALIYUGA is accompanied by a brand-new website, https://thehouseofkali.com/, which is now live. The site offers album news, insights, exclusive content and clues as well as a host of important information.
IN HEARTS WAKE are long time champions of the earth, with their last three albums themed around the natural elements that make life here possible. Earthwalker (2014) explored the element of Earth, Skydancer (2015) explored air, and Ark (2016) focused on water. All three albums debuted in the Top 5 of the ARIA charts with the themes of social and environmental justice and self-accountability steady throughout. It is uncanny that the band’s fourth album, KALIYUGA, would be born of fire, inspired and bookended by the devastating fires that occurred in California and Australia throughout 2018, 2019 and 2020.
KALIYUGA takes a surgeon’s scalpel and a sledgehammer to cut and smash through dysfunction. A ruthless scrutiny of self and the social and eco injustices and abuse at play today blazes throughout the album as IN HEARTS WAKE aim to break the barriers of apathy, distraction, disinformation, anxiety and despair to spread the band’s purpose and passion like wildfire.
“Ancients from different cultures spoke of Four Ages of Humanity,” says TAYLOR. “The Hindu ancients called the Age we are in right now, ‘KALIYUGA’ – a time when negativity such as discord, greed, materialism and fear create strife and imbalance for life on earth. We’re seeing this in the world around us and in the chaos of recent events. But I believe we were born into this age for a reason-that we can transform the challenges we face by seizing the opportunity to grow and change the way we live on the earth and with each other.”
KALIYUGA is geared for inciting widespread positive action and breaking new ground in order to tackle the most pressing crises on the planet today. This is inspiring conscious heavy music for these times.
