An isolation interview with Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation talking about the new song “Entertain You”, the upcoming EU tour with Evanescence in Fall, The Corona Quarantine Sweat It Out Workout Playlist, staying busy in isolation, and more.
Interview with Within Temptation (Sharon den Adel)
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal / rock band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have always been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although rock and industrial influences have their place on the last and 7th studio album Resist. Their most prominent and well-known sound is described as symphonic metal. #WithinTemptation #EntertainYou #SharondenAdel #Resist #Rocked #Interview #StayHome
Sharon Janny den Adel is a Dutch singer, songwriter and fashion designer, best known as the lead vocalist and one of the main songwriters in the Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. She has been a performing musician since the age of 14, and is a founding member of Within Temptation, along with Robert Westerholt, in 1996. She was also elected to be the Dutch chairperson of the jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.
The Pretty Reckless, who announced their signing to Fearless Records last week, have dropped the brand new single “Death By Rock And Roll” today. The song is now available at all DSPs and is the first taste of new music since 2016’s Who You Selling For.
Listen to the rowdy and raucous anthem “Death By Rock And Roll” here.
The track, powered by vocalist Taylor Momsen‘s throaty, Joplin-invoking roar and thunderous riffing, is just the jolt the genre — and the world — needs.
“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,” says Momsen. “Rock is freedom and this song is about living life the way you want, and now that belongs to everyone who listens.”
The Pretty Reckless formed in New York City during 2008, and the musicians and late producer Kato Khandwala initially made waves with their 2010 debutLight Me Up. After countless gigs, the band returned with Going To Hell in 2014. Not only did the record crash the Top 5 of the Billboard Top 200, but it also ignited three #1 hits —the gold-certified “Heaven Knows” (the biggest rock song of 2014), “Fucked Up World,” and “Follow Me Down”— a feat that had not been accomplished by a female-fronted group since The Pretenders in 1984. Meanwhile, their third offering, Who You Selling For, saw them return to #1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs Chart with “Take Me Down,” which cemented them as “the first band to send its first four singles to #1 on the chart,” according to Billboard. Praise followed from Vogue, Nylon, and more as the quartet lit up television shows such as Letterman and Conan. With over half-a-billion streams, they headlined countless sold out shows and toured with Guns N’ Roses and many other heavy hitters.
Sweden’s most creative and exciting export, AVATAR, debuted the official music video for their new track “Silence in the Age of Apes”, which serves as the lead single from their highly anticipated eighth full-length, Hunter Gatherer, due out August 7th, 2020 via Entertainment One (eOne). Continuing to smash the boundaries between band, theater troupe, and cinematic masterminds, the band also has revealed their new wardrobes alongside the stunning visuals for “Silence in the Age of Apes”, a ready-made anthem for the modern age searching for a collective meaning amidst the savagery of technology. From the very first riff of the explosive lead single, listeners will find a darker, futuristic, and entirely new version of AVATAR. Their bold manifesto, Hunter Gatherer, is an unflinchingly ruthless study of a clueless humankind’s ever-increasing velocity into an uncertain future, furthering the reach of the band’s always expanding dark roots. The forthcoming album is the darkest, most sinister version of the band yet, with deep studies of cruelty, technology, disdain, and deprivation.
Hunter Gatherer is now available for pre-order here.
“Silence in the Age of Apes” comes hot on the heels of the end of the Avatar Country storyline, finalized with the heartfelt thank you video A Farewell To Avatar Country. This concluded the realm created by the band and actualized in their epic featurette Legend Of Avatar Country: A Metal Odyssey that blew past a $50,000 Kickstarter campaign goal in less than 90 minutes. Released in 2018, Avatar Country debuted at #2 Indie, #4 Hard Music, #8 Rock, and #25 on the Billboard 200 Chart and gathering support from Loudwire, Revolver, Metal Hammer, Metal Injection, Rock Sound, Alternative Press, New Noise and many more for their music and storytelling ability.
In 2019, AVATAR reunited with producer Jay Ruston (Stone Sour, Slipknot, Anthrax) at Sphere Studios in Los Angeles, California, where the foundation for each song on Hunter Gatherer was laid with the band performing altogether, as they’d done only once before, on Hail the Apocalypse (2014). The old-school method of playing as one in the studio, more akin to how they are on stage, captured the essence of AVATAR. Recorded entirely to two-inch tape, Hunter Gatherer exhibits everything that makes AVATAR standouts in the vast, rich landscape of heavy metal’s past and present.
Through ambitious compositions and vibrant visual storytelling AVATAR seamlessly blurs the line between sights and sounds. AVATAR songs are new anthems for the ages, precision heat-seeking missiles targeting a cultural landscape ready for fresh songs to champion from a band with a giant persona to rally behind. The AVATAR experience is challenging, daring, and altogether captivating.
Tracklist: 1. Silence in the Age of Apes 2. Colossus 3. A Secret Door 4. God of Sick Dreams 5. Scream Until You Wake 6. Child 7. Justice 8. Gun 9. When All but Force Has Failed 10. Wormhole
Ukrainian modern metal frontrunners JINJER return with an indignant rage – chock full of confidence and wrath. Today, JINJER occupies your sanity with a new music video for the hard-hitting epos “Noah“, off of their latest chart-breaking juggernaut Macro.
In a vortex of clean vocals, vibrant growls and blazing drums JINJER bends the progressive metal horizon. Accompanying an artful audiovisual featuring stormy, tumultuous and disturbing yet comforting imagery, JINJER draws the viewer into a parallel universe.
Today, the band releases the video through the official channels.
Watch the video below:
Commented the band’s bassist Eugene Abdukhanov:
“Tatiana wrote “Noah” from the point of view of what if he did not succeed in perpetuating Life on Earth? Looks like we might find out sooner than we think! Times are scarier, tougher and stranger than ever. Our/your livelihood and everything we know and cherish are on the verge being swept away by a storm like nothing we’ve faced before. Will we have our own modern day Ark? Will we manage to jump on board in time or has it already set sail? What will be left over after it‘s all said and done? These questions are torturing all of us right now and the future is disturbingly uncertain. But we will survive and will get through this, like we did during so many dark times before. Together. Strong and revitalized with a much better understanding of what we are.”
Devastating riffs, aggressive vocals, powerful melodies and astonishingly deep lyrics are what make their new album, Macro, JINJER’s most advanced and undeniable album yet – taking the listener on a journey of trauma, power struggle and greed with a progressive groove metal backdrop.
In under 10 years, the four-piece progressive groove metal wrecking machine known as JINJER have carved their very own place in the heavy metal landscape and are poised to go even further in 2019 and beyond. Hailing from Donetsk, this Ukrainian musical oddity formed in 2009, but consider the official start of the band with the addition of the incredible vocalist and femme fatale, Tatiana Shmayluk, in 2010. Since then, JINJER have been nominated and won the Best Ukrainian Metal Act award for Best Ukrainian Metal Band multiple times.
JINJER have built upon the successes of their previously released Micro EP with their latest full-length, Macro – boasting impressive worldwide chart debuts, remarkable critical acclaim, and millions of track streams and YouTube views – all the while selling out the vast majority of their international live performances in support. With Macro, JINJER have truly arrived in metal stardom territory and are on the verge of conquering it.
The Podcast That Rocked episode for May 12th, 2020. Discussion on Shinedown and Dave Grohl’s statements on future live shows, concerts having to change with potentially no crowd surfing or moshing, Weezer and Within Temptation bring new music, and more. Discussion topics and links below.
Face Mask Merch Should Be A Big Seller
The Podcast That Rocked on Spotify
Discussion Topics: -When live venues re-open, new rules will be enforced about being around each other -Shinedown plan on touring no matter what this year -Within Temptaiton make a new song in quarantine -Weezer push back Van Weezer but release a new song and are heading to The Simpsons -Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater is being remastered for PS4 -Billboard Mainstream Top 3
Killswitch Engage — Adam Dutkiewicz [guitar], Joel Stroetzel [guitar], Mike D’Antonio [bass], Justin Foley [drums], and Jesse Leach [vocals] — have released a live performance video of an acoustic version of the song “We Carry On.” The track was recorded while the members were in quarantine. The original appears on the band’s 2016-released album Incarnate.
As Adam D. says in the intro of the video, the band had planned to perform this song during the now-postponed Spring 2020 Atonement Tour, featuring August Burns Red and Light The Torch. The tour was paused after only a few shows in March due to the COVID-19 shutdown. The rescheduled dates will be announced soon.
“This song is a deep one for me,” explains Leach. “When I wrote the lyrics, it was originally based off of struggles in a tumultuous, abusive relationship. Little did I know how significant it would eventually be as it has relevance during this strange time of quarantine and uncertainty. For me, it has turned into an anthem, of sorts, about perseverance. While working on this version, it really struck me how much I felt the lyrics in a different light. As dark and difficult as things can get, we all have this inner power to persevere and pull through. I feel that the desperation and the melancholy of this song are balanced by a ray of hope that runs through it all.”
The band has also created KsE-branded face masks for fans, which are available on their web store at this location.
All profits from sales of these face masks will be donated to NIVA (National Independent Venue Association). The organization is working to help preserve independent venues across the country that are struggling during the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about their efforts here.
“We decided that it’s a good opportunity to bring some awareness and support to an important non-profit organization called NIVA,” Leach explains. “All of us started out in small ‘Mom and Pop’ venues and it would be an absolute shame to see some of these venues go away due to this crisis. I still frequent small clubs when I am home to see shows and stay in touch with the local scenes. Independent venues are the backbone of creativity, art, and music.”
He finishes, “When this is all said and done, I am certain people will be clamoring to see live music. I know I will! So where would we be if these venues go belly up due to lack of support and funding?!”
The release features six songs from the recording sessions for KsE’s 2019-released and Grammy-nominated album Atonement, out now via Metal Blade Records. The track listing is below.
ATONEMENT II B-SIDES FOR CHARITY TRACK LISTING: “To The Great Beyond” “Hollow Convictions” “Killing of Leviathan” “No Devotion” “I Feel Alive Again” “Prophets of Treason”
Following the release of ENTER SHIKARI’s critically-acclaimed #2 UK album Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible on So Recordings last week, the band will premiere the video for “The Great Unknown” this Tuesday May 12th at 1:00pm EST on YouTube. The band will be online to answer fan questions before, during, and after the premiere.
“The Great Unknown” video was directed by POLYGON who was also responsible for the “{ The Dreamers Hotel }” and “Stop The Clocks” videos, as well as recent work for Tame Impala and Bring Me The Horizon. The video was produced entirely during the lockdown period, with the band members individual performances self-shot at home and whisked to Paris to be turned into magic.
Frontman Rou Reynolds said:
“The Great Unknown is a song about existential dread. A song about the need for new ideas and new beginnings. I’m so glad we were able to still make a video for this song, what with the current state of affairs, and I’m glad we were able to convey the emotions intrinsic to the song with this video – our state of isolation and desolation but also determination and connection. Yet again it was a great pleasure to work with Polygon, albeit remotely this time! I won’t forget taking directions from him on Skype, as I recorded my scenes in front of a homemade green-screen in my bedroom!”
“The Great Unknown is an invitation for viewers to dive into a futuristic and gloomy world, where high-end buildings mix with gigantic holograms. The concept of the video is to create a parallel between the state we’re all in at the moment and an ultra pessimistic vision of the world… It seems like there is no redemption nor glimmer of hope in this massive city, but even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.
I’m really happy with the result of this video and I hope people will enjoy it. It’s truly amazing working with the band and management for they’ve always been supportive of these kind of ideas and always been giving me total freedom regarding the direction and execution of what are at first silly lines on a notepad or badly drawn doodles. I’ll forever be thankful for all the opportunities the band have given me.”
The band will headline the NHS benefit online festival Five4Five on Saturday, May 16th. Enter Shikari will perform a short set which will be free to watch, but with viewers encouraged to donate £5 to watch the two-day event with all proceeds to NHS Charities Together. Other artists on the bill include Don Broco, Fatherson and Deaf Havana. More details at www.five4fivefest.com
Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible tracklist
1. The Great Unknown 2. Crossing The Rubicon 3. { The Dreamers Hotel } 4. Waltzing off the Face of the Earth (I. Crescendo) 5. modern living… 6. apocoholics anonymous (main theme in B minor) 7. the pressure’s on. 8. Reprise 3 9. T.I.N.A. 10. Elegy For Extinction 11. Marionettes (I. The Discovery of Strings) 12. Marionettes (II. The Ascent) 13. satellites * * 14. the king 15. Waltzing off the Face of the Earth (II. Piangevole)
Enter Shikari have long been vocal supporters of the National Health Service as seen in 2015’s “Anaesthetist” single, taken from the albumThe Mindsweep:
Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible entered the Official UK Charts at #2, making it Enter Shikari’s highest ever chart position, as well as #1 in the OCC Cassette and Rock Charts. This marks the band’s fifth UK Top 10 album of their career joining 2007’s debut Take To The Skies, A Flash Flood Of Colour (2012), The Mindsweep (2015) and The Spark (2017). Listen in full here.
Enter Shikari have announced an extensive UK / European tour for Autumn / Winter 2020 which has seen unrivaled demand.
OCTOBER 2020 Thu 1 UKRAINE. Lviv – Fest Republic Fri 2 UKRAINE. Kiev – Bingo Club Sun 4 BELARUS. Minsk – Prime Hall Mon 5 LATVIA. Riga – Melna Piektdiena Tue 6 ESTONIA. Talinn – Helitehas Thu 8 RUSSIA. Moscow – Adrenaline Stadium Sat 10 RUSSIA. St Petersburg – A2 Mon 12 FINLAND. Helsinki – Tavastia Tue 13 FINLAND. Tamprere – Klubi Fri 16 SWEDEN. Stockholm – Fryhuset Sat 17 NORWAY. Oslo – John Dee Sun 18 SWEDEN. Gothenburg – Pustervik Mon 19 DENMARK. Copenhagen – Pumpehuset Wed 21 POLAND. Warsaw – Stodola Thu 22 POLAND. Krakow – Kwadrat
NOVEMBER 2020 Wed 11 UK. Southampton – Guildhall Thu 12 UK. Manchester – Victoria Warehouse Fri 13 UK. Cardiff – Great Hall – SOLD OUT Sat 14 UK, London – Alexandra Palace Mon 16 UK. Middlesborough – Town Hall Wed 18 UK. Edinburgh – Usher Hall wq Thu 19 UK. Nottingham – Rock City Fri 20 UK. Nottingham – Rock City – SOLD OUT Sat 21 UK. Birmingham – 02 Academy
DECEMBER 2020 Tue 1 BELGIUM.Antwerp – Trix Fri 4 GERMANY. Berlin – Columbia Halle Sat 5 GERMANY. Cologne – Palladium Sun 6 GERMANY. Stuttgart – LKA Longhorn Tue 8 SWITZERLAND. Zurich – Xtra Wed 9 GERMANY. Munich – TonHalle Thu 10 GERMANY. Offenbach – Stadthalle Sat 12 NETHERLANDS, Amsterdam – Melkweg
The Ghost Inside have unveiled a new track from their forthcoming self-titled record out June 5 via Epitaph. The track, “Pressure Point,” is about the types of exploitative acquaintances who are quick to make someone else’s tragedy about themselves.
“Almost all TGI songs take the listener on a journey from dark to light or from despair to hope,” explains bassist Jim Riley. “On this record we made a conscious effort to let individual songs explore different emotions we’ve been experiencing and not force them to have a positive turn. We feel like the album as a whole will give you that hopeful feeling, even though a song like ‘Pressure Point; might not do that by itself. Instead we embraced being pissed off and let it pour out through some of the most aggressive and pointed lyrics we’ve ever had. We try to avoid cursing in our songs but sometimes you’re just so fed up that nothing less than a big loud fuck will get the job done.“
Created with producer Will Putney (Every Time I Die, The Amity Affliction, Knocked Loose) and longtime friend/collaborator Jeremy McKinnon of A Day To Remember, The Ghost Inside is 11 songs of determination, deep resolve, reflection, and newfound hope. The self-titled album arrives as the follow-up to the band’s 2014 release Dear Youth, which debuted #63 on the Billboard 2000, and will be the first release since their tragic bus accident in 2015.
The band had worked on material for their fifth album prior to the accident that claimed the lives of their driver, the lives of everyone in the other vehicle, and resulted in multiple injuries for all of the band members. Jonathan Vigil (vocals) suffered from a fractured back, ligament damage, and two broken ankles. Zach Johnson (guitar) has since had 13 surgeries for a femur injury. Andrew Tkaczyk (drums) ultimately lost his leg. The band collectively came to see the ordeal as a moment to put their inspirational lyrics to the test. Songs that were once more philosophical in origin had become autobiographical.
The accident will always be a defining moment for The Ghost Inside, but never what defines them. The album taps into the raw emotional things they’ve been through, but the songs are not about reliving the worst day of their lives. “This isn’t about what happened to us,” Riley insists. “We won’t get lost in that one day. This is about our journey, our growth, and who we are.”
The ultimate victory for The Ghost Inside is their triumphant new self-titled album.
THE GHOST INSIDE TRACK LISTING 1. 1333 2. Still Alive 3. The Outcast 4. Pressure Point 5. Overexposure 6. Make Or Break 7. Unseen 8. One Choice 9. Phoenix Rise 10. Begin Again 11. Aftermath
During the mammoth #FearlessAtHome live stream event that took place earlier today, horror themed theatricore outfit, ICE NINE KILLS celebrated the 40th Anniversary of classic horror movie, Friday The 13th, with the debut of Jason’s Mom – a very special, acoustic parody in honor of one of the deadliest matriarchs in movie history, just in time for Mother’s Day. They dedicated the performance to Adam Schlesinger whose genius song writing and smash hit, Stacy’s Mom, provided the inspiration for the song.
Speaking on their re-imagining of the Fountains of Wayne classic track and the 40th Anniversary of Friday The 13th, INK frontman, Spencer Charnas says
“Today marks the 40th anniversary of Friday The 13th and with tomorrow being Mother’s Day, we thought this acoustic cover would be the perfect way to celebrate. We want to dedicate this to the memory of the inspirational songwriter Adam Schlesinger, who co-wrote this amazing and enduring pop song for Fountains Of Wayne.
We hope all the Moms out there have a truly killer Mother’s Day. “
You can watch the band performing the track live here and below:
Ice Nine Kills also payed homage to Friday The 13th with this month’s Nightmare On The Ninth merch drop. The ‘Mommy Knows Best’ collection celebrates Forty Years of Friday and is available for a limited time from NightmareOnTheNinth.com The movie was also the inspirtation for their track Thank God It’s Friday. Taken from their 2018 opus, The Silver Scream, the track has clocked up 2 million YouTube views and 9.6 million streams on Spotify since it’s release.
In a landscape littered with celebrity fakes and would-be influencers, Ice Nine Kills stand apart. Visionary trailblazers and multimedia raconteurs, INK has steadily built a thrilling new underworld for a growing legion of devoted true believers, with theatrical shows, high-concept videos, and inventive band-to-fan communion.
Ice Nine Kills summon the most captivating elements of metal, punk and hard rock and combine it with melody, cinematic obsession, and a literary fascination.
Loudwire hails them as “one of the most unique acts in metal right now,” a declaration supported by the band’s Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart topping slab, The Silver Scream.
The Silver Scream and the subsequent extended edition, The Silver Scream: Final Cutgenerated anthems for the disenfranchised and subculture obsessives, like The American Nightmare, A Grave Mistakeand Savages and broke them into Active Rock radio, with hit track A Grave Mistake peaking at #9.
After a decade of studio wizardry and live theatricality, Ice Nine Kills draws favorable comparisons to rock icons like Slipknot, Rob Zombie, and Marilyn Manson, via a likeminded synergy of music, lifestyle, and cult following reverence. With 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify, a combined social media reach of over 762k and over 70 million views on Youtube, the band are firmly cemented as one of modern metal’s most ferocious forces.
Fast-rising rockers DED have released their high octane, brand new music video for their explosive lead radio single “A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)”. The video, directed by renowned director Marc Klasfeld (Slipknot, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Highly Suspect), premiered digitally via Noiseyand made its broadcast debut onMusic Choice.
Displaying DED‘s bold and dynamic songcraft, “A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)” was produced bypowerhouse rock producer Kevin Churko (Five Finger Death Punch, Ozzy Osbourne, Disturbed), who helmed DED‘s entire forthcoming sophomore studio album due out later this year on Suretone Records. The roaring single, which is quickly climbing the Active Rock radio chart with key playlist support across streaming services, questions what we consume and what we choose to support, taking on the fake, surface level, vein aspects of our society that infiltrate our lives and influence our perception of what’s real.
The new video follows the release of DED’s micro EP Mannequin Eyes, featuring “A Mannequin Idol (Lullaby)” and the ripper, “Eyes Sewn Shut.” Swelling into a wall of soaring guitars and driving percussion, the track dares us to wake up and challenge the things that we so readily accept to be true.
DED – Joe Cotela (vocals), David Ludlow (guitar), Kyle Koelsch (bass), and Matt Reinhard (drums) – may appear to be nihilistic, hellraising anarchists upon first glance, but they’re here to uplift, empower and contribute something positive to society. During this challenging time of quarantine and isolation as the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, DED‘s message of hope, self-care, the importance of looking after one another, and being aware of how our behaviors affect not only our own mental health but each other, is needed now more than ever.
DED‘s new music takes on the fury of their debut and deepens the emotions with a compassion for humanity and a thought-provoking consciousness that we can all be and do better, not only for ourselves but each other. After taking the rock world by storm with their 2017 debut albumMis-An-Thrope, which spawned two Top 20 rock radio singles, DED toured with KoRn, In This Moment, and Stone Sour, and lit up festival stages including Aftershock, Louder Than Life, Rocklahoma, Carolina Rebellion, Rock on the Range and Ship Rocked. Quickly becoming one of rock’s most exciting torchbearers, DED embodies elements of rock, alternative and metal, with pop melodies, cloaked in some of the most histrionic, headbanging music on the planet. But when you dig beneath the surface, DED‘s unexpectedly soulful music is building a community by offering comfort in times of despair, clarity through suffering, and positivity by exposing negativity, proving that there’s a way to live through the struggle and come out stronger, happier and more united on the other side.
DED‘s forthcoming album will be the first release under Suretone Records‘ renewed multiple-year deal with ADA Worldwide for exclusive distribution. DED is managed by Jordan Schur for Suretone Entertainment.
