Look, this is a genuine effort to fend off waves of tweets and horseshit comments like “well, everybody in metal borrows from somebody” or “not everybody is reinventing the wheel.” As someone who’s only been listening to extreme music for the last twenty-five years, I think I get it. Metallica? More like we love Diamond Head. Slayer? Oh, you mean Venom if they actually knew how to play their instruments? Sepultura? Slayer if they were even better at their craft?
Download Festival 2023, celebrating 20 years as a festival has added 40 new bands to the lineup and announced its day-splits for the weekend! Newly added to the festival are Halestorm, Neck Deep, Hot Milk, Alter Bridge, Bob Vylan, Electric Callboy, Carcass, Five Finger Death Punch, Palaye Royale, Jinjer, and many more. The full list can be viewed below. Already the fastest-selling event in its 20-year history. Day tickets are on sale now! The four-day festival (first time ever) is headlined by Metallica, who are performing two unique headline sets over the weekend with no songs repeated, and will be joined by fellow headliners Slipknot, and Bring Me The Horizon. Over 60 bands announced including Evanescence, Parkway Drive, Disturbed, Pendulum, Architects, Ghost, The Distillers, Placebo, Alexisonfire, Asking Alexandria, Motionless In White, I Prevail, The Blackout (reunion), Fever 333, Stray From The Path, Lorna Shore, Nova Twins, Within Temptation, many and more.
What was the first bit of heavy music you ever heard in your life? Did you level up, gaining mana from the ear-peeling riffs and shouts? Lovers of extreme metal surely have had experiences like this in their lives, where their entire world is tossed upside-down a new band, or a clutch of new demos from an emerging scene. This is how my ears felt hearing Grief Symposium, with a new take on the Death / Doom sub-genre with their debut, …In The Absence of Light (Church Road Records). Although mysterious and secretive, they did not set out to reinvent extreme music, but rather invent themselves, and a sound that should echo for a long time.
We end the year on a chaser episode. Who are the Big Four of Death Metal? If Death Metal had a Mount Rushmore, what bands would be on it? Nik and Keefy rank the best Death Metal bands of all time, checking down from a list of about 30 bands!
#thebigfourofdeathmetal
Amon Amarth has shared a new single and video -“Oden Owns You All” One!” The track comes from their 2022 album, The Great Heathen Army, out now via Metal Blade Records. Read our review here. The band is wrapping up their 2022 North American Tour with Obituary, Carcass, and their labelmates Cattle Decapitation. The tour comes to a historical close on Saturday, December 17th when the band become the first death metal band to ever headline the legendary Kia Forum in Los Angeles with their full-scale European production, featuring pyro, Viking ships, a Viking helmet drum riser, live battle reenactments, the now infamous “Viking Row!” Read our coverage of this tour here. Watch the video now!
The Great Heathen Army Tour marched through Cincinnati and Amon Amarth set the town ablaze.
Metal masters Amon Amarth have been chasing the peasants away for thirty years. They are presently on tour in support of The Great Heathen Army (Metal Blade) record that came out earlier this year, and they brought along Cattle Decapitation, Obituary, and Carcass for the ride.
First time at the O2 Apollo, a lovely, antiquated venue, it has a very old-school theatre vibe to it, and as would become apparent for most sets tonight the sound and lighting were top-drawer. Continue reading
Ghost has shared another new video from their YouTube channel. Watch a live performance video of their current hit single “Mary On A Cross!” The track was from their 7-inch single 7-Inches of Satanic Panic, but the track gained new fame as a result of Tik-Tok and Stranger Things. The band is currently winding down their North American tour with Mastodon and Spiritbox, the “Imperatour!” The band continues to support their current album Impera album (Loma Vista). Read our review of this current tour, our review of their first leg of their 2022 tour and our review of Impera!
Ghost has shared a new live video stream from their youtube. The band is currently winding down their North American tour with Mastodon and Spiritbox, the “Imperatour!” The band continues to support their current album Impera album (Loma Vista). Read our review of this current tour, our review of their first leg of their 2022 tour, and our review of Impera!
Psycho Las Vegas festival previously confirmed itsineup for their 6th annual fest, added a second wave of bands, as well an expected move to a new location. The fest takes place August 19-21 at Resorts World Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. A Psycho Swim pre-party is set for August 18. Confirming the 2022 edition of Psycho Las Vegas will feature Mercyful Fate (USA-Exclusive Performance), Emperor (USA-Exclusive Performance), Suicidal Tendencies, Mayhem, Watain, Wolves In The Throne Room, Samael, Boris, Mgla, Cirith Ungol, King Woman, Marissa Nadler, Bömbers and Year Of No Light. Now they have announced their stage times for the entire weekend. Continue reading