The Music Industry Will Lead a Blackout In Solidarity With Black Community Following George Floyd Death


A number of record labels and other music industry members have joined forces to make June 2 “Black Out Tuesday” in response to the killing of George Floyd and nationwide protests. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed in Minneapolis by a police officer in an incident caught on camera. The officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for nearly ten minutes while Floyd was handcuffed. Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Warner Records, Universal, Sony, Interscope Geffen, and Columbia are among the labels that have pledged to “disconnect from work and reconnect with our community” on Tuesday.Continue reading


Cypress Hill to Host Livestream Q and A for the 20th Anniversary of their “Skull and Bones” Album


Cypress Hill will celebrate its 2000 album, the epic Rap and Metal double album Skull and Bones (Columbia) today with a livestream Q & A from the band. The album, best known for their huge hit singles ‘Rap Superstar’ and ‘Rock Superstar’, is one of the groups ‘ best and features guest turns from Everlast, Eminem, N.O.R.E., Christian Olde Wolbers (now formerly of) and Dino Cazares of Fear Factory, Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine, and Chino Moreno of Deftones. The band will live on Facebook and YouTube with host Rob Markman to spin the record and take your questions t the links below. Continue reading


Amon Amarth Books European Tour This Fall


Riding high on their new album Berserker (Metal Blade/Columbia), Amon Amarth has booked a tour of Europe later this year. For exclusive shows booked for the UK, Arch Enemy and Hypocrisy will act as direct support. Other openers will be named soon for other countries. All dates for the tour can be seen below. Tickets for all shows can be purchased at the link below from 10am local time on Tuesday 18th June. A variety of VIP bundles will also be available once ticket sales begin.Continue reading


Bring Me The Horizon Share New Video For “Medicine”, New Album Coming Soon


Metalcore lords Bring Me The Horizon have shared their new mind-blowing video for the track ‘Medicine’. The song comes from their upcoming new album Amo, dropping on January 25th via Sony/Columbia. Amo already has one bonafide hit in the Grammy-nominated ‘Mantra’ (26.5 million Spotify streams and 13 million YouTube views and is a Top 10 hit at Active Rock Radio). Watch the video below!Continue reading


Bring Me The Horizon Tease New Video For “Medicine”, New Album Coming Soon


Bring Me the Horizon is looking forward to 2019 with big hearts and big riffs. The bands’ new album Amo (RCA/Columbia/Sony) is releasing on 25th of January and is one of the most anticipated records of 2019. They just teased a new video for their possible next single, “Medicine”, which you can see below. Continue reading


Kissin’ Dynamite – Ecstasy


At its molten heart, Rock music should be a very simple beating beast indeed. It should inspire and excite, yes, but it doesn’t need complicated rhythms, progressive tendencies, cerebral lyrics, analysis, politics or a whole plethora of interesting and additional ingredients to be successful or do what it sets out to do. And that is to, unequivocally, “Rock”.Continue reading


Bring Me The Horizon – That’s The Spirit


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If life is a journey, Bring Me The Horizon are living one helluva good one. From hated deathcore upstarts, bottled and attacked when playing support shows, to the slick, progressive metalcore of their breakthrough album Sempiternal (RCA/Epitaph), their career has been one of continuous upwards movement, both creatively but also commercially, a trend that is perpetuated by their excellent fifth album That’s The Spirit (RCA/Columbia).

While BMTH are no longer a “metal” band (while they haven’t been for a while, they’ve truly stepped outside those bounds now) their continued exploration of a poppier, slicker sound unreservedly suits them. Leaving behind the trappings of scenes metalcore and deathcore, That’s The Spirit takes the band into unchartered territories of song-writing and production to create an excellent modern rock album.

Starting the album with the subdued build of ‘Doomed’, the tone is set for something special as the reflective piece resets expectations, all subtle electronica and disseminated guitars. Partner in crime ‘Happy Song’ picks things up, utilizing a child vocal hook much like Faith No More’s ‘Be Aggressive’ before a lurching, thick riff courtesy of Lee Malia, who really shines as a diverse and clever player across the spectrum of the album, backs up the songs eponymous hook.

Smartly, …Horizon have continued their evolution, replacing the frenetic punkcore style of There Is A Hell… (Visible Noise), via Sempiternal, with a more controlled, dynamic and poppier approach; an approach that has led to a thousand-fold improvement in their song-writing. Whatever you do, don’t confuse replacing aggression with control as a sign of weakness – there is a powerful energy throughout.

They always had an x-factor, now they have refinement and intelligence and know how to channel that spark into top quality songs. Tracks like ‘Avalanche’ are enhanced by the full integration of keyboard player Jordan Fish adding strings, synth motifs and subtle electronica to back up a beast that swirls from down to upbeat, and another strong chorus, led by the excellent Oli Sykes.

BMTH_Press Hi-res.jpgOnly the sedate ‘Follow You’ shows a slight dip in quality and there are highlights throughout; no less than ‘Throne’ with its poppy synth intro and Linkin Park trappings, a truly uplifting pop metal anthem. ‘True Friends’ and ‘Blasphemy’ BMTH show they’ve lost none of their cynicism, but more than that, they demonstrate the progression of Sykes from screamer to genuine lead singer, with powerful throaty moments leading to sweeping choruses, and he combines the two on the rockier catchy ‘What You Need’, a track fuelled by a juddering stadium-filling death rock bass line. ‘Drown’, initially released a year ago to prepare the way for the new BMTH sound, is an expertly crafted modern alternative rock song. Final track ‘Oh No’ closes the circle, a reflective yet upbeat poppy piece, reminiscent of the best moments of 30 Seconds To Mars, with Woah-ohs and dance synths closing things off with a smile.

Kudos must also go to Fish and Sykes for a stunning production job, with all the touches and trappings of the best pop productions balled up into huge rock sound. Influences may have switched from Norma Jean and At The Gates, but by moving beyond their contemporaries in quality, style and songwriting, BMTH now stand in class of one; truly at the top of the mountain.

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If Suicide Season (Visible Noise/Epitaph) was their rebirth, There Is A Hell… the teenage ruttings of a band truly finding themselves and Sempiternal their coming of age album, That’s The Spirit is Horizon maturing into a fine young adult, confident, strong and secure in themselves and the knowledge that they are now master craftsmen.

Successfully combining every good aspect of alternative rock and metal of the last fifteen years, That’s The Spirit is Bring Me The Horizon’s “Black Album” moment.

 

9.0/10

STEVE TOVEY


Alice In Chains – The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here


Alice-in-Chains-The-Devil-Put-Dinosaurs-Here-cover-en.wikipedia.org_Alice in Chains was among the biggest band to emerge from the grunge scene, combining metal, blues, rock and roll, with an alternative-rock edge. The group’s dark, bitter songs, with references to drug addiction and death, captivated the displaced adolescents, inserting the band somewhere between Metallica’s head bangers and Nirvana’s ominous hymns. After the tragic death of Layne Staley in 2002, it left AIC not knowing the future of their iconic band. Audiences relished in the music and the hole he had left in the grunge scene.Continue reading