ALBUM REVIEW: Fearing – Destroyer


 

Do you like to dress in black? Do you prefer a solitary pint of cider in the back of a smoky bar? (the smoky part might be hard to fashion in this day and age) Do you favour wearing a trenchcoat? Do you feel in a state of perpetual ennui? Maybe you are a Berliner! Or perhaps you’re a member of a Darkwave band… maybe both!

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ALBUM REVIEW: Grave Pleasures – Plagueboys


 

Grave Pleasures were one of those bands that had been stuck on my ‘must check out at some stage’ list, until now. In case you weren’t aware of the history, they originally formed as Beastmilk back in 2010 and put out debut Climax after which came the name change as well as a string of subsequent releases. Plagueboys is the band’s fourth full-length album overall and the follow-up to 2017’s Motherblood. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Host – IX


Sharing their name with the 1999 album by their “main band” gothic metal veterans Paradise Lost, Host is a goth rock project of vocalist Nick Holmes and guitarist Greg Mackintosh that allows the duo to delve deeply into their shared love of dark, eighties new wave sounds. All through the duo’s debut album IX (Nuclear Blast) — listeners will hear just as many (if not more) allusions to dark synth bands of the time like Depeche Mode, as they will to the group that Holmes and Mackintosh made their names with. The result is a very well-made and fairly consistent album that isn’t breaking any boundaries.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Grave Lines – Communion


 

Continuing down the same nihilistic and misanthropic path of their previous releases, southern England’s Grave Lines are back with their third bouncy and joyously upbeat full length, Communion (New Heavy Sounds). Taking the doom of Neurosis, the post-punk rock of Killing Joke and gothic punk tendencies of Bauhaus, the perpetually disgruntled four-piece return with a little more ambient experimentalism which, however momentarily, relieves at least some of the crushing isolation.Continue reading


INTERVIEW: PODCAST: Episode #168: Billy Howerdel – The Ghost Cult Interview


Ghost Cult caught up with Billy Howerdel (also of a perfect circle) to discuss his new solo album – What Normal Was (Alchemy Records, Rise Records, BMG). Billy discusses his career up to now, the choice to use his own name instead of Ashes Divide, letting his 1980s influences fly on the new album, his upcoming tour dates, and some plans for a perfect circle too. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Billy Howerdel – What Normal Was


Billy Howerdel is best known as the songwriter and guitarist for A Perfect Circle, the band he created with his good friend James Maynard Keenan (Tool / Puscifer) after they met when Tool were supporting Fishbone for whom Howerdel was a guitar tech in the early nineties, before sharing a house together in the Hollywood Hills. Howerdel would work on his early material while also engineering for the likes of David Bowie, Guns n’ Roses, and Nine Inch Nails.

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EP REVIEW: De Arma – Nightcall


De Arma’s new three-track EP Nightcall marks something of a turning point for the Swedish gothic rock band. Following their 2021 album Strayed in Shadows, the band have now signed a multi-album deal with Silent Future Recordings, for whom Nightcall is the first offering.

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Members of Guns N Roses, Metallica, and Rage Against The Machine Honor Eddie Van Halen at Virtual Rock Hall Ceremony



Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello paid tribute to Eddie Van Halen at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees virtual ceremony last night, November 7th, 2020. The program aired on HBO and to stream on HBO Max November 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will replace the live 35th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony that was originally scheduled for May 2 of this year. Eddie died on October 6 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. The tribute was announced within days of his passing. The band was founded in 1974 and Van Halen was inducted into the Hall of Fame with his band in 2007. The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame 2020 inductee class included Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T. Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. Continue reading


Members of Guns N Roses, Metallica, and Rage Against The Machine to Honor Eddie Van Halen at Rock Hall Ceremony



Slash of Guns N’ Roses, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello will pay tribute to Eddie Van Halen at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductees ceremony, now a livestream instead of a live concert and induction event. The program will be available on HBO and to stream on HBO Max November 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT and will replace the live 35th annual Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony that was originally scheduled for May 2 of this year. Eddie died on October 6 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California at the age of 65. The tribute was announced within days of his passing. The band was founded in 1974 and Van Halen was inducted into the Hall of Fame with his band in 2007. The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame 2020 inductee class includes Depeche Mode, The Doobie Brothers, Whitney Houston, Nine Inch Nails, The Notorious B.I.G., T. Rex, and Ahmet Ertegun Award honorees Jon Landau and Irving Azoff. Continue reading


Eddie Van Halen Will Be Honored by The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Next Month



According to Cleveland.com and reported by Blabbermouth.net, Eddie Van Halen will receive a short on-air tribute as part of Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s 2020 Induction Ceremony Special. The plan is for “multiple guitar gods paying homage to the Van Halen guitarist,” to be included in the Rock Hall special’s in memoriam section, which also honors other rock and roll legends who have passed away since the last ceremony. Continue reading