Roadrunner United Release Celebrating The Iconic Label to See a Rerelease in 2023


Roadrunner United was a project organized by iconic hard rock record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary, culminating in the U.S. Billboard Top 200, UK Albums, and Australian ARIA Albums-charting original The All Star Sessions. Four “team captains” (Slipknot’s Joey Jordison (RIP), Machine Head’s Robb Flynn, Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares, and Trivium’s Matthew K. Heafy) were chosen to lead 57 artists from 45 past and present Roadrunner bands. On December 15, 2005, a concert celebrating the project, album, and anniversary took place at the Nokia Theater in New York City. That star-studded event featured multiple musicians, both past and present, from Roadrunner bands — as well as musicians that did not originally perform on the All-Star Sessions album. Now that album is getting a release in 2023 on multiple formats. Watch the live performance video of “The End (Live)” featuring Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares, and Trivium’s Matthew K. Heafy – right now!

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ALBUM REVIEW: Wolfheart – King Of The North


 

Finland is a country known for their long, cold winters. Wolfheart is a band that captures their nation’s wild and wonderous weather in their dramatic and dynamically dark sound. The group’s appropriately named debut record, Winterborn came out in 2013 and they have consistently been conveying the majestic magic of Suomi ever since. Now this four piece is getting ready to release their sixth full-length, King of the North (Napalm Records) where they dive even deeper into sharing stories about their country’s lore and land. Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Bloodstock Open Air 2022 Part 1


Catton Park, United kingdom, 12 Aug 2022, Behemoth performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine

Main Stage and Sophie Lancaster Stage

 

THURSDAY

If there are two things we love doing in the UK, it’s complaining about the weather and queuing for things. Well, this year at Bloodstock Open Air, both are freely available and at no extra charge. Not a moment goes by without a comment on the sweltering heat or about having to wait to cross the road to the festival ground. Yes, not content with spending two hours in the main queue, campers have now invented a brand new line to join before even getting that far. For the first time ever, a line has formed for people pulling trolleys and sack carts. Almost a quarter of a mile of people waiting in a surprisingly orderly queue before joining an even bigger queue. England, never change.

 

With the heat already playing its part, I finally arrive at the Sophie Lancaster Stage in time to catch Italian nutters Nanowar of Steel who send the audience into hysterics with daft costumes and a “Wall of Love” (a traditional wall of death that climaxes with people hugging each other to George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’). Preceding the infuriatingly catchy ‘Norwegian Reggaeton’ with Burzums outdoor recipe for roasted salmon (“you place the freshly caught salmon on a rock and burn down the church next to it”) the band then take the opportunity to use the mighty ‘Valhalleluja’ to build an Ikea coffee table, holding it aloft for the elated crowd. Accompanied by an actual goblin for the duration of their set, US act Nekrogoblikon certainly put on an enjoyable show but find it tough following such a display of irreverent insanity.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Machine Head – ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN


 

I remember one-time reading Revolver magazine’s review for Through the Ashes of Empires and while it was a very positive piece the writer felt that despite being a great step forward it may have been too little, too late for Machine Head. Hard to believe now, but in those days some perceived Machine Head as being dead in the water following the more mainstream stylings of The Burning Red and the ill-timed Supercharger.

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EP REVIEW: Vio-lence – Let The World Burn


Bay Area thrashers Vio-Lence might have only been around for eight years but what a magnificent near-decade it was. From their classic hyper-aggressive debut Eternal Nightmare (MCA Records) to the controversial lyrics of ‘Torture Tactics’ and a deliciously questionable vegetable soup and vinegar “vomit bag” plastic record sleeve, the band also launched the career of a certain Robb Flynn who went on to form 1990s game-changers Machine Head, eventually to be followed by guitarist Phil Demmel. With three studio albums under their belts, the band went their separate ways in 1993, only becoming a full-time going concern again in 2019.

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ALBUM REVIEW: Once Human – Scar Weaver


Five years used to feel like a long time in music. Entire scenes have risen, consumed all and fallen away to be a nostalgic footnote (or an ever-lasting sea change) in the same length between Once Human‘s last release and Scar Weaver (earMUSIC), their re-birth of a third album.

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Watch Machine Head to Perform “Unto The Locust” in Full on Their Livestream


Machine Head performed their entire Unto The Locust (Roadrunner Records) album to celebrate its 10th anniversary today, Friday, September 24th, 2021. The band performs its “Acoustic Happy Hour” livestream every Friday on the bands’ YouTube, and Facebook, as well as frontman Robb Flynn’s Twitch account. Watch it now!

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Machine Head to Perform All of Their “Unto The Locust” Album on Their Weekly Livestream


 

Machine Head will perform their entire Unto The Locust (Roadrunner Records) album to celebrate its 10th anniversary this Friday, September 24th, 2021. The band performs its “Acoustic Happy Hour” livestream every Friday on the bands’ YouTube, and Facebook, as well as frontman Robb Flynn’s Twitch account. Watch the teaser trailer and check out a message from the band.

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Watch Machine Head Play “Burn My Eyes” with the BME 25 Line-Up on Their Livestream


This weekend (August 9th) marked the 27th anniversary of Machine Head’s debut album, Burn My Eyes (Roadrunner Records). To celebrate, the Burn My Eyes 25 lineup reunited at the bands’ Bay Area reheasal and livestream studio to perform the album in its entirety on their weekly livestream. Robb Flynn and Jared MacEachern will be joined by BME-era drummer Chris Kontos and guitarist Logan Mader, who performed on the entire 2 year BME world-tour, for the livestream. Last week Robb and Jared played all of The Burning Red. The band performs its “Acoustic Happy Hour” livestream every Friday on the bands’ YouTube, and Facebook, as well as Robb’s Twitch account. Watch the teaser and check out our retrospective review here.

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Machine Head to Play of All “Burn My Eyes” On This Weekend’s Livestream


This weekend marks the 27th anniversary of Machine Head’s landmark debut album, Burn My Eyes (Roadrunner Records). To celebrate, the band will perform the album in its entirety on their weekly livestream. Robb Flynn and Jared MacEachern will be joined by BME-era drummer Chris Kontos and guitarist Logan Mader, who performed on the entire 2 year BME world-tour, for the livestream, and you can see a teaser video the band shared promoting the stream below. Last week Robb and Jared played all of The Burning Red. The band performs its “Acoustic Happy Hour” livestream every Friday on the bands’ YouTube, and Facebook, as wel las Robb’s Twitch account. Watch the teaser and check out our retrospective review here.

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