Warner Music Group Intends to Buy French Digital Music Company Believe SA, Owner of Nuclear Blast Records and Tunecore


One of the largest record labels in the world, Warner Music Group (WMG) has announced it intends to purchase Believe SA, a French digital music company. Among the many companies Believe owns includes a controlling stake in Nuclear Blast Records (acquired in 2018) and its offshoot Blood Blast Distribution, as well as Tunecore a Brooklyn, New York–based digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service founded in 2006. Tunecore distributes music through online retailers such as iTunes, Deezer, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Google Play, Tidal, Beatport. According to the press release you can read below, Warner “would provide Believe with strategic support and financial stability to help the development and growth of the Company, including by accelerating its expansion into new geographies.” Nuclear Blast founded in 1987 in Germany, is home to some of the greatest bands in Metal such as, Slayer, Anthrax, Testament, C.O.C., Nightwish, Sepultura, Sabaton, In Flames, Lamb of God (Europe), and countless others. In addition to their legendary main brand known for Rock, Pop, Country, and Dance music, WMG owns a ton of sub labels boasting some of the biggest names in Hard Rock, Metal and Punk like 10K Projects, 300 Entertainment (Highly Suspect, Waterparks), Asylum, Atlantic (Shinedown, Halestorm) Big Beat, Elektra Entertainment (formerly: Metallica, Slipknot & Paramore – current: twenty one pilots, Brandi Carlile, Sturgill Simpson) Erato, First Night, Fueled By Ramen (Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Eat World, A Day To Remember), Nonesuch, Parlophone (Iron Maiden), Reprise (Lamb of God in the USA, Deftones, Disturbed, Crosses), Rhino (boxed sets, vinyl and CD reissues, and countless legacy releases), Roadrunner (Gojira, Turnstile, Motionless In White, Trivium, newly signed Deafheaven, Coheed and Cambria, Stone Sour), Sire, Spinnin’, Warner Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Music Nashville. WMG’s music publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, as well as artist management and services divisions. If the sale goes through, it remains to be seen what shape the deal would have and what impact is might have for Nuclear Blast and Tunecore. Stay tuned for more news on this story.Continue reading


Godsmack, Shinedown, Bad Omens, Parkway Drive, Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, Shadows Fall, Biohazard, As I Lay Dying, The Offspring, Booked for Inkcarceration Tattoo and Music Fest 2024


Brought to you by Danny Wimmer Presents, the biggest presenter of Rock and Metal festivals in the USA, Inkcarceration Tattoo & Music Festival has released the full line-up for 2024. Taking place July 19th to the 21st at the Historic Ohio State Reformatory, the festival boasts headliners Breaking Benjamin, Godsmack, Shinedown, The Offspring, Halestorm, Bad Omens, Parkway Drive, as well as Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, Shadows Fall, Biohazard, As I Lay Dying and many more. Tickets are available at the link below. Continue reading


Shinedown Releases a Live Version of Their Hit Song “A Symptom Of Being Human”


Multi-platinum, chart-topping band Shinedown has released a live version of their current #1 single “A Symptom Of Being Human.” The new version was recorded in Denver this past fall at the final date of their headlining The Revolutions Live Tour. “A Symptom Of Being Human” remains atop the Active Rock chart and continues to move up the Alternative chart nearing Top 10 (currently #11), while gaining at Top 40 radio nationwide. The crossover hit, which also reached Top 15 at Hot AC in 2023, is Shinedown’s fourth #1 single from their acclaimed seventh studio album Planet Zero (Atlantic Records). “A Symptom Of Being Human” also marks Shinedown’s record-breaking 21st No. 1 song on the Mediabase Active Rock Chart and extends their record for the most No. 1’s in the history of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart with 19 total.Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Emil Bulls – Love Will Fix It


For a band like Emil Bulls, who have been slavishly grinding away at their music for coming up to three decades now, it is a wonder that their latest album Love Will Fix It (Arising Empire), is the first collection of original music to come from the band in over five years. Having come through various waves of metal and hard rock, whilst bringing plenty along for the ride into their own unique sound, it’s truly curious how much they’ll have taken in their stride since the release of their previous album, Kill Your Demons. Continue reading


EP REVIEW: Atreyu – The Moment You Find Your Flame


 

Over the past decade, the once-notorious metalcore band, Atreyu have been going through a metamorphosis of sorts. From breakdowns and screams to grand sing-along choruses and arena-rock sounds, the band seems like they’ve set their sights and hearts on a sound dedicated to a bigger space, arenas, and stadiums instead of their frequented small academy slots where the band originally gained fame. This of course has been met with a strong mixture of love and derision from fans and foes alike since the release of their album In Our Wake. With the last album receiving polarising reviews across the board, will the latest of a collection of EP projects, The Moment You Find Your Flame (Spinefarm) allow the band to start winning back audiences and critics alike?

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ALBUM REVIEW: Sleep Token – Take Me Back to Eden


 

I don’t want to speak too early or jinx anything, but this Heavy Metal idea has been in a resurgence as of late. Bear in mind that a lot of the old promotional tools have been inactive for years. MTV lost its ass and stopped using the first letter of its acronym long ago and whatever is left of commercial rock radio is perfectly content to spin the same Stone Temple Pilots singles until the sun or Clear Channel finally burn out. Yet here we are in the age of streaming and shortened attention spans with several young acts making headway. Continue reading


STAFF PICKS: Ghost Cult Photographer Chris Small’s Top 20 Albums of 2022


Ghost Cult’s Chris Small (aka Smallz, Papa Smallz) has been an essential member of our live coverage team this year and chipped in a few other types of reviews over the years as well. When he is not voraciously consuming heavy music, he is also a dad, documents underground rap shows, and streams on Twitch. Here are his top 20 albums of 2022 list! Peace and Chicken grease, as Chris would say…

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ALBUM REVIEW: Pistols At Dawn – Ascension


 

Hot on the heels of last year’s four-track EP Nocturnal Youth, comes Pistols At Dawn’s latest album Ascension (JFL Entertainment). The Atlanta-based quintet’s sound is alternative-influenced hard rock, and their newest one Ascension is a promising if patchy, display of heavy grooves and soaring choruses with a brooding atmosphere. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Shinedown – Planet Zero


The chatter in the buildup to Shinedown’s seventh album Planet Zero (Atlantic Records) has focused on the lyrics and subject matter and a new ground for a band who have stood up for unity, mental health support, and anti-bullying. Freedom of speech has long been a vanguard of rock lyrics, and it is interesting that Shinedown’s challenge of cancel culture has been seen as evidence of an underlying conservatism, though lines about people being “woke, but not awake” and sections of the society being “Clueless and Dramatic” will invite comment, even if the stated intention is to encourage exploration of nuance and individuality. Indeed, the band stated on the album launch “It’s not a record for the right, it’s not a record for the left… it’s a record for all of us.”

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