Swedish sea dogs, Ye Banished Privateers, return with their unique spin on a classic Christmas chant! With “Deck And Hull”, the collective releases their second holiday single off of their new EP, Drawn And Quartered, along with an animated lyric video.
Ye Banished Privateers are already well known for their singalong hymns and unmistakably folksy tunes, and now explore the less-traveled waters of yuletide tuneage! With a stiff sea breeze, a wink of the eye and a dose of bloody, dark humor, the pirates prepare for the freezing cold of winter with a few more aces up their sleeves: Ye Banished Privateers are starting a call for fans to suggest Christmas songs from all over the world! Head over to their Facebook page to send in your pick and eventually be part of the band’s upcoming project.
Ye Banished Privateers on their new single “Deck And Hull”: “With our song ‘Deck And Hull’, we wanted to really take a swing at the classic candy-coated, happy harmony singing, door-to-door carolers that are so frequent in every American feelgood Christmas movie. We imagine this song being the soundtrack to a bunch of drunken pirates breaking down your door, wrecking your home, stealing all your possessions and pissing in your eggnog. Actually, that's probably what's going to happen to you if you don’t buy the vinyl... So, merry bloody Christmas, haha!”
The two-track EP presents another stunning, adventurous, yet bloody side of Ye Banished Privateers. “Drawn And Quartered” features a dancing, dangling pirate as he experiences a curious macabre Christmas marvel, whilst “Deck And Hull” captivates with a frenetic tavern-like atmosphere and a beguiling female voice meeting raspy pirate chanting. Ye Banished Privateers tug the listener through dreary winter days and prepare them for the most eerily beautiful time of the year.
Drawn And Quartered will be available in the following formats:
- digital
- exclusive 7inch Vinyl in oxblood (strictly limited to 300 copies)
Esoteric Recordings has released a new remastered and expanded edition of the 1980 solo album by Jon Anderson, Song Of Seven. Order here.
Jon recently sat down with Esoteric Recordings’ Mark Powell to talk about recording Song Of Seven, and what it meant at the time. Please note there is some audio discrepancies on the recording, minimised as much as possible.
The album was recorded during Jon’s first hiatus from YES, with whom he had become an internationally known vocalist and songwriter and followed on from his 1976 solo album Olias Of Sunhillow. Working with keyboard player Ronnie Leahy, Anderson created an optimistic album of varying influences and he gathered together a fine ensemble of musicians to assist him such as celebrated bass players Jack Bruce and John Giblin, guitarists Clem Clempson and Ian Bairnson, saxophonist Johnny Dankworth and percussionists Morris Pert and Simon Phillips.
Song Of Seven was a UK top forty hit upon its release by Atlantic Records in November 1980 and spawned a solo tour which established Jon Anderson as a regarded artist in his own right. This Esoteric Recordings edition has been newly remastered from the original Atlantic Records master tapes and is expanded to include two rare US single edits previously unreleased on CD and restores the original album artwork in a digipak. The booklet also features a new essay with an exclusive interview with Jon Anderson.
“So great to listen again to where I was musically 40 years ago...still dreaming the same dreams, and in my early years of orchestration ideas...very gentle reminders to stay cool...don't hurry, all will be well, 'take your time'...wonderful bass work, and all the wonderful friends and musicians just came into my life for a couple of months...Jack Bruce even!!! Everybody Loves you, but I love you a little bit more...sweet lyric, and then the wild and crazy Song of Seven lyric..most of it was spontaneous and feeling very open about life...and the mystery of it all...still do....
“As always I'm here in my studio still juggling lyrics and music and songs... I'm excited that this can be heard again... Best wishes to everyone... be well be safe... Love and Light.” - Jon Anderson
Tracklisting:
“For You, For Me”
“Some Are Born”
“Don’t Forget (Nostalgia)”
“Heart Of The Matter”
“Hear It”
“Everybody Loves You”
“Take Your Time”
“Days”
“Song Of Seven”
“Some Are Born” (U.S. Single Promo Edited Version)
“Heart Of The Matter” (Short Version)
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH singer Ivan Moody has reacted to the news that two of his former bandmates, Jeremy Spencer and Jason Hook, worked together on the new EP from Spencer's theatrical rock band PSYCHOSEXUAL.
On Friday, PSYCHOSEXUAL surprise-released a covers EP, "Songs To Stalk You By", featuring a guest appearance by Hook on two songs: the KISS classic "Watchin' You" and QUEENSRŸCHE's "Gonna Get Close To You". The recordings mark the first time Spencer and Hook have collaborated since they parted ways with FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH.
Moody, who is active on Instagram, took to the social media platform on Saturday to share a two-minute video message in which "congratulated" Spencer and Hook for reuniting on the PSYCHOSEXUAL EP while also "accepting" a non-existent "challenge" from his onetime bandmates to make a great new album.
Moody said (see video below): "As I'm driving home, my phone kept blowing up. I was like, 'Fuck.' So I pulled over to check it. And I got, like, a hundred different news feeds. And they all read something… I thought it was a joke at first, but it's very real. And it read: 'Jason Hook joins forces with Jeremy Spencer.'"
Ivan went on to say that he was "excited" to see Hook and Spencer play together again. "I'm not patronizing — I'm not," he insisted. "This comes from my heart.
"Jason and Jeremy, congratulations. I know you two have waited to do something together for years, and now you have the platform to do it, man. So let's see what you got," he said.
"Now, I could take this one of two ways. I could take this as a spit in the face, saying that you're going to do bigger and better. And the quote I heard was — and forgive me if I'm wrong on this — was that someone said the sex appeal has left FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH. Sound familiar?
"I didn't know we were out for Calvin Klein ads," Ivan added. "But if you're gonna be out there, then reach for the top, man — Drakkar Noir, Playgirl. Fuck it, right?
"I hope the two of you write the greatest fucking album you can muster. Challenge accepted. I'll be your huckleberry. Because as of today, I am personally gonna make sure that this new DEATH PUNCH album is like nothing you've ever fucking heard before."
Moody concluded the video by saying: "To all of our fans, thank you for sticking with us through all these years. Keep your ear to the ground. It's about to get real fucking interesting."
It should be noted that there is no indication that Hook has joined PSYCHOSEXUAL or that he and Spencer will collaborate on any new original music.
Jeremy, who co-founded FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH with guitarist Zoltan Bathory, left the band so that he could undergo back surgery in the fall of 2018 that required a significant recovery period.
Spencer's replacement in FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH is Charlie "The Engine" Engen. Engen made his recording debut with the band on the "F8" album, which came out in February.
Hook exited FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH in February 2020 during the band's sold-out European arena tour. He later said that it was "time to pass the baton and move on to new challenges."
Jason was replaced by renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who is also featured on "Broken World", one of the five previously unreleased tracks on FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH's latest greatest-hits compilation "Decade Of Destruction, Volume 2".
In a new video, Whitesnake frontman David Coverdale wishes you a Merry Christmas Holiday. Watch below:
Whitesnake brings together some of the most-passionate music of its multi-platinum career on Love Songs, a new collection that contains remixed and remastered versions of the group’s best love songs. It’s the second release in the band’s Red, White and Blues Trilogy, a series of compilations organized by musical themes that began this summer with The Rock Album (white) and will conclude next year with The Blues Album (blue).
David Coverdale unboxes Love Songs below:
The new collection includes a mix of hits and deep tracks that were originally released between 1987 and 2011 on five Whitesnake studio albums and David Coverdale’s third solo album, Into The Light.
Love Songs is available here as a CD , as a double-LP set pressed on 180-gram red vinyl, and digitally.
Love Songs tracklisting:
CD:
“Love Will Set You Free”
“The Deeper the Love”
“All I Want, All I Need”
“Too Many Tears”
“Can’t Go On”
“Is This Love”
“With All of My Heart” *
“Summer Rain”
“Your Precious Love”
“Now You’re Gone”
“Don’t You Cry”
“Midnight Blue”
“Easier Said Than Done”
“Yours For The Asking” *
“Let’s Talk It Over” *
LP:
Side One
“Love Will Set You Free”
“The Deeper the Love”
“All I Want, All I Need”
“Too Many Tears”
Side Two
“Can’t Go On”
“Is This Love”
“With All of My Heart” *
“Summer Rain”
Side Three
“Your Precious Love”
“Now You’re Gone”
“Don’t You Cry”
“Midnight Blue”
Side Four
“Easier Said Than Done”
“Yours For The Asking” *
“Let’s Talk It Over” *
The At The Movies project - launched by Pretty Maids guitarist Chris Laney due to the COVID-19 lockdown - caught fire over the course of the year, with many fans asking that the '80s soundtrack covers be made available as digital platform streams, or on CD and vinyl. That has since been made a reality, and the project has fired up once again for a cover of the Wham! hit "Last Chtistmas". It is now available on most digital platforms.
In a new interview with Misplaced Straws, Richard Black of Shark Island talks about the current band and record, and gives a great history of what it was like for bands in the 80's L.A. scene. He gets into great detail about how Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose "stole" his stage persona and didn't try to help the band once GN'R got signed. An excerpt follows:
On the rumors that Axl Rose stole Richard's stage act:
"At first, I avoided it and didn't want to talk about it. And there was a reason for that because if you look at it from my perspective, if I say anything at all, it is perceived as sour grapes... 'Well, you're just jealous because that happened and that happened, you know?' So I had to keep quiet. Couldn't really say anything. Now, with so much dirty water under the bridge, it doesn't really even matter. And frankly, as far as what I see Axl Rose doing is not very attractive at all. It doesn't look good to me.
"I was a trained modern dancer, you know? I did that, too. I mean, I was a singer, a songwriter, a dancer. I spent a considerable amount of time training and doing all this and thousands of hours on stage. And then here comes a couple of people off the turnip truck and show up in town, and it's pretty obvious that my kind of stick was appropriated.
"I'll tell you one of the things that really got me was we were there at Gazzarri's, like I said, every week, and at the time everybody didn't have cell phones and video cameras with them all the time. People were sneaking in camcorders with VHS tapes. I mean, I don't know how you could, I don't know how they managed to do that. There were people in the back. The places were packed. I mean, the shows were packed shoulder to shoulder, and if it was wintertime, you had a big jacket, you throw it under you. Anyway, I went over to Axl's pad one time, like some kind of an after-party or something. And he had a TV going in the living room area and on top of the TV, there was I don't know, 8 or 10 VHS tapes, all marked with "Shark Island". He taped some shows verbatim, boom, and one playing as I walked in on TV, no bones about it, nothing was hidden. Well, you know, my heart sank when I saw that. Because I already knew at that time that Guns N' Roses were getting down with David Geffen and that whole thing. And I knew that the person with the biggest mouthpiece is going to be able to claim whatever, so what can I do? You know, what can I do?
"He wasn't able to do anything nearly as good as what I was doing. I'm not trying to boast or anything, but truly. So what happened is the first song that came out is 'Welcome To The Jungle', right. The video of 'Welcome To The Jungle', even by Guns N' Roses standard, is largely different than what came after that for them. For Axl, for everybody. It was very much a different vibe, he was dressed differently, more glamour, after that and they decided to try to look like Hell's Angels or something. They kind of shifted gears to that. And we weren't that I was never into that. I was more into, like, elegance and decadence and a trifle raunchy. That's what I kind of tried to be. That was like what my intent was.
"So if you look, if one were to look at 'Welcome To The Jungle' and one were to remember the Gazzari's-era time, then the whole similarity is very obvious. But in the grand scheme of things, he ended up at best, getting kind of a jump start for some kind of image. Image is very important then, it is even now, but no one wants to admit it, but image is very important. How how do you want to be perceived? So it ended after that. I mean, and then when you see him now, you know there's virtually no similarity. But maybe there's little things that you can't maybe put a finger on.
"So I hate for it to sound like, again, like sour grapes. And it's not, because good for him, you know? But I would have hoped... if it was me and something like that would happen, even inadvertently, I would've thrown somebody a bone at that point. I mean, I had I didn't have a record deal for several years after that, and by that time, grunge was already knocking on my door and things were changing. So it was, like, too late, but he could have at any time, any of them, said, 'Hey, I got this friend of mine', or said something in an interview or did something because he knows how desperate it was. He didn't have to cut his teeth as bad as I did for such a long time, because he was able to appropriate something and kind of move ahead of the line, so to speak. I don't have to do all that. All that spadework, dig that ditch. I've already dug the ditch, you know? So that's what that is. And I don't frankly care. My life came out in the grand scheme of things a lot different than I had planned, but I think it's probably, if I really look at it, it's probably a good thing because I think I might have been dead."
Shark Island was once the house band at the world famous Gazzaris on the Sunset Strip. Signed to Epic Records in 1989 the band released their debut album, Law Of The Order, and also saw the tracks "Dangerous" and "Father Time" featured in the movie Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, as well as the song "My City" from the movie Point Break.
Richard Black would go on to be part of the short lived supergroup Contraband which also featured Michael Schenker (Scorpions, UFO), and members of L.A. Guns, Ratt and Vixen. They released one album in 1991 before disbanding.
In 2018 the band started work on Bloodline which was recorded in Croatia and Los Angeles. It was limited to self release before being picked up by Deko Entertainment, and fans and critics are liking what they hear.
Richard states this about the new video and song, “Written as a companion song to ‘On And On’, ‘Someday’ is a song about procrastination and our fleeting life as it passes before our eyes.”
View the video for "Someday' below.
Bloodline 2.020 is out now and features the unreleased extended version of “Rocks on the Rocks” and the newly recorded “Someday”.
As part of this deluxe 2.020 version, they are making available limited edition Mega-Bundles (while supplies last), which can be ordered here.
This bundle includes the following items:
- One (1) Shark Island Bloodline 2.020 CD
- One (1) Shark Island Fandana
- One (1) Shark Island T-Shirt
- One (1) Shark Island Signed Poster
- One (1) Shark Island Sticker
- One (1) Shark Island Bracelet
Bloodline 2.020 tracklisting:
"Make A Move"
"Fire In the House"
"Policy Of Truth"
"Aktion Is"
"7 Tears"
"Crazy 8’s"
"Rocks On The Rocks"
"Butterfly"
"When She Cries"
"Law Of The Order"
"On And On"
"Someday"
"Rocks On The Rocks" (Producer’s Cut)
On September 5th, Devin Townsend and his band performed the Empath Live Volume 2 by request livestream, which featured a full production. The musicians were filmed separately, playing their instruments live on greenscreens with 8 cameras each (all at the same heights and distances for each of the remote shoots) and then combined on a virtual stage.
Clips from the livestream have surfaced on YouTube and can be viewed below. The setlist was as follows:
"Velvet Kevorkian" (Strapping Young Lad)
"All Hail The New Flesh" (Strapping Young Lad)
"By Your Command"
"Almost Again" (Strapping Young Lad)
"Juular" (Devin Townsend Project)
"March Of The Poozers"
"Supercrush!" (Devin Townsend Project)
"Hyperdrive"
"Stormbending" (Devin Townsend Project)
"Deadhead" (The Devin Townsend Band)
"Aftermath" (Strapping Young Lad)
"Love?" (Strapping Young Lad)
"Spirits Will Collide"
"Kingdom"
"Detox" (Strapping Young Lad)
Don't miss photographer Mark “Weissguy” Weiss’ Pre-Halloween Virtual Fundraiser (October 30 - 6 PM, EST) on meethook.live/Rock for the Monmouth Museum.
This event will reveal a new exclusive video from 1987 of Kevin DuBrow, Zakk Wylde and Sebastian Bach before they were stars, performing “Bang Your Head" by Quiet Riot at Mark's wedding at the Molly Pitcher Inn, Red Bank, NJ.
Photographer Mark “Weissguy” Weiss is welcoming the addition of Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres and Skid Row guitarist Dave “The Snake” Sabo to his Halloween eve “Welcome To My Exhibition” fundraiser for the Monmouth Museum, which is currently hosting Weiss’ Mark Weiss: The Decade That Rocked exhibit.
The virtual event will feature a virtual walk through of the exhibit plus interviews with Zakk Wylde, Tico Torres, Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider and many more of the mischievous rock star friends that are featured in Weiss’ book, The Decade That Rocked.
Sirius/XM Ozzy’s Boneyard and Hair Nation DJ Keith Roth and his Band of Ghouls will perform live with special musical guests, including Jerry Gaskill of King’s X, Rob Affuso of Skid Row and Accept frontman Mark Tornillo.
Founded in 1963 as a Museum of Ideas, the Monmouth Museum presents changing exhibitions in art, history and science to educate and entertain while providing a destination for creative expression and life-long learning to the diverse community it serves. An independent, non-profit organization, the Monmouth Museum is entirely supported by individuals, foundations, corporate, county and state grants, and income from special events, membership dues and admissions.
Mark "Weissguy" Weiss invites you to join him with his pals Tico Torres of Bon Jovi, Zakk Wylde, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister and Rudy Sarzo of Quiet RIot to come to the event on October 30.
All those who watch the virtual pay-per-view event will have chance to win an 11 x 14 Alice Cooper photo from 1987 signed by Mark and Alice.
Mark will be having his last book signing on Friday, October 30 from 2 - 5 PM with books for sale, for all of you that reside in the tri-state area, Guests that dress up in 80s rock star fashion will receive a free Mark Weiss promotional postcard set. Mark will be in attendance in his Alice Cooper persona. Go to monmouthmuseum.org for directions to the museum in Lincroft, NJ.
Founding BLACK SABBATH drummer Bill Ward has released a video of him reading another original Halloween poem called "Stepping From Broomsticks". Check it out below. The clip comes less than a week after the release of Ward's first Halloween poem video, "It's Nearly Time".
Ward was on board for the SABBATH reunion when it was first announced nine years ago, but backed out soon after. The drummer later claimed that he sat out the recording and touring sessions because of unfair contractual terms, although the members of SABBATH have hinted in other interviews that he wasn't physically up to the task.
All four original members of SABBATH were present when the band announced its reunion in late 2011. But Ward split from the group in 2012, citing an "unsignable" contract, and singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler carried on with their Rick Rubin–produced "13" LP and extensive international touring without him.
Ozzy told The Pulse Of Radio during SABBATH's last tour that Ward was not in shape to participate. "Bill Ward has got the most physically demanding job of the lot of us, 'cause he's the timekeeper," he said. "I don't think personally he had the chops to pull it off, you know. The saddest thing is that he needed to own up to that, and we could have worked around it, whether we had a drummer on the side with him or something."
It was rumored that SABBATH wanted to bring a second drummer on the road to share duties with Ward, something that Iommi confirmed in 2017 during a question-and-answer session about SABBATH's "Ten Year War" box set.
Ward in 2015 released his first solo album in 18 years. Titled "Accountable Beasts", the record can be purchased on iTunes.
To tide fans over during trying times, electronic rock band ORGY has unearthed a never-before-seen video for the track "Spells", taken from its 2015 "Talk Sick" EP.
"We just wanted to reach out during these hard times to let you know we haven't forgotten about all of you," ORGY says. "These times are especially difficult for everyone, not just the music industry. While it's probably for the best, it sure does suck not being able to perform live for all of you. We miss it just as much as you probably do, if not more."
The "Spells" video was directed by Mykyta Samusiev, produced by Anna Tveritina and featuring visual effects, direction and production by Henry Lipatov, and has been on the shelf for some time, as the band has moved on, restructuring and reshaping their always-evolving sound.
"Even though so much has changed regarding the sound of ORGY since then, we figured why not at least release the video on all major platforms and give it away to any of you that want it?" the band says. "We hope you enjoy it, and that the video will at least be a distraction from all the drama going on out there!"
ORGY is currently utilizing downtime to work on new material from their individual houses. "We can't wait to get the new record to you," the band says. "We are going to bring you something you can sink your teeth (fangs, etc.) into. Stay safe, stay well and most importantly stay optimistic. We will ALL get through these complicated times. Looking forward to seeing all of you again with a new record and tour when they open live music venues, hopefully in 2021!"
ORGY emerged in the goth music scene in 1998 with its remake of NEW ORDER's "Blue Monday". The track sold over one million copies and is still selling more than 20 years later. In late 2005, after the release of "Punk Statik Paranoia" via D1 Music And Associates, their independent DVD "Trans Global Spectacle" via D1 Music/DLC Records, and a promotional tour, the band went on a hiatus to work on their side projects. In 2011, after seven years of demand from fans for new music and a tour, founding member Jay Gordon (vocals) decided it was time to kick things back up and begin recording and touring again.
FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl and keyboardist Rami Jaffee performed a stripped-down version of the band's song "Times Like These" during last night's (Sunday, October 25) "I Will Vote" concert. The two-and-a-half-hour event, hosted by comedian George Lopez and political strategist Ana Navarro, served as a fundraiser for the Biden Victory Fund in support of former Vice President Joe Biden's presidential campaign.
You can watch the FOO FIGHTERS' performance below.
Back in 2018, FOO FIGHTERS frontman Dave Grohl said that he was "ashamed" of having Donald Trump as the U.S. leader, explaining that the billionaire real estate mogul "seems like a massive jerk."
"Today, the American Dream is broken," Grohl told the British GQ magazine. "I've probably travelled internationally more than our current president and the one thing I understand that he doesn't is that the world isn't as big as you think it is. It is all in your neighborhood. India, Asia, Iceland aren't other solar systems. I am ashamed of our president. I feel apologetic for it when I travel."
In 2017, Grohl said in an interview with Switzerland's SRF 3 that criticism of Trump's extremist rhetoric by musicians and Hollywood stars only serves to embolden and fuel his base. "I think that for years maybe they felt like the minority and now all of a sudden there's a voice that they can sort of attach themselves to, and the more pushback they get from that, it's like the stronger they feel in a lot of ways," Grohl explained. "So all you can do is fight the good fight every day when you wake up and try to be a good person and treat everybody with respect."
Asked how he, as a responsible parent, talks with his kids about the often-inflammatory behavior we see from the president on a daily basis, Grohl told SRF 3: "I remember the night of the election, I had to sit down and have a talk with my daughter. She was terrified, man. And I basically told her what I'd just told you. I was, like, 'You can't give up hope. You just have to fight the good fight. And the things you believe in… You have to stand up and represent the things that you actually believe in.' That's what everybody should do. But I think it's hard for a kid to understand that."
Music has the power to change the world. So does voting.
Join us and many other performers for a concert to support @JoeBiden, @KamalaHarris and Democrats down the ballot.
Another force of great musicians has come together fusing hard rock, metal, punk and hip-hop. Aptly titled DMC AND THE HELLRAISERS, they are releasing their scary as hell but ultra-infectious debut single "Monster" on October 30. The subsequent gritty black-and-white video for the song will release on October 31, Halloween Day.
THE HELLRAISERS is the latest rock/rap endeavor featuring one of hip-hop's greatest pioneers, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels alongside Veronica Bellino, the drummer for famed alt-metal band LIFE OF AGONY. Bellino anchors the ensemble's rhythm section with her feisty skinning with veteran bassist David Filice and DMC DJ Charlie Chan. Guitarist Rich Devletian rounds out the band, keeping the hellraising quotient at a fever pitch throughout the track.
"Monster" is driven by DMC's blistering rap verses illuminating the terrifying demons we all battle inside beyond our carefully constructed facades — which lead to the irrepressible hook sung by Bellino: "You created a monster, you better leave the light on." In true Renaissance Woman fashion, Bellino also created the "Monster" video by piecing together intense images of her singing, McDaniels rapping, Filice and Devletian playing onstage, and a narrative featuring stark images of a masked man slowly going insane and getting violent with himself, unable to cope with those inner voices of destruction that we all battle.
The band name HELLRAISERS is a reference to RUN-DMC's "Raising Hell" album which defined and solidified the genre "rock rap" when they collaborated with AEROSMITH for the remake of "Walk This Way" and a genre DMC has embraced over the past three decades. His original success helped give birth to Kid Rock, KORN, LIMP BIZKIT, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and other "rock/rap" bands.
"The song has a lot of potential meanings," says Veronica, who penned the chorus/hook while McDaniels wrote his verses. "It could be an everyday monster like the evil people we sometimes see on the news, or maybe it's the monster we create in our own heads. To us as a band, it represents what we call the 'mental health monster,' which lies behind the fake smile we wear to cover those dark realities. That is represented in the video by the weird, creepy smile of the man's mask. Behind that, he is disturbed, and he's in the house isolated and freaking out as the mental health monster eats him alive. The line 'You better leave the light on' is our way of saying, a breakthrough is possible if you let a little positivity shine through the darkness."
DMC AND THE HELLRAISERS has its roots in a working relationship Bellino developed with McDaniels in 2011 after the two were introduced through LL Cool J's record label, a label Bellino was working with at the time. McDaniels was working on the song "Attention Please" with Pauley Perrette and chose a killer hook that Bellino wrote for the track. DMC, equally impressed by Bellino's drumming skills, (she is featured on the skins in the song's video) hired her to play drums and be the musical director for a series of shows he and DJ Charlie Chan had coming up, including shows at The Troubadour in L.A. and the Fun Fun Fun festival in Texas. The HELLRAISERS eventually evolved to include Filice and Devletian, and have since performed with McDaniels and Chan at various concerts around the globe, including The Open-Air Festival in Switzerland, as well as multiple venues in Germany, Nashville, New York City and L.A.
"I love playing with these musicians," says McDaniels. "We're a drummer/singer, guitar player, bass player, deejay and an MC that came together to have fun writing and performing together. For me, that's the essence of being in this business."
"Our industry has put everything on pause during COVID, and it's been a challenge to stay motivated creatively and keep ourselves from going crazy when we can't play live," adds Bellino. "In light of that, we felt it was a good time to put out 'Monster' to create awareness of the project that includes a rap legend yet offers something different."
Filice says: "At a time when so many people are going through a hard time with their mental health, this is a powerful song that takes a no holds barred approach to the issue and meets our collective moment perfectly."
DMC AND THE HELLRAISERS are working on an EP to be released in 2021.
Jersey City, NJ hard rock / metal band Them Damn Kings has revealed the official music video for their debut single, "Throw it Away." Self-directed and produced by multi-talented front-man Jef Rhodes, "Throw it Away" is off of their upcoming album, Rise Up.
“It ("Throw it Away") was the first song written for the record. It makes me wanna get on a motorcycle and ride even though the song has nothing to do with that. It’s about tossing away your fears in an abstract sort of way.” - Jef Rhodes (Lead Guitar / Vocals)
Them Damn Kings is the one man hard rock wrecking machine created by New Jersey USA native, guitarist / multi-instrumentalist / vocalist Jef Rhodes. Jef is a long time professional Front Of House engineer, and backline tech who has over two decades of international touring experience with such bands as: Opeth, Cradle Of Filth, Highly Suspect, Lacuna Coil, Watain, Mayhem, and others.
By enlisting former Lacuna Coil drummer Ryan Blake Folden, the pair have recorded Rise Up, a monster of a debut album that sounds both new and exciting - while simultaneously reminding listeners of that golden age of the early ‘90s when hard rock, metal, and grunge ruled the late night rock clubs of the world.
The CJSS track, "Hell On Earth", is the opening track from the band's debut classic metal album World Gone Mad. The video below features a live version recorded at Bogart's in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Lineup:
David T. Chastain - guitar
Russell Jinkens - vocals
Mike Skimmerhorn - bass
Les Sharp - drums
Previously released live videos for the CJSS tracks, "World Gone Mad", "Destiny", "Welcome To Damnation" and "Praise The Loud", also recorded at Bogart's in Cincinnati, can be seen below:
Baltimore rockers, Signal 13, have just unveiled their latest single/video, “All Fired Up”, from their Destination Unknown EP. Serving as the follow-up to the earlier singles/videos “Dirty” and “Stay With Me”, “All Fired Up” is an undeniable bluesy rocker with a shout-along/anthemic chorus.
“The song is built around this blues-rock riff that everyone really liked and it came together quickly after that,” explained the band in a statement. “Vicky had lyrics already written and immediately integrated them into the music. As soon as we started playing the main riff, she said ‘This is All Fired Up!’ and jumped right in with the lyrics. Vicky will tell you it’s about decisions and committing to move forward or back, but there is more to it than that. I don't want to give it all away but it is much deeper if you listen closely, with some Robert Johnson inspiration going on.”
And like the other aforementioned earlier singles, a must-see video was filmed for “All Fired Up”. “We wanted to do something different than we have done before. While ‘Dirty’ was a performance video, it was very basic, with no stage, just two lights, and it fit the song. For this, with shows being shut down for so long and not being able to have people see us live, we wanted to give everyone the full show - big and bold and capturing us live. Vicky designed the stage herself and the production company really brought it to life. It was a big production for us - a fully custom designed multi-tiered stage, tons of lights, lots of cameras and different angles. It was a long day and we were having fun behind the scenes so folks hopefully get to see who we are a bit off the stage.
View the video below, and hear “All Fired Up” here.
In September, Signal 13 won "Best Band" in Baltimore Magazine's annual 2020 Best Of Baltimore Readers' Poll, while the group’s songs and videos have exceeded 1.4 million views and streams on all platforms.
And it turns out that the filming of their latest video has intensified the band’s desire to rock once more on a stage, in front of crowds. “It was a blast to hit a stage again for the first time since March... and we can’t wait to bring the live show to everyone in the future!”
Issued back in April, the Destination Unknown EP is available for order through the band’s website.
Destination Unknown tracklisting:
“Dirty”
“Karma”
“Make It Rain”
“Stay With Me”
“All Fired Up”
Canadian bashers Imonolith have posted the second episode of their online series, Behind The Vocals, which gives fans the opportunity to hear what singer Jon Howard sounds like in the raw. No editing, all one take, straight up singing. Here's what Jon had to say about this episode:
"Cover song, Nine Inch Nails, camera vocal audio. We recorded this homemade demo for shits and giggles earlier this year. I decided the world needs to hear our version of this song, and I also really felt the need to sing it again. Enjoy."
Imonolith features drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen (Devin Townsend Project), guitarist Brian ‘Beav’ Wadell (Devin Townsend Project), Jon Howard (Threat Signal), guitarist Kai Huppunen (Methods of Mayhem, Noise Therapy) and Scott Whalen (Econoline Crush). The collective of heavy-hitting players is at the top of their game recently releasing their debut album, State Of Being. The album features special guest appearances from Jens Kidman (Meshuggah) and famed Swedish vocalist Johannes Eckerström and is made up of 10 hook-laden, riff-heavy tracks that center around the theme of how people deal with various stages of life.
Tracklisting:
"State Of Being" (intro)
"Becoming The Enemy" (feat. Johannes Eckerstrom)
"Instinct"
"Dig"
"The Mourning"
"Forgone"
"Breathe"
"The Reign" (feat. Jens Kidman)
"We Never Forget"
"Hollow"
"Persevere"
An audio recording of ALTER BRIDGE frontman Myles Kennedy performing an acoustic cover version of the IRON MAIDEN classic "The Trooper" for SiriusXM can be streamed below.
Prior to launching into the track, Kennedy explained that he first came up with the idea to play "The Trooper" during the tour he undertook in support of his debut solo album, 2018's "Year Of The Tiger".
"I hit the U.S. a few times, did Europe, did South Africa," he said. "It was amazing — a lot of fun. I played tracks from my career over the last few decades and also played some covers that I would mix up in the set. And there was one track that kind of became a fan favorite.
"I was laying in my bunk in a bus one night, and I thought, I just need something at a certain tempo and [that] has a certain vibe, but I want it to be a song that's from my kind of formative years as a young, angst-ridden teenager," he continued. "And I was thinking about a lot of the bands that I was listening to back then, and I thought it would be interesting to take one of those tracks and change the arrangement to fit the context of what I do within the realm of my solo project, which tends to have more of an Americana vibe, amongst other things. It's kind of a potpourri of sonic whatever. So I thought, man, I was a big MAIDEN fan as a kid. And one of my favorite IRON MAIDEN tracks is 'The Trooper'. And I thought, what would happen if you took 'The Trooper' and kind of mixed it up with how Johnny Cash might have approached it. I thought that would be interesting."
Myles recently completed work on his second solo album. The LP was tracked at Studio Barbarosa in Gotha, Florida with the same team that worked on "Year Of The Tiger", including producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette, engineer Jef Moll, as well as drummer Zia Uddin and bassist Tim Tournier.
In July, Kennedy told "Offstage With DWP" about the musical direction of the forthcoming LP: "'Year Of The Tiger', first of all, is a very dark record, and it's very stripped down, very acoustic based. This one has elements of that. I wanted to keep a common thread with it. There are acoustic elements. There's definitely still that element of a lot of slide guitar, a lot of lap steel, 'cause I just love how emotive both those are. But it definitely rocks a little more. There's no doubt about it — this is more of a rock record, with kind of a heavy R&B undercurrent at times as well. There's even one song — if it makes the record — which is a full-on Motown thing.
"I've got so many [songs] right now," Myles added. "[The overall direction] is really gonna depend on what makes the record. I think I learned that from David Bowie interview, where he [said he] would try and write… He'd have 40 songs to choose from [for an album], so that way you can make the best statement you can."
Myles's tour in support of "Year Of The Tiger" featured music from the album as well as selections from Myles's work with ALTER BRIDGE, THE MAYFIELD FOUR and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS.
Irish doom metal band, The Grief, have released their new digital EP “Descent” on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and all other common streaming platforms. Lyric & guitar playthrough videos can be found below.
The Descent EP is the band’s second release in 2020 and follows on from the debut Ascent EP, released in March this year. Descent features five tracks of varied material, recorded during the same sessions as the Ascent EP and once again the five tracks were mastered by Dan Swano at Unisound.
Artwork for the EP was created by Slava Gerj.
Tracklisting:
"Scourge" (Instrumental)
"Sunder"
"The Ascent"
"Den Of Thieves"
"To Hew In Wrath"
"To Hew In Wrath" lyric video:
"To Hew In Wrath" guitar playthrough video:
"Den Of Thieves" lyric video:
"Sunder" lyric video:
"Scourge"
"The Ascent" lyric video:
Formed in early 2016, The Grief features members from Cork-based metal bands Corr Mhóna, For Ruin and Soothsayer some of whose members had originally played together in a Katatonia tribute band (Katatonik). The Grief plays a mixture of doom-tinged metal with influences from many of the classic British doom metal bands & made their initial live appearances in 2017 before recording an initial unreleased demo with the initial line up of the band: Robert Farrow - Drums, Kieran O'Leary - Bass, Paul Quinn - Guitars, Stephen Quinn - Vocals, John Murphy – Guitars. When the drum position was vacated by Farrow (who moved abroad), the band decided to focus on recording their first 9 songs during 2019 at Murphy’s home studio in North Cork. Recordings were completed in late 2019 with Murphy performing the drum parts until new drummer Con Doyle joined the band in March 2020.
On January 29, Demon Head will release their new album, Viscera, via Metal Blade Records. For a first preview of the record, a video for the new single, "The Triumphal Chariot Of Antimony" (created by Justine Morrow aka lathe.of.heaven), can be viewed below.
Viscera can be pre-ordered here in the following formats:
- hardcover digisleeve-CD
- 180g clear deluxe edition vinyl w/ o-card, backpatch, and poster (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 300 copies)
- 180g black vinyl (EU exclusive)
- clear ash grey marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 250 copies)
- dark red / black marbled vinyl (EU exclusive - limited to 250 copies)
- clear / black dust vinyl (Kings Road exclusive - limited to 100 copies)
- clear brown marbled vinyl (US exclusive)
Demon Head is comprised of five internationally based and widely acclaimed musicians; Mikkel Sander Fuglsang, Birk Gjerlufsen Nielsen, Marcus Ferreira Larsen, Thor Gjerlufsen Nielsen and Jeppe Wittus. Though hesitant to compromise the description of the music they perform through generalizing terms of genre, they've coined the term "diabolic rock" as an appropriate presentation.
Their fourth full-length - Viscera - is a new beginning for Demon Head. Recorded during the first months of 2020 between the legendary Sweet Silence Studios by Flemming Rasmussen (Metallica, Morbid Angel, Rainbow) and a remote country house in Sweden, the album was mixed by Martin 'Konie' Ehrencrona (In Solitude, Tribulation, Nifelheim). The production shows the impeccable qualities of joined forces, where old techniques meet new aesthetics, and major label possibilities meet underground, uncompromising DIY dedication. The resulting 10 songs showcase acoustic instruments, flourishing mellotron strings, brass instruments, tape manipulation and church organ - displayed in equal measure to the sound of the crushing drums of J.W, cryptic guitars of brothers B.G.N and T.G.N, pounding bass lines of M.S.F, and the vocals of M.F.L combined with the eerily captivating falsetto and baryton of B.G.N.
Demon Head comments: "We are now ready to offer You 'Viscera'. It contains more of us than any album we have made before, and we hope that You will welcome it as sincerely as it will welcome You."
Viscera tracklisting:
"Tooth And Nail"
"The Feline Smile"
"Arrows"
"Magical Death"
"The Lupine Choir"
"A Long, Groaning Descent"
"In Adamantine Chains"
"Black Torches"
"Wreath"
"The Triumphal Chariot Of Antimony"
"The Triumphal Chariot Of Antimony" video:
Demon Head will play a release show on January 30 at Pumpehuset in Copenhagen. "A release ceremony will take place in Copenhagen when this year is newly dead. Tokens for the passage are available here."
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