Artist
In honor of Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne and Slipknot's Corey Taylor appear on the cover of Revolver's August/September issue, which is on newsstands now and available for purchase online! You can view the cover below.
In the feature, we asked artists performing at what is sure to be the metal event of the year for tips and tricks to surviving festivals. Check out Matt Heafy of Trivium's below.
YOUR OWN (EMPTY) WATER BOTTLE
"You can refill it! When I travel to the airports these days, I bring a water bottle that filters itself. If you can find a source of water, that's important."
APPROVED SNACKS SAVES CASH
"It also helps if you can bring protein bars or something, so you don't have to eat awful, greasy, typical festival food and feel like crap. It's good to be self sufficient for the day. It's also important to not burn out all your cash so you can buy a shirt later."
WIPE IT
"If you're not accustomed to port-o-potties, these [baby wipes] help. The first tour I did, I had never used a port-o-potty before. Try to bring extra paper, too. You need to put a net of paper and liners down there. If you don't, there's a good chance it'll splash back up and hit you. I've had that happen and it's one of the most traumatizing experiences of my life. I remember running to my bus and spraying myself down with Lysol."
BOOTS
"I think it's important to bring what the Brits call 'wellies'—high rain boots. During the summer you can get in a rainy season, and a festival is always in a field. We were just at the European fests, and they have it down."
PAY ATTENTION
"Bring your phone, obviously, and take a couple of pictures, but then just enjoy the show. If you get the phone out, then you're messaging people and you're not paying attention."
Check back soon for more tips and tricks, or to read the rest, pick up the August/September issue.
South Florida-based electro-metal duo Player Vs. Environment will release its new EP, 'Escapism,' this fall. In anticipation, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere its new music video, "Guilty." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
Vocalist Poltergiest said, "'Guilty' is about not feeling sorry because everyone is fucked up anyways."
For more on Player Vs. Environment, follow them on Twitter or Facebook.
"Party all you want, have a great fucking time. But for every beer or two you have, drink a water. It's not even dehydration that you have to worry about—if you drink too much beer in that heat, you'll pass out that much quicker. You'll miss half of the show that you paid a lot of money to go see, you know?"
"There's plenty of food at this festival. Just take care of yourself. And that's probably a very un-rock and roll thing to say, but I don't give a fuck. This is coming from someone who takes good care of his body, for the most part, and has gone down a couple of times onstage with dehydration even being as fit as I am. Imagine being out in that heat all day and getting to that point in the day where the sun's starting to go down but it's still fucking hot."
"Nobody wants that kind of fucking bum-out! Put some sunscreen on! I sound like somebody's fucking mother, but put some fucking sunscreen on, eat some food, drink some water, and you're gonna be great. It's all about balance, man. If you can keep everything balanced, you're gonna make it through the whole day. You're gonna be able to see Sabbath at the end of the first day, and Slipknot at the end of the second day. Just fucking settle into it and enjoy it."
Dope will release its new album, 'Blood Money Part 1,' on October 28 via Entertainment One. In anticipation, the band has teamed up with Revolver to premiere its new song and music video, "Hold On." Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
Frontman Edsel Dope said, "Our new single, 'Hold On,' is a great example of Dope's commitment to continue evolving sonically. The hooks are melodic and memorable, while the bands musicianship is on full display. We have released several albums throughout the years and the sound of our catalog has a lot of width to it.. I'm very proud of Dope's ability to walk that evolutionary line."
In addition, Dope will be on the "Die Mother Fucker Die" Reunion Tour, featuring support from Flaw and Motograter. The Dope reunion tour will feature the classic line up of Edsel Dope, Acey Slade, Virus, and Racci Shay. Beginning 9/13 in San Francisco, the tour winds through the U.S. before finishing up at the legendary Whiskey A Go Go in West Hollywood 10/30.
To get 'Blood Money Part 1,' visit iTunes or Dope's website. For more on Dope, follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Dope tour dates:
09/13 - San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
09/14 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
09/15 - Vancouver, BC @ The Rickshaw
09/16 - Pasco, WA @ La Tropicana
09/17 - Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
09/18 - Spokane, WA @ The Pin
09/19 - Idaho Falls, ID @ The Falls Venue
09/20 - Denver, CO @ Herman's Hideaway
09/21 - Colorado Springs, CO @ Sunshine Studios
09/22 - Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
09/23 - St Louis, MO @ Firebird
09/24 - Minneapolis, MN @ The Cabooze
09/25 - Des Moines, IA @ Lefty's
09/26 - Sioux Falls, SD @ Big's Bar
09/27 - Waterloo, IA @ The Reverb
09/28 - Stevens Point, WI @ Live On Main
09/29 - Chippewa Falls, WI @ Every Buddy's
09/30 - Battle Creek, MI @ Music Factory
10/01 - Flint, MI @ Machine Shop
10/02 - Madison, WI @ Sonic Boom
10/03 - Toledo, OH @ Realm
10/04 - Chicago, IL @ Concord Music Hall
10/05 - Cleveland, OH @ The Agora
10/06 - Columbus, OH @ Park Street Saloon
10/07 - Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
10/08 - Stroudsburg, PA @ Sherman Theater
10/09 - Rochester, NY @ Montage Music Hall
10/10 - Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck
10/11 - Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
10/12 - Montreal, QC @ Pirahna Bar
10/13 - Amityville, NY @ Revolution
10/14 - Worcester, MA @ Rock N Shock @ Palladium
10/15 - Baltimore, MD @ Fish Head Cantina
10/16 - Fayetteville, NC @ The Rock Shop
10/17 - Atlanta, GA @ Heaven - Masquerade
10/18 - Lake Charles, LA @ The Centerstage
10/19 - Austin, TX @ Dirty Dog Bar
10/20 - Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
10/21 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
10/22 - Merriam, KS @ Aftershock
10/23 - Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th St. Collective
10/24 - Lubbock, TX @ Backstage
10/25 - Gallup, NM @ The Juggernaut
10/26 - Phoenix, AZ @ Joe's Grotto
10/27 - San Diego, CA @ Brick By Brick
10/28 - Las Vegas, NV @ Counts Vamp'd
10/29 - Anaheim, CA @ City National Grove of Anaheim
10/30 - W. Hollywood, CA @ The Whisky
Welcome to Revolver Magazine's "World's Loudest Podcast." Tune in every other week to hear the latest news, music and interviews with special guests from the world of hard rock and heavy metal.
Episode 27 which is presented by Party Smasher Inc., Prosthetic Records, DW Drums, and Zoom Audio, is hosted by Zeena Koda (formerly of Sirius XM's Liquid Metal, currently of boxxtalk.com) and Revolver's Chris Enriquez. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
First, we catch up with Giraffe Tongue Orchestra's Ben Weinman (also of The Dillinger Escape Plan) and William DuVall (also of Alice in Chains) to talk about the formation of the supergroup, forthcoming shows, balancing lives between other bands and trying to keep this one going, and much more. Then we sit down with Spellcaster's Gabe Franco and Bryce R. VanHoosen to discuss how the Fellowship of the Strings tour came together, latest album, and more. Plus, we play new tunes from Exmortus, Holy Grail, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and more!
Atlanta-based metalcore act Norma Jean have premiered its new song, "Forever Hurtling Towards Andromeda," which features guest vocals from Sean Ingram of Coalesce. Check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments!
The band will release its upcoming seventh full-length, 'Polar Similar,' on September 9 via Solid State Records.
To get 'Polar Similar,' visit Norma Jean's webstore. For more on Norma Jean, follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
It's no accident that Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen often delivers his lyrics in a trademark bellow that recalls the bass-heavy, authoritative tone of Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley — they're two of his formative idols. To that end, early on in Volbeat's career Poulsen actually had the opportunity to "play" Elvis for an evening, when he fronted a band made up of some of the musicians who had performed and recorded with Presley in the '50s and '70s.
"That happened after our first record," Poulsen recalls. "A few of Elvis' old musicians were touring around Europe together, and I knew the guy who made the arrangement for the show in Denmark. He asked me if I wanted to go onstage and sing a couple songs with the band, and, honestly, I thought he was joking. I said, 'Fuck you, man! I don't touch the King's work!'" He laughs. "And I turned the offer down. But later on I called him up because I said, 'I have to do it or else I will regret it for the rest of my life!' I ended up singing a few Elvis songs, like 'Suspicious Minds' and 'Don't Be Cruel.' And I was an emotional wreck — after the show I went straight to the toilet and cried like a fucking baby! Because being there onstage with Elvis' musicians, it was too much."
And yet, the King's men saw something in him. "After the show, Bob Moore, who was Elvis' bass player, came up to me and he said, 'You know, Michael, you're a really good singer. I'm not kidding you — you could make it big in America!'" At the time, however, Volbeat had yet to ever tour in the U.S. "But I guess he knew what he was talking about because now we're doing very good there!"
These days, Volbeat are doing "very good" not only in America, but, it seems, pretty much everywhere else in the Western world. "You know, when we were trying to get a record deal in the beginning, nobody seemed to want to touch Volbeat," Poulsen remarks. "It was like, 'What the fuck is this?' And of course, later on all those labels were knocking on our door, like, 'OK, now we get it!' And now we tour all around the world as headliners, and do what we love to do. This is not something we could have ever foreseen, but it's something to always remember, how we got here. We pretty much left all doors open, and we never painted ourselves into any corners. And it became what it is now. And what it is now, is just Volbeat."
