Artist
The set times for 2017's Blackest of the Black festival, which is curated by Glenn Danzig and presented by KLOS, have been revealed. Headlined by Danzig, Ministry and Suicidal Tendencies, the two-day event will take place over the weekend of May 26th-27th at Oak Canyon Park in Silverado, California. The daily lineups are listed below.
"I first started Blackest in the early 2000s and finally my full vision is being realized," Danzig said in a statement. "Get ready for sensory overload, from films to comics to Castle Danzig. This is going to be the real Blackest of the Black."
In addition to the performances, the festival will feature a Verotik/Comic Con area, roaming freak show, sacrifice altar, suspension and bondage stages, carnival rides and much more. The event will also offer a camping site, which Danzig described in a radio interview with festival host Full Metal Jackie as "a haunted drive-in with tombstones. You can just put your sleeping bag there and watch schlocky horror movies until you pass out." There will also be a "Castle Danzig" attraction, which will be similar to a horror funhouse.
Information on tickets as well as camping and V.I.P. packages can be found at this location.
Friday, May 26:
Suicidal Tendencies: 9:30 – 10:30
Corrosion of Conformity: 8:30 – 9:30
Discharge: 7:40 – 8:30
Deafheaven: 6:55 – 7:40
Suicide Silence: 6:10 – 6:55
Butcher Babies: 5:30 – 6:10
3Teeth: 5:00 – 5:30
Saturday, May 27:
Danzig: 8:55 – 10:25
Ministry: 7:40 – 8:55
Vamps: 6:40 – 7:40
Atreyu: 5:40 – 6:40
Venom Inc: 4:55 – 5:40
Marduk: 4:10 – 4:55
Devildriver: 3:25 – 4:10
Combichrist: 2:45 – 3:25
Ghoul: 2:05 – 2:45
Ritual: 1:30 – 2:05
Stone Sour have shared the official music video for the track "Song #3," which is the second single from their forthcoming album, Hydrograd. The video can be seen below.
In the clip, the band go through a series of costume changes, including a moment where singer Corey Taylor dons a blond mullet, face makeup and ratty clothes. It isn't until the end when the band dress as themselves that they find harmony while performing.
While issuing a studio update for our February/March 2017 issue, Taylor explained of the new album, "People have had it wrong about Stone Sour for a long time. We're not a metal band that plays hard rock stuff—we are a rock band that plays everything. And to me, this is the first Stone Sour album that's really going to prove that point about this band."
"It's hard to explain," he continued. "It's hard rock, but not in the typical hard rock sense. It's heavy and melodic, but not in those typical senses. Anybody who likes the 'Burbank' stuff [on which the band covered classic rock and metal anthems by The Rolling Stones, Bad Brains, Alice in Chains, Iron Maiden, Slayer, and others] is going to love the originals. As eclectic as those covers were, that's kind of where we're at with the music here. But when you listen to the songs as a whole, it all just fits so well together!"
Hydrograd will be released on June 30 via Roadrunner Records. The album can be pre-ordered in various formats at this location.
Chicago-based guitarist Rob Scallon is known for innovative renditions of metal songs, such as covering Cannibal Corpse and Slayer with banjos and ukuleles. The musician is mixing up his annual "May-Tallica" YouTube series, in which he traditionally shares creative versions of Metallica tunes throughout the month of May, by including offerings from System of MAY Down, MAY-Shuggah and Iron MAYden. So far, we've seen Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" played entirely on bells, System of a Down's "B.Y.O.B." being performed on a cello at a romantic restaurant and Meshuggah's "New Millennium Cyanide Christ" on shovels.
In Scallon's latest installment for the month of May, he performs riffs from every single System of a Down song in only four minutes. Starting with "Suite-Pee," the first track on the band's eponymous debut album, Scallon impressively runs through clips all the way through the final song on the band's 2005 Hypnotize release, "Soldier Side."
"Put System of A Down's discography into a trash compactor and got this," reads the caption on the official YouTube video.
In addition to rehashing other artists' works, Scallon has written a slew of original music as well, in which he uses out-of-the-box instruments such as a theremin, the first ever electronic instrument invented, which is played without using hands. His recent album, The Scene Is Dead, is available now and can be purchased at this location.
For more about Scallon, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also subscribe to his YouTube channel to keep up with his latest videos.
Pittsburgh-based hardcore outfit Code Orange have dropped the official music video for the song "Bleeding in the Blur," which is taken from their latest album, Forever. The video, directed by Max Moore (Of Mice & Men, Stone Sour, Senses Fail), can be viewed above.
Speaking with Fader about the meaning behind the "I Am King" imagery that appears at the end of the video — a reference to the band's album prior to Forever, guitarist and singer Reba Meyers explained, "It symbolizes the next step. We like to weave a continuing thread in everything we do musically and visually. There's somewhat of a continuing journey going on in these records and videos and that is part of it. The actual ideology of Code Orange hasn't significantly changed, no. It has grown from experience and struggle and frustration. It is always growing. We have an increasingly clear vision for the world we want to create in heavy music and otherwise. But the mission remains the same. I Am King was the birth in many ways of our band's mindset and new found hunger. Forever is a more driven, dynamic expansion on the ideology and sound."
Following up an international tour in support of System of a Down, Code Orange will return to the states this summer where they will hit the stage at various festivals. You can catch the band at Chicago Open Air, Rock USA, This Is Hardcore, and Psycho Las Vegas. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at this location.
Forever is out now via Roadrunner Records. The album can be purchased here.
Following up the release of "Unbreakable," Of Mice & Men have shared "Back to Me," the second new song that features the band's revamped lineup with bassist Aaron Pauley on vocals.
"'Back to Me' is a very meaningful song for us," explained Pauley. "When going through major life changes, whether it's loss or growth, it's incredibly easy to feel like you've lost a part of yourself—and like you'll never be yourself again. I've come believe that we can never truly lose ourselves. I believe we persist through these changes, and that if you can discover, tap into, and ignite your true passions, you'll always be able light the way back to you. We really wanted to put out 'Back to Me' as the follow up to 'Unbreakable,' because we wanted to reassure and encourage ourselves and others to press on when times get tough. 'Let hope be everything that you need...'"
The music video for "Back to Me" chronicles the band's past few weeks and performances at the recent Las Rageous, Fort Rock, Welcome to Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, and Northern Invasion festivals.
The single was once again recorded by Grammy-nominated producer Howard Benson (Sepultura, My Chemical Romance), mixed by Grammy winner Chris Lord-Alge (Deftones, Muse) and mastered by Chris Athens (Drake, Ozzy Osbourne). It can be purchased at this location.
Back in December of 2016, original Of Mice & Men frontman Austin Carlile departed from the band due to his ongoing battle with Marfan syndrome.
Check out "Back to Me" below and let us know what you think in the comments.
During Metallica's May 19 set at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, bassist Robert Trujillo paid tribute to late Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell, who died last week. Trujillo worked the chorus notes from Soundgarden's landmark song, "Black Hole Sun," into his bass solo. Footage of the moving tribute can be seen below.
"@robtrujillo plays @soundgarden's Black Hole Sun in memory of Chris Cornell. #Metallica #WorldWired #MetInBoston," read the caption beneath the clip that was uploaded to Metallica's official Instagram account.
Following Soundgarden's performance at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan on Wednesday, May 17, a person on Cornell's security team went to check on the singer at his hotel room in MGM Grand casino, where he found the vocalist unresponsive on the bathroom floor. EMS pronounced him dead at the scene. The medical examiner determined that his death was suicide by hanging. He was 52 years old.
Cornell will be laid to rest this Friday, May 26 at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles. CNN reports that a source said, "The family is thinking about a (public) memorial for fans, but is coping now with their loss and the funeral service."
At the time of Cornell's death, Soundgarden were reportedly at work on a new record. In April, the singer reported to Billboard that the band was "halfway through writing the new album," but he noted, "We're not on a schedule." He also talked about what he enjoyed the most about working with the group. "What I look forward to the most — because I tour so much, especially the last couple of years, by myself — is the camaraderie," he said. "It's what we missed when we weren't a band. When I do solo tours, I'm really kind of alone all the time, so that's the best thing about it."
Metalcore outfit Memphis May Fire have released the official music video for the song "Sever the Ties," which is taken from their latest album, This Light I Hold. The video, which was directed and edited by Bryson Roatch (Papa Roach, Saint Asonia), can be seen below.
Back in October, the band partnered up with Revolver to premiere a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the music video for the title track for This Light I Hold. The song and video featured appearances by Papa Roach singer Jacoby Shaddix and Asking Alexandria's Danny Worsnop, both of whom also appeared in the "making of" clip along with Rise Records' Craig Ericson. The full 11-minute video can be viewed at this location.
Speaking of making the video for "This Light I Hold," Memphis May Fire frontman Matty Mullins told Revolver, "This was the best experience we've ever had making a music video. Everything about it was so professional from start to finish and having the opportunity to hang with friends like Jacoby and Danny made for a very memorable experience. The treatment was written by our manager and we loved seeing it come to life. We hope that everyone has enjoyed it and we can't wait for you all to hear the whole album!"
This Light I Hold is available now via Rise Records. You can download the album here or order a physical copy at this location.
For more on Memphis May Fire, follow them on Twitter and Facebook.
Watch the video for "Sever the Ties" and tell us what you think!
Between the Buried and Me bassist Dan Briggs shared a cover of "Falling," the theme song from David Lynch and Mark Frost's cult television show, Twin Peaks. His version of the song can be heard below.
Speaking on his fandom for the show and reasons for covering the theme, Briggs explained: "When I was in college I started down the rabbit hole of everything David Lynch and have found so much inspiration in his work over the years. This is a song that has haunted me for most of my life as I was 6 when the series originally aired and my parents were immersed in it. I really wanted to put my spin on it as it's probably the most gorgeous three chord song in existence; and I wanted the end of the song to feel like you were being sucked into the Black Lodge."
Twin Peaks ran for two seasons in 1990 and 1991. The supernatural series explored the puzzling death of a small town's popular high school student, Laura Palmer, employing paranormal and extraterrestrial themes. In addition to the prequel films Fire Walk with Me and The Missing Pieces, the series is launching a revival season via Showtime. It will premiere this Sunday, May 21.
Between the Buried and Me will embark on a "Colors Ten Year Anniversary Tour," in which the band will perform their landmark album, Colors, in full. The dates can be found at this location.
Are you a fan of Twin Peaks? Let us know if you prefer the original version or Briggs' cover!
Chris Cornell — a legendary singer with the unmistakable voice, widely regarded as one of the greatest frontman in rock & roll — was best known for his contributions to dark, stormy songs by iconic bands such as Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog. But he wasn't all angst and gravity: Cornell also had a playful sense of humor that occasionally popped up in his music.
One such moment took place in 2013. During a performance at Santander Arts Center in Reading, Pennsylvania, Cornell explained to fans that he was originally planning on covering the song "One" by U2, but was unsure about the words. When he researched the lyrics for "One," Metallica's celebrated epic popped up in its place. Instead of choosing just one of the two songs to cover, Cornell cleverly blended them into a single tune. The singer layered Metallica's lyrics over U2's music — likely the first time that anyone attempted to combine the two bands. Watch the performance above.
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of resources.
Just after midnight on May 18th, 2017, Chris Cornell was found dead in his hotel room following a performance with Soundgarden at Detroit's Fox Theatre that night. In the wake of the terrible news, fans that attended the show shared video footage and reports from the concert.
Below, you can watch fan-filmed footage of Cornell's stage banter from the evening as well as Soundgarden performing their hits "Black Hole Sun," "Spoonman" and the concluding song of the set, Badmotorfinger's heaviest offering, "Slaves and Bulldozers." Cornell followed up the final song with a blazing solo and a reprisal from "In My Time of Dying," a gospel song from the 1920s that was made famous by Led Zeppelin. The videos offer a bittersweet testament to the late, great Seattle-born singer's remarkable talent.
Soundgarden, of course, helped pioneer the grunge sound. The group broke up in 1997 after releasing seminal records including Badmotorfinger and Superunknown, but reunited in 2010 and recorded the acclaimed comeback album King Animal.
At the time of Cornell's death, Soundgarden were reportedly at work on a new record. In April, the singer reported to Billboard that the band was "halfway through writing the new album," but he noted, "We're not on a schedule." He also talked about what he enjoyed the most about working with the group. "What I look forward to the most — because I tour so much, especially the last couple of years, by myself — is the camaraderie," he said. "It's what we missed when we weren't a band. When I do solo tours, I'm really kind of alone all the time, so that's the best thing about it."
If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TALK) or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of resources.