News
Seether have announced the details for their fifth annual Rise Above Fest, which will take place on July 22 and July 23 at Darling's Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor, M.E. The event, which has expanded to two days due to its previous success, will feature Korn and Shinedown as headliners with additional performances from Seether, Stone Sour, Halestorm, Hellyeah, All That Remains, Skillet, Falling in Reverse, Crobot and many others. The full lineup is available here.
After losing his brother to suicide in 2007, frontman Shaun Morgan launched Rise Above Fest to raise awareness for suicide prevention. All proceeds from the festival are donated towards SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education), one of the nation's top non-profit organizations that provides education on suicide prevention and mental health. In 2016, Morgan was granted the "Artistic Expression" Award from National Council for Behavioral Health at the Awards of Excellence in Las Vegas for his contributions towards the prevention of suicide.
"It's unbelievable we're in our fifth year of Rise Above Fest," Morgan said. "We started this out as a way to give back and raise awareness. To have created something that our friends and fans believe in is really humbling. Every year it's grown and it's an honor to bring you a two-day experience. Can't wait to see you there."
Tickets can be purchased at this location on February 24, at 10:00 A.M. Eastern.
Revolver's February/March issue featuring Avenged Sevenfold hits newsstands today! It is also available for purchase in our webstore. You can view the cover photographed by Travis Shinn below.
The February/March issue also features Suicide Silence, a Revolver Music Awards wrap-up, Stone Sour new album preview, Memphis May Fire, Testament, Serpentine Dominion, In Flames, Emmure, a tale from the pit from Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, and so much more! Check out a full preview.
Slipknot/Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor's new book, 'America 51: A Probe Into The Realities That Are Hiding Inside The Greatest Country In The World,' will be released on August 15 via Da Capo Press. Taylor revealed the cover art in an Instagram post, which can be seen below and here.
An Amazon synopsis describes the book as follows:
"The always-outspoken hard rock vocalist Corey Taylor begins America 51 with a reflection on what his itinerant youth and frequent worldwide travels with his multiplatinum bands Slipknot and Stone Sour have taught him about what it means to be an American in an increasingly unstable world. He examines the way America sees itself, specifically with regard to the propaganda surrounding America's origins (like a heavy-metal Howard Zinn), while also celebrating the quirks and behavior that make a true-blue American.
"Balancing humor, outrage, and disbelief, Taylor examines the rotting core of America, evaluating everything from politics and race relations to family and "man buns." By continuing the wave of moral outrage begun in You're Making Me Hate You, Taylor skewers contemporary America in his own signature style."
The book is available for pre-orders at this location.
Let us know in the comments if you plan on reading Taylor's latest book!
Pop Evil recently paid a visit to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, T.N. in conjunction with Music Gives to St. Jude Kids. The initiative rallies individuals in the music community to help raise funds and awareness for childhood cancer research.
"Playing for the children of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was a career highlight," commented frontman Leigh Kakaty. "Whenever you can help bring inspiration and positivity to children in need it makes it all worthwhile. Being able to bring smiles to both the kids and their families was humbling and something we hope we can do more of in the future."
Bassist Matt DiRito added, "It has been such an honor to be able to work hand in hand with the staff and families at St Jude. Those kids have touched our lives in a way that is so incredibly powerful and different from anything we have experienced in our travels across the world."
Video footage of the band performing at the hospital can be seen here.
To donate towards St. Jude, visit this location.
Chelsea Grin guitarist Dan Jones has announced that he will be attending University of Utah School of Medicine to pursue a career as a doctor. The axman broke the news of his acceptance into the college via his personal Twitter account.
"I have been accepted to medical school! Thank you to all who supported me over the past four years. Couldn't have done it without you all," Jones tweeted.
After submitting his application to the university last fall, Jones wrote on Twitter, "School is hard...but I can't wait to be a physician. It's going to be the most rewarding career."
Back in 2015, Jones took a temporary hiatus from the band to focus on researching microbial mercury methylation at Salt Lake City's Westminster College. There is no word on whether or not his new school obligations will affect his role with the band.
Revolver writer Chris Krovatin and photographer Mark Hennion boarded The World's Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise, 70,000 Tons of Metal. Taking place February 2 through 6, the voyage went from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Labadee, Haiti and back. Here, they recap the events, scene, shows, and debauchery taking place on Day 3 and Day 4—and for more on their real-time shenanigans, look back on Revolver's Instagram.
70,000 Tons of Metal remains the largest and longest-running of the water-borne heavy metal festivals. Housed in a 15-story cruise liner and featuring a lineup of 61 bands playing 123 live shows for approximately 4,100 guests from 74 countries, 70,000 Tons 2017 was a mind-blowing event, both as a chance to catch rare live performances by killer acts and as a chance for metalheads to meet and spend time with their brothers and sisters in arms.
On Days 1 and 2 of the journey, fans embarked out of Fort Lauderdale on the Independence of the Seas, greeted old friends with adorable sentimentality, and caught killer live performances by bands like Amaranthe, Suffocation, Testament, Anthrax, Revocation, Grave Digger, and Kalmah. The voyage continues below…
Day 3: Extremely Rotten Flesh
Friday morning's theme is "hangover." Last night's pool deck set by Anthrax and the party that followed took their tolls on the crowd, and many fans don't wake up until the early afternoon. Thankfully, today the Independence is docked in Labadee, Haiti, so the bands start late and the heshers have a moment to fortify themselves at the buffet before recovering with a soak in Mother Nature's amniotic fluid. A piña colada served inside of a pineapple also helps.
For some, Labadee might be a slight disappointment, as it's carefully sealed from mainland Haiti; if you wanted to score a handmade voodoo idol or gris-gris bag, you're out of luck. But Labadee still has plenty to offer those visitors who don't want to be bothered with the sight of rural poverty and the threat of Zika. The Dragon's Breath Flight Line is 300-foot-long zip line that sends people sailing down from a high cliff over the ocean; the sight of heavily-inked Viking warriors quaking at the idea of flying through the air provides its own comedy. Rocky ruins can also be found along short mountain paths, and a handmade market gives guests the chance to buy something nice that says HAITI on it. Locals aggressively try to convince strolling Europeans to buy wooden goods and friendship bracelets. One or two mention that Jesus loves everyone, displaying a poor reading of their audience.
Most importantly, there are beaches, which is where most of the metalheads post up, floating in the surf and show off their elaborate tattoos. Quickly enough, the poison is sweat out of everyone's systems, and the tepid waves of the sea wash it all away. If the mainstream could see these fun-loving sunbathers, they might change their tune about what it is to be a metalhead. But maybe that's for the best—maybe the non-initiated don't deserve this snapshot. Everyone's having too much fun to care anyway.
A notable side-effect of the beach is that 70,000 Tons offers cruise-goers a chance to meet other metalheads that they find hot. Plenty of the guests on board are from small areas and close-knit scenes, where the options for meeting someone you're attracted to are either quickly exhausted or non-existent. While your average multi-day festival gives fans the chance to find someone they would sleep with, it then forces them to do so in a grimy tent or, at best, a shitty hotel room. But a cruise ship cabin with a balcony overlooking the shores of Haiti is a romantic place for a spur-of-the-moment fling.
Refreshed by shore excursions, the Independence's denizens slowly come back to life and prepare for the night ahead. The merch alley still has a few items left; given previous years' habit of guests camping out in front of the gate the night before it opens, this year sees people lining up for a numbered ticket and watching a special channel on their cabin TVs to keep track of when their numbers come up. Final slices and coffee are pounded at the onboard pizza parlor, where an absolutely tanked guest is carefully escorted back to his room while, a few tables away, Michael Amott of Arch Enemy grabs a bite to eat.
If Labadee didn't calm the shake, the opening volley of extreme acts throttles it away entirely—Seattle supergroup Ghost Ship Octavius start the day, followed shortly by an extra-brutal death metal assault by Swedish OSDM crew Grave in the Pyramid lounge, their crowd showcasing the first misanthropic scowls of the entire trip. New Jersey wrecking crew Overkill obliterate the main stage; passerby get waves from frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth as he crouches behind a stack of amps in preparation for his performance. Weirdo heavy metal explorers Trollfest play to an enthusiastic crowd who couldn't wait up all hours for their crack-of-dawn first-night set; soon after them, Swedish black metallers Marduk take over, and provide a humorless onslaught of corpsepaint-clad black metal for the traditionalists onboard.
The most popular set of the day seems to be that of Floridian romantics Kamelot. Though a little flowery for some, the band receives a massive audience response when they take the stage, specifically from the female members of the audience, who scream en masse. The soaring voice and boyish good looks of frontman Tommy Karevik certainly help, but he's soon joined by two female guest vocalists, Amaranthe's Elize Ryd and Arch Enemy's Alissa White-Gluz, who perform dramatic over-the-top numbers alongside him. After a night of being battered by death metal and thrash, the audience eats it up. Then, it's back to the right-hand path, with sets by Grave Digger, Equilibrium, and multi-faceted Finns Amorphis bringing the crowd to their knees.
The audience rages on into the night, but many head to bed early on Friday, or carefully set alarms for specific late-night sets. Tomorrow's the last day, and ends with karaoke until dawn—better to be rested up when the stakes are so high.
Day 4: No More Regrets
After three nights of heavy metal mayhem, this ship of fools should be running on fumes, but no dice—if anything, everyone aboard the Independence is as hyper as ever. It's not that there has been 72 hours of pure insanity, it's that there are under 24 hours left before they have to return to dry land. Now is not the time to doze in a sun chair—now is the time to fucking rock.
The pool deck opens with another set by dance-metal crew Amaranthe, but that's only a precursor to the real highlight of the day: the annual 70,000 Tons Belly Flop Contest. Both the ground floor and surrounding balconies around the pool are filled with hundreds of onlookers, who burst into raucous applause as several heavy-set dudes hit the water with sickening smacks. While many floppers compete, the gold goes to returning champion Landon Payne. Gold, silver, and bronze medalists are all awarded with champagne by the 70,000 Tons pool girls, the boat's equivalent of the Playboy Bunnies. Corks pop and foam flies in hilarious celebration before everyone sidles over to catch Israli prog metallers Orphaned Land play a strange, violin-laden set.
Next up is the All-Star Jam, where a rotating cast of the boat's musical elite join forces to play classic tunes by bands like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. Though a little forced overall—Annihilator's Jeff Waters isn't exactly the most charismatic host—a few fun covers come out of the show, and the older fans especially seem excited to hear music they know by heart (damn young whippersnappers with their melodic deaththrash!). Meanwhile, on the Ice Rink stage, French thrash stalwarts Nightmare chug through a set of fierce riff-driven songs, led by enthusiastic frontwoman Magali Luyten. The band sound like latter-day Kreator with a pinch of Lacuna Coil, and draw a healthy crowd of horns-throwers.
In many ways, 70,000 Tons has a distinctly European vibe—only a handful of the guests and bands come from the USA—but DevilDriver change that with a poolside set of distinctly American groove metal. Frontman Dez Fafara is in good spirits between songs, but looks like an absolute beast while performing, even as the band launches into a cover of Awolnation's "Sail." Some of the vest-clad crowd doesn't know exactly what to make of DevilDriver, but the front of the stage is mobbed with brawny beardos singing along to tracks like "Before the Hangman's Noose" and "End of the Line."
"This is the way to travel," Fafara tells Revolver a few hours before his set. "If they ask me to do it again, I'll do it. It's great that we are completely the odd band out. We do not sound like anybody on this fucking ship, and that's a plus for me. That's a win-win situation."
As the day wears on and people share more stories—apparently "Calvining" refers to a former guest with a lifetime ban from 70,000 Tons; as one passenger puts it, "Finger-blasting a chick in the hot tub: that's a Calvining"—it becomes apparent that Sunday means cosplay. Over the course of the night, the deck fills with insane costumes, some which make sense (leather-clad elves, Papa Emertius, Eddie from the 'Piece of Mind' cover), others that don't (a banana, the Big Bad Wolf in grandma's clothing, an inflatable T-Rex). The hotter members of the audience use their outfits to show off the goods; there's a pair of Chippendales dancers and a curvaceous vampire in a bikini. Sadly, many of the not-so-good-looking guests wear similar gear. Those fans less interested in dressing up can still be huge nerds in the arcade, where the dudes from Powerglove are happy to play video games alongside their fans.
Carcass' outdoor set is a grandiose gush of death metal followed by plenty of, as Jeff Walker puts it, "grindcore shit." But the pool deck's finest performer is Arch Enemy, who triumphantly dominate the pool deck stage with their brand of sing-along melodic death metal. Alissa White-Gluz looks like a blue-haired valkyrie while she snarls "You Will Know My Name" with one foot on the PA monitor. On land, Arch Enemy sometimes come off as a little too mainstream for some; here, on top of a floating mountain of steel and metalheads, they are perfectly at home.
Somehow, the night isn't over. Anthrax have their second set in the Alhambra, which mixes hits from last year's 'For All Kings' with lesser-known classics like the Western-themed "Lone Justice." But the most exciting performance of the night might be Death Angel, who are actually the last band to play on the entire ship; as such, everyone and their mother packs into the theater and proceeds to go utterly apeshit as Mark Osegueda & Co. assault them with one breakneck thrash track after another. Both the crowd and band sport glowing smiles, squeezing the last drops of reckless abandon out of the slowly-dwindling time they have left with each other.
"The cruise crowd is never-ending," says Death Angel guitarist Rob Cavestany when we catch up with him earlier in the night. "At a fest, you can walk out into the crowd and lose yourself for four days. Here, you're seeing the same faces and people."
The night ends with karaoke on the deck until dawn. Those still conscious head topside and belt "My Heart Will Go On" and "Don't Stop Believing" at the top of their lungs with arms around each other's shoulders. It feels like the last night of summer camp—everyone's ready to go home, but has time for one last sentimental hurrah.
Closing Notes:
It would be easy to say that 70,000 Tons of Metal differs from a typical metal fest only in its price tag and location, but that's unfair. By putting a consolidated group of metal fans and musicians on a ship and sending them out into the water, the cruise creates a strange and meaningful bond between everyone on board. All passengers are aware of how ridiculous, and exciting, and bizarre it is to be shipped off into the wild blue yonder with the metal world surrounding you. The most common phrase overheard during debarkation Monday morning is some variation of, "Next year, dude."
In that respect, maybe it's not a real metal show. Real metal shows take place in smelly basements and suburban arenas, and don't include food and board in the ticket. Real metal shows are places where you sometimes have to watch you back or your wallet. But who cares? The real metal scene doesn't smile nearly as much. It wears fewer bikinis. So it can just meet you on shore when you get back.
Did you miss Part 1? Check it out here!
Photos by Mark Hennion. For more of his work, visit his website.
Gojira have announced several tour dates with support from Kyng, Deafheaven and Code Orange. The trek will occur in conjunction with their co-headliner with Opeth, which kicks off this spring. The itinerary for the new dates can be seen below.
05/02: New Orleans, LA @ House Of Blues
05/03: Birmingham, AL @ Iron City
05/16: Buffalo, NY @ The Rapids Theatre
05/17: Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
05/18: Grand Rapids, MI @ 20 Monroe Live
Information on Gojira's tour with Opeth is available here.
Kittie Bassist Trish Doan has died according to her bandmates. She was 31.
Her cause of death has not been revealed.
A post on Kittie's official Facebook page said:
"It is with immeasurable sadness that we share news of the passing of our sister and best friend Trish Doan.
"Finding the right words is tough. She was so bright and vibrant and talented and we loved her and still do. She was so much more than just a musician or member of the band. She was our blood, our sister and family. Finding our way without her will be challenging, like a ship without a lighthouse, and we are devastated.
"We ask that you please respect our privacy and her family's privacy during this difficult time."
Former Kittie bassist Ivy Vujic Jenkins also paid tribute to Doan on her personal Facebook page. Jenkins wrote:
"Anyone who has ever met Trish Doan knows that she was one of the sweetest, kindest, most down-to-earth people on this planet. I loved seeing her beautiful photos of Australian sunsets and city skylines, and nerding out about bass gear and geeky tech stuff.
"Everyone loved Trish more than she ever realized. She has left an imprint on so many lives. Her memory and legacy will outlive her physical form for many years to come.
"Much love to Trish's family, friends and all of the world that was touched by her presence.
"Trish, you are loved and greatly missed."
Doan joined Kittie in 2005, but departed in 2007 due to her struggles with an eating disorder. She then rejoined the band again in 2012. Her contributions appear on Kittie's 2006 EP, 'Never Again,' as well as 2007's full-length, 'Funeral for Yesterday.'
The Revolver staff sends condolences to family, friends and bandmates. R.I.P.
Last night, February 12, The Dillinger Escape Plan were involved in a bus accident. In addition to statements issued by a spokesperson for the band and guitarist Ben Weinman earlier today, the band has since collectively released a statement as well as photos of the wreck through their official Facebook and Instagram pages.
The statement is as follows:
"By now I'm sure many of you have already heard the news, but we wanted to communicate to you all directly. Not just to express the fact that nobody is in critical condition, but to express our gratitude to the fans who have seen us or who were going to see us on this tour, the crew who was also in the accident with us and part of why things have been going so smoothly, the various promoters and venue staff, Live Nation Poland who have been so helpful in the last 38 hours, the many police and medics and emergency workers who came to the scene, the hospital workers, and the friends and family who have reached out to us personally since yesterday morning. We were in the middle of playing some of our favorite shows we've ever played, and having a better time on and off stage than we have in a long time.
"We were ripped out of sleep at 8:25AM to what still feels like a lucid nightmare. The various cacophony of metal bending and things breaking and people screaming and what felt like being hit by a missile. Without going into detail, not everyone is out of the hospital yet, some of us are hurt worse than others.
"Questions like why did this happen, why are we alive and others not, why are the people from the Bay Area fire dead, why at all is anyone here or not. What the hell is all of this. Remember how valuable life is. We are all lucky to be alive. To just have any time at all.
"Anyway, thanks to you all for caring. We were truly having an amazing time and we're blessed to have you all, such a high caliber group of people. It's been an honor to play these shows, but we unfortunately have to cancel the remainder of them, but we will reschedule every one that we can, and we'll update more when we can." – Greg, Ben, Liam, Billy, Kevin
Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor will make an appearance on 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' this week. He is scheduled sit in with The 8G Band starting tonight, February 13, until Thursday, February 16.
"Stoked to be back with the @8gband on @latenightseth all this week, you guys should totally watch it!! Yay fun," wrote Dailor in an Instagram post, which can be viewed here.
Dailor appeared once before on 'Late Night with Seth Meyers.' A bit from his last appearance can be seen below.
Mastodon will release their newest album, 'Emperor of Sand,' on March 31 via Reprise Records. The first single from the effort can be heard at this location.