News
Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington has died — the result of a suicide. He was 41.
Associated Press has confirmed his death by Los Angeles County coroner. TMZ.com broke the news after acquiring information from law enforcement sources stating that the singer hanged himself at a private residence in Palos Verdes Estates in Los Angeles County. His body was discovered Thursday morning.
Chester Bennington was born in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 20, 1976. The singer got his start in post-grunge band Grey Daze, but it was with Linkin Park, whom he joined in 1999, that he catapulted to international stardom through records like Hybrid Theory (2000) — which is the rare album to be certified Diamond for over 10 million copies sold — and its follow-up, Meteora (2003). Linkin Park's effortlessly catchy and powerfully emotive mix of alt-metal and hip-hop captivated a generation, but the band was always restless, mutating its style and experimenting with remixes and side projects over its 20-year-plus career. For his part, Bennington led the grunge-inflected band Dead by Sunrise, which featured members of Julien-K and Orgy and released one album, Out of Ashes, in 2009; four years later he joined Stone Temple Pilots, touring with them and recording an EP, High Rise, before splitting in 2015.
In 2014, Linkin Park released their heaviest album to date, The Hunting Party, which featured guest turns by System of a Down's Daron Malakian, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello and Helmet's Page Hamilton. Most recently, the band followed up that record with a divisively poppy follow-up, this year's One More Light.
On social media, musicians who grew up on Linkin Park and Bennington's soul-bearing lyrics and voice remembered the singer. "RIP Chester Bennington. Horrible news. One of the best front men to ever do it. A true legend. #LinkinPark" Miss May I's Levi Benton wrote on Twitter, while Bring Me the Horizon's Oli Sykes tweeted, "Is there any chance It's not true? I don't want to accept it. #chesterbennington"
Bennington's Linkin Park bandmate Mike Shinoda, meanwhile, tweeted a simple message to fans: "Shocked and heartbroken, but it's true. An official statement will come out as soon as we have one."
If you're a metal fan with some extra time (and data) on your hands, Judas Priest are here to help with their new mobile game, "Judas Priest: Road to Valhalla." The fast-paced rhythm game, developed by Babaroga (along with Trinifold Management, Sony Music Entertainment, and the band themselves), whisks the player away on an epic journey to Valhalla, fighting off hordes of Judas Priest-inspired foes as they race along on one of three badass motorbikes. No swords or axes here: Instead, the player's arsenal comprises a selection of song stems from last year's live album Battle Cry — "Halls of Valhalla," "You've Got Another Thing Comin'," "Turbo Lover," "Electric Eye," and (obviously) "Halls of Valhalla," among other cuts — which are then reconfigured into new sonic collages, and finally, weaponized against the baddies.
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford praised the new game's do-it-yourself bent in an interview with Billboard. "You need to have some weight there, with the music," he said. "All the songs that were incorporated are great songs; It's quite challenging, and it's a lot of fun. You can make it quite simple, which I choose, or some of these crazy maniacs can do extraordinary things." He added, "You can actually be part of the experience, rather than just listening with this."
Halford also gave an update on Judas Priest's follow-up to 2014's Redeemer Of Souls, which is tentatively slated to hit shelves next spring. The bandleader told Billboard that they've nearly finished the album, and are "going through those last pieces of machinery." Sadly, Halford couldn't offer further details: "It's another big step for lots of different reasons," he said, "but that's all I can say or I'll risk being put in the Tower of London for talking about it too much."
"Judas Priest: Road to Valhalla" is out now for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch via the App Store. Get it here, and check out a trailer below.
Nine Inch Nails recently announced Add Violence, the second entry in a planned trilogy of EPs that began with last December's Not the Actual Events. After sharing the roiling first single "Less Than," Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have unveiled "This Isn't The Place" another cut off the five-track collection, which hits shelves this Friday (July 21) via Columbia. Whereas the preceding track found the band throwng an industrial-rock temper tantrum, the latest taste of Add Violence is a throwback to the dark ambient soundscapes Reznor and Ross conjured on 2008's Ghosts I-IV: eerie pianos, synths, sparse drum machines, and, somewhere down in the shadowy depths, Reznor's ghostly falsetto. Hear the track (which arrives alongside a visualizer directed by Alex Lieu) below.
In other Nine Inch Nails-related news, Reznor recently spoke with Beats 1 host Zane Lowe about Add Violence and the broader body of work that it's situated within. "I'm interested in the narrative, and the ways we can present that, but feel provocative: giv[ing] songs their due, but set[ting] them in a place that gives them another bit of perception," he said. "Conceptually, it gets re-contextualized–all three EPs–into something that is together, and feels like something different." The complete project won't showcase a "mishmash shuffle on the iPod," he added, but rather a "different relationship" between the songs themselves with remodified versions of the songs." Reznor also provided an update on the trilogy's final installment, describing it as "0 percent done, aside from some lyrics in a notebook." In the meantime, we'll just have to make do with Add Violence.
New York hardcore stalwarts Burn recently announced Do or Die, their first new full-length album in over 15 years. Today, the band have offered up the first taste of the highly-anticipated full-length: "Ill Together," a four-and-a-half minute rager which ushers — or more accurately, shoves — their black-and-blue, tried-but-true 1990s hardcore into 2017, largely thanks to the board wizards behind the scenes."Ill Together," along with the rest of the 10-track LP, was engineered by Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou (Kvelertak, Nails, Code Orange Kids) and mastered by Howie Weinberg (Slayer, Public Enemy, Sonic Youth). Listen below, and pre-order Do or Die here ahead of its September 8 release via Deathwish.
Do or Die marks the second release from Burn since they reconvened in 2015, and follows last year's aptly-titled EP From the Ashes. While the group never officially disbanded, they've had a long history of stops and starts over their 28-year career: an off-again, on-again approache owed, ostensibly, its members' numerous side projects (most notably Orange 9mm and Quicksand, co-founded by vocalist Chaka Malik and drummer Alan Cage, respectively). Malik and guitarist Gavin Van Vlack are the sole remaining original members in Burn's current lineup; Drummer Abbas Muhammad and bassist Tyler Krupsky enlisted last year.
PHOTO BY JC Photo Media
Earlier this year, Ozzy Osbourne announced that he'd be reconvening his solo band for a handful of summer shows in the Midwest. The trek's a significant one: it marks the Ozzman's first full-fledged outing with guitarist and Black Label Society co-founder Zakk Wylde in over a decade, as well as the duo's first onstage appearance since 2009. (His spot was previously held by Firewind's Gus G., who parted ways with the band in 2013.)
As promised, Osbourne, Wylde and company kicked off the highly anticipated tour this past weekend with ferocious sets at Wisconsin's Rock USA and Chicago's Open Air festivals. In addition to the usual Osbourne solo staples ("Crazy Train," "Bark at the Moon"), and Black Sabbath classics ("War Pigs," "Iron Man," "Paranoid," "Fairies Wear Boots"), the band dusted off several Ozzy cuts that haven't been performed in years, including "Desire," "No More Tears" and "Believer." If you weren't able to make it out to the shows, don't fret — fans have uploaded footage of the sets to YouTube, giving us a chance to witness the icons' reunion in all its glory. Check out some highlights below.
Next up on Ozzy and company's agenda: a pair of solo performances in Sturgis, South Dakota, on August 9, and Cartersville, Illinois, on August 21, a headlining set at Ozzfest Versus Knotfest, November 4-5, and a new solo album, due out sometime next year.
"Bark At The Moon"
"Mr. Crowley"
"Desire/I Don't Know"
"No More Tears"
"Believer"
"Iron Man"
"Crazy Train"
"War Pigs"
Stone Sour have announced a slew of new North American shows behind their latest album Hydrograd. Corey Taylor and company's latest round of gigs kicks off September 24 at the Sokol Auditorium in Omaha, NE, and will run through late October, with numerous planned festival stops (Colorado's High Elevation Rock Festival, Texas' Houston Open Air, and California's Monster Energy Aftershock Festival, just to name a few). Steel Panther, Beartooth, Man With A Mission, and Cherry Bombs will all open for the band on select dates. Check out the complete itinerary below.
Additionally, Taylor has announced a series of signings and discussions in support of his new book, America 51: A Probe into the Realities That Are Hiding Inside "The Greatest Country in the World." The frontman's latest literary effort, which publisher Da Capo Press bills as "a skewering of the American underbelly," hits shelves August 8. For more information on these events and how to attend, head over to Taylor's website.
Stone Sour have a busy schedule planned in the weeks and months leading up to their newly-added American trek. After wrapping up the North American leg of their "Serenity of Summer Tour" with Korn, the group will embark on a string of Australian and Japanese shows in late August and early September. On November 4-5, they'll perform at Ozzfest Meets Knotfest, a merger of Ozzy Osbourne and Slipknot's respective festivals also featuring Rob zombie, Marilyn Manson, Prophets of Rage, Testament, Children of Bodom, and many more.
Jul. 19 – Syracuse, NY – Lakeview Amphitheater
Jul. 20 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Jul. 22 – Bangor, ME – Rise Above Fest *
Jul. 23 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre
Jul. 25 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Jul. 25 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
Jul. 27 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Jul. 29 – Noblesville, IN – Klipsch Music Center
Jul. 20 – Clarkston, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
Aug. 1 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
Aug. 2 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
Aug. 5 – Clifton Park, NY – Upstate Concert Hall
Aug. 7 – Jackson, MI – Jackson County Fairgrounds *
Aug. 23 – Auckland, New Zealand – Spark Arena
Aug. 25 – Melbourne, Australia – Festival Hall
Aug. 26 – Sydney, Australia – Hordern Pavilion
Aug. 29-30 – Brisbane, Australia – Eatons Hill Hotel
Sept. 4-5 – Koto-Ku, Japan – Zepp DiverCity
Sept. 7 – Nagoya, Japan – Zepp Nagoya
Sept. 8 – Osaka, Japan – Zepp Osaka Bayside
Sept. 23 – Greenwood Village, CO – High Elevation Rock Festival *
Sept. 24 – Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium +
Sept. 26 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theatre +
Sept. 27 – St. Paul, MN – Myth +
Sept. 28 – Fargo, ND – Fargo Civic Auditorium +
Sept. 30 – Janesville, WI – JJO Sonic Boom *
Oct. 01 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life *
Oct. 03 – Bethlehem, PA – Bethlehem Event Center +
Oct. 04 – Niagara Falls, NY – The Rapids Theatre +
Oct. 07 – Sioux Falls, SD – The District ^
Oct. 08 – Wichita, KS –The Cotillion ^
Oct. 10 – Clive, IA – 7 Flags Event Center ++
Oct. 11 – Tulsa, OK – Brady Theater ++
Oct. 13 – San Antonio, TX – Vibes Event Center +
Oct. 14 – Corpus Christi, TX – Concrete Street Pavilion +
Oct. 15 – Houston, TX – Houston Open Air *
Oct. 18 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues ~~
Oct. 19 – Las Vegas, NV – House of Blues ~
Oct. 21 – Sacramento, CA – Monster Energy Aftershock *
Nov. 10 – Moscow, Russia – Stadium
Nov. 12 – Minsk, Belarus – Falcon Club
Nov. 15 – Copenhagen, Denmark – The Gray Hall
Nov. 16 – Stockholm, Sweden – Annexet
Nov. 17 – Oslo, Norway – Sentrum Scene
Nov. 19 – Frankfurt, Germany – Jahrhunderthalle
Nov. 20 – Berlin, Germany – Columbiahalle
Nov. 22 – Brussels, Belgium – AB
Nov. 23 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Klokgebouw
Nov. 24 – Paris, France – Bataclan
Nov. 26 – Luxembourg, Luxembourg – Luxepo
Nov. 27 – Hamburg, Germany – Sporthalle
Nov. 29 – Birmingham, England – Barclaycard Arena
Nov. 30 – Leeds, Enland – First Direct Arena
Dec. 01 – Brighton, England – Centre
Dec. 04, 06 – London, England – O2 Brixton Academy
Dec. 05 – Cardiff, Wales – Cardiff International Arena
Dec. 08 – Glasgow, Scotland – SSE Hydro
Dec. 10 – Cologne, Germany – Palladium
Dec. 11 – Munich, Germany – Zenith
Dec. 12 – Vienna, Austria – Gasometer
Dec. 14 – Zurich, Czech Republic – Samsung Hall
Dec. 15 – Milan, Italy – Alcatraz
Jan. 21-25 – Port Canaveral, FL – ShipRocked *
* Festival Appearance
+ w/ Steel Panther, Cherry Bombs
++ w/ Steel Panther, Man With A Mission, Cherry Bombs
^ w/Man With A Mission, Cherry Bombs
~ w/ Beartooth, Cherry Bombs
~~ w/ Cherry Bombs
Industrial icons Ministry are teaming up with hardcore hip-hop firebrands Death Grips for a North American fall tour. The incendiary outing kicks off October 13 in Worcester, MA, with stop-offs in major cities from coast to coast. Tickets for the whole trek will be available starting this Wednesday (Jul. 19) at 10 a.m. Eastern. Check out a full list of dates below.
Ministry's tour announcement arrives ahead of their 14th album AmeriKKKant, which is due out sometime this fall. Fans can pre-order the album and score exclusive ephemera — including vinyl and posters, instruments, album credits and even personalized birthday messages — via the album's PledgeMusic campaign. Earlier this summer, Ministry debuted the AmeriKKKant track "Antifa," a brutal tribute to alt-left activism, during their set at Glenn Danzig's Blackest of the Black festival. The band recently celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of their breakthrough album Psalm 69: The Way To Succeed And The Way To Suck Eggs, whose debauched secrets were detailed at length in Revolver last week.
Things are stirring over on the Death Grips front, as well. Earlier this year, the band dropped the 22-minute track titled "Steroids (Crouching Tiger Hidden Gabber Megamix)," and revealed that they were working on a new full-length, the follow-up to last year's Bottomless Pit. In the meantime, Death Grips members Zach Hill and Andy Morin released a new I.L.Y's album, Bodyguard, in May.
Jul. 21 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues San Diego !
Ju. 22 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Fremont Theater
Sep. 15-17 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
Sep. 20 – Christchurch, New Zealand – The Foundry Bar
Sep. 22 – Auckland, New Zealand – The Studio, Auckland
Sep. 25 – Perth, Australia – Astor Theatre
Sep. 26 – Hindmarsh, Australia – The Gov
Sep. 27, 29 – Sydney, Australia – Metro Theatre
Sep. 30 – Melbourne, Australia – Forum Melbourne
Oct. 01 – Brisbanem Australia – The Tivoli
Oct. 13 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium #
Oct. 14 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory #
Oct. 16 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Steel #
Oct. 17 – New York, NY – Terminal 5 #
Oct. 19 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore #
Oct. 20 – Cleveland, OH – The Agora Theatre #
Oct. 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Stage AE #
Oct. 23 – Detroit, MI – Royal Oak Music Theatre #
Oct. 24 – Columbus, OH – Express Live #
Oct. 26 – Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theatre #
Oct. 27 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater #
Oct. 29 – Denver, CO – The Fillmore Auditorium #
Oct. 30 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex #
Nov. 01 – Seattle, WA – Showbox Sodo #
Nov. 02 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater #
Nov. 04 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium #
Nov. 05 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield #
Nov. 07 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren #
Nov. 08 – Albuquerque, NM – The Historic El Rey Theater #
Nov. 10 – Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall #
Nov. 11 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Live! #
! w/ Ho99o9
# w/ Death Grips
Arch Enemy are gearing up to release their 10th studio album, Will of Power, on September 8th via Century Media. After unveiling the album artwork late last month, and dropping a cover of the Shitlickers' "The Leader (of the Fuckin' Assholes)" earlier this week, the Swedes have finally unveiled "The World Is Yours," Will of Power's debut single (which is also their first new music in over three years). It arrives accompanied by a ferocious music video directed by Patric Ullaeus, which finds Alissa White-Gluz and company performing the song against a backdrop of shadows, strobe lights and outer-space scenery. Watch below.
Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott (who co-wrote and co-produced "The World Is Yours" with the help of drummer Daniel Erlandsson) says he's proud of Will of Power, and can't wait to take it on the road. "We had a blast recording together with the full band in the south of Sweden, and then mixing with Jens Bogren [Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, At The Gates], who did a superb mix and mastering in my opinion, even surpassing the epic sound on our previous record, [2014's] War Eternal," Amott says. "People that have heard this song in particular are saying it's got the classic anthemic Arch Enemy vibe going on, and I think they might be right about that."
Arch Enemy are keeping busy in the weeks leading up to their latest LP with a slew of European summer festival appearances scheduled through mid August. On September 15, one week after Will of Power's release, they'll embark on a trek through Eastern Europe, with support from Ukranian groove metal outfit Jinjer on most dates. Europen and North America legs will follow, although the band has yet to offer specific details regarding dates, cities, or venues.
July 06 – Ballenstedt, Germany – Rock Harz Festival
July 07 – Viveiro, Spain – Resurrection Fest
July 12 – Dunaújváros, Hungary – Rockmarathon
July 15 – Gavle, Sweden – Gefle Metal Festival
Aug. 04 – Snina, Slovakia – Rock Pod Kamenom Festival
Aug. 05 – Ostrava, Czech Republic – Ostrave v Plamenech
Aug. 07 – Majano, Italy – Festival Di Majano
Aug. 08 – Dornbirn, Austria – Conrad Sohm
Aug. 10 – Villena, Spain – Leyendas Del Rock
Aug. 11 – Vagos, Portugal – Vagos Metal Fest
Aug. 12 – Leeuwarden, The Netherlands – Into The Grave
Aug. 13 – Walton-On-Trent, UK – Bloodstock Open Air
Sept. 15 – Innsbruck, Austria – Music Hall *
Sept. 16 – Linz, Austria – Posthof *
Sept. 17 – Ljubljana, Slovenia – Cvetlicarna *
Sept. 18 – Belgrade, Serbia – Dom Omladine *
Sept. 20 – Bucharest, Romania – Quantic Club Open Air Stage *
Sept. 21 – Sofia, Bulgaria – Universiada Hall *
Sept. 22 – Athens, Greece – Piraeus 117 Academy *
Sept. 23 – Thessaloniki, Greece – Principal Club Theater *
Sept. 25 – Bratislava, Slovakia – Majestic Music Club *
Sept. 26 – Warsaw, Poland – Progresja *
Sept. 27 – Vilnius, Lithuania – Loftas *
Sept. 29 – Riga, Latvia – Melna Piektdiena *
Sept. 30 – Tallinn, Estonia – Rock Café *
Oct. 01 – Helsinki, Finland – The Circus
Oct. 03 – Minsk, Belarus – Re:Public
Oct. 04 – St. Petersburg, Russia – Aurora
Oct. 06 – Novosibirsk, Russia – Otdyh
Oct. 08 – Yekaterinburg, Russia – Tele Club
Oct. 10 – Moscow, Russia – Yotaspace
Oct. 11 – Samara, Russia – Zvezda
Avenged Sevenfold have just unleashed a fiery new song, "Dose." The trippy track was originally intended to appear on their latest album, The Stage, but it was ultimately cut from its track listing. Avenged Sevenfold teased the song via a special level in the hack-and-slash video game "Dungeon Hunter 5," which culminates in a showdown with a boss character inspired by last fall's LP. The band's latest sonic offering comes in the wake of two covers released earlier in the summer: a reimagining of the Mexican folk song "Malagueña Salerosa," as well as an epic take on Mr. Bungle's "Retrovertigo." Check out the video for the song below.
According to Avenged Sevenfold frontman M. Shadows, "Dose" was musically conceived as a sequel to The Stage's orchestral highlight "Roman Sky," but later morphed into a tripped-out metal song, inspired by a modern urban legend. "The lyrics were inspired by an unsolved mystery that dates back to the 1950s about an airline traveler who, if you believe the story, supposedly fell into our dimension from another," he explains. "According to reports, he showed up in a Tokyo airport with a passport from a country that didn't exist anywhere on a map. He was detained for questioning, but mysteriously vanished from a room guarded by immigration officials, taking with him all evidence of his existence. It ties into the theory that there are infinite possibilities of our lives being played out across space and time. [I] Don't know if the story is true, but I'm fascinated by that kind of stuff and thought it'd be a fun idea for a song."
"The Dose" arrives smack-dab in the middle of Avenged Sevenfold's North American tour behind The Stage. In addition to headlining shows in Wisconsin, New Hampshire, California and elsewhere, the band has been tapped to open for rock gods Metallica, with support from Gojira and Volbeat on select dates.
Jul. 14 – Cadott, WI – Rock Fest Amphitheater ***
Jul. 16 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre ^
Jul. 18 – Gilford, NH – Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion ***
Jul. 19 – Montreal, QB – Parc Jean-Drapeau ^
Jul. 28 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre +++
Jul. 29 – Los Angeles, CA – Rose Bowl +
Jul. 31 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center +++
Aug. 03 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater +++
Aug. 04 – Phoenix, AZ - University of Phoenix Stadium +
Aug. 06 – San Diego, CA – Petco Park +
Aug. 09 – Seattle, WA – CenturyLink Field +
Aug. 11 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre +++
Aug. 12 – Nampa (Boise), ID – Ford Idaho Center Amphitheater +++
Aug. 14 – Vancouver, BC – BC Place +
Aug. 16 – Edmonton, AB - Commonwealth Stadium+
*** w/ Volbeat
+++ w/ A Day To Remember
^ w/ Metallica, Volbeat
+ w/ Metallica, Gojira
Back in June, Trent Reznor revealed that Nine Inch Nails had two EPs on the way, the first of which he intended to release in advance of July 23's headlining set at Los Angeles' FYF Festival, the band's first live performance since 2014. Today, the man's staying true to his word with the announcement of Add Violence, the band's latest extended-player. Arriving July 21 via Capitol, the five-track offering marks the second entry in a planned trilogy of EPs, arriving in the wake of December's Not The Actual Events (which marked longtime collaborator Atticus Ross' first release as an official Nine Inch Nails member).
Additionally, Reznor and Ross have dropped off "Less Than," the EP's infectious first single. The glitched-out rager is classic latter-day NIN: a taut, industrial-tinged rock anthem which hearkens back to 2008's similarly hook-laden album The Slip. Give "Less Than" a listen below.
Nine Inch Nails' FYF performance precedes a handful of North American festival dates taking place later this summer and fall: New York City's Panorama, Chicago's Riot Fest, and Sacramento's Aftershock Fest.
Jul. 23 – Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
Jul. 30 – New York, NY – Panorama
Sept. 15 – Chicago, IL – Riot Fest
Oct. 21 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Fest