Month: April 2021

AXS TV turns back the clock this spring with a time capsule full of iconic bands that defined an era in the “Long Live The 90s” all-new weekly limited concert series — launching Sunday, May 9 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The special event joins the network’s “Sunday Night Rocks” lineup which also includes the star-studded music-themed countdown series “The Top Ten Revealed” at 8 p.m. ET, and the insightful profile series “A Year In Music”, hosted by Grammy-winning HALESTORM frontwoman Lzzy Hale, at 8:30 p.m. ET. Both series premiere new seasons on May 9.

“Long Live The 90s” highlights seven influential bands whose sound helped shape one of music’s most important decades. This curated collection of unforgettable concerts finds each band taking the stage to showcase their unprecedented staying power as they perform career-spanning timeless hits.

The series opens on May 9 with the PEARL JAM concert film “Let’s Play Two”, documenting the band’s epic two-night stop at Wrigley Field. Set amidst the backdrop of the Cubs’ historic 2016 season, “Let’s Play Two” details the unique relationship between the band, the team, and the city, spurred by hometown hero Eddie Vedder, and captures PEARL JAM in peak form as they tear through signatures, including “Better Man”, “Black” and “Jeremy”, as well as legendary covers of Victoria Williams’ “Crazy Mary” and THE BEATLES’ “I’ve Got A Feeling”. Other series highlights include GARBAGE rocking the Queen City of the Plains with an evening of signature hits including “Only Happy When It Rains”, “Stupid Girl” and “I Think I’m Paranoid” in “Garbage: One Mile High… Live” (May 16); and STONE TEMPLE PILOTS storming into the Windy City for a frenetic set at the Riviera Theatre featuring “Plush”, “Between The Lines” and “Creep” in “Stone Temple Pilots: Live In Chicago” (May 23).

“Long Live The 90s” is back in action on June 6 with alt-rock superstars JANE’S ADDICTION in a sideshow spectacle blending art with music as they performs “Jane Says”, “Up The Beach”, “Ocean Size” and “Mountain Song” with burlesque dancers, trapeze artists and more flying through the air in “Jane’s Addiction: Live In NYC”. Then, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE heads across the pond for a roaring showcase, performing hits such as “Testify”, “Bulls On Parade” and “Killing In The Name” in “Rage Against The Machine – Live At Finsbury Park” (June 13). The event closes with a pair of “Live From The Artists Den” specials, as rock trailblazers THE BLACK CROWES fly South for a soaring set Oxford, Mississippi, performing “Shine Along”. “She Talks To Angels” and “High Head Blues” (June 20); and Seattle legends SOUNDGARDEN wrap up their winter tour with a sold out show at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, performing a landmark set that includes “Rusty Cage”, “Blind Dogs”, “Black Hole Sun” and many more (June 27).

“Nostalgia is a powerful thing and these days, people are longing not only for a time when life was less complicated, but more imminently, for the day when we can get together to enjoy our favorite bands performing live again,” said Sarah Weidman, head of original programming, development and multi-platform content for AXS TV. “From the fashion and music, to the toys and TV shows, the one era that people are constantly turning to is the 1990s. This curated concert series presents the ultimate trip down music’s memory lane, taking viewers back to one of rock’s most definitive decades with classic performances, iconic songs and groundbreaking bands that helped make the ’90s so distinct. We are excited to be able to connect — and re-connect — viewers of all ages to these incredible events, giving them the best seat in the house for powerful sets packed with the classic hits they love.”

“Long Live The 90s” limited concert series lineup

May 09 – “Pearl Jam: Let’s Play Two”
May 16 – “Garbage: One Mile High…Live”
May 23 – “Stone Temple Pilots: Live in Chicago”
Jun. 06 – “Jane’s Addiction: Live in NYC”
Jun. 13 – “Rage Against the Machine – Live at Finsbury Park”
Jun. 20 – “The Black Crowes: Live From the Artists Den”
Jun. 27 – “Soundgarden: Live From The Artists Den”

ILL NIÑO will bring a dose of Latin metal to Texas this summer with the “Ill Texas Familia” tour, also featuring UPON A BURNING BODY (El Paso only), KING 810, INCITE, EVOLUTION EMPIRE and BORN IN BLOOD.

Following the summer shows, ILL NIÑO will participate in Orlando’s Warlando festival, supporting metal masters JUDAS PRIEST, and Blueridge Rockfest in Lynchburg, Virginia, featuring a monster lineup including FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, P.O.D., SEVENDUST, LIMP BIZKIT, and many more.

“I’m psyched for ILL NIÑO to be returning to live music,” says founding member Dave Chavarri. “Playing live for me is my lifeline, and the only thing that keeps me sane. Our team is in the process of booking some amazing tours for the remainder of 2021, and 2022. We’ve missed you all, see you all on the road.”

“Ill Texas Familia” tour dates:

Jul. 08 – Corpus Christi, TX – Brewster Street
Jul. 09 – Austin, TX – Come and Take It Live
Jul. 10 – El Paso, TX – Rock House *Also feat. Upon A Burning Body
Jul. 11 – Lubbock, TX – Jake’s Sports Cafe

ILL NIÑO festival dates:

Sep. 11 – Orlando FL – Warlando
Sep. 12 – Lynchburg, VA – Blueridge Rockfest

Last December, ILL NIÑO released the official music video for its latest single, “Máscara”. The track, which features a guest appearance by AJ Channer of FIRE FROM THE GODS is taken from ILL NIÑO’s upcoming album, “IllMortals”, due later in the year. The group’s current lineup features Chavarri and longtime bassist Laz Pina alongside recent recruits, vocalist Marcos Leal (SHATTERED SUN), lead guitarist Jes DeHoyos (SONS OF TEXAS) and rhythm guitarist Sal Dominguez (UPON A BURNING BODY).

“IllMortals” will feature additional guest appearances by Sonny Sandoval (P.O.D.), Benji Webbe (SKINDRED) and Max Georgiev (FALLING IN REVERSE).

ILL NIÑO’s new LP will mark the band’s first release since the departure of vocalist Cristian Machado, lead guitarist Ahrue “Luster” Ilustre and rhythm guitarist Diego Verduzco. Machado, Ilustre and Verduzco, along with Chavarri and Pina, announced in March 2020 that they had “reached a mutual, amicable and binding agreement” that will allow Chavarri and Pina to continue with ILL NIÑO while Machado, Verduzco and Ilustre will move on with new projects. According to a joint statement release by the five musicians, “No party has admitted fault and there has been no court judgment on the merits. The parties entered into a confidential settlement agreement.”

During a November 2020 Facebook Live chat with The New York Hardcore Chronicles, Chavarri stated about ILL NIÑO’s recent lineup changes: “When all this went down, Laz and I had taken the high road and been classy about it and not really spoken out. We think it’s weak to go out there and badmouth somebody and spread half-truths and play the victim and try to get attention. That’s not what we wanna do. We wanna keep it positive. The band is doing better than ever. We have a full album that’s recorded. We’re in the process of mixing right now. We’re shooting multiple videos from the new album. We’re shopping a deal. We have about three to four label deals that our lawyer is actually going through at the moment.”

Regarding ILL NIÑO’s new members, Dave said: “We were very fortunate to get the best guys in the band. We’ve got Marcos Leal, who also sings for a band called SHATTERED SUN. A great kid, man. Fucking hungry as fuck to get shit done. But very, very on top of his game. He’s a fucking star from beginning to end. But the best part of it all is that he’s such an easy guy to work with. He’s so into the music, and he’s so passionate about the business, and that’s half the fucking battle. When you lose your passion… I can’t work with people that aren’t passionate about what they do anymore, and that was one of the biggest reasons for the lineup change. We’ve got Jes DeHoyos on lead guitar, who also plays in another band called SONS OF TEXAS, and Sal Dominguez, who used to be in UPON A BURNING BODY. We had the pleasure of hanging out with him on Mayhem festival when we toured with those guys, and it was fucking hilarious. We had a lot of fun with those guys. We love UPON A BURNING BODY — a great fucking band. And we revamped the lineup, man. This is the new lineup.”

He continued: “The one thing about this lineup is that we’re here to elevate each other. We’re not here to put each other down or point fingers. This band elevates each other. Every single member in this band is so important to the puzzle right now, because we all feed off each other. We all speak on a daily basis. I talk to every bandmember practically every single day, and that’s something that was missing — the disconnection that I had with the last lineup. It was a disconnection that actually started about seven years ago, and it just got progressively worse.

“Listen, sometimes you have to go through shit like that to be able to step into a positive light and into a better situation,” Chavarri added. “And that’s the way life is, right? It throws you some fucking fucked up shit along the way so you can come out and blast it off with what you’ve got going on now.”

Machado recently confirmed that he is working with Ilustre and Verduzco on a new project. The as-yet-unnamed group has already completed an album’s worth of material for a tentative 2021 release.

Photo credit: Tom Barbee

Former IRON MAIDEN members Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley, along with the creator of the MAIDEN mascot “Eddie,” Derek Riggs, will be inducted into the Metal Hall Of Fame.

Di’Anno wrote and sang on MAIDEN’s first two legendary albums. They are still considered by many IRON MAIDEN fans to be their favorites.

Bayley was hired following the departure of vocalist Bruce Dickinson in the 1990s. Bayley wrote and sang for IRON MAIDEN for five years and recorded two albums with the band. Blaze-era songs are still concert staples in the band’s setlist today.

Riggs is the genius behind the visual side of IRON MAIDEN. He created the iconic Eddie character, one of the most beloved mascots in history. Many can argue that a huge part of the band’s continuous global success is attributed to the sinister, gruesome, shape-shifting Eddie.

“We are excited to induct these three artists who have helped shape the legacy of IRON MAIDEN,” says Pat Gesualdo, Metal Hall Of Fame president/CEO.

Gesualdo also addressed the fans’ overwhelming demand to induct all former and current members of IRON MAIDEN.

“Along with the band’s massive fanbase, we’ve wanted to induct all the members of the band for years,” he said. “However, we’ve been waiting for the green light from management. Hopefully with the continued support and encouragement from fans throughout the world, we can induct all the members of IRON MAIDEN into the Metal Hall Of Fame soon.”

Due to the current health advisory, the 2021 Metal Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held online at a date to be announced.

The Metal Hall Of Fame is dedicated to forever enshrining the iconic musicians and music industry executives responsible for making hard rock and heavy metal music what it is today. Their contribution to the genre is invaluable, and they continue to inspire fans throughout the world, from generation to generation.

The Metal Hall Of Fame is part of the 501(c)(3) non-profit organization D.A.D. (Drums And Disabilities). D.A.D. provides free therapy and advocacy services for special needs children and wounded veterans in health facilities, schools, and community centers in over 15 countries.

As previously reported, IRON MAIDEN has been nominated for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s class of 2021. The top vote-getters will be announced in May and inducted in a Cleveland, Ohio, ceremony in the fall.

According to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, the IRON MAIDEN members that would get inducted include the current lineup of singer Bruce Dickinson, bassist Steve Harris, drummer Nicko McBrain, and guitarists Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers, along with former guitarist Dennis Stratton, Di’Anno and former drummer Clive Burr.

Forget flies. You catch more killer old school thrash riffs with Honey than vinegar, too.
The post Track Premiere: Honey — “Dancing With Death” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Just a day prior to his April 9 passing following a “catastrophic cardiac arrest,” legendary hip-hop artist DMX, released a new single called “X Moves”. It’s a full-fledged rock/hip-hop hybrid that recruits not one but three Rock And Roll Hall Of Famers: DEEP PURPLE drummer Ian Paice, who provides the track’s stampeding groove, and YES and ASIA guitarist Steve Howe, who throws down a riff for DMX to ride. In addition, “X Moves” finds DMX trading verses with the great PARLIAMENT-FUNKADELIC maestro Bootsy Collins who also provides a bit of extraterrestrial magic with his signature Space Bass. And finally, bringing an international flavor to the mix, German producer/artist Jürgen Engler of DIE KRUPPS produced and mixed the track alongside Cleopatra Records founder Brian Perera, who co-produced.

In a new video explaining his involvement with “X Moves”, Paice clarified that he never actually met DMX, and he admitted that he wasn’t familiar with the rapper’s music. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It’s true — hip-hop and rap is not a genre of music that I have any great love for. Then again, it is not targeted at me. Why should I understand it? There’s lots of sorts of music I don’t really have an affinity with, and that’s okay; we all like different stuff. And over the years, I’ve played different styles of music — I’ve played with orchestras, I’ve played with jazz guys, I’ve played with big bands, I’ve done novelty records. It’s not unusual for me to step outside my normal sphere of rock music; this is just another instance where I’ve done it.

“When I do these things, I don’t think for one minute that I can do it as well as the people who do it all the time,” Ian continued. “If I step in with a big band, I have fun, and I do it the best I can, but I know, compared to the guys who do it day in and day out, it’s a different thing; they will always have the advantage, ’cause they do it all the time. And it doesn’t matter what sort of music you play; that’s just the way it is.

“It might be a silly thing to say, but for 13 months now, we haven’t been able to do anything in the way of live shows, so studio stuff is about all we can realistically do to keep playing.

“A friend asked me to do this track, and for him, I did it. I never thought I’d get a chance to play that sort of thing, but the shot came along, so I did the best I could.”

Paice also shot down speculation that he played on the DMX song because he needed the money. “I received no fee for this track,” he revealed. “I did it for a friend. The only money that changed hands was for studio time; studio equipment needs to be rented; and the engineering. I can’t do everything. So there are costs involved, but I took no fee for that.”

Tech-death newcomers Universally Estranged crash land from deep space with their mind-mutating debut LP, Reared Up in Spectral Predation.
The post Album Premiere: Universally Estranged – ‘Reared Up in Spectral Predation ’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

L.A. GUNS, featuring Phil Lewis and Tracii Guns, will release a new live album, “Cocked & Loaded Live”, on July 9 via Frontiers Music Srl. As the title implies, the performance celebrates the band’s treasured second album, “Cocked & Loaded”. Fans can get their first taste of the performance with the track “Malaria”. “Cocked & Loaded Live” will precede the release of a brand new studio album from Lewis, Guns and company, “Checkered Past”, which is due in November.

As everyone knows at this point, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a difficult blow to the entire live music business. While artists, road crews, venues, and fans all collectively eagerly await a return to normalcy, artists have gotten busy bringing live music to fans’ living rooms. While they had just commenced work on an upcoming new studio album, in November 2020, L.A. GUNS wanted to get together and do one of the things they love most, which is play a “live” show. The band announced a special gig at the Fremont Country Club in Las Vegas, Nevada that would celebrate the 31st anniversary of “Cocked and Loaded”.

Lewis, Guns, Ace Von Johnson, Johnny Martin and Scot Coogan, thus played a one-of-a-kind show which was streamed worldwide to fans in the comfort of their own homes. The band performed all the classic proper studio tracks from “Cocked & Loaded” and, as usual, delivered a killer show. Picking right up where they left off from their previous incessant touring cycles and relieved to finally be onstage again, the band tore through all the classic album tracks that fans know and love. From “Rip And Tear” to “Never Enough” to “The Ballad Of Jayne” to “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “Malaria”, this was a primal, visceral performance. And while celebrating a milestone in their career, the band also acknowledged the present and played “Speed” from their more recent album “The Missing Peace”.

“We played only ‘Cocked & Loaded’ and ‘Speed’ — one extra song — and the recording is fantastic,” Tracii told TotalRock. “And it was a really meager kind of weird gig — it was weird — but the recording is great; it really turned out great. So Frontiers asked if we could put it out, and [we said], ‘Yeah. Okay.’ So the packaging is great. The album is great. And that comes out. So that’s definitely for all the L.A. GUNS fans that wanna hear great versions of those songs live.”

“Cocked & Loaded Live” track listing:

01. Slap In The Face
02. Rip And Tear
03. Sleazy Come Easy Go
04. Never Enough
05. Malaria
06. The Ballad Of Jayne
07. Magdalaine
08. Give A Little
09. Speed
10. 17 Crash
11. Showdown (Riot On Sunset)
12. Wheels Of Fire
13. I Wanna Be Your Man

Last week, a settlement was reached between drummer Steve Riley and Guns and Lewis over the rights to the L.A. GUNS name. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, Guns and Lewis will continue to operate under the L.A. GUNS trademark, while Riley and his bandmates from the other version of L.A. GUNS will now operate under the new name RILEY’S L.A. GUNS.

In May 2020, L.A. GUNS released a new single, “Let You Down”. The song was written and recorded while the band was in the midst of working on its next studio album.

L.A. GUNS is:

Phil Lewis – vocals
Tracii Guns – guitars
Ace Von Johnson – guitars
Johnny Martin – bass
Scot Coogan – drums

Rotting Ways to Misery: The History of Finnish Death Metal has been completely redesigned and edited for a North American release through Decibel Books and is finally in stock and shipping now.
The post The U.S. Version of ‘Rotting Ways to Misery: The History of Finnish Death Metal’ NOW In Stock! appeared first on Decibel Magazine.