Month: August 2021

Industrial metal pioneers MINISTRY will release their 15th studio album, “Moral Hygiene”, on October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records. The 10-track follow-up to 2018’s “AmeriKKKant” was recently described in a press release as frontman Al Jourgensen’s “societal manifesto and plea for civilization to get back to a set of standards that lives up to and embraces our humanity.”

In a new interview with Australia’s Heavy, Jourgensen stated about the new LP’s musical direction: “Same old stuff. Just a progression of the MINISTRY sound that’s been refined for the last 30 [or] 40 years. And I think we hit a good one this time. There’s a couple that I wish I could have back, and there’s a couple that I’m really gung-ho about. But this one’s in the ‘gung-ho’ category. This one makes a lot of sense for the times that we’re living in.”

As for the lyrical themes covered on “Moral Hygiene”, Jourgensen said: “We cover everything — from the actual pandemic to climate change to the political climate now. And I don’t mean so much the politicians as much as the rise of fascist tendencies all over the world and in various countries. And a lot of life topics like that.”

The album’s first single, “Good Trouble”, was released in early July. The song, inspired by the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests and the activist work of the late congressman John Lewis, was accompanied by a video that includes sampling from last year’s demonstrations in Los Angeles as captured by Jourgensen and his partner Liz Walton. “Moral Hygiene” also includes the previously released “Alert Level” that sounded the alarms about our collective dissonance towards the pandemic, climate change and the man formerly in the White House, bolstered by the song’s overarching question posed to listeners: “How concerned are you?” The new album also adds perspective to the countless lives that were tragically lost to the COVID-19 pandemic on the haunting track “Death Toll” while “Disinformation” describes the too frequent willingness to accept everything — even mistruths — as fact.

Other musical jewels on the upcoming release include a collaboration with Jello Biafra (Jourgensen’s cohort in side project LARD) on “Sabotage Is Sex” and a unique take on THE STOOGES’ “Search And Destroy” that features guitar virtuoso Billy Morrison (BILLY IDOL, ROYAL MACHINES). Morrison is also heavily featured on a number of songs on the album.

“Moral Hygiene” was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on “AmeriKKKant”) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all MINISTRY albums, all songs are written and performed by Jourgensen. Additional contributions come from Morrison, Cesar Soto (MAN THE MUTE), John Bechdel (KILLING JOKE, FEAR FACTORY), Roy Mayorga (STONE SOUR, SOULFLY, NAUSEA), Paul D’Amour (TOOL, FEERSUM ENNJIN), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (DEAD KENNEDYS) and sitar player Flash.

“Moral Hygiene” will be available in CD, vinyl and digital download formats.

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On September 3, TUESDAY THE SKY will release its new album, “The Blurred Horizon”, via Metal Blade Records. The official music video for the disc’s title track can be seen below.

TUESDAY THE SKY’s origins could almost be considered accidental. Guitarist Jim Matheos, famed for his work with progressive metal giants FATES WARNING alongside projects such as OSI and his collaboration with John Arch, ARCH/MATHEOS, penned a few songs that did not fit in with any of his established outlets, and intrigued by this, decided to write more and see where this took him. The result was 2017’s “Drift”, a record that drew influence from the likes of Brian Eno, SIGUR ROS, BOARDS OF CANADA and EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, and now he returns with its successor, “The Blurred Horizon”. A mixture of ambient, electronica, post-rock and more, “The Blurred Horizon” is perhaps best described as a beautiful record, having a natural grace to it. While predominantly the work of Matheos, he is not the sole performer on the record, enlisting the help of other musicians where necessary.

“It’s primarily a solo project, but with the idea of having different guests on each record to help fill it out and, hopefully, give each one a slightly different sound,” Matheos says. “With the first record, there was Anna Lynne Williams on vocals for a couple of songs, and Lloyd Hanney of GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT on drums. For this one, the live drums on five tracks were handled by Gavin Harrison of THE PINEAPPLE THIEF, KING CRIMSON and PORCUPINE TREE. He’s my absolute favorite drummer, so he was the first person I thought of when I decided that some of the songs could benefit from real drums. I originally was thinking of just one or two songs, but once I heard how good he made them sound, I kept asking him do more, which, thankfully, he agreed to. His playing added a whole new dimension to the songs, particularly on ‘Hypneurotic’, where he plays two different full drum kit takes, panned left and right, to achieve a kind of ‘double drummer’ effect.”

“Everything Is Free” — the closing track and only one on the record to include vocals — is a cover of a Gillian Welch and David Rawlings song from 2001.

“FATES WARNING were thinking about doing some cover tunes as bonus tracks for ‘Long Day Good Night’ (2020), and when that didn’t happen, I kept this one in mind for a future project,” Matheos says. “It seemed to fit nicely here, even though it’s an otherwise instrumental album, and the vocals are by Tim Bowness. Like Gavin, Tim is someone I’ve worked with in the past, with OSI and several other projects. He’s got a beautiful voice and his gentle delivery is just what I wanted for this one.”

“The Blurred Horizon” track listing

01. Half Remembered
02. Near Light
03. Cwmwl
04. Where The Enemy Sleeps
05. Laudanum Dream
06. Hypneurotic
07. Later, Then Now
08. Near Dark
09. Half Forgotten
10. The Blurred Horizon
11. Everything Is Free

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For the tech-death maniacs in the crowd, the UK’s Cognizance has all the riffs, sweeps, grooves and growls you could ask for!
The post Video Premiere: Cognizance – “Aeon Sickness” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons has joined forces with Nicholas Leone of Animazing Gallery at Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas for the debut of Gene Simmons ArtWorks October 14 through 16. The gallery showing will include a broad variety of artwork by Simmons — from sketches and drawings to small and large format paintings.

“Moving to the United States from Israel as a young boy, I didn’t speak English,” said Simmons. “I fell in love with comics and American television, and they not only helped me learn the language, but inspired creativity and a passion for drawing and painting.”

Simmons, a serial entrepreneur who is recognized as much for his off-stage business and creative prowess as he is as for his bold onstage performances with KISS, has enjoyed success in many arenas. Well known as a branding expert, published author of numerous books, film and television star, public speaker, and founder of numerous businesses, Simmons has quietly held a secret passion for more than five decades — art.

“I started doodling and drawing when I was 8 years of age and as a teenager, I had hundreds of illustrations published in fanzines created by and for sci-fi and comic book enthusiasts,” said Simmons. “With the KISS “End Of The Road’ tour taking a pause during the pandemic, I had a chance to pull decades of my art out of storage and it reignited my passion for drawing and painting again.”

Leone, CEO of Animazing Gallery in Las Vegas, had a chance to see a private showing of Simmons’s artwork at Simmons’s new Las Vegas residence.

“I always knew that Gene had many talents, but I had no idea that he was such an incredible artist. Getting to see samples of his artwork, ranging from his childhood illustrations to his current paintings, was eye opening. There is so much variety in his works,” said Leone. “I asked if he would like to show, and possibly even sell some of his work, he humbly said ‘why not’, and here we are.”

The Gene Simmons ArtWorks debut at Animazing Gallery will feature a private VIP event for art collectors and celebrities on October 14, followed by two days of public showings with personal appearances by Simmons from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on October 15 and 16.

“I have had no professional training; I just like to draw and paint. I don’t always know where I’m going, and then all of a sudden, I’m on my way,” said Simmons. “I have great respect and admiration for art and artists, and I’m excited that people like the work that has resulted from what I consider to be my lifelong hobby.”

Simmons finds inspiration from such artists as Jackson Pollack, with many of his newest works embracing Pollack’s action painting style with large format canvases on the floor, and Andy Warhol as a leading figure in the pop art movement.

In the mid-’70s, Simmons was an active members of the vibrant social scene in New York. He fondly remembers attending a party at renowned designer Halston’s mansion on Park Avenue with his then-girlfriend Cher. Mingling among the event’s who’s who of artists, musicians, actors, dancers, and socialites, he met Warhol, who invited him to his studio.

“Wow. Spending a day with Andy was mind-blowing. Watching him paint — his passion, his vision — was so inspiring,” said Simmons. “He was a giant among artists and a true pioneer.”

For more information about the Gene Simmons ArtWorks debut, visit www.animazing.com, e-mail info@animazing.com or call (702) 785-0061.

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Black/death misanthropes Atra Haeresis will rip out your beating heart during the lyric video for their new single, “The Sacred Games.”
The post Track Premiere: Atra Haeresis – “The Sacred Games” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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Voragos: Destination Lunasea Beach has announced several exciting additions to the lineup for the private island festival and five-day rock cruise coming in early 2022. The list of newly added acts includes the recently reunited MUDVAYNE (which continues to partner with Danny Wimmer Presents for their first live performances after a 12-year hiatus), ATREYU, CROWN THE EMPIRE and AFTERLIFE.

MUDVAYNE will play both on board and at Lunasea Beach and will replace CHEVELLE who regrettably have to cancel their Voragos Lunasea Beach appearance due to a conflict with their upcoming touring schedule. All other previously announced acts will be appearing, including ROB ZOMBIE, MASTODON and more.

“I still can’t believe I’m saying…MUDVAYNE IS BACK,” says Chad Gray of MUDVAYNE. “It’s been a long time coming. We are very excited to get back on stage in front of all the OG Oxygen Wasters and the New Ones that have NEVER seen us! We’re looking forward to being on the maiden voyage of DWP’s Voragos cruise. Let’s Go!”

The anticipated rock festival vacation experience — which takes place February 16-21, 2022 aboard the amenity-packed Norwegian Pearl Ship and will be docking for one day in Belize for a one-of-a-kind private island beach festival — now has an official host with SiriusXM’s Jose “Metal Ambassador” Mangin coming on board to emcee the event and host various activities with fans and bands.

“I’m far beyond stoked to be hanging and partying with so many friends and family on Voragos, and getting to host it is even better,” comments Jose Mangin. “This destination cruise is going to be one for the record books for sure! A festival on the beach, and concerts on board, it’s so badass! I can’t wait to throw down hard with you and my metal shipmates in MUDVAYNE, MASTODON, ATREYU, my AZ homies DED, ROB ZOMBIE and so many others!”

Voragos will also include special appearances by SiriusXM’s Shannon Gunz and the cast of “That Space Zebra Show”, who will be participating in special fan experiences throughout the cruise. This fall, “That Space Zebra Show” will launch the “Battle For The Big Seas” showdown on the DWPresents Twitch channel, where unsigned bands will compete for the chance to perform on the inaugural voyage of Voragos. Look for more details about how to submit and enter the contest coming soon.

In addition, Voragos is excited to announce the first on ship experiences that fans can participate in. The first revealed theme night is “Party Like A Rockstar”, where cruisers can dress up like their favorite artist. Confirmed cruise activities include: Pool Deck Party with DWP CEO Danny Hayes, Rock N’ Roll Trivia hosted by Jose Mangin, Show Us Your INK Mixer, Flip Cup Tournament, Beer Pong Tournament and exclusive to Voragos Founders Club Members, a Daily Bourbon Tasting with DWP Team Members. Many more theme nights, activities, meet & greets, as well as additional exclusive Founders Club events will be announced in the coming months.

Bands performing on board Norwegian Pearl (February 16, 17, 19 and 20) are as follows (subject to change):

MUDVAYNE
MASTODON
BLACK STONE CHERRY
ATREYU
TREMONTI
SAINT ASONIA
CROWN THE EMPIRE
ESCAPE THE FATE
NEW YEARS DAY
FIRE FROM THE GODS
BAD OMENS
JERIS JOHNSON
TETRARCH
DED
ALL GOOD THINGS
JOYOUS WOLF
PLUSH
AFTERLIFE

The Lunasea Beach Festival (February 18) — available exclusively to cruise guests (no separate tickets will be sold to the public) — will include an exclusive headlining set by ROB ZOMBIE along with performances by MUDVAYNE, BLACK STONE CHERRY, NEW YEARS DAY, TETRARCH and AMIGO THE DEVIL.

Additionally, the ship will be home to the Voragos Storytellers Stage, featuring intimate performances from AMIGO THE DEVIL, Kevin Martin (of CANDLEBOX), Brett Scallions and Austin Meade, as well as the Voragos Comedy Stage with multiple sets from Jim Breuer, Big Jay Oakerson, Rachel Feinstein and Shayne Smith. Each night will also offer a Midnight After-Party starring Brass Against, The Voragos Shut Up & Dance and more.

Departing from Miami, Voragos will be the ultimate vacation of every rocker’s dreams, with more than 45 performances across five total stages, both on board and on the beach. Most bands will be playing multiple sets throughout the five-day excursion as well as participating in additional activities.

Cabins are on sale now at www.voragos.com with pricing starting at just $898 per person for a four-guest interior room (plus taxes and fees). Guests are able to make a deposit and pay the remaining balance in monthly installments over time leading up to the event.

Voragos: Destination Lunasea Beach is the creative partnership of Danny Wimmer Presents and Sixthman, merging the expertise of the best in rock festivals on land and the leaders of rock at sea. Like each company’s signature events, Voragos merges the signature world-class talent and unrivaled immersive festival experiences that each has become respected for throughout their decades in business.

The luxurious Norwegian Pearl will serve as the floating venue for this rock adventure. Guests will be able to enjoy Norwegian Cruise Line’s signature freedom and flexibility to choose between 11 onboard bars and lounges, 15 dining experiences, a casino, one outdoor pool, hot tubs and a full menu of spa treatments.

Harvest Caye in Southern Belize is the Caribbean’s premier private island destination featuring an expansive pool with a swim-up bar, salt-water lagoon for water sports, exclusive seven-acre beach and exciting shore excursions ranging from zip lining across the island to snorkeling the world’s second largest barrier reef.

Over the coming months, Danny Wimmer Presents and Sixthman will be working with Norwegian officials to assure the destination event conforms to then-current social distancing protocols.

For more information on Voragos: Destination Lunasea Beach, visit www.voragos.com.

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FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH recently entered the Hideout Recording Studio in Las Vegas, Nevada to begin recording its new album for a 2022 release. In addition, the band has commenced re-recording its debut LP, 2007’s “The Way Of The Fist”, for its 15th anniversary.

Late last night, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Zoltan Bathory took to his Instagram to share a snippet of the new version of the song “The Bleeding”, which originally appeared on “The Way Of The Fist”. Check it out below.

Back in May, Bathory explained the decision to rework the LP, writing in a social media post: “It was a truly self produced DIY album, mostly recorded in my living room, so we thought it would be really interesting to hear it with a proper big production”.

“The Way Of The Fist” was originally released in July 2007 and was certified gold in April 2011 for sales in excess of 500,000 copies.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s upcoming album will be the band’s first with its latest addition, renowned British virtuoso Andy James, who replaced Jason Hook last year. James was previously featured on “Broken World”, a song that was included on the second installment of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s greatest-hits collection, “A Decade Of Destruction – Volume 2”, which came out last fall.

Each of FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s first six albums — “The Way of the Fist”, 2009’s “War Is The Answer”, 2011’s “American Capitalist”, 2013’s “The Wrong Side Of Heaven And The Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1” and “Volume 2”, and 2015’s “Got Your Six” — has gone either gold or platinum in the U.S.

The band has had two dozen songs hit the Top 10 on the Mainstream Rock or Hard Rock Digital charts, starting with “The Bleeding”. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s 2010 cover of BAD COMPANY’s “Bad Company” was certified platinum for accumulating a million certified units.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s No. 1 hits include “Coming Down”, “Lift Me Up”, “Battle Born”, “Wash It All Away”, “Sham Pain”, “When The Seasons Change” and “Blue On Black”.

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH’s most recent album, 2020’s “F8”, debuted at No. 1 on rock charts around the world, with Top 10 mainstream chart debuts in the U.S., Austria, Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K. and more. “F8” features No. 1 hit singles “Inside Out”, “A Little Bit Off” and “Living The Dream”.

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A post shared by ZOLTAN® ?‍☠️ 5FDP ∞ (@zoltanbathory)

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Italian rockers and Eurovision 2021 winners MÅNESKIN have teamed up with Iggy Pop on a new version of their hit single “I Wanna Be Your Slave”.

MÅNESKIN first teased the collaboration, which will be officially made available on August 6, via a cryptic video posted on their social media, showing a Zoom call with Pop.

“I Wanna Be Your Slave” is taken from MÅNESKIN’s latest album “Teatro D’ira: Vol I”, which was released in March. The LP has since been certified platinum in Italy and now boasts over 400 million streams.

Following its epic win at the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest, MÅNESKIN has climbed up the charts worldwide, achieving unprecedented results for Italian artists: they are the first Italian band in the history of music to crack the U.K. singles chart with two singles at the same time — at No. 6 and No. 10 — and collecting new certifications every week, both in Italy and abroad.

“I Wanna Be Your Slave” was certified platinum in Italy, as well as in Finland and Poland and six-times platinum in Russia, and was certified gold in Austria, Greece, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Turkey; “Zitti E Buoni” (three times platinum in Italy) was certified gold in the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and was certified platinum in Finland, Greece, Ireland, Poland and five-times platinum in Russia; “Begginc” was certified gold in Finland, Malaysia, Poland, seven-times platinum in Russia and is climbing up the Spotify Top 50 charts in Canada, Australia, while “I Wanna Be Your Slave” also climbs the chart in Canada, Brazil, Australia and Peru, where it also peaked at No. 1 on the Viral 50 chart, together with seven other songs by MÅNESKIN.

MÅNESKIN will grace the stage at the greatest music festivals in Europe during the summer of 2021 and in 2022, alongside some of the biggest names in the global music scene, and will perform, for the first time ever, at key sports arenas in Italy as part of their 13-date tour across the country (organized and produced by Vivo Concerti). That trek already boasts over 100,000 tour tickets sold and six sold-out concerts, and which will be held this winter and next spring.

MÅNESKIN & IGGY POP – I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE
OUT AUGUST 6th 12 AM CEST pic.twitter.com/LHQUeCiraA

— ManeskinOfficial (@thisismaneskin) August 4, 2021

Keep an eye on this.
Soon @IggyPop pic.twitter.com/EdIFN5K4dR

— ManeskinOfficial (@thisismaneskin) August 2, 2021

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