Author: planetsixstring

Swedish/Canadian/American melodic death metallers ARCH ENEMY played the first show of “The North American Siege 2022” tour with BEHEMOTH and NAPALM DEATH last night (Saturday, April 16) at The Marquee in Tempe, Arizona. ARCH ENEMY’s set included the three new songs the group released over the last few months: “Deceiver, Deceiver”, “House Of Mirrors” and “Handshake With Hell”. Fan-filmed video of the concert is available below.

After the show, ARCH ENEMY singer Alissa White-Gluz shared a post-performance photo of her band and she captioned it: “@archenemyofficial We just kicked off the North American Siege Tour in Tempe, AZ!!! Our first show after 2 1/2 years off the road… A lot of emotions tonight & you guys were fckn awesome! Next stop: San Antonio, TX on Monday!!! #archenemy #deceivers”.

ARCH ENEMY’s setlist was as follows:

01. The World Is Yours
02. Deceiver, Deceiver (live premiere)
03. Ravenous
04. War Eternal
05. My Apocalypse
06. House Of Mirrors (live premiere)
07. The Eagle Flies Alone
08. As The Pages Burn
09. Handshake With Hell (live premiere)
10. Dead Bury Their Dead
11. Nemesis
12. Fields Of Desolation (outro)

“Deceiver, Deceiver”, “House Of Mirrors” and “Handshake With Hell” are taken from ARCH ENEMY’s 11th studio album, “Deceivers”, which will be released on July 29 via Century Media Records.

ARCH ENEMY guitarist Michael Amott stated about the new LP: “Having just celebrated our 25th anniversary as a group and now releasing our 11th studio album, one could easily assume that we would be cruising along and going through the motions at this point. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth when it comes to ARCH ENEMY and our new album, ‘Deceivers’.

“It is, without a doubt, always a challenge to raise the bar each time in both the songwriting and production side of things, and it can feel a bit daunting before we get into it. But once we do get started and fully immerse ourselves in the creative process, it’s really like there is nothing else in the world and we are very focused. And believe it or not, for the most part, we have a ton of fun making this music! Creating ‘Deceivers’ was no different. Once again we shut out the outside world and went deep into the artistic zone. I believe we pulled out some really interesting musical and lyrical themes this time, a few things might even raise an eyebrow or two — while retaining all the signature elements of the band. In the end, it’s ARCH ENEMY at full speed and power.”

After “The North American Siege 2022” tour, ARCH ENEMY will appear at select summer festivals before embarking on the rescheduled “European Siege 2022” trek (with BEHEMOTH, CARCASS, UNTO OTHERS) in the fall.

@archenemyofficial We just kicked off the North American Siege Tour in Tempe, AZ!!! Our first show after 2 1/2 years off…

Posted by Alissa White-Gluz on Saturday, April 16, 2022

Tempe, you are out in force this evening! Tonight is gonna rock! #archenemy #deceivers #behemoth #napalmdeath #UntoOthers

Posted by Arch Enemy on Saturday, April 16, 2022

The Ohio State University Spring Athletic Band honored VAN HALEN during its halftime show Saturday (April 16) at Ohio Stadium as part of Ohio State’s spring football game at home in Columbus.

The band blistered through some of VAN HALEN’s greatest hits, including “Runnin’ With The Devil”, “Dreams”, “Panama” and “Jump”. Formations spelled out “Van Halen”, “Dreams”, “Jump”, “1984” and the band’s iconic “VH” logo.

The Ohio State University Athletic Band performs at various Ohio State varsity sporting events during the autumn and spring semesters, with the exception of fall football games. The number of participants in Athletic Band each semester varies between 250 and 300 members.

Unlike the Marching Band, the Athletic Band includes all brass, woodwind and percussion instruments. Athletic Band is an open-enrollment ensemble, meaning anyone is welcome to participate.

Although a form of the Athletic Band has been around since the 1940s, the modern Athletic Band was started in 1996 under the direction of Dr. Jon R. Woods. Among the highlights of the Athletic Band are marching full pregame and halftime shows at the annual spring game, performing Script Ohio on Ice at one hockey game per semester and performing Script Ohio on court during a spring-semester basketball game.

VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020 at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

After Eddie was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, he began flying to Germany for treatments. Eventually, the cancer spread to Eddie’s spine and brain. Just a few months later, Eddie died at age 65.

VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2007.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked Eddie Van Halen No. 8 in its list of the 100 greatest guitarists.

Might as well jump! Here’s a portion of Athletic Band’s full @VanHalen halftime show from today. Full show at the link below! #GoBucks??? @WolfVanHalen
?: https://t.co/sExr78kWPt pic.twitter.com/H4fhkxTk7c

— The Ohio State University Marching Band (@TBDBITL) April 16, 2022

GOJIRA frontman Joseph Duplantier has reflected on the passing of FOO FIGHTERS drummer Taylor Hawkins, whose death shook the music world late last month. Speaking to the Associated Press on the red carpet of the 2022 Grammy Awards on April 3 in Las Vegas, he said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, obviously, it affects everybody, the whole music community and all the fans. It’s not the first time that a beautiful soul, a fragile soul is sacrificed on the altar of entertainment and rock and roll. And we are all about going out on the road and giving everything for that, but there’s a price to pay. It’s really, really, really hard on the mental and the soul and the families. We leave kids behind. It’s hard on everybody. And I think that he’s simply another victim of this thing. It’s a bit more complicated than people can think. The life of a rock star is not always easy. It’s a lot of nights on buses and being away from home for a long time. So, yes, it touched all of us.”

Hawkins was found dead on March 25 at the Four Seasons Casa Medina hotel in Bogota, Colombia while FOO FIGHTERS were on tour.

An official cause of death for Hawkins hasn’t yet been released. But on March 26, Colombia’s attorney general’s office released a preliminary toxicology report, saying that medical examiners found evidence of 10 types of substances in Hawkins’s body, including opioids, benzodiazepines, marijuana and antidepressants.

Hawkins joined FOO FIGHTERS in 1997. Prior to that, he played with the Orange County band SYLVIA and was also in the backing band for Sass Jordan. He also toured with Alanis Morissette as her drummer.

Hawkins was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last year as a member of the FOO FIGHTERS.

Hawkins’s most recent work with FOO FIGHTERS included last year’s “Medicine At Midnight” album, a collection of BEE GEES covers and FOO FIGHTERS’ horror film “Studio 666”.

ASKING ALEXANDRIA guitarist and co-founder Ben Bruce was the featured guest on BBC’s “The Rock Show With Johnnie Walker” during the “Rock God” segment. Ben picked SLIPKNOT and STONE SOUR frontman Corey Taylor and stated about his choice (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Corey has been someone that’s inspired and influenced me since I was — I don’t know — probably 10 [or] 11 years old. I was listening to a lot of blues music and other rock and metal music that’s passionate too, but there was just something about SLIPKNOT where I was just mindblown. I’d never heard anything like it. And then from there I discovered STONE SOUR, obviously, and I think the first song I heard by them was actually ‘Bother’, and I just remember thinking, ‘There’s no way this is the same guy.’ It really, for me, was those softer, almost rockier ballads in STONE SOUR that really made think, ‘Okay, this guy is the real deal.’ From there, actually, me and Corey have ended up becoming really quite good friends over the years, which is incredible to think about considering what an inspiration he was to me growing up, and still is to this day.”

Two years ago, Bruce told NME that he sent a copy of ASKING ALEXANDRIA’s 2020 album “Like A House On Fire” to Taylor for his opinion. “I sent it [to him] as soon as we finished recording and was, like, ‘Dude, what do you think?’,” Ben recalled. “He said, ‘I think it’s going to piss people off and I think it’s the best thing you’ve ever fucking written. Whether people realize it or not on a first listen, I promise you they will. Every band who’s been around for years has been through this and it’s your time.'”

This past January, ASKING ALEXANDRIA released a new EP titled “Never Gonna Learn” via Better Noise Music. In addition to the title track, the project included a new collaboration with Maria Brink from IN THIS MOMENT.

ASKING ALEXANDRIA closed out 2021 by celebrating its first-ever No. 1 at U.S. active rock radio with hit single “Alone Again”, taken from the band’s seventh full-length studio album “See What’s On The Inside”. The song had the biggest first streaming day and week in the group’s history and was a fitting first offering from its latest album. “See What’s On The Inside” made a top 10 Spotify debut in both the U.S. and the U.K. upon release.