Electro-Harmonix Releases the 15-Watt Howitzer

An ultra compact 15-watt amp that works with any speaker rated at 8 or 16 ohms.

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Video Premiere: Grave Miasma – “Rogyapa”

According to Grave Miasma: “There is no more ego-vanquishing burial rite than one that pounds flesh and bone into nothingness.”
The post Video Premiere: Grave Miasma – “Rogyapa” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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Haunt Release New Track “In Our Dreams” From Forthcoming “Beautiful Distraction” LP

NWOAHM kings Haunt release the first single from Beautiful Distraction, due out April 2.
The post Haunt Release New Track “In Our Dreams” From Forthcoming “Beautiful Distraction” LP appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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EXTREME's New Album Has Been 'Done For A Year'

During an appearance on Kylie Olsson’s YouTube show “Life In Six Strings”, EXTREME guitarist Nuno Bettencourt confirmed that the band’s first new album since 2008’s “Saudades De Rock” has been “done for a year now.” He explained: “We were gonna release it last March, and the fucking pandemic came along. We debated and debated, and fans are still busting my balls every fucking day [on social media], ‘Where is that album?’ And it’s hard to explain that it’s, like, we can easily put it out — easily. Just, ‘There it is. It’s on iTunes. Go get it.’, Or, ‘It’s on Spotify. Go get it.’ But we’re a touring band. And it might be a little old-school thinking — we wanna come and play this thing for you, and we wanna release it when we come and play it for you — not at the same time; it’ll be soon. But we wanna be able to put it out and then have you be excited about it, live with it, come see the shows, come here, come there and do it. Now, if the pandemic keeps going the way it is, then we’re not gonna be able to have that fucking cake and eat it too.”

According to Nuno, EXTREME doesn’t yet have a new label home, which is part of the reason the band has been reluctant to release any fresh music during the pandemic. “We were gonna start going to new labels, but labels were shutting down,” he said. “People weren’t making deals. Yeah, there were Zoom meetings and stuff, but they didn’t even know what the fuck was happening with them. People aren’t even going back to offices yet and shit like that. So we didn’t wanna shop the EXTREME album as well in a time where people are going, ‘Really? You wanna talk about doing a record contract when people are fucking dying and we don’t even know what’s happening and the world is shut down?’ So we said, ‘Hit pause.’ And now we’re starting to have meetings again. Over the last few weeks, we started putting deals in place so we can get this thing out. And I’m really, really excited about it, as a guitar player, to share that with you and everybody.”

Nuno previously discussed EXTREME’s new album during a February 2020 appearance on “Trunk Nation: L.A. Invasion” on SiriusXM. Asked why it took EXTREME more than 12 years to release a follow-up to “Saudades De Rock”, Nuno said: “To be honest with you, we didn’t wait that long. We probably have about three to four albums done. Not ‘done done,’ but we did an album pretty quickly.

“One thing I always said to Gary [Cherone, EXTREME singer], ever since we started this band, is I never wanna release anything that I can’t wait to play people, that I just can’t wait to share,” he continued. “I don’t wanna put out albums just for the sake of putting out albums. I loved the stuff we were doing, but then I started writing some other stuff that I liked better. And then we kind of scrapped that. Then I latched on to something where we thought we had an album done about two years ago, and then I just tapped into these three or four songs. It was a ‘stop the presses’ kind of moment for me, and I went, ‘That’s it.’ It reminded me of when we kind of tapped into [1990’s] ‘Pornograffitti’ back then, to me, where it was a big kind of uppercut. Gary refers to this album as ‘Porno 2.0’ every time he jokes about it, but it’s very much like that kind of excitement for us.”

A live package celebrating EXTREME’s “Pornograffitti” album was made available in October 2016. Titled “Pornograffitti Live 25 / Metal Meltdown”, it included a DVD, Blu-ray and audio CD recorded at the band’s show at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Casino on May 30, 2015, where they performed the record in full.

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Bandcamp Friday: Texas Edition

Take a look at Texas for this month’s Bandcamp Friday.
The post Bandcamp Friday: Texas Edition appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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SLIPKNOT's JAY WEINBERG: Being Tight As A Band Is, To Me, Above All

SLIPKNOT’s Jay Weinberg spoke to Sweetwater about how he was influenced and inspired by his father Max, who has been a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E STREET BAND since 1974.

“A piece of advice that my dad passed down to me that I’m always grateful for, that’s kind of key information for any drummer to have, is you’re always gonna be best served with whatever practice you’re doing is to a metronome,” he said (see video below). “And to me, playing along to a metronome, doing exercises and just playing beats and stuff while keeping myself accountable, learning how to play with it as an instrument, to me, that’s been what serves the music that I love to play. It kind of adds that frenetic energy where it feels like a freight train that’s about come off the tracks, but the important thing to me is that it’s gotta never come off the tracks. Being tight is, to me, above all. Any band that’s impressive to me has always just been tight together.”

He continued: “As I apply that to a band like SLIPKNOT, we don’t play live to a metronome or anything like that; we just do what we do because we listen to each other. And the practice of hearing that metronome in my head allows me to feel the space in between notes and how I’m filling that, and that helps inform how I’m speaking musically to the guitar players and the vocalist and stuff like that. It’s got that energy to it, but it always has that invisible swing that’s super important to this kind of music.”

Jay was asked to fill in for his dad as the touring drummer for BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND more than a decade ago. Last year, he described the experience as “completely insane. And I didn’t expect for that to happen, but the stars aligned in that way that just like it was one of those ‘right places at the right time’ kind of things,” he said.

Jay discovered SLIPKNOT when he was a pre-teen, through his father. He was hooked immediately and was a huge fan of SLIPKNOT by the time he was invited to Los Angeles to try out as replacement for Joey Jordison in 2014.

SLIPKNOT announced its split with Jordison in December 2013 but did not disclose the reasons for his exit. The drummer subsequently issued a statement saying that he did not quit the group.

SLIPKNOT spent most of last year touring in support of its sixth studio album, “We Are Not Your Kind”, which was released in August 2019 via Roadrunner Records.

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ARCHITECTS Top U.K. Album Chart For First Time With 'For Those That Wish To Exist'

ARCHITECTS have claimed their first No. 1 on the official U.K. albums chart following an exceptionally close race for this week’s top spot.

The British metalcore band’s ninth album, “For Those That Wish To Exist”, finishes the week just 550 chart sales ahead of its closest competition, MAXIMO PARK and its new record, “Nature Always Wins”.

For ARCHITECTS, it’s not only the band’s first chart-topper, but its first Top 10 album too; their previous peak was No. 15 with 2016’s “All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us”.

Celebrating the news, and paying tribute to his late bandmate Tom Searle, ARCHITECTS singer Sam Carter told OfficialCharts.com: “I cannot begin to tell you how much this means to us. Thank you to every single person who bought this record. We love you so much and we could not have done this without you. To have an album that connects this much, with what we’re talking about — trying and pushing for a better world — it’s unbelievable. As ever, everything we do is for Tom Searle, our brother.”

“For Those That Wish To Exist” is ARCHITECTS’ sixth No. 1 on the official Rock & Metal Albums chart, and is the week’s best-selling album on vinyl and top seller in independent record shops.

On “For Those That Wish To Exist”, ARCHITECTS examine the part we are all playing in the world’s slow destruction, and tackle the biggest questions facing the future of our planet. Such concerns that have long been prevalent in the music of a band who have continually championed and shared their platform with causes such as Sea Shepherd, are outspoken critics of barbaric exercises such as fox hunting, and who focus on sustainability in everything from their touring to merch production.

The record’s 15 tracks hang in a limbo between energizing positivity that it is not too late to correct our collective course, and a paralyzing negativity of defeatism; where hope and despondency are bed-fellows triggered daily by the simple act of existence. A reflection of human condition, “For Those That Wish To Exist” calls for all of us to rise to challenge established models and strive for a collective betterment.

“This album was me looking at our inability to change to a way of life that would sustain the human race and save the planet,” summarized principal songwriter Dan Searle. “I wanted to look in the mirror and ask ourselves the question of what are we going to do, as opposed to trying to point the finger at politicians. Change has to start on a personal level. The world has developed a culture of wanting someone else to deal with it, when we need to take our own responsibility. It has to start there.”

ARCHITECTS is vocalist Sam Carter, drummer Dan Searle, bassist Ali Dean and guitarists Josh Middleton and Adam Christianson.

Photo credit: Ed Mason

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Pre-Order the U.S. Edition of ‘ROTTING WAYS TO MISERY: The History of Finnish Death Metal’ Now!

Rotting Ways to Misery: The History of Finnish Death Metal has been completely redesigned and edited for a North American release through Decibel Books. Pre-order your copy today!
The post Pre-Order the U.S. Edition of ‘ROTTING WAYS TO MISERY: The History of Finnish Death Metal’ Now! appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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GODSMACK's SULLY ERNA Says The Pandemic And Politics Played A Part In His Decision To Move To Florida

During a new appearance on “The Mistress Carrie Podcast”, GODSMACK frontman Sully Erna spoke about his recent move from New Hampshire to Florida. Asked if the coronavirus pandemic and politics played a part in his decision to relocate to America’s southernmost state geographically, which leans Republican in presidential elections, Erna said: “It’s a long story, but in a nutshell, I’d been looking at an alternate home area for a while now. And California was kind of on my radar, just because I have a lot of friends there, my business is there, [and] I love the weather. But when all this political shit went down, it really turned me off to just the thought process and ways of being for a lot of the liberals and people that I just can’t connect with on that wavelength. So it kind of bummed me out to a point where I’m, like, well, I don’t really wanna go three thousand miles across the country to pay triple the amount of money to live in that kind of nonsense and be locked down.”

He continued: “So, yeah, corona and politics played a piece of my decision to divert to Florida. And I honestly just went down there to buy a property with a little bit of room and a decent little house, and I wanted horses. And I knew that Shannon [Larkin, GODSMACK drummer] was kind of in horse country, ’cause it’s in North Fort Myers. So I just came across this really great deal with this lady who had a 20-acre horse ranch, but she also owned a 30-acre pasture next door to it, which is just an open pasture that some guy leases to pasteurize his cows on. And it gives me a tax break ’cause it’s agricultural. And I get a half a cow a year. [Laughs] So, yeah, I’m a meat eater too. Not only am I not a liberal, I’m a fucking meat eater.”

Sully went on to say that a desire to be close to his GODSMACK bandmates provided him with additional motivation to find a new home in Florida.

“This property is about seven miles from Shannon Larkin’s house, and about 13 miles from [GODSMACK guitarist] Tony Rombola,” he said. “So my guys are down there, and that’s kind of one of the reasons that initiated this whole thought process. Plus I hate the fucking snow.”

According to a Wallethub analysis, Florida has some of the most lax COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S.

Erna has been more vocal about his political opinions in recent years, saying in a July 2020 episode of his Internet show “Hometown Sessions” that if “Trump stays in [office], COVID’s gonna be a big, messy pain in the ass, and there’s gonna be more people burning down Wendy’s fucking restaurants. If Trump fucking is gone, all of a sudden they’re gonna have this miracle vaccine that those fucking liars have been holding on to.”

In February 2020, Erna came under fire for sharing a post that was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its news feed. The post in question criticized then-Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders’s plan to raise the minimum wage and provide universal health care to all Americans. It also cited Sanders’s Medicare For All plan, a single, national health insurance program that would cover everyone who lives in the United States.

Back in 2004, Erna revealed that he was not in favor of the Democratic candidate for president in that year’s election, telling Launch Radio Networks: “I’m a Republican. I want Republican. I don’t necessarily want [incumbent Republican president George W.] Bush to win. I don’t like that choice, but I gotta tell you, I don’t truly believe in the Democrats either, man. I don’t like the way they think. I don’t like, I don’t love Bush, I’ll tell you that, but I want a Republican in office.”

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SEETHER Honored With New 'Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame' Exhibit

SEETHER is the newest addition to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s popular “Right Here Right Now” exhibit. “Right Here Right Now” focuses on the evolution of rock and roll and its impact on the current generation of artists by taking visitors on an intimate journey into the stories of chart-topping acts. Utilizing personal artifacts, thought-provoking text panels and interactive displays, “Right Here Right Now” helps fans discover how these contemporary artists have influenced the new millennium. SEETHER is included in the space alongside luminaries such as Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, THE ALABAMA SHAKES, Taylor Swift, THE LUMINEERS, Kacey Musgraves and The Weeknd.

SEETHER’s new display, featuring carefully curated items spanning the band’s illustrious 20-year career, includes Shaun Morgan’s signature green acoustic guitar, his “Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces”-era red-and-black sweater, handwritten lyric sheets for SEETHER hits “Broken” and “Dangerous” and a setlist from 2005’s “Karma And Effect” tour (typed with handwritten notes).

Morgan stated about what joining “Right Here Right Now” means to SEETHER: “Growing up on a pig farm in South Africa, I had many dreams of being a ‘rock star’ in America, something that was deemed impossible at the time. I clung to the dream even more tightly with every comment from every naysayer, and after many years, shows and numerous different bands, the impossible became a reality in 2000.

“It is such an incredible honor to be recognized by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and to be included in an exhibit amongst so many incredibly talented musicians, many of whom inspired me as a young boy. I feel so humbled and grateful for this opportunity that it is difficult to express. This is a huge milestone for SEETHER and is by far one of the most important highlights of our career.”

SEETHER further cemented its place as one of hard rock’s most important and enduring bands with its latest album, “Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum” (“If You Want Peace, Prepare For War”) which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard’s Hard Rock chart upon its release last fall. The album’s lead track “Dangerous” topped rock radio at No. 1 for three consecutive weeks, the band’s 16th No. 1 hit. Most recently, SEETHER shared the menacing video for the album’s second single, “Bruised and Bloodied”.

In celebration of the band’s 20-year anniversary, SEETHER also recently issued three of its classic albums — “Disclaimer II”, “Karma And Effect” and “Finding Beauty In Negative Spaces” — on vinyl and exclusive color variants for the very first time via Craft Recordings. Released early in the band’s remarkable run, these three albums exemplify the distinctive musicianship and songcraft for which SEETHER is best known and helped solidify them as one of the most successful hard rock bands in the world.

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