Dingwall D-Roc Standard 5 and Hellboy review

Behold a pair of T-bird-style five-strings that bring the thunder and then some…

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NOTHING MORE Returns With New Song 'Turn It Up Like'

Multi-Grammy-nominated rock act NOTHING MORE has released a new song, “Turn It Up Like”, via Better Noise Music, giving fans a first taste of its long-awaited new studio album. Co-written by all four band members, the track is a fitting in-your-face return from the group, and with lyrics like “All my friends are dead/ They all got fucked by the internet/ All my friends are dead/ Our brain’s bein’ bugged by the media,” it’s an unapologetic sonic rejection of the divisive, digitally drowned state of the world. This sentiment is just one of many layers along the same journey explored on the new LP, set for a release later this year. The project is the highly anticipated follow-up to their 2017 album “The Stories We Tell Ourselves”, which earned the band three Grammy nominations, including “Best Rock Album”, and “Best Rock Song” and “Best Rock Recording” for the single “Go To War”. “Turn It Up Like” is now available to stream and download across platforms. An official video for the track will premiere next week.

NOTHING MORE frontman Jonny Hawkins spoke about the inspiration behind the song in a statement, saying: “This song is a reflection of how we all felt for the last two years, online. Fear and hate have become our god.”

The new track comes ahead of the album’s official first radio single, which is set for an April 29 release across streaming and digital platforms. Stay tuned for more details coming from the band’s official social media channels.

Fans will be able to hear the new music live on the band’s recently announced co-headlining U.S. tour this spring, with Better Noise Music label mates ASKING ALEXANDRIA, featuring support from ATREYU and EVA UNDER FIRE . The tour is set to kick off in Kansas City, Missouri on May 13 and end in Houston, Texas on June 19, with other stops planned in Nashville, Denver, Atlanta, New Orleans, and more.

Rock audiences count NOTHING MORE among the most cherished acts, the kind of band who straddle the line between populism and intimacy with every performance. The San Antonio, Texas-born quartet builds unapologetically massive anthems from catchy hooks. Crowd pleasers clear a path for heady, confessional, thought-provoking emotionalism. Fresh rewards reveal themselves with repeat listens, welcoming like-minded seekers with rich melodicism, like the best of DEFTONES or TOOL.

Those who saw the band on tour with hard rock heavyweights like SHINEDOWN, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, BREAKING BENJAMIN, PAPA ROACH and DISTURBED will attest to what The Guardian observed: “There’s a sophistication to NOTHING MORE’s angst that raises them above the tumult-tossed pit.”

Kerrang! named NOTHING MORE one of “22 Artists Shaping The Future Of Rock”, alongside NINE INCH NAILS, TWENTY ONE PILOTS and BRING ME THE HORIZON. And Hawkins, who met guitarist Mark Vollelunga before they were old enough to drive, appeared with Billie Joe Armstrong, Dave Grohl and Hayley Williams in the English tastemaker’s “Top 50 Greatest Rock Stars In The World”.

Hawkins and Vollelunga started the band in 2003 and were quickly joined by bassist Daniel Oliver and later by drummer Ben Anderson. The band’s blend of explosive bombast and nuanced storytelling resulted in a half dozen Top 10 singles at Mainstream Rock Radio, including the No. 1 hit “Go To War” and the SiriusXM Octane song of the decade and Active Rock chart-topper “This Is The Time (Ballast)”.

NOTHING MORE appeals to fans of LINKIN PARK, INCUBUS, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE and all crucial acts that stoke relatable passion with authenticity and integrity.

Photo credit: Jody Domingue

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Hear DAVE GROHL's New Metal Album As Fictional Band DREAM WIDOW

Dave Grohl’s metal album that he recorded as the fictional band DREAM WIDOW in the FOO FIGHTERS’ horror-comedy film “Studio 666” has just been made available digitally, with a physical release to follow later this year. The LP’s first single, “March Of The Insane”, came out last month.

“Dream Widow” track listing:

01. Encino
02. Cold
03. March Of The Insane
04. The Sweet Abyss
05. Angel With Severed Wings
06. Come All Ye Unfaithful
07. Becoming
08. Lacrimus Dei Ebrius

You can stream the entire LP below.

In “Studio 666”, FOO FIGHTERS move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much-anticipated tenth album. Once in the house, Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces related to related to the studio’s former residents — the aforementioned fictional act DREAM WINDOW — that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the FOO FIGHTERS.

“I wind up finding this creepy basement. And I go into the basement, I find this tape by a band [DREAM WIDOW] from 25 years ago that recorded there,” Grohl told Howard Stern. “And there’s this song that, if recorded and completed, the fucking demon in the house is unleashed, and then, whatever, all hell breaks loose.”

Grohl also revealed a bit about DREAM WINDOW, saying: “The singer went crazy and murdered his whole band because of creative differences… We come in 25 years later to record, having no idea what happened 25 years ago, and I start becoming possessed by the spirit of the guy from 25 years ago and the spirit of the house. But this song, ‘March Of The Insane’, this is their lost record. This is the record they were making before their singer murdered [them].”

Dave told Rolling Stone about the DREAM WIDOW LP: “It will be the lost album. It’ll be the album they were making before he fucking killed the entire band.” According to Grohl, “some of it sounds like [doom-metal pioneers] TROUBLE; some of it sounds like CORROSION OF CONFORMITY; some of it has a KYUSS vibe.”

“Studio 666” stars Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, Chris Shiflett and Rami Jaffee.

Released domestically in more than 2,000 theatres on February 25, the film’s all-star cast also includes Whitney Cummings, Leslie Grossman, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega and Jeff Garlin.

In 2004, Dave’s then-metal side-project PROBOT released its self-titled album. The LP featured Grohl, ex-ZWAN guitarist Matt Sweeney and FOO FIGHTERS producer Adam Kasper accompanying some of metal’s most celebrated and respected frontmen, including Lemmy (MOTÖRHEAD), Scott “Wino” Weinrich (THE OBSESSED), Denis “Snake” Bélanger (VOIVOD), Conrad “Cronos” Lant (VENOM), Max Cavalera (SOULFLY, ex-SEPULTURA), Tom G. Warrior (CELTIC FROST), Eric Wagner (TROUBLE), King Diamond (MERCYFUL FATE, KING DIAMOND), Lee Dorrian (CATHEDRAL, ex-NAPALM DEATH), Mike Dean (CORROSION OF CONFORMITY) and Kurt Brecht (D.R.I.).

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MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP Releases Music Video For 'Emergency' From Upcoming 'Universal' Album

MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, the band led by legendary German guitarist Michael Schenker, has released a new single, “Emergency”. The haunting opening track of MSG’s upcoming studio album, “Universal”, comes with an official music video, produced by Justin Griffiths.

Schenker states: “‘Emergency’ is quite a complicated song with different rhythms but catchy at the same time. It’s fun to play and to listen to. Enjoy and keep on rocking.”

“Universal” will be released on May 27 via Atomic Fire Records. As we have come to expect from him, Schenker has once again enlisted a number of prestigious fellow musicians for the recording of his new studio production, among them, as main vocalist Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW, VANDENBERG), who will also be MSG’s frontman on their upcoming tour, Michael Kiske (HELLOWEEN) and Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR), keyboard player Steve Mann (LIONHEART), drummers Simon Phillips (TOTO, THE WHO), Brian Tichy (WHITESNAKE, FOREIGNER), Bobby Rondinelli (RAINBOW) and Bodo Schopf (ELOY), as well as legendary bassists Bob Daisley (BLACK SABBATH), Barry Sparks (YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, DOKKEN) and Barend Courbois (BLIND GUARDIAN, ZAKK WYLDE), with Tony Carey as a very special guest.

Like its predecessor “Immortal” (2021) and the MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST albums “Resurrection” (2018) and “Revelation” (2019), “Universal” was produced by Michael Schenker and Michael Voss (LESSMANN/VOSS, MAD MAX) at Voss’s Kidroom Studio, which has become something of a creative home away from home for Schenker.

“Michael Voss is happy to wait until I have worked out an idea and takes the time to really get to know the song, simultaneously developing ideas for the vocals,” Schenker describes the fruitful collaboration which has one cog intermesh with the other. “Then we work out the drums, bass and some keyboard parts together. He always has plenty of great ideas up his sleeve.”

There are few rock guitarists on this planet who have had such a lasting influence on so many renowned musicians as Michael Schenker. With his outstandingly fluid style, inexhaustible wealth of ideas and instinctive feel for hooks and melodies, Schenker is a living legend who, despite his longstanding and distinguished history, still impresses with his unflagging energy and drive. The blond stringsman from Sarstedt, Germany began his international career in the early 1970s with the SCORPIONS, achieved worldwide fame after joining British rock group UFO and then seamlessly continued his exceptional global success story under his own name, as well as with acts such as MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP, TEMPLE OF ROCK and MICHAEL SCHENKER FEST. Schenker and his career, which has spanned more than fifty years, are absolute exceptions in the otherwise short-lived music industry.

Compositional highlights abound on “Universal”, from the haunting opener “Emergency” and the subsequent “Under Attack” with its casually driving groove to “The Universe”, featuring an atmospheric duet by Ronnie Romero and Gary Barden, “Wrecking Ball”, performed as brilliantly as ever by Ralf Scheepers, and “London Calling” with its homage to the British capital’s musical spirit.

The rock anthem “A King Has Gone” and its intro “Calling Baal” both have a special significance: The track, sung by HELLOWEEN frontman Michael Kiske, is a tribute to the immortal Ronnie James Dio, in particular to his performance on the 1976 hard rock classic “Rainbow Rising”. For this reason, Schenker has brought together an original RAINBOW rhythm section consisting of Bobby Rondinelli and Bob Daisley, additionally enlisting keyboardist Tony Carey, who also played on “Rainbow Rising”, for a terrific Moog synth intro — a direct reference to the iconic intro of the 1976 album opener “Tarot Woman”. The impressive result “Calling Baal”/”A King Has Gone” is already considered to be one of the most important and successful songs in Schenker’s career to date, both musically and lyrically.

In line with all these highlights, the spectacular album cover designed by Zsofia Dankova (POWERWOLF, among others) features Schenker in a futuristic spaceship, floating high up in orbit. The artwork is based on the guitarist’s own visions.

“I had the original idea for the album cover a few years ago, but only now does it seem to fit perfectly,” he says. “So I sent some older sketches to my label Atomic Fire Records, and based on this the final artwork and album title were created.”

Photo credit: Tina Korhonen

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POWERWOLF Drops New Single 'Sainted By The Storm'

Not even a year after the release of their critically acclaimed and worldwide successful studio album “Call Of The Wild”, POWERWOLF have unleashed a new, energetic single, “Sainted By The Storm”. On the new song, the band combines each member’s strengths to form a powerful future hit — a song that once again underlines POWERWOLF’s status as one of the leading bands in the genre.

POWERWOLF comments on the new single: “We would like to thank you all for your fantastic support with the release of a brand new song! It’s been less than a year since we released our new album, ‘Call Of The Wild’, and it’s rather unusual for us to follow up so soon, but we miss you all and were overwhelmed by your comments and feedback not only on the last album but also on our streaming event ‘The Monumental Mass’, despite the lack of live shows and the opportunity to see each other again and celebrate a furious metal mass together! Enjoy ‘Sainted By The Storm’. This one is for you, wolves!”

The epic and very detailed cover artwork is once again created by Zsofia Dankova, who has been creating all of the band’s artworks during the last years.

“Sainted By The Storm” is available in strictly limited CD digipak as well as digitally. As a special bonus, an orchestral version of the song, as well as an instrumental version is available in all formats.

The story of POWERWOLF, beginning in 2004, reads like a true fairytale, but is the result of the most hard-working and entertaining live band on the heavy metal planet. POWERWOLF has not only received plenty of gold and platinum awards to date, but numerous releases have entered the official German album charts at the top position of No. 1. With “Blessed & Possessed” (2015), POWERWOLF achieved gold status (in the Czech Republic) for the first time, while its predecessor, “Preachers Of The Night” (2013), hit the official German album charts at No. 1, and the incredible DVD, “The Metal Mass” (2016), came in at No. 1 of the German DVD chart. POWERWOLF’s latest magnum opus, “The Sacrament Of Sin” (2018), again entered the album charts at No. 1. The accompanying, almost completely sold-out “Wolfsnächte” headline tour — in which POWERWOLF headlined large venues with their phenomenal stage performances — became a single major triumph, as well as the numerous summer festival shows in which crowds were thrilled and completely captivated by the wolves and their unique, (un)holy metal mass. In the end of 2021, POWERWOLF celebrated “The Monumental Mass” — a streaming event that set new standards. With the new studio album, “Call Of The Wild”, and the upcoming tour charging through the largest halls in Europe, the whole world is completely under the sign of the wolf pack once again.

POWERWOLF is:

Attila Dorn – vocals
Falk Maria Schlegel – organ
Charles Greywolf – guitar
Matthew Greywolf – guitar
Roel van Helden – drums

Photo credit: Matteo Vdiva Fabbiani / VDPICTURES

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NIGHTWISH Singer FLOOR JANSEN Releases 'Fire' Solo Single

Dutch powerhouse singer Floor Jansen has just released a new solo single, “Fire”, via ADA, the division of Warner Music Group dedicated to independent label and artist distribution.

Jansen is best known as the frontwoman in the multi-million selling and internationally successful symphonic metal band NIGHTWISH. As part of the band, Jansen has landed two number one albums in Finland, and Top Five albums in Austria, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Born in the Netherlands, Jansen joined her first band, one of the world’s first symphonic metal bands, AFTER FOREVER, when she was only 16 years old. The group went on to release five albums from 2000 to 2007, before they broke up in 2009.

Jansen’s next band, REVAMP, released two albums in 2010 and 2013, before she joined NIGHTWISH as a full-time member. NIGHTWISH’s first album with Jansen as the lead singer was 2015’s “Endless Forms Most Beautiful”, which landed in Top 10s around the world. This was followed by 2020’s “Human. :II: Nature.” , which was also an international success.

Jansen has toured extensively with the band and appeared on three of NIGHTWISH’s live albums “Showtime, Storytime”, “Vehicle Of Spirit” and “Decades: Live In Buenos Aires”.

In 2019, Jansen participated in the popular Dutch TV show “Beste Zangers” where she scored a big hit with “Phantom Of The Opera” together with Henk Poort. She was recognized with a Dutch Popprijs award — a prestigious accolade for artists that has made important contributions to Dutch music. In the same year, her first solo tour sold out in less than 24 hours.

Jansen said: “I’m delighted to partner with ADA as I move into this exciting phase of my career and start my journey as a solo artist. ADA is the perfect partner to help me reach as many people around the world as possible, while staying true to my indie roots.”

Sander Stijnen, head of A&R and ADA Benelux, added: “Floor has one of the most iconic voices and is a true legend in the music industry. I’m so happy we can work on her solo material, which has seen her grow and develop as an artist and songwriter. I think people are going to be blown away with the direction she’s taken with her new music.”

Less than two months ago, the 41-year-old Dutch-born singer, who made her live debut with NIGHTWISH nearly a decade ago, stated about the musical direction of “Fire”: “It’s a pop song, so it’s not metal, it’s not rock, but it’s definitely me.” Jansen went on to explain that the track will not necessarily be representative of all the new solo music she has been working on in recent months. “I guess it’s more of a mash-up [of styles] actually,” she said, referring to her upcoming collection of solo material, “though it’s not so extreme as in genres, like all of a sudden it becomes… Here’s a metal song and here’s a rock song and this is more poppy… I mean, pop music — the word of it — [it’s short for] popular music, and it kind of describes a lot, and within that it falls. I can only say that it’s not metal and it’s not rock, but it will have its influences and it will have a part of the sound. It can’t even be so that the first song is how everything else will sound like because, yeah, if you know NIGHTWISH and also for us, it’s always so hard to pick just one song that’s gonna be like the kick-off of an album but it can never really represent everything. And I guess it’s the same for this first song that comes on the 25th of March.”

Last summer, Floor said during an appearance on the “Breaking Absolutes With Peter Orullian” podcast that she had been working on a solo album since shortly before the beginning of the pandemic. “And it really kickstarted my own creativity that I haven’t really been able to use over the years,” she said. “It’s nice that it gets out. And I would like to do more of that and actually finish that album and make those steps and find a way to combine a solo career with NIGHTWISH and my life at home, which I even more value after spending so much time here in this green heaven [in Sweden] where I live.”

Jansen discussed the prospect of making a solo album during a 2020 interview with Metal Hammer magazine. At the time, she said: “After 20 years of rock and metal, I think I would like to do something else. I don’t mean stop with NIGHTWISH, but something alongside it.

“I was recently involved in a TV show in my home country in the Netherlands [reality TV show ‘Beste Zangers’, which translates to ‘Best Singers’]. That really inspired me to start writing, and the stuff that has come out is very calm.

“I would love to make an album where less actually is more. Something different — not because I’m bored, but because if you are already in one of the biggest bands in your own genre, and you have someone like Tuomas Holopainen as a songwriter, I don’t really see that I’d be adding anything by making another metal album myself.”

Earlier in 2020, Jansen spoke about a possible musical direction for her solo album during an Instagram Live chat. She said: “I cannot imagine it would be rock or metal — just because rock now I’ve done, and metal I’ve done a lot. And I’m already in one of the best bands, I think, that are out there, in my opinion, to my taste. Plus, if you’re in a band with a songwriter such as Tuomas Holopainen, it’s a little bit hard to come up with something — anything — better, I would say, and I only say that out of love and respect for him. Plus, after 20 years of metal, wouldn’t it be lovely to do something completely different for me? That’s how I feel.”

Jansen performed live with NIGHTWISH for the first time on October 1, 2012 at Showbox Sodo in Seattle, Washington following the abrupt departure of the band’s lead singer of five years, Anette Olzon. Jansen officially joined NIGHTWISH in 2013.

This year will see Jansen become the Dutch ambassador for Record Store Day on April 23, as well as participate in Germany’s “Sing Meinen Song”.

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SKID ROW Releases 'The Gang's All Here' Single Featuring New Singer ERIK GRÖNWALL

SKID ROW will release its new album, “The Gang’s All Here”, on October 14 via earMUSIC. The LP’s first single, the title track, can be streamed below.

“The Gang’s All Here” marks SKID ROW’s recording debut with ex-H.E.A.T. vocalist Erik Grönwall, who recently joined the band as the replacement for ZP Theart.

SKID ROW recorded “The Gang’s All Here” in Nashville, Tennessee with producer Nick Raskulinecz, who has previously worked with FOO FIGHTERS, STONE SOUR, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE, RUSH and ALICE IN CHAINS, among many others.

SKID ROW bassist Rachel Bolan and guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo said in a statement: “We are beyond excited to release this record. It has been a long time in the making and a lot of hard work has been put into it by the band and our producer Nick Raskulinecz. The addition of Erik has lifted the songs to new heights. Add all this to the fact that we start our world tour in Las Vegas with the SCORPIONS residency this Saturday at Zappos Theater makes it easy to say that SKID ROW is going to have a great year.”

“The Gang’s All Here” track listing:

01. Hell Or High Water
02. The Gang’s All Here
03. Not Dead Yet
04. Time Bomb
05. Resurrected
06. Nowhere Fast
07. When The Lights Come On
08. Tear It Down
09. October’s Song
10. World’s On Fire

Grönwall sang on H.E.A.T.’s last four studio albums — “Address The Nation” (2012), “Tearing Down The Walls” (2014), “Into The Great Unknown” (2017) and “H.E.A.T II” (2020) — before exiting the group in October 2020.

Grönwall was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia in March 2021. A short time later, he wrote on his social media: “I am extremely privileged and grateful to live at a day and age where a disease like this is curable. There’s been so much progress made in this field. My body is reacting well to the treatment but it’s a long treatment and it’s going to be the toughest challenge of my life so far, for me and my family.”

Last September, Grönwall released his cover version of SKID ROW’s “18 And Life” via all streaming platforms. At the time, he said about his version of the track: “This song was basically the starting point of my professional career as an artist. I performed this song during my ‘Swedish Idol’ audition back in 2009. 12 years later it’s time to give this bad boy a try again. Here’s my version of the SKID ROW song ’18 And Life’.”

In 2018, Grönwall debuted in the U.S. for 10 million viewers in NBC’s live broadcast of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s and Tim Rice’s musical “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Along with John Legend, Alice Cooper, Sara Bareilles and others, Erik played the key role of Simon Zealotes.

Theart, a former member of DRAGONFORCE, joined SKID ROW in 2016 following the departure of Tony Harnell (TNT, STARBREAKER).

As previously reported, SKID ROW has replaced QUEENSRŸCHE as the support act on the rescheduled dates for SCORPIONS’ “Sin City Nights” Las Vegas residency. The run of shows, which was originally slated to take place in July 2020 and was later pushed back to May 2021, will now happen starting on March 26 at Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.

Sebastian Bach fronted SKID ROW until 1996, when he was fired. Instead of throwing in the towel, the remaining members took a hiatus and went on to play briefly in a band called OZONE MONDAY. In 1999, SKID ROW reformed and, after a bit of shuffling over the years, featured a lineup consisting of Bolan and guitarists Sabo and Scotti Hill, alongside drummer Rob Hammersmith and singer Johnny Solinger. SKID ROW fired Solinger over the phone in April 2015, a few hours before announcing Tony Harnell as his replacement. Eight months later, Harnell exited the band and was replaced by Theart, the South African-born, British-based singer who previously fronted DRAGONFORCE, TANK and I AM I.

SKID ROW tour dates:

Mar. 26 – Las Vegas, NV- Zappos Theater
Mar. 30 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 01 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 03 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 07 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 09 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 12 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 14 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 16 – Las Vegas, NV – Zappos Theater
Apr. 30 – Ashland, KY – Paramount Arts Center
May 06 – Tulsa, OK – Osage Casino
May 07 – Dodge City, KS – United Wireless Arena
May 08 – Columbia, MD – M3 Rock Festival
May 20 – Pompano Beach, FL – Pompano Beach Amp
May 21 – Albertville, AL – Sand Mountain Amp
May 22 – Grantville, PA – Hollywood Casino
May 26 – Morton , MN – Jackpot Junction
May 28 – Decatur, IL – Devon Amo
May 29 – Coleman, MO – Coleman Veterans Memorial Park
Jun. 02 – Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center
Jun. 03 – Cincinnati, OH – Hard Rock Casino
Jun. 04 – Gary, IN – Hard Rock Casino
Jun. 16 – Burlington, ON – Spencer Smith Park
Jun. 18 – Lampe, MO – Black Mountain Amp
Jun. 24 – Milwaukee, MO – Summerfest
Jun. 25 – Aurora, IL – RiverEdge Park
Jul. 20 – Orange County, CA – Pacific Amp
Jul. 22 – Tucson, AZ – Casino Del Sol
Jul. 23 – Las Vegas, NV – Sunset Station
Jul. 24 – Temecula, CA – Pechanga
Jul. 25 – Paso Robles, CA – California Mid State Fair
Jul. 28 – Windsor, ON – Ceasars Casino
Jul. 29 – Tiffen, OH – Ritz Theatre
Jul. 30 – Terre Haute, IN – The Mill Amp
Sep. 09 – Robinsonville, MS – Horseshoe Casino
Sep. 15 – Lynn, MA – Lynn Auditorium
Sep. 17 – Salamaca, NY – Senica Casino
Sep. 23 – Reno, NV – Silver Legacy
Oct. 08 – Shelton, WA – Little Creed Casino
Oct. 11 – Perry, GA – Georgia National Fair
Oct. 13 – Kingston, NY – Ulster PAC
Oct. 14 – Bethlehem, PA – Wild Creek Casino
Oct. 15 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun Casino

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Nighted release debut song ‘Aeons’

NIGHTED have released their debut single! The new song, titled Aeons, is the debut single from the genre-bending black metal synthwave duo and is taken from the band’s upcoming debut album, Absence,…

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Mark Tremonti announces new album ‘Tremonti Sings Sinatra’

MARK TREMONTI has announced a new album! Titled Tremonti Sings Sinatra, the upcoming album from the ALTER BRIDGE guitarist features him covering selections of FRANK SINATRA‘s catalogue, and is scheduled to be released in…

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MESHUGGAH Releases New Single 'I Am That Thirst'

Swedish extreme tech-metal pioneers MESHUGGAH have released “I Am That Thirst”, the second single from their upcoming ninth studio album, “Immutable”.

Due on April 1 via Atomic Fire, the follow-up to 2016’s “The Violent Sleep Of Reason” was recorded at Sweetspot Studios in Halmstad, Sweden; mixed by Rickard Bengtsson and Staffan Karlsson; and mastered by multiple Grammy Award winner Vlado Meller (METALLICA, RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, SYSTEM OF A DOWN). Visionary artist Luminokaya once again created the stunning cover artwork.

Full of surprises and yet instantly recognizable as the work of metal’s most idiosyncratic force, “Immutable” redefines and redesigns the MESHUGGAH sound across more than an hour of the most stimulating and absorbing music the band has ever made. Despite the challenges of the last couple of years, the progressive principles that have always informed their artistic efforts remain as cherished as ever. As we spiral towards a dystopian future, MESHUGGAH still stand alone.

For guitarist Mårten Hagström, the task of embarking on another unprecedented tech-metal odyssey was impossible to resist. “For us, it wasn’t all that clear that we were making a new album,” he said. “We knew we could do it, but did we want to do it? We had to decide, are we doing this or what else are we doing? After a long, long discussion, we agreed on certain things. We would make an album with as few restraints as possible. We would go in and try to make as cool an album as possible, have no anxiety about it and see it as an opportunity. How do we make this a challenge that we feel like accepting and rising up to? Pretty quickly we had a starting point. Everybody started to write, the ball started rolling and suddenly we were sitting there, discussing how many songs we were going to have to cut.”

Regarding the “Immutable” title, Hagström said: “The title fits perfectly for where we are as a band. We’re older now. Most of us are in our fifties now, and we’ve settled into who we are. Even though we’ve been experimenting all along, I also think we’ve been the same since day one. The way we approach things and why we still make new albums, and why we still sound the way we do, it’s immutable. Humanity is immutable, too. We commit the same mistakes over and over. And we are immutable. We do what we do, and we don’t change.”

The most inventive and creative metal band of the last 30 years and one of the most widely revered, MESHUGGAH has been standard bearers for forward-thinking creativity in heavy music throughout their illustrious careers. Over the course of more than 30 years and eight studio albums, Sweden’s widely worshipped progressive mavens have consistently redefined what it means to be heavy, while exhibiting a ferocious intelligence that belies the crushing weight of their riffs. From the ground-breaking savagery of 1995’s “Destroy Erase Improve” to the psychedelic tech-splorations of “CatchyThirtyThree”, and on to the streamlined grotesquery of “ObZen” and “Koloss”, MESHUGGAH has always been way ahead of the game and plainly without peer.

In October 2020, MESHUGGAH drummer Tomas Haake confirmed to Knotfest.com’s “Mosh Talks With Beez” that the band had spent much of the downtime during the COVID-19 pandemic working on fresh material.

Regarding the musical direction of the new MESHUGGAH songs, Tomas said: “Of course, we have a certain framework that we still wanna sound like MESHUGGAH, we wanna have that signature sound, we want people to be able to — even if they haven’t heard the song [before] — in the best-case scenario, it’s, like, ‘Oh, that’s gotta be MESHUGGAH,’ even if it’s a brand new thing. So hopefully that’s something we’re aiming at. But with that said, as far as the music goes, we try to [do] kind of the opposite of what AC/DC has been doing for 40 years. So we’re not trying to write the same album over and over. And whether we succeed with that or not, that’s more up to our fans and other people, but that’s definitely the aim. We try our best to kind of find new grips within the framework of what we’re supposed to be, I guess. ‘Cause we don’t wanna really step out of that either. We’re not looking to be another band all of a sudden or something that we haven’t been or that is not true to kind of what we’re doing.”

“Immutable” track listing:

01. Broken Cog
02. The Abysmal Eye
03. Light The Shortening Fuse
04. Phantoms
05. Ligature Marks
06. God He Sees In Mirrors
07. They Move Below
08. Kaleidoscope
09. Black Cathedral
10. I Am That Thirst
11. The Faultless
12. Armies Of The Preposterous
13. Past Tense

MESHUGGAH is:

Jens Kidman – Vocals
Mårten Hagström – Guitars
Dick Lövgren – Bass
Fredrik Thordendal – Guitars
Tomas Haake – Drums

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