California death squad Ruin dole out death metal punishment with “Slow Degradation,” from their impending new full-length crusher, Spread Plague Death.
The post Track Premiere: Ruin – “Slow Degradation” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Drummer Deen Castronovo has rejoined legendary rockers JOURNEY.

According to JOURNEY guitarist Neal Schon, Castronovo will share the drum duties in the band with Narada Michael Walden, who joined the group in 2020.

Schon first hinted at Castronovo’s return on Monday (July 26) when he tweeted a photo from the rehearsal sessions for JOURNEY’s upcoming concert at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, which will precede the band’s appearance at Lollapalooza. “Ok … Double trouble Chicago @NaradaMWalden @DeenTheDrummer Narada Michael Walden and the return of Deen Castronovo on Drums @AragonBallroom @lollapalooza,” Schon wrote.

Two days later, Schon answered a few questions about Deen’s JOURNEY status below a San Francisco Chronicle story that he shared on Facebook. When fan asked, “So is Deen Castronovo back in the band full time now?” Schon responded, “Yes.” After another fan who told Schon to “bring back Deen again,” Schon wrote, “Deen is back. We are double (2) drummers now with Narada.” He added: “They are BOTH PLAYING !!! JOURNEY AS YOU’VE NEVER HEARD US BEFORE !!!!”

Castronovo’s 17-year tenure with JOURNEY ended in 2015 when the group fired him after his arrest for a variety of charges involving his now-wife (including physical abuse, coercion, and unlawful use of a weapon).

In 2019, Castronovo played several shows with Schon under the “Neal Schon’s Journey Through Time” banner. Joining them were founding JOURNEY and SANTANA singer/keyboardist Gregg Rolie, bassist Marco Mendoza of THE DEAD DAISIES and THIN LIZZY, a musician named Chris Collins (on guitar and keyboards) and super-producer Marti Frederiksen (multi-instrumentalist, vocals).

Earlier this year, Castronovo announced his exit from THE DEAD DAISIES in order to prepare for his back surgery. He has since been replaced by Tommy Clufetos, who has previously played with BLACK SABBATH, Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie, Ted Nugent and Alice Cooper, among others.

Last month, JOURNEY shared a new single, “The Way We Used To Be”. The song is the multi-platinum band’s first new music since 2011’s album “Eclipse”, and the first song released by the band’s revamped lineup featuring Schon (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jonathan Cain (keyboards, backing vocals), Arnel Pineda (lead vocals), Randy Jackson (bass), Walden (drums) and Jason Derlatka (keyboards, backing vocals). “The Way We Used To Be” marks Walden and Derlatka’s first studio recordings with the band, and Jackson’s first since 1986’s “Raised On Radio”. The song was produced by Narada Michael Walden at his Tarpan Studios, with co-production by Schon and Cain.

Ok… Double trouble Chicago @NaradaMWalden @DeenTheDrummer Narada Michael Walden and the return of Deen Castronovo on Drums @AragonBallroom @lollapalooza pic.twitter.com/RRHYNi6CuQ
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) July 27, 2021

The Power behind Us ????@JourneyOfficial @DeenTheDrummer @NaradaMWalden pic.twitter.com/W5P5EWAA42
— NEAL SCHON MUSIC (@NealSchonMusic) July 29, 2021

According to Rolling Stone, ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell will release his new solo album, “Brighten”, on October 29. The official music video for the LP’s first single, “Atone”, can be streamed below. Cantrell co-directed the black-and-white clip with photographer musician Jim Louvau, singer/guitarist Greg Puciato, visual artist Jesse Draxler and photographer Tony Aguilera.

“As a fan of Ennio Morricone scores and Sergio Leone movies, it’s got a bit of that outlaw vibe, with a cool psycho hillbilly stomp,” Cantrell told Rolling Stone about “Atone”. “It’s been kicking around in my head for like 20-plus years, haunting me. Sometimes it takes a while for a good idea to find its best form. Such was the case with ‘Atone’.”

“Brighten” was produced by Cantrell with Tyler Bates and engineer Paul Fig. Special guests on the album include Puciato, Gil Sharone, Duff McKagan, Abe Laboriel, Jr., Michael Rozon, Vincent Jones, Jordan Lewis, Lola Bates and Matias Ambrogi-Torres. The LP includes a cover of Elton John’s “Goodbye”, which was approved by the music legend himself.

“‘Madman Across The Water’ is one of my favorite records of all time,” Cantrell said. “Out of respect to Elton, I wouldn’t include it unless he said it was okay. He’d played piano on ‘Black Gives Way To Blue’, which I wrote for Layne [Staley], so I reached out to Elton, he listened to it, and told me ‘You should absolutely use it.’ I got the signoff by the man himself. I couldn’t think of a better way to close the record!”

“Brighten” track listing:

01. Atone
02. Brighten
03. Prism of Doubt
04. Black Hearts and Evil Done
05. Siren Song
06. Had To Know
07. Nobody Breaks You
08. Dismembered
09. Goodbye (Elton John cover)

Jerry’s upcoming effort will mark his first full-length release since “Degradation Trip”, the epic solo album he made in 2002 with future METALLICA bassist Robert Trujillo and FAITH NO MORE drummer Mike Bordin.

Cantrell announced the new LP’s completion in an Instagram post in March.

Jerry’s career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell’s first solo album, “Boggy Depot”, was released in 1998, followed by his second album, the aforementioned “Degradation Trip”. In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including “Spider-Man”, “The Cable Guy”, “John Wick 2”, “Last Action Hero” and “The Punisher”.

Back in 2018, Cantrell told Billboard that he wasn’t in good headspace when he made “Degradation Trip”. “I was just really fucked up back then, to be honest with you, and you can totally hear it on that record,” he said. “It was done right before I got sober, and it was also done right when I was dealing with the death of my band, and then the unhappy coincidence of Layne [Staley, ALICE IN CHAINS frontman] passing away right after I released that record. So it was not a good time in my life, and it totally comes across on that record.”

Cantrell added: “It’s a record I don’t listen to a lot anymore because of all those things I mentioned,” revealing that he got sober a year after it was recorded. He continued: “But it’s a record that’s important to me, and I’ll see Robert and Mike every once in a while and they’re like, ‘We should do some fucking shows, man. Some ‘Degradation Trip’ shows.’ [Laughs] I tell ’em we’ll do it someday.”

ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, “Rainier Fog”, in August 2018.

On the eve of the release of his new album, we look back at five times we just really loved Dee Snider.
The post Five Times We Loved Dee Snider appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

A never-heard-before, totally new and different version of METALLICA’s classic song “Nothing Else Matters” appears twice in Disney’s new movie “Jungle Cruise”.

METALLICA stated about the track’s inclusing in the film: “It was an honor to work with renowned, legendary composter James Newton Howard as we reimagined the song by performing his arrangement and creating a rendition we like to think is fit for an excursion through the Amazon.

“The film stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt who take the fan favorite ride and transform it to a theatrical adventure. Not only are we big fans of Disney, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to work with Howard, an eight-time Oscar nominee who has been recognized for films such as ‘The Fugitive’, ‘Michael Clayton’, and ‘The Village’.

“Our collaboration with Howard will be featured on the film’s soundtrack, available to stream or download on your favorite music platforms tomorrow.”

It was last September that METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich first confirmed the band was working with James Newton Howard on an orchestral version of “Nothing Else Matters” for the “Jungle Cruise” movie.

“It really goes back to [Disney production president] Sean Bailey, who is a lifelong rock fan, and is just all-around one of the greatest, most friendly, generous, warm, and embracing people you’ll find in the music business,” Ulrich told Collider. “I think he’s always been a METALLICA fan, and we’ve gotten to know each other well. My wife and I are big Disney fans, so there’s a great friendship there, and he’s always looked for the right match where there was a way that METALLICA could contribute to some project of theirs. This was the right fit, with Sean leading the calvary, and with James Newton Howard and his track record, and what he’s done.”

Ulrich went on to say that he was excited to work with Howard.

“James Newton Howard, the man, the myth, the absolute legend,” Ulrich said. “Considering what’s he’s done, it’s an absolute honor to have done this with him, and we’re excited for the world to hear it. It’s kind of an interesting morph, because it’s kind of — and I don’t want to give too much of it away — but it’s a very unusual morph in that it’s kind of his arrangement of ‘Nothing Else Matters’ that we’re playing. We wrote the song, but he took the song and rearranged it to fit something specific in the film — and obviously, I’m not going to give any of that away — but we then kind of took on his version of it. I think that’s all that should be said.”

The possibility of METALLICA contributing to the “Jungle Cruise” movie was first raised in June 2020 when Mitchell Leib, the president of music and soundtracks for The Walt Disney Studios, told The Entertainment Outlet that he was working with Ulrich on the film. Howard created an orchestral version of “Nothing Else Matters”, which features in the film in two key places, for a total of about seven minutes, to set up the film’s back story.

Leib said: “I came up with the idea of, let’s have some fun, and why don’t we take your tracks up to METALLICA’s studio in San Francisco, and why don’t we have Lars do the drum tracks, and James Hetfield do some of the guitars, and have Rob [Trujillo]… and so I’m dealing with METALLICA right now, and as well as helping him [Lars] become an Academy member.”

Inspired by the famous Disneyland theme park ride, Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” is an adventure-filled, rollicking thrill-ride down the Amazon with wisecracking skipper Frank Wolff and intrepid researcher Dr. Lily Houghton. Lily travels from London, England to the Amazon jungle and enlists Frank’s questionable services to guide her downriver on La Quila — his ramshackle-but-charming boat. Lily is determined to uncover an ancient tree with unparalleled healing abilities — possessing the power to change the future of medicine. Thrust on this epic quest together, the unlikely duo encounters innumerable dangers and supernatural forces, all lurking in the deceptive beauty of the lush rainforest. But as the secrets of the lost tree unfold, the stakes reach even higher for Lily and Frank and their fate — and mankind’s — hangs in the balance.

Jaume Collet-Serra directs the film, which stars Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall, with Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti. The producers are John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment; Dwayne Johnson, Hiram Garcia and Dany Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions; and Beau Flynn of Flynn Picture Co., with Scott Sheldon and Doug Merrifield serving as executive producers. The story is by John Norville and Josh Goldstein and Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and the screenplay is by Michael Green and Glenn Ficarra and John Requa.

Disney’s “Jungle Cruise” will be released in U.S. theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on July 30, 2021.

Planning to watch @JungleCruise in theaters or on Disney+ Premier Access tomorrow? Keep an ear out for a totally new and different version of “Nothing Else Matters,” appearing twice in the film! Check out this sneak peek. #JungleCruise pic.twitter.com/APbKEk7d1h
— Metallica (@Metallica) July 29, 2021

Hear and acquire this Ripped to Shreds flexi disc single, featuring a brand new track, available as part of the Decibel Flexi Series. Hurry, quantities are extremely limited!
The post Ripped to Shreds Premiere New Song, “燒冥紙 (Sacrificial Fire),” Via the Decibel Flexi Series appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

THE OFFSPRING will play a very special live concert, “iHeartRadio Live With The Offspring”, on August 12. During the show, THE OFFSPRING will perform music from its latest album, “Let The Bad Times Roll”, as well as fan favorites from previous LPs, and talk about “Let The Bad Times Roll” and more during an exclusive question-and-answer session with iHeartRadio’s Booker in front of a live audience at the iHeartRadio Theater LA.

Fans can listen and tune in free for a stream of the exclusive “iHeartRadio Live Show With The Offspring” on Thursday, August 12 at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT via iHeartRadio’s YouTube channel. Fans can also listen to the show via iHeartRadio’s Rock Nation station.

“Let The Bad Times Roll” arrived in April via Concord Records. The follow-up to 2012’s “Days Go By” was once again produced by Bob Rock, who also worked on the band’s last two LPs.

Frontman Bryan “Dexter” Holland, guitarist Kevin “Noodles” Wasserman, drummer Pete Parada and new bassist Todd Morse wrote and recorded “Let The Bad Times Roll” in the last few years at various locations, including the band’s studio in Huntington Beach, California.

Gibson, the iconic American instrument brand, has announced an official brand partnership with METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett. The new partnership will span across Gibson Brands, including Gibson and Epiphone guitars.

“It’s a really great and exciting time for me to be joining forces with Gibson,” says Hammett. “I look forward to achieving great things together in the future.”

“It’s an honor to welcome the icon, the ripper, Kirk Hammett back to the Gibson family,” says Cesar Gueikian, brand president, Gibson Brands. “Kirk has been carrying the flag for hard rock and heavy metal for decades, and his Gibson guitars have been there with him from the very beginning. From his first Gibson, his 1979 Flying V to ‘Greeny’ and everything in between, Gibson guitars have been an integral part of Kirk’s sound. All of us at Gibson are looking forward to this collaboration and are grateful that Kirk has trusted us to begin a new partnership.”

Born in San Francisco in November 1962, Hammett quickly found himself obsessed with watching monster movies and reading books and comics. Transitioning through his teenage years meant taking up guitar and teaching himself how to play by ear for hours on end.

In 1979, Hammett named and founded the metal band EXODUS. After recording a three-song demo in 1982, Hammett was called out to New York to audition for METALLICA, and by the time “Kill ‘Em All” was released in July of 1983, he was officially part of the METALLICA plan for world domination. Adding his style and passion into the mix helped define and shape the sound of METALLICA as they grew into the band they are now, and Hammett’s solos and signature licks have inspired a legion of musicians young and old.

From Hammett’s early sonic experiences with a guitar out of a Montgomery Ward store catalog special, progressing to hitting Hendrix vibes with a ’78 Fender Stratocaster, then moving on professionally to Gibson Flying Vs and Les Pauls, and customized ESPs. It goes without saying that Hammett is a guitar geek and has an affinity for anything with six strings including his 1985 Jackson Randy Rhoads Flying V or a frequently played Gibson 59 Les Paul Standard that once belonged to the immortal genius of both Peter Green and Gary Moore — affectionately known and celebrated worldwide as “Greeny.” Now as METALLICA celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2021, Hammett is ready to let those strings shine once again.

Krieg’s Neill Jameson reflects on the closing of New Jersey’s legendary Vintage Vinyl and what it means for your favorite indie record store.
The post Low Fidelity: Vintage Vinyl and The Precarious State of the Indie Record Store appeared first on Decibel Magazine.