To celebrate the release of Regional Justice Center’s new album, Crime and Punishment, we caught up with drummer/vocalist Ian Shelton to find out what five heavy albums changed his life.
The post Five Heavy Albums that Changed My Life with Ian Shelton of Regional Justice Center appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

FAITH NO MORE keyboardist Roddy Bottum has collaborated with his boyfriend Joey Holman on a new project called MAN ON MAN. The band’s self-titled debut album will be released on May 7 via Polyvinyl Records in the U.S. and Big Scary Monsters in Europe. Today, MAN ON MAN has released new album cut “Stohner”, a shoegaze jam laced with durgy guitars and heartfelt lyrics alongside a riveting new video directed by Brendan McGowan.

“We wrote ‘Stohner’ as a way to shake off the dust of paranoia from the first stages of quarantine,” shares the band. “We aimed to make something bold and performative, giving our listeners a world that’s familiar while showcasing new sounds and visuals. ‘Stohner’ is a reckoning; it’s an exit from isolation into togetherness. As we continue to tell the story of queer love and tenderness, it was important for us to showcase our affection in new and exciting ways. With our video, we answered the question we often ask ourselves as artists: How do we show people something they’ve never seen before?”

Two bodies dancing hot in the New York City winter before being pushed inside for the rest of 2020. Two hearts that, in the span of six months, faced the loss of both of their mothers, the matriarchs that bore them to this planet full of wonder. They held on tight to the beauty of living, together. With this shared language and the confines of quarantine they lost and loved even harder. Battling packed boxes and lost jobs, the two celebrated their tragic journey with broad shoulders forcing power chords and the harmonized chants of utter release. They huddled together for the future while leaking their hearts into pop melodies that collide effortlessly with both a shared melancholy and simultaneous hope.

“Man On Man” is infused with indie-rock distortion and soaked in gay pop confidence while still maintaining the acerbic and pure sense of humor they both share. M.O.M.’s music videos take their magical collaboration to another level with otherworldly cinematographic dimension, and, of course, the subversive playfulness of two gay lovers unmistakably flirting with their audience and each other. Upon the release of their debut single, “Daddy”, their video (chock full of the pair dancing seductively in their white briefs) was removed from YouTube for violating their “sex and nudity policy.” At this moment, the band solidified their political visibility as queer artists who are not okay with being silenced or removed from history because of their age or size. Bottum told Rolling Stone: “There’s enough representation in the gay community of young, hairless pretty men.” Roddy and Joey’s love for each other and their own bodies, histories, and truths are what make this project so tender and lovable.

MAN ON MAN’s music transcends both genre or decade, creating a timeless appeal for so many kinds of listening. The varied influences and textures of the record are a meditation on the myriad of emotions of lockdown, as well as this particular moment in their own lives, collectively and independently. The shoegaze whirlpools of “Stohner” transition into the square wave synths of “1983” with ease, while tracks like “It’s So Fun (To Be Gay)” open us up to a new type of queer anthem for the 2020s.

It is hard not to be captivated with MAN ON MAN’s story, as they pass through pandemic lockdowns in a rented pickup truck. Through hotels, rest stops, mountaintops, desert mirages, back roads, beaches, and hospital rooms, the layering of space and time allows us to grasp onto each moment individually and together as a whole. When we fall into their world (which was self-produced with mix support by Grammy Award-winning producer Carlos de la Garza (M83, PARAMORE, JIMMY EAT WORLD) and Mike Vernon Davis (FOXING, GREAT GRANDPA), we witness MAN ON MAN’s deep intensity of falling in love while mourning, and the epic collaboration of two lovers that traverse the map of a COVID road trip.

MAN ON MAN is more than a band, it is a partnership of two beautiful queers who are committed to creating a language that is both musical and visual, and that transcends what we know of gay music at exactly the cultural moment we need them. As individuals, lovers, sons, community pillars, and human beings, M.O.M. are a womb to be reckoned with.

Track listing:

01. Stohner (6:01)
02. Daddy (5:08)
03. It’s So Fun (To Be Gay) (4:16)
04. Beach House (3:38)
05. 1983 (3:34)
06. Baby, You’re My Everything (3:27)
07. Two At A Time (3:32)
08. Lover (4:37)
09. Please Be Friends (3:46)
10. Kamikaze (3:03)
11. It Floated (3:49)

SKID ROW guitarist Dave “Snake” Sabo, who works for the successful management company McGhee Entertainment (KISS, TED NUGENT) headed up by Doc McGhee, spoke to Talking Metal about his work with DOWN, the band featuring singer Philip Anselmo of SKID ROW’s former tour mates PANTERA.

Regarding how he first came to manage DOWN, Sabo said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Rex Brown [former PANTERA and DOWN bassist] came into the office and said that Philip and him and Pepper [Keenan, DOWN guitarist] were putting DOWN back together. [He said,] ‘And we wanna know if you’re interested in managing it.’ And I’m, like, ‘No.’ [Laughs] I go, ‘You guys are my friends — and really good friends.’ And I go, ‘The only way that I would do it is if we ever saw a time where our friendship was being destroyed, we’d have to walk away from each other to somehow preserve that friendship.’ And so we started working together. And we still do. [Laughs] Rex is no longer with the band — he’s gone on to do his own stuff — but we still work together. And it’s really been such a great life experience to work with friends.”

He continued: “Philip has been my buddy since [PANTERA] toured with [SKID ROW] in 1992, and we’ve always maintained a really close relationship. We’re the least likely of people to be really good friends, but yet we are. It’s funny — he’s so not a difficult person to work with or manage. [He’s] very, very smart [and] very, very open to listening to alternative ideas and not completely set in his ways, like a lot of artists who have stamped their name on the music industry are. And he’s been a pleasure. Same thing with Pepper Keenan and Kirk Windstein [DOWN guitarist] and Jimmy Bower [DOWN drummer] — they’ve been amazing. We’ve had so many great moments together. And hopefully they’ll start working again soon. They’ve taken a three-year hiatus. And Philip’s been doing PHILIP H. ANSELMO & THE ILLEGALS, and he did ARSON ANTHEM for a little while, and then SUPERJOINT for a little while. SCOUR, he’s doing. So he’s got a lot of stuff on his plate. And Kirk’s got CROWBAR, and Pepper’s got C.O.C., and Jimmy’s got EYEHATEGOD and SUPERJOINT as well. So they’ve always had a lot of stuff going on, and DOWN has always been a band that would put out stuff and then walk away for a little while. And we always knew that, and that’s just the way it’s been. But I think that within the next year, they’re gonna have some stuff coming up.”

Last month, Windstein confirmed to “The Rock Savages” podcast that DOWN’s next release will be an EP of cover songs. “‘Cause we like fucking around with different stuff, and we’re influenced by so many different styles,” he said. “We’ve just gotta agree on six songs to do. We don’t wanna do the obvious shit — we don’t wanna do [BLACK] SABBATH and stuff like that — so we’re trying to find some obscure stuff that fits our style.”

Asked if some tracks have already been agreed upon, Kirk said: “Yes and no. The more we talk about it, the more it changes. So there’s, like, 30 songs that have been mentioned. So, we’ll see. But I’m looking forward to working on that. It should be a good time.”

DOWN celebrated the 25th anniversary of its classic debut album, “NOLA”, last August with a special livestreamed event, fittingly dubbed “The Quarter Century Throwdown”.

Plans for select shows featuring Anselmo, Keenan, Windstein, Bower and bassist Pat Bruders performing the record in its entirety were sidelined due to the global pandemic. In its wake, the band took part in the livestream.

A founding member of DOWN, Windstein left the band in 2013 in order to focus on CROWBAR and his family life. He was replaced by Bobby Landgraf, DOWN’s former guitar tech who was previously in GAHDZILLA MOTOR COMPANY, a 1990s outfit also featuring Jason McMaster (DANGEROUS TOYS, WATCHTOWER), and HONKY.

Windstein announced his return to DOWN in 2019, with the band confirming a number of festival appearances for 2020 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “NOLA”, all of which have since been canceled or postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic which is sweeping the globe.

Prior to “The Quarter Century Throwdown”, DOWN’s last live appearance took place in August 2016 at the Psycho Las Vegas festival in Las Vegas.

Gene Simmons, serial entrepreneur, Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer and co-founder of KISS, is responding to false reports about a home purchase in Malibu and wants to set the record straight regarding false, inaccurate, and misleading reports in various media outlets.

Simmons and his wife Shannon Tweed Simmons are selling their Beverly Hills home and relocating to the State Of Nevada full time. Recent reports that Simmons purchased a home in Malibu are false and inaccurate. His wife Shannon Tweed purchased the hilltop home in Malibu with her own money as a personal investment. Simmons and his wife Shannon have always had separate accountants, have always filed solo tax returns and have never filed joint tax returns. Their finances have always been maintained as separate business interests, investments, and financial accounts.

Other reports that Simmons purchased a 22-acre estate in the State of Washington are also inaccurate. Simmons has never owned real estate of any kind in the State of Washington.

Simmons has been very vocal about his desire to leave California for some time due to wanting a quieter lifestyle and to get away from being listed on celebrity maps or having to deal with Beverly Hills tour buses.

“We have been exploring our primary residence options outside of California for a couple of years,” Gene said. “We considered various properties in various states but ultimately decided that Nevada is a better choice for us. We are at a place in our lives where a big city lifestyle is just not our thing anymore.”

Last fall, Simmons put his Beverly Hills house on the market for $22 million. He later relisted it for $25 million after it never sold and he reportedly invested a lot of money in making improvements.

“California and Beverly Hills have been treating folks that create jobs badly and the tax rates are unacceptable,” Gene told the Wall Street Journal in October. “I work hard and pay my taxes and I don’t want to cry the Beverly Hills blues, but enough is enough.”

Simmons also said that part of the reason he and his wife listed the two-acre property in Benedict Canyon because the home had become too big for the both of them since their children had grown up.

Gene and Shannon were married in 2011 after dating since 1975. They have two children, Nick, 32, and Sophie, 28.

Gene, Shannon and their kids all appeared on the reality TV series “Gene Simmons Family Jewels” from 2006 until 2012.

For the past few months, Gene has been vocal about people taking the COVID-19 outbreak seriously. He has also blasted Americans who are defiantly skeptical of mask wearing, saying that their refusal to follow the rules is putting all of our health at risk.

In its 48-year career, KISS has accumulated 23 gold and platinum albums — more than any other U.S. band.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS will celebrate the 25th anniversary of their 1996 LP “Tiny Music…Songs From the Vatican Gift Shop” by releasing a three-disc/one-LP deluxe edition. Due on July 23, it will feature a remastered version of the original album, alternate versions and mixes of several of the songs, and a complete concert taped at the Club La Vela in Panama City Beach, Florida, on March 14, 1997.

“Tiny Music” was recorded in late 1995 with producer Brendan O’Brien at the Westerly Ranch in Santa Ynez, California.

Prior to the release of “Tiny Music”, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS’ original singer Scott Weiland was arrested for possession of cocaine, heroin and drug paraphernalia and driving under the influence of a controlled substance. In April 1996, a judge ordered him to spend four to six months at a drug treatment center, which put the group’s U.S. summer tour on hold.

“Tiny Music…Songs From The Vatican Gift Shop” deluxe edition track listing

Disc One: Original Album 2021 Remaster

01. Press Play
02. Pop’s Love Suicide
03. Tumble In The Rough
04. Big Bang Baby
05. Lady Picture Show
06. And So I Know
07. Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart
08. Art School Girl
09. Adhesive
10. Ride The Cliche
11. Daisy
12. Seven Caged Tigers

Disc Two: Early Versions, Instrumentals, & Alternate Mixes

01. Press Play (Full-Length Version)
02. Pop’s Love Suicide (Early Version)
03. Tumble In The Rough (Early Version)
04. Big Bang Baby (Early Version)
05. Lady Picture Show (Early Version)
06. And So I Know (Early Version)
07. Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart (Early Version)
08. 5 Or 4 Times (Art School Girl) (Early Version)
09. Adhesive (Instrumental)
10. Ride The Cliche (Instrumental)
11. Seven Caged Tigers (Early Version)
12. Big Bang Baby (Alternate Version)
13. Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart (Percussion Mix)
14. Art School Girl (Jaw Harp Version)
15. Kretz’s Acoustic Song

Disc Three: Live at Club La Vela, Panama City Beach, FL (3/14/97)

01. Crackerman
02. Meatplow
03. Tumble In The Rough
04. Vasoline
05. Wicked Garden
06. Trippin’ On A Hole In A Paper Heart
07. Plush
08. Big Empty
09. Interstate Love Song
10. Lady Picture Show
11. Unglued
12. Big Bang Baby
13. Dead & Bloated
14. Sex Type Thing

Weiland, who reunited with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose.

Chester Bennington, who joined STP in early 2013, departed nearly three years later to spend more time with his main band LINKIN PARK. Bennington committed suicide in July 2017.

Jeff Gutt joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS four years ago. His recording debut with the group was on its self-titled seventh LP, which arrived in March 2018.

Gutt, a 44-year-old Michigan native who spent time in the early-2000s nu-metal act DRY CELL, among other bands, and was a contestant on “The X Factor”, joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS in 2017 after beating out roughly 15,000 hopefuls during an extended search that began more than a year earlier.

Stream the new EP by Montreal cyberneticists, Synastry!
The post EP Stream: Synastry Breaks it Down on Dividing the Double Helix appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

During an appearance on the latest episode of “The Jasta Show” video podcast hosted by HATEBREED frontman Jamey Jasta, former SLAYER drummer Dave Lombardo recalled a particularly crazy incident from the group’s earliest touring days that almost resulted in him and his bandmates being seriously injured. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “There was a period [in late 1984] where SLAYER was driving across country in a [Chevrolet] Camaro and a U-Haul truck. There’s some kind of famous pictures of SLAYER and MERCYFUL FATE together. We had met up in Seattle after a show in Olympia, Washington, at one of their in-stores. We went in there and [we were] just, like, ‘Let’s go crash their in-store.’ So after that, we started heading east, ’cause we needed to go up to Winnipeg. And we were driving across Montana. And I was driving the Camaro. I believe I had the band — I think Kerry [King, SLAYER guitarist], Tom [Araya, SLAYER bassist/vocalist] and Jeff [Hanneman, SLAYER guitarist] were [in the car with me]; Kerry and Jeff in the backseat, Tom in the front, or vice versa — I don’t know. And we hit black ice while I was driving. I tried to take control of the car, but the car started spinning. And luckily, we ended up just in a ditch. But, man, when I got out of that car, I was nervous, I was shaking, I was rattled. I thought we were gonna go off a cliff — ’cause it was night, it was dark, and you can’t see anything out there. And you lose control of the car and you start spinning, and you’re, like, ‘Okay. This is it. All right, man. Take over.'”

Lombardo continued: “Three roadies were in the U-Haul, and the band was in the car. Sometimes we would switch out. Like I said, I don’t know who exactly was in the car. Jeff, I think, might have been in there and Kerry. But I don’t know if Tom was. The U-Haul truck was ahead of us, and we were kind of behind. They didn’t know what had happened until after several minutes of not seeing us, they pulled over and waited for us. So we eventually got the car out of the ditch, but, man, my nerves were shot; I was rattled. Like I say, you don’t know what’s gonna happen. You lose control of the vehicle, and there’s no way of gaining any kind of traction, especially up in Montana. It’s an eye-opening moment.”

The 56-year-old musician, who splits most of his time between crossover pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, horror-punk icons MISFITS and hardcore supergroup DEAD CROSS, was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the group’s Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other bandmembers. He has since been replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER’s drummer from 1992 until 2001.

Lombardo, who was born in Havana, Cuba but emigrated to Southern California with his parents when he was a toddler, finally got a chance to visit his former homeland in May 2018 when SUICIDAL TENDENCIES played two shows in Cuba. The concerts at Centro Cultural Club Bariay in Holguin and at Salon Rosado De La Tropical in Havana marked the first time Dave had ever performed in the Caribbean nation.

Legendary guitarist Peter Frampton spoke to Grammy.com about living with the autoimmune disease inclusion body myositis (IBM). IBM is a progressive muscle disorder characterized by muscle inflammation, weakness, and atrophy. Asked if he hopes to resume his farewell tour once the coronavirus pandemic has subsided, Peter said: “This is where I have to give you the realistic chat. Not you — I have to be realistic because we all have one clock. Well, we’ve got two clocks right now, worldwide, that we live with. One is our life-clock and one is the COVID clock. The COVID clock is stopping everybody from being around each other, for good reason, right now, obviously. And the more we stay away from each other, unfortunately, at this time, the better it is. But I have a third clock, which is my IBM — inclusion body myositis — clock. Slowly but surely, unfortunately, I’m losing strength in my hands, my arms and my legs. It’s specific muscles it hits. It picks and chooses the muscles and there’s no rhyme or reason for it. They don’t know; there’s no cure. If it takes another year before we can reschedule any dates, I will have to be realistic to see if my hands work or my legs will keep me up.”

He continued: “That’s what I have to deal with, and I think there’s a certain level of playing where I won’t perform anymore. If I can’t play certain things the way I want to — I don’t want to be that person to go out there and people feel bad for me because I don’t play as good but I am Peter Frampton. That’s not going to happen.

“If I go out having played my last show [near] San Francisco on October 12, 2019, if that’s my last show, then so be it. But obviously, I am hoping more than anybody else that within a year — or if it is a year; I’m imagining it’s going to be at least a year — if things aren’t doing good, then that will be it for me, unfortunately.”

Frampton remains one of the most lauded artists in rock history. He recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of his fifth solo album, “Frampton Comes Alive!”, one of the top-selling live records of all time, with over 17 million copies sold worldwide.

At age 16, he was lead singer and guitarist for British band THE HERD. At 18, he co-founded one of the first super-groups, seminal rock act Humble Pie. His session work includes collaborations with such legendary artists as George Harrison, Harry Nilsson, David Bowie, Jerry Lee Lewis, Ringo Starr, John Entwistle, Mike McCready and Matt Cameron (PEARL JAM), among many others.

Frampton has appeared as himself on television shows “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy”. He also served as technical advisor on Cameron Crowe’s 2000 film “Almost Famous” as well as appearing in it and writing songs for the soundtrack. In 2007 he won the Grammy Award for “Best Pop Instrumental Album” for “Fingerprints” and in 2014 he was inducted into the Musicians Hall Of Fame.