SHINEDOWN has announced a new summer/fall 2022 U.S. tour in support of its upcoming album, “Planet Zero”. The trek, with support from JELLY ROLL and John Harvie, will kick off on September 3 in Kansas City, Missouri and end on October 8 in Anaheim, California. SHINEDOWN will also perform at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California on October 9.

Artist pre-sales start Tuesday, March 22 at 10 a.m. local. Venue and radio station pre-sales start Wednesday, March 23 at 10 a.m. local. General on-sales start Friday, March 25 at 10 a.m. local time.

Tour dates:

Sep. 03 – Kansas City, MO – Azura Amphitheater
Sep. 05 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
Sep. 09 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
Sep. 10 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
Sep. 11 – Camden, NJ – Waterfront Music Pavilion
Sep. 13 – Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
Sep. 14 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Sep. 16 – Gilford, NH – Bank Of New Hampshire Pavilion
Sep. 17 – Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
Sep. 18 – Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loan Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
Sep. 20 – Darien, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
Sep. 21 – Detroit, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
Sep. 23 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life
Sep. 26 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
Sep. 30 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
Oct. 01 – Houston, TX – The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Oct. 02 – Cedar Park, TX – H-E-B- Center at Cedar Park
Oct. 05 – Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
Oct. 07 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
Oct. 08 – Anaheim, CA – Honda Center
Oct. 09 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival

SHINEDOWN’s seventh studio album, will be released on April 22 via Atlantic Records.

On “Planet Zero”, SHINEDOWN is serving up an incisive look at some of society’s most critical issues, including the increasingly toxic division among those of differing ideologies, the need for honesty in our public discourse, and the corrosive effects of social media and cancel culture on mental health and humanity. The “Planet Zero” single rings the alarm with a cautionary warning that if we shut each other down, we risk losing empathy, respect for one another, and our ability to communicate and unify in a way that leads to actual progress and understanding.

Over the last two decades, SHINEDOWN has cemented its status as one of the most vital and forward-thinking powerhouses in modern rock. Their most ambitious and masterfully realized work to date, “Planet Zero” is a high-concept, ultra-vivid, viscerally charged saga. A critical yet optimistic look at the fractures and frays of a society that has undergone many challenges in recent years, the album is part social commentary and part in-depth exploration of the human psyche.

Produced by SHINEDOWN’s own Eric Bass (who also helmed the band’s 2018 album, “Attention Attention”), and recorded at Bass’s newly built Big Animal Studio in South Carolina, “Planet Zero” matches its immersive world-building and takedown of authoritarianism with a deliberately unvarnished sound. The album is spliced with interludes featuring Cyren, an insidious and unsettling robot character that appears throughout the “Planet Zero” journey. While a raw ferocity fuels much of “Planet Zero” on tracks like “The Saints Of Violence” and “Innuendo”, “No Sleep Tonight”, and “America Burning”, there is also hope, triumph, and reminders that we all need one another on songs like “Daylight”, “Dysfunctional You”, and “A Symptom Of Being Human”. After all, it is the band’s impassioned drive for unity that has long been at the heart of their creative output and deeply informed the making of “Planet Zero”.

SHINEDOWN will kick off “The Revolution’s Live” tour beginning April 1, propelled by the undeniable power of Smith’s voice and their biggest stage production yet. Following this April and May run with special guests THE PRETTY RECKLESS and DIAMANTE, SHINEDOWN will head to Daytona Beach for Welcome To Rockville 2022 where they’ll headline Saturday, May 21 alongside GUNS N’ ROSES and RISE AGAINST. In June, SHINEDOWN will head overseas for a European run featuring festival appearances at Rock Im Park and Rock Am Ring in Germany, Download festival in the U.K. and Hellfest in France along with select shows with IRON MAIDEN. The band will then embark on a run of Canadian dates beginning in July with support from POP EVIL and AYRON JONES.

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine

Sacramento, California dark hardcore/metalcore outfit WILL HAVEN has just premiered a new documentary on the current state of the band, now playing on YouTube. The documentary is just the tip of the iceberg for the band in 2022, as they prepare for live dates, and put the final touches on their impending seventh LP.

Picking up where the first “Foreign Films” installment left off, the new documentary focuses on WILL HAVEN’s regrouping in recent years, and the creation of their 2018-released sixth LP, “Muerte”, their first for Minus Head Records. Directed by David Owen Blackley of Her Name Is Murder Productions, the film features energetic live footage and intimate interviews with its members, showcasing the band’s passion for the music they write, the diehard fanbase that helped them maintain their mainstay cult status since the 1990s, and hints at what lies ahead.

WILL HAVEN guitarist Jeff Irwin states about the film: “I’m excited to finally share this documentary. I love it because it has the same feel as our original release but with a much more mature version of us as well as reliving the history of the band. I have watched it about twenty times, and I still find things in there I didn’t notice the first time. Dave did an amazing job capturing us and our fans and making an art piece out of it similar to what Brad Oates did with the original ‘Foreign Films’. I think it’s a great documentary for new fans to learn about the band and our crazy journey for the past twenty-five years. My advice is to sit back and turn up for volume and enjoy the ride.”

Brad Hardie of Minus Head Records adds: “It’s an honor to work with WILL HAVEN. I grew up in Sacramento, and there was always a certain allure about them. I look forward to spreading the word about them with ‘Foreign Films II’ and releasing another record.”

Watch WILL HAVEN’s “Foreign Films II” now below.

WILL HAVEN is currently holed up at Pus Cavern in Sacramento with Joe Johnston, putting the final touches on what will be the band’s seventh LP. Upon completion, the LP will be sorted for release later this year through Minus Head Records.

Irwin says: “Making this new album and being in the studio has been a blessing over the past two years.

“We started writing right before COVID came and then everything shut down. We decided to take the downtime to go in and just record the record, so while the world had stopped, we were in the studio working and feeling blessed to have an outlet during those two years of COVID.

“The world was crazy and I think it came out in our music.

“I don’t like saying this or that about the record; all I can say is that the emotion is there and we are happy with the result. [We] look forward to sharing it with new and old fans.”

In the meantime, WILL HAVEN has confirmed a batch of U.K. tour dates for June. The band will play Bournemouth on June 8, followed by a special set in London the following evening where they’ll play their Revelation Records-released third album, “Carpe Diem”, in its entirety. June 11 will see the band performing at the massive Download festival.

WILL HAVEN tour dates:

June 08 – The Anvil – Bournemouth, UK
June 09 – The Underworld – London, UK (playing “Carpe Diem” in full)
June 11 – Download Festival – Leicestershire, UK

WILL HAVEN is:

Grady Avenell – vocals
Mitch Wheeler – drums
Jeff Irwin – guitar
Adrien Contreras – bass

Photo by Rocking Ryan Richardson

DREAM THEATER singer James LaBrie has pushed back against allegations that he uses pre-recorded vocal tracks during live performances.

The rumor that LaBrie has been relying on pre-recorded backing tracks gained strength last month after fan videos of DREAM THEATER’s current North American tour were shared on YouTube. Some fans have pointed specifically to the post-chorus of the DREAM THEATER song “Bridges In The Sky” where the alleged lip syncing occurs.

LaBrie finally addressed the Internet chatter during DREAM THEATER’s concert this past Friday (March 18) at Bayou Music Center in Houston, Texas. He told the crowd: “I’m gonna fucking clarify something for you now, okay? People have been saying I’m fucking lip syncing? Fuck you. Fucking, what is wrong with people online?”

He then apologized to the audience for his outburst, noting that he and his DREAM THEATER bandmates launched their current tour more than six weeks ago. “I guess I’m losing my mind because I’m almost at the end of a [tour] leg,” he said.

In recent years, more and more artists have been given a pass for relying on pre-recorded tracks, drum triggers and other assorted technology that makes concerts more synthetic but also more consistent. For better or worse, pre-recorded tracks are becoming increasingly common for touring artists of all levels and genres and they’re not just used in pop music — many rock artists utilize playback tracks to varying degrees.

In March 2020, SHINEDOWN guitarist Zach Myers said that “90 percent” of rock artists use at least some pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. He told Rock Feed: “It bothers me that it bothers people. I’m, like, ‘Why does this bother you?’ It’s the way it is. People have been doing this since the ’80s. And we want the sound to be the best it can be. Could we go up there, just the four of us, and put on the best rock show ever? Of course. But that’s not how we wanna do it.”

Former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach has previously said that he is “one of the last people” who are still not using pre-recorded tracks at their live shows. “I don’t know how much longer I can say to you that I don’t use tapes onstage, because I don’t, and I never have,” he told Consequence Of Sound. “And I still don’t. When I have opening bands, and they’re using tapes, and then I come out and I don’t use tapes… sometimes, it makes me feel stupid, because I’m like, ‘What am I doing, when all these kids half my age can come onstage and do all of my moves, but they don’t have to warm up for an hour before the show, or weeks, before the first show?’ Sometimes, I’m like, ‘Why do I even bother, if the public is so used to this other way?’ It’s becoming very rare to come see a good band that’s actually a real band — that’s not miming or doing silly moves while a tape is running. It just becomes more rare as the years go on.”

In 2019, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith said that he doesn’t “agree” with certain rock artists relying on pre-recorded tracks during their live performances. “I tell you what, I see it with a lot of younger bands, and I don’t think it’s a good thing at all,” he told the New York Post. “I mean, the music is getting too technical now. You have computerized recording systems, which we use, but I think we use them more for convenience than because we need to. We’ve toured with a couple bands that use tapes — it’s not real. You’re supposed to play live; it should be live. I don’t agree with using tapes … I think it’s a real shame.”

One musician who has been open about his band’s used of taped vocals during live performances is MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx, who said: “We’ve used technology since ’87.” He added the group employed “sequencers, sub tones, background vox tracks, plus background singers and us. [MÖTLEY CRÜE also taped] stuff we can’t tour with, like cello parts in ballads, etc…. We love it and don’t hide it. It’s a great tool to fill out the sound.”

In a 2014 interview, MÖTLEY CRÜE guitarist Mick Mars admitted that he wasn’t comfortable with the fact that his band used pre-recorded backing vocals in its live shows, claiming that he preferred to watch groups whose performances are delivered entirely live. “I don’t like it,” he said. “I think a band like ours… I have to say ’60s bands were my favorite — ’60s and ’70s bands — because they were real, like, three-piece bands or four-piece bands, and they just got up there and kicked it up. Made a mistake? So what? Sounded a little bit empty here or there? So what? It’s the bigness and the rawness and the people that developed and wrote the songs and made them and presented them. To me, that’s what I really like. I mean, I could put on a MÖTLEY CD and play with it all day long. I don’t wanna do that.”

KISS lead singer Paul Stanley, who has been struggling to hit the high notes in many of the band’s classic songs for a number of years, has been accused of singing to a backing tape on KISS’s ongoing “End Of The Road” tour.

Back in 2015, KISS bassist/vocalist Gene Simmons slammed bands who used backing tapes for not being honest enough to include that fact on their concert tickets.

“I have a problem when you charge $100 to see a live show and the artist uses backing tracks,” Simmons said. “It’s like the ingredients in food. If the first ingredient on the label is sugar, that’s at least honest. It should be on every ticket — you’re paying $100, 30 to 50 percent of the show is [on] backing tracks and they’ll sing sometimes, sometimes they’ll lip sync. At least be honest. It’s not about backing tracks, it’s about dishonesty.

“There’s nobody with a synthesizer on our stage, there’s no samples on the drums, there’s nothing,” Gene continued. “There’s very few bands who do that now — AC/DC, METALLICA, us. I can’t even say that about U2 or THE [ROLLING] STONES. There’s very few bands who don’t use [backing] tracks.”

IGNITE’s new self-titled album comes six years after the release of their previous full-length, “A War Against You”. But the tangible excitement that radiates from “Ignite” makes the band sound like they never missed a day. Yet in that time, they underwent a major member change, with Eli Santana (HOLY GRAIL) taking over vocal duties. And while his style isn’t much different from Zoltán “Zoli” Téglás, there is an infectious energy that Santana brings to the record. By self-titling a release that’s more than 25 years into their career, IGNITE are clearly celebrating a new beginning.

“Ignite” is brimming with the charms of West Coast skate punk: quick tempos, group vocals and adrenaline-fueled, anti-establishment lyrics covered in major-key, California sunshine. Songs like “Anti-Complicity Anthem” and “This Day” are perfect examples of this, and it doesn’t get much catchier than the ultimate toe-tapper, “The House Is Burning”.

But there are more tense moments, too. Brooding tracks “Enemy” and “Let The Beggars Beg” give the album some depth without getting too morose. Sonically, “Call Off The Dogs” is the heaviest song, with Santana providing the only screaming part — and a damn good one — on the record.

Even with the changes in mood, “Ignite” never lets up its feverish momentum. Despite messages that confront topics like immigration and racial injustice with words like, “How many bodies in the river?” (“The River”), there is an underlying uplifting spirit beneath it all. The Orange County band’s latest stimulating installment will surely satisfy old fans and capture new ones.

YellowHeart, the NFT marketplace for music, ticketing and community tokens which accepts both crypto and credit card payments, has teamed up with Geezer Butler, legendary Grammy Award-winning musician, songwriter and bass player and founding member of BLACK SABBATH, for his first-ever NFT, a graphic novel called “The Antibody Collection” which will go live on March 25 at 12 p.m. EST. The exclusive multi-part NFT collection will offer each chapter as an animated limited edition NFT, each featuring original bass driven-music composed by Geezer Butler, as well as original artwork by notable artist KOL (Kolin Humphries).

Butler will also donate his proceeds from the NFT to various organizations involved in Ukrainian relief efforts including IFAW, Harmony Fund, Save The Children and UNICEF.

Drawing inspiration from the viral pandemic taking the world by storm, Butler and KOL first conceptualized the idea for a graphic novel during the height of the lockdown, when KOL shared the first picture of the demon that would be featured throughout the graphic novel. Butler and KOL bonded over a drawing of Villa Park that was done as a gift for Geezer, after which they thought a collaboration would be in order.

“I’m really excited by the concept of NFTs and look forward to releasing my first,” said Butler. “It’s great to have a new medium in which to share art, music, stories, etc., and I’m looking forward to my upcoming release — a ‘comic’ with art, a story and music — and to this new relationship with YellowHeart.”

“We are so excited to be partnering with music legend Geezer Butler on this relevant and truly original NFT collection,” said Josh Katz, CEO and founder of YellowHeart. “We are committed to supporting artists as they embark on their creative NFT journeys, and Geezer Butler’s incredible musical and artistic vision for this collection will excite fans and new audiences.”

Butler is the bass player, primary lyricist and a founding member of BLACK SABBATH. Considering himself “retired,” he thought it was as good of a time as any to put his words to other uses. He’s currently writing his book and is also having fun penning a comic. Music writing is in his blood, so that will never stop.

Geezer is the recipient of two Grammy Awards resulting from BLACK SABBATH’s five nominations. The band has also been inducted in to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Geezer is also known for his animal rights causes and philanthropic work.

Humphries studied animation of Staffordshire University, in England, graduating with a BA degree in 2009. After taking a year to travel the world and spending time with Orangutans, his boyhood ambition, he began making use of his education. KOL has worked extensively throughout the gaming industry as a 2D artist from mobile to AAA console and PC titles.

Founded in 2017 by New York City-based music blockchain innovator and leader Josh Katz, YellowHeart is the leading NFT marketplace for music NFTs, tickets, community tokens and more, working with artists such as the KINGS OF LEON, MAROON 5, Julian Lennon, Kat Graham, the late XXXTentacion, Brandi Carlile, THE DISCO BISCUITS, ZHU, Burnley F.C., and more.

Sitting at the intersection of what has happened to cryptocurrency and what is happening to art and ticketing, YellowHeart is taking the blockchain’s power to bulldoze the norms of selling tickets and art by creating an asset class that recognizes that buyers need a mechanism to irrevocably trace the provenance of a tradeable item, and creators should get paid a portion of all future profits derived from trading the work they created.

Danish black metallers Heltekvad trumped dark Medieval times on new album Morgenrødens Helvedesherre. Streaming now!
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