German industrial metallers RAMMSTEIN have denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, openly blaming the Russian government for “the shocking attack” on a sovereign nation.

Earlier today (Friday, March 4), RAMMSTEIN issued the following statement via social media: “The band RAMMSTEIN wishes to express its support for the nation of Ukraine as it resists the shocking attack perpetrated by the Russian government. Above all at this moment, we feel particular grief for the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

“Each member of the band has various experiences of the two countries; all members of the band have friends, associates, partners, fans in both lands.

“We acknowledge the desperation that many Russian fans may feel when faced with the actions of their government, and we want to remember the humanity shared by both Russian and Ukrainian citizens.”

On February 24, Russian president Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine. Putin made the announcement during a televised early morning speech, peddling accusations of Nazi elements within Ukraine to justify the attack on his western neighbor, a move that experts slammed as slanderous and false. (Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy is Jewish and lost three family members in the Holocaust.)

The Russian leader called for Ukraine’s “demilitarization and denazification” and warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”

Putin’s military aggression — which has been described by U.S. president Joe Biden as an “unprovoked and unjustified attack” on Ukraine — has resulted in at least 225 deaths and 575 civilians injured, a United Nations agency said on Tuesday.

RAMMSTEIN made headlines in July 2019 when guitarists Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe exchanged a kiss while performing their 2019 song “Ausländer” at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. The kiss was in direct protest of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws. RAMMSTEIN shared images of the moment with its followers on Instagram accompanied by the Russian-language words meaning “Russia, we love you”.

According to Deutsche Welle, United Russia MP Vitaly Milonov, a main sponsor of the anti-gay law passed in 2013, said on Russian radio that if RAMMSTEIN “believes they can get away with indulging in such histrionics, we are at liberty to believe that we ought to distance ourselves from such trash.” He then went on to describe the band’s fans as “not normal” before threatening to ban RAMMSTEIN from Russia altogether, despite the fact that the concert was only open to those aged 18 and older.

The band Rammstein wishes to express its support for the nation of Ukraine as it resists the shocking attack perpetrated…

Posted by Rammstein on Friday, March 4, 2022

SLIPKNOT is set to kick-off the 2022 iteration of its “Knotfest Roadshow” tour on March 16. It was announced today that previously announced support JINJER will no longer be joining the tour, as they focus on the safety of their families in their home country of Ukraine. Taking their place on this run will now be metalcore quintet WAGE WAR.

The “Knotfest Roadshow” tour will take place over two legs, both headlined by SLIPKNOT. The first leg will feature special guests IN THIS MOMENT and WAGE WAR. The second leg will feature special guests CYPRESS HILL and HO99O9. The first leg of the 38-date run, produced by Live Nation, kicks off in Fargo, North Dakota on Wednesday, March 16 and hits a further 17 cities before wrapping up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on Sunday, April 17. The second leg kicks off on Wednesday, May 18 in University Park, Pennsylvania and hits a further 17 cites before culminating on Sunday, June 18 in Chula Vista, California.

“Knotfest Roadshow”‘s return will also feature on-site merchandise from official tour sponsor Blackcraft Cult.

2021 marked a banner year for SLIPKNOT. Making a triumphant return to the road, their “Knotfest Roadshow” 2021 tour sold out amphitheaters across the country, bookended with the record-breaking Knotfest Iowa and the biggest headline show of their career, Knotfest Los Angeles at Banc of California Stadium where they debuted their first new music in two years, the furious “The Chapeltown Rag”, taken from the highly anticipated new SLIPKNOT album, expected later this year. In addition, they topped the bills of multiple, internationally renowned festivals, including Riot Fest, Rocklahoma, Inkcarceration and Welcome To Rockville.

The “Knotfest Roadshow” tour will be part of Live Nation’s Live Stubs initiative which provides digital collectible NFT ticket stubs to ticket holders. Live Stubs will automatically be included with tickets purchased for the tour. Fans will also be able to view, share, gift, trade, and resell their live stubs on LiveNation.com.

“Knotfest Roadshow 2022” leg one: SLIPKNOT with IN THIS MOMENT and WAGE WAR

Mar. 16 – Fargo, ND – FARGODOME
Mar. 18 – Omaha, NE – CHI Health Center
Mar. 19 – Wichita, KS – INTRUST Bank Arena
Mar. 22 – Memphis, TN – FedExForum
Mar. 23 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center
Mar. 25 – North Little Rock, AR – Simmons Bank Arena
Mar. 26 – Durant, OK – Choctaw Grand Theatre
Mar. 29 – Birmingham, AL – Legacy Arena at the BJCC
Mar. 30 – N. Charleston, SC – North Charleston Coliseum
Apr. 01 – Greensboro, NC – Greensboro Coliseum Complex
Apr. 02 – Reading, PA – Santander Arena
Apr. 04 – Cleveland, OH – Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse
Apr. 06 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center
Apr. 07 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center
Apr. 09 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
Apr. 11 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Centre
Apr. 12 – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
Apr. 14 – Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre
Apr. 15 – Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
Apr. 17 – Vancouver, BC – Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena

“Knotfest Roadshow 2022” leg two: SLIPKNOT with CYPRESS HILL and HO99O9

May 18 – University Park, PA – Bryce Jordan Center
May 20 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
May 21 – Providence, RI – Dunkin’ Donuts Center
May 22 – Manchester, NH – SNHU Arena
May 24 – Albany, NY – MVP Arena
May 26 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
May 28 – Québec, QC – Videotron Centre
May 29 – Ottawa, ON – Canadian Tire Centre
May 30 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
Jun. 01 – Cincinnati, OH – Heritage Bank Center
Jun. 02 – Grand Rapids, MI – Van Andel Arena
Jun. 04 – East Troy, WI – Alpine Valley Music Theatre
Jun. 05 – Moline, IL – TaxSlayer Center
Jun. 07 – Bonner Springs, KS – Azura Amphitheater
Jun. 09 – Colorado Springs, CO – The Broadmoor World Arena
Jun. 11 – Nampa, ID – Ford Idaho Center
Jun. 13 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Jun. 14 – Ridgefield, WA – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
Jun. 17 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Garden Arena
Jun. 18 – Chula Vista, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre

Get your deluxe Decibel subscription by Monday, March 7 to obtain this HIGHLY LIMITED flexi disc single from the Nicke Andersson-piloted the Hellacopters.
The post The Hellacopters To Release Exclusive Single, “If We All Ran Away,” Via the Decibel Flexi Series appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

What’s in a name? How do names define us and the lives we live? Within my culture, everybody has both a given and “chosen name.” A hub is literally the central part of a wheel, but symbolically it’s that thing around which all motion happens. Hub, aka Leonard Hubbard, was the original bassist in the Roots, and one could argue that if hip-hop had a hub, it would be bass. Sadly, Hub lost his long battle with cancer in December 2021.I first met Hub when the then-unknown, Philadelphia-based band randomly moved to London in the early ’90s. It turned out this move was a strategy suggested by jazz alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. “Move them to Europe and push them as a jazz act,” he is rumored to have told the band’s manager, the late great Richard Nichols. And so he did.In those days, hip-hop (distinct from rap music) was a thing, but live hip-hop was certainly not. The creation of hip-hop was very much wrapped up in some unfortunate, shortsighted political decisions that affected U.S. inner-city high school education. This led to the removal of music and art programs from those schools, which many of hip-hop’s architects attended. Access to musical instruments became all the more rare, interrupting an important thread that stretched back to a period somewhere between the abolition of slavery and Louis Armstrong picking up a horn. That arrested development continues to this day.The HuB (The Roots)Hub goes solo with his Fender Jazz Bass, demonstrating a commitment to groove and melody as well as a raw and uncompromising percussive technique.By the time the Roots came along, this thread/tradition that ran through all African American music had been almost completely severed. Fifteen years earlier, a mostly instrument-less generation created hip-hop out of their deep need to be heard and express themselves, eventually turning to alternative methods: rapping, turntables, scratching, breakbeats, drum machines, and, eventually, samplers. So, in some ways late-’80s/early-’90s hip-hop stood apart from—though it was still most definitely related to—what came before. Thus, drummers and bassists within hip-hop were an anomaly. In fact, hip-hop was actually a large part of the reason why they were out of work!Later on, live hip-hop bands such as the Roots had to come up with a “new” language and approach that worked for instruments, while still retaining all the things that people loved about this music: the groove, graininess, and nostalgia of old funk breaks; the history, musical complexities, and sophistication of jazz samples; the low-end-heavy head-knocking grooves and rhythmic precision from drum machines; and, of course, the emcee’s lyrics and rhymes, which gave it all meaning.The thought of a bass player being able to mimic 808 bass drums tuned completely down with decay all the way out was equally bizarre. However, the Roots achieved these and so many other sounds essential to hip-hop.Rich Nichols played an architectural role in sculpting the Roots’ sound on record, but onstage this was the domain of the musicians—in particular, drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, keyboardist Scott Storch, and bassist Leonard “Hub” Hubbard. Before they came along, it could be argued that the instructions on how to really play hip-hop live didn’t exist. The thought of a ’90s drummer being able to sound like 7 seconds of looped Clyde Stubblefield from the ’70s on vinyl was bizarre. The thought of a bass player being able to mimic 808 bass drums tuned completely down with decay all the way out was equally bizarre. However, the Roots achieved these and so many other sounds essential to hip-hop.Anybody fortunate enough to encounter a Roots show between 1992 and 2012 knew without a doubt that they had mastered hip-hop! They became as comfortable with recreating classic sounds/breaks from the ’50s, ’60s, ’and 70s as they were with creating their own iconic ’90s/’00s (and beyond) sound. The Roots eventually became the go-to “backing band” for almost every major live hip-hop show, beginning with their Okayplayer tours and maturing over the course of 10 years of Roots Picnics. Today, they push their skill for metamorphosis even further into the realms of rock, pop, country, and whatever else nightly on The Tonight Show.For being a part of what made this all possible, Hub—the don of the black hoodie and chew stick—deserves an honorable mention and some credit. Hub’s approach to playing his ’90s blonde Fender Jazz (with the white pickguard) or completely battered upright was pretty different from what came before. It had to be.Intro / There’s Something Goin’ OnTake a listen to the Do You Want More?!!!??! album, for example. Respect of Groove! When he wasn’t taking extended mid-set, PA-system-destroying bass solos, Hub never tried to be the most attention-grabbing or out-front bassist, like maybe Jaco in Weather Report. But what he did endeavor to do, as the wise Reggie Washington would say, is “keep the bottom.”He succeeded. Who knows … maybe Fender will create a signature Hub model?

California rockers PAPA ROACH will release their new album, “Ego Trip”, on April 8 via New Noize Records in partnership with ADA Worldwide (WMG’s independent label and artist services arm).

The eleventh studio album of a career that continues to carve a fearless and singular path through a fourth decade, “Ego Trip” sees PAPA ROACH continuing to break new ground in a time when many are desperate for what they once knew. As vocalist Jacoby Shaddix explains: “Now isn’t the time for comfort or conformity, but to be inspired and build something new. Something better, in order to channel something more.”

The official music video for “Cut The Line”, which directed by Jacoby’s brother Bryson Roatch, brings the band back to the feeling of their original practice space in an intimate, smoky, in-your-face performance clip.

“Cut The Line” joins previously released singles “Stand Up”, “Dying To Believe”, “Kill The Noise” (which held the no. 1 position on the Mainstream Rock chart for over a month) and genre-bending banger of a single “Swerve” featuring Jason Aalon Butler (FEVER 333) and Sueco, all pulled from a 2020 writing session with the iconic rock band and a tight-knit creative team including familiar collaborators Colin “Doc” Brittain, Nick Furlong, Jason Evigan and new team members WZRD BLD and Andrew Goldstein.

An album that sprouted almost by mistake in the throes of a global lockdown, its seeds were planted when the quartet entered a COVID-secure mansion in Temecula, California in the summer of 2020. What started as an escape and an exercise in keeping the creative juices flowing, in a world that had completely ground to a halt, quickly grew into something bigger. Purposeful, provocative, and just the right side of the line between confident and cocky (“I really hope [the album title] stops a few people in their tracks,” cackles Jacoby), “Ego Trip” is PAPA ROACH — completed by guitarist Jerry Horton, bassist Tobin Esperance and drummer Tony Palermo — at its boldest and most brilliant.

PAPA ROACH kicked off its North American “Kill The Noise” tour, featuring very special guests HOLLYWOOD UNDEAD and BAD WOLVES, with a sold-out show in Anaheim, California on March 1. The tour, produced by Live Nation, will make stops in the United States and Canada, marking the band’s first headlining tour in three years.

In what is gearing up to be a very busy year for the band, PAPA ROACH recently announced their return to Mexico City on April 4 at Pepsi Center – a special co-headline event with SIMPLE PLAN, and opening act EMO NITE spinning eclectic nostalgic hits throughout the evening. PAPA ROACH were also part of a massive announcement for this year’s Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California along with MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, FOO FIGHTERS, SLIPKNOT, KISS, BRING ME THE HORIZON, HALESTORM, EVANESCENCE and more.