Assuming you have been awake at some point over the last 30 years, you will probably be familiar with George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Reassuring proof that the best people transcend the music they make, Corpsegrinder is rightly acknowledged as one of the greatest death metal vocalists of all time, but also as one of the metal world’s good guys. You must, at all times, respect the neck. That much is obvious.

What was perhaps less obvious was the need for Fisher to make a solo album. Enter the increasingly influential Jamey Jasta, fresh from reviving Dee Snider’s career and clearly in the mood for another worthwhile project. “CORPSEGRINDER” is the result, and while it almost goes without saying that this is a relentlessly savage death metal record, as opposed to some zany detour into EDM or country rock, what this savagely addictive 32-minute beat-’em-up hammers home hardest is the great man’s irresistible charm. Frankly, who doesn’t want to hear a Corpsegrinder solo album (apart from grumpy old Chris Barnes)? Exactly.

So here it is: ten muscular and murderous chunks of death metal purity, all sufficiently distinct from anything CANNIBAL CORPSE have done in recent times to justify the initial conceit, and all propelled breathlessly along by Fisher’s unmistakable and unstoppable vocal delivery. As with Jasta’s mentoring of Dee Snider, these songs are beautifully crafted things, custom designed to showcase the unerring power of that scabrous bark and produced in such a way that accommodates both old and new school death metal values.

Opener “Acid Vat” (featuring the tireless Erik Rutan) encapsulates the sheer, joyous thuggery on offer here: noticeably more straightforward than anything on CANNIBAL CORPSE’s last few records, and violently catchy with it; it’s the kind of fat-free, balls-to-the-wall death metal that breaks necks and wins new converts in similarly vast quantities. As ever, Fisher dominates the foreground with his effortlessly precise flow, but “Corpsegrinder” has the authentic feel of a real band effort, too. Again providing our titular hero with the perfect backdrop, “On Wings of Carnage” is a master class in grotesque grooves and morbid menace, with shades of IMMOLATION in the churning riffs. In contrast, “All Souls Get Torn” is an untamed blizzard of mid-’90s dissonance and jaw-breaking D-beats that really shouldn’t be catchy, but which definitely is.

As reassuringly no-nonsense as the man behind it, “Corpsegrinder” is all about getting to the point and smashing it skyward. From the imperious, slam-tinged stomp of “Devourer of Souls” to the warped but snotty, two-minute assault of “Vaguely Human”, Fisher eats these perfectly succinct and punishing songs up, slapping his humbly formidable persona over every last second and, as was arguably inevitable, giving metalheads yet another reason to salute a modern great with a heart of gold and a voice that will scythe your fucking head off.



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LACUNA COIL has entered the studio to begin recording “a very special project.” The Italian heavy rockers shared the news of the latest studio session in an Instagram post earlier today (Tuesday, February 22). The band uploaded a picture of the LACUNA COIL bandmembers drinking coffee at what appears to be a bar, and included the following message: “Ready for #day2 of the recording of a very special project.”

Last June, LACUNA COIL singer Cristina Scabbia told Revolver that she and her bandmates didn’t use the coronavirus downtime to work on new music. “We didn’t want to force the fact that because we were home, we had to write music,” she explained. “We always thought that to write music, you need to be inspired. And inspiration comes from the outside, comes from experiences that you have, things that you live. At least this is valid for us.

“Everything we do in a regular life, in a normal life enriches us and gives us input that we can put in our music,” she said. “And also we like to write together. So, if Marco [Coti Zelati, bass] creates the basis of the music together with the other musicians in the band, then Andrea [Ferro, vocals] and I jump in with the lyrics and vocal lines. But we do that together. We need to enter in songwriting mode. So we didn’t really like the fact that we had to write separately just because we have to put a record [together] because it’s quarantine. Now we are starting to collect ideas ’cause we feel a little bit happier.”

Scabbia continued: “We didn’t want anything connected to the negativity of the pandemic… That’s why I used my time to do something completely different. Because I know that what I did that it’s completely different from what I usually do will make me start again to do what I did before with passion — with the same passion. I was just afraid that if I would have used all the downtime making music when I didn’t really want to, it would have had a negative influence on me. And it would have been, like, ‘I really don’t want to do that.’ And I also wanted to prove to myself that, yeah, music is main passion. I love what I do for a living, and I hope that I can do it until the day I die. But I also wanted to show myself that I can be capable of doing something else as well.”

Last summer, LACUNA COIL released a new live album, “Live From The Apocalypse”, via Century Media. The effort was recorded at the band’s special September 2020 livestream event where LACUNA COIL performed its latest album, “Black Anima”, in its entirety.

In February 2021, LACUNA COIL took part in an initiative dubbed “L’Ultimo Concerto?” (Last Concert) to highlight the increasingly uncertain future of music venues. Instead of delivering live performances as part of a scheduled free virtual stream, each of around 130 Italian artists was filmed taking the stage at a different venue and then standing there in silence as a way of commemorating the one-year mark since the first Italian venues closed.

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The metalcore maven details the triumvirate of riffs that equally contributed to his lifelong obsession.

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Brent Smith (SHINEDOWN), Tad Doyle (TAD), LAMB OF GOD guitarist Mark Morton and SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS bassist/vocalist Todd Kerns are among the musicians who have reacted to the passing of Mark Lanegan. The former SCREAMING TREES frontman and erstwhile member of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE died earlier today (Tuesday, February 22) at the age of 57.

“Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland,” his publicist said in a statement. “A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician, he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley. No other information is available at this time. The family asks everyone to respect their privacy at this time.”

Born November 25, 1964 in Ellensburg, Washington, Lanegan began his music career in the 1980s. In 1985, he became the vocalist for grunge group SCREAMING TREES; the group broke up in 2000. Lanegan would start a low-key solo career, but in 2004 Lanegan released his big breakthrough album “Bubblegum”. In addition to leading the THE GUTTER TWINS, Lanegan was also involved in other musical projects, including hard rock band QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, long-term collaborations with Isobel Campbell; and undertaken some surprisingly eclectic collaborations, such as co-writing and providing vocals for “Black River” by the electronic outfit BOMB THE BASS. He also lent his vocal talent to the highly regarded album “Above” by supergroup MAD SEASON and penned the theme song for Anthony Bourdain’s award-winning TV show “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” with QOTSA frontman Josh Homme.

Lanegan is featured on five of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE’s last six albums — 2000’s “Rated R”, 2002’s “Songs For The Deaf”, 2005’s “Lullabies To Paralyze”, 2007’s “Era Vulgaris” and 2013’s “…Like Clockwork”.

Last December, Lanegan released a memoir titled “Devil In A Coma” via U.K. publisher White Rabbit. The book detailed a “terrifying account” of his battle with COVID-19 which left him “slipping in and out of a coma.”

Lanegan’s previous memoir, “Sing Backwards And Weep”, was published in 2020 by White Rabbit.

I am so profoundly grateful to have had the chance to make music & become friends with Mark Lanegan. Few artists ever achieve the level of honesty & authenticity that he did.
He was absolutely brilliant.
Godspeed my friend. ?

— Mark Morton ?? (@MarkDuaneMorton) February 22, 2022

My heartfelt condolences to the surviving family and fans of the immense talent that was Mark Lanegan. ??☯️♾
— Tad Doyle (@TadDoyle_Tad) February 22, 2022

Rest In Peace, old friend. Truly. More and more the best are no longer with us. @marklanegan pic.twitter.com/KPyPC17xad
— moby XⓋX (@thelittleidiot) February 22, 2022

So very sad to hear of the passing of Mark Lanegan. #marklanegan #ripmarklanegan @marklanegan pic.twitter.com/Mhcatyiyug
— Todd Dammit Kerns (@todddammitkerns) February 22, 2022

Fuck. Mark Lanegan now?
— Ginger Wildheart (@GingerWildheart) February 22, 2022

Mark Lanegan rest easy mate. A real singer. ❤️
— Sleaford Mods (@sleafordmods) February 22, 2022

Hearing about Mark Lanegan passing away has properly stopped me in my tracks. I’m absolutely gutted. Met him on a couple of occasions and I was nervous because I loved him so much. He was a perfect gentleman, really kind. One of THE great singers of the last 30 years. So sad ?
— Badly Drawn Boy (@badly_drawn_boy) February 22, 2022

Mark Lanegan was a lovely man. He led a wild life that some of us could only dream of. He leaves us with fantastic words and music! Thank god that through all of that he will live forever. RIP Mark. Sleep well. Love Hooky. X pic.twitter.com/Xnx76y68YC
— Peter Hook (@peterhook) February 22, 2022

Oh no. Terrible news that Mark Lanegan has left us. Safe travels man – you’ll be missed ?
— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) February 22, 2022

I love you. Rest In Peace Mark Lanegan, my brother. No words. Heartbroken. pic.twitter.com/nQblLQNjnA
— COLD CAVE (@ColdCave23) February 22, 2022

Terribly saddened to hear the news of the passing of Mark Lanegan. A very gifted artist blessed with honey dipped tones, gone far too soon.
— Garbage (@garbage) February 22, 2022

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This week Demo:listen comes hurling up from the Gore Vortex with Cincinnati-based pulverizers Nogothula.
The post Demo:listen: Nogothula appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

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