Here are the top stories on www.GhostCultMag.com in 2020:
Ticketmaster, Livenation, and COVID-19
With the entire touring and concert industry shutting down, some of the terrible and hidden practices of the concert experience for fans we already knew about, especially how we got screwed in light of all the postponements and collections was really horrible since working people couldn’t afford to just sit on tickets for shows that might not happen. These companies got 100s of millions in low-interest loans to maintain their bottom line by the way.
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/ticketmaster-quietly-changes-its-refund-policy-screwing-over-the-fans/
Rest in Power, heroes.
Deaths in the music world happen daily and we don’t hear about them all. This year was brutal with major heroes passing away such as Neil Peart, Riley Gale, Eddie Van Halen, Sean Reinert, Sean Malone, Reed Mullen, Eddie Money, and early Misfits drummer Joey Image.
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/misfits-drummer-joey-image-has-died-age-63/
Dee rocks!
Dee Snider had a major year in 2020 with his live Album/DVD For the Love of Metal Live, many new projects, and celebrating 35 years of sticking it to the man and fighting for Metal against the PMRC (along with Frank Zappa and John Denver). We interviewed Dee for the Ghost Cult Podcast and wrote this feature with was shared by fans everywhere! Hailz!
The Raging Wrath of the comeback band!
Mr. Bungle’s comeback seeds were sown in 2019 (also one of the most clicked stories of last year). New music from Bungle excited fans, mostly new and some old. The current lineup includes Thrash legends like Scott Ian and Dave Lombardo, and their sold-out mini-tour, album release, many music videos, charity work, epic album release, and hilarious livestream capped a big year.
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/mr-bungle-shares-new-video-for-raping-you-mind-new-album-due-this-fall/
Deftones pump up the volume!
The hype was legit and real. Deftones persevere through the pandemic to finish their new album Ohms (Reprise) and not only was it Ghost Cult Magazine’s Album of the Year, it was our most widely read and cited review this year!
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/album-review-deftones-ohms-reprise-records/
Do you remember shows?
In the early days of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, there was a lot of misinformation in the heart of the crisis. With our journalistic background, we tried hard to publish only facts that we had from credible sources whenever possible. Thanks for trusting us for your music news.
Sevendust has arrived!
Sevendust lit up the world in 2020 with their new album Blood & Stone (Rise Records). The lead single was a touching and thoughtful cover of Soundgarden’s classic hit “The Day I Tried to Live” in tribute to Chris Cornell. RIP.
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/listen-to-sevendust-cover-soundgardens-the-day-i-tried-to-live/
WAAF goes dark
Radio used to rule in the pre-streaming era. One of the leading Rock and Metal Radio stations of the last 50 years, WAAF in Massachusetts, went off the air as a terrestrial radio station forever in 2020. Their last song they aired was also their first, Black Sabbath’s titular tune that helped birth Heavy Metal.
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/waaf-radio-plays-its-final-song-black-sabbath-by-black-sabbath/
Ozzy still rules!
Riding high on the massive success of chart-topping singles and his #1 album Ordinary Man, Ozzy Osbourne also had to cancel his already postponed world tour planned in 2020. Hopefully, Ozzy gets to ride off into the sunset as a touring artist after things back to normal someday.
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/ozzy-osbourne-officially-cancels-the-no-more-tours-2-2020-tour/
Mastodon excites!
Mastodon had a busy year! They released their awesome covers album Medium Rarities (Reprise) with a new song on it, “Fallen Torches.” They also released a visualizer for their underrated Metallica cover “Orion” which lit up the webs, did a gang of covers projects, including a tribute to Alice In Chains, and hyped up their new album, being recorded now. Even their assorted members’ other bands (Gone Is Gone, West End Motel) had life in 2020.
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/watch-mastodons-new-video-fallen-torches-new-album-out-now/
Gojira new single explodes
Gojira dropped a new single and animated video “Another World” in 2020, and welp, it pretty much broke the internet. Arguably the best metal band in the world has their new album ready to go, coming sometime next year. https://www.ghostcultmag.com/gojira-shares-new-standalone-single-and-animated-video-another-world/
Mudvayne comeback rumors!
Sneaking in under the wire this week was this Mudvayne rumour that the band, quiet for a decade will reportedly comeback in 2021 to tour and the fans are hyped!
https://www.ghostcultmag.com/mudvayne-rumored-to-be-plotting-a-comeback-tour-in-2021/
Job For A Cowboy returns, officially!
After we broke the news that broke the internet in 2019, with a tease of a return, Job for a Cowboy officially announced their return with new music coming in 2021 via their longtime label Metal Blade Records, and their new drummer performing on their tracks will be, Navene Kopperweis. We are stoked for this!