In the before times, I enjoyed a band called Airbourne. I’m pretty sure they were Australian, and they sounded remarkably like AC/DC. Highly recommended. So, on the list of available albums, I saw Airborn‘s Lizard Secrets Part 3: Utopia (Fighter Records) and figured I’d give it a shot. Very glad I did. This Italian group delivers a Power Metal tour de force. Bonus, the vocals pitch up in a range most of us can reach.
Download Festival, the greatest rock and metal festival of all time, is now only 100 days away. With the countdown now truly on, celebrate this year’s festival with our round-up of Download By Numbers. This year’s festival will occur on 13-15 June 2025 at the spiritual home of rock in Donington Park, Leicestershire. Tickets are available now at the links below!Continue reading
The Hellfest Open Air festival 2025 has booked a huge lineup. Taking place from June 19th to 22nd in Clisson, France, the fest features headlining performances from Korn, Muse, Scorpions, and Linkin Park, as well as, Knocked Loose, Judas Priest, Electric Callboy,Turnstile, Exodus, Dethklok, Refused, Jerry Cantrell, Jinjer, Turnstile, Unto Others, The Warning, VOLA, Alcest, Abbath (Doom occulta set), SUNN O))), HEALTH, Russian Circles, Chat Pile, Savatage, Dream Theater and more out of a total of 184 bands. A “very special guest” yet to be revealed for June 20th.Continue reading
We are thrilled to announce the first major line-up for Download Festival 2025 (DLXXII), featuring three first-time headliners: punk-rock royalty Green Day, the enigmatic and meteoric Sleep Token, and nu-metal legends Korn. Over 90 bands have been confirmed, including Weezer, Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Jimmy Eat World, Within Temptation, Eagles of Death Metal, The Darkness, Poppy, Loathe, Spiritbox, and many more. The fest takes place 13-15 June, 2025. This exciting news was revealed this evening at a special metal gala launch event in London.
Celebrating 40 years – Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park festivals lineups have been revealed featuring Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon, In Flames, Spiritbox, Lorna Shore, and more. Additional bands will be announced at a later date. Both festivals, which share artists throughout their runtime, will feature these acts across the same dates. Rock im Park is set for June 6th-8th at the Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg, Germany, while Rock am Ring will take place at the Nürburgring in Nürburg, Germany, on the same dates. Tickets are on sale at the links below.Continue reading
Two band names, three studio albums, one EP, a live album, and a change of vocalists. A lot has happened in the last few years for Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons. From beginning life as a side project for the former Motörhead guitarist, performing covers under the somewhat less than attention-grabbing moniker of Phil Campbell’s All Starr Band, the band announced a much-needed name change the following year and the improvement was both noticeable and immediate.
Ghost Cult Keefy caught up with Joel O’Keefe of Airbourne at Aftershock Festival! Joel was passionate about the band being able to tour again, partying with fans, and new music on the way!
Heavy Group announces the return of the Heavy Music Awards (HMA) and the arrival of its spectacular new home for 2023, the OVO Arena Wembley on Friday 26 May. Since its inception in 2017, the HMAs has recognised the most influential and groundbreaking creatives in the heavy music landscape and certified itself as a staple of the heavy music awards calendar, with a move to OVO Arena Wembley now cementing the event as the largest rock music awards ceremony ever.
Iron Maiden fans all over the world are literally no different as they fly all over the world to see these guys perform. Athens, Greece even with their 30-degree (Celsius or 90 plus in Fahrenheit) temperatures, native Grecians are not fazed by the weather, came well hydrated, excited, and ready to consume beer, and some Maiden tunes.
My Saturday at Download began over at the main stage where I caught the retro new wave of classic rock act Those Damn Crows, a band who have amassed a significant following in Wales thanks to appearances at the likes of Steelhouse Festival and other rock-oriented affairs. Possibly one of the smallest acts to perform on the main stage this year, the band spared no expense offering a fantastic wake-up call with some unremarkable if solid hard rock tunes. The day’s proceedings then continued firmly in the rocky territory with a southern, slightly heavier twang with Black Label Society, in their first festival appearance on UK soil since 2015, and with less of Zakk Wylde’s expectedly lengthy and tiresome soloing. Don’t get me wrong, Zakk was still doing his usual thing, but with a much-needed addition of percussion, making the moments of instrumental wankery much more palatable than usual.