Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon, Rise Against, Sleep Token, Spiritbox, Lorna Shore, A Day To Remember, In Flames and More Booked for Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park 2025


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


Empire State Bastard Shares a New Single – “Tired, Naw?” 


 

Having just dropped their debut album Rivers of Heresy (Roadrunner Records) extreme metal supergroup Empire State Bastard have shared a new stand alone single – “Tired, Naw?” The track is streaming on all DSPs now. The band features members of Biffy Clyro with Dave Lombardo on drums! Stream the new single now!  

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INTERVIEW: Mike Vennart and Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro) of Empire State Bastard Breakdown “Rivers of Heresy”


Ghost Cult Keefy caught up with Mike Vennart (ex-Oceansize) and Simon Neil of Empire State Bastard. The supergroup features the duo from Biffy Clyro, along with Dave Lombardo (Mr. Bungle, ex-Slayer, Dead Cross, etc.) After getting rained out at Riot Fest, the guys were kind enough to circle back with Keefy to pick up the chat with us. They discussed their love of extreme metal including Grindcore and Death Metal, a breakdown of the new album, subverting the expectations of Biffy fans, working with Lombardo, adding Naomi Macleod (Bitch Falcon) to the live line-up on bass, signing to Roadrunner Records, their first USA gigs, and much more!  

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CONCERT REVIEW: Chat Pile – Nerver – Empire State Bastard Live at Le Poisson Rouge 


 

Le Poisson Rouge (LPR) is one of the great music venues in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Located on Bleeker Street, just a block and a half south of Washington Square Park, it plays host to a wide variety of musical acts ranging in style from Disco to Punk to Hip Hop and some Heavy Metal. Wikipedia notes that the room capacity is 700 but that likely includes a hallway bar and other spaces.  In anticipation of a crowd heating the place, the air conditioning is always set on arctic and the room stays fairly comfortable. No food is served there but Bleeker is almost entirely made up of restaurants, so there will be something available for any taste. Something very interesting happened at LPR recently, and three bands rattled the windows of the entire neighborhood for a night.  

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Empire State Bastard Share New Sing and Video “Moi?” – Books Exclusive Saint Vitus Bar Headline Show


Empire State Bastard have shared “Moi?,” the fourth new song to be released from the band’s eagerly anticipated debut album Rivers of Heresy which is set to arrive worldwide on September 1st. Available on today on all streaming platforms, “The Looming” follows the band’s recent singles “Harvest,” “Stutter,” and “The Looming.”Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Phoxjaw – notverynicecream


 

For reasons well documented that we are not going to touch on here, notverynicecream (Hassle Records) the sophomore record from Bristolian avant-garde noise merchants Phoxjaw, finally sees the light of day some six months after first scheduled. And focusing solely on the music, is this a record that was worth the wait? In a nutshell … Yes!

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ALBUM REVIEW: Jamie Lenman – The Atheist


 

Jamie Lenman has been an ongoing stalwart of the alternative rock UK scene since his early days in Reuben. Now with four albums under his belt as a solo act, Lenman has completely reinvented himself and sound to become one of the more eclectic acts England has to offer. After a cover album and a song featuring MC Illaman from Pengshui, where next, could Lenman possibly go? Well, it seems the solo artist has decided to completely disembark his traditional heavier punk rock sound to embrace more indie pop rock avenues with The Atheist (Big Scary Monsters).

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Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes, Napalm Death, Kris Barras Band, Pengshui and Aniilmalia added to Download 2022  


Following their massive headline set at last year’s Download Pilot event, Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes will be joining this year’s Download festival, alongside four other new additions, including Napalm Death, PENGSHUi, and Aniilmalia. Download 2022 is the big reunion of the rock community, as the festival makes its highly anticipated return with the first full-scale Download in three years and a gargantuan line-up of the world’s most exciting bands in rock, pop punk, hardcore, metal and much more. The three-day festival takes place on 10-12 June 2022 at the spiritual home of rock in Donington Park, Leicestershire. Tickets are now on sale now at the4 link below.

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ALBUM REVIEW: While She Sleeps – Sleeps Society


While it may be OK to not be OK, as the main refrain of the thumping anthemic opener ‘Enlightenment?’ insists (and while it absolutely is, we still have much work to do as a collective mass to support each other), Sleeps Society (Sleeps Brothers, in assoc. with Search & Destroy, Spinefarm, UNFD, Universal) takes a step and seeks to provide a place, a community packed with a kinship of like-minded souls who will be there with and for each other. It would be easy for the Sleeps Society (a Patreon-based family) to be empty words and hollow platitudes, but there is integrity to the missives that are as important to the overall point of While She Sleeps in 2021 as the songs. Continue reading


ALBUM REVIEW: Architects – For Those That Wish To Exist


Please indulge me for one moment. I am not usually one for breaking the fourth wall when reviewing an album but bear with…. Back in 2004, I had a polar response to two albums in a way that encapsulates a particular dichotomy that fans (and bands) often find themselves caught up in that has stuck with me as a point of reflection ever since. To change, or not to change, that is the question… I remember the unshakeable feeling of disappointment at just how much Slipknot had changed their sound and attack on Vol III: The Subliminal Verses compared to Iowa (both Roadrunner), and the same deep sigh of discontent that Soil hadn’t changed enough (or at all, with Redefine, J Records).Continue reading