Let’s be straight up: Final Gasp’s debut Mourning Moon (Relapsev Records) is a great album, but going into this we need to be clear in what we expect from it. The album cover, and marketing hype around this album makes you think it’s the second coming of Type O Negative. This is not the case. They draw inspiration from one of my favorite eras of punk rock…the mid eighties. This is when bands like T.S.O.L. and Die Kruzen took a darker turn in a more shadowy direction.
Cro-Mags founder Harley Flanagan and current trademark holder has filed a lawsuit against his former bandmate John Joseph McGowan (a.k.a. John Joseph, John Bloodclot) for allegedly ripping off the group’s name. According to a published report from the New York Post and Blabbermouth.net, the federal trademark infringement lawsuit, filed on Monday by Savoia NYC Inc., which is owned by Flanagan, claims that McGowan used the name “Cro-Mags Jam” in violation of a 2019 settlement agreement giving Flanagan the rights to the Cro-Mags name. The suit alleges McGowan used “Cro-Mags Jam” to promote an April 23rd, 2019 benefit concert in the East Village’s Tompkins Square Park, causing confusion about who was actually performing, according to the filing. Just prior to that concert the two parties came to an agreement in which Flannagan retained the name, logos and all legal rights to release music as Cro-Mags, while Joseph and Mackie Jason were to operate under Cro-Mags “JM.” Flannigan released an album – In The Beginning, and an EP, 2020, via the Mission Two Entertainment label in 2020. Continue reading
Ghost Cult continues our “End of Year Guest Post Extravaganza” with a slew of posts from bands, industry, PR pros, and more! We’ll be sharing lists, memories, and other shenanigans from our favorite bands, partners, music industry peers, and other folks we respect across the globe. In this edition, we have a list from Mark Starr of hardcore veterans Insight. Stream their compilation/retrospective Reflection here via Mission Two Entertainment.Continue reading
Ghost Cult is kicking off our “End of Year Guest Post Extravaganza” with a slew of posts from bands, industry, PR types, and more! We’ll be sharing lists, memories, and other shenanigans from our favorite bands, partners, music industry peers, and other folks we respect across the globe. Today we have Dave Smalley (Dag Nasty, ALL, Down By Law) of Don’t Sleep with his top 10 releases of 2020. Don’t Sleep’s Debut Turn The Tide is out now via Mission Two Entertrainment and you can buy it here!Continue reading
Hardcore legends Cro-Mags, led by frontman Harley Flanagan, released new single “2020”, which is also the name of a new EP, a digital release is also set for December 11th 2020. The band released their comeback album In The Beginning on Mission Two/Arising Empire over the summer. The quartet is led by frontman Harley Flanagan. You can listen to “2020” here:
2015 proved to be a productive year for the Russian/Welsh act, Venom Prison when they released not one, but two EPs. Their ambition has continued to grow since then by deftly demonstrating the cunning and extreme of their Modern Death Metal sound. This budding band made noticeable waves in the scene when they released their second full-length, Samsara (Prosthetic Records) last year. Vocalist Larissa Stupar presented this rare rage that she and the whole band developed into a massive, contagious fury. Now, these guys are ready to exhibit how much they’ve grown in the last five years. Primeval (Prosthetic Records) is a compilation of their first two Eps re-recorded and reinvigorated.
Michael Alago recently released his memoir I Am Michael Alago: Breathing Music. Signing Metallica. Beating Death. (BackBeat Books), written by Alago with Laura Davis-Chanin (with a foreword by Mina Caputo of Life of Agony and John Joseph of Cro-Mags) and you can read our review here. Michael is the music industry legend that signed Metallica to Electra Records and helped guide them on the path to being the biggest band of all time. He also played a role in the careers of White Zombie, Cro-mags, Metal Church, Flotsam and Jetsam, and more. The Drew Stone documentary Who The F*ck Is That Guy: The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago (just wrapped on Netflix after an unprecedented 3 years, now on Amazon Prime and YouTube) grew awareness of him beyond music documentaries and VH1’s Metallica Behind The Music. Now you can see never before seen outtakes of Michael with Metallica after they filmed their segments for the film, posted to Drew Stone’s YouTube. Continue reading
Cro-Mags released their first new album in 23 years last month, In The Beginning, via Mission Two Entertainment (Arising Empire in Europe). Led by founder Harley Flanagin, the album is a mix of old-school, and a modern flavor as well all the gritty feel of a day-in-the-life New York City grind. Check out our review of the album here and our EXCLUSIVE interview with Harley here. Now head to Ghost Cult on Facebook and drop a comment with your favorite Cro-Mags song and we will pick one winner at random to get this killer Shirt and vinyl bundle! Contest ends July 16th, USA fans only.
Continue reading
