As usual, Slipknot does what other bands cannot. The band is bringing back their Knotfest event back home as Knotfest Iowa this September and it features a ton of bands such as The full line-up features Slipknot headlining, with Faith No More, Megadeth, Lamb Of God, $uicide Boy$, Gojira, Trivium, Tech N9ne, FEVER 333, Knocked Loose, Turnstile, Gatecreeper, and Vended. The event will be the biggest heavy music festival to ever hit the mid-western state and will be held at National Balloon Classic Field in Indianola, IA, on Saturday, September 25th. Tickets will be available on pre-sale to Knotfest.com subscribers from 10am Central time on today (Tues, May 25th), with a general on-sale from 10am Central on June 4th, at the link below. Slipknot has also announced they have returned to the studio to record their new album.
Boston Rock and Metal band Intoxicated Rage have shared a live-in-the-studio cover of Gojira’s “Amazonia” single from their new album Fortitude (Roadrunner Records). The cover is badass and you can see the attention to detail the band put in for this cover song. Their last release was 2019’s Apocalypse, which you can purchase from the link below.
Louder Than Life has made their full lineup reveal for 2021 and it’s massive. “The Largest Rock Festival In America” has expanded to four days – September 23th to 26th at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center In Louisville, KY. The line up features Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Korn, Judas Priest, Jane’s Addiction, Snoop Dogg, Machine Gun Kelly, Staind, Mudvayne, Rise Against, Cypress Hill, Gojira, Ghostemane, Seether, Pennywise, Beartooth, The Distillers, Killswitch Engage, and many more! Single-day and weekend passes on sale now at the link below.
Aftershock, a festival part of the Danny Wimmer Presents family of events, has announced that The Original Misfits will be the new Saturday Night Headliner, following the departure of My Chemical Romance from the fest due to the pandemic. The original Misfits had booked a slew of arena shows and festival slots in North America from 2018 to 2020. Aftershock also features Metallica as the headliner the other two nights of the fest. Tickets are on sale now. Recent additions to the festival bill now are Limp Bizkit, Rancid, The Offspring, Social Distortion, Rise Against, Volbeat, Machine Gun Kelly, Mastodon, Gojira, SEETHER, Parkway Drive, and many more. A special first time ever Thursday night date, presented by Jack Daniels, is headlined by Limp Bizkit and also hosts Parkway Drive, Testament, Hatebreed, Exodus, Knocked Loose and Fit For a King. Brought to you by Danny wimmer Presents, the West Coast’s Biggest Rock Festival–to Discovery Park in Sacramento, CA on October 7, 8, 9 and 10. Passes are on sale now at the link below and you can watch a special trailer video now.
The biggest challenge for prodigious talents Henry, Eli, and Abe Ismert is the need to shift the narrative from discussion around their ages (18, 16 and 13 respectively) and their undoubted potential to the types of plaudits and eulogies that adorn the releases of the artists they aspire to be considered in the same breath as; the Mastodon’s and Gojira’s of our twisted, alternative Metal world. Previously released via Bandcamp in the COVID-restricted summer of 2020, the brothers from Kansas City are re-issuing their debut Grand Currents (self-released) on the back of a groundswell of support for singles ‘Sediment’ and ‘Foundation’, this time accompanied by a physical release.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC1nJGrhkNQ
An album of peaks and valleys, when flying high Grand Currents achieves that aim of refocusing the story to one of deserved acclaim. A twisted post-Thrash underbelly is a tough core that provides a grounding to a progressive modern Metal mentality, holding the expansive sensibilities on a tight leash that the brothers may do better to loosen on further releases. For it is those moments that seek to crack the skye that do Hammerhedd the most credit: halfway through ‘Drone’ and the Voivod-ian cortex wraps itself around a rhythmic Tool-esque build, or the discordant judder of the back-nine of ‘Sediment’. When they indulge their musical expressionism they really show their hand and talk of potential begins to be realised.
Yet, their greatest weapon also highlights their greatest shortcoming. While Henry Ismert is expansive and able to find twisted barbs in his guitar work, exploring spaces that Mastodon and Helmet have opened up, his rudimentary vocal output undermines both the finished artistic product, and the bands reach and appeal. To make the step that Hammerhedd (and let’s be honest, the band name doesn’t help either but we’re probably too far down that line to unwind that one…) could potentially make and to invade the alternative conscience in the ways the aforementioned other Progressive Metal leading lights have, they will need to find a way to bring the vocal performance up to the technical level of the other instruments on display, in a way the ideas and musical vision deserves.
Still, time is on their side. And Grand Currents possesses more than just flashes of potential. It does intimate there is more to come, yes, which can only be a good thing, and it is also a valid and worthwhile investment of your time, even if only to have been onboard for if and when they do find a way to raise the vocals to the level of the other instruments somewhere down the line.
Gojira has shared “The Chant,” the final single to arrive ahead of the release of the band’s highly anticipated new album, Fortitude, out April 30th via Roadrunner Records. “The Chant” is available today on all streaming platforms with pre-orders available at the link below. Ther band has also shared a teaser for the official music for “The Chant” which will arrive on album release day, April 30th – watch it now!
Another festival bites the dust due to the pandemic as Tuska Festival has been forced to cancel their 2021 event, and plan to rebook for 2022. Some rock and metal festivals worldwide are trying their best to bounce back from the last year, but in the case of Tuska, they didn’t feel like the conditions worked for hosting the fest. Tuska 2021 was to have been headlined by Korn, Deftones, Gojira, Devin Townsend, Baroness, insomnia,, Beast In Black, Eluveitie, Jinjer, Finntroll, High on Fire, Perturbator, Oranssi Pazuzu, Vltimas, Gaahls Wyrd, Korpiklaani, and many more. Information about refunds and rolling over your tickets to next year (please do this if you can) are at the link below.
Gojira has released and new single and lyric video, “Into The Storm” from their upcoming album Fortitude, whichwill be released April 30th via Roadrunner Records. “Into The Storm” is available today on all streaming platforms. The band launched their recentAmazonia fundraising initiative around the song of the same name to protect the Brazilian Rainforests and has raised over $120,000 USD so far. Watch the lyric video now!
Gojira has released and new single and video, “Amazonia” from their upcoming new album Fortitude, due out on April 30th via Roadrunner Records. In addition the incredible song and cinematic quality video, the band has launched the “Amazonia” Fundraising Initiative To Benefit The Articulation Of Indigenous Peoples Of Brazil (Apib). The video was created by Charles De Meyer, shot in France as well as various locations in Brazil. De Meyer collaborated with multiple filmmakers (Vincent Moon, Hauxplay, Jennifer Kumiko Hayashi, and Midia Ninja) to help bring an unfiltered look into the lives and struggle of the indigenous tribes there. Watch now and stream the song at all DSP’s today. Fortitude is available for pre-order as well. Continue reading →
The leading independent live entertainment producer and promoter Danny Wimmer Presents has announced the upcoming festival calendar for the year. The event lineup includes the return of fan favorites Louder Than Life and Welcome To Rockville, alongside the previously announced Aftershock, and new to the DWP family, Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival. Louder Than Life, the largest rock festival in America, will take place September 23-26, 2021 at Highland Festival Grounds at KY Expo Center in Louisville, Kentucky and will be adding a Thursday night celebration event to kick off the weekend. All current pass holders will receive admission to the newly added Thursday night kickoff celebration for free.
