Pantera, Disturbed, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, Architects, Behemoth, Kreator, Meshuggah, Gojira, Parkway Drive, Testament, Voivod are among the 103 artists who have been added to the 26th edition of the Graspop Metal Meeting, set to take place June 15-18, 2023 in Dessel, Belgium. Tickets are on sale tomorrow at the links below. Continue reading
Saint Andrew’s Hall is one of Detroit’s hot spots for catching a good show. The Live Nation owned venue hosts all genres and caters particularly well to the heavier ones. Last week, Deathcore sweethearts, Lorna Shore brought their The Pain Remains Tour to town to support their new album. This month-long, stateside run is every ear gauged kid’s dream. With an impressive span of openers to add incentive, there is a reason why this show sold out.
Download Festival 2023, celebrating 20 years as a festival, is now the festest selling its 20 year history. The early pre-sale tickets are sold-out, but additional tickets will be available next week. The four-day festival (first time ever) is headlined by Metallica, performing two unique headline sets over the weekend with no songs repeated, and will be joined by fellow headliners Slipknot, and Bring Me The Horizon. Over 60 bands announced including Evanescence, Parkway Drive, Disturbed, Pendulum, Architects, Ghost, The Distillers, Placebo, Alexisonfire, Asking Alexandria, Motionless In White, I Prevail, The Blackout (reunion), Fever 333, Stray From The Path, Lorna Shore, Nova Twins, Within Temptation, many and more. General tickets onsale at 10am on
Download Festival 2023, celebrating 20 years as a festival, for announces three headliners over four days for the first ever time. Metallica will perform two unique headline sets over the weekend with no songs repeated, and will be joined by fellow headliners Slipknot, and Bring me Horizon. Over 60 bands announced including Evanescence, Parkway Drive, Disturbed, Pendulum, Architects, Ghost, The Distillers, Placebo, Alexisonfire, Asking Alexandria, Motionless In White, I Prevail, The Blackout (reunion), Fever 333, Stray From The Path, Lorna Shore, Nova Twins, Within Temptation, many and more. General tickets onsale at 10am on
Say what you will about Deathcore, but that goddamn subgenre refuses to die or give an inch. More power to it, I say. While it may not have reached the commercial heights of its sister subgenre, Metalcore, one could argue that that the former has been just as active as the latter.
It takes quite a lot in the subgenre of deathcore to really excite me nowadays. Lorna Shore is such an example that never excited me, but I also never gave them a real listen before. Plagued by lineup changes, it is difficult to decide where to begin in their discography. Fortunately, a new full-length is out now entitled Pain Remains (Century Media) and this may be a great spot for any new listener to start their journey. This record provides nine tracks (the last three telling one story on their own) at just over the hour mark.
Yes, I think I’ve figured it out. What’s that? Well, I’m listening to Gaerea’s Mirage (Season of Mist) and for whatever reason, my brain keeps bringing up modern-day Lorna Shore. How does that make any sense, you ask? The former is clearly a black metal outfit, while the latter traffics in the death metal – deathcore, whatever – side of things. Sure, but as stylistically distinct as they are, boy do both bands enjoy being self-indulgent.
How so?
Catton Park, United kingdom, 14 Aug 2022, Lamb of God performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
SATURDAY
Considering most people are already feeling like overcooked baked potatoes wrapped in tin foil, the fact that today is meant to be the hottest day of the festival really isn’t the best news. Still, that certainly doesn’t deter a healthy crowd from shaking off the hangovers and getting on with the business at hand, Baest and Lost Society both grabbing the main stage by the scruff of the neck while Sister Shotgun and Mastiff do the same on the Sophie stage.Continue reading
Catton Park, United kingdom, 12 Aug 2022, Behemoth performing on the Ronnie James Dio Stage at Bloodstock Open Air Festival Credit: Rich Price/Ghost Cult Magazine
Main Stage and Sophie Lancaster Stage
THURSDAY
If there are two things we love doing in the UK, it’s complaining about the weather and queuing for things. Well, this year at Bloodstock Open Air, both are freely available and at no extra charge. Not a moment goes by without a comment on the sweltering heat or about having to wait to cross the road to the festival ground. Yes, not content with spending two hours in the main queue, campers have now invented a brand new line to join before even getting that far. For the first time ever, a line has formed for people pulling trolleys and sack carts. Almost a quarter of a mile of people waiting in a surprisingly orderly queue before joining an even bigger queue. England, never change.
With the heat already playing its part, I finally arrive at the Sophie Lancaster Stage in time to catch Italian nutters Nanowar of Steel who send the audience into hysterics with daft costumes and a “Wall of Love” (a traditional wall of death that climaxes with people hugging each other to George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’). Preceding the infuriatingly catchy ‘Norwegian Reggaeton’ with Burzum‘s outdoor recipe for roasted salmon (“you place the freshly caught salmon on a rock and burn down the church next to it”) the band then take the opportunity to use the mighty ‘Valhalleluja’ to build an Ikea coffee table, holding it aloft for the elated crowd. Accompanied by an actual goblin for the duration of their set, US act Nekrogoblikon certainly put on an enjoyable show but find it tough following such a display of irreverent insanity.
Lorna Shore will kick off a run of European tour dates and festivals this coming weekend, as they being the push towards their new album, Pain Remains. The band has also booked a follow-up run of dates – a North American headline tour with Aborted, Ingested, AngelMaker and Ov Sulfur starting on October 21st in Philly and wrapping on November 20th in Montreal. VIP ticket packages will be available to purchase for each show, which will include a ticket to the show, meet and greet with Lorna Shore, an exclusive VIP t-shirt, a souvenir laminate with a lanyard, a signed poster, a tote bag, an enamel pin and early entry. General admission tickets go on sale starting August 5th at 10AM local time (ticket links below) and VIP tickets will be available on August 4th at 10AM ET/7AM PT, below.