It is easy to forget that Forever Blue is the debut album from AA Williams, such is the level of status she has already acquired since first taking to the stage only last year. In the meantime, she has garnered a huge amount of critical acclaim, released a self-titled EP, and collaborated with Mono before releasing Forever Blue.
Japanese avant-garde masters Mono will return to Europe in 2021. Direct support will come from A.A. Williams. Tickets on sale Friday 17th July from the link below. Mono continues to tour behind their excellent 2019 album Nowhere Now Here (Pelagic Records). Recorded with producer Steve Albini, the band released that album, their 10th,’ in January 2019 before ending the year with the ‘Beyond The Past’ 20th anniversary shows in London in December. A.A Williams just released her new full-length album Forever Blue (Bella Union).Continue reading
Crushing news for the summer festival season in Europe, as France’s legendary Hellfest, has been canceled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The festival announced today it was unable to host the festival, which takes place in Clisson, France, outside of Paris. Hellfest 2021 is already announced for next summer. The 2020 edition was to have had Faith No More, and Down will be joined by Deftones, System Of A Down, Incubus, Korn, Mastodon, Opeth, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, The Offspring, Infectious Grooves, The Darkness, Obituary, Death DTA (the Death tribute featuring members of Death), At The Gates, Entombed AD, Sacred Reich, Devin Townsend, Meshuggah, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Mayhem, Abbath, Rotting Christ, Primordial, The Great Old Ones, Wardruna, The Hu, Taake, Watain, Alcest, Borknagar, Gaahl’s Wyrd, Electric Wizard, Baroness, Om, Witchcraft, Black Mountain, Elder, ASG, Envy, Mono, John Garcia & the Band of Gold, High On Fire, Pelican, Killing Joke, Perturbator, Life of Agony, 3TEETH, Inter Arma, Body Count, Suicidal Tendencies, Youth of Today, Slapshot, Jesus Piece, Higher Power, Social Distortion, Anti-Flag, Agnostic Front, Reverend Horton Heat, Grade 2, Code Orange, and more. Dumb and Dumbest Podcast had an episode dedicated to the fest last summer. Continue reading
Mono and A.A. Williams will drop a collaborative two-song EP, Exit in Darkness, on December 13th via Pelagic Records. Celebrating twenty years, Mono is one of underground music’s all-time legends, as they team with one of the most essential artists to come along in the last few years for what promises to be an amazing pairing! The digital EP is due out next month, while 10-inch vinyl release comes in late January. Now h the first new single and title track! Continue reading
Hellfest has announced its 15th-anniversary lineup for summer 2020, and it looks like a dream! Already announced Faith No More, and Down will be joined by Deftones, System Of A Down, Incubus, Korn, Mastodon, Opeth, Deep Purple, Judas Priest, The Offspring, Infectious Grooves, The Darkness, Obituary, Death DTA (the Death tribute featuring members of Death), At The Gates, Entombed AD, Sacred Reich, Devin Townsend, Meshuggah, The Black Dahlia Murder, Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Mayhem, Abbath, Rotting Christ, Primordial, The Great Old Ones, Wardruna, The Hu, Taake, Watain, Alcest, Borknagar, Gaahl’s Wyrd, Electric Wizard, Baroness, Om, Witchcraft, Black Mountain, Elder, ASG, Envy, Mono, John Garcia & the Band of Gold, High On Fire, Pelican, Killing Joke, Perturbator, Life of Agony, 3TEETH, Inter Arma, Body Count, Suicidal Tendencies, Youth of Today, Slapshot, Jesus Piece, Higher Power, Social Distortion, Anti-Flag, Agnostic Front, Reverend Horton Heat, Grade 2, Code Orange, and many more. Hellfest takes place June 19-21 in Clisson, France near Paris and ticket info is coming soon! Continue reading
Whenever our house is made home by a particularly large member of the domestic arachnid species, it’s affectionately called Boris: largely due to the long-attributed name for such creatures, but also to my affection for the Japanese band of the same name. Latest albums Lφve and Evφl, originally released in August as tour merchandise, now make an appearance as a double album on general release (Third Eye Music).Continue reading
I arrive to find Trigger Thumb just on stage, with a quite busy and appreciative crowd in front of them. The room is already warm and echoing, though neither of these things seems to put off either audience nor band, despite the slight disservice done to Trigger Thumb by this. Even from the third song in, there are noticeably more heads nodding along and more movement in the crowd from earlier, as the Bradford 3-piece start to quickly work over the crowd, with vocalist/guitarist Arron’s self-deprecation between songs raising a number of smiles around the room, as he says, “We are Trigger Thumb and we are losers”. Musically, they veer between noisy Math Rock and some quite delicate guitar and vocals, showing an homage, at least, to The Mars Volta, whilst nods to the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan and Faith No More pop through at various times. They perform their set with a minimum of fuss and thoroughly earned the loud applause they garner at the end of their set.
Avant-garde Metal legends Mono will invade London this December to celebrate the band’s 20th anniversary. The band will curate the “Beyond The Past” event, headline the Barbican in London on 14th December with an orchestra and they’ll be joined by specials guests Alcest. As part of the anniversary, they are also curating two other shows that weekend with Boris, envy, Arabrot, and Svalbard playing Oval Space on the 13th and then a matinee show on the 14th featuring Nordic Giants, Jo Quail, A.A Williams, and Floating Spectrum at the Underground. In 2019, the band released Nowhere Now Here – their 10th studio album in 20 years.Continue reading
Since their inception in 1999, and across ten albums Japan’s Mono have been an enlightening creative force, one that is never afraid to usher in new textures and layers in to their sound and adopt experimentation. Rarely sitting still in one straightforward sound, Mono have dabbled with a range from greater orchestration to more experimental and ambient aspects, and are a much beloved treasure as a result.Continue reading
Metal legends Mono are releasing their brand new album, Nowhere Now Here, produced by Steve Albini (Nirvana), on 25th January via Pelagic Records. Now they have booked a headline tour of Europe to support the album, on top of their highly anticipated appearance at Roadburn 2019. Direct support will come from Arabrot, and Jo Quail, making this one of the best tours announced of the early year so far. Pre-order the new Mono album at the link below.