Great Scott, Legendary Boston Music Venue, to Shut Down Permanently Due to COVID-19 Closure


Sad news out of Boston as one of the legendary music venues of all time, Great Scott, has announced they will not return when the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic subsides. The club’s manager posted a Facebook message to fans, thanking them for a lifetime of memories. Great Scott, in the Allston neighborhood, was home to all kinds of music, but definitely supported all kinds of rock, metal, punk, and hardcore over the years. Ghost Cult covered countless shows at the venue including Intronaut, Nails, Royal Thunder, Corrections House, Toxic Holocaust, Revocation, Kylesa, The Krum Bums, The Atlas Moth, Kvelertak and many more. Sadly this seems to be one of a wave of clubs, bars, and small businesses crushed by the economic downturn following this pandemic. Continue reading


FESTIVAL REVIEW: Decibel’s Metal & Beer Fest 2019


Decibel Magazine’s Decibel Metal & Beer Fest was, to put it simply, stacked. Fourteen bands across all variants of Death, Grindcore, Prog, and Doom, descended onto Orange County for a weekend of heart-pounding jubilation. The two-day event was held this year at The Observatory, a large yet paradoxically intimate standing-room-only venue, intelligently designed to put the audience at three different heights across the entire space, offering uninhibited views of the stage beyond the perils of the pit.Continue reading


FESTIVAL PREVIEW: Decibel Metal and Beer Fest Los Angeles II


Events Center, Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV 8/17/19

Tonight is the night! Decibel Metal and Beer Festival Los Angeles’s second edition starts tonight! Ghost Cult’s crew will be on hand as the best metal bands in the world match with the greatest Beers in the USA thanks to the greatest metal magazine ever, our pals at Decibel Magazine! Among the weekend’s top bands will be Possessed, Carcass, Vio-Lence, Nails, Gruesome, Schammasch who are making their US debut, Intronaut Spirit Adrift, Visigoth, Evoken Gatecreeper and more! Taking place this weekend, Friday and Saturday, December 13-14, 2019. Weekend passes are sold out but you can still get single-day tickets for the fest at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California. Here is the lineup! Continue reading


Carcass, Intronaut, and Xibalba are The Final Bands For Decibel Metal and Beer Fest LA 2019


Decibel Magazine has revealed that Carcass will headline day two of the second edition of the Decibel Magazine Metal & Beer Fest: L.A. at the Observatory in Santa Ana on December 13-14, 2019. Intronaut (performing for the first time in over two years) and Xibalba also join an already-stacked bill featuring Possessed, Nails, Vio-lence, Cadaver (in their U.S. debut performance), Schammasch (also in their U.S. debut performance), Gatecreeper, Evoken, Spirit Adrift, Visigoth, Mortuous and Graf Orlock. Featured Breweries include Unibroue (Canada) and Metal Monkey (IL), Three Floyds (IN), Burial (NC), Wake (IL), Hoof Hearted (OH), Stone (CA), Three Weavers (CA), Societe (CA), Modern Times (CA) and Brimming Horn Meadery (DE).Continue reading


Nails, Possessed, Vio-Lence, Spirit Adrift, Schammasch and more Booked for Decibel Metal and Beer Fest LA II


December in Los Angeles just got cooler with the second annual Decibel Metal and Beer Fest LA II, coming this Friday and Saturday, December 13-14, 2019, as Decibel, North America’s only monthly metal magazine, brings the loudest, heaviest, most extreme craft beer festival to the Observatory venue in Santa Ana, California. Already announced bands include Possessed, Vio-lence, Nails, Cadaver, Schammasch (U.S. debut performance) Evoken, Spirit Adrift, Visigoth, Gatecreeper, Graf Orlock, Mortuous and more to be announced. Low price early bird tickets are on sale at the link below. Continue reading


Endorphins Lost – Seclusions


There was once a fabled war between Punk and Metal. It seems hard to believe today with the two being so often deeply entrenched both musically and ideologically these days, but alleged reports of intense violence at cross-genre shows are a thing of legend. A sort of peace deal was brokered with the advent of Crossover Thrash, Grindcore and Hardcore, particularly the Metallic Hardcore subgenre. It’s here in the grey area of what is Punk and what is Metal we find Endorphins Lost, a Hardcore/Powerviolence outfit straight out of the Pacific Northwest with Seclusions (From The Head Of Zeus).Continue reading


Dumb And Dumbest 86: Twitter and Social Media Marketing with Allfather’s Tom Ballard



Social Media is not just crucial to keeping in touch with your fanbase, but actually helps with sales of albums and merch! Episode 86 of the Dumb and Dumbest Podcast is streaming right now!, and it’s about covers Twitter and Social Media Marketing with Allfather’s Tom Ballard. Tom and Allfather released a crushing new album last year, they equally crushed social media and made impressive sales for a band of their reputation. Dumb and Dumbest is a music industry podcast hosted by music executive Matt Bacon (Dropout Media, Ripple Music, Prophecy Productions) and Publicist Curtis Dewar (Dewar PR).  Matt and Curtis chat with Tom and run through his bands’ wins, and how the steps you need to make your band more successful.Continue reading