Having just dropped their debut album Rivers of Heresy (Roadrunner Records) extreme metal supergroup Empire State Bastard have shared a new stand alone single – “Tired, Naw?” The track is streaming on all DSPs now. The band features members of Biffy Clyro with Dave Lombardo on drums! Stream the new single now!
Life Of Agony’s classic debut album River Runs Red was released 30 years ago today, on October 12th, 1993 via Roadrunner Records. Coming out of Brooklyn, New York and produced by Josh Silver (Type O Negative), the album shook the Hardcore and Metal world to its core with its heavy, catchy riff-heavy songs, impassioned vocals, and frank lyrics about suicide, drug addiction, ptsd, and family trauma. The band continues to tour and perform these songs around the globe, and made a sequel album, 2018’s acclaimed The Sound of Scars. Read retrospective we created for the 25th anniversary below, and jam out to some LOA today.
Ghost Cult Keefy caught up with Mike Vennart (ex-Oceansize) and Simon Neil of Empire State Bastard. The supergroup features the duo from Biffy Clyro, along with Dave Lombardo (Mr. Bungle, ex-Slayer, Dead Cross, etc.) After getting rained out at Riot Fest, the guys were kind enough to circle back with Keefy to pick up the chat with us. They discussed their love of extreme metal including Grindcore and Death Metal, a breakdown of the new album, subverting the expectations of Biffy fans, working with Lombardo, adding Naomi Macleod (Bitch Falcon) to the live line-up on bass, signing to Roadrunner Records, their first USA gigs, and much more!
In case you forgot or were not alive, the late 1990s was a time when every Metal record label was jumping on the bandwagon of trend-hopping and hunting for the next “big thing” mostly Nu Metal or Nirvana’s take on pre-Grunge revival of Punk vibes. With almost no websites yet, pundits at music magazines, radio, and MTV, had declared metal dead (many bands would say otherwise, all the while the underground excelled like never before with stellar releases.
News from the camp of Orange County rockers Joyous Wolf: singer Nick Reese has opted to leave the band. The remaining band members announced that the split was due to creative differences and, the band is seeking a new vocalist to complete their new album. In addition, the band is searching for a new label, having been signed to Roadrunner Records since 2018, and they are also working on other things and business relationships behind the scenes. Joyous Wolf has been one of the coolest bands we have ever covered, with major tours, music festivals, and more.
Slipknot recently wrapped up their headline tour of Latin America, including three of their own Knotfest events. Now you can watch a three-minute video recap of the tour. Slipknot continues to support their 2022 album The End, So Far, which was released on September 30th via Roadrunner Records. The album will be their final release under their original record deal, signed in 1998.
Arguably the biggest metal band in the world, Slipknot is the subject of our current series. Episode 2 of 4 picks up the band following the release of their game-changing debut, from Ozzfest side-stage opener to headlining over legends in just a year, followed by the release of their second album, Iowa (Roadrunner Records).
Kicking off a new series on arguably the biggest metal band in the world Slipknot! Episode 1 of 4 takes the band from their formation out of the mire of the Iowa metal and rock scene in the early 1990s, forming the “classic” line-up, working with Ross Robinson signing with Roadrunner Records , comparisons to Mushroomhead, to releasing the the epic debut album in 1999!
Roadrunner United was a project organized by iconic hard rock record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary, culminating in the U.S. Billboard Top 200, UK Albums, and Australian ARIA Albums-charting original The All Star Sessions. Four “team captains” (Slipknot’s Joey Jordison (RIP), Machine Head’s Robb Flynn, Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares, and Trivium’s Matthew K. Heafy) were chosen to lead 57 artists from 45 past and present Roadrunner bands. On December 15, 2005, a concert celebrating the project, album, and anniversary took place at the Nokia Theater in New York City. That star-studded event featured multiple musicians, both past and present, from Roadrunner bands — as well as musicians that did not originally perform on the All-Star Sessions album. Now that album is getting a release in 2023 on multiple formats. Watch the live performance video of “The End (Live)” featuring Fear Factory’s Dino Cazares, and Trivium’s Matthew K. Heafy – right now!
Slipknot previously announced details of their highty-anticipated new album, The End, So Far, which will be released September 30th, 2022 via Roadrunner Records. The band has shared the album’s second single – “Yenn” and now a full narritive music video – directed by M. Shawn “Clown” Crahan! “Yen” follows “The Dying Song (Time To Sing)”, and is also available now on all DSPs. Pre-orders for the album merch and music, as well as pre-saves are live right now.