Ask any metalhead of a certain age and they’ll tell you the nineties have a lot to answer for. A sudden and seismic change in trends saw the death of Thrash, Glam, and other associated sub-genres, and the unprecedented rise of the Grunge and Alternative scenes. What was popular one minute was outdated the next, and while many bands simply weren’t able to survive, others tried embracing the change.Continue reading
Low-key Metal Supergroup Devolution is a collaborative project featuring musicians and friends Jon Howard (Threat Signal, Imonolith), Eric Tysor, Nate Beberdick, and Christian Olde Wolbers (ex-Fear Factory, Vio-lence, Cypress Hill, plus Arkaea– his previous band along with Jon Howard). The band will drop their new album Deceiver, Believer via Close Encounter Records, and featuring guest appearances by Cristian Machado and Chris Dudley! The band has teamed up with Ghost Cult today to premiere their new lyric video for the title track which you can watch and stream below! Continue reading
December 1st 2019.
The first day waking up in a post-Slayer world.
A dark day indeed. Continue reading
Christian Olde-Wolbers of Vio-Lence (Powerflo, ex-Fear Factory) needs emergency surgery to fix a metal rod that broke in his leg. According to a GoFundMe he launched to help with the medical costs. Christian has been in pain and on crutches since he returned from Vio-Lence’s South American tour a few weeks ago. Like most metal musicians, he is uninsured and doesn’t want to miss the band’s next tour, celebrating 35-plus years of the Eternal Nightmare album (Combat Records) kicking off in the USA before heading over to Europe. The band has suffered some personnel changes lately, including the departures of Bobby Gufstason, Perry Strickland, and more recently the permanent departure of Phil Demmel and Ira Black.Continue reading
This weekend marked the 7th annual Cliff Burton Day, celebrating the late Metallica legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, as officially declared by Cliff’s hometown of Castro Valley and the greater Alameda County. Cliff would have turned 62 on February 10th, 2024. Continuing with tradition, host Nicholas Gomez spoke with Cliff’s family and friends, about their memories of Cliff. Watch the tribute here. Continue reading
Today is the 7th annual Cliff Burton Day, celebrating the late Metallica legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, as officially declared by Cliff’s hometown of Castro Valley and the greater Alameda County. Cliff would have turned 62 today, February 10th, 2024. Continuing with tradition, host Nicholas Gomez will speak with Cliff’s family and friends, about their memories of Cliff. Check back to the site later for the full video and more Cliff day tributes. Continue reading
After almost 39 years in the band Vio-Lence Co-founder and guitarist Phil Demmel is permanently leaving the band after one final show on February 11th. In a post to social media and transcribed by Metal Injection, Demmel, explains that this recent development has nothing to do with him joining Kerry King’s new band, and more about the direction he has been heading in for a while, as he and vocalist Sean Killian are “not on the same page, and never have been!” Perry Strickland left the band in 2023. As Injection also reported, Demmel played with every incarnation of Vio-Lence across their career between 1985 and 2024, but he also stepped back from the band in 2023 as the band began touring without him and Demmel only playing occasional festivals like Milwaukee Metal Fest and a hometown show in Oakland. At that Oakland show last summer, Phil gave several lengthy thank yous and tributes to current and former members, that felt to those in attendance, like a goodbye moment from him. Demmel has also filled in for Lamb of God on tour in recent years and Slayer in 2018. Vio-lence has confirmed spring tour dates booked for the USA. Continue reading
New Orleans thrash and groove trailblazers, Exhorder, have revealed plans for their 4th full-length record, Defectum Omnium. Following up 2019’s Mourn The Southern Skies, and featuring cover art by Travis Smith (Katatonia, Opeth), it’s due out March 08th on Nuclear Blast Records. The band have also shared the album’s first single and video, “Year Of The Goat.” Check it out below, and read more from Exhorder.
Bay Area thrash icons Vio-Lence will return to the stage this April for a special eight-date headlining tour featuring the band performing their classic 1988-released debut full-length Eternal Nightmare in its entirety! The tour runs from April 5th in Cambridge, Massachusetts through April 13th in Chicago, Illinois. Support will be provided by Exhorder, Deceased, and Mortal Wound. This show is not to be missed, as we saw when Vio-Lence performed Eternal Nightmare in Oakland this year. Tickets are on sale now. See all confirmed dates below.Continue reading
It was the second of two days in a row in Oakland for the Live and Outside concert series produced by the Oakland Underworld Metro Opera House at Line 51 Brewing. I had barely recovered from seeing YOB the night before when it was time to head back over to Line 51 Brewing, but this time for some Thrash and Death Metal greatness. Although I ended up getting there early, there were many more people here today than for yesterday’s smaller, but also intense show.