Based out of southern Connecticut, comes “He Was A God”. They recently released their debut EP, called “The Smile and the Scar”. For a three song EP, it has much to offer in regards of time. At an almost 20 minute length, it does a fantastic job of telling a story of human triumph and perseverance. If you’re a fan of Alice In Chains, Stone Sour, and Black Sabbath… He Was A God will be right up your alley!
Too much of our delight, Ghost is finally back after a nearly two year hiatus. They surprised their fans with a U.S.A tour announcement. They’ll be coheadlining with the band Volbeat in early 2022, with special guest, “Twin Temple”. This is surely a tour you would not want to miss. Below are the tour dates!
Jan 25 | Reno, NV
Jan 27 | Seattle, WA
Jan 28 | Nampa, ID
Jan 29 | Portland, OR
Jan 31 | West Valley City, UT
Feb 2 | Denver, CO
Feb 4 | Lincoln, NE
Feb 5 | Minneapolis, MN
Feb 7 | Columbus, OH
Feb 8 | Hershey, PA
Feb 10 | Newark, NJ
Feb 11 | Worcester, MA
Feb 12 | Camden, NJ
Feb 14 | Pittsburgh, PA
Feb 15 | Toledo, OH
Feb 16 | Grand Rapids, MI
Feb 18 | Chicago, IL
Feb 19 | Cincinnati, OH
Feb 20 | Milwaukee, WI
Feb 21 | St. Louis, MO
Feb 23 | Independence, MO
Feb 25 | Houston, TX
Feb 26 | Dallas, TX
Feb 28 | El Paso, TX
Mar 1 | Phoenix, AZ
Mar 3 | Anaheim, CA
Two great bands come together to give a stellar performance after COVID hit back in 2020. Anyone who is a concert goer surely wouldn’t have missed the power houses this tour offers. .
The opener, Sabaton, is a power metal band hailing from Sweden. Most people would dread acts before the headliner. Sabaton is not one of those bands. Fans and new listeners can always be delighted by their performances. All of their songs are filled vigor and so much history, literally! If you’re a history buff and love heavy metal, they are the band for you! While entertaining the crowd, the guys are always smiling. Their energy is so contagious and carries throughout the night.
Judas Priest is a staple in heavy metal history. Being formed in 1969, they have been around for 50 years. Although these rock gods are like fine wine with age, their performance is still filled energy and is unforgettable. Rob Halford proves that music has no age limit. He showcased the fact that his vocal skills are timelessly unmatched. The one thing I noticed about the audience during Priest’s set, there was a wide age range of attendants. If you looked to your left, they were people who moms and dads. If you looked to the row in front of you, they were college kids FaceTiming with their friend who couldn’t attend the show. Lastly, the right had people who were in their golden years singing their hearts out.
There was no doubt this tour is one to remember. After the last two years, seeing everyone together once again was refreshing. Music is the heart that connects people. Regardless of one’s aspects in life, there is one sentence we can all agree on, long live heavy metal!
RIVERS OF NIHIL will begin their North American tour supporting labelmates The Black Dahlia Murder this Friday! The Up From The Sewer Tour 2021 will commence September 3rd in Chicago and run through October 10th in New York City. Additional support will be provided by After The Burial, Carnifex, and Undeath. See all confirmed dates below.
RIVERS OF NIHIL w/ The Black Dahlia Murder, After The Burial, Carnifex, Undeath:9/03/2021 Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL9/04/2021 The Fillmore – Minneapolis, MN9/05/2021 The Rave – Milwaukee, WI9/07/2021 The Intersection – Grand Rapids, MI9/08/2021 Piere’s – Ft. Wayne, IN9/09/2021 Pop’s – Sauget, IL9/10/2021 Granada Theater – Lawrence, KY9/11/2021 Summit Music Hall – Denver, CO * Sold Out 9/12/2021 The Complex – Salt Lake City, UT9/14/2021 El Corazon – Seattle, WA * Sold Out9/15/2021 Bossanova Ballroom – Portland, OR * Sold Out9/17/2021 UC Theater – Berkley, CA9/18/2021 The Belasco – Los Angeles, CA * Sold Out9/19/2021 House Of Blues – San Diego, CA9/21/2021 House Of Blues – Las Vegas, NV9/22/2021 Nile Theater – Mesa, AZ9/24/2021 GMBG – Dallas, TX9/25/2021 Come And Take It live – Austin, TX * Sold Out9/26/2021 Warehouse Live – Houston, TX9/28/2021 Center Stage – Atlanta, GA9/29/2021 Arizona Pete’s – Greensboro, NC9/30/2021 Baltimore Soundstage – Baltimore, MD10/01/2021 King Of Clubs – Columbus, OH10/02/2021 Roxian Theater – Pittsburgh, PA10/03/2021 House Of Blues – Cleveland, OH10/05/2021 St. Andrews Hall – Detroit, MI10/06/2021 Phoenix Concert Halls – Toronto, ON10/07/2021 Club Soda – Montreal, QC10/08/2021 The Palladium – Worcester, MA10/09/2021 Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ10/10/2021 Irving Plaza – New York, NY RIVERS OF NIHIL will be touring in support of their upcoming fourth full-length, The Work, set for release September 24th via Metal Blade Records. RIVERS OF NIHIL have never fit neatly into a box, but with 2018’s Where Owls Know My Name, they transcended all labels applied to them. Returning in 2021 with The Work, they’ve forged further into new territory, delivering an album that’s as cerebral as it is visceral, and that covers a staggering sonic range, definitively placing them in a category of their own. Inarguably a dense, heavy collection, The Work is far too dynamic to be considered a solely metal record and there is a genuine warmth that shows through, particularly on tracks like “Wait” and the gorgeous “Maybe One Day.” Additionally, the band has incorporated more clean vocals alongside the screaming that tears through many of the record’s heavier tracks. Courtesy of their friend Zach Strouse, saxophone once again adds extra layers of atmosphere to the collection, utilizing baritone, soprano, and alto saxes to great effect.
As the debut album from Philadelphia hardcore/noise rock solo outfit, END YOU, Aimless Dread, nears May release via Pax Aeternum, No Echo is now hosting a premiere of the album’s lead track, “SLPWLKR.”
It’s not uncommon for punks approaching the golden years of their late thirties to undertake a solo project. They might want to indulge their sensitive singer-songwriter side, they might have gotten really into DJing house music, or they might just be tired of dealing with drummers. But while the inclination towards going it alone isn’t rare, the approach taken by former The Catalyst frontman Eric Smith for Aimless Dread, his debut solo release as END YOU, eschews so many of the cliches that the phrase “solo project” evokes, opting instead for a set of the most intense output Smith has ever released. A vicious yet cerebral set of material calling to mind the dissonant brutality of Deadguy or Breather Resist as much as it does the smartass noise rock of Karp and Born Against, the album would be impressive even if it had been the creation of a full band, but the fact that one person could be behind this whole endeavor (though Smith did have a little help from engineer Steve Roche and former The Catalyst bandmate Michael Backus) makes the whole project that much more potent.
The song whose lyrics inspired the album title Aimless Dread, END YOU presents the track “SLPWLKR” through a premiere at No Echo. Smith offers, “This is a song I wrote about the conflict created when a person with bad social anxiety tries to give up being alone. I spend so much time glued in my own skull that sometimes I find it hard to relate to other people. The most casual of conversations can get drowned out in the echo of my own self-doubt. It’s named after a phrase carved into the pavement outside of my subway stop, which I would step over at the end of many a late and lonely ride home from work. This is one of the first songs that came together for the record. It doesn’t have a traditional verse/chorus structure, and I always kind of thought of it as an intro to something bigger. Which, I guess, is what it ultimately became.”
No Echo writes, “Writing in his cramped South Philadelphia apartment, he pulled influence from the likes of Born Against, Drive Like Jehu, and Botch, bands that might not fall under the same umbrella, but all share a heightened intensity everything they ever wrote and recorded. Listening to END YOU’s forthcoming debut album, Aimless Dread, it’s not hard to hear Smith also delivers that fierce kind of focus into his own material.”
Listen to END YOU’s “SLPWLKR” first through No Echo now at THIS LOCATION. Aimless Dread will be released on May 21st via Pax Aeternum with a concurrent cassette tape release via The Ghost Is Clear Records. Find digital preorders where “The Call” and “Alt Delete” are streaming HERE and cassette preorders HERE.
Founding KISS guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame member Ace Frehleyshared the second single from his highly-anticipated second collection of eleven rock ‘n’ roll covers titled, Origins Vol. 2, in the form of The Beatles’ 1965 b-side, “I’m Down”. Featuring John 5, the cover kicks the classic track into high gear with shredding solos and Frehley’s on-point vocals, sounding at the top of his game. Due out on September 18, 2020 via Entertainment One (eOne), Origins Vol. 2 continues Frehley’s reflections on a lifetime in music and inspiration. No stranger to cover versions throughout his musical history — having recorded, rebranded, and repossessed such notable nuggets as “New York Groove,” “Do Ya” and “I Wanna Go Back” throughout his eight previous studio efforts — this new collection presents a thoughtful and exciting selection of songs that inspired and helped shape the legendary guitarist. That spirit of fun is carried through with exquisite execution, and guitar aficionados will enjoy Frehley’s fresh interpretations of these classic songs.
Origins Vol. 2 features some extraordinary guests, including Robin Zander of Cheap Trick on Humble Pie’s “30 Days In The Hole,” and former KISS comrade Bruce Kulick on Jimi Hendrix’s “Manic Depression.” Origins Vol. 1 alumnus John5 also returns, playing on Cream’s “Politician,” and The Beatles’ “I’m Down.” Finally, the exquisite Lita Ford returns on vocals, this time on The Rolling Stones’ 1968 hit “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Origins Vol. 2 will be the followup to 2016’s Origins Vol. 1, which hit #23 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, and was his second highest-charting solo album and his 4th Top 40 album.
NEW YORK, NY (September 1, 2020) – After releasing their debut The Talk EP, buzzing Columbus, OH rock band SOUTH OF EDEN have unleashed the official music video for the EP’s title track!
On the video, which was premiered by Rolling Stone, the band said: “This video ties all the ideas from the record together. Distorted views, unclear agendas, the masses following along and a sense of unsettling tension. All accompanied by a mixture of emotions, moods and lights. ‘The Talk’ was a lot of fun to shoot and quite a strange experience! The pandemic has changed a lot all over the world, and here in Ohio the laws are very strict on social distancing. When it was time to start planning a video, we knew a lot of work and research had to be done to ensure the video came out exactly how we envisioned it and that all of the guidelines were met. Temperature on arrival, masks, social distancing, the whole 9-yards. Kinda hard to read the cameraman’s face when you can’t see it! The craziest part was the director was monitoring on a zoom call from a different state! Everyone did such an awesome job and were so professional about it, it ended being an awesome experience. I’m interested to see what the world looks like when it opens back up again.”
Nashville, TN based Indie singer-songwriter KRANTZ has released the official music video for their inspiring new single, “Try Living Every Day.” Originally premiered on mxdwn, “Try Living Every Day” tells a poignant story of positivity and encouragement.
Stream “Try Living Every Day” here
“I wrote this about a buddy at first, but ended up feeling like I was singing about myself,” said Krantz. “I’ve missed a lot of fun trips, big events, or even just get togethers with friends because I was afraid to take the day off from working. I just thought I had to make money and that was the most important thing, but came to realize I was missing what would have been great times in my life just to have more in my bank account. I’m not saying don’t work a job or anything like that, just don’t become a slave to it and make sure ya live everyday to the fullest. Pep talk over…” – KRANTZ
“The song opens with a dramatic hip-hop style beat and a simple piano figure, though as the synths enter it takes a bit of a swing into more left-field, psychedelic sounds not unlike The Flaming Lips. The song is told in a narrative style, describing “He came into the world / With vision quite obscured / His childhood was kind.”
The animated video follows the events of the song, featuring a pregnant woman, a newborn baby and a preschool age child watching television. Eventually he grows into a man who’s first priority is money and stability, something that’s hammered into us from a young age but in an age of increasing wealth disparity, becomes a life and soul-sucking mission for everyone but the richest of the rich.” – MATT MATASCI – mxdwn
After leaving his home state of Iowa, traveling the world, touring over 200 days per year with a band called The Effects* and opening for acts such as the Kings of Leon, Shinedown, Foreigner, and the Toadies, Jeffrey Krantz made the decision to “live the dream” and eventually landed in Nashville. There, he recorded his first self-produced solo album titled “KRANTZ” in between tapings of MTV’s music competition, American Supergroup, where he eventually became a finalist in the competition. While working nonstop at the Honky Tonks of Music City to reach his musical dream, Jeffrey Krantz kept writing, touring, and released “The Pennock Tapes” (2017) and his second album, “Misty Morning Dew.” The band “Krantz” brings a psychedelic/pop/rock edge equipped with an in-your-face attitude, intertwining meaningful lyrics, and authentic, no-holds rock and roll. As an alternative rock band in a land of country music, Krantz embraces a refreshing take on golden age rock acts, combining classic musical elements of The Beatles and T. Rex with more modern sounds of bands like Weezer and Green Day, creating whimsical and catchy melodies that are certain make your feet dance and heart throb.
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