Author: Editorial Team

Ritchie Blackmore joined Deep Purple on stage for the first time in more than three decades during the band’s headlining concert on August 12 at the Northwell at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, New York. The 81-year-old guitarist, who last played with Deep Purple in 1993, came up for a rendition of “Smoke On The Water,” which closed Deep Purple’s regular set.

In a new email interview with Guitar Player (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Blackmore reflected on the emotional impact of the appearance. “It was very moving because I went on very quickly and had to play immediately. I couldn’t warm up, but I wasn’t there to be playing correct notes. I was there to see old friends I hadn’t seen in 40 years, and we’re all getting older. I think we realized it could be the last time we see each other, maybe.

“It was tricky; I didn’t play anything too technical, as I felt I should stick to the rudiments of being simple. I still lost my place at one point, but it’s not why I was there. I was there to heal any wounds — but there weren’t any wounds. Everyone was like we were in the army all along the Western front and we were all getting together again. Very emotional moment.”

After the performance, Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan told the crowd: “A couple of days ago, I got a message from a local lad saying, ‘I only live around the corner. Do you mind if I come and jam with you?’ And I tell you, it was an absolute pleasure to have back on stage the founder member, the great legend, the immortal Ritchie Blackmore.” Gillan added: “Thanks, Ritchie. I have to say it was a great pleasure. I’ll see you in the bar.”

On social media, Blackmore wrote: “Good night had by all, I hope. I know I had a great time. Thanks a lot lads. Carry on and have a good tour.” Deep Purple’s official social media called the reunion “a big moment in rock history,” while Gillan wrote: “What a pleasure it was to welcome Ritchie Blackmore on stage with us to play ‘Smoke’ last night… Thanks Ritchie, that meant a lot to many people; not least me.” Current Deep Purple guitarist Simon McBride shared a photo backstage and wrote: “My absolute pleasure to share the stage with this legend, such a great guy and an inspiration to all.”

Blackmore revealed his guest appearance during an Aug. 11 Instagram Live with his wife Candice Night: “I sent my A.I. pigeon to Ian Gillan in Portugal, where he lives at the moment. And I said, ‘How would you feel about if I got up just for an encore? Just one of the songs. I don’t want to intrude.’ And I said, ‘No pressure — just kind of [for] old times’ sake.’ I’m 81 now. So he seemed to love the idea, put it to the band, got a thumbs up.”

Blackmore also addressed his current health challenges, including a severe vertigo attack in late 2025 that forced him to cancel tour dates, along with gout, arthritis affecting his fingers and feet, and previous heart issues. “I did have my injection in my lumbar area yesterday,” he said. “It’s a special injection I have that enables me to stand in one spot, because if I’m playing a Strat on stage, I have a hard time with the shoulders and the lumbar area. I’ve got four herniated discs, if anybody wants them.

“And I think we’ve all got something to complain about. I just have more things to complain about than usual. And if I don’t complain, I’ll find something to complain about.” Blackmore noted that Gillan has his own maladies with his eyesight, adding: “As you get older, you collect all these things.”

Blackmore is a co-founder of Deep Purple and the author of some of rock’s most recognizable riffs, including “Smoke On The Water,” but had not played with the group since his 1993 departure. During the ensuing years he released one final Rainbow album (1995’s Stranger In Us All) and toured with that band through 1997, then dedicated himself to the Renaissance-inspired music of Blackmore’s Night before briefly reforming Rainbow in 2016 with a new lineup. Blackmore and his family reside on Long Island, New York, near Port Jefferson.

The post RITCHIE BLACKMORE Reflects On Onstage Reunion With DEEP PURPLE: “I Wasn’t There To Play Correct Notes — I Was There To See Old Friends” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Soundgarden co-founding guitarist Kim Thayil launched his memoir, A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown With Soundgarden and Beyond, on June 11, 2026 with a discussion alongside Krist Novoselic, co-founding bassist of Nirvana, at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, Washington. The book, published on June 9 via HarperCollins’ William Morrow imprint, is now accompanied by video of that conversation.

Speaking about the way heroin had devastated the Seattle scene — claiming the lives of Alice in Chains members Layne Staley and Mike Starr, Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Mother Love Bone’s Andrew Wood — Thayil said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth): “That is a point I make in the book a number of times, is that none of these bands had a drug culture and the scene didn’t have a drug culture. There were individuals that had their own sense of self and their own sense of adventure. And I had to explain this many times to journalists and interviewers, and I made sure it was present in the book… I explained that the bands didn’t have a drug culture. I was close friends with all these other guys, and they themselves were just as impacted and distraught, and in no way were they somehow reinforcing this risk.

“As I would tell people, you drive as fast as you want to, you climb a mountain if you want to climb it, and people make choices to make themselves feel good and to enjoy their lives, and a lot of them, a lot of the choices they make are risky, and that’s part of being alive. And the impact of this constantly had me engaging with my family and friends and record labels and tours to say, ‘Hey, this isn’t us. This isn’t even them. This is just a strange aberration with individuals that are living their own lives.’

“And that was so difficult for people to understand. So I’d meet adults, and I’d have to kind of… They would look at me kind of odd or with suspicion or, ‘Here’s this guy with hair too long and doesn’t look like he combs it and a beard, and he plays in one of these Seattle bands.’ And it became very conspicuous after losing Andy and Kurt, and I think the belief was that Seattle was somehow embracing of and reinforcing the decisions that were made.”

When Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell died in May 2017, an autopsy report showed several prescription drugs in his system, though none contributed to his death. Toxicology tests showed the presence of barbiturates, caffeine and lorazepam, as well as naloxone. Cornell was found in his hotel room after a concert in Detroit.

Soundgarden is currently working on an album of previously unreleased recordings made with Cornell before his 2017 death. Thayil, drummer Matt Cameron and bassist Ben Shepherd are collaborating with producer Terry Date, who previously helmed Louder Than Love (1989) and Badmotorfinger (1991).

In November 2025, Soundgarden joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2025 in the Performer category. The three surviving members performed at the induction ceremony alongside guest vocalists Taylor Momsen and Brandi Carlile, with appearances by Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready and Alice in Chains’ Jerry Cantrell.

A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown With Soundgarden and Beyond is available here.

The post SOUNDGARDEN’S KIM THAYIL Says The Seattle Rock Scene Of The 1990s Didn’t Have A Drug Culture: “There Were Individuals That Had Their Own Sense Of Self And Their Own Sense Of Adventure” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Rush’s “Fifty Something” reunion tour — the band’s first in more than 11 years — launched June 2026 and has since expanded to 58 shows across 24 cities, with more than 500,000 tickets sold. Joined by German fusion drummer Anika Nilles and keyboardist Loren Gold, founding members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson have taken the stage for the first time since the death of drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, who passed away from brain cancer in January 2020. South American and European dates are confirmed for early 2027.

In a new interview with Brian Hiatt of Rolling Stone (transcribed by Blabbermouth), Lee discussed his decision to perform as many Rush songs as possible in their original keys. “It was important to me to do as many original versions for our audience as we could,” he said. For Lee, who turns 73 in July, that commitment meant rebuilding a voice that had spent years in partial retreat.

“I didn’t play bass on a regular industrial level for 10 years,” Lee said. “I thought I was in shape, ‘cause I would go down to the studio, and I would play one of my zillion basses, and I would go, ‘Ah, this is great bassing!’ You’d think you’re in shape. You’re not. That’s not playing shape. That’s not touring shape. Not until you get calluses on calluses on calluses and your fingers are sitting there at night sizzling. That’s getting in shape.”

The task ahead on the vocal side was even more daunting. In the Seventies, Lee sang in a speaker-melting shriek he unleashed entirely from instinct, without coaching or conscious technique. As the decades passed, he found his old banshee wail increasingly difficult to access, and occasionally lowered keys to compensate. This time, after more than five decades of singing professionally, he decided to take his first formal vocal lessons. He began Zoom sessions with veteran vocal coach Mitch Seekins, who works remotely from the small town of Ilderton, Ontario.

Seekins, a longtime Rush fan, knew right away that his new client had significant ground to cover. “It was shocking,” Seekins said. “I mean, it was horribly out of shape. The muscles weren’t responding in the top end anymore.”

But the coach had good news as well. “I could hear that it was there, he just couldn’t do it yet,” Seekins said. “He wasn’t sure if he was ever gonna be able to do what he did when he was much younger… But there was no degradation at all, even due to age.”

“The hardest part of the repair part is the psychological end of the thing,” Seekins added. “Because it is subconscious, and if you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t do something, well, guess what? You can’t.”

Lee approached the challenge the same way he approached the bass. “It’s no different than going to the gym and getting strong,” he said. “You have to get this muscle strong, and that’s what I’ve worked on — and to take a more forensic look at how a voice makes a sound, and apply it. I was nervous to try some of those songs.”

As his confidence built, new possibilities opened up — including returning “A Farewell to Kings” to the live set for the first time in decades. “You kick off the verse, and I have to sing in this f***ing stratosphere,” Lee said. “There’s a lot of insecurity that comes with bringing back a song from that long ago… When you’re at this age, people expect you to be a lesser version of yourself, and that’s just not acceptable to me.”

The band did elect to drop the keys on “2112” and “Anthem” — a decision Lee frames as both practical and artistic. “It’s partly an excuse and partly the truth,” he said, noting both songs sound heavier in the lower register. But “Freewill” was a different matter. “There’s no way I would do that song unless I could hit that third verse,” Lee said. “Which is really the highest verse that I sing all night.”

Night after night, he’s making it there. “The cats,” Lee said, “are meowing.”

Neil Peart had been a founding architect of Rush’s sound since joining the band in 1974, serving as drummer and primary lyricist across all subsequent studio albums. His death left his former bandmates uncertain whether Rush could or should continue. Nilles — a 43-year-old fusion drummer from Aschaffenburg, Germany, previously known from her work with Jeff Beck — was brought in after Scully, Lee’s longtime bass tech, flagged her playing during the Beck tour. The first Rush concert without Peart since his debut on Aug. 14, 1974 took place June 2026 at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles.

The post GEDDY LEE On Singing RUSH Songs in Original Keys: “It Was Important to Me to Do as Many Original Versions for Our Audience As We Could” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Swedish heavy metal band Ram will release their new full-length, Against, on October 9 via Metal Blade Records. The album is the band’s first in nearly seven years, following The Throne Within, and arrives alongside the debut of lead single and music video “Ghost Emperor.”

Against is thematically focused on the experience of being pushed beyond reasonable limits and refusing to comply — “that fire of defiance,” as the band collectively states, “which ultimately defines its title and message.” Sonically, the record draws on the early works of Dio, MSG and Sweet in pursuit of an honest, unpolished approach to classic heavy metal. In a music landscape increasingly divided into subgenres, the band positions itself deliberately outside categorization.

For the production, Ram reunited with longtime collaborator Johan Reiven, who previously worked with the band on Lightbringer (2009), recording at Studio Recordia in Varberg, Sweden. Vocalist Oscar Carlquist described the sessions: “At first, I wasn’t really comfortable not being in my own domain. But Johan is a far better sound tech than me and he did a wonderful job. We recorded the solos in a cool new way, as we set up two amps, one wet with a lot of effects and one dry with no effects. They were both mic’d up separately and they played into the enormous recording room in Recordia that is 150 square meters, where we placed two room mics (left and right).”

On where Ram stand in relation to the current metal landscape, Carlquist was blunt: “We do not give a f**k about all these new strange subgenres popping up. We try to play heavy metal in its purest form. We try to hang on to the center of that energy, and we are completely uninterested in 99% of the metal scene.”

Of the lead single, Carlquist said: “This is the opener of the album, a straightforward classic heavy metal song and pure Ram. Lyrically, it deals with how our power structures exist to conceal the true rulers, the ones we will never see or know, pulling the strings behind the curtain and controlling us all.”

Against has drawn advance praise from Erik Danielsson of Watain, who calls the album “passionate, Luciferian, antagonistic, and musically overpowering,” Sebastian Ramstedt of Necrophobic and Nifelheim, who declares it “elite” and Ram “the only band in Sweden making classic heavy metal without it sounding like a pastiche,” and Christian Lindell of Portrait, who calls the album the band’s strongest material to date.

Against will be available on CD, digital and vinyl. LP color variants include 180g Black, Clear Lilac Marbled, Purple Melt (limited to 300), Crystal Clear Blackdust (limited to 300) and Silver Black Splatter (limited to 250). Preorders are available at Metal Blade’s official store.

Ram upcoming live dates:

• Sept. 12, 2026 — Candelabrum Metalfest — León, MX
• Oct. 9, 2026 — TBA — Gothenburg, SE (Release Show)
• Dec. 4, 2026 — Spectrum — Murcia, ES
• Dec. 5, 2026 — Peter Rock — Valencia, ES
• Dec. 6, 2026 — Upload — Barcelona, ES
• Dec. 7, 2026 — Urban — Vitoria, ES
• March 12–13, 2027 — Heavy Metal Thunder Fest — Pisek, CZ
• May 20–22, 2027 — Iron Fest — Ohmbachsee, DE

Ram is:

Oscar Carlquist / Vocals
Morgan Pettersson / Drums
Harry Granroth / Guitar
Martin Jonsson / Guitar
Tobias Petterson / Bass

The post RAM Announces New Album “Against” & Shares Music Video For New Single “Ghost Emperor” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

British psych rock outfit Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats have shared a music video for “House By The Grave,” the opening track from their forthcoming album Shapes Of Midnight. The band describes the clip as a ‘high-fidelity videotape.’ The album arrives Sept. 18 via Killer Candy Records.

Speaking about the track, mastermind Kevin Starrs said: “This is one of my favourite songs that we’ve ever done and the perfect way to open up the album. ‘Yonder stands the sinner!’ really sums it all up.”

Shapes Of Midnight is a conceptual album partially inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s 1842 short story “The Masque Of The Red Death.” It was recorded at the esteemed Abbey Road Studios in London.

Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats will support the release with a 24-date North American tour alongside Messa, launching Sept. 8 in Charlotte, North Carolina:

• Sept. 8 — Charlotte, NC — Neighborhood Theatre
• Sept. 9 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade
• Sept. 10 — Nashville, TN — Brooklyn Bowl
• Sept. 12 — Dallas, TX — Studio at The Bomb Factory
• Sept. 13 — Austin, TX — Levitation Festival
• Sept. 15 — Albuquerque, NM — Sunshine Theatre
• Sept. 16 — Tucson, AZ — La Rosa
• Sept. 18 — Las Vegas, NV — The Portal at Area 15
• Sept. 19 — San Diego, CA — Observatory North Park
• Sept. 20 — Los Angeles, CA — The Bellwether
• Sept. 21 — San Francisco, CA — Regency Ballroom
• Sept. 24 — Boise, ID — Knitting Factory
• Sept. 25 — Portland, OR — Roseland Theater
• Sept. 26 — Seattle, WA — The Showbox
• Sept. 29 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Complex
• Sept. 30 — Denver, CO — Gothic Theatre
• Oct. 2 — Minneapolis, MN — Varsity Theater
• Oct. 3 — Omaha, NE — Slowdown
• Oct. 4 — Chicago, IL — Concord Music Hall
• Oct. 6 — Toronto, ON — Danforth Music Hall
• Oct. 7 — Montreal, QC — Théâtre Benfield
• Oct. 8 — Worcester, MA — The Palladium
• Oct. 9 — Baltimore, MD — Nevermore Hall
• Oct. 11 — New York, NY — Irving Plaza

The post UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS Share Music Video For New Single “House By The Grave” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Nickelback just pulled back the curtain, sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the making of the music video for “Rattle The Cage,” the lead single off the band’s upcoming album, Everything Under The Sun. The record drops Oct. 30, 2026 through Virgin Music Group. With a guest spot from John 5, “Rattle The Cage” gives fans their first real glimpse of where the band is headed next.

Everything Under The Sun marks Nickelback‘s first new album since 2022’s Get Rollin’, and it lands at a point where the band’s momentum is arguably as strong as it’s been in years. Coming off the acclaimed documentary Hate To Love: Nickelback and the Get Rollin’ world tour, which stands as the fastest-selling and highest-attended run of the band’s career, Nickelback keeps stacking wins onto an already massive legacy.

The title fits. Everything Under The Sun runs through the full range of what’s made Nickelback one of rock’s biggest bands, mixing arena-sized anthems with more reflective songwriting, sticky melodies, big guitars and the chemistry the band has carried for over three decades.

“Rattle The Cage” leads the charge as the album’s explosive opening statement. Heavy, fast and loud, the track bottles up the energy that fills the room every night when Nickelback takes the stage in front of packed arenas. Pounding riffs and big hooks drive it forward, capturing exactly the kind of communal chaos the band’s live shows are known for.

“This album has every side of the band on it,” says frontman Chad Kroeger. “There are songs that hit as hard as anything we’ve ever done, songs that take chances, and songs that remind us why we’ve been doing this together for so long. ‘Rattle The Cage’ felt like the perfect way to kick the door open, it has the energy we’ve been feeding off every night on stage, and we can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Nickelback got its start in Hanna, Alberta, and has since become one of the defining rock bands of the 21st century. Ever since Silver Side Up and its breakout hit “How You Remind Me” put the band on the map globally, Nickelback has racked up Grammy Award nominations, American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, JUNO Awards, and international recognition.

Nearly 60 million albums sold, billions of streams and more than 50 million monthly listeners later, Nickelbackremains one of the most-streamed and commercially successful rock bands on the planet. The band’s catalog keeps finding new fans through streaming while still packing arenas with longtime followers.

That reach only grew over the past few years. The Netflix documentary Hate To Love: Nickelback turned into a genuine phenomenon, spending weeks on the platform’s Global Top 10 and giving fans a rare inside look at the band’s history. Around the same time, the Get Rollin’ world tour broke attendance records and cemented Nickelback‘s standing as one of rock’s top live draws.

Everything Under The Sun builds directly on that momentum while pushing the band forward. It stands as both a victory lap and proof that Nickelback‘s creative engine hasn’t slowed down.

The album also marks Nickelback‘s first release under Virgin Music Group, which bills itself as the world’s leading partner for independent labels, artists and entrepreneurs. Virgin Music Group president of North America, Jacqueline Saturn, weighed in on the new partnership: “Nickelback have built one of the most remarkable careers in music, and it’s a huge honor for everyone at Virgin Music Group to work alongside a band with such an enduring legacy and global impact. We’re thrilled to partner with them as they begin this exciting new chapter and can’t wait for fans to experience ‘Everything Under The Sun’.”

More than 30 years in, Nickelback keeps finding ways to grow while holding onto the sound that built its name in the first place. Everything Under The Sun makes the case that the band’s story is far from finished.

Everything Under The Sun is available to pre-order here.

The post NICKELBACK Announces First Virgin Music Group Release With Explosive Behind-The-Scenes Footage For “Rattle The Cage” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Florida metalcore outfit Wage War, made up of Briton Bond (lead vocals), Cody Quistad (rhythm guitar, clean vocals), Seth Blake (lead guitar), Chris Gaylord (bass) and Stephen Kluesener (drums), just dropped its It Calls Me By Name EP through Fearless Records, a release that leaned hard into the band’s nastier side. Now the band follows it up with a video for the standalone single “Sweet Dreams,” and it keeps that same momentum going.

Don’t let the title fool you. “Sweet Dreams” plays more like a nightmare soundtrack than a lullaby. If loud, fast and vicious is your thing, this one delivers, though it’s not pure aggression from start to finish. Wage War slips melodic vocal passages into the chaos, giving listeners a breather while still landing an emotional gut punch. It’s a solid display of the band knowing when to pull back and when to hit the gas.

“‘Sweet Dreams’ is a song about being deceived by the world around you,” Wage War explains. “About safety in a sense of blissful ignorance. Sonically, it draws inspiration from all of our previous work over the last 10 years.”

The track fuses the band’s old and new eras into something that still feels fresh and combustible.

Since forming in Florida, Wage War has built its name on snarling breakdowns, hooks that stick and a distinct spin on the metalcore sound, all while tackling mental health, introspection and perseverance in its lyrics. The band’s 2015 debut, Blueprints, kicked off a run that now includes five studio albums, most recently 2024’s Stigma. Wage War has proven it can chart, too, with “Magnetic” taking the No. 1 spot on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. The band’s most recent EP, It Calls Me By Name, pulls its aggression straight from Florida’s swamps and the untamed edge of nature itself.

Wage War heads back out on U.S. stages this fall for a headline run joined by We Came As Romans, Varials and Cane Hill. The Emergency Broadcast tour kicks off Oct. 25 in San Antonio and wraps Nov. 27 in Orlando.

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The Flower Kings has spent more than 30 years stretching the limits of progressive rock, and the band isn’t slowing down. Its 18th studio album, Hope, arrives Oct. 23, 2026 via InsideOut Music, following up 2025’s Love with a record that manages to honor the band’s history while still swinging for something new. True to form, The Flower Kings hasn’t abandoned the side-long epic here either, with two tracks stretching past the 18- and 28-minute marks.

Instead of leaning on nostalgia or trend-chasing, the band built something that sits comfortably between polished musicianship and genuine risk-taking.

Founding member Roine Stolt puts it this way: “At a certain point in life you arrive at a place where outside opinions matter less and the process gravitates towards making an album that YOU yourself would LOVE but would perhaps normally not be viewed as a commercial attempt at all. We, the band, trust YOU, the audience, to be curious and to trust us that we want to bring you a grand glowing adventure.”

Alongside the announcement, the band dropped a video for lead single “In A World Of Fools.”

Hope reads as a snapshot of an unsettled moment in the world. It steers clear of overt politics, but the songs still wrestle with division and fading empathy, ultimately landing on a message built around hope and pointing toward a way back to love, both personally and collectively.

Stolt and keyboardist Lalle Larsson wrote the album’s material, anchored by the nearly 30-minute centerpiece “The Gods Of Rome.” The piece started as orchestral sketches more than a decade ago and nearly ended up folded into an Anderson/Stolt project before finding its true home with The Flower Kings. Now reworked for the full band, it uses ancient Rome as a lens to dig into power, conflict and the toll ambition takes on people.

Stolt and Larsson are joined once again by Hans Fröberg on vocals, Michael Stolt on bass and Mirko DeMaio on drums. With contributions from every member plus a handful of guest musicians, the album plays out as a dense, rewarding listen that keeps revealing new layers on repeat spins.

Roine Stolt adds: “Like I said 37 years ago, ‘This is the band I will be in for the rest of my days,’ but I wouldn’t dream of us making one of our finest albums ever in 2026!”

Hope will be released as a limited CD + Blu-ray digipak featuring Dolby Atmos and 5.1 Surround Sound mixes from Rich Mouser, the band’s first time offering those formats. Standard CD jewelcase, gatefold 2LP, and digital editions will also be available. It can now be pre-ordered here.

The post THE FLOWER KINGS Share “In A World Of Fools” Video Ahead Of Upcoming LP “Hope” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Skillet is riding one of the biggest waves of its career right now, with the Christian rock outfit’s latest single “Scream” already topping five million global streams. That momentum sets the stage for a new independent EP, After The Storm, landing Oct. 9. The lead track from the project, “Lift Me Up,” arrives with an anime-inspired lyric video available now.

The six-song EP is up for pre-save, and “Lift Me Up” is streaming everywhere as of today.

The timing couldn’t be better. Skillet is closing in on three decades as a band and currently pulls in more than 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify, while its six-times-platinum song “Monster” has cracked five billion global streams and landed in Spotify‘s Billions Club. The band’s European headline run earlier this year also drew its biggest international crowds ever, including a record-setting night at Zénith in Paris.

David Cowell of Sleep Theory teamed up with Skillet‘s own Korey Cooper to produce After The Storm, a record that pushes the band back toward heavier territory while digging into some of the rawest material frontman John Cooper has ever written. Betrayal, grief, and hard-won perseverance run through the songs, but so does hope.

“‘After The Storm’ is special to me because it reignites what Skillet was always meant to be, which is music that helps lift people out of dark times,” says John Cooper. “I wrote these songs because I needed to be lifted out of my own darkness.”

“Lift Me Up” pairs heavy riffing with a chorus built for arenas, and it doubles as the emotional core of the whole project.

“‘Lift Me Up’ reminds me of early Skillet, but it still feels fresh,” John Cooper says. “When I wrote it, so many things were dragging me down. I was asking God to lift me up. It’s a reminder that even when life feels overwhelming, there is still hope.”

That track follows “Scream,” the song that first introduced fans to the world of After The Storm. Written around anxiety, anger and the search for meaning amid nonstop noise, “Scream” connected with listeners fast and has already cleared five million streams on its own.

Skillet will hit the road behind After The Storm with a U.S. headline tour through Live Nation starting this October, building on a European run that already delivered the band’s largest international crowds to date.

Nearly 30 years in, Skillet shows no interest in coasting on its legacy. After The Storm finds a band operating at the peak of its reach while getting more personal and vulnerable than ever.

Skillet‘s sound has always centered on getting knocked down and getting back up, and this EP is no exception. Heavy guitars drive the momentum forward while stadium-ready hooks reinforce the message to keep pushing no matter what. The lineup, John Cooper on lead vocals and bass, Korey Cooper on guitar, keys and production, Jen Ledger on drums and vocals, and Seth Morrison on lead guitar, has quietly built itself into one of the biggest hard rock acts of the century, backed by 23 million career album sales, an average of 12 million monthly Spotify listeners, and placements across sports, film and television. “Monster” remains the crown jewel of the catalog, with more than five billion streams, a spot in Spotify‘s Billions Club, and the distinction of being the only Christian song to ever cross one billion Spotify streams. In 2025, the band’s first-ever Christmas release, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” went viral and hit No. 1 on five Billboard charts. The 2026 European tour then broke ticket sales records at venues like Zénith Paris. With multiplatinum, platinum or gold RIAA certifications across 12 singles and four albums, two Grammy Award nods, a Billboard Music Award, and three Top 5 Billboard 200 debuts, Skillet also branched into publishing with the graphic novel series Eden through Z2. Now the band turns the page again with the heavier, harder-hitting After The Storm, kicked off by “Scream.”

The post SKILLET Gets Heavier And More Personal On New “After The Storm” EP & Shares Latest Single “Lift Me Up” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Five and a half decades after forming across the pond, Foghat, now composed of Roger Earl (founding drummer), Bryan Bassett (lead/slide guitar), Scott Holt (lead vocals/guitar) and Rodney O’Quinn (bass/vocals), shows no signs of letting up as one of rock’s most reliable road warriors. Between its 2025 Slow Ride 50th Anniversary Tour and the ongoing 2026 Twang & Bang Tour, Foghat has torn through the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe, including a triumphant return to the U.K. after 52 years away, all while delivering the blues-soaked boogie rock that made classics like “Fool For The City,” “Slow Ride” and “I Just Wanna Make Love To You” staples of the genre.

Now, with an eye on 2027, Foghat is bringing the concert experience home with a new triple vinyl release, Live & Loud Across The U.S.A., arriving Oct. 30 through the band’s own Foghat Records, distributed by Select-O-Hits under the Sun Records banner. Pre-orders are open now. The package includes two gold vinyl discs plus a bonus red disc carrying a first-ever vinyl pressing of the cult favorite Earl & The Agitators record, Shaken & Stirred, which guitarist Bryan Bassett produced, mixed and mastered.

The lead single, “My Babe,” hit digital platforms today.

Fans can also snag a numbered, autographed edition of Live & Loud Across The U.S.A. through TalkShop.Live. Last night, Roger Earl, Scott Holt and Jason Peverett (son of the late Lonesome Dave), along with a handful of fans, sat down with host Steve Harkins on TalkShop.Live‘s Rock & Roll Channel to break down the new record and reminisce about the band’s long career.

Live & Loud Across The U.S.A. marks the current Foghat lineup’s first official live release, and it’s built entirely from performances the band captured across the country throughout 2024 and 2025. Most of these recordings have never seen an official release before, offering proof that the chemistry driving the band since 1971 hasn’t dimmed one bit.

The Earl & The Agitators side project has its own origin story worth telling. Roger and Bryan crossed paths with Scott Holt in 2014, fresh off more than a decade playing alongside Buddy Guy. The chemistry was instant, and Scott joined the fold to help write what became 2016’s Under The Influence, eventually cranking out 17 songs together. A year later, Tom Mix, who’d won a Foghat lyric contest while stationed as a pilot in Afghanistan, returned stateside and enrolled at the Dark Horse Institute in Franklin, Tennessee. His graduation project gave the band studio time, with students handling the mixing while Foghat kept the masters.

More songs piled up over the following days. One night, while sharing a bottle of Foghat Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon, Bryan Bassett floated the name Earl & The Agitators as a joke, and it just stuck. The side project started opening shows for Foghat itself, and by 2018 the music dropped online as Shaken & Stirred, quickly becoming a deep-cut favorite among diehards.

Foghat has kept churning out music that actually charts, too. Its most recent studio album, Sonic Mojo, dropped in November 2023 and spent 34 weeks on the Billboard Top 10 Blues Albums chart, including two at No. 1, the band’s first-ever chart-topping run on any Billboard list. Not even “Slow Ride” managed that. Sonic Mojo is available as a 12-track CD in a six-panel digipak, digitally, and as a limited 180-gram neon purple vinyl pressing with 11 tracks and a gatefold jacket.

Roger Earl penned a personal note included in the Live & Loud Across The U.S.A. packaging: “People often ask me if we’re ever going to slow down. The answer is… not yet!

“The performances on this album were recorded in cities across the United States during the past two years. We didn’t set out to make a live record, we simply wanted to capture Foghat doing what we’ve always loved to do: playing live. Most of these songs have never been released as official live recordings before, and I think they show where the band is today.

“For the second disc, we wanted to include something that many people may not realize is also part of the Foghatstory. Earl & The Agitators isn’t another band, it’s us.

“Whether you know us as Foghat or Earl & The Agitators, it’s always been about playing music we believe in and sharing it with people who love it as much as we do.

“Thank you for coming along with us on this incredible journey. We couldn’t have done it without your support, and we hope these recordings bring you as much enjoyment as we’ve had making them.

“See you down the road…”

Live & Loud Across The U.S.A. recording lineup: 

Roger Earl / Drums 
Scott Holt / Lead Vocals and Guitar 
Bryan Bassett / Slide and Lead Guitar 
Rodney O’Quinn / Bass and Lead and Background Vocals 
Eddie LeFebvre / Percussion and Background Vocals

Shaken & Stirred recording lineup: 

Roger Earl / Drums 
Scott Holt / Lead Vocals and Guitar 
Bryan Bassett / Slide and Lead Guitar 
Rodney O’Quinn / Bass, Lead and Background Vocals 
Craig McGregor / Bass 
Mark Petrocelli / Percussion (live tracks) 
Tony Bullard / Guitar (live tracks)

The post FOGHAT Reveals “Live & Loud Across The U.S.A.” Triple Vinyl Set, Featuring Long-Lost EARL & THE AGITATORS Record appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.