Author: Editorial Team

  • TROLLFEST Announces “Trollywood” & Shares New Single “Day Drinking”

    Norwegian folk metal outfit Trollfest has announced its tenth studio album, Trollywood, due November 6 through Reaper Entertainment.

    The new record takes aim at Hollywood, celebrity culture, and the entertainment business through a story involving trolls chasing fame while the machinery around them begins to fall apart. Musically, Trollfest continues to combine heavy metal with folk melodies, large choral sections, and the band’s offbeat sense of humor.

    Trollywood also sees the band leaning into a heavier and more aggressive sound. The album builds on the elements that have defined Trollfest for more than two decades while adding larger riffs, more expansive arrangements, and the chaotic energy that has become part of the band’s identity.

    The first track from the album is “Day Drinking,” a hook-heavy song built for the festival circuit. Its release also comes with a limited physical edition: a yellow 7-inch pressing available exclusively at Summer Breeze Open Air.

    An official video for “Day Drinking” is also available alongside the single.

    Only 100 copies of the single will be produced worldwide. The release includes “Day Drinking” along with the previously unreleased B-side “Fire Fine Firfisler,” making it the first physical single issued by Trollfest.

    After more than 20 years as a band, Trollfest continues to push its own combination of folk metal, theatrical humor, and heavy riffs. Trollywood is set to continue that approach while putting a greater emphasis on the heavier side of the band’s sound.

    The post TROLLFEST Announces “Trollywood” & Shares New Single “Day Drinking” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

  • FLOTSAM AND JETSAM Set To Reissue “The Cold” On CD & LP In November

    Flotsam and Jetsam’s The Cold is getting another physical release, bringing the 2010 album back to CD and LP after years of becoming increasingly difficult to find.

    Originally released more than a decade ago, The Cold showed Flotsam And Jetsam pushing their established thrash sound into more modern territory while keeping the characteristics that made the band recognizable. Eighties-style riffing sits alongside heavier, more contemporary passages, with guitar solos playing a major role throughout the record.

    The album’s reputation has also grown in the years since its original release. After more than 30 years as a band, Flotsam and Jetsam had already experienced lineup changes, shifts in musical trends, and the difficulties that come with maintaining a career in metal across multiple decades. The Cold stands out because it found a way to sound current without abandoning the band’s roots.

    The album was produced, recorded, and mixed at Phase Four Studios in Phoenix, Arizona, a facility that has also worked with MegadethWhite Wizzard, and Witherfall. Mastering was handled by Sonorous Mastering in Tempe, Arizona, while the artwork came from Travis Smith, whose credits include DeathDraconianExhorder, and Iced Earth.

    The original CD and especially the vinyl pressing became difficult and expensive to track down, making the new edition a chance for fans to add The Cold to their collections without hunting down older copies.

    The Cold is available to pre-order here.

    The The Cold reissue arrives alongside a new chapter for Flotsam And Jetsam, who are preparing Rats In The Temple, their debut for Napalm Records. The band has already previewed the album with the title track “Rats In The Temple” and followed it with “Harvesting The Hate.”

    Built around rapid-fire drumming and the guitar work of Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, “Harvesting The Hate” serves as the album opener and sets up the record’s heavier material.

    Frontman Eric A.K. Knutson says about the track: “Another heavy, dramatic beast of a song from our arsenal of madness. This one asks you to look in the mirror, to find the true problem in your life. And stop harvesting the hate!”

    With a career approaching four decades, Flotsam And Jetsam established its reputation through records including Doomsday For The DeceiverNo Place For Disgrace, and Cuatro. The band has continued that run in recent years with The End Of ChaosBlood In The Water, and I Am The Weapon.

    The band’s live history includes tours across the world and appearances at festivals such as Wacken, Graspop, Bloodstock, Alcatraz, and Rockhard. That experience feeds into a sound that combines thrash metal aggression with power metal melody, fast guitar work, heavy rhythm sections, and Eric A.K. Knutson’s distinctive vocals.

    Knutson describes the new album in equally direct terms: “This record is a BEAST, truly our best effort to date!! Do yourself a favor. Dim the lights, grab a drink, put the headphones on, and crank this up. You will not be sorry you did!!!”

    Rats In The Temple moves through a broad selection of Flotsam And Jetsam’s influences. “Harvesting The Hate” and “Damnation” lead with big hooks before “Absolution” pushes further into thrash territory. “Blame The Knife” and “Rats In the Temple” put the spotlight on Michael Gilbert and Steve Conley, while “The Ghost Behind My Door” and “First on the Spike” combine classic metal ideas with a heavier modern production.

    Elsewhere, “The Edge of Nowhere” builds tension before launching into “Last Rites.” Drummer Ken Mary and bassist Bill Bodily drive the anti-war themes of “A Taste For War,” while “Her Blood Your Pain” takes a more ornate approach to its guitar work.

    The album then shifts gears again with “Anthem For The Broken” and “Going Down That Way,” giving Rats In The Temple a varied tracklist rather than locking the band into a single style.

    For Flotsam And JetsamThe Cold represents an important chapter in the band’s long career, while Rats In The Temple continues a later-period run that has kept the veteran act active and relevant within the thrash and traditional metal scene.

    The post FLOTSAM AND JETSAM Set To Reissue “The Cold” On CD & LP In November appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

  • GIBSON TV Revisits ANTHRAX’s 40-Year History With Restored CHARLIE BENANTE Interview

    Gibson TV has brought back a rare interview with Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, originally recorded for Metal and Monsters and now restored in 4K. The conversation covers the drummer’s early musical influences, the formation of Anthrax, major lineup changes, key albums, and the events that helped shape the band across four decades.

    Benante starts with his childhood interest in music, including his discovery of Kiss and his first experiences behind the drum kit. He also talks about teaching himself guitar as a way to turn musical ideas into actual songs, along with his early ambition to become a comic book artist.

    His path into Anthrax began after meeting Scott Ian and former bassist Danny Lilker. Benante recalls how their first time playing together set him on a completely different course. The interview then moves through the band’s earliest gigs, demos, work with Ross the Boss, and the long van trips that became part of life for a young metal band trying to build an audience.

    One major section focuses on the period surrounding Spreading the Disease. Benante discusses writing the material before Anthrax had settled on a vocalist, followed by the arrival of Joey Belladonna. He also explains the circumstances behind writing “A.I.R.” after realizing the album needed something more.

    The drummer revisits the creation of Among the Living and Anthrax’s place in the growing thrash metal movement. He then looks at the more hectic recording process behind State of Euphoria and the darker atmosphere surrounding Persistence of Time, offering insight into how the band’s circumstances influenced each period.

    The interview also covers one of Anthrax’s most important crossover moments: the collaboration with Public Enemy on “Bring the Noise.” Benante explains that Chuck D initially rejected the concept before changing his mind after hearing Anthrax’s interpretation of the song. The partnership soon expanded into a joint tour, helping establish a connection between thrash and hip-hop that remains influential.

    Lineup changes receive plenty of attention as well. Benante discusses Joey Belladonna leaving the band, John Bush stepping into the vocalist role, and the first time he heard Bush perform “Only.” He also addresses the period when metal’s popularity dropped and Anthrax had to fight through a difficult stretch to remain active.

    The later chapters cover We’ve Come for You All, the reunion that helped mend old relationships, Worship MusicFor All Kings, and the broader story of Anthrax reaching the 40-year mark.

    For longtime Anthrax listeners, the restored footage offers an unusually personal account of the band’s history, told by a musician who was present for its defining moments. Benante’s recollections touch on the records, personnel changes, friendships, difficulties, and persistence that kept Anthrax moving forward.

    Anthrax will be releasing their long-awaited 12th full-length studio album, Cursum Perficio, on September 18 via Megaforce Records, as the band’s first album in a decade following 2016’s For All Kings, which reached the Top 10 of the Billboard 200. The title is translated from Latin as “My journey has come to an end,” “My journey is over,” or “I complete my journey.” The meaning is presented as fitting for a record intended to represent a complete body of work.

    Cursum Perficio is listed in multiple physical editions, including standard CD and several double-LP variants. The vinyl versions include black, red zoetrope, purple zoetrope, lilac, white, red ripple, and red/orange/yellow pressings, with several editions featuring pop-up gatefold packaging. A Target edition also includes a fabric patch based on the album artwork, while the Talk Shop Live version is signed.

    Recording for Cursum Perficio began in earnest in 2022 at Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 in Los Angeles. The band worked with producer Jay Ruston to assemble what is described as its largest statement yet, drawing on its history while expanding the established sound. The finished album is characterized as angry, aggressive, and energetic, with Jay Ruston and the band handling production. To pre-order/pre-save, click here.

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  • EDEN’S CURSE’s Original Vocalist MICHAEL EDEN Has Launched A GoFundMe Fundraiser To Help Rebuild Uninhabitable Home

    Rick Brobeck has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help Michael Eden, the original singer of Eden’s Curse, recover after a tree crashed through his home on July 27, 2026.

    The incident left the house severely damaged and uninhabitable, forcing Michael Eden to put his musical plans on hold while he deals with the immediate need for safe housing. According to the fundraiser, he had been preparing to release his first new music in 15 years.

    The GoFundMe campaign states:

    Rick is creating this fundraiser for his brother, Michael Eden, the original lead singer of Eden’s Curse. Michael has spent his life pouring his heart into music, and after releasing three acclaimed albums, he was just months away from sharing his first new music in 15 years. Then, on July 27th, 2026, everything changed in an instant. A massive tree crashed through Michael’s home, leaving it severely damaged and uninhabitable. Instead of focusing on this exciting new chapter in his musical journey, Michael is now facing the overwhelming reality of rebuilding his life from the ground up.

    Support from this fundraiser will help Michael secure safe, permanent housing again and provide a secure place for Lita, his beloved Russian Blue cat. The estimated cost to restore safe housing is approximately $25,000, and every contribution will bring Michael closer to having a home again, caring for Lita, and returning to the music he has worked so hard to create.

    If Michael’s music has ever meant something to you, please consider making a donation. And if donating is not possible, sharing this fundraiser with friends, family, fellow musicians, and rock fans can make an enormous difference. Thank you for standing with Michael, Lita, and the music that still lies ahead.”

    The fundraiser is framed as a way for fans and members of the rock community to help Michael Eden get back into stable housing and resume work on the music he had been preparing to release.

    The post EDEN’S CURSE’s Original Vocalist MICHAEL EDEN Has Launched A GoFundMe Fundraiser To Help Rebuild Uninhabitable Home appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

  • EXUMER Shares Drum Playthrough For “Allocated Savagery” From Their Upcoming Album “Death Mask Messiah”

    Exumer will return with Death Mask Messiah, its first new studio album in seven years, on August 28 via Metal Blade Records. The veteran German thrash band is previewing the record with “Allocated Savagery,” a track centered on the 1993 Waco siege and the political and social divisions that continue to surround events of that era.

    The song examines the confrontation between federal agents and the Branch Davidians while connecting the episode to broader themes that have shaped the past decade: US politics, the pandemic, misinformation, and the use of division as a political tool. Vocalist Mem V. Stein also approaches the 30th anniversary of Waco from the perspective of how information and competing narratives can influence public perception.

    “‘Allocated Savagery’ delivers a brutal musical and lyrical account of the event,” comments Mem V. Stein. “The track captures the intensity of the confrontation with the ATF, while reflecting on themes of misinformation and division that still resonate today.”

    Musically, Death Mask Messiah pushes Exumer toward a more direct and aggressive version of its established thrash sound. The album contains 11 tracks, produced by Dominic Paraskevopoulos (KreatorCaliban) and mixed and mastered by Arthur Rizk (SoulflyKing Diamond).

    The record was tracked between December 2025 and January 2026, and marks the first Exumer album featuring drummer Jerome Reil and bassist Alex Voss in the rhythm section. Their arrival brings a younger presence to the lineup while the band’s core approach remains intact.

    “You can feel their young energy, coupled with our trademark aggression and experience,” says Mem V. Stein. “The band sounds more focused and yet raw, thanks to their addition to the lineup.”

    The songs on Death Mask Messiah were arranged to follow the lyrical and conceptual direction established by guitarists Ray Mensh and Marc B. Rather than treating the material as a collection of disconnected tracks, Exumerbuilt the album around a sequence intended to carry its themes from beginning to end.

    There is also a sense within the band that thrash metal is entering another strong period, with established acts and newer groups finding receptive audiences.

    “I think we are heading toward a thrash renaissance, with legacy bands like us, Exodus and Kreator dropping new albums, and younger bands becoming very popular with younger fans,” Mem V. Stein observes.

    Seven years is a long gap between studio albums, but Exumer sees the time between releases as part of maintaining a high standard rather than rushing material into the market.

    While it’s been a few years since Exumer’s last album, Death Mask Messiah is doubtless worth the wait; the band believes that “it’s always quality over quantity for Exumer, and we hope and believe people appreciate that approach.”

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  • ROB ZOMBIE’s Complete “Firefly Trilogy” Makes Its 4K Debut This October

    Rob Zombie‘s twisted Firefly family is getting the deluxe treatment. Lionsgate will release the complete Firefly Trilogy as an eight-disc collector’s set on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and digital on Oct. 13, bundling House of 1000 CorpsesThe Devil’s Rejects and 3 From Hell together for the first time in this format. It also marks the first time House of 1000 Corpses will be available on 4K at all.

    Zombie wrote and directed all three films, which follow the Firefly family across its escalating reign of chaos. The trilogy’s cast reads like a horror hall of fame, including Sid HaigBill MoseleySheri Moon ZombieKaren BlackKen ForeeWilliam ForsytheRichard BrakeJeff Daniel PhillipsDee WallaceEmilio Rivera and Danny Trejo.

    The new set comes loaded with physical extras, including an exclusive collectible poster, a photography book curated by Zombie himself, original artwork from Zombie, art cards, and additional artwork from Vance Kelly. On the documentary side, it includes the feature-length 30 Days in Hell: The Making of The Devil’s Rejects along with the four-part To Hell and Back: The Making of 3 From Hell, plus behind-the-scenes footage and feature-length commentary tracks from Zombie across the films. The 4K transfers of House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejectswill also include Dolby Vision.

    Beyond his work behind the camera on the Firefly films, Zombie has directed eight features total as a filmmaker, musician, and author, including 2016’s 31 and 2012’s The Lords of Salem. His directing résumé also includes the 2007 reimagining of John Carpenter‘s Halloween and its follow-up, Halloween 2. He’s also taken his own comic book series and adapted it into the R-rated animated feature The Haunted World of El Superbeasto.

    Courtesy of Lionsgate

    The post ROB ZOMBIE’s Complete “Firefly Trilogy” Makes Its 4K Debut This October appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

  • ICE NINE KILLS To Score Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Terror Tram Starring Art The Clown”

    Ice Nine Kills is bringing its brand of blood-slicked, hook-heavy horror metal to Universal Studios Hollywood this fall. The band is scoring new music for “Terror Tram Starring Art The Clown,” debuting as part of Halloween Horror Nights, which opens Thursday, Sept. 3, and runs select nights through Sunday, Nov. 1. Tickets are available now through the event’s website.

    The long-running “Terror Tram” attraction gets a new host this year in Art the Clown, who arrives on the historic Universal backlot with a blood-soaked sack of presents, realizes he’s early for Christmas, and hijacks the tram to throw his own twisted holiday party instead. Ice Nine Kills built new music for the experience by putting its own dark spin on classic Christmas songs, and guests who think they’ve dodged Art on the backlot may still run into him lurking elsewhere in the park.

    This isn’t the band’s first trip into Art’s world. Ice Nine Kills previously contributed “A Work of Art,” its official song for Terrifier 3, complete with a blood-drenched music video that dropped alongside the film’s theatrical release. That track has racked up nearly 60 million streams and peaked at No. 3 on Billboard‘s Hot Hard Rock Songs chart, where it spent 18 weeks.

    Frontman Spencer Charnas commented on the new partnership: “We are forever honored that Terrifier writer/director Damien Leone and his team invited us to play in their sandbox of bloodshed. Art himself, David Howard Thornton, killed it in the “A Work Of Art” music video, and we’ve had Damien and several of his cast members at our Silver Scream Cons every year so far. Halloween Horror Nights is among our favorite destinations each season, and our fans love it, too. This is yet another natural step forward in our unnatural world of horror.”

    The Universal tie-in adds to a growing list of horror franchise collaborations for the band. Ice Nine Kills landed “Twisting the Knife” featuring Mckenna Grace over the closing credits of Scream 7, contributed “Hell or High Slaughter (Grave Diggler Pt. 2)” to Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, and built “Play Dead” for Dead by Daylight‘s tenth anniversary, which came bundled with an in-game Ice Nine Kills collection.

    Those franchise placements have landed alongside some real career milestones too. The band’s single “A Grave Mistake,” inspired by The Crow, earned an official gold certification from the RIAA. “Twisting the Knife” gave Ice Nine Kills its first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart and also topped the Hot Hard Rock Songs and Hard Rock Digital Song Sales charts, pulling in 35 million cross-platform streams along the way.

    Twenty years removed from their debut album, Ice Nine Kills is putting a new soundtrack under the screams on Universal’s historic backlot, with Art the Clown running the show and Christmas showing up far too early.

    Fronted by CharnasIce Nine Kills has built an international following by fusing extreme metal with pop-sharp melody, a formula heard across its two breakthrough records, The Silver Scream (home to gold single “A Grave Mistake”) and The Silver Scream 2: Welcome to Horrorwood. The band has topped two billion global streams and more than 500 million YouTube views.

    Ice Nine Kills has toured alongside Slipknot and was hand-selected by Metallica for the “M72” world tour. Beyond the music, the band’s INKverse extends into cinematic music videos, mock true-crime books, graphic novels, “Nightmare on the 9th” merch drops, and the annual Silver Scream Convention in Worcester, Massachusetts, not far from the band’s North Shore roots. 2025 wrapped with a headlining set at OVO Arena Wembley and the first Silver Scream Con London, and 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of the band’s debut record.

    Charnas‘s longtime love of the horror community has been returned in kind, with major franchise collaborations and a growing presence at Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights. Terrifier 3, billed as the highest-grossing unrated film ever, features “A Work of Art.” Scream 7, which posted the biggest opening weekend in franchise history, carries “Twisting the Knife.” “Hell or High Slaughter (Grave Diggler Pt. 2)” appears in Ready or Not 2: Here I Come. And this past summer, the band entered Dead by Daylight with “Play Dead,” another bloody step forward, with more surprises reportedly still to come.

    The post ICE NINE KILLS To Score Universal Studios Hollywood’s “Terror Tram Starring Art The Clown” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

  • NEIL PEART’s Documentary To Premiere At Toronto International Film Festival

    A new documentary chronicling the life of the late Rush drummer Neil Peart is headed to Toronto. Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple will receive its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

    The film comes from directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the pair behind 2010’s Beyond the Lighted Stage, still considered the definitive Rush documentary by most of the band’s fan base. Running 96 minutes, the new film premieres September 16, with a public screening following on September 19. It’s also set to air on Canada’s CBC network as part of its The Passionate Eye series on September 23.

    No One’s Disciple traces Peart‘s difficult early years as a young musician through his eventual rise to becoming one of rock’s most revered drummers. The film features interviews with Rush co-founders Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson, along with input from a roster of acclaimed drummers reflecting on Peart‘s legacy. It also captures Lee and Lifeson performing new live versions of Rush classics, with the drum stool filled on different songs by Chad Smith of Red Hot Chili PeppersStewart Copeland of The Police, and Danny Carey of Tool.

    TIFF’s official synopsis for the film reads: “Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson team up with four revered drummers — Stewart Copeland, Danny Carey, Chad Smith, and Gavin Harrison — for an exhilarating and poignant tribute to late Rush legend Neil Peart.” This year’s festival runs September 10 through September 20.

    Peart died on January 7, 2020, in Santa Monica, California, following a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67. Rush confirmed his death three days later, prompting an outpouring of grief from fans and fellow musicians across the industry.

    Rush itself is currently back on the road, touring with German drummer Anika Nilles, who previously toured with Jeff Beck in 2022, and keyboardist Loren Gold, best known for touring work with The Who and Chicago. The band’s June 7 show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles kicked off the “Fifty Something” tour, marking the first run for this reconfigured lineup of Lee on vocals and bass and Lifeson on guitar, joined by Nilles and Gold.

    The tour spans multiple cities across Canada, the United States and Mexico, built around “evening with” shows featuring two full sets a night. Rush is drawing from a catalog of roughly 40 songs, meaning no two setlists on the run look quite the same. The dates sold out almost immediately after Lee and Lifeson announced the initial run in October 2025, prompting the band to double the tour’s length and then tack on even more shows to keep up with demand.

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  • ZZ TOP Cancels Hollywood Bowl Concert As FRANK BEARD Deals With Health Issues

    Frank Beard‘s health has forced ZZ Top off the road, at least for now. Rolling Stone reports that health issues affecting the band’s longtime drummer led to the cancelation of the group’s Hollywood Bowl date last week, part of the ongoing “The Big One” tour.

    ZZ Top spokesperson confirmed to the outlet that guitarist/vocalist Billy Gibbons and bassist Elwood Francis are continuing the tour without Beard, with drummer Michael Monahan filling in behind the kit.

    When the Hollywood Bowl show was scrapped, Gibbons addressed the cancellation directly. “Insurmountable obstacles require canceling their Hollywood Bowl performance”, he said in a statement, adding that the “friends, fans, and followers of ZZ Top are the best in the business and that the band is counting on everyone to bear with them for this brief interruption”.

    Beyond the Rolling Stone report, other outlets have filled in more of the timeline. Beard and the band reportedly played through the cancelation’s immediate aftermath, with Monahan stepping in for an August 8 show at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, California, days after the Hollywood Bowl date fell through. Beard‘s more familiar substitute, longtime drum tech John Douglas, has not been the one covering this particular absence, a departure from how the band has typically handled Beard‘s time off in the past.

    This isn’t the first health scare Beard has dealt with recently either. He stepped away from the band’s “Elevation” tour last year for an unspecified procedure, later reported to involve foot and ankle problems, and needed another break from touring later in the year before returning to the lineup. Douglas covered those absences, just as he did back in 2002 when Beard underwent an emergency appendectomy.

    Beard has held down the drum stool for ZZ Top for more than 55 years, playing on every one of the band’s studio albums starting with ZZ Top’s First Album in 1971.

    His billing on those records tells its own small piece of trivia. He was credited under the nickname “Rube,” appearing as “Rube Beard” on the band’s debut and again on Tres Hombres, the group’s third album, while being listed under his real name on Rio Grande Mud, the second. Every album after Tres Hombres has credited him simply as Frank Beard. Fittingly for a founding member of one of rock’s most bearded bands, he’s the one member of ZZ Top who doesn’t actually have a beard, sticking mostly to a mustache aside from a brief goatee phase in the 1990s.

    Away from the band, Beard lives in Richmond, Texas, where he owns and runs the Top 40 Ranch. He’s also a scratch golfer with a local reputation built on tournament play and community appearances.

    ZZ Top was formed by Gibbons in 1969, with both Beard and the band’s late bassist Dusty Hill joining the following year. Hill died in July 2021 at age 72, with Francis, previously Hill‘s longtime guitar tech, stepping into the bass role.

    No word yet on how long Beard will be away from the tour or further specifics on his condition.

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  • DAVE LOMBARDO & LUSTMORD Announce Debut Album “The Pulse Of Atoms” & Share “Paleomagnetic Resonance”

    Dark ambient pioneer Lustmord and metal’s most restless drummer have officially teamed up. Dave Lombardo, best known for his tenure behind the kit in Slayer, and Lustmord, widely credited as one of the architects of modern ambient electronic music, are now working together as Lustmord Lombardo.

    The pair’s debut album, The Pulse of Atoms, arrives Oct. 2 via Ipecac Recordings. As a preview, they’ve dropped “Paleomagnetic Resonance” today, giving the first real taste of what the collaboration sounds like in motion.

    Lustmord described the record as deliberately hard to place in time or genre. It isn’t tied to a specific period, he explained, whether that’s last year, a decade ago, two decades ago or five years into the future. The goal was to build something with its own identity rather than leaning on familiar musical language or history, something that reaches back much further than that. He called it the sound of planets dying or stars being born, a bigger picture than any one genre, the sound of the universe being born and dying. It’s not rock and roll, he said.

    The two go back further than this record suggests. Lombardo and Lustmord first crossed paths backstage at a Fantômas show, introduced by mutual friend Buzz Osborne around the time Lustmord and Melvins released Pigs of the Roman Empire, their 2004 collaborative album. Roughly two decades on, the pair reconvened as Lustmord Lombardo, landing on a sound that swings between cold and distant one moment, frantic and engaging the next. The Pulse of Atoms pulls a side out of Lombardo that longtime fans haven’t heard before and pulls Lustmord back toward his industrial roots.

    The writing process skipped the traditional song structure altogether. Lustmord constructed shifting walls and vortices of sound first, then left space for Lombardo to layer in percussion and synthesizer parts on top. Once everything was tracked and arranged, Lustmord handled mixing and mastering himself, a job that meant finding balance between two players whose musical footprints are both, in their own ways, enormous.

    Lombardo said he’s especially proud of the collaboration because it stands apart from everything else he’s done. Working on this body of work with Lustmord, whom he called legendary, capable of rattling the plaster off venue walls, made the project feel different from anything in his catalog.

    Pre-orders for The Pulse of Atoms are live now, including two limited vinyl variants (clear and smoke), a CD pressing, and digital pre-saves.

    Lustmord has long been regarded as one of the founding figures of dark ambient and industrial music, active since the early ’80s. His work leans on field recordings, low-frequency drones and cinematic sound design to build immersive, atmospheric pieces, and his catalog stretches across dozens of solo records and collaborations, with his fingerprints turning up in film and game scoring as well as experimental electronic production more broadly.

    Lombardo, a Grammy-winning drummer, helped shape the sound of thrash and extreme metal with his playing and remains one of heavy music’s most versatile percussionists. Beyond his role as a founding member of Slayer, his résumé includes stints with FantômasSuicidal TendenciesDead CrossMr. BungleMisfits and a long list of other collaborators. His 2023 solo debut, “Rites of Percussion,” drew praise from NPR, which called it a very different side of one of metal’s most punishing drummers.

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