Author: Editorial Team

On Rick Rubin’s “Tetragrammaton,” Daron Malakian went deep on what he listens for in metal: riffs, mood, aggression, atmosphere, and how that shaped his own playing and writing. Then he got into the memory that still gives him a jolt: stepping in with Metallica when James Hetfield got hurt.

“When I was 12 or 13, at that point I had been playing the guitar for a year,” he said. “I was with these guys in my school that, in their dad’s garage, we would play Metallica covers. That’s pretty much all we’d play — a bunch of Metallica covers. And a big part of how I learned how to play the guitar was playing either Black Sabbath, Metallica, Iron Maiden, sometimes Slayer,” he added (via Blabbermouth).

“My friends really didn’t get Slayer, but they loved Metallica. But I loved Slayer, and I would fight with them over it. [Laughs]. But we would play these Metallica covers, so I knew all these Metallica covers,” he said. “When I got older, I knew them, and so we were on tour with Metallica on the “Summer Sanitarium” tour.”

“I met Metallica on stage, playing with them. I never met them before,” Malakian remembered. “We’re the first band. Nobody knows us. It’s 1999, maybe, at this point. [System Of A Down‘s] Toxicity‘s [See image gallery at www.sonicperspectives.com] is not out yet. We’re on our first album. And we are on the “Summer Sanitarium” tour,” he continues. “It’s us, a band called Powerman 5000, Kid Rock was on there, I think Korn was on there, and Metallica. It was, like, five bands on the bill. We were the first band that opened up [when people are walking in]. Nobody knows who System Of A Down is at this point.”

“And so we’re on that tour, and James Hetfield, along the way, gets injured,” he recalled. “I don’t know. They told me he was going water skiing or something, and he got injured. So they didn’t cancel the show. So all the opening bands played, and then Metallica still went on stage. And [then-Metallica bassist] Jason Newsted was singing. And then they brought the guys from Korn on, and they kind of played like this Cheech & Chong cover song or something. They didn’t know what to do, because James wasn’t there.”

“And I turned to my tech, and I go, ‘Listen, man. I go, ‘Go tell their tech that I know a lot of their shit,’ ’cause I’ve learned it playing it in this garage with these other guys. I go, ‘I know a lot of their shit from, you could say, …And Justice For All and back.’ Next thing you know, my tech goes and talks to their guitar tech, and then my tech comes back to me,” he added. “He’s, like, ‘All right, come with me.’ [I’d] never met Metallica before,” Malakian continued.

“And I’m telling you, Metallica was the first concert I ever went to in my life,” he said. “I was a huge Metallica fan. Faith No More opened up for them. Justice For All tour. So next thing you know, I go on the other side of the stage,” he added. “I get handed a Les Paul; I think it was one of [Metallica guitarist] Kirk Hammett‘s Les Pauls. And they’re, like, ‘All right. Go.’”

“60,000 people. [Laughs] Yeah. 60,000 people,” he remembered. “I’m in my after show. I am wearing Lakers fucking sweats. I’m not even ready to get on stage. I’m wearing a white tank top and Lakers sweats, and I was just completely there, just watching Metallica. Next thing you know, I get handed a guitar, and they go, ‘Go.’”

“You gotta understand. Our band’s not big yet. I’m still a kid. I’m 22 years old,” Malakian continued. “I can’t even believe that we’re even allowed to open up for Metallica. So this is all new to me at this point in my life. And they put me out there, and I turn, and I’m, like, ‘Hey,’” he said. “It’s Lars [Ulrich, Metallica drummer], it’s Kirk, it’s Jason Newsted, who was the bass player at the time. They’re, like, ‘What do you know?’”

“I go, ‘I don’t know. “Master Of Puppets”. ‘Okay. Count it in,’” he said. “We’re playing fucking “Master Of Puppets’. I’m up there with Metallica playing “Master Of Puppets” in front of 60,000 people. And I’m, like, ‘Who’s gonna sing?’ I said, ‘Fuck it. I’ll go sing.’ And I sang,” he added. “And then there’s this thing that happened where in the middle of “Master Of Puppets”, it has this slow part.”

“Instead of going into that slow part, they went into “[Welcome Home] (Sanitarium)”,” he recalled. “And I didn’t know they were gonna do that. And we went in, and we did the middle part of “Sanitarium” and then came out of it and went back into “Master Of Puppets”. I mean, you would think we had rehearsed it, but we didn’t rehearse it. And I didn’t even know it was gonna happen. And it happened. And I’m up there, and I am playing Metallica with Metallica in front of an audience where I would’ve been in the fucking cheap seats just three years ago,” he explained.

“I got off stage. Next thing you know, they’re coming to me. They’re, like, ‘Hey, dude, James isn’t gonna be able to play for a few nights. They want you to come and play with them fucking everything,” he added.

“And next thing you know, Kirk Hammett‘s in front of me with a guitar and I go, ‘Hey, bro, I know all your old stuff, but I don’t really know the Load and the Reload and all that stuff,’” he said. “So Kirk‘s trying to teach me stuff off Load. And then next thing you know, they’re, like, ‘Hey, get your shit from your bus, ’cause you’re flying on the private jet with us now,’” Malakian continued.

“So the first plan was to have me play a whole set with them,” he explained. “And I was preparing for that, and I was relearning all the old stuff and trying to learn all the Load stuff. And so I flew with them and everything, and then they decided, ‘Hey, it would be a cooler thing if we invited different bandmembers from the different bands that were on the gig,’” he said. “So the next night I was up on stage with Metallica again.”

“And I knew I was supposed to play ‘One’. And I got there, and I was ready to play ‘One’, and I turned to — I forgot — maybe Jason or Kirk or someone, and I’m, like, ‘Who’s gonna sing?’ Because I had no idea. They turned to me, and they were, like, ‘Bob,’” Malakian said. “And I’m, like, ‘Who the fuck is Bob?’ And I see Kid Rock come up. And I didn’t know Kid Rock‘s name was Bob.”

“And so Kid Rock comes up, and he sings the first night, and we did ‘One’, and it’s really fucking cool because ‘One’ has the whole [middle section], and I’m thinking, ‘Dude, you’re playing this shit with fucking Metallica. You’re turning around, and it’s, like, Lars,” he said. “It was crazy. I’ll never forget it.”

“And even after that, their techs would come up to me in different tours and be, like, ‘Dude, don’t think we forgot what you did. You brought it that day. I don’t wanna say, like, ‘You saved the show,’ but they were kind of, like, ‘You fucking brought it. They were struggling. And then you got up, you did ‘Master Of Puppets’”.

“Yeah, man. That happened. Oh, man. I’ll never forget it,” Malakian finished. “Even though my band is where we’re at right now, it still brings goosebumps to my… that I had a chance to experience that at that point in my career.”

The post SYSTEM OF A DOWN’s DARON MALAKIAN Remembers Filling In For JAMES HETFIELD And Playing Guitar For METALLICA appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

If you pictured Megadeth’s farewell tour turning into a rotating-cast reunion, old lineups swapping in and out every few songs, Dave Mustaine made it clear that isn’t the plan. He addressed the idea again recently, and the message is simple: keep the focus on the set, the band onstage now, and the fans hearing the songs the way they came to hear them.

In an interview with Guitar World, Mustaine got asked straight up about inviting former members to join the band during the upcoming final run. His first point: the door already opened for the right moment, with one of the most famous former members stepping back into the spotlight: “We’ve already done that with [former Megadeth guitarist] Marty [Friedman].”

From there, he widened it out to the bigger picture, because the band’s history is deep, and a full-on “everybody gets a turn” concept becomes a massive logistical mess fast: “And I mean, let’s look at the other people we’ve played with… there’s a lot of people. [Laughs] That would be a huge undertaking. I don’t think I want to do that. I’d rather keep doing what we’re doing and let the fans [experience] Megadeth music and be happy about it. It’s not ‘puppet show Megadeth.’”

This also connects to what he said earlier on SiriusXM’s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” on December 5, 2025, when he was pressed about the ultimate fantasy scenario: one final gig with an all-surviving-members lineup. He explained why that idea doesn’t work in real life, even if it sells a lot of daydreams online.

“Well, I can’t really do that, because of the behavior of one of the bandmembers in the past. I just can’t — I can’t. Because, first off, it would be unfair to the other bandmembers if I didn’t play with them as well. But the thing about what we did with Marty [Friedman] in Japan [in early 2023], that was a no-brainer. That was brilliant. And I love Marty. We had our separation, and he went his way, and we went our way. But it was a very, very intense relationship I had with Marty, because that was the first relationship I had with a guitar player.”

“My relationship with [former Megadeth guitarist] Chris [Poland] was really great, but it wasn’t as good as it was with Marty. My relationship with [former Megadeth guitarist] Jeff [Young] was good, but it wasn’t as good as it was with Marty. And I probably wouldn’t have a problem playing with any of the members of those two lineups, except the fact that [former Megadeth drummer] Gar’s [Samuelson] is deceased, and [I’m] just not gonna do anything that is gonna, in any way, seem unfair to the other bandmembers,” he added.

He also got asked whether the final show gets promoted as the last-ever Megadeth gig, or whether the band might “quietly end” touring without a big red-circle date. His answer was half-honest, half-dark humor, because “the last one” carries weight, and he knows it.

“I don’t know. I was joking around with our management and said, ‘You guys should probably book some fake dates at the end of the tour that I don’t know about so I won’t go out there on the last date and just blubber like a fucking 175-pound wuss.’”

The post DAVE MUSTAINE Doesn’t Want To Invite Former MEGADETH Members To Farewell Tour: “It’s Not ‘Puppet Show MEGADETH.’” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Haken have announced that guitarist Charlie Griffiths and bassist Conner Green have left the band, marking a major lineup change for the UK progressive metal mainstays.

In a brief statement shared via the band’s social media, Haken said they were parting ways “with heavy hearts,” thanking both musicians for their years of writing, recording, and touring contributions, and calling them “irreplaceable” as players and people. The band added that Griffiths and Green “will always be a part of the Haken family,” and closed with a tantalizing hint: new music is expected later this year.

While no further details were provided about replacements or upcoming live plans, the announcement arrives after a period of uncertainty around the band’s schedule, following the cancellation of their Euroblast Festival appearance and their withdrawal from dates with Coheed and Cambria — moves that had already fueled speculation among fans.

Griffiths joined Haken in 2008 and has appeared across the band’s studio catalog, while also launching a solo project under the name Tiktaalika in recent years. Green joined the band in 2014, stepping in after the departure of original bassist Thomas MacLean and becoming a key part of the band’s modern era.

For now, Haken haven’t shared who will fill the vacant spots, or whether the upcoming material will feature new collaborators, but with “new music coming this year” now confirmed, more news seems imminent.

View this post on Instagram

The post HAKEN Announce Departure Of Guitarist CHARLIE GRIFFITHS And Bassist CONNER GREEN, Promise New Music In 2026 appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

The online gaming industry is experiencing explosive growth, becoming one of the most dominant forms of digital entertainment globally. The latest industry analysis shows that the global online gaming market is projected to grow to $333.20 billion by 2030, fueled by mobile accessibility, advanced technology, and increasingly immersive experiences. Among the most exciting sectors within this landscape are eGames—interactive, often skill-based digital games designed for online platforms.

As eGames continue to evolve, developers are turning to a source of raw energy and cultural influence that has stood the test of time: rock music. By integrating iconic bands, high-octane soundtracks, and rebellious aesthetics, many eGames are finding a new and devoted audience in the rock community. In this fusion of rhythm and adrenaline, eGames are not just embracing rock, they’re amplifying it.

A Brief History of Rock Music and eGames

The relationship between rock music and gaming goes back decades. In the early 2000s, the rise of rhythm games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band proved that rock had a place in interactive entertainment. These games didn’t just use rock as background noise—they made it the centerpiece.

Since then, the connection between rock and digital gaming has deepened. Several legendary rock bands have gone beyond licensing songs — they’ve inspired entire games. Here are four iconic bands that have made their mark in the eGaming world:

• Guns N’ Roses – Featured in multiple official slot and arcade-style games, including ones with concert-style visuals, riff-heavy soundtracks, and signature symbols like Slash’s hat and Axl Rose’s mic stand. With Guns N’ Roses touring in 2026, their live and digital versions continue to remain popular.
• KISS – The glam rock legends have inspired arcade games and slot machines filled with fire, bass solos, and theatrical flair.
• Motörhead – Known for their hard-hitting sound, Motörhead’s themed games often feature tracks like “Ace of Spades” to create intense, fast-paced gameplay.
• Ozzy Osbourne – The Prince of Darkness has been immortalized in video slots and eGames, combining gothic imagery with his signature metal anthems.

These rock-inspired games blend nostalgia, audio intensity, and striking visuals to capture the essence of rock in a virtual environment. But it’s not just legacy bands making waves—developers like Jili Games are pushing the genre even further.

Jili Games: Rock Energy Meets Digital Innovation

Jili Games is one of the largest and most innovative eGame developers in the global market, known for producing engaging, mobile-optimized content across multiple genres. While they’re widely respected for their arcade, slot, and skill-based games, Jili has also earned recognition for integrating rock music themes into their gameplay — appealing directly to fans of the genre.

Jili’s titles often feature high-tempo soundtracks, electric guitar riffs, and designs that echo the raw aesthetic of classic rock culture. Their games don’t just use rock as flavor — they make it part of the core experience.

Here are three Jili eGames clearly inspired by rock music:

1. Super Ace

Jili’s portfolio of games takes a lot of inspiration from rock music. On Solaire Online, Jili super ace is packed with high-energy animations, explosive win effects, and a driving soundtrack that evokes the vibe of a stadium concert. Its fast-paced gameplay is underscored by punchy percussion and power chords — creating an immersive, high-adrenaline experience.

2. Rock Star Legends

This title puts players in the shoes of a rising rock star, navigating through bonus rounds like “Backstage Pass” and “Encore Mode.” Featuring custom guitar solos and visuals that include leather jackets, amps, and neon lights, it’s a tribute to the rock lifestyle.

3. Thunder Riot

A game that channels the chaos and intensity of a mosh pit, Thunder Riot combines heavy distortion-laden audio with battle-like gameplay. It’s loud, fast, and completely unapologetic—just like the best rock tracks.

Why Rock and eGames Are a Perfect Match

There’s a reason rock music works so well in eGames—it’s about energy, immersion, and identity. Rock has always been about pushing boundaries, breaking rules, and connecting emotionally through sound. eGames, with their rapid feedback loops and immersive designs, tap into the same emotional currents.

Jili Games excels in this area thanks to its use of HTML5 technology, which allows for rich, cross-platform experiences without sacrificing performance. Whether you’re playing on a phone, tablet, or desktop, HTML5 ensures the games load fast, run smoothly, and retain every ounce of their sonic and visual punch.

This technology allows developers to incorporate dynamic audio, responsive animations, and cinematic transitions — crucial elements for delivering the kind of impactful, music-driven experiences that rock fans crave. Unlike older formats limited to static reels or basic audio loops, HTML5 empowers developers to build interactive soundscapes and real-time visual effects that feel like being inside a live gig.

Conclusion

As the eGaming industry surges toward a projected $333.20 billion valuation by 2030, the fusion of rock music and online games offers a powerful way to captivate players seeking more than just flashy visuals and quick wins. For rock fans, these games deliver an immersive tribute to the genre’s energy, attitude, and legacy.

With innovative developers like Jili Games leading the charge — creating HTML5-powered, rock-infused titles like Super Ace and Thunder Riot — it’s clear that eGames and rock music don’t just fit together. They amplify each other.

The post How eGames Are Harnessing The Power Of Rock Music appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

In a new chat with Jon Smith from 103.5 The Arrow, Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx laid out what’s coming with the band’s next big run: “The Return Of Carnival Of Sins.” The tour marks 20 years since the original “Carnival Of Sins” era (2005–2006) and lines up with the band’s 45th anniversary. The Live Nation-backed trek hits 33 cities, launches July 17, 2026, in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, at the Pavilion at Star Lake, and brings Extreme and Tesla along as support.

Sixx framed it as a return to one of the band’s biggest production swings, only now, the toys are better.

“Two of our biggest tours were the ‘Dr. Feelgood’ tour and the ‘Carnival Of Sins’ tour 20 years ago. And back then, [we had] probably 20 semi-trucks full of gear — hard goods, as they call ’em — [with] all kinds of stuff. And now, with the advancement of technology, we can just take the fans on a crazy journey. And I just think it’s gonna be the next level. ‘Cause the first one was a lot of people’s favorite tour, so we have a lot to live up to,” he said (via Blabbermouth).

Smith brought up the band’s reputation for escalation, “always upping the level of entertainment when it comes to the shows,”, and Sixx said that pressure is exactly where Mötley Crüe lives.

“It’s always our goal. It really is. It’s what we love doing. There’s a lot of stuff that we leaned into so heavy. Like all the way back in the beginning, the ‘Live Wire’ video where the band lit me on fire, and we’ve just constantly been kind of pushing.”

“And then on the pyro thing and actually working with companies and developing kind of — not our own technology, but a lot of times when you mix different fuels together, they create different colors. So we would put one pyro head into a steel wall, and another one would hit, and it would change… I mean, this stuff was super exciting for us,” he added.

“And then we kind of outgrew the pyro, because you can watch a baseball game, and they have pyro now. So it’s, like, how do we take advantage of new technology? We don’t want you to show up and go, ‘Yeah. It looks just like the last four bands that I saw.’ And so there’s always a lot of pressure on us to do that. And that’s, I think, what really drives us.”

So where does a new Mötley Crüe stage show even start? Sixx said it comes down to a theme first, and the visuals build from there, right down to something as basic as color.

“First and foremost, it’s a theme. And a theme, if you talk Dr. Feelgood, well, when we designed the album cover, it was in the very last moment where we changed it to green. It was a white hospital linoleum wall with the medical symbol on it, and we switched that to green. Well, once that shifted to green, it all of a sudden gave us a complete color palette for what we would actually do with the show. So those are the type of things,” Sixx explained.

“So, obviously, something as colorful as a carnival, our brains are going crazy,” he revealed. “And to see what’s out there, what’s available, and especially with video, you can take people on a journey that you just can’t do with a backdrop and some fire. So it’s exciting.”

And yes, this is still a hits-heavy band talking to a hits-heavy audience. Sixx made it clear he gets why people buy the ticket, while also hinting at deeper cuts that can reshape the whole production.

“Obviously, we know the fans wanna hear the hits. And I hate it when a band goes out and doesn’t play their hits. I remember [David] Bowie doing that, and he was one of my favorite artists. I was, like, I don’t wanna go hear a bunch of C and D tracks off of records that I love. I wanna hear those songs, like ‘Rebel Rebel’, and at that point he was, like, ‘I’m so tired of playing the same songs.’

“We’re not tired of playing those hits, but we are excited about getting into a setlist and diving into some songs that we maybe never played or haven’t played in a long time and shaking it up. And those types of things, if you’re playing a song like ‘On With The Show’ from the first album, that’s gonna dictate a lot of what production looks like. So, for us, it’s this moving creative ball of energy. It’s super exciting,” Sixx continued.

When Smith talked about loving bands that back strong records with real performance, Sixx agreed, and pointed to the old-school mindset that shaped him: bigger-than-life shows, shock, and spectacle, done with intent.

“Me too,” Sixx said. “I just don’t get when people don’t. I grew up in the ’70s when rock stars were superheroes, and the shows were over the top, and everything was about shock and awe. And so, 45 years in this band, or coming up on it, it’d be kind of hard to revert back to something that was never about Mötley Crüe.”

“Yeah, we still have those super-raw, early punk influences. We did our Vegas residency — we opened the Vegas residency in a very small area, and we played two songs off the first record, and it was like a club gig. It was smaller than the Whisky A-Go-Go stage. And then it opened into the third song, and the whole place was, like, ‘Oh my God. I didn’t even know all this was here.’”

“So that’s the kind of fun stuff… I’m not saying we’re doing that, but that’s the kind of fun stuff, the mode we’re in right now. It’s, like, what can we do? How can we keep our original roots? And how can we take the audience…? You can just go on your computer or on any of your digital devices and have your mind blown,” he explained. “So my intention is not to go out and do a show that can’t compete with that. We gotta have people going, like, ‘That was an amazing show. I love the songs. I love the show. I’m really glad I came out.’”

He closed by acknowledging the practical side: fans have other shows to budget for, schedules to juggle, and time to plan. That reality is part of why tickets are going up early while the stage build is already underway.

“It’s not easy for fans. The shows aren’t for almost eight months. And we know, from a lot of our fans, they’re saying, ‘I just wish I had a little more time to prepare to go to that.’ And there are a lot of great bands out there that are going on tour. So, people, our fans have a chance to see if they can come and bring their friends or whatever it is. So we’re going on sale early and designing the show at the same time. So that’s where we’re at right now.”

The post NIKKI SIXX Promises Fans A “Crazy Journey” During MÖTLEY CRÜE’s 2026 Tour: “It’s Gonna Be The Next Level” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

When Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster sat down for the latest episode of the “100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal” podcast with Brian Slagel, he laid out a pretty relatable path: start with whatever is around the house, find the bands that hit harder, then keep chasing weight and speed until you land in something extreme.

He described that early climb in detail, starting way earlier than most people would guess for a guy best known for some of death metal’s most punishing low end: “Well, when I was really young, single-digit age or whatever, I listened to ’50s rock, like Chuck Berry and Elvis [Presley], stuff like that, records my dad had lying around from when he was a teenager, that kind of stuff, the ’50s rock.”

“But, yeah, I got into just regular rock, like The Police and stuff like that. And then, pretty much around my early teens, that was when metal came in, and then it was bands like Accept and Iron Maiden, those two in particular. And then Metallica, all the thrash bands, Metallica, Slayer, Kreator, all those bands, Megadeth, all that stuff,” he recalled (via Blabbermouth).

“And it just kind of builds up. Metalheads are always looking for the next heavier thing, or the next step forward, and everybody sort of adds to that. So I would say out of the thrash bands, death metal owes the most to Slayer. They were the band that had those kinds of lyrics. I feel like if you’re looking at a family tree, then a lot of death metal comes from the Slayer branch, in a way. And there are other bands too, for sure — Venom, stuff like that. But for us, Slayer is probably the biggest influence of the thrash bands, for sure — Slayer, Kreator, Dark Angel, bands like that,” Webster reflected.

That “family tree” idea lands because it matches how a lot of people actually discover heavy music. You latch onto a couple of gateway records, then you move the needle: faster riffs, harsher vocals, darker lyrics, until the next thing becomes normal. Webster calls out Slayer specifically because the attitude and lyrical violence were already there. For a band like Cannibal Corpse, that bridge between thrash and death metal is a direct line.

Once the conversation shifted to vocals, Webster focused less on one single inventor and more on a chain reaction: singers pushing rougher tones, then the next wave going deeper and more guttural until melody became secondary.

“I really would love it if some of the original death metal and growling kind of thrash metal singers would get together and maybe do a roundtable on the origins of this style of singing or something like that, because I think it kind of starts maybe with Lemmy [Motörhead], who was still singing — Lemmy and Cronos [Venom]; they were singing, but it was getting into a growl, but there were still melodies going on there.”

“And then you get Jeff [Becerra] from Possessed, Chuck [Schuldiner] from Death, Kam Lee from Massacre, people like that, doing something deeper, more guttural,” he added. “And then it just goes on, and on to [where] everybody ended up being pretty guttural and not really having any kind of a melody. There was a point where it was still singing, where you’re carrying a tune, and then it just really became more of a rhythmic growl. And that, I think, it kind of started with some of the really early death metal, of course, like the bands I mentioned, and then also thrash, like Mille [Petrozza] from Kreator was a big inspiration for us as well.”

Plenty of bands stumble into a sound while the scene forms around them. Webster described something more focused: the intention was there from the start, and the map was already drawn by the demos and records they were absorbing.

When asked if forming a death metal band was the goal or if it happened naturally, he said: “When we made Cannibal Corpse, that was the plan. That was 1988, so there were already death metal bands out there that we liked. We had the Morbid Angel demo, and we loved Death. Kreator Pleasure To Kill, to me, that album is sort of — at least at that time, it was very close to being death metal. Same thing with some of the Sodom albums. So when we made Cannibal Corpse, it was pretty clear that we were gonna go in that direction.”

“The band that [ex-Cannibal Corpse guitarist] Jack [Owen] and I were in before was more of a crossover kind of band where it was sort of a mixture of Kreator and D.R.I., that kind of thing. To make a long story short, we had a lot of different sounds, but we were a crossover band, that band Beyond Death, that Jack and I were in before Cannibal Corpse,” Webster mused.

But, yeah, when we made Cannibal Corpse, we were already pretty inspired by bands like Death and Morbid Angel, so we were ready to kind of get going in that direction. And it still took us a little bit of time. But I’d say by the time [Cannibal Corpse‘s 1990 debut album] Eaten Back To Life came out, we were there — you could hear, for sure, that we had thrash roots, but it was death metal right out of the gate.”

Outside the podcast talk, Cannibal Corpse also had a notable live wrinkle this past summer/fall when Brandon Ellis filled in for guitarist Rob Barrett on the band’s U.S. run. The tour kicked off September 15 in Nashville and wrapped October 22 in Charlotte, with Municipal Waste, Full Of Hell, and Fulci providing support on the trek.

Ellis had announced his exit from The Black Dahlia Murder back in February, making his appearance with Cannibal Corpse an extra point of interest for anyone tracking modern extreme metal lineups.

The post CANNIBAL CORPSE’s ALEX WEBSTER On Death Metal Evolution: “The Genre Owes The Most To SLAYER” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

When people talk about Opeth, the “progressive” label usually shows up fast. In a new chat with Japan’s Prog Project, Mikael Åkerfeldt got hit with a familiar question: Is it a “challenge” to stay progressive or to keep evolving when he writes for the band?

His answer cuts straight to why he treats genre tags like background noise, rather than a target.

“Yeah, good question. I’m not sure if it’s so important for me to feel that we are progressive, because I don’t really know what it means anymore. Back in the day, I think that it was easier to define a progressive band because they were mixing styles and stuff like that, but now progressive means fast guitar solos, and it’s become a sound and maybe not so progressive, “he explained (via Blabbermouth).

“I think progressive music, especially in rock and metal, has become a bit regressive. And it’s also, I don’t know if I can decide if we are progressive or not. I think it’s up to the audience to decide, but for me, it’s become less and less important to be labeled progressive because I don’t know what it means anymore.”

“But when I write music, it’s easy to, I think, make progress for our own music, because I have so many different kinds of influences and I’m very passionate about my music and stuff like that. So I try, but at the end of the day, I just wanna write emotional music,” Åkerfeldt added.

The follow-up question gets even more direct, asking if he doesn’t “think about trying to be progressive” while writing for Opeth. His reply lands like a mission statement, especially for anyone still stuck on a specific era of the band.

“No. I don’t wanna repeat myself. Many of our fans want us to maybe repeat what we did in the early 2000s, but I’m not really interested in that. I like for us to progress, but not necessarily just so we fit into the progressive rock/metal genre.”

If you’ve been around heavy music long enough, you know how this goes: fans fall in love with a run of records, then treat that sound like a contract. Åkerfeldt treats it like a chapter. He keeps the parts of Opeth that matter: identity, taste, atmosphere, but writes toward wherever his head is now, not where people want him to rewind.

One of the more telling parts of the interview is how casually he admits his listening habits run backward. Opeth pulls from classic death metal, older metal, and prog roots, and Åkerfeldt isn’t shy about the fact that his personal listening stays planted in earlier eras. When asked why newer bands rarely hook him, he lays it out in plain terms:

“I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t really listen. I don’t search for new bands. I don’t know what’s going on in the music scene. I don’t know what’s popular or what’s happening or original or progressive, to be honest. I’m stuck with my old records. And I still have so much music to listen to. So I have no idea what’s happening.”

This isn’t a new take from him, either. Back in 2017, he told Rolling Stone something that still matches what a lot of hard rock and metal lifers complain about: modern metal often sounds too cleaned up.

“I was born in 1974, so I grew up with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal and the German scene and the U.S. scene of the ’80s and that kind of stuff, so I think today’s metal scene is a bit too sterile for my own taste. I’m not excited about a new metal band or a new metal record because I’ve tried, and most of the time, I just feel it’s just too un-metal-sounding — too polished and too streamlined to fit the genre. It’s just not interesting enough for me, you know?”

Whatever arguments people want to have about what era rules, Opeth’s current run keeps earning respect. The band was honored in the “Best Hard Rock/Metal” category at this year’s Swedish Grammis awards (the Swedish Grammy equivalent), held March 27 at Annexet in Stockholm.

The post OPETH’s MIKAEL ÅKERFELDT Explains Why The “Progressive” Mindset Matters Less Now: “Progressive Music, Especially In Rock And Metal, Has Become A Bit Regressive” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

If you were watching rock TV in 1991, you remember how fast the air changed. One minute, big hooks, louder guitars, and glam attitude were everywhere. Then the industry decided the whole thing was “out of style,” and pushed a new look and sound to the front.

Bands like Poison, Mötley Crüe, and Whitesnake went from being automatic adds to being treated like yesterday’s news, while Jane’s Addiction, Nirvana, and Nine Inch Nails got the spotlight. For a lot of hard rock and metal acts who came up right at the end of the ’80s boom, that timing was brutal.

One of the bands that felt that shift firsthand was Dangerous Toys. They broke through with their gold-certified self-titled debut, Dangerous Toys, in 1989. But when Hellacious Acres landed in 1991 and Pissed followed in 1994, the ground had already moved under them.

Talking about that moment, Jason McMaster framed it less like an enemy takeover and more like the business doing what it always does: signing anything that looks like it might sell until the audience gets sick of the template.

“There were a lot of bands such as us. I call it ‘The class of ’89,’ where a bunch of bands on the coattails of Guns N’ Roses got signed because their singer had long hair, tattoos, and sang really high. So, which brings me to the point that I’ve been making lately that I feel grunge did not kill hair metal, hair metal killed hair metal,” McMaster told Rock Interview Series (via Ultimate Guitar).

“And, as a matter of fact, not trying to one-up anything or be a pundit here, but grunge also killed grunge for the same reason. Grunge killed grunge, and hair metal killed hair metal. It’s the over-saturation of a market until the climate changes, until somebody just goes, ‘It doesn’t matter what you wear or what you sound like. If the music is good, listen to it and buy it and support [it].’”

McMaster also pointed to the culture machine around the music, especially MTV, because back then, that pipeline could make or break a band’s reach. If you weren’t in the rotation, you were fighting uphill, no matter how tight the band was live.

He described the early ’90s as a weird stretch where critics and outlets acted like the debate was settled, and anyone who looked like a late-’80s hard rock band had already missed the boat.

“Between the Hellacious Acres tour and the release of Pissed, which was a crazy time for what it is that we’re sort of talking about, when everybody at Rolling Stone magazine or everybody who had a pen and called himself a music journalist had an opinion about the Seattle sound, versus what was hot on MTV,” he recalled.

“And how anybody resembling Guns N’ Roses may not have a chance. We’ll play Guns N’ Roses because they sell records, but everybody else that came right after that, they’re dead. For them to be able to just like, say that and call it law was a trip.”

The post JASON MCMASTER Explains Why The Glam Metal Scene Imploded In 1991: “Grunge Didn’t Kill Hair Metal, Hair Metal Killed Hair Metal” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

On a recent episode of Twisted Sister guitarist John “Jay Jay” French’s The Jay Jay French Connection: Beyond The Music podcast, Jay Jay sat down with legendary singer/bassist Glenn Hughes (of Deep Purple, Black Country Communion, and Trapeze) for a 44-minute conversation that stayed focused on real-world artist problems: longevity, writing in public, and what the streaming era does to the album format.

They also spent time on Hughes’ current output, including the new singles “Voice In My Head” and “Chosen,” and the album Chosen (released September 5, 2025, via Frontiers Music Srl). And when Jay Jay brought up the studio-album cycle, Hughes got blunt about where his head is at right now.

“Well, you can see I’m kind of smiling and kind of sad because this probably will be my last solo album. Because, as you know, yourself being in the industry, nobody really buys ’em anymore. I don’t like streaming. People buy an album, listen to one or two songs, and it’s done. It’s painful sometimes for me to write these albums. I mean, these songs are very personal to me, these lyrics are very personal. I don’t think I can continue to do that anymore. I think the live work is way more important for me,” Hughes explained (via Blabbermouth).

“We don’t live in a long-player world anymore, do we, Jay Jay?” Glenn continued. “We don’t live there anymore. Maybe you can release a single here and there, maybe a live thing coming out. Albums don’t really mean anything unless you have a huge fanbase.”

The idea of live music carrying more weight than the “long-player” album also connects to how Hughes approaches setlists in 2025. He talked about how long he’s leaned into legacy material, and why he’s shifting away from running the same classics on repeat.

“The way I feel about it, Jay Jay, is, look, I’ve been playing the legacy songs for a couple of years now. I don’t know if you know — I’ve been doing this Deep Purple classic show, and I’ve come to the point, well, I’ve done that now, and I’ve done it years ago. I’m gonna go back to being simply Glenn with all those other great songs. I’ve done 18 solo albums. They’ve done really well. I’ve got [material from] Trapeze, I’ve got Hughes/Thrall, I’ve got other things to play. I’m getting into a new era when I wanna play new songs. I look different, I feel different. I’m happy. I can’t keep regurgitating these old catalog [songs]. I love them — don’t get me wrong — people wanna hear them, but my audience now is ready for something new. They’re ready for something more dangerous and more exciting, and I am the man to do that.”

For longtime fans, the message is clear: the classics still matter, but Hughes wants the next chapter to move forward with new songs, deeper cuts, and fewer “greatest hits” expectations.

And for a bit of timeline context, Hughes recorded the follow-up to 2016’s Resonate in June 2024 in Copenhagen, Denmark; work that ultimately fed into the current Chosen era.

The post GLENN HUGHES Explains Why Streaming Has Turned Records Into Throwaways: “People Buy An Album, Listen To One Or Two Songs, And It’s Done” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

After a long run at the mic for Dutch rock institution The Gathering, Norwegian singer Silje Wergeland has announced she’s leaving the band. She has been fronting The Gathering since early 2009, and she shared the news in a statement posted on her social media on Sunday, December 28.

“It’s a new dawn and a new year. After 16 years of creating and playing great music with The Gathering, it’s time to move on to new ventures. I have had so many awesome experiences and made great memories with this band that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I wish my bandmates all the best for the future. Thanks for all the great support and the lovely conversations with all you wonderful [The Gathering] fans around the globe. Lots of love.”

Before stepping into The Gathering, Wergeland sang for the Norwegian band Octavia Sperati.

The band also issued a statement, thanking her and wishing her well: “We’d like to thank Silje for her contribution to the band over the past 16 years. We’re very proud of the wonderful records we’ve made together (from The West Pole to Beautiful Distortion), and all the shows we’ve played. We will miss her as a fantastic vocalist and a dear friend. We wish her all the best in the future!”

Her departure also lands during a busy period for the band’s legacy-era activity. To mark the 30th anniversary of Mandylion, the The Gathering lineup that recorded the album — including singer Anneke Van Giersbergen — regrouped for multiple shows in the Netherlands this past summer. That same Mandylion lineup already has more than two dozen dates lined up for 2026, with concerts announced across Europe and South America, plus a slot at the ProgPower USA festival in Atlanta in September.

The post Singer SILJE WERGELAND Parts Ways With THE GATHERING After 16 Years appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.