Category: news

Dallas-based singer-songwriter Corey Breedlove has stepped away from heavy production for a raw, stripped-back aesthetic on his newest

Swiss independent artist TIBORIAN has struck an unexpected chord worldwide with his latest release, “THE WIDENING.” Encouraged to

The Violent Femmes have been a presence in music for over forty years. They have gone on to release a handful of fantastic albums, but their 1983 self-titled debut remains a classic record for fans of all ages. While attempts have been made before to get the Violent Femmes’ story on record, either written or on film, Nic Brown breaks new ground with his entry into the 33 ⅓ series by finally getting their origin on permanent record. Brown’s book provides us with some surprising revelations of this seminal record and how it came together.

The story of the Violent Femmes begins with Gordon Gano’s solo shows, including a gig opening for Jonathan Richman, where Brian Ritchie first saw Gano. Eventually, they came together for a performance at Gano’s high school to induct him into the National Honor Society. Soon, Ritchie brought in his drummer Victor Delorenzo, who had been out of town, and the Violent Femmes were formed. Given the band’s acoustic setup, their act made it possible for them to play anywhere, opting to mostly busk on the street until they were spotted outside a Pretenders’ gig and asked to open for them.

Nic Brown asks the right questions and gets fantastic interviews for this book. Despite the text being focused on the record itself, an origin story was definitely needed to explain how the record came about. This is great, but it’s only a fraction of the Femmes’ full story. Brown’s analysis of this record serves as that origin story.

While the album itself sounds seemingly simple, given that there are only three members, Brown does a great job showing why it’s not the size of the lineup or the instruments they play; it’s definitely the players’ skills. Ritchie mostly taking the lead with his bass, Delorenzo’s creation of the trancephone, and the mountain of songs that Gano shows up with all contribute to the Violent Femmes’ unique sound. Gano had about three albums’ worth of songs when he met Ritchie and Delorenzo, and these were the poppiest of the bunch. If you’ve listened beyond the first album, you know that to be absolutely true.

However, the real revelations show up in the track-by-track breakdown of the record. Mostly, the band’s surprise at how loved the album is, but also things like the “Blister in the Sun” opening riff being as anthemic in stadiums as the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.” There are a few other surprises and connections I don’t want to spoil, especially if you’re a fan of this album. I wish the section on the song “Confessions” were a little longer, but it seems the band just didn’t have too much to say about the song.

Nic Brown’s analysis and conversation with the Violent Femmes is personal, but also speaks for the fans who love this album. It’s a shame that a series like 33 ⅓, which is over 200 books deep, took this long to get to this record, the important part is that it did. Given how transcendent this record is, anyone can connect to it. If the joke in Wayne’s World about Frampton Comes Alive being issued to you with a sample of Tide if you lived in the suburbs was real, then the Violent Femmes’ first album should have been passed out during health class with that same sentiment. If you love this band or even if you just love this record, pick up Nic Brown’s contribution to the series.

Violent Femmes by Nic Brown is available through Bloomsbury Publishing now.

Australian musician Garth Adam has fully embraced his era as a solo singer-songwriter with the release of his

Posted on May 18th 2026, 12:30p.m.

Following the announcement of their new album ‘Pure Ecstasy’, Beartooth have now revealed that they will be playing some big shows in support of it across the UK and Europe.

The tour will make its way around the continent as Summer turns to Autumn, hitting eight countries along the way. And if that wasn’t enough, the band will be joined by Silverstein and Kingdom of Giants.

So that means a whole load of this:

Before loads of this:

And then huge amounts of this:

Here are all the dates you need to know:

SEPTEMBER

17 – FRANKFURT Jahrhunderthalle
18 – OBERHAUSEN Rudolf Weber Arena
19 – HAMBURG Sporthalle
21 – BRUSSELS Ancienne Belgique
22 – TILBURG 13
24 – PRAGUE SaSaZu
25 – BERLIN Uber Eats Music Hall
26 – MUNICH Zenith
27 – VIENNA Gasometer
29 – MILAN Fabrique
30 – ZURICH Halle 622

OCTOBER

01 – PARIS Elysee Montmartre (France)
03 – LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
05 – LEEDS O2 Academy Leeds
06 – GLASGOW Barrowland Ballroom

‘Pure Ecstasy’ will be released on August 28 via Fearless Records and serves as the follow-up to 2023’s ‘The Surface’.

Here is the sensational title track:

The post Beartooth Announce UK/EU Headline Tour appeared first on Rock Sound.

PAM WHISENHUNT | Go Venue Magazine

The hottest day of the year had arrived in Kansas City, and shade was hard to come by. But as the sun finally started to set, the crowd outside Grinders KC found its relief in Dayseeker and a stacked bill. The sold-out show on May 16, 2026 brought out a fired-up crowd ready to make the most of a Saturday night.

Opening the evening was Sace6, the alternative project led by Jonathan Sace and Noah Thomas, whose sound blends moody R&B with pop-punk and metal influences. The duo kept things energized across a tight six-song set of original material, both members bouncing across the stage and working the crowd from the jump. An early attempt at a circle pit fizzled, probably still too hot for that kinda energy, but that didn’t stop a steady stream of crowd surfers from making their way overhead. Before the show, I talked to several fans who were already hyped for Sace6: “They’re great, you’ll love them. They’ll be your new favorite.” I think they were on to something. Sace6 is exactly the kind of band that reminds you not to sleep on the openers.

Wind Walkers followed, and the Massachusetts-based post-hardcore outfit was my most anticipated set of the evening. Their sound was locked in; energy, presence, crowd engagement all firing on all cylinders. Standout moments came with “The End Aesthetic,” “Eating My Heart Out,” and “Bodybag.” Wind Walkers are headed somewhere. Don’t sleep on them.

Up next was Northlane, the Sydney metalcore powerhouse, and catching them finally completed a personal checklist of Australian metal acts I’d been working through over the past year, Alpha Wolf, The Amity Affliction, and Parkway Drive among them. Northlane wasted no time proving why they are considered pioneers of modern progressive metalcore in Australia, tearing through an eight-song set with precision and ferocity. Vocalist Marcus Bridge commanded the stage from the first note, while guitarist Jon Deiley turned heads with a pair of glowing eyeglasses that made him impossible to ignore. Midway through the set, local law enforcement could be seen cutting through the crowd and almost simultaneously, the band paused as medics responded to an injury near the pit. Once things were sorted, Northlane picked right back up without missing a beat. As the set wound toward its close, Noah Thomas of Sace6 reappeared dressed in what looked like Bridge’s red jacket, matching his pleated red pants, and joined the band onstage to assist on “Dispossession,” a deep cut from their 2011 debut Discoveries.

By the time Dayseeker took the stage, the crowd had been waiting all night for this moment, and the merch line stretched to ridiculous lengths right up until the first chord hit. They opened with the title track “Pale Moonlight” following it up with “Shapeshift” and “Dreamstate” to set the tone for the night.

When they reached “Crawl Back to My Coffin,” the rock chart hit from their latest album, Creature in the Black Night, vocalist Rory Rodriguez paused to thank everyone who works behind the scenes to make shows like this happen. Then, he spoke about his father’s battle with cancer and offered something to anyone in the crowd going through their own version of it: “You’ll be just fine, like I am.” He followed that moment with “Homesick,” and the crowd sang every word back to him. A few songs later, Rodriguez shifted gears entirely: “The time to relax is over.” He directed the floor to “push it” and open up the pit, then “Bloodlust” erupted with Marcus Bridge of Northlane returning to the stage to assist on vocals. The pit opened as instructed.

“Without Me” turned into one of the biggest sing-alongs of the night, the whole room locked in together. Toward the end of the set, Rodriguez said he just wanted to do a song “just me, just you” but in reality he brought Sace6 back out to join him.

Before the final stretch, Rodriguez looked back at where the band started in 2012, playing to anywhere from five to eighty people, grinding through years of uncertainty. He told the sold-out crowd that none of this was lost on them. He announced “Sleeptalk” as the last song of the night, but we knew better. Sure enough, Dayseeker returned to the stage. “Kansas City, are you still with us?” Rodriguez asked. The answer came loud and clear, closing out with “Neon Grave” as the crowd sang along louder than they had all night.

Dayseeker

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com]

Northlane

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com]

Wind Walkers

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com]

Sace6

[See image gallery at www.govenuemagazine.com] All images © Pam Whisenhunt

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The post Dayseeker Brings Sold-Out Pale Moonlight Tour to Kansas City appeared first on Go Venue Magazine.

Yup, it’s late, and I don’t even feel bad about it. Because, once again, no promo, no stream, no nothing from the lovable assholes that are Nocturno Culto and Fenriz. Who would even write a review at this point? You don’t care. I don’t care. And Darkthrone certainly don’t care. Well… because I sorta care. Just a little.¹ Mostly I care because I wanted to see if the band could bounce back after their dreadful 2024 release, It Beckons Deez Nutz…………. Though the band has been chasing “pre-historic” metal since their significant shit at Hate Them and Sardonic Wrath, one can only assume Pre-Historic Metal is meant as a definitive homage to the ways of the olde.² Which means, half of the staff (and most of you) have already moved on to your hip, new-wave shit—sucking back a Truly and trying to hold your vape like you’re fucking Humphrey Bogart from The Maltese Falcon.³ I guess I’m the only one with balls around here.

Anyway, this new, ear-splitting opus from Darkthrone does indeed explore even more of the classics, ranging from Maiden gallops to Mercyful Fate guitar play and hair metal groovery—the good stuff. The stuff before Zack Morris and gang ruined fashion, music, and my life.⁴ With that, even come shifts that are new to the band. Like, having rocking, accessible grooves that you could put on the radio. Just kidding. Idiots. But you’ll be surprised by some of the arrangements and the slickness of the songwriting. The other thing Pre-Historic Metal has over many of the band’s previous releases is… RIFFS. Lots and lots of fucking RIFFS. Do they all work? No. Do they tend to blend? Yes. Do they still kick ass? Also, yes.

To open the album, “They Found One of My Graves” borrows some inspiration from Kill ‘Em All-era Metallica, delivering some hooking licks that transition only when the urge for Motörhead-meets-Mercyful Fate-isms takes hold. The result is the funnest song on the record, and perhaps one of the grooviest of the band’s career. “Siberian Thaw” is another with that big, fun energy. After the instruments gently fade in, the song alternates between mid-paced chuggery and waist-deep murkery. The best part comes around the middle, when everything falls away and is replaced by eerie effects and a stellar bass lead. I’m not sure I’ve heard such prominent bass work on a Darkthrone album before, but they should do it more often.

Following “Siberian Thaw,” “Deeply Rooted” takes many of its predecessor’s doomy, damning qualities and pushes harder against Pre-Historic Metal’s outer walls. Adding some melody to the mid-paced groveling, the song creates an ascending character that only climbs higher as it progresses. Like the previous track, “Deeply Rooted” has a definitive moment of stoppage before more Metallica vibes kick in and the band goes flying. Continuing with this ridiculous continuity that has existed since Soulside Journey and only recently carried on, the album closes with the fourth part of “Eon.” Unlike the rest of the album, “Eon 4” is far more Darkthrone in approach. It contains classic tremolos and a black metal edge. When Fenriz’s absurd vocals arrive, they somehow feel far more fitting on this song than on others. But, as with the rest of the album, the moment you think you’ve settled in, everything around you changes. This time, the 1980s hit you like a fucking brick as the band hammers out one of the most headbangable licks on the record. Toss in a horse chase of galloping energy, and you have a winner in “Eon 4.”

While the instrumental, “So I Marched to the Sunken Empire,” is mostly unnecessary, it does point to a time when it seemed like every metal album had at least one. And even though the title track sounds like tired, overdone Darkthrone, with its ugly chord bends and even uglier Fenriz vocals,⁵ it still contains a killer lick on the back-end that’ll have you growing out your hair.⁶ Pre-Historic Metal is exactly as described. It’s a journey back in time, delivered through the eyes of two metal titans that have been doing this shit for forty fucking years.⁷ And the result is one of the most straightforward the band has produced. Keeping the weirdness to a minimum and letting the riffs shine throughout. With a respectable master that lets all things surface at the right time, Pre-Historic Metal is one of the best Darkthrone records of this era.

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Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: ALAC
Label: Peaveville Records | Bandcamp
Websites: facebook.com/darkthroneofficial
Releases Worldwide: May 8th, 2026

The post Darkthrone – Pre-Historic Metal Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

JK FLESH/MONRELLA: SHOUTING THE ODDS (GIVE/TAKE | Avalanche) DL | LP | CD Out Now – Order HERE Louder Than War talks to Justin Broadrick and Mick Harris about their new album, SHOUTING THE ODDS. A demonstration of what each artist’s arsenal is bursting with as distinctly split release, yet a collaborative concentration of overlapping […]

The post JK FLESH/MONRELLA: SHOUTING THE ODDS – Album Review & Interview appeared first on Louder Than War.

Emily Kolltveit will be known to many UK metalheads as the former frontwoman of Pythia, but her life took a surprising turn