Category: news

“It’s not some champagne and caviar rock star party for us”

“It’s not some champagne and caviar rock star party for us”

Ecca Vandal has revealed all of the details of their upcoming new album, their first for Loma Vista Recordings.

Titled ‘LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW’, it will be released on May 22.

Ecca had this to say about what the record represents for them, stating, “The systems. The trends. The illusions of connection. I find empowerment in being loud and noisey especially as a woman in this global moment who grew up in a culture that told me I could not be those things.”

The artwork looks like this:

Whilst the full tracklisting looks like this:

1. AIRPLANE MODE
2. EYES SHUT
3. SORRY! CRASH!
4. VERTICAL WORLDS
5. BLEED BUT NEVER DIE
6. CRUISING TO SELF SOOTHE
7. MOLLY
8. OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY
9. LEVITATE PART 1 & 2
10. LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW
11. THEN THERE’S ONE
12. BLEACH
13. DID A LITTLE MORE TO FORGET
14. DO IT ANYWAY
15. DANCE IN DEBT
16. GHOSTS
17. CAME HERE FOR THE LOOT

The announcement has come with a new track dropping, too, in the form of ‘SORRY! CRASH!’, which follows on from the previous release of ‘BLEACH’ and ‘MOLLY’.

A frantic, kinetic blend of melody and mayhem, effortlessly blurring the lines between sounds and scenes, it is a brilliantly bonkers and sensational listen. A fork in the road for everything that Ecca Vandal stands for and wants to disrupt, delivered with intensity and intricacy.

Ecca will be making her Coachella debut later this month in the US, and in the UK will be at Outbreak Fest in Manchester in June and at Outbreak Fest x All Points East in August, alongside Deftones.

The post Ecca Vandal Announces New Album ‘LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO UNFOLLOW’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

Posted on April 1st 2026, 3:36p.m.

See why Bruce Springsteen called Garden State natives a "confused but noble race." Continue reading…

Corrosion Of Conformity first flew into my radar via MTV’s flagship Heavy Metal show Headbangers Ball. I remember being blown away by the blistering Vote With A Bullet, and I picked up the album Blind shortly afterwards. That album was on heavy rotation, and when Deliverance dropped in 1994, I was fully along for the dirty, sweaty, Skynyrd-soaked ride. Now, they are back with the double album Good God / Baad Man.

Corrosion Of Conformity – Good God / Baad Man

Release Date: 3 April 2026

Words: Kenny Kendrick

Corrosion Of Conformity formed in 1982 and were initially a hardcore punk band. Their sound evolved into a blues-tinged, Heavy Metal behemoth, and they enjoyed considerable success in the ’90s. Bands such as Metallica gave them their seal of approval, and James Hetfield even guested on their 1996 album Wiseblood. 

The band went through line-up changes and had periods of hiatus while main man Pepper Keenan recorded and toured with the supergroup Down. They continued without Pepper until 2015, when the classic line-up of Pepper Keenan, Woody Weatherman, Mike Dean, and Reed Mullin reformed to perform together. 

Unfortunately, founding drummer Reed Mullin passed away in 2020. This proved to be a devastating blow, but the band vowed to soldier on in his memory. Pepper and Woody started writing during Covid, and they soon realised that they had enough songs for a double album. 

“As we went on,” Pepper explains, “we had such a crazy plethora of songs, it was almost like two different directions, we knew we had to split it into two different albums. Then we came up with this concept.”

The concept was based on the title of the album, as Pepper further explains. “Our producer, Warren Riker, kept calling it Dark Side Of The Doom. In my head, it’s a weird love letter to all things rock ‘n’ roll. We used that for the freedom to go in different directions. Each album is its own tiny universe and has its own identity.

“Good God leans toward the heavier/pissed end of the spectrum. Baad Man is more on the throwdown rock scope. As we went along, it became clear which songs went on which album.”

Drummer Stanton Moore and bassist Bobby ‘Rock’ Landgraf were drafted in for the recording of the album. I have to say that Moore’s performance is inspired. His stamp is all over the album, and Reed Mullin would appreciate the effort that Moore has put in to honour his playing.

The drum sound is huge. Hats off to Moore, he has done a superb job [Chef’s kiss]. However, just to add more of a twist, Nick Shabatura has now replaced Moore as COC’s drummer. 

Both albums have a different story to tell with regard to sound and feel. Album one has more of a Deliverance/Wiseblood familiar feel. Album two has more of a funkier, straight-ahead blues-tinged rock ‘n’ roll vibe. 

Album one opens with Good God?/Final Dawn. The track begins with a floating, Eastern kind of feel, before we get a blistering attack on the ears. Moore is flying around the kit with thirty-second notes that Dave Lombardo would approve of. Keenan snarls and growls. The riffs are mighty, and it is a fantastic introduction to the album.

You Or Me provides us with an atmospheric, punchy number with the band firing on all cylinders. This stuff is going to sound so good in a live setting. The album’s first single, Gimme Some Moore (see what they did there?), is one of my favourites from the album, with punk energy, chugging riffs, and classic COC energy. Fantastic! It even boasts backing vocals from none other than Al Jourgensen of Ministry. 

Album one concludes with a nine-minute epic in Run For Your Life, a slow-burning, stoner anthem. This track in particular took me back to those heady days of the ’90s. Ah, when life seemed so much simpler.

Album two kicks off with Baad Man. I will let Pepper explain what the track is about. “It’s a weird ’70s rock stomper thing,” he says. “It’s about a guy who thinks he’s a badass, but he really ain’t.” I was nodding along all the way through. It has great, funky-ass energy.

Lose Yourself begins with something that sounds like it is from an ’80s TV show, before we get another foot-stomping, funkadelic top tune. 

Asleep On The Killing Floor is an absolute barnstormer, dripping with a greasy, fuck you attitude. Handcuff County is a ZZ Top inspired blues jam. The band have apparently been listening to a lot of That Little Ol’ Band from Texas through Covid, and it certainly manifests here.

The album concludes with another spectacular tune, Forever Amplified. It features guest vocals from Anjelika ‘Jelly’ Joseph of the New Orleans jazz-funk band Galactic. She brings an almost Janis Joplin aura to the song and she can certainly belt it out.

The stellar production from Warren Riker really helps to propel the albums. Everything sounds monstrous, but it manages to hold on to that ’70s vibe that Corrosion Of Conformity does so well.

Good Man/Baad Man is an impressive return to form. If you loved the band’s output in the ’90s, you will absolutely love this.

Corrosion Of Conformity release Good God / Baad Man on 3 April 2026 via Nuclear Blast. Pre-orders are available from coccabal.bfan.link/ggbmlp. In June, the band will head to Europe and the United Kingdom for another run of live shows. The band also play Download in June. Full details below.

Corrosion Of Confromity – European Dates

05/6/2026 Mystic Festival – Gdansk, PL
07/2026 South of Heaven Festival – Maastricht, NL
12/6/2026 Download Festival – Derby, UK
14/6/2026 Fabrikclub – Cagliari, IT
16/6/2026 Razzmatazz 2 – Barcelona, ES
17/6/2026 Mon – Madrid, ES
18/6/2026 Azkena Rock Festival Vitoria – Gasteiz, ES
20/6/2026 Graspop Festival – Dessel, BE
21/6/2026 Hellfest – Clisson, FR
01/8/2026 Wacken Festival – Wacken, DE
07/8/2026 Brutal Assault Festival – Jaromer, CZ
09/8/2026 PALP Festival – Brusson, CH

The post Corrosion Of Conformity – Good God / Baad Man A Thunderous Return first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Cass McCombs recently kicked off his tour to bring last year’s Interior Live Oak to the stage. In New York, he was introduced by comedian Adam Friedland, who called him “the greatest singer-songwriter in the world.” Now he’s announcing a split 7″ with Hand Habits, who’s opening for him at some of the upcoming shows.…

The post Cass McCombs & Hand Habits Announce Split 7”: Hear “Seeing The Elephant” appeared first on Stereogum.

Jet Jaguar are one of their country’s few old school heavy metal bands, but they’re not planning on staying

Jet Jaguar are one of their country’s few old school heavy metal bands, but they’re not planning on staying

Finland’s Bronze Hall is a project I’ve quickly become a big fan of since last year’s Honor & Steel dropped seemingly out of nowhere. The particular strain of epic black metal conjured by lone member Yöpyöveli–someone who is quickly building a respectable catalogue of material by way of Forgotten Vale and Houre, a project with Magus Olaus of the delightfully medieval meloblack outfit Kaikkivaltias–pulls from the playbooks of Bathory and Falkenbach without an ounce of shame or remorse, and the project is all the better for it. Honor & Steel was an excellent first step for Bronze Hall, and last month, they released a new offering, Embers of the Dawn.

Embers is similar to Honor in several ways, but this isn’t a bad thing; Bronze Hall’s style doesn’t necessarily leave you hoping for stylistic evolution or significant musical progression. It’s the optimal soundtrack for engaging in “Hell yeah, brother” activities. As was the case with Honor, Embers brings another six tracks clocking in at a slightly longer 42 minutes of Quorthon worship; Quorship, if you will.

…

…

Where Embers shines is its opening song and second half. “Embers of Remembrance” is a great kickoff track with a slow acoustic build that doesn’t go too long before reminding you that you’ve entered the Bronze fucking Hall. The leads are memorable and creative, the vocals are pissed, and the riffs are mean–the whole track proves that Yöpyöveli’s Bach, Bath, & Beyond approach to songwriting comes naturally to him. Still, starting your record with a nine-minute track can be dicey, but it’s executed quite well here. Also, I hope you’re a fan of Bathory’s Hammerheart, because Embers of the Dawn is essentially a love letter to that record. 

The following tracks, “Call of Steel” and “Night’s Black Wings,” are great in their own right, but they are unfortunately overshadowed by the songs surrounding them. To be clear, they aren’t bad whatsoever; they just don’t hit the same massive high as “Embers of Remembrance” or Embers of the Dawn’s second half. Still, there’s plenty to love about them. The viking horn intro to “Call of Steel” that transitions to the first full band section with a huge sword unsheathing is fucking badass, and the main riff that comes back several times throughout is an earworm. Something that happens with “Call of Steel” as well as “Night’s Black Wings” is that the riffs in the middle of the songs don’t grab me as much, but I’m still having a good time. Still, the solo at around 5:10 and the closing riff at around 6:00 immediately draw my attention again, with the latter being a contender for one of my favorite riffs across the whole record.

That being said, the main riff in “Ravaging Flames” is one of the best on the entire album and signals that Embers is going to pull out all the stops from this point forward. The Bathory influence shines especially bright on this track, but the key here is that Yöpyöveli never lets that cloud his greater vision. Sure, this track may take a couple cues from “A Fine Day to Die,” but it maintains its own identity and purpose. The tempo and pacing song delivers something more brooding and sinister than you would expect from Quorthon, and even though the way the melodies and vocal phrasing are presented certainly harken back to Blood Fire Death, it feels more like an honorable nod to those who paved the way while treading one’s own path, rather than an attempt to pantomime the past with a new coat of paint. This sentiment echoes throughout the rest of Embers.

“In Northern Twilight” is an absolute heater that uses the Falkenbach and viking-era Bathory playbook convincingly. The synths, the harmonized guitars, the leads, and the pacing, trading speed for heaviness, had me wishing I could raise a tankard of ale and yell “SKÅL” to the souls in Valhalla. The acoustic break leading into the solo on this one is perfectly done too and, along with the bombastic synth melody that culminates the song, is another example of Yöpyöveli going for broke. 

“Galloping in the Sunlight’s Embrace” is the longest and final track on the record, which is a bold choice, but it’s clearly done with well-founded confidence. The first minute is a dungeon synth intro that’s reminiscent of Gothmog’s Medieval Journeys. Then it retains the slower and moodier pacing of “In Northern Twilight” when the full band kicks in, but uses that reduced energy expertly with lilting harmonized riffs and a drum break with double bass and tom work. The following ice-cold riff adorned with synths eventually drops out with the rest of the band to leave the synth playing alone in pure triumphant splendor, only for a beautiful guitar lead to resurface and slowly build up with more layers before the song hits its apex, eliciting visions of standing on a mountaintop with your sword held high in victory, A final guitar solo enters before the fury ends and an Agalloch-flavored stack of acoustic guitars plays us out. I need a cigarette after that, good lord.

Embers of the Dawn’s obvious influence is impossible to overstate, but they’re integrated in a way that so few bands manage to execute well. There are certain songwriting cues and melodic ideas that are clearly inspired by Quorthon’s playbook, but those elements are also infused with cues from Macabre Omen, Falkenbach, and Moonsorrow. These influences inform Bronze Hall and result in a reinvigoration of a style that, while tried and true, has needed a band to carry the torch of the genre forward. Embers of the Dawn is comparable to its predecessor Honor & Steel, but it improves upon what was already a winning formula, and Bronze Hall is proof that the future of viking metal shines as brightly as the sword it wields.

–Eric Wing

…

Embers of the Dawn is available now.