Last week, Live Nation and Ticketmaster unexpectedly reached a settlement with the Justice Department in the antitrust lawsuit that was filed when Joe Biden was still in office. This meant that the controversial companies wouldn’t have to face trial for illegally monopolizing the live-entertainment space and driving up ticket prices, and fervent Trump supporter Kid Rock, who testified against Live Nation and Ticketmaster, was pissed. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports that Trump personally pushed for the settlement.
Poison The Well’s long-awaited reunion album “Peace In Place” has officially been released, marking their first studio effort since 2009. To coincide with its release, the band have also premiered a music video for the track “Weeping Tones,” directed by former Stray From The Path bassist Anthony Altamura.
Frontman Jeffrey Moreira sai… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com
Dave Grohl told The Guardian that he has been to over 430 therapy sessions for over a year since news broke he fathered a child outside of his marriage.
Darkthrone have set a May 8th release date for their 21st studio album, “Pre-Historic Metal.” The long-running pioneers of black and death metal have also shared a lyric video for the album’s title track, both of which now available for streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you below.
Drummer/guitarist/vocalist Fenriz explained, “P… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com
Threat Signal have released their new single “The Great Tribulation” streaming via YouTube and Spotify for you now below. A lyric video for the track has also been made available.
The song is taken from “Revelations,” the band’s first full-length album in nearly a decade. The ten-track record is set for release next Friday, March 27th via Ag… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com
This whole situation is gross, but at least Parkway Drive are trying to handle their part of it with… grace? A few days ago, it came to light that Jed Gordon, brother of the band’s drummer Ben Gordon and resident merch dude for the band, pled guilty to having sexual intercourse with a minor. At the time, Parkway Drive had yet to comment, but they’ve now released a statement giving their response to the news.
Parkway Drive’s statement reads as follows:
“We’ve recently learned that someone we’ve been associated with has pleaded guilty to an underage sex offence in 2002.
“This is appalling and we condemn it. We’re gutted and we support the victim.
“This happened before we were a band, however we bear moral responsibility for contracting him from 2003, on and off over the years.
“While he hasn’t toured with us since 2017, more recently he’s been part of our Australian online merch team. When the band heard about this, we terminated his contract immediately. He’s no longer involved with Parkway Drive in any capacity.
“This is heartbreaking on a very human scale.
“This is still ongoing in the courts so we’re closing comments.”
Many social media accounts have shared screen shots and details about the case filings, though a profile under the handle @rorybanwell has played a part in the rollout of the news with what it’s shared and expressed so far.
A post made by the @rorybanwell account shared the following on Wednesday, March 18 in a carousel on Instagram:
“It’s come to our attention that Jed Daniel Gordan, someone deeply involved in the hardcore scene nationally, has pled guilty to the crime of having intercourse with a minor between 14 and 16 years of age 2 days ago.
“He had a prominent placement on the @5qszine podcast up until 2024. We hope he is no longer involved with the zine they publish and are not implying any wrong doing as far as others there are concerned nor do we encourage harassment of this page/people. We hope they address Jed’s unacceptable behaviour in their own way and transparently for the hardcore scene.
“This is an urgent safety alert given the expansion of all ages hardcore shows that we felt needed to be brought to our mates, followers and like minded crews attention.”
The following message was included in the caption:
“DEAR FRIENDS OF AUSTRALIAN HARDCORE..
“Another habitual creep has been caught! Jed Gordon, best known as @parkwaydriveofficial ‘s merch guy has pleaded guilty to “sexual intercourse with a child between the ages of 14 and 16”, aka. the r*pe of a minor.
“We’ve all heard stories, most of us have had experiences. I remember him trying to hook up with me at a Parkway Show when I was freshly 18 and HAD A CONCUSSION. Luckily I had a friend to lead me away.
“I need to implore you to report him if you were unfortunately enough to have an interaction with him when you were under 18. There is no statute of limitations on r*pe in NSW. I’m not sure about the other states, but it’s worth reaching out if something has happened to you. Please, please reach out to them and see what they can do.
“I will be reaching out to the court for the documentation after his sentencing. I hope for the sake of everyone he hasn’t received some sweetheart deal to plead guilty and have zero punitive repercussions. But I also wouldn’t be surprised because of how much he absolutely sucks.
“Please share this and get people talking about it. He doesn’t deserve to go quietly into the night without people being aware. I especially look forward to Parkway’s statement. If they don’t say anything, there’s something deeply rotten occurring.
“Thanks to @0161skinsau for the screenshots! This needs to be spread far and wide.”
This is still a developing case and story, but golly is it gross. As a former teenage girl (obviously, since this is how living works) at shows all the time, seeing and experiencing myself firsthand how disgusting dudes in or associated with bands can be, it is somewhat refreshing to see all these dirty little secrets finally come to light. But, what does justice really look like?
It’s not uncommon for death metal musicians to mellow and prog out the longer they roam this Earth. Far from a negative connotation, enough songwriting prowess can lead to a tasteful and potent way to carry out said development. One of many collectives in this category is the Morbus Chron expanded universe. These Swedes first went from classic death metal to Sweven, which eventually led to an even proggier Sweven. Now, in a further evolution following the Law of Increasing Hippietude™, we arrive at Speglas. Although predating Sweven by some five years, it took until now for the debut full-length Endarkenment, Being & Death to come to fruition. Their goal of fusing death and black metal with heavy metal, however, has remained the same throughout. With two degrees of staff and sound separation between Morbus Chron and Speglas, where has all this evolution led to?
The Sweven presence in the lineup of Speglas is noticeable from the get go. Isak Rosemarin (Sweven, ex-Morbus Chron) acts as half of the guitar crew and all of the vocal crew, lending the album a warm but powerful, raspy growl often reminiscent of Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium). Jesper Nyrelius’s (Sweven) drumming is varied and detailed (“The Spirit Postmortem,” “Hitherto Awry”). Alexi Hedlund’s guitar and Victor Berg’s bass round out the great performances of the lineup. Musically, Endarkenment… tends to fall somewhere between Inconcessus Lux Lucis’s blackened Iron Maiden approach (sadly gone unmentioned on site until now) and Chapel of Disease’s severely underrated deathened dad rock from 2024. Fans of Tribulation’s Down Below era might find a lot to like here as well. The songwriting builds upon their preceding EPs—2015’s Birth, Dreams & Death and 2022’s Time, Futility & Death—but improves on all aspects, nailing down the vocals and crafting a memorable dual guitar tandem (“Incessant Severance,” “Dies Mali”). And while the project’s vision does precede Sweven by a lot, its instrumentation inevitably ends up feeling distantly related (“Dearth”).
Endarkenment, Being & Death flows seamlessly from atmospheric to intense in various styles and tempos. Iron Maiden licks run amok throughout the album’s dual-harmonized guitar work (“Dearth,” “Rage upon the Dying Fire”) of course, but they’re not carrying the record alone. Gorgeous clean guitar parts (“Ailing,” “Dearth”) and sadboi tremolos (“Dies Mali”) accompany the superb rhythm and lead guitar efforts elsewhere. Parts of “The Endarkenment” even resemble Alcest by way of Spiritual Instinct’s fantastic post-black direction. All this leads to Speglas being progressive without it getting in the way of the music. In addition, a stellar production job only lifts up the band’s great stylistic choices. Simon Söderberg’s (whose production credits surprisingly include early Ghost) placement of drums and bass in the mix deserve special mention, as it makes an already good set of instruments sound incredible. Though not a massively layered or complex album, the combination of both songwriting and production depth makes for a highly repeatable experience.
Careful pacing allows Speglas to end their experiment with a triumphant bang instead of a whimper. Though the album could benefit from showing more teeth and grit at its most aggressive, the ending one-two punch of the album in “Dies Mali” and “Rage upon the Dying Fire” is a cornerstone hard to argue against. I wouldn’t be surprised if both end up being among my Song o’ the Year finalists. As for its softer side, the beauty of “Woe” and “Ailing” won’t change the minds of people diametrically opposed to intros and interludes. Some will say Speglas’s style is too watered down, others might think it’s not watered down enough. But I think Endarkenment… strikes a great balance in between, the music being both heavy and beautiful, intricate and addictingly catchy as a result.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel to craft something that feels fresh and exemplary. Speglas took a long while to fine-tune their writing prowess for the debut, and it paid off in spades. Endarkenment, Being & Death succeeds in its primary goal as a superb example of progressive, deathened and blackened heavy metal. Despite not featuring any cowbell, I reckon it’ll be difficult for future 2026 albums to top this one come year-end. As the final recent n00b remaining who hadn’t broken the Score Safety Counter yet, I’m glad I held out this long for something remarkable. And I wasn’t even originally in charge of covering it!
It’s not uncommon for death metal musicians to mellow and prog out the longer they roam this Earth. Far from a negative connotation, enough songwriting prowess can lead to a tasteful and potent way to carry out said development. One of many collectives in this category is the Morbus Chron expanded universe. These Swedes first went from 
