Aerosmith built one of the longest-running and most recognizable careers in American rock and roll, powered by a classic lineup that became famous for its mix of blues, hard rock, and arena-sized swagger. From Steven Tyler and Joe Perry to the musicians who stepped in during the band’s most turbulent years, each member played a role in shaping the sound and survival of one of Boston’s greatest rock bands. Our Complete List of Aerosmith Band Members presents a list of musicians who were at one time members of the band Aerosmith. It does not include touring or session musicians who
Esben Willems is a happy person. On the surface, such a comment, while true and important, should not get elevated to an opening sentence in a Monolord interview. Maybe that is because the parameters of the interview were well beyond those generally limited to music interviews.
One of the things our interview ended on was the idea of being a father. I asked Esben if the music he is making with Monolord is, subconsciously at least, some kind of legacy gift to his son, a powerful reminder of what his dad helped create with Monolord.
Esben took that question deeper by generalising his contribution as the drummer in the band. “I hope my son just realises that his father did what made him happy.”
From that, Esben followed “that modelling authentic self-expression is an important aspect of being a father.”
None of this should sound incongruous to the heavy soundscapes that Monolord has consistently created over the last ten years, because they are flush lyrics and musical cries with being an emotional and sentient being, living with a battling duality of hope and anxiety about the state of our world.
Monolord is not your typical Doom band, and this interview should permanently cement that notion.
Monolord – Neverending is earning Album of the Year praise, delivering masterful doom, blues and psych with stunning confidence. Photo: James Rexroad
In a 1970 BBC interview with Led Zeppelin, the interviewer tells John Bonham that he does not think he could whistle/hum of the band’s music. To be fair, the band’s heavy take on the blues was surely hard on the ears of music journalists who had been fed a steady diet of The Beatles, still the greatest band ever.
My opening question to Esben was about that–humming. Specifically, if he could guess what song from their 2021 Your Time To Shine album I have been humming consistently since then. To add to the “strangeness” of the opening question, I told him that I can’t even remember humming another song so consistently in the last 20 years.
Esben’s response: “I have no idea…”
So, as you would hope that I did, I started humming the song–the intro to I’ll Be Damned. It’s the guitar parts between the heavy riffs.
On the surface, this could feel like a self-indulgent, esoteric question.
But it wasn’t. It went, for both myself and Esben, to the very heart of why Monolord’s heaviness just hits harder and is so special.
Monolord and Melody
The use of it, and especially combined with melancholy and clever use of “faintness of sound”, has elevated Monolord to a level that their categorisation Stoner/Doom just doesn’t fit anymore, if it ever did to begin with.
So I asked Esben if this dedication to this melody is conscious or subconscious.
“That’s a really good question,” he said. “Tomas [Jäger] is responsible for the lyrics, but we all contribute. It’s like a Venn diagram, where the final sound is a combination of all our influences, with melody ending up as a consistent theme in our songs.”
Naturally, the discussion of the new album, specifically who produced it–Sylvia Massy, genius behind Tool’s 1993 Undertow–came up. I was intrigued as to how the album felt like the continuation of the musical growth of the previous albums and what Massy brought to the band.
“We have to credit producer Sylvia Massie’s mastery of a thousand small, invisible choices as the key to capturing the band’s vision during the recording process,” he said. “She created a comfortable, home-like environment, which helped the band perform at their best.
“Recording is generally emotionally and physically exhausting, so working with her was such an amazing experience. We were relaxed the very minute we walked into her studio.”
Monolord release Neverending on 29 May 2026 via Relapse Records. The album cover features a painting by M.K. Cooper
Understandably, Esben said in the interview, once the album is finished, the band does not listen to it. The phase of recording is finished, and while there is this emptiness, the band’s focus and energy shift to playing live, where the most powerful example of the band’s synergy is on display.
I commented to Esben that the band’s music is uplifting, even referring to it as romantic Doom. That brought a big smile to his face.
I then shared a quote from photographer Glen Friedman, who photographed so many of the amazing shots of The Z Boys skating in abandoned swimming pools in Santa Monica in the mid-’70s, on his definition of punk: “An intense obligation to the truth of your innermost self.”
“I like that,” Esben said. “I like that a lot.”
Surfing that affirming response, I told him that I see Monolord as a punk band, having found the truth of their innermost self and sharing that obligation with the intensity of their live performances. The Esben smile, which was a constant throughout the interview, might have been at its widest at this point.
It is at this point that I brought up having met Fredrik Nordin of Dozer at RippleFest in 2024, and how we spent most of the time talking about the future of the Earth and our kids.
You know how the interview ends. I started off with it. The warmth and humanity as a punctuation mark on our conversation did not temper the heaviness of Monolord.
Monolord have been great friends of Dunable Guitars for almost a decade, using the brand’s guitars and basses as weapons of choice for their torrential downpour of heavy tones and catchy hooks live and in the studio.
Artist signature models for Thomas Jäger and Mika Hakki are long overdue, and Dunable is happy to finally present their Dunable USA Custom Gnarwhal and R2 Bass signature instruments, limited to only six of each model. For more details, visit dunableguitars.com/collections/in-stock-now.
Monolord released Neverending on 29 May 2026 via Relapse Records. Available as multiple limited-edition vinyl variants, CD and cassette, as well as digital, for more details visit relapse.com/pages/monolord-neverending.
Upon making landfall on the shores of AMG, Southern goth rock outfit Wailin Storms stirred up strong sentiments in our esteemed staff. Madam X praised this Texas-turned-North Carolina quartet’s One Foot in the Flesh Grave (2015) for its ‘oddly dark and tricksy’ swirl of Danzig and 16 Horsepower. Since this (Great) debut, subsequent squalls have been weaker but still potent. Cherd found Rattle(2020) a moving, if unvaried, gust of ‘dark psychedelic twang,’ while The Silver Snake Unfolds(2022) blew fresh air into the band’s ‘fire-and-brimstone snake handling speaking in tongues nightmare music.’ 1 In the Year of Our Lord 2026, Wailin Storms play The Arsonist on their new home, Season of Mist. Conjuring a conflagration for their fifth album, these Durham doom-punk goth rockers may once again set fire to the Score Safety Counter.
The Arsonist stokes the shift Wailin Storms started around Rattle. There, the band refined their swampy pastiche into a more measured fusion of their influences. Past outings in this idiom suffered from songwriting redundancy and sore-thumb tracks. The Arsonist, however, proceeds as a dynamically-sequenced, organically-produced dance between barn burners and smoldering pits. “Dead End” ignites the album with the darkly driving guitar enmeshments of Justin Storms and Ben Melton. Meanwhile, “You Never Answered” bursts with spasmodic rhythms from drummer Mark Oates and bassist Steve Stanczyk. Even when the fires abate, Wailin Storms bring the heat. “Heart of Mine” and “The Arsonist” excel at slow-burn setups with sizzling sendoffs, singeing the skin from within. Whether in the energetic or meditative category, the songs consistently hit the spot, feeling wrought to just the right degree. At 45 minutes, The Arsonist breathes when it needs to and scorches when it wants to.
The apex of this blaze are the vocals of Justin Storms, who mightily impresses with his range. Storms’s wail has recalled Glenn Danzig since Flesh Grave, and it continues to power some affecting choruses (“You Never Answered,” “The Arsonist”). Subsequent releases, however, have seen the frontman branch out beyond the Shirtless Wonder. On The Arsonist, Storms incorporates stylings akin to the silky mid-range of Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) and the alien warbling of Thom Yorke (Radiohead). On that latter reference: Storms’s voice, at its most tender and brittle, brilliantly inflects somber material that wouldn’t sound out of place on Hail to the Thief (“Heart of Mine,” “It’s All Dark Now Where Your Eyes Used to Be”). He even dips into some down n’ dirty blues moans, mixed with a flitting falsetto (“Saved”). Storms is not the only voice on The Arsonist, though; Melton melts faces with aggro shouts, imbuing the blues rock with a noisy edge (“Dead End,” “Never Rest”).2 As thrilling a display as I’ve heard in 2026, The Arsonist stand as a surefire frontrunner for Vocal Performance o’ the Year.3
Criticisms of The Arsonist are minimal and wispy, affording opportunities for further praise. Lighting a spark and growing into a flashover, The Arsonist does falter a tad in its pre-decay transition. “Patient Night” pleases with fun, shaker-fueled shimmies, but it’s a bit simplistic and truncated, comparatively speaking. Following this tune is “The Wind,” a more expansive number possessing sweet pseudo-metal punctuations. Its subdued ending, however, feels like a slightly redundant transition into the excellent closing piano ballad (“It’s All Dark Now…”). Another nitpick concerns lyrics. The Arsonist excels at marrying emotional realism with surrealist imagery. But one moment always sticks out: the punk ending of “Never Rest,” where Storms snarls an equally punk rallying cry (‘Fuck your fucking war…Fuck your fucking war’). I’m no puritan when it comes to profanity, and I like a good protest song as much as the next guy. Alas, something about these lyrics momentarily takes me out of the album’s arrestingly eerie aura.
Extinguishing these critical flamelets reveals a Safety Counter set ablaze. After three attempts, I didn’t think Wailin Storms would ever again produce an album as great as One Foot in the Flesh Grave. The Arsonist proved me wrong, though it’s greatness is of a different kind. Whereas Flesh Grave grounds its twists and turns in Danzigian blues rock/metal, The Arsonist enchants with its seamless shifts between combustible laments and fiery bangers. Arson may be a crime, but missing out on The Arsonist—whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer to Wailin Storms—would be the real crime.
CRUMBLING GHOST SHARE VIDEO FOR SLOWCORE/GRUNGE INSPIRED SINGLE ‘LAST OF ALL SLEEP’
NEW ALBUM ‘FOUR’ RELEASED 7TH AUGUST (NEW HEAVY SOUNDS)
Within the broad church of ‘rock’ or ‘alternative’ and its many offshoots – it remains a minor thrill to stumble across a group who seem to exist at a slight tangent to everything else.
Crumbling Ghost is one such anomaly and an irresistible one at that: a group who feel less like a discovery than a secret belatedly shared. Their new album ‘Four’ set for release on 7th August (New Heavy Sounds) was announced last month.
Crumbling Ghost are not newcomers. They’ve been operating for some time, releasing records sporadically, Four’ is in fact their fourth release. Along the way they’ve accumulated a fervent coterie of followers, not to mention the occasional nod of approval from tastemakers such as Stuart Maconie, Stewart Lee and Tom Ravenscroft. And though they’ve appeared at Roadburn, shared stages with Hawkwind and even Damo Suzuki, they remain (possibly by design) curiously under‑the‑radar. That might change with the quite wonderful ‘Four’.
The group’s core idea is deceptively simple: traditional folk material rearranged and refracted through the haze and heft of fuzzy and dreamy, psyche tinged rock with a smattering of noise and shoegaze.
What Crumbling Ghost latch onto is not folk as a museum piece, but as a lived experience, the dramas rooted in the culture, stories, and daily lives of ordinary people, the folklore, the tales of love and death, murder and adultery, freedom and oppression.
On ‘Four’ those narratives are dragged into the present via churning distortion, hypnotic repetition and a sense of looming atmosphere. Fairport Convention with fuzz. Trees with heft. A pastoral Sonic Youth.
The result is a set of murder ballads, supernatural reckonings and cautionary tales, all wrapped in slabs of heavy, thumping fuzz and atmospheric sonics. Harnett’s voice sits at the centre: unmistakably folk‑rooted, but shorn of prettification, melodic yet capable of real bite. There’s no “hey nonny nonny” here.
Musically, it’s a combination that really does work, and it’s delivered in some style too. And to fully appreciate the world of Crumbling Ghost, listening closely pays dividends, and those stories come to life.
New single “Last of All Sleep” is not a Crumbling Ghost reinterpretation of a dark and distant folk murder ballad, nor a cover of a little known 90’s SubPop grunge downtuned, downtempo album-track-that-should-have-been-a-single, but it feels like a song you’ve wanted to hear and yet known for years, in other words, an instant classic.
If you were “Last of All Sleep” was written by Kristin Hersh when she spent a month in the desert with Kyuss and then gave the song to Earth (who are still to record it), you would be excited to hear it. You should be.
“Last of All Sleep” is Crumbling Ghost visiting the pantheon of slowcore with effortless cool and groove, along with oozing heavy Fuzz that Mudhoney, Alice in Chains or Melvins would head-nod to. It has also a killer vocal with hooks that Blackwater Holylight or Faetooth would kill for. And that solo at the end..! The band comment,
“Last Of All Sleep first emerged a little while back when Katie and I played in a previous band called Mordros. When rehearsing material for Four I brought this song back to the practice space as I thought it would compliment and contrast nicely with the rest of the material lined up for the new album. At the time it was written I was listening to a lot of Will Oldham which probably influenced the vibe to an extent. It’s telling a personal story based on the changing seasons, restlessness, and how the past teaches us to be present in the moment.” – John Mosley (guitar)
“For me, I first heard it when Johnny brought it in and I immediately wanted to add some subtle Kim/Kelley Deal Breeders overdrive to Johns finger picked clean guitar. As usual I got carried away and with Wayne (Adams) help, ended up with that monster guitar tone.” – Donny Hopkins (guitar)
“It is funny how we all interpret songs and to me the song is about a new relationship as it develops and blossoms through the year. The person in the song having potentially found their “significant other”. There is an ease about the way they float from season to season and appear to grow to understand one another. But hey, this is just my somewhat romantic interpretation, however, because of this I felt the vocal should be quite understated to reflect its day dreamy quality, mirroring the instrumental that chugs along reassuringly” – Katie Harnett (vocals)
7 songs, 7 worlds, all honed to perfection by producer Wayne Adams (Green Lung/Big Lad) that will reward every repeated listen.
‘Four’ amply and beautifully demonstrates that when it comes to ‘folk horror’ there’s nothing quite as horrible as folk … Here, the horror such as it is, and it must be said, the moments of light, comes not from theatrics, but from the songs themselves – which, after all, is where it’s always lived.
Here, the horror such as it is, and it must be said, the moments of light, comes not from theatrics, but from the songs themselves – which, after all, is where it’s always
lived.
‘Four’ will be released by New Heavy Sounds on August 7th on a 300 only limited edition red and white marbled vinyl. Also available on limited edition CD and download. Pre-order now:
The final day of Outbreak 2026 brings with it the usual trudge of tired festival-goers, ready for one final day of moshing. It’s still warm, but the cooler breeze and semblance of cloud cover means that the sunburnt are at least unlikely to be any more so by the day’s close. Sunday brings more hardcore, not least thanks to the wealth of bands here today from Baltimore, one of the genre’s undeniable spiritual homes. But there’s also the usual mixture of genres that makes Outbreak 2026 so eclectic. Shoegaze, indie and emo all feature, making it another day of variety at one of the UK’s premium homes of all things heavy.
Words: Ben Williams
Nothing
Operating at the more direct end of shoegaze, Philadelphia’s Nothing revolves largely around Domenic Palermo. His on-stage persona is retiring. Head down, he studies his guitar almost as much as his effect’s pedals, something he has in common with his bandmates who are similarly indifference to ostentatious showmanship. Conversation is kept to a minimum too. We learn that Palermo doesn’t like the heat: “the sun sucks,” he says obliquely, but that’s about it. Nothing are simply content with creating foggy landscapes of distorted guitar the pass by meditatively, something that they do rather well.
End It
Given that End It recently became notorious for a mid-gig confrontation between the band and a man dressed as a banana, the enormous crowd they draw is expected. But those hoping to see another fruit-related incident were instead treated to the most faithful of hardcore bands. Indeed, the word “hardcore” is used so frequently during frontman Akil Godsey’s stage patter that it begins to sound like gibberish. It’s a volatile performance. During an opening monologue, which somehow namedrops both Jesus and Stalin, Godsey informs everyone to expect “25-27 minutes” of hardcore; and that is what happens. Everything about the performance feels dangerous, even down to the animated devils that hold the band’s projected logo behind them. It all feels rather more serious than it perhaps should be, but there’s a refreshing honesty with which End it pay tribute to the genre.
La Dispute
Jordan Dreyer is a natural storyteller. The La Dispute frontman’s charisma is tangible as he traverses songs from the Michigan band’s 2025 album ‘No One Was Driving The Car’, with highly conceptual and impressively complex song structures. What results is a performance that isn’t as confrontational as it is introspective, with the content of Dreyer’s lyrics forming the fundamental centrepiece for the performance. This is epitomised by ‘King Park’, a heartbreaking song from the band’s second album ‘Wildlife’ that is devastatingly visceral. And as Dreyer’s imagery comes to life, the bleakness of his lyrics are every bit as affecting as the musicality on display.
Snail Mail
Standing out as one of the festival’s stranger bookings, Snail Mail’s comparatively gentle indie rock is pleasant in the sunshine. Effectively a Lindsey Erin Jordan solo project, Baltimore’s Snail Mail does admittedly possess a fragile approach to lyricism that’s akin to the festival’s opening night of emo opulence. When performed live, her songs also evoke the sounds of slacker rock, which gives her guitar playing a groovier feel than on record. It cannot, however, be ignored that the paucity of festival-goers watching Snail Mail is due to an abundance of attendees watching Hatebreed at the smaller indoor stage, which is promptly closed to avoid over-crowding. It’s always pleasing to see something different on the lineup, but the scheduling of these two artists feels unfortunately misguided.
Trapped Under Ice
Trapped Under Ice’s three albums in almost 20 years sounds unproductive. Yet considering how busy the band are with their other projects (Angel Du$t, Cold Mega, Turnstile) it’s remarkable they’ve found any time to play at all. It’s a performance of merciless aggression. This is hardcore punk that is upfront and hostile; there’s as consistent a stream of stage divers as there’s been all weekend to prove it. Justice Tripp’s vocals are as gnarled as barbed wire. His growl roars from the speakers with a fierce intent. Occasional interruptions to this take place only in the form of the audience members who periodically acquire Tripp’s microphone. These vocals are a little less impressive but stand as a reminder that hardcore is egalitarian. Band and audience are at one, as proven by the lack of barrier between them.
Suicidal Tendencies
Mike Muir is the only original member of Suicidal Tendencies. He is at once a frontman, a hype man and the glue that keeps the legendary project alive. Known for creatively combining elements of punk and trash, the band now have a legacy to uphold, but solemnity is not in their wheelhouse. Instead, there’s something wonderfully silly about much of the performance. Muir’s rambling political addresses wouldn’t hold to scrutiny, but chants of “SC” and a David Byrne vocal style are enough to delight this weary Sunday crowd. The combination of “You Can’t Bring Me Down” and a head-banging Muir is a joyous sight. It isn’t the slickest of performances but it might be the most fun anyone has all weekend.
Basement
Basement are Outbreak regulars. They headlined in 2024, having played numerous times before then. It makes them a somewhat uninspired booking, but the fact they’re tried-and-tested helps them deliver a crowd-pleasing hour of alternative rock/emo. Having released their last album ‘WIRED’ earlier this year – their first in eight years – there is added impetus to the show. That said, it takes time for Basement to warm up. A string of new songs leaves everyone waiting for the jubilation brought by older songs like ‘Covet’ and ‘Spoiled’. There are many attendees sporting Basement T-shirts today, but the lack of a reaction to songs from ‘WIRED’ suggests that not all of their fans are here for Basement’s new music. Then again, to end Outbreak Festival 2026 – which celebrates its 15th anniversary edition with one eye looking into the past – with a band who are veterans of the festival feels thoroughly apropos.
Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward states that he’s “still a drummer” despite increasingly relying on a wheelchair to get about.
In a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday (July 9), the pioneering heavy metal sticksman, 78, reveals that he is unable to walk long distances without assistance but refuses to give up his instrument because of it.
He writes: “I’m announcing today somewhat sadly but nonetheless truthfully, that I’ve reached a place where publicly more and more I need to use a wheelchair, mostly in airports, or public events.
“I can still walk, let there be no doubt, but I can’t walk very far without needing to rest, meaning I need to sit down.”
Ward says that he started using his wheelchair “about 18 months ago, mostly in airports”, but defiantly adds that “I was a long distance walker, I’ve walked in many different parts of the world, and I’m still a drummer. I can still play pretty good for 78 years old”.
“My talents and ambitions, and my unyielding need to be artful, and to play drums, is still as strong as it was so many years ago now,” he continues.
“I’m just saying if you see me in a wheelchair, I’m just catching a ride, I’m not in retirement or ill or giving up, or any of those thoughts that ignite when we see people in wheelchairs. I’m making myself public and transparent about my new transport, and letting you know I’m OK.
“If you see me in the airports or visiting friends in the music arenas or theatres say hi, I don’t bite, I’ll just look different.”
He signs off: “Much love to you all and I’ll keep rocking until I’m dead.”
Ward co-founded Sabbath with singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler in 1968. Even though he speaks out against retiring in his new post, the band retired on July 5, 2025, after putting on a grand final bow at Villa Park stadium in their hometown of Birmingham.
The all-day extravaganza, which marked the founding Sabbath lineup’s first time performing onstage together since 2005, featured support from such rock and metal titans as Metallica, Guns N’ Roses, Tool, Gojira and Mastodon. Osbourne played a short solo set before doing four songs with Sabbath. The night marked the Prince Of Darkness’ last time onstage before his death aged 76 following a heart attack on July 22.
Last June, Ward revealed that, despite Sabbath’s then-impending split, he was busy working on two new solo albums. Talking to Long Beach radio station 99.1 KLBP-FM, he said that the efforts were “nearly finished” and that he’d been “living in the studio”.
“I’ve just let everything go. I basically don’t give an ‘F’, and I think it shows up in the record. I don’t have anything to swagger about. I wanted to play something that plays in my heart and then comes out of my soul. I wanted to play some things that keep me awake at night.”
Neither of Ward’s albums have been officially announced at time of publication.
Jawdropped, the rising four-piece from Los Angeles, today announce their debut album, Secret To Spare, due 18thSeptember via Transgressive Records / Canvasback.
Crack Den Blues finds Flowers for Juno drifting through a fog of blown-out guitars, tape hiss, and ghostly reverb, crafting a sound that feels hypnotic, unsettling, and strangely beautiful. Echoing the decayed, narcotic atmosphere of early-era SALEM, but filtered through a shoegaze and indie rock lens, the track balances dense textures with buried pop instincts. Its woozy production, haunting vocals, and slow-burning intensity create an immersive listening experience that grows more captivating with each spin. Equal parts abrasive and dreamlike, Crack Den Blues is a fearless exploration of noise, mood, and melody that leaves a lasting impression.
Upon making landfall on the shores of AMG, Southern goth rock outfit Wailin Storms stirred up strong sentiments in our esteemed staff. 
