Category: news

Only in Texas.

The post Upon A Burning Body Announce Their Annual ‘Everything Is Heavier In Texas Tour’ appeared first on Theprp.com.

Attention rock fans, this is your captain speaking.

For those with a memory longer than the lifetime of the average millennial, the 80s were a time when bands were still allowed to rock hard with zero apologies on the western side of the Atlantic. The hair was long, the songs were larger than life, and the only thing that could have killed the ongoing party was the inevitable hangover that would be the subsequent decade. But by the onset of the new millennium, cynicism and moroseness gave way to nostalgia for the good old days, and a new generation would take up the mantle of the original hard rock pantheon.

Due to its geographic location, word seemed to have reached the Australian continent a little later than the rest, but by 2001, an old-school powerhouse with all the energy and fire of the originals was being conceived on the coast of southwestern Victoria. Now 25 years and 6 studio LPs deep into their career, the four-piece Aussie rock machine known as Airbourne has taken their game into the proverbial stratosphere with an album so iconic that they had to name it after themselves.

Driven by the guitar chops and larger-than-life vocal presentation of helmsman Joel O’Keeffe, this heavy-hitting flight crew delivers the full-on classic rock experience in all its raucous glory. One can’t help but hear the influence of Australia’s originals AC/DC at nearly every point between the takeoff and landing, only with the lead guitar high-jinks of Angus Young and the vocal chops of both Bon Scott and Brian Johnson occurring in one person. But to be fair, there is a lot more going on alongside the heartfelt nods to Highway To Hell, Back In Black and The Razor’s Edge here.

Joel’s gravely shrieks often surpass the force factor that normally comes with a vintage 70s rock approach, drawing parallels to the likes of Blackie Lawless, Tom Keifer and even Lemmy Kilmister at times. Likewise, the massive gang choruses that often flank Joel’s gritty lead rival the arena-like bluster of late 80s Def Leppard, and the often busy riff work streaming out of O’Keeffe and rhythm guitarist Brett Tyrrell has a little more of a metallic kick to go with its mostly bluesy swagger, all the while sitting comfortably above a straightforward foundation built out of brother Ryan O’Keeffe’s kit work and Justin Street’s bass lines.

Though a band that makes a point of cutting to the chase, Airbourne manages to land this 747 of an opus with an artful exposition. The opening foray of up-tempo rocking fervor “Gutsy” starts with a well-placed and comparatively quiet lone guitar intro and builds up gradually to an explosion of defiant energy, culminating in the first of a non-stop succession of earworm bangers. Echoes of iconic staples like “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Thunderstruck” are given a 2020s touch-up and a little extra bite on the mid-paced cooker “Here She Comes”, and one can’t help but hear a less-than-subtle hint of “Back In Black” oozing through the towering fanfare of “Sky High”.

Then again, the air of a quasi-tribute album becomes even more blatant with the fist-pumping anthem “Last Man Standing”, which could all but be chalked up as a shorter and heavier answer to “For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)”. Yet even when these mad Aussies wear their AC/DC influences on their shirtsleeves, there’s enough of an 80s shimmer and more aggressive flavor to the mix that it comes off fresh and original despite the overt familiarity.

Amid the highly straightforward approach that has been taken here, Airbourne isn’t beyond throwing the occasional curveball within their established strike zone. The compact, 80s glam-like punch of “Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)” sounds like a lost track from the glory days of W.A.S.P. with a tasty side order of Mötley Crüe sensibilities, with Joel’s vocal assault often sounding dangerously close to Black Lawless. The innuendo-rich and double-entendre-steeped hooks of “Kid In A Candy Store” and its holiday novelty sister track “Christmas Bonus” also lay on the 80s sonic tropes pretty thick, not to mention match the lyrical gimmickry with some playful musical touches like a partial quote of “Joy To The World” in the guitar solo of the latter.

The aggression factor gets kicked into what can be best described as a groovy second nod to “Back In Black” with a Judas Priest edge in “Bogata”, while “Hell’s Got No Vacancy” lands like a heavier answer to “If You Want Blood (You Got It)” and the mercilessly catchy “Who Put The Rhythm In You” listens like its own brilliant amalgam of AC/DC’s greatest hit with Bon Scott at the helm and reinterpreted through a mid-80s arena template.

It can’t be stressed enough that Airbourne is not merely a glorified tribute band reworking the old classics and presenting them with a shinier post-90s coat of paint, yet the best way to describe their sixth and eponymous studio album is as a full-on tribute to style and every preceding titan of the craft that laid its foundation. This is perfectly summed up in the closing song “Take Me To Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven”, which stands as the most straightforward offering of the bunch, yet lyrically recalls the accomplishments and passing of prominent figures like John Bonham, Ozzy Osbourne, Malcolm Young, Bon Scott, Lemmy Kilmister, Eddie Van Halen and others in a song as ripe for rock radio as they come.

It’s a bittersweet reminder of the amazing accomplishments of the past, and also a call to arms to continue the legacy that has been laid by taking things a step further. In essence, that is what this album represents: a time-honored tradition that is being carried into the future, and it does so via a collection of songs so well polished and refined that the LP carrying them could be easily mistaken for a best-of compilation.

Release Date: August 28, 2026
Record Label: Spinefarm Records
Genre: Hard Rock

Musicians:

• Ryan O’Keeffe / Drums, Percussions
• Joel O’Keeffe / Vocals, Guitar
• Justin Street / Bass, Back Vocals
• Brett Tyrrell / Guitar

Airborne Tracklist:

1. Gutsy
2. Alive After Death (Last Plane Out)
3. Here She Comes
4. Kid in a Candy Store
5. Sky High
6. Who Put the Rhythm in You?
7. Christmas Bonus
8. Last Man Standing
9. Rock ‘N’ Roll Ya
10. Bogota
11. Hells Got No Vacancy
12. Send Me to Rock ‘N’ Roll Heaven

Order the album here.

The post AIRBOURNE – Airbourne (Album Review) appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Some dreams arrive surrounded by light. Others must be reached on black wings, carried through grief, fear and circumstances that make every step forward feel uncertain. That contradiction lies at the center of “Home of the Wind,” the second single from DIKAJEE’s forthcoming album, The Frame. The song features Vikram Shankar, known for his work […]

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Sleep have announced Hempispheres, their first studio album in eight years, due October 30 via Third Man Records. The record arrives alongside a new single, “The Morrisist,” and the launch of a headlining tour beginning next month, marking the stoner-doom band’s most substantial return to activity since their celebrated 2018 release.

Fan Budgets Face Competing Claims When a Landmark Release Lands

Zigmas Pekarskas, Co-Founder and CEO of Smart Betting Guide, has spent more than 15 years tracking how consumers allocate attention and money across digital entertainment platforms. His perspective on the Sleep announcement is less about the music itself than about what an eight-year gap does to the economics of fandom.

When a band of Sleep‘s stature sits out for nearly a decade, Pekarskas observes, the return does not arrive as a single purchase decision. It arrives as several overlapping ones. The album, the merch cycle, and the tour tickets land almost simultaneously, each one a legitimate claim on a fan’s discretionary budget. That compression is unusual, and it raises the stakes for every dollar in that finite wallet.

“An eight-year absence changes the math entirely. Fans aren’t just buying a record. They’re calculating whether they can do the album, the merch, and the show all at once — and what they’ll cut to make room.”

Pekarskas notes that music is not the only category competing for that spend. Online betting is another discretionary leisure pastime drawing from the same pool of consumer dollars; readers who want a rundown of that side of the market can see more at Smart Betting Guide. His point is simply that when a release of this weight lands, every optional entertainment category feels the pressure.

“Hempispheres” Follows “The Sciences” After Eight Years and Arrives on Third Man Records

The full context of the announcement sharpens how significant the gap has become. Hempispheres is the follow-up to The Sciences, the album Sleep released in 2018 that re-established the band as a living force in heavy music after a long dormant stretch in the years prior. Eight years between studio records is a long time in any genre; in stoner-doom, where Sleep occupy a near-mythological position, the absence accumulated particular weight with each passing year.

Third Man Records, the label founded by Jack White, will release the album on October 30. The title itself carries the band’s characteristic sensibility intact. Hempispheres fuses “hemp” and “hemispheres,” a piece of wordplay that signals the band has not recalibrated its identity for a new decade. The name arrives with the deadpan confidence of a band that has never felt the need to explain itself.

New Members Bubba Dupree and Dale Crover Join Al Cisneros for a Reconfigured Lineup

Hempispheres is not simply Sleep returning. It is Sleep returning as a reconfigured band, and that distinction matters. Al Cisneros, the group’s longtime frontman and its most publicly continuous presence, is the lone returning cornerstone of the lineup. Joining him are Bubba Dupree and Dale Crover, two new members whose involvement gives this album a different internal dynamic than anything the band has previously recorded.

Crover’s name carries particular weight in heavy music circles. His association with Melvins has made him one of the most respected drummers in the underground for decades, and his presence in a reconfigured Sleep suggests a deliberate reach toward players operating at the outer edge of the form.

Two singles are already in circulation. “Have Spacesuit Will Travel” was released prior to the album announcement and will appear on Hempispheres. “The Morrisist” arrived alongside the announcement itself, according to Pitchfork, giving listeners two reference points for what the new lineup sounds like before the full record appears.

Sleep’s Return Extends Beyond the Album to a Headlining Tour and a Comic Book

The album is the center of Sleep’s return, but the surrounding campaign makes clear that Hempispheres is part of a broader creative push. A headlining tour starts in September 2026, meaning the band will be on stage before the record is even in listeners’ hands. For fans who have waited eight years, the live dates represent the first chance to hear this lineup perform in real time.

Running parallel to the album and tour is a comic book project, announced alongside Hempispheres. The addition of a visual narrative thread is consistent with a band whose aesthetic has always extended beyond the music, but it also broadens the scope of what this campaign asks of its audience in terms of both attention and money.

The cultural stakes of Sleep’s return are not speculative. Their track “Marijuanaut’s Theme” appeared on Pitchfork’s list of the 200 Best Songs of the 2010s, a recognition that placed Sleep in the company of the most critically regarded artists of that decade across all genres. The inclusion confirmed what their devoted following had long understood: Sleep are not a cult act kept alive by nostalgia. They are a band whose work holds up against the broadest possible measure.

October 30 is the date the album arrives. September is when the tour begins. Both markers are now fixed, and for a band that has made fans wait eight years, the wait is measurably, concretely close to its end.

The post SLEEP Ends Eight Years of Studio Silence With “Hempispheres” & A New Single appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Their medieval saga continues.

The post Imminence Premiere “If Not Now, When” Music Video appeared first on Theprp.com.

There is nothing nostalgic about the subject matter behind MUCOSAL’s music. While the Minnesota band draw their sound from the foundations of old-school death metal, their attention remains fixed on warfare and the injustices of modern society. The group will release its debut EP, Amalgamated States, on September 25, 2026 through Horror Pain Gore Death […]

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It’s October. The nights are drawing in, the weather has fully turned (it’s Glasgow after all), ArcTanGent is a distant memory, and Damnation is both agonisingly close and yet so far away. What is going to fill that music festival-shaped hole in your soul, and bring a bit of joy to the dark end of … Continue reading Ripcord Fest 2 returns to Nice N Sleazy with colossal post-metal lineup

Some albums are completed in months. The Great Jihad spent more than a decade passing through recording sessions, prolonged silence and forced interruptions before finally reaching its intended form. Italian esoteric extreme metal outfit URNA will release the album on October 16, 2026 via ATMF, continuing a relationship that dates back to the label’s release […]

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The Browning have unleashed a new standalone single titled “Obsolete.Delete.Repeat.” The track arrives ahead of the band’s North American headlining tour, which kicks off tomorrow in Lexington, KY, at Manchester Music Hall. The tour will feature direct support from Deadlands and Blind Equation, with The Crimson Armada and Extortion… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Dolly Parton’s death has rattled the whole world. Jack White performed a “Jolene” cover at his London show last night, and Donald Trump ordered American flags to be flown at half-staff. Today, Miley Cyrus shared a tribute to her Godmother on social media.

The post Miley Cyrus Pays Tribute To Her Godmother Dolly Parton appeared first on Stereogum.