Category: news

Lausch have been busy capturing some stunning live footage at Echoes of Erebos Festival 2026 in the Arena, resulting in an

Here's why the Earth, Wind & Fire bassist knew the 1978 film would bomb. Continue reading…

Skid Row bassist shares details on the poignant conversation. Continue reading…

J-Card Press released Tyler Sonnichsen’s book, The Dead Milkmen today. To date, this is the only book about the hilarious

The four members of Venezuelan nu metal band Van Der Dijs are among the 1,700 confirmed dead after the north of the country was shaken by two earthquakes on Wednesday (June 23).

According to Venezuelan news site Últimas Noticias, the band members died after their rehearsal space in La Guaira, a state on the country’s northern coast, collapsed in the quakes, which had a magnitude of 7.2 and 7.5 and struck within 39 seconds of each other.

Almost 800 buildings collapsed overall, before a magnitude 4.6 aftermath rocked both La Guaira and the national capital of Caracas on Monday (June 29).

Van Der Dijs consisted of singer Manuel van Der Dijs, guitarist Gabriel Gómez, bassist Xander Hernández and drummer Abraham Foucault. The four’s bodies were discovered by rescue teams in the rubble of the Costamar II building in Tanaguarena, one of the districts most affected by the quakes.

The band formed in 2024 and released their first single, Nemesis, later the same year. They released six further singles, the latest being this year’s 15 Minutos. They were in the middle of a short string of Venezuelan shows, having sold out a gig at the Modern Art Center in La Castellana, Caracas on June 19. They were booked to return to the stage in Punto Fijo on June 27 and Valencia on August 8.

Venezuela is still reeling from the disaster, with tens of thousands missing and millions more lacking sanitation and other necessities as rescue teams continue to search for survivors. A firefighter in Caraballeda told the BBC on Sunday (June 28) that “there aren’t enough hands” to deal with the devastation, “and it is very, very likely that there are still people trapped”.

The Venezuelan government has been criticised for its slow response to the quakes. According to The Guardian, acting president Delcy Rodríguez was heckled by locals while touring one badly hit part of Caracas. “The government isn’t doing anything for the people!” one onlooker reportedly shouted.

The paper also reported that bodies were being taken to a Caracas mortuary on motorcycles, in the backs of cars and on the load beds of pickup trucks.

Venezuela is receiving international aid as it recovers. As of Monday, 24 nations had reportedly sent a combined 521 tons of supplies and more than 2,700 search-and-rescue personnel. The UN says physical repairs will cost 6.7 billion USD, and the US has announced that it is doubling its aid package from 150 million USD to 300 million.

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Samuel S.C. releases the latest in its single series, “I Need A Moment.” “Samuel S.C. channel the need

Tuska Festival 2026 drew a record-breaking crowd of approximately 25,000 on its opening day and confirmed its position as Finland’s leading heavy music festival over […]

The post TUSKA FESTIVAL 2026 – Legacy and Modern Heavy Music in Balance at a Record-Breaking Weekend appeared first on Metal-Rules.com.

Bloodstock Bound: Tempest Saint

As Bloodstock gets closer, we delve deep into the line up to find out more about some of the bands playing the New Blood and EMP stages at this years event.

Today we chat with Tempest Saint

Please introduce yourselves.

Joe: My name is Joe, I’m the singer, Lead guitar is James, Rhythm Guitar is Hugh, Bass is Luke, and Drums is Lee.

How would you describe your sound?

Joe: Traditional (AKA Trad or NWOTHM). Trad-Metal with hard rock sensibilities.

How did you land your spot on the Bloodstock bill?

Joe: We’ve been playing our little hearts out on our self organised tours through 2025 and 2026, both promoting our debut album, and we sent an email through bloodstock’s official channels, back in 2025, expressing interest in playing the EMP stage if there was a free slot. We had an email earlier this year saying there was! Simple as that really.

What does playing at Bloodstock mean to you?

James: Everything. We have all been followers of the festival for a long time, and most of us have been lucky enough to attend before. After the phenomenal set by KK’s Priest in 2023 I vowed that I would never attend Bloodstock again until we were playing it. I don’t think any of us expected that to come true this quickly!

For people who’ve never seen you live, what can they expect at Bloodstock?

Lee: Newcomers to Tempest Saint can expect to see a no holds barred heavy metal experience, with all the scope of bands like Dio and Whitesnake, with a piercing Hard Rock edge, rifts that will melt your face, vocals that will pierce your heart as well as your ears, and pretty much everything that you could expect from a really fun Heavy Metal band

What day are you performing?

Hugh: Saturday, which we have been informed is an 80s metal themed day so it could not be more apt for us!

What other bands are you looking forward to watching at Bloodstock this year?

Joe: We could spend all day talking about that, so we’ll narrow it down; Saxon ,Judas Priest, Wednesday 13, Sepultura and Lamb of God, with a special mention for our friends in Wailing Banshee who will be playing the Serpent’s lair, we kicked off the first gig of our current Tour with them in January so it will be great to see them again knocking about at Bloodstock together.

Playing the New Blood Stage is just the first steppingstone in a bands journey. What’s next in your plans for world domination?

Lee: The next shows on our “Run With The Dogs” tour are also HUGE! Starting the same week as Bloodstock, where we play the final ever MEARFEST, And directly after, fly away to Fuengirola, on Spain’s south coast, to play mainstage at the SUN AND THUNDER Festival, alongside many bands that we grew up with, including Destruction , Primal Fear, Lordi and Avantasia. We have some amazing gigs after that in the calendar too, and a second album already in production. We can’t wait to share the headbang action with you all!

Are you camping with the fans? Which campsite are you heading for?

James: We’re going to be Camped in the artist camping area, but the place you’re most likely to find us for the majority of the festival is drinking and head banging with everybody, and giving out a celebration truly worthy of the 25th anniversary of Bloodstock. We’ve got a lot of pent up festival attendee energy so make sure you come and find us if you’re looking to make this Bloodstock a memorable one, we don’t bite!

You’ve gotta keep hydrated at Bloodstock, what is your drink of choice for the weekend?

Hugh: Beer, Coffee, Monster, and obviously plenty of water… but definitely more of the first three

See you at Bloodstock in a few weeks!

WE CAN’T WAIT ♰

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J Card Press produces books about the smaller but impactful bands of the last two or three decades. Releasing a few titles each year, they have produced a pretty decent lineup of titles based on bands ranging from AFI to The Apples in Stereo to De La Soul. Their latest book, written by Tyler Sonnichsen, is about a band whose mythological career finally gets the attention it deserves: Philadelphia, PA’s own The Dead Milkmen.

Sonnichsen’s telling of the band’s origin is just as crazy as the band’s own output and told as strangely as the songs that inhabit their records. Sonnichsen’s writing breaks new ground in the Milkmen’s story, finally getting the straight story rather than the fun but fabricated ways that only the Dead Milkmen would invent in past interviews or fan club correspondence. Sonnichsen dispels some of the myths the band had set up for themselves, giving an accurate origin story put down on paper. Some people may get upset when that magic and mystery are destroyed, but it also shows the band’s inventiveness on a different level.

Sonnichsen perfectly captures the Dead Milkmen in the way they could be presented. Sonnichsen achieves this amazing feat by making each chapter an essay that could stand on its own. Each chapter is a standalone essay that works individually and together to tell the Milkmen’s story. This structure affects the pace a bit, but it achieves the book’s goal in its own way. The book isn’t lengthy, but it is a curated buffet that gets to the core of the band. It tells the story in mostly chronological order, but uses the themes of each along with the title of a song as a chapter name. Whether these titles are metaphorical or analytical, as in the chapter that is a deconstruction of a song like “Bitchin’ Camaro” told in five crashes or moments that Sonnichsen feels make the song. It remains another interesting way to present the Dead Milkmen’s story.

Sometimes thought of as a punk comedy troupe, the band operates in the space of comedy, satire, and sometimes political humor. His comparison of the band to the Marx Brothers even goes so far as to assign one of them to each member of the band. He does point out that there are more punk rock bands that are humorous outside of the Dead Milkmen. Rodney’s obsession with TV puts him on the same level as Americans, while still being able to critique their laughable aspects. There aren’t a lot of bands that would get away with songs like “I Dream of Jesus” or “Beach Party Vietnam,” but the Dead Milkmen do. It’s not the use of humor, but rather the type and its surrealness that makes the Dead Milkmen’s brand stick out.

The range of musical influences spreads much farther than you would think. The Dead Milkmen cite musical influences like The Beatles and Wings, along with the punk rock bands popping up and playing shows with. However, Sonnichsen argues that The Dead Milkmen are a hardcore punk band that was influenced by a number of bands they were peers with from the 1980s hardcore era of American punk rock. While The Dead Milkmen concede their sound is much more complicated than that, Sonnichsen shows how the Dead Milkmen’s influences contradict what people assume about them.

J Card’s roster of books for small but seminal bands gives an opportunity to dive into these stories that no one else will tackle. Their inclusion of Tyler Sonnichsen’s Dead Milkmen biography fits perfectly. Their story is as interesting as any other band’s. While unfortunately tragic in spots, The Dead Milkmen’s story is told with the humor and care that only a well-informed fan can give. Sonnichsen’s biography is a must-have for fans of the band who have laughed at America and themselves, even if you didn’t get the joke.

Pick up the Dead Milkmen by Tyler Sonnichsen and other books at J Card Press.

There’s been a new development with Bob Dylan’s band. Over the past month, he’s had an unexpected rotating roster of guitarists. On June 17, jazz virtuoso Julian Lage replaced guitarist Doug Lancio, who had been part of Dylan’s band since replacing Charlie Sexton in 2021. On June 27, Bob Britt, who had been a guitarist with Dylan since 2019, not-so-subtly quit with a “Sayonara Bobby” post on Facebook. There’s now word that there’s a new guitarist in town for Bob’s tour: Joel Paterson.

The post Bob Dylan Enlists Joel Paterson As Lone Guitarist After Band Shakeup appeared first on Stereogum.