Category: news

We all need some catchy, memorable, captivating instrumental music from time to time. Sometimes we just need to

North Sea Echoes – featuring progressive metal pioneers singer Ray Alder and guitarist Jim Matheos of Fates Warning – are back with a new studio album, “How To Cast A Shadow“, set for release on July 24th on Metal Blade Records! With this year’s “How To Cast A Shadow“, the band’s identity is further explored… Continue Reading →

The reigning kings of heavy, swampy, southern riffs, Corrosion Of Conformity, made their return to London for a sold-out show at The Dome last week. Ahead of their performance at Download festival and a large European tour, the band played a sweaty and heaving show for those lucky enough to be there.

Corrosion Of Conformity

The Dome, London – 10 June 2026

Words: Kahmel Farahani

Photography: Peterson Marti / Chaoszine

Corrosion Of Conformity have just released their superb new album Good Good/Baad Man. It is arguably their best since Wiseblood, and a contender for Metal album of the year in this writer’s books.

The band walk on stage with no fanfare and get right down to business, with feedback peeling out of their mountain of Orange amps. “What’s up, London?” says a smiling Pepper Keenan. “It’s been a while. Thanks for not forgetting about us”.

From the moment they launched into Asleep On The Killing Floor, it is clear the band has only gotten tighter and sharper over the last few years.

You Or Me is one of the highlights of the new album, and it sounds absolutely massive live. A swirling pool of heavy riffing and soaring solos, it sounds like Lynyrd Skynyrd crossing over with Black Sabbath.

Speaking of mixing new and old, tonight’s setlist was beautifully paced, balancing fan favourites like My Grain and Who’s Got The Fire with the new material.

“You like weird shit?” Pepper asks the crowd. “You like heavy shit?” Another roar of approval answers this one. “So you like heavy weird shit!”

It leads into the Deliverance classic Shake Like You. Like everything Corrosion Of Conformity does, it is a blend of crushing heaviness while staying catchy and hooky as hell.

Guitarist Woody Weatherman is absolutely outstanding, and when he locks into a groove with Pepper, it is a blast to watch. If Pepper Keenan is not the most underrated riff writer of his generation, he is certainly in the running for that title.

Songs like Seven Days have a crushing groove between the riffs and the rhythm section that grabs the crowd and refuses to let go. It is one of the highlights of the night.

Paranoid Opioid delivered one of the evening’s heaviest moments, while the haunting psychedelic Metal of 13 Angels is beautiful, and Pepper Keenan’s vocals are flawless. In a genre of music where every single band is indebted to Black Sabbath, Corrosion Of Conformity are one of the few bands writing and performing songs that do not sound dated or derivative.

They have perfected a classic formula and added their own flavour, totally free of clichés and tropes that too many similar bands employ.

New songs like the catchy Baad Man, and the brutal hard punk of Gimme Some Moore kept the momentum going before the charged social anthem Vote With A Bullet, the song’s message still scarily relevant decades after its release.

“I don’t remember London being this hot,” says Pepper Keenan from the stage, as the sweaty audience jostles closer to the stage. “I’m from a fucking swamp, but this is hot!”

The encore starts with the soaring riff of Albatross, and it brought on one of the loudest sing-alongs of the night, before the razor-sharp Clean My Wounds closed the gig.

Tonight’s show was a masterclass in heavy, riff-driven music delivered by a band that remains every bit as powerful, relevant, and uncompromising as ever.

Corrosion Of Conformity are around their 40th year as a band, depending on your start date. Yet they flex with the musical muscle of a band just getting started.

We can only hope the band continues to spread its wings and soar in the coming years.

Corrosion Of Conformity – Good God / Baad Man A Thunderous Return

The post Corrosion Of Conformity Show Why They’re Still Kings Of The Southern Riff first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Album 11 in the extensive catalogue of Marillion, one of progressive rock’s most influential bands, Marillion.com gets the remastered treatment for its 25th anniversary. An album that saw the band end their tenure with Castle Communications and which refined their sound after 1998’s Radiation, this is an album that is more experimental, expansive and cinematic in sound and paved the way for the past 25 years of quality.

Marillion – Marillion.com

Release Date: 19 June 2026

Words: Paul Hutchings

This release features the album in a stereo remix by Michael Hunter with an additional recording from their show at Shepherd’s Bush Empire in 1999. It may be this recording, previously unreleased, that provides the most interest, although it is a joy to revisit an album that I admit I paid only limited attention to at the time of release. 

Whilst the progressive soundscapes that the band had crafted remain in evidence, there is a blend of styles here that moves them far away from those early Script For A Jester’s Tear recordings with that big Scot.

Utilising horns and brass on tracks like Deserve proved to be an inspired choice, adding a poppy element to the band’s sound. Whether the fan base enjoyed it at the time is debatable, but it was the first album not to enter the Top 40, suggesting that the band’s popularity at the turn of the century was on the wane.

Go! remains a classic Marillion (Hogarth Era) sounding song, with Steve Rothery’s glorious guitarwork cutting through with a rich crispness. Lyrically, it’s one of five solely written by Steve Hogarth, the other four partly credited to John Helmer.

The upbeat nature of Rich, with catchy lyrics, its challenging guitar work, and keyboards, echoes many ’80s pop bands, rather than the progressive icons they have become.

It would not be Marillion without an epic, though, and the 15-minute Interior Lulu certainly is that. Beginning with a duet between Hogarth and drummer Ian Moseley’s percussion, the song builds gently, Mark Kelly’s swirling keys and Rothery’s subtle guitar work all combine as the journey develops and unwinds.

As it rocks back and forth, there is another reminder of the high quality of the musicians in Marillion. Pete Trewavas provides the unassuming but essential bass whilst Hogarth’s vocals are, in my opinion, a cut above his predecessor. 

And what better way to conclude that with another lengthy track, the sprawl of House, which has a long, relaxed flavour, at times almost lounge room in its smouldering feel. With some captivating saxophone, one could be forgiven for expecting to hear this in a hotel lounge, albeit this is a long way from the generic tunes one might hear in such a setting. 

The live recording is something to really enjoy. There are some real staples, the power of tracks like King, the bounce of The Uninvited Guest and the inclusion of tracks from Marillion.com, as well as a couple from the earlier albums with Fish.

It is incredible that Kayleigh and Lavender get the biggest responses even today, which I suppose is largely due to the band’s demographic. Lavender still gets the hairs standing up, and I suppose that is because it is one of those songs that takes you back to your teenage years.

Finishing with the darkness of Slainte Mhath, this is a definitive snapshot of the band coming out of their first decade with Hogarth, moving blinking into the internet era and the start of their online presence, which led the way for so many others. 

Whether a curious onlooker, a hardcore fan or somewhere in between, this reissue is certainly worth a listen. The live recording is a fine offering, with several tracks that are never going to be heard live again. 

With a new album due in the autumn, a Hogarth reissue of Ice Cream Genius next month and Tewavas’s project Edison’s Children releasing something new in September, it certainly is a busy time for the band and fans.

Take your pick, sit back and enjoy.

Marillion release the Deluxe Edition 2026 of Marillion.com on 19th June and is available from marillion.lnk.to/Marillion.ComPR.

Marillion have announced a major UK tour for September and October 2026, bringing their immersive live show to some of the country’s most iconic venues. Tickets are on sale via Marillion.com.

The post Marillion.com At 25: The Album That Bridged Marillion’s Past and Future first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

As the world of rock woke up today, our socials were abuzz with a tease of something afoot from the Faith No More Camp. Mike Patton et al shared a simple logo, their star-shaped graphic with Faith No More 2027, and we fans got straight onto the socials sharing this news.  

Having worked with Faith No More for over 30 years and being a fan from the beginning, I got straight onto Spotify to blast out the truly apt Album Of The Year in honour of my all-time favourite band. 

I interviewed the truly enigmatic keyboard legend, Roddy Bottum, last year for MetalTalk whilst he was over with Man On Man, his sublime side project with partner Joey Holman, who were over to rock London and promote his must-read book The Royal We.

We touched on the subject of a possible Faith No More tour or recording, and he said the band were “very much talking” on their WhatsApp group, but nothing further than that.  

I caught up with drummer extraordinaire, Mike Bordin, at Ozzy’s farewell, and he also mentioned that infamous Faith No More WhatsApp group, which did set me hoping and dreaming.

Singer Mike Patton, who could literally sing a phone book or WhatsApp message and make it sound like you have been aurally blessed, took a well-publicised hiatus after COVID and all the shit that went with that.

But after some hugely successful gigs with The Avett Brothers, aka AVTT/PTTN, as well as his other side hustles, could we be hearing those dulcet tones again mixed with that screaming, playing of the Theremin through a pedal and that child toy-like mouth key-tar?   

The announcement today was that Faith No More had teamed up with Brazilian brand 30e.

“30e feels like a company that wants to dent into the status quo, and as artists we understand the value of that,” Faith No More said in a statement. “Their approach doesn’t feel like the usual machinery. It feels like it’s coming from a different place, with a different kind of energy, and we are willing to get behind that.”

“Faith No More have always been synonymous with disruption. They shaped entire generations precisely because they refused to play by the market’s obvious rules, and it is that same audacious spirit that drives 30e,” said Pepeu Correa, CEO of 30e. “This agreement aims to jointly build a platform for global experiences that respects the band’s transgressive DNA and presents our vision of entertainment to the world.”

I have been honoured to work with the Faith No More dudes from back in my MTV Headbangers Ball days with Queen of Metal presenter, Vanessa Warwick, where we were invited to Mike Bordin’s Californian home and summoned to the set of their video for Ashes To Ashes.

This was filmed downtown in Los Angeles and was the setting for that iconic scene in Se7en, that super scary film featuring Brad Pitt, Gwyneth Paltrow and Morgan Freeman.  It was one of the best days of my life getting to hang out with them all dressed in gorgeous tuxedos, singing what was to be my sing-along anthem for many a year.   

I have so many memories of being on tour or at festivals, looking after Mike Bordin’s tour bus houseplants, Mike Patton berating me for not wanting to eat fish, rushing to the hospital when he cut his head open at the Astoria, and taking Davina McCall to see them in Cambridge. Dodgy photos included. If only we had iPhones in those days.

But my funniest tale has to be that of myself and Roddy Bottum. The band were playing Download festival and literally were the first people I bumped into. After a huge group hug, they went off to perform.

Roddy came over after the stonking performance and said, “Which hotel are you staying at, Sara?” To which I replied The Hilton. He suggested we meet up at midnight and have a jacuzzi/sauna moment, to which I replied Hell yes.

So at midnight I scuttled down to the spa with my towelling robe and hold-it-all in swimsuit and headed into the jacuzzi. Soon, four very large, hirsute German men got in with me, and let’s just say I was feeling very awkward as they had more back hair than a carpet superstore in a whirling pool of ass soup.

Sooooooo as the minutes ticked by, I got hotter and hotter, and these Germans were not going anywhere, so I decided to head up to the bar for a drink with the legendary Scream team. Still no sign of Roddy, so I thought I had been stood up and comforted myself with a dry sherry or two.

Fast forward to a year later, when I saw Roddy again at an event, and he came rushing over to me and said, “Where were you that night? I waited till 2 am.”

We were both trying to work out where it had all gone wrong. It turned out I was at the East Midlands Hilton, and he was in the Birmingham one. Doh.  

But the one gig I will never forget is their reunion, when the band played O2 Academy Brixton, and they came on stage in Peach suits and sang Reunited.

I cried, I laughed, we all rocked out all night and were all just so happy to see this epic band one more time.

If this is a chance to witness my favourite live band once again, I will be there, and Roddy, see you in the correct Hilton jacuzzi this time.

The post Faith No More Tease Something New, And We Care A Lot first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

UK brutal death metal trio Pulsate premiere a new single and music video by the name of "Etched Into Flesh", streaming via YouTube for you now below. Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Boston hardcore outfit Haywire have premiered a claymation music video for their track “The Henchmen”. The video was created by Baby Cry Animations, who handled the song’s distinctive handcrafted visuals. The claymation approach gives the hardcore track a unique visual identity, pairing Haywire’s aggressive sound with an imaginative animated pr… Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

Now signed to The Black Crowes’ Silver Arrow Records, the Jim Jones All Stars are fervently preaching the gospel of rock’n’roll

Australian psych rock/metal outfit Battlesnake have unveiled an official music video for their new single, “I Killed Satan”. The clip was directed by Samuel Frank and arrives with the band's tongue-in-cheek assurance that it is “100% human made.” Known for their theatrical aesthetic and ambitious storytelling, Battlesnake continue to lean into … Read More/Discuss on Metal Underground.com

This is the second album from Brazilian progressive doom/post-metal band Loneshore. Nothing Left to Deconstruct contains 52 minutes of immersive soundscapes for the listener to explore. Loneshore’s music is a mix of styles, which can be loosely termed as a combination of progressive doom and post-metal. Whatever you call it though, it’s pretty damn good. … Continue reading “Loneshore – Nothing Left to Deconstruct (Review)”