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  • Triosphere Releases “Oceans Above, Stars Below” Single and Music Video

    Norwegian heavy metal band Triosphere has released a new single and official music video for “Oceans Above, Stars Below.” The song serves as the title track and latest preview for the group’s upcoming fourth studio album, which is scheduled to be released later this summer on August 28 via Frontiers Music Srl.

    Exploring themes of momentous life changes, deception, and navigating new paths forward, the new track highlights the band’s complex blend of hard rock, progressive power metal, and thrash elements. Production for the upcoming record was handled at Fascination Street Studios, where engineer Alexander Backlund recorded the drums and vocals, and mixing duties were completed by Jens Bogren. The album’s visual artwork was created by Giannis Nakos of Remedy Art Design.

    Fronted by bassist and vocalist Ida Haukland alongside guitarists Marius Bergesen and Tor Ole Byberg, and drummer Kenneth Tårneby, Triosphere has built a steady international presence since their 2006 debut, sharing stages with acts like Arch Enemy and Kamelot. Oceans Above, Stars Below will mark the band’s first full-length studio release since 2014’s The Heart Of The Matter. The new title track and its accompanying music video are currently available to stream across all major digital platforms.

    The post Triosphere Releases “Oceans Above, Stars Below” Single and Music Video first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.

  • Postmodern Literature

    Although it currently gets a lot of flak from the Right-wing critics that no one reads but still get paid well, postmodernism offered a simple upgrade to modernism: what if relativity influenced perspective, as well?

    While this has a smiley hippie side, it does not say that all perspectives are equally accurate, only that all are part of the picture, like the five blind men who each touch a different part of an elephant and describe it.

    After all, like all literature, it believes in holistic external consistent reality in which we are winding our own personal paths through relative perception. Sometimes what we do works, sometimes it fails; we can learn.

    There is also a Vlad the Impaler side of this. “Of course they are lying,” he would say. “They are Turks and they want to bully and con you into laying down your weapons so that they can kill you!”

    Or maybe your grandmother, who would tell you that of course poor people always have a sob story because it is how they get free stuff from the middle class when they cannot outright steal it. Postmodernism is eugenics, too.

    However, following the work of early-1900s artists like Pablo Picasso, modern consciousness embracing the rising theories of relativity from Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, who wrote just thirty years before.

    Postmodernism properly reigned from the 1920s through the 1970s and then fizzled out as it was replaced by ideological literature and bourgeois self-help style navel-gazing novels. Literature was pretty much as dead as metal at that point.

    James Joyce – Dubliners

    He experimented with style after this, but never content; the basic idea here is that people exist outside of the nice format of equal, and instead are these little trails of experience through a world with not only uneven but infinitely varied topography where animal ideals of self-interest and intellectual abstractions like self-image prevail over practical concerns, mainly because those are out of the control of the everyday person anyway. Filled with characterizations both compassionate and cruel at the same time, this book shows us humanity trying to leave behind mass conformity and find its soul in individual experience.

    William S. Burroughs – Naked Lunch

    Postmodernism peaked with this, a book that demonstrated the predominance of reality through many fractal views that converged on a thermodynamic reality, namely that all things seek a perpetuation of energy but the sad tired controlling human mind wishes to monopolize that possibility. A cry for the liberation of the human species, this book shows us horrors in order to paint in negative space the opposite potential, and in doing so, reveals to us the chains and the cave so that we might leave. Other than Jane Austen, the most influential author in my experience.

    Thomas Pynchon – The Crying of Lot 49

    Internet hipsters will tell you to read V or Gravity’s Rainbow, knowing that the chances you will wade through seven hundred pages of dense text in order to punch them out are slim, but this book contains all of Pynchonian theory and technique in a short and hilarious volume that contains a melancholic Romantic longing unmatched in the rest of his work. Expect to look into the modern soul and find the abyss of meaning created by human projection, plus intimations of a metaphysics of order that encloses and manipulates physical reality. It helps us escape modernity in order to see what it might have meant all along.

    Don DeLillo – White Noise

    Alex Jones thinks he knows paranoia, but this book shows us the tragicomedic nature of living in modern society where paranoia is the norm because every person acts in self-interest without much knowledge beyond their material desires within the next pay period. This book shows us what the Misfits and postmodern literature wanted us to see, which is that beneath the chrome and good wishes, modern society is comprised of subtexts formed of stultified desires and suppressed naturalism. We are prisoners in a gilded cage because reality must be denied for the human individual to become our new god.

    Michel Houellebecq – The Possibility of an Island

    Building on a tradition that even predates Mary Shelley and Aldous Huxley, The Possibility of an Island shows us human existence taken as a reduction to extremes: what if we truly were free, independent, and accountable to nothing? The bleak existential crisis that confronts us when we get everything that we want reveals the emptiness of our wants, and shows us where there may be more hope of finding something interesting to do. Even more, it captures the hollow solipsism we impose on ourselves by mutual individualism, which makes the human more important than nature, logic, history, culture, or eternity.

    William Gibson – Pattern Recognition

    Gibson broke into the scene with Neuromancer, but that was really a visual gloss on the themes he wanted to expand upon from Pynchon and Burroughs, namely the hidden order invisible beneath all events that might be both divine and scientific. In this book, a mystery encoded in everyday events, characters must confront the lack of meaning in their lives in order to discover inner heroism and through it, grow up to be able to see reality as something like what it is.

    Gabriel Garcia Marquez – Chronicles of a Death Foretold

    “Magical realism” may not technically (“eckshyually”) be postmodernism, but it uses the same device, namely the elevation of individual perspective above universal perspective in order to affirm a reality alien to both. In this case, we move steadily into the metaphorical framework of individual minds as they try to adapt to events beyond their comprehension, in the process revealing a poetry, rhythm, and order to reality.

    William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury

    Faulkner, a Romantic with the heavy heart that study of history brings, read Joyce and realized he could expand this by reducing the sympathetic fallacy to simple synchronization, and so you get this magical world where the trees bend to the wind which weaves with the twists of the tale, a story based on the restoration of order in a time of inversion where insanity is so popular that people routinely drive themselves insane just to fit in.

    William Blake – The Complete Illustrated Works

    Absolutely no one will like this, but meso-Romantic author William Blake invented postmodernism: the telling of a centralized story from decentralized fragments. Each character, like a subroutine, has its own memory, limits, and imperatives, and when they come together, we see a richer world underneath the smoothing-over (like concrete) that civilization does by treating us as a fungible horde of equal individuals. Instead, through Blake, nature blooms in all of its ambiguity and infinite potential.

  • Issa Releases “Pay The Price” Single and Music Video

    Norwegian AOR artist Issa has released a new single and official music video for “Pay The Price.” The track serves as an early preview for her upcoming full-length album, Fire And Ice, which is scheduled to be released later this summer on August 28 via Frontiers Music Srl.

    Written and produced entirely by brothers Tom and James Martin, the new record draws heavy inspiration from 1980s melodic rock. The latest single highlights this sonic direction by combining layered synthesizers, prominent choral arrangements, and driving guitar work. The accompanying music video for “Pay The Price” was directed by Kris Barras.

    Operating under her real name Isabell Øversveen, the vocalist continues to build her catalog within the European melodic rock scene. The forthcoming eleven-track album, Fire And Ice, will feature a mix of classic arena rock instrumentation, synthwave influences, and modern production, incorporating diverse stylistic elements across songs like “Bullet On The Road” and “Running From The Night.”

    The post Issa Releases “Pay The Price” Single and Music Video first appeared on FemMetal – Goddesses of Metal.

  • KATATONIA Announce Special Tenth Anniversary Limited Double Vinyl Pressing Of THE FALL OF HEARTS ~ Releasing August 7th On Peaceville

    Photo by Ester Segarra

    THE 2016 HIT ALBUM FROM THE SWEDISH LEGENDS –
    PRESENTED ON 2LP PEARL DAWN VINYL

    “The Fall of Hearts is an absolute jewel from start to finish” 
    Decibel Magazine (USA)

    Katatonia released their seismic opus, The Fall of Hearts, in 2016 to chart and media success. Reaching  #1 in the USA Heatseekers and #5 in the USA Hard Rock charts, #2 in Sweden’s Hard Rock chart, #3 in Canada’s Hard Rock chart, #4 in the UK’s Rock and Metal chart, #6 in Finland, #11 in Germany and saw success in Australia with their first ever chart entry.

    WATCH THE TRAILER FOR THE FALL OF HEARTS 10THANNIVERSARY EDITION

    Katatonia had worked tirelessly touring the world since 2012’s Dead End Kings, as well as expanding their fanbase through two albums on Kscope, Peaceville’s sister label. 2013 saw the release of Dethroned and Uncrowned, which exploded the core of the songs on Dead End Kings creating new moods and textures. Both releases illustrated the band’s journey toward The Fall of Hearts, which featured a more progressive sound, a sound which provoked The Guardian to refer to the band as “bridging of the gap between metal and modern prog.”

    PRE-ORDER 10THANNIVERSARY EDITION OF THE FALL OF HEARTS

    DISC 1
    A.1 – Takeover [07:09]
    A.2 – Serein [04:46]
    A.3 – Old Heart Falls – [04:22]
    B.1 – Decima [04:46]
    B.2 – Sanction [05:07]
    B.3 – Residual [06:54]

    DISC 2
    C.1 – Serac [07:25]
    C.2 – Last Song Before The Fade [05:01]
    C.3 – Shifts [04:54]
    D.1 – The Night Subscriber [06:10]
    D.2 – Pale Flag [04:23]
    D.3 – Passer [06:25]

    Bonus Tracks
    D.4 – Sistere [04:11]

    The Fall of Hearts was the first record to feature new drummer Daniel ’Mojjo’ Moilanen with the addition of their then-recently recruited guitarist Roger Öjersson (Blindead 23, ex-Tiamat), who sprinkled some blistering solos on the album. With this release, Katatonia continued to push their musical boundaries beyond the metal scene whilst drawing in new fans from across the musical spectrum, putting them on par with peers such as Opeth and Anathema, cementing their place as one of the most revered and cherished bands in modern heavy music.

    The dramatic yet desolate artwork was created by longtime designer and illustrator Travis Smith

    This special and limited tenth anniversary pressing of The Fall of Hearts is presented on double pearl dawn vinyl and includes a gatefold sleeve.

    KATATONIA
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    APPLE MUSIC

  • Getting To Know The Bands Of THRASHVILLE: PYREFLY

    Thrashville returns to the lush bushland of Dashville in Lower Belford, Hunter Valley, on Saturday, 27 June 2026. Celebrated as the region’s heaviest music gathering, this inclusive, single-day outdoor festival delivers a high-energy feast of punk, hard rock, and heavy metal across four vibrant stages. Following a medical cancellation by US punk band FEAR, homegrown legends Cosmic Psychos will […]
  • Mastodon Guitarist Bill Kelliher Shares Emotional Look at Stunning New Brent Hinds Memorial Unveiled at Hellfest

    Brent-Hinds-Hellfest-2026

    The international heavy metal community has been brought to a standstill after a breathtaking new memorial honoring the late, legendary Mastodon vocalist and guitarist Brent Hinds was officially unveiled on the sacred grounds of Hellfest Open Air in Clisson, France. Following the shocking motorcycle accident that claimed the 51-year-old icon’s life on August 20, 2025, festival organizers have permanently immortalized his massive avant-garde legacy. Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher traveled to the historic French site, sharing an emotional, close-up look at the intricate, custom stained-glass monument built to honor his late bandmate.

    🎧 STREAM THE METAL BREAKDOWN DAILY NEWS PODCAST BELOW:

    Want an in-depth audio breakdown of what’s happening in hard rock and metal? Host Scott Penfold dives deep into the latest heavy metal news on today’s episode of the Metal Breakdown Daily! Catch all the breaking rock news by streaming directly inside the free Loaded Radio App available on Apple iOS and Google Play.

    HELLFEST OPEN AIR: LANDMARK ARTIST SHRINES & TRIBUTES

    Immortalized in Glass: The Festival Grounds Expand the Metal Pantheon

    The magnificent unveiling of the Brent Hinds memorial marks an incredibly profound developmental chapter for Hellfest’s world-renowned open-air art park. Standing on the pristine festival grounds in Clisson, France, the beautiful stained-glass installation captures the eccentric, larger-than-life spirit of the multi-platinum sludge-metal visionary. The memorial was constructed to cast vivid, colorful light patterns across the field, establishing a peaceful place of reflection for fans mourning one of the most uniquely innovative guitar players of the modern era.

    Longtime musical partner and Mastodon rhythm guitarist Bill Kelliher broke the collective silence of the band’s camp by documenting his personal pilgrimage to the installation. Sharing extensive close-up imagery and raw video footage of the ornate glasswork via social media, Kelliher provided global audiences with their first real look at the heartbreaking tribute.

    The monument was strategically unveiled alongside the highly publicized debut of a massive six-meter-tall Ozzy Osbourne sculpture, placing Hinds shoulder-to-shoulder with the absolute founding fathers of the genre.

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    Remembering the Mad Genius: The Brilliant Career of Brent Hinds

    The sudden passing of Hinds on August 20, 2025, following a catastrophic motorcycle collision, sent absolute shockwaves through the heavy music community. Born on January 16, 1974, in Pelham, Alabama, Hinds was globally celebrated for injecting a wild, unpredictable cocktail of hybrid country-picking, technical progressive math-rock, and searing sludge-metal riffs into Mastodon’s Grammy-winning discography. His unmistakable snarling vocal delivery and chaotic fretwork served as a principal pillar for landmark albums like Leviathan, Blood Mountain, and Crack the Skye.

    Beyond his dominant twenty-five-year run with Mastodon alongside Kelliher, bassist Troy Sanders, and drummer Brann Dailor, Hinds was a fiercely prolific multi-instrumentalist who refused to lock himself into a singular artistic lane. He commanded an incredibly eclectic web of side projects, including the surf-billy madness of Fiend Without A Face, the soulful, melancholic rock of West End Motel, and the star-studded alternative supergroup Giraffe Tongue Orchestra alongside William DuVall of Alice in Chains and Ben Weinman of The Dillinger Escape Plan.

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    brent-hinds-tribute-mastodon

    Turning Grief Into Art: Overcoming a Bitter Final Chapter

    The presence of the memorial at Hellfest carries an incredibly heavy emotional weight due to the fractured internal history that clouded the musician’s final months. In late 2024, following decades of exhausting touring cycles and volatile creative friction, Hinds and Mastodon parted ways under deeply bitter, unpublicized circumstances. The unexpected tragedy of the motorcycle accident months later robbed the band members of an opportunity to heal the rift face-to-face, leaving an agonizing sense of unfinished business.

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    Rather than allowing the final breakdown to define his towering legacy, the remaining members of Mastodon chose to process their immense grief through the tracking room. The band recently honored Hinds’ memory by deploying a devastating new tracking single titled “Your Ghost Again.” The track functions as an incredibly raw, therapeutic poem dedicated to their fallen brother, seamlessly blending the massive walls of sound that characterized their early writing with a deeply vulnerable message of regret and permanent brotherhood. By immortalizing Hinds in stained glass in France, the heavy music community has ensured that his wild, unbridled flame will never be forgotten.

     
     
     
     
     
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    A post shared by William Kelliher (@billy_butterslax)

    FAQ: Brent Hinds’ Stained-Glass Hellfest Memorial

    What kind of memorial was built for Brent Hinds at Hellfest? Unlike the traditional massive metal statues built on the festival grounds for Lemmy Kilmister and Ozzy Osbourne, Brent Hinds was honored with an intricate, custom-designed, ornate stained-glass installation that filters sunlight into a multi-colored tribute.

    When did Brent Hinds pass away, and what was the cause? The legendary Mastodon guitarist died at the age of 51 on August 20, 2025, due to severe injuries sustained in a tragic motorcycle accident.

    Were Mastodon and Brent Hinds on good terms when he died? No. Hinds and the core members of Mastodon had parted ways under bitter, highly strained circumstances several months prior to his sudden passing in 2025. The band has since processed their grief and honored his legacy through their latest single, “Your Ghost Again.”

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    TL;DR

    • The New Shrine: Hellfest Open Air in Clisson, France has expanded its legendary artist memorial park by unveiling a breathtaking, ornate stained-glass tribute to the late Brent Hinds.
    • The Kelliher Update: Mastodon guitarist Bill Kelliher traveled directly to the French festival site to pay his respects, sharing an emotional close-up look at the completed glass installation online.
    • The Tragic Loss: The 51-year-old progressive sludge metal mastermind died on August 20, 2025, following a catastrophic motorcycle collision.
    • Musical Reconciliation: Despite parting ways with the band under bitter circumstances shortly before his death, Mastodon has permanently honored Hinds’ genius with their poignant new single, “Your Ghost Again.”

    True artistic genius outlives all earthly friction. As the morning sun filters through the beautiful stained glass in Clisson to illuminate the memory of Brent Hinds, it serves as a powerful reminder that the riffs he left behind are completely immortal.

    What is your personal favorite Brent Hinds guitar solo or vocal performance across his massive body of work? Do you think “Your Ghost Again” stands as the ultimate tribute to his legacy, or are you still spinning classic records like Crack the Skye to honor his memory? Fire off your favorite Mastodon memories, tracking reviews, and thoughts in the comments section below!

    The post Mastodon Guitarist Bill Kelliher Shares Emotional Look at Stunning New Brent Hinds Memorial Unveiled at Hellfest appeared first on Loaded Radio.