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British heavy metal legends Saxon have officially announced the UK and Ireland leg of their upcoming Gods of Thunder World Tour. Scheduled for February 2027, the run will feature the spectacular return of the band’s legendary 30-foot mechanised Eagle and their classic Castles & Eagles stage production, promising one of the most visually massive live … Continue reading British heavy metal giants Saxon announce UK and Ireland tour and return of the legendary Eagle

The Swedes Thrown are premiering a brand new single/video, “Rehearsed”. The song was produced, mixed and mastered by Buster Odeholm.
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zekiizo’s SHOTGUN is an electrifying electro-pop triumph that fuses irresistible hooks, glossy production, and undeniable attitude into one intoxicating package. Pulsing synths, infectious rhythms, and sleek vocal delivery propel the track forward with effortless confidence, creating a sound that feels equally at home on late-night dancefloors and repeat-play summer playlists. Beneath its polished surface lies a bold, playful energy that never loses momentum, balancing modern pop sophistication with club-ready intensity. Seductive, vibrant, and bursting with charisma, SHOTGUN is the kind of ultra-catchy anthem that demands attention from the very first beat and refuses to let go.

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Bruno Mars’ 2026 “The Romantic Tour” is shaping up as a major stadium run across North America, Europe, and the UK in support of his new album, The Romantic. 

Scheduled as his first full headlining run in nearly a decade, the tour brings Mars back to large-scale stadium stages with a packed calendar built around major cities and high-capacity venues.

European summer dates place Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, and London at the center of the June and July 2026 schedule. 

Fans based near Berlin, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Milan have several nearby options across the route, making the European leg one of the most accessible portions of the tour for many concertgoers across the region.

Ticket Information

Tickets for Bruno Mars’ European Tour are expected to be in high demand, especially for London, Amsterdam, and Paris. Fans planning to attend should purchase tickets only through official ticket sellers or authorized resale marketplaces to ensure authenticity and secure entry. 

Sold-out dates may also appear on resale platforms, where prices can move above or below face value based on demand.

High demand led Mars to add 31 new dates to the tour schedule. 

Expanded European listings show that demand clearly affected major cities, with added or extended runs in Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, and London.

Fans planning to purchase Bruno Mars tickets are encouraged to use trusted platforms like Fanatix and to check ticket availability directly through the same service before making a purchase decision?

Careful checking is especially important for cities with expanded date lists, since added shows and sold-out nights can create confusion around availability, pricing, and seat location.

Paris, France – Stade de France

Bruno Mars opens the European summer leg in Paris with three scheduled shows at Stade de France.

Paris dates:

• June 18, 2026
• June 20, 2026
• June 21, 2026

Paris was initially listed with two shows on June 20 and June 21.

An expanded schedule was added on June 18, giving the city three nights at one of Europe’s major stadium venues. 

Stade de France anchors the start of the European run and places Paris among the strongest early markets on the schedule.

Berlin, Germany – Olympiastadion

Berlin brings the tour to Germany with two scheduled nights at Olympiastadion.

Berlin dates:

• June 26, 2026
• June 28, 2026

Berlin has been noted as a reachable stop for fans near Prague and other parts of Central Europe. 

An earlier listing included June 26 at Olympiastadion, while the updated schedule added June 28. 

Two Berlin dates give German fans and nearby international travelers more chances to catch the tour before it moves west to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA

Amsterdam has one of the longest European city runs on the schedule, with four shows listed at Johan Cruijff ArenA.

Amsterdam dates:

• July 2, 2026
• July 4, 2026
• July 5, 2026
• July 7, 2026

Earlier listings included July 4 and July 5. An updated schedule added July 2 and July 7, expanding Amsterdam into a four-night stop. 

Johan Cruijff ArenA gives the tour a major Dutch stadium setting and places Amsterdam among the busiest cities on the European leg.

Madrid, Spain – Riyadh Air Metropolitano

Madrid follows Amsterdam with two scheduled shows at Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

Madrid dates:

• July 10, 2026
• July 11, 2026

Madrid was first listed with a July 10 show. An updated schedule was added on July 11, turning the Spanish stop into a two-night stadium event. 

Riyadh Air Metropolitano gives the tour a major Madrid venue directly after the extended Amsterdam run.

Milan, Italy – Stadio San Siro

Milan brings the tour to Italy with two scheduled nights at Stadio San Siro.

Milan dates:

• July 14, 2026
• July 15, 2026

Milan was first listed with a July 14 concert. An updated schedule was added on July 15, giving Italian fans a second San Siro date. 

Positioned after Madrid and before London, Milan acts as the final continental European stop before the tour reaches Wembley Stadium.

London, United Kingdom – Wembley Stadium Connected by EE

London has the largest European run on the updated schedule, with six shows listed at Wembley Stadium Connected by EE.

London dates:

• July 18, 2026
• July 19, 2026
• July 22, 2026
• July 24, 2026
• July 25, 2026
• July 28, 2026

London was initially connected with two Wembley nights on July 18 and July 19. Updated listings expanded the run through July 28, giving Mars six dates at Wembley Stadium Connected by EE. 

Heavy demand is especially clear in London, making it the biggest European market on the summer leg.

Special Guests and Show Experience

Anderson .Paak appears on all dates as DJ Pee .Wee, performing DJ sets throughout the tour. Victoria Monét is listed as support for the European dates, including Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, and London.

European dates are marked with both symbols, meaning both Anderson .Paak as DJ Pee .Wee and Victoria Monét are associated with those shows.

Concert expectations center on Bruno Mars’ reputation for strong musicianship, tight pacing, band chemistry, polished movement, and a high-level entertainment machine built for stadium crowds. 

Anderson .Paak’s involvement adds groove, timing, feel, and live chemistry, giving the tour another performance layer alongside Mars’ headline set.

Related Tour Pop-Ups and Fan Activations

Bruno Mars x Hello Kitty pop-ups are paired with the tour in several European cities. 

City-specific windows line up closely with concert dates, giving fans added opportunities around each stadium stop.

Pop-ups give fans added activity around concert dates, especially in cities with multiple shows. 

London, Amsterdam, and Paris line up particularly well with extended schedules, giving fans several days to visit around their selected concert night.

Summary

Bruno Mars’ European summer leg brings The Romantic Tour to six major markets: Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Milan, and London. 

Expanded listings show especially strong demand in London with six Wembley Stadium dates, Amsterdam with four Johan Cruijff ArenA dates, and Paris with three Stade de France dates.

European dates fit into a much larger stadium schedule that reaches nearly 70 shows across North America, Europe, and the UK. 

Added concerts in several cities show that demand has continued to grow since earlier listings appeared.

Steps into Shadow took me a while to figure out. Not because it’s especially difficult, but because every time it seemed ready to settle into one thing, it drifted somewhere else.

The obvious description would be progressive doom/death metal, but that only tells part of the story. There are death metal riffs all over the album, sure, but they’re constantly interrupted by quieter passages, strange instrumental detours and melodies that seem more interested in atmosphere than impact. Saxophone and flute appear throughout the record as well, though thankfully not in the “look how progressive we are” way that sometimes ruins albums like this.

What I kept coming back to was the feeling that GOLD SPIRE don’t really care where one genre ends and another begins. The heavy parts aren’t there because a death metal band is supposed to have heavy parts. The calmer moments don’t feel inserted simply to create contrast. Everything seems to follow its own internal logic, even when the album takes turns that initially feel unexpected.

A lot of modern progressive metal suffers from musicians trying to impress each other. Endless layers, endless technical details, endless moments designed to make listeners stop and admire how clever everything is. Steps into Shadow rarely falls into that trap. The arrangements are often busy, but the music itself never feels desperate for approval.

The saxophone deserves a mention because it genuinely contributes something rather than acting as a novelty. The same goes for the flute. Neither instrument dominates the material. They simply exist within it, occasionally pulling a passage in a different direction before disappearing again. After a while they stop feeling unusual altogether.

The album’s darker mood also helps. There is very little of the bright, triumphant atmosphere that often creeps into progressive metal. Even when melodies become more prominent, there’s usually something uneasy lurking underneath. The record never becomes oppressive, but it doesn’t offer much comfort either.

If there’s a weakness, it’s probably that the album demands more concentration than some listeners will be willing to give it. This isn’t background music. Let it drift past you and entire sections will blur together. Give it proper attention and the picture becomes much clearer.

What I like most about Steps into Shadow is that it sounds unconcerned with trends. It doesn’t chase modern death metal, doesn’t chase old-school death metal, doesn’t chase prog audiences. It simply sounds like a group of musicians following ideas wherever they happen to lead.

That approach doesn’t guarantee a masterpiece. What it does create is an album with its own personality, which is becoming increasingly rare. By the time the record ended, I wasn’t thinking about genres anymore. I was already wondering whether I wanted to hear it again. That’s usually a good sign.

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French heavy metallers Crystal Throne have revealed details and first single in what will be their second long player. Entitled Chantry Of Sacrifice, it will be set free on August 10th 2026.
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Spanish heavy metal collective Streamer is pleased to announce that they have joined forces with High Roller Records. The band is set to release their third full-length in early autumn 2026. More details coming soon.
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PC Muñoz’s The Rapture in Reverse is a fascinating collision of spoken-word artistry, experimental electronics, and speculative storytelling. Built around a thought-provoking concept that inverts the traditional notion of the rapture, the piece unfolds like a surreal audio essay, inviting listeners to question morality, belief, and the structures that shape society. Aleatoric beats, atmospheric drones, and the distinctive timbres of the SlapStick instrument create an immersive sonic environment that feels both futuristic and ritualistic. Muñoz’s measured spoken delivery anchors the track, allowing its vivid imagery and literary depth to take center stage. Bold, unconventional, and intellectually stimulating, The Rapture in Reverse occupies a unique space where poetry, sound design, and experimental music converge.

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[Album artwork by James Koehnline]

As much as I love and appreciate the fact that my metal foundation was fortified by growing up alongside the genre in the ‘80s as a youth, I owe a great deal of my undying appetite for most all branches of music to the early ‘90s and the fact that I split most all of my time between school and hustling a job at a new/used record store outside of Cleveland. The purpose of this feature is to celebrate a pivotal album that bridged that crucial stretch on the ol’ timeline. But first, a little constructive backstory.

Having grown up in a very music-friendly household, exploration was something that was encouraged at an early age. Inside those golden ‘80s, though, I was a very hungry and willing student of heavy metal, first and foremost. I dug other stuff—folk, reggae, early rap, some classic rock—but I didn’t really have the sort of budget that afforded me the opportunity to mine the depths of anything outside of the wild and ridiculously tempting world of metal. And homies, that is precisely how I have always approached discovering new music: by obsessively (and compulsively) diving in with a big splash and plummeting as deep as possible until the threat of drowning basically forces me to speed back to the surface. Repeat as necessary.

With the new record store gig, I finally had the means to quadruple down on my growing obsession, with a library’s worth of used stock available to (literally) check out, recommendations flying in from virtually every angle, and an expectation to “know what I was talking about with customers” all but forcing my hand to explore most every corner of the realm. It was rap, R&B and jazz that demanded my immediate attention, however, as ours was a store that sold huge amounts of precisely that, so I eventually morphed into a fairly peculiar fabled ogre in a Grindcrusher long-sleeve that could talk about the O’Jays, Jodeci, DJ Quick and Herbie Hancock with a flip of a switch. It took a good while to get to that point, though, considering the fact that, outside of a number of distinct exceptions, at least 80% of my funkiness rolling into the ‘90s was expressed through releases such as:

• • Death Angel – Frolic Through the Park [1988] (Bad album, but I dug “Open Up”)
  • Fishbone – Truth and Soul [1988] (I will still KILL for this record)
  • Living Colour – Vivid [1988] (big, BIG deal for me)
  • 24-7 Spyz – Harder Than You [1989]
  • Bad Brains – Quickness [1989]
  • Faith No More – The Real Thing [1989] (Transformative)
  • Mordred – Fool’s Game [1989] (take the L)
  • Urban Dance Squad – Mental Floss for the Globe [1989] (No idea how this album has aged)
  • 24-7 Spyz – Gumbo Millennium [1990]
  • Death Angel – Act III [1990] (still my favorite of theirs)
  • Primus – Frizzle Fry [1990]
  • Scatterbrain – Here Comes Trouble [1990] (*sigh*)

In a matter of months at the new job, however, I could finally immerse myself in whatever caught my eyes and ears, so I was regularly reaching for fresh innovators like Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, Del the Funky Homosapien and The Pharcyde, as well as strengthening my awareness of punk, noise rock, alt-rock and most everything in between.

Then on one crucial night, and despite my predilection for new trends and novel artists, my manager slid a copy of Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain into my hands to take home. And thus began a rather extensive fixation with all things George Clinton. Would that infatuation have happened had Maggot Brain not launched with “Maggot Brain,” one of the greatest guitar tracks of all time? I was still fully in love with guitar leads, thanks to the 80s’ metal background, but hearing Eddie Hazel’s fretwork in those opening 10 minutes and discovering said solo was improvised in one take via instructions from Clinton to “play as if you just heard that your mother has died”… It leveled me with same degree of power as the launches to Hell Awaits or Left Hand Path. Suffice to say, my brain exited the building.

The rest of Maggot Brain was a pretty different beast, but it still underscored the marriage of funk and rock in a way that fully razed everything I’d heard prior, and I’m sure any and all the artists responsible for the albums listed above would agree with that assessment. These songs were damn near punk in the way they tore up the rulebook and all but demanded you to skank around the room to cuts like “Hit It and Quit It,” “Wars of Armageddon” and especially “Super Stupid.” The shit was hEaVy in triplicate—in subject matter, weirdness and in groove—and I dedicated weeks on end to feasting on records by Funkadelic and Parliament, thereby weaving names such as Clinton, Hazel, Fuzzy Haskins, Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, etc. into my enduring musical tapestry.

[extremely deep space bass plunge]

“Hey, have you seen this? It has Buckethead on it,” a co-worker casually reported one jolly afternoon at the Record Exchange trade desk.

To better set the stage, I’d recently spent far too much time trying to force those around me to assimilate the absolutely bananas Buckethead debut, Bucketheadland (Feb 1992), an album released on a label (Avant) spearheaded by John Zorn, an equally crackers individual who had recently released an even more deranged debut titled Naked City. I’m guessing you know the one. Brass tacks: These wacky motherfuckers were annihilating my musical color palette, and I was a willing accomplice to all the fire-breathing.

Sadly, no one in my immediate sphere seemed interested in joining my Bucketheadland exploration, and that really wasn’t terribly surprising because the album—while intended to be a guitar hero’s ode to growing up next door to Disneyland—mostly came across like some sort of deranged Shrapnel Records release filtered through 100 hours of Saturday afternoons spent watching Kung-Fu Theater on the USA network while eating 10 bowls of Gremlins Sweetened Cereal. But hey, weird was my new wheelhouse, and mega-bonus: Bucketheadland happened to be produced by none other than Bootsy Collins, keeping the Parliament connection from my recent obsession alive and well.

[strange and woozy flange effect]

So, yes, it was the debut full-length from a fresh project called Praxis that ambled through the front door of the Record Exchange that fateful day. And needless to say, I immediately attacked, killed and ate the co-worker that heralded its arrival, just to ensure my unlawful right as sole possessor of this new discovery because, upon cursory review, this fresh entity not only involved Buckethead, but P-Funk alums Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell (on space bass and synthesizer, respectively), plus AF Next Man Flip (aka Afrika Baby Bam) of the Jungle Brothers, the latter of which I’d also recently discovered.

Like, how much more well-timed could you possibly get? NONE MUCH MORE, howled the Overlords of Mount St. Whatthefuckery. Praxis drummer Brain was a mystery to me, but he would eventually work his way further into my life by contributing to future Buckethead and Praxis albums, as well as Godflesh’s Songs of Love and Hate and, apparently,… Guns N’ Roses? What a spicy little bit of soup we all bob around in.

What exactly was / is Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)? To be honest, I still haven’t much of a clue how best to categorize it beyond perhaps drawing some sort of parallel between the genre and… a pawn shop? Want a flugelhorn? Here you go. Need a flintlock pistol? Step right up. Literally looking for the kitchen sink? Corner, prep or farmhouse? Is it rock? F’sho. Metal? Sure! Punk? In spirit. Dub? You bet. Jazz? Slide into second. Funk? Abso-bobble-booble, baby. It is all these things in a way that is fully timeless to an extent where very few people would be able to tell the record was released 34 years ago if you played it for them today. Unique, to say the least.

I distinctly recall slapping Transmutation into the store player that evening to see what was up—my ears spinning with anticipation. It was a short experiment for the store, as the opening salvo “Blast / War Machine Dub” made a VERY FUCKING LOUD first impression. Piledrive Morbid Angel’s “Chapel of Ghouls” through a mixer with some synths woven throughout? Hey, why not. Maybe not the best choice as backdrop music for people flipping through Michael McDonald CDs, though.

As loud as the launch of the song is, though, its trailing 2.5 minutes very suddenly morph into a dub piece that’s spiced with space bass bubbling and electronic loops and twists that result in a very curious zonked cosmic trip that sets the stage for what’s to come quite nicely. And really, that’s the key emphasis throughout the record: Nothing overly complex, just a whole lot of seemingly disparate pieces being sewn together in a way that somehow feels logical and coherent. An improvisational sense, for sure, but with just enough premeditated design to not feel overly frantic or nervous.

MYSTERY: Just who the hell was the fellow whose name was stressed on the back cover as ‘CONCEIVED AND CONSTRUCTED BY BILL LASWELL’? I didn’t realize it at the time, but beyond being “a bass player, producer and label-head from NY,” Laswell was, and continues to be, a total castle-builder in terms of gathering curious artists from virtually any walk of life / classification in hopes of building something singular and ambitious that weaves rhythm and some form of hypnosis into the overall cook.

How that related to Transmutation was actually pretty straightforward: Given the background of the players, expect varying degrees of shred, funk and beat, and thread it all through a prevailing sense of electronic dub. There’s very little emphasis on vocals top to bottom here, beyond occasional howls, some spoken word, or curious little sound bites. It’s mostly just… strange jamming? Strange jamming that gives ample opportunity for each player under the spotlight.

Now, I say ‘mostly instrumental’, but there is one notable exception here in the form of “Animal Behavior,” a super smooth funk classic torn from the P-Funk playbook that puts Bootsy in the driver’s seat as he soooorrrrt of sings but mostly just preaches about totally rational things like “chicken of the sea, bobble.” It’s the record’s “big hit,” without question—enough to eventually warrant an edited video that nearly cuts the song in half. “Animal Behavior” delivers a totally crucial groove, some great table work, and a snazzy Worrell organ solo that’s sure to get you up and hustlin’, but what’s always stuck with me the most is how the track abruptly shifts into a beautiful nod to Eddie Hazel’s fondness for emotional melody as Buckethead takes the spotlight in the song’s second half. The long version AND official video (which I had no idea existed prior to this piece) provided below.

Following “Animal Behavior” is “Dead Man Walking,” a track that, following a swift stretch of blaring shred, quickly underscores Next Man Flip’s skill on the tables. Flip jumps between scribbles and various clicks, blips and trips, all while Brain maintains a crucial strut and Bootsy’s space bass levels with a thiccness guaranteed to inspire any passing living creature to G A W motherflippin’ K.

Were all parties involved in the recording of this album higher than 10,000 Chongs throughout the duration of Transmutation’s creation? I have no clue, and I’m not exactly condoning such a thing, but it does seem… feasible, given the album’s propensity for bubbling and tripping the hell out. Would a fully sober mind opt to close out a record like this with what amounts to 22 minutes of mostly improvisational oddness across two songs? Maaaaybe. I know I didn’t really appreciate “Giant Robot / Machines in the Modern City / Godzilla” (6:37) and closer “After Shock (Chaos Never Died)” (16:07) back in ’92 as much as I do today, but I am both more sober AND an odder duck these days, so who knows what the correct potpourri actually is.

Put it this way: if fully trippy long-form freakout jams aren’t really your thing, you can close out this expedition at a very respectable 34 minutes by jetting directly after the very excellent “The Interworld and the New Innocence,” another moody number indebted to Funkadelic that gives Bootsy’s space bass the spotlight. I especially appreciate the way this track eventually morphs into some sort of deep sea expedition where a very funky giant squid gets down whilst Worrell goes nuts on his synthesizer / melodica.

Praxis as an entity would continue following the release of Transmutation, but never again with the unassailable lineup featured in ’92. Bootsy and / or Bernie Worrell made a couple of appearances here and there, most notably for the song “Deathstar” on record number two (1993’s Sacrifist), but the bulk of what happened post-Transmutation was the result of a Laswell, Buckethead and Brain union. I would remark that Sacrifist is the next most worthy exploration, as it most closely relates to extreme metal by featuring guests such as Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Painkiller, Scorn), Yamatsuka Eye (The Boredoms), Blind Idiot God and the aforementioned John Zorn, but for my money, the Praxis debut remains the apex predator because of how engagingly and strangely it managed to hybridize hard rock, extreme metal and funk amidst peers AND well ahead of the imminent arrival of (gulp) nu metal.

So, here’s the 10¢ question to close things out: Could a record like this make the same sort of impact today as it did 34 years ago? That very question has been rattling around the emptiness between my ears for the better part of the last few weeks as I’ve prepped for this monstrosity. Answer: Beats the shit out of me! As mentioned earlier, the album doesn’t sound at all dated, thanks largely to the level of fearlessness, but it also doesn’t seem quite as quirky by today’s standards. I’m not entirely sure if that’s rooted in my familiarity with all of its peculiar curls and hollows or if it’s due to the presence of, you know, bands like Melt Banana, Boris, Angine de Poitrine and any number of other projects that specialize in futzing with boundaries. One thing I’m certain of, though, is the truth that Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) landed at an incredibly auspicious point in my life where I was inclined to molt from ‘pure metal freak’ into ‘full-scale music freak’, and I will forever be grateful for the hand it played in helping to launch a lifetime of unfettered musical exploration.

Addendum: The motivation for this article, other than highlighting a stone cold classic, originated from an unfortunate development related to Bill Laswell’s recent health. Below you will find a link to the gofundme created to assist in his care. It’s close to the stated goal, so please consider donating if resources allow. Get well soon, Bill. We need you back in action!

https://gofund.me/c64552335

The post Diamonds & Rust: Praxis – Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis) // Mother Earth Is Pregnant For The Fourth Time appeared first on Last Rites.

Before their new record Abyssal Womb officially comes out next Friday, French ensemble Verdun now stream the last single in advance “Rise Of The Atomic Ghouls”.
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