Blog

Throughout the Warped Tour’s decades-long existence, it has seen its fair share of bands. Assuming that number is in the thousands, there must be an equal number of distinct stories of being on the tour throughout the older traveling circus version of the past and the more uniform music festival version we have now. This year, we decided to speak to some Warped Tour rookies and veterans to hear about their experiences on punk rock’s most enduring festival and how it’s affected them as a fan or a performer.

Rookie: Mike Chaiburi (Whispers) – Octopus Stage

Formed in 2014, Whispers is a hardcore band from Bangkok, Thailand. They’ve been slowly building a fanbase since then. Dubbing their sound as Bangkok Evilcore, they frequently combine music rooted in 1990s metallic hardcore with lyrics influenced by Buddhist proverbs focused on realism, human nature, and self-reliance. Click here for more info and links to tickets for Whispers’ upcoming tour dates

Dying Scene: What’s been the most surprising thing about Warped Tour so far, good or bad?

Mike Chaiburi: As a kid, I watched a lot of this when I was thirteen or fourteen. Now today, it’s just happening. I’m here on the Warped Tour in Long Beach. It’s crazy. It’s very crazy for me.

Dying Scene: What did you think playing Warped Tour would be like before you got here?

Mike Chaiburi: I never thought about it before. I can tell my mom about it. She’s really excited. All my family back home is excited. Before I came here, I stayed in Bangkok for 10 days because we had just done the European tour. We had a gap of twelve days between our day off in Bangkok and Warped Tour. The whole time I was like, “Warped Tour is going to happen in the next two weeks. I’m so excited.”

Dying Scene: Have you played any other shows while you’re in the States? 

Mike Chaiburi: Yeah. We just did San Diego yesterday. The first show was in Corona. We’re going to LA. Awesome. Awesome. We have eight shows this time. We’re going to finish in Portland. It’s a hardcore fest, too.

Dying Scene: What do you hope fans remember about your first Warped Tour run?

Mike Chaiburi: Yeah, I just want to see people moshing. I just want to see everyone having a good time and everyone enjoying our set. I hope it’s going well.

Veterans: John Tran and Adam Lorbach (Home Grown) Years Played: 1998, 2002, 2003

While Home Grown did not play a set at the Warped Tour this year, Adam Lohrbach and John Tran are Warped Tour veterans from the late 1990s and early 2000s, stemming from their breakthrough album Act Your Age (1998) and their time on Drive-Thru Records, a label whose acts were very influential on the evolution of the Warped Tour itself. Home Grown is still riding high after reuniting in 2024. Here’s hoping they’ll be on a Warped Tour stage in the future. Keep up with all the excitement here. 

Dying Scene: You guys have a lot coming up in the next year with the 25th anniversary of Kings of Pop. Are you guys releasing new music next year, or are you going to wait for the year after?

John Tran: No, I think we’re going to release some new music this year.

Adam Lorbach: We’re going to have to do some drops here and there. A couple of singles, maybe, but there’s plenty of material. We’re just waiting for the right time, but some singles this year, for sure.

Dying Scene: How has Warped Tour shaped you guys musically, professionally, or personally? 

John Tran: Well, I mean, Warped Tour 1998 was the first time we did the Warped Tour. So if you can sweat it out in a van in the South and still survive and be a band, that means you’re probably going to make it. We did. It definitely built resilience in us. Oh, 10-hour drive? No problem. Overnight? Yeah, okay. No showers in five days? Okay…

Dying Scene: What do you feel is the biggest difference between Warped Tour then and Warped Tour now?

Adam Lorbach: We just got here, so…

John Tran: It’s still a giant cluster

Adam Lorbach: It’s still hot 

John Tran: Port-o-potties are probably really hot and sweaty and stinky.

Adam Lorbach: I’ve heard more tracks from here than the stage, but I mean, it looks cool, man. It’s awesome seeing everyone still on the scene, walking around, dressed like they were in 2002.

Dying Scene: Did any bands become long-term friends with you guys because of Warped Tour? 

Adam Lorbach: Oh, yeah. I mean, that’s part of the reason why we’re here. We just want to come back and say hi to some of our old friends: Reel Big Fish, The Starting Line. 

John Tran: Simple Plan’s playing, Hoobastank’s here. MXPX is playing. Early November. All the Drive-Thru bands.

Adam Lorbach: We just want to be out here; it’s our hometown.

Dying Scene: Is there a Warped Tour set that you guys still talk about after all these years? 

Adam Lorbach: I mean, the one that sticks out for me is the Drive-Thru Records stage one. That was a pretty special moment in time. You know, you didn’t even realize it so much when you’re in it then, but looking back, it’s pretty cool with all of our friends always traveling to the same place, going out to have dinners, just having good quality time together. It’s pretty special.

Dying Scene: Is there a part of Warped Tour’s culture that feels essential to you and something that has defined the tour?

John Tran: Honestly, Warped Tour, to me, back in like 2000, no, maybe like 1990-something, had skateboarding. Skateboarding, you know. If all the skateboarding culture was like pop music, that’s what we grew up on. It definitely defines who we are, and who we are today, for sure. I love skateboarding. To this day, I still love punk rock music.

Adam Lorbach: I think it’s pretty cool having the legacy artists. It’s kind of like how Warped Tour was back in the day, always giving a spotlight to new artists, people to come up. So, all these different side stages give people a chance to see you that they might not have otherwise. I love the ethos of Warped Tour. It has a blend of both, so you can have fun with the old music, you know, and sing along. You might discover something new here.

Veteran: Mike Davenport (The Ataris) – Years Played: 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2017, and 2026

This year sees The Ataris play their ninth official set with the Warped Tour. Last year saw the band release their first bit of new music since 2011, “All Souls Day” and “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” with the promise of an album in the near future. While putting the finishing touches on the new record, the band has been playing the festival circuit, including stops in Mexico City and Montreal for the Warped Tour. Keep up with the Ataris here.

Dying Scene: One of my favorite Warped Tour sets I saw the Ataris play was 2002.

Mike Davenport: It was a killer set. It was a surprise set. We were supposed to be on the Warped Tour, but we were making the So Long, Astoria record, so they called us over to play there just to surprise everybody.

Dying Scene: It was like a small label’s booth, wasn’t it?

Mike Davenport: Yeah.

Dying Scene: Do the Ataris have any type of Warped Tour ritual you do when you guys play?

Mike Davenport: We did our first Warped Tour in 2000, and then we’ve done eight after that. My favorite part is the barbecue. We love the barbecue. We love hanging out with everybody. The coolest thing is my friends. Even today, it brought me back because I’m going in and I’m seeing Basement over here and Bowling For Soup over there and all of my favorite bands.

Dying Scene: What’s the lineup for the band right now? Is it the So Long, Astoria lineup or is it a bit of a hybrid? 

Mike Davenport: It’s a hybrid. It’s me and John and Kris and then our drummer’s Dustin. Not Kid (Chris Knapp). We’ve had Dustin (Phillips) jump back in. He’s been with Kris on and off for the last 10 years. 

Dying Scene: What’s changed the most about performing pop punk live since your early work tour? 

Mike Davenport: I’d say it’s slick, man. All of these digital LED backdrops. A lot of the bands that my kids listen to, pop-punk bands, have a lot of screaming in them. We didn’t do screaming in our day. That’s something that came with that next generation of Hawthorne Heights and Sleeping with Sirens and Pierce the Veil.

Dying Scene: Is there a Warped Tour set you still talk about all these years later?

Mike Davenport: We loved Warped Tour 2003, San Diego. That set was insane. It’s immortalized on the 2003 Warped Tour DVD. If you ever see it, the sun was going down, we were like the last band playing. You just see people until you can’t see people anymore for days and they’re just crowd surfing.

Dying Scene: Is there a part of Warped Tour’s culture that you feel is essential to it, something that’s defined the tour?

Mike Davenport: I just think that, like Kevin Lyman, he was our first manager, and he’s always run Warped Tour like a bro’s thing. These are all his bros. He’s still sitting back there in his tent, hanging out and just enjoying the moment. And it’s about enjoying life and playing music with friends.

Dying Scene: Do you have any advice for first timers that they never listen to?

Take chances, take risks. You’ve got to take risks. No risk, nothing’s going to happen. I know so many great bands that were too afraid to get in the van, to go on tour, to sleep in the van and rough it. That’s what we did, and that’s how we got bigger. All of my friends’ bands, they did the same thing, and they are here today. The people that don’t take risks, that are afraid, you don’t want to lose your job at Taco Bell or whatever you’re doing, that’s not living. Living is taking risks.

Rookie: Rae and Addison Scott (rosecoloredworld) – Ghost Stage 

rosecoloredworld is making their debut this year on the Warped Tour. Long Beach was their second date after playing the tour’s Washington, D.C. stop. Blending raw emotion and pop punk, a lot of their songs focus on topics like mental health and community. A great combination for the Warped Tour and its ever-evolving ethos. Catch up with rosecoloredworld here. 

Dying Scene:  What did you think playing the Warped Tour would be like before you got here?

Rae: It’s way cooler than whatever I thought, that’s for sure. It’s an amazing community, and the fans have been very awesome to us.

Dying Scene: Did the stage you were assigned to shape your set at all?

Addison Scott: The stage was amazing. It was more than anything we could have hoped for.

Dying Scene: Have you had a “Oh, Shit I’m playing the Warped Tour” moment?

Rae: Yeah, right before we went on. I think it all hit us. 

Addison Scott: We played DC a month ago, and it definitely was crazy. 

Dying Scene: What do you hope fans remember about your first Warped Tour run?

Rae: I hope they feel hopeful, and I hope that they remember having a ripping time with the people they came with.

Dying Scene: Did Warped Tour shape your trajectory as a fan or a musician?

Addison Scott: Yeah, both. I mean, I grew up on the scene, and it definitely is how we are, and who we are.

Rookie – Seth Girard, Thomas Sullivan, Jack Wensky (Good Sleepy) – Vans Stage

Fresh off the release of their second album, Constant Humming, Good Sleepy made their Warped Tour debut in Long Beach this weekend on the Vans Stage with a late afternoon set. Before they grace the stage at Warped Tour’s Montreal, Quebec dates, you can catch them on the road. For more info, check out their official website.

Dying Scene: What did you think playing Warped Tour would be like before you got here? 

Thomas Sullivan: Honestly, I had no expectations. I wasn’t really sure what it was going to be like, but it definitely exceeded all my expectations. I tried to go into it with a clear mind, but yeah, it’s been so sick.

Seth Girard: It’s funny, this morning I was chatting with everybody, and I was like, “Oh yeah, you know, like 12,000 people,” and everyone was like, “No, it’s like 80,000.” So my expectations were blown out of the water.

Jack Wensky: For me, it’s like, I don’t know, I went to high school, so I had an expectation of what it was going to be like. It’s a lot different than I anticipated.

Dying Scene: Did Warped Tour shape your trajectory as a musician or a fan? 

Jack Wensky: My entire music taste is definitely based on Warped Tour, especially from 2016 to 2018. That’s when we were in high school, and all the bands playing Warped Tour were our favorites. They helped us get into this type of music and even start our own band.

Dying Scene: Did the stage you were assigned to help shape your set at all?

Thomas Sullivan: Not really, going into this, we only knew the time. We didn’t know our stage until about two weeks ago.

Dying Scene: Have any bands helped you navigate the chaos?

Seth Girard: We have a lot of friends playing today, a lot of people like telling us what to expect and stuff. Shoutouts to bands like Hot Mulligan, Arms Length, those are some of our good friends. They’ve definitely helped us out.

Dying Scene: What do you hope fans will remember about your first Warped Tour run?

Seth Girard: That it was fun, hopefully. Hopefully, they had a lot of fun; they had a good time.

Jack Wensky: That’s really all we care about is everybody having a good time.

Veteran – tiLLie – Years Played: 2017 and 2026 

tiLLie has made a name for herself in the intervening years since her 2017 Warped Tour debut, having played other festivals including Slam Dunk and Rock for People. This year finds tiLLie rocking the Rex Stage and bringing her electronic-tinged pop-punk set to fans of the Warped Tour. Fans can catch tiLLie on the Warped Tour’s Orlando, Florida stop in November.  For more info, please check out her website.

Dying Scene: Did the stage you were assigned to shape your set at all?

tiLLie: No, I don’t think so. You don’t really find out until pretty late what stage you’re going to be on, so I think you have to go into it with what you’re bringing, and the rest you have to figure out when you get there.

Dying Scene: What’s been the most surprising thing about performing at Warped Tour, good or bad?

tiLLie: I don’t know what was surprising. I think for me, the surprising part was being on the same bill as Third Eye Blind because they’re one of my favorite bands, and my older brother got me into them when I was like a baby. He unfortunately passed away, but I think it’s been so amazing to have this opportunity, and I know wherever he is, his mind is blown, and my mind is blown.

Dying Scene: Did Warped Tour shape your trajectory as a fan or a musician?

tiLLie: Absolutely, yeah, I grew up listening to this. I was definitely more of a Fueled By Ramen girlie. I listened to some of the harder stuff, but I saw Paramore when I was really young at Warped Tour, and that was huge for me.

Dying Scene: Is there a part of Warped Tour’s culture that you feel is essential to you?

tiLLie: I think the community around it, the fans. I just think, especially nowadays, this new iteration of it is a really safe space for all types of people. I think we’re all a little bit outcast and maybe the weirdos, so it’s nice to all be here together and share that and not feel so alone.

Dying Scene: Have you made any friends this year?

tiLLie: I don’t know if I’ve made new friends yet. I’ve seen a lot of friends like Honey Revenge and Nova Twins, some people I’ve played with before. No, I need to make some new friends.

Rookie – Brian McShea (Good Terms) Door Dash Stage

Long Beach was Good Terms first of two Warped Tour dates with their next show being Orlando, FL’s stop on the Warped Tour. Their inclusion on this years tour coincided with the release of their record, Burnout Deluxe. Find them on the road before they make their next appearance. More info, here. 

Dying Scene: How many times have you been to Warped Tour as a fan? 

Brian McShea: I came last year, and then before that, in 2018, was the last one. That was the first one I went to. The guitarist in my band went to like fifteen in a row. I remember watching Warped Tour Wednesdays on Fuse, but I felt too young to go, and I didn’t know anyone doing that kind of thing. I was fourteen or fifteen, and I was into jazz. I was kind of out of it for a little bit, and I missed a lot of music that I now love.

Dying Scene: What’s been the most surprising thing about Warped Tour, good or bad?

Brian McShea: In my band, the other members have a lot more experience performing at festivals for other artists and I’ve never done that. I didn’t know what to expect. Showing up and having your merch going one place and your gear going a different place and you’re going to a different place and you will meet up with it later on. It’s pretty fascinating watching all those systems work. 

Dying Scene: To see how the sausage is made? 

Brian McShea: Yeah, I was the kind of kid who loved watching gears and conveyor belts and shit. Watching all that shit play out is pretty satisfying. Other than that, how fucking tired I am. I was here last year, and I had a lot more energy and emotional energy. It really took a lot out of me. I’m trying to meet our fans, I’m trying to do all the things for our band. It was like, I didn’t get to be in Warped Tour as much, which is fine. I mean, it’s the most Warped Tour we’ve ever done. That was definitely a new thing.

Dying Scene: Did Warped Tour shape your trajectory as a musician or as a band? 

Brian McShea: Warped Tour Wednesdays on Fuse was all the music that got me started on guitar. Green Day and Fall Out Boy were really big bands for me. All the stuff that would have been on Fuse at the time came my way. I came across Taking Back Sunday, Underoath, and all that. That’s where I got started. I stepped away from it as I got into other genres of music, but it was definitely that foundation. I think there’s always been this punk rock ethos I’ve looked for in everything as I’ve gone on. And it’s everywhere. You have to look for it in other genres a little harder, but sometimes you have to look for it here, too.

Is there a part of Warped Tour’s culture that feels essential to you, or something that defines Warped Tour?

Brian McShea: Pick up anybody who falls down. Those are definitely words to live by. I don’t think that’s exclusive to Warped Tour necessarily, but it is a big, important part of how today functions. I think walking around and seeing all the different kinds of people. There are pop-punk kids, there are hardcore kids, there are metalcore kids. There are people with spiked hair, there are people with tucked-in shirts. There are all sorts of people here, and we’re passing through each other. We’re bumping into each other. You’re making friends in lines for things.

Thanks for your time, everyone. If you missed Dying Scene’s review of the Van’s Warped Tour Long Beach, click here

It’s been seven years since No-Man, the art rock duo made up of Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness, released any material, but, according to Bowness, that’s about to change!

The pair last released an album in 2019, the prog-disco-tastic Love You To Bits, itself the pair’s first album in 11 years, following 2008’s Schoolyard Ghosts.

Writing on social media, Bowness revealed that “the belated follow-up to Love You To Bits is now well underway. There’s a lot of recording and writing still to be done, but we’ve already created interesting templates for a couple of album projects.

“SW has been experimenting with solo material of mine; I’ve written melodies and lyrics to music Steven presented me with, and we’ve also been re-recording some of the band’s older works. While we’re covering many a No-Man approach (from poignant ballads to twisted pop to electronic excursions to art rock heart of darkness), the completed album is going to have a structure and sound all of its own. It’s a fantastic and somewhat surreal sensation being able to hear the band’s DNA coursing through new songs in the late 2020s.

“The upshot is that No-Man studio album #8 is coming and with any luck it’ll arrive in time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of my first meeting and recording session with Steven (June or July, 1987, in case you’re wondering).”

At the same time, Bowness offered an update on his next solo album, which will be titled 30 Year List and is a continuation of the story started on 2017’s Lost In The Ghost Light.

“The album is the polar opposite of Powder Dry,” he says. “Co-written and co-produced with Bobian Hulse, it’s mostly rich in arrangement, coherent in approach, consistently melancholy in nature, and awash with gifted guest players. It also features a 20-minute track.”

30 Year List is expected to be released in early 2027.

Interview by Thrasher Fresh off their run as national finalists in the 2026 Wacken Metal Battle USA, Florida’s own Ramtha are gearing up to bring […]

The post Controlled Chaos: Ramtha Talks Wacken Battle Success, New Album, and Tampa Death Fest appeared first on Metal-Rules.com.

Hot on the heels of last month’s Global Beatles Day comes news that a previously unreleased John Lennon track titled Little Girl will be included on the reissue of The Beatles‘ Rubber Soul, which is due to arrive on October 2 via UMG and Apple Corps Ltd.

The demo appears to have been hidden away in the vaults for decades before being unearthed when plans for the re-issue were being drawn up.

Producer Giles Martin tells Rolling Stone: “It was surprising. It was one of those things that came from the Lennon Estate – I think it was Sean. It was one of those things where they say, ‘Oh, and then there’s this.’”

The record has been newly mixed by Martin and engineer Sam Okell and, alongside the original mono mix, you’ll also find a new stereo mix sourced from the original four-track masters. There’s also a Dolby Atmos mix and the original Capitol US version is also included. The expanded album will also include previously unreleased home demos and studio recordings.

For Beatles’ enthusiasts, the main draw will likely be the Super Deluxe editions of Rubber Soul which will be released as 4CD and 5LP box sets. These contain a total of 68 tracks, with the vinyl box set featuring a 7-inch single with Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out.

There’s also an 88-page hardback book with an introduction written by Paul McCartney and a foreward complied from John Lennon’s own words. The book also includes track notes, photographs and an in-depth look at the background of the album.

Rubber Soul will also be released in limited-edition orange vinyl and zoetrope vinyl, 1CD and 1LP standard editions, and 2CD and 2LP deluxe editions.

To mark the announcement, you can watch a visualiser featuring Michelle (Take 1) below.

Rubber Soul: Special Edition Super Deluxe: 5LP + 7” single box set

LP1: New stereo mix

Side A
1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won’t See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. The Word
7. Michelle

Side B
1. What Goes On
2. Girl
3. I’m Looking Through You
4. In My Life
5. Wait
6. If I Needed Someone
7. Run For Your Life

LP2: Sessions, demos and the single (Disc 1)

Side A
1. Wait (Take 3 – instrumental backing track)
2. Run For Your Life (Takes 1-5 – instrumental backing track)
3. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (First version –Take 1)
4. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Second version –Take 2)
5. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) (Third version – Take 3)
6. Drive My Car (Takes 1 and 2 – instrumental backing track)
7. Day Tripper (Songwriting work tape)

Side B
1. Day Tripper (Take 1 – instrumental backing track)
2. Day Tripper (Takes 2 and 3 – instrumental backing track)
3. If I Needed Someone (Take 1 – instrumental backing track)
4. In My Life (Take 1)
5. In My Life (Extract with unused organ solo)
6. We Can Work It Out (Paul’s demo)
7. We Can Work It Out (Take 1 – instrumental backing track)

LP3: Sessions, demos and the single (Disc 2)

Side A
1. Nowhere Man (First version – Take 2)
2. Nowhere Man (Second version – Take 5 – instrumental backing track)
3. I’m Looking Through You (First version – Take 1)
4. I’m Looking Through You (Second version – Take 2)
5. I’m Looking Through You (Second version – Take 3)
6. Michelle (Guitar rehearsal)
7. Michelle (Take 1)

Side B
1. What Goes On (Take 1 – instrumental backing track)
2. The Word (Takes 1 and 2 – instrumental backing track)
3. Girl (Take 2 – instrumental backing track)
4. Beatle Talk (Think For Yourself vocal overdubs)
5. Little Girl (John’s demo)

LP4: Mono

Side A
1. Drive My Car
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won’t See Me
4. Nowhere Man
5. Think For Yourself
6. The Word
7. Michelle

Side B
1. What Goes On
2. Girl
3. I’m Looking Through You
4. In My Life
5. Wait
6. If I Needed Someone
7. Run For Your Life

LP5: US Album

Side A
1. I’ve Just Seen A Face
2. Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
3. You Won’t See Me
4. Think For Yourself
5. The Word
6. Michelle

Side B
1. It’s Only Love
2. Girl
3. I’m Looking Through You
4. In My Life
5. Wait
6. Run For Your Life

7” single
1. Day Tripper
2. We Can Work It Out

In his quest to write some unique doom metal, Jamie Kobić dug deep into his own Bosnian heritage to draw on the traditional folk music called Sevdah. This musical tradition, with its slower tempo and melancholic tone, fits in perfectly with doom. Often, songs contain lyrical content about love and longing. My own research into Sevdah, including watching performances on YouTube, suggests it’s a more vocal-centric style. However, it allows for a mix of instruments, and Kobić cites Sevdah’s “expressive chord progressions” as one of his desires to incorporate the style into his compositions. Having only a 2024 split with his other band, Gavran, to its credit, Kobić releases The Forever Silent as the debut album for his new vision for doom, Svjetlost. Does the mix of Sevdah with the heavy reverb of stoner doom succeed?

Opener “Above the Mountains” lays down the foundation with thick stoner riffs and a near-funeral pace, giving the impression this will be an epic á la Sleep’s Dopesmoker. Yet Svjetlost aren’t just stoner doom, also incorporating Neurosis-style flourishes including arpeggios and feedback to layer on the atmosphere. On rare occasions, Kobić jumps into the higher-energy stoner riffs of High on Fire (“Between the Peaks”), but for the most part this is a slow, mellow record. The stoner riffs don’t really sound all that distinct from those of your typical stoner metal outfits, but there’s a satisfaction in the contrast between the louder, reverb-laden portions and the gentler sections. “The Golden Lilies” illustrates this, with some melancholic melodies strummed softly for a few minutes before Svjetlost breaks into the fuzzier, heavier side in a satisfying transition.

Kobić’s mellow approach to the vocals often means they play second fiddle to the instruments, and often he’s so quiet that he’s barely distinguishable from background noises. His gentle voice fits the style well, and he hits melancholic notes that seem in line with the Sevdah tradition. His melodic lilt serves as the emotional core, especially during passages on “The Golden Lilies” and “Between the Peaks.” Other times his voice rises barely above a whisper, and others yet he takes on a hypnotic chanting cadence. “Between the Peaks” is the only time he swaps out the cleans for something harsher, the agonized shouts of someone who can no longer contain his sorrows. Kobić’s voice is distinctive, yet it’s hardly dominant. Lengthy passages go by without hearing him, and when we do, he’s often reluctant to cede ground to his instruments, instead becoming one with the music.

Svjetlost sometimes feels adrift without any sense of direction. Sure, the switches in direction, tone, and tempo help alleviate the song lengths—each ranging from 13 to 16 minutes—yet the problem is that passages ramble on far longer than necessary without much variation in riffs or progressions. Kobić does demonstrate the ability to write compelling passages of music. “Above the Mountain” starts off strong, while “The Golden Lilies” contains moments of poignancy, and “Between the Peaks” mixes things up with its energetic and fun start. Yet as good as some of these individual passages are, the problem is that the length of each song demands more compelling material in the moments between, and The Forever Silent doesn’t always deliver, often lingering on repetitive passages that feel like they last, well, forever. Even worse, Svjetlost includes occasional moments of a high-pitched, whiny screech of feedback to snap your wandering attention back to the music—only to make you want to turn it off.

While the mix of Sevdah and stoner doom isn’t bad by any stretch, it’s also not particularly distinctive. Perhaps you can hear it in the vocals or maybe in those oft-repeated chord progressions, but for those unaware of this influence, The Forever Silent doesn’t sound all that different from your usual sludge/stoner doom outfit. Yet there’s no denying Svjetlost effectively weave a gentle melancholy into the music, heard in Kobić’s plaintive singing, in the arpeggios and the soft tempo. There’s a pleasure to be had in spending time with The Forever Silent for those who enjoy mellower stoner doom. Spending 55 minutes with this behemoth may be a tougher sell for anyone else.

---

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Shadow of Sorrow Records
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: July 24th 2026

The post Svjetlost – The Forever Silent Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

Interview with Geoff Bourrie, Founder / Promoter /Organizer of Loud As Hell Metal Festival Interview by Thrasher Nestled in the sun-baked badlands of Drumheller, Loud […]

The post “The Biggest Loud As Hell to Date”: Geoff Bourrie Breaks Down the 2026 Badlands Invasion appeared first on Metal-Rules.com.

Following the release of the triumphant debut single ‘Ashen World‘—chosen as one of Metal Hammer’s best tracks of the week—KAMELOT reveals the second single from their forthcoming masterpiece, ‘Dark Asylum‘, out August 28th via Napalm Records. The grandiose ‘Godlike Alchemy‘ emerges larger than life with its soaring string arrangements accompanying frontman Tommy Karevik’s goosebump inducing […]

The post KAMELOT Unveil Grandiose New Single ‘Godlike Alchemy’ appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.

Halloween Horror Nights is the world’s premier Halloween event, taking place over multiple nights during spooky season at several Universal theme parks, with a selection of haunted houses, scare zones and gothic entertainment.

This year at both Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, Ozzy Osbourne will have his own special haunted house attraction as a tribute to the Prince Of Darkness.

Lora Sauls – assistant director of creative development and show direction for art, design and entertainment at Universal Orlando – talks us through what to expect.

Tell us about the new Ozzy Osbourne house at Halloween Horror Nights.

Ozzy Osbourne: Prince Of Darkness. That’s been a very special project. Our senior show director, Charles Gray, is a huge Ozzy Osbourne fan. He was in a rock band in the 80s. Charles had long hair, sang very similarly to Ozzy Osbourne. So he’s a huge fan. So when we were brought the opportunity to honour Ozzy and celebrate his most famous albums and all those album covers… and that’s what the house is based on, the ideas of all those album covers.

So you’re going into a very Gothic church or temple-like [structure], you’re going to see above you the Ozzy Osbourne symbol, Ozzy is there with all of his cloaked minions or followers. There’s vision pools that you’re seeing some of his concerts and you’re seeing him on stage in, and then you go into the dungeons and you’re seeing him in the dungeon – Patient Number 9, if you will.

Then what I love is you’re going to see an oversized bat eat the head off of a human. Role reversal in such a good way. You’re going into the cemetery and seeing Ozzy as the werewolf. You’re gonna see the Crazy Train and get on the Crazy Train with Ozzy as the conductor of the Crazy Train.

And you end with Ozzy on his throne from his very last concert. We got the assets of that throne, so you’re going to see the Prince Of Darkness on his throne with his dragon beside him. I love the dancing demons – female dancing demons that are very 80s-inspired, they’re amazing – that are kind of leading up to that throne. Then there’s a very special final scare in that scene. So we think there’s going to be a lot of people that have an emotional connection to this house. It is an absolutely gorgeous house. It checks all the gothic, horror box off for us. It is beautiful.

Did the process for the house begin after he passed?

It was. Last year’s Halloween Horror Nights, one of the final weeks in Hollywood [October 2025]. Jack Osbourne went to the Hollywood event, and he talked to John Murdy [Creative Director of Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood] about wanting to do something with HHN again. Because John did an Ozzy house many, many, many years ago [Black Sabbath: 13-3D in 2013]. So he had that relationship with them. We meet with John three or four times a week – so we’re constantly in communication with John Murdy on the West Coast – and he brought that to us and we’re like, ‘Yes, definitely, we’d love to do that.’

So both coasts got on a teams meeting with Jack, and we were like, ‘We definitely want to do it. We want to do it on both coasts.’ Jack was very jazzed about that. He was so jazzed that he’s like, ‘Can we do different houses on both coasts?’ So honestly, the Ozzy Osbourne: Prince Of Darkness house on both coasts are the most different of all of our IP houses.

Now, there are some similarities. You’re gonna get on the Crazy Train in both houses and you’re going to see some similarities. But he was the one that really was like, ‘I would love to see two different takes.’ He even had a joke for the Orlando team. He’s like, ‘Why don’t you use the [Hogwarts] train and just turn that into the Crazy Train?’ And we’re like, ‘We can’t do that. But hey, you know, good idea…’ But no, he was very jazzed.

Honestly, it’s been an honour – every week we are on a teams meeting with Sharon Osborne and she is approving everything herself. Which is so cool. It is so cool. And she’s so jazzed about it.

Have the Osbourne’s walked through the set builds yet?

Not yet. I don’t think they’re coming to Orlando yet, but we’re taking some of their team through it in a couple weeks. But we’re really hopeful that we get either Jack or Sharon or both at both openings because Orlando opens a week before Hollywood. So you can feasibly do both. So we’re very hopeful that they’ll come our way to Universal Orlando for our opening.

We did hear that they were going to put the billboard in Hollywood near their Hollywood home. They were so jazzed by that. I don’t know where their Hollywood home is, but they said two streets and Sharon’s like, “Oh, that’s perfect. That’s so close to home.” She was so delighted about where they were placing that billboard.

The Ozzy Osbourne: Prince Of Darkness haunted houses open on August 28 at Universal Orlando Resort and September 3 at Universal Studios Hollywood

[Cover art by Jeff Gibson]

During an early spin of Paired Sentinels, the fifth full-length album from Chicago’s Anatomy of Habit, a question-so-stupid-I-now-must-ask-it-in-public occurred to me: Does post-metal have anything to do with post-punk? If we really want to turn our mental deli-slicers to the finest setting, what I’m really trying to parse is something like “is post-metal a derivation of metal that is analogous to post-punk? Or is it meant to be a metalized version of post-punk?” Take this all with a grain of salt, of course, because metal sub-genres are largely devised post-facto by critics as a lexical shortcut and thus don’t teach us much at all about what inspires artists creatively. What post-punk has to do with post-metal doesn’t really matter, but the fact that Anatomy of Habit got me thinking about that connection kind of does. 

You’ll get where I’m coming from right off the top of “Always Arriving,” track one: dig that lightly reverb’d bassline set against a circular drum pattern, both of which lay a bed for vocals from Mark Solotroff that sound less sung than preached from a street corner near you.

Pull at this thread until it’s taut and what you’ll find at the other end isn’t Black Sabbath, it’s Joy Division. This journey to Manchester by way of The Second City lasts just a bit longer than a minute before the ‘eavy hammer falls for the first time, but it establishes a durable vibe. Anatomy of Habit do not sound like they play metal with post-punk flourishes; they sound like they play deeply rooted post-punk that ought to appeal to metalheads by dint of its heaviness.

Most importantly, the band can play.

While the compositions draft sketches of cold, industrial cityscapes, the performances themselves are pleasingly warm and lived in. Check out “The Importance of Risk,” a slow burner terraformed around the interplay between metal percussionist Isidio Reyes and drummer Skyler Rowe, the former laying down a clattering backbeat while the latter weaves a tribal pattern around it. Down-tuned power-chords repeatedly threaten to bring the track to peak intensity, only to pull back and make space for a recurring melodic bass figure to reveal itself as the true centerpiece. For me, this kind of stuff is so satisfying on a musical level and so inviting of repeat listens that it makes any game of pin the subgenre on the donkey feel kind of superfluous. Post-Metal? Metallic Post-Punk? Avant Post-Punk Doom? None of it matters as much as the fact that Anatomy of Habit are a sound and cohesive group of performers. 

In total, Paired Sentinels comprises four tracks, and you’ll notice I’ve mentioned the two that run shorter than 10 minutes. The two longer pieces, “Conditions for Freedom” (13:41) and “Paired Sentinels” (13:33) will test your patience a bit more than the shorter tunes, but the payoff for close attention may be even more rewarding. “Conditions for Freedom,” in particular, is a trance-inducing waltz that walks precipitously close to the edge of combustion during the first half of its run-time before indulging in a free-form collapse for the duration of its second half. Closer “Paired Sentinels” functions either as a necessary exhale after the preceding 30 minutes of persistently ratcheting intensity or a mild comedown from a series of relative highs. In the right setting, my feeling is that it’s an appropriate wind-down, but in these highly distracted times, I empathize with listeners who will simply tune as the track fades away. 

I spent perhaps too much time here dwelling on genre here, but what’s truly interesting to me is not what shoe best fits Anatomy of Habit, but how they walk their walk. Rather than employing the batch of genre tropes available in the post-metal starter pack, Anatomy of Habit sound like a group of ol’ fuckers whose collective record collection probably includes Closer, Streetcleaner, Filth, Journey Through a Body and Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions. Now, having functioned as a stable lineup for three consecutive albums, they’re operating from the same set of first principles that produced an album like Times of Grace, as opposed to cribbing from that album directly. But what it really sounds like is an album only Anatomy of Habit could make.

The post Anatomy Of Habit – Paired Sentinels Review appeared first on Last Rites.

Towards the Sky is the fourth album from progsters Long Earth and is the follow-up to the excellent An Ordinary Life album from 2024. I enjoyed that album a lot, so was pleased when AC at Bad Dog Promotions sent Towards the Sky over to me. There have been line-up changes since An Ordinary Life. […]

The post Long Earth: Towards the Sky Review first appeared on New Wave of British Heavy Metal.