Swiss metal veterans Coroner announced European tour dates. After the successful launch of their latest studio album, the band will embark on the “Dissonance Over Europe, Pt.1” in September 2026, including a show at Knust, Hamburg on September 30st, 2026. Get your ticket here: https://www.ticketmaster.de/event/coroner–special-guest-tickets/1154694670?language=en-de
Rush return to the road in June, with the tour opening on 7 June 2026 in Los Angeles. For a band whose fanbase has followed them through five decades of musical evolution, the announcement sparked something profound. MetalTalk’s Paul Hutchings spoke to fans, tribute artists, event organisers and our own writers to capture what this moment means to those who have lived and breathed Rush for a lifetime. This is their story.
Few will have more insight into the world of Rush than Steve Brown. A superb guitarist in one of the premier Rush tribute bands, Moving Pictures, he is also the main man behind RushFest Scotland, the annual convention which has raised thousands for charity as well as creating a welcoming environment for Rush fans from across the globe on an annual basis.
But did Steve have any inkling about the announcement that Rush would be returning? He has a lot to share with us.
“Our drummer, young Jamie, the young girl drummer from Saint Andrews, she’s more like finger on the pulse than some with Reddit, in fact. She heard rumblings the week before, because we were gigging, and it was last October.
“We were gigging, so that particular week I had booked myself into a nice hotel in Kendall for three days. Over the weekend beforehand, Jamie had said, ‘Look, there’s something on Reddit. I think an announcement’s coming.’ I was like, okay, whatever, and then it was that Monday afternoon in October, can’t remember the exact date, and the bomb dropped. It just fried my mind completely.
“I was planning to do my VAT returns and shit like that. I was just going to get bogged down in a hotel life in Kendall. That was my Monday. So, I didn’t have any insider knowledge as such.”
Steve tells me about how he has developed a friendship with Neil Peart’s sisters and got to know Neil’s mum before she passed away at Christmas through their VIP appearances at RushFest.
“We did the Macallan Distillery Tour and all that. We had a great time. We’ve formed friendships there because we’ve been to Canada a few times since, and we played. Nancy hosts a charity golf tournament every year in August. That’s usually on a Monday, and on the Sunday beforehand, they do a little sort of meet and greet in Lakeside Park at the Pavilion”.
A pinch me moment indeed, playing Rush music in front of Neil’s family and a couple of hundred fans in Lakeside Park.
“My initial thoughts when I saw the announcement about them coming together with Anika, it just fried my brain. I didn’t want to bug Nancy or Judy on it. I knew their phones would be exploding that day. I didn’t know if they knew. I wasn’t going to ask.
“But later on, that day, Nancy put up a public post herself to say, right, just to publicly make it aware today that no, we didn’t know and we’re happy for everybody involved. We give them our blessings.
“Once I knew that, I accepted it more myself because my head was in turmoil with the Neil situation. It’s Rush mark three, basically, and it’s going to be enjoyable. I have bought tickets. Personally, I think the whole ticket pricing is disgusting.”
It is certainly the hot topic when it comes to this tour, and of course, there was the initial panic of the tickets in the US and Canada, where prices were set high and got more expensive once the resellers got their mitts on them.
Rush announce 2026 Fifty Something Tour. “It’s time for a celebration of 50-something years of Rush music,” says Geddy Lee. Photo: Richard Sibbald
Whilst Steve is a massive fan and has connections to the band through various sources, as you would expect, he is not impressed with the whole cost of the tickets. “Most fans would have been disgusted at the ticket prices and just the way things were released. I eventually buckled, and I’ve got tickets for the last New York show just because I’ve never been to Madison Square Garden.
“So I’m up for that and the first Toronto show, which is four days later. So, my wife and I will go, we’ll have a nice wee holiday, we’ll do New York, we’ll do Toronto. Nancy’s having her golf tournament that same weekend.
“I’m doing a RUSHFest Canada event on the 6 November in Toronto. So, another little sort of charity night with tribute bands and that sort of thing before the first Toronto show on the 7 August.”
As many of us expected, the UK and European dates came sometime later. “There were rumours abounding,” Steve says, “and we didn’t really know. But we did anticipate that they were going to bring the tour to the UK and Europe, as they did well in years gone by.”
Evidently, like me, Steve buckled, and we spent time discussing the UK shows that we’ve now got tickets for as well. And those prices again. “The prices are again through the roof,” Steve agrees. “£2,000 for front row with a meet and greet.
“I was lucky enough to get a meet and greet on the R40 tour. It was a holiday for myself and my wife. We went to Houston first, then New Orleans. Just as they did back in the day, you would just put your name into the hat on the Rush fan club, Rush Backstage or rush.com. You would pick the date that you’re going to.
“You need to buy your own tickets for the show, but you put your name into the hat for meet and greets, which were free. So, I was lucky. My name was pulled out of the hat to meet them in New Orleans on that tour.
“So, I’ve had my meet and greet, I’ve managed to shake their hands, thank them very much and get a couple of photos. Happy days. They are now charging £2,500 for that, which I think is disgusting. People are saying, oh, it’s the little way bands can make money these days.
“Just to sum it up, I’m still a huge fan. I respect what they’re doing. I’m looking forward to it. I had never heard of Anika before, but our drummer Jamie had. Once you look more into it, this is going to be really interesting because she’s bringing something new to the table. I think it’s going to be an excellent show.”
As our conversation continues, we reflect on the fact that a front row ticket for £450 is now seen as a bargain. “I’ve seen Rush 15 times,” Steve tells me. “My first time was the 1982 Signals Tour. I saw all the UK tours then. I was only going to one for each tour when they played Glasgow, but from Time Machine and Clockwork Angels, I went to two or three around the UK, and that’s when I started going abroad to see them as well.
“I saw them in Boston, saw them in Canada a couple of times. I went across to see them in Amsterdam, but 15 is quite a low number when you speak to some of the fans.
“I was looking at Poland because I thought, half of the fun is the show, the other half is the social aspect. You meet like-minded friends and family, extended families basically. So that side of it is coming back again, which I’m really looking forward to.”
And for Rush fans, that opportunity to meet up and chat genuinely is part of the overall enjoyment.
Geddy Lee – My ‘Effin Life – Portsmouth Guildhall – 17 December 2023. Photo: Paul Hutchings/MetalTalk
Dates in Glasgow are ideal for Steve. The tour will take in two dates at The Hydro, which Steve tells me he was hoping would have hosted the R40 tour. “It is a purpose for a big shed, 12,000 capacity/ The sound, it’s still pretty crap, but it’s not as bad as the old SECC, which was a big rectangular hangar.
“So, I am looking forward to seeing them in a half-decent venue in Glasgow. I’m now looking to do RUSHFest Scotland, maybe on the Tuesday in between. That will be a RUSHFest Scotland event for next year, just tie it into there. I’m looking at the logistics.”
My last Rush show was in 2013 on the Clockwork Angels tour in Birmingham. I share the memories that I assumed for R40 that the tour would come to Europe and the UK. Does Steve think that a lot of fans from the UK and Europe probably bought tickets for the US tour because of that kind of fear that they would miss out again?
“For sure. I mean, I did that. I’m now thinking about selling the US ticket, but it has nothing to do with Russia. It’s more to do with the state of America. That’s political more than a Rush thing.
“The fact that there’s a European leg to the tour, I would rather spend that money on going to more shows over here. I feel for people even in North America, who spent the first seven cities. It’s now 56 dates in North America. So I feel for people over there who have spent big bucks on one, and now, they’re doing 50 shows.
“Everybody’s been stung a little bit. It does leave a little bit of a sour taste in the mouth, but overall, it’s going to be great. I still love the guys, you know. It’s just the new management, Q Prime, the guys who do Metallica.
“They’re out there to make the bucks as much as they can. And people are buying it. I know a guy, I won’t name him, who, when the first leg was announced, was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to Toronto, first time there, going to see the guys in their hometown’. Within a day or so, it was like, ‘Oh, I’m not going’.
“So, when Glasgow was announced, he was like, ‘boom, I bought a £2,300 ticket, I’m going’. I think he said to his wife that would be the money he would spend to go to Toronto. People can justify that way, I suppose. But oh man, no way can I justify spending that amount of money on a ticket for anybody. The new box set has just come out, I’m loath to spend £300 quid on that.”
Moving Pictures – A Tribute To Rush – Tour Poster
On the subject of money, we drift into the new boxset remaster of Grace Under Pressure and Steve’s view of it, which is mixed. “He’s [Terry Brown] dropped the keyboards a bit. He’s brought the guitar up. I found it at the bottom end, just overpowering. You’ve probably read a lot of the reviews yourself online, and they are a mixed bag.
“Some people hate it, some people love it. I’m glad he did it. It’s great. It’s great to have that alternate mix, and it is definitely an alternate mix. But I’m not in the camp to say it’s better. I’m just saying it’s different.”
Both Steve and I have our Rush origins in the 1980s, and we spend some delightful minutes discussing the synth era of the band. “When [GUP] first came out, I was like, oh, they’re going synth heavy. I mean, that was a big thing at the time and I was in that camp. That’s when I first discovered them, on the Signals tour. I was like, where are the guitars going? Oh, Jesus Christ, that’s why Terry’s not with them anymore. Bring back Terry, bring back the guitars. That’s what he’s done, which is great.
“There’s no denying that, but to me, it’s at the detriment of the overall, because the keyboards were very prominent and you’re losing some of that detail. The intro to Distant Early Warning is shorter. The outro to After Image. They now have definite endings. They’re going longer. They’re not fade outs. So that’s interesting that he’s done that. It’s very interesting. But I’ll wait until I get it in a sale at some point.”
As we head back to the present, I wonder if Steve has concerns about the forthcoming tour. We touch on Geddy’s voice, which was at its limit for many fans on the R40 run. “I remember at the time, not even being concerned about it. I thought, that’s it. That’s the way they sounded.
“But it’s in hindsight now when people have pointed out, and I go back and listen to those live albums again, or the DVDs, which I’ve watched millions of times, not being concerned about the vocal at all.
“If you home in and get his voice, you go, Oh, Christ, he’s sounded a lot better. So, if it comes out the same this time round, that does not concern me. I believe he’s going for coaching. I mean, he really knows how to take care of his throat. That’s why they have a day off in between every show, because they have a day to recover.
“It’s still a huge ordeal, you know, however many gigs they’re doing, even though they have time off in between each. It’s a massive ordeal for guys their age and all the rest of it. But I think they’re both in really good shape.
“I’m sure they’ll pick the sets accordingly. I know we do for our own shows. We’ve got to watch where we put certain songs in the night and make sure Eóin is warmed up before we get the real high ones in there. Throw in an instrumental to give his voice a breather. They would have thought all that through for sure.”
One thing is for sure. We will not be getting the full three-hour marathons we used to expect from Rush. The band have said they will rotate the set list, which, as Steve points out, means you may have to attend multiple shows to see it all.
“I saw an interview, as you probably did as well, they’re purposely not giving away anything because they know within their first week of the gigs, which is only in a couple months’ time, 7 June is the first one, it’ll be all over the internet. The sets will be out. Once they have done the fifth set, it’s all out.
“Then I suppose it’s potluck, whatever night you’re going to get, what set you’re going to get, unless they do a set five rotation, and then you can work out, oh, I’m going to get set C. I don’t know. But I like that because a lot of us do go to multiple shows.
“I’m looking forward to that, see what they do, and they say they’re going to be doing a proper tribute to Neil section. Not to blow our own trumpet, but we’ve been keeping the fire going as Moving Pictures. We don’t do it all the time. But it was just before Neil passed, a keyboard-playing friend of ours who played keyboards in another Rush tribute band here in Scotland, had passed suddenly in November 2019.
“Lovely guy called John Eadie. It was around that time that I had the idea of taking the song Afterimage, and, because of the nature of its lyrics, making it more of a ballad. I had the idea of making it more like an acoustic guitar thing. But I said it to our own Geddy, and he went away and came up with a beautiful piano arrangement.”
Geddy Lee In Conversation as he releases his book, My Effin’ Life.
It is a beautiful version, available on streaming and on the first Songs For Neil CD, one of six which Steve has curated as part of RUSHFest and their charity fundraising.
“Tell your folks about RUSHFest Scotland,” Steve says. “2020, holy shit. Not just because of COVID lockdown, but with the passing of Neil, which nobody knew. It was such a shock. But let’s say in November, just two months before that, with the passing of John Eadie, I don’t know if it was John’s passing that inspired me.
“It was around that time anyway, and we put this version of Afterimage together. It’s one of the few tracks from Songs For Neil that you can find on Spotify. You can find them on Bandcamp. You can stream all the albums from there, and you can buy, download, buy vinyl and artwork by Hugh Syme.
“For big shows, we have a screen. We played Newcastle City Hall last year, and we’re playing another pinch me moment, the Barrowlands in Glasgow on 16 May as part of RUSHfest Scotland weekend. All profits from that weekend go to charity.
“We do have an in-memoriam video that we play that is basically a slideshow of people important in Rush’s lives, but also in personal, your friends and family, that we three band members and within the Rush fan community, we know about.”
“In fact, there’s a video of us playing that at Newcastle City Hall. I knew what was coming. Every minute or so, it would change to another image of a person who’s passed away with the dates. Newcastle was applauding every image that came up, and I know they didn’t know half of them.
“Then we’ve timed it. It’s near the end of the song. That’s when Neil came up, and his brother and all that, and the place just erupted. That song got a standing ovation before it was finished.
“We didn’t know Neil personally, but he affected us so much. It inspired us to do that version of the song, which Alex has heard, and he wrote us a lovely e-mail to say heartfelt thanks to the band for doing that.
“I’m hoping, or I’m sure, they’ll do something similar. I don’t know how they’re going to do it, but it’s going to be emotional. These shows can be emotional on so many levels. We played in Hull on Friday, and we play Losing It as part of our show. There was a lady with the tissues out in tears. I might have stopped the show. She’s inconsolable, but that’s near the end of the first set.
“Before we went back on for the second set, I went over to say, are you okay with that? And she says, ‘It’s just that song.’ So, Rush fans are so close to this music and these songs, and that’s why we do it.”
Discuss setlists with any Rush fan, and there will always be favourites and deep cuts that we want to hear. We dive into our own wish lists. What does Steve want to hear?
“I think Afterimage. I don’t know if they’ll put that in the set because it is so close to the bone. I made the mistake of turning around and looking at the screen at that Newcastle show, and I lost it. I lost it myself for two minutes. They will be doing a memorial to Neil at some point. They’ll have to be so hard by the time they take it on tour. Otherwise, they’ll be in a mess on stage.
“Personally, I think maybe La Villa [Strangiato] is always a favourite. It’s one of the most challenging. We do a pretty good job of it, I think it’s fair to say. We’re nowhere near the guys themselves, but I know it’s one of Jamie’s favourites, and she also says it’s one of the most technically difficult to pull off.
“So, I think personally, yeah, I hope La Villa’s in there somewhere just to see the masters at work. Then maybe Xanadu, because I think over the years I’ve come to see Xanadu as possibly the epitome of Rush. The double necks, back in the old Dungeons And Dragons days.
“Farewell to Kings is my favourite album. So, yeah, Farewell To Kings, if they can put that in.”
RUSHFest Scotland will be held over the weekend of 16-17 May 2026. Few tickets remain. Visit rushfestscotland.co.uk for more details.
RUSHfest Scotland returns on 15–17 May 2026 for its 12th annual celebration of the legendary Canadian rock band Rush, bringing together fans from around the
Event Details
RUSHfest Scotland returns on 15–17 May 2026 for its 12th annual celebration of the legendary Canadian rock band Rush, bringing together fans from around the world for a packed weekend of live music, special guests, charity fundraising, and fan events across Glasgow.
The main Saturday night show takes place at the iconic Barrowland Ballroom with performances from Rush tribute band Moving Pictures and Pink Floyd tribute act Mac Floyd, while additional events, interviews, acoustic sets, and afterparties will be hosted at Drygate Brewery.
All profits from the festival will support neurological and cancer charities, continuing a tradition that has already raised well over £150,000 for charity since the event began.
Rush’s tour opens on 7 June in Los Angeles, where Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will be joined by Anika Nilles on drums and Loren Gold on keyboards. Further articles in this series, including interviews with Rushfest Scotland, tribute band Rushed, and the Something for Nothing Rush Fancast, will follow in the coming month.
To read our Rush At 50 series, click here.
For UK ticket sale information, visit: https://www.aegpresents.co.uk/event/rush.
March
OVO Hydro, GlasgowExhibition Way, Stobcross Rd, Glasgow G3 8YW
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows
Event Details
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows since 2013, and their first South American dates in 17 years.
The tour sees co-founders Geddy Lee (bass, keys, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar, vocals) celebrating more than 50 years of RUSH music while paying tribute to late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows
Event Details
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows since 2013, and their first South American dates in 17 years.
The tour sees co-founders Geddy Lee (bass, keys, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar, vocals) celebrating more than 50 years of RUSH music while paying tribute to late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows
Event Details
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows since 2013, and their first South American dates in 17 years.
The tour sees co-founders Geddy Lee (bass, keys, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar, vocals) celebrating more than 50 years of RUSH music while paying tribute to late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows
Event Details
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows since 2013, and their first South American dates in 17 years.
The tour sees co-founders Geddy Lee (bass, keys, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar, vocals) celebrating more than 50 years of RUSH music while paying tribute to late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows
Event Details
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows since 2013, and their first South American dates in 17 years.
The tour sees co-founders Geddy Lee (bass, keys, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar, vocals) celebrating more than 50 years of RUSH music while paying tribute to late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows
Event Details
RUSH have confirmed the next chapter of their Fifty Something Tour, adding 2027 dates across South America, the United Kingdom and Europe. The run marks the band’s first European shows since 2013, and their first South American dates in 17 years.
The tour sees co-founders Geddy Lee (bass, keys, vocals) and Alex Lifeson (guitar, vocals) celebrating more than 50 years of RUSH music while paying tribute to late drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
Heretoir has always been pure emotion. The pain of modern life set to music. With their fourth full-length “Solastalgia”, the German purveyors of soaring post metal work their way to their innermost core and deliver what is easily their most vulnerable and accessible record to date. Solastalgia describes the grief over the loss of the… Continue Reading →
Right, I’m old enough to remember when the very first Venom album hit and remember thinking at the time, this is changing things. Venom are the genesis. They are ground zero, the definitive starting point, and the creators of a language that didn’t exist until Cronos decided to scream it into a microphone. Decades later, as the black metal genre has split, expanded, and mutated into a thousand different sub-genres, they all ultimately lead back to this singular source.
On Into Oblivion, Venom proves that they aren’t just sitting on a throne of nostalgia; they are still at the absolute top of their game, delivering a slab of raw-boned, high-velocity filth that reminds the “next big thing” crowd exactly who built the foundations they’re standing on.
The album hits the ground at a full sprint with the title track, Into Oblivion. Immediately, you’re hit with that signature Venom sound that sits right in the pocket where early thrash meets the unpolished aggression of UK punk. The production avoids the clinical, “laptop-metal” traps of the modern era, opting instead for a punchy, mid-range thud that allows Cronos’s unmistakable bark to sit front and centre. It leads directly into Lay Down Your Soul, a track that leans into the theatrical, occult swagger the band has mastered over the last forty years.
What stands out on this release is the sheer, bloody-minded consistency of the songwriting. Tracks like Nevermore and Death The Leveller move with a mechanical energy, providing a rigid framework for those jagged, saw-blade riffs. There’s a sophisticated level of restraint here; they know exactly when to let a groove settle and when to kick the floorboards out from under the listener. As Above So Below is a particular highlight, a mid-paced monolith that captures that specific, ominous atmosphere of a world slowly drowning in its own noise.
The back half of the record, Kicked Outta Hell, Metal Bloody Metal, and Dogs Of War is an unapologetic salute to the band’s own legacy. Metal Bloody Metal is a glorious bit of fan service, an anthem for the long nights in the dive bars where the amps are cranked and the beer is cheap. It’s honest, unvarnished music for people who understand that the point of a riff isn’t to show off, but to start a riot.
When the final feedback of Unholy Mother eventually dissipates, the realization is total: Venom continues to exist because the world still needs this specific kind of danger. They haven’t just filed another report from the abyss; they’ve reminded us that they are the ones who dug the hole in the first place.
Into Oblivion is a heavy, shimmering bit of survivalism that proves Cronos is still playing for much higher stakes than the average veteran. It’s a reminder that while genres may change, the original recipe is still the one that leaves the deepest mark. 9/10
Foo Fighters – Your Favorite Toy (Roswell Records/RCA Records) [Rich Piva]
The Foo Fighters have failed to be interesting since 1995. That first one man band record was raw, emotional, had grit, and contains what is still the best FF song (Alone + Easy Target). I got to see them play a show with Shudder To Think on their first tour, and even though STT blew them off the stage it was a super fun, heavy and energetic show. He hired Pat Smear and stole the rhythm section from Sunny Day Real Estate, which was pretty cool, too.
The Colour And The Shape had its moments but it was over-bloated, overrated, and did not invent Emo, even though two of the guys in the band may have. Yeah, they had a whole bunch of hits since then, stadium tours, big records, etc; all of it has been a huge snore fest. The most interesting things recently have happened outside of the music. Taylor died, which was super sad and terrible as he was, by all accounts, an amazing drummer and an even better human.
Dave got caught not being Mr. All American Rockstar and has a toddler (not with his wife) to prove it, and the band unceremoniously dumped Josh Freeze as their drummer in a seemingly very cold and corporate way. Regardless of any of the TMZ drama, the music is still super boring, and trust me I have tried. Now, the Foos are back with album twelve (!) and also back to boring the hell out of me, with Your Favorite Toy.
Most of this record is formulaic drivel. Songs like Unconditional and If You Only Knew had to be Foo Fighters songs before, right? If not, could have fooled me. The production is so slick it gives me the ick. Dave tries to show he is still a “punk rocker” with songs like the opener, Caught In The Echo, but we are on to you sir, no matter how much you tell us you love Husker Du.
Child Actor is a painful listen, and not in a raw, emotional way but more of an “I’m cringing so hard my face hurts” way. I assume Asking For A Friend is about Taylor, so I will give it a pass, but it really is the best song on the record, which is not saying much, but if I had to pick one it would be this one. The good news, Your Favorite Toy is only about 36 minutes, so it is kind of short. Run with that as the headline.
I don’t like dunking on the Foo Fighters. Dave has been an important part of my musical life. I just wish the band was in the least bit interesting, rather than trying to fill stadiums. Those two things do not need to be mutually exclusive, but for the Foo Fighters and Your Favorite Toy, they still seem to be. 3/10
Internal Bleeding – Settle All Scores (Maggot Stomp) [Mark Young]
Representing the last episode of ‘Metal slipping through the cracks’, the death metal on offer running through Settle All Scores is what I would call comforting noise. I’ll expand on that in a moment, but first a little on Internal Bleeding. With 30 years in the game punctuated with brief gaps they have consistently delivered brutal, tightly wound metal that has that ‘chunk’ to its sound. I’m sorry I can’t describe it better than that, except that when you listen to this with decent headphones on you will hear it.
I think it’s the way that guitar and bass is layered, it’s like a warm, full sound instead of the brittle dynamics you sometimes hear. It’s this sound that ties into that comforting noise I mentioned earlier. At this point in their career they haven’t reinvented or tried to chase trends. They have stayed close to what they know and it shows, with each track having that authentic feel to it.
As soon as Intangible Pact starts, you know exactly what is coming at you. There are no airs or graces, moments of melancholy here, just pure in your face aggression, pounding drums, riffs on the attack and low vocal register. Its like stepping back in time (in a good way) to a time when all songs started like this. Its crisp, tight and heavy. It picks up the baton, bar, whatever works as a barometer for you and then hammers it into place as if to say nothing shall fall below this line.
The title track follows on and delights in achieving those same aim. It has this vicious groove to it, nestled in amongst the blasts. Settle All Scores doesn’t hang about, the album, like the song has somewhere to be and can’t afford to be late. The two set out the template here, and for me that is a good thing. It doesn’t promise you anything other than death metal, old school in approach, new school in how it sounds.
Whether it’s the lurching crunch of Prophet Of Deceit or the royal riffery of Crown Of Insignificance each sounds mint, and because of this the songs achieve an impetus that would be missing if it sounded like it was recorded in a tunnel. I’m not suggesting that this a world beater or anything like that, I think that would be facetious on my part. I think that you can hear a lot of modern metal in the songs here, and I would say that it is a testament to bands like them, those that have put the long years in and can still come up with music that is as intense as their debut.
Remember that bar that was set? Yep, it stays in place right through. But you knew that, Glorify The Oppressor rips, bouncing along at that classic death metal mid pace, and the closer, Deliberate Desecration burns with a different vibe, and still keeps that level of intent in place. You can put this on and know that for half an hour you can switch off and delight in the pure riffola on display. 7/10
Eihwar – Hugrheim (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
French ‘Viking War Trance’ anyone? If your answer was yes then Hugrheim will be the album for you, though you probably already own their debut record so maybe I should be talking to the people who asked what the hell is ‘Viking War Trance’?
Signed to the label that is at the pointy end of the Viking/Nordic folk sword, Eihwar join the likes of Heilung to appeal to anyone that loves to braid their beard and put on armour, although unlike many of the Nordic bands, Eihwar bring the tribal drumming and traditional instruments to the dancefloor as they build these songs into rhythmic frenzies of drum powered music and vocals chants.
Hugrheim is the 10th hidden world of Yggdrasil in Eihwar’s fantasy mythology, where the two musicians Asrunn (vocals/shamanic drums) and Mark (vocals/war drums/lute/everything else) have been embodies by the spirit of two Viking warriors and use them to create hypnotic war chants and with tracks such as Skuggaríki create their own brand of Viking industrial music or maybe Viking EDM?
I think ‘Viking War Trance’ is the best name for it, if Heilung, Wardruna, Danheim, Nytt Land, and Forndom are your thing but you’ve always wanted to throw shapes to it then, Eihwar maybe your new favourite experience of Norse history. 7/10
Right, I’m old enough to remember when the very first Venom album hit and remember thinking at the time, this is changing things. Venom are the genesis. They are ground zero, the definitive starting point, and the creators of a language that didn’t exist until Cronos decided to scream it into a microphone. Decades later, as the black metal genre has split, expanded, and mutated into a thousand different sub-genres, they all ultimately lead back to this singular source.
On Into Oblivion, Venom proves that they aren’t just sitting on a throne of nostalgia; they are still at the absolute top of their game, delivering a slab of raw-boned, high-velocity filth that reminds the “next big thing” crowd exactly who built the foundations they’re standing on.
The album hits the ground at a full sprint with the title track, Into Oblivion. Immediately, you’re hit with that signature Venom sound that sits right in the pocket where early thrash meets the unpolished aggression of UK punk. The production avoids the clinical, “laptop-metal” traps of the modern era, opting instead for a punchy, mid-range thud that allows Cronos’s unmistakable bark to sit front and centre. It leads directly into Lay Down Your Soul, a track that leans into the theatrical, occult swagger the band has mastered over the last forty years.
What stands out on this release is the sheer, bloody-minded consistency of the songwriting. Tracks like Nevermore and Death The Leveller move with a mechanical energy, providing a rigid framework for those jagged, saw-blade riffs. There’s a sophisticated level of restraint here; they know exactly when to let a groove settle and when to kick the floorboards out from under the listener. As Above So Below is a particular highlight, a mid-paced monolith that captures that specific, ominous atmosphere of a world slowly drowning in its own noise.
The back half of the record, Kicked Outta Hell, Metal Bloody Metal, and Dogs Of War is an unapologetic salute to the band’s own legacy. Metal Bloody Metal is a glorious bit of fan service, an anthem for the long nights in the dive bars where the amps are cranked and the beer is cheap. It’s honest, unvarnished music for people who understand that the point of a riff isn’t to show off, but to start a riot.
When the final feedback of Unholy Mother eventually dissipates, the realization is total: Venom continues to exist because the world still needs this specific kind of danger. They haven’t just filed another report from the abyss; they’ve reminded us that they are the ones who dug the hole in the first place.
Into Oblivion is a heavy, shimmering bit of survivalism that proves Cronos is still playing for much higher stakes than the average veteran. It’s a reminder that while genres may change, the original recipe is still the one that leaves the deepest mark. 9/10
Foo Fighters – Your Favorite Toy (Roswell Records/RCA Records) [Rich Piva]
The Foo Fighters have failed to be interesting since 1995. That first one man band record was raw, emotional, had grit, and contains what is still the best FF song (Alone + Easy Target). I got to see them play a show with Shudder To Think on their first tour, and even though STT blew them off the stage it was a super fun, heavy and energetic show. He hired Pat Smear and stole the rhythm section from Sunny Day Real Estate, which was pretty cool, too.
The Colour And The Shape had its moments but it was over-bloated, overrated, and did not invent Emo, even though two of the guys in the band may have. Yeah, they had a whole bunch of hits since then, stadium tours, big records, etc; all of it has been a huge snore fest. The most interesting things recently have happened outside of the music. Taylor died, which was super sad and terrible as he was, by all accounts, an amazing drummer and an even better human.
Dave got caught not being Mr. All American Rockstar and has a toddler (not with his wife) to prove it, and the band unceremoniously dumped Josh Freeze as their drummer in a seemingly very cold and corporate way. Regardless of any of the TMZ drama, the music is still super boring, and trust me I have tried. Now, the Foos are back with album twelve (!) and also back to boring the hell out of me, with Your Favorite Toy.
Most of this record is formulaic drivel. Songs like Unconditional and If You Only Knew had to be Foo Fighters songs before, right? If not, could have fooled me. The production is so slick it gives me the ick. Dave tries to show he is still a “punk rocker” with songs like the opener, Caught In The Echo, but we are on to you sir, no matter how much you tell us you love Husker Du.
Child Actor is a painful listen, and not in a raw, emotional way but more of an “I’m cringing so hard my face hurts” way. I assume Asking For A Friend is about Taylor, so I will give it a pass, but it really is the best song on the record, which is not saying much, but if I had to pick one it would be this one. The good news, Your Favorite Toy is only about 36 minutes, so it is kind of short. Run with that as the headline.
I don’t like dunking on the Foo Fighters. Dave has been an important part of my musical life. I just wish the band was in the least bit interesting, rather than trying to fill stadiums. Those two things do not need to be mutually exclusive, but for the Foo Fighters and Your Favorite Toy, they still seem to be. 3/10
Internal Bleeding – Settle All Scores (Maggot Stomp) [Mark Young]
Representing the last episode of ‘Metal slipping through the cracks’, the death metal on offer running through Settle All Scores is what I would call comforting noise. I’ll expand on that in a moment, but first a little on Internal Bleeding. With 30 years in the game punctuated with brief gaps they have consistently delivered brutal, tightly wound metal that has that ‘chunk’ to its sound. I’m sorry I can’t describe it better than that, except that when you listen to this with decent headphones on you will hear it.
I think it’s the way that guitar and bass is layered, it’s like a warm, full sound instead of the brittle dynamics you sometimes hear. It’s this sound that ties into that comforting noise I mentioned earlier. At this point in their career they haven’t reinvented or tried to chase trends. They have stayed close to what they know and it shows, with each track having that authentic feel to it.
As soon as Intangible Pact starts, you know exactly what is coming at you. There are no airs or graces, moments of melancholy here, just pure in your face aggression, pounding drums, riffs on the attack and low vocal register. Its like stepping back in time (in a good way) to a time when all songs started like this. Its crisp, tight and heavy. It picks up the baton, bar, whatever works as a barometer for you and then hammers it into place as if to say nothing shall fall below this line.
The title track follows on and delights in achieving those same aim. It has this vicious groove to it, nestled in amongst the blasts. Settle All Scores doesn’t hang about, the album, like the song has somewhere to be and can’t afford to be late. The two set out the template here, and for me that is a good thing. It doesn’t promise you anything other than death metal, old school in approach, new school in how it sounds.
Whether it’s the lurching crunch of Prophet Of Deceit or the royal riffery of Crown Of Insignificance each sounds mint, and because of this the songs achieve an impetus that would be missing if it sounded like it was recorded in a tunnel. I’m not suggesting that this a world beater or anything like that, I think that would be facetious on my part. I think that you can hear a lot of modern metal in the songs here, and I would say that it is a testament to bands like them, those that have put the long years in and can still come up with music that is as intense as their debut.
Remember that bar that was set? Yep, it stays in place right through. But you knew that, Glorify The Oppressor rips, bouncing along at that classic death metal mid pace, and the closer, Deliberate Desecration burns with a different vibe, and still keeps that level of intent in place. You can put this on and know that for half an hour you can switch off and delight in the pure riffola on display. 7/10
Eihwar – Hugrheim (Season Of Mist) [Matt Bladen]
French ‘Viking War Trance’ anyone? If your answer was yes then Hugrheim will be the album for you, though you probably already own their debut record so maybe I should be talking to the people who asked what the hell is ‘Viking War Trance’?
Signed to the label that is at the pointy end of the Viking/Nordic folk sword, Eihwar join the likes of Heilung to appeal to anyone that loves to braid their beard and put on armour, although unlike many of the Nordic bands, Eihwar bring the tribal drumming and traditional instruments to the dancefloor as they build these songs into rhythmic frenzies of drum powered music and vocals chants.
Hugrheim is the 10th hidden world of Yggdrasil in Eihwar’s fantasy mythology, where the two musicians Asrunn (vocals/shamanic drums) and Mark (vocals/war drums/lute/everything else) have been embodies by the spirit of two Viking warriors and use them to create hypnotic war chants and with tracks such as Skuggaríki create their own brand of Viking industrial music or maybe Viking EDM?
I think ‘Viking War Trance’ is the best name for it, if Heilung, Wardruna, Danheim, Nytt Land, and Forndom are your thing but you’ve always wanted to throw shapes to it then, Eihwar maybe your new favourite experience of Norse history. 7/10
Left to Die is a Florida-based Death Metal act featuring former Death members Terry Butler (bass) and Rick Rozz (guitar). Terry (also of Obituary) and Rick have teamed up with Gruesome members Matt Harvey (guitar, vocals of Exhumed, etc) and Gus Rios (drums, ex-Malevolent Creation) to perform their classic album “Leprosy” in its entirety, along… Continue Reading →
Deep Purple will release their new studio album, “SPLAT!”, on July 3 via earMUSIC. Pre-orders begin today. Since their formation in 1968, Deep Purple have sold more than 120 million albums and have long since secured a permanent place in rock history. Instead of resting on their legacy, Deep Purple are determined to carry it… Continue Reading →
The multi-platinum hard rock powerhouse Five Finger Death Punch announced today the UK and European leg of their 20th-anniversary world tour, which will take place in early 2027. Featuring special guest Lamb of God, the tour brings together two of the most dominant forces in hard rock and metal. The lineup is rounded out by… Continue Reading →
The 27-year-old singer, songwriter and guitarist got her start on TikTok in 2020. Now she’s releasing “Gentleman,” her second LP of confident, clever rock songs.
Rock legends Deep Purple have officially announced their new studio album, SPLAT!, set for release on 3rd July 2026 via earMUSIC. Working once again with veteran producer Bob Ezrin, the band has crafted what is being described as their heaviest album in years, recorded with the full line-up playing together in the studio to capture … Continue reading Deep Purple to release “SPLAT!” this summer
