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Were you aware that Bernie Taupin has released multiple solo albums? Well, he has. Taupin is famous for being Elton John’s prime songwriting partner over the decades. They’ve got a fascinating dynamic where Taupin writes the lyrics and John writes the music, and their partnership has led Taupin to collect just about every songwriting prize there is. Outside of his work with John, Taupin also co-wrote big ’80s hits like Starship’s “We Built This City” and Heart’s “These Dreams.” Taupin’s solo career hasn’t gotten anywhere near as much attention as the songs that he has helped to write for other artists, but it exists. Now, after decades, Taupin is ready to bring it back with a new record.

The post Bernie Taupin Announces First Solo Album In Nearly 40 Years appeared first on Stereogum.

WARNING: The following post may contain spoilers about Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Do not read it if you wish to remain unspoiled.

The post Steve Lacy Seemingly Spoils <em>Spider-Man: Brand New Day</em> On Red Carpet Livestream appeared first on Stereogum.

Positioned between the affordable Major V and premium Monitor III A.N.C, Marshall’s new Milton A.N.C headphones bring adaptive active noise cancellation, spatial audio processing and a completely new driver platform to Marshall’s on-ear head-fi family. With exceptional battery life, and a more refined sound than previous models, could these Marshall headphones be the cut-price cans you’ve been waiting for?

Design

Anyone with a passing knowledge of Marshall kit will immediately recognise the family resemblance. The textured leather-effect finish, brass Marshall logo and powder-coated metal arms all borrow heavily from the company’s pro audio heritage. Look more closely, though, and you’ll find this is not simply a reworked version of the best-selling Major V.

The ear cushions are thicker, softer and adopt a slightly tapered profile to increase the contact area around the ear. The result is a far better seal than I’ve typically experienced with on-ear headphones – which prove crucial to making adaptive noise cancellation work in this form factor.

Clamping pressure is about right and I found the headphones grip securely without becoming overly tight, although the faux-leather ear cushions inevitably become warm. The headband could use a tad more padding, too, but overall comfort remains high.

Connectivity is comprehensive. Bluetooth 6.0 brings support for LE Audio alongside SBC, AAC, LC3 and LDAC codecs. A traditional Marshall coiled cable is included for anyone who prefers (or needs) a wired connection.

Features

Topping the feature roster is Active Noise Cancellation. This is the first time we’ve seen ANC in an on-ear design from the brand, and the execution is reasonably effective – although if you really want to mute the outside world I’d still recommend an over-ear design. Naturally there’s also Transparency Mode when you need to hear exactly what’s going on around you.

Marshall’s Soundstage spatial processing is the second feature attraction. The headphones may be oblivious to Dolby Atmos or 360 Reality Audio, but they can still create a greater sense of space.

Instead of delivering a binaural render of object-based spatial mixes, Marshall’s proprietary algorithm adds width and depth to ordinary stereo recordings, by applying a virtual room filter in the Marshall app.

When it comes to battery life, these headphones have plenty. You can get around 50 hours of playback with Active Noise Cancellation engaged, and an astonishing 80 hours when it’s switched off. A full recharge takes around two hours.

Sound quality

The Marshall Milton A.N.C may look like its cheaper Major sibling, almost everything responsible for how they sound is different. A new 32mm dynamic driver, developed specifically for this model and optimised to work with active noise cancellation, sits in a carefully tuned acoustic chamber. The result is tight bass, a gnarly mid-range that sounds great with guitars, and oodles of clarity to reward higher resolution streams.

The provision of LDAC is a welcome bonus as it allows compatible Android devices to stream Hi-Res Audio wirelessly, while USB-C digital audio offers playback up to 24-bit/44.1kHz. If you can take advantage of these routes, you should. Imaging and spatial placement is good.

Slipknot’s Duality opens dead centre before staccato guitar starts to shred left and right. There’s a lot of movement, but instrumentation is precise and stable, making technical arrangements easy to unravel. Rather than compressing everything toward the centre of your head, the presentation retains convincing width and separation.

Marshall says the tuning of the Milton bridges the energetic personality of the Major V with the refinement of the Monitor III A.N.C, and that seems like an accurate description. Bass is reassuringly deep and heavy, but it’s not bloated or laggy.

Marshall’s Soundstage spatial processing is actually rather good. I preferred the default Small setting, which subtly disengages the music from the drivers without making everything sound artificially distant. Stereo imaging remains intact, there’s just more air in the tyres.

Nickelback’s Rattle The Cage demonstrates this particularly well. The ping pong riffs that open the track are wide and spacious. The sound is still stereophonic, but it has more room to breathe.

That same processing lends welcome drama to Ice Nine Kills’ Twisting The Knife. The theatrical production already carries plenty of atmosphere, but Marshall’s spatial sauce expands the performance without introducing mood-killing artefacts.

The alternatives

The JBL Tour One M3 has many similarities to the Marshall Milton A.N.C. in so much as they also have very good battery life (40 hours with ANC) plus JBL’s own spatial sound processing, which is similar to Marshall’s Soundstage mode. However their over-ear design offers more effective noise cancellation. Bass also benefits from larger 40 mm drivers, but that extra girth comes at a cost to your pocket.

If you’re committed to the Marshall aesthetic but the Milton doesn’t quite work, then step up to the Monitor III A.N.C. These outstanding over-ears over 70 hours playtime (with ANC), have Soundstage Spatial Audio processing, and deliver marvellous Marshall-style sound.

Five days before the official release, German pagan black metal shamans Finsterforst and Art Of Propaganda Records have shared the band’s upcoming album, Still, in its entirety. The album can be streamed below. Still follows the 2023 EP Jenseits, also released through Art Of Propaganda. Their previous full-length album, Zerfall, was nominated for Best Folk/Pagan/Viking Metal Album in the 2019 Metal Storm Awards and placed third in its category.
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Electric Callboy are channelling their inner boyband with their new track, but, as always, not everything is as it seems.

The track itself is called ‘The Way You Are’, and is the best song that Backstreet Boys never wrote. A sticky sweet and irrationally catchy ballad, that finds the band decked out in their finest 90s apparel in the video, it’s further evidence of how there isn’t a single musical style that they cannot conquer.

But hold tight, because there is a hidden meaning to this smorgasbord of sensuality.

Let the band explain:

“‘The Way You Are’ started with a pretty simple idea: what if the sweetest late-’90s boy band love ballad suddenly turned into one of the heaviest songs we’ve ever written? We loved playing with that contrast, both musically and visually. The result is probably one of the most unexpected songs we’ve ever released, and definitely one of our favorites on TANZNEID.”

So yeah, buckle up. Oh, and the video is actually extremely NSFW and definitely not for the faint of heart. You’d never know, but yeah, approach with caution.

The song arrives ahead of the band’s hotly-anticipated new album ‘TANZNEID’, which will be released next week on August 07.

Here is previous single ‘Let The Good Times Roll’, featuring The Offspring’s Dexter Hubbard:

The band are going to be heading out on a HUGE arena tour across the UK and Europe at the start of 2027. Here are all the dates:

JANUARY 2027

21 – DUBLIN 3Arena
23 – MANCHESTER Co-op Live
24 – NOTTINGHAM Motorpoint Arena
26 – BOURNEMOUTH Bournemouth International Centre
27 – CARDIFF Utilita Arena Cardiff
29 – TOULOUSE Zénith Toulouse Métropole
30 – BORDEAUX Arkéa Arena
31 – NANTES Zénith Nantes Métropole

FEBRUARY 2027

15 – PARIS Accor Arena
16 – BRUSSELS Forest National
18 – HANOVER ZAG Arena
20 – MANNHEIM SAP Arena
22 – MILAN Unipol Forum
24 – PRAGUE O2 Arena
27 – DORTMUND Westfalenhalle Dortmund
28 – NUREMBERG PSD Bank Nürnberg Arena

MARCH 2027

2: LEIPZIG QUARTERBACK Immobilien Arena

The post Electric Callboy Share Sensational New Track ‘The Way You Are’ appeared first on Rock Sound.

(Andy Synn wants you to stop what you’re doing and play this one as loud, and as often, as you can) We’ve been accused of being “pretentious” here at NCS a few times… which is actually pretty funny if you really know any of us. True, we do have a lot of love for weird, […]

The post VULGARITY – BECKONED BEYOND appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

Alright, is this supposed to be some kind of a practical joke or something? Here I am, lying in my hospital bed after my fourth heart attack, and MetalSucks assigns me an article by some band called Left to Die? Hahaha, really fucking funny guys. If my strength wasn’t temporarily reduced to that of a blue-haired barista, I’d drive over to their goddamn office and kick all their asses.

Anyway, the doc said I’d be alright if I cut back on the trans fats and start getting some exercise, and Doreen’s going to stock the fridge with all sorts of bullshit rabbit food to keep me alive forever. Looks like I won’t be working my real job for a couple months, so I’ll be relying on my side hustle as a metal reviewer until I’m back on my feet fulfilling the heating and cooling needs of the fine people of Bloomington. Enough about the current state of my sorry ass, though. Let’s get this Christ-forsaken review out of the way.

Track 1: “Legion of Doom”

I knew I wasn’t going to enjoy this the second I saw that opening title. Well, that and the creepy-ass album cover. What’s up with this goth shit that you creepy fucks are always listening to? If you’re so into cemeteries, why don’t you go live in one? Maybe then the roads would be less congested and it wouldn’t take my entire shitting lunch break to drive to Wendy’s and back.

Track 2: “Archangel”

Not like I’ll be eating any more of it in the foreseeable future, anyway. Personally, I fail to see the correlation between my daily Big Bacon Classic Combo and my recent need for another quadruple bypass, but try telling Doreen that. Ugh, and she’s going to make me eat all sorts of vegetables like some soy-boy liberal for the next few months. Don’t be surprised if I’ve grown a set of tits by next week.

Track 3: “Power of Darkness”

Apparently this band is re-recording the 80s demo songs of some other band called Death, which my editor over at MetalSucks seemed to hold in high regard. Well, if they were so good, how come I didn’t hear them in any of the Iron Eagle soundtracks?

Track 4: “Zombie”

Woof, I just got so excited thinking about those harrowing scenes of Doug Masters stealing the F-16 fighter and rescuing his father that my heart started to palpitate again. I’d better goose this morphine drip a little bit to calm myself down.

Track 5: “Witch of Hell”

You know what? I’m starting to feel a lot better. Even this music is starting to grate on me a little less. It’s got some neat drumming and the vocals are pretty creepy and cool, and I really dig the whammy bar in the guitar solo.

Track 6: “Rise of Satan”

I’m not sure if this is the morphine talking, but I may be a full-on metalhead now. I’m really enjoying this song too, despite its blasphemous lyrics. Eh, if we were all made in the image of God, that includes these Left to Die freaks, so let them belch about how much they love Asmodeus or whatever. I’ll be enjoying it.

Track 7: “Summoned to Die”

Not only are these tunes sounding great, I’m starting to love everything in general. All those past albums I shit on, the godless Democrats up in Chicago, those punk kids on their Huffies who called me a fat bitch in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot last week. Hell, I’ve got love for all of them now. This is great.

Track 8: “Mantas”

I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for the way I’ve treated the metal community over the past few months. It was wrong of me to hate on your albums, and I truly hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.

Track 9: “Slaughterhouse”

I think the morphine is starting to wear off, and the nurse just came in to tell me I’m cut off until tomorrow evening. I feel like this euphoria’s fading, too.

Track 10: “Death By Meta”

Ugh, this song’s going to give me another fucking heart attack. I can’t believe I liked it five minutes ago.

There you have it. 2/5 stars. Sorry, my judgment was clouded there for a few songs. Hopefully, I’ll be completely off the dope and back out on the streets raising hell the next time you see me. In the meantime, I’m going to have a talk with my editor about maybe covering an album that doesn’t completely eat its own asshole. Dave Mustcomplain out.

The post DISGRUNTLED DAD REVIEWS With DAVE MUSTCOMPLAIN: LEFT TO DIE – INITIUM MORTIS appeared first on MetalSucks.

Polish pagan black metal mystics Thy Worshiper shared the news on Facebook that their former bassist Marcin Nowak has died. Nowak – not to be confused with [url=url=https://metalstorm.net/bands/bandmember.php?member_id=1809]Marcin “Novy” Nowak[/url], former bassist for bands such as Vader and Behemoth – was a member of Thy Worshiper from 2014 to 2015 and played on their Ozimina EP. The band paid tribute to him in a Polish-language post that credits him also as a touring member of Furia, Witchmaster, and ROGI.
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Gracie Abrams, for most of her career, has lived inside labels. The LA-based singer-songwriter is a former Taylor Swift superfan and current Taylor Swift protegee. To her fans, she’s a generational exemplar of “sad girl” pop; if you Google that, you’ll find an impressively long Spotify playlist called “gracie abrams but it gets progressively sadder.” And she is, as commenters perennially delight in pointing out, the daughter of storied showrunner J. J. Abrams.

The post Gracie Abrams’ Hell Is Other People’s Expectations appeared first on Stereogum.

Ariana Grande is currently on her Eternal Sunshine Tour and building up to the release of her new album petal, and she’s also suing an unknown group of hackers who, she claims, stole and leaked her unreleased music, photos, and videos. As Billboard reports, Grande’s lawyers submitted a lawsuit to a Los Angeles court on Monday, and one of its goals is to reveal the identities of the hackers, possibly by serving subpoenas to internet service providers.

The post Ariana Grande Sues To Unmask Hackers Who Stole Her Unreleased Music appeared first on Stereogum.