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Massimo Cambiano blur the boundaries between alternative electronic, psychedelia, and indie with Everything Just Out Of Reach, a mesmerizing meditation on longing and acceptance. Dreamlike textures, pulsing rhythms, and immersive production create a hazy sonic landscape where introspective vocals drift effortlessly through waves of electronic ambience. The track embraces emotional uncertainty without seeking easy answers, allowing its understated melodies and hypnotic atmosphere to leave a lasting impression. Thoughtful, atmospheric, and quietly captivating, Everything Just Out OfReach is a beautifully crafted journey into the spaces between desire and contentment.

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Seid live dabei, wenn die ersten Gitarrenriffs auf dem Holy Ground erklingen. Erlebt das Festival vom 29.07. bis 01.08. kostenlos im Livestream bei MagentaTV. Neben überwältigenden Shows erwarten euch exklusive Interviews und weitere Festival-Highlights. Schaltet ein, denn live lebt nur einmal.

ZUM LIVESTREAM

Der Beitrag Der Holy Ground kommt zu euch erschien zuerst auf Live, laut, legendär!.

If there was one subject that was like catnip to thrashers in the 1980s, it was man-made environmental destruction. Kreator had Toxic Trace, Testament offered Greenhouse Effect, while Nuclear Assault spoiled ecologically minded fans with climate collapse bangers Critical Mass and Inherited Hell.

Metallica made a late contribution with the ecological doom of Blackened, the opening track on their 1988 album …And Justice for All.

Opening the album with a theme of apocalyptic annihilation, Hetfield imagines Earth’s destruction in the aftermath of a nuclear winter. If the 1984 film Threads was ever turned into a musical, Blackened would be the showstopper: ‘Death of Mother Earth, never a rebirth, evolution’s end, never will it mend, never…’

The song’s genesis falls squarely at the feet of bassist Jason Newsted, who’d joined the band just weeks after the death of Cliff Burton.

As bassist in Flotsam and Jetsam, he co-wrote the music on their debut Doomsday for the Deceiver and was the band’s primary lyricist. After recording his parts for The $5.98 E.P. – Garage Days Re-Revisited, he was keen to contribute ideas for their fourth studio album.

The bassist had a four-track Tascam recorder set up in his Bay Area apartment and kept returning to one particular riff while working on ideas.

“The main riff is mine,” Newsted told Guitar World in 2013. “I wrote it on bass, though. I’ve never told this story before, and it warms me a bit. I’d only been in the band for a very short time. I was still in a little one-bedroom rented apartment. And James would come over to the house, like buddies. He’d come over for dinner. We’d hang out and play guitars on the couch. It was pretty fucking dreamy for me. Metallica was my favourite band.

“I’m fucking around with this riff and then he started playing along,” he continued. “The song started forming right at that time. I’m sitting up in my chair, like, ‘Holy shit, dude. This is something!’ That was the first thing we ever constructed together. And him going, “Dude, that riff’s good enough to open our fucking album,” really gave me a feeling of victory, because I looked up to him greatly, and still do to this day.”

You can hear the song’s progression – and Newsted’s complex bassline – through a series of demo tapes included in the 30th-anniversary reissue of …And Justice for All. The song would earn Newsted his first of three co-writing credits throughout his 14-year tenure (My Friend of Misery and Where the Wild Things Are would follow).

On the album itself, Blackened opens with the sound of multi-tracked guitars played backwards which sounds like they’re ominously unraveling. When the song starts properly, it begins quickly and continues apace for its duration.

You have to really stay on top of all the the starts and stops and tempo changes.

Lars Ulrich

Blackened is the seventh fastest in Metallica’s extensive back catalogue, and surprisingly, is a fraction slower than the …And Justice For All closer Dyers Eve. The song averages 190 beats per minute and changes tempo a staggering 19 times. This can pose its own challenges for the band’s timekeeper, especially during a physically punishing two-hour set.

“It’s great when music leaves your head and inhabits your body, but there are some Metallica songs where you need to keep thinking,” Ulrich told the BBC. “Like Blackened, for instance, you have to really stay on top of all the starts and stops and tempo changes. ‘Here it comes. Four bars away, I hope I don’t screw this up!’”

Blackened debuted at MTK Stadion in Budapest in September 1988 on the Damaged Justice tour and became a regular fixture in the set list, even when their lengthy Justice songs were later condensed into a medley.

Fast-forward more than three decades, Hetfield looked to this specific track for inspiration during the pandemic. He reimagined Blackened as a surly, apocalyptic cowboy singalong as a way for his bandmates to overcome the challenges of being in quarantine and play music together again, albeit remotely.

“I kind of got a little annoyed and pissed,” Hetfield told Steffan Chirazi for the band’s own So What? fan club magazine. “What would be a great thing to reconnect the band again? Why not take a song and just mess around with it? So I got Blackened… I don’t know, there’s just something that clicked for me, and I just said, ‘Hey, guys, here’s a challenge. I’m going to send you something. You add onto it. You’re musicians.’

“I had an acoustic mic and my regular vocal mic and just threw it down on a couple different tracks,” he adds. “I said, ‘Hey, put whatever you feel you want to on this. Let’s have fun with this, don’t study it, don’t over-listen to it, just feel it.’ And Blackened 2020 is what happened from that, and that was the beginning of the reconnection online with our creative flow.”

Almost four decades later, Blackened remains a fan favourite and an integral part of the band’s identity, inspiring the name of their record label and American whiskey. It has been performed over 550 times since 1988, including the band’s recent summer show at London Stadium. A masterpiece.

ShiShi‘s Black Birds is an intriguing collision of alternative rock and hip-hop, wrapped in a noir atmosphere steeped in existential tension and quiet nihilism. Shadowy beats, cinematic textures, and emotionally charged vocals intertwine with rhythmic spoken-word passages, creating a sound that feels both haunting and unpredictable. The track thrives on its stark contrasts, balancing raw intensity with introspective lyricism and immersive production. Dark, compelling, and fearlessly unconventional, Black Birds is a gripping statement from an artist unafraid to explore music’s darker emotional landscapes.

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Swedish guitarist and vocalist Rogga Johansson is undisputedly Death Metal’s most prolific artist. In his career of over twenty-five years, he has been involved in the creation of well over two hundred releases. With over forty current bands and projects, this year so far has seen releases from Furnace, Heir Corpse One, Paganizer, Ravaged By The Yeti, Eye Of Purgatory, Skeletal Spectre and, in a few weeks, Megascavenger. Some might say he lives for the riff.

What’s the most Metal thing you’ve ever done off stage?
Not much really, I don’t even wear sunglasses.

What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played, and why?
A gig that was supposed to be cancelled, or our slot got cancelled. So I started drinking heavily, and then after a couple of hours, they said we could play. Needless to say, it didn’t go very well. After two songs with me struggling to understand how a guitar and mic worked, I just went off stage and continued drinking instead.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played, and why?
That’s a hard one, maybe Tarragona, Spain. Great gig and great audience. At one point, a guy from the audience was lying on the stage with his head stuck into the bass drum as we played. That was a bit odd.

Would you choose a platinum record or one perfect, legendary live show?
One live show doesn’t pay much, but if an album has gone platinum, that means lots of beer money, so I’d go for that.

What’s your greatest fear?
That the approaching intercosmic insect overlords don’t like Death Metal the simple way.

What’s the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I eat and drink too much. I’m a real pig, really. I mean, how hard should it be to show some constraint?

What’s the trait you most deplore in other musicians?
That all of them are so much better than me.

Describe yourself in three words.
Made of lard.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
I don’t know really. Should I feel guilty about pleasuring myself?

What does a great riff feel like to write?
It’s like opening the first cold beer of the day, and then drinking it.

What’s the worst thing a fan has ever said to you?
Nothing really, I don’t think I have any fans.

What’s the worst thing a critic has ever said to you?
I can’t recall really. I don’t check out reviews much. But I guess if they are indifferent to the music, it’s worse than if they dislike it. You can’t spell dislike without using like.

If you weren’t in music, what would you be doing?
I’m a one-trick pony, so I have no fucking idea really. I love reading, mainly horror. Maybe I would try to write my own horror stories.

What’s one album outside your genre you secretly love?
Contrary to what people might think, I listen to lots of different music in different genres. So something I secretly like implies that it might be cheesy or bad too. I don’t hate Taylor Swift. Let’s go for that answer.

When did you last cry, and why?
This morning when I walked past the mirror.

What keeps you awake at night?
Beer. Actually, it both keeps me awake and puts me to sleep, depending on the amount.

Riffs, royalties or recognition, if you had to choose?
Riffs. I don’t care for money, even though it sucks that I don’t have any. And recognition doesn’t mean much either. I do music because of a need that comes from inside. Not that I need for others to hear it. Even if I didn’t have labels wanting to release my stuff, I would still do it just as I need to.

How do you want to be remembered?
Thin and beautiful. But that ship has sailed. So I’ll go for being an ok guy that did his best for his family and friends.

What’s the most important lesson the road has taught you?
I will wrongfully assume you mean the book by Cormac McCarthy. The lesson I take from that book is that in a post-apocalyptic world, you should do your best to stay away from other people to avoid being eaten.

What happens when the music stops?
If it’s on tape, you rewind and push play again.

You can find more MetalTalk Lowdowns at metaltalk.net/Lowdown.

The post Rogga Johansson: Riffs Over Royalties, Every Time first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

Stella Maria delivers an infectious slice of dance-pop on Following You, combining shimmering synths, driving beats, and an irresistibly catchy chorus into a vibrant, feel-good anthem. Her confident vocal performance glides effortlessly over polished electronic production, capturing the excitement of attraction and the thrill of emotional pursuit. Balancing radio-friendly hooks with dancefloor-ready energy, the track radiates positivity from start to finish. Stylish, uplifting, and instantly memorable, Following You is a sparkling showcase of Stella Maria’s flair for modern pop with international appeal.

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Review: Maid Of Stone 2026 – Day 1 Mote Park, Maidstone – July 17th, 2026 Reviewer – Phil Honley Photographers – Phil Honley & Dan Mann Maid Of Stone returned for it’s fourth year. Chris Wright had been very busy these last twelve months building, happily considering recommendations put forward and compiling a worthy line up of artists falling […]

The post Review: Maid Of Stone 2026 – Day 1, July 17th appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.

Absent Ink ventures into hypnotic electronic territory with st carcass, an adventurous fusion of ambient electronica, breakbeat, and acid techno. The track unfolds like a surreal sonic journey, moving from ghostly atmospheres and immersive soundscapes into pulsating rhythms and deep, sub-heavy grooves. Rich in texture and cinematic tension, its evolving structure rewards patient listening while maintaining an irresistible underground pulse. Experimental yet remarkably cohesive, st carcass is a captivating instrumental that showcases Absent Ink’s talent for crafting immersive electronic worlds beyond conventional club music.

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Sol Nimbus enchants with Is This Love?, a luminous blend of indie pop, dream pop, and singer-songwriter intimacy. Floating on shimmering synths, hazy textures, and delicately expressive vocals, the track captures the uncertainty of modern romance with remarkable emotional nuance. Its cinematic atmosphere and irresistible melodies create the perfect backdrop for moments of quiet reflection, while the polished production balances vulnerability with contemporary pop elegance. Tender, immersive, and beautifully crafted, Is This Love? is a dreamy late-night soundtrack for anyone navigating the blurred line between love and longing.

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Words by: Belinda Quick Photos by: Justin White “It’s so strange how life works: You want something and you wait and wait and feel like it’s taking forever to come. Then it happens and it’s over and all you want to do is curl back up in that moment before things changed” – Lauren Oliver, […]