Woodsist, the record label run by upstate New York psych-folk institution Woods, has revealed the lineup for its annual autumn get-together, the Woodsist Festival. This year’s fest will take place Sept. 26 and 27 at Arrowood Farms in Accord, NY, headlined by ultra-mercurial cult favorites Destroyer and Cate Le Bon.
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Thinking too much about certain songs misses the forest for the trees. If the forest is on fire, don’t be busy counting how many spirals are on a stump. Shewolff’s latest single “Nails + Burn” is one of those tracks. It comes from the Belgian group’s thought-provokingly titled mini-LP WE’RE ALL GONNA FUKKIN’ DIE, releasing next month through Dying Victims Productions and De Pankraker Records. Though identifiably heavy metal, Shewolff adopt the punk desire to express oneself in the simplest term possible. The riff and structure is so basic you can see why Shewolff brings to mind 80s rough-and-tumble metal acts and why such a framework is strong 40 years later. While there’s a reflex to call Shewolff’s particular punk and heavy metal hybrid thrash metal, that incorrectly asserts that there’s a higher level of cognitive functioning they are accessing. No, “Nails + Burn” deliberately shuts its brain off to focus on raw power. Cavemen created fire with sticks and stones; Shewolff recreated it with bass, drums, and guitar. Listen to the track below.
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WE’RE ALL GONNA FUKKIN’ DIE releases May 22 via Dying Victims Productions and De Pankraker Records.
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
It’s been a good long while since we last heard from Lair Of The Minotaur. The trio from Chicago last released an album sixteen years ago with “Evil Power” back in 2010. Well it seems like Lair Of The Minotaur have not mellowed in those sixteen years. Far, far from it as the band’s fifth album “I Hail I” is an absolutely crushing and savage return.
Original member Steven Rathbone on vocals, guitars & synths is joined by long-time drummer Chris Wozniak and new bassist Sanford Parker for thirty minutes of crushing metal which mixes thrash, death and sludge together which is about as subtle as a spiked club to the skull. The album opens in no nonsense style with the punked up fury of ‘Emperor Of Dis’ and that momentum continues for the majority of the album with bludgeoning bruisers such as ‘Fucked Inside Out’, ‘Deepest Hell’ and the relentless title track and lumbering sludgy monsters such as ‘Saturnus Reign’ and doom-laden album closer ‘Tartarus Apocalypse’.
Despite its straightforward and skull crushing nature, “I Hail I” does have some curveballs with an unlikely cover of American singer/songwriter Ethel Cain’s ‘Family Tree’ which is given a ferocious metal makeover and ‘Vulture Worship’ which is a strange synth-laden piece which doesn’t quite fit in with the rest of the album but it’s brief and the only misstep on “I Hail I”.
Whether you class this as a comeback album or not, it marks a very welcome return for Lair Of The Minotaur. It is a short but completely uncompromising album chock full of filthy riffs, disgusting vocals and pummelling rhythms. It is an album that will have a broad appeal to fans of doom and sludge as well as fans of thrash and death. “I Hail I” is a skull fracturing mix of High On Fire, Eyehategod, Celtic Frost and Bolt Thrower which will put Lair Of The Minotaur back on top when it comes to filthy fucking metal.
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Kevin Morby is about to become a dad, and he’s also about to release Little Wide Open, the new album that he recorded with super-producer and the National member Aaron Dessner. I have heard Little Wide Open, and it rocks. You might’ve heard some of it, too, since Morby has shared singles like “Die Young”…
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Billy Woodhouse and Elliot Dryden, the Newcastle-upon-Tyne duo known as Lots Of Hands, released their Fire Talk debut into a pretty room early last year. They’ve since seen their 2020 album mistake go TikTok-viral, leading to a streaming surge and a deluxe reissue. Now they’re preparing for a co-headline tour with fellow viral artist Hudson…
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The anticipation we reported on earlier this week has finally culminated in a “Number of the Beast” sized explosion on the global stage. On the April 28, 2026, edition of NXT on The CW, Lizzy Rain officially transitioned from the “most watched prospect” to a bona fide WWE Superstar. In a high-impact televised debut that saw her stand tall over Nikkita Lyons, Rain didn’t just showcase her technical brilliance; she brought a piece of heavy metal history into the ring, honoring her late uncle—legendary Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr—in a way that only a true “Maiden of Metal” could.
While we’ve been tracking Rain’s journey to the Performance Center for months, the emotional weight of her debut was truly felt when she appeared wearing a piece of rock history. Shortly before stepping through the curtain, Rain revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that her entrance jacket belonged to her late uncle, Clive Burr.
Burr, the rhythmic engine behind Iron Maiden’s first three iconic albums—including The Number of the Beast—passed away in 2013 after a long battle with MS. During a previous interview on Wrestling With Johners, Rain admitted she missed out on the “amazing conversations” about the band due to his illness, but noted, “It must run in my family, this whole rock music thing.” Wearing his jacket isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a 1-of-1 artifact of heavy metal history.
Lizzy Rain’s path to the CW was paved with gold. Formerly known as Rayne Leverkusen, she established herself as a premier technical striker in London’s PROGRESS Wrestling, eventually holding their World Women’s Championship.
Her transition to the US began in earnest during the August 2025 SummerSlam tryouts, where she so thoroughly outclassed the competition that WWE social media accounts officially dubbed her the event’s MVP. After a few “dark match” warm-ups—including a victory over Layla Diggs on April 14—the company clearly felt she was ready for the “deep end” against a powerhouse like Nikkita Lyons.
The match itself was far from a “squash.” Lyons utilized her size and strength advantage early on, but Rain’s independent circuit grit took over. Utilizing a series of “Maiden-inspired” high-velocity strikes and a ring awareness that belies her newcomer status, Rain weathered the storm to secure the three-count. The win establishes her immediately as a top-tier threat in the NXT Women’s Division.
STAY LOUD: From Iron Maiden to the heaviest bands on the planet, get your 24/7 fix of non-stop metal on the Loaded Radio live stream. [Launch the player].
SCREAM FOR LIZZY RAIN
— WWE (@WWE) April 29, 2026@LizzyRain_wwe pic.twitter.com/DRcJsFKaiA
Lizzy Rain is the perfect bridge between the mosh pit and the mosh-pit energy of the squared circle. By integrating the Clive Burr legacy into her persona, she has instantly endeared herself to the global metal community. As Iron Maiden prepares for their 2026 “Run For Your Lives” world tour, they have a spiritual representative in the WWE that is already proving to be a force of nature. If this debut is any indication, the “Rain” has only just begun.
An IMPRESSIVE debut from @LizzyRain_wwe!!
— WWE (@WWE) April 29, 2026pic.twitter.com/ZYRfyxjB05
The post THE MAIDEN OF METAL ARRIVES: Watch Lizzy Rain Honor Late Iron Maiden Uncle During Dominant WWE NXT Debut appeared first on Loaded Radio.
“Kompromat” is an album built on reinvention. Earlier material is dismantled and rebuilt with artistic intent that reshapes the band’s entire work. The title itself is KGB slang for compromising material used to manipulate or rewrite narratives. Instead of preserving their past, NERVED has deconstructed it, asking what these songs could become once freed from their original constraints.
The roster of guest artists reflects the scale of that ambition. Leading Swedish metal voices like Jens Westin (Corroded), Zak Tell (Clawfinger) and Richard Sjunnesson (The Unguided) bring distinct vocal identities from across the heavy‑music spectrum, while guitarists such as Pontus Norberg (Hammerfall) and Thobbe Englund (Sabaton) add both precision and personality.
The album consists of 9 songs for 32 minutes of music. The first track Don’t Lie opens with an Industrial mood and with a heavy riff (what a sound!). The vocals are punchy, energetic, and catchy at the same time. A great opener and a great start. Takin’ Its Tall has a Punk Rock attitude with the usual quality on vocals, with a super catchy chorus. Great drumming and slower pace for Set Fire to The Rain, intense and epic with a fantastic chorus. This is probably my favourite song on the album, if I have to choose one.
Track number four, Disclosure, delivers head-banging energy, and the switch between vocals is fantastic (great guitar solo too), and I love the energy and the drumming on the following I Rise. After an intro, The Lid starts with a “Dance” vibe to go back to a heavy mood very soon, with a very interesting contrast between the heavy music and the melodic vocals, very inspired. Another intro brings us to the last track, Scars, with a heavy and full arrangement and with another fantastic chorus, amazingly performed and inspired. There is an unexpected rap part in the second half of the song, overall very interesting and catchy.
Mopar Stars are a relatively new Philadelphia band, but a couple of their members might be familiar. Singer/guitarist Nao Demand is in Poison Ruïn, and drummer drummer Evan Campbell from Sheer Mag. Both Demand and Campbell are also in the Philly horror-punk band Zorn, but Mopar Stars aren’t anything like Zorn. Instead, Mopar Stars specialize…
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