The song opens in an epic and traditional atmosphere, transporting listeners on an adventure at sea. The driving, engaging rhythm sets a compelling pace for the journey ahead. As Tom Hartman’s voice enters, I felt nuances of Dave Matthews. The song’s refined construction mirrors Matthews’ style, merging storytelling with intricate melodies.
The harmonica enriches the music and creates a cinematic atmosphere, becoming an integral part of the arrangement. As the song unfolds, the background vocals add harmony and rhythm, evoking the steady motion of rowing at sea. Together, these elements deepen the song and give it a distinctive texture.
The song tells the story of being lost in a storm at sea, reflecting a time when the artist lost touch with reality. The music captures that uncertainty while also conveying hope and resilience.
Storm – Sound and Atmosphere
As the track develops, there is a crescendo of emotions, pulling the listener deeper into the story. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of tumultuous waves and the struggle against the elements. This imagery invites the audience to reflect on their own experiences of challenge and discovery.
The harmonica solo towards the end serves as the icing on the cake. This moment becomes an emotional anchor, elevating the song into a memorable finish. The combination of lyrical storytelling and musical exploration creates a fantastic musical experience.
Storm – Performance and Production
Overall, “Storm” is a remarkable single that successfully fuses personal storytelling with vibrant instrumentation. Each component works together to convey a profound message. The rhythmic pace, the intricate harmonica, and the blending of background vocals create a musical experience that is invigorating and reflective.
Tom Hartman delivers a song that is not only engaging in its rhythm but also meaningful in its narrative. The elements of traditional music are expertly woven into a contemporary context, making “Storm” a delightful discovery for both new listeners and long-time fans.
MIDNIGHT is pleased to present a visualizer for “Violence On Violence” live. The track comes off the band’s Satanic Attack Live! recording set for release on November 6th via Metal Blade Records.
Reigning in hell, screaming like a storm, MIDNIGHT’s obscenely intense aural display of lust, filth and sleaze ripped the Los Angeles faithful a new one at two sold-out shows on May 28th-29th, 2026. As part of MIDNIGHT’s Satanic Royalty 15th Anniversary World Tour, the incendiary gigs at Hollywood venue Knucklehead were recorded in all their sweaty, filthy glory, resulting in Satanic Attack Live!.
“No ‘unleashed in the studio’ or ‘unalive!’ here,” foundingbassist/vocalistAthenarproclaims. “All the popcorn tempos, forgotten lyrics, and shit notes are there for your taste buds to savor. I would love to hear what kind of live album Steely Dan would record while wearing masks, leather, spikes, bullets, and chains in a 1000 degree smokey club full of rabid maniacs throwing beer on your wah-wah pedal, knocking microphones into your teeth, clawing at your crotch, headbanging into your headstock, and generally doing what they should be doing at a MIDNIGHT concert! I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Watch MIDNIGHT’s “Violence On Violence” visualizer HERE.
Watch the band’s previously released “You Can’t Stop Steel” videoHERE.
Recorded by Mark Borders with mixing/mastering done by Zach Rippy, Satanic Attack Live! captures ten tracks off 2011’s landmark Satanic Royalty LP – live and in the original album running order – plus five additional songs, including “Shock Til Blood,” “T.A.P.,” and “Fucking Speed And Darkness.”
Satanic Attack Live! will be released on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl with included poster in the following color variants:
Blue White Black A Side B Side (US) 180g Black (EU) Blood Splatter (EU – Ltd. 350)
A Satanic Attack Live! LP + 7” special edition vinyl (incl. poster) will also be available (EU + Band Exclusive – Ltd. 500).
MIDNIGHT will support Gwar on their forthcoming North American tour. The journey runs from October 27th through December 12th. Additional support will be provided by Mac Sabbath as well as X-Cops and Atomic Rule on select dates. See all confirmed dates below.
MIDNIGHT Live w/ Gwar, Mac Sabbath, X-Cops: 10/27/2026 Jefferson Theater – Charlottesville, VA 10/28/2026 The Masquerade (Heaven) – Atlanta, GA 10/29/2026 FIVE – Jacksonville, FL 10/30/2026 Bad Astronaut – Houston, TX ** 10/31/2026 The Lost Well – Austin, TX ** 11/03/2026 Brass Mug – Tampa, FL ** 11/04/2026 Revolution Ft. – Lauderdale, FL 11/05/2026 The Beacham – Orlando, FL 11/06/2026 House of Blues – Myrtle Beach, SC 11/07/2026 The Ramkat – Winston-Salem, NC 11/08/2026 Brooklyn Bowl – Nashville, TN 11/09/2026 The Hall – Little Rock, AR 11/10/2026 AM/FM – Dallas, TX w/ Gwar, Mac Sabbath, Atomic Rule: 11/12/2026 Ogden Theater – Denver, CO 11/13/2026 Complex – Salt Lake City, UT 11/14/2026 Brooklyn Bowl – Las Vegas, NV 11/15/2026 Cargo Concert Hall – Reno, NV 11/17/2026 Marquee Theater – Tempe, AZ 11/18/2026 House of Blues – Anaheim, CA 11/19/2026 UC Theatre Taube Family Music Hall – Berkeley, CA 11/20/2026 Senator – Chico, CA 11/21/2026 Midtown Ballroom – Bend, OR 11/23/2026 Showbox Sodo – Seattle, WA 11/24/2026 Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA 11/25/2026 The Vogue Theatre – Vancouver, BC 11/27/2026 Midway Music Hall – Edmonton, AB 11/28/2026 Macewan Hall – Calgary, AB 11/30/2026 Burton Cummings Theater – Winnipeg, MB 12/02/2026 Bourbon – Lincoln, NE w/ Gwar, Mac Sabbath, X-Cops: 12/03/2026 The Rave – Milwaukee, WI 12/04/2026 Crofoot – Pontiac, MI 12/05/2026 House of Blues – Cleveland,OH 12/06/2026 Roxian Theatre McKees – Rocks, PA 12/08/2026 9:30 Club – Washington, DC 12/09/2026 The Palladium – Worcester, MA 12/10/2026 Palladium Times Square – New York, NY 12/11/2026 The Fillmore Philadelphia – Philadelphia, PA 12/12/2026 The NorVa – Norfolk, VA ** MIDNIGHT headlining date
Fast-rising British rock sensations Jayler have been confirmed as the Saturday night headliners for Call of the Wild Festival 2027, taking top billing at the Lincolnshire Showground on 29th May. The Midlands four-piece – featuring vocalist and guitarist James Bartholomew, guitarist Tyler Arrowsmith, bassist Ricky Hodgkiss, and drummer Ed Evans – have been enjoying a … Continue reading Jayler confirmed to headline Call of the Wild Festival 2027
Welsh rock trio Cardinal Black have announced their third studio album, Second Sign of Life, will be released January 29, 2027, via Thirty Tigers. The band has also released the album’s lead single, “Saving Grace,” and announced its biggest UK and Ireland headline tour to date.
“Saving Grace” features Chris Buck’s guitar work alongside Tom Hollister’s soulful vocals. The song explores the importance of having someone who provides stability and support during difficult times.
Hollister originally wrote and recorded an early version of the song nearly a decade ago but struggled to find an arrangement and lyrics that felt right.
“The foundations of the song were something I had written and recorded around 10 years ago, but it never felt right – too overworked and stylised,” Hollister explains. “I also never really had lyrics to it that had a real connection to me. This time around with Cardinal Black it all feels much more coherent. It’s a song about being so close to someone that they’ve become an integral part of you and someone who regularly pulls you back to shore when things get a little rough at sea.”
Second Sign of Life follows the band’s 2025 album Midnight at the Valencia, which topped the UK Official Independent Album Breakers Chart and helped establish Cardinal Black in North America.
While its predecessor featured more elaborate arrangements and production, the new album takes a more stripped-down approach, emphasizing the chemistry between the musicians.
Cardinal Black recorded the ten-song album over nine days in June 2026 at Clouds Hill Studios in Hamburg, Germany, during a break from their European tour with Alter Bridge.
For the first time, the band handled production and engineering duties themselves, with assistance from touring bassist and recording engineer Sam Andrews.
The sessions focused on capturing the sound of the band’s live performances, with fewer overdubs and additional instrumentation. The album explores themes of love, loss, vulnerability, aging and the isolation that can accompany life on the road.
Cardinal Black consists of vocalist Tom Hollister, guitarist Chris Buck and drummer Adam Roberts. The three musicians first played together in South Wales before eventually forming Cardinal Black.
Their early work attracted the attention of Steve Winwood, who invited them to record at his countryside studio. Although the musicians later went their separate ways, they reunited years later to establish the band.
Since then, Cardinal Black have toured with Joe Bonamassa, Myles Kennedy and Peter Frampton. The band also performed with Frampton at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
The band’s first North American headline tour in 2025 included multiple sold-out performances. Demand for their New York appearance resulted in the show being moved from Mercury Lounge to the larger Gramercy Theatre after tickets sold out in less than 24 hours.
Cardinal Black will support Second Sign of Life with a UK and Ireland headline tour beginning March 30 in Wolverhampton. Additional European performances are scheduled for April and May, with a return to North America planned for June 2027.
TRACK LISTING
Saving Grace
Take Me to The Water
All I Ever Wanted
Perfect Time
Higher
I Could Be Anything
Neon Lights
More Than Your Love
Growing Up
There Was Everything
UK/IRELAND TOUR
March 30 – Wolverhampton, UK – KK’s Steel Mill April 1 – Dublin, Ireland – Button Factory April 2 – Belfast, Northern Ireland – Limelight April 3 – Glasgow, UK – The Garage April 5 – Newcastle, UK – Boiler Shop April 6 – Leeds, UK – Stylus April 9 – Manchester, UK – Academy 2 April 10 – Southampton, UK – EngineRooms April 11 – Exeter, UK – Phoenix April 13 – Bristol, UK – Electric April 15 – Cambridge, UK – Junction April 16 – London, UK – KOKO April 17 – Cardiff, UK – Great Hall
Iron Maiden have announced a surprise return to North America in 2027, taking in arena shows and festival appearances, including a headline set at the Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival.
Steve Harris says, “As many of our fans know, Maiden were planning on taking a break from live performances in 2027, but we’ve been enjoying this last leg in the USA and Canada so much that we all had a chat and decided we should take the show to parts we missed, particularly the North West and South East. It just seems fair to our many fans there who have given us tremendous support for so many years. We can’t get everywhere but we can try!
“Also, we have always enjoyed playing the many great festivals that are in Europe,” he adds, “and wanted to experience a couple more in the USA which we will do at the end of the tour in Columbus [Sonic Temple] and Maryland [Boardwalk Rock]. At festivals you are not just playing to your own fans so it’s always a challenge and we all love a challenge!”
Manager Manager Rod Smallwood adds, “The first leg was terrific, huge sell-out crowds of all ages spanning multi-generations, some of the biggest shows we have ever played in North America with rave fan and media reactions, and just a great all round vibe and camaraderie from our fans, including in our Eddie’s Dive Bars everywhere. And I know as I go to every one of them! In fact it was so good we just have to come back and play some places we missed and bring Eddie’s Dive Bars with us!
“It is amazing that even after all these years we played to many more people per show than ever before and headlined our first stadium shows in the USA. We have been selling out arenas in all parts of North America since 1983 – bar a short period in the 90s – and the band’s following here continues to grow despite an almost total lack of mainstream radio support and never even having a track reach the Billboard Hot 100! For that we have to thank our amazing fans, and it proves that word of mouth still means a lot. We look forward to seeing you all again next Spring”.
Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives North American Tour 2027
Apr 14: Tacoma Dome, WA Apr 16: Vancouver Rogers Arena, Canada Apr 18: Portland Moda Center, OR Apr 20: Wheatland Toyota Amphitheatre, CA Apr 22: Chula Vista North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, CA Apr 24: San Bernardino Glen Helen Amphitheater, CA Apr 26: Phoenix Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre, AZ Apr 28: Dallas Dos Equis Pavilion, TX
May 01: Tampa Benchmark International Arena, FL May 02: West Palm Beach iTHINK Financial Amphitheatre, FL May 05 Atlanta Lakewood Amphitheatre, GA May 07: Raleigh Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, NC May 09: Hartford The Meadows Music Theatre, CT May 11: Belmont Park UBS Arena, NY May 14: Sonic Temple, OH May 16: Boardwalk Rock, MD
Steve Harris‘ band will headline Sonic Temple on Friday, May 14. The festival will also feature performances from A Perfect Circle, Primus, Clutch, Sleeping With Sirens, Crowbar, Escape The Fate,Saosin, and hundreds more acts yet to be announced.
The 2027 weekender is scheduled to take place from May 13 to May 16 at the Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
PeelingFlesh, Emmure, Showing Teeth, Imminence and Vana have also been announced to play at what has become one of the blue riband events in the global rock and metal calendar.
The full schedule will be announced next week.
Single day passes, weekend passes and VIP packages for 2027’s Sonic Temple Art + Music Festival are on-sale now, here.
The 2026 edition of Sonic Temple featured My Chemical Romance, Shinedown, Bring Me The Horizon and Tool as the headline acts. The sold out event was attended by a record crowd of over 184,000 fans across the weekend.
After more than three decades of pushing the boundaries of progressive rock, The Flower Kings return with the new album, Hope, due out on October 23rd, 2026 on InsideOutMusic. The follow-up to 2025’s Love, stands as both a celebration of their legacy and a bold artistic statement. The album also finds the band returning to the side-long epic, with tracks clocking in at 18 and 28 minutes.
Roine Stolt comments: “This is one of several parts of an epic piece of music that has been swirling around for some years. I reworked bits and wrote some new lyrics that now have the backdrop of ancient Rome – but act more as a metaphor for modern day powerplay. Every nation and every leader/president want to shine and be remembered as the greatest – expansive dreams often tend to implode however.”
Rather than chasing trends or revisiting past glories, the band has crafted a work that comfortably exists between refined musicianship and fearless ambition.
Founding member Roine Stolt explains, “At a certain point in life – you arrive at a place where outside opinions matter less – and the process gravitates towards making an album that YOU yourself would LOVE but would perhaps normally not be viewed as a commercial attempt at all. We, the band – trust YOU, the audience – to be curious and to trust us that we want to bring you a grand glowing adventure.”
Hope serves as a timely meditation on a turbulent time in the modern world. Without venturing into overt political commentary, its songs reflect on an era often marked by division and diminishing empathy while ultimately offering a message rooted in hope, acting as a roadmap, how to get there and re-ignite love in our hearts and our society.
The album’s compositions come from Stolt and keyboardist Lalle Larsson, with its centerpiece being the nearly 30-minute epic “The Gods of Rome.” Originally conceived from orchestral ideas developed more than a decade ago, the piece took an unexpected creative journey, at one point nearly becoming the musical foundation for another Anderson & Stolt project before ultimately finding its true home with The Flower Kings. Reimagined for the full band, it has evolved into a powerful reflection on contemporary life, using the imagery of ancient Rome to explore enduring themes of power, conflict, and the human cost of ambition.
Joining Stolt and Larsson once again are Hans Fröberg on vocals, Michael Stolt on bass, and Mirko DeMaio on drums. Supported by heartfelt performances from every member of the band, along with a number of special guests, the resulting album unfolds as a rewarding listening experience that reveals new details with each return. Stolt explains, “Like I said 37 years ago – ‘This is the band I will be in for the rest of my days’ – but I wouldn’t dream of us making one of our finest albums ever in 2026!”
Hope will be available as Ltd.CD + Blu-Ray Digipak, featuring Dolby Atmos & 5.1 Surround Sound mixes by Rich Mouser, a first for the band. The album will also be available as Standard CD Jewelcase, Gatefold 2LP & Digitally.
The Metal Breakdown Daily is one page, every weekday: the episode on the player below and the three stories in print, so you can listen, read, or both. Today’s lead: Matt Heafy has told Metal Hammer he nearly quit Trivium in the middle of last year, walking out of a recording session, calling his wife to say he was done, and turning his phone off. Ashley Heafy sent him back. Drummer Alex Bent left that October; Crown In The Grave is out November 20.
Also today: Michael Amott says Arch Enemy are ‘slowly working on a new album,’ the first with Lauren Hart, and explains why ‘slowly’ is the point. And Dave Mustaine’s memoir In My Darkest Hour has debuted at number four on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list, in the same year Megadeth’s final album gave the band its first number one.
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Scott Penfold opens today’s episode of The Metal Breakdown Daily with the night Matt Heafy walked out on Trivium and the phone call that brought him back, then asks why Michael Amott keeps saying ‘slowly,’ and finishes with Dave Mustaine having the best year of his career on the way out the door. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play and stream the show now.
Matt Heafy Nearly Quit Trivium. His Wife Sent Him Back.
Matt Heafy told Metal Hammer that midway through 2025, after the Ascendancy 20th-anniversary tour, he walked out of a Trivium recording session at the band’s Hangar studio, told his wife Ashley he was done with the band, and was talked back in by her; drummer Alex Bent left in October 2025 and the band’s new album, Crown In The Grave, is out November 20.
Heafy says the chemistry was ‘starting to fall apart,’ with no single cause: ‘it’s just the sum of its parts.’ He was tracking guitars when he stood up, left the building and called Ashley. His words, with one of them removed: ‘I’m done with this band, I can’t do this [expletive] anymore.’ He drove home, turned off his phone and decided he wasn’t going back.
Ashley let him cool off, then told him he wasn’t quitting, that he was part of that band, and that he needed to go back to the studio and sort it out. He did. The problems didn’t disappear; Bent left that October, and Heafy won’t discuss the specifics beyond saying it was best for the band in the long run. The band he describes now is ‘tighter live than we’ve ever been.’ Crown In The Grave follows November 20, with a North American tour alongside In Flames this winter and Europe with them in the spring.
Every band has this night. Almost none of them tell you about it, and the ones who do usually wait for the reunion tour. Heafy is telling it eighteen months on with a record coming, which means he isn’t selling a comeback; he’s being honest. The headline he didn’t say out loud is the one worth noticing: the chemistry problem left in October, and it wasn’t him.
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Arch Enemy Are ‘Slowly’ Writing The First Album With Lauren Hart
Michael Amott told a Denver television station that Arch Enemy are ‘slowly working on a new album’ in the gaps between tours, their first with vocalist Lauren Hart, who replaced Alissa White-Gluz and played her first show with the band in Beijing on March 27, 2026; no title or date has been set.
Amott’s standard for the record is the reason for the pace: it ‘really has to be a great album,’ with ‘great songs, great music’ that ‘just feel right,’ and ‘that takes a bit of time.’ What the band did quickly was ‘To The Last Breath,’ the single written and released in February to introduce Hart, formerly of Once Human. The rest of 2026 is the road. Demand for shows has been strong, Amott says, worldwide dates are being booked now, and he wants this lineup to become ‘a really solid unit’ before it makes a record. His phrase: get to know each other ‘before we buy a house.’
He has done this twice before, and both times the first album with a new singer defined the era. Angela Gossow replaced Johan Liiva and the next record was Wages Of Sin; Alissa replaced Angela and the next was War Eternal, the two albums that made and then remade the band. Amott has also been through a guitarist change that nobody saw coming and come out the other side.
Dave Mustaine’s Memoir Is A New York Times Bestseller
Dave Mustaine’s memoir In My Darkest Hour, written with Joe Layden and published September 8, 2026 by Da Capo, debuted at number four on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list; it covers his 2019 throat cancer diagnosis and the making of The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! during treatment.
His first memoir, in 2010, reached number fifteen. This one is narrower and harder: the squamous cell carcinoma he announced in June 2019, fifty-one radiation treatments and nine rounds of chemotherapy, and the decision to keep recording through it. ‘I didn’t want to stop recording in case it was my last record, in case I died,’ he said in a June interview. He credits ‘great bandmates’ and a professional co-producer for keeping the album on the rails, and is blunt about chemo brain: ‘It was very terrifying.’ His line on the whole thing: ‘It’s not what I am; it’s what I do.’
The book lands in the final stretch of Megadeth. The self-titled final album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, the best first week in the band’s history, and the farewell tour runs into next year. The catalogue it closes and the man’s own history of settling scores in print make the sales figure more interesting than it looks.
Mustaine has spent forty years as the most defensive man in metal, and the first book he’s written that isn’t about who wronged him is the one people are buying. Given everything else in his story, there’s a lesson in that he probably won’t enjoy.
The Take: Telling The Truth While The Band Is Still Going
Three stories about metal’s least natural skill: honesty about yourself before the box set.
Heafy told you he walked out on Trivium. Amott told you the new Arch Enemy record isn’t close. Mustaine wrote a book about being too sick to remember the sessions for his own album. None of them had to say any of it, and twenty years ago none of them would have. The rule was that you projected strength until the band ended, and then you did the tell-all.
Here’s the counter-argument, and it’s fair. Honesty is a marketing strategy now. Heafy’s confession lands five weeks before an album. Amott’s ‘slowly’ keeps the band in the news between tours. Mustaine’s book is a product with a publisher and a release date. The vulnerability is real and so is the campaign, and you’re a fool if you can’t see both.
Both can be true and it still matters which came first. Heafy told the story and then refused to tell you why Bent left; that’s a man who knows where the line is. Amott could have promised an album for next year and sold tickets on it; he didn’t. Mustaine could have written another book about who wronged him; he wrote about radiation. The test of honesty isn’t whether it sells. It’s what you leave out when you could have cashed it in. All three passed. A band that tells you the truth early beats one that saves it for the documentary, every time.
TL;DR
Matt Heafy told Metal Hammer he walked out of a Trivium session in mid-2025, told his wife he was done, and was talked back in by her; Alex Bent left that October, and Crown In The Grave is out November 20 with In Flames tours to follow.
Michael Amott says Arch Enemy are ‘slowly working on a new album,’ their first with Lauren Hart, and wants the lineup to be ‘a really solid unit’ before recording; no title or date.
Dave Mustaine’s memoir In My Darkest Hour debuted at number four on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list, in the year Megadeth’s final album went to number one on the Billboard 200.
The Take: honesty that costs something beats honesty saved for the documentary, and all three men passed the test of what they left out.
FAQ
Why did Matt Heafy almost quit Trivium?
Heafy told Metal Hammer that in mid-2025, after the Ascendancy 20th-anniversary tour, the band’s chemistry was ‘starting to fall apart’ with no single cause. He walked out of a recording session, called his wife Ashley and said he was done, then turned off his phone. She told him he wasn’t quitting and to go back and sort it out, which he did.
When is the new Trivium album out?
Crown In The Grave is released November 20, 2026. Trivium tour North America with In Flames this winter, with Orbit Culture, Fit For An Autopsy and Frozen Soul supporting, then Europe with In Flames in spring 2027 with Paleface Swiss and Vola.
Is Arch Enemy making a new album with Lauren Hart?
Yes, slowly. Michael Amott said in October 2026 that the band are ‘slowly working on a new album’ between tours, with no title or release date. Lauren Hart, formerly of Once Human, replaced Alissa White-Gluz and played her first Arch Enemy show in Beijing on March 27, 2026; the single ‘To The Last Breath’ came out in February.
What is Dave Mustaine’s new book about?
In My Darkest Hour, written with Joe Layden and published September 8, 2026, covers Mustaine’s 2019 throat cancer diagnosis, 51 radiation treatments and nine rounds of chemotherapy, and recording The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! during treatment. It debuted at number four on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction list.
What is The Metal Breakdown Daily?
The Metal Breakdown Daily is Loaded Radio’s weekday rock and metal news show, hosted by Scott Penfold: three stories, one opinion, under five minutes. Each episode is published with this one-page article carrying the stories in print, and streams free on the Loaded Radio app for Apple iOS and Google Play.
The Metal Breakdown Daily is Loaded Radio’s weekday rock and metal news show, three stories and one opinion in under five minutes. New episode every weekday on the free Loaded Radio app for Apple iOS and Google Play. Follow Loaded Radio for the stories as they break.
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