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Swedish rock veterans Europe have dropped the new single “Come This Madness,” title track off their upcoming studio album of the same name, arriving Sept. 25 via Silver Lining Music.

Musically, “Come This Madness” wastes no time getting aggressive, opening on razor-edged riffs before easing into slow-burning verses that build steam en route to a massive, anthemic chorus. The track leans on tightly controlled dynamics, swinging between stripped-back quiet passages and full-throttle sections loaded with powerhouse vocals and sweeping guitar solos.

“With ‘Come This Madness’, we wanted to write and produce songs in the spirit of the old days,” says Europe founding member and frontman Joey Tempest. “There are plenty of soaring melodies and big choruses, and we worked hard on the production. We had a lot of fun in the studio making the album. There are strong connections to our past throughout the record and I think a lot of Europe fans are going to love it.”

A companion video pulls back the curtain on the band’s world, splicing together footage from a hectic 2026 campaign cycle. Shot on tour and squeezed between an already packed schedule, the clip catches Europe mid-momentum — high-energy stage moments paired with quieter downtime — offering a real look at a band deep in the grind of an album rollout as they push “Come This Madness” out to fans.

The new record, Come This Madness, adds another entry to the catalog of one of rock’s most enduring acts, with the band working through tension and raw honesty on a record that plays both personal and broadly relatable.

“With this album, I think we’ve looked around at what’s happening in the world and tried to describe some of it through the songs,” Tempest says. “But at the end of the day, it’s still entertainment, it’s still music, and most importantly, it’s still about having fun.”

Europe has been through plenty over the decades, and the band shows no signs of slowing — still evolving, still adapting, still pushing forward on its own terms.

Tracks like “One On One,” “The Cult Of Ignorance” and the title cut work through that same mix of tension and honesty that defines Come This Madness as a whole.

Lead single “One On One” dropped back in late April, serving as a statement of intent from a band sounding as sharp as ever. Anchored by a driving bassline and stacked with soaring melodies, the song fuses Europe‘s trademark sound with something more contemporary. An orchestral intro gives way to a riff-heavy body that eventually explodes into a stadium-sized hard rock payoff. Written during a period of global lockdown but refined over several years, the track reflects the band’s patience — one they refused to abandon until it earned its spot as a centerpiece of Come This Madness.

Built around a hook that sticks fast and a chorus made for shouting along, “The Cult Of Ignorance” pairs pure catchiness with lyrics tuned to the current moment, striking a balance between reflective and upbeat.

Come This Madness was tracked at RMV Studio, the Stockholm facility founded by Benny Andersson and Ludvig Andersson. The album brings in guest spots from Tobias Forge of Ghost and Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth, and was produced by Tom Dalgety (Ghost, Rammstein, Pixies, The Cult, Opeth), who ended up embedded deep in the writing and recording process, shaping the record’s overall direction. Mix duties went to veteran engineer Mike Fraser(AC/DC, Van Halen, Metallica, The Cult, Loverboy) to bring the album to its final form.

Tempest wrapped up, saying, “It was a true pleasure working with Tom. He’s creative, musical and incredibly intuitive — he really became a sixth member of the band during the writing and recording of this album. We even invited him to co-write on some of the songs.”

Come This Madness finds Europe locked in and confronting the world head-on, and album promotion won’t be the only thing keeping the band busy. Europe is also lining up an extensive run of live dates, including a major tour marking the 40th anniversary of The Final Countdown. Kicking off in Glasgow on Sept. 30, The Final Countdown 40th Anniversary Tour pairs the legacy that made the band a household name with the energy driving it today.

Cover art for Come This Madness comes courtesy of Storm Studios (Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Muse). Come This Madness will be released on vinyl, CD and digital formats here.

The post EUROPE Unveils Music Video For “Come This Madness” Title Track appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Patriots Day Freedom Fest, the free pro-Trump festival that had Kid Rock on its bill, has been canceled days before it was due to open, because only six of the 100 VIP tickets sold. The $1,000 VIP tickets were supposed to pay for the whole event, which was set for Saturday, 26 September at organizer Eric Deters’ farm in Northern Kentucky.

Deters called it off on Monday in a string of Facebook videos, telling followers that ‘rich people, as a whole, suck,’ and vowing never to stage the event again. The Freedom Fest cancellation was first reported by the Cincinnati Enquirer and LINK nky.

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Six Tickets Out Of 100

The plan was simple, and that was the problem.

Deters kept general admission and parking free. The bill was supposed to be covered by 100 people paying $1,000 each for VIP access, which is $100,000 to put the show on. By Monday morning six people had paid. That’s $6,000.

‘When I put together Patriots Day Freedom Fest, I put it together with the game plan that I could pay for it with VIP sales of $1,000 from these hundred people,’ Deters said, according to LINK nky.

The bill Deters had promoted included Kid Rock, Duane ‘Dog the Bounty Hunter’ Chapman, US Representative James Comer, Republican Ed Gallrein and Fox News contributor Joe Concha. The event was due to run from 4 to 7 p.m. at his farm in Morning View, in Kenton County, about 20 miles south of Cincinnati.

The Outrage Came From The Organizer

What turned a small cancellation into a national story was how Deters reacted.

In his Facebook videos, the former Northern Kentucky attorney and 2023 Republican candidate for governor went after the wealthy contacts he’d counted on. ‘I do countless favors for these people,’ he said, as reported by The Daily Beast. ‘None of these people will ever, ever, ever get a favor from me again.’

He said the cancellation came as ‘great relief,’ and he was blunt about the future. ‘I am never ever, ever, ever, ever doing this event again,’ he said.

In a second video he pushed back on the coverage. He said MAGA supporters had always turned out for Freedom Fest and that the only issue was paying for an event he made free.

It isn’t the first time Freedom Fest has fallen over. It didn’t go ahead in 2023 either, before returning in 2024 with Donald Trump Jr. at the top of the bill. This time Deters says there’s no comeback.

Where Kid Rock Stands

Kid Rock hasn’t commented on the cancellation, and nothing public suggests he had a role in how the event was funded. His name was on the promotional material, and that’s the extent of it.

It’s not the first time a Kid Rock date has fallen through. There was the North Dakota State Fair mess, and he’s spent recent years on bigger stages with runs like the Bad Reputation Tour with Foreigner and his 2025 US tour. He’s also never hidden his politics, as his Fourth of July comments made clear. But a political rally on a farm is a different animal from a Kid Rock concert. The headliner on the poster isn’t what sells the VIP tier.

My Take: The Math Was Always Going To Break

Forget the politics. This is a festival economics story, and the numbers were never going to work.

A free gate with the whole bill resting on 100 people spending a thousand dollars each is a favor bank dressed up as a festival. It works only as long as every one of those people feels they owe you, and Deters found out on Monday exactly how many did.

Rock festivals have been fighting over money for decades. Sharon Osbourne has been open that rising fees are what finally stopped Ozzfest. That festival had real ticket sales and real sponsors, and it still struggled. Now she’s bringing it back with Live Nation behind her. A festival survives on enough people paying for it before the gates open.

Six people did. Everyone else was expecting a free show.

TL;DR

• Patriots Day Freedom Fest, billed with Kid Rock, Dog the Bounty Hunter and Rep. James Comer, has been canceled.
• The free event depended on 100 VIP tickets at $1,000 each. Six sold.
• Organizer Eric Deters announced the cancellation in Facebook videos, saying ‘rich people, as a whole, suck.’
• Deters says he will never stage Freedom Fest again.
• Kid Rock has not commented.

FAQ

A free festival just died because six people paid. Would you have bought a VIP ticket, or does a free gate always doom a show like this? Tell us in the comments. Follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post Freedom Fest Featuring Kid Rock Abruptly Scrapped After VIP Ticket Disaster Sparks Outrage appeared first on Loaded Radio.

Sometimes, indie rock types write music for dance performances, and it’s usually pretty fair to slot that music into the minor-works category of their discographies. Nobody is like, “Yeah, Illinois is cool, but I think Sufjan Stevens’ best shit is the music that he writes for ballet.” This is not how you should think of the new Perfume Genius single “Natural High.” It’s a song written for a dance performance, but it’s got as much reach and ambition as any other Perfume Genius song, which is a lot.

The post Perfume Genius – “Natural High” appeared first on Stereogum.

Following a breakthrough year that has taken them from Monsters of Rock Brazil to major support shows with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Sammy Hagar, electrifying UK rock band Jayler unveil an ambitious cinematic video for ‘The Getaway’, built around freedom, brotherhood and the thrill of moving towards the unknown. Filmed at Cotswold Airport, the video places Jayler (James […]

The post Jayler Release Cinematic New Video For ‘The Getaway’ appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.

Kenyon Records is digging into the vault for one of sleaze-metal’s most iconic debuts. The label has unveiled Dangerous Toys: The Definitive Edition, a fully authorized, band-approved overhaul of Dangerous Toys‘ self-titled 1989 debut, set to hit shelves Friday, Nov. 13, 2026. The reissue reunites the Austin, Texas outfit with Max Norman, the man who produced the original record and who returned in 2026 to remaster it from scratch — cutting separate masters tailored specifically to vinyl and CD to squeeze out maximum fidelity in each format.

Anchoring the package are nine previously unheard live recordings pulled from the band’s 1989 tour, none of which have ever surfaced publicly (the 2xCD edition throws in a bonus live cut of “That Dog” not found elsewhere). The tapes come courtesy of frontman Jason McMaster‘s own stash — soundboard cassettes their front-of-house engineer handed the band after shows so they could review their own sets, never copied or shared until now.

“I was excited to hear these somewhat raw but cool recordings from long ago for the first time in at least 30 years, maybe more,” says McMaster. “No copies were ever made of these master cassettes. We hope you enjoy these historical moments from the archives.”

Dangerous Toys came together in Austin in October 1987, blending Southern hard-rock swagger with metal grit and a punk edge — think Aerosmith and ZZ Top run through a sleazier filter. Singer Jason McMaster, who’d previously fronted progressive metal act Watchtower, linked up with guitarist Scott Dalhover, bassist Mike Watson and drummer Mark Geary, and the band landed a major-label deal within a year — without ever cutting a proper demo. A cassette of a live local radio broadcast was enough to spark a bidding war among labels after a handful of Texas shows.

Norman produced the album at the storied Sound City studio, later made famous by Dave Grohl‘s 2013 documentary of the same name. Released May 9, 1989, the self-titled debut became instantly recognizable thanks to artist Tommy Pons‘ now-legendary cover art: Bill Z. Bub, the grinning, red-haired horror-clown jack-in-the-box that’s remained the band’s calling card ever since.

The record produced two MTV Headbangers Ball staples turned genuine radio hits in “Teas’n, Pleas’n” and “Scared,” along with fan-favorite third single “Sport’n A Woody.” “Teas’n, Pleas’n” even knocked Bon Jovi out of the top spot on Dial MTV. The album itself cracked No. 65 on the Billboard 200 and went gold via the RIAA, a breakout that sent Dangerous Toys touring alongside Judas Priest, The Cult, Motörhead, L.A. Guns and Alice Cooper.

“Dangerous Toys: The Definitive Edition” formats

2xCD Definitive Edition (limited to 1,000 hand-numbered copies)

• Disc One: the original album, newly remastered
• Disc Two: a 10-song live-in-’89 set, including the CD-exclusive live version of “That Dog”
• Deluxe 8-panel digipak with dual trays
• 24-page booklet loaded with unseen, officially licensed photography
• Liner notes on the album’s making by Katherine Turman (former RIP magazine editor), drawn from 2026 band interviews
• Liner notes on the bonus live tracks by Jason McMaster
• Full-color hype sticker

2xLP Definitive Edition (each variant limited to 250 hand-numbered copies)

• Four collectible color variants: “Bill Z. Bub the Clown” Neon Orange Splatter, “Queen of the Nile” Emerald Green, “Scared” Ghost Purple, and “Teas’n, Pleas’n” Red & Black
• Pressed on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl
• Vinyl-specific remaster by Max Norman
• Second LP featuring nine live-in-’89 performances
• Deluxe gatefold jacket, 350gsm, with hot-foil red-stamped logo
• Black poly-lined inner sleeves
• Large-format 16-page, 12-inch booklet
• Included 24″ x 36″ poster
• Unseen, officially licensed 1989 photos
• Liner notes by Katherine Turman and Jason McMaster
• Full-color hype sticker

2xCassette Definitive Edition (limited to 100 hand-numbered copies — Kenyon Records webstore exclusive)

• Cassette One: the complete original 11-track album, newly remastered
• Cassette Two: nine previously unreleased live-in-’89 recordings
• All-new packaging: custom slipcover housing a butterfly box for both cassettes
• Two unique 6-panel J-cards, one per cassette

Picture Disc LP (limited to 125 hand-numbered copies — Kenyon Records webstore exclusive)

• Complete original 11-song album, remastered by Max Norman, pressed to picture disc
• Housed in a heavy protective sleeve with insert
• A straight-to-the-source presentation built for collectors

All formats are officially licensed with full authorization and participation from Dangerous Toys.

1989 lineup

Jason McMaster / Vocals
Scott Dalhover / Guitar
Mike Watson / Bass
Mark Geary / Drums
Danny Aaron / Guitar

Alongside the reissue, Dangerous Toys and Kenyon Records have struck a new merchandise licensing deal, rolling out a fresh collectible line built around Bill Z. Bub‘s clown imagery and branding tied specifically to the 1989 record. The lineup includes full-color, front-and-back screen-printed T-shirts, zip-up hoodies and raglans; 2.5-inch full-color enamel pins featuring the band’s clown logo; full-size back patches; vinyl stickers; wall flags and tapestries; battle jackets; and a slipmat.

The merch line drops alongside the reissue, giving fans plenty of new ways to celebrate Dangerous Toys, available exclusively at the Kenyon Records webstore.

The post DANGEROUS TOYS: 1989 Debut Gets Definitive Deluxe Reissue appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

The Exeter rock trio Pushbike specialize in guitar-powered indie/alternative nostalgia bombs. Their Little Bastard EP will be out in a few short weeks, and they’re teasing it today with the intriguingly titled “Pure Hate.” The song races out of the gate with pure Dinosaur Jr. energy, but within two minutes it morphs into a gritty ’90s emo track. I love it.

The post Pushbike Announce New EP <em>Little Bastard</em>: Hear “Pure Hate” & “Captain On The Bridge” appeared first on Stereogum.

DragonForce just kicked off a new era, and it comes wrapped in the band’s own name. The speed-metal institution has confirmed its tenth studio effort, a self-titled record simply called Dragonforce, due out March 19, 2027 through Napalm Records. Jens Bogren handled production duties on the album, which was tracked across the U.S., U.K., Canada and Sweden.

According to the band, Dragonforce isn’t a retread — it’s a full-throttle reintroduction from a group that’s been setting the pace for extreme power metal for nearly three decades. Alongside reunited frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz and co-vocalist Alessio Garavello, the lineup of Herman Li, Sam Totman, Gee Anzalone, Alicia Vigil and newcomer Billy Wilkins is pushing the band’s sound into fresh territory while still chasing the breakneck tempos and towering hooks that built DragonForce‘s reputation in the first place.

Leading the charge is the new single “Hunger Of The Beast,” which arrives via a blistering live-performance video. Written to showcase the dual-pronged vocal firepower of White-Gluz and Garavello, the track channels the same reckless energy that made “Through The Fire And Flames” a genre-defining anthem.

DragonForce co-founder and lead guitarist Herman Li broke down the mindset behind album number ten, saying, “Every time we begin making another album, we just think, ‘Wow — I can’t believe we’re still doing what we love after all these years.’ The approach of the tenth album is as important as the first one, or any of the albums, because the way we look at music is we’re making a piece of art that’s going to be frozen in time. We always try to use everything we’ve learned from our years of experience, and put that into the new music. This is unlike any DragonForce album you’ve ever heard, and unlike any metal albums out there. There’s just nothing like it, and everyone listening will realize that straight away. We’re not trying to be commercial. We’re not trying to be popular. We’re not trying to be famous. We make music because we want to make something that we love to hear and elevate our musicianship to the next level.”

Alissa White-Gluz, who stepped into the frontwoman role this past spring — the first in the band’s history — echoed that enthusiasm, adding, “I have loved the entire process of making music with DragonForce. It’s great to connect with such elite musicians and work together to really bring out the best of our respective styles. I think this new combo of speed and ferocity is refreshing and exciting. It’s going to be so much fun to perform live.”

The new music isn’t the only thing on the horizon. DragonForce is also gearing up for its biggest North American run in more than 20 years, timed to the 20th anniversary of Inhuman Rampage — the 2026-marked milestone album that spawned the platinum-certified juggernaut “Through The Fire And Flames” and spent 23 straight weeks on the Billboard 200. Garavello, a friend and collaborator of the band for 25 years, will handle vocal duties alongside White-Gluz both on the album and on the road, effectively stepping into the spot Marc Hudson has held. Hudson is stepping back from DragonForce duties for now while he deals with ongoing tinnitus issues.

Inhuman Rampage and its signature single turned DragonForce into a household name among headbangers — “Through The Fire And Flames” famously served as the unbeatable final boss track on Guitar Hero III: Legends Of Rock. Since then, the Grammy-nominated band has racked up an enormous fanbase, popped up in everything from Despicable Me 4 to Fortnite Festival, Brawl Stars and Asphalt Legends, graced countless magazine covers, and shared stages with Iron Maiden, Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot, Metallica and plenty more since forming in Los Angeles and London back in 1999.

The trek, billed as the Inhuman Rampage 20th Anniversary Tour, hits 22 cities across November and December with support from Ensiferum and Rhapsody Of Fire. Expect a front-to-back run through Inhuman Rampage, a live debut for “Cry For Eternity” and other rarely or never-performed cuts, previews from the new record, and a production the band promises will be a spectacle.

DragonForce is:

Alissa White-Gluz / Lead Vocals
Herman Li / Guitar, Backing Vocals
Sam Totman / Guitar, Backing Vocals
Alessio Garavello / Lead Vocals
Alicia Vigil / Bass, Backing Vocals
Billy Wilkins / Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals
Gee Anzalone / Drums, Backing Vocals

The post DRAGONFORCE Confirms Self-Titled Tenth Album & Unleashes “Hunger Of The Beast” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Power metallers DragonForce have shared big news today. Their upcoming new album, Dragonforce, is set for release on March 19th 2027 via Napalm Records. The self-titled effort will be their 10th album. For a first taste, check out the performance video for the single “Hunger of the Beast” right here. It features Alissa White-Gluz, who recently joined the band and also Alessio Garavello.
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Singer jokes that he’s “still working that out” with the guitarist. Continue reading…

For a time, Kyuss were arguably the coolest rock band in the world. Metallica and Faith No More took the Palm Desert, California band on tour, and Nirvana’s Dave Grohl (later Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl) swears he bought “at least 50 copies” of their 1992 album Blues For The Red Sun to share his love for the band with friends. Asked to define his band during a Canadian TV interview in 1992, guitarist Josh Homme settled on the description, “a fully escapist trip band.”

“No politics, no bullshit, no funky costumes,” he stated. “We just play music so you can shut your eyes and forget about all your problems.”

Three years later however, Kyuss succumbed to their own internal problems – the group dynamic was “fucked”, Homme later said bluntly – and broke up.

“We were young kids, boys becoming men, and so the music business was a shocking, strange, foreign, dark and scary place,” drummer Brant Bjork subsequently told this writer. “Business started to dictate what we were doing, and the spirit of creativity and camaraderie and brotherhood – all that made our band pure and organic – started to evaporate.”

In the wake of split, Josh Homme was of a mind to quit the music industry, and, after relocating to Seattle, he enrolled at the University of Washington to study business. But, inevitably, he was drawn back into the game, first joining Screaming Trees as their touring guitarist for Lollapalooza 1996 – an experience that would prove educational in more ways than one – then, after moving back home to California, founding a new project, Gamma Ray, with assistance from Screaming Trees Van Connor and Masters Of Reality frontman Chris Goss. When German power metal band Gamma Ray stepped in to stop the band trading under their name, Homme’s new band became Queens Of The Stone Age. Starting over afresh, he admitted, “made me scared, cautious and bold at the same time.”

It would have been all too easy for Homme to re-emerge into the spotlight – or, more accurately the one bare bulb underground rock community – with an album which built upon the cult success that his former band had enjoyed. Instead, he took a left turn, eschewing stoner rock fuzz for something altogether lither, more abstract and sexier. In doing so, he set the foundations for what is undeniably one of the most distinctive catalogues in modern music.

From its opening moments – the pounding one chord riff augmented with teasing, trebly guitar volume swells which introduces Regular John – Queens Of The Stone Age, the band’s debut album, released on September 22, 1998, offers a new vocabulary for rock ‘n’ roll. When it emerged on Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard’s Loosegroove label it sounded fresh, visceral and original, the work of a rock band like no other, which was entirely the point.

Though it didn’t drop from a clear blue sky (the influence of The Stooges is immediately apparent, as is the forceful Motorik drive imported from Krautrock heroes Can and Neu!) Homme’s desire to fashion rock music “heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls” ensure that the album has an altogether more feminine sensibility than most modern rock releases, not least in Homme’s decidedly un-macho vocals and in the swing imparted by Alfredo Hernadez’s drums.

“I wanted to do something for girls,” Homme told The Guardian. “The way I thought about it was trance robot music for girls. I wasn’t interested in the guys at all. I wanted to make something that girls could dance to that really had a freedom that Kyuss didn’t. By the end, Kyuss felt restrictive. I’d lived my whole life in Kyuss since I was a boy, and we had all these rules that were based on what you couldn’t do. And I wanted a new set of rules based on what you could.”

The opening tracks on Homme’s new declaration of independence could hardly be stronger. Regular John, an unsettling tale of obsession and dark desires, is all insistent, propulsive groove, Avon – originally recorded with Monster Magnet’s John Paul McBain and Soundgarden’s Ben Shepherd for the third release in Homme’s Desert Sessions series – builds and climbs on a stepped Led Zeppelin-esque riff, and the tambourine-heavy If Only – with its conscious echoes of The Stooges I Wanna be Your Dog – is a stripped-back tale of love gone askew.

From this elevated platform, Homme sprawls out in different directions, from the lo-fi rumble of How To Handle A Rope through the hazy narcotic surrealism of Mexicola and its depiction of a world “full of shit and gasoline” to the bouncing, off-kilter swing of the instrumental Hispanic Impressions. Perhaps most striking of all is You Can’t Quit Me Baby, a song which inverts the title of Willie Dixon’s blues classic (later re-interpreted by Led Zeppelin on their debut album), and develops into a dark stalker fantasy (“Followed you home, crawled in your window, This life is a trip when you’re psycho in love”) while simultaneously skewering fragile male egos.

For other bands, a collection of this quality might well be be a career high, but in truth, as brilliant as it is, Queens Of The Stone Age isn’t even in the top three QOTSA albums. That this is the case speaks highly to Josh Homme’s restless, inquisitive spirit and his constant desire to re-mould and evolve his band’s sound. But as debut albums go, Queens Of The Stone Age is commanding and bold, both a razing of the past and a signpost pointing towards new horizons. It still sounds like the beginning of something very special.