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David Hakopyan has one very vivid memory from the single gig his band, Soil, played. The exact date has been lost to time, but it was sometime during 1994. He’s sure of the venue, though: a New Orleans-style blues club called Fais Do-Do, located on West Adams Boulevard in Mid City, Los Angeles, 10 or 12 miles south of the North Hollywood rehearsal studio that served as Soil’s unofficial HQ.

“We used to invite people to come hang out at the studio,” says David now. “All the bros and homies would come to listen to us play and get stoned, which generated this word-of-mouth buzz that we were doing something cool. So here we were, in this inner-city blues club, surrounded by Armenian kids from Glendale and white kids from the Valley who had travelled down to see this unknown Armenian metal band.”

Most of the gig was a hot, sweaty blur, aside from that one vivid memory. “Right as we started, I’m holding this big bass chord and I realise, ‘Shit, there’s no guitar,’” says David. “I look over, and Daron has fallen off the stage and was on the ground. He had completely lost himself in the intensity of the performance, and hadn’t realised the stage rug ended where it did. He finally climbed back up, and we went straight back in it.”

What the audience at that gig didn’t realise was that they were witnessing an early flicker in the history of one of modern metal’s most successful and acclaimed bands. The Daron who ended up face-first on the floor that night was Daron Malakian, and the singer he was onstage with was a gesticulating, wild-eyed dervish named Serj Tankian. Within a few months, Soil were over, and Daron and Serj had built a new band from the ashes of their former group: System Of A Down.

“We were a good band,” says Domingo Laranio, Soil’s drummer during their short lifetime and the fourth man onstage that night. “I thought those guys would become big, but never as big as they are.”

I thought those guys would become big, but never as big as they are

Domingo Laranio

David Hakopyan was 15 when he met Serj Tankian. Both men were part of the Armenian diaspora spread across East Hollywood and nearby Glendale, though they didn’t know each other. David was auditioning to play bass in a local new wave-inspired band named Forever Young. Serj was Forever Young’s keyboard player. He was eight years older and a university graduate who had abandoned plans to become a lawyer to play music after an early midlife crisis.

“I was unloading my truck and Serj came up with a big cigar in his mouth and said, ‘Hey kid, do you need some help?’” recalls David, who got the job as Forever Young’s bassist. “I was the young, punk kid they took in. They showed me how to smoke cigarettes and be an idiot.”

Forever Young wrote their own songs and had gigs lined up. Just as important to David was the fact that they had a rehearsal space. He had put together another band on the side, Snowblind, featuring his brother Jack and another Armenian friend, drummer Andy Khachaturian.

“On the weekends, the guys from Forever Young would never show up to this rehearsal space, so I started sneaking my guys in,” he says. “It was a hustle.”

Within the small Armenian community was an even smaller group of kids who liked rock and metal. David was one, as was his schoolfriend, a lanky guy named Shavo Odadjian. Another was Daron Malakian, an aspiring singer and guitarist David had met at a party and soon recruited for Snowblind.

“I told him Daron needed a guitarist and a singer, and invited him to come by,” he says. “He came in the following Tuesday. He was a shredder at the time, but he had a very high singing voice that almost sounded like Geddy Lee from Rush.”

David wasn’t the only one who wasn’t focussed on Forever Young. Serj was getting restless: he wanted to sing and write his own songs rather than just play keyboards. He’d recently written his very first song, titled Waco Jesus, a reference to the 1993 siege at a religious compound in Waco, Texas, in which 76 members of the Branch Davidian cult died.

David and Serj began playing together outside of Forever Young, along with Daron Malakian. They found a garage to rehearse in and soon named their new project Soil.

“I remember a cousin of mine attended one of our first jams and said, ‘Man, this guy is a terrible singer, but he has so much heart that I think something is going to happen,’” says David. “And he was right. Serj truly meant what he sang. He was incredibly passionate.”

Domingo Laranio was the odd man out in Soil, at least culturally. He was originally from Hawaii, and had already played in a string of bands both in Honolulu and LA. Like Serj, he was nearly a decade older than the teenage David and Daron. His entry into Soil came via a ‘band needs drummer’ ad in local LA newspaper Music Connection.

“I got to their rehearsal garage and set up my drums, but we didn’t start playing right away,” Domingo says. “Serj insisted on playing me a cassette of this song he had written about Waco – it wasn’t the usual stuff about girls and cars. I could see that Daron and Dave were really young and pretty green, but they had that excitement to them.”

Finally, the talk stopped and the four of them started playing. Domingo was closer in age to Serj, but he recalls feeling an instant musical connection with Daron.

“It was like this lightbulb went on: ‘I can really get a connection with this guy and feed off him,’” says Domingo. “We were just bouncing ideas of each other really fast. It was just the riffs and the energy of the guitar.”

That first jam seemed to be a success. Domingo began taking down his kit, expecting he’d get a call in a few days letting him know their decision.

“I’m packing up my stuff and Daron looked at me and said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m leaving because I’m done, right?’’’ And they went, ‘No, no, no, you’re in the band. Stay. Leave everything here.’ That’s not how an audition normally works – you usually get a callback.”

Soil were prolific from the start. Daron shouldered much of the songwriting burden. “He’d sit at home all day watching the soap opera As the World Turns and just write riffs,” says David. “Because Daron was also a singer, he tended to bring in more structurally complete songs. Serj spent every day writing poetry to channel his frustrations.”

It was riff after riff, with Serj shouting

David Hakopyan

The songs Soil were coming up with were a wild clash of unlikely influences. But even at that early stage, the roots of System Of A Down’s music were audible.

“Daron was heavily into Slayer, whereas I was into Frank Zappa,” says David. “It was riff after riff, with Serj shouting. We loved it. I remember one specific song that had 11 distinct parts. It was self-indulgent and a bit goofy, but the lyrics were incredibly strong.”

The job of shaping this mad sound fell in part to Domingo, the most musically experienced member of Soil. “He would construct beats against our parts and push us to write riffs in that style,” says David of the drummer. “To this day, Daron cites him as one of his biggest influences.”

The LA music scene at the time was in a period of transformation. Hair metal’s imperious reign over the Sunset Strip was long over, replaced by an emerging strain of alternative metal – Rage Against The Machine were the new kings of the scene, while Tool were making waves.

Soil themselves were creating their own mini-scene, centred around their North Hollywood rehearsal space. “We’d smoke weed, get wasted, and write music every single day for months on end,” says David. “We would just invite people to come hang out at the studio.”

One of those people was David’s old school friend, Shavo Odadjian. “Shavo was there the very first time we jammed,” says David. “He watched us play and said, ‘Dude, this is dope. What you guys are doing is great. I want to be a part of it and help push it.’”

Shavo played rhythm guitar at the time, but he was never a member of the band. Instead, he took on the role of de facto manager and hype man. It was a role he took seriously. “Shavo was like our cheerleader,” says Domingo.

It wasn’t just Soil’s buddies who recognised they had something going on. “We had this roll-up door at the rehearsal garage, which we kept up while we played,” says Domingo. “One day we were jamming and this older white guy stopped outside and just stood there. We all stared at him, and he went, ‘Wow, that sounds really good.’”

They never found out who the passer-by was. But his instincts were on the money.

No one involved in Soil can remember exactly how long the band lasted. Serj Tankian has put it in previous interviews at eight months. David Hakopyan says it could be a year or even a little longer. The only thing people agree on is that they played just one show, that gig at Fais Do-Do where Daron fell offstage.

Soil ended when both Domingo and David left. The drummer’s departure was precipitated by a massive 6.7 earthquake that hit the San Fernando Valley in early 1994 that left 60 people dead.

“My wife was pregnant and it scared the shit out of her,” says the drummer. “She wanted out of LA. I had to prioritise my family. Serj was, like, ‘What do I need to do to keep you here? Find you a place to live?’ It wasn’t a matter of not wanting to stay. It was either leave the band or get divorced.” Domingo and his wife eventually moved back to Hawaii.

David had little choice in the matter of leaving Soil either, though for different reasons. “I was asked to leave,” he says. “I remember them telling me, ‘You aren’t angry enough, you don’t play angry.’ I was, like, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not that angry a person.”’

“I was sad,” he continues. “It was like being a kid and your friends ask you to stop coming to the clubhouse. But I called Shavo and said, ‘I think you could step in as bass player, you’re incredibly excited about the project as well as just managing it,” he says. “He thought it was a cool idea.”

David quickly landed in a new group, Middle Earth, whose line-up included another Armenian kid, a drummer named John Dolmayan. Daron, Serj and Shavo, meanwhile, recruited Andy Khachaturian, who had played with David and Daron in Snowblind, to replace the departed Domingo.

I was sad. It was like being a kid and your friends ask you to stop coming to the clubhouse

David Hakopyan

The newly christened System Of A Down – a name taken from a poem Daron had written titled Victims Of A Down – played their debut gig on May 28, 1995, at Sunset Strip club The Roxy. That show featured several tracks that would eventually appear on System’s self-titled 1998 debut album, including Sugar, Suite-Pee, P.L.U.C.K and the song named after their previous band, Soil.

“It was a Sunday night, and we had just finished recording a demo for Middle Earth,” says David, who was at that first show. “I told John that we needed to go support my friends’ new project. John just did not like their performance at all. He had this look on his face like he was constipated.”

As with Soil, System would throw open the doors of the rehearsal space they shared with Middle Earth to friends and fans. “Word-of-mouth spread among local kids that you could grab some beers and spend the entire night hanging out at the System or Middle Earth studio while we jammed,” says David.

System began playing gigs in Hollywood and beyond. The buzz was turbocharged by Shavo, who hustled their name around town, helping secure gigs at venues such as the Whisky A Go-Go and the Coconut Teazer as well as passing out flyers and copies of their first two demos tapes to fans to circulate. “Those kids were incredibly prominent in that early scene, handing out flyers everywhere,” says David.

By 1996, Shavo had handed over the reins to hotshot young manager David ‘Beno’ Benveniste, becoming his first clients. Labels began circling, among them American Recordings. The latter’s boss saw them play at the Viper Room.

“I laughed the whole show,” American Records boss Rick Rubin told YouTuber Rick Beato. “It was ridiculous! But I loved it. But any thoughts of, ‘This could be big,’ you can’t have that thought. It would be insane.”

Word had filtered through to Domingo Laranio in Hawaii that his old bandmates were on the verge of getting a deal.

“The first inkling I got was when people back then started telling me, ‘Somebody from a record company is taking them out to steak and lobster dinners and pitching to them.’ I was thinking, ‘All right!’ I was happy for them.”

There was one problem, namely issues with drummer Andy Khachaturian. “I immediately told John that he needed to step in because they were preparing to showcase for Rick Rubin,” says David. “John was reluctant, but I insisted he do it because they needed his calibre of drumming.”

John Dolmayan took the job, System Of A Down signed to American Recordings soon after, and their self-titled debut album came out in 1998 to widespread acclaim in the metal press. These weird Armenian kids who sounded like Slayer colliding with Frank Zappa had made it.

David Hakopyan, who went on to form a new band, The Apex Theory with Andy Khachaturian and currently fronts Antenna The End, is still friends with his with his old bandmates. He’s sitting on a tape of what turned out to be Soil’s final rehearsal. “About two or three years ago, Serj asked me to digitise it, though I don’t know if it will ever be released,” says.

His former Soil bandmate Domingo Laranio, the man who chose family over potential fame, looks back on his part in System Of A Down’s early history with a similar lack of regret. “You think about how much your life could have changed. But would you change what you have now, if it meant you never met your wife and your kids? It would mean a whole different timeline. These people were my friends. I’m just happy for them.”

Dave Kendall, the journalist and former MTV VJ who created and hosted the iconic alternative rock video show 120 Minutes, has died. Matt Pinfield, who served as a 120 Minutes host years after Kendall, shared the news of his passing on Instagram last night. Right now, the circumstances of Kendall’s passing and his are are unknown.

The post Dave Kendall, MTV VJ And <em>120 Minutes</em> Creator, Has Died appeared first on Stereogum.

Healing Vibes Collective recently shared their beautiful new cinematic instrumental single, “Walking in a Painting,” officially released on

There are plenty of great blues rock songs, plenty of unforgettable guitar solos and no shortage of legendary guitarists. Perfect guitar tone, however, is a different conversation entirely.

Tone is deeply personal. Ask ten players what the greatest guitar sound of all time is and you’re likely to hear ten different answers. Some gravitate toward the thick sustain of a Les Paul through a Marshall stack, while others prefer the articulate bite of a Stratocaster pushed through an old Fender amp. Some crave crystal-clear cleans. Others want a wall of harmonically rich overdrive that sings with every bend.

Still, there are certain recordings that have become nearly universal reference points. These are the songs guitarists use when testing new amplifiers. They’re the recordings engineers study when dialing in sounds. They’re the performances that have inspired countless players to spend years chasing “that tone.”

The songs on this list represent different eras and different approaches to blues rock. Some were recorded with surprisingly simple setups. Others relied on carefully assembled collections of vintage equipment. Yet the common thread isn’t the gear. It’s the unmistakable voice each guitarist created. Within seconds of hearing these recordings, you know exactly who’s playing.

Here are ten blues rock songs with guitar tones that continue to set the standard.

Rory Gallagher – “A Million Miles Away”

Some guitar tones are polished to perfection. Rory Gallagher’s was anything but, and that’s exactly why it remains so captivating. Recorded for Irish Tour ’74, “A Million Miles Away” captures Gallagher at his absolute best. His battered 1961 Fender Stratocaster, stripped of much of its original finish after years of relentless touring, had developed a personality all its own. Through cranked amplifiers, it produced a sound that felt raw without becoming harsh, warm without losing definition.

What separates Gallagher from so many of his peers is how dynamic his tone remained throughout the performance. The guitar seems to breathe alongside him. During quieter passages, every note carries remarkable clarity and warmth. As the intensity builds, the amp begins to compress naturally, adding grit and sustain without ever sounding overly distorted.

His touch is just as important as the equipment. Gallagher attacked the strings with conviction, yet he never sacrificed nuance. Gentle passages still retained body, while aggressive picking unleashed a snarling edge that few Stratocasters have ever produced.

Even decades later, the recording feels alive in a way many modern productions struggle to replicate.

Stevie Ray Vaughan – “Texas Flood”

Few recordings have influenced modern blues guitar as profoundly as “Texas Flood.” The title track from Texas Flood announced Stevie Ray Vaughan as a once-in-a-generation talent, but it also introduced guitar players to one of the biggest, boldest Stratocaster tones ever committed to tape. Every note seems to leap from the speakers with astonishing authority.

Vaughan famously played with exceptionally heavy strings and attacked the instrument with tremendous force. That physical approach became an essential ingredient in his sound. Even when using overdrive, his notes never collapsed into mud. Chords remained articulate, single-note runs retained remarkable clarity and every bend carried enormous weight.

Vaughan could move from whisper-quiet phrases to explosive climaxes simply by changing his touch. Perhaps the greatest compliment to this tone is how often guitarists still try to recreate it. Walk into almost any blues jam today and you’ll eventually hear someone chasing the sound Vaughan achieved on this recording. Very few ever come close because the secret wasn’t hidden inside a pedal or amplifier. It lived in the player’s hands.

Gary Moore – “Still Got the Blues”

The opening notes of “Still Got the Blues” have become one of the defining sounds of electric guitar. Gary Moore crafted a lead tone that somehow balanced incredible sustain with remarkable sensitivity. His famous 1959 Gibson Les Paul, paired with roaring Marshall amplification, produced a voice that felt almost vocal in its delivery.

Many players associate great tone with heavy distortion, but Moore demonstrated that saturation alone isn’t enough. His sound remained focused and articulate no matter how long a note sustained. Every bend swelled naturally before dissolving into controlled feedback, creating the illusion that the guitar itself was singing.

The production also deserves recognition. Rather than burying the guitar beneath layers of effects, the mix gives Moore’s instrument room to breathe. Every subtle vibrato movement and every change in pick attack remains audible, allowing listeners to appreciate the incredible dynamics behind the performance.

What makes this recording especially timeless is its emotional honesty. Moore wasn’t simply showing off technical ability. His tone became another instrument of expression, capable of conveying heartbreak, longing and triumph without a single lyric. That’s why so many players continue to reference this song whenever the conversation turns to great Les Paul tones.

Robin Trower – “Bridge of Sighs”

Some guitar tones are instantly recognizable from the very first note. Robin Trower’s sound on “Bridge of Sighs” belongs in that rare category.

The title track from Bridge of Sighs is built around a tone that feels almost three-dimensional. Trower’s Fender Stratocaster creates a thick, swirling sound that remains warm and articulate no matter how much sustain pours from the speakers. Every note seems to bloom before slowly dissolving into the next phrase.

His touch is equally important. Trower attacks the strings with confidence but never excess, producing a singing sustain that’s smooth without becoming overly compressed. The slight modulation adds depth rather than distraction, giving the guitar an almost haunting quality that perfectly complements the song’s dark atmosphere.

“Bridge of Sighs” remains one of the definitive examples of Stratocaster tone. It’s a recording that has inspired generations of players to chase that elusive combination of warmth, sustain and clarity, and few songs have ever captured it so completely.

Joe Bonamassa – “Sloe Gin”

Joe Bonamassa has built a career around extraordinary guitar tone, but “Sloe Gin” may represent the finest example of his modern blues sound. Bonamassa’s Les Paul produces a thick, harmonically rich voice that never becomes muddy, even during the song’s most emotionally charged moments. A single bend can linger for several seconds, gradually blooming into musical feedback before gently fading away. That ability to let the instrument breathe gives the performance tremendous emotional weight.

His rig has become legendary among gear enthusiasts, featuring an ever-changing collection of vintage amplifiers and guitars. Yet what listeners ultimately remember isn’t the equipment. It’s the unmistakable voice coming through the speakers. Bonamassa has developed a tone that’s unmistakably rooted in blues tradition while still sounding entirely his own.

The recording also highlights just how refined modern blues rock production can be. Every nuance remains intact, from the delicate pick attack during quieter passages to the soaring lead lines that define the song’s dramatic climax. The solo is absolutely killer.

Dan Patlansky – “Only an Ocean”

Dan Patlansky has long been regarded as one of the finest blues rock guitarists outside the United States, and “Only an Ocean” is a perfect example of why. While many players chase massive walls of gain, Patlansky proves that exceptional tone is often about balance, touch and restraint. The song showcases a guitar sound that’s rich and expressive from the opening notes. His Stratocaster-inspired tone carries plenty of warmth, but there’s also an unmistakable bite that allows every phrase to cut through the mix without ever becoming harsh. It’s a beautifully balanced sound that feels equally at home in a blues club or on a festival stage.

In an era where digital processing can often smooth away a guitar’s personality, “Only an Ocean” feels refreshingly authentic. It’s the kind of recording that reminds listeners great tone isn’t measured by how much gain you use, but by how much emotion you can deliver with every note. More listeners in North America need to hear Patlansky’s sound.

King King – “A Long History of Love”

Few modern blues rock bands have cultivated a guitar tone as rich and expressive as King King, and “A Long History of Love” stands as one of the finest examples of Alan Nimmo’s unmistakable sound. Nimmo doesn’t rely on excessive gain to make an impression. Instead, his guitar breathes with every note, producing a thick, vocal quality that perfectly complements the song’s emotional weight.

Nimmo has an uncanny ability to let the guitar sing without overplaying, allowing sustained notes to bloom naturally before resolving into melodic phrases that feel effortless. His bends are expressive, his vibrato is confident and every phrase serves the song rather than simply showcasing technical ability.

“A Long History of Love” is a reminder that some of the best guitar tones in blues rock aren’t confined to the genre’s classic era. Nimmo combines vintage-inspired warmth with modern refinement, creating a sound that’s instantly recognizable and deeply expressive. It’s the kind of tone that draws you into the song from the very first note and never lets go. While the recording is great, the song sounds even better live.

Cream – “Sunshine of Your Love”

Few guitar tones have been as influential as Eric Clapton’s work on “Sunshine of Your Love.” More than half a century after its release, the song remains one of the defining sounds of British blues rock and one of the recordings that changed the way generations of guitarists approached overdriven tone.

Released on Disraeli Gears, the track introduced listeners to Clapton’s famous “woman tone,” a thick, singing sound created by rolling back the guitar’s tone controls while pushing a cranked Marshall amplifier into smooth overdrive. The result was a voice that felt powerful yet refined, with enough sustain to let every note bloom without becoming harsh or brittle.

The iconic opening riff is a perfect example of why the tone has endured. It’s heavy without being muddy, warm without sounding dark and articulate enough that every note punches through the mix. Even after thousands of listens, those opening bars retain the same authority they had in 1967.

Jimi Hendrix – “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”

There are legendary guitar tones, and then there’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” From the moment Hendrix strikes the opening notes, the guitar doesn’t just sound powerful. It sounds alive. More than half a century after its release, it’s still one of the most recognizable electric guitar tones ever recorded. The song is a showcase for everything that made Hendrix a revolutionary player. His Stratocaster roars through cranked Marshall amplifiers with a thick, harmonically rich overdrive that somehow remains remarkably articulate. Every note retains its clarity, even as the amp pushes into controlled chaos.

Hendrix also demonstrates complete command of his effects. His use of the wah pedal is expressive rather than gimmicky, almost making the guitar sound as though it’s speaking. Combined with subtle manipulation of the guitar’s volume knob and relentless control of feedback, he creates an astonishing range of textures throughout the performance without ever losing the song’s momentum.

The solo is a masterclass in dynamics. Hendrix moves effortlessly from stinging blues phrases to explosive flurries of notes before settling back into the unmistakable groove that anchors the track. His aggressive pick attack gives the guitar incredible bite, while his signature vibrato and wide bends add an emotional intensity that’s impossible to duplicate.

Perhaps what’s most impressive is how modern the recording still sounds. Despite being released in 1968, the tone remains massive, organic and endlessly inspiring. Countless guitarists have attempted to recreate it with vintage gear, boutique pedals and digital modelers, yet few have captured the raw energy Hendrix unleashed on “Voodoo Child (Slight Return).” It’s a performance that didn’t simply define blues rock guitar tone. It helped redefine what the electric guitar itself was capable of becoming.

ZZ Top – “Just Got Paid”

Billy Gibbons has spent decades proving that massive guitar tone doesn’t require massive amounts of distortion. His playing on “Just Got Paid” remains one of the greatest examples of how touch, phrasing and perfectly chosen equipment can produce a sound that’s instantly recognizable. The recording helped establish ZZ Top’s unmistakable blend of Texas blues and hard-driving rock. Gibbons delivers a tone that’s thick and muscular, yet remarkably articulate. Every note punches through the mix with authority, whether he’s digging into a gritty rhythm riff or firing off one of his trademark lead fills.

One of the most impressive aspects of Gibbons’ tone is its balance. It has plenty of bite, but it never becomes abrasive. There’s warmth underneath the overdrive that keeps the guitar sounding rich and full, even during the song’s heavier moments. His economical phrasing only enhances the effect. Gibbons has never needed a barrage of notes to make an impression because every phrase carries weight.

“Just Got Paid” still sounds enormous. It’s a reminder that perfect guitar tone isn’t always about complexity. Sometimes it’s simply about plugging into the right amp, turning it up and letting an unmistakable musical personality do the rest.

The post 10 Blues Rock Songs with Perfect Guitar Tone appeared first on Blues Rock Review.

It’s the songs. A lot of indie bands these days are filtering ’90s alt-rock inspo through the lens of Alex G-era Bandcamp, but Swapmeet have the tunes to set them apart from the pack. The Adelaide quartet’s 24-year-old members share songwriting duties and often switch instruments, running the gamut from whispery beauty to explosive abrasion without ever losing the identity they’ve honed since first joining forces as teens. After signing with the reliably great Los Angeles indie label Winspear, they’ve spent half a year rolling out their debut album Mount Zero, and each subsequent single has further affirmed their mastery of the form.

The post Band To Watch: Swapmeet appeared first on Stereogum.

Cradle Of Filth have announced “Majestic In Death II,” the second North American leg of their ongoing tour, with support from Moonspell, Worm, and Black Satellite. The trek kicks off here on September 29 and wraps October 28 in Colorado Springs, with the run built around the 30th anniversary of the band’s landmark 1996 album, “Dusk… And Her Embrace.” Presales begin July 16, with general on-sale following July 17.

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The Majestic In Death II Tour Schedule

Cradle Of Filth announced the run on social media with characteristic bluntness: “More filth North America? We heard you!” The band confirmed select cuts from “Dusk… And Her Embrace” will appear throughout the set alongside the usual catalog staples. Full schedule below:

Sep. 29 – San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
Sep. 30 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
Oct. 02 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival
Oct. 03 – Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
Oct. 04 – Seattle, WA – Substation
Oct. 06 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theatre
Oct. 07 – Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
Oct. 08 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
Oct. 09 – Butte, MT – Covellite Theatre
Oct. 11 – Des Moines, IA – Val Air Ballroom
Oct. 12 – Davenport, IA – Capitol Theatre
Oct. 14 – Toronto, ON – The Opera House
Oct. 15 – Montreal, QC – Beanfield Theatre
Oct. 16 – Norwalk, CT – District Music Hall
Oct. 17 – Sayreville, NJ – Starland Ballroom
Oct. 19 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
Oct. 20 – Boston, MA – Big Night Live
Oct. 21 – Wilmington, DE – The Queen
Oct. 22 – Brooklyn, NY – Warsaw
Oct. 24 – Allentown, PA – Archer Music Hall
Oct. 25 – Cleveland, OH – House of Blues
Oct. 26 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s
Oct. 28 – Colorado Springs, CO – Sunshine Studios Live

Celebrating 30 Years Of ‘Dusk… And Her Embrace’

The anniversary framing matters — “Dusk… And Her Embrace” is widely regarded as one of the records that fused black metal aggression with gothic theatricality into something entirely new, a record Loaded Radio has called a crucial link between extreme metal and gothic aesthetics. Thirty years on, the band is still actively touring behind that legacy while pushing new material: their 14th studio album, “The Screaming Of The Valkyries,” arrived in March 2025 via Napalm Records, produced by longtime collaborator Scott Atkins at Grindstone Studios in Suffolk. The band also released “Trouble And Their Double Lives” in 2023 — their first live album in over two decades, drawn from performances recorded between 2014 and 2019 across the “Cryptoriana” era and beyond.

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A Tour Amid Ongoing Legal Turmoil

This tour arrives while Cradle Of Filth is still navigating real off-stage turbulence. Six former members — including guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda, keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff, and former keyboardist Lindsay Schoolcraft, who spoke candidly about her time in the band on the Loaded Radio Podcast — filed suit against Dani Filth and the band’s management last year, alleging unpaid royalties and unauthorized use of their names and likenesses. Loaded Radio has covered the dispute in detail here, including the band’s response.

Asked about the ongoing situation in a new interview with Hot Metal, Dani Filth was unbothered: “We just ignored it. We actually, as people, as a band, as me, had done absolutely zero wrong. It was blown out of proportion… We’ve done an American tour, we’ve done summer festivals, we’re firing on all cylinders. Cradle are back.” He was characteristically blunt about lineup turnover in general: “Nobody really complains in the workplace if somebody leaves the office or the record label they’re working for or the radio show or magazine. It’s just a case of mutate and survive. We evolve. We evolve and move on.”

Meet The Support Acts

Portuguese gothic metal veterans Moonspell bring their own three-decade pedigree to the run — formed in 1992, the band built its reputation on atmospheric, folk-inflected gothic metal fronted by Fernando Ribeiro’s distinctive vocals. Worm and Black Satellite round out the bill, giving the tour real range across the darker end of the metal spectrum on top of Cradle Of Filth’s own genre-blurring set.

Check This Out – Black Metal Bands Unleashed: The 13 Most Influential Masters of Brutal Metal

TL;DR

• Cradle Of Filth announced “Majestic In Death II,” the second North American leg of their current tour
• The run kicks off September 29 in San Diego and wraps October 28 in Colorado Springs
• Moonspell, Worm, and Black Satellite provide support
• The tour marks the 30th anniversary of 1996’s “Dusk… And Her Embrace,” with select tracks featured in the setlist
• Presales begin July 16, general on-sale July 17
• The tour continues amid an ongoing lawsuit from six former band members over pay, royalties, and likeness use

FAQ

30 years of “Dusk… And Her Embrace” — are you catching this tour to hear those tracks live? Let us know in the comments. Follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post Cradle Of Filth Announce Fall Tour With Moonspell And Worm appeared first on Loaded Radio.

Jelly Roll’s catalog spans Southern hip-hop, country, rock, and crossover hits, reflecting one of modern music’s most unconventional careers. This complete A-to-Z guide catalogs his officially released songs, collaborations, and soundtrack appearances across an evolving discography. Jason Bradley DeFord, professionally known as Jelly Roll, grew up in the Antioch neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. His path to stardom didn’t follow a traditional arc—he carved out his name in the gritty underground rap scenes of the South long before he crossed over into country and rock. The hardships of his youth, including repeated incarceration as a teenager, would go on to shape

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Bloodstock Bound: Dosed

As Bloodstock gets closer, we delve deep into the line up to find out more about some of the bands playing the New Blood and EMP stages at this years event.

Today we chat with Dosed

Please introduce yourselves.

What’s up! We are Dosed and we’re made up of Paul aka Foz on vocals, Rhys and Paul aka Noodles on Guitar, Dai on bass guitar and our drummer Tom aka Chong.

How would you describe your sound?

It’s a bit of a weird one. We’re like a happily misplaced band I guess but we’d probably describe our selves as a thrashy hardcore punk band with fast punk/hc-esque beats that flow throughout with straight headbanging and circle pitted riffery and a sprinkle of sludge or doom for the slow (old) dancers amongst us.

How did you land your spot on the Bloodstock bill?

We’d like to think that all the hard work we’ve put into this band over the past couple of years, since our conception has paid off but it’s probably also a stroke of luck that Simon Hall picked us out of a list of millions of applicants. Either way we’re stoked about it!

What does playing at Bloodstock mean to you?

Playing Bloodstock, especially on its 25th anniversary is a dream. In our eyes BS is the top festival for proper metal and underground roots bands in the UK. There are bigger festivals out there, yes.. but none with bollox this big.

For people who’ve never seen you live, what can they expect at Bloodstock?

We’ve heard there were dinosaurs in the circle pit at the EMP tent in previous years so we’re expecting to see more of that! But what people can expect to see is a siege. We bring the riffs. We bring real rage. Fast circle pits and moshing to chugs and riffs. Mounted walls of death. Last man standing kinda shit. If that makes no sense come along and bring a mate, it soon will!

What day are you performing?

We’ve got a Saturday slot although we haven’t been given an official time a lot as of yet.

What other bands are you looking forward to watching at Bloodstock this year?

We’re all looking forward to seeing a whole bunch of different bands between us.

Body Count, Overpower, Stampin Ground and Flayed Disciple all get a regular mention when we chat about who we’re gonna try and catch while we’re there.

Playing the EMP Stage is just the first steppingstone in a bands journey. What’s next in your plans for world domination?

We’re gonna keep hammering shows around the UK as we have been doing. We’d like to stretch our reach and get off the island and in to Europe. America. Japan. Australia. All of it. Bring it on!

Are you camping with the fans? Which campsite are you heading for?

It’ll be the artist camping area for us. A few of us are gonna do the sensible thing and rent a room for the weekend too. We’re gonna be out roaming and you never know who’s camp we’ll end up chilling in.

You’ve gotta keep hydrated at Bloodstock, what is your drink of choice for the weekend?

Water. That’s the responsible answer. Rum fits the festival nicely. Beers. Beers. Mosh pit tears.

See you at Bloodstock in a few weeks!

Can’t fuckin wait!

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The only announced guests for Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show Tuesday were Matt Damon, promoting The Odyssey, and Anthony Michael Hall, promoting, uh, Nation’s Dumbest. But at the end of the show, there were Phoebe Bridgers and a bunch of kids.

The post Phoebe Bridgers Plays “Lost Boys” With Kids In Surprise <em>Tonight Show</em> Performance appeared first on Stereogum.

These bands left a lasting mark on hair metal, even if the lineups that built their legacies didn't last. Continue reading…