Blog

Fresh from their first-ever festival, Eddfest, which took place at Knebworth this past weekend, Iron Maiden have revealed details of a huge business partnership with Pophouse Entertainment.

The band have sold a stake in their publishing rights and master music rights, as well as their name, image, and likeness rights, to the Swedish company – they are the founding investors and brains behind the ABBA Voyage virtual show in London.

This means that Iron Maiden can “pursue new creative ventures that connect with existing fans as well as bringing their extensive catalogue to new audiences” over the next decade.

“I am very excited about our relationship with Pophouse and the ability we now have to pursue, facilitate, and finance our many plans and dreams quicker than we ever hoped,” said manager Rod Smallwood. “The interest in the band has never been bigger, and this strategic partnership, which we’ve been quietly working together on now for over a year, has already had results with the progress on the ‘Infinite Dreams Museum’ and the filming of the current show.”

“Rod and Andy [Taylor, joint CEOs of Phantom Music] have always encouraged and inspired us to take chances in developing Eddie and the worlds he inhabits, such as horror, gaming, or comic books,” adds Dave Shack, Managing Director of Phantom Music and Iron Maiden co-manager. “The band provides the cornerstone of what Maiden is – superlative music and incredible live shows, and the Phantom team have focused on developing parts of Maiden lore that we think our fans will embrace and enjoy. Such Maiden-related initiatives include an award-winning mobile game, a global fan club offering, a vibrant drinks business, books and comics, and, of course, merchandising in all its forms. It’s absolutely one of the greatest sandpits for a creative to play in – and Pophouse have already shown they belong in it.”

For our review of Eddfest, go here.

Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick, equally renowned as a composer and improviser across metal and jazz, spoke about some of his earliest guitar influences in a new interview with Rad Jet.

Skolnick said (transcribed by Blabbermouth): “Going back, when I first started playing at 10 years old, I would say my first two or three years I was really focused on songs, and I didn’t know if I wanted to be a rhythm guitar player, singer, or a lead guitarist. I was more into John Lennon, Paul Stanley, Elvis [Presley]. I loved ’50s rock.

“Although Chuck Berry, he really inspired me to play guitar. He was in a movie called ‘American Hot Wax’. Yeah. And then I later made the connection: ‘Oh, he inspired The Beatles, he inspired AC/DC, he inspired Kiss.’ But he was really my idea of a lead guitarist until I heard Van Halen.

“And when I heard Van Halen, it was a few years after the debut. And this was already the early ’80s, so say, like, ’82 or so. I’m 13. They were already on, like, album four or five. But that was when I first heard that debut album, and then I had that same experience that many people talk about having in 1978 when the needle hit the vinyl and ‘Eruption’ [came on].

“I mean, ‘Runnin’ With The Devil’ was enough just ’cause of the tone, and the solo in that, it’s a composed solo, so it’s overshadowed by a lot of [Eddie Van Halen’s] other [stuff]… But that is amazing, too. I mean, nobody played like that. He already paved new ground just with ‘Runnin’ With The Devil’. And then, of course, ‘Eruption’ happened and then, okay. The world has changed.”

Skolnick added: “The Beatles [were] probably [my] biggest [early influence], or Kiss as well, and Chuck Berry, all of those. But then it quickly evolved into Van Halen, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, AC/DC.

“I think [AC/DC lead guitarist] Angus Young actually deserves a lot more credit. He’s a guy that gets a lot of attention more as a performer. But he’s a really fantastic musician. And [late AC/DC guitarist] Malcolm [Young], too, may he rest in peace… And Eddie Van Halen cited [Malcolm] as one of his favorite musicians. And they were close friends too.”

One of the elite guitar shredders of the 1980s, Skolnick was famously a student of Joe Satriani alongside Steve Vai and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, and was sought out by Ozzy Osbourne, playing a gig with the Black Sabbath legend in the U.K. in 1995. Skolnick joined Testament in 1985 at age 16, stayed for eight years before departing in 1993, and went on to study at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.

Skolnick’s long-running Brooklyn-based jazz-rock band Alex Skolnick Trio (AST) recently released its sixth album, Prove You’re Not A Robot, via Flatiron Recordings. Alongside Skolnick’s inventive guitar work, bassist Nathan Peck and drummer Matt Zebroski bring rhythmic complexity and emotional depth, with odd-time signatures and genre twists that have become AST hallmarks. Since forming in the early 2000s, AST has reimagined the jazz guitar trio by melding influences as far-reaching as Wes Montgomery, Black Sabbath, Prince, tango, calypso, and Western swing, earning praise from Billboard, Downbeat, Jazziz, The Village Voice, and NPR.

The post TESTAMENT’S ALEX SKOLNICK Names His Earliest Guitar Influences appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

(written by Islander) The Swedish group Teratum rose up from the ashes of the band Beastiality in 2024, and the next year they viciously announced themselves with a two-song promo tape made available in extremely small quantities. They are now following that with a debut EP named Ordnance of Spiritual Warfare, which will be widely […]

The post AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: TERATUM — “TOTAL VOID” appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

For over a decade now, Jake Xerxes Fussell’s records have been making traditional folk music come alive for modern ears. Today he’s announcing his latest, The Old Beloved Path, set for release on Fat Possum this fall. The lead single is out now, a contemporary take on “Rock Island Line” that transforms the American traditional into a tender alt-country ballad.

The post Jake Xerxes Fussell Announces New Album <em>The Old Beloved Path</em>: Hear “Rock Island Line” appeared first on Stereogum.

The release includes the album’s first-ever vinyl pressing, a previously unreleased track, and the restored “Eighth Lock” music video.

Source

The post Album Of The Week: Quicksand <em>Bring On The Psychics</em> appeared first on Stereogum.

We sat down with some of the biggest names on the lineup backstage at 2000trees at Upcote Farm, Cheltenham.

Don Broco

PUP

The post 2000trees Festival 2026: Backstage Interviews appeared first on Rock Sound.

Asia guitarist John Mitchell has announced what will be the very final Lonely Robot album, aptly titled, An Ending, will be released through White Knight Records on September 11.

Mitchell has shared new video for This World Window, the first track from the upcoming album, which features the sad refrain, “I’m a lonely robot, and I’ve come to say goodbye…”, and which you can watch below.

“With this album, I wanted to close the circle of the Lonely Robot universe and bring back some of the elements that inspired the initial writing process,” Mitchell says. “I hope Lonely Robot fans find this to be a fitting epilogue to the most creative decade of my life.”

Inspired by the single image of Carl Sagan’s now-legendary pale blue dot, Mitchell has released five albums under the Lonely Robot banner since 2015’s Please Come Home debut. The first three looked outward at our species, while the fourth and fifth turned the lens inward, as the same frailties the astronaut had observed in humanity, he began to recognise in himself.

Mitchell handles vocals, guitars, bass guitar and keyboards on the new record, while his Frost* pal Craig Blundell features on drums and Jez Fielder on additional guitar on The River and Rearview.

All songs have been written, recorded, produced, mixed and mastered by John Mitchell, except The River and Rearview, by John Mitchell and Jez Fielder, and bonus track Synthetic was written by Tim McEwan and Tyler Lyle (The Midnight).

An Ending will be released on special limited edition coloured double vinyl and CD, with artwork, which you can see below, by Graeme Purdy Bell – Planet Twig.

Pre-order An Ending.

Lonely Robot: An Ending
1. This World Window
2. Show The Way
3. Back To The Middle
4. An Ocean Light
5. Ad Astra
6. Where In The World
7. Twin Suns
8. The River
9. Rearview
10. Bending Light
11. The Iron Sea
12. Oblique
13. Synthetic (Bonus track – vinyl only)

The two Chicago-born bands teamed up to deliver over three dozen songs. Continue reading…

Nickelback are back with a new single, “Rattle the Cage,” and news that their eleventh studio album, “Everything Under the Sun,” arrives October 30. The song features a guest guitar cameo from Mötley Crüe’s John 5, and marks the band’s first new music since 2022’s “Get Rollin’.”

STREAM THE METAL BREAKDOWN DAILY NOW:

Catch Scott Penfold every weekday morning breaking down the latest hard rock and heavy metal news on the Metal Breakdown Daily. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play to stream it live.

‘Rattle The Cage’ Introduces Nickelback’s Next Era

“Rattle the Cage” is a straightforward statement of intent — thunderous drumming from Daniel Adair, gritty guitar work, and Chad Kroeger’s unmistakable rasp driving a chorus built around the line “rattle the cage until it falls.” Kroeger described the track as a mission statement for the album’s whole approach: “This album has every side of the band on it.

There are songs that hit as hard as anything we’ve ever done, songs that take chances and songs that remind us why we’ve been doing this together for so long.” On the single specifically, he added: “Rattle The Cage felt like the perfect way to kick the door open. It has the energy we’ve been feeding off every night onstage and we can’t wait for people to hear it.”

John 5’s Nickelback Cameo Isn’t As Random As It Looks

A Mötley Crüe guitarist showing up on a Nickelback single might look like an odd pairing at first glance, but John 5 has built a career on exactly this kind of guest spot. Beyond his day job — he’s been Mötley Crüe’s guitarist since stepping in for Mick Mars in 2022 and becoming a full member the following year — John 5 has racked up an almost absurd list of recent collaborations, including guitar work for Dolly Parton, Sebastian Bach, Tommy Lee’s solo project, and the late Peter Criss.

Add in his prior decades-long runs with Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie, plus his own catalog of eleven instrumental solo albums, and “Rattle the Cage” is really just the latest entry in one of the busiest guest-guitarist résumés in rock right now.

Check This Out – 13 Perfect Metal Albums With Zero Skips

‘Everything Under the Sun’ — What We Know

Nickelback’s eleventh album follows 2022’s “Get Rollin’,” which — worth noting for context the band’s critics tend to skip — still debuted at No. 2 across Current Rock, Alternative, Hard Music, and Digital Album charts, hit the UK Top 10, and topped the chart outright in Switzerland. “Everything Under the Sun” arrives via Virgin Music Group, a shift from “Get Rollin’”‘s home at BMG — worth watching as the album cycle develops. The 12-track record is led by “Rattle the Cage” and includes songs titled “Bones for the Crows,” “Chasin’ Famous,” and “Technicolor Steamboat.” Pre-orders are live now, with the album due October 30.

“Everything Under the Sun” track listing:

1. “Rattle the Cage” (with John 5)
2. “Bones for the Crows”
3. “I Already Know”
4. “Leave Me Behind”
5. “If I Don’t Go”
6. “Make Me Love You”
7. “Chasin’ Famous”
8. “Simple Song”
9. “Technicolor Steamboat”
10. “Lift Somebody Up”
11. “Bottled Dreams”
12. “Last Night Was Fun”

About That Metal Community Skepticism…

Let’s address it directly, because pretending Nickelback doesn’t draw eye-rolls in hard rock and metal circles would be dishonest. Chad Kroeger has told the story himself of Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul defending Nickelback to skeptical metalheads back in the day, telling doubters to actually watch the band play before writing them off. Two members of Pantera — a band with about as much credibility in this genre as exists — vouching for Nickelback isn’t nothing. Add in the fact that “Everything Under the Sun” is arriving with a guest spot from a guy currently touring arenas with Mötley Crüe, and the Venn diagram between “Nickelback fan” and “hard rock fan” is a lot rounder than internet discourse suggests.

Also Recommended – The 13 Best Metal Guitarists Right Now: Loaded Radio’s Definitive 2026 Ranking

TL;DR

• Nickelback announced their eleventh studio album, “Everything Under the Sun,” out October 30
• New single “Rattle the Cage” features a guest cameo from Mötley Crüe guitarist John 5
• It’s the band’s first new music since 2022’s “Get Rollin’”
• The album appears to be arriving via Virgin Music Group, a shift from Get Rollin’s BMG release
• The 12-track album includes “Bones for the Crows,” “Chasin’ Famous,” and “Technicolor Steamboat”
• Pantera’s Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul were longtime, vocal Nickelback defenders in the metal community

FAQ

Is “Rattle the Cage” a real return to form, or more of the same? Let us know in the comments. Follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post Nickelback Announce New Album, Tap John 5 For ‘Rattle The Cage’ appeared first on Loaded Radio.