Sonny Rollins has died at 95. An absolute legend, he was the last man standing from his generation of bebop and hard bop players, and even though he retired from live performance several years ago due to illness, he remained a standard to live up to.
The post Arturo Sandoval Is Sounding Good appeared first on Stereogum.
Calling all gamer nerds! If you’re looking for new geek rock music that combines a love for both video games and ska, then look no further than Vancouver’s The Wavebirds, and their new album, “In All Their 2.4GHz Glory”. Featuring 11 songs, this album serves as a tribute to the 90s era, emphasized with the album’s heavy influence on the 3rd wave ska sound.
Much like many ska songs from the era, the album blends both horn lines and catchy ska rhythms with lyrics that pertain to the realities of the world. The concept of video game inspired songs actually fits this cliché perfectly, as they take advantage of escaping to the virtual world; most especially with the second song “I Wanna Live My Life in a Video Game”.
What makes this album stand out is that video games only serve to symbolize a broader message, rather than just songs that talk about how cool video games are (which isn’t to say this would make for a terrible song). Their first released song “P.L.I.” is featured on this album and, at first listen, is about wanting to beat someone’s high score on Donkey Kong. The song actually goes beyond that, being a feminist anthem that argues women are just as capable as men in a patriarchal system.
The rest of their album follows this formula in songs such as “Blue Shell Breakup” and “The Raid Boss Killed All My Friends”. The only song that might be the exception is “Youngster Joey’s Song”, which might literally be a song about the Pokemon Rattata.
On top of its successful use of allegory, “In All Their 2.4GHz Glory” has an exceptional sound. Trombonist Mike Dorval adds horn lines only to fill in empty sounds and adds some enjoyable horn lines (“Come Home, Dizzy”). Guitarist Adam Thomas and drummer Will Navarro are exceptional and really understand the beats and sound that make for great ska punk music.
Callyn Dorval joins the list of female vocalists that tie the songs together and doesn’t go above and beyond to outshine the rest of the band. John Kneeshaw has some pretty amazing basslines that put him near the same tier list as Matt Freeman, Roger Lima, and Pete McCullough. I think a bass solo in the next project will prove I’m not exaggerating.
Hidden within songs about fighting bosses and robot beaches is ultimately an emotional album about unity, hardships, and friendship. With clean production and tunes easy to sing along to, The Wavebirds have a strong debut that rejuvenates geek rock. In that spirit, I encourage all to invite their friends over, order a few pizzas, and set their consoles aside to not only listen to some Wavebirds, but to bask in all their 2.4GHz glory.
Also, the CD comes in a GameCube case!
“In All Their 2.4GHz Glory” by The Wavebirds is available now on Bandcamp.
(This is Todd Manning’s review of the first new album from Chicago destroyers Lair of the Minotaur in a very long time, and it’s out now on The Grind-House Records.) It’s difficult this time of year for me to find time to write about music, but I couldn’t let a new Lair of the Minotaur […]
The post LAIR OF THE MINOTAUR: “I HAIL I” appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.
In the earliest days of the pandemic, the LA hardcore band Repeat Offender dropped a motherfucker of a demo. They played ugly, elemental early-’80s hardcore with some anthemic oi influences and with a singer, Greg Chacon, who sounded less like a traditional vocalist and more like a delusional 10-foot-tall hooligan who’d accidentally wandered into the…
The post Repeat Offender Announce Debut Album <em>Weapon Fetish</em>: Hear “People Like You” appeared first on Stereogum.
The Dimebag Darrell shooting on December 8, 2004, at the Alrosa Villa wasn’t just a tragedy—it was the moment a guitar icon became a god. In 2026, his legacy is more active than ever, fueled by the ongoing Pantera celebration tour and a landmark court ruling regarding his iconic Dean Guitars designs. While the incident permanently changed venue security, the music of Pantera and Damageplan continues to define the “groove metal” sound for a new generation.
It has been over two decades since the night that changed heavy metal forever. The Dimebag Darrell shooting remains one of the most scrutinized and somber chapters in rock history, but for the global metal community, the focus has shifted from the tragedy to the immortality of the man himself. As Pantera’s music dominates stadium stages in 2026, we look at how the Alrosa Villa incident didn’t just end a life—it forged an undying legend that refuses to fade.
It is a grim truth that tragedy can cement a legacy. For Dimebag Darrell (Darrell Lance Abbott), an artist who redefined the sonic landscape with Pantera and his subsequent project Damageplan, the horrifying events surrounding his murder sealed his place in the pantheon of guitar gods.
We at Loaded Radio have covered the metal scene for decades, and we witnessed firsthand the immediate, collective shudder that went through the industry. His status went from legendary to immortal in an instant. The grief was universal, but it quickly transformed into a fierce, global protection of his riffs and his “Getcha’ Pull” spirit.
As of May 2026, the Abbott brothers’ legacy is seeing a massive resurgence. The Pantera celebration tour, featuring Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante alongside Rex Brown and Phil Anselmo, continues to sell out stadiums worldwide. While some purists remain divided, the consensus at festivals like Louder Than Life 2026 is clear: the music is too powerful to remain silent.
Furthermore, a significant legal milestone was reached on May 7, 2026. A federal court issued a major ruling in the long-standing dispute between the Dimebag Darrell Estate and Dean Guitars. The court granted summary judgment in favor of Dean Guitars on 11 of 13 counts, allowing the brand to continue producing the iconic Razorback and Stealth designs—shapes that Dimebag himself famously sketched.
The most pragmatic legacy of the Dimebag Darrell shooting was the complete re-evaluation of security protocols at clubs and venues worldwide.
As we watch Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante take the stage in 2026, the shadow of 2004 is present in every pat-down and every barricade. At the recent Frankfurt show (May 24, 2026), security measures were described by fans as “airport-level,” a direct result of the industry never wanting to repeat the Alrosa Villa tragedy.
For the Abbott family estate, the “In Dime We Trust” initiative isn’t just about selling t-shirts; it’s about a standard of care for the artists. Talking to road crews on the current Metallica/Pantera run, the “Dimebag Rider” is now a standard industry term for enhanced stage-wing security.
Q: Where did the Dimebag Darrell shooting take place? A: The tragedy occurred on December 8, 2004, at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, during a Damageplan performance.
Q: Is the 2026 Pantera tour a “reunion”? A: No. The band and estate describe the current run as a celebration and tribute. Following the death of Vinnie Paul in 2018, the surviving members chose Zakk Wylde and Charlie Benante to honor the brothers’ parts.
Q: What is the current status of Dimebag’s guitar legacy? A: As of May 2026, a federal court has ruled that Dean Guitars can continue using the Razorback and Stealth trademarks, though the estate continues to honor his memory through specialized builds and the “In Dime We Trust” initiative.
STAY LOUD: Catch the latest heavy metal news on the Loaded Radio Daily Podcast with Scott Penfold. Visit LoadedRadio.com or download our free app now.
Does the current Pantera tour properly honor Dimebag’s memory, or is the music best left to the original recordings? Let us know in the comments.
The post Why the Dimebag Darrell Shooting Forged an Immortal Metal Legend: Legacy, Security, and 2026 Tribute Status appeared first on Loaded Radio.
Melodic death metal had a banner year in 2025, brandishing outstanding releases from Aephanemer, Vittra, Buried Realm, Aversed, and others. Given that many of melodeth’s top tier releases came out in the back half of last year, there’s no cause for alarm yet, but with the exception of At the Gates’ opus The Ghost of a Future Dead, I can’t help feeling 2026 is off to a slow start.1 Throwing down the gauntlet with Old Gods Awaken, Vancouver collective Atavistia stakes their claim on this year’s melodeath throne. In his review of Cosmic Warfare, Doom_et_al noted that Atavistia made meaningful strides in songwriting since The Winter Way, but that plenty of room exists to further define an identity outside of Wintersun’s shadow. With the spotlight shining on folk metal influences throughout Old Gods Awaken, can Atavistia maintain their velocity after Cosmic Warfare, or would it have been better to let sleeping gods lie?
For anyone who’s read about Atavistia at AMG before, you know there’s one band whose temple even these Old Gods pray at.2 If you expected that to change, shame on you. With their most flagrant foray into folk metal to date, Atavistia doubles down on Wintersun worship with Old Gods Awaken while succumbing to a feverish case of Ensiferumania. On the surface, this may sound like Atavistia regressing back towards The Winter Way, but instead the band continues to refine the overwrought compositions that Doomy dinged in that review and delivers a succinct forty-three minutes of symphonic melodeath. And though Wintersun and Ensiferum cast the longest shadows, shades of Children of Bodom and Kalmah broaden Old Gods Awaken’s footprint and enrich its well of influences.
Despite Atavistia’s new musical folk-us and turning over half the band since Cosmic Warfare, they submit well-conceived orchestrations and tight performances throughout Old Gods Awaken. Specifically, Atavistia bade farewell to guitarist Dalton Meaden and bassist D’wayne Murray in 2024, welcoming Elia Baghbaniyan and Spencer Budworth in their stead. The quality of instrumentation remains consistent with previous albums, where guitars and synths steal the show as they trade earwormy melodic lines (“Mystic Tavern,” “I Skogens Djup”) that lead into heartfelt solos (“Goddess of My Dreams,” “Ride the White Storm”) and stirring, rustic breaks (“To a New World”). The haunting choirs on Cosmic Warfare have also been replaced by viking gang chants, which makes sense stylistically, but loses some of the flair that helped the former stand out. Longtime drummer Max Sepulveda lays down a commendable performance as well, spicing songs up with well-crafted fills that never overpower Old Gods Awaken’s dense compositions. Besides contributing guitar and supplying his best vocal performance to date, Atavistia ringleader Matt Sippola weaves together a rousing album that stands beside its inspirations.
While Atavistia successfully plunges headlong into folk, the move erodes some of the identity they established previously. Tracks on Cosmic Warfare recalled Wintersun, but just as much reminded me of Brymir and the choral arrangements in The Phantom Menace. Old Gods Awaken forsakes these subtle nods, and though that isn’t bad on its own, the Ensiferum influence is a safer path that deteriorates some of Atavistia’s idiosyncrasies. Additionally, some of the melodies and song structures on Old Gods Awaken blur together. “Mystic Tavern,” “Seeker of Time,” and “Goddess of My Dreams”3 all have similar-sounding leads, and the first two also have somewhat predictable compositions that stand out since the songs are back-to-back, particularly in terms of pacing and the timing of more subdued moments. Ultimately, these are minor complaints on very well-executed material, but diversifying the song structures could unveil even greater heights.
Old Gods Awaken subverts my expectations of what I thought a new Atavistia record would sound like, and even though they lean into a well-defined arena, they do so capably. Monster hooks and intricate, engaging arrangements keep the replay value of Old Gods Awaken tantalizingly high, especially with tight songwriting across the album. I’m curious where Atavistia goes next, as there’s no clear indication of what direction they’ll take. Whatever it is, the persistent urge to evolve their songcraft proves Atavistia will make it interesting and fun, and that every once in a while, you can teach Old Gods new tricks.
Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Self-Release
Websites: Website | Bandcamp | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: May 15th, 2026
The post Atavistia – Old Gods Awaken Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.
Jayler, the fast-rising UK rock band igniting a new generation of rock fans, have released their powerful new single and video, ‘Hate To See It End’. The track is taken from debut album ‘Voices Unheard‘ (review here), a record already being hailed as one of the most important new rock releases of 2026. Blending the […]
The post Jayler Release New Single Ahead Of Album Release This Friday appeared first on ROCKPOSER DOT COM.
August Burns Red don’t ease you into anything on “Season of Surrender.” The first few seconds feel less like an introduction and more like someone breaking through a door.
The post August Burns Red – ‘Season of Surrender’ Review appeared first on Audio Ink Radio.