Blog

  • Not Just for Rock Stars: Playing in the Band

    Readers respond to “Change Your Life. Start a Band,” an Opinion guest essay by Hugo Lindgren. Also: Bruce Springsteen’s art.
  • DS Photo Gallery & Show Review: GWAR, Soulfly, King Parrot (Starland Ballroom, NJ 3/26/2026)

    It’s official.. GWAR has hit the road on their GOR GOR STRIKES BACK! Tour and ya’ll aint ready. There are shows, and then there are full on blood baths. If you’re a fan of GWAR, you know the number one rule: one must wear a plain white t-shirt in hopes of leaving the show drenched and covered in blood looking like you just survived a massacre.

    Needless to say, GWAR absolutely shook everyone to the core.. but it couldn’t have been done without openers King Parrot, hailing from Australia, and Soulfly all the way from Phoenix, Arizona. Easily one of the most incredible shows I’ve ever been to and documented.


    I had yet to catch King Parrot live before this, but after hearing nothing but praise my expectations were high and they absolutely delivered. As someone raised on heavier metal and grindcore, their set hit hard and filthy. A perfect appetizer, leaving us hungry for the carnage coming up next.

    Unfortunately, there was no media allowed during Soulfly’s set at the band’s request. Honestly though? I wasn’t mad about it.. it almost made the experience hit harder, bringing us back to times where we were forced to live in the moment with no cameras. It was definitely one of those moments where you had to be there.


    If you have struggle with sensory overload, a GWAR show on a Thursday night might not be on the top priority list. From insanely elaborate costumes, their own constructed characters called the Scumdogs from Scumdogs of the Universe, to their signature blend of red liquids, I was in awe the entire time. Fluids flew (as expected), the crowd pushed to the front in their soon to be blood soaked white t-shirts, mockery directed towards today’s political climate was had. Including: chopping off Kristi Noem’s boobs, slicing open Trump’s stomach, and decapitating Bill Clinton (in that order).

    Those who aren’t in the loop would refer to them as “shock-rock”, or maybe just a lousy metal band begging for attention, but honestly? GWAR doesn’t just put on a regular old concert; it’s an entire artistic production.

    Here’s some deep lore and context:
    “The story of GWAR is carved across the history of this barren and hopeless planet, but GWAR themselves are not of this world… their story begins in the deepest reaches of outer space. Long ago, the beings who would become the rock band GWAR were part of an elite fighting force, the Scumdogs of the Universe. For eons, they served as thralls to a supreme being known only as the Master. But one by one, each future member of the band earned a glaring reputation for being an intergalactic fuck-up. And so, they were banished, sent away on a fool’s errand to conquer an insignificant shitball floating in a dark corner of the universe; the planet Earth. Once here, GWAR shaped the face of the globe, destroying and rebuilding the natural world, and giving rise to all of human history. Aliens to some, gods and demons to others, our erstwhile Scumdogs fucked apes to create the human race, and this fateful unplanned pregnancy would prove to be truly disastrous!”


    If there’s one thing to know, it’s that GWAR’s fanbase falls nothing short of diehards no matter how young or how old. From longtime devotees in battle blood worn shirts (circa Oderus Urungus era, may he Rest in Peace!), to first-timers bracing for their first baptism in blood. There’s a shared understanding when you walk into a GWAR show that you’re not just watching, but you’re fully participating.


    Check out more photos on Instagram!


  • Now & Then: Drayton Farley’s A Heavy Duty Heart and the reach of Trace

    Drayton Farley’s A Heavy Duty Heart arrives like the sound of a songwriter stepping out of the dim room and into the bandstand without giving up the bruises that got him there. Released March 27, 2026, the record was cut live to tape in Nashville with his touring band and produced again by Sadler Vaden, which matters because these songs are still built on Farley’s plainspoken honesty, but they now hit with more lift, more room, and more faith in momentum. For the “Then,” Son Volt’s Trace from 1995 makes the most sense. Not because Farley sounds like Jay Farrar in some copycat way, but because Trace helped define how alt-country could carry working-class weariness, road-dusted poetics, and rock-band force in the same frame. 
  • Sunn O))): Sunn O))) – Album Review

    Sunn O))): Sunn O))) Sub Pop Records LP | CD | DL Buy Now Album Of The Week!   Drone Metal titans Sunn O))) release their tenth studio LP on Sub Pop. Stripped back to the duo of Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley and backed up by a tour of the States and Europe, 2026 […]

    The post Sunn O))): Sunn O))) – Album Review appeared first on Louder Than War.

  • Sunn O))): Sunn O))) – Album Review

    Sunn O))): Sunn O))) Sub Pop Records LP | CD | DL Buy Now Album Of The Week!   Drone Metal titans Sunn O))) release their tenth studio LP on Sub Pop. Stripped back to the duo of Greg Anderson and Stephen O’Malley and backed up by a tour of the States and Europe, 2026 […]

    The post Sunn O))): Sunn O))) – Album Review appeared first on Louder Than War.

  • An Interview With Billy Rowe Of JetBoy & Buckcherry

    With JetBoy in the ‘80s and from 2009 through today, Billy Rowe brought swagger and hard-edged style to his personal brand of rock music. Since 2020, he’s done the same with Buckcherry, while managing his guitar company, Rock N Roll Relics. All that is to say that with a cache of great music under his belt, plenty of live shows, and a stable of gnarly guitars to build, life is good for Billy Rowe. As for how he’d like to be remembered, he tells ClassicRockHistory.com, “Hmm, that’s a big question? I’d say that I was a straightforward guitar player who

    The post An Interview With Billy Rowe Of JetBoy & Buckcherry appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

  • Album review: SCOTT ARCHIBALD the id project – Sol Caravan

    Scott Archibald the id project - sol caravanBandcamp [Release date 05.12.25] ‘Sol Caravan’ is a ground breaking debut album by Scott Archibald’s the id project which strikes the perfect balance between jam band interplay, rock related intensity, subliminal percussive rhythms and timeless musical traditions. It’s a conceptually … Continue reading

    The post Album review: SCOTT ARCHIBALD the id project – Sol Caravan appeared first on Get Ready to ROCK!.

  • Archaic Oath – Present New Song

    Melodic black metallers Archaic Oath have revealed “Wrath Of The Witches”, their third single from their upcoming debut record Determined To Death And Beyond due out on April 24th 2026 via Art Of Propaganda.
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  • Dead Kosmonaut – Detail Next Long Player

    Dead Kosmonaut have disclosed details in what will be their third full-length instalment. Entitled Retrospectre, it will land in stores on June 26th via Edged Circle Productions. The 7-piece outing was produced, mixed and mastered by Fredrik Folkare. Cover artwork was created by Martin Jonsson.
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