Stella Lefty may not have much style or substance as a songwriter, but at least she knows a good hook when she hears it. Lefty, the Groupon heiress born Stella Lefkofsky, scored one of this year’s biggest hits with “Boston,” a song that lifts its memorable melody from Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season” — an accident, allegedly, even though she’s covered “Stick Season” online repeatedly. After “Boston” made Lefty a star, people started to notice flickers of other well-known hits in her songs, including a bit of the Chicks’ “There’s Your Trouble” in “Summer You Were Mine” and a resemblance to Blake Shelton’s “I’ll Name The Dogs” in “Why Wouldn’t We.”
Prominent members of the wrestling, hardcore punk and heavy metal communities have paid tribute to former Every Time I Die guitarist Andy Williams following his death aged 48.
Williams, who played in metalcore band Atomic Rule and wrestled for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name The Butcher, died on Saturday, September 5, after suffering a medical emergency at an independent wrestling event and being taken to hospital.
TMZ announced his death the following day, and AEW verified the news shortly afterwards. The promotion wrote in a social media statement: “All Elite Wrestling is saddened to learn of the passing of Andy Williams, AKA The Butcher.
“A trailblazing musician with ETID and Atomic Rule, Williams made a successful transition into the world of professional wrestling and was incredibly respected by his peers both in and out of the ring. Our condolences go out to Williams’ family, friends and fans.”
Multiple wrestlers have paid tribute to Williams, including his AEW colleague Brody King, who called him “effortlessly funny, kind, and [a] supporter of all things his friends were into”. Matt Hardy, who used to perform in AEW as well as its chief rival WWE, said, “Andy was a joy to work with: he was a kind, funny and deep individual who was an extremely talented musician & wrestler.”
WWE wrestler Paige, who used to appear in AEW under the name Saraya, called Williams “one of the best human beings” on X (formerly Twitter). Fellow ex-AEW star Danhausen shared a photo of Williams and wrote, “Rest in peace, sweet man,” while WWE’s Matt Cardona remembered, “I wasn’t lucky enough to know him well, but he was always super cool to me when we saw each other. I was mad at him when he shaved his head because his Butcher figure had long hair and became inaccurate.”
In the world of music, metalcore supergroup Better Lovers, which features several of Williams’ ex-Every Time I Die bandmates, celebrated him as “a true one-of-one human being in every aspect of life”. Progressive metal band Between The Buried And Me posted a lengthy tribute on Facebook and Instagram.
“No one in our world will ever stop talking about Andy Williams,” they wrote in part. “And that’s the closest thing to immortality anyone could hope for. Our heart breaks for his family and those who were closest to him, particularly his wife Hana, who adored him beyond words. RIP to one of the nastiest riffers of all time.”
On X, Chris Motionless of Motionless In White remembered Williams as “one of the nicest and funniest people we’ve ever toured with”, and Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta said, “Life can be cruel and unfair, and that’s why we need people like Andy Williams around.”
Born in Buffalo, New York, in December 1977, Williams co-founded Every Time I Die in 1998 and was a constant member during their 24-year run. He appeared on all nine of their studio albums, including 2021 swansong Radical, before the band imploded due to a schism between singer Keith Buckley and the other members.
Following ETID’s split, Williams teamed up with former members of The Acacia Strain to start Atomic Rule. Their three-song EP, With Skull-Crushing Force, came out last September. Hours before his death, Williams posted a video to Atomic Rule’s social media accounts saying that the band had written and recorded new demos. They’re booked to play three shows with Gwar in November; it’s unclear whether they’ll still go ahead.
A longtime wrestling fan, Williams made his in-ring debut in 2015 and later formed a tag team with Jesse “The Blade” Guilmette. The pair debuted in AEW in November 2019.
Williams compared his career in music with his wrestling endeavours in 2022, telling Canadian broadcaster Reneé Paquette on her podcast: “Wrestling, to me, is like writing a song. Once I kind of understood how to write that ‘song’, it was like, ‘Oh, OK, that’s cool – there’s an intro, there’s an outro, there’s a chorus.’ It really does work like that.”
One of the nicest and funniest people we’ve ever toured with. Always made everyone feel welcome. RIP Andy. https://t.co/kD5pS4zerdSeptember 6, 2026
My sympathies to all who are devastated & in shock right now. RIP Andy Williams. Life can be cruel and unfair and that’s why we need people like Andy Williams around. He will be INCREDIBLY missed. I am so sorry.September 6, 2026
RIP Andy Williams, awful news to see this morning 😔 one of the best human beings.. Feel so lucky to have known you. Rest in power my friend 🖤September 6, 2026
RIP Andy Williams. I wasn’t lucky enough to know him well, but he was always super cool to me when we saw each other. I was mad at him when he shaved his head because his Butcher figure had long hair and became inaccurate.September 6, 2026
Rest in peace sweet man ❤️ pic.twitter.com/iNn5yv5LnsSeptember 6, 2026
No one has ever accused Dreadnought of being doggedly orthodox in any respect. Their music is a product of the watercolored mishmash of monoculture in which it was and is created, a world of intrusive and convincingly personalized advertisements for THC GLP-1s, insidious masterpieces soundtracked by TikTok psyop artists, destined to flow and ebb through the algorithm with the force and subtlety of a Nepalese mudslide. (THAT, I admit, was too soon, but ain’t it a sign o’ the times that through a device in our palm we can be both inundated by tremendous human tragedy and jaded enough to gallows humor ourselves through it.) To reframe it more positively – Dreadnought have always been a band whose sound is geared toward listener immersion; these Denver guys and gals write material that you plunge down into rather than being systematically pelted by its individual components. Further, I have a suspicion that their intent is to immerse with an ambivalence to whether or not the listener is also enraptured. Comparatively – the deepest parts of the ocean swallow anything that may enter, an atmosphere deathly hostile to most but nonetheless bewitching to some.
In an effort to not COMPLETELY bury the lede, I offer a frank description of Dreadnought’s milieu that is both irritating and vague – Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light is not a black metal album, nor a prog album. It is not entirely a post-something album, nor is it an electronic sci-fi odyssey. It does not pretend to be a death metal album and it would not fill in the “doom metal album” bubble on a musical genre census. If, however, what you are looking for is an “enjoyable, unique and, for the most part, quite good” album, you’ve found it. Greetings, reader and future listener! Welcome to Dreadnought Gulch.
Release date: September 11, 2026. Label: Vesperian
Where do we begin with Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light? Why, with some historical context, of course! Musically, it is a fitting next step in Dreadnought’s career after the darkened swirl of The Endless, which itself was a fitting next step after Emergence. Artistic evolution – good! Suspiciously good, even, considering that the musical components and compositional structures remain relatively the same from album to album. Dreadnought’s songs are loose and wave-like with heavy crests and serene troughs. They never get too heavy – harsh vocals, grinding riffs and the occasional blastbeats are found but almost never at the same time. Conversely, there are few truly light sections, as despite there being sections of organic instruments playing pretty, twinkly things, there is an undercurrent of menace. The bottom of the wave climbs ever upward, and all. Back to the point – The Endless introduced a few noteworthy things that Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light has latched onto and extrapolated upon. One, the extensive use of guitarist/vocalist Kelly Schilling’s upper register. Her eerie soprano filled in a frequency range that was missing for much of Dreadnought’s past output. The effect on the songs is pronounced and quite welcome, provided you enjoy her particular timbre. Two, the bastards are hiding hooks in their pockets! There was a concerted effort in The Endless to add some catchiness into the vocal patterns and melodies. I, as a dolt who occasionally enjoys a hook or three, think this move was clutch, for as much as their wash of darkness is enjoyable, those little bits of light piercing the surface work wonders for the whole.
Everything I like about Dreadnought ’26 is found within the four minutes and thirty-five seconds of the first single “The Archive”, the gestalt of Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light in theme and presentation. The album art gives it away, really. The otherworldliness of The Endless is now wrapped in a bright electronic sheen. The music has renewed purpose. It’s as if their sense of storytelling and compositional acumen are finally in lockstep. Opening with a gleaming battery of harsh vocals and double bass under sky-high keys and leads, the groove continues into a wide-open verse showcasing Kelly’s siren-like lower register. This section is complemented wonderfully by the second verse at 2:06. The male/female vocal duet ratchets the tension higher and higher until a VERY satisfyingly placed countdown ushers in the song’s cascading denouement. If every song on Wars of Spirit had the pacing, the emotional clarity, the riffs (!) of “The Archive”, we might have been dealing with a masterpiece. Ah yes, and if riffs and struts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a Merry Xmas.
The A side of Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light is some of the most compelling music Dreadnought has ever recorded. From the opening 5/4 stagger of “Tiamat’s Gate” to the frantic, blast and tremolo-filled outro of “Colors of Our Broken Hearts” is as strong a volley of songs as I’ve heard this year. The pieces feel completely connected to each other, every rise and fall hits with purpose. The B side is where you start feeling the struggle. “Serpents of the Moon” works as a moody bridge after the action, but “Aeonwar” and “The Twilight Protectorate” can’t quite hold up their own weight. It’s possible that it is simply a sequencing issue; three seven-minute tracks in a row just feels longer than a nine and two four-and-a-halves. Then again, Dreadnought has made a career of tracking mostly longer songs in a row. If you aren’t used to it by now, it’s likely a user issue.
The evolution of Dreadnought’s music is to be commended, as they’ve taken their rather ponderous, idiosyncratic style boldly into new territory, such that without prior knowledge I might be fooled into thinking this material is from a different group altogether. The new focus on the higher register female vocal (especially as coupled with the baritone male cleans and gnashing harsh stuff) is the star here, the real driving force. Additionally, it is arguable that some of the heaviest material Dreadnought has ever written is contained within, another welcome shot in the arm. It’s because of all this that when Wars of Spirit // Wards of Light doesn’t quite live up to my expectations, the disappointment stings that much more.
To be clear – there is no bad music on this record. It is arguably (and as stated in the opener) quite good! I’d go so far as to say that at the moment it is the best Dreadnought record yet, and if the promise of the album’s first half was kept in the second, I would be fashioning my Halloween costume after the album cover, feverishly researching a method of staying alive with my heart encaged on my back. Ah yes, and if hearts and cages were wisdom and sages, we’d all have a Merry Xmas.
Einherjer are a Norwegian viking metal band that performed at Wacken Open Air this year. We had the chance to chat with them about women in metal!
Benedetta
Hello Ole and Tom, how are you doing today?
Einherjer
Great! Good, thanks.
Benedetta
Awesome. So you’re playing Wacken in the 35th anniversary of the festival. How does it feel?
Einherjer
It feels great to be back and I’ve played at Wacken a few times. Fantastic festival.
Benedetta
Since you have a lot of experience playing live shows and you have experience also in the making of music, do you think that the life of an artist is a lonely life?
Einherjer
I think you have both parts of the spectrum here, because Tom has a family and I’m all alone. But as a musician it could be both also. Before I joined Einherjer, I recorded one album where I did everything myself, and that’s probably why Frode called me when they needed a new guitarist. That was a lonely experience, but being on stage, travelling with basically colleagues and buddies, that’s not lonely at all.
Benedetta
Do you think that we will ever have some equality between men and women in the metal world?
Einherjer
Yes, I believe it should already be so. People are stubborn, and I can understand that. They like what they like, especially when you grow up listening to a kind of music. Let’s say you’ve been an Iron Maiden fan all your life, and that’s what you like. When you reach a certain age, you stop letting new things influence you. You always go back to what you grew up with, and I think that plays a part of it. I believe it’s easier now, hopefully, than it was before. Remember in the 90s, many bands from Norway came out, both male and female vocalists, from the gothic metal area. That did something, but it’s probably a long way to go still, because of traditions. The musicians we meet, I don’t think they wouldn’t mind the equality at all. It’s an open-minded community, the metal community. I think I may have misunderstood the question, because my mind went to only the vocalists. There’s more than that. Jeff Beck had a bassist, and she was absolutely fucking incredible [Tal Wilkenfeld, ed]. One of the best bass players I’ve ever seen. I still remember me and my dad watching Jeff Beck concerts on YouTube, and just being in awe of this girl playing like a god on the bass. I also think vocalists first, too. I’m also the drummer in a band called Evig Natt, with a female vocalist called Kirsten. I think they maybe need some glass ceilings sometimes, maybe because of the support of the band, but I always hope that we’re on the way forward.
Benedetta
Guys, thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview, and for being such good sports. Is there anything else that you want to add to our viewers and readers?
Einherjer
Well, if you play guitar, you should really check out Paul Reed Smith guitars. They look very vintage and bluesy, but they work really great for metal as well. And low output vintage pickups are underrated in metal. And for shorts, if you like metal, you should give Einherjer a listen. I mean, if you have time, of course.
Rating: 8.5 / 10 Stars JESS BY THE LAKE is: Jasmin Lempinen (vocals/guitar), Marianne Heikkinen (drums), Sampo Leksis (guitar), Oliver Karttunen (bass) REVIEW – There is something immediately human about HUMAN, the sophomore album from […]
South Australia’s own hard rock wrecking crew Loaded Billy return to The Gov Gibson Stage for a night of loud amps, cold beers and plenty of toe tappin head bangin riff driven musical pleasure. Returning to the Gibson stage with special guests Wicked Empire and Leadworm supporting, this will be a night where rock rebels […]
Castle Mountain Moon comprises the duo of Ropp Kohler and Dirk Krause. A Layman’s Guide to Unobtainium is their second album and it’s just been released (September 2026). Ropp and Dirk kindly sent a CD to me via the always reliable AC at Bad Dog Promotions. My thanks to both. The blurb sheet with the […]
The Darkness are gearing up for their ‘The Best of The Darkness’ tour this Winter with the announcement of a greatest hits compilation to accompany it.
‘Crock of Hits’ will be released on November 27th via Warner Music. It compiles tracks from all eight of the band’s studio albums, spanning from 2003’s classic ‘Permission To Land’ to last year’s chart-smashing ‘Dreams on Toast’. It will also include their festive staple ‘Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End)’.
Vocalist/guitarist Justin Hawkins had this to say about the announcement:
“Listen upon our works ye mighty and rejoice! “Crock of Hits“ will startle you. Hold you as you tremble. And gently force you to succumb to its aural splendour. A “best of” curated by us, so you can be certain it’s the bestest of the bestiest. Suck it up, people…”
The collection will be released in various formats, most notably as 3CDs with an extended amount of treats, including a new version of Masters Of The Universe’ featuring Queen’s Brian May and a whole load of live tracks and radio sessions too.
The tracklist for that extended version of ‘Crock of Hits’ looks like this:
CD1 1. I Believe In A Thing Called Love 2. Love Is Only A Feeling 3. Growing On Me 4. Get Your Hands Off My Woman 5. Black Shuck 6. Friday Night 7. Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) 8. I Love You 5 Times 9. One Way Ticket (Radio Edit) 10. Is It Just Me? 11. English Country Garden (Live) 12. Knockers 13. Every Inch Of You 14. She Just A Girl, Eddie 15. Street Spirit (Fade Out) (BBC Session)
CD2 1. Barbarian 2. Open Fire 3. Hammer & Tongs 4. Million Dollar Strong 5. Roaring Waters 6. All The Pretty Girls 7. Bucaneers Of Hispaniola (Live) 8. Solid Gold 9. Japanese Prisoner Of Love 10. Lay Down With Me, Barbara 11. Rock ‘N Roll Deserves To Die 12. How Can I Lose Your Love 13. Heart Explodes 14. We Are The Guitarmen 15. Confirmation Bias
CD3 1. Welcome Tae Glasgae 2. Nobody Can See Me Cry 3. Motorheart 4. You Don’t Have To Be Crazy About Me… But It Helps 5. Speed Of The Nite Time 6. The Longest Kiss 7. I Hate Myself 8. Rock And Roll Party Cowboy 9. Hot On My Tail 10. Walking Through Fire 11. Masters Of The Universe (Full Version) 12. Mortal Dread 13. Masters Of The Universe (Featuring Brian May)
Whilst the artwork looks like this:
If that wasn’t enough, the band will also be playing a very intimate show at London’s Moth Club. That’s just 300 people.
Justin had this to say about that particular show:
“The first rule of Moth Club is, don’t fly into the lightbulb. Just kidding – nocturnal Lepidoptera rejoice! We’re coming to play at the Moth Club. That thing about burning yourself to a crisp is more of a guideline than a rule, so come celebrate The Darkness on this special night…”
It will be taking place on September 17 and tickets will be on sale from right here.
If you can’t make that occasion though, you can catch The Darkness playing some much bigger rooms in December. Here are the dates:
DECEMBER
08 – GLASGOW OVO Hydro 09 – LEEDS FD Arena 11 – MANCHESTER AO Arena 12 – BIRMINGHAM Utilita Arena 13 – CARDIFF Utilita Arena 15 – BRIGHTON Brighton Centre 16 – LONDON The O2
Ed O’Brien was telling the truth. Back when the Radiohead guitarist announced his solo album Blue Morpho, he revealed that his longtime bandmates had developed a plan for touring going forward. In 2025, Radiohead played their first shows in seven years, a series of multi-show residencies in European cities. O’Brien explained that they’d like to keep doing that every year starting in 2027, choosing a different continent each time. Now we know where they’re headed next year.
The cover of B.A.M.N. depicts a weaponised megaphone spewing flames. The image points directly to the central role of the vocals. Eklezjas’Tik Berzerk dominates the music for almost the entire album with his furious, sermon-like delivery, while the slow-building, heavy instrumental foundation creates an oppressive atmosphere around him. Released by Battlesk’rs Productions, B.A.M.N. contains seven […]
South Australia’s own hard rock wrecking crew Loaded Billy return to The Gov Gibson Stage for a night of loud amps, cold beers and plenty of toe tappin head bangin riff driven musical pleasure. Returning to the Gibson stage with special guests Wicked Empire and Leadworm supporting, this will be a night where rock rebels […]
