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Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess will take the stage twice on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026, performing at MIT‘s Thomas Tull Concert Hall as part of the inaugural MIT Future Fest. Joining him will be a roster of musical guests and jam_bot, an A.I. model built alongside Rudess and trained on his own playing. The whole project rests on a simple premise: jam_bot isn’t meant to replace musicians, but to widen what’s creatively possible for them and spark new approaches to making music.

The performances will mark the world premiere of Rudess and jam_bot improvising alongside the MIT Chamber Chorus, with the A.I. generating music for the singers on the fly. Shows run Oct. 3 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

jam_bot has been three years in the making, developed through a partnership with the MIT Media Lab involving Lancelot Blanchard, Perry Naseck and Professor Joseph A. Paradiso, all working alongside Rudess during his stint as a Distinguished Visiting Artist with MIT’s Center for Art, Science & Technology. These concerts offer a rare look at where the research has landed, putting Rudess face-to-face with a real-time system built to bring generative A.I. into live performance.

Spanning everything from Baroque counterpoint to progressive rock, the set will lean heavily on live improvisation. jam_bot can listen and respond to Rudess in the moment while simultaneously generating material for other musicians onstage, opening up new territory for collaborative improv.

Rudess comments: “I’ve spent my entire life studying, exploring, and creating music. What excites me about jam_bot isn’t the technology by itself — it’s where it can take me musically. I can improvise, follow an idea in the moment, and suddenly have a choir or an ensemble responding to what I’m playing. That opens up a whole new world of creative possibilities.”

Event details:

What: Jordan Rudess + jam_bot: A Human-AI Musical Dialogue

When: Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 — two performances, 5-6 p.m. and 8-9 p.m.

Where: Thomas Tull Concert Hall, Edward and Joyce Linde Music Building, MIT, Cambridge, Mass. (201 Amherst St, Cambridge, MA 02139)

Tickets: $5 for MIT community members, $10 general admission, available via Eventbrite. A portion of the 5 p.m. show is set aside for MIT Future Fest ticket holders.

Capacity: 300 per show.

Performers: Jordan Rudess, the MIT Chamber Chorus, and guest student performers.

Since the program is shaped through live improvisation, no two performances will play out exactly the same way, even with identical material on the bill.

Rudess is a Grammy Award-winning keyboardist, composer and technologist, best known for his work in the Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum progressive metal band Dream Theater. Celebrated for his technical command and his ongoing curiosity about new musical technology, Rudess has spent decades operating at the crossroads of performance, composition and innovation.

Beyond his work with Dream Theater and as a solo artist, Rudess has partnered with researchers, designers and technologists to push forward new ideas in musical expression and human-computer interaction. His relationship with MIT dates back to 2023 and has grown into an ongoing collaboration focused on how artificial intelligence can broaden what’s possible in live music.

The MIT Media Lab is an interdisciplinary research hub at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For four decades, its students, faculty and researchers have operated at the intersection of art, science, engineering and design, driven by the belief that everyone deserves the chance to flourish. Among its many research groups is Responsive Environments, led by Professor Joseph Paradiso, which studies how sensor networks, interactive systems and emerging tech reshape the relationship between people, information and environments — covering everything from human-computer interaction and wearable sensing to responsive spaces and new forms of artistic expression. More information is available at mitmedialab.info/mlresponsive.

The post DREAM THEATER’s JORDAN RUDESS To Premiere AI-Powered Jam_Bot Project At MIT appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Who let Jörmungandr loose?

The post Black Tide Launch Norse Mythology-Inspired “Midgardsormen” Music Video appeared first on Theprp.com.

2 Chainz, Cash Cobain, and Young Nudy are three great tastes that taste great together. The Atlanta rap comedic genius, the NYC sexy drill pioneer, and the Atlanta trap iconoclast have joined forces on the new single “Reign.” With its high-pitched soul sample and lush slo-mo beat, the vibe is reminiscent of the Kanye West/Twista/Jamie Foxx hit “Slow Jamz.” It’s a strip-club anthem that feels eminently listenable even without its strip-club music video. (I don’t know if that’s Atlanta’s famed Magic City we’re seeing, but Cash’s chorus begins, “Magic City, I’m with Tity Boi,” so probably.)

The post 2 Chainz, Cash Cobain, & Young Nudy – “Reign” appeared first on Stereogum.

Northern Irish pagan metal pioneers WAYLANDER have released “Macha”, the first single from their forthcoming album, Mac Tíre – Son of the Land. The band’s nine-track record will arrive on November 6, 2026, through Rockshots Records. Combining extreme metal with traditional Irish instrumentation, “Macha” draws upon a mythological figure closely connected to the region where […]

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Silvertomb, the doom metal supergroup built around former Type O Negative / Danzig members Kenny Hickey (vocals, guitar) and Johnny Kelly (drums) alongside Joe James (guitar, ex-Agnostic Front), Hank Hell (bass, Sheer Terror) and Aaron Joos (guitar, keyboards, vocals), will drop its sophomore full-length, The Interpretation of Nightmares, on Nov. 13 via Steamhammer. To mark the occasion, the band has unveiled the official music video for the record’s newest single, “Graves in the Sky,” which can be watched below.

Hickey broke down the track’s origins: “‘Graves In The Sky’ was a piece that was written with acoustic guitar and piano-a different creative approach for the band that yielded a new texture for the music, blending acoustic guitar, strings, and distorted guitar along with piano. I felt I was coming close to death at the time of writing this song, and the lyrics deal with that reality.”

The years between 2020 and 2024 weren’t kind to the band. “Just as things were really beginning to take off for Silvertomb, our hands were suddenly tied for a number of years due to the pandemic and its long-lasting aftermath; on top of that, I had a drinking problem that urgently needed sorting out,” says Hickey. That rough stretch followed close on the heels of Silvertomb‘s debut, Edge of Existence (2019), which had landed to universal praise from fans and critics alike, and it torpedoed a planned tour alongside Monster Magnet before the pandemic brought everything, Silvertomb included, to a dead stop.

Those days are firmly in the rearview now. The Interpretation of Nightmares is a dense, atmospheric slab of doom metal that tops its predecessor on nearly every front, and the lead single “No Way to Live” brings a bit more speed to the table, playing counterpoint to the album’s heavier, more brooding cuts with lyrics centered on rejection and pain.

The post SILVERTOMB, Featuring Former TYPE O NEGATIVE & AGNOSTIC FRONT Members, Releases “Graves In The Sky” Music Video appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

Two years after its original release, Black Magic Fumes, the debut album from Chilean extreme metal trio STRIGOI, is receiving a new CD pressing. Dawnbreed Records will issue the album internationally on September 11 in a limited run of 300 copies. Originally released in October 2024, Black Magic Fumes occupies the volatile ground between black, […]

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“…When we thought about how to introduce ourselves to whatever the new Warped Tour crowd is, we thought ‘Breathing In A New Mentality’ was a pretty good statement to kick the night off. It worked.”

The post Underoath Release “Breathing In A New Mentality” Live Video From Long Beach ‘Vans Warped Tour’ Set appeared first on Theprp.com.

Earlier this year, Mike Watt joined forces with J Mascis to cover each other’s bands on a split. The Minutemen cofounder has stayed active since then; most recently, he announced a collaborative album with Ontario experimental noise rock band Thresher. It’s called Beekeeper, and it arrives next week.

The post Mike Watt Announces New Album With Thresher, New Supergroup With Mike Baggetta & John Herndon appeared first on Stereogum.

Between the teeth of misery

The hunger takes a hold of me 

I take my time now I make it right now 

ACTORS have always sounded like they knew that the nightclub was going to get closed down by gentrification eventually, which may explain why their new album Our Love Will Live Forever hits with such peculiar force: this time the closing hour has stopped being metaphor, and now indeed is the time to party like there is no tomorrow, because tomorrow is never guaranteed. Mastermind Jason Corbett suffered a serious cardiac emergency while making the record, and suddenly all those polished guitars, black-glass synthesizers, romantic fixations, and doomed little dances had to answer to the wails of an ambulance.

“Getting wheeled into an emergency room and spending days in the cardiac care unit put me in a state of deep reflection,” Corbett reflects. “Would I finish the album? Would I ever be on a stage again? I was given a second chance to cherish every experience and live in the moment. My goal was to bring that energy to the album.”

You can hear it. These songs carry the nervous velocity of somebody who has seen the trapdoor beneath ordinary life and decided to dance directly over it.

The title predates Corbett’s hospitalization. Our Love Will Live Forever is engraved on his grandparents’ tombstone, which already carried enough emotional freight before Death suddenly walked into the studio and pulled up a chair. Afterward, the words became a dare…if everybody knows this grim appointment is coming, then what are you doing with the hours beforehand?

Left On Read is a beautifully petty modern nightmare, romance reduced to glowing glass, silence, and the humiliating authority of an unanswered message. Corbett turns digital abandonment into old-fashioned psychic damage while the band dresses the anxiety in immaculate synths and guitars. Once upon a time heartbreak required somebody to slam a door. Now your phone can ruin an entire evening without making a sound.

Then CTRL starts issuing orders. Its hook has the merciless efficiency of advertising copy, the rhythm grabs the hips before permission has been granted, and guitar lines cut across the synths with sudden flashes of attitude. Depeche Mode’s leather poise, the Human League’s pop nerve, Bootblacks, and the exploratory rush of early Simple Minds can all be detected in the bloodline, but ACTORS have been doing this too long to sound like record collectors arranging their shelves.

“(CTRL) is a rally cry, a reaction to a world spinning out of control,” says Corbett. “Being true to yourself is an act of resistance.”

That sentence could have come off a placard. On the record, it becomes physical.

Elsewhere, memory, desire, fear, and attachment keep colliding without turning the album into some tasteful meditation on mortality suitable for soft lighting and solemn nodding.

Corbett’s production at Jacknife Sound stays beautifully controlled while allowing plenty of abrasion around the edges. Drums land with authority, basslines keep the blood moving, guitars carve openings through the synths, and his voice maintains that familiar balance between romantic composure and somebody quietly coming apart behind it.

By album three, ACTORS have nothing left to prove about belonging to post-punk. Our Love Will Live Forever is after a nastier question: what happens when mortality quits being philosophy and becomes paperwork, hospital lights, machines, and the possibility that your unfinished record stays unfinished?

Their answer makes excellent sense.

Turn it up while you still can.

Our Love Will Live Forever is out now via Artoffact Records, on vinyl, CD, and all major digital and streaming platforms. Listen to the album below and order it here.

ACTORS go on tour throughout Europe and Canada this autumn! The tour takes ACTORS across Europe in September, with stops in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, France, and the UK before heading back to Canada in October. The run includes festival appearances, club shows, and a closing stretch through Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. Catch them live on the following dates:

• September 4 — Berlin, Germany — Lido
• September 5 — Leipzig, Germany — NCN Festival
• September 8 — Bielefeld, Germany — Movie
• September 9 — Bochum, Germany — Die Trompete
• September 11 — Cologne, Germany — Club Volta
• September 12 — Rotterdam, Netherlands — Baroeg Open Air
• September 13 — Russelheim, Germany — Das Rind
• September 16 — Martigny, Switzerland — Les Caves
• September 18 — Barcelona, Spain — Sala Wolf
• September 19 — Madrid, Spain — Nazca
• September 20 — Valencia, Spain — 16 Toneladas
• September 23 — Paris, France — Le Chinois
• September 25 — Manchester, UK — Gorilla
• September 26 — Bristol, UK — Strange Brew
• September 27 — London, UK — Earth
• October 9 — Vancouver, Canada — Rickshaw
• October 23 — Edmonton, Canada — Starlite Room
• October 24 — Calgary, Canada — Dickens

Follow ACTORS:

• Spotify
• Bandcamp
• Apple Music
• YouTube
• Instagram

The post Vancouver Post-Punk Quartet Actors Release New Album “Our Love Will Live Forever” — Now on Tour in Europe! appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

BITTER AND SARDONIC WITCHERY FEATURED IN METAL INJECTION’S WEEKLY INJECTION OF NEW RELEASES

Metal Devastation PR Clients Earn Editorial Recognition for New Releases

September 4, 2026 – Metal Devastation PR is proud to announce that BITTER and SARDONIC WITCHERY have both been featured in this week’s Metal Injection “Weekly Injection of New Releases.”
Montreal, Quebec-based slamming beatdown deathcore outfit BITTER was featured for their crushing new EP Slamosaurus Rex , released through CDN Records . The band continues to build momentum with their devastating combination of guttural vocals, crushing riffs, massive grooves, and punishing breakdowns.
Also featured is Portuguese black/thrash metal force SARDONIC WITCHERY with their fifth full-length album Hell’s Thorns Attack . Released September 1, 2026 through Firecum Records in Europe and JEMS in the United States , the album delivers a savage dose of raw, old-school black/thrash metal.
Having two Metal Devastation PR clients featured in the same Metal Injection roundup represents another strong result for the agency and its ongoing efforts to connect independent metal artists and releases with influential media outlets.
Congratulations to BITTER, CDN Records, SARDONIC WITCHERY, Firecum Records, and JEMS!
And a huge thank you to Metal Injection for continuing to spotlight new music and support the heavy music community.
Metal Devastation PR
Promoting the underground. Pushing the releases. Getting the music heard.
Go check it out here: https://metalinjection.net/upcoming-releases/heavy-new-releases/the-weekly-injection-new-releases-from-behemoth-sleep-sigh-and-more-out-this-week-9-4

Check out the bands here:
https://metaldevastationradio.com/thebeast/blog/29232/sardonic-witchery-unleashes-fifth-full-length-album-hells-thorns-attack-september-1st-through-firecum-records-and-jems
https://metaldevastationradio.com/thebeast/blog/29233/bitter-unleash-new-music-video-the-slamosaurus-encounter-ahead-of-upcoming-ep-slamosaurus-rex