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Alan Creedon and Alex Lichtenauer used to be two thirds of the great Philly DIY punk trio Control Top, and now they’re the two members of Index, a new electronic-influenced punk duo with a heavy, exciting sound. Next month, they’ll release Vis Inertiae, the debut album that they recorded with Sumerlands’ Arthur Rizk at Show Me The Body’s Corpus studio, and we’ve already posted their songs “Cellophane” and “Fractured.” Today, they drop a nasty new one on us.

The post Index – “Earth” appeared first on Stereogum.

Maynard James Keenan, best known as the voice behind Tool and A Perfect Circle, has spent the last 20 years turning the Verde Valley into an unexpected hub for wine and culture. In 2024, he and his wife, Jennifer Keenan, grew Queen B Vinyl Café into a full café and coffee roastery, and the spot has since become Northern Arizona’s only official Record Store Day location, hosting acts like Khemmis and Author & Punisher along the way.

On September 4, Maynard Keenan is opening Queen B Sushi at 816 N. Main St. in Old Town Cottonwood, with reservations available online.

“Although I’ve been enjoying sushi since my days in Boston, circa 1987, my first Japanese tour wasn’t until 2000 with A Perfect Circle,” Maynard Keenan says. “It was an eye-opening and mind-blowing experience. While there, I picked up these amazing titanium and hard wood travel chopsticks from Snow Peak. And I’ve carried them with me ever since. Last year I ran into Janeane Garofalo at the Chelsea in NYC. She was saying to David Cross and Dave Hill, ‘I haven’t seen Maynard in several years but one thing I remember is that he used to carry chopsticks in his pocket.’ At which point I reached into my pocket and pulled them out. Twenty-five years I’ve been carrying these chopsticks. That’s how much I love sushi.”

Culinary director chef Brett Vibber is heading up the kitchen, bringing experience from Roka Akor’s London, Hong Kong and U.S. locations to the project. Vibber built out the Queen B Sushi team with two key hires: chef Chuhiro “Thomas” Kato, who trained under Nobu Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills and Masaharu Morimoto in New York City, and chef Sheridan “Sher” Chase, an Arizona native who cut his teeth in kitchens from California to Texas before coming home.

The sushi restaurant almost didn’t happen. While putting together the menu for Queen B Vinyl Café, Maynard Keenan and Jennifer Keenan initially scrapped plans for a full sushi program, figuring a town of 12,000 wouldn’t have the right chef for the job. It turned out Vibber had been on staff the whole time.

Queen B Sushi will rotate through a wine list built from Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards selections.

Maynard Keenan‘s wine résumé in the region runs deep. He spent more than two decades building up Northern Arizona’s wine industry, including leading the push that earned the Verde Valley its AVA (American Viticultural Area) certification in 2021. His footprint started with the Caduceus Cellars Tasting Room in Jerome and has grown to include the Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria and the Caduceus Cellars Hilltop Facility, a seven-acre complex built on the site of Cottonwood’s former Masonic Lodge.

The post TOOL’s MAYNARD JAMES KEENAN Expands Arizona Wine-And-Food Empire With The Opening Of “Queen B Sushi” appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.

(written by Islander) Sev Lezu is a relatively new bi-coastal U.S. black metal band whose three members are drummer, vocalist, lyricist, and producer Sasha Stroud (Belexum, Onw), guitarist Melissa Moore (Crossspitter, Sonja), and bassist FW (Manat). Their debut album Blood Conscript also includes a guitarist/songwriter guest appearance by Mia Priest (ex-Impiety) on the track “Corpse […]

The post AN NCS PREMIERE: SEV LEZU — “MAN’S EVIL GIFT” appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.

Cherry Red [Release date : 28.08.26] Lucky for some. This neatly packaged 2 CD set follows hard on the heels of the band’s all new recording, Circle The Sun, released (and reviewed here) in October last year. This “new” set … Continue reading →

The post Album review : ATOMIC ROOSTER – Friday The 13th appeared first on Get Ready to ROCK!.

London, England’s Fen has a storied history at AMG, with five reviews spread across three different writers. The illustrious Madame X reviewed them thrice with mixed results, followed by Doom_et_Al’s laudatory commentary on The Dead Light and, most recently, Cherd’s favorable-but-less-impressed impression of Monuments to Absence. You should read their words because they’re excellent writers,¹ but the upshot of their analysis is that Fen often crafts gorgeous layers of music that sometimes lose focus or take too long to spool out. Imagine my delight, then, when I discovered Fen’s newest album, Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth only runs forty-seven minutes.² While the overall album length suggests improved self-editing, Mourning Earth is the first part of a greater effort and carries the risk of either feeling incomplete or disguising bloat between multiple releases. In the end, does Fen free their songwriting from the mires that held back some previous albums?

Throughout Mourning Earth, Fen conjures familiar reference points while evoking less obvious connections as well. Opener “Glacier” reminds me of “Storm Son,” the opening track to Enslaved’s E, with its prog-leaning clean guitars playing over galloping blast beats and beautifully written choral arrangements. The last third of “Glacier” and follow-up “Techtonic” rumble and quake with calls to Blood Mountain-era Mastodon,³ while “Massif” and “Abyssal Plain” drift into gazey waters, where shimmering guitars and haunting vocal stacks tread alongside Alcest. The opening riff on “Barrow” reminds me of a cross between Helloween’s “Future World” and something off Avatar’s Feathers & Flesh, casting ties to genres I never previously linked to Fen. Meanwhile, closing track “Moor” begins with sparkling builds akin to Saor and Agalloch, but when the atmosphere gives way to melody,⁴ I suddenly hear mid-aughts Amon Amarth. Everything on Mourning Earth points to a band harnessing a vast reach of styles and influences and fusing them into a vision uniquely their own.

Given Mourning Earth’s eclectic backdrop, its cohesion and effectiveness remain refreshingly intact. Throughout, Fen’s jaw-droppingly gorgeous textures harken to primordial environs that imbue the album with nature’s innate beauty. Mourning Earth’s midsection broods within layers of reverb and melancholy, entrancing listeners with hypnotic refrains and crystalline guitar work. “Massif,” though, kicks up past the halfway point, recalling the groove and melody from its first half while dialing up the heft and drama. “Techtonic” and “Barrow” both charge out in rollicking fashion, hitting hard early on. “Barrow” even permutates melodies from “Tectonic”‘s midsection, tethering the two songs in a satisfying harmony that took me many listens to notice and appreciate. Bookends “Glacier” and “Moor” round out Mourning Earth’s synchronicity as the longest tracks on the album, supplying grandeur and gravitas that ensure it begins and ends with fully baked moods.

In the past, Fen’s releases initially fascinated me yet lacked the staying power to compel frequent visits despite stellar moments. Mourning Earth changes that, and its forty-seven-minute runtime proves an incredible boon as the band expertly strikes the balance between anticipation and payoff. And despite being Fen’s shortest LP to date, Mourning Earth achieves a remarkable diversity of sounds and influences without ever sacrificing its singular identity. With the bloat plaguing earlier albums gone, not much else requires attention. More space within the mix would give the wealth of sounds a bit more breathing room, particularly on busier songs like “Tectonic” and “Barrow,” and “Abyssal Plain” doesn’t quite live up to the heights of other tracks. In all, though, Mourning Earth stands uncontested as my favorite Fen album to date.

Mourning Earth’s magic takes time to gestate, and over my repeated listens Fen’s hooks unfurled and took root as I helplessly succumbed to their enthralling collection of swamp songs. The Watcher’s spritely and ethereal guitars weave melodic threads throughout, even during atmospheric passages, and his withered rasps and roars scrape like the dry crackle of leaves while the wistful cleans brim with forlorn charm. Mourning Earth bursts at the seams with ideas and styles, and it continues to entice me as my time with this review draws nigh. I’m unclear on when Elemental Part Two may arrive or what it will be about, but Part One lets listeners know that this trio has plenty more to say before they Fenish.

Rating: Great
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Prophecy Productions
Websites: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram
Releases Worldwide: August 21st, 2026

The post Fen – Elemental Part One: Mourning Earth Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

The word “meadow” connotes a certain level of peaceful natural stasis. A meadow is a place to relax, to watch butterflies and let sun rays hit you. But it would appear that there’s nothing static about Meadow, a Bay Area band with a huge and fuzzily angular guitar sound. Before they get around to releasing their full-length debut, they’ve become a whole other band.

The post Meadow Announce Self-Titled Debut Album: Hear “Yon” appeared first on Stereogum.

Between Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer, Maynard James Keenan juggles many musical commitments, but his entrepreneurial endeavors might keep him even busier. The man blessed with one of the world’s most powerful angelic/demonic howls is also a gastronome extraordinaire. For years, Keenan has been running a winery in his adopted home of Arizona’s Verde Valley. Two years ago he and his wife Jennifer expanded Queen B Vinyl Café, where you could already buy records and get your hair cut, to include a café and coffee roaster. Now he’s opening a sushi restaurant too.

The post Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Announces New Sushi Restaurant appeared first on Stereogum.