In 1971, Kiss weren’t even a twinkle in the eyes of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. Back then they were just another pair of struggling New York musicians trying to pay the bills – albeit musicians with more ambition than most. Not content with churning out covers in local clubs for chump change, Simmons and Stanley were dead-set on rock stardom from the off. And the sooner it came, the better.

The vehicle they hoped would get there was Wicked Lester, a five-piece featuring Simmons and Stanley alongside guitarist Steve Coronel, keyboard player Brooke Ostender and drummer Tony Zarella. The band were a long way from Kiss’s larger-than-life approach – rather, they sounded like an unlikely cross between The Beatles and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.

Wicked Lester rarely performed live. Instead they focused their energies on getting a record deal. One early convert was Ron Johnsen, house producer at Electric Lady Studios, who dropped by the band’s Chinatown loft to watch them rehearse. Impressed, he took the band under his wing to make an album.

“The idea was to bring in all of our favourite influences and marry them into a direction based on the new songs,” recalls Steve Coronel. “Free, Buffalo Springfield, The Move and The Beatles.”

There was one problem. Wicked Lester didn’t have the money to hire out the studio themselves. “We were literally going into Electric Lady when there was free time,” Stanley says. “Weeks could go by, and then we might go in for 36 hours straight.”

In the studio, Simmons and Stanley took a back seat. “We were at a point in our careers where we were happy to just go in and record,” Stanley admits. “We were good boys. We did everything that the producer told us.”

They made slow progress. It took a year to record the album, though it did mean they crossed paths with several artists who were also recording at Electric Lady, including Jeff Beck, Stevie Wonder and Stephen Stills (the latter laid down a solo for a Wicked Lester song, Sweet Ophelia, though the band decided it didn’t pass muster and discarded it).

The finished album was a stylistic Frankenstein’s monster, touching on baroque pop (Keep Me Waiting), folk (Molly), prog rock (an early version of future Kiss staple She, featuring Jethro Tull-esque flutes), and even the odd track that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on the Studio 54 dancefloor a few years later (Stanley’s Love Her All I Can, also revisited by Kiss).

It also drew heavily on material by outside writers, including Sweet Ophelia and Too Many Mondays by Brill Building songwriter Barry Mann, plus a cover of obscure Hollies track We Wanna Shout (its ‘We wanna shout it out loud!’ refrain would be recycled on Shout It Out Loud, on 1976’s Destroyer).

It was done over such a long period that if a hit record had a sitar on it we put a sitar on a song.

Paul Stanley

“It was done over such a long period that if a hit record had a sitar on it we put a sitar on a song, So we wound up with an album with no focus,” says Stanley of the mish-mash approach.

The band had already signed a deal with Epic Records on the back of a handful of songs. But on hearing the finished album, the label decided not to release the record after their head of A&R, Don Ellis, said he “just didn’t get it”. Simmons and Stanley took the hint and pulled the plug on Wicked Lester. With hindsight, it was a fortuitous decision.

“Paul and I weren’t happy with the record,” says Simmons. “It had a West Coast American hippie sound. We looked at each other and decided to form a new group, which was Kiss.”

Today on, the Wicked Lester album remains officially unreleased. Epic planned to put it out in 1977 to capitalise on Kiss’s popularity, but the band got word and bought the album back from the label. In 2001, three tracks (Keep Me Waiting, She and Love Her All I Can) appeared on a Kiss box set. Inevitably, though, a bootleg has been in circulation for years.

While it lacks the flashbomb power of Kiss, it’s an enjoyable listen, and one that shows off the versatility of Simmons and Stanley when it comes to more sophisticated material. But there are no plans to release it properly – after 40 years of Superman, it would be like meeting Clark Kent.

“It’s not that I’m embarrassed by it,” says Stanley. “You let something pass for long enough, and time goes by and you can kind of chuckle at it.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
EATEN BY SHARKS DROP NEW SINGLE AND OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO “TREADING WATER” — DIY LIVE COLLAGE BUILT FOR MAXIMUM IMPACT
Canadian extreme metal outfit Eaten By Sharks return with a brand new single and official music video for “Treading Water,” delivering a raw, high energy performance cut that blends multiple live shows into a tightly synced visual assault.
The video takes a no-frills, DIY approach, stitched together from guerrilla style live footage and edited with surgical precision. Every hit, scream, and breakdown is locked to the frame, giving the viewer a front row seat to the chaos without losing the clarity of the performance.
Built on technical death metal precision and modern deathcore weight, “Treading Water” surges with shifting rhythms, crushing breakdowns, and layered extreme vocals. It captures the band’s live intensity in its purest form, unfiltered and relentless from start to finish.
“This one is straight live energy,” the band explains. “We wanted it to feel like you are right there in the pit with us. No polish, no gloss, just the reality of how hard we hit on stage. ‘Treading Water’ is survival mode.”
The release continues the momentum from their upcoming full length record The Undertow Of Hate , expanding the band’s ongoing nautical horror concept. Following earlier material like “In Tidal Chaos,” this new chapter pushes further into themes of pressure, collapse, and psychological endurance.
Fans of Fit For An Autopsy, Cattle Decapitation, Dethklok, and Angelmaker will find plenty to latch onto as the band continues carving out their lane in the modern extreme metal landscape.
The single is now available on all major platforms: 
https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/eatenbysharks1/treading-water
WATCH / STREAM
“Treading Water” – Official Music Video


  Connect With Eaten By Sharks:
Website: https://linktr.ee/eatenbysharks
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Bandcamp: https://eatenbysharks.bandcamp.com/album/eradication
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0y0jhJGgy98Whl3y5PsikD
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/eaten-by-sharks/1482997266
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@eatenbysharksband

The pop star said “I do” to a gown designed by Jonathan Anderson, the French house’s creative director.

Bon .

The post Bon Jovi’s reported setlist from one of their two “rehearsal” shows for upcoming ‘Forever Tour’ first appeared on Sleaze Roxx.

The Gansett Games is an annual field day in Amagansett, NY hosted by billionaire crypto investor Mike Novogratz. The event was shouted out in T-shirt form on an episode of Billions back in 2022. It seems like a premier rich-people gathering, and Novogratz rounded up a lot of rock stars for this year’s closing ceremony on June 27.

The post Michael Stipe & Brandi Carlile Cover Elvis Presley, Josh Homme Covers Tom Petty At Gansett Games appeared first on Stereogum.

Some bands thrive on having “That Song”. You know, the one mega-hit with the intro that pops into your head the second someone says their name. The problem is, “That Song” is often the one that doesn’t represent a band’s sound as a whole – think The Stranglers ‘Golden Brown’ – and that was exactly where Rise Against sat in 2005. ‘Swing Life Away’ is a lovely acoustic ballad, and one that sent their debut, ‘Siren Song Of The Counter Culture’, into the charts…but it wasn’t what the defiantly punk band were all about. Their label sent them into the studio with Rage Against The Machine’s producer to record their followup in order to create a polished, radio-friendly followup. Telling four outspoken punks to tone down the social commentary and write nice songs went exactly as well as you’d expect, and the sessions broke down. 

What we got instead as a sophomore album was ‘The Sufferer & The Witness’: written in three weeks, a string of singles and the birth of the definitive melodic hardcore Rise Against sound. It’s a classic of the Bush Era punk explosion, those few magical years where punks across the USA turned their distrust of an administration going to war to prevent war into furious riffs. It’s also one of those unfortunate albums which still feels so starkly relevant now and can’t be confined to history. The impotent rage at watching the world crash down around you in a constant media cycle is so present with every turn at this hour, and the longing for the clouds to break and sunlight to shine through is the sentiment that fills so many of us in 2026. “Give me the drug, keep me alive, give me whats left of my life,” screams Tim McIlrath: he could be begging for a release from any of today’s endless political mire and that’s the quality which makes ‘The Sufferer and The Witness’ so vital. 

‘The Sufferer & The Witness’ has that incredibly rare quality in an album where every track is brilliant. There’s no filler at all. You can pick any song at random and it’ll be profound, challenging and offer you something to prick at your emotions. Take ‘Roadside’: a Neil Young intro gives way to a empty breakup duet, a song for those devoid of hope. ‘Prayer Of The Refugee’ offers up characters preaching resilience in times of desperation, giving voice to marginalised people trying to find their way through a world that places barriers at their every turn, and ‘Under The Knife’ is a shard of wanting more from existence than it can currently offer. ‘Drones’ is distilled longing for the beautiful oblivion that love and connection can provide. Every facet of chest-tightening sentiment is crammed in here, with just as much punch as the day it was written. 

It’s also one of those albums which we didn’t realise was so important until the dust had settled. Having a deep re-listen halfway through festival season 2026 feels like you’re creating a checklist: this song came out of this vocalist’s mouth in another form just last week in a dusty tent, this riff exploded with pyro on a stage an ocean away from where it was written. The Menzingers’ earnest dedication to punk purity owes so much to Rise Against, and Trash Boat’s lyrical twists owe a lot to guys from Chicago. Melodic hardcore has found its champions in A Day To Remember, but early Rise Against must have been their blueprint somewhere down the line. Could we have had half the lineups we’ve been rushing to this year without ‘The Sufferer & The Witness’? Maybe, but that’s a terrifying parallel world not worth considering. 

This re-examination is my official apology to Rise Against. I dismissed them, back in 2004, as that MTV band singing about porch swings. Call it late teenage hubris, call it misguided prejudice against the noisier end of the punk spectrum. It wasn’t until my hoodie-wearing friends sat me down and forced me to listen to ‘The Sufferer & The Witness’ – my memory is of an experience akin to the brainwashing scene in ‘A Clockwork Orange’, though with slightly more beer and fewer eyeballs involved – that I realised I was wrong and this album was a work of stained punk genius. While perhaps not everyone needed as much re-education as I did, ‘The Sufferer & The Witness’ is still here to persuade you to find your battered humanity, re-orient yourself towards your punk North Star and rise up as Rise Against would want you to. 

Kate Allvey

Dave Stimson, co-founder of the pioneering ’80s hardcore punk zine, record label, and distribution company Touch & Go, has died. Stimson reportedly passed away Wednesday. Touch & Go’s Corey Rusk posted the news to the label’s Instagram account today along with a tribute to Stimson:

The post Touch & Go Co-Founder Dave Stimson Has Died appeared first on Stereogum.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DOOMHERRE, HEXJAKT, AND BROADSLAB EARN SPOTS ON DOOM CHARTS JUNE 2026 EDITION

Majestic Mountain Records and Electric Desert Records artists recognized among the heaviest releases of the month

The underground heavy music world is once again turning its attention to the latest Doom Charts June 2026 , where multiple Metal Devastation PR clients have landed strong placements among the most talked about doom, stoner, and psych releases worldwide.
Leading the charge is the collaborative release ** DOOMHERRE / ORDOS / HEXJAKT / KAISER – The Four Altars of Sin , released via Majestic Mountain Records , landing at #17 with 1719 points .
At #20, North Carolina heavyweights BROADSLAB return in force with The Fifth Essence , released through Electric Desert Records , earning 1192 points and marking a powerful comeback after a 12 year gap between records.
Doom Charts praise highlights the impact

Of The Four Altars of Sin , Jon McGough noted:


“Four altars. Four bands. Four devious offerings forged in hellfire and doom. Four Altars of Sin unfolds like a forbidden ritual…”


The review goes on to describe the release as a unified journey of crushing atmosphere and towering riffs, with each artist contributing to a cohesive, ritualistic descent into doom worship rather than competing for dominance.
For The Fifth Essence , Rich Piva praised BROADSLAB’s return, calling it a long overdue comeback:


“We need their version of southern stoner soul metal now more than ever… a riff filled, swampy southern metal party that you can hear blasting from North Carolina to all points around the world.”


Underground momentum building

These placements continue a strong run of visibility for underground heavy music across global doom and stoner scenes, with both releases gaining traction among critics, radio programmers, and record collectors who continue to drive the genre’s resurgence in physical and independent formats.
For the artists involved, the Doom Charts recognition reinforces what fans already know. Heavy music is alive, evolving, and still being pushed forward by bands willing to take risks, stretch atmospheres, and keep things loud, slow, and unapologetically heavy.
More updates, interviews, and features coming soon through Metal Devastation PR and Metal Devastation Radio .
Stay loud. Stay underground.
Check it out here: https://doomcharts.com/2026/07/03/doom-charts-june-2026/

Live Review: Metallica – London Stadium, Night 1

3rd July 2026
Support: Knocked Loose, Gojira
Words & Photos: Tim Finch

The Razor’s Edge started out the third Euro leg of Metallic’s M72 tour on the opening night at the Olympic Stadium in Athens. A swelteringly hot weekend kicked off their tour in style. Thus it is fitting that we are back for the closing weekend, two night’s at London’s own Olympic stadium, which will close out all European dates on this album cycle tour.

With the sun still burning high in the sky, not quite as hot as last week’s heat wave, but we’re getting there, it’s up to Knocked Loose to kick things off. Being used to small, sweaty clubs means jumping into a stadium-sized spotlight is never an easy task, but Knocked Loose approached it with the same unrelenting ferocity that’s built their reputation. Their sound is abrasive, punishing, and unapologetically intense and tonight it cut through the vast space with surprising clarity, driven by pummelling drums and razor-sharp riffs. Whilst the stadium capacity is a little sparse as the show kicks off, the band handle it in style and win over a number of unsuspecting new fans along the way.

Much like the opening night of the tour, Gojira’s set is colossal. From the outset we are hit with waves of crushing riffs, thunderous rhythms, and an almost hypnotic precision that filled the stadium with ease. Their sound is precision perfect and Joe Duplantier’s vocals roared with purpose, while the band locked into grooves that were as punishing as they were intricate. This was a performance that demonstrated a band just a few years away from headlining venues of this size in their own right!

Pretty much every night on this tour across Europe has set local attendance records, in Athens the 90,000+ crowd was the biggest the Olympic stadium had ever seen (and dwarfed the crowd size Maiden pulled in the city just a few weeks later… sssh, don’t tell the Iron Maiden fans that). The bands “in the round” set up lends itself to greater capacity on the floor and thus tonight seems to be no different, if an attendance record is not set, I’ll eat my hat. All this just going to prove the demand for Metallica is sky high, more so now than has ever been. Questions abound, how will the set differ from earlier dates? Do Metallica have any surprises in store for opening night in London? We are about to find out.

As the atmosphere builds and smoke billows across the eight huge digital screens the opening notes of ‘Creeping Death’ play out, a blistering number to kick off a frantic night. Following on we have ‘Harvester of Sorrow’ and the rarely played ‘Holier Than Thou’ keeping the energy levels high both on stage and in the crowd. From here ‘Of Wolf And Man’ concludes the opening salvo and a magnificent one it is too.

Next it’s into the newer segment of the set. ‘Lux Æterna’ led into ‘If Darkness Had A Son’ before we get the now traditional Kirk and Rob jam featuring ‘Sex, Drugs and Rock and Rill’ by Ian Dury and the Blockheads.

‘Fade to Black’ led into ‘Cyanide’ in a rare airing for a Death Magnetic track. Whilst the instrumental classic ‘Orion’ brings atmosphere to proceedings, and a tear to eye as James dedicates it to the late Cliff Burton, an image of which adorns his T-shirt this evening.

After the ever popular ‘Nothing Else Matters’ James asks”Do you like heavy?”, which can mean only one thing ‘Sad But True’. The beast from the Black Album rings out across the Olympic Stadium like no other track can.

After another fairly new offering with ‘Hardwired To Self Destruct’ the pyro of ‘Fuel’ kicks in the sky is lit with flame after flame in a song which James quips “is one of the two he likes”. And thus the evening is closed with the classics ‘Seek and Destroy’ and ‘Master of Puppets’.

The fans wait expectantly for an encore that never comes but with the next show less than 48 hours away we have not got long to wait for our next Metallica fix.

The post Live Review: Metallica – London Stadium, Night 1 appeared first on The Razor's Edge.

The post Reetoxa You Deserve Better Than Me Review appeared first on Edgar Allan Poets – Noir Rock Band.