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California deathgrinders Deathgrave recently returned with the third album, Hell Is Evil, and Decibel could not get enough of it. We were so smitten, in fact, that we asked guitarist and recording wiz Greg Wilkinson (Autopsy, Brainoil, Earhammer Studio), to rework a version of album standout “Hard to Swallow” — featuring guest vocals from one Christopher Reifert — in his studio lab. He emerged with the even sicker “Hard to Swallow (Redux ft. Chris Reifert),” which is now the latest entry on the never ending Decibel Flexi Series!

The only way you can score a copy for yourself is to sign up for a deluxe Decibel subscription by Wednesday, September 30 by noon ET. Blowing the opportunity would be a hard one to… well, you know.

The post DEATHGRAVE to Release Exclusive New Track, “Hard to Swallow (Redux ft. Chris Reifert),” via the Decibel Flexi Series! appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

At this point, it’s an annual tradition: The acclaimed, intense, Oscar-nominated actor Michael Shannon heads out on tour with his indie rocker buddy Jason Narducy, and they pay tribute to a different classic IRS Records-era R.E.M. album. Actual members of R.E.M. sometimes join them. A couple of times, this has led to unofficial R.E.M. reunions. In the past few years. Shannon and Narducy have taken Murmur, Fables Of The Reconstruction, and Lifes Rich Pageant on tour. They’ll hit the road again in 2027, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Document.

The post Michael Shannon & Jason Narducy Announce Tour Covering R.E.M.’s <em>Document</em> For Its 40th Anniversary appeared first on Stereogum.

The post Album Of The Week: Greg Freeman <em>All Set The Bone</em> appeared first on Stereogum.

Jim Root has given Slipknot fans the clearest picture yet of the band’s next album, and it comes with a warning: ‘It’s gonna hurt some feelings.’ Answering fans online, the guitarist said the one rule for the record is not to repeat themselves — ‘Don’t expect another Iowa or self-titled record.

We’ve been there’ — and when a fan wrote ‘Please don’t make another The End, So Far. We need this to be heavy and not Stone Sour,’ Root replied with a single word: ‘Agreed.’ The album was tracked live on the floor with new drummer Eloy Casagrande, is fully analogue, is being produced by Matt Wallace, will be the first release on the band’s own (sic)est Records, and does not include this month’s surprise single ‘Arsenal.’

There is no release date yet, but it now has to land before the stadium tour that opens at Wembley next July.

STREAM THE METAL BREAKDOWN DAILY NOW:

Jim Root just admitted the last Slipknot record missed — and told us who the next one isn’t for. Scott Penfold breaks down every word on today’s Metal Breakdown Daily, plus a Loaded Radio exclusive on Type O Negative’s lost October Rust song. Download the free Loaded Radio App on Apple iOS and Google Play and stream the show now.

I have interviewed Corey Taylor more than once, and I can tell you the man has never in his life said a Slipknot record fell short. Clown speaks in riddles. Mick doesn’t speak. So when a Slipknot guitarist answers a fan who says the last album sounded like Stone Sour with the word ‘Agreed,’ that isn’t a throwaway comment. That’s the most candid anyone in this band has been about their own work in twenty-five years.

What Jim Root Actually Said

Root has been taking questions from fans, and the answers read like a man who’s been waiting to say it.

On the direction: ‘One very important thing for us at this time is to not “repeat” ourselves. It’s gonna hurt some feelings.’ On what not to expect: ‘Don’t expect another Iowa or self-titled record. We’ve been there.’ On what it feels like: ‘The vibe feels honest and true to me. It’s uneasy and reminds me of recording in the earlier days.’

And on the sound: ‘Everything is analogue and played. All the pieces that need to be there are there.’ He’s previously called recent Slipknot material over-produced. This time, he says, they tracked on the floor live with Eloy — ‘We hadn’t done that in a long time’ — and he calls it the most exciting and liveliest sounding thing they’ve done.

Then the exchange everybody’s screenshotting. A fan: ‘Please don’t make another The End, So Far. We need this to be heavy and not Stone Sour.’ Root: ‘Agreed.’

Why ‘Not Stone Sour’ Lands Harder Coming From Root

Here’s the part the other write-ups are skipping. Jim Root was in Stone Sour. He played on every record from the debut through House Of Gold & Bones, and his exit in 2014 was not a quiet one — he’s said publicly that he was pushed out while he was working on a Slipknot album.

So a fan asking him to make sure Slipknot doesn’t sound like Stone Sour is asking the one member of the band with a personal history in the comparison. And he agreed. Read into that what you like. I read a guitarist who’s been thinking the same thing for four years.

The End, So Far came out in September 2022 as the band’s last album for Roadrunner, and the split in the fanbase was immediate: clean choruses, a ballad-adjacent opener, Corey’s melodic side all the way up front. Plenty of people loved it. Plenty of people heard the other band. Root has just told the second group he’s with them.

What’s Actually On Tape

Strip out the attitude and here’s the factual state of the album:

• Recorded live on the floor with Eloy Casagrande on drums — the man who replaced Jay Weinberg and whose first Slipknot recording was ‘Arsenal.’
• Fully analogue, per Root, with the over-produced era explicitly in the rear-view mirror.
• Produced by Matt Wallace — the producer behind Faith No More’s The Real Thing and Angel Dust, and the first outside producer Slipknot have used in years who has no history with the band.
• First release on (sic)est Records, the band’s own label, which is why the stadium tour carries the same name.
• ‘Arsenal’ is not on it. The surprise single from earlier this month was, in Root’s own words at the time, just the one they could finish soonest.
• No title, no track count, no release date. Everything you’ve read with a date attached is a guess.

If you’re tracking the whole saga, our running page on the new Slipknot album has every confirmed detail in one place.

The Band Making It Isn’t The Band That Made The Last One

This is the context that makes ‘don’t repeat ourselves’ more than a slogan.

Since The End, So Far: Jay Weinberg was let go and Eloy Casagrande came in. Craig Jones left the sampler station. Sid Wilson’s exit played out in public and ugly. Three of the nine chairs have changed, and two of the three were the members most associated with the electronic and textural layer that The End, So Far leaned on.

Take those layers out, put a drummer who hits like Eloy in the room, track it live, hand it to a producer who cut his teeth on Faith No More, and uneasy is exactly the word you’d expect. Root isn’t describing a plan. He’s describing what happened when this lineup played together.

Why This Matters Before The Stadiums

The tour is already sold. Nineteen dates, Wembley to Bogotá, presales open, and the album that goes with it doesn’t have a name.

That’s a strange order of operations for any band, and it puts real pressure on the record. If it lands the way Root is describing — heavy, raw, closer to Iowa‘s spirit without copying it — the stadium run becomes a coronation. If it doesn’t, the band will be playing the biggest rooms of their career behind a record their own guitarist warned would hurt feelings. Either way, ‘Agreed’ is going to be quoted back at him for a year.

For what it’s worth, my read: a member volunteering that the last one missed is the healthiest sign this band has shown since .5: The Gray Chapter. Bands that defend every record make the same record. Bands that admit a miss make the ones that end up on lists like this.

TL;DR

• Jim Root on the new Slipknot album: ‘It’s gonna hurt some feelings.’ The rule is not to repeat themselves — no Iowa rerun, no self-titled rerun.
• A fan asked for ‘heavy and not Stone Sour.’ Root replied ‘Agreed.’ Root was in Stone Sour until 2014.
• Tracked live on the floor with Eloy Casagrande. Fully analogue. Root has called recent material over-produced.
• Produced by Matt Wallace (Faith No More). First release on (sic)est Records.
• ‘Arsenal’ is not on the album.
• No title, track count or release date yet. The 19-date stadium tour opens at Wembley on 3 July 2027.
• Since The End, So Far: Jay Weinberg out, Eloy in; Craig Jones and Sid Wilson gone.

FAQ

Has Slipknot’s last album been a Stone Sour record with masks on? Or is Root about to alienate the fans who loved it? Tell us in the comments which side you’re on, and follow Loaded Radio for daily rock and metal news.

The post New Slipknot Album Will Hurt Feelings, And Jim Root Just Said Whose appeared first on Loaded Radio.

Things are afoot in Father John Misty’s universe. No word yet on the follow-up to 2024’s Mahashmashana, but Josh Tillman has dropped two singles this year. “The Old Law” and “The Payoff” were both apocalyptic, Beatles-esque bangers with sweeping Drew Erickson arrangements, and there’s another one of those today. “The X-panded Universe” finds FJM once again reckoning with his religious heritage, once again sounding glorious.

The post Father John Misty – “The X-panded Universe” appeared first on Stereogum.

Once upon a time, the Strokes and the White Stripes were the two biggest dogs in the early-’00s rock-revival moment. The White Stripes no longer exist, but Jack White continues to soldier on as a solo act. The Strokes are still around, too, but they’re down one member right now. Back in May, the Strokes announced that longtime rhythm guitarist Nick Valensi would take a “temporary break” from the band. (His most recent show with them was at Coachella.) Last night, the city of Los Angeles got an unexpected White Stripes/Strokes crossover when Valensi joined Jack White for two songs at his Hollywood Palladium show.

The post The Strokes’ Nick Valensi Joins Jack White In LA appeared first on Stereogum.