Nobody is drinking alone at indigo at The O2 tonight. Rock ‘n’ roll legends George Thorogood & The Destroyers are in London for their final Baddest Show On Earth Tour, supported by the hot-shot guitarist, Jared James Nichols and his band.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – Jared James Nichols
This is a super modern venue, with air-con, excellent lighting and speaker systems. It has a semi-circular ground floor and a large seated balcony area that tapers like a steep-sided ice cream cone.
It is a visually impressive sight, but at times it can compromise sightlines, and the stairs are steep for those with accessibility issues or for those with vertigo. For the seen-it-all, done-it-all rock fans, they do not care.
This was their last chance to see a band some had followed since its inception in 1973.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
George Thorogood & The Destroyers
One of the stranger moments of the night for me was that as a precursor to the show, the fantastic anti-war protest song Eve Of Destruction was played, its most famous version sung by Barry McGuire.
Bizarrely, I had reviewed Kreator, a fast Thrash Metal band, earlier in the year, who had also opened their show with this song. The read-across is worrying. It is an emotionally powerful song dealing with the current threats and realities of war, escalation and nuclear weapons. A total contrast to the rock ‘n’ roll fiesta to come.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
The bass drum has the word ‘Destroyers’ and a wizard throwing stars in the air on it. All is dark with just the word and the picture back-lit in red, as to delighted whoops and cheers on comes the bandanna’d George Thorogood, all in black with a black guitar and his band behind him.
Running to the front of the stage, he mimes “I can’t hear you” to the crowd, eliciting a greater roar.
From Rock Party, to Who Do You Love?, and I Drink Alone, this is absolutely banging bar room rock ‘n’ roll which does not let up for the whole night.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
We get the singalong classic One Bourbon One Scotch One Beer which those who have followed the instruction punch along to with extra exuberance. With Get A Haircut and the song he is probably best known for, Bad To The Bone, the fans upstairs and downstairs groove, rock, cheer and hold their arms aloft to every get down and boogie tune.
The Destroyers look very cool. Sunglasses on one, leopard skin print on the shirt of another, backwards cap on the saxophonist who blasts at least one mean solo.
The Destroyers are Jeff Simon (drums) and long-term band members but later joiners Billy Blough (bass guitar), Jim Suhler (guitar) and Buddy Leach (Saxophone, keyboard and maracas!).
All are superb, but rather like the teams around Kane, Messi or Mbappe, they are supporting George Thorogood, one of rock’s great front men, as well as an outstanding guitarist, singer and songwriter.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
The whole show is about non-stop fun. Musically, Thorogood is all about rhythm-heavy blues and rock ‘n’ roll, creating a driving beat that keeps the bodies in the club moving, and slide guitar with his cuffed finger glinting down the strings.
His solos are on point, and the longest of them is kicking. No one wants him to stop. He cannot stop playing with the crowd musically or with on-stage banter, mucking around with his wah-wah pedal, teasing riffs when they are not expected and when he takes off his bandana, combing not only his hair but his shirt, producing weird comb feedback.
Also, Thorogood can really sing, belting out Bbbbbad To The Bone with some real menace but always with a wink in the eye. The man is an energy ball. At seventy-six years young, it is impressive.
Even drinking whiskey on stage during the show, which he throws to the ground, saying it’s tea. With a hell raiser like this, it is probably whiskey.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
Having seen Ian Gillan (80) of Deep Purple and Alice Cooper (78) a week ago, headlining the stage at Hellfest, in France, it really does prove rock and Metal are wonderful for maintaining the thrill of life.
There are so many in-jokes bantered on stage that it is hard to keep up. At one moment talking about the orange whip (a reference to the Blues Brothers), at another pretending to want to recreate a great moment from Elvis’s career by wiping a flannel (believe it was a towel in Elvis’s case) and then picking through the crowd to offer it to a pretty lady “fulfilling one of my rock ‘n’ roll fantasies.”
Then, at the end, he puts on his rock star cape to go off stage and falls around, parodying James Brown, before coming back to the front to take the appreciation from the aficionados.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
This is vaudevillian showmanship but also emphasises the life he has led, meeting most of the greats, including Johnny Cash and touring with The Stones.
Thorogood eulogises the UK. Wearing a Union Jack wristband, he talks of “deep appreciation for the loyal support of our English fans”. He honours Jagger, Richards, and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones with great respect.
A lot of Thorogood’s stage mannerisms are Jaggeresque. Maybe not surprising, as he toured with them in the early ’80s. He also talks of loving the good women of England, but particularly the bad women of London, which gets shrieks from the female fans.
Jared James Nichols came on for the finale Born To Be Bad. A natural Destroyer himself, he adds more good nature and first-rate guitar playing to the song.
George Thorogood & The Destroyers – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
George Thorogood said on stage that “It took me fifty years to get up here, I’m going to enjoy every minute of it”. It is clear he and everybody have.
Nobody wants to leave with repeated bows, roars and applause, but finally, with a mock tear and a big thumbs up, he surreally leaves to the tune of the British National Anthem.
Jared James Nichols
Jared James Nichols, one of the leading younger figures in blues and hard rock guitar and his band, Brian Weaver on bass and Ryan Rice on drums, bounced onto the stage to a rapidly filling crowd.
Dressed in rock ‘n’ roll denim, long hair and a gentle giant smile, Jared delivered a set of two halves,
Jared James Nichols – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
The crowd took some time to pick up Jared’s initially more measured pace on Let’s Go, Ghost and Way Back, to the extent that Jared goaded the gathering, saying, “You’re so quiet, it’s cute. Guess that’s London”.
Jared’s guitar style is not flashy, although a few cheeky rock god arm raises were in evidence. This is more spare and elegant solos with unusual twists that catch the brain and insist on notice.
Famously playing without a pick, which he said causes him “to break a string every single day,” he generated a fuller sound which his gritty, vocal style matched. The band and he were fluent together, matching each other with flow and poise.
Jared James Nichols – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
Jared enjoys banter with the audience, including discussions about getting his hair cut, but maybe not like the person who had shouted at him that he should do this (probably a joke reference to the George Thorogood & The Destroyers song about hair cutting) and how crazy their recent Midlands (Wolverhampton) gig was.
“Maybe Londoners don’t know how to chug a beer,” egged on the Capital’s rock ‘n’ roll barflies to oil up in time for George Thorogood.
Jared James Nichols – indigo at The O2 – 30 June 2026. Photo: Manuela Langotsch/MetalTalk
Once the music picked up pace at the back end of the set with Killing Time, Baby Can You Feel It, and Running Hot, the atmosphere changed, and rock fever bounced back at the stage with roars and appreciative head nodding.
This was equal measure blues and hard rock, with the final song, Keep Your Light On Mama, towards the end delivering something that could even set a Metaller’s head nodding.
The set was relatively short, but it was punchy and enjoyable and left the gig-goers keen for more.
They turn into visual trademarks, sonic signatures, and cultural artifacts that fans recognize before a single note is played.
In rock history, a guitar can carry as much meaning as a jacket, a stage move, or a voice.
A custom guitar can mean several things. It can be an artist-designed instrument, a heavily modified factory guitar, a one-off stage creation, or a signature model tied permanently to one player.
In each case, the guitar tells a story about what the musician needed, what they rejected, and how they wanted to be seen and heard.
1. Eddie Van Halen’s “Frankenstrat”
Eddie Van Halen’s legendary Frankenstrat guitar
Eddie Van Halen’s “Frankenstrat” belongs at the top of any list about custom rock guitars because it captured the spirit of invention.
Rather than accept what major guitar companies offered, Eddie built the guitar he wanted using mismatched parts, modified factory seconds, and odd-lot components.
His goal was practical and radical at once.
Eddie wanted a guitar with the power and sustain often associated with Gibson instruments, but with the look, feel, and playability of a Fender-style guitar.
At that time, that combination was not sitting on a store wall ready to buy. He had to build it himself.
Several details explain why the Frankenstrat became a rock design standard:
Built with factory seconds and mismatched parts instead of a clean production setup
Designed to chase a Gibson-like sound while keeping Fender-style feel and appearance
Spray-painted in red, black, and white stripes that became instantly recognizable
Nicknamed “Frankenstein” because of its pieced-together construction
Built around tone, playability, dependability, and stage function
Every detail pointed to function first. Eddie cared less about cosmetic polish and more about a guitar that responded exactly how he wanted.
Once a custom guitar becomes part of a player’s live identity, protecting it in a proper flight case matters just as much as pickup choice, setup, and stage reliability.
That attitude helped inspire generations of players to modify their own guitars rather than treat factory instruments as finished products.
“Eruption” made the guitar sound like a machine breaking loose. “Ain’t Talkin’ ’Bout Love” showed how it could cut through hard rock riffs with bite and authority.
During early Van Halen live performances, the guitar became part of Eddie’s image, as bold and restless as his playing.
2. Brian May’s “Red Special”
Brian May’s handmade Red Special guitar
Brian May’s “Red Special” has one of rock’s most personal origin stories.
Built by May and his father Harold beginning in 1963, the guitar took more than a year to complete.
Rather than copy a commercial model, they created an instrument that could meet May’s own musical ideas.
May wanted a guitar that could outperform many store-bought electric guitars. His father brought engineering skill, patience, and technical thinking to the project.
Together, they built a guitar that became inseparable with Queen’s layered, orchestral guitar sound.
Unusual materials gave the Red Special part of its identity:
Neck wood came out of an 18th-century fireplace mantel
Position inlays were hand-shaped using a mother-of-pearl button
Construction began in 1963 and lasted more than a year
Built by May and his father rather than bought or factory modified
Used by May on every Queen album and in Queen live shows for decades
Unlike many famous guitars, the Red Special was not bought, lightly adjusted, and taken on stage.
It was created almost entirely as a personal solution.
That matters because May’s tone did not come only through amplifiers, pedals, or studio layering. It began with an instrument built around his hands and his imagination.
Queen recordings show the guitar’s range. “Bohemian Rhapsody” uses its layered voice as part of the song’s dramatic architecture.
“We Will Rock You” gives it a massive, singing lead tone. “Brighton Rock” displays its sustain, clarity, and ability to handle May’s melodic phrasing during extended live features.
3. Jimmy Page’s Gibson EDS-1275 Double-Neck
Jimmy Page’s Gibson EDS-1275 double-neck became the visual center of Led Zeppelin’s most theatrical live moments.
With a 12-string neck on top and a 6-string neck below, it gave Page a way to move between delicate shimmer and heavier electric passages without changing guitars mid-song.
“Stairway to Heaven” made the instrument mythic. In the studio, guitar parts could be layered and arranged with ease.
On stage, Page needed one instrument that could carry the song’s different sections. The double-neck made that possible, while also giving the performance a grand visual identity.
Several design details explain its stage power:
12-string neck placed above the 6-string neck
Mahogany body with a cherry finish
Custombucker pickup setup linked to its signature model details
Strong connection to “Stairway to Heaven,” “The Song Remains the Same,” and “The Rain Song”
Massive body shape that made it visually dominant under concert lights
Page used the guitar because it solved a live arrangement problem.
“Stairway to Heaven” needed both 12-string shimmer and 6-string force, and switching instruments mid-song would have broken the drama. EDS-1275 let Page move between textures while keeping the performance intact.
Many players later picked up double-neck guitars because Page made them look essential.
Yet the reason it worked so well had less to do with size alone and more to do with musical purpose. It solved a practical issue while making the performance feel larger than life.
4. Prince’s “Cloud” Guitar
Prince’s “Cloud” guitar looked like it belonged only to him.
Custom-built and made famous through Purple Rain, it became part of a visual identity tied to style, confidence, sexuality, and genre-crossing musical control.
Its body shape was flowing and sculptural, with curves that felt closer to fashion and stage design than standard guitar building.
Created by a local Minneapolis luthier, the Cloud matched Prince’s artistic world, where rock, funk, pop, soul, and theatrical performance all met in one persona.
Key details connect the Cloud guitar to Prince’s image:
Custom-built before its Purple Rain fame
Designed by a Minneapolis luthier
Later reproduced by Schecter guitars
Known for a flowing body shape that matched Prince’s stage style
Linked strongly to 1980s performances and visual identity
Purple Rain gave the guitar a place in pop culture memory.
When Prince held it on screen and on stage, it did more than signal that he could play guitar. It announced him as an artist with total command over sound, image, and mythology.
Songs like “Purple Rain,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” and “Computer Blue” show the world that surrounded the instrument.
Prince could use guitar heroics when he wanted, but he never treated rock guitar as a narrow tradition.
Cloud fit that attitude because it rejected ordinary shapes and carried a sense of motion even at rest.
5. Kurt Cobain’s Fender Jag-Stang
Kurt Cobain’s Fender Jag-Stang guitar
Kurt Cobain’s Fender Jag-Stang became the anti-hero guitar of grunge.
Designed by combining elements of his favored Fender Jaguar and Mustang, it looked awkward, jagged, and personal. That was part of the point.
Cobain sketched the idea on a napkin, and Fender Japan later brought it into production.
Its hybrid body shape, short-scale feel, and unconventional design made it fit the early-1990s rejection of polished guitar-hero culture. Instead of sleek perfection, it offered personality, discomfort, and edge.
Important features made the Jag-Stang fit Cobain’s playing and image:
Jaguar and Mustang hybrid concept
Napkin-sketch origin
Fender Japan production connection
Short-scale feel
Asymmetrical body shape
Neck single-coil and bridge humbucker configuration
Versatile sound suited to clean tension and heavy distortion
Nirvana’s music gave the guitar its meaning. “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Lithium,” and “Heart-Shaped Box” were not about technical display in the old rock sense.
They relied on tension, abrasion, melody, and distortion. A strange hybrid guitar suited that world better than a polished luxury instrument.
Cobain’s connection to the Jag-Stang also shows how custom design can reveal personality. He did not chase perfection in a traditional sense.
He wanted a guitar that matched his instincts, habits, and discomfort with standard rock roles.
6. Jimi Hendrix’s Monterey Stratocaster
Jimi Hendrix’s hand-painted Monterey Stratocaster
Jimi Hendrix’s Monterey Stratocaster is remembered as much for its destruction as its design. Hand-painted with psychedelic artwork, the Fender Stratocaster became part of one of the most famous stage acts in rock history.
At the Monterey Pop Festival, Hendrix ended his performance by setting the guitar on fire. He later described the act as a kind of sacrifice, connected to love for the instrument. That moment turned a painted guitar into performance art.
Several facts made the Monterey Stratocaster a lasting rock image:
Hand-painted Fender Stratocaster used at Monterey Pop Festival
Burned at the end of Hendrix’s performance
Connected to his “Wild Thing” performance
Preserved mainly through photos and film after its destruction
Psychedelic artwork tied directly to late-1960s counterculture
Its life as an object was short, but its image became permanent. The guitar survived as a cultural image rather than a playable artifact.
That gives it a different kind of power compared with instruments that aged through decades of touring.
Bright paint, fluid shapes, and flower-like design choices matched the atmosphere of the era.
Hendrix already had a reputation as a guitarist who could make the Stratocaster sound explosive, vocal, and unpredictable. At Monterey, the instrument also became a ritual object.
7. Eric Clapton’s “Blackie”
Eric Clapton’s legendary Blackie Stratocaster
Eric Clapton’s “Blackie” proves that an iconic guitar does not need visual flash.
Built using parts of three 1950s Fender Stratocasters bought at a Nashville shop in the 1970s, it became one of the most important partscaster instruments in rock and blues history.
Clapton assembled the guitar to suit his playing needs. Its plain black look gave it a quiet authority, especially when compared with striped, painted, or sharply shaped guitars.
Blackie’s significance came through tone, touch, and years of association with Clapton’s work.
Several facts shaped Blackie’s historical value:
Built using parts of three different 1950s Fender Stratocasters
Origin tied to a Nashville shop purchase in the 1970s
Main Clapton guitar for years before retirement in the mid-1980s
Sold for $959,500 in 2004
Auction proceeds supported Clapton’s Crossroads rehab center
For many years, Blackie carried Clapton’s Stratocaster-based blues-rock period.
Songs like “Cocaine,” “Wonderful Tonight,” and “Lay Down Sally” placed that tone in front of huge audiences.
Blackie also helped validate the idea that parts-built guitars could become historically important. Factory originality mattered less than musical identity.
Once a player uses an instrument long enough, every scratch, adjustment, and tonal quirk becomes part of its story.
8. Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Number One” Stratocaster
Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Number One” Stratocaster looked like it had survived a fight every night.
Vaughan called it “Number One” and also referred to it as his “First Wife,” which says a lot about the emotional weight the guitar carried.
Identified as a 1963 Fender Stratocaster fitted with a 1962 neck, the guitar became central to Vaughan’s sound and image.
It was battered through intense stage use, heavy playing, sweat, travel, and physical attack. Its damage was not cosmetic theater. It came through real work.
Key details add to the guitar’s mythic status:
1963 Fender Stratocaster body
1962 neck
Nicknamed “Number One” and “First Wife”
Heavy visible wear caused by years of aggressive playing
Strong connection to Texas blues tone
Visual identity often copied by relic-style guitars
That battle-scarred look matched Vaughan’s playing. His Texas blues style was aggressive, muscular, and emotionally direct.
He attacked the strings with force, yet kept a vocal quality in his phrasing.
Number One looked like the right instrument for that kind of pressure.
Songs like “Pride and Joy,” “Texas Flood,” and “Lenny” show different sides of the guitar.
It could snarl, cry, snap, and sing. Vaughan’s explosive live performances added to its reputation, turning visible wear into a sign of authenticity.
9. B.B. King’s “Lucille”
B.B. King’s beloved Lucille guitar
B.B. King’s “Lucille” has one of the greatest origin stories in music. In 1949, King rescued a $30 Gibson guitar out of a burning dance hall in Arkansas.
Later, he learned the fire had started during a fight between two men over a woman named Lucille.
After that night, King gave the name “Lucille” to his guitars. The name became a reminder never to fight over a woman and never to run into a burning building for a guitar again.
Over time, Lucille became inseparable with King’s voice-like phrasing and elegant vibrato.
Several details make Lucille more than a single guitar:
Name traces back to a 1949 Arkansas dance-hall fire
Original rescued guitar cost $30
King used the Lucille name for later guitars as well
Gibson began manufacturing the B.B. King signature Lucille model in 1980
Gibson Lucille design was based on ES-355 ideas
Hollow-body and solid-body design concepts shaped its feel and tone
Lucille’s sound was not about speed or aggression. It was about phrasing, space, and emotion. King could make a single bent note feel like a full vocal line.
That expressive approach shaped countless rock guitarists who learned that power did not always mean volume or speed.
“The Thrill Is Gone” and “Every Day I Have the Blues” show how Lucille became more than a guitar name. It became part of a musical language. Blues may be the root, but King’s influence runs through rock guitar history at every level.
10. Randy Rhoads’ Jackson “Concorde”
Randy Rhoads’ Jackson “Concorde” helped create the sharp visual language of modern metal guitars.
Commissioned by Rhoads and nicknamed “Concorde,” it moved away from classic blues-rock shapes and pointed toward a more aggressive metal style.
Its angled body looked fast, dangerous, and futuristic.
That silhouette matched Rhoads’ neoclassical playing style, which combined metal power with classical-influenced runs, dramatic phrasing, and technical control.
Several points explain why Concorde mattered for metal guitar design:
Commissioned by Randy Rhoads
Nicknamed “Concorde”
Sharp, angled body helped define later metal guitar aesthetics
Connected to Jackson’s rise in heavy guitar design
Visual influence seen in later pointed metal guitars
Designed during the early-1980s metal era
Early-1980s metal needed instruments that looked as intense as the music sounded.
Concorde answered that need. Its body shape suggested motion, attack, and precision.
Later pointed guitars linked to metal players carried that idea even further.
Rhoads’ work with Ozzy Osbourne gave the guitar its setting. “Crazy Train,” “Mr. Crowley,” and “Flying High Again” placed his playing in front of a new generation of hard rock and metal fans.
His solos were technical, melodic, and dramatic, and Concorde looked like a perfect match for that style.
Closing Thoughts
Iconic custom guitars matter because they carry more than sound.
Some custom guitars are handmade. Others are modified, damaged, painted, renamed, or built for one specific performance need.
In every case, the instrument becomes part of the artist’s language.
Great rock guitars are not only tools. They hold stories, choices, risks, habits, and emotion.
Long after the last note fades, their shapes, colors, scars, and names keep speaking.
Back in 2014, few predicted a band fronted by three Japanese teenagers in tutus and sounding like Hello Kitty fronting a death metal band in a Shinjuku arcade would go the distance. In those early days, Babymetal certainly divided Western fans. Was it metal? Was it a gimmick? What the hell were they even singing about?
Today, all those debates that raged so intensely in the beginning are completely redundant. Babymetal have gone from curiosity to genuine phenomenon, and survived the departure of founder member Yuimetal in 2018 (co-founders Su-metal and Moametal were joined by Momometal in 2023). Along the way, they’ve collaborated with everyone from Bring Me The Horizon and Bloodywood to Poppy and Spiritbox, pushing their sound in every direction imaginable.
How did they get here? For all the colour and excitement, the band’s evolution can be charted through their ever-changing music. Here, Su-metal, Moametal and Momometal talk us through the songs that built Babymetal.
Akatsuki (Babymetal, 2014)
An early sign of just how obsessed fans would become with Babymetal, this cosmic power metal ballad is lifted by prismatic keys, rampaging guitar solos and a wide-eyed, 16-year-old Su-metal belting her heart out about undying love. The live a cappella version is just as stirring.
SU-METAL: “When I first received this song, I had just started singing metal. At the time, I was giving it everything I had to keep up with the song’s intensity, and just making it through to the end was already a challenge. I would take to the stage with a strong determination – that even if my voice cracked, I would never back down.
“The lyrics – ‘Kono karadaga horobirumade, Inochiga kierumade, Mamori tsuzuketeiku (I will keep protecting you until this body perishes, until my life fades away)’ – hit me very deeply back then. And if even a little of that determination managed to reach all of you… that would make me truly happy.”
What is it like singing the a cappella version?
SU-METAL: “Singing a cappella has no set answer, so it is freeing – but I would feel lonely, and I’m not sure I would enjoy that. The performance usually starts with my solo part, and the band joins in afterwards. When I sing that part, it becomes a moment of facing myself and preparing to pour all my emotions out.”
Megitsune (Babymetal, 2014)
With its thunderous drums, Japanese instrumentation, cut-throat riffs and pop melodies, Megitsune brings together all the WTF?!? elements of Babymetal’s early sound.
It was also the song that they opened their landmark 2019 Glastonbury set with.
MOAMETAL:“Wow, it has been seven years since Glastonbury festival… We performed in Japan until the 29th, which was the day before our Glastonbury set. We went to the airport right after the Japan show, hopped on a plane – and we were onstage the very next day. I remember going into the show still riding the adrenaline from the previous nights’ performances.
Even though the schedule was hectic, I was happy that we gave ourselves a shot at a festival beyond the metal scene, and that the audience enjoyed our performance. I was surprised by our own stamina! Ha ha ha!”
Gimme Chocolate!! (Babymetal, 2014)
The track that broke them worldwide, thanks to a video that went viral faster than the time it takes to snaffle a Cadbury’s Freddo. Throw in a show-stealing appearance at that year’s Sonisphere and they’ve never looked back.
SU-METAL: “We go through many rounds of recording, building the song as we go, so it’s not unusual for the lyrics to be incomplete at the demo stage. I remember recording this song while wondering, ‘What are the lyrics for that opening part – the ‘a-ta-ta-ta’ and ‘wa-ta-ta-ta’ – going to be?’
Then the choreography came together, and before I knew it, we were performing it live. I remember thinking, ‘Wait – so this is what this song is? It was complete all along?’ It genuinely caught me off guard.”
Why do you think the song became so popular?
MOAMETAL: “I don’t know. I guess everyone loves chocolate. I love it too – it tastes good!”
Road Of Resistance (Babymetal, 2014 / Metal Resistance, 2016)
Babymetal’s very own battle cry, it saw them teaming up with Dragonforce guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman for their first international collaboration. A true anthem of defiance, especially when the flags come out during live performances.
SU-METAL: “I remember when I listened to their guitar demo, I was so excited with the intensity. I thought to myself, ‘We actually get to collaborate with musicians who perform this amazingly! They are incredibly friendly in person and we became close to them, so I hope we will have a chance to collaborate more.”
How challenging was it to learn the dance routine?
MOMOMETAL:“The intro part where we ride and gallop like we’re on a horse was pretty hard to get used to. It took me a while to figure out the right angle to make it look dynamic. And at the end, when we hold the flag and pose, I kept having trouble gripping it and would sometimes drop it.”
Karate (Metal Resistance, 2016)
A highlight of their second album, Karate bought something new to the party, stripping back the warp-speed power metal for an addictive groove and huge bass drop. Fans everywhere love the ‘fall down and get up’ choreography.
SU-METAL: “Babymetal’s music had always incorporated elements of Japanese culture, but Karate was the first time we brought Japanese culture so directly and straightforwardly into the title, lyrics and choreography.
“As we began touring overseas, more and more people started recognising and appreciating the uniqueness and originality of what we were doing. Singing this song, I kept thinking: I want to push our one-of-a-kind identity even further, and I want to represent Japan and make an even bigger impact on the world stage.”
Moametal said about the song: “Karate is a martial art based on the principle of facing yourself.” What were you facing and overcoming at the time of this song, as a member of Babymetal?
MOAMETAL: “From the very beginning, we never really had rivals in the traditional sense. We were the first to walk this path, so we’ve moved forward by battling against ourselves.
There were days when leaving Japan made us feel lonely, and days when things got so tough that we wanted to give up, but we fought through those feelings, and that’s how we’ve kept going for 16 years. We want to give ourselves a pat on the back for getting back up every single time we fall. Well done, Babymetal!”
You played the song at Wembley Arena on April 2, 2016, which was your biggest headlining show outside Japan to that point. What do you remember of the performance?
SU-METAL: “Standing on the Wembley Arena stage, watching fans from all different backgrounds come together as one through our music, breaking through the barriers of genre and language – it felt like a dream.
But I didn’t want it to end there. That day, our fans gave us the push to keep going, and made us believe that as long as we have them by our side, there are still so many incredible moments ahead waiting to be discovered.”
Syncopation (Metal Resistance, 2016)
It may have only appeared on the Japanese version of Metal Resistance, but Syncopation has become a fan favourite. The way its earwormy chorus and guitars go screeching off in all directions, there’s no way it was ever going to remain a deep cut.
MOMOMETAL: “I think the melodic speed metal intro is what hits hardest for a lot of people! The choreography is straightforward and directly matched to the music, so I think it feels incredibly satisfying to watch as a full performance!”
Distortion (Single, 2018 / Metal Galaxy, 2019)
A watershed moment for Babymetal, Distortion was released between Yuimetal stepping back from the band in late 2017 and her official departure in October 2018. Babymetal revisited it on 2019’s Metal Galaxy, with a guest vocalist, Alissa White-Gluz, then of Arch Enemy, taking it to an even heavier dimension.
SU-METAL: “With Alissa’s voice added, the range of distortion and turbulence in this song expanded dramatically. It feels like the ground is trembling – being pulled from somewhere deep beneath the surface, shaken, unsettled. With just one note, she can throw the entire song off balance and set it into distortion. I was truly in awe.”
BxMxC (Metal Galaxy, 2019)
Babymetal have never had much interest in genre boundaries, but BxMxC showed just how much they’ve continued to push their sound. It’s straight-up rap metal, with a disembodied Su-metal vocal, huge juddering drops and glitching electronics. Proof you can never predict what Babymetal will do next.
SU-METAL: “I remember struggling with this song during recording. But as we toured and performed it in front of audiences, I gradually began to let myself go, evolving with every performance. It is the song where I sing most freely, so it may continue to change and evolve even more going forward.”
Pa Pa Ya!! (Metal Galaxy, 2019)
The bouncy fourth single from Metal Galaxy, Pa Pa Ya!! was a collaboration with Thai rapper F.Hero, and the band’s first major cross-genre collaboration. Combining Kaiju-sized nu metal energy and a nectar-sweet chorus, it opened the floodgates for the band to collaborate with artists from across the musical spectrum.
MOAMETAL: “I believe the style of cross-cultural exchange that began with this song has become one of Babymetal’s greatest strengths. This collaboration was the moment we realised how naturally Babymetal connects with the music and cultures of other countries.
The idea that we can create something new by combining metal with other elements is something I am truly grateful to F.Hero for showing us. Even now, every time we visit Thailand, he welcomes us with such warmth and has become a true bridge between us and Thailand!”
Bring Me The Horizon – Kingslayer (Post Human: Survival Horror, 2020)
It’s technically a BMTH song – Babymetal were ‘sealed’ at the time – but Kingslayer is what you get if you put two of metal’s most inventive, genre-smashing bands together on one track – a top-tier cyber metal anthem that became Babymetal’s highest-charting single, reaching No.51 in the UK. Lucky you if you were there one of the few times they’ve performed it live together.
SU-METAL: “I was already a fan of Bring Me The Horizon, so I was overjoyed when the opportunity came to work with them. From the moment I received the song, I could feel that they had really thought about Babymetal while writing it – the call-and-response parts and all the little details made me so happy.
But during recording, when they asked us to sing certain parts in Japanese, I was genuinely surprised and thought, ‘Are you sure you want to bring out that much of the Babymetal side?’”
It’s your most-streamed track on Spotify. Why do you think people love it so much?
MOMOMETAL: “What makes this song so compelling is the way both of our strengths are packed in so fully. It is one of the most intense metal tracks in Babymetal’s entire catalogue. I think it struck a chord with many people, even those hearing us for the first time.”
Mirror Mirror (The Other One, 2023)
Released the day before fourth album The Other One, Mirror Mirror helped usher in a new era for Babymetal. Its video showed the band performing for an audience in Yokohama, and was the first to feature Momometal, their new permanent third member. We saw a trio marching into their future as an unstoppable united front.
SU-METAL: “The Other One is Babymetal’s first-ever concept album, created around the theme of another side of Babymetal that you never knew existed. The approach to songwriting was also different from anything we had done before – the songs were crafted based on photographs and mythology, and like a work of art, the impression it can change depending on the listener, or even change each time the same person listens to it.
It is a very deep and layered body of work. It was created with the hope that people would enjoy a side of Babymetal seen from a different angle – beyond just the bright, Kawaii and pop aspects that we are known for.”
Metali!! Feat. Tom Morello (Single, 2023 / Metal Forth, 2025)
The song that marked Momometal’s official promotion from Avenger to full-time member, ushering in Babymetal’s second ‘trio era’, as well as an early, Tom Morello-assisted teaser for their fifth album, Metal Forth.
The ex-Rage Against The Machine man turbo-charges this serotonin-rush mix of traditional Japanese elements and a massive mosh-call chorus.
MOAMETAL: “When we were making the song, we reached out to Tom Morello knowing it was a long shot. I was surprised that he had already known about Babymetal, and I was so happy that he brought his own unique style to the performance. Despite us being so much younger than him, he treated us with such respect. He has such a big heart, and that was incredibly cool!”
Ratatata feat. Electric Callboy (Metal Forth, 2025)
A surprise drop that became Babymetal’s biggest song since Gimme Chocolate!!, Ratatata is a hefty slab of EDM-meets-metalcore joy. The video shows off the girls’ sillier side, singing karaoke while Electric Callboy vocalists Kevin Ratajczak and Nico Sallach ram through walls wearing disco-ball hats. Makes sense.
SU-METAL: “Before the collaboration, we went to see their show. We enjoyed every moment of it, and it made us even more excited to work with them. Our two worlds merged perfectly. I am so satisfied with how the song turned out – it became such a happy song.”
What is your favourite memory from making the video for the song?
MOMOMETAL:“It was truly such a fun shoot, and I was constantly surprised by how warm and genuine they are as people. The scene where Kevin and Nico come bursting through the wall was also a blast.
Since there wasn’t enough production time to use computer graphics, they set off a real explosion, which honestly caught me off guard! The band members and the crew were the most amazing team, and they are truly our cherished family.”
My Queen feat. Spiritbox (Metal Forth, 2025)
Dropped as a single the day Metal Forth was released, My Queen is one of the album’s more melodic moments without sacrificing any of the fury. Su-metal lays the hooks on thick while Spiritbox vocalist Courtney LaPlante pops up midway through to inflict maximum damage over crushing djent riffs.
SU-METAL: “I always enjoy Courtney’s presence – the way her voice takes over everything around her. I also wanted to immerse myself in the world that Spiritbox create. In this song, we were able to portray both sides – the bold, queenly figure on the surface, and the anxiety churning underneath – and the image of suppressing that anxiety to push even higher. I feel like that was only possible because of her incredible ability to command her presence so effortlessly.”
What did Courtney bring to the song vocally?
MOMOMETAL: “Her screams take the excitement of this song up a gear all at once. There is something about her screams that feels like energy exploding from deep within! And true to the name My Queen, she carries herself with the presence of a true queen.”
From Me To U feat. Poppy (Metal Forth, 2025)
From Courtney to Poppy, the nu gen queen. Babymetal brought one of modern music’s most prominent innovators into this glorious clash of hyperpop energy and serrated riffs. Babymetal were ahead of the game here – Courtney and Poppy would team up with Amy Lee for their own collaboration, End Of You, later that year.
SU-METAL: “During the production, we were discussing a collaboration with Jordan Fish that would follow Kingslayer. Jordan suggested adding Poppy’s vocals. Her voice matches so well with his musical style and also with my vocal style. I can’t thank Jordan enough for introducing us.”
Are there any similarities between Poppy and Babymetal?
MOAMETAL: “Babymetal is a fusion of cute and metal, while Poppy brings together cuteness and death growls – the two of us were a perfect match! We created a song that I absolutely love!”
Poppy has sung in Japanese in her own songs. Did you have any chats with her in Japanese, or chats about Japanese culture?
MOMOMETAL: “I can feel her respect for Japan! I didn’t get to talk about Japanese culture with her, but I would love for her to try on some cute Japanese clothing – it would definitely suit her!”
Kon! Kon! Feat. Bloodywood (Metal Forth, 2025)
Japanese, English and Hindi – trilingual Bloodywood collab Kon! Kon! is a truly global anthem. The Delhi stars step squarely into Babymetal’s orbit, bringing some nu metal bounce, Bollywood and rabid rapping about yokai – supernatural Japanese spirits.
SU-METAL: “The first time I listened to the song, the image of people dancing at an Indian festival on a hot sunny day came across my mind. But when the lyrics combined with Japanese yokai culture – for example, ‘Urameshiya’ is a phrase that yokai use to cast a curse – the vibe shifts to a nighttime scene of yokai dancing around a fire deep in the forest.
We share similarities in Asian culture, so the two blend together beautifully – but the image it conjures may differ from person to person. It’s fun to let your imagination run wild, so please share with me how you received this song!”
Would Babymetal like to play in India?
MOMOMETAL: “Of course! Actually, we talked about it with Bloodywood. We got really excited talking about it. It’d be so exciting to see what would happen if we actually performed Kon! Kon! in India. We’d have to make sure our dancing is good enough to hold our own against the locals!”
Babymetal play Louder Than Life and Aftershock festivals this fall.
“Caught In A Spell” is the latest single from up-and-coming German melancholic heavy metal troupe, THE NIGHT ETERNAL. The track comes off the band’s upcoming Metal Blade debut, Cold Velvet, set to drop on August 21st.
Comments the band, “‘Caught In A Spell’ delivers the perfect heavy metal soundtrack for a night drive. Driven by a hypnotic groove and a powerful sing-along chorus, the song evokes images of endless highways and a restless sense of wanderlust, pulling the listener towards the unknown. Director Robert Piel underlines this atmosphere with a striking video clip, following a Harley-Davidson–riding knight through a cinematic road-movie journey.”
Watch THE NIGHT ETERNAL’s “Caught In A Spell” video HERE.
Watch THE NIGHT ETERNAL’s previously released video for “Where This World Ends”HERE.
Since their foundation in 2018, THE NIGHT ETERNAL have built themselves a serious reputation with their ‘70s and ‘80s guitar-driven sounds in their very own sinister guise. The band´s previous two full-lengths, Moonlit Cross (2021) and Fatale (2023), gained applause by fans and critics alike, which resulted in successful support tours (Blind Guardian, Michael Schenker Group, Angel Witch, Lucifer) and festival gigs (Wacken, Summer Breeze, Hellfest, Alcatraz) throughout Europe as well as a spot on the infamous Hell’s Heroes fest in Houston, Texas.
With Cold Velvet, the band ultimately carved out its own subgenre, weaving darkness, dreamlike unease and deep melancholy into a dramatic yet untainted heavy metal rock ’n’ roll attitude. Recurring trademarks such as hypnotic, ritualistic rhythms, mesmeric guitar riffs, melodies and irresistibly catchy choruses permeate every track drawing the listener into a trance-like state and unleashing a relentless surge of dark energy and dopamine.
The band is currently featured on the cover of Deaf Forever Magazine. Writes the esteemed publication, “Incredible, where is this band heading next? To the very top, of course. And it would take the devil himself to prevent Cold Velvet from finally catapulting THE NIGHT ETERNAL to the pinnacle of the European scene. Catchier yet even more mystical than before, the German band throws their entire talent into the ring across eight tracks, leaving behind everything else attempting to navigate the dynamic interplay of goth rock, gritty heavy metal, and anthemic hard rock (#1 in Soundcheck).”
Cold Velvet was recorded between May and December 2025, at Church Of Sound Studios in the greater area of Munich, Germany. Production, recording, and mixing duties were handled by Michael Zech, a guitarist of black metallers Secrets Of The Moon and a highly respected producer known for his work with Sulphur Aeon, Triptykon, and The Ruins Of Beverast, among others.
The record will be released on CD-digipak and digitally as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
180g black (US) Clear Purple w/ Black Smoke (EU – Ltd. 1000; includes 7”, slipmat, velvet bag, gas lighter) “Storm Cloud” Violet Blue Marbled (EU – Ltd. 700) Steel Grey Blue Marble (EU – Ltd. 500) Light Grey Blue Splatter (EU – Ltd. 300) “Black Dust” Crystal Clear (EU – Ltd. 200)
THE NIGHT ETERNAL Live: 7/18/2026 Baden in Blut Festival – Weil am Rhein, DE 8/20/2026 Goldgrube – Kassel, DE * Release Show 8/21/2026 Bambi Galore – Hamburg, DE * Release Show 8/22/2026 Nord Sommerfest – Essen, DE * Release Show 8/27/2026 Drums of War Festival – Barcelona, ES 9/25/2026 Delta Zinnober – Essen, DE w/ Messa: 10/27/2026 Le Dodu – Marseille, FR 10/28/2026 Sala Salamandra – Barcelona, ES 10/29/2026 Sala Copernico – Madrid, ES 10/30/2026 Antirouille – Montpellier, FR 10/31/2026 Rock Art Festival – Trier, DE * THE NIGHT ETERNAL only 11/01/2026 Petit Bain – Paris, FR 11/03/2026 Cathouse – Glasgow, UK 11/04/2026 Rebellion – Manchester, UK 11/05/2026 Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, UK 11/06/2026 Thekla – Bristol, UK 11/07/2026 The Garage – London, UK 11/09/2026 13 – Tilburg, NL 11/10/2026 Kavka – Antwerp, BE 11/12/2026 Franz Club – Berlin, DE 11/13/2026 Logo – Hamburg, DE 11/14/2026 Rockpalast – Bochum, DE 11/15/2026 Artheater – Cologne, DE 11/17/2026 Das Bett – Frankfurt, DE 11/18/2026 Backstage – Club Munich, DE 11/19/2026 Dynamo – Zurich, CH 11/20/2026 Sunset Bar – Martigny, CH 11/21/2026 Live Club – Trezzo sull’Adda, IT
THE NIGHT ETERNAL: Ricardo Baum – vocals Robert Richter – guitar Henry Käseberg – guitar Aleister Präkelt – drums
“Gloomy metal from my hometown. Beautiful!” – Mille Petrozza, Kreator
“With their new record, THE NIGHT ETERNAL cements even further, why they are the rightful defenders of the New Wave of German Heavy Metal and a staple of contemporary brutal night time rocking. Who let the bats out?!” – Johanna Sadonis, Lucifer
“Genuine emotions that sweep you back and forth, plunging you into the depths and soaring you to new heights. With this album, THE NIGHT ETERNAL fills the gaping void in my musical heart, the gap between rock-infused wave and rousing metal, like no one else can.” – Maik Weichert, Heaven Shall Burn
“If THE NIGHT ETERNAL have played Champions League with Fatale, Cold Velvet secures them a safe spot in the play offs right away. Huge songs, huge sound and maybe one of the best vocalists our generation has to offer. THE NIGHT ETERNAL is the next big thing!” – S. Castevet, Vulture
Shows from older punks are a risky prospect. Will it be a nostalgia-fest, re-living the days when they could lace their boots without lower back pain, or will it be a chance to light the flame of rebellion once again? Our experience at the leafy, historic Crystal Palace Park is neither. Instead, we get the best that The Offspring and Dropkick Murphys have been in years; tight, ferocious, devoid of the whimsy that both bands caved to throughout the last decade, and an evolution of their beloved sound, simultaneously paying tribute to where they came from while exciting us for the future. In short, the very definition of a great punk rock show. Throw in some spectacular supports and the result is the absolute antithesis of a genteel afternoon in South London.
Destroy Boys
The rowdy Riot Grrrls are ready to knock down barriers with dirty riffs, and they’re unapologetic about their originality. ‘I Threw Glass At My Friend’s Eyes And Now I’m On Probation’ thunders vocalist Alexis Roditis, who unleashes full-on metal roars above Violet Mayugba’s Nirvana-esque guitar. We’re falling in love second-by-second with the post punk wails that underline ‘Fences’, and Destroy Boys prove that they’ve got the skills to match their power stance.
PUP
PUP channel their old school heritage as the spiritual and melodic descendants of Weezer and Pennywise. ‘Morbid Stuff’ captures the crowd with a sun-drenched striking breakdown full of longing before the shouted open-road warmth of ‘Kids’. “We’re just gonna do as much rockin’ as we’re capable of”, Stefan Babcock cautiously promises. But the way ‘Dark Days’ portrays bliss as a passage of time through upbeat harmonies, piercing guitar brightness and thoughtful lyrics, makes this so much more than a “rockin” set from the Canadians.
Pennywise
Jim Lindberg and the Pennywise guys are suffering from what they call a “heat hangover” following their show in Paris the day before… but if overheating them is what makes them play a set that’s harder and faster than they’ve played in a long time, we’re definitely not going to suggest they chill under the air conditioning anytime soon. A huge outdoor space like this is what their bass boom needs to kick up a circle pit for ‘My Own Country’. ‘Straight Ahead’, their “Floorbanger” throws out heavier riffs than some will remember, and the inflammatory energy of ‘Fuck Authority’ never gets old. Covering NOFX’s ‘Bob’ and Ben E King’s ‘Stand By Me’ offer genius moments for the fans, and there will never be a time we won’t sing our dust-filled lungs out to ‘Bro Hymn’.
Dropkick Murphys
If you think you know Dropkick Murphys, you really don’t when it comes to their 2026 incarnation. Ken Casey, back on frontman duties since 2022, is raging at the state of politics in America, and has channelled his fury into making the Murphys the tightest they’ve ever been. “Our purpose as a band is to travel around and apologise for America’s behaviour… learn from our mistakes, don’t do to yourselves what we did to ourselves!” he yells before ‘First Class Loser’, their novelty song transformed into a diatribe against their Commander-in-Chief.
They’ve become the courageous Johnny Appleseeds of middle-aged resistance, leading us jigging through ‘For The People’ and sending a surfer in a wheelchair flying across the pit to ‘Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya’. Suddenly their fixation on covering Woody Guthrie makes sense when we hear the joyful solidarity of ‘Boundary Line’ dragged into this century, and their cover of The Pogues’ ‘Body Of An American’ forms a perfect tribute to Shane McGowan. Even newcomers to Dropkick Murphys are converted by ‘Rose Tattoo’, and by the time they close with the obligatory ‘I’m Shipping Up To Boston’, we’ve all found our new favourite band.
The Offspring
The whimsy is gone. The dad jokes are banished. The lightweight hits are there for fan service and breaks only. The Offspring have fully reversed course and become a proper punk band again, and we are ecstatic at their return to the form which catapulted them to fame all those decades ago. Ok, hearing guitarist Noodles shout, “Fuck yeah, Crystal Palace Park,” without a trace of irony is hilarious, but we can forgive him when it sits between a sharp ‘All I Want’ and the choral communion organ intro to ‘Want You Bad’. We don’t need gimmicks when the fun comes from within us; the tick-tock beat of ‘Staring At The Sun’ is an electric twitch to our muscles. Without varnish and with cute harmonies replaced with gang vocals, ‘Make It Alright’ feels so much more real, and Dexter Holland’s gentleness on the chorus is a balm to our sunburnt brains.
We didn’t expect a full Taylor Swift cover or the resulting wall of death for ‘Love Story’, but it absolutely works as a reinvention. The Offspring have discovered that less is more – if you can call a giant inflatable skeleton spewing smoke to ‘Hammerhead’ less, and ‘The Kids Are Alright’ is a perfect evolution of their punk roots. The community that the Offspring have built around themselves is the extra that they needed, and as we grin at Holland wearing an England shirt for a bright, sharp ‘You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid’, we’re struck by just how brilliant they’ve always been. Away from the gloss of the studio and their MTV viral era, they’re a tremendously slick band who have rediscovered how to give us exactly what we want. A note of pity in Holland’s delivery of ‘Self Esteem’ repaints the whole song, giving us the spark we need to shuffle back into the real world. Our faith in punk is fully restored after seeing our favourites give the best show we’ve seen from them in the capital in a long time.
One might guess that a group by the name of Soothsayer would be inherently forward-looking. Yet, this has not always been the case for this five-piece from Cork, Ireland. In his review of their debut full-length Echoes of the Earth, Cherd highlighted the primitive sound of Soothsayer’s brand of atmospheric sludge/doom while also noting signs of a contemporary mindset shift. Now that sophomore record The Unbinding is here, has Soothsayer advanced to the next age, or are they still planted in the past?
For better or worse, Soothsayer has jettisoned most of their former sludgy, fuzzy disposition while maintaining a firm hold on the doom metal. Perhaps as a consequence of this modification, the production is clearer and facilitates a greater impact of this slow, deliberate groundwork. Soothsayer honors history this time by combining their flavor of doom with lightly folkened black metal. Though the Celtic influence in The Unbinding is not as prominent as the Romanian folk music that courses through the veins of Sur Austru and Negură Bunget, I can’t help but notice similarities. In spite of the numerous ways in which Soothsayer sounds different than before, one key aspect that has not changed is their heavy emphasis on atmosphere.
Yet, The Unbinding often neglects a few crucial requirements for immersion in atmospheric music—consistency and continuity. This is evident to some extent in the compositions themselves, wherein the murky black metal and the lucid doom metal don’t always mesh together effectively. For instance, the agitated drumming and blackened riffs that open and close “Eroding the Sky” feel like misdirections with little tie-in to the substance of the song. But the main source of discomfort—at least for me—arises from the vocal delivery. Liam Hughes’s performances are more varied than on Echoes of the Earth, which should be a good thing, but they end up being distracting as they jostle between growls, snarls, and shouts. The shouts are particularly disruptive in “The Vine,” where they tend to overpower the instrumentation. Clean vocals are utilized sparingly with mixed results, sounding drab in “Sooner Acceptance” but vibrant in “A Vague Shimmer.”
There are times, though, when The Unbinding is steadier and, therefore, more digestible. The beginning of “Endless Shesha” ventures into funeral doom territory with purposeful guitar notes and deep, rumbling growls. The song then patiently builds in a sensible fashion, eventually erupting into a blackened climax that feels earned this time. Bringing up the rear of The Unbinding, “A Vague Shimmer” is the most potent amalgamation of atmospheric elements; the mystical guitar tone, meditative chanting, and tom-centric percussion all complement one another and bear the strongest resemblance to Sur Austru. Soothsayer’s policy of no track being under 7 minutes suits these two standout songs, but the other three tracks on The Unbinding don’t hold up as well under the weight of long durations.
The Unbinding sees Soothsayer make sonic advancements, albeit in a muddled manner. They attempt to conjure an occult atmosphere at all times, but appear indecisive about its nature. Although I am usually a fierce advocate for dynamic songwriting, in this case Soothsayer’s stylistic diversification comes at the expense of overall coherence. Certain compositional choices work well for me—if “Endless Shesha” is any indication, I would be interested to hear Soothsayer pivot toward funeral doom in the future. Other aspects, mainly the black metal parts, didn’t appeal to me as much, though they may be more enticing to other listeners. All in all, I expect that mileage could vary considerably, so I recommend a complete spin of The Unbinding before making a decision.
Devin Townsend has explained why he took a dump in Steve Vai’s guitar case during his time as the virtuoso’s lead singer.
Townsend – now a prog metal polymath known for his eclectic solo career, plus his work with Strapping Young Lad, the Devin Townsend Project and more – came to prominence as Vai’s vocalist on 1993’s Sex & Religion album and the subsequent arena tour supporting Aerosmith.
Talking to the Heavy Stories podcast, the Canadian singer/multi-instrumentalist says that he laid the cable in the guitar great’s case as a way to express his discontent in the role, as he found himself singing lyrics that he couldn’t relate to.
“With Steve, I was only 19 or 20 when I met him, so that petulant part of my personality was in full bloom, right?” he says. “When I got there, he was like, ‘I want you to sing these lyrics: sing this song, which is about my wife giving birth, and this song, which is about my experience with this.’
“And I remember, at the time, just being like, ‘Man, I can’t!’ He’s like, ‘No, really give it on that line! This is the line where you really gotta reach for the heavens!’, and I’m just like, ‘But it doesn’t mean anything to me.’
“I remember reflecting on that experience as being so fundamentally in opposition to how I learned how to write that it wasn’t that I considered it to be wrong, necessarily – and it isn’t wrong, necessarily – but I reacted to it in such a way as a kid that everything in my nature was just like, ‘No!’”
When asked if taking a squat over Vai’s case was an “act of protest”, he replies, “When you can’t articulate your discontent in a way that is able to be understood in a sitdown environment, I guess you’re left with only the shitting option.”
He adds: “I was too young to articulate it in any way that was rational. At that point, it was a culmination of a lot of circumstances, like arrogance, fame and confusion and relationships. All that stuff. I can forgive myself in hindsight for the ways I reacted at the time because I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to respond. I was lost, right? And I responded to it by creating Strapping.”
Townsend joined Vai’s band through Relativity Records, who were then releasing the guitarist’s music and had just signed Townsend’s short-lived solo project, Noisescapes. In a 1993 interview with Guitar World, Townsend admitted to joining Vai’s band simply “because it was there”.
“It’s like cuttin’ your balls off if you can do something and you don’t, you know what I mean?” he explained. “When people ask me, ‘Why did you do the Vai thing?’, it’s like, ‘Because it was there.’ I had no intentions of joining a band. I didn’t even hear the Vai music until the day before we recorded.”
Even though Townsend was seemingly quite unhappy during his stint with Vai, the two have retained a friendly relationship. Vai appeared on Townsend’s 2019 album Empath as well as The Moth: a multimedia symphonic metal opera that Townsend released in May, following almost 10 years of buildup. He offered a suitably scatological description of the creative process during a recent interview with Prog, saying, “It feels like I’ve been taking a 10-year shit, and I’m just wiping now.”
Townsend will embark on a solo acoustic European tour in September: his first run of shows since he announced a live hiatus in May 2025. Meanwhile, Vai is currently making his way across Europe and will perform at the legendary Pompeii Amphitheatre in Italy tonight (July 2).
Listen to the full podcast interview with Townsend below:
One might guess that a group by the name of Soothsayer would be inherently forward-looking. Yet, this has not always been the case for this five-piece from Cork, Ireland. In his review of their debut full-length 