All the best tunes belong to the Devil, and Portland’s bastard sons, Bewitcher, have returned to take back rock ‘n’ roll in Baphomet’s name.
The speed demons’ latest offering from their upcoming full-length, Spell Shock, raises Bewitcher’s horns and pushes their extremes straight into the fiery red. Today the code is magenta when Bewitcher invite you to join their unholy circle for “Dystopic Demonolatry”. Watch the video, which conjures up old-school metal nostalgia, below.
Bewitcher bassist A. Magus comments, “Any of you fuckers spent your Friday nights taping heavy metal videos to VHS off the ‘Ball or Loud?!’ Well, we sure as shit did! Join us as we dive into the late 80’s and early 90’s where metal music was relegated to late night cable TV. Like a lost cable-access performance, ‘Dystopic Demonolatry’ is raucous, raw, and ripping from beginning to end! We hope you dig it.”
Spell Shock is due September 27 via Century Media Records. Pre-order here.
Joining Von Bewitcher, bassist A. Magus, and drummer A. Hunter in the studio this time was none other longtime Bewitcher fan Lars Frederiksen. Most of the world knows Frederiksen as a force in his own right, playing in the likes of Bay Area punk heroes Rancid, as well as his own Old Firm Casuals. While to some, it may have been an unlikely pairing with Frederiksen taking the producer’s seat, for everyone in the studio the connection was immediate.
As Frederiksen previously commented on Spell Shock: “It’s the best record I’ve ever produced for one of the best bands in the world.”
Tracklisting:
“Starfire Maelstrom” “Lavish Desecration” “Spell Shock” “Out Against The Law” “Dystopic Demonolatry” “Seasons Of Foul Harvest” “We Die In Dust” “The Harem Conspiracy” “Pagan Shadows” “Ride Of The Iron Fox”
“Against The Law” video:
“Starfire Maelstrom” lyric video:
Bewitcher recently announced an extensive North American tour, in which they will be co-headlining with label-mates Skeletal Remains.
Tour dates:
September 20 – Los Angeles, CA – Moroccan Lounge 21 – San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick 22 – Mesa, AZ – Nile Underground 24 – San Antonio, TX – The Rock Box 25 – Dallas, TX – RBC 26 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar 27 – New Orleans, LA – Southport Hall 28 – Orlando, FL – Conduit 29 – Atlanta, GA – Masquerade (Purgatory)
October 1 – Raleigh, NC – Chapel of Bones 2 – Philadelphia, PA – KFN 3 – Brooklyn, NY – Market Hotel 4 – Worcester, MA – Ralphs 5 – Pittsburgh, PA – Preserving 6 – Chicago, IL – Cobra Lounge 8 – Detroit, MI – Sanctuary 9 – Ottawa, ON – The Dom 10 – Toronto, ON – Rockpile 11 – Albany, NY – Empire Underground 12 – Baltimore, Md – Metro Gallery 13 – Cincinnati, OH – Madison Live 15 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge 16 – Denver, CO – HQ 17 – Salt Lake City, UT – Aces High Saloon 18 – Boise, ID – The Shredder 19 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon 20 – Portland, OR – Dante’s
Lineup:
Mateo von Bewitcher – vox + guitars A. Hunter – drums + percussion A. Magus – bass guitar + backing vox
newsclassic rocksteve lukathertotomichael jacksonprofessor of rock
Professor Of Rock has released the video below, along with the following introduction…
“Coming up next… Toto is currently the biggest Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame snub this side of Boston. Especially since between the guitarist Steve Lukather and some of his bandmates in a roundabout way, they’ve sold over 500 million records, they’ve swept the Grammys… and even gave the middle finger to Rolling Stone when the snobbish magazine wanted to put them on their cover because they were the most popular band in music… even though the rag had ripped on their music for years. Up next, an interview with two of the principals from the original lineup on their biggest record, Toto IV, including the morning Steve Lukather hung up on the #1 artist in the world, who was calling to have him play on his album. But Lukather thought he was being pranked by his buddies. Stay tuned for an interview from Toto, the band that has been called “technically” the greatest collection of musicians on the planet.”
“The mighty Bomber turns 45 this year and to celebrate we’re releasing this limited edition blue vinyl 10” EP which contains three previously unreleased demos from the album,” states an update from Motörhead. “It’s out on 11th October and is exclusive to the official Motörhead store along with special anniversary merch bundles. Pre-order is live now!”
Motörhead’s Bomber should need little introduction. Featuring the classic lineup of Lemmy, Fast Eddie Clarke and Philthy, the fan favourite helped cement them as one of the definitive bands in heavy metal/rock and influencing many more.
On the 45th anniversary of this iconic record, there’s now even more to enjoy with the discovery of a handful of ‘lost’ demos from the Bomber sessions. Featuring favourite “Dead Men Tell No Tales” alongside “Lawman” and “Alligator” (which would become “All The Aces”), it’s a fascinating insight of their evolution into the well-loved tracks they became.
The Bomber Demos – now available on a blue 10” vinyl along with a re-imagined illustration of the classic Heinkel He 111 bomber from the original cover.
Funko announces an exclusive KISS 4-pack featuring Pop! Spaceman, Pop! Demon, Pop! Starchild, and Pop! Catman in a dazzling array of colors. Seemingly illuminated by spotlights, each member is tinted with their own unique hue.
This exclusive drops on Funko.com at 9:30 AM, PT / 12:30 PM, EST and will soon be available at Funko Flagship Stores.
Craft Recordings celebrates the 15th anniversary of Alice In Chains’ seminal 2009 album, Black Gives Way To Blue, with a special vinyl reissue. The LP, out-of-print since its original release and a long-sought treasure for hard rock devotees, will arrive on September 27 and is available for pre-order today.
In addition to the wide 2LP release, fans can also pick up the album on three limited edition color pressings: “Black Widow” (available exclusively through the Alice In Chains store), “Black Smoke” (via the Craft Recordings store), and “Electric Smoke” (available at Revolver).
Black Gives Way To Blue is Alice In Chains’ fourth studio album, first released on September 29, 2009. The project marks a significant moment in the band’s history, being their first record to feature William DuVall sharing vocal and guitar duties with founding member Jerry Cantrell, alongside bassist Mike Inez and drummer/founding member Sean Kinney.
Upon release, Black Gives Way To Blue was an instant smash hit, debuting at #5 on the Billboard 200 and achieving Gold certification from the RIAA by May 2010. It includes singles “Your Decision,” “Lesson Learned,” “Check My Brain,” and “A Looking In View,” plus the poignant title track “Black Gives Way To Blue,” which features a guest performance from Elton John on piano. This song, a heartfelt tribute to late frontman Layne Staley, captures the band’s process in coming to terms with their loss while finding a path forward. Both “A Looking In View” and “Check My Brain” were Grammy Award nominated for “Best Hard Rock Performance” in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Additionally, Black Gives Way To Blue won Revolver’s Golden Gods Award for “Album Of The Year” in 2010.
Despite the near unanimous acclaim, the band felt apprehension in pursuing new music after the tragic death of founding frontman Layne Staley. In a 2009 interview with Billboard, the band discussed the delicate balance between honouring their beloved band member and continuing to evolve the group’s sound in new directions. “It took a lot to get through this process and to even take the chance, and stand-up and risk,” Jerry Cantrell said.
DuVall added: “I think initially people came [with] arms crossed, sort of hoping against hope. I hear that a lot. I’m not trying to do a Layne. One of the things I loved about him was how individual he was. He was just being himself, so that’s what I do.”
Cantrell also reflected on that era in a 2024 interview with Metal Hammer, sharing details about the recording process, which took place at Studio 606 in LA, owned by the band’s friend Dave Grohl. Cantrell explained that the new chapter of Alice In Chains was a pure artistic pursuit of creating excellent music: “There was no master plan, despite what people think,” he continues. “This felt right, so we did the next thing, and then the next thing… It’s more than just making music and it always has been. We’ve been friends a long time. We’re not doing this to please anybody. It had to be OK from here,” he says, pointing to his chest.
Now, 15 years on, the band still feels deeply connected to Black Gives Way To Blue, which signalled a significant turning point in their legendary career. All these years later, the album remains an important touchstone for the group and their millions of devoted fans. Blending heavy grunge with pummelling, unrelenting hard rock, the album was both a tribute to Staley’s impact on the band and a map for moving forward.
Tracklisting:
Side A: “All Secrets Known” “Check My Brain” “Last Of My Kind”
Side B: “Your Decision” “A Looking In View”
Side C: “When The Sun Rose Again” “Acid Bubble” “Lesson Learned”
Side D: “Take Her Out” “Private Hell” “Black Gives Way To Blue”
“It’s been one of our favourite unreleased tracks to perform live”: Up-and-coming metalcore heroes Heriot get groovy on new single At The Fortress Gate
(Image credit: Harry Steel)
Heriot have released new single At The Fortress Gate.
The track, taken from the Bristol bruisers’ impending debut album Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell, comes with a video directed by Harry Steel, depicting the band’s sets at Download, Hellfest, Rock Am Ring and other festivals this summer. Watch the clip and hear the song below.
Heriot comment: “At The Fortress Gate blends elements from both our early and newer influences. It’s been one of our favourite unreleased tracks to perform live over this festival season, and we can’t wait to add it in the set for the Fit For An Autopsy tour later this year!”
Heriot formed in 2016 and relaunched in 2020 with the release of their single Cleansed Existence. Their 2022 EP, Profound Morality, was released via Church Road Records and received critical acclaim. The band have since played shows with the likes of Lamb Of God, Architects, Rolo Tomassi, Thy Art Is Murder and more.
After signing to Century Media Records in 2023, Heriot put out standalone single Demure. Devoured… will be released by the label on September 27, and alongside At The Fortress Gate will feature previous singles Siege Lord and Foul Void.
Heriot will promote Devoured… by opening a European tour for Sylosis, Fit For An Autopsy and Darkest Hour in November and December. See the full list of dates below.
HERIOT – At The Fortress Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) – YouTube
Sylosis, Fit For An Autopsy, Darkest Hour and Heriot 2024 tour dates:
Nov 22: London Electric Brixton, UK Nov 23: Leeds Stylus, UK Nov 24: Glasgow QMU, UK Nov 26: Manchester O2 Ritz, UK Nov 27: Birmingham O2 Institute, UK Nov 28: Bristol SWX, UK
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Nov 30: Nijmegen Doornroosje, Netherlands Dec 01: Antwerp Kafka Zapp, Belgium Dec 02: Hamburg Gruenspan, Germany Dec 03: Gothenburg Pustervik, Sweden Dec 04: Oslo John Dee, Norway Dec 05: Stockholm Fryshuset Klubben, Sweden Dec 07: Helsinki Ääniwalli, Finland Dec 09: Copenhagen Amager, Denmark Dec 10: Berlin Hole44, Germany Dec 11: Warsaw Proxima, Poland Dec 12: Prague Meetfactory, Czech Republic Dec 13: Dresden Reithalle, Germany Dec 14: Budapest Barba Negra, Hungary Dec 15: Wien Simmcity, Austria Dec 17: Milan Live Club, Italy Dec 18: Pratteln Z7, Switzerland Dec 19: München Backstage, Germany Dec 20: Karlsruhe Substage, Germany Dec 21: Köln Essigfabrik, Germany
Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.
The love-in between the movies and metal has been long, fruitful and often drenched in blood. This two-way relationship began long before Tony Iommi sliced off the tips of his fingers in an industrial accident – hell, Black Sabbath even took their name from a schlocky horror movie – but metal’s gonzo aesthetics are firmly embedded in the DNA of Hollywood and beyond.
We could have filled this list of classic movie scenes that bear the scene’s imprint with 50 horror flicks alone, but no, there’s more to metal than gore, guts and death. Well, a little more, as the 50 most metal movie moments show.
1. The Death Ship Arrives (Nosferatu, 1922)
Having slurped his way through the unfortunate crew, the vessel carrying ancient vampire Count Orlok and his undead plague glides into port, its shadow blotting out the light. As a representation of pure doom, it’s hard to beat – no wonder Orlok has become a black metal mascot to rival Lucifer. PH
Since 1983, only one song has featured at every Metallica show. Written for spaghetti western The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy Of Gold serves notice of the Four Horsemen’s impending arrival onstage, invariably accompanied by footage of the movie’s iconic graveyard scene. SC
3. The Beast Appears (The Devil Rides Out, 1966)
Hammer’s Dennis Wheatley adaptation kept occult metal in lyrics and sleeve art concepts for years (its title was pinched by Carcass, Saxon, Demon, Reverend Bizarre and others). However, it was Sir Christopher Lee’s ritualistic summoning of the Goat of Mendes that really stole our metal hearts (it certainly stole Iron Maiden’s – they borrowed it for The Number Of The Beast video). CC
Revelling in blasphemous cruelty, potty-mouthed demon Pazuzu possesses a young child, rotates her head, stabs a crucifix into her crotch, and projects green vomit into a priest’s face like its mission is to generate material for metal lyrics. Pantera nicked the demon’s immortal line (“That’s much too vulgar a display of power”), while countless more owe a debt to this evil Mesopotamian bastard. CC
In a movie that’s basically a slideshow of cartoon images straight from fantasy metal album covers, a space barbarian raid riding batlike dragons and firing laser guns, as Ronnie James Dio’s voice kicks in on Black Sabbath’s absurdly kickass The Mob Rules, is its undeniable most metal moment. PH
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Black Sabbath – The Mob Rules (Heavy Metal) – YouTube
6. Conan Invents Manowar (Conan The Barbarian, 1982)
It’s hard to pin down just one moment, as Conan is metal as fuck for two hours straight, and notably influenced Manowar’s look and attitude (their debut album emerged shortly after the movie). However, the musclebound hero’s decapitation of Thulsa Doom at the Temple Of Set is a punch-the-air moment of euphoric vengeance. CC
One of the best scenes – Thulsa Doom’s beheading – Conan the Barbarian (1982) (HD-720p) – YouTube
This immortal mockumentary is surely the most quotable movie ever made. Never more so than in its most memorable scene, when Tap guitarist Nigel Tufnel proudly announces that all the band’s amps go up to 11: “‘Most blokes will be playing at 10… Where can you go from there?” Tufnel’s completely baffled look when documentary maker Marty DiBergi suggests making 10 louder is gold. Every band ever can sympathise. RH
Dario Argento’s obscure slice of 80s horror combines multiple tropes with a female student fleeing a faceless killer through the woods and into an abandoned mansion. Iron Maiden’s Flash Of The Blade is masterfully employed to generate white-knuckle tension in a scene that ends with a literal flash of the killer’s blade. JD
A masterpiece of Italian schlock, Demons unleashes gory chaos in a cinema auditorium, and this scene is really one for the history books. Its hero hops on a motorbike, speeds down the aisles swinging a katana, and Accept’s proto-thrash pummeller Fast As A Shark soundtracks the glorious sight. PH
10. Ozzy The Outraged Evangelist (Trick Or Treat, 1986)
Part of a wave of ‘metalsploitation’ movies, Ozzy Osbourne’s cameo in Trick Or Treat is a perfect bit of ironic stunt casting, the preacher shocked at the sexual innuendo in heavy metal lyrics when presented with the album Do It Like A Dog. He also clearly stops himself short of swearing. Can’t take it out of him. PH
Amid this era-defining doc’s parade of rock A-listers and self-deluded bozos, one man stands out: W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes, who conducts an increasingly incoherent interview while floating in a swimming pool on a lilo, glugging straight from a bottle of vodka while his mom looks on with a mix of horror and embarrassment. “I’m a happy camper,” he insists, unconvincingly. A joke at the time, it’s pitiable now. DE
The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years (2/6) W.A.S.P.’s Chris Holmes (1988) – YouTube
12. Bill & Ted Make The Grade (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989)
Nuno Bettencourt can definitely play Beethoven, but how would Ludwig fare in Extreme? Thankfully, Bill and Ted answered that question for us (sort of) as historical figures like Genghis Khan, Billy The Kid and Abraham Lincoln rampage through a mall, soundtracked by Extreme’s Play With Me, Beethoven putting on a concert for the ages with a bunch of 80s keyboards. RH
13. The Slayer Loving Gremlin (Gremlins 2: The New Batch, 1990)
When the gremlins start to mutate in this nutty sequel, Angel Of Death announces their spindly limbs sprouting. There’s zero connection between freaky spider-monsters and Slayer’s controversial classic, but it says it all that when the filmmakers needed something gnarly to fit the moment, they thought of this. PH
14. The Lawnmower Massacre (Braindead, 1992)
Long before he got serious with The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, director Peter Jackson rocketed to infamy with gonzoid no-budget zombie splatter comedy Braindead (aka Dead Alive). Amid a series of increasingly inventive methods of dealing with a zombie plague (e.g., liquidising body parts in a blender), the sight of our bloodsoaked hero Lionel taking out a horde of zombies with a petrol-driven lawnmower is both insanely over the top and utterly hilarious. DE
15. “Jim Carey Goes, ‘Oh My God, You’re Cannibal Corpse!'” (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, 1994)
There are parts of the 1994 comedy Ace Ventura: Pet Detective that certainly haven’t stood the test of time. The villain reveal at the end leads to a really homophobic/transphobic sequence that just keeps going and going, and today seems spiteful and unnecessary.
But one thing that has dated well is the cameo by Cannibal Corpse, which sees the death metal kingpins performing their classic 1992 bruiser Hammer Smashed Face while star Jim Carrey gurns and blunders his way through a crowd of windmilling metalheads.
“Jim, at the time, was finding death metal very intriguing,” says Corpse drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz. “We were sitting at home in Buffalo and we had a call from [the band’s label] Metal Blade, saying, ‘We just got a call from Jim Carrey. He’s making a movie and wants you to be in it.’ We had to decline at first because we had to be in Europe for a tour. But a day went by and they called again: ‘They want you bad! They are gonna rearrange shooting around your tour.’”
Putting aside any scepticism they may have had, the band flew to Miami for two days to shoot the scene. While the deliberately ripped jeans provided by the wardrobe department suggested the filmmakers didn’t quite understand them, at least Ace Ventura himself did.
“Jim comes over to us wearing his Ace Ventura garb, going, ‘Oh my god! Cannibal Corpse! It’s so great to have you guys here!’” recalls Paul. “Then he starts rattling off lyrics and tells us he wants us to play Hammer Smashed Face. It was insane. He specifically asked for that one… He also rattled off the lyrics to Rancid Amputation, which was on our previous album. So he knew what was going on.”
The band weren’t used to the multiple takes and long waiting times required of a Hollywood production and spent two days miming to Hammer Smashed Face with a room full of extras moshing silently. When they eventually saw the movie, they were a bit underwhelmed, as a bunch of what they’d shot didn’t make it into the theatrical cut.
A deleted scene, reinstated for some TV broadcasts, sees Ace crowdsurf to the stage and do some not-too-shabby growling and particularly impressive gyrating. While Cannibal Corpse were already elbowing their way to the front of the death metal pack, their Ace Ventura: Pet Detective appearance didn’t harm their career any. It happened to come out a couple of months before we released [the next Cannibal Corpse album] The Bleeding and it turned out to be a hit movie,” recalls Paul. “The Bleeding is still our best-selling record.”
Ace Ventura – Cannibal Corpse deleted scene/ Hammer Smashed Face – YouTube
16. Morbid Angel Prom Dance (Night Of The Demons 2, 1994)
Where the original Night Of The Demons features a sexy demon dance scene to goth legends Bauhaus, the sequel repeats the trick, swapping it for Morbid Angel. The incongruousness of Rapture crashing the prom captures the moment when death metal took over Hollywood. PH
Morbid Angel – Rapture (Night of the Demons 2) (1994/2024) – YouTube
17. “Wrong, dickhead… Lemmy is God” (Airheads, 1994)
Local metal band The Lone Rangers – played by Adam Sandler, Brendan Fraser and Steve Buscemi, no less – hijack a radio station to get their demo played. When a hapless A&R berk attempts to coax them out, they hit him with a question to prove his rock’n’roll bona fides: who would win in arm wrestle, Lemmy or God? The doofus doesn’t get it. The correct answer: Lemmy is God. Obviously. SH
18. Dead Souls (The Crow, 1994)
The perfect 90s rock/goth movie, with doomed star Brandon Lee embodying the comic book hero-as-rock star, also featured one of the all-time greatest soundtracks. Who could forget Nine Inch Nails’ pulsating cover of Joy Division’s Dead Souls accompanying the scene where Eric Draven hops across the rooftops in pursuit of the corvid that gives him his name, showcasing the physical transformation he’s undergone to become the perfect avatar of vengeance? DE
The Crow 1994 – Rooftop running (Dead Souls by Nine Inch Nails) – YouTube
1995’s cult alt coming-of-age drama set in a record store is a Gen-X period piece. For metal fans, its high point comes when stoned record store employee Mark hallucinates being invited to join shock rock legends Gwar, playing themselves. His guitar playing with the band is brutally interrupted when he’s sacrificed onstage and fed to Gwar’s infamous World Maggot. SH
20. Turn On, Tune In… Freak Out! (Beavis And Butt-Head Do America, 1996)
Beavis munches a peyote cactus. His ensuing hallucinations – Butt-Head melting into little demons, a TV surrounded by skulls and tentacles, our heroes headbanging so hard their skin flies off – unfold to a pumping White Zombie soundtrack. The luridly deranged animation was even based on designs by Rob Zombie. CC
21. Bloodshed At The Titty Twister (From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, 1996)
The point where this Robert Rodriguez-directed, Quentin Tarantino-written fang-fest transforms from a crime thriller into gonzo vampire western. A bar-fight becomes a massacre, as vampires feast on the inhabitants of strip joint the Titty Twister, the band playing psychobilly tunes in the background getting in on the action as they reveal their instruments are actually dismembered corpses. Metal AF. RH
22. Cruising To Dragonaut (Gummo, 1997)
Harmony Korine’s cult classic depicts the bleak reality of smalltown America. The scene where teen protagonists Solomon and Tummler ride bikes through their crumbling hometown, looking for ways to pass the time, while the riff to Sleep’s classic Dragonaut plays in the background is chilling, unsettling and badass all at once. SH
23. The Blood Rave (Blade, 1998)
Sure, there’s techno music playing, but every metalhead recognises the awesomeness of Blade’s opening scene, as an unsuspecting victim looking to get laid is lured onto the floor only for the clubbers to start lapping up the blood gushing from the sprinklers. You can practically taste Slayer’s Bloodline video round the corner. PH
24. “Little boy, you’re going to hell!” (South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, 1999)
Kenny plunges into the fiery pit, tossed and stretched by skeletal demons over a heavy-riffed soundtrack. It was already metal as hell, but popcorn went flying when an uncredited James Hetfield took the mic to accuse the muffled schoolboy of “not going to church and staring at boobs all day”. CC
25. Rage swallow the red pill (The Matrix, 1999)
Featuring Deftones, The Prodigy, Rammstein, Rob Zombie and more, The Matrix boasts one of the all-time great metal movie soundtracks. But it’s the climactic use of Rage Against The Machine’s Wake Up – do you see what they did there? – as Neo flies away like a goth Superman that is most explosive. SC
Rage Against The Machine – Wake Up [The Matrix Ending & Credits] – YouTube
Founded in 1983, Metal Hammer is the global home of all things heavy. We have breaking news, exclusive interviews with the biggest bands and names in metal, rock, hardcore, grunge and beyond, expert reviews of the lastest releases and unrivalled insider access to metal’s most exciting new scenes and movements. No matter what you’re into – be it heavy metal, punk, hardcore, grunge, alternative, goth, industrial, djent or the stuff so bizarre it defies classification – you’ll find it all here, backed by the best writers in our game.
Bones UK have unveiled the new single, Knee Deep, and its taken from their forthcoming album Soft, due out on September 13 via Sumerian Records.
Knee Deep is a heavy-hearted emotion-led ballad, slow-paced and brimming with angst. Alongside the release, the band have shared an accompanying music video, featuring the Grammy-nominated London duo hazily dancing under warm lights.
Speaking of the new track, vocalist/guitarist Rosie Bones explains that its “about how feeling things so deeply can be a burden. It’s a play on the ‘ignorance is bliss’ idea that being a massive empath, sometimes I just wish that I could take things at face value a bit more and not overthink things so much.
“It’s like wanting to be a fool, dancing in the middle of a load of scholars. Sometimes it feels like it would be easier to be the fool, not engaging with all the things that are going on in the world, all the darkness, just spending your time dancing in the middle of a crowded room”.
The track is the latest to arrive from the upcoming project, following Fix, Bikinis and Won’t Settle, the latter of which features Queens Of The Stone Age bassist Mike Shuman.
Sharing detail on new album Soft, Bones notes: “It’s everything you loved about the first record, turned up. Keeping things scrappy, raw and real, with enough electronic beats to keep our industrial dance-heads happy and enough heartbreakers to keep our romantics listening.”
Watch the video for Knee Deep and view the tracklist for Soft below:
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BONES UK – Knee Deep (Official Music Video) – YouTube
“There’s stuff that’s quite ugly for the sake of being ugly and quite noisy for the sake of being noisy… I find myself almost talking people out of it”: What Steven Wilson knows – and doesn’t know – about his new Bass Communion album
(Image credit: Getty Images)
On his first Bass Communion album in 12 years, Steven Wilson has pushed the boundaries of progressive music with what could only be described as a experimental noise record. The Itself Of Itself finds him taking inspiration from avant-garde composers and experimenting with studio sounds.
“Even by Bass Communion standards this is a pretty confrontational record.” Steven Wilson reclines on a sofa in his north London home and seeks to explain exactly what Bass Communion is. How he makes the sounds that make up this project’s latest album, The Itself Of Itself. Where the ideas come from. And just what ambient drone noise music is anyway: is it even music at all?
“That’s why it’s called The Itself Of Itself. Because it is what it is,” Wilson says matter-of-factly. “It’s unapologetically what it is.” Unlike 2011’s Cenotaph, whose four titular movements contained a sonic thread – that central throbbing hum – onto which the listener could grab hold to follow where the sound went, The Itself Of Itself’s seven tracks veer wildly from the self-explanatory A Study For Tape Hiss And Other Studio Artefacts through the exploration of radio static in Blackmail to the almost (we stress, almost) calming ambience of Apparition 3.
It’s at once an intriguing listen and a wholly disturbing one as well. There are times, not least in the title track and the 13-minute Bruise, where the listener is drawn in with the initial soundscape, only to feel almost repulsed by a starkly corrosive climax. On the title track the very aural structure dissolves despairingly, while the journey Bruise takes you on ends in a squall of disquieting crackle. In his Prog review, Jeremy Allen suggested the best way to listen was “in a spare hour where nothing is happening.” Perhaps leave the light on too.
(Image credit: Hajo Müller)
“I’d love to tell you that it’s all come from nowhere, but it hasn’t,” Wilson reflects. “I would go down to my local library, back in the days when libraries had records, and take out records by people like [German composer and the father of electronic music] Karlheinz Stockhausen and [Italian composer noted for his experimentation with electronics] Luciano Berio. Serious classical stuff. A lot of that music starts from the premise of an idea, a concept.
“One of Stockhausen’s things was a piece from the mid-60s called Hymnen, where he took recordings of all the national anthems around the world and made a piece of music by processing them. I’ve always liked conceptual things like that. Another piece he had was called Carré, where he had an orchestra in each corner of the auditorium and he would pass sound. Surround sound, in the 1950s. Amazing!
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Even people who don’t recognise it as music have an emotional response to pure texture
“So I was always fascinated with great conceptualists like that. And there was also a fascination where you take an idea as a starting point for music. Not a melody, not a rhythm, not a harmony: an idea. For a long time I’ve been really in love with the idea of audio artefacts that act as sound. Tape hiss, warble, saturation, dropouts. And one of my favourite digital plug-ins is one that emulates cassette anomalies. You can choose the brand of tape, how many times it’s been taped over, the age of the tape, dropouts, whatever. And I like it because it gives character to things that are a bit clinical otherwise.
“I got to the point where I found I was enjoying adding things like tape hiss and warble to sounds just to give them character. One day I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun to create a piece of music taking tape hiss as a starting point?’ Because it has lots of different varieties – an old cassette, a new cassette, a metal cassette, an analogue tape. It’s very much in the tradition of experimental avant-garde conceptual art. Think of it in the same way as Rothko painting just using one colour. You deliberately restrict yourself to a very small palette of sound to create some music out of.”
(Image credit: Fourth Dimension)
In searching for a link between what many Prog readers listen to and something that might sound like something a lab technician has created, we were drawn back to hearing Tangerine Dream’s fourth album, 1973’s Atem. Well-versed in the more melodic soundscapes of later 70s albums such as Phaedra, Rubycon and Stratosfear, the band’s earlier, more exploratory sound was a harsh listen.
“One of my favourite albums of all time, Atem,” Wilson says with a smile. “I think that a thing that a lot of people who listen to rock music have a problem with is that if you take away melody, rhythm and harmony, they’ll say, ‘That isn’t music at all.’ And yet, if you sit down to watch a horror movie, very often your emotional response to the movie is being… you’re processing the visuals you see, also hearing these drones, and it gives you this feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach. Even people who don’t recognise that kind of thing as music in a recreational sense do have an emotional response to pure texture.
Bass Communion also becomes research and development for the rock albums
“A lot of the appeal of Tangerine Dream was to do with texture and sound on those early records. They turned into something more layered and more progressive. Edgar Froese started playing guitar so there’s more recognisable timbres and sounds. But you go back to the beginning and you’re like, ‘What the hell is that?!’”
Tangerine Dream were, of course, a collective; and although they took a more ambient approach later, they were far removed from the music Wilson creates with Bass Communion. How, though, does he actually set about creating what ends up on BC albums? Is it a case of just walking around, hearing something and wondering what he can do with it?
(Image credit: Hajo Müller)
“Pretty much,” he says with a nod. “The title track is this piece I played on the Mellotron. It was quite nice – but I thought, ‘It’s not interesting enough.’ I spent a long time trying to twist it into something more engaging. I was adding more and more layers of grime and dirt and lo-fi until it sounded like something – to me –fascinating, eerie, creaky, and a bit spooky. Sometimes I think it’s a question of taking something and trying to make it sound more unique, more engaging.”
Does he actively sit down and focus on writing for a Bass Communion record? “I think, because it’s such a different approach, I know when I’m writing for Bass Communion,” he says. “But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a sense of cross-fertilisation going on. Because in some sense, Bass Communion also becomes research and development for the rock albums, sound treatments, textures, and a lot of stuff. And it is a lot of stuff: there are elements of things that I’ve created in Bass Communion that I’ve retold in the rock albums. There’s a lot of discoveries that go on. ‘Oh, I can do that with that sound,’ and, ‘That’s an interesting sound.’ So there is definitely a crossover.”
These ASMR videos online are supposed to relax you… I can’t do it – It’s like hell to me
Wilson’s wife Rotem is at work in the adjoining kitchen, preparing for one of their daughter’s birthdays the following day. She graciously allows us to sample the odd sweet treat destined for the party; which causes the family dogs, Bowie and Lenny, to sit expectantly at our feet, eyes longingly fixed on the pastries. Given their close proximity to both Wilson’s studio and music room – which houses his formidable record collection, what – Prog wonders, do his daughters make of Bass Communion?
“The girls have heard a lot of music that would be in that tradition,” Wilson states. “Our eldest listens to stuff like Japanese noise music. She loves low frequency oscillation and electronic stuff. While they don’t necessarily like it or listen to it by choice, I think when they grow up, it’s not going to be something that they’re going to listen to and say, ‘That’s crap – that’s not music at all.’ At least they’re going to understand that it has some value as art.”
“There’s the trend of listening to the texture of sound on TikTok,” Rotem interjects. “It could be a chewing sound or whispering. They listen to textures. It’s massive.”
(Image credit: Getty Images)
“Oh yeah, ASMR. Have you heard of that?” Wilson asks. Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is the term used to describe the relaxing sensation some people feel as a result of listening to certain sounds. In recent years there’s been a large increase in the amount of online content containing ASMR ‘trigger’ sounds that are intended to promote relaxation.
“It’s basically YouTube videos with the sound of rustling paper or chewing; all these videos online that are supposed to relax you and create less anxiety. And apparently, it really does work. I can’t do it,” he exclaims, looking at Prog aghast. “It’s like hell to me.”
So which of Dad’s music is their favourite? “Steven’s solo stuff,” Rotem replies. “Because they grew up in this kind of household, they’re so much more exposed to sounds of real guitars and real drums. So they really like the rocky bits. They like the dark rock’n’roll. They also love Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. But if they had to choose I think they’d go with the really heavy stuff.”
I think a lot of it also comes from the second record of Ummagumma
Outside of his immediate family, Wilson isn’t entirely certain who the Bass Communion audience really is. “This is partly true of everything I’ve ever done,” he ponders. “I do it in a very indulgent, selfish way. But it’s also true to say that Bass Communion itself has moved further and further away from melodic sounds. The earlier sounds were more meditative records. You could put it on in the background. There’s stuff on this record that’s quite ugly for the sake of being ugly and quite noisy for the sake of being noisy. I don’t really know. I find myself almost talking people out of it.”
He’s not lying – our initial request to interview him met with an email that read: “You really want to talk to me about this project for Prog? Just checking as the new album is basically pretty much noise.” He reflects: “That’s the Trojan Horse thing. If it wasn’t me doing this music, you probably wouldn’t give it a second glance. Or be in a position to hear it.
“It’s like you mentioned earlier: you recognise the reference points when you listen to one of my songs. But you’re not so sure when you listen to this. In that sense it’s truly exploratory music, like the piece about tape hiss. I asked myself how I could make tape hiss into something fascinating and beautiful. And I also wondered if you had to be someone like me – someone who had a nostalgia for that anyway. And if you don’t have a nostalgia for cassettes and that sound, maybe it would be completely irrelevant to you. I don’t know.”
As we say our goodbyes, Wilson pauses, struck by thought. “Coming back to your earlier question of where it comes from, I think a lot of it also comes from the second record of Ummagumma. Being a Floyd fan early on and hearing that record when I was maybe 11 or 12 blew my mind. I know a lot of Floyd fans find that unlistenable. To me it was magical.”
Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.
There’s no gentle way to put this: Many of rock’s biggest stars have chosen to retire or been forced off the road by age, illness or death in the past decade.
While artists such as the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney have demonstrated a remarkable ability to endure the often grueling life of a touring artist far into their 70s and 80s, many others have not been quite as lucky.
Aerosmith recently became the latest in an increasingly long line of bands who announced that they were retiring from touring. The group was already planning to call it a career, having launched their Peace Out farewell tour in September of 2023. After just three shows, Steven Tyler severely damaged his vocal cords, forcing the tour to be postponed – at first for a month, then a year. Earlier this month, Aerosmith announced that the singer would not be able to make a full recovery, and called off the trek altogether.
They join a road exodus that has recently seen legendary acts such as Kiss, Genesis and Elton John play the final shows of their farewell tours in the past couple of years. At some point in the near future they’ll be joined by peers such as the Eagles and Foreigner, who are both currently on their own farewell treks.
Below you will find a list of 25 bands or artists who have announced the end of their touring careers, or disbanded as the result of illness or death. We also discuss five acts who are currently in the midst of farewell tours, and a handful of groups and solo artists whose touring futures are very much up in the air.
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