Author: uylrjp

Held tight in winter’s icy grip? Fear not: The Hourglass Effect are here to inject a dose of blazing, country-fried rock ‘n’ roll into your life to see you through the coming months. Willed into being in 2017 by band mastermind Drew Brashear, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based project soon evolved into a sumptuous three-piece band courtesy of some chance encounters with multi-instrumentalist Dave Hardman and singer Erin Fox-Clough, whose soulful croons put a bow on one of the most enticing and musically interesting bands to emerge from the Southeast in recent years.

Released in 2021 to rave reviews, The Hourglass Effect’s self-titled debut album is a relentlessly entertaining, deeply moving mash-up of rock ‘n’ roll, country, jazz, punk, blues and more, drawing influence everywhere from Neil Young and Santana to Fugazi and Fleetwood Mac. Now, they’re ready to take their next step with the imminent release of their brand new EP, Inner Ocean, which arrives on January 10.

Boasting six newly-penned tracks including adventurous, country-fried new single The Highway (complete with adventurous and delightfully eerie video), Inner Ocean will continue The Hourglass Effect’s bold and brilliant approach to making music: that is, to harness whatever influences might take hold and express themselves in a way that still fits Drew Bashear’s grand vision. It is set to be the first in a series of EPs that will ensure the band’s creative output remains high.

As well as a digital release, Inner Ocean will also come in a shiny vinyl format, with all six tracks spread over one disc across two sides. Bundled with a lyric sleeve, it’s available to order now and will be released in May 2025. Get in there quick, too: the first 400 vinyl copies of the EP ordered will come with a free digital download of the release, while the first 100 copies will come with a free vinyl version of the band’s self-titled, 10-track debut album!

You only have a limited time to order the vinyl version of Inner Ocean – until 23:59 on February 28 2025, to be precise, so don’t mess around.

Order your vinyl copy of The Hourglass Effect’s Inner Ocean EP here

The Hourglass Effect – The Highway [Official Music Video] – YouTube

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Louder is the ultimate resource for alternative music coverage and the home of iconic rock brands Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. With a combined reach of over five million followers across social media, we’re the largest and most influential alternative music website in the world. 

In 2018 Orphaned Land released Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs, their sixth and most recent album to date. It was a continuation of the Israeli prog metal band’s award-winning mission to encourage understanding in the pursuit of peace – as lead vocalist Kobi Farhi told Prog at the time.

“How many revolutions have occurred?” he asked. “How many wars? And we’re still facing the same problems.” He argued that society is a cave that people don’t want to leave. “They’re afraid of the light and they don’t want to change. Every time a revolutionary comes to take them out of the cave… they’re all assassinated.

“Dictators live forever. Only the good die young. That’s the meaning of this album.”

By way of offering an introduction Orphaned Land’s themes, Prog listed the 10 songs that have mapped their epic journey so far.

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Seasons Unite (Sahara, 1994)

Orphaned Land’s 1994 debut might lack the full musical scope and masterful production of their later releases, but it showed what they were capable of as players and songwriters with this impressive union of progressive and death metal.

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Find Yourself, Discover God (El Norra Alila, 1996)

From the folky opening to the frantic metal onslaught that follows, this was another early example that points the way forward for the band’s ambitions.

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Norra El Norra (Entering The Ark) (Mabool: The Story Of The Three Sons Of Seven, 2004)

A perfect example of their range, Norra El Norra has crunching death metal riffs alongside Middle Eastern folk instruments and a piano solo. Farhi showcases his facility with quarter tones, which give his vocals their unique flavour.

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The Kiss Of Babylon (The Sins) (Mabool: The Story Of The Three Sons Of Seven, 2004)

The album tells the story of three angels representing the three Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Islam and Christianity. Powered by tasteful twin guitars, the track lets Farhi employ his death metal growl and the result sounds like a Middle Eastern Opeth.

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Sapari (The Never Ending Way Of Orwarrior, 2010)

Sapari is what happens when you take a traditional Yemenite Jewish song that is centuries old and give it a prog metal makeover. It’s shamelessly progressive, hugely catchy and exquisitely mixed by Steven Wilson.

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Disciples Of The Sacred Oath II (The Never Ending Way Of Orwarrior, 2010)

Everything comes together perfectly here – the blend of acoustic and electric elements, the Middle Eastern instruments alongside the metal virtuosity. And it’s an epic in composition and structure, brimming with pomp and grandeur.

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All Is One (All Is One, 2013)

A fixture in their live sets, All Is One is an Oriental metal masterpiece, from the searing guitar lines to the rousing strings and the beautiful, uplifting voices of the choir. The album is an essential listen for any fan.

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Let The Truce Be Known (All Is One, 2013)

Inspired by the Christmas Truce of World War I, when soldiers from both sides participated in an unofficial ceasefire, this is a sweeping metal ballad that plays like a heavy counterpoint to Paul McCartney’s Pipes Of Peace.

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We Do Not Resist (Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs, 2018)

A distillation of the new album’s themes, We Do Not Resist seethes with anger. “Why do we deal with the birth of the child of Princess Kate for two days and not deal with kids dying in Africa because they don’t have water?” says Farhi. “It’s that cave. We prefer to deal with the shadows rather than dealing with the truth.”

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Only The Dead Have Seen The End Of War (Prophets & Dead Messiahs, 2018)

A track that reconnects Orphaned Land with the death metal of their early albums, Only The Dead Have Seen The End Of War is densely layered, with the orchestra adding drama to the headbanging guitar riff.

Jethro Tull have announced that they will release their 24th studio album, Curious Remnant, through InsideOut Music on March 7.

At the same time the band have shared a new video for the album’s title track, a digitally animated affair handled by Costin Chioreanu who had previously created the band’s video for RökFlöte‘s Ginnungagap.

“Here we go again,” says Ian Anderson. “Have I said that before? Life in old dogs and with a little introspective rumination.”

Although not a concept album like 2002’s The Zealot Gene and 2023’s RökFlöte the new album features nine new tracks which very much hark back to the band’s classic 1970s sound, not least the epic near-17-minute Drink From The Same Well.

Curious Remnant features contributions from former keyboardist Andrew Giddings and drummer James Duncan, along with the current band members David Goodier, John O’Hara, Scott Hammond and, making his recording debut with the band, guitarist Jack Clark.

Curious Ruminant will be available on several different formats, including a limited deluxe ultra clear 180g 2LP + 2CD + Blu-ray artbook and limited deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray artbook. Both of these feature the main album, alternative stereo mixes & a blu-ray containing Dolby Atmos & 5.1 Surround Sound (once again undertaken by Bruce Soord of The Pineapple Thief), as well as exclusive interview material. The limited deluxe vinyl artbook also includes in 2 exclusive art-prints. The album will also be available as a special edition CD digipak, gatefold 180g LP + LP-booklet and as a digital album (in both stereo & Dolby Atmos).

Pre-order Curious Remnant.

Jethro Tull: Curious Remnant
1. Puppet And The Puppet Master
2. Curious Ruminant
3. Dunsinane Hill
4. The Tipu House
5. Savannah of Paddington Green
6. Stygian Hand
7. Over Jerusalem
8. Drink From The Same Well
9. Interim Sleep

Halsey says she booked metal and hardcore shows during her teens.

In a video filmed during a fan meet-and-greet (watch below), the 30-year-old Without Me singer says she “super-fuck[s] with hardcore”, before adding that she used to promote shows by the likes of The Devil Wears Prada and August Burns Red.

“I used to promote hardcore shows,” she says (via The PRP). “In Jersey before I started making music. I did a lot of hardcore, but then also some of the more commercial hardcore. The biggest show I ever booked, I was 16, was like August Burns Red and The Devil Wears Prada.”

Halsey has long been an admirer of heavy and alternative music. In a 2020 post on X (formerly Twitter), she revealed she used to be a “scene kid”.

“I miss the confidence I had as a scene kid in 2009,” she wrote. “My hair? Terrible. Make up? Worse. Desperate need for attention? Same as it’s always been. High-functioning depression? Intact. But the CONFIDENCE….whew…”

After finding fame as a musician in the mid-2010s, the singer went on to collaborate with several alt artists. In 2019 she made a surprise appearance on Bring Me The Horizon’s studio release Music To Listen To…. Her contribution to the soundtrack for 2020 superhero film Bird Of Prey, Experiment On Me, was produced and co-written by Bring Me singer Oli Sykes and then-member Jordan Fish.

In addition, Halsey’s 2021 album – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power – was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails. The song Honey featured Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters on drums.

The singer released her latest album, The Great Impersonator, in October. It reached number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and received positive reviews, including a four-star write-up from Louder’s Emily Swingle.

“It’s a testament to Halsey’s individuality and ferocity as an artist,” Swingle wrote, “and, beneath each mask, The Great Impersonator is broiling with a confidence that feels utterly Halsey.”

@upgradelyric09 ♬ original sound – Christian Leyva

Manic Street Preachers have released a new single today (Friday 10 January), the latest cut from their forthcoming 15^th album Critical Thinking, due out at the end of this month. A stirring, jangly number titled People Ruin Paintings, it follows the release of previous singles Decline & Fall and Hiding In Plain Sight. The latter was the first Manics single to feature a lead vocal from bassist Nicky Wire.

Writing about the new single in promo materials to accompany Critical Thinking, the band explained the lyrical themes and sonic influences behind People Ruin Paintings: “The narcissism of adventurers + explorers, the hypocrisy of the carbon footprint – the empty evangelism of the television travel show drenched in a cynical inverted nihilism. Man’s insatiable addiction to discover and use. The gentle lilt of 10,000 Maniacs. Musically the three of us playing telepathically, referencing thirty plus years of playing together instinctively.”

Critical Thinking is the Welsh trio’s first album since 2021’s The Ultra Vivid Lament, which became their first Number One album since 1998’s This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. They will embark on a sold-out UK tour later this year with a run of festival appearances following in the summer.

Upon the announcement of Critical Thinking, Wire said the following about the record:

“This is a record of opposites colliding – of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution. While the music has an effervescence and an elegiac uplift, most of the words deal with the cold analysis of the self, the exception being the three lyrics by James (Dean Bradfield) which look for and hopefully find answers in people, their memories, language and beliefs.

The music is energised and at times euphoric. Recording could sometimes be sporadic and isolated, at other times we played live in a band setting, again the opposites making sense with each other. There are crises at the heart of these songs. They are microcosms of skepticism and suspicion, the drive to the internal seems inevitable – start with yourself, maybe the rest will follow.”

Watch the “official visualiser” for People Ruin Paintings below:

Hip hop icon, rap metal pioneer and all-round star of film and TV, Ice-T is a formidable presence. Ever since Body Count’s controversial 1992 single, Cop Killer – which protested against police brutality, in the wake of four white officers beating black motorist Rodney King that year – Ice has remained outspoken. 

On latest Body Count album Merciless, he still takes aim at the issues that infuriate him, from class division to US politics. But how will he hold up against your questions (and one from a legendary Floridian death metal band)? 

When and how did you get into metal?
James Kinder, Facebook 

“I got into rock’n’roll – not necessarily metal – growing up. When I lost my parents [both died of heart attacks] and moved out to LA, I was stuck in a room with my cousin. He’d act like Jimi Hendrix and ran around playing air guitar. He kept the radio stations tuned to the LA rock stations, so I learned all about rock’n’roll – everyone from Boston to ELO to Edgar Winters, Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. I got into metal when I found Slayer. I was always interested in different types of music, so I got the idea to form a metal band after coming off tour with Public Enemy, seeing kids moshing to fast rap in Europe.” 

Who’s your favourite SVU [Law & Order: Special Victims Unit] co-star? Emilystrange_alt13, Instagram 

“That’s interesting, because I’ve worked with so many! Probably Kelli Giddish, we got really tight. I loved working with Christopher Meloni too, though, and Mariska [Hargitay] is the star, so any time I share a scene with her it’s always fun. I really like working with Kevin Kane now – he’s my new partner.” 

How does Body Count collaborate to create music? Riffs first then words?
Mark Pruett, Facebook 

“Absolutely, Body Count is created with riffs! We usually start out with a bunch and short pieces of songs, which are sent to me, and I’ll cut and paste them together to create a song. Sometimes that song sucks! But I might then say, ‘Well, make a song out of this breakdown.’ Once we have the track assembled, I start putting words over it. My band is in LA – I’m usually in New York or New Jersey, so the early process starts with sending me ideas.” 

Who would win an Ice-T, Ice Cube, Vanilla Ice rap battle?
Ben Wilmott, Facebook 

“We actually were in a TV show, where they had Claymation pieces fight it out. Celebrity Deathmatch! Me and Ice Cube fought, and both got killed by Vanilla Ice with a Zamboni. Refer to that! Ha ha!” 

Smooth or crunchy peanut butter?
Kevin Shanks, Facebook 

“What kinda fucking question is that?!” 

What’s your favourite rap and metal album, respectively?
JeremiahJohnDempsey, Instagram 

“My favourite metal album is the first Black Sabbath album – it’s the one I probably listened to the most growing up. I’ve actually sampled songs from Sabbath on my rap albums – and rock, too. I used Black Sabbath for [solo rap track] Midnight. So far as my favourite rap album… probably Paid In Full by Eric B & Rakim which came out around the same time I was doing [1987 debut] Rhyme Pays. Or maybe Yo! Bum Rush The Show by Public Enemy. Those records were very important to me, particularly in the creation of the Ice-T records.” 

When we touring together?
Possessed_Official, Instagram 

“That’s possible! Body Count haven’t done a US tour in many years because of my Law And Order schedule, so we just do spot [one-off] dates. Any time we’re coming in your area, you could be on the show with us. That’s not up to us, though – it’s up to promoters!” 

What’s your proudest achievement?
Madkappiktures, Instagram 

“Transitioning out of trouble. I got into music as an option for not going to prison. Rap came along and gave me a way of paying the bills without breaking the law. That’s one of the most difficult transitions for anybody. Anyone who knows about street life and hustling, that life, trying to become a legitimate citizen and get a social security number, a bank account and become part of the system is difficult. I have friends that are 40 or 50 who’ve never had a driver’s licence.” 

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How does it feel to be involved in the game for as long as you have and what changes have you seen in the music industry throughout the decades? StevenEsray, Instagram 

“Fortunately I’ve got my hand into the acting business, which is a lot more secure than the record business. I love making music, but the music business has evolved. I’m from the era where you’d make an album and you’d sell a million records, but now you have streaming and it’s very difficult to understand how you get paid. Snoop [Dogg] made a comment that he’d had over a billion streams and made less than $43,000 – that should scare the shit out of everyone in the music business. How many of us can hope to get a billion streams on anything?”

Would you ever cut a record with Schoolly D?
SIoan McCarthy, Facebook 

“I did! I cut one of his most recent records [2022’s Cuz Schoolly D Is Crazy], with the track The Real Hardcore. Schoolly’s way out, so the track is about how I first heard of him, met him and how he inspired me to do 6 In The Mornin’.” 

What’s your favourite dinosaur?
Stacie Ghia van Vuren, Facebook 

“T-Rex. Some of my friends have T-rex arms when it comes time to pay the bills at the restaurant! Ha ha!” 

What would you change about heavy metal if you could?
Jeff Stoakes, Facebook 

“I’d get rid of all the categories they’ve decided to split rock into. I got so tired of all these different hybrid categories, I created my own for Body Count – grindhouse. That’s what we do. Other than that, I wouldn’t change much.” 

Would you ever collaborate with Cannibal Corpse?
Kuba Juppa, Facebook 

“There’s a song on the new record with Corpsegrinder [The Purge]! But I also did a record with [original Cannibal Corpse singer] Chris Barnes, too [One Bullet Left, by Six Feet Under]. So that’s two different variations of the group.” 

What’s your favourite cheese?
Paul Coates-Rutherford, Facebook 

“Another dumb fucking question! American cheese!” 

Do any other rap icons [Ice Cube, Snoop etc.] listen to metal and come to your shows?
Luis Loubriel, Facebook 

“All kinds of rappers come to my shows. Everybody has messed with [metal], whether it’s Chuck [D] with Anthrax, [Ice] Cube using metal licks in his records… But they’ll come see me, I don’t know if they go see anyone else. I had DJ Paul from Three 6 Mafia standing side-stage the other day. At the end of the show he was like, ‘You the only motherfucker really doing this – everyone else is bullshit.’” 

Would you ever get Chuck D on a Body Count track?
Vaughn Dehyle, Facebook 

“We’ve come close. It’s never out of the question because he’s definitely one of the people that inspired me to go down the Body Count path, with his work with Anthrax.” 

Has the anger that gave birth to Cop Killer abated or got worse?
Jim Gordon, Facebook 

“It’s just become more focused. The problem is still there, but the young Ice was just mad and didn’t really know the causes behind the problem. Now I’m very aware of the causes behind the problem, so it’s more focused.” 

What band would you like to tour with the most?
Toni Kauranen, Facebook 

“First, probably Slayer, because we love them. But they’ve retired, so maybe someone like Lamb Of God, because we’re cool with Randy. Maybe other groups similar to us – Biohazard, Hatebreed… we play with them a lot, so a tour with those bands would be cool.” 

What would you tell the 20-year-old version of yourself?
Christopher Thelen, Facebook 

“Wear a condom.” 

Would Body Count ever consider working with an orchestra?
Rob Sierra, Facebook 

“I think some of the best music comes from collab situations, so I’d like to collaborate with an orchestra. On [1997 track] Last Days we used a choir, so that’s a step towards it.” 

Is there a rock artist you would still love to work with given a chance to?
Vinnie Vincent, Facebook 

“All the people I’d loved to have worked with have passed. I was a big Prince fan. I’ve been very fortunate to work with all the people I dig. I’ve met all my heroes.” 

Who do you regret not seeing?
Billy Martin, Facebook 

“I’d love to have seen Jimi Hendrix! I’ve seen all his movies, so just to kick it in a room with him, get the way he saw things. There’s a lot of similarities with us – we were both in the military, for one. He had a very unique worldview.”

Merciless is out now via Sony/Century Media

Steve Hackett has shared a new live clip of him performing the track Jacuzzi, originally from his 1980 album Defector.

The new version is taken from Hackett’s upcoming Live Magic At Trading Boundaries, which he will release through InsideOut Music on January 17.

“I’m thrilled to be releasing such a special album of live virtuoso performances over the years at such a magical venue,” Hackett states.

In what has now become something of a tradition for Hackett, he annually performs at the Trading Boundaries venue in Fletching, East Sussex, and the new live release was Hackett presenting stripped-down material, and showcasing his acclaimed classical compositions.

The new live album collects various recordings from these shows from over the years, and also features appearances from regular collaborators including brother John Hackett on flute, Roger King on keys, Rob Townsend on flute sax and Amanda Lehmann on guitar and vocals.

“Somehow, you can feel the special atmosphere through the sound of the music on this new live album, which is a complete contrast to my live rock shows,” Hackett continues. “I love the delicate dreamlike quality of this show with John and Rob interplaying beautifully on flute and sax, interspersed by surprising moments of power, such as the point when Roger’s keys become the sound of a full blown pipe organ!”

The release is timed to coincide with Hackett’s next two live appearances at the venue, on January 18 and 19.

Live Magic At Trading Boundaries will be available as a limited-edition CD digipak, gatefold 180g 2LP, digital album, mixed by long-time live sound engineer Ben Fenner.

Pre-order Live Magic At Trading Boundaries.

Jinjer vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk has named her favourite song on upcoming album Duél.

The frontwoman gives her pick exclusively in the new issue of Metal Hammer, ahead of the record coming out on February 7 via Napalm.

When asked by Hammer writer Stephen Hill if there’s a song on Duél that the Ukrainian band are “particularly proud of”, Shmayluk points to the single Green Serpent, which came out in November.

“[It’s] very special to us,” she explains. “I’ve been sober for a few years now, so it’s kind of about that.”

Bassist Eugene Abdukhanov also piles praise onto that track. “I actually remember when I heard Tatiana sing that song for the first time,” he adds. “I had tears streaming down my face. I have also been sober for five years now, so it just connected with me. I honestly think it is the best song Jinjer have ever written.”

Duél will be Jinjer’s first studio album in four years, following the release of Wallflowers in 2021. In a 2022 interview, Shmayluk said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine delayed the writing of new material.

“It’s easy for me to write about war when it’s not happening around me,” she told Bloodstock TV. “But when it started, I was absolutely devastated and paralysed creatively. I cannot write about that. I still cannot process that.

“I think it’s such a great trauma that it takes years and years to process, not only for me but mostly for the citizens of Ukraine, for the victims. I really think that it’s not my time to write another war song right now.”

As late as April 2024, the singer admitted to Metal Hammer that she was still yet to write lyrics. “I confess that I haven’t started writing anything yet,” she said. “I think I will suffer this year with writing lyrics. There’s 99 problems that I have to solve right now – taxes, personal stuff. I honestly can’t find the inspiration to write.”

Nonetheless, Jinjer announced Duél in October and have thus far released four singles from it: Rogue, Someone’s Daughter, Kafka and Green Serpent.

As well as the interview with Jinjer, the new Metal Hammer contains conversations with both Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine as the bands gear up for a co-headline world tour. It also details the 50 albums you need to hear in 2025. Order your copy online now and get it delivered directly to your door.