Pulse – Rock Music News

Lamb of God will be temporarily joined by Chimaira singer Mark Hunter and a "few friends" filling in for Randy Blythe, who recently tested positive for Covid. Hunter, Trivium's Matt Heafy and Anders Friden of In Flames sang lead during the band's show on Tuesday (April 19th) in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Blythe was just six shows into Lamb of God's co-headlining Metal Tour of the Year with Megadeth when he was diagnosed with Covid. The band is hoping that Blythe will be able to join Lamb of God later this week.

According to the movie trailer released this week for Good Mourning, Machine Gun Kelly plays a celebrity whose girlfriend, played by his actual fiancé, Megan Fox, breaks up with him by text. From that point on, his world is turned upside down and his life is full of choices to become the biggest star in the world or fight for love.

Not only does MGK star in the film, but he wrote and directed it alongside Mod Sun. His good friend, Pete Davidson is also in the comedy.

Good Mourning will be in theatres on May 20^th.

TL;DR:

• Machine Gun Kelly plays a celebrity whose girlfriend breaks up with him by text.
• Megan Fox and Pete Davidson are also in the comedy.
• Good Mourning will be in theatres on May 20^th.

Kirk Hammett is bracing himself for his first solo release away from Metallica, with his debut EP Portals dropping on Friday (April 23rd.) Hammett told The Mercury News how different the process is in releasing a solo set rather than backed by the machine surrounding the band: "Usually when there is an album release -- it's the four of us (in Metallica). We all have each others' backs. We are all supporting each other, because it's kind of a nerve-wracking sort of emotional and mental thing. Usually, during this time, we have each other to talk to about any sort of insecurities or whatnot. But now that I have put out a solo album, I am the guy who bears the whole burden of all that."

Hammett went on to reveal: "I said to James (Hetfield), 'This is weird. I have an album release and usually I have you three other guys. But it's just me and it makes me feel insecure and nervous.' And James only had one reply: 'This is a growth and learning experience for you, bro.'"

He went on to explain, "As far as how everyone (in Metallica) feels about me putting out a solo album, I have the full support of James, Lars (Ulrich) and Rob (Trujillo) -- and management. It's a great thing, because it wasn't always like that and that's been well documented. But things are different now and thank God."

Portals definitely spoltlights another musical side from Hammett, who reveals a decidedly prog-influenced bent: "I wasn't ever into prog music until about five years ago. All of sudden, I started listening to prog -- kind of by accident. I went out and bought the entire Yes catalog and I just devoured Yes for like a month. I went out and bought all the Jethro Tull stuff and just devoured that."

Metallica will next perform on April 27th in Santiago, Chile at Club Hípico

The Smile has announced a new album, entitled A Light for Attracting Attention. To coincide with the announcement, The Smile have revealed the video for the self-reflective new song "Free in the Knowledge."

The band --which formed last year, is comprised of Radiohead members Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood and Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner.

A Light for Attracting Attention is due out on May 13th.

Def Leppard have just released "Take What You Want" -- the second track from the band's new album, Diamond Star Halo, which drops on May 27th. The album marks the band's first new studio album since its 2015 self-titled set.

Frontman Joe Elliott told us that the band has been together for so long, that they've come full circle and are more comfortable in sounding like Def Leppard than ever before: "They have to have our identity in them or they might as well be Tom Waits, y'know, or R.E.M. We have a signature sound that we're not scared of anymore. I think we were, right around the Slang period of our career (in 1996). We were frightening to death of ourselves, I think -- but not so much anymore. Y'know, so, they've got the classic Leppard trademark of big guitars, drums, vocal harmonies to the high heavens, y'know?"

Limp Bizkit drummer John Otto is trying his luck at dancing. He and his 11-year-old daughter, Ava, are together competing on the reality dance show Come Dance With Me, a competition airing on CBS which pairs talented young dancers with their untrained parents. The show premiered last Friday (April 15th).

Otto recently told Celebrity Page, "I just (tried to) keep it one foot in front of the other and just worried about not trying to embarrass her, let alone embarrass myself — I already embarrassed myself."

Consequence.net reports that 12 family teams are competing for a $100,000 prize. Throughout the show they learn and perform different styles of dance, from hip-hop to ballroom.

Limp Bizkit heads out on their spring tour on April 28th in Tampa, Florida.

Slipknot recently teamed up with The Sandbox, a leading decentralized gaming virtual world and a subsidiary of Animoca Brands, to create Knotverse, a new Web3 home which will be their hub for NFTs, gaming, lifefstyle, concerts and all things Slipknot.

M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan said, "When I started playing Quake online in 1999 and Minecraft in 2011, it was another level but at the time, I couldn't have Sid (Wilson) scratching next to me, I couldn't offer visual art to fans. All we could do together was play the game. But little ideas like that are not only possible now, they barely scratch the surface. We are listening, we are watching, and we are going where our fans are leading us. And if you don't understand or you're worried, know that we're going to help bring our fans along. We are getting in this for all of us, with all of us, and we can't wait for you to see what we have coming up."

Access Knotverse online at http://www.knotverse.io/.

Geddy Lee admitted how hard it was to hold his emotions in check while keeping the cancer diagnosis of Rush drummer Neil Peart a secret. Lee spoke about the situation following the band's 2015 tour in which Peart became ill and eventually died of brain cancer on January 7th, 2020 at the age of 67.

Loudwire.com transcribed some of Geddy Lee's chat on the House Of Strombo podcast, where he explained that keeping Peart's cancer diagnosis "in-house" was difficult: "That was hard. I can't tell you it was easy, 'cause it was not easy. And it was ongoing. He was given 18 months at the most, and it went on three-and-a-half years. (It) was a constant flow of us going to see him, giving him support. What his family had to live through was really difficult. So it was a lot of back-and-forth. And when you're in that state, it's very hard to function normally, because you can't talk to anybody about it, 'cause no one's supposed to know. And so people hear rumblings and they bring things up to you, and you deflect it. And so that feels, on one hand, it feels dishonest, but on the other hand you're being loyal to your friend. So f*** the dishonesty part. That wins."

Lee, who along with Alex Lifeson, decided to end Rush following Neil Peart's death, went on to say, "I would say that was the most difficult time for us to move forward, during that whole thing, because we were in this bubble of grief sort of walking towards an inevitable and terrible conclusion."

Mike Portnoy, the co-founding former drummer of Dream Theater revealed just after Neal Peart's death he was among the few that was aware of Neil Peart's cancer diagnosis: "Being part of the inner-circle, I've been aware for, about, the last two years, or so. And, y'know, obviously, I haven't talked about it, and y'know, respected his privacy and his family's privacy. So, even though I knew this could possibly be an inevitability for the past couple of years, it's still shocking now that it's actually here. It's just, you never imagined a world without Neil, Geddy, and Alex all walking along it, y'know?"

Last week, Rush released the 40th anniversary deluxe box set edition of 1981's Moving Pictures album.

Greta Van Fleet's Josh Kiszka has apologized for appropriating Indigenous culture in the past. Kiszka was the target of a recent hashtag campagin #SpeakUpGVF, calling him to address and remove a series of photos on his Instagram page showing him and his friends wearing Indigenous garments back in 2017.

He wrote in a statement, "My appreciation for indigenous culture is bigger than myself. I recognize the harm that ignorance can have on marginalized communities, something I'd never want to perpetuate. Hate, disrespect and prejudice of any kind are not welcome in this community. As I've come into adulthood, I've been able to grow and learn. This growth has not stopped and will not stop here."

He continued, "The Chippewa tribe has had a particularly profound impact on my life having been exposed to their ceremonies and customs during my early years growing up in Michigan. I have made a charitable donation to the First Nations Development Institute to help keep indigenous traditions like theirs alive and well. Should you want to support with me, please visit firstnations.org."

Perry Farrell revealed that not only are there plans for some Jane's Addiction road dates -- but he's eager to hit the studio with the band this year.

Jane's Addiction -- Perry Farrell, guitarist Dave Navarro, drummer Stephen Perkins, and bassist Chris Chaney -- last played a couple of festival shows during the summer of 2021.

During a chat with Consequence, Perry Farrell was pressed about the band cutting some new music: "You never know, y'know? You just never know. But what I would love to see -- I would love to see us record a couple of tracks this year. Y'know, even if it's two or three tracks. Two tracks. . . I don't know; I feel two is nice. I think people can take two: like two aspirin."

Van Halen fans have long been clamoring for a full-on autobiography from Michael Anthony. Blabbermouth transcribed some of the legendary bassist's new chat on Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz, in which the status of his long-awaited memoirs popped up: "I have people after me all the time about stuff like that. Obviously, somebody wants to get another perspective from one of the original Van Halen guys on all the dirt from the band, and I don't know if I'm ready to come out with something like that. Obviously, it wouldn't be the dirt like some people would wanna hear it, because I'm not that kind of person. A lot of stuff that went on back then is what is understood, between the band, it's the secret brotherhood of 'what's on the road stays on the road'-type stuff."

Anthony, who records and tours with Sammy Hagar as apart of the Circle, went on to concede, "I think possibly at some point I'll probably do something; I'm just not really ready to do it quite yet. I also have a couple of people after me to do some recipe books with my hot sauces too, which I've kind of been thinking about. I really don't have the time to write at the moment, but I wouldn't mind doing something like that too."

Back in the day, Michael Anthony explained to us the flip side to life on the road is that touring can be rough on a family: "You try to incorporate it as much as you can, 'cause that is life, and I spend a lot of time on tour. They have to kind of adapt to that, also, as much as, y'know, it's kinda hard to leave them when I go out on tour, but this is what Daddy does for a living, y'know?"

Sammy Hagar & The Circle next perform on April 29th, 2022 live in Memphis at the Beale Street Music Festival

Guitarist Joe Satriani confirmed bassist Jason Newsted's recent revelation that he was being tapped for possible inclusion in an upcoming Van Halen reunion. Ultimate Classic Rock transcribed some of Satriani's chat with Rock Of Nations with Dave Kinchen podcast.

Satriani -- who played with both Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony in Chickenfoot -- shed light on what still seems a possible tour saluting Van Halen's classic catalogue, revealing, "I've been talking with Alex (Van Halen) and Dave (Lee Roth) for about a year about doing something -- a tour, something like that -- that was going to be a true tribute to Eddie (Van Halen) and the Van Halen legacy. For me, it was a terrifying prospect of doing something like that, but I realized that it was something that would be a real labor of love for me. I was just so honored to take on the challenge."

Satriani admitted the players behind the still-unannounced project were a bit put out by Jason Newsted coming out and divulging plans that either didn't include him -- or were far from being a done deal: "These things are always happening in the music industry, and you're supposed to keep very quiet about it because sometimes they don't work out. There's usually about 10 crazy ideas that float around, and musicians are always like, 'OK, I won't say anything about this, because it may not work out. I don't want to hurt this person's feelings or disrupt any other business plans.' So yeah, we were all pretty shocked that Jason wanted to go public with it because we were all sworn to silence."

Satriani revealed that the concerts were being constructed as covering the entire Van Halen catalogue: "The thought of representing all the eras of Van Halen, that's pretty daunting. Just from a guitar player's point of view, Eddie progressed remarkably as a player and as an inventor, and those two things, they kind of went together from Van Halen 1 all the way to the last album. And when you sit down to actually learn it and pull it off, you go, 'Wow, not only do I need talent, but I need certain gear,' because certain things won't work unless you've got this amp and it's doing that. So that's also another thing to deal with."

Satriani went on to say: "It's very complicated, and all I can really say about it is that if it does happen, I know we'll make it the greatest thing ever for the fans, and we'll all celebrate together. Not only the great Eddie Van Halen but the legacy that that band created, the amazing amount of music and the goodwill and good vibes they created as a band."

Last night (April 18th), David Lee Roth was pressed by the Van Halen News Desk to share his thoughts regarding the rumored Van Halen tour. "Diamond Dave" emailed the site, and wrote, quote, "IN MY MIND VAN HALEN 4r, IN THE AGE OF COVID IS GOING TO REQUIRE TWO OF US FOR EVERY POSITION. SATRIANI AND (Steve) LUKATHER, (Michael) ANTHONY AND (Jason) NEWSTED, AL (Van Halen) OR TOMMY LEE. PROBABLY THE ONLY ONE WHO COULD DO MY JOB TODAY WOULD BE PINK."

Grunge supergroup 3rd Secret has released a clip of their recent live debut online.

The band, featuring former members of Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, performed a special set at The Museum of Pop in Seattle, WA this past March and shared the footage of "I Choose Me" on to their YouTube page Monday (April 18th).

The video shows Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), drummer Matt Camreon (Soundgarden/Pearl Jam) and bassist Krist Novoselic (ex-Nirvana) alongside guitarist Jon "Bubba" Dupree (ex-Void) and vocalists Jennifer Johnson and Jillian Raye.

Five Finger Death Punch's Ivan Moody shared a teaser on social media for what appeas to be the band's next single "Welcome To The Circus." Five Finger Death Punch's ninth studio album is due out later this year.

They also announced the dates for a headlining U.S. tour with Megadeth, The HU and Fire From The Gods.

See the tour dates below:

08/19 Portland, OR – RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater
08/20 Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheater
08/23 Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheater
08/24 Irvine, CA – FivePoint Amphitheater
08/26 Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
08/27 Albuquerque, NM – Isleta Amphitheater
08/30 Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
09/01 Del Valle, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
09/02 Houston, TX –The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion presented by Huntsman
09/06 Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
09/07 Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek
09/09 Virginia Beach, VA – Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater at Virginia Beach
09/10 Bristow, VA – Jiffy Lube Live
09/12 Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
09/14 Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
09/15 Camden, NJ – Waterfront Music Pavilion
09/17 Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater
09/18 Mansfield, MA – Xfinity Center
09/20 Syracuse, NY – St. Joseph's Health Amphitheater at Lakeview
09/21 Pittsburgh, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake (no Megadeth)
09/23 Scranton, PA – Pavilion at Montage Mountain
09/24 Hershey, PA – Hersheypark Stadium
09/27 Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater (no Megadeth)
09/28 Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
09/30 Tinley Park, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
10/01 Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center
10/04 Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
10/05 Clarkston, MI – Pine Knob Music Theatre
10/07 Milwaukee, WI – American Family Insurance Amphitheater – Summerfest Grounds
10/08 St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheater
10/10 Atlanta, GA – Ameris Bank Amphitheatre
10/12 Rogers, AR – Walmart AMP
10/14 Denver, CO – Ball Arena
10/15 Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheater

The first posthumous recording from late-Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has been released. Rolling Stone reported Hawkins recorded the vocal to Edgar Winter's cover of his late-brother Johnny Winters' "Guess I'll Go Away" from the newly released Brother Johnny tribute collection.

Edgar had posted a tribute to Hawkins on his official website and spoke about how Hawkins refused payment for the work on the album. "He said, 'I just wanna get out there and rock, and rock he did. . . It's a song about the lure of sex, the danger of drugs, and the love of rock & roll. Johnny wrote it around the time of his first rehab, and it expresses feelings almost everyone I know has been through in one way or another. I would guess (like most all musicians) Taylor couldn't help but identify with it."

He went on to write: "All I know is he put his whole heart and soul into it, and I am so sad that I never found a way to thank him properly as he so deeply and profoundly deserved. The name of the song is 'Guess I'll Go Away.' Now, both Johnny and Taylor have gone away no one can know, but which we all one day must travel. Although I know Johnny has departed this world, I still think of and speak to him every day, and will now see Taylor's face alongside his."

Not too long ago, Taylor Hawkins told us that classic rock and heavy metal have always held the biggest influence for him: "It's there, y'know, and I wear 'em heavily on my sleeve, my influences. It's in my DNA now, y'know? I've listened to it enough. I'm under the influence, no question, y'know?"

Arcade Fire had to pause their surprise set at Coachella 2022 twice on Friday (April 15th).

NME reports that less than a minute into their set, Win Butler paused their new track "The Lightning" in order to call for medics to help a fan in the front of the pit who needed help.

The frontman also had to stop after becoming emotional after playing the first verse of the band's new song, "Unconditional I (Lookout Kid). Butler took a moment to wipe his eyes and told the crowd, "it's been a hard f***ing year", before starting from the top.

Asking Alexandria's Ben Bruce says that Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor is his "Rock God." During an appearance on The Rock Show with Johnnie Walker, he said, "Corey has been someone that's inspired and influenced me since I was — I don't know — probably 10 or 11 years old. I was listening to a lot of blues music and other rock and metal music that's passionate too, but there was just something about SLIPKNOT where I was just mindblown. I'd never heard anything like it."

He continued, "And then from there I discovered STONE SOUR, obviously, and I think the first song I heard by them was actually 'Bother', and I just remember thinking, 'There's no way this is the same guy.' It really, for me, was those softer, almost rockier ballads in STONE SOUR that really made think, 'Okay, this guy is the real deal.'"

He added, "From there, actually, me and Corey have ended up becoming really quite good friends over the years, which is incredible to think about considering what an inspiration he was to me growing up, and still is to this day."

Alex Lifeson said that drugs and Rush never led to particularly good music. Ultimate Classic Rock transcribed some of the guitarist's chat with House of Strombo where he recalled, "It was hard to play. We were very disciplined when it came to shows -- not even a beer during the drum solo. I smoked a joint before a rehearsal once, and we jammed for about 20 minutes, like psychedelic surf music. And it was so great."

Lifeson, who just dropped his new band Envy Of None's self-titled debut, went on to remember, "I was having such a great time, and then it was like, 'Okay, let's do the show now.' We start playing, and it was like. . . everything sounded crazy, and my hands wouldn't speak to my brain. Ged kept looking over at me like, 'What the hell's going on with you there?' We were making mistake after mistake. I couldn't wait for it to be over. But I learned a very important lesson: Don't smoke a joint before a gig."

Alex Lifeson told us a while back that Rush's long history is the result of a combination of friendship and creative commitment: "I think, primarily, we really enjoy each other's company. We're very, very close friends. The music has always been very important to us. We've always pushed each other, in terms of our writing and where we want to go as musicians."

Billie Eilish gave a shout out to Coachella's 2018 headliner, Beyonce, when she took the stage at the music festival Saturday (April 16th) night.

The 20-year-old, who is the youngest artist ever to headline the event, told the crowd, "Thank you, Coachella! I'm sorry I'm not Beyonce."

According to Page Six, the "Bad Guy" singer also told the crowd earlier in the set that she "should not be headlining s**t" before blowing the crowd away with a set that included guests like Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn and her "Lovely" collaborator, Khalid.

KIRK HAMMET DROPS FIRST TRACK FROM 'PORTALS': Kirk Hammett of Metallica has released a first taste of his upcoming debut solo EP in the form of "High Plains Drifter." The track, which made its debut on Friday (April 15th), opens the second side of Portals, Kirk's four-song EP out April 23rd. Hammett said in a press release, "This music was created with what I describe as an Audio-Cinematic approach. They're soundtracks to the movies in your mind."

THE KILLERS REVEAL TWO NEW SONGS: The Killers kicked off their Imploding The Mirage Tour in Las Vegas Friday (April 15th) by performing several new songs. According to NME, the band opened with the live debut of "My Own Soul's Warning", later followed by "Running Towards A Place", "Fire In Bone" and "The Getting By II". The 21-song set also included hits like "Mr. Brightside" and "Smile Like You Mean It."

Though a post on Twitter, Billie Eilish announced that she and her brother, Finneas will guest star on The Simpsons.

Titled, When Billie Met Lisa, the episode follows the story of how jazz icon, Lisa Simpson spontaneously bumps into the Grammy-winning siblings. Billie then invites Lisa to her studio for a special jam session she'll never forget.

Finneas called the experience a "bucket list" item.

The special episode will stream on Disney+ beginning April 22.

TL;DR:

Blink-182's Travis Barker shared a series of photos of himself getting a tattoo in tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins.

The photos showed a tattoo of a hawk on his foot and in one of the photos, you can see that Kourtney Kardashian was there with him.

The two musicians had been friends since their early days in music. When Hawkins was playing in the Alanis Morissette band, he would come to clubs and watch Barker as he played in a punk rock band. Barker said he was always encouraging him.

Barker wrote on Instagram: "You'd come watch me play in dive bars and be like, 'Kid you're a star.'" And I thought you were crazy but you gave me so much hope and determination."

Hawkins died at his hotel in Bogotá, Colombia, on March 25 after complaining of chest pain. 10 different substances were found in his body.

TL;DR:

• Blink-182's Travis Barker shared a series of photos of himself getting a tattoo in tribute to the late Foo Fighters drummer, Taylor Hawkins.
• He got a tattoo of a hawk on his foot.
• The two musicians had been friends since their early days in music.

Deftones finally kicked off their North American tour with Gojira last night (Thursday, April 14th) in Portland, OR after a two-year postponement due to the pandemic. Frontman Chino Moreno told Heavy Consequence that he's been missing the "cathartic" experience of live performance saying, "I'm gonna go out there and just like completely vent and sort of free up some of that tension."

Moreno admitted he's undergone some therapy throughout the course of the pandemic, in part because of the lack of live shows. He explained, "I hate to say this, because it sounds very spoiled, but since I was 15-16 years old, when we started this band, I've been able to express my emotions in front of people through music, whether I'm screaming or singing or whatever, I'm emoting these things. And then I'm able to sometimes go to bed at night and feel a sense of getting things out, this expression. And for not doing that for so long? It's kind of tripped me out a little bit."

Deftones' tour runs through May 28th in Minneapolis.

Limp Bizkit fans could be in for another new album in the near future. Although it took the band 10 years to release their latest project, 2021's Still Sucks, Wes Borland recently told PRS that their current dynamic is ripe for more new music.

He said, "Now that Still Sucks has kind of cleared our pipes, I feel that the comradery and creativity within the group is at an all-time high. I wouldn't be surprised if a new album is in the works shortly after our 2022 touring concludes. Anything is possible."

Limp Bizkit‘s headlining tour plays in Tampa, FL on April 28th with $not, Wargasm & Scowl.