Hardwired, a Metallica tribute act, Obey Your Master, a tri state area Metallica tribute act, 92 Stadium Tour Revisited, Guns N’ Roses tribute act Shotguns N’ Roses
Tony Iommi Is Back. First Solo Album in Two Decades. And You Can Learn the Riff Today.
Twenty one years is a long time to wait for anything. Tony Iommi kept his fans waiting for this particular moment – and now it’s over. “World Alone,” the lead single from Iommi’s forthcoming solo album From The Dark , debuted this week at a special live stream event from a venue close to his heart – the Black Sabbath Bridge in his native Birmingham. Gibson was clearly eager to get in on the action – the riff is already available within the Gibson app in multiple grades for any guitar-slinging enthusiast to try their hand at.
A prolific songwriter, Iommi has notched up a number of solo albums over the years. Seventh Star , his first solo effort, technically came out under the Black Sabbath banner (and saw a confusing release schedule across multiple labels) in 1986; it was intended as a solo vehicle from the outset. His next two solo albums followed in 2000 and 2005 respectively, the first credited to Iommi but featuring a who’s who of rock singers (Ozzy Osbourne, Billy Corgan, Serj Tankian, amongst others), while the second ( Fused ) saw him team up with Glenn Hughes – but after that, it wasn’t until recently that he felt the need to record another collection of songs under his own name.
Set for release on October 23 via BMG, From The Dark sees Iommi working with one voice – Norwegian singer Jorn Lande, who co-wrote the album’s eight tracks with him. Becky Baldwin lays down the bass, while Karl Brazil (longtime drummer for Robbie Williams) holds the rhythm section together; production duties have been handled by Mike Exeter, Iommi’s trusted collaborator for many years.
From The Dark , meanwhile, clocks in at a healthy eight tracks, from the brisk opener “Over the Violent Sun” through to the epic twenty-three-minute closer “Legacy.” The storming riff of “World Alone” comes in third, as a typically muscular mid-tempo rocker, with Lande’s distinctive raspy delivery adding to the sense of the dramatic. The video for the single sees The Believer (the name of the character played by actor Chris James Smith in the piece) battling through a dystopian video game world in search of salvation – and it’s quite a shift for Iommi to go from the most recognisable growler in heavy metal to a dramatic actor in a computer-generated world, but it works. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
Lyrically, Lande explores themes of mortality and dystopia, recurring motifs in his work, as seen in tracks like “Beyond the Dead” and “Stormwatcher” on this album. “Death Wake” delves into the existential void left when one’s life lacks love and humanity. This is a profound concept delivered with sincerity by a band that has nothing to prove. Iommi himself stated that this record is simply something they enjoy playing, calling it a cool album. There is no need for further elaboration, and indeed, none is warranted.
The context in which this album was created adds to its significance. From The Dark was recorded a year after Black Sabbath’s final concert, Back to the Beginning, in Birmingham, which marked the end of an era for the pioneering band. Tragically, Ozzy Osbourne passed away two weeks later. One might expect Iomii to retire given the circumstances, but instead, he continued creating music, crafting new riffs rather than dwelling on the past. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
Aimed at guitarists looking to get more than just a listen, Gibson worked overtime to make sure the most important learning tool was ready before the track even dropped. The first-ever “World Alone” lesson appeared on the Gibson App as soon as the song was available to stream worldwide, with arrangements spanning multiple levels of play so both a novice and a seasoned player can tackle the same frets. The app guides the learner through each segment with detailed, step-by-step instructions and feedback, providing an intuitive experience akin to having Tony Iommi himself as a personal coach, explaining every shred and slide. All purchases of guitars (Gibson, Epiphone, Kramer) or MESA/Boogie amplifiers made via Gibson.com or Gibson Garage in Nashville, TN, include a three-month subscription to the premium content of the app, which is the equivalent of saying Gibson wants more people to be able to play this song than just to listen to it. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
Pre-order Tony Iommi’s From The Dark here: https://tonyiommi.lnk.to/fromthedarkPR.
According to TMZ, which broke the news late Friday, Sid Wilson – the band’s former DJ and one of its nine original members – has apparently been kicked out of the group after more than two decades. No further detail was given, and aside from the aforementioned TMZ outlet, no word has come out from the band about the situation, at least not officially. All we have is guitarist Jim Root, who posted a story to his Instagram a few hours after the news, warning fans to not jump to any conclusions, take a breath. He didn’t name Sid Wilson, per se, but you know, it’s there. Either way, whatever drama there is going on behind the scenes is not set in stone yet, and anyone telling you otherwise is most likely speculating. Worth noting, however, that Sid has already had a rough year, as he quietly called off his engagement to Kelly Osbourne – that’s right, the former Black Sabbath singer’s sister – in March, after apparently getting engaged to her in the first place backstage at the band’s final show. We’ll keep you posted. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
Meanwhile, Motionless In White just had a week that most bands would kill for. Decades, the group’s seventh album, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top Hard Rock Albums chart. That’s the easy bit. What might surprise you to know is that the set currently scores twelve of the twenty five songs on the Hot Hard Rock Songs chart. Twelve. Four tracks from Decades have also topped the charts in the last four weeks, and the band has been having a career-defining year, twenty years into their existence. Most bands would’ve fizzled out by their third album. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
System of a Down bassist Shavo Odadjian had a good week. He landed a role in the second season of Dexter: Resurrection, which debuts in October on Paramount+. His character, R.H. Martin, is one of the show’s primary antagonists. First look images show Odadjian zip-tied to a pole while Michael C. Hall’s Dexter Morgan looms over him. It’s the kind of scene that would’ve sounded ridiculous ten years ago, but not for Shavo Odadjian. It’s all part of a broader pattern. Director Marcos Siega has a long history with the band, having directed the iconic “Chop Suey!” video and co-directed “Toxicity” with Odadjian. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
Then there was Spiritbox, and a very publicly dissected story that ran on long after the show. Vocalist Courtney LaPlante cut short the band’s July 15 Phoenix show to have a fan removed from the pit. “The show will not continue while there is a member of the audience that is endangering themselves and others,” she said to the chagrin of many who felt as if they had just been kicked out of a mosh pit. The segment had gone viral, as had the subsequent accusations that she was just being rude to a fan for participating in mosh pit mayhem. LaPlante defended her actions, noting that while the fan was indeed jumping around at the front of the stage, he was also drunk and throwing punches at people’s backs, and that security had already been called three times before she took action. It’s a messy story that says less about mosh pit etiquette and more about a singer who put a show – and hundreds of strangers’ safety – on hold to stop one man from getting hurt. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
![Altarage, Experimental Death Metal Basque Band, Says Mankind 'Deserve[s] the Worst of All Fates' | The Bad Penny (beta)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Xugw!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9c6378e2-6efb-4caa-a6e3-ac217e1ada24_600x400.png "Altarage, Experimental Death Metal Basque Band, Says Mankind 'Deserve[s] the Worst of All Fates' | The Bad Penny (beta)")
New music continued to come regardless of all the commotion surrounding. Spanish death metal band Altarage scored another point in their career, managed to release Cogwheel, a piece of work which critics are calling an acquired taste this year. Swedish progressive metalcore outfit Allt announced their debut album Ataraxia by Century Media Records while Chicago-based Anatomy of Habit came up with Paired Sentinels, a doom-laden affair which dips into noise and post metal depending on the song. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
Closer to home, there is still time to catch some live metal this evening. Hardwired, a Metallica tribute band that performs renditions of the band’s music from every era, plays the Union Firehouse in Mount Holly, NJ tonight. If that does not fill your boots, be sure to mark your calendars for August 29th. Obey Your Master, a tri state Metallica tribute band that dives deep into the band’s fan favorites, will headline the 92 Stadium Tour Revisited at the Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, playing alongside Shotguns N’ Roses, a Guns N’ Roses tribute band, for an evening dedicated to one of the most iconic co-headlining tours in rock history.
All that, and it is still just another weekend in the life of metal. A guitar virtuoso puts down a two-decade long hiatus. A thirty-year-old band is down one member, maybe two depending on who you ask. An established band is hitting their most successful earnings in twenty years, and somewhere in Phoenix, a singer decides the safety of a stranger is more important than finishing a song. All different things, but all part of the beautiful metal family that has helped make this weekend so special. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
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Stay informed throughout the day with NPR’s News Now, airing four times daily with concise, up-to-the-minute coverage of the latest headlines. It’s a fast, reliable snapshot of national and global news when you need it most. Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!
METALMANIA LIVE SPOTLIGHT: THE GREATEST LIVE MUSIC NEVER STOPS
From legendary festival broadcasts to rare archival performances and historic live recordings, MetalMania Live continues bringing fans closer to the greatest moments in heavy music history. Whether you’re following this summer’s massive festival season or rediscovering classic performances from decades past, MetalMania Live remains your destination for live metal twenty-four hours a day. Read More → Read the Full Article on the MetalMania Live Substack!