Author Archives: Richard Bailey

Cedric Bixler-Zavala: The Mars Volta are a thing

Posted by on February 13, 2018

The Mars Volta hasn’t played a show since 2012 and officially disbanded in January 2013 after a public breakup. With the death of the late Isaiah “Ikey” Owens in October of 2014, it looked like the reunification of the salsa-infused, progressive rock act would stay a dream.  Omar Rodriguez-Lopez addressed the band in a 2016 Rolling […]

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Review: DragonForce shreds St. Louis

Posted by on July 27, 2017

DragonForce comes to my area every 2-3 years and when it was announced they would play a small St. Louis club, I was immediately interested. The ticket prices were so low that I actually did some research to make sure it wasn’t a mistake. St. Louis is about a 4-hour round-trip for me and making […]

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Rob Dukes really misses Exodus

Posted by on November 2, 2015

Former Exodus vocalist Rob Dukes  recently spoke with Dan Lorenzo of painfulpleasures.com about tattoos and music and he had some…colorful things to say about his former band mates. It all started when Lorenzo asked Dukes about the time tattoo artist Bob Tyrrell joined Exodus on stage. After breaking the on the topic of Exodus, the subject moved onto his […]

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Iron Maiden on bass clarinet is still Iron Maiden

Posted by on October 30, 2015

[youtube]https://youtu.be/hkyoivS7vpo[/youtube] Get your Halloween weekend kicked off with this haunting cover of the Iron Maiden classic, “Hallowed Be Thy Name” featuring the most badass bass clarinet quartet on the planet,Edmund Welles, fronted by a guy dressed like Raiden (or the guy from ‘Big Trouble in Little China’ depending on who you ask). There you have it. Something […]

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Will Francis from Aiden weighs in on Victory/Spotify

Posted by on October 21, 2015

Within the past 24 hours, Spotify removed all albums from the Victory Records catalog, ruining workout playlists around the globe. Victory Records released a statement that can be found on our website as well as their company website. What is interesting is that Victory Records is taking the stance that Spotify is not paying proper […]

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Acrassicauda launches Kickstarter campaign for new album

Posted by on May 31, 2014

Acrassicauda, the Iraqi metal quartet featured in the 2007 VICE documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, is back with new music and have launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund their first full-length album. Their EP, Only the Dead See the End of War, produced by Alex Skolnick of Testament, featured four tracks that described the horrors of living in a war-torn society. They are back with […]

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Yep, Ghost are replacing Papa Emeritus II

Posted by on May 29, 2014

Ghost surprised a few people in between their debut Opus Eponymous and their sophomore album, Infestissumam, by replacing singer Papa Emeritus with Papa Emeritus II. Never mind that the voice sounded the same, and the main difference was the color of the singer’s robes. Regardless, Metal Hammer caught up with one of the Nameless Ghouls at Sonisphere, […]

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Coheed and Cambria to play ‘In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3’ in its entirety on tour

Posted by on May 12, 2014

Coheed and Cambria made the big announcement after not one, but TWO countdowns on the bands website. The word is travelling the web fast that the rock behemoths are setting their sights on a North American tour and will be playing their breakthrough album, In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 in its entirety. The pioneering […]

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Fan posts HD recording of Iced Earth set from ‘Worldwide Plagues’ tour

Posted by on April 29, 2014

[youtube]http://youtu.be/X3m5Z9eYGXM[/youtube] Given the quality of most fan-shot footage, we cringed when we read that there was fan-shot footage from an Iced Earth show. However, the recording is actually really good. Jon Schaffer shreds, like he always does, with a fierce precision. Stu Block really does well to deliver a gritty vocal and hits those really […]

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Guy imitates Ozzy Osbourne, pees on Alamo

Posted by on April 16, 2014

A 23-year-old El Paso resident was sentenced Monday for an incident taking place at one of the most sacred places in Texas. In an act that will remind many of you of Ozzy Osbourne, Texas resident Daniel Athens took a leak on a shrine dedicated to all who had lost their lives during the battle […]

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