Refused – Official Site When we reflect on 2012, one of the better reunions to take place will have been that of Swedish hardcore punk outfit Refused . However, the band has revealed that the time has come for the reunion to wind down, and they’ve decided that the best place to do it would be their hometown in Umea, Sweden at the Exel Arena on Dec. 15. The group made the most of their time back together, hitting just about every major festival you can imagine. Their touring took them to such festivals as Coachella , Rock am Ring, Roskilde, Groezrock, Download, Primavera Sound, Fuji Rock, and Pukkelpop among others. Plus, they made a rare television appearance on ‘ Late Night with Jimmy Fallon .’ As the band prepare to say farewell, they decided to put their thoughts into words and offered this note of reflection on their Facebook page: So there were those years right after school, when you were 15 and pissed off and everyone thought you were a loser and you ran around with the other weirdos, generating weirdness and little else. And there were those years when what set you apart from the others become a fixation and a lifestyle and you had a band and people talked about what you did but you were so used to being weird you just lumped them in with the rest of the slanderers. Then there were those years when the ideas you’d clung to through late adolescence were beginning to ring hollow and you got more and more confused and destructive and the band broke up and you had rent to pay. That was among the tougher years. And then slowly, over a span of time, you began to sort yourself out and your friends started making sensible decisions in their lives and it suddenly began to seem like most of you were gonna be ok. And then there was the year when you stopped being a petulent kid and you got your favorite musicians together in a room again and decided that you were gonna accept the love of thousands of listeners, accept the success that was waiting there to be had and just in general enjoy being appreciated for the exact same qualities that made you a freak to your contemporaries in your teens. This was one of the better years. And now it is coming to a close. It’s been kind to us. And that old punkrock golem “The shape of punk to come” has done good. The hatchet is buried, 1998 is not such a terrible memory for us anymore. We’re going home. And we’re doing it in style. With old friends and new acquaintances in tow we’re gonna take over our old hometown Umeå for one more night, just because we can. On the 15th of december at the Exel arena we’ll be sharing the stage with these magnificent comrades: Randy, a band of punkrock bandidos from the north who we befriended years before we even were Refused, Two White Horses, an excellent sister/brother-duo from Sävar, both of whom we’ve individually collaborated with in different musical projects through the years, and Råd Kjetil Senza Testa, a new and exciting musical collective consisting of old Umeå pop and hardcore scenesters, among them the guy who produced the very first version of New noise for a local hardcore compilation in early 1997. We unconditionally endorse these bands. Great music, good crude fun, what more do you need? It’s going to be one of those nights. Thank you for populating the pit in 2012. Over and out. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/refused-bring-the-new-noise-to-brooklyn-ny-concert-review-photo-gallery/” title=”Next: Refused’s Brooklyn Show Review + Photo Gallery” align=”center”]
Razor & Tie Georgian metalcore band Norma Jean have announced that they will begin recording their sixth studio album in December. Labeled after the birth name of iconic actress Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jean have been pumping out American metalcore for 15 years. Having released their breakthrough record, ‘Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child,’ back in 2002, the band has kept a really strong fan base ever since the strong metalcore serge in the early 2000s. Frontman Cory Brandan recently posted the news on Norma Jean’s Facebook page: We will begin our last block of writing in 7 days, and will enter the studio in December. Norma Jean will be recording our next record with Joshua Barber out of Kansas City and will be in the studio all of December and January, save for the holidays. We’ve already met with Josh to go over ideas and have been keeping in contact with him regularly. He came down and sat in on our last writing session in September. We worked really well together and had tons of ideas. I’ll leave a link in the comments of something he’s done if anyone wants to check out some music. Thanks to all of you that have supported Norma Jean over the years. We still have a lot of momentum and can’t wait for you guys to hear these new songs. – Cory Former Norma Jean vocalist Josh Scogin recently released an awesome album with his current band, The Chariot . Check out our exclusive video interview with Scogin by clicking the button below. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/the-chariot-josh-scogin-new-album-one-wing-former-band-norma-jean/” title=”Next: The Chariot’s Josh Scogin Talks to Loudwire” align=”center”]
Spencer Kaufman, Loudwire While Green Day dropped the unfortunate bomb earlier this week that they have to cancel all upcoming tour dates in 2012 and postpone most of their upcoming tour dates in January and February to allow their lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong to focus on his recovery from substance abuse, the band also offered up some good news, in the form of a new video for the song ‘The Forgotten.’ Although the band is one-third of the way through their release of a series of three new discs ‘¡Uno!,’ ‘¡Dos!,’ and ‘¡Tre!’ in the coming months, ‘The Forgotten’ can be found on the upcoming soundtrack for ‘ The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 .’ The soundtrack is due out on Nov. 13, a few days prior to the movie hitting the big screen. Kicking off on piano, musically ‘The Forgotten’ slow things down a little for the trio with the vampire meets pop-punk video showing off the softer side of Green Day. The clip, sure to appeal to both Green Day and ‘Twilight’ fans offers up a montage of alternating clips from the upcoming movie and bits of footage of Green Day in the studio and on the stage. Fans are already weighing in with feedback about the new song with comments like, “I love this, it’s so beautiful,” and “Amazing song!” Check it out below for yourself. Watch Green Day’s New Video for ‘The Forgotten’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/green-day-shinedown-van-halen-linkin-park-nominated-peoples-choice-awards/” title=”Next: Green Day Nominated for People’s Choice Award” align=”center”]
Robert Cianflone, Getty Images Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose is certainly one of the most beloved, but also detested musicians in rock history. It’s almost impossible to run into anyone who doesn’t have an opinion on Rose as a human being, but the GN’R icon recently partook in an interview that went pretty deep into the mind of one of rock’s most polarizing figures. In Rose’s in-depth interview with USA Today , the singer attributed the lengthy process of writing the ‘Chinese Democracy’ album to mental abuse caused by former Guns guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan . “[Slash and McKagan] did more damage to my ability as a writer,” claims Rose. “To those three, it was all crap. It beat me down so much. At the time of the [‘Use Your Illusion’] tours, Slash and Duff said, ‘You’re an idiot, you’re a loser.’ I didn’t write for years. I felt I was hindered for a very long time. I was also trying to figure out what I wanted to say, when it’s right to be venting and when you’re digging a bigger hole. Lyrics on ‘Chinese’ took a long time.” Rose also explored the idea of how the classic GN’R lineup could have lasted longer. “Maybe if we could have worked together in the way ‘Appetite’ was put together. I was really naïve,” says the singer. “I thought the success of that record would bring everyone together more. It did the exact opposite. They got success and wanted to run in their own directions. I thought they’d go, ‘Whoa, it did work.’ But they wanted to do their own huge bigger success off of Guns.” On the possibility of a truce amongst the classic members, Rose comments, “I feel that ball’s not in my court. I’m surviving this war, not the one who created this war.” Additionally, when asked about fans who consider the current Guns N’ Roses lineup as illegitimate, the singer simply responded, “They can think whatever they want. I’m not interested in their opinions.” Rose says that the band is currently writing and working on their next release, and added, “[The next album] will come out sooner.” Check out the full Axl Rose interview at USAToday.com . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/slash-wife-critiques-axl-rose-jimmy-kimmel-appearance-weighs-in-on-his-weight/” title=”Next: Slash’s Wife Criticizes Axl Rose’s Appearance on ‘Jimmy Kimmel'” align=”center”]
Facebook: Soundgarden Fans have been anxiously awaiting a new album from Soundgarden for more than 15 years, and the Nov. 13 arrival of ‘King Animal’ is just a couple weeks away. A deluxe edition of the release will also be available at Best Buy that includes extra tracks. In addition to the 13 songs on ‘King Animal,’ demo versions of the songs ‘Black Saturday,’ ‘Bones of Birds,’ ‘By Crooked Steps,’ ‘A Thousand Days Before’ and ‘Worse Dreams’ will also be included. Finished versions of all five songs also appear on the album. ‘Been Away Too Long’ is the first single from ‘King Animal.’ Frontman Chris Cornell describes the song as “a look back at history in sort of a strange atmospheric way.” Cornell called the song’s lyrical narrative a way of saying, “We’ve been gone for 15 years and now we’re back. It’s about time, and we still have something to say about rock music that no one else is saying — and I feel confident about saying that.” So why did the band split up back in 1997? Cornell says , “We broke up because we were bored of the periphery, all of the things that are outside of the band playing music and writing songs, playing shows – that part got really boring.” Bassist Ben Shepherd adds, “The part that is outside of writing songs and playing shows. So it wasn’t the Soundgarden thing, it was the outside of Soundgarden.” Soundgarden will play the British TV show ‘Later With Jools Holland’ on Nov. 6. According to Grunge Report , they’ve also just booked a ‘Live on Letterman’ mini concert following their Nov. 12 appearance on the ‘Late Show With David Letterman,’ and they have two European concerts scheduled on Nov. 7 (Dortmond, Germany) and Nov. 9 (London, England). [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-soundgarden-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Best Soundgarden Songs” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com 3 Doors Down are ramping up to the Nov. 19 release of their upcoming ‘ Greatest Hits ‘ collection, and they’ve taken the time to reflect on the songs and videos that got them where they are today with a series of video vignettes. Loudwire is proud to bring you the vignette explaining the story behind the videos for the hit single, ‘When I’m Gone.’ In the vignette, seen below, singer Brad Arnold shares how there were actually two clips for ‘When I’m Gone.’ Most fans are familiar with the one shot during their touring, where they played for military audiences, but the vocalist goes more in depth about a gothic style promo they shot in the South with a darker tone to it. The video ended up being a rather demanding shoot for the band. ‘When I’m Gone’ is just one of the hit singles on the ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation. Other standouts like ‘Kryptonite,’ ‘Duck and Run,’ ‘Here Without You,’ and ‘It’s Not My Time,’ turn up, as do three new songs — ‘One Light,’ ‘There’s a Life,’ and ‘Goodbyes.’ Republic Records will release the disc Nov. 19, and pre-orders are currently being taken here . The band will celebrate two days earlier (Nov. 17) with the ninth annual ‘ The Better Life ‘ foundation concert at the Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. Watch 3 Doors Down’s ‘Story Behind the ‘When I’m Gone’ Video’ Vignette [button href=”http://loudwire.com/3-doors-down-free-download-new-single-one-light/” title=”Next: 3 Doors Down Offer Free Download of ‘One Light’ Single” align=”center”]
Mary Oullette, SheWillShootYou.com / Mark Metcalfe / Ethan Miller, Getty Images – Members of Papa Roach , Bush , Disturbed and other acts react on Twitter to Hurricane Sandy. [ Loudwire ] – Korn guitarist Munky says the band’s direction will lean more toward guitars with less dubstep on their next album. [ Loudwire ] – Watch Metallica honoring Green Day at the Voodoo Arts + Music Experience with a jam of ‘American Idiot.’ [ Loudwire ] – Officials at a venue force the movement of a California festival after taking issue with P.O.D. ‘s ‘Youth of the Nation’ lyrics. [ Loudwire ] – Pennywise and original frontman Jim Lindberg have reunited. [ Loudwire ] – Behemoth frontman Nergal may be facing jail time after a Polish court ruled he could be charged for tearing a bible onstage. [ Loudwire ] – Isis may be no more, but the music keeps coming, including a streaming demo of ‘Ghost Key.’ [ Rock Music Report ] – Hurricane Sandy not only ravaged the East Coast, but it did some damage further inland to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Congrats to Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood , who got engaged to Sally Humphreys. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – Twelve years ago, U2 ‘s award-winning album, ‘All That You Can’t Leave Behind’ arrived in stores. [ Diffuser.fm ]