Razor & Tie All That Remains are a polarizing band. Frontman Phil Labonte isn’t afraid to speak his mind , and as the group’s success has increased, so have the haters. ‘A War You Cannot Win’ will have those critics complaining louder than ever, but the album should draw legions of new fans that will embrace ATR’s style. That style combines elements of metalcore, mainstream metal and hard rock, and ‘A War You Cannot Win’ is probably the band’s most melodic effort. That doesn’t mean there aren’t songs that pack a wallop. The proceedings start aggressively with ‘Down Thru The Ages,’ with Labonte using harsh vocals and a few higher-pitched screams. Clean vocals make their appearance as well, along with a searing guitar solo. Speaking of guitars, the dual attack of Oli Herbert and Mike Martin is impressive throughout. From darker riffs on songs like ‘A Call To All Non-Believers’ to shredding eighties styles solos, they are on point. When it comes to radio-friendly accessible songs, ‘A War You Cannot Win’ has a few. If you listen to rock radio, you have heard ‘Stand Up,’ an extremely catchy track. ‘Asking Too Much’ is another future radio hit, very melodic and memorable. The power ballad ‘What If I Was Nothing’ has a Five Finger Death Punch vibe and is an obvious choice for a single. Those that buy the album after only hearing the radio singles might be turned off by the harsh vocals, but the balance of those styles is what makes All That Remains who they are. The music might be formulaic, but they execute that formula so well it’s hard to hold it against them. By the last third of the album, there are a few misses. Jason Costa’s drum work gets some nice exposure on ‘Sing for Liberty,’ yet the track itself doesn’t stand out among the rest. They rebound with ‘Not Fading,’ but some momentum is lost with the nondescript acoustic instrumental ‘Calculating Loneliness.’ The tempo cranks back up along with a breakdown or two for the title track, which closes out the album. ‘A War You Cannot Win’ is packed with catchy singles and a polished production from Killswitch Engage’s Adam D. that will appeal to the mainstream. There’s also an ample supply of aggression and heaviness to satisfy metalheads. The combination should make it a very successful album.
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Filter are one of the acts performing and taking part in various activities on the ShipRocked 2012 cruise, along with bands such as Five Finger Death Punch, Godsmack, Korn and many others. The ship sets sail Nov. 27 from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and makes stops in Key West, Fla., and Nassau, Bahamas, before returning on Dec. 1. For information on reservations, the itinerary, the performances and much more, check out GetShipRocked.com . When we spoke to Filter frontman Richard Patrick and guitarist Jonathan Radtke, they talked to us about last year’s rocking cruise, during which they shared the boat with some elderly vacationers, and also expressed their excitement for this year’s ShipRocked trip. Describe the Shiprocked experience last year? Richard Patrick: It’s like you’re on a ship and every time you go out – boom you’re hanging with the fans, as soon as you step out of your cabin you have to know that people on the boat are fans so there’s not a lot of privacy but it’s a lot of fun. Everybody is super respectful. To us it’s like this fun paid vacation where we get to rock ‘n’ roll so it’s not even a big deal, everything is completely taken care of and you’re hanging out with people that just adore you, how hard is that. Jonathan Radtke: And you get to hang out with bands that you’re friends with, we’re really close with the Buckcherry guys. What are you looking forward to most for this year with Shiprocked? JR: Well I think they’re going to a new location this year, the Bahamas. RP: And it’s the entire ship. I feel so bad for the people last year. JR: Half of the ship last year were paying customers who weren’t affiliated with ShipRocked, that were just going to Cozumel where we were going. So when they saw the boat was literally being overtaken by rock people – I remember this old couple, literally as the boat was still in port and the boat was about to take off and I don’t know if they were aware of it and you literally see thousands of people with tattoos and drinking. The first band was Hellyeah or something like that or Hinder and this poor old couple had their hands on their ears like “What is going on?!” RP: “Oh my God is this what we’re in for?!” JR: So apparently this year the entire boat is reserved for ShipRocked, which is even better. RP: They’re going to build scaffolding like a real stage and this whole thing because you’re playing in all these little arenas and these little places and we’re playing and the f—ing speakers are swaying. I remember playing and feeling like I was going to sprain my ankles, it’s a good time. The bands are amazing Five Finger Death Punch, Sevendust – I got a picture of me and Lajon [Witherspoon] just hanging on the beach from last year. No motion sickness for you guys last year? RP: I was telling you earlier about my problems with roller coasters but I was fine on the boat last year. You know what is really interesting though, if you’re too wasted and you’re belligerent they will leave you there. JR: Yeah because you do get off the boat at certain stops and do activities and stuff and there were a couple of people we heard stories about – that a couple guys had a little too much and weren’t allowed back on the boat, they pissed off the ferderales and got in trouble. RP: Dude you’re stuck in Mexico – and a lot of these people it’s just something they did and you don’t know if they had the money to get back and they’re so wasted. All of the shows are held on the boat itself, do you rock out on the sandy beaches at all? JR : Yeah all of the shows are on the boat, each band does like two shows. RP: There’s music going on all over the place, there’s different levels of bands, there’s some weird clubs they have on this things. They have all of these little different departments of strange, there’s night clubs and casinos. There’s not a dull moment – it’s a lot of hanging out, sunbathing, swimming during the day and then as soon as you eat dinner, you start playing. It starts at 4pm and just goes all night long, people are playing ‘til like two in the morning. JR: Us and Buckcherry, we did our theater show and went on at like 1 am – I remember taking a nap and waking up at 11:30 pm. RP: Dude I remember waking up and the people next door were like, “Who is that Steven Tyler?” [Laughs] I’m in there warming up and they’re like “I think it’s Steven Tyler.” Those poor old people. They had this one guy teaching them how to dance and he was Italian. I felt so bad because he looked over and there was this dark cloud of heavy metal and rock fans. [button href=”http://loudwire.com” title=”Check Out Photos of Filter Rocking Out in NYC” align=”center”]
Universal Steel Panther are off to a solid start with their first-ever DVD, ‘ British Invasion ,’ as the release landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Top Music Video chart. And the band is making it worth your while to pick up the home video early, since the initial run of the DVD comes with a limited edition cover that will be available only while supplies last. Steel Panther thankfully expected the demand and have inflated their stock to meet the requests of their fans. In addition to it’s high position on the U.S. chart, the DVD also debuted at No. 3 in the UK, and is the only new offering that went Top 5 worldwide. The DVD was shot over a two-year period with 16 HD cameras, and primarily focuses on the group’s legendary 2010 performance at London’s Brixton Academy. There’s also footage from throughout their world tour and the set comes with a hilarious documentary following the band on their adventures. Loudwire recently premiered the video for ‘ Fat Girl ‘ from the DVD. The instantly infectious track has been known to leave fans singing along about an evening of questionable choice. Other standouts like ‘Asian Hooker,’ ‘The Shocker’ and ‘Stripper Girl’ are also shown in a way they’ve never been seen before. Steel Panther’s ‘British Invasion’ DVD is currently available to order here , and you can enter to win the Ultimate Steel Panther ‘British Invasion’ Gift Pack by clicking on the button below. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/win-the-ultimate-steel-panther-british-invasion-gift-pack/” title=”Next: Enter to Win the Ultimate Steel Panther ‘British Invasion’ Gift Pack” align=”center”]
Photo: James Minchin Tragedy struck at the stadium where Linkin Park performed in Cape Town, South Africa, tonight (Nov. 7). One female fan died and about 20 others were injured when an advertising structure collapsed prior to the concert due to high winds. Apparently, the wind gusts caused a temporary scaffolding structure to collapse onto fans who were on their way into the concert, but the show went on as scheduled. Linkin Park learned of the tragedy shortly after the concert ended. The band was performing in South Africa as part of their International Linkin Park Underground Summit in which they interact with fans. Following the show, Linkin Park posted a message on their official website expressing their condolences to the family of the deceased fan and their concern for those injured: Following our performance tonight at Cape Town Stadium, we were advised that several people were injured as a result of the collapse of an advertising tower erected by Lucozade in the parking area outside the venue. We wish to express our deep sadness and concern for those injured and our heartfelt condolences to the family of the fan who died as a result of her injuries. Though we have had no relationship with the sponsor or the entity responsible for erecting the structure, we take the safety of our fans very seriously and our thoughts are with all of those who were affected by this tragedy. Prior to the news of the concertgoer’s death, Cape Town authorities released the following statement: “Twenty concert attendees were injured at the Cape Town Stadium this evening when a temporary scaffolding structure in the stadium precinct collapsed due to high winds. The injured were treated on scene and have been taken to nearby hospitals for further medical attention.” Raw video footage of the aftermath of the scaffolding collapse has been released below. The tragedy follows similar deadly incidents involving Radiohead and the country band Sugarland. Raw Footage of Scaffolding Collapse at Linkin Park Show
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com – Trent Reznor has some big news and it involves Nine Inch Nails ‘ return. [ Loudwire ] – All hail the new President of Heavy Metal — Ozzy Osbourne ! [ Loudwire ] – Shinedown fans may not have to worry about a big break between albums as Brent Smith says the next record has already been recorded. [ Loudwire ] – Barack Obama gets a second term as President of the United States. See how the hard rock and metal community reacted. [ Loudwire ] – Anthrax are without the services of drummer Charlie Benante on their current tour. [ Loudwire ] – The Black Keys have debuted the new fan-shot video for ‘Sister.’ [ Diffuser.fm ] – The Last Vegas will open for Guns N’ Roses in Las Vegas later this week. [ Rock Music Report ] – Not everyone is happy with Barack Obama’s re-election. Ted Nugent voices his displeasure. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ] – The original Blue Oyster Cult lineup reunited … for one night … in New York City. [ Ultimate Classic Rock ]
Green Day being down a rehabbing member hasn’t kept them from releasing new music and even creating music videos. Rather than the band starring in the clip for their latest single, ‘Stray Heart,’ they’ve served up a concept video in which the stars are a guy with a gaping hole and his extremely mobile heart. The clip itself features a man hoping to win over his latest love, but finding out that his womanizing ways are coming back to haunt him courtesy of his “stray heart,” that has him tracking down the vital organ about town. ‘Stray Heart’ is the first ‘ ¡Dos! ‘ single. With the album arriving next week, the band issued a full stream of the disc for fans to check out earlier this week. However, as previously reported, Green Day are currently unable to get out and tour in support of their discs as singer Billie Joe Armstrong continues his substance abuse recovery in rehab. The group recently canceled the remainder of their 2012 tour schedule and postponed the first two months of touring for 2013 . They also pushed forward the ‘¡Tre!’ album to a Dec. 11 release as a way of making up for the fact that they’re not on the road. Watch Green Day’s ‘Stray Heart’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/green-day-the-forgotten-video-twilight-breaking-dawn/” title=”Next: Watch Green Day’s Video for ‘The Forgotten'” align=”center”]
Sean Gardner, Getty Images The news just keeps getting better for fans of Trent Reznor . While he has received many accolades for his soundtrack work over the last couple of years, fans have been longing for the return of Nine Inch Nails . Now comes word from Reznor himself that Nine Inch Nails are definitely back in action and working on new material. Reznor recently revealed that his How to Destroy Angels project would be arriving with new music, which led to questions about if and when the frontman would revive the band where he made his musical name. The Nine Inch Nails mastermind tells Rolling Stone in a new interview, “All signs point to yes. Yeah, there will be new music. There are some things in the works.” Not only could fans potentially see a new album or singles, but Reznor, who retired Nine Inch Nails from touring in 2009, revealed that there may be some shows, as well. When asked about the idea of performing, he explained, “Yeah, if it feels right. It’s a possibility. I never said that that wasn’t going to happen, just that it couldn’t go on as it was. Having a few years doing other things, I’ve enjoyed [them] and I’m enjoying doing How to Destroy Angels, and there will be a place for stuff that falls in the Nine Inch Nails column of things. It’s a different kind of work. Stay tuned. We’ll see what happens.” In other news, but Reznor has been working with the Beats by Dre company on “a number of very interesting projects.” He also provided the soundtrack to the new video game, ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops.’ As for How to Destroy Angels, we know that will come first as they’ve already revealed a Nov. 13 release for the ‘ An Omen ‘ EP. The group, which also features Reznor’s wife Mariqueen Maandig and his music composing partner Atticus Ross, are also working on a full-length album that will follow early next year. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-nine-inch-nails-songs/” title=”Next: 10 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs” align=”center”]