EMI Alice in Chains have returned with new music and acclaimed director Roboshobo is helping them bring some imagery to their latest single, ‘ Hollow .’ The band just debuted the official video for the song, focusing on the gradual deterioration of an isolated scientist’s mental state (watch below). In the clip, we see the main character going through his daily routine — staring out at the planet below, working out, talking with his wife on a video chat and performing various experiments. But as the days turn into a year, the man begins to break down mentally and physically. The official video follows the band’s recent lyric clip that was fan-generated. The initial offering was comprised of images submitted by fans prior to the release of the song, as the group had posted lyrics and asked for visual feedback on what the words meant to their fans. After gathering a wealth of visual input, the lyric clip was pieced together to coincide with the release of the song last month. Fans of the track can currently pick it up on iTunes . It will be part of the band’s still-untitled studio album that’s expected to drop in the spring. Watch Alice in Chains’ ‘Hollow’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/best-alice-in-chains-songs/” title=”10 Best Alice in Chains Songs” align=”center”]
Octane Hollywood Undead have returned to the music scene with their just-released third album, ‘ Notes From the Underground .’ Helping to grow the buzz this week is the band’s new lyric video for the song ‘Lion,’ which is exclusively premiering Loudwire (watch below). The video itself features time-lapsed footage of the sun setting into nightfall over a gated closure, presumably for a lion. In the background, you see a very well maintained grassy area shaded by the neighboring trees. Lyrically, the song takes you on a journey, opening in more restrained tones with, “ I am a lion and I want to be free / Do you see a lion when you look inside of me / Outside the window / Just to watch you as you sleep / Cause I am a lion born from things you cannot be .” But as the track builds, so does the title character’s inner turmoil and the aggression of the song. Creatively, the track is a little deeper than normal. Johnny 3 Tears recently told us that the band may not always receive artistic credit, but there are moments on the new album where it’s clear that songwriting is something they can do rather well. Though he was not speaking specifically about ‘Lion,’ it’s clear that the group offered something a little more personal on the song. ‘Lion’ can be heard on Hollywood Undead’s ‘Notes From the Underground,’ which is currently available for purchase here . The song follows their previously released video for ‘ We Are ,’ which was directed by Slipknot ‘s Shawn Crahan . The band just launched their North American tour in support of the album. Watch Hollywood Undead’s ‘Lion’ Lyric Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/hollywood-undead-johnny-3-tears-we-are-inspired-by-americas-youth/” title=”Next: Hollywood Undead’s Johnny 3 Tears Discusses ‘We Are’ Inspiration” align=”center”]
Facebook: Three Days Grace Three Days Grace definitely shocked fans Wednesday (Jan. 9) with the news that they were replacing frontman Adam Gontier with My Darkest Days ‘ Matt Walst after Gontier resigned from the band due to a “non life threatening health issue.” In his own letter to fans, Gontier stated, “After twenty years of being part of an ever evolving band, I have been inspired by life, to move on and to continue to evolve on my own terms,” suggesting that his decision was more about starting a new chapter than a health concern. Gontier has been not only the voice of the band, but arguably the group’s most recognizable face, as well. Given that the group had already committed to a co-headlining run with Shinedown this spring, it’s understandable that they would want to honor that commitment, but the question remains of whether or not it was the right decision. Our Readers Poll today asks whether or not you think Three Days Grace should continue without Gontier still part of the band. There are several schools of thought on this. One is that the band members have every right to want to continue to play their music and given Gontier’s sudden departure, to stop now would not offer themselves or the fans any sense of closure. Plus, at present, the group has only listed Walst’s participation as “temporary,” meaning a decision on whether or not to continue beyond their current tour is not a definite and these dates could either be their farewell or a springboard to a fresh start. However, It could also be argued that Gontier’s voice is indelibly tied to the band and by playing (or even potentially recording) without him, they risk altering how fans view their legacy. Then there’s the idea that maybe it’s too early to render a judgment as to whether this was the right decision to continue playing or not until Walst is given a chance to play for audiences and fans can have some time to sit with it. So what is your take on the Three Days Grace singer situation? Let us know your position by voting in the Readers Poll below: Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/new-anthrax-guitarist-readers-poll/” title=”Previous Readers Poll: New Anthrax Guitarist” align=”center”]
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images After spending the last day teasing some of the people who would be joining him at the Sundance Film Festival , Dave Grohl has revealed all of the guests that will make up his Sound City Players lineup for the special show. As previously reported, Grohl will be playing a show in Park City Utah Jan. 18 to coincide with the premiere of his new ‘Sound City’ documentary , which is based on the legendary Hollywood recording studio. The singer already teased a photo with him performing alongside Queens of the Stone Age ‘s Alain Johannes and Foo Fighters ‘ Taylor Hawkins . Plus, Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor had confirmed his participation in a Salt Lake City newspaper. Now Grohl has revealed the full lineup in a new tweet . It includes many of the ‘Sound City’ soundtrack contributors, including his Foo Fighters bandmates Rami Jaffe, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and Pat Smear along with his onetime Nirvana partner Krist Novoselic . In addition, Grohl’s Queens of the Stone Age pals Johannes and Chris Goss are taking part. The rest of the lineup includes a number of familiar names. Rage Against the Machine drummer Brad Wilk, John Fogerty , Stevie Nicks , Cheap Trick ‘s Rick Nielsen , Rick Springfield, Fear’s Lee Ving and violinist Jessy Greene will also join in on the fun. Tickets for the show go on sale today at 5:00PM PT/8:00PM ET at www.parkcitylive.net . [button href=”http://loudwire.com/dave-grohl-sound-city-documentary-sundance-premiere/” title=”Next: Watch the ‘Sound City’ Trailer” align=”center”]
Theo Wargo, Getty Images The Black Keys were one of the top nominees when the Grammy Award nominations were announced last month and the band has confirmed they will take the stage to perform at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles. The group is among the first confirmed performers for music’s biggest night. They’ll join alterna-rockers fun. and Mumford & Sons , pop star Rihanna and country favorite Taylor Swift in playing this year’s ceremony. The band received five nominations — Album of the Year and Best Rock Album for ‘El Camino’ and Record of the Year, Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for ‘Lonely Boy.’ In addition, singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach also earned a solo nod as Producer of the Year. While ‘El Camino’ has been a stellar record for the band and the group still has plans to promote it on tour, the duo are also trying to stay ahead of the game and have set aside some time to record for their next studio album this month. Speaking with Uncut magazine (excerpted by NME ), Auerbach stated, “We’re going to start making the new album in the second week of January and we’re hoping to have it done by some time in March. Then we have a couple of weeks of touring, then we’re going to take the summer off, which we haven’t done in a while.” Although there is studio time blocked out, the vocalist admits, “The record isn’t written yet. We’ll do it when we get in the studio. This is when we both work best, when we’re dying to make an album. All of our records take place in the studio, in that we make stuff up while we’re there.” As for the touring that Auerbach spoke of, he’s referring to the handful of shows they have scheduled for the spring with the Flaming Lips . The short, four-date run consists of performances in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and the Black Keys’ home base of Nashville. The Black Keys / Flaming Lips 2013 Tour: 4/28 — Kansas City, Mo. — Sprint Center 4/30 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Consol Energy Center 5/2 — Atlanta, Ga. — Aaron’s Amphitheatre 5/3 — Nashville, Tenn. — Bridgestone Arena [button href=”http://loudwire.com/the-black-keys-patrick-carney-married/” title=”Next: The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney Gets Married” align=”center”]
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire The New England Metal & Hardcore Festival celebrates its 15 year of anniversary with a massive lineup for the 2013 installment, including headliners Anthrax , Opeth and Hatebreed . The three-day festival will be held once again at The Palladium in Worcester, Mass., on April 19, 20 and 21, not to mention a pre-party on April 18. The festival’s founder, Scott Lee, of MassConcerts, states, “I am excited with how far we have come and am ecstatic for this to be on our 15th year! It has been a long, interesting journey. We always try to make it a memorable event and we really hope you all enjoy the festival this year.” Other bands confirmed for this year’s festival include Suicidal Tendencies , Shadows Fall , Municipal Waste , Katatonia , the Contortionist and much more. See the current lineup below. Stay tuned for many more acts to be announced in the coming weeks! New England Metal & Hardcore Festival XV Lineup: Anthrax Hatebreed Opeth Suicidal Tendencies After The Burial Alpha & Omega Antagonist AD Ark of the Covenant Black Breath Born of Osiris The Contortionist Dead by Wednesday Death Before Dishonor Ensiferum Erra Exodus Expire Fit for an Autopsy Heidevolk Hellsot Holy Grail I Declare War Incendiary Katatonia Legion The Mongoloids Mother of Mercy Municipal Waste No Mercy Power Trip Rude Awakening Saving Grace Shadows Fall Suburban Scum Those Who Fear Trap Them Trollfest Twitching Tongues Tyr Within the Ruins Xibalba ?
Liz Ramanand, Loudwire Rock trio Kyng had a busy 2012 and if last year any indication of how this year will be then Kyng have a eventful road ahead of them. Loudwire recently checked in with the band’s frontman Eddie Veliz, who talked all about the ups and downs of life on the road, while also looking back at the release of their debut album, ‘Trampled Sun,’ and mentioning plans for a new album. Kyng have been on the road nonstop, what do you love most about touring? It’s awesome – you get to meet a bunch of people in the first couple rounds and then the next time you come around you consistently run into these people, like you – even though you didn’t recognize me. I was like “Hey! It’s you,” and you were like, “Who are you?” but now you’re cool – yeah it’s all that, we get to come back and they’re more excited. The sucky part, but also good part, is that everywhere we go we have friends and all they want to do is feed us and get drunk. It’s like, “Let’s go eat ribs” and barbeque galore and it’s nonstop and we’re just getting fatter and fatter. It’s good and bad. What do you not like about touring? Just being away, being away from home – we don’t have all the luxuries of your typical rockstar. We sleep in our four star or four wheel home which is the van and it’s just us out on the road – it’s a lot of work. We’re just kicking butt, selling out our merch, checking out gear, performing and driving and that could take a toll for sure. We just start getting beat up after every tour. You have toured with so many great bands, including your recent trek with Megadeth… Who? Who’s that, I don’t know about that – that’s so weird. Yeah the whole Megadeth thing was outrageous. We’ve been so lucky getting super cool tours with bands that we actually grew up listening to, like the whole Clutch thing, the whole Orion thing, the Megadeth thing – it’s crazy. How is it happening, I have no clue, but I’m glad it is. Luckily on the tour with Seether, who are awesome dudes, they gave us all the amenities we needed like, “Our techs will help you out, use our dressing rooms, whatever you need.” They welcomed us with open arms, that was the first time we met them and we’re like brothers. Kyng’s debut disc ‘Trampled Sun’ had its one year anniversary in the fall. Not as the band’s frontman, but as a pure music fan, what do you love most about the album? The thing I love most about this record is that every song on that album had its own identity – it’s like a bunch of super heroes, they’re all different and they all have they’re own little superhero powers. The song ‘Takes It Toll’ is much different from ‘Shoreline’ and ‘Bleed Easy’ is much different from ‘Pushing and Pulling.’ We’ve gotten word back from friends and family and fans who are like, “I just take that album in and listen to it in its entirety” and I think that’s attributed to the fact that all the songs are different – a lot of the songs aren’t going in one direction and it’s not just straightforward. One thing about this album is that my favorite song on the disc constantly changes, because there are so many different elements and moods on this record. I love that about certain albums, there’s Chris Cornell’s ‘Euphoria Morning’ does that to me. I listen to that all the time and every time I listen to it, different songs on that album become my favorite. I really wanted to accomplish something like that and it just so happens, thankfully, somewhere along the lines our first album is kind of like that for some people. What are some 2013 plans for Kyng? We’ve been writing like crazy, Tony [Castaneda] and I – getting some new music for the new album. We really want to get something out – I don’t know when it’ll be out but I want to be in the studio and finished a ton of music to just start touring away. We got about four or five songs in the can, we’ve recorded about three and they’re sounding really good, we’re just picking up where ‘Trampled Sun’ left off. When would you have to like it out by? Man if it was up to me, we would’ve had one out already. I wanted one so fast – I wanted to do that whole Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath thing – when they hit the scene they had two albums out in the same year. I would have loved to have done that but obviously people were like “You’re dumb, don’t do that.” We took our time, we went out and toured as much as possible, we didn’t have time to get into the studio. If it was up to me, I’d want to be in the studio now and get one out as soon as possible. Do you usually write on the road? Music writing, it’s so weird, I’m able to hold and retain songs in my head and I’ll pull out my phone and record riffs just to have them there and once I get home, I’ll get songs and put them together and show the guys. I’m constantly writing all the time whether it’s for Kyng or just for myself – I have a ton of acoustic songs, a ton of riffs and melodies and lyrics and things just gathered up. It’s easy for me to just sit down and write a song but to make it perfect, that’s the problem. It’s quiet writing on the road because all you can do is hum to yourself — you’re in a van just driving down the road. There’s no amps plugged in so you just have to hum into your phone and save it and just keep adding until you have enough parts to pick apart. It’s great though. So Kyng doesn’t have a driver, huh? No, it’s literally just us. It’s funny because everyone’s always wondering, when people come and hang out with us, they’re like “Is that person with you? Is this person with you?” No it’s just us three – Tony, Pepe [Clarke] and I. We take turns driving, I usually take the night shifts, Pepe’s in the morning and Tony’s in the middle of the day, we sell our own merch and play shows and do our thing. I saw someone saying somewhere, “Hey those Kyng dudes are making a ton of money,” and it’s like you are so far from the truth. We have zero crew, we have no bus — it’s literally us and a sack of coins but we do what we love to do and that’s all that really matters to us. We’re rich in stories, my friend. [button href=”http://loudwire.com/megadeth-kyng-deliver-powerful-performances-at-new-york-city-show/” title=”Check Out Photos of Kyng Performing in New York City with Megadeth” align=”center”] Watch Kyng Perform ‘Falling Down’ in Concert