In the wake of the ill-fated SNL debacle (and despite the pending release of her upcoming album), Lana Del Rey’s projected hot streak has seemingly cooled. I could easily make jabs at her SNL performance; I could mock her embarrassing warbling or narcoleptic stage presence. But I'd rather talk about something more fascinating than her shockingly bad performance: the massive reaction that follow the event. Lana's show incited fiery flack from tons of critics, from nameless bloggers to big name... ...[read more]

  Not even cancer can keep a good blasphemer down. When the leader of Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth was rushed to a hospital and diagnosed with leukemia in 2010, many thought the band was finished. Two years and a bone marrow transplant later, Nergal is back on his feet and ready to tour again on the inaugural Decibel Magazine Tour. Coming along to spread the hate will be Swedish black metallers Watain as well as The Devil's Blood and In Solitude. This is a tour of uncompromising evil and brutality, and we couldn't... ...[read more]

  Few of us could have been prepared for the untimely death of longtime GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot, aka Flattus Maximus, but fewer could have foreseen how quickly the band would be back on the road. Never ones to sit still and lick their wounds, GWAR have announced the spring leg of the "Return of the World Maggot" Tour featuring up and comers Ghoul and crossover thrash vets Municipal Waste. Frontman David Brockie / Oderus Urungus had the following to say on ...[read more]

  M. Ward has been quite busy the last couple of years as one half of She & Him with Zooey Deschanel and as part of the Monsters of Folk supergroup with Jim James and Conor Oberst. In 2012, he's doing a little something for himself as he follows up his 2009 full-length Hold Time with his sixth studio record A Wasteland Companion due out April 10th via Merge. Check out the press details below and pre-order the new effort here.

  "The... ...[read more]

  Converge Head Back to the Studio

That's right boys and girls, according to the band's Facebook page the highly anticipated follow up to 2009's Axe to Fall is about to be recorded. Details are sparse att the moment but there does seem to be a title knocking around.

All We Love We Leave Behind will be the eighth studio full length from the post hardcore noise freaks who have, almost single handedly, pushed the genre in consistently evolving and always exciting new directions. Converge... ...[read more]

  M83
HMV Institute, Birmingham UK
21st January 2012

  My first real dalliance with M83 came last year with the release of their goliath Hurry Up We're Dreaming double LP. Regular readers will remember that my fondness for the album grew gradually over time but I never completely connected with it. Whilst many of the songs reached the level of epic grandeur that Anthony Gonzalez had aimed for with the... ...[read more]