Good morning Radicals! Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Here’s some music news to kick off your week:
Avenge Sevenfold’s M. Shadows considers himself “pretty political,” but says he tries to keep his politics out of the music, but he did comment about the recent school walk-out against gun violence and showed his support. He said, “They’re the future, and they’re the ones that are sitting targets in these schools. I think they have a right to protest.”
The singer hopes students will force Congress to address gun control, and thinks that technology can solve a lot of our problems. He commented, “If my iPhone can open from just looking at my face, then we can get guns that work in a similar fashion. There has to be some give on both sides. And both sides right now are just not willing to give at all. Right now, it’s just so polarizing. No one wants to give up anything. It’s tough, but I respect these kids, and I love that they’re doing that. As youth, they have to care. They’re the ones that are getting shot in these schools. I respect them.”
Look for Avenged Sevenfold to kick off their North American summer tour in July,.with Prophets of Rage and Three Days Grace.
Breaking Benjamin has released “Psycho,” a new song from their upcoming album, Ember.
In describing the song, founder and frontman Ben Burnley noted: “People have always really liked the heavier side of the band. I think that’s what they sort of gravitate towards. But we also make sure to explore our melodic and softer side too.”
As far as the album is concerned, Burnley said, “On Ember, we just tried to make it more extreme. The softer side on this album is really soft, and the heavy side is really heavy. We decided to give everybody what they want to the furthest degree.”
Ember, which comes out April 13th, is the follow up to the band’s 2015 release, Dark Before Dawn.
In a recent interview posted on Alt Press.com, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda discussed the hurdles of returning to the studio following Chester Bennington’s death. He said, “A week after Chester passed, the idea of the studio was scary. And it wasn’t just the idea of attempting to make a song and being overwhelmed by those memories. There’s another layer of fear for artists in this situation that is, ‘What if I can’t make anything good [without that person]?’ Those hurdles start to accumulate, whether that’s fear or depression or the chaos of the outside world, it creates an echo chamber of anxiety.”
He went on to say he needed to go “make some stuff” in order to get through that, regardless of the quality. And according to Shinoda, the quality wasn’t good at first. He said, “I was making bad ’90s grunge songs, making bad rap songs… and then I made something good,” he says. “I’d make all these different things with no intention of putting them out, but just diving into some of the ideas that were already in my head.”
Mike Shinoda released his EP, Post Traumatic, back in January…his first new music since he debuted “Looking For An Answer” at Chester Bennington’s memorial show.
Korn’s Jonathan Davis has confirmed that the band is working on a new album. In a recent interview, he said, “We’re in the process of writing it now.”
Guitarist Brian Welch had stated last year, that Davis would be more involved on this next record. According to Welch, Davis didn’t show up for the writing process on the last album until they were nearly finished.
This time around, Davis is excited about it and said, “I don’t know what it’s gonna turn into. But that’s just part of the process — we go through writing and these songs turn into different things, and its dope. I love it.”
The new album is expected sometime this year, with a tour to follow in support of it.
Finally we wish a very Happy Birthday to James Iha of A Perfect Circle and Smashing Pumpkins, Steve Augustine of Thousand Foot Krutch, and the legendary Steven Tyler of Aerosmith! Have a great day, all!
