Good morning Radicals! Here’s hoping you’ve all had a relaxing weekend, and you’re ready to face the day! If not, well, at least there’s some rock music news to get you going…
Starting with Tool!
Tool guitarist Adam Jones revealed several tantalizing bits of information about the band’s upcoming album, Fear Inoculum, in a new interview with Guitar World, including the number of tracks on the record, the running time and the strange themes behind the LP.
The LP, Tool’s fifth full-length album, will sport seven tracks but will run an astounding 80 minutes, with virtually none of the songs adhering to the standard format for a radio single. As for the concept of the disc, Jones said it came to revolve around the number seven.
Jones explained, “I took a picture pointing to the number seven while we were recording, and a lot of the riffs Justin and I brought in were in seven. You don’t really go ‘I’m going to write a riff in seven!’” He added, “Without being too descriptive about the concept, the main thing is that the seven beat just kept coming up, and riffs in seven kept coming up. It was really weird!”
Jones continued, “Then Maynard (James Keenan, singer) told me about a whole concept he had about the number seven. We were all like, ‘Oh My God! This is too weird!’ Then Alex Grey (Tool album artist) basically said the same thing and he has a concept that will reveal itself through video.”
Jones told us a while back that he and the other members of Tool have always been deeply involved in Tool’s artwork and visuals: “I’ve always been into art and drawing and sculpting, and I did makeup effects for a long time, and it’s always been a big part of my life. And Maynard too, and, you know, the other band members — you know, when I met those guys, they were all doing something kind of creative, and I think that’s why it clicks.”
Fear Inoculum is Tool’s first new album in 13 years and is slated for an August 30th release.
Korn has debuted another new song, “Cold,” ahead of the September 13th release of the band’s new album, The Nothing. The track has been described as one of the more “experimental” offerings on the LP, although the distorted guitars, driving drums and bass and singer Jonathan Davis‘ growls are all Korn trademarks.
Davis told us a while back that Korn likes to experiment every time it makes a new record: “One thing that we’ve done as we’ve gotten older as a band is that we’ve opened our minds to so many different things, and each record we always try to experiment and go down different avenues and different ways so we can grow as musicians. We’ve always had that open-minded philosophy, like just, ‘With each record, let’s do what’s not supposed to be Korn.’ And it’s fun. We don’t want to do the same record over and over again. They get boring.”
The singer has discussed the meaning of the album’s title recently, saying, “Deep within our Earth lives an extraordinary force. Very few are aware of the magnitude and significance of this place where good/evil, dark/light, bliss/torment, loss/gain and hope/despair all exist as one, pulling at us every moment of our lives . . . It’s the place where black and white energies attach themselves to our souls, and shape our emotion, choices, perspective and ultimately our very existence.”
Korn is currently on the road with Alice In Chains and next plays in Wantagh, New York on Tuesday night, August 5th.
Breaking Benjamin frontman Ben Burnley says that he and ex-Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm have discussed the idea of working together on a new project. Burnley told Cutter’s RockCast, “I don’t know if she’d be mad at me for saying anything about it, but me and Lacey have been talking about doing another band, putting a band together . . . We’ve been talking a bit here and there about it. It’d just be something different. I think that’d be really cool.”
According to Burnley, he has been friends with Sturm for more than 10 years. He explained, “When I first heard them, Flyleaf, I was really blown away by her inflection and her style . . . She’s a really positive person and she does put off a positive vibe, which is really refreshing, especially for me (since) I can be a negative person. She’s just a really nice, sweet, genuine person. Singing-wise, I really respect her.”
Sturm recently laid down guest vocals on the song “Dear Agony” for Breaking Benjamin’s upcoming acoustic album, tentatively due before the end of the year. The disc will feature mostly reworked versions of the band’s notable hits, plus one new song. Other guest singers include former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier and Red vocalist Michael Barnes.
Burnley told us how much he enjoyed working with Sturm on her song: “She was great. She nailed it, man. She’s so fun to work with too. She just like nails it every time. And she’s such an incredible singer.”
Sturm co-founded Flyleaf in the early 2000s, with the band recording three albums before she left in 2012. Sturm has published two books and released one solo album, Life Screams, since then.
Red has released a new single called “From The Ashes” via digital and streaming outlets globally, including iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify and more.
Bassist Randy Armstrong said about the song, “‘From The Ashes’ reflects on where our minds can go when we’ve hit the bottom. You’ve been written off, left out in the cold because the world doesn’t care about your situation and nothing in the past matters much today. It’s about having the motivation to rise and turn your failure and mistakes into success and survival.”
The new single follows the previously released “The Evening Hate,” and has been accompanied by a cinematic short film written, directed and produced by the band, which also stars in the clip.
Red will kick off a new round of tour dates on August 24th in Muncie, Indiana, as the band continues to work on its seventh studio album. The Christian rock group’s last LP, Gone, came out in 2017.
finally, we want to wish a Happy Birthday to Foo Fighters & Nirvana guitarist Pat Smear and Eicca Toppinen of Apocalyptica! Today would also have been the 55th Birthday of the Beastie Boys‘ Adam “MCA” Yauch. Cancer sucks.
