Good morning Radicals! Let’s take a look at what’s going on in the world of rock:
Tool keeps dishing out a little more new info about its upcoming album, Fear Inoculum, every day. The band revealed on Monday (August 5th) that the title track will be released online this Wednesday (August 7th), while also sharing the enigmatic cover artwork.
Guitarist Adam Jones, who spearheads much of the band’s design work, told us a while back how visuals have always played a major role in the band’s music: “I’ve just always thought in vision, I mean, just, like, putting on headphones when I was a kid and trying to dream stuff while I was listening to music. I guess I still do that today when I play. But it’s a lot more emotional than visual and I know that sounds pretentious, but it really is, what the four of us do. The visuals just kind of, like, bring themselves in it.”
Fear Inoculum will arrive on August 30th and will follow up 2006’s 10,000 Days. The new LP is said to be around 80 to 85 minutes long, while comprised of just seven tracks.
Tool has been playing two songs, reportedly titled “Descending” and “Invincible,” during its recent live shows. Both tracks are expected to show up on Fear Inoculum.
Korn guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer will miss a week’s worth of shows on the band’s North American tour with Alice In Chains, so that he can be home with his wife as they await the birth of their daughter. Filling in for him will be J.R. Bareis, who previously played in Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch’s solo act Love And Death.
Munky announced his absence from the tour in an Instagram post earlier today, writing, “Since our family is waiting any day now for the birth of our daughter, I won’t be performing starting on Tuesday August 6th through Sunday August 11th. I’ll be back in Detroit. I’m going to miss you all very much on those dates . . . Thank you to all of our fans for your understanding and support!”
Shaffer has told us in the past that it’s all about getting onstage for Korn: “This is what we live for, is to go out and tour and play live. I mean, that’s — I’m an adrenaline junkie and I need to be in front of lots of screaming people.”
Shaffer and wife Evis Xheneti have two sons together, six-year-old D’Angelo and three-year-old Rocky. Shaffer also has a daughter named Carmella, born in June 2001, from his previous marriage to Stephanie Roush. Shaffer and Roush divorced in 2004.
Staind guitarist Mike Mushok was asked on the Rock Talk With Mitch Lafon podcast if Staind’s short run of reunion dates this fall could lead to more activity from the band. Mushok responded, “That’s a really good question, and one that I wanna know the answer to as well. For me, I think it’s kind of like you dip your toe in the water and you see how it is. It’s, like, ‘Let’s do these shows and let’s see how it goes.’”
Mushok added, “I think everybody’s hoping that everything is good and we have a great time back out on stage playing these songs again, which I’m really looking forward to do. And hopefully there’s more to come after that.”
Mushok has been working on a new album with his other band, Saint Asonia, and said he has not gotten back into the Staind headspace yet. Mushok explained, “We haven’t really got there. The rehearsals start next month. But we do kind of have some songs kicking around, and it’s time for me to start doing that . . . I’m excited to be able to get back and play those [songs] and explore again and see where it goes.”
Staind’s first shows in five years will include the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky in September and the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California in October. Saint Asonia’s second album, Flawed Design, is due this fall.
Slipknot has shared a third new song from its upcoming album We Are Not Your Kind. The new track, called “Birth Of The Cruel,” follows “Unsainted” and “Solway Firth,” both of which were released earlier this summer. A fourth song called “All Out Life” came out last fall but is not expected to appear on the band’s sixth studio LP.
We Are Not Your Kind will arrive this Friday (August 9th) and follows up Slipknot’s 2014 album .5: The Gray Chapter.
Singer Corey Taylor recently said that We Are Not Your Kind features the “darkest” lyrics he has written “in a long time,” telling the Des Moines Register that some of the album was written following his recent divorce, as he fought to avoid relapsing into substance abuse.
He explained, “All I was doing was giving and I found myself absolutely, completely tapped. You could see it in my skin. You could see it in my eyes. That’s basically the journey I’m going to take people on this album . . . show them what happens to depression when you have no chemicals to fall back on.”
Slipknot’s current North American tour, which features support from Volbeat, Gojira and Behemoth, brings them to Denver on Tuesday, August 6th.
NEW DATES ANNOUNCED for #theALTIMATEtour with @bushofficial and @OurLadyPeace!
October dates pre-sale begins tomorrow with on-sale Friday at 9am PT!
All other show dates are on sale now! https://t.co/0cEv19SXpb pic.twitter.com/4s0z3FlUvN
— LIVE (@Freaks4Live) August 5, 2019
Bush and Live are adding nine new dates to their “Alt-Imate Tour,” a successful co-headlining run celebrating the 25th anniversaries of Bush’s landmark debut album Sixteen Stone and Live’s breakthrough effort Throwing Copper.
The new dates start on October 10th in San Diego and wrap up on October 23rd in Cedar Park, Texas, with tickets going on sale to the general public beginning this Friday (August 9th) at 10:00 a.m. local time at LiveNation.com. Tickets for all previously announced dates are on sale now.
Live frontman Ed Kowalczyk said, “So thrilled that the ‘Alt-Imate Tour’ is extending into October! From the first concert with Bush and Our Lady Peace, we knew that this show was something special. The fans have been so supportive and are obviously sharing our excitement!”
Unfortunately I’ve had to leave the current SMKC tour due to emergency surgery for a detached retina. It leaves me heartbroken to not be able to play the last week of shows. I will miss everyone but just know that the mighty Shane Gaalaas has come to save the day on drums!
— Brent Fitz (@brentfitz) August 6, 2019
Drummer Brent Fitz, who plays in Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, will miss the last six shows of the band’s summer 2019 U.S. tour so that he can undergo emergency surgery for a detached retina. Filling in for him for all dates between August 6th in Nashville and August 13th in Orlando, Florida, will be Shane Gaalaas. Slash is continuing to tour in support of his latest album, Living The Dream, which came out in September.
That’s a wrap, have an amazing day!
