Metal Riot

Presented by SWAMP Booking, the Berlin-based noise rock-meets-hard rock trio MAGGOT HEART have announced dates for the third leg of their 2022 “Zero Hour Tour”. This time it’s a slew of European summer dates co-headlining together with two of Norway’s finest: Okkultokrati and Nekromantheon.

MAGGOT HEART are also confirmed for this year’s edition of the legendary Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands. You can watch their performance for the 2021 digital edition here. The festival commented:

Their 2020 album, Mercy Machine catapulted them further forwards, in terms of songwriting and the impact that their gritty sounds have had on the Roadburn community. We can think of no better company than theirs to kick off Roadburn 2022. This is exactly the raw energy and pulsating melody that we’ve been craving during the barren months that we’ve endured lately.

All upcoming 2022 dates below with more TBA, pre-sale tickets on sale here.

MAGGOT HEART LIVE 2022

10/3 Zukunft, BERLIN DE

30/3 Alte Meierei, KIEL DE

31/3 Loppen, COPENHAGEN DK w/Obnoxious Youth

1/4 1000Fryd, AALBORG DK w/Obnoxious Youth

2/4 Bla, OSLO NO w/Obnoxious Youth, Okkultokrati

3/4 The Abyss, GOTHENBURG SWE w/Obnoxious Youth

5/4 Femman, UPPSALA SWE w/Obnoxious Youth

6/4 Geronimos, STOCKHOLM SWE w/Obnoxious Youth

8/4 Vastavirta-Klubi, TAMPERE FIN w/Obnoxious Youth

9/4 Kuudes-Linja, HELSINKI FIN w/Obnoxious Youth

10/4 Torvi, LAHTI FIN w/Obnoxious Youth

12/4 Plan B, MALMÖ SWE w/Obnoxious Youth

13/4 Bambi Galore, HAMBURG DE

20/4 Roadburn Festival, TILBURG NL

2/6 Mystik Festival, GDANSK PL

16/6 Urban Spree, BERLIN DE w/Nekromantheon, Okkultokrati

17/6 Akademia Club, WROCLAW PL w/Nekromantheon, Okkultokrati

18/6 Kapu, LINZ AT w/Nekromantheon, Okkultokrati

19/6 Jubez KARLSRUHE DE w/Nekromatheon, Okkultokrati

21/6 Het Bos, ANTWERP BE w/Nekromantheon, Okkultokrati

22/6 DB’s, UTRECHT NL w/Nekromatheon, Okkultokrati

23/6 Mag4, BRUSSELS BE w/Nekromantheon

24/6 Le Klub, PARIS FR w/Nekromatheon

25/6 Rock in Bourlon Festival, FR

26/6 Patronaat, HAARLEM NL w/Nekromatheon, Okkultokrati

As anyone remotely rock minded with the internet knows by now, Mark Lanegan has passed. The inspired troubadour and shadow delving poet was 57 and leaves a huge impact in his wake. Like a Tom Waits or a Bukowski, Lanegan could bring you into the seedy life with his evocative and descriptive turns of phrase while also having so much “feel” to his croon. The guy could be smooth and gravelly at the same time and hypnotize anyone, steal the show on a QoTSA album chock full of talent and commanded respect with rare grace.

His voice made you feel like someone knew what it felt like to find a real friend in a cold world.

In a time when so many artists seem willing to cut corners, take the easy way out or just not have any dignity or gravitas, when flash in the pan gimmicks and unearned braggadocio is rewarded over talent…it is sad to see someone go whose life work was a beacon of inspiration.

Variety has a great round up of some of his career best tunes HERE.

I hate writing memorial articles because they feel so insufficient, technically are news but feel vulture-like when we need time to pass to absorb it all as well but…well, it also feels even worse to NOT acknowledge a loss to me. Screaming Trees and the grunge movement were such an embedded part of my youth and I have such a deep and profound respect and thanks for many of the people part of that who radically inspired me and made me want a life of rock n roll as more than a trend. I can only describe the revelations they made me have as maybe what it was like for someone to read On The Road for the first time, albeit set to a Seattle grungy chord instead of jazz. The sheer minimalist brilliance of Bubblegum has also grown to be and remains my favorite Dark Mark record, just a stunner top to bottom on how to do all killer, not overstaying welcome tunes that all bang and have depth.

I’ll break this off with a humorous excerpt from an excellent Diffuser interview w Mark by James Stafford from 2014:

Manuel Gagneux

Hello and hope everyone had a blessed Imbolc. February has arrived and we are moving through some deeper air sign goodness after a delightful and hopeful new moon in Aquarius. It is a good time to flex the imagination and allow some brilliant music to help you expand your horizons. I just treated myself to some expensive CBD coffee that I definitely deserve and am thankful to have a day off and time to dive into some releases with you.

Seremonia are the band who are dropping the record I am most excited for this month (maybe all year, fuck it). The thrilling Neonlusifer was well worth the wait. This well established and endlessly creative psych band color outside the rules and have managed to add a new additional chapter to their previous legacy that they can be proud of. From the rocking and upbeat, retro enhanced title track to the eight minute brain birthing dirge of “Raskasta vettä” to the manic and almost art punky “Tuolle puolen auringon”, the group’s twists and turns are a genuine trip and a lot of fun. Yet another amazing release from a Finland based act. The chromatic and sensual, the boogie, the boogie-man, the veils of perception parting…it all plays a role. SO fucking pumped on this. 

Zeal and Ardor remains one of the most unique and interesting groups in rock. The S/T new record from and company drops Feb. 11th and finds the group continuing to carve into their niche while also continuing one of the most impressive “hot streaks” of banger after banger in modern rock/metal. Fresh off a stint with Opeth and Mastodon on the road, Z+A are reaching more ears than ever. The project always felt confident but now it is positively rock solid. “Feed The Machine” refines the soul and social commentary of previous releases into one of the most merciless yet thilling examples of their juxtapositions yet, the metal nastier and the melodic parts even more moving. This song will absolutely destroy most venues. “Hold Your Head Low” is another standout, pushing the dynamics more than ever and really showcasing the band is quite capable of flexing, but in a way that is in service to the musical spell. The haters who called it a gimmick just look pathetic.

Author and Punisher have always evolved and stunned, now building up an impressive footprint which someday could sit right alongside some of the all time greats of industrial like Skinny Puppy and Front 242 if Tristan stays on his grind. Seems like the band has no intention of slowing down on Krüller and the gears will keep turning. Judging by the exciting “Glorybox” cover, the rulebook has been thrown even further out the window. Good news for fans of dystopian and atmospheric outsider music…even at the outfit’s most accessible yet. The Brad Boatright mastering ensures the drone machines hit harder than ever and really help showcase the highs and lows. Love to see a Confines, Gridfailure, A+P show at Vitus sometime…putting that out there for the universe.

Transcending Obscurity artists VORGA create fierce and colorful black metal of galactic proportions. Their look kind of reminds me if Hollywood Undead took DMT and emerged from a long chrono sleep where Immortal and Star Trek were played next to their ears to stimulate the submerged mind. They sort of sound like that too, but without the rap rock part, lol.

We are talking sinister yet melodically compelling black metal that traverses many a nebulous and vast space inside before culminating in the “Death Manifesting”. This will spark both the imagination and likely some marijuana cigarettes as well. Adam Burke (Imperialist) provides the album artwork.

The End Is The Beginning from trumpet extraordinaire Mac Gollehon is a great addition to Nefarious Industries ethos of pushing quirky, anarchic, freak fringe or punk informed post-modernist jazz fuckery. Gollehon has played on thousands of records including many gold and platinum releases. His pedigree is long and imposing, from Mighty Sparrow to Duran Duran to Bowie to Onyx to Blondie to free noise jazz. It would cause glee in any avid music fan to read and makes you want to digest his life story immediately.

On The End Is The Beginning, GOLLEHON works as a multi-instrumentalist, providing trumpet, cornet, trombone, percussion, keyboards, guitars, bass, vocals, and more. The End Is The Beginning was engineered, recorded, and mixed by David Brenner (Gridfailure) who adds field recordings, samples, and visuals. The record was mastered by Dan Emery at Black Matter Mastering (Kool Keith, Lost Dog Street Band, Dälek) and completed with photography by Tyler Adams.

This record just feels like you are deeply breathing in the street, similar to how Mingus could just drop you right into the action and the traffic like you had stepped through a movie screen. There is motion and emotion paired with a dizzying technical skill that never succumbs to ruining the overall , the mark of the greatest level of talent possible.

Mac reflects, “I would compare this EP’s creation to reverse-engineering. After a cool photo session with Tyler, I sent the photos to David; he suggested I write some music reflecting the character of the photos. I agreed it was a great idea and composed several sequence motifs; I pulled out the score pad and had it completed by the end of the day like a film score deadline. Using device, process, and tonal subset organization, visual intuition referencing influences from early ‘70s crime films was my start. Don Ellis’ The French Connection, Lalo Schifrin’s Dirty Harry suite, David Shire’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, and Ennio Morricone’s works were influential reference points.”

He continues, “Being a solo EP, I tracked all instruments. We scheduled four days of the most intense humidity the Summer had to offer but successfully tracked and mixed with David at The Compound. Just as in reverse-engineering, the photos served as the initial model of inspiration. Next, the design recovery, orchestrating the structure for resolve and de-solve. And finally, analysis recovery by eliminating – or in some cases highlighting – errors in the process, such as an occasional lucky accident.”

Dirty Honey

We take the health and safety of the bands, road crews, local venue staff and especially our fans very seriously.

Due to an abundance of caution regarding the recent COVID surge, we have decided to postpone the start of the YOUNG GUNS TOUR to February 20, 2022, in Denver, Colorado. Any performance that was scheduled prior to February 20^th in Denver has been rescheduled until after March 5^th. The shows scheduled from February 20^th through to March 5^th  will remain as previously announced. The show in Portland, ME originally scheduled for January 28^th is canceled and all ticket holders for that event can receive a refund at point of purchase. The revised tour schedule has allowed us to add a few additional shows to the itinerary and those shows will be on sale on Friday, January 14^th at 10AM local time. More information on all shows and tickets for all dates can be found at: https://younggunstour.komi.io

The revised itinerary is below:

FEBRUARY

20 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO

21 The Complex, Salt Lake City, UT

22 Revolution, Boise, ID

24 House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV

25 Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA

MARCH

1 House of Blues, San Diego, CA

2 The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA

4 The Marquee, Tempe, AZ

5 Fantasy Casino, Indio, CA

9 House of Blues, Dallas, TX

10 Aztec Theatre, San Antonio, TX

12 Diamond Ballroom, Oklahoma City, OK*

13 Uptown Theatre, Kansas City, MO

15 The Rave, Milwaukee, WI

16 House of Blues, Chicago, IL

18 The Bluestone, Columbus, OH

20 Roxian Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA*

23 Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI

24 Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ONT

26 Big Night Live, Boston, MA

27 Toad’s Place, New Haven, CT*

28 Webster Hall, New York, NY

30 Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ

31 The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA

APRIL

1 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD

3 Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA

5 The Ritz, Raleigh, NC

6 The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC

8 Marathon Music Works, Nashville,TN

9 The Plant, Dothan, AL

10 Hard Rock Orlando, Orlando, FL

* On sale this Friday, January 14, 2022

The Berlin-based noise rock-meets-hard rock trio MAGGOT HEART are on a roll right now. They recently had two original songs featured in the critically acclaimed Swedish crime drama series Dough, and came out with some of their best work to date on the split EP with OKKULTOKRATI in September. Next month they open up for AMYL & THE SNIFFERS, as well as headline their own Berlin show before heading out on the first leg of their “Zero Hour Tour” in February 2022 – bringing with them the Danish act Offermose as support. All dates below, pre-sale tickets on sale here.

MAGGOT HEART LIVE 2021 & 2022

29/11 SO36, BERLIN DE w/Amyl & The Sniffers (SOLD OUT!)

3/12 Urban Spree, BERLIN DE

25/2 Zukunft, BERLIN DE w/Offermose

27/2 Alte Meirei, KIEL DE w/Offermose

28/2 Goldgrube, KASSEL DE w/Offermose

1/3 Slow Club, FREIBURG DE w/Offermose

2/3 Kapu, LINZ AT w/Offermose

3/3 PMK, INNSBRUCK AT w/Offermose

4/3 Jugendcafe, ZWIESEL DE w/Offermose

5/3 UT Connewitz, LEIPZIG DE

2/6 MYSTIK FESTIVAL, GDANSK PL

MASTODON have long been one of my favorite bands. I have seen them a number of times and even flew halfway across the country once to catch them play with my friend’s in KYLESA opening. It made me furious and sad today to see Brent today in multiple metal media outlets (with NONE calling him out) quoted using ‘gay’ as a negative word for touring with DISTURBED.

Whatever anyone’s opinion of Disturbed is besides the point. We are NOT gonna be in 2021 and have grown ass men in public normalizing gay as some weak or bad thing. I expected better from them, I really did. And especially it is tacky af since another member just dressed as Halford from Priest for Halloween! That would be rad if another member wasn’t using ‘gay’ as a pejorative.

“mEtAl DoESn’T CaRE AbOUt FeElings”. Cool, then FUCK YOU. I am super sick of this shit as a pansexual human being, let alone metal participant. No one will say shit cuz it is with a band with Pike and everyone will shrug it off. Fuck that, you are supposed to be leaders in the scene. Man the fuck up.

Unless they issue a formal apology I can’t support them anymore…look, I believe in growth and forgiveness and we all have needed it before in life at some point. This shit is just not cool, though. At all. The amount of lack of concern for other’s safety and privilege it takes to shrug that away is revolting. I hope Disturbed honestly say something about it as well.

UPDATE- Brann just hit me up and we spoke at length and he was very apologetic that Brent had used the word that way and didn’t want LGBTQ fans to feel unsafe. He said to me he is going to respond to my comment on their insta and address it to make queer fans feel safer. He definitely listened to me and was very respectful about it, which I appreciated. He also was respectful when I told him I was leaving this article up to advocate for not normalizing it on behalf of the queer metal community. Thank you, Brann. That means a lot. Though it looks like my original comment on their Insta might have been deleted? So I am curious how they will respond. 

I will say I told Brann I know no one wants this to happen when a new album drops but it is right to apologize to lgbtq fans and not be like All That Remains and double down on f–got or gay being cool as a pejorative. Apologizing would make us gay and bi and etc folx feel seen and so I hope the band and label don’t try to just pretend it didn’t happen. 

Sharing only one screenshot below, because I trust Brann but I don’t trust major label gaslighting damage control. The rest of our convo will remain private but he was very receptive and consoling and cool, which I appreciated. Again, I am not trying to cancel the band, rather to make sure this shit stops happening in metal and there is demonstrable growth. 

UPDATE TWO- I guess my comment wasn’t deleted on their Insta but I couldn’t find it for a minute, but Brann responded to it officially. It at least shows the other dudes in band don’t want to think they are green lighting their non lgbtq fans to normalize “GAY” as an insult. That makes a teachable moment. I certainly feel more seen as a result: 

“I’ll make you famous…”

Two of today’s most dynamic live bands, Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey, are joining forces to bring their high-octane rock’n’roll out on a 30-date, co-headline North American tour. The “Young Guns” tour begins on January 21 and will see the bands alternating the closing slot. The artist tickets presale begins tomorrow at 10AM local, pre-sale password is YOUNGGUNS; the general on-sale starts Friday, November 5 at 10AM local. Log on with this link: http://younggunstour.komi.io/

“We played one co-headline show with Dirty Honey back in September. As soon as the night was over, we knew this would be a great package to take across the US. We couldn’t be more excited to share the stage with them and give all of the fans an unforgettable night of rock music,” explains Wolfgang Van Halen.

Both of these “young guns” spent their summer on high-profile U.S. tours – Dirty Honey with The Black Crowes and Mammoth WVH with Guns N’ Roses. With only two live gigs under their collective belt, Mammoth WVH’s tour initiation was a baptism-by-fire, opening for the iconic Guns N’ Roses in stadiums. At the end of the tour, in Hollywood, Florida, Guns N’ Roses brought Wolfgang Van Halen back onstage to join them performing “Paradise City.”

After selling out their U.S. headline tour in June, Dirty Honey brought their sexy, bluesy rock’n’roll to amphitheaters with The Black Crowes. Vocalist Marc LaBelle grew up listening to the Crowes, so this tour was truly a dream come true. Winning over those who had primarily come to see The Black Crowes, Dirty Honey received standing ovations at the majority of the tour’s 35 shows. Not bad for a still-breaking, opening act.

The “Young Guns” tour is in support of both artist’s self-titled debut albums; Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey, both released earlier this year. Both bands saw their debut singles – Dirty Honey’s “When I’m Gone” and Mammoth WVH’s “Distance” – occupy the #1 position on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart. In addition, both bands’ debut albums made quite impressive bows; Mammoth WVH debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Top Rock Albums chart, and Dirty Honey – the band, totally independent with no label affiliation – claimed the #2 position on that chart.

“People who come to our shows are going to see two bands who are looking to prove that rock’n’roll is definitely very much alive and well,” said Dirty Honey’s Marc LaBelle. “We both carry the weight of that on our shoulders, and there’s a lot to prove.”

Dates for the “Young Guns” tour are as follows:

JANUARY 2022

21 House of Blues, Chicago, IL

22 The Rave, Milwaukee, WI

24 The Bluestone, Columbus, OH

25 Royal Oak Music Theatre, Royal Oak, MI

26 The Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ON

28 State Theatre, Portland, ME

29 Big Night Live, Boston, MA

30 The Fillmore, Philadelphia, PA

FEBRUARY

1 Webster Hall, New York, NY

2 Starland Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ

4 Rams Head Live, Baltimore, MD

5 The Ritz, Raleigh, NC

6 The Fillmore, Charlotte, NC

8 Marathon Music Works, Nashville, TN

9 Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA

11 Hard Rock Orlando, Orlando, FL

12 The Plant, Dothan, AL

15 The Aztec Theatre, San Antonio, TX

16 House of Blues, Dallas, TX

18 Uptown Theater, Kansas City, MO

20 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO

21 The Complex, Salt Lake City, UT

22 Revolution, Boise, ID

24 Ace of Spades, Sacramento, CA

25 House of Blues, Las Vegas, NV

MARCH

1 House of Blues, San Diego, CA

2 The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA

4 The Marquee, Tempe, AZ

5 Fantasy Casino, Indio, CA