It feels like an age since Download Festival last made any significant additions to the line-up – especially as other fests have steadily filled their ranks – but the big dog has bit back with a massive 43-band announcement. What’s more, the poster finally clears up any confusion about which days and stages bands are playing, the updated line-up poster showing the shape of how days will likely look.
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Guitar wanker extraordinaire Devin Townsend, who releases his new album, ‘Empath’, via InsideOut Music on 29 March, has confirmed that he will round off his 2019 European tour with a string of dates in the UK and Ireland in December.
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Now, at the very outset of this review, Monk would like to state that he is a massive fan of Blood Red Saints and get on well with the guys. He first came across them at one of the HRH AOR fests a whack of years back and, despite not being familiar with the band beforehand, was immediately smitten by their highly polished brand of melodic rock. With that caveat in place, he has to now confess that he initially found ‘Pulse’, their third album, to be a disappointing listening experience. On the first couple of spins, he felt that there was something missing…
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Ever the stomping ground for metal and alternative’s most interesting and unique acts, Bristol’s ArcTanGent has dropped a massive announcement for some of the bands that will be joining djent godfathers Meshuggah in August.
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Babylon Shakes unleashed half of this album on us almost a year ago but have now added five more songs to create a debut full length that turns the calendar back over 30 years ago when the likes of Faster Pussycat, LA Guns and Bon Jovi were featured in countless magazines on the newsstand. If you solely want something that is stretching musical genres or creating new genres, this album is not for you. If you want a sleazy rocking trip through the gutters with songs that feature choruses designed for audience participation, Gerald Stansbury cannot recommend this enough. This seems to be a great time for sleazy hard rock with the sudden emergence of American Jetset as well as bands like the Cruel Intentions, Hardcore Superstar, Reverend Backflash and the re-emergence of bands like Tora Tora and Jetboy.
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