3+ week, 5+ day ago (325+ words) If you've ever picked up a guitar and seen solid black bars where the pickups should be, then chances are you were holding a guitar equipped with EMG pickups. They became pretty ubiquitous in the late 90s/early 2000s, these active pickups added body to the sound. That popularity only grew when artists began adopting them into their rigs, like Metallica's guitarist Kirk Hammett. In a recent interview with Kris Barocsi and Guillaume Chenin from Thomann, EMG founder Rob Turner said the company benefitted greatly from artist adoption. "The heavy metal thing was actually not my first intention. When we started making product, we were more into the studio sort of aspect of it " for cleanness of the signal. You could record it direct, you could play it through an amp" and that was the primary intent." It ultimately was that clean…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (334+ words) As we get closer ot the end of 2025, you may have noticed that bands are frantically announcing their touring plans for 2026. Gotta get the word out ahead of time so you can get time off work, buy your ticket, and get properly hyped for the show, after all. That's all fine and dandy, but what about looking even further into the future for your tour plans? That's prety much what heavy metal act Manowar did, as they basically said fuck 2026 and shot all the way to 2027 with their latest tour announcement. "MANOWAR, the founders and defenders of true metal, answer the call of their loyal Army of Immortals with their upcoming KINGS OF METAL FIGHTING THE WORLD TOUR 2027. "After the band's triumphant celebrations of Hail To England and Sign Of The Hammer on their BLOOD OF OUR ENEMIES TOUR, the…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (282+ words) It's important to give back. Now that I've gotten that very obvious statement out of the way, let's get to who's doing the giving this time'Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi. As reported by BBC News, Iommi is going to raffle off one of his own Gibson SG guitars in efforts to raise money for the hospital where he was treated for cancer. Aww. Iommi, 77, was treated at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham, United Kingdom back in 2013 after being diagnosed with lymphoma. After four years, Iommi shared that his cancer had gone into remission, with him going into surgery in 2017 to get a noncancerous lump removed from his throat. He joined staff at the hospital earlier today (Wednesday, November 5) to announce the launch of the fundraising drive, hoping to raise "150,000 (about $195,625) to renovate Heartlands' cancer treatment center. "It was a terrible shock....

3+ week, 6+ day ago (161+ words) If you've ever been to a massive arena show, you've seen those towers that stand out in the middle of the crowd. Usually those things have big ass speakers and pyro effects on them, but at a Metallica show down under, one of the towers featured a pair of dudes climbing them, which led to some legal issues and a trip in the back of a cop car. "It will be alleged the men climbed up the central tower inside the bowl at the Metallica concert held at Optus Stadium on Saturday." It's a good thing no one was injured. This story could have very easily gone a different way if things hadn't panned out the way they did. For future reference, please don't do something reckless like this at a show. Hey, did you know Dave Mustaine was in Metallica…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (171+ words) It's the entrepreneur's dream " you create something so enjoyed, so beloved that eventually you sell to some big corporation and get to coast on your millions. And though the guys in Slipknot aren't going to be kicking back on an Aruba beach for the rest of their lives anytime soon, they effectively got their bag by selling a majority stake of their entire music catalog. "After 25 years of taking on the music business, we find ourselves with a partner that is willing to sign onto continuing what Slipknot started. Only they want to go even bigger. Get ready. Hail The Knot." Bigger and better would certainly be interesting. We are, after all, talking about a career that spans a quarter of a century, 11 gold and platinum records, and millions of monthly listeners on Spotify. Sherrese Clarke, Founder and CEO of…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago (588+ words) We've all had some time to process the news that Megadeth's upcoming self-titled album will be their last. A legacy spanning four decades will finally come to an end, giving frontman Dave Mustaine a chance to ride off into the sunset and finally enjoy the retiree lifestyle. But it turns out that day is still a long way away. During a recent interview with U.K. magazio Kerrang!, Mustaine revealed that he envisions a future where Megadeth's final show won't take place for another few years at least. So while the "farewell tour" will kick off next year, there will be plenty of opportunities to catch them playing live one last time. "We're easily talking about touring for another three to five years. And if we're going to be doing it for that long then, shit, I'll be looking at the birthday…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (289+ words) Well, it's looking like the rumors from earlier this week were accurate " the legendary Massachusetts-based band Converge have a new album coming out pretty soon. For their eleventh studio effort, Love Is Not Enough is being billed as a concussive return to drag you through the cocophony and emotional catharsis you'd come to expect from them all these years. Fittingly set to release the day before Valentine's Day (February 13, 2026 for those keeping score), Love Is Not Enough features vocalist/lyricist Jacob Bannon, guitarist/producer Kurt Ballou, bassist/vocalist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller and that's it. No guest spots. No bullshit. Just pure, unadulterated Converge smacking you in the face. According to Bannon, that lack of frills was always the point with this upcoming release. It's the band distilled into their modern form. "[The new album] does a thing…...

1+ week, 1+ day ago (274+ words) Ozzy's Freedom of the City of Birmingham award, one of the oldest honors, is now on display as part of his "Working Class Hero" exhibition. - Humming Powerman 5000 on the toilet since 2006 Ozzy Osbourne's Freedom of the City of Birmingham Award Now Displayed at "Working Class Hero' Exhibition As one of the most decorated musicians ever, having an exhibition on his life was clearly a no brainer. Ozzy"s "Working Class Hero" exhibition at the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in Birmingham, England has understandably been a huge success, and as of today, a new relic has been added to it. Visitors can now find Ozzy's quite prestigious Freedom of the City of Birmingham award on display amongst other high points of his life. Each original member of Black Sabbath'Ozzy, Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, and Bill Ward'was presented their Freedom of the…...

1+ week, 10+ hour ago (113+ words) Last night, Tool took quite a few fans by surprise but digging deep into their discographical vault and playing some singles that they haven't played in over two decades. Specifically, they played "Crawl Away" for the first time since 1998, and "H." and "Disposition" for the first time since 2002. Talk about hopping in a time machine. You can watch fan-filmed footage of "Crawl Away" and "H." below. According to Setlist.fm, the full set list consisted of the following, including the first performance of "Lost Keys" in full with Blame Hofmann since 2009: Talk about an endurance test. That's a lotta people. It's gonna take a bit longer....

5+ day, 5+ hour ago (368+ words) Sometimes, you just want to go to a show where you just see the headliner and that's that. No frills. No extra bullshit. Just you, scores of fellow fans, and the band you came to see for a few hours. Unfiltered. Unbridled. For Machine Head fans out in Europe, they'll be getting that when Robb Flynn and company cross the Atlantic for "An Evening With'-styled tour this coming spring. For the uninitiated, that means you'll get three hours of uninterrupted Machine Head and zero openers. This isn't the first time Machine Head's offered this kind of experience, so you probably already know if three hours of Machine Head is exactly what you want. Flynn explained his thought process in bringing that style of concert back: "It always has been. But there's something else. Something I didn't fully understand until…...