FortaRock – a Dutch metal festival where Rammstein, Iron Maiden, Nightwish and so many more bands have appeared in recent years – has confirmed that it will not return in 2020.
In a post to Facebook, the organization announced that a 2020 edition was not on the cards. However, the overall wording of the announcement has alluded to the festival not returning at all.
German NDH act Maerzfeld have dropped “Zorn” (in English, “Wrath“), the lead track of their upcoming album of the same name.
Formed in 2004, the band consists of vocalist Heli Reißenweber, Mike Sitzmann and Matthias Sitzmann on guitars, Korbinian Stocker driving the low end with his bass, and Michael Frischbier holding down the beat.
The band’s sound is very reminiscent of Rammstein, so it’s likely no surprise that their side project is a Rammstein tribute band!
Zorn drops on October 4th, and can be pre-ordered on their official website.
Based in Columbus, you wouldn’t expect to hear that the oldest member of Pray for Sleep is only 22. But, that’s the case for this fast and heavy quartet.
A few days ago on August 16th, the band released “Nimiety“, a single in anticipation of their upcoming album Behind Our Eyes. Keep your eyes front for that album this fall – it’s possible that this will be the next band to blow up on the metalcore scene, so check out “Nimiety” now!
New England pop punk up-and-comers Sounds & Scenarios are hitting the ground running in advance of their new EP, While You Roam, which drops Friday, August 2nd!
So far, the band dropped the video for lead single “Better Off Without You” which is about as pop punk as it gets – beaches, basement shows, and badass production.
Additionally, they just dropped the second song, “Can’t Sleep At Night” on their Spotify page this week. You can check it out now!
This is a band to keep your eye on, so don’t be caught sleeping at night on next year’s breakout band.
Based in America’s heartland, Fluorescents have dropped their newest song “Future Tripping” to fans in their hometown of Chicago and the rest of the world.
The song is a fairly standard modern pop punk track, but certainly does bring its fair share of originality to the new-school pop punk sound. Pleasantly absent are the heavy riffs and breakdowns that have become all too commonplace in pop punk of the 2010s.
Be sure to keep Fluorescents on your radar for more new music!
Blasting out of the gates with their first single featuring their newest member, vocalist Julian Comeau, Remember the Monsters has skillfully blended genres to catch the ears of listeners worldwide.
With heavy riffs over pop music akin to modern Bring Me the Horizon, Comeau adds flavorful vocals which at times sound a bit reminiscent of Anthony Raneri from Bayside while at other times sounding entirely unique.
Produced by Matt Good (of Asking Alexadnria and Hollywood Undead fame), the track hits hard and would’ve been a great fit for Warped Tour. RIP…
Danish pop-rockers New Politics unofficially kicked off their tenth-anniversary tour on Monday, June 17th in Burlington VT. Though the tour officially started in Brooklyn on June 19th, the band played in Burlington, and Portland, Maine the next night, to warm up for the tour.
I got the chance to sit down with David Boyd (vocals), Søren Hansen (vocals/guitar/uke/keys), and Louis Vecchio (drums) to discuss how they’ve changed in ten years, and what’s in their future, look out for the audio of that interview at the end of this review.
Opening up the show in Burlington was the local garage punk band, Grease Face, who blasted through a quick 23 minute set to get the crowd ready for New Politics.
In a surprise move, New Politics led off with their first hit single, “Yeah Yeah Yeah”, which in the past was typically the show-closer. It worked wonders to get the entire audience going, and the energy never dropped until the end of the show.
The band played for almost 90 minutes without leaving the stage, playing a fair share of songs from each of their album. In fact, it was almost equally split: four songs from each album except Vikings, which got five if you count a shortened rendition of “Girl Crush” which was eventually cut from the set due to an issue with their bass tracks.
A personal highlight for me was when the band played “We Are the Radio” one of my favorites from their self-titled debut.
Another memorable moment was Søren’s keys and vocal only rendition of “Stardust”, which was an emotional moment for many fans in attendance.
Towards the end of the set, the band performed the full-band live debut of their new single “Comeback Kid” only to be faced by more tech troubles. They eventually restarted the song and played it acoustic, but the energy was still 100% there – especially with the audience singing along to every word to help out the band.
Overall, the band did an amazing job of pleasing their fans old and new, in what seems to be one of their favorite cities to play – over their ten year career, they’ve played at Higher Ground no less than six times!
With great support from the local rock station, The Buzz, it’s no surprise that New Politics has a dedicated fanbase in Vermont, but it’s always great to see them come back again.
If you get the chance to check out New Politics, I highly recommend it. Their full tour dates are available on their website!
In the mean time, you can listen to the interview below:
Press photo by Brendan Walter.
RMP favorites Model Depose have released another single from their upcoming album, Damage Control. “Blackstar” features MD’s signature haunting vocals over a beautifully arranged track that builds over the first several minutes, before exploding.
Take a listen now, and be sure to check out Damage Control when it drops!
Another amazing band: YONAKA! They are an alternative pop band from Brighton and have released a new song called “Don’t Wait ‘Til Tomorrow“.
What I enjoy about this song is the way it immediately lures me in as well as the spooky feeling I get as I listen to the music.
HAVVK, an alternative band from London, has released a new single called “Shifting Shape” off of their upcoming album, Cause & Effect. What I love most about this song is the chorus! I think it’s absolutely beautiful and one of the reasons why I love this band. Enjoy!