Alternative Metal
System of a Down’s Serj Tankian: If You Love Our Music and Trump, “You’re a Hypocrite”
The recent political back and forth between System of a Down bandmates Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan is as jarring as some of the band’s most popular songs. While neither band member is directly responding to the other, they’ve each been using social media to share views from opposite ends of the political spectrum. Tankian leans far left, while the right-wing Dolmayan seems like he’s auditioning for a show on Fox News. On Monday, Dolmayan called the Democratic Party the “true bigots” and wished Donald Trump good luck in the November election. Now, the focus shifts back to Tankian, who is digging up old System of a Down lyrics to help illustrate his disdain for Trump. In a new Instagram post, Tankian shared the lyrics to the early System of a Down song “Temper”, which appeared on the band...
System of a Down’s John Dolmayan Calls Democrats the “True Bigots” While Wishing Trump a Happy Birthday
Despite being antithetical to the sociopolitical ideals that have long been presented in his band’s music, System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan keeps doubling and tripling down on some far-right viewpoints. Now, he has gone so far as to call Democrats the “true bigots” in his latest Instagram rant. At this point, it may seem like Dolmayan is just trying to get a rise out of the band’s fans, but he has made it clear that he stands on the opposite end of the political spectrum than his bandmates, especially singer Serj Tankian. Already the two have expressed very different views about the ongoing protests, with Dolmayan hailing President Trump as the “greatest friend to minorities” and Tankian calling for the Trump regime to resign. Last week, Dolmayan followed up his initial comments by d...
Deftones Complete Work on New Album, Eye September Release
Deftones have completed work on their highly anticipated new album. Drummer Abe Cunningham says the LP is currently being mastered, with hopes for a September release. Back in February, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Deftones revealed that the album was being produced by Terry Date, who helmed Deftones’ first four LPs, including Around the Fur and White Pony. And in April, Cunningham briefly teased a guitar riff from the new album. While mixing had commenced, singer Chino Moreno said last month that the process was going slowly due to the social distancing between band members and Date. He added that the band had originally planned to release the album this summer, but they would “have to figure out” a new release date. Now, in a new interview with Download TV’s Kylie Olsson, as part...
Rage Against the Machine Re-enter Charts as Protests Rage On
Rage Against the Machine are experiencing a chart surge as protests continue across the United States and throughout the world. Not only is the band’s debut album back on the Billboard 200 chart, all three of their LPs of original material are making a big splash on the Apple Music chart. Amid ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody, the politically charged band’s music is as relevant as ever. As Forbes reports, Rage Against the Machine’s 1992 self-titled debut is back at No. 174 on the Billboard 200 chart. The debut LP features the classic “Killing in the Name”, which was written in the wake of Rodney King’s beating at the hands of the LAPD and the subsequent riots that followed. The song includes the timely lyric, “Some of those that work forces are the sa...
Grey Daze (Chester Bennington Band) Debut New Song “B12” Featuring Korn Guitarists: Stream
Grey Daze, the band in which Chester Bennington was a member before joining Linkin Park, has debuted a video for the new song “B12” featuring Korn guitarists Brian “Head” Welch and James “Munky” Shaffer. The song is the latest single from Grey Daze’s upcoming album, Amends, which arrives on June 26th after being delayed due to the pandemic. Prior to his death in 2017, Bennington had approached his old bandmates about re-recording their old songs. While the singer died before they started the project, Grey Daze soldiered on by incorporating Bennington’s original vocal tracks with newly recorded music The video for “B12” debuted today as part of the virtual Download TV Festival. The clip pays tribute to Bennington, showing footage of his days performing with Grey Daze in the ’90s. ...
Justin Chancellor Writing “Interesting” New Tool Riffs, Collaborating with Bauhaus’ Peter Murphy
Tool bassist Justin Chancellor has been keeping busy with multiple projects during the pandemic, one of which is writing “interesting riffs” for his main band. Among his other ventures is “bouncing some ideas around” with Bauhaus legend Peter Murphy. While checking in from lockdown with Bass Magazine, Chancellor offered up a glimpse of what his day-to-day life has been like since the COVID-19 pandemic forced Tool off the road. The bassist disclosed that he’s been cleaning up his house and gardening, as well as restoring a 15-foot Statue of Liberty head movie prop that he “purchased years ago on a tipsy impulse.” When asked about his current and upcoming projects, Chancellor responded, “I’m working on tracks for a second MTVoid album/EP with Peter Mohamed, who is in Poland. It looks like it...
Faith No More and Korn Co-Headlining US Tour Officially Canceled Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Faith No More and Korn have officially canceled their co-headlining U.S. tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The outing would have marked Faith No More’s first US tour in five years. The late-summer tour was scheduled to kick off August 7th in Denver, and run through a September 17th show in Maryland Heights, Missouri. Daron Malakian’s Scars on Broadway, Helmet, Spotlights, and ’68 were set to support various dates. The tour is being outright canceled, and will not be postponed or rescheduled. A statement from Faith No More’s Facebook reads, “The Faith No More & Korn Summer Tour will unfortunately no longer be taking place. It is with heavy hearts that we came to this decision out of an abundance of caution for the safety of our fans, crew, and fellow artists.” The statement conti...
Iron Maiden, KISS, and System of a Down Headline Virtual Download Festival
Iron Maiden and KISS (photos by Kevin RC Wilson) / System of a Down (photo by Raymond Ahner) Iron Maiden, KISS, and System of a Down will headline the virtual Download TV festival, which will stream on YouTube and social media June 12-14th. All three bands were set to headline this year’s Download Festival, a massive annual UK heavy music gathering that was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The virtual fest promises footage from prior Download appearances, socially distant performances, interviews, and exclusive content from the bands that were initially slated for this year’s lineup. The weekend schedule will be divided into day and evening programming. The day content “celebrates the spirit of Download Festival” and the evening will feature two to three hours of “tailor-made prog...
A Perfect Circle’s Mer de Noms Escaped Tool’s Shadow 20 Years Ago
Outside of a few major examples — such as Dashboard Confessional, Audioslave, CSNY, Foo Fighters, Gorillaz, The Mars Volta, Cream, and Led Zeppelin — side projects, supergroups, and spin-offs are rarely as triumphant as the bands from which they originate. Of course, Californian troupe A Perfect Circle — founded by Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan and former Tool guitar tech Billy Howerdel — must be added to that list. Over the past 20 years, and through four studio albums and numerous major tours, they’ve amassed a following that rivals those of any of the members’ outside endeavors. (Some fans even prefer APC to Tool, and for understandable reasons.) True, their subsequent records offer stronger hooks, more decorative instrumentation, and a greater emphasis on overtly political and/or ...
Deftones Postpone Summer Tour with Gojira and Poppy Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Fans holding out hope that Deftones might still tour North America in 2020 will have to wait until next year to see the alt-metal veterans. The band has officially postponed its summer tour with Gojira and Poppy due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but plans to announce rescheduled dates for 2021. The news of the postponement comes as no surprise, as singer Chino Moreno recently told Apple Music’s Zane Lowe that “it’s not looking like we’re going to be able to get out there this summer.” In that same interview, Moreno revealed that Deftones had originally planned to deliver a new album to their fans this summer, but now the release date is “something that we’re going to have to figure out.” The tour was slated to run from July 27th in Portland, Oregon, through September 5th in Denver, Colorado. T...
Slipknot, Coheed and Cambria, and KISS Cruises Rescheduled for 2021
Slipknot (photo by Raymond Ahner); Coheed and Cambria (photo by Thaib A. Wahab); KISS (photo by Kevin RC Wilson Planned 2020 rock cruises led by Slipknot, Coheed and Cambria, and KISS have all been postponed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as announced Thursday by the events’ producer Sixthman. A number of the production company’s other cruises and vacation festivals have also been moved to next year. Slipknot had already announced that their Knotfest at Sea cruise would be postponed, but now some specific details have been revealed. Instead of setting sail from Barcelona, Spain, as it was scheduled to do this August, Knotfest at Sea will now depart from Athens, Greece in August 2021. Exact dates will be announced shortly. In addition to Slipknot, the 2020 lineup was to feature Be...
System of a Down’s John Dolmayan Blasts “Defund the Police” Movement as “Stupidest Thing I’ve Heard”
System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has been very open about his political beliefs in the midst of protests across the country. Now, he’s blasting the “Defund the Police” movement as “probably the stupidest thing [he’s] heard.” Last week, Dolmayan made headlines when he called President Trump the “greatest friend to minorities” around the same time his bandmate Serj Tankian called for the protesters to “force the [Trump] regime to resign.” In a 13-minute Instagram video posted over the weekend, Dolmayan addressed the backlash he has received since that post, while also outlining his positions on a variety of socio-political issues. As far as the differences between him and his bandmates, particularly Tankian, Dolmayan said, “We have differing opinions in System of a Down. That shouldn’t...