Mad About Rock

  Download Festival is bringing the noise to Brighton next month at The Great Escape with its very own stage under the famous city seafront arches at The Volks. Spanning three days of heavy hitters, rising alt-stars and future Download favourites, the stage will spotlight the best of the new wave – all primed for bigger things. Catch chaos-ready sets from Mouth Culture, Twenty One Children, Karen Dio, Zetra, Vower, James and The Cold Gun, BEX, Jayler and more across Thursday 15 to Saturday 17 May. Whether you’re scouting your next favourite band or want a taste of what’s to come at Donington at DLXXII, this is your chance to get up close and loud as the festival season kicks off. The Download stage at TGE highlights the festival’s ongoing commitment to championing new music. Artists like Sleep Token made their mark at the festival in 2018 and now headline Download 2025 – a testament to the platform and progression the festival supports. Download also partners with Kerrang! Radio on...

  Hammerdown Festival formed in 2014, and ran from 2015-2018 years before the covid pandemic. In 2022 the festival re-established itself, working over the next few years with names such as InMe, Skarlett Riot, South Of Salem, Esoterica, Thecityisours, Fort Hope and many more. After a successful year at Brighton's legendary Concorde 2 in 2024, the Hammerdown team decided to scale things up even further, moving the event to the 850 capacity Chalk, with a second stage opening for the first time, downstairs in brand new venue Dust. Hammerdown has always prided itself on providing new, up and coming bands the opportunities to play on bigger stages alongside more established artists. For 2025, Hammerdown has brought NWOBHM legends Tygers Of Pan Tang and Demon to Brighton, alongside established contemporary bands like The Raven Age and Dream State. As well as this, the festival hosts other top talent such as Fort Hope, Raised By Owls, The Five Hundred, In Search Of Sun, Neonfly and more, ...

  Formidable UK powerhouse crew, COBER MOUTH, have thrown down their ferocious new single and video, 'GUILTY WEIGHT' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH2LN8-LPNo The track follows on from the launch of the band’s hugely successful current single, STERIDE, which has served to further enhance the trio’s hugely impressive reputation. Hailing from South West of England, COBER MOUTH were officially launched in 2023. Featuring boyhood friends Adam Jones (Vocals) and Dylan Plenty (Drums), as well as the talents of Sam Windsor (Guitars), COBER MOUTH despatch uncompromising elephantine riffery, venomous groove, and emotive raw power. The Brit heavyweights dropped their massively impressive Untethered EP last year and the release racked up widespread critical acclaim with Alyx Holcombe championing the band on BBC Radio One’s Introducing Rock. Metal Hammer also greatly supported the UK metalcorers, and so too did Kerrang’s Alex Baker, placing the band on heavy rotation for his Fresh B...

  Download Festival have confirmed that London-based heavy metal record shop, coffee shop and alcohol-free bar Raven Records will have a pop up at this year’s festival, which will feature a curated selection of metal music, merchandise, a wide range of alcohol-free drinks, and metal-inspired coffee. In addition to the record shop, coffee shop and bar, Raven Records will also host a full events programme, including Heavy Metal Therapy meetings (mental health peer support), Satanic Recovery meetings (secular addiction recovery support), Download’s best battle jacket competition, battle jacket meet ups and sewing workshops, Slam Poetry competition and workshops, a late night DJ and much more. This will be the first time a record shop features on the Download Festival roster, and the first time addiction recovery and mental health peer support will be provided for festival attendees. Founded in 2023 by Chloe Marlow and Ben Dean, Raven Records has quickly built a reputation for reimagin...

  UK metal band SPREADING THE DISEASE formed in 2015, and they have recently announced some exciting news: They signed to AMG-UNIVERSAL RECORDS CANADA/WORLDWIDE! The band released the below statement on the signing: "WE RECENTLY SAID WE HAD A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT SO HERE IT IS! The band has been working for 10 years now, three albums, and new material ready to go and some real achievements from being on rotation on Scuzz TV, great reviews all the way down the line kicking off with out first EP securing a KKKK! Kerrang review and putting us on the road to playing every corner we could not once but four times around the UK and into Europe headlining eventually all shows. The band has had many ups and downs including being shunned by many of our festivals, Promoters etc, which pushed us to look elsewhere in our drive to keep the band moving forward, however we do thank and appreciate every one that has stuck by us through thick and thin you know who you are, This announcement is in gre...

  Welsh metallers King Kraken are unleashing their upcoming second album, 'March Of The Gods,' on 18th April 2025. The eagerly awaited follow-up to 'MCLXXX' (2023). Ahead of the release, the band shared with us, a deep dive into all ten tracks featured on the new album to mark this mighty release. So read on to uncover the meaning behind the songs.... 'March Of The Gods' Tracklisting: 1. Scream 2. El Giganto 3. Berserker 4. March Of The Gods 5. Hero 6. Vigilante 7. Preacher 8. Magnum Opus 9. Chainsaw Saviour 10. Under The Sun Scream The opener to the album is like a smack in the face with a wet towel when you've just dropped off to sleep. It's gonna wake you up and get the adrenaline going. It seems so long ago the riff came to me and started the ball rolling to the usual "put through the ringer" treatment of the Kraken. The end result is a megamix of riffs where we all had a part to play and it's an absolute bangar! This is only one of t...

  Iconic rock legend MARILYN MANSON has announced his return to the stage this fall for the second leg of the One Assassination Under God Tour. Ticket presale starts April 2nd at 10:00AM Local Time. General public tickets available April 4th at 10:00AM Local Time at https://www.marilynmanson.com/ MARILYN MANSON Worldwide One Assassination Under God Tour Dates: Aug 7 - Sturgis, SD - Buffalo Chip Aug 29 - Pryor, OK - Rocklahoma Sep 18 - Louisville, KY - Louder Than Life Sep 20 - Pittsburgh, PA - Roxian Theatre Sep 22 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant Sep 23 - Kansas City, MO - The Midland Theatre Sep 25 - Denver, CO - Fillmore Auditorium Sep 27 - Albuquerque, NM - Revel Sep 30 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues Oct 1 - San Diego, CA - SOMA Oct 3 - Las Vegas, NV - Pearl Theater Oct 5 - Sacramento, CA - Aftershock Festival Oct 29 - Brighton, UK - Brighton Centre Oct 31 - Bournemouth, UK - Windsor Hall Nov 1 - Cardiff, UK - Utilita Arena Nov 2 - Nottingham, UK - Motorpoint Arena Nov 4 - Manches...

  With 4 months still to go before you can shout BLOODSTOCK is next week, festival HQ has got all the details of some raucous nights out to help you pass the time and get a sneak peek at some of the freshest talent to perform at BLOODSTOCK this August, in rock clubs around the country and at the Metal 2 The Masses tour dates which kick off imminently! Plus, even if you can’t make any of those events, read on for the low down on 8 hellacious acts who’ve already seen off all the challengers to claim spots on the Timothy Taylor New Blood stage, so you can discover your new favourite band right now. Have you been following the earlier events of BLOODSTOCK’s phenomenally successful Metal 2 The Masses (M2TM) scheme? If not, now’s the time! The final 31 tour dates are locked and loaded! With a different line-up every show, one band from each night will be selected to join the line up on the Timothy Taylor New Blood Stage this August. With 31 regions taking part, across the UK, Poland, Nor...