Mad About Rock

Following the announcement of the all-star extravaganza BACK TO THE BEGINNING celebrating the true creators of heavy metal earlier this month, Black Sabbath have announced a host of further artists to the extraordinary lineup. The sold-out show will see the original Black Sabbath – Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward – return to play for the first time in 20 years on July 5th at Villa Park. BACK TO THE BEGINNING, which will be hosted and compered by American actor Jason Momoa, will see Ozzy Osbourne play his own short set before joining with Black Sabbath for his final bow. The new acts added to the bill include Tool, Guns ‘N’ Roses and Rival Sons, who will join Metallica, Slayer, Pantera, Gojira, Alice In Chains, Halestorm, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon. The all-day event will also feature a supergroup of musicians. Andrew Watt, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Dave Ellefson, Vernon Reid (Living Colour) and Whitfield Crane (Ugly Kid Joe), will join Billy Corg...

  Jerry Cantrell’s highly-anticipated new album, I Want Blood, arrives next Friday, with one final sneak peek available today with the release of the album’s title track. Listen HERE “There’s a confidence to this album,” Cantrell explains. “I think it’s some of my best writing and playing and certainly some of my best singing. There are large chunks of this record where I felt like my face was pressed to the ceiling of my abilities, operating at the top of my capacity.” The four-minute-plus track opens with a menacing bass line from Duff McKagan, accompanied by Mike Bordin’s building drumbeat, followed by Cantrell’s ominous first words… “I Want Blood.” The song was co-produced, as the album was, by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Melvins). Cantrell has previously shared two tracks from the album. The first, ‘ Vilified ,’ was featured in an extensive interview with Rick Beato , where Cantrell discussed its use of the talkbox, calling back to his earlier Al...

  Jerry Cantrell, who recently announced the Oct. 18 release of his new album, I Want Blood, has released a video for the nine-song collection’s debut single, ‘Vilified’ ( https://youtu.be/-pxhAc_z5tY ). The Lorenzo Diego-directed clip captures the spirit of the track, and album, which Cantrell discussed in a recent Kerrang! interview: “Sci-fi and the fear of technology has been around a long time, from ‘The Terminator’ to ‘Ex Machina.’ AI is a boogeyman we’ve grown up with, but now we’re living in a time that it’s becoming a reality to more of an extent… it’s part of the conversation of our lives and the world…” I Want Blood, co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age, Melvins), was recorded at Barresi’s JHOC Studio in Pasadena, Calif. The album also features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (Guns N’Roses) and Robert Trujillo (Metallica), drummers Gil Sharone (Team Sleep, Stolen Babies) and Mike Bordin (Faith No More), and backing vo...

  Jerry Cantrell, one of rock music’s most distinctive musicians, returns with I Want Blood, an album brimming with Cantrell’s signature vocals and guitar-driven melodies, on Oct. 18 via Double J Music. “This record is a serious piece of work. It’s a motherfucker,” Cantrell says of the infectious collection. “It’s hard, no doubt, and completely unlike Brighten. And that’s what you want, to end up in a different place. There’s a confidence to this album. I think it’s some of my best songwriting and playing, and certainly some of my best singing.” A preview of I Want Blood comes with today’s release of ‘Vilified’ . The album opener showcases an energy that rivals any of Cantrell’s previous work – powerful, nuanced, and electric – setting the tone for the 45-minute album. Watch the visualizer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tGyIln0-pw “’Vilified’ travels a lot of places in just four and a half minutes,” Cantrell continues. “It’s got a ferocity and really aggressive vibe to ...