Mad About Rock

  Florida-based rock revivalists Umbilicus have begun their first rehearsals for their recently announced shows on February 23, 24, 25 in Orlando, Miami, and Tampa, respectively. The quartet, made up of death metal musicians Paul Mazurkiewicz (Cannibal Corpse, Heaven’s Gate) on drums, Taylor Nordberg (Deicide, Inhuman Condition) on guitar, Vernon Blake (Anarchus) on bass, and Brian Stephenson (FORE) on vocals, will be sharing the stage with rock band King Buffalo for 3 dates in Florida on their current tour. Umbilicus released their debut album in September of 2021 on Listenable Insanity Records, which is available at umbilicusband.bandcamp.com Tickets for the shows can be purchased below: February 23 - Will’s Pub - Orlando, FL https://www.eventbrite.com/e/king-buffalo-swell-fellas-and-umbilicus-in-orlando-tickets-452301545097 February 24 - Gramp’s - Miami, FL https://www.eventbrite.com/e/king-buffalo-swell-fellas-and-umbilicus-in-miami-tickets-452331093477?aff=erelexpmlt...

  New rock band UMBILICUS has released their third single, “Gates Of Neptune”, from their upcoming debut album “Path Of 1000 Suns”, with an accompanying video. Fresh onto the scene, the quartet have put their death metal chops aside, and embraced their collective love of 60s and 70s hard rock. On “Gates Of Neptune”, Nordberg said: “Gates is definitely one of my favorite songs on the album. It’s a pretty simple song, but it says so much and is so incredibly dynamic. It really takes you on a journey. Brian’s vocals are also absolutely beautiful on this track, and really made it go from a neat song to an epic one! Though we made the band to make some classic hard rock, one of the things that made all those old bands so good was because they were able to be dynamic and have a “ballad” track on an album. “Dream On” I rest my case! We hope you all enjoy this song. “Path Of 1000 Suns” can be pre-ordered at umbilicusband.bandcamp.com “Path Of 1000 Suns” will be out September 30th on Lis...

New rock outfit UMBILICUS is made up of CANNIBAL CORPSE drummer/lyricist Paul Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Taylor Nordberg (DEICIDE, INHUMAN CONDITION), bassist Vernon Blake (ANARCHUS, NAPALM DEATH-live), and vocalist Brian Stephenson (FORE, OLD JAMES). Though they are well known in the metal community, this new group is nothing like their primary bands but sees the band show their love of 60's and 70's rock. Their debut album title has been revealed as "Path Of 1000 Suns" but with no set release date yet. I caught up with guitarist Taylor Nordberg to get the lowdown on this new hard rock group. First things first, how did you arrive at the band name of UMBILICUS and what does it mean for you as a band? Well, I think I was reading the book “It” by Stephen King, and there is a library in the book where one building is the adult side, and one side is the children’s side, and it was connected by an umbilicus, or section connecting the two. Around the same time, I was watchin...

  New rock outfit UMBILICUS have released their first single, called "Hello Future", from their debut album "Path of 1000 Suns". The group is made up of CANNIBAL CORPSE drummer/lyricist Paul Mazurkiewicz, guitarist Taylor Nordberg (DEICIDE, INHUMAN CONDITION), bassist Vernon Blake (ANARCHUS, NAPALM DEATH-live), and vocalist Brian Stephenson (FORE, OLD JAMES). Though the band members are active in the metal community, the quartet put their love of 60's and 70's rock into an album of hard rock, drawing influences ranging from GRAND FUNK RAILROAD, AEROSMITH, LUCIFER'S FRIEND, SCORPIONS, LED ZEPPELIN. Vocalist and lyricist Brian Stephenson says: "Hello Future! Here we are, we did it! It's time for the world to hear what we've been putting our time and efforts into. We could not be more stoked for this first single and the album! Real down and dirty, simple, straight forward, in-your-face rock n roll for the people. It's been a labour of l...

  There have been hints at a new rock band, UMBILICUS, floating around for months but it seems to be materializing now, in the signing of a digital deal with Blood Blast Distribution. The quartet, which features Paul Mazurkiewicz (CANNIBAL CORPSE) on drums, Taylor Nordberg (DEICIDE, INHUMAN CONDITION) on guitar, Vernon Blake (ANARCHUS, NAPALM DEATH-live) on bass, and Brian Stephenson (FORE, OLD JAMES) on vocals, has put their love of 60s and 70s rock into their debut full-length album, which will arrive later this year. "We are all so excited to finally start releasing some music from this band! I have worked with Blood Blast Distribution with several other bands, and they are absolutely killer to work with. Pro, great communication, and they care about the artists. Our first single should be out this month, so stay tuned!" Nordberg said. UMBILICUS is: Brian Stephenson - vocals Paul Mazurkiewicz - drums Vernon Blake - bass Taylor Nordberg - guitar Photo by Deidra Kling Co...

  While the abundance of death metal is a plus in 2021, there is still plenty of room for some rock and roll. UMBILICUS is introduced to the world. Featuring drummer and lyricist of CANNIBAL CORPSE, Paul Mazurkiewicz on drums, Taylor Nordberg (INHUMAN CONDITION, THE ABSENCE, FORE) on guitar, Vernon Blake (ANARCHUS, NAPALM DEAH [live]) on bass, and vocalist Brian Stephenson (FORE, OLD JAMES), the quartet has turned down the violence and gore, and turned up the peace and love. Mazurkiewicz says: “UMBILICUS was formed in the summer of 2020 and driven by our love of rock and roll from the late 60’s, 70’s and early 80’s. I’ve been listening to well-known bands like Grand Funk, Bad Company and Steppenwolf and not-so-well-known bands like Sir Lord Baltimore and Lucifer’s Friend for the last 20 years or so now. The more I listened to these bands the more I wanted to play music like this. It is just so much fun to sit back and groove out and play by complete feel without beating my bod...