Mad About Rock

SOULFLY/CAVALERA CONSPIRACY guitarist Marc Rizzo has set the release date for his new LP ROTATION, in stores March 30th via Combat Records/EMP LABEL GROUP/AMPED in North America, and COMBAT/SPV in Europe. ROTATION is the 4th solo release for Rizzo, following 2004’s COLOSSAL MYOPIA, 2006’s THE ULTIMATE DEVOTION (both released by legendary shred label SHRAPNEL), and the independently released 2010 LP LEGIONNAIRE. Produced by Chris “Zeuss” Harris (Hatebreed, Soulfly, Rob Zombie, Chimaira), and featuring cover art by Melody Myers (Escape The Fate), ROTATION is a blistering showcase of Rizzo’s pummeling eclectic diversity, showcased on album tracks including “Spectral Intensities”, “Thrash Boogie”, and title track “Rotation”, combining Rizzo’s penchant for pummeling, low-end riffs, with thrash-intensive leads and heavy Latin flavor. Check out an album teaser featuring “Spectral Intensities” below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4pU91aaGeY Originally a member of New Jersey lat...

Artwork by: Melody Myers David Ellefson Of Megadeth & EMP Label Group Announce Relaunch Of Punk/Thrash Label Combat Records David Ellefson of Megadeth, via his label EMP LABEL GROUP, has announced the relaunch of COMBAT RECORDS, the seminal Punk/Thrash label that started Megadeth’s career. Most will remember Combat Records as one of the seminal thrash labels of the 1980s, their most prominent artist being, of course, Megadeth. Combat was also home to Helstar, Circle Jerks, Exodus, Nuclear Assault, and many of the most influential Metal and Punk bands of all time. After a handful of ownership changes and attempted reboots, COMBAT went dormant in the mid-2000s, the catalog got absorbed by SONY, and the label itself ceased to exist. In 2016, David Ellefson, with his partner Thom Hazaert from EMP Label Group, did the due diligence to research and acquire the intellectual property for the COMBAT RECORDS brand, and bring it home to the EMP family. With the utmost respect to the l...

Phoenix pop-punk favourites DOLL SKIN hit the road this week supporting ONE-EYED DOLL on the SOMETHING WICKED Tour, with special guests CO-OP (featuring Dash Cooper) on select dates, plus a select handful of headlining dates. The tour follows up several legs of headlining on the SHUT UP! Tour, and a Summer stint on the 2017 VANS WARPED TOUR. DOLL SKIN is supporting MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL, the June 2017 follow up to their 2016 EMP Label Group debut, IN YOUR FACE (AGAIN), Produced by Grammy Award winning Megadeth bassist David Ellefson, which garnered massive Worldwide press, spawned multiple singles including, “Family of Strangers”, “Let’s Be Honest”, and “Furious Fixation”. 2016 saw the band tour much of the year with Otep, Lacey Sturm, Fire From The Gods, Hellyeah, Dead Kennedys, Escape The Fate, September Mourning, Through Fire, and more, capping off the year with a spot on Alternative Press’s list of “7 of the Best Rising Bands Under 21”, before settling in to record ...

YOUR CHANCE TO DIE Announce "Defeating the Weak" Tour YOUR CHANCE TO DIE will be hitting the road on the "Defeating the Weak" tour in support of their third album Ex Nihilo, which includes an appearance at Louisville Deathfest. Ex Nihilo was released on EMP LABEL GROUP’s EMP UNDERGROUND imprint. The critically-acclaimed album was recorded by Jamie King (Between the Buried and Me), mixed by Zack Ohren (Machine Head), and with album art by Pierre-Alain D. Ex Nihilo shows the band completely reinvented with deep symphonic atmospheres, inhuman precision and brutality, and a dual-female vocal onslaught. 2016 saw the addition of Som Pluijmers (ex-Cerebral Bore) on vocals, making her debut on Ex-Nihilo, alongside revered death metal vocalist Missi Avila. The dual-female front offers a tandem dose of sheer vocal brutality backed up by the soaring leads and rhythmic precision of Coca Avila and Ron Dalton on guitars. This package is rounded out by the inhuman spee...

A Killer's Confession is led by former Mushroomhead vocalist Waylon Reavis. The album was recorded in Kentucky, and the anticipated debut comes thanks to David Ellefson of Megadeth’s EMP Label Group. For their debut, they enlisted some friend's and exciting guests appearances to add to the intrigue which raises the stakes high for their first offering... Opening track 'Awakening' is a short and unhinged scene setter for what lies ahead. Stand out track and latest single 'Rebirth' is atmospheric, melodic and consuming with prominent bass and powerful drums. The first single self-named title track, 'A Killer's Confession' features none other than Brian 'Head' Welch from Korn on guitar. It sounds strange and eerie through the use of electronic sounds and is a must hear. This is one menacing and crushing track which wouldn't sound out of place on an actual Korn album. The second half of the album treats us to more guest collaborations...

Phoenix pop-punk darlings DOLL SKIN have announced they will hit the road after WARPED TOUR with EMP LABEL GROUP labelmates NEXT TO NONE . Doll Skin will release their upcoming sophomore LP ' MANIC PIXIE DREAM GIRL' , June 16th via EMP LABEL GROUP/AMPED, while Next To None will release PHASES July 9th through EMP in North America, and Inside Out in Europe. Prior to their headlining run, Doll Skin joins the lineup of the 2017 VANS WARPED TOUR from June 16-25, appearing on the “Hard Rock” Stage alongside Metal and Punk Icons including The Dickies , Municipal Waste , Strung Out , The Adolescents , The Ataris , TSOL , (and their previous Otep tour-mates FIRE FROM THE GODS ) and more, while Next to None heads to Europe in June support Mike Portnoy’s SHATTERED FORTRESS . Doll Skin has released “Shut Up (You Miss Me)” the first single from Manic Pixie… via VANS WARPED TOUR, While Next To None has released “The Apple” , both are available below. Doll Skin "Shut Up ...

Since forming in Phoenix in 2013, DOLL SKIN, Vocalist Sydney Dolezal, Guitarist Alex Snowden, Bassist Nicole Rich, and Drummer Meghan Herring,have taken the World by storm, playing shows and touring with Social Distortion, Slunt, DRI, Metal Allegiance, HELLYEAH, Shiprocked 2016, and many more, with an international press blitz pouring in from around the Globe, and adds and spins on hundreds of radio stations around the World, including almost weekly spins since 2015 on the uber-influential LA station KROQ, where they have become a favorite of legendary DJRodney Bingenheimer, with 3 different singles in rotation on his Rodney on the Roq. On Friday, April 15th, the band releases IN YOUR FACE (Again), via EMP Label Group/eOne Distribution, a full length version of their 2015 digital EP IN YOUR FACE, produced by Megadeth bassist David Ellefson. The extended 9 track retail version features new tracks including “Furious Fixation”, mixed by Richard Easterling (American Head Charge, Fuel), ...

EMP Label Group, the label founded by Megadeth’s David Ellefson , has announced the formation of EMP UNDERGROUND, an imprint which will release and distribute music from more “underground, extreme and subversive artists.” Says Operations manager and EMP UNDERGROUND co-founder Thöm Hazaërt. “A lot of the stuff we have been signing to EMP has been more Hard Rock and mainstream metal, and we wanted to create an outlet for signing some of the amazing heavier/weirder/more extreme artists that have been coming to us, without all the pressure of the big releases on EMP. And that’s exactly what we’ve created with EMP Underground.” He adds, “We have found some great releases, and we get so many amazing submissions from the heavier end of the spectrum, and David and I talked and we really wanted to create an outlet for some of this other stuff that didn’t necessarily fit on EMP proper.” Distributed via eOne and SPV, the first signings to the imprint include Thrash metal stalwarts (and former Me...