Mad About Rock

  Award-nominated independent rock and metal festival, Takedown Festival, has today announced the next wave of artists for its 2026 edition. The festival returns to Portsmouth Guildhall on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th April 2026, once again delivering a packed lineup of heavy music to the south coast. Newly confirmed acts include Mouth Culture, the alternative rock Leicester collective known for their anthemic, high-energy chaos, and Zetra, the shadowy London duo bringing their unique brand of shoegaze-soaked metal theatrics. Both will take to the stage on Saturday, alongside Lastelle. On Friday, South Of Salem and Asomvel join the bill. This year’s event will be headlined by PRESIDENT, marking the masked collective’s first ever festival headline slot. Having quickly gained a reputation as one of heavy music’s most exciting and unpredictable new forces, their Takedown 2026 performance promises to be a defining moment in their rise. Also topping the lineup are Phil Campbell and the B...

  Hungarian alternative/groove metal force Nest of Plagues has dropped a brand new live album ‘Live At Akvárium’, showcasing the raw energy and emotional depth that has made them one of the region’s most exciting underground acts. The release comes as the band gears up for their “Hell Is A Place On Earth” Tour, which will see them storm stages across Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Hungary this fall. NEST OF PLAGUES - DEAR ABYSS & HELL IS A PLACE ON EARTH (LIVE AT AKVÁRIUM) Following the release of their critically acclaimed 3rd album Hellsolation, Nest of Plagues are taking their uncompromising sound and message across borders. Blending crushing riffs, groove-driven rhythms, and elements of alternative metal, the band reflects on modern social struggles such as anxiety, depression, and loneliness - while encouraging fans to face these challenges together, finding strength in community. The band’s unique mix of heaviness and catharsis has earned them a reputation for powerful,...

  Notorious black metal collective WATAIN has issued the following statement: Ladies and gentlemen, followers, allies and supporters, this is a solemn transmission from the Temple of Watain. We hereby announce that in III years’ time - upon our 30th anniversary - Watain’s eighth and final full-length album will be released. The album will mark the closure of a thirty-year-long magical Work, the last crossroad of Watain, after which the band will cease to exist. The ending of a triad of decades during which we have shared our sacred path through this strange world with you, our loyal audience, on a steady course towards the beckoning darkness of The End. Over the course of the next three years, the reasons for this will be spoken of and accounted for. But for now we just want to say this: Have our songs and our art not always dealt with finitude and mortality, with DEATH and the beyond? Now it is time to claim our own conclusion, and shape it as we have shaped our stage and our ...

  Following last week’s announcement of IRON MAIDEN’s European festival & stadium tour for 2026, bringing their highly acclaimed RUN FOR YOUR LIVES WORLD TOUR to even more countries in Europe, Kilimanjaro Live, in association with Phantom Music Management, are delighted to announce that IRON MAIDEN will return to the UK next year for an enormous outdoor headline performance at the legendary Knebworth Park. Featuring a hand-picked bill of special guests, this will not just be a concert but an IRON MAIDEN curated weekend event with the biggest Eddie’s Dive Bar ever, various fun experiences currently being worked on, Maiden-themed food and other stands, plus much more besides including their very own take on the historic Knebworth Fayre! The specially invited supporting line up is: THE DARKNESS THE HU AIRBOURNE THE ALMIGHTY Manager Rod Smallwood comments, “We knew that we had to bring the Run For Your Lives show back to the UK again next summer as there was such a phenomenal d...

  Rising Manchester rock outfit Luna Marble unveil their brand-new single and music video ‘Crazy Loving’, taken from a debut album that blends the cosmic spirit of 70s classic rock with modern grit. Demonstrating the raw energy of a band on the rise, their first LP lands this November. To mark the occasion, Luna Marble will host an exclusive advance ‘Rock & Roll Circus’ launch party in October, ahead of the album's official release. Written by vocalist Maria Rico at just 18 (a standout female vocalist in a male-dominated rock scene), new track ‘Crazy Loving’ remains one of the band’s most personal compositions. “It was one of those songs that wrote itself,” Rico explains. “At the time I didn’t even know what it meant, but looking back, it feels like an unconscious reflection of that moment in life. The song talks about those early insecurities you have growing up, wondering who you are, and about finding comfort in other people and relationships.” 'Crazy Loving' arrives...

  Welsh hard hitters, HOUSE OF HOSTS, are rising fast. The band have just released their scorching new single and video, 'Pedestal' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yjDs_qCmLg The track is lifted from their forthcoming EP, 'Reckoning', out on Friday 26th September. With this in mind, we exclusively caught up with the band and asked them to give the tracks that have greatly inspired their sound: Daniel Foley-Griffiths (vocals) Track Choice: Five Finger Death Punch - Wrong Side Of Heaven, Righteous Side Of Hell. "The double album was beautifully constructed in a way that not only harnesses the pure rage and drive of the screams but balances out with the contrast of melodic choruses and harmony. For me it demonstrates perfectly that you can both be heavy and sinister but also delicate and tranquil." Beth Goodwin (drums) Track Choice: Avenged Sevenfold - Unholy Confessions "The Rev plays incredible melodic and syncopated drums that emphasise and com...

  Icons of melancholic doom and gothic metal, PARADISE LOST have released their long awaited 17th album, 'Ascension', today with Nuclear Blast Records. PARADISE LOST’s first album in 5 years, following 2020’s acclaimed Obsidian, was produced by the band’s revered guitarist Gregor Mackintosh and mixed/mastered by Lawrence Mackrory and is adorned with artwork by renowned British artist George Frederic Watts’ classic painting The Court of Death (1870-1902). Their latest, critically lauded masterpiece is evidence of a band still at the height of their prime 35+ years into a groundbreaking career. Soaked in misery and grief, Ascension soars with song’s like ‘ Tyrants Serenade ,’ ‘ Serpent on the Cross ’ and ‘ Silence Like The Grave ,’ that take listeners on an unforgettable journey through morose despair forged in soundscape of massive riffs and searing solos. Commenting on the record’s release, vocalist Nick Holmes states: "It took us nearly 40 years to get here but we're ...