Northern Invasion 2018 band times unleashed

Heading to Northern Invasion next weekend? Well, there’s some major good news for you; the official band performance times have been unleashed. There will be a total of three stages during the two-day event; the Monster Main Stage, the Bug Light Stage, and the St. Croix Casino Stage. As previously announced Avenged Sevenfold will close out night one while Tool will close out the second and final night of the music festival.

Check out the full, daily lineup below.

SATURDAY, MAY 12

Monster Main Stage

9:30 p.m.  – Avenged Sevenfold
7:55 p.m. – A Perfect Circle
6:20  p.m. – Breaking Benjamin
5:05 p.m. – I Prevail
3:55 p.m. – Black Stone Cherry
2:50 p.m. – The Bronx
1:45 p.m. – Grandson

Bud Light Stage

7:10 p.m. – Parkway Drive
5:45 p.m. – Butcher Babies
4:30 p.m. – Senses Fail
3:20 p.m. – Stick to Your Guns
2:15 p.m. – Cane Hill
1:10 p.m. – Counterfeit
12:20 p.m. – Big Story

St. Croix Casino Stage

7:50 p.m. – Atreyu
6:15 p.m. – We Came as Romans
5:00 p.m. – Miss May I
3:50 p.m. – DED
2:45 p.m. – From Ashes to New
1:40 p.m.  – Dube
12:00 p.m. – Cold Kingdom

SUNDAY, MAY 13

Monster Main Stage

9:15 p.m. – Tool
7:40 p.m. – Alice in Chains
6:05 p.m. – Stone Temple Pilots
4:50 p.m. – Black Veil Brides
3:35 p.m. – Asking Alexandria
2:30 p.m. – Red Sun Rising
1:05 p.m. – 10 Years

Bud Light Stage

6:55 p.m. – The Used
5:30 p.m. – Anti-Flag
4:15 p.m. – Like a Storm
3:00 p.m. – I See Stars
1:35 p.m. – The Fever 33
12:30 p.m. – Whitney Peyton

St. Croix Casino Stage

7:35 p.m. – Andrew W.K.
6:00 p.m. – Hawthorne Heights
4:45 p.m. – Dance Gavin Dance
3:30 p.m. – The Blue Stones
2:25 p.m. – Mutoid Man
1:00 p.m. – Spirit Animal
12:00 p.m. – Joyous Wolf

The fourth annual Northern Invasion will invade the Somerset Amphitheater in Somerset, Wisconsin on May 12 and May 13. A limited number of general admission tickets are still available for the multi-day event on the music festival’s website. In addition to offering a “top-tier camping experience,” the fest will also offer the Northern Invasion Good Eats area which will include food offerings from top regional and national restaurants and vendors.

Avenged Sevenfold, Ozzy Osbourne, Queens of the Stone Age to join Foo Fighters at Welcome to Rockville 2018

Just when you thought the Welcome to Rockville 2018 lineup couldn’t get any better, festival organizers unveiled the complete list of artists set to invade North Florida in the spring of 2018. On Monday (Nov. 6) Danny Wimmer Present unleashed their epic lineup for their Jacksonville-based music festival. Avenged Sevenfold, Godsmack, Stone Sour, Billy Idol, Queens of the Stone Age, and Ozzy Osbourne are just some of the big names that will take the stage during the first World’s Loudest Month music festival of the year.

“Since Welcome to Rockville’s inception seven years ago, I have been building towards this day: To bring not just the biggest rock festival in Jacksonville (or even Florida), but the biggest rock lineup in the United States to my hometown,” festival creator and producer Danny Wimmer said in a press release. “This is a triumph for me, my company, and the city that I love.”

Acts like The Used, Thrice, Underoath, Killswitch Engage, Black Veil Brides, Sevendust, Bullet For My Valentine, Atreyu, and many more will joined the aforementioned acts on the bill.

Welcome To Rockville tickets, VIP packages, as well as hotel and camping options are currently on sale on the music festival’s website here.

Welcome to Rockville 2018 will return to its home of Metropolitan Park in Jacksonville, Florida during the weekend of April 27-29, 2018. Last month, festival organizers revealed that 2018 would mark the first year that the music festival would expand from two days to three. For now, the daily lineup, with the exception of one unknown act, can be seen below.

Avenged Sevenfold announces ‘surprise’ new album

Avenged Sevenfold wanted all information concerning their new album to be kept a secret, and as it turns out, they managed to do just that. Following weeks of teasing and cryptic messages, real information about the upcoming release has been unveiled. On Thursday (Oct. 27), it was reported that not only is Avenged Sevenfold’s new album not titled Voltaic Oceans, but it will not see an early-December release date. Rather, the new record will be titled The Stage, just like the lead single, and is set to hit stores on Friday, Oct. 28.

The previously-reported information about the new album came last month when WWE superstar and Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho posted an image on Instagram. The post contained the band’s Death-Bat logo, the title Voltaic Oceans, and the date 12/09/16. Quickly after he posted the image, Jericho took it down which further fueled speculations that he leaked important information. At the time, there was no reason to doubt Jericho or be skeptical that he was playing a role in promoting the new album. Most fans of the band are aware of his close friendship with the members of Avenged Sevenfold, especially frontman M. Shadows, so there was no reason to think otherwise.

Now, it looks like the joke was on the fan base who was eagerly awaiting any kind of information from the five-piece about the new record. In addition to the new album name and release date’s unveiling, the track list has also been revealed. Even though the information was supposed to be embargoed until Friday, Amazon’s Canadian website had published the 11-song track listing. At the time of this story being written, Amazon removed the track listing and posted that it is “currently available.” But while that has been taken down, it appears that someone has already received the new album. According to Loudwire, someone on Twitter posted images of the physical copy of the record.

While the band has formally to confirm all the new information, one thing fans can look forward to is their massive live stream due to take place tonight at 8:30 PST. The event will be streamed on Avenged Sevenfold’s website and can be enjoyed in 3D, 360-degrees, and Virtual Reality. During the event, the group will reportedly answer all questions concerning the new album.

The Stage will be the long-awaited follow-up to the band’s 2013 album, Hail to the King. This will also mark the band’s first album to feature former Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman. The reported track listing for The Stage can be seen below.

THE STAGE TRACK LISTING (Reportedly):

01. “The Stage” (8:32)
02. “Paradigm” (4:19)
03. “Sunny Disposition” (6:41)
04. “God Damn” (3:42)
05. “Creating God” (5:35)
06. “Angels” (5:41)
07. “Simulation” (5:31)
08. “Higher” (6:29)
09. “Roman Sky” (5:00)
10. “Fermi Paradox” (6:31)
11. “Exist” (15:39)

Listen: Avenged Sevenfold hit “The Stage” with new song

It seems like during the past week, speculations of new Avenged Sevenfold tunes has reached an all-time high. With the appearance of the band’s Deathbat logo in random locations around the world like London, Paris and Ontario and “leaked” information making its rounds on the internet, we figured it was only a matter of time before the group confirmed or denied the rumors. On Thursday (Oct. 13), the band officially confirmed the new music rumors when they released their brand new song, “The Stage.” The new, eight-and-a-half minute long song can be streamed below.

While the biggest rumor was that the band would be unleashing a new song on Friday, Oct. 14, there was also a post on Instagram by Fozzy frontman (and close friend of M. Shadows) Chris Jericho. In the now-deleted post, the wrestler posted that Avenged’s new album would be titled Voltaic Oceans and would see a release date of Dec. 9.

To coincide with the new music news, the band launched a new website which features the”Deathbot”; the gatekeeper of Avenged Sevenfold information. Music publication Loudwire asked the Deathbot several questions including “new album.” According to the publication, when they typed “new album,” the Deathbot responded with “the official answer will be given during a special live event on Oct. 27.” Cool.

Earlier this year, the band announced they had severed ties with their longtime home of Warner Bros. in favor of Capitol. During an interview with Loudwire Nights, M. Shadows unveiled that things were not good between them and Warner Bros.

“We left because every single person at the label, not every single person, the radio department is still intact. But the people that signed us, the A&R people, all the people that had to do with the high up at the company didn’t know who Avenged Sevenfold was or cared at this point. So we had to leave.”

Shadows add: “It had nothing to do with anything other than if you’re at a place where they don’t care about your band, then you have to do somewhere where they do care about your band. So, as labels start morphing and changing over time, you have to do what’s best for you and that’s the main reason we left. For us, it’s about finding a home that care about rock music and they care about Avenged Sevenfold and want to further our career as we try to push through this thing.”

Whatever the new album ends up being titled or when it is set to be released, we do know that it will be the follow-up to 2013’s Hail to the King. The impending release will also mark the first record to feature new drummer Brooks Wackerman who replaced former drummer Arin Ilejay.

All we can say is, keep your eyes open for that special event on Oct. 27.

Houston Open Air Festival to launch in September

A couple of months after announcing the launch of the Chicago Open Air music festival, festival organizers have unveiled that the fest will be getting a sister location. On Monday (May 16), the people behind the World’ s Loudest Month concert series announced that they will be launching the Houston Open Air music festival in September. During the announcement, it was confirmed that acts like Avenged Sevenfold, Pierce the Veil, Of Mice & Men, Alice in Chains, The Word Alive, and more would make their way to the Lone Star State at the end of September.

Heading to the NRG Park in Houston during the weekend of Sept. 24-25 will also be Deftones, Slayer, Chevelle, The Cult, Ministry, Alter Bridge, Ghost, Anthrax, HELLYEAH, Avatar, letlive., and many more. For those who are interested in attending, early bird tickets for the two-day event will begin this Tuesday, May 17, at noon CDT. A limited amount of tickets will be available for $89.50 or $99.50, while supplies last. Those wanting to spend the complete weekend at the show will be able to purchase weekend passes for $234.50. If you are not able to obtain early bird tickets, then general admission tickets will go on sale beginning this Friday, May 20, at noon CDT. The full lineup can be seen below.

In addition to the list of rocking artists heading to Houston, festival organizers have also unveiled that  a portion of the proceeds will be donated Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund to assist with recent flooding in the Houston area.  The Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund was established by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to accept flood relief donations that will stay in the Houston community and aid the victims of the recent storms. If you cannot attend or want to donate directly, you can visit the website here.

Inaugural Texas Mutiny Festival to launch in Texas

Texas will be getting another massive rock-centric music festival this fall. On Monday (May 2), AEG Live (the people behind Rock on the Range, Carolina Rebellion, Rocklahoma, and more) announced plans to launch the first annual Texas Mutiny festival. In addition to the new music festival announcement, AEG has also unveiled the lengthy roster of bands that will make their way to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in September for 12 hours of non-stop music.

Avenged Sevenfold, Deftones, Chevelle, Pierce the Veil, Hellyeah, Of Mice & Men, Ghost, Candlebox, Nothing More, Starset, The Amity Affliction, Skindred, KYNG, Neck Deep, Shaman’s Harvest, Avatar, Twelve Foot Ninja, September Mourning, and more will all make the journey to the Lone Star state for the one day event.

“Considering the ongoing success we’ve had in Dallas for years with Edgefest and the new success story this year with Off the Rails, the DFW market is one that is primed and ready for a top-notch hard rock festival,” explains Joe Litvag, Executive Producer of Texas Mutiny for AEG Live. “We’re taking successful components from several of our other similar rock festivals to create an experience for music fans that is uniquely Texas. Our hope is that this is the first step toward establishing a long legacy that rock artists and rock fans in the Lone Star State can call their own!”

“AEG Live is one of the premier producers of rock festivals in the U.S., and we’re pleased to partner with them on one that reaches the hard rock audience,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said about the new music festival. “Charlotte Motor Speedway, our sister venue in the Speedway Motorsports, Inc. family, has partnered with AEG Live for the [Monster Energy] Carolina Rebellion music festival since 2013 and we’re looking forward to hosting an equally successful event in the inaugural Texas Mutiny.”

Texas Mutiny will invade the Texas Motor Speedway in Dallas-Fort Worth on Saturday, Sept. 24. For those living in Texas, or those who might want to take a trip to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, specially priced general admission and VIP tickets will be available beginning Wednesday, May 4. The special pre-sale will run from Wednesday to Friday, May 6 at 9:59 AM CDT, so make sure to obtain your tickets as soon as they go on sale. For more information about Texas Mutiny, head on over to the festival’s website here.

Avenged Sevenfold Enlist Former Bad Religion Drummer

Avenged Sevenfold has confirmed the identity of their brand new drummer. Weeks after announcing that another drummer had left the band, the California group has unveiled who their new drummer is. During an appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast, frontman M. Shadows confirmed that former Bad Religion drummer, Brooks Wackerman, will in fact be A7X’s new drummer.

In a twist, Wackerman had announced his own departure from Bad Religion, a group he had been with for over a decade, about a week ago. In the interview, Shadows reveals that Wackerman’s name had been tossed around several times since the death of Jimmy “The Rev” Sullivan back in 2009. While Wackerman’s name had been suggested during several instances, it didn’t mean that they thought less of the former drummers they had; Mike Portnoy and Arin Ilejay.

“To be honest, Brooks’ name has always been in the mix. It was one of the names we were throwing around when Jimmy passed away in terms of who was going to step up for [2010’s] Nightmare,” said Shadows.

“We felt Mike [Portnoy] was the right choice and we still feel that way. Mike just destroyed on the record. He was perfect. But at the time, our tour manager brought up Brooks’ name as well. But at the time he was also busy with Bad Religion and it was also … people were going to look at it differently because he was a punk drummer at this point.”

But for those Bad Religion fans who may think that A7X “stole” Wackerman from the group, Shadows admits that he started things slowly, not to completely “poach” him from the punk band.

“What we did was we just wanted to make sure we didn’t jump into anything too fast, so for us it was, ‘Can we play the old songs? Let’s go have some rehearsals. Can we write together? Let’s write together. Let’s throw some riffs at him and see what would you play on this and can you give us 10 different drum beats around this riff?’ And it just instantly clicked and everyone was so excited.”

As for Wackerman, he said that he broke the news of his desire to leave Bad Religion to each of the member, individually, right before the last show of their tour.

“I spoke with every band member individually on a day off on tour right before our last show. There’s just a lot of history there, but they understood. They get it. I mean the band has been around for 35 years so they’ve gone through this before.”

As for Avenged Sevenfold and new music, it sounds like there might be something coming our way soon. During the interview, Shadows teased about the direction the new album will be heading.

“The idea of the last record was a very stripped down sound and the idea of the next is a not very stripped down sound.”

To listen to the complete interview with Shadows and Wackerman on “Talk Is Jericho,” head on over here.

Avenged Sevenfold’s last studio album was 2013’s Hail to the King.

Rock Band 4 Track List Unveiled

It’s the return of the music-centric video games!

Hot on the heels of Activision’s announcement that they would be relaunching their once great video game franchise, Guitar Hero with Guitar Hero Live, another musical instrument video game has announced its return; Rock Band.

Though the announcement that the video game would be coming back was actually made a few months back, the people behind Rock Band 4 have now unveiled part of the track list for the upcoming game. Bands like Paramore, the Foo Fighters, Avenged Sevenfold, Aerosmith, and the Cure will be part of the 1,500 tracks that will be available for download at the Rock Band music store when the game is released in the Fall.

“With Rock Band 4, we’re doubling down on the energy and excitement of playing music live with your friends,” says Harmonix (the developers of the game) Chief Executive Officer Steve Janiak.

“Focusing on the core experience that our fans have told us they love allows us to evolve established gameplay in meaningful ways that we can’t wait to share with everyone later this year.”

Check out some of the track list below.

Aerosmith: “Toys In The Attic”
Avenged Sevenfold: “Hail to the King”
Benjamin Booker: “Violent Shiver”
The Cure: “Friday I’m In Love”
Dream Theater: “Metropolis Part 1 – The Miracle And The Sleeper”
Elvis Presley: “Suspicious Minds”
Fleetwood Mac: “You Make Loving Fun”
Foo Fighters: “The Feast And The Famine”
Jack White: “Lazaretto”
Judas Priest: “Halls Of Valhalla”
The Killers: “Somebody Told Me”
Live: “All Over You”
Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars: “Uptown Funk”
The Outfield: “Your Love”
Ozzy Osbourne: “Miracle Man”
Paramore: “Still Into You”
Queens of the Stone Age: “My God is the Sun”
Scandal: “The Warrior”
Spin Doctors: “Little Miss Can’t Be Wrong”
St Vincent: “Birth In Reverse”
Van Morrison: “Brown Eyed Girl”
The Who: “The Seeker”

Earlier this week, Harmonix had revealed that gamers will now be given the opportunity to freestyle guitar solos as they play. The game will now allow players to be more flexible in their playing, so instead of having to hit that note at the right exact place at the right exact time, the game will allow the player to follow some general guidelines. During the freestyle, you will still be scored, but apparently, you can’t fail either.

Check out a video directly from Tech Crunch who got the chance to play int his new mode.

Rock Band 4 is set to be released on Oct. 9.

Craig Aaronson (A&R for Jimmy Eat World, My Chemical Romance, and More) Passed Away

Normally, hearing that someone from a record label passed away doesn’t really make headlines, but sometimes that person played a key role in discovering some of your favorite bands. In news that feels like a dagger to the heart, the A&R guy responsible for discovering many of the bands that helped shape our music taste and love of music, passed away.

According to several music publications including Billboard and Alternative Press, Craig Aaronson famed A&R guy from Warner Bros., passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Many artists, including those that he played a key role in discovering, have already taken to Twitter to express their condolences. Here are just some of the ones that we have found on our Twitter feed with more coming as the day progresses.

Rest in peace Craig. You gave us fire, hope, and love. Thank you.

— the spooky soup (@gerardway) October 30, 2014

News of a death is always heavy. I'm taking the rest of the night off y'all. Love the ones you got.

— Laura Jane Grace (@LauraJaneGrace) October 30, 2014

RIP Craig Aaronson. So sad. He was a great friend who taught me alot and played a huge part in my career.

— Fred Mascherino (@thecolorfred) October 30, 2014

RIP to the nicest, most caring person I have ever met! Even through the end you lived your life to the fullest! See you again Craig Aaronson

— Kellin Quinn (@Kellinquinn) October 30, 2014

RIP Craig Aaronson – One of the few who believed. Thank you for giving me the confidence & opportunity to follow my dreams.

— Craig Owens (@craigowens) October 30, 2014

Just received heartbreaking news. The world lost a visionary man today whom I owe my career to! So sad.. Signing off for now RIP C. Aaronson

— Branden Steineckert (@801PUNX) October 30, 2014

Craig Aaronson RIP

— John Feldmann (@JohnFeldy) October 29, 2014

View this post on Instagram

It's with great sadness in our hearts that we write this message to you all. An integral part of our A7X family has passed away. Craig Aaronson was one of the driving forces behind our decision to sign with Warner Brothers Records back in 2004 along with Tom Whalley and Andy Olyphant. We had heard horror stories about independent bands signing with major labels so when we first met Craig we were skeptical. We ended up trusting him and Warner Brothers Records and in the end we are glad that we did. Craig had not only been a personal friend to us through the years, but also helped spearhead many of the bands successes, including allowing us to have complete creative control throughout all of our albums. No matter what we handed into the label he would get behind it and go to work. Our manager Larry Jacobson has always said working with Craig was like working with a partner, always agreeable even when you disagreed, and because of that, A7X and WBR got so many good things done together. A couple of years ago Craig left Warner Brothers to do other things, we were saddened by his decision but realized he needed to move on. A few months later we were informed that Craig had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. While on chemo Craig still made it out to our Hail to the King album release show in Los Angeles earlier this year. We were all blown away by his dedication and will to live. Sadly, yesterday he lost the battle against cancer. He is survived by an amazing wife and kids. We will always be grateful to Craig and everything he has done for us. He has done the same for many other countless bands and without a doubt will be sorely missed. Thank you for everything Craig. Love A7X P.S. Life is too short, spend some extra time with the ones you love today.

A post shared by Avenged Sevenfold (@avengedsevenfold) on Oct 30, 2014 at 9:24am PDT

Aaronson was most well-know for bringing bands such as My Chemical Romance, The Used, Jimmy Eat World, Taking Back Sunday, Avenged Sevenfold, Against Me! and more to the label and helping them reach success.

If anyone needs an example of Aaronson’s enthusiasm for the bands he helped discover and love of his job, the perfect example can be found on MCR’s first DVD, Life on the Murder Scene where we see Aaronson listening to some new tracks the band were working on at the time and how passionately excited he got while listening to them.

Aaronson kicked off his lengthy resume of successful bands by signing Jimmy Eat World back in 1995 to Capitol before leaving and getting his job at Warner Bros. Jimmy Eat World recently wrote about that and how when they had no money, Aaronson had let them sleep in his house.

All we can say is thank you very much for discovering those bands and we owe you a lot, Craig. You had a role in helping shape who we are today.

Watch the Original Video for Avenged Sevenfold’s “Unholy Confession”

It’ s been eleven years to the day (August 26, 2003) since Avenged Sevenfold’s second studio album, Waking the Fallen made its debut and now, the band have released a special edition of the record in honor of its “unusual” anniversary.

Earlier in the year, the band had revealed that they would be returning to Hopeless Records, their former record label, to release Waking the Fallen: Resurrected.

As part of the re-release, Waking the Fallen: Resurrected includes 11 previously unheard tracks, new artwork, a 30-minute film which features archived footage from the band (alla All Excess DVD, we assume), and the original, uncut video for the third single off the album, “Unholy Confessions.”

Now, if you’re someone who watched the video that was released in 2004, then this video is really different, though we will admit to seeing it several years ago.

Welcome to the internet age.

The original video was a concept video which was later scrapped when the band decided they didn’t like the final product. In a way, we agree with the band’s decision though the warehouse set up is reminiscent of their music video for “Afterlife.”

Check the uncut video below and tell us which you prefer, though we might be a little bias on this one.