A Nightmare Comes to Life

Avenged Sevenfold released their brand new album Nightmare yesterday. To celebrate, A7X is doing some stuff on the web this week that you can take part in.

1. The band will host a LIVE CHAT online where they will talk to their fans tomorrow night (Thursday, July 29th @ 5p EST).

2. The band will air a LIVE FEED of their concert in Syracuse, NY on Saturday, July 31st.

Both events will happen on Avenged Sevenfold's UStream page.

So there you have it...a few really cool things going on this week that you can be apart of from the comfort of your computer chair. Enjoy!

A Thousands Suns Burst Forth

Finally! I'm not even going to waste my time with an introduction to this. Linkin Park have announced that their new album, A Thousand Suns, will be released on September 14th.

Score!

Now that the nitty-gritty of the news is out of the way, I'm going to discuss. After all of the back and forth and all the waiting, our patience has finally paid off. We need but wait another two(ish) months.

It's interesting to see that Linkin Park is sticking with the "nuclear" theme. If you don't know what I'm talking about, allow me to enlighten thee. The band's last album title, Minutes to Midnight, is in reference to the Doomsday Clock which marks the theological, philosophical, and hypothetical number of minutes until midnight; midnight being representative of mankind's annihilation via nuclear war. The lower the number of "minutes to midnight", the closer humanity is, in theory, to blowing ourselves to smithereens.

In case you were curious, the Doomsday Clock is currently (at the time of writing this blog) at 6 Minutes to Midnight.

The new album title, A Thousand Suns, is a reference to a statement made by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the developer of the Atomic Bomb, after bearing witness to the first successful detonation of a nuclear weapon.

"Now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds."

At the time of the statement, Oppenheimer was quoting The Bhagavad Gita.

"If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the Shatterer of Worlds."

What does any of this have to do with Linkin Park? Probably nothing. I just thought it would be fun to give you a history lesson.

Linkin Park's new album, A Thousand Suns, hits stores September 14th. That's all you probably care about.

Do keep an ear out for their new single "The Catalyst", which will be released August 2nd.

As always, keep it here for updates on this and other New Rock announcements.

Trapt and Unapologetic

The band known as Trapt has seen a large burst of popularity since it's inception and debut single "Headstrong". Their last album Only Through the Pain debuted at #8 on the Billboard 200 and it had two wildly popular singles "Who's Going Home With You Tonight?" and "Contagious".

Personally, while I enjoyed Only Through the Pain, it was obviously an album of ballads. There weren't any songs on the record that really reached out and punched you in the good'n'plenties, if you know what I mean. It was a softer, more melodic album lacking any powerful anthems like "Headstrong" of "Stand Up". I'm not saying it wasn't good, because it was good. In fact, it was very good. Still, it just felt like something was missing.

It was for these reasons that I was excited to learn that Trapt was putting out a new album this year. I was curious as to which direction the band would go from here. Finally, word came down yesterday that the new album is called No Apologies, and it is due out on September 14th*.

Having listened to "Sound Off", the first single off the new record that is due to hit radio on July 20th, I can say with some certainty that Trapt understands the grievances that myself and many more of their fans had with their last studio effort. I say that because "Sound Off", the very FIRST new single, is exactly the type of song that Only Through the Pain was missing. It's an anthem through and through, and the fact that it is the lead-in single to the new record implies that Trapt is making a statement with it. This song is evidence of a great new record, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.

As always, keep it here for updates on this and other New Rock announcements.

* UPDATE 08/12/10 - The release date for No Apologies has been pushed back to October 12th.

How To Destroy Angels

When Nine Inch Nails called it quits, a great many people were depressed. I sure was. However, Trent Reznor assured all of the fans that Nine Inch Nails was only through with touring, and that he was still writing new material for the band. That was enough to satisfy a lot of people since NIN would still be active in at least some capacity.

Starting in February of this year, a lot of speculation took shape when Reznor posted numerous pictures on NIN.com of various recording equipment, including one picture of Reznor himself singing into a microphone. Many believed that we were on the verge of getting some new NIN. Alas, we were wrong. But we are getting something.

As it turns out, Reznor has been very busy working on a side-project with his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and musician/composer Atticus Ross. This side-project is now known as How to Destroy Angels.

This new collaboration has a self-titled, 6-track EP due to come out as a physical release on July 6th. However, if you just can't wait, How to Destroy Angels - EP is available RIGHT NOW as a FREE digital download on the band's website.

From the little I've heard, this is going to be an incredible band. I've never gotten into downloading music though. Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to wait for the physical release. You'll have to tell me how it is if you take the time to download it.

As always, keep it here for updates on this and other New Rock announcements.

A Nightmare Scenario

It's always difficult to see a talented musician pass away, especially at an early age and at the height of their career. Avenged Sevenfold had to deal with this exact scenario when their drummer "The Rev" passed away at the end of 2009.

At the time, A7X was in the middle of writing and recording a new album. In fact, they were just about to enter the studio when it happened. Most people, myself included, believed that The Rev's death was going to throw the recording of the new album into an indefinite hiatus. Who could blame the band for wanting to take a break?

Avenged Sevenfold did not take a break, however. Still armed with all of the already written material, much of which was written by The Rev himself, the band hit the studio with the intention of finishing the album in The Rev's honor and dedicating it to him by using all of the music that he had written, and even using The Rev's previously-recorded vocals.

With the help of Dream Theater's drummer, Mike Portnoy, Avenged Sevenfold recorded their new album Nightmare which is set to be released on July 27th. Meanwhile, Mike Portnoy has agreed to tour with A7X as their stand-in drummer until the band can find a permanent replacement.

For fans of Avenged Sevenfold and the band alike, this album will serve as a rebirth. I, personally, cannot wait to hear it.

As always, keep it here for updates on this and other New Rock announcements.

Looking Forward to Yesterday

It was more than a year ago that I announced here on the ol' blog that 12 Stones was busy working on recording a new album that was (at the time) due out in the Fall of 2009. Well, the Fall of '09 came and went and I heard nary a thing.

Finally, though, at the top of the new year, 12 Stones began slowly releasing information about the new record, even debuting a new single "We Are One" to radio. Still, we did not have an album name or release date. Today, we finally do.

The new release from 12 Stones will be titled The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday, and it is set to be released on July 20th. The title has been public knowledge for a while, but I wanted to make sure I had all the info before I wrote a blog on it.

But hold on to your hat. If you are expecting an album from 12 Stones, I hate to tell you that you're out of luck. Yes, as it turns out, the new release will only be an EP and not a full length album, which defies everything we have been told over the past year.

The tracklisting is as follows:

1. Welcome to The End
2. We Are One
3. Disappear
4. Tomorrow Comes Today
5. Enemy

Even I have to admit that only getting an EP is somewhat disappointing, especially considering that I've been eagerly awaiting news on this release for so long, but what can you do? I can only hope that because this release is only an EP that we can expect a complete album sometime within the next year. Time will tell for sure. Still, getting this is better than getting nothing.

As always, keep it here for updates on this and other New Rock announcements.

Only Roaches Will Survive Annihilation

In my first post in a long ass time, I'm hitting you with some New Rock news. This time it's coming from Papa Roach, one of the most popular bands out there today.

P.Roach has had one hell of a year, starting with their split from their label Interscope Records. In that time, fans worried and rumors abounded. What was to become of Papa Roach? As if there was any real worry, the band was picked up by a new record label. They are now on board with Eleven Seven Music, a more or less indie label presided over by Nikki Sixx that is rapidly becoming a force to be reckoned with in the music industry.

Since joining with Eleven Seven, Papa Roach has been hard at work on a brand new album. The new record is called Time For Annihilation...On the Road and On the Record, and it is set to hit stores on August 31st. The new album is very unique in that is will feature a collaboration of both brand new music and live recordings. There have been a total of five new tracks confirmed, and anywhere from nine to eleven live songs (depending on the source). The first new single, "Kick in the Teeth", should be getting airplay on 97.9X by the end of the month.

On top of the new album, Papa Roach has another CD coming out on the 29th of this month (June). To Be Loved: The Best of Papa Roach is a greatest hits compilation being released by Interscope Records, the band's former label. However, numerous rumors have reported that Papa Roach has been telling their fans not to buy it, indicating that they (Papa Roach) are making no money from the album's sales and that it is not one of their official releases. Is that going to stop YOU from buying it?

In a year featuring a radical number of new music releases, Papa Roach is rocking the boat with something new and different with Time for Annihilation. Keep an ear out for that new single...it's coming soon.

As always, keep it here for updates on this and other New Rock announcements.