You may remember my mentioning Shadow Reborn back in May, when I wrote this review of their EP, Realm of the Wicked. Well, I’m here to insist, again, that you check out this band!
Shadow Reborn is from Florida and offers all the glitz and glam of the 80s hair metal era with the darker macabre element of bands such as The 69 Eyes, Type O Negative, and Lacrimosa. A self-proclaimed theatrical goth metal act, this quintet has time traversing imagery, lyrics that delve straight into the human psyche, heavy riffs, and catchy anthemic choruses. Thus far, they have released two EPs – Intricacies (2015) and Realm of the Wicked (2022) – and several singles.
Below are my favorite track from Shadow Reborn, as well as their most recent single, and links to their socials. Be sure to follow them to keep up with any news, show announcements, and/or music releases.
My favorite. This song is the fifth track on Intricacies.
“Her Mortal Embrace” was released in 2021 and appears on Realm of the Wicked.
British power metal band DragonForce are touring North America this fall with special guests Amaranthe, Nanowar of Steel, and Edge of Paradise. Tickets and a limited number of VIP experiences are available at dragonforce.com.
10/20 – Mesa, AZ – The Nile Theater*
10/21 – Albuquerque, NM – Revel*
10/23 – Austin, TX – Empire Control Room & Garage
10/24 – Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
10/25 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
10/27 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
10/28 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
10/30 – Atlanta, GA – Heaven at The Masquerade
10/31 – Charlotte, NC – The Underground
11/1 – Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Soundstage
11/3 – New York, NY – Palladium Time Square
11/4 – Worcester, MA – Palladium
11/5 – Montreal, QC – MTELUS
11/6 – Toronto, ON – The Danforth Music Hall
11/8 – Cleveland, OH – Agora Theater & Ballroom
11/9 – Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre
11/10 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
11/11 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
11/12 – Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater
11/14 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
11/15 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Depot
11/16 – Boise, ID – Knitting Factory Concert House
Gwar is setting out this fall on their Age of Imbeciles Tour alongside Negative Approach, X-Cops, and Cancer Christ! You can get your tickets at gwar.net.
Alt-rockers Live are doing a short run of (mostly) acoustic shows this October and November in the northeast U.S. Tickets available at freaks4live.com.
10/12 – Rutland, VT – Paramount Theatre, VT
10/13 – Boston, MA – Boch Center at Shubert Theatre
10/15 – New London, CT – Garde Arts Center
10/17 – Harrisburg, PA – The Forum Auditorium
10/18 – Washington, DC – Lincoln Theatre
10/20 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center
10/21 – Atlantic City, NJ – Ocean Casino Resort*
11/8 – Albany, NY – Hart Theatre at The Egg
11/10 – Ithaca, NY – State Theatre of Ithaca
11/11 – Salamanca, NY – Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino (New date!)
The first date of this tour was technically Tool’s set at Louder Than Life… I guess I should have posted sooner. Whoops!
Anyway, Tool is touring this fall. With them will be opener Steel Beans, who will be appearing on the non-festival dates starting October 11th in Salt Lake City. Tickets/VIP are available at toolband.com!
10/3 – Loveland, CO – Budweiser Events Center (w/special guest Emily Wolfe)
10/6 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival 2023
10/8 – Indio, CA – Power Trip Festival 2023
10/11 – Salt Lake City, UT – Delta Center
10/12 – Idaho Falls, ID – Hero Arena at the Mountain America Center
10/14 – Nampa (Boise), ID – Ford Idaho Center Arena
Update:The show on 11/14 has been moved from Racine, WI, to Belvedere, IL, at the Apollo Theatre!
Horror punk band Murderdolls’ debut album, Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls, turns 21 this year! In celebration of this anniversary, frontman Wednesday 13 is hitting the road to perform songs from their first record, as well as their second and final release, Women and Children Last (2010). Wednesday’s touring lineup for this run includes Murderdolls’ alumni Roman Surman and Jack Tankersley.
The supporting acts are Gemini Syndrome, Infected Rain, and Black Satellite.
This is far from a comprehensive list, of course, but here are five bands I’ve discovered from the neue Deutsche härte genre that don’t get nearly enough recognition in the U.S.
1. Oomph!
Formed in 1989, Oomph! actually pioneered the neue Deutsche härte movement, according to some sources The thing I really love about them is the fact that they change a little (sometimes a lot) every couple of albums. They started with a more electronic/dance/industrial sound, but they quickly morphed into guitar-driven rock/metal. Several bands that came after drew inspiration from Oomph!, including – most notably – Rammstein.
From the self-titled record released in 1992
From GlaubeLiebeTod (2006)
From XXV (2015)
2. Eisbrecher
I actually discovered Eisbrecher years ago, but I didn’t know the band’s name. My best friend had their song “Wilkommen im Nichts” downloaded to her computer, and I loved it. Later, I searched for the song, found that it was by Eisbrecher, and went down the rabbit hole. I bought a copy of their 2010 release Eiszeit and I’ve been a fan ever since.
From the self-titled record (2004)
From Eiszeit (2010)
From Liebe machtMonster (2021)
3. Stahlmann
I found Stahlmann after I’d begun listening to Eisbrecher (and obsessing over the track “Wir Sind Wir” by Paul van Dyk and Peter Heppner). I think at that point I was simply looking for similar bands because I really enjoy the genre. The first song I remember hearing by Stahlmann was “Schwarz.”
From the self-titled record (2010)
From CO2 (2015)
From Quarz (2021)
4. Erdling
Erdling was founded in 2014 by Neill Freiwald and Niklas Kahl. They are a blend of heavier rock and neue Deutsche härte. I remember listening to “Mein Element” and really being able to hear the Rammstein influence.
From Aus den Tiefen (2016)
From Yggdrasil (2020)
From Bestia (2023)
5. Die Kreatur
Die Kreatur is a project formed by Chris Harms (Lord of the Lost) and Dero Goi (Oomph!). The two artists had made guest appearances on tracks for each other’s bands, and they finally decided to merge into a separate entity. The project meshes together the more gothic metal sound of Lord of the Lost with the neue Deutsche härte elements that started with Oomph! Thus far, they have only released one album, entitled Panoptikum, but here’s hoping there will be more from them in the future!
Avant-garde masked metal marauders Mushroomhead are touring this October alongside special guest Hellzapoppin: Circus Sideshow Revue, Kurt Deimer, and FleischKrieg. Grab your tickets at mushroomhead.com!
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