The Unchained Rock Show

Bullet For My Valentine, Glassjaw, Simple Plan, The Menzingers, iDKHOW, Turnstile + Many More Set To Make Their Slam Dunk Festival Debut in May 2019!

Posted on November 20, 2018 by unchainedrock

TICKETS ON SALE NOW
SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL NORTH – SATURDAY 25TH MAY – TEMPLE NEWSAM PARK, LEEDS
SLAM DUNK FESTIVAL SOUTH – SUNDAY 26TH MAY – HATFIELD PARK, HATFIELD

With an infallible first reveal, Slam Dunk Festival – the UK’s favourite alternative extravaganza, returns with a second round of monumental names for the 2019’s instalment.

Bullet For My Valentine, Glassjaw, Simple Plan, The Menzingers, I Don’t Know How, Turnstile, Knocked Loose, The Get Up Kids, Saves The Day, Tiny Moving Parts will all make their Slam Dunk Festival debut, with Trophy Eyes returning to show them how it’s done in Leeds and Hatfield over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

Storming their way onto the Slam Dunk Festival bill for the very first time are Welsh metal titans Bullet For My Valentine. Easily one of the biggest British metal acts in history, the ground-breaking four piece have reached astronomical heights, with six chart-topping studio albums and headlining London’s Alexandra Palace earlier this month. Reinventing metal over and over with monumental speed, technical prowess and arena-filling choruses, tracks such as ‘Letting You Go’ ‘Your Betrayal’ and of course, ‘You Want a Battle (Here’s a War)’ showcase the band’s versatility as leaders of British metal. Another exciting reveal, Bullet For My Valentine are to deliver a ground-breaking performance, headlining one of Slam Dunk’s iconic stages.

Another astounding Slam Dunk debut performance will come from hardcore heroes Glassjaw. Fronted by Daryl Palumbo and Justin Beck, Glassjaw are arguably one of the most influential bands in the underground music scene, due to their visceral sound, zealous live performances and intense history. ‘Material Control’, their expertly crafted follow-up to their 2002 masterpiece release ‘Worship and Tribute’, cemented the band’s post-hardcore cult status. Following a monumental headline performance at London’s Brixton Academy, Glassjaw will return to the UK for Slam Dunk Festival, charged with the fierce energy that propelled them to success in their beginnings.

Simple Plan, one of the most household names in mainstream pop-punk, are set to land on Slam Dunk soil in May 2019. Returning from their mammoth world tour, in celebration of the 15th anniversary ‘No Pads, No Helmets….Just Balls’, needless to say, their set will be filled with undeniable classics for fans old and new.

The Menzingers are set to be a fan-favourite over the May bank holiday weekend. The punk rock unit will undoubtedly unite the Slam Dunk crowd in raucous rock singalongs with their latest release, ‘After The Party’ and esteemed album ‘Rented World’.

Comprised of Dallon Weekes and Ryan Seaman, formerly of Panic! At The Disco and Falling In Reverse respectively, I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME – commonly known as iDKHOW – reinvent electro-rock as possibly the hottest new rock duo in the world, with diehard fans desperate to see IDKHOW make the Slam Dunk Festival stage their own.

Responsible for one of the hardest-hitting albums of the year, Turnstile will delight Slam Dunk with mesmerizingly vicious gems from critically-acclaimed ‘Time & Space’ as well as their biting debut ‘Nonstop Feeling’.

More hardcore? Knocked Loose. With brutal tracks such as ‘Deadringer’, ‘Oblivions Peak’ and ‘Billy No Mates’ in their arsenal, the Kentucky quintet are set to decimate the Slam Dunk Festival stages; their appearance is not to be missed.

Joining these incredible names will be mid-90’s emo royalty, The Get Up Kids and Saves The Day. Travelling from Missouri and New Jersey respectively, it’s undeniable the impact these two seminal artists have had on their scene, are set to delight audiences and bands alike with classic melodies twinned with catchy trademark hooks.

The only band from this announcement to have played Slam Dunk Festival before, Aussie punk troupe Trophy Eyes will be returning following their landmark performance in 2017. Having recently released their third album ‘The American Dream’ to critical acclaim, Slam Dunk fans will no doubt be excited to witness the new material during only it’s second airing in the UK.

Rounding off the blistering second-wave of acts, Slam Dunk is thrilled to welcome Tiny Moving Parts to the festival for the first time. The Minnesota trio have built an incredible fanbase with their intricate mix of math-rock and post-hardcore and are sure to gather a crowd for tracks such as ‘Always Focused’ and ‘Caution’.

After the huge success of Slam Dunk’s move to Hatfield House last year, the festival has also announced plans for a new site for Slam Dunk North, moving to Leeds’ Temple Newsam Estate so even more pop-punk fanatics can make their way to the definitive date of the alternative diary. Reaching across two stunning greenfield sites in Leeds and Hatfield on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th May 2019 – Slam Dunk 2019 is the next evolution for that go-to destination of rock.

BLOODSTOCK adds GRAND MAGUS, DEATH ANGEL and more

Posted on November 20, 2018 by unchainedrock

BLOODSTOCK is excited to announce another five more bands for August 2019’s heavy metal weekender.

The Friday headliner on the Sophie Lancaster stage will be Swedish heavy metal trio, GRAND MAGUS! Frontman & guitarist JB commands us; “Dear Bloodstockers! The Magus returns to the UK to lay waste to your eardrums with metal! We are honoured to be headlining the Sophie Lancaster stage and we will put our hearts and souls into making it something special for all of you. Can’t wait to see you all!” The band have been hard at work in the studio on the follow up to 2016’s ‘Sword Songs’. Check out a sneak peek from the studio with JB here: https://youtu.be/RJa_c2ZFSF8.

Bringing some thrash to the Ronnie James Dio main stage on Friday are Bay Area five-piece, DEATH ANGEL. Frontman Mark Osegueda comments, “We haven’t played BLOODSTOCK since 2013, when we had to run straight from the stage after a blistering set to a van that took us to the airport to make it to our next show! So we look forward to experiencing this incredible festival properly in all its glory in 2019! It will have been six years since we graced that stage and we have been dying to return. We promise to show you how eager we’ve been to get back to BLOODSTOCK with a pure thrash set fuelled by raw human aggression and passion! Thank you BLOODSTOCK for bringing us back!!!!” The band have also been working on new material for their ninth studio album set for release in 2019 with producer, Jason Suecof. In the meantime, check out ‘Lost’ from 2016’s ‘The Evil Divide’ album here – https://youtu.be/GVYl_hiD1oQ.

METAL CHURCH step into a main stage slot on Friday. The American heavy metal trailblazers are set to release their twelfth studio album, ‘Damned If You Do’ on 7th December via Nuclear Blast in the UK. Their 2016 release ‘XI’ marked the return of former frontman Mike Howe. Check out a taster with new track, ‘By The Numbers’ here – https://youtu.be/SZTPkSdOF5U. Mike tells us “We can’t wait to get over to the UK and bring ‘Damned If You Do’ to our fans overseas. BLOODSTOCK is going to be an incredible time and a show not to be missed.”

Noted for founding both punk group The Dictators and the legendary Manowar, Ross Friedman and his band ROSS THE BOSS join the bill. Having been introduced to Manowar co-founder Joey DeMaio by none other than Ronnie James Dio, it seems only fitting that ROSS THE BOSS will perform on the Ronnie James Dio main stage on Sunday. Check out the video for the title track of current studio album, ‘By Blood Sworn’ here; https://youtu.be/0BMyWdNfJBQ.

Last but not least, a Catton Park favourite, EVIL SCARECROW will bring their intergalactic party to the main stage on Saturday. The band have an array of fabulous vinyl and special editions available for recently released studio album, ‘Chapter VI: Antartartica’ over at PledgeMusic – www.pledgemusic.com/projects/evil-scarecrow-antartarctica. While you peruse the goods on offer, check out new track, ‘Red Riding Hood’, about a martian invasion (naturally) over on their YouTube; https://youtu.be/eIXO2aXhwxE.

These five join the previously announced Friday night headliner, SABATON, Sunday’s bill toppers SCORPIONS, together with CHILDREN OF BODOM, CODE ORANGE, SOILWORK, CRADLE OF FILTH, SKELETONWITCH, DEE SNIDER, QUEENSRYCHE, ELUVEITIE, ROTTING CHRIST and HYPOCRISY on the Catton Park stages next August. Stay tuned for more bands to be announced soon!

Standard weekend tickets are still currently available at ‘early bird’ prices (just £132 for four days of metal fun), so pick up yours at the ticket store – http://bloodstock.seetickets.com – if you want to save a few quid. Camper van passes are also available in limited quantities, but be quick, as limited spaces remain.

BLOODSTOCK’s first wave of 2019 Serpents Lair VIP tickets are now SOLD OUT! A second wave, including Deluxe VIP packages (Luxpads, Bellepads, Podpads, etc) and a limited amount of VIP upgrades (for those who’ve already purchased standard weekend tickets) will become available on Monday 17th December at 9am. For full details click to http://www.bloodstock.uk.com/pages/vip-camping.

You can also subscribe to the BLOODSTOCK e-mailout to get band and news announcements as they happen! Click through to http://eepurl.com/dKZrG-/ to sign up.

BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 8th-11th August 2019. Get additional information over at www.bloodstock.uk.com.

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES NEXT WAVE OF ACTS FOR 2019

Posted on November 20, 2018 by unchainedrock

SLAYER (final UK show)
THE SMASHING PUMPKINS

Download Festival, the world’s premier rock event, has announced a further 23 acts including Slayer with their last ever UK show, The Smashing Pumpkins, Dream Theater, Lamb of God, Eagles Of Death Metal, and more. The three-day festival takes place 14-16 June 2019 at the spiritual home of rock in Donington Park, Leicestershire. Tickets are on sale now at downloadfestival.co.uk/tickets.

Metal royalty Slayer will be making their final UK appearance at Download 2019 after 37 years of mayhem. Their impact on musical culture cannot be overstated and fans should prepare for yet another legendary performance which will include a barrage of classics as they make one last celebratory sweep of Donington.

The Smashing Pumpkins will make their first appearance at Download Festival next year. The alt-rock and grunge legends have stunned crowds worldwide on their 30^th anniversary tour and are as ageless and seminal as ever. Loud, quiet, dreamy, stirring and everything in-between – The Smashing Pumpkins debut Download performance is not one to be missed.

Prog-metal titans Dream Theater have been at the top of the game for 33 years. Having inspired countless bands along their storied career, their performance will be no less grandiose as they return to Download after a 10 year absence. They will be joined by the groove-laden modern metal heavyweights Lamb of God, as well as Eagles Of Death Metal, who invite fans to revel in all their rock’ n roll glory on their second ever Download appearance.

The prodigally powerful Maori-metal trio Alien Weaponry have carved their own sound somewhere between Sepultura and Silverschair and are in good company with the heavy-metal powerhouse Anthrax who will give fans a performance to remember. Brooding rockers Badflower are hotly-tipped after the success of their poignant, powerful single ‘Ghost’, and joining them are industrial noise-punks Black Futures who have been making seismic waves and will take the crowd on a trip of a lifetime.

Atlanta southern rockers Blackberry Smoke will be on hand to serve up a truck load of raucous country-infused good times. Detroit post-hardcore band I Prevail have proven that they are the real deal and will whip the crowd into a frenzy, and so too will Los Angeles natives The Interrupters. Ukrainian tech metallers Jinjer, led by their incredibly powerful frontwoman Tatiana Shmaylyuk, are also added to the line up and will bring their all-powerful live performance to Download.

Man With A Mission are jumping on board with their pulse-racing hooks, riffs and giant wolf heads in tow, and are joined by fellow genre-melder nothing,nowhere. who has taken the world by storm with his hybrid emo-rap, pushing both genres forward as the most exciting force in the ever-growing scene. Our Last Night whose rapid rise to success shows no sign of slowing down are also added to the bill, as too are Riding The Low who are making the pilgrimage from Burton-on-Trent featuring Paddy Considine on vocals.

Swedish sensations Royal Republic will also join the Download 2019 line up alongside Pop-punk front-runners State Champs who’re fresh off the back of the release of their third album ‘Living Proof’. Rising Nepalese metal disruptors Underside will turn up the volume and are in good company with the well-oiled deathcore machine Whitechapel who will steam roll in to lay waste to the fields of Donington.

Australian up-and-comers Yours Truly will be flying in with a freight of huge choruses with them, and last but not least Floridian party starters Zebrahead are bringing the fun with no shortage of anthems and antics to get the crowd going.

Download Festival is the home of rock music and takes place on the sacred grounds of Donington Park, which have been associated with rock since the eighties. The festival attracts icons of rock to its main stage, plus some of the best and hottest new acts in the world. AC/DC, KISS, Metallica, Black Sabbath, The Prodigy, Rage Against The Machine, Slipknot, Linkin Park and many more have all headlined the main stage.

For further information, please visit downloadfestival.co.uk

ARfm Radio Preview The Heavy Music Awards. There’s Still Time To Cast Your Vote!

Posted on June 15, 2018 by unchainedrock

Tune in Thursday 21st June at 9pm for ARfm’s preview of The Heavy Music Awards.

On the show we talk to some of the of the nominees for Best International Breakthrough Artist including Stand Atlantic, Knocked Loose and Palaye Royale as well as Best UK Breakthrough Artist nominees Holding Absence and Loathe. We’ll also hear from Josh of Northlane so tune in Thursday 21st June at 9pm on www.arfm.co.uk

Over 100,000 votes cast in the Heavy Music Awards so far and there’s still time to cast your vote!

Voting closes on June 27th. Vote now at vote.heavymusicawards.com

The HMAs shine a spotlight on artists, producers, venues, festivals and designers who’s incredible talent deserves the attention of the wider world. To achieve this, they have a judging panel of several hundred key music industry figures nominating the finalists, before the public votes on the winners. In 2017, they received almost 100,000 votes from the general public, every single one double opted-in.

This year The HMAs will take place at London’s KOKO on August 22nd. The event, which will later be shown exclusively on Scuzz TV is an opportunity for the rabble rousers, the game changers and fiercely passionate artists in the world of rock and metal to be celebrated.

Finalists for the Heavy Music Awards 2018:

Best Album

Code Orange – Forever

Converge – The Dusk In Us

Creeper – Eternity, In Your Arms

Enter Shikari – The Spark

Mastodon – Emperor Of Sand

The Menzingers – After The Party

While She Sleeps – You Are We

Best UK Band

Arcane Roots

Architects

Creeper

Enter Shikari

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

Marmozets

While She Sleeps

Best International Band

Code Orange

Converge

Mastodon

The Menzingers

Metallica

Parkway Drive

Trivium

Best Live Band presented by Jackson Guitars

Architects

Enter Shikari

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

Gojira

Ghost

While She Sleeps

Every Time I Die

Best UK Breakthrough Band

Bad Sign

Conjurer

Employed To Serve

Holding Absence

Loathe

Milk Teeth

Venom Prison

Best International Breakthrough Band

Brutus

Can’t Swim

Knocked Loose

Palaye Royale

Sløtface

Stand Atlantic

Waterparks

Best Album Artwork presented by The Pit

Bell Witch – Mirror Reaper

Converge – The Dusk In Us

Creeper – Eternity, In Your Arms

Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes – Modern Ruin

Mastodon – Emperor of Sand

Northlane – Mesmer

Sikth – The Future In Whose Eyes?

Best Festival

2000trees Festival

Arc Tan Gent

Bloodstock Open Air

Download Festival

Hellfest Open Air

Slam Dunk Festival

UK Tech Fest

Best Photographer

Corinne Cumming

Ben Gibson

Joshua Halling

Paul Harries

Tina Korhonen

Jennifer McCord

Ed Mason

Best Producer

Kurt Ballou

Romesh Dodangonda

Neil D Kennedy

Dan Lancaster

Brendan O’Brien

Will Putney

Will Yip

How the Heavy Music Awards works:

The first step of the HMA process sees members of the HMA Voting Panel nominate their top threes for each category, covering artists, photographers, designers, producers, venues and festivals. The panel comprises those who work in the music industry in a professional or semi-professional capacity. The HMAs as an organisation and its staff are not involved in the voting process in any way.

Once the nominations are completed, the lists are tallied up to create shortlists of seven finalists in each category. The lists of finalists were announced at the HMA18 Launch Event on 25 April, at Gorilla, Manchester.

At this point the shortlists have been made available for public voting.

The winners will be announced at the Heavy Music Awards 2018 on 23rd August at KOKO, London. Anyone who votes is entered into the ballot to win tickets to attend the event.

For more information checkout http://heavymusicawards.com/

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL – WE’LL SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!

Posted on June 11, 2018 by unchainedrock

OVER 100,000 MUSIC FANS MAKE PILGRAMAGE TO DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL IN GLORIOUS SUNSHINE AND CELEBRATE WITH AVENGED SEVENFOLD, GUNS N’ROSES AND OZZY OSBOURNE’S FIRST AND FINAL HEADLINE APPEARANCE AT THE HOME OF ROCK

FURTHER SITE IMPROVEMENTS AND ADDITION OF BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE SEES DOWNLOAD RECIEVE GOLD AWARD FOR ‘ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING’ ACCESSIBILITY CHARTER

GREENEST YEAR FOR THE UK’S LARGEST SINGLE SITE FESTIVAL AND INAUGURAL ECO CAMPSITE

TICKETS FOR DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2019 ON SALE WEDS 13 JUNE

www.downloadfestival.co.uk

The world premier rock and metal event took place as 100,000 descended to the hallowed grounds of Donington Park, Leicester across the weekend for the 16^th annual Download Festival. The capacity crowds witnessed the triumphant return of Guns N’ Roses with the full ‘Not In This Lifetime’ show as living legends Axl Rose, Slash and Duff Mckagen delivered an unforgettable hits filled set. Stadium smashers Avenged Sevenfold cemented their status as one of the biggest forces in the rock world and the Prince Of Darkness himself and midlands native Ozzy Osbourne closed the festival with panache on his first ever solo appearance at the festival as the only UK date on his ‘No More Tours’ farewell tour.

With the sun shining throughout the weekend, the atmosphere was electric as waves of fans once again lived up to the moniker of what is widely regarded as the UK friendliest festival, celebrating inclusivity, self-expression and displaying a lot of headbanging.

With early birds arriving on Wednesday, taking full advantage of a whole host of entertainment and activities before the main festival opened including the Side Splitter Comedy Tent, Lords Of Lightening, silent disco and annual official Air Guitar contest winner will be flown out to Sweden to compete in the world final. A standout success was the incredibly popular Do.om Yoga, a slow yoga session practiced to sludgy doom metal – with demand outweighing capacity for the heavy metal twist on the trend was perfect to warm up the mindfulness fans for the weekend ahead. No one was caught short as the festival opened the first full-scale Co-op on site making sure essentials were at hand for all and the debut of Co-op‘s reverse recycling’ vending machines, where revellers could earn cash by recycling their plastic.

Download has been awarded the Gold Level of Attitude Is Everything’s Charter of Best Practice, only the 2^nd festival of over 80,000 capacity to have done so.

Gideon Feldman said:

“The commitment Download have shown to accessibility and inclusion clearly sits at the heart of the festival, from the amazing viewing platforms to the campsite provision and in 2018 the addition of British Sign Language performance interpreting for 18 bands across the weekend and an on request service, Download deserves to be recognised for the outstanding work they have shown this year and over the past years”

The first full day of music on Friday saw home-grown heroes You Me At Six deliver a stunning second stage headline performance – as they announced their new album at the festival. UK metal torch-bearers Bullet For My Valentine roared through rock-club anthems ‘Tears Don’t Fall’, ‘Scream Aim Fire’ and new hits ‘Letting You Go’ more as they march toward album number six ‘Gravity’. Andrew WK brought the party in signature style. Punk Legends Bad Religion smashed through punk masterclass and tech metal front-runners Tesseract headlined the dogtooth stage and of course the much loved festival mascot the Download Dog was out in full force enjoying the festivities with the Download family.

Avenged Sevenfold made their welcome return to the sacred grounds on Donnington to make a huge statement that they belong in the upper echelon of world dominating bands and they delivered. With a massive production and a two hour set delving into their extensive bat catalogue with hits ‘City Of Evil’, the number 1 selling ‘Hail To The King’ and latest surprise album ‘The Stage’. A7X paid service to their oldest fans, going all the way back to 2005 classic ‘Unholy confessions’, the Californian group proved that they are here to stay as festival headliners.

Throughout the weekend, WWE NXT provided non-stop high impact action in their full-size wrestling arena. Capacity crowds were amazed with displays of skill, athleticism and high-flying manoeuvres as the most electrifying names in sports entertainment delivered the full NXT experience to Donington Park.

ith Guns N’ Roses set to hit the stage in on Saturday evening anticipation was in the air, it was a family affair with bassist Duff McKagen’s daughter Grace McKagen opening the main stage in her own band The Pink Slips. Second stage headliners Parkway Drive could never be shown up. Having long been touted as future headliners, this was a watershed moment which saw the aussies shine (not just due to the amount of fire and pyro on stage) as incredibly powerful live force ticking every box. Japanese idols BABYMETAL received a hero’s welcome with their infectious mix of J-pop and furiously fast metal. The crowd roared through sets from grunge legends L7, Neck Deep and Thunder who appeared on the very first ‘Monsters Of Rock’ bill. Hard-rocking titans Black Stone Cherry pulled out all the stops, with chunky riffs and singalongs a plenty.

Exactly one minute early the rock icons that had been on the tip of everyone’s tongues Guns N’ Roses came on to stage to a deafening roar and delivered a rock and roll masterclass. Ripping through crowd pleasing, ‘It’s So Easy’, ‘Night train’ ‘Welcome To The Jungle’, ‘You Could Be Mine’, no stone was left unturned. Filled with surprises and nods to missing friends including Velvet Revolver ‘Slither’ and Soundgarden’s ‘Black Hole Sun’ and of course eternal ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ ‘Paradise City’ and ‘November Rain’, Guns N Roses delivered a set that will go down in history for all the right reasons.

Duff McKagen tweeted to his 1.9 million followers

“Yo @DownloadFest…I am utterly speechless. Thank you guys…you’ve been there from the very beginning. F#CK!!”

Download celebrated the success of the first ever Eco Campsite sponsored by Greenpeace which was filled to capacity. Campers agreed to uphold a set of principles including: respecting the natural environment and fellow campers, being responsible for rubbish and taking all camping equipment home.

This Sunday morning fans were no less energetic bounding in the arena as the sun continued to shine down on the famous grounds, which in 2018 was the largest single site festival in the UK. Alexisonfire provided huge servings of nostalgia with emo anthems ‘Young Cardinals,’ ‘Rough Hands’ and more , festival favourites The Hives delivered a powerhouse set with front man Howlin Pelle Almqvist raising the roof engaging every single member of the crowd with his trademark charm and unstoppable energy. Rise Against led a politically charged punk call to action with a relentless performance. Body Count ft. Ice T wasted no time, opening with a bombastic cover of Slayer’s ‘Reign In Blood’ and rallying against the system of flying through hardcore anthems ‘Institutionalised’ and ‘No Lives Matter’. Grammy nominees Baroness left a lasting impression with their polished hard hitting Dogtooth headline set. Shock rock pioneer Marylin Manson did not disappoint, with the sardonic dark lord of rock club smashers and live spectacle the ‘God Of Fuck’ knows how shock and awe flying through ‘Disposable Teens’, ‘Beautiful People’, ‘This Is The New Shit’ and ‘Kill 4 Me’ on incredible form.

With Ozzy Osbourne due to close tonight’s proceedings in what will be a very special performance for the midlands native – as he makes his solo debut as Download Festival headliner. Often credited with inventing heavy metal fans will be treated to a whole host of Ozzy and Black Sabbath classics including the ‘Bark At the Moon’, ‘War Pigs’, ‘Crazy Train’, ‘Paranoid’. With Sharon and Kelly Osbourne on site for support the local legend and godfather of metal will provide a weight and fitting end to what has been one of Download’s most successful years yet.

Download Festival next year takes place on 14, 15, 16 June 2019.

Highlights of the 16^th Download Festival will be broadcast on SKY ARTS on 29th and 30th June.

YOGA-TTA BE KIDDING ME! DO.OMYOGA LAUNCHES AT DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL

Posted on May 12, 2018 by unchainedrock

Download Festival, the UK’s premier rock event has today announced the debut of DO.OMYOGA on-site for 2018. Taking a leap into the world of wellness and fitness, festival revellers will have the incredible opportunity to perfect their downward facing Download Dog and take part in the renowned DO.OMYOGA classes along with up to 250 other Metal Yoga enthusiasts, experts and curious beginners.

The complimentary classes, being held at the festival for the first time, will provide chances for Download Festival goers to perfect their asanas, practice their warrior and fully indulge in this intense immersive Doom Metal experience.

DO.OMYOGA, which is also taught at the sought after Ace Hotel London, is a slow vinyasa based yoga practice set to a selection of music from the heavier and vibrational end of the music spectrum. 90 minute classes will be held at The Side Splitter Stage at 11am on Thursday and Friday and 9am on Saturday and Sunday on a complimentary but first come first served basis.

Alongside headliners Avenged Sevenfold, Guns N’ Roses and Ozzy Osbourne, Download Festival also today announces that The Download Arena will include an exciting new area presented by Lavish – the SINDROME. A place of death defying, record breaking stunts, bohemian freaks, fire shows, machine madness and Viking battles injected with a heavy dose of love, peace and air rock n roll.

Taking place in the SINDROME, the curious pop-up Circus sideshow Caravan of Lost Souls will showcase fire breathing, whip cracking and contortion as part of a dark dose of macabre cabaret. Area 51 performers Fire, Feathers and Fur will once again be hyping the crowds for the hugely popular Demolition Download featuring Battle Heritage which is back again for a fifth year. Medieval Fighters from all over Europe will gather to take each other on in the battle to be crowned champions in this full force, full contact sport. By popular audience demand, and for the first time ever Download festival goers will be able to try their hand at this, most ancient of sports, at the Demolition Download workshops featuring Battle Heritage Fighters in the SINDROME from 2pm on Friday 8^th June.

“Make air, not war” on the SINDROME stage when it plays host to the first ever UK Air Guitar Championships at Download! The winner gets a shot at the world title in Finland in August. DR HAZE the Undead Ringmaster of The Circus of Horrors hosts the competition and at the end of each heat performers from the Circus of Horrors and also Area 51 will be performing on the SINDROME Stage. Details of how to enter the competition will be released soon.

The SINDROME will also play host three times per day to Infernal Varanne – the French based Guinness World Record holding team who will be showcasing their death defying bravery in the dangerous and courageous art of cage riding, with up to three riders in the cage at a time in these adrenaline fuelled performances.

Headlining the SINDROME stage on Saturday and Sunday the electrifying Lords of Lightning. Fusing jaw-dropping science with spellbinding spectacle, the Lords of Lightning harness multi million volt bolts of white-hot electricity into explosive performances. A titanic battle fought with searing shards of lightning, The Duel is an extraordinary union of fluid human movement and the volatile power of electricity unleashed.
The World’s Greatest Wall of Death will make a welcome return to The Download Village providing high-octane performances by the legendary Luke and Kerri Fox and team that will leave the Download audience utterly awe struck and totally exhilarated.

Circus of Horrors are back in the Dog House with their sell out touring shows on Wednesday and Thursday, featuring an amazing amalgamation of bizarre, brave & beautiful acts and a new show CarnEvil for 2018 in the Dog House. Opening for Circus of Horrors each night are new and emerging talents Kalloused – Chaotic, bleak and wrought with tension, Kalloused are a four piece metal band. The offspring of sludge, post hardcore and blackened doom, their debut album ‘Damn you believer’ led to the band becoming a memorial act in the UK underground metal scene.

The Download Village also plays host to delicious food and drink stalls fairground rides and lots of surprises!

Download Festival is the home of rock music and takes place on the sacred grounds of Donington Park, which have been associated with rock since the eighties. The festival attracts icons of rock and metal to its main stage, plus some of the best and hottest new acts in the world. AC/DC, KISS, Metallica, Def Leppard, Guns N’ Roses, Rage Against The Machine, Slipknot, Linkin Park and many more have all headlined its main stage.
TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for Download Festival are available now from downloadfestival.co.uk/tickets
A loyalty discount is available for a limited time. downloadfestival.co.uk/news-features/register-interest-2018-loyalty

RIP PARK FARM CAMPING / CAMPERVAN TICKETS ARE NOW SOLD OUT!

Extras including parking and lockers can be purchased during the booking process or as a standalone after you’ve purchased your ticket. Limited edition Download 2018 Zippo lighters will also be available to purchase alongside your festival ticket. Zippo windproof lighters have become the ultimate accessory for making a bold statement in music and are the perfect way to show your appreciation for your favourite band; with a classic Encore moment. Backed by its famous lifetime guarantee, a Zippo is a lighter for life.

Bloodstock 2018 add seven more bands to the line-up!

Posted on May 8, 2018 by unchainedrock

BLOODSTOCK 2018 is looking to be the biggest yet, with tickets moving fast and set to sell out again in advance. If you want to join us at Catton Park in August, don’t delay in grabbing your tickets! The countdown is now on, with just 93 days to go! The remaining Friday/Saturday/Sunday slots on the Ronnie James Dio main stage and Sophie Lancaster 2nd stage rack up as follows. Thursday’s bill, the Jagermeister stage bill and of course the New Blood stage bill are all yet to come.

Adding some doomy melodeath to proceedings, NAILED TO OBSCURITY (https://www.facebook.com/nailedtoobscurity) land an early main stage slot on Saturday. Curious about this German five-piece? Listen to the song ‘Protean’ from their ‘King Delusion’ album, released last year by Apostasy Records: https://youtu.be/aURv2uR9-yM.

Everyone knows Sweden does metal well, and these guys are no exception. Prog metallers EVERGREY (https://www.facebook.com/Evergrey/) grab themselves a main stage spot on Sunday morning. They’ve ten albums of material under their belts, but get up to speed with their latest collection, ‘The Storm Within’, with ‘In Orbit’ at https://youtu.be/XKNg2dcO94k. The song features guest vocals from none other than Floor Jansen of BLOODSTOCK’s Sunday headliners, Nightwish!

Brit crew MONUMENT (https://www.facebook.com/monumentuk) have the honour of opening the main stage on Sunday! On a mission to bring back classic British heavy metal – citing influences like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Sabbath, Saxon, Rainbow, Thin Lizzy, and Led Zep – it’s no wonder Roar Records picked up these London headbangers! Feast your eyes on their castle-shot video for ‘Lionheart’ at https://youtu.be/tijEVDun0dg.

Welsh death metallers SODOMIZED CADAVER (https://www.facebook.com/SodomizedCadaver) play the Sophie Lancaster stage on Friday. Last seen at BLOODSTOCK on the Jagermeister stage in 2016, we’re delighted to welcome these old school metalheads back in a bigger slot. Not familiar with them yet? Head over to their BandCamp page at https://sodomizedcadaver-isp.bandcamp.com/ and take a listen.

Making their BLOODSTOCK debut on Friday’s Sophie stage are South Africa’s DEITY’S MUSE (https://www.facebook.com/deitysmuse). Bringing their unique blend of alt rock, metal and prog all the way from Johannesburg, these guys are are an absolute juggernaut live. Vocalist Wayne tells us, “I nearly choked on my coffee the morning we found out that we’re included in this year’s gargantuan BLOODSTOCK lineup. To say that we’re excited about the opportunity is a gross understatement. We can’t wait to share our music with the BOA festival goers in August. This is literally a dream come true for us four weirdo South Africans. We’re salivating at the prospect!” Check ‘em out at https://youtu.be/Dcta6hd98mI.

LIMB (https://www.facebook.com/LimbTheBand/) earn a Saturday slot on the Sophie stage. If you like your classic rock served up with a side of stoner doom, these guys could be your new favourite band. Watch their sci-fi inspired video for ‘Dawn Raiders’ at https://youtu.be/aKtj8i-wVTI. They enthuse, “We can’t believe what a great honour it is to be asked to play this amazing festival! Our labelmates Vodun & Black Moth have both played incredible sets on the Sophie stage and now we get our chance to join them in stamping our name into the amazing BLOODSTOCK story. We’re ready to make some ungodly noise for you all!”

Also playing the Sophie stage on Saturday are apocalyptic doomsters WITH THE DEAD (https://www.facebook.com/withthedead). Formed by ex-Napalm Death/Cathedral and Electric Wizard/Serpentine Path members, you may just recognise the unmistakable vocals of Lee Dorrian. Get a sample via track ‘Isolation’ at: https://youtu.be/etLfQIgHzGY. Might we suggest, one not to be missed!

METAL 2 THE MASSES, our programme to support grass roots metal has reached its Grand Finals stage this month, with 31 events happening regionally to pick the best new bands to play BLOODSTOCK’s New Blood stage. Glasgow and Belfast’s finals happen this Friday 11th May, more locations follow from there. M2TM is the biggest initiative in UK & Ireland (not forgetting one-off locations in Norway and Poland) to not only support regional venues, but also give local bands a chance to win a slot at the festival, an opportunity to network and aspire to the winning acts that have gone before them. As well as that chance to play this year’s event, there’s a bigger national prize pool opportunity where selected finals winners will be chosen to open BLOODSTOCK’s Sophie Stage in 2019, play a slot at Slovenia’s Metaldays Festival 2019, win recording time at Parlour Studios with Russ Russell, along with a raft of additional sponsor prizes. Attending punters aren’t left out either, as they could walk away with a ticket to this year’s festival or any number of free giveaways on the night. The Finals are rolling around the country right now so be sure to get down and show support!

Thinking about your route to BLOODSTOCK yet? Official travel partner BIG GREEN COACH are more than happy to transport you, your mates and all your camping essentials from 23 pick-up points all over the country to right inside the BLOODSTOCK gates, having recently added Cambridge & Norwich due to customer demand! For more details, watch https://youtu.be/wqT7Rt2B60E. Alternatively, if you’re driving to the festival and have a space in your car, or are seeking a ride from your area, post your trip on GOCARSHARE’s website to match up with a friendly metaller and help each other ride to BLOODSTOCK! You’ll even be in with a chance of winning a pair of tickets to next year’s festival just by using the GOCARSHARE scheme! Full details over at http://gocarshare.com/festival/bloodstock.

Come join us in August! Standard weekend tickets are on sale now, priced at £145 for four days of metal fun. Grab yours at https://bloodstock.seetickets.com. If you already know you can only attend for one day, sign up for an email reminder so you don’t miss out when a limited number of single day tickets go on sale at the end of June. Register your interest here – https://www.seetickets.com/register/bloodstock.

With Friday night headliners JUDAS PRIEST, Saturday headliners GOJIRA and Sunday’s bill toppers NIGHTWISH announced, as well as EMPEROR, AT THE GATES, DEVILDRIVER, WATAIN, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, WEDNESDAY 13, JASTA & FRIENDS, FOZZY, COMBICHRIST, BLOODBATH, VENOM INC., MR BIG, ORPHANED LAND, KAMELOT, POWER TRIP, CONJURER, DORO, ORDEN OGAN, SEPTICFLESH, EXHORDER, PALLBEARER, MEMORIAM and many more, we’re more excited than ever for BLOODSTOCK 2018!

BLOODSTOCK will take place at Catton Park, Derbyshire on 9th-12th August 2018. Get additional information at www.bloodstock.uk.com.

Win 2 tickets to see Swedish metallers Bullet, at their upcoming 02 Islington Academy headline gig on May 16th.

Posted on May 2, 2018 by unchainedrock

Fired up Swedish heavy metal five-piece Bullet have inked a worldwide record deal with Steamhammer / SPV and have just released their stonking sixth studio album, ‘Dust To Gold’, and have now set off on a month long headline European tour at the beginning of May, blasting in to play their sole UK show at London’s 02 Islington Academy on May 16^th.

Thanks to our friends at Work Hard/SPV you have a chance to win a pair of tickets to the gig on 16th May.

Bullet, who hail from Växjö, were formed in 2001 by vocalist Hell Hofers and guitarist Hampus Klang, who recalls that“The heroes of our teenage years were AC/DC, Judas Priest, Saxon, Accept, Rose Tattoo and Motörhead.”

Bullet’s stonking sixth studio album, ‘Dust To Gold’, has already won a host of rave reviews; Fireworks Magazine’s Steve Price states in the current Spring 2018 issue that “From the opener ‘Speed And Attack’, through the powerful ‘Fuel The Fire’, to the slightly slower ‘Wildfire’, I love this album! The title track and the aforementioned ‘Wildfire’ have an almost Heaven & Hell feel about them. It’s classic eighties metal (or Rock – call it what you like), but with a solid production sound that brings the whole style up to date.”

Party animals who love being on the road, Bullet have subsequentlty released five excellent studio albums, toured most European countries several times, opened for AC/DC in front of 55,000 people (in 2009) and performed at some of Europe’s most prestigious festivals, including Rock Am Ring, Graspop, Sweden Rock, Rock Hard, Keep It True, Headbangers Open Air and Wacken (twice).

For many years the band have been conquering the world in their ancient tour bus, a black, white and red 1964 Volvo B63508, with its indestructible six-cylinder engine and countless miles under its frayed seats, lovingly referred to as the ‘Bullet Bus’. “In the years that we’ve been travelling from show to show in our van and have visited countless festivals, our Bullet Bus has never let us down,” notes Hampus, explaining why the vintage vehicle features on the cover of ‘Dust To Gold’; “The Volvo has more than earned its place on the front cover, because in its own way it’s just like we are: hard as nails, resilient and full of priceless memories.”

“Our new songs are about life on the road, about freedom, adventure and the endless fun that passionate metal bands have,” Klang explains. Their love of their lives as musicians oozes from every single note, be it the first single ‘Ain’t Enough’, the fast-paced album opener ‘Speed And Attack’ (in classic NWOBHM style), the powerful singalong anthem ‘Fuel The Fire’ or the cool, grooving midtempo ‘Wildfire’. Regarding the album’s title track, Hampus states that “We’ve tried for a long time to make a song in a Heaven and Hell kind of vibe and this time we really made it. It’s turned out to be a mighty and epic anthem.”

So for your opportunity to win 2 tickets to see Bullet at O2 Islington Academy on 16th May all you have to do is send an email with your name address and contact details to;

The Unchained Rock Show – Bullet Competition to unchained@arfm.co.uk

Winners will be notified by 14th May and will be announced on The Unchained Rock Show on Monday 14th May at 9pm. http://www.arfm.co.uk

TECH-FEST 2018: Heart Of A Coward, Employed To Serve + 21 more announced

Posted on May 2, 2018 by unchainedrock

UK TECH-FEST have completed their line-up for this year’s festival at Newark Showground from 5th to 9th July 2018.

HEART OF A COWARD have been announced as the Thursday ‘Early Bird’ Headliner. Also announced are BETRAYING THE MARTYRS, INGESTED, MARTYR DEFILED (farewell show), EMPLOYED TO SERVE, FROM SORROW TO SERENITY, ARCH ECHO, THE HIRSCH EFFEKT, THE DALI THUNDERING CONCEPT, VALIS ABLAZE, RAVENFACE, NOVENA, THE FIVE HUNDRED, EXTREMITIES, LOTUS EATER, TAKEN BY THE TIDE, THE CARTOGRAPHER, MISCREANT, PRAVITAS, EMBODIMENT, FROM EDEN TO EXILE, FROM HER ASHES and, FRACTIONS.

They join Friday night headliners SIKTH, Saturday night headliners THE ACACIA STRAIN, who are appearing at UK TECH-FEST 2018 for their only European show this year, followed by Sunday night headliners PROTEST THE HERO for their Fortress anniversary.

Also performing: NORMA JEAN (Redeemer anniversary), THE CONTORTIONIST, BLEED FROM WITHIN, NEXILVA, CYCLAMEN, VOLA, DVSR (EU exclusive debut), JINJER, VOYAGER, TIDES FROM NEBULA, CRYSTAL LAKE, BLOODSHOT DAWN, THE SURREALIST, COGNIZANCE (EU exclusive debut), CONJURER, THE VOYNICH CODE, DAMNED SPRING FRAGRANTIA, CHRIS SCHIERMANN, CREPITATION, DESPITE EXILE, UNPROCESSED, THIS IS TURIN, ARCAEON, PERCEPTION, TIBERIUS, SIAMESE, STOMB, LEECHED, YOU WIN AGAIN GRAVITY.

UK TECH-FEST has been nominated for Best Event in the Metal Hammer Golden Gods and Best Festival in the Heavy Music Awards vote here now:

http://2018.goldengods.teamrock.com/vote/event-of-the-year
https://vote.heavymusicawards.com/

Winspear Instrumental Company, Stage Sight Productions, Dalbello Guitars and Line 6 have come on board as sponsors this year. They join: Zilla Cabs, Strandberg Guitars, Moomin Merchandise, Hands On Printing, Mapex Drums, D’Addario UK, OHMZ Sound Services, Stay Close Clothing, Tired Moon, Loki Films, JWA Creative and Waghorn Guitars.

UK TECH-FEST 2018 continues to grow its most diverse line-up to date, it promises to be another brutally cerebral edition.

Weekend tickets are £79.99 + £20 Camping

For more information click here

BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2018 ADDS FOUR MORE BANDS TO THE LINE-UP!

Posted on February 22, 2018 by unchainedrock

BLOODSTOCK is excited to announce four more bands for August’s best heavy metal weekender! Tickets are moving fast for 2018 and we expect another advance sell-out, so don’t delay in picking up yours! There’s also only 6 days left to sign up to our deposit scheme…

We welcome pirate metal’s finest, ALESTORM with a big ‘Oh Wow!’ as they join the bill on Saturday’s Ronnie James Dio main stage! Frontman Chris Bowes says, “Oh wow! It’s been 10 years since our debut album, ‘Captain Morgan’s Revenge’ came out and somehow, it’s also been 10 years since we last played Bloodstock Open Air! Let’s have a very silly party time, Englandshire. I promise we won’t be shite.” Grab the 10th Anniversary edition of the debut, released just last month and raise your rum to the lyric video of the title track; https://youtu.be/GTyMhv7MCCs.

The much-lauded PALLBEARER join us in a Sunday slot on the Sophie Lancaster stage, bringing their monumental, doom-laden, melodic heaviosity to Catton Park! The Little Rock, Arkansas-based band have been praised by everyone from the New York Times to Loudwire, Decibel and SPIN, and rightly so! The band’s third album, ‘Heartless’ made many journalists’ Top Albums of 2017 list. Check out their video for ‘I Saw The End’, taken from that opus here – https://youtu.be/DNl_18Kr56g.

Nottingham hard rockers FAHRAN pick up a Friday slot on the Sophie stage. The band recently released a video for new track, ‘State Of Mind’ taken from their upcoming album, ‘VAPOURS’ – https://youtu.be/KW58TKJGyhw. The opus is set for release this summer. Stay tuned on their latest news at www.facebook.com/Fahranmusic.

British rock crew, DOOMSDAY OUTLAW land a spot on Sunday’s Sophie stage bill. The five piece have just announced new album, ‘Hard Times’, which is set to arrive in May via Frontiers. Check out lead track ‘Spirit That Made Me’ – https://youtu.be/eNMPo5DrsJM and if you like what you hear, you can pre-order the record at radi.al/HardTimes.

Final call for the 2018 Deposit Scheme! There’s just 6 days left to sign up for BLOODSTOCK’s payment plan, which eases the shock of a ‘lump sum’ payment by breaking your ticket price into five more manageable amounts. Sign up in the ticket store before the cut-off time of 11.59pm on Wednesday 28th Feb for an initial deposit of just £36. Thereafter, four additional instalments of £29 will debit your bank account on 3rd April, 1st May, 1st June and 2nd July respectively and your 2018 ticket is secured! Sign up over at https://bloodstock.seetickets.com.

Standard weekend tickets are also available, priced at £145 for four days of metal fun, so grab yours now! If you already know you can only attend for one day, sign up for a day ticket reminder email as day tickets do not go on sale until late June. Register your day ticket interest here – https://www.seetickets.com/register/bloodstock.

With Friday night headliners, JUDAS PRIEST, Saturday headliners, GOJIRA and Sunday’s bill toppers, NIGHTWISH already announced, as well as EMPEROR, AT THE GATES, DEVILDRIVER, WATAIN, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, WEDNESDAY 13, JASTA & FRIENDS, FOZZY, COMBICHRIST, BLOODBATH, VENOM INC., MR BIG, ORPHANED LAND, KAMELOT, DORO, ORDEN OGAN, SEPTICFLESH, AMARANTHE, EXHORDER, VOLA and MEMORIAM so far, 2018 is shaping up to be another stellar year for BLOODSTOCK.