Wasn’t this bound to happen? Either Vol. 4 or Master of Reality? And by the way, there’s really no wrong answer there. So, you know, yeah. April 2020 is the listed ship date on Vol. 4 Redux and The Best of Black Sabbath, both of which continue Magnetic Eye Records‘ wildly successful ‘Redux’ series that’s already touched on Hendrix, Floyd, Helmet and has Alice in Chains on deck as a next installment. Still, obviously Black Sabbath have a special place in the history of heavy — right there at the start of it, maybe page three? — and accordingly, the big guns are coming out for the homage, whether it’s Matt Pike doing “FX” or Bongzilla taking on “Snowblind” or Tony Reed doing “Laguna Sunrise.” There’s no way it’s going to miss.

My only hope is that High Reeper make “Changes” heavy.

Interested to see how The Best of Black Sabbath pans out as well, with Year of the Cobra, Elephant Tree and Earthless and a host of others confirmed. I saw Elephant Tree do a killer version of “Paranoid” live this past Fall. Wouldn’t mind a studio take on that from them as well.

But really, there’s no way to lose here.

Word from Magnetic Eye follows:

If you told us even as recently as six weeks ago that we’d be working on a Redux version of Black Sabbath’s Volume 4 and, before the end of March, artists including The Obsessed, Whores, Zakk Wylde, and Matt goddamn Pike would have all committed to be part of the project, we would’ve probably answered, “Wow.”

And if you’d then said, “Oh yeah, you’ll also assemble a Best of Black Sabbath companion LP featuring Earthless, Elephant Tree, Year of the Cobra, and tons of other great artists including a whole crop of brand-new Magnetic Eye roster bands, who by the way you’ll find time to sign during all the madness of your Vol. 4 Kickstarter,” we’d have most likely said, “piss off.”

And yet, here we are, and all of the above has come to pass.

We are indeed reduxing Volume 4 and offering up a Best of Sabbath companion record, we do have some of the greatest heavy artists in the world committed to be part of this project, and we did somehow find time to sign three new bands during all of this, each of whom we’ll have a new record coming from later this year, and all of whom we’re inviting to be part of the project.

So, yeah. Wow.

THOU – WHEELS OF CONFUSION / THE STRAIGHTENER
THE OBSESSED – TOMORROW’S DREAM
HIGH REEPER – CHANGES
MATT PIKE – FX
SPIRIT ADRIFT – SUPERNAUT
BONGZILLA – SNOWBLIND
WHORES – CORNUCOPIA
TONY REED – LAGUNA SUNRISE
HAUNT – ST VITUS DANCE
ZAKK SABBATH – UNDER THE SUN / EVERY DAY COMES AND GOES

ALBUM ART AND DESIGN ALYSSA MOCERE

IN ADDITION, WE HAVE INCREASED THE SCOPE OF OUR PROJECT TO INCLUDE 13 ADDITIONAL BLACK SABBATH SONGS ON A BEST OF BLACK SABBATH REDUX RECORD.

Summoner
Elephant Tree
Scott Reeder
IRONWEED
Earthless
Chris Wyse
Rwake
Mooner
Year of the Cobra
Leather Lung
Brume
Caustic Casanova
Dead Witches

http://store.merhq.com
http://magneticeyerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MagneticEyeRecords

Black Sabbath, “Snowblind”

It’s only taken a few years for Psycho Las Vegas to establish itself as the premier underground festival in the US. All well and good. With 2018’s lineup, though, it’s time to start thinking of Psycho among the best in the world.

Sounds like too much? Consider Godflesh and Dimmu Borgir sharing a stage, both for exclusive West Coast appearances. Think of Sweden’s Witchcraft playing one of the two shows they’ll do in the US at Psycho, and ditto that for Japanese riff-madmen Church of Misery. Think of US exclusives from Lee Dorrian’s With the Dead, or Lucifer, whose Johanna Sadonis will also DJ the Center Bar. The commitment to up and coming underground acts local, domestic and foreign like Temple of Void, King Buffalo, Dreadnought, The Munsens and DVNE. Picture yourself watching Wolves in the Throne Room headline a pre-fest pool party with Elder, Young and in the Way, Dengue Fever, Fireball Ministry and Toke.

2018 is the year Psycho Las Vegas outclasses even itself and pushes further than it ever has in terms of stylistic reach (Integrity walks by and waves… at Boris) and the sheer power of its construction. If you’re looking for the future, you’ll find it in scumbag paradise.

Here’s the lineup:

Psycho Las Vegas 2018

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas
4455 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas, Nevada 89169

Tickets: https://www.vivapsycho.com/pages/tickets

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2018 lineup:
DIMMU BORGIR (west of chicago exclusive)
HELLACOPTERS (one of two shows to be played in the USA in 2018)
SUNN 0)))
GODFLESH (west of chicago exclusive)
WITCHCRAFT (one of two shows to be played in the USA in 2018)
ENSLAVED
AMERICAN NIGHTMARE
HIGH ON FIRE
ROCKET FROM THE CRYPT
RED FANG
ZAKK SABBATH
CHURCH OF MISERY (usa exclusive 2018 with exception to one other show in San Diego)
TINARIWEN
GOBLIN
CKY
VENOM INC
EYEHATEGOD
VOIVOD
BORIS
COVEN
INTEGRITY
PALLBEARER
WITH THE DEAD (USA exclusive 2018)
MONOLORD
LUCIFER (USA exclusive 2018)
ACID WITCH
SURVIVE
DOPETHRONE
BIG BUSINESS
UNEARTHLY TRANCE
MUTOID MAN
TODAY IS THE DAY
HELMS ALEE
SPIRIT ADRIFT
BATUSHKA
PRIMITIVE MAN
DVNE
ALL PIGS MUST DIE
EIGHT BELLS
WORMWITCH
INDIAN
NECROT
HOMEWRECKER
BRAIN TENTACLES
CLOAK
BLACK MARE
MAGIC SWORD
UADA
TEMPLE OF VOID
DREADNOUGHT
WOLVHAMMER
ASEETHE
DISASTROID
FORMING THE VOID
VENOMOUS MAXIMUS
GHASTLY SOUND
HOWLING GIANT
KING BUFFALO
NIGHT HORSE
THE MUNSENS
GLAARE

Paradise Pool Pre Party
August 16th

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
ELDER
YOUNG AND IN THE WAY
DENGUE FEVER
FIREBALL MINISTRY
TOKE

Center Bar DJ’s
Andrew W.K.
Nicke Andersson (Entombed/Hellacopters)
Johanna Sadonis (Lucifer)

https://www.facebook.com/psychoLasVegas/
https://www.facebook.com/events/125340824913552/
http://vivapsycho.com

High on Fire, Live at Psycho Las Vegas 2016

It was only a matter of time, wasn’t it, before the great American disruptor returned? As Europe’s Spring 2018 festival season continues to take shape — I’ve hardly seen a word about summer outside of a certain hellacious France-based fest held annually each June — Psycho Las Vegas 2018, set once again for the dead heat of August in Nevada’s basically-uninhabitable-were-it-not-for-air-conditioning desert stronghold of decadence, is lashing out early with its first lineup announcements and putting its tickets on sale. Waste not want not in all things, including time.

If they’re early with the first Psycho Las Vegas 2018 announcements, they’re certainly already working at the scale one expects from what’s become the US’ premium heavy festival. High on Fire, Goblin, Witchcraft, a notable underground first-timer import in DVNE, as well as the extremity of Indian, the profile of Zakk Sabbath and the spacious S U R V I V E, otherwise known as the duo behind the soundtrack to Stranger Things. I still haven’t managed to watch the second season. Any good?

Either way, this is just the start for Psycho, as we all know, but it’s a hell of a start, and on looks forward to what they build up as we get closer to next summer. They haven’t failed yet to outdo themselves in scope or scale, and they continue to give the rest of Planet Earth a run for its money in that.

The PR wire brought official word:

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2018: Announcing Witchcraft, Goblin, High on Fire + MORE, Tix on Sale

TICKETS ON SALE
FRIDAY 12/15 @ 10AM PST HERE

AUGUST 17-19, 2018
@ HARD ROCK HOTEL AND CASINO, LAS VEGAS

The award winning Psycho Las Vegas has announced its return, along with its first round of bands it plans to host next August 17-19 at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. Expectations are high for the fest after last year’s massive, expertly curated selection of artists from around the globe, and if
this first taste of the lineup is any indication, 2018 promises to go above and beyond, setting the desert on fire.

The list of bands they have unleashed to reign havoc as of now are:

The return and reunion of Swedish psychedelic fuzz legends Witchcraft will be playing their first US show since 2009. In line with their reputation for scoring highly coveted sets, Psycho Las Vegas will be only one of two US dates that the band will be performing in 2018. Joining the ranks are Italian purveyors of prog rock, Goblin, most notable for their original scores for Dawn of the Dead & Disturbia; beloved stoned thrashers High On Fire; guitar lord Zakk Sabbath; horror-synth group S U R V I V E, best known for scoring Stranger Things; the reunion of Chicago doom heavyweights Indian; and UK’s prog masters DVNE, who will be performing their first ever US show at this year’s fest.

The first 2500 tickets sold will also include access to the Psycho Las Vegas Pre-fest Pool Party on August 16, which is not only the most notorious pre-party in town, but also includes favorite Psycho alumni.

PSYCHO LAS VEGAS 2018
AUGUST 17-19

WITCHCRAFT
GOBLIN
HIGH ON FIRE
ZAKK SABBATH
S U R V I V E
INDIAN
DVNE
And many, many more to be unleashed…

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/psycho-las-vegas-2018-tickets-41041983678
http://www.vivapsycho.com
https://www.facebook.com/psychoLasVegas
https://www.instagram.com/psycholasvegas

DVNE, Asheran (2017)

You can always tell when Clutch really likes a band, because they tour with them more than once. They’re Clutch, and they tour all the time, so there’s a good chance they’re going to hook up with just about everybody at least one time along the way, but like in the last couple years how they’ve gone out with Corrosion of Conformity multiple times, or how they never seemed to go anywhere for a while without Lionize — whose record they also released, if I recall correctly — on the bill. Kyng, based out of Los Angeles, get a similar nod now, having toured with Clutch previously on their 2011 holiday run. Of course, they’re no strangers to guitarist Zakk Wylde either, whose Black Label Society featured regularly alongside Clutch on multiple runs over the years.

Clutch are still out in support of 2015’s Psychic Warfare (review here), while Wylde will do this tour under the banner of Zakk Sabbath. I’ll admit this is my first time hearing about this project, but it seems to be exactly what it sounds like, as the PR wire confirms. Good to see Joey Castillo working. Dude is way underrated as a drummer:

CLUTCH ANNOUNCE 2016 U.S. TOUR WITH ZAKK SABBATH & KYNG

Clutch continues their Psychic Warfare World Tour 2016. Headline tour dates for September-October are in. The group will be heading back on the road this Fall headlining another leg of their US tour. Supporting the tour will be Zakk Sabbath and Los Angeles based metal band Kyng. Including 2 festival appearances, the trek will begin in Buffalo, NY at the The Town Ballroom on September 28th and conclude in Worcester, MA at The Palladium on October 30th.

Clutch lead vocalist Neil Fallon commented “We are pleased to announce that this Fall Clutch will be hitting the road again in the U.S. This time with Zakk Sabbath and Kyng. Clutch toured with Black Label Society a few years back and it was a blast – and no doubt, this one will be a blast as well. We hope to see you all there!”

Psychic Warfare is the latest and eleventh studio effort from Clutch. The disc debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200, No. 2 on the Billboard Independent, No. 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock and Billboard Rock charts. On Record Store Day this past April 16th Clutch released a limited edition numbered etched vinyl 12 inch that included two previously unreleased tracks from the Psychic Warfare sessions: “Mad Sidewinder” and “Outland Special Clearance”. Psychic Warfare was produced by longtime producer Machine (Lamb Of God, Every Time I Die).

Zakk Sabbath, bring their take on Black Sabbath songs on the road for the first time ever. The band features guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie) and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens Of The Stone Age). Kyng, the Los Angeles based metal trio, will be supporting their 3rd release and follow up to 2014’s Burn The Serum.

Pre-sale tickets will be on sale today (June 15th) at 12PM local time with public on sale beginning Friday, June 17 at 10AM local time. Pre-sale tickets are available here: Tickets.artistarena.com/clutch

Clutch, Zakk Sabbath, Kyng 2016 Tour Dates
09/28 – Buffalo, NY @ The Town Ballroom
09/30 – Lakewood, NJ @ First Energy Park – Rock Carnival *
10/01 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
10/02 – Louisville, KY @ Champions Park – Louder Than Life *
10/04 – Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
10/05 – Atlanta, GA @ The Buckhead Theatre
10/07 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre Street Stage
10/08 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live
10/10 – Little Rock, AR @ Metroplex
10/11 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom
10/12 – Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
10/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Novo
10/15 – Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl
10/16 – San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom
10/18 – Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater
10/20 – Kansas City, MO @ Uptown Theater
10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
10/22 – Sioux City, IA @ Anthem at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
10/24 – Columbia, MO @ The Blue Note ** NO Zakk Sabbath
10/25 – Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
10/27 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater
10/28 – Detroit, MI @ The Fillmore
10/29 – Clifton Park, NY @Upstate Concert Hall
10/30 – Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
* festival appearance

CLUTCH:
Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar
Tim Sult – Guitar
Dan Maines – Bass
Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

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www.instagram.com/clutchofficial
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www.pro-rock.com
www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Clutch, “Mad Sidewinder”