LIMP BIZKIT are a rock'n'roll phenomenon. Notching up in excess of 20 million album sales over the past two years, they're in the vanguard of the nu-metal movement that has seen guitar rock reclaiming its place at the top of the singles charts. In Madrid to catch the band live, PHIL UDELL first hears passionate words from the frontman, FRED DURST. But, amid a welter of controversy, the raging music is put on hold as Limp Bizkit's show in the Spanish capital is cancelled – an ominous foreshadowing of the events that will see their UK, German and Irish dates also sensationally cancelled
Nu-metal – or should that be old nu-metal now? – stalwarts Papa Roach pay a long overdue visit to Dublin on September 28 for a show in the Temple Bar Music Centre.
Heavy metal never corrodes, it just warps. Death metal, rap metal, black metal, industrial metal, glam-metal, nu-metal – there are 666 ways to polish a turd.
But therein lies Satellite’s main problem, an inability to match its outstanding moments with anything more than a series of decidedly average nu metal outings.
The Used furious mix of nu-metal and skate punk may not be the most original of cocktails but it’s the way they blend the ingredients (with just enough contradiction) that keeps them from sliding into mediocrity.
The mega-platinum success that Staind enjoyed a few years back stemmed from a couple of factors. Their association with Limp Bizkit saw them firmly lumped with the nu-metal movement, despite very few musical similarities. And the single ‘Outside’ was as ubiquitous as that bloody Nickelback record of the same time.
For a while back there it looked like nu-metal was going to save rock music. Then we wised up and sent the angst-ridden, shorts-wearing whingers packing. Korn, however, never went away because they were there from the start, probably guilty of landing the whole thing on us in the first place
They may not be that just yet but if current plans for global domination go according to the script Linkin Park will be very soon. Stuart Clark travels to London to hear the band’s new album Meteora and finds that American rock’s hottest property are surrounded by the kind of security normally reserved for Michael Jackson
Their trademark sweeping metallic sounds and airbrushed vocals are present and correct, and set the band apart from the clasps of nu-metal and emo, giving them an epic quality that's quite distinctive
We are treated to de rigeur vocal gymnastics from Chester Bennington and crunching nu-metal riffs from his band mates. But Meteora is curiously lacking in soul
Doom, gloom and painfully slow distorted guitar-y dirges may not seem particularly relevant to the contemporary metal scene, nor particularly necessary.
Early speed metal incarnations, arguably the most technically demanding of all walks of rock, have done good things for this proggier-than-thou Boston quartet.
The musical template remains largely unchanged, but the combination of galloping, melodic bass and searing twin lead guitars – at times oddly reminiscent of Thin Lizzy – is hard to resist.
The musical template remains largely unchanged, but the combination of galloping, melodic bass and searing twin lead guitars – at times oddly reminiscent of Thin Lizzy – is hard to resist.
It borrows from a lot of the mechanisms that have made this kind of music tired: the pounding guitars, the rock chick bawling, themes of pain, alienation and the forces of darkness. The difference here lies in the fusion of the pounding music with a Gothic, ballady vibe, and the ethereal, soaring voice of Amy Lee.
For a band supposed to be playing the kind of melodic punk rock currently shifting units on a global scale, Does This Look Infected is shockingly unmelodic and short on memorable tunes.
Northern rockers Therapy? are back in the saddle with their tenth studio album Never Apologise, Never Explain – and as Andy Cairns tells Tanya Sweeney, their rabble rousing punk ethic remains as sharply ingrained as ever.
Peering through a letter box, fielding flying knickers and knocking out a strong contender for album of the year - it's all happening for Cooper Temple Clause
what good was rock’n’roll in 2001? No good at all – and yet we couldn’t have got through without it.
Peter Murphy reflects on a year in which some old codgers stood up to be counted and many of us lived “on songs and hope”
Blood, parties, testosterone, gonzoid lyrics – that nice ANDREW WK has a little something for just about everyone. "Hell, I don't even mind if your other favourite artist’s Enya," he tells STUART CK
From Belfast’s coolest record emporium Good Vibrations to the city’s coolest venue, the Odyssey Arena’s ice-rink, Pay*ola are now coming south to a venue near you. And they won’t be supporting Slipknot…
They say they’ve come from hell to bring us foot and mouth. But in reality they come from a small village outside Ipswich. STUART CLARK meets CRADLE OF FILTH, metal maniacs and purveyors of blasphemy, horror and gore – and, as you might expect, ends up talking about mums, kiddies, Winnie the Pooh and moisturiser
The days of pop dominance are over. The worm has turned, and a whole new slew of blood and guts rock and roll bands are coming through with records that carry more than a hint of greatness. The darkling posse is headed by the Kings Of Leon – but there are outfits from all over the world who will be vying for poll position over the coming 12 months.
The producers of choice for everyone from Justin Timberlake to Jay-Z, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo are also earning plaudits for their rock and hip-hop influenced side project, N*E*R*D
A surprisingly mellow Tom Ayara of Slayer thinks that calling God Hates Us All “ugly” is unaccurate. “It’s more angry and hateful,” he tells Phil Udell
Sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, George Bush, religion, torture, hangovers and, of course, the smelliest member of the band. The readers leave no stone unturned as they seek the truth
from Kirk Hammett. Your host Olaf Tyaransen
Irish journalist, novelist and musician JOE AMBROSE has JUST published The Violent World Of Mosh Pit Culture (book), an explosive first-hand account of life inside the mosh pit. STEPHEN ROBINSON spoke to him about the sex, brutality and freedom to be discovered within the ‘pits.
Dublin anarcho-pop five-piece The Camembert Quartet have just released their debut album Music Is War, but with song titles such as 'Boybands Are C**ts' it's unlikely they'll be joining westlife on tour
The pop sensibility of ‘Anthology’ is still there at times, particularly on the single ‘These Days’, but you can’t help but learn for a touch more of its spirit.
Thrash veterans, Kreator, have been going longer than anyone can care to remember, but despite a cult following in Germany and a brief spell of moderate success during the late ’80s, have made little impact of late.
Lyrically, Crave possesses less of the grand gothic guignol of their debut, with a slightly more sophisticated, if not always staggeringly original, approach to wordplay
Singer Dmitri Coats – aside from having one of the best names for a frontman in existence – is a self-professed wannabe rock star and something of a publicist’s dream, while poster girl and female bassist Melanie Campbell is apparently not averse to vomiting during gigs.
Having been dogged for years by sectarianism, Northern Irish sport has finally found a team that everyone can support. Colin Carberry reports on the phenomenal rise of the ice hockeying Belfast Giants
We asked the members of hotpress.com to submit questions for Korn’s kilt-wearing frontman Jonathan Davis and then locked him in a room with just a spotlight and a tape recorder
Government indignation and empty promises characterise China’s response to CD and DVD piracy, which flourishes in the country. Irish artists like U2, Westlife and Enya are bootleggers’ staple sellers. And Mary Black gets ripped off too. Mark Godfrey reports
“There doesn’t need to be any problems conjured for wrong interpretations,” says Clown aka Shawn Crahan. And while you’re chewing on the prime gibberish, here’s the Slipknot view on humanity (“filthy, disgusting, disease-ridden”), fans (“they’re all cows”), piss (“i like the way it smells”) and life in a band (“i’m so bored, so trapped”). Prepare to shake your head in disbelief
Origin of Symmetry? Freak of Evolution more like. The common response to Muse’s Showbiz debut in 1999 was akin to a primitive people’s first glimpse of a spacecraft over the prehistorical landscape. Here was an unlikely but hugely accomplished hybrid of prog-rock flash, quasi-symphonic attack and ferocious virtuosity, spearheaded by Matt Bellamy’s soaring tenor and Dick-ian lyrics. An impressive sound, even if you didn’t know what the hell it was.
With their latest album Riot Act, Pearl Jam have recaptured the blistering form of their first three albums. Matt Cameron, once of Seattle comrades Soundgarden, gives an insight into how the band has outlasted and outperformed most of its contemporaries
From badass bunnies via political incorrectness to the mightiest drummer in rock ’n’ roll, it’s all in an interview’s work for Queens Of The Stone Age mainman Josh Homme.
For every macho posture, there are two images of Rock strumming an acoustic or blowing on a harmonica. Flip through the album credits and there are also indicators that there is more to Cocky than meets the eye.
On first impression, it’s hard to make head or tail of Deftones' Saturday Night Wrist, simply because they throw in a truckload of experimentation. Once the album’s unpicked, however, it’s a different beast altogether.
Perhaps the most influential punk band of the ‘70s, The Ramones were nonetheless riven with internal divisions and a variety of personal traumas, both psychological and pharmaceutical. All this and more is covered in an excellent new documentary on the band, End Of The Century – The Story Of The Ramones. Here, Tommy – the last surviving member of the original line-up – looks back on the dark times and discusses the group’s legacy with Tara Brady.
US metallers Creed are the latest in a long line of Stateside wavemakers to hit our shores. As a guitar driven hard rock four-piece caught somewhere between Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots, they've notched up a rather impressive 9 x platinum sales figure on this, their second release, Human Clay.
1 guitar + 1 drum kit + 1 boy + 1 girl = The White Stripes. In other words, sweet, sweet noise meets the best brother and sister penned pop since The Carpenters. Eamon Sweeney meets Detroit's finest, who play Dublin Castle on Saturday, May 4th as part of the Heineken Green Energy Festival
They were the coolest band on the planet – until the backlash started. Now The Strokes have released their most ambitious album yet. Can they leave their past behind?
So what happens when an indie band goes major league? how can you stay cool when your date’s a Charlie’s Angel? how important is the boy/girl song in a flag-waving time? and like Alexander The Great, do you weep when you have no more worlds to conquer? in addressing these and other pressing questions of the day, The Strokes salute John Lennon, Bob Dylan and their own undying band of brotherliness.
It’s been a long, strange trip for David Grohl, from Nirvana drummer to Foo Fighters frontman, via Queens Of The Stone Age and Tenacious D. Now he’s back with a new Foo album, he’s buried the hatchet with Courtney Love and he’s still as rock’n’roll as ever
An over-14’s event at the Ambassador tonight – though some crowd members look even lighter in years than that, making this possibly the youngest audience at the venue since its days hosting cinema matinees.
Helmet are considered by many to be one of the seminal underground rock bands of the ‘90s, with albums such as Meantime offering up fierce reductionist rock and enjoying plenty of critical, if not commercial, success. However, on the evidence of this, their first album in seven years, they would have been better off leaving their legacy alone.
Despite the sometimes feral nature of the music, there are enough dollops of melody sprinkled around the crunching bar-chords to make the whole thing palatable
The third heat in the Bacardi/Hotpress 'Plugged' Band Of The Year showcased a pleasingly diverse bill of young guns intent on making their mark and hoping to emulate last year's winners, Woodstar, in securing a major label deal
They love Ireland and Ireland loves them. As the Arcade Fire ramp up for world domination, the band talk about love, death, war and making music in churches.
So… Blair Witch 2 has hit the big screen and Mr Manson has assumed charge of all things original sound track. Quite fitting really. The musical emulation of hype, eyeliner and distortion pedals meets the cinematic emulation of forests, shaky cameras crews and things that go bump in the night.
Songs for the Deaf takes a slightly less trodden direction than it’s predecessor Rated R: still as cacophonous, rampantly bass-heavy and gut wrenching as you’d expect, but without the polish.
To be fair to the perpetually bellyaching rap-metallers, this time they are at least moaning for the good of society and not just for personal pain - the current American regime gets a right old Bush-whacking on this record.
There is enough merit in the energetic power-chord rock of these ‘Nordic rock crusaders’ (their description) to make you refrain from putting them down as just another piece of spam in the already crowded inbox of retro-rock clichés.
The final outfit to hit the stage are Horizon, and there's no doubting the classic, American rock influence running through them.
The judges thought they did enough to give them the nod in what was a tight contest indeed.
From the moment they hit the stage, Maximo Park looked the part, their innate confidence magnified in the small space. Their chief selling-point is frontman Paul Smith and you can immediately see why - he is genuinely eccentric performer.
Thankfully for them, the Manchester three-piece deliver on the promise of their debut, as their sophomore effort is brimming with the kind of timeless guitar tunesmithery that marked their earlier work
STEVE FARGNOLI, the artist manager who numbered SINÉAD O'CONNOR among his clients, lost his battle with cancer earlier this month.
STEPHEN ROBINSON reports
The Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival offers a take on modern Belfast that rings true, as well as an eclectic musical line-up and some controversial readings from modern UK writers says Colin Carberry
Hard rock has taken on many forms, but if it's loud enough to annoy the neighbours, it should be categorised as good old-fashioned metal. Peter Murphy guides you through our choice of the Top 30 metal albums of all time.
Masked nu-metal royalty Slipknot have penned a deal to preview their new album on getcloser.com, prompting website owners HMV to claim that their site is now offering the way forward.
