While You Were Away: Asking Alexandria And Knocked Loose Drop New Music, Clown Rejoins Slipknot, And More
While You Were Away is back after a week off! This week we’re talking about new music from Asking Alexandria and Knocked Loose, plus Metallica’s new EP, Clown’s return to Slipknot, and more.
Shawn ‘Clown’ Crahan rejoins Slipknot at Download festival
Slipknot percussionist Shawn “Clown” Crahan rejoined the band at this year’s Download Festival after missing three shows earlier this month to take care of his wife who is having health issues.
UPDATE: Following his Download appearance, Clown has announced he will sit out the rest of Slipknot’s European tour to care for his ill wife. Read the update below.
Crahan announced earlier this month that he would be sitting out upcoming Slipknot shows for an undetermined amount of time. We just didn’t expect it to be so soon.
Check out some fan-captured footage of their set below.
Hello to all of our fans. Unfortunately I had to return back home to be with my wife due to her medical situation. Thank you for the overwhelming support for the few shows I was able to make. I’m so sorry for missing the remainder of these shows, I was really looking forward to… pic.twitter.com/z28Uep2BLN
— Slipknot (@slipknot) June 18, 2023
Knocked Loose drops two new heavy songs
Knocked Loose are back with a new two-song collection dubbed Upon Loss, their first new music since 2021’s A Tear in the Fabric of Life EP.
Frontman Bryan Garris calls the new songs, “Deep in the Willow” and “Everything is Quiet Now,” “heavy, intense, and extreme.”
“Some elements come and go, but those will never change,” he continues. “After A Tear In The Fabric Of Life we were inspired to see how much art we could incorporate moving forward – which led us to a style of video we’ve never attempted or approached. Taking myself specifically far outside of my comfort zone and pushing the boundaries on how I’ve been seen in the past was a creative experience I will never forget. This video wouldn’t be what it is without the collaboration with Eric Richter, someone we’ve admired for a while. And the songs wouldn’t be what they are without [producer] Drew Fulk, a new friend and creative ear in the entire process.”
The songs even received an extended video directed by Eric Richter and Garris.
Watch it below.
Metallica release four-song live EP ‘The Amsterdam Sessions’
Metallica recently teamed up with Amazon Music to release a new four-song EP entitled The Amsterdam Sessions.
Recorded while the band were in Amsterdam during their “M72 World tour” and with the help of production company Mercury Studios, the EP features four performances, including the classic “Master of Puppets” and “Lux Æterna.” Additionally, the band also shared a new live video for “If Darkness Had a Song.”
Watch it below. Stream The Amsterdam Sessions here.
Asking Alexandria drop two new songs, ‘Psycho’ and ‘Bad Blood’
Asking Alexandria have given us not one, but two brand new songs from their upcoming album Where Do We Go From Here? “Psycho” is the band’s “first official radio single” while “Bad Blood” is more “vindictive” and “heavy.”
“‘Psycho’ is one of those songs that is talking about when you feel trapped inside your own head, trapped by your own vices and your own downfalls,” explains guitarist Ben Bruce. “Whether it’s being stuck in a relationship that doesn’t work for you, or feeling like you can’t stop drinking or doing drugs, or maybe you’re stuck in a job that you hate, and you’re just battling yourself in your own head wondering ‘why am I still here? Why do I keep doing these things?’ Ultimately, at the end of the day we all feel a little bit crazy…a little bit like a psycho.
It’s just a fun song that we can all relate to, and stylistically we thought to ourselves ‘how do we make a song that sounds like it could live on the ‘Like A House On Fire’ album, but also like it could live on the ‘From Death To Destiny’ album?’. So musically, from a writing standpoint, it was a really enjoyable experience to meld those two eras of ASKING ALEXANDRIA together and see what that might look like.”
Check out the songs below.
Tours on sale this week
Ukrainian metal band Jinjer recently announced their fall North American, which kicks off September 7th in Huntsville, Alabama, and runs through September 25th in Vancouver. Tickets are on sale now. Details here.
The 1975 will embark on their biggest North American tour to date this fall. The “Still…at their very best tour” started September 26th in Sacramento, California, and wraps up December 2nd in Seattle, Washington. A pre-sale starts June 21st. General sales start June 23rd at 10 AM local time. Find details here.
Static-X and Sevendust are joining forces for a co-headlining fall tour with support from Dope. The “Machine Killer” tour starts October 6th in Houston, Texas, and concludes November 1st in Los Angeles, California. Tickets are currently on sale.
Next year, Thrice will celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Artist in the Ambulance with a UK/European tour. The tour kicks off in Madrid on February 12th, 2024, and finishes in London on February 26th. Tickets available now. See all the dates here.
