JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Slash’s 61st birthday.
Category: metal
New Video: C.O.F.F.I.N. Shares Bruising and Anthemic Ode to Pessimism “Think Bad”
Hilariously named, acclaimed and rising Sydney-baseed metalheads/pub rockers Children of Finland Fighting in Norway (C.O.F.F.I.N.) — Ben Portnoy (lead vocals, drums), Abijah Radio (lead guitar, vocals), Aaron Moss (guitar, vocals) and Steven “Kosty” Kostogiannis (bass, vocals) — through relentlessly curiosity, work ethic and commitment to their craft has risen from a Manly Beaches, Australia upstart outfit to become one of their homeland’s most respected contemporary rock bands.
Since their formation, C.O.F.F.I.N. have shared stages with Amyl and the Sniffers, Viagra Boys and King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard, helping them develop a reputation as one of Australia’s integral, and must-see live acts. And building upon a growing profile, 2023’s Australia Stops earned an ARIA Award nomination for Best Rock/Heavy Metal Album, along with a National Live Music Award for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Album.
The rising Aussie quartet have spent years refining their craft, and understandably, their work began to focus on important social issues like climate action, indigenous rights, gender politics, and more. The sheer power of their musical response to the social injustices we face today has become a key element that C.O.F.F.I.N. fans across the globe have recognized and love.
The Aussie quartet’s fourth album, the Declan Mehrtens-produced Out in Oslo, which features vocals co-produced by Frenzal Rhomb‘s Jason Whalley is salted for a September 18, 2026 release through p(doom) records. The album reportedly captures the band at their most expansive and refined: While retaining the grit and energy that they’re known for, the album sees the band broadening their sonic palette with a greater sense of dynamics, richer textures and some of their most adventurous songwriting to date. Thematically, the material explores ideas around Australian identity, community, environmentalism, injustice and their homeland’s connection with the rest of the world.
Out in Oslo‘s latest single “Think Bad” is a bruising ripper that channels Highway to Hell-era AC/DC, built around enormous riffs, thunderous drumming, raise-your-beer-in-the-air-and-shout-along worthy hook and chorus. But the song is underpinned by a hilarious irony — negativity can sometimes be good for you. As the bards and philosophers from the Shaolin remind us, “you gotta protect your neck!’
“’Think Bad’ describes the use of negativity to fuel forward motion. It’s about using hard thoughts as a compass, reminding yourself that not everything that feels good is good for you, while at the same time, understanding that the combined weight of cynicism and reckless behaviour can make the greatest losses,” C.O.F.F.I.N.’s Ben Portnoy explains.
Directed and edited by the band’s Ben Portnoy, the accompanying video follows the band as they goof around at a local amusement park while dressed as cowboys.
Throwback: Happy 62nd Birthday, Chris Cornell!
JOVM’s WIlliam Ruben Helms celebrates the 62nd anniversary of Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell’s birth.
Throwback: Happy 79th Birthday, Brian May!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Queen guitarist Dr. Brian May’s 78th birthday.
Lyric Video: BESVÄRJELSEN Shares an Anthemic Power Ballad
Acclaimed Swedish metal outfit BESVÄRJELSEN — currently co-founders Andreas Bajer (guitar) and Staffan Vinrot (guitar), along with Lea Annling Alazam (vocals), and Erik Bäckwell (drums) and Marcus Lindqvist (bass) — can trace their origins back to 2014 when its founding duo started the band based on concept of channeling the spirit and tradition of the Dalarna forests into a contemporary urban context. Dalarna is at the ancient crossroads of Norse and Finnish cultures, where the echoes of runes and gods, shamans and spirits still linger. While drawing heavy inspiration from local lore, mysticism and the dark, old musical traditions of their homeland, the band derives their name from the old Swedish word for “conjuring.”
Though the band’s story has its roots in Norway’s past the present came boldly knocking. Lea Anling Alazam can trace her passion for punk and stoner rock to being a 13 year-old, hanging out at the local skate park. When Bahjer and Vernon met Alazam, they were so impressed by her vocals that they were happy tor relegate their shared vocal duties to a backing role. Alazam, who had grown up with her feet in multiple worlds added a fresh approach by embracing the melodies of the grunge and emo sounds that defined her youth, as well as African and Middle Eastern music and bluesy undertones. They released their first two self-financed and self-released EP’s 2015’s Vullfarsler and 2016’s Exit, which saw the band expand into a quartet with the addition of DOZER‘s and Greenleaf‘s Erik Bäckwell as a full-time member. Both efforts received critical praise and airplay on Swedish national radio — with minimal promotion.
They went on to release their full-length debut 2018’s Vallmo. But their sophomore album, 2022’s Atlas put them on the international metal map: The album received critical praise from the global praise while earning a Swedish Manifestgalan Award for “Metal Album of the Year.””
The Swedish metal outfit’s third album Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem is slated for an August 28, 2026 release through Magnetic Eye Records. The album derives its title for the Swedish and Latin for “Into Oblivion” and it reportedly sees BESVÄRJELSEN maintaining a long-held punk-infused attitude, but they’ve broadened their sound with the addition of elements of blues, ska, metal, jazz and everything else around and in between, as long as it fit the mood of the song.
Till Glömskan Ad Oblivionem‘s latest single “Drifters on a Quiet Stream” is slow-burning ballad that sees the band balancing bruising, power chord-driven riffs with piano-driven introspective verses and rousingly anthemic, arena rock friendly hooks and choruses. Fittingly, Alazam’s expressive, power house vocal serves as a lifeline in stormy waters. At its core is a much-needed message of resilience — and a reminder that difficult and anxious times are usually temporary setbacks. Tomorrow you can start over.
“‘Drifters on a Quiet Stream’ had the working title ‘Elton’ as Elton John was one of the musical inspirations for this song”, the band’s Erik Båckwell reveals. “The intro and main riff was originally intended to be a part of another song. When I got our former bass player Johan to listen to the riff, he rather advised me to create a completely new song from this part. I am really glad now that I did that.”
Lea Amling Alazam adds, “This track explores the ever-present companion of the self – the voice that follows you through life, both to comfort and to critique”, the vocalist explains. “It is the quiet presence on your shoulder. When writing those lyrics, I revisited an old notebook and found a phrase I had once scribbled down: ‘…my ghost and I’. I’m not sure where I first came across this idea, but it stayed with me. It felt like a beautiful and honest way to describe living alongside your own anxiety, and I knew from the start that I wanted to build something around it.”
The lyric video visualizer employs forest imagery, further emphasizing what they’ve dubbed “forest rock” their tongue-in-cheek answer to desert rock — but this forest features some dark, unsettling flowers and plants.
Throwback: Happy 80th Birthday, Bon Scott!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 80th anniversary of the birth of AC/DC’s first frontman Bon Scott.
Throwback: Alice Cooper’s “School’s Out”
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms on the last day of school for NYC public school kids — and summer.
Throwback: Happy 78th Birthday, John Bonham!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates the 78th anniversary of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham’s 78th birthday.
Throwback: Happy 62nd Birthday, Tom Morello!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Tom Morello’s 62nd birthday.
New Video: Glasgow’s Cwfen Shares Broodingly Atmospheric and Cathartic “Whispers”
Glasgow-based quartet Cwfen (pronounced coven) — Agnes Alder (vocals, rhythm guitar), Guy DeNuit (backing vocals, lead guitar), Rös Ranquinn (drums) and Mary Thomas Baker (bass) — quickly built up a reputation as one of the UK’s hottest, emerging doom bands with 2024’s “Reliks,” which won over fans and critics and landed on Kerrang‘s release of the week playlist.
Building upon a growing profile, the Scottish outfit released their Kevin Hare and band co-produced debut Sorrows last year. Recorded at Deep Storm Productions, the album’s material lives in the space around doom, where the weight of its riffs are matched by the weight in your chest, and where the lyrics and songwriting as equally as important as the music. The band specifically intends to write songs that are big on riffs but even bigger on feeling; to create songs that speak to the listener and are carried throughout their lives. Sonically, the band sees Cwfen’s Agnes Alder bearing her (proverbial) claws one minute and howling, whispering and pleading the next one, all while her and her bandmates craft arrangements that evoke a brewing storm front on the horizon, looming larger as you approach.
“We never set out to write an album. We were just four friends making music we wanted to hear. But then Sorrows emerged, and when it did, it pulled us into its orbit. We couldn’t ignore it,” Alder says. “When we stopped trying to fit into any one space, what came out was this beautiful mix of dark and light. Something visceral and cathartic.”
The album which included long-anticipated and long-desired reworkings of “Embers” and “Bodies,” two self-recorded demos and long-time fan favorites, received unexpected and widespread acclaim from the heavy metal music press, landing on several Best of Lists last year. Since the album’s release, the Glasgow-based quartet have toured extensively with Paradise Lost and Faetooth and they’ve made runs of the UK and European festival circuit, building a growing international presence through their live performances of Sorrows‘ material.
To celebrate a breakthrough year and the anniversary of the album’s release, the rapidly rising Scottish band have released a video for “Whispers,”a broodingly atmospheric song that’s one-part A Storm in Heaven and Souvlaki-era shoegaze, one-part doom metal and showcases Alder’s remarkable vocal range, which goes from a sultry croon to a feral howl. While cathartic, the song comes from a deeply personal place, capturing a narrator in the midst of an all-consuming mix of despair and rage.
“It’s taken a while to feel comfortable releasing ‘Whispers’ as its own thing. The song itself, lyrically, came from a very personal place, in contrast to the broader themes elsewhere on the record,” Cwfen’s Alder says. “This, for me, is a song that cuts right to the bone; it might not be too obvious in the lyrics themselves, but it’s taken a year of seeing the fans respond to it, watching it become one of their favourites, to really have the courage and the confidence to give it some of the love it deserves.
“The screams weren’t planned. They weren’t on the first version, but when we went back into the studio after a few weeks, that’s what had to come out, so what you hear in this song is the depth of that feeling,” Alder adds. “It’s one of the most cathartic, tender, and ultimately visceral songs on the album, and deciding to release it now feels like the acceptance of a direction in my songwriting that I feel ready to explore on the next record.”
Filmed and edited by Amy Greenbank, the accompanying video for “Whispers” is shot in a gorgeously cinematic black and white, and juxtaposes footage of the band playing shows across Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Ireland to wrapt audiences with haunting wintry landscapes across Northern Europe, the band doing promo shoots and behind the scenes tour footage.
“We were so lucky that our Creative Scotland funding allowed us to take this tour and to bring Amy Greenbank with us,” Cwfen’s Alder says of the tour and video,. “We got to work with an incredibly talented videographer, and we made a friend for life. She’s someone who will always be part of the Cwfen family. We made incredible memories on this tour and it’s so lovely to see some of them here.’”
“Following an unexpectedly busy and wonderful 12 months since the release of Sorrows, we’re proud to share our new video for ‘Whispers,'” Cfwen’s Guy DeNuit adds. “This song has become a live favourite with the band and audiences, and we are so fortunate to have had this documented and beautifully presented by our videographer and dear friend, Amy Greenbank.”
New Audio: Los Angeles’ Primitive Ring Shares a Bluesy, Black Sabbath-Styled Ripper
Loa Angeles-based power trio Primitive Ring — Bert Hoover (bass, vocals), Charles Moothart (guitar, vocals) and Jon Modaff (drums) — formed back in 2024 when Hoover and Moothart came together seeking a new creative outlet. They hauled amps and drums into bars to hone their sound, quickly settling into a sound that aimed to capture the primal essence of rock,
Last year, the band release four 7 inches on four different labels — Greenway Records, In The Red Records, Reverberation Appreciation Society and Fuzz Club. They closed out a busy year by recording their self-titled full-length debut at Echo Park-based Station House Studio with Mark Rains.
Their 11-song, self-titled, full-length debut dropped today through In The Red Recordings. Clocking in at 42 minutes, the album showcases the distinct writing styles of each member, but while anchored around an overall aesthetic of a spawning of a collective vision. The result is a pummeling, psychedelic joyride that arrives on the heels of a recent tour supporting Ty Segall.
The album features the previously released “Lies From The Other Side,” “Heads Will Roll,” and the album’s latest single “The Callous Man” Beginning with a bluesy Pink Floyd meets Cream intro, “The Callous Man” quickly morphs into an early Black Sabbath-styled ripper in which the musicians’ dexterous and muscular playing is the star of the show. Play loud and rock out y’all.
Throwback: Happy 73rd Birthday, Alex Van Halen!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Van Halen co-founder Alex Van Halen’s 73rd birthday.
Throwback: Happy 75th Birthday, Mick Mars!
JOVM’s William Ruben Helms celebrates Motley Crüe co-founder Mick Mars’ 75th birthday.
New Video: Die Spitz Shares Seething “American Porn”
Rising Austin-based outfit Die Spitz — Ava Schrobilgen, Chloe De St. Aubin, Ellie Livingston and Kate Halter — can trace some of their origins back to when Schrobilgen and Livingston met in preschool. They befriended Halter in middle school. And they brought De St. Aubin into their friend group when they started the band back in 2022.
Initially, the quartet was looking to find reasons to hang out more often, and decided they should start a band after a late-night viewing of the Mötley Crüe biopic The Dirt. They settled on the name Die Spitz over a “brown bag of Fireball,” opting for the feminine German definite article in place of the English. “It reminds me of the Grim Reaper spitting,” Livingstone jokes.
Their first live shows saw them pairing originals with covers from some of their early inspirations including Black Sabbath, Pixies, Mudhoney, PJ Harvey and Nirvana. Unsurprisingly, they express their ideas and themselves through a mischievously shameless blend of classic punk, hardcore metal, alt rock and more. They’ve also become known for riotous live show, where dueling cartwheels, members climbing rafters and solos while crowdsurfing could happen at just about any moment.
The Texan quartet’s highly-anticipated full-length debut, the Will Yip–produced Something to Consume was released last September through Third Man Records. The album sees the band combining their passion, friendship, identity and artistry to fight against the inescapable decay and chaos that surrounds modern life, “There’s a political side to it, but addiction and love can also be all-consuming,” the band’s Ellie Livingston says.
Something to Consume‘s 11 tracks contains multitudes and yet feels singular. It’s an expansive and expressive collection of songs, unified in its sense of deeply held camaraderie and freedom. “We depend on our freedom — freedom to do what we want, present the ideas we want, make the music we want,” Livingston says. “Whether it’s based in metal or something soft, no matter which of us wrote the song, we all contribute and work together. As a person, I don’t have a strong ego or voice, but within this band each one of us is capable of so much more.”
“Something to Consume is an album experience for everyone. Whether you’re craving a smack of lively metal or a melancholy wave of grungey violin, there’s a piece of all of us injected. Something to Consume is a call to the multitudes of ways we as humans allow consumption to enrapture our culture as well as ourselves.”
Though they’ve only been playing together for a few years, the album shows a maturity and technical prowess wielded and wed to the service of their deep and abiding friendship — and a hope to inspire change. “Some people aren’t interested in being political activists via music, but it weighs on me heavily and I feel misaligned with my calling if I don’t,” Chloe De St. Aubin says. “The four of us are free spirits with multiple interests, and there’s no limit or power dynamic that can derail us.”
The album features the previously released “Throw Yourself to the Sword,” a bruising mosh pit friendly synthesis of thrash metal, stoner rock and punk featuring some of the hardest and grimiest guitar riffs I’ve heard in some time. The album’s latest single “American Porn” comes as the quartet announces a lengthy list of summer and fall tour dates. The tour includes three New York City dates: November 13, 2026 and November 14, 2026 at Warsaw. Both of those shows are sold out. But don’t worry, they’ve got a February 19, 2027 stop at Brooklyn Steel. As always, all tour dates are below.
“American Porn” sees the rising Texans channeling a seething synthesis of grunge and riot grrl punk that calls out sexist record industry insiders and perverted older dudes, who come to their shows to leer and objectify them. “It’s a very angry song,” says the band’s Eleanor Livingston.” “And I want the people that come to our shows just because we’re pretty women or they want to sexualize or objectify us to listen to that song and tell us if they’re still a fan.”
Continuing an ongoing collaboration with director Emily Sanchez, the accompanying video for “American Porn” is a surreal fever dream of a visual that wouldn’t be out of place on 120 Minutes. The video calls out gender-roles, stereotypes and beauty standards with seething anger and a sense of mischief.