Wolfgang Van Halen of Mammoth WVH and Marc LaBelle of Dirtty Honey sit down with Ronni via Zoom before their show at The Bluestone!

Shinedown have released the thought-provoking and cinematic music video for lead single "Planet Zero". The video brings to life a glimpse of a dystopian future (complete with a menacing A.I. character named Cyren from the album's interludes who we hear at the end of the music video)that warns of the dangerous dehumanizing consequences of cancel culture run rampant.

On Planet Zero, Shinedown is serving up an incisive look at some of society's most critical issues, including the increasingly toxic division among those of differing ideologies, the need for honesty in our public discourse, and the corrosive effects of social media and cancel culture on mental health and humanity. The "Planet Zero" single rings the alarm with a cautionary warning that if we shut each other down, werisk losing empathy, respect for one another, and our ability to communicate and unify in a way that leads to actual progress and understanding.

"We wanted the first visual of Planet Zero to be unlike anything we have done previously. We chose to work with visionary director Charles De Meyer. We did not want a traditional music video feel - we wanted avant-garde, thought-provoking and surreal. Make no mistake, there is a message in the visual, a warning of what is to come, if society does not wake up, and demand the truth be told. Welcome to PLANET ZERO..." - Brent Smith

Their most ambitious and masterfully realized work to date, Planet Zero is a high-concept, ultra-vivid, viscerally charged saga. A critical yet optimistic look at the fractures and frays of a society that has undergone many challenges in the last few years, the album is part social commentary and part in-depth exploration of the human psyche. Produced by Shinedown's Eric Bass (who also produced the band's 2018 acclaimed album ATTENTION ATTENTION,) and recorded at Bass' newly built Big Animal Studio in South Carolina, Planet Zero matches its immersive world-building and takedown of authoritarianism with a deliberately unvarnished sound, and the album is spliced with interludes featuring Cyren, an insidious and unsettling robot character that appears throughout the Planet Zero journey. While a raw ferocity fuels much of Planet Zero on tracks like "The Saints of Violence and Innuendo," "No Sleep Tonight," and "America Burning," there is also hope, triumph, and reminders that we all need one another on songs like "Daylight," "Dysfunctional You," and "A Symptom of Being Human." After all, it is the band's impassioned striving for unity that has long been at the heart of their creative output and deeply informed the making of Planet Zero. Not only a driving force for their songwriting, their humanitarian outlook led Shinedown to be one of the first artists to fundraise for non-profit humanitarian aid organization Direct Relief in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, raising more than $400,000 with their "Atlas Falls" relief effort. Full Planet Zero tracklist is below.

PLANET ZERO TRACKLIST:

1. 2184
2. No Sleep Tonight
3. Planet Zero
4. Welcome
5. Dysfunctional You
6. Dead Don't Die
7. Standardized Experiences
8. America Burning
9. Do Not Panic
10. A Symptom Of Being Human
11. Hope
12. A More Utopian Future
13. Clueless And Dramatic
14. Sure Is Fun
15. Daylight
16. This Is A Warning
17. The Saints Of Violence And Innuendo
18. Army Of The Underappreciated
19. Delete
20. What You Wanted

Lineup yer' Shinedown here: https://www.shinedown.com/?eml=2022February11/5610840/6010043&etsubid=132751827

"Planet Zero" Becomes Shinedown's 17^th #1 This Week on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplay Chart, Breaking A New Record For Most #1s In The History Of The Chart. New Album Planet Zero Out April 22 and The Revolution's Live Tour rolls into Columbus the very next night! SATURDAY APR 23 AT THE SCHOTTENSTEIN CENTER: SHINEDOWN, WITH THE PRETTY RECKLESS AND DIAMANTE. Get yer tickets here: https://www.ticketnetwork.com/tickets/4965899/shinedown-tickets-sat-apr-23-2022-value-city-arena-at-the-schottenstein-center

The official video for #PlanetZero has landed 🪐. Welcome to PLANET ZERO... 😈

⇏ WATCH the official video: https://t.co/m5MSegQVFS
⇏ PRE-SAVE / PRE-ORDER the new album out 4.22: https://t.co/J0Mn8zFlBO pic.twitter.com/AF7z3KMAhb

— SHINEDOWN (@Shinedown) March 3, 2022

It's the 40th Anniversary of "Ministry", and Industrial Music Mastermind, Al Jourgensen and his band are kicking off their tour here in Columbus at KEMBA Live on March 2nd with "The Industrial Strength Tour". Ministry has a lot to celebrate! Not only finally getting to get back out to tour, but it's also the 30 Anniversary of "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste" and the Release of the New Album in their Legacy "Moral Hygiene"  featuring 'Search And Destroy', 'Good Trouble', 'Alert Level,  'Disinformation', 'Believe Me' and more. Get yer' tickets here https://promowestlive.com/columbus/kemba-live/2022/03/the-industrial-strength-tour-with-ministry-and-special-guests

The new album Moral Hygiene is the band's 15th and was self-recorded in Al's home-built studio during the pandemic quarantine when he had time to really ruminate on society as what we have become in the face of crises. The message of this album is really getting back to a set of standards that shows our humanity and willingness to work together for a better world (aka needing "moral hygiene" more than ever). Songs were inspired by the pandemic and its losses ("Death Toll"), John Lewis and social activism ("Good Trouble"), not buying into conspiracy theories ("Disinformation") and just what we are all going to do about it ("Alert Level")

--The album has a ton of guest star wattage on it too - Al worked very closely with featured guitarist Billy Morrison (Billy Idol/Royal Machines) on many tracks including a cover of The Stooges' "Search And Destroy" and Al teamed up with Jello Biafra for "Sabotage is Sex" making many wonder if we'll see some more LARD material soon. There's also N.W.A.'s Arabian Prince who's on the social media only "Unity Mix" of "Good Trouble" in which he reads John Lewis' posthumous speech in full and it features audio from the BLM demonstrations in LA captured by Al and his partner Liz Walton.

-Ministry will embark on a large US tour starting March 2022 celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste and debuting new songs from Moral Hygiene  https://ministryband.com/ 

I had a chance to catch up with Al to talk about the new album and it's message, the Legacy that is Ministry, plus writing and recording during quarantine and crisis, and his sensational touring band. Give it a listen just HERE!

MORAL HYGIENE IS OUT NOW!

Stream / download: https://t.co/tmWD8fn6hv
Shop: https://t.co/Ng01MgsLGh pic.twitter.com/1udfDxBSx8

— Ministry (@WeAreMinistry) October 1, 2021

Halestorm have released their music video for the new song "The Steeple", from the forthcoming Halestorm album, "Back From The Dead",  hitting stores on May 6th.

"We started writing this album about three months B.C. (Before COVID). Once we went into lockdown and were unable to perform and tour, I fell into a dark place and something of an identity crisis. This album is the story of me carving myself out of that abyss. It is a journey of navigating mental health, debauchery, survival, redemption, rediscovery, and still maintaining faith in humanity." - Lzzy Hale