Iron Maiden performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 12, 2024. Photos courtesy Aftershock Festival. AFTERSHOCK 2024: • Slayer reunites for explosive Thursday headlining set • Slipknot rocks like its 1999 on fest’s second day SACRAMENTO — Saturday night’s Aftershock headliners were proof that…

Slipknot performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 11, 2024. Photos courtesy Aftershock Festival. AFTERSHOCK 2024: • Slayer reunites for explosive Thursday headlining set SACRAMENTO — Aftershock Festival’s second day featured a variety of punk icons and modern rock heavyweights. The crowds felt bigger…

Jerry Cantrell, “I Want Blood.” Few hard rock musicians carry the torch for the authentic Seattle sound of ‘90s grunge like guitarist Jerry Cantrell. The Alice In Chains founder understands the assignment of riff-laden, harmony-rich heavy rock and roll. That’s exactly what Cantrell offers on I Want Blood, his…

Slayer performs during Aftershock Festival at Discovery Park in Sacramento, Calif. on Oct. 10, 2024. Photos courtesy Aftershock. SACRAMENTO — Aftershock Festival returned to Discovery Park bigger than ever on Thursday, the first of four days. The addition of a fifth stage for the first time created a Warped-Tour-esque environment…

Green Day performs at Oracle Park in San Francisco on Aug. 27, 2021. Steve Carlson/STAFF. Bay Area punk rock legends Green Day are offering a “demaster” of their seminal album Dookie in 15 unconventional, and in some cases, obsolete or highly inconvenient formats. Anybody have a phonograph lying around?…

Serj Tankian, courtesy, Like thumbing through the pages of an old photo album, Serj Tankian looked to create a musical archive with his new EP, Foundations. The singer, songwriter and System of a Down frontman saw how his memoir, “Down With the System: A Memoir (of Sorts),” resonated with…

Coldplay, “Moon Music.” Coldplay recently announced that its 12th album would be its last and that the quartet would be retiring afterward. Music Moon, the band’s just-released 10th album, sets the slow march in motion. The record opens with a clash of complex orchestral beauty and somber melancholy and…

Sonny Sandoval performs with P.O.D. during Sick New World festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds on May 13, 2023. Photo by Greg Doherty/Getty Images. Tastes can change and bands can shine bright then disappear in an instant. But for SoCal hard rock band P.O.D., the mission has remained…

Billy Strings, “Highway Prayers.” Virtuosic bluegrass musician Billy Strings keeps up his hot streak on Highway Prayers, the singer-songwriter’s fourth album. The Michigan native is known for his Hendrix-like acumen on both banjo and guitar, but on the record, he delivers as an adept songwriter as well. Highway Prayers…

Fever 333, courtesy Solo Nichol. The mission is clear for Grammy-nominated SoCal rock band Fever 333: Support marginalized communities, challenge the system and electrify the masses. Darker White Fever 333 Century Media/333 Wreckords Crew, Oct. 4 Get the album on Amazon Music. “Everything they told you that you can’t…