Skillet have just released the title track off their forthcoming album, Rise, which is available June 25th. The song “Rise” is part of the band’s first ever concept album, as singer John Cooper explains, “The narrative idea happened after we had 10 or 11 of the songs chosen. As we recorded them, we started to realize that there was something going on – that the album was really telling a story. Realizing that, I knew we needed to make it as powerful as we could.”

The title track is available on iTunes now.

The band are also offering their die-hard fans the chance to hang out with them on tour via the “Road to Rise VIP Experience.” For more info check out this video here.

Skillet will also be hitting the road this Summer on the Festival Circuit...

Monster Energy’s Rock Allegiance Tour, featuring four game-changing rock bands from four different countries, with Volbeat, HIM, All That Remains and Airbourne on the bill, has announced the first round of tour dates, which are posted below.

The tour will bring American audiences the very best that rock music as a whole has to offer, with a decidedly international feel. Rock music is a universal language and all the acts on this tour embody the spirit of rock ‘n’ roll without borders.

“The fans have made our North American visits thus far this year great fun and truly memorable,” Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen said. “We are looking forward to headlining Monster Energy’s Rock Allegiance festival tour this summer, and sharing the stage with HIM, All That Remains and Airbourne.”

Danish sup...

Photo credit: Ed Miles

Maximum-blues-infused, hard rock band RIVAL SONS will perform two songs acoustically Wednesday, May 15 at 7:00 PM PT live on AXS-TV: singer JAY BUCHANAN and guitarist SCOTT HOLIDAY will do “Keep On Swinging”–the first single from their acclaimed current album HEAD DOWN–as well as “Burn Down Los Angeles” from their 2011 album Pressure and Time.  The video for “Keep On Swinging” can be seen here: www.vevo.com/watch/rival-sons/keep-on-swinging/GBA631200133.  

AXS TV is broadcast on DIRECTV Channel 340, DISH Network Channel 167, AT&T U-Verse Channel 1106, Verizon FiOS Channel 569.   For additional affiliate and distributor channel information including Comcast Xfinity, Charter, Suddenlink and others please visit:  www.axs.tv/subscribe

RIVAL SONS–Jay Bu...

Mutli-talented actor, dancer, and singer Matthew Morrison has just released his new single, a cover of Duke Ellington’s jazz standard “It Don’t Mean A Thing” (available now on iTunes). The song, which premiered this week on Huffington Post, will appear on Morrison’s upcoming album, Where It All Began, due June 4th as the debut release on Adam Levine’s 222 Records.

Featuring a collection of classic standards and Broadway hits, Morrison turned to legendary producer Phil Ramone (Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett), along with GRAMMY Award-winning producer Gregg Field, to create the album. Where It All Began featured such treasured classics as “Singin’ In The Rain,” “Luck Be a Lady,” “West Side Story Medley,” and more.

Be sure to check out the stream of “It Don’t Mean A Thing” on SoundCloud, and hea...

(PCM) What started out as being one of the most promising festival line-ups this summer Carolina Rebellion came to an abrupt end on Sunday evening with performance cancellations of headliners Volbeat, Bush, Rise Against, and Soundgarden due to the inclement weather conditions in the North Carolina area. The situation left many fans in attendance, who braved the elements for hours, wet, muddy, and just plain disappointed as festival organizers scrambled to come up with a game plan, ultimately deciding the conditions were just too dangerous for both attendees and the performers to allow the show to continue.

In true Rebellion spirit, the frustrated crowd on Sunday started several chants such as “Rain Or Shine, Rain or Shine” tossing every imaginable object at the stage in efforts to ur...

(PCM) One of my absolute favorite bands of the past few years, Michigan rockers Pop Evil, are releasing their third album “Onyx” and all I can say is,the third time is definitely a charm for these bad boys of rock n’ roll. Pop Evil have vowed to bring rock music back to the masses and they are certainly poised to do just that with this new release. It is not very often that I am able to put on an album and just let is play from start to finish, but with “Onyx”, each and every track has hit potential.

This album showcases such much of the band’s growth and maturity as musicians and the amount of raw honesty put forth within the music is completely captivating...

(PCM) We were recently able to check out Sevendust’s absolutely blistering show at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA. The band is on touring currently promoting their ninth studio album “Black Out The Sun” (our review here) and the Atlanta band scored their first-ever #1 on the Billboard charts, taking over the “Top Hard Music Albums” chart its first week out!

Sevendust never disappoint in the live atmosphere and they literally put on one of the loudest, most hard-rocking shows I have ever had the chance to attend. They absolutely tore the venue apart with their hypnotic stage presence and unyielding energy...

(PCM) Buckcherry’s new Confessions CD is available now via Century Media Records and we recently had a chance to catch up with Buckcherry front man Josh Todd at the Carolina Rebellion music festival in Concord, NC.

Confessions is Buckcherry’s sixth studio album and first U.S. release for Century Media Records. It was produced by Keith Nelson and Marti Frederiksen (Aerosmith, Ozzy Osbourne) and features eclectic CD artwork by graffiti artist Ewok. The songs on Confessions merge punk grit, gutter attitude, honest storytelling, and razor sharp hooks, while the lyrics are tied together by the underlying theme of the Seven Deadly Sins.

The album’s first single “Gluttony” is impacting Active Rock in the U.S. and is steady climbing...