For years, friends of mine on the touring circuit would speak in reverent, hushed tones about the man they called Nightbeast, a roadie and TM for bands like Hawthorne Heights by day, but a one-man musical genius by night. I finally met the man, the myth the legend, Nick Nightbeast when he came through town tour managing Metro Station. We had some beers and bonded over being fat, bearded men in a scrawny boy world and I was instantly convert into a follower of the Beast. And I’m not alone: Nightbeast’s new full length, Inside Jokes for Outside Folks, dropped in stores everywhere yesterday and there were I’m sure, literally tens of people waiting breathlessly to purchase it. For those who weren’t though, might I suggest taking a perusal of the Beast’s Purevolume page, where the record can currently be streamed in its entirety for FREE? You’ll be glad you did.

Everyone’s favorite middle-aged dudes in clown masks Slipknot will be raking in the dough this summer as headliners of the Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour, which will also feature Disturbed, Underoath, Mastodon and a shitload more heavy ass bands, basically picking up where Ozzfest fucked off. The tour is of course yet another brainchild of Warped Tour / Taste of Chaos founder Kevin Lyman, who seems to be pwning the touring festival circuit these days. Dates for the tour are after the jump. Stay tuned to Synthesis for a shitload more coverage of this tour  (more…)

When our good friends Emery recently announced they were ending their run with Switchfoot and Athlete on the TWLOHA-sponsored Up In Arms Tour a few weeks early, internet naysayers had the rumor mill working overtime. But the band put all rumors as to their demise to rest today with the announcement that they will be joining up with longtime musical cohort Aaron Gillespie on his last tour with The Almost before devoting his attention to Underoath full time for awhile. Here’s the announcement:

We are extremely excited to announce that we will be joining The Almost for their US tour in May and June. We’ve known Aaron for some time, and since our 2007 Australian tour with Underoath was such a good time, we know we had to go out with him again. We will be joined on this tour by Envy on the Coast and Army of Me. We could not be more excited about this tour. Please check back as more shows are announced. We’ll see you soon. Love - EMERY

Also joining them on this tour will be long lost Synthesis blogger Trevor Digby Sellers. Write to him on his Myspace and tell him to start putting his iPhone to use by writing some damn blogs. Tour dates after the jump:

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Even if you don’t like metal (and who doesn’t, these days?) you still have to love Killswitch Engage. They write some of the heaviest riffs known to man and have some of the most pissed vocals anywhere, but they are still at heart, a bunch of nerds and pussycats. Last time I saw them live guitarist (and increasingly legendary producer)  Adam D was running around in a cape and his boxer shorts. Frontman Howard Jones may look like an NFL linebacker, but in person he’s the kind of guy you want to sit around and drink coffee with and talk about Star Trek. He seemed like he’d definitely have an opinion about Kirk vs. Picard (I’m gonna go with Picard). In an interview with Adam D a couple years back I asked him about the seemingly dichotomous nature of his band’s sound and demeanor and this is what he had to say:

I hate the whole thing within the metal community, where it’s like “Dude, since we’re so hard onstage, we’re gonna be awesome.” I think that whole mentality has kind of died away with all the stupid leather pants and longhair and the [assumes Viking of Death Metal tone] “Yahhhh we’re tough and blah, blah, blah.” I’m just so easygoing, I just don’t give a shit what anyone thinks.

Well there you have it.  I bring this up, not just for the fuck of it, but because the band annouced today a new string of tour dates this spring, with a couple other fairly badass bands, Poison the Well and Throwdown, that will be gracing the middle parts of America and Canada. If you’re a kid in Milwaukee and you don’t go to this show, you’re drinking too much Pabst bro! Here’s the press release:

Killswitch Engage continue to cement their reputation as road warriors. After wrapping up their successful, sold out winter tour, the Massachusetts band has just announced another spate of tour dates that will find the band hitting several Midwest locations as well as cutting a path all over Canada. The two-week tour, featuring Throwdown, Poison The Well and The End as support acts, kicks off on May 10 and runs through May 29.

Below are the tour dates and locations. Pre-sale for fan club members begins today. Pre-sale for all fans begins Monday, March 3rd at Noon EST. Regular on-sale tickets can be purchased beginning March 6.

May 10 – The Sound Academy – Toronto, ONT   (On Sale 3/6)
May 11 – Elements Night Club – Kitchener, ONT   (On Sale 3/7)
May 13 – Capitole du Quebec – Quebec City, QUE   (On Sale 3/6)
May 14 – The Metropolis – Montreal, QUE   (On Sale 3/6)
May 16 – The Orbit Room – Grand Rapids, MI   (On Sale 3/7)
May 17 – Rock On The Range Festival – Columbus, OH   (Radio show)
May 18 – Point Fest – St. Louis, MO   (Radio show)
May 19 – The Eagles Club – Milwaukee, WI   (On Sale 3/8)
May 20 – Val Air Ballroom – Des Moines, IA   (On Sale 3/7)
May 22 – Community Auditorium – Thunder Bay, ONT   (On Sale 3/8)
May 23 – Burton Cummings – Winnipeg, MAN   (On Sale, 3/7)
May 24 – Odeon Events Centre – Saskatoon, SAS   (On Sale, 3/8)
May 26 – Edmonton Events Center – Edmonton, AB   (On Sale, 3/8)
May 27 – MacEwan Hall Ballroom – Calgary, AB   (On Sale, 3/8)
May 29 – Croatian Cultural Center – Vancouver, BC   (On Sale, 3/7)

On the heels of last week’s unexplained cancellations, just received this release from Live Nation regarding Van Halen’s upcoming shows at Arco Arena in Sacramento and Oracle Area in Oakland:

Tickets for Van Halen’s upcoming Oracle Arena and Arco Arena dates were scheduled to go on sale on March 1st and March 3rd, respectively. Those on sale dates have now been postponed. Additional information regarding the ticket on sale dates for those appearances will be announced soon. Please disregard previous on sale announcement.

Maybe Eddie is so bummed about ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli breaking it down on Oprah the other day - about boning other dudes, getting fat, doing blow and all sorts of other shit - that he called up ex-VH bassist Michael Anthony and they both rolled to the nearest bar and ordered bottles of Jack Daniels, neat.

 Our good friends and perennial winners of Best Unsigned Band Competitions,  Brighten just announced that they are hitting the road with another band we are quite fond of, Envy on the Coast for a couple weeks next month before they head to Irvine for Bamboozle Left. If you’re lucky enough to live in any of these cities, attendance is mandatory!

Mar 16 2008
Cambridge Room @ HOB w/ The Maine and more! Dallas, Texas
Mar 18 2008
The Social Orlando, Florida
Mar 19 2008
Studio A Miami, Florida
Mar 20 2008
The Orpheum Tampa, Florida
Mar 21 2008
Landshark Cafe Atlantic Beach, Florida
Mar 22 2008
Rocketown Nashville, Tennessee
Mar 24 2008
Bulldog Cafe Louisville, Kentucky
Mar 26 2008
Mac’s Bar Lansing, Michigan
Mar 27 2008
Mojoes Rock House Tinley Park, Illinois
Mar 28 2008
The Basement Columbus, Ohio
Mar 29 2008
Xtreme Wheelz Buffalo, New York
Mar 30 2008
Siren Records Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Apr 5 2008
Bamboozle Left Irvine, California