Alex Distefano

On Sunday hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles lined the streets just adjacent to Los Encinos State Historic Park as bikers, motorcycle riders and metalheads all gathered to celebrate the life and legacy of heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio for the fifth annual Ride for Ronnie event, which raises funds for cancer research. Dio died in 2010 at the age of 67. He was performing with Heaven & Hell and his solo band in the year prior to his death....

In keeping with the melting pot of diversity that is the city of L.A., local metal/hard rock group Void Vator are a band of friends and musicians who call L.A. home but are from different parts of the world, with the exception of California native Sam Harman, out of Burbank....

Dawn Fades are an L.A.-based post-metal band that will be releasing its self-titled debut album via Metal Assault Records on Friday, Feb. 8. The band’s lineup consists of guitarists Nate Hertweck and Adam El-Gerbi, vocalist Sam Sherwood, bassist Markus Erren Pardiñas and drummer Scott Quist....

Since the beginning of rock music, there have been bands that feature siblings, because let’s face it, there is a close bond that brothers and sisters share. With too many bands to list, we decided to focus on rivalries, bad blood and other unfortunate circumstances. From classic rock, metal, alternative and punk, some of these band's histories include unfortunate events such as bitter lawsuits and family members estranged, or even separate groups under the same moniker. Most of the following bands survived this turmoil, while others saw tragic conclusions....

Los Angeles is a mecca for heavy metal musicians and fans alike; our city’s history and infatuation with rock music goes back generations. So in 2018, it makes total sense that one of heavy metal’s newest D.I.Y. record label is being run out of a one-bedroom apartment in downtown L.A....

Women like Alice Bag, Exene Cervenka, Dinah Cancer, Nina Hagen, Wendy O Williams, Siouxsie Sioux, Patti Smith and Debbie Harry and bands like The Runaways paved the way for females to be taken seriously in what was otherwise a testosterone overdose of angry young males. Naturally, that baton was picked up. The past two decades have seen several prominent women pummel the punk patriarchy, armed with a ton of great tunes and a belly full of punk-rock attitude....

Taking equal parts R&B, soul, funk, electronica, indie and punk rock, Long Beach–based group Devil Season is an amalgam of influences and sounds that won't be stuffed into one genre box. “We have a soul influence, but there is no classification to our music,” says Devil Season vocalist/songwriter Nate Jackson, an Orange County native. “We like hip-hop, funk, R&B and even hardcore punk bands, like Bad Brains, that mix it all together.”...