Out Now: Dave Grohl’s Dream Widow EP, the Heavy Metal Band from Foo Fighters’ ‘Studio 666’ (ft. Grohl on Vox/Guitar/Bass/Drums & Fireball Ministry’s Jim Rota)

Adrian Garroon March 25, 2022Categories:Latest News
Rock Cellar Magazine

Dream Widow was a band with big aspirations and an unseemly demise. As depicted in Studio 666, the horror/comedy film from Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters that was premiered in theaters in late February, the fictitious band met its end in a haunted mansion in Encino, California, where Grohl and his band reconvened to try and record a new record (in the movie, at least).

Studio 666 featured several aggressive, dark metal tunes from that fake band, Dream Widow, and today, March 25, the Dream Widow EP has officially surfaced.

As Grohl told Rock Cellar in our video interview connected to the Studio 666 theatrical release: ” I’ll just say that we have found the lost Dream Widow record that they were making before the singer killed the band.”

Anybody that knows Grohl’s career beyond the Foo Fighters knows of his keen interest in heavy music. His 2004 solo project Probot embraced the heavy, an exercise in hard-rock/metal with a host of special guests from the scene, and he’s always professed love for some truly heavy acts (that may surprise folks who only know him for the Foo Fighters’ arena rock and as Nirvana’s former drummer).

As a result, the music on the Dream Widow EP is totally crushing, wildly adventurous and as far away from the “safe” confines of the Foo Fighters and you could hope. For this project, Grohl worked with guitarist Jim Rota of Fireball Ministry — lending even more credibility to these songs — with Grohl’s Foo Fighters pal Rami Jaffee and sound engineer Oliver Roman lending some services on keyboards.

But beyond those guests, this is all Grohl, all the time, similar to how the first Foo Fighters record in 1995 was conceived.

Listen to “Encino,” the thrashy opening track featuring Grohl shouting himself hoarse, as an example:

“Cold,” with its adherence to an actual hook and bluesy metal swagger, could honestly stand apart as an actual single. On this one, Grohl even sounds a bit like late Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland, which is a wild experience indeed:

“The Sweet Abyss” also tosses in a bit of an Alice in Chains-esque harmony amid the chaotic metal madness, too:

The track listing for the Dream Widow EP:

Encino
Cold
March of the Insane
The Sweet Abyss
Angel With Severed Wings
Come All Ye Unfaithful
Becoming
Lacrimus dei Ebrius

While this project definitely works as an experimental Dave Grohl release to add to his impossibly versatile career, it packs a bit more of a punch within the context of Studio 666, which is available for digital streaming/renting now.

There’s a sinister story attached to the music on this EP, specifically the sprawling closer, the 11-minute “Lacrimus dei Ebrius” (which, mild spoiler alert, Grohl and the Foo Fighters tirelessly work on in the film until … well, things get messy):

Give a listen to the whole EP — which, fun fact, is about six minutes longer in length than Foo Fighters’ 2021 album Medicine at Midnight — below.

And if you haven’t yet, enjoy our video chat with Grohl below.

With the Dream Widow dream unleashed to the masses, Grohl can get back to business with the Foo Fighters on their remaining tour dates during the rest of 2022 — catch a show:

4/29/22 — Memphis, TN — Beale Street Music Festival
5/01/22 — New Orleans, LA — New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
5/14/22 – Burgettstown, PA – The Pavilion at Star Lake
5/16/22 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion (SOLD OUT)
5/18/22 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavilion (SOLD OUT)
5/20/22 – Raleigh, NC – Coastal Credit Union Music Park (SOLD OUT)
5/22/22 — Daytona Beach, FL — Welcome To Rockville
5/24/22 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion (SOLD OUT)
5/27/22 – Boston, MA – Boston Calling
7/17/22 – New York, NY – Citi Field
7/19/22 – Saratoga Springs, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
7/22/22 – Toronto, ON – Rogers Centre
7/24/22 – Philadelphia, PA – Lincoln Financial Field
7/27/22 – Bangor, ME – Maine Savings Amphitheater (SOLD OUT)
7/29/22 – Montreal, QC – Osheaga Festival
8/01/22 – Noblesville, IN – Ruoff Music Center (SOLD OUT)

8/03/22 — Minneapolis, MN — US Bank Stadium
8/06/22 – Denver, CO – Empower Field at Mile High
8/08/22 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheater
8/10/22 – Big Sky, MT – Big Sky Events Arena (SOLD OUT)
8/13/22 – Seattle, WA – T-Mobile Park
8/18/22 – Los Angeles, CA – Banc of California Stadium
8/20/22 – Los Angeles, CA — Banc of California Stadium (SOLD OUT)
9/18/22 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford Premier Center
9/21/22 – Winnipeg, MB – Canada Life Arena (SOLD OUT)
9/23/22 — Saskatoon, SK – SaskTel Centre
9/25/22 – Regina, SK – Brandt Centre (SOLD OUT)
9/27/22 — Edmonton, AB – Rogers Place
9/29/22 – Calgary, AB – Scotiabank Saddledome
10/1/22 – Penticton, BC – South Okanagan Events Centre (SOLD OUT)
10/3/22 – Victoria, BC – Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre (SOLD OUT)
10/5/22 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
10/7/22 – Bend, OR – Hayden Homes Amphitheater (SOLD OUT)
10/9/22 – Sacramento, CA – Aftershock Festival

Dave Grohldream widowfireball ministryFoo Fightersheavy metalstudio 666
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