Hard Rock
Sevendust Unleash “Blood from a Stone”, First Original Song from Upcoming Album: Stream
Sevendust are gearing up to release a new album called Blood & Stone, and the Atlanta-based metal act has unleashed the first original song from the upcoming set. The band previously released a cover of Soundgarden’s “The Day I Tried to Live” as the first single from Blood & Stone, but “Blood from a Stone” marks Sevendust’s first original tune since their acclaimed 2018 album All I See Is War. The track has a vintage Sevendust vibe, with thick, moving riffs from Clint Lowery and John Connolly; heavy rhythms from bassist Vince Hornsby and drummer Morgan Rose; and powerful, soaring vocals from Lajon Witherspoon. “’Blood from a Stone’ was inspired by the endurance and threshold of our band, the wins and the losses, the good and bad years. That we have more to give, more to say an...
Dave Grohl and 10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Face Off in Drum Battle: Watch
Dave Grohl doesn’t back down from a drum-off, even when he’s challenged by a 10-year-old prodigy. The Foo Fighters frontman answered the call when talented youngster Nandi Bushell threw down the gauntlet to the onetime Nirvana drummer. Nandi has been getting the attention of prominent rockers with her recent YouTube performances. Her rendition of Rage Against the Machine’s “Guerrilla Radio”, on which she played drums, guitar, and bass, received the seal of approval from Tom Morello. In fact, Morello even shipped her one of his new signature Soul Power Stratocasters, which she then used to rock Audioslave’s “Cochise”. More recently, Kirk Hammett offered her praise for her performance of Metallica’s “Enter Sandman”. Now, Grohl is going head-to-head with Nandi, who two weeks ago tweeted her d...
Deftones Serve Up White Pony Beer in Honor of Album’s 20th Anniversary
Deftones fans have been drinking in the sensational sounds of White Pony for 20 years. Now, they can actually consume “White Pony” beer, as the alt-metal act has announced a new IPA named after their 2000 landmark album. In addition to prepping the release of a brand-new album titled Ohms, due September 25th, Deftones have been commemorating the 20th anniversary of White Pony in style. Previously, the band launched a limited-edition merch capsule, and revealed that they are working on a reissue of the LP, complete with a bonus disc of remixes titled “Black Stallion”. Now, add beer to the White Pony celebration. Deftones have teamed up with San Diego brewery Belching Beaver to create the double dry hopped IPA, and the description is nearly as appealing as Chino Moreno’s soaring vocals: “Whi...
Bright Eyes Cover Thin Lizzy’s “Running Back”: Stream
Bright Eyes returned last week with their long-awaited comeback album, Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was. In support of the release, Conor Oberst and his crew recorded a SiriusXM Session that featured a pretty unexpected cover song: Thin Lizzy’s “Running Back”. They also appeared on CBS This Morning over the weekend. While the indie/emo rockers maintain the folkier aspects of Think Lizzy’s 1976 Jailbreak original, Oberst’s distinctly raspy growl make this “Running Back” rendition a unique one all their own. We’ve certainly missed Oberst in Bright Eyes mode like this. As for the Omaha-bred band’s appearance on CBS This Morning, they performed Down in the Weeds singles “Persona Non Grata” and “Mariana Trench”. Oberst was joined by fellow Bright Eyes mates Mike Mogis and Nathan...
Eddie Vedder Guests on Lily Cornell’s Mental Health Web Series: Watch
Eddie Vedder was the latest guest on Mind Wide Open, the the weekly mental-health series hosted by Chris Cornell’s daughter Lily Cornell Silver. In the newly premiered episode, the Pearl Jam singer opened up about grief, empathy, and activism, while also reflecting on his fallen peers. “I am thrilled that Ed offered to do Mind Wide Open,” Lily said in a statement announcing the episode. “His and his family’s support around my series means so much to me. He has always been like an uncle to me and is one of the pillars of support in my life. I know how impactful his voice is to people around the world and I deeply appreciate everything he stands for, so I am really excited for others to watch and hear his insights.” One of the more emotional aspects of the interview came when Vedder ope...
#MetallicaMondays Concert Series Ends with Metallica’s 2017 Mexico City Show: Watch
It’s been quite a treat for Metallica fans, but all good things must come to an end. The metal legends are ending their #MetallicaMondays streaming concert series with a Mexico City show from 2017. Metallica launched the free weekly series at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to provide “live” entertainment to their fans as the concert industry shut down. After five months of digging into the archives for full concerts ranging from 1983 through 2019, the Mexico City show will close out the series. The band announced the news on Monday morning (August 24th) via Twitter, stating, “#MetallicaMondays reaches the end of the line. Tune in tonight for Live in Mexico City, the 23rd & final installment of the series, shot in front of a fired-up crowd in 2017. Tune in at 5 PM PDT o...
Heavy Culture: Musicians on Protests, Power, and the Pandemic
Clockwise from Upper Left: Skin, Rasheed Thomas, William DuVall, Cammie Gilbert, Elias Soriano, Militia Vox, AJ Channer, Prika Amaral Heavy Culture is a monthly column from journalist Liz Ramanand, focusing on artists of different cultural backgrounds in heavy music as they offer their perspectives on race, society, and more as it intersects with and affects their music. The latest installment of this column features multiple rock and metal musicians recounting their early experiences of racism. The year 2020 will go down as one of the most difficult and memorable in the history of the world. As a global pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the physical and economic health of countries across the world, protests for justice and equality have led to notable progress in the battle again...
Song of the Week: Deftones Make an Electric Return with “Ohms”
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify New Sounds playlist. Another week of this strange, new reality, another song of the week to go with it. This time around, our song of the week comes from longtime alt-metal group Deftones. For the past three decades or so, the Grammy award-winning band have spread their driving, heavy tracks far and wide, finding fans all over the world. However, lately, there hasn’t been much as far as new music goes. Deftones’ last album was released in 2016, and as we all know, a lot has changed since then. Though we knew a new album was on the way, we didn’t have many details. After a lot of mysterious teasing, Deftones finally dropped some information on us, inclu...
Ozzy Osbourne on Trump’s Pandemic Response: “This Guy’s Acting Like a Fool”
Ozzy Osbourne’s signature solo song is “Crazy Train”, and that’s pretty much the ride he thinks Donald Trump has the United States on right now. “This guy’s acting like a fool,” the metal legend exclaimed in a new interview when speaking of the president’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The singer, who rarely talks politics, offered some strong opinions while speaking with Rolling Stone, even questioning why Trump ran for president in the first place. “If I was running for president, I would try and find out a little bit about politics,” remarked Ozzy. “Because the f**king guy you’ve got in there now doesn’t know that much about it, I don’t think.” He added, “It’s not like anyone could be a f**king heart surgeon and just go in with a scalpel. You have to know what you’re f**king doing....
R.I.P. Frankie Banali, Quiet Riot Drummer Dies at 68
Frankie Banali, longtime drummer for Quiet Riot, has died following a long battle with stage four pancreatic cancer. He was 68 years old. The news was confirmed by Banali’s wife, Regina, who wrote, “He put up an inspiringly brave and courageous 16-month battle to the end and continued playing live as long as he could.” Her statement continued, “Standard chemotherapy stopped working and a series of strokes made the continuation on a clinical trial impossible He ultimately lost the fight at 7:18PM on August 20th in Los Angeles surrounded by his wife and daughter.” Born and raised in New York City, Banali was the last remaining member of Quiet Riot’s classic ’80s lineup, having joined the band when they re-formed in 1982. Banali appeared on a total of 12 Quiet Riot albums, including 1983’s Me...
Deftones Unveil Title Track from New Album Ohms: Stream
After weeks of speculation and social media teases, Deftones have unveiled the title track from their upcoming album, Ohms. The single is the band’s first new song in four years, following up the 2016 album Gore. The track “Ohms” comes on the heels of the new album’s artwork, tracklist, and September 25th release date being confirmed hours earlier. The Ohms LP will contain 10 songs, with the title track closing out the album. The forthcoming album was produced by Terry Date, who helmed Deftones’ first four LPs. It was recorded at Henson Studios in Los Angeles, and Trainwreck Studios in Woodinville, Washington. The song is undoubtedly Deftones, driven by a heavy guitar riff by Stephen Carpenter, as singer Chino Moreno delivers his signature soaring vocals. An accompanying video, directed by...
Kid Musicians Turn System of a Down’s “Chop Suey” into a Christian Metal Song: Watch
A group of kid musicians have turned the iconic System of a Down hit “Chop Suey” into a Christian metal song, and … it’s a little weird, to say the least. The video was funded by the O’Keefe Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that has done an incredible job of producing high-quality performances featuring aspiring young musicians. We’ve previously reported on impressive covers of Metallica’s “Seek & Destroy”, Pantera’s “Walk”, and more songs on the foundation’s YouTube channel. Taylor Jade Campbell, an 8-year-old singer who last year rocked Slipknot’s “The Devil and I”, returns to lead a band of teenagers on “Chop Suey”. However, this time the lyrics have been changed, courtesy of Diane O’Keefe (a member of the O’Keefe Music Foundation team), turning the song into an ode to Chr...
