Hard Rock
Skillet Frontman Calls Rage Against the Machine “Government Rock,” Insists He’s the “Revolutionary”
Skillet frontman and Christian rocker John Cooper blasted Rage Against the Machine while defending his own anti-vax stance in a new interview. You might remember Cooper’s delusional comments from earlier this year following Cardi B’s controversial Grammy performance. At the time, Cooper compared the Grammy Awards to Hitler and condemned Cardi B for the sexual nature of her stage show. Cooper then tried to backtrack on his remarks. Now the Skillet singer has taken a pot shot at Rage Against the Machine, an outspokenly progressive and left-leaning act. In an interview with Apologia Radio, a church-run program, Cooper elaborated on his thesis that vaccines are a tool of government control “more about tyranny than they are actually keeping people safe.” Advertisement Related Video “What’s real...
Tom Morello Releases New Album, Including “I Have Seen the Way” Featuring Metallica and Rush Members: Stream
Tom Morello has released his second guest-heavy solo album of 2021, The Atlas Underground Flood. The LP is the sister piece to The Atlas Underground Fire, which the Rage Against the Machine guitarist dropped back in October. Morello again tapped a host of famous musical colleagues to contribute, including Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, Rush’s Alex Lifeson, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Nathaniel Rateliff, Ben Harper, and more. Hammett and Lifeson join Morello on the track “I Have Seen the Way,” which also features electronic artist Dr. Fresch. For the guitar fans, the piece is a feast of shredding and vibrant soloing backed by propulsive electro beats. Advertisement Related Video Hammett provides the wah-heavy solos he’s made his trademark in Metallica, while Lifeson provides a more classic-r...
Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen on Servant of the Mind, Tour with Ghost, and Metallica’s Black Album
Danish rockers Volbeat are back with their eighth studio album, Servant of the Mind, just released via Republic Records. Musically, the album hearkens back to the band’s earlier, heavier days, with relentless riffing and punching rhythms, while also representing how far they’ve come as a group. “You can definitely hear a band that sounds very young, but at the same time, a band that has a lot of experience with the style we started so many years ago,” frontman Michael Poulsen tells Heavy Consequence. In addition to releasing the new album, Volbeat are prepping for a highly anticipated co-headlining US arena tour with Swedish metal masters Ghost. The outing kicks off January 25th in Reno, Nevada, and runs through a March 3rd show in Anaheim, California. Tickets are available now via Ticketm...
Volbeat’s Michael Poulsen: “I’ve Always Been Fascinated by Dark Forces”
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Pocket Casts | Radio Public | RSS Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen jumps on the line with Kyle Meredith to talk about Servant of the Mind, an album made after a prolific writing period during the first lockdown. The Danish musician discusses the heaviness of the record, what draws him to his dark lyrics, and taking musical inspiration from Black Sabbath. Poulsen also tells us about the supernatural experiences he’s had and how they made their way into the set, and what we might expect from Volbeat’s upcoming tour with Ghost. (Tickets for that tour are available here!) Advertisement Related Video Elsewhere, Poulsen discusses covering The Cramps’ version of Roy ...
Mötley Crüe Sell Entire Recording Catalog to BMG for a Reported $150 Million
This must feel good for Mötley Crüe: The band has sold its entire recording catalog to BMG for a reported $150 million. The deal includes all their studio albums from their 1981 debut, Too Fast for Love, through their most recent LP, 2008’s Saints of Los Angeles, plus their live releases and compilations. While Variety cites sources as valuing the deal at roughly $150 million, the publication also notes that other sources report that the dollar amount is “significantly lower.” Either way, it’s quite a windfall for the hard-rock veterans, who were able to secure the rights to their catalog from Elektra Records in the ’90s with help from manager Allen Kovac. Advertisement Overall, Mötley Crüe have sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, with seven of their LPs going platinum or multipla...
Brian May Slams Elimination of Gendered Awards, Wonders If Queen Would Be Forced to Have Transgender Member
Queen guitarist Brian May slammed the BRIT Awards for their removal of gender-specific award categories. He also wondered whether Queen would be have been “forced” to have transgender and multi-racial band members if they existed in present day. In an interview with The Mirror, May compared the BRIT Awards’ shift away from male and female-specific categories to an infringement on personal freedom. He then used the topic to pontificate on a what he calls an “atmosphere of fear” that is plaguing society. “…because people are afraid to say how they really think,” May said with a fearful tone himself, then warning that “there will be some kind of explosion.” Advertisement Related Video Even less tactfully, May went on to say that Queen “would be forced to have people of different colors and di...
2021 Heavy Metal & Hard Rock Holiday Gift Guide
Another holiday season is upon us, and for metal and hard rock fans, that means merch. As fans of heavy music, we support our favorite artists by purchasing physical media, apparel, and memorabilia. It’s an integral part of the heavy metal way of life, and rare are the occasions when we can ask others to buy these precious artifacts for us. Likewise, if you have a fan of metal and hard rock in your life, then you are probably well aware of the genre’s collector culture and obsession with iconography. We would willingly give our hard-earned money for multiple vinyl variants of Slayer’s Hell Awaits. Even better if such a blasphemous record was sitting under the tree on X-mas morning: the ultimate soundtrack to the burning of the yule log. After a year of covering vinyl reissues, book announc...
Evanescence Offer First Look at Graphic Novel The Revolution of Cassandra: Exclusive
Evanescence are gearing up for the release of the second book in their ongoing graphic anthology series, Echoes From the Void, and Heavy Consequence has an exclusive first look at a multi-page excerpt. The new issue, titled The Revolution of Cassandra, was created by singer Amy Lee and film director Eric D. The book features Howell’s story based on Evanescence’s single “Use My Voice” from their 2021 studio album, The Bitter Truth. Howell also directed the music video for “Use My Voice.” Regarding the scene depicted in our exclusive preview, Howell tells Heavy Consequence, “This scene happens early in the story and sets up the central conflict between Cassandra and her sister Moira. Cassandra is all about peace, love, and anything astrological, while Moria is grounded, pragmatic, and c...
Grammys 2022: AC/DC, Deftones, Chris Cornell, Foo Fighters Lead Rock + Metal Nominees
The nominees for the 2022 Grammy Awards have been unveiled, with AC/DC, Deftones, Foo Fighters, and the late Chris Cornell leading the way in the rock and metal categories. Wolfgang Van Halen, Gojira, Mastodon, Dream Theater, and Rob Zombie also received nods in various categories, rounding out an impressive stable of heavy artists being represented at the 2022 ceremony. Nominees for Best Metal Performance — the Grammys’ only metal-centric category — included Deftones for their track “Genesis,” Dream Theater (“The Alien”), Gojira (“Amazonia”), Mastodon (“Pushing the Tides”), and Rob Zombie (“The Triumph of King Freak [A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition]”). Advertisement Related Video In Best Rock Performance, Deftones were nominated for “Ohms” alongside AC/DC (“Shot in the Dark”...
System of a Down’s 10 Best Songs
System of a Down are one of the most eclectic metal bands to achieve massive success. From 1998 through 2005, the Armenian-American group out of California put out a series of acclaimed albums, but then went silent as a recording act for 15 years. Despite the lack of new music (save for a couple of surprise new songs in 2020), System of a Down’s discography rivals that of any heavy group of the past quarter century. Singer Serj Tankian’s unmistakeable voice ranges from frenetic to operatic, while guitarist-singer Daron Malakian’s riffs are catchy and chaotic at the same time. Meanwhile, the rhythm section of bassist Shavo Odadjian and drummer John Dolmayan is as mighty and technically skilled as just about any in heavy metal. Combine those musical sensibilities with lyrics that are both so...
Puddle of Mudd Singer Wes Scantlin Slurs Words, Covers Face, Walks Offstage in Latest Onstage Meltdown: Watch
It’s been more than a decade since Puddle of Mudd were putting out hit after hit on mainstream rock radio, but somehow we can always count on singer Wes Scantlin for a good headline every six months or so. In his latest onstage meltdown, the frontman seemed to barely get the words out to the band’s hits, complained that the lighting is blinding him, and abruptly ended the show after just four songs. Scantlin has been a fixture on TMZ for the past several years due in large part to a number of run-ins with the law. Highlights include such classics as forcing a bomb squad to come out when he seemingly rigged up his car with detonators, and the time he took a ride on the luggage conveyor belt at the Denver Airport. During Puddle of Mudd’s show at the EPIC Event Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin,...
Rage Against the Machine: Kyle Rittenhouse “Killed People Who Were Fighting for Racial Justice”
Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges on Friday (November 19th) after he fired an AR-15-style assault rifle that killed two protesters and seriously injured another at a 2020 rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Among those expressing outrage at the verdict are Rage Against the Machine, who issued a powerful statement via their social media channels. The protest rally came after a black man named Jacob Blake was paralyzed after being shot by Kenosha police. A then 17-year-old Rittenhouse, seemingly there to protect a used-car lot, fired shots that killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and severely damaged Gaige Grosskreutz’s right arm. Among the five felony charges that Rittenhouse faced was one of intentional murder that could have resulted in life in prison had he been found guilty....
