Hard Rock
Heavy Culture: Living Colour on Their Upbringings, Pandemic Life, and Getting Out the Vote
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 an interview with the Living Colour drummer Will Calhoun, guitarist Vernon Reid and bassist Doug Wimbish. Since 1985, Living Colour have blended rock, metal, and blues to form a sound all their own, inspiring many artists along the way. This year, the rock pioneers are celebrating 30 years of their sophomore album, Time’s Up, which yielded such hits as “Type”, “Love Rears Its Ugly Head”, and “Elvis Is Dead”. This edition of “Heavy Culture” spans several months, as we first caught up with the members of Livin...
Axl Rose Poetically Urges Americans to Vote for a “Better World” in the “Face of Fear and Intimidation”
With Election Day upon us, Axl Rose is urging his fellow Americans to vote. The Guns N’ Roses singer posted a series of poetic tweets, listing the reasons why it’s so important to cast a ballot in the presidential election this year. While Rose doesn’t mention Donald Trump or Joe Biden by name, his social media posts over the past four years have been decidedly anti-Trump. In fact, the rock legend has repeatedly ripped apart Trump and his administration throughout the president’s entire term in the White House. Among his many takedowns of Trump, the GN’R frontman once called the president a “repulsive excuse for a person with a sick agenda.” The singer also lambasted members of Trump’s administration for seemingly discouraging social distancing during the pandemic. In a three-part twe...
AC/DC Team Up with DC Shoes for New Footwear and Apparel Line
AC/DC have teamed up with DC Shoes for a new line of footwear and apparel. The merch launches this Saturday (November 7th), just in time for the legendary band’s upcoming album, Power Up, which arrives on November 13th. DC Shoes is known for its skate footwear, so it’s not surprising that the shoes are the highlight of the AC/DC collaboration. A handful of classic DC styles and silhouettes have been adorned with the band’s iconography. One style features the cover of Highway to Hell printed on the canvas area, while others boldly display the band’s logo. The shoes will retail for a suggested price of $55 to $75. In addition to the footwear, the AC/DC x DC Shoes partnership also features beanies, longsleeves, and more as part of the line, ranging from $25 to $75. As AC/DC were a staple musi...
The Offspring Cover “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”: Stream
The Offspring have released their first-ever holiday song, a cover of the Darlene Love classic “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”. Along with the single, the band has promised new music in early 2021. As frontman Dexter Holland pointed out in a press release, the band felt it was a good time to bring some holiday cheer to their fans. “It just seemed like the world could use a nice holiday song right now,” remarked Holland. “We’ve always been huge fans of Darlene Love, so when the idea came up to do a Christmas song, we jumped at the chance to record that one … and tried not to wreck it!” The punk-rock veterans actually deliver a pretty faithful rendition of tune, with their version produced by Bob Rock (Metallica, Mötley Crüe). The original 1963 version was famously produced by Phil Spect...
Alter Bridge Unleash Hard-Hitting New Song “Last Rites”: Stream
Alter Bridge have unleashed a new song called “Last Rites”, which serves as the latest preview of their upcoming Walk the Sky 2.0 EP. The lyric video features a smoky, dimly lit aesthetic with a crystal ball making a prediction based on the song’s foreboding lyrics: “I’ve seen the future/ Yeah the writing’s on the wall/ And it don’t look that good to me,” Myles Kennedy sings in the opening verse The idea for “Last Rites” began during the recording sessions for Alter Bridge’s 2019 album Walk the Sky, but the band finished writing and recording the song during the pandemic. “We just felt like it wasn’t going to be something that fit the overall vibe of Walk the Sky, as far as what we were trying to attempt to do with that record,” Kennedy told Heavy Consequence of the song. “So, when al...
Maynard James Keenan on “Arrogant” Pandemic Behavior: “There’s Logic Attached to Just Looking Out for Each Other”
Maynard James Keenan recently revealed that he battled COVID-19 earlier this year and is still feeling the residual effects months later. Unfortunately, the singer of Tool, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle fears any serious warning that he or others give about coronavirus is “just going to fall on deaf ears.” In interviews with Arizona Republic and The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Keenan disclosed that he contracted COVID when Tool were on tour in Australia and New Zealand in late February. Eight months later, he still has lung damage, leading to daily coughing fits. Tragically, the United States is currently experiencing its worst single-day infection numbers yet, with roughly 100,000 people testing positive for COVID-19 every 24 hours. To this day, there’s a large contingent of the popula...
Puscifer Unveil New Album Existential Reckoning: Stream
Puscifer are back with their fourth album, Existential Reckoning, which comes five years to the day that their previous LP, Money Shot, was released. The new album is available to stream via Apple Music or Spotify below. The experimental rockers are led by singer Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle), along with fellow core members Carina Round and Mat Mitchell. The first taste of Existential Reckoning came in form of lead single “Apocalyptical”, which was accompanied by a music video featuring a dancing Keenan. Elsewhere on Existential Reckoning, leadoff track “Bread and Circus” serves as a grand and atmospheric opener, while “Fake Affront” features Keenan at his angriest on the album. Throughout the LP, Keenan and Round share vocal duties, leading to some gorgeous harmonies. Musi...
Tom Morello Releases Comandante EP Featuring Eddie Van Halen Tribute and Slash Collaboration: Stream
Tom Morello has just dropped a new EP dubbed Comandante. The five-song effort features a tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen, a collaboration with Slash, and a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child”. The Rage Against the Machine guitarist calls the song “Secretariat” an Eddie Van Halen tribute, and it’s easy to hear why. The guitar track features some intricate scaling reminiscent of Van Halen’s instrumental classic “Eruption”. Morello does battle with Slash on the song “Interstate 80”, and even promoted the track on Twitter with a side-by-side video of the two guitar greats performing the song next to their Guitar Hero avatars. The EP leads off with Morello’s take on the Hendrix classic “Voodoo Child”, while the tracks “Suburban Guerrilla” and “Cato Stedman & Neptune Frost” close out ...
David Lee Roth Dedicates Previously Unreleased Song to Eddie Van Halen: Stream
David Lee Roth has unveiled a previously unreleased song called “Somewhere Over the Rainbow Bar and Grill” in dedication to his late bandmate Eddie Van Halen. The track was recorded several years ago with guitarist John 5 as part of a full album’s worth of material that was shelved. The song features John 5 on acoustic guitar as DLR reflects on his pre-fame days on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood, California. A still graphic accompanying the YouTube clip contains the words “Hey Ed, I’m gonna miss ya … See you on the other side.” Previously, Roth shared a photo of himself with Eddie Van Halen on Twitter, along with the caption, ‘What a long great trip it’s been.” Around six years ago, Roth and John 5 co-wrote and recorded an entire album, but it never saw the light of day. Last year, Roth pro...
Mike Patton: John Carpenter’s Halloween “Made Me Not Want to Trick or Treat When I Was a Kid”
Mike Patton is a man of many musical hats. He’s the celebrated singer of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, and Dead Cross, just to name a few, as well as the co-owner of the acclaimed independent record label Ipecac Recordings. He also knows a good scary movie when he sees one. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Patton, who told us all about Mr. Bungle’s new album, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo, and how he was navigating the pandemic both professionally and personally. During our conversation, he also took time to remember the late Eddie Van Halen, telling us the guitarist’s “level of musicianship was off the chart.” Knowing Patton was a bit of a film buff, we couldn’t let him go without asking him to recommend a few movies for Halloween night, especially consider...
Rob Zombie Announces New Album The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy, Unveils “King Freak”: Stream
Rob Zombie has announced his long-awaited new album, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. The veteran rocker’s seventh solo LP won’t be released until March 12th, but the first single, “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)”, is available now. The 17-song album will arrive nearly five years after Rob Zombie’s previous LP, 2016’s The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser. The single, shortened as “King Freak”, marks his first new song and music video in more than four years. The track is heavy on the riffs, thanks to guitarist John 5, with a thunderous rhythm section powered by bassist Piggy D and drummer Ginger Fish. The song is accompanied by a music video that combines newly shot footage with concert scenes, presented in...
Deftones Announce White Pony Reissue Featuring New Black Stallion Remix Album
Deftones have announced a 20th anniversary deluxe edition of their landmark 2000 album, White Pony, featuring a bonus LP of brand-new remixes dubbed Black Stallion. The extra disc features reworkings of each song on White Pony by the likes of DJ Shadow, The Cure’s Robert Smith, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, and more. In advance of its December 11th release, Deftones have unveiled Purity Ring’s remix of “Knife Prty”. The official announcement comes after Deftones revealed their intention to release Black Stallion during a virtual press conference back in June, at which time they discussed the 20th anniversary of White Pony. At the time, singer Chino Moreno said, “We’re going to be releasing later in the year a reissue of [White Pony] and we’re going to do sort of a split side of the record, a...
