Heavy Consequence
Mining Metal: Top 10 Underground Metal Albums of 2020
“Mining Metal” is a monthly column from Heavy Consequence writers Joseph Schafer and Langdon Hickman. The focus is on noteworthy new music emerging from the non-mainstream metal scene, highlighting releases from small and independent labels — or even releases from unsigned acts. The year 2020 is nearly done, and we’re sure most “Mining Metal” readers can join us in wishing it good riddance. The global pandemic left the international metal community, not to mention the entire music world, in a precarious spot: tours and festivals canceled, venues closed, and hard-working metalheads losing jobs. With all that darkness, the resilience of the genre remained a hopeful light. 2020 offered no shortage of excellent albums, some of them recorded during the pandemic itself. Diverse in their aims, st...
King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and Wife Toyah Perform Eccentric Covers of Nirvana, Alice Cooper, GN’R, and Sex Pistols: Watch
King Crimson’s Robert Fripp and his singer wife, Toyah Willcox, have stayed busy in recent weeks with eccentric interpretations of classic heavy songs by Nirvana, Alice Cooper, Guns N’ Roses, and Sex Pistols. They’re the latest additions to the couple’s “Sunday Lunch” pandemic performance series. You may remember the couple’s utterly bizarre Halloween rendition of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid”, which saw Fripp playing the song on guitar while Willcox sang and danced in what appeared to be a prison cell. Although the new covers aren’t quite as unconventional as the Sabbath performance, they still showcase the idiosyncratic talents of each artist. Fripp tends to handle most of the music, while Willcox sings and supplies interpretative dances, including a one-person mosh for Nirvana’s “Smells Li...
Queen’s Brian May Recalls Recording Sci-Fi EP with Eddie Van Halen
Brian May, photo by David Brendan Hall / Eddie Van Halen, photo by Philip Cosores Legendary Queen guitarist Brian May has paid tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen by recalling the time the two recorded the sci-fi themed Star Fleet Project EP in 1983. “A couple of days after I heard the news about Eddie, I went back to Star Fleet,” May told Total Guitar. “I started revisiting all the feelings I had when we were in the studio doing that, and it sort of healed my soul a bit. I thought, ‘Yeah, this is what I should be doing at this time.’” The three-song, 28-minute release was officially released under the “Brian May + Friends” moniker on October 31st, 1983. The EP favored a heavy blues rock sound and also featured REO Speedwagon drummer Alan Gratzer and session musicians Phil Chen and Fr...
Nickelback Hilariously Spoof Own “Photograph” Video for Google Photos Commercial: Watch
Nickelback have long been one of rock’s most parodied acts, but the latest mockery of the band comes courtesy of Nickelback themselves. The Canadian rockers have hilariously spoofed their own “Photograph” video in a new commercial for Google Photos. The multiplatinum group’s 2005 music video has been the inspiration for countless memes and even a Donald Trump tweet that was eventually blocked by the band over copyright issues. The image of frontman Chad Kroeger holding up a picture frame, with the words “Look at this photograph”, provides a blank slate for endless fun. In the Google commercial, Nickelback are poking fun at the original song and video with newly written lyrics that even dare make fun of Chad Kroeger’s signature curly locks: “Falling down the photo rabbit hole/ Is it my hair...
Trent Reznor on Approach to Adding Nine Inch Nails Members to Rock Hall Induction: “Make This F**king Happen”
Last month, Nine Inch Nails were officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Initially, Trent Reznor was set to be the only member enshrined, but the NIN mastermind saw to it that other members of the industrial band were inducted, as well. Nine Inch Nails were announced as part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2020 back in January, with an induction ceremony originally set for May in Cleveland. The ceremony was eventually canceled due to the pandemic, and the 2020 inductees were instead honored with a November television special on HBO. In September, it was revealed that six current and former members of Nine Inch Nails — Atticus Ross, Robin Finck, Chris Vrenna, Danny Lohner, Ilan Rubin, and Alessandro Cortini — would be added to the Rock Hall induction al...
Steel Panther Just Performed Three Concerts at Packed Venues in Florida: Watch
Steel Panther in St. Petersburg, Florida, via YouTube Despite a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases over the past several weeks, Steel Panther performed three headlining concerts to packed crowds in Florida over the past few days. According to video footage and photographs, most of the audience members were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing. The hair-metal parody act was joined on the bill by Southern rockers Black Stone Cherry in Orlando on Thursday (December 17th); St. Petersburg on Friday (December 18th); and Fort Myers on Saturday (December 19th). As MetalSucks reports, the shows were packed with maskless people, and looked very much like pre-pandemic concerts. While the venues posted messages stating that they would require temperature checks, masks (when people were no...
Rammstein’s Till Lindemann Sells “Tilldo” Vibrators and “Golden Shower” Wine
Rammstein singer Till Lindemann has opened his own online merch shop, dubbed Doctor Dick, and let’s just say it has a wide variety of handy products. Among the items are a custom “Tilldo” vibrator and a “Golden Shower” wine. Anyone who has seen Rammstein in concert knows that erotica plays a big part in their stage show. What other bands feature a giant dildo that explodes white foam onto the audience? Or have actually had two members (including Till) arrested for simulating sex with each other onstage? Earlier this year, Lindemann’s eponymous side project even unveiled a full-on pornographic music video for the song “Platz Ein”. So, none of the things you see for sale at the singer’s new merch store should come as any shock, but you still may want to think twice about shopping at Doctor D...
Melvins Announce “New Year’s Evil” Livestream Event
The Melvins have announced “Melvins TV: Volume 1, New Year’s Evil”, a livestream event to ring in 2021. The virtual show will feature a five-song performance by the Melvins, interviews, extras, and an opening set by Void Manes. The stream goes live on December 31st at 3:00 p.m. ET / noon PT, and tickets cost $5 each. “‘Melvins TV, New Year’s Evil’ is as close to a live show as we can get during this hideous pandemic,” Buzz Osborne said in a press announcement. “We’ll be doing more of these so tune in and enjoy! Happy New Year!” The Melvins lineup for the stream will consist of the band’s core trio of Osborne, Dale Crover, and Steven McDonald (of Redd Kross fame). A commemorative limited-edition poster and T-shirt designed by Junko Mizuno and Mackie Osborne will be available exclusively to ...
Mastodon Tap Tool Producer David Bottrill for New Album
Mastodon are working with Tool producer David Bottrill on their upcoming eighth studio album. The band confirmed Bottrill’s involvement with a not-so-subtle Instagram post from the West End Sound studio in Atlanta. Fans were quick to point out Bottrill commanding the mixing board in the picture, with guitarist Bill Kelliher in the foreground. Bottrill since confirmed that he’s producing the record. The producer shared the original image on his official Instagram, with the caption, “@mastodonrocks. We have been keeping this one quiet for a while. But David has been having a fantastic time in Atlanta. :)” Bottrill is an alt-metal stalwart, producing such masterpieces as Tool’s 1996 opus Ænima, in addition to the live album Salival and 2001’s Lateralus. His other credits include work wi...
Older Gentleman Delivers Amazing Cover of Slipknot’s “Snuff”: Watch
YouTube singer-songwriter Frank Watkinson might seem like an unlikely Slipknot fan for his age. Yet, his thoughtful cover of the band’s 2008 track “Snuff” proves that Watkinson knows at least one of the band’s songs to its core. The already slow track is rendered even more emotionally direct through the simple combo of Watkinson’s powerful voice and an acoustic guitar. Sitting in his living room, he delivers a rendition worthy of an actual concert audience. The clip originates from August but made the rounds over the past couple days (via Metal Injection). While the original track is a ballad by Slipknot standards, Watkinson strips the song even further to its bare chords and sentiment, harnessing a simplicity that genuinely conveys the song’s intended message and atmosphere. Watkinson’s c...
As I Lay Dying Singer Tim Lambesis Hospitalized with Burns to 25% of His Body
As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis is in the hospital after a bonfire accident left him with burns to 25% of his body. The controversial metal vocalist, who notoriously served time for attempting to hire a hitman to murder his estranged wife, posted about his condition Wednesday (December 16th) on Instagram. The metalcore singer shared a photo of himself in the hospital, fully bandaged but with a smile on his face as he was about to undergo a procedure to remove dead skin. Along with the picture, Lambesis offered details about the incident and his road to recovery: “Keep your head up no matter what! I’m doing the best I can to make a thumbs up on my way to surgery (in about 30 minutes). I apologize to my friends that I have not had the time to fill in yet on what happened. The entire gas c...
Creed Singer Scott Stapp to Play Frank Sinatra in Ronald Reagan Biopic
Scott Stapp (via “My Sacrifice” video), Frank Sinatra (via Nothing But the Best album cover) We’ve been inundated with some unforeseeable headlines in 2020, and here’s one more before the year ends: Creed singer Scott Stapp is playing Frank Sinatra in an upcoming biopic on Ronald Reagan. Yes, the rock vocalist is portraying the legendary crooner in the movie Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid as the 40th president of the United States. Stapp already filmed the role, telling Billboard, “Sinatra in performance mode was an exercise in restraint. He had this steely, stylish swagger and his sheer presence commanded a room. I was excited to join the cast and blown away by the on-set attention to detail, style, and overall production.” His performance as Sinatra comes during a scene in whi...
