Heavy Consequence
LEGO Is Making a Fender Stratocaster Set Thanks to a Fan Submission
Music was always a category missing from LEGO’s immense library of toy bricks, but that’s about to change. The company has announced a new Fender Stratocaster construction set based on a fan-submitted piece that won the 2020 LEGO Ideas contest. TOMOELL is the LEGO Ideas user behind the winning submission, which will be adapted by a LEGO designer into an official product. The guitar set will also be the first in a new music-centric series of LEGO releases, as the company looks to concentrate on its adult consumers. “Everyone has seen the Fender Stratocaster guitar, it’s super famous and we think it’s going to be exciting to bring this to life using LEGO bricks,” LEGO Ideas Design Manager Sam Johnson said (via Brick Fanatics). “Music is a relatively new place for LEGO to play in so we’re rea...
Mastodon, Baroness, and Kvelertak Members Cover Ozzy Osbourne’s “Over the Mountain”: Watch
Two Minutes to Late Night’s “Bedroom Covers” series has become one of the few simple pleasures heavy metal fans have been able to enjoy during the pandemic. The YouTube channel gathers various metal musicians for socially distant performances, and we’ve seen a consistent stream of entertaining cover renditions over the past several months. The latest video sees Mastodon drummer-singer Brann Dailor on lead vocals — along with Darkest Hour guitarist Mike Schleibaum, Kvelertak bassist Marvin Nygaard, Baroness drummer Sebastian Thomson, and Two Minutes to Late Night host Gwarsenio Hall — taking on the Ozzy Osbourne classic “Over the Mountain”. The song was the lead track from Ozzy’s sophomore album, Diary of a Madman, the last studio recording to feature late guitar legend Randy Rhoa...
Street Artist Turns NYC Subway Station into “Van Halen Avenue”
A New York City street artist paid tribute to the late Eddie Van Halen in the most clever way, turning the Van Siclen Avenue stop in Brooklyn into “Van Halen Avenue”. The same artist pulled a similar stunt last month, turning the 50th St. station in Manhattan into “Ruth St.” in honor of late Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Adrian Wilson is the artist who conceived the subway tributes in honor of the guitar legend and the Supreme Court justice. After being featured on the news for his Ginsburg tribute, he figured someone else would have taken the initiative for the Van Halen guitarist, or at least taken credit for it. But, as he wrote on his Instagram, he ultimately took matters into his own hands. “Come on people,” he wrote on Instagram alongside a pic of his “Van Halen Avenue” sign. “I even explaine...
Pallbearer’s Joseph Rowland Talks Forgotten Days and the Importance of Releasing Music During the Pandemic
Pallbearer are a true heavy metal success story. Arising from the humble Arkansas metal scene, the band sharpened its craft in the underground and forged its own artistic path, rising up the food chain to become one of the most respected American doom bands. This would eventually lead Pallbearer to heavyweight label Nuclear Blast, who signed the group last year. Symbolically, it signaled that Pallbearer had officially arrived, and that the years of work had paid off. Like the great doom bands of yore — Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Cathedral — Pallbearer infuse their doom with a palpable emotional weight that verges on spiritual. Good riffs are only part of the equation. It’s the human energy and expression that drives the band’s music and spine-chilling live performances. That energy hit...
George Thorogood Premieres “Bad to the Bone” from Deluxe Reissue of Live in Boston, 1982: Stream
George Thorogood and The Destroyers have been going strong for more than 40 years. And they’re going back nearly that long for a new deluxe reissue of the album Live in Boston, 1982. In advance of the release, Thorogood is teaming up with Consequence of Sound to premiere a visualizer for the deluxe edition’s previously unreleased live version of his signature tune, “Bad to the Bone”. The deluxe edition, dubbed Live in Boston, 1982: The Complete Concert, adds 12 previously unreleased songs to the original 2010 release, for a total of 27 tracks. The reissue will be available as a 4-LP 180-gram vinyl set; a 2-CD edition; and digitally beginning December 4th via Craft Recordings. A red marble vinyl release will be made available exclusively for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event on November...
Unsane Launching Their Own Record Label, Reissuing Back Catalog
Unsane’s early albums have been out of print for years and missing from digital platforms, but the band has taken things into its own hands to rectify the matter. Frontman Chris Spencer will launch the imprint Lamb Unlimited label Friday (October 9th) as a means of reissuing Unsane’s back catalog and associated side-projects like the Cutthroat 9s. Finally, early Unsane releases will be accessible in digital and streaming formats. Unsane’s 1991 self-titled debut and 1993 singles comp, Singles 89-92, were issued on Matador Records and became cult favorites for fans of noise rock and post-hardcore — with some grisly album covers to boot. It just seemed cruel that these albums remain vacant from streaming services in 2020, so Spencer created Lamb Unlimited to rescue the Unsane discography...
Alex Van Halen to His Late Brother Eddie: “See You on the Other Side”
Alex and Eddie Van Halen, via Warner Bros. Records Alex Van Halen has acknowledged the passing of his bandmate and brother, Eddie Van Halen, with a brief statement to media outlets. The drummer also shared a charming photo of the two of them as children. In keeping with the short tributes that have already been posted by Eddie’s other Van Halen bandmates, Alex simply wrote, “Hey Ed. Love you. See you on the other side. Your brother, Al.” The heartwarming photo depicts Alex standing up in overalls while a toddler-aged Eddie sits on a rocking horse and plays a toy drum. Thus far, there has not been an official band statement regarding Eddie’s death, but Alex’s message follows social media tributes from recent and former Van Halen members David Lee Roth, Michael Anthony, Sammy Hagar, Gary Che...
Tobias Forge: New Ghost Album Coming “This Winter”
Ghost will release their new album this winter, according to frontman Tobias Forge. The singer previously said he wanted to wait until after the U.S. presidential election before releasing the follow-up to 2018’s Prequelle. Forge told Swedish publication VK that Ghost will release the new album “this winter,” with the band’s touring plans pushed to fall 2021. The release plans fall in line with statements that Forge made last year, when he predicted an early 2021 release for the group’s fifth LP. If you wanted Forge’s take on the pandemic — and how it fits into his lyrics — the enigmatic singer said there won’t be any “doomsday” or “quarantine-confirming” records from Ghost anytime soon. However, he might reluctantly consider playing reduced capacity shows in smaller venues if the pandemic...
Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Had COVID-19 and Still Has Lung Damage Months Later
Tool singer Maynard James Keenan has revealed that he contracted COVID-19 back in February. Moreover, he is still feeling the effects months later, as he deals with lung damage and coughing fits. While speaking to the Arizona Republic about his band Puscifer’s upcoming album, Existential Reckoning, Keenan was asked about Tool having to shut down their tour plans due to the pandemic. He responded, “I was still recovering from having gotten COVID at the end of February. I’m still dealing with the residual effects. But it was ugly. I survived it, but it wasn’t pretty. So I definitely had to deal with that.” When the interviewer expressed surprise at the singer’s revelation, Keenan explained, “I kind of didn’t want to run around screaming it. But it’s real. And there’s after-effects. I had to ...
Killer Be Killed Unveil New Song “Dream Gone Bad”: Stream
Supergroup Killer Be Killed are readying the release of their new album, Reluctant Hero, due out on November 20th. The band has now shared the music video for the latest single, “Dream Gone Bad”. Killer Be Killed touts one of the strongest lineups of any heavy metal supergroup in recent memory: vocalist Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan; Soulfly and ex-Sepultura leader Max Cavalera; Mastodon singer-bassist Troy Sanders; and Converge drummer Ben Koller. Not surprisingly, its makes for a crushing collaboration on “Dream Gone Bad” as propulsive guitars give way to epic vocals. Sanders handles most of the singing on this track. Mastodon fans take note. “Dissecting the idea of uncertainty and how you pull from that to find your way,” Sanders said in a press release. “‘Dream Gone Bad’ wa...
BABYMETAL Announce Mysterious 10th Anniversary Best-Of Collection, Unveil “BxMxC” Video: Watch
BABYMETAL have been around for 10 years, and they’re celebrating with a mysterious new best-of collection. In addition, the Japanese pop-metal sensations just unveiled a music video for their song “BxMxC”. As young as founding members Su-metal and Moametal still are, it’s hard to fathom that BABYMETAL are celebrating their 10-year anniversary. At the time of their formation in 2010, the two singer-dancers were roughly aged 12 and 11. Now, to mark a decade of BABYMETAL, the band has announced a greatest-hits collection dubbed 10 BABYMETAL Years. The compilation is due December 23rd, and will be available in 10 different editions. Where it gets interesting is that the tracklist for at least one edition will be determined by fan vote, thanks to a bracket-style tournament. There will also be a...
Duff McKagan and Jerry Cantrell Pay Tribute to Jimmy Carter with Acoustic Performance: Watch
Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan and Alice in Chains guitarist-singer Jerry Cantrell have teamed up for an acoustic performance in tribute to former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, who turned 96 on October 1st. The two rock legends played a cover of “A Satisfied Mind”, penned by Joe “Red” Hayes and Jack Rhodes, while sitting on the couch. It’s a peaceful and serene rendition of the song, and a worthy cover choice for the longest-living president. “We want to say happy birthday to Jimmy Carter,” McKagan said in the video’s introduction, going on to address Carter directly. “We’re here for a couple reasons … how strongly you fought for arts in school. We were exactly the right age.” “Beneficiaries for sure,” Cantrell added. “Almost half my classes were arts. When I graduated, they kind o...
