Heavy Consequence
Axl Rose’s Worst Nightmare: Maskless Revelers Dance to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” at Packed Michigan Lake Party
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Axl Rose has been one of the staunchest proponents of social distancing, even getting into Twitter spats with government officials who’ve seemingly downplayed the protective practice. Now, the singer’s worst nightmare has manifested itself: a sea of unmasked revelers dancing to the Guns N’ Roses hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine” at a Fourth of July lake party in Michigan. In recent weeks, Rose has ripped into Sen. Rand Paul, Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams after each made statements that seemed to contradict recommendations by the CDC and health leaders to practice social distancing. Mnuchin and Adams even replied to Rose’s tweets, leading to the GN’R singer further condemning their comments. Mnuchin was dubbed an “asshole...
The Sword’s J.D. Cronise Talks New Compilations, Bootlegging Rare Clutch Tracks, and His Band’s Future
Modern stoner rock owes a major debt to The Sword. Formed in 2003 in Austin, the band’s propensity for Black Sabbath-influenced doom and desert grooves predated the subculture that suddenly emerged from the stoner rock scene in the 2010s. Suddenly, remote fans of bands like Sleep and Electric Wizard were connected by the familiar churning sounds of these bands. The Sword played a vital role in this movement, with their 2006 debut album, Age of Winters, and its lead single, the now legendary “Freya”, cementing their place in doom metal lore. It was a time of resurgence for classic rock, a new era of teenagers were discovering Led Zeppelin and Sabbath, and “Freya” garnered The Sword a cult audience of eager rock fans. Their music even reached Lars Ulrich of Metallica, who would eventually ta...
How to Recreate Phil Collins’ Legendary “In the Air Tonight” Drum Fill
There is arguably no drum fill in pop music that’s more iconic than Phil Collins’ epic break in his ubiquitous 1981 hit “In the Air Tonight”. Behind the huge sound of Collins’ drums is a combination of quality gear, choice effects, and luck. It just might be the ultimate air-drumming song. “In the Air Tonight” marked Collins’ first solo single, having already established himself as a longtime member of Genesis. And with the song, Collins kicked off his solo career with a literal bang. Even Ozzy Osbourne, who fronted Black Sabbath and launched a successful solo career of his own, declared, “That drum fill is the best ever — it still sounds awesome.” While it’s one thing to master air-drumming to “In the Air Tonight”, it’s another thing to conquer it behind the kit. Thanks to a recent instru...
Video Surfaces of Zack de la Rocha Playing Guitar in His Pre-Rage Against the Machine Band: Watch
Just a few years before becoming the electrifying frontman of Rage Against the Machine, Zack de la Rocha was cutting his teeth as the guitarist in the hardcore band Hard Stance. Now, 30 years later, video footage of a young Zack playing guitar with Hard Stance at a show in March 1990 has surfaced. Hard Stance formed in 1987 as a straight-edge hardcore band, with Zack on guitar and Eric Ernst on vocals. At one point, Ernst left Hard Stance, and de la Rocha took over lead vocals, eventually leading to the formation of the band Inside Out. The gig in question took place March 4th, 1990, and was apparently Hard Stance’s final concert. According to Zack’s Wikipedia page, by 1990 he would have been fronting Inside Out, so the show could have been a one-off farewell with Hard Stance. Nonetheless,...
#MetallicaMondays: Watch Metallica’s Hit-Filled 2007 Lisbon Show
For the latest installment of #MetallicaMondays, the thrash legends are revisiting their Lisbon, Portugal show in 2007. The archival concert footage goes live this evening (July 6th) at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT via Metallica’s YouTube channel below. The show took place at Lisbon’s Super Bock Super Rock and kicked off the “Sick of the Studio Tour” prior to the release of Death Magnetic in 2008. The European trek was named during a fan competition, with the band choosing the winning entry. Appropriately, it reflects Metallica’s many hours in the studio working on the laborious Death Magnetic, which was considered a return to the band’s thrash metal roots upon release. The hype for Death Magnetic was boiling by the time Metallica took the stage in Lisbon. Fans clamored for what message boa...
Metallica Honor the Late Ennio Morricone, Whose “Ecstasy of Gold” Has Intro’d Their Shows Since 1983
Ennio Morricone (via Instagram), Metallica’s James Hetfield (photo by Melinda Oswandel) Following the news that Ennio Morricone passed away at the age of 91, Metallica have paid tribute to the legendary Italian composer. Morricone’s “The Ecstacy of Gold”, from the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, has provided the intro music to the thrash icons’ concerts since 1983. Morricone died Monday in Rome after suffering complications following a fall at home in which he broke his leg. The composer was known for his work on Spaghetti Western movies, with “The Ecstasy of Gold” being one of his most famous pieces. On Instagram, Metallica issued the following statement on Monday morning: “R.I.P. Ennio Morricone, Your career was legendary, your compositions were timeless. Thank you for setti...
Liturgy and LEYA Collaborate on New Song “Antigone”: Stream
Hunter Hunt-Hendrix (Liturgy), courtesy of Promo Jukebox / Marilu Donovn & Adam Markiewicz (LEYA), photo by Erin Krimian Brooklyn black metal group Liturgy and NYC avant-pop duo LEYA have joined forces for a new collaborative single, “Antigone”. The track showcases the ambitious experimentation of both projects. The genre-blending black metal present on Liturgy’s 2019 album H.A.Q.Q. returns to provide a backdrop, accentuating the yearning vocals of LEYA’s Adam Markiewicz. “Originally its purpose was as a single to promote a tour we were going to do together last April that ended up getting cancelled,” Liturgy’s Hunter Hunt-Hendrix told Paper magazine of the song’s origins. “The track had a different name originally, and we would have put it out in early April, but held off, because we ...
Axl Rose Calls on Surgeon General to Resign: “America Deserves Better”
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has called on US Surgeon General Jerome Adams to resign following a recent television appearance in which Adams seemingly prioritized Donald Trump’s personal approval over the personal safety of millions of Americans. When asked on The Today Show whether he’d advise Americans to go to a large gathering, such as Donald Trump’s various events during the Fourth of July weekend, Adams evaded answering the question directly. “It’s not a yes or no,” Adams said. “Every single person has to make up their own mind. There are going to be people going to beaches, going to barbecues, going to different environments. And they have to look at their individual risk.” (For context, Trump’s Fourth of July event at Mount Rushmore drew a crowd of several thousand, with few peo...
Dave Grohl Says He Worried About Getting Fired from Nirvana
Dave Grohl’s drumming in Nirvana is the stuff of legend, but at one point he was worried about getting fired from the band. In a new interview, Grohl admits he was “nervous” that he “was not good enough” to keep his job in the iconic grunge act. “I joined Nirvana, I was their fifth drummer, right?” Grohl reflected in a new interview with Matt Wilkinson of Apple Music. “They’d had a team of drummers before me and some of them were more, I don’t know, more in the band than others. So when I joined the band, I didn’t know Krist and Kurt at all. And when we first met and started playing, it was clear that when we got together to play that it worked really well, and we sounded what most people know now to sound like Nirvana. We sounded like that.” He continued, “But you just meet these people a...
Failure Share New Cover of Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence”: Stream
Failure have released a newly recorded version of the Depeche Mode classic “Enjoy the Silence” more than 20 years after originally covering the song for a tribute album. Back in 1998, Failure contributed a cover of the song to the Depeche Mode tribute compilation For the Masses. However, with the LP long out of print, the Los Angeles rockers decided to record an updated version of the track, which originally appeared on Depeche Mode’s landmark album Violator. As Failure frontman Ken Andrews explained, “We originally recorded a cover of ‘Enjoy the Silence’ for the 1998 Depeche Mode tribute, For the Masses. That album has all but disappeared, no longer in print and not available via streaming platforms but we as a band are proud of our take on that song and had wanted to re-record it for som...
Sepultura Announce Rescheduled North American Tour Dates
Sepultura have officially rescheduled their upcoming North American tour for 2021 after postponing the spring outing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brazilian thrash metallers will kick off their 2021 run on March 6th at Ace of Spades in Sacramento, California, and stay on the road through an April 10th date at UC Theatre in Berkeley, California. As with the originally scheduled trek, Sacred Reich, Crowbar, and Art of Shock will appear on the run. “So happy to announce the rescheduled North American tour with our friends from Sacred Reich, Crowbar and Art of Shock,” Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser said in a statement. “I can’t wait to go back to the stage to perform the new material from our album Quadra and to jam our history to you all! Stay safe and see you all soon!!” Sepultura ar...
System of a Down’s John Dolmayan: Black Lives Matter “Never Had Legitimacy”
System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has condemned Black Lives Matter in a new Instagram post, insisting the movement “never had legitimacy” and calling it a “propaganda tool” for the Democratic Party. Dolmayan has been making headlines for the past few months with his right-wing sociopolitical commentary. On Monday night, he posted a picture of Secoreia Turner, an 8-year-old black girl who was killed over the weekend in Atlanta amid a wave of gun violence in the city. Upon her death, Secoreia’s father exclaimed, “They say Black Lives Matter. You killed your own this time.” Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms added, “You can’t blame this on a police officer; you can’t say this is about criminal justice reform. This is about some people carrying some weapons who shot up a car with an 8-yea...