Heavy Consequence
Iron Maiden, KISS, and System of a Down Headline Virtual Download Festival
Iron Maiden and KISS (photos by Kevin RC Wilson) / System of a Down (photo by Raymond Ahner) Iron Maiden, KISS, and System of a Down will headline the virtual Download TV festival, which will stream on YouTube and social media June 12-14th. All three bands were set to headline this year’s Download Festival, a massive annual UK heavy music gathering that was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The virtual fest promises footage from prior Download appearances, socially distant performances, interviews, and exclusive content from the bands that were initially slated for this year’s lineup. The weekend schedule will be divided into day and evening programming. The day content “celebrates the spirit of Download Festival” and the evening will feature two to three hours of “tailor-made prog...
R.I.P. Bob Kulick, Lou Reed Guitarist and SpongeBob Songwriter Dies at 70
Bob Kulick, a veteran session guitarist known for his work with Lou Reed, Meat Loaf, and KISS, has died at the age of 70. News of Bob’s death was revealed by his older brother, former KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick. “I am heartbroken to have to share the news of the passing of my brother Bob Kulick,” Bruce wrote in a post to Facebook. “His love of music, and his talent as a musician and producer should always be celebrated. I know he is at peace now, with my parents, playing his guitar as loud as possible. Please respect the Kulick Family’s privacy during this very sad time.” Bob himself actually auditioned for KISS in 1972, but was beaten out for the job by Ace Frehley. Nevertheless, he was an active contributor to the band in an uncredited capacity, playing on albums including Alive II, Unm...
Behemoth Share New EP A Forest, Unveil Trailer for Nergal Documentary: Stream
Behemoth have just released their new EP, A Forest, which includes two different covers of The Cure’s song by the same name, as well as two new original tracks. Previously, Behemoth shared the studio version of “A Forest”, which puts an extreme-metal spin on the goth classic and features guest vocals from Shining’s Niklas Kvarforth. The EP also boasts a live version of the Cure song that was recorded at a December 2018 gig in Poland. Along with the EP’s release, Behemoth have unveiled a visualizer for the song “Evoe”, one of two previously unreleased original tracks on the EP that were recorded during the sessions for 2018’s I Loved You at Your Darkest album. In other news, a trailer has been revealed for an upcoming documentary about Behemoth frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski. The film, ...
Lamb of God Unleash New Song “Routes” Featuring Testament’s Chuck Billy: Stream
Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe and Testament’s Chuck Billy (photos by Antonio Marino Jr.) Lamb of God have released a fourth new song from their upcoming self-titled album. The latest single, “Routes”, features guest vocals from Testament singer Chuck Billy. The new song follows previously released tracks “Checkmate”, “Memento Mori”, and “New Colossal Hate”. Originally, the album was set to be released on May 8th, but was pushed back to June 19th due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Routes” was inspired by Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe’s time spent at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota during the #NoDAPL movement, which protested the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. “I went to Standing Rock because I had heard reports of violence committed on the peaceful protes...
Slipknot, Underoath, and Code Orange to Stream Full Concerts on Reimagined Knotfest Website
With concerts and festivals on hold due to the pandemic, Slipknot and their creative team have relaunched Knotfest.com as a content destination, including concert streams, original interview series, and more. While the site had been hosting weekly streams of past concerts by artists who had participated in previous Knotfest events, it has now been completely reimagined to offer a steady stream of news, interviews, performances, and new merch. In celebration, the Knotfest website is streaming full concerts by Slipknot, Underoath, and Code Orange beginning this Friday (May 29th) at 6:00 p.m. ET / 3:00 p.m. PT The three bands were set to perform on this year’s North American Knotfest Roadshow tour, which would have kicked off this Sunday (May 30th) had it not been canceled due to the COVID-19...
Judas Priest’s Rob Halford to Release Tell-All Autobiography Confess in September
Judas Priest Rob Halford, photo by Steven J. Messina Judas Priest singer Rob Halford will “expose every facet” of himself in an upcoming autobiography, titled Confess. A September 29th release date has just been announced for the book. The metal legend revealed that he was working on the book last year. In an initial press release, he promised he wouldn’t hold anything back. “Confess is a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me to expose every facet of myself,” stated Halford. “Digging deep with nothing to hide and nothing to fear was in many ways exciting, fun, disturbing, terrifying and cathartic. I’ve held nothing back. It’s time for me to ‘confess.’” The book will span Halford’s entire life and career, including his decision to publicly come out as gay in 1998. Among the other top...
Charlie Benante on New Anthrax Album: “The First Thing I Wanna See Come Out Is a Vaccine”
Anthrax have a number of songs written for their next album, but drummer Charlie Benante wants to see a COVID-19 vaccine arrive before the legendary thrash-metal act releases a new LP. During an interview with Lou Brutus for HardDrive Radio, Benante offered an update on the follow-up to 2016’s For All Kings. “There is new music, there actually is,” said the drummer. “There’s about six, seven songs — and it’s really good.” When asked whether fans would get to hear some new music in the near future, Benante responded, “The first thing I wanna see come out is a [COVID-19] vaccine. Then we’re gonna put a record out.” Benante also revealed that Anthrax will not play any shows in 2020, and that their first gig back will be January 11th, 2021, at the rescheduled Knotfest Japan. “Other than that, ...
Cattle Decapitation’s “2020 Sucks” Face Mask Puts Your Mouth on a Butthole
Cattle Decapitation have captured the “cacophonous dumpster” of a year it’s been so far with a new “2020 Sucks” face mask. What’s more, the “back” side adds to the ridiculousness by placing a butthole against your mouth. The front of the mask offers a hastily designed collage that features the band’s logo set against a coronavirus sphere alongside images of hand sanitizer, toilet paper, a torn ticket to “Literally All Shows”, Tiger King star Joe Exotic, and a “Karen”. Also included is a picture of televangelist Kenneth Copeland, who recently claimed to have destroyed coronavirus and ended the pandemic. But wait, there’s more! The mask is two-sided, with the back showing an actual photo of a human butthole. Yes, if you choose to wear the mask as directed, you’ll have to do so with the ...
Slay At Home Virtual Metal Festival to Feature Trivium, Suicide Silence, Gavin Rossdale, Tesseract, and More
Slay At Home, a two-day virtual metal festival, is slated to take place this Friday (May 29th) and Saturday (May 30th) with dozens of performances and appearances. The virtual music and art festival will feature exclusive performances by Trivium’s Matt Heafy, Suicide Silence, Bush’s Gavin Rossdale, Tesseract, Darkest Hour, Khemmis, Spotlights, Twelve Foot Ninja, Allegaeon, and more. There will also be collaborative performances featuring members of Stone Sour, Megadeth, GWAR, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and other acts. In addition to the performances, there’ll be appearances by comedian Don Jamieson, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, Orange Is the New Black star Jessica Pimentel, Testament singer Chuck Billy, and more. Moreover, the fest will feature art installations from musicians, graphic...
Rammstein Officially Postpone North American Tour Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
Rammstein fans in North America will have to wait until next year to see the German band’s electrifying stage show. The industrial metal act has just postponed the late-summer outing until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The North American run was set to be the first time that Rammstein brought their full-scale stadium production to the continent. As the band stated in the initial tour press release, “Rock ‘n’ roll’s most ambitious pyro-theatrical experience will be on display for a series of 10 open-air dates.” Now, that will have to wait until 2021, with rescheduled dates yet to be announced. The news of the postponement comes just a few weeks after Rammstein called off their early summer European tour. The North American run would have kicked off August 20th in Montreal, Canada, hitt...
Queen’s Brian May “Grateful” to Be Alive After Suffering Heart Attack
Queen’s Brian May revealed Monday that he recently suffered a small heart attack earlier this month, and was rushed to the hospital by his doctor. The incident came amidst other notable health concerns for the legendary guitarist. A few weeks ago, May revealed on Instagram that he had torn his gluteus maximus muscle in his buttocks during a “moment of over-enthusiastic gardening”. In his new video message, the guitarist admitted he was “pissed off” by the “Brian May Is a Pain in the Bum”-type headlines. While May did indeed tear his gluteus maximus, he said that he found out later, after another MRI, that the excruciating pain he described at the time actually came from a severely compressed sciatic nerve. “That’s why I had a feeling that someone was putting a screwdriver in my back,” he e...
Faith No More Reschedule European Comeback Tour for 2021 Due to Coronavirus
Faith No More were due to embark on a European tour this summer, their first such outing in four years. However, due to the ongoing outbreak, the band has rescheduled all of those dates for 2021. The new itinerary sees their overseas concerts pushed back almost exactly 12 months. Now set for June and July 2021, these gigs include Berlin, Oslo, Amsterdam, and two-night stints in both London and Manchester. All currently held tickets will remain valid for next year, and refunds will also be available upon request. According to a statement, an announcement regarding Faith No More’s imminent North American tour with Korn, set to launch this August, is forthcoming. Editors’ Picks Last week, it was announced that Faith No More’s shows with System of a Down and Korn, previously marked for t...
