Heavy Metal
Fans Vote “Master of Puppets” Best Metallica Song in Band-Endorsed Poll
Metallica fans have spoken, and they’ve declared “Master of Puppets” as the thrash legends’ greatest song in an official, band-endorsed poll. The poll pit songs against one another in a March Madness style bracket, with the initial 64 tracks selected by a combination of Spotify plays and the number of times each was performed live. Metallica shared the contest round by round on their social media pages, calling it “Some Kind of Bracket”. “Master of Puppets” beat out “One” in the championship round of the bracket. In addition to those two songs, the Final Four included “Enter Sandman” and “Fade to Black”. The band announced the result on social media: “The people have spoken and single song stands alone above the rest. Your champion is ~ drum roll please ~ “MASTER OF PUPPETS!”… no wonder th...
Boris Announce New Album NO, Share Blistering “Loveless”: Stream
Last year, Japanese experimental metal band Boris released a double album called LφVE & EVφL. Now, they’re prepping a follow-up project pointedly dubbed NO. The 11-song full-length is due out next month and is being teased with lead single “Loveless”. In a strongly-worded manifesto of sorts, Boris explained that NO is an amalgam of all of their influences and connections as DIY heavy musicians. It was a record that was informed by the current “closing” of international borders, and the pain, anguish, and anxiety we’re all feeling during this chaotic moment in world history. An excerpt from that statement reads, “We hope this latest album can be a mirror that gathers and reflects people’s negative energy at a different angle, one that is positive. That is the power and potenti...
Full of Hell Unleash New Song “Language of Molten Cherubs” via Adult Swim Singles: Stream
A little over a year since releasing their Weeping Choir album, Full of Hell have unleashed a brand-new song. The band has unveiled the single “Language of Molten Cherubs” as the latest entry in the Adult Swim Singles program. As Full of Hell continue to push their music to uncompromising extremes, “Language of Molten Cherubs” is another burst of avant noise, free jazz rhythms, and harsh metal that defies convenient genre labeling. The band’s sonic concoction brims with ideas and layered overdubs, with frontman Dylan Walker’s voice cutting through the chaos. “‘Language of Molten Cherubs’ is the final death gasp of a broken human being at the end of their rope, on the border between worlds,” reads a press release for the song. It’s unknown if the track is a holdover from the Weeping Ch...
Herd Immunity Fest Dumps Its Own Name as Nonpoint Drop Off the Bill
Following the announcement of next month’s Herd Immunity Fest in Wisconsin, the band Nonpoint have dropped off the lineup due to the event’s name. What’s more, the festival itself has dropped its own name after widespread backlash. The festival’s announcement has caused quite a stir, given that a number of health experts and promoters aren’t expecting concerts to return in earnest until 2021 in the wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The three-day event takes place July 16th-18th of this year at an outdoor stage at the Q&Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin. Heavy Consequence reached out to a handful of the bands for statements as to why they decided to play the festival, given the advice and guidelines from health officials over the past couple months. In responding, Nonpoint’s manag...
Tom Morello Gifts Signature Guitar to 10-Year-Old Girl Who Performed Viral Rage Against the Machine Cover
A few weeks ago, 10-year-old Nandi Bushell delivered an impressive cover of the Rage Against the Machine classic “Guerrilla Radio”, in which she played drums, bass, and guitar. Now, RATM’s Tom Morello has gifted the young rocker with his new signature Fender Soul Power Stratocaster. Nandi has been wowing music fans for a few years now, mostly with her skillful drumming. Her rendition of Nirvana’s “In Bloom” has more than a million views on YouTube, and a recent performance of Queens of the Stone Age’s “No One Knows” got kudos from the band itself. She’s even jammed with Lenny Kravitz and appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show. The young musician dedicated her RATM cover to Black Lives Matter and the fight to end racism, and Morello shared the performance on Twitter, writing, “Well now we are...
Psycho Las Vegas 2021 Lineup: Danzig, Mercyful Fate, Emperor, Flaming Lips, Mayhem, and More
Danzig (photo by Heather Kaplan), Mercyful Fate’s King Diamond (photo by Kevin RC Wilson) Psycho Las Vegas has revealed its 2021 lineup, and it features most of the acts who were set to perform on the festival’s 2020 bill. Danzig, Mercyful Fate, and Emperor will headline, just as they would have done this summer if the fest wasn’t called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In essence, the 2020 edition of Psycho Las Vegas has been rescheduled for 2021. In addition to the three headliners, such notable acts as The Flaming Lips, Blue Öyster Cult, Down, Mayhem, Satyricon, Obituary, Warpaint, Blonde Redhead, Katatonia, Amigo the Devil, Thursday, Pig Destroyer, Watain, Poison the Well, and more have all committed to the 2021 fest. Among the acts who were scheduled to play in 2020 but are no ...
20 Years Ago, Deftones Unleash Their Magnum Opus White Pony
Though it wasn’t so apparent on their 1995 debut album Adrenaline, Deftones screeched onto the scene with an instinct towards perpetual expansion that was practically encoded in the band’s creative DNA. At first, the Deftones brand was basically synonymous with the nu metal movement the Sacramento, California, outfit seemed to fit so well. By 1997’s sophomore effort Around the Fur, it was clear that Deftones were straining against the stylistic confines they’d initially seemed comfortable working within. The hip-hop, groove metal, and thrashy influences were still there, but the music was now undergirded by an emphasis on dynamics, mood, and atmosphere. But when the band released its third album, White Pony, six months into the new millennium (June 20th, 2000), Deftones effectively rendere...
20 Reasons We Still Love Deftones’ White Pony
Gimme a Reason takes classic albums celebrating major anniversaries and breaks down song by song the reasons we still love them so many years later. This week, we celebrate 20 years of Deftones’ White Pony. In 2000, nu metal ruled the airwaves. It’s then-novel mixture of alternative rock choruses, heavy metal riffs tuned lower than ever before, and hip-hop verses and rhythms had been on a half-decade growth streak. It’s juggernaut acts, like Korn and Limp Bizkit, were ubiquitous. One of the genre’s most forward-thinking devotees, a cadre of Sacramento upstarts known as Deftones seemed hot on their tails, thanks to the success of the singles “My Own Summer (Shove It)” and “Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)” from their 1997 album Around the Fur. However, rather than be keep following the p...
GWAR’s Blothar: Oderus Urungus Wouldn’t Have Wanted His Statue Next to a “Row of Losers”
Over the past week or so, a petition to replace a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, with one of late GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus has garnered more than 55,000 signatures. While it would be cool for scumdogs everywhere to see their fallen leader honored, current GWAR singer Blothar the Berserker tells us that Oderus wouldn’t want a statue of himself alongside a “row of losers.” As controversial statues continue to get toppled amid worldwide protests, the petition calls Robert E. Lee a “failed war general that supported a racist cause” while touting Oderus as a “great local leader.” While Oderus may have come from the planet Scumdogia and settled in Antarctica, his alter ego, Dave Brockie (who passed away in 2014), called Richmond his home. Blothar beamed in...
Heavy Culture: Musicians Recount Early Experiences of Racism
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 multiple rock and metal musicians recounting their early experiences of racism. Racism is real. Colorism is real. Implicit biases are real. Injustice is real. It is rooted in ignorance. As a Caribbean woman, the first time I experienced racism was a vivid memory in the first grade. A white, female classmate, the same age as me — about 6 or 7 years old — told me I was dirty, ugly, and that I did not deserve the new stationery my mom bought for me. Even as a child, I felt that this classmate had disdain for me...
Lamb of God Unveil Self-Titled New Album: Stream
Lamb of God are back with their first new studio album in five years, a self-titled effort filled with poignant tracks that focus on a number of sociopolitical issues. The veteran Virginia metallers’ new effort was lauded as the band’s “strongest album to date” in our review of the LP. Frontman Randy Blythe tackles topics such as mass shootings (“Reality Bath”), immigration (“New Colossal Hate”), the Standing Rock pipeline protest (“Routes”), the Trump administration (“Checkmate”), and more throughout the album. As Blythe told us in a video interview earlier this year, “The best punk rock and hardcore and metal … has always come out of tumultuous times. Right now seems to be an extremely tumultuous time … and it’s not just Trump, it’s not just America — [world leaders in] many different co...
Black Sabbath Selling Black Lives Matter T-Shirt in Style of Band’s Classic Logo
Black Sabbath are showing support for Black Lives Matter by selling a t-shirt with the activist movement’s name spelled out in the style of the iconic metal band’s logo. All net proceeds from the sale of the shirts will be donated to support Black Lives Matter. The godfathers of heavy metal played their last show in 2017, but they continue to have legions of fans throughout the world. The reaction to the t-shirt on the band’s Facebook page has been mostly positive, with some dissenters renouncing their fandom over its political nature. Those naysayers have been called out by supportive fans, who cite the band’s political anthems like “War Pigs” and “Wicked World” as examples of the heavy metal legends taking a stance on social issues in the past. The shirt plays off the purple band logo ma...
