Heavy Metal
Pantera Announce First 2023 US Show at Rock Fest
Pantera have announced what currently stands as their first US show since re-forming. The veteran metal band will headline Rock Fest, taking place July 13th-15th in Cadott, Wisconsin. The gig falls between Pantera’s previously announced European tour and their stint supporting Metallica’s North American outing. If no earlier US dates are announced, it will be the band’s first stateside show since July 2001. “Securing this act was a really big deal for us,” Rock Fest promoter Wade Asher stated. “We really wanted this for our fans. I mean, their first US tour in over two decades. Christmas is in July!” The rest of the Rock Fest lineup will be announced shortly. Advertisement Earlier this month, Pantera — featuring classic members Philips Anselmo and Rex Brown alongside Zakk Wylde and Charlie...
Within Temptation Unveil New Single “The Fire Within”: Stream
Within Temptation have unveiled a standalone single, “The Fire Within,” which was written back in 2019 but never released until now. The single is available for streaming and download online, plus as a CD single, 7-inch single on colored vinyl and as a CD single + 7-inch bundle. Only 666 copies of each physical format have been printed. To order the single, go here. “When a band writes an album, it often happens that there are too many ideas to make it onto the final track list,” Within Temptation explained in a social media post. “However, those songs that fall through the cracks sometimes make a great B-side or even a single in this case. The song was written back in 2019, but never made its appearance on an album. The track now finds its way to you, as we’ve decided to release it as a s...
Top 30 Metal and Hard Rock Albums of 2022
Our 2022 Annual Report continues with our Top 30 Metal and Hard Rock Albums list. As the year winds down, stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of 2022. You can find it all in one place here. Touring returned in full force in 2022, if not more so, as bands made up for lost time on the road. During that concert-industry shutdown of 2020 and 2021, many artists used the time to hit the studio. Veteran acts like Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot, Rammstein, and Lamb of God, who had all just released albums in 2019 or 2020, were able to record new albums during their time off the road, and thus unleashed follow-ups in a relatively quick manner in 2022. Advertisement Other acts like Megadeth and Alexisonfire ended long waits, releasing their first albums in six...
Ranking: Every Slipknot Album from Worst to Best
Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, based on the exact science of personal opinion, late night debates, and the love of music. This time, we follow Slipknot’s career, from their 1996 full-length demo, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., to their most recent effort, 2022’s THE END, SO FAR. Slipknot are one of the biggest bands of the 21st century. From their theatrical presentation to the brutality of their music, it didn’t take long for the band to capture the ears and hearts of listeners around the globe. Since the release of their 1999 self-titled album, the masked marauders have continued to push their creative muscles to the test, expanding upon their brand of heaviness. From the visceral cuts off of 2001’s Iowa, to the somber atmosphere off of 2008’s All Hope Is G...
Ranking: Every Slipknot Album from Worst to Best
Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, based on the exact science of personal opinion, late night debates, and the love of music. This time, we follow Slipknot’s career, from their 1996 full-length demo, Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., to their most recent effort, 2022’s THE END, SO FAR. Slipknot are one of the biggest bands of the 21st century. From their theatrical presentation to the brutality of their music, it didn’t take long for the band to capture the ears and hearts of listeners around the globe. Since the release of their 1999 self-titled album, the masked marauders have continued to push their creative muscles to the test, expanding upon their brand of heaviness. From the visceral cuts off of 2001’s Iowa, to the somber atmosphere off of 2008’s All Hope Is G...
Mac Sabbath Announce 2022-2023 Winter US Tour Dates
The McDonald’s themed Black Sabbath cover band Mac Sabbath will be touring the West Coast in late 2022 and early 2023. Mac Sabbath will round out 2022 with two dates: December 16th in Concord, California; and December 17th in Santa Cruz, California. The band’s 2023 itinerary will then kick off on January 26th in Santa Ana, California, with the short tour wrapping up on February 5th in Mesa, Arizona. Ticket info can be found via Mac Sabbath’s website and via the various venues listed below. You can also pick up tickets to select dates via Ticketmaster. Advertisement Related Video At the merch table, Mac Sabbath will be selling the final copies of their Drive-Thru Metal pop-up book featuring illustrations by Gris Grimly. The tour announcement stresses that there is a very limited number of c...
Pantera Play First Concert in 21 Years: Video and Setlist
Pantera — at the least the new incarnation of the legendary band — played their first show in 21 years on Friday night (December 2nd). The long-dormant act performed a 15-song set at the Hell & Heaven festival outside Mexico City. Classic members Philip Anselmo (vocals) and Rex Brown (bass) are joined by guitarist Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society) and drummer Charlie Benante (Anthrax) in the band’s revamped lineup. The latter two have the daunting task of filling in for late brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, respectively. Pantera kicked off the set with “A New Level” and then launched into “Mouth for War,” both from 1992’s Vulgar Display of Power. After that, it was four straight songs from 1994’s Far Beyond Driven (“Strength Beyond Strength,” “Becoming,” “I’m Bro...
Judas Priest Celebrate 50 Million Album Sales Worldwide
For more than 50 years, Judas Priest have helped carry the torch for heavy metal music. Now, the band is celebrating not only a half century in music but also 50 million album sales worldwide. Frontman Rob Halford and company were recently presented with a special plaque commemorating 50 years in music and more than 50 million albums sold. The band was given the honor the evening before its induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Los Angeles last month. In the photo above, Priest — Halford, bassist Ian Hill, drummer Scott Travis, and guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner — are shown receiving the plaque from Jo Kalli of Sony Music UK, Scott Carter of Sony Music US, manager Jayne Andrews, and Michael Closter and Scott Rubin of Reach Music Publishing. Advertisement Rel...
Video Shows Pantera Soundcheck Ahead of First Concert in 20-Plus Years: Watch
Pantera are set to play their first show in more than 20 years on Friday (December 2nd) at the Hell & Heaven festival outside Mexico City. New video has emerged of the band’s soundcheck, likely filmed last night ahead of the festival’s start. As previously reported, classic members Philip Anselmo and Rex Brown will be joined by guitarist Zakk Wylde and drummer Charlie Benante for a new run of shows. The latter two are filling the mighty shoes of late brothers Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, respectively. The crudely filmed video posted to Instagram (watch below) captures the soundcheck from a long distance, but it’s clearly Pantera, with their name on the backdrop. As soon as Wylde’s guitar kicks in, the person filming and whoever’s with him scream in excitement. Then Anselmo’s famili...
9-Year-Old Girl Plays 15-Song Tool Medley on Guitar Gifted to Her by Adam Jones: Watch
Nine-year-old music protege Maya Neelakantan was gifted a signature Gibson Les Paul by Adam Jones and promptly put it to use, recording a 15-song Tool medley. Not unlike Nandi Bushell, Neelakantan has become a YouTube phenom thanks to her gifted guitar skills. You may remember her 15-minute playthrough of Tool’s “7empest” earlier this year — a feat so impressive, it apparently caught the attention of Adam Jones himself. A couple months ago, the Tool guitarist bequeathed one of his prized signature model Gibson Les Paul guitars to Neelakantan, who shared the surprise moment in a heartwarming unboxing video. The gift must have inspired the young virtuoso to learn even more Tool songs. Advertisement Earlier this week, Neelakantan uploaded the aforementioned 15-song Tool medley played with the...
Vinnie Paul’s Estate Insists “There Can Never Be a Pantera Reunion” but Supports Upcoming Tour
The estate of the late Vinnie Paul has issued a statement in support of Pantera’s upcoming shows. However, the statement refrained from calling the band’s reformation a “reunion.” This past summer, news broke that the surviving classic members of Pantera — singer Philip Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown — were joining forces with guitarist Zakk Wylde and Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante to play select dates and festivals as Pantera. At the time, Billboard reported that the estates of Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell had given it the go-ahead. On Wednesday (November 30th), Vinnie’s estate posted the following message on Facebook, clarifying its stance on the matter with a pointed first sentence, but an overall positive attitude toward the upcoming shows: “There can never be a Pantera reunion with...
Mining Metal: Critical Extravasation, Cryptae, Dream Unending, Elder, Fell Ruin, Feminizer, Spider God, and Tchornobog, and Abyssal
Mining Metal is a monthly column from Heavy Consequence contributing writers Langdon Hickman and Colin Dempsey. 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. Peter Griffin once asked, “Where are those good old-fashioned values on which we used to rely?” While he was talking about entertainment at large when he posed that question, stroking his inappropriately-shaped chin, it’s debatable if he’d ask heavy metal, the genre that holds onto its good old-fashioned values with a Mankind-Mandible-Claw-like grip, that same query. This is to say that metal is laden with refinement more than drastic innovation. Now, this is actually good in that metal has arguably ...
