Heavy Metal
Judas Priest Kick Off Fall US Tour, Perform “Genocide” for First Time in 40 Years: Watch
Judas Priest launched the latest US leg of their “50 Heavy Metal Years” tour in Wallingford, Connecticut, on Thursday (October 13th), and the setlist was a treat for hardcore fans. The night featured a few rarities, including the band’s first live performance of “Genocide” in 40 years. The tour, which includes support from Queensrÿche, runs through a November 29th show in Houston, Texas, and tickets to the upcoming dates are available via Ticketmaster. With Judas Priest’s seminal 1982 album Screaming for Vengeance celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, the band had teased that the LP would get some love on this tour. That album was represented by the title track and “Riding on the Wind,” performed for the first time since 2015 and 2005, respectively, as well as “The Hellion/Electric E...
M. Shadows Admits Avenged Sevenfold “Cut a Little Too Close” to Metallica on Hail to the King
Avenged Sevenfold’s 2013 album Hail to the King attained platinum certification and yielded two No. 1 mainstream rock singles, but has been criticized for containing songs that sound too similar to Metallica. In a new social media post, A7X frontman M. Shadows admits that the album “cut a little too close” to the metal legends. As Avenged Sevenfold prepare to release their long-awaited follow up to 2016’s The Stage, Shadows took to Twitter to respond to fan commentary on Hail to the King. It started when one fan defended the album, tweeting, “Hot take: The ‘Hail to the King’ album by @TheOfficialA7X is amazing and deserves respect. So many people chaff at the ‘simple riffs’ and classic hard rock sound, but the album has incredible complexity under the surface, if you really listen.” Advert...
Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Forcibly Removes Fan from Stage During Concert: Watch
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson physically ejected an invasive fan from the stage during a recent show in Anaheim, California. While the incident happened on September 22nd, footage of the onstage incident is now making the rounds. The encounter took place during the final song of the evening (“Aces High”). Wearing a backwards cap, the fan rushed the stage and flashed the devil horns at guitarist Janick Gers and a visibly perturbed Dickinson, who attempted to escort the intruder backstage by the hand. Instead, the fan broke free and approached bassist Steve Harris, at which point he removed his hat to headbang next to the Iron Maiden founder. It’s here where Dickinson lost his patience, as the frontman grabs the fan by the back of the shirt or his long hair, and physically drags him b...
Ozzy Osbourne Slow Dances with Wife Sharon on Her 70th Birthday: Watch
Sharon Osbourne had a star-studded party for her 70th birthday over the weekend, with the highlight being a heartwarming slow dance with husband Ozzy. The Prince of Darkness — who is having difficulty walking following a major neck surgery and amid his ongoing battle with Parkinson’s disease — ditched his cane for the romantic moment. The party featured a Great Gatsby-esque theme, with attendees such as Zakk Wylde, Korn’s Jonathan Davis, and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello looking dapper. Ozzy and Sharon’s children Jack, Kelly and Aimee were also at the party, as were a number of grandchildren. Video footage shared by Sharon on Instagram shows her and Ozzy walking out to the dance floor. A very pregnant Kelly cues the band to play James Arthur’s “Say You Won’t Let Go,” as they hand ...
How to Get Tickets to Iron Maiden’s 2023 “Future Past Tour”
Iron Maiden are still deep into their 2022 “Legacy of the Beast Tour,” and yet tickets are incoming for the English heavy metal pioneers’ next outing, a 2023 European trek dubbed the “Future Past Tour.” The performances will feature a fresh setlist that will highlight both their 2021 album Senjutsu as well as their 1986 under-sung classic, Somewhere in Time. In a statement, bassist Steve Harris expanded on the process of choosing which LP to pair with their latest record, saying, “We’ve decided to revisit Somewhere in Time as that tour didn’t feature in the various retrospective history tours we’ve played over the years.” He added, “It will also be particularly satisfying to finally get to play some of the more epic tracks on Senjutsu, it’s been a long wait!” Learn how to get tickets and r...
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Joins Journey Onstage for Mashup of “Wheel in the Sky” and “Enter Sandman”: Watch
The worlds of heavy metal and arena rock collided in Hawaii when Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett joined Journey for a mashup performance of “Wheel in the Sky” and “Enter Sandman.” Hammett, who has a home in Hawaii, jumped onstage with Journey at their October 6th show in Honolulu. The Metallica axeman played alongside Journey guitarist Neal Schon on “Wheel in the Sky,” transitioning into the famous “Enter Sandman” riff a few minutes into the song, much to the fans’ delight. Journey singer Arnel Pineda even sung a few lines of the Metallica classic, before the band and Hammett went back into “Wheel in the Sky.” The Hawaii show wrapped up Journey’s touring for 2022, but the band has a handful of North American dates scheduled for March and April 2023, with tickets available here. Adver...
Ozzy Osbourne Launches His Own Line of Beauty Products
Ozzy Osbourne has teamed with Rock and Roll Beauty to launch his own collection of beauty products. The Ozzy Osbourne Collection features 21 separate pieces inspired by the Prince of Darkness, who’s been known to wear his fair share of makeup and eyeliner over the years. Some of the items in the new line include: 14-pan eye shadow palettes (one shaped like a coffin and another like a bat), candles, Ozzy-styled body tattoos, lipsticks, a cosmetic bag, a gothic mirror, and nail stickers. The new collection is only one of Ozzy’s many endeavors in 2022. Most notably, he released a new studio album, Patient Number 9, which notched the Ozzman his first No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart. Once again produced by Andrew Watt, the record features an all-star cast of guest talent, including t...
Zakk Wylde to Launch Online Instructional Guitar Course
Zakk Wylde has announced an online guitar course, “Zakk Wylde Berserker Guitar Camp,” which launches October 14th via Riffhard. If you’ve ever wanted to shred like the imitable Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society guitarist, now is your chance to learn from the man himself. Joined by fellow Black Label Society guitarist Dario Lorina, Wylde will teach aspiring guitarists the secrets behind his iconic pinch harmonics and vibrato, as well as riffs and solos from his most famous songs (including Ozzy Osbourne hits such as “No More Tears”). The complete course is separated into 10 sections with over 94 individual videos overall — a total of 12-plus hours of lessons. Much of the content sees Wylde and Lorina offering personal insight and tutorials straight to the camera, acting as virtual guitar te...
Rammstein Get Restraining Order Blocking Viagogo From Reselling Concert Tickets
Ticket resell websites infamously charge exorbitant rates to concerts and sporting events, and, like the rest of us, Rammstein have grown frustrated with the practice. As such, the German metal band have filed a restraining order against one such website, Viagogo, effectively blocking the platform from selling tickets to their shows. As Louder reports, the restraining order, actioned by the city of Hamburg, prevents Viagogo from reselling tickets to Rammstein’s upcoming 2023 European tour. “Buyers often do not realise that they are not buying their tickets from the organiser but on the secondary ticket market,” attorney Sebastian Ott said. “The legislature has recognised this deficiency and acted. We are pleased that the district court of Hamburg shares our opinion and consistently prohibi...
Sabaton Announce EP Trilogy, Release First Collection Weapons of the Modern Age: Stream
Sabaton have announced a trilogy of EPs titled Echoes of the Great War. The EPs further explore the history of World War I, and the band has released the first collection, Weapons of the Modern Age, which is now streaming. The new EP arrives amidst Sabaton’s fall North American tour. The band plays in Dallas on Friday night (September 30th) and continues on the road through an October 23rd gig in New York City, with tickets available via Ticketmaster. The Swedish power metallers have been digging deep into the first World War, having released two concept albums on the topic, The Great War (2019) and The War to End All Wars (2022). Based on a sampling of the first EP in the trilogy, fans can expect plenty of historically accurate lyrics paired with a heavy dose of fist-pumping, power-metal ...
Mining Metal: An Abstract Illusion, Barn, Floating, Lunar Spells, Mamaleek, Miscreance, Toadeater, and Toughness
As the first summer this decade that felt like a true summer winds down, metalheads rejoice as the seasons turn in our favor. We trade in our black cutoff death metal shirts for black long-sleeved death metal shirts, battle jackets give way to actual jackets (denim and patch-filled, of course), cut-off cargos transform into jeans while combat boots…actually, who knows what metalheads wear to shows these days, though Dave Mustaine is hopefully still kicking about in his Nike Air Tech Challenge IIs. The point is, temperatures will start dropping throughout most of the world soon, and inside those cold weather months is peak metal mise-en-scene. The black metal that champions either Scandanavian pastures or American fauna usually comes with a wintery tone, though that’s not to say that fall d...
Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner Undergoes Second Heart Surgery: “I’m Not Completely Out of the Woods”
A year ago this week, Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner nearly died when his aorta ruptured onstage during the band’s set at Louder Than Life festival in Louisville. While marking the anniversary of the harrowing incident, the metal musician disclosed that he recently had a second open heart surgery. On September 26th, 2021, Priest were finishing up their set at the Louisville fest when Faulkner’s aorta ruptured during the closing number, “Painkiller.” He was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent a life-saving, 10-hour emergency surgery. As he described it shortly after the procedure, “Five parts of my chest were replaced with mechanical components…..I’m literally made of metal now.” Now, a year later, Faulkner has revealed that he’s not “completely of out the woods yet,” as he r...
