[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 4 finale of Stranger Things, “The Piggyback.”] For a show already known for killer needle drops, Stranger Things Season 4 took things to a new level with its season finale. In the epic-length Episode 9, “The Piggyback,” our heroes decide to venture into the Upside Down to take down the malevolent demon known as Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower). The plan: Use Max (Sadie Sink) as bait to lure the demon into making a psychic attack, while the rest of the gang attacks Vecna’s comatose body. Vecna isn’t defenseless, though, as he’s guarded by an army of demonic bats. That’s when Eddie Munsen (Joe Quinn) — and his guitar — come into play. Eddie pulls out an amp and electric guitar and, with Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) headbanging beside...
Editor’s Note: The massive 2022 edition of Hellfest took place in Clisson, France, over two weekends, with seven days of performances from many of the biggest metal and hard rock acts in the world. Heavy Consequence photojournalist Raymond Ahner was on hand for the second weekend (June 23rd-26th), where he captured pics of Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Scorpions, Ministry, Alice Cooper, and many more acts. See his recap and photo gallery below. After canceling the 2020 and 2021 installments due to the ongoing pandemic, Hellfest returned in 2022 in a big way, with not one, but two completely jam-packed weekends, featuring many of today’s biggest metal and hard rock bands on the planet. When the massive lineup was announced last year, it almost seemed impossible that something this big could b...
Rob Zombie has unveiled an animated music video for the song “Shake Your Ass-Smoke Your Grass” from his 2021 album, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. The wild clip comes ahead of Zombie’s co-headlining US tour with Mudvayne. The month-long outing, featuring support from Static-X and Powerman 5000, kicks off July 20th in Maryland Heights, Missouri, and wraps up August 21st in The Woodlands, Texas, with tickets available via Ticketmaster. The video for “Shake Your Ass-Smoke Your Grass” features a bevy of outlandish characters shaking a lot of ass and smoking a lot of grass, and in some cases doing both at the same time. The clip, which has a few NSFW scenes, was created by Hungarian animator Balázs Gróf, whose work can be seen at his official website. Advertisement Related Vid...
Surviving Motörhead members Mikkey Dee and Phil Campbell paid tribute to Lemmy Kilmister at the unveiling ceremony for his statue at Hellfest. Dee, now a member of Scorpions, spoke following his set with the German legends. Campbell would join in for “Rock You Like a Hurricane,” with the two Motörhead members then heading to the base of the massive statue to pay their respects to Lemmy and Hellfest. Heavy Consequence photographer Raymond Ahner is currently at the French festival, where he took pics of the proceedings. “It was magic, thank you Hellfest for making this happen, me and Phil are very proud, and proudest of all is of course Lemmy!” Dee said during the ceremony. “Now he is part of a great festival forever, and hopefully there will be many more to come all over the world so as Lem...
Upon the announcement of Megadeth’s new album, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead, frontman Dave Mustaine has opened up about last year’s ouster of longtime bassist David Ellefson. While Mustaine says it was a “hard decision,” he insists he “won’t play music with him anymore.” Ellefson was fired from Megadeth in 2021 when an embarrassing online sexual encounter between him and a young woman surfaced on social media. His bass parts for the upcoming album were subsequently re-recorded by Testament’s Steve DiGiorgio, while James LoMenzo has since been named as Ellefson’s permanent replacement. In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Mustaine discussed his decision to let Ellefson go from the band. “Let me just say this – it was a hard decision that had to be made,” said Mustaine. “There were a l...
Ozzy Osbourne has announced his new album, titled Patient Number 9. In advance of its September 9th release date, the Prince of Darkness has unveiled the title track, featuring guitar work by fellow rock legend Jeff Beck. Along with Beck, the epic seven-minute song boasts an all-star cast of musicians that includes Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith on drums, Metallica’s Robert Trujillo on bass, Zakk Wylde on guitars and keyboards, and producer Andrew Watt on backing vocals, guitars, and keyboards. In addition to the above musicians, the album Patient Number 9 includes guest lead guitarists Eric Clapton, Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, as well as session work from Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, Jane’s Addiction’s Chris Chaney, and late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Ha...
UK duo Nova Twins, who were just named Consequence‘s Artist of the Month for June, have announced their first-ever North American headlining tour. Minneapolis act Gully Boys will provide support on the jaunt. The 11-date tour will see Nova Twins hitting major cities across North America, kicking off with a September 27th show at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles and wrapping up with an October 16th gig at Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday (June 24th) via Ticketmaster, with a Live Nation pre-sale for select cities starting on Thursday (June 23rd) using the code DAZZLE. Nova Twins are touring in support of their new album, Supernova, which blends nu-metal, hip-hop, and alt-rock into a truly unique sound. The LP just landed on Heavy Consequen...
Judas Priest are continuing their “50 Heavy Metal Years” tour, announcing Fall 2022 US dates with support from Queensrÿche. The metal legends will kick off the 29-date outing on October 13th in Wallingford, Connecticut, and stay on the road through a November 29th date in Houston. Tickets go on sale to the general public this Friday (June 24th) via Ticketmaster, with an artist pre-sale beginning on Wednesday and an internet pre-sale beginning on Thursday (using the code DAZZLE). “Defending the heavy metal faith for fifty years,” remarked frontman Rob Halford in a press release, “the Priest is back!” Added bassist Ian Hill: “After the horrific last few years of restrictions we’ve all had to endure, what better place to break free, than the land of the free — the USA!” Advertisement Related ...
Sometimes, the best art is born out of adversity, struggle and strife. Look at some of the greatest creative movements in history, for example. The protest songs of the ‘60s, the Harlem Renaissance — they come from times when pain, oppression and destruction were to no longer be tolerated by the masses. For UK’s Nova Twins, that adversity, struggle and strife was large scale — an intersectional pile on of racism, sexism, environmental decline, and the loss of rights. Their sophomore album, Supernova, tackles some of these issues from the opposite perspective, focusing on the reclamation of what’s been taken rather than the agonizing over what’s been lost. Instead of forlorn lyrics directly reflecting our many tragedies, the duo, Amy Love and Georgia South to be specific, create agency in t...
Sometimes, the best art is born out of adversity, struggle and strife. Look at some of the greatest creative movements in history, for example. The protest songs of the ‘60s, the Harlem Renaissance — they come from times when pain, oppression and destruction were to no longer be tolerated by the masses. For UK’s Nova Twins, that adversity, struggle and strife was large scale — an intersectional pile on of racism, sexism, environmental decline, and the loss of rights. Their sophomore album, Supernova, tackles some of these issues from the opposite perspective, focusing on the reclamation of what’s been taken rather than the agonizing over what’s been lost. Instead of forlorn lyrics directly reflecting our many tragedies, the duo, Amy Love and Georgia South to be specific, create agency in t...
Sometimes, the best art is born out of adversity, struggle and strife. Look at some of the greatest creative movements in history, for example. The protest songs of the ‘60s, the Harlem Renaissance — they come from times when pain, oppression and destruction were to no longer be tolerated by the masses. For UK’s Nova Twins, that adversity, struggle and strife was large scale — an intersectional pile on of racism, sexism, environmental decline, and the loss of rights. Their sophomore album, Supernova, tackles some of these issues from the opposite perspective, focusing on the reclamation of what’s been taken rather than the agonizing over what’s been lost. Instead of forlorn lyrics directly reflecting our many tragedies, the duo, Amy Love and Georgia South to be specific, create agency in t...
Anthrax bassist Frank Bello has announced his debut solo EP, Then I’m Gone, arriving November 4th. The release is a personal one for Bello, who played every instrument (except drums) on the EP’s three core tracks: “Then I’m Gone,” “It Won’t Be Long,” and “See Me Now.” He also scored and played additional narrative pieces that see Bello reading excerpts from his 2021 autobiography, Fathers, Brothers, and Sons: Surviving Anguish, Abandonment, and Anthrax. “I revisited some really dark times in my life when I was writing my book, and writing these songs was the result of reliving them,” said Bello via a press release. “Music has always been a great outlet for me as a coping mechanism. I felt it was a good time to put out these songs for people who connected with the book and maybe some who ha...