Heavy Metal
Pantera’s 10 Best Songs
The story of Pantera is bound to the modernization of heavy metal in the 1990s, but the band’s origins began long before that. Formed by guitar virtuoso “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott and his brother, drummer Vinnie Paul, Pantera began as a rather rudimentary ’80s metal band: big hair, glam riffs, and unfortunate album titles such as Metal Magic and Projects in the Jungle. Bassist Rex Brown was along for the ride from nearly the beginning, but things shifted when vocalist Phillip H. Anselmo joined the band after they had already released three under-the-radar albums. While Anselmo was on board for 1988’s Power Metal, It would be the seminal 1990 album Cowboys from Hell that truly marked the arrival of the Pantera that is now recognized as one of the best heavy metal bands of all time. Perhaps th...
Metallica Took a Quantum Leap on Ride the Lightning
The first four Metallica albums are among the genre’s most powerful and enduring documents, and while the band’s debut LP, Kill ‘Em All, was a landmark for thrash metal, Ride the Lightning presented a quantum leap in terms of songwriting and structure. Kill ‘Em All leaned heavily on elements of boogie beats nabbed from ’70s Judas Priest and the heavy swung feel to fast-paced riffs that Dave Mustaine would eventually take with him to Megadeth, but Ride the Lightning, released July 27th, 1984, almost wholly struck the swung-boogie vibe from its mostly slower-paced riffs, focusing instead on a near neo-classical sense of grandeur plucked more from the pages of groups like Rush, Rainbow, Blue Öyster Cult and even Priest’s more grandiloquent epics than bands like Sweet or even the more rock ‘n’...
Rob Zombie Joined Onstage by His Brother Spider One for White Zombie and Ramones Classics: Watch
A hiccup on the second date of Rob Zombie’s co-headlining US tour with Mudvayne led to a fun onstage moment on Thursday night (July 21st) in Noblesville, Indiana. After a truck fire forced the cancellation of sets by opening acts Static-X and Powerman 5000, Zombie invited both bands to join him onstage for performances of White Zombie’s “Thunder Kiss ’65” and the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop.” A truck carrying lighting and sound equipment for the show caught fire and broke down on the way to the venue. Unfortunately, when the stage was finally set up, there wasn’t enough time for Static-X or Powerman 5000 to perform. Mudvayne delivered an abbreviated set of just seven songs, and Zombie only performed 12 songs. With Static-X and Powerman 5000 at the venue with nothing to do, Zombie brought both...
Ozzy Osbourne Unveils New Song “Degradation Rules” Featuring Tony Iommi: Stream
Ozzy Osbourne has unveiled “Degradation Rules” as the latest single from his upcoming album, Patient Number 9, and this one features fellow Black Sabbath legend Tony Iommi on guitar. The track just might be the closest tune we get to a new Black Sabbath song following the iconic metal band’s final album, 13, which was released nine years ago. Iommi once again proves why he’s the lord of the riff, while Ozzy delivers his signature haunting vocals. Meanwhile, Chad Smith and Robert Trujillo handle drum and bass duties on the track, respectively. “Degradation Rules” marks the second single from Patient Number 9, following the title track featuring Jeff Beck. Among the other guitarists on the album are Eric Clapton, Mike McCready, and Zakk Wylde, while additional bassists include Duff McKagan a...
Rob Zombie’s The Munsters to Get Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Release in September: Watch New Trailer
In addition to streaming on Netflix, Rob Zombie’s The Munsters movie is heading straight for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital in September. A new trailer for the film has been unveiled coinciding with the announcement of the home release. A couple days ago, Zombie revealed that the film would be premiering on Netflix, although no exact date has been unveiled for the its debut on the streaming service. Today (July 20th), it was announced that a collector’s edition will be available to buy on September 27th. (Pre-orders are now ongoing.) According to a press release, the home edition will feature “over an hour of exclusive content including unseen behind-the-scenes footage with writer and director Rob Zombie and cast as well as feature commentary with Rob Zombie.” Advertisement Related Video Early ...
Rob Zombie’s The Munsters to Get Blu-Ray, DVD, and Digital Release in September: Watch New Trailer
In addition to streaming on Netflix, Rob Zombie’s The Munsters movie is heading straight for Blu-ray, DVD, and digital in September. A new trailer for the film has been unveiled coinciding with the announcement of the home release. A couple days ago, Zombie revealed that the film would be premiering on Netflix, although no exact date has been unveiled for the its debut on the streaming service. Today (July 20th), it was announced that a collector’s edition will be available to buy on September 27th. (Pre-orders are now ongoing.) According to a press release, the home edition will feature “over an hour of exclusive content including unseen behind-the-scenes footage with writer and director Rob Zombie and cast as well as feature commentary with Rob Zombie.” Advertisement Related Video Early ...
Kerry King Prepares to Launch Post-Slayer Project, Confirms Paul Bostaph as Drummer
Kerry King is getting ready to debut his long-gestating post-Slayer project. In a new interview, the guitarist said he was waiting out the pandemic before launching the band, and that it won’t be that much longer before he unveils the project. He also confirmed that Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph was on board. This comes after the guitarist revealed he was sitting on two albums’ worth of new material in 2020. “You know me, so you know what it’s going to sound like,” he told Metal Hammer. “I played this new song for a buddy, and I said to him, ‘If there’s anything I’ve written in the last few years that sounds like Slayer, it’s this.’ And he said, ‘That sounds like you could have pulled it off of any Slayer record.’” Related Video Regarding the band’s lineup, King refrained from naming a...
Trivium Announce 2022 North American Tour with BTBAM, Whitechapel, and Khemmis
Trivium have announced the Fall 2022 “Dead Men and Dragons” North American tour in support of their 2021 album In the Court of the Dragon. The stacked tour package also includes Between the Buried and Me, Whitechapel, and Khemmis. The outing follows Trivium’s September run supporting Iron Maiden and kicks off October 2nd in Boise, Idaho. Dates run through November 10th in Los Angeles. Ticket pre-sales are currently ongoing via Ticketmaster using the code DRAGON2022, with a general on-sale beginning Friday (July 22nd) at 10 a.m. local time. In the tour press release, the members of Trivium took the rare opportunity to personally comment on each of the support acts on the upcoming tour. Their respective remarks are below. Advertisement Related Video Frontman Matt Heafy stated, “Between the B...
Slipknot Announce New Album THE END, SO FAR; Unleash “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)”: Stream
Slipknot have announced a new album, THE END, SO FAR, set to arrive on September 30th. Ahead of its release, the masked metallers have unveiled the new single “The Dying Song (Time to Sing).” The album announcement comes ahead of the band’s upcoming fall North American leg of their “Knotfest Roadshow” tour, which features support from Ice Nine Kills and Crown the Empire. The outing kicks off September 20th in Nashville, Tennessee, with tickets currently available via Ticketmaster. THE END, SO FAR is the follow-up to 2019’s WE ARE NOT YOUR KIND. The forthcoming album contains 12 tracks, including the aforementioned “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)” and “The Chapeltown Rag,” which was released last year as a surprise single. Advertisement “The Dying Song (Time to Sing)” starts off wi...
Rob Zombie’s The Munsters Movie Will Premiere Directly on Netflix
Rob Zombie’s movie adaptation of the 1960s sitcom The Munsters is set to premiere directly on Netflix, the rocker-director revealed in an Instagram post. Early reports had the movie premiering in theaters and on Peacock simultaneously, but it turns out the film is heading straight to Netflix. While an exact release date has yet to be announced, the first full trailer revealed that the movie will debut this September. Zombie posted the movie poster alongside one for Tim Burton’s upcoming Netflix series Wednesday, based on The Addams Family, which was a competitor of The Munsters on TV in the ’60s. He also included some images from an old TV Guide he dug up that featured both programs, writing the following: “This fall we are gonna spook-out like it’s 1964! Yep, THE MUNSTERS and THE ADDAMS F...
Bruce Dickinson Rips Apart Fan for Lighting Flare at an Iron Maiden Show: Watch
Anybody who’s seen an Iron Maiden concert knows that frontman Bruce Dickinson is a serious and dynamic performer. As one fan discovered on Saturday (July 16th), it’s best to not distract the singer from doing his job. Maiden’s show at Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece, was marred when a fan decided to light a flare during the set. It all went down as the band launched into the iconic “The Number of the Beast.” At first, Bruce took a playful approach to calling out the perpetrator, ad libbing over his own lyrics: “What did I see? A c**t with a f**king flare!” Advertisement Related Video The crowd let out a collective chuckle. But as the flare began to spark and ignite, Dickinson wasn’t laughing, foregoing the lyrics entirely and ripping apart the pyromaniac with a torrent of expletives: “I’...
Robert Fripp (in Mask) and Toyah (in Barely Anything) Perform Slipknot’s “Psychosocial”: Watch
Who knew that Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox were a couple of Maggots? For their latest “Sunday Lunch” performance, the King Crimson guitarist and his singer wife take on Slipknot’s “Psychosocial,” offering up quite the visual in doing so. Maggots, for those not in the know, is the affectionate term for Slipknot fans, and it’s clear that Robert and Toyah have some love for the masked Iowa band. Robert is even wearing an era-appropriate Corey Taylor mask from Slipknot’s touring cycle for 2008’s All Hope Is Gone album, on which “Psychosocial” appears. Toyah, of course, is wearing barely anything — a sheer red wrap over heart-shaped pasties. She enhances her performance by whipping out … a handheld blender! Advertisement Related Video The Slipknot cover follows up recent performances of Ramms...
