Heavy Metal
Steel Panther Announce Spring 2022 US Tour
Steel Panther have announced the first leg of their 2022 “Res-Erections” US tour, spanning 13 dates in March. Never ones to turn down a good pun, the comedic glam metal heroes parodied the latest Matrix film with their upcoming tour and poster. “You won’t need a pill to rock this hard,” the band proudly claims. Any Given Sin will support the trek, which kicks off March 10th in St. Petersburg, Florida, and runs though a March 26th concert in Dubuque, Iowa. The route will hit 13 cities in 16 days, and the press release states that it’s only the first leg, so more tour dates are forthcoming. Tickets go on sale Friday (January 21st) at 10 a.m. local time and can be purchased via Ticketmaster, with pre-sales beginning Wednesday for most shows. Advertisement Related Video “Even though they are k...
Judas Priest Welcome Andy Sneap Back Five Days After Dropping Him from Touring Lineup
Judas Priest have reversed course on their recent decision to drop guitarist and producer Andy Sneap from their touring lineup. The legendary metal act announced Saturday (January 15th) that Sneap will indeed be with the band when it launches its North American tour in March (tickets available here). Sneap joined the Priest live lineup when longtime guitarist Glenn Tipton stepped away from regular touring after revealing in 2018 that he is battling Parkinson’s disease. On Monday (January 10th), Judas Priest announced that they would be proceeding without Sneap as part of their live band, but that he would still stay on to produce the group’s upcoming album. The band stated at the time, “Hello maniacs! We are chomping at the British Steel bit to return to world touring… celebrating 50 years...
Meshuggah Announce New Album Immutable, Share Teaser Video: Watch
Meshuggah have announced their ninth studio album, Immutable, arriving April 1st. They also shared a short video teaser featuring a snippet of new music. While a Meshuggah album was expected this year, no formal details were available until now. The teaser clip posted on the Swedish extreme-metal band’s social media touts fiery artwork by Luminokaya and powerful chugging guitar grooves — a taste of what’s to come. “The title [Immutable] fits perfectly for where we are as a band,” guitarist Mårten Hagström remarked in the band’s Facebook post. “We’re older now. Most of us are in our 50s now, and we’ve settled into who we are. Even though we’ve been experimenting all along, I also think we’ve been the same since day one.” Advertisement Related Video He continued: “The way we approach things ...
Sevendust Announce 21st Anniversary Animosity Tour Dates with Tetrarch and Dead Poet Society
Sevendust are celebrating their 2001 album Animosity with a 21st anniversary US tour, featuring support from Tetrarch and Dead Poet Society. The tour will kick off March 4th in Oklahoma City, and run through a March 27th date in Nashville. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday (January 14) via Ticketmaster, with pre-sales beginning tomorrow (January 13th). As the tour poster suggests, Sevendust didn’t get a chance to fully commemorate the 20th anniversary of the album in 2021, and thus have moved ahead with a 21st anniversary celebration. Advertisement Related Video Animosity arrived on November 13th, 2001, and features two of the group’s most popular singles: “Angel’s Son” and “Praise.” The LP peaked at No. 28 on the Billboard 200 chart and remained on the chat for 13 we...
Suffocation Announce 2022 North American Tour with Atheist
Suffocation will return to the road on their 2022 North American “Forces of Hostility” tour with direct support from fellow death metal pioneers Atheist. The extensive itinerary kicks off May 26th in Brooklyn, New York, and runs through a June 25th date in Clifton, New Jersey. Soreption and Contrarian will open most shows. Tickets go on sale Friday (January 14th) at noon ET for most dates and can be purchased via Ticketmaster. “We are beyond stoked to return to the road with the ‘Forces of Hostility North American Tour 2022’! exclaimed Suffocation guitarist Terrance Hobbs in a press release. “We’ll be joined by our good friends and brothers in metal Atheist as well as the technical metal powerhouse Soreption and death metallers Contrarian! This will be our first tour back in almost three y...
R.I.P. Burke Shelley, Budgie Singer-Bassist Dies at 71
Burke Shelley, the singer and bassist of the influential Welsh metal band Budgie, has died at the age of 71. Shelley’s daughter, Ela, shared the following post Monday night (January 10th) on Facebook: “It is with great sadness that I announce the death of my father, John Burke Shelley. He passed away this evening in his sleep at Heath Hospital in Cardiff, his birth town. He was 71 years old. Please respect the family during this time. With love, His four children: Ela, Osian, Dimitri and Nathaniel.” Although no cause of death was given, Shelley had suffered from health problems over the last few years (a genetic disorder called Stickler syndrome, plus two aortic aneurysms), which kept Budgie off of the road and from issuing new music. Advertisement Related Video Born John Burke Shelley on ...
Judas Priest to Perform as Four-Piece, Dropping Andy Sneap from Their Touring Lineup
Judas Priest will play their upcoming tour as a four-piece after dropping guitarist and producer Andy Sneap from their live lineup. The legendary metal act’s rescheduled 2022 North American tour kicks off March 4th in Peoria, Illinois, with tickets available via Ticketmaster. Initially, a statement from the band suggested that the split was amicable, with Sneap leaving to concentrate on production — including work on Judas Priest’s next album. Judas Priest stated, “Hello maniacs! We are chomping at the British Steel bit to return to world touring… celebrating 50 years of Judas Priest as an an even more powerful, relentless four piece heavy metal band – with Glenn [Tipton] coming out on stage with us here and there as before. Big thanks to Andy for all you’ve done and continuing to be in th...
Corey Taylor Confirms New Slipknot Album and More for 2022
Corey Taylor has confirmed that Slipknot will release a new album in 2022. The band unleashed a new single, “The Chapeltown Rag,” back in November, and now fans can look forward to the follow-up to 2019’s We Are Not Your Kind sometime this year. The Slipknot singer took to Twitter over the weekend to disclose that the new Slipknot album and a few other projects are on tap for 2022. “Big Shit Coming, 2022 edition: ZvN updates, SK album, secret ‘homecoming’ plans, etc. Stay Tuned! ‘Hold On To Your Butts’ – Franklin D. Roosevelt.” In addition to “SK album” referring to the new Slipknot LP, “ZvN updates” touches on Taylor’s feature film, Zombie vs. Ninja, for which he wrote the script. Several months ago, Taylor had reported that he was looking for a director and that he expected filming to be...
Rayna Foss’ Daughter Says Former Coal Chamber Bassist Is Not Missing
Earlier this week, it had come to light that original Coal Chamber bassist Rayna Foss was reported missing back in September. Now, her daughter, Kayla Rose, has set the record straight, revealing that her mother is not missing and that she spoke with her mother “as recently as yesterday.” On September 13th, local Fox TV affiliate WVUE posted that Foss was reported missing on September 7th by a manager at the New Orleans group home in which the musician apparently resides. The report went largely unnoticed for nearly four months but was finally picked up by metal sites this week. Kayla, who is the daughter of Foss and her ex-husband, Sevendust drummer Morgan Rose, took to Instagram today (January 5th), to report that her mother is safe and sound: “To everyone that has reached out in some wa...
Exodus’ Gary Holt Thinks “Shitty Metallica” Mention in New Cobra Kai Season Is “Rad”
Exodus got a big mention in the new season of Netflix’s popular series Cobra Kai, although it had one character referring to the veteran thrash band as “shitty Metallica.” Nonetheless, guitarist Gary Holt is celebrating the “massive Exodus reference.” In the scene (a minor spoiler), the character of Raymond (also known as “Stingray”) — played by Paul Walter Hauser — is confronted by a neighbor, who tells him, “Some freeloader was blaring shitty Metallica all night!” To which Stingray responds, “Yeah, that was actually Exodus’ Bonded by Blood, but it’s not your fault, you don’t know the genre.” Holt, a longtime member of Exodus who also played guitar in Slayer’s final lineup, posted the clip on his Instagram account, writing, “RAD!! One of my favorite shows just threw a massive Exodus refer...
Music Store Customer Anonymously Gifts Pantera-Loving Kid a Dimebag Darrell Guitar
Fallon, a youth impacted by Williams Syndrome, dreamed of owning a Dean Dimebag Darrell ML guitar — the late Pantera guitarist’s signature model. Thanks to one gracious anonymous music store customer, that dream came true. Music store J.B. Hart Music Co., Inc. in Grand Junction, Colorado, shared the touching story on Facebook, offering backstory about Fallon and the guitar, which became inseparable over the past couple years. Fallon would often come into the shop and specifically request to play the “Pantera” guitar, meaning the Dean Dimebag Darrell ML guitar, and proceed to lay down his favorite Pantera riffs. Advertisement Related Video “We were shocked he knew some Dimebag riffs,” the store wrote in its Facebook post. “Fallon is impacted by Williams Syndrome and has an excellent knowled...
Motörhead Crew Get Tattoos Using Ink Blended with Lemmy’s Ashes
Members of Motörhead’s road crew paid the ultimate tribute to the late Lemmy Kilmister by getting tattoos with ink blended from his ashes. The band’s longtime tour manager Eddie Rocha and production assistant Emma Cederblad recently got inked up with a portrait of Lemmy and the iconic “Ace of Spades” image, respectively. A short video documenting the process was posted on Motörhead’s official YouTube channel on Tuesday (December 28th) — six years since the day Lemmy passed away at age 70. Advertisement Related Video Tattoo artist Stina Nyman of Eye Scream Tattoo handled the blending and artistry. Clearly gifted with the tattoo needle, Nyman rendered a striking portrait of Lemmy on Rocha’s calf. As previously reported, Lemmy’s ashes were encased inside bullets and sent to his closest friend...
