Heavy Metal
Corpsegrinder’s Name Removed as World of Warcraft Character Due to Past Homophobic Remarks
Game-maker Blizzard has removed George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher’s name from his World of Warcraft non-playable character (NPC) due to past homophobic remarks made by the Cannibal Corpse frontman in 2007. “Gorge the Corpsegrinder” was an NPC and quest-giver that paid homage to the death metal vocalist, an outspoken WoW fan and a prominent player for the multiplayer online game’s Horde faction. However, calls to remove Corpsegrinder from WoW began in September when gamers shed light on homophobic remarks Fisher made in a 2007 interview. The interview in question originated from 2007, and aired at the 2011 BlizzCon event. Fisher spoke about his love for World of Warcraft and playing for the Horde, but he called the rival faction, the Alliance, the “homo-alliance” and referred to those players a...
Judas Priest’s Rob Halford on 50 Years of Metal, Handcuffing Andy Warhol, and Touring with Ozzy Osbourne
Fifty years of doing anything in the arts is impressive — even more so in popular music, and especially in heavy metal. It’s a rigorous and demanding genre, and certainly of a niche for faithful. But it’s proved resilient, welcoming to new directions and trends while continuing to revere its traditions and its long-haulers. Judas Priest have become the latest to join the golden anniversary club, and in its case a band that’s spent the past half-century rocking uninterrupted, weathering lineup changes and changing audience tastes. But anyone who’s seen the quintet as recently as this year’s “50 Heavy Metal Years Tour” — which came to an abrupt and unexpected stop on September 26th after guitarist Richie Faulkner suffered a ruptured aorta onstage and more than 10 hours of open heart surgery ...
Vended (Sons of Slipknot’s Corey Taylor and Clown) Announce Debut EP, Unleash “Burn My Misery”: Stream
Vended, the band featuring the sons of Slipknot members Corey Taylor and Shawn “Clown” Crahan, have announced their debut EP, titled What Is It/Kill It. The band also shared the new song “Burn My Misery” ahead of the EP’s November 12th release. It’s the second single we’ve heard from the Iowa metal act. Touting a serious pedigree with Corey Taylor’s son Griffin on vocals and Clown’s son Simon on drums, it’s no surprise that Vended bring a crushing extreme-metal sound, as heard on “Burn My Misery.” Like previous single “Asylum,” the band incorporate elements of prog and melodic metal into the five-minute track. There’s certainly some Slipknot influence, but Vended’s punk tendencies are more pronounced, with spitfire vocals from Griffin and lightning fast tempos. Advertisement Related V...
Metal Musician Andrea Meyer Among Five People Killed by Bow-and-Arrow Attack in Norway
Andrea Meyer — a German metal musician, actress, and screenwriter — was one of five people killed in a bow-and-arrow attack in Norway on October 13th. According to the Associated Press, the horrific incident happened at a supermarket in Kongsberg, Norway. Police apprehended the suspect, 37-year-old Espen Andersen Braathen, and authorities believe the attack to be “an act of terrorism.” Meyer recorded pagan music under the names Nebelhexë, Hagalaz’ Runedance, and Andrea Nebel. She also contributed guest vocals to Cradle of Filth’s 1994 debut, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, and a spoken-word part to Satyricon’s 1996 album, Nemesis Divina. Advertisement Related Video The 52-year-old multimedia artist leaves behind a daughter, Alva, whom she shared with ex-husband Tomas “Samoth” Haugen, lon...
David Ellefson Gives First Post-Megadeth Interview: “I’m Perfectly Content”
David Ellefson has given his first interview since being ousted from Megadeth earlier this year. Ellefson was fired from the thrash band after an embarrassing sexually compromising online encounter with a young woman went public, but seemed unfazed in the new interview. The bassist is currently promoting his new band, The Lucid, and opened up about his career after Megadeth. “It’s fun to create for creation’s sake and not because it has to be motivated from anything else,” Ellefson told Aftershocks TV (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “So I guess I’m kind of glad to just be right where I’m at. To be honest, I’m perfectly content and happy where I am right now. I’m not gonna lie — it’s perfectly fine. So I’m all good.” Advertisement Related Video Ellefson doesn’t get into specifics regardin...
System of a Down Return to Stage, Perform Two Comeback Singles Live for First Time: Watch
System of a Down just played their first concert since the pandemic started, rocking a 30-song set at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday (October 15th). The show featured the live debuts of last year’s surprise singles “Genocidal Humanoidz” and “Protect the Land.” The concert, the band’s first since May 2019, saw SOAD perform 11 songs off their landmark 2001 album Toxicity, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary — including such favorites as “Chop Suey,” “Psycho,” “Aerials,” and more. They performed “Genocidal Humanoidz” for the first time live in the first half of the set, while “Protect the Land” was debuted toward the end of the show. The two songs were simultaneously released in November 2020, in support of Armenia and its neighboring state Artsakh, which had come under ...
Iron Maiden-Loving School Principal Can Keep Job Following Petition to Oust Her
Following a petition by “concerned parents” calling for the ouster of Iron Maiden-loving high school principal Sharon Burns over the “satanic” imagery associated with the band, the school board has ruled that she can remain at her job. As previously reported, a petition sought to have Burns removed or transferred from her position at St. Catherines High School in Ontario, Canada after she posted two images on social media expressing her fandom of Iron Maiden. One picture had her posing in front of an Iron Maiden-themed license plate and other band paraphernalia, while the other had a handwritten sign that read “Eddie 666” next to a figure of the band’s skeletal mascot on a car dashboard. The original Change.org petition read, in part, “As concerned parents with impressionable children at E...
Vince Neil Rushed to Hospital After Falling Off Stage
Vince Neil was performing a concert with his solo band on Friday night (October 15th) when he took a violent fall off the stage and ended up in a hospital. The incident happened during the Mötley Crüe singer’s headlining set at the Monsters on the Mountain Festival in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Fan-filmed footage shows Neil making his way to the front of the stage, pumping up the crowd as he claps his hands with a guitar on his shoulder. Suddenly he takes a step and free falls off the stage. According to TMZ, there was a gap between a speaker and the stage that Neil apparently didn’t notice, falling down at least four feet to the concrete floor below. He was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Advertisement Related Video Bassist Dana Strum later addressed the crowd, saying, “The truth i...
Kerry King Says Post-Slayer Project Will Be “F**king Good”
Kerry King has again teased his post-Slayer project, saying that it will be “f**king good” and that he would have already toured with his new mystery group had it not been for the pandemic. After recently stating that he felt Slayer “quit to too early” when they called it a day after their final 2019 show, the guitarist is now looking ahead to the future. King previously hinted that he had two records’ worth of material for his post-Slayer band, but has remained tight-lipped about the specifics. “I’m dragging my feet on letting the world know what I’m doing because there’s no rush,” King told Metal Hammer in a new interview. “I have a tour that I’m considering doing, but I’m not going to announce a band, I’m not going to announce a record, I’m not going to announce anything. But you will s...
James Hetfield Recalls When Metallica Recruited Another Singer as Their Frontman
As the frontman of Metallica, James Hetfield is one of heavy metal’s most recognizable singers. However, had the iconic band gotten its wish, he may have been better known solely as the group’s rhythm guitarist. Hetfield hosts a new segment called “Road Dog Brothers” on the Mandatory Metallica channel on SiriusXM, and in it he recalled a time when the band offered the lead vocalist job to Armored Saint’s John Bush. Hetfield began, “A lot of [our] early memories were celebrated with a band called Armored Saint, who were a fellow L.A. band back in the early ’80s.” He added, “When we were getting started, obviously John Bush was a singer we got to know really well, and really, really tried to get him into the band as a singer. It didn’t work out. He was dedicated and very in love with what he...
Korn Drummer Is Third Member of Band to Test Positive for COVID-19 on US Tour
Korn have had a rough go of it on their current tour. The band has had three separate members test positive for COVID-19 during the outing, the most recent being drummer Ray Luzier. A few shows into the US trek in August, singer Jonathan Davis contracted COVID-19, forcing the band to postpone a number of shows on the tour. Just a couple shows after David returned to the stage, guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer tested positive in September, but the band resumed touring, enlisting J.R. Bareis of fellow Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch’s side project Love and Death. Today (October 14th), Korn informed fans that Luzier has just tested positive, as well, stating: “Unfortunately, Ray has tested positive for COVID, and he will not be playing the next three shows in Vegas, Fresno, and Oakland. KORN...
In Photos: Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, and Code Orange Bring “Knotfest Roadshow” to New Jersey
Slipknot invaded the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, on Sunday (October 10th), headlining the “Knotfest Roadshow” with support from Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, and Code Orange. On an overcast day, Code Orange opened the festivities with a fiery eight-song set, including five tunes from their genre-defying 2020 album, Underneath. The sociopolitical-minded Fever 333, who have established themselves as one of rock’s most dynamic live acts over the past few years, were up next. Singer Jason Aalon Butler threw himself all over the stage, as he jumped off monitors, attempted a skateboard trick, and broke said skateboard during the course of their explosive seven-song set. Advertisement Related Video Killswitch Engage had the dubious task of playing right before the mighty Slipknot...
