Heavy Metal
Testament, Exodus, and Death Angel Postpone “Bay Strikes Back Tour” until 2022
Less than one week before it was set to kick off, the “Bay Strikes Back Tour” featuring Testament, Exodus, and Death Angel has been pushed to 2022. All three legendary thrash bands cited COVID-19 safety concerns as the reason for the postponement. The three veteran metal acts know firsthand about the dangers of COVID-19, as they were among the first bands to be affected by the virus as they wrapped up the European leg of the trek in March 2020. Multiple members of touring package were infected, including Testament singer Chuck Billy, Exodus guitarist Gary Holt, and Death Angel drummer Will Carroll, who recovered from a serious battle against COVID after being put in a coma and on a respirator. The new dates will kick off April 9th in San Luis Obispo, California, and run through ...
Mining Metal: Beyond Grace, Blames God, Centenary, Defacement, Formless Body, Replicant, Succumb, Wraith
Mining Metal is a monthly column from Heavy Consequence writers Joseph Schafer and Langdon Hickman. The focus is on noteworthy new music emerging from the non-mainstream metal scene, highlighting releases from small and independent labels — or even releases from unsigned acts. Metal is eternal. While its popularity ebbs and flows in the macro, its genres in the micro persist. A subgenre might experience a resurgence in popularity long after its progenitors have become elder statesmen — thrash exploded again long after its mid-’80s heyday in the early ’00s, for example. Even minuscule representations of a genre might persist after its innovators metamorphose. For example, Carcass have a new album out this month, one that sounds nothing like the grindcore permutation of the group from their ...
A Complete Timeline of Machine Gun Kelly and Slipknot’s Feud
The recent feud between rapper-turned-pop-punker Machine Gun Kelly and Slipknot singer Corey Taylor has seemingly been one of the most unlikely beefs of 2021. Then again, when taking a look at MGK’s career trajectory and impending album release schedule, it actually makes a lot of sense. Back in the early 2010s, MGK first came into the spotlight as an upstart rapper out of Cleveland who caught the attention of Bad Boy Records label head Sean Combs. Despite never becoming a household name, his first three albums landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 and were eventually certified Gold. A 2018 feud with hip-hop legend Eminem gave MGK more of a mainstream presence, as they traded diss tracks back-and-forth as part of a high-profile beef that picked back up in 2020. Following a re...
Dave Grohl Lends His Throne to Metal Bassist Who Heroically Stopped a Gunman
Dave Grohl has lent his Foo Fighters throne to Seattle metal bassist Darin Wall, who heroically stopped a gunman from entering a venue in early September. Wall and his band Greyhawk were playing a show in Boise, Idaho, when an armed individual, 26-year-old Ethan Byrd, attempted to enter the venue. Wall pushed the gunman to the ground and was shot in the leg. Police apprehended the shooter, but the bullet is still in Wall’s leg. After three weeks of rest, Wall and Greyhawk took the stage once again on Sunday night (September 26th) at Seattle’s El Corazon… with a little help from Dave Grohl. Advertisement Related Video After the shooting, Wall joked on a radio show about using Grohl’s throne at the upcoming gig. Apparently Grohl’s camp caught wind, and Grohl himself called up Wall personally...
Louder Than Life 2021 Gallery: Metallica, Machine Gun Kelly, Korn, Jane’s Addiction, and More
The Louder Than Life festival returned to Louisville over the weekend, after last year’s edition was called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s fest provided fans with four days of rock, including two headlining sets by the mighty Metallica. The festival saw a whopping attendance of 160,000 over the four days at Highland Festival Grounds at the Kentucky Expo Center. Day 1 (Thursday) was headlined by Korn, with singer Jonathan Davis still feeling the after-effects of his recent bout with COVID-19, but still delivering a strong performance. Staind (with right-wing singer Aaron Lewis wearing an “Impeach Biden” baseball cap), Sevendust, Anthrax, Beartooth, and more were also on the Thursday bill. Advertisement Related Video Metallica headlined the Day 2 (Friday) bill, playing a set t...
GWAR on Dave Grohl Almost Joining the Band: “He Was Holding Us Back”
GWAR have commented on Dave Grohl’s recent revelation that he almost joined the band back in the late ’80s. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Grohl said that he was in the running to become the drummer of the shock metal band around the time he was playing in Washington, D.C. hardcore act Scream and before he joined Nirvana. “At the time, GWAR was a band that would draw like 700 people, right? Which is huge. And then the more I thought about it, am I really gonna invite my uncle to see me play when there’s like fake blood and cum shooting all over the place?” Reached for comment, Blothar the Berserker told Heavy Consequence how it all went down. “Grohl remembers this ALL wrong!” Blothar said. “He used to hang around the track with all the other young punks jacked on gak. This is back ...
Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner Hospitalized with “Major Heart Condition Issues,” Band Postpones Tour Dates
Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner has been hospitalized with “major hear condition issues,” forcing the legendary metal band to postpone the remaining dates on its current North American tour. After postponing their tour last year due to the pandemic, Judas Priest were back on the road celebrating “50 Years of Heavy Metal” with a fall North American outing. Having just played the Louder Than Life fest on Sunday (September 26th), the band announced today (September 27th) that Faulkner needed immediate medical care. A band statement shared on frontman Rob Halford’s Instagram page reads as follows: “It is with deep regret that we have to postpone the rest of our US tour. Richie has major medical heart condition issues which have landed him in hospital where he is being treated. In the me...
Dream Theater Postpone North American Tour Due to COVID-19 Concerns
A month before their fall North American tour was set to kick off, Dream Theater have postponed the entire outing due to COVID-19 concerns. The trek will now kick off in February 2022, with the new dates to be announced shortly. The progressive-metal veterans had planned to kick off the tour on October 28th, which would have timed nicely with the October 22nd release of their new album, A View From the Top of the World. While the LP will still arrive next month, the tour dates will have to wait. In a post on their social media pages, Dream Theater wrote the following: “In light of current instabilities to touring that remain due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we feel confident that this is the right decision. Know that we are as disappointed as you are that we will have to wait a little longer ...
Tool Announce Massive 54-Date Tour for 2022
Tool will the return to the road in 2022 for an expansive tour that includes shows across the US, UK, and Europe. All told, Tool will play 54 concerts between January and May of next year. The tour officially kicks off on January 10th in Eugene, Oregon — the location of the next show Tool had been scheduled to play before canceling their 2020 tour due to the pandemic. It’s been a particularly rough pandemic for frontman Maynard James Keenan, who contracted COVID-19 not once but twice. The singer surmised that he likely contracted COVID the first time during the band’s February 2020 tour of Australia and New Zealand. He also revealed that he had been dealing with longterm symptoms, include lung damage. Thankfully, earlier this year, he told Heavy Consequence that “everything’s grand” when i...
Metallica Perform “The Black Album” in Full from Back to Front at Louder Than Life
Metallica treated fans at Louder Than Life to a full performance of “The Black Album” on Sunday night (September 26th). In honor of its 30th anniversary, the metal titans played the mega-selling LP from back to front at the festival Louisville, Kentucky. The gig was Metallica’s second of the fest, having been booked to play two distinct sets on Friday and Sunday night. On Friday, Metallica played no songs from “The Black Album,” perhaps hinting that a full album performance was coming on Sunday. The Sunday set started with three songs from other albums — “Hardwired,” “The Four Horseman,” and “Welcome Home (Sanitarium).” Then, a 30th anniversary “Black Album” interlude was played with video images of the band members (including former bassist Jason Newsted) before Metallica launched into th...
Ministry Postpone US Tour to Spring 2022, Tap Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity as Support
Industrial legends Ministry have pushed their US tour from this fall to spring 2022 “out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of the band, fans and venue staff.” The new itinerary comes with new support acts, as the Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity take the place of Helmet and Front Line Assembly. The outing will now kick off March 6th in Baltimore, Maryland, and run through an April 18th date in Seattle. The route will hit most regions across the US. Advertisement According to the press release, “some of the original show dates have regrettably been canceled as some venues are not available for this updated time period; as well, some new show dates have been added.” The band also plans to announce even more shows in the near future. Billed as the “Industrial Strength To...
Rebel Rock Festival Canceled Just Hours Before Gates Were Set to Open
Rebel Rock Festival, which was set to take place in Orlando, Florida, today (September 24th) through Sunday (September 26th), has been canceled just hours before it was set to begin. Unfortunately, severe weather leading up to the festival made the grounds unfit for fans. The fest was able to stage its “Taco Metal Party” last night, although headliner Volbeat was forced to drop out due to visa issues. However, there wasn’t enough time to make the rest of the grounds safe for the three-day main festival, which was set to feature Five Finger Death Punch, Machine Gun Kelly, Rise Against, Papa Roach, The Used, Philip Anselmo, Killswitch Engage, and many more acts. According to comments on the Rebel Rock Instagram page, many fans had just flown into Orlando and some were already in line for tod...
