Heavy Metal
Possessed Singer Jeff Becerra Walks for First Time in More Than 30 Years
Possessed singer Jeff Becerra, who was paralyzed in a 1989 shooting incident, walked for the first time in more than 30 years. On Saturday (September 18th), the pioneering death metal vocalist shared video of himself walking with the aid of robotic legs. The 90-second video shows Becerra walking down a hallway, with a small team of medical personnel helping him. Along with the clip, he wrote, “I walked again for the first time in over 30 years with the help of robotic legs #jeffbecerra #possessed #possessedband #rewalk #rewalkrobotics #smallmiracles.” Becerra was paralyzed from the chest down during a 1989 robbery. He described the incident during a 2019 interview with The Underground Metal Gamer (via Blabbermouth). “I’ve been in a wheelchair longer than I’ve been walking,” he began. ...
Mental Metal: Tool’s Ænima Turns 25
Dusting ‘Em Off is a rotating, free-form feature that revisits a classic album, film, or moment in pop-culture history. This piece celebrates Tool’s acclaimed sophomore album Ænima. Editor’s Note: This article originally ran in 2016, but has been updated in 2021 to reflect the 25th anniversary of Ænima. Many musicians have been influenced by books, but there seems to be something especially literary about the genres of hard rock and metal. This goes double for horror and fantasy fiction: Led Zeppelin meditated on The Lord of the Rings, Black Sabbath wailed about “The Wizard,” and Metallica thrashed to the monster Cthulu. Others have drawn imagery out of the Bible, Norse mythology, or the bloodier epochs of European history. For their second album, Tool drew on the writings of Carl Jun...
Carcass’ Torn Arteries Is a Masterpiece of Bitterness: Review
The Lowdown: British death metal innovators Carcass helped found the genre in the ’80s and expand its boundaries in the early ’90s with a series of mostly-excellent and progressively different records, then broke up before getting their due. After a long hiatus they returned in 2013 with the platonically perfect Surgical Steel, maybe the best comeback album in all of metal and Heavy Consequence’s eighth-best metal album of the 2010s. Eight years later, their long-delayed follow-up, Torn Arteries, is harder to love than its predecessor, but still excellent. The Good: Carcass play to their strengths on Torn Arteries, chief among them guitarist Bill Steer’s potent balance of rhythmic chugging, saturated guitar tone, and speedy-but-bluesy melodic runs. These have been the focus of his sound si...
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Calls Mask Mandates “Tyranny”
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine went on an anti-mask rant at a concert (September 15th) in Camden, New Jersey on Wednesday, calling mandates “medical tyranny.” Performing in a state where over 27,000 people have died from COVID-19, Mustaine addressed the crowd before the final song of the set, decrying the enforcement of masks that have proven effective in slowing the spread of the virus. “I just wanna tell you how great it is,” Mustaine said before the last song of the night. “Look around you, guys. Look to your right, look to your left, and look how wonderful this is. We’re all here together. We’re not freaking out, and we’re not yelling at people, ‘Wear your f–king mask.’ Listen, it starts with this kind of a sensation that we build right now. We feel together, we feel like [there’s] strength ...
Sharon Osbourne on Death Threats to Her, Ozzy, and Their Pets: “They Were Going to Cut All Our Throats”
Sharon Osbourne has opened up about the fallout she experienced after being ousted from The Talk earlier this year. The former host of the daytime TV show says that people threatened to “cut the throats” of herself, her husband Ozzy Osbourne, their children, and their pets. Back in March, Sharon exited The Talk after a heated exchange with co-host Sheryl Underwood led to a number of accusations regarding Sharon’s behavior around the show’s other hosts over the years. In the initial blow-up with Underwood, Sharon defended her friend Piers Morgan, who had made disparaging and apparent racist comments about Meghan Markle. Then, former co-hosts like Holly Robinson Peete and Leah Remini accused Sharon of using racist language in the past. It all led to Sharon parting ways with The Talk after a ...
Scientists Honor Gojira by Naming Three Fossils After the Metal Band
Gojira have always been an environmentally conscious band, and now scientists have honored the French metal act by naming three newly discovered fossils after them. The brittle star fossils were found in France, Luxembourg, and Austria on what was once the bed of the Jurassic Tethys Ocean. Each of the new species were named after the members of Gojira: Ophiogojira labadiei honoring bassist Jean-Michel Labadie; Ophiogojira andreui for lead guitarist Christian Andreu; and Ophioduplantiera noctiluca for both Joe and Mario Duplantier. Scientists Lea Numberger and Ben Thuy from Luxembourg’s Natural History Museum and biologist Tania Pineda from the Florida Museum of Natural History were behind the fossils’ discovery and naming. Advertisement Related Video “Genus named in honor of French metal b...
Mastodon and Opeth Announce Co-Headlining Fall 2021 US Tour
Mastodon and Opeth have announced a co-headlining fall 2021 US tour with support from Zeal & Ardor. The coast-to-coast trek kicks off November 16th in Asheville, North Carolina, and heads up the East Coast before routing through the South. After hitting the West Coast, the tour wraps up on December 5th in Denver. Mastodon will be out in support of their forthcoming album, Hushed and Grim, recorded over a 12-month period with producer David Bottrill. Openers Zeal & Ardor should also have new music in their setlist, with the avant-metal act set to drop a new self-titled album on February 11th, 2022. Advertisement Related Video Meanwhile, progressive metal vets Opeth played one of the last theater shows we saw prior to the pandemic. The band looks to head back out in support of its mo...
In Photos: 2021 Inkcarceration Festival Fueled by Slipknot, Mudvayne, Rob Zombie, Mastodon, Halestorm, and More
The 2021 Inkcarceration Music & Tattoo Festival took place this past weekend at the Ohio State Reformatory in Mansfield, Ohio. The three-day event was headlined by Slipknot, a reunited Mudvayne, and Rob Zombie. The Ohio State Reformatory is best known as the Shawshank Redemption prison, providing a macabre setting to the massive rock festival. Mega-promoter Danny Wimmer Presents signed on as a co-producer of Inkcarceration this year, and the sold-out extravaganza featured an overall attendance of 75,000 over the three days. Slipknot headlined the Friday night (September 10th) bill, with singer Corey Taylor sporting his new mask. The masked metal band’s set was preceded by performances by Mastodon, Killswitch Engage, The Hu, Steel Panther, and more. Advertisement Related Video Mudvayne’...
Tommy Lee Is Actually “Cool” with Hulu’s Pam & Tommy Sex Tape Miniseries
Hulu is creating a series titled Pam & Tommy, focusing on the tumultuous relationship between Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee — specifically the events surrounding their infamous sex tape. While it can be assumed that the story is one that the couple wouldn’t necessarily want to be told, Lee is “cool” with the upcoming miniseries. The film stars Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes in the Marvel Universe films) as Lee and Lily James (Downton Abbey, Cinderella) as Anderson. Images shared on social media earlier this year show the two actors looking very much like the real-life former couple they’re portraying. As the story went, Tommy and Pamela got married in Mexico in 1995 after knowing each other for just a few days. A sex tape of their honeymoon was appare...
Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy Kilmister Duet on New Version of “Hellraiser”: Stream
Ozzy Osbourne has shared a new version of “Hellraiser” featuring a duet with late Motörhead legend Lemmy Kilmister. The track will be included on the upcoming expanded 30th anniversary reissue of Ozzy’s No More Tears album, due out this Friday (September 17th). “Hellraiser” was one of four songs co-written by Ozzy and Lemmy for No More Tears (as well as “Mama, I’m Coming Home,” “Desire,” and “I Don’t Want to Change the World”). Motörhead then recorded their own version of “Hellraiser” and released it as a single from their 1992 album, March ör Die. The new version combines Lemmy’s 1992 vocal track with Ozzy’s vocals on the original No More Tears track, bringing the two iconic voices together on one recording. As Ozzy explained, the new duet was intended as a tribute to his good friend...
Metallica Perform Two Songs, Read 1-Star Reviews of “The Black Album” on Kimmel: Watch
Metallica appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Friday night (September 10th) to promote the releases of The Metallica Blacklist covers compilation and the deluxe 30th anniversary box set edition of “The Black Album.” The band performed two songs, sat down with the late-night host for an interview, and participated in a funny skit in which they read 1-star Amazon reviews of the classic 1991 album. Much like Kimmel’s “Mean Tweets” segment, Metallica were subjected to some scathing commentary as the band members each took turns reading the 1-star Amazon reviews. Lars Ulrich began with one that read, “The Black Album? I call it ‘The Shitty Album!’ This is by far one of the most loathsome crimes every committed against music.” James Hetfield read one that insisted, “This album sucks, sad but true! ...
Saudade Cover Joy Division’s “Day of the Lords” with Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe: Stream
Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe has teamed up with Saudade for a cover of Joy Division‘s “Day of the Lords.” Billed as a “creepy” rendition of an already haunting song, Saudade heavy it up with a smattering of instruments (guitars, steel drums, organ, synths, etc). Meanwhile, Blythe lays down his vocals with reverence to the song’s original singer, the late Ian Curtis. “I’ve always wanted to cover ‘Day of the Lords,’” remarked Blythe in a press release. “In my opinion, it is the heaviest of Joy Division’s songs. With Saudade, we have such a widely-varied pool of musical backgrounds to draw from that I knew we could add some interesting sonic layers to the tune while honoring the original.” Advertisement Related Video Saudade are led by Chuck Doom (Crosses, Team Sleep) and drummer Gil ...
