Heavy Metal
Rob Zombie, Korn, Staind, and More Announced for July 2021 US Rock Festivals
Organizers of two major US rock festivals are counting on a relative return to normal this summer, officially announcing the lineups for Wisconsin’s Rock Fest and Michigan’s Upheaval Festival today (March 31st). Rob Zombie, Korn, Staind, and Chevelle are among the bands set to play both fests, while the bigger Rock Fest will also feature Limp Bizkit, Snoop Dogg, Danzig, and more — provided that the events are able to go off as scheduled. Rock Fest in Cadott, Wisconsin is a long-running annual event, while Upheaval in Grand Rapids, Michigan was supposed to stage its inaugural festival last year. Both were called off in 2020 due to the pandemic, so the 2021 lineups are fairly similar to the ones that were set for last year. The big difference is that Disturbed has dropped off both events and...
Power Trip Members and Obituary Honor Riley Gale with “Executioner’s Tax” Performance: Watch
Obituary have paid tribute to late Power Trip singer Riley Gale, who tragically passed away last summer. The death metal pioneers invited members of Power Trip onto a recent livestream for a cover of the latter’s staple song, “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)”. Power Trip guitarists Blake Ibanez and Nick Stewart made a surprise guest appearance for the cover, which was dedicated to Gale. It’s likely the first public performance by members of Power Trip since Gale’s death. Obituary did the rollicking track justice, and the unmistakeable riffage of Ibanez and Stewart sounded nothing short of triumphant given all that’s happened. We previously reported on the first interview with the members of Power Trip since their August 25th statement confirming the death of their singer. While speaki...
Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi on “Rock Is Dead” Theory: “I Don’t Think Rock Is Going to Die”
For years, Gene Simmons of KISS has voiced his opinion — on several different occasions — that “rock is dead.” In a feature in Esquire magazine in 2014, the blood-spitting bassist-singer provided such quotes as “Rock is finally dead” and “The death of rock was not a natural death. Rock did not die of old age. It was murdered.” However, fellow rock legend Tony Iommi has a different opinion on the state of rock music. At the beginning of this year, Simmons reiterated his “rock is dead” claim in an interview with Gulf News, and then fully explained his theory in an interview with Heavy Consequence. He told us, among other reasons, “That kid living in his mom’s basement, decided one day that he didn’t want to pay for music. He wanted to download and file share. And that’s what killed the chanc...
System of a Down’s Daron Malakian Supports “Gun” Cover of “B.Y.O.B.” and Guns, In General
System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian had thus far been relatively quiet throughout the recent political headlines surrounding his bandmates — specifically the polar opposite beliefs between left-leaning singer Serj Tankian and right-wing drummer John Dolmayan. However, Malakian recently offered his support for Second Amendment gun rights by reposting a video of a drum cover of SOAD’s “B.Y.O.B.” using firearms as percussion. The video was created by “GunDrummer”, a guy who actually shoots guns to make beats, as he plays along to the song with pistols, rifles, and machine guns. The footage (below) is literally triggering, so watch with discretion. Malakian, who released the 2019 single “Guns Are Loaded” with his band Scars on Broadway, used the occasion to announce his pro-gun stance wi...
Heavy Culture: Moonspell’s Fernando Ribeiro Talks Hermitage, Pandemic, Growing Up in Portugal, and More
Heavy Culture is a monthly column from journalist Liz Ramanand, focusing on artists of different cultural backgrounds in heavy music as they offer their perspectives on race, society, and more as it intersects with and affects their music. The latest installment of this column features an interview with Moonspell frontman Fernando Ribeiro. The year 2020 made most of us embrace our hermit-like ways. Little did Moonspell singer Fernando Ribeiro know that the word Hermitage that he came across in 2017 would be an apt title for the band’s brand new album. The new release Hermitage is the veteran Portuguese gothic metal band’s 12th full-length studio album. The LP focuses on topics such as solitude and isolation, but also on community. Heavy Consequence caught up with Ribeiro via Skype in mid-M...
X Japan’s Yoshiki Announces Annual $100,000 Mental Health Grant to MusiCares
Yoshiki, the leader of heavy metal legends X Japan, has announced that he will provide an annual $100,000 grant to MusiCares for mental health initiatives. The influential multi-instrumentalist has been one of rock’s most charitably musicians, even earning a Medal of Honor by the Government of Japan earlier this month. According to a press release, the annual grant will “help music creators and industry professionals affected by depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, or other mental health concerns,” all issues that Yoshiki has faced within his band and his own life. “If I didn’t have music and my fans’ support, I could have easily been the one to take my own life like the people who were close to me, including my father and my band member,” said Yoshiki. “I’d like to not only contribute ...
Beartooth Announce New Album Below, Share “The Past Is Dead”: Stream
Midwest rockers Beartooth have announced their fourth studio album, Below, which arrives June 25th. They’ve also unveiled the pyro-heavy video for the crushing single “The Past Is Dead”. The song opens with a soaring vocal build-up and before launching into an anthemic breakdown. The track’s melodies and upbeat metalcore riffing are paired with dark lyrical concepts, as reflected by the album title Below. In press release, singer Caleb Shomo questioned whether the new material was “too dark.” He said he drew upon experiences from the past year when writing the songs. “Below is by far my favorite album I’ve made to date,” Shomo stated. “It covers the dark side of dealing with mental strain during the last year. I gave it all I had — musically and lyrically. Is it too dark? Possibly, but it ...
Sharon Osbourne Exits The Talk Following On-Air Blowup and Allegations by Former Co-Hosts
Sharon Osbourne will no longer be doing any talking on CBS’ daytime show The Talk. The long-running program’s last remaining founding co-host is exiting the show after a tumultuous two weeks that included a heated exchange with co-host Sheryl Underwood and multiple allegations by former colleagues. The Talk is currently on hiatus as a result of the March 10th on-air dustup between Osbourne and Underwood. It all started when Osbourne tweeted support for UK television personality Piers Morgan, who was lambasted for comments he made about Meghan Markle following her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. Morgan questioned the authenticity of Markle’s statements about having suicidal thoughts and experiencing racism within the royal family. Underwood asked Osbourne, “What would you say to peop...
YouTuber Turns Pearl Jam’s “Black” into a Type O Negative Song: Stream
Eddie Vedder, photo by Lior Phillips / Denis Pauna, via YouTube / Peter Steele in Symphony for the Devil The YouTuber who brought us Depeche Motörhead is back with a new cover, this time turning Pearl Jam’s “Black” into a Type O Negative song. The brooding grunge ballad works nicely in the vein of the gothic metal legends. The talented Denis Pauna stretches the song out to over nine minutes — as Type O were wont to do. The chords are slowed down and drawn out for maximum heaviness. He also delivers a spot-on Peter Steele impersonation, channeling the late singer’s baritone voice and vampiric dialect while looking somewhat like a cross between the late Steele and a flannel-clad Eddie Vedder. Type O Negative are one of Pauna’s go-to acts when reinterpreting classic songs. He has already give...
Mining Metal: Autarkh, Celestial Sanctuary, Demiser, Flesh of the Stars, Koldovstvo, Lunar Shadow, Mare Cognitum, Memoriam
“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. The heavy metal community lost a real one this month. On March 7th, Swedish death metal vocalist L-G Petrov passed away after a battle with bile duct cancer. It’s the latest in a series of metal vocalists gone too young in the past twelve months, including Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom, and Riley Gale of Power Trip. Petrov was one of the musicians who brought death metal to the masses as the vocalist for Swedish legends Entombed. A quick history lesson, while Entombed did not originate death metal in Sweden, the...
Barney the Dinosaur Goes Street Metal in “Second Hand Misery” Video from Warish (Riley Hawk): Watch
Warish, the sludgy punk-metal act fronted by Riley Hawk, are gearing up to release their new album, Next to Pay, on April 30th. Now they’ve tapped Barney the Dinosaur to help promote the latest single, “S.H.M. (Second Hand Misery)”. The song’s music video syncs old VHS clips of the big purple dinosaur with the ferocious street metal of Warish, creating an absurdly hilarious combination. The lyrics to the song appear as subtitles so you can sing along with Barney, just like on the show. Riley, the song of skateboarding legend Tony Hawk, explained, “This video came to mind when I heard the ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ song by Barney playing somewhere while I was in a bad mood and was thinking, this song is kinda evil sounding. Then I went home and instantly started editing the video to ...
Cannibal Corpse Singer Corpsegrinder Hung Out With Cher, Who Told Him “I Was Metal Before You Were Born”
Just when we thought we’d never write a story involving Cannibal Corpse and Cher, we get a doozy of tidbit from the death metal band’s lead singer, George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher. Turns out, the frontman spent time at the pop icon’s house, and even got “owned by Cher.” In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Corpsegrinder revealed that he was once invited to play a birthday bash for Cher’s son Elijah Blue Allman, the lead singer of the industrial metal band Deadsy. As Corpsegrinder told it, “Cher’s son Elijah, who is in the band Deadsy, is a big Cannibal Corpse fan and maybe 15 or 20 years ago he wanted us to come out to L.A. and play his birthday party at the Viper Room. His birthday is two days after mine, so my wife and I went out a few days early: ‘Let’s just fly out there, hang around fo...
