Heavy Metal
20 Years Ago, Opeth Unleashed the Progressive Death Metal Masterpiece Blackwater Park
Despite being an exceptional concept album, Opeth’s fourth album, 1999’s Still Life, failed to garner enough industry attention to fully reward the amount of hard work and hope they’d been put into it. Even so, their recent signing with Peaceville Records and increased touring opportunities meant that mastermind Mikael Åkerfeldt and company still felt hopeful that their big break was just over the horizon. Luckily, that turned out to be true, as 2001’s Blackwater Park was not just a major steppingstone for the Swedish troupe, but also a huge leap forward for extreme metal as a whole. Part of the reason for why was that Opeth was forced to leave Peaceville and move to Music for Nations / Koch, resulting in an expansion of distribution and promotional prospects. At first, Åkerfeldt was unhap...
Eyehategod’s A History of Nomadic Behavior Delivers a Fresh Batch of Potent Sludge: Review
The Lowdown: Few myths have been beaten into the ground as badly as the adage that rock ‘n’ roll is supposed to represent danger. Within metal specifically, cultivating a dark aura is so par for the course that it’s actually one of the safest routes artists can take. Nevertheless, when the New Orleans sludgecore outfit Eyehategod roared their way to prominence in the ‘90s with albums like In the Name of Suffering and Dopesick, the woefulness that pervaded their music came from a genuine place. Where the majority of their peers tended toward exaggerated expressions of anger, Eyehategod’s forays into addiction, mental illness, and despair didn’t come across as an affectation, but as a raw glimpse into the human condition that cut all the way to the bone. Eyehategod didn’t need to draw from t...
Korn to Stream Concert from Set of Stranger Things: Drive-Into Experience
Korn have announced a livestream performance, dubbed “Korn: Monumental”, that will see the band performing from within the setting of Stranger Things: The Drive-Into Experience in Los Angeles. The concert goes live globally on April 24th. The virtual show is Korn’s first livestream event. To celebrate the occasion, they’ll be playing rare deep cuts and select tracks from 2019’s The Nothing for the first time ever, as the band was unable to properly tour in support of its most recent album due the pandemic. “We hope you take part in this experience with us,” frontman Jonathan Davis said in a press release. “And though it is not the same as performing live with you here, we still want to bring you some great music and a fun show.” Korn will be performing amidst scenes from the popular Netfli...
Rob Zombie Unleashes New Album The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy: Stream
Rob Zombie has just released The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy, his first album in five years. The LP features 17 tracks, including the recent singles “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)” and “The Eternal Struggles of the Howling Man”. The album itself was completed a couple years ago, but Zombie’s film obligations and the pandemic pushed its release to this year. Both Zombie and his guitarist John 5 have touted the album as one of the shock rocker’s best efforts, if not his best, with the singer telling Heavy Consequence in our recent interview, “I feel the last three records have really been on an upward trajectory.” It marks the third album featuring the lineup of Zombie, John 5, bassist Piggy D, and drummer Ginger Fish. In addition t...
Deftones Announce Limited Edition White Pony Tequila
Deftones have unveiled their latest branded liquor, White Pony tequila, in a collaboration with Abre Ojos Tequila. It follows numerous Deftones craft beer releases and marks the latest White Pony-themed alcoholic beverage. The collab continues the 20th anniversary celebration of the band’s legendary White Pony album. Fittingly, Deftones have rang in the occasion with drinks, and Abre Ojos’ White Pony tequila is the most potent offering yet at 40 ABV. The limited release of 2,880 bottles will be available for purchase March 15th online and in California, Tennessee, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Connecticut, Maryland, and Washington D.C. “The limited-edition Añejo was handcrafted in the town of Tequila, Jalisco,” reads Abre Ojos description. “It is aged up to two years in American Oak us...
Mike Patton Sings Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Theme Song for Shredder’s Revenge Video Game: Stream
What’s cooler than the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song? Mike Patton singing that theme song in the trailer for the new video game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. That’s right, the lead singer of such bands as Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Dead Cross, and Fantômas lends his vocals to the infectious song that so many of us still have in our heads since it first debuted in 1987 as part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV show. Oddly enough, the original theme was co-written and co-recorded by Chuck Lorre, who would go on to famously produce such TV shows as Two and a Half Man, The Big Bang Theory, and others. Patton, whose six octave ranged once earned him the title of greatest singer of all time, offers a rocking take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles&nb...
Dave Lombardo and Scott Ian Record Score for Melissa McCarthy’s Netflix Film Thunder Force
Thrash metal legends Dave Lombardo and Scott Ian contributed to the score of the upcoming Netflix film Thunder Force, starring Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer. Lombardo (founding drummer for Slayer and current member of Dead Cross, Suicidal Tendencies, and the Original Misfits) and Ian (founding Anthrax guitarist) recently collaborated together as part of the reunited Mr. Bungle, recording 2020’s The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo. Composer Fil Eisler brought the metal icons in on the movie project, sharing the news in a tweet with a picture of the trio together: “I have the pleasure of not only scoring the movie but having two of my childhood heroes @Scott_Ian and @TheDaveLombardo play on the score.” In a retweet, Lombardo added, “April 9th!! Save the date comedy loving d...
Black Sabbath’s Geezer Butler: I Was Doing the Devil Horns Hand Gesture Long Before Ronnie James Dio
The late Ronnie James Dio has long been credited for popularizing the devil horns hand gesture that has become a universal symbol for metalheads and rock fans. However, in a new interview, Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler says he was flashing the devil horns long before Dio, and was even the one who introduced the gesture to the singer. “I’ve been doing that sign since — I’ve got pictures of me doing it since 1971,” Butler told SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk on Monday (March 8th). “And I always used to do it in the breakdown in the song ‘Black Sabbath’ — just before it goes into the fast part at the end, I’d do that sign to the audience.” In 1979, Dio replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath. According to Butler, when Sabbath hit the road to support their 1980 album Heaven and ...
Corey Taylor Compares Gen Z Attempt to Cancel Eminem to the Salem Witch Trials
Eminem was recently the target of a cancellation attempt for a lyric from “Love the Way You Lie”, his 2010 hit featuring Rihanna. After seeing the story, Slipknot singer Corey Taylor compared the situation to the Salem witch trials. As the story goes, a group of Generation Z TikTok users apparently attempted to cancel Eminem for “Love the Way You Lie” line, “If she ever tries to f**king leave again/ I’mma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire.” Eminem responded by sharing a lyric video for his 2020 song “Tone Deaf”, which contains the lyrics, “I won’t stop even when my hair turns grey (I’m tone-deaf)/ ‘Cause they won’t stop until they cancel me.” Taylor, seeing the story make headlines this week, brought up the topic when speaking with Matt Pinfield on Los Angeles’ 95.5 KLOS radio....
St. Vincent Reveals She Initially Planned on Making Tool-Inspired Album
St. Vincent (photo by David Brendan Hall) and Tool (photo by Kevin RC Wilson) St. Vincent mastermind Annie Clark recently detailed her new album, Daddy’s Home, describing it as inspired by “music made in New York from 1971-76.” As it turns out, the project almost had an entirely different sound. During an appearance on RADIO.COM’s New Arrivals with Bryce Segall, Clark revealed she initially planned on making a “heavy record” inspired by Tool. “The crazy thing about music is, you can plan and plan and think you’re gonna go one way, and then you start writing and the music just takes you wherever the music takes you,” she explained. “That was certainly the experience with this. I was dead set in my mind that after MASSEDUCTION, I was just gonna make this like, heavy record. Like just heavy t...
Unearthed Song “Slapback” Is Believed to Be Unreleased Dio-Era Black Sabbath Track: Stream
A purportedly unreleased Ronnie James Dio-era Black Sabbath song titled “Slapback” has been uploaded to YouTube. The track was sourced from what appears to be a cassette recording of Black Sabbath’s 1979 “Bel Air” rehearsals for their seminal 1980 album Heaven and Hell. It was uploaded by the estate of longtime Sabbath keyboardist, the late Geoff Nicholls. Nicholls’ stepson and executor of his estate Gary Rees offered some background on the unearthed recording in the video description: “This latest upload from the Geoff Nicholls estate I believe is called ‘Slapback’ from the scrawling on the cassette and the chorus. This is from the same cassette as the ‘Heaven & Hell’ upload on this channel. It doesn’t sound like a typical SABBATH song, if it is them, but it does sound like Ronnie Jam...
Serj Tankian: I Respect John Dolmayan Very Much, But Not His American Political Views
Over the past year or so, a political divide has played out indirectly between System of a Down bandmates Serj Tankian and John Dolmayan. While Tankian’s views are strongly on the left, Dolmayan is firmly planted in the right, when it comes to American politics, in particular. Tankian supported Bernie Sanders during the presidential primaries, and repeatedly voiced his displeasure with the Trump administration. At one point during the height of the 2020 protests, the singer even called for the end of the Trump regime. And right before Trump’s presidency ended, Tankian declared, “I’ve never seen a president suck so much,” following a U.S. agreement with Turkey that appeared to minimize Armenia’s cultural heritage. Dolmayan, on the other hand, took to his Instagram account to label Democrats...
