Heavy Metal
King Crimson’s Robert Fripp Performs Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” as Wife Toyah Sings and Dances Behind Bars: Watch
This year has seen its fair share of unexpected and bizarre phenomena, and King Crimson founder Robert Fripp and his singer wife Toyah Willcox have come to embrace it. The musical duo have spent quarantine making performance art videos, but their latest idea for Halloween might be their most absurd yet. Donned in henna-like tattoos that cover his face and arms, Fripp starts playing Black Sabbath’s iconic song “Paranoid” on his Les Paul. Behind him, Willcox is locked behind bars — in what’s either an old prison cell or an underground bank vault — and starts dancing when the songs begins. When it comes time for the verses, she starts singing the metal classic The effect of the video is pretty uncomfortable but morbidly entertaining. Perhaps the use of “Paranoid” and dancing in a cage is...
GWAR’s Livestream Concert Turns Scumdogs of the Universe into a Virtual Bloodbath: Review
Setting the Stage: Not even a global pandemic can stop the band, the myth, the legend that is GWAR. The intergalactic barbarians just released a remastered 30th anniversary edition of their seminal Scumdogs of the Universe album, and what better way to commemorate this momentous event than a streaming concert on Halloween eve? For those not keeping up with the GWAR universe, following the tragic death of Oderus Urungus (Dave Brockie) in 2014, Blöthar the Berserker (Michael Bishop) took over lead vocals. Many fans originally know Bishop as the man behind bassist Beefcake the Mighty from 1988-1994 but this time around he returned from Scumdoggia as Blöthar to keep the GWAR machine ticking. While there’s no denying Oderus’ iconic status as GWAR’s frontman, the metal act has always had a rotat...
Maynard James Keenan on “Arrogant” Pandemic Behavior: “There’s Logic Attached to Just Looking Out for Each Other”
Maynard James Keenan recently revealed that he battled COVID-19 earlier this year and is still feeling the residual effects months later. Unfortunately, the singer of Tool, Puscifer, and A Perfect Circle fears any serious warning that he or others give about coronavirus is “just going to fall on deaf ears.” In interviews with Arizona Republic and The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Keenan disclosed that he contracted COVID when Tool were on tour in Australia and New Zealand in late February. Eight months later, he still has lung damage, leading to daily coughing fits. Tragically, the United States is currently experiencing its worst single-day infection numbers yet, with roughly 100,000 people testing positive for COVID-19 every 24 hours. To this day, there’s a large contingent of the popula...
Concert Review: Mr. Bungle’s Streaming Show Masterfully Blends Comedy and Thrash
Setting the Stage: The reunion of Mr. Bungle has been a journey for both the band and its fans. In what feels like another lifetime, founding members Mike Patton, Trey Spruance, and Trevor Dunn revived Mr. Bungle for a reunion tour in early 2020… with a catch: The band would only be playing material from its 1986 thrash metal demo The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny and hardcore cover songs from the era. Furthermore, they tabbed ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian to help execute the demo’s blazing tempos and thrash theatrics. The quasi-supergroup went on a brief tour and then entered the studio to record a new version of the demo. As we remarked in our review of the album, the re-recorded Easter Bunny is a modern thrash classic from an unexpected source. ...
Mike Patton: John Carpenter’s Halloween “Made Me Not Want to Trick or Treat When I Was a Kid”
Mike Patton is a man of many musical hats. He’s the celebrated singer of Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, and Dead Cross, just to name a few, as well as the co-owner of the acclaimed independent record label Ipecac Recordings. He also knows a good scary movie when he sees one. We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Patton, who told us all about Mr. Bungle’s new album, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny Demo, and how he was navigating the pandemic both professionally and personally. During our conversation, he also took time to remember the late Eddie Van Halen, telling us the guitarist’s “level of musicianship was off the chart.” Knowing Patton was a bit of a film buff, we couldn’t let him go without asking him to recommend a few movies for Halloween night, especially consider...
Gone Is Gone Announce New Album, Share New Song “Breaks”: Stream
Supergroup Gone Is Gone have announced their sophomore album, If Everything Happens for a Reason…Then Nothing Really Matters at All. To tide us over until the December 4th release date, the band’s shared the video for new song “Breaks”, which follows two previous singles that will also be included on the new album. Gone Is Gone features Mastodon singer-bassist Troy Sanders, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar, and composer Mike Zarin. Together, the group of heavy music vets create an accessible amalgamation of stoner and alternative rock. As “Breaks” illustrates, the band has found the elusive threshold between metal and melody. The new album follows the 2017 full-length debut Echolocation and a 2016 debut self-titled EP. While both ...
Rob Zombie Announces New Album The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy, Unveils “King Freak”: Stream
Rob Zombie has announced his long-awaited new album, The Lunar Injection Kool Aid Eclipse Conspiracy. The veteran rocker’s seventh solo LP won’t be released until March 12th, but the first single, “The Triumph of King Freak (A Crypt of Preservation and Superstition)”, is available now. The 17-song album will arrive nearly five years after Rob Zombie’s previous LP, 2016’s The Electric Warlock Acid Witch Satanic Orgy Celebration Dispenser. The single, shortened as “King Freak”, marks his first new song and music video in more than four years. The track is heavy on the riffs, thanks to guitarist John 5, with a thunderous rhythm section powered by bassist Piggy D and drummer Ginger Fish. The song is accompanied by a music video that combines newly shot footage with concert scenes, presented in...
Mining Metal: Wytch Hazel (Premiere), Convulsif, Cryptae, Emma Ruth Rundle & Thou, Gorpehilia, Henrik Palm, Lamp of Murmuur
“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. Normally, the autumnal months mark a high point in the year for metal fans. This year, of course, is no average year, and the looming economic uncertainty and a persistent global health crisis are enough to sap the pumpkin spice right out of my latte and lend a bitter hit to the smell of bonfire smoke. But some joys, thankfully, cannot be snuffed out. They include: the equinox, 31 days of scary movies and, of course, boatloads of metal. As the designated “Scary month” in the commercial calendar, October usually del...
Alice Cooper Launches His Own Horror-Themed Party Game
When he’s not satirically running for president, the legendary Alice Cooper usually has his hands in a variety of multimedia projects, from his long-running syndicated radio show to inspirational music videos. The shock rocker’s latest endeavor is just in time for Halloween: a horror-themed party game called HorrorBox. The Cards Against Humanity-style game was written by Cooper and a host of other horror fanatics. It takes the basic CAH concept of pairing setup and answer phrases from different cards to create absurd statements. For example: “‘The tenth circle of hell is for’ … ‘setting up my haunted house as an Airbnb.’” There are also dare cards mixed in with the question cards, prompting players to engage in a spooky action. Cooper’s version of the addictive game is geared specifi...
Adam Jones Unveils Signature Les Paul Guitar and New Music Featuring Tool Bandmates: Stream
Tool’s Adam Jones has been one of rock’s most innovative guitarists for the past 30 years. Now, he finally has his own signature guitar, a 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom. Moreover, he’s celebrating the instrument with brand new music, a score to a short film he created called The Witness. The track is essentially a Tool instrumental, as he’s joined by the band’s rhythm section of drummer Danny Carey and bassist Justin Chancellor. Gibson’s Custom Shop Murphy Lab recreated “Adam’s #1 Guitar”: a Silverburst 1979 Gibson Les Paul. The guitar has become a mainstay in Jones’ arsenal and was prominent on the band’s tour in support of Fear Inoculum last year. From looks down to electronics, it’s a spot-on clone of Jones’ go-to axe. The replica touts a hand-wound Seymour Duncan Distortion bridge pickup...
David Hasselhoff Teams Up with CueStack for Metal Song “Through the Night”
The Hoff is back, and ready to bring the metal. Television star and singer David Hasselhoff has teamed up with Austrian avant-metal duo CueStack for a new song, “Through the Night”. The collaboration came about after CueStack pursued the idea of incorporating one of their heroes, The Hoff, into a metal song. Naturally, they met with the man himself, and after many discussions and demos, “Through the Night” came about. “Yes, we actually made a metal song with David Hasselhoff,” said CueStack’s Martin Kames, who collaborates with guitarist Bernth Brodträger in the project. The song was recorded by Hasselhoff and CueStack in Vienna in 2019, where they also shot the accompanying music video. With limited budget and props, the band say that they’ll need more money to complete the necessary post...
Elephant Tree Premiere Cover of “Paranoid” for New Black Sabbath Tribute Compilation: Stream
Over the past couple years, Magnetic Eye Records’ Redux series has spotlighted classic bands with compilations of cover songs by underground metal bands. The next iteration hones in on Black Sabbath, and UK doom metallers Elephant Tree are premiering their cover of the iconic “Paranoid” exclusively via Heavy Consequence. Sabbath’s influence on bands like Elephant Tree is unquestionable, as the band members themselves will admit. Tony Iommi’s chugging downtuned riffs, the pounding boom-bap drums of Bill Ward, Geezer Butler’s expressive bass playing, and Ozzy Osbourne’s melodic vocals are each traits have become defining characteristics of doom and stoner metal. “Sabbath have obviously been on all of our radars throughout our lives, we don’t think it’s possible to not hear them these days, a...
