Heavy Metal
Fuck the Facts Premiere New Song “Everything I Love Is Ending”: Stream
Canadian grindcore vets Fuck the Facts are set to release their new album, Pleine Noirceur, on November 20th. In advance of the LP, the band is premiering the single “Everything I Love Is Ending” exclusively via Heavy Consequence. The new song is a four-movement powerhouse that sees Fuck the Facts at their most ambitious and unrelenting. Blasts of energy and mathy noise are arranged like a prog or classical piece, traversing four musical passages during its four-minute runtime — epic in length by grindcore standards, but not uncommon for FTF. The searing vocals of singer Mel Mongeon completes the band’s patented whirlwind of grinding chaos. “‘Everything I Love Is Ending’ exploits the classic grindcore dichotomy between sludgy and grindy,” the band tells us of the single. “Even though this ...
Killer Be Killed Unleash New Song “Inner Calm from Outer Storms”: Stream
The release of supergroup Killer Be Killed’s highly anticipated sophomore album, Reluctant Hero, is around the corner (November 20th). Now the band has unveiled the LP’s third single, “Inner Calm from Outer Storms”. The song pairs personal lyricism with a musical backbone of propulsive heavy metal. The combined vocal talents of Mastodon’s Troy Sanders and The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato conjure the subtle melodic sensibility also present on previous singles “Deconstructing Self-Destruction” and “Dream Gone Bad”. Meanwhile, the guitar assault is powered by the legendary Max Cavalera (Soulfly, ex-Sepultura), who adds additional vocals to the track. All the while, drummer Ben Koller (Converge) ties it all together with a rapid-fire beat. Killer Be Killed are the example of a democrat...
Dallas Transitional Home for LGBTQ Youth Named After Power Trip’s Riley Gale
Dallas Hope Charities has announced that a new transitional home for LGBTQ youth will be named after late Power Trip frontman Riley Gale. Donations made in Gale’s honor following his tragic passing in August fast-tracked the purchase of the new youth home, which Dallas Hope Charities are naming after the singer: “Dallas Hope Center – Riley Gale Location”. “We are so grateful for all the donors and supporters that have made it possible for us to own our residence and expand our ability to give peace and dignity to our city’s youth that need support and encouragement to live their authentic and independent life,” Dallas Hope Charities CEO Evie Scrivner said in a press release. Regarding contributions from the metal community, Scrivner told the Dallas Observer: “We had no idea what that would...
Heavy Culture: Living Colour on Their Upbringings, Pandemic Life, and Getting Out the Vote
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 the Living Colour drummer Will Calhoun, guitarist Vernon Reid and bassist Doug Wimbish. Since 1985, Living Colour have blended rock, metal, and blues to form a sound all their own, inspiring many artists along the way. This year, the rock pioneers are celebrating 30 years of their sophomore album, Time’s Up, which yielded such hits as “Type”, “Love Rears Its Ugly Head”, and “Elvis Is Dead”. This edition of “Heavy Culture” spans several months, as we first caught up with the members of Livin...
Percussionist Chris Fehn Drops Lawsuit Against Slipknot
Chris Fehn has dropped his lawsuit against Slipknot more than a year the longtime percussionist was ousted from the band. According to Rock Feed, Fehn’s attorneys filed a Notice of Voluntary Discontinuance with the New York Supreme Court last week, effectively ending Fehn’s case against his former band and other parties. He had claimed they withheld money and funneled it through Slipknot affiliated businesses setup by band members in different states. Fehn sued his bandmates over money matters when he was technically still in Slipknot, although he was dismissed from the group shortly thereafter. He wore the long-nosed mask in the band since 1998 and was one of its earliest members, vital to the band’s signature multi-percussionist format. “Chris knows why he is no longer a part of Slipknot...
Alter Bridge Unleash Hard-Hitting New Song “Last Rites”: Stream
Alter Bridge have unleashed a new song called “Last Rites”, which serves as the latest preview of their upcoming Walk the Sky 2.0 EP. The lyric video features a smoky, dimly lit aesthetic with a crystal ball making a prediction based on the song’s foreboding lyrics: “I’ve seen the future/ Yeah the writing’s on the wall/ And it don’t look that good to me,” Myles Kennedy sings in the opening verse The idea for “Last Rites” began during the recording sessions for Alter Bridge’s 2019 album Walk the Sky, but the band finished writing and recording the song during the pandemic. “We just felt like it wasn’t going to be something that fit the overall vibe of Walk the Sky, as far as what we were trying to attempt to do with that record,” Kennedy told Heavy Consequence of the song. “So, when al...
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 ...
