Heavy Music Interviews
Regional Justice Center Break Down New Album Crime and Punishment Track by Track: Stream
In our Track by Track feature, artists guide listeners through each track on their latest release. Here, Regional Justice Center singer Ian Shelton pulls back the curtain on the band’s new album Crime and Punishment. Hardcore act Regional Justice Center have unleashed their new album, Crime and Punishment, out now via Closed Casket Activities. The LP clocks in at a blistering 13 minutes but leaves an impression that lasts far longer. The album shares its name with the legendary novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky and tackles similarly weighty themes of postmodern existence. As RJC vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Ian Shelton explains in the remarks below, many real-life events inspired the passionate outbursts of anger and disillusionment heard throughout Crime and Punishment. Shelton previously ...
Gene Simmons on His New G² Gibson Collection, Restarting KISS’ Final Tour, and More
KISS singer-bassist Gene Simmons is not only a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame musician, but a merchandizing master. His band set the template for rock branding, and now he’s combining his knowledge of music and merch with a new line of Gibson guitars and basses, dubbed G² (pronounced “G-squared”). The G² collection sees Simmons partnering with Gibson on a new line of right-handed and left-handed guitars and basses, spanning across the company’s owned and operated brands Gibson, Epiphone, and Kramer. The partnership will launch with the G² Thunderbird bass, which Simmons debuted during KISS’ massive New Year’s Eve livestream show in Dubai. Also on tap are Flying V basses and guitars, among other instruments. We had the opportunity to speak with Simmons about the collection, the genesis of the...
Mr. Bungle’s Dave Lombardo on the Pandemic: “I Had Been on the Go for Many Years and Life Just Stopped”
Mr. Bungle, photo by Eric Larsen As our Annual Report continues, we’ll be taking several looks at how live music changed in a year where most of the world was in lockdown. Today, we share our conversation with legendary metal drummer Dave Lombardo about his incredible year playing with a reunited Mr. Bungle, his life during the pandemic, and the future of concerts. In a year in which the touring industry came to a standstill, a reunited Mr. Bungle were able to make their mark on the concert stage, both in person and online. The band played their first shows in 20 years just before the pandemic began, completing a brief jaunt of a handful of cities in February. And on Halloween, they treated fans to one of the more memorable livestream concerts of the year. Not only did the reunion mar...
Slash on Eddie Van Halen: “Any Instrument He Had Chosen to Play Would Have Been Phenomenal”
There have been countless tributes to the great Eddie Van Halen since his passing on October 6th. One of the millions of fans mourning his death is fellow guitar legend Slash. Van Halen released their groundbreaking self-titled debut in 1978, and by the time Guns N’ Roses formed in 1985, one can easily argue that Van Halen were the biggest hard-rock band on the planet — until GN’R took that title with their own masterful debut, Appetite for Destruction. We recently caught up with Slash to discuss the new Guns N’ Roses pinball machines, as well as his new custom collection with Gibson Guitars. While speaking with the GN’R axeman, we asked him for his thoughts on Eddie Van Halen, specifically what it was about the Van Halen legend’s playing that made him such an iconic guitarist. Slash graci...
Slash: New Guns N’ Roses Pinball Machines Are “Way Beyond My Expectations”
A couple of months ago, Guns N’ Roses announced a series of “Not in This Lifetime” pinball machines, modeled after the band’s mega-successful reunion tour of the same name. The arcade games were co-designed by Slash, who caught up with us to discuss all things pinball and his involvement in the creation of the machines. The “Not in This Lifetime” machines are manufactured by Jersey Jack Pinball, and are available in three editions — Standard, Limited, and Collectors — each with a different design on its body. The machines feature a 21-song soundtrack that closely mirrors the setlists that Guns N’ Roses played on their “Not in This Lifetime” tour, which saw the return of classic members Slash and Duff McKagan. As we learned from Slash while speaking with him about the machines, his love of ...
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers
Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. This month’s piece features an interview with Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers. Canadian power-metal band Unleash the Archers present a hard-charging sound coupled with creative songwriting and storytelling. Early in their career, the band was often lumped into the symphonic metal genre, simply because they have a female vocalist, but they’re really straight-ahead power metal act, with vocalist Brittney Slayes roaring from song to song. Unleash the Archers recently released a new album, Abyss, featuring stunning guitars and Slayes’ powerful vocals. Slayes chec...
Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne Talks New Album Moment and Recording During the Pandemic
Dark Tranquillity have experienced a different 2020 than most bands. The Swedish melodic death metal pioneers spent most of the year recording their 12th album, Moment (out today), as they watched the world cope with the devastation of COVID-19 from the confines of their recording studio. The band’s homeland of… Please click the link below to read the full article. Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne Talks New Album Moment and Recording During the Pandemic Jon Hadusek You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share o...
Boris on the Making of NO, Pandemic Existence, and the Uncertain Future of Touring
When we look back on heavy metal in the year 2020, we’ll remember the music of Boris. The Japanese trio has been one of the most active bands of the pandemic, releasing a steady stream of music that’s illuminated the experimental act’s past and present. It all began when Boris… Please click the link below to read the full article. Boris on the Making of NO, Pandemic Existence, and the Uncertain Future of Touring Jon Hadusek You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue.
Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta on Weight of the False Self, Adjusting to the Pandemic, Podcasting, and More
Like many musicians, Jamey Jasta thought he had his 2020 plans set. He was gearing up to release a new album with Hatebreed in the spring, plus the band had two tours booked with the likes of After the Burial, Havok, Creeping Death, Parkway Drive, Knocked Loose, and Fit for a King. Then, COVID-19 hit. Right as the band was set to begin promoting their new album, the concert industry shut down, and the album’s release date was pushed back indefinitely. Now, Jasta and Hatebreed are set to unleash their eighth LP, Weight of the False Self, on November 27th via Nuclear Blast Records. The album is one of the veteran Connecticut metal outfit’s most aggressive to date, with heavy riffing and powerful themes of self-reflection, loss, and the state of the world. While the concert industry remains s...
Myles Kennedy Talks New Alter Bridge EP, Solo Music, Slash, and the Pandemic’s Effect on the Music Industry
Myles Kennedy, photo by Antonio Marino Jr. Alter Bridge were into the touring cycle for their 2019 album, Walk the Sky, when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down their plans for 2020. With no concerts on the horizon, band members Myles Kennedy, Mark Tremonti, Scott Phillips and Brian Marshall decided to release a live EP from their most recent tour stops, as well as record a new studio track, “Last Rites”. The band’s Walk the Sky 2.0 EP has just arrived, and the collection features six live performance along with “Last Rites”. The studio track was conceived during the Walk the Sky sessions, but was was completed and recorded during the pandemic. Kennedy sat down with Heavy Consequence to talk about the new EP, as well as the status of his upcoming sophomore solo album, the effect of the pandemi...
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...
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...
