Heavy Music News
9-Year-Old Girl Masters Tool’s Complex 15-Minute Song “7empest” on Guitar: Watch
Tool’s complex 15-minute opus “7empest” is a difficult cover for anyone to attempt. Don’t tell that to 9-year-old guitar shredder Maya Neelakantan. In the YouTube clip, Neelakantan puts on a Nandi Bushell-esque display of talent as she expertly darts around the fretboard. Adam Jones wrote some deft guitar parts for the Fear Inoculum track, and it appears he has a worthy understudy in Neelakantan, if ever needed. She even emulates his wah pedal footwork. As she explains in the introduction to the video, Maya was inspired to play her “most favorite song” after receiving a brand new Gibson Les Paul guitar for her ninth birthday last month. Of note, Jones famously plays a Les Paul and even has his own line of signature models with Gibson. Advertisement Related Video “This is my most favorite s...
Rise Against Surprise Release New EP Nowhere Generation II, Share “Last Man Standing” Video: Stream
Rise Against have surprise released a new EP titled Nowhere Generation II, along with the video for the track “Last Man Standing.” The EP is a companion release to last year’s Nowhere Generation full-length album and contains new material, including the aforementioned single “Last Man Standing.” The song features passionately sung vocals and narrative lyrical content, with an underbelly of surging guitars. The video is also quite entertaining, as the band and others attempt to escape the pinpoint accuracy of a long-range female archer. Advertisement “‘Last Man Standing’ was a way of expressing some frustration with our world in regards to exploitation, public alienation and human inequality,” explains director Ryan Valdez. “As you see in the video, we are fed through this race of survival....
Ozzy Osbourne to Undergo Surgery That Will “Determine the Rest of His Life”
Ozzy Osbourne is set to undergo an operation on Monday (June 13th) that will “determine the rest of his life,” reports his wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne. Sharon revealed the news on her UK show The Talk (not affiliated with the US show of the same name from which she was ousted last year), telling her fellow panelists, “[Ozzy] has a very major operation on Monday, and I have to be there. It’s really going to determine the rest of his life.” She added that she would be flying back to Los Angeles to be by Ozzy’s side. While Sharon did not go into specifics, Ozzy himself mentioned late last year that he needed one more operation on his neck after the previous surgeon “f**ked up.” The metal icon injured himself in a 2019 fall at home, dislodging metal rods that were inserted into his body ...
Jinjer Granted Permission to Leave Ukraine for Tour, Share Video for “Call Me a Symbol”: Stream
Ukrainian metal band Jinjer have been granted permission to leave by the nation’s Ministry of Culture to embark on a tour to help raise funds and awareness for their war-torn country. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Jinjer were forced to drop off their support stint on Slipknot’s US “Knotfest Roadshow” tour. They instead helped raise funds for Ukraine via merch sales to support resistance efforts and refugee relief. The band hopes to continue raising awareness and money while traveling abroad. Per a press release from the group, Jinjer’s upcoming European summer tour and festival appearances are officially confirmed. “We are very honored to announce that together with the help of the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture, we have successfully been granted permission to travel abroad as amb...
Halestorm Announce Fall 2022 Headlining Tour with The Warning and New Years Day
Halestorm are keeping the show on the road throughout the entire year. The band has just announced a Fall headlining US tour, and they’re bringing The Warning and New Years Day along for the ride. The Grammy-winning band’s Fall trek will kill off September 21st in Huntsville, Alabama, and run through an October 8th performance at the Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California. Tickets for the outing will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. local time Friday (June 10th) via Ticketmaster, with a pre-sale beginning Wednesday (June 8th) at 10 a.m. local time using the code BRIGHTSIDE. There’s no letting up for Halestorm, as they recently completed a Spring run that included dates with with Stone Temple Pilots and Mammoth WVH, and will also embark on a previously announced Summer tou...
Rocklahoma Festival 2022 Lineup: Korn, Shinedown, FFDP, Evanescence, Megadeth, and More
The lineup for the 2022 Rocklahoma festival has been announced, and features Korn, Shinedown and Five Finger Death Punch as headliners. The three-day fest takes place September 2nd-4th in Pryor, Oklahoma, and also boasts such acts as Evanescence, Megadeth, Cypress Hill, and more. For most of its run, Rocklahoma took place in May, but last year moved to Labor Day weekend as events shifted around due to the pandemic. For its 15th incarnation this year, it’s sticking to September, calling itself “America’s biggest Labor Day Weekend Party.” Weekend passes go on sale this Friday (June 10) via the festival’s website at discounted Phase 1 pricing. Beginning June 17th, prices will go up, and continue to do so in the following weeks. Advertisement Related Video Joining the aforementioned bands on t...
Eddie Munson’s Dio Back Patch Was Gifted to Stranger Things by Ronnie James Dio’s Estate
Eddie Munson, the breakout character on the new fourth season of Stranger Things, keeps getting more metal by the day. Now, it turns out that the Dio back patch on his denim jacket was actually gifted to the popular Netfilx series by the estate of the late legendary metal singer Ronnie James Dio. We’ve already heard from actor Joe Quinn, who said in a recent interview that he “listened to a lot of heavy metal” to prepare for the role of Munson. Now, the show’s costume designer, Amy Parris, and Dio’s widow, Wendy Dio, have revealed that Eddie’s jacket back patch was created from a vintage t-shirt delivered by Wendy to the show’s costume department. In a Q&A posted on the Netflix website, Parris told the story behind the back patch, saying, “I love Eddie. I think Eddie feels so real. And...
Vocalist Tilian Pearson Steps Away from Dance Gavin Dance Following Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Tilian Pearson, the clean vocalist for post-hardcore act Dance Gavin Dance, has stepped away from the band after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced this week. The news comes less than two months after the sudden and tragic passing of Dance Gavin Dance bassist Tim Feerick. In April, a woman posted on Reddit that she was assaulted by Pearson around the time of Dance Gavin Dance’s Swanfest. The woman detailed multiple encounters that described an erratic and intoxicated Pearson slapping her across the face and having forcible sex with her. Pearson responded to the allegations on Reddit, saying, in part, “I take the subject of sexual assault seriously, and I want to firmly reiterate that there was no moment of anything happening that was not consensual.” But he also added, “My general s...
Wolfgang Van Halen Blasts Reelz’ Eddie Van Halen Autopsy Episode: “F**k Everyone That Works on This Show”
Wolfgang Van Halen is seething over Reelz’ upcoming episode of its documentary series Autopsy: The Last Hours of …, which focuses on his late father, Eddie Van Halen. The episode is set to premiere this Sunday, June 5th, and Wolfgang is urging people not to watch it while also lambasting those responsible for the show. Eddie Van Halen died in October 2020, after a long bout with cancer. The immediate cause of his passing was listed as cerebrovascular accident, which is the medical term for a stroke. Among the underlying causes were pneumonia; myelodysplastic syndrome (a bone marrow disorder); and lung cancer, which he battled for three years. In a tweet on Wednesday (June 1st), Wolfgang shared a news article about the TV show, and wrote, “F**k @ReelzChannel, f**k everyone that works on thi...
Anthrax Announce Blu-Ray and CD Release of 40th Anniversary Livestream Concert
Anthrax are releasing their 40th anniversary “Anthrax XL” livestream concert on Blu-Ray, CD, and digitally on July 15th via Megaforce Records. Ahead of its arrival, the thrash greats have offered up a clip of their performance of “Aftershock.” In July 2021, Anthrax celebrated four decades of thrash-metal excellence with a virtual concert and retrospective featuring interviews, testimonials, and reflections from the band members and many close associates from the scene. Guitarist Scott Ian even gave a “walking tour” of Anthrax’s stomping ground: New York City. “Forty years doesn’t feel like 40 years,” said drummer Charlie Benante via press release. “Sometimes, I have to remind myself about how long this strange trip has been. I enjoy playing these songs, they’re such a huge part of my life,...
Tool Members Join Brass Against for Performance of “Stinkfist”: Watch
Tool recently wrapped up their European tour, and members of the band celebrated by jamming their classic song “Stinkfist” onstage with support act Brass Against. The performance took place at the outing’s final show on May 24th in Budapest, Hungary. Brass Against are known for their big-band covers of songs by Tool and Rage Against the Machine, among others. In fact, “Stinkfist” was a regular number in their set leading up to the collaborative performance. This time around, Tool’s Adam Jones, Danny Carey, and Justin Chancellor joined them onstage for the high-energy version of the Ænima song. Tool typically play pranks on their opening acts on the final shows of tours, as they recently did with Blonde Redhead, when they sported blonde and red wigs and danced around onstage during the the ...
