Heavy Music News
At the Gates Open the Door to Experimentation on The Nightmare of Being: Review
The Lowdown: Swedish death metal giants At the Gates made one of heavy music’s most influential albums – 1995’s Slaughter of the Soul, which had a huge influence on the wave of American metalcore that followed it. In 2014, the band returned after a long hiatus, and have since delivered two respectable albums that mostly follow the template that they created in the ’90s. Their latest effort, The Nightmare of Being, bucks that trend in favor of wild experimentation. The Good: While Slaughter of the Soul solidified the melodic death metal template — Iron Maiden riffs over thrash beats filtered through the famed Swedish Buzzsaw guitar tone, with a little industrial here and there to spice things up — in some ways it ended that genre’s period of vast exploration. The irony is that At the Gates’...
King Woman Share Video for New Song “Psychic Wound”: Stream
King Woman have shared the music video for new song “Psychic Wound”, taken from their upcoming sophomore album, Celestial Blues, out July 30th. The new single the second album cut we’ve heard from singer Kris Esfandiari and company, following “Morning Star”. The songs have seen the atmospheric doom act shift toward even more expansive sonic territories. Ethereal vocals are backed by sludgy post-metal soundscapes, and the striking video emphasizes the macabre forewarning depicted in the lyrics. “‘Psychic Wound’ is about paying the price for eating forbidden fruit,” Esfandiari explained in a press release. “When desire turns into obsession, it can keep you longer than you intended to stay and nearly destroy your sanity.” Related Video King Woman will support the release of Celestial Blues wi...
Model Ashley Morgan Smithline Sues Marilyn Manson for Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking
Editor’s Note: This article contains graphic and disturbing descriptions of sexual violence. Two months after detailing a horrific relationship with Marilyn Manson in a tell-all feature with People magazine, model Ashley Morgan Smithline has filed a lawsuit against the singer. The suit alleges sexual assault, human trafficking, and unlawful imprisonment. Smithline is the fourth woman to sue Manson related to the recent allegations of sexual assault against the shock rocker. Previously, Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco filed a similar lawsuit, as did the singer’s former assistant Ashley Waters and an unidentified woman. Related Video As reported by Rolling Stone, Smithline’s accusations in the lawsuit are similar to the claims she made in her interview with People. The suit all...
Canadian Death Metal Band Performs for Elementary School Students: Watch
Canadian death metal band Obvurt performed for elementary school students in their home city of Quebec, and the band has hared the entire show on YouTube. Who said death metal was scary? The band set up on the blacktop of the school playground and unleashed an unfiltered set of brutal growls and extreme musicianship. And the children happily bounce and dance along, totally digging it. If you needed a feel-good clip, here it is. Better yet, the idea for the concert came from the school’s faculty, as Obvurt guitarist and music teacher Philippe Drouin explained in a press release. Related Video “The physical education teacher and school principal introduced me to this idea,” Drouin said. “He was thinking about a party to celebrate the end of the school year by doing a show in the school backy...
Alexis Marshall (Daughters) Unveils New Song “Open Mouth”: Stream
Alexis Marshall of Daughters has shared “Open Mouth”, the latest single from the singer’s debut solo album, House of Lull . House of When, out July 23rd. The track is one of Marshall’s most experimental and emotionally intense to date. An accomplished poet, Marshall lets his words fly in a stream-of-consciousness flow that’s echoed by the sonic dissonance of off-kilter percussion, feedback squalls, and industrial percolations. On first listen, it sounds like the free-form equivalent of Daughters’ noisy epic “Satan in the Wait”. The John Bradburn-directed video provides an equally captivating visual counterpart, with actor Charlie Greenwood passionately miming Marshall’s words against sparse black and white terrain. From the press photography to the album artwork, Marshall’s artistic vision...
Sammy Hagar Apologizes for Exposing Eddie Van Halen’s “Dark Side” in Autobiography
Sammy Hagar has apologized for exposing the late Eddie Van Halen’s “dark side” in his 2011 autobiography, Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock. Hagar opened up about the book’s contents in a new interview with Brazil’s Inside With Paulo Baron, expressing regret for including stories and passages about Eddie Van Halen that didn’t paint the shredder in a positive light. After Hagar said that he’d wished he’d put more positive childhood stories in his book, he offered remorse for the darker EVH content that made it in. Related Video “But more than anything, because of the untimely and tragic death of Eddie Van Halen, I apologize from the bottom of my heart for exposing his dark side to where I don’t think anyone wants to hear that now, and, unfortunately, it’s in the book,” Hagar said (as transcri...
Meshuggah Announce 2022 US Tour with Converge and Torche
Swedish metal veterans Meshuggah have announced a 2022 US tour with support from Converge and Torche. The 19-date outing will launch in late February. Meshuggah have been going strong for nearly 35 years, having formed in 1987, and are pioneers of extreme tech-metal. The entire tour lineup is impressive and intriguing, with Converge being one of the early architects of metalcore, and Torche earning acclaim over the past 15 years for their eclectic mix of sludge and melody. The tour kicks off February 23rd in Silver Spring, Maryland, and runs through a March 20th show in Atlanta. Related Video A press release announcing the tour also revealed that Meshuggah recently entered Sweetspot Studios in Sweden to record their ninth album, the follow-up to their 2016 album The Violent Sleep of Reason...
Tenacious D, Rob Halford, Sammy Hagar, Lzzy Hale Join Ronnie James Dio Virtual Birthday Fundraiser
Tenacious D, Rob Halford, Sammy Hagar, and Lzzy Hale are among the new guests added to the Ronnie James Dio virtual birthday fundraiser. The stream goes live at 2 p.m. PT on July 10th. Metal luminaries, friends of the Dio family, and fans will partake in the global livestream celebration to raise funds and awareness for the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund. This will include one-of-a-kind performances, birthday messages, and artist interviews celebrating the late singer’s life of heavy metal and philanthropy. Previously announced guests included Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath, members of Guns N’ Roses, and many more. In addition to the previously named guests, a plethora of others have also been added to the roster: Sebastian Bach, John Bush (Armored Saint); Mikkey Dee (Scorpio...
Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Surpasses 1 Billion Spotify Streams
NIrvana’s game-changing single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, a rare feat for a heavy rock song. The achievement comes just a few months before the band’s landmark 1991 album Nevermind celebrates its 30th anniversary. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” changed the face of rock music as the first single released from Nevermind. The song and its iconic music video helped open the floodgates for grunge and alternative rock at a time when hair metal and pop ruled the MTV and radio airwaves. The song joins Linkin Park’s “In the End” among the more than 150 tracks that make up Spotify’s “Billions Club”, most of which are of the modern pop and hip-hop variety. A few songs from Queen (“Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Don’t Stop Me Now”) are als...
Babymetal Announce Budokan Live Album and Director’s Cut Livestream
Babymetal have announced a new live album, 10 Babymetal Budokan, recorded at the legendary Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, in addition to a director’s cut livestream of the performances. The album is out October 1st, while the streaming event goes live July 24th at 3 p.m. ET and will be viewable through July 25th at midnight PT. The Japanese pop-metal act began 2021 by continuing its 10th anniversary celebration with a series of 10 shows at Budokan. Those performances were culled into the “10 Babymetal Budokan World Premiere” livestream that recently aired. The director’s cut “encore” promises an alternate take on the initial concert film, with new cuts and visual edits. The Budokan shows followed meticulous COVID guidelines and safety restrictions, with Babymetal offering concertgoers “Saviour M...
R.I.P. Johnny Solinger, Ex-Skid Row Singer Dies at 55
Johnny Solinger, the longest tenured singer of Skid Row, died Saturday (June 26th) at the age of 55. The rock vocalist had announced that he was suffering from liver failure in May. A statement from Skid Row read, “We are saddened to hear the news of our brother Johnny Solinger. Our thoughts are with his family, friends and fans. Godspeed Singo. Say hello to Scrappy for us.” Solinger became Skid Row’s singer when the when the multiplatinum rock band re-formed in 1999 without vocalist Sebastian Bach following their 1996 breakup. He recorded two studio albums (2003’s Thickskin and 2006’s Revolutions Per Minute) and two EPs (United World Rebellion: Chapter 1 and Rise of the Damnation Army – United World Rebellion: Chapter Two) with Skid Row before being fired from the group in 2015. Related V...
Marilyn Manson to Surrender to Police on Warrant for Alleged Assault
Marilyn Manson is set to turn himself in to the Los Angeles Police Department on a New Hampshire warrant for his arrest, stemming from an alleged assault in which the singer is accused of repeatedly spitting on a videographer during a concert in 2019. The incident is not related to the allegations of sexual assault brought against Manson by numerous women in recent months. According to the Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times, Manson has reached an agreement with the police department in Guilford, New Hampshire, to surrender to the LAPD at a prearranged date, at which time he will be booked and go through the bail process. He’ll then be ordered to appear at a New Hampshire court for arraignment, likely in August. The incident in question occurred at Manson’s August 18, 2019 concert at the Ba...
