Heavy Music News
Rush Singer Geddy Lee’s Mother Mary Weinrib, a Holocaust Survivor, Dies at 95
Rush singer-bassist Geddy Lee is mourning the loss of his mother, Mary Weinrib, who passed away on Friday (July 2nd). Weinrib, a Holocaust survivor, died just weeks shy of her 96th birthday. Weinrib’s obituary tells a remarkable story of survival and perseverance. She grew up in a Jewish community in Poland, and was forced into concentration camps, including Auschwitz. After she was freed in 1945, she reunited with and married Morris Weinrib, whom she had fallen in love with while at Auschwitz. The couple moved to Toronto and opened a variety store, but Morris died suddenly in 1965, leaving Mary with three children to raise on her own. She was a big supporter of Geddy’s music career from the early days of Rush. As her obituary states, “When the first Rush album was released, Mary plastered...
Toyah and Robert Fripp Cover System of a Down’s “Chop Suey”: Watch
Toyah Willcox and Robert Fripp take on one of the great 21st century metal tunes in their latest “Sunday Lunch” performance. The married couple, along with the mysterious Sidney Jake, rock the System of a Down classic “Chop Suey” from their kitchen. Looking like characters in a Mad Max movie, Toyah and Robert go full throttle in covering “Chop Suey,” the lead single from System of a Down’s Toxicity (which celebrates its 20th anniversary in September). King Crimson founder Fripp has completed a full transformation from the conservative suit vest and tie he would wear at the beginning of the “Sunday Lunch” series, now donning a mohawk and theatrical eye makeup, as well as body art similar to what SOAD guitarist Daron Malakian sported in the official “Chop Suey” music video. Related Video Toy...
Obscura Unleash New Song “Solaris” Ahead of Upcoming Album A Valediction: Stream
Obscura have shared the music video for “Solaris,” the lead single from the band’s upcoming album, A Valediction, out November 19th. The song is the first new music from Obscura since undergoing a major lineup change in April 2020 that saw three members exit the group. Two of the “new” members — bassist Jeroen Paul Thesseling and lead guitarist Christian Münznerare — are familiar faces, as they have returned to Obscura after previous stints in the band. Safe to say, the personnel swap hasn’t encumbered the technical death metal band’s virtuosic assault. “Solaris” is a maximal crusher that begs for repeated listens in order to decipher its many twists and turns. Related Video “‘Solaris’ turned out to become one of the band’s shortest and utmost direct compositions featuring all trademarks, ...
Boris Announce Vinyl Reissues of Flood and NO via Third Man Records
Boris have announced vinyl reissues of 2000’s Flood and 2020’s NO, continuing their partnership with Third Man Records. The LPs arrive August 27th. The news is a major boon for Boris fans, as Flood will receive its first-ever vinyl pressing and NO will finally be released on vinyl outside of Japan. The latter will also see its first widespread digital release after initially being offered exclusively via Boris’ Bandcamp. The reissues continue a successful partnership between Third Man Records and Boris, whose records have drifted in and out of print, often becoming pricey collectibles. Last year, Third Man gave Boris’ early records Absolutego and Amplifier Worship overdue represses, and the label previously re-released the band’s landmark albums Boris at Last -Feedbacker- and Akuma No Uta....
Dave Grohl Reveals He Was Ripping Off “Old Disco” Drumming on Nirvana’s Nevermind
Dave Grohl revealed that he ripped off “old disco” and R&B/funk drumming for his parts on the iconic Nirvana album Nevermind. In a clip from his Paramount+ series From Cradle to Stage, Grohl talked with Pharrell Williams about the inspiration for the drum beats on Nevermind. Grohl first insisted that he’s “the most basic f**king drummer,” earning a raised eyebrow from Pharrell. The Foo Fighters frontman followed up by citing the unlikely source for the drumming that can be heard on “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and other tracks. Related Video “If you listen to Nevermind, the Nirvana record, I pulled so much stuff from The Gap Band and Cameo and [Chic’s] Tony Thompson on every one of those songs … all that [slaps his legs] … that’s old disco!” Grohl said. Then clips of “Smells Like Tee...
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...
