Heavy Music News
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Robin Wattie of Big|Brave
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 Robin Wattie of Big|Brave. Montreal metal trio Big|Brave tackle the weighty issues of gender, race and feeling like one doesn’t belong on their new album, Vital, out April 23 via Southern Lord. The album’s lead single, “Half Breed,” finds singer-guitarist Robin Wattie sharing the experience of being of mixed race and the confusion and insecurity that can come with it. Wattie checked in with Heavy Consequence for the latest “Beyond the Boys’ Club” column to discuss how she and the members of Big|Brave quarantined together...
Monster Magnet Announce Covers Album A Better Dystopia, Share “Mr. Destroyer” (Poo-Bah): Stream
Heavy psych rockers Monster Magnet have announced a new covers album, A Better Dystopia, out May 21st. As a preview, the band has shared a ripping version of Poo-Bah’s “Mr. Destroyer”. The 13-song tracklist showcases Monster Magnet’s esoteric knowledge of obscure psych rock. They take on Hawkwind (“Born to Go”), cult NYC heavy psych act Dust (“Learning to Die”)”, The Pretty Things (“Death”), and The Scientists (“Solid Gold Hell”), among other relatively obscure gems. The idea for the covers album came after Monster Magnet’s European “Powertrip” tour was halted in February of 2020 when the pandemic hit. To occupy the downtime, the band set out to record a DIY album rather than play streaming shows or sell merch. “We all agreed that we would be bored out of our minds within a month of lockdo...
Evanescence’s Amy Lee on The Bitter Truth, Billie Eilish, and More
Evanescence’s Amy Lee. photo by Nick Fancher Amy Lee is one of the most influential women in rock music, having broken down barriers at the start of the 21st century. As the lead vocalist and chief songwriter for hard rockers Evanescence, Lee emerged at a time when women were scarcely heard on mainstream rock radio. Now, Evanescence are back with The Bitter Truth, the band’s first album of brand-new music in 10 years. Following their orchestral Synthesis release and world tour with a full orchestra, The Bitter Truth finds Evanescence getting back to their hard rock roots with blistering guitars and pounding rhythms. With The Bitter Truth set for release this Friday (March 26th), Evanescence have already released a string of singles from the effort, including the empowering song “Use ...
Gibson Unveils Tom Petty SJ-200 Wildflower Acoustic Guitar
Gibson has announced the new Tom Petty SJ-200 Wildflower signature acoustic guitar. The beautiful instrument is inspired by the Gibson acoustic commissioned by the late rock legend in 1996 and used on the Wildflowers album — hence the guitar’s name. “It is so incredible to see the SJ-200 design our Dad worked on so long ago, lovingly brought to fruition with his longtime guitar tech and friend Alan Weidel and the craftsmen and women at Gibson guitars,” commented Tom Petty’s daughter Adria Petty in a press announcement. “There has been much effort made to make certain this guitar lives up to Tom’s musical standards and the specs he wanted for a best-in-class instrument,” she continued. “Alan Weidel has put this instrument through its paces as he has with all Tom Petty signature guitar model...
Dave Grohl: I Never Got Into the Misfits Until My Daughter “Made Me Love” Them
Misfits’ Glenn Danzig (photo by Heather Kaplan), Dave Grohl (photo by Amy Harris) Dave Grohl is discovering new and old music via his teenage daughter Violet. In fact, the 14-year-old aspiring singer turned her dad on to the Misfits, a band he never previously embraced despite his love of old-school punk and hardcore. The Foo Fighters frontman was recently interviewed by YouTube’s Tiny TV channel, and the topic turned to punk rock. Grohl remarked, “You have to be a certain type of person to fall in love with and connect to punk rock music. I think it has more to do with your heart and your head than it does your ear in a way. So my daughter was born with that same heart and that same head as I was.” He continued, “When she was young, and she had great taste in music, she would listen...
Corpse Paint Facial Masks Are the Latest Thing for Skincare
Want to look evil and take care of your skin at the same time? Soon you can, thanks to a new line of corpse paint skincare masks inspired by your favorite black-metal bands. Yes, corpse paint facial masks are now a thing — or soon will be once Kaamos Cosmetics reaches their crowdfunding goal. The brains behind the cosmetics brand are the same people who brought us the highly popular corpse paint bar soaps that bore the likenesses of such icons as King Diamond, Abbath and Dani Filth. There are currently two types of facial masks — a green tea mask and a rice bran mask — each with a distinct corpse paint style designed by Finnish illustrator JP Ahonen. Cleverly, Kaamos Cosmetics is calling it “total sincare”: “Vegan and cruelty-free ingredients, extra cruel looks! For the self-caring metalhe...
Mastodon’s “Biggest-Sounding” New Album Currently Being Mixed for Fall Release
Mastodon are currently mixing their highly anticipated eighth studio album. According to guitarist Bill Kelliher, the LP is slated for a fall release. Previously, the metal band teased a studio update with Tool producer David Bottrill at West End Sound in Savannah, Georgia. In a new interview, Kelliher told the Talking Metal podcast that Mastodon and Bottrill are “halfway through the mixing [process]” for the record, calling it the band’s “fullest” and “biggest-sounding” album to date. Bottrill is currently mixing remotely and sending the files to Mastodon for feedback via Dropbox. “[David will] mix a song every couple of days, and he’ll send it over to us in Dropbox,” Kelliher said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). “And we all listen to it. I go listen to it in the car, I listen to it in ...
Lemmy’s Ashes Were Placed in Bullets and Given to His Closest Friends
The late Lemmy Kilmister was indeed the coolest man on Earth, even in death. Per the legendary Motörhead frontman’s request, his ashes were placed in bullets and delivered to his closest friends and associates. Now, that’s metal — literally! The revelation comes courtesy of Riki Rachtman, the onetime host of the MTV show Headbangers Ball. On Monday (March 22nd), Rachtman shared a photo of a bullet with “LEMMY” engraved on it, writing, “Before his death #Lemmy asked for his ashes to be put in some bullets & handed out to his closest friends. Today, I received a bullet & was literally brought to tears. Thank you, @myMotorhead.” Rachtman’s post follows one on Instagram from last year by former professional tennis player Pat Cash that is now getting attention. Cash shared a pic of anot...
Paul Stanley on Soul Station, His Favorite Singers, and Whether KISS Will Complete Their Farewell Tour
For several years, KISS singer-guitarist Paul Stanley has been moonlighting as the frontman for Soul Station — a musical collective that focuses on covers of vintage soul and R&B classics of the ‘60s and ‘70s (as well as some originals that sound as if they were cut from the same musical cloth). But it was not until this month that the band finally issued their debut album, Now and Then. And it turns out the wait was certainly worth it — Stanley’s voice is in fine form throughout, especially on covers of the Five Stairsteps’ “O-O-H Child” and Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together”, among others. The singer, who forgoes rhythm guitar when fronting Soul Station, spoke with Consequence of Sound shortly before the arrival of Now and Then, which you can pick up here. Not only did he discuss Soul ...
Robert Fripp and Toyah Deal Out Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”: Watch
It’s your lucky day, as Robert Fripp and Toyah Willcox deal out the Motörhead classic “Ace of Spades” for their latest “Sunday Lunch” performance. The married couple once again deliver a frisky take on a legendary rock tune, with Toyah making a deck of cards rain as she sings and dances in a French maid’s outfit — all as a high-powered fan blows her hair back. King Crimson founder Fripp, meanwhile, remains steady as ever, as he delivers the iconic “Ace of Spades” riff. Fripp rose up the ranks of the UK music scene around the same time as late Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister. Fripp formed King Crimson in 1968, while Lemmy played in the band The Rockin’ Vickers in the mid to late 60s before becoming a roadie for the Jimi Hendrix Experience and eventually joining Hawkwind in 1971. Meanwhil...
Greta Van Fleet Share New Song “Broken Bells”: Stream
Greta Van Fleet are prepping for the release of their highly anticipated sophomore album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate, out April 16th. Now the band has shared the anthemic new single, “Broken Bells”. A coming-of-age song of sorts, the track again sees Greta Van Fleet expanding their sonic palette beyond the restrictive classic-rock pastiche of their debut record. The prog-like Rush influences and subtle folk flourishes add new colors to the band’s sound. For the third consecutive single, Greta Van Fleet push the song past the five-minute mark as they stretch their musical ideas. “Broken Bells is what the fetter of society does to impact a pure and innocent soul,” bassist Sam Kiszka said in a press release. “Our intention is to remove the obligation of generational synthetic expectations; b...
Ministry Announce Fall 2021 US Tour with Helmet and Front Line Assembly
With the hope that touring will resume in earnest by the fall, Ministry have announced new dates for their “Industrial Strength Tour”, which will feature support from Helmet and Front Line Assembly. The twice-delayed outing commemorates the 30th anniversary of Ministry’s 1989 album, The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste. The month-long trek kicks off October 3rd in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The route veers east before looping back across the South and West Coast, hitting most major U.S. markets. The tour was originally set to launch in July 2020, with Front Line Assembly and KMFDM supporting. It was then moved to spring 2021 due to the pandemic. Now. with Helmet in place of KMFDM, the band is banking on finally embarking on the outing in the fall. KMFDM had to drop from the bill due to the ...
