Heavy Music News
Heavy Culture: Rock Musicians on What It Means to Be Black in America in 2020
Clockwise from Upper Left: Vincent Price, WIlliam DuVall, Cammie Gilbert, AJ Channer, Skin, Rasheed Thomas 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 multiple rock and metal musicians recounting their early experiences of racism. The death of George Floyd while in police custody earlier this year has had a profound impact on the nation and the world. In recent months, people from all walks of life have joined together to protest injustice that Black Americans have been facing for ages. In last month’s installment of “Heavy Culture”, several musicians...
Hellfest 2021 Lineup: Deftones, System of a Down, Faith No More, Judas Priest, Puscifer, and More
France’s Hellfest Open Air has announced its 2021 lineup, and it features 90-percent of the bands who were scheduled to perform at the 2020 edition of the festival before it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deftones, System of a Down, and Faith No More will still headline, as they were slated to this year. The fest will take place June 18th-20th in Clisson, France. The festival wrote in a Facebook post: “Hellbangers, a little ahead of usual, here’s the lineup of the 2021 edition! 90% of the groups have reconfirmed their presence for next year, and as you know, they are particularly impatient to find you in Clissonese lands!” The statement continued, “Unfortunately, 13 bands scheduled for the 2020 edition could not confirm their presence for 2021: Incubus, Mastodon, Infectious Gro...
Metal Trump Sings Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” and It’s Terrifying: Watch
YouTuber Lars von Retriever has done it again! For his latest “Metal Trump” video, he has cut up the president’s dialogue to match the Iron Maiden classic “Run to the Hills” — and the results are frankly terrifying, albeit impressive. Given Trump’s flippant remarks, stubborn denial, and generally abhorrent reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic, the songs refrain — coming from Trump’s mouth — hits a little close to home: “Run to the hills/ Run for your life“. Iron Maiden wrote “Run to the Hills” for 1982’s The Number of the Beast as a historical concept piece about the genocide of Native Americans and indigenous people by North American settlers. “White man came across the sea/ He brought us pain and misery,” sings frontman Bruce Dickinson in the original track. Odd words coming out of Trump, t...
Baroness and Windhand Members Form New Band Darling, Unveil First Single “Baptists”: Stream
Baroness guitarist Gina Gleason, Windhand singer Dorthia Cottrell, and guitarist Leanne Martz have joined forces for a new project called Darling. The trio also shared their debut single, the haunting “Baptists”. Fans of both Baroness and Windhand should find something to like about the new song. The deep bass pulses and shimmering electric guitars recall the soft interludes and segues of Baroness’ 2019 album, Gold & Grey. Meanwhile, Cottrell recites cryptic poetry through her inimitable sultry croon. In an acoustic form, the song could have worked well on one of Cottrell’s folk-based solo work. But Gleason and Martz color out a lush soundscape, offering yet another viable sonic palette for Cottrell’s words and voice. “Baptists” will be “the first of many more to come,” according to Co...
Producer Bob Rock Finally Explains the Much-Maligned Snare Drum Sound on Metallica’s St. Anger
Metallica’s 2003 album St. Anger is often derided, due in large part to drummer Lars Ulrich’s distinctly off-putting snare drum sound. The butt of many jokes among fans and critics for years, the snare roast reached a fever pitch when one clever YouTuber replaced the snare from “Master of Puppets” with a snare sample from St. Anger, immortalizing its abrasiveness. Many other parodies followed, each replacing the snare of various songs with the way-to-tight, trebly, zero-resonance St. Anger sample. Finally, the album’s producer Bob Rock has explained the story behind the much-maligned snare sound. Not surprisingly, he essentially diverts the blame to Ulrich, who fell in love with the sound of Rock’s Plexi Ludwig snare. As Rock tells it, Metallica were jamming in their “clubhouse” in San Fra...
Jeff Bridges and Breedlove Unveil New Signature Model Acoustic Guitars
Actor and musician Jeff Bridges has teamed with Breedlove for a line of new signature model acoustic guitars. The instruments are sustainably sourced and feature Bridges’ “All in This Together” motto inlayed on the fretboard. As Bridges states in the press release, the elegant acoustic guitars prove “we can build beautiful instruments to make beautiful music that will resonate for all time, and preserve the trees, the lungs of our planet, which temper our climate, replenish our fresh water and provide shelter for our wildlife. We can make our instruments with salvaged or selectively harvested wood from sustainable forests, while still protecting habitat and sustaining the local community. We can make a difference.” The Breedlove Jeff Bridges “All in This Together” premium signature model i...
Chris Cornell’s Daughter Lily Launches New IGTV Mental-Health Series in Honor of Her Late Father: Watch
The late Chris Cornell’s 20-year-old daughter Lily Cornell Silver has launched the new mental-health interview series Mind Wide Open on IGTV. The first episode premiered Monday (July 20th) to coincide with the legendary Soundgarden frontman’s birthday. “As someone who has suffered trauma and loss as well as struggled with anxiety and depression, I know how important it is to have a space to talk openly and without shame about these subjects,” said Lily in a statement. She continued, “There is so much value, especially for people in my generation, in knowing that everyone struggles with mental health at some point in their lives, despite our society’s dismissive tendencies around emotional wellbeing. It is important for me to give voice to these issues by providing information, honest conve...
#MetallicaMondays: Watch Metallica Play Master of Puppets in Its Entirety at 2006 Berlin Show
For the latest installment of #MetallicaMondays, the thrash legends are revisiting their 2006 Master of Puppets 20th anniversary tour. On the very metal day of June 6th, 2006 (6/6/06) at Berlin’s Waldbühne, Metallica played their classic 1986 thrash masterpiece in its entirety, front-to-back, also premiering “The New Song”. The archival concert footage goes live this evening (July 6th) at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT via Metallica’s YouTube channel below. The Berlin show is historically significant for seeing the world premiere of “The New Song”. With fans clamoring for a new studio album — it had been three years since St. Anger — the performance of new material ignited a surge of hype surrounding what would eventually become Death Magnetic. “The New Song” didn’t make it to the final ...
Tony Iommi Recalls the Time He Kicked Madonna Out of Black Sabbath’s Rehearsal Room
In a new interview, guitarist Tony Iommi recalled the original Black Sabbath lineup’s brief reunion in 1985 for Live Aid, where Iommi inadvertently crossed paths with pop star Madonna, unbeknownst to him at the time. Live Aid saw Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler, and Bill Ward onstage together for the first time in years. The day before the performance, the band was given a private room for rehearsal. Black Sabbath were jamming and reminiscing about the past when Iommi noticed two people enter the otherwise closed session. “It was a bit of a disaster, really, to be honest,” Iommi told SiriusXM. “They had a room booked for us to rehearse. We started rehearsing and then we started talking about the old times; so most of the rehearsal was talking. And the time when we did rehearse, it was ...
The Once-Named “Herd Immunity Fest” Seeks Fans’ Help in Setting Up Festival Grounds
The three-day rock festival previously referred to as “Herd Immunity Fest” is scheduled to kick off tomorrow (July 16th) outside the Q&Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin. With one day to go, organizers are seeking fans to help set up the festival’s site following some rough weather in the area. The Mini Fest, as it is now called, was met with backlash when it was first announced in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic as the “Herd Immunity Fest” last month. The festival’s announcement came as health experts and promoters have predicted concerts and festivals wouldn’t return in earnest until 2021. Nonpoint, one of the headliners, immediately dropped off the bill upon hearing the festival’s name. And there have been numerous lineup changes since the initial announcement. Of the initia...
Josh Homme on Possible Kyuss Reunion: “The Only Real Way to End It Correctly Now Would Be to Play”
Josh Homme is proud of his influential early ’90s stoner rock band Kyuss, but is sad about the ugly way things ended with his former bandmates. When asked about the possibility of a reunion in a new interview, the Queens of the Stone Age frontman surprisingly said he would consider playing Kyuss shows again in order to rewrite the band’s final chapter. Kyuss formed in the late ’80s in California as teenagers under the name Katzenjammer, changing their name to Sons of Kyuss, and eventually Kyuss. Homme (guitars), John Garcia (lead vocals), and Brant Bjork (drums) were the mainstays of the band, with Chris Cockrell, future QOTSA member Nick Oliveri, and Scott Reeder serving as the band’s different bassists over the years. From 1991 to 1995, Kyuss released four albums, with Alfredo Hernández ...
Consequence of Sound Announces AC/DC Back in Black 40th Anniversary Virtual Celebration
Rock’s biggest-selling album ever — AC/DC’s Back in Black — is turning 40 years old this month, and Consequence of Sound is celebrating in a big way. In a joint effort with Gibson Guitars, we’re presenting “Back in Black 40th Anniversary: A Virtual Celebration”. The online stream will take place Friday, July 24th, premiering at 5:00 p.m. ET across the CoS social channels, with an amazing giveaway launching today. Hosted by guitar virtuoso Jared James Nichols, the streaming event will include AC/DC testimonials or tutorial performances from Slash, Dee Snider, and members of Cage the Elephant, Anthrax, Lamb of God, Refused, Airbourne, GWAR, and more, as well as friends and fans of the band. We’ll also get an inside look at some of the gear that guitarist Angus Young used to get his signature...
