Heavy Music News
Zakk Sabbath Premiere Cover of Black Sabbath’s “The Wizard” from Vertigo Album: Stream
Zakk Sabbath, led by guitar virtuoso Zakk Wylde, are set to unleash Vertigo, a faithful recreation of Black Sabbath’s iconic 1970 self-titled debut album. In advance of the LP’s release on Friday (September 4th), Zakk Sabbath have teamed up with Heavy Consequence to premiere their rendition of “The Wizard”. Wylde formed the cover band Zakk Sabbath in 2014 as a way to honor his beloved Black Sabbath, playing shows over the past several years. The trio is rounded out by bassist Rob “Blasko” Nicholson (a member of Ozzy Osbourne’s touring band alongside Wylde), and drummer Joey Castillo (Queens of the Stone Age, Danzig). With the album Black Sabbath celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Zakk Sabbath hit the studio to record a track-for-track recreation of the groundbreaking LP. “We recor...
Jesse Draxler Premieres Reigning Cement Album Featuring Chelsea Wolfe, Greg Puciato, VOWWS, and More: Stream
Los Angeles-based artist Jesse Draxler’s audio-visual project and compilation album, Reigning Cement, arrives Friday (September 4th), featuring contributions from nearly two dozen musicians including Chelsea Wolfe, Full of Hell’s Dylan Walker, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato, Uniform, VOWWS, and more. A 100-page book of photography will accompany the album’s release. Below, you can stream Reigning Cement in full exclusively via Heavy Consequence. You may have seen Draxler’s striking artwork adorning recent albums by Daughters and Poppy. Steeped in black-and-white, his work is stark and uncompromising. Reigning Cement certainly bears his artistic stamp, with stark photographs of cop cars, crumbling cityscapes, and urban melancholy adorning pages within the book. For the music,...
Ace Frehley Shares Cover of The Beatles’ “I’m Down” Featuring John 5: Stream
Founding KISS guitarist Ace Frehley is returning with a new album of cover songs, Origins Vol. 2, on September 18th. First we heard his take on Deep Purple’s heavy “Space Truckin’”, and now Frehley is sharing a cover of The Beatles’ 1965 B-side nugget “I’m Down” featuring Rob Zombie guitarist John 5. The track selection shows Frehley’s appreciation for the Fab Four. The guitarist dug out a deep cut from The Beatles’ power-pop heyday of ’65, giving the song a hard-rock update for his Origins version. When it comes to reinterpreting the songs of others, Frehley is master of sorts, turning the Russ Ballard-penned “New York Groove” into a hit for KISS back in 1978. Like the initial Origins project in 2016, the tracklist for the new album depicts an autobiographical backstory of his influ...
Supergroup Killer Be Killed Announce New Album, Unleash “Deconstructing Self-Destruction”: Stream
Supergroup Killer Be Killed have announced their second album, Reluctant Hero. The band — featuring The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato, Soulfly’s Max Cavalera, Mastodon’s Troy Sanders, and Converge’s Ben Koller– also shared the first single “Deconstructing Self-Destruction”. As one would expect from such an all-star collaboration, Killer Be Killed are a well-oiled metal machine. The new song sees them hitting on all cylinders, with Cavalera Sanders, and Puciato all providing vocals to the track. Reluctant Hero will arrive via Nuclear Blast on November 20th, six years after the band’s 2014 self-titled debut. During that gap, each member remained busy with their main bands, but somewhere along the line, they snuck in time to finish the Josh Wilbur-produced Reluctant Hero. “This has bee...
Zeal & Ardor Announce New EP, Unveil Singles “I Can’t Breathe” and “Vigil”: Stream
Zeal & Ardor have announced a new six-song EP titled Wake of a Nation. In advance of the EP’s October 23rd release date, the avant-metal act has unveiled two tracks, “I Can’t Breathe” and “Vigil”. As implied by those titles and the EP’s artwork — featuring two police batons — it’s a politically charged record from Zeal & Ardor, composed during months of unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd in police custody and other similar incidents. The group had originally planned to release an album next year, but these songs couldn’t linger and were unleashed without hesitation. As frontman Manuel Gagneux wrote on the band’s Facebook page: “Wake of a Nation‘s intent and context should be obvious. I like to revel in ambiguity and in room for interpretation. This is n...
Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” Will Play Key Part in Upcoming Disney Film Jungle Cruise
Metallica’s classic ballad “Nothing Else Matters” is being transformed into an orchestral piece for a key scene in the upcoming Disney film Jungle Cruise. The blockbuster adventure stars Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and is set for a July 30th, 2021 release after being delayed due to the pandemic. Lars Ulrich told Collider that the idea for the collaboration originated with Disney production president Sean Bailey, whom the drummer described as a “lifelong rock fan” who’s “always been a Metallica fan.” Bailey eventually connected the band and Oscar-nominated composer James Newton Howard. The song is apparently being rearranged for the movie score format, with a sweeping orchestral treatment worthy of Howard’s canon. “Nothing Else Matters” plays during a significant part of the movie, but ...
Spirit Adrift Share New Song “Astral Levitation”, Cover Black Sabbath’s “Supernaut”: Stream
Spirit Adrift have shared the second single, “Astral Levitation”, from their upcoming album, Enlightened in Eternity. Additionally, the band has released a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Supernaut” from an upcoming tribute to the latter’s seminal album Vol. 4. “Astral Levitation” is another taut, literary heavy metal song following lead single “Harmony of the Spheres”. One of the band’s penchants is its ability incorporate various tempos in the same song, using mid-tempo sections to create an immensely listenable arrangement. “‘Astral Levitation’ is about searching within for untapped power during times of darkness and despair,” singer-guitarist Nathan Garrett said of the song. “It’s an empowering soundtrack to the challenging times we all currently face.” Likewise, the band pay tribute to thei...
Gone Is Gone (Mastodon, QOTSA, At the Drive-In) Unveil New Song “Sometimes I Feel”: Stream
Gone Is Gone — featuring members of Mastodon, Queens of the Stone Age, and At the Drive-In — have released another new stand-alone single, “Sometimes I Feel”. The track marks the third new song the supergroup has unveiled in the past year. “Sometimes I Feel” follows “No One Ever Walked on Water”, which arrived in December 2019 as the group’s first new music in three years, and “Everything Is Wonderfall”, which came out this past July. The band features Mastodon singer-bassist Troy Sanders, Queens of the Stone Age guitarist Troy Van Leeuwen, At the Drive-In drummer Tony Hajjar, and multi-instrumentalist Mike Zarin. “Sometimes I Feel” has a trippy psychedelic vibe and is not as heavy as the band’s previous singles. Sanders’ lead vocals are more ethereal than metal, as the song takes some twi...
10-Year-Old Nandi Bushell Continues Drum-Off with Dave Grohl by Rocking Them Crooked Vultures Song: Watch
In an otherwise tough year for the entertainment industry (and the world), this could very well be the feel-good music story of 2020. After Dave Grohl accepted 10-year-old Nandi Bushell’s challenge for a drum-off, the young YouTube sensation has continued the battle by matching the rock star’s performance of Them Crooked Vultures’ “Dead End Friends”. To quickly recap, it all started when Nandi rocked Foo Fighters’ “Everlong” a couple weeks ago, and issued a challenge to Grohl for a drum battle. This past weekend, Grohl responded by using his daughter Harper’s drum kit to rock a bit of “Everlong” and a full performance of “Dead End Friends” by Them Crooked Vultures, his supergroup featuring Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. In his video, Grohl told Nan...
Six Members of Nine Inch Nails Added to Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction
When Nine Inch Nails were revealed as one of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s 2020 inductees, only Trent Reznor was to receive the honor. Now, a couple months prior to the ceremony, six additional members of NIN have been added to the list of inductees. While Reznor has been the band’s mastermind and lone constant member of the groundbreaking industrial group since its inception, there have been valuable players throughout the years. Perhaps with a nudge from Reznor himself, Atticus Ross, Robin Finck, Chris Vrenna, Danny Lohner, Ilan Rubin, and Alessandro Cortini have joined the list of NIN inductees. As Cleveland.com reports, an annual inductee exhibit that recently opened at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum revealed the new names under Nine Inch Nails’ bio. Those inductees have ...
BABYMETAL Announce Legend Metal Galaxy Live Albums
BABYMETAL are celebrating their landmark January 2020 shows at the Makuhari Messe convention center in Chiba, Japan, with a pair of live albums chronicling the two concerts. Across the two nights, the pop-metal sensations performed in front of 50,000 people. The shows, dubbed “Legend – Metal Galaxy [Day 1]” and “Legend – Metal Galaxy [Day 2]” saw BABYMETAL play two completely different sets, with one show dedicated to their “Light Force” and the other to their “Dark Force”. The albums will be available via digital music services beginning September 9th. Blu-ray/DVD versions are being sold in Japan, while CDs are available as imports at Amazon here (Day 1) and here (Day 2). The pair of concerts were billed as “extra shows” on the band’s tour in support of their 2019 album Metal Ga...
Touché Amoré Share New Song “I’ll Be Your Host” Ahead of Upcoming Album: Stream
Touché Amoré have shared the latest single, “I’ll Be Your Host”, from their upcoming new album Lament (out October 9th). “I’ll Be Your Host” is another emotional tour de force from the screamo veterans. It follows the pattern of excellence laid out by previous singles, “Deflector” and “Limelight” — tracks that placed Lament firmly among our most anticipated fall metal albums. The track is multidimensionally meta, concerning singer Jeremy Bolm’s meditations on how his lyrics and songs affect listeners. The title, “I’ll Be Your Host”, becomes quite literal, with Bolm grasping how fans might “find catharsis in their own loss while he is still processing and dealing with his grief,” according to the press release. Likewise, he explores how that dynamic affects himself in turn. “‘I’ll Be Y...
