Thrash Metal
Metallica Honor the Late Ennio Morricone, Whose “Ecstasy of Gold” Has Intro’d Their Shows Since 1983
Ennio Morricone (via Instagram), Metallica’s James Hetfield (photo by Melinda Oswandel) Following the news that Ennio Morricone passed away at the age of 91, Metallica have paid tribute to the legendary Italian composer. Morricone’s “The Ecstacy of Gold”, from the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, has provided the intro music to the thrash icons’ concerts since 1983. Morricone died Monday in Rome after suffering complications following a fall at home in which he broke his leg. The composer was known for his work on Spaghetti Western movies, with “The Ecstasy of Gold” being one of his most famous pieces. On Instagram, Metallica issued the following statement on Monday morning: “R.I.P. Ennio Morricone, Your career was legendary, your compositions were timeless. Thank you for setti...
Sepultura Announce Rescheduled North American Tour Dates
Sepultura have officially rescheduled their upcoming North American tour for 2021 after postponing the spring outing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brazilian thrash metallers will kick off their 2021 run on March 6th at Ace of Spades in Sacramento, California, and stay on the road through an April 10th date at UC Theatre in Berkeley, California. As with the originally scheduled trek, Sacred Reich, Crowbar, and Art of Shock will appear on the run. “So happy to announce the rescheduled North American tour with our friends from Sacred Reich, Crowbar and Art of Shock,” Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser said in a statement. “I can’t wait to go back to the stage to perform the new material from our album Quadra and to jam our history to you all! Stay safe and see you all soon!!” Sepultura ar...
DevilDriver Unleash New Song “Iona”: Stream
DevilDriver have unleashed a new song, “Iona”, the second single from their upcoming album, Dealing with Demons I. Accompanying the new track is an eerie music video. The groove metal veterans throw down a mosh-worthy track with “Iona”, which frontman Dez Fafara described as “unlike any other DevilDriver song.” While there’s the chugging rhythms and breakdowns typical of the band’s work, the song touts surprising arrangement turnarounds and shifting moods. Fafara also revealed the conceptual background behind “Iona” and its central character, a long deceased ghost that’s obsessed with death. Vicente Cordero’s music video provides a fitting visual complement. “From the frantic verses to the haunting chorus, this song is another move forward to push our sound and the listener’s ears into the...
Robert Trujillo: Metallica Are “Excited” About Material for New Album
Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo offered some more insight into the band’s creative process while social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. Previously, drummer Lars Ulrich had said the band were sharing song ideas over email and Zoom. Trujillo filled out the picture, stating that he’s upgraded his home recording gear and that each member has focused on honing their home studio, working together albeit independently. “We communicate every week, which is really great, so we have our connection intact,” Trujillo told The Vinyl Guide Podcast. “And what we’ve started doing is basically just really concentrating on our home studios and being creative from our homes and navigating through ideas and building on new ideas. And that’s where we’re at right now. We’re excited about cultivati...
#MetallicaMondays: Watch Metallica’s First-Ever Show in Colombia
Metallica’s weekly concert-streaming series #MetallicaMondays continues with a 1999 show in Bogotá, which marked the band’s first-ever gig in the country of Colombia. The 20-song set at Simón Bolívar Metropolitan Park featured a healthy helping of songs from “The Black Album” and other staples. The trek was dubbed the “Garage Remains the Same Tour” in support of Metallica’s covers compilation Garage Inc., and the show included a rendition of the Misfits’ “Die, Die My Darling” that appeared on the LP. As the band wrote on Instagram while announcing this week’s stream, “#MetallicaMondays takes a trip back to 1999! We dug through the dusty, old VHS tapes in @larsulrich’s vault to uncover Live in Bogotá – May 2nd, 1999, which happens to be the first gig we ever played in Colombia.” Of cou...
Fans Vote “Master of Puppets” Best Metallica Song in Band-Endorsed Poll
Metallica fans have spoken, and they’ve declared “Master of Puppets” as the thrash legends’ greatest song in an official, band-endorsed poll. The poll pit songs against one another in a March Madness style bracket, with the initial 64 tracks selected by a combination of Spotify plays and the number of times each was performed live. Metallica shared the contest round by round on their social media pages, calling it “Some Kind of Bracket”. “Master of Puppets” beat out “One” in the championship round of the bracket. In addition to those two songs, the Final Four included “Enter Sandman” and “Fade to Black”. The band announced the result on social media: “The people have spoken and single song stands alone above the rest. Your champion is ~ drum roll please ~ “MASTER OF PUPPETS!”… no wonder th...
GWAR’s Blothar: Oderus Urungus Wouldn’t Have Wanted His Statue Next to a “Row of Losers”
Over the past week or so, a petition to replace a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, with one of late GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus has garnered more than 55,000 signatures. While it would be cool for scumdogs everywhere to see their fallen leader honored, current GWAR singer Blothar the Berserker tells us that Oderus wouldn’t want a statue of himself alongside a “row of losers.” As controversial statues continue to get toppled amid worldwide protests, the petition calls Robert E. Lee a “failed war general that supported a racist cause” while touting Oderus as a “great local leader.” While Oderus may have come from the planet Scumdogia and settled in Antarctica, his alter ego, Dave Brockie (who passed away in 2014), called Richmond his home. Blothar beamed in...
Alekhine’s Gun Premiere New Song “21”: Stream
Brooklyn band Alekhine’s Gun, fronted by Jessica Pimentel, have been working on the follow-up to 2014’s …And Things Will Fall EP. The group is now premiering its new single, “21”, exclusively via Heavy Consequence. The track picks up where the band left off in 2014. Building from an angular riff, the song is blast of blackened death metal, with improved production over past Alekhine’s Gun releases. The six-year hiatus paid dividends for the band, which sounds as strong as ever on “21”. Pimentel, best known for her role as Maria Ruiz during all seven seasons of Orange Is the New Black, offered some conceptual background on the song’s lyrical themes. Like on prior records, Pimentel mines the spiritual and philosophical for her weighty, literary subject matter. She says of the track: “Inspire...
DMC Joins Anthrax, Volbeat, Suicidal Tendencies Members for Run-DMC Quarantine Medley: Watch
Rapper Darryl “DMC” McDaniels celebrated his legendary hip-hop group Run-DMC with a quarantine performance featuring members of Anthrax, Volbeat, and Suicidal Tendencies. Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante has arranged a number of socially distant performances during the pandemic. For this one, he was joined by his former Anthrax bandmate and current Volbeat guitarist Rob Caggiano and Suicidal Tendencies bassist Ra Diaz, as they back McDaniels on a medley of Run-DMC classics. “I always wanted to do a medley of Run-DMC songs, so back in March I decided to put an arrangement together and asked these amazing people to be a part of it,” explained Benante in the YouTube description. “How can you do a Run-DMC medley without the King of Rock — Darryl McDaniels DMC.” The drummer added, “I have been a...
Metallica’s Lars Ulrich Surprises Nurse on Kimmel, Announces S&M2 Box Set
Throughout the pandemic, Jimmy Kimmel has been paying tribute to healthcare workers on his late-night talk show by having celebrities surprise them during their video chat sessions. Last night, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich surprised pediatric nurse Tracey Bednar, and also spilled the beans on a new box set capturing last year’s “S&M2” performances with the San Francisco Symphony. When Kimmel introduced Bednar, who is a pediatric ICU nurse in Long Island, New York, the two initially discussed the effects of COVID-19 on children. Kimmel asked her what she does to relax while working such a stressful job, and Bednar responded, “I actually play golf, I love yoga, and the best thing I do is, on my way home from work, when it’s my own private time, I play my radio really, really loud.” The ...
Dead Cross (Mike Patton, Dave Lombardo) Cover Black Flag’s “Rise Above” in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter: Stream
The hardcore supergroup Dead Cross, featuring living legends Mike Patton on vocals and Dave Lombardo on drums, have covered the Black Flag classic “Rise Above” in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. Patton (Faith No More, Mr. Bungle) and Lombardo (Misfits, ex-Slayer) are joined by Dead Cross bandmates Michael Crain (guitar) and Justin Pearson (bass) on the socially distant performance. The song is preceded by an audio recording of a resident’s profanity-laced tirade against the LAPD as he called in to an actual police commission meeting on Zoom. In posting the video on Facebook and YouTube, the band stated that the performance was “created in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and staunchly opposing police brutality and systemic racism.” Dead Cross hit the studio ...
GWAR Drummer Visits Defaced Robert E. Lee Statue, Exclaims “F**k That Guy”: Watch
A petition to replace a statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, with one of late GWAR frontman Oderus Urungus has now racked up more than 30,000 signatures. Today (June 12th), drummer JiZMak Da Gusha paid a visit to the statue of the Confederate general, urging onlookers to add their names to the cause. In a video just posted to GWAR’s YouTube page, JiZMak Da Gusha can be seen approaching the crowd at the now-defaced Robert E. Lee statue, which has been completely tagged with graffiti. He greets them with a resounding “GWAR is here!!” “I’m critiquing the artwork,” continues Da Gusha. “It’s looking pretty great right now.” Someone then comments, “I think you’re the one going on top, aren’t you?”, mistaking Da Gusha for the late Oderus. But Da Gusha doesn’t correct him, answering, “Th...
