Heavy Metal
Metallica’s Kirk Hammett Shares New Song “High Plains Drifter” from Upcoming Solo EP: Stream
Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has unveiled the new song “High Plains Drifter” from his upcoming instrumental solo EP, Portals, out April 23rd. The song offers the first taste of music from the EP, and sees Hammett embracing his fondness for cinema and epic musical composition. The guitarist enlisted the help of Edwin Outwater (Metallica’s S&M2), Jon Theodore of Queens of the Stone Age (and a member of Kirk’s covers act The Wedding Band), and members of the LA Philharmonic orchestra to achieve the grandeur heard on “High Plains Drifter.” As Hammett explained in a press release, the track shares an inspirational relationship with the 1973 film of the same name. Advertisement Related Video “[The song] was not meant to be specifically music for that film, but … once it was written, I im...
OTTTO and Bastardane, Each Featuring the Son of a Metallica Member, Announce Co-Headlining 2022 Tour
Two bands that each feature the son of a Metallica member have announced a co-headlining 2022 US tour. OTTTO (with Robert Trujillo’s bassist son Tye Trujillo) and Bastardane (with James Hetfield’s drummer son Castor Hetfield) will hit the West Coast together beginning in late May. Both OTTTO and Bastardane played shows in San Francisco back in December as part of Metallica’s 40th anniversary celebration takeover in the city. Each band is set to perform at the previously announced BottleRock festival in Napa Valley on May 27th (Bastardane) and May 28th (OTTTO). From there, they’ll play six co-headlining shows together, all in California, with tickets available here. Tye, who was also in the now defunct band Suspect208 (which featured the sons of Scott Weiland and Slash), is a seasoned pro a...
Machine Head Announce New Album, Unveil Single “Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate”: Stream
Machine Head have announced a new concept album, Of Kingdom and Crown, set to arrive on August 26th. In advance of its release, the veteran metal act has released the heavy single “Choke on the Ashes of Your Hate.” Regarding the concept surrounding the upcoming album, frontman Robb Flynn stated, “Thanks to my two teenage boys, my family has become obsessed with this awesome Japanese anime series called Attack on Titan. The album’s concept was loosely inspired by the series in the sense that in the storyline, there is no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ guy — both characters believe they’re doing the right thing as it applies to their being, but make no mistake, both are committing acts of pure atrocity and evil. The opening track ‘Slaughter the Martyr’ is basically our character No. 1’s origin story.” A pr...
Five Finger Death Punch, Megadeth and The HU Announce 2022 US Tour
Five Finger Death Punch have announced a 2022 US tour with Megadeth, The HU, and Fire From the Gods. In addition, FFDP have unveiled the title track from their upcoming album, AfterLife. The tour kicks off August 19th in Portland, Oregon, and runs through an October 15th show in Salt Lake City, Utah. Tickets go on sale Friday (April 15th) at 10:00 a.m. local time to the general public via Ticketmaster, with pre-sales beginning today (April 12th). In addition to the tour announcement, FFDP revealed that they will release their ninth studio album, AfterLife, later this year. The LP is being produced by Kevin Churko, and is being touted as “arguably most diverse record of the band.” For the first taste of the LP, FFDP have just unleashed the title track (listen below). Advertisement Related V...
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine Once Purposely Peed on a Bathroom Floor in The White House
Megadeth kicked off the second leg of their “Metal Tour of the Year” with co-headliners Lamb of God over the weekend, and on the second night of the outing (April 10th) in Tucson, Arizona, frontman Dave Mustaine shared some inside information from The White House. Actually, he confessed that he once purposely pissed on a bathroom floor in the president’s residence. Mustaine visited The White House back in 1992 as part of the “Rock the Vote” campaign. It was then that he left his mark on The White House. As seen in the footage from Sunday night’s concert below (and transcribed by Blabbermouth), Mustaine began, “I want you guys to know that I’ve lived through a lot of different eras in the United States and seen different things, and one thing that makes me the most proud of everything here ...
Decapitated Unleash New Song “Hello Death” Featuring Jinjer’s Tatiana Shmayluk: Stream
Polish death metal band Decapitated have unveiled the new song and video “Hello Death” featuring Tatiana Shmayluk of Ukrainian metal band Jinjer. It’s the second single we’ve heard from Decapitated’s forthcoming album, Cancer Culture, out May 27th. This time the band enlisted Shmayluk for a powerful duet, bolstering the melodic sensibilities of Decapitated’s multifaceted brand of death metal. Considering Decapitated hail from Poland — the neighboring country that’s been a haven of refuge for Ukrainians escaping the horrors of Russia’s invasion — the duet and song contents are particularly poignant in this moment. Jinjer previously dropped off their US tour with Slipknot to help aid their country when the war broke out. Advertisement Related Video Decapitated guitarist Waclaw “Vog...
Rammstein Undergo Radical Plastic Surgery in Video for New Single “Zick Zack”: Watch
Rammstein have unveiled another new single ahead of their forthcoming album, Zeit. The latest song is called “Zick Zack” and it was preceded by a clever marketing campaign. On April 1st, Rammstein announced that they had invested in the “Zick Zack Beauty Clinic” in Berlin, which many fans thought to be an April Fools joke. While there’s no proof of the existence of the beauty clinic, fans around the world called a “Zick Zack” hotline to speak with a “team of experts.” Now, it’s evident that the campaign was tied to the new single and its accompanying music video, which, according to a press release, “deal with what is nowadays often a compulsive tendency on the part of the individual towards self-optimization, sometimes through radical alteration of the visual appearance by use of the scal...
How to Get Tickets to Korn and Evanescence’s 2022 Tour
Whether you’ve already got the life or need just the thing to bring you to it, Korn and Evanescence have you covered this summer. The two iconic groups are joining forces for a month of hard-rock excellence and mutually assured head-banging. Get tickets here, and read on for more info including pre-sale dates. What Is Korn and Evanescence’s Next Tour? The 18-city tour kicks off in Denver on August 16th and will hit cities across the continental US including Clarkston, Michigan, Camden, New Jersey, Charlotte, Houston, Dallas, Salt Lake City, and Spoke, Washington. The final joint show will be held in Ridgefield, Washington on September 16th. Who Is Opening for Korn and Evanescence on Tour? Advertisement Related Video No openers have been revealed yet, but the tour announcement poster teased...
Korn and Evanescence Announce Summer 2022 US Tour
Two of rock’s longstanding powerhouse acts, Korn and Evanescence, are teaming up for a 2022 US tour. This summer, the two bands will hit the road for a month-long late outing. The 18-city tour begins August 16th at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, and runs through a September 16th show at the RV Inn Style Resorts Amphitheater in Ridgefield, Washington. Tickets for the show go on sale to the general public beginning Friday (April 8th) at 10 a.m. local time via Ticketmaster, but a special Consequence pre-sale runs Thursday (April 7th) from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. local time using the code KORNEV22. Advertisement Related Video “We’re looking forward to going on tour this summer and bringing our friends, Evanescence, out,” said Korn singer Jonathan Davis. “Whenever Amy [Lee] comes to one of our show...
Metallica’s Foundation Donates $500,000 to Help Feed Ukrainian Refugees
Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation has donated $500,000 to help feed Ukrainian refugees. The money is going to the World Central Kitchen, which is providing meals for millions of people who have fled Ukraine as the country continues to come under attack by Russia. World Central Kitchen was founded by Chef José Andrés to provide “meals in response to humanitarian, climate, and community crises.” Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich said of the donation, “The work that Chef José Andrés and the dedicated World Central Kitchen cooks do on the frontlines in a humanitarian crisis is nothing short of incredible. We are inspired, humbled, and beyond proud to support their teams currently in six European countries serving the millions of Ukrainians who have been forced to leave their homes.” Adver...
Municipal Waste Announce New Album Electrified Brain, Unleash “Grave Dive”: Stream
Municipal Waste have announced their seventh studio album, Electrified Brain, arriving July 1st. As a preview, they’ve shared the single, “Grave Dive.” The band’s upbeat brand of crossover thrash metal is always a joy to hear, and the Virginia-based act keep the foot firmly on the gas on “Grave Dive.” Hooky riffs push the song forward while energetic frontman Tony Foresta is backed by a healthy dose of gang-vocal shouts. “It’s in the vein of songs like ‘Headbanger Face Rip’ and ‘Wave of Death’,” Foresta said in a press release. “It’s an inspirational song for our fans to cause bodily harm to themselves, but in a loud and healthy way, of course.” Advertisement Related Video Electrified Brain marks Municipal Waste’s first album in five years, following 2017’s Slime and Punishment. The band r...
Yikes! Machine Gun Kelly Unwisely Covers System of a Down’s “Aerials”: Watch
Either Machine Gun Kelly is trying desperately to alienate himself from metalheads, or is just trolling all of us. First, he insulted Slipknot, and now he’s butchered a cover of System of a Down’s “Aerials.” The rapper turned pop-punk singer was a guest on The Howard Stern Show this week. For some odd reason, MGK thought it would be a good idea for him and his band to perform the System of a Down track as part of his visit. It’s no easy task for any singer to match Serj Tankian’s soaring operatic vocals, let alone one who’s range is limited like MGK. While his backing band did an admirable job on the instrumentation of the Toxicity song, MGK’s singing was rough right from the first note, and sounded like one continuous vocal strain throughout the entire performance. Seriously, if you can v...
