Heavy Metal
System of a Down Return to Stage, Perform Two Comeback Singles Live for First Time: Watch
System of a Down just played their first concert since the pandemic started, rocking a 30-song set at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Friday (October 15th). The show featured the live debuts of last year’s surprise singles “Genocidal Humanoidz” and “Protect the Land.” The concert, the band’s first since May 2019, saw SOAD perform 11 songs off their landmark 2001 album Toxicity, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary — including such favorites as “Chop Suey,” “Psycho,” “Aerials,” and more. They performed “Genocidal Humanoidz” for the first time live in the first half of the set, while “Protect the Land” was debuted toward the end of the show. The two songs were simultaneously released in November 2020, in support of Armenia and its neighboring state Artsakh, which had come under ...
Iron Maiden-Loving School Principal Can Keep Job Following Petition to Oust Her
Following a petition by “concerned parents” calling for the ouster of Iron Maiden-loving high school principal Sharon Burns over the “satanic” imagery associated with the band, the school board has ruled that she can remain at her job. As previously reported, a petition sought to have Burns removed or transferred from her position at St. Catherines High School in Ontario, Canada after she posted two images on social media expressing her fandom of Iron Maiden. One picture had her posing in front of an Iron Maiden-themed license plate and other band paraphernalia, while the other had a handwritten sign that read “Eddie 666” next to a figure of the band’s skeletal mascot on a car dashboard. The original Change.org petition read, in part, “As concerned parents with impressionable children at E...
Vince Neil Rushed to Hospital After Falling Off Stage
Vince Neil was performing a concert with his solo band on Friday night (October 15th) when he took a violent fall off the stage and ended up in a hospital. The incident happened during the Mötley Crüe singer’s headlining set at the Monsters on the Mountain Festival in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Fan-filmed footage shows Neil making his way to the front of the stage, pumping up the crowd as he claps his hands with a guitar on his shoulder. Suddenly he takes a step and free falls off the stage. According to TMZ, there was a gap between a speaker and the stage that Neil apparently didn’t notice, falling down at least four feet to the concrete floor below. He was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. Advertisement Related Video Bassist Dana Strum later addressed the crowd, saying, “The truth i...
Kerry King Says Post-Slayer Project Will Be “F**king Good”
Kerry King has again teased his post-Slayer project, saying that it will be “f**king good” and that he would have already toured with his new mystery group had it not been for the pandemic. After recently stating that he felt Slayer “quit to too early” when they called it a day after their final 2019 show, the guitarist is now looking ahead to the future. King previously hinted that he had two records’ worth of material for his post-Slayer band, but has remained tight-lipped about the specifics. “I’m dragging my feet on letting the world know what I’m doing because there’s no rush,” King told Metal Hammer in a new interview. “I have a tour that I’m considering doing, but I’m not going to announce a band, I’m not going to announce a record, I’m not going to announce anything. But you will s...
James Hetfield Recalls When Metallica Recruited Another Singer as Their Frontman
As the frontman of Metallica, James Hetfield is one of heavy metal’s most recognizable singers. However, had the iconic band gotten its wish, he may have been better known solely as the group’s rhythm guitarist. Hetfield hosts a new segment called “Road Dog Brothers” on the Mandatory Metallica channel on SiriusXM, and in it he recalled a time when the band offered the lead vocalist job to Armored Saint’s John Bush. Hetfield began, “A lot of [our] early memories were celebrated with a band called Armored Saint, who were a fellow L.A. band back in the early ’80s.” He added, “When we were getting started, obviously John Bush was a singer we got to know really well, and really, really tried to get him into the band as a singer. It didn’t work out. He was dedicated and very in love with what he...
Korn Drummer Is Third Member of Band to Test Positive for COVID-19 on US Tour
Korn have had a rough go of it on their current tour. The band has had three separate members test positive for COVID-19 during the outing, the most recent being drummer Ray Luzier. A few shows into the US trek in August, singer Jonathan Davis contracted COVID-19, forcing the band to postpone a number of shows on the tour. Just a couple shows after David returned to the stage, guitarist James “Munky” Shaffer tested positive in September, but the band resumed touring, enlisting J.R. Bareis of fellow Korn guitarist Brian “Head” Welch’s side project Love and Death. Today (October 14th), Korn informed fans that Luzier has just tested positive, as well, stating: “Unfortunately, Ray has tested positive for COVID, and he will not be playing the next three shows in Vegas, Fresno, and Oakland. KORN...
In Photos: Slipknot, Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, and Code Orange Bring “Knotfest Roadshow” to New Jersey
Slipknot invaded the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey, on Sunday (October 10th), headlining the “Knotfest Roadshow” with support from Killswitch Engage, Fever 333, and Code Orange. On an overcast day, Code Orange opened the festivities with a fiery eight-song set, including five tunes from their genre-defying 2020 album, Underneath. The sociopolitical-minded Fever 333, who have established themselves as one of rock’s most dynamic live acts over the past few years, were up next. Singer Jason Aalon Butler threw himself all over the stage, as he jumped off monitors, attempted a skateboard trick, and broke said skateboard during the course of their explosive seven-song set. Advertisement Related Video Killswitch Engage had the dubious task of playing right before the mighty Slipknot...
Nightwish Announce 2022 North American Tour
Celebrated symphonic metal act Nightwish have announced a 2022 North America tour in support of their latest album, Human :||: Nature. The Finnish band will kick off the 10-date run May 4th in Toronto, and wrap up with a two-night stint May 20th and 21st at The Wiltern in Los Angeles. Beast in Black will support the full run, with tickets available here. The dates are part of Nightwish’s Human :||: Nature world tour, so expect to hear plenty of fresh material off the new album, as well as some classics. Human :||: Nature marked the band’s ninth studio album and arrived in April 2020. Advertisement Related Video In related news, former Nightwish vocalist Anette Olzon released a new solo album, Strong, last month, and will be featured in Heavy Consequence‘s “Beyond the Boys’ Club” column lat...
Aftershock Festival 2021 Rocked by Metallica, Misfits, Machine Gun Kelly, Mudvayne, Rancid, and More: Photos + Video
After being forced to pull the plug on last year’s event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aftershock festival returned to Discovery Park in Sacramento over the weekend, and put on an even bigger (and louder) event than in years past. With a newly expanded four-day lineup and two nights of Metallica, the California rock extravaganza was nothing short of yet another success for Danny Wimmer Presents. The newly added Thursday bill featured Bay Area thrash legends Death Angel, Exodus (with drummer Tom Hunting playing his first show back after recently undergoing successful cancer surgery) and Testament. Also on the opening-day lineup were Anthrax, hardcore upstarts Knocked Loose, and headliners Cypress Hill (who replaced Faith No More, who themselves had replaced Limp Bizkit). Day 2 (Friday) ...
Aftershock Festival 2021 Rocked by Metallica, Misfits, Machine Gun Kelly, Mudvayne, Rancid, and More: Photos + Video
After being forced to pull the plug on last year’s event due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Aftershock festival returned to Discovery Park in Sacramento over the weekend, and put on an even bigger (and louder) event than in years past. With a newly expanded four-day lineup and two nights of Metallica, the California rock extravaganza was nothing short of yet another success for Danny Wimmer Presents. The newly added Thursday bill featured Bay Area thrash legends Death Angel, Exodus (with drummer Tom Hunting playing his first show back after recently undergoing successful cancer surgery) and Testament. Also on the opening-day lineup were Anthrax, hardcore upstarts Knocked Loose, and headliners Cypress Hill (who replaced Faith No More, who themselves had replaced Limp Bizkit). Day 2 (Friday) ...
Ozzy Osbourne Credits “Being a Devil Worshipper” with Helping to Ward Off COVID-19
Ozzy Osbourne says that “being a devil worshipper” has helped him ward off COVID-19 in a humorous new statement. The Prince of Darkness jokingly pointed to all the times he’s been accused of Satanism over the years when asked how the pandemic has affected him and his family. “My wife had the virus; my daughter had the virus and I never got it,” Ozzy quipped to Metal Hammer. “Being a devil worshipper does have its good points!” Advertisement Related Video Taking a more serious tone, Osbourne reflected on the major health issues he’s had to face while simultaneously navigating the pandemic. He’s still coping with neck injuries suffered in 2019 after he took an unfortunate fall in the night. “I’ve struggling with this f**king broken neck, looks like I’m in for more surgery,” Ozzy said. “I’m i...
Judas Priest’s Rob Halford “Still Shook Up” by Richie Faulkner’s Heart Emergency
Judas Priest singer Rob Halford is “still shook up, emotionally” after witnessing guitarist Richie Faulkner being rushed to a hospital for what turned out to be life-saving emergency heart surgery. The metal band was forced to postpone the remaining dates on its US tour, but Halford has “good news” to share regarding Faulkner’s recovery. As we’ve reported, Faulkner was onstage performing “Painkiller” at the end of Judas Priest’s recent set at Louisville’s Louder Than Life festival when his “aorta ruptured and started to spill blood” into his chest cavity. He immediately underwent a 10-hour surgery at the Rudd Heart and Lung Center at UofL Health – Jewish Hospital, where five parts of his chest were replaced with mechanical components. Heavy Consequence just caught up with Rob Halford to di...
