Heavy Music News
2021 Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Festivals: System of a Down, Green Day, and Volbeat to Headline
The massive twin festivals Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in Germany were among the major events canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, organizers have announced the initial details of the 2021 fests, with planned 2020 headliners System of a Down, Green Day, and Volbeat all agreeing to sign on for next year’s events. Rock am Ring and Rock im Park were set to celebrate their 35th and 25th anniversaries, respectively, this year. In addition to System of a Down, Green Day, and Volbeat, the 2020 lineups would have also featured Deftones, Korn, Disturbed, Weezer, The Offspring, and many more acts. As of now, only the three headliners are confirmed, with the rest of the 2021 artists yet to be announced. Rock am Ring and Rock im Park will take place concurrently on the weekend of June 11th-13...
Metallica Concert to Kick Off New “OffStage With DWP” Streaming Series
Festival promoter Danny Wimmer Presents has been hit hard this year, forced to cancel the majority of its popular rock festivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the company is taking its business online, launching a new streaming series that will kick off with a full Metallica concert. Over the past couple of months, Danny Wimmer Presents has canceled the spring U.S. rock fests Welcome to Rockville, Epicenter, and Sonic Temple, as well as the fall fests Louder Than Life, Boubon & Beyond, and Hometown Rising. As of now, the only festival still on DWP’s schedule for 2020 is Aftershock, set for October in Sacramento, California. The new series, dubbed “Offstage with DWP”, combines footage from the promoter’s past festivals, with newly recorded acoustic performances and interviews. Meta...
Inter Arma Unveil Cover of Nine Inch Nails’ “March of the Pigs”: Stream
Inter Arma recently announced a covers EP titled Garbers Days Revisited, and now they’ve unveiled the second single from the forthcoming release: a metallic version of the Nine Inch Nails classic “March of the Pigs”. In a press release, Inter Arma acknowledged that it could be construed that the timing of the single is tied to the current unrest across the nation, where protests have broken out following the death of George Floyd in police custody. In fact, the band actually quietly released the song last week, but didn’t announce it until today. “We released our cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘March of the Pigs’ this past Tuesday, but felt it would have been inappropriate to latch onto the outrage we’re all experiencing to promote a cover album, even if by happenstance,” stated the band. ...
#MetallicaMondays: Watch Metallica’s Rain-Soaked 2019 Manchester Show
Metallica’s weekly streaming series #MetallicaMondays continues with the band’s full June 2019 concert at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, England. The show was played in the pouring rain, as the band and fans braved the weather for 18 songs, including five from “The Black Album” and four from their latest LP, Hardwired … To Self-Destruct. As they did throughout the tour, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Rob Trujillo paid tribute to a local act, this time performing a portion of The Stone Roses’ “I Wanna Be Adored”. Like all bands, Metallica are currently off the road due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but they may start work on a follow-up to Hardwired … To Self-Destruct. During a recent online video chat, drummer Lars Ulrich said that if the concert industry ends up being shut down for six...
R.I.P. Rupert Hine, Producer for Rush, The Fixx, and More, Dies at 72
Rupert Hine, who produced two RUSH albums, as well as releases from The Fixx, Howard Jones, Tina Turner, Stevie Nicks, and more, has died at the age of 72. No cause of death has been revealed. The veteran UK producer’s passing was reported by the Ivors Academy, a songwriting association of which Hine was a board director. “His passion, wisdom, inspiration and his immense kindness will be hugely missed,” stated the organization. Hine produced RUSH’s gold-certified 1989 album Presto, which included the chart-topper “Show Don’t Tell”, and platinum-certified 1991 LP Roll the Bones, featuring the hit “Ghost of a Chance”. It was in the ’80s new wave scene that Hine really made his mark, producing multiple albums by The Fixx, including the platinum-certified Reach the Beach (highlighted by the si...
International Day of Slayer Celebrated with On-Demand Release of Repentless Killogy Movie
International Day of Slayer is celebrated annually on June 6th, and this year it features the on-demand release of the band’s 2019 movie The Repentless Killogy. This year marks the 18th annual International Day of Slayer. The special day (6/6 — closest date to 666) has seen fans skip work or school to listen to the legendary thrash band’s music all day. And beginning Saturday, fans who didn’t catch The Repentless Killogy in theaters or purchase the Blu-ray can now stream it via video on demand. The VOD stream is available via the band’s website for the appropriate price of $6.66 for 48 hours of access. The Repentless Killogy is essentially two movies in one, combining a narrative story that weaves together the ultra-violent music videos from the band’s Repentless album with a full concert ...
All Them Witches Announce New Album, Premiere New Song “Saturnine & Iron Jaw”: Stream
All Them Witches are offering up a nice respite from all the chaos going on in the world. The Nashville rockers have announced the forthcoming release of a new album, Nothing as the Ideal. Moreover, the band is teaming up with Heavy Consequence to share a taste of what’s to come with opening track “Saturnine & Iron Jaw”. Nothing as the Ideal will arrive on September 4th via via New West Records. The album was recorded at London’s Abbey Road Studios, where the Beatles famously laid down most of their iconic catalog. Regarding the song “Saturnine & Iron Jaw”, guitarist and songwriter Ben McLeod tells us, “We very specifically wanted to lead with this track. I think it’s the most well-rounded track on the record; it’s constantly changing, it has a lot of different vibes to it.” He giv...
Mr. Bungle Unveil Cover of The Exploited’s “USA”, First New Recording Since 1999: Stream
Mr. Bungle have just released their first new recording in more than 20 years. It comes in the form of a cover of The Exploited’s “USA”, with all proceeds going to COVID-19 relief efforts. Mike Patton joined fellow original members Trevor Dunn (bass) and Trey Spruance (guitar) for a series of reunion shows in February of this year, with Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian and former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo rounding out the touring lineup. The shows focused on the group’s hardcore roots, as they performed their early 1986 demo, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, along with a number of cover songs. Then in March, news came that the very same touring lineup had convened in a studio shortly after those shows to re-record the 1986 demo, and lay down studio versions of the cover songs ...
Rush’s Alex Lifeson Doesn’t Feel “Inspired or Motivated” to Play Music Following Neil Peart’s Death
Next week marks six months since the death of Rush drummer Neil Peart, however, bandmate Alex Lifeson is still finding it hard to return to music. In a recent interview, he said that not only has he barely picked up his guitar, but that there’s currently little “motivation” to make music in general. “It’s been difficult,” Lifeson recently admitted on the sports radio program Talkin’ Golf (via Rolling Stone). “After Neil passed in January, I’ve played very little guitar. I just don’t feel inspired and motivated.” Fans of the legendary rock band have wondered whether the surviving members would forge ahead without Peart, but it sounds as though that won’t be happening anytime soon. “I don’t know if the motivation is there for us to really do anything now,” noted Lifeson. “We’re cer...
Justin Chancellor Writing “Interesting” New Tool Riffs, Collaborating with Bauhaus’ Peter Murphy
Tool bassist Justin Chancellor has been keeping busy with multiple projects during the pandemic, one of which is writing “interesting riffs” for his main band. Among his other ventures is “bouncing some ideas around” with Bauhaus legend Peter Murphy. While checking in from lockdown with Bass Magazine, Chancellor offered up a glimpse of what his day-to-day life has been like since the COVID-19 pandemic forced Tool off the road. The bassist disclosed that he’s been cleaning up his house and gardening, as well as restoring a 15-foot Statue of Liberty head movie prop that he “purchased years ago on a tipsy impulse.” When asked about his current and upcoming projects, Chancellor responded, “I’m working on tracks for a second MTVoid album/EP with Peter Mohamed, who is in Poland. It looks like it...
Former Misfits Drummer Joey Image Reportedly Dies at 63
Joey Image, a drummer for The Misfits during the band’s formative years, has reportedly passed away at the age of 63. While no official cause of death was mentioned, the musician had been battling liver cancer since 2016. Image’s death was reported by the New York Hardcore Chronicles Facebook page, which simply stated, “Joey Image of The Misfits dead at 63. Rest in Peace.” The drummer was a member of the Misfits from 1978 to 1979, appearing on the band’s Horror Business EP, which contained the title track as well as “Teenagers from Mars” and “Children in Heat”. He also drummed on the “Night of the Living Dead” 7-inch single (also containing “Where Eagles Dare” and “Rat Fink”), plus the song “Who Killed Marilyn?” that was included on the 1985 compilation Legacy of Brutality. Image left...
System of a Down’s John Dolmayan Blasts “Defund the Police” Movement as “Stupidest Thing I’ve Heard”
System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan has been very open about his political beliefs in the midst of protests across the country. Now, he’s blasting the “Defund the Police” movement as “probably the stupidest thing [he’s] heard.” Last week, Dolmayan made headlines when he called President Trump the “greatest friend to minorities” around the same time his bandmate Serj Tankian called for the protesters to “force the [Trump] regime to resign.” In a 13-minute Instagram video posted over the weekend, Dolmayan addressed the backlash he has received since that post, while also outlining his positions on a variety of socio-political issues. As far as the differences between him and his bandmates, particularly Tankian, Dolmayan said, “We have differing opinions in System of a Down. That shouldn’t...