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Posted 2/5/09 10:36 am ET by JonW in The Eye of a Clown
Maybe looking at new photos by Slipknot percussionist Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. Clown) every week has twisted our brains. This week's submission to "The Eye of a Clown" is abstract and creepy. It kind of looks to us like an extreme close-up of an elderly woman burned to death in a fire. Cheery thought. Click "more" to see the image and read Clown's analysis. Read more...
Posted 1/28/09 10:51 am ET by JonW in Tours, Watch This
Swedish melodic metal band Soilwork have released a video for the song "20 More Miles," the second clip from their latest album, Sworn to a Great Divide, which came out in 2007.
The video was recorded by Olle Carlsson during the band's recent world tour, and features footage from Australia, Japan Russia and Malaysia. Soilwork's North American tour with Darkane, Warbringer and Swallow the Sun launches January 30 in Rochester, New York. Click "more" to watch the video. Read more...
Posted 1/27/09 3:57 pm ET by JonW in Metal News, Watch This
Odin seems to be on the side of Norwegian Pagan warriors, Enslaved. The band just won its third Spellmann Award (Norway's equivalent to a Grammy) for Best Metal Album for 2008's Vertebrae, marking the third time in the last half-decade that the band has taken top honors. Enslaved beat out Keep of Kalessin's Kolossus and Benea Reach's Alleviat to win the award. Read more...
Posted 1/23/09 10:55 pm ET by JonW in Exclusive Podcast
When Richmond, Virginia quintet Lamb of God began recording their last album Sacrament in 2006, there was friction within the ranks. Some of the members were dealing with personal issues that bled through into their band activity, and tensions were frequently high. "We weren't really firing on all cylinders," admits guitarist Mark Morton.
Fortunately, Lamb of God were still able to battle through their demons and frustrations and craft a fierce and surging slab of vindictive groove metal. In retrospect, it seemed like the animosity that was plaguing the band during the Sacrament sessions inspired ferocity and venom and the music offered release for their pain. With that in mind, Lamb of God had some concerns when they got back together in the studio to start writing their new album Wrath (out February 24). Having navigated their issues and obstacles, the members were getting along as well as ever, and while they were excited and generally happy, they were a little worried that their newfound contentment would dampen their fire. They couldn't have been more wrong. (click more to listen to our podcast interview with guitarist Mark Morton). Read more...
Posted 1/22/09 11:09 pm ET by JonW in Alive and Kicking, Listen Here, Watch This
On December 14, John Ostronomy and Mark Strigl from the podcast Talking Metal posted a show that included an interview with In This Moment guitarist Chris Howarth. It might seem like we're a little behind the eight ball since they've done four more podcasts since then, but we bring up the In This Moment episode because a video has just surfaced of Howarth, vocalist Maria Brink, Ostonomy and Strigl performing a cover of Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills." Click more to watch. Read more...
Posted 1/22/09 1:18 pm ET by JonW in Fun, Humorous, Metal News
Say you've got dreams of heavy metal stardom but you're stuck in Singapore, floating in limbo like Scarlett Johansson's character Charlotte from the Sofia Coppola film "Lost in Translation." Okay, she was in Japan, but you get the idea. You wanna break through and be heard by millions, but there seems to be no way to burst out of the local, insular scene -- or is there?
Michael Kalember, a multi-instrumentalist and metal head with a degree from the Berklee School of Music, moved to Singapore in 1991 with a woman who's now his ex-wife, and has jammed with numerous musicians, taught music and written jingles for TV and radio commercials. And now, thanks to pop star Rihanna and the power of the Internet, hundreds of thousands of people -- if not more -- are hearing him play. Read more...
Posted 1/21/09 9:07 pm ET by JonW in Alive and Kicking, Viewer's Choice, Watch This, Your Vote Counts
photo by Jon Wiederhorn
Testament squeaked by their Bay area neighbors Metallica as well as Opeth and Motorhead to earn an encore airing of their "More Than Meets the Eye" video on 'Headbangers Ball.' Tune in Saturday night at 2 a.m. to catch the killer clip, as well as new videos by Satyricon, Machine Head and Warbringer.
And in the week's ahead stay tuned for video premieres by Kreator, Dir En Grey and much, much more.
Click more to watch this week's winning clip and footage of Testament from the 2003 Wacken Festival. Read more...
Posted 1/21/09 10:07 am ET by JonW in The Eye of a Clown
Under most circumstances, if you walk up to an artist and tell him that his self-portrait is hideous, you're likely to get a black eye. But tell Slipknot percussionist and photographer Shawn Crahan that his picture "Self" is ugly and he'll smile and thank you from the bottom of his heart.
For Crahan, art doesn't simply exist to mirror beauty. He'd rather evoke sensations of dread and awareness of death through images that are sometimes difficult to look at, but impossible to ignore. With his latest picture for "The Eye of a Clown" he's exhumed the torment from his soul and splashed it across the screen for everyone to marvel at. And in doing so, he has once again transformed something disgusting into something strangely appealing. Click "more" to check out "Self" and read Crahan's comments. Read more...
The new Iron Maiden documentary "Iron Maiden: Flight 666" will surely be available on DVD later this year, but if you wanna be one of the first to see it, you'll have to head over to your local cinema when it debuts on April 21. Read more...
Posted 1/20/09 5:48 pm ET by JonW in Listen Here
Today, reformed '90s hardcore sludge band, 16, released their fifth full-length album Bridges to Burn. The disc, which marks the 16th anniversary for the Southern California outfit, is full of oozing tarpit riffs, stomping brontosaurus beats and scabrous vocals that amply saves the title of the opening track, "Throw in the Towel," from becoming a bad punchline.
But don't just take our word for it. Try it out for size -- which doesn't mean download it from some Indonesian filesharing site. The boys in the band are being nice enough to let you stream it in its entirety for free. Click "more" to damage your ears. Read more...