photo by Maia Larsen
We all knew Enslaved guitarist Ivar Bjørnson had a blackened soul and an icy heart, so it's no surprise that the dude's iPod is filled with the Norwegian metal of Darkthrone, Mayhem, Dødheimsgard and Ulver. There's also plenty of progressive, experimental stuff like Shining, Isis and Tool, which makes sense considering how psychedelic and jazzy Enslaved's last album Vertebrae was. However, we were a little bit surprised by the inclusion of Rolling Stone's radio hit "Brown Sugar," and Elvis Presley's "Return to Sender." We guess everybody needs some classic rock in their lives from time to time. Conclusion: Either this guy totally walks the walk and talks to talk, or he's lying through his teeth and trying to make us think he does. For black metal fans, we give Bjørnson's list a 90 for listenability. For mainstream metal fans, it's more like a 50. And to those people, Bjørnson would say in Norwegian, "F--k off and die you f--king posers!" Click "more" to read Bjørnson full iPod Random Shuffle list and watch an extreme metal video. Read more...
MTV2 will be teaming up with Revolver magazine to present the premiere hard rock and heavy metal awards show, the first annual Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards, which will storm through Los Angeles' Club Nokia on Tuesday, April 7. The event will feature Ozzy Osbourne, Killswitch Engage, Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan and more, and will be aired on MTV2 as a one-hour special on Saturday, May 2.
"We're working really hard to make this an event worthy of the music it celebrates," Revolver editor in chief Tom Beaujour tells HeadbangersBlog.com. "Metal deserves this and deserves to have it done f---ing right." Read more...
Tags All-That-Remains, Bleeding Through, Brian Posehn, Chuck Billy, Dethklok, Eric Peterson, Glenn Danzig, Hatebreed, Isis, Killswitch-Engage, Lemmy Kilmister, Marta Peterson, Maynard James Keenan, Motörhead, Ozzy-Osbourne, Protest the Hero, Suicide Silence, Testament, Tool
Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan has posted footage on his MySpace of a staged press conference about the first schedule concerts by his side project Puscifer. The shows themselves will take place February 13 to 15 in Las Vegas at the Pearl concert theater at the Palms Casino.
The humorous clip was filmed in black and white by Mike King of Flea Circus Films and depicts Keenan as a military general answering inane questions by clueless journalists, two of which mispronounce the band's name. A third is more interested in finding out information about Tool and A Perfect Circle than he is in learning anything about Puscifer.
Laura Milligan, Paul Greenberg, Jackie Harris, Paul Koslowski, Mark Fight and Ron Lynch co-star in the video, which Keenan describes as "sort of a Dr. Strangelove spoof." Click more to watch. Read more...
Tool singer Maynard James Keenan has done a lot of experimenting with trip-hop beats and tongue-in-cheek vocals recently with his group Puscifer, so it's a bit of a relief to hear that he's rocking out again with LA superduper group Jubilee. Recently, Keenan recorded the vocals for the song "I Don't Have an Excuse, I Just Need a Little Help" along with frontman Aaron North at Shabbey Road. The beat for the tune was composed by Trent Reznor and The Liars drummer Julian Gross played over the programming. "I Don't Have an Excuse" will be the B-side of the band's second single "In With the Out Crowd." Jubilee's first single was "Rebel Hiss." The band's upcoming debut album will also feature contributions by Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters), Josh Homme and Joey Castillo (Queens of the Stone Age), Carla Azar (Autolux), Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle) and others.
Click "more" for a video of Keenan in the studio recording "I Don't Have an Excuse, I Just Need a Little Help." Read more...
Video director Thomas Mignone, who has worked with Slipknot, Sepultura, Testament and Mudvayne, will screen his first feature film "On The Doll" on June 11 at The Annex in New York City. Regular showings begin two days later.
The movie features an original score by ex-Tool bassist Paul D'Amour as well as new music by his new band Feersum Ennjin, Otep, The Black Heart Procession, Crystal Method and Miss Derringer.
"On the Doll" is a dark drama that stars Brittany Snow ("Hairspray," "Prom Night") as a vengeful prostitute indelibly scarred by childhood sexual abuse. The title of the movie comes from a question asked of victimized children: "show me on the doll where you were touched."
Click "more" to watch a scene in which Snow repeatedly punches a tied up john in the nuts just for fun: Read more...
