Tag Archives | Heavy Metal

Napalm Death’s Music So Loud It Could Damage London Museum

By on March 21, 2013 in News 0

ShaneEmburyNapalmDeathbymjcuevasCould this be the ultimate compliment for a metal band: their planned gig at the venerable Victoria & Albert Museum in London has been canceled as the museum is worried that their music is so loud it could damage the building, reports Reuters:

London’s famed Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has canceled an experimental concert by extreme metal band Napalm Death, fearing the noise level could damage the 104-year-old building.

Ceramic artist Keith Harrison from the V&A, the world’s largest museum of decorative arts and design, collaborated with Napalm Death on a set to be played through a sculptural sound system which would disintegrate under decibel stress.

But museum officials said the one-off performance, scheduled for Friday in the V&A’s Europe Galleries, had been canceled out of concern it was not only the intended sculpture that would be damaged.

“A further safety inspection has revealed concerns that the high level of decibels generated by the concert would damage the historic fabric of the building,” a museum statement said…

[continues at Reuters]… Read the rest

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Botswana is Metal as F*ck

By on February 11, 2013 in News 6

Picture: The Guardian (C)

The Guardian covers Botswana’s small heavy metal scene. Think you’re metal? Hell no, you’re not. Not unless you’re rocking old school head to toe studded black leather in the blazing African summer. These guys rock that look year-round, no matter what.

In the remorseless Kalahari heat, leather is not the most obvious choice of attire. But to a dedicated band of Batswana metalheads, it’s the only way to dress. The country’s heavy metal scene, imported from neighbouring South Africa, may be niche but its fans are passionate about their style. Dressed from head to toe in black leather, sporting cowboy boots, hats and exaggerated props, they draw some curious looks on the dusty streets.

Keep reading.… Read the rest

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Jedi Most Popular Alternative Religion In UK

By on December 12, 2012 in News 4

Jedi-temple.info JMANew census statistics from the UK show that Britons are becoming Jedi Knights in droves. The rest are Metalheads…. Report in the Telegraph:

The new figures reveal that the lightsabre-wielding disciples are only behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Buddhism in the popularity stakes, excluding non-religious people and people who did not answer.

Following a nationwide campaign, Jedi made it onto the 2001 census, with 390,127 people identifying themselves a decade ago as followers of the fictional Star Wars creed.

Although the number of Jedis has dropped by more than 50 per cent over the past 10 years, they are still the most selected “alternative” faith on the Census, and constitute 0.31% of all people’s stated religious affiliation in England and Wales.

The latest official population survey also revealed 6,242 people subscribe to the Heavy Metal religion…

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Rick Santorum Declares War On Heavy Metal

By on February 11, 2012 in News 73

Rick Santorum - CaricatureKeith Spillett’s satirical article on Santorum at The Tyranny of Tradition blog is the funniest political story I’ve read this week. Or this year.

Rick Santorum has been on the offensive lately, but his target has not been Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney or even President Barack Obama. For the past week, Santorum has been using his campaign to take aim at an issue he feels to be the single most dangerous force in America today: Satanism in heavy metal. “If you listen to the radio today, many of these brand new, so-called heavy metal music bands like Black Sabbath, Venom, The WASP and Iron Maiden use satanic imagery to corrupt the minds of young people,” announced Santorum at a 10,000 dollar a plate sock-hop in Valdosta, Georgia on Thursday.

Santorum’s popularity in the polls has grown substantially since he began speaking out against metal and its assault on traditional values. He has spent much of the past week in the Midwest encouraging young people to stay away from metal artists and listen to performers like Michael W. Smith and Pat Boone. In a recent Gallup Poll, 87 percent of Republican voters think that the biggest problem in America today is “the demented bloodlust of teenagers caused entirely by heavy metal music.”

In the past, Santorum has accused heavy metal of being the cause of some of the worst crimes in American history…

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West Memphis Three “Plead Guilty”, Freed After 18 Years

By on August 19, 2011 in News 18

the-west-memphis-3-may-be-released-25932-1313766108-1The trio of teenage friends were accused and convicted of several child murders in Arkansas in 1993, with the evidence more or less amounting to their interest in heavy metal music and dark-colored clothing. DNA evidence since confirmed their innocence, turning them into a cause célèbre as symbols of legal injustice, ’90s-era hysteria over provocative music, and, more broadly, the human tendency to scapegoat outsiders. The Los Angeles Times writes:

The three men known as the “West Memphis 3,” who have been imprisoned for 18 years for a notorious 1993 child-murder case, have won their freedom in an Arkansas courtroom.

In an agreement with prosecutors, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin pleaded guilty to the murders of three 8-year-old boys in May 1993, but are able to claim they are innocent, an arrangement known as an “Alford plea.” The three men were released Friday after serving sentences of 18 years plus credit for time served.

… Read the rest

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What Do You Get If You Blend Metallica And Lou Reed?

By on June 16, 2011 in News 17
Metallica & Lou Reed (from metallica.com)

Metallica & Lou Reed (from metallica.com)

You don’t need to guess the answer to this question – the Metallica guys and Lou are releasing an album of their collaboration. From the Metallica site:

A few months ago our own Kirk Hammett hinted at a new Metallica project that’s “not really 100 percent a Metallica record.” While Kirk may have jumped the gun a little (and has since been properly punished with a series of push-ups!), we are more than proud to announce that we have just completed recording a full length album that is a collaboration with none other than the legendary Lou Reed.

Ever since we had the pleasure of performing with Lou at the 25th Anniversary of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden in October of 2009, we have been kicking around the idea of making a record together. Some of you astute Bay Area residents may have picked up news of recent Lou Reed sightings in the greater San Francisco area and we have indeed been working at our home studio at HQ on and off over the last few months.

… Read the rest

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Sammy Hagar Abducted By Aliens

By on March 21, 2011 in News 20

SammyHagarIs revealing that he was abducted by aliens a good career move by Sammy Hagar, the sometime Van Halen frontman? This interview with Eric Spitznagel for MTV Hive will probably move a few copies of his new book Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, at least!

Okay, let’s just cut to the chase. I’m just going to come out and ask it. Have you ever been abducted by aliens?

I think I have.

What? Really? I was kidding. You seriously believe that?

[Laughs.] Now you’re making me sound like a crazy person.

How is that crazy? I wasn’t there, I don’t know what happened to you.

Remember the story in the book, where I have a dream about being contacted by aliens in the foothills above Fontana?

Yeah, yeah, I’ve got the page right here. “I saw a ship and two creatures inside of this ship… And they were connected to me, tapped into my mind through some kind of mysterious wireless connection.” You’re telling me that wasn’t a dream?

… Read the rest

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Heavy Metal Solutions For The Middle East?

By on March 10, 2011 in News 8

201071885349832580_8Writing for Al Jazeera, Mark LeVine explores the uncanny popularity of dinosaur metal band Iron Maiden amongst a young, Middle Eastern fan base and “asks if heavy metal music offers a blueprint for modernization in the Middle East.” I certainly hope LeVine’s geopolitical thesis is correct — reconfiguring staid Mideast nations using the tenets of Maiden as a basis sounds brilliant, for the resultant national flags alone.

I first saw Iron Maiden in Dubai in 2007, at the Dubai Desert Rock Festival, which although only three years old was becoming known as the “Mecca for Middle Eastern metal”.

This was pre-crash Dubai, in all its excessive splendor, and the festival was filled to capacity with 20,000 metalheads, mostly Arabs, Iranians and South Asians, cheering, screaming and even crying during Maiden’s headlining show.

The members of Iron Maiden still recall that first Dubai show fondly, but in reality Dubai represented the very antithesis of everything Maiden has always stood for – consumption without reason, style over substance, the pursuit of wealth and celebrity without a solid foundation or sustainable principles.

… Read the rest

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