Earlier this month, Kendall and Kylie Jenner made cringe history with a line of $125 t-shirts designed to "honor" legendary artists like Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., the Doors, Black Sabbath and Metallica — by superimposing Instagram photos of themselves on top of them. Besides being flat-out ugly, the Jenners' tees were created without the icons' knowledge or consent, prompting outrage, social media shade, and in some cases, legal threats, from fans and artists alike — including this epic zinger, courtesy of Sharon Osbourne.
 

Girls, you haven't earned the right to put your face with musical icons. Stick to what you know…lip gloss. pic.twitter.com/BhmuUVrDBn

— Sharon Osbourne (@MrsSOsbourne) June 29, 2017

Within hours, Kendall and Kylie had ceded to the outcry. After yanking the shirts from their website, the siblings issued an apology. "These designs were not well thought out and we deeply apologize to anyone that has been upset and/or offended, especially to the families of the artists," they said in a statement. Nevertheless, the clap-backs keep on coming. The latest arrives courtesy of Metallica frontman James Hetfield, who addressed the Jenners' $125, Kill 'Em All-inspired "vintage original" in a recent interview with ET Canada.

"To me, it's disrespectful," Hetfield said of the siblings' haute homage. "We've spent 36 years working hard, doing our best to keep a really close connection with people, make every note count, and someone just throws something up over something that we feel — Not that it's sacred or anything, but show some respect." If the Jenner sisters are so deadset on honoring the kings of heavy metal, perhaps they could start by following their sister Kim's example and rocking a "Metal Up Your Ass" t-shirt.

Converge are back with a new 7-inch. The Massachusetts hardcore/metal luminaries' one-two punch of "I Can Tell You About Pain" and "Eve" marks their first new music since 2012's spectacular All We Love We Leave Behind LP, and precedes a new Converge album due out sometime later this year. Each cut showcases two very different sides of the band. "I Can Tell You About Pain" is a two-and-a-half-minute napalm blast that hearkens back to the Bostonians' no-B.S. hardcore roots; while "Eve" swaps brute force for dynamic nuance, arriving at the same roiling peaks by way of an epic, doomy seven-minute ascent à la Neurosis (with whom Converge are set to tour later this month).

"I Can Tell You About Pain" arrives paired with a grim visual directed by Tony Wolski. After swigging down what appears to be an ordinary glass of milk, our protagonist proceeds to hallucinate sentinent trash bags and beautiful, illuminated Jane Does, so entranced that he almost forgets the blood gushing out of his nose. It's a dream world, to say the least. Watch that Lynchian clip, plus listen to "Eve," below. "I Can Tell You About Pain" b/w "Eve" is available now digitally via Epitaph and physically via Deathwish.

Dead Cross, the hardcore-flavored supergroup comprising Faith No More's Mike Patton, Retox guitarist Michael Crain, Locust bassist Justin Pearson and ex-Slayer/current-Suicidal Tendencies drummer Dave Lombardo, are gearing up to release their self-titled debut album August 9th via Ipecac Recordings. After dropping off their gruesome, political "Seizure and Desist" video, the band has unveiled a new clip, for "Obedience School," another savage cut off the eponymous LP. Directed by Dennis Bersales, the black-and-white visual whisks the viewer away to a seedy arena to watch two roosters beat each other senseless for a packed crowd's amusement. Dead Cross' blistering hardcore renders this blood sport (commonly known as "cockfighting") all the more brutal — as do the jerky edits, which sync with Lombardo's rabid blast beats.

Watch below, and remember, don't try this at home: Cockfighting is illegal (in the U.S., anyway), not to mention very mean to the chickens. Dead Cross won't be participating in any cockfights in the coming weeks, but they will be hitting the road with Secret Chiefs 3 for a North American tour. 

Aug. 10 - Santa Ana, CA - The Observatory
Aug. 11 - Las Vegas, NV - Brooklyn Bowl
Aug. 12 - Phoenix, AZ - The Marquee
Aug. 14 - Dallas, TX - Gas Monkey Bar & Grill
Aug. 15 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
Aug. 16 - Austin, TX - Emo's
Aug. 18 - Tucson, AZ - The Rialto Theatre
Aug. 19 - San Diego, CA - The Observatory North Park
Aug. 21 - Los Angeles, CA - El Rey Theatre
Aug. 23 - Berkeley, CA - The UC Theatre
Aug. 25 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
Aug. 26 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox
Aug. 27 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
Aug. 29 - Sacramento, CA - Ace of Spades
Sept. 08 - Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Soundstage
Sept. 10 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer
Sept. 11 - Boston, MA - Royale
Sept. 12 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre
Sept. 13 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
Sept. 15 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall

Black Sabbath recently announced Black Sabbath: The End of the End, a documentary chronicling the icons' final concert last February, in their hometown of Birmingham, England. Today, they've released a trailer for Dick Curruthers' film, which will be screened in theaters worldwide for one night only, September 28th. The 30-second preview offers a tantalizing glimpse of what the film holds: professionally-shot footage of Ozzy and Co.'s grand finale, dizzying crowd shots, intimate peeks behind the curtain and — of course — a deluge of purple balloons. Check it out below. A list of theaters participating in the Black Sabbath: The End of the End screening event can be found over on the film's official website. Don't see your city listed? Head here to request a screening.

The End of the End isn't the only thing Black Sabbath fans have to look forward to this September. A day after the film's release, on September 29th, the band will release its new vinyl box set, The Ten Year War. The limited-edition release includes remastered editions of the band's first eight LPs (Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master Of Reality, Vol. 4, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Sabotage, Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die), two rare seven-inches, a crucifix-shaped USB stick (which can also be worn as a necklace), a hardcover book with photos and essays, reproductions of Black Sabbath's hard-to-find "Ten Year War" brochure and 10th Anniversary World Tour 1978 Program and a reprinted tour poster from Black Sabbath's 1972 concert at the Seattle Centre Arena. Pre-order the box set here.

Earlier this month, Osbourne took the stage at Wisconsin's Rock USA festival for his first concert since Black Sabbath's epic hometown curtain call. His headlining set marked the return of longtime guitarist (and Black Label Society mastermind) Zakk Wylde, after an extensive absence. (Wylde's last performance with the Ozzman was in 2009.)

Slipknot are set to release their new tour documentary Day of the Gusano just over a month from now. Directed by Slipknot Percussionist M. Shawn "Clown" Crahan, the 90-minute movie, out September 6th, captures the band's historic Knotfest Mexico show — as well as the droves of fiercely loyal fans, known as "Maggots," who attended the 2015 concert — in surround sound, providing viewers with an immersive film experience. It'll be screened at 1,000 theaters worldwide for one night only (a list of participating venues is available here). 

"Slipknot still has dreams for itself," Crahan has said of the doc. "Finally playing Mexico was one of them. It's been a surreal life of rock & roll for Slipknot and the fact that the dreams still go on for us is simply incredible."

Following last month's pro-shot snippet of their "Vermillion" performance, Slipknot have proffered up another ephemeral sneak peek of the upcoming documentary. This time, viewers get a fly-on-the-wall perspective of Slipknot's pre-Knotfest rehearsals, which band members conducted unmasked and without their usual jumpsuits. Check it out below.

Linkin Park have penned a heartfelt letter in memory of Chester Bennington, their first public comments since the singer took his own life last Thursday (July 20th). "Our hearts are broken. The shockwaves of grief and denial are still sweeping through our family as we come to grips with what has happened," they begin, going on to express appreciation for the "outpouring of love and support, both public in private, from around the world," as well as celebrate Bennington's passion, courage, and openness. Read the entire statement below.

Linkin Park's tribute follows last week's cancellations of their "One More Light" tour (which was slated to begin July 27th), as well as the "Blinkin Park" trek with Blink-182. In the wake of Bennington's death, the band have launched Chester.linkinpark.com, a website where fans can share tributes of their own, as well as find resources on suicide prevention.

Dear Chester,

Our hearts are broken. The shockwaves of grief and denial are still sweeping through our family as we come to grips with what has happened.

You touched so many lives, maybe even more than you realized. In the past few days, we've seen an outpouring of love and support, both public and private, from around the world. Talinda and the family appreciate it, and want the world to know that you were the best husband, son, and father; the family will never be whole without you.

Talking with you about the years ahead together, your excitement was infectious. Your absence leaves a void that can never be filled—a boisterous, funny, ambitious, creative, kind, generous voice in the room is missing. We're trying to remind ourselves that the demons who took you away from us were always part of the deal. After all, it was the way you sang about those demons that made everyone fall in love with you in the first place. You fearlessly put them on display, and in doing so, brought us together and taught us to be more human. You had the biggest heart, and managed to wear it on your sleeve.

Our love for making and performing music is inextinguishable. While we don't know what path our future may take, we know that each of our lives was made better by you. Thank you for that gift. We love you, and miss you so much.

Until we see you again, LP

In 1989, John McEntee was a treasured member of New Jersey thrash team Revenant and left that band to pursue a new project called Incantation. Three years and a few short releases later we had Onward to Golgotha, a certified death metal classic of the finest order, a true yardstick for the genre that has aged gracefully during it's quarter century on Earth. The LP was released on a then-fledgling little label called Relapse Records, and was the first of eleven LPs across their career with the middle period finding a home at Listenable Records.

Now in 2017, Incantation has returned to Relapse for Profane Nexus, the band's latest work and the focus of several full US tours with Marduk. Unlike years previous, Incantation has gone from a band focused on recording to a band in full touring mode, but that has not come without some controversy.  Incantation came under fire for their involvement with vocalist Craig Pillard, who performed on the classic Golgotha. Though Pillard had not performed with the band in more than two decades, his association and participation with Nationalist / Socialist focused bands was the topic of much conversation in relation to Incantation's political affiliation.

With Incantation approaching thirty years on earth, we asked founding member John McEntee to discuss the band's origins, their return to Relapse, touring and those Nazi sympathizer allegations. His answers are below.

REVOLVER So let's start with Incantation 1989. So you're starting this band, what were your goals and ideas? To just be the most evil band you could?
JOHN MCENTEE I played in band called Revenant before that, which was quite popular in the world wide underground at the time and they were about to get signed to Nuclear Blast Records. I was a huge part of the band– people used to call me "Revenant Man" because I was always the guy that was passing out Revenant flyers. So the main guy in the band was kind of changing the style a little bit and wanted to be more refined and a little more technical, more commercial I guess. I was still young then, 19 years old, and I still had the rage in me where I wanted to just have the rough edges and be dirty and aggressive and brutal. It was a difficult decision to leave Revenant, the album wasn't going to be representing me properly. So once I got together with Paul Ledney, our first drummer, we're just going to what we wanted to do musically and not give a shit about anything. No false aspirations as far as how this was gonna go. Basically, we were going to do what we want to do, everybody could fuck off, and if nobody liked it, that's fine. It was basically making the decision of do you want to play music for yourself or to make people happy? So it actually worked to our advantage, but we really had no expectations. We would be happy to one day have a 7 inch EP or something.

Once we got the offer from Relapse originally it was a dream come true really, but also surprising and rewarding at the same time.  When you're doing it for yourself, it gives you a special connection with your fans as opposed to doing something for commercial success. Let's face it, a lot of bands out there want to be popular or they follow trends. We were anti all of that stuff. It was a punk rock attitude where it was like "Fuck you, we're doing it our way and if you don't like it piss off."

I'd venture to say that's the hallmark of any good creative endeavor. I mean let's be real though, it must have been a tough decision.
Yeah, oh absolutely. All my friends thought I was insane. I actually lost a lot of my friends for a while because they just thought I was losing my mind or something, working so hard to build up this band. Part of the reason why they got signed was because of me, so I was writing some of the songs and pushing the band a lot along with Henry the main guy in the band. Henry and I put so much work into it and then I just decided to leave

So lets talk about your landmark release Onward to Golgotha. What were some of the records that you looked up to in the making of that LP?
My biggest influence at that time was that I wanted to push the style forward, a big record for that was Possessed's Seven Churches. It's definitely more of a thrash album but it has elements that would become death metal. So when I heard that, that really like did something to me where I was just like "Fuck." I remember picking it up the first time and not even knowing what the fuck to think. I like that. I felt like I had to listen to it more to understand and it just pulled me in. Once I got into it, it just was like a magical feeling. I was really into early Necrophagia and bands like Destruction and Kreator were all big influences on me. There were so many– Sarcófago was a big influence on us too. We really liked that old South American style, even the really early Sepultura stuff was really a big influence. We always said that the riff itself isn't important, it's the feeling you get when you hear the riff.

After being a part of metal for more than thirty years, is it part of your influence now? Do you sit at home and listen to Jazz and light incense at this point?
[Laughs] Yeah I listen to metal a lot, still. Mostly some of the early heavy metal stuff that I grew up with like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath… I pretty much like Black Sabbath from every era. And then Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker­–I listen to all of that stuff. It's crazy because I can go from listening to that to The Beatles or Pink Floyd or Jimi Hendrix, who are big influences. I love listening to Paradise Lost's first album Lost Paradise, Entombed's Left Hand Path but also Asphyx, Immolation and others. Really, anything I listen to that just kicks my ass. Like I just saw Yngwie Malmsteen play on this tour and I love almost all his stuff.

So obviously you've come full circle now starting with Relapse, coming back to them for the third record with .  How did you arrive at Relapse and all of that?
It was basically on a whim. We were doing a 25^th year anniversary release and I just said for the heck of it "would you guys have any interest in us if we were out of our contract." I think it was Eli over there who immediately said like "Yeah I think so" I mean he was totally, totally excited– I think they never even thought we would even consider going back to them because we did have a really difficult break up when we left. Now, Relapse is a totally different label than they were when they started. When they first started, the band and the label was going through growing pains–we didn't know how to run a band really and they didn't know how to run a label. Both sides fucked up or made stupid decisions and it just didn't work out properly. Now it's better because we both have a realistic idea and better idea how things are running. And obviously Relapse has done an amazing job you know with the label and stuff like that.

It's been years since you guys have been this active­­–actually going for it with full U.S. tours. Before this you guys were a bit more of a "precision strike" band. What is it like being back on the road in such a heavy capacity?
Well, I love being on the road. I mean the last full U.S. tour we did was the Marduk tour in February this year and we had a blast. The Marduk guys were amazing– really great guys to tour with and the overall vibe it was just great. There's something about being on the road and playing every day. We don't want to wear out our welcome but we're doing a tour coming up with Marduk again in mostly different markets than we did last time. I'm just really excited about that. Those guys are really nice guys and we just got along really well. I love touring. I would tour all the time if we were able to, you know.

Marduk caught some flak for some work they've done that references the Nazis in the context of WWII. In that same breath, you've recently caught fire over your association with your former singer Craig Pillard and his Nazi-related project Der Sturmer. What are your thoughts on that?
[laughs] Well, first of all it's kind of ridiculous because he is our former singer. I can't have control over what any of my former members do or what they're into. That was probably about 2 years after he left the band when he got into some of his controversial stuff. I mean it's so just ridiculous because this Nazi stuff never even slightly came up when we were in a band. So it's just totally insane. For many years, I barely even talked to Craig so to have any affiliation with whatever he's doing, regardless of what it is… Yeah, we have a connection because he played in Incantation and he did an amazing job while he was in the band, but that's really as far as our relationship goes.

The thing with that… I think that it's really ignorant because they're not really getting proper information and trying to go for low hanging fruit. If they really wanted to do the right thing in pushing their agenda I think they need to find the right way to do it where they're not going to get too much push back. The way they're doing it is almost fueling more problems. If they really feel that us and Marduk are racist, they should know for sure before making those accusations. But to try to say that the people coming to a show are being Nazi sympathizers is just absolutely insane. I mean especially in Austin [where protestors showed up]– 80% of the crowd is probably Mexican or Latino. And the way they're dealing with things is actually causing more push back in the opposite direction than they would if they didn't do anything at all. Now there's people that are just pissed off at them. They're gonna do antagonizing stuff to them– I have seen Mexican people giving them the "Hail Hitler" sign at the show and they were doing it to piss them off, not because they're racist.

They're going about it is just wrong. I mean especially stopping shows– you're not gonna make more fans by stopping shows. They stopped the show in Oakland, California– I think they made some threats and the show didn't go on. All that did was really piss off a lot of people, and it totally doesn't help anything. Drunken metal heads want to go to a show and have a good time, you know?

The thing that really drives me up a wall is that we are metalheads­– we're supposed to be rebellious and on the edge­– we're supposed to be kind of assholes to some extent. That's the only reason why I got into metal. I don't feel like I need to prove to people anything really. I shouldn't have to. We play all around the world to different people of all different nationalities and the thing that we have in common is that we all like metal. We're really appreciative of that. I would say the same for Marduk. They play all around the world for people, and if they were really racist they'd only be playing in Europe and certain places where there's white people. So it's just absurd.

That's what kills me. We need to work together to build our scene, not work apart. And the thing is that people go to our shows… we don't have a litmus test. They could be Nazis or they could be ANTIFA or whatever­– just go and enjoy the show. The show is our getaway from everything. It's not a test to be one thing or the other– it has no relevance to our show whatsoever [laughs]. We don't do anything that's political in anyway. We have no interest in it. If you're religious you'll get a little offended but I mean everyone is allowed at our shows. Whatever they believe is none of our business.

Who the fuck is Michael Alago?

Director Drew Stone (All Ages and The New York Hardcore Chronicles) sets out to answer that exact question in his new documentary Who the Fuck Is That Guy? The Fabulous Journey of Michael Alago. The film details the fascinating life and career of the New York City native who signed Metallica — from his Brooklyn roots and time booking acts at East Village rock club The Ritz to his brilliant A&R work for Elektra and Geffen (where he signed artists as varied as White Zombie and Tracy Chapman), as well as his later years dealing with illness and leaving the record industry. It's a very New York story: one of wild nights, rock stars and legendary moments.

With the documentary due in select theaters July 21st and via video-on-demand July 25th, we caught up with Stone and Alago to chat about the latter's influential life behind the scenes and how he helped change the course of heavy music history.

Lars Ulrich and Alago. Photograph courtesy of Michael Alago.

Drew, how did you first hear of Michael?
DREW STONE As a teenager in the late Seventies/early Eighties, I would go out and, whether I was backstage at a club or at Madison Square Garden, I kept seeing this guy over and over again who was a little bit out of place in such a heavy and hard rock genre. Eventually I heard, "That's the guy that signed Metallica." Later on, our paths crossed when I was managing a band called Subzero who toured Europe with the reunited Misfits in 1996. I went out on that European tour and Michael was out there.
MICHAEL ALAGO And the reason that I was out there was because I just signed them to Geffen Records and they made a record called American Psycho.
STONE So I went out on the tour and I got to know Michael a bit, and eventually back in New York, we would bump into each other every now and then. When I finished the Boston hardcore documentary All Ages, Michael came to the premiere and I was really surprised to see him­. When that film was over, I was thinking about what's next and I ran into him backstage at a Cro-Mags show and I walked out of there going, "You know, this guy's got a great story." And we got together after that.

Michael, what was your "aha!" moment where you decided that you wanted to work in music?
ALAGO I'm 14 years old and I live in Brooklyn. I watch Dick Clark's American Bandstand, Don Cornelius' Soul Train and Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. I stand up in front of the TV all the time thinking, Wow, there are such wildly diverse artists on all of those shows ... I wanna do that! I don't know what "that" was because I didn't play an instrument, but I wanted to be part of it. Fast forward, I'm 19 years old, I walk in the East Village, I go past a place on 11th Street that was going to be opening as The Ritz. I meet this man named Jerry Brant and he's the music director there. He was like, "Kid, what are you doing here? We're not open. It's daytime." And I'm like, "I want a job." He laughed, and we started talking about all types of music from the Great American Songbook to pop music to hard rock. He thought that was very interesting that I had that kind of diverse taste and he said, "I'm gonna give you a job. You're gonna open my mail. You're gonna answer my phone, and you're gonna get my lunch." And I thought, I've arrived. It was so exciting. My first job was at a nightclub that was about to open. We had everybody there in those early days from Prince to the return of Tina Turner to Black Flag and the Misfits.

John Lydon and Alago. Photograph courtesy of Michael Alago.

The film touches on your bookings over the years at The Ritz, going into particular detail about an infamous performance by John Lydon's post-Sex Pistols band PiL, where a riot broke out. What do you think is the coolest booking that you did during your time there? Would it be that PiL booking?
ALAGO Well, I love PiL and it wasn't supposed to go that way. I guess that was cool into itself, but you know in the three years that I was at The Ritz, every night we had bands. It was extraordinary to see five nights of Tina Turner when you hadn't seen her in years. That was extraordinary. And then in the early days we booked Prince there and that was extraordinary.
STONE What about U2?
ALAGO U2 was a Sunday night, and tickets weren't selling so well. Boy on Island Records hadn't come out yet, so my default was to go to WLIR in Long Island and give the DJs 10 pairs of tickets for giveaway. By the end of the day, with the free tickets, it was a sold-out event. And that was extraordinary to see a band like that right before the first album came out. You can't buy a thing called charisma, and Bono had that onstage. It was this raw, incredible energy and something to witness because they were fabulous from that day obviously forward.

So obviously you're proud of all of these. But what about a near miss? A fish that got away that you tried to sign but did not?
ALAGO I listened to demos and I met with lawyers, managers and artists every day Monday through Friday for 24 years. At one point I wanted to sign the Cro-Mags. I would go see the Cro-Mags every and anywhere that I could. But you know, I felt it unfair to sign them, even though Elektra Records is really a cool label, but it was a major label that was part of Time Warner. It would have been unfair because I would have been the only one championing them. There was nothing else like that on Elektra, so it was something that I told the guys in the end, "I love you. I will verbally support you, but it's just not gonna be the right match." At that point in the early Eighties they needed to be on whatever independent label they wound up on, which I think was Profile.

At some point I was going to see Slayer a lot, but I had just signed Metallica. A funny story is I was also going to see Megadeth, which, you know, we never spoke about because of Metallica. And one day I brought in Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! to Bob Krasnow, our chairman. He thought that was the greatest title of a record he ever heard, nevermind that he couldn't care less about heavy metal. "These people have a sense of humor — when are they coming to the office?" I said, "Well, this is a little tricky because Dave [Mustaine] was in Metallica. He has his own band." I went to see the guys a bunch of times and at one point Mustaine said to me, "You know, Michael, we really have a rapport here but it would be unfair because I don't wanna live under Metallica's shadow." And that's kind of what would have happened. So everything works out for a reason. They wound up on Capitol and the next record that they made was my most favorite record, Peace Sells… But Who's Buying?

Slayer, I don't remember how that one got away, but I wound up just being so busy with the records I was making that you just can't have everything in your life.

Cliff Burton. Photograph courtesy of Michael Alago.

Obviously, signing Metallica to Elektra was a big deal, and James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted all appear in this film and are extremely supportive. Do you have any funny stories about Cliff Burton that you want to share from those days?
ALAGO Well, Cliff Burton was a sweetheart. Extraordinary musician. Lovely person. The day after they played Roseland, the summer of 1984, I barreled into their dressing room and bolted the door. They were like, Oh, this is what an A&R person looks like at a major label? I was hugging them and kissing them and they were like, "OK, ok." Anyway they came to the office the very next day at 75 Rockefeller Plaza, where Elektra was, and they came into the conference room and I was kidding with Cliff about his elephant bell bottoms — you know, those wide bell bottoms.

Yeah, they were really big in old photos.
ALAGO [Laughs] Oh my god, because they were almost out of fashion but perfect on him. I would tease him about that. That day he wanted to know what cassettes he could have and I said, "Do you want the Doors?" "Yes." "MC5?" "Yes." "Iggy?" "Yes." He said, "But I know that you have this label Nonesuch and they do all this esoteric music," and basically it was a lot of field recordings. The crickets were chirping, the wind was blowing, but that's what Cliff wanted. He also asked me for Simon & Garfunkel and I said, "They're on CBS, but I will gladly get it for you." Cliff and I drank a lot of beer together, laughed a lot and talked about the Misfits. When I signed them in 1984 to when he passed in September of '86, Metallica were working, in the studio or on the road, so unfortunately I didn't have too many encounters with him. But the ones that I did were very, very precious because he was just an incredible spirit.

Nina Simone was infamous for being difficult, but you two had quite a bond.
ALAGO Well, since you brought her up ... She was very difficult. She was very troubled. Any medications that she took were with a bottle of wine, and you know that the outcome after that is never what is intended. But she was the most extraordinary artist in the whole world. We were friends the last 12 years of her life. I made one album with her called A Single Woman, with a 50-piece orchestra. We modeled it after Frank Sinatra's A Man Alone and Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin. She always said, "No." I always said, "Try it out." And in the end we always met in the middle. She was extraordinary. No one could sing a Bob Dylan song or George Harrison song or Beatles song like her. You would think, Man, did she write these songs? Because she knew how to get to the heart of the matter of a song.

Alago and Nina Simone. Photograph courtesy of Michael Alago.

When was the last time you saw her?
ALAGO The last time I saw her was in London, July of 1999. I brought a dozen white roses and a bottle of champagne to her room. She was getting her hair cornrowed, and it was taking hours. She got sick and tired of everyone and she said, "Get out." Then she turned to me and said, "Would you like to take a bubble bath?" And I said, "Together?" And she says, "Yes, Michael. Why not?" I said, "Um, OK, why not, but I'm keeping on my boxer shorts." [Laughs] So we were acting like teenagers. We filled up the bubble bath, got the champagne glasses and we just hung out. And that's the last time I saw her. But what a high to end on.

In 2003, I was going to my dad's grave and something [inside me] said, "Call Nina." It was Saturday, April 20th. I called and said, "Hi," and she said, "Oh, sugar lips, how come you never married me?" I said, "Oh, honey, I don't know but I love you so much and I will be there tomorrow." She was in the south of France and I said I would travel directly to her. She said, "Well, that would be nice." And that was it. The next morning it was on CNN, "Nina Simone dead at 70." It was one of the worst days of my life. I adored her. I loved her so much. Even when she was difficult, I didn't care because I just thought the world of her.

You know, I don't think I ever had problems with artists. I think a lot of the artists that I worked with were always very focused and very clear about what they wanted to say and I think that's why I responded to people that I signed. In 25 years I maybe signed two things a year because there's a lot of good stuff out there, but good ain't great. Elektra and Geffen were major labels but acted like a boutique label. We were very specific about our signings — I was, anyway. Rob Zombie, Nina Simone, Metallica, did I say John Lydon? John Lydon, one of my near and dear friends of 36 years, never had a bad word with him.

Alago and Kurt Hammett. Photograph courtesy of Michael Alago.

The world is in a little bit better place now in terms of how gay people are treated, but I would imagine it was probably really tough for you in the Eighties being in a hypermasculine culture like punk and metal. Did you ever encounter any issues with homophobia?
ALAGO So I'm a person who has never seen a closet in their life. [Laughs] I was always out. People knew that. I made no bones about it. If I saw a handsome guy, I'd walk right up to him. I didn't care if they were straight or gay. You know, really, I have never ever had a problem with being gay in regards to dealing with Flotsam [and Jetsam], Metallica, Metal Church, Dokken, George Lynch, any of these people. Because someone in another interview said to me the other day, "Well, how did your sexuality come into play with some of these artists? Did you like them beyond the call of signings?" And I was a little mortified for one second about the question, but then I thought my sexuality had nothing to do with the music ...

I'm not talking about these bands necessarily. I'm talking about you're backstage, you're hanging out with Metallica, maybe there's a bunch of wannabe tough guys there who would be like, "Who's this dude?"
ALAGO Oh! Well, I took care of all those people. I'd be drinking and I would disarm them with a hug and a handshake and I think after that people are just going like, "Oh, OK, everything's OK, yeah yeah." You know, it's always about disarming people. I pretty much never had problems with people in my whole life hardly, unless I was really drunk. [Laughs]

Those things happened few and far between. I do vaguely remember a night being in one of the dressing rooms at The Ritz. I wanted to sign the Red Hot Chili Peppers, pre-EMI. So I'm in the dressing room, their friends are in the dressing room, the Cro-Mags are in the dressing room, and everybody had almost this tough-guy sensibility. I don't remember anyone else being gay in that room, but like I say, you disarm people with charm. And I'm a charming guy. [Laughs] It's almost like, how could anybody not respond to that? Unless you're a real asshole. And thank god I don't come across them too often. Even back in the day.

Drew, let's be fair. There are a lot of A&R guys who have great stories. What do you think makes Michael so unique?
STONE Well, I think there are a lot of elements, one of which is that it's a New York story. I'm a New York guy and I gravitate to that. But it's also the circumstances and things in his life that he had to overcome to really kind of get to where he is. I think the common theme here, and Phil Anselmo mentions it in the film, is it doesn't matter what your sexual preference is. It doesn't matter if you have drug issues or if you were touched as a kid or whatever. Music is the great equalizer and what brings people together. And that's really, you know, what it's about in a big way. Michael comes from a challenging background and later with his drug issues and health issues, he managed to get past all that. So it was a great story — one of perseverance and a love for music. It's very unique that a gay man in hard rock and heavy metal really changed the face of modern music. I mean, by signing Metallica, it basically opened the door for everybody else. They were the first. They changed pop music.

Marilyn Manson has shared a blistering new cover of Ministry's "Stigmata." His crushing take on the classic The Land of Rape and Honey song was concieved in concert with composer Tyler Bates (Watchmen, 300, Guardians of the Galaxy), who also collaborated with Manson on his critically acclaimed last album, The Pale Emperor. It is one of three Eighties covers featured on the soundtrack to David Leitch's upcoming spy thriller Atomic Blonde, starring Charlize Theron. (Industrial band HEALTH and electro-pop duo Kaleida took on New Order's "Blue Monday" and Nena's "99 Luftballons," respectively, for the 16-track collection.) The Atomic Blonde soundtrack arrives the same day the film hits theaters (July 28), via Back Lot Music. You can stream Manson's "Stigmata" cover below (as well as some of the shock rocker's other best covers), and check out a trailer for the film. Pre-orders for the soundtrack are available here.

Manson's Ministry cover arrives amidst an uptick in activity for both artists. The former is gearing up to release his 10th album, Heaven Upside Down, later this year, and recently announced a massive fall North American tour. Meanwhile, Ministry just tapped Death Grips to support them on a tour behind their new album, AmeriKKKant, which is expected sometime this fall.

In 2014, a metal band called Pentakill came seemingly out of nowhere and landed its debut EP, Smite & Ignite, in the Billboard Top 40 and at No. 1 on the iTunes Metal and Rock charts. The mini-album went on to rack up millions of streams on YouTube and Spotify. Even more surprising, the group turned out to be a virtual band made up of fictional members — vocalist Karthus, guitarist Mordekaiser, bassist Yorick, keyboardist Sona and drummer Olaf — embodied by an original skin line in the massively popular online game League of Legends.

Behind the scenes, the songs on Smite & Ignite were created by a rotating cast of professional metal musicians, including Jørn Lande (Jorn, Beyond Twilight, Masterplan) and ZP Theart (Skid Row, Dragonforce), as well as by the music composition and production team at League of Legends' parent company, Riot Games.

Today, Pentakill have released the group's first new music in three years, the singles "The Bloodthirster" and "Tear of the Goddess," which presage the release of the band's follow-up album, Pentakill II: Grasp Of The Undying. "The Bloodthirster" features Lande's power-metal wail and synths by Scott Kirkland of the Crystal Method, while "Tear of the Goddess" introduces the vocals of Noora Louhimo (Battle Beast) into the fold. Check out both songs below, and for more info, visit pentakill.leagueoflegends.com.