Viral Videos
Does it get more metal than Renaissance Fair folk musicians covering Slayer's "Seasons in the Abyss" and "Raining Blood" at the "Jeff Hanneman's Circle Pit" traffic circle in Jaworzno, Poland? Probably, but we're having a hard time of thinking of how at the moment.
The task wasn't easy - the traffic was quite heavy and we had difficulties even with getting to the traffic circle. The noise of cars passing by drowned out the sound of our instruments. For that reason we needed to record the sound once again.
The whole event was a huge attraction to the local people. In addition, it caused some small problems in the traffic and municipal police arriving. Fortunately it ended up with a verbal warning.
Now we have a great remembrance of that moment. It's our small tribute to the one of the greatest metal bands. SLAYER!!!
Greetings to all Slayer fans and those who on that day were on the circle pit!
For more about Scallon, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. And be sure to tell us what you think of the recording and video in the comments or on Facebook!
As you may have heard, Will Ferrell recently challenged Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer (and Will Ferrell doppelgänger) Chad Smith to a drum off during a Reddit AMA, and the battle royale finally came to be last night on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Watch the showdown below—and don't give up on it and miss the surprise ending! Under the drum-off footage, we've included the duo's pre-battle interview.
Besides being hilarious and awesome, the event raised over $300,000 for Cancer For College.
If you happen to have a few spare minutes — consider checking out this video of a band called Plastica performing Dream Theater's "Erotomania" using cheap musical instruments that were made for children.
Apparently, Plastica do — or did? — this sort of thing all the time.
According to the band: "The whole middle part is a big, fat joke, but in Rob's (the guitarist's) defense, he really can play all those arpeggios, just not on a goddamned Barbie guitar."
"Erotomania" is from Dream Theater's 1994 album, Awake. We've included Dream Theater's recording of the song (bottom video) for context. Enjoy!
Just because penguins are cute, cuddly, and protect their young through the harshest of winters, doesn't mean they can't be brutal, too. To prove the point, below is a video of one little guy thrashing around in his own circle pit to the new Every Time I Die song, "Thirst."
Metallica's Lars Ulrich threw out the first pitch this past Friday at San Francisco's AT&T park as part of the Giants' "Metallica Night"...and, well, let's just say it wasn't a strike, as you can see right here. That said, he didn't do nearly as bad as the celebs in the ESPN video below. Maria Carey, Mark Wahlberg, The Go-Gos, Charlie Brown, Carly Rae Jepsen, and the rest, you suck!
We were wasting our lives poking around YouTube one day (OK, every day) when we stumbled on this little video gem. It's from 2009, which doesn't make it any less hilarious. Our intrepid camera person captures a clearly enraptured fan punching himself repeatedly in the face during an Ontario concert by veteran vegetarian grindcore outfit Cattle Decapitation. Please, kids, do not try this at home—or at a show. But if you do—despite our admonition—make sure someone catches you on camera.
Who doesn't want Iron Maiden? Someone who sucks, that's who. When our hankering for a little Dickinson & Co. becomes particularly overpowering, we might scream or shout or roar for the band, but we don't usually cry and whine for it like a little baby. The fan in the video below does. But then, he is a little baby—so maybe that makes it all right. Maybe. Either way, we appreciate the sentiment.
By now, you're probably well aware of Babymetal—the totally bonkers viral sensation that super-collides cutesy J-pop and extreme riffage—but the group is hardly the only whacked-out heavy-music monster to raise its bizarro head from the country that brought us Godzilla and tentacle porn. Kicking things off with a dose of Babymetal (because can you really get enough?), here are some of our favorite metal acts from the land of the rising sun—ranging from werewolf party rock to baseball-jersey-clad Warriors-worshipping beatdowncore.
Babymetal
You know them, you love them. Metal has never been cuter.
Maximum the Hormone
As if this band's manic mix of thrash, grind, doom, and nu-metal styles weren't insane enough, watch this video—and keep watching the video. When it switches from high-energy performance footage to multi-headed high-energy performance footage, things truly get unhinged.
Man with a Mission
This group's music is poppy nu-metal lite—nothing too off the wall there. But in some ways, Man with a Mission's accessible, unoffensive sound makes their decision to wear wolf masks at all times seem even more demented.
Sigh
Musically, long-running extremists Sigh have always pushed boundaries, mashing together black metal with psychedelic rock, jazz, classical music, and horror-movie soundtracks. But what takes the group to another level is the female half of its vocal duo: Dr. Mikannibal, a Physics PhD-certified, saxophone-wielding siren with a penchant for little clothes and lots of blood. Not to mention fire-breathing and eating bugs.
Sand
Ever wonder what would happen if the baseball gang from The Warriors decided to form a tough-guy hardcore band, but also if they were Japanese and had very bad English skills? Neither had we, but now we know the answer. As for the band's name, Sand, we can only assume that it's an oblique reference to The Warrior's beach-side Coney Island location.
Swarrrm
Active since the mid '90s, Swarrrm are ostensibly a grindcore outfit but play grind like you've probably never heard before, taking sharp left turns into indie rock, noise, and even pop. Their penchant for confrontational live performances and mind-melting psychedelic videos only encourage the sense that this is a band made up of truly insane individuals.
Watch brother-and-sister duo Izzy and Aaralyn perform their original song, "Zombie Skin," on America's Got Talent! Let us know what you think in the comments.