Metal and Hardcore

Here Are 10 Metal Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

By Alex Distefano I have been a heavy metal fan for over 50 percent of my existence on this planet. But when you're talking about the all-encompassing musical genre known as "heavy metal," you might as well be talking about something as infinitely complicated as the universe. It's that vast, and th ... More >>

Cowboys N Hell

The 10 Metal Gods Geeks Will Always Worship

by Adam Steininger Geeks love metal more than the computers on which they listen to it. They yearn for heavy metal forged by Orcs in the mountains of Mordor, smuggled halfway across the universe on Serenity, and then discovered by Silver Surfer while out scouting for delicious planets. These bands ... More >>

Pantera Tribute Act Cowboys N Hell On The Best Cover Bands in Phoenix

People either love or hate cover bands. Some think they are fantastic tributes, while others think they are blatant rip-offs. Personally, I love tribute bands. They give music fans a chance to hear songs live and celebrate a favorite band--and often it's a band that's disbanded, one you'll never b ... More >>

Eight Must-Read Heavy Metal Books

Metalheads are some of the most devoted music fans on the planet. No--I mean we really love our music. Oh, you memorized Lady Gaga's music video dance moves? Check out my Kreator Coma of Souls back piece, and meet my friend's daughter, Sabbath. Later we're going to karaoke to cover Pantera and Motor ... More >>

Eight Metal Bands That Killed It at Rock on the Range; See Three in Phoenix Soon

Founded in 2007, Columbus, Ohio's Rock on the Range has become one of heavy metal's largest events, and every year, it just gets bigger and better. As Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach said in an interview: "As far as rock festivals in America go, Rock on the Range in No. 1 in my book. Straight f****n e ... More >>

Can We Stop Making Up New Metal Subgenres?

Am I the only one who is sick to death of the ever-growing list of metal subgenres? It seems to evolve and pulsate and throw out even more obscure genres on a daily basis. Honestly, if there's one thing metalheads should be able to have faith in when it comes to their music, it's that metal veers ... More >>

Slayer's Jeff Hanneman and 8 Other Metallers Dead Before Their Time

Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman died of cirrhosis on May 2, the same day as the Golden Gods Awards. It was devastating that on a day meant to celebrate the lives of the best musicians in metal, one of those artists was taken from the world of music. It also came as a shock. In fact, by all accounts ... More >>

Golden Gods 2013: How Gene Simmons Gets Out Of Interviews And Other Black Carpet Tales

If you've been reading this whiskey-drenched, devil-horn-throwing column every week for more than a year, here's a little thank-you flashback to the beginning. In one of the first Metal Mondays installments, I talked about the Revolver Golden Gods Awards in Los Angeles--basically the heavy metal Gra ... More >>

Mushroomhead @ Marquee Theatre

An Infamous 2004 Scuffle Continues to Define Danny Marianino and Glenn Danzig

Black Sabbath to Play Phoenix August 30 on 2013 World Tour

Black Sabbath -- that is, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, for the moment -- have been teasing a summer tour of North America for weeks, and when they finally announced the full tour on Thursday it came with an August 30 performance in Phoenix, at US Airways Center. The tour celebrates ... More >>

The Best of Up on the Sun's Weekly Metal Column, Metal Mondays

Some of you may remember last March when a little column called Metal Mondays debuted via Up On The Sun, and immediately dove into the subjects matters of Pantera, strippers, Jack Daniels, and YouTube.

Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend

Hey ya, the weekend is here. So get off the couch and get to some shows, Phoenix. Maybe these shows: Our Top Five Must-See Shows in Phoenix This Weekend.

Max Cavalera Brings Soulfly Home to Phoenix

Soulfly's Max Cavalera Discusses Extreme Groove (and His New Supergroup, Featuring Members of Mars Volta, Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly is a very mellow speaker. His Brazilian accent is thick, and there's a lilting quality to the way he punctuates his sentences with phrases like "You know?" or "It's killer, man." He's buzzing about a lake house in unincorporated Phoenix, a second home in addition to his other ... More >>

Anthrax Gets Classic Rock with Anthems

You can't go wrong with a healthy dose of Anthrax in the morning. At least, that's what I thought as I listened to their new EP Anthems, released on Tuesday, March 19. Add that to the fact that these thrash metal legends are coming through town this Sunday on the Metal Alliance tour --alongside Ex ... More >>

Heavy Metal is Taking Over Your Churches and Schools

Chances are if you're a weekly reader Metal Mondays here at Up on the Sun, you don't think of metalheads as thickheaded, grotesque, and crude Neanderthals. You know metal fans can be smart, erudite, and witty. Still, among the pop masses, there's a prevailing attitude that metal listeners are capita ... More >>

Excavating Heavy Metal's Blues and Jazz Roots

"The blues was like that problem child that you may have had in the family. You was a little bit ashamed to let anybody see him, but you loved him. You just didn't know how other people would take it." --B.B. King "Metal confronts what we'd rather ignore. It celebrates what we often deny. It indulg ... More >>

Every Time I Die @ Nile Theater

Unearthing Metal's Classical Roots

I wasn't raised on Anthrax or Zeppelin, or anything between in regards to the heavy metal alphabet. No, the soundtrack of my youth was classical music. I competed in classical piano competitions for the better part of a decade, and Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Wolfgang Amadeus ... More >>

Sorrower Embraces Punk DIY Culture and Grindcore Feel

Top Metal Festivals of 2013

When the lineup for Rock on the Range was announced last week, a flurry of emails between myself and three other of my fellow chick metal journalists/enthusiasts ensued regarding flights, hotels, and tickets. We had all attended the weekend festival together in 2012, and relished the thought of a he ... More >>

When Did Metal Fans Start Hating Each Other?

As a metal head, I often face lots of people who assume I don't listen to anything else. Of course, I'm guilty of it too. It's the first agitated thought I have when douche bags roll up next to my car blasting Soulja Boy and all I want to do is ram into them. I automatically assume they have terri ... More >>

Lifers Phil Anselmo and Bruce Corbitt Rep the Metal Underground

The 17 Most Anticipated Metal Albums of 2013

I'm almost a little bummed that the world didn't end on December 21. No War of the Worlds or 2012 scenes became a reality, although I was so sure that the only reason gas prices were down was because all the rich people were holed up in their submarines, burrowed into the Alps like a goddamn modern- ... More >>

The Year in Heavy Metal: 2012

The year 2012 brought an array of exciting moments in heavy metal, from album releases by veteran acts like Napalm Death and younger bands like Goatwhore, to some of the biggest ever heavy metal festivals, to a few of my personal favorite interviews with metal legends. Enjoy -- and happy metal fuc ... More >>

Queensryche @ Marquee Theatre

A Dimebag Darrell Playlist (Just In Time For The Holidays)

Sometimes it can be difficult to get pumped up for the holidays, especially nowadays, when the sacred dates are saturated with commercialism, consumer greed, and an importance on tradition that, unfortunately for many, lost its spiritual meaning a long time ago. See also: Your Holiday Heavy Metal ... More >>

Your Holiday Heavy Metal Gift Guide

What's the most metal gift you've ever received? I can think of several that stick out: Led Zeppelin vinyl, a miniature model of Dimebag Darrell's Razorback lightning bolt guitar, spike-bedecked high heels that would make a dominatrix envious, a stripper pole paired with a handle of whiskey. But I ... More >>

Dethklok @ Marquee Theatre

Deftones Don't Conform to the Nu-Metal Mold

The Butcher Babies, Boobs, and Blood

Here's what I expected from The Butcher Babies on the opening night of their "Hush Little Baby" tour: Sexy, sexy bitches; electrical tape-adorned boobs; vocals ranging from erotically melodic to ear-shatteringly demonic, intermixed with headbang-worthy breakdowns. For those of you who don't know w ... More >>

The 25 Creepiest Heavy Metal Album Covers

By Jason Roche Halloween is the time where it's acceptable to wallow in the creepy, the crawly, the dark, and the macabre. Sounds like the themes of heavy metal, year-round! Here then, are those most spine-tingliest metal album covers, for your All Hallow's Eve viewing pleasure. Step inside... See ... More >>

Recommended Roadtrip: Southwest Terror Fest This Weekend in Tucson

In the past I have definitely bitched about how the Southwest gets skipped over by a lot of metal festivals. But here's some good news: our fair state is finally putting on one of its own. This weekend the Southwest Terror Fest goes down in Tucson, serving as a crazy-ass kick-off to the Halloween se ... More >>

8 Kids More Metal Than You

See also: The Most Anticipated Heavy Metal Releases of the Fall See also: The 10 Hottest Chicks in Metal See also: Six Desert Metal Bands You Need to Hear See also: A Closer Look at KUPD's MILF Contest 2012There are few things in this world that have the ability to coax an "Awwwww...that is so damn ... More >>

The Most Anticipated Heavy Metal Releases of the Fall

See also: The 10 Hottest Chicks in Metal See also: Six Desert Metal Bands You Need to Hear See also: A Closer Look at KUPD's MILF Contest 2012Long running alt-metal combo The Deftones have announced that Tuesday, November 12, will be the release date for Koi No Yokan, their first collection of new m ... More >>

The Best Metal Songs for Football

Hang on guys, here's something you won't believe: Phil Anselmo of Pantera/Down is mad about something. But it's not the sort of thing we're used to him being mad about. As you're no doubt aware, with the weather beginning to act like it might cool down, college campuses swelling with textbook-toti ... More >>

Slash Still Has an Appetite for Destruction

Do You Look "Metal Enough" for Metal Shows?

See also: Five Finger Death Punch, Killswitch Engage, and More @ Comerica Theatre See also: Five Finger Death Punch's Jason Hook on Giving the Fans What They Want See also: The full Trespass America slideshow This weekend I attended two intense yet intriguingly different metal shows. I spent Saturda ... More >>

Five Finger Death Punch and Killswitch Engage, Comerica Theatre, 8/26/12

See also: Five Finger Death Punch's Jason Hook on Giving the Fans What They Want See also: Lamb of God's Randy Blythe Set Free; Five Finger Death Punch Weighs InFive Finger Death Punch, Killswitch Engage, and More @ COMERICA THEATRE|8/26/12 The Trespass America tour, featuring a veritable who's who ... More >>

In Celebration of the Best Metal Documentaries

See also: Metallica at Outside Lands: The Five Best Parts of the Band's Fiery San Francisco Show See also: The 10 Most Ridiculous Claims Made By Dave Mustaine of Megadeth See also: Lamb of God's Randy Blythe Set Free; Five Finger Death Punch Weighs InHeavy metal fans are a tenacious bunch. Plenty o ... More >>

Dave Mustaine Says Obama Staged Fast and Furious Gunwalking Scandal, Aurora, Colorado, and Sikh Temple Shootings

See also: Megadeth's Dave Ellefson: "Why I'm Trying to Become a Pastor" See also: Dave Mustaine's Advice for Starving Women in Africa: "Put a Plug in It" See also: Megadeth's Dave Mustaine is Metal's MVP See also: Rusty Assault Rifles Found in Madera Canyon Not Part of Fast and Furious, ATF Confirms ... More >>

Iron Maiden, Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion, 8/6/12

Iron Maiden Ashley Furniture HomeStore Pavilion Monday, August 6 See the full Iron Maiden @ ASHSP slideshow. See also: Deep Purple Tribute: Iron Maiden, Metallica, More Salute Keyboardist Jon Lord See also: Six Desert Metal Bands You Need to Hear See also: Iron Maiden Put on Awesome Show for the K ... More >>

Deep Purple Tribute: Iron Maiden, Metallica, More Salute Keyboardist Jon Lord

See also: Six Desert Metal Bands That You Need to Hear See also: Alice Cooper's Mom Has the Original "School's Out" Panties There aren't many bands that I hold higher than Deep Purple when it comes to putting down the groundwork for heavy metal, driven by British rocker Jonathon Douglas "Jon" Lord ... More >>

Top Phoenix Music Stories of the Week

The news waits for no one -- at least that's what we read somewhere -- so it's perfectly understandable that you, the reader, might have missed out on a musical tidbit, breaking news about your favorite venue, or one of our rants. So enjoy this digest-style sampling of some of our biggest stories f ... More >>

Soulfly, Cattle Decapitation, Incite, and More, Marquee Theatre, 8/2/12

Soulfly, Cattle Decapitation, and More Marquee Theatre Thursday, August 2, 2012 See also: Soulfly and Fear Factory to Play The Gathering of the Juggalos See also: Soulfly's Max Cavalera Discusses Upcoming D-Low Memorial Show and the Possibility of a Sepultura Reunion (2010) Last night's 16th annua ... More >>

Six Desert Metal Bands You Need to Hear

See also: Monday Monday: Is Heavy Metal Really The Devil's Music? The desert is the perfect place for heavy metal to spawn: desolate, hot, seemingly devoid of life, save for the plants and critters that spit poison or are encased in thorny flesh. Yet Valley of the Sun's healthy metal scene just c ... More >>

Is Heavy Metal Really The Devil's Music?

See also: Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson to Headline KUPD's Desert Uprising See also: Megadeth's Dave Ellefson: "Why I'm Trying to Become a Pastor" Last week, I found myself in an awkward conversation with douchebag with a popped collar and frosted tips. He asked me if I worshipped "the Devil," lo ... More >>