Metallica

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Telegraph Canyon @ Rhythm Room

X-TG (Members of Throbbing Gristle) Revive Nico's Lost Classic, Desertshore

By Alex Jarson Okay, we know you just love the Velvet Underground--you're sporting the latest fall calendar Urban Outfitters top, your mom took you to get the Warhol Banana tattooed on your bicep, and you think they're the greatest, most provocative band to have ever graced this earth. You even pla ... More >>

Jason Hildebrandt, What Are You Listening To?

Jason Hildebrandt Hildebrandt is the executive sous chef for Ocotillo Golf Resort. Meet him Thursday, October 18 at San Tan Brewery for a beer dinner at 6 p.m. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? KUPD 97.9-F ... 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 >>

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 >>

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 >>

Here's The Heavy Metal Soundtrack to Your Sexcapades You've Been Looking For

We might not all agree on musical taste, I mean, metal, indie rock, jazz, hip-hop, none of it is made for everyone, but I think we can all agree that there's really nothing so appealing as all-out sex appeal. Sex might not be the first thing you think of when you think of heavy rock, but it's in the ... More >>

Blood On The Dance Floor at Nile Theater, 4/5/12

Blood On The Dance Floor Nile Theater Thursday, April 5, 2012 It's "Holy Week," and this week I accepted a challenge not to criticize or gossip. I've been doing pretty well, reserving judgement on others, but I think it's okay to put all of that on pause for work. Besides, if Blood on the Dance Flo ... More >>

Storm of Perception's Brian Herring on The Band's Supernatural Past, and Metallica vs Pantera

I respect Prescott for a handful of things: eclectic art, historic buildings (Prescott has hundreds on the National Historic Registry), and for being host to the world's oldest rodeo. And, of course, Whiskey Row, where a friend and I decided to take a shot of Jameson at every bar before heading to t ... More >>

Year in Review, Kickstarter, Top 15 Local Releases in This Week's Issue

​In this week's issue of New Times, I join our friends in café, art, and stage in a look back on 2011, observing trends and noting the good, the bad, and the ugly of the year in the review. I focused on the crowd-funding site Kickstarter. We featured a couple Kickstarter projects this year, (my ... More >>

As the Stop Online Piracy Act Hits Capitol Hill, Five Artists That Speak Out Against File Sharing

Sigur Ros​Yesterday, we blogged about the ultra-famous musicians that support music piracy in the face of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), recently introduced to the House of Representatives, which aims to protect the copyright laws of music and other downloadable intellectual property. Web ... More >>

Metallica & Lou Reed's Lulu: Music for Gas-Huffing, Denim-Clad Arizona Teenagers?

​Clanging acoustic guitars, pitched somewhere between Led Zeppelin's ballads and John Fahey's American Primitivism, and then, a voice, singular and unmistakable. It is the voice of Lou Reed: "I would cut my legs and tits off when I think of Boris Karloff and Kinski / In the dark of the moon / You ... More >>

Metal Goes Pop: Five Examples of Doing It Right

​Yesterday our compatriots at Country Grind announced that heavy rockers Torche and Part Chimp will team for upcoming Chunklet-issued 12-inch record that finds Torche covering legendary lo-fi rockers Guided By Voices. Torche have always been a metal band unafraid to embrace big pop sounds, and th ... More >>

Absent: The Film Featuring James Hetfield of Metallica Available to Order Tomorrow

​Do you remember a couple months back, when I wrote about the Central Christian Church screening of Absent, the documentary by Justin Hunt about absent fathers featuring James Hetfield of Metallica? Yeah, me too. This year has flown by. I feel like I wrote that yesterday, but that was freaking ... More >>

I Wish It Would Rain -- 10 'Rain' Songs We Hope Inspire More Rain

​ So we finally got a little rain last night -- but if your car is still as dirty as mine from last week's haboob -- it wasn't nearly enough. I'm talking some serious monsoon action, the kind that lasts a few days.  Here's 10 songs that that will hopefully inspire Mother Nature to help us out ... More >>

Somehow, Jethro Tull Toppled Metallica for a Grammy Upset

Watch Megadeth Hang Out in Phoenix in Evolver Documentary about Youthanasia

This week's main print feature is about why Dave Mustaine, and not a member of his former band, Metallica, or anyone else on this weekend's Big 4 bill, is the MVP of metal. In that column mentioned Evolver: The Making of Youthanasia, which chronicles the band's adventures in Phoenix, where t ... More >>

Megadeth Vs. Metallica, The Artifact, Railroad Revival Tour and More in This Week's Issue

​The music section in week's print edition of Phoenix New Times is heavy on the metal.Why shouldn't it be, what with The Big 4 festival featuring Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax going down just a short drive away in Indio, California this weekend. In honor the the occasion I penned a colum ... More >>

From Print: Blogs Teased in Our March 10 Issue

​This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. Are The Refreshments really playing South By Southwest as reported?Which Strokes side project is the best to com ... More >>

Dawn Jameson, Calexico, Interpol, Soundcheck and More In This Week's Issue

​In this week's big feature, Nicki Escudero looks at the burgeoning career of North Scottsdale crooner Dawn Jameson -- examining whether she's just another no-talent slutwave star along the lines of Ke$ha or if she's got talent to match her looks. Whether you agree she's got the goods or not (you ... More >>

Discographies on Twitter Summarizes a Band's Career in 140 Glorious Characters

Couldn't have said it better myself​Last week, I brought you the brilliant Tumblr Album Tacos, and lives were forever changed. Yeah, I said it -- someone photoshopping tacos onto various album covers is a life-changing event.Well this week bears the fragrant fruit of Twitter Discographies --  ... More >>

New Kings of Leon Music Video Just Released

​The highly-anticipated new music video for Kings of Leon's new single "Radioactive" was released this morning. It's a playful video in which the band and a joyous children's choir have a picnic next to a barn. As for the song itself, it's got gospel soul, and it's catchy as hell. I won't ruin the ... More >>

Bullet For My Valentine

Guy Ritchie Calls Madonna "Retarded," New Live Nirvana Video, New Frightened Rabbit Songs

Electric Mustache: mp3: Tegan & Sara "Hell"Idolator: Jennifer Lopez Is Not Doing The Whole "Alter Ego" Thing All That WellNME: Guy Ritchie breaks silence on Madonna: 'I still love her but she's retarded'NME: Brian Wilson asked to finish incomplete George Gershwin compositionsPitchfork: Video: Ni ... More >>

Woodstock '94 Started 15 Years Ago Today

Fifteen years ago today, Generation X arguably reached it's zenith, as Woodstock '94 began in Saugerties, New York.Upstate locals 3 kicked things off on a Friday that also saw Blues Traveler, Collective Soul, Ice T, Live and The Violent Femmes. Tomorrow, August 13, was when the big guns of the day c ... More >>

Mastodon

Reel Big Fish

Flier of the Week: 30 Fathom Grave

You know who ends up getting a lot of Flier of the Week love? Local industrial bands. But, really, as much as I'd like to spread the attention around, I have to share fliers like this. This flier for 30 Fathom Grave's show at The Ruby Room is pretty great. It kind of reminds me of the cover of Metal ... More >>

The Top 14 Heavy Metal Men of Arizona

National Music News: Metallica takes its show on the road, Jackson Browne takes John McCain to court, and more

Headbangers Ball

Cello-style

Heavy Metal: A Box Set Review in Three Acts

Rock Docs Are Go!

As CDs wither, the low-budget rockumentary is born again

Various Artists

Drum Nation Volume 3
(Magna Carta)

e(v)olocity

e(v)olocity
(Nuerra Records)

Various Artists

Invaders
(Kemado)

High on Fire

Yes, metal can burn

Overseas MP3s

For pennies a tune, you can build a primo music library and support free enterprise in Russia

High on Fire

Images of trauma and drama

Fahrenheit 2004

Remembering the movies that heated up cinemas this year

Kreator

The German band comes to the Valley

The Locust

Plague Soundscapes (Epitaph)

Paloalto

Paloalto (American)

Liver Let Die

Trashman misses his brush with God's organ grinder

Recordings