Metal and Hardcore

Five '70s Metal Bands Who Are Better Than Black Sabbath

By: Nicholas PellOk, we get it. You like Sabbath. Everyone does. But there's a whole big world out there of '70s metal bands that goes beyond Sabbath -- even beyond Sir Lord Baltimore, if you can believe that. The '70s offered so much in the way of doom-and-gloom heaviness that it's criminal so many ... More >>

This Is What the Best Rock Drummer in OC Looks Like

Aric Improta battles for supremacy at Guitar Center's National Drum Off

Municipal Waste Are the Funnest (and Most Disturbing) in All of Thrash Metal

The band prove that bloody entrails and hellfire guitar riffs can actually be a light-hearted combination

Suicide Silence Seek Donations For Mitch Lucker Memorial Fund

Days after Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker died in a motorcycle crash in Huntington Beach, the band have launched a memorial fund to provide assistance to the family of the late singer. All proceeds donated to the official Mitch Lucker Memorial Fund will go towards the education of Lucker's fi ... More >>

Oderus Urungus of GWAR Says the Presidential Election Should Be Decided With Gladiatorial Combat

By: Alex DistefanoIt has been nearly 30 Earth years since the infamous, killer mutant heavy metal space creatures known as GWAR first visited this planet. Anyone who has ever had blood and entrails splattered on them at one of their shows knows that life on this planet has never been the same since. ... More >>

Wise-Cracking Weedeater Mix Humor and Headbanging

The North Carolina band enjoy evil music without all the pretention

Top 25 Greatest Orange County Bands of All Time: The Complete List

Go ahead, call us a bunch of culture-less, lily-white suburbanites with a partiality to flip-flops and right-wing politics. Those kind of labels never cease to amuse us. Because one thing that instantly dooms most of the tired cliches ascribed to OC is the music--the one-of-a-kind frustration, aggre ... More >>

Top 25 Greatest Orange County Bands of All Time: 14-6

14. Reel Big FishZany, wacky, ska-rooted (though they rock harder now) Reel Big Fish elevate self-deprecation to an art form, thanks to a malcontent lead singer in Aaron Barrett, who beats you to the punch with peppy lyrics like "I'll never be anything, anything at all." He lays down these anti-What ... More >>

Epicenter - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater - September 22, 2012

Epicenter Verizon Wireless Amphitheater September 22, 2012 See Also: *Deftones Interview with Chino Moreno *Deftones at Fox Theater in Pomona *The Five Best Shows in OC This Weekend Unseasonably warm temperatures fittingly provided earthquake weather for the Epicenter Festival at Verizon Wireless ... More >>

Heretic To Film Live DVD In Santa Ana This Weekend

See Also: *fun. - The Wiltern - 8/17/12* Phish - Long Beach Arena - 8/15/12 *How Alabama Shakes Turned a Shitty Career Break Into a Major Score Since reemerging a year ago, Southern California speed/thrash metal outfit Heretic have been pretty busy. Three members from the band's formative days, gui ... More >>

KISS - Motley Crue - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater - 8/14/12

KISS and Motley Crue Verizon Wireless Amphitheater 8/14/12 See Also: *Iron Maiden at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater *Kiss at the Honda Center *Motley Crue at the Joint in Las Vegas Two of the earliest albums that sculpted my music tastes were that of Kiss's Destroyer and Motley Crue's Shout At ... More >>

TNT

Orange County Fairgrounds

Hal Sparks: Comedian, Actor...Rockstar?

You may know Hal Sparks as a guy who can bring the funny as a stand-up comic, TV personality, and film actor. But few know him as the lead singer and axe man in an alternative metal band (I know! We didn't either!). This Friday (June 15th), Hal is busting out his the eye liner and shredding skills f ... More >>

'Rock of Ages,' or 'Hair Metal: The Musical'

Adam Shankman, et al. make you happy you missed the Sunset Strip, circa 1987

Danzig Says He Would Have Played Wolverine Less 'Gay' Than Hugh Jackman

See also: *The Craziest Danzig Stalker of Them All *Glenn Danzig VS. the Internet * Reviewed: Danzig at the Grove-11-22-10 Glenn Danzig is a hard man to get face time with, so we were extremely psyched to meet up with him at his management company's Wilshire Blvd. office. The veteran metalhead cut ... More >>

At the Skylines Smash the Screamo Stereotype

[Locals Only] The band claim that term is for 'old people'

Cromwell

Slidebar

Six Most Notorious Musician/Wrestler Incidents (Not Including Hulk Hogan Almost Joining Metallica)

​Wrestling and heavy metal have gone hand-in-hand since, well, the '70s. That being said, NME reported the startling news that wrestling icon Hulk Hogan was buds with Metallica's Lars Ulrich and wasthis close to joining Metallica in the early '80s when the Hulkster was a session bassist (believe t ... More >>

Drummer Floyd 'Bud' Gaugh Quits Sublime With Rome

[Mental Notes] Plus, 'Slayer Bob' lights up your holidays

Micro Championship Wrestling

The Coach House

Cavalera Conspiracy

Glass House

Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees Announced

​Fifteen rockers are up to bat for the five available slots at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this October. The nominee list (posted after the jump, along with our Top Five picks) has garnered mixed responses from the public--with some expressing outrage over the inclusion (and excl ... More >>

L.A. Guns

Galaxy Theatre

Local Record Review: 'Move Like Music' by Move Like Music

Beat Blvd. is Heard Mentality's weekly review of local releases. If you're an OC musician or band with something new to offer--vinyl single, full-length album, CD, cassette--we want to hear from you! Send copies, along with any photos and PR material, to Beat Blvd., c/o OC Weekly, 2975 Red Hill A ... More >>

Ravens Moreland

Alex's Bar

Local Record Review: 'Sickening' by Morphine Killer

Beat Blvd. is Heard Mentality's weekly review of local releases. If you're an OC musician or band with something new to offer--vinyl single, full-length album, CD, cassette--we want to hear from you! Send copies, along with any photos and PR material, to Beat Blvd., c/o OC Weekly, 2975 Red H ... More >>

Five Ridiculous Music Lawsuits to Top David Byrne's

​ David Byrne celebrated a legal victory this week against former Florida governor Charlie Crist, who used Byrne's song Road To Nowhere in a campaign last year without permission. Along with pocketing an undisclosed sum of cash, Byrne's victory led to Crist releasing a stammering, videotaped apo ... More >>

The Holloys

Alex's Bar

Ozzy Named 'Ambassador,' Bats Cry Foul

​On April 16, the annual Record Store Day event will be hosted by independent record stores to recognize great music and the artists who play it. Ozzy Osbourne was named 2011's Record Store Day Ambassador, following in the footsteps of such honorees as Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal in 20 ... More >>

WTF: Former Iron Maiden Singer Pleads Guilty to Fraud

Aled Thomas​WTF:Perhaps this week's post is a more pathetic cautionary tale than a bonafied WTF. In any event, it demonstrates that iconic stars everywhere might benefit from the stern benefactoring of MASH's own Mike Farrell, who once consulted fallen stars on how to manage their fortunes. 

Avenged Sevenfold and A Perfect Circle Headlining Rock on the Range

Avenged Sevenfold​OC-based Avenged Sevenfold and drummer Josh Freese of A Perfect Circle will be headlining the hard-rock music fest Rock on the Range. The 5th annual celebration will be held on May 21 and May 22 at the Columbus Crew Stadium in Ohio. It will commence early Friday evening with ... More >>

Arsonists Get All the Girls

Chain Reaction

Motorhead

House of Blues

Bonzo: The Groove Remains the Same

Galaxy Concert Theatre

December Decimation

The Glass House

Gama Bomb Talk Thrash Fashion, 
George Fucking Orwell, and a Comic Book-Inspired Concept Record

Earache Records​Gama Bomb is hell-bent on having fun. The band from Newry, Ireland, happily bangs out frenetic '80s-style thrash while tapping into their geeky side without a care. The pop culture worship of "We Respect You" off Tales from the Grave (available as a free download at  Earache R ... More >>

Dimmu Borgir

Fox Pomona Theater

Gwar

The Glass House

Telomere Repair

Alex's Bar

Sevendust with Drowning Pool, House of Blues, Anaheim, 3/13

Andrew YoussefSevendust singer Lajon Witherspoon roarsThe Hype: A rare heavy metal show at the House of Blues Anaheim featured the one-two punch of Sevendust and Drowning Pool. Sevendust is gearing up for the release of their eighth album, Cold Day Memory due April 20 while Drowning Pool are set to ... More >>

TOMORROW: Earth Crisis at Chain Reaction

Syracuse-based vegan straight edge band Earth Crisis is playing tomorrow night at Chain Reaction. The group was one of the biggest and most controversial hardcore acts of the 90s thanks to the EPs All Out War and Firestorm. The band followed those with the records Destroy the Machines and the follow ... More >>

Slideshow: MUSINK Tattoo Convention and Music Festival

Tattoos and music are pretty inextricably linked, for better or worse--your Travis Barkers, your Tommy Lees--so it makes sense that bands like Story of the Year (pictured), Atreyu, Throwdown and more would descend upon the Orange County Fairgrounds for the MUSINK Tattoo Convention and Music Festival ... More >>

MUSINK Convention Returns to Costa Mesa

Though the scheduled MUSINK tour became another casualty of the flagging economy, the three-day music and tattoo convention is still happening--February 20-22, again at the Orange County Fair & Exposition Center in Costa Mesa. But they're quick to point out that celebutant Kat Von D, of "LA Ink" ... More >>

Valient Thorr, Black Tusk and Tweak Bird at Detroit Bar

Last Night: LiskFest @ Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine

Last Night: Liskfest at Oak Canyon Ranch in Irvine on October 11,2008 Better Than: seeing a festival in the middle of summer. Download: "Oi, To The World!" by the Vandals from their Myspace page Hope, change, and unity were used as themes in hardcore music long before the current political ... More >>

Bronze Metal

Best of Metal Tributes

What you missed over the weekend: Part VI

NAMM 2008 came and went, with fans and music celebs flooding the Anaheim Convention Center. Weekly web photographer Christopher Victorio dropped by the madhouse on Saturday and ran into folks from Slipknot, Megadeth, Queensryche, Motley Crue and even Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood. Photos ... More >>

HOB Cancels Shadows Fall Shows

Shadows Fall: Tabooed off the stage by Disney. Two dates on Shadows Fall's upcoming Operation Annihilation tour with Static X have been canceled. Both were to occur at House of Blues venues located on property owned by the Walt Disney company. The Oct. 20 date scheduled at House of Blues in Orland ... More >>

Hair Metal Makes Him Blush

We told you about how American Hardcore--the documentary about hardcore punk rock that Orange County helped spawn--was the No. 1 film at Regal/Edwards University across from UCI the week it opened. That film was based on producer Steven Blush's book of the same title, as we mentioned in our chat w ... More >>

The Devil Plays for Mater Dei

Mater Dei High is a haven for cover-ups (see our Ex Cathedra archives), but none are lamer than the one attempted by head football coach Bruce Rollinson in today's typical OC Register Mater Dei blowjob. Register sports writer Carlos Arias (who is a great boxing writer--too bad nobody sees the sport ... More >>