Chris Walter/WireImage Bringing the story of Black Sabbath to the big screen is no easy task. If ever the film gods decide to make a movie about the Godfathers of Heavy Metal, they’d have a tough task ahead of them. Whether it be the band’s iconic singer Ozzy Osbourne or legendary guitarist Tony Iommi, the actors portraying them have to be just right for the role. We’ve assembled a list of four actors who we think would do the band proud if ever a Black Sabbath biopic went into production. Check out our choices to play the original members of Black Sabbath below: Ozzy Osbourne Played by Colin Farrell Chris Walter, WireImage / Vittorio Zunino Celotto, Getty Images As the Prince of Darkness himself, Ozzy Osbourne is one of most notorious figures in heavy metal history. To capture Ozzy’s wild side, you need an actor who has a bad-boy reputation — and who better to take on the role than Colin Farrell ? While he may not be a dead ringer for Ozzy, the Irish actor does possess a few of the rock icon’s facial features. However, in this case, the selection of Farrell is more about personality than looks, and we feel he’s got the full package to portray Osbourne in a movie. ? Tony Iommi Played by Christian Bale Chris Walter, WireImage / Jason Merritt, Getty Images Tony Iommi is often credited as the inventor of heavy metal. His guitar riffs revolutionized music and set in motion a whole new genre of music. That said, you need an accomplished actor to portray Iommi, and our pick is the Dark Knight himself, British actor Christian Bale . Again, not a striking resemblance, but Bale has been known to transform into his characters, so we see no problem with him taking on the role of a heavy metal genius. ? Geezer Butler Played by James McAvoy Chris Walter, WireImage / Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images As the chief lyricist in Black Sabbath, bassist Geezer Butler needs to be played by an intellectual type. We nominate James McAvoy of such films as ‘Atonement,’ ‘Wanted’ and ‘X-Men: First Class.’ Not only does the Scottish thespian seem like a smart dude, he also looks remarkably like the young Geezer Butler. With a few bass lessons and a few books on the occult, McAvoy should be well on his way to taking on the role of Butler. ? Bill Ward Played by Tom Hardy Chris Walter, WireImage / Gareth Cattermole, Getty Images For heavy-hitting drummer Bill Ward , we need a powerful actor who can pound the skins with authority. While casting the guy who played ‘Dark Knight Rises’ villain Bane might stir up trouble with Christian Bale’s portrayal of Tony Iommi, we think Tom Hardy fits the ‘Bill’ extremely well. The British actor has shown his versatility as a boxer in ‘Warrior’ and a romantic spy in ‘This Means War,’ so he should have no problem rockin’ the role of Bill Ward if a Sabbath movie ever gets made. Who do you think should play the members of Black Sabbath in a movie? Do you like our choices? Any other suggestions? Let us know in the comments section below: [button href=”http://loudwire.com/casting-call-nirvana/” title=”Next Casiting Call: Nirvana” align=”center”]
Razor & Tie Shadows Fall had been set for a big spring overseas. The band had booked dates with Testament in Europe and Ill Nino in the UK, but now they’ve bowed out of both of those tours. Shadows Fall revealed that they were exiting the upcoming treks due to “a number of circumstances beyond our control.” It is unknown what those circumstances are. However, the band as a whole appears to be okay having just completed an early year tour with Hatebreed , Dying Fetus and The Contortionist . It is known that guitarist Jon Donais would be taking leave from the band over the next couple of months (with Shadows Fall’s encouragement) to play with Anthrax in Australia and on that group’s ‘Metal Alliance’ U.S. tour this spring. But it is not known if his absence played into the band bowing out of their overseas dates. The group offered their statement on the matter in a Facebook posting that reads as follows: Due to a number of circumstances beyond our control, Shadows Fall has been forced to cancel our upcoming European tour with Testament and our co-headlining UK run with Ill Niño. We tried everything we could to make this tour happen and exhausted all options we could think of but unfortunately we were not able to work it out. We sincerely apologize to all the fans, promoters and bands involved. Everyone in Shadows Fall thank you for understanding and we plan on making it up to our European fans as soon as possible. Shadows Fall have been promoting their ‘ Fire From the Sky ‘ album, which dropped last May. The disc has already spawned the title track and the follow-up single ‘ The Unknown .’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/shadows-fall-thoughts-without-words-top-21st-century-metal-songs/” title=”Next: Shadows Fall – Top 21st Century Metal Songs” align=”center”]
Facebook: Roadrunner Records / Daniel Tremonti Stone Sour ’s fans did the band a solid by helping their song ‘Do Me a Favor’ beat Device in the last Cage Match, but will they be able to do it again? Creed / Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti has had much success with his solo project, aptly titled Tremonti. The new single ‘Wish You Well’ off of their debut album ‘All I Was’ heats things up in this Cage Match round with a short film / music video for the track, which can be seen below. Tremonti have a handful of U.S. shows in February and March; go here for a full list of dates and cities. So will Stone Sour continue on their victorious path with ‘Do Me a Favor’ or will Mark Tremonti and his crew take off with ‘Wish You Well’ for a major win? Listen to both tracks and vote for your favorite below! (This Cage Match will run until Monday, Feb. 25, at 8AM ET. Fans can vote once per hour! So come back and vote often to make sure your favorite song wins!) Stone Sour, ‘Do Me a Favor’ Tremonti, ‘Wish You Well Sorry, you need to have javascript running to see this poll. Email Me When Cage Match Winners Are Announced Enter your email address below to receive the Loudwire newsletter, which will include notification of the daily winner of the Cage Match, as well as our top stories of the day. Email Rules of Cage Match: Fans can vote once per hour for their favorite song. If a song remains the reigning champ for five straight cage matches, it is retired to the Loudwire Cage Match Hall of Fame. With so many great songs out there, we have to give other bands a chance!
Photo by Dave Ma There’s a big shakeup at the top of the Loudwire Radio Top 20 Countdown this week. Just when it seemed like Deftones were knocking on the door to No. 1 last week, the band’s single ‘Tempest’ just got leapfrogged by Alice in Chains ‘ ‘Hollow,’ which makes a major move from No. 4 to No. 1. ‘Tempest’ holds strong at No. 2 for a second week, but their chances of taking that final step to reach the top of the charts just got a little more difficult. Meanwhile, All That Remains , who held the No. 1 spot for two weeks with ‘Stand Up,’ slide back to No. 3 this week. Elsewhere in the Top 5, Young Guns inch up a spot to No. 4 with ‘Bones,’ while Volbeat ‘s former No. 1 song, ‘Heaven Nor Hell,’ falls back two more spots to No. 5. While Alice in Chains moved three big notches to the top spot, they weren’t the biggest mover of the week. That title goes to Soundgarden ‘s ‘By Crooked Steps,’ which jumped up from No. 19 to No. 13 this week. The track actually traded spots with Five Finger Death Punch ‘s ‘The Pride,’ which took the biggest tumble, falling six notches to No. 19. And yes, there is one new track on the Loudwire Top 20 Countdown. Sevendust ‘s ‘Decay’ slips in at No. 18, pushing out Shinedown ‘s former chart-topper, ‘Enemies,’ from this week’s chart. Check out the full list of top 20 songs of this week’s countdown below and be sure to tune in and crank it up to rock out to Loudwire Radio this weekend. To find out where you can hear the countdown, click on the red button below. Loudwire Radio Top 20 Songs of the Week: 20. Green Day, ‘X-Kid’ 19. Five Finger Death Punch, ‘The Pride’ 18. Sevendust, ‘Decay’ 17. Hollywood Undead, ‘We Are’ 16. Otherwise, ‘I Don’t Apologize’ 15. Dave Grohl + Corey Taylor, ‘From Can to Can’t’ 14. P.O.D., ‘Higher’ 13. Soundgarden, ‘By Crooked Steps’ 12. Chevelle, ‘Same Old Trip’ 11. Avenged Sevenfold, ‘Carry On’ 10. 3 Doors Down, ‘One Light’ 9. Three Days Grace, ‘The High Road’ 8. Papa Roach, ‘Where Did the Angels Go’ 7. Halestorm, ‘Freak Like Me’ 6. Adelitas Way, ‘Alive’ 5. Volbeat, ‘Heaven Nor Hell’ 4. Young Guns, ‘Bones’ 3. All That Remains, ‘Stand Up’ 2. Deftones, ‘Tempest’ 1. Alice in Chains, ‘Hollow’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/loudwire-radio-station-list/” title=”See Which Stations Air Loudwire Radio” align=”center”]
MegaForce Records Ever since Anthrax first hinted at a potential covers disc last year, there’s been plenty of anticipation of what the metal icons might take on. Now we know the classics tracks that the group have recorded for the upcoming ‘Anthems’ EP, and Loudwire is proud to premiere Anthrax’s ripping performance of AC/DC ‘s ‘T.N.T.’ in advance of the disc’s March 19 street date. Drummer Charlie Benante tells us, “Back in the day, when we would do encores we would play AC/DC’s ‘Whole Lotta Rosie.’ We never recorded it back then, but when we were in the studio making ‘Worship Music,’ we decided we wanted to. But [singer] Joey [Belladonna] really wanted to do ‘T.N.T.’ He felt it was more in his style, and he knew the song backwards and forwards, so we recorded that, and it’s great.” Benante goes on to add, “We recorded the track in Chicago and in Los Angeles [and] the sessions were really easy, felt really good. The thing about ‘T.N.T.’ for me is that there’s not a lot of drumming on it. So the challenge for me was to not go crazy with fills, but to pay tribute to the original recording, and keep it AC/DC.” Anthrax does exactly that, keeping it to the rocking core of the AC/DC classic, but even though Benante says there’s not much for him to do, at the end of the track there’s the all-out free-for-all for the entire group as the band raises the tempo for the song’s explosive finish. Anthrax’s ‘Anthems’ also features the band’s covers of Rush ‘s ‘Anthem,’ Thin Lizzy ‘s ‘Jailbreak,’ Boston ‘s ‘Smokin” and Journey ‘s ‘Keep on Runnin” among others. In addition to ‘Anthems” cover art, Benante and artist Stephen Thompson have subtly redesigned each track’s original album cover art to “Anthrax” it. The ‘Anthems’ EP will first be housed in one of the “re-imagined” digipak covers, and then inserted inside the main CD cover sleeve. The main cover sleeve has been designed in such a way so fans will be able to see which one of the six “re-imagined” covers is inside. Look for Anthrax’s ‘Anthems’ on March 19. You can currently pre-order the disc here . And check out Anthrax’s rendition of AC/DC’s ‘T.N.T.’ below: Listen to Anthrax Cover AC/DC’s ‘T.N.T.’ [button href=”http://loudwire.com/tags/anthrax/” title=”Get All the Latest Anthrax News Here” align=”center”]
Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com “You left me here like a chalk outline” – the chorus to the first single off of Three Days Grace latest disc ‘Transit of Venus’ rang out almost prophetic in nature as the band took the stage to ravage a rock-hungry New England crowd on a freezing February evening in Lowell, Mass., on Wednesday (Feb. 20). Shortly before the co-headlining tour with Shinedown kicked off, former Three Days Grace frontman Adam Gontier unceremoniously up and left the band without much notice, leaving them in a bit of a bind. Luckily, the music genes seem run deep in bassist Brad Walst’s family and he was able to recruit his brother, My Darkest Days frontman Matt Walst, to fill in on the trek. While this left Matt with some large shoes to fill and certainly sky high expectations, he seems to have settled into the role as the (temporary?) Three Days Grace vocalist with ease. The band erupted onto the stage looking as if they just crawled out of the wreckage of a post-apocalyptic showdown. With guns blazing in the form of behemoth beams of pyro, the band certainly showed no signs of only having recruited their singer a month ago, they played like a well-oiled machine. With one of the best bass faces in the business, Brad Walst performs alongside guitarist Barry Stock and drummer Neil Sanderson as seasoned vets on the stage. And while Matt Walst may be seeing some of the largest crowds he’s seen throughout his young career, you’d never know it. It’s hard to deny that many bands are defined by their lead singer and vocalwise, Walst’s voice has a lower register and overall sounds a lot cleaner than Gontier’s. There’s a lot less grit and grime and a bit more clarity fueled by his tenacity to deliver the songs in a manner where they still sound familiar. Of course, Gontier’s gritty vocals complement the often angst-ridded lyrics of Three Days Grace songs, but judging by the reaction of the crowd, Matt Walst was accepted with open arms. While the future of Three Days Grace seems a bit unclear at the moment, the band has truly embraced the rebellious spirit of rock and punched it into high gear to move forward wherever their path may take them. Shinedown were up next, starting off their set with a bit of a surprise. Drummer Barry Kerch walked onto stage solo and took his place behind the kit. As the music for their song ‘Enemies’ engulfed the arena, fans were searching to see where it was coming from. They only had to look back to the mixing board to see a separate smaller stage where vocalist Brent Smith, guitarist Zach Myers and bassist Eric Bass were getting the night started, rocking their hearts out. Halfway through the song, the three darted through the crowd and back to the main stage for a proper introduction to the near capacity venue. With something that has become part of a ritual at any Shinedown show, Smith encouraged fans to say hello to the people around them, engage a bit, and just have a good time throughout the night. It’s this all for one and one for all vibe that provides a lot of the backbone to their latest disc ‘Amaryllis’ and fuels such a solid connection between the band and their fans. Decked out head to toe in formal attire and looking like they’re possibly in the best shape of their lives, the sharp-dressed men of Shinedown didn’t let formality cloud their vision of getting down and dirty and delivering the best rock show in town. With a set that showcased their latest disc while still offering up some of the biggest hits of their career throughout, fans soaked up a retrospective of Shinedown’s full discography spanning from 2003’s ‘Leave a Whisper’ to their latest single ‘I’ll Follow You.” One thing Shinedown has mastered is seamlessly in a live environment is transitioning from uptempo rockers to more heartfelt ballads without losing energy along the way. This is something that has clearly come from years of experience. There’s a lot of fun going on up there too. Between Smith striking rockstar worthy poses centerstage, Myers and Bass swapping sides of the stage to say hi to the fans sitting on the sides, and Kerch’s hair flying to the beat of his own drum, the guys in Shinedown obviously love what they do, and that kind of infectious energy is the permeating kind. Although it seemed that their time onstage felt a bit short — Shinedown fans would probably feel that way if the set spanned three hours – the band delivered a jam-packed set that featured a slew of familiar chart-topping hits. Boom! P.O.D. got the night started with a short set that featured hit tunes like ‘Alive’ and ‘Youth of a Nation.’ Before their time was over, frontman Sonny Sandoval jumped off the stage and right into the fray to visit the fans in the front row and sing a song with them. After their hiatus, it’s great to see P.O.D. back in their element. It’s obvious that’s where they are at their best, so get there early to check them out! The Shinedown, Three Days Grace, P.O.D. tour continues through the end of March, check out all the remaining dates here . Photos of Shinedown, Three Days Grace + P.O.D. in Lowell, Mass.: Shinedown: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Three Days Grace: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com P.O.D.: Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com Mary Ouellette, SheWillShootYou.com
Soundgarden: Official Instagram Foo Fighters have had their fair share of humorous, lighthearted videos over the years, but Dave Grohl took advantage of a break in his schedule to try to bring some of that same levity to one of his favorite bands — Soundgarden . Grohl recently directed Soundgarden’s ‘By Crooked Steps’ video and he told Fuse that the clip was something that came to mind in his head the first time he heard the song. “I’ll just make a video in my head while I’m listening to the song, and I didn’t know if it was gonna be a single or if they wanted to make a video or what, so I just wrote an email,” recalls Grohl. “I called my manager and I said, ‘I think I have an idea for a Soundgarden video.’” The Foo frontman says the next step was pitching it to the band. He adds in Fuse’s video interview (seen below), “I wrote out the idea and I sent it to the drummer [Matt Cameron] and he said, ‘Yeah, that’s kind of cool. I don’t really know if we’re gonna make a video.’ And so we kind of made them make the video.” Speaking about getting the band up on Segways to portray a “gang,” Grohl says, “For Soundgarden to do something like that, they’re not known for their ‘wicked’ sense of humor. Although, they are really f—ing funny people. You would never know this, but super dry and hilarious. But the idea of them on the Segways was like, ‘You know, it could work.’” The video for ‘By Crooked Steps’ can be seen here . Watch Dave Grohl Discuss Directing Soundgarden’s ‘By Crooked Steps’ Video [button href=”http://loudwire.com/soundgarden-talk-future-albums-perform-at-inaugural-balls/” title=”Next: Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell Discusses Recording Future” align=”center”]