Week 18 wrap-up: Judas Priest, Rammstein, Nergal, and more

The major piece of metal news this week was, of course, the annoucement of Judas Priest's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. – Except it's not really an induction, seeing as how they're only getting the "Musical Excellence Award". Sounds good; not really sure what it means, though.

In any case, Priest frontman and Metal God par excellence, Rob Halford, declared, "This is such a beautiful moment, not only for Priest, but for heavy metal here in the USA and around the world. This is just the power and the reach that the Hall of Fame has, so it's time to celebrate!"

Gotta wonder what Bruce Dickinson thinks about this, seeing as how he slammed the RaRHoF a few years ago, stating that "Rock and roll music does not belong in a mausoleum in Cleveland. It's a living, breathing thing, and if you put it in a museum, then it's dead. It's worse than horrible, it's vulgar".

This year's actual inductees into the RaRHoF are Pat Benatar, Duran Duran, Eminem, Eurythmics, Dolly Parton, Lionel Richie, and Carly Simon. Wouldn't dream of taking anything away from Uncle Halford, but maybe this only proves that the RaRHoF isn't really about rock'n'roll anymore.

In other news, Rammstein's social media accounts have been one of the latest targets of a Russian so-called trolll factory, which, according to the goddamn Cambridge Dictionary, is "an organization set up in order to publish a large number of messages or posts on the internet, that often appear to be from people who do not really exist, and that are intended to cause trouble, influence political views, etc". (Yeah, I totally just had to google 'troll factory'.)

So Russian trolls are pretending to be Rammstein – and, for that matter, they've also pretended to not only be Boris Johnson, but other musicians such as Daft Punk, Tiesto, and David Guetta. (Well, musical artists, if you will.)

Rammstein aren't pleased with this, stating the following: "The band Rammstein wishes to express its support for the nation of Ukraine as it resists the shocking attack perpetrated by the Russian government. Above all at this moment, we feel particular grief for the suffering of the Ukrainian people.

"Each member of the band has various experiences of the two countries; all members of the band have friends, associates, partners, fans in both lands. We acknowledge the desperation that many Russian fans may feel when faced with the actions of their government, and we want to remember the humanity shared by both Russian and Ukrainian citizens".

That, meine Herren, is the proverbial spirit.

If anyone out there wants to support the Ukraine, you can do it through The UN, CARE, or browse this list of charities if you wanna donate to something more specific.

For the second time now, Behemoth frontman and all-round mastermind Nergal has been acquitted of "disrespecting" the Polish coat of arms through a t-shirt design that was made a bunch of years ago.

Honestly, I've stopped keeping up with Polish officials' more or less inane persecutions of Nergal. At this point, it should be clear to everyone except the most mind-fucked religious wingnuts (triple pleonasm!) that they've obviously just got a big, fat problem with the man thinking, acting, speaking, and creating art as a free man from an actual free country.

As much as I've enjoyed my visits to Poland, and as highly as I regard my Polish friends, the country's administration needs to get with the fucking times already.

Nergal – congrats, and forever more power to ya.

Speaking of frontmen and all-round masterminds, Opeth's Michael Åkerfeldt has released his soundtrack to the 6-part Netflix crime series "Clark" on Milan Records.

Directed by metalhead and renowned Swedish film and music video maker Jonas Åkerlund, "Clark" features Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård ("It", "Deadpool"), and... well, a bunch of other Swedish actors.

Blabbermouth says about the soundtrack, "Åkerfeldt's atmospheric soundscape deftly captures the sound and feel of the times in music, ranging freely from swinging '60s style sounds to 1970s progressive rock and psychedelia via heavy metal, tango, funk, jazz, Arabic melodies and indie pop and chill. All of these vibrant layers and textures are skillfully combined to effortlessly underpin the high-octane dramatic content of the series and also to place it perfectly within the context of the times in which the drama plays out".

So if you're an all-round music fan like I am, and if you're the kinda guy/girl who actually gets the newer Opeth stuff, you'll probably wanna give this one a listen.

The release date is set to July 22nd.

Also, Heavy Metal Truants – the charity founded by Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood and former Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas – kicks off in a coupla weeks. The idea is that a bunch of metalheads raise a shitton of money for various children's benefits, such as Teenage Cancer Trust, Childline, and Save the Children, by cycling 175 miles from London to Castle Donington.

Through the years, Heavy Metal Truants has been supported by such renowned rockers as Biff Byford (Saxon), Andy Sneap (Judas Priest) Aaron Aedy (Paradise Lost), Johan Hegg (Amon Amarth), Luke Morley (Thunder), and Bruce Dickinson (Iron Maiden, duh).

This year, the whole thing takes place from May 30th to June 10th. And if I didn't have to spend that period being in three different (other) countries, I woulda totally joined. You guys, however, can still make it.

Go to https://heavymetaltruants.com for more info.

Lastly, Ric Parnell, a.k.a. Spïnal Tap drummer Mick Shripmton, has died, aged 70. Apart from Spïnal Tap, Parnell also played in other bands like Atomic Rooster – and, alas, played the drums on Toni Basil's horrible 1981 hit single "Hey Mickey". Gotta hope he at least made some decent scratch outta that one.

My condolences especially go out to the three surviving Spïnal Tap members, bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer), vocalist/guitarist David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest). Although the cause of death hasn't been revealed, I'm guessing that, for better or worse, it wasn't a spontaneous onstage explosion.

Rock In Peace.

 - https://bravewords.com/news/rob-halford-on-judas-priest-s-upcoming-induction-into-rock-roll-hall-of-fame-this-is-such-a-beautiful-moment-video
 - https://www.metalsucks.net/2022/05/04/judas-priest-arent-among-the-2022-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-inductees-but-will-receive-the-musical-excellence-award/
 - https://www.loudersound.com/news/rammstein-targeted-by-russian-troll-factories-with-pro-war-disinformation
 - https://loudwire.com/behemoth-nergal-acquitted-again-insulting-poland-coat-of-arms-merch-design/
 - https://blabbermouth.net/news/opeths-mikael-akerfeldt-releases-soundtrack-from-netflix-series-clark
 - https://www.loudersound.com/news/you-can-join-the-iron-maiden-approved-million-pound-heavy-metal-charity
 - https://www.loudersound.com/news/the-heavy-metal-truants-are-recruiting-riders-for-their-10th-anniversary-cycle-to-raise-money-for-childrens-charities
 - https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/02/ric-parnell-spinal-tap-drummer-dies