REVOLVER Magazine

🙏 Primer 55 vocalist Jason "J-Sin" Luttrell died on this day in 2018. RIP.⁠
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He sang for the nu-metal cult favorites from 1997 to 2003, appearing on their albums 'Introduction to Mayhem' and '(The) New Release,' and fronting them during their run on Ozzfest 2000. Amid struggles with substance abuse, he split with the band in the early Aughts, briefly returning in 2007.⁠
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Blast "Loose" in his memory.

25 years ago today: Slipknot blew minds playing "The Heretic Anthem" on 'Late Night With Conan O’Brien.'⁠
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While the band's self-titled 1999 debut announced a unique new force in the world of heavy music, their sophomore offering, 'Iowa,' is where the masked Midwesterners solidified their presence as something singular and bigger than the fleeting popularity of the late Nineties/early aughts nu-metal explosion. And they did so with a little help from Conan O'Brien, on whose show the band had previously made their network TV debut in 2000, playing "Wait and Bleed."⁠
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A year later, on the August 10th, 2001, episode of 'Late Night With Conan O’Brien' — just weeks before the release of 'Iowa' — all nine Slipknot members took America by storm, headbanging in unison and spitting out "The Heretic Anthem," an aggressive charge on which frontman Corey Taylor claims, "If you're 555, I'm 666!" Historically, 555 is used to signify divinity and wholeness in creation; juxtaposing it with 666, commonly considered as symbolic of Satan, the singer takes on the role of the demonic hero on the song. ⁠
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Live on O'Brien's stage, he and his bandmates played out this role with abandon and conviction. Adding fuel to fire was the comedian's introduction with the half-joking disclaimer: "May God help us all."

💥 "Let freedom ring with a shotgun blast!"

Machine Head's 1994 debut, 'Burn My Eyes,' begins with a double-barrel call to action. Based on the violent Waco Siege of 1993, album opener and instant-classic metal anthem "Davidian" set the bar for Machine Head's furious groove-metal sound right from the jump, and while they've met its level of sonic intensity and political fervor many times throughout their career, they've never surpassed it.