Metal Learns to Share
METAL BANDS AND FANS HAVE HISTORICALLY ISOLATED THEMSELVES within their own inner circle, but in 2019, heavy music started opening itself up. Marilyn Manson performed at Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival as the only non-rap artist, and worked with country singer Shooter Jennings; hardcore act Jesus Piece toured with SoundCloud rapper Ghostemane; and A Day to Remember collabed with EDM producer Marshmello. Here are some of 2019’s most successful cross-genre heavy music collaborations.
POST MALONE, OZZY OSBOURNE AND TRAVIS SCOTT “Take What You Want”
Whether Post Malone is a rapper or singer, his influence is undeniable. He’s always been open about his love of metal and got to show it on Hollywood’s Bleeding. Post brought none other than the Prince of Darkness to guest on his track with Travis Scott, introducing Ozzy to a younger audience.
BRING ME THE HORIZON AND GRIMES “nihilist blues”
Bring Me the Horizon have long been a driving force in changing metalcore and they took it a step further on amo. A softer alt-rock direction that has progressed over several albums paid off with a bass-heavy synth-pop thump on “nihilist blues,” which would feel more at home on a Grimes record than a metal one.
KID BOOKIE AND SLIPKNOT’S COREY TAYLOR “Stuck in My Ways”
Slipknot helped start the rap metal boom, but their hip-hop-style vocals have appeared less and less. Corey Taylor still has those skills though, and got to flex them with London rapper Kid Bookie on his track “Stuck in My Ways,” which takes modern hip-hop beats and gives them a metal tinge to match the ultra-aggressive vocals.
INJURY RESERVE, JPEGMAFIA AND CODE ORANGE “HPNGC”
The industrial leanings of hardcore act Code Orange have caught a lot of attention, but their collab with hip-hop trio Injury Reserve and JPEGMAFIA took their sound to a different world. The band lent a hand on production for “HPNGC,” which draws out unsettling metallic sounds over lo-fi beats for the MCs to rap over.
DEVIN TOWNSEND AND NICKELBACK’S CHAD KROEGER “Hear Me”
Fellow Canadian and prog metal master Devin Townsend doesn’t hate Nickelback like the rest of the metal scene does. Townsend wanted to make his new album Empath a pop record, but Chad Kroeger convinced him otherwise after befriending him through his praise of the muchloathed band over Twitter. Kroeger also has a subtle guest spot in the chorus of the track “Hear Me” and gave his input to Townsend whenever he was stuck writing the album.