“I think a lot of people think that we hate that record or are embarrassed about it, ’cause we don’t play it and stuff, but really we were just always disappointed with how it sounded.”
The post Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes Talks Re-Recording “Count Your Blessings” & Plans To Film Their Upcoming Unbarricaded 20th Anniversary Show appeared first on Theprp.com.
Josh Conway, one of the founding members of the Grammy-nominated, TikTok-viral, Stereogum-endorsed group the Marías, is releasing his first solo album. Earlier this year, his bandmate María Zardoya released her own solo project under the name Not For Radio. Conway, the drummer-producer-songwriter, will release his debut solo LP plum in just a few weeks ago.…
The post The Marías’ Josh Conway Announces Debut Solo Album <em>plum</em>: Hear “Crumble” appeared first on Stereogum.
Baltimore pop-punkers Pinkshift are on a seriously prolific run right now. They released their album Earthkeeper last August, then followed it with the single “Snow” a few months later. Today, they drop a new song called “When We Were Friends,” a pogo anthem about post-breakup clarity. Here’s what they say about it: This song was…
The post Pinkshift – “When We Were Friends” appeared first on Stereogum.
Every metal fan has spent hours staring at them: the “witch” in the Mapledurham woods, the girl by the pool, and the man taking a fist to the jaw. For decades, these figures were anonymous icons—nameless faces that defined the aesthetic of heavy music. But as we move through 2026, the masks have finally slipped.
From models who had no idea they were posing for “Satanic” legends to a party-goer who became the face of the Nu-Metal era, the real stories behind these covers prove that rock immortality often happens when you least expect it.
The anonymous figures on metal’s most iconic covers aren’t just art—they are real people with wild 2026 lives. The Deftones pool girl (Lisa Hughes) is now signing copies for her daughter’s friends, the woman on Black Sabbath’s debut (Louisa Livingstone) is an electronic musician, and the face of Converge’s Jane Doe (Audrey Marnay) finally met Jacob Bannon in early 2026.
The Figure: Lisa Hughes
2026 Update: Living in Sault Ste. Marie / Daughter’s Cool Mom
The cover of Deftones’ Around the Fur is one of the most candid shots in music history. It wasn’t a professional model or a staged set—it was Lisa Hughes, a young woman hanging out at a late-night party in Seattle where the band was staying. Photographer Rick Kosick took the shot with a fish-eye lens at 4:00 AM, catching her in a bikini looking both annoyed and iconic.
In January 2026, a documentary by Jenkem Magazine revisited the shoot, and Lisa returned to the very condo where it happened. She revealed she was “oblivious” to who the band was at the time and was just having a “kick-ass time.” Today, Lisa lives in Sault Ste. Marie and laughs that she still gets into clubs for free once bouncers realize who she is. She’s even been known to sign copies of the record for her daughter’s friends.
The Figure: Sean Cross
2026 Update: New York Consultant
The legend used to be that Pantera paid a fan $10 per punch to get the perfect shot for Vulgar Display of Power. Vinnie Paul loved telling the story of a fan getting hit 30 times for the sake of art. However, photographer Brad Guice eventually set the record straight: the man getting “hit” is professional model Sean Cross.
The shot was a carefully timed interaction in a studio. Cross would push his face against the “puncher’s” fist to create the skin-rippling effect while his hair was blown by a fan. In 2026, Cross is far removed from the modeling world, living in New York where he runs a consulting firm. While he didn’t actually lose any teeth for the shot, he remains the face of the most famous “punch” in thrash history.
The Figure: Louisa Livingstone
2026 Update: Electronic Musician (Indreba)
For 50 years, the “witch” on the cover of the first-ever heavy metal album was a ghost. In 2020, she was identified as Louisa Livingstone, who was an 18-year-old model at the time. Photographer Keith “Keef” Macmillan took her to Mapledurham Watermill at dawn, pumped in dry ice, and told her to stand still in the freezing cold.
Livingstone famously admitted that Black Sabbath “isn’t really her kind of music.” After the shoot, she continued modeling and acting before moving into astrology. In 2026, she lives in Europe and produces experimental electronic music under the name Indreba.
The Models: Kim Wadsworth & Gabriella Gerard
2026 Update: Private Legacies
The two women locked in a “bloody” embrace on Peter Steele’s masterpiece were Kim Wadsworth and Gabriella Gerard. The photo was taken by John Wadsworth (Kim’s husband at the time), and the “blood” was actually a mixture of food coloring and corn syrup.
In 2026, the image remains a gothic touchstone. While Gabriella has stayed largely out of the spotlight, Kim Wadsworth’s family has occasionally shared “behind-the-scenes” insights into the 1993 shoot, confirming that the “vampiric” models were actually close friends having a laugh between takes. Kim eventually moved into the high-end beauty and styling industry.
The Figure: Mariah O’Brien
2026 Update: High-End Interior Designer
Many fans originally thought the woman buried in the desert on the Dirt cover was Layne Staley’s late girlfriend, Demri Parrott. In reality, it was model Mariah O’Brien. The shoot was grueling; she was built into a set in a Hollywood studio, covered in clay, and had to hold her position for eight hours.
O’Brien appeared in films like Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, but she has since successfully transitioned to a career in interior design in Los Angeles. In 2026, she is the owner of Mariah O’Brien Interiors, proving she’s much better at building rooms than being buried in them.
The Figure: Thích Quảng Đức
2026 Update: Historical Icon
Unlike the other staged photos, the man on the RATM debut was Thích Quảng Đức, a Vietnamese monk who performed self-immolation in 1963 to protest the persecution of Buddhists. The photo won a Pulitzer Prize. In 2026, his heart remains unburned and is kept as a holy relic in the Reserve Bank of Vietnam—a hauntingly real testament to the “Rage” the band would later preach.
The Figure: Audrey Marnay
2026 Update: High-Fashion Icon / Meeting with Jacob Bannon
For twenty years, Jacob Bannon maintained that the crumbling face on Jane Doe was a composite sketch. That changed in 2021 when French supermodel Audrey Marnay proved the artwork was based on a 2001 Marie Claire shoot. In February 2026, Bannon finally met Marnay in person, bridging the gap between the fashion world and the hardcore underground. Marnay remains a massive force in French cinema and high-fashion today.
STAY LOUD: Catch the full breakdown of what’s happening in hard rock and metal on the Loaded Radio Daily Podcast with Scott Penfold. Visit LoadedRadio.com or download our free app now.
Which of these “Then vs. Now” reveals surprised you the most, or is there a mysterious cover model we still haven’t found? Let us know in the comments.
The post Immortality by Accident: What Happened to the Real People on Your Favorite Metal Album Covers? appeared first on Loaded Radio.
Step into the venue.
The post The Acacia Strain Release “Chain” & “Fresh Bones” Live Video appeared first on Theprp.com.
“‘Blood Of Your Empire’ was born out of my own struggle with existential crisis and trying to make sense of belief, mortality and humanity’s relationship with faith.”
The post PRESIDENT Debut “DOOM LOOP” Video, Announce Their Debut Album “Blood Of Your Empire” appeared first on Theprp.com.
Ever since the band came into existence and dropped the 2020 demo Loyalty At All Costs rappy hardcore wig-splitters Gridiron have threatened to descend into absolute rap-metal silliness. They’ve always been right there, teetering on the edge. Frontman Matt Karll raps about about how you’re on the benches while he’s in the trenches, and the…
The post Gridiron Release New EP <em>Lights Out</em>, Will Slap Your Fitted Cap Sideways appeared first on Stereogum.
(A group of us NCS scribblers, including DGR, are currently at Maryland Deathfest. DGR wrote a bunch of reviews in advance so we’d have something to post while partying. The one below is one of those, and it seemed fitting to post it today since DGR ventured out last night in time to catch Napalm […]
The post MELVINS / NAPALM DEATH: “SAVAGE IMPERIAL DEATH MARCH” appeared first on NO CLEAN SINGING.