With E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) happening, my whole twitter feed has been bombarded with an assault of video game related news these last few days. From the praises of fans to the surprises of trailers dropping, this is truly a momentous occasion for all gamers. I myself couldn’t even escape the hype train of E3, so why don’t I why don’t I do something a little different. Don’t worry if you think I was going to miss out on the metal, after all I did say “Remembering, The Best Metal Video Game” in the title after all.

The game I’m talking about was probably the riskiest project to take on. A world inspired from everything metal, from the designs to the characters. Iconic metal figures were brought in to lend their voices for roles based on them. This game also might have the best soundtrack in any video game in history that became my playlist for 2 years. Finally, last but not least, the game’s lead was… Jack Black!

If you have not figured it out yet, I’m talking about  “Brütal Legend!”

Created by fellow metalhead Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions, you play as Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black), who is "the world's best roadie" for "the world's worst 'heavy metal' band", Kabbage Boy. During a gig for Kabbage Boy, Eddie is crushed by falling scenery while trying to save a member of the band, and awakens in a world that resembles a twisted collage of metal records. With little breathing time, the game begins. Guitar solos that casts spells. Chopping fiendish creatures with a literal axe. Exploring locations like Razor Fields, Bladehenge, and Sea of Black Tears while Iced Earth is playing in the background. It was like witnessing a Frank Frazetta art piece in motion. This game… was amazing.

Can’t forget the awesome well thought characters that all fit a role in the “Metal Genre Tree.” Also the cameos from legends like, Rob Halford, Lemmy Kilmister, Lita Ford, Tim Curry, and Ozzy Osbourne! There was nothing more I would wanted from a game.

With such a strong concept and a team that poured so much effort into it, you think there would be a sequel for it right? I know I do!

After it was released in 2009, Double Fine believed they were given the go-ahead to develop a sequel to Brütal Legend, and had invested a great deal of development time towards this, but were later told by EA that it was cancelled.

Did you hear a break in the distance? That was my heart 8 years ago.

HOWEVER as of 2013, Schafer is still interested in a sequel to Brütal Legend, but would require appropriate funding and resources to make it happen as an independent developer. To follow that up, “Brutal Legend will eventually get a sequel” Tim Schafer of developer Double Fine said June 13 during an appearance at E3 2017. That was last year! There is hope for the legend to continue, and if you haven’t already played it… play “Brutal Legend!”

Now that I got that off my chest… time to check out the other releases today.

Did you catch Kehlani when she performed her collab with Kyle on Kimmel last week? If you’ve seen the video for that track, “Playinwitme,” you know it features both artists competing for the attention of the same girl. She’s also got a new song with Hayley Kiyoko, another young and out artist, called “What I Need”.

Kehlani has become known as a superstar feature in the pop world, working with everyone from Calvin Harris to Charlie Puth, so she’s been in the public eye a lot, and has been taking the opportunity to speak up about being bisexual and gender fluid in the industry. She even has a tattoo of the word “fluid” on her chest. She recently told Paper Magazine: 

I get a lot of, “'Why do you get your nails done? Why some days are you more masculine than you are feminine?' People either expect me to be a quote-unquote dyke or femme, and it’s weird to me. Especially when queer people do it to each other, because I think when you truly understand the humanness of queerness, there are no rules to this shit."

She also spoke in a conversation with The Fader about how new it is, even for her her, to be able to write songs that truly represent her point of view.

I've been making music about women my whole career, but I never felt the need to write "she," necessarily. It wasn't in the forefront of my mind. But now I've seen how people reacted to my song "Honey," or when I've used the correct pronouns and put women in my music videos. Just seeing how much people felt like they needed that representation or how much it inspired them definitely encouraged me to step into this new phase of making music. I'm more aware that this isn't just my truth: it's something I can empower youth with, rather than just serve myself. It's definitely a new process that I'm excited to explore.

Slacker and LXL are celebrating Pride this month by focusing on some of our favorite LGBTQ artists! Hit us up on our social handles and let us know who you want to see more of!

The CMT Music Awards were last night, with some great performances and some big wins – including Blake Shelton taking home two trophies for Male and Video of the Year for “I’ll Name The Dogs.” But to me, the most fun was had BETWEEN the performances and awards.

Just the opener got several laughs. Dustin Lynch, Jake Owen, and Jon Pardi dressed for a bridal shower? CHECK. Darius Rucker as the Queen of England? Yep. The guys in Midland taking over a party barge and kissing… each other? It’s all here, along with Florida Georgia Line dressed as Princes Harry and William, driven in a horse-drawn carriage by Trace Adkins. You’re not dreaming. It happened.

The show was hosted by Little Big Town, and for some reason one of Karen Fairchild’s costume changes included… pajamas. Seriously.

My favorite moment was when Carly Pearce won Breakthrough Video of the Year for “Every Little Thing,” a song she wrote about a breakup. Her shout to her ex at the end of this emotional acceptance speech was probably the best thing ever. On behalf of every woman who’s ever had her heart broken (which is like all of us, right?) I so hope he sees it.

Also amazing:  Darius Rucker, Charles Kelley (of Lady Antebellum), Jason Aldean, and Luke Bryan as “The Troublemakers” singing “Straight To Hell,” and Sam Hunt’s performance of “Downtown’s Dead” while walking from one bar to another in downtown Nashville, and finally walking to the stage in the middle of the street. I don’t know how they choreographed that, I don’t know how he could hear himself, and I have no idea how they kept that huge crowd of people out of the way, but it worked.

Well done, CMT. Let’s do it again next year.