In honour of the 50th birthday of the Heavy Metal genre, The Faction (and newly-minted Demon mascot buddy Jeff) is today (13th February, the birthday of the release of Black Sabbath’s first album!) launching an annual Heavy Music Countdown – Hardest 100. 2018’s countdown will kick things off with the BEST heavy songs of all time giving a platform for metalheads to celebrate the best of today and yesterday in an annual celebration of everything heavy.
The Faction has partnered with The Music to power the voting system, with the countdown supported by a who’s who of heavy music industry including Unify Gathering, Download Festival, 24Hundred, Wall of Sound, Oztix, QMusic and iHeartRadio. The live countdown will take place on Saturday March 17th from midday AEDT (11am AEST), one week out from the first annual Download Festival and will take place on that third weekend in March annually. The live countdown will be able to be streamed on The Faction radio, available now through the exclusive app (iOS and Android), The Faction website and iHeartRadio.
Voters will go into the draw to win the ultimate heavy music prize, including a Double Pass to Download Festival Melbourne 2018 including flights and accommodation from their nearest capital city, 5 x $50 24Hundred Vouchers, A Double Pass to Bigsound Festival live shows in 2018, and a $250 Oztix Voucher. To enter the draw for the prizes, voters MUST download the free The Faction app (Apple and Android apps available at http://thefaction.live) and get the code from the OFFERS section to enter into the voting form before submitting their entry. Winners will be announced on Saturday March 17 when the live countdown ends! The live broadcast will kick off from 11am AEDT that day.
The Faction founder Tim Price said “This is an epic opportunity for everyone who is into heavy music to get involved and show that there’s a strong voice for our scene – vote for the best heavy songs of all time, vote for Australian heavy songs, vote for the most obscure black metal band you can think of – if it’s good, vote for it – who knows what might end up in the countdown! We’ve tried to make a list that encompasses MOST things, but you can also add your own votes in as well to ensure this is as inclusive as possible and in the hands of the fans. AND you can win a tonne of prizes. The Faction delivers 24/7 heavy music every day of the year to bring the scene together and we’re stoked to include the Hardest 100 to further that goal.”
1968 saw the founding of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple – almost universally acknowledged as the founders of the heavy metal genre. 2018 marks the half-century of blistering riffs, double-kick drums and some of the most outrageous antics in music (some amazing, some shameful!) The Faction is celebrating everything heavy music in that fifty years – the evolution and spread of the genre and the countless sub-genres it has spawned.
With a playlist sporting over 50% Australian music and over 25% female fronted acts throughout the year, The Faction’s inclusive ethos is expected to create a list celebrating the history of our genre, the diversity of our genre and the future of our genre.
Craig Treweek, Owner of The Music is pleased to be a part of the countdown and voting. “We couldn’t be more proud to lend our support and platform for the voting in this countdown – Heavy Music contributes so much to the music landscape in this country and is one of the most enduring genres of music regardless of trends and we are proud to be paying respect to the 50 years of heavy metal through this countdown and be partnering with The Faction.”
Luke Logemann of UNIFIED Music Group, who are involved in Unify Gathering, Download Festival and 24 Hundred, said that “Anything that moves the genre of music that we love forward and into the future, we are stoked to get behind. Whether its the ongoing support of triple j and The Faction or all the cool festivals, websites and events we have now. We are enthusiastically throwing our support behind Hardest 100 because we love this music and want to keep finding fun ways to promote it!”
Brett Nossiter of iHeartRadio wants punters to know that “iHeartRadio is very proud to be supporting the Hardest 100 Countdown. Metal music fans are some of the most passionate, dedicated and enduring music lovers of any genre. This is the countdown for those fans, and we’re stoked to be streaming it on iHeartRadio through The Faction.”
For more information and to vote, go to www.thefaction.live or http://themusic.com.au/the-faction-live-hardest-100. The Faction Radio is streaming 24/7, 365 days a year through the exclusive iOS and Android Apps, at www.thefaction.live and iHeartRadio.
