Dave Grohl got in touch with his demonic side for “March of the Insane,” a thrashy new death-metal song attributed to the fictional band Dream Widow. The track, which surfaced on Foo Fighters’ YouTube page, claims to come “from their never released self-titled album.” Although the exact musicians who play in “Dream Widow” are unknown, it’s safe to assume Grohl had a hand in the track given his collaborations with members of Celtic Frost, Mercyful Fate, Motörhead, and Venom years ago on his Probot project.
The track features a breakneck riff that conjures memories of bands like Slayer and Sodom along with vocals that sound like they’re worshiping at Lemmy Kilmister’s altar. “Worship the unholy spirit,” an unusually gravel-throated Grohl (likely) growls, “pray to the god of the dead.” The three-and-a-half minute track even finds time to throw in an old-school breakdown and melodic, Kirk Hammett–esque guitar solo, before locking back into a militaristic rhythm.
Dream Widow figure heavily (pun intended) into the Foos’ upcoming horror movie, Studio 666. “The premise of the movie is that we move into this house, I have writer’s block, I’m totally uninspired, I can’t come up with anything,” Grohl recently told Howard Stern, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. “And I wind up finding this creepy basement. And I go into the basement, I find this tape by a band from 25 years ago that recorded there. And there’s this song that, if recorded and completed, the fucking demon in the house is unleashed, and then, whatever, all hell breaks loose.”
Filmmaker BJ McDonnell (Hatchet III, Slayer’s The Repentless Killology) directed the film, which is based on a story by Grohl. In addition to the Foo Fighters, Studio 666 also stars Will Forte, Whitney Cummings, and Jeff Garlin. The film is “Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, pervasive language, and sexual content.”
The three movies Grohl cited as inspiration for the flick in a Rolling Stone interview were The Shining, The Amityville Horror, and Evil Dead. “The ‘rock band film’ as a tradition seems to have disappeared,” he said. “Whether it was A Hard’s Day’s Night or [the Ramones’] Rock ‘n’ Roll High School or Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park or the fucking Spice Girls movie. We’re not going for There Will Be Blood. We just want to have fun in that old tradition of rock & roll.”
VIDEOS
Just like he did on The Death of Slim Shady, Eminem is once again serving his STANS a wave of nostalgia with “Everybody’s Looking at Me.” The track is one of twelve featured on the official soundtrack that accompanies his documentary, which explores how his music has shaped and influenced his devoted fan base. Beyond that, it also reflects on the Detroit icon’s early breakthrough and rise to fame.
The film’s theatrical run may have wrapped up, but today Eminem officially released the soundtrack that goes along with it. The project is a blend of his classic hits alongside unreleased material. Familiar favorites like “Rap God” and “Just Don’t Give a F*ck” appear, while deeper unreleased cuts add something fresh for longtime listeners.
“Everybody’s Looking at Me” falls into the latter category. Rather than being a forgotten song left on the cutting room floor, Eminem built it from a freestyle with the same title that Funk Flex first premiered back in 2002. The original version featured Proof, though in this updated release, his part is absent, and Slim Shady comes through with two brand new verses.
The first verse remains intact from the freestyle, but what makes it even more interesting is the fact that a brief snippet of the track can be heard for just a moment on “The Kiss (Skit)” from The Eminem Show.
On “Everybody’s Looking at Me,” Eminem sounds like his old self at the top of his game. The song combines his signature dark comedy, sharp commentary on the music industry's flaws, and layers of clever wordplay.
To add to the nostalgia, the beat crafted by Dr. Dre instantly takes listeners back to the chemistry that has defined so much of their past work together. In the end, it is impressive to see Eminem rework this freestyle into a whole track that still feels high-quality and true to his legacy.
You can stream it below.
Quotable Lyrics:
Type who might throw his underwear in the trash and wipe his a*s with the American flag like Marilyn Manson (Ha-ha)
Updated Axl Rose
White vеrsion of Shaft, pimp slappin' h*es
Pull up like a Mac, jet black limos
Strеtch so far back, can't see the back windows
