Emigrate
Photo: Pilgrim Management / Motor Music

It was hard enough for Rammstein guitarist Richard Z. Kruspe to leave his friends and daughter in Berlin and relocate to New York to write an album for his side project, Emigrate. The last thing he needed was for the house he moved into to be haunted.

The residence, a former firehouse in SoHo, apparently revealed its spiritual energies to Kruspe soon after he set up his home studio there. He says the burglar alarm went off repeatedly without being triggered, tiny holes appeared in his window without explanation, and his girlfriend had to move out after just two weeks because she felt so unsettled by the house's vibe.

"I went online to research the history of the house, and I found a picture of it from 1874," Kruspe said a week before heading back to Germany to continue work on the next Rammstein album, which doesn't have a name yet. "I printed it up, and when I looked closely at it, I got goose bumps all over my body. The picture is of three guys standing outside the building, and one of them looks exactly like me."

While some of Kruspe's friends have found being in the house too unnerving, the former resident of East Germany has accepted the spirit and fed off its energy. "The house has a strange feeling to it, but that's why I love it," he said. "I made peace with the energy long ago, and now I'm basically talking to it, saying, 'Hello,' 'Good night' and 'What's going on?' But obviously, I'm doing that in my head — if I started talking out loud, I think I would have to check into a hospital."

Maybe some of the paranormal activity inspired Kruspe to write Emigrate's self-titled debut, which comes out January 28, but the songs on the disc are neither haunting nor ethereal. They're filled with feelings of loneliness, despair and rage that stemmed more from the isolation he felt in America.

"I moved here in 2001 because I needed a change in my life," he explained. "I had been living in Berlin for 18 years, and I was bored and wanted a new challenge. I felt I had to create something new, and one of the things you have to do as an artist is go the unsafe way, because this brings you into the suffering world, and if you're suffering, you can write good music. When I came to New York, I dealt with a lot of rejection and depression in the process of entering the new world and saying goodbye to the old one, and that was definitely inspirational."

Equally inspiring was Kruspe's desire to branch out from the sonic niche he had created with Rammstein. Before he moved to America, he was experiencing creative and personal friction with his bandmates. In the past, he had written nearly all the group's songs, and was extremely controlling about how the music was played and the role everyone served in the group. After years of putting up with his totalitarian perfectionism, his bandmates started to rebel.

"It got to the point where people couldn't be around me," Kruspe said. "If you want to eat a chocolate cake, one piece is nice, but if you eat the whole cake, you'll f---ing puke. And it was the same with me. It was too much to deal with, so I distanced myself from the whole situation and tried to find something else."

Kruspe found the outlet in Emigrate, a project that allowed him to explore new artistic avenues on his own and take on the role of lead singer as well as guitarist. While songs like "Emigrate," "Wake Up" and "My World" have elements in common with Rammstein — chugging metal guitars, ominous keyboards, militaristic percussion — other tracks, such as "In My Tears" and "Temptation," are softer, moodier and more subtle, interlaced with acoustic-guitar arpeggios, gloomy pop vocals and baleful samples of strings.

"At the time I did these songs, I felt like something was missing in Rammstein," Kruspe said. "To work for that band is almost like working for a soundtrack. You have to work with no vocals because those are the last things that will appear on the song. For Emigrate, I started to work more as a traditional songwriter. Also, I was singing and writing lyrics in English, which allowed me to experiment with all these things I had never explored before. Basically, that allowed me to balance myself out again so I could go back to Rammstein and be the happy guitar player."

Sometimes it's hard for musicians to return to their main bands after they get such a taste of freedom. But having complete creative control of Emigrate had the opposite effect on Kruspe. Rammstein are now working democratically, and Kruspe says he's coexisting with his bandmates more amicably than ever. So far, the group has written 30 basic tracks at a rental house near the Baltic Sea, and it plans to enter the studio in March and release the follow-up to 2005's Rosenrot sometime in 2008.

"It's looking like it will be the most heaviest record we ever did," Kruspe said. "The songs are faster, and it feels like we're really going back to our roots and rediscovering what we like and what Rammstein is all about. We're thinking of going to Los Angeles ... to record an album in America [for the first time]. And we're in a position right now where we don't have a contract with any record company, and that gives us peace of mind because there's no pressure from the outside."

For Kruspe, the only drawback about being back with Rammstein is he'll be unable to tour for Emigrate. After Rammstein finish their record, the band will embark on its first world tour in two years, which leaves no time for him to support his solo disc. But that doesn't mean he won't find time to write new Emigrate songs.

"Every time I'm in New York, I'm working for Emigrate," Kruspe said. "I'm trying to really separate the work I do by the city I'm in. It's almost like I'm living totally different lives. I never really believed in monogamy anyway, so I always like to live in a duality like that. And when the time is right, I'll take Emigrate on tour, also."

The rest of the week's metal news:

The team behind Metal File has come up with its Top 10 Metal Records of the Year lists, if you care. Here's writer Jon Wiederhorn's list: 1. Behemoth - The Apostasy; 2. Machine Head - The Blackening; 3. Down - Down III: Over the Under; 4. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works; 5. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty; 6. Job for a Cowboy - Genesis; 7. Nile - Ithyphallic; 8. Ministry - The Last Sucker; 9. High on Fire - Death Is This Communion; and 10. Sigh - Hangman's Hymn. Next is writer Chris Harris' list: 1. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works; 2. The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Mongrel; 3. Watain - Sworn to the Dark; 4. Deathspell Omega - Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum; 5. Chimaira - Resurrection; 6. The Red Chord - Prey for Eyes; 7. Opeth - The Roundhouse Tapes; 8. Behemoth - The Apostasy; 9. Xasthur - Defective Epitaph; 10. A Life Once Lost - Iron Gag. Lastly, Kurt Orzeck, who edits Metal File each week, submitted his own picks: 1. 3 Inches of Blood - Fire Up the Blades; 2. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works; 3. Baroness - The Red Album; 4. Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks; 5. Down - Down III: Over the Under; 6. Opeth - The Roundhouse Tapes; 7. Dethklok - The Dethalbum; 8. Yakuza - Transmutations; 9. Horse the Band - A Natural Death; and 10. Arch Enemy - Rise of the Tyrant. ...

Killswitch Engage, Every Time I Die, the Dillinger Escape Plan and Parkway Drive will hit the road next year for a spate of U.S. dates. The tour kicks off January 9 and runs through February 5, although the cities the band will perform on those two specific days have yet to be determined. A full list of the dates can be found on Killswitch's MySpace page. ... 36 Crazyfists have titled their forthcoming Ferret Music debut The Tide and It's Takers. Look for the record to drop March 4. ... Grindcore monsters Cephalic Carnage were robbed during a recent stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they had to have their van worked on. "A backpack containing the recent earnings from the tour (close to $4,000), a laptop computer with over $2,000 in music-software programs loaded, an iPod and various personal items were among the items stolen," the band said in a statement. "We immediately called the police and suspected that an employee grabbed the backpack in the process of getting the work done. This could not have come at a worst time, as we were looking to use earnings from this tour to help cover the upcoming holiday expenses for our kids and families. As you might expect, we are extremely upset, as this tour was doing very well for us (both financially and morale-wise)." The band will continue with its tour and hopes to recover the pilfered items. On a related note, the Locust were also recently victimized, after a show in St. Louis over the weekend. The band's van was broken into, and "a large amount of personal possessions, including three computers, phone chargers, money and anything else you might think of" were pinched, according to a statement. ...

Bay Area metal vets Death Angel plan to release their upcoming LP, Killing Season, February 26. ... According to Nebula, the stoner rockers will be hitting the studio in the next few weeks to begin recording demos for the follow-up to 2006's Apollo. We'll keep you posted as more news becomes available. ... Firewind's Gus G. has offered an update on that band's forthcoming album. "Most of the recordings for the new album are done by now," he wrote in a post on the band's Web site. "We've been locked at Sweden's Studio Fredman for about a month now, and I'm super-excited with the way things are shaping up. Killer sounds on the drums, guitars and bass. We've recorded 12 original songs and a few covers, which will be revealed in time." No word yet on when the LP will hit stores. ... Gorgoroth-gate continues this week, as the bandmembers' feud rages on. Guitarist Infernus, now embroiled in a legal dispute with the rest of the group over the rights to the its name, has launched the "official" Web site and MySpace page for his version of Gorgoroth. According to Infernus, the band currently "consists of Infernus as the sole permanent member, which means that no live appearances are planned for the immediate future." Infernus said he's been working on material for Gorgoroth's next full-length, called Quantos Possund Ad Satanitatem Trahunt. ...

Swedish doom-metallers Eerie will release an LP in fall 2008 called As the World Comes to an End. The band claims in a statement that the set will feature "six to seven songs [that] will embrace your haunted and darkened lives." ... Doom-metal outfit the Gates of Slumber have announced that they, too, will have an active 2008. Next year the band will issue its next LP, Conqueror, which will boast "Black River," "Eyes of the Liar" and "Witch Throne." Look for it to hit store shelves in May. ... Swedish black-metallers Vanmakt have lost guitarist Satygh. The band's frontman, Gorgoth, said the rest of Vanmakt couldn't trust Satygh, and hence, they're now looking for a new guitarist. In the meantime, they've enlisted a substitute so that they can avoid missing any upcoming live gigs. ...

Eternal Ruin need a new singer following the departure of Chris Yuastella. "It seems the band and Chris have reached a plateau of complacency over the past few years," read the band's statement on the matter. "We firmly believe now is the best time to make this move based solely on the band's future. We've already begun working on the new stuff and [are] extremely pleased thus far. The new stuff will be a little more defined than previous efforts, plus will definitely have the brutality the band is known for." ... Matt Heafy is threatening to release another Trivium record. According to a post on the band's MySpage page, the singer/guitarist said, "it's [going to] be a very long while" before the band plays any more live gigs, as "[we've got to] take the time to go and make the greatest Trivium album ever (we have demoed [a lot of] tracks and so far ... it's already, in demo form, shaping up to be the best material we have ever created)." We'll take your word for it. ... Swedish melodic black-metal maelstrom Siebenbürgen have re-formed and crafting new material for an album that could drop sometime next year. According to a statement issued by frontman Marcus Ehlin, the band features several new members, but the "music is in the same vein as before: dark and atmospheric metal." ... XXX Maniak and Throatplunger have teamed up for a split 7-inch release that should be available in the next two weeks. The effort will boast "Golden Showers, Black Hearts," "Attending the Graduation of Someone I F---ed 10 Years Ago" and "Railing Lines at Ground Zero."

• Rammstein
• Killswitch Engage
• Behemoth
• Dillinger Escape Plan

Ozzy Osbourne
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

It was announced months ago that tickets for this summer's Ozzfest would be free to fans, and that the longest-running heavy metal festival would subsist on corporate sponsorships and little else.

But obtaining those free tickets for one of the dates on this year's run — which kicks off July 12 in Auburn, Washington, and continues through August 30 in West Palm Beach, Florida — might just give some metal fans a migraine (see "Osbournes Hype 'Groundbreaking' Ozzfest: 'Why Not Go To A Show For Free?' ").

First, you have to send an e-mail requesting tickets, and then wait for a confirmation e-mail containing a link to the Web site of one of the tour's various sponsors. Next, you have to wait until June 12 before you can enter that code on some other Web site to redeem two tickets to whichever date you'd like to attend. It's a whole rigmarole that some fans — or, more specifically, those willing to drop some serious scratch — can avoid.

That's right, folks — while this summer's Live Nation-sponsored Ozzfest will be free to most, some will fork over upward of $1,000 to get in. As in years past, Ozzfest's organizers will offer fans a number of VIP ticket packages for purchase, which will ensure them a seat for all the headbangin' action.

The festival's "Party Like a Rockstar" package — which includes preferred pavilion seating, access to the second-stage VIP viewing platform behind the mixing boards, access to the general VIP area, a behind-the-scenes tour and a special host "to help you rock harder than you have ever rocked before" — returns this summer, and will set you back $300. There's also the "I'm Part of the Show" package, which costs $666 and includes all the same perks, in addition to a seat on the Ozzfest stage during Osbourne's concert-closing set.

There's also the "Platinum" package, which will be available by auction in the not-so-distant future. The starting bid will be $1,000 and will be limited to only 10 guests per show. This offer includes everything the "I'm Part of the Show" package does, and then some. Fans who win the auction will also get a personal meeting with Osbourne and his band, along with a certificate signed by Sharon Osbourne. The proceeds of these tickets will go to the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

The festival's 12th annual installment boasts a bill including Ozzy Osbourne, Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Static-X, Lordi, Behemoth, Nile and In This Moment, among others.

For more on Ozzfest, check out the feature "Backstage at Ozzfest."

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Lamb of God
• Hatebreed
• Static-X
• Behemoth

A Life Once Lost
Photo: Tim Harmon

During last summer's Ozzfest, a disturbing yet somewhat amusing tradition of sorts was birthed — one several second-stage acts ritualistically ended their days with.

After the shows, some bandmembers would plop themselves down in a long line of lawn chairs situated across the street from the parking lot of whatever venue they'd just collectively rattled. There, the musicians would sit and chug cans of lukewarm beer while brutally taunting the hundreds of kids — who'd just paid good money to roast the day away in the blistering sun and take in the metal — as they returned to their cars.

The bands dubbed it "Lurker's Row." Bob Meadows, frontman for Philadelphia metalcore extremists A Life Once Lost, witnessed these nightly roasts from time to time — but as a spectator, he said.

"It was kind of funny, but really, I was always like, 'Dang — I can't believe we're sitting here, just belittling all of these people who came out to a festival that we just played. This is how we're treating our friends and new guests — let's just torment them and make fun of them while they're leaving,' " he said. "Don't get me wrong — I will make fun of someone if I know them. But I think that kind of stuff is a little weird. I was made fun of in school a lot, so I try to stay away from making fun of people I don't know. I need positivity in my life."

"Lurker's Row" was just one of the ways the bands battled the boredom that comes with touring. Whether it returns in '07 remains to be seen; its revival rests solely with Hatebreed, the one act that'll be coming back for this summer's rendition.

While A Life Once Lost don't condone such tomfoolery, on their forthcoming LP — the head-crushing, incredibly abrasive, self-produced Iron Gag — Meadows does call out a few of the people who've pissed him off in recent years. But not by name, of course.

"There's just a lot of things I've wanted to say to a lot of people on this record," he explained. "Even within a song, there could be two or three people I'm talking about. It was just inspired by a lot of things I've wanted to say but haven't because I had to watch myself. There are so many ugly things going on in the music scene and life, and I was just like, 'F--- it, if I say something that's going to piss someone off, then it wasn't meant to be anyway. Let me just get this all off my chest.' So, this album's just really pissed, and it's just very vicious."

The songs on Iron Gag — like "Ill Will," "Firewater Joyride" and "Worship" — take jabs at womanizers, racists, addicts and those who Meadows believes aren't living up to their full potential. The singer said Iron Gag "sounds nothing like [2005's] Hunter," adding that, "the recording quality, to my ears, is just a million times better.

"The songs are just way more fierce," he continued. "There's just an element about it that Hunter didn't have, and I think maybe that was just us doing it ourselves. It was us learning from [Hunter producer and Anthrax guitarist] Rob Caggiano how to actually approach the songs and my working with [Lamb of God's] Randy Blythe on the vocal production, which taught me how to approach the songs well. And with all of that working together, we've definitely put out a record that's going to move a lot of heads — make people turn around and be like, 'Holy sh--.' It's a monster of a release."

The band spent four months — or more specifically, six hours a day, five days a week — working on Iron Gag, and Blythe's guidance helped Meadows turn in what he says is the best performance he was capable of.

"Randy came in, and I would say it was more like he helped me with certain accents on the words — certain ways of approaching my delivery," he said. "The lines and the phrasing, that was already done before we met up. To me, to come into the studio and to have him sitting in there and never hearing the songs before and being like, 'Dude, that's pretty sick. I never would have thought of that,' or, 'I like what you're doing there, but how about you bring that word up a little higher at the end, to give it that extra oomph.' "

The band also benefited from Blythe's past work with the producing likes of Machine and Devin Townsend. "You can just hear it coming out of him," Meadows said of the noticeable influence the producers have had on the Lamb of God frontman. "This guy's been wrapped up in it for years, and he really knows what he's talking about. I knew exactly how I wanted it to sound like, and how pissed I wanted it to be, but having someone like Randy come in only adds so much more intensity to it."

Look for Iron Gag to land in stores in August, Meadows said.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Necrophagist have a new drummer in Marco Minnemann. He replaces Hannes Grossmann, who left the band earlier this year. "The band is absolutely stoked to announce that Minnemann will be drumming on the new Necrophagist album, due in 2008," read a statement from the German technical death metallers. "We can't wait to work on arranging the new songs with such an incredibly talented, proficient and complete musician." ... Behemoth's forthcoming LP The Apostasy is in the bag. Recorded in the Polish band's hometown of Gdansk with frontman Nergal and longtime sound engineer Malta behind the boards, the disc is due in July. ... Swedish metal titans Soilwork continue to work on their next opus, which should surface later this year. Frontman Björn Strid is currently in Canada tracking vocals for the yet-untitled LP with producer Devin Townsend, who helmed 2002's Natural Born Chaos. The band does admit, though, that it's still got "a long way to go" before the album is completed. Look for the disc to include "Your Beloved Scapegoat," "Light Discovering Darkness" and "The Pittsburgh Syndrome." ...

Nile, who'll spend this summer playing Ozzfest's second stage, have entered the mixing phase for their forthcoming LP, Ithyphallic. "There are nine songs and one short acoustic piece," writes the band, "yet overall, a wide range of tempos, some doomy, exotic elements as well as some unbelievably fast and catchy metal." The record will boast "Language of the Shadows," "Even the Gods Must Die" and the brevity-challenged "Papyrii Containing the Spell to Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is in the Water." ... If you're craving something more extreme and violent than Sounds of the Underground or Ozzfest, you might wanna check out the Summer Slaughter tour. The gore-drenched traveling fest features Necrophagist, Decapitated, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, Beneath the Massacre, the Faceless, As Blood Runs Black, Arsis and Ion Dissonance. Dates run from June 1 in Clifton Park, New York, through July 8 in New York. Careful in the mosh pit: Spilled blood is way slippery. ... Thine Eyes Bleed, the Canadian thrash band featuring bassist Johnny Araya (brother of Slayer frontman Tom), are hard at work on their second full-length album. The band tracked the disc at Beach Road Studios in Goderich, Ontario, with producer Siegfried Meier and are getting ready to mix. "Things couldn't have been better this time around," singer Justin Wolfe said. "We were able to listen and create without the pressures of budget and time and it's really going to show." The yet-untitled album is scheduled for release this summer. ...

Austin, Texas, black-metal band Averse Sefira will remain on tour with 1349 through Monday in Albuquerque, New Mexico, then they'll return home to continue working on their next album. While the release of the disc is still many months away, the band has already hired Jos. A. Smith — best known for painting the goat on Bathory's 1984 self-titled debut — to create the cover art. Earlier this month, Averse Sefira reissued their long-out-of-print debut album, Battle Clarion. ... Riverside, California, hardcore-metal band Suicide Silence have just finished recording their debut album, which was produced by John Travis (Static-X, Zebrahead) and mixed by Tue Madsen (Witchery, Kataklysm). The yet-untitled disc will be released this summer. "Working with John Travis was definitely an amazing experience," singer Mitch Lucker said. "He had us track everything live in order in order to capture the intensity we were aiming for." The disc will feature guest vocals by new Through the Eyes of the Dead singer Nate Johnson. Suicide Silence are on tour with Stick to Your Guns through Wednesday in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Two days later they'll launch a tour with Bury Your Dead in Rochester, New York, with dates running through June 3 in Chicopee, Massachusetts. ...

Terror have been added to the Monsters of Mayhem II tour, which also features Hatebreed, God Forbid, Evergreen Terrace and the Acacia Strain. "Overall, this tour has a great lineup," Terror frontman Scott Vogel said. "For starters, we are very excited to be going out with Hatebreed again. They are influential and inspirational, and there is no other band we would rather tour with. And God Forbid is a band we always thought we should tour with, so we are glad to finally be going out with them." The tour launches May 18 in Rochester, New York, and runs through June 7 in Omaha, Nebraska. ... Lacuna Coil have posted the new video for "Within Me" on their MySpace page. The clip was shot in February in Italy. The band will remain on the road with the Jägermeister Music Tour, which also features Stone Sour and Shadows Fall, through May 4 in Des Moines. On May 7, Lacuna Coil will launch a headline tour in Louisville, Kentucky, with Within Temptation, In This Moment and Stolen Babies. Stolen Babies will support LC throughout, while the other bands will only play select shows — as will the Gathering and Kylesa. For the tour, Lacuna Coil are inviting fans to choose the set list — right here. Voting ends April 20. ...

Industrial-metal band Hardwire: The Industrial Hardcore Tech will write a song for an upcoming horror film tentatively titled "The 3rd Night on Winter Drive." Guitarist/singer Mike Marsh is currently scoring the film, which he also co-produced, co-wrote and acted in with costar Patti Tindall ("Machined"). "The film centers on a paranormal investigator who is hired to investigate a house where an upstanding religious family lived and was murdered," Marsh said. "It's like a cross between 'The Amityville Horror' and the television show 'Ghost Hunters.' " Postproduction is expected to be completed in May in time to submit the movie to film festivals. ... Testament singer Chuck Billy, ex-Exodus singer Steve "Zetro" Souza and Laaz Rockit's Willy Lange have re-formed their '80s Dublin, California, outfit Dublin Death Patrol. Over the past six months, the guys have been rearranging and restructuring old songs and working on new material. An album recorded with Vinnie Wojno is forthcoming. "This is what we have to give to the metal world," Souza said, "a kick-ass, straight-up, aggressive and in your f---ing face album of music by guys just from Dublin, California."

• A Life Once Lost
• Lamb of God
• Behemoth
• Soilwork
• The Acacia Strain

Daath
Photo: Roadrunner Records

Daath guitarist Eyal Levi is issuing a stern warning to those planning to attend this year's free Ozzfest, which his six-piece death-metal outfit will be playing with the likes of Ozzy, Hatebreed, Lordi and Lamb of God: "No one better f--- with us."

You see, Levi supports the old maxim that the best defense is a strong offense, and after the kind of tour the band shared this winter with Goatwhore, the Acacia Strain and Job for a Cowboy — the theme of which, he said, was "staying alive" — Daath are in dire need of a strong offense. Not that they're proponents of rampant acts of violence — it's more about protection, Levi explained.

"I don't like getting into fights — it's not what I'm into," he said. "But that last tour was so crazy, as far as violence goes, I just figure we've got to be ready. ... After this last tour ... I mean, there were fights every single night. One night, there were nine fights — nine f---ing bloody fights."

During one gig, Levi said, an audience member tried to attack frontman Sean Farber after he drenched the crowd with water.

"I guess some dude didn't like it, and he told us to stop — in the middle of a song, mind you," the guitarist recalled. "First of all, we're not going to stop. Secondly, how do you expect a band to hear that? So he charged the stage and spit in Sean's face. Sean saw him rushing towards the stage and hit him in the face with his microphone. After the show, the dude jumped our merch guy because he thought it was Sean. So let's just say I'm going to be ready next time."

Daath — which translates to "knowledge" in Hebrew — released their Roadrunner Records debut, The Hinderers, March 20. The Atlanta act's material is heavily influenced by Da'at and Kabbalah, although the band does not identify a direct religious affiliation in its music. Daath explore esoteric themes associated with the Qabalistic Tree of Life and Death — a mystical-belief system that describes imbalances in areas of the brain — and use it as a framework for psychological exploration, Levi said.

"We've been into this kind of stuff as long as we've been working together, which is since I was 12 years old," he explained. "We always kind of had a fascination with the occult, and when we were putting this project together, we were researching names and themes and one that really stuck out to us was the Tree of Life and Death life concept. We feel it maps out the human mind very precisely, and we use it as a roadmap to explore the negative sides of the human mind."

The Hinderers was produced by Daath along with Testament guitarist James Murphy, who also makes a guest appearance on the LP. The album marks the first time most metalheads will have heard them, which doesn't worry Levi.

"I'm not losing sleep over it," he said. "I lost enough sleep while we were making it. It is a bit of a departure for Roadrunner these days, and I know that we have a slightly different sound, so I'm just curious to see what happens. I am ready for whatever. We always envision the worst-case scenario, as well as the best-case scenario, so we're ready for anything. I think we have some pretty catchy music, and I think that people will dig it. We're a grower kind of band — people will need to listen to us 50 times before they get what's going on, since there are so many layers to our music."

But Levi also says the time couldn't be better for an album like The Hinderers to hit the metal scene. "I think we're the first really extreme band to be on [Roadrunner's] U.S. roster in 10 years — with the exception of two bands that were already established: Cradle of Filth and Opeth," he said. "A band like us, a startup band, it's a new thing for the label. Maybe it's an experiment. Maybe they want to see if this style of music can do what it did in the early '90s. It kind of already is, when you see bands like Lamb of God on ['Late Night With Conan O'Brien'], and Slayer's out there winning a Grammy. The time for this style of music has come back around. We're just going to have to wait and see what happens."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Behemoth have been added to the bill for this summer's Ozzfest, which will also feature Nile, In This Moment, the Showdown and others. Ozzfest kicks off July 12 in Seattle, with dates scheduled through August 30 in West Palm Beach, Florida. ... Bury Your Dead have enlisted former I Killed the Prom Queen frontman Michael Crafter as their new singer; Crafter replaces Mat Bruso, who left the band late last year. He'll be making his live debut with the band on the upcoming Don't Call It a Comeback Tour — with support acts Suicide Silence, Stick to Your Guns and Since the Flood — which launches April 20 in Rochester, New York. ... Through the Eyes of the Dead have recruited singer Nate Johnson to replace former frontman Anthony Gunnels. Johnson will soon enter Mana Recording Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida, with producer Erik Rutan to track vocals for the band's forthcoming LP, Malice, which should be in stores late this summer. ...

A May 22 release date has been set for Strapping Young Lad frontman Devin Townsend's latest solo effort, Ziltoid the Omniscient. The album, recorded entirely by Townsend, follows the story of Ziltoid, a four-dimensional, coffee-loving alien who comes to Earth to prove he's the universe's finest guitar player — which he hopes will land him lots of honeys. ... Hell Within will release their second album, Shadows of Vanity, May 15. The Massachusetts band recorded with producer John Ellis (Godsmack, American Hi-Fi) and mixed with Mark Lewis of Audio Hammer Studios. The disc will mark the debut for new drummer Derek Jay, who replaced Brian "Bubba" Joyce late last year. Hell Within were formerly called Twytch and released an EP and album under that name before switching their moniker in time for 2005's Asylum of the Human Predator. ...

Lots of things delay black-metal albums from getting in the hands of fans. Sometimes it's too much partying, other times it's federal shipping laws. But once in a while, product just gets lost in the mail. That's what happened to Full Moon Productions band Velvet Cacoon, whose double-CD Dextronaut was misplaced by the U.S. Postal Service. The label sent out 200 copies of the record, which disappeared for over a month before someone in Alabama contacted the company after purchasing all of the discs in a USPS lost-goods auction. "We were able to recover them after a lot of stress and bitterness," said a statement from Full Moon. ...

West Virginia modern-thrash band Byzantine are in the studio working on their third album, Oblivion Beckons, which is tentatively scheduled for release late this summer. The disc will be mixed by Drew Mazurek at High View Studios and mastered by Alan Douches at West Side Music. "The record is coming along really well," bassist Skip Cromer said in a statement. "The sound is really good. We tried some redneck experiments to get some slamming tones and they ended up working. The majority of the songs definitely fall into the thrash vein of things." Byzantine will release their "Salvation" DVD on April 17. The disc, which is nearly four hours long, features a six-song live set, including the otherwise-unavailable "Cradle Song," as well as behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, the video for "Jeremiad," tutorials and bootleg concert footage. ...

Los Angeles extreme-metal band Abysmal Dawn have officially hired new bassist Mike Cosio (ex-Excretion, Grave Desecration) following a monthlong trial period and are now hard at work on their next album. "Our only scheduled performance at the moment is the recently added Emperor reunion show on June 3 at the Key Club in [West] Hollywood [California]," the band wrote on its Web site. "We feel very privileged to be supporting such a legendary entity and hope you will come out and show your support for some black/death-metal art." Abysmal Dawn's debut, From Ashes, came out in 2006. ... All That Remains. are shuffling through footage for their first DVD, which should be out later this year. "It looks amazing. I can't wait until we get this thing together for you guys," singer Phil Labonte said in a post on the band's Web site. "I think we'll see some more stuff once we get back from Europe, so I'll give you another update then." All That Remains return to the U.S. May 2 for six dates with Bullet for My Valentine. ...

Bay Area thrash band Dekapitator have signed to Relapse and are currently working on their second full-length, The Storm Before the Calm, which is due this summer. Tracks include "Earthscorcher," "Screams From the Holocaust," "Toxic Sanctuary" and "Run With the Pack"; the latter two can be previewed at MySpace.com/Dekapitator. "We're highly psyched about unleashing The Storm Before the Calm through Relapse," singer/guitarist Matt Hellfiend said in a statement. "We're looking forward to thrashing as much as we can this year, so bring your denim and your beer and let's f---in' rage." Dekapitator's debut, We Will Destroy ... You Will Obey, came out in 1999 and was produced by ex-Death and Obituary guitarist James Murphy. ...

Chicago hardcore-metal band Yakuza have entered the studio to record their third album, Transmutations, which is tentatively scheduled for release this fall. "We had jazz percussionists Michael Zerang and Hamid Drake come in for a few songs," frontman Bruce Lamont said. "It was a serious honor. I can't even tell you how happy we are with the results." The album is being produced by Sanford Parker, who has worked with Pelican, Minsk and Rwake. "He brought the sonic continuity we have been striving for since day one," Lamont said. ... In May, God Forbid will take part in the Monsters of Mayhem 2 tour along with Hatebreed, Evergreen Terrace, the Acacia Strain and After the Burial. The tour will be God Forbid's last to support their latest album, IV: Constitution of Treason. Dates run from May 18 in Rochester, New York, through May 26 in Orlando, Florida.

• Daath
• Behemoth
• Yakuza
• Bury Your Dead
• Strapping Young Lad

In This Moment
Photo: Century Media

There's no denying Maria Brink's a babe. The full-bosomed, pouty-lipped, heavily inked blond frontwoman for Southern California metallers In This Moment sort of gets that, too. That's not to say she isn't a modest lass, of course. But she's reminded on an almost daily basis just how striking she is.

"There's definitely a lot of marriage proposals," she confided, before guitarist Chris Howorth, who runs the band's MySpace page, chimed in: "Every day, there's like five or six marriage proposals that come in, and all of her picture comments — there's about a 1,000 posts for each picture — they're all like, 'You're hot,' 'Will you marry me?,' 'You're hot.' It's retarded."

At the same time, though, In This Moment — which formed in 2005 and will release their debut full-length, Beautiful Tragedy, March 20 — realize that having an attractive face behind the microphone can't hurt in a male-dominated genre. Gorgeous singers have helped the likes of Lacuna Coil and Arch Enemy get noticed, both onstage and off. One thing In This Moment fans may not notice, though, is the gash that graces the bridge of Brink's nose in the video for the first single, "Prayers."

"I literally got my head split open during the shoot," she explained. "I have a big scar across my face. The [camera] dolly came a little close, and I was headbanging, and we just collided and my whole face split open. There was blood all over the place."

When the band's manager tried to call off the shoot, to let Brink recoup, she insisted In This Moment finish what they had started. "We just iced it and glued it shut," she said. "My hair's in my face for much of the video, to cover up the cut on my face." How much more metal does it get?

In This Moment are on tour with Kittie, Walls of Jericho, Dead to Fall and 36Crazyfists through March 24 in Warren, Michigan. After that, they'll head out with Lacuna Coil and Stolen Babies in May for a North American run that launches May 7 in Louisville, Kentucky. The trek's routing is still being finalized.

Howorth said there was a great deal of pressure on the band during the recording of Beautiful Tragedy, which has been in the bag since late August and was produced by Eric Rachel (Atreyu, Every Time I Die). "It's our first record, and we're trying to impress a lot of people," he said. "So we wanted everything to be perfect and sound great. Everything has worked out phenomenally for this band."

Brink — who sounds like a cross between Lamb of God's Randy Blythe and Evanescence's Amy Lee — shows a great deal of range on In This Moment's inaugural studio outing, which immediately differentiates the band from other female-fronted metal outfits. Lyrically, Brink was inspired by challenges she's faced throughout her life, as well as by her son.

"Whether or not it's the past or something more recent, each song's based on things I've been through in my life," Brink explained. "Some of it's heart-wrenching and torturous for me to sing or scream about. But it was also cathartic for me. I was crying in the studio and fully upset, at moments. I think it helps my performance sound real. You can hear the pain in my voice. One song I wrote about my best friend, who died two years ago. I would pull all of his pictures out, and it helped bring me to that place while I was singing. It's important that people can feel what I'm singing about."

In This Moment, while relatively new to the scene, have been making a name for themselves on the road, thanks to their intense, visceral live shows. And for the rest of 2007, Brink and Howorth expect they'll be living out of a van, traveling from one venue to the next, spreading the word about Beautiful Tragedy.

If all goes well, In This Moment would like to land a spot on either Sounds of the Underground or Ozzfest this summer. Ultimately, though, Howorth said they have a very important mission in mind: "We want to be the biggest band in the world. Like Metallica, only I don't want to kiss our bassist."

The rest of the week's metal news:

More details have emerged regarding this year's New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, which is set for April 27-28 in Worcester, Massachusetts. So far, the bill's shaping up like this: Bury Your Dead, Satyricon, Walls of Jericho, Kataklysm, Unearth, Cannibal Corpse, the Black Dahlia Murder, the Red Chord, Job for a Cowboy, Lizzy Borden, Goatwhore, I Killed the Prom Queen, Shai Hulud, Since the Flood, Demiricous, Hallows Eve, Cellador, Beyond the Embrace, the Architect, Animosity, Psyopus, If Hope Dies, Ed Gein, the Absence, Kylesa, Skinless, the Devil Wears Prada, All Shall Perish, 100 Demons, Nora, the Human Abstract, Still Remains, Thy Will Be Done, Nachtmystium, December Aeterali, Merauder, Death Before Dishonor, Suicide Silence, Beneath the Massacre, Skeleton Witch, Stick to Your Guns, the Faceless, Blood Runs Black, Dead Hearts, xDeathStarx, Palehorse, Bloodlined Calligraphy, the Funeral Pyre, Gaza, Forever in Terror, Apiary, Sons of Azrael, the Destro and the Network. ... Florida metallers Into the Moat would like you to know that, contrary to rumor, they're not disbanding. In fact, according to guitarist Kit Wray, the band hopes to record a new album later this year. Bassist Josh Thiel has once again left the group, to focus on school, but Into the Moat insist they're "not looking for a bass player. A longtime friend of ours will be lending his bass skills for this upcoming album. We are hard at work on our next album, The Campaign." The band said it would like to once again work with producer Erik Rutan (Cannibal Corpse, Goatwhore). ...

North Carolina metalcore maestros Between the Buried and Me have entered writing mode and are hard at work on the follow-up to 2006's The Anatomy Of, claiming in an online post that "things are coming along very well." The band plans to begin recording in May with producer Jamie King (Human Abstract, Far-Less). In the meantime, you can catch the band in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, March 30; Harrisonburg, Virginia, March 31; and Greensboro, North Carolina, April 1. ... Bled Fest 2007 has been set for May 5 at the Skateland West complex in Westland, Michigan. Animosity, the Faceless, As Blood Runs Black, Beneath the Massacre and At the Throne of Judgment have been confirmed for this year's lineup. ... A Life Once Lost have completed tracking their forthcoming album, Iron Gag. The effort was helmed by producer Eric Rachel (Atreyu, Every Time I Die) at Trax East Recording Studio in New Jersey, and the LP has now entered the mixing phase. No word yet on when the disc will drop, but we'll keep you posted. ... Los Angeles death-metallers the Funeral Pyre will launch a two-week West Coast tour with Cerberus March 29 in Canoga Park, California. Dates are booked through April 13 in San Diego. ... Montreal deathcore dudes Despised Icon have wrapped the recording of their forthcoming sophomore LP, with producer Yannick St-Amand (Beneath the Massacre, Neuraxis). The still-untitled disc is set for a May 22 release. ... South Carolina technical death-metal mammoths Nile are working on their next studio offering, the follow-up to 2005's Annihilation of the Wicked. The band has recruited Neil Kernon (Nevermore, Deicide) to produce the effort, which should land in stores later this year. ...

Experimental metal band the End have just finished their debut video, "Throwing Stones," from their just-released album, Elementary. The clip was shot in Toronto with director Jeff Scheven and producer Dallas Dyer. The End will play a week of Canadian shows with Cancer Bats, Johnny Truant and the Gorgeous starting Wednesday in Sudbury, Ontario, and running through March 13 in London, Ontario. Then they'll open for Poison the Well across the States beginning April 3 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and ending April 20 in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Fear Before the March of Flames and Heavy Heavy Low Low are also on that bill. ... We'll tread carefully with this one since the great uncle of Blessed by a Broken Heart's new singer, Tony Gambino, was Carlo Gambino, a former boss of the Gambino crime family. Tony Gambino recently replaced Hugh Robbie for the Montreal band's upcoming album You Wanted the Best, You Got the Blessed: Greatest Hits. "Tony can do back flips and breakdance better than Turbo in 'Electric Boogaloo,' " the band enthused on its Web site. "We're psyched to have him on board." If Gambino were ever on the wrong side of the law, we're guessing he's clean now, since Blessed are widely considered Christian metal — but we'll refrain from one-liners just in case. Blessed by a Broken Heart will enter a studio with producer GGGarth (It Dies Today, Atreyu) March 19 to track the album. "It will be one of the best metal albums of all time," said the self-proclaimed "superheroes destined to save the world from nuclear annihilation with the power of metal." We couldn't agree more. ...

Metalcore fans will likely weep with joy when they find out Bullet for My Valentine and All That Remains will tour together starting May 2 in Philadelphia. Dates have been booked through May 10 in Toledo, Ohio, and the rest of the shows will be announced soon. Escape the Fate and the Confession will open. Bullet for My Valentine are currently at home in Wales working on their next album, and All That Remains are taking a quick break before heading to Europe, where they'll tour through April 21. ... Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman will release his sixth solo album, Loudspeaker, March 13. The fast and furious disc features guest appearances by Steve Vai, Dream Theater shredder John Petrucci, ex-David Lee Roth bassist Billy Sheehan and ex-Michael Schenker drummer Jeremy Colson. "I wanted to get these guys to play the most aggressive way they could because, as a fan, I really wanted to hear them in a full metal context," Friedman said. Tracks include "Coloreas Mi Vida," "Black Orchid" and "Elixir." ... Widely hyped U.K. metalcore band Fightstar will release their U.S. debut, Grand Unification, in April. The record was produced by Colin Richardson (Bullet for My Valentine, Cannibal Corpse), and while it holds together as a concept album, that wasn't the band's original intention. "When I hear something is a concept album, I always think, 'I hope this isn't a load of pretentious bullsh--,' " singer/guitarist Charlie Simpson said in a statement. "But gradually, as we wrote more lyrics, everything seemed to link together." Bassist Dan Haigh added: "The songs are supposed to be key moments in people's existences during that last day of the world. A lot of the music is born of a desire to capture something epic." Fightstar will make their Stateside performance debut with two March 15 shows at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. A full U.S. tour will follow. ...

Swedish doom-metal legends Candlemass will celebrate their 20th year anniversary with a March 31 concert in Stockholm. They'll be joined onstage for the first time ever by their original singer, Johan Lanquist, who left after the recording of their legendary 1986 debut, Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. The show will also mark the debut of the band's new singer, Robert Lowe (also of Solitude Aeturnus), who replaces Messiah Marcolin. Grand Magus will open the evening and Cathedral frontman Lee Dorrian and Witchcraft singer Magnus Pelander will DJ. ... New Jersey emo-metal band Bedlight for Blue Eyes have started tracking their second album, tentatively titled Whole Again. The band is recording in Atlanta's Tree Sound Studios with producers Zack Odom and Kenneth Mount, who also recently worked with Cartel. The disc will be the group's first to feature new singer Danny — original singer James quit in September to "pursue other interests." "The past year has been really rocky for the band and for us individually," guitarist Itzhak "Itchy" Bishburg said. "We thought we were on the verge of the end until we met Danny. So we took all of that energy and channeled it into the album." ... Polish black-metal band Behemoth are finishing up their new record The Apostasy, which is being produced by frontman Nergal and the band's longtime sound engineer, Malta. The album is tentatively scheduled for release in late July. "It is taking us much longer than we had originally expected but The Apostasy is technically the most demanding of all Behemoth albums thus far," Nergal said in a statement. "We are extremely proud of what we've recorded and the sound is just devastating."

• Behemoth
• Nile
• Bullet for My Valentine
• All That Remains

DevilDriver
Photo: Roadrunner Records

Ask any member of any metal band what fans can expect from whatever it is they're working on at the moment, and they'll usually come back at you with one of three possible responses: The material is either the most "brutal," "extreme" or "hardest" they — or anyone else, for that matter — have ever churned out. But DevilDriver frontman Dez Fafara took things a bit further in describing his band's next opus.

"When you hear this record, you're gonna sh--," he promised. Tempting as that already sounds, he didn't stop there. "In a time when art of this sort is in total despair and everybody sounds the same, and everybody's trying to sound like Metallica, Pantera or Iron Maiden, we're making a definite move towards our own individuality, and it's definitely gonna show on this record. We're onto something here, and it's an exciting and inspiring time for me, man. Seriously."

Well then, the next question is obviously when this yet-untitled aural laxative is going to be out. Fafara assures this spring, but no definite release date has been etched in stone yet. One thing's for sure: DevilDriver didn't waste any time tracking the LP at Sonic Ranch studio, located just outside El Paso, Texas. Fafara said that initially, the band wanted to take two months in the studio to get the album just right. But thanks to producer Jason Suecof (God Forbid, Bury Your Dead) and engineer Mark Lewis (Trivium, Seemless), the album should be in the bag before the weekend.

"It's unbelievable, man," said Fafara, who fronted Coal Chamber before doing time with the Driver. "We tracked what we thought would be two months' [worth of work] in 22 days, and we have two or three more days of vocals. So it looks like we're gonna be tracking the whole record in 31 days. ... In all the records I've done with many different producers over the years, these guys manage to capture some intense vibes.

"It feels like a train moving forward, the way they capture it," he continued. "Rather than just laying down the songs, there's this feeling to 'em, man. They have managed to capture DevilDriver in such an intense, raw form that ... I mean, this feels like the album we should have always made. Everybody likes to say that, but this surely does feel that way."

DevilDriver wrote 13 tracks for the follow-up to 2005's The Fury of Our Maker's Hand but plan to release an album with just 11 cuts, Fafara said. That will include "Cattle Call," "Damning the Heavens," "The Last Kind Words," "Monsters of the Deep" and the likely first single from the LP, "Bound by the Moon." Fafara says he's a fan of every single tune they've written: "I mean, we can't find a B-side, which is the most killer thing about this record. Usually it's obvious. You play 'em back and you go, 'Eh, that's a good song, but it doesn't fit with the rest.' Right now, we can't find [one]."

While Fafara said DevilDriver's self-titled 2003 debut sounded — at least to him — like a band trying to find itself, and The Fury of Our Maker's Hand was just the next step in the band's evolution, this next one's a rager. "My bass player [Jon] Miller walked in the other night and said, 'This record is sincerely pissed — pissed like I've never heard you,' " Fafara explained. "And the music these guys brought in was really thought-out, with lots and lots of guitar work, lots of solos, lots of melody that can be carried off without clean vocals and still sound killer to the ear. We didn't want to carry anything off in a wimpy way. We wanted it to be brutal all the way through. The musicianship has definitely stepped up, and if I ever had to go do soul-searching for lyrics, I did for this record. I just opened up the floodgates, because it was time. People are just gonna go, 'Holy sh--, what a brave move,' when they hear this record."

The rest of the week's metal news:

A belated congratulations is in order for Killswitch Engage bassist Mike D'Antonio, who married his longtime girlfriend, Kerri, in Hawaii in late October. Killswitch's latest, As Daylight Dies, is in stores now. ... Sevendust, Diecast and Bloodsimple will team up for a North American tour that's set to begin February 8 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sevendust's forthcoming album, Alpha, will be in stores March 6. Dates for the run are booked through February 24 in Providence, Rhode Island. ... The first leg of dates for Terror's upcoming All for Revenge tour have been revealed, and the Warriors, All Shall Perish, War of Ages and Stick to Your Guns have been tapped as support acts. The trek launches January 22 in Detroit, and dates are scheduled through February 3 in Atlanta. ... It Dies Today will head out with Papa Roach next month for a string of 13 North American shows — the first is in Eugene, Oregon, on January 23, and the last is set for February 9 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. ... The Jonbenét, the American Black Lung and Blues will hit the road together starting January 1 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Thirty dates have been scheduled for their trip, which concludes February 3 in Austin, Texas. ...

Polish black-metallers Behemoth have begun tracking their forthcoming LP. According to frontman Nergal, the band has "11 songs plus intro ready to go" for The Apostasy. "It all sounds huge and our sound has never been this intense, while being very epic and catchy at the same time," he added. "It has all the Behemoth trademarks, enriched with some fresh ideas. I guarantee some people are going to be surprised." Songs slated for the album's final track list include "Prometherion," "Pazuzu (The Desert Storms Bringing)," "Slaying the Prophets Ov Isa," "Arcana Hereticae" and "At the Left Hand Ov God." The record is expected to drop early next year, but no official release date has been set. ... The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza has signed with Black Market Activities and will begin work soon on their next studio offering. No word yet on when the LP will be in stores, but we'll keep you posted. ...

Norwegian black-metal specialists 1349 will join forces with Goatwhore, Nachtmystium and Averse Sefira for a North American road excursion that'll kick off March 28 in Nashville. Dates run through April 14 in Corona, California, with more expected to be confirmed in the coming weeks. ... Atmospheric Ukrainian black-metal force Drudkh will release their forthcoming album River of Tears sometime next year. No official date has been set just yet for that one either. ...

Power-metal sextet 3 Inches of Blood continue recording their next offering, with Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison in the producer's chair. The record should surface sometime this spring and include "Night Marauders," "Goatrider's Horde," "Assassins of the Light" and "Black Spire." ...

Canadian technical death-metal band Beneath the Massacre will release their full-length debut, Mechanics of Dysfunction, February 20. The album was recorded and produced by Yannick St-Amand (Despised Icon, Neuraxis), mixed by Pierre Rémillard (Cryptopsy, Krisiun) and mastered by Alan Douches (Dillinger Escape Plan, Shadows Fall). Tracks include "The Stench of Misery," "Society's Disposable Son" and "Modern Age Slavery. The band's debut EP, Evidence of Inequity, came out in 2005. ... Ambient psych-metal band Isis will launch a new tour February 22 in San Diego, with dates running through April 8 in Los Angeles. The band's In the Absence of Truth LP came out on Halloween, and its "Clearing the Eye" DVD dropped in late September. Opening for Isis will be Jesu, the latest project from ex-Godflesh frontman Justin Broadrick. The band put out its second EP, Silver, in April and will release its first full-length, Conqueror, February 20. "Old Year," "Transfigure" and "Horizontal" are just a few of the songs to be featured on the latter. ...

Anyone bummed that there were only three Megadeth tracks on the "Gigantour" DVD will be pleased to know that the band will release a new DVD, "That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires," March 3. The disc features an October 9 show from Obras Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and includes songs spanning the band's career from 1986 to 2004. Highlights include "Wake Up Dead," "Hangar 18/ Return to Hangar," "Peace Sells" and "Holy Wars ... The Punishment Due." ... Theatrical Finnish warlords Lordi have seen their album The Arockalypse already go triple platinum in their homeland this year, and they'll release the LP in North America on March 20 with extra tracks and a bonus DVD. Lordi rocketed to fame after winning the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, and in Finland the band has since been graced with its own credit card as well as branded cola, candy, kebab and comic book endorsements. Related stamps, coins and restaurants are on the way. Is it any wonder that the band's manager is none other than original Kiss manager Bill Aucoin? Lordi will make their North American live debut at the Bamboozle Festival in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on May 5 and 6, and will launch a full invasion of the continent this spring. ...

Onetime Kayo Dot contributor Forbes Graham appears on the debut album by Irepress, Samus Octology, which is due out in early 2007. Tracks include "Samus," "FridOhm" and "June Ipper." ... Canadian death-metal veterans Kataklysm will release the CD and DVD package Live in Deutschland in late January. That same month, the band's U.S. label will also reissue the group's 2006 album, In the Arms of Devastation. That CD will come with the bonus DVD "The End of Serenity: Live in Strasbourg," which was filmed in France during its tour for 2004's Serenity in Fire. The releases will coincide with Kataklysm's participation in the Trendkiller Tour with Sworn Enemy, Suicide Silence, As Blood Runs Black and Too Pure to Die. Dates start February 1 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and run through March 11 in New York. ... Operatic and classical-metal Swedes Therion will release their 12th studio album, Gothic Kabbalah, January 12. Tracks include "Mitternacht Lowe," "Tuna 1613" and "The Wand of Abaris." The album was mixed in Stockholm by Stefan Glaumann (Rammstein, Apocalyptica).

• DevilDriver
• Lordi
• Killswitch Engage
• Behemoth

As I Lay Dying
Photo: MTV News

The second installment of the Sounds of the Underground Tour — which rivaled Ozzfest in its successful first year of existence — is set to launch July 8 in Cleveland and wrap on August 27 in Los Angeles. The organizers behind the traveling metal-and-hardcore circus have enlisted special guests to help bolster the lineup during three of the tour's 27 stops.

As I Lay Dying top the bill, which also features In Flames, Trivium, Cannibal Corpse, Gwar, Terror, the Black Dahlia Murder, Behemoth, the Chariot and Through the Eyes of the Dead (see "As I Lay Dying, In Flames Confirmed For Sounds Of The Underground").

The special guests include New England metal stalwarts Killswitch Engage (who'll perform only at the July 14 show in Mansfield, Massachusetts); Shadows Fall, It Dies Today and Still Remains (who will augment the bills in Mesa, Arizona, on July 26 and San Diego two days later); and hardcore champions Evergreen Terrace will hop on the Sounds express on July 19 and remain on board for the rest of the tour.

This summer's trek hits the road one week after this year's Ozzfest kicks off in San Francisco (see "System Of A Down, Disturbed To Headline Ozzfest").

The festival organizers are taking a different approach to this year's festival by having fewer bands on the bill and extending the set times for each group. Last year, most bands got no more than 30 minutes to play.

Presale tickets will be available starting April 11 but will officially go on sale April 15; more information on where concertgoers can score tickets is available at the Sounds of the Underground Web site.

The 2006 Sounds of the Underground tour dates, according to the festival's publicist:

• 7/8 - Cleveland, OH @ Plain Dealer Pavilion
• 7/9 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre parking lot
• 7/11 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
• 7/12 - Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
• 7/13 - Poughkeepsie, NY @ Mid-Hudson Civic Center
• 7/14 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center parking lot
• 7/15 - Sayreville, NJ @ Starland Ballroom
• 7/16 - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
• 7/17 - Columbia, MD @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
• 7/19 - Orlando, FL @ Tinker Field
• 7/21 - Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless Theater
• 7/22 - Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street Amphitheatre
• 7/23 - Selma, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre parking lot
• 7/26 - Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre
• 7/27 - Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
• 7/28 - San Diego, CA @ TBA
• 7/29 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre Parking Lot
• 7/31 - Denver, CO @ City Lights Pavilion
• 8/2 - Sauget, IL @ Pop's Nightclub
• 8/3 - Sterling Heights, MI @ Freedom Hill Amphitheater
• 8/4 - Milwaukee, WI @ Eagles Ballroom
• 8/5 - St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
• 8/6 - Winnipeg, MB @ Convention Centre
• 8/7 - Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Center
• 8/8 - Edmonton, AB @ Northlands Agricom
• 8/10 - Vancouver, BC @ PNE Forum
• 8/12 - Universal City, CA @ Gibson Universal Amphitheatre

• As I Lay Dying
• Cannibal Corpse
• GWAR
• Terror
• The Black Dahlia Murder

As I Lay Dying
Photo: Metal Blade

Last summer Ozzfest — the Goliath of metal and hardcore carnivals — faced, for the first time since its debut, some serious competition. The David, in this case, was the Sounds of the Underground tour. The inaugural run lived up to its name, with unorthodox acts like Lamb of God, Clutch, Opeth, Poison the Well, Strapping Young Lad, Gwar and Unearth rounding out the bill, along with a dozen other black-, death- and thrash-metal stalwarts.

The trek was such a success that the organizers are returning this year with the second installment of SOTU, which will feature headliners and Ozzfest 2005 vets As I Lay Dying.

The SoCal metalcore unit — which is spending the spring with the Deftones on the Taste of Chaos tour (see "Taste Of Chaos '06 Tour Dates Revealed") — will be joined by several of the genre's other big names for SOTU. Confirmed so far are Gwar, Swedish melodic death-metallers In Flames, Florida's Trivium and Cannibal Corpse, Californian hardcore band Terror, Detroit death-metal troupe the Black Dahlia Murder, Polish power-metal trio Behemoth, the Chariot and South Carolina death-metal collective Through the Eyes of the Dead.

The Sounds of the Underground organizers are taking a different approach to this summer's festival by keeping the number of bands on the bill down and extending the length of set times. Last year most bands got no more than 30 minutes to play.

While dates for the trek — including the official launch date — are still being worked out, SOTU will return to Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as cities in Texas, New England and western Canada. Tickets will go on sale in late March.

More bands will be announced in the coming weeks.

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• As I Lay Dying
• The Black Dahlia Murder
• Behemoth
• Trivium

Behemoth
Photo: www.behemoth.pl

Nergal — the frontman for Polish death-metal power trio Behemoth — has one mission in mind for this summer: bringing his band's "extreme, dangerous metal to the masses" in the U.S.

Just how does Nergal intend to do that? Well, Behemoth are one of the dozens of metal and hardcore acts who've been embroiled in ongoing discussions with the Sounds of the Underground camp. And Nergal's hoping that, when the tour's second installment kicks off in July, Behemoth will be along for the ride.

"I believe people need bands that do the technical, fast sh-- with no wimping out. [Bands that] deliver great, quality music," Nergal explained. "I hope this summer will be a breaking point for us. Having a festival like that for five weeks, it would be a great experience for us to do it. I really hope it happens."

If Behemoth do land on the festival's bill, they'll at least be warmed up for the trek. Fresh from a brief Australian run, the band will tour with Krisiun and Despised Icon on April 2 through May 1 to support Morbid Angel's Monsters of Chaos Tour.

"We've been so lucky [over the past year], because we've gotten a chance to support our all-time favorite bands," Nergal explained, before spouting off names like Nile, King Diamond, Suffocation and Danzig (Behemoth were part of last fall's Blackest of the Black run). "We've toured with bands we totally admire and look up to. Morbid Angel, there's no death- or black-metal band that they didn't have an impact on. It's an honor to share the stage with your idols, and it's great to see [frontman] David Vincent coming back to the band and doing all these shows with them. It's going to be a crazy tour. I can't really think of a package with that many extreme bands, one after another. I can't wait."

On Tuesday Behemoth released a six-track EP, Slaves Shall Serve. The undersized offering features rarities, two covers — of Fields of the Nephilim's "Penetration" and Danzig's "Until You Call on the Dark" — and a live version of Behemoth's latest single, the title track, which first appeared on last year's Demigod.

The EP also includes the uncensored version of Behemoth's "Slaves Shall Serve" clip, which was edited to air in the U.S. What Nergal calls "the fun version" of the video includes anti-Christian images (one part features Behemoth dressed like disciples at the Last Supper, for instance) and women, in various stages of undress, engaged in sadomasochistic activities.

In addition, Behemoth are working on new material that Nergal said will be "very technical, insane and very well-produced." The band has no immediate plans to record those songs, but Nergal said chances are there'll be a fresh batch of Behemoth sometime next year.

The rest of the week's metal news:

On March 14, the day after Black Sabbath are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they'll issue Greatest Hits 1970-1978. The disc features 16 tracks from all eight studio albums recorded by the band's original lineup — singer Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward. A few weeks earlier, a batch of metal icons will appear on Flying High Again: The World's Greatest Tribute to Ozzy Osbourne. Yngwie Malmsteen and ex-Judas Priest singer Tim "Ripper" Owens cover "Mr. Crowley"; ex-Dokken guitarist George Lynch joins Icarus Witch for "S.A.T.O."; Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister and guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen cover "Desire"; Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider teams up with Dio guitarist Doug Aldrich and drummer Jason Bonham (son of the late Led Zeppelin basher John Bonham) for "Crazy Train"; and Children of Bodom take a crack at "Shot in the Dark." ... According to a post on Judas Priest's Web site, the band took a holiday break following two solid years of touring. But now, "They are raring to go and are starting work on their new studio album. For this reason, they have decided not to do any touring this year but to work straight through on the new album." Of course, this is news that rules. ... Shadows Fall mainman Brian Fair has posted an update on the band's Web site regarding its forthcoming final Century Media effort. Called Fallout From the War, it should surface before the summer; the band's full-length Atlantic Records debut will be out sometime next year, according to Fair. Fallout From the War, which the singer described as "a companion piece to 2004's The War Within," features 11 tracks, including three covers (of Leeway's "Mark of the Squealer" and Only Living Witness' "December" and Dangerous Toys' "Teas'n, Pleas'n "). Other Shad compositions on the EP include "Will to Rebuild," "Haunting Me Endlessly" and "Going, Going, Gone." ...

Zao have set The Fear Is What Keeps Us Here as the title to their forthcoming Steve Albini-engineered album, which is tentatively set for a June 13 release. Zao have also called on fans to help them compile a set list for Ferret's 10th anniversary Under the Gun Tour, which they're co-headlining with Madball and Remembering Never. Suggestions should be posted on the band's MySpace page. ... Cult of Luna have completed their next album, Somewhere Along the Highway, which drops April 24. The band spent a week in a cottage in the woods, just outside the Luna's hometown of Umea, Sweden, working on the disc. According to percussionist/guitarist Magnus Lindberg, the secluded locale — as well as the discovery of "Wicca witch women dancing in the woods" — all impacted the sound of the disc, which will feature seven tracks, including "Marching to the Heartbeats," "And With Her Came the Birds" and "Dark City, Dead Man." ... Legendary German thrash band Sodom will release the double-DVD "Lords of Depravity" February 21. The package features a subtitled, three-hour-long documentary of the band that includes historical footage and interviews with present and former members. The second disc contains more than two hours of concert footage shot at various shows in Europe. Sodom's yet-untitled follow-up to 2001's M-16 will come out April 21. ... Angel Blake, former Crown guitarist Marko Tervonen's one-man project, has secured a touring lineup. Joining Tervonen will be drummer Janne Saarenpää (Crown), guitarists Tony Jelencovich (Mnemic) and Christian Älvestam (Scar Symmetry) and bassist Örjan Wressel. Angel Blake's self-titled debut hits stores April 4 and will include "The Force," "Retaliate" and "Self-Terminate." ...

Annihilator will release their two-DVD "10 Years in Hell" February 21. The package contains band interviews, seven music videos, backstage footage and numerous live performances spanning the band's decade-long career. ... Guitarist Stefan Van Neerven will leave Dutch metallers Born From Pain at the end of the month because of personal issues. He'll be replaced by Zero Mentality's Dominik Stammen. ... Swiss metalcore act Cataract are working in Eversound Studios in Effretikon, Switzerland, on their fourth full-length. The band has reunited with Tue Madsen, who produced their 2004 disc With Triumph Comes Loss. Cataract are working from demos of 10 finished tracks and plan to write additional material in the studio. ... Tampa Bay, Florida's the Absence shot their first video February 3 in Toledo, Ohio, with directors Brian Taylor and Dave Ayling. The clip is for the title track from their new album From Your Grave and was filmed at a arts center that used to be a convent for the Ursuline Order of the Sacred Heart. The space is allegedly haunted, though any resident apparitions were apparently too spooked by the noise to make an appearance. ... German hardcore-metal band Neaera are holed away in Denmark recording their second album, Let the Tempest Come, with producer Jacob Hansen (Hatesphere, Raunchy). The disc is tentatively scheduled for release May 2 and will feature numerous well-known but yet-unnamed guest singers. ...

Two East Coast guitar-heavy, bass-free, grindcore trios, Magrudergrind and Sh--storm, will release a split LP March 14. Magrudergrind are based in Washington, D.C., and contribute 10 songs including "Siphon Then Slit," "I Saw Jehova Sippin' a 40 at the Corner of Georgia Ave." and "Emo Holocaust." Sh--storm, who hail from Miami and feature two members of Torche, contribute 14 tracks to the split, including "Desensitized," "Crack Lady" and "Ignorant Extermination." ... Cleveland rockers Switched will hit the road for the first time in two years, starting April 7 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The monthlong tour will be in support of their recently released double-disc collection, Ghosts in the Machine, which featured one disc of new material and a second disc of B-sides, demos and rarities. ... Ligeia will tour with Demiricous, August Burns Red, Ion Dissonance and Ringworm starting February 7 in Baltimore. Dates run through March 10 in Marietta, Georgia. The band's sophomore album, Your Ghost Is a Gift, comes out March 21 and was produced by Unearth guitarist Ken Susi. ... Belfast, Ireland's Therapy? have set One Cure Fits All as the title to their forthcoming album, the follow-up to 2004's Never Apologize Never Explain. According to the band's Web site, the record's undergoing the final mix and the album art should be completed within the next few weeks. A late April/ early May release is being eyed. ... Drummer Adam Sagan is leaving Into Eternity. "I'm very sad to announce to all of you that I am no longer a member of [the band]," Sagan wrote in his official statement on the matter. "This is not what I wanted, but the simple truth is, for personal and professional reasons, I cannot continue to play in Into Eternity at this point in my life." The band is in the midst of writing its next album, which will be the first to feature new singer Stu Block.

• Behemoth
• Black Sabbath
• Sodom