Brand New Sin
Photo: Robert John

It's a good thing Syracuse, New York, sludge-rockers Brand New Sin aren't huge cupcake fans.

Following the band's run last fall with Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society, frontman Joe Altier and the rest of Brand New Sin crawled into their practice space to start thinking about their next LP — the inevitable follow-up to 2005's Recipe for Disaster.

"It just seemed like everyone was bringing a bottle of tequila in every night, so we started seeing what would happen with us pouring tequila down our throats and writing songs," Altier explained. "And, lo and behold, this album came out of us."

The crushing LP, which they've admirably called Tequila, hit stores on Tuesday — a week after the band headed out with Mushroomhead, Soil and the Autumn Offering for a Jägermeister-sponsored tour that runs through December 2 in Utica, New York. And yes, the tour's organizers did give Brand New Sin hell for the booze-fueled outing's title.

"We actually told them ahead of time that we were calling the record Tequila," the singer said. "And they kind of busted our balls a little bit, but they all know that we support the Jägermeister pretty damn well."

But the bottle wasn't the sole source of inspiration behind Tequila. Lyrically, Altier said he tried to exorcise several personal demons that he'd developed between the release of Recipe and the writing and recording of the band's third opus.

"This record deals with a lot of what's happened in the last two years of my life," he explained, adding that he went through a period of heavy drug and alcohol use that took a serious toll on various relationships. "My world went from being one way to the complete opposite. When we did Recipe, I was still married. Now, two years later, a divorce has happened. I moved. I had gone through a rebound relationship that f---ed me up in a lot of senses. I spent a lot of time soul-purging and soul-searching, as to where my life was going. The only thing I knew was right in my life was my music. So these lyrics were a way for me to heal and put those demons I have been battling to rest. Bad things in a musician's life aren't that bad, because we get to write great songs about it."

Brand New Sin recorded the LP with producer and Life of Agony guitarist Joey Z. Altier says he feels the album's not as formulaic as the band's previous two outings.

"We've always been known as a live band, so I guess for this record, we were really going after something different," he said. The band recorded every Tequila track live, in one room and in one take. "We wanted to have the element of bleed going on — guitars bleeding into the snare-drum mic, the bass bleeding into the kick-drum mic. That's how bands did it in the '70s, and so there's a very raw, dry feeling on the album. And since we had to nail these songs in one take, it was very challenging for us. We had to be real prepared when we got into the studio, and we had to be real focused."

The Sin shot a video last month for Tequila's first single, "Motormeth." The performance-based clip was shot in the band's hometown during a free benefit concert that drew a crowd of more than 3,000. Look for it to begin airing on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" this month.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Want to catch a sneak preview of "Living Dead Beat," the first single from Children of Bodom's forthcoming Chaos Ridden Years: Stockholm Knockout Live? Starting Tuesday, fans will have two weeks to download the track exclusively through MTV's Urge, the sole online digital music store that houses a metal genre page. The Chaos album and DVD will hit stores October 24. ... New York hardcore heathens Kill Your Idols are calling it quits. According to a statement from the band, "there is no bad blood, no drama, no in-fighting, no record-label problems or legal battles, no sickness or death or anything of the usual breakup sort. It's time to move on. Most of us will still be involved in music — hardcore, most likely. Some of us will not. Maybe we will be involved in some way or another." ... So, what does one do when they've dropped trou in front of a live audience and the cops are about to toss them in the old Paddy Wagon? If you're Daughters frontman Alexis Stephen Francis Marshall, you hightail it out of there. The singer cut his band's opening set for Pelican short last week at Hollywood's Knitting Factory and bolted after being informed the police were coming to handcuff him for indecent exposure. He jumped offstage and hid at the nearest local bar until the dust settled, upon which time the band headed north to perform in San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle. ...

Chimaira have signed with Ferret Music following the band's departure from the Roadrunner Records roster. A spring release is planned for its forthcoming album, Resurrection. ... Arizona metallers Job for a Cowboy are down a drummer. Elliott Sellers is out, and according to the band, "It was a mutual agreement that ended on a good note." The band's now searching for Sellers' replacement. Interested parties must be willing to tour incessantly. More information on how one can audition for the group is available at Job for a Cowboy's MySpace page. ... Through the Eyes of the Dead, the Acacia Strain, From a Second Story Window and If Hope Dies will team up next month for a monthlong trek that kicks off in Richmond, Virginia, November 16. Dates are booked through December 9 in Houston. ... TTEOTD are also gearing up for this year's Saints and Sinners Festival, for which Unearth and Bleeding Through have also recently been tapped. More than 40 bands will take the stage at the Asbury Park Convention Hall Complex in Asbury, New Jersey, on October 28-29. The roster includes Killswitch Engage, Every Time I Die, Nora, A Life Once Lost, All That Remains and God Forbid. ... Panzerchrist's Roomservice (2003) and Soul Collector (2000) will be reissued with tons of previously unreleased material in December. There are also plans to release the band's 1995 demo on vinyl. ...

Disincarnate's classic 1993 debut Dreams of the Carrion Kind will be re-released on January 21. The reissue will boast three recordings from the band's 1992 demo, Soul Erosion: "Stench of Paradise Burning," "Soul Erosion" and "Confine of Shadows." ... Deathcore demons All Shall Perish will hit the road with Arsis and the Faceless come October 27 in Atlanta. Dates run through November 26 in Hollywood. ... Trivium have posted the video for "Anthem (We Are the Fire)" on RoadrunnerRecords.com/Video. The clip depicts the band and its fans gate-crashing a highbrow yuppie party and getting crazy with a swimming pool and pyro. The video was shot in Agoura Hills, California, on August 11 at the house of an established TV and movie producer who wished to remain anonymous. Director Nathan Cox — who has previously worked with Korn, H.I.M., Marilyn Manson and others — supervised the proceedings. The day before, Trivium shot the video for "Entrance of the Conflagration" in Los Angeles with director Dale Resteghini (Hatebreed, If Hope Dies). ... Following several months of pre-production, black-metal veterans Dimmu Borgir are about to start recording their new disc at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden, with producer Fredrik Nordström. "It will be a story-based album with lyrics written accordingly," the band said in a statement. ...

German thrash kings Destruction will release their re-recorded greatest-hits album January 23. The disc will feature songs from the '80s — including "Mad Butcher" and "Thrash Attack" — and songs from Cracked Brain, which featured short-lived singer Andre Grieder. Destruction will tour with Sadus and Municipal Waste from January 20 in Seattle through February 15 in San Antonio. ... Mnemic have named their new album Passenger after a 1908 work by Franz Kafka. The disc, which is scheduled for release February 6, is lyrically rooted in existential ideas and includes "Psykorgasm," "Humanaut" and "Shape of the Formless." "There are several philosophical positions," guitarist Mircea Gabriel Eftemie said in a statement, "one of them being the value and meaning of the world around the individual. ... The other is that existentialism is often associated with anxiety, dread, awareness of death and freedom." The band's U.S. tour with Soilwork, Threat Signal and Darkest Hour started Thursday and will run through November 11 in Detroit. Check your PHDs at the door. ... Eighties thrash-metal band Hirax will return to the road in November for a tour that lasts from November 10 in Philadelphia to December 16 in Hollywood. The band's most recent album, The New Age of Terror, came out in 2005.

• Brand New Sin
• Children Of Bodom
• Hirax
• Chimaira

Brand New Sin
Photo: Century Media/Robert John

Starting next week, whenever the WWE's Big Show — a man infamous for finishing off the competition with his trademark "Chokeslam" move — enters the square circle, he'll do so to the Southern-influenced thrashing of Syracuse, New York's Brand New Sin. That's because the band, formerly known as God Below, was recruited a few weeks back to supercharge the 7-foot-plus, 520-pound behemoth's theme song by Vince McMahon's music director — who, coincidentally, was turned on to the Empire State metallers by Triple H.

"We went up to Stamford, Connecticut, [the home of the WWE's nerve center] and we spent the day there running around and looking at how they put everything together," frontman Joe Altier said. "And then we spent six, seven hours taking the song he's got now and taking it on, Brand New Sin style. Then on [November 7] we were invited to WWE Raw in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and we met Big Show."

And, not surprisingly, the dude was real big.

"To see someone who's 7'2", 520 pounds — I mean, it sounds big, but you cannot fathom it until the guy comes walking towards you," Altier said. "I'm 5'10", 230 pounds. I'm not a small guy. Our drummer's 6'3" — we're not a band of skinny little dudes. But we looked like little kids hanging out with him."

It turns out that Brand New Sin are just the first band to contribute a track to the WWE's forthcoming, tentatively titled Forceable Entry 2, which should hit stores sometime early next year. The first Forceable Entry compilation, released three years ago, featured Limp Bizkit, Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Sevendust, Disturbed, Kid Rock and Drowning Pool.

Brand New Sin, who've been on the road with Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society since last month on a tour that wraps November 20 in San Francisco, are in the midst of planning a two-week headlining trek of the Northeast — and will be touring the States for much of 2006, too. So how's it been, touring with Zakk?

"He's calmed his ways down a little bit since the first time we went out with him, because I think after all the things that have happened to him in the past year, he was like, 'OK, I need to chill out a little bit,' " Altier said. "But him calming down, even a little bit — I mean, he still has more fun than 98 percent of the rest of the bands out there."

The rest of the week's metal news:

As soon as they're through road trippin' with Slipknot and Unearth, As I Lay Dying will launch a new tour with A Life Once Lost, Norma Jean and Madball. The jaunt runs from November 26 in Atlanta through December 21 in Hollywood. ... Shadows Fall will release the DVD "The Art of Touring" November 15. The nearly two-hour disc will include live performances, behind-the-scenes footage and all six videos from the band's last two albums, 2002's The Art of Balance and 2004's The War Within. The disc also features a special tribute to "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott, filmed during the Shad's tour with Damageplan. ... Trivium will start pre-production on their next disc, The Crusade, in January. The band will once again team with producer Jason Suecof (Capharnaum, God Forbid) for the outing, which is eyeing a fall 2006 release. ... Carcass frontman Jeff Walker will release an album of country and blues covers called Welcome to Carcass Cu--ry by March 2006. The disc will include versions of popular songs by Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Connie Smith, Skeeter Davis and John Denver. Contributing to the odd project was ex-Carcass guitarist Bill Steer, ex-Carcass drummer Ken Owen, ex-Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, Amorphis guitarists Esa Holopainen and Tomi Koivusaari, and H.I.M. frontman Ville Valo and drummer Gas. ...

Northern California experimental doom band Giant Squid will reissue their self-released debut, Metridium Field, in spring 2006. The band is currently writing songs for its sophomore offering, which it plans to unveil later in the year. ... Zao will enter Chicago's Electrical Audio Studio in two months with producer Steve Albini (Helmet, the Pixies), to record the band's as-yet-untitled seventh album. Zao's two-DVD set, "Zao: The Lesser Lights of Heaven," hits stores November 15. ... Drummer Jeff Lohrber has left Today Is the Day, thanks to "personal and musical differences with [frontman] Steve Austin." Lohrber, who was in the band for just eight months, will return to Harlots full-time. ... Stoner drone band Earth — whose frontman, Dylan Carlson, bought Kurt Cobain the shotgun he used to kill himself — will emerge from hiding to play a rare run of shows. Dates run from November 17 in Baltimore to November 21 in Boston, providing Carlson doesn't get arrested for something before then. ... South American black-metal band Goat Semen have finished writing and rehearsing tracks for their upcoming full-length and plan to begin recording in early 2006. ... Rumors of Infinited Hate's demise have been greatly exaggerated. While vocalist Rachel Kloosterwaard-Heyzer has left the band, the singing slot has been filled by ex-drummer Aad Kloosterwaard. The band's currently writing material for its third album, the follow-up to 2005's Heaven Termination. Drums on the album will be handled by Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork, Aborted). ...

Animosity are set to shoot a video for "The Black Page" November 26 in San Francisco; director Richie Valdez (Taste of Blood, Contra) will helm it. ... xBishopx's forthcoming debut, Suicide Party, will surface January 10 through Ferret. Look for the album to contain "xBishopx Basically Owns Your Face," "Hookers & Blow" and "Go F--- Yourself." ... High on Fire will perform "Devilution" and "Brother in the Wind" during a taping of the Discovery Channel program "Monster Garage" Friday night (November 11). No word yet on when the episode will air. In the meantime, High on Fire will hit the road in January for a North American tour with the Bronx, Big Business and Buried Inside. The 29-date trek kicks off January 18 in San Francisco and winds down February 19 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. ... Setherial will begin work on their fifth disc November 21; no word yet on album or song titles, but the band promises the tracks will be "more technical than previous albums — but the aggression still remains." ... Portuguese metal act Moonspell have signed with SPV/Steamhammer Records and are hard at work on Memorial, what will be the band's first post-Century Media release. The album will contain up to 10 tracks, including "Blood Tells," "Upon the Blood of Men" and "At the Image of Pain." ...

Faster Pussycat guitarist Brent Muscat underwent surgery on November 8 to remove oral cancer; he was diagnosed just a few weeks ago. In an online posting, Muscat's wife, EJ, wrote that that the surgery "went very well" and that "the doctors were very satisfied with the surgery. He's doing very good and everything seems [to be] going well so far." ... Thrashin' Swedes Raise Hell will release City of the Damned early next year through Black Lodge Records. ... Hate have a new guitarist: Hellbeast. That's all. ... Chilean thrash band Ammit will release their third album, Hammer of Darkness, November 28. The disc features a cover of Accept's "Fast as a Shark" and is the follow-up to 2003's Extreme Speed Satan. ... Lecherous Nocturne — which features Nile axeman Dallas Toler-Wade behind the kit — will issue their debut LP, Adoration of the Blade, early next year; look for the album to include "Release in Flame," "Singe Este Viata" and "Whorrified." ... Connecticut hardcore dudes the Distance have signed with Abacus Recordings. In two months the band will hit the studio with Shep Goodman (Bayside, Mandy Moore) to begin recording their debut, The Rise, the Fall, and Everything in Between. ... Love in the Time of Cholera have officially shortened their name to Time of Cholera. The Virginia metalcore band's forthcoming EP, Collapse of the Forsaken, hits stores December 6.

• Brand New Sin
• Zao
• High On Fire

Clutch's Neil Fallon (file)
Photo: Pro-Rock/Steve Truglio

Clutch have logged enough highway miles for 10 bands, but surprisingly they've never done a festival tour — not one. That'll change this summer when the Maryland hardcore veterans headline the Sounds of the Underground Tour.

"To be honest, [festivals] always struck us as enormous wastes of time and money and didn't look like a whole lot of fun," said Neil Fallon, Clutch's roaring, pint-sized foreman. "[Sounds of the Underground] looks to be something fresh and new. It's not going to be us playing at some ungodly hour in the afternoon, and the people who'll actually go there are hungry for something like this, which works out to everyone's benefit."

Clutch are currently mixing their new disc, Robot Hive/Exodus, for release on June 21. Fallon promises a couple of straight blues tunes plus songs with "very efficient and very traditional arrangements." The band's also working on a DVD that started out as a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of Robot but has been expanded to include "life on the road" footage.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Mastodon, who've been wined and dined by countless majors since Leviathan was released in August, have become the latest metal act to board the corporate ship. According to a Warner Bros. source, the Atlanta quartet has left its longtime home at Relapse. The source said the deal was finalized two weeks ago. ... Judas Priest's U.S. tour in support of Angel of Retribution will begin June 1 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dates are scheduled through July 10 in Phoenix, although more will follow. Queensrÿche, who are currently wrapping up Operation: Mindcrime II, the sequel to their 1988 epic, Operation: Mindcrime, will open all shows. ...

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is assembling what he's calling the Gigantour, which will launch in late July and feature some of the most musically proficient metal bands on the scene. The six-week campaign will boast Megadeth, Dream Theater, Fear Factory, Dillinger Escape Plan and Nevermore on the main stage; second stage acts have yet to be announced. Megadeth's lineup for the shows will be Mustaine (vocals, guitar), Glen Drover (guitar), James MacDonough (bass) and Shawn Drover (drums). ... B. Dez Fafara's post-Coal Chamber project, DevilDriver, will release The Fury of Our Maker's Hand this summer through Roadrunner. The disc will include "End of the Line," "Hold Back" and "Fury." ...

Acrobatic quintet Manntis will release their debut album, Sleep in Your Grave, on June 28. The album was produced by Cameron Webb, who has also worked with MotÖrhead and Social Distortion. Manntis are on the road with the Battle for Ozzfest Tour, which runs through April 23 in Richmond, Virginia. A Dozen Furies and Curse Your Name are also on the bill. ... Ronnie James Dio will contribute vocals to a track on the still-untitled solo album by Twisted Sister guitarist Eddie Ojeda. Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo plays on two other songs. ... Suicidal Tendencies were forced to cancel their European tour due to "serious health problems of singer Mike Muir," the band's booking agent said in a statement. Muir underwent back surgery last year but had hoped to bounce back in time to tour and finish a new record. ...

Syracuse, New York, riff rockers Brand New Sin will release their second full-length album, Recipe for Disaster, May 31. The disc will include "Black and Blue," for which the band recently shot a video with director Dale Resteghini (Hatebreed, Dillinger Escape Plan). The release will end a period of dormancy during which the band signed to a major label and was dropped before issuing a record. ... Christian death-metal band Extol will release their fourth full-length, The Blueprint Dives, May 3. The album is touted as the band's "heaviest and most diverse" to date. ... Colombian death-metal band Goretrade are getting ready to enter the studio to record their new album, Perception of Hate, which will be released on Displeased Records. ...

"Rise and Oppose," a track from hardcore heavyweights Diecast, is featured in a new Volkswagen commercial. The band has shot a video for the song with Kevin Leonard (Himsa, Terror) that should make its MTV2 debut later this month. ... Death/doom-metal veterans Cianide will contribute an unannounced track to an Antiseen tribute album. They're also planning a split 7-inch with Spanish splatter-metal band Machetazo. ... Metalcore brutes Bleeding Through will headline the second Strhess Tour, which will also feature Zao, Darkest Hour, Martyr AD and Fight Paris. The tour is sponsored by artist Derek Hess and named after his Strhess clothing line. ...

Jazzy hardcore provocateurs The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower caused a stir in Europe recently — and not just in Paris. Various overseas venues were disturbed by the band's name and stage costumes, which include red armbands sewn onto black shirts. The title of their most recent album, Love in the Fascist Brothel, didn't exactly ease anyone's concerns. The band's European booking agent issued a statement that said the musicians "are not Nazis. We personally think that it is, due to the Jewish ethnicity and homosexual orientation of some of the members of the band, unbelievably ignorant to think something like this." The band will open shows in North America for the equally subversive Blood Brothers starting May 10 in Chicago and running through June 17 in Los Angeles. ... Spastic hardcore specialists Drowningman are close to finishing up their next disc, Don't Push Us When We're Hot, for Thorp Records. ...

The first 500 copies of the sophomore album by Orange County's atmospheric Eyes of Fire will come with a bonus CD featuring one 25-minute track. The still-untitled record was produced by the band and Matt Bayles of Mastodon and Isis note. ... Grindcore generators Strong Intention have signed with Goodfellow Records and will begin working on a new album next month. The band then plans to head out with Internal Bleeding, Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus and Kill the Client. ... Following successful surgery to remove his gall bladder, Solitude Aeturnus singer Robert Lowe has returned to the studio to work on the group's new record. Alone will be the doom warriors' first release in seven years. ...

Barry Stern, who drummed for doom-metal legends Trouble and '80s thrashers Zoetrope, died April 1 in his hometown of Chicago shortly after undergoing hip-replacement surgery. A chapel service was held Tuesday. Stern sang and played drums on Zoetrope's 1985 debut, Amnesty, and 1987's A Life of Crime. He left to join Trouble for that band's 1990 self-titled record and also performed on 1992's Manic Frustration. ... Progressive death-metal band Into Eternity were forced to cancel several recent shows because guitarist Rob Doherty was hospitalized with pneumonia in Atlanta. Singer Stu Block and guitarist Tim Roth were also treated for pneumonia. After recovering, the band launched a Canadian tour that runs through April 22. ... Death-metal group Ominous have signed a deal with Chicago's Rotting Corpse Records. The band's first full-length for that label is expected this summer. ...

• Clutch
• Clutch
• Mastodon
• Judas Priest
• Megadeth