Lamb of God
Photo: Epic Records

Of all of Lamb of God's albums, 2006's Sacrament was perhaps the least political.

Coming on the heels of 2004's anti-war opus Ashes of the Wake — a furious and relentless musical onslaught that was just as scathing in its lyrical attack on the Bush administration — Sacrament was a more personal offering, with frontman Randy Blythe deliberately steering clear of politically charged themes. But on the Virginia metallers' next one, Wrath, Lamb of God sort of return to form, setting their sights on the outgoing president, but using the experiences of others to make their point.

"It's not as soapbox-y, though, and not as rant-y about the government — it's more about personal experiences," guitarist Mark Morton told Metal File. "We've met a lot of people and fans who've served in these wars that are going on around the world, so it's a little more personal, tying the worldview into how it affects individuals. And then there's stuff that has nothing to do with CNN at all. There are songs on this record that talk about our experiences, and are aimed at certain people we've met along the way, who, through jealousy or whatever, found some reason to betray us or turn their back on us or try to stab us in the back. As you have success, people kind of turn against you sometimes, so there are a couple of songs directed at those people. Hopefully, they'll know who they are."

According to Morton, Lamb of God decided well before even writing a single note for Wrath — which has been set for a February 24 release — that they wanted to make a record that sounded nothing like Sacrament, and the guitarist feels they were able to do just that.

"We usually try to do something fresh every time," he said. "This one, I think, is deliberately a little more raw and more aggressive than Sacrament was. Sacrament was a really, really dynamic record on every level, and the songs were all over the place — it was also heavily produced. This one's really raw and real-sounding, from every angle, and we're celebrating imperfections on this record. We're choosing what takes stay on the record based more on their character and personality than how completely mechanically precise they are. It's more about vibe and attitude in the takes than it is about, 'Wow, that was perfect.' It's the perfect ones that get thrown away, because they're just too sterile."

For Wrath, LOG called upon longtime friend and associate Josh Wilbur to produce, opting not to rely on Machine (who'd produced Ashes and Sacrament) a third time. Morton admitted that Wilbur is something of a novice when it comes to major label productions, but feels it worked to the band's advantage.

"Josh is someone who has been in the camp for quite some time," Morton explained. "He worked heavily on Sacrament, engineering the drums and my guitars; he also mixed the live audio for [2008's] 'Walk With Me in Hell' DVD. He's not new to us — he's new to the producer's seat, and he's just done a great job. It was part of our strategy. Certainly, nothing was broke with Machine, who is a phenomenal producer and still a good friend — but this time around, from a purely artistic standpoint, to serve our purpose of trying to really do something a little different, I think it made the most sense to get another angle on the production aspect of it. Josh was the perfect fit, because he already knew us and was familiar with how we play and how we write music and how we record it."

Morton said the record will feature between 10 and 12 songs, and that the band plans on playing at least one new track this December, when it heads out with Metallica for a three-week run of West Coast and Canadian gigs. What should fans expect from the new material?

"The guitar tones are a little cleaner than normal," he said. "We're kind of getting into this mind-set that clean is heavy. Clarity is a lot heavier than oversaturated. It's just real raw and natural and organic-sounding, which, in itself, is kind of revolutionary these days, when kids are making pro audio-sounding recordings in their dorm rooms, on their laptops, and cutting and pasting verses and choruses. It's no longer cutting edge to make a completely space-aged, robotic-sounding record. I think it's almost fresh now to make one that sounds like an actual band played it. Don't get me wrong — it still sounds airtight and rehearsed, because it is all those things. But it's just real."

Morton said he's not sure how fans will respond to the stuff, because some of the band's fans aren't familiar with LOG's entire body of work.

"It's really going to depend on where they came in to the process," he said. "It seems like we gained a lot of fans on Sacrament, and I think those folks will maybe be taken aback a little bit by how aggressive this record is. The fans who came in a little earlier won't be as surprised by that, unless they're surprised that we've returned to that sort of approach. We're not denying Sacrament by any stretch of the imagination — it was just time for something different.

"There had been a lot of stuff we were trying to get out of our system on Ashes and Sacrament, and it took a couple of records to do that," Morton continued. "With that out of our system now, we seemed to just gravitate back towards the things that were the initial genesis of the band, which was really just that cathartic, sonic release. There's a lot of that going on on this record, for sure."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Earth Crisis has wrapped the recording of their Century Media Records debut. Guitarist Scott Crouse says the guys are "very excited for everyone to hear what we've come up with," and hints that, while it sounds cliché, "it truly could be the best Earth Crisis release to date! No really, I know every band says that when they finish something new, but ... really!" ...

Death-metal morticians Cannibal Corpse have dubbed their forthcoming LP Evisceration Plague. Set for a February 3 release, bassist Alex Webster claims that the band's goal "has always been to try and make each new album we record our heaviest," and he feels "we've been able to achieve this goal, and I think our fans will agree." Look for the set to include a dozen tracks, including "A Cauldron of Hate," "Carnivorous Swarm" and "Skewered From Ear to Eye." ...

United Nations have booked their first-ever live performance for January 20 at the Black Cat in Washington, D.C. The band will perform as part of the "Demand in DC: Applauding the Empowerment of People Thru Art/ Photo/ Film/ Music" event; Anti-Flag, the A.K.A.s, and Ruiner are also on the bill. ...

The Red Chord have decided to take a break from writing material for their next album to play a few shows with Overcast and Architects. You can catch them November 9 in Holyoke, Massachusetts; November 14 in Portland, Maine; and November 15 in Poughkeepsie, New York. ...

The Number Twelve Looks Like You christened their forthcoming LP Worse Than Alone; that record will be in stores February 10. They have also booked a bunch of shows with the Fall of Troy, Warship and Black Houses. That tour kicks off November 28 in Salt Lake City, and runs through December 14 in Tacoma, Washington.

• Lamb of God
• Cannibal Corpse
• Earth Crisis

Despised Icon
Photo: Century Media

Despised Icon are often ascribed the "deathcore" tag by people who, well, are driven by some strange desire to erroneously label metal bands. But Alexandre Erian — who, along with Steve Marois, comprises the Montreal metallers' two-pronged vocal affront — doesn't really give a rat's ass what anyone thinks the band sounds like.

"We've been doing what we do for five years now, and all of a sudden, that word 'deathcore' pops up, and people are calling us deathcore, calling other bands deathcore, and, I mean, I guess it's all right — it's just music," explained Erian, the former drummer for Canadian death-metal outfit Neuraxis. "But we don't want to be associated with this trend. We've been doing this a long time, and we don't feel like we're hopping on any bandwagon at all. And we're probably going to keep playing what we play, even if the trend dies down.

"I don't understand why people take labels so seriously," he continued. "I guess you could call us 'deathcore,' or 'death metal,' or 'death metalcore,' or 'death metal with metalcore influences,' or 'metalcore with death-metal influences.' I like to let the music speak for itself."

Despised Icon's third LP, The Ills of Modern Man, which was released late last month and sold more than 2,000 copies its first week on store shelves (the label shipped a mere 8,000 copies), is unquestionably some of the band's heaviest material to date. Erian said that was no accident, but it definitely evolved naturally, over several months of touring.

"You don't want to put out the same album twice, and this album came out exactly two years after our previous effort, [2005's The Healing Process,] and so we've toured quite a lot since then," he said. "We've improved as musicians, and we've toured the death-metal circuit [with the likes of Behemoth, Morbid Angel, Suffocation and Cryptopsy,] so we've added a few new influences here and there, to spice things up and make things a bit different. But overall, it's the same band — same sound. I think this record does come across as being a bit more heavy than the previous one, but it wasn't intentional. It just came out that way. So, at least now kids can say we're not selling out or anything because this album is actually more brutal."

And while some of Despised Icon's contemporaries have tempered their sounds, Erian scoffed at the suggestion his band might follow suit.

"I can't sing clean, and neither can Steve — and we don't feel like it either," he said. "We're not going to have any clean vocal parts on any of our albums anytime soon. There are a lot of generic bands out there that pretty much play the same breakdown, and I can't say we're 100 percent original either. Only a handful of bands can say that — Dillinger [Escape Plan], Meshuggah, Suffocation back in the '90s. But I do think we have something more to offer than a lot of the bands out there. I don't know, maybe it's because we're Canadian."

Although The Ills of Modern Man has been out a little less than a month, and — even though they're on tour through July 1 with the Red Chord, Through the Eyes of the Dead, All Shall Perish and See You Next Tuesday — Despised Icon are already thinking about their fourth LP, as well as a future DVD release.

"We've got loads of video footage — stuff we shot while we were recording the new CD, along with lots of shows we've filmed here and there," he said. "We'd like to possibly have one of our shows professionally filmed, but that's really far ahead.

"With this record, we wrote maybe half of it in between tours we were doing, and the other half after that Hatebreed tour we were on this past fall," he continued. "We'll probably stick to the same formula going forward. I know we all have ideas already, and we've been working on a few things here and there. We'll probably get to it after our next tour," which will also feature Job for a Cowboy and A Life Once Lost.

Erian wasn't sure when that trek would kick off or where, but hopefully the band keeps an eye on the road when it does. During Despised Icon's successful fall run with Hatebreed, the band had an unfortunate mishap with a deer. "The entire side of our trailer was covered with blood and guts, and we had to clean it off with cans of Pepsi," Erian recalled.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Ex-Nine Inch Nails drummer Danny Lohner has remixed Daath's "Dead on the Dance Floor" for release July 10 as part of a yet-untitled digital EP. The track integrates the band's feral riffs with Lohner's electronic beats and samples. "At some point in our lives, each member of Daath has spent their time with Nine Inch Nails music," guitarist Eyal Levi said in a press release. "They are a huge part of our musical upbringing and collaborating with one of their main minds is an honor that we are very excited about." ... Apocalyptica have gotta be pissed. Two classically trained female harp players, who go by the name Harptallica, have released their self-produced debut of Metallica covers, Harptallica - A Tribute, on iTunes. The musicians, Ashley Toman and Patricia Kline, both have Masters of Music degrees from Rochester, New York's Eastman School of Music. A tour is forthcoming. ...

Through the Eyes of the Dead will release their new album, Malice, August 21. The follow-up to 2005's Bloodlust will mark the debut of singer Nate Johnson (ex-Premonitions of War, Deadwater Drowning), who replaced Anthony Gunnels in March after Gunnels lost interest in the band. The disc was produced by Erik Rutan (Goatwhore, Cannibal Corpse) and includes "Failure in the Flesh," which is currently streaming on the band's MySpace page. ... Seattle band Himsa have finished recording their yet-untitled fourth album, which they've been hammering away at in the studio with producer Steve Carter (Cradle of Filth, Aiden) since mid-April. Vocals were later produced by Devin Townsend (Lamb of God, Darkest Hour), and Tue Madsen (Kataklysm, Mnemic) is currently mixing the album. ...

Australia surf-thrash band Alchemist have finished recording their new full-length, Tripsis, which is scheduled for U.S. release in September. In a statement, singer/guitarist Adam Agius called the disc, "The most consistently heavy album since Spiritech, with all the Alchemist trademarks — psychedelic, atmospheric, packed with crushing riffs, intertwined guitar, melodies and groove. Tripsis is also the fastest album delivered by Alchemist, with a few songs taking the surf-thrash sound to new heights." Tracks include "Wrapped in Guilt," "Degenerative Breeding" and "Grasp the Air." ... Grindcore band Leng Tch'e have replaced guitarist Geert Devenster with ex-Aborted axeman Peter Goemaere. Devenster quit the group last month because his "priorities in life" changed and he "wasn't having fun anymore." ...

Bay Area thrash band Dekapitator will release their debut, The Storm Before the Calm, July 24. Two tracks, "Toxic Sanctuary" and "Run With the Pack," can be previewed on the band's MySpace page. ... We'd love to hear the story behind this band's name: Arsonists Get the Girls. They'll release their second disc, The Game of Life, August 14. Produced by Zach Ohren of Castle Ultimate, the disc features 12 dizzying tracks, including "Shoeshine for Neptune." ... The new album by Swedish metal legends Entombed, Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments, is scheduled to drop July 31. It will be the band's first studio album since 2004's Inferno. Expect a U.S. tour in late fall or early winter 2008.

• Despised Icon
• Himsa
• Dekapitator
• Nine Inch Nails
• Daath

Cannibal Corpse
Photo: Alex Solca

When ultra-violent death-metallers Cannibal Corpse take the stage, it's almost always to close out a gig. Bassist Alex Webster said the band is and always has been a headlining outfit.

So this summer should be interesting, considering the Corpse aren't topping the bill for the second annual Sounds of the Underground Tour — As I Lay Dying are instead.

"It's the first time we've ever been able to do a festival tour in the United States, and we've had very few opportunities to do tours where we weren't the headliner," Webster explained. "I don't know if a lot of bigger bands didn't want to take a band like us on the road with them or what, but ... this is the first time in 10 years we're doing something with bands that are more popular than us."

He said the Brooklyn, New York, band's thrilled to be part of Sounds, because he feels the gig's going to expose Cannibal Corpse to thousands of metal fans who've been too timid to check them out.

"We really feel like we haven't ever had the chance to play to an audience that is not mostly our own," he said. "We've done lots and lots of headlining tours, but very few opening tours, and never an opening tour of this size. We're in the middle of this package, and so, if an average Cannibal Corpse headlining show's in the hundreds of people and the average Sounds show's going to be in the thousands of people, we're obviously meeting a lot more people each night than we would on our own headlining run.

"I can't wait to see what people think," he continued. "If there's certain people who don't like what we do, and they're forced to watch us anyway, that's always kind of entertaining too. When we toured with the Misfits and Anthrax, there was always a handful of people out there going, 'What the f--- is this sh--?' We're very confident and proud of what we do, so we don't care if some people react negatively to it. If anything it makes us laugh. Some of these fans could be interested in us, if they have a chance to see us and get to know what we're like live."

In late March, Cannibal Corpse released Kill, their 10th studio LP. The album debuted at #170 on the Billboard albums chart, selling more than 6,000 copies in its first week. It was the second time in the band's career that one of its albums breached the mostly pop-friendly list; in 1996, Vile opened at #151, with more than 6,100 copies sold. And it's all due to the fans, Webster said.

"We don't have a huge following, but we have a strong following of dedicated fans," he said. "That's the difference between us and a lot of bands that kind of come and go. We have a dedicated fanbase that has been with us for a long, long time. Whereas I think a lot of bands that are more popular than us [are] kind of fleeting. They're popular for a couple of years, and [their] fans ... move on to the next big thing. We've had a slow and steady career."

After SOTU, Cannibal Corpse plan to launch a U.S. headlining run — the kickoff will most likely take place in early November. Webster said next month the band will film a clip for "Death Walking Terror." Well, probably. When you're in Cannibal Corpse, selecting the right song can be tricky.

"Every one of our songs has some kind of violent or dark imagery in it, but we have to look for songs that are a little less graphic," he said. "We only have a couple of songs on each record where the lyrics aren't more or less R-rated for violence. We have to carefully choose what songs we do videos for, because otherwise it won't make it passed the censors. The song 'Murder Worship,' I think all of us would have liked to have done a video for that. But there's no way, with the decapitated heads and all."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Converge have been tapped for eight Sounds of the Underground dates. The band will join the tour July 9 in Tinley Park, Illinois, and be on the bill through July 17 in Columbia, Maryland. ... The launch of Slayer's Unholy Alliance Tour — featuring Mastodon, Lamb of God, Thine Eyes Bleed and Children of Bodom — has been delayed once again. The trek will kick off June 15 in Camden, New Jersey, instead of June 10 in Peoria, Illinois. The rescheduling's due to Slayer bassist Tom Araya's minor gall-bladder surgery, which successfully took place earlier this month. "We wanted to give Tom an extra few days to make sure that he's at 100 percent before he puts one foot on the road," Slayer's manager Rick Sales said in a statement on the postponement. "We apologize for any confusion that this has caused, but Tom and the band want the fans to get the best Slayer shows possible." The tour's set to run through July 26 in Denver. ... Voivod's new record, Katorz, doesn't come out until July 25, but they're already making preliminary plans for its follow-up. The disc will be the last to feature the band's late guitarist, Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, and will contain the final 13 songs he recorded guitar parts for before dying of colon cancer in August. Singer Denis Belanger, drummer Michel Langevin and bassist Jason Newsted will likely rent a studio when Newsted is done with the next season of the reality show "Rock Star." "It'll happen in the next year when I have time to get away from it where we can really set it up real nice," Newsted said. "We'll put some money up for a studio and go in and make it rock." ... Diecast will begin recording tracks for their forthcoming album, Internal Revolution, next week with producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall). The disc's slated for release September 19. ...

Opeth have officially parted ways with drummer Martin Lopez and replaced him with Martin "Axe" Axenrot. In a statement, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt said: "However sad I and the rest of the band feel in light of Lopez's departure, I want to thank him for his incredible work with Opeth and immense dedication to the band. We recorded some classic stuff together and he obviously had an enormous impact on our sound. I now feel very excited to hear the material of his own band. In the meantime, Opeth fans can rest assured that we'll continue jamming it out with Axe and we all have high expectations about our coming musical ventures." Opeth's 2005 album, Ghost Reveries, will be reissued as a special edition deluxe version through Roadrunner on July 25. ... British black-metallers Venom will hit the road with DevilDriver on August 13 for their 7 Days of Hell tour across North American. Dates run through August 28, although cities and venues haven't been announced yet. ... At All Cost have also parted ways with their drummer, Grant Anderson. "We love Grant and wish him the very best in all of his future endeavors," the band wrote in a statement about the amicable split. "He is a true friend and a brother to each of us." The band will be auditioning potential replacements, and interested parties should swing by the metallers' MySpace page for additional details. ...

The Red Chord shot a video for "Black Santa" in New York on Thursday, with Dave Brodsky (God Forbid, All That Remains). Brodsky wouldn't describe the video in detail but hinted that the clip will feature Claymation, "someone yo-yoing, sentinel blasts and battle scenes with retarded mutant monsters." Frontman Guy Kozowyk said the band has started writing material for its next LP, Birdbath, but have no immediate plans to begin recording yet. Kozowyk said Birdbath will include "I Am Not a Lawnmower," "The Robot From the Future," "Skin Beef" and "The Brian Slagel Song," a devotion to the founder of Metal Blade Records. ... In addition to touring this summer with AFI, the Dillinger Escape Plan have booked a bunch of headlining gigs for which Dysrhythmia will open. The chaotic metalheads will play in Tucson, Arizona (July 14); Albuquerque, New Mexico (July 15); Houston (July 18); Dallas (July 19); Austin, Texas (July 20); Fayetteville, Arkansas (July 21); Des Moines, Iowa (July 22); Madison, Wisconsin (July 23); Papillion, Nebraska (July 28); and Wichita, Kansas (July 29). ... Daughters' forthcoming album, Hell Songs, will be in stores August 8. The LP, the band's first in more than four years, was recorded in March and April and will feature 10 new cuts, including "Daughters Spelled Wrong," "Feisty Snake-Woman," "Crotch Buffet" and "The F--- Whisperer." ...

Atheist founding guitarist Rand Burkey has had to pull out of the band's upcoming European reunion concerts because of "legal troubles," according to a statement. Chris Baker of Gnostic will replace Burkey for the festival gigs, which run from July 14 in Derbyshire, England, through August 28 in Athens, Greece. "Not having Rand be able to take part is a disappointment to us, but we have always honored our band commitments, even in the face of unbelievable odds," said the band. "This will be no exception." ... Chrome Division, a new band featuring Dimmu Borgir singer Stian Thoresen (a.k.a. Shagrath) on guitar, will release their debut album, Doomsday Rock 'N Roll, August 8. The disc was recorded in Oslo, Norway, last winter and will include "Serial Killer," "Breath Easy" and "The Angel Falls." Chrome Division plan to shoot two videos for the record with Patric Ullaeus (In Flames, Lacuna Coil) in the coming weeks. ... Ex-Carcass guitarist Bill Steer has finished working on Hot Wings, the fourth album with his stoner-rock band Firebird. The disc is tentatively scheduled for release in early July and will mark the return of Spiritual Beggars drummer Ludwig Witt, who played on the band's first two discs.

• Cannibal Corpse
• Slayer
• Voivod
• The Red Chord

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

SikTh
Photo: Bieler Bros. Records

There's a good chance you've haven't heard SikTh's brand of highly technical, forward-thinking noisecore — even though the British six-piece has released a pair of EPs, Let the Transmitting Begin ... and How May I Help You, as well as a proper full-length, 2003's The Trees Are Dead & Dried Out Wait for Something Wild. That's because while SikTh's been around for more than four years, they've yet to release an album Stateside. Of course that's all about to change.

SikTh will release Death of a Dead Day in either January or February through Bieler Bros. Records; the band signed with the label, home to Nonpoint and Skindred, earlier this year. The album's in the mixing phase at this point, according to guitarist and pianist Dan Weller.

"Within the next fortnight, we should be done," he said. "It's been a long process. We stayed away from putting an album out in the States until we knew we'd have someone in the States who was worth working with and could support us."

SikTh — Weller, dual vocalists Mikee W. Goodman and Justin Hill, bassist James Leach, guitarist Pin and drummer Dan "Loord" Foord — sound like the Dillinger Escape Plan on fire. Or at least their earlier stuff sounded that way. It was almost comically chaotic.

"For me, Trees was quite gimmicky and had a jokey feel and a bit of a humorous edge," Weller explained. "I think that left a lot of people feeling, you know, 'Are they taking a piss? Are they winding us up? What are they trying to do here?' That's not the impression we wanted to put across. So we wanted to take a more mature, deadly serious approach this time. We're not playing around."

The end result is Death, which Weller says still has its melodic moments, but also houses huge, memorable riffs and complicated structures. "It grooves, too," he said. "Our goal is to make an album that can be put up there with the best metal albums made in the past 20 years. That's all we're doing this for. We're not writing our music to be second best. We want people to aspire to be as good as this and, although that sounds arrogant, we're totally approaching it from the angle that there isn't enough innovation going on in our genre. We're determined to show that there's still things that can be done, rhythmically and with melody, without sounding like someone else."

Weller said the band hasn't agreed on which of the album's 11 tracks will serve as the first single, but considers "Bland Street Bloom," "Flogging the Horses" and "Another Sinking Ship" to be strong contenders.

SikTh are looking forward to making a fresh start with Death more than anything else, Weller said. "When we first came out in the U.K., there was a hype, a buzz and a kind of excitement around the band. And a shock factor. So when you play for a while in a country, people become familiar with you, and you lose that, leaving you to just create music that's hopefully great. What's exciting about starting in the States is we're relatively unknown, so we have that potential to start fresh and shock people and blow people away.

"We see this record as a turning point for this style that we're playing. And maybe I'm far too confident and deluded, but we want this to be something where people go, 'Sh--, what's that? That is great,' " he continued. "I do believe there's a huge sort of metal fraternity out there who're satisfied by a lot of bands but are still not getting what they want. I don't want to be the arrogant pr--- who says we're going to give everybody what they really want, because we're probably not, I just think we're encapsulating so many things that so many bands don't risk encapsulating and I hope we get noticed for that. And if we don't, tough sh-- — we tried."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Cannibal Corpse will enter Mana Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida, October 7 to start recording their 10th LP; Erik Rutan (the Absence, Soilent Green) will produce. "We are doing everything we can to make sure it's the heaviest, most brutal one we've ever made," reads a post on the band's Web site. "We have 11 songs completed and if possible we'd like to write one or two more before entering the studio." ... Anthrax bassist Frankie Bello hosts MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" this Saturday. Throwdown will be this week's in-studio guests. ... Gwar have tapped DevilDriver, A Dozen Furies and Mensrea as the openers for their North American tour. The trek kicks off October 7 in Sayreville, New Jersey, and runs through November 11 in Seattle. ... New York hardcore metal band Cipher are looking for a new bassist to replace Mark Dollar, who had been in the band a little over a year but recently quit to pursue other ventures. Interested candidates should be at least 18 years old and be able to practice regularly in Western Long Island near Queens. Contact cipher@cipheronline.com for more information. ... Brazilian-American metal kingpins Soulfly and Orange County hardcore outfit Throwdown will tour together starting in October 12 in Fort Worth, Texas. Dates run through November 9 in Denver. ... That city's sardonic metalcore band Grace Gale will release their debut album, Few Easy Steps to Secure Heli-Camel Safety, on September 27. Tracks include "There's Nothing Honorable About This Discharge," "James Caan Make Yourself at Home" and "I Don't Know How to Put This ... But I'm Kind of a Big Deal." A video for the latter is available for viewing on BlackoutRecords.com. ...

The first of four teasers for Machine Head's "Elegies" DVD, which hits stores October 11, is available on the band's Web site. ... More than a few indie-rock acts on Matador Records have mocked heavy metal in the past, so it's kind of odd that one of the most rippin' new duos, Early Man, are now on the label. And they're no joke. Singer/guitarist Mike Conte and drummer Adam Bennati's first album, Closing In, comes out October 11 and sounds like a fierce hybrid of Blizzard of Ozz-era Ozzy and Master of Puppets-era Metallica. ... Dutch death dispatchers Severe Torture will release Fall of the Despised November 7 through Earache. Tracks include "Endless Strain of Cadavers," "Unconditional Annihilation," "Impulsive Mutilation" and "Dead From the Waist Up." ... French metal outfit Wormfood will release their next disc, called, um, France, through Code666 Records November 18. Carnival in Coal frontman Axel Wursthorn produced the effort, which the label describes as "a bizarre and grotesque view of modern French society, a melting pot of doom, thrash, death, gothic, punk, pop, classic, baroque, jazz and black humor." ... Los Angeles '80s death-rock/punk-metal band .45 Grave have pulled out of all dates on the Misfits tour, which runs through November 19 in Springfield, Virginia. They blamed the cancellations on "circumstances beyond their control." Madball used the same excuse for two shows they recently canceled, September 19 in Portland, Oregon, and September 20 in San Francisco, however they resumed the tour September 21 in Los Angeles. Madball dates are scheduled through October 1 in Buffalo, New York. ...

Mediaskare Records needs help naming its upcoming Slayer tribute record, which should surface early next year. The disc is set to include contributions from On Broken Wings, Scars of Tomorrow, Contra, the Esoteric, New Dead Radio, the Burning Room, Death by Stereo and others. More info can be found at www.myspace.com/atributetoslayer . ... The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza will hit the road for a 16-date run starting October 1 in Birmingham, Alabama. The trek wraps October 16 in London, Kentucky. ... Lamb of God frontman D. Randall Blythe's Halo of Locusts side project, Byzantine and the Dream Is Dead will embark on the Under the Underground Tour, a three-week jaunt across the country that's set to kick off October 13. A complete list of dates will be released soon. ... Detroit band Still Remains will tour with Atlanta metalcore outfit Norma Jean starting October 8 in Memphis, Tennessee. Dates run through October 30 in Nashville, then the band will return to the road in November with U.K. scream kings Bullet for My Valentine; Buffalo, New York's It Dies Today; and Riverside, California's Sinai Beach. ... German thrash band Dew-Scented have been added to the Polish invasion tour that features Decapitated and Vader. Dates run from November 7 in New York through November 30 in Utica, New York. Decapitated will return to the road with Greenville, South Carolina Egyptologist death-metal band Nile, New Orleans hardcore doomsayers Soilent Green and Sacramento, California, melodic death metallists With Passion. Dates run from January 13 in Houston through February 12 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ...

Virginia's Arsis will release a three-song EP, A Diamond for Disease, October 25. The disc will feature "Roses on White Lace," "The Promise of Never" and the 13-minute title track. ... Members of Kiss, AC/DC, Motörhead, Anthrax, Dio, Judas Priest, Testament, Extreme, Whitesnake, Slaughter, Helmet, Dokken and others are banding together in tribute to Iron Maiden, literally comprising new bands for each of the 11 songs on Numbers From the Beast: An All-Star Salute to Iron Maiden, due October 11. For instance, "Wasted Years" features Dee Snider on vocals and Jason Bonham on drums, while "The Trooper" features Lemmy Kilmister on vocals, Suicidal Tendencies' Rocky George on guitar and AC/DC's Chris Slade on drums. Another pairing has Chris Jericho on vocals and Alice in Chains' Mike Inez on bass for "The Evil That Men Do." ...

• Sikth
• Cannibal Corpse
• Terror
• GWAR

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson (file)
Photo: Getty Images/Jo Hale

Devin Townsend's not crazy. It's not that he's defensive about it ("I'd like to say I'm fine," he said, "but then I listen to some of the music and I'm like, 'No, you're not' "), but the truth is he's not crazy in the purest sense of the word. However, the exalted, follicle-challenged Canadian guitarist behind Strapping Young Lad (as well as a host of epic-sized progressive solo projects he's released through his Hevy Devy label) is an insane musical genius — in much the same vein as Mozart.

Seriously.

Take his approach to writing lyrics. While there's no underlying theme to Strapping Young Lad's latest, Alien, a record that took a year to write and record, "if there is a message at all, it's I don't know what's going on," he said.

"With Alien, it was just random firings of information. I'm in the dubious position, as a singer, of having to write lyrics. So what am I interested in? Screaming, random thoughts, and I really like chaos. As opposed to having any theme, it's everything in the kitchen sink, and then put echo on it, and then put an explosion on that."

SYL's been around awhile, and for those in the metal know, they're almost a closely guarded secret. But this summer they'll get the kind of exposure only a festival tour can bring, thanks to the Sounds of the Underground. Townsend's excited about hitting the road: "I've got a new amp and a bunch of new guitars, so I look forward to getting out there and shaking my head and going 'RAAH' a lot."

Strapping recently shot a video for the track "Love?," and Alien hits stores Tuesday.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Roadrunner Records will mark its 25th anniversary with the tentatively titled Roadrunner All-Stars album, due this fall. To be produced by Slipknot's Joey Jordison, Fear Factory's Dino Cazares, Machine Head's Robert Flynn and one other yet-to-be-named Roadrunner alum, the disc will include original tracks written and performed by current and former members of Coal Chamber, Soulfly, Chimaira, Spineshank and Obituary. Each song will feature a different vocalist. ... According to Iron Maiden's Web site, the band will not be performing on the final seven dates of this year's "Longhairs Across America" tour — also known as Ozzfest 2005 — disappointing fans in New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina and Florida. Why? Previous touring commitments overseas conflict with the dates, according to informed sources. It's believed — but far from confirmed — that Ozzfest will soon add another high-profile band to this year's main-stage lineup. ...

Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler will issue Ohmwork, the second album by his solo band, GZR, on May 10. The release will be Butler's first solo album in eight years and will include the single "I Believe." Any touring in support of the release will have to happen after the completion of Ozzfest, which is once again being headlined by Sabbath. ... Ozzfest 2005 prog-metallers Mastodon recently shot a video with director Jonathan Rej for the track "Blood and Thunder" from the sludge purveyors' Leviathan. The band will kick off its U.S. headlining tour Wednesday at New Orleans' House of Blues. ... Anomalies, the next album from self-described "Rocky Mountain hydro-grind" specialists Cephalic Carnage, will drop March 21. ... Mathcore's finest, the Red Chord, will release Clients on May 17. They'll also shoot a video for the track "Lay the Tarp" just before hitting the road with Bury Your Dead, A Life Once Lost and If Hope Dies on March 27. ...

Catch 33, the latest from experimental Swedish metallers Meshuggah, will see the light of day May 31, according to the band's American label, Nuclear Blast. The album's going to feature one uninterrupted track that clocks in at 47 minutes but is broken into 13 distinct parts. ... Guitarist Rob Barrett will once again be teaming up with Cannibal Corpse next month for the death metal collective's headlining gig at the Northwest Death Fest in Seattle, according to a posting on the band's Web site. It is unclear whether Barrett, who was with the band from 1993 to 1997, will continue on with the Corpse after this one show. Metal File will keep you posted. ... Following numerous show cancellations and the departure of their two guitarists, Eric and Brian Hoffman, Deicide will return to the road May 26 in Ottawa, Ontario. Frontman Glen Benton and drummer Steve Asheim will be joined by touring guitarists Jack Owen (ex-Cannibal Corpse) and Dave Suzuki (Vital Remains). Dates run through June 22 in San Antonio, Texas, with Skinless, Misery Index and With Passion opening all shows. ...

Six Feet Under, the death metal band fronted by ex-Cannibal Corpse singer Chris Barnes, will release their new album, 13, on Tuesday. The disc follows up 2003's Bringer of Blood and will include the tracks "Decomposition of the Human Race," "Somewhere in the Darkness" and "Shadow of the Reaper." The band recently shot a video for the latter with director Gary Smithson. In addition, Six Feet Under filmed their March 16 concert in Berlin for possible inclusion on their box set, due later this year. ... Throwdown have finished recording "Vendetta," the follow-up to 2003's Haymaker, with producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall) at his Planet Z Studios. The album is due in July and will include a guest appearance from Killswitch Engage vocalist Howard Jones, who joined the band onstage at a couple of Ozzfest stops last year. ... Evanescence drummer Rocky Gray, better known in metal circles as guitarist for the defunct Christian bands Living Sacrifice and Soul Embraced, has formed a side project called the Burning, who are busy demoing material. In related news, Solid State Records will release the Living Sacrifice best-of collection In Memoriam, which includes a handful of newly recorded songs, on March 29. ...

As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis has formed an imprint through Pluto Records called Clockwork Recordings, which will release the debut album from Arizona's Life in Pictures on April 19. ... Terror will head out on a U.S. tour with Remembering Never and the Acacia Strain in April. ... D.C. thrashers Darkest Hour have been hard at work in the studio in recent weeks with producer Devin Townsend (Lamb of God, Soilwork), recording the follow-up to 2003's Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation. So far, the band's written 10 songs. Darkest Hour's new DVD, "Party Scars and Prison Bars - A Thrashography," is now available and features live footage, music videos and behind-the-scenes hilarity. Yes, hilarity. ... Canadian deathcore six-piece Despised Icon will embark on a massive Canadian tour alongside Ion Dissonance and Premonitions of War later this month. In addition, the band will be making its first U.S. appearance during the Maryland Deathfest, which will rattle Baltimore's House of Rock May 28 and 29; the group's latest, The Healing Process, will be in stores April 5. ...

Everyone's favorite Norwegians Turbonegro will release their latest gem, Party Animals, on May 9. Alas, American fans of punk metal's answer to the Village People will be sad to learn the album, featuring tracks titled "Wasted Again" and "Blow Me (Like the Wind)," will only be available in Europe — initially, anyway. ... Sludgy doom merchants Eyehategod's tour will kick off May 15 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and wrap up June 18 in Kings Fort, Tennessee, at the Tennessee Metal and Hardcore Fest. Grindcore pioneers Napalm Death are getting ready to return with their first studio album in nearly three years. The Code Is Red ... Long Live the Code, due April 19, features their fastest and most political songs since 1992's Utopia Banished. "The title is a play on the phrase 'The king is dead, long live the king,' " explains guitarist Mitch Harris. "It's about the color code system that went along with the terrorist activity in the U.S., and the viciousness of the record is really a reflection of the political climate." ...

Canadian death metal band Cryptopsy won't release their next album until the end of the year, but they're offering fans a teaser now. The group has posted a pre-production version of "Carrionshine" on its Web site, cryptopsy.net. The track features the return of original vocalist Lord Worm, who quit after 1995's None So Vile. Cryptopsy will tour with Cattle Decapitation, Devilinside and the Autumn Offering thru April 22. ... Energetic Canadian riff-rockers Danko Jones will release their third album, We Sweat Blood, on April 19. Six days later, the group will launch a North American tour in New York that will circle the country before returning to wrap up in Brooklyn on May 24. ...

• Iron Maiden
• Mastodon
• Cannibal Corpse
• Turbonegro
• Strapping Young Lad

The Phil Anselmo-fronted Superjoint Ritual will start working on their new album soon after their tour ends December 21 in Scottsdale, Arizona. The LP is expected to surface late next year. Before the band heads back out on the road in March, bassist Hank Williams III will embark on a tour of his own beginning January 17 in Houston. ... Exhumed and Cannibal Corpse are teaming up for a monthlong North American tour, beginning February 12 in Houston. The outing will support Exhumed's latest album, Anatomy Is Destiny, which arose this summer. ...

New York death metal band Pyrexia's Cruelty Beyond Submission is due January 27. ... The Agony Scene have parted ways with guitarist Chris Emmons and subsequently pulled out of their planned tours with Mushroomhead and Integrity while they seek a replacement. ...

Bleeding Through were involved in a serious van accident while driving down a snow-drenched section of highway near Salt Lake City but suffered only minor injuries. The footage from the crash, captured by a local news crew on hand covering another wreck, was so spectacular that it was picked up by CNN, "Good Morning America," the Weather Channel and "Inside Edition." The Orange County metalcore mob subsequently canceled their remaining dates on the Pure Hatred Tour with Chimaira and Soilwork and returned home. Their label has set up a PayPal account at www.trustkill.com for donations to help them cover their considerable expenses, including repairing their trailer that exploded all over the highway and the van they were borrowing from the band Sinai Beach. ...

Killswitch Engage are finishing basic tracks for their next album, their first since enlisting Blood Has Been Shed drummer Justin Foley and singer Howard Jones, who will begin recording vocals in the next few days. ... Demon Hunter have selected March 4 as the date to drop their second album, Summer of Darkness, which will feature 13 tracks recorded in their hometown of Seattle. They'll be shooting a video for the album's first single in Los Angeles in February. ...

Norma Jean will begin writing their new album, the follow-up to 2002's Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child, in January. They plan to begin recording the LP and touring the States in the spring following a U.K. run with Beecher in February. ... Swedish grindcore band Gadjet will drop their Relapse Records debut, Remote, February 3. ...

Slipknot will return home to Iowa for the holidays before resuming work on their third album in Hollywood with producer Rick Rubin. Singer Corey Taylor recently performed a solo acoustic set, which included takes on songs by Steve Miller, Wild Cherry, Metallica and his other band, Stone Sour, as part of an Axis of Justice show organized to benefit California's striking grocery workers. ... Arch Enemy canceled three shows in the U.K. due to singer Angela Gossow being taken with an undisclosed illness. ...

Gurkkhas are hard at work in their native France on a new album's worth of death metal tunes called Tyranny, which is due early next year through Chrash Music. ... Narcissus have broken up, just two months after releasing Crave and Collapse through Century Media imprint Abacus Recordings. ... Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Greg Puciato has formed a side project with Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz called Error. The band will reportedly release a self-titled debut EP on February 24 through Gurewitz's Epitaph label. ...

British doom-metal merchants My Dying Bride will unleash their eighth studio album, Songs of Darkness, Words of Light, on February 16. ... Anthrax are filming what their management promise will be "the most kick-ass, zombie-filled video of all time" in January for the track "What Doesn't Die" based on a concept from comedian Brian Posehn, best known for his work on "Mr. Show" and "Just Shoot Me." The band recently shot a performance in Chicago for a forthcoming DVD release and is still taking votes from fans on its Web site for the track list of Metallum Maximus Aeturnus, an album that will see vocalist John Bush tackling 'thrax tunes originally recorded with singers Neil Turbin and Joey Belladonna. ...

Fireball Ministry will support David Lee Roth at the House of Blues in West Hollywood on New Year's Eve, following their return home from a run through Germany with Uriah Heep and Blue Öyster Cult in support of their newly released The Second Great Awakening. ... Mexican death metal band Ravager have decided to call it a day, with two of the members already forming a new outfit called Hacavitz. ... Former Oppressor guitarist Jim Stopper has joined the band Twelfth Gate. ...

Deicide will release their ninth album, Scars of the Crucifix, on February 24. The new record was produced by Neil Kernon (Judas Priest, Cannibal Corpse). Tracks include "Mad at God," "Conquered by Sodom," "F--- Your God" and "Pentecostal." ... Poland's Decapitated will issue their third record, The Negation, on March 9. Tracks include "The Fury," "Three-Dimensional Defect" and "Sensual Sickness." ... Sworn Enemy, As I Lay Dying and Himsa will launch a 16-date U.S. tour January 17 in Philadelphia. ...

New York's Every Time I Die will re-release their second album, Hot Damn!, with a bonus DVD on February 24. ... Soulfly's still-untitled next album will include the songs "The Prophecy," "Living Sacrifice" and "Defeat U." Former Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson will guest on four tracks, and frontman Max Cavalera will produce the record. ... Dutch art-metal ensemble the Gathering will return to North America for the first time since 1999 when their tour kicks off February 12 in Cleveland. ...

Swedish Christian nü-metal band Blindside recently shot a video in Romania for the single "All of Us" with director Patrick Hoelck. Blindside's fourth album, About a Burning Fire, comes out February 24. ... Sepultura will return to their former hometown, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on Saturday to play a benefit soccer match against some of the country's former professional players. The game will be broadcast on Brazilian television. ...

• Superjoint Ritual
• Cannibal Corpse
• Bleeding Through
• Killswitch Engage
• Exhumed

Greetings all, and welcome once again to the realm of all things hard, heavy and metal. This week we have word on Judas Priest's first show with Rob Halford in more than a decade, the "Hellboy" soundtrack, and a member of Cannibal Corpse getting a new gig. Enjoy:

The recently reunited Judas Priest will join UFO, Children of Bodom, April Wine, Exodus, Opeth, Slade, Entombed and a host of others for the three-day Sweden Rock Festival 2004 in June. The gig, whose motto is "Fill your head with rock," marks the first announced date of Priest's upcoming reunion tour. ... Cannibal Corpse guitarist Jack Owen has teamed up with drummer Kevin Astl (Epitaph, Resurrection) to form Adrift. The group also includes singer Mark Elm, guitarist Analia Pizzaro and bassist Michael Campuano. ... Two songs from Norwegian black metal powerhouse Dimmu Borgir are featured in a new trailer for the forthcoming film "Hellboy," based on the popular comic book of the same name. ...

Archetype, Fear Factory's first album since the 2002 departure of guitarist Dino Cazares, is due in April. The disc is being mixed in Vancouver by guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers and was recorded at Rumbo Recorders in Los Angeles with engineer Ken Marshall. The 11 tracks include "Cyberwaste," "Act of God," "Corporate Cloning" and "Bite the Hand That Bleeds." ... Wrestler and Fozzy frontman Chris Jericho will sing three songs on the reunion album by Nasty Savage, titled Psycho, Psycho. The band was one of the staples of the Florida thrash scene in the '80s and released four albums before breaking up in 1989. The new disc, due in March, will feature 12 songs, including a new version of "Savage Desire," which previously only appeared on a demo. ... Fleshcrawl recently wrapped sessions for Made of Flesh at Sweden's Underground Studio. The album is due March 9. ...

Swedish death metal vets Hypocrisy will release The Arrival on February 17. The disc was recorded at frontman Peter Tagtgren's Abyss Studios and includes the tracks "Born Dead Buried Alive," "Slave to the Parasites," "Stillborn" and "Dead Sky Dawning." ... Early next year, Anthrax will enter the studio to re-record songs from their first five albums for a new best-of disc called Metallum Maximus Aeternus. Singer John Bush, hired in 1992 for the following year's Sound of White Noise, will sing on the tracks, which will be selected online by fans. A live CD and DVD will also be released, culled from shows happening this weekend. The package is due in late spring. ... Godhead have parted ways with drummer Ken Jay because of an undisclosed ailment that rendered him unable to play. Original drummer James O'Connor, who has been out of the group for two years, has rejoined. ...

Monster Magnet have hired drummer Bob Pantella (ex-Raging Slab) to replace Michael Wildwood. The band recently finished Monolithic Babies with producer Scott Humphrey (Rob Zombie, Andrew W.K.). The disc features new bassist Jim Baglino and will include the songs "Slut Machine Mach 2," "Ultimate Everything" and "Master of Light." ... Although March will see the European release of In Flames' Soundtrack to Your Escape, the follow-up to 2002's Reroute to Remain currently has no U.S. release date. "F(r)iend," "The Quiet Place," "Discover Me Like Emptiness" and "Evil in a Closet" are among the album's 13 tracks. ... On a similar note, Machine Head are still trying to secure a North American record deal for Through the Ashes of Empires, which is already out overseas. The San Francisco Bay Area band will remain on tour in Europe until late December. ...

Eighteen Visions have chosen Obsession as the tentative title for the follow-up to 2002's Vanity, which the band is currently recording with producer Mudrock (Godsmack, Avenged Sevenfold). The album is due April 20. ... The soon-to-disband Shai Hulud are combing through their archives in hopes of compiling a lengthy rarities collection to be called A Comprehensive Retrospective Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Release Bad and Useless Recordings, according to the band's Web site. The band also plans to mount a final tour featuring former singer Chad Gilbert, who has spent his post-Hulud days playing guitar in New Found Glory and Hazen Street. ...

Ken Susi of Unearth has signed on to produce the upcoming effort from Massachusetts' Beyond the Embrace. The band hopes to have Insect Song wrapped up by mid-January. ... Stoner-rock purveyors Orange Goblin have set a February 24 release date for their upcoming Thieving From the House of God. The band also has a DVD and covers album in the works. ... Premonitions of War have parted ways with bassist Nick Hale. The Ohio-based metalcore band, who are planning a West Coast tour in January with Curl and Die and Bury Your Dead, has yet to name a replacement. ...

— compiled by Ryan J. Downey, Robert Mancini and Jon Wiederhorn

• Judas Priest
• Fozzy
• Cannibal Corpse
• Anthrax
• Dimmu Borgir

Hey all. The big news this week might be that your usual Metal File guy, Iann Robinson, is out on the road with his band, Puny Human. If you're in Baltimore or Philly, check them out this weekend, and in the meantime, enjoy this week's metal offerings:

Cannibal Corpse have made the cut and settled on the songs that will appear on their upcoming album, The Wretched Spawn. The disc, due in February, will include "Severed Head Stoning," "Psychotic Precision," "Decency Defied," "Frantic Disembowelment," "Rotted Body Landslide," "Cyanide Assassin," "Festering in the Crypt," "Nothing Left to Mutilate," "Blunt Force Castration," "The Wretched Spawn," "Slain," "Bent Backwards and Broken" and "They Deserve to Die." ... After their tour with the Deftones wraps later this month, Poison the Well will kick off their own headlining tour on November 23 in East Meadow, New York. Tickets for the trek — in support of July's You Come Before You — are set at just $8. The tour will keep the band on the road through mid-December. ...

After a three-year break from the music business, Scott Sergeant is once again filling the guitar slot in the San Francisco Bay Area band Skinlab. ... Skinlab, Flotsam and Jetsam, Macabre, Vehemence, My Ruin, 40 Grit, Insolence and Acid King are among the bands lined up for this weekend's Dwell in Darkness Festival in Tempe, Arizona. ... Everything old is new again: The Black Dahlia Murder announced a new lineup this week, one that sees original members Trevor Strnad and Dave Lock return to the fold. "This lineup is a family, and the band cannot exist any other way," Strnad said in a statement. ... Massachusetts' Unearth are plugging away on a new album, the band's first under a new deal with Metal Blade Records. The group will resume work on the album after wrapping its stint on the Headbangers Ball tour with Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall. ...

Zao have selected Burn Beautiful as the title for their next album — their first since reuniting earlier this year — which they intend to record in March and release next summer. Next month the band will cross the pond for Belgium's Riot Fest, which also includes Dillinger Escape Plan, Blood Has Been Shed, Martyr AD, Nora and several other bands on the bill. ... Most Precious Blood will support the release of Our Lady of Annihilation — the band's first album with former One King Down singer Rob Fusco — on the road with Sick of it All, following a string of shows this month with Bleeding Through. ... Hypocrisy have announced that The Arrival will be the title of their next album. ... Lacuna Coil recently shot a video for the song "Heaven's a Lie" in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Italian band is gearing up for its first headlining tour of the United States, beginning November 12 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dates run through December 7 in Denver. ...

The hardcore all-star band Ragmen will unleash their self-titled debut next year. The band features singer Jorge Rosado (Merauder), drummer Cliff "Rigg" Ross (Madball, ex-Hatebreed), bassist Ian "Bulldog" Edwards (Freya, Earth Crisis) and guitarist Mitts (Madball, Skarhead). ... Isis plan to release a series of limited 12-inch remix singles next year featuring new takes on songs from their sophomore album, Oceanic, done by a number of artists including former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton, the Melvins' Buzz Osborne and more. The Bostonian band, which includes Hydra Head Records honcho Aaron Turner on guitar and vocals, will see the singles released through Robotic Empire. ... In related news, Robotic Empire will also issue vinyl from the band Creation Is Crucifixion next year that will compile material from the band's ill-fated split releases. ...

Coal Chamber guitarist Miguel "Meegs" Rascon has resurfaced in the new Los Angeles outfit Piñata. The band has posted its latest track, "The Game" online at www.pinatamusic.com. Pinata also features singer Odyssey, guitarist Matt, drummer Brian, bassist Stitch and keyboardist Wingnut. ... Deep Purple wrote a song for their new record, Bananas, about the Space Shuttle Columbia, which exploded on February 1. "Contact Loss," an instrumental penned by guitarist Steve Morse, is dedicated to the crewmembers who lost their lives. Mission Specialist Kalpana Chawla, a fan, had exchanged e-mails with the bandmembers while in space and took three of their CDs aboard the craft. ... WWE superstar Chris Jericho will play New York with his band Fozzy on December 11 and 12. At year's end the band will enter studios in Atlanta and Tampa, Florida, to work on its third album, due next spring. Unlike Fozzy's previous two discs, which were mostly covers, the album will contain all original material. ...

Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson has come down with severe laryngitis as a result of the flu, causing the band to postpone Wednesday night's show in Rotterdam, Holland. The gig will be made up December 13. Friday's show in Wroclaw, Poland, has been canceled. ... Swedish metal monsters Entombed had to cancel a Toronto show on November 4 after drummer Peter Stjärnvind became sick and was rushed to the hospital. No further details are available. ... Twisted Sister will perform three New York shows without makeup or costumes as Bent Brother. The dates are November 29 in Farmingdale, December 13 in Poughkeepsie, and December 19 in Brooklyn. ... The End, a cerebral death metal group from Mississauga, Ontario, will release their U.S. debut, Within Dividia,on January 13. The follow-up to the 2001 Canada-only release Transfer Trachea Reverberations From Point: False Omniscient was produced by Pierre Remillard. ...

German thrash band Primal Fear will release Devil's Ground on February 23. The disc was produced by Mat Sinner and co-produced by the band. Tracks include "Metal Is Forever," "Visions of Fate" and "Sacred Illusion." ... Manowar will release the double DVD "Hell on Earth III" on December 8. The package will feature more than 90 minutes of live footage, interviews and pre-show rituals, as well as all of the band's music videos. ... Former Malevolent Creation drummer David Culross has returned to the band. Culross first played on 1996's Eternal and left after 2000's Envenomed. The band's still-untitled ninth album will be recorded in February with producer Jean-Francois Dagenais. ... Anthrax recently shot a video for "What Doesn't Die." Brian Posehn, who acts in the TV sitcom "Just Shoot Me," directed. The horror clip features zombies and other creepy crawlies. ...

• Cannibal Corpse
• Poison The Well
• Flotsam & Jetsam
• Skinlab
• Unearth

What up, metallions? How the hell have you been? Yeah, I know I've been away a long time, but I'm back. My band's tour was really good, so much thanks to all who came out.

I guess the big jam to talk about right now is that I spent some time in L.A. with the Slipknots, and the new album is coming along amazingly. I heard a couple of the new songs and they totally shred. I can't wait for the finished record.

Another good thing this week is that the original members who'd left Black Dahlia Murder have decided (smartly, I might add) to return to the band and forge ahead into the metal world. Being that they're one of my favorite new bands, this is amazing news. Hopefully they'll be out on the road soon.

The other killer news is that Fireball Ministry's video for "Flatline" is going to debut this Saturday on "Headbangers Ball," and the band is going to hit Europe soon with Blue Öyster Cult. I just toured with those guys and BÖC has their work cut out for them.

Oh yeah, one other thing: for you horror buffs, they just released the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" special edition on DVD and it's really good. Some cool extras and a great print of the film. Well, my friends, that's it for me. I'll see you at the shows.

Slayer fans can look forward to many rarities on the band's box set Soundtrack to the Apocalypse, which comes out November 25. Tracks include the band's first recorded offering, "Aggressive Perfector," collaborations with Ice-T ("Disorder") and Atari Teenage Riot "No Remorse (I Wanna Die)," demo versions of "South of Heaven," "Raining Blood" and "Piece by Piece," rehearsal tapes of "The Antichrist" and "Fight Till Death" and 11 live recordings made between 1983 and 2002. In addition, the package will include a DVD of live footage from the band's personal collections and the deluxe edition of the box will feature a 14-song 2002 concert from Anaheim, California. Oh, yeah, the set will also include about 30 tracks you probably already have in your collection. ... Long-running death metal staple Cannibal Corpse have chosen The Wretched Spawn as the title for their next album, due in February. Predictably colorful song titles include "Severed Head Stoning," "Frantic Disembowelment," "Nothing Left to Mutilate" and "Festering in the Crypt," according to a posting on the Metal Blade Records website. ... On November 8, Black Dahlia Murder will play Detroit at the Idle Kids Community Center, which seems like a perfect location for a Spinal Tap residency. A full tour will follow, beginning December 4 in Marietta, Georgia, and running through December 20 in Chicago. ...

P.O.D. were forced to nix a surprise concert in Siegen, Germany on Tuesday after the venue's ceiling threatened to collapse. The band were scheduled to play at the Siegerlandhalle for an audience of radio contest winners, but as soon as they started their afternoon soundcheck, parts of the ceiling became loose and crashed to the ground. While it would have been a feather in their halo to be able to say their concert leveled the venue, the show was called off for security reasons before it began. P.O.D. made up the show yesterday in a different venue. ... Two denizens of the dark, England's Cradle of Filth and Brooklyn's Type O Negative will begin their Blood For the Blood Gods Tour on November 13 in Latham, New York. Dates run through December 19 in Toronto. Moonspell will open all shows. Type O Negative is touring to support their last record, Life is Killing Me, which was released June 17. Cradle of Filth are still plugging their Damnation and a Day, which dropped March 25. On December 2 the band will release the DVD EP Mannequin, which features the Thomas Mignone-directed video "Mannequin," the "Babylon A.D." video directed by Wiz, a live performance video of "The Promise of Fever and the animated featurette "Serpent Tongue," which were both directed by Cradle guitarist Paul Allender. ...

Testament's Steve Smyth will fill the long-vacant second-guitar slot in Nevermore when the Seattle-based band hits the road with Dimmu Borgir, Children of Bodom and Hypocrisy on November 7. Nevermore has been a four piece since the 1999 departure of Tim Calvert and, like others before him, Smyth has reportedly been recruited for touring purposes only. ... Uprising Records label founder Sean Muttaqi and his Pressure bandmate Chuck Treece (who has played with McRad, Underdog and Bad Brains over the years) will fill in on bass and drums, respectively, for all of Canadian political rockers Rogue Nation's shows outside of their home country. ... Alabama metalcore band Haste has lined up several tours in support of their latest effort, The Mercury Lift. Next month they'll hit the road with hardcore heroes Stretch Arm Strong and With Honor, followed by a three-week jaunt with Hopesfall, the decidedly more indie-rock leaning Hey Mercedes and the newly reunited Zao. The band recently shot a video for the song "Stutter" with director Zach Merck (Shadows Fall, Blindside). ...

Integrity, perhaps the first group to draw equal inspiration from Slayer, the Cro-Mags and Samhain, will tour the U.S. next month and through December in support of their newly released "comeback" album To Die For. They'll be joined by On Broken Wings and The Agony Scene. ... Kid Gorgeous has decided to call it a day. The Buffalo, New York based metalcore band — whose last full-length release was this year's This Feeling Gets Old — will play their final show November 1 in their hometown. ... Remembering Never has entered the studio with producer Jeremy Staska (Poison the Well) to record Women and Children Die First, the follow-up to their 2002 debut album She Looks So Good in Red. The album is tentatively scheduled for a February 2004 release. ... Mastadon will have music featured in the forthcoming Tony Hawk video game, "T.H.U.G.," according to a posting on the band's Web site. The band hopes to begin recording their second full length early next year. ...

Blood and Time, which features Neurosis' Scott Kelly (guitars, vocals) and Noah Landis (keyboards, backing vocals) alongside Scott Kelly solo project veterans Anthony Nelson (bass) and Stephen Garrett (drums), will unleash their debut album At the Foot of the Garden through Neurot Recordings. The album is scheduled for a November 4 release. ... 100 Demons will enter Planet Z Studios next month with producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall) to begin work on their first album since joining the roster of Deathwish Recordings, the label founded by Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon. ... Chief Spires and John Ehlers, former bassist/vocalist and guitarist, respectively, with ancient-Egypt-obsessed death metal band Nile, have resurfaced in a new outfit called Shaitan Mazar. The new band's four-song demo is available for download at their website, ShaitanMazar.com. ...

Orange County, California's Eighteen Visions has enlisted producer Mudrock (Godsmack, Powerman 5000, Chimaira) and begun pre-production work on the follow-up to their 2002 album, Vanity. In related news, Dave Peters, current vocalist and former guitarist for Eighteen Visions guitarist Keith Barney's other band Throwdown, has started a new project called Medic. Peters plays guitar in the group, whose new three-song demo is very much in the vein of A Perfect Circle and Tool. ... Norwegian black metallurgists Ancient have nearly finished their writing new album, the follow-up to 2001's Proxima Centauri. The new disc, which is still untitled, will feature 10 new tracks. Three were penned by keyboardist and guitarist Jesus Christ, and the others by guitarist and vocalist Aphazel, drummer Grom and bassist Dhilorz. Ancient will begin recording in January and will mix in early February. Look for the disc next spring. ... Polish experimental death metal band Decapitated will release their third album The Negatron in February. The disc was recorded at Hertz Studio in Poland with Slawek and Tojtek Wieslawski engineering. Tracks include, "The Fury," "Calling," "Long-Desired Dementia," and "The Empty Throne."

—compiled by Iann Robinson , Ryan J. Downey and Jon Wiederhorn

• Slayer
• Cannibal Corpse
• Cradle of Filth
• The Black Dahlia Murder

Warning: These Album Covers May Contain Explicit Content

• The Beatles
• The Mamas & The Papas
• Moby Grape
• Jimi Hendrix
• John Lennon