Slipknot's M. Shawn Crahan
Photo: Neil Zlowzower

This summer, Des Moines, Iowa's own Slipknot — along with Disturbed, Mastodon, DragonForce, Machine Head, the Red Chord, Suicide Silence and a handful of others — will be taking part in the inaugural run of Warped Tour mastermind Kevin Lyman's Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival (otherwise known as the tour that effectively immobilized Sharon Osbourne's long-running Ozzfest).

But Slipknot percussionist Shawn "Clown" Crahan doesn't care what you call Lyman's latest brainchild, so long as you understand that it's not a festival at all — it's a Slipknot tour, plain and simple.

"It's a bunch of bands opening for Slipknot," Crahan told Metal File last week, during a brief break from the studio, where the band is working on its fourth, still-untitled LP, which should arrive in stores by summer's end. "We're headlining, as it should be. Sorry — it's a Slipknot show, kids. We've been gone for two years, and you've all had the chance to do what you're going to do. But now we're back; step in line. That's what's up. We're the DNA that keeps whatever cell this is moving. Period.

"With me, I've been out with a lot of bands, and I don't care," he continued. "We're back, and it just happens to be this thing called the Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival. That's cool. But we didn't want them, they wanted us. Everyone wants our f---ing money and our kids. We're playing a show, and a bunch of great bands are playing too. But we're back, so get out of our way. Call it what you will, but we're headlining. It's our show, and we're here to kill you."

And he's not kidding. Crahan said he's keyed up for Slipknot's return to the stage, following two years of hibernation, and promises that this summer, the boys will preview some of the new material they've been working on since early February.

"We're going to cast some magical spells, and you're going to get more than you can choke on," he said. "Slipknot is a philosophy, a way of life. We're a great band, and if you don't know that, I don't know what you know. We've been doing it longer than most bands can, and no one has done it harder than us."

According to Crahan, Slipknot brought an abundance of songs into the studio and is nearing the completion of the effort, under the direction of producer Dave Fortman (Mudvayne, Superjoint Ritual). And while he wouldn't go into detail about the LP (frontman Corey Taylor said in a recent interview with Billboard that the album would "rip your face off"), he scoffed at the suggestion that it's the band's heaviest offering to date.

"I'm not that guy who's going to tell you it's harder," he said. "Harder, to me, doesn't mean anything. I could give a sh-- about hard. Hard means nothing to the Clown. Slipknot is a phenomenon, it's an enigma, and the enigma weighs on your emotions. And the emotions aren't just heavy, they're cerebral, they're surreal and they're on a whole other level. I just know that this album is different than anything we've done."

When asked to elaborate, Clown refused, saying that the music, once it's released, would speak for itself. "Listen, we are the hardest ever," he said. "We blow all bands away. I don't give a f--- who your band is. I've probably played with your band, and you don't show me sh--. So, it's like, is this band heavy? Oh, yeah, we're the heaviest. We're heavy thinkers, heavy hitters, heavy writers and heavy people, but it's emotionally heavy. There's a lot of emotion on this record, and we're all on the same page with our own emotions, so you're finally seeing the kings of all the courts bringing their kingdom's jewels in for one gigantic war."

But Clown did admit that the record sounds more mature than anything they've done previously, because, well, they're all grown up.

"It's a record made by a bunch of f---ing adults, and that's why it's different. Every record should be different," Crahan said. "Our self-titled came out in '98, and the second record, people were thinking maybe we'd give 'em more commerciality, and give in like everybody else does. But instead, we go completely against that, and we made the anti-sophomore record, and we get all the respect for that.

"The third record, we start moving in directions we always wanted to. Basically, on the second record, it was like, 'We're the drug penetrating the vein, and we're on our way to your brain and your heart,' " he continued. "The third record was, 'Now, I'm in your brain. Check out this other sh--. No other band can handle this. No one can fathom what we do. This fourth record was done by a bunch of crazy guys in their 30s. That doesn't mean we're slowing down or not as intense — our brains are different, so we're bringing different emotions, different feelings and different anxieties to the table now. This record is another diagnosis of our insanity.

"No one has done what we have done," he added. "This is a war, man. The sh-- that we do, nine guys trying to f---ing write together, and keep this insanity going? Does anybody take the time to realize that? For me, this is like going to Vietnam, serving your tour and then the government asking you to do another tour because you're a badass. We've got 10 purple hearts, and we're f---ing killers. This isn't your rock and roll; this is our rock and roll."

For Crahan, making the record hasn't been a picnic. The music has taken an emotional toll on him ("This sh--'s real, it hurts, and I've cut myself open and given everything to this record," he said), but he's cool with that — so long as Slipknot's allegiant fans, the Maggots, aren't disappointed with it.

"The reason the fans love us is because they sense and feel something they've never gotten from anybody else — it's loyalty, it's respect and more importantly, they've finally found someone who feels like they feel," he said. "We're not your normal band. We represent something to kids they never gotten from school, or their parents, or other bands. We supply a feeling only Slipknot can supply. We have our own culture, because, we've done this 10 years for you, and 12 years for ourselves.

"We have nine guys, and all nine are different," Crahan went on. "But we're still doing this, so I'm amazed. That's how f---ing badass we are. Some stupid band with three members or four members wants to bellyache to me? Come on, man — this is the 'Knot. This is nine guys, an assault on the senses, a physical war through music, and it's going to be force-fed down your throat, and it will turn your insides out. It's been designed to destroy you."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Glenn Danzig's Blackest of the Black Tour will be returning this year, but the question is, when? While tour stops haven't been released yet (it's expected to kick off in October), the bill has. It'll feature Danzig, of course, along with Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell, Winds of Plague and Skeletonwitch. ...

Spastic British metallers SikTh have thrown in the towel. "A combination of factors has driven us to make this decision," the band said in a statement. "We want to assure you that if it were viable for us to carry on, we would. We are so proud of all that we have achieved as SikTh, and we have agreed to work together again in the future. We are currently involved in new projects so keep checking our personal pages for announcements." ...

Animosity have their drummer back. Navene Koperweis, who had taken a break from the band earlier this year, has returned to the fold. The band claims it has started writing new material for its next LP but provided no indication of when that effort could be in stores. ...

Hatebreed have dubbed their forthcoming covers collection For the Lions. The Connecticut hardcore harbingers will be tackling songs by Metallica, Misfits, Judge, Cro-Mags, D.R.I., Negative Approach, Agnostic Front, Madball, Obituary and Sheer Terror, among others, for the disc. ...

Bullet for My Valentine and Bleeding Through — on the same bill? Snore. But at least Cancer Bats and Black Tide will be opening for them. The trek kicks off July 14 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and dates are booked through August 16 in Detroit. ...

Exodus have re-signed with Nuclear Blast, which will release the thrash legends' next LP, The Atrocity Exhibition: Exhibit B, later this year. The band began working on new tracks back in October. ...

Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky, which features former members of Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus and Dehumanized, have wrapped pre-production for their album, The Grand Partition and the Abrogation of Idolatry. The band plans on hitting the studio next month with producer James Murphy (Testament, Obituary), and complete the effort in time for release later this year.

• Slipknot
• Danzig
• Sikth

S.O.D.
Photo: Fontana Island

It's pretty hard to surprise Anthrax guitarist/mouthpiece Scott Ian. The man has seen it all: ugly record-label disputes, money-draining management conflicts, debilitating label contracts. In the past year alone, Anthrax lost two singers and were denied guest vocals from a third, Slipknot's Corey Taylor. Adding to the misery is the fact that the band is currently without a U.S. label (Anthrax are signed to Nuclear Blast overseas).

So, while he wasn't exactly shocked, Ian was a bit bemused when he found out about the late-August release of Rise of the Infidels, a raw, partially live short album by his old metal-spoof side project, S.O.D. "I only knew about it when I saw it online — I had no idea this was coming out, and I actually had to e-mail the record company and ask, 'What is Rise of the Infidels?' " Ian said. "Apparently, I had been a part of a conversation months ago where it was discussed — which is quite possible — but I had completely forgotten about it."

The disc was recorded in 1999, when S.O.D. (Ian, Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante, singer Billy Milano and Nuclear Assault bassist Dan Lilker) launched a tour in Seattle between Anthrax albums. Most of the songs are from S.O.D.'s classic 1985 crossover disc, Speak English or Die, and there are four previously unreleased studio tracks. Despite the imperfect sound quality, Ian is pleased with the results.

"I'm happy with anything concerning S.O.D. ... There is stuff sitting around that was never released that we obviously felt good enough about at the time to record and deem worthy of S.O.D.," he said. "I love it because it's probably something we're never going to do again, as far as a studio record goes. So, for the real fans out there who have to have everything, I think it's great."

Of far more concern to Ian at the moment is the future of his main baby, Anthrax. He, Benante and bassist Frank Bello have spent the last eight months writing and fine-tuning a batch of new songs, which Ian said are along the lines of the band's unsung 2003 album, We've Come for You All. At the moment, however, Anthrax are still without a singer, making it difficult to move forward. It's a strange situation, since, toward the end of the band's 2005-'06 reunion tour with '80s singer Joey Belladonna, Anthrax seemed all set to record a new studio album with Belladonna.

"We tried," Ian insisted. "Halfway through the tour, everything had totally gelled, and we started talking about doing a new record. [Guitarist] Danny [Spitz] was gung-ho about it and Joey seemed to be as well. I thought that nothing would have made him happier. But when the tour ended, we started having conversations about making a record and moving forward, and we spent three or four months where we just couldn't get an answer from Joey to the simple question, 'Do you want to make a record, yes or no?' Not that he wouldn't call back, but he wouldn't answer the question. Our question was always answered with a million other questions. For some reason, Joey thought things were weird on the reunion tour financially. He had his own guy look at the books. Everything was good. But after three or four months of asking this guy and feeling like we were starting to become a doormat, we gave him an ultimatum, and we still didn't get an answer. So we concluded we're not making a record. It's impossible because there's no communication."

With Belladonna out of the picture, Anthrax decided to work with the We've Come for You All lineup, which featured Rob Caggiano on lead guitar (which meant bidding farewell again to Spitz). Problem was, singer John Bush wouldn't commit either.

"That was obviously broached, and it's just not able to happen in this time and place," Ian said. "But if John would have been able to commit to this right now, he would be back in less than a second. From the discussions that we've had, he's just not ready to step back into it and be able to commit to it, and we all completely respect that. We went away and did the reunion thing for 18 months, and his life completely changed in that time. His priorities are in a completely different place right now."

After the band did some contemplating, Slipknot and Stone Sour singer Corey Taylor came forward and said he'd like to sing for them. At first, Anthrax were skeptical, since Taylor was already overextending himself with Slipknot and Stone Sour. But Taylor was determined. "He said, 'No, dude, you have no idea what this means to me and what an honor it would be, so let me figure this out.' "

At the time, it looked like there would be a large enough window between the end of the Stone Sour cycle and the beginning of Slipknot's sessions for Taylor to record the album and launch at least one full tour with Anthrax.

"We were all stoked and sent him all the music we had, and he had already started writing to it," Ian recalled. "Then, the powers that be made an executive decision and basically just didn't let it happen. It physically couldn't happen because our window kept getting smaller and smaller. They moved the Slipknot thing up and pushed the Stone Sour thing this way, and they just made it impossible for all of us. We might have still been able to make a record, but then we wouldn't have been able to tour, and what would have been the sense of that? We just would have been shooting ourselves in the foot."

At this point, Anthrax have a pile of songs, and they're just waiting for the right guy to fill the frontman position so they can proceed. While they've got a short list of singers with whom they're in discussions, there's no word regarding who will fill Bush, Belladonna and Taylor's shoes.

"It's getting to be a little bit of a problem with the material we're writing," Ian admitted. "Because the singer we use will obviously have some bearing on what kind of songs we write. But we know that we want to make a proper follow-up to We've Come for You All, which we all loved. But we want it to be even better: heavier, faster, hookier. As songwriters, you try to improve on your craft. And fortunately, we've got the time to make that happen. We have no deadline at all because we've got no label deal, so my attitude is, 'Let's make the most metal record we've ever made in our lives,' and I would have to say that's coming to fruition."

If all goes as scheduled, Anthrax hope to secure a new singer any day now and to finish writing early next year, so they can have the new album out by late spring or early summer.

"We would like nothing more than to have something out in time to play the European festivals next year," Ian said. "But in the meantime, we don't have a deadline, so we can take our time writing these songs and making them the best stuff that we possibly can."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Suicidal Tendencies will hit the road next month for a string of West Coast gigs. So far just six dates have been booked, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. You'll be able to catch the thrash-metallers starting November 17 in Tucson, Arizona. Shows are scheduled through November 24 in Ventura, California. Suicidal are wrapping up the recording of their forthcoming, yet-untitled studio LP, which they've been working on with producer Paul Northfield (Rush, Dream Theater). ... On December 11, Sevendust will issue Retrospective 2, a DualDisc pack featuring six live tracks and three new studio cuts. The DVD portion of the set will boast nearly two hours of video footage, including the videos for "Ugly" and "Driven." In order to get the word out on the LP, the band will embark on its Ladies Get Out of Jail Free Tour, starting October 19 in Minneapolis, with openers 10 Years, Black Light Burns and Neverset in tow. ...

Ex-At the Gates/ the Crown frontman Tomas Lindberg will be performing with Israeli "melodeath" outfit Nail Within during that band's upcoming reunion show, set for November 23 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Lindberg appeared on the band's 2003 self-titled debut. ... According to Children of Bodom bassist Henkka Blacksmith, the Finnish metallers are making some serious progress on their next studio offering. He claims the disc should be tracked within the next six weeks and that it will feature a guest appearance from Hypocrisy's Peter Tägtgren. ... The Sword plan to begin recording their yet-untitled sophomore effort soon and hope to be finished with the LP by December, when they'll head out on a 17-city U.S. headlining run with Valient Thorr and Black Cobra. The tour kicks off December 6 in New York and runs through December 8 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. More dates will be revealed in the coming weeks. ...

Every Time I Die will stop by "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Halloween for a scare or two as the show's musical guests. No word on what track they'll be playing, but it will most likely come from the band's latest CD, The Big Dirty, which came out last month. ... There are fans, and then there are super-fans. One of Unearth's followers brought new meaning to the latter term recently when he got guitarist Ken Susi's face tattooed on his rump. The agonizing footage can be found online over at Boston.tv. In the meantime, Unearth plan to shoot their Tuesday gig at the Glass House in Pomona, California, for an upcoming DVD release. The band is on tour at the moment with Darkest Hour, August Burns Red and Suicide Silence. ...

All Shall Perish, From a Second Story Window, Emmure and Nodes of Ranvier will join forces for a 16-date trek that's scheduled to launch on Halloween in Ferndale, Michigan. Dates run through November 18 in Tempe, Arizona. ... Belgian death-metal machine Aborted have begun writing material for their next record, which they're planning to track early next year. A summer 2008 release is being eyed for the disc, and while it hasn't been titled yet, the band promises to reveal that news soon. ... Don Dokken will open three upcoming Queensrÿche shows scheduled for early next year, according to Pollstar.com. He'll take the stage February 2 in Chicago, February 8 in New York and February 16 in Dallas. ...

The incomparable Glenn Danzig will be back on the road later this month for a handful of East and West Coast gigs. He'll be bringing Samhain bassist Steve Zing and Danzig guitarist Todd Youth along for the ride, as well as former Misfits guitarist Doyle Von Frankenstein and his new band, Gorgeous Frankenstein. Danzig worked with Doyle on his project's first effort, Gorgeous Frankenstein, which will be in stores October 16. The tour kicks off October 23 in Baltimore and runs through November 8 in Lawrence, Kansas. In related news, a variety of Danzig's older releases will be reissued by Columbia on November 13: Danzig II: Lucifuge (1990), Danzig III: How the Gods Kill (1992), the Thrall: DemonSweatLive EP (1993) and Danzig 4 (1994). ... Through the Eyes of the Dead have parted ways with guitarist Chris Anderson and in his place have enlisted a temporary fill-in — original bandmember Richard Turbeville. He'll be on hand for the metallers' upcoming trek with As I Lay Dying, All That Remains and Haste the Day. No explanation for Anderson's departure has been offered.

• Anthrax
• Danzig
• Children Of Bodom

Suicide Silence
Photo: Century Media

Don't you just love it when bands regurgitate those same tired, lame lines everyone spews in interviews — you know, ones like, "We wouldn't be here without the fans," or "Everything we do, we do with our fans in mind"? Yeah, us too. Those remarks usually come off as disingenuous and halfhearted. But when it comes to Riverside, California, deathcore act Suicide Silence, actions speak louder than words.

Frontman Mitch Lucker recently recalled a good example: a 2006 gig in Miami that went awry. He remembered gnashing his teeth as he watched the venue's security team manhandle the mosh-happy crowd. He tried to ignore it — but then one of the band's female fans took a stagedive. That's when things got ugly.

"One of the security guards punched her right in the face," Lucker explained. "They were being complete a--holes, choking people out, throwing people down. So I told everybody in the audience to f--- that one security guard up."

As the sweat-drenched, huddled masses started pushing forward, toward the front of the stage, Lucker said the club's sentinels began spraying mace — at the band. The singer recalled taking a deep breath just as the tear gas hit him.

"Everybody in this club — which I won't name — got mad and basically, it incited an entire riot," he claimed. "The whole show destroyed the venue, somebody stole the PA, a full-on SWAT team was called in, there were news helicopters flying overhead — it was horrible. I guess I kind of instigated it ... it was probably one of the craziest things I've seen — there was much violence in such a short amount of time."

Luckily, Lucker and the rest of Suicide Silence escaped arrest- and bruise-free, albeit covered in lachrymator. But it was a night the band will never forget and hopes to avoid repeating on its current tour with Despised Icon, Winds of Plague and See You Next Tuesday. The trek concludes Wednesday in Worcester, Massachusetts.

After the run, Suicide Silence will hit the road with Unearth, Darkest Hour and August Burns Red from Thursday in Towson, Maryland, through October 6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A headlining tour with Walls of Jericho, A Life Once Lost and the Agony Scene will follow, but no dates have been booked yet.

According to Lucker, Suicide Silence would like nothing more than a slot on next summer's Sounds of the Underground Tour or Ozzfest. He said that all comes down to the reception the band's Century Media debut, The Cleansing, receives. The disc, produced by John Travis, landed in stores on Tuesday.

"We didn't want our record to sound like everybody else's," Lucker explained. "We worked with John, who'd done stuff with the Wu-Tang Clan and Static-X, because he'd never really done a record with a metal band before. That's what we wanted. We wanted a different feel, a different sound, a different mood to it. But we still wanted to keep it savage and violent — that's the way it should be."

The entire record was tracked live, Lucker said, to capture the raw energy the band expends during its live shows. In addition, Suicide Silence wanted to integrate all the various styles of metal they appreciate into one compact package.

"What we tried to do on this record was to incorporate tons of different styles of metal — death, speed, metalcore — into our songs, because most death-metal bands get labeled 'death metal,' and that's all they ever are," he said. "They're confined to just one genre. But we wanted to separate ourselves from that and give each song a different sound, so you can listen to the whole record and not get tired of it. Kids who listen to all genres of metal will find something to like on this record, because we tried to be as open as possible on it."

While Lucker claims the band pre-sold more than 2,200 copies of The Cleansing through its MySpace page and hopes to attract a lot more fans this year through nonstop touring and, hopefully, that summer-festival slot. And the video the guys recently shot with director Matt Bass (the Esoteric, the Black Dahlia Murder) for "The Price of Beauty" won't hurt.

"It's pretty violent," he said. "Matt wrote the treatment to the song, and it fits so well — the video came out grotesque and intense, just like the song. It's perfect."

The clip features the band performing frantically in a dark warehouse, interspersed with footage of a pretty young girl inside a sadistic doctor's office. "We wanted a girl that looked really innocent, like, 'I want to get fake boobies and a fake nose' — the total little generic Orange County chick," Lucker said. "And she was perfect for it. She let us cut her ears off — she was a good sport."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid have all contributed to the upcoming album by Queen V. The disc, Death or Glory, is scheduled for release in November. Lemmy appears on "Wasted," Morello on "My Machine" and Reid on "One & Only." ... Danzig will launch a brief tour on October 23 in Baltimore, with dates running through November 2 in San Francisco. Gorgeous Frankenstein, which features Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, will open all shows. ...

Means to an End have a valid excuse for making industrial-strength biker metal: Frontman Tony "Grinder" Dwyer was formerly a professional BMX rider and is currently a professional NASCAR driver. The band's debut, ... Reaction, is available on iTunes now and will get a proper release in February. Tracks include "This Fist for Free," "When It's Gone" and "Faith Is Taking Over." ... Following the departures of singer Chuck Bouley and bassist Rob Deangelis, Eastern Massachusetts hardcore-metal band Since the Flood have cemented their lineup with singer Nate Siemens and bassist Ricky Nukem (ex-Guns Up!). The group is currently on a U.S. tour that runs through September 30 in Dover, New Hampshire. ...

To contribute to the backwoods vibe of the upcoming horror film "The Stitcher," director Darla Enlow ("Toe Tags," "Branded") decided to recruit small-town metal bands for the soundtrack. The producers got the help of various rural radio stations to promote a contest for the flick, and they soon received a pitchfork full of demos. In the end, they asked 10 bands to contribute, including Calling Matthew, Darkset Theory and Doomsday Junky. "The Stitcher" will be released October 16 by VCI Entertainment. ... Relapse will host a free screening of the thrash-metal documentary "Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal" on Tuesday in Philadelphia at the Rotunda. The screening will be followed by a set from modern thrash band Rumpelstiltskin Grinder. "Get Thrashed" was written and directed by Rick Ernst and features interviews with many of the key players from the '80s and '90s. The associate producer of the film is ex-Overkill drummer Rat Skates. ...

The second album by experimental Canadian band Protest the Hero, Fortress, has been bumped to early 2008. The album was originally slated for release November 13. ... The release of the new CD by rapper Ill Bill (brother of Necro), The Hour of Reprisal, has also been delayed, until early 2008. The disc will feature guest appearances by Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera, Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones, and Bad Brains singer H.R. and bassist Darryl Jenifer. A good chunk of rappers — Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Tech N9ne, Necro, DJ Premier, Muggs and B-Real. Ill Bill launches a tour with Twiztid on Tuesday in Cleveland, and dates run through November 10 in Columbus, Ohio. ...

Burial Chamber Trio, an all-star group featuring Mayhem singer Attila Csihar, Sunn 0))) guitarist Greg Anderson and electronic guitarist and percussionist Oren Ambarchi, have scheduled a single North American show for October 21 in Seattle. Lesbian will open. ... Technical melodic death-metal band Arsis are in the studio working on their first album for Nuclear Blast. The disc, tentatively titled We Are the Nightmare, will be the follow-up to the Virginia Beach, Virginia, band's 2006 album, United in Regret. ... The Number 12 Looks Like You will launch a tour with Drop Dead Gorgeous starting October 30 in Iowa City, Iowa. Dates run through December 1 in Orangeville, California.

• Suicide Silence
• Danzig
• Protest The Hero
• Soulfly

Lamb of God
Photo: Roadrunner Records

If the ancient Greek philosopher Plato were alive today, would he be a Mastodon fan? Would Sigmund Freud have been into the work of Danzig? Might Mozart have been down with Lamb of God?

Perhaps, according to the findings of a recent study.

The research — conducted by Stuart Cadwallader and Jim Campbell of the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England — shows a disproportionate number of students enrolled there listed heavy metal as their favorite kind of music.

As part of their research, Cadwallader and Campbell surveyed more than 1,000 students between ages 11 and 18. The school's student body of 120,000 ranks among the brightest 5 percent of youngsters in all of Britain, suggesting that metalheads aren't necessarily boneheads.

"There is a perception of gifted and talented students as being into classical music and spending a lot of time reading," said Cadwallader, a psychologist who presented the findings to the British Psychological Society on Wednesday. "I think that is an inaccurate stereotype. We are looking at a group with lower-than-average self-esteem that does not feel quite as well-adjusted. They feel more stressed out and turn to heavy metal as a way of relieving that stress."

Cadwallader further suggests that those who listen to metal often appreciate the "complex and sometimes political themes" contained within the music. "It has a tendency to worry adults a bit, but I think it's just a cathartic thing," he said. "It does not indicate problems."

Students were asked to describe their families, attitudes toward education, hobbies and media preferences. They were then asked to rank their favorite genres of music, and the researchers discovered that rock was the most popular form of music, closely followed by pop. The study unearthed differences between the types of music young people like and their attitudes: Those who dug metal seemed to have lower self-esteem, as well as "difficulties with friendships and family relationships."

Some of the students, according to the study, claimed to utilize metal to cope with the pressures that come with their intelligence level; the punishing sounds of heavy metal can help these students deal with their frustrations and anger.

"Perhaps the pressures associated with being gifted and talented can be temporarily forgotten with the aid of music," offered Cadwallader. "As one student suggests, perhaps gifted people may experience more pressure than their peers and they use the music to purge this negativity."

Cadwallader acknowledged that the findings challenge prior research about the types of people who'd be into, say, Ozzy Osbourne or Iron Maiden.

"There is literature that links heavy metal to poor academic performance and delinquency, but we found a group that contradicts that," he explained.

Still, it's rather hard to imagine Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking rockin' out to Opeth.

Recommended listening for some of history's greatest minds:

» Mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya: the Red Chord, the Dillinger Escape Plan
» Social philosopher Confucius: DragonForce, Dir en Grey
» Novelist Leo Tolstoy: Cannibal Corpse, Judas Priest
» Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche: Necrophagist, Manowar
» Painter Leonardo da Vinci: Lacuna Coil, Ephel Duath
» Inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla: Strapping Young Lad, Killswitch Engage (the band Tesla is not metal!)
» Philosopher Immanuel Kant: Carcass, Gojira
» Astronomer Galileo Galilei: In Flames, Black Sabbath
» Physicist Marie Curie: Arch Enemy, Testament

For more heavy-metal goodness, check out the feature "The Greatest Metal Bands of All Time."

• Lamb of God
• Mastodon
• Danzig
• Opeth

Green Day
Photo: Vince Bucci/ Getty Images

Green Day will be honored at the People for the American Way's 2006 Spirit of Liberty Awards on October 10 in Beverly Hills, California. George Lopez is hosting the event. ...

A Massachusetts judge says Bobby Brown will be arrested if he sets foot in the state, according to The Associated Press. The judge ordered the arrest on Monday (October 2) after Brown was a no-show at a hearing pertaining to his delinquent child-support payments to ex-wife Kim Ward. Brown's attorney told AP that it's a "difficult time" for the singer, given that Whitney Houston recently filed for a legal separation from him. ...

Maroon 5, Taylor Hicks and Velvet Revolver will perform at the City of Hope's Spirit of Life Awards gala in Hollywood on Thursday. Sarah McLachlan and Josh Groban will also take the stage at the event, which is honoring BMG U.S. President and COO Charles Goldstuck. ... Nick Lachey will perform on Wednesday's episode of "Dancing With the Stars," airing at 8 p.m. on ABC. ...

"El Cantante," starring Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, screened at the Toronto Film Festival last month where it scored a distribution deal with Picturehouse — and a summer 2007 release date. Anthony plays Puerto Rican salsa pioneer Héctor Lavoe in the biopic — acting opposite Lopez, who says the film is already generating interest in Lavoe's sound. "One of the things that people who've seen the movie walk away with is that they loved the music and [ask], 'Who is it? And how can I get more of it?' " Lopez told MTV Tres. ...

According to a post on Jonathan Davis' Web site, Korn will begin writing new material Monday for the follow-up to 2005's See You on the Other Side. "[I] can't wait," the frontman wrote. "I know it's gonna be insane. The band is really on fire and have some phat sh-- to record." ... Ying Yang Twins have renamed their upcoming album Chemically Imbalanced. The Atlanta duo's fifth effort, previously titled 2 Live Crew, will drop in late November. ...

The Foo Fighters are releasing a live album from their recent acoustic tour. Skin and Bones, due November 7, is culled from the band's three Los Angeles performances at the Pantages Theater last month. ... Dave Grohl buddy Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age joined Mastodon onstage at the Music Box @ Fonda in Los Angeles Friday night. The unpredictable metal band ran through "The Colony of Birchmen" with Homme on vocals, dipping into new Blood Mountain material elsewhere with searing renditions of "The Wolf Is Loose," "Crystal Skull" and more. The band also burned through "March of the Fire Ants" and "Workhorse" from 2002's Remission, as well as "I Am Ahab" and "Blood and Thunder" from 2004's Leviathan. Guitarist Bill Kelliher wore a T-shirt promoting opening band the Bronx's self-run label. Converge also opened. ...

Avril Lavigne has issued a statement apologizing for spitting at paparazzi last week while she was out with her husband, Sum 41's Deryck Whibley. "I'd like to sincerely apologize for my behavior with the paparazzi," the apology reads. "It's trying at best dealing with their insistent intrusions. I meant no offense to my fans, whose relationship I truly value. I have and will always go out of my way for my fans. My behavior was a reaction to the persistent attack from the paparazzi." ... Robes to Recovery, an auction sponsored by the Council of Fashion Designers of America and W Hotels benefiting Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, will offer 28 one-of-a-kind robes customized by top designers including Gwen Stefani, Michael Kors, Heatherette, Cynthia Rowley, Diane Von Furstenberg and Juicy Couture beginning October 23 on eBay. To learn more about the effort, check out WHotels.com/RobesToRecovery. ...

Tendonitis in singer/guitarist Barry Hyde's wrist has forced the Futureheads to cancel their October U.S. tour. "[Hyde] has been advised to rest and, as far as we can see, there is no way of us being able to make those shows work, given the state of his wrist," the band said in a statement. "We promise to get out to the U.S. at the next available opportunity." The band's impending U.K. tour will not be affected. ... Ultra-popular Internet time-waster YouTube.com is launching a contest to discover the best unsigned band in the U.S. Starting Monday, bands can submit performance clips to YouTube.com/Underground, where the entire YouTube community can vote on its favorites. The contest runs until October 18, when the final four will be announced by "Grey's Anatomy" music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas. The four winners will make an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America," receive music gear and have their songs featured in an upcoming Patsavas project. ...

The eldest Hanson brother is off the market. Isaac Hanson, 25, married his 22-year-old girlfriend, Nicole Dufresne, in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, People magazine reported. The couple's marriage comes three weeks after Taylor Hanson, 23, and his wife of four years welcomed their third child, and three months after youngest brother Zac Hanson, 20, and his girlfriend tied the knot. ... The first dates for this year's Blackest of the Black Tour have been revealed. The West Coast-only run, which features Lacuna Coil, the Haunted, Belphegor and headliners Danzig, will kick off in Seattle on November 17. Dates are currently scheduled through a November 30 show in Fresno, California. ...

The Cult have rolled out the first 10 dates of their upcoming fall U.S. run. The trek is set to start in Dallas on October 27, with gigs booked through a November 9 stop in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. The Cult's current lineup includes frontman Ian Astbury, guitarists Billy Duffy and Mike Dimkich, bassist Chris Wyse and former White Zombie drummer John Tempesta. ... An appeal filed by former Kiss guitarist Vinnie Vincent was declined by Supreme Court justices Monday, AP reports. A lower court had previously dismissed Vincent's claim that Kiss owe him royalties from their 1983 album Lick It Up. ... George Michael was arrested Sunday morning in London on suspicion of marijuana possession, AP reports. Responding to complaints that a vehicle was blocking a North London intersection, police found the singer slumped over the steering wheel of his car. Michael received a caution for possession of cannabis, was charged with being unfit to drive and released on bail. The singer, who is scheduled to play a show in Lyon, France, on Monday as part of his European tour, was ordered to appear in court in November.

09.29.2006

"Glitter" was a box-office bomb, and now Mariah Carey is pleased that at least one person missed the film. Producer Lee Daniels cast Carey in the upcoming "Tennessee" after catching her performance in the 2002 independent drama "WiseGirls." "I don't know if he's seen ['Glitter'] since then," Carey told MTV News, "but the great thing is, he's in the independent-film world and that's where 'WiseGirls' was such a great validating moment for me — even though it was totally overshadowed by the debacle of 'Glitter.' " The singer, who plays a waitress in "Tennessee" — as she did in "WiseGirls" — said the role is a real departure. "The character is so not what you would think. This is not about hairdos and ensembles. The girl's in the trenches." ...

The Killers are poised to make TV history of sorts next week, when they become the first act to appear for three consecutive nights on "Jimmy Kimmel Live." The stint kicks off Tuesday — the day the Killers' new album, Sam's Town, hits stores — and comes on the heels of the Las Vegas' quartet's appearance as the musical guest on this weekend's season premiere of "Saturday Night Live." ...

Michael Jackson has settled his custody battle with ex-wife Debbie Rowe, The Associated Press reported Friday (September 29). Rowe's attorney wouldn't disclose the terms of the settlement to AP, but Jackson lawyer Michael L. Abrams said the agreement was reached last week and that "both parties are satisfied." ...

Shimmy shimmy ya, one last time: Ol' Dirty Bastard's long-delayed final solo studio album, A Son Unique, will be released November 7 through Damon Dash Music Group/ Koch Records. The date almost coincides with the two-year anniversary of the late rapper's sudden drug-overdose death on November 13, 2004. A Son Unique will feature collaborations with fellow Wu-Tang Clan members Method Man, Raekwon and Ghostface Killah, as well as Pharrell, M.O.P. and Macy Gray. ... Patti Smith will perform October 15 at New York's CBGB, marking the iconic punk club's final night in business on the Bowery. Tickets for the gig will go on sale Saturday at noon and are priced at $33 a piece. Additional artists are expected to perform that evening as well. ...

My Chemical Romance have been tapped to perform their single "Welcome to the Black Parade" during Spike TV's Scream Awards, scheduled to air October 10. The event, which will be taped October 7 at Hollywood's Pantages Theater, celebrates the horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres and will present a special honor to Ozzy Osbourne. Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan and Marley Shelton, stars of the upcoming Quentin Tarantino/ Robert Rodriguez collaboration flick "Grindhouse," will host the show, and Korn are also expected to take the stage. ... Baby Rock Records will release a collection of Nirvana songs transformed into lullabies. Due October 31, Rockabye Baby: Lullaby Renditions of Nirvana will feature 10 kid-friendly renditions of Nirvana classics including "In Bloom," "Smells Like Teen Spirit," "Heart-Shaped Box," "All Apologies" and "Come as You Are." ...

The soundtrack to the surfing documentary "A Brokedown Melody" features new songs from Jack Johnson, Matt Costa and Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder, who contributes the spare ukulele love song "Goodbye." The album, due November 14 on Johnson's Brushfire label, also has tracks from Kings of Convenience, the Beta Band, M. Ward and a solo tune from Built to Spill leader Doug Martsch. ... Costa is also taking part in the latest edition of the Hotel Cafe Tour and will be joined by fellow singer/songwriters Cary Brothers and Tristan Prettyman. The outing, which also includes Joshua Radin, Brett Dennen and actress/singer Schuyler Fisk on a rotating schedule, begins Monday and ends November 15 in Anaheim. ...

A Perfect Circle guitarist Billy Howerdel told MTV News in May that the band's future plans were uncertain, revealing that the group might even be a done deal; he explained that he'd be spending most of his creative time crafting his solo debut. But this week, A Perfect Circle's frontman, Tool singer Maynard James Keenan, updated fans with a brief message on the band's Web site. The message left some wondering whether A Perfect Circle is, indeed, over. "Billy is hard at work on his solo project and I'm on the road with Tool, and making wine in between," Keenan wrote. "Check back often. Peace. Out." ... The Deftones will hit the road late next month for a U.S. headlining run with Deadsy. Seven shows have been announced, starting with a Tempe, Arizona, gig on October 29 through a November 14 performance in Albuquerque, New Mexico. More dates will be revealed over the next few days. ...

Moby has an upcoming greatest-hits collection, Go: The Very Best of Moby, slated for release October 24. It will feature "New York, New York," a track he recorded this summer with Debbie Harry on vocals. A bonus disc will also be included, with remixes by the likes of Timo Maas, Jason Nevins and Tiesto. ... Clinic will release their fourth album, Visitations, October 17 on iTunes. The album, which includes the single "Harvest," will hit retail stores Stateside on January 29. ... Eighteen Visions are heading out with Hinder to tour starting October 18 in College Station, Texas. Eighteen dates, coincidentally enough, have been booked through November 15 in Huntsville, Alabama. ...

Heavens — Alkaline Trio singer Matt Skiba's side project — will be on the road beginning October 24 in Seattle and ending November 17 in Chicago. Their debut, Patent Pending, was released September 12. ... Dredg will issue their "Live at the Fillmore" DVD on November 7. The effort was filmed during the band's May 11 performance at the legendary San Francisco concert venue. ... Godsmack will head up the 2006 Shiner Bocktoberfest Concert October 14 in Green Dickson Park in Shiner, Texas. Blue October, Old 97's, Pat Green and Lost Immigrants are also on the bill. ... Papa Roach and (hed) p.e. are teaming for this year's Zippo Hot Tour, which is set to commence November 12 in Norfolk, Virginia. Just seven dates have been revealed thus far, with more to be rolled out in the coming weeks. Shows are booked through a December 3 stop in Orlando, Florida.

• Green Day
• Maroon 5
• Nick Lachey
• Jennifer Lopez
• Korn

Glenn Danzig
Photo: Scott Gries/ Getty Images

During the recording of 1994's Danzig 4, Glenn Danzig and the record's producer, Rick Rubin, were paid a visit by one of the higher-ups at Def American, the label Rubin launched after leaving Def Jam in 1988. A company vice president had one simple request for the former Misfits frontman.

"He's like, 'You guys, don't do a Satanic record, OK?,' " Danzig recalled. "We just looked at each other, and we were laughing. So Rick said, 'You have to write a song and make it the most Satanic song in the world.' "

And Glenn abided. The end result was "Satan's Crucifixion Points to Hell," a track that started off as a means to stick it to the man, but one that Danzig would fall in love with over the years. It's a song that was never released, but will be available on The Lost Tracks of Danzig, a veritable goldmine of Danzig leftovers compiled in a two-CD set with a hardcover booklet featuring the musings of Glenn. An official release date has yet to be firmed up, but the set is expected later this year or early 2007.

"The song started out as a song to just drive this guy crazy," Danzig said of "Satan's Crucifixion," laughing for a second. "We sent it to him, and he said, 'This is crazy. They're destroying this record — it's totally Satanic. And you want this to be the first single?' So while it started as a joke song, it's become a really good song."

Lost collects a total of 26 tracks, including a number of covers — everything from David Bowie's "Cat People" to T. Rex's "Buick MacKane" and the Germs' "Caught in My Eye." All of the original songs were written — and most recorded in bits and pieces — between 1988's Danzig and 2004's Circle of Snakes (see "Glenn Danzig Preps 'Final' Tour, Film, Box Set And, Uh, Dolls"). Danzig did have to do some additional work on the tracks to make them just right.

"A perfect example is 'Come to Silver' [from 1996's Blackacidevil], a song I wrote for Johnny Cash that I never gave to him," Danzig said. "I showed it to him but I never gave it to him because I left [Cash's label, American Recordings]. But this one's an acoustic version, and I recorded it a while ago. When we went back in to mix it, the vocals had been wiped by the old engineer. I don't know what the reasoning was, but he did. So I had to re-sing the whole song. It's kind of a shock when you're all ready to mix and you ask, 'Where are the vocals?' "

Of the other songs resurrected for the effort, Danzig prefers "Lady Lucifera," "Warlock" and the bluesy leadoff single, "Crawl Across Your Killing Floor." Danzig shot a black-and-white video for that track last month, and describes it as "a takeoff" on the opening of 1966 spaghetti Western "Django."

"So I'm walking into town," he explained. "I have the long leather Western coat, with the shoulder things. I'm dragging this coffin behind me, and I open it up, and it's filled with all these old photos and I just start burning them — pictures of Muddy Waters, Johnny Cash, Sharon Tate, Charles Manson. I even burn a photo of Rick. I put it in an urn ... and it just goes on from there."

Glenn said he intends to start writing material for a proper Danzig release in early 2007. But the man has a ton on his plate. Although he said last year that he didn't want to tour anymore, he'll be reviving his Blackest of the Black Tour this winter for a two-week West Coast run. So far, just Scandinavian black metallers Marduk have been confirmed for the bill. The trek's start date hasn't been determined.

There's also the 3 Faces of Danzig limited-edition action figures he's released. They retail for $75, and highlight the different eras of Glenn's career with a Misfits-era version, a Samhain version, and one representing Danzig in his current form. But there are two more dolls on the way which will be released on Halloween: a second Samhain toy, and a Misfits figurine which shows Glenn with the band's trademark skull logo painted over his face. Both of the toys will be glow-in-the-dark capable, and if you have to have one, grab it fast: Danzig said the manufacturer is releasing a limited run of just 666.

And then there's the October 17 release of the oft-delayed Black Aria II, the sequel to Danzig's 1993 classical album Black Aria.

"I've had it written forever, and just never had the time to sit down and record it," he said. "You have to really get into it. It's more of a classical, soundtrack-y type thing, so you have to listen back to it all, lay all the parts in and make sure they fit. I just never had the time to sit down and do it, and I made the time recently to do it. It's cool to see it's finally going to be released, because the Black Aria stuff was always a labor of love. I put out the first one, did no promotion, no advertising. I just put it out. I did it for the fans. I didn't know it would sell as much as it did. It's probably one if the biggest Danzig sellers."

And what about the recent homages that have been paid to the singer — the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Anthony Kiedis dressed up as Danzig for the band's "Dani California" clip and a picture of him will appear in Audioslave's "Original Fire" video? In typical Glenn fashion, he's indifferent about it all.

"I just don't care," he said.

• Danzig
• The Misfits

Glenn Danzig
Photo: Getty Images/Scott Gries

This holiday season, won't you give the gift of Glenn Danzig? The quick-tempered, long-in-sideburn rocker has scads of merchandise on the horizon, including a 10-inch-tall Danzig doll scheduled to surface right before Christmas. The doll is the first in a series Japanese toy manufacturer Medicom is calling "The Three Faces of Danzig."

"That first one's going to be the Misfits-era Danzig," explained Danzig, the former/founding frontman for the hardcore-punk cult favorites. "The second one'll be the Samhain version of Danzig, all covered in blood, and the third one will be [Danzig II: Lucifuge-era] Danzig, with the upside-down medallion and the belt buckle. They debuted at the San Diego Comic-Con this summer, and Medicom's booth was mobbed."

First, though, there's Danzig's Blackest of the Black Tour, which features a lineup handpicked by Glenn himself: Chimaira, Behemoth, Himsa, Mortiis and the Agony Scene, with Danzig headlining. Former Misfits guitarist Doyle Von Frankenstein is joining him onstage each night for a special 30-minute set of Misfits classics. The 22-date trek runs through October 29 in Los Angeles.

"It's something I've been working on for a long time, and we're finally getting to take it all over the place," Danzig said. "But I don't want it to be like Ozzfest. It's for bands that get ignored by radio and television but sell out venues that are either the same size or bigger than venues that, say, bands that get played a lot on the radio can't sell a ticket to save their lives. It's exactly like when Danzig and Slayer came up. No one would play us, but we would go in and sell out venues, to everyone's shock. The Ozzfest is a corporate buy-on, and this is my answer to it.

"The first year we did Blackest, it was Superjoint Ritual, Opeth, Nile, Behemoth, Lacuna Coil," he continued. "The next year on Ozzfest, a bunch of those bands were on the bill — that's no coincidence. I'm hoping [Blackest] will maybe expose these bands and help them get on some of those other mainstream festivals. But, again, it's not going to be like Ozzfest. I'm not going to be on it every year."

In fact, Danzig said Blackest of the Black will be his last tour — well, maybe. It's possible but not definite. We think.

"I'm done after this tour," he said. "Maybe I'll change my mind and do some local shows. I don't want to tour anymore. Unless I change my mind — I might just take a break for two or three years. I'm just burned out on it. I don't enjoy it anymore. I love being onstage. But the other 22 hours of the day, spent bouncing around on a bus — I don't know anymore. I'll still be doing music, because that's my first love. But no more tours. This is it."

Of course, Danzig's a man of many loves: He's a determined weight lifter and a certified teacher of Jeet Kune Do. And he's just finished penning the third draft for "Ge Rouge," a "voodoo zombie" flick he'll also direct, which is based on the comic he publishes through his Verotika firm; Rainstorm Productions will release the project. The film is set in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th century, and Danzig says he plans to shoot part of the movie in the storm-ravaged city.

"We had scheduled at least seven to 10 days down there before this whole Hurricane Katrina thing happened," he said. "But there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The French Quarter is not underwater, and that's where I need to shoot. Everything else I can fake here in Hollywood. But you can't re-create those French Quarter houses. So we'll have to go down there to do that."

Later this year, Danzig will release Black Aria 2, the sequel to 1993's Black Aria. He said it's been written for years but wasn't recorded until last year. "It's [a classical, operatic piece] based on Lilith," the mythological first wife of Adam, Danzig said. "It's different from the first record but similar in a lot of ways."

He's also been working on a two-disc Danzig box set. The collection will feature all unreleased material recorded between 1988's Danzig up to now.

"It's called The Lost Tracks of Danzig, and it's incredible," he said. "There'll be tons of old photos inside. There's a cover of Bowie's 'Cat People' that no one's ever heard. There's a cover of [T. Rex's] Marc Bolan's 'Buick Mackane' no one's ever heard, from the Danzig III sessions. Just tons of songs no one's ever heard, like 'Bound by Blood' and some other tracks. People will just be blown away." That should surface sometime next year and contain 25 tracks.

The two things Danzig's not planning on undertaking: Samhain and Misfits reunions.

"That's not going to happen," he said, laughing. As for the Misfits, "there's too much bad blood between [bassist] Jerry [Only] and me, and I think there's some problems between Doyle and Jerry that would have to be worked out as well. I don't keep in touch with any of those guys anymore. If I see [drummer Ron Reyes], he's a nice guy. I haven't seen [drummer Arthur] Googy in a while, but we don't have any problems with each other. I don't know about any of the other guys. I don't even know where the f--- they are."

• Glenn Danzig
• Danzig

Chimaira (file)
Photo: Roadrunner Records

It's been two years since Cleveland's Chimaira released The Impossibility of Reason, and according to frontman Mark Hunter, the band spent most of that time on the road and in the studio, working on its upcoming self-titled third disc, set to hit stores on August 9.

For Chimaira — who are playing both this summer's Sounds of the Underground Tour ("It's been awesome; the first night, everyone was hanging out, barbecuing") and Trenton, New Jersey's Hellfest — there was a decision to be made before they could embark on this latest brutal journey.

"We could make The Impossibility of Reason part two, which would have been absolutely no challenge whatsoever, or there was option two: totally reinvent ourselves," Hunter said. "That seemed more challenging, and at the same time, more fun. We didn't want to put out the same record over and over again, and I think this album is such a breath of fresh air — especially considering what's going on with heavy music right now."

With none of the album's 10 tracks — which include "Nothing Remains," "Inside the Horror," "Left for Dead" and "Bloodlust" — clocking in at less than five minutes, Chimaira is an epic release. But the band didn't set out to record mammoth songs — they just sort of happened.

"We didn't want to have any restraints or follow any specific guidelines," Hunter said. "We wanted the songs to play out for as long as they needed to, and have peaks and dynamics rather than doing the standard 'verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/end.' If a chorus was great, we wanted to make you wait for it."

The band's European fans will be able to score a limited-edition, double-CD rendition of the new disc when it hits stores in August; the special version will boast nine additional tracks, seven of them live, and covers of two songs from guitarist Matt DeVries' former band, Ascension: "Clayden" and "Malignant."

The rest of the week's metal news:

The generously sideburned, leather-lovin' Glenn Danzig has unveiled the lineup for his Blackest of the Black Tour, which is set to kick off in San Diego in late September and end on the West Coast on Halloween. Danzig has secured some support acts since Metal File first reported on his plans: Chimaira, Behemoth, Himsa, Mortiis and the Agony Scene. Danzig, who will cap off every show on the tour, will once again be bringing former Misfits guitarist Doyle Von Frankenstein on the road with him — this time, for a special 30-minute set of Misfits classics. ... After not seeing or hearing from him for more than a few weeks, Morbid Angel's David Vincent has filed a missing-persons report with Florida authorities for Angel/ Monstrosity axeman Tony Norman. The band contacted Norman's friends and family before going to police; the guitarist's girlfriend is also missing. Vincent and the rest of the band are hoping that anyone who's seen Norman will come forward. Monstrosity have been working on the follow-up to Rise to Power, with an anticipated 2006 release. ...

Emotive Australian hardcore band I Killed the Prom Queen will be heading to Sweden, heavy metal's capital, in August and September to start work on their next record with At the Gates producer Fredrik Nordstrom. Look for a mid-winter release. ... Members of grindcore outfits Napalm Death and Nasum are assembling tracks for a live split CD that will be released next year. The songs were recorded in Japan during a 2004 tour and will likely be the last recordings Nasum will release. The band broke up in May after singer Mieszko Talarczyk, who was vacationing in Thailand, was killed by the tsunami that devastated the South Asian coastline. ... Thrash band Arch Enemy have posted the new song "Nemesis" on their Web site. A video for the track will be shot this week with director George Bravo, who also worked with the group on its video for "We Will Rise." Arch Enemy's new album, Doomsday Machine, will be released July 26. The disc was co-produced by the band and Rickard Bengtsson at Slaughterhouse Studio in Sweden. ...

Veteran progressive-metal group Kings X will release a three-disc box set on September 20. The package will include their albums Manic Moonlight, Please Come Home ... Mr. Bulbous and Tape Head, which were originally released between 1998 and 2001. ... California thrash metallers the Black Dahlia Murder recently shot a video with director Matt Bass (Skindred, Nonpoint) for the track "A Vulgar Picture." ... Australian hardcore bashers Day of Contempt will release their first North American offering, The Will To Live, on August 9. Josh Abraham produced the disc. ... Chris Broderick, guitarist for '80s power-metal band Jag Panzer, is giving guitar lessons over the Internet. The classically trained axeman currently has 11 students. Players wishing to join Broderick's school of hard rocks should check out the "lessons" page on his Web site, ChrisBroderick.com.

• Chimaira
• Danzig
• Monstrosity
• Morbid Angel

Norma Jean's Daniel, Scottie and Cory (file)
Photo: Solid State Records

When Solid State Records released the third album from Atlantan metalcore act Norma Jean on March 1, no one — not the band's management, its label, and certainly not the bandmembers themselves — expected the disc would sell more than 19,000 copies in a week. But O God, The Aftermath did sell just that in its first week in stores, roaring into the Billboard albums chart at #64.

"We would never have thought that would happen," said drummer Daniel Davidson. "It just totally blew us away. The music is so brutal and heavy and chaotic."

Don't think Norma Jean's going to let sales figures get to their heads, though: There's too much work coming up for them even to pat each other on the back. Norma Jean's one of the main attractions for this summer's Sounds of the Underground Tour; they'll be spending April and May in Japan, the U.K. and Australia with Atreyu and Unearth; and they'll be shooting a video for "Liarsenic" at some point in between those road trips.

But singer Cory Putnam did say the bandmembers are glad the Ozzfest folks snubbed 'em. "If you play Ozzfest, that's just like instant credit for your band, but it just costs too much money to be on it," he explained. "You end up playing at 10 in the morning. I think [the Sounds of the Underground] is a tour that really cares about the bands that are on it, and cares about the music. And that's what we care about."

The rest of the week's metal news:

The Deftones are said to be working on their next album, which is due out this summer. In the meantime, the long-delayed self-titled debut from frontman Chino Moreno's experimental trip-hop side project, Team Sleep, will finally see the light of day on May 10 and feature the tracks "Your Skull Is Red," "Our Ride to the Rectory," and "Paris Arm." ... Canadian extremists Strapping Young Lad's video for the track "Love?," which was shot by director Joe Lynch and pays homage to the cult film classic "The Evil Dead," will debut on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" Saturday night. ...

Taking a cue perhaps from Rob Zombie, former Misfits frontman Glenn Danzig has penned a screenplay for "Gerouge," a voodoo/horror tale that's said to unfold in New Orleans during the 1900s. Danzig will also direct the film. ... Can't make it to Ozzfest this summer? Well, there's always Judas Priest. Rob Halford and the gang will join forces with Queensrÿche for a North American tour that'll kick off on June 1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. A third band is being considered as the official opener, and a complete list of all of the dates for the eight-week run still needs to be ironed out. ... Gore-metallers Cattle Decapitation have plans to release a split 7-inch single with Caninus. They'll start working on the material for that effort next month. ...

Losa will be hitting the road with Sinaibeach and Death by Stereo on April 14, playing just six shows on that trek before meeting up with Dead to Fall, 12 Tribes, and Fight Paris for a 26-date stint. ... Goop-spewing gimmick rockers Gwar will release a live album on May 31 called Live From Mt. Fuji. The enhanced CD will contain 12 live cuts, including "Bring Back the Bomb," "Horror of Yg," "Krosstika," "Sick of You," "Womb With a View" and "Immortal Corruptor." ...

Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and electronic artist DJ Spooky have teamed up for Drums of Death, a disc of rumbling, experimental songs that comes out April 26. Public Enemy's Chuck D. and Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid guest on the disc, which was co-produced by Spooky and Meat Beat Manifesto. Track titles include "Quantum Cyborg Drum Machine" and "Metatron." ... Industrial supergroup Pigface will embark on their Free for All tour starting April 14 in Palatine, Illinois. Dates run through May 21 in Columbus, Ohio. The ever-mutating lineup will be filled this year by frontman Martin Atkins and members of KMFDM, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Atari Teenage Riot, Nocturne, Hate Dept. and Bile. Nocturne and Sheep on Drugs will open all shows. ...

Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus will be hitting the road in June with Internal Bleeding and Strong Intention for a full U.S. tour. ... Recently unearthed death-metal pioneers Obituary will replace Lamb of God for a concert April 9 in Inglewood, California. Lamb of God were banned from playing the venue because venue owners took offense to the group's former name, Burn the Priest. While the group hasn't used that moniker since 1998, its self-titled debut was re-released last week. Obituary recently completed its comeback album, which is tentatively scheduled for release this summer. ... SikTh have written all of the material that'll comprise the English math-metal band's second album — which will serve as its Stateside debut. The band will hit the studio to record the album, which hasn't been named yet, in April. Look for it to drop later this year through Bieler Bros. Records. ...

Every Time I Die will be touring Europe with Lamb of God and Unearth in June. The band's latest offering, Gutter Phenomenon, will be released through Ferret this summer. ... The Number Twelve Looks Like You will release their next full-length offering, Nuclear, Sad, Nuclear, on June 7, through the chaotic metal-core band's label, Eyeball. ... Darkest Hour's Devin Townsend-produced effort Undoing Ruin is in the final stages of being mixed; the album drops June 28. ... Deutschland thrashers Dew-Scented will release Issue VI in Germany on June 20 through Nuclear Blast. However, American fans will have to wait: its U.S. release has not yet been set. ...

New Orleans demolition duo Blackfire Revelation are working on their debut album, which will be the follow-up to their recently released EP, Gold & Guns on 51. The disc is due by the end of the summer. The band will open for New York noisemasters Unsane starting May 11 in Columbus, Ohio. Dates run through May 28 in Philadelphia. ... Danish band Fear My Thoughts will release their fifth album, Hell, Sweet Hell, on July 27. The disc was recorded last year with Jacob Hansen, who has previously worked with Mercenary. ... Progressive British band Porcupine Tree will release their most metallic offering to date, Deadwing, on May 3, the savage sounds of which were probably influenced by frontman Steven Wilson's production work with Opeth. Porcupine's last major-label album, In Absentia, was released in 2002. ... Atlanta band Lilitu have hired 20-year-old bassist Noah Martin to fill the slot recently vacated by Shane Bell.

• Norma Jean (Metal)
• Deftones
• Judas Priest
• GWAR
• Danzig

Yo. Your usual Metal File host, Iann Robinson, is off this week, but the rest of us are dedicated to keeping you fully stocked with fresh metal headlines. Tear into 'em:

Black Box, the delayed box set from Black Sabbath, will now hit stores on March 2. The set includes all of the band's Ozzy Osbourne-era albums as well as a DVD of never-before-seen live footage. ... Organizers have unveiled the final schedule for the New Jersey Metal and Hardcore Fest, set for this weekend in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Seventy-three bands — including Cradle of Filth, Superjoint Ritual, Danzig, Morbid Angel, Type O Negative and Biohazard — will play. A complete schedule can be found at the festival's Web site. ... Re-formed '90s thrash outfit Prong hope to release their new Scorpio Rising in February. ...

Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones will make a guest appearance on Summer of Darkness, the second album from Demon Hunter, which the group is currently tracking in its hometown of Seattle. Tentative song titles include "Coffin Builder," "I Play Dead," "Beheaded" and "Everything Was White." ... Eyes of Fire, an Orange County, California, band that includes former members of Mindrot in its lineup, has completed a video for the song "Hopeless" with director Bill Henderson (Sepultura). The track will appear on the group's debut, Ashes to Embers, due in March. ... Pig Destroyer are working on a conceptual album/DVD tentatively titled Terrifyer. ... Darkane's video for "Chaos Vs. Order" can be viewed at the Nuclear Blast Records Web site. ...

Zakk Wylde has donated his very first guitar, a 1985 Gibson Les Paul, to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. ... Norway's prosthetic-face-wearing ghoul Mortiis has begun work on a new album with producer Vegard Blomberg. It's the former Emperor bassist's first record since 2001's The Smell of Rain, which saw him abandoning moody atmospherics. ... A new track by Zyklon called "An Electric Manner" has been posted on their Web site. ... The mathematically inclined madmen of the Dillinger Escape Plan are hitting the road with the similarly crazed guys of the Locust. The tour kicks off mid-January in the Midwest and wraps up in early March. ...

Former At the Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg's The Great Deceiver have finished the follow-up to last year's A Venom Well Designed. The disc is due in February. ... There's an unmixed and unmastered version of the new All That Remains track "The Deepest Gray" on their label's Web site. The song is from the band's forthcoming This Darkened Heart, produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewitz. ... Strapping Young Lad frontman Devin Townsend will produce the debut from Misery Signals in February. ... Remembering Never have completed mixing their sophomore record, Women and Children Die First, due next year. ...

My Dying Bride have finished their eighth studio album, due early next year, but have yet to pick a title. ... Former Barbed Wire Dolls singer Johnny Weils will make his live debut with Alabama Thunderpussy in Baltimore on December 5, the start of a string of East Coast dates. Weils, who replaced singer Johnny Throckmorton, will make his recorded debut with the band on their forthcoming second album, tentatively titled Fulton Hill. ... Peaceville Records is planning DVD releases from Katatonia and long-defunct gore metal legends Autopsy next year. ... Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Isis are teaming up for a split EP to raise money for Shaun Luu, who has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Due in the spring, the record will include live and "special" recordings as well as a remix of the Isis track "Carry." ...

Static-X have added nine more dates to their tour with Soil, Skrape and Twisted Method. The first new show is November 26 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and dates are scheduled until December 17 in Anaheim, California. ... Impaled Nazarene will release their eighth album, All That You Fear, in January. The album will mark the first appearance of guitarist Tuomio. Former guitarist Teemu Raimoranta died in March after falling from a bridge in Helsinki. ... Israel's Melechesh will release their third album, Sphynx, in January. The disc will include a cover of Celtic Frost's "Babylon Fell." ... Recently re-formed Long Island, New York, death metal demolitionists Suffocation will release a new album, Souls to Deny, in the spring. ...

Today Is the Day have shot a video for "The Descent," from Sadness Will Prevail, in Philadelphia with directors Adam Albrandt and Brian D. Lange. ... Monster Magnet drummer Michael Wildwood has left the band for unspecified reasons. Meanwhile, the band is working on its next record, tentatively titled Monolithic Babies. The record will feature new bassist Jim Baglino, who replaced Joe Calandra last year. ... Anthrax have delayed the shoot of their "What Doesn't Die" video until January. ...

• Black Sabbath
• Danzig
• Prong
• Superjoint Ritual
• Killswitch Engage