Demi Lovato
Photo: Scott Gries/ Getty Images

About a month ago, a colleague of mine stopped at my desk, handed me the latest issue of Rolling Stone and told me I had to read the feature Jason Gay had written on the Jonas Brothers. I thought he was kidding. See, I'm the resident metalhead around these parts, which means I have little (if any) interest in the Jonases. Halfway through reading the article, though, it became apparent why it was suggested I read it: Gay's piece claimed that Demi Lovato, the opener on the Jonas Brothers' summer tour, is into metal.

I immediately called bullsh--. No way Demi Lovato, the squeaky-clean 16-year-old star of the Disney Channel's "As the Bell Rings," who got her start in the business at age 7 as one of the tykes on "Barney & Friends," is into metal. It just couldn't possibly be; I simply couldn't get my head around it.

I decided I needed to confirm this factoid for myself — I had to speak to Lovato to determine if she's an honest-to-goodness metal fan. Not that I was questioning Gay's reporting, but I just thought to myself, "Well, people have different ideas about what truly constitutes metal, so maybe there was some confusion." Perhaps, I figured, she's a fan of hard-rock acts like Staind or Disturbed, who are often mistaken as metal — hence, the misunderstanding.

Even though I knew some regular readers of the File might rip me a new one for doing this, I went ahead and scheduled a phone interview with Demi — only after her mom gave the thumbs up. She is a minor, after all. And sure enough, the girl knows what she's talking about.

"[Metal isn't] all I listen to, of course, but there was a period of time where it was," Lovato told me. "I guess it started in school. I started listening to stuff with screaming in it, and then I started [exploring] more metal. MySpace helped me a lot, and friends will tell me about certain bands. And some of the bands I like aren't necessarily too metal. It's funny, because the Jonas Brothers dance and play dance music in their dressing room, and I'll be across the hall, and I just blare metal. People walk by and go, 'Really?' "

So who does Demi dig? Well, she's a fan of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, Abigail Williams, Lamb of God and Dr. Acula, to name just a few. "I love the Devil Wears Prada; they're more hardcore, but they're awesome," she said. "And Job for a Cowboy is another band I love."

What is it about metal that drew Lovato? She respects the musicianship that goes into crafting brutal tracks. "It's so completely different from anything else," she said. "You've got vocals that I can't do, the double bass drums, the incredible guitar solos ... every part of the band does more difficult stuff than your average rock band does. I listen to these bands, and I wish I could do all of that, but I can't."

Lovato said she tries to catch as many shows as she can and that one of her favorite live acts is symphonic black metallers Dimmu Borgir (whose 1997 LP Enthrone Darkness Triumphant has been in heavy rotation at my desk all week). "I was the little girl in the red dress and red lipstick, and I totally didn't fit in, but I had so much fun," she explained. "It was awesome. I lost my shoes, I was going crazy ... it was awesome."

Lovato, who has an album called Don't Forget slated for a September 23 release, said she'd consider collaborating with a metal band in the future, but she's not so sure it would be for one of her own albums.

"I would love to secretly do some work on a metal band's album," she said, adding that Underoath would be her first choice for a collaboration. "I wish I could just secretly do vocals, and nobody would know it's me. I would love to just do a couple of screams. One time I was at soundcheck and I told my musical director that I really want to pig squeal, and he said, 'Go ahead — I don't care.' I didn't want to, because I could see there were fans nearby, and he said, 'Just do it.' And I did, and these fans reacted. They were like, 'Wow, that's awesome — I don't even know what that is, but it's cool.' "

So what do the Jonas Brothers think of her metal proclivities? "One time, they were actually listening to metal, and I was like, 'What are you guys doing listening to metal? I was always afraid to tell you I listen to metal, because I thought you'd think I'm crazy,' " she said. "They [took] a lot of their stage ideas from metal bands from, like, Europe, and they use a lot of pyro and stuff like that. But they like metal — they don't listen to death metal, but they're definitely not opposed to it, which I think is really cool. It shows that they're not just some pop band."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Did drummer Gil Sharone leave Dillinger Escape Plan? That's the rumor, but confirmation has yet to come from either the band or Sharone himself. On Dillinger's MySpace page, in a blog post titled "It's true," the band simply wrote, " ... everybody loves a rumor." And that rumor suggests Sharone has rejoined his old band, Stolen Babies, and that DEP have been talking to Raanen Bozzio — son of drummer Terry Bozzio — about taking over behind the kit. Only time will tell if there is any truth to all of this, but we'll keep you posted. ...

As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis' side project Austrian Death Machine will perform live for the very first time during the End of Summer Scorcher, which is scheduled for September 20 at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. ... The lineup for next year's Maryland Deathfest VII is starting to take shape. Scheduled for May 22-24 in Baltimore, the bill will feature Pestilence, Mayhem, Immolation, Brutal Truth, Today is the Day, Flesh Parade and Triac, among others. ...

The search is finally over: Brain Drill have a new drummer. Joe Bondra has joined the fold, and says he's "extremely excited to be part of that band," and is "even more amped to be able to start playing shows and work on our new material." But the band is still looking for a bassist. If interested, send them a message via their MySpace page. ...

DragonForce will be hitting the road in November for a nearly two-month tour, with Turisas as direct support. That trek commences November 1 in Honolulu, Hawaii, and wraps December 19 in Vancouver, British Columbia. ... Nachtmystium and Wolves in the Throne Room will also be heading out on tour together starting in October. They have a dozen gigs booked from October 10 in Portland, Oregon, through October 25 in Chicago. ...

Reunited Long Island hardcore heathens Vision of Disorder will be performing in New York on November 16. Joining them on the bill are Indecision, Overcast and Nassau Chainsaw — this is one show you shouldn't miss. ... Ava Inferi plan to enter a recording studio in November to start work on their third LP, Blood of Bacchus. The album, which will feature the songs "A Witch She Was, the Witch I Am," "Lights" and "Last Sign of Summer," should be in stores early next year.

• Demi Lovato
• Dillinger Escape Plan
• As I Lay Dying
• Dragonforce

DragonForce
Photo: Roadrunner Records

Anyone who's ever played "Guitar Hero" knows full well that one of the game's most challenging tracks belongs to DragonForce, the British power-metal outfit that sounds — as someone famously (and accurately) said — like a "cross between Journey and Slayer." And the reason "Through the Fire and Flames" is such a thorny tune to master is Herman Li, the band's virtuoso shredder, who can produce sounds with a guitar that would make even Tom Morello scratch his chrome-dome.

Li's mastery of the guitar is nothing short of mind-blowing — so long as you're not ZP Theart, DragonForce's poodle-haired lead singer.

When asked how imposing Li's playing is on the band's forthcoming, still-untitled LP — which they're still six weeks away from finishing and is already scheduled for release on August 26 — Theart was nonchalant. Perhaps he was just kidding (something tells us he was). "Actually, I think sometimes it could be better," he confessed. "Some people have a knack for making freaky noises that other people like. I'm not a guitarist, so he doesn't really impress me, no."

Perhaps Theart is just used to Li's manic guitar abuse, but Herman certainly dazzled audiences during 2006's Ozzfest, which was basically DragonForce's formal introduction to American metalheads. And Li's playing will certainly captivate this summer when the band heads out on the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, which kicks off July 9 in Auburn, Washington, with a bill that includes Slipknot, Disturbed, Mastodon, Airborne, Five Finger Death Punch, 36 Crazyfists, Machine Head, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, the Red Chord and Walls of Jericho.

"I am so, so looking forward to that," Theart said. "It's incredible. It's basically the festival that killed off Ozzfest, isn't it? It's such a big idea and such a cool thing they are doing. ... I hope it lasts as long as Ozzfest, if not longer. In a way, it's the same thing, only with a different name. We know Disturbed from Ozzfest, and I hear Slipknot's a party bunch, so, should be fun."

In addition to their reputation for playing intricate and machine-gun-paced metal, DragonForce are one of those bands who are known for their excessive merrymaking, which Theart defends as just part and parcel of being a metal band: "We are just f---ing playing metal — and we do what metal is all about, which is having a good time and partying your f---ing ass off," he said, before launching into a tour story.

"Last year, on our first tour of the year, we were in Russia," he recounted. "We had a gig in St. Petersburg, and then we took the overnight train to Moscow, and I bumped into a few Russians and got horribly pissed on some proper Russian vodka. In the middle of the night, I got up and took a piss all over [drummer] Dave [Mackintosh's] bunk — with him in it. When I woke up the next morning, everyone was laughing at me, and I didn't know what was going on. Later, I went to apologize, 'cause I felt like a f---ing t--, and he goes, 'Dude, that's so rock and roll.' I thought he would have been pissed, but it was a big rock and roll moment for him."

After this summer's Mayhem Fest, DragonForce will likely head over to the U.K. for a quick tour before heading back to the States for a coast-to-coast headlining run.

According to Theart, DragonForce have been working on the follow-up to 2006's Inhuman Rampage for nearly seven months now, and they've come up with a total of 10 songs. Only nine will likely appear on the record, with the extra one being saved as a bonus track.

"Everyone's going nuts on this one," the singer said. "This is the next step up from Inhuman Rampage, and everyone is going completely hard on this one. We're producing it ourselves, because we know exactly how we sound and what we want to sound like. Once you let a third-party interest in, that all changes.

"We've got a bit of a varied sound thing going on with this album, that I think we wanted to do," he continued. "There's a bit more of a variation in sort of, well, not styles, but we've encompassed a lot more sounds and elements than I think we had on the previous ones. It's the DragonForce formula — we don't mess with that."

The rest of the week's metal news:

It's official! The Deftones are back in recording mode and have begun tracking their next one, the tentatively titled Eros. Terry Date (Soundgarden, Pantera) has signed on to produce the effort. ... Having run out of studio time due to touring commitments, New Jersey's God Forbid have announced that their next album won't be finished anytime soon. Instead, they'll be returning to the studio after the tour to pick up where they'd left off. What this means is, we'll have to wait until the fall to hear some fresh GF. In the meantime, the band's live DVD, "Beneath the Scars of Glory and Progression," will land in stores June 10. ...

Metal File's good pal Phil Labonte and the rest of All That Remains have started preproduction on their next studio offering, which will be helmed by producer Jason Suecof (Chimaira, God Forbid). The band hopes to record 11 tracks for the effort, which could be in stores as early as late August. ... Horse the Band are in the market for a permanent replacement drummer for Chris Prophet, who bailed back in February. The Number Twelve Looks Like You's Jon Karel has been filling in but must return to New Jersey to rejoin his own band. Anyone familiar with the Nintendo-core act's sound knows that it takes a special kind of person to be in Horse the Band. "You have to have touring experience in really horrible conditions (picking up skin diseases from sleeping on floors, being rejected by ugly chicks, not sleeping for 60 hours or more), not think you are cool, not be way into sitting on your laptop in the 'green room,' and be a really good drummer," the band said in a statement. You can contact the band via their MySpace page if you'd like to audition. ...

Sad news to report this week, as Tripp Joye, the drummer for North Carolina's Anything on Fire, was killed in a car accident on May 2 in Winston-Salem. He was only 25 years old. ... Clutch have been on more record labels than, well, anyone we know — and it appears they took good notes. The band has decided to launch its own label, called Weathermaker Music. Clutch will issue all of their future releases through the label, and this summer, they plan to release a live DVD with a companion CD. ... Progressive jazz-leaning death-metallers Cynic have inked a deal with Season of Mist Records. According to frontman Paul Masvidal, "We're deep in the preproduction album process now and will be headed into the studio in a couple weeks to dive even deeper and start the recordings." The band's forthcoming, yet-untitled LP is due to hit stores this fall. ...

Death-metal innovators Cannibal Corpse have already begun work on the follow-up to 2006's Kill, but don't expect the record to be finished until the winter. So in the meantime, they've assembled their first-ever career retrospective. In July, the band will issue a three-disc DVD set called Centuries of Torment: The First 20 Years. It will feature live and rare footage, plus interviews with the band. ... Cattle Decapitation spent the last few months writing new songs for an album they hope to have recorded in time for an early 2009 release. So far, they've written four complete songs, which they hope to preview at some of their upcoming West Coast gigs later next month. ... Veil of Maya, the Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, With Dead Hands Rising, and Brother Von Doom will join forces for a spate of shows next month. The first is set for June 8 in Elk Grove, Illinois, and the trek expires June 21 in Louisville, Kentucky.

• Dragonforce
• Deftones

Slipknot's Corey Taylor
Photo: Jo Hale/ Getty Images

Since the mid-1990s, Kevin Lyman's Warped Tour and Sharon Osbourne's Ozzfest have both managed to coexist amiably within a cutthroat summer touring market rife with competition. While Warped — which turns 14 this summer — has long catered to the needs of the punk and emo faithful, Ozzfest — now entering its 12th year of existence — has been there to keep the nation's hardcore metal fans in check.

But that's all about to change. In addition to this summer's Warped Tour, Lyman is also launching a metal festival in direct competition with Ozzfest. Rumors have already been spreading that this summer's Ozzfest will be heading out on a smaller run than in past years, following last summer's free, corporate-sponsored version.

Anchored by headliners Slipknot and Disturbed, both of whom plan on releasing new material this spring, Lyman's inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival will be the first serious competition Ozzfest has faced since its inception. On Thursday morning (January 31), Lyman confirmed the tour's lineup to MTV News.

The tour will also feature Mastodon and DragonForce on the main stage, and Sevendust, Airborne, Five Finger Death Punch, 36 Crazyfists, Machine Head, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, the Red Chord and Walls of Jericho on two separate side stages. Many of the bands comprising the energy-drink-supported festival's bill have appeared in prior Ozzfests.

"This summer, we are truly bringing mayhem," Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor said in a press release. "Slipknot is excited to be a part of it, and to be able to bring the new chapter of our history to the masses. We are already working, building and designing a new show. We cannot wait. We cannot lose. Get ready for Mayhem."

Disturbed's David Draiman said his band is looking forward to being on the tour's first bill. "It's a great lineup, which should set a new standard for rock tours, and we're excited to be a part of it," he said.

The tour will get under way July 9 in Seattle and runs through August 21 in Holmdel, New Jersey.

Dates for the Rockstar Energy Mayhem festival, according to Kevin Lyman (subject to change):

· 7/9 - Seattle, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
· 7/11 - Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
· 7/12 - San Francisco, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
· 7/13 - Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 7/15 - Fresno, CA @ Selland Arena
· 7/16 - San Diego, CA @ Coors Amphitheatre
· 7/18 - Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
· 7/19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
· 7/20 - Denver, CO @ Coors Amphitheatre
· 7/22 - Kansas City, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 7/23 - St. Louis, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 7/25 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Centre
· 7/26 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheater
· 7/27 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
· 7/29 - Tampa, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
· 7/30 - Miami, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheater
· 8/1 - Atlanta, GA @ HiFi Buys Amphitheatre Amphitheatre
· 8/2 - Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Center
· 8/3 - Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
· 8/5 - TBA
· 8/6 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
· 8/8 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
· 8/9 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
· 8/10 - Chicago, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
· 8/12 - TBA
· 8/13 - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts
· 8/15 - Camden, NJ @ Tweeter Center at the Waterfront
· 8/16 - Washington, DC @ Nissan Pavilion
· 8/17 - Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Center
· 8/20 - Saratoga, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
· 8/21 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center

Planning on going to Rockstar Mayhem or any other big music fests this year? Be sure to join the You R Here community, where you can upload your concert photos, videos and reviews. Go there now to check out coverage of last year's Warped Tour.

• Slipknot
• Disturbed
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Mastodon
• Dragonforce

Daughters
Photo: Hydra Head Records

Daughters frontman A.S.F. Marshall (or Lex, to fans of the intense, Rhode Island noisecore artisans) doesn't care if you like his band, or if you get offended by the fact that he likes to disrobe mid-gig and hock loogies at the audience. In fact, he's a rather sullen dude. The one thing that seems to brighten his churlish mood is Daughters' forthcoming album, Hell Songs, in stores Tuesday.

Why's that? Well, for the last three years, his band's been playing the same 10 tunes — all of them from Daughters' 2003 debut, Canada Songs. So this fall, when the crafters of cacophonic chaos hit the road, Marshall won't be so bored.

"We've been rehearsing, and it feels so much better to be playing the new stuff," the singer said. "There are a couple of old songs we've been playing, but I don't even want to deal with them."

Of course, several of those fans who do turn out for Daughters' tour with Red Sparowes — which will commence August 12 with an album-release soiree in Providence — might want to hear some of that older material. And sure, Daughters will be blasting out a couple of those tracks during their sets — much to Marshall's chagrin. It took Daughters three years to get around to writing fresh material, and the singer blamed turnover for Hell Songs' delay.

"We spent a lot of time on tour, and whenever we'd get home, someone would leave the band," he said. "So, we had to fix all that and find people who would stick around. Every time we had a chance to write, we'd spend the time teaching someone else all this old crap. That was a bit of a problem. But we have people now who don't want to leave, so that's good."

With Hell Songs, Marshall tried to convince the rest of Daughters — which formed in 2001 and rose from the ashes of As the Sun Sets — that longer is better. "I was pushing them to make the songs a bit longer, which I think we all wanted to do," he said. "It's boring playing short songs over and over again." The average length of the tunes on Canada Songs is about a minute and 20 seconds, with the shortest track running 34 seconds long. On Hell Songs, the average is about a minute and 50 seconds, with one track lasting six minutes.

"It's boring playing for 30 seconds, then you stop, then you play another 30 seconds — it's stupid," he continued. "I couldn't stand doing it any more. The only goal I had with this record was to make it longer. But as far as what kind of music we were going to write, we weren't trying to top ourselves. It just came out naturally. I was listening to a lot of gospel stuff — like old '30s, '40s gospel music. The lyrics are about hell, Jesus, sex, death, fire — whatever. I don't know what people want to hear, and I don't give a sh--. I don't expect anything — I don't listen to new music, because I don't want to. I have no hopes of anything good happening in music at all, other than us. We're probably the only good thing out there anymore.

"We get together and we write what we want to play," he continued. "We don't try to sound like this or that or whatever. I'm not going to stop screaming because so-and-so is popular. I don't give a damn. ... I don't know if we fit in anywhere. All the bands I like are broken up or someone's dead."

Daughters will be on tour with Red Sparowes through September 19 in Austin, Texas, and will team up with Pelican and Nachtmystium the following day in Denton, Texas, for seven shows — the last being on September 30 in Seattle. Marshall said the band will play several shows this fall with Since by Man too, but that trek's still be worked out. You can see also catch Daughters at the 10th annual Dirt Fest in Birch Run, Michigan, on August 19, along with the Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die, the Black Dahlia Murder and Fear Before the March of Flames.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Danzig have shot a video for "Crawl Across Your Killing Floor," which appears on the band's forthcoming Lost Tracks of Danzig LP. The two-disc set of unreleased Danzig material should surface in November. ... Possibly the only sludge-metal band armed with two drummers — Savannah, Georgia's Kylesa — will release their third album, Time Will Fuse Its Worth, on Halloween. Tracks include "What Becomes an End," "Hollow Severer," "Identity Defined" and "Where the Horizon Unfolds." Kylesa will preview some of the new material on a short tour that begins August 11 in Philadelphia and runs through August 17 in Richmond, Virginia. ... Full Blown Chaos have dropped off the upcoming Hell on Earth Tour, a European run that features God Forbid, Cataract and Maroon on the bill. "Unfortunately we had to pull out of the Hell on Earth Tour in Europe. There was a complication with our plane tickets," reads a post on the band's Web site. Instead, the boys will head out with Scars of Tomorrow starting September 1 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with dates running through September 17 in West Hollywood, California. ... More dates have been rolled out for DragonForce's upcoming tour with All That Remains and Horse the Band. The tour will hit Los Angeles (September 8); San Francisco (September 9); Portland, Oregon (September 11); Seattle (September 13); Boise, Idaho (September 15); Salt Lake City (September 16); Cincinnati (September 22); Detroit (September 23); Worcester, Massachusetts (September 28); New York (September 29); Tempe, Arizona (October 5); and San Diego (October 6). ...

Doomy Columbus, Ohio, noisemakers Teeth of the Hydra have recorded their first disc since their 2002 full-length debut, We Are the Fantasy. The new album, Greenland, is scheduled for release September 19 and includes "Sawing Through the Ice," "The Garden of Rotten Teeth" and "Purgatorium." ... Canadian melodic-thrash band Threat Signal's guitarist Rich Howard has quit the band to pursue "other life goals," according to a post on the band's Web site. His final show will be August 29 in Windsor, Ontario. Afterward, bassist Marco Bressette will take over on guitar. The band is currently seeking a new bassist for their tour with Soilwork and Mnemic, which starts October 5 in Springfield, Virginia. Requirements: "A dude who can slay a bass like a guitar, must use a pick, have professional gear, willing (and able!) to tour the world and make Threat Signal top priority." Interested applicants should write to threatsignal@hotmail.com. Threat Signal's debut, Under Reprisal — which was produced by Fear Factory's Christian Olde Wolbers — comes out August 22. ... "The Wolf Is Loose" will serve as the first single off Mastodon's forthcoming album Blood Mountain, which drops September 12. The band plans to shoot a video for the track within the next week or so. ... Having performed Deep Purple's signature tune "Smoke on the Water" for decades, the band's singer Ian Gillan is giving other folks a shot by launching a contest in which fans can submit their own versions of the track over the Internet. Participants in the Smoke This contest should upload their version to Gillan's Web site. Winners will be chosen in best vocal and best Guitar categories. First-place winners in each will be flown to Las Vegas, where they will perform the song onstage with Gillan on September 17 at the House of Blues. A separate contest category enables bands to submit their rendition of the song for a chance to win $2,500 in music gear. The contest ends August 27. All winners will be chosen September 4. ...

Scandinavian metal legends Dark Funeral and Enslaved will launch the Candlelight II: Phoenix Rising tour January 9 with Abigail Williams. Shows run through February 4 and exact dates will be announced soon. The concerts will mark Dark Funeral's first North American visit since 2002. "Since we announced the first European tour dates for our latest album Attera Totus Sanctus earlier this year, there has been a constant and completely overwhelming flow of [e-mails] from the U.S. and Canada asking when the hell we will tour North America," guitarist Lord Ahriman said. "It'll be killer to finally return overseas." Added Enslaved guitarist Ivar Bjornson: "I have awaited this moment since I don't know when. You won't be disappointed; neither will we." ... The Sword have shot a video for "Freya" from their acclaimed self-titled debut, which came out in February. The Texan doomsters worked on the clip with director Barnaby Roper, who has previously shot videos with alternative bands Razorlight and OK Go. The band's further revealed that it'll be one of the support acts on Trivium's upcoming North American headliner this fall. No dates for the trek have been announced. ... Oregon's arty Agalloch will release their new album, Ashes Against the Grain, on Tuesday, but fans who want a sneak preview can hear the entire disc streaming on mp3.com. Agalloch recently shot a video for "Not Unlike the Waves" with director Nicole Phillips and cinematographers Richard Stark and Juan Mosqueda.

For more metal madness, check out our feature "The Greatest Metal Bands Of All Time."

• Daughters
• Dark Funeral
• Dragonforce
• Kylesa
• Full Blown Chaos

DragonForce
Photo: Roadrunner Records

In two months U.S. record stores will, at long last, be able to stock an album by British power-metallers DragonForce. While the band's been around since 1999, the sextet's presence in the U.S. hasn't been felt much, considering DragonForce's three albums — 2003's The Valley of the Damned, 2004's Sonic Firestorm and 2006's Inhuman Rampage, which was issued four months back — haven't been released here. Hell, the band has yet to set foot on American soil, so DragonForce fans here have been deprived to say the least.

But that's all about to change, guitarist Herman Li said. Visa problems kept DragonForce from performing at New York's CBGB club back in November, but Li said that's not going to happen again on April 30, when the band plays its first U.S. gig at the New England Hardcore and Metal Festival. But he did warn fans that DragonForce shows aren't like most metal shows.

"We're famous for accidents onstage now," he said. "We have trampolines we jump on and four different boxes of different heights, which allow us to jump in the air and spin around. Even though the music is really fast and complicated, we're jumping in the air, playing the guitar upside down ... it's fun. We finish each tour with bruises on our legs and everything."

Eight additional U.S. club dates have been lined up: May 2 (New York), May 3 (Philadelphia), May 4 (West Springfield, Virginia), May 5 (Cleveland), May 6 (Chicago), May 8 (Denver), May 10 (San Francisco) and May 11 (West Hollywood, California), with Protest the Hero and Sanctity. Most of those shows have already sold out, but Li did mention that the band's working on securing a spot on an American festival tour, like Sounds of the Underground or Gigantour 2 — so fans who miss them this time around might be able to catch the 'Force this summer. But Li said the band hopes, in time, to be headlining tours in the U.S.

First, though, there's the matter of getting an album on store shelves. On June 20, Roadrunner Records will release Inhuman Rampage in the U.S., but DragonForce have already begun writing new material for that record's follow-up. Fans, Li said, can expect the new stuff to be just as fast, frenetic and technically perverse.

Most of Li's guitar stylings have been inspired by video game music, he said. In fact, on Inhuman, he tweaked and scratched the strings to create sounds he claims he borrowed from "Pac-Man." And those sounds are difficult to replicate live.

"When we finish an album, it's like, 'Whoa — we've got to learn these songs? It's going to be tough,' " Li said of the recording process. "But it's better that way because it makes you a better player afterwards."

The rest of the week's metal news: Cradle of Filth's forthcoming album, Thornography, will hit stores September 19. Look for it to include "Libertina Grim," "Tonight in Flames," "Cemetery and Sundown," "I Am the Thorn," "The Byronic Man" (featuring guest vocals from H.I.M.'s Ville Valo) and "Temptation." ... Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow will lend her pipes to Demonized, the forthcoming LP from Greek female metallers Astarte. The disc should be in stores before year's end. ... Fear Factory's late-fall headlining trek with Suffocation, Hypocrisy and Decapitated will launch October 26 in San Francisco. Dates thus far run through November 26 in Saginaw, Michigan. ... Slipknot's Joey Jordison has signed on to produce the forthcoming, yet-untitled 3 Inches of Blood album, which should feature "Night Marauders," "Goatriders' Horde" and "Black Spire" when it's released early next year. ... Devin Townsend-led Canadian extremists Strapping Young Lad have revealed the tentative track list for their forthcoming opus, The New Black, which will hit stores July 11. The album will feature 11 cuts, including "You Suck," "Far Beyond Metal" and "Almost Again." ...

Ill Niño, God Forbid, Eyes of Fire, Silent Civilian and Bleed the Sky will hit the road together under the tour banner One Nation Undivided. The trek kicks off May 10 in New York and will pass through 25 cities. Dates so far are booked through June 1 in Chicago, with additional gigs to be announced in the coming weeks. ... It Dies Today, Haste the Day, the Showdown, Chiodos and Flee the Seen will tour together starting June 1 in Syracuse, New York. Dates run through June 26 in Memphis, Tennessee. ... San Diego gore-grinders Cattle Decapitation have found someone to fill the void left behind the kit with the departure of Michael Laughlin: ex-Unholy Ghost drummer J.R. "Kid Gnarly" Daniels. ... DevilDriver will be this weekend's guests on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball." The band launches a U.S. tour May 8 in San Diego with Bury Your Dead, Remembering Never, If Hope Dies and Artimus Pyledriver, with dates running through June 2 in Sayreville, New Jersey. ...

Grind specialists the County Medical Examiners — "a collection of real-life pathologists with an unhealthy adoration of and fixation on Carcass," with one member who's said to be 63 years of age — have signed with Relapse Records. They'll release Olidus Operattas, their first album in three years, this fall. ... Brooklyn's Made Out of Babies will begin recording Coward, their second full-length LP, next month in Chicago with Steve Albini (Nirvana, Mono). ... North Carolina vegan metallers Undying have parted ways. "As is always the case, we have our reasons for the breakup — some petty, some great, none of which we will go into here," the band said in a post on its MySpace page. "Suffice to say that for the past eight years we have had the rare opportunity to travel the world, have more than a few interesting experiences and make friends, too many to be counted here, who we will hold heart-close and dear for a lifetime and more. Be kind, live well, go vegan." ... The Vows — a new hardcore band featuring John Pettibone (Himsa, Undertow), Rob Moran (Unbroken, Some Girls), Ryan Murphy (Undertow, Ensign), Aram Arslanian (Champion) and Chris Williams (Champion) — will issue its debut EP later this spring. ...

Finnish black-metal outfit Horna's next offering, Ääniä Yössä, will land in stores June 6. The epic record features four tracks and runs about 40 minutes. ... Live In: Nerd Rage, the debut CD by comedian Brian Posehn, will be reissued July 11. The record features Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian, Shadows Fall guitarist Jonathan Donais, Armored Saint bassist Joey Vera and ex-White Zombie drummer John Tempesta. It also has the cut "Try Again, Again" by the mock metal group Titannica, which were featured on the HBO cult-classic comedy "Mr. Show." ... Richmond, Virginia, crossover metal band Municipal Waste have posted a gory, uncensored live music video for "Unleash the Bastards" on Earache's Web site. The clip depicts fans in the crowd tearing stage divers limb from limb and eating their body parts "Dawn of the Dead"-style. Not a great incentive to attend their gigs, if you ask us. ... Slipknot and Korn producer Ross Robinson is in the studio with Norma Jean working on the band's follow-up to 2005's O God, the Aftermath. The team entered the studio April 7 and hopes to finish by the end of May before embarking on Ozzfest. "We are thrilled to an insane degree," singer Cory Brandan said in a press statement. "We really think Ross Robinson will be able to bring something out in us and our music." ...

Grindcore band F--- the Facts are working on their debut album, Stigmata High-Five, in Montreal. The disc is slated for a late summer release and includes "The Wrecking," "Carve Your Heart Out" and "The Sound of Your Smashed Head." The Ottawa band begins a monthlong Canadian tour April 14. ... Longtime Origin drummer John Longstreth has rejoined the Kansas technical metal band. He replaces James King, who left in October due to personal and creative differences. The group starts a tour July 19 in Oklahoma City with dates running through August 26 in Milwaukee. ... Two classic melodic death/black-metal albums by Sweden's Dissection will be reissued June 27 as double-CD sets. The Somberlain, which originally came out in 1993, will be resurrected with the 1991 EP Into Infinite Obscurity, previously unreleased live recordings, demos and rehearsal room tapes. Storm of the Light's Bane (1995) will re-emerge with an alternate mix of the full album, demos and the 1996 EP Where Dead Angels Lie. Dissection's long-awaited new album, Reinkaos, comes out May 16.

• Dragonforce
• Cradle of Filth
• Anthrax
• Horna
• Fear Factory

MTV.com Exclusive: Dragonforce Photos 10.06.06

• Dragonforce

New England Metal & Hardcore Fest: The Visuals

• The Black Dahlia Murder
• Overcast
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• Dragonforce
• God Forbid