Full Blown Chaos
Photo: Zeiss

It isn't easy to sum up in one word Full Blown Chaos' forthcoming album, Heavy Lies the Crown, but "vicious" certainly comes to mind — even "venomous." The New York hardcore punks' music is downright evil, and the lyrics ... well, they're straightforward and to the point. You see, FBC frontman Ray Mazzola's not a subtle dude, and he doesn't censor himself — he speaks his mind, regardless of the consequences.

"You f--- with someone in this band, and you're going to end up with a song about you," the stout singer explained. "There will be people who'll read these lyrics, and they'll know the song's about them — they'll read it and go, 'Ouch.' Some of the actual lyrics are from letters I'd written to people, and e-mails, just basically confirming or cutting off friendships. I have no qualms with putting that into my music, because that's who I am. I can't deny myself. If you deny yourself, then who are you? I'm a person, an individual, and I have very strong emotions towards things. It's time people see what's been going on this last year."

Mazzola said a lot has gone down since the band's memorable appearances on last year's Ozzfest. In that time, Full Blown cut ties with Hatebreed ringleader Jamey Jasta's Stillborn Records and bids came in from many metal labels — including Century Media, Metal Blade and Roadrunner Records — all of whom wanted to add some Chaos to their rosters. In the end, the band inked a deal with Ferret, which will release Heavy Lies the Crown August 21. The set — produced by Biohazard's Billy Graziadei — features a dozen tracks, including "The Hard Goodbye," "Fail Like a Champ" and "Raise Hell."

But label politics aside, Mazzola said that, on a personal level, he has learned over the past year who his true friends are, and much of the resulting disappointment and ire that came with that understanding helped shape the disc's feel.

"There have been a lot of people who were supposed to be in our corner fighting for us that just totally neglected the situation," he explained. "We were throwing punches, and they should have been holding our back the whole time. They weren't. We needed to know where our friends were and where we stand and who was going to have our back at the end of the day. The album's title refers to a friend who we came up [with] ... going to shows, doing our thing, pushing our bands. One person went one way and one person went the other way. You can go the one way and remember where you came from, or you can go the other way and manipulate situations for your own greedy endeavors. And that's what's happened.

"Everyone will be able to take something from it, whether it's how to maintain and use their anger in a positive way or help them understand that not everybody in the world feels like they do," he added. "This record deals with everything from problems with general life, the music business, relationships and trying to keep everything under control [to maintaining] your own individual self."

Unfortunately, Full Blown Chaos haven't been able to line up any tours around the album's release. But they will head out this fall with Obituary, Hemlock and Alabama Thunderpussy for a U.S. run that's scheduled to launch September 1.

Mazzola said he can't wait to get back out there and play the new material, which is punishing and ultra-aggressive, and teems with sludgy, Southern metal influences. While Mazzola said there are some positive moments on the record, they are few and far between.

"This album shows you the problem and gives you the solution — that's the type of record it is," he said. "Our New Year's resolution was, 'It's time to step it up and take it to the next level, and see if we can roll with the bigger bands.' I know we can. We focused on the material more, the songwriting, and we came together to make this awesome record. It's a real record — it shows you where we stand and that we're not going to stop fighting. Cut our legs off, and we'll drag ourselves. That's how it works: Nothing's going to stop the momentum of this band — at least not while I'm fronting it."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Megadeth will release Warchest, a box set containing four CDs and one DVD, October 2. The package features 33 previously unreleased audio and video tracks, including a full 1990 concert from London's Wembley Stadium, B-sides and demos of "Holy Wars ... the Punishment Due," "Tornado of Souls," "Five Magics" and "Architecture of Aggression." The DVD features 10 songs recorded at London's Hammersmith Odeon in 1992. "This is, by far, the best and most comprehensive look at all things Mega," frontman Dave Mustaine said in a press statement. "With some of the most famous, and infamous, shows and any of the fluid, or flammable, lineups, listening to this box set — when it was all done — was an adrenalin surge. I have got to hand it to my past bandmates, they played great for how turbulent times could get in the blink of an eye." ...

After months of speculation, Down's forthcoming album III -- Over the Under has finally been scheduled for release: Look for it in stores on September 25. ... Divine Heresy, the new band featuring ex-Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, will release their debut album, Bleed the Fifth, August 28. The day of release, the group will play a record-release show at West Hollywood, California's Whisky a Go Go — its second gig with new bassist Joe Payne (ex-Nile). "I began my musical career in Los Angeles, and I felt that there was no better place to launch the debut," Cazares said in a statement. "The Whisky is the perfect-sized venue for this record-release show so we can get close to the fans and give them the most intense performance we possibly can." The band recently shot with director Christoffer "Salzy" Salzgeber (Damageplan, Soulfly) a video for its first single, "Failed Creation," that which will go to video outlets soon. ...

Cellador guitarist Bill Hudson will take the stage Friday night (August 10) with one of his idols, Danger Danger singer Ted Poley, for a concert in São Paulo, Brazil. "I'm sure it'll be an amazing experience," Hudson said in a press release. "As much as Danger Danger sounds nothing like Cellador, they're one of my favorite bands of all time." (Maybe so, but if you've heard Cellador's music, they clearly take a back seat to Iron Maiden.) Cellador will enter the studio with Erik Rutan (Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal) in November to record the follow-up to 2006's Enter Deception. ... Sick of It All, As I Lay Dying, Unearth, Converge, Earth Crisis and Walls of Jericho raised money in a recent German eBay auction for the charity organization Zartbitter, which provides help for sexually abused children. For the auction, which ran through Sunday, each band signed a skateboard deck at the Pressure Festival in Herne, Germany. ...

Vancouver, British Columbia's comical extreme-metal band Zimmers Hole have started tracking their third full album, which will be released by their new label Century Media later this year. Tentative track titles include "The Dark Church of Whatever," "We Rule the F---ing Land" and "Hair Doesn't Grow on Steel." "As you can see, it's all about having a good time with the Hole," the band said in a press release. "Make no mistake, though, we are very serious about our love of metal: It made us who we are, and we wear our influences on our sleeves proudly." Zimmers Hole feature ex-Strapping Young Lad members Byron Stroud (bass) and Jed Simon (guitar), along with singer Chris "The Heathen" Valagao and drummer Steve Wheeler. ...

Experimental Norwegian pagans Ulver will release Shadows of the Sun, the band's first offering since 2005's Blood Inside, October 2. "We believe we have succeeded in giving our fears some kind of form," the band said in a statement of the new songs. "We feel it is our most personal record to date. Low-key, dark, and tragic. As we are." Tracks include "Eos," "Vigil," "Let the Children Go" and "Funebrae." ... Power-metal powerhouses Brainstorm have entered Gate Studios in Wolfsburg, Germany, with producers Sascha Paeth (Angra, Kamelot) and Michael Rodenberg (Rhapsody of Fire, Heaven's Gate) to record their seventh album, which should drop in early 2008. "Recordings are going extremely well so far and we are simply overwhelmed how [impressive] the new songs sound," the Krauts wrote on their MySpace site. "These are definitely the best Brainstorm songs that have seen the light of day yet." ...

Los Angeles thrash band Warbringer have signed to Century Media for the release of their full-length debut. The band is currently in the studio working on the album with producer Bill Metoyer (Slayer, D.R.I.). "Working with Bill has been excellent," singer John Kevill said in a press release. "He completely gets the kind of sound we are going for. He's an easy guy to work with and has a lot of good input on how to make things sound right. The album has been coming along at a very nice steady pace and we think it's sounding great so far." The yet-untitled disc is scheduled for release in January, in time for the band's tour with Exodus, Goatwhore and Arsis. Dates will be forthcoming. ... Speaking of Exodus, they're the latest band to land guest slots in the metal cartoon series "Metalocalypse." Singer Rob Dukes described the experience as a dream come true. "If I died today it would all be good," he wrote on Exodus' MySpace page.

• Full Blown Chaos
• Megadeth
• Down

Diecast
Photo: Century Media

When a woman rips a guy's heart out of his chest, tosses it into a blender and presses "frappe," he either falls in love with his depression or does something practical with the pain — just ask any emo fan. So when Diecast singer Paul Stoddard sat back and witnessed the recent collapse of his own relationship, one that had lasted more than four years, he took his pain and channeled it into his lyrics. The result, he said, is the Boston metalcore band's fourth LP, Internal Revolution, which is set to drop Tuesday.

"Any time you can take any emotion — whether it's anger, sadness, even happiness — if you can take that emotion and squeeze it for all its lifeblood, you're going to get amazing songs," Stoddard explained. "Initially I was toying with the idea of maybe doing a theme record this time around. But when it came time to start writing these songs, I had so much stuff inside that I wanted to get out and write about, I just said, 'Forget it — I'm going with this.' "

Not that the inspiration behind his words will be blatantly obvious to the casual listener. But while Diecast's frontman uses some symbolism on the record, he didn't exploit it to make his point.

"I try not to hide things too much," he explained. "I think people can pretty much get the point of where I'm going with a lot of the songs. I don't want it to be too clear and come off cheesy: 'I loved her. She's gone. Boohoo.' I think you have to have some fun with it and be artistic with [music]. People will always identify with it in their own way."

Heartbreak aside, the road to Internal Revolution was riddled with numerous obstacles, Stoddard said. Within the last year, Diecast have lost — and replaced — two of their members, sidelining them for a spell from touring and recording the follow-up to 2004's Tearing Down Your Blue Skies. Drummer Jason Costa left in November, following a heated argument concerning Brendan Fraser's acting prowess, and in May, the band announced that bassist Jeremy Wooden, the band's only remaining original member, had split. Dennis Pavia and Brad Horion were later named as their respective replacements.

A scheduling conflict delayed the effort even further. The band had recruited producer Zeuss (Shadows Fall, Hatebreed) to helm Internal, but he had to pull out at the last minute. Instead, Diecast turned to Tearing Down's producer, Paul Trust.

"Jason was an absolutely incredible drummer," Stoddard said. "He was something Diecast had become known for, and so you tended to write songs that really showcased his abilities. And then you'd write good songs around that. But this time around, we started without a drummer, and we just wanted to write the best songs possible. We tried to eliminate all of the walls. We just wanted to make the best record we could, and get the best songs possible. We didn't want to set any boundaries, which is what the scene tends to do. If it makes sense, it will be there. If it doesn't make sense, we're going to replace it with something that does.

"I feel like my vocals have come a long way too," he continued. "We went the extra mile on this record, and I'm so excited about it. I'm ready to start writing and recording the next one, because we're in such a good zone and we're just connecting so well that I don't want to stop."

The album's theme comes through in several of Internal Revolution's tracks, but none more so than the first single, "Fade Away." Diecast recently shot a video for the tune in a vacant building in Brooklyn, New York, with director David Brodsky (God Forbid, the Red Chord).

"It has to deal with breakups, and everybody in the band was involved in different relationship scenarios," Stoddard explained. "I got to smash some windows and break through a wall like the Kool-Aid man. For my part, there's this woman on the other side of the glass, and I break through it to get to her. It's symbolic."

Diecast will spend much of next year on the road but have no concrete touring plans just yet. The band will play a semi-acoustic record-release gig at Newbury Comics in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Tuesday, and a headlining show in Bedford, New Hampshire, the following evening.

Really, what Stoddard wants is what most metal and hardcore bands want: an Ozzfest slot.

"I've been to every single Ozzfest, except for 2005's," he said. "For the last 10 years, I would go to that festival, and my dream has been to make it onto one of those stages. I'll feel like I've made it if that happens. We were up for it last year, but it didn't work out. But it would be great to do Ozzfest. That would be a dream come true, and we hope the stars align, and this time, it will be our turn."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Despite reports that they'd be touring this fall as one of the support acts on Avenged Sevenfold's upcoming North American tour, set to kick off in November, Killswitch Engage will not be on the bill. ... Technical death-metal stalwarts Suffocation shot a performance video last weekend for "Abomination Reborn," from their self-titled album, dropping Tuesday. The video was filmed in Brooklyn with director Frankie Nasso (Mudvayne, Hatebreed) and producers Dale Resteghini and Melissa Manousos of Raging Nations Films and will be sent to video outlets at the end of the month. ... An October 24 release date has been set for the soundtrack to the forthcoming film "Saw III." The disc will include tracks from several heavy hitters, including Slayer, Mastodon, Lamb of God, All That Remains, DragonForce, As I Lay Dying, Every Time I Die and more. ... Cartoonish metal legend King Diamond will play a role in an upcoming episode of Cartoon Network's "Deathklok Metalocalypse." Diamond recorded his part for the program on August 21, joining a short legacy that includes Metallica guitarists James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott and three members of Nevermore. ...

Several major metal bands have been nominated for this year's San Diego Music Awards, the winners of which will be announced September 18. As I Lay Dying are vying for the top award, Artist of the Year, and are up against Jason Mraz, Louis XIV, Pinback, Slightly Stoopid and Switchfoot. "I love awards like this because they're not political, and it's about the fans being there for us," As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis said in a statement. In other categories, Cattle Decapitation, Divided by Zero, Mower, Underminded and Media Lab are up for Best Hard Rock, and ex-P.O.D. guitarist Marcos Curiel's new band the Accident Experiment are nominated for Best Hard Rock Album along with Goblin Co--, Divided by Zero, Mower, Earthless and Nihilist. ... Melodic death-metal band If Hope Dies have officially hired guitarist Naren Ananda, who started working with the band after the departure of Thad Jackson this spring. "We're all really excited to have him with us and are looking forward to getting back on the road very soon," the band said in a statement. The band will hit the road in October as part of the Radiotakeover Tour, which starts October 7 in Albany, New York. Dates are currently scheduled through November 11 in Akron, Ohio, with additional shows to be announced soon. ...

Full Blown Chaos, Remembering Never and War of Ages will head out together in late October for a U.S. run that'll conclude on November 7 in Oklahoma City. The trek launches October 20 in Cleveland. ... Bleed the Sky is down a guitarist. Kyle Moorman left the Orange County, California, metallers to "pursue other elements of the music business," according to frontman Noah Robinson. "He has plans to be involved in studio production and engineering and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors. We are in the midst of looking for a new lead guitarist and are accepting open submissions." Those interested in trying out should e-mail the band at bleedtheskytryouts@yahoo.com. ... More dates have been added to the upcoming Gwar tour, which will include dates with the Red Chord and Municipal Waste. The tour now launches October 13 in Philadelphia, and dates are scheduled through December 1 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Gwar's latest album, the Devin Townsend-produced Beyond Hell, came out August 29. ... The first SoCal Deathfest has been set for October 14 in Riverside, California. Look for the bill to boast Cattle Decapitation, Condemend, Cryptic Gallbladder Splatter, Horseman of the Apocalypse and Super.Ninja.Robot.Fighter. ...

Want to ring in '07 with Clutch? You can on December 31 (duh!) at Rams Head Live in Baltimore; the Sword and William Elliott Whitmore are also on the bill. Clutch will begin recording the follow-up to 2005's Robot Hive/Exodus next month, with a tentative spring release in the works. ... Entombed, Dismember, Grave and the Absence will hit the road together for a U.S. run that kicks off in Hollywood on December 1. Gigs are booked through December 16 in San Marcos, California, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. ... Generations will be spanned when Facedownins--- release their cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode," which they recorded with drummer Don Bolles, a member of the legendary '80s L.A. punk band the Germs. Facedowninsh-- tracked the tune on Wednesday in Los Angeles and have been playing it live on the Relapse Records Contamination Tour, which runs through September 28 in Baltimore and also features Unearthly Trance, Jucifer, F--- the Facts and Hex Machine. ... Looking for something sicker and heavier than black and death metal? Check out Skullflower, whose latest album, Tribulation, has just been released on Crucial Blast. The band's sonic architect, Matthew Bower, has been crushing skulls since 1992 with deafening washes of feedback, grinding sound effects, crashing percussion and harrowing howls. Test your mettle — if you dare.

• Diecast
• Killswitch Engage
• King Diamond
• GWAR
• Avenged Sevenfold

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

Full Blown Chaos' Ray Mazzola
Photo: MTV News

AUBURN, Washington — Catch this year's Ozzfest and you might notice Full Blown Chaos frontman Ray Mazzola walking around with a slight limp as his Long Island, New York, band tears up the second stage. But the wound isn't from stage diving or brawling, as you might expect — it's actually a little present a black widow bestowed on him in May at a hotel room in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

"I got bit [on the knee], I went to the doctor and everything was cool," Mazzola explained. "Then three weeks later, we're in San Diego ... the doctor had said all the venom would flush out and it never did — it caused mad sepsis [a type of poisoning]. I had a massive blood infection and was in a hospital for a week. I made the band drive me straight from San Diego back to New York, just to drop me off at the hospital. I walked in and I slept for three straight days. We had to cancel a couple of shows, and my doctor told me not to do anything until Ozzfest. But I had to play. I had to feed my need to perform. So we did some weekend shows."

The spider venom triggered paralysis in a couple of the tendons and muscles in Mazzola's ankle. He's been enduring physical therapy for weeks and has been flooding his stout frame with blood thinners and antibiotics. "I have a couple of places around the country I can go to [for] the therapy I need during Ozzfest," he said.

The band considered dropping off the tour, but Mazzola wasn't about to let that happen. "It's pretty f---ed up, but I'm not going to let it get me down," he said. "It's another story, you know? Watch — I'll probably end up getting bit by a poisonous snake this summer."

That's because Mazzola considers himself ... well, a tad unlucky. For example, on the drive out to Auburn, a man sideswiped Full Blown's pristine, straight-off-the-lot RV. In Montana, two of the vehicle's tires blew out. That led Mazzola to wonder if the band should've taken up DragonForce on their offer to share a bus. "We didn't because, I mean, that's a lot of hair," he joked of the London extreme metallers.

But despite the bad luck, Full Blown's appearance on this year's Ozzfest couldn't be better timed. Their forthcoming LP, Within the Grasp of Titans, lands in stores Tuesday, and Mazzola said it spotlights the band at its finest.

"The music, the lyrics — they've evolved," he said. "To date, this record is our best. But who knows what the next album will bring? We're going to have to top this one too. We brought a lot more thrash into this record — a lot more of what our influences are. This album has something to offer everybody. There's something on it that everybody can relate to."

That includes "Chopping Block," which was inspired by a year's worth of messy breakups and relationship nightmares. "Solemn Promise," on the other hand, is a bit more specific: Mazzola wrote the song for his mother, who has been battling cancer for more than a decade. "It's a promise to her that I won't give up on her if she doesn't give up," the singer said. "I call her every day and there are a lot of times when she doesn't think she's going to make it. Even when I feel like I'm not strong enough, I have to be there to pick her up, and I do. I've had cops crying on me at shows, just bawling, because they relate to the song — and they realize they're not alone."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Hatebreed will headline a full U.S. tour set to commence in September and run through October. The bill will feature support from the Black Dahlia Murder throughout, plus Napalm Death, Exodus, First Blood and Despised Icon. "We've never gone out on a headline run immediately following Ozzfest, and we've always wanted to, and we always felt we needed to, but there were always plans that superseded that," frontman Jamey Jasta said. "We're taking out a very extreme bill. We're going to call it maybe the Monsters of Mosh, something crazy like that. But it will be a good way for us to give back to the underground, extreme scenes, and also for us to go out and headline for the first time in a long, long time and do a full hour-and-a-half set with our new staging and new gear." ... Ex-Megadeth drummer Nick Menza is either in dire need of cash or trying to purge himself of the past. On Monday Menza put a pile of his personal Megadeth memorabilia up for auction on eBay. Objects include his titanium drum riser, drumheads, backstage passes, tour itineraries and a pair of leather jackets. As an added incentive to bid, Menza is offering the winners for each item a personal phone call, in which they can ask the drummer one question. ...

Darkest Hour, Misery Signals, From a Second Story Window and Versus the Mirror will team up next month for a North American trek, which begins August 7 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and winds down September 8 in Baltimore. ... The forefathers of black metal, Venom, will release an expanded edition of their 1997 reunion album, Cast in Stone, July 18. The disc, which marked the first time bassist/singer Cronos, guitarist Mantas and drummer Abaddon played together since 1986, features an additional five tracks from a rare 1996 release made to promote their appearance at the Dynamo Festival. A second disc of re-recorded classics presented with the original release of Cast in Stone will again be included. Venom, who in March released their first album of new material in six years, Metal Black, will launch their North American 7 Days of Hell tour on August 13 in New York. ... Those who're itching to hear some new music from Mastodon's forthcoming major-label debut, Blood Mountain, should head over to the band's MySpace page right away: "Crystal Skull," which boasts guest vocals from Neurosis' Scott Kelly, was posted to the site Friday morning (July 7). ... An unauthorized Iron Maiden biography, "30 Years of the Beast," will be published in September. The tome was written by music journalist Paul Stenning, who penned the Guns N' Roses book "The Band That Time Forgot" and the AC/DC bio "Two Sides to Every Glory." Stenning is also working on books about Trivium and My Chemical Romance. ...

Floridian death-metal Satanists Deicide shot a video for their new track "Homage for Satan" last weekend in Tampa, Florida. The clip features frontman Glen Benton dressed in a leather executioner's outfit that resembles the one worn by the character Machine in the Joel Schumacher film "8MM." Benton last donned the costume during the Roadrunner All Stars show in New York last December. At the conclusion of the video, Benton spews a fountain of bile, mimicking the reaction many mainstream critics will have to his band's new record, The Stench of Redemption, which comes out August 22. ... Throwdown will head out with Zao, Evergreen Terrace and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster next month for the Pure Hostility Tour. The trek kicks off August 18 in San Diego, with dates running through September 18 in Portland, Oregon. ... Every Time I Die's "The New Black" will be among the dozens of tracks aspiring air guitarists will be able to master on the forthcoming PlayStation2 game "Guitar Hero II." Not into breakdowns? Well, there's always Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," the Butthole Surfers' "Who the Hell Was in My Room Last Night?," Primus' "John the Fisherman," Kiss' "Strutter," and Rush's "YYZ." ... Daughters, Red Sparowes and Versoma will head out for a brief East Coast run on August 17 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Shows are scheduled through August 26 in New York. ...

Testament drummer Louie Clemente has been forced to drop off the band's U.S., European and South Korean tours due to undisclosed "medical reasons." Former member and current Exodus drummer Paul Bostaph will fill in starting July 12 in Hollywood and wrapping up August 5 in Busan City, South Korea. The Bay Area thrash veterans plan to enter the studio this fall with Clemente and other guest drummers to record the studio follow-up to their 1999 disc, The Gathering. ... After eight years together, Illinois death-metal band Enforsaken have cashed in their chips to focus on other ventures. The band's final show will be August 19 in Chicago. "We've chosen to burn out on a high note now, rather than just slowly fade into obscurity," the band said in a statement. "Due to our many obligations outside this band we cannot continue to put 100 percent of our time into Enforsaken." The group released four albums between 2001 and 2006, including their final disc, Sinner's Intuition, in March.

• Full Blown Chaos
• Deicide
• Mastodon
• Enforsaken

Avenged Sevenfold's M. Shadows (file)
Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/ Getty Images

AUBURN, Washington — Some of the sun-crisped metalheads packed into the White River Amphitheatre for the first stop on this year's 11th annual Ozzfest were skeptical of "TRL" favorites Avenged Sevenfold being on the festival's main stage. But there they were on Thursday, and the naysayers weren't about to distract the band from the mission at hand: Trying to win the crowd over.

So, Avenged, led by the diamond-grilled, Axl-Rose-imitating M. Shadows, pulled the proverbial rabbit out of the hat by covering — and handily at that — a tried-and-true metal classic: Pantera's "Walk." Shadows dedicated the tune to the memory of slain Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott (see " Dimebag Darrell, Four Others Killed In Ohio Concert Shooting"), and about three riffs in, the audience — even the cynics — were sold, pumping their fists and barking the song's stilted refrain: "Re! Spect! Walk!" And for the rest of the band's set, which ended with "Bat Country," Avenged owned them all.

In short, when in doubt at Ozzfest, cover Pantera. Following the group's debut as part of the festival, Shadows — covered in sweat and chugging bottled water — seemed relieved. How would Avenged celebrate this triumph? A few hours later, they boarded their tour bus and headed for Oregon, where they'd spend Friday (June 30) fishing at a lakeside cabin.

On Thursday, with the majestic, snowcapped Mount Rainier as its backdrop, Sharon Osbourne's traveling circus of heavy metal and hard rock, bad tattoos and worse habits, launched in Auburn. The small town is about 50 minutes from Seattle and its main road is lined with smoke shops, casinos and dilapidated shacks that double as residences and pyrotechnics shops.

Fans started lining up outside the venue at around 5:30 a.m, some coming from as far as Texas for an afternoon and evening filled with debauchery and ear-splitting metal. While Avenged's set was one of the day's many highlights, the majority of the 15,000 fans were there for the same reason: Ozzy Osbourne, the festival's unstoppable namesake.

Ozzy, who closed out the kickoff's main stage but will be playing only half this year's Ozzfest dates (see "Ozzy Playing Ozzfest's Second Stage For The First Time"), whipped the audience into a jubilant frenzy Thursday night. Focusing on his post-Black Sabbath career, Ozzy pleased the crowd with "I Don't Know," "Goodbye to Romance," "Suicide Solution" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home."

Of course, it wouldn't have been an Ozzy show without songs like "Crazy Train" and the set's closer, "Paranoid." But in the end, fans were pleased that the singer not only showed — with guitarist Zakk Wylde shredding away — but finished what he started. When Ozzfest rolled through town last year, he stormed off the stage when his voice went out, abandoning his Black Sabbath bandmates (see "Ozzy Retires As Ozzfest Headliner: 'It's Time For Me To Move On' "). Ozzy was in fine form Thursday, though. He delivered an energetic performance and his voice sounded stronger than it has in years.

Of course, Ozzy wasn't the main stage's sole attraction. Following Avenged, Disturbed mounted the stage for what ended up being one of the night's more commanding sets.

Frontman David Draiman, with his crisp, potent voice, directed fans to thrust their fists above their heads, in effect re-creating the cover of the band's latest LP, Ten Thousand Fists (see "Disturbed Pummel Billboard Competition With #1 Fists"). At one point during Disturbed's performance — which was highlighted by "Liberate," "Stricken" and the closer, "Sickness" — the audience hoisted a fan strapped to a wheelchair high above their heads for a brief crowd-surf. Draiman told his stagehands to bring the fan onstage, shook his hand and wheeled him near the drum kit, where he watched, wide-eyed, as Disturbed continued to instigate the more-than-willing circle-pit moshers who raged in the arena's general-admission area.

Ozzfest vets System of a Down, who'll be going on an indefinite hiatus following Ozzfest (see "System Of A Down Aren't Breaking Up — They're Going On Hiatus"), arrived Wednesday on separate buses. They were the show's most distracting performers — or maybe the most distracted.

At first, through the opening "Soldier's Song" and the next four that followed, guitarist Daron Malakian seemed to be struggling to keep up with the rest of the band, improvising lyrics when it was his turn to bark into the microphone (although during "B.Y.O.B.," he rethought the lyric, "We don't live in a fascist nation," by quickly muttering, "Yes, we do").

Frustration manifested itself on "Lonely Day," when he improvised, "Such a lonely day, hanging out with the band/ This mother----er I can't stand." The band later told us Malakian's impromptu lyric referred to the day (as it does on the album version of the song) and not to any tension between band members, as we had originally surmised: "The only thing that makes a lonely day livable on tour is each other's company," Tankian and Malakian wrote in an e-mail. [The lyric was] referring to the day ... Not each other." None of that seemed to matter to the rabid crowd, though, which leaped, bounced and clawed its way through the pit.

System appeared bored at the beginning of the set, but by the end, they worked the crowd into an abusive mob of fist-pumping fanatics with "Sugar" and other songs. Tankian danced around goofily with his eyes closed through "Hypnotize" while Malakian mounted his guitar.

Long before Avenged even left their dressing rooms, Italian metallers Lacuna Coil led the Ozzfest faithful through a 30-minute set, which included a cover of Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" and ended with "Our Truth." England's DragonForce, Ozzfest first-timers, played a frantic, high-energy set that ended with "Through the Fire and Flames" and was followed by dozens of kids sprinting for the merch stands to buy the band's shirts.

Hatebreed, making their mainstage debut following a stint two years ago on the second stage (see "Slayer, Hatebreed Doing Double Duty On This Year's Ozzfest"), did what they always do: inspire utter mayhem. Singer Jamey Jasta growled at the audience through "Tear It Down" and then calmly asked fans to take a few steps back during "To the Threshold," as several people had become pinned against the metal barricade separating the pit from the stage. By the finale, "I Will Be Heard," the barricade had buckled, eating into Avenged's time as security crews worked to amend the situation.

As usual, this year's Ozzfest began at the ungodly hour of 9 a.m., with the always-spastic Bad Acid Trip kicking off the dingy second stage. Following A Life Once Lost's crippling cache of metal mischief, it was All That Remains' turn to pound the audience into submission. Led by frontman Phil Labonte, who ran from one side of the stage to the other, the Massachusetts metallers ripped through tracks including "Tattered on My Sleeve." After demanding the audience mosh, pogo or just wake up, during the finale, Labonte jumped into the crowd — a violation of the Ozzfest mandate — and fed the microphone to adoring fans who belched out the lyrics.

"Are you ready for some fast, brutal sh--?," asked the Red Chord's Guy Kozowyk, who, despite suffering from a nasty case of bronchitis he's failed to kick after 10 days of antibiotics, delivered one of the day's most severe and intense sets. He stared maniacally at the audience as it tore itself apart during "Love on the Concrete" and smiled at the pit, from which sneakers flew one after the next. Kozowyk screamed his lungs out — and eventually his breakfast too, as he rushed off the stage following the set and threw up near his band's bus.

Strapping Young Lad rolled out "You Suck," the first single from the technical Canadian group's forthcoming album, The New Black. Strapping abused their instruments for five songs before eventually ending with "Detox," after which frontman Devin Townsend instructed the audience to "Go right to the merch stand and buy all our sh--." He does, after all, have a baby on the way.

Later on, following a performance by Walls of Jericho, Full Blown Chaos' Ray Mazzola fought back tears as he purged the lyrics to "Solemn Promise." He told the audience he'd written the song for his mother, who has been battling cancer for more than a decade. Mazzola regained his composure and resumed barking like a pit bull into the mic.

The stage looked as though a bomb had hit it when Norma Jean dove into "Shotgun Messiah," with their amps strewn, scraped up, torched and melted in various spots. The bandmembers donned torn shirts and jeans and their faces were smeared with dirt, as if they'd just climbed out of a coal mine, as they raced through their guitar-flailing set.

Following Bleeding Through's bone-snapping performance, the crowd — slurping Sno-Cones and sporting body paint on their topless, out-of-shape frames — was wall-to-wall by the time Unearth made their way onstage. The stage undulated as the band delivered a crushing set, highlighted by the punishing "Black Hearts Now Reign."

Atreyu played next, and after they vacated the stage, it was time for Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society, a band that has become as emblematic of the fest as Ozzy himself. Wylde's leather-clad outfit unleashed a sludgy, whiskey-fueled onslaught of razor-sharp guitars, caustic drum work and blasting bass that lived up to the band's reputation of rockin' hard with no-holds-barred.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• Avenged Sevenfold
• System of a Down
• Ozzy Osbourne
• Disturbed
• Hatebreed

Ozzy Osbourne
Photo: Dave Hogan/Getty Images

Heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne's namesake festival's still seven weeks away from its June 29 launch in Auburn, Washington, but the 11th installment of the often-imitated mammoth known as the Ozzfest is already shaping up to be one highlighted by several firsts — most of which involve the Ozzman himself.

For instance, this summer's tour will be the first in the festival's history that Ozzy doesn't plan on closing out each night; he's committed to headlining just 10 of the tour's 24 stops, leaving System of a Down and Disturbed to handle the rest of the trek's dates (see "System Of A Down, Disturbed To Headline Ozzfest"). What's more, Osbourne revealed late Thursday night that, for the first time since Ozzfest launched in 1996, he'd be closing out not the fest's main stage, but it's much smaller — and generally much dingier — second stage.

Osbourne plans to headline the second stage during the festival's July 8 stop at San Bernardino, California's Hyundai Pavilion of Glen Helen. For each of the last ten years, Ozzy has headlined the main stage either as a solo artist or with Black Sabbath.

Over the course of the last decade, several lesser-known and up-and-coming metal acts have graced Ozzfest's second stage, which is often erected in a dusty field or parking lot adjacent to the amphitheater housing the main stage. It's become a much-coveted gig for the members of metal's newest class, and has helped catapult a handful of bands into the mainstream's consciousness — including System of a Down and Incubus (who graced the second stage in 1998), Disturbed (2000), Mudvayne (2001) and Chevelle (2002).

Ozzy announced late last summer, toward the end of Ozzfest 2005, that he wouldn't be returning for the 2006 installment (see "Ozzy Retires As Ozzfest Headliner: 'It's Time For Me To Move On' "). But between then and this March, Osbourne had a change of heart, revealing that he'd be popping up on 10 dates this year: the June 29 kickoff, July 1 (San Francisco), July 16 (Chicago), July 22 (East Troy, Wisconsin), July 29 (New York), August 1 (Boston), August 4 (Camden, New Jersey), August 6 (Bristow, Virginia) and the tour's August 13 finale in West Palm Beach, Florida, as well as July 8's second stage appearance.

Ozzy is scheduled to headline the main stage at his other nine Ozzfest performances. During each of Ozzy's solo sets, he will be accompanied by longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde, marking the duo's 20th anniversary together. Wylde's band, Black Label Society, is the second stage's proper headliner, along with Atreyu, Unearth, Norma Jean, and Bleeding Through.

Strapping Young Lad, A Life Once Lost, Full Blown Chaos, the Red Chord, and All That Remains are among the other acts booked for this season's second stage. Lacuna Coil and Hatebreed will be joining Disturbed and System on the main stage; later this month, Ozzfest's organizers are expected to announce a "major" mainstage act's addition to the bill.

"After 10 years of headlining Ozzfest's main stage, I think it's time for a change," Osbourne said, in a written statement. "I haven't had a chance to play this close to an audience in years, and I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it."

• Ozzfest: A Look Back

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Strapping Young Lad
• A Life Once Lost
• Full Blown Chaos
• The Red Chord