Ozzy Osbourne
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

It was announced months ago that tickets for this summer's Ozzfest would be free to fans, and that the longest-running heavy metal festival would subsist on corporate sponsorships and little else.

But obtaining those free tickets for one of the dates on this year's run — which kicks off July 12 in Auburn, Washington, and continues through August 30 in West Palm Beach, Florida — might just give some metal fans a migraine (see "Osbournes Hype 'Groundbreaking' Ozzfest: 'Why Not Go To A Show For Free?' ").

First, you have to send an e-mail requesting tickets, and then wait for a confirmation e-mail containing a link to the Web site of one of the tour's various sponsors. Next, you have to wait until June 12 before you can enter that code on some other Web site to redeem two tickets to whichever date you'd like to attend. It's a whole rigmarole that some fans — or, more specifically, those willing to drop some serious scratch — can avoid.

That's right, folks — while this summer's Live Nation-sponsored Ozzfest will be free to most, some will fork over upward of $1,000 to get in. As in years past, Ozzfest's organizers will offer fans a number of VIP ticket packages for purchase, which will ensure them a seat for all the headbangin' action.

The festival's "Party Like a Rockstar" package — which includes preferred pavilion seating, access to the second-stage VIP viewing platform behind the mixing boards, access to the general VIP area, a behind-the-scenes tour and a special host "to help you rock harder than you have ever rocked before" — returns this summer, and will set you back $300. There's also the "I'm Part of the Show" package, which costs $666 and includes all the same perks, in addition to a seat on the Ozzfest stage during Osbourne's concert-closing set.

There's also the "Platinum" package, which will be available by auction in the not-so-distant future. The starting bid will be $1,000 and will be limited to only 10 guests per show. This offer includes everything the "I'm Part of the Show" package does, and then some. Fans who win the auction will also get a personal meeting with Osbourne and his band, along with a certificate signed by Sharon Osbourne. The proceeds of these tickets will go to the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.

The festival's 12th annual installment boasts a bill including Ozzy Osbourne, Lamb of God, Hatebreed, Static-X, Lordi, Behemoth, Nile and In This Moment, among others.

For more on Ozzfest, check out the feature "Backstage at Ozzfest."

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Lamb of God
• Hatebreed
• Static-X
• Behemoth

Lamb of God's Randy Blythe
Photo: Dave Etheridge-Barnes/ Getty Images

By now, any metalhead worth his salt knows that tickets to this year's 12th annual Ozzfest will be free to fans, and that the longest-running heavy-metal festival will mostly subsist on corporate sponsorships.

But since Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne's historic announcement back in February (see "Osbournes Hype 'Groundbreaking' Ozzfest: 'Why Not Go To A Show For Free?' "), during which the festival's namesake spray-painted the word "free" across the "Ozz" of an Ozzfest banner, fans have been wondering who'd be taking the stage this summer. After all, Sharon previously stated that none of the bands will be paid, outside of merchandise sales, but will be encouraged to play shows on off-nights.

On Wednesday (March 21), the Ozzfest camp revealed that brutal Virginian metallers Lamb of God and cutting-edge Finnish act Lordi would be among the acts to rock the masses from the fest's main stage, along with Ozzy himself, who is expected to preview tracks from his forthcoming studio album — his first collection of new material since 2001 — for fans.

Connecticut hardcore heroes Hatebreed, returning for a second straight year, will headline the tour's dingier second stage, along with Mondo Generator, Ankla, Circus Diablo, Nile and the Showdown.

More artists are expected to be revealed in the coming weeks. While it will be Lordi's first Ozzfest appearance, Hatebreed played the festival in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Lamb of God were on the lineup for the 2004 installment.

Ozzfest will make 24 stops across the country, starting July 12 in Seattle, and running through August 30 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

To gain entry into this year's Ozzfest, metal lovers will need to visit the tour's Web site, as well as sponsor Live Nation's Internet home, to find links that will direct them to special sponsor sites where tickets can be secured.

"Ozzfest! Ozzfest! When we left Ozzfest three years ago, that was a mantra that burned itself into our collective subconscious, one that we repeat to this day in an almost autistic manner," said Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe in a statement to the press. "To know once the power, the glory, the sheer brutality of the parking-lot circus stupidity that is Ozzfest is to be destined to repeat it. The fangs are out — our souls (and livers) needed three years to recover from the last run, but we are back and couldn't be more excited. This time, we have age and wis(dumb) on our side — be warned. It will be over this summer."

Hatebreed mainman Jamey Jasta said his band is "absolutely honored and beyond excited to be the sole headliner of the Ozzfest 2007 second stage," and that they'd "had a great time on the main stage" in 2006. "[But] it was obvious that our fans wanted to see us in the setting that they know and love. Having co-headlined the second stage twice in the past, once with Down in 2002 and again with Slipknot in 2004, it's a great achievement for us to now be able to close the show on the second stage and truly make Ozzfest history with our fifth appearance on the world's best tour. We can't wait to demolish the U.S. once again, spending another crazy summer with Ozzy and his traveling circus of metal mayhem."

Ozzfest dates, according to the festival's publicist:

· 7/12 - Seattle, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
· 7/14 - George, WA @ The Gorge Amphitheater
· 7/17 - Sacramento, CA @ Sleep Train Amphitheatre
· 7/19 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
· 7/21 - Devore, CA @ Hyundai Pavilion
· 7/24 - Phoenix, AZ @ Cricket Pavilion
· 7/26 - Albuquerque, NM @ Journal Pavilion
· 7/28 - Denver, CO @ Coors Amphitheatre
· 7/30 - Kansas City, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 8/2 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Centre
· 8/4 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 8/6 - St. Louis, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
· 8/8 - Columbus, OH @ Germain Amphitheatre
· 8/10 - Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
· 8/12 - East Troy, WI @ Alpine Valley Music Theatre
· 8/14 - Indianapolis, IN @ Verizon Wireless Music Theatre
· 8/16 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
· 8/18 - Hartford, CT @ New England Dodge Music Theatre
· 8/20 - Boston, MA @ Tweeter Center
· 8/22 - Philadelphia, PA @ Tweeter Center
· 8/24 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
· 8/26 - Detroit, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
· 8/28 - Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
· 8/30 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Sound Advice Amphitheatre

For more on Ozzfest, check out the feature "Backstage at Ozzfest."

• Ozzfest: A Look Back

• Lamb of God
• Hatebreed
• Lordi

Hatebreed guitarist Lou "Boulder" Richards
Photo: Dean Karr

Guitarist Lou "Boulder" Richards, a former member of Connecticut hardcore outfit Hatebreed, died on Wednesday at the age of 35, according to a statement issued by the band Thursday night.

The official cause of Richards' death has not been released, but Hatebreed's statement suggests it may have been at his own hands. A publicist for the group would not confirm or deny rumors that Richards committed suicide.

"As many of you may have heard, and we were sorry to learn, our former guitar player Lou 'Boulder' Richards passed away yesterday," reads the statement. "It is very unfortunate that he could not see any other way to conquer his demons. We hope he has finally found some peace. Our hearts go out to Vera" — Richards' grandmother — "and his family and friends."

Richards left Hatebreed in 2002, and the band continued on as a quartet until earlier this year, when Frank "3 Gun" Novinec (formerly of Terror, Ringworm and Integrity) joined as a second guitarist. At the time of Richards' departure, Hatebreed said in a statement that they'd had "some of the best times of our lives [with Richards] and things have been going really well. But his heart just wasn't in it anymore and we totally understand and support his decision to move on with his life. He had six great years with us and we feel that he is irreplaceable so we will remain a four piece. We wish him the best."

Richards appears on Hatebreed's 1997 debut Satisfaction is the Death of Desire, as well as 2000's Under the Knife EP and 2002's Perseverance. Hatebreed's most recent studio effort, Supremacy, was released late last month — just weeks after the finale of this summer's 11th annual Ozzfest. Hatebreed shared the festival's main stage with DragonForce, Lacuna Coil, Avenged Sevenfold, Disturbed, System of a Down, and — on some dates — Ozzy Osbourne.

An outpouring of grief has inundated Hatebreed's MySpace page, with fans expressing their condolences within hours of the band's official confirmation that Richards had indeed passed away.

" 'Boulder' is a legend," wrote one fan. "He was an integral part of the classic Hatebreed sound and is responsible for all those classic riffs we love the most. I was fortunate enough to see my first Hatebreed show while he was still your guitarist when [you] guys opened for Sepultura. My heart and prayers go out to the band, his friends and family."

Tonight, Hatebreed will be bringing their Monsters of Mayhem Tour to Harpo's in Detroit. The band's current trek, featuring the Black Dahlia Murder, Napalm Death, Exodus, Despised Icon and First Blood, runs through October 12 in Seattle.

• Hatebreed

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

Arch Enemy
Photo: Century Media

Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Amott has heard a number of bands grumble about Ozzfest, complaining that being on the annual heavy-metal festival's bill did little, if anything, to augment their careers. But Amott says the Swedish metallers have experienced the opposite — sales of Arch Enemy's 2005 album, Doomsday Machine, bloomed during and after the band's second-stage stint, and being on Ozzfest opened up several touring opportunities for them, as well.

That includes this year's Jägermeister trek, which Arch Enemy will be on until Saturday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Chimaira, Nevermore, God Forbid and Hate Eternal are also on the bill). And then there's this fall's Gigantour 2, on which, Amott said, Arch Enemy will definitely be featured.

"We know we're on ... the main stage, and I know it runs from late August to October," he said, adding that the only other band he knows will be on the bill is Megadeth — sort of a given, since Dave Mustaine organizes the festival. "We're excited about coming back to the U.S. once again. We're happy we can get work, you know? It's going to be a good tour for us. We did Ozzfest last year and we made a lot of new fans and sold a lot of records. It's great to come out on another big package tour, and I think there's probably a more traditional metal audience out there who could pick up on what we do as well through Gigantour."

Arch Enemy recently shot a video for "My Apocalypse" in Sweden with director Roger Johansson (In Flames), and it will debut on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" this month. It's a performance video "with wind blowing, and we have great hair, and you can kind of see through our bodies, so you can see our skeletons — in red," Amott explained. "When [Johansson] told me, I said, 'That sounds pretty metal.' "

Before Arch Enemy do Gigantour, they'll issue a DVD called "Live Apocalypse" on August 8. The package will feature the band's final live set with Amott's brother, Christopher, which was shot in London in late 2004, before the second guitarist and founding member left. Fans can also expect band interviews, a segment in which Arch Enemy discuss and exhibit the equipment they use when they perform live, and the usual bloopers-on-a-tour-bus clips. "I'm super proud of it," he said of the two-disc set.

"We didn't want to focus too heavy on [behind-the-scenes footage]," he added. "Those things are kind of boring. I mean, how many times can you watch a drunk musician? But the interviews with the band are very good. A lot of people may never really get to know us. They only know us by picture, and they don't get to see you talk or know what kind of person you are — that you have a sense of humor, that you're not only just an iconic metal god."

He also said Arch Enemy have been working on material while on the road, which they've never done before. He says they'd like to start recording the follow-up to Doomsday Machine early next year.

"It's very different for us this time, because we never write on the road at all," he said. "This year, we've been writing a lot on the road. We're just making these little demos, really. But they're not proper songs — just riffs sort of thrown together. We've never been this far ahead of the game before, as far as material [goes], because usually we're scrambling for songs once we hit the studio. This time, we'll be very well prepared."

The rest of the week's metal news:

The ink has finally dried on Hatebreed's deal with Roadrunner Records. An official announcement was made this week that the band had joined the label's roster. Look for its forthcoming disc, Supremacy, to hit stores August 29. ... Animosity have lost bassist Dan Kenny and replaced him with Evan Brewer, formerly of Reflux. "Danny ... has been playing with us for over a year now, [and] we plan to continue to support him in his future musical ventures, as we are sure that he will soon be pumping out some serious, brutal death metal," the band said in a statement. Animosity will head out with From a Second Story Window, Cattle Decapitation, Misery Index and Job for a Cowboy for a tour that kicks off June 11 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. ... Despite signing on for Animosity's June bill, From a Second Story Window have been forced to cancel their May tour after being busted for driving without proper inspection tags. The Pennsylvania bashers had been driving a salvaged van illegally, since the state supposedly hadn't sent them the official stickers they needed after getting it inspected. "We got caught the other night and the cop let us go, but also he informed us of what would happen if we were pulled over and someone wasn't so forgiving, so we came home," the band said in a statement. "This was not easy for us to have to do. All we want to do right now is be on tour." The group's new disc comes out July 11. ...

In a post on his Web site, producer Kevin Shirley (H.I.M., Judas Priest) said Iron Maiden will finish recording their yet-untitled, forthcoming album this week. "The last song for the record is on the console — we still have some keyboard washes to add, and then I'll finish up the mix," he wrote. "Yesterday we recorded umpteen guitar tweedles, ably executed by [guitarist] Janick [Gers], in four-part harmony, which led me to believe that if there is a hell, [Queen] guitarist Brian May will be the gatekeeper." ... We'll be glad when June 6 (6/6/06) passes and metal fans get back to their lives of blasphemy and misanthropy without everything revolving around the number of the beast. The latest gesture to Beelzebub's mark comes from the End Records, which, on said date, will release the black-metal compilation The Dark Psyche: An Aural Exhibition of Black Metal From Top Scholars in the Genre. It will cost -- what else -- $6.66. Dissection, Enslaved, Arcturus, Satyricon, Immortal, Darkthrone and Impaled Nazarene are among the 666 bands contributing tracks (just kidding, there are only 15). ...

Los Angeles experimental-metal band Crisis have gone on "indefinite hiatus," according to a statement issued by their label. "The bandmembers will be focusing on their personal lives, as well as pursuing other artistic interests," the statement read. "We are sorry that our fans will not be hearing any new music from [them] in the near future." The band's last album, Like Sheep Led to Slaughter, came out in 2004. ... Javier Carpio (a.k.a. Sob), ex-guitarist for New York hardcore-metal band Merauder, died of unknown circumstances last weekend at age 33. Carpio played on the band's three records: 1996's Master Killer, 1999's Five Deadly Venoms and 2003's Bluetality. Funeral services were held on Tuesday in Brooklyn, New York. ... Veteran British extreme-metal band Benediction suffered a setback last week when drummer Nick Barker (ex-Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth) broke his ankle in Estonia. The injury required plates and screws and will sideline the band for at least six weeks. Benediction's upcoming record, Killing Music, is tentatively scheduled for release in late summer or early fall. ...

Hour Cast will release their full-length debut, State of Disgrace, June 6. The Boston band recorded the disc in North Brookfield, Massachusetts, early this year, and Michael "Elvis" Baskette (Iggy Pop, Chevelle) mixed it. Ex-Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna and ex-Marilyn Manson bassist Twiggy Ramirez remixed tracks for the band last year. ... Moody metal group Tapping the Vein are almost done with their new album. The drum, bass and guitar tracks are all finished, and singer Heather Thompson plans to wrap up her vocal tracks this week. "It's sounding much heavier and dark, à la Katatonia," said drummer Eric Fisher of the record. "Less programming, much more band." The yet-untitled disc — the follow-up to 2002's The Damage — should be out by the end of the year. ... Hamilton, Ontario, shredders Threat Signal will release their North American debut, Under Reprisal, August 22. The disc was produced by Fear Factory guitarist Christian Olde Wolbers in Los Angeles last fall. Threat Signals recently shot a video for "Rational Eyes" in New York with director David Brodsky (the Red Chord, God Forbid). ...

Frontman Antti Filppu has left Finnish death-metallists Omnium Gatherum. "This is very unfortunate, but everyone considers this as the only way ... Omnium Gatherum is going to continue as a band," reads a post on the group's Web site. "We hope that Antti will continue to do his 'thing,' and [we] wish him the best possible luck. The name of the new vocalist will be announced later." Omnium are writing new material for an album they'll record later this year. It won't be for Nuclear Blast, though: The band and label have broken off their working relationship. ... Panzerchrist's forthcoming album, tentatively titled Battalion Beast, should land in stores in July — and when it does, expect the LP to feature nine tracks, including "The Gods They Do Not Give Us Long," "Infants' Graves" and "Lumps of Rotting Clay."

• Arch Enemy
• Crisis
• Darkthrone
• Iron Maiden
• Hatebreed

Hatebreed
Photo: Universal Records

Rumors have been swirling for weeks that Hatebreed are now part of the Roadrunner Records kith. But while a deal has yet to be inked, a source said the band's been in continuing negotiations with the label — and is close to signing the proverbial dotted line.

"We ended up doing two records with Universal, and our time at that label was killer," frontman Jamey Jasta explained when asked about the talks. "We sold over 300,000 on [2002's] Perseverance and 200,000 on [2003's] The Rise of Brutality. We got a Grammy nomination. But we feel we need to be at a label that deals with more metal bands and is more involved in the whole grand scheme of metal and hardcore."

Jasta added that Roadrunner's long tradition of fostering acts such as Madball, Biohazard and Sepultura is also appealing. "It [would] just [be] the right home for us," he said.

There's a lot going on in Hatebreed's world these days. They've just finished recording Supremacy, which Jasta calls an "all-out onslaught of completely adrenaline-charged, in-your-face brutality." Due in early August, the album will feature 13 tracks of Hatebreed's "best material yet."

"This album's just more charged, more focused," he added. "There are classic Hatebreed songs on here — ones I can see being in our set for years to come. I really set out when writing these songs with these guys [that] if it didn't make my hair stand up or give me chills down my spine, I didn't use it. I wanted to tap into pure adrenaline — the speed, the brutality, the breakdowns. I wanted to make a crushing record that was going to have a memorable impact on people."

He said Supremacy will include the first single, "To the Threshold," and the second single, "Never Let It Die," which the band is shooting a video for in May. Also expect it to have "Defeatist," "Spitting Venom," "As Diehard as They Come," "Mind Over All" and "The Most Truth."

At the end of April, Hatebreed will head to Australia, where they'll open gigs for Korn. A Canadian run is scheduled to precede the band's mainstage slot on this summer's Ozzfest, as will several European festival bookings. The Connecticut hardcore dudes will also headline a number of club shows this summer — on Ozzfest off-dates — with Strapping Young Lad.

Fans will see a new face onstage this summer, as Hatebreed have welcomed guitarist Frank "3 Gun" Novinec (Terror, Ringworm, Integrity) into the fold on second guitar. "This album is really involved with second guitar, and that was my original vision [for the band] — I always wanted it to be a five-piece," Jasta said. Novinec replaces Lou "Boulder" Richards, who departed the band in 2002.

Jasta says Hatebreed will pack a lot of hardcore into their Ozzfest sets, promising that half the songs they play will come from their catalog. The rest will be Supremacy selections. "I'm really psyched we're able to do [Ozzfest] again because for a while there, we didn't even know if there were going to be anymore Ozzfests," he said. "Even though Ozzy's only doing 10 shows, it's obviously a huge honor. We will have enough time to get some of the new songs on there and play all the classics too. We're just looking forward to getting back on the stage. It's been a while."

The rest of the week's metal news: All That Remains have chosen The Fall of Ideals as the title of their forthcoming album, which is slated to hit stores July 11. ... Full Blown Chaos, who are signed to Jamey Jasta's Stillborn Records, will release their second disc, Within the Grasp of Titans, July 11. The band will tour with Exodus from April 15 in Concord, California, through May 19 in San Francisco. ... Ozzfest 2006 second stagers Unearth have decided upon III: In the Eyes of Fire as the title of their forthcoming disc. According to a statement released by the band's publicist, the album contains the "angriest, darkest, fastest and heaviest" material Unearth have ever composed. "The title is a reflection of a couple different things for us," the band wrote. "For starters, it puts us in the place of our current worldly events. Last record we wrote about things brewing all around us in politics, environmental issues and war — but this record deals with the effects of those very things and the consequences we are all dealing with right now and will continue to deal with until changes are made. We are in our nation's most critical point since the '60s and more importantly, devastation looms in the near future if we continue to make mistake after mistake with unjust wars and environmental disregard. The title also represents the personal struggles we all face, day to day, and our constant battles to overcome adversity." Um, sure. ...

Zakk Wylde's not exactly known as a fashion plate. The dude wears a lot of leather and denim — actually, that's pretty much all he wears. But for those who've been longing to replicate the Wylde look, Red Monkey's here to help. The leather purveyors are issuing a limited run of leather vests worn by Wylde and Black Label Society, which have previously been available "only to a select few in the BLS inner circle." One can be yours for $350, but the vests do not feature the BLS patches that adorn all of Wylde's accoutrements — those'll set you back another $75. More information's available at RedMonkeyDesigns.com. ... Deicide frontman Glen Benton should be exhausted after the band's upcoming trek with Vital Remains, as he'll be fronting both sets during the God Killers Tour, Part 2. The run launches April 5 in Santa Ana, California, with Desolation and Crematorium opening. Dates are booked through April 17 in Las Vegas. ...

Losa have parted ways with Metal Blade Records, and drummer Dave Hall and guitarist Kory Koch have both left the band. The group hasn't offered an explanation for either the label split or the unexpected departures. ... Lair of the Minotaur and Unearthly Trance will hit the road together for an East Coast jaunt that kicks off April 14 in Bowling Green, Ohio, and winds down April 28 in Pittsburgh. ... After barely surviving Ozzfest 2005, Bury Your Dead headed to Florida's Audio Hammer Studios to begin working on their next LP with producer Jason Suecof (If Hope Dies, Trivium). Tentatively titled Beauty and the Breakdown, the record's nearly complete, and Suecof declared it "the heaviest f---ing album I've ever gotten to work on." The band has also announced it's found a new bassist in Aaron Patrick, who'll take the stage with Bury Your Dead this spring during their upcoming run with DevilDriver, Remembering Never, If Hope Dies and Southern metal groovers Artimus Pyledriver. ... Pyledriver will release their new album June 6. "This is the sh-- that bridges the gap between David Allan Coe and Black Flag," singer Dave Slocum said. A video for the first single, "Swamp Devil," will be filmed later this month. ...

Hate Eternal drummer Derek Roddy has jumped ship. "Real-life situations have forced me to resign," he said in a statement, adding that he "can no longer afford the expenses of touring." In his place the band's Kevin Talley will man the kit during Hate Eternal's upcoming trek with Chimaira and Arch Enemy. Frontman Erik Rutan said he learned of Roddy's departure when he spotted the announcement online. "Anyone and everyone in this business knows if you think you are going to make tons of cash playing metal, then you are in it for the wrong reasons," he wrote in a separate statement issued later this week. "What band has not had financial woes?" ... Seminal hardcore act Lifetime have signed a deal with Decaydance, Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's imprint label through Fueled by Ramen. The band's working on new songs but there's no word yet on when they might surface. ...German death-metal outfit Fall of Serenity have put the finishing touches on their forthcoming LP, Bloodred Salvation. Look for it to include "A Piece of You," "Raise Your Remorse" and "Swallowed Lies" when it surfaces in mid-May. ...

Eclectic doom-metal band Kylesa have hired two drummers to replace Brandon Baltzley, who left the group in June. Detroit resident Jeff Porter and Savannah, Georgia, native Carl McGinley are currently helping the band write material for the follow-up to its 2005 album, To Walk a Middle Course. Kylesa will take a break from writing to carry out a spring tour that starts April 13 in Jacksonville, Florida, and runs through May 31 in Charleston, South Carolina. ... The Receiving End of Sirens guitarist and singer Alex Bars was badly injured in a fall down a flight of stairs last week in Boston. Bars was taken to Brigham and Women's Hospital and treated for a fractured left scapula, three fractured ribs, a punctured lung and a few damaged vertebrae. He is currently at home and expects to fully recover. The band has decided not to cancel or postpone any dates on the New Hope Tour, which starts March 31 in Providence, Rhode Island, and runs through May 10 in Poughkeepsie, New York. A replacement for Bars has not been announced. ...

Swedish atmospheric voyagers Cult of Luna will release their fourth album, Somewhere Along the Highway, June 27. Recorded by Magnus Lindberg in northern Sweden, the LP includes "Marching to the Heartbeats," "And With Her Came the Birds" and "Back to Chapel Town." ... Chicago experimental extremists Yakuza have shot a live video for their nine-minute epic "Back to the Mountain," which can be viewed at MySpace.com/Yakuza . The track closes the band's second album, Samsara, which came out March 21. Yakuza will launch tours with Deadbird and Ringworm in April. ... Dayton, Ohio, metallers the Devil Wears Prada have signed with Rise Records. The band's forthcoming LP, which will feature tracks from a previously released EP, will be in stores in July. ... Metalcore group Phoenix Mourning will release their debut, When Excuses Become Antiques, April 18. The band recently shot a video for the single "Across Twenty-Six Winters" with director Adam Grabarnick (Cattle Decapitation, Some Girls). ...

• Hatebreed
• Bury Your Dead
• Lair of the Minotaur
• Hate Eternal

Slipknot's Joey Jordison (file)
Photo: Getty Images

NEW YORK — It was billed as the event of the year ... for metalheads, at least. Members of more than 30 current and former acts on Roadrunner Records came together to rattle the baseboards at the Nokia Theatre on Thursday night for Roadrunner United, a celebration of the label's 25th year in the metal business.

The night's emcee, Hatebreed frontman and "Headbangers Ball" host Jamey Jasta, perhaps said it best: "You can't call yourself a metalhead or a hardcore kid without owning a Roadrunner record."

The metalheads in attendance — including "American Idol" runner-up Bo Bice — were treated to 23 cuts of classic and contemporary metal supplied by the night's core group of Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison, Trivium frontman Matthew Heafy, ex-Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares and Machine Head bassist Adam Duce. Throughout the evening, the players changed but the feel remained the same, often coming off like a glorified jam session by one of the metal world's most gifted cover bands.

The night kicked off with a brutal rendition of Biohazard's "Punishment," with the band's frontman, Evan Seinfeld, at the mic and on bass; Biohazard guitarist Billy Graziadei, Cazares, Jordison and Sepultura guitarist Andreas Kisser backed the "Oz" star. The highlight of the energetic New York hardcore opener was Jordison's pummeling, seemingly effortless work behind the kit. Next, Jasta joined Kisser, Cazares, Jordison and Slipknot bassist Paul Gray — who, like Jordison, was sans ghoulish mask and jumpsuit — for a pulverizing rendition of Madball's "Set It Off."

The New York hardcore theme continued for one more song, with Life of Agony's "River Runs Red." LOA singer Keith Caputo's small frame bounced around the stage in an elfin manner as he belted out the song his band is perhaps best known for. Deicide's Glen Benton filled in for Obituary's John Tardy during a vicious treatment of "The End Complete," while Tim "Ripper" Owens of Judas Priest, Iced Earth and Beyond Fear fame stepped into the falsetto shoes of King Diamond and Annihilator's Randy Rampage for Mercyful Fate's "Curse of the Pharaohs," King Diamond's "Abigail" and Annihilator's "Alison Hell" (all three additionally featured Annihilator's Jeff Waters on guitar).

Trivium's performance of "Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr" was one of the night's most scathing moments and featured Machine Head's Robert Flynn and Trivium's Heafy trading vocal duties. Seemless leader Jesse Leach, who left Killswitch Engage several years ago, rejoined his old bandmates — and his replacement, Howard Jones — for the band's "My Last Serenade." And H.I.M. frontman Ville Valo did his best Peter Steele imitation for Type O Negative's "Black No. 1"; the song also featured onetime Coal Chamber bassist Nadja Peulen.

Fans also witnessed several numbers from the album that inspired the concert, Roadrunner United: The All Star Sessions, being performed live for the first — and more than likely, last — time.

In between, Slipknot's Corey Taylor and Caputo hooked up for Stone Sour's "Bother," and Shadows Fall mainman Brian Fair emulated Soulfly's Max Cavalera during a cover of "Eye for an Eye." Following takes on Slipknot's "Sic" and "Surfacing" and Machine Head's "Davidian," Flynn, Kisser, Anthrax's Scott Ian, Duce and Jordison surprised the crowd with a potent, unanticipated edition of Sepultura's "Roots Bloody Roots" — a fitting end to a punishing display of metal and a testament to Roadrunner's far-reaching impact on the genre.

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

• Hatebreed
• Slipknot
• Trivium
• Fear Factory
• Machine Head

Motörhead's Lemmy Kilmister (file)
Photo: Louise Wilson/Getty Images

Can there ever be too much metal in one's life? Well, that depends. When that metal is served up with foul language and eventually tops out at an ear-splitting 100 decibels — setting off feline vomiting — perhaps. That was enough for the peaceful denizens of Pinellas Park, Florida, to call for an end to metal concerts.

Hard music befell the otherwise tranquil settlement of Pinellas Park for the first — and last — time on October 1, with the appearance of Hatebreed, Meshuggah, Devildriver, God Forbid and Motörhead for the appropriately monikered Hellraiser's Ball, staged in the placid suburb's Town Square Plaza Park. But Pinellas Park was apparently ill-prepared for such a brutal dose of metal and, according to the St. Petersburg Times, has opted to quash all prospects for additional metal concerts in the town for the foreseeable future.

And all it took was five e-mails, five telephone calls and a sick cat to provoke that decision from local politicians.

An estimated 3,500 people turned out for the Hellraiser's Ball, which began at 11 a.m. and raged until 10 p.m., the Times reports. But it wasn't the sheer volume of the gig that prompted Pinellas Park residents to complain — it was what they'd heard between the bands' songs that set them off.

"No, we won't be doing that type of event again," Pinellas Park spokesperson Tim Caddell told the paper this week. "As soon as [the music would] stop, [the performers on stage would] go, 'F---!' You could hear that clear as anything, all the way through town. It was clear, I've got to admit. I heard every single one of them."

One town resident who e-mailed a complaint noted that he could forgive the concert's earth-rattling din, but "the strong language that was used ... Even several blocks away it was very clear what was being said."

Pinellas Park police, who made a single arrest during the event on charges of trespass after a warning, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence, measured the concert's noise level throughout the day. According to the Times, the sound ranged from 92 to 118 decibels — the latter surpassing noise levels typical of jet takeoffs. Pinellas Park's zoning code defines allowable noise levels as 72 decibels during the day and up to 55 at night.

Most complaints were lodged by folks who, admittedly, weren't fans of the genre. One called the event "a horrible nerve-grating racket. The repetitive screaming through the microphone and the incessant drumming was not to be believed."

The same resident claimed her cat was "so upset" by the music, the animal "actually vomited."

When asked whether it was the cat's hurling that delivered the final blow to metal in Pinellas Park, Caddell explained to the Times that the town is "an animal-loving community, [so] when poor, defenseless animals get sick ..." His voice then trailed off.

• Hatebreed
• Meshuggah
• DevilDriver
• God Forbid

Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta
Photo: Amy V. Cooper

It's been close to two years since Connecticut hardcore innovators Hatebreed injected the scene with 5,000 CCs of their aboveboard brand of brutality, but frontman Jamey Jasta's been sort of busy. Jasta not only serves as host for MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" (a gig he'll be keeping for a while, as his contract was renewed last week), he's been working with two side projects — Icepick, with Crown of Thornz and Skarhead frontman Lord Ezec; and Kingdom of Sorrow, known formerly as Crowbreed, with Crowbar singer/guitarist Kirk Windstein — on top of writing lyrics for Hatebreed's forthcoming fifth offering.

"I had to get these two other records out of my system," he said, referring to debut LPs by Icepick (which should be in stores before the end of the year through his Stillborn imprint) and Kingdom of Sorrow (which will drop early next year). "With Icepick, we just wanted to do a classic, real straightforward hardcore record. We're sort of paying tribute to all the New York hardcore bands that influenced me, like Sick of It All, Agnostic Front, Leeway, Killing Time. It's different from Hatebreed — it's not down-tuned. And Kingdom of Sorrow, I was able to do stuff I would never do in Hatebreed. It's still brutal, it's still totally heavy, but I actually do have some melodic vocals in there — it's pretty gruff, so it's not like I'm crooning. It's just stuff I wouldn't do in Hatebreed because it's just a different emotional experience."

Starting November 1 in Burlington, Vermont, Jasta and the rest of Hatebreed will take a break from writing the as-yet-untitled next disc — which the singer projects will be out in April — to commemorate a decade as a band with the 10 Years of Brutality Tour.

The monthlong trek will run up and down the Eastern seaboard and extend slightly into the Midwest before ending, appropriately, with a pair of gigs in the Nutmeg State: November 25 and 26 in New Haven, Connecticut, with Skarhead, All Out War, Neglect and One 4 One the first night, and Converge, Crowbar, Subzero and Irate the next.

Jasta said he and the guys will be practicing every day this month in preparation for the run, which features openers Most Precious Blood, Full Blown Chaos, Gizmachi, If Hope Dies and Manntis. They'll also be test-driving two new tracks on the tour: "Spitting Venom" and "Defeatist."

"We're just going to see how the kids react and give them a taste of something new," Jasta said. "We've had a ton of song ideas done for a while yet, but being on the road and not having an actual producer lined up has sort of delayed [this record]. We have our eyes set on some bigger names [for a producer], and we'll see what pans out. In a dream world, it would be nice to maybe get someone like Rick Rubin, who's obviously a much sought-after person. Either way, we're going to experiment with new formulas. We won't do anything that's too out of our realm. After a decade of playing this style, we're an institution in the scene where you wouldn't want to go rock the boat or disappoint any of our diehard fans. But to challenge ourselves as artists and look for new avenues to go down, we're definitely going to do that. Just nothing that'll be too out of left field."

The rest of the week's metal news:

According to Shadows Fall frontman Brian Fair, the band's recovering from this summer's Ozzfest but plans to start writing material for its forthcoming fifth disc before year's end. ... Did you miss Dave Mustaine's Gigantour this summer? You're not alone. But there's some good news: a DVD and CD are on the way that'll contain live footage and songs of all the trek's bands, including Dillinger Escape Plan, Nevermore, Life of Agony, Dream Theater and, of course, Megadeth. ... Austria's Tristwood have signed to Sound Riot Records, who'll release the band's forthcoming outing The Delphic Doctrine early next year; look for it to feature 10 tracks, including "By the Call Ov Seth - Invocation of the God of Blood and War," "Pandaemonic Paradoxon" and "Through the Nineth Hall of Utuk'Ku." ... Arch Enemy will launch their first-ever headlining tour on November 11 in Tempe, Arizona, with All That Remains, Mnemic and A Perfect Murder in the support slots. A full list of confirmed dates will be announced next week. ... Chicago jazz-metal outfit Yakuza are newcomers to Prosthetic Records' roster. The band's Samsara is slated for a March 2006 release. ... Vainglory are in the studio working on the follow-up to their 2001 conceptual opus, 2050. Chastain singer Kate French is currently tracking lead vocals for the album, which should be out in early 2006. ...

Dutch melodic-metal band Detonation will release their U.S. debut, Portals to Uphobia, October 11. The disc will include "Into Sulphur I Descend," "Chaos Banished" and "End of Sight, End of Fears." ... Indianapolis thrashers Demiricous will release their first album, One, January 24. You can listen to three cuts from the Zeuss-produced disc — "Repentagram," "Withdrawal Divine" and "Vagrant Idol" — at MySpace.com/demiricous. ... Virginia hardcore metallers Winter Solstice and Michigan metalcore outfit Bloodlined Calligraphy will launch a tour on October 12 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Dates run through November 4 in Williamsburg, Virginia. ... Five.Bolt.Main underwent some turmoil recently when guitarists Jason Chandler and Aaron Welenken and bassist Ben Patrick bolted because of "musical differences and unforeseen rigors of the road." They've been replaced by three members of the group Alston: guitarist Kobie Jackson (ex-Primer 55), bassist Alex Cando (ex-Darwin's Waiting Room) and guitarist Ron Paige. Alston will continue to open for Five.Bolt.Main for the remainder of their October tour. ... Communic will start recording their second album in February at Hansen Studios in Hamburg, Germany. Like their 2005 debut, Conspiracy of Mind, it will be produced by Jacob Hansen. ... Road warriors Clutch will launch a new tour October 25 in Greenville, South Carolina. Dates run through November 26 in Royal Oak, Michigan. ...

The Beginning of the End, the debut by Toronto's Warmachine, was set to hit stores here on October 25 but has been pushed back to November 22. The album will feature former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson on a trio of tracks: "Betrayed," "Empty" and "Taunted Souls." ... In December Dysrhythmia will start working on their next offering, Barriers and Passages, which is being eyed for a spring release. But first the band will tour the U.S. starting October 21 in New York; dates run through November 18 in Dubuque, Iowa. ... Stigmata are regrouping after a five-year split for a gig at Saratoga Winners in Latham, New York, on November 25, with original and current Shadows Fall drummer Jason Bittner. ... Scarlet will release This Was Always Meant to Fall Apart — their first batch of new material in close to two years — January 24. ... Onetime From a Second Story Window vocalist Sean Vandegrift's got himself a new band called Alcmaeon. The group's still in need of a drummer and bassist, preferably in the Ohio area, who "can play fast as nuts," according to the band's MySpace page. ... The Number Twelve Looks Like You booted drummer Chree for some reason, replacing him with Jon Karel. It was Karel's "hunting and trapping" skills that earned him the gig, according to the band's Web site.

• Hatebreed
• Dysrhythmia
• Clutch

Diecast
Photo: Century Media

Walk into the nearest record store, sift past the Dido and Die Toten Hosen discs and you might stumble across some Diecast titles. Look for the Boston hardcore heroes' 1999 EP, Undo the Wicked, or 2001's Day of Reckoning; if you find either, consider yourself fortunate — you live in a town with a pretty badass record shop. But chances are you'll find just one Diecast disc: 2004's Tearing Down Your Blue Skies. That's because for the last few years, the band's first two releases have been trapped in this strange state of limbo.

According to bassist Jeremy Wooden, Diecast, who wrap up their tour with Ill Niño on October 1, had spent years fighting with their former labels for the rights to those early masters so that they could start releasing the material again. But Wooden claims that finally, the band's current label, Century Media, has acquired the masters and plans to re-release them sometime next year. The label's also going to reissue Tearing Down Your Blue Skies early next year with a new track, "Tangled Web We Weave," and a cover of Slayer's "Reign in Blood."

"Tangled Web We Weave" is the first track the band's written with new vocalist and former Breeding Ground frontman Paul Stoddard, who joined the group after the departure of Colin Schleifer.

"For the last record, we had all of the music written without a singer yet, so it was tough for Paul — he came in, and we handed him 12 songs and said, 'Here you go. Write lyrics to 'em,' " Wooden said. "He ended up doing an amazing job. But our next record is going to be that much better, because Paul's a part of the team now and he has ideas for the writing and we have ideas for vocals. We've written a couple of new songs," like "Tangled Web We Weave," which he calls "one of the best songs this band's ever done."

For the Diecast's next outing, which should surface toward the end of next summer, they're aiming to work with a producer who can toughen up their already-callous sound. They've been talking to Jason Suecof (Trivium, Cannae), Zeuss (Shadows Fall, Hatebreed) and Eric Rachel (Nora, God Forbid).

"The last record ... we were very happy with the material, but it didn't come out as heavy as we would've liked it to," Wooden said, adding that the band plans to buckle down for intense writing sessions next week and after its tentatively scheduled six-week run with American Head Charge, which is set for sometime in November. Diecast will also be writing on the road, and after that tour, plan to finish a new album before spring's end.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Soil, Dope, Opiate for the Masses, Dog Fashion Disco and Dry Kill Logic have all been tapped to open various legs of the forthcoming Jägermeister Music Tour, featuring headliners Disturbed with Corrosion of Conformity. It kicks off November 4 in Minneapolis. ... Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher will release the debut album by his side project, Paths of Possession, October 4. The disc, Promises in Blood, was produced by Erik Rutan; in addition to Fisher, the band features guitarists Jay Fossen and Jack Goodwin, bassist Randy Butman and drummer Nick Goodyear. While the album is aggressive and the vocals are throat-shearing, the music is far more melodic than anything by Cannibal Corpse, bearing more in common with Scandinavian death metal. Tracks include "Butcher's Bargain," "Heart for a Heart," "Bring Me the Head of Christ" and "Bleed the Meek." ... As I Lay Dying, who'll embark on their first U.S. headlining run in late November with Norma Jean, Madball and A Life Once Lost, shot a video for the track "Through Struggle" on September 18 with director Lex Halaby (Chimaira, Killswitch Engage) at the Morell Meats Lot, an abandoned meat locker close to downtown Los Angeles. ...

Cradle of Filth's forthcoming "Peace Through Superior Firepower" DVD, which features footage shot during the band's gig in Paris in April, is slated to land in stores on November 1. The package will also include a documentary with behind-the-scenes footage in addition to several of the band's music videos. ... Killswitch Engage's forthcoming "(Set This) World Ablaze" DVD will hit stores November 22 and feature live footage captured during the band's July 25 gig at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts. ... Mushroomhead and Crossbreed have booked a Halloween tour consisting of four shows — none of which, ahem, is on Halloween. The bands play Lansing, Michigan, on October 26; Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 27; Toledo, Ohio, on October 28; and Cleveland on October 29. ... Instrumental Sacramento spazzcore duo Hella will release the double-DVD-and-CD package Concentration Face/ Homeboy, November 8. The band will be on tour with System of a Down and Mars Volta through October 11 in Fresno, California. Shows with Primus weirdo Les Claypool will follow. ... According to a post by drummer and running enthusiast Dave McClain on his band's Web site, Machine Head are "now officially in 'writing mode' for the next album." The band's been at it a few weeks now, and McClain's got " 'that' feeling again about some of the stuff we're working on." We'll assume "that" feeling's a killer one. ...

King's X will hit the road starting October 19 in Birmingham, Alabama; dates run through November 6 in Ferndale, Michigan. ... Connecticut's Hatebreed have been together for 10 brutal years, and to celebrate, they'll be hitting the road for the 10 Years of Brutality Tour, with Most Precious Blood, Full Blown Chaos, Gizmachi, If Hope Dies and Manntis in the warm-up slots. So far just 14 dates have been firmed up, and those start November 1 in Burlington, Vermont, and run through November 23 in Orono, Maine. ... Melodic Detroit street-metal band Abandon will enter the studio next week to start working on their second album, much of which is already written. The group's debut, In Reality We Suffer, came out in April. Abandon will open for recently resurrected Christian rockers Stryper October 1 in Mount Clemens, Michigan. ... Alaska's 36 Crazyfists are working on new material, which should surface in early 2006 in the form of the band's forthcoming, as-yet-untitled disc. ... Montreal deathcore sextet Despised Icon hit the road Thursday night in Nashville with Suffocation, Cryptopsy and Aborted; dates run through November 7 in New York. ... London death/black-metal band Akercocke have finished their fourth infernal album, Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, which will come out in early 2006. ...

After 12 years in the band, Crisis bassist Gia Wang has left due to family commitments. Group pal Nick Weitzel will fill in for the Exodus tour, which starts October 1 in Bakersfield, California, and runs through November 5 in Santa Clara. In November, Crisis will hold auditions for their new full-time bassist. ... Grindcore veterans Bolt Thrower have named their eighth album Those Once Loyal. The disc hits stores November 15 and features "At First Light," "Entrenched" and "Granite Wall." ... German power-metal band Primal Fear's forthcoming Seven Seals will drop October 15 and include "Evil Spell," "Demons & Angels" and "The Immortal Ones." ... Hard-rock legends Deep Purple will release their next album, Rapture of the Deep, November 1. The follow-up to 2003's Bananas features "Back to Back," "Before Time Began" and "Money Talks." ... Italian black-metal mavens Aborym will release their fourth album, Generator, before the end of the year, according to the band's label, Season of Mist. Look for it to include "Suffer Catalyst," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "Man Bites God."

• Diecast
• Hella
• Killswitch Engage
• Cradle of Filth
• Hatebreed

Ozzfest: A Look Back

• Rob Zombie
• Mudvayne
• Iron Maiden
• Black Label Society
• Andrew W.K.

Roadrunner United 12.15.2005

• Slipknot
• Stone Sour
• Hatebreed
• Murderdolls
• Deicide

Ozzfest at the CTNOW.com Meadows Music Centre in Hartford, CT 07.10.2004

• Slipknot
• Slayer
• Otep
• Lacuna Coil
• Lamb of God

MTV2 Headbangers Ball Tour April 1, 2004 at Roseland Ballroom in New York City

• Hatebreed
• Damageplan
• Drowning Pool
• Unearth

Ozzfest 2002 In Boston, MA

• System of a Down
• P.O.D.
• Rob Zombie
• Down
• The Apex Theory