In Flames' <i>Sense of Purpose</i>
Photo: Koch Records

The first thing you notice about In Flames' forthcoming album, A Sense of Purpose, has to do with aesthetics. It's vibrant and multihued, brimming with bright colors, which is to say, it's not very metal at all — at least not very death-metal.

But according to guitarist Björn Gelotte, In Flames wanted to buck the deep reds, depressing browns and dreary blacks that blanket most LPs churned out by bands of their ilk. "It's important for us to do something different when it comes to the artwork," he said.

The band commissioned Alex Pardee to handle the cover, which he based around a crude labyrinth game featuring a board punctured with 36 holes and a small metal ball. The object of the game is to avoid these holes. According to the band's rep, the game "represents life and the holes represent difficulties you may face during your lifetime." The cover depicts a small boy in an owl mask trying to get to the end of the labyrinth. Throughout his journey, he encounters various monsters and characters he tries to avoid.

"It's too easy to be categorized just because of your album artwork," Gelotte said. "I like that it has a lot of colors in it, because it just makes it easier for us to do cool artwork for the stage shows and for our merch. And the cover actually makes sense when you listen to the lyrics. But yes, people aren't used to aggressive metal bands having colors on their albums. It's supposed to be black-and-white with a corpse on there and blood, and that's death-metal, you know? But it doesn't always work like that. We've done that, and we've moved on."

It's doubtful that other death-metal bands will follow suit, but then again, In Flames have always been the kind of band that sets trends instead of following them. After all, the Swedish metallers are considered pioneers of what has become known as the Gothenburg sound, and they've influenced scores of other musicians since forming back in 1990.

"That makes me feel really old sometimes," Gelotte said with a chuckle. "Most of the bands that sort of sounded like a rough copy of In Flames on their first demos have evolved into something of their own, and that's all that matters. You always have to take what you're inspired by, mix your own juice with it and come up with something that hasn't been heard before. It's always been really cool, being an influence to someone else, and it's very flattering. You still want to see these bands evolve and have their own niche."

For In Flames, A Sense of Purpose, due in stores April 1, marks several firsts: It's the first LP they've recorded in their new studio ("A really cool place to hang out, with clean toilets," the guitarist said), which makes it the first album they've recorded without time constraints.

"It was comfortable for us," Gelotte said. "It was easy for us to get home after we'd finish tracking. And there was never another band knocking on the door, saying, 'Our turn.' It was really relaxed and there was very little friction. The whole process was extremely smooth, and we're super-psyched by the result."

The band is also on a new label, Koch Records, after putting out 2006's Come Clarity through Ferret. Perhaps it was the studio or their new working relationship, but Gelotte said this was also one of the first times that In Flames were perhaps a little too inspired.

"We recorded 16 songs this time, where usually we only track the songs we're going to put on the record," he said. "But we had a lot of inspiration this time around, which gives us a lot of bonus material for EPs."

The songs, too, aren't standard In Flames fare.

"We had a clear vision of how we wanted it to sound, so instead of having this really static drum sound, for instance, we wanted it to be really organic," he said. "The whole production should sound organic, like a live band playing. We also wanted to focus a bit more on the guitars, which is always fun for me. There are way more solos than we usually do. I'm excited about that, because we're not shredders — we do melodies and we do riffs."

It's going to be a busy year for In Flames, whose touring plans have already been booked through Christmas. They'll be heading out on this year's Gigantour come April 12 in Denver with Megadeth, Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy and High on Fire. That tour wraps May 22 in Phoenix. After that, it's back to Europe for the summer festivals, then they'll head to Japan and Australia. Sometime in late fall, the band plans to return to the States for a coast-to-coast headliner.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Shadows Fall will embark on a headlining run this April, with Kataklysm, the Showdown, Arsis and Droid in the support slots. The trek commences April 13 in Buffalo, New York, and is set to conclude April 26 in Worcester, Massachusetts. ... Divine Heresy, Sworn Enemy, From a Second Story Window, With Blood Comes Cleansing and Dance Club Massacre will be joining forces — also in April — for a 10-date run that kicks off April 19 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and wraps April 30 in Rochester, New York. ...

On April 29, Roadrunner Records will be reissuing a classic. Life of Agony's 1993 LP River Runs Red will be repackaged with several bonus tracks and a DVD. The bonus tracks include "Here I Am, Here I Stay," "Depression," "3 Companions" and "Plexiglass Gate." ... So much for Brain Drill — the band seems to have thrown in the towel. According to a MySpace post from guitarist Dylan Ruskin, the split all comes down to weed. He claims he advised the rest of the band to leave their marijuana at home before their last tour, but that advice was ignored. He said the band was pulled over by police in Utah recently, and the boys — and their van — were searched. While they weren't charged, Ruskin said he later told the rest of the band to ditch the herb. They didn't, and when the band's van somehow ended up reaching the Canadian border, they were searched again — only this time, they submitted to body cavity searches. You can read the rest of this fantastic tale over at the band's MySpace page. ...

Nuclear Blast has signed extreme-metal masters Keep of Kalessin. The band's forthcoming album, Kolossus, will hit stores in June. ... The dudes in the Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza were met with some misfortune last week, wrecking their van in Texas, but the band's tour is carrying on. In a statement, the band said, "We were involved in an accident with a minivan, and it left us without a tour van. We just got the van for this tour, and we are still making payments. We left the van in a graveyard in [Texas], and a great friend in Plano was so kind to tag along with us and let us tour in her van. So the wreck has not stopped us [from] delivering the chart-topping hits."

• In Flames
• Life of Agony
• Shadows Fall

Dillinger Escape Plan
Photo: J Hubbard

New Jersey-bred maniacal metallers the Dillinger Escape Plan spent the end of last summer as part of Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine's inaugural Gigantour, sharing the bill with established, long-running bands that all sound, well, not as frenzied: Fear Factory, Nevermore, Life of Agony and Dream Theater, among others. While it was an experience the band's not so sure it would repeat, bassist Liam Wilson isn't harboring any regrets about the move.

"Our initial reaction [to the Gigantour invite] was, 'Well, that'd be a hoot — let's f---ing do it,' " he explained. "We're always looking for ironic ways to do what we do, and we knew that all the people on that tour and all the people watching that tour had never seen anything like what we bring to the table. We figured it could be awesome, and if not, we'll learn something and get our name out there in a weird way. It was a halfway decent way to spend the summer."

Really, hopping on the Gigantour train was sort of a last resort for the Dillinger dudes. "When we started planning our summer, somebody contacted us [and said], 'Do you guys wanna play with Lamb of God this summer?,' " Wilson recalled. "We were like, 'Not really.' A month and a half later, we realized that call was the Sounds of the Underground call, but it wasn't explicit. We had no idea it was going to be what it was."

Wilson's not sure what his band will be doing this summer. At the moment, he and the rest of the Escape Plan are writing material for the group's fourth studio LP, the follow-up to 2004's Miss Machine. The writing process has been stymied, as guitarist Ben Weinman's been sidelined for close to two months.

"He just had rotator cuff surgery, so he's just starting to be able to pick up his guitar and play it aggressively," Wilson said. Weinman has been enduring brutal physical rehabilitation and is constrained to a constant passive motion machine six hours a day. "He should have had [the operation] six months ago. It was an injury he sustained in a car accident. We're sort of the Dillinger Insurance Plan for the moment."

Wilson says the band could be back in tour mode by April, but there are no definite plans yet. For the time being, he says Dillinger will continue crafting fresh tracks for the forthcoming disc, which they hope to have out by the fall.

"I'd say there are three songs finished," he said. "It's kind of an intense writing process, and the stuff we have so far is pretty detailed. We're spending a lot more time on the individual parts, and it's building slowly. But once you've got the ball rolling, it takes off."

Wilson added that he hasn't heard about Dillinger being on this summer's Ozzfest, beyond some of the speculation that's been surfacing online in recent weeks.

"Would we do it? Maybe, but if we have to pay to be on it, chances are we won't," he said. "If we did do it, like anything else, it would be on our terms."

Two Dillinger DVDs are in the works: one featuring pre-Miss Machine material and videos and another filled with footage captured during the making and touring in support of Machine. He doesn't know when those two projects will materialize.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Sources close to the band have confirmed that Unearth will be rotating co-headliners on the second stage at this year's Ozzfest. ... New Jersey's E-Town Concrete are throwing in the towel after 11 years in the hardcore business. The band's final live gig is set for May 20 at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey. In a posting to the band's message board, frontman Anthony Martini wrote that the band "would rather go out with dignity than to quietly become irrelevant. Although this is difficult for all of us, sometimes the most admirable thing is knowing when to let go." ... King Diamond will start recording their next release in Dallas next month before heading to Gothenburg, Sweden, where they'll put the finishing touches on the effort. According to the band's Web site, the album could be finished this fall. No official release date has been unveiled. ... Deicide's forthcoming album, The Stench of Redemption, has been scheduled for a June 6 release. ... Demon Hunter, Zao, August Burns Red and Becoming the Archetype will hit the road together starting June 13 for a four-week jaunt that will make stops at the Cornerstone Fest in Bushnell, Illinois (set for July 5 through July 8), and at Michigan's Lifefest. ... Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider will undergo throat surgery on March 1, forcing the band to nix its previously scheduled appearance at this year's Atarfe Vega Rock Festival in Spain, set for March 10 and 11. Snider wrote in a band statement, "I have been told by my doctors that the recovery period will be about eight weeks." There's no word on what condition the operation will be correcting. ...

In Flames will be the in-studio guests on this weekend's "Headbangers Ball." ... Cretin's forthcoming debut LP, Freakery, will land in stores April 18 and feature 16 cuts, including "Daddy's Little Girl," "Cook the Cupcake" and "Making Roadkill." Repulsion guitarist Matt Olivo makes a guest appearance on the latter track. ... A Life Once Lost have announced that they'll be the headliners for an East Coast and Midwest trek launching sometime in April. Cephalic Carnage, Through the Eyes of the Dead and Scarlet will serve as the tour's support acts. ... Buffalo, New York's Herod will issue Rich Man's War, Poor Man's Fight March 7. It will include "Assimilation," "All Night" and "Lies and Betrayal." ... On April 4, death-metal legends Venom's latest, Metal Black, will hit record stores. The LP features 14 tracks, including "Burn in Hell," "A Good Day to Die" and "Lucifer Rising." ... Dragonforce have a new bassist to replace Adrian Lambert, who left the band last year to spend more time with his kith. The band's current touring bass-pounder Frederic Leclercq has been elevated to full-time member status. There's still no word on when the band's latest offering, Inhuman Rampage, will surface in the U.S., although the disc should see release before the summer. ...Thine Eyes Bleed are in the studio working on the follow-up to their debut, In the Wake of Separation. The band will start a tour with Darkness Rites in Oshawa, Ontario, March 13. Dates run through March 20 in Toronto, after which Thine Eyes Bleed will join Six Feet Under, Sworn Enemy and Animosity on the Crossroads to Armageddon Tour. Dates are scheduled from March 28 in Portland, Oregon, through April 9 in Wilmington, North Carolina. ...

Philadelphia instrumental prog-metal jazz freaks Dysrhythmia have finished working on their third album, Barriers and Passages, which is scheduled for release May 2. The trio recorded the disc at B.C. Studio in Brooklyn, New York, with engineer Martin Bisi. The album track "Appeared at First" is available at the band's Myspace page, MySpace.com/DysrhythmiaBand . ... Oakland, California NWOBHM-embracers Saviours will release their debut album Crucifire on May 16. The track "Invaders" will also appear on an upcoming metal compilation of the same name. Saviours features members of Santa Cruz emo band Yaphet Kotto and Oakland stoner group Drunk Horse. Saviours will tour the U.S. in March with Kalas. ... Boston dirge-rockers Defcon 4 will release their debut, File Under F---, this spring. The album was recorded by Today Is the Day frontman Steve Austin. Defcon 4 will tour the U.S. this spring. ... Three-quarters of the late Washington, D.C., band Carrion have resurfaced in the Wayward. The band, which plays a bizarre hybrid of Amphetamine Reptile-style noise, Dischord post-punk and epic prog rock, will release its self-titled debut this spring. The disc was recorded by ex-Anodyne frontman Mike Hill. ... Ex-Emperor bassist and ambient keyboard goblin Mortiis spent Valentine's Day remastering three of his early solo albums at Rubber Biscuit Studios in Nottingham, England. Fodt Til a Herske, Crypt of the Wizard and The Stargate will be released in April. In addition, the cryptic keyboardist will release his first DVD, "Soul in a Hole," which includes a full live set shot during his seven-week European tour to support The Grudge.

Get your MTV News fresh daily as a podcast — in video or audio. Click on or PC for more info.

• Dillinger Escape Plan
• Unearth
• King Diamond
• Life of Agony
• In Flames

Roadrunner All-Stars
Photo: Roadrunner Records

Anniversaries provide record labels with the perfect excuse to reissue albums you've owned for years, complete with fresh packaging and tons of extras you never knew you needed. There might even be a televised special, featuring some of the label's biggest artists singing duets together to promote those re-releases. But Roadrunner Records, which for 25 years has influenced and nurtured modern metal's evolution, took a different tack.

In addition to the requisite reissues (Coal Chamber's self-titled debut, King Diamond's Abigail, Killswitch Engage's Alive or Just Breathing among them), Roadrunner is releasing an epic collaborative effort to commemorate the milestone: Roadrunner United: The All Star Sessions, which hits stores on Tuesday.

United features more than 50 members of Roadrunner's roster, both artists who at one time called the label home and others that still do. Acts from the label's formative years — like black metallers Deicide, Brazilian thrashers Sepultura, goth-metal band Type O Negative and electronic metal stalwarts Fear Factory — through today's lineup of formidable metal bands, including Chimaira, Opeth and Trivium, are represented throughout the album's 18 tracks.

Each song on the disc was written by one of four "team captains," who entered various recording studios with the members of their core teams — two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer from the Roadrunner roster, but no one from the captain's own band — and recorded the tunes. Singers were summoned to write lyrics and record vocal tracks later on.

Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison was the first of the four captains (the others being Machine Head frontman Robert Flynn, former Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares and Trivium mainman Matthew Heafy) to be pitched the all-stars idea. He said it wasn't at all challenging to work with musicians he'd never met before on the five songs he penned.

"For me, I was just really honored to meet all of these artists who've really inspired me through the whole time growing up as a metal head, and helped shape me as a songwriter," he explained. His team consisted, at times, of former Vision of Disorder guitarist Matt Baumbach, Chimaira's Matt DeVries, Malevolent Creation's Rob Barrett and Obituary's James Murphy. "I wrote in five different styles for this album, and I'm just fortunate I got everyone on board I'd wanted for these tracks. It's been a great experience, and just meeting all these killer people helped me learn a lot."

It also provided Jordison with an outlet for the type of material he'd never bring to Slipknot. "The song 'No Way Out' with [Glassjaw's] Daryl Palumbo, 'Tired 'N Lonely' with [Life of Agony's] Keith Caputo, 'Enemy of the State' with [Type O Negative's] Peter Steele — these are all songs that I'd never approach Slipknot with," he said. "It was also a sort of token of my appreciation [to Roadrunner]. I'm glad to have been a part of it, and I considered it a fulfilling experience, as a whole."

The album features several musicians who cut ties with the label years ago, and whose splits with Roadrunner Records were both public and acrimonious. Take Life of Agony frontman Caputo, for instance.

"Well, Joey asked me to do it, and I completely respect him and was honored that he asked me," Caputo said. "I'm one of his favorite singers so that's a plus. It begins and ends with Joey, for me. We did a great song — it's exactly what we wanted, creatively speaking. Most importantly, I feel like I met someone who I can deeply connect with artistically and spiritually."

Caputo worked with Jordison over the course of a year on the track, and the two met for the first time only last week. "It was mostly phone calls back and forth, but we had a lot of different ideas," he explained, describing the track as "[Johnny] Cash on crack." "The song's bangin' and it's one of my favorite songs I've ever sung. Really, it's just cool that, after so many years and all the heartache, the horror stories, the headaches and the bullsh--, I'm at such peace in my life right now, and it's pretty cool I'm on a Roadrunner record again."

Baumbach's former band V.O.D.'s divorce from Roadrunner was even messier, but the guitarist, who's left the heavy behind with his newest project, the Current, said he's had ample time to heal those wounds. "I can look back and I know those years were really the best years for our band, the Roadrunner years, regardless of anything that happened label-wise," he said. "You forget about the crap."

While the album is perhaps the most fitting method for marking the label's 25th year, it could end up fostering an unintended result. Several of the artists who collaborated for these songs said the experience yielded the possibility for side projects — with many of the metallers proclaiming they'd either like to work together again or already have material which failed to make the disc on the backburner.

Fear Factory's Cazares said his sessions with Sepultura's Andreas Kisser, Soulfly's Roy Mayorga and Slipknot's Paul Gray left him with a pair of tracks recorded, and others written and waiting to be set to tape. "We'll see what happens," Cazares said. "We might end up forming a project out of it. The chemistry between us in the studio was killer. We were really surprised at how easy and fun it was. The vibe was so killer that we're seriously considering starting a whole other band. That's what's so great about this album, is that other projects could emerge from it. You know, we all basically share a connection. We know each other from touring, and we all share the same idea: metal."

As part of its 25th anniversary celebration, the label's also planning a concert for December 15 in New York, which will feature performances from the artists involved in United; no venue has been determined yet.

• Slipknot
• Glassjaw
• Life of Agony

Life of Agony's Keith Caputo (file)
Photo: Epic Records/Dan DeVita

Life of Agony had been making brutal Noo Yawk hardcore since the days when George W. Bush was busy mismanaging the Texas Rangers, but sometime around 1997, frontman Keith Caputo lost the fire and decided to ditch the band.

Fast-forward six years — past an aborted solo career — and Caputo was taking the stage with his former mates at New York's Irving Plaza for the first of two sold-out reunion shows. Suffice to say, his fire was about to be relit.

"We had two fabulous evenings of celebrating love, music and our fans," he said. "The relentlessness, the drive, the love, the family that never really left me, but it had to be brought back to the forefront. And those shows did it. It just felt right. How could it not?"

After those Irving shows — and the tour that followed — Life of Agony decided it was time to hit the studio. The result is Broken Valley, their first album in almost a decade. It's 10 tracks of the NYC thuddery they're known for, but with something extra: a maturity born of nearly 20 years in the game, of loss and of brotherhood.

"It's called Broken Valley because it's what Brooklyn [LOA's hometown] means in Dutch," Caputo said. "And because it works for this record. Our music has always been about struggles and stuff like that, but with these new songs, so much went into them. Everything leading up to this record was like walking through a broken valley of life."

Broken Valley hits stores May 31.

The rest of this week's metal news:

Look out, Ozzfest, because for the first time in 10 years, you'll face some stiff — scratch that, actual — competition from an impressive roster of beloved underground acts led by Clutch, Lamb of God, Opeth and Strapping Young Lad. The Sounds of the Underground festival takes to the blacktop June 25, with the last stop on the trek scheduled for August 1. More concrete dates are still being finalized, but sources said it will hit "all the usual cities." While organizers expect to add one more "heavyweight" headliner to the bill later this month, they have secured the likes of Poison the Well, High on Fire, Norma Jean, From Autumn to Ashes, Unearth, Every Time I Dieand Gwar for the tour's inaugural run. Tickets will set you back $30. ...

In related news, scheduling conflicts have forced the cancellation of an Ozzfest 2005 press conference tentatively planned for Tuesday, according to a publicist for the perennial summer metal festival. Official details on the tour's dates and lineup could emerge as early as next week. ... The Black Dahlia Murder's Miasma, which the technical death metal merchants began recording in Richmond, Virginia, with producer (and Scarlet drummer) Andreas Magnusson on Thursday, will be in stores July 12. According to singer Trevor Strnad, Miasma will feature nine or 10 songs, including "I'm Charming," "Miscarriage" and "Statutory Ape." The Dahlia will take 20 days to record Miasma, after which they'll load up the van for the upcoming King Diamond, Nile and Behemoth jaunt. ...

Southern noisecore veterans Soilent Green recently put the finishing touches on the long-awaited follow-up to 2001's A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down. The Eric Rutan-produced Confrontation will feature 15 brutal tracks, including "Leaves of Three," "Forgive and Regret" and "A Permanent Solution to a Temporary Problem." Look for it June 7. ... Ozzfest veterans Shadows Fall are touring the nation's sports arenas with Slipknot (whose album Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses - will be re-released April 12 with two new songs and six live tracks). The Massachusetts metalheads will make "a major summer tour announcement" in the next few days (wink, wink), according to a Century Media press release. The band just shot a video for the track "Inspiration on Demand" in Puerto Rico that will debut on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" this Saturday. ...

Metal's "it" band of the moment, As I Lay Dying, will join forces with Throwdown and All That Remains on March 24, the first of 19 dates on the band's upcoming North American Minions of Mosh run. The AILD boys recently finished tracking Shadows Are Security — one of the most eagerly awaited metal discs of 2005 — which should see the fuzzy fluorescent glow of retail June 14. On a related note, AILD's Tim Lambesis has signed Life in Pictures to his newly founded Pluto Records imprint, Clockwork. ... A week after confirming their split with guitarist Tripp Eisen — who was recently arrested on charges of kidnapping, sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a minor — Static-X leader Wayne Static announced on the band's Web site Monday that former guitarist Koichi Fukuda has rejoined the fold. ...

Seminal British metallers Motörhead — fronted by the always charming, always leather-clad Lemmy Kilmister — have teamed up with speed-punkers Zeke and American thrashers Corrosion of Conformity for a 16-date, high-octane American outing that commenced Wednesday at New Jersey's Starland Ballroom. The tour makes stops in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Seattle before screeching to a halt in Spokane, Washington, April 11. ... Metal experimentalists Nile have hired bassist Joe Payne to play their European tour, which started Wednesday in Manchester, England. The group will tour with King Diamond in the U.S. starting April 14 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The 19-year-old bassist replaced Jon Vesano, who quit in February due to personal and professional differences. Nile's fourth full album, Annihilation of the Wicked, is due May 27. ...

Ex-Deicide guitarist Eric Hoffman has joined Tampa, Florida, death metal band Unholy Ghost. The group is currently in pre-production for its second album, tentatively titled Blasphemy of the Grand Devine. Hoffman left Deicide in November following several no-shows for various tours. He was replaced on tour by former Cannibal Corpse axeman Jack Owen. ... Sevendust have hired ex-Snot and Amen guitarist Sonny Mayo to replace Clint Lowery, who quit the in December to join Dark New Day, which also features, ex-Creed bassist Brett Hestla on vocals, ex-Scrape drummer Will Hunt, former Stereomud bassist Corey Lowery and Double Drive guitarist Troy McLawhorn. Mayo's first show with Sevendust will be April 6 in Tampa, Florida. The band is currently at work on the follow-up to 2003's Seasons. Dark New Day's debut, Twelve Year Silence, is due this summer. ...

Korn and rapper Xzibit have recorded a cover of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" for the soundtrack for "XXX: State of the Union." The album will hit stores April 19, and the film, which stars Samuel Jackson, Ice Cube and Willem Defoe, comes 10 days later. ... German metal legends Accept will reunite this summer for a series of festival performances. The lineup will feature original members Udo Dirkschneider on vocals, Wolf Hoffman and Herman Frank on guitars, and Peter Baltes on bass. They will be joined by drummer Stefan Schwarzmann. The band will begin rehearsals later this month in Hanover, Germany, and its first show of the year is scheduled for April 25 in St. Petersburg, Russia. ...

Acrobatic extreme metal band Dillinger Escape Plan will join Slipknot for five shows, starting April 19 in West Valley City, Utah, and running through April 24 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dillinger Escape Plan will also take part in this year's Warped Tour, which kicks off in June. Other bands recently added to Warped include MxPx, Gogol Bordello, My American Heart and Dead 60's. Pre-sale for the event starts Tuesday. ...

• Korn
• Motörhead
• Black Dahlia
• Life of Agony

Hatebreed's Jamey Jasta
Photo: Universal Records

Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta will produce the next album by Agnostic Front. The renaissance metal man is working on pre-production at Planet Z studios in Massachusetts. Jasta will follow up that project by producing the debut album from the Autumn Offspring. ... Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian recently proposed to longtime girlfriend Pearl Aday, daughter of singer Meat Loaf, according to the band's Web site. Ian's fiancée recorded a duet with her father for his last album, which was co-written by Nikki Sixx, who once toured with Aday when she was a backup singer for Sixx's Mötley Crüe. ...

Lamb of God singer Randall Blythe has recorded guest vocals with Canada's female-fronted Bloodshoteye. Blythe will sing on "F.U.B.A.R.," from the group's album Without Any Remorse, due next month. ... Lubbock, Texas' Speedealer will launch a tour in Houston on February 6. Dates run through March 28 in Dallas. Bleed will support. ... Biohazard singer/guitarist Billy Graziadei and Kittie bassist Jennifer Arroyo have formed band called Rodek and recently recorded several demo tracks. Songs include "Undone," "Marching Backwards" and "Not My Year." ...

Brooklyn, New York's Life of Agony are set to embark on a monthlong trek with Flaw and Skrape beginning January 20 the state's capital, Albany Two dozen shows, though February 21 in Buffalo, have been scheduled thus far. ... Florida's Six Feet Under are set prove themselves King of the Roadkill with a three-week tour of the same name. The jaunt runs from January 31 in High Point, North Carolina, through February 17 in Louisville, Kentucky. ... Latin metal band Ill Niño will shoot a video for "This Time's for Real" next week in Spanish Harlem. The track is from the group's most recent album, Confession, which came out in September. ...

December have parted ways with singer/guitarist Mark Moots. His last show with the band was December 28 in Reno, Nevada. No reason was given for his departure. December, whose last album was 2002's The Lament Configuration, are seeking a replacement. ... England's Bolt Thrower are writing new songs for their yet-untitled eighth studio album, due by November. The band will support the release with its first U.S. tour in a decade. ... Fear Factory finished mastering their new Archetype this week in New York. Due April 2, the disc will be the group's first disc since the departure of founding guitarist Dino Cazares. ...

Even though Soilwork drummer Ricky Evensand has left his Swedish comrades to join Cleveland's Chimaira (who recently toured with Soilwork on the Pure Hatred Tour), there isn't any bad blood. "The guys in Soilwork gave me their blessing, so we will always remain good friends," he wrote on Chimaira's Web site. ... Haste have parted ways with singer Kelly Reaves, leaving co-vocalist Chris Mosley to handle frontman duties by himself. ... Converge will now release the tentatively titled You Fail Me, the follow-up to 2001's Jane Doe, through Epitaph and not Equal Vision Records. Vinyl will be handled by singer Jacob Bannon's Deathwish Inc. label. ... Scarlet's Cult Classic hits stores March 9 and will include the songs "Get Your Gun," "Suicide Soundtrack," "No One's Getting Out Alive" and "You're My Fix" among its 16 tracks. ...

Following reports of fisticuffs during a recent string of West Coast dates, Cleveland's Integrity have decided to go on indefinite hiatus. The band had been touring in support of To Die For, its first album of new material since breaking up a couple of years ago. ... Twelve Tribes have reinvented themselves as Prodigal Zoo and are working on an album called The Rebirth of Tragedy, due on Ferret Records in May. ... Most Precious Blood recently shot a video for "The Great Red Shift," from their newly released Our Lady of Annihilation, with director Dale Resteghini (Hatebreed). ... Dark Funeral will release a still-untitled live album March 29, their first release through a new deal with Regain Records, according to the band's Web site. ...

— compiled by Joe D'Angelo, Ryan Downey, Robert Mancini and Jon Wiederhorn

• Hatebreed
• Anthrax
• Lamb of God
• Six Feet Under
• Life of Agony

Roadrunner United 12.15.2005

• Slipknot
• Stone Sour
• Hatebreed
• Murderdolls
• Deicide