Meshuggah
Photo: Nuclear Blast Records

It's been three long years since we've heard anything new from Meshuggah, but on March 11, the Swedish experimental-metallers return with what's maybe the first metal album of 2008 that deserves a solid listen. The follow-up to 2005's Catch Thirty-Three, obZen is the product of a year's worth of writing and marks something of a regression for the band, according to guitarist Mårten Hagström.

"We had this vision to make a dense album that was going back to the old songwriting structure we'd been using, where it'd have songs that were linked to each other by a common thread but still had a different identity," he explained. "Now, listening back to the album, that's something I think is the best part of the album, that we pulled that off and managed to get the diversity in there — if you can call what we're doing 'diverse,' with the kind of aggression that's involved. But we aimed to make an album that had that severe, aggressive quality to it. We wanted to get back to the sheer intensity of what we do, but really, it was all a semiconscious thing for us.

"I think this album's a little more direct than the previous ones," he continued. "It's more back to the in-your-face brutality of our older records and has a lot of qualities of what we've done over our career."

obZen features just nine songs, including "Combustion," "This Spiteful Snake," "Dancers to a Discordant System" and the first single, "Bleed." Within the next month, Meshuggah plan to shoot a video for the track, with director Patric Ullaeus (Dimmu Borgir, In Flames) behind the lens. The band is still looking over treatments for the clip. According to Hagström, the band got off to a sluggish start when it came to writing and recording obZen, but eventually the guys hit their stride.

"We started out messing around with new material quite a long time ago, and at the beginning, it was slow-going — but then, it kind of snowballed, which it tends to do with us," he said. "The recording process was similar to what it's usually like for us, but this album was weird in a way. It took a bit longer to write this record, and working on it was pretty gruesome, because we had the usual adversities bands face going into the studio."

One thing Hagström didn't anticipate was how challenging it would be to play the songs live. "That rarely comes this much into play, but we really anticipated that it would be a lot easier to replicate these songs than it has been," he said, adding that obZen is one of the most highly technical offerings the band has ever put to tape.

Meshuggah opted to self-produce the album because they wanted to have more control over the entire process. And while Hagström says the band is more than thrilled with the final result, he has no idea how fans will react to it.

"It's always hard to tell what the reaction will be to our records," he said. "It always takes me a while, personally, to get perspective on an album — to know what I think of it. But we're really happy with it, and I guess that's all that counts. You can only do something that really satisfies you. Then, if people like it, that's an added bonus. You always love to see an album do well — it would be weird to make music and not want people to here it. But if the record doesn't sell a ton, it's not the be-all [and] end-all for us."

Meanwhile, Hagström said he's not at all impressed with the current state of metal and hopes obZen will inject some much-needed inspiration into a scene that he believes is turning bland.

"I could say there's a lot of sh-- out there I don't like, and that would be true," he said. "On the other hand, it's a situation where there's a lot of generic, formulaic music out there, and I'm hoping we can help create a countermovement, a strong one. The last two years, I haven't been listening to much metal at all — when you're recording and writing, you tend to block out what other bands are doing," so their work doesn't bleed into your own.

In late March, Meshuggah will hit the road with Ministry for that band's send-off run. Dubbed "C U LaTouR," the trek kicks off March 26 in Calgary, Alberta, and is set to wrap May 9 in Chicago. Hemlock are also on the bill. Hagström said Meshuggah signed on with no hesitation when they were approached about the tour.

"It made a lot of sense to us to make it happen," he said. "It's going to be fun, and it's going to be nice to be out on the road with Ministry. It's a weird setup, as far as the bill goes — but weird in a good way. It appeals to us. And it's Ministry's farewell tour, which will be something people will remember anyways. And the audiences will be huge."

As far as what the band is doing this summer, Hagström said it'll be hitting the European festival circuit. So far, Meshuggah have no additional U.S. touring plans. Would the band be open to playing the Ozzfest again, as they did in 2002?

"I'm not sure," he said. "We definitely wouldn't pay to do it — that's for sure."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate and Blackmore's Night singer Candice Night will star in the upcoming horror movie "House of Eternity," which is slated for a fall theatrical release. The film, by New York independent production company Fires at Midnight, is about a newly married NYC couple who move to a country home in North Carolina, unaware of its sullied history and the evil that lurks there. Tate will make his acting debut as Alder Grayson, the story's villain, and Night will play his wife, an innocent woman whose fate is determined by the superstitious minds of the 1700s. " 'House Of Eternity' contains something for everyone," Night said in a statement. "[There are] memorable characters struggling against powers far greater than they; desperate, heart-pounding action [scenes]; innovative approaches to classic horror; even humor and a forlorn love. Plus there's a villain who will become timeless." Jonathan Williams and Jarrod Feliciano are directing "House of Eternity," and J. Andrew Colletti is the writer and executive producer. ...

Droid, Ill Niño, Soil and Bobaflex will launch the Guerilla Carnival Tour on January 31 in Cleveland, with dates running through February 24 in Sayreville, New Jersey. "We are really excited to get back out on the road, and the Ill Nino guys are good friends of ours, so it will be great to see them rip it up every night," Droid singer James "Buddy" Eason said in a statement. "I really like the fact that all the bands on this tour are a little different than each other musically. Get ready. Here comes the pain." ... Papa Roach are in their rehearsal studio writing songs for the follow-up to 2006's The Paramour Sessions and will begin recording shortly. "I can't really comment on what it will be like because we still have so much time," guitarist Jerry Horton wrote on the band's MySpace page late last year. "Rest assured that it will have groove." ...

Arsonists Get All the Girls — whose bassist Patrick Mason died November 30 at age 21 — have replaced him with their old friend Adam Swan. "All of us have known Adam for years, and we couldn't think of anyone else better fit for the job," guitarist Arthur Alvarez said in a statement. "Patrick will never be replaced as our bass player, but we are forced to move forward as he would have wanted. He will always be in our hearts." The band has also hired guitarist Derek Yarra following Nick Cardinelli's decision to pursue a different career. "We have no hard feelings and wish him the best of luck," Alvarez said. "He will always remain a close friend, whether it is in the band or not." Arsonists Get All the Girls' first show with Swan and Yarra will be February 9 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. They have additional gigs scheduled through February 28 in Denver. ...

Kingdom of Sorrow, the side project featuring Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta and Crowbar/Down guitarist Kirk Windstein, will launch their first tour February 27 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Thy Will Be Done will open shows on the trek, which will run until March 7 in Detroit. "This tour will be killer," Jasta said in a press release. "If you like it loud, we hope to see you there. We are all pumped to be playing small clubs and bars." Kingdom of Sorrow's self-titled debut, co-produced by Jasta and Zeuss (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall), comes out February 19. ... Static-X frontman Wayne Static married adult-film actress Tera Wray on January 10. The couple met at Ozzfest last summer. ...

Washington, D.C., metalcore band Darkest Hour will shoot a concert DVD at a show in Richmond, Virginia, on their tour with Cephalic Carnage, Emmure and Whitechapel. "The reason we choose Richmond is because, simply, motherf---ers in Virginia are crazy, and we wanted to document how Virginia parties for the world," the band wrote in a post on its MySpace page. ... What could be better than a March 25 re-release of legendary Swedish melodic death-metal band At the Gates' classic 1995 album, Slaughter of the Soul, featuring six extra songs? The same disc with a bonus live DVD. The previously unreleased set was shot in Krakow, Poland, on December 30, 1995, when the band was touring with Unleashed. The DVD will also include the documentary "The Making of Slaughter of the Soul." ...

Brazilian thrash band Chaosfear have started pre-production for their second, yet-untitled album, which is tentatively scheduled for release later this year. The follow-up to 2007's One Step Behind Anger will feature the return of original guitarist Edu Boccomino. "We are very excited," drummer Danilo de Freitas said in a post on the band's Web site. "The songs have the same energy as usual, and I believe that they are more aggressive. With the second guitar, everything is sounding heavier and there is more focus on solos." ... Keith Baxter, the original drummer for British folk-metal band Skyclad, died from liver failure in an English hospital on January 4. He was 36. Baxter played on five albums with Skyclad before joining the successful rock band 3 Colours Red and performing on two of their records. He also played with Elevation and Therapy?

• Meshuggah
• Queensryche
• Papa Roach

Dark Tranquillity
Photo: Lindor Tidang

For the past 14 years, Dark Tranquillity have been at the forefront of Gothenburg, Sweden's melodic-death-metal scene. But as bands there began copping the style, it became harder for the pioneers to remain ahead of the pack.

On past efforts, such as 2002's Damage Done and 2005's Character, Dark Tranquillity trumped their peers by making their songs as multifaceted as possible. Guitar riffs were stacked to the sky, synth breaks abounded and melody splashed through the bludgeoning constructions like hot fudge through a banana split. But for their upcoming album Fiction, which comes out April 24, the band has taken a different approach.

"We wanted to take a step back and not focus on making things as involved or complicated as they could be," singer Mikael Stanne said. "We thought, 'Let's experiment more with each song instead of trying to make each song chock-full of things.' "

The technique worked. Fiction is eclectic, immediate and enticing. It's still musically accomplished, with finely honed riffs and well-crafted arrangements that veer from sweeping classic metal to pummeling black metal, but the constructions on songs like "Nothing to No One," "Terminus" and "Icipher" remain coherent, no matter how many pinch harmonics or goth keyboards swim through the mix.

"We really didn't want to do the same thing over and over again," Stanne said. "Rather, we wanted to focus on what felt important in each song and to focus on each individual emotion and feeling. So, when we started making a really heavy song, we put all our effort into making it as heavy as possible instead of mixing it up with all the fast stuff and technical stuff. It was fun and it was actually very liberating to work that way."

In addition to embracing a different music-writing technique, Stanne approached his lyrics differently as well. Instead of addressing the frustrations in his own life, as he had in the past, he wrote about imaginary scenarios — hence the album title.

"I came up with fictional characters and put all my feelings and problems on these individuals," he explained. "And I was actually able to be more personal and honest than ever before because I could get everything out without getting too close."

While Dark Tranquillity had the skeletons of four songs together early last year, they switched into serious writing mode in April 2006 and spent the ensuing five months writing and fine-tuning. "We wanted to make sure everything was perfect before we entered the studio in October," Stanne said.

Once the songs were written, the bandmembers entered keyboardist/ electronics manipulator Martin Brändström's studio to record. Since there were no studio expenses and the bandmembers handled the initial production work, they could spend as much time as they wanted on the songs. "We really deconstructed and reconstructed the songs over and over so we could explore them from all angles," Stanne said.

By the end of 2006, Dark Tranquillity were happy with all 10 songs on Fiction, but when they listened back to the recordings, they couldn't believe what they heard. The songs that sounded so good while they were jamming didn't translate, and for a while, they wondered if they were going to have to redo the entire album.

"It was so depressing," Stanne said. "The songs had no effects and no compression and were totally flat-sounding. And we were like, 'This is horrible.' It sounded like crap. So we were really nervous when we gave the files to our producer, Tue Madsen."

There's a saying that everything can be fixed in the mix. Usually that's not true — as many bands will attest — but in Dark Tranquillity's case, the axiom was proven correct: Once Madsen finished tinkering and tweaking, Fiction sounded as epic and resounding as any of the band's releases.

"When we got the actual mix, we were so happy it was ridiculous," Stanne said. "Tue Madsen is definitely the star player on this one."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi and bassist Geezer Butler, along with former members Ronnie James Dio and drummer Vinny Appice — the four musicians who comprise the new band Heaven and Hell — will sign copies of the new Black Sabbath collection The Dio Years April 3 at the Best Buy on 44th at Fifth Avenue in New York. The signing will take place between 6 and 7 p.m., so get there early, folks. ... After months of writing, Meshuggah have finally begun recording their forthcoming album, which, they assure, "will rock your flea-ridden socks off." The band is hoping to have the disc finished in time for a September release. ... Soil, Seemless and Ligion will hit the road together this May for the True Rock Tour, a 17-date trek that kicks off May 1 in Cudahy, Wisconsin. Dates are scheduled through May 27 in Evansville, Wisconsin. ...

Dates for Bury Your Dead's upcoming spring run with Suicide Silence, Since the Flood and Stick to Your Guns have been announced. The trek will launch April 20 in Rochester, New York, and run through June 2 in Asbury Park, New Jersey. ... South Carolina's Through the Eyes of the Dead need a frontman. While the departure of singer Anthony Gunnells remains something of a mystery, the band — which is currently working on its next album, Malice, with producer Erik Rutan (Goatwhore, Cannibal Corpse) — is in desperate need of a "professional, dedicated vocalist willing to tour the world and able to relocate immediately." Sound like you? Contact the band through its MySpace page for more information on how to audition. ... Season of Mist Records has signed German black-metallers Naer Mataron. In a statement, the bandmembers said they've "composed the harshest and most extreme music [we] ever had for our new album. We are more strong and enthusiastic than ever before and feel that we are also supported henceforth in the same spirit. To this point, we wish to extend our salute to the hordes that supported our black-metal war machine throughout the last 13 years." There's no title or release date for the album yet. ...

Clutch will load up the van this spring to tour in support of their forthcoming From Beale Street to Oblivion. The road trip will commence May 11 in Washington, D.C., and crisscross the U.S. before winding down May 26 in San Diego. ... Black-metal maelstroms Angelcorpse have finished recording their fourth studio LP, Of Lucifer and Lightning. Look for the effort to feature "Antichrist Vanguard," "Machinery of the Cleansing" and "Saints of Blasphemy" when it hits stores in the coming months — a firm release date has not been revealed yet. In the meantime, East Coast fans can catch the 'Corpse in May on tour with Watain and Nachtmystium. ... Norwegian extreme-metallers Manngard have begun tracking their yet-untitled sophomore album. According to the band, this next one "promises to be even more massive, twisted and evil than the debut," last year's Circling Buzzards. ...

Overkill frontman Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and Hades axeman Dan Lorenzo have teamed up to form a new band, the Cursed. The band's inaugural offering, Room Full of Sinners, will land in stores May 22. Look for the set to feature "Evil, in the Bag," "Serpentine Slither" and "Leven Als God in Frankrijk." ... Thrash dudes Thine Eyes Bleed have started working on their next album. "We are now a few days into the drums and they sound amazing," the band said in a statement. "The tracking room is nice and spacious with high ceilings and pine walls creating great acoustics. [Drummer] Darryl [Stephens] has been shredding his drum tracks so far, letting us know this is gonna be some brutal sh--. As for the rest of us, 'Guitar Hero' has been the main focus so far, enhancing our hand-eye coordination." No word yet on when the LP might see the light of day, but we'll keep you posted. ... Vital Remains, Light This City and With Passion will join forces for a spate of spring North American gigs. The tour is tentatively set to kick off May 23 and conclude June 24, but exact cities and dates will be announced soon. Vital Remains will issue their next one, Icons of Evil, April 24. ...

Drummer Tom Hunting has returned to Exodus. According to a band statement, "it was always understood that when and if Tom was ever ready to resume his drumming duties for the band, his seat would be waiting." Hunting left Exodus in 2005 and was replaced by legendary drummer Paul Bostaph — who, incidentally, had recently left Slayer when Dave Lombardo rejoined that fold. "Paul always knew this and was the first to say it upon joining the band. Paul and Tom have always been good friends and we, as a band, cannot thank Paul enough for his services on [2005's] Shovel Headed Kill Machine and all the subsequent tours he did to support that album. We had a great time and kicked many asses along the way. Paul has given this reunion his whole-hearted endorsement with no mixed blessings and is happy to see Tom back in the fold." Exodus are "hard at work on new songs, and this sh-- is the best and heaviest music we've ever written." The boys plan to begin tracking in May. ... Norwegian black-metallers Mayhem will tour the States this summer. So far just six dates have been confirmed for the run: July 17 (Santa Ana, California); July 18 (West Hollywood, California); July 20 (Seattle); July 22 (Chicago); July 23 (New York); and July 24 (Springfield, Virginia). More shows are expected to be announced soon. On April 24, Mayhem's new album Ordo Ab Chao will be in stores. The LP features eight songs, including "A Wise Birthgiver," "Psychic Horns" and "Anti."

• Meshuggah
• Clutch
• Soil
• Seemless
• Bury Your Dead

Kittie
Photo: Kiss of Infamy

When London, Ontario, metal vixens Kittie titled their 2004 album Until the End, they had no idea how close they were to actually breaking up.

Eight months after its release, the band was without a label, and guitarist Lisa Marx and bassist Jennifer Arroyo subsequently quit because they were unable to pay their bills. They were the fourth and fifth musicians to leave the Kittie clan since the group's 1996 formation, and for six months, the future of the band was in limbo.

"It looked a little bleak when it was only [drummer] Mercedes [Lander] and I," frontwoman Morgan Lander admitted. "We're not the White Stripes. We can't get away with just guitar and drums. So we thought about leaving the band and getting an education or getting jobs. There was a lot of sadness and tears, but there was also a lot of creativity. And we ultimately decided that this is where our hearts lie and we couldn't do anything else."

Once they decided to persevere, the Lander sisters hired unsung local guitarist Tara McLeod and bassist Trish Doan, and spent 18 months writing over a dozen viciously melodic songs inspired by the stress and uncertainty they had endured with their former lineup. Funeral for Yesterday, which comes out February 20 on their own Kiss of Infamy Records (distributed through EMI), delivers on the promise Kittie first made 10 years ago, but never exactly kept. Gone are the rough edges and musical redundancies of former efforts, replaced by a new professionalism and a desire to put the past aside and move on.

"In order to have rebirth, you must have death," Morgan explained. "So, all of the songs are about the demise of the former band, the resurrection of something new. It's really about letting go of what's already gone and putting everything negative or unfortunate to rest."

Funeral for Yesterday was written and recorded without a deadline, and the extra time gave Kittie the opportunity to hone their arrangements and musicianship. It didn't hurt that the new members' skill levels dwarfed those of their predecessors. McLeod is equally capable of playing rapid Metallica-style chugs and textural Evanescence-esque washes — and she can also solo. And Doan's bass lines are tight and tasteful, straying just enough from the root rhythm to retain their own personality.

"They're both amazingly talented girls," Lander said. "And they're totally down to earth. Also, they've never experienced anything like this, so they have this naive excitement that Mercedes and I used to have. They're just thrilled to be here. They don't care about money or politics or the music business."

The new level of artistry and enthusiasm motivated Lander, whose vocals on Funeral for Yesterday are spiteful and soaring — simultaneously seductive and harsh. In addition, the minor-key backup harmonies are as sinister as those of Alice in Chains. And when she wants to, Lander can still spew death-metal vocal venom, as on "Never Again" and "Last Goodbye."

"On the last few albums we've had this strange divide where one song would be all full-out scary screaming metal and then we'd have a hard rock-ish ballad song," she said. "This time I wanted to blend the two styles together where you have the music of something really thrashy and heavy, but there's melody overtop."

Despite the obvious improvements, Kittie still face an uncertain future. Much has happened in metal since Until the End was released, and it's unclear if the band's former fanbase will still be there. It's also not yet known how well their label will be able to promote Funeral for Yesterday. Still, Lander looks to the days ahead with more enthusiasm than trepidation.

"Taking your future into your hands is very scary, but it's also really empowering," she said. "Yes, we've been out of the loop for a while, but I think the entire ordeal was a learning experience that allowed us to find ourselves. And now we're ready to come back with a vengeance."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Meshuggah have been writing material for their forthcoming, yet-untitled album. According to a statement from the band, Meshuggah are "putting together a kind of demo to see where we are at material-wise and basically give the studio, the songs and us a test run. We are swimming in dark waters that constitute putting an album together, and whatever we find beneath the surface is definitely gonna be interesting. Suffice to say that we're in a weird but inspirational period right now. It's all gonna be about the writing during November. The demo recording is hopefully happening in December. We've got no working title or concrete [album] cover ideas yet, but it's getting there." The LP could be out as early as the spring. ... The dates for Slayer's upcoming North American tour with openers Unearth have almost been finalized. The 22-date trek will kick off January 24 in Tucson, Arizona, and end February 24 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. One date, January 26, is still TBD. ...

Drummer Adrian Erlandsson has decided to leave Cradle of Filth in order to spend more time working on his two side projects, Needleye and Nemhain. According to a statement from Erlandsson, "I have enjoyed my time with Cradle but it is now time to move on. I feel I am going out on a high note, as Thornography is definitely our best album to date." In his place, Cradle have enlisted Martin Skaroupka, who the band says is "a fine gent whose skills are second to none." ... Mastodon's upcoming U.S. run with Priestess and Converge is starting to take shape. At this stage, the tour's set to launch January 26 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and stops are planned in 20 cities, including Nashville; Minneapolis; Washington, D.C.; and Providence, Rhode Island. The outing's set to wrap up February 18 in Norfolk, Virginia. ... Canadian power-metallers 3 Inches of Blood have begun work on the follow-up to 2004's Advance and Vanquish. The band has entered Armoury Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, with producer Joey Jordison, better known as the drummer for Slipknot. ...

Byzantine are expected to hit the studio early next month to track the follow-up to 2005's ... And They Shall Take Up Serpents. The band will take a two-week breather from the recording of the LP to head out with God Forbid, Mnemic, Goatwhore and Arsis for a tour that gets under way February 2 in Atlanta and runs through February 17 in Rochester, New York. Then it's back to the studio to finish the effort, which is slated for release next year. According to frontman OJ Ojeda, "If this album doesn't kick our first two albums' asses, something is wrong! Some songs are pure thrash, some songs are off-time as hell and some songs are depressing and dark. This album will be our finest effort." ... Thrash-metal specialists Demiricous have been added to the lineup for this year's Chimaira Christmas 7, which will go down December 27 at the House of Blues Cleveland. Chimaira, of course, will headline the gig. Forever in Terror and Bowel are also on the bill. ...

Zombi will hit the road later this month for their first headlining run. The trek will be in support of Surface to Air, which was released back in May. Zombi have recruited Icy Demons, Maserati and an experimental jazz project featuring Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman and Chris Pennie to open. The trek kicks off November 29 in Washington, D.C., and concludes December 9 in Buffalo, New York. ... Deicide were victimized by a vandal during a gig in Santa Ana, California, on November 8. Someone — purportedly a member of opening act Amon Isis — entered Deicide's prep room and damaged some of the band's personal belongings, in addition to some of the club's property. Deicide are pursuing legal action against Amon Isis, according to a statement from the band. ... Poison the Well are in Sweden, where they've been working on their next album, which will be titled Versions. "Once again, [we] will be working with [producers] Pelle Henricsson and Eskil Lövström (Refused, Cult of Luna)," reads a statement from the band, who have just signed with Ferret Records. "We're pretty excited to finish this record up and expecting to have a release date early next year."

• The Great Metal Debate

• Kittie
• Cradle of Filth
• Meshuggah

Poisonblack
Photo: Veli-Veikko Elomaa/ Century Media

Poisonblack's Ville Laihiala says the band's forthcoming second album Lust Stained Despair sounded "like sh--" the first time he heard it. The band recorded the LP more than two years ago, but it didn't quite live up to the ex-Sentenced frontman's standards. "That's the reason why we postponed it," he explained. "And also, I opened a bottle, and it stayed open for six months, so that was also a reason."

But this spring, the Finnish gothic metallers headed back into Tonebox Studio, in the band's hometown of Oulu, Finland, to record several new tracks and revisit others. "We recorded three new songs and some additional keyboards here and there, and then I flew to Denmark to mix it, so it would sound the way it sounds right now," Laihiala explained. "I am happy with it now. Everything feels great. We know we have a pretty strong album that we really feel honest about, and we've been rehearsing like apes."

The album, which is due in stores August 22, features 11 mind-melting tracks, including "Hollow Be My Name," "Soul in Flames" and "Pain Becomes Me." The singer said he tried to make the lyrical content "clever, and talk about getting rid of stuff through sex and whatever, because when I was 12, the only two things I had in life were music and masturbation. I know what I was thinking when I wrote those things, and the lyrics should have their own meaning to people."

But the follow-up to 2003's Escapexstacy is a different sound for Poisonblack, according to Laihiala. "We were really trying to find a sound of a band playing live," he said. "Obviously, we wanted to do effects with keyboards. But there's only two rhythm guitarists, and we don't sound like eight guitarists live." So the album needed to sound more simplified than the band's debut offering.

Last month, Poisonblack shot a clip for the track "Rush," even though Laihiala didn't want to. "I've always hated doing them, because I think they're a waste of money. Obviously, I care about how it looks — that it's not us eating diapers or whatever. But still, it doesn't play a big role in this [band]. It's not the reason why people do music."

This fall, Poisonblack will tour Europe in support of Lacuna Coil — the trek begins September 22 and runs through November 8. Laihiala said he'd eventually like to tour the U.S. but added that "in the past, we've had a lot of issues with alcohol, and I kind of have this weird feeling of self-confidence to go back out on tour, but not too much immediately — I need to adjust my head again to the bus and that lifestyle."

Laihiala says he has managed to get his drinking under control, and gone are the days when he'd be drunk for three weeks straight, eating nothing but potato chips. But that doesn't mean he doesn't still like to imbibe.

"Some of us, including myself, drank booze for the wrong reasons," he said. "We dealt with those reasons, and the level of alcohol use is pretty much the same as it used to be — but for the right reasons."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Norma Jean's forthcoming album Redeemer has, after numerous scheduling changes, an official release date: September 12. Look for it to include "A Small Spark vs. a Great Forest," "The End of All Things Will Be Televised" and "No Passenger: No Parasite." ... As I Lay Dying frontman Tim Lambesis has teamed with Metal Blade Records to start his own imprint, High Impact Recordings. "After being on tour for the past five years, I decided I should start a record label," he said. "I've met so many amazing musicians and I know this is the right way to give exposure to those bands I believe in." The label's first signing, A Love Ends Suicide, is a progressive-metal band from Covina, California. Its sophomore album, In the Disaster, will come out September 5. ... Venom have started rescheduling the North American tour they canceled this week due to immigration problems. The tour was due to get under way in New York on August 13. DevilDriver had been tapped as the support act but will not be appearing with Venom on the rescheduled dates, which, so far, includes September 5 in New York; the following day in Springfield, Virginia; and September 8 in Philadelphia. ...

Experimental Swedes Meshuggah will reissue their classic 2002 album Nothing on October 31. The frantic, brutal disc will include a bonus DVD featuring frantic, brutal performances from the band's recent European tour. ... It's looking like November 21 will be the day the next Killswitch Engage LP lands in stores. The New England metallers have yet to come up with a title for the effort. ... Shai Hulud, who recently reunited, have signed with Metal Blade Records. There are no details yet regarding the band's forthcoming debut outing for the label. ... Orthodox black-metallers Watain have booked studio time and plan to start recording their third LP soon, with plans to finish the effort "during the last death spasms of 2006," according to the band. The disc, for which a release date hasn't even been hinted at, will include "eight songs of darkest metal magic" and, "as a warning of what is to come," Watain have posted a sample of a track called "Storm of the Antichrist" on their Web site. ... Brooklyn, New York, hardcore dudes Most Precious Blood will begin working on new material in the next few weeks. The band hopes to release the tentatively titled Do Not Resuscitate in late 2007. ...

This Is Hell have welcomed guitarist Chris Reynolds to the fold; Reynolds, formerly of Scraps and Heart Attacks, replaces Joe Osolin, who jumped ship last month. In other comings and goings, bassist Jeff Tiu has also left the group so that he can attend medical school and get married. The band has already replaced him with former Subterfuge member John Moore, who will make his live debut with the band on August 23. ... American death-metallers Arsis will release their new one, United in Regret, on October 24. Eyal Levi (Daath) produced the effort. ... Byzantine and Demiricous will team up next month for a brief run of Midwest gigs, starting September 20 in Cincinnati. The brief tour's final date will be September 28 in a venue and city still to be determined. ... Viking metal band Unleashed will release their eighth studio full-length Midvinterblot this fall. "Our mission is to create one of the most memorable records in the history of death metal," frontman Johnny Hedlund said in a statement. "The songs will be anthems in the true traditional Unleashed way and will have you screaming along with the choruses." The band's last disc, Sworn Allegiance came out in 2004. ...

The new Blind Guardian video for "Another Stranger Me" can be viewed here. The clip depicts a detective several seeds short of a full melon, searching for a murderer who may be the sanest person in the video — excluding the bandmembers. "It has very vivid power," singer Hansi Kürsch said in a statement. "The song is about a schizophrenic person who discovers his multiple eyes and tries to find a way out." "Another Stranger Me" is the first priority track from the kraut band's new album A Twist in the Myth, which comes out September 5. ... Austrian killjoys Belphegor will release their sixth album Pestapokalypse VI on October 31. The disc was written over the last 11 months and produced by Andy Classen (President Evil, Krisiun). "Never before have we spent so much time in the rehearsal room, and never before have we put so much energy [into] our new material," said singer and guitarist Helmuth. Pestapokalypse is our masterpiece so far. Hell awaits." Tracks include "Belphegor - Hell's Ambassador," "Seyn Todt in Schwartz" and "Bluhtsturm Erotika." ...

Some Girls will be hitting the road with the Plot to Blow up the Eiffel Tower starting October 5 in San Francisco. Dates are scheduled through November 19 in Tucson, Arizona. ... Alabama Thunderpussy will enter the studio next month to start working on their next album, tentatively titled Open Fire. The disc, due in the spring, will be recorded at Etching Tin Studios in Richmond, Virginia, with engineer Ian Whalen. It will be Alabama Thunderpussy's first offering to feature new singer Kyle Thomas, who replaced Johnny Weils in May. ... The first video from North Carolina doom band Daylight Dies, for the track "Lies That Bind," has been posted at the band's MySpace page. The clip was filmed on location near Raleigh and directed by Ramon Boutviseth. "It was a scorching-hot and humid summer day," drummer Jesse Haff said on the site. "We filmed inside a filthy, decaying building complex and later moved on to a rickety wooden salt-mine platform." The song can be found on the band's second studio album, Dismantling Devotion, which came out in March.

Where do your favorite metal bands rank on our list? Find out in the feature "The Greatest Metal Bands of All Time."

• Poisonblack
• Meshuggah
• Shai Hulud
• Norma Jean
• As I Lay Dying

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

Oasis' <I>Don't Believe the Truth</I>
Photo: Epic

The competition for the #1 spot on the albums chart is always tough. Luckily for Oasis, the Gallagher brothers know a thing or two about putting up a good fight.

Manchester, England's notoriously volatile rockers will release Don't Believe the Truth this week, the band's first album since 2002's Heathen Chemistry. The LP, which features writing by all four members, is led by the debut single, "Lyla."

Fans of New Orleans-bred trio Better Than Ezra have been waiting four years for the group's first album of new material since 2001's Closer. Before the Robots is the fifth studio release from the band, best known for the hit single "Good" off its 1995 debut, Deluxe.

Joining their British "next big thing" brethren are Maximo Park. Already a hit across the pond, their first album, A Certain Trigger, is another addition to the dance-infused, indie-rock catalog that seems to be growing by the day thanks to the success of such bands as Franz Ferdinand and the Bloc Party.

Icelandic chanteuse Björk releases her album of remixes and covers, Army of Me. In an effort to raise money for UNICEF, the singer decided to compile 20 remixes of her song "Army of Me," off 1995's Post, and release them all on one disc, with the proceeds going directly to the charity.

Also out this week are albums by Meshuggah (Catch Thirty Three), Daz Dillinger (Gangsta Crunk), Amusement Parks on Fire (Amusement Parks on Fire), Four Tet (Everything Ecstatic), GWAR (Live From Mt. Fuji), Layzie Bone (It's Not a Game), Kottonmouth Kings (Kottonmouth Kings No. 7) and Oppera (Oppera).

Out Tuesday, May 31:

• Alio Die & Jack or Jive - MEI-JYU (Projekt)
• Amusement Parks on Fire - Amusement Parks on Fire (Reincarnate Music)
• Autumn's Grey Solace - Riverine (Projekt)
• Better Than Ezra - Before the Robots (Artemis)
• Björk - Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (One Little Indian)
  Buy Now: Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (One Little Indian)
  
• Peppino D'Agostino and Stef Burns - Bayshore Road (Favored Nations)
• Daz Dillinger - Gangsta Crunk (Gangsta Advisory)
• Electronicat - Voodoo Man (Disko)
• Four Tet - Everything Ecstatic (Domino)
• Connie Francis - Sings the Standards - Live! (Artemis)
• GWAR - Live From Mt. Fuji (DRT Entertainment)
• High & Mighty - 12th Man (Eastern Conference)
• The Hurt Process - A Heartbeat Behind (Victory)
• Kottonmouth Kings - Kottonmouth Kings No. 7 (Suburban Noize)
• Layzie Bone - It's Not a Game (Cleopatra)
• The Levellers - Truth and Lies (Eagle Rock)
• Malente - Rip It Up (Unique)
• Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger (Warp)
• Meshuggah - Catch Thirty Three (Nuclear Blast)
• Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth (Epic)
  Buy Now: Don't Believe the Truth (Epic)
  
• Oppera - Oppera (Dunda Chief)
• Sherwood - Sing, but Keep Going (SideCho)
• Smog - A River Ain't Too Much to Love (Drag City)
• The Stares - Spine to Sea (Mimicry)
• Supagroup - Rules (Foodchain)
• Thrones - A Day Late, a Dollar Short (Southern Lord)
• Tosca - J.A.C. (!K7)
• Twisted Tower Dire - Crest of the Martyrs (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Clubber's Guide to Deep House (Cleopatra)
• Various artists - Soundtrack to "Rock School" (Calvin)
• DVD: "Made in Sheffield" (Plexifilm)
• DVD: "Moog" (Plexifilm)
• DVD: Chic - "Live at Montreux 2004" (Eagle Rock)
• DVD: George Clinton/ Parliament/ Funkadelic - "Live at Montreux 2004" (Eagle Rock)
• DVD: Imperial Crowns - "Preachin' the Blues: Live!" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Ana Popovic - "Ana!" (Music Video Distributors)
• DVD: Puddle of Mudd - "Live at the Key Club - Striking That Familiar Chord" (Eagle Rock)
• DVD: Sadaharu - "New and Alternative Careers in Dance" (Music Video Distributors)

June 7:

• Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business (A&M)
  Read: "Black Eyed Peas: 'Mad All Over The Place' "
  Buy Now: Monkey Business (A&M)
  
• Coldplay - X&Y (Capitol)
  Read: "Coldplay Album Preview: X&Y A Complex Stadium-Rocker"
  Buy Now: X&Y (Capitol)
  
• White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  Read: "White Stripes Album Preview: Confounding Satan Both Loud And Subtle"
  Buy Now: Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
  

June 14:

• Backstreet Boys - Never Gone (Jive)
  Buy Now: Never Gone (Jive)
  
• Brian Eno - Another Day on Earth (Hannibal)
• Foo Fighters - In Your Honor (RCA)
  Read: "Foo Fighters Album Preview: Grohl Gets Grand On In Your Honor"
  Buy Now: In Your Honor (RCA)
  

June 21:

• Master P - The Ghetto Bill Gates (Koch)
• Ol' Dirty Bastard - The Definitive Ol' Dirty Bastard Story (Rhino)
• Transplants - Haunted Cities (Atlantic)

• Oasis
• Meshuggah
• Björk
• Layzie Bone
• Daz Dillinger

As I Lay Dying (file)
Photo: Metal Blade

For metal fans, San Diego metallers As I Lay Dying's forthcoming sophomore release, Shadows Are Security, is one of 2005's most eagerly awaited pieces of polycarbonate plastic. Due June 14 — just over a month before the band takes the stage for the first date of Ozzfest on July 15 — Shadows, according to frontman Tim Lambesis, showcases a more at-ease As I Lay Dying.

"Last time we were a little bit rushed and, being a new band, budget was always an issue," he said. "This time around, we were able to do what we wanted. There are natural progressions in the way we play our instruments: Jordan [Mancino], believe it or not, has somehow gotten better at drums, and I think the guitars are quite a bit more technical. The biggest focus, on my end, was the arrangement of the songs. Because the material was a little more technical; there was a lot more melody to it. I wanted to make sure it was still very memorable, and arrangements are a big part of that."

As reported last week, the band recently shot a video for the album's first single, "Confined," at an abandoned Air Force base in Tustin, California. Lambesis promised the video would have "a lot to do with the lyrics," saying it's "about how we put so much time and effort into so many different things, and how at a moment's notice, everything can change."

More than 14 hours of performance footage was shot — in the rain — of the band, and that will be interlaced with what Lambesis called "eye candy" shots ("Some real tight, zoom-in-type stuff, and even some slow-mo") as well as "concept stuff of a kid who you can tell has spent all day really working on a piece of art, with chalk. You see the sun setting in the background and the storm coming in, but the kid's so wrapped up in his work, he doesn't notice it. And then, in a moment, the rain hits and it's all washed away."

The rest of the week's metal news:

In a Metal File exclusive, the fourth mystery producer behind Roadrunner Records' forthcoming Roadrunner All-Stars disc — which is expected to contain original tracks that are the product of collaborations between past and present members of the label's roster — has been revealed. Joining producers/composers Joey Jordison of Slipknot, Dino Cazares of Fear Factory and Machine Head's Robert Flynn will be Matt Heafy of Trivium. All four musicians will not only play on the songs they've written, but will assemble a team of artists to record the tracks. ... Philadelphia's Tapping the Vein will hit the studio next month with producer Neil Kernon (Cannibal Corpse, Nevermore) to start working on the follow-up to 2002's The Damage. Look for an early 2006 release through Nuclear Blast Records. ...

Ill Niño are putting the finishing touches on their still-untitled third album. The disc will be released August 30 and is being co-produced by guitarist Dave Chivarri with Eddie Wohl. "This is the most progressive and in-depth record we've ever made," said singer Christian Machado. "We experimented with a lot of African percussion and chants while making the riffs a lot more intricate." The band's last disc, Confession, came out in 2003. ... Southern California's Manntis, featured on the show "Battle for Ozzfest," will release their debut album, Sleep in Your Grave, on June 28. Manntis will launch a tour with Otep, Devilinside and Days End on June 1 in Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Dates run through June 23 in Columbia, Missouri. ... Highbrow noise merchants the Minor Times are now part of the Prosthetic Records kith. The label will re-release the band's second offering, Making Enemies, on July 27; look for record three sometime next spring. ...

Swedish experimental-metal legends Meshuggah re-upped with Nuclear Blast this week; the label will release the band's newest effort, Catch Thirty-Three, on May 31. ... Hardcore act Every Time I Die's forthcoming Gutter Phenomenon will include 11 fresh tunes, including "Guitared and Feathered," "Gloom and How It Gets That Way," "The New Black" and "Apocalypse Now and Then." The album's set for an August 23 release through Ferret. ... Drowningman's Don't Push Us When We're Hot will see release on August 23 as well and will feature cleverly titled tracks like "Major Disappointment, Reporting for Duty." ... The Red Chord's video for "Antman," off of their latest release, Clients, will debut on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" this weekend, but you can also check it at theredchord.com. ...

Hungarian folk-metal band Ektomorf will release their sixth album, Instinct, on June 14. Tracks include "Set Me Free," "The Holy Noise" and "You Get What You Give." ... Experimental space-metal band Sunn0))) are working on their fourth album, White-1, in Magnetic Park studios in Oregon. Track titles include "My Wall" and "The Gates of Ballard." ... Thrones — a.k.a. Joe Preston (Melvins, Earth) — will release his fourth album, Day Late, Dollar Short, on May 31. It will be Preston's first offering in five years. ... Sweden's Burst have been busy working on Origo, which will see a fall release through Relapse. Frederick Rheindahl and Henrik Lipp are producing the effort, which bassist Jesper Liverod characterized as "an exaggeration of everything that Burst is about" and "urgently important to us." ... Norwegian progressive-metal band Communic will release their debut, Conspiracy of Mind, on June 28. The band includes ex-Scariot singer Oddleif Stensland and drummer Tor Atle Andersen. ...

Finnish melodic power-metal band Thunderstone will release their third record, Tools of Destruction, on June 28. The album was produced by Nino Laurenne and mixed by Timo Tolkki. ... Floridian death-metal mechanics Paths of Possession have signed with Metal Blade. The band is fronted by Cannibal Corpse singer George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, and its self-titled debut should be available later this year. ... Symphorce have been working on their fifth album, GodSpeed, at the House of Music studios with producer Dennis Ward (Angra). Look for it September 12. ...

• As I Lay Dying
• Meshuggah
• Ill Niño
• Every Time I Die

Korn's Jonathan Davis
Photo: Amy V. Cooper

Hello metal children, what's up? Iann Robinson here with this week's Metal File. Well the New England Metal and Hardcore festival was the complete package I hoped it would be. Big props to Scott Lee for organizing the thing and making it run like clockwork, not to mention picking amazing bands. I hung out there and filmed a lot of acts. Hopefully those bands will make MTV News and "Headbangers Ball" next week.

There were too many groups to just slap into highlights, but if I were forced to I'd have to say Lamb of God, Shadows Fall, Himsa, Hate Eternal, Premonitions of War, Pig Destroyer, the Haunted, Lacuna Coil (she is so hot it's almost painful), Killswitch Engage, Unearth and Shai Hulud, and of course the newly reunited Suffocation were awesome to see back in action. The Suffocation guys gave me a song they'd just written, and it kills, trust me. I also got a burn of a new album from a band called Tragedy, which I was stoked about because it features former members of one of my favorite bands, His Hero Is Gone. I can't wait to tear into that. Other than the festival, little is going on; just getting stoked for the Nuclear Blast reunion — that'll be killer. Well, until next time, metalers, I'll see you at the shows:

Rob Zombie returns to the chair this week, hosting "Headbangers Ball" from the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. Zombie talks to members of Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Meshuggah, Hate Eternal, Superjoint Ritual, Eighteen Visions and Shadows Fall on the show, which premieres Saturday at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT on MTV2. ... Speaking of Lamb of God, the band recently a shot a video for the song "11th Hour" off of its new album, As the Palaces Burn. ... Korn and Nickelback will play at the Labatt Blue Hometown Bash on August 16 in London, Ontario. Other acts include Simple Plan and Three Days Grace. ...

Morbid Angel have reunited with original singer/bassist Steve Tucker and have been locked in a studio recording their new album. ... Slayer's War at the Warfield DVD has been pushed back for production reasons to July 29. ... Former Stabbing Westward frontman Chris Hall and ex-Star 69 bassist Warren Huart and drummer Johnny Haro have formed a band called the Dreaming. The group is recording demo material with Bryan Carlstrom, who engineered Stabbing Westward's Darkest Days. ...

Rock City Morgue, the new project of former White Zombie bassist Sean Yseult, will release the six-song EP Some Ghouls on June 10. The record will include a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Shattered" as well as the originals "Beware," "Cut You Loose," "Get Out of My House," "Falling Apart" and "Guilt Trip." ... Producer Matt Bayles (Isis, Mastodon) is mixing Burnt by the Sun's The Perfect Enemy of the Good in Seattle. The band recently finished recording at New Jersey's Trax East Studios. ... Vader have announced a fall tour with Nile, Kreator, Amon Amarth and Goatwhore. ...

Orange County, California, metalcore merchants Eighteen Visions will embark on a U.S. tour supporting Strung Out in August. ... The Icarus Line will be recording their new full-length in London with Kevin Shields of Primal Scream fame. ... Arch Enemy/Mercyful Fate bassist Sharlee D'Angelo has teamed up with Mercyful Fate/King Diamond guitarist Mike Wead, Dream Evil/King Diamond drummer Snowy Shaw and Simon Johansson of Memory Garden/Abstrakt Algebra in a new band called Firegod. No singer has been announced yet. ... Stabwound have signed to Brutal Bands Records for a two-album deal. ...

—compiled by Iann Robinson, Ryan J. Downey, Jon Wiederhorn and Robert Mancini

• Korn
• Lamb of God
• Slayer
• Killswitch Engage
• Meshuggah

Mariah Carey shot a video for "Bringin' on the Heartbreak" in Los Angeles recently. "American Idol" judge Randy Jackson appears in the clip along with Dave Navarro, who plays guitar on the song, first made famous by Def Leppard. ...

Hip-Hop Summit Action Network Chairman Russell Simmons has sent an open letter to President Bush asking him to reconsider his hawkish stance on Iraq. In the letter, the hip-hop mogul urges Bush to let the U.N. inspectors do their job without establishing a deadline for war, and states, "Domestically, Mr. President, rampant poverty is on the rise ... we in the hip-hop community know and feel the pain, misery and wretchedness of the social condition of our communities. Now with the prospect of a multi-trillion dollar federal budget deficit, an unnecessary war on Iraq is only going to increase the cold damp hands of social dereliction that have a deadly choke hold on too many Americans across the nation." ...

Da Brat is finally ready to make her comeback with an album this summer. The LP's first single, titled "In Love Wit Chu," finds the Chi-Town rapper talking about the bliss she feels with her Mr. Right. That cut will hit radio soon. ... MC Lyte will release her new album, Underground Heat Vol.1, on May 27. The video for the first single, "Ride Wit' Me," features cameos by Queen Latifah, Da Brat, Erick Sermon and Jamie Foxx, who "hosts" the album, recorded at his Foxx Hole studio. ...

Experimental metal bands Meshuggah and Strapping Young Lad will sweep through North America for a 23-date tour beginning April 25 in Seattle and wrapping up May 17 in Worcester, Massachusetts, at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival. Meshuggah's latest disc, Nothing, came out in August, and Strapping Young Lad's new one, SYL, was released February 11. ... Thanks to some cracked vertebrae and whiplash, Hate Eternal frontman Erik Rutan is heading home to Florida and canceling the remaining dates of the band's current tour. While en route to a Wisconsin tour stop, the onetime Morbid Angel guitarist was in a weather-related accident which totaled their van but left his bandmates unharmed. "We apologize to the fans and the promoters," Rutan said via a statement, "and we will be back [on tour] as soon as possible to make up for this." ...  

The Eels are prepping for the release of their new album, Shootenanny!, by offering fans a chance to hear one track a week via their Web site (www.eelstheband.com) until the LP's release in June. ... After two years of work, Guster are ready to release their fourth LP, Keep It Together. The band will begin touring at the end of March in support of the June release. ...

03.11.03

Numerous 2003 NAACP Image Awards were awarded to musicians on Saturday. India.Arie won Outstanding Female Artist and Outstanding Duo or Group (with Stevie Wonder), LL Cool J won Outstanding Male Artist, Ashanti took Outstanding New Artist and Mary J. Blige took Outstanding Music Video (for "No More Drama"). The event was held at the Universal Amphitheatre in Hollywood, and will be broadcast on Thursday at 8 p.m. on Fox. ...

Blink-182, Puddle of Mudd, 311, Def Leppard, Sum 41 and Trapt have been lined up for this year's Rolling Rock Town Fair. Set for July 26, the event will be staged at Heinz Field, home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. ... The Flaming Lips will launch their first headlining tour in support of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots on April 15 in Athens, Georgia. The band, which toured last fall with Beck, will wrap the trek May 4 in Urbana, Illinois. ...

New York metalcore powerhouse Sworn Enemy, whose forthcoming major-label debut, As Real As It Gets, was produced by Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta, have been added to this year's Ozzfest festival. Up-and-comers Motograter have also joined the second-stage lineup. ... Black metal mavericks Mayhem created a little more carnage than they bargained for at a recent show in Norway. While carving up a dead sheep onstage, the band lost control of the head and the thing rocketed out into the crowd, smacking square into Per Kristian Hagen's head and fracturing his skull, according to the Associated Press. The concertgoer later said, "My relationship to sheep is a bit ambivalent now. I like them, but not when they come flying through the air." Hagen has filed involuntary assault and battery charges against the band, which has offered him a free ticket to its next show. ...

String Cheese Incident, Gov't Mule and Karl Denson's Tiny Universe are headlining the first Suwannee Bound festival on April 19 and April 20 in Live Oak, Florida. The North Mississippi Allstars, Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Charlie Hunter are also on the bill. ... Garbage, Beth Orton, Travis frontman Fran Healy, Evan Dando, Echo & the Bunnymen singer Ian McCulloch and others still to be announced will perform at the One Big No anti-war concert at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London on Saturday. Yoko Ono and Badly Drawn Boy are expected to deliver video messages at the event, the proceeds from which will go to the Stop the War Coalition and the Council for Nuclear Disarmament. ...

TheDoors' Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger have been hit with another lawsuit from another drummer. Stewart Copeland, formerly of the Police, is seeking $1 million from Manzarek and Krieger for breaching an oral contract to use him for the upcoming Doors 21st Century tour and album. Original Doors drummer John Densmore sued the group earlier in the year for using the Doors name without his consent. ... The debut album from Amphibious Assault, the solo project of former Kittie guitarist Fallon Bowman, has been pushed back. District 6, which features a guest appearance by Bowman's fellow Kittie expatriate Talena Atfield, won't be released until sometime in the spring, according to the group's official Web site. …

• Mariah Carey
• Russell Simmons
• Da Brat
• Meshuggah
• eels

Scarface
Photo: Def Jam

While "XXX" may not be that type of movie, the two-CD soundtrack sure sounds sexy, featuring music by Nelly, Queens of the Stone Age, N.E.R.D. and Moby.

Also out Tuesday (August 6) is yet another project from Damon Albarn (Gorillaz, Blur). This time he's teamed up with some of the finest musicians from the African nation of Mali to create a sound that they simply call Mali Music.

Plus, it's finally time for embattled Project Pat to lay da tracks down. After at least four months of scheduling changes and pesky imprisonment hang-ups, Layin' Da Smack Down finally gets released this week alongside Trick Daddy's Thug Holiday and Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band's King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents.

Also look out for Libertineby Gene, Scarface's The Fix, MTV's "Road Rules"soundtrack featuring songs by Jimmy Eat World, Unwritten Law and Hoobastank, and from the file of "When bad album titles happen to good artists," Jean Grae's Attack of the Attacking Things.

Out Tuesday, August 6:

• Vicente Amigo - City of Ideas (Windham Hill)
• Analogue II - Oh Perfect Masters (Rubric)
• Astrobotnia - Part 3 (EFA-CAR)
• Jim Brickman - Love Songs & Lullabies (Windham Hill)
• Dee Dee Bridgewater - This Is New (Verve)
• Buc Fifty - Bad Man (Battleaxe)
• The Buzzhorn - Disconnected (Atlantic)
• Cage - Movies for the Blind (High Times)
• Carissa's Wierd - Songs About Leaving (Sad Robot)
• Color Red - Clear (RCA)
   Read: "Color Red Learning From Ant Farm But Still Haven't A Clue About Their Name"
• Cruxshadows - Wishfire (Dancing Ferret)
• Dälek - From the Filthy Tongue of Gods and Griots (Ipecac)
• Dani Girl - All Me (Rockboy)
• Deep Purple - Who Do We Think We Are (Rhino)
• Diary of Dreams - Freak Perfume (Metropolis)
• DJ Joe - A Mover ... (Cutting)
• DJ Sammy - Heaven (Robin's Ent.)
• DJ Sangeet - DJ Sangeet (EFA-CAR)
• Foreigner - Double Vision (Rhino)
• Foreigner - Head Games (Rhino)
• Kevin Fowler - High on the Hog (Tin Roof)
• Gene - Libertine (iMUSIC)
• Martin Gerschwitz - Lazy Afternoon (Silica)
• Golden - Apollo Stars (Touch & Go)
• Jean Grae - Attack of the Attacking Things (Third Earth Music)
• Kind of Like Spitting - Bridges Worth Burning (Barsuk)
• Kitchens & Bathrooms - Utter a Sound (Sonic Unyon)
• Mack & Jamie - Extreme Channel Surfing (Uproar)
• Mali Music - Mali Music (Honest Jon's/Astralwerks)
• Ray Manzarek - Freshly Dug (Ozit Morpheus)
• Mastretta - Mastretta (Minty Fresh)
• Meshuggah - Nothing (Nuclear Blast)
   Read: Meshuggah Deliver Something For Nothing
• Stephan Micus - Towards the Wind (ECM)
• Allison Moorer - Miss Fortune (Universal South)
• No Secrets - No Secrets (Jive)
• Off by One - Off by One (MCA)
• Opium Jukebox - Bhangra Bloody Bhangra: A Tribute to Black Sabbath (Underground Inc.)
• Pietasters - Turbo (Fueled by Ramen)
• Project Pat - Layin' Da Smack Down (Loud)
   Read: "Project Pat Digging Street Love, Layin' The Smack Down"
• Ray Makers - Phantom Third Channel (Transistor)
• Riddlin' Kids - Hurry Up and Wait (Aware/Columbia)
• Jack Russell - For You (Knight)
• Sasha - Airdrawndagger (Kinetic)
• Scarface - The Fix (Def Jam)
   Buy Now: The Fix (Def Jam)
  
• Sixteen Horsepower - Folklore (Jet Set)
• Sole Music Presents - Homecookin': Do What You Wanna Do (Sole)
• Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band - King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents (King Biscuit)
• Stretch Princess - Fun With Humans (Wind-up)
• Steve Tibbetts - A Man About a Horse (ECM)
• Trick Daddy - Thug Holiday (Slip-n-Slide/Atlantic)
   Read: "Trick Daddy Celebrating Thug Holiday In August"
   Buy Now: Thug Holiday (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
  
• Unleashed - Hell's Unleashed (Century Media)
• Various artists - Amnesia Ibiza (Groovilicious)
• Various artists - Baadasssss Cinema: The Sounds of Blaxploitataion (TVT)
• Various artists - Body + Soul: Ladies Got Soul (Time Life)
• Various artists - Critical Mass Vol. 3 (Metropolis)
• Various artists - Cuts: Session 002 (Groovilicious)
• Various artists - Dance Mix NYC Vol. 2 (Tommy Boy)
• Various artists - Fluid Ounce: Unmeasured (Ubiquity)
• Various artists - Hi-Fidelity House Vol. 4 (Guidance)
• Various artists - Notes from Thee Real Underground Vol. 4 (Underground Inc.)
• Various artists - Om 100 (Om)
• Various artists - Pitamaha: Music From Bali (Amulet)
• Various artists - Real Deal (Bomb Hip Hop)
• Various artists - Total Lee: The Songs of Lee Hazelwood (Astralwerks)
• Various artists - "24 Hour Party People" soundtrack (London)
   Read:"Kurt Loder Weighs In On '24 Hour Party People' "
• Various artists - Soulful House Experience (Nervous)
• Various artists -"Spy Kids 2" soundtrack (Milan)
• Various artists - Trance Mix USA Vol. 3 (Radikal)
• Various artists - "The Kid Stays in the Picture" soundtrack (Milan)
• Various artists - "The Last Minute" soundtrack (Palm Pictures)
• Various artists - MTV Road Rules: Don't Make Me Pull This Thing Over Vol. 1 (Roadrunner)
• Various artists - "Providence" soundtrack (MCA Nashville)
• Various artists - "XXX" soundtrack (2 CDs, Universal)
• Phil Vassar - American Child (Arista)
• Jeff "Tain" Watts - Bar Talk (Columbia)
• The Wildweeds - The Best Of: No Good to Cry (Confidential)
• Victoria Williams - Sings Some Ol' Songs (DualTone)

August 13:

• Brad - Welcome to Discovery Park (Redline)
• Slum Village - Trinity: Past, Present and Future (Priority/ Capitol)
• Keith Sweat - Rebirth (Elektra)

• Lady May - May Day (Arista)
   Read: "Lady May: Savage Hip-Hop Straight From the Suburbs"
• Maná - Revolución De Amor (Warner Music Intl.)
• Murderdolls - Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
   Buy Now: Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls (Roadrunner)
  
• Orbital - Work 89-02 (FFRR/ WSM)

• Erykah Badu - TBD (EP, Motown)
• Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash - Distance Between (Ultimatum)
• BBMak - Into Your Head (Hollywood)
   Buy Now: Into Your Head (Hollywood)
  
• Beenie Man - Tropical Storm (Virgin)
• The Black Crowes - The Black Crowes Live (V2)
• Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol)
   Buy Now: A Rush of Blood to the Head (Nettwerk/ Capitol)
  
• The Dillinger Escape Plan - Irony Is a Dead Scene (EP, Epitaph)
• Dixie Chicks - Home (Open Wide/ Monument/ Columbia)
• Eve - Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
   Read: "Eve, Alicia Keys Team Up For Some 'Gangsta Love'"
   Buy Now: Eve-olution (Ruff Ryders/ Interscope)
  
• Gus Gus - Attention (Moonshine)
• Aimee Mann - Lost in Space (Superego)
• Mudhoney - Since We've Become Translucent (Sub Pop)
• Ms. Jade - Girl Interrupted (Beat Club/ Interscope)
   Read: "Ms. Jade's 'Big Head' Is Meant To Move Your Big Butt"
• Queens of the Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)
   Read: "Queens Of The Stone Age Flex Their Star Power"
   Buy Now: Songs for the Deaf (Interscope)
  
• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic)
   Read: "Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates"
• Stone Sour - Stone Sour (Roadrunner)
   Read: "Corey Taylor Insists His Other Band Is No Slipknot Jr."
• Trina - Diamond Princess (Slip-N-Slide/ Atlantic)
   Read: "Diamond Princess Trina Recruits Tweet For 'No Panties' Single"
• Viva Death - Viva Death (Vagrant)

• Christina Aguilera - TBD (RCA)
   Read: "Christina Aguilera: Not Your Puppet"
• Cassius - Au Rêve (Astralwerks)
• Ladytron - Light & Magic (Emperor Norton)
• Nine Days - So Happily Unsatisfied (Epic)
• OK Go - OK Go (Capitol)
• Shadows Fall - The Art of Balance (Century Media)
   Read: "You Hear It First: Shadows Fall"

• Trick Daddy
• Scarface
• Meshuggah
• Project Pat
• Sasha

Ozzfest: A Look Back

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