Five Finger Death Punch
Photo: The FIRM

Get a bunch of longhairs together, add beer, toss out the names of a few bands and, by golly, you'll have yourself a healthy — albeit profanity-filled — debate on the merits of what constitutes true, honest-to-goodness "metal."

It's something unique to the genre, because metal fans are among music's staunchest. They're the true definition of "dedicated," and when you enter such debates, you'd better come prepared. Metalheads — popular media portrayal aside — will back up their arguments with song titles, riffs, release dates, groupie names and analogies (i.e.: "They're metal like Godsmack are metal.")

Now, for some die-hards, but certainly not all, Five Finger Death Punch — which features former members of Motograter and W.A.S.P. — wouldn't quite make the metal grade. And that's fine. Everyone's entitled to an opinion — and Hungarian guitarist Zoltan Bathory, one of the band's founding members, has a couple of his own.

"We had a song ['The Bleeding'] that somehow touched so many people, and became really successful on the radio, but it's like a hate song, and it is pretty heavy," Bathory said of the single — which is hovering in the top 10 on the Active Rock chart — from their latest album, The Way of the Fist. "It's the lightest song on our record, but at the same time, we have really brutal pieces on this record.

"We have really heavy songs, and I think we're a straight-up heavy-metal band with a hint of thrash metal — maybe a hint of the Euro stuff in there, but that's pretty much what we are," he said, adding that mainstream rock radio shunned the band as "too brutal" for months before "The Bleeding" took off. "No one thought we'd have a chance for commercial success of any kind. For f---'s sake, guys, isn't that the plan? As a band, we are kind of walking the line, you know? If you're into Slayer, you buy this record, and you won't be disappointed, because we thrash pretty hard. But we have a [melodic] singer, so we please both worlds. I would hope that the real metalheads understand that and realize, 'Hey, this can be an opening for other bands to come,' and we can bring metal back to the mainstream."

The success of "The Bleeding" on commercial rock radio wasn't the work of a major label promo push, Bathory explained. Only a few jocks were spinning the record at first, and "it kind of spread like wildfire." People started calling in to request the track.

"No way I would ever compare us to Metallica, but it's kind of like when they did the black album, and then all of a sudden, everybody was like, 'Oh, it's not really Metallica,'" he said. "I admit I was one of the guys, but it was a moment of jealousy, because I thought, 'Now they will be really popular, and all the geeks will like them.' People can point at this band and say it's not 'real metal,' but I have confidence. A life's worth of work went into this record, and these are songs I've had forever. When I finished this record, I thought, 'I don't even care where this goes, because I love this record.' It's exactly what I wanted to say, and I'm really proud. There are Internet kids with lots of opinions — the dungeon dwellers that never left their bedrooms. If they're basing their opinion on ['The Bleeding'], yes, probably, people would say it's 'commercial rock.' "

It's been something of a crazy mercurial rise for Five Finger. Their debut album hit stores last July, and already they've done huge arena tours with the likes of Korn. Next up, the band will be touring with Disturbed before heading out with that band again on the inaugural Rockstar Energy Mayhem tour, with Slipknot and others.

"We have to be somewhat accessible," Bathory explained. "Disturbed is accessible to people. Korn is accessible to people. We are heavier than these bands. My crowd is people who love Pantera, Metallica, Maiden — all the Euro stuff; that's our crowd. If someone else doesn't like it, who cares?"

The guitarist said fans will need to wait some time for Five Finger's next opus, as he thinks they'll be out on the road for a while on this first release. But for now, before the guys head out with Disturbed, you can catch them on tour with Drowning Pool and Nonpoint, through April 23 in Norfolk, Virginia.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Death-metal legends Obituary have been forced to cancel their upcoming tour with Dying Fetus, Origin and Thy Will Be Done for "reasons beyond our control." They will reschedule the trek for this fall, the band said. ...

What better way to honor the memory of the great "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott than sporting duds he designed? Over on the Dimebag Hardware Web site, you can order threads created by the late Pantera shredder. It's been more than three years since Dime was gunned down at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio. ...

Last week, we brought you news on In Flames, and the colorful cover of their new LP, A Sense of Purpose. But now you can actually listen to the whole record on their MySpace page, before you buy it on April 1 — and you will buy it. ...

Another week, another band biting the dust: Michigan metallers Still Remains. Yep, they're done. In a statement, the band announced that its swan song would be at this year's Cornerstone Festival. "No, we don't hate each other or want to punch each other in the face," the band assured us. "It's just time for us to move on to different things in our lives." ...

Death Angel? Check. God Forbid? Check. Soilent Green and Light This City? Check and check. Ah, yes, another kickass tour, which kicks off in Flint, Michigan, on May 1, and runs through June 11 in New York. Guest list, anyone? ...

There's more hardcore in the house over at Century Media, following this week's announcement that the almighty Terror have inked with the label. Terror's third LP, The Damned, the Shamed, will hit stores on June 10. ...

Two of Neurosis' masterminds are readying solo efforts. Frontman Scott Kelly's second solo recording, The Wake, will be released May 5, and guitarist Steve Von Till's latest, the awesomely titled A Grave Is a Grim Horse, comes out two weeks later.

• Five Finger Death Punch
• Obituary
• Dimebag Darrell
• Pantera

As I Lay Dying
Photo: Metal Blade

As I Lay Dying, along with Killswitch Engage and Unearth, have been at the forefront of metalcore for the last five years. But according to frontman Tim Lambesis, the band's forthcoming LP An Ocean Between Us was largely influenced by what he perceives is the deterioration of the genre.

Before they began writing material for the disc late last year, the San Diego metallers "spent some time listening to our last album [2005's Shadows Are Security] and, just from being on tour, we became a little bit jaded by how the genre — as a whole — has sort of copied itself over and over again," he explained. "We decided we wanted to be more diverse, even down to the point where we sort of felt like we should really focus on writing songs in different categories, and then pick the best songs from those categories and use them for the record."

Produced by Killswitch guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz (Every Time I Die, All That Remains), the album — which hits stores August 21 and features backing vocals from members of Destroy the Runner — will include a dozen tracks, including "Separation," "Within Destruction" and the likely first single, "Nothing Left." Lambesis said listeners will find that each song differs from the next, with some cuts bordering on chaotic and foreboding, others more driven by melody, and a couple that are just straight-up, balls-to-the-wall thrashy.

"On the tempo side of things, we wanted the record to be pretty fast as a whole, so we wrote some real thrash-influenced songs," he said. "We even wrote songs that have a more emotional depth to them — songs that aren't just pound-your-face-in all the time."

Most metal acts pride themselves on releasing consistently heavier records, and An Ocean Between Us is indeed the heaviest As I Lay Dying LP to date. But what makes Lambesis proud of the album is that he thinks it's the band's most memorable one to date. "It's definitely our fastest record," he added.

Lambesis said it was important for As I Lay Dying to work with Dutkiewicz on An Ocean Between Us because "it was good to have that outside perspective." The band had finished pre-production on the record well before Dutkiewicz journeyed out to California, to the singer's home studio.

"We really went out of our way to have the record completely recorded and done before Adam even got here, so when he did, it would be the right time for that fresh perspective," Lambesis said. "He has great ears, and even if he ended up going with one of the original ideas we had from pre-production, it was confirming that it was his set of ears that gave it the thumbs up."

Lyrically, Lambesis said the album deals with the idea that "we no longer have the same dreams as the rest of the world, that all of the qualities of life that it seems we're taught we should focus on, whether it be money or a certain type of education or a certain type of job — the dreams that are handed down to us — it's about how we have nothing in common with those dreams anymore. It's about the whole idea of fulfillment — if you do these things and take these steps, you will be happy — and how really, wealth, the prestige of being in a band, all that stuff is ultimately meaningless."

But putting that message to disc wasn't all that easy, Lambesis admits. He said the band "had all the bad luck in the world" while making the effort.

"When we were recording drums, the computer crashed," he said. "When we started guitars, we had some bad cabling, so the first few days of guitars, we had distorted lines. And then we had a bad batch of strings, where every string in the entire box was buzzing on the frets.

"Then one day, I just woke up and came downstairs, and inside the vocal booth, there were just flies all over the wall — maybe 30, 45," he continued. "And there are no windows in my vocal booth, so I couldn't figure out how they got in there. It was pretty surreal going in there. That confirmed for us that we had the ultimate bad luck during this record. It seems the better something is, the more opposition there is towards it."

As I Lay Dying plan to spend all of August on the road as part of this summer's Warped Tour. A headlining tour is in the works for late October.

The rest of the week's metal news:

The Emperor reunion may be over at the end of the month, but the band's frontman, Ihsahn, will continue to push musical boundaries with his other projects. His latest is Hardingrock, a collaboration with Star of Ash (ex-Peccatum member Heidi S. Tveitan, a.k.a. Ihriel) and Norwegian folk artist Knut Buen. The band's debut, Grimen, will be released in Europe on June 11 on Nyrenning Forlag (no U.S. date has been scheduled). The album features folk songs played on Norway's national instrument, the harding fiddle, with lyrics and melodies based on Norwegian mythology. The music will also feature strong doses of heavy metal and classical-inspired electronica. "Even though the elements the three of us brought to the table were very contrasting, I think we're all very pleased with how it came together," Ihsahn said. "The material provided to us by Knut is a huge part of Norway's cultural treasure, and I think the album definitely is a worthy development that rocks." Sample the group's eccentric tunes on its MySpace page. ...

High on Fire will tour the Midwest after they finish their current studio session in Seattle with producer Jack Endino (Nirvana, Soundgarden). Dates start July 20 in Teton Village, Wyoming, and run through July 31 in Denver. The band's yet-untitled new album is tentatively scheduled for release in early fall. ... Obituary have finished tracking their seventh album, Xecutioner's Return, and are now preparing to mix and master the effort. Because of their expediency, the release date for the disc has been pushed forward to August 28 from its earlier-announced date of September 11. The legendary Florida death-metal band will launch a full U.S. tour in early September. ...

Samael will release their seventh studio album, Solar Soul, July 17. According to the band's label, the album marks a return to the type of sweeping post-industrial black metal of the Swiss group's 1996 record, Passage. ... Genghis Tron will play three dates with the Red Chord, Through the Eyes of the Dead and All Shall Perish Friday (June 1) through Sunday, and a pair of shows with Pig Destroyer and Car Bomb on June 15-16. Then the avant-garde rock extremists will team up with Ed Gein and Gaza for an East Coast tour that runs from July 17 in Poughkeepsie, New York, through July 29 in Midland, Michigan. The Philadelphia band is currently working on songs for its next disc, the follow-up to 2006's Dead Mountain Mouth. "We're building a bold, psychedelic bridge to GodCity [Recording] Studio, where we'll be recording our next album in August with [Converge guitarist] Kurt Ballou," Genghis Tron said in a statement. "Thanks to some serious unemployment, we've been fully immersed in erecting said bridge — working eight hours or more a day, seven days a week on new material. It's sounding insane and awesome and entirely indescribable. We're stoked." ...

Swedish doom-death band Katatonia will headline their first U.S. tour starting September 4 in West Springfield, Virginia, and ending September 26 in Houston. Scar Symmetry, Insomnium and Swallow the Sun will open all shows. Katatonia's new live CD/DVD package, Live Consternation, comes out Tuesday. ... It took combing through more than 2,000 applications, but Finnish symphonic-metal band Nightwish have finally found a singer to replace Tarja Turunen, who was asked to leave the band in October 2005. Swedish chanteuse Anette Olzon, formerly of the band Alyson Avenue, is currently working with Nightwish in the studio on the follow-up to 2004's Once. "She's already so much more than we were ever expecting to get," said the band in a statement. "Long live new Nightwish. The new album will be a monster." The yet-untitled disc is scheduled for a fall release. ... The new record by Swedish doom legends Candlemass, King of the Grey Islands, will be unearthed June 22. The disc marks the debut of the band's new singer, Robert Lowe (Solitude Aeturnus), who replaced Messiah Marcolin after his departure in April 2006. ...

Polish death/black-metal band Behemoth have posted the new track "Prometherion" on Ozzfest.com. The song comes from the band's upcoming disc, The Apostasy, which comes out July 17. Between dates on Ozzfest this summer, Behemoth will play one-off shows with Lamb of God, Hatebreed and 3 Inches of Blood. ... Swedish death-metal band Zonaria will release their debut album, Infamy and the Breed, September 4. The album was recorded by Per Nilsson and mixed and mastered by his Scar Symmetry bandmate Jonas Kjellgren at Black Lounge Studios in Gälve, Sweden. Tracks include "Infamy," "The Last Endeavor," "Pandemic Assault" and "Descend Into Chaos," which is available on the band's MySpace page. "We encourage everyone to give us feedback and to let us know what they think of the new song," guitarist Emil Nyström said in a statement. "We can assure each and every one of you that the wait will be well worth it and 'Descend Into Chaos' is just a small taste of the full on assault that is Infamy and the Breed."

• As I Lay Dying
• Candlemass
• Killswitch Engage
• Unearth
• High On Fire

Horse the Band
Photo: Koch Records

As far as heavy music is concerned, there are several active bands — like, say, Trivium — that take themselves way too seriously. Other bands just aren't serious enough. And then there's experimental-metalcore outfit Horse the Band.

Last month, in a press release regarding the June 26 release of their forthcoming album A Natural Death, the members of Horse the Band described the LP as an examination of "the futility and arrogance of creation and destruction, the overwhelming scale of space and time, and the brutal majesty of nature, the horror of birth and the beauty of death." The band hopes the set might serve as "a warning to the human race, to stop taking itself so seriously, as we have seen the dire consequences of its actions in the future."

Supposedly, Horse the Band "consists of five demigods, running from a haunted past they can't possibly remember." Of course, this is just shtick. After all, these are the same guys that, while tracking A Natural Death, launched a YouTube channel through which they intended to post a series of in-the-studio videos, updating fans on the recording process. But in no time, the channel was transformed into a forum for the band to post episodes of its own drama, "Lawrence and Friends" — the show revolves around a love triangle involving a sugar cube, a suicidal pencil and, inexplicably, singer/songwriter Carla Hassett.

This is a band led by a man named Nathan Winneke — who, as it just so happens, has a destructive alter ego named General Beam.

"He's like Jim Beam in my clothing, essentially," the singer said. "I flipped out for the first half of our tour with Heavy Heavy Low Low [back in March], and I destroyed their trailer, which is sad, because I really like those guys. But I lost a little control, and I caved in their entire roof while telling everybody it was science, and then I took a fish-scaling knife and cut a triangle in my arm. I was just being a total idiot, but when the General comes, I have no explanations."

Horse the Band, who've made a name for themselves touring with like-minded metallers the Dillinger Escape Plan and Hella, are heavy metal's version of "Airplane." The band's sound is a spastic, brutal mix of metal, fused with synth-produced blips and bleeps, and inspired by the video games of the 1980s and early '90s. The band's music is crafted to not only scramble your brains but tickle your funny bone.

For example, there's a track on A Natural Death called "Murder" that Horse the Band added to their set while on a recent headlining run with the Number Twelve Looks Like You and Light This City.

"The kids have been loving it," Winneke enthused. "I tell them it's a song about killing white people, and they go crazy." The lyrics were written from the perspective of an American Indian in 1847, "So it's OK."

Horse the Band began writing for A Natural Death — which also includes "His Purple Majesty," "Sex Raptor" and "I Think We Are Both Suffering From the Same Crushing Metaphysical Crisis" — back in the fall and finished recording it in February. The band took its time with the follow-up to 2005's The Mechanical Hand and the 2006 EP Pizza — which, yes, was a concept piece all about pizza.

"With Mechanical Hand, Koch [the band's label] was relaunching [the now-defunct] Combat Records, and we did it as fast as we possibly could, because they wanted to have an album to put out on Combat at the time of the relaunch," Winneke said. Combat folded again, and Horse the Band have since been absorbed by Koch.

"We're the heaviest band on the roster," Winneke said. "They did the soundtrack to the Barbie movies, and I loved those. They have a wide array of stuff, and we're the heaviest band I know of."

On A Natural Death, fans can expect more layers of sound, the frontman said. The band has incorporated more synth elements into its sound, and keyboardist Erik Engstrom found "this programming game ... where you can write tracks on the Game Boy, using sounds from the Game Boy, so this record has an extra, extra retro-awesomeness to it." Winneke added that, "If you thought we were chaotic before, we're, like, probably doubly chaotic now — in stranger and more unique ways, hopefully."

So, what does Winneke think of his own band? "We're very reckless and immature and have no idea what we're doing, and we should probably break up as a band, because all we're going to end up doing is killing ourselves," he said. "But hopefully, it will be funny."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Pyromaniacs and German-language students take note: Rammstein will unleash three different versions of their DVD and CD package "Völkerball" on July 17. All versions will feature a full 2005 concert recorded in Nimes, France, plus select footage from shows in London, Tokyo and Moscow. The standard two-disc set features a 140-minute DVD and a 75-minute CD of the concert. The special edition also features a second DVD with 90 minutes of content, including the documentary films "Reise, Reise: The Making of the Album" and "Anakonda Im Netz" (Anaconda in the Net). Finally, the limited edition includes a 190-page tour photo book, which contains everything in the three-disc set plus an additional CD capturing the remainder of the 140-minute France show. ... Dutch pagan black-metal band Grimm will release their new album, Heksenkringen, Tuesday. Tracks include "Witte Ruiter," "Als Wederganger Dwalend" and "Van Drakenbloed Fel." ...

Three songs from Paradise Lost's upcoming album In Requiem — "Never For the Damned," "Ash & Debris" and "The Enemy" — are available on an e-card that can be found right here. The e-card also features the video for "The Enemy," which was shot by Ukrainian director Edward 209 in March on the Crimean peninsula in Yalta. In Requiem is scheduled for release June 5. ... Messy Peruvian black-metal band Goat Semen will release the live album En Vivo en Lima Hell May 8. The disc includes "Sodom Graves," "Madre Muerte," "Rotten Messiah" and "At Luzbel's Behest," as well as bonus rehearsal material. ...

For the first time in years, there's a reason to look forward to September 11. On that date, death-metal veterans Obituary will release their yet-untitled new album. The follow-up to 2005's Frozen in Time will also be the band's first for Candlelight Records. Obituary are currently hard at work on the disc and scheduled to complete tracking by June 1. "We are really looking forward to having a record company that wants to work with us," singer John Tardy said in a statement. "We feel rejuvenated, and this new album is gonna be sick." "This will mark a new chapter in death-metal history," bassist Frank Watkins added. Obituary will launch a U.S. headline tour the week the album is released. ... Voivod have finished the video for "Polaroids." The clip was created with Banger Productions and Ottoblix and includes some of drummer Michel "Away" Langevin's artwork. The same team is also working on a video for "The X-Stream." According to a recent update by Langevin, the band will start recording the follow-up to 2006's Katorz in the fall. ...

Technical Florida death-metal band Atheist, which reunited last year for a batch of reunion shows, are calling it quits for good. On Friday (April 27) and Saturday, the band will play two dates in its home state. The coup de grace will come at an unscheduled final show in New York. "It's very hard to just walk away from this music that is having its day in the sun," guitarist/singer Kelly Shaefer said in a statement. "The shows keep getting better. But the best and most important thing to us has been the outpouring of brand new people who have embraced our music. We will wrap this all up with one final show in New York that will be filmed for a DVD." ... Seattle noisemongers Himsa have entered the studio to start recording their fourth album. The band will track the drums, bass and guitars with Steve Carter. Strapping Young Lad's Devin Townsend will track vocals and Tue Madsen will handle mixing duties. The disc is tentatively scheduled for a late August release. ... Three noteworthy underground-metal albums are coming on Candlelight on May 22: New York metal vets Pro-Pain will release Age of Tyranny - The Tenth Crusade, Octavia Sperati will unleash Grace Submerged, and Carnal Forge will test their fans' mettle with Testify for My Victims.

• Horse The Band
• Rammstein
• Obituary
• Voivod
• Himsa

Jesu
Photo: Tina Korhonen/ Hydrahead Records

With just hours before taking an April 2002 flight from London to Los Angeles, where his band Godflesh were to begin a North American tour, singer and guitarist Justin Broadrick suffered a nervous breakdown.

He was broke, his girlfriend of 13 years had just left him and he was tired of playing in his pioneering industrial-metal band — but unsure how to cut the cord. "It was a real Brian Wilson moment," Broadrick recalled of the incident that paved the way for the emergence of his new band, Jesu. "I felt paralyzed by the stress, which had been building for several months, and I literally couldn't get out of bed. I was numb and couldn't move, so when the car came to pick me up to take me to the airport, I ran and hid at another friend's house in Birmingham [England]."

The incident had substantial consequences. Ex-Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven had been brought on for the two-month tour, as had ex-Swans drummer Ted Parsons. Bus companies had been hired, High on Fire and Halo had been booked to support. And everyone who lost money came after Broadrick.

"I was getting death threats from the bus company in L.A.," Broadrick said. "I lost close to $35,000, which I did not have at all. I was broke and had to sell my house and pay off all my debt on credit cards. I pretty much did nothing for four months besides drink heavily."

When he finally felt motivated to begin writing again, Broadrick cast his creative energies in an entirely new direction and expanded upon a batch of dense, billowing and intensely emotional songs he had been toying with over the previous couple of years. Rooted equally in post-rock, pop and metal, the music branched far beyond the self-imposed constraints of Godflesh and featured sedated vocals that sometimes barely registered above the droning rhythms.

"After the first two Godflesh albums, we became far too self-conscious about what we should and shouldn't be," Broadrick said. "So, for me, Jesu is all about losing that self-consciousness, letting melody come to the forefront and drop all the screaming and shouting. Physically and mentally, I didn't feel the need to do that anymore, and I didn't want to turn into the Rolling Stones or that sort of music."

Broadrick worked on the new songs in the studio with Parsons and bassist Diarmuid Dalton. In 2004, the band released the EP Heartache, and followed with their bleakly beautiful self-titled debut in 2005.

"After everything that had happened, doing Jesu was very cathartic," Broadrick said. "I didn't escape into making that album, I immersed myself in it. It was about as indulgent as you could be, and I reveled in the depression of it. I had to go that low to see the sun again. I had to take myself as far down as possible to actually feel I was alive again."

The band's new album, Conqueror — which follows their 2006 EP, Silver — is melancholy, but not as depressing as Jesu. Songs like "Old Year," "Transfigure" and "Medicine" are slow, textural and enveloping, sounding something like a far heavier version of Slowdive or Sigur Rós.

"I think the weight of the songs is probably even heavier than most of the Godflesh records, it's just in a different context," Broadrick said. "The bleakness is inherent, and I don't think it's something that can ever be removed from my music. No matter how much I explore melody, that's something I'll never shake off."

Neither, apparently, will Broadrick shake off bad luck. Jesu were scheduled to fly to the U.S. to begin a tour with Isis Thursday in San Diego, but because their work permits have not yet been cleared by U.S. Customs, the band will miss at least the first week of the tour. The news came just weeks after Jesu learned that Dalton wouldn't be allowed in the country because he was busted 20 years ago for drug possession. Dave Cochrane, who played with Broadrick previously in Ice, God and Head of David, will replace him for the tour. Also, Parsons is sitting out the tour to spend more time with his family, and Intronaut drummer Danny Walker will fill in. Until Jesu's paperwork is sorted out, Intronaut will replace them on the Isis tour.

The rest of the week's metal news:

So, that rumor about Lamb of God being on the bill for this summer's Family Values Tour? Not true, the band claims. A purported lineup hit the Internet this week, with Korn listed as the trek's headliners, along with Evanescence, Aiden and, oh yes, Lamb of God. But the band has not "committed to any summer tour." That settles that. ... Dates for Animosity's upcoming headlining run with As Blood Runs Black, the Faceless and Beneath the Massacre, have been revealed. The outing, called "Brutalitour," launches April 28 in Worcester, Massachusetts (at this year's New England Metal & Hardcore Festival), with gigs booked through May 26 in Berkeley, California. ...

Mastodon, Priestess and Mouth of the Architect have rolled out a bunch of live dates, including stops in San Antonio (March 19); Oklahoma City (March 20); Columbia, Missouri (March 21); Colorado Springs, Colorado (March 23); Salt Lake City (March 24); Seattle (March 26); Spokane, Washington (March 27); and Portland, Oregon (March 28). ... Arsis, Ion Dissonance and Beneath the Massacre will hit the road together in March and April. The first gig is set for March 21 in Buffalo, New York, with dates scheduled through April 14 in Lake Station, Indiana. ...

Obituary will return to the studio in March to begin recording their next studio effort. According to frontman John Tardy, the band is "still working on the new CD and are getting really excited about these new songs. This is some pretty sick sh--. I still do not know what we are going to do about a record label. We are still talking with a few labels and trying to work something out. Hopefully something gets done soon, so we can move forward and concentrate on future events." In the meantime, you can catch the band's live set starting March 24 in Hollywood at the Los Angeles Murderfest. ...

Circle of Dead Children have introduced Matt Francis as their newest drummer; he replaces Mike Bartek, who left the band in June. "At a point when we had all but thrown dirt over our own casket, life has once more been injected with the vacancy of the drum position being finally filled," frontman Joe Horvath said in a statement. "We plan to soon begin work on a yet-to-be-titled sixth release due out [this] summer. Matt's addition drives the band to its most caustic and explosive level to date." ... He Is Legend have added to the fold guitarist Mitchell Marlow, who was briefly a member of Glassjaw and did some time with Classic Case as well. The band is touring with Killswitch Engage, Chimaira and Dragonforce through April 8 in Chicago. ...

Inked in Blood guitarist Matt McDonnell had a recent brush with death but is recovering and doing fine. According to the band, McDonnell was found on the floor of his home February 11, "cold, sweating and barely able to breathe." He was taken to a nearby hospital, where, after being put into a drug-induced coma, he was diagnosed with acute pneumonia, pleurisy and a severe staph infection in his lungs. He was released Tuesday with strict orders to rest and recover for the next month and a half. McDonnell said the incident has given him "a new lease on life. I feel extremely lucky to have been given a second chance." The band will release its sophomore full-length LP this summer, and, once the guitarist is better, plan to tour in support of the outing. ... Children of Bodom mainman Alexi Laiho revealed at the Finnish Metal Expo in Helsinki last weekend that the band will begin working on material for its next album this week, with plans to begin recording the effort this fall. The LP could be out early next year, he said.

• Jesu
• Obituary
• Animosity
• Lamb of God
• Mastodon

Bruce Dickinson (file)
Photo: MTV News

Guitar slinger Zakk Wylde and his Black Label Society are set to follow up last year's Blessed Hellride with Hangover Music: Volume 1 on April 20. As the title suggests, BLS' third album will feature such softer, less head-jarring elements as piano and acoustic guitars. ...

After 1998's Chemical Wedding, Bruce Dickinson is ready to honeymoon with another solo album. The Iron Maiden frontman has penned a handful of tunes for an LP expected by late this year or early 2005. ... Metal memories and ripping recollections are corralled in "Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore," a new book by metal scribe Albert Mudrian due this fall. ... Lemmy Kilmister's rockabilly band, Lemmy, Slim Jim & Danny B, filmed their January 13 performance at the Cat Club in Hollywood for an upcoming DVD. The disc will include covers of songs by Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Jimmy Reed and Elvis Presley. ...

Testament, Symphony X, Joey Belladonna and Vital Remains featuring Deicide's Glen Benton are among the first crop of bands slated for March Metal Meltdown 6, set for March 12 and 13 at the Cricket Club in Irvington, New Jersey. ... Meanwhile, former Slayer drummer Paul Bostaph has joined Testament. Bostaph, who replaces John Tempesta, previously toured with the band in 1993. The new lineup will tour in March. ... The upcoming Queensrÿche DVD "The Art of Live" has been postponed from March 24 to April 6. The band will play two weeks of dates starting April 15 in Detroit. ...

Israeli death metal band Orphaned Land have resurfaced after seven years to record their third disc, Mabool — The Story of the Three Sons of Seven, due April 6. The concept album tells the biblical tale of three sons who unite in an attempt to hold back God's wrath prior to the Great Flood. ... Poland's Vader were forced to delay the recording of their new album when drummer Doc injured his hand and leg during the band's third day in the studio. They will continue with Vesania drummer Daray, who'll play in the studio and tour with Vader until Doc recovers. The LP is due in September. ... Norway's Mayhem will release their new album, Chimera, on April 6. The disc was recorded at a mobile studio in the mountains of Norway and will include the tracks "Whore," "My Death" and "Slaughter of Dreams." Mayhem's previous studio disc was 2000's Grand Declaration of War. ...

Reunited New York female-fronted thrash band Crisis have completed work on Like Sheep Led to Slaughter, due in May. The disc was produced by Billy Anderson (Brutal Truth, Neurosis). ... Atlanta '80s thrash speed band Hallows Eve have decided to reform after being contacted for an interview by Steve Cannon, editor of an Internet fanzine, who they then invited to be their new singer. The resurrected group also features guitarist Skellator and bassist Tommy Stewart. Hallows Eve plan to record and play shows after hiring a drummer. ... Death Angel will release their new album, The Art of Dying, on May 4. The disc will include the songs "Thrown to the Wolves," "Thicker Than Blood" and "Famine." The Art of Dying will be the band's first release since 1990's Act III. ...

Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo recently spent a day in the studio with film composer Tyler Bates recording music for the upcoming remake of the George Romero 1979 horror film Dawn of the Dead. The original's creepy score was created by Italian prog-rock band Goblin. The film comes out March 19. ... Florida's Obituary have reformed and will perform in Tampa at the Sun N' Steel Festival on March 6. The band is writing new music and talking to its former label about a recording deal. ... New Orleans' Soilent Green will enter the studio next month to create the follow-up to 2001's A Deleted Symphony for the Beaten Down. The band recently completed a split 7-inch with Eyehategod, which is only available at www.incisionrecords.com. ... After sending a demo to M.O.D. frontman Billy Milano, 22-year-old Jon Aaron has been invited to join the band. M.O.D. are developing material for their next album. ...

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