<i>Snoop Dogg Presents: The Big Squeeze</i>
Photo: Koch Records

For a week that's chock-full of new releases, there aren't too many big names to show for it: Beyond a new compilation thrown together by Snoop, Tom Morello's CD debut as the Nightwatchman, Joe's guest-heavy LP, a covers set by Patti Smith and the Arctic Monkeys' second album — which has been getting a surprisingly low-key response — there aren't too many fresh faces poised to chart.

But is this week really all that weak? Let's evaluate:

Various artists' Snoop Dogg Presents: The Big Squeeze
Strength: The Doggfather is unleashed, at least in some capacity, on almost every track on this collection, which primarily serves as a vehicle for Snoop to usher in his new buds, including JT Da Bigga Figga and Westurn Union. A spot by Katt Williams on "We Go Hard" might draw some extra ears too.
Weakness: While Snoop is asking us to open our minds to new talent, he's also cluttered the release with his crustier friends Kurupt, MC Eiht and the like — why not keep the focus on the promising newbies?

The Nightwatchman's One Man Revolution
Strength: Tom Morello can count on Rage Against the Machine fans to glom on to his solo project — even if it is acoustic, the politically charged content should cater to them. He's also got famed producer Brendan O'Brien (RATM, Pearl Jam) in his corner.
Weakness: While he's played scattered solo shows as the Nightwatchman in recent years, Morello has been staging select concerts secretly loaded with guests like Alanis Morissette, Slash and Perry Farrell, building momentum for the affair. Problem is none of those people appear on the disc, which sorely needs a guest — or three — boosting its profile.

Joe's Ain't Nothin' Like Me
Strength: Nas, Chamillionaire, Young Buck, Papoose and Fabolous drop verses on the latest LP by the Southern R&B singer, and production royalty Bryan-Michael Cox, Sean Garrett, Cool and Dre, and the Underdogs also help out.
Weakness: Joe's new single "If I Was Your Man" single hasn't been doing all that much damage on the charts, so while fellow R&B singers like Lloyd have been making strong debuts, Joe could fall short.

Arctic Monkeys' Favourite Worst Nightmare
Strength: After attracting some major buzz following their performance at South by Southwest last year, the Monkeys' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not was the fastest-selling rock debut in British history and made an impressive opening at #24 on the Billboard albums chart in the U.S. Their new one is faster and cops from Ennio Morricone's spaghetti-western soundtrack to "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."
Weakness: Have you heard a word about this album? Even its first single, "Brainstorm," has yet to make noise Stateside. Despite the band being all the rage last summer, the dreaded "sophomore slump" may be rearing its head once again.

Patti Smith's Twelve
Strength: Covers of songs by Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and a slew of classic-rock bands might rekindle interest in the singer/songwriter's newer works. Smith has also been in the limelight after getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which could give her an extra assist.
Weakness: Her 2004 album, Trampin', opened at a flimsy #123. As important as Patti Smith is in the rock canon, is anyone still excited about her new material?

But as usual, even if there aren't any superstars hitting the racks this week, there are still plenty of below-the-radar releases worth keeping tabs on. Here are the top 10 incognito titles you should care about:

Dntel's Dumb Luck
Jimmy Tamborello is best known these days as one-half of the Postal Service, but he's been hammering away at this other project for some 13 years now. If that's not enough reason to check out this spacey release, guest appearances by Conor Oberst, Jenny Lewis, plus members of Grizzly Bear and the Moving Units should do the trick.

All Smiles' Ten Readings of a Warning
Jim Fairchild isn't wasting any time after the dissolution of Grandaddy last year. The guitarist, who also lends Earlimart some help with production from time to time, has become the first ex-Grandaddy member to step up with solo material. Recorded over sporadic sessions with drummers Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse), Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney), Danny Seim (Menomena) and others, Fairchild also takes a seat at the piano amid all the guitar buzz.

Various artists' In the Mind of Nitin Sawhney
You might know Sawhney's name from the wealth of big-name artists he has produced, including Massive Attack and Aqualung. But even if you don't, this comp will give you the sense that the electronic guru is worth noting — D'Angelo, Koop and Air tracks are also included, as is "Songbird," which Sawhney cut exclusively for the set.

Midnight Movies' Lion the Girl
Previously a trio, the Los Angeles quartet beef up with a new rhythm section and gang up with Nirvana producer Steve Fisk for their second outing. Singer Gena Olivier said in a press release that Lion is "an album about pure love"; songs include "Patient Eye," "Coral Den" and "Parallel Paramour."

Calvin Johnson & the Sons of Soul's Calvin Johnson & the Sons of the Soil
Speaking of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain's former Seattle buddy joins forces with Wolf Colonel's Jason Anderson, Yume Bitsu's Adam Forkner and Little Wings' Kyle Field to recap Johnson's greatest hits. That includes songs by a variety of Johnson projects — Dub Narcotic Sound System, the Halo Benders and the Go Team.

Cornelius' Sensuous
The Japanese electro-pop wunderkind started his career with one of the best-regarded indie albums of the 1990s, Fantasma, then finally followed it five years later with the widely panned Point. Now Cornelius is hoping to rebound with his third album, which is unfortunately being called a continuation of his last release. Oh well — even if it doesn't turn out so hot, at least you can enjoy a cover of the Rat Pack classic "Sleep Warm" and an interactive widget of Tokyo.

Various artists' SC100
Bloomington, Indiana, indie label Secretly Canadian gets some much-deserved love in the form of its 100th release. Helping blow out the candles are Swearing at Motorists, Damien Jurado and Early Day Miners — who largely owe their careers to the label, which is in its 11th year. Nikki Sudden tosses in a cover of June's "See(ing) Double" for good measure.

The Detroit Cobras' - Tied & True
One of the underground's strongest garage-rock bands barrels back with its first set of studio material in three years. Singer Rachel Nagy branches into soul territory while Greg Cartwright of the Reigning Sound helps out. Songs include "Leave My Kitten Alone," "(I Wanna Know) What's Going On" and "Nothing but a Heartache."

Transmission O's Memory of a Dream
Isis and Neurosis fans look no further — this Dutch band could be next in line to take up the sludge-metal torch. The plodding, long-lasting release — it clocks in at well over an hour — finds Today Is the Day major domo Steve Austin chipping in some support as the band slowly pummels its listeners into oblivion.

Lifesavas' Gutterfly
Portland, Oregon's blaxploitation-obsessed sophomores called on Fishbone, Dead Prez, Living Colour's Vernon Reid and others for their conceptual release, which finds fictional 'hood superheroes struggling in Razorblade City. (Fishbone's first studio album in six years, Still Stuck in Your Throat, also drops this week.)

Song Title of the Week:

"Man Needs a Woman or a Man to Be a Man" from Bill Callahan's Work on a Whaleheart

New Releases:

· Aa - gAme (two CDs; Gigantic)
· Alex Delivery - Star Destroyer (Jagjaguwar)
· All Smiles - Ten Readings of a Warning (Dangerbird)
· Ellen Allien - The Other Side Berlin (Deaf Dumb & Blind)
· Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake - From the River to the Ocean (Thrill Jockey)
· Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare (Domino) [Buy Now]
· Assemblage 23 - Meta (Metropolis)
· Bassnectar - Underground Communication (Om)
· Between the Trees - The Story and the Song (Bonded)
· The Blow - Poor Aim: Love Songs (K)
· Blutch - Materia (At a Loss)
· Chuck Brown - We're About the Business (Raw Venture)
· Norman Brown - Stay With Me (Peak)
· Patrizio Buanne - Forever Begins Tonight (Republic)
· Bill Callahan - Work on a Whaleheart (Drag City)
· Michel Camilo - Spirit of the Moment (Telarc)
· Chinese Stars - Listen to Your Left Brain (Three One G)
· Cliks - Snakehouse (Tommy Boy)
· Confederate Railroad - Cheap Thrills (Shanachie)
· Contradiction - The Voice of Hatred (Locomotive)
· Cornelius - Sensuous (Everloving) [Buy Now]
· Dark Tranquillity - Fiction (Century Media)
· Detroit Cobras - Tied & True (Bloodshot)
· Dntel - Dumb Luck (Sub Pop) [Buy Now]
· Eccodek - Voices Have Eyes (White Swan)
· The Electric Soft Parade - No Need to Be Downhearted (Better Looking)
· Ensiferum - Victory Songs (Candlelight)
· Benjamín Escoriza - Alevanta! (World Music Network)
· Ibrahim Ferrer - Mi Sueño (Nonesuch) [Buy Now]
· Tim Finn - Imaginary Kingdom (Manhattan)
· Fishbone - Still Stuck in Your Throat (Sound in Color) [Buy Now]
· Sue Foley, Deborah Coleman and Roxanne Potvin - Time Bomb (Ruf)
· Front Line Assembly - Fallout (Metropolis)
· The F---ing Champs - VI (Drag City)
· Future Clouds & Radar - Future Clouds & Radar (two CDs; Star Apple Kingdom)
· Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 (enhanced; Vice)
· Bebel Gilberto - Momento (Six Degrees)
· The Go Find - Stars on the Wall (Morr)
· God Module - Let's Go Dark (Metropolis)
· Buddy Greco - The Man and the Music (SRO)
· Gus Gus - Forever (Groove Attack) [Buy Now]
· Colin Hay - Are You Lookin' at Me? (Compass)
· Armand Van Helden - Guetto Blaster (Ultra)
· ILikeTrains - Progressive Reform (Beggars Banquet)
· Joe - Ain't Nothin' Like Me (Jive) [Buy Now]
· Calvin Johnson & the Sons of the Soil - Calvin Johnson & the Sons of Soul (K)
· Sunshine Jones - Seven Tracks in Seven Days (MVD Audio)
· Ralph Lawson - Fabric 33 (Fabric)
· Lifesavas - Gutterfly (Quannum Projects)
· Kalli - While the City Sleeps (One Little Indian)
· Kill the Romance - Take Another Life (Locomotive)
· Mando Diao - Ode to Ochrasy (enhanced; Mute)
· Keiko Matsui - Moyo (Shout! Factory)
· Maria McKee - Late December (Cooking Vinyl)
· Marillion - Somewhere Else (MVD Audio)
· McCarthy Trenching - McCarthy Trenching (Team Love)
· Messer Chups - Hyena Safari (AeroCCCP)
· Midnight Movies - Lion the Girl (New Line)
· Jane Monheit - Surrender (Concord)
· Kiko Navarro - Perceptions of Pacha (Swank)
· Nazanin - Someday (Bodog)
· New Years Day - My Dear (enhanced; TVT)
· The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution (Epic) [Buy Now]
Read: "Nightwatchman, Rage Reunion Have Morello Fired Up For Political Fights"
· Nostradameus - Pathway (Locomotive)
· The Old Soul - The Old Soul (Friendly Fire)
· OOIOO - OOEYEOO: Eye Remix (EP; Thrill Jockey)
· Joel Ortiz - The Brick: Bodega Chronicles (Koch)
· Donny Osmond - Love Songs of the '70s (Decca)
· Pela - Anytown Graffiti (Great Society)
· Peder - And He Just Pointed to the Sky ... (Ubiquity)
· PlayRadioPlay! - The Frequency EP (Stolen Transmission)
· Polyrhythm Addicts - Break Glass ... (Babygrande)
· Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet (limited-edition version also available; Atlantic) [Buy Now]
Read: "Porcupine Tree's Wilson Talks Complex New LP, Project With Opeth's Akerfeldt"
· John Prine & Mac Wiseman - Standard Songs for Average People (Oh Boy)
· Rabbit in the Moon - Decade (two CDs; South Beat)
· Joshua Redmond - Back East (Nonesuch)
· REO Speedwagon - Find Your Own Way Home (Mailboat)
· Sa-Ra Creative Partners - The Hollywood Recordings (Babygrande)
· Saturday Knights - The Saturday Knights (EP; Light in the Attic)
· Secret Voices - No Time for Silence (1K)
· Brittany Shane - Brittany Shane (EP; self-release)
· Simply Red - Stay (self-release)
· Patti Smith - Twelve (Columbia) [Buy Now]
· Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back (Anti-)
· Stinking Lizaveta - Scream of the Iron Iconoclast (At a Loss)
· Sunburned Hand of the Man - Z (Ecstatic Peace)
· Avey Tare & Kria Brekkan - Pullhair Rubeye (Paw Tracks)
· Jimi Tenor & Kabu Kabu - Joystone (Ubiquity)
· Test Your Reflex - The Burning Hour (RCA)
· Tilomo - Soft Lunch (1K)
· Toasters - One More Bullet (Stomp)
· Transmission O - Memory of a Dream (Candlelight)
· Two Cow Garage - III (Suburban Home)
· Vanna - Curses (Epitaph)
· Veils - Nux Vomita (enhanced; Rough Trade)
· Dale Watson - From the Cradle to the Grave (Hyena)
· Sara Wendt - Weightless With Love (EP; City Canyons)
· Deniece Williams - Love, Niecy Style (Shanachie)
· Young Galaxy - Young Galaxy (Arts & Crafts)
· Young Gods - Super Ready/ Fragmente (Ipecac)
· James Zabiela and Nic Fanciulli - One+One (Ministry of Sound)
· Various artists - A Tribute to Joni Mitchell (Nonesuch)
· Various artists - Ballads of the Book (Chemikal Underground)
· Various artists - In the Mind of Nitin Sawhney (District 6)
· Various artists - SC100 (Secretly Canadian)
· Various artists - Snoop Dogg Presents: The Big Squeeze (Koch) [Buy Now]
Read: "Snoop Says Rappers And Imus Are 'Two Separate Things'; Talks New Comp"
· Various artists - "Lucky You" soundtrack (Columbia)

Notable Reissues and Archival Material: · Anjani - Blue Alert (with DVD; Sony/Legacy)
· Arch Enemy - Black Earth (enhanced; Earsplit/Regain)
· Steve Austin - 800 Lb. Gorilla (UMe)
· The Band - The Best of a Musical History (deluxe edition comes with DVD; Capitol)
· Laura Branigan - Greatest Hits: The Best of Laura Branigan (Rhino)
· Leonard Cohen - Songs From a Room; Songs of Leonard Cohen; and Songs of Love And Hate (Sony/Legacy)
· Ella Fitzgerald - Lullabies of Birdland and Sweet and Hot (UMe)
· Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Emerson, Lake & Palmer (Shout! Factory)
· Genesis - Genesis: 1976-1981 (box set with six CDs and six DVDs; Rhino)
· Marduk - Dark Endless; Heaven Shall Burn; Opus Nocturne; Those of the Unlight (Regain)
· Dito Montiel - Dito Montiel (Rhino)
· Neil Sedaka - The Definitive Collection (Razor & Tie)
· Various artists - "Hope Floats" soundtrack (Capitol/EMI)

Music DVDs: · Abba - "Dancing Queen Interviews" (MVD Visual)
· Bell, Maggie & Midnight Flyer - "Live Montreux, July 1981" (MVD Visual)
· Blood Sweat & Tears - "Spinning Wheel" (MVD Visual)
· Tim Buckley - "My Fleeting House" (MVD Visual)
· Champion - "Different Directions: The Last Show" (with CD; Bridge Nine)
· Leonard Cohen - "Under Review 1934-1977" (MVD Visual)
· Destroy All Monsters - "Grow Live Monsters" (MVD Visual)
· Aynsley Lister - "Live!" (MVD Visual)
· Todd Snider - "The Devil You Know" (New Door)
· Stryper - "Greatest Hits: Live in Puerto Rico" (MVD Visual)
· War - "Loose Grooves: Funkin' Live in England 1980" (MVD Visual)
· Wisdom in Chains - "Die for Us Live" (MVD Visual)
· Various artists - "The American Folk Blues Festivals 1963-1966: The British Tours" (UMe)
· Various artists - "The Hollywood Sound" (Kultur)
· Various artists - "The Legendary Crooners" (Standing Room Only)

Coming Attractions:

May 1:
· Tori Amos - American Doll Posse (special edition comes with DVD; Epic) [Preorder]
Read: "Tori Amos Forms Anti-Bush Posse By Mutating Into Greek Goddesses"
· Ne-Yo - Because of You (Def Jam) [Preorder]
Read: "Ne-Yo Getting To Know Jennifer Hudson While He Waits For Britney"
· Various artists - "Spider-Man 3" soundtrack (Record Collection)
Read: " 'Spider-Man 3' Soundtrack Features Killers, Snow Patrol"

May 8:
· Björk - Volta (Atlantic) [Preorder]
Read: "Tsunami, Timbaland Help Shape Bjork's Forthcoming Volta"
· Bones Thugs-N-Harmony - Strength and Loyalty (Full Surface/ Interscope) [Preorder]
Read: "Bone Thugs Dropping Two New LPs; Second Disc To Feature Dre, Kanye, Mariah"
· Mike Jones - The American Dream (Ice Age) [Preorder]
· Elliott Smith - New Moon (two CDs; Kill Rock Stars) [Preorder]
· Bobby Valentino - Special Occasion (Def Jam) [Preorder]
Read: "Bobby Valentino Looks Out For The Ladies With New Album, Jean Line"

May 15:
· Megadeth - United Abominations (Roadrunner)
· Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight (Warner Bros.)
Read: "Linkin Park Finish Apocalyptic Album, Revive Projekt Revolution Tour"
· Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (enhanced; Nonesuch)

• Snoop Dogg
• The Nightwatchman
• Joe
• Arctic Monkeys
• Dntel

Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson
Photo: Shore Fire Media

Ours is an age in which instant gratification is never more than a few mouse clicks away, and that doesn't sit well with Porcupine Tree mastermind Steven Wilson. He thinks all this technology business is going to end up biting society in its proverbial butt. And it's this fear that helped shape the concept of the forthcoming Fear of a Blank Planet, due in stores April 24.

"You can take the title quite literally," said Wilson, who has fronted the British prog-rockers for nearly 20 years. "My fear is that the current generation of kids who're being born into this information revolution, growing up with the Internet, cell phones, iPods, this download culture, 'American Idol,' reality TV, prescription drugs, PlayStations — all of these things kind of distract people from what's important about life, which is to develop a sense of curiosity about what's out there."

He said that when he was a youngster, his parents feared that television would distract him in the same way, but that parents these days need to be "concerned about the impact this massive explosion of information technology is going to have on their children."

While most would argue that having unlimited access to information at the touch of a button is a good thing, Wilson foresees a generalized complacency taking hold.

"I think it's one of the unfortunate things about human nature, that the easier things come to us, the less we tend to appreciate them," he said. "Right now, we have a situation where music is so easily available — and for free — that I don't think people really value it the way I valued music as a kid. If everything is so easily available, it almost becomes white noise, everything from music to movies to pornography, which is a great example. When I was 14, I didn't even know what a naked woman looked like. Now, a 5-year-old can go on the Internet and get access to pornography. It's almost like everything has become so easily accessible that none of it means anything anymore. These kids will grow up without any sense of curiosity or motivation, and they'll grow up without a soul, or a real sense of who they are."

Fear of a Blank Planet, the follow-up to 2005's Deadwing, is a 50-minute suite of six tracks that features guest spots from Rush's Alex Lifeson and King Crimson's Robert Fripp. Wilson said the LP is more potent than any of the Tree's previous offerings. "It's a very intense listen," he admitted. "There isn't really any what you would call 'light relief' on this record in terms of songs you could take out and kind of get played on the radio. It's very intense, it's very dark, and it's really taking the whole idea of album-oriented rock music to the next level.

"It was very much conceived in the way bands used to conceive of records in the '70s, where you've got two sides of vinyl, and you can lay down a piece of music which is around the 50-minute mark, which plays in a continuous way, and deals with the same subject matter, and tried to kind of immerse you in a world for that time. That's always been the Porcupine Tree way, but we've definitely taken it to the next level."

Of course, Porcupine Tree aren't Wilson's sole means for creative expression. The frontman is also a much sought-after producer who has worked with the likes of Swedish death-metallers (and former Tree tour partners) Opeth, and is currently involved in seven projects. Earlier this month, he released Blackfield II, the sophomore release from Blackfield, a pop-imbued collaboration between himself and Israeli rock superstar Aviv Geffen. The two met back in 2000, when the Tree were gigging in Israel.

"Aviv gave me, the first time I met him, a demo of an instrumental piece he'd written, and I took it home and loved it," Wilson said. "I wrote some vocal parts for it straight away, and the chemistry just kind of clicked, almost from that moment, and we kind of realized we had something special."

Wilson said he needs to be involved with numerous side projects, or else his creative juices would run dry.

"What I need is to be able to express all of the musical interests that I have, and that is a very wide-ranging set of influences," he said. "I listen to and enjoy so many different kinds of music that I think I would feel frustrated if I didn't have the outlet to express the different sides of my musical personality. In some respects, it's a very healthy thing. Blackfield, in a way, has liberated Porcupine Tree to be a little bit more complex and perhaps more pure in the way we approach music. If I tried to shoehorn everything I want to do into one project, I think it would be the most ridiculously, insanely eclectic band. No one would want to listen to it."

Perhaps one of the most-anticipated albums for fans of both the Tree and Opeth has to be Wilson's side-project with Opeth main man Mikael Åkerfeldt, which should surface sometime in 2008, he said.

"We've been talking about this literally since the day we met," Wilson explained. "The original idea was to collaborate together on something else, but since then both bands have been becoming more and more successful. We kind of got immersed in our own projects, and we've never really found the time to get together and follow through on what we'd discussed. In the meantime, the rumors have gotten around that we were planning to do something. Realistically, it is going to happen, but it won't happen until next year. We've written some songs, and that's about as far as we've got so far.

"I just hope it can live up to [people's] expectations," he continued. "I think there's always this sense that this whole idea of supergroups is sometimes one that can disappoint, because people always expect it's going to be Opeth plus Porcupine Tree, so it's going to be twice as good as either band on its own. I think it will be something a bit different, and I think it will be something good. I just hope the expectations aren't too enormous."

• Porcupine Tree
• Opeth

Porcupine Tree (file)
Photo: Lasse Hoile

It could be said that Porcupine Tree owe a large chunk of their fanbase to Opeth, and vice versa. Steven Wilson, frontman and production bon vivant behind the grandiose British progressive rockers, has produced Opeth's last three records — 2001's Blackwater Park, 2002's Deliverance and 2003's Damnation. But associations aside, "People either like the music or they don't — so they must be liking it," Wilson said.

"I think we've both kind of benefited from [the connection], although that was never the intention," he continued. "We just worked together because we had great admiration for each other's bands. I have to say, it's been great seeing a lot more young metal kids at the shows, digging what we're doing."

Alas, extensive touring and his commitment to Porcupine Tree have prevented Wilson from helming the new Opeth LP, which the band started working on last month. Porcupine Tree — whose new disc, Deadwing, drops May 3 — will hit the road May 13 in Washington, D.C., for an all-encompassing U.S. tour. In a nod to the band's roots, the two former guitarists from long-running prog-rock titans King Crimson will be splitting the opening slot: Adrian Belew will open the East Coast gigs, while Robert Fripp will cover the West.

Deadwing will be released in three formats: a generic stereo mix, a DVD-Audio disc with a surround mix, and a special edition combining the two with a 72-page hardback book. The album is based on a script Wilson wrote several years ago. "I like hanging an album on one particular subject," he said. "It's important that every record have some sort of thematic unity." The story focuses on a man who "arrives at a point in his life fate never intended" and involves the "unraveling of the situation, to get him back to where he should have been." It's a surreal "ghost story," said Wilson, and "the idea's ultimately that this album will form a kind of companion with [the] feature film."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is putting together a list of second-stage acts for his upcoming Gigantour. In a post on his Web site, Mustaine said he is seriously considering Dry Kill Logic, Diecast, Otep, Overkill, Pain of Salvation, Taproot and Symphony X and plans to review other acts as well. Gigantour launches next month and features Megadeth, Dream Theater, Dillinger Escape Plan and Nevermore on the main stage. ...

Florida extremists Hate Eternal will release I, Monarch on June 28. Recorded and mixed by frontman Erik Rutan in his Tampa studio, Mana, the album's tracks include "Two Demons," "The Victorious Reign" and "To Know Our Enemies." The band launches a tour with Krisiun, Incantation, Into Eternity and All Shall Perish June 16 in West Springfield, Virginia; the tour wraps July 23 in Tampa. ...

A gang of concertgoers rushed the stage and attacked metal-core act From a Second Story Window during the band's set at Milwaukee's Chaos Fest on Monday night. Apparently upset by frontman Will Jackson (who, in an unrelated incident, accidentally kicked a ceiling tile loose during a crowd-surfing incident in Chicago the night before), the aggressive gaggle injured one of the band's guitarists and broke some instruments before heading outside and smashing the windshield of the band's van. ...

Unearth will shoot a video for the track "Endless" on Saturday at the Showcase in Corona, California, with director Jerry Clubb. ... Gotham City hardcore act Most Precious Blood will hit Atomic Studios in Brooklyn, New York, in the next few weeks to start work on Merciless with producer Dean Baltulonis (the Promise, No Warning.) ...

Progressive Finnish metal band Amorphis are in the studio working on the follow-up to 2004's Far From the Sun. The record will feature new vocalist Tomi Joutsen, who replaced Pasi Koskinen, who left last year because of the usual personal and professional differences. Koskinen had been with Amorphis since 1996. ...

Upstate New York metalcore upstarts It Dies Today had their van and equipment stolen last week in California. The group was in the middle of a tour with God Forbid, Caliban and Full Blown Chaos and was staying with friends from the band Cold War when the ride was broken into. The van was later recovered — empty, its fuel lines cut — forcing the band to cancel shows in San Francisco and Denver. Full Blown Chaos and Caliban will lend It Dies Today their equipment for the remainder of the tour. Those with information about the theft should contact Steve Koenig at scott@kingartistmanagement.com. ...

Kansas heavy music powerhouses the Esoteric will hit the road with Lovehatehero, Still Life Projector and Secret Lives for a 15-date tour that kicks off in Houston on May 10. ... On August 23, thrash-core specialists Municipal Waste — a band featuring ex-Burnt by the Sun drummer Dave Witte — will release Hazardous Mutation through Earache. ... Melodic Connecticut metallers In Pieces will release Lions Write History on May 10; tracks include "Age of Oceans," "Night of the Long Knives" and "No Letter, No Note." ...

Canada's Devin Townsend Band will be spending August and September recording a new LP titled Sychestra. ... Horse the Band have enlisted producer Matt Bayles for their second offering, Super Horse the Band, which they'll start recording May 13. Tracks include "Octopus on Fire," "Taken by Vultures" and "A Million Exploding Suns." ... Dry Kill Logic have parted ways with bassist Danny Horboychuk, replacing him with Casey Mahoney. ...

Sludge slingers Eyehategod will release a 10-song collection of rare and live tracks on May 10, in the form of Preaching End-Time Message. ... The sixth album by German power metal band Primal Fear is due in October. The still-untitled disc is being produced by Charlie Bauerfeind. ...

Classical-leaning Finnish veterans Stratovarius will release their self-titled 12th studio offering in late August or early September. The band's agreed to change the title of the track "Hitler" to "Götterdämmerung (Zenith of Power)." And while the song still includes a snippet of a speech by Germany's nefarious former dictator, guitarist Timo Tolkki said in a statement that the track is "as strongly against Hitler as a song can be." Other cuts include "Manic Dance," "The Land of Ice and Snow" and "Back to Madness." Stratovarius will tour North American with Into Eternity in September. ...

British goth metal legends My Dying Bride will unleash a box set, Anti-Diluvian Chronicles, on May 23. The three-disc package will feature tracks from each of the band's 10 albums, as well as new remixes of "The Wreckage of My Flesh," "My Wine in Silence" and "The Raven and the Rose." ...

Thrashy metalcore band Martyr A.D. broke up days before a scheduled tour with Agnostic Front. "[There's] not much to say right now, but hopefully there will be a last show in Minneapolis," wrote the group on its Web site.

• Porcupine Tree
• Megadeth
• Hate Eternal