Yo. Your usual Metal File host, Iann Robinson, is off this week, but the rest of us are dedicated to keeping you fully stocked with fresh metal headlines. Tear into 'em:

Black Box, the delayed box set from Black Sabbath, will now hit stores on March 2. The set includes all of the band's Ozzy Osbourne-era albums as well as a DVD of never-before-seen live footage. ... Organizers have unveiled the final schedule for the New Jersey Metal and Hardcore Fest, set for this weekend in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Seventy-three bands — including Cradle of Filth, Superjoint Ritual, Danzig, Morbid Angel, Type O Negative and Biohazard — will play. A complete schedule can be found at the festival's Web site. ... Re-formed '90s thrash outfit Prong hope to release their new Scorpio Rising in February. ...

Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones will make a guest appearance on Summer of Darkness, the second album from Demon Hunter, which the group is currently tracking in its hometown of Seattle. Tentative song titles include "Coffin Builder," "I Play Dead," "Beheaded" and "Everything Was White." ... Eyes of Fire, an Orange County, California, band that includes former members of Mindrot in its lineup, has completed a video for the song "Hopeless" with director Bill Henderson (Sepultura). The track will appear on the group's debut, Ashes to Embers, due in March. ... Pig Destroyer are working on a conceptual album/DVD tentatively titled Terrifyer. ... Darkane's video for "Chaos Vs. Order" can be viewed at the Nuclear Blast Records Web site. ...

Zakk Wylde has donated his very first guitar, a 1985 Gibson Les Paul, to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum. ... Norway's prosthetic-face-wearing ghoul Mortiis has begun work on a new album with producer Vegard Blomberg. It's the former Emperor bassist's first record since 2001's The Smell of Rain, which saw him abandoning moody atmospherics. ... A new track by Zyklon called "An Electric Manner" has been posted on their Web site. ... The mathematically inclined madmen of the Dillinger Escape Plan are hitting the road with the similarly crazed guys of the Locust. The tour kicks off mid-January in the Midwest and wraps up in early March. ...

Former At the Gates frontman Tomas Lindberg's The Great Deceiver have finished the follow-up to last year's A Venom Well Designed. The disc is due in February. ... There's an unmixed and unmastered version of the new All That Remains track "The Deepest Gray" on their label's Web site. The song is from the band's forthcoming This Darkened Heart, produced by Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewitz. ... Strapping Young Lad frontman Devin Townsend will produce the debut from Misery Signals in February. ... Remembering Never have completed mixing their sophomore record, Women and Children Die First, due next year. ...

My Dying Bride have finished their eighth studio album, due early next year, but have yet to pick a title. ... Former Barbed Wire Dolls singer Johnny Weils will make his live debut with Alabama Thunderpussy in Baltimore on December 5, the start of a string of East Coast dates. Weils, who replaced singer Johnny Throckmorton, will make his recorded debut with the band on their forthcoming second album, tentatively titled Fulton Hill. ... Peaceville Records is planning DVD releases from Katatonia and long-defunct gore metal legends Autopsy next year. ... Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Isis are teaming up for a split EP to raise money for Shaun Luu, who has been diagnosed with brain cancer. Due in the spring, the record will include live and "special" recordings as well as a remix of the Isis track "Carry." ...

Static-X have added nine more dates to their tour with Soil, Skrape and Twisted Method. The first new show is November 26 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and dates are scheduled until December 17 in Anaheim, California. ... Impaled Nazarene will release their eighth album, All That You Fear, in January. The album will mark the first appearance of guitarist Tuomio. Former guitarist Teemu Raimoranta died in March after falling from a bridge in Helsinki. ... Israel's Melechesh will release their third album, Sphynx, in January. The disc will include a cover of Celtic Frost's "Babylon Fell." ... Recently re-formed Long Island, New York, death metal demolitionists Suffocation will release a new album, Souls to Deny, in the spring. ...

Today Is the Day have shot a video for "The Descent," from Sadness Will Prevail, in Philadelphia with directors Adam Albrandt and Brian D. Lange. ... Monster Magnet drummer Michael Wildwood has left the band for unspecified reasons. Meanwhile, the band is working on its next record, tentatively titled Monolithic Babies. The record will feature new bassist Jim Baglino, who replaced Joe Calandra last year. ... Anthrax have delayed the shoot of their "What Doesn't Die" video until January. ...

• Black Sabbath
• Danzig
• Prong
• Superjoint Ritual
• Killswitch Engage

Ministry
Photo: David James

Hey fellow metallers, how's it going? Iann Robinson here, finally back from L.A., and I'm ringing in my return by heading to the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. Lots of amazing bands for two days of real metal. So what did you think of the "Headbangers Ball" premiere? I know there are some kinks to work out, but how cool was it to see videos from Shadows Fall and High on Fire?

Phil from 16 sent me their new record, Zoloft Smile, and it's brilliant. You guys should attack them with e-mails requesting it to be released ASAP in America. I also checked out the new Himsa, which is a totally great hardcore/metal blend, so expect big things from them. Well, that's it for now. Next week I'll give you a full report on the festival, and until then, see you at the shows:

Rob Zombie hosts this week's edition of "Headbangers Ball," airing Saturday at 10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT on MTV2. Staind will also be stopping by the set. ... CKY have been invited to open Metallica's homecoming show at the Fillmore in San Francisco on Sunday. The show will be the first for guitarist Chad I Ginsburg since he broke his tailbone in March. ... The Metal Gods tour, featuring Halford, Testament, Immortal, Carnal Forge, Primal Fear, Pain Museum and Amon Amarth, has been derailed. Reasons for the move remain unclear, though organizers said the problems facing the tour have nothing to do with any of the bands on the bill. ...

A deafening Ministry performance on May 6 in Philadelphia was pumped with even more firepower when former Skinny Puppy vocalist Nivek Ogre and Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian took the stage for the band's trademark "Stigmata." The track was originally featured on the 1988 album The Land of Rape and Honey. ... 40 Grit bassist Kevin Young was ordered by doctors to sit out for seven dates after he suffered a herniated disc during a show in Ladd, Illinois, with Pissing Razors, Society 1 and Luxt. A Pissing Razors guitar tech will fill in for Young for the next week. ...

Vehemence are writing material for their next album, tentatively titled Helping the World to See. Bassist Mark Kozuback should have his hands full since he'll be working on the disc and learning to be a father at the same time. Kozuback's baby girl is due in August. ... Polish metal warriors Vader will release an EP this fall that will combine their import EP Reign Forever World (2001) with a second EP of new material. ... High on Fire will launch a tour for their album Surrounded by Thieves on June 12 in Los Angeles. Dates run through late July. Support acts will include Drunk Horse, Chinese Stars, Hidden Hand, Floor, the Whip and Camarosmith. ...

Leadfoot, a band featuring ex-Corrosion of Conformity members Karl Agell (vocals) and Phil Swisher (bass), have recalled all 1,400 copies of their third record, We Drink for Free, because the discs contain multiple digital errors that cause them to skip and pause. Anyone who bought the album should return it to the place of purchase. ... Dio will release the live DVD "Evil or Divine" on July 1. The concert was recorded at New York's Roseland Ballroom on December 13. The DVD includes backstage footage, an interview with frontman Ronnie James Dio, and the video for "Push," which features Tenacious D. ... Alabama Thunder Pussy have split with vocalist Johnny Throckmorton, who joined the band when it formed more than six years ago. Daring souls should contact alabamathunder@hotmail.com or relapse@relapse.com. The band has nine new songs completed for its next record. ...

You think you've heard it all? Not yet. Agoraphobic Nosebleed have released the three-inch CD called Altered States of America, featuring 100 chaotic, disjointed and blistering songs in a mere 21 minutes. The band will follow up the project in early 2004 by releasing a split CD with Jesu, the new band featuring ex-Godflesh frontman Justin Broadrick and his former bandmates Ted Parsons and Paul Neville. ... Life of Agony are getting ready to release a double live CD titled River Runs Again Live 2003. The CDs will contain their biggest songs as well as four bonus tracks. ... The Crown recently headed back into the studio to record a new album. Vocalist Johan Lindstrand is now back with the band. ...

Long-running Christian thrash metal band Living Sacrifice, whose guitarist, Rocky Gray, has recently been drumming for Evanescence, have announced plans to disband following their next few scheduled performances, including a July 5 appearance at the Cornerstone Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. The band had previously planned to replace singer/guitarist/founding member Bruce Fitzhugh after their upcoming gigs and continue on, but has opted to split instead, according to the group's Web site. ... Norwegian black metal outfit Dimmu Borgir are mixing their next album, Death Cult Armageddon, at Studio Fredman in Gothenburg, Sweden. The band has reportedly recorded a cover version of an old Bathory song as well. ...

Henry Rollins and his band will revisit the former Black Flag frontman's roots: Rollins and company will play only Black Flag songs on an upcoming tour to benefit the West Memphis Three — the young Arkansas men convicted of the grisly murders of three boys. Dates for the tour can be found at Rollins' Web site, 21361.com. ... New York legends Prong are putting the finishing touches on a new album called Scorpio Rising, which was co-produced by Tommy Victor. The album should hit stores next month on Locomotive Music. ...

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

• Ministry
• Dimmu Borgir
• Halford
• Living Sacrifice
• Prong