Suicide Silence
Photo: Century Media

Don't you just love it when bands regurgitate those same tired, lame lines everyone spews in interviews — you know, ones like, "We wouldn't be here without the fans," or "Everything we do, we do with our fans in mind"? Yeah, us too. Those remarks usually come off as disingenuous and halfhearted. But when it comes to Riverside, California, deathcore act Suicide Silence, actions speak louder than words.

Frontman Mitch Lucker recently recalled a good example: a 2006 gig in Miami that went awry. He remembered gnashing his teeth as he watched the venue's security team manhandle the mosh-happy crowd. He tried to ignore it — but then one of the band's female fans took a stagedive. That's when things got ugly.

"One of the security guards punched her right in the face," Lucker explained. "They were being complete a--holes, choking people out, throwing people down. So I told everybody in the audience to f--- that one security guard up."

As the sweat-drenched, huddled masses started pushing forward, toward the front of the stage, Lucker said the club's sentinels began spraying mace — at the band. The singer recalled taking a deep breath just as the tear gas hit him.

"Everybody in this club — which I won't name — got mad and basically, it incited an entire riot," he claimed. "The whole show destroyed the venue, somebody stole the PA, a full-on SWAT team was called in, there were news helicopters flying overhead — it was horrible. I guess I kind of instigated it ... it was probably one of the craziest things I've seen — there was much violence in such a short amount of time."

Luckily, Lucker and the rest of Suicide Silence escaped arrest- and bruise-free, albeit covered in lachrymator. But it was a night the band will never forget and hopes to avoid repeating on its current tour with Despised Icon, Winds of Plague and See You Next Tuesday. The trek concludes Wednesday in Worcester, Massachusetts.

After the run, Suicide Silence will hit the road with Unearth, Darkest Hour and August Burns Red from Thursday in Towson, Maryland, through October 6 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A headlining tour with Walls of Jericho, A Life Once Lost and the Agony Scene will follow, but no dates have been booked yet.

According to Lucker, Suicide Silence would like nothing more than a slot on next summer's Sounds of the Underground Tour or Ozzfest. He said that all comes down to the reception the band's Century Media debut, The Cleansing, receives. The disc, produced by John Travis, landed in stores on Tuesday.

"We didn't want our record to sound like everybody else's," Lucker explained. "We worked with John, who'd done stuff with the Wu-Tang Clan and Static-X, because he'd never really done a record with a metal band before. That's what we wanted. We wanted a different feel, a different sound, a different mood to it. But we still wanted to keep it savage and violent — that's the way it should be."

The entire record was tracked live, Lucker said, to capture the raw energy the band expends during its live shows. In addition, Suicide Silence wanted to integrate all the various styles of metal they appreciate into one compact package.

"What we tried to do on this record was to incorporate tons of different styles of metal — death, speed, metalcore — into our songs, because most death-metal bands get labeled 'death metal,' and that's all they ever are," he said. "They're confined to just one genre. But we wanted to separate ourselves from that and give each song a different sound, so you can listen to the whole record and not get tired of it. Kids who listen to all genres of metal will find something to like on this record, because we tried to be as open as possible on it."

While Lucker claims the band pre-sold more than 2,200 copies of The Cleansing through its MySpace page and hopes to attract a lot more fans this year through nonstop touring and, hopefully, that summer-festival slot. And the video the guys recently shot with director Matt Bass (the Esoteric, the Black Dahlia Murder) for "The Price of Beauty" won't hurt.

"It's pretty violent," he said. "Matt wrote the treatment to the song, and it fits so well — the video came out grotesque and intense, just like the song. It's perfect."

The clip features the band performing frantically in a dark warehouse, interspersed with footage of a pretty young girl inside a sadistic doctor's office. "We wanted a girl that looked really innocent, like, 'I want to get fake boobies and a fake nose' — the total little generic Orange County chick," Lucker said. "And she was perfect for it. She let us cut her ears off — she was a good sport."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid have all contributed to the upcoming album by Queen V. The disc, Death or Glory, is scheduled for release in November. Lemmy appears on "Wasted," Morello on "My Machine" and Reid on "One & Only." ... Danzig will launch a brief tour on October 23 in Baltimore, with dates running through November 2 in San Francisco. Gorgeous Frankenstein, which features Misfits guitarist Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, will open all shows. ...

Means to an End have a valid excuse for making industrial-strength biker metal: Frontman Tony "Grinder" Dwyer was formerly a professional BMX rider and is currently a professional NASCAR driver. The band's debut, ... Reaction, is available on iTunes now and will get a proper release in February. Tracks include "This Fist for Free," "When It's Gone" and "Faith Is Taking Over." ... Following the departures of singer Chuck Bouley and bassist Rob Deangelis, Eastern Massachusetts hardcore-metal band Since the Flood have cemented their lineup with singer Nate Siemens and bassist Ricky Nukem (ex-Guns Up!). The group is currently on a U.S. tour that runs through September 30 in Dover, New Hampshire. ...

To contribute to the backwoods vibe of the upcoming horror film "The Stitcher," director Darla Enlow ("Toe Tags," "Branded") decided to recruit small-town metal bands for the soundtrack. The producers got the help of various rural radio stations to promote a contest for the flick, and they soon received a pitchfork full of demos. In the end, they asked 10 bands to contribute, including Calling Matthew, Darkset Theory and Doomsday Junky. "The Stitcher" will be released October 16 by VCI Entertainment. ... Relapse will host a free screening of the thrash-metal documentary "Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal" on Tuesday in Philadelphia at the Rotunda. The screening will be followed by a set from modern thrash band Rumpelstiltskin Grinder. "Get Thrashed" was written and directed by Rick Ernst and features interviews with many of the key players from the '80s and '90s. The associate producer of the film is ex-Overkill drummer Rat Skates. ...

The second album by experimental Canadian band Protest the Hero, Fortress, has been bumped to early 2008. The album was originally slated for release November 13. ... The release of the new CD by rapper Ill Bill (brother of Necro), The Hour of Reprisal, has also been delayed, until early 2008. The disc will feature guest appearances by Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera, Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones, and Bad Brains singer H.R. and bassist Darryl Jenifer. A good chunk of rappers — Wu-Tang Clan's Raekwon, Tech N9ne, Necro, DJ Premier, Muggs and B-Real. Ill Bill launches a tour with Twiztid on Tuesday in Cleveland, and dates run through November 10 in Columbus, Ohio. ...

Burial Chamber Trio, an all-star group featuring Mayhem singer Attila Csihar, Sunn 0))) guitarist Greg Anderson and electronic guitarist and percussionist Oren Ambarchi, have scheduled a single North American show for October 21 in Seattle. Lesbian will open. ... Technical melodic death-metal band Arsis are in the studio working on their first album for Nuclear Blast. The disc, tentatively titled We Are the Nightmare, will be the follow-up to the Virginia Beach, Virginia, band's 2006 album, United in Regret. ... The Number 12 Looks Like You will launch a tour with Drop Dead Gorgeous starting October 30 in Iowa City, Iowa. Dates run through December 1 in Orangeville, California.

• Suicide Silence
• Danzig
• Protest The Hero
• Soulfly

The Chariot
Photo: Tooth and Nail

Take a quick glance at the track list for highly technical, wholly unpredictable metalcore outfit the Chariot's latest LP, The Fiancée, and you'll notice the titles of the first eight songs — when linked together — form something of a paradoxical and rather morbid poem: "Back to Back," "They Faced Each Other," "They Drew Their Swords," "And Shot Each Other," "The Deaf Policeman," "Heard This Noise," "Then Came To Kill," "The Two Dead Boys."

If this poem sounds vaguely familiar to you, then congratulations — you actually do remember something from grade school.

Frontman Josh Scogin — who was Norma Jean's founding singer before he departed following the release of that band's sophomore set, 2002's Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child — says he never heard the anonymously written limerick until his band started writing material for The Fiancée. That album is in stores now and follows 2004's Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing, Nothing Is Dead, and Nothing Is Bleeding.

"Our bassist [Jon 'KC Wolf!' Kindler] just blurted out a part of it one day, and it intrigued me," Scogin explained. "I asked him what it was, and he told me he wasn't sure, that he'd heard it in elementary school, and so I did some research on it to make sure it wasn't in a book or something. ... There are hundreds of versions of it. I just kind of made up my own version of the poem so that each track would have its own title, and when reading it together, it would still make sense and keep in line with the original poem's story."

That doesn't mean The Fiancée is a concept record about the poem — none of the album's lyrics correspond with the song titles. But making the record was something of a different kind of experience for the Chariot — Scogin especially. Produced by Matt Goldman (Underoath, Cartel), The Fiancée was written and recorded under rather tight time constraints.

"It was actually a very easy record to write," he said. "It came more naturally to us. Sometimes with art, there's the art of, 'Well, I just created it because that's just what I wanted to do,' and then there's the art of, 'Well, we have a deadline, and we have to be done by this date — no exceptions.' This time the record was more the former — we wrote all of these songs within a week of each other and they all came very naturally, very fast and very easy. I like that process a lot better."

But that wasn't the sole difference between the recording sessions for Everything Is Alive and this latest studio offering. Scogin said he waited until all the music was finalized before even thinking about lyrics, which is something "I will never do again, because it was pretty challenging.

"A couple of weeks before we were in the studio, and even while we were in the studio, I was writing lyrics, so there was a lot of pressure [on me] in that sense," he continued. "Still, it came pretty naturally for me, but it was definitely one of those things where it had to get done, because ... we were in the studio and I just had to get them down on paper."

The Chariot — whose intense live gigs are the thing of metalcore legend — will hit the road Wednesday in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with Misery Signals, I Am Ghost, the Human Abstract and I Hate Sally for a tour that runs through June 27 in Cleveland. After that, the band will do a short stint on this summer's Warped Tour, starting July 18 in Atlanta and concluding July 25 in Washington, D.C. But not every gig's been a slam-dunk, Scogin admitted — in fact, one concert the singer wasn't too proud of inspired a track on The Fiancée.

"I knew I was going to name a song 'Forgive Me Nashville,' and the lyrics are based around a show we played there where I kind of let the business of rock and roll get in the way of true rock and roll," the frontman explained. "My mind was somewhere else — on managers, tour managers, lawyers and all that crap. It wasn't my best show, and I wanted to make sure I named a song after it, to just keep that there in the forefront of my mind.

"The whole reason we're in a band is for the fun part of the performance," Scogin continued. "I come from back in the day, when you'd pay $5 for a show. ... We just try to make it worth it to the person who paid that money to get into the show. We try to pull out all the stops and make sure that every show stands on its own. ... We keep it spontaneous. Our first love is the live show — recording records, that's all circled around hopefully bringing more kids to the live show so we can perform for them. The focal point of this band is the live show and to make sure if you paid money to come see us, when you leave, you feel it was worth the money you'd spent."

While the Chariot have been tagged a "Christian" band, Scogin said he's not interested in force-feeding his beliefs on anyone else. To him, it's all about the music.

"I believe there are people in this world who have the exact opposite beliefs as me, and they hold firm to those just as strong as I hold to mine," he said. "When I was growing up, if I liked [a band], I listened to it — and I went to the shows. If I didn't, I didn't. It wasn't like, 'Oh, they don't believe the same thing I do,' or, 'They don't do drugs,' or, 'Oh, they do do drugs,' or, 'Their pants are too tight,' or, 'Their hair's too good.' ... What about just music — isn't that enough? People care too much about the fashion of it all. To me, a band's either good or they ain't, and that's the only thing that should matter."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Sikth frontmen Mikee Goodman and Justin Hill have taken leave of the British progressive metallers. The split is said to have been amicable. Goodman will pursue other musical activities, while Hill plans to focus on production work. The rest of the band is in the middle of writing new material for its forthcoming third LP but is in dire need of a new singer (or singers). Think you'd like to front Sikth? Applicants should e-mail the band at sikthmail@googlemail.com. Goodman and Hill will remain with Sikth through the end of their July tour. ... Zao need a drummer again. Josh Walters — who just joined the band earlier this year as the replacement for Jeff Gretz — has left the band, according to guitarist Scott Mellinger. "He is very involved in his work and doesn't have the time needed to do anything music-related," the guitarist wrote in a statement. "We do have a friend that will be learning some stuff and hopefully be playing with us very soon. Once we solidify the drummer position, we will be playing some shows in our area and possibly be playing Cornerstone, Illinois. Zao is not dead. We have every intention to do shows and records in the upcoming months." ...

Arsonists Get All the Girls will tour in June and July with Elysia, Knights of the Abyss, My Bitter End and Moria. The trek's first gig is set for June 1 in Anaheim, California, and dates are booked through July 21 in Santa Cruz, California. ... Ex-Snot and Soulfly guitarist Mikey Doling will co-produce the debut album by Unset along with Brad Dujmovic. The disc will be released late this year on Gridiron Records, the label Doling co-owns with Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Kyle Turley. "Every song we put together comes from an honest and — at most times — vulnerable place," Unset singer Frank W. Torres said in a statement. "In the end, we hope that the record will portray a sincerity that borders on confession, an emotion that borders on madness and an originality that borders on art." So long as it borders on rockin', we'll be happy. ... The Great Deceiver, which features ex-At the Gates singer Tomas Lindberg, will release their third album, Life is Wasted on the Living, later this year on their new label Deathwish. The disc will be produced and engineered by Berno Paulsson (the Haunted, Amon Amarth) and will be the band's first offering since 2003's Terra Incognito. ...

Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing and neoclassical guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen will guest on two songs apiece on the upcoming Violent Storm album Storm Warning, which comes out July 17. The band was formed by ex-Ritchie Blackmore and Malmsteen tourmate Mick Cervino and ex-Blackmore's Night drummer Mike Sorrentino. In addition to playing on the album, Downing executive produced the disc. "When I heard Mick's stuff, I thought, 'This is pretty cool — it has a freshness about it. Very classic metal,' " Downing said in a statement. "So, I played a couple of solos and things went on from there." ... Modern thrash revivalists Lamb of God have been nominated for "Ballsiest Band" at Spike TV's Guys Choice awards. They'll be up against Disturbed, who are kinda ballsy themselves, but c'mon. ... Fans can vote right here through June 1. The show will be taped June 9 and air June 13. ... Chris Cornell's brother Pete is the singer in a New York-based band called Black Market Radio, which was just signed to startup label, Slugfest Records. Singing is definitely in this boy's DNA, which explains why his band bears a striking resemblance to early Soundgarden. "We are really happy about our addition to the Slugfest family," Cornell said in a statement, avoiding any reference to his brother's legendary outfit. "The combination of our raw power as a band and Slugfest's long-term plans are perfect. We will see everyone on the road. ...

Bury Your Dead singer Michael Crafter has decided to leave the band. "I wanted to prove myself so much and be a good frontman for [Bury Your Dead]," he wrote in a statement. "It's been two months since I got to the U.S.A. [from his native Australia], and all I have wanted is to be home with my friends and this stops me from giving my all. I met a lot of great people here. My time with the band was short and was a lot of fun and a great experience." ... Overkill's original drummer, Rat Skates, has just released his documentary film, "Born in the Basement." "This [movie] looks deep into the scene we came up in and should be required viewing for anyone starting a career in music," Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian said in a statement. Skates also served as associate producer of the upcoming Rick Ernst thrash-metal documentary "Get Thrashed," which is currently making the rounds at film festivals. ...

English doom band Orange Goblin will release their new album Healing Through Fire on June 26. The record is the group's first since 2004's Thieving From the House of God and includes "Vagrant Stomp," "Cities of Frost" and "The Ale House Braves." The first pressing of the album will include a DVD of a London show from 2006. ... Japanese black-metal trailblazers Sigh will play select U.S. shows with Israeli Mesopotamian black-metal band Melechesh starting July 6 in Brooklyn, New York, and running through July 14 in Montreal. Sigh will also open for Norwegian black-metal legends Mayhem July 16 in Santa Ana, California, and July 18 in West Hollywood, California. Sigh's tremendous new album, Hangman's Hymn, comes out June 12.

• Sikth
• Overkill
• The Chariot
• Zao
• Soulfly

Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil (file)
Photo: Getty Images/Donald Weber

The last seven months have been rather eventful for Mötley Crüe, and with a 55-date North American summer expedition — with openers Sum 41, the Exies and Silvertide — set to kick off July 24 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it's only going to get more hectic for the ripe hair-metal legends.

The Crüe — who'll get their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2006 — couldn't be more excited to get back on the road. "My bags are packed," frontman Vince Neil said. "I'm standing by the door."

According to bassist Nikki Sixx, the second time around the continent's going to similar to their last outing. "We'd initially planned on changing the show quite a bit and then, in just talking to fans, and knowing that we're going to so many cities we haven't been to, we decided that we're going to keep it pretty much the same," he said. Once again, they'll mix older material and newer stuff and, of course, killer clowns and almost-naked aerialists. "We might play some different songs here and there, but at this point, it's a pretty labor-intensive show, and we decided to just take it around one more time."

Response to the Crüe's first spate of dates was so overwhelming that they just had to give it another go. "Vince has said over and over again, 'Rock and roll never really goes away,' " Sixx said. "Pop artists come and they go, but they never really come back. Rock bands, we go through phases of being more or less popular. ... We've been discovered by a new audience, a younger audience."

But those who missed the band's most recent reunion trek — and, for some inexplicable reason, commit the ungodly gaffe of missing the guys on this forthcoming tour — will still be able to experience the madness of the Crüe live. Carnival of Sins, a special double-disc DVD, hits stores October 4 and features footage from a concert in Grand Rapids, Michigan, along with behind-the-scenes footage, in-depth interviews, a Claymation film, music videos and more.

"We shot it in high-def, we had 18 cameras, and it has a lot of the behind the scenes, putting together of the show," Sixx said.

"It shows every guy doing their, like, ritual or whatever, like [drummer] Tommy [Lee] blasting music, or me kicking back or meditating or whatever — how each of us prepares to go onstage," guitarist Mick Mars added. "Me putting on makeup and all that kind of crap. I'm the only guy who wears makeup. The rest of the guys have natural beauty."

The Crüe are even planning to record new material soon.

"We look forward to creating some new songs," Sixx said. "It won't be this year. We're definitely going back to do an album. The hard part is finding the time. This tour keeps adding dates and adding dates, so it's hard to pinpoint when people ask, 'When are you going into the studio?' The only thing you can say is 'When the tour ends.' We don't know when it will end yet. It's more important to have a great record than to rush getting it out. It's important for us to put a great record out."

The rest of the week's metal news:

"Viva La Bam" and "Jackass" cast members Don Vito and Ryan Dunn have assembled a new tour that will wed extreme antics with extreme-metal performances. Open Hand, Fight Paris and Disengage will play sets during shows that will also feature acts of self-abuse and other tomfoolery. The tour launches August 3 in Austin, Texas, and runs through September 11. ... Thine Eyes Bleed, a thrash/death-metal band that features John Araya (brother of Slayer singer/bassist Tom Araya) and ex-Kittie touring guitarist Jeff Phillips, will kick off their summer North American tour on July 19 in Rimouski, Quebec. Dates run through August 5 in Ottawa. ... Swedish death-metal veterans Hypocrisy will release their 10th studio album, Virus, on September 19. The disc was produced by frontman Peter Tagtgren in his Abyss studio and includes the tracks "Warpath," "Let the Knife Do the Talking" and "Blooddrenched." ...

The fifth album by Soulfly, Dark Ages, is due October 4. The disc was produced by frontman Max Cavalera, mixed by Terry Date and includes embellishments by musicians from Serbia, Turkey, Russia and France. Tracks include "Inner Spirit," "Corrosion Creeps," "Stay Strong," "Fuel the Hate" and "Molotov," which features guest vocals by M.O.D. frontman Billy Milano. ... Finnish melodic death metallers Omnium Gatherum have booked studio time for next spring to record their third album. ... Swedish operatic metal marauders Therion will invade North America this fall for the first time in more than a decade. The band will begin the crusade August 29 in Portland, Oregon, pillaging and plundering through October 6 in Utica, New York. ...

French-Canadian extreme death-metallers Cryptopsy are nearly finished with their still-untitled fifth album, which will come out in October. The band entered Vortex Studios near Montreal on May 16 with producer Sebastien Marsan. Cryptopsy will tour with Suffocation and Aborted starting September 28 in Farmingdale, New York. ... Rollins Band drummer Jason Mackenroth will release the eponymous debut from his new band Mack on September 13. The power trio features Mackenroth (drums/vocals), Jacques Wait (guitars/vocals) and Dan McNay (bass/vocals). Mackenroth has played on seven Rollins Band albums and was also in Mother Superior. ... Guitar virtuoso Yngwie Malmsteen and his Rising Force will issue their new album, Release the Fury, on July 26. ... Speedy death-metal merchants Nile recently filmed a video for "Sacrifice Unto Sebek," a track from the band's recently released Annihilation of the Wicked. Shot on location in Atlanta with director Chad Rullman (Mastodon, the Agony Scene), it features the band rockin' hard inside an Egyptian burial chamber, "replete with actual design motifs of ancient Egyptian culture," according to a press release. ...

The Number Twelve Looks Like You hit the road on August 1 in Topton, Pennsylvania, for a 14-date tour that wraps on August 31 in Wilmington, Delaware. ... Blessing the Hogs' forthcoming opus will boast ex-Coalesce vocalist Sean Ingram's pipes on at least two songs — covers of Quicksand's "Fazer" and the Melvins' "Hog Leg." Called The Twelve Gauge Solution, the July 26 release will feature "Let's Play Doctor ... Kevorkian," "That New Car Smell," "Chemical Equalizer" and "Selficide." ... Floridian hardcore act Until the End have lined up two September shows, which will be the band's last. Both will go down in the Sunshine State (in Miami and West Palm Beach) and will feature both current vocalist James McHugh and original singer Mean Pete. ... Dutch death metallers Gorefest will start recording their reunion album soon at Excess Studio in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The group, which broke up in 1998 following the release of Chapter 13, have written 15 songs for the effort, 10 of which will make the disc, which Iis due for release by year's end. On August 23, the band's entire back catalog will be re-released on three double-disc sets with bonus tracks.

• Mötley Crüe
• Soulfly
• Yngwie Malmsteen
• Open Hand
• Fight Paris

Metallica's Kirk Hammett (file)
Photo: John Shearer

It's been more than two months since Mikael Åkerfeldt's progressive death-metal outfit Opeth entered a Swedish studio for what will be the highly technical band's eighth album. Two weeks ago, Åkerfeldt told Metal File the record's nearing completion but that there were still several critical details that needed sorting out — i.e. the album title, some lyrics — and a record label to release the damn thing.

Before this week, Sweden's exalted sons were one of the world's most wanted unsigned bands. But that all changed within the last couple of days, when Opeth finalized a deal with New York's Roadrunner Records, bolstering an imposing roster that already includes Killswitch Engage, Slipknot, Obituary and Cradle of Filth.

Åkerfeldt, Opeth's haunting vocalist/ ambitious guitarist, disclosed several details about the band's forthcoming, self-produced opus. The follow-up to 2003's acoustic masterpiece, Damnation, and Opeth's first disc in years without producer Steve Wilson, the album will include "Ghost of Tradition," "The Baying of the Hounds" and "Isolation Years."

"Musically, Damnation was an experiment for us," Åkerfeldt said. "It also helped us to develop our sound. So this time around, you can say the overall record is going to be heavy-sounding. There's also a couple of songs that are more in the style of Damnation, so to speak. We also have a new member in the band, our keyboard player, Per Wiberg. So we have some vintage keyboards this time around on the heavy material as well. Overall, this one is heavy."

Åkerfeldt said Opeth will finish the record before month's end and expect to release it as early as late August. He also said they'll play some new material this summer as part of the inaugural Sounds of the Underground tour.

"We've never done anything like [a festival tour] before, but this is a new thing, so we're excited," he said. "It's a good chance to reach out to people who've never heard from us. I'm also looking forward to seeing Strapping Young Lad and Clutch perform. Many of the bands on the tour I've never heard of."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett has contributed guitar work to Carlos Santana's All That I Am, due September 13. As with his past two records, the disc will pair Santana with contemporary artists, but Hammett will likely be the only metal performer. Other acts on the record include Michelle Branch, Mary J. Blige, Big Boi, Black Eyed Peas, Los Lonely Boys, Sean Paul and Robert Randolph. ... Ozzfest 2005's As I Lay Dying's dedication is inspiring. Last week, the boys shot a video for forthcoming single "Confined" and endured more than a dozen hours in cold, hard rain to get all the shots just right. The video features performance footage of the band, filmed at an abandoned Air Force base in Tustin, California. "Only a couple of us are sick," frontman Tim Lambesis reported. "That's the good news." ...

Soulfly's Dark Ages, which hits stores September 13, will feature 14 tracks including "Carved Inside," "Corrosion Creeps" and "Feel the Hate." The effort was produced by Max Cavalera and will be mixed by Terry Date (Soundgarden, Pantera). ... British black-metal progenitors Venom are in the studio working on the follow-up to 2000's Resurrection and have posted the new track "Antechrist" on their Web site. The band — bassist and singer Cronos, guitarist Mykus and drummer Antton — recently struck a deal with Sanctuary Records to release the group's early back catalog. ... Montreal's Unexpect are hard at work on their the End Records debut and, according to their Web site, are mapping a short East Coast summer tour. ...

D.C.'s Darkest Hour shot a video for "Convalescence" in New Jersey on Wednesday with director Dale Resteghini (Hatebreed, Dillinger Escape Plan). The band's forthcoming disc, Undoing Ruin, hits June 28. Guitarist Mike Schleibaum described the video as looking "ultra-super metal." ... The soundtrack for the forthcoming underwater thriller "The Cave," slated for a July 12 release, will feature material from Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Mastodon, Nightwish, Atreyu, Lacuna Coil, Bleeding Through, Strapping Young Lad, Bury Your Dead, Candiria, Trivium, It Dies Today and Devilinside. ... A track list for Bury Your Dead's Alive, due July 12, was revealed this week. The disc will feature 12 song titles inspired by Tom Cruise flicks: "Vanilla Sky," "The Color of Money," "Magnolia" and "Top Gun." ... Ohio-based metal dudes Chimaira will release a self-titled disc, their first batch of fresh material in more than two years, August 9. ...

Southern California hardcore brutes Sinai Beach are down a guitarist. Mike Risinger has left the band, which will carry on as a foursome until a replacement is found. Those interested in trying out for the role can visit SinaiBeach.net for more information. They hit the road with Between the Buried and Me starting July 7 in Wilmington, North Carolina. ... All Shall Perish will tour with Hate Eternal, Incantation, Krisiun and Into Eternity starting June 16 in West Springfield, Virginia, and ending July 24 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. ... Throwdown recently shot a video for "Burn," the first single from Vendetta, due June 28. Christopher Sims (Lamb of God, Norma Jean) directed it. ... Mistress, a grindcore band from Birmingham, England, will release their debut, In Disgust We Trust, June 28. Tracks include "Happily Ever Disaster," "F---ing F---" and "Alcahole." ...

Horse, who are holed up in a Seattle studio with producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis) to work on their forthcoming disc, have signed with the recently resuscitated Combat Records; look for a September release. Labelmates At All Cost are also working on new material with Rory Phillips (Recover, the Rise). ... Scum of the Earth, fronted by ex-Rob Zombie guitarist Riggs, will kick off a nationwide tour June 14 in Springfield, Missouri, in support of their Eclipse Records debut, Blah ... Blah ... Blah ... Love Songs for the New Millennium. ... Mausolus Arguelles Von Kiszka, guitarist for Polish death metallers Brutality, has died, according the band's Web site. No cause of death was offered. As a result, the group has officially disbanded. ... Swedish death-metal band Dissection are in Stockholm working on their third album with frontman Jon Nödtveidt's brother Emil and Skinny Kangur. The disc will be the band's first since 1995's Storm of the Light's Bane. The group's momentum was thwarted in 1998 when Nödtveidt was sentenced to eight years in prison for participating in the murder of an Algerian man. ...

Demons & Wizards, the side project of Iced Earth frontman Jon Schaffer and Blind Guardian singer Hansi Kursch, will release their second disc, Touched by the Crimson King, June 27. Tracks include "Crimson King," "Beneath These Waves" and "Terror Train." ... Norwegians Frantic Bleep recently revamped their lineup, leaving guitarist Patrick Scantlebury and bassist Eywin Sundstrøm as the only original members. The rest of the band is now composed of singer Kjetil Fosseid, guitarist Lars Gunnar Morastseter and drummer Trond Sand. Frantic Bleep are currently writing and demoing their second album. ... Hardcore German metal band Barcode will release their fourth album, Showdown, July 26. Tracks include "Shots Out," "Rise to Dignity" and "Fanatics." ... Malevolent Creation will hit the road with Origin, Divine Empire and Animosity starting July 2 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dates run through August 6 in Atlanta, Georgia. ...

• Opeth
• Kirk Hammett
• Soulfly
• Venom
• Darkest Hour

Outkast's Andre 3000 is in talks to play Jimi Hendrix in a biopic directed by Allen and Albert Hughes ("Menace II Society," "American Pimp"). But first the rapper will star in an HBO movie coinciding with his group's just-released Speakerboxxx/ The Love Below, and then a film with Morgan J. Freeman ("Hurricane Streets") called "Love Hater." ...

Linkin Park will have to tone down their act when they play Malaysia on October 15. The government has granted the band permission to play a 50,000-seat stadium in Kuala Lumpur on the condition they don't jump around onstage, swear or wear shorts, according to wire-service reports. Officials in the conservative Islamic nation regularly prevent Western rock acts from playing there. ... Korn's sixth album, Take a Look in the Mirror, the first LP fully produced by the band, will drop November 18. In the meantime, fans can catch the first single, "Right Now," rocking radio early next month. ...

Beyoncé Knowles will play herself in an episode of the UPN sitcom "All of Us," airing October 7. ... Next year, the Grammy Awards will return to Los Angeles. The ceremony will take place February 8 at the Staples Center. The show was scheduled a few weeks earlier than usual so it wouldn't bump up against the Oscars and other awards programs. ...

Soulfly bassist Marcello D. Rapp, drummer Roy Mayorga and guitarist Mike Doling have left the band, the group's label confirmed. No reason was given. They have been temporarily replaced by bassist Bobby Burns (ex-Primer 55), guitarist Marc Rizzo (ex-Ill Nino) and drummer Joe Nunez. "This is no big deal," frontman Max Cavalera said in a statement. "Soulfly is always evolving. I'm always going to introduce new musicians to the fans. In fact, there has never been the same band on any consecutive Soulfly record." ... Following up performances in New York and San Juan Capistrano, California, Gina Gershon and current backup band Girls Against Boys will take their act to the House of Blues Sunset in West Hollywood on September 25 to promote the "Prey for Rock & Roll" soundtrack, due October 7. Seven additional dates will follow, and the trek wraps in Philadelphia on October 15. ...

Latin rock and electronic band Kinky have set a November 18 release date for their second album, Atlas. Cake singer John McCrea, who met the band on the recent Unlimited Sunshine Tour, is featured on the first single, "The Headphonist," while Itaal Shur, who won a Grammy for co-writing Santana's "Smooth," co-wrote another tune on the album, "Not Afraid." ... After a dynamic performance for 14,000 fans in Lima, Peru, Alanis Morissette ended the show by shouting, "Thank you, Brazil!" In a press conference in Sao Paolo, Brazil, Morissette said she had been drinking before making the gaffe. "I don't remember saying that," she said at the conference, according to the BBC. "I think I was drunk." ...

Hardcore metal band Life of Agony will release a double CD of their January reunion shows, River Runs Again: Live 2003, on October 14. And the reunion looks like it won't be short lived: The band has booked shows in Long Island, New York, for December 11 and 12 and will start working on a new studio album before the end of the year, which is tentatively scheduled for release in 2004. ... AC/DC's 1991 Monsters of Rock festival performance at Donington Castle in the U.K. is captured on the DVD "AC/DC Live at Donington," due November 11. In addition to the concert, the disc features remastered sound, band commentary and the ability to focus on just one member throughout an entire song. ...

The Sunday accident that caused David Lee Roth to get 21 stitches in his face and forced the cancellation of a handful of shows turned out not to be a run-of-the-mill concert misstep. No, it was "a very fast, complicated 15th-century samurai move" gone wrong that put the former Van Halen singer out of commission, according to his publicist. ... E should hope for straight A's when his band, the Eels, embarks on its Fall Tour of College Duty on October 16 in Lawrence, Kansas. The traipse through mostly college towns winds down November 8 in Brooklyn, New York. ...

9.23.2003

A St. Paul, Minnesota, security company filed a lawsuit against Fred Durst on Monday seeking $49,663 in workers' compensation the company had to pay to a security guard the Limp Bizkit singer allegedly kicked in the head during a 1999 concert. Durst, who was arrested after the incident but later saw the charges against him dismissed, settled a civil lawsuit brought by the guard for $100,000 in April 2000. ...

Eminem joined Obie Trice onstage Sunday at Detroit's State Theatre to celebrate Tuesday's release of Trice's Cheers. The duo performed the "8 Mile" soundtrack cut "Love Me," the "Cradle 2 the Grave" soundtrack song "Go to Sleep" and Cheers' "Lady." ... The building that houses P. Diddy's studio Daddy's House, which has given rise to LPs by Notorious B.I.G., Mase and Diddy himself, is reportedly in the process of being sold for $36 million. ...

Following the second successful year of the Bonnaroo Music Festival, an album and DVD commemorating the event are on the horizon. The 23-song double LP Live From Bonnaroo, featuring tracks from festival headliners the Dead, the Allman Brothers Band, Jack Johnson, Flaming Lips and Sonic Youth, is due September 30. The home video 270 Miles From Graceland — Bonnaroo 2003 will drop October 21. ... The British branch of the Universal Music Group has posted a 45-minute documentary on the making of the Metallica video for "Frantic" on the Web site www.thedevelopmentline.co.uk/clients/metallica/franticGame. The footage can be viewed after answering a brief questionnaire. ... Meanwhile, Metallica will play a New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel's 1,400-seat club the Joint. ...

In March, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey will begin recording the first Who album in 21 years, according to a post on Townshend's Web site. The material will be based on the guitarist's recently completed story "The Boy Who Heard Music." ... It's a marriage made in heaven. On Monday, Russell Simmons' Hip-Hop Summit Action Network and Vince McMahon's WWE announced that they have started the "Two Million More in 2004" campaign. The nonpartisan movement is aiming to register 2 million or more potential voters in the 18-30 age range. ...

Restaurant bible Zagat has moved from food to music with the first "Zagat Music Guide," rating and reviewing the best 1,000 albums of all time, thanks to a 10,656-person survey. Four Beatles albums made the cut for the most popular albums, with Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run taking the top slot. Coldplay, Norah Jones, the Strokes and the White Stripes were included in the top albums of the 2000s. The guide also features the best music for making out, breaking up, driving, working out and cocktail parties. ... The chiropractic industry is sure to soar after the MTV2 Headbangers Ball Tour rolls into town. With headliners Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God and Shadows Fall, the 24-date trek begins October 28 in Montreal and runs through December 3 in New York. The tour commences exactly three weeks after the MTV2 Headbangers Ball album drops. ...

U2's Bono and his two daughters contributed 16 illustrations to a booklet to accompany an updated musical interpretation of the classic children's tale "Peter and the Wolf." The proceeds from the enhanced CD, recorded by Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer, will go to the Irish Hospice Foundation. The project is slated for release October 3. ... The Ataris and Vendetta Red will embark on the VW Music Ed Tour, which kicks off October 3 in Villanova, Pennsylvania. The 20-city outing wraps November 6 in Claremont, California. ...

Former House of Pain main man Everlast is planning to release his fourth solo album on the Island Def Jam label early next year. The as-yet-untitled effort follows 2000's Eat At Whitey's. ... Three new Flaming Lips songs will appear on the group's forthcoming seven-song EP, Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell, set for release November 18. The holiday song "A Chance at Christmas (Say It Isn't So)," two remixes of "Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell" and one of "Do You Realize??" round out the set. ...

Wilco, Bright Eyes, Spoon and Super Furry Animals are among the bands lending their talents to the third volume of The Amos House Collection, a series that benefits the Rhode Island charity that helps disenfranchised families get back on their feet. The double-disc set is scheduled for release in December. ... As if her pint-sized figure doesn't already speak volumes about Australian pop star Kylie Minogue, she's decided to name her next album Body Language. The follow-up to last year's Fever is due February 10. "Slow" will serve as the LP's first single in the U.K., surfacing November 3. A U.S. single has yet to be determined. ...

Black Sheep's Dres and Mista Lawnge have reunited and are cooking up a new LP. The duo are still gathering beats for a project they hope to release next year. Black Sheep are best known for their hit "The Choice Is Yours," from their 1991 album, A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. ... Quiet Riot have reached condition critical. After 28 years of heavy metal madness, the Los Angeles band has decided to quit rioting, drummer Frankie Banali said. On their Web site, www.quietriotforce.com, the band has posted an image of a face peering through a welder's mask and the message: "1983-2003. To our fans: Thank you for 20 years of rock & roll." The comment suggests the band considered its 1983 major-label debut, Metal Health, to be its first record, even though the group had been bashing around the club scene since 1977. ... Fresh from the Sprite Liquid Mix Tour, O.A.R. have lined up a fall trek to support their latest album, Between Now and Then. The six-week outing begins October 17 and culminates with a pair of shows at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on November 28 and 29. ...

• OutKast
• Linkin Park
• Korn
• Beyoncé
• eels

Hey, how the hell are ya? Iann Robinson here with this week's "Metal File," and man, it's a big week. It looks like Danzig is practically replacing his whole band, and Strapping Young Lad heading out with Meshuggah should be pretty killer. The next big thing in metal — as I see it — is the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival that kicks off May 16. It looks like everybody is gonna be there: Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, Mastodon, the Haunted and tons more ... what better way to spend a weekend? I recently heard some of the new Lamb of God, and I'm telling you, it's pretty amazing. I was also really impressed with the new Cradle of Filth album, Damnation and a Day, really epic sounding. The metal gods must also be smiling on Anthrax, because after years of really not liking what they were doing, I think the new album, We've Come for You All, is really good. I'd also recommend the Black Flag tribute album Back in Black on Initial Records. It's got Converge, Anodyne, Coalesce, the Dillinger Escape Plan and more, all doing Black Flag tunes — amazing stuff. Well, read on for some choice metal news and remember, if you think Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit are metal, this isn't for you!!!

Nothingface left Ministry's Fornica Tour after the trek's stop on Saturday in Phoenix. There's no word on the reason behind the move. ... Meanwhile, Ministry have replaced drummer Tia Sprockett with Rey Wisham, formerly of Jesus Lizard. …

Danzig have added former Deadlights/ Nothingface bassist Jerry Montano to their lineup. Montano replaces Howie Pyro, formerly of D Generation. … Soulfly are set to return to the U.S. for a tour this spring. E-Town Concrete and Sworn Enemy have signed on as opening acts for the trek, which kicks off on April 12. …

The man who once sang about a rat feasting on a "tender" cat could take you out to dinner. The WWE and Lion's Gate Films are offering a chance to win a date with Rob Zombie, as part of the promotion of his film "House of 1000 Corpses." Details can be found at the World Wrestling Entertainment Web site, wwe.com. ... Speedealer have reformed and are working on material for a new album, which they plan to record in late April/early May with Jeff Pinkus (Butthole Surfers). …

Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello will produce the next album from veteran American punks Anti-Flag. … Former Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman will release his solo album Music for Speeding on May 20. The album will be released on Steve Vai's Favored Nations record label. … Opeth are hitting the road with Lacuna Coil in May. The trek, dubbed the Fair Judgement Tour, kicks off on April 29 in Seattle. …

Bathory's new album, Nordland II, will be released on April 29 in North America through Black Mark Records. … Freya, the Syracuse, New York, hardcore band that formerly went by the names Nemesis and The End Begins, have completed their debut album. Freya's lineup includes former Earth Crisis members Karl Buechner (vocals), Ian "Bulldog" Edwards (bass) and Erick Edwards (guitar). ...

When Killswitch Engage enlisted frontman Howard Jones, many thought that could spell the end for his band Blood Has Been Shed, but on the contrary, the Connecticut band has completed a new album and a short tour with Shadows Fall. ... Former Zao guitarists Scott Mellinger and Russ Cogdell have resurfaced in a new band called Jade Meridian, with Mellinger handling both guitar and vocal duties. The group is currently demoing material. ...

Apparently he missed playing in two bands at once, as former Converge and current Bane guitarist Aaron Dalbec has joined Velocity Engine. ... Deceased have parted ways with Relapse Records. ... Possessed 13 is the title of the next record from Swedish death metal outfit the Crown, who have reunited with former At the Gates vocalist Johan Lindstrand. ...

Drummer Nalle Osterman (ex-Gandalf), bassist Oppu Laine (ex-Amorphis, Mannhai), guitarist Marko Tarvonen (Moonsorrow), guitarist Esa Holopainen (Amorphis), and vocalist Taneli Jarva (ex-Sentenced, the Black League) have formed a Finnish death metal supergroup called Chaosbreed. … Reunited Tampa death metallers Brutality have backed out of their previously announced plan to sign a one-album deal with Poland's Still Dead Productions. No reason was given for the change. …

Tomahawk will release their new record Mit Gas on May 6 on Ipecac Records. The album will include "Birdsong," "Rape This Day," "You Can't Win," "Mayday," "Rotgut," "Capt. Midnight," "Desastre Natural," "When the Stars Begin to Fall," "Harelip," "Harlem Clowns," "Aktion F1413" and "What a Feeling (Flashdance)." ... Alabama's Haste will deliver their latest, The Mercury Lift, this summer. In addition to a stop at May's New England Metal and Hardcore Festival and a stint on June's Radio Takeover Tour, the band is planning its own full U.S. tour. ...

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

• Killswitch Engage
• Ministry
• Opeth
• Nothingface
• Soulfly

It's getting hot in herre, so lay down all your dough ... and then you too can bump all these new summer releases.

First up, Nelly's Nellyville. The follow-up to Country Grammar finds the St. Lunatic, with the help of producer Jay E, espousing the power of Pimp Juice and imploring us to take off our clothes.

Someone else who must have gotten into the stash of the Juice is Will Smith, who is releasing Born to Reign just one week before his summer blockbuster "Men in Black 2" hits theaters. The album features the hit "Black Suits Comin' (Nod Ya Head)," which also gets airtime in the movie.

Veracity abounds as Truth Hurts gives us Truthfully Speaking and Cormega offers True Meaning to the mix. Vida Blue, the new project from Phish's Page McConnell, release their self-titled debut album, while rock and roll vets Sonic Youth release Murray Street, their first record in two years.

Perhaps the most puzzling release this week is comedian Steve Harvey's Sign of Things to Come, a collection of his favorite hip-hop and R&B songs which brings a whole new meaning to "Rub the stump."

Out Tuesday, June 25:

• A1 - A1 (Columbia)
• Alpha Blondy - Merci (Shanachie)
• Arkham - Mahkra (Volcom)
• Ash - Free All Angels (Kinetic)
• Asia - Anthologia: 20th Anniversary: Geffen Years 1982 - 90 (Geffen)
• Astrobotnia - Part 1 (EFA-CAR)
• Atjazz - Labresults (Prime/ Shelter)
• B Rich - 80 Dimes (Atlantic)
• Baby Face Assassins - Ruby Red Eye (Activate)
• Broken Bones - Bonecrusher (Relapse)
• Brooklyn Bounce - Restart (Radikal)
• Ray Brown - Some of My Best Friends Are ... Guitarists (Telarc Jazz)
• Burning Inside - The Eve of the Entities (Crash)
• Butthole Surfers - Humpty Dumpty LSD (Latino Bugger Veil)
• Cirrus - Counterfeit (Moonshine)
• Marc Copley - Limited Lifetime Guarantee (RCA)
• Cormega - True Meaning (Landspeed) Read about it ... Cormega Getting Inventive With His Second Chance At Rap Fame
• Craw - Bodies for Strontium 90 (Hydra Head)
• David J - Guitar Man (Heyday)
• Deadly Venoms - Still Standing (Rocks the World)
• Deep Banana Blackout - Release the Grease Live (DCN)
• Deep Purple - Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters (Mercury)
• DJ Yousef - Mixer Presents: Next School (DMC)
• The Domino Kings - The Back of Your Mind (Slewfoot)
• Dream Evil - Dragon Slayer (Century Media)
• D.S.P - In the Red (Ninja Tune)
• Entwine - Time of Despair (Century Media)
• Epidemic - Epidemic (Elektra)
• Fatboy Slim - Live on Brighton Beach (Southern Fried/ Ministry of Sound) Read about it ... Fatboy Slim Turns Beach Party Into Album, Possibly Tour
• Freestylers - Pressure Point (Mammoth)
• Eyra Gail - Eyra Gail (Twenty-Four Seven)
• Vincent Gallo - Recordings of Music for Film (Warp)
• Genaside 2 - Return of the Redline Evangelist (Copasetik)
• Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez - Presents ... Disco Heat (Urban Theory)
• Go Go Market - Hotel San Jose (Innerstate)
• Greenwheel - Soma Holiday (Island)
• Halford - Crucible (Sanctuary)
• Steve Harvey - Sign of Things to Come (MCA)
• Juliana Hatfield - Gold Stars 1992 - 2002 (Zoe)
• Helloween - Dark Ride (Nuclear Blast)
• Her Sanity - Xclusive (Motown)
• Home Grown - Kings of Pop (Drive-Thru/ MCA)
• Bruce Hornsby - Big Swing Face (RCA)
• Kosma - Early Works (Infracom)
• Glenn Kotche - Introducing Glenn Kotche (Locust)
• Arto Lindsay - Invoke (Righteous Babe)
• Manifesto Jukebox - Remedy (BYO)
• Maroon 5 - Songs About Jane (Octone)
• Mr. Lif - Emergency Rations (Def Jux)
• Heather Myles - Sweet Talk & Good Lies (Rounder)
• Nelly - Nellyville (Universal) Read about it ... Nelly's Guided Tour Of Nellyville, Complete With Pimp Juice
• Neurotica - Neurotica (Koch)
• Nickelback - Curb (Roadrunner)
• Nonpoint - Development (MCA)
• N.O.R.E - God's Favorite (Def Jam) Read about it ... Noreaga Hopes To Leap The Borders Of The 'Hood In A Single Bound
• Orange Goblin - Coup De Grace (The Music Cartel)
• Orbital - Back to Mine (DMC)
• Original Sinners - Original Sinners (Nitro)
• Jeffrey Osborne - Millennium Collection: 20th Century Masters (A&M)
• Ozzy Osbourne - Live at the Budokan (Epic) Read about it ... Osbournes Wreak Havoc On Japan In Budokan DVD Extras
• Ozma - Double Donkey Disc (Kung Fu)
• Play - Play (Columbia)
• Psychic TV - Origin of the Species Vol. 3 (Invisible)
• Randy - Cheater (Hopeless)
• Rayvon - My Bad (MCA)
• Reel Big Fish - Cheer Up! (Jive)
• Rollins Band - The Only Way to Know for Sure (Sanctuary)
• Rosey - Dirty Child (Island) Read about it ... Rosey: From Dealmaker To Songmaker
• Joe Satriani - Strange Beautiful Music (Epic)
• Seven Nations - And Now It's Come to This (Razor & Tie)
• Shedaisy - Knock on the Sky (Lyric Street)
• Skeleton Key - Obtainium (Ipecac)
• Slum Village - Dirty District (Sequence)
• Will Smith - Born to Reign (Columbia) Read about it ... Will Smith Drops Samples For Guitars On Born To Reign
• Sonic Youth - Murray Street (Geffen)
• Soulfly - 3 (Roadrunner) Read about it ... Soulfly Go For Heavy, Come Up With Silence On 3
• Stereo - Rewind + Record (Fueled by Ramen)
• Geoff Tate - Geoff Tate (Sanctuary)
• Terminal Sound System - RH-8SB (Release)
• Terror 2000 - Faster Disaster (Nuclear Blast)
• Tricky - A Ruff Guide to Tricky (Island)
• Truth Hurts - Truthfully Speaking (Geffen) Read about it ... Truth Hurts: Battling Bubble Gum With Dr. Dre
• Union Underground - Live ... One Nation Underground (Columbia)
• Various artists - Café Electronica (Water Music)
• Various artists - Carte Blanche Vol. 3 (Astralwerks)
• Various artists - Global Dance Mix (Thump)
• Various artists - Global Psychedelic Trance Vol. 8 (EFA-CAR)
• Various artists - Hit Dance Party (Logic)
• Various artists - Hopelessly Devoted to You (Hopeless)
• Various artists - Miracle Hits (Medalist Ent.)
• Various artists - Punk-O-Rama Vol. 7 (Epitaph)
• Various artists - "The Road to Perdition" soundtrack (Decca)
• Various artists - Sample This, Too! (BYO)
• Various artists - "Sunshine State" soundtrack (Roadrunner)
• Various artists - This Is Ultimate Dance (J)
• Various artists - Ultra Dance Vol. 2 (Ultra)
• Vida Blue - Vida Blue (Elektra)
• Wayne Warner - Wayne Warner (B-Venterous)
• Kenny Wayne - 88th & Jump Street (Electro-Fi)
• Steve Wynn - Fluorescent (Innerstate)

• Aerosmith - O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits (Columbia) Read about it ... Aerosmith Talk 'Girls Of Summer,' Hits Disc, DVD Reissues
• Cypress Hill - Stash (Columbia)
• Nas - From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes (Columbia)
• Jerzee Monét - Love & War (DreamWorks) Read about it ... Jerzee Monét: Workin' For Her Big Break
• Jessica Simpson - This Is the Remix (Columbia)
• Various artists - "Men in Black 2" soundtrack (Sony) Read about it ... Will Smith Preps Next LP, New Tracks For 'MIB2'
• Various artists - So So Def Presents: Definition of a Remix (So So Def/ Columbia)

• Red Hot Chili Peppers - By the Way (Warner Bros.) Read about it ... Red Hot Chili Peppers Relax, Let The Magik Flow On New LP
• Silverchair - Diorama (Atlantic) Read about it ... Silverchair Craft U.S. Diorama, Plan New York Dates

• Dave Matthews Band - Busted Stuff (RCA) Read about it ... Dave Matthews Band's 'Lillywhite Sessions' To Be Busted In July
• Lil' Romeo - Game Time (Universal/No Limit) Read about it ... Lil' Romeo Battles His Evil Twin On B-Ball Court
• Swizz Beatz - G.H.E.T.T.O. Stories (DreamWorks) Read about it ... Swizz Beatz Unveils Metallica/Ja Rule Track, Sets 'Guilty' Single
• The Vines - Highly Evolved (Capitol) Read about it ... The Vines Branch Out On Highly Evolved Tour

• Public Enemy - Revolverlution (Slam Jamz) Read about it ... Public Enemy Leading A Revolverlution With Interactive LP
• Trust Company - The Lonely Position of Neutral (Interscope)

• Lamya - Learning From Falling (J) Read about it ... You Hear It First: Lamya
• Beth Orton - Daybreaker (Astralwerks) Read about it ... Beth Orton Tours, Breaks Day With Ryan Adams, Chemical Brothers
• Various artists - "Topdog/Underdog" soundtrack (MCA) Read about it ... Jay-Z, DMX, Wu-Tang, Mos Def Bone Up 'Topdog/Underdog' LP

• Nelly
• Will Smith
• Truth Hurts
• Cormega
• Soulfly

Soulfly's Max Cavalera
Photo: Jason Campbell

Their confrontational music is filled with blood-red imagery of aggression and violence, and their live show is a nonstop carnival ride of animosity. In other words, Slayer love to hate, which explains why their summer U.S. outing with Soulfly and Sweden's In Flames is being called the H82K2 Tour (get it? Hate 2002).

Slayer will continue to tour with original drummer Dave Lombardo, who took the place of Paul Bostaph after he left in December, claiming a chronic elbow injury prevented him from playing the band's tumbling, hyperactive music (see ) About a month later, Bostaph joined Systematic.

But Lombardo won't be rejoining the band full-time, Slayer's publicist said. In January the band began the search for a new skin-basher. It invited interested musicians to send audition tapes and held live auditions at locations across the country (see "Slayer Seeking Drummer Who Will Show No Mercy"). But personal issues and touring commitments caused Slayer to put the quest on hold until after they return home.

So far only six dates have been announced for the trek, which will begin when Slayer return from Europe, but more U.S. shows will be scheduled shortly, the publicist said. The tour opens in New York on August 13 and will run at least through September. Slayer are touring to support God Hates Us All, which was released in September.

Soulfly will be touring for their upcoming III, due June 25. The album's first single is "Seek 'n' Strike," and a video for the track was shot by Nathan Cox (System of a Down, Disturbed).

In Flames are putting the final touches on their sixth studio album, which is not yet titled but should be ready for release by September, the band's publicist said.

Slayer tour dates, according to Def Jam/American Recordings:

• 8/13 - New York, NY @ Roseland Ballroom
• 8/15 - Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
• 8/17 - Worcester, MA @ Palladium
• 8/20 - Cleveland, OH @ Nautica
• 8/21 - Columbus, OH @ Promowest Pavilion
• 8/22 - Pontiac, MI @ Phoenix Center

• Slayer
• Soulfly

Soulfly's Max Cavalera
Photo: Jason Campbell

Two years ago ex-Sepultura singer Max Cavalera assembled a gaggle of dissimilar vocalists and crafted the eclectic, experimental Soulfly disc Primitive that, while intriguing, didn't exactly gel.

So for his latest offering, III (June 25), Cavalera has returned to the type of belligerent, hammer-pounding tumult that defined his band's 1998 self-titled debut.

"For Primitive the concept was to have a hip-hop kind of idea for a metal record with lots of guests (including Sean Lennon, Slayer's Tom Araya, Deftones' Chino Moreno and Brazil's percussive Mulambo Tribe)," he said from a hotel in Italy. "This album was supposed to be Soulfly solid songs, and I think the fans are really going to sink their teeth into it because they've been wanting that for a long time."

Not that III is all bludgeoning lunkhead metal. Cavalera still experiments with tribal beats and the occasional ambient atmosphere — he just uses them to color and flavor his songs these days instead of making them integral and schizophrenic elements of their own. And while the rhythms of tracks like "Downstroy" and "Enterfaith" are devastatingly heavy, other songs like "One" and "Tree of Pain" include melodic vocal hooks that make the music more accessible.

"I don't think anyone will accuse me of going soft," he said, "because I introduced this kind of thing little by little in each record. Perhaps this is even heavier than anything I've done with Soulfly. I just think it's really cool to expose my fans to new things, and we need to do that in order to continue the natural growth of the music."

The first single from III will be "Seek 'n' Strike," a bludgeoning cut powered by a staggered beat, a lunging riff that repeats menacingly and the echoing cry "Here We Go."

"It's about my life in general. It's about waking up in the morning and just attacking the day. It's kind of a Red Bull or coffee song. Instead of drinking coffee, I listen to 'Seek 'n' Strike' in the morning. It's like my version of a "Hey, ho, let's go"-type of song," Cavalera said, referencing a line from the Ramones' pumped-up rocker "Blitzkrieg Bop."

Later this month Soulfly will shoot a video for "Seek 'n' Strike" with Nathan Cox (System of a Down, Disturbed). Cavalera said he wants the clip to capture the manic energy of the song without relying too much on performance footage.

"I want to do something really different than everything else. A lot of my videos are band-oriented, and that was cool, but I feel like it's time to do something really [special] now. I have no idea what it's gonna be, but it's gonna be everything but normal."

The band started working on III in August at Chaton Studios in Phoenix. At the time about half of the tracks were written, and over the next four months Cavalera bashed out the other half. Soulfly self-produced the record, then hired Terry Date (Pantera, Deftones) to engineer it ("He made the guitars bigger than big," Cavalera said).

Since III was mostly created in the aftermath of 9/11, Cavalera wanted to include a song about the tragedy. But the more he thought about how to approach the tune, the more blocked he became. Finally he decided that the emptiness he felt would be best expressed by a minute of complete silence.

"The minute I got the idea of the minute of silence, I was more satisfied than even trying to write a song," he said. "I felt that there is no song I can ever write that can really express what happened that day. It was just so chaotic, so crazy, so hard to believe that a minute of silence was the only thing I could grasp."

Track list from III, according to Roadrunner Records:

• "Downstroy"
• "Seek 'n' Strike"
• "Enterfaith"
• "One"
• "L.O.T.M"
• "Brasil"
• "Tree of Pain"
• "One Nation"
• "9-11-01 (One Minute of Silence)"
• "Call to Arms"
• "Four Elements"
• "Soulfly III"
• "Sangue de Bairro"
• "Zumbi"

• Soulfly

The Chemical Brothers have lined up a tour in support of their latest album, Come With Us, marking the British duo's first Stateside jaunt in two-and-a-half years. The seven-date trek begins April 15 in Washington, D.C., and heads Westward to wrap on April 27 at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California. ... "Rub You the Right Way," "My, My, My" and 15 other Johnny Gill hits comprise his Ultimate Collection, due March 26. New Edition's "Can You Stand the Rain," which Gill sang after replacing Bobby Brown in the group, is also included. ...

Get your earplugs — Motörhead and Morbid Angel are touring together this spring. The first date is April 11 in Dallas and the journey runs through May 18 in Anaheim, California. ... Victoria Beckham, a.k.a. Posh Spice of Spice Girls fame, is expecting a second child in September, according to Reuters. Son Brooklyn Joseph Beckham was born in March 1999. ... Soulfly have bumped the release date of their third album from May 21 to June 25. ...

Slayer guitarist Kerry King makes a guest appearance on the title track of Hatebreed's Perseverance, which comes out March 26. ... K's Choice, the Belgium band behind the 1996 single "Not an Addict," will release their fourth album, Almost Happy, April 23. ... 10, the 10th mix album from drum'n'bass producer DB, is due March 19. The follow-up to The Secret Art of Science includes tracks from Goldie and Optical. ...

02.21.02

Toya, the "I Do!!" songstress out of the Nelly/St. Lunatics camp, will shoot a video for her next single, "No Matta What (Party All Night)," at the end of the month. ... Elsewhere in protégé news, Tina Novak, the first artist She'kspere signed to his own Spere Records label, will release Been Around the World on April 23. ... Goo Goo Dolls have set an April 9 release date for Gutterflower, their proper follow-up to 1998's Dizzy Up the Girl. The album's first single, "Here Is Gone," will be released to radio and video outlets in early March. ...

The soundtrack to "The Scorpion King," which includes tracks from Godsmack, P.O.D., Hoobastank and Nickelback, among others, can now be sampled online at scorpionkingmusic.com. The LP is scheduled for release on March 26 ... Also due March 26 is a live album documenting last year's Pledge of Allegiance Tour. The disc features multiple tracks by System of a Down ("Chop Suey!," "Bounce," "Toxicity"), Slipknot ("People = Sh--," "The Heretic Anthem," "New Abortion") and Mudvayne ("Under My Skin," "Pharmaecopia"), and cuts by No One and American Head Charge. ... Having recently opened for Creed, Tantric are gearing up for a headlining tour with Mesh and Daysleeper opening. The stint will begin in Philadelphia on March 10 and end in San Francisco on April 7. ...

  Eels will release their fifth album, Souljacker, on March 12 and support the LP with a tour that begins March 16 in Austin, Texas, and runs through April 10 in Los Angeles. ... British buzz band Starsailor will launch a two-week club tour February 28 in Toronto. The trek, supporting the January release Love Is Here, wraps up March 16 in Dallas, one night after the band performs with Neil Finn, Ed Harcourt and Actual Tigers at South by Southwest. ... Belle and Sebastian are packing up their kilts and hitting the road. The Scottish darlings will kick off the U.S. leg of their bi-continental tour on April 28 at the Coachella Festival in Indio, California, and hit Austin, Philly, Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago before wrapping up in Atlanta on May 13. ...

Everclear frontman Art Alexakis will kick off a 16-date solo tour March 21 in Detroit. Alexakis is also producing an album for Flipp, the singer said on Everclear's official Web site. ... Electronic music veterans Carl Cox, Richie Hawtin and Erick Morillo will headline Destination - NYC, an all-night concert at the South Street Seaport in New York City on March 2. Three days later, Cox will DJ and sign copies of his latest mix album, Global, at the Virgin Megastore in NYC's Union Square at 6 p.m. ...

One of these things just doesn't belong — Bonnie Raitt, Rick James, George Thorogood & the Destroyers, the Doobie Brothers, War and No Doubt are scheduled to perform at the 20th annual SunFest in West Palm Beach, Florida. The art and music festival takes place May 1-5 (visit www.sunfest.com for more information). ... "Final Rinse," a film featuring Sebastian Bach and Joey Ramone, will be screened in Los Angeles on February 22 and 26. The movie also features performance footage by the Last Hard Men — a group featuring Bach, the Breeders' Kelley Deal and Jimmy Flemion of the Frogs — plus Biohazard, the Dictators, Slaughter and others.

• The Chemical Brothers
• Johnny Gill
• Motörhead
• Soulfly
• Slayer