Kosmos
Photo: The End Records

Fans of Canadian experimental-metal band Voivod are known for their open-mindedness, so drummer Michel "Away" Langevin is hoping they'll embrace his new band Kosmos — even though the group's music is more meta than metal.

Inspired by '70s Krautrock bands like Neu!, Faust and Can, and more obscure bands including Birth Control and Omega, Kosmos combine the majesty and complexity of heavy prog rock with the effect-laden otherworldliness of space/psych rock.

"With a name like Kosmos, I hope people are expecting something pretty experimental," Langevin said. "[Late Voivod guitarist Denis] 'Piggy' [D'Amour] and I had been listening to this kind of music since the mid-'70s. I've always enjoyed these bands that create strange progressive music mixed with avant-garde stuff, so I figured, 'Well, why not put together a band like that?' "

Langevin formed Kosmos in early 2006 with Paradise guitarist Jetphil, Groovy Aardvark and Grim Skunk bassist Vincent Peake and keyboardist/programmer Alex Crow. The band also recruited admired underground Montreal musicians to guest on its self-titled debut: Xavier Caféïne, the singer for punk band Caféïne, provided vocals to a cover of Gong's "Much Too Old"; and Lucien Francoeur of the '70s experimental band Aut'Chose did spoken word on "Amerique Innavouable."

"Piggy and I actually helped re-form Aut'Chose with the original guitar player and singer for a one-show, one-album kind of thing," Langevin said. "And we played a few shows with them in 2005. It was actually the last show Piggy played before he took ill."

Kosmos, which comes out September 4, is a mostly instrumental collection of songs that sound like a bizarre hybrid of Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Amon Düül and horror-film-soundtrack band Goblin. But while songs like "Krautrock," "Psycho" and "Grand Grizou" are filled with expansive jams, mind-bending rhythms, clattering electronics and dueling guitar and keyboard solos, they're structured with both entrancing groove and compelling diversity.

"We worked hard on it, but it was fun," Langevin said. "We did it bit by bit over a period of nine months. After it was finished, we sent it to the End Records, [which signed Voivod,] but it's so experimental, we didn't think anyone would be interested. And then they got back to us and ended up singing us for three albums. So now we are writing new material. It's specifically a very fun project that turned more serious than we expected."

After the album is out, Kosmos may do some touring, but as for Lanvegin, he's focused once again on Voivod. He recently finished remastering the band's 1986 album, Rrröööaaarrr!, and editing a bonus DVD that will accompany the re-release of the LP in the fall. The package will be filled with live and demo recordings that were sold in the '80s via the band's Iron Gang fan club; fan-recorded footage, including the group's first U.S. show, an opening gig for Venom; rare archival photos; and cassette recordings dating back to 1980. "I found an early tape of Piggy doing an avant-garde collage of sounds that's very good, so that will be a bonus on Rrröööaaarrr! as well."

The Rrröööaaarrr! reissue will be followed early next year by reissues of 1987's Killing Technology and 1988's Dimension Hatröss, which will be similarly equipped with bonus DVDs. After the first batch of reissues come out, Langevin plans to work on reissues of 1991's Angel Rat and 1993's The Outer Limits. He's negotiating to put out 1989's Nothingface as well but is running into some red tape.

"We had a deal back then where it was distributed by MCA in America and Noise in Europe," Langevin said. "And right now that's causing some logistical issues that we need to settle before I can start thinking about that."

Langevin also plans to begin work on a box set of Voivod's '90s catalog, much of which featured Eric Forrest on vocals. As if that's not enough Voivod to shake a psychedelic stick at, next year Langevin will assemble two proper Voivod DVDs, "D-V-O-D-2" and "D-V-O-D-3," to follow up 2005's "D-V-O-D-1." These discs will feature the professionally filmed material lacking from the album-reissue bonus DVDs.

"There's a lot of good material that I'm putting together," Langevin said. " 'D-V-O-D-1' took me a while to do because I had to track down all the footage, which was shot on videotape in the '80s. But 'D-V-O-D-2' will feature stuff from the '90s, and that's in a very good format, and 'D-V-O-D-3' will feature the lineup with [bassist] Jason [Newsted], and all that footage is on digital, so those should be much easier to do."

And lest anyone forget, Voivod still have an album of new material to record, using the last batch of recordings Piggy made before he died. Originally, Voivod planned to track the 13-song swan song this summer, but Newsted's shoulder injury — which he sustained in October 2006 trying to catch a falling bass amplifier head — is delaying it until around September.

"We have to wait until Jason is healed 100 percent from the surgery he had on his shoulder," Langevin said. "I know that he's jamming right now, but he can't really play professionally until it's all healed. But when he's better, we want to get together in one studio — instead of three different studios in three different periods of time, like we did for [2006's] Katorz. Last time everything happened in difficult conditions. This time we want to make things easier for ourselves and take more time to make a really special record."

The rest of the week's metal news:

With President Bush's term winding up, it would seem Ministry's Al Jourgensen would either have to find someone else to pick on or cash in his chips and call 'er a day. Well, Al's chosen the latter — he'll issue Ministry's "last-ever" LP, The Last Sucker, September 18. "I [kind of] like the synchronicity of Dubya and Ministry riding off into the sunset hand in hand," Jourgensen joked in a press release. Look for the effort to feature 11 tracks, including "The Di-- Song," "No Glory" and "Die in a Crash." ... Job for a Cowboy, Despised Icon, A Life Once Lost and the Faceless will hit the road together in August for a string of U.S. dates. So far, the bands have booked a total of 10 gigs. Dates are scheduled from August 13 in Troy, New York, through August 28 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with more gigs to be announced in the coming weeks. ... In related news, A Life Once Lost have completed work on their next LP, Iron Gag. The disc lands in stores September 1, and will include "Firewater Joyride," "All Teeth" and "Others Die." The ALOL recently shot a clip for "Firewater Joyride," and they've posted several snaps from the shoot on their Web site. ...

Coalesce's 1999 effort There Is Nothing New Under the Sun, will be reissued August 7 with eight additional tracks. The original LP included seven songs — all of them Led Zeppelin covers. The version that hits stores next month will also include two new original songs, along with renditions of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut," Boy Sets Fire's "Vehicle" and Get Up Kids' "I'm Giving Up on This One." ... On Tuesday, Legacy of the Catacombs, a CD/DVD collection chronicling Nile's career, will land in stores. The set features a dozen tracks from the Ozzfest 2007 act, and the DVD features tons of studio footage, along with all the band's various videos. This offering comes in addition to Nile's new studio album, Ithyphallic, which is set for a July 20 release. ...

Arsis has been forced to drop off the Summer Slaughter Tour, which runs through Sunday in New York. According to a statement from the band, which had been touring in support of its latest release, United in Regret, "Everything was going great for us until we reached Sacramento, California. After that show, our van began to give us trouble — which surprised us, since the van had just been in for repairs twice before the tour even started and we were sure the problem had been fixed." In short, Arsis' van has been inoperable for two weeks, and they've gone broke paying for repairs and hotel stays. Hence, they'll be unable to rejoin the tour, which stops in Worcester, Massachusetts, Friday night (July 6). ... Pelican and Clouds will team up later this month for a run of shows that'll cut through the Midwest and up the West Coast. The first show is set for July 31 in Atlanta, and dates are scheduled through August 22 in Iowa City, Iowa. ...

Australian Christian death-metallers Mortification have postponed the U.S. leg of their forthcoming tour due to "time restraints in securing performance visas," the band explained on its Web site. "We hope to be back in the U.S. as soon as it becomes feasible," Mortification wrote. "All good things come to those that wait." The group will soon issue a concert set, Live Humanitarian, which will contain 16 songs and a DVD of goodies. ... Hardcore legends Christ on Parade are reuniting for a series of shows, beginning with a pair in Berkeley, California, July 27-28. The guys are also set to play San Francisco (August 2 and 18); Portland, Oregon (August 3); Tacoma, Washington (August 4); and Seattle (August 5). ... Floridian black-metal force Kult Ov Azazel have begun writing material for their next album, which has been titled Destroying the Sacred. Look for the LP to feature 10 tracks, including "Prelude to Holocaust," "Slaughter the Prophet" and "The Lucifer Principal."

• Voivod
• A Life Once Lost
• Ministry
• Nile

Horse the Band
Photo: Koch Records

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The rest of the week's metal news:

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

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

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

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

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

Cannibal Corpse
Photo: Alex Solca

When ultra-violent death-metallers Cannibal Corpse take the stage, it's almost always to close out a gig. Bassist Alex Webster said the band is and always has been a headlining outfit.

So this summer should be interesting, considering the Corpse aren't topping the bill for the second annual Sounds of the Underground Tour — As I Lay Dying are instead.

"It's the first time we've ever been able to do a festival tour in the United States, and we've had very few opportunities to do tours where we weren't the headliner," Webster explained. "I don't know if a lot of bigger bands didn't want to take a band like us on the road with them or what, but ... this is the first time in 10 years we're doing something with bands that are more popular than us."

He said the Brooklyn, New York, band's thrilled to be part of Sounds, because he feels the gig's going to expose Cannibal Corpse to thousands of metal fans who've been too timid to check them out.

"We really feel like we haven't ever had the chance to play to an audience that is not mostly our own," he said. "We've done lots and lots of headlining tours, but very few opening tours, and never an opening tour of this size. We're in the middle of this package, and so, if an average Cannibal Corpse headlining show's in the hundreds of people and the average Sounds show's going to be in the thousands of people, we're obviously meeting a lot more people each night than we would on our own headlining run.

"I can't wait to see what people think," he continued. "If there's certain people who don't like what we do, and they're forced to watch us anyway, that's always kind of entertaining too. When we toured with the Misfits and Anthrax, there was always a handful of people out there going, 'What the f--- is this sh--?' We're very confident and proud of what we do, so we don't care if some people react negatively to it. If anything it makes us laugh. Some of these fans could be interested in us, if they have a chance to see us and get to know what we're like live."

In late March, Cannibal Corpse released Kill, their 10th studio LP. The album debuted at #170 on the Billboard albums chart, selling more than 6,000 copies in its first week. It was the second time in the band's career that one of its albums breached the mostly pop-friendly list; in 1996, Vile opened at #151, with more than 6,100 copies sold. And it's all due to the fans, Webster said.

"We don't have a huge following, but we have a strong following of dedicated fans," he said. "That's the difference between us and a lot of bands that kind of come and go. We have a dedicated fanbase that has been with us for a long, long time. Whereas I think a lot of bands that are more popular than us [are] kind of fleeting. They're popular for a couple of years, and [their] fans ... move on to the next big thing. We've had a slow and steady career."

After SOTU, Cannibal Corpse plan to launch a U.S. headlining run — the kickoff will most likely take place in early November. Webster said next month the band will film a clip for "Death Walking Terror." Well, probably. When you're in Cannibal Corpse, selecting the right song can be tricky.

"Every one of our songs has some kind of violent or dark imagery in it, but we have to look for songs that are a little less graphic," he said. "We only have a couple of songs on each record where the lyrics aren't more or less R-rated for violence. We have to carefully choose what songs we do videos for, because otherwise it won't make it passed the censors. The song 'Murder Worship,' I think all of us would have liked to have done a video for that. But there's no way, with the decapitated heads and all."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Converge have been tapped for eight Sounds of the Underground dates. The band will join the tour July 9 in Tinley Park, Illinois, and be on the bill through July 17 in Columbia, Maryland. ... The launch of Slayer's Unholy Alliance Tour — featuring Mastodon, Lamb of God, Thine Eyes Bleed and Children of Bodom — has been delayed once again. The trek will kick off June 15 in Camden, New Jersey, instead of June 10 in Peoria, Illinois. The rescheduling's due to Slayer bassist Tom Araya's minor gall-bladder surgery, which successfully took place earlier this month. "We wanted to give Tom an extra few days to make sure that he's at 100 percent before he puts one foot on the road," Slayer's manager Rick Sales said in a statement on the postponement. "We apologize for any confusion that this has caused, but Tom and the band want the fans to get the best Slayer shows possible." The tour's set to run through July 26 in Denver. ... Voivod's new record, Katorz, doesn't come out until July 25, but they're already making preliminary plans for its follow-up. The disc will be the last to feature the band's late guitarist, Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, and will contain the final 13 songs he recorded guitar parts for before dying of colon cancer in August. Singer Denis Belanger, drummer Michel Langevin and bassist Jason Newsted will likely rent a studio when Newsted is done with the next season of the reality show "Rock Star." "It'll happen in the next year when I have time to get away from it where we can really set it up real nice," Newsted said. "We'll put some money up for a studio and go in and make it rock." ... Diecast will begin recording tracks for their forthcoming album, Internal Revolution, next week with producer Zeuss (Hatebreed, Shadows Fall). The disc's slated for release September 19. ...

Opeth have officially parted ways with drummer Martin Lopez and replaced him with Martin "Axe" Axenrot. In a statement, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt said: "However sad I and the rest of the band feel in light of Lopez's departure, I want to thank him for his incredible work with Opeth and immense dedication to the band. We recorded some classic stuff together and he obviously had an enormous impact on our sound. I now feel very excited to hear the material of his own band. In the meantime, Opeth fans can rest assured that we'll continue jamming it out with Axe and we all have high expectations about our coming musical ventures." Opeth's 2005 album, Ghost Reveries, will be reissued as a special edition deluxe version through Roadrunner on July 25. ... British black-metallers Venom will hit the road with DevilDriver on August 13 for their 7 Days of Hell tour across North American. Dates run through August 28, although cities and venues haven't been announced yet. ... At All Cost have also parted ways with their drummer, Grant Anderson. "We love Grant and wish him the very best in all of his future endeavors," the band wrote in a statement about the amicable split. "He is a true friend and a brother to each of us." The band will be auditioning potential replacements, and interested parties should swing by the metallers' MySpace page for additional details. ...

The Red Chord shot a video for "Black Santa" in New York on Thursday, with Dave Brodsky (God Forbid, All That Remains). Brodsky wouldn't describe the video in detail but hinted that the clip will feature Claymation, "someone yo-yoing, sentinel blasts and battle scenes with retarded mutant monsters." Frontman Guy Kozowyk said the band has started writing material for its next LP, Birdbath, but have no immediate plans to begin recording yet. Kozowyk said Birdbath will include "I Am Not a Lawnmower," "The Robot From the Future," "Skin Beef" and "The Brian Slagel Song," a devotion to the founder of Metal Blade Records. ... In addition to touring this summer with AFI, the Dillinger Escape Plan have booked a bunch of headlining gigs for which Dysrhythmia will open. The chaotic metalheads will play in Tucson, Arizona (July 14); Albuquerque, New Mexico (July 15); Houston (July 18); Dallas (July 19); Austin, Texas (July 20); Fayetteville, Arkansas (July 21); Des Moines, Iowa (July 22); Madison, Wisconsin (July 23); Papillion, Nebraska (July 28); and Wichita, Kansas (July 29). ... Daughters' forthcoming album, Hell Songs, will be in stores August 8. The LP, the band's first in more than four years, was recorded in March and April and will feature 10 new cuts, including "Daughters Spelled Wrong," "Feisty Snake-Woman," "Crotch Buffet" and "The F--- Whisperer." ...

Atheist founding guitarist Rand Burkey has had to pull out of the band's upcoming European reunion concerts because of "legal troubles," according to a statement. Chris Baker of Gnostic will replace Burkey for the festival gigs, which run from July 14 in Derbyshire, England, through August 28 in Athens, Greece. "Not having Rand be able to take part is a disappointment to us, but we have always honored our band commitments, even in the face of unbelievable odds," said the band. "This will be no exception." ... Chrome Division, a new band featuring Dimmu Borgir singer Stian Thoresen (a.k.a. Shagrath) on guitar, will release their debut album, Doomsday Rock 'N Roll, August 8. The disc was recorded in Oslo, Norway, last winter and will include "Serial Killer," "Breath Easy" and "The Angel Falls." Chrome Division plan to shoot two videos for the record with Patric Ullaeus (In Flames, Lacuna Coil) in the coming weeks. ... Ex-Carcass guitarist Bill Steer has finished working on Hot Wings, the fourth album with his stoner-rock band Firebird. The disc is tentatively scheduled for release in early July and will mark the return of Spiritual Beggars drummer Ludwig Witt, who played on the band's first two discs.

• Cannibal Corpse
• Slayer
• Voivod
• The Red Chord

Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia
Photo: Clay Patrick McBride

Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia thinks too much is made about ... well, how freakin' gorgeous she is. In the Italian metalists' press shots, all six members are present, but Scabbia's front and center, striking a seductive pose. She even graces the cover of Revolver's March issue, next to the headline, "The Hottest Chicks in Metal." When the band's on the road, countless male fans seek Scabbia out, proposing marriage. But while the media seems to be fixated on her looks, she said she wants fans to focus on the Coil's music.

"You'll never see 'The Hottest Men in Metal,' because it's not that common for the metal scene to have girls up front," she said. "So it's the easiest thing to [comment on], because it's obvious I'm the different element to the band. You can take advantage of [the attention] if you're sure of your own potential, if you're sure of what the band can give. You can play with your image and the image of the band itself. But when people buy the record, they don't buy the image. They buy it for the music. So when you're sure you can put out a good album, it doesn't matter. It's just more appealing. Even if you advertise tires for a car, you see a naked woman in the ads — and that's not the point, but it's just more appealing. It's a representation of art, in a way."

The Milanese band's latest album, Karmacode, hit record stores on Tuesday — some four years after the band's previous LP, Comalies. According to a spokesperson for the band's label, the album's on track to sell about 40,000 copies in its first week, which could earn Lacuna Coil a Billboard top-20 debut next week.

During those four years in between records, Scabbia said the band has evolved as people and as musicians, and that's reflected on Karmacode.

"We've grown, so this time we spontaneously decided to mix up the European [metal] sound with the American one," she said. "You can still recognize our style, which is more melodic and aggressive, but you can also feel the European vibe given by the real strings we put in the album, the Mediterranean influences. We have some Arabian sounds on the record. But at the same time, every single instrument has a bigger importance. The rhythm section is huge, the guitars are really loud — there is an American sound, which is really big compared to European productions. I cannot think of a band that mixed up the two things; most bands are doing one style or the other."

And this summer, Lacuna Coil will be bringing that sound to American audiences, as the main-stage openers on this year's Ozzfest. Coil co-vocalist Andrea Ferro (who is male, by the way) said with pride that it marks the first time an Italian band has been asked to perform on the main stage, as well as the first time a female-fronted group has been asked to do it.

While Karmacode isn't an out-and-out concept record, Scabbia said the lyrics have a common thematic thread. "It's about how spirituality can live in the modern days. We're not talking about any religion, but a relationship you can have with people and the environment around you. Today, everything is so chaotic, everything is so fast with the Internet. Everyone has a cell phone and laptop, and sometimes you lose touch with reality."

The band's video for "Our Truth," the album's first single, was filmed in Los Angeles with the Fort Awesome (Disturbed, System of a Down) directorial duo. In it, the band is seen performing within the confines of a snow globe. The shoot was exhausting, as "they wanted us to do everything at double the speed, because they needed to slow down the tape so it looked like the snow was falling slower, like in an actual snow globe," Ferro said. "We had to do it a lot of times, because they need to shoot from different angles, so you end up hating the song at the end of the day! You don't want to hear it anymore," Scabbia said.

The group has also shot a video for the second single, "Closer," which should start airing in late June. Neither Scabbia nor Ferro would discuss the concept, other than to say it includes no performance footage and is "more like a little movie."

Fans can catch the band on tour with Rob Zombie and Bullet for My Valentine; dates for that trek run through May 5.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Queensrÿche's 1988 conceptual masterpiece, Operation: Mindcrime, will be getting the big-screen treatment, according to frontman Geoff Tate. He said the band has hired a screenwriter to adapt the LP into a feature film, and that they're in the midst of shopping it to Hollywood studios. "I worked over the last year and a half with a Hollywood screenwriter named Mark Shepherd," Tate said. "He developed a screenplay out of the story. It's incredible; I hope that it can be made into a movie soon. Our agency is shopping it around Hollywood. I think it's going to be an incredibly powerful film. It starts with one part, and then we have plans for a sequel as well." The band's latest disc, Operation: Mindcrime II, hit stores this week. ...

After Canadian documentarian Sam Dunn interviewed members of Voivod for his upcoming movie "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey," Voivod recruited him to make a film about their group. "It was a real honor to be asked, and we've already started shooting," said Dunn. "The documentary is going to be about Piggy's life [the band's founding guitarist, Denis D'Amour, who passed away of colon cancer last year] and the making of the new record and how those are tied together." No release date has been set for the project. "Metal: A Headbanger's Journey" will come out as a double-DVD on May 23. ...

Trivium's breakout 2005 LP Ascendancy will be re-released on May 9 as a special expanded edition with a DVD, exclusive previously unreleased tracks, live and promo video footage and new artwork. Fans can catch the band this summer, on the second installment of the Sounds of the Underground festival. ...

Walls of Jericho, who are on the bill for this summer's Ozzfest, finished recording the forthcoming With Devils Amongst Us All on Wednesday; the album is being produced by Ben Schigel (Allele, Chimaira). A June 27 release date has been set. Frontwoman Candace Kucsulain said the disc will feature either 11 or 12 tracks, none of which has been titled yet. ...

Who knew Dane Cook was a stoner metal fan? The clean and sober comic has decided to use Nebula's "Lightbringer" in his new HBO series "Tourgasm," which starts airing May 7. The track, which is from the band's new album Apollo, will play while Cook addresses the camera to explain the setup for one of the scenes in the show. ...

San Diego's gore-grind dudes Cattle Decapitation will issue Karma.Bloody.Karma in either June or July. According to a statement from the band, "This will be the most nihilistic, pessimistic and hateful record we've ever done lyrically, and musically you can expect, [as] one of our friends has said perfectly about it, a very 'schizophrenic' release." The disc will feature a dozen songs, including "Success Is ... (Hanging By the Neck)," "Total Gore" and "Of Human Pride & Flatulence." The band is also searching for a new drummer, following the departure of Michael Laughlin; he cited "personal reasons" for his decision. Want to audition? Check the band's MySpace page. Cattle Decapitation has also added a second guitarist, Kevin "Fetus" Bernier. ...

Shai Hulud's 1997 albums A Profound Hatred of Man and Hearts Once Nourished With Hope and Compassion have been remastered and will be released this summer via Revelation Records. Both will feature new artwork and unreleased bonus material. ...

British chaoscore act Sikth's forthcoming Death of a Dead Day will hit stores on June 6; look for the release to boast a dozen cuts, including "Flogging the Horses," "Way Beyond the Fond Old River" and "Sanguine Seas Of Bigotry." ...

Atlanta extreme death metallers Daath have signed with Roadrunner Records. Look for the band's forthcoming LP, which is being produced by ex-Obituary guitarist James Murphy — to land in stores this fall. Called The Hinderers, the disc will feature the tracks "Festival Mass Soulform," "Ovum," and "Who Will Take The Blame." ...

British metallists DragonForce have also inked a deal with Roadrunner. The label will release the band's Inhuman Rampage LP, which was released overseas back in January, this summer.

• Lacuna Coil
• Voivod
• Queensryche
• Carpathian Forest

Voivod
Photo: Danny Clinch

Back in August, just days before Denis "Piggy" D'Amour succumbed to advanced colon cancer, Voivod drummer Michael "Away" Langevin said he awoke one morning to a ringing phone. It was D'Amour, and he wanted Langevin to stop into the Montreal hospital where he was being treated. D'Amour said he wanted the drummer to come as soon as he possibly could.

"He told me, 'You have to come [to the hospital] right now. I have something to tell you,' " Away recalled. "I went, and he told me that the doctor informed him he had days to live. He said he really wanted to fulfill his contract with the End Records," Voivod's label home, "and then he instructed me to grab his laptop and started telling me where to find these files."

The files contained what Away described as "four albums' worth" of lead, rhythm and solo guitar tracks D'Amour had recorded prior to checking himself into the hospital the previous spring. While Voivod — rounded out by former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted and singer Denis "Snake" Belanger — had spent more than two years working on fresh material together, none of it was recorded with state-of-the-art equipment in a professional studio. The music on D'Amour's laptop was.

A couple of hours after Away's bedside visit to D'Amour, "Piggy's mind started to wander, and I was asking him questions about the [computer files] and he had no idea what I was talking about. It's almost like he woke up and felt his brain was going and realized he needed to tell me [about the tracks] as soon as possible. He slipped into a coma a day or two later, so this album came very close to not existing."

"Close" is an understatement. But the good news is the album — which the band worked on with producer Glen Robinson (Gwar, Annihilator) by writing and recording around Piggy's guitar parts — is done. Away says he feels the yet-untitled effort's a fitting homage to his fallen bandmate. "It's quite a miracle that this music will live on," he said.

The disc, to be released this spring, will feature 10 tracks, with working titles like "Red My Mind," "The Getaway," "Polaroids," "After All" and "No Angel." Voivod plan to return to the studio in the fall to record another 13 tracks for an album Away said will surface in 2007.

"I'm proud of this album in the sense that it would have been a disaster that Piggy's music would go unheard," the drummer said. "Now it will be released, which is a miracle. I am proud that we were able to gather our spirits enough to actually finish off his work."

Voivod have no immediate touring plans, Away said. That's because it's been too hard for the band to discuss the topic. "We decided to concentrate on finishing this album and think about the live aspect of it later," he said. "Right now it's difficult for us to think about touring without Piggy being onstage with us. I think we'll have to eventually sit down and really discuss it, but it was hard enough to go into the studio and finish the album without him.

"Piggy was a founding member and has been there with us all the way through. I have been jamming with him since '79, so it's really hard to picture a tour without him. ... We'd have to find a replacement that Piggy would be proud of."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has reached out to DeviantArt.com to help redesign the band's longtime logo/mascot, Vic Rattlehead. In a contest that runs until February 14, applicants are asked to upload their design to DeviantArt.com and Mustaine will choose the winning design. "I created the first Vic Rattlehead, and now it's your turn. Show me your stuff, deviants," Mustaine said. Prizes include three Dave Mustaine Signature Series electric guitars from ESP: the Ltd Axxion, Ltd DV8-R and Ltd DV200. ... Vernon Reid & Masque will release their second album, Other True Self, April 18. Tracks include "Prof Bebey," "Flatbush and Church Revisited," "White Face" and covers of Radiohead's "National Anthem" and Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence." In addition to his work with Masque, the Living Colour guitarist recently contributed music for the Laurence Malkin film "Five Fingers," the upcoming PBS documentary "Almost Home" and the new Derek-Wan-directed horror movie "Shadow: Dead Riot." ... Lamb of God's debut album, New American Gospel, has been remastered and will be re-released on April 4 with new packaging, four bonus tracks and liner notes penned by members of the band. The reissue will also include a video for "Black Label." ... Carnal Forge continue to work on the follow-up to 2004's Aren't You Dead Yet?, which should hit stores before the end of the year. The album will feature "Burning Eden," "Subhuman," "Forever Guilt" and "The Dead." ... Isis have booked a handful of dates, the first being on March 29 in Redding, California, with These Arms Are Snakes and Zombi. The bill for the last of the confirmed dates — May 2 in Baltimore — will feature Dälek, Torche and Zombi. ...

Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton will release two albums on March 7. The first will be a reissue of his eclectic 1997 solo album Baptizm of Fire, with two previously unreleased bonus tracks, "Himalaya" and "New Breed." The record features bass playing by the late John Entwistle of the Who, Metallica's Robert Trujillo, ex-Talas frontman Billy Sheehan and session player C.J. DeVillar; drumming by Godsmack's Shannon Larkin, Rainbow/ Black Sabbath's Cozy Powell and session player Brooks Wackerman; and keyboards by ex-Ozzy Osbourne accomplice Don Airey. The second disc, Edge of the World, is a batch of previously unreleased songs by Tipton, Entwistle and Powell that were recorded during the same session. Tracks include "Unknown Soldier," "Friendly Fire" and "Resolution."... Former Kittie guitarist Lisa Marx has joined Day of Contempt, who're on tour with Avenged Sevenfold and CKY. The band's latest EP, The Will to Live, was released in April. ... Children of Bodom mainman Alexi Laiho broke his toe during a recent gig in Barcelona, Spain, after "slamming it into a monitor wedge," the singer wrote on the band's Web site. "So if and when you see me moving around like a retard ... that's why." The injury won't affect the band's upcoming U.S. tour with Chimaira and God Forbid. ... Pro-Pain have been writing material for their yet-untitled forthcoming album, which should surface later this year. The recording of the effort should get underway in five months or so. ...

A June 6 release date has been set for Sikth's forthcoming disc, Death of a Dead Day. ... Dutch progressive-goth-metal band the Gathering have confirmed seven North American shows for March, for which they will be supported by Giant Squid and Unexpect. The first date will be March 17 in Austin, Texas, as part of the South by Southwest music conference. The tour wraps up March 24 in Montreal. The Gathering are currently finishing their ninth album, Home, with producer Attie Bauw, who produced their 1999 outing, How to Measure a Planet? Most of the recording was done in an old church in Maurik, Holland, and the album is due this spring. ... Sixteen bands have been lined up for February 15's Edgefest 2006 at the 180 Skatepark in Huber Heights, Ohio. Suffocate Faster, xTyrantx, In This Defiance, Sealed With a Kiss and Son of Day are just some of the acts scheduled. ... Comeback Kid, First Blood, Ignite, the Sinking Ships and This Is Hell will be teaming up for a U.S. tour that kicks off in Seattle on February 26. Dates run through March 28 in Syracuse, New York. ... Florida thrashers A--holeparade have entered Goldentone Studios in Gainesville to begin work on Say Hello, the band's forthcoming disc. The album will feature 20 cuts, including a rendition of Septic Death's "Thaw (Frozen World)." Look for it in April. ... The seventh-annual Facedown Fest will go down on March 31 and April 1 in Pomona, California. The lineup will include Nodes of Ranvier, Seventh Star, Inked in Blood, No Innocent Victim, Bloodlined Calligraphy and xLooking Forwardx. ...

Street Drum Corps, the percussive project formed by members of S.T.U.N., the Start and Circus Minor and embraced by the Used's Bert McCracken, will release their self-titled debut February 21. The disc was produced by Limp Bizkit's DJ Lethal and includes "Wrecks," "Rabbit," "Body Sounds 101" and "Bang!" A bonus DVD featuring 48 minutes of live and backstage footage will accompany the release. ... Veteran hardcore-metal band Starkweather will release their new album Croatoan May 2. The disc was produced by Pierre Remillard (Cryptopsy) and features art work by Paul Romano (Mastodon, Godflesh). Croatoan is the band's first new recording in more than five years. ... Hell Within will tour with War of Ages starting February 3 in Portland, Oregon. Dates run through February 26 in Williamsburg, Virginia. The band's debut, Asylum of the Human Predator, came out last April.

• Megadeth
• Lamb of God
• Voivod
• Sepultura

Voivod (Denis D'Amour; second from right)
Photo: Voivod Official Site

Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, a founding member of groundbreaking Canadian thrash veterans Voivod, died late Friday in a Montreal hospital from complications of advanced colon cancer, according to the band's Web site.

The Quebec City newspaper Le Soleil reported last week that the 45-year-old guitarist had been diagnosed this summer and that the disease had spread to his liver, rendering the condition inoperable. On Thursday, D'Amour slipped into a coma and never regained consciousness. He was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his death.

D'Amour, frontman Denis "Snake" Belanger, drummer Michel Langevin and bassist Jean-Yves Theriault formed Voivod in the early 1980s, carving out a distinct sound marked by unconventional musical tempos, prog-rock elements and futuristic, apocalyptic-leaning lyrical themes. The influential band is credited with paving the way for dozens of other Canadian thrash and metal bands.

With landmark releases like 1984's War and Pain, 1986's Rrroooaaarrr! and 1987's Killing Technology, Voivod managed to attract the attention of several major labels. The band eventually signed with MCA, which released 1989's Nothingface, perhaps Voivod's most commercially successful LP, thanks to "Astronomy Domine," a cover of the Pink Floyd classic; a headlining tour with openers Faith No More and Soundgarden followed.

Voivod experienced numerous lineup shifts over the course of their career, the first being Theriault's departure, which followed the release of 1991's Angel Rat. Three years later, Belanger abandoned the group and was replaced by Eric Forest, who pulled double duty as the band's vocalist and bassist. But in 2001, the departure of Forest led the rest of Voivod to call it quits. The band regrouped just months later, however, with Belanger back in the mix and former Metallica bassist (and Voivod fan) Jason Newsted on board (see "Jason Newsted Says His New Band Can Kick Metallica's Ass").

Voivod signed a deal with The End Records this past June and had spent the last two months in the studio working on their 11th LP — the follow-up to a 2003 self-titled outing — which was being eyed for an early 2006 release.

"We are all devastated by the tragic passing of a true legend," The End Records said in a statement. "Piggy and the rest of Voivod have already become family to our team here at The End, and they are the nicest people to be around. Piggy was a big inspiration to us. We feel lucky for the privilege of getting to work with him and to know him. No words can describe our admiration for him. Piggy's guitar playing was always full of energy and innovation and life. In many senses, he will always be alive through his music."

A number of bands have issued statements regarding the guitarist's passing. Karyn Crisis, frontwoman for New York art-metal act Crisis, called D'Amour "a consummate artist and innovator who understood that music goes so much deeper than catchy riffs and stylish trends; that it is a force which can move, inspire and empower people.

"It is a testament to the power of their art that Voivod had the courage to stay true to their vision, refusing to compromise or call it quits when the success and broad recognition they so duly deserved eluded them," she continued. "But such is the path of the pioneer; to challenge the status quo and not necessarily be accepted by it."

A statement from Canadian death-metal act Kataklysm said D'Amour's guitar influence "was felt worldwide. His work in Voivod opened the doors to many metal bands in Canada and gave all of us hope for better things in this scene. He was the nicest guy you could meet and the most humble person you could talk to. We are sad to see you go, brother, but your legacy will live forever. We will see you on the other side."

• Voivod

Black Label Society's Zakk Wylde (file)
Photo: Getty Images/Jo Hale

New Jersey's own Zakk Wylde generally just doesn't give a damn about much. For example, beyond Killswitch Engage and As I Lay Dying, he doesn't know who's playing Ozzfest's second stage this year. But really, you can't exactly blame the dude. He usually doesn't get up until after noon, and even then, he's often nursing a hangover.

So when asked what he thinks of Wicked Wisdom, it's not too surprising when Wylde replies, "What's that?" After being told that it's the Jada Pinkett Smith-fronted group that takes the stage long before he rolls out of bed, he asks, "What does Jada Pinkett Smith do?" When he finds out she's the Hollywood actress married to Will Smith, who's also been attending all of the Ozzfest dates, he perks up. "F---ing Will Smith's been on the Ozzfest? What the hell? I need to get an autograph, dude. 'I loved you in "Ali," bro.' "

Wylde says he just doesn't care about "any of that [second stage] sh--. It cuts into time at the Irish tavern, you know what I mean, dude? Why? Is everyone pissing and moaning? What, because they're a new band? Dude, I don't get up that early. Have people been bottling them?"

Bottling?

"Heaving sh-- at them? Bottles? Dude, I remember when we did a show up in Toronto back in 2001, and ... it's too bad, because they were really nice dudes, too. But what were they? Crazytown? You know how you look at a light at night, and there's nothing but f---ing moths around it? Well, there's nothing but these f---ing bottles, these little Evian and Poland Spring bottles, and they're throwing them up there in f---ing droves. Poor bastards. But hey, it's a metal bill and you're doing hip-hop. Get this sh-- the f--- out of here."

For Wylde, who's been a part of Ozzfest for the last seven years, this summer's edition has been like all the rest. "Just a f---ing ass-kicking time, dude. It's like going to Great Adventure."

Once the tour's over, Wylde said he's got two projects in the works he needs to finish. The first is a DVD with live footage from several recent shows his Black Label Society played over in Paris and London; that, he said, could see release early next year. There's also a compilation CD that should be out around the same time, featuring all of the earliest BLS material as well as some bonus tracks, to be called Kings of Damnation.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Bränn Dailor, drummer for Atlanta grindcore masters Mastodon, told Metal File the band's been "collecting riffs and accepting ideas as they come" while on the road during this summer's Ozzfest. He said Mastodon plan to take a few weeks off this September before hitting the studio, where they'll "dump those ideas out and start putting it all together. We've got a lot of good ideas." Dailor said the band hopes to release its Warner Bros. debut next summer. ... Trivium will hit the road in November with Children of Bodom for a full U.S. tour; there are no definitive dates yet. ... Explosive D.C. grind act Pig Destroyer have lined up three West Coast dates with Uphill Battle, Phobia and Triac: August 5 at the Showcase Theater in Corona, California; August 6 at Los Angeles' Hanging Jury; and August 7 at the Voodoo House in Tijuana, Mexico. ... Roadrunner United— The All-Star Sessions, a disc slapped together for the label's 25th anniversary, is set to hit stores on October 11. The album features collaborations involving past and current heavyweights from Roadrunner's roster, including Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, Glassjaw's Daryl Palumbo, Slipknot's Jim Root, Max Cavalera, King Diamond, Type O Negative's Peter Steele, Vision of Disorder's Tim Williams and others. Tracks include "Roads," "Constitution Down," "Annihilation by the Hand of God" and "The Dawn of a Golden Age." ...

Killswitch Engage guitarist and funnyman Adam Dutkiewicz was asked recently whether he'd be interested in touring with new Roadrunner labelmates Opeth: "I would love to. We can discuss math problems and castles. It would be awesome. I think they'll be into it. They just seem like they'd be down with both of those things." ... Sacramento's With Passion have lost two and gained another. The band's original drummer, Jacob Peete, is back in the mix, while keyboardist Brandon Guadagnolo and guitarist Andy Burt have departed to pursue other musical interests, according to the band's Web site. ... New York extreme metallers Genghis Tron were almost killed by a bunny last week. The band was driving to a gig in New Mexico at 70 mph when it struck a jack rabbit and lost control of its van and trailer. The vehicle rolled off the highway and the trailer was thrown 30 feet into the desert, but no one was injured. The accident forced Genghis to cancel the rest of their U.S. tour, which they hopes to make up at the end of the year. ... Irreverent hard-rock band My Ruin will release their new studio album, The Brutal Language, September 27. The band added bassist Chris Lisee and drummer Jason Brunk to its lineup after completing the disc. ...

Los Angeles stoner-metal band Fireball Ministry will release their third album, Their Rock Is Not Our Rock, October 18. The disc was produced by Nick Raskulinecz (Velvet Revolver, Foo Fighters) and recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 West and the late Elliott Smith's New Monkey Studios. The album will be the first to feature ex-Systematic bassist Johnny Chow, who replaced original bassist Janis Tanaka. Fireball Ministry will open for CKY from August 8 in San Diego through September 11 in Norfolk, Virginia. ... Doom/punk powerhouse Debris, Inc., which includes Trouble bassist Ron Holzner and Saint Vitus guitarist Dave Chandler, will play a string of East Coast dates to support their self-titled debut, which came out in April. The 10-date tour will launch August 4 in Chicago and end August 13 in Dayton, Ohio. ... Canadian experimental thrash-metal vets Voivod have signed a deal with the End Records and will enter the studio in the fall to record their 11th album, which is due in early 2006. The band's last, self-titled album, its first to feature ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, came out in March 2003. ...

Thine Eyes Bleed have been added to this fall's International Extreme Music Festival, which also features God Dethroned, Byzantine, Nightrage, Hell Within, Epoch of Unlight and Lilitu. Thine Eyes Bleed's debut album, In the Wake of Separation, came out June 21. ... Sunset Strip rockers Beautiful Creatures will release their second album, on August 23. The disc will be the band's first since its 2001 self-titled debut. Beautiful Creatures are fronted by Bang Tango singer Joe Leste, previously played Ozzfest and opened up for Kiss before being dropped by Warner Bros. ... New York hardcore legends Madball will hit the road on September 7 in Revere, Massachusetts, for a 21-date U.S. headlining tour, with support acts Walls of Jericho, Misery Signals and Full Blown Chaos. ... God Forbid's IV: Constitution of Treason will be in stores on September 20 and features "The End of the World," "Crucify Your Beliefs" and "To the Fallen Hero." ... Guitarist Kevin Rampelberg has left the Red Chord; they are performing as a four-piece for the time being, as they search for a replacement. ... Converge have started working on the follow-up to 2004's You Fail Me. They'll preview some of their new material on an upcoming Canadian tour and at this year's Hellfest in late August.

• Zakk Wylde
• Black Label Society
• Voivod
• Mastodon
• Madball

Hey and hello, metal children. How goes it? Iann Robinson here. Things are good: The hot grasp of summer is slowly choking the life out of me. It's tough wearing black all the time.

So I went to the Ozzfest in Dallas — all hails and kudos to the Dallas metalheads. They were really great to me, and it was a good time. The second stage was really the place to be: lots of great bands coming out of there. Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Voivod, Hotwire, even Cradle of Filth were amazing, especially playing in million-degree heat in all that vinyl. The main stage was good, but all stuff you'd expect. I must say Korn had a much more aggressive set than I was used to. Way less posturing, more rocking — good for them. Ozzy was naturally amazing to watch, especially with Jason Newsted killing it on bass. They brought out older Sabbath stuff, the Ozzy classics — the man never disappoints. Other than that, I've been jamming with the new Fu Manchu live record and, of course, Himsa and Black Dahlia Murder. Well, that's it for this week. Stay metal and I'll see you at the shows:

Body Count, M.O.D., Vital Remains (featuring Glen Benton) and Suffocation will headline the 17th annual Milwaukee Metalfest on July 25 and 26. Strapping Young Lad, Repulsion, Nuclear Assault, Lullacry, Macabre, the Mentors and Skinless are also on the bill. ...

Killswitch Engage have completed pre-production on two tracks for their next album, their first to feature Blood Has Been Shed vocalist Howard Jones, including their "Freddy Vs. Jason" soundtrack contribution "Darkness Falls." The band, currently playing on Ozzfest's second stage, will officially commence work on the album sometime later in the year. ...

Witchery, the Swedish metal supergroup featuring members of the Haunted and Arch Enemy, have announced plans to head into the studio in the fall to record a follow-up to 2001's Symphony for the Devil. ...

British doomsters Orange Goblin will enter the studio on July 14 to begin recording their fifth album, Progress Stops Here. ... Vehemence, the self-proclaimed "chaotic melodic death metal" band from Phoenix, have set Helping the World to See as the title for their next album. ...

Danzig is in negotiations to appear in the next Tobe Hooper feature and possibly score the soundtrack. ... Dillinger Escape Plan have released a limited self-titled 7-inch. The release only contains two songs, each the entire length of one side of the 7-inch. ...

Metal legends Cryptic Slaughter have released Convicted, the first of two reissues due from Relapse Records. The second, Money Talks, will hit on July 29. Fans who buy both get a limited-edition Cryptic Slaughter 7-inch called "Band in S.M." featuring covers Cryptic Slaughter has recorded. ...

The Plea for Peace Tour will include Poison the Well, Further Seems Forever, Dillinger Escape Plan, Shadows Fall and Eighteen Visions. The now annual trek, which this year runs from mid-September through late October, is designed to raise suicide-prevention awareness. ...

Orange County, California, metalcore merchants Bleeding Through will support AFI on tour beginning in September. The follow-up to last year's Portrait of the Goddess will see release through the Trustkill label later this year. ...

Overkill are planning a U.S. tour for September to support their 13th LP, Killbox 13, which dropped in March. Currently touring Europe, the New Jersey band has lined up four East Coast dates later this month to warm up for the full-scale trek. ...

A handful of bands are shuffling their lineups, so get out your scorecards. Founding Static-X drummer Ken Jay is now in Godhead. Jay's replacement as Static's skinsman is former Seether drummer Nick Ohiro. Oshiro's replacement is Kevin Soffera. Ill Nino's new guitarist is Machine Head's Ahrue Luster, who replaced Marc Rizzo. Machine Head's new album, Ashes of Empires, due October 13, will feature new guitarist Phil Demmel. ... Speaking of Ill Nino, their "How Can I Live" will serve as the first single to the "Freddy Vs. Jason" soundtrack and will also appear on their second album, Confession, due September 30. A video for the song will be shot Tuesday in Los Angeles. ...

HavocHate, Aesma Daeva, Cold Colours, Demonicon, Gee as in Jesus, God-Awful, Impaler, Salubrious Invertebrae, Teratism, Anal Blast, Apostle 13, the Bloodshot, Epicurean, Nymphotomy, Quincy Punks, Ripsnorter, Skrum and Zebulon Pike will converge on Minneapolis on July 22 to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the "Roots of All Evil" radio show. Advance tickets are $4, or $6 the day of the show. ...

— compiled by Iann Robinson, Ryan Downey, Robert Mancini and Joe D'Angelo

• Killswitch Engage
• Shadows Fall
• Overkill
• Danzig
• Voivod

Lamb of God
Photo: Prosthetic Records

Hello my fellow metalheads. Iann Robinson here, and I hope all is well with you. This week I'm pretty stoked for the opening of "28 Days Later," the English zombie movie. That should rule. Is it just me or has it been too long since the last really great zombie movie? I'm also gearing up to head to Canada to check out the set of the "Day of the Dead" remake, but I'll fill you in on that once I get back. This week I'll be checking out Ozzfest to bring you guys a full report on who's tearing it up on that bill. The second stage of Ozzfest seems really strong this year: Cradle of Filth, Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall and the mightiest of mighty, Voivod. I don't see many other tours with that kind of strong lineup.

I'm still blasting the Himsa and Black Dahlia Murder CDs. I'm telling you, outside of Lamb of God's new one, these are the two best heavy records this year. Off the metal tip for a second, I found out that Canadian rock gods Danko Jones have finished their new album, so hopefully we'll hear more about that later on. Well guys and gals, enjoy Metal File this week:

The debut album by To My Surprise, a side project of Shawn "Clown" Crahan of Slipknot is scheduled to drop in September. The LP, which Clown said is a mix of '70s groove and psychedelia, was produced by Rick Rubin.... Lamb of God and E. Town Concrete will support Anthrax on the first leg of their upcoming North American tour, according to a recent post by Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian on the band's Web site. The trek begins July 29. ... An appeal filed by Jello Biafra against his former Dead Kennedys bandmates in the ongoing lawsuit over ownership of the band's name has been denied. A judge upheld a partnership that places ownership of Dead Kennedys in the hands of all four members, with each sharing equally sharing ownership and creative control. ...

Sevendust are done tracking their fourth album with producer Butch Walker, who was in the power-pop band Marvelous 3 and has worked on recent albums by Bowling for Soup and Injected. The band plans to road test some of the songs in late July or early August. The still-untitled disc is tentatively slated for release in late September. Tracks include "Disgrace," "Seasons," "Skeleton Song," "enemy (Pez)" and "Honesty." ... Kittens for Christian, the second band signed to Serj Tankian's Serjical Strike label, will release Privilege of Your Company on September 9. The album is heavy but reflects a range of influences including the Birthday Party, Wire and the Cure. ... Doom metal legends Cathedral will launch a U.S. tour on September 4 in Farmingdale, New York. The tour rolls through the end of the month, wrapping up in Philadelphia. ...

The Exploited will kick off their first U.S. tour in more than a decade on September 10 in Colorado. The tour is in support of their album F--- the System. ... My Dying Bride guitarists Andrew Craighan and Hamish Glencross have joined forces to form the record label Blackdoom Records. ... Integrity are currently finishing up To Die For, their first album for Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon's Deathwish label. The newly reunited Cleveland band's lineup includes founding members Dwid (vocals) and Chubby Fresh (drums). ... In related news, Converge will re-release two of their albums, Petitioning the Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing, with digitally remastered sound, expanded liner notes and bonus tracks later this year. The Bostonian noisecore merchants' "The Long Road Home" DVD is in stores now. ...

Eighteen Visions, whose "You Broke Like Glass" video has become something of a "Headbangers Ball" staple, are currently demoing new material in their rehearsal space in Orange County, California. The band will join Strung Out on the road later this year. ... Demon Hunter, a Seattle metal band that consists of former members of Training for Utopia and a revolving cast of musicians, have embarked on their first tour in support of their self-titled debut. The trek runs through early July and includes support from Norway's Extol and the Agony Scene. ... Extol will release their third disc, Synergy, on August 12. The album title refers to the musical and spiritual unity between bandmembers. ...

Florida death metal heroes Morbid Angel have named their new album H2K3. ... Grimfist, a new Scandinavian black metal band featuring members of Immortal and Deride, will release their debut, Ghouls of Grandeur, on September 13. The disc was produced by Hypocrisy frontman Peter Tägtgren. ... The third album by Birmingham, Alabama, metalcore band Haste, The Mercury Lift, will be released July 2. The disc features guest appearances by Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe and Codeseven singer Jeff Jenkins. ...

Italian melodic metal band Labyrinth get thrashy on their fourth record, Labyrinth, which comes out Monday. ... Finnish death metal band Kalmah will release Swampsong, the follow-up to last year's They Will Return, on July 29. The disc was produced by Ahti Kortelainen (Sentenced, Impaled Nazarene). ... Orange County, California, metalcore group Avenged Sevenfold will release their second disc, Waking the Fallen, on August 26. The album will feature "Eternal Rest" and "Chapter Four" and was produced by Mudrock, who has worked with Godsmack and Chimaira. ...

—compiled by Iann Robinson, Ryan J. Downey, Jon Wiederhorn, Robert Mancini and Joe D'Angelo

• Voivod
• Slipknot
• Cradle of Filth
• Killswitch Engage
• The Exploited

Ozzy Osbourne and Jason Newsted
Photo: MTV News

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, California — Anyone who was feeling sorry for Jason Newsted after his split with Metallica can stop now.

Not only is he a full-time member of seminal thrash outfit Voivod, but he's also the new bassist for Ozzy Osbourne, replacing Robert Trujillo, who split to join Metallica. And on Monday Newsted received perhaps the greatest compliment possible from the Ozzman himself.

"Jason reminds me of a young Geezer Butler," Ozzy said shortly after playing a four-song rehearsal, his second with Newsted, for a select group of press.

Still sweaty from banging through "Believer," "No More Tears," "Crazy Train" and the seminal (and once again timely) Black Sabbath tune "War Pigs," Newsted was visibly beaming as Ozzy compared him to Sabbath's legendary bassist.

"There could not be a bigger compliment. [If someone said], 'Here's a million dollars' [or] 'Here's this compliment,' I'll take this! That's it. [Butler] is my #1 teacher in life. And only he," Newsted said, a wide smile stretching across his face as he pointed to his new frontman, "gets the right to say that. He's the only one!"

Newsted left Metallica roughly two years ago (see "Bassist Jason Newsted Leaves Metallica"), resurfacing in Echobrain (see "Newsted, Fans Feel 'Wicked Good' At Echobrain Tour Launch") before joining up with Voivod for their latest album (see "Jason Newsted Says His New Band Can Kick Metallica's Ass").

Metallica recently announced the addition of ex-Suicidal Tendencies bassist Trujillo to their lineup (see "Metallica Have A Bassist: Ex-Ozzy Player Robert Trujillo"), and it wasn't long before Newsted was invited to start jamming with Ozzy's band. Jack Osbourne recommended Voivod for the second stage at Ozzfest, Ozzy explained, and a light bulb went off in Sharon Osbourne's head (see "Metal Musical Chairs: Ozzy May Hire Ex-Metallica Bassist").

Together with ex-Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin, who's been with Ozzy for eight years, and guitarist Zakk Wylde, Newsted said he honed his back catalog arsenal before Ozzy ever stepped in front of the mic. "I really wanted to be prepared for Oz, so when he walked in the room he could call out whatever song and I would be able to hit it."

What he didn’t realize was that on his first day with Ozzy he'd be under the watchful eye of his predecessor, who was on hand to rehearse for his final gig with the band. Before the day was over, Newsted found himself giving Trujillo tips on Metallica songs like "Battery" and "Damage, Inc."

Newsted — whose relationship with Trujillo stretches back a decade to when Suicidal Tendencies were friends and touring partners with Metallica — called Ozzy's outgoing bassist warmhearted and strong.

"I'm not sure that anybody else could have worked for Metallica," he said, "because he has the girth, as it were — that strength, mentally and physically, to deal with what has to be dealt with in that band. He's familiar with this caliber of an operation. I think it worked out the best for everybody involved."

"I'm the happiest man in the world today," Ozzy proclaimed. "I'm a strong believer that it was destiny that I end up playing with Jason. I don't believe in tarot cards or crystal balls, but I believe that somebody, before you're born, maps out your life. And it was destiny that Metallica end up playing with Robert Trujillo. I'm not pissed off with anybody. ... It's so nice to end a relationship nicely for a change."

When Ozzy mentioned that he couldn't wait to make an album with Newsted, the bassist's eyes widened and he grabbed the metal legend by both shoulders.

"Dude, if he's telling me the truth right now, if he really wants to write ... songs, it's going to be f---ing crazy! I'm telling you right now, it's gonna be out of this world. If I get an opportunity to write bass behind his vocals? Working with Zakk? It's just going to be sick, man, that's all I can say."

For now, Newsted will join Ozzy on this summer's Ozzfest outing as well as several Canadian dates. He'll also perform with Voivod, who will play "something from each album," according to Newsted, while supporting Ozzy in Canada and co-headlining the Ozzfest's second stage.

"This is a huge opportunity for both [Metallica and Ozzy] to prove themselves again," Newsted said. "It can be a cool thing for the next era of both of the biggest metal bands America has seen. ... It's going to be an incredible summer."

• Ozzy Osbourne
• Voivod