Do some metal fans — and even some metal bands — take themselves too seriously? The Haunted's Peter Dolving seems to think so, which is why he's been logging on to his band's MySpace page in recent weeks. It's there that the singer airs some of his thoughts on matters like politics and communism, and where he's been trading barbs with some of his cantankerous fans.

Dolving enjoys screwing with people too — another reason why he's been opening heated dialogues with those Haunted fans who don't agree with his various opinions. He could just ignore the insults and not respond. But, "It's fun watching people get really upset over bullsh--," the singer explained. "It's like when you were in school, and you'd get in trouble all the time because you'd always f--- with the wrong people, or you'd get laid with the wrong teacher's daughter. The things I write in my blogs are just my thoughts — they're things I'd like to get out of me. I usually get more positive responses than I do negative responses. But when these people get pissed, it amuses me."

Back in 2005, Dolving even tried to get a rise out of some of the bands he'd spent the summer with as part of Ozzfest.

"We wrote this one song that we actually ended up recording and played before our sets on the last three weeks of Ozzfest," he recalled. "It was called 'Three Random Words,' and instead of lyrics, I just took all these band names — As I Lay Dying and It Dies Today and Every Time I Die, blah, blah, blah — and I just kind of yelled them out. I took the Ozzfest lineups from the last couple of years, and I just sang those band names all the way through. The music was sort of this spoof on metalcore, and we just cracked up. The twisted thing is, when we were playing it, people [in the crowd] started nodding and getting into it."

Of course, "Three Random Words" didn't make the final track list for the Haunted's forthcoming LP, The Dead Eye. But the band did write much of the effort, the follow-up to 2004's rEVOLVEr, while on 2005's Ozzfest. The album hits stores on Halloween.

"We had a very defined image of what we wanted to do, but we had no idea what that was going to sound like," Dolving said. "But we'd know it when we found it. So, when we started writing the material, we did so without making any kind of judgment about it whatsoever. Everything went into the box, and we came up with some really, really weird stuff. We came up with some stuff that was terribly bad and some stuff that was just funny.

"It's one of those records that sort of sums up a lot of the stuff that we'd previously done — not only in this band, but in the bands we'd been part of before," he continued. "It puts everything in perspective I think, and it's going to be fun to make the next record, because we finally know ourselves as a band. This is a defining work for us. We always have been an evolving band, and we've never made one record that sounds the same."

The Haunted plan to tour for the next two years or so in support of The Dead Eye. Next month, they'll hit the road with Lacuna Coil, Belphegor and Asesino as part of Glenn Danzig's Blackest of the Black Tour, which kicks off November 17 in Seattle and wraps November 30 in Santa Cruz, California. In the spring, Dolving said the Haunted will go out for a headlining run of the U.S., with two support acts. While none have been confirmed yet, his wish list includes Planes Mistaken for Stars and These Arms Are Snakes.

As for the whole Ozzfest experience, Dolving said it was a mixed bag for the Haunted. It took some getting used to, and the singer's not so sure the tour influenced album sales. But it did bring his band closer together.

"It was a learning experience for us," he said. "We're just five ugly dudes from Sweden who play rock music, and everyone hypes [the Ozzfest] up to be much more than it really is. The good thing is, there's a bunch of fun, rock and roll bullsh-- going on, and it's crazy and utterly ridiculous. There are always some downsides to something as hyper-commercial as Ozzfest, but it did bring us together as a band more. ... We've been a band for 10 years, and we're more into it now than when we first started out."

The rest of the week's metal news:

Shadows Fall have pulled out of their previously announced tour with Killswitch Engage, Bury Your Dead and 2Cents, to afford them more time in the studio as they continue to craft their forthcoming Atlantic Records debut. "We are all very disappointed that we will not be able to hit the road with our friends in Killswitch Engage and Bury Your Dead," read a statement from frontman Brian Fair. "Originally, we had hoped to complete the recording of our new album in time for the beginning of the tour on November 9 [in Charlotte, North Carolina], but now it appears that will not be possible. New ideas have continued to surface and push the songs into new directions that we have to pursue. Making the best album possible is our number one priority and something we must focus on one hundred percent at this time. We sincerely apologize to all the people that planned on coming to see us at these shows, but our absence is no reason not to go and support this tour." All That Remains have been enlisted to take the Shad's place, between the tour's launch and the November 26 stop in Spokane, Washington. The trek's scheduled to wrap December 20 in Providence, Rhode Island. ...

On November 21, Rob Halford will debut the first new Halford song in more than four years, "Forgotten Generation," on iTunes. The metal god wrote the tune and another new cut, "Drop Out," with the Halford band this year during downtime from working with Judas Priest on their upcoming album Nostradamus. "We just thought it would be nice to offer fans an earful of new Halford stuff and let everybody know we're still around," he said. Both new tracks will be available on Halford: Metal God Essentials - Volume 1, which comes out November 28. The album will contain 15 songs spanning Halford's solo career and will also be available exclusively through iTunes. Also on November 28, Halford will release the entire Halford catalog (Resurrection, Live Insurrection and Crucible), plus the Fight demo K5 the War of Words Demos. "We love iTunes," Halford said. "It's a tremendous format and they're really looking after the Metal God in a really great way." ...

Experimental San Francisco metal legends Neurosis are at home writing their new album and plan to head to Electrical Audio studio in Chicago to record with Steve Albini at the end of November or early December. "[We are] forging some strange, noisy psychedelic territory that is pretty disturbing," guitarist and singer Steve Von Till said. The new album is tentatively scheduled for May. Neurosis will take some time off from writing at the end of November to play shows in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle on November 24 and 25, respectively. ... Freiburg, Germany, thrash band Fear My Thoughts will release their fifth album, Vulcanus, January 23. The disc was recorded in Denmark and will be the band's first album for Century Media. ... Greek traditional-metal war horses Firewind will release their new album Allegiance in North America on January 23. The album, which came out in Europe in July, is the band's first to feature new singer Apollo Papathanasio (ex-Majestic, Time Requiem) and drummer Mark Cross (ex-Helloween, Metalium). The band shot a video for the single "Falling to Pieces" earlier this year with director Patric Ullaeus at the Revolver Ranch in Sweden and in New York. ...

Freddy, frontman for the Taiwanese black-metal band Chthonic, will make his U.S. public-speaking debut November 3 in New York at the CMJ Music Marathon panel "From Glam to Death: Metal Subgenre Feasts." He'll be plugging the band's first U.S. release, Seediq Bale, which came out October 3. Influenced by Emperor and early Dimmu Borgir, Chthonic play symphonic metal arrangements embellished with baleful melodies on the erhu, a two-string violin from the Far East. But while Chthonic are inspired by Scandinavian bands, their music rails, not against Christianity, but against the Han Chinese, who usurped ancient Taiwanese tradition some 300 years ago. "When we play black metal, that's because we are angry about some outside culture that invades our country," Freddy said. "That's the same situation with many bands in Scandinavia, so that's what we have in common with them." ...

New York tech-noise maniacs Car Bomb have signed to Relapse Records and are working on their debut album. In addition, the band will pair up with Burnt by the Sun for a split 7-inch that will feature the Car Bomb tracks "M^6" and "Pieces of You." A video for "M^6" was recently shot by director Jeremy Jackson (Calico System). ... Avant-metal band Sleepytime Gorilla Museum are recording their still-untitled third studio album at Tiny Telephone Recording in San Francisco with producer Joel Hamilton (Red Sparowes, Unsane). The follow-up to 2004's Of Natural History is scheduled for release in early 2007. ... Priestess have been added to the bill for Zakk Wylde's Black Label Society's trek with Black Stone Cherry, which runs from Friday (October 27) in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, through December 8 in Los Angeles. ... Shai Hulud, 100 Demons, Since the Flood and One Dead Three Wounded will hit the road together next month for a 16-date jaunt that launches November 1 in Indiana, Pennsylvania, with dates booked through November 21 in Augusta, Georgia. ... Maryland death-metallers Decapitate have reunited six years after calling it quits. The band will perform November 10 in Springfield, Virginia, with Cannibal Corpse, Necrophagist and Dying Fetus, and is said to be working on new material for a forthcoming studio LP. ...

Speaking of Springfield, Dark Funeral, Enslaved and Abigail Williams will commence their Candlelight II: Phoenix Rising tour there January 9. The trek runs through February 8 in Quebec. ... The Accursed's Seasons of the Scythe will land in stores on Halloween. The disc will feature a dozen tracks, including "Fire of 1000 Cries," "Aftermath of Sorrow" and "The Black Thrash." The Accursed have booked several East Coast dates for next month, including stops in Dover, New Hampshire, on November 1 and West Hartford, Connecticut, on November 9. ... Baltimore metal act Swarm of the Lotus will split following their final show on November 1 at Ottobar in their hometown. Goatwhore will also be on the bill, along with several other local acts. According to a statement from the band, "After years of mostly struggle to even exist, [we] have come to the realization that it has always been somewhat of a broken project trying desperately to push forward. With all the lineup changes, relearning processes, constant bad luck on the road, and the general one-step-forward, two-steps-back black hole that the band sank into, it has been hard to even recognize who and what exactly we are." ... The lineup for the 831 Dudecore Halloween Bash, which is set for Saturday at the 418 Project in Santa Cruz, California, has been unveiled. The concert will feature Arsonists Get All the Girls, Stars Are Falling, Apiary and Shotgun Facelift, among others.