Walk into the nearest record store, sift past the Dido and Die Toten Hosen discs and you might stumble across some Diecast titles. Look for the Boston hardcore heroes' 1999 EP, Undo the Wicked, or 2001's Day of Reckoning; if you find either, consider yourself fortunate -- you live in a town with a pretty badass record shop. But chances are you'll find just one Diecast disc: 2004's Tearing Down Your Blue Skies. That's because for the last few years, the band's first two releases have been trapped in this strange state of limbo.

According to bassist Jeremy Wooden, Diecast, who wrap up their tour with Ill Niño on October 1, had spent years fighting with their former labels for the rights to those early masters so that they could start releasing the material again. But Wooden claims that finally, the band's current label, Century Media, has acquired the masters and plans to re-release them sometime next year. The label's also going to reissue Tearing Down Your Blue Skies early next year with a new track, "Tangled Web We Weave," and a cover of Slayer's "Reign in Blood."

"Tangled Web We Weave" is the first track the band's written with new vocalist and former Breeding Ground frontman Paul Stoddard, who joined the group after the departure of Colin Schleifer.

"For the last record, we had all of the music written without a singer yet, so it was tough for Paul -- he came in, and we handed him 12 songs and said, 'Here you go. Write lyrics to 'em,' " Wooden said. "He ended up doing an amazing job. But our next record is going to be that much better, because Paul's a part of the team now and he has ideas for the writing and we have ideas for vocals. We've written a couple of new songs," like "Tangled Web We Weave," which he calls "one of the best songs this band's ever done."

For the Diecast's next outing, which should surface toward the end of next summer, they're aiming to work with a producer who can toughen up their already-callous sound. They've been talking to Jason Suecof (Trivium, Cannae), Zeuss (Shadows Fall, Hatebreed) and Eric Rachel (Nora, God Forbid).

"The last record ... we were very happy with the material, but it didn't come out as heavy as we would've liked it to," Wooden said, adding that the band plans to buckle down for intense writing sessions next week and after its tentatively scheduled six-week run with American Head Charge, which is set for sometime in November. Diecast will also be writing on the road, and after that tour, plan to finish a new album before spring's end.

The rest of the week's metal news:

Soil, Dope, Opiate for the Masses, Dog Fashion Disco and Dry Kill Logic have all been tapped to open various legs of the forthcoming Jägermeister Music Tour, featuring headliners Disturbed with Corrosion of Conformity. It kicks off November 4 in Minneapolis. ... Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher will release the debut album by his side project, Paths of Possession, October 4. The disc, Promises in Blood, was produced by Erik Rutan; in addition to Fisher, the band features guitarists Jay Fossen and Jack Goodwin, bassist Randy Butman and drummer Nick Goodyear. While the album is aggressive and the vocals are throat-shearing, the music is far more melodic than anything by Cannibal Corpse, bearing more in common with Scandinavian death metal. Tracks include "Butcher's Bargain," "Heart for a Heart," "Bring Me the Head of Christ" and "Bleed the Meek." ... As I Lay Dying, who'll embark on their first U.S. headlining run in late November with Norma Jean, Madball and A Life Once Lost, shot a video for the track "Through Struggle" on September 18 with director Lex Halaby (Chimaira, Killswitch Engage) at the Morell Meats Lot, an abandoned meat locker close to downtown Los Angeles. ...

Cradle of Filth's forthcoming "Peace Through Superior Firepower" DVD, which features footage shot during the band's gig in Paris in April, is slated to land in stores on November 1. The package will also include a documentary with behind-the-scenes footage in addition to several of the band's music videos. ... Killswitch Engage's forthcoming "(Set This) World Ablaze" DVD will hit stores November 22 and feature live footage captured during the band's July 25 gig at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts. ... Mushroomhead and Crossbreed have booked a Halloween tour consisting of four shows -- none of which, ahem, is on Halloween. The bands play Lansing, Michigan, on October 26; Erie, Pennsylvania, on October 27; Toledo, Ohio, on October 28; and Cleveland on October 29. ... Instrumental Sacramento spazzcore duo Hella will release the double-DVD-and-CD package Concentration Face/ Homeboy, November 8. The band will be on tour with System of a Down and Mars Volta through October 11 in Fresno, California. Shows with Primus weirdo Les Claypool will follow. ... According to a post by drummer and running enthusiast Dave McClain on his band's Web site, Machine Head are "now officially in 'writing mode' for the next album." The band's been at it a few weeks now, and McClain's got " 'that' feeling again about some of the stuff we're working on." We'll assume "that" feeling's a killer one. ...

King's X will hit the road starting October 19 in Birmingham, Alabama; dates run through November 6 in Ferndale, Michigan. ... Connecticut's Hatebreed have been together for 10 brutal years, and to celebrate, they'll be hitting the road for the 10 Years of Brutality Tour, with Most Precious Blood, Full Blown Chaos, Gizmachi, If Hope Dies and Manntis in the warm-up slots. So far just 14 dates have been firmed up, and those start November 1 in Burlington, Vermont, and run through November 23 in Orono, Maine. ... Melodic Detroit street-metal band Abandon will enter the studio next week to start working on their second album, much of which is already written. The group's debut, In Reality We Suffer, came out in April. Abandon will open for recently resurrected Christian rockers Stryper October 1 in Mount Clemens, Michigan. ... Alaska's 36 Crazyfists are working on new material, which should surface in early 2006 in the form of the band's forthcoming, as-yet-untitled disc. ... Montreal deathcore sextet Despised Icon hit the road Thursday night in Nashville with Suffocation, Cryptopsy and Aborted; dates run through November 7 in New York. ... London death/black-metal band Akercocke have finished their fourth infernal album, Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, which will come out in early 2006. ...

After 12 years in the band, Crisis bassist Gia Wang has left due to family commitments. Group pal Nick Weitzel will fill in for the Exodus tour, which starts October 1 in Bakersfield, California, and runs through November 5 in Santa Clara. In November, Crisis will hold auditions for their new full-time bassist. ... Grindcore veterans Bolt Thrower have named their eighth album Those Once Loyal. The disc hits stores November 15 and features "At First Light," "Entrenched" and "Granite Wall." ... German power-metal band Primal Fear's forthcoming Seven Seals will drop October 15 and include "Evil Spell," "Demons & Angels" and "The Immortal Ones." ... Hard-rock legends Deep Purple will release their next album, Rapture of the Deep, November 1. The follow-up to 2003's Bananas features "Back to Back," "Before Time Began" and "Money Talks." ... Italian black-metal mavens Aborym will release their fourth album, Generator, before the end of the year, according to the band's label, Season of Mist. Look for it to include "Suffer Catalyst," "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "Man Bites God."