Metal heavyweights Danzig, Stormtroopers of Death and Morbid Angel

will headline a roster of more than 100 bands at the first November to

Dismember festival Nov. 5–6 at the Live Oak Civic Center in San

Antonio, Texas, according to event publicists.

The festival will pair heavy-metal music with a variety of "extreme"

entertainment, including professional wrestling (with the Superstars

of the World Wrestling Federation) and appearances by adult-film stars

led by mistress of ceremonies Jasmin St. Claire.

During an interview from Los Angeles on Friday, Glenn Danzig —

singer/songwriter for the band that bears his name — talked about

heavy music's resurgence.

"I think a lot of kids are probably just tired of being force-fed

alterna-crap and want something with a little more meat to it," he

said. "They don't want to go to sleep when they go to a concert" (RealAudio

excerpt of interview).

The 44-year old Danzig knows a little about heavy music. Formerly the

singer for influential splatter-punk band the Misfits, he will release

Danzig's sixth album, Danzig 6:66 Satan's Child, on the Internet

in October and in stores Nov. 2. The album will be issued through

Danzig's label, evilive, and E-Magine Entertainment, and will feature

such potent guitar-driven tracks as "Satan's Child"

(RealAudio excerpt).

Commenting on why there seems to be more of a market today for

hard-rocking bands such as Danzig and Korn, Danzig said, "I think

there was an effort to get rid of the rebellious, loud, crazy bands,

and kind of make the listening public a little softer and a little

less aggressive, a little less dangerous. But ... eventually

[heavy rock is] just gonna rise back up to the surface no matter how

you try to keep it down and keep it away from people."

Danzig was enthusiastic about the future of metal. "I think it's

going in a lot of different directions," he said. "It's what the

person does with it and how exciting they make it. Of course, there's

gonna be bands where people go, 'Aww, that's just some metal band,'

[but] I think we can transcend genre and keep it hard and loud."

The San Antonio festival is part of Metal Mania, a four-part series

of rock concerts that grew from 13 previous annual Milwaukee Metalfest

concerts.

According to the festival's official website, which notes the list is

not complete, these bands are slated to hit the three stages at the

San Antonio shows: Crowbar, Skinlab, Fleshgrind, Carnage, Desecration,

Sufferance, Prophecy, Sadistic Intent, Broken Face, Face of Anger,

Wykked Wytch, Bongzilla, Anal Blast and a Samhain reunion.

The Metal Mania concerts also will feature the "Vendorville"

marketplace, where fans can buy CDs, posters, clothing, jewelry and

tattoos, as well as participate in interview and autograph sessions

with selected bands.

The Metal Mania Series will continue with the March Metal Meltdown II,

March 31–April 1 in Asbury Park, N.J.; Mayhem in May

(dates to be announced) in Los Angeles; and Milwaukee Metalfest XIV,

July 28–29 in Milwaukee.