Nothingface to Reunite For Show In 2006?

According to Jaggermusic.com, Nothingface would play a concert scheduled for next year, February 19 at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach SC, opening for Disturbed. This would mean the band will reunite for the first time since their break up in 2003. Nothing has been explicitly confirmed at this point, however.

In related news, Disturbed frontman David Draiman was to collaborate with Blessed in Black, a hard rock group featuring former members of Nothingface and Skrape. Draiman was to enter the studio in September to contribute to some songs slated for Blessed in Black's forthcoming debut album, tentatively due in early 2006.

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Lamb of Gods Killadelphia Finally To Get Euro Drop

LAMB OF GOD's 'Killadelphia' DVD will receive it's long awaited European (PAL) release on November 28, 2005.
The live album 'Killadelphia' will also be available at all European concert appearances throughout December 2005, as well as the first ever European availability of the 'Burn the Priest' CD.

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Bloodsimple Up For Metalcore 2005 Album

bloodsimple are up for Metalcore Album of 2005 at gauntlet.com and you can vote on it now. Click here to vote. Hurry - it ends on Monday the 28th.

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Kirk Hammett: Metallica Has A Lot More To Say

In the latest issue of Guitar World, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of METALLICA's landmark "Master of Puppets" album, METALLICA guitarist Kirk Hammett gets quizzed by the magazine readers and a host of metal luminaries, including MASTODON, LAMB OF GOD, EXODUS, EVERY TIME I DIE and AVENGED SEVENFOLD. A few excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow:

Mark Morton (LAMB OF GOD): When "Master of Puppets" was finished, did the band realize it had created such an important piece of heavy metal history?

Kirk Hammett: "'Master of Puppets' wasn't written with that intention; we just wanted to make the best album we could. For us, it was just another METALLICA album. We had put out 'Kill 'Em All' and it was a great album. We put out 'Ride the Lightning' and it seemed to have all the elements of 'Kill 'Em All' and then some. Then we put out 'Master' and we were very proud of it. It was like having another feather in our cap.

"At that point, we were firing on all cylinders and the songs just kept coming, so we really seized the moment. After we finished the album, we wetn straight out on tour. We were very intent on getting the music out to the people and touring as much as humanly possible. But Cliff's death changed all of that.

"None of us had any idea 'Master of Puppets' would still sound fresh after 20 years. I mean, I put it on the other day and the albbum' sound, songs and concepts are just as relevant today as they were back then."

Doc Coyle (GOD FORBID): Can you pinpoint a time when you feel METALLICA was at its creative peak, or do you feel that time has yet to come?

Kirk Hammett: "That's hard to answer. Maybe if you ask me that question in 20 years, I can give you a better answer. At this point in time, I can see many different creative peaks in our career. 'Master of Puppets' and the Black Album were definitely peaks. The symphony album ['S&M'] was a different kind of peak, while 'St. Anger' was yet another completely different peak. We've peaked in so many different ways. Some people would also say we have had a lot of valleys, too… which is a fair statement. [laughs]

"I think METALLICA have a lot more to say. We're the type of band that likes to experiment. We don't like to stay in one spot for too long; all the albums after the Black Album prove that. We're not afraid to take artistc risks, even at the cost of pissing off our audience and our friends."

Zacky Vengeance (AVENGED SEVENFOLD): I fucking loved "St. Anger". It seemed like you went back to your roots, said "Fuck you!" and did something totally different. And though I can see that dropping the solos was part of that attitude, I do miss them. When you record your next album, are you gonna throw some solos back on it?

Kirk Hammett: "For the next album, Lars is going to be sitting there with his snare drum, and I'm going to come in and play a 78-minute guitar solo. Then James is going to scream over it while Rob puts his low end on there. [laughs] Just kidding, man.

"To be quite honest, I think the band misses solos just as much as the fans do. I mean, I play guitar solos every day! We've all expressed the fact that we think guitar solos are fun. They're dynamic, expressive and another distinct aspect of METALLICA's music. And we miss that aspect."

Harry Meyers: Have you ever considered recording a solo album?

Kirk Hammett: "Yeah. Eventually I'll record one, but right now my loyalties remain with METALLICA. I've been writing music for METALLICA for over 20 years, but obviously there are certain things I've written that don't belong on METALLICA albums. As a result, I have a small surplus of music.

"But you know, if I put out a solo album, don't expect it to be a super-duty heavy metal shred album; it's gonna be something that you've never heard before, or at least something you'd never expect from me. Recently, I played with a contemporary classical string quartet in San Francisco named FLUX. It was a collaborative piece, with two violins, viola, cello, cello, classical guitar and me on electric guitar. I gotta say, I don't think I've ever heard anything like the stuff we were doing. I thought, 'Well, if I ever do a solo album, maybe I'll do it with some classical players.' But really, I'm only using this as an example to show that, if I put out a solo album, it'll be something very eclectic. I'd like to share that side of my playing with people someday, but now is not the right time. My loyalty is to maintain the METALLICA legacy."

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Josh Homme: The Amount of Shit Metallica Borrowed

In an era when METALLICA and PANTERA were the biggest metal bands in the world, legendary Palm Desert generator soldiers KYUSS were too metal for the grunge crowd and too rock for most headbangers. "We were totally against those bands," former KYUSS guitarist Josh Homme (currently the frontman of QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) told Decibel magazine. "And really, the amount of shit that METALLICA borrowed from us is frustrating. It was strange."

KYUSS famously opened for METALLICA in Australia in 1993. METALLICA's soundman promised KYUSS they'd have a full PA during their set but quickly changed his mind after KYUSS plugged in and turned on. "We douched them," Homme laughed. "On a frequency spectrum, we were like a brick wall until you hit the high end — and then there was no high end. I mean, high end if not fun for anybody; you don't party with high end." Years later, Homme was playing with QUEENS at Slim's in San Francisco, high on escsasy and being interviewed about his METALLICA experience. "This guy I knew was making a movie about METALLICA, and I was trying so hard not to say something negative. I think I talked about the rider or something, and then I said meeting them was like meeting George Bush. My eyes must've been spinning."

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KoRn Frontman On Christians Being Con-Artists

KORN frontman Jonathan Davis has hit back at departed guitarist Brian "Head" Welch over his assertions that the only thing the members of the band care about is money.

"All they care about is money? What the fuck?! I don't understand what he's on about," Davis tells the Swedish magazine Close-Up. "All HE cared about was money and all he does is still care about the money. He's got his solo career, he's going and doing all this, but oh, it's not for the money. Christians are the biggest fucking con artists in the world and he's still gonna make money off that. I don't understand… The only true way he can do that is to become a fucking monk! There you go, that's a sacrifice for God. Give up everything and go, if that's what you want. It's bullshit. If he wants to go save kids in India, that's amazing. That's a noble fucking cause, that's cool. Do your thing. The only problem I do have with him is that he’s got this Jesus complex. You can tell by the way he's got his fucking hair, Messiah down his neck, him with the kids in India trying to be holier than thou now, that he thinks he's Christ. It's kinda crazy, kinda cuckoo and it kinda weirds me out."

Were you surprised that he turned all religious?

"Yeah. I just said what was on my mind: 'What the fuck are you doing?' 'Dude, don't talk to me, talk to God. God is the one telling me to do this.' I'm like, 'Okay… Well, God told me you're crazy!' [laughs] You can't argue with religion, no one wins. I just let him do his thing. If that's what he wants, do it, dude. No hard feelings. If he came up to me again I'd give him a hug and say, 'How are you doing?’ But it's just not possible, because every time I've tried to have conversations with him, it just goes to God. I don't wanna talk about religion, it's not my thing. He can't respect that so…"

Do you view him as a Judas?

"I guess in a way, yeah. I don't think he betrayed us… I think he was unhappy for a long time, and honestly if this has kept him alive that's a good thing."

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Domination Black To Release New Album Fearbringer

DOMINATION BLACK will release their new album, "Fearbringer", before the end of the year via Poison Arrow Records. The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. Ultra-Speed Destructor
02. Nightmare Asylum
03. Traitor Within
04. Alone in the Darkness
05. Haunted Hellhouse
06. The Psycho
07. From Abyss
08. Frozen Tears
09. Fear Re-LoaDEAD

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American Head Charge Kick Out Guitarist

AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE have kicked out Karma Singh Cheema from their ranks. With the removal having been known for approximately two weeks, an official announcement is expected on Monday. Karma's goodbye message/explanation has been posted on the band's official forums. You can read it at this location.

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Horse The Band video for Birdo Now Available

HORSE THE BAND's new video for the song "Birdo" has been made available in this location. The track comes off their recently released Combat Records debut, "The Mechanical Hand."

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Meshuggah Plan Live DVD In 2007

MESHUGGAH drummer Tomas Haake spoke to Katrina Thompson about the band’s musical complexity that has made them such a distinct act, as well as their latest effort, "Catch 33" (2005, Nuclear Blast Records) and the band’s future plans. Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

- Metal Temple: When can we expect another album?

- Tomas Haake: "After this tour we start writing again, which was what we were gonna do this last spring when we were done with ’Catch 33’ (2005) because we weren’t gonna tour for it. We were just gonna take like three weeks off and go right back into rehearsal and start writing but now we did this tour after all. So, this winter we start writing for the next one. We’re definitely gonna take our time with this one though because we did a few mistakes in the past, as most bands have, like with the ’Chaosphere’ (1998) album, we accepted the Slayer tour so we had to rush the recording and the production suffered from it, I think. And the same thing for the ’Nothing’ (2002) album. We would have needed at least another three months for that album and when we had already gone into the studio for the recording, we got the offer to play Ozzfest and we accepted. But the album suffered from it, I think, especially production wise. We had to rush it real bad. We just didn’t have any time for anything, not to even reflect on what we were doing.

We recorded the vocals in like seven days and for ’Chaosphere’ we used eleven weeks for the vocals, so there’s a big difference. For the mix we used two days and then we mastered the day after. Then the morning after that, we flew out to Ozzfest. So it was pretty crazy. We never had the time to listen to it or anything and normally we use like two weeks for mixing and then stay off of it for a week or two, then master it. That’s like the way we would prefer to do it at least. But this was like record and once the recording was done the next day, do two days of mastering then take off to the US. So, it was pretty crazy.

This time we’re definitely going to take our time and not have any tour offers distract us, hopefully. So yeah, we’re gonna take our time for this album, which unfortunately we’re not fast song writers. Writing this type of music usually takes us quite a lot of time, so I would think that the better part of 2006 would be us writing and recording. But then again, like after that, we’re gonna tour more seriously. Like we still haven’t been to Australia or Japan or South America, so we’re gonna try to do the whole world next time over and do Europe and the U.S. probably at least a few times each. So we’re looking at doing maybe two years of touring after that album, that is our plan at least. So hopefully like late 2006 or early 2007. It seems weird because it’s still 2005 [Laughs]. A lot of bands just go to the studio for three weeks and they write as they get there, then they record and they’re done and for us one song could take a month just to write one song."

- Metal Temple: I’m not surprised. From knowing your music I’m not surprised at all that it takes that long.

- Tomas Haake: "Yeah and we scrutinize everything too. We have a tendency to maybe overdo that a bit but at the same time the music kind of demands it in a way."

- Metal Temple: Are there any plans for a live album or DVD?

- Tomas Haake: "Yeah we have plans for that too. Unfortunately we don’t have the material like live performance recordings or anything to release that prior to the touring after the next album, so it’s probably not going to happen until like 2007. And if we do a thing like that, we really want to do it professionally and get like 6 or 7 cameras out and record like 10 shows and have a separate audio rig for that as far as recording devices go - like use pro tools or something to bring that out. It’s gonna cost a lot of money but we don’t see any point in releasing like a half shady bad sounding DVD. We want to do it all out in that case. It’s in the plans but it’s not gonna happen within the next year."

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Darkest Hour, Himsa Tour Dates Being Unveiled

Dates are continuing to leak out for next year's highly anticipated metalcore all star tour featuring DARKEST HOUR, HIMSA, A LIFE ONCE LOST, THE ACACIA STRAIN, and DEAD TO FALL. Confirmed dates so far are:

February 17 - Latham, NY @ Saratoga Winners
February 18 - New York, NY @ Knitting Factory
February 19 - Poughkeepsie, NY@ The Loft
February 21 - Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
February 24 - Richmond, VA @ Alley Katz
February 27 - Saint Petersburg, FL @ State Theatre

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Soil Debut Performance With Debut From AJ Cavalier

SOiL played their first set of live performances with new frontman AJ Cavalier at the helm to a sold out House of Blues crowd with DISTURBED and CORROSION OF CONFORMITY on the JAGERMEISTER MUSIC TOUR for three nights running. The band's set-list, which included a preview of four new songs from their DRT Entertainment debut which will be out in early 2006, for the most recent show was as follows:

Give It Up
My Own
Pick Me Up
Unreal
Last Chance
Jaded
Redefine
Halo

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Alice in Chains Members To Play With Heart

The surviving members of Alice in Chains will perform with Heart on February 17 at the Trump Taj Mahal Resort & Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The concert will be taped as part of a new episode of VH1 Classic's "Decades Rock Live!" series. Look for the show to air in the spring. Tickets go on sale Monday through Heart's online fan club.

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Brides of Destruction Rescheduling Euro Tour

BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION are in the process of rescheduling their European tour in support of their sophomore album, "Runaway Brides". According to the band's official web site, the following dates are currently confirmed:

Dec. 16 - Rastignano (Bologna), ITA @ Star City
Dec. 17 - Milano, ITA @ Transilvania Live
Dec. 18 - Roma, ITA @ Zoo Bar

The follow-up to last year's "Here Come the Brides", "Runaway Brides" was recorded in part at a studio in Malibu, California with producer Andy Johns, who has previously worked with guitarist Tracii Guns on the L.A. GUNS' "Waking the Dead" album (which Guns has referred to as "my favorite L.A. GUNS record."). Johns was reportedly involved with the album during its early recording stages but ended up leaving the project due to unspecified differences with Guns and the rest of the band.

BRIDES OF DESTRUCTION's current lineup includes former AMEN bassist Scott Sorry (replacing MÖTLEY CRÜE's Nikki Sixx).

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Reflux Launch New Tour Ecard

A new e-card featuring Washington, DC's REFLUX can be found online to help spread the word about the band's headlining tour across America. They'll be touring alongside Ed Gein, August Burns Red, and (on select dates) Animosity.

Here are the tour dates:

Reflux with Ed Gein, August Burns Red
11/30 Tupelo, MS – The Rockwell Center
12/01 Birmingham, AL - Cave 9 (w/ Judas Cradle)
12/02 Panama Beach, FL – The Showcase
12/03 Baton Rouge, LA - The Darkroom
12/04 San Antonio, TX - Bonds 007
12/05 El Paso, TX - House of Rock N Roll More...

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Black Majesty Confirmed For Progpower Australia

Australian power metallers BLACK MAJESTY will take part in ProgPower Australia XXVI, set to take place February 11, 2006 at the Gaelic Club in Sydney. Other acts already confirmed for the event include VANISHING POINT, EYEFEAR, LORD, ALARUM, VOYAGER, TRANSCENDING MORTALITY, WITHOUT ENDING, TEMPLATE, FRIAR RUSH, TALISEN and FEEDING THE ADDICTION. This show will be an all-ages event.

In other BLACK MAJESTY-related news, be sure to checkout Australian Guitar magazine's 50th Issue, which features an interview with BLACK MAJESTY guitarist Stevie, plus the track "Dragon Reborn" (from BLACK MAJESTY's "Silent Company" album), which is included on the magazine's cover-mounted CD. The issue has just hit newsagents throughout Australia and will be available throughout November and December.

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Korn's Entire New Album Available For Streaming

KORN's new album, "See You on the Other Side", is available for streaming in its entirety at MTV Italy. The CD was produced by Matrix (AVRIL LAVIGNE, THE MOONEY SUZUKI) and Atticus Ross (BAD RELIGION, NINE INCH NAILS, PINK).

In related news, a press conference with KORN and eight U.S. soldiers whom the band have brought from London to New York for a few days of well-deserved leave is scheduled to take place on Monday, November 28 at 6:00 p.m. at an as-yet-undisclosed location in midtown Manhattan. The soldiers — who have served in either Afghanistan or Iraq and are currently on leave in Frankfurt, Germany and Venice, Italy — will join KORN and MTV Europe contest winners for this "See You on the Other Side" chartered flight and special performance in connection with the release of KORN's new album "See You on the Other Side".

KORN's one-off gig at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom on November 29 will be taped for a half-hour special on MTV2 airing December 3 at 9:30 p.m. and December 6 at 10:30 a.m. KORN will also be hosting MTV2's "T-Minus Rock Countdown" December 6 at 11 a.m., and the Hammerstein show will be available online via MTV Overdrive in early December.

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Anterrabae Still Writing, Set Studio Date

Anterrabae have written a few more songs ain addition to the seven since their last updates, and have also set a recording date. The band will once again be recording with producer George Fullan (Action Action) at General Studios in Douglaston, NY starting Nov. 19th and ending just before the holidays. The still untitled record will probaly be released around April/May. The band may release some unmastered tracks around Christmas time.

Anterrabae recently replaced their departed vocalist with Erik Boccio of Kid Gorgeous.

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Updated Trivium UK Tour Dates and Venue Changes

Due to the huge demand for tickets on Trivium's upcoming UK/Irish tour, they've had to upgrade some of the venues. Together with support acts God Forbid and Bloodsimple, the dates are now:

March 2 - Leeds University
March 3/4 - Dublin Ambassador
March 5 - Belfast Ulster Hall
March 6 - Glasgow Academy
March 8 - Newcastle Academy
March 9 - Birmingham Academy
March 10 - Manchester Apollo
March 11 - Nottingham Rock City
March 12 - Stoke Victoria Hall
March 15/16 - London Astoria
March 17- Cardiff University
March 18 - Exeter Grand Hall
March 20 - Southampton Guildhall
March 21 - Folkestone Leas Cliffe Hall

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