If calculus and trigonometry are your thing, you're probably a big fan of Sweden's finest math metal band, Meshuggah. If you're not, you should be and here's an introduction: a one-hour set performed at 2004's Hultsfred Festival.

A musician named Willian Hudson is allegedly the dude mainly responsible for beating up Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds in Las Vegas the morning after the MTV Video Music. The guitarist for the Nebraska-based Iron Maiden devotees, Cellador, is named William Hudson. But don't jump to conclusions, as one radio DJ did.

"I got a call from a friend this morning," the guitarist said in a statement to Blabbermouth.net. "He said he heard on a local radio station here in Omaha that I apparently got in a fight with a member of Mastodon and he was seriously injured."

Hudson added that when he checked various metal message boards he found angry posts from Mastodon fans accusing him of kicking Hinds' ass. He also received some nasty emails. "[People said] how much my band sucks and that I should fight him by myself," he said." Read more...

"We didn't want our record to sound like everybody else's," Suicide Silence frontman Mitch Lucker tells MTVnews.com's Metal File.

It's a common claim, but something few extreme metal band actually achieve. That's why, when choosing a producer for The Cleansing, Suicide Silence reached out to John Travis (Wu-Tang Clan, Static-X), someone unfamiliar with the usual tricks of the trade.

"He'd never really done a record with a metal band before," Lucker says. "That's what we wanted. We wanted a different feel, a different sound, a different mood to it. But we still wanted to keep it savage and violent — that's the way it should be." Read more...

So, what does an openminded metalhead like yourself want to see most on Headbangers Ball Blog? Metalcore, black metal, death metal, thrash? Classic videos? Guest blogs? News exclusives? Podcasts? Concert clips? Let us know, we aim to please. So please aim your responses at our "recent comments" box.

To inspire you, here's something you'll either love or hate:

Metallica's Master of Puppets was redefining thrash, Medadeth had hit the road for Peace Sells...But Who's Buying and Slayer were supporting Reign in Blood. On top of that, Anthrax had just released their best album Among the Living. It was 1987, the climate was perfect for thrash metal and record labels big and small were looking for a piece of the action.

Having hit paydirt by signing both Metallica and Anthrax to their original deals, Megaforce Records had put their hopes (and promotional budgets) into two other bands from opposite coasts, New Jersey's Overkill and Oakland's Testament (who had recently changed their name from Legacy because there was already a jazz band with that moniker).

Overkill quickly developed a strong following, but it was Testament for which whom the bell tolled. The band stormed out of the underground with a mean crunch and give-a-damn attitude, and the members were equally capable of playing blistering speeds and mid-paced melodies. The opening cut from their debut, The Legacy, "Over the Wall," demonstrated their vast potential.

But while Testament followed up the record in 1988 with the equally pulverizing The New Order, the band's next three records, which heavy and well-crafted, weren't as hostile or aggressive, frequently substituting slow, commercial hooks for ripping riffery and acoustic balladry from distorted mayhem.

After 1992's The Ritual, virtuosic guitarist Alex Skolnick an drummer Louie Clemente left and by 1997 everyone was gone except singer Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson. The band forged ahead with other players including guitarist James Murphy (ex-Death, Obituary) and drummers Dave Lombardo (Slayer) John Tempesta (ex-Rob Zombie) and Gene Hoglan (ex-Dark Angel, Strapping Young Lad) Then in 2001 Billy was diagnosed with cancer. Fortunately, he recovered and his illness helped inspire the original band to get back together.

Currently, everyone but Clemente are working on a new album, which should be out by March 2008.

Now, here's Testament as we first saw them with the thrashtastic "Over the Wall":

We know you've been losing sleep waiting for this one, so here's the exclusive premiere of the Black Dahlia Murder video for "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse."

The song is named after the band's first demo and is featured on its new album Nocturnal, which came out on Tuesday. Watch it now, then go back to bed. Then, tune in Headbangers Ball tomorrow night to see it on your 50-inch LCD TV -- or your 14-inch black and white set -- whatever you got.

The correct answer to yesterday's indecipherable logo is b) Mangled Atrocity

Danville, Kentucky isn't exactly a hotbed of American death metal, but there's no denying the ferocity and graphic intensity of the region's finest, Mangled Atrocity.

Influenced by Cannibal Corpse, Disgorge, Decrepit Birth and others, Vocalist Keith Robinson, guitarist Jack Douglas and bassist Troy Tuggle started playing together in Atrocity in 1993. When they couldn't find a drummer who could play fast enough, they resorted to using a drum machine.

The guys bashed away for nearly a decade before a four-song demo got them some attention in 2003. Less than a year later, Mangled Atrocity released the Screams of the Disemboweled split CD, which also featured Artery Eruption.

The band is currently working on its full-length debut for Sevared Records.

Here is the link to our exclusive podcast interview with Heaven and Hell (aka Black Sabbath with Ronnie James Dio).

The Heaven and Hell interview was conducted a few days after the release of the band's CD and DVD sets Live at Radio City Music Hall 2007 and features all four band members -- singer Ronnie James Dio, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Vinnie Appice.

During the conversation, the guys joke around about renaming "Heaven and Hell" "Heaven and Sausages," Dio insists he's taking on a second career as a boxing promoter and the musicians share their shoe sizes. There's also a great story about a show-halting fire alarm in New Zealand, some conjecture about when the upcoming Van Halen tour will self-destruct and some revealing information about what Ronnie, Tony, Geezer and Vinnie have planned when the Heaven and Hell tour finally ends.

The Heaven and Hell interview is the first in a weekly podcast series on Headbangers Ball Blog. In addition to being able to hear the discussions on the site, pretty soon you'll also be able to get them on iTunes.

Now, here's a video of Heaven and Hell decades ago when they actually called themselves Black Sabbath. Enjoy "Neon Knights":

In March, right before Through the Eyes of the Dead were scheduled to record their new record, Malice, vocalist Anthony Gunnells was booted from the band because of his disinterest in attending practice sessions on a semi-regular basis. While they were tracking the new songs in the studio, the remaining members launched a search for a new vocalist and eventually found Nate Johnson. Here's Nate's story of how and why he ended up joining a band whose albums he would have once gladly traded for food stamps.

Hello. I'm the new guy, Nate. Some of you know me, some of you don't. I joined Through the Eyes of the Dead back in April while the rest of the guys were in the middle of tracking their new CD, Malice. I joined on a whim, not really knowing what I was getting into. My other band, Premonitions of War, wasn't doing a damn thing at the time, and I was playing bass in a band called the Network. Let's face it: I'm not a bassist. There's a good chance more kids' faces bounced off the fretboard than actual notes. Needless to say, I missed being a full time vocalist.

I was headed to the gym one night when I saw that I had a bunch of missed calls and messages. This is back when I actually had a job and could pay my cell phone bill. First was Mike from Premonitions of War telling me I should call him back as soon as I could. So I called and he told me that Erik Rutan had called him. Erik was recording the new Through the Eyes of the Dead record. They had just kicked out their vocalist and he was wondering if I might be interested. Mike gave me his number, and I called him. No answer, so I left a voicemail, and went on my merry way to the weight room.

I started working out and thought about everything, weighing the options and the ultimate decision I might have to make. First off, I had never been a fan of TTEOTD. I didn’t even own a copy of their first full length, Bloodlust until I joined the band. I bought the Scar of Ages EP a few years ago, while I was on tour with Premonitions. At the time, a lot of kids were talking about them. So, I popped it into the CD player and after a few songs, I wasn't amazed, but I wasn't bummed out either. They sounded a lot like the Black Dahlia Murder, but with really heavy breakdowns thrown in here and there. Competent musicians at least, and apparently young, from what I'd heard at the time.

But the vocalist on that EP, Anthony, didn't really do it for me. Once I heard the vocal production on the Bloodlust CD, that was pretty much the last nail in the coffin for me ever wanting to hear them again. Read more...

Songs by Dimmu Borgir (pictured above), Burzum, Morbid Angel and Judas Priest will be featured in the soundtrack for "Severed Ways," an upcoming film about Vikings in the New World that's scheduled to make the rounds at next year's film festivals.

Severed Ways" was written and directed by metal fan Tony Stone, and a trailer for the movie features shots of glistening oceans, flying birds, waving wheat fields, grazing farm animals, burning churches, cascading waterfalls and fleeing Vikings overtop a soundtrack of a man chopping wood and breathing heavily (insert dirty joke here).

The movie, produced by Heathen Films, takes place in 11th Century in North America, where Vikings, Indians and Irish monks are clashing for personal glory and religious dominance. And the plot takes flight after an expedition of Norsemen is attacked by Indians, and two remaining Vikings must struggle through vast forests and hazardous circumstances in an effort to survive. One relies of spirituality to make it through while the other draws from primal instinct and an iPod filled with blistering metal -- nahhh, we made that last part up.