Believe it or not, this indecipherable logo is Mor Zaboth. The melodic black metal group is from Maribor, Slovenia and features four ugly dudes in corpse paint -- guitarist and vocalist Myotis, guitarist Sornaal,  drummer Tuthir -- and a pretty hot chick, Eutera, on keyboards. According to their MySpace, Mor Zaboth are inspired by "darkness, mistycal (c'mon, your Slovenian is worse than their English) and the everlasting beauty of nature."

The band formed in the summer of 2005 and performed their first gig that November at Maribor's Bodega Bar, a place that, having seen "Hostel," we'll avoid at all costs.  After gigging around for a bit, Mor Zaboth entered Studio Ultra to record the Towards The Darkest Dawn EP, which came out in January 2007.

That autumn, they toured with Sabaium According to their MySpace, they're currently working on their next album and "won't have any concerts in the near future." According to Encyclopedia Metallum, they've broken up, in which case they definitely won't have any concerts in the near future.

Sometimes a record comes out a few months into the year that everyone can tell is going to be on their year end top ten list. In 2007, it took right up until mid-November for Dillinger Escape Plan to blow all of our minds with their new album Ire Works.

The disc feels like a new underground street drug that's more potent, mind expanding and scary than the stuff that's currently sweeping the 'hood. And while it's heavier and crazier than Dillinger's last offering, 2004's Miss Machine, it contains the band's catchiest song yet, the Beck-meets-Faith No More apoplexy "Black Bubblegum." Plus, the disc is filled with experimental computer samples and electronic beats that expand the band's musical palate without detracting from their savagery.

From this point forward, life looks pretty promising for the New Jersey extreme metal/hardcore band, however the light comes only after having navigated a long, dark, destructive tunnel that left the group's only original member, songwriter and guitarist Ben Weinman, questioning himself, his bandmates and the entire music scene. Before Dillinger even entered the studio to record, they lost longtime drummer Chris Pennie, who split to join Coheed and Cambria. Then, when they were shooting a video for "Black Bubblegum," Weinman broke his foot, and the first leg of the Ire Works tour had to be canceled.

Headbangers Ball Blog recently sat down for a podcast interview with Ben Weinman, in which the guitarist discussed the departure of Pennie, the addition of new drummer Gil Sharone (ex-Stolen Babies), the creation of Ire Works, the stagnation of heavy music, how to break your foot during a video shoot and the black cloud that seems to follow him.

Click here for a direct MP3 download of the podcast interview with Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman
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Since the beginning of my touring career, I've noticed a growing trend amongst the fans of certain bands. There seems to be a certain group of kids that are obsessed with the celebrity side of the music scene. Before continuing, I want to make it clear that I do not speak against these certain people or bands, but rather the behavior of their fans.

A lot of them are not only there to see bands, they come to attain signatures and take pictures with band members. Of course, this is nothing new. Super fans have always existed; think about the hysteria that surrounded The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Elvis. Such a thing never bothered me until I began seeing it everyday. People sit in their cars by the headliner's bus for hours at a time. Why would they choose to stand outside waiting to see a "rock star" rather than going to a concert or show and enjoying some music?

A friend pointed out to me that seeing a good band is an experience. And bands put in a lot of time and effort to create a show that will entertain its audience and create this "experience." I can completely understand this since I still find the time to go to shows and enjoy the entertainment of a good band, and most certainly not in hopes of meeting some famous dude that is actually no different than you or me.

The last thing I wish to do is lose fans and friends by being one of those irritating anti-conformists. I just hope for the longevity of this wonderful form of entertainment. Here's to the life of music. Here's to the life of art.

Is it a band logo or a magnified insect skull? Turn it upside-down and it's someone's hair catching fire. On its side it's a poorly constructed model of an inter-galactic battle cruiser. Cut it open and see if it bleeds. Good luck with this one kids.

As promised, here's the new Throwdown video for "Holy Roller."

The song comes from the band's latest album, Venom & Tears, which was released August 7 and produced by Mudrock (Chimaira, Avenged Sevenfold). The video was directed by Andy Reale.

Throwdown launch a tour of Latin America on December 6 in Buenos Aires. Now, check out the video, then watch it again on Saturday's Headbangers Ball on MTV2.

If we were Amon Amarth, we would send our Bang of the Week from Valhalla to Blind Guardian or Manowar. But the band's choice of Black Sabbath with Dio is, perhaps, just as valid. And the song Amon Amarth have chosen, "The Mob Rules," is an absolute classic.

Singer Johan Hegg exlains: "A classic song from a classic band. I really like the Dio years with Black Sabbath, or Heaven And Hell as they are called here, and after seeing them live this summer at several European festivals I was deeply impressed with the vitality this band still possess, and with how well these songs worked out live."

You said it, Johan. May Odin grant you a place on his battle council forevermore.

The first time I visited Eastern Europe, I was on a train with some friends from Germany to Prague. I was with a couple other tattoo artists and as we approached the Czech border at about three in the morning we were talking about getting recognized in strange places, and how weird it was. Then, the train stopped at the border, and within moments someone banged on our cabin door. I guess we didn’t open it fast enough. (maybe 'cuz we had been drinking the whole way there). The door abruptly slid open, revealing a Czech soldier, with the biggest machine gun I had ever seen. He took one look at us, then singled me out, pointing his gun towards my chest, and shouting, “Passport, passport!” I damn near shit an eggroll.

Then, what appeared to be an officer, poked his head through the door, and shouted a bunch of words that I didn’t understand. He looked at my passport, and said, “Your name is Paul Booth?” I thought to myself, ‘Oh shit, this sounds like they’re looking for me. What the hell did I do now?” All I could think of was sitting in a Czechoslovakian prison for the next few years, which isn't terribly high up on my list of things to do. So, with a bit of hesitation I replied, “Yes.” Then the officer said, “You are tattoo artist!” Again, I hesitantly said, “Yes.”

Then, the last thing I expected happened. His eyes lit up, and he said, “I am big fan! I love your work very much.” He started taking off his uniform, and revealed a tribal bodysuit. The next thing I know, I’m signing autographs for these guys. Of course, at this point, there was no machine gun pointed at me, so it was much easier to write.

Believe it or not, I’ve never really liked getting recognized in public, but this was sure one f--king time I appreciated it.

As Christmas approaches each year, holiday albums sprout from the ground like rancid weeds. This season, look for Monster Ballad Xmas, which includes Christmas carols performed by Queensryche, Dokken, Skid Row, FireHouse and Twisted Sister. Speaking of Twisted, the Sisters have released the DVD "A Twisted Christmas: Live" and Trans Siberian Orchestra are pushing some new crap single on iTunes called "Wizards in Winter."

However, Christmas Rock Records, seems to be approaching Christ's birthday with tongue firmly in devilish cheek. The company has just released three spirited new discs in a series called Wreck The Halls, which transmogrify timeless metal and rock music into bell-jangling, synth-infused instrumental ditties that wouldn't sound out of place booming over a shopping mall PA system.

The first, ...And Christmas For All: A Holiday Tribute to Metallica, features 10 interpretations of thrash and anthemic metal classics, including "Master of Puppets," "Battery," "One," "The Unforgiven," "Fade to Black" and "Nothing Else Matters."

Additional yuletide jeer comes in the form of Hell's Bells of Christmas: The Holiday Tribute to AC/DC, which is merrier and more sprightly -- custom made for a tinsel-decorated elevator. The album includes joyous keyboard renderings of "You Shook Me All Night Long," "Back in Black" "Moneytalks," "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap," "Highway to Hell," "Big Balls" and others.

Christmas Rock Records has also released The Green Days of Christmas: The Holiday Tribute to Green Day. The company is the sister label of Rockabye Baby!, which has issued instrumental rock lullaby albums of music by Metallica, U2, The Beatles, Nine Inch Nails, Radiohead and others, which may also be suitable for parents with infants that dig rocking in a winter wonderland.

Last year, we took part in a heavy metal roundtable, during which a panel of so-called experts, including Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta and various dudes and dudettes from Headbangers Ball, MTV news and MTV Radio came up with a list of the 10 best metal bands of all time. The discussion was heated and the session was filled with senseless acts of violence -- okay, not really, but we did raise our voice when Judas Priest was ranked higher than Metallica.

Anyhow, during the afternoon, some panel members proposed that AC/DC, Kiss and Van Halen be included on the list, which brought up an interesting question: just what was the criteria to be considered "metal?" Obviously, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are metal, but Motorhead, who are universally deemed metal, are fronted by a guy that considers his band "rock and roll." And Dragonforce, who are as influenced by Journey as Cradle of Filth and Joe Satriani, would like to be considered "metal."

That's where we come in. For our first installment of "They Rock, But are They Metal?" we ask you to comment on the metallic composition of Van Halen -- both the David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar eras (we're leaving out the Gary Cherone lineup for obvious reasons).

It's a tricky question. Sure Eddie Van Halen is one of the most influential lead guitarists of all time, and yeah, the band's more rockin' tunes inspired members of Pantera and even Morbid Angel to kill, but can a band that writes songs like "Jump," "Dance the Night Away" and "How Can this Be Love?" possibly be metal?

The new Throwdown video for "Holy Roller" makes its world debut Thursday on the Headbangers Ball Blog. The video was directed by Andy Reale and features snakes, spiders and a whole lotta screaming.

"Andy did an exceptional job of reading in between the lines of the lyrics and meaning of the song and translating it into visuals centered around a really imaginative storyline," frontman Dave Peters told Headbangers Ball Blog. "'Holy Roller,' in particular, is a song that we don't want taken for face value, so it was very important to us that the images for it were just as accurate as they were powerful. The song speaks to the nature of hypocrites and their proclivity toward punishing the rest of the world for their own skeletons and insecurities. It's a hostile song with a lot of energy. Andy's shots and editing lended itself real well to that."

"Even though snakes are pretty cliche right now... they just look so brutal in the right video," added drummer Ben Dussault. "P.S. No animals, insects or critters were harmed during this process, just band dudes."

Watch "Holy Roller" here on Thursday, then catch it again on Saturday's Headbangers Ball on MTV2.