Okay, The Destro are from Dallas, and yeah, they're sure influenced by Pantera, and, in most cases, such a comment would be a negative criticism. But, The Destro have spirit, energy and songwriting chops that transcend their influences (which also include Lamb of God and Unearth (whose frontman, Trevor Phipps signed the band to his label, Ironclad).

This video, which will debut on the big screen on this weekend's Headbangers Ball on MTV2, is for the song "Beast Burden," which is featured on the band's album As the Coil Unwinds, which came out in May.

This purple logo has a menacing, futuristic feel and might look pretty convincing on the side of a can of roach spray. Still, there's something about it that seems a wee bit cheesy and makes us think the band uses lots of galactic keyboards, high pitched vocals and has at least a couple of songs that sound kinda like Asia or Night Ranger. Place your guesses in the comment box below and check back tomorrow for the correct moniker.

This intense 90-minute documentary was made in 2003 by Australian journalist George Gittes. The flick, which features snippets of Slayer's "Angel of Death" and Drowning Pool's "Bodies," depicts U.S. soldiers discussing the role music -- and especially metal -- plays in psyching them up to march into battle.

But "Soundtrack to War" is more than a soldier's playlist. Many of the military men interviewed discuss the horrors of war, their reservations about fighting and their desire to get home. The movie also includes revealing interview footage with the members of Iraqi metal band Acrassicuada, who explain what it's like to be a controversial metal band fearing for its life in a war torn nation.

On Friday, Headbangers Ball Blog will feature a podcast with ex-Guns N’ Roses and current Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash about his self-titled autobiography, which was released October 30. The book was co-written with “Tommyland” author Anthony Bozza and features plenty of revealing material, including what really led to the breakup of Guns N’ Roses, Slash’s relationship with ex-porn star Traci Lords and, of course, the trail of booze, pills, coke and heroin that bounced him from rehab to rehab.

The following is a brief excerpt from the 30-minute podcast.

You’ve always been a private person. Why did you decide to write “Slash”?
Slash: [In the past,] I would never write a book. I don’t take myself that seriously, and the mention of a book brought to mind self-indulgence and self-importance. It’s been suggested that I write a book many times. I passed on the idea at least half a dozen times. But at one point there was so much attention directed towards Guns N’ Roses by the media and on the Internet, and there was so much false information and there were so many ungrounded rumors flying around that it sort of came to a head with me. And I found that the only way to set the record straight was to put a book out because no matter how many interviews I do, I always get misrepresented and all of the information that’s fit to print is inaccurate.

Did you set out write a tell-all book?
Slash: It’s a tell-all book in the sense that I explain what I was going through on an average day throughout all of that, but it’s not the kind of tell-all book where I wanted to reveal anybody else’s secrets or put anybody in a bad light, so to speak. I wasn’t out to use this as a forum to vent my frustrations on any particular individual, Axl [Rose] included.

Was it difficult to reveal intimate details about yourself?
Slash: No, not at all. The public’s perception of me is very one-dimensional. So the stuff that is in the book having to do with my own personal life, and some of my extracurricular activities at least give you a better idea of me as a person whether it be the drug side of thing or the more personal, human side of stuff. It sort of balances that image out. Because as much as I am the guy in the hat that plays the guitar and is sort of rambunctious in some ways, and has exorcised a lot of demons, there is a part of me that has always been the same, which is reasonably intelligent and sort of low-key and really not what people expect.

As with a lot of tales of turmoil, a lot of people are emphasizing the sections about your rampant heroin abuse?
Slash: It is sort of a cliché. My story is not unlike so many of the guys before and also a lot of my peers. I know Nikki [Sixx] just did “The Heroin Diaries.” And I actually tried to downplay some of that stuff. There were some funny stories that I thought were appropriate, but I didn’t put every single arrest and every single drug binge in there. There’s a point where it’s overkill. But it was such a big part of my life there’s no ignoring it.

The book is just called “Slash.” Why not title it “The Long Hard Road out of Guns N’ Roses?”
I didn’t want it to be perceived as, “Oh, Slash is whining about his hard life or shedding some light on the crazy stuff.” It hasn’t been a long or hard road or even such an eventful road. It’s really not that big a deal. It’s not really a book that’s supposed to make you go, “Wow, what a crazy life he’s had” – although that has been the reaction by a lot of people that have read it. But that wasn’t my focus.”

Come back Friday to hear the complete podcast interview with Slash.

And now, some vintage GNR:

For the past decade, Morris Plans, New Jersey band, The Dillinger Escape Plan, have pummeled the underground with their style of caustic, progressive hardcore metal. With the release of their new disc, Ire Works, which comes out November 13, Dillinger threaten to become the most uncompromising, original and artful indie band with a solid chance to break into the mainstream. Ire Works (which can be heard in its entirety here) is as eclectic as it is intense. "Black Bubblegum" is a confectionery chunk of psycho-pop weirdness clearly inspired by the band's pal and past collaborator Mike Patton, "Sick on Sunday" sounds like a collision between Mayhem and Atari Teenage Riot and "Fix Your Face" balances bludgeoning noise with dizzying, syncopated jazz passages. If there's any justice (and we all know there isn't), Ire Works will be the mechanism that turns The Dillinger Escape Plan into arena rock stars and transforms the face of metal forever. Now that we're done gushing, here's the band's guitarist Ben Weinman talking about staying creative and keeping music real and raw.

Since our third full-length record, Ire Works, is coming out in a next few days, I have been doing countless interviews. Sure, most of the questions sound like a record skipping, but every now and again people ask you things that actually make you, for the first time, analyze what it is you were trying to do. It’s like forced introspection. One minute you’re trying to deal with obstacle after obstacle just to get the thing done, and then, all of a sudden, you have a finished record and people are asking you what your approach was and what you were trying to achieve.

Then there is the, “what sets you guys apart from other bands” question. In reality… not much. I mean, I have more in common with some band I hate than I do with the guy I went to high school with who now owns a landscaping company, or even the writer asking me the questions. We make music, you tell us whether it is worthy or not. No matter how I answer these questions some guy in a magazine, or some kid who plays with himself all day on the Internet is going to tell me that my band is not as good as some other band. At the end of the day, these interview questions do make you think, and while I realize what I’m about to say is just my opinion, I guess I have as much right to discuss these things as anyone else. So here it goes.

What am I trying to achieve in making a Dillinger record and how does that set us apart from other bands? Well, I have come to realize that while technology is an important part of the creative process for a band like Dillinger, it’s abuse is what is making metal stale and lifeless. Since this is a blog for Headbangers I’m going to talk more specifically about metal, though this also applies to other forms of music. Read more...

We knew Atreyu frontman Alex Varkatzas wasn't going to pick anything by Avenged Sevenfold for his Bang of the Week, but we didn't really expect him to go with Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy is a cornerstone of metal -- a figure who helped lay the foundation for the genre to flourish, and Atreyu have always been about avoiding the traditional conventions of metal. Outside of the '80s hair metal guitar, their sound seems mostly inspired by thrash, punk and alternative rock.

It's not the first time we've been surprised by an artist's choice and it certainly won't be the last. Here's Varkatzas explaining the rhyme behind his treason -- err, reason:

"We've done Ozzfest with Sabbath and Ozzy, and both times were amazing," he says of his vote for Ozzy's "I Don't Wanna Stop" video. "It's great to hear the Prince of darkness come up with some catchy new riffs and songs. I think we should petition to get his moniker changed to The King of Darkness (I know the title is taken, but who would win in fight). Seriously though, he has been at the top for a long time for a reason. All hail The King."

Puscifer is a strange little endeavor from Maynard James Keenan, the guy who fronts Tool and A Perfect Circle. The most metal thing about the band's just released, V is for Vagina, is the blood-spattered inner sleeve illustration of a dude being sucked into the engine of an airplane. Otherwise, Puscifer is pretty tame -- an atmospheric melange of mercurial guitars, trip-hop beats, sedated vocals and arrangements that resemble an Ennio Moricone soundtrack.

So, it isn't too surprising that MySpace.com chose nerdy, totally un-metal comedian Patton Oswalt (who, we have to admit, does a pretty funny bit about '80s metal) to interview Keenan for their Artist on Artist feature. We give Patton props for pronouncing the project's name right on the first pass (sadly he mispronounces it seconds later):
Artist on Artist: Patton Oswalt and Maynard James Keenan

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Obviously, Gwar have been decimating the earth since Precambrian times, but Finnish monster ensemble Lordi have gotten a ton of attention since they invaded North American soil in 2006 with The Arockalypse. And they're huuuuuge in their homeland -- like Kiss huge; they've even got their own soft drink, credit card and restaurant. And, contrary to the popular opinion, they're not newcomers; they've been writing ultra-catchy hard rock since 2002's Get Heavy.

But this ain't Finland, and Mr. Lordi and friends would have to navigate miles of mountainous Antarctic glaciers to best the beasts of Gwar. 2008 will mark the band's 20th year in the bloodletting business. Even if Gwar's 2006 concept album Beyond Hell wasn't exactly the apex of their studio career, the cover of Alice Cooper's "School's Out" was pretty ripping, and we're sure Oderus and pals still have plenty of bang left in 'em for future recording endeavors. Plus, they continue to slay live. Cast your vote below and let the slaughter begin.

Having recently completed a U.S. tour with Korn and Droid, Los Angeles quintet Five Finger Death Punch launched a headlining tour October 29 in Spokane, Washington. Dates are scheduled through December 14 in Wichita, Kansas.

Before heading out, Five Finger frontman Ivan Moody (ex-Motograter) sat down with Korn singer Jonathan Davis for a video interview about: Korn's writing process; the pressures of stardom; the musical Davis is working on with classical composer Richard Gibbs (ex-Oingo Boingo) and horror novelist Clive Barker; Davis' upcoming solo acoustic tour (which starts November 9 in Hartford, Connecticut and runs through December 11 in Las Vegas); being a father; and his advice for younger, less established artists.

Metallica fans won't be surprised that Headbangers Ball Blog readers chose Metallica over Megadeth in this week's Who Rocks Harder poll, but they might be surprised by how close the contest was. The Bay Area bashers edged out Megadeth by a mere two votes, and as we all learned from the last two national elections, the margin of error in these kinds of polls means there's no clear victor. Fortunately no one's careers are at stake -- in fact, both bands seem to be on the verge of a major resurgence.

Metallica are working on a new album, and from all preliminary indications, it seems likely to be less of an artsy, freeform experiment than their last album St. Anger, and more a return to the type of jackhammer metal the band once pioneered. And, with the release of this year's sledgehammer symphony, United Abominations, Megadeth have won back any cred points they might have lost in the late '90s.

In any case, enjoy the following Metallica clips: The first is a cool bootleg of a 1986 show in Uniondale, New York, and the second is a professionally shot video of the band's entire 2006 Rock am Ring set: