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The answer to yesterday's indecipherable logo is Fiendish Gloom.

The death metal quartet is from Mechernich, NRW, Germany and has recorded two albums to date.

Fiendish Gloom formed in 1993 and released their first demo in 1994. For the next three years they banged around the club scene, but broke up in in 1997. The band reformed in 2001 and have gone through numerous singers and guitarists before arriving at their current lineup of singer Marcel Kitz, guitarists Mirko Jahns and Niki Schmitz, bassist Sven Wambach and drummer Erich Manstein.

In 2003, Fiendish Gloom recorded their self-produced, self-titled debut, which included the tracks "Wishmaster," "Faithless,""Pain" and "Blood & Salvation." Their follow-up, Only Death is Forever, came out in 2007  and featured the songs "Break," "Fight," "Death Longing" and "Soulcry."

The results are in from our viewer’s poll of the top Headbangers Ball videos of the year and, we gotta say, they differ significantly from our own top choices.

Voters chose Mushroomhead's “12 Hundred” for the top video slot. The horror-themed clip is grisly and bizarre, appealing to fans of damp basements, dangling chains, long needles and, of course, homemade operating tables. The runner up was Dream Theater, whose surreal video “Constant Motion” depicts a giant ant running around a traffic signal that’s leaking water and metal pendulum balls clacking together over a roaring flame. No insects or balls were injured during the making of this clip.

Here’s the Top 20 Headbangers Ball videos as voted by the viewers:
1) Mushroomhead "12 Hundred"
2) Dream Theater "Constant Motion"
3) Avenged Sevenfold "Almost Easy"
4) In This Moment "Beautiful Tragedy"
5) Five Finger Death Punch "The Bleeding"
6) The Agonist "Business Suits and Combat Boots"
7) Amon Amarth "Cry of the Black Birds"
8 ) 3 Inches Of Blood "The Goatriders Horde"
9) Trivium "Becoming the Dragon"
10) (hed) pe "Suffa"
11) Droid "Fueled by Hate"
12) Demon Hunter "Fading Away"
13) Megadeth "Never Walk Alone...A Call to Arms"
14) Aborted "The Chondrin Enigma"
15) Shadows Fall "Redemption"
16) Three "All That Remains"
17) Kittie "Funeral for Yesterday"
18 Lupara "No Pity for the Ants"
19) Arch Enemy "Revolution Begins"
20) Norma Jean "Songs Sound Much Sadder"

And here’s the Headbangers Ball Blog staff’s pick for top 20 videos of 2008.
1) Mastodon "Sleeping Giant"

2) Machine Head "Now I Lay Thee Down"
3) Down "On March the Saints"
4) Every Time I Die "We’rewolf"
5) As I Lay Dying "Nothing Left"
6) Horse the Band "New York City"
7) Through the Eyes of the Dead "Failure in the Flesh"
8 ) Baroness "Wanderlust"
9) DevilDriver "Not All Who Wander Are Lost"
10) Job For a Cowboy "Embedded"
11) High on Fire "Rumors of War"
12) Demon Hunter "Fading Away"
13) Shadows Fall "Redemption"
14) Killswitch Engage "Holy Diver”
15) A Life Once Lost "Firewater Joyride"
16) Behemoth "Prometherion"
17) Throwdown "Holy Roller"
18) Darkest Hour "Demon(s)"
19) Divine Heresy "Failed Creation"
20) Himsa "Big Timber"

Be sure to tune into Saturday night's Headbangers Ball on MTV2 to see the viewer's choice countdown, and we'll see you all in 2008.

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The final MTV2 Headbangers Ball Blog podcast of 2007 will be an interview with Throwdown frontman Dave Peters. With the release of their new album (third for Trustkill), Venom & Tears, Throwdown spread beyond the insular boundaries of hardcore and delved more vehemently into thrash metal. The move paid off, and the band have been openly embraced by the metal community thanks to a combination of killer riffs and exhaustive touring.

In 2007, Throwdown blew crowds away on the Black Tyranny tour with Machine Head and Arch Enemy, and the group has already lined up dates in 2008 with Soilwork, Through the Eyes of the Dead and War of Ages. Sensing Peters' metal cred, Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera (ex-Sepultura) even invited Peters to lend some vocals to the upcoming Soulfly disc.

In our revealing podcast conversation, Peters discusses his love for thrash metal, his fear of snakes and insects, his new year's resolutions, Throwdown's 2008 touring plans and offers a sneak peak at the next Soulfly record.

Click here for a direct MP3 download of the podcast interview with Throwdown frontman Dave Peters.
Click here to subscribe to the Headbangers Ball Blog Podcast Series (iTunes)
Click here to subscribe to the Headbangers Ball Blog Podcast Series (RSS)

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I’ve been a big hockey fan since I was six and my dad got season tickets to the games. That was the Bobby Hull, Tony Esposito era when they were a great team. We wound up with seats in the 300 section because my dad was a blue-collar guy and that’s all he could afford. So we were at the top level.

Then, when [Ministry’s 1988 album] The Land of Rape and Honey came out and started selling records, I actually bought my own season tickets and got down to the 200 level. By the time [1992’s] Psalm 69 came out, I was able to afford 100 level seats. And then I struck gold.

I met the grandson of the owner of the team, who has owned the Blackhawks since the 1920s, and we hit if off. He became my best friend in the world and was the best man at my wedding. So now, I’ve got a Hawks connection forever. After I met him, I started getting behind the bench and owner’s box seats. Then, they asked me to write the Chicago Blackhawks theme to be played during the games and that’s awesome. It guarantees me behind-the-bench box seats for the rest of my life. That’s basically the tradeoff I’m gonna make. Read more...

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Quiet Riot singer Kevin DuBrow

December is a time for remembering the highlights of the year, but it's also a month to reflect upon the musicians and other supporters of metal who are no longer with us. Sadly, we lost a lot of headbangers this year from various causes: murder, accident, overdose, illness and undisclosed reasons. The reaper, it seems, works on his own schedule, dispassionately snatching both those at death's door and those who seemingly have many years left. So, before we return to our celebrating our own lives and planning out events for 2008, let's pause to remember those who will not be toasting in the New Year with us:

Quiet Riot singer, Kevin DuBrow, 52, was found dead on November 25 at his Las Vegas home. Coroners later concluded cause was accidental cocaine overdose. DuBrow fronted Quiet Riot through their glory years in the early ‘80s, which peaked when their major label debut, Metal Health, became the first metal album to reach number on the Billboard album chart.

Ministry and Killing Joke bassist, Paul Raven, was found dead on October 20 in a private home in a small French village on the Swiss border. He was 46. Raven, who most recently co-wrote and played on the new Ministry album, The Last Sucker, is believed to have died of a heart attack.

Decapitated drummer Witold “Vitek” Kieltyka, died in a Russian hospital from head injuries he suffered on October 29 when the band’s tour bus crashed into a truck carrying wood in Gomel on the border of Russia and Belarus. He was 23.

Kiss’ short-lived guitarist Mark St. John, 51, died on April 5 from a brain hemorrhage. St. John played with the band on Animalize in 1984, however an arthritic condition known as Reiter’s Syndrome caused his hands and arms to swell and rendered him unable to continue in the group and after three live shows he was replaced by Bruce Kulick.

Girlschool guitarist Kelly Johnson died on July 15 after a six-year battle with cancer of the spine. She was 49. Johnson was part of the band’s classic lineup, which played a significant role in the new wave of British heavy metal movement and received support and praise from Motorhead. She left the group in 1984 after four albums, but rejoined in 1993.

Arsonists Get the Girls bassist, Pat Mason, died in his sleep of unknown causes on November 30, the day after his 21st birthday. The Santa Cruz progressive hardcore band released its first album, Hits From the Bow, in 2006.

Damien “Damo” Morris, the singer of Australian-based The Red Shore, died when the band’s minivan swerved off the Pacific Highway in New South Wales and hit a tree. The group’s driver and merch guy, Andy, was also killed. At the time of the accident, The Red Shore were on the Christmas Carnage tour with All Shall Perish.

Mario Gutierrez, 37, guitarist for the Los Angeles death/thrash metal band, Engrave, died from gunshot wounds on November 22. Gutierrez was having thanksgiving at his sister’s house when he got into a heated argument with his 27-year-old brother-in-law, who allegedly insulted Gutierrez’s wife. During the fight, the brother-in-law pulled out a gun and shot Gutierrez dead. A few hours later, he turned himself in to police.

Hilly Krystal, the founder of the legendary New York City punk rock club CBGB, died on August 28 from complications of lung cancer. He was 75. CBGBs was a Mecca for musicians in the ‘70s and ‘80s and helped launch the careers of the Ramones, Talking Heads, Television and Bad Brains. In the ‘80s, the club hosted hardcore matinees, which served as a stomping grounds for Agnostic Front, Murphy’s Law, Token Entry, Gorilla Biscuits, Warzone and others.

Pepsi Tate, bassist for the UK glam band Tigertailz, died from pancreatic cancer on September 18 at the Holme Towers cancer hospice in Penarth Cardiff. He was 42.

Chris Resch, 48, the lead singer for California ‘80s metal band Pandemonium died on August 24 at his home in Fairbanks, Alaksa of unknown causes. Pandemonium released three albums between 1983 and 1988.

Ron Johnson, the singer of ‘80s Michigan-based metal band Salem’s Wych, died on April 23 in Lima, Ohio after a severe motorcycle accident.

Don Arden, notorious thuggish British manager, and father of Sharon Osbourne, died in a Los Angeles nursing home on July 21. He was 81. Arden is best known for managing Black Sabbath, The Small Faces and Electric Light Orchestra. After Ozzy was fired Sabbath, Sharon Osbourne and Arden had a major falling out over the control of Ozzy’s career, which caused her to cut off all contact with him until 2002, after he had developed Alzheimer’s Disease.

Heavy metal journalist and editor, Bob Muldowney, died on November 5 following a battle with cardiomyopathy. He was 44. Muldowney was best known for publishing and editing the ‘80s fanzine Kick*Ass, which promoted then-underground bands such as Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.

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Is it the web of a giant mentally retarded spider, a dart board on acid or some fiendish, CGI effect from a low-budget sci-fi movie? Nope, it's another indecipherable logo -- a jumble of barely perceivable letters that somehow congeal to form the name of an extreme metal band.

This week's entry is a German group with two records out, whose name is actually in English, though you'd never know it by the angular mess they call a logo. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today's puzzle.

We'll take one more stab at Christmas, then we'll leave you alone to enjoy the holiday. Since Celtic Frost doesn't have a Christmas video and we hadn't the heart to post anything by the Trans Siberian Orchestra, we dug into the vaults and came up with this ridiculous clip by the now-defunct band The Darkness, who came the closest of any group (besides Manowar) to being Spinal Tap without knowing it. Check out the Queen-influenced "Christmas Time," then go open your presents, you damn heathens.

The Darkness - Christmas time


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Okay, you've probably seen this before, but the big TV networks air the same old Christmas specials year after year and that doesn't stop viewers from coming back every time.

So, instead of bitching about our lack of originality, relax, smile and watch this holiday classic, "A Charlie Brown Heavy Metal Christmas." Then tell us the name of the metal band and the song.
A Charlie Brown Heavy Metal Christmas


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To thank all of his fans for his continued success and to keep interest bubbling in his '90s metal band Fight, Judas Priest singer Rob Halford has posted a free MP3 of his 1994 Fight song, "Christmas Ride" on his official Web site.

To download the holiday present go to www.halfordmusic.com and add the "Christmas Ride" MP3 to your shopping cart. Then click "check out" and download the track from your download library.

And don't miss the Headbangers Ball Blog Podcast interview with Halford, in which the singer talks about this history of Fight, previously unreleased nuggets he's unearthing from the vaults and everything you want to know about the upcoming Judas Priest album, Nostradamus.

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The answer to yesterday's Indecipherable Logo is Visceral Pain, a self-described "inhuman, supreme, brutal death metal" band from Mexico.

And here's a little back story. The band formed in 2002 and currently features singer and guitarist Lord Azmodeus (the only original member), guitarist Mictian, bassist Cygore and drummer Sorcerer.

Visceral Pain released their self-titled demo in 2003. The demo was recorded and produced Azmodeus with the help of then drummer Serpens, and the band made two versions of the recording, the second of which featured three hidden acoustic tracks recorded inside a crypt below the ground.

Apparently, it took a while for Visceral Pain to clamber back to the surface. The band remained silent for a couple years before recording their next demo, Conquering the Eviscerated Bloodthrone, which featured "Chamber of Decay," "Dawn of the End (the Apocalypsis)" and "Skullf---ing the Nun of Purity."

In 2007, Visceral Pain recorded their full-length debut, Inhuman Brutality, which was tracked at Sings of Winds Studio, but was never released by a label.

Now, here's Visceral Pain with "Chamber of Decay" live:
Visceral Pain- Chabmer of decay (Live)


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