It's crystal ball time again. The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman sent us this exclusive shot of him next to retired champion bicyclist Lance Armstrong and now we're trying to figure out just what's going on between the two.

It seems unlikely that they're having some sort of homosexual tryst -- though we do see a hand on a shoulder there -- so here's our assessment of their relationship. Ben has come to the conclusion that, at his age, throwing himself around onstage like an asylum lunatic on PCP isn't conducive to maintaining strong health. So, he's decided to give up being a rocker and start training to become a professional cyclist. And he has hired Armstrong to guide him on the road to cycling stardom. Read more...

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being." -- Jackie Robinson

As the distance between my birth into rock poetry and my present status as rogue and provocateur grows and grows, the frequency of agitators and morons invading my sacred universe seems to have diminished greatly. However, every now and again, a member of this buffoon tribe sneaks by the radar and slithers wetly into the scene and tries to spoil it for everyone.

Such was the case a few nights ago when some cretan vomited his sexist claptrap into the heart of our ritual. It was in the interlude for "Blood Pigs," and I was lost in the words and rhythm of the moment. The lights were glowing and shifting through a kaleidoscope of colors and brightness, teasing the shallow darkness swallowing the swaying sea of bodies in the audience. My face and head were wrapped in their normal artistic armor -- a scissored fishnet nylon stretched to it's capacity, intimating all sorts of nightmares and seduction born from unspoken violence. The musicians were erecting an improvised soundscape -- each enjoying their own strengths, vulnerability, fears and secret desires.

The story begins .... "And I was like 13" .... the music swells and plummets telegraphing tufts of memory. My words continue, "And it was a Sunday morning, I think .... and ..... both my parents were still asleep ......" I can sense the audience tremble with anticipation and hesitation, as if they know what's coming, but aren't sure if they want to see it come to life. Their eyes swallow me, their minds mingle with mine, their thoughts cry out, "Dear God! Where is she taking us?? Is this seduction?? Am I falling in love?? Is it a trap? Are we in danger? What will we discover?? How far is she going to take us?" The band stand together, four members, preaching a secret gospel. The energy is escalating in the room to levels that some might consider treacherous. I can feel it, I can sense the lust and trepidation massaging my shivering soul. The words crawl from my mind, slithering down to my trembling lips, and just as I am about to continue with the trip, the spell is viciously broken. Some varmint lump has screamed out, "I want to f--k you so hard, you sexy f--king whore!!" Read more...

Frontman Anders Friden prepares to pounce at Gigantour
Photo by Jon Wiederhorn

In our second of three interview segments with In Flames, singer Anders Friden and drummer Daniel Svensson discuss the creation of the video for "The Mirror's Truth," the meaning of the song and the inner-peace they have achieved over time.

Click "more" to watch the interview clip: Read more...

Headbangers Ball Blog can exclusively reveal that singer Tommy Cummings has been fired from Divine Heresy. The move came after Cummings flew into a rage during a show on April 26 in Poughkeepsie, New York when the other players wouldn't let him end the set early.

"He gave us 10 different reasons why we should stop -- 'My microphone doesn't work, I got diarrhea, the monitors are f--ked up' -- whatever he could think of," Cazares told HeadbangersBlog.com. "And we decided that's not fair to the fans. We wanted to give them a full show."

In part, the other members of Divine Heresy decided to finish the gig because they didn't think Cummings was being honest about why he wanted to cut the set short. "We felt that he wanted to end the show early to go hang out at the New England Metal Fest, which we were supposed to be performing at the next day," Cazares said. Read more...

In 1981, a movie came out that brilliantly captured the aggression, creativity, libido and adolescent humor of the average heavy metal fan. It was called, of course, "Heavy Metal."

The animated movie was composed of stories from the edgy monthly sci-fi comic magazine of the same name, which featured graphic violence, nudity and far more adult-oriented story lines than anything dished out by Marvel or D.C. Comics. While "Heavy Metal" was definitely a vehicle for the counter-culture, it included a variety of well known animators and actors, including John Candy and Harold Ramis.

The score for "Heavy Metal" was composed by Elmer Bernstein, but the flick featured a wall-to-wall rock soundtrack highlighted by Black Sabbath's scorching "The Mob Rules." Other less bombastic songs were contributed by Trust, Nazareth, Blue Oyster Cult Grand Funk Railroad, Devo and Journey.

A far inferior follow-up flick, "Heavy Metal 2000" came out in 2000, but while it paled to the original in terms of originality, violence, nudity, shock value and overall enjoyability, it sported a far more rippin' soundtrack that included cuts by Pantera, Machine Head, Monster Magnet, System of a Down, Coal Chamber, Queens of the Stone Age and More.

Speaking of more, click "more" to watch a 35 minute documentary about the original animated masterpiece, "Heavy Metal." (warning: if lots of animated nudity makes you squeamish, turn back now!) Read more...

Singer Anders Friden and guitarist Jesper Stromblad at Gigantour in New York
Photo by Jon Wiederhorn
Being the second to last band onstage at the mega-metal package tour Gigantour certainly hasn't hurt In Flames. In fact, anticipation for the bill -- which is headlined by Megadeth and also features Children of Bodom, Job For A Cowboy and High on Fire -- probably had something to do with In Flames landing their highest first week chart position in their nine album history. On April 9, the band's new disc A Sense of Purpose debuted at #28 on the Billboard Hot 200; their prior album, 2006's Come Clarity, ranked #58 its first week on the shelf.

When In Flames came to New York for a two-day Gigantour stint, we hooked up with singer Anders Friden and drummer Daniel Svensson to talk about their new album, the tour, the video for "The Mirror's Truth" and their future plans. Click "more" to see the first segment of our three-part interview. Read more...

Following the April 17 death of Bruce Springsteen's keyboardist Danny Federic, with whom the Boss had been rocking with for almost 40 years, Springsteen went into a tailspin of depression and rage, and decided to start listening to extreme metal as a way of coping with his unbalanced emotions.

Lacking experience in the genre and seeking expert guidance, he befriended Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor, who introduced him to a gamut of cathartic metal, beginning with Venom and Slayer and following the arc of extremity right up through Cannibal Corpse, Mayhem, Agorophobic Nosebleed and Watain.

The Boss is said to be feeling much better now and is rumored to have recruited Paul Booth to ink an inverted cross and fang-faced demon on his back. Springsteen's next album is expected to feature guest appearances by Hinds, Dailor, Phillip Anselmo, Nergal and Shagrath.

Okay, we're almost a month late for April Fools Day, but we when Dailor sent us the above pic for exclusive use on the Headbangers Ball Blog, we couldn't help but concoct a crazy-ass story. Truth is, we have no idea what the dudes from Mastodon were doing with The Boss. Maybe they're recording in the same studio, perhaps they met at a decoupage class.

Call Mastodon sellouts if you must, but keep in mind that in 2006, one of Bruce's hysterical fans in Australia stabbed her husband to death because he said he didn't like the Boss. Now that's pretty damn metal!

Three members of Deftones thank you for your vote

And you thought the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination was close. In this week's Headbangers Ball Blog "Who Rocks Harder" contest, Deftones defeated Korn by a single vote.

There were passionate participants lobbying for both camps. "Deftones change their sound every album and create stuff worth listening to," argued Ted Mustard. "Are any of Korn's original members still in the band?"

"Love both bands," enthused Got the Summer. "...I think I’ll go Korn. Very, very close though."

F4RB3Y0NDM3T4L, who would have had the swing vote to, at least, send the competition into overtime, found it too difficult to chose. "These are the bands that got me into metal," he explained. "It's against my better judgment to choose between the two." (remember guys, your vote always counts).

Click "more" to see how we celebrate a Deftones victory around here. Read more...

About two weeks ago, Knoxvillle, Tennessee metalcore outfit Straight Line Stitch wrapped up a batch of dates opening for DevilDriver, Napalm Death and 36 Crazyfists. It was the band's first experience on such a high-profile tour and they made the most of their time on the road. Even though they performed at an ungodly early hour and venues weren't exactly packed when they went on, rather that complain, the members of Straight Line Stitch -- singer Alexis Brown, guitarists Seth Thacker and Pat Pattison, bassist Jason White and drummer Patrick Haynes -- learned as much as they could from their more experienced tourmates.

They garnered some wisdom about winning over audiences that didn't specifically come to see them, got some tips about playing large clubs and hung out, drank and talked shop with the other dudes on the bill. Brown even got chummy with DevilDriver frontman Dez Fafara, who agreed to talk to answer a batch of interview questions for a Headbangers Ball Blog video exclusive. (Click "more" to watch a streaming video of the conversation).

Straight Line Stitch launch a new tour on May 9 in Fairdale, Kentucky. Dates run through June 13 in Knoxville. DevilDriver are currently in Europe in the middle of an international tour. Dates are scheduled through May 6 in Moscow. Read more...

The band is called Leichenstalle, which translates to Rigor Mortis in English. Since there's already a Rigor Mortis (currently on hiatus) in Dallas, it's a good thing for these Krauts that you can't be sued for having the same name as someone else if it's a different language. Incidentally, Casey Orr, bassist and vocalist for the Dallas Rigor Mortis, is now playing bass as Beefcake the Mighty in Gwar.

Anyway, Leichenstalle play ambient noise and experimental black metal. The band formed in 2006 somewhere in Germany and currently features dudes named Graf Wurdulak, Dunkel and Hagalaz. To date, it seems all they're recorded is the 2006 demo Starre-Leichen.

But they also found the time to shoot this video for "Verdorrt":
Leichenstarre - Verdorrt