Danzig frontman and Verotik comics owner Glenn Danzig is getting ready to begin shooting the short film "She Only Likes Men," which is based on a story he wrote for Verotik issue #9, which came out in 1996.

The project will feature Los Angeles-based electronic metal musical Skumlove as a ball-gag wearing guy who gets tied to a chair. "[I] Love the character so much I have a tattoo of the character on my arm," wrote Skumlove on his MySpace. Read more...

In 2006, Venom celebrated their 25th anniversary with Metal Black, their first album in six years. The only holdover from the group's blackest days was frontman Cronos, but the disc still conveyed the sinister spirit and ramshackle rumble of Venom's signature sound.

More than 666 days down the road, Cronos is still the only original member, and the band is gearing up to make another infernal offering, Hell, which, according to the band's Web site, will drop in May. The disc will include the title track, "Straight to Hell," "Stab U in the Back," "The Power & the Glory," "USA For Satan," "Evil Perfection," "Hand of God" and "Dirge." Snippets of each of these songs can be heard here.

This time round, Cronos is joined by guitarist Rage and drummer Antony "Antton" Lant. To us, the tracks sound raw, sophomoric and predictable -- in other words, Venom fans will love it and everyone else will continue to mock them almost as viciously they make fun of as Manowar. Into glory ride.

When nu-metal was just starting out, these guys were best friends.... And then they weren't. Because of similarities in their sound at the time, Korn, who were around a few minutes before Deftones, started talking s--t in interviews about how the 'Tones were copping their grooves. And the Def ones responded by saying they developed their sound independent of Korn, who were stabbing their pals in the back for a few column inches of press. For a while, it seemed like the two bands wanted nothing to do with each other. Then, Korn launched Family Values and asked Deftones to smoke the peace pipe with them and attend the tour. But the San Diego group had already scored their own stash and politely declined the invitation, declaring that they didn't want to be lumped into a music scene that was sure to be short-lived.

Deftones were right about one thing. The nu-metal thing definitely ran its course, and Korn's former compadres, including Limp Bizkit, Orgy and Videodrone, are now about as warmly received by the metal community as Tesla and White Lion. However, through all the shiftshaping and swashbuckling, both Korn and Deftones have transcended the limitations of the new metal genre and emerged as their own distinct entities. For both bands, strong songwriting and stylistic variation was essential to escape the pack.

Today, Deftones are as strong as they've been in years. Their last album, 2006's Saturday Night Wrist, was dense and dynamic, experimental, but never too clogged with ideas to belie the well crafted structures and intense emotional resonance. Currently, the band are wrapping up their next album, Eros and, allegedly, the thing will drop this fall.

We're not sure the Korn camp is feeling as healthy these days. In 2004 or so, guitarist Brian "Head" Welch decided to leave the band to devote his life to the lord. In 2007, drummer David Silveria went on hiatus and hasn't returned, and recently, guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer announced that he was working on a side project supergroup called Fear and the Nervous System with ex-Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, ex-Faith No More bassist Billy Gould, Bad Religion drummer Brooks Wackerman and others. However, there are also rumors floating around that Korn's original lineup will soon launch a reunion tour. We'll see what happens with that, but that's not at issue at the moment. Alls we want to know right now is who rocks harder, Korn or Deftones?

Congratulations to Mito, who was the first to guess that this week's logo is Annotations of an Autopsy.

Here's what metal scribe Dom Lawsom has to say in Metal Hammer about the UK death metal quintet:

Five dudes with a love of real death metal, atheist views and a love of partying. Annotations of an Autopsy formed in late 2006 with the purpose of writing aggressive low-end death metal and playing it with passion, aggression and determination to insure they made their mark on the metal music scene worldwide. Influenced by bands such as Devourment, Skinless, Circle of Dead Children, The Acacia Strain, Goratory, Deicide and Aborted, [Annotations of an Autopsy] mix old and new-school death metal to form their own brand of aggressive death. Read more...

Over the past year or so, we've posted over 35 original podcast interviews, all of which have been available for download on the Headbangers Ball Blog and on iTunes. Now, to improve the functionality of our podcasts, we're inserted a streaming audio option so, with a click of the button, you can listen to the interviews right away without having to fumble through other screens, sites or downloading platforms.

This week's Disturbed podcast has been posted with the streaming audio function and we've updated several other podcasts from the past few weeks, so they can now be streamed as well. Click "more" for a list of current streaming interviews. Read more...

One of the biggest tours this summer will be Rockstar Energy Mayhem, which will be co-headlined by Slipknot and Disturbed. As Disturbed singer David Draiman admits, his band will be one of the most melodic groups on the bill, which also features Machine Head, Mastodon, Underoath, The Red Chord, Suicide Silence and others.

If Disturbed were touring for their anthemic 2005 album, Ten Thousand Fists, there might be more of a problem with the maggots and death metal diehards, but Disturbed will be out there supporting their upcoming disc, Indestructible (out June 3), their angriest, darkest, most explosive album since their 2000 debut The Sickness.

(Click "more" to read on, or to skip straight to the MTV Headbangers Ball Blog Podcast with Disturbed Frontman David Draiman). Read more...

Why do so many indecipherable logos remind us of scary spiders these days? This transmogrification of the alphabet features things that are clearly letters, but they seem to be attached to other letters that don't spell any real words. Also, ther eseems to be a lamb dangling from the spider's ass, but it does little to illuminate the scene. In fact, we had to lighten up the image considerably so it was even viewable. Oh, the wonders of desktop publishing. Guess away, and look out for creepy spiders.

"The unexamined life is not worth living." -- Socrates

Riding the rails of this long trail (while touring) gives way to a subtle stride of introspection that busies my mind in slow, strange surges of steady scrutiny. I begin to examine the philosophies and ethos that shape my identity and the quality of my life. This week, we will explore the many caverns, corners, and cadavers that build the temples I inhabit. Why? Well, to be honest, I can't think of anything interesting to write about this week. And I receive so many emails asking these questions anyway, that I felt answering it this way could sort out many outstanding issues in a single (multiple actually) stroke of the key. So, for better or for worse, in all its glorious contradictions, rambles and diatribes, this is ....ME. Read more...

We gushed all over Century and their "Black Ocean" video in our Tuesday preview. So, we've got nothin' more to say about them except that they still kick ass and you should watch their video now and catch it on the big screen Saturday night on Headbangers Ball on MTV2. (Click "more" to see the video for "Black Ocean"). Read more...

In just a few hundred words, we'll present the video premiere for Death Angel's video for the song "Dethoned," that comes from the band's new album Killing Season, which came out February 26. But first, we present an essay about the video from director Robert Sexton. It's pretty interesting and features stories about Kirk Hammett's absinithe parties and naked chicks covered in blood. But if you have to see the Death Angel video right now, skip ahead and click "More."

From Hell:
I first met Death Angel while I was on tour playing bass with a band called Genocide. We were a punk/metal band from the New Jersey area. We were too metal for the punks and too punk for the metalheads in the NYC scene. Plus, we had developed a notorious reputation for violence, drinking and womanizing. GG Allin called our frontman, Bobby Ebz, "Crazy." Talk about the pot calling the kettle black... but I guess it’s some kind of endorsement. GG’s wearing our band’s T-shirt on one of his records. R.I.P. to both him and Ebz.

On a beautiful spring day, sometime in the late ‘80s, we found ourselves in a small town in Michigan. We opened up for Death Angel in a Masonic Hall at an all- ages show. They destroyed the place and their fans were utterly rabid. I'm sure Grand Haven, Michigan was never quite the same again. I know I wasn't; it was a hell of a show.

Smash Cut Years Later To:
Here we are at Kirk Hammett’s house in San Francisco. Kirk and his wife are throwing an absinthe party. I’m watching the evil green liquor stream down an ice sculpture of a nude woman (or, possibly, that’s just what I imagined I saw after liberally indulging in the volatile fuel). And that’s when I run into [Death Angel singer] Mark Osegueda again. Mark informed me that Death Angel were doing their new album. I asked to be put into the mix to direct the video. Amazing what happens when you’re sipping absinthe straight from the devil's ass.

When the record was almost finished, I met the guys at their recording studio in the Valley. (It's Dave Grohl's place and there’s Nirvana memorabilia all over the walls, the hallways, everywhere!) [bassist] Denis Pepa told me that Death Angel wanted to do more of a narrative video than a straightforward performance piece, and they liked what I had done in the past. My videos tend to be very story-driven. And, occasionally, they also involve naked girls. We all seemed to agree that one or two might be a good thing for the video, as long as it was done in “good taste” -- unlike the infamous video I directed for the Dwarves, ["FEFU"], featuring a small army of naked Suicide Girls covered in blood and gore, committing acts of ultra-violence.

Our set for “Dethroned” was a California wasteland, long after midnight, and it was the coldest night we’d had all year. Fortunately, our nude actors were troopers. Tonya Kaye (the reptilian demon-girl), Suzi Hale (“Pvt. Lilith”) and Scott Bailey (“Pvt. Adamski”) all deserve awards -- or at least a shot of brandy and a heating pad. I also owe many thanks to the dedicated Death Angel fans who came out and played the dead and dying soldiers on the battlefield. We couldn't have pulled it off without the extra effort everybody poured into this project, including the crew.

I'm excited about this video and I think that D.A. fans are going to go nuts for it. It's a great song. There are a lot of layers to the story and the visuals, and there’s something new to see every time you watch it. And Death Angel's performance decimates. Keep your eyes open for the “Unclean Edit” that’s bound to surface somewhere. And keep watching the skies. Read more...