On May 19, Camp Kill Yourself (a.k.a. CKY) will return with their first release since 2005's An Answer Can Be Found. The disc, Carver City, follows a label change, an ugly breakup and destructive battles with drugs and alcohol. The eerie, infectious hard rock album unravels like a horror movie and instead of writing about his own demons, Miller tells a tale of a cursed town and the evil things that happened there, and could happen anywhere. "Click "more" to hear frontman Deron Miller talk about the record and come clean about his depression, substance abuse, violent tendencies and the music that saved his life. Read more...

They might have looked like high school kids waiting for their prom dates when they showed up at the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards dressed in tuxedos, but the second the members of Suicide Silence took the stage, they proved that they're more than the deathcore trend of the month -- far more. Vocalist Mitch Lucker is a frightening, captivating frontman, and while his bandmates do their share of entertaining flailing and headbanging, it's Lucker who almost single-handedly stole the show from all the other Golden Gods performers. See for yourself when Suicide Silence appears on the exclusive 60-minute telecast of the awards show Saturday night at midnight on MTV2, which will be followed by an hour long wrap-up hosted by XM Radio DJ Jose Mangin, which features performance outtakes and band interviews.

Lucker will also take part in a special edition of MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" tonight at midnight.
The show will be co-hosted by Suicide Silence and Slipknot vocalist Corey Taylor, who deejayed right before the Golden Gods. Click "more" to watch our Golden Gods interview clips with Suicide Silence. Read more...

Melodic metalcore band All That Remains have gotten some flack for the euphoric choruses and infectious riffs that made "Two Weeks" a staple of rock radio. But the Massachusetts band's mainstream success wasn't pre-formulated, and, is actually pretty surprising. Their songs might be catchier than those of their peers, however All That Remains latest album, Overcome, still features lots of vicious thrash riffs, Swedish death metal guitar harmonies and enough screaming to keep Throat Coat tea in business. Plus, the band's songwriting is crafty, but hardly conventional thanks to guitarist Oli Herbert's background in classical music composition.

After their soundcheck for the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards we hooked up with vocalist Phil Labonte, Herbert and guitarist Mike Martin to talk about All That Remains' considerable success, unorthodox writing approach, extra-curricular activities and the difference between touring the U.S. and other countries. We also discussed plans for their next album, the importance of a national metal awards ceremony and the way metal thrives under Republican administrations and. Click "more" to stream or download the podcast. And watch All That Remains' performance on the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards on our exclusive telecast May 2 on MTV2. Read more...

One of the the highlights of the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards was Hatebreed, who performed four scorching songs that pumped up the crowd and set the bar for much of the the activity that followed. During their set, two of the members wore shirts promoting their upcoming covers album, For the Lions, which comes out May 5 and features of brutal versions of songs by Slayer, Metallica, Black Flag, Suicidal Tendencies, Sepultura, Cro-Mags and others. The album also marks the recording return of original guitarist Wayne Lozinak, who replaced Sean Martin in February.

During a podcast interview with frontman Jamey Jasta backstage at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards, we discussed the creation of For the Lions, plans for the next proper studio album, (due in September) and the trauma and sorrow that caused Jasta to mold the disc into what will be Hatebreed's "meanest and most negative record." We also discussed the future of Kingdom of Sorrow, Jasta's side project with Crowbar frontman and Down guitarist Kirk Windstein, the status of Jamey's label Stillborn Records and the current state of metal. Click "more" to stream or download the podcast. And catch the exclusive broadcast premiere of the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards on May 2 on MTV2. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

A few hours before Megadeth delivered the headline performance of the Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Awards, HeadbangersBlog.com met up with frontman Dave Mustaine to talk about the ceremony, why there has never been a popular metal awards show in the U.S., how MySpace is ruining music, what the next Megadeth album is gonna sound like and his recent interaction with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich before Metallica was nominated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Click "more" to stream or download the podcast. And don't miss all our upcoming audio and video footage from the awards ceremony on HeadbangersBlog.com and MTV2's "Headbangers Ball." Our comprehensive coverage will culminate in a one-hour presentation of the Revolver Golden Gods awards show on May 2. Read more...

There's no disputing that Papa Roach are still kicking ass. Their new album, Metamorphosis, debuted at #8 on the Billboard album chart, with an 18 percent sales increase over their 2006 record The Paramour Sessions. In other words, at a time when economic woes and increased filesharing is causing most bands to sell fewer albums, Papa Roach are actually inspiring more fans to buy their new album. Credit some of this to the band's catchy and distinctly non-metal single "Lifeline," which reached #1 on the Rock singles chart and #4 on the Alternative chart. MTV2 is playing the crap out of the song's video, wich was directed by Chris Sims (Queens of the Stone Age, Jimmy Eat World).

The only remaining question is do Papa Roach still matter to metal audiences and is Metamorphosis actually a metalmorphosis of sorts? In some ways it's an angrier, more pointed album that the band's last one, addressing the dire housing situation, the shattered banking system, war and the need for political change. Songs like "Days of War," which Shaddix calls a "baby puncher" and "Hollywood Whore" are edgy and aggressive, suggesting the metal still matter to these guys. However, some find the band's keen interest in fashion, and focus on melody over misanthropy to be distasteful.

HeadbangersBlog.com hooked up with Shaddix to talk about the metamorphosis Papa Roach has undergone in the past year, his new focus on social issues, 47 days of sobriety, the optimism that now drives his life and why metal fans should still dig Papa Roach. Click "more" to stream or download the podcast. Read more...

They returned from the grave in 2007 to write and record three new songs for the greatest hits album Black Sabbath the Dio Years. They had such a good time working together again for the first time in 12 years that they scheduled a gig at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which was filmed for the CD and DVD "Live From Radio City Music Hall." Then Heaven and Hell started touring and wound up co-headling the Metal Masters with Judas Priest.

During that whole cycle, they played their three new songs, but relied more heavily on their three previously released studio albums, Heaven and Hell (1980), Mob Rules (1981) and Dehumanizer(1992) -- to the chagrin of no one. After all, these were classic albums which have had substantial influence and impact upon the metal community. But if Heaven and Hell were to continue to grow, everyone knew they'd need to do a new album. (click "more" to listen to our interview with Heaven and Hell vocalist Ronnie James Dio and bassist Geezer Butler.) Read more...

Like Tool, Neurosis and Pelican, Boston-bred post-metal band Isis creates sprawling, droning metal that's both brutal in impact and transcendent in delivery. Whether performed with screamed or softly sung vocals, dense or spacious guitars, storming beats or featherlight cymbal strokes, the songs spiral, twist and dive in both narrative and instrumental story arcs, unraveling like epic poems or multi-layered film soundtracks.

Isis songs aren't constructed with traditional verses or choruses and they're not willfully oblique, instead blossoming like computer fractals into something beautiful and mysterious. Only, they're not randomly generated -- not at all. Each swelling crescendo, every billowing cluster of tones is carefully examined, analyzed and assembled to be as emotional and revelatory as possible. Sometimes they tumble in jagged, rhythmically complex shards, other times they drift in sparse, simple waves, yet however they reveal themselves, they do so with purpose and passion. (Click "more" to hear our podcast interview with Isis frontman Aaron Turner.) Read more...

Even though there will never be another Ministry studio album, industrial metal fans can take solace in knowing the coming months will bring the band's two final products: A live CD chronicling the Ministry's 2008 C U LAaTouR and a DVD of the tour, which will feature separate songs and a documentary of the mayhem that went down behind the scenes. Both are being called Adios Puta Madres.

In addition frontman Al Jourgensen Jourgensen has just released the latest album by his alter-ego Revolting Cocks, Sex-O Olympic-O, which stays true to the band aesthetic of sleazy industrial dance beats, overheated guitars and distorted vocals.

We recently hooked up with Jourgensen and talked about why he'll never hit the road again, The new RevCo album and an upcoming thrash collaboration with Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison. Jourgensen also discussed plans for a third full-length Lard album (a collaboration with ex-Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra) his hopes for a second release by Pailhead (a band he formed with ex-Fugazi frontman Ian MacAye) and his production plans for the next Prong album.

Click "more" to stream or download the podcast. Read more...

It's hard to believe that 2009 marks the 10th anniversary of Static-X, a blazing outfit that fuses alt-metal, thrash, industrial and even techno into celebrations of nihilism, hedonism and destruction. During their career, about half of their records, including 2001's Machine and 2007's Cannibal, have been rooted mostly in hostility and dissonance, while others, such as 1999's debut Wisconsin Death Trip and 2005's Start a War, contained more melody and groove within the demolition site framework.

Static-X's new album, Cult of Static, which comes out March 17, is a hybrid of both worlds, melding aggressive, insistent riffs and explosive energy with a tangible sense of control and even finesse. Frontman Wayne Static, who writes all the riffs, is joined once again by gifted guitarist Koichi Fukada, who quit in 2000 and was replaced by ex-Dope guitarist Tripp Eisen, only to rejoin the fold after Eisen was arrested in 2004 for statutory rape.

Click "more" to read more and hear our podcast interview. Read more...