We have no idea what to make of Hollywood Undead, a California rap metal band whose six members all wear masks. Call them Slipknot wannabes, say they're the bastard offspring of Mushroomhead and Insane Clown Posse, but the fact remains that these Jason hockey mask bedecked reprobates
have sold over 180,000 copies of their debut album, Swan Songs, and they're keeping the buzz going with depraved antics, flashy videos, TV appearances and their first tour, Saints and Sinners, which launches Friday in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. So, love 'em or hate 'em, they seem like they're gonna be around at least until the end of the year. And with that in mind you might wanna click "more" and watch a batch of interview clips that recently aired on MTV2. Oh, and feel free to leave a comment below. Read more...

Prog metal heroes Mastodon have just announced a special iTunes package that offers fans an instrumental version of their entire new album Crack the Skye along with the regular version. Sounds sweet to us. And here's something else that's pretty sweet: The behind-the-scenes video "The Making of Crack the Skye: Episode IX," in which the band members discuss how they tracked lead and background vocals for the record. Behold! Read more...

In the second part of our video interview with Mårten Hagström, Meshuggah's guitarist talks about playing on Ministry's farewell tour, the rise of girlie-pop metal, pagan metal and deathcore and his eternal fondness for weird electronic music. Click "more" to watch the interview.
Read more...

photos by Jimmy Hubbard

Last week, we brought you Episode I of "The Making of Mastodon's Crack the Skye". Today we follow up with Episode VIII. What happened to the other six episodes, you ask? Well, Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor and guitarist Bill Kelliher are huge "Star Wars" fans, and those movies didn't come out in sequential order; hence, Episode VIII, in which Mastodon discuss guitarist Brent Hinds' 2007 brush with death and how that inspired the songs on Crack the Skye. Click "more" to watch the clip. Read more...

photo by Jimmy Hubbard

If you've heard Mastodon's new song "Divinations," you've gotten a taste of the progressive songwriting and psychedelic otherworldliness of the band's upcoming album Crack the Skye, which comes out March 24. But just wait 'til you hear the ominous, trudging "Oblivion" or the miasmic, intoxicating 13-minute epic "The Last Baron." Yup, there's no question in our minds that when the time comes to pick the best albums of 2009, Crack the Skye will be perched right up there near the top if not at the top. We'll be bringing you much more from Mastodon in the coming weeks, but for now we present "The Making of Crack the Skye: the Beginning of Crack the Skye: Episode I." Read more...

There are only three days left until Demon Hunter's new DVD, "45 Days," comes out. The three-disc package features a documentary, live footage and a CD of music from the film. To further whet your appetite, here's an exclusive preview. Click "more" to watch. Read more...

photo by Ryan Russell

If you say the name of Pelican's new video real fast it sounds like "Lost in the Head Lice." Fortunately, they make special shampoos that can kill those nasty little bloodsucking bugs and the eggs they lay in your scalp.

Anyway, here's what guitarist Laurent Schroeder-Lebec has to say about the new video, which was directed by Kenneth Thomas.

Ken had done a fantastic job with footage on our "After the Ceiling Cracked" DVD. Incidentally, he also looks like Clark Kent, so you want to just trust the guy. Although the narrative flow from our "Dead Between The Walls" video continues loosely on this new one, Ken's vision here was more focused on adapting texture and environment to the song's flow.

Ken and [drummer] Larry [Herweg] worked hard to find fitting locations, and eventually we settled on a rooftop in desolate downtown Los Angeles, as well as Switzer Falls in Angeles National Forest. We're immensely pleased with the results, and we'd like to thank all those who worked hard to adapt visuals to the journey. Thanks to Ken, Stephen Broasch (who took amazing still photos that were incorporated toward the end of the song), Juan Perez and his lovely hound, J Bennett, Sera, and the extended volunteer crew.

Click "more" to watch the video for "Lost in the Head Lice," errr, "Lights." Read more...

In part two of our exclusive new interview with Avenged Sevenfold about their new DVD and CD set, "Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough" (out today!), we talk to the boys about touring with Iron Maiden, their cover of Pantera's "Walk," the b-side "Tension" and the tours they'll embark upon when singer M. Shadows' voice is fully healed. As widely reported, Avenged Sevenfold were recently forced to cancel a co-headlining tour with Buckcherry because Shadows was suffering vocal fatigue. Click "more" to watch the interview clips: Read more...

Just one day to go before Avenged Sevenfold drop the mother lode. So get in line now to pick up a copy of the band's new DVD and CD, "Live in the LBC & Diamonds in the Rough." To whet your appetite, here's some new footage we shot of the band talking about the difference between their last DVD, "All Excess," and the new release, the excitement of hometown shows, the new b-sides, covering Iron Maiden and more. Click "more" to watch. Read more...

The excellent thrash metal documentary/sociology study, "Get Thrashed: The Story of Thrash Metal," comes out on DVD on Tuesday, September 16. For our final promotional clip for the movie, director Rick Ernst has supplied us with a batch of outtakes of bands from various subgenres of metal talking about how they discovered thrash and the importance of the genre. We'll get to the video soon, but first here's Ernst talking about this week's clip.

With over 100 hours of footage filmed for "Get Thrashed," we couldn't possibly squeeze it all on one DVD - although we tried! Thankfullyk, we have the Internet and HeadbangersBlog.com, which allow us to share clips that are not on the DVD. That's right, you can only see this footage right here and this exclusive clip covers a lot of ground.

For starters, Slipknot's Corey Taylor talks about being a thrash fan in Des Moines, Iowa where apparently you really had to work to find thrash albums in the '80s. Contrast that with my experience growing up in New York at the time, and I could almost always find the thrash classics.
Several artists talk about the initial run of "Headbangers Ball." While the show didn't feature a ton of thrash videos, the ones they did play forever changed the lives of many artists watching back in the day. Personally, when I was growing up I didn't have cable, so each and every thrash video I saw on "Headbangers Ball" at a friend's house was a treasure. It was pre-Internet and a music video was as close to going to a show as you could get without physically being there. Yes, thrash fans would begrudgingly sit through non-thrash videos just to see Exodus' "Toxic Waltz" or my personal favorite, Vio-lence's "World in a World." We bitched about it then, but it is a badge of honor now.

Thankfully, today's new breed of thrash influenced bands and fans don't have to work as hard or wait as long to get their thrash metal fix. It's at the tip of their fingers -- on call 24/7 -- and they don't have to wait. It's instant gratification and its awesome -- for the most part. As Lemmy so eloquently sang, "Sometimes the chase is better than the catch".
Now click "more" to watch our final "Get Thrashed" clip: Read more...