When you're a metal thrashin' madman, family gatherings can be a little awkward. Unearth guitarist Ken Susi seemed to have nipped that problem in the bud by breaking out his guitar and helping his sister's kid, Alison, record the stompin' video "I Want Candy." Take that, Laurie Berkner. Click "more" to watch Read more...

When you pose for publicity photos like tongue-in-cheek metal band Psychostick in the above shot, maybe sex, drugs and fame aren't really an option. But that seems to be just fine with guitarist Josh Key, who titles his HeadbangersBlog.com guest entry, "Screw the Sex, Drugs and Fame... We Tour for Food." Click "more" to read what the dude's got on his plate. Read more...

Clearly they're not strictly a comedy band, but Goblin Cock are funny as s--t. The group is fronted by Rob Crow, who has been involved in such indie rock projects as Pinback and Heavy Vegetable, but don't let that turn you off 'cause Goblin Cock rock balls. Click "more" to learn why and watch three of the band's humorously gloomy videos. Read more...

Unless you're buying them from the dudes who swarm the parking lot after concerts, metal t-shirts are pretty durable. We've still got a Corrosion of Conformity sweatshirt from 1991 and Napalm Death and Entombed shirts from 1993, and each looks good as new despite countless washings with multicolored clothing. But we were amused when we saw this post by BoingBoing.net called "How to Launder Precious Heavy Metal T-Shirts," and if you've been less fortunate than us with your heavy metal delicates, maybe their tips will do you well. Click more to read to article. Read more...

Tool vocalist Maynard James Keenan has posted footage on his MySpace of a staged press conference about the first schedule concerts by his side project Puscifer. The shows themselves will take place February 13 to 15 in Las Vegas at the Pearl concert theater at the Palms Casino.

The humorous clip was filmed in black and white by Mike King of Flea Circus Films and depicts Keenan as a military general answering inane questions by clueless journalists, two of which mispronounce the band's name. A third is more interested in finding out information about Tool and A Perfect Circle than he is in learning anything about Puscifer.

Laura Milligan, Paul Greenberg, Jackie Harris, Paul Koslowski, Mark Fight and Ron Lynch co-star in the video, which Keenan describes as "sort of a Dr. Strangelove spoof." Click more to watch. Read more...

Say you've got dreams of heavy metal stardom but you're stuck in Singapore, floating in limbo like Scarlett Johansson's character Charlotte from the Sofia Coppola film "Lost in Translation." Okay, she was in Japan, but you get the idea. You wanna break through and be heard by millions, but there seems to be no way to burst out of the local, insular scene -- or is there?

Michael Kalember, a multi-instrumentalist and metal head with a degree from the Berklee School of Music, moved to Singapore in 1991 with a woman who's now his ex-wife, and has jammed with numerous musicians, taught music and written jingles for TV and radio commercials. And now, thanks to pop star Rihanna and the power of the Internet, hundreds of thousands of people -- if not more -- are hearing him play. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn
God bless the dudes at MetalSucks.net for bringing smiles to our faces and uncontrolled giggles to our vocal chords on this miserable, cold, snowy day. Diamond Dave is funny enough on his own, but with the help of the "Runnin' With the Devil" Guide Vocal Transcription Sound Game, you can now distill David Lee Roth's kooky howls down to their very essence. Click "more" to play.

Here it is, the "Runnin With the Devil" Guide Vocal Transcription Sound Game

Firebrand Super Rock superhot vocalist Laura Donnelly, who's surely stolen some hearts, photo by Wasted UK, courtesy of Flickr.com

To celebrate the announcement of this year's Bloodstock Festival, which takes place in Derby, England October 14 to 16, Britain's Metal Hammer magazine have posted interview snippets on their Web site in which they ask numerous musicians, "What's the worst thing you've ever stolen" and "What's the worst lie you've ever told."

Almost as interesting as the answers themselves are the numerous names of the bands interviewed that seem to be huge in England but remain unknown in the U.S. For example, how many of you out there know who Ted Maul, The Defiled, Firebrand Super Rock (hot blond chick, though, and love that Scottish accent), Devil's Gift and Praying Mantis and Alestorm (ugly dude, nice band name) are?

Fortunately, Metal Hammer also got some good soundbites from members of Opeth, Akercocke, Soulfly, Overkill, Dimmu Borgir, Evile, Soilwork, As I Lay Dying and Napalm Death. Click "more" to roll tape. Read more...

MetalSucks.net have posted a pretty cool flow chart from comcsvsaudience.net that illustrates how there's about seven degrees of separation between metal bands and how a blueprint of the grand design resembles a giant pentagram. Click "more." to be illuminated. Read more...

Here are a couple metal-themed Christmas videos that are almost as entertaining as the above ...And Justice For All-era photo of Metallica dressed up as Santa's elves.

The first clip's a pretty funny cartoon and the second one's a stop-action thing that's kind of cool, but sort of cute. If cute's not your thing then skip the video and take another look at Shawn Crahan's photo of a dead deer. Click "more" to watch. Read more...