This, from Chris Harris at MTVnews.com's "Metal File."

For metal, hardcore and hard-rock fans, the last two years have brought some long-awaited, never-thought-we'd-see-'em reunions. Bands such as Carcass, Snot, Overcast, Pestilence, Living Sacrifice, At the Gates, Possessed, Rage Against the Machine and Suffokate — among others — have all been resuscitated, as members have put aside their various differences, with some groups staging rather successful comeback tours. But the thing about reunions is that they don't always stick, lasting — in some cases — just two or three gigs.

Such has been the case for Long Island hardcore hellions Vision of Disorder, who've played just a handful of reunion shows since dissolving back in 2002. Frontman Tim Williams — who didn't languish in the wreckage left by V.O.D.'s demise, instead teaming up with guitarist Mike Kennedy to launch Bloodsimple — is looking forward to the band's upcoming reunion gig in New York on November 16 (the bill will also feature Overcast, Indecision and Nassau Chainsaw) but isn't so sure V.O.D.'s return will lead to anything more than feelings of nostalgia.

"Never say never, but reunions are short-lived; everyone knows that," Williams told Metal File this week. "Who knows what's going to happen, but for the time being, this will be it. We're going to do some shows, but V.O.D. will never come back the way it was. It'll never be like a full-time, full-on reunion, but there's definitely going to be some shows. Then again, if the right opportunities presented themselves to the band, and we all agree on it, I think we'll probably do some more shows, because we were pretty happy with the success and the turnout the last couple of shows have had. We're just very skeptical, and we want to be careful." Read more...

After more than six years apart, the members of influential metallic hardcore band Earth Crisis are back together working on a new album, reports MTVnews.com's Metal File.

So far, the group has written six songs for the disc and hopes to enter the studio later this year for a release in 2009. The yet-untitled disc will be the band's first since 2001's The Last of the Sane, but all that time apart hasn't changed Earth Crisis' motivation or approach.

"Our goals are the same as they were back in 2001," says frontman Karl Buechner. "Our goal as a band was to write songs that appeal to our taste in music, Hopefully, we can make our old fans happy and get some of the younger guys into some of these ideas too." Read more...

Clearly, the frenetic blastbeats, buzzsaw guitars and harrowing growls of Brain Drill's debut, Apocalyptic Feasting, were heavily influenced by Cannibal Corpse. And that's not a diss -- not even to Cannibal bassist Alex Webster, who has called them "one of the most musically over-the-top bands I have ever heard" and said their music is "truly raising the bar for technicality, velocity and overall extremity in death metal." But Brain Drill, who formed in 2005 in Santa Cruz, California, aren't just interested in building upon the bludgeoning grind of the Corpse. They're also inspired by Spawn of Possession, Origin, Disgorge, Decrepit Birth and Necrophagia.

"We were definitely inspired by all of those bands, and I always wanted to play technical death metal — but I wanted to take those influences and make sort of a musical collage, with elements from them all," guitarist Dylan Ruskin tells MTVnews.com's Metal File. Read more...

The bandmembers may not all be old enough to drink legally, but when it comes to old-school thrash metal, Warbringer are as fast and skilled as many of the veteran groups that inspired them, such as Exodus, Kreator and Testament. The band's full-length debut, War Without End — which came out earlier this month — is a hail storm of jagged riffs, jackhammer beats and caustic screams. And while the band is firmly entrenched in the new wave of American thrash metal — which includes Black Tide, Fueled by Fire and others — frontman John Kevill insists Warbringer have never been interested in capitalizing on any sort of musical trend.

"There's a lot of hype about it right now that makes it more of a novelty than I like," the singer tells MTVnews.com's Metal File. "But I think it's ultimately a really good thing that people are getting into metal that doesn't suck. There's no reason that old-school metal shouldn't be played anymore. I enjoy listening to that more than what's coming out today." Read more...

Few ten year old metal bands have been through as many label changes as New York's hardcore chuggers Sworn Enemy. First there was State of Mind, the Stillborn, Elektra, Abacus and now Century Media. But through it all the band members have stuck it out, whether it seemed like they were on the verge of falling apart or breaking into the mainstream. Read more...

It's 2 p.m., and Protest the Hero singer Rody Walker is still lying on the floor of his Toronto apartment, fighting off a hangover. Last night, he and a friend split 40 ounces of whiskey then went out for dollar shots, and today his liver is paying the price.

Rody's alcohol binge wasn't in celebration of his band's new record, Fortress, which comes out tomorrow (January 29). It was just part of his regular routine of fighting off the boredom that comes with being a liberal, young hyperactive adult in a predictable, conservative world. Protest the Hero's zany progressive thrash metal is Walker's other outlet for amusement -- which explains the music schizophrenic clash of speed, abrupt rhythm changes, dissonance, melody and emotion.

"We all just get bored really easily so we’re always trying to do something that will keep our interest," Walker told MTVnews.com's Metal File. “When we write a record, we want something that will still keep our attention a couple years down the line, but it never works."

In other words, 30 minutes after Protest the Hero finish recording a new batch of songs, they're pretty much sick of 'em. And that's a problem for a band that has to promote its albums with lengthy tours.

"Right now, I don’t ever want to play those songs on [our last album] Kezia again," said Walker. "And I know we’re going to have to when we tour, which sucks. We hate being labeled, but if we have to be called something, I think ADD metal applies." Read more...

Scholarly Queensryche singer Geoff Tate
ponders the meaning of it all

Here's the latest batch of news nuggets from MTVnews.com's hallowed Metal File:
Queensrÿche frontman Geoff Tate and Blackmore's Night singer Candice Night will star in the upcoming horror movie "House of Eternity," which is slated for a fall theatrical release. The film, by New York independent production company Fires at Midnight, is about a newly married New York City couple who move to a country home in North Carolina, unaware of its sullied history and the evil that lurks there. Tate will make his acting debut as Alder Grayson, the story's villain, and Night will play his wife, an innocent woman whose fate is determined by the superstitious minds of the 1700s. " 'House Of Eternity' contains something for everyone," Night said in a statement. "[There are] memorable characters struggling against powers far greater than they; desperate, heart-pounding action [scenes]; innovative approaches to classic horror; even humor and a forlorn love. Plus there's a villain who will become timeless." Jonathan Williams and Jarrod Feliciano are directing "House of Eternity," and J. Andrew Colletti is the writer and executive producer.

Droid, Ill Niño, Soil and Bobaflex will launch the Guerilla Carnival Tour on January 31 in Cleveland, with dates running through February 24 in Sayreville, New Jersey. "We are really excited to get back out on the road, and the Ill Nino guys are good friends of ours, so it will be great to see them rip it up every night," Droid singer James "Buddy" Eason said in a statement. "I really like the fact that all the bands on this tour are a little different than each other musically. Get ready. Here comes the pain."

Papa Roach are in their rehearsal studio writing songs for the follow-up to 2006's The Paramour Sessions and will begin recording shortly. "I can't really comment on what it will be like because we still have so much time," guitarist Jerry Horton wrote on the band's MySpace page late last year. "Rest assured that it will have groove." Read more...

They may have named themselves after one of Spiderman's old flames, but there's nothing cartoonish about Gwen Stacy.

The Indianapolis experimental Christian metalcore band write serious, tumultuous tunes about inspiration and salvation, but with enough angst and volume to appeal to fans of secular metal. Sinners and saints alike will be able to judge the band's merits when it drops its full-length debut, The Life I Know, on February 5.

"It's a really, really passionate album," drummer T.J. Sego told MTVnews.com's Metal File. "There are entire songs in there that just flat-out explain my life. This album is our hearts on tape. We love to play and hang with our fans, and we love our Lord and Savior, and that's basically what the album is all about." Of course, as with most bands of faith -- from Underoath to Demon Hunter -- Gwen Stacy have taken flack for being so outspoken about their religious beliefs. And while they strive to appeal to believers and nonbelievers alike, they harbor no ill feelings about those who judge them not for their music, but for their beliefs.

"We have a little 15-second thing that we throw into our set each night, which lets kids know our stance — that we play because we love Jesus," explained Sego. "But we're not about to judge them if they don't believe the same thing. We make sure that kids know that we're not there to ram our beliefs down their throats. We have our beliefs, and anyone who wants to know about them, we are more than prepared to share what we believe, but we won't look down at them if they don't."

The gospel of Gwen Stacy will likely become more clear when they drop The Life I Know, on February 5 and the band will elucidate their message on a tour with Haste the Day, Scary Kids Scaring Kids and Drop Dead Gorgeous, which runs through February 17 in Gwen's home town.

For the complete interview with Gwen Stacy and more metal than you can fit in a really large garbage bin, check out this week's Metal File.

Fear Factory fans hoping for a new album probably shouldn't hold their breath.

The band's guitarist, Christian Olde Wolbers, is currently focusing on producing other bands and is also working on a new project with Fear Factory drummer, Raymond Herrera, and Threat Signal singer, Jon Howard. And, singer Burton C. Bell is wrapped up with his new band, Ascension of the Watchers, which signals a departure from the type of industrial metal clamor of Fear Factory.

With roots in spirituality and surreal dreams, Ascension of the Watchers (Bell, keyboardist John Bechdel and guitarist Edu Mussi) write songs that are are melancholy and atmospheric, resembling '80s and '90s goth-rock bands such as the Mission UK, Swans, Fields of the Nephilim and Pornography-era Cure. The band's debut full-length, Numinosum, which comes out February 19, isn't really metal but it's still heavy -- at least in atmosphere.

"I've never really considered myself a metal guy," Bell told MTVnews.com's Metal File. "Yeah, I've been in a metal-industrial band, but the music I've always listened to has been much different, which is maybe why the vocals I did with Fear Factory were different than those of other metal singers. But I definitely wanted to do something much different this time. The music is completely personal, and it lets me try techniques I haven't previously had the chance to explore. We used to always say we were expanding the boundaries in Fear Factory. Well, now I'm really stepping out of the boundaries."

Still, Bell isn't ready to sign Fear Factory's death certificate just yet. "As far as I know, it's not over," he said. "I just wanted to work on some other stuff. I've been part of Fear Factory since its inception, and 17 years later I need to do something else for a while. And Fear Factory doesn't have a record deal, so there's no contractual obligation to move forward with that, so right now it's all about the Watchers."

For the complete interview with Bell and more metal news than you could digest with an iron stomach, check out this week's Metal File.

And for those lamenting Fear Factory's hiatus, take solace in the video for "Bite The Hand That Bleeds"

A little over 18 months has passed since the release of 36 Crazyfists' third album, Rest Inside the Flames. That's not long by modern standards, yet the bandmembers can't wait for the release of their next album, The Tide. Unfortunately for them, they'll have to wait a little longer than they had hoped.

The original release date was March 4, but because of mixer Andy Sneap's hectic schedule, the band has bumped the disc to April 29. Frustrating for sure, but it also gives the musicians more time to fine-tune what's turning out to be their most creatively challenging and fulfilling record to date.

"We're reaching for the stars on this one," frontman Brock Lindow told MTVnews.com's Metal File. "Some of it is real heavy, and some of it is not so heavy. It's similar to what we've done in the past, but we stepped it up a notch in both of these areas. I am sure some people will be surprised by how heavy it is. I am just excited it's as heavy as it is. It does have the melodic side to it, too; I mean, we didn't want to take a right turn on anybody." Read more...