We're counting the minutes until spokespeople for conservative, God-fearing America start blaming heavy metal again for the disintegration of values and morality in today's youth. Specifically, our latest assertion stems from the murder of ABC News Radio journalist George Weber, who was stabbed to death in his Brooklyn home by 16-year-old metal fan, John Katehis, who lived in Queens. On his MySpace page (which was taken down on Wednesday), Katehis posted photos of himself holding knives and swords and wearing Cannibal Corpse and Lamb of God t-shirts. Read more...

The ex-singer for Soundgarden and Audioslave, Chris Cornell has seriously jumped the shark on his new album Scream -- so much so that even gossip-wary Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor can't keep from commenting. Click "more" to read what Reznor had to say about the disc and watch Cornell's video for "Scream." Read more...

A pugilistic dementia reaction of habit
with a system in slow motion.
Done by thirty-three
and bitter about it.
What could have been!
Not a single promise kept

Just what is Down (ex-Pantera) frontman Philip Anselmo referring to in the first six lines of his new poem? He could be writing about a doped up "pugilistic" rocker "in slow motion." Or he might be referencing a minor 33 year old celebrity who was promised the world but squeezed like an orange, then left out to rot in the hot sun. Or maybe he's going on about some psychotic stripper who's past her prime.

But no, Phil's actually going on -- as he often does -- about his favorite sport, boxing, and the heroism, triumph and tragedy of the fighters who make it so exciting. The poem's called "The Retired Journeyman" and it was published by BoxingInsider.com. Anselmo's obsession with boxing is comparable, perhaps, to Ernest Hemmingway's love for bull fighting -- except that boxers don't brandish spears and swords and stuff... yet.

Click "more" to read the complete poem and watch Anselmo training aspiring boxer "The Anvil" and talking on camera to "Headbangers Ball" about the poetry of the ring. Read more...

We know where she gets the hair, but not the smile

If you figured Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine's daughter Electra would be a hellraising headbanger? Guess again.

First of all, she's only a kid, and secondly she clearly prefers real animals to animal rockers. But she's got some things in common with her old man. At age 10 she's well on her way to becoming a media darling. Electra currently co-hosts the Animal Planet children's program "Faithful Friends" with Wanda Goldberg, who is married to retired professional wrestler Bill Goldberg. Electra is in charge of the "Itty Bitty Buddy" segment program and talks to kids about small pets including fish, cats, chinchillas, hedgehogs and hermit crabs.

Before landing a gig on "Faithful Friends," Electra appeared in a Megadeth video with her brother Justis. "It was funny to watch my dad because he was banging around in his chair and on his knees," she told Catchannel.com. "I thought he was going to fall over, but he didn't! All my friends came over for Bible study, and I was like, 'guys, come check this out!' because I was so excited. They loved it."

Click "more" to see Dave's daughter in action. Read more...

Craig Owens, the singer for hardcore/emo band Chiodos has been discharged from a mental health facility he entered after a suicide attempt at his home in Michigan on July 20, reports Alsolutepunk.net.

"On Sunday, July 20th, I attempted to overdose on prescribed Xanax at my home here in Michigan," Owens said in a statement. "Flash ahead 12 hours later, I woke up in the emergency room surrounded by my family and best friends, with an IV in my left arm, and hooked up to machines. I felt confused, angry, selfish, and completely embarrassed. After being admitted to the hospital for a couple of days, I made my way to recovery and built up enough strength and courage with the support of my loved ones enough to make it back home. I am okay, though. Thankfully, I had no permanent physical damage to myself from this."
Read more...

1969 photo of Susan Atkins

Parole officials in Corona, California are considering releasing Manson Family member Susan Atkins from jail since she's dying from brain cancer. While this isn't exactly metal news, we figured metalheads would be intrigued since, let's face it, Manson is pretty f---in' metal. Lots of groups have written songs about the dude, headbanger director Jim Van Beeber shot a speculative movie based on him ("The Manson Family") and one skinny white kid from Florida named Marilyn (real name Brian Warner) even borrowed the mass murderer's last name for his shock rock/metal band. Read more...

In a recent interview with the Artisan News Service, Motörhead frontman Lemmy Kilmister commented on the biological inaccuracy of the new Lemmy doll created by Chicago collectible toy company Lococo. "They said it's an action figure, and I said, 'So, you're gonna put a d--- on it?'" joked Kilmister. "They said, 'No.' I said, 'Well, then it's not going to get much action then, is it?' [That's] a bad name for it, right?" Read more...

We have all seen Jimi Henrix rockin' out, and it's a sight to behold. And everyone knows the guitar god did a lot of rockin' in-and-out- and-in-and-out with any number of lovely ladies, but no one but his privileged "band of gypsies" have been witness to that -- until now.

Today, Vivid Video released the controversial DVD "Jimi Hendrix The Sex Tape," and while the Hendrix estate has insisted the actor getting the cock-a-doodle-do from two '60s babes isn't actually Jimi, the adult film company is so confident in the authenticity of their product that they've offered $100,000 to anyone who can prove it's a fake or that it's someone else.

The controversy over the tape escalated after the Hendrix estate, Experience Hendrix, publicly denied the tape actually showed Hendrix having sex with the unidentified brunettes. Vivid co-Chairman Steven Hirsch took umbrage to that, replying, "The press release statement from Experience Hendrix proves nothing. Vivid took considerable time and spent a substantial sum of money to authenticate the footage and we are very comfortable that this is the real thing. We believe that those who say otherwise are relying on their emotions to make unsubstantiated claims. If Experience Hendrix can prove definitively that it's not Jimi Hendrix on this footage then we will pay them $100,000."

Click more to read more and watch an adult-oriented preview of the naughty DVD (Please, no one under 18). Read more...

Headbangers Ball Blog can exclusively reveal that singer Tommy Cummings has been fired from Divine Heresy. The move came after Cummings flew into a rage during a show on April 26 in Poughkeepsie, New York when the other players wouldn't let him end the set early.

"He gave us 10 different reasons why we should stop -- 'My microphone doesn't work, I got diarrhea, the monitors are f--ked up' -- whatever he could think of," Cazares told HeadbangersBlog.com. "And we decided that's not fair to the fans. We wanted to give them a full show."

In part, the other members of Divine Heresy decided to finish the gig because they didn't think Cummings was being honest about why he wanted to cut the set short. "We felt that he wanted to end the show early to go hang out at the New England Metal Fest, which we were supposed to be performing at the next day," Cazares said. Read more...

Following the April 17 death of Bruce Springsteen's keyboardist Danny Federic, with whom the Boss had been rocking with for almost 40 years, Springsteen went into a tailspin of depression and rage, and decided to start listening to extreme metal as a way of coping with his unbalanced emotions.

Lacking experience in the genre and seeking expert guidance, he befriended Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds and drummer Brann Dailor, who introduced him to a gamut of cathartic metal, beginning with Venom and Slayer and following the arc of extremity right up through Cannibal Corpse, Mayhem, Agorophobic Nosebleed and Watain.

The Boss is said to be feeling much better now and is rumored to have recruited Paul Booth to ink an inverted cross and fang-faced demon on his back. Springsteen's next album is expected to feature guest appearances by Hinds, Dailor, Phillip Anselmo, Nergal and Shagrath.

Okay, we're almost a month late for April Fools Day, but we when Dailor sent us the above pic for exclusive use on the Headbangers Ball Blog, we couldn't help but concoct a crazy-ass story. Truth is, we have no idea what the dudes from Mastodon were doing with The Boss. Maybe they're recording in the same studio, perhaps they met at a decoupage class.

Call Mastodon sellouts if you must, but keep in mind that in 2006, one of Bruce's hysterical fans in Australia stabbed her husband to death because he said he didn't like the Boss. Now that's pretty damn metal!