Underground hardcore metal band Madball may never be as popular as, say, Hatebreed, but they're steeped even deeper in history and street cred. Frontman Freddy Cricien's brother is Agnostic Front vocalist Roger Miret and he's been an active part of the scene since he was 12. As a Teenager, Cricien started Madball with some of his brother's bandmates and while there have been lineup changes over the years, the group exploded like a pipe bomb from the very start with their 1989 EP Ball of Destruction, and they've never looked back. Even when they went on hiatus for two years after 2000's Hold it Down, they were destined to return, and in 2005 they got back together to created the incendiary Legacy. Infiltrate the System followed in 2007.

Norway's "Headbangers Ball" recently hooked up with the guys at New York Hardcore Tattoos, a shop in New York's Lower East Side that's owned by Murphy's Law vocalist Jimmy Gestapo and Vinnie Stigma, who plays guitar for Agnostic Front (and used to play with Madball as well). During the day, MTV Norway talked to Cricien about New York Tattoos, the roots of the hardcore scene, the history of Madball, their latest album Infiltrate the System and the video for the title track. The Madball video was produced by Ann Christin "Anki" Rihm for MTV Norway and Denmark and edited by Elisabeth Sjöberg. Click "more" to watch the clip. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

Testament squeaked by their Bay area neighbors Metallica as well as Opeth and Motorhead to earn an encore airing of their "More Than Meets the Eye" video on 'Headbangers Ball.' Tune in Saturday night at 2 a.m. to catch the killer clip, as well as new videos by Satyricon, Machine Head and Warbringer.

And in the week's ahead stay tuned for video premieres by Kreator, Dir En Grey and much, much more.
Click more to watch this week's winning clip and footage of Testament from the 2003 Wacken Festival. Read more...

Tech-death metal wunderkinds, The Faceless, are the latest act to be banned by the Anaheim House of Blues, a Disney-owned venue that in the past has also rejected Machine Head and Belphegor. Why The Faceless didn't meet the approval of Mickey and Minnie for the February 1 show is unknown -- especially since the other bands on the bill, Meshuggah and Cynic, both made the cut. Maybe it had something to do with discovery that if you descramble the letters in the song titles of their second album, Planetary Duality, it spells "Pluto pimps Daisy Duck for cheap wine and Goofy has anal wards and scabies."

In any case, The Faceless will take the night off, then rejoin the tour on February 2 at the San Diego House of Blues. Dates are scheduled through February 20 in Towson, Maryland. The Faceless' second album, Planetary Duality, features an impressive range of progressive arrangements, caustic vocals and speed-of-light guitar work, and was one of the highlights of last year. The disc was produced by axeman Michael Keene, who recently made an appearance at the National Association of Music Mercants (NAMM( convention in Anaheim). Click "more" to watch Keene shred like Satriani on crack. Read more...

For music geeks, adagio is a symbol calling for a piece of music to be played slowly. For the music geeks in French metal band Adagio, however, playing slowly is usually reserved for complimenting lightning fast guitar runs. The band's fourth album, Archangels in Black, comes out February 2 and illustrates the musicians' equal love for classical music and power metal. Click "more" to watch the band's video for "Fear Circus," yet another apocalyptic clip that features black ash raining down from the sky and a hot chick wandering aimlessly across the scorched earth. Click more to check it out. Read more...

Dyin' to see another new video of a power metal band playing in a world engulfed by flames? Then look no further. Hammerfall's "Any Means Necessary" has arrived to satisfy your pyromania. The video was shot in Belgrade, Serbia with director Ivan Colic (i-Code), who has also worked with Hammerfall on their "Natural High" video.

"Any Means Necessary" is the first single from the Swede's eighth album, No Sacrifice, No Victory, which arrives on these shores February 20. The disc was CD was largely recorded at Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden. Click "more" to watch the video. Read more...

In the corner on our right, weighing in at 205 pounds, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell. And in the corner on our left, covered in tattoos and weighing in at a cumulative 450 or so pounds, the challengers, Atreyu.

Of course, even though the testosterone was flowing like a river, the dudes were all just sparring and no one was hospitalized. But if this were an actual fight, it would take all the members of Atreyu armed with clubs and all the dudes in Avenged Sevenfold wielding knives to take out Liddell.

The reason Atreyu singer Alex Varkatzas and guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel were in the ring with the UFC fighter was they were the subjects for the cover story for Revolver's upcoming "Ultimate Fighting Issue," which hits newsstands January 20. In addition to a blow-by-blow account of the training session, the issue features Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter, Dragonforce guitarist Herman Li and Senses Fail frontman Buddy Nielsen talking about their own experiences training in mixed martial arts. There's also a story called "When Rockers Attack," which chronicles the fist-flinging exploits of some of the biggest, and baddest dudes in rock and metal.

Click "more" to watch video of Atreyu going head to head against Liddell. Read more...

In anticipation of the new album by Napalm Death, Time Waits For No Slave -- which comes out in the U.S. February 10 and rips like a hungry zombie -- we're thrilled to present a bunch of footage of the band's January 12 show in Bucharest, Romania. Read more...

We love it when underground metal bands get mainstream play in Hollywood. We were stoked when thrash band Powermad appeared in "Wild at Heart" in 1990 and when Cannibal Corpse had a cameo in "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" in 1994. And it's always cool to see Lemmy from Motorhead pop up in a movie like 2000's "Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV" or 2005's "The Curse of El Charro."

The most recent accomplishment by Relapse Records' crazed electro-metal band Genghis Tron especially warmed our blackened hearts. A Renholder remix of the band's ominous clutterfest "Board Up the House" will appear in the end credits of "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans," which opens January 23. The song is also featured on the movie soundtrack with came out today. Click "more" to listen to the cut and watch the band's video for "Things Don't Look Good." Read more...

We found an online interview with Bring Me the Horizon which says the band members are all between 21 and 23 years old, but from the pictures on their MySpace we find that hard to believe. Seriously, that smiley dude on the left of the aobve photo has gotta be 12 and the guy next to him can't even be old enough for acne. The other three dudes could maybe pass for 15, but if they weren't carrying instruments and laminates into a reputable club, there's no way they should be able to get in without the doorman laughing his ass off and sending them back to their hotels with a six-pack of Capri Suns.

And yet this metalcore band from Sheffield, England has been around since 2004 and already have released three albums, including their 2008 offering Suicide Season. And, apparently, they've made quite a name for themselves touring with Killswitch Engage, The Haunted, Lostprophets and loads of others. If you're still not convinced, these UK superstars will be back on this year's Taste of Chaos tour playing with Thursday, Cancer Bats, Four Year Strong and Pierce the Veil.

One reason Bring Me the Horizon have created such a buzz is because, onstage, they have the energy 11 year olds with sugar highs and incredibly loud instruments in their hands. We also kinda like 'em because their last album cover of a blood-spattered girl-next-door holding a handful of bright red intestines is one of the coolest pieces of metal art work we saw in 2008. Give 'em five years and they'll be: a) old enough to drink, b) the next Avenged Sevenfold or c) working at Sainsburys cutting deli meat. Chime in with your thoughts and click "more" to watch the band's video for "Chelsea Smile." Read more...