photo by Jon Wiederhorn
Saturday's edition of "Headbangers Ball" was a special commemorative show to celebrate 20 years of headbanging madness. Because of this, the program featured mostly classic metal videos from the past two decades. So, this week's "Your Vote Counts" will draw from the other new videos and video premieres we aired last week, including Slipknot's "Dead Memories," Bleeding Through's "Death Anxiety" and "Down's "N.O.D. (Live)" from the bonus DVD on the new deluxe edition of Over the Under, plus a few other new videos we've debuted recently.
Click "more" to see the full list. The video with the most votes will return for next week's "Headbangers Ball." Voters chosing videos that aren't from the list below will be disqualified, as will voters who chose more than one entry. Remember, only one vote per IP address. Please include a comment with your selection, which may be published when we announce the winner. Voting runs through Wednesday at 3 p.m. Now, here's are you choices. Read more...
Tags 20th Anniversary, Between the Buried and Me, Bleeding Through, Divine Heresy, Down, Headbangers Ball, heavy-metal, Machine-Head, Motörhead, Slipknot, The Sword, Unearth
Sure, that's Lemmy, but can you ID the other folks in the pic?; photo by Nancy McDonald
Just three days left until MTV2 launches it's 20th Anniversary of "Headbangers Ball" celebration. In the spirit of old-school headbanging, we've got some vintage photos for you that'll either make you feel really, really old or really young.
Either way, tune in to "Headbangers Ball" Saturday from 11 p.m. to midnight EST and catch the on-air premiere of Divine Heresy's "Bleed the Fifth." Then chill for the rest of the weekend before we launch a week of what Spinal Tap might call "Heavy Metal memories." Read more...
Tags 20th Anniversary, Alice in Chains, Avenged Sevenfold, Dee Snider, Headbangers Ball, heavy-metal, Howard Stern, Jamey Jasta, Lemmy Kilmister, Leslie West, Metallica, Motörhead, Mountain, Riki Rachtman, Slipknot
photos by Cody Smyth
Okay, all you oldtimers. Surely, you remember 1990s-era "Headbangers Ball," back when Riki Rachtman was the host. Who could forget the classic episodes, like when Riki went skydiving with Megadeth or when Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain showed up for an interview wearing a ball gown? But you may not know that before Riki, Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider and VJ Adam Curry helmed the ball. Of course, when "Headbangers Ball" returned to the airwaves in 2003 following an eight year hiatus (damn, that alternative rock!), Hatebreed singer Jamey Jasta was the new host.
In commemoration of the commanders of the Ball, MTV2 invited Snider, Rachtman and Jasta to take part in a roundtable discussion moderated by Sirius - XM Radio “Hard Attack” on-air talent and format manager Jose Mangin. Read more...
all photos by Lyndsay Siegel
Wanna see where Metallica magnetically go when they're thinking about Death? Interested in checking out the decor of the place where they've come up with some of their most captivating and complex musical ideas since 1988's ...And Justice For All? You won't find any of drummer Lars Ulrich's Jean-Michael Basquiat paintings there or posters for the warts-and-all 2004 documentary "Some Kind of Monster." But many of the band's creature comforts are right here: frontman James Hetfield's Lazyboy (in which we sat), an electric chair (in which we didn't sit), a surreal painting of guitarist Kirk Hammett's idol Jimi Hendrix, the severed head of Lady Liberty from the ...And Justice For All tour, memorabilia the band has collected from fans over the decades and boatloads of recording equipment and instruments.
Click "more" to see exclusive photos we shot inside Metallica HQ, and tune in to MTV2 next week during our "Headbangers Ball" 20th Anniversary, in which we take over the network for a week of video premieres and special programming, including the "MTV Essential: Metallica" (premiering Monday at 11 p.m.), which takes a look at the evolution of the biggest band in metal from their beginnings to the present. The program features new interviews with the band talking about their top-charting album Death Magnetic, and footage from their performance at this year's Rock Am Ring festival. And don't miss our exclusive video interview podcast with Lars Ulrich, which will premiere right here October 24. Read more...
In Boston in the late '80s, whenever a big thrash band like Slayer, Overkill or Testament played The Channel or The Paradise, local favorites Wargasm would almost always open the show -- and fans would usually show up early enough to catch their set. Indeed, Wargasm are one of the great unsung heroes of the East Coast thrash scene along with Maryland's Tension, Virginia Beach's At War and maybe New Jersey's Whiplash.
Wargasm's 1998 album Why Play Around? was ugly, aggressive and catchy as hell, filled with bludgeoning rhythms, crunchy mid-section riffs and classic chant-along vocals like "He wound up/ knee-deep/ knee-deep in blood" ("Revenge"). Alas, the band broke up after its 1995 EP Fireball and only reunited in 2004 for a single benefit show.
However, to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the release of Why Play Around? Wargasm will get back together to play one more gig on September 13 at the Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The performance will be recorded for the future live album Why Play Alive!
Click "more" to purchase tickets, read a new Wargasm Q&A on TartanDesire.com and check out a new promotional video. Read more...
