When we first clicked onto the link for UVTV's best live videos of 2008 we weren't too impressed. The 35-minute-long video stream started off with Lynam, an Aerosmith-inspired band we've never heard of and never care to hear from again. Next came a video of a trudging, screamy group called Caustic that have hair styles, tattoos and attitude, but couldn't write a decent riff if they had guns to their heads. Then came the sea of mediocrity of Sea of Treachery, which destroy any chance of listenability with drums that drown out everything but the routine vocal metalcore roar. We were about to give up and move on, but we're glad we didn't because the last two-thirds of the video stream feature track after track of spine-grating goodness.

The redemption begins with A Life Once Lost's "Firewater Joyride," and proceeds through a firestorm of quality noise that includes, Genghis Tron's jittery "Things Don't Look Good," Evergreen Terrace's rockin' "Wolfbiker" and Dillinger Escape Plan's "Fix Your Face," which could teach Caustic the meaning of their band name. The stream finishes up with Origin's visceral "Staring From the Abyss" and Dying Fetus' pulverizing "Schematics." There's also Thy Will Be Done's "In the Name Of" sandwiched in there, but you might wanna skip that; we've heard better MySpace deathcore at high school talent shows. Click "more" to watch it all, even the crappy ones. Read more...

On Saturday night while many of you were getting ready to watch "Headbangers Ball" on MTV2, Dillinger Escape Plan were tearing a new hole in the side of New York City's The Studio at Webster Hall. During the show, which marked the Big Apple debut of new drummer Billy Rymer (ex-The Rivalry), the band played a bludgeoning, acrobatic set that included pretty faithful covers of Nine Inch Nails' "Hurt" and Living Colour's "Cult of Personality. Click "more" to watch videos of both as well as three other songs. Read more...

Who says puppies aren't metal?

Deicide frontman Glen Benton may have a history of spreading cow, pig and sheep organs across the stage, but we're willing to bet that if you put a cute puppy doberman in front of him, he'd melt like a stick of butter in the hot Florida sun.

When envelopes containing the Anthrax virus were being sent to media outlets across America, Anthrax guitarist announced the band was considering changing its name to Basketful of Puppies. Sure, Ian was just joking, but we're guessing he's still filled with puppy love -- and not just for his wife/Meatloaf's daughter Pearl Aday.

And finally, no one would accuse The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman of being a wuss, yet the dude loves his pet pug, Blixa, probably more than his own family. And he's so enamored of puppies and the adult canines they grow into that he's launched the Web site Garmutt.com to sell rock apparel to dog owners. Logos on t-shirts and sweatshirts include "Black Labbath" and "Petallica Master of Puppies."

So, with all the puppy appreciation going around in the metal kingdom, we feel no shame in saying that after a full day of listening to death metal, black metal, thrash, power metal, prog-metal, experi-metal, ambient metal, deathcore, metalcore and straight ol' heavy metal, we like to put on a Neil Young CD, crack open a Bud Light and check out the basketful of puppies URL "Shiba Inu Puppy Cam," which has been all the rage for the past five weeks. Thanks to our comrades over at MetalSucks.net who introduced us to it. Click "more" to revel in the violence and death -- errr, cuteness. Read more...

In one of Megadeth's best songs, "Peace Sells," Dave Mustaine defiantly sings, "What do you mean I couldn't be the president of the United States of America/ Tell me something, it's still we the people, right?" Whoever thought Mustaine and president elect Barack Obama would have a lot in common?

Just two years ago, the thought of an African American becoming president was, sadly, unimaginable. The prevailing belief was that the people of the United States would support black actors, musicians and sports heroes, and they'd accept African Americans like Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice as advisers to the president, but the top spot -- uh-uh, out of the question and almost as ridiculous as having a woman chosen as a party's Vice Presidential nominee. Thankfully, all of that's changed.

And "change" was the centerpiece of Obama's campaign. The same can't be said for John McCain. Though he tried to escape being connected to the current administration, to the people of this country, McCain meant more of the same, and the thought of continuing on the path we've been in for the last eight years was just unacceptable. African Americans unanimously voted for Obama, as did Latinos and other minorities, but so did the white working class and intelligentsia.

Obama's victory is a historic one and a breakthrough moment in African American history, but it's equally a great moment in American history. Now, let's hope that the next president will be able to repair the damage that's been done over the last eight years, unify and protect the country, heal our international image, fix the economy, keep our taxes from going up and keep his nose out of our First Amendment rights. And now that we've had our say, here's what some heavy metal artists have commented about the election. Read more...

another Dillinger drummer goes up in flames

Dillinger Escape Plan have pretty much finished the tour cycle for their Ire Works album, but that's not keeping 'em out of the public eye. Recently, the band pulled out of a tour opening for Suicide Silence, which raised all kinds of eyebrows regarding whether the band felt shafted by not being offered the headline slot. Dillinger's excuse was that they were having some problems with their lineup, and soon after the claim proved true. Or, so it seemed when reports abounded that drummer Gil Sharone had acrimoniously quit or been booted and that guitarist Ben Weinman had auditioned Marco Minneman (Necrophagist, Ephel Duath) and Terry Bozzio's son, Raanen Bozzio. Of course, those tidbits were merely rumors and were filled with inaccuracies.

So, to get to the bottom of what's really going on with Dillinger and whether Sharone had indeed formulated an escape plan, we went straight to Weinman for answers. As always, he gave us a mouthful. In addition to clarifying the facts regarding the Suicide Silence tour offer and the Dillinger drummer situation, Weinman filled us in on his plans for Dillinger's next album, the band's upcoming DVD, his opinion of deathcore and his new line of heavy metal t-shirts for dogs. Click more to stream or download the podcast. Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

Whether you're into medieval warfare, cannibalism, blood-spattered chicks or storming metal Lair of the Minotaur is a hard act to follow. Last Wednesday, the barbarian tribe took "Your Vote Counts" hands down and earned a trip back to last weekend's "Headbangers Ball." This week we've got six other videos from the show for you to choose from, including clips by Whitechapel, Soulfly and The Devil Wears Prada.

As always, you can't vote for Lair again or other past winners, Kataklym and The Black Dahlia Murder. Submissions from the list below must be received by 2 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16. Feel free to include a comment, which may be published when we announce the winner. Viewers who vote more than once will be disqualified. Click “more” to see this week’s choices: Read more...

We've got an exclusive guest blog from Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman responding to the recent press battle between him and Disturbed guitarist Dan Donegan. But first some background. The strange beef started about a month ago when Australian magazine The Beat ran a story about Dillinger, in which Weinman talked about witnessing a Disturbed soundcheck. Read more...