photo by Jon Wiederhorn

When Metallica toured for their poorly received 2003 album St. Anger, the band only played two or three new songs. It was almost as if they were aware that the tunes weren't quite up to snuff and they'd be better off rocking the crowd with a set full of classics. They easily could have done the same with their Death Magnetic tour and swaggered away victorious. Instead, at the first of three sold-out New York area appearances, they played over 60 percent of the new album Death Magnetic and were rewarded with fist-in-the air sing-alongs from the crowd. Read more...

More than eight years have passed since hardcore metal band Suicidal Tendencies released their last album, Free Your Soul and Save My Mind. But while they haven't played a direct role in the scene recently, their historical contributions to skater punk and metal are more than significant.

The band's self-titled 1983 album injected hardcore rage with humor, spawning such classics as "I Shot the Devil," "I Saw Your Mommy" and "Institutionalized," which became a staple of early MTV. As classic as it was, it was the band's follow up Join the Army -- released in 1987, the year "Headbangers Ball" went on the air -- that cemented the band's love for headbanging with guitarist Rocky George's crunchy riffs and singer Mike Muir's crushing delivery, something Suicidal further explored on their 1988 follow-up How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can't Even Smile Today.

Along with other forward thinkers like Corrosion of Conformity, DRI and Cro-Mags, Suicidal helped merged two disparate worlds and while fans of both metal and punk were initially resistant to accept the other, resulting in countless beatdowns, time would prove that Suicidal and their peers were way ahead of the curve. Even after other outfits started to catch on, Suicidal continued to lead the pack, integrating their own music and their splinter project Infectious Grooves with serious funk basslines and drumbeats, while remaining true to both their metal and hardcore roots.

Over the years, numerous future stars passed through the Suicidal/Infectious gates, including current Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo (ex-Ozzy Osbourne), and drummers Brooks Wackerman (The Vandals, Bad Religion), Jimmy Degrasso (Megadeth, Y&T), Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle) and Stephen Perkins (Jane's Addiction). All the while, Suicidal remained grass roots, retaining their independence in lieu of making any commercial concessions. The reason the band has been out of the picture for much of the last 10 years has something to do with the rise of mallcore -- which Suicidal wanted nothing to do with -- but just as much to do with Muir's back injury, which kept him pretty incapacitated until very recently.

During an exclusive "Headbangers Ball" 20th Anniversary podcast interview, Muir talked about his memories of the "Ball," the important roll Suicidal played in the crossover scene and the misconception that the band brought gangs and violence into the music. We also discussed the band's evolution over the years, the debilitating back injury that put the group on hold and the group's first album since 2000, which will likely hit in January.

Click more to stream or download the podcast: 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...

Since it's Metallica Monday and all, we figured we'd offer you some more band interviews. On their official Web site, Revolver has posted some revealing outtakes from interviews for their current cover story. There are already killer Q&As with longtime guitarist Kirk Hammett and not so longtime bassist Robert Trujillo up there, and over the next two weeks they'll post outtakes from discussions with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich as well. Click "more" to read to first two interviews. Read more...

After three studio albums that were rhythmically straightforward, artistically experimental and, about 80 miles-per-hour short of thrash masterpieces, Metallica have (at least partially) returned to their roots. The band's upcoming album, Death Magnetic, features acrobatic time signatures, fierce thrash beats, downtuned guitars and enough cool crunchy guitar parts to fill Trivium's entire catalog. Click "more" to see exclusive video interview footage about the album and its first video "The Day That Never Comes." Read more...