Due to a clerical error, Misery Index's video for "Traitors" didn't actually appear on last week's edition of "Headbangers Ball" even though it was on the playlist. We aim to make up for that snafu by including the clip in this week's lineup -- especially since you guys chose them as the winner of this week's "Your Vote Counts." Read more...

photo by Jon Wiederhorn

On Saturday's "Headbangers Ball" we aired new videos from Black Tide, Machine Head and The Sword as well as classics from Anthrax and Lamb of God. Plus, we programmed the winner of last week's "Your Vote Counts" contest, Satyricon and their video "Black Crow on a Tombstone."

Now it's your turn to pick one of this week's video to air again on the next "Headbangers Ball." Click more to see your choices and watch the videos. Read more...

The "Your Vote Counts" ballots are in and tallied and in a landmark victory Satyricon has been elected to return to "Headbangers Ball." The group's video for "Black Crow on a Tombstone" will air on MTV2's "Headbangers Ball" Saturday night between 2 and 3 a.m. Also, check out our podcast interview with Satyricon frontman Satyr. Click "more" to find out who else will be on the show. Read more...

On last Saturday's "Headbangers Ball" we premiered new videos by Satyricon and Black Tide, and offered you a taste of the expanded reissue of Machine Head's The Blackening by broadcasting a video of the band covering Iron Maiden's "Hallowed Be Thy Name." Plus, we aired the new vid by Testament, the band you voted back from last week's episode. Click "more" to vote your favorite clip back for next week's show and watch the new clips by Satyricon, Black Tide and Machine Head. Read more...

The afternoon of the first Satyricon show in the U.S. in over four years, frontman Satyr is feeling a little antsy. The band still hasn't had soundcheck and he wants to make sure all the board levels are perfect. The band isn't scheduled to go on for six hours, yet several devoted fans have already started gathering in the hopes of getting a glimpse at the black metal legends.

These followers know Satyricon are one of the pioneers of the second wave of Norwegian black metal, and acknowledge that the band's distinctive roar has been extremely influential -- so much so that when Satyricon shifted gears on 2002's Volcano and embraced a slower, more rock-oriented approach, some old-school fans cried heretic. But the ones with open minds accepted the changes and found much to love in the new sound. Strangely, through all the tumult and transformation, Satyricon never really broke through in America the way Emperor, Dimmu Borgir and Mayhem have. That may be soon to change.

This, according to Satyricon, will be the year the band finally triumphs in the U.S., though he admits past efforts haven't gone so well. Eight years ago, they opened for Pantera, whose crowds just didn't get black metal. Then in 2004, Frost was denied a visa to enter the States since he was arrested in Norway in the '90s for taking part in a bar fight. Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison filled in, but shortly after the tour launched it was canceled because touring guitarist Steiner Gundersen and Arnt Ove Grønbech were arrested and charged with the drugging and rape of a woman on Satyricon's bus after a show in Toronto. Gundersen still plays with the band, Grønbech does not. Satyr refused to answer any questions about the incident, focusing instead on the creation of the band's new record The Age of Nero.

Strange, a black metal musician wanting to focus on the positive. But in this case, "positive" means a bleak, vicious, sepulchral album with hooks as sharp and dangerous as the edge of a serial killer's favorite blade. The Age of Nero is a triumphant celebration of the decadence and demise of mankind, a brutal presentation that frolics in the flames and shouts, "Told ya so" with a defiant smile as the earth turns to ash.

Like 2006's Now Diabolical, the songs are as rooted in traditional metal as black metal and the arrangements are often more minimal than those of their the group's Norwegian contemporaries. In simplest terms, The Age of Nero is kind of a cross between Celtic Frost and Darkthrone, with an emphasis on storming double-bass drums, downtuned minor-key riffing and midrange vocal growls. But the songs are treated with atmospheric arrangements (background choirs, augmented chords, unconventional production tricks) that keeps them sounding entrancing and original. And while blast beats and abrupt rhythmic shifts are minimal, when they're employed they're as lethal as an execution squad.

During our conversation with Satyr we discussed how the band wrote and recorded The Age of Nero, Satyricon's desire to break in the U.S. market, the sorry state of the world, how isolation is conducive to personal growth and the video for "Black Crow on a Tombstone." Click "more" to stream or download the podcast. Read more...

Two legends of black metal, Darkthrone and Satyricon, have both made a track from their upcoming releases available to fans via the Internet. The former is offering an MP3 of "Hiking Metal Punks" from their new album Dark Thrones and Black Flags, which comes out October 20.

Meanwhile, Satyricon are streaming their new single, "Black Crow on a Tombstone" (out October 20) from their upcoming album The Age of Nero, out in Europe November 3 (no U.S. release has been announced.

Click "more" to check out both tracks. Read more...

A decade ago, the black metal scene experienced a period of renaissance and reinvigoration. Emperor had just released the legendary Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, Immortal was riding the wave of Blizzard Beasts, Dimmu Borgir were getting close to completing the blasphemous Spiritual Black Dimensions and the English lads of Cradle of Filth were about to experience a career breakthrough with Cruelty and the Beast. The speedy, ravaging concept record told the nefarious tale of Elizabeth Bathory, a Hungarian countess in the 16th Century who bathed in the blood of virgin girls to retain her youthful beauty.

Since then, Cradle of Filth have aged, and with the years they've matured, experimenting with tonality and tempo, traveling through various avenues of lyrical darkness, straying further and further from their roots, while keeping a taloned toe or two planted in the murky black metal mist from which they surfaced. And now, 10 years from the release of Cruelty, Cradle are about to play a Cruel trick... Actually, it's more like a treat. The band's yet-untitled, just completed disc is their fastest, heaviest offering since that milestone offering a decade ago. Like Cruelty, it's a genuinely vampiric black metal concept record about a legendary serial killer from the 15th Century. This time, Cradle are chronicling the exploits of Gilles De Rais, a French nobleman who fought alongside Joan of Arc and accumulated great wealth before becoming a satanist, sexual deviant and a murderer.

Headbangersblog.com recently talked with Cradle of Filth frontman Dani "Filth" Davey about the sound of the album, why he decided to to tell the story of De Rais, the band's new drummer Martin Skaroupka, recording in the country with producer Andy Sneap and upcoming tours with Gorgoroth and Satyricon. Davey also filled us in on the song her wrote for Dario Argento's new horror film "Mother of Tears," the horror-themed video he wants to do for the new record and the long-awaited history book he wrote with Gavin Baddeley "Gospel of Filth: A Bible of Decadence and Darkness," which he hopes will be out by Halloween -- around the time the new record drops.

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

Before you plan your next vacation getaway to Norway, head on over to Metalkult.com to see a black metal travelogue featuring Mayhem's late guitarist Euronymous' former record store Helvete (now a bakery); one of the churches burned down by the Inner Circle in 1992; and the studio where Satyricon are recording their new album. And that's just part one. In the other three segments, members of 1349 take journalists to Oslo's most happening metal bars, Emperor/Zyklon drummer Trym lays down some ink at his tattoo place Imperial Tattoo and ex-Emperor frontman Ihsahn shares recording tips at Symphonique Studios.

click "more" to see all the footage: Read more...