Metal Injection

A little over a year ago, I posted a flow chart of heavy metal band names but I think this map is even more impressive. Some dude on Flickr made an entire subway map breaking down the history of rock music. It's quite epic. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Click to Enlarge

By: Shannon Joy

IRON MAIDEN have just issued two huge announcements surrounding the teaser image they placed on their website last week.

The band have revealed that their new studio album, The Final Frontier, is expected to see a late summer release.  Additionally, they will embark on their most extensive North American tour in quite some time starting in early June with DREAM THEATER slated to open.

June 9 – Dallas, TX – Superpages.com Center
June 11 – Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
June 12 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center
June 14 – Denver, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
June 16 – Albuquerque, NM – The Pavilion
June 17 – Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Wireless Pavilion
June 19 – San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheatre
June 20 – Concord, CA – Sleep Train Pavilion
June 22 – Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre
June 24 – Vancouver, BC – GM Place
June 26 – Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place
June 29 – Saskatoon, SK – Credit Union Center
June 30 – Winnipeg, MB – MTS Center (No DREAM THEATER)
July 3 – Toronto, ON – Molson Amphitheatre
July 7 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
July 11 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC
July 12 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
July 14 – Pittsburgh, PA – First Niagra Pavilion
July 15 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
July 17 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
July 18 – Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
July 20 – Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live

Presale for the tour starts on March 10th, and more information can be found on the bands official website.

By: Shannon Joy

IRON MAIDEN just posted the following teaser on their official website, hinting at a North American tour announcement later this week.  Stay tuned!

We are incredibly stoked to be sponsoring this year's Full Metal Texas, happening Thursday, March 18th at Emo's in Austin, TX. It's a completely FREE show featuring some of the best metal acts around today. Look at these bands: Fair to Midland, Darkest Hour, Born of Osiris, Iwrestledabearonce, Iron Age, Karnivool, Naam, Howl, Amarna Reign, Your Demise, Upon a Burning Body, & Lions Lions. Eagle Rock Entertainment will also be on hand, previewing two new Classic Album DVDs from Black Sabbath and Rush.

All of that for FREE, people! That's quite the deal. RSVP for the show at FullMetalTexas.com to be eligible for VIP drink specials and cool swag giveaways. We will be there raging, will you?

France's GOROD, who put out one of my favorite albums of 2009 are heading back into the studio to record a new EP. I am excited. Blabbermouth reports:

The disc will include a 14-minute-long new song, one acoustic track, one cover and two re-recorded old songs from the band's first two albums. The EP will also contain a video portion consisting of an entire live performance recorded on October 31, 2009 at the Halloween Invasion at RockSchool Barbey in Bordeaux, France.

I'm into it! These guys absolutely slay, both on record and live and are one of the bands I'm most looking forward to seeing at Maryland Deathfest this May. If you are unfamiliar with the band, check out some live footage we shot of the band's MDF performance in 2007

This is seriously amazing. Thank you internet…

This is an awesome story. Blabbermouth is reporting that IMMORTAL are rejecting their nomination in the metal category of the Spellemann awards, Norway's version of the Grammys. (Sidenote: another band nominated is called THE CUMSHOTS. Nice!). Upon hearing of this announcement, the black metal band immediately released a statement rejecting the nomination:

"IMMORTAL doesn't necessarily want to be the biggest band in the world, they just want to be the rawest band," he said. "And honestly, one has to say that there are few black metal bands who have kept their credibility while still playing for 80,000 fans around Europe."

While the band wouldn't personally comment on the situation, their manager did offer these words of reason: (more…)

ShareTalk about commitment! This anonymous metalhead thinks patches are for pussies. He's all about commitment. And clearly, he hates back packs too.

UPDATE Thanks to pooman for pointing out that Randy Rhoads is misspelled on the dude's back. That's gotta be embarrassing.

[ via CollegeHumor ]

A few weeks back the rumor mill was ablaze with talk that the Big Four of Thrash (METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX) talking about touring together. Those rumors have fizzled down and it seems like those four bands (well mainly the two bands whose names start with "Me") can't really put their differences aside.

So natually, new rumors are surfacing that instead of that tour, MEGADETH and SLAYER are planning a February 2010 US run with TESTAMENT and HIGH ON FIRE in tow. This sounds way more doable to me, and personally, I am way more excited to see High on Fire and Testament then I would be to see Metallica and Anthrax. Plus, this seems like a much more plausible tour to happen.

I sure hope it pans out. If it does, we will be sure to report about it as soon as more info becomes available.

REVOCATION's new album Existance is Futile(review here) is one album I simply cannot get out of rotation on my MP3 player. It's just so fucking good. I love the way they integrate hardcore cliches with death metal shredding to make something new and original. This band must be heard! So, with permission from Relapse we are posting a free MP3 download of one of my favorite tracks on the album, "Dismantle The Dictator." If you are not headbanging like mad by the chant-a-long, I don't know what to tell you.

Once you're done with the MP3, make sure to check out the four live clips of the band we recently posted.

And if you want to hear the entire Existance is Futile record, Relapse is currently hosting a stream of the whole shebang. Check it out.

Podcast: Download

Wow! MetalSucks has alerted me to the fact that BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME announced on their MySpace page that in January of 2010 they will be out on the road with CYNIC, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and SCALE THE SUMMIT. Holy shit… if they need a title for the tour, I got one: Sploogefest. Because that's what will happen when I see it. ThePRP has posted some unconfirmed dates. No idea where they got the dates as I couldn't find them anywhere else, but we're going to post them here anyway. When we get the official press release, you better believe we will post about it… UPDATE 10/27/09 – We just got a press release from Devin Townsend's label with a press release announcing the full schedule for the tour… (more…)

We missed this over the weekend, but apparently MASTODON confirmed what we originally posted last week that they will be working on scoring the 2010 DC-comic adaptation of Jonah Hex staring Josh Broland and Megan Fox.

The band will be working with John Powell and the movie's director, Jimmy Hayward. The band also mentions that guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds makes a cameo in the film. Sounds like a winner to me!

HALLELUJAH! Only a few weeks after the three-day slaughterfest that was MDF 2009, the madmen behind the whole thing (Ryan and Evan) have announced the initial lineup and dates for next year's edition.

The festival will take place from May 28th to May 30th, with venue information to be released at a later date. The first bands to be confirmed are as follows:

ENTOMBED / OBITUARY / PENTAGRAM / EYEHATEGOD / SINISTER / INCANTATION / PORTAL / HAEMORRHAGE / IMPALED / GRIDLINK / INGROWING / GRIDE / MASSGRAVE / 16 / BIRDS OF PREY / FUCK THE FACTS / TOMBS / HOWL

Start planning your trip down there NOW-  judging from the massive success and insanely stacked lineup of the 2009 edition, this one's going to be an absolute behemoth. I'm dying to see how they'll top this year's lineup – they've already got Eyehategod, Entombed, and Pentagram, so I'm going to sit back and hope they can convince Hellhammer or Nihilist to reform and play a few tunes. Wishful thinking? Almost definitely, but hey, a girl can dream. Check out some of the five million videos Metal Injection has from MDFs past, and get STOKED.

God damn, what a year to be a metal fan. New Alice in Chains, new Slayer and NEW MEGA-FUCKING-DETH! Roadrunner have posted a free 24-hour MP3 download (in exchange for your email addy) right here. This new song is pretty awesome, leading me to believe this is some of the heaviest stuff the band has written. The band's last album United Abominations was definitely listenable and I think this one will be as well, especially with the addition of mega-shredder Chris Broderick (who we've interviewed).

MEGADETH's upcoming CD, Endgame which comes out September 15th.

What do you guys think of this track?