OPEN HAND’s stunning new album YOU AND ME has been receiving phenominal reviews… And here is another two brought to us by GIGWISE & NEW NOISE With multi-layered guitars, smooth vocals and captivating music this album is a veritable selection box of tasty treats. There is no coffee cream left when this album is done so whatever your musical poison, sit back and indulge. CLICK HERE to read the rest of the gigwise review. Ultimately and undeniably, Open Hand are ready for the big time. ‘You and Me’ often recalls Incubus casting off their nu-metal shackles and venturing into the major league of ‘career’ musicians, taking the Chili Peppers as their template, knowing full well that scenes come and go but widely appreciated ‘rawk’ is where the crowds are. CLICK HERE to read the rest of the new-noise review. REMEMBER: OPEN HAND – YOU AND ME – OUT NOW OPEN HAND are set to support My Chemical Romance on their sold-out UK dates this April. Full dates run as follows: Wed 6th April í¢ä‰åäóì WOLVERHAMPTON Wulfrun Hall Thu 7th April í¢ä‰åäóì GLASGOW Barrowlands Fri 8th April í¢ä‰åäóì MANCHESTER Academy Sat 9th April í¢ä‰åäóì LONDON Astoria

With just 92 days to go till DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL ’05 the lineup is starting to shape up. Naturally with DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL ’05 being the UK’s premier rock/metal festival, it has to include some of ROADRUNNERS awesome acts!!! (vain aren’t we) So far both SLIPKNOT & CHIMAIRA have been confirmed. But stay tuned for more updates. If you can’t make DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL ’05, but you still require your healthy metal intake, check out some of the upcoming tours. HATEBREED & CALIBAN (plus Crowbar) Wed 9th Mar í¢ä‰åäóì Manchester MDH Thu 10th Mar í¢ä‰åäóì Dublin Wheelan’s Fri 11th Mar í¢ä‰åäóì Cork Nancy Spain’s Sun 13th Mar í¢ä‰åäóì London Mean Fiddler Mon 14th Mar í¢ä‰åäóì Oxford Zodiac Tue 15th Mar í¢ä‰åäóì Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms 36 CRAZYFISTS & TWELVE TRIBES Sun 3rd Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Wolves Wulfrun Hall Mon 4th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Newcastle Northumbria Uni Tues 5th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Glasgow Garage Wed 6th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Nottingham Rock City Thu 7th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Manchester University Fri 8th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì London Astoria OPEN HAND (with My Chemical Romance) Wed 6th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Wolves Wulfrun Hall Thu 7th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Glasgow Barrowlands Fri 8th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Manchester Academy Sat 9th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì London Astoria WEDNESDAY 13 Mon 11th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Manchester Academy 3 Tue 12th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Brighton Concorde 2 Wed 13th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì London Islington Academy Thu 14th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Birmingham Academy Fri 15th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Glasgow Cathouse Sat 16th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Nottingham Rock City CRADLE OF FILTH Tues 12th Apr í¢ä‰åäóì Bristol Academy Wed 13th Apr – Portsmouth Pyramids Thu 14th Apr – Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall Fri 15th Apr – Manchester Academy Sat 16th Apr – London Forum ROADRAGE (Trivium, Still Remains, 3IOB) Sun 1st May í¢ä‰åäóì Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall Mon 2nd May í¢ä‰åäóì Liverpool University Tue 3rd May í¢ä‰åäóì Manchester Academy Wed 4th May í¢ä‰åäóì Glasgow Garage Thu 5th May í¢ä‰åäóì Cardiff Barfly Tue 10th May í¢ä‰åäóì Leeds Cockpit Wed 11th May í¢ä‰åäóì Nottingham Rock City Thu 12th May í¢ä‰åäóì Stoke Sugarmill Fri 13th May í¢ä‰åäóì Oxford Zodiac Sat 14th May í¢ä‰åäóì Brighton Concorde 2 Sun 15th May í¢ä‰åäóì Colchester Arts Centre Tue 17th May í¢ä‰åäóì Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms Wed 18th May í¢ä‰åäóì London Garage REMEMBER: To find out more about DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL ’05 CLICK HERE

Check out this great interview with Patrick from Caliban (+ occasional input from Marc, in Orange). The interview was conducted on Sunday 6th March by street teamer Dave Musson. Welcome back to the UK. You went down a storm on your recent tour with label buddies Machine Head. Was it hard to win over a set of notoriously partisan fans? No, I think it was pretty easy to catch all these people because I think our kind of music is very close, they’re the same, maybe, like Machine Head, you know, the style. We were on tour with In Flames and that was much harder to get those people, you know? Your name is taken from a character in a Shakespeare play. Are Shakespeare’s plays widely read amongst German metalcore bands? Is it? Oh, I don’t know. What made you chose Caliban in particular? I think we just wanted to have a neutral name, you know, not like Cannibal Corpse maybe or stuff. When you know Cannibal Corpse, you think, OK this is death metal, but Caliban is neutral. It’s just a name, so the people are not influenced by the name as to what type of music we play. Your move to Roadrunner has bought your music to a much wider audience than you had previously reached. How soon after the release of í¢ä‰åñThe Opposite From Withiní¢ä‰åŒ did you notice the increased interest in the band? I think, with the new album we got a lot more people, you know? Roadrunner is a much bigger label, so they have more opportunities to show the people the music and stuff. The press immediately placed you in with this í¢ä‰åñNew Wave of Metalí¢ä‰åŒ when your last album was released. Do you see yourselves as a part of that scene or do you still see yourselves as more of a hardcore band? I think Caliban has been doing the same music now for years. I have been in Caliban now for two years, but when I hear the older albums I think it’s quite the same music. So it’s just a natural progression? Yeah it is. – We don’t care what category you want to put it in, it just our music. Who is the most annoying member of the band to be on tour with? I don’t know, I think Marc! Haha! M í¢ä‰åäóì Fuck you! No, because he’s a very strong character and sometimes I think we come together because of it, but it’s in a positive way. (Tells Marc in German that he loves him really) What was it like working with Anders from In Flames on your last album? It was very good. Anders is a very cool guy, a very nice guy you know? He was very easy to work with. He’s very, very good and very perfect in everything. Apart from Scorpions and Rammstein, there isn’t exactly a load of German bands that achieve popularity in England. Has your nationality been a help or hindrance in making it in the business? I think that it’s maybe more difficult as a German band to get a good audience, or a lot of people in foreign countries. It’s much harder than for an English band to get to the US or to different countries. I don’t know about for us, but it worked! Is the German metalcore scene healthy enough to produce bands that can follow in your footsteps in terms of gaining success abroad? Yeah I think so, because we have a lot hardcore bands and metalcore bands in Germany and there are a lot of goods bands but they have to be heard, you know, so that the record labels can get them. I think we have a strong metal scene. Do you have any tips for the future? I like Datsoil (?) í¢ä‰åäóì it’s the band of our old bass player. M í¢ä‰åäóì Heaven Shall Burn Heaven Shall Burn of course, but they are on a bigger label, they are on Century Media. There are a lot of, I call them smaller bands, very good bands and I hope that they will get the chance to sign to a big label. Who would play with Caliban at your dream festival line-up? All the other guys played with Slayer in Japan, but I wasn’t in the band at that time so I want to play with Slayer, I want to meet them, and I want to play with Slipknot. What do you think has been the key in you going from a small, localised fan base to having your music heard and appreciated all over the world? I don’t know. We just make good music maybe? Haha! Maybe we just did something that a lot of people liked. Is your set list for this tour mainly made up of songs from í¢ä‰åñThe Opposite From Withiní¢ä‰åŒ? Yeah. Sum up Caliban in three words. Metal, core, brutal! Haha! REMEMBER: Caliban are currently on tour with Hatebreed CLICK HERE to view the dates To join the street team simply follow this link

Blasting-Zone.com recently conducted an in-depth interview with SOULFLY vocalist/guitarist Max Cavalera. Several excerpts follow: Blasting-Zone.com: What prompted you to start exclusively playing a four string guitar? Max Cavalera: “I don’t do leads, ya know? More than ten years ago, when those strings broke, a friend of mine said ‘Don’t replace them, you don’t use them anyway. You are just going to be spending money for nothing. Save the money and buy some beer.’ I was like ‘OK, cool,’ and I never put them back. Over the years, it’s become a trademark that I thought was kinda cool. It’s something that’s different about how I do things. The guys that make the guitars that I work with, they must think that I am crazy when their bosses tell them not to put the other two strings on because I don’t use them. I can only imagine… They are probably saying ‘What the fuck is wrong with this guy?’ (laughs). I am a completely rhythm player… all I do is riffs. Working with so many great guitar players, there is so much talent for playing the guitar, it convinces me further to keep the other strings off.” Blasting-Zone.com: In your opinion, how has playing with only four strings changed your overall sound? Max Cavalera: “I think it’s changed it in a sense that it’s made me a complete riff freak, ya know? Everything that I do when I am writing a song is riff-orientated, which is the foundation of my sound. I love (BLACK SABBATH guitarist) Tony Iommi…his style of playing…he does leads as well, of course, but his riffs, the solid rhythm section that he helps create, that is where I really base my style on, being as solid of a riff player as I can be. Instead of being a player who plays riffs and does a little bit of leads, I say ‘Fuck that!’ and just stay completely obsessed with riffs. On every album, I try to play better, more solid, kick-ass riffs as much as possible, ya know?” Blasting-Zone.com: At least you have a goal in mind… Max Cavalera: “Once you become obsessed with something like I am with riffs, you also become more critical. You realize that not every riff you write is going to make it onto the record. Some riffs that are actually pretty good, I’ll end up taking them off of the record because I don’t feel they are good enough, ya know? It gets everybody motivated…I’ve noticed that when I am in the studio with the SOULFLY guys, if I bring in a really cool riff, everyone will be like ‘Wow, that is a really kick-ass riff. Let’s start working on that right now.’ It’s a really big motivator to have some of the riffs be that strong right away…it motivates everybody, the drummer, the bass player…I think that is works for me…my music.” Read the entire article at this location.

Chimaira is currently in the studio recording…and during the off-time from the studio, surely soaking in the beautiful February/March weather in the greater Cleveland area. Check out www.chimaira.com for a couple recent video clips of guitar tracking. Oh, and last but certainly not least, check out www.chimaira-music.de. The Germans, not only do they love David Haselhoff, but they love Chimaira too. How to describe the site? Diese Seite ist der Anlaufpunkt jedes Chimaira-Fans in Deutschland. But, of course…hopefully you speak German, and if you do, looks like this is a site is well worth your time. As they say, Vielleicht sieht man sich bei der n퀌_chsten.

This brilliant, if not slightly amusing article, is yet another to praise Open Hand’s latest album, You And Me. CHOICE QUOTE: Each song has its own hook so catchy that only a frontal lobotomy will get it out of your head. CLICK HERE to read the whole artcle. REMEMBER: OPEN HAND – YOU AND ME – OUT NOW

In celebration of Roadrunner Records’ 25th anniversary, the 2005 Road Rage tour will feature 3 of Roadrunner’s rising metal stars, Trivium, 3 Inches Of Blood, and Still Remains. These acts represent the future of the metal genre. A name that millions of people around the world have grown to trust, Roadrunner Records developed the Road Rage tour as a way to give legions of metal heads around the world a chance to see the best and brightest that the label had to offer í¢ä‰åäóì in the past, featuring 36 Crazyfists, Killswitch Engage, Ill Nino, Chimaira, & Spineshank. For the third time the Road Rage tour will do just that as the tour slams the United Kingdom from May 1st – 18th. The group of bands that have been assembled for the 2005 Road Rage tour are the heaviest and most diverse in its history. 3 Inches Of Blood whose dual vocalists sing about vikings, pirates and knights slaying orcs, released their debut album Advance & Vanquish in late 2004. Ascendancy, the album by Trivium that will be out March 14th, is so technical and hooky it is a wonder that the music is brought to you by guys 19, 21 and 22 years old who, by the time the tour starts will have toured with the likes of Slipknot, Dillinger Escape Plan, Danzig, Fear Factory, & Chimaira. Still Remains is one of the newest members of the Roadrunner family and they will release their Roadrunner debut album Of Love And Lunacy on May 2nd. Produced by GGGarth, it is already garnering rave reviews. Tickets will be flying shortly for the cheapest ever Roadrage fee of 퉌£7 (퉌£9 London). Buckle up and get ready to enjoy the ride! Pit stops are as follows: Sun 1st May – Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall Mon 2nd May – Liverpool University Tue 3rd May – Manchester Academy 3 Wed 4th May í¢ä‰åäóì Glasgow Garage Thu 5th May í¢ä‰åäóì Cardiff Barfly Tue 10th May í¢ä‰åäóì Leeds Cockpit Wed 11th May í¢ä‰åäóì Nottingham Rock City Thu 12th May í¢ä‰åäóì Stoke Sugarmill Fri 13th May í¢ä‰åäóì Oxford Zodiac Sat 14th May í¢ä‰åäóì Brighton Concorde 2 Sun 15th May í¢ä‰åäóì Colchester Arts Centre Tue 17th May í¢ä‰åäóì Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms Wed 18th May í¢ä‰åäóì London Garage Stay tuned for more Road Rage news and events.

Only a few days now until the release of Trustkill Video Assault DVD Vol1(07/03/05), a killer DVD featuring 12 promo videos from the likes of ‘Eighteen Visions’, ‘Poison The Well’, ‘Throwdown’, ‘Open Hand’, ‘Hopesfall’ and many more. The tracklisting is as follows: 1. Roses Are Red – White And Gold 2. Bleeding Through – Love Lost In A Hail Of Gunfire 3. Eighteen Visions – Waiting For The Heavens 4. Most Precious Blood – The Great Red Shift 5. Throwdown – Forever 6. Nora – I Should’ve Sent Flowers 7. Open Hand – In Your Eyes 8. Hopesfall – The Bending 9. Eighteen Visions – You Broke Like Glass 10. Armsbendback – The Arms Of Automation 11. Poison The Well – Botchla’ 12. Bleeding Through – On Wings Of Lead Excited, you should be, but this is only the beginning. Check out what Kerrang! had to say about the release… THERE’s AN impressive wealth of talent on US label Trustkill and this DVD (released through Roadrunner in the UK) is a must for metalcore fans. Then inclusion of just a dozen videos may initially seem a touch miserly, even at the knockout price of 퉌£8, but the real draw here is the live footage included amongst the extras. Another 15 songs are secluded away here and they easily shade the promo clips. If you like Poison The Well, Hopesfall and Eighteen Visions are your bread and butter then there’s a veritable feast on offer here. – Mark Griffiths, Kerang! If you are, as Kerrang! suggests, up for the veritable feast you may like to enter our TRUSTKILL COMPETITION for the chance to win a Trustkill t-shirt.

Amongst your web travels, please check out HitThePit.com for an interview with Wednesday 13. The interview took place on February 28th. ———————— Derek: Hey bud, thanks for taking the time to speak with me. Last time I spoke with you we had an in-depth conversation about the love affair between Lady Jay and Flint in GI Joe. Will you finally admit that you had a thing for Lady Jay? Wednesday 13: No, Actually I preferred the Baroness, but her accent was so fucking annoying. Derek: (Laughs) Agreed! Besides you had no shot, she was porking Destro! So tell me how you namesake will differ from Murderdolls musically. What does it mean to have complete control over the direction of the band, and what is your ultimate vision for the band? Wednesday 13: I don’t think this a major departure from what I’ve done in the past. Murderdolls, musically was like my old band Frankenstein Drag Queens but the image was a lot different. This is a combination I think of everything I’ve done. I do what I know, and I haven’t tried to take on a new style. I just wanted something that I was a 100% in control of, so far everything has been like a complete computer print out of the vision I have in my head. Derek: Is Murderdolls still alive and well? Wednesday 13: Murderdolls is on a hiatus for now. We all have different things going on and no one knows when we will be getting back together to do another album or tour. Derek: What is the one song you are most excited about with Wednesday 13, and why? What does it mean…..please tell me you did a song about Constantine….what a great movie! Wednesday 13: There is no one song that I’m particularly excited about. I’m just excited about the whole record all together, I’m really proud of it. I love every song on the album and they were all carefully selected form a selection of about 100 songs I wrote for over a year. The first single “I walked with a zombie” is a favorite of mine and after seeing the finished video of the song it’s on a new level for me. Derek: Have you ever gotten a chance to play with the Misfits, and if not what would it mean for you to do so? Wednesday 13: I opened for the Misfits with my old band in 1998. Believe it or not, I wasn’t even a fan of them at the time and even though I’m a fan now and enjoy all of their stuff, they are not the reason I play music, or horror related themed songs. Actually, Alice Cooper has been my inspiration for what I do, as well as Twisted Sister, Motley Crue and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family..,..and Cobra the enemy!!! Derek: This is a question that might be a bit personal. But what is wrong with religion? I mean really? What is your opinion on it, and with the Pope about to kick off, what would you do if you were offered the dead Pope’s job? Wednesday 13: Religion is okay, if you keep yours to yourself and don’t shove it down everyone’s throat. I live in the bible belt of North Carolina where there is a church on every corner and an I love Jesus bumper sticker on every car, so I’m basically surrounded by it. If people need religion to make themselves complete and happy, then I have no problem with it, just dont throw it on me. The Popes job looks boring as fuck, and I sure as fuck wouldn’t want it. Derek: (laughs) Awesome! Any lasting impressions you would like to leave folks with about Wednesday 13. Wednesday 13: I just want people to have fun when they see my show or listen to my music. If your looking for the answers to the worlds problems you’ve came to the wrong place. Derek: Last question! Is Megatron more powerful then Optimus Prime? (laughs) Wednesday 13: Of Course Megaton is more powerful. Heres a question for you…is Starscream from Transformers voice actually that of Cobra Commander?? Derek: Good question I have always thought that it was the same person, but was far to lazy to do the research. But great observation! Best of luck with things, and hope to see you spooking around New England soon. Wednesday 13: Thanks! ———————— REMEMBER: Wednesday 13 Transylvania 90210 in stores 11th of April Also to celebrate the release A Monster Masquerade Ball will be held on April wednesday 13 at the London Islington Academy gig. See what we’ve done there, clever eh. The person at the gig with the best ghoul/horror attire will win two tickets to the aftershow to meet the band, a signed CD/poster, plus one of Wednesday’s super-limited ‘Devil Doll’ puppets. So start roaming camden for your attire, and if you havent got a ticket for the london show yet CLICK HERE and snap to it.

We catch up with Still Remains singer TJ Miller and guitarist Jordan Whelan in this brief online discussion… RR: Hey TJ! Are you up in Canada now to start the US Roadrage dates? TJ: Nope. Still in Indianapolis. We will be on our way there today and arrive there tomorrow. Our first night playing was last night, and we’ll meet up with the other Roadrage bands in Canada to kick that tour off. RR: Cool. So… how was the show last night? TJ: It was awesome. Plus we have friends from there so it was a lot of fun. Jordan: Yeah the show was fun. The best part was the bowling though, we played in this old run down bowling alley – it was great! Weird really? RR: Bowling? Not while playing guitar, obviouslyí¢ä‰åŒ_? Jordan: Ha. Duckpin bowling. The pins are extra little, and you play with mini bowling balls. Back home I bowl maybe 3-4 times a week. RR: As long as you didn’t throw each other at the pins. What songs did you play for everyone? TJ: Let me think, off the new album: To Live And Die By Fire, Recovery, White Walls, The Worst Is Yet To Come, Bliss, I Can Revive Him With My Own Hands. We played 6 And 1 from our old EP too. RR: Awesome. Have you guys decided yet what song from ‘Of Love And Lunacy’ you’re going to shoot a video for? TJ: Yeah. It’ll be for The Worst Is Yet To Come. Not sure yet when we are filming it, maybe even before the New York show at CBGBs in a week! RR: You must be looking forward to the US Roadrage tour starting tomorrow. Or are you not so much a fan of touring? Jordan: I’m really excited. I love being on the road! REMEMBER: Still Remains release ‘Of Love And Lunacy’ Out May 2. Expect UK tour dates to be announced shortly.