Roadrunner U.S. are currently compiling the follow-up to last year’s ‘MTV2 Headbanger’s Ball’ double CD. Once again, it’s set to include 40 tracks from the coolest, cutting-edge heavy acts around and is due to be in stores late August. You can now watch ‘HBB’ in the UK, fronted by Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta, on MTV2.

The Download festival is over! Did you have a metal as fuck time? Send us in your tales from the festival… best emails may get a little something in the mail if you include your name and address. We warmed up for Download @ Donington by taking in London shows for 36 Crazyfists and Cradle Of Filth, both last Friday (June 4th). You can check out photos from both shows – 36 CRAZYFISTS HERE and CRADLE OF FILTH HERE. As for Download, don’t know about you lot, but with 8 of our bands playing over Saturday and Sunday (5 on the main stage), the staff here were running around like headless chickens all weekend! And yours truly was running in and out of dusty photo pits, while dodging flying bottles (always entertaining). One of our (many) highlights was watching Joey Jordison fill in for Lars with Metallica – was it worth spending over 2 hours getting out the car park after? You bet! We’ve posted up a few photos of the historic event in the Slipknot gallery, so do check ’em out. Did you know, in Germany after Download, Metallica presented Joey with a laminated set list from the night, with his name next to all the songs he played? True. Click on the below links to see our photos from the weekend. 36 CRAZYFISTS CRADLE OF FILTH DIRTY AMERICANS ILL NINO (and speaking of Ill Nino, did you know that the guys were in the UK til Wednesday, and took in the Drowning Pool, Soil, & Damage Plan show on Tuesday night in London? Cris even joined in for a few numbers!) HATEBREED MACHINE HEAD SLIPKNOT SOULFLY.

No, we are not talking about getting sunburnt (groan)… We are talking about the newly confirmed 8-date UK tour for our Ferret guys Scarlet, hitting these shores in August, with their buddies Hopesfall and Nora too. Pick up your tickets for the following dates: AUGUST 9 – LONDON UNDERWORLD 10 – LEEDS JOSEPH WELL 11 – MANCHESTER NIGHT AND DAY 13 – LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY 14 – NOTTINGHAM ROCK CITY 15 – SHEFFIELD CORPORATION 16 – OXFORD ZODIAC 17 – CARDIFF BARFLY

Come October, you will be able to catch both Slayer and Slipknot in the same night – on `The Unholy Alliance` tour. Confirmed dates are as follows: OCTOBER 3 Glasgow SECC 5 Birmingham NIA 6 Manchester MEN Arena 8 Cardiff International Arena 9 Hammersmith Apollo 10 Hammersmith Apollo There will be an opening act TBC and Slipknot will close all shows. Tickets go on sale this Wednesday!

No sooner was Download done, than the Metal Hammer Golden God Awards were upon us! Last night, at the Hackney Ocean in London, the second annual Hammer Awards took place, and we are pleased to announce that Killswitch Engage took home the Golden God for the Album Of The Year for ‘The End Of Heartache’. The band also performed a short 3-song set of ‘Fixation Of The Darkness’, ‘Rose Of Sharyn’, and ‘My Last Serenade’. Congratulations to the band, and many thanks to all of you out there who voted. The band celebrated at the Awards afterparty at the nearby Hackney Central, rubbing shoulders with the likes of fellow winners Slayer, Dimebag Darrell, Funeral For A Friend, In Flames, Him, and so on as well as Soil, Machine Head, Ill Nino, Hatebreed, God Forbid, Iron Maiden, The Brides Of Destruction, Shadows Fall, and more! We will post up the details shortly of where and when you can catch the Awards on TV!

ZAO’s newest, all original, full length album will come screaming to life July 2004. Entitled ‘The Funeral Of God’, the album is a dark trek through the mind of Dan Weyandt and the beliefs, convictions, frustrations and trials that have always made and been ZAO who they are. CLICK HERE for a free MP3 of ‘The Rising End (The First Prophecy)’.

Last night Three Inches Of Blood members departed Chicago, the scene of where they were recording their upcoming yet-to-be titled Roadrunner debut. The band had spent the last three months recording with producer Neil Kernon (Judas Priest, Queensryche, Cannibal Corpse, Hall & Oates, and Heavens Edge – among others – albums to his credit), laying down fifteen tracks in total, including new versions of previously recorded tracks “Destroy The Orks” and “Ride Dark Horse Ride.” Mixing of the album is slated to start in early July with Colin Richardson. Until then, expect the band to be doing a few Western Canadian dates over the next couple of weeks, starting June 17th in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison and Dave Lombardo from Slayer stepped in to save the day at yesterday’s Download Festival at Donington Park after Metallica found themselves drummerless. Reports hit back stage in the early evening that Metallica tub thumper Lars Ulrich had been hospitalised in Germany and would not be able to perform at the second annual Download festival. The remaining members of Metallica then set about auditioning anyone who could play drums to cover Ulrich’s vacant stool. Machine Head drummer Dave McClain, Hatebreed drummer Matt Byrne and Life Of Agony drummer Sal Abruscato (ex-Type O Negative) all jammed with James Hetfield, Robert Trujillo and Kirk Hammett before the trio settled on the drum line up of Jordison, Lombardo and Flemming Larsen whose í¢ä‰åñbeen Lars’s [drum] tech sinceí¢ä‰åŒ_ forever!í¢ä‰åŒ Metallica went on stage at 10pm and Hetfield announced: “We would like to apologise for being so late to start, but only three of us made it down here to Donington today. Unfortunately our drummer, Lars, is in hospital. We don’t know what’s wrong, but we wish him all the best. Some friends of ours are gonna help us out, so we’re going to make rock history tonight!í¢ä‰åŒ The set list was as follows: Battery (Dave Lombardo) The Four Horsemen (Dave Lombardo) For Whom The Bell Tolls (Joey Jordison) Creeping Death (Joey Jordison) Seek And Destroy (Joey Jordison) Fade To Black (Flemming Larsen) Wherever I May Roam (Joey Jordison) Last Caress (Joey Jordison) Sad But True (Joey Jordison) Nothing Else Matters (Joey Jordison) Enter Sandman (Joey Jordison) c: www.metalhammer.co.uk In other ‘Knot news, the 1-hour package that was filmed on the US Jagermeister tour, goes out every day this week on Scuzz TV at 9 p.m. from today. It’s called ‘Slipknot:Uncovered’ and also features footage of Fear Factory & Chimaira.

The latest releases in Roadrunner’s 2-for-the-price-of-1 classic, rare & deleted album series returns on July 12th, with the following: MERCYFUL FATE ‘DON’T BREAK THE OATH’ + ‘RETURN OF THE VAMPIRE’ THE 1984 Black Metal masterpiece from this seminal Danish band who inspired everyone from Metallica to Cradle Of Filth PLUS an album of rarities. ANNIHILATOR ‘SET THE WORLD ON FIRE’ + ‘LIVE IN COMMAND’ Finely-crafted melodic Heavy Metal featuring Coburn Pharr (ex-Omen vocals) and drummer extraordinaire Mike Mangini (ex-Extreme) PLUS all their classics recorded live in 1989. GORGUTS ‘CONSIDERED DEAD’ + ‘THE EROSION OF SANITY’ First 2 (early ’90’s) albums of intense, technical Death Metal from the Canadian quartet.

The latest low-price ‘Roadrage’ DVD sampler is currently being compiled for release on Aug 30th. Unsurprisingly titled ‘Roadrage 2004’, it will feature all the latest Roadrunner videos including Slipknot, Fear Factory, Killswitch Engage & Soulfly plus loads more.