Roadrunner releases a brand new ‘Download 2004’ CD compilation on May 28th exclusively through selected HMV stores. You can’t buy it, but can get it absolutely FREE if you purchase 2 Roadrunner CD’s from a range of over 50 titles priced at just 퉌£6.99 and 퉌£8.99. They include the latest releases from 36 Crazyfists, Fear Factory, Hatebreed, Chimaira & Soulfly as well as classic albums from Slipknot, Machine Head & Sepultura. The full tracklisting of ‘Download 2004’ is as follows: 1.Slipknot ‘Pulse Of The Maggots’ 2.Killswitch Engage – ‘Rose Of Sharyn’ 3.Fear Factory ‘Cyberwaste’ 4.Soulfly ‘Prophecy’ 5.36 Crazyfists ‘The Heart And The Shape’ 6.Red Tape ‘Stalingrad’ 7.Machine Head – ‘Bite The Bullet’ 8.Chimaira ‘Pure Hatred’ 9.Every Time I Die ‘Ebolorama’ 10.Scarlet ‘Untitled’ 11.Three Inches Of Blood ‘Deadly Sinners (Demo)’* 12.DevilDriver ‘Digging Up The Corpses’* 13.Ill Nino ‘I’ll Find A Way’* 14.Hatebreed ‘This Is Now’ 15.Stone Sour ‘Inhale’ 16.Murderdolls ‘Love At First Fright’ 17.Dirty Americans ‘No Rest’ 18.Machine Head ‘Imperium (video)’* – full-length uncensored version. * = previously unreleased. Here is the full list of participating HMV stores: ABERDEEN BASILDON BELFAST BIRMINGHAM (BULLRING) BIRMINGHAM (HIGH ST) BLACKPOOL BRADFORD BRIGHTON (CHURCHILL) BROMLEY CAMBRIDGE CANTERBURY CHELTENHAM CHESTER COLCHESTER CROYDON DONCASTER EAST KILBRIDE EDINBURGH (OCEAN) EDINBURGH (PRINCES ST) FORT KINAIRD GATESHEAD GLASGOW (ARGYLE) GLASGOW (BRAEHEAD) GRIMSBY GUILDFORD HANLEY HULL KINGSTON LEEDS LEEDS (WHITE ROSE) LIVERPOOL LONDON (360 OXFORD ST) LONDON (OXFORD CIRCUS) LONDON (TROCADERO) MANCHESTER (MARKET ST) MERRY HILL MIDDLESBROUGH MILTON KEYNES NEWCASTLE NORTHAMPTON NORWICH NOTTINGHAM (LISTERGATE) NOTTINGHAM (VICTORIA) OXFORD PORTSMOUTH PRESTON READING SHEFFIELD (HIGH ST) SHEFFIELD (MEADOWHALL) SOUTHAMPTON SPEKE PARK SUNDERLAND SWANSEA THE FORT THURROCK TRAFFORD CENTRE UXBRIDGE WATFORD YORK

Please note that the previously announced Ill Nino/Life Of Agony show on June 7th in London is no longer happening. The band will instead be headlining the London Mean Fiddler on Tuesday July 6th. Originally bought tickets should still be valid for the rearranged date but please contact your ticket seller to confirm.

It is the end of the day, but Before I Forget, let me tell you where to check you some shit hot new Slipknot photos. Over at the Radio 1 website, the good folks there have posted up a bunch of shots from the recent Virgin instore and the special Radio 1 session the guys filmed. Very worth looking at… see them HERE. Also, tune in from 8-10pm tonight to XFM radio and listen out for this! Zane is going to play a short blast of every track on the new Slipknot album again tonight and play ‘Circle’ in full (he played The Blister Exists on Tuesday and Duality Live yesterday). And he is also going to give away a couple of t-shirts, posters, stickers etc to round off their Album Of The Week feature so listen in and you could get yourself some cool prizes too! Yes, Album Of The Week. Good shit, no? We might as well also tell you that Duality has also been promoted from the C2 list to the lots-of-plays A list over at MTV2 as well. Make sure you check them out and share your appreciation!

Have you seen it yet? Why are we talking of course about the latest video from the almighty Hatebreed! Called, ‘Live For This’, and taken from ‘The Rise Of Brutality’ you can watch it HERE.

So, from time to time we post up a note on birthdays, when we hear about ’em. Well there ain’t no little birdies round this RR office, but a little rock chick just told us today is the birthday of Mark Hunter from Chimaira. Mark, that big 3-0 is approachng fast eh buddy? Hope you have a great day from all here at RR UK.

Chimaira recently managed to find the time to shot a new video for ‘Power Trip’, in San Francisco. Filmed in a warehouse, Lex Halaby was directing. In other news, the title of Chimaira’s upcoming DVD is “The Dehumanizing Process” – currently scheduled for a late fall/early winter release. What will it contain? The band elaborates… “The DVD will contain pretty much anything and everything you ever wanted to know and see regarding Chimaira! From early recording sessions, to live performances, videos, and of course all the backstage antics you could possibly ask for. Besides all of the fun stuff, you will see things most bands won’t let you. The truth about what it is like to be in a signed band. The DVD will also contain a remastered (Not re-recorded) EP titled “This Present Darkness”. For those of you new to Chimaira. This is the EP that has been out of print for 3 years and is Chimaira’s first release. The tracklisting for “This Present Darkness” is as follows: This Present Darkness Painting The White To Grey Divination Sphere Lend A Hand Empty Silence Gag* Refuse To See* *=not on original release. Recorded around same time frame.”

From MusicOMH.com: “Slipknot + My Ruin @ Astoria, London, 24 May 2004 A while ago I saw Limp Bizkit at Brixton Academy, and supporting were a band called The Tarantinos. Their set consisted of cover versions from the Tarantino films – good for pubs, exceedingly bad for a gig of that nature. It was the perfect example of wrong band, wrong time: boos, missiles and the band retreating from the front of the stage, all ensued. In contrast, My Ruin fitted the “support act” bill perfectly tonight. Tairrie B’s hermaphrodite vocals roaring over chunky bass and guitars were just what the crowd needed. Although the initial enthusiastic mosh pit died down rapidly, people were left well warmed up for the main feature… …The crowd had to wait for over an hour before Slipknot squeezed onto the stage (bit too fashionably late guys). Nevertheless, this was an intense affair – the physical pounding of the music was relentless, but oh so welcome. Four from the new album – The Blister Exists, Three Nil, Duality and Pulse Of The Maggots were aired. They were all strong, but with the exception of Duality, a non-knowledgeable crowd was left listening rather than joining in. Some older songs interspersed (Sic, Disaster Piece, Left Behind) kept the attention. This was most definitely a hot one. The pits were working well at the back, with a large crush at the front creating near Death Valley temperatures. However, the floor was like an ice rink: please Astoria, put some grippier floor down, 퀌æ la Brixton Academy – you owe it to the kiddies, they need to learn to mosh without falling over… The second half of the gig consisted purely of favourites, but then Slipknot…know exactly which songs please the crowd. Hence, My Plague, Wait And Bleed, The Heretic Anthem, Spit It Out (including the neat trick of getting most of the Astoria to sit down before the crescendo), People = S**t, and the eternal, favourite finale of Surfacing. The sound throughout did tend to drown some of the guitars’ grinding and lead riffs, and the band’s stage presence seemed overly “managed”, although with brief talks to the crowd, Corey Taylor did repeat his enthusiasm for London and this size of gig (a much better way to see them than big outdoor festivals). Sheer exhaustion of keeping up with the consistent aural battering somewhat muted the crowd in terms of response but hey, this is Slipknot, not Katie Melua – everyone knew what they wanted, Slipknot delivered, and left the punters well sated. – Ian Robinson” You can see pics of the gig HERE.

“The temperature, I could swear, toward the end of the show reached – Fahrenheit 524! It ain’t as hot as the ‘F-9/11’ but it is way past the degree of book burning. [F-451 is the temperature when paper ignites – physics lesson over.] But, getting onstage took Slipknot a whole song’s playback and an industrial intro whilst ovations commenced the moment the backdrop logo was switched on! Arriving individually in their newly refashioned look, all black attire, the Des Moines nonet appear more menacing than usual. [A SWAT of brutality?] The de-masked vacation over, Clown is back to his climbing the percussions, ‘mike-wanking’ and head banging that would put many a lesser man into a neck brace. The ‘Nose’ gets upturned, DJ is as mad as a hatter, guitarists at ready for ‘Iowa Guitar-saw Massacre’í¢ä‰åŒ_ Masks have gotten more apocalyptic, as to express the members’ maturing as much as the state of the world’s mind. New insignia is on the ‘uniforms” sleeves and backs, that is also displayed on the drum kit and a couple of stage panels [hiding amps], encircled in nonagons. Stylistic exhibition of the album ‘Vol.3: (The Subliminal Verses]’ is re-tuned to the habitual bombardment of senses. The ‘maggots’ are well up for it and readily lapping it up: they not only sing the favourites but are also word-perfect on the current single, ‘Duality’. Most of the new songs, ‘The Blister Exists’, ‘Pulse of The Maggots’ and the humongous ‘Three Nil’, are cheered on but there are few exceptions – such as ‘The Nameless’ – where its intricate arrangement finds fans a tad baffled. It is the only a moment when band and its hardcore support appear not to mental the same metal plateau. It also becomes even more apparent live, the fact that Rick Ruben incorporated different individual influences to broaden the band’s metallurgist vocabulary. Thus, ‘Circle’ [and ‘Prelude 3.0’ to an extent], sound like a heavier version of Alice In Chains, one of singer Corey Taylor’s fave outfits. This thrice of relative respite is only an interlude to more moshing, power, volume, chaos, melody, action! Returning to this club – the place of their London debut in 1999 – on the day of the third album’s release, Slipknot brought their arena sound to an intimate level. It practically re- proved that this lot is not a ‘comedy-rock’ act [a cross between Kiss and Spinal Tap?] but a veritable metal engine that can destroy at will. All the speculation [among the ‘Numbers’ as well] of ‘Vol.3’ being the band’s final album should cease now because we’d loose true metal giants! And we all know how few there are leftí¢ä‰åŒ_ Slipknot detonated another sonic barrage last night! Rilla-thrilla-killa, thought the dehydrated critic, queuing for another after-show party beer. [No drink-driving, we hope – Ed. Chief. Nope – tubing reporter.] The good news is that this brilliant show was taped for a future DVD release, so no despair required. SashaS” Taken from www.deo2.com Click HERE for photos…

And the reviews keep rolling in… This time, Sasha from Deo2.com gives his two cents on Slipknot’s latest offering… “Slipknot: sonic expended sound, great album, new masks! There really was a serious doubt for a while that this album, the Slipknot’s third, might never get recorded. Solo projects and few other issues among the members appeared to be heading no place in particular. Then, the report started coming out that nothing was being recorded and it took the band a good month to get going. Well, the nine men crew have resolved whatever issues there might have been and made an album that is certainly – not only their best but probably – one of the finest metal albums you’ll hear this year. Recorded with Rick Ruben, it is a huge leap forward for the band and a real attempt to push the genre into new and interesting directions. Now, nine new masks are ready for Slipknot to unleash their biggest, baddest and best album yet: ‘Vol.3 (The Subliminal Verses)’. There are immense tracks here that can tear your world apart, there are also darker moments that will surprise you, and one comes wrapped in a Gothic-cloak, ‘Circle’ [that has a twisted ending], whilst the other one is more industrial ‘The Virus of Life’. Long before that, the opening ‘Prelude 3.0’ roars in on a haunting, sombre and restrained note that powerfully shocks and delights in equal dosage. There is more familiar territory being visited on ‘The Blister Exists’, ‘Duality’, ‘Opium Of The People’, ‘Before I Forget’ but even these sound cleaner, punchier and more brutal. There is savagery on ‘Pulse Of The Magotts’, chaos reigns on ‘Three Nil’, ‘The Nameless’ is the band’s finest moment to date with its startling dynamicsí¢ä‰åŒ_ Almost an hour of storm trooping highlights ends with a doom-laden minimalism of ‘Danger – Keep Away’. The whole album sounds sharper [than before], more focused and ready to take over the world. ‘Vol.3: (The Subliminal Verses)’ will please fans and force doubters to revise their fixed views of this mighty machine. Slipknot have always been a great band but have now made an album to back it up. Masterpiece? Near enough. 9/10 [The Limited Edition CD contains an online access key that unlocks an unreleased studio track, downloads, mixing console, exclusive video footage, access to the band, competitions and more from the band’s website.] * Slipknot play ONE-OFF show tonight, 24 May 2004, at Astoria, London SashaS 24-5-2004″

If you’d have ventured out to Oxford Street, London last night you would have been greeted by over 2000 maggots, hungry to meet their idols Slipknot. Last night, at the stroke of Midnight, Virgin opened it’s doors to start selling Vol 3: (The Subliminal Verses) as the day turned from the 23rd to the 24th of May, and Slipknot themselves were in attendance to sign copies (of which over 1,000 were sold in under 3 hours) for their fans. Many maggots slept on the streets in order to guarantee meeting their idols (with some getting there as early as Friday night) and as you walked down the queue, many a mask and boiler suit could be seen. Tonight, Slipknot play the London Astoria in what is being billed as the gig of the year! To see pics of last nights festivities, go HERE