Machine Head, from their world-storming album The Blackening, bring you the first video from the record, “Aesthetics of Hate”.

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SHADOWS FALL frontman Brian Fair spoke to Derek Carey of Rock Is Life recently about all things SHADOWS FALL. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Rock Is Life: What does the future of touring look like for SHADOWS FALL?

Brian Fair: Right after this, I think this tour we get home like May 9th from this tour, we're going to head to Europe to do some festivals including the Download festival in the U.K. and a few other ones, we'll be there for about two weeks I think, two or three weeks. And then this summer we're going to be doing a big full-on tour [rumored to be Sounds of the Underground — Ed.] that we can't quite announce yet but it's getting worked out right now. But it's going to be the whole U.S. and we'll be able to play a longer set which is cool. And then after that it's either do another U.S. tour or go to Europe for a full tour. We're not sure yet, we're actually making that decision now. And I think around Christmas we're trying to get around Japan and Australia.

Rock Is Life: The tour you just mentioned, would it be a solid tour or more like a festival-type tour?

Brian Fair: Yeah, more of a package type of thing but we'll be able to play a longer set, so it's cool. But all the business side shit is still getting figured out.

Rock Is Life: Recording the new album, how was it? Was it difficult or did everything seem to just flow smoothly?

Brian Fair: It flowed pretty smoothly. For us, this time we spent a lot of time at home, usually we would tour, take a few weeks off and then go right in the studio and then go right back on the road, but this time we were just like, “Let's clear the whole year,” and we really wrote, and re-wrote, and re-wrote, and re-wrote and that's where the most time was spent. And by the time we hit the studio we were really well rehearsed, we had written everything, we worked everything out, so once we got there it was real smooth. But leading up to it was a lot of work. And I was glad we did it that way. Because also with studios costing what they do, you don't want to be wasting time there. So we went in really well prepared. And working with Nick Raskulinecz was awesome. He's the kind of guy who, even though your there for 12 hours a day you don't feel like your killing yourself. He keeps the vibe real loose and fun, and he's like, “Dude, we're playing heavy metal, it's fun,” you know?

Rock Is Life: Do you feel as though you have progressed since “War Within”?

Brian Fair: Definitely. I think this album is a pretty big step forward, and just not even necessarily forward but just in a new direction. We never want to kind of repeat ourselves and there was a pretty big step between “Of One Blood” [and] “The Art of Balance”, then “The Art of Balance” [and] “War Within”, so this one I think we just focused more on the songwriting and on really making every part make sense, and trying not necessarily to leave things out but make sure everything was there for a reason not just like, “Alright, we got this great riff, let's shove it in the middle.” It had to really make sense. And that's usually the hardest part because you can have like a million riffs but that doesn't mean you have a good song. And that's where I think we stepped up the most on this one. And also we tried some new stuff vocally; I and Matt did a lot of playing off each others voices and things like that. We used Matt's voice to its full potential I think finally too, and Matt's a great singer so we really wanted to have moments where we could use that.

Rock Is Life: Would you say “Threads of Life” is more technical than “War Within”?

Brian Fair: You know, it probably depends on the song. There are some crazy technical moments, say like the song “Final Call”; it's seven minutes long, has a 32-bar solo and is probably one of the more crazier straight up shredding that we have done in a while. But then you have a song like “Venomous” that is just straight up rock n' roll and is real, not simple but just straight forward. For us, the technical side is always going to be there but we always want it to be within a frame work that makes sense, you know? We're definitely not like a prog band, we're definitely more of a straight forward metal band but there's always going to be those crazy off time parts and shit. Even the first single “Redemption” has that whole weird off time breakdown, so it's always going to be there. I don't know if it would be more or less.

Rock Is Life: You guys have played both big and small stages, which do you prefer?

Brian Fair: Clubs are great for energy and the excitement, you know like your right there and the kids can sing along and feel more part of the show, and that's really what I grew up more on was going to hardcore shows or punk rock shows and sometimes there wasn't even stages and shit, so that's more what I'm used to. But the arena shows you can't replace that energy when there are fifteen, twenty thousand people, its nuts. But it is weird because you do something like Ozzfest on the main stage and there are seats. So it's not going to be as crazy as it is when you do second stage because people can't physically move around as much. So it definitely takes away some of the energy, but when you finish a song and you hear the crowd roar your like, “Wow, that's pretty awesome.” I really like both, but I'm more used to the clubs.

Read the entire interview at www.rock-is-life.com.

The brand new SHADOWS FALL album 'Threads of Life' is out in the shops now – so go get a copy!

Cambridge Evening News recently conducted the following interview with CRADLE OF FILTH frontman Dani Filth:

Cambridge Evening News: There's always been a theatrical side to CRADLE OF FILTH — where does the inspiration for that come from?

Dani: The “War of the Worlds” musical is one of my favorite records and recently I was approached by Jeff Wayne to be in a new production. I couldn't do it in the end, mainly because we're so busy. That album is very influential to me and encapsulates a story and has a sense of drama and magnetism about it. It's something we've endeavoured to replicate with albums like “Cruelty and the Beast” and “Damnation and a Day” which was based on Milton's “Paradise Lost”. That's what CRADLE OF FILTH is all about.

Cambridge Evening News: On stage, you're a scary looking bunch. How much of that is part of the act?

Dani: People are often surprised by how well mannered and well spoken we are when they meet us but on the other hand we do sometimes get out of the proverbial grave on the wrong side and want to stamp our feet and swear a bit.

Cambridge Evening News: You've been criticised by some religious types for the supposedly Satanic nature of your music — how do you feel about that?

Dani: People call it Satanic but they call everything Satanic that they don't understand. Satan is just a scarecrow to stop people getting interested in truer, older religions. I think people would been more shocked to see me with short hair and a Victorian suit doing War of the Worldsthan breathing fire and slaughtering a goat as they all presume I do.

Cambridge Evening News: What do you really think about religion?

Dani: We're more fascinated by it than anything. I have a house of India which is somewhere to escape to. I'm quite into borrowing attributes of Hinduism and paganism other things like that. Borrowing bits from every religion makes sense to me. Every man and woman is unique in their own right so their belief systems should be as well, they shouldn't be told what to believe in. It obviously isn't as simple as Catholicism which is black and white and if you eat two more cookies than you should do then you go to hell. It's a ridiculous, childish system that millions of people bought into.

Hatebreed prove again how amazing they are live, have a look-see at this review from their gig at 'The Zodiac' in Oxford on 22.04.07 – Planet-Loud

XFM Rock Show – 104.9 in London, 97.7 in Manchester, nationally on DAB, Sky and Cable (Sun at 10pm)

This week, XFM brings you an interview with 36 Crazyfists, Saosin from California are in session ahead of their first Download appearance this year and Linkin Park Vs Dimmu Borgir on the Face-Off where you can vote for the song you prefer at 11.30. There's also music from The Wildhearts, Cradle Of Filth, Ozzy, Good Charlotte, Fall Of Troy, Devin Townsend, Trivium and more.

Whilst recently on tour here, we caught up with Within Temptation guitarist Ruud Jolie for a quick chat.

Courtesy of quick-fingered Oli Walkers, we have some brilliant live snaps of Cradle Of Filth doing what they do best live on stage in Peterborough last week – head on over to the COF Photo Gallery to have a peek.

If you're fast, you can still catch Cradle Of Filth on their present UK tour – head on over to the Tour Page to get your mits on some tickets!

While performing in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on December 7, 1990 as part of a North American tour also featuring SEPULTURA and SADUS, legendary Florida death metallers OBITUARY used unauthorized pyrotechnics on stage during their classic song 'Til Death'. The flash pot device used to contain the pyrotechnic effect malfunctioned and a huge explosion was set off on stage. Part of the drum riser disintegrated and Donald Tardy's drums caught on fire.

Former BROKEN HOPE guitarist Jeremy Wagner (now in LUPARA) caught the action with his camera and posted it at YouTube.

(NOTE: The explosion can be seen around the 50-second mark).

Commented Wagner: “When I was in BROKEN HOPE, we got a chance to open for our heroes in OBITUARY. OBITUARY was on a Roadrunner tour with labelmates SEPULTURA and SADUS. The tag-line for their tour was 'Some Tours Were Meant to Stay Underground'. BROKEN HOPE opened the show as then unsigned, local talent. The show was in Milwaukee, WI on Friday, December 7th, 1990.

“When OBITUARY was about to go on, I set my video-camera up on a tripod in the balcony of the Eagles Ballroom to record them. As the camera recorded, I went downstairs and watched the OBITUARY show from the side of the stage.

“During the set, OBITUARY used some unauthorized pyro on stage during their classic song 'Til Death'. The pyro pot malfunctioned and exploded like a nuclear bomb on stage. I remember hearing an ear-splitting detonation, then feeling a massive wave of pure heat and being showered with splinters of wood from the drum-riser. A section of the riser flew over the crowd and landed on the light-board. Donald Tardy's bass-drum caught on fire, and I think Frank Watkins [bass] caught some shrapnel in his back. It was insane. It's amazing that OBITUARY just kept playing and that no one was killed! If you watch the video in slow-motion, you will see the screen 'white-out' from the explosion… that's how big this was.”

In the May 2007 issue of Decibel magazine, which includes an article on OBITUARY's 1990 “Cause of Death” album as part of the magazine's ongoing “Hall of Fame” feature, the members of OBITUARY discuss the incident in detail:

James Murphy (guitar): “One day, it was at the Eagles Hall [in Milwaukee], I think we had been told not to do pyro, and so [Big Daddy, our roadie] was just like, 'The hell with that, gonna do it anyway.' This was a place that [had] huge ceilings. We had 30 feet to the ceiling. And we were 20 feet to any wall. This stage was huge.”

Frank Watkins (bass): “What we didn't really calculate on was that some of the people that we brought to put it all together, some of Big Daddy's buddies, were drunks and idiots, and they left some of the gaffer tape on top of the pipes that shot the flames up. So when Big Daddy ignited everything, everything instead of shooting up imploded down and the stage completely blew up and stuff went flying.”

James Murphy: “I think it knocked Donald off his drum stool. It threw wood out into the crowd, like jagged, sharp pieces of wood everywhere. I saw a piece fly over the crowd's head and land behind the soundboard. I got shoved forward, and I thought it was just a concussion at first, but it hurt really bad. And I turned around and there was a piece of wood laying right behind me. And it was completely sharp and pointed on one end. And someone said, 'That piece of wood hit you flat across your back, dude. I thought you were going down.' It hurt really bad and I was deafened, but we actually continued playing and finished the set. If that piece of wood had spun around, that sharp point certainly could have killed me.”