Hot off the email from rad man…. I went to the Roadrage show in London last night and it was amazing. Chimaira were excellent and when Mark parted the crowds for his ‘metal moses’ thing the pits were brutal. I was right at the front for the rest of the show and Ill Nino were so good. The stage show was amazing with the three drummers at one point and How Can I Live and Liar were excellent. At the end of their set, Ahrue gave me his plectrum and I caught a drumstick from Danny. Spineshank were on last and they’re my favourite band of all time, and they didnt let me down. The best songs in their set were Synthetic and Beginning Of The End and when Jonny came into the crowd during Smothered it was crazy. At the end of the gig I managed to catch a plectrum from Rob as well. Basically, Roadrage was the best gig I’ve ever been to, and Spineshank were even better than they were when I saw them two years ago when they last played the Astoria. Cheers Roadrunner. And next year have Spineshank and Coal Chamber (if they havent broken up – I can’t work it out) with Soulfly as the Roadrage!

Always gonna be lots of rumours on the web about the new Slipknot record, how it is coming along, and what not. So we asked Joey to give us the insider scoop, the goddamn honest truth, the real low down. And here it is. What better place to make the new Slipknot record than an old abandoned mansion in the Hollywood hills, a place where my door will open at 9am every morning no matter what I put in front of it to stop it from happening. So here we are, all living together for very the first time in a couple of years and it feels like a family again. As far as the progress of the record thus far we have all the main tracks done and are in overdub mode currently. I know that all bands say that their “new” record is gonna be the best but in all sincerity this is gonna show all the new bands how it’s really done. We are comin’ back to reclaim the crown of the world’s most brutally honest and insane band. Twenty songs have been written for this record and that is something we haven’t done before, there is no settling for anything sub standard on this record….. I think the time away has only rekindled the spirit that we had in the beginning. Everything you’ve loved about us in in place and a shitload more……. sit tight cause the new bible is on it’s way….. we wont let you down…… Joey Jordison/Slipknot…. Hollywood Ca., Nov 5 2003

A little something for the weekend…. we’ve just uploaded not only the utterly awesome new video from Machine Head ‘Imperium’ (bound to become a classic), but also the special Roadrage Kerrang! TV package featuring live clips from UK shows as well as interview footage with Chimaira, Ill Nino, and Spineshank! Head over to VIDEOS.

Have you checked THIS out lately? Nickelback is touring the world in support of their latest release, THE LONG ROAD. To celebrate the band’s success and to help support its favourite charity, Nickelback is offering an exclusive selection of auctions for their biggest fans. Proceeds from the auctions will be donated to International Children’s Awareness (ICA Canada), which is preparing a large shipment of medical and educational supplies for people in West Africa. For more information on ICA, please visit its website at: http://www.icacanada.org What’s been up and is going up for grabs? Here’s a selection… * Autographed P.R.S. Guitar * Nickelback Set List and 8×10 Glossy, personally autographed * Ryan Peake’s t-shirt from the “Someday” video * THE HERALD, the actual newspaper prop from the “Someday” video * Autographed copy of a rare Japan-only release, Three Sided Coin * Nickelback’s entire catalog on CD – signed and personalized to you * Premium flyaway ticket package to see the band live in Europe * Premium flyaway ticket package to see the band live in Canada * Hang Out on Set of the next Video Shoot and more….

Type O Negative members Johnny Kelly and Kenny Hickey, along with Dust to Dust’s Rob Traynor, announce the name of their new band…SKYND. This name has been chosen to identify the collaboration of these three musicians. SKYND are currently in Traynor’s studio writing and recording material for their upcoming demo. Announcement of the name comes during the break of Type O Negative’s “Life Is Killing Me” U.S tour which featured Dust to Dust joining them for a handful of Tri-State shows with Lacuna Coil. SKYND should be making their live debut this winter in the New York area. “Can two assholes share a microphone without driving each other crazy?” asks Kenny prior to breaking into the Odd Couple theme. Current songs include “Numb”, “Broken Sky” and “Drown.” The bands official site skynd.com should be up in the next month or so. www.typeonegative.net

Type O Negative will be putting out a special CD + DVD package during 2004 combining ‘The Least Worst Of’ CD & the ‘After Dark’ DVD. Complete with an 8-page booklet and brilliant box, the whole package will retail for less than the price of the DVD on it’s own – bargain!

Hatebreed’s “The Rise Of Brutality” has shifted 32,515 copies in the USA in it’s first week of American release to debut at #30 on The Billboard 200 chart. The album was recorded at Planet Z studios in Massachusetts with producer Zeuss (Sworn Enemy, Shadows Fall) and was mixed at Armoury Studios in Vancouver, B.C. with Mike Fraser (Metallica, AC/DC). Hatebreed’s UK release is MONDAY NOV 10TH, and the UK version of the CD contains one bonus track and will retail for the stunningly low price of 퉌£9.99 from HMV, Virgin, MVC, Music Zone, and all official Roadrage stores. In other Hatebreed news, check out the band’s latest journal posting from the road HERE.

Metal UK caught up with Rob from Chimaira recently on the Roadrage tour…. Metal UK: To me it kind of sounds like you’ve been listening to a lot of Slayer records. That’s never a bad thing [laughs]. Were there a definite set of influences that you took on when you were making this album? Rob: Absolutely. I remember touring with them. Besides getting to play with them and hang out with them and watch them every night, I also took in thisí¢ä‰åŒ_standing on the side of the stage and watching Kerry King play every night was just huge for me, and just seeing the whole professionalism of their package and the band and everything, and just sitting there and watching thinking ‘what makes a Slayer song a Slayer song’ and ‘what made ’em write these parts’ and just analysing everything. I really put that into effect when I was focusing on my writing. Read the rest at Metal UK HERE.

You remember that awesome Machine Head Halloween competition we ran with Metal Hammer, RyanAir, and the Burlington Hotel in Dublin? A great time was had by all… and we just received this write up from our winner Steve White! Ok, don’t want to piss anyone off here or rub it in anyones faces (well maybe a little bit…) but I had such a unforgetable weekend that I had to say something! First off, the show was awesome. Couple of my faves missing (no Old or no From This Day) but that’s FAR from a complaint as they more than made up for it with the rest of the set. Take My Scars, Ten Ton Hammer, None But My Own (yeah!), Blood For Blood (FUCK YEAH!), Trephination (why haven’t they played this live before? It’s by far one of the best tracks on Supercharger) and a choice selection of highlights from the new album (Imperium IS going to be the new Davidian). And finishing with Block? Genius! The Band were very cool (yeah I know everyone knows that but I’m gonna say it anyway) and signed everything I bought along (lots – hey just be thankful I left the Digi’s, Singles, Vinyl and other random stuff behind or they’d have been signing all night!). Apologies if I looked a bit stunned by it all (Coz’ I was!). Still not convinced about Robb’s great face paint idea though (remind me again how I got talked into that?) and I have NO idea how the hell he got it off so quick because I nearly drowned trying to remove mine! And if you were there in Dublin and laughing at the pillock in the crowd with the red face then show some respect: It was me!!!! Anyways just like to say a big thank you and “Fuck Yeah!” to everyone at Roadrunner UK, RyanAir, The Burlington Hotel, and Metal Hammer for organising it, to the Band for being so cool (and letting me steal their beer), and finally a thank you to the Doorman at the Burlington Hotel for letting me back in with a very red face! Oh and apologies to the cleaners at the Hotel for the red (and flooded, oops…) bathroom I left for you and to my Girlfriend and everyone who knows me because their going to have to listen to me talk about this weekend for a VERY long time! Cheers! Steve White (A very lucky MH fan) If you haven’t yet, check out the PHOTOS.

A while back we asked you to send in your guitar-related questions for Acey of The Murderdolls. An online guitar clinic of sorts, if you will. Acey kindly took some time out to answer a whole bunch of your questions, and here is part TWO of Acey’s Guitar Clinic. 5. First off I just wanted to say they every time I’ve seen you live you guys have ruled. But my question was: when I listen to alot of bands like Killswitch Engage and Shadows Fall they all use this kind of ‘waah’ sound in their songs. Its not at all like the sound of a wah pedal, just writing it like ‘waah’ is the best way I can describe it. They use it alot at the end of a riff or in a solo. It’s really high up the neck as well, close to the 12th and 15th frets. It sort of sounds like it’s harmonics but you can hear them bend it sometimes so I doubt that it is. If you can help me great, if you haven’t understood any of what I’ve just said I don’t blame you, and thanks alot for your time. – Richard Richard- That is most likely a Whammy Pedal made by Digi Tech. The best example of this is Broken by Pantera…. I think it’s in that song….Tom Morello uses them alot too… anyfuck even if that isn’t the specific sound your talking about – that pedal is awesome! The other thing it could be is a forced or fake harmonic. Just listen to anything with Zakk Wylde and that’s the sound. This is done by hitting a string with your pick but letting it hit the side of your thumb a little bit. With some practice if you get them down you can jazz up any old lick. 6. What are the best type of strings to use? I play some pretty heavy stuff on my guitar but my strings always snap, I need to use a different type but I dont know what ones. – Stewart Well you could use heavier strings or it could be that the saddles on your bridge are not smooth enough. When you change strings next time take a look at the groove in the saddle – the part on the bridge that has a ‘v’ type notch. It it looks rather sharp have a guy at a shop file it down. Don’t do this yourself as if you file it down too much, you could fuck up the bridge completely. Otherwise, I use Dean Markley strings. For me they NEVER break and stay in tune very well. And lets face it… I’m not very nice to my strings…. 7. I’ve got a Les Paul standard guitar, and I’m really happy with the guitar, but I want to get a distorsion peddle, I’ve tried a few but im really confused about which one I should go for. I love the Murderdolls live sound, and I wondered if you could recommend a good one thats not too expensive. Thanks very much, Joanna Digi-Tech makes some awesome pedals. But Joey and I both use the overdrive of the Amp! This means turning the gain ALL THE WAY up. Sometimes you can’t get enough on a smaller amp so yea, a pedal is the way to go. Part THREE coming soon… Meanwhile, check out ROADTONES, and download yourself a polyphonic ringtone of The Murderdolls song I Love To Say Fuck – absolutely FREE for the first 50 people EVERY day!