Calling all Murderdolls & Ill Nino fans! Way back in August, when we had Acey, Cristian, and Laz over here for the Kerrang! Awards we sent them off into the night with a disposable camera each… and at long last, we have all their photos back. Perhaps there’s even a new Murderdoll side project underway… check out the photo of Acey with Meg from The White Stripes & Lars of Metallica – and even Hanoi Rocks! Mingling with the fans as always Acey was busy snapping, so we’ve immortalised some of you in the Murderdolls gallery too.. so if Acey took your photo, look out for yourself! Not to mention photos of Ill Nino with Linkin Park, Good Charlotte, Sum 41, System Of A Down, Robert Flynn of Machine Head, Lars of Metallica, The Darkness and more! Talk about a little rock ‘n’ roll socialising. Check out all their photos HERE and HERE.

Head on over to the MACHINE HEAD artist section… click on the PRESS link… check out several absolutely awesome, killer reviews of the new Through The Ashes Of Empires album, out on Monday.

Have you checked out the Ask The Artist section today? We’ve just posted up your questions, and Spineshank’s Jonny Santos’ answers… and put Ill Nino’s front man Cristian Machado up as the next target.

After the first FIVE dates of their first US tour run in support of The Long Road, Nickelback is finally outta (don’t mess with) Texas…you can tour all of Japan and not play that many shows… Well, thanks to one devoted Nickelback fan we know down in Texas, one who traveled around and caught 3 of Nickelback’s first 5 shows in (don’t mess with) Texas, we have some photos to share. Eight new ones are up in Nickelback’s PHOTO GALLERY now, and the promise of more pics from said person – MsHoneyBuns – on the way. Oh, and she gives a line on the new Nickelback show: “I love the new stage set up and more pyros, somehow it just suits them.” Be sure to check out some more official photoshoot shots just posted too. note: To those of you going to see Nickelback live in the UK in December, make sure to check out their new album The Long Road first…word is the band’s set is almost half new songs.

Do you want some cool FREE STUFF? And a good night out?? Of course you do!! Get yourself and your mates down to one of the below Machine Head & DevilDriver club nights! You can get your mits on brand new Machine Head t-shirts, Roadrage promo t-shirts, New Shit 7 CD samplers, Machine Head 3-track samplers, Jagermeister shot glasses, DevilDriver & Machine Head posters, stickers, and a goody bag! London ‘Electric Ballroom’ 24/10 Plymouth ‘Voodoo Lounge’ 29/10 Glasgow ‘New Flesh’ 29/10 Cambridge ‘Church Of Noise’ 30/10 Bristol ‘Bier Keller’ 31/10 Birmingham ‘Edwards No. 8’ 31/10 Nottingham ‘Rock City’ 1/11 Manchester ‘Rock Kitchen’ 1/11 Newcastle ‘Rock at the Arena’ 1/11 Portsmouth ‘Southsea Rocks’ 1/11

Straight from the brand new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale next Wednesday, comes this awesome Machine Head review of new album ‘Through The Ashes Of Empires’. Be sure to pick up the new issue for Hammer also have a special in depth feature with Robert Flynn. MACHINE HEAD THROUGH THE ASHES OF EMPIRES Back to the old skool for Robb Flynn and Co.! 1994 – Machine Head turn the metal world on its head with the brutal debut album ‘Burn My Eyes’, a record that reassembled the hoary thrash clich퀌©s into a fiercely combative modern form. 2003 – for the first time since that debut, Machine Head deliver an album worthy of their talent – and of mainman Robert Flynn’s fighting spirit. Yep, it’s taken nearly a decade – and three interim studio albums – but at long last the Bay Area bangers have reclaimed lost ground, found their focus and taken a massive stride towards re-establishing themselves as one of the planet’s pre-eminent metal masters. ‘Through The Ashes Of Empires’ is a mighty record, a tribute the unshakable belief of Flynn and his current team, including new guitarist Phil Demmel. It’s angry, confrontational, ferocious, yet also displays an appropriate subtlety when required. Fuelled by personal demons, Flynn delivers some of the most emotionally scarred vocals of his career to date – have Machine Head ever done a better song than ‘Left Unfinished’ wherein Flynn exorcises resentment about his real parents, while openly attesting love for his adopted mother and father. It’s both harrowing yet inspirational. And has the man ever expressed his character better than on ‘In The Presence Of My Enemies’, when he vows to protect his own – at whatever cost. The music is deadly, breathtaking and convincing. The songs are passionate and eloquent. The best album from Machine Head since ‘Burn My Eyes’? Definitely! The best album of their career? Possibly. This is inspirational metal. MALCOLM DOME [9] And it’s not just Metal Hammer, Rocksound awarded the album 8/10, and Total Guitar gave it 5/5! ‘Through The Ashes Of Empires’ is out on MONDAY.

We gave Ryan Peake of Nickelback 6 minutes to answer 6 questions. The six questions were all sent in by fans who’ve have emailed us – the Q & A’s are as follows… 1. You & Treana recently had a baby. First – congratulations! Second, has it changed your outlook at all? Do you feel any differently about Nickelback. Nickelback is still Nickelback. I just pack for one more person when I travel! 2. What’s the one thing you’ve been taught the most through being in the music business? Trust yourself. 3. What’s the coolest thing you’ve bought since Nickelback really took off? Lots of goodies for my home studio! 4. Do you get involved in the charity work your wife does at all? I help whenever she needs it. We also put on a charity auction with Nickelback to raise money for the ICA. [note: the ICA is the International Children’s Awareness charity. You can learn more about it HERE.] 5. Do you do more backing vocals on this album than on Silver Side Up? It’s about the same as the last… choosing the right harmonies was the main focus. 6. I heard there are 3 guitars in Someday. Why’s that, and who plays what? There are many different guitar tracks but I played the Gibson jumbo and Gretsch 12 string. Chad played the PRS. Many textures.

36 Crazyfists As you know, the recording of their second effort – titled A Snow Capped Romance – is complete. A few mix tweaks are currently happening. A partially mastered advance CD will be made shortly. There is going to be eleven tracks on this album…and if not mistaken, there are two other tracks from these sessions floating around. Road Ragers – Chimaira, Ill Nino, Spineshank These three bands are currently touring Europe together, Road Rage 2003. Did You Know? The show at Hof ter Lo in Antwerp, Belgium (Oct 5) was recorded (video & audio). No definitive plans as of yet for where/when this footage will surface, but there are a couple irons in the fire… And the show in Portsmouth, the first date of the Roadrage tour was also recorded, and footage from that can be seen on Kerrang! TV currently! Dirty Americans C’mon now, what do you REALLY know about REAL rock-n-roll? One of their new tracks is a song called “Strange Generation.” Currently, there is talk around these parts about doing of video for that there song. Though, if such the video happens, it will probably not be until early next year. Check out an MP3 in their music section. Killswitch Engage In one week’s time, they will official be touring the US on the first ever MTV 2 Headbangers Ball Tour, a tri-headline bill between them, Lamb Of God, and Shadows Fall. Though all such prep needed for touring is going on, the band is also writing and getting ready to record their follow-up to Alive Or Just Breathing. Expect them to be hitting the studio come early December, or thereabout. Red Tape Their debut album is complete, in the can, done. The title of the album, Radioactivist…and expect this explosive display of pure punk power to come your way in early 2004. The point of this update? Ahh, yes, the artwork for this bad boy is being done right NOW. Slipknot It’s real. Slipknot is in Cali right now recording a new album. The whole band – all nine members – living together, and recording where they are living. The man himself behind The Production Gospel According To Dave made a trip to the US west coast just last week, and could not stop saying enough good things upon his return. The focus. The fire. The band should be cutting guitars this week. Rick Rubin is producing this beast, and recording should be complete before the end of the year. Soulfly Word is they will be done recording 9 new songs by the end of this month…then Max will be heading to Serbia to record more. “They are motorin’,” tells the man behind The Production Gospel According To Dave. More info to follow shortly… THIS, is The Production Gospel According To Dave…you have been warned…phase II is upon us…resistance is futile…

To My Surprise is provoking reactions… provoking a 9.5 out of 10 reaction from Metal UK. The below taken from their recently posted album review…. do check out the whole piece. It’s comforting to know that, within this caricature of modern life we reside in presently, there are still such things as surprises. The plot can still be thick, the juice can effortlessly flow and the results can be spectacular. It’s almost an otherworldly thought expectations being royally shattered, in a day and age that respectfully cultivates woeful, depressing nu-metal outfits. Finding the difference and the revolution need not be speculative anymore: To My Surprise have docked, connected, and offloaded. Lodged next to his fellow comrades, Slipknot’s Shawn Crahan (a.k.a. The Clown) steps up to the plate with the most challenging of the three side projects spawned from The Knot. To file it under anything would be a crime, for ‘To My Surprise’ is a record that defies categorisation and labelling…… Read the whole review HERE.

The best Machine Head album since ‘Burn My Eyes’, ‘Through the Ashes Of Empires’ is finally released on Monday Oct 27th and will be available on CD (for around 퉌£11.99) & limited edition double CD (for around 퉌£13.99) from the following retailers: HMV – 퉌£2 off with your ‘Download 2003’ discount card. Order your FREE card here. VIRGIN MVC MUSIC ZONE OFFICIAL ‘ROADRAGE’ STORES – Free ‘New Shit’ sampler CD when you buy the album from one of these stores. In other Machine Head news, do you remember our massively hinting news story about October 17th at The Pound in San Francisco? Machine Head put on a little show under the name ‘Imperium’ playing a mix of old & new Head songs, plus a few covers! And thanks to Dirt Jr, you can see photos from the night HERE. Do check them out and the rest of his site over at www.dirtjunior.com.