Did you know that today, February 12th, is Mike Gitter’s birthday? Tiz true. Blasting out demos in our New York office, Mike’s the A&R man who brought the sounds of Ill Nino, Killswitch Engage, Glassjaw, Red Tape, Earth Crisis, & The Misfits to Roadrunner, not to mention working with numerous others as well! Happy Birthday… have a great day dude.

We’re happy to report that the mighty Killswitch Engage are confirmed to return to the UK for a slew of dates in April, supported by the awesome Poison The Well. You can catch the bands on the following dates: April 4 – Leeds Cockpit (0113 245 5570) 5 – Glasgow Garage (0870 220 1116) 6 – Manchester Academy 2 (0161 832 1111) 7 – Birmingham Academy 2 (0870 771 2000) 8 – Bristol Fire Station (0117 929 9008) 9 – London Mean Fiddler (0207 344 0044) 10 – Brighton Concorde 2 (01273 772 770) 11 – Camber Sands Kerrang! Weekender (0870 746 0123)

“The Making Of Rock” is the title of this story, and tis not a drug manufacturing reference. Actually, it refers to what the Dirty Americans are up to right now – in the studio recording their debut, an album that is sweet, pure rock. Since late January, the band has been holed up down in Memphis, Tennessee. What’s the word after the first couple weeks? Vocalist Myron gives up the following: “Everything is going so well, Paul (Ebersold, producer) couldn’t be more right and in tune with us. A lot of stuff is in pieces, we’re completing 4 songs a week. It took us 2 days (about 15hrs) to decide on the 16 songs we’re going to record. There were approximately 50 ideas and we had to eliminate some really good songs. We’ve been doing vocals the past two days and it’s so relaxed with Paul. Everyone seems to be hitting right on the head, the vibe and performance is so good. We’ve been going to a small pub down the street after recording that has drums/amps set up for freestyle blues jams. We sat in with different old musicians and also played as a group (we did “Ziggy Stardust” by Bowie, “4 Dead in Ohio” by Neil Young, and “Chico” from our new album). Stay cool, and we’ll keep you updated.” – Myron

Put Your Questions To Corey Taylor And Jim Root! Metal Hammer will be talking to Slipknot/Stone Sour men Corey Taylor and Jim Root next week and they wanna know what you’d like to ask ’em. Gotta question? You can send it in to Hammer HERE.

Machine Head live album ‘Hellalive’ is out March 10th… but you can hear it right now a whole month early! Together with Metal Hammer, we’re letting you hear the entire album online for free! All you have to do is click HERE. Enjoy… While you’re listening to that, why doncha enter our stonking Machine Head competition to win yourself a load of cool, rare, and signed stuff, including a very limited Ten Ton Hammer t-shirt from the Ten Ton Hammer show last year here in London. Yes? Check out the FREE SHIT page.

Now that Chimaira are holed up in deepest, darkest Lincolnshire, we’ve refused to give em directions back to London unless they write regular updates from the studio while they mix the new album with Colin Richardson. Obviously keen to not stay in Lincolnshire forever, we have the first of those reports (complete with photos!) already… report below, photos HERE. Cheers everyone! Rob here, checking in from Lincolnshire, England. To give you guys an idea of what Lincolnshire is like, I’ll start off by saying that I’m one of about 15-20 people actually living here in Lincolnshire. It’s pretty cool though- calm, quiet, and comfortable. The weather is gloomy and cool, and a bit like Cleveland. Yesterday (Sunday), marked the actual start of the mixing process. Colin basically gave each song a thorough listen to give himself a better feel for what he’d be dealing with. I caught him banging his head and playing air drums, so that was cool. Today he’s trying to bring the basic tones from the recording to the table, and then we’ll go from there. As for tonight, I’m sure we’ll end up at the local pub again, which seems to be the height of our “night life”. Keep an eye out for some pictures I recently took of beautiful metropolitan downtown Lincolnshire, and possibly a video clip or two. See you all soon. As for the band’s first night in the UK, out on the town in London… we can tell you that after a leisurely dinner and a few sly beverages, the guys hit local spots Garlic n’ Shots & the Cro Bar until the early hours with a couple RR UK people in tow. The guys even slammin’ one of the most evil shots of all, the Blood Shot (from Garlic n’ Shots) and surviving. “Fuckin’ bloody fun, as you’d say!” mused Mark in the aftermath!

Stone Sour is currently getting elbow deep on their first ever European tour… Whilst they are touring, you can still see them. Check out our Stone Sour VIDEO section for the band’s latest piece to film, the video for “Inhale.” On a side note, do check it out…very cool video with some very classic band shots. Enjoy.

Earlier this morning, one half of the band Chimaira touched down at Heathrow airport near London (vocalist Mark Hunter, guitarist Rob Arnold, and bassist Jim LaMarca). Their mission: along with Colin Richardson, to mix the upcoming The Impossibility Of Reason album. Tomorrow (Feb 8), after a one night stay in London, the three will head to the town of Lincolnshire, where Colin conducts his business. So, following a quick check in at their hotel (well, maybe not too quick, Marks tells us it took 15 minutes to figure out how to flush the toilet), the three lads joined us here in the Roadrunner UK office. After meeting all the staff (grand total: 7), getting food, and pilfering the office for promo items and CDs (not necessarily in that order), the guys hooked up online via the very computer I’m typing on for a quick chat with Chris from our New York office. Roadrunner: Most memorable moment from the flight? Jim (with a grin): The flight attendants…they were pretty cute. note: they flew United Airlines Roadrunner: What was the first thing a local told you that you could not understand? not surprisingly, apparently it was the first person they spoke with… Mark: When we got off the plane trying to find the subway (He means the Tube, folks) we couldn’t understand the guy we asked for directions…so he ended up saying ‘just follow me.’ Roadrunner: What’s the weather situation? No need to answer if going to say ‘dreary and rainy.’ Mark: It’s warmer than Cleveland right now – about 30 degrees warmer. Roadrunner: First meal whilst in town? No need to answer if going to say ‘fish & chips.’ Mark: We had Greek food. Roadrunner: When do you start making the trip to Lincolnshire? Mark: Tomorrow at 2:00. Plans to spend the afternoon taking in the sights of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and Tower Records Piccadilly have been scrapped in favour of sleeping back at the hotel… the previously energetic Chimaira dudes are fading fast. Call from Mark 15 mins later from hotel: I’m all ready for bed. But call me later before you leave to come over here. I’ll make sure I’m up and dressed. Er, you might need to call a couple times… A night on the town with Roadrunner UK to look forward to then. While they sleep, we’re belting out the new Chimaira tunes they left us with… m/(–)m/

If you live near Springfield, Massachusetts(where?) you are now officially a lucky person. On February 19th, Killswitch Engage are set to takeover the Fat Cat for an all ages $5 show. Why are we mentioning this US show on the Roadrunner UK website? Killswitch Engage will be filming a brand new live video for the song ‘Fixation On The Darkness’ off their stonking album ‘Alive Or Just Breathing?’ at that particular show. If only that ocean was a little bit smaller…

The mighty Killswitch Engage have been confirmed to appear at this year’s Kerrang! Weekender, taking place at the Pontins Camber Sands holiday camp from April 11-13. KsE will headline the second stage on April 11th. Also confirmed to appear over the weekend are Glassjaw and CapDown, and further bands will be announced. Tickets are on sale now from www.kerrang.com or by calling 08707 460123 (credit cards) and cost 퉌£89 for the weekend. If last year’s Weekender featuring Ill Nino is anything to go by, it’ll be a weekend not to be missed!