Last month marked the release of two more 2 From The Vault offerings, Exhorder Slaughter in the Vatican / The Law and Pestilence Consuming Impulse / Testimony of the Ancients. For those of you who know about these acts, you know…for those that do not, here is some online research for you – both releases are reviewed in Lollipop magazine. Links to the reviews, and the first couple lines of each piece are as follows: Exhorder: “The name Exhorder strikes awe and intimidation into the hearts of true metal hordes everywhere. What, you never heard of ’em? Well then, now we know who the faithful and the come-latelys are. Y’all can keep your hipster metal (screamo), just pray that you don’t run into these REAL DEAL, Louisiana-bred lunatics in a dark alley. Formed in the mid-to-late ’80s, Exhorder are credited with starting the ‘Southern trendkill’ style of thash-hardcore-sludge insanity…” read full review HERE. Pestilence: “As part of the early-’90s jazz/death movement, Pestilence left behind four albums of pure progressive mindfuck that easily shames anything ‘technical’ today. It’s not nostalgia talking when I say that Pestilence remain one of the most underrated metal bands in history: It’s simply the truth. Like The Beatles of their genre, Pestilence never repeated themselves…” read full review HERE.

Ever visit Iowa? Well, if you are a visitor to this site, and you have been looking for a reason to go there, this is it… As told earlier this week, Slipknot will be shooting a new video later this month, and they need YOU to be in it. Well, the details are now known, and they are as follows: Who: All SLIPKNOT fans – ages 16 and over WHAT: Open auditions for maggots across the country to be a part of the filming of Slipknot’s new video, í¢ä‰åñDuality.í¢ä‰åŒ WHEN: Wednesday, March 24th, 12:00pm – 8:00pm CST (fans coming from out of state/abroad or those who are otherwise unable to attend casting call must call Kathy at 001-515-770-6539 on Tues March 23rd btw 9am-5pm CST) WHERE: Fairfield Inn & Suites – 7225 Vista (I-80 & 74th St. in West Des Moines) – Jordan Creek Room PLEASE NOTE: If chosen to appear in the video, you will be required to be on location all day on Saturday, March 27th. Anyone who is 16 or 17 years of age must have parental or guardian signature on the day of the shoot, details to be provided at pre-screening. There will be no payment for appearance in the video, however meals will be supplied to participants on-site.

This week Machine Head and Colin Richardson completed production of a new track to be included on the US release of Through The Ashes Of Empires. The song is titled “Seasons Wither,” and it will now become the new track #8 on the CD, between “Vim” and “All Falls Down.” Reminder: Machine Head will be hitting the road in the US from late April to late May with Arch Enemy and God Forbid. A headline run titled the Weapons Of Mass Destruction tour. Dates to follow shortly.

Earlier today, somewhere in the L.A. area of California on Hungry Valley Road, Killswitch Engage shot a new video. The song, “Rose Of Sharyn” from their upcoming release. And as luck has it, we already have a few photos from today’s shoot. Check out KsE’s PHOTO GALLERY for the pics. Killswitch Engage The End Of Heartache in stores May 10th

Do take note, you can now request the brand new Soulfly video for ‘Prophecy’ on Scuzz TV!

Latest round up of what to read where…. 36 CRAZYFISTS 3-page Kerrang! feature 9.5/10 review at www.metaluk.com SOULFLY 4K review in Kerrang! DEVILDRIVER 7/10 live review in Metal Hammer SCARLET 4K review in Kerrang! EVERY TIME I DIE 3K review in Kerrang! NICKELBACK NME single review

Scarlet’s blistering new album ‘Cult Classic’ is out now and is available for around 11.99 from HMV, Virgin (look out for the 퉌£2 off voucher in Kerrang, issue 20/3), MVC, Music Zone plus your local official ‘Roadrage’ store. “This is dark. There’s been plenty of mean-spirited noisecore to wallow in recently, but few bands have exhibited such an unnerving knack for chilling the spine as these Virginian upstarts. As they veer between explosive violence (‘Get Your Gun’) and bloated dirge (‘You’re My Fix’) there’s a palpable sense that these people may be genuinely disturbed. If you have a place in your black heart reserved for Converge and Norma Jean then this should have you merrily diving into Scarlet’s beloved darkness.” Dom Lawson – Kerrang! KKKK

Well, get ready to start hearing a whole lot of Thornley in the near and distant future. The band’s first single – “So Far So Good” – from their upcoming May 17th debut (titled Come Again) went for US radio adds earlier this week. The result? #1 MOST ADDED TRACK at the Modern and Active Rock formats, #2 most added at the Mainstream/Heritage Rock formats. Even WXRK (K-Rock) in New York added the song…in fact, it has already received it’s first spin. Well done… A video for “So Far So Good” will be shot next week in Quebec (March 21, to be exact), and the band will be hitting the road with Three Days Grace starting April 6th. In other Thornley news, we have an approved album cover for the release…of course, we don’t have it to show you just yet, but it’s great shit. How great? So much so that one person of the Roadrunner staff went on to say this earlier today: “It’s amazing. I think one of the best album covers we’ve ever done.” True. The album cover was designed by Storm Thorgerson. You may know of his work from such album covers as Led Zeppelin’s Houses Of The Holy, Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, the Audioslave debut, and The Mars Volta’s De-Loused in the Comatorium, just to name a few. Thornley Come Again in stores May 17th – check out the band’s MUSIC section on our site, or the band’s website to hear “So Far So Good” now.

New things to pick up for snippets on your favourite RR bands! 36 CRAZYFISTS 4K lead album review – Kerrang! 8/10 album review – Metal Hammer 2-page feature – Metal Hammer SOULFLY 7/10 album review – Metal Hammer DIRTY AMERICANS 4K boxed album review – Kerrang! KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Lead news story with album track-by-track – Metal Hammer RED TAPE Half-page feature – Terrorizer SCARLET 8/10 album review – Metal Hammer

So the awesome new Dirty Americans album ‘Strange Generation’ is now out! Have you picked it up yet? Myron and the guys thought you might like to know a little bit of history to the songs… what inspired them and what they are really about… and so they sent in this little breakdown! Dead Man Written when we started to realize that Americans were going to come home in body bags because of all the unrest in the Middle East. The song follows a soldiers frantic last breaths, in disbelief that his life will end in the next few minutes…”Mama can I see you now, before I have to lay down, for the last time.” Car Crash Everyone can identify with that one relationship that must have been born in the darkest depths of hades. A common misconception about the chorus…”Your love is like a cock rash”…now that’s a bad relationship, it doesn’t get worse than that. Strange Generation Just coming off a year of touring the US and UK hardcore, Workhorse broke up and needed to do something productive to pass the time until Dirty Americans was up and running and the new album was written. I took a long term substitute teaching job at a school near a new house I had just bought about 3 hours north of Detroit in the middle of nowhere. The song covers what a bizarre turn it was to go from the hurricane of touring to teaching Human Anatomy and Biology. I went from starting riots with 16 year old fans all over the world to teaching them about the reproductive system…so strange!!! No Rest Deals with how tough it is leaving the woman you love behind to pursue a musical fantasy. Burn You Down Lots of roads a girl (or boy) can choose to go down. Some are more destructive than others Time In Space Being away from the one you love is hard. Being lost in space indefinitely is harder. Give It Up No one can say they didn’t see it coming. But some people get out of the way, and some people let “it” run them over. Girls, drugs whatever. Deep End Break up sex…….. Control One sided relationships that shouldn’t last, but there’s never a good enough reason to split up. That situation always leads to misery for the one that actually is in love and being controlled by the other. Way To Go I was astounded at the number of young girls that were having babies at the school I started teaching at and what a long road they had ahead of them. Chico We had a few days off in the middle of a Workhorse tour out West, so we detoured through a small town in California called Chico. We set up and played two insane, tripped out nights in a row. After the second night of uncontrolled drinking, I nearly suffered the same fate as John Bonham/Jimi Hendrix… cause of death… drowning. Thanks to Cornbread and a few heavy slugs to the back, I dodged a very large bullet that night. Light Headed “I feel much better now that I’ve been run into the ground.” You’re stuck with that evil girl for one reason and one reason only…the sex. Who doesn’t know what I’m talking about. We Were Young It is what it is…a hazy memory of a perfect day.