Updates on Old Rumors in the Metal Scene

Okay, so just to follow up, here's an update on some old rumors that I've reported on in the past.

-First, many of us expressed a great interest in the rumored musical collaboration between Max Cavalera and Eugene Hutz. In terribly disappointing fashion, this rumor hasn't budged. Hasn't moved an inch. Worse yet, there's not even a rumor that it's dead. The whole thing seems to have just plain gone dark.

-You may recall Trent Reznor released a downloadable EP of unreleased music from NIN, Jane's Addiction and Street Sweeper to mark their upoming tour this summer. Well, let's just say there's a reason it was all unreleased.

-The rumors seem to be true. After more than six years, Motograter does seem to be piecing a new album together. But half the lineup has changed, and this coming from a band who went through two lineup changes in a period where they didn't produce an album. I remain skeptical.

-Scouring the internet, what I expected to happen happened. Bill Ward casually announced a few weeks ago that he was open to a Black Sabbath reunion. The other band members seem to have ignored him.

-I remember hoping that Judas Priest would bring their European tour with Megadeth and Testament stateside. Well, Judas Priest is coming to the States, but they're coming with... Whitesnake. Count me out.

-Metallica opened the first half of their tour with Machine Head and The Sword as opening acts. For the second half, The Sword is back (awesome,) but Machine Head has been reportedly been replaced with Down. Color me ambivalent to the change.

-When I heard Madball had added Throwdown's drummer to their tour lineup, I prognosticated that a new album may follow. Sure enough, Madball has plastered their MySpace with the announcement of a new album to come sometime in 2009. No title yet.

-In a move that continues to make me shake my head, Alice In Chains has completed recording their new album. There seems to be much work to be done though, as a tentative September release seems to be in the works. Ugh, I just don't have a good feeling about this.

And two new bits of news to leave you with:

-Creed has announced a reunion tour. On a theoretical list of one hundred things I wanted to see happen in music, this ranks somewhere around number 2,439. Maybe lower. I feel like I need to send the T-1000 back in time to prevent this from happening.

-I'm too disgusted to see the details, but Sebastian Bach will be hosting some manner of show about finding America's hottest "Rocker Mom." Start stockpiling canned goods, I think that very sentence is tucked somewhere in the back of Revelations.

Live Loud.