What's New in Metal 3/25/09

Sometimes you can't fight anymore, and you just have to give up the battle. I didn't want to, but I admitted defeat. After years of trying to convince myself otherwise, I've finally thrown in the towel. I've given up trying to like Bolt Thrower. I just don't. I like the attitude, I like the legacy, I like the cover art, I respect their catalogue of work and their accomplishments. But I just don't like the music. I tried. I really did. Add Bolt Thrower to the list of bands I finally just gave up on, including Soulfly, Voivod, Mastodon, Pro-Pain, and a host of others.

Anyway, a busy week in metal. Lots to catch up on over the past few days:

-One of my Agents In The Field keeps hearing a persistent rumor about members working on a new Alice in Chains album. I can't tell you how terribly disappointed I am about this. When Jerry Cantrell took the band on tour a few years back, it was ostensibly to say goodbye. After all, they had never had a farewell tour, and after the unfortunate and regretable death of Layne Staley, AiC had a lot of unfinished business. So they grabbed a new singer and hit the road. To his credit, the gentleman Cantrell tapped sounded hauntingly like Layne (he couldn't quite do "Man in a Box," but who else could?) but that was supposed to be it. If there's a new album now, not only would it feel too late, but it wouldn't feel genuine. "Dirt" is one of the greatest albums ever written. Please don't cheapen it.

-Judas Priest, Megadeth and Testament are closing out their European tour in the next week. Here's hoping it comes stateside.

-"Flight 666," the new and much-hyped Iron Maiden documentary, received the coveted "24 Beats Per Second" award at SXSW for best documentary. The film gets released April 21st in a limited number of theaters.

-VH1 has acquired all the broadcast and distribution rights to "Anvil: The Story of Anvil." No word yet on if they'll be playing the documentary over the air, but a DVD release is most certainly on the table.

-Eminem will be inducting Run-DMC into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I can't tell you how unappetizing that is. Also, Public Enemy still isn't in. Just thought I'd bring that up.

-Metallica is announcing that Flea will be inducting them at the upcoming ceremony in Cleveland. Huh? Flea? Really? Okay, I guess...

-Metallica has also posted dates for the second half of the Death Magnetic World Tour. Check them out on their website. Tickets are going on sale the first week in April for a majority of their dates. Seems a touch silly to sell tickets seven months in advance for some of these shows, but what do I know?

-In preparation for his upcoming summer tour, Trent Reznor is releasing a free downloadable EP off the Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction tour website. The tracks consist of unreleased material from NIN and Jane's Addiction, plus a few selections from Tom Morello's opener Street Sweeper. If it's free, it's for me.

-Chris Cornell tells Ultimate Guitar that he expected "some controversy" over his new album. Have you heard it? Yeah, I'd say "controversy" is an understatement. I really want to support Chris as he's provided me a lot of great listening material over the years. Still, I thought getting together with Timbaland was a red flag from the start.

-Hardcore legends Madball have added Throwdown's drummer to the lineup and completed a tour. Expect to hear more from them, maybe a new album.

-Tool has signed on to help headline Lollapalooza in Chicago this year. Also scheduled for the festival are the Beastie Boys, Depeche Mode, The Killers, Jane's Addiction (natch,) and Kings of Leon.

-Marilyn Manson is starting up the hype machine for his new album. Twiggy Ramirez is back in the lineup for the first time in almost a decade, and Manson himself seems to think the album is pretty promising. Of course, then he goes into how he wrote all the lyrics on his walls and worked through some emotional issues. Culminating with a statement that the making of the album left some "good" scars, I've come to realize that Manson is still the same self-aggrandizing, pretentious jackass he's always been.

Live Loud.