Byron Coley, writer extraordinaire, and Thurston Moore detail one of the coolest books you could have on your coffee table. The pair posing during the opening moments of the video is ridiculous, but the rest is relatively informative.

Sun Araw can make a lot of music out of not too much. For whatever reason it's taken a long time for underground rock dudes to embrace Grateful Dead style jamming. Thankfully it's happened. Enjoi!

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There's no easy way to review 2003's St. Anger, Metallica's ninth studio album and their most divisive since 1991's Metallica. On the one hand, this was Metallica sounding revitalized, confident and aggressive; on the other, Metallica sounded confused, aimless and overindulgent. Given the unique circumstances surrounding the writing and recording of this album, as well as what Metallica intended with it, St. Anger is best reviewed from two perspectives: aesthetic and musical.

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The Polk County, Iowa, Medical Examiner's Office released the autopsy results yesterday, on Monday, that states, Paul Gray, the popular bassist for the metal band Slipknot, died of an "accidental" overdose of the drugs morphine and fentanyl, a synthetic morphine substitute, a narcotic painkiller, and that he suffered from "significant heart disease." Mr. Gray was 38, when he was found dead last May 25 in a hotel room in Des Moines, Iowa., the band's hometown. See the video.

There was quite a bit of a buzz about Paul Gray's autopsy report. The Slipknot bassist is being remembered in the Internet. on Twitter and in the chat rooms. He has a lasting effect on heavy metal music and on his many fans. This morning, as I considered this post, I listened to Slipknot's Grammy winning song, “Before I Forget,” and I remembered the many reasons why I like this music!

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Seattle metal titans Nevermore have released the first video from their new album The Obsidian Conspiracy. The song is "Emptiness Unobstructed", and the video was filmed by Nigel Crane, incorporating footage from Nevermore's performance of the song from their May 18th show in London. 

"We only performed the song twice that night, so we had to make these takes count," said vocalist Warrel Dane. "So we went all out." 

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This picture here is the first one ever taken of the full complement of the Big Four of thrash metal in the same room. Tonight, June 16th, will be the first time that Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth play together, but for those of us not blessed enough to live in Eastern or Central Europe, the most we can do is marvel at the picture and wonder when the stars will align to bring the tour to the rest of the world.

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As thrash metal legends Slayer prepare to play the historic Big Four festivals in Europe (before co-headlining the American and Canadian Carnage tours), fans in the rest of the world can see animated versions of Jeff Hanneman, Dave Lombardo, Kerry King and Tom Araya in the band's latest music video, "World Painted Blood". It's the title track and opening song on World Painted Blood, Slayer's tenth studio album, and the second video after "Beauty Through Order".

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It's been four years since Iron Maiden's last album, the (naturally) epic A Matter of Life and Death. Since then, Maiden have been busy, playing to over two million fans worldwide on the (naturally) epic "Somewhere Back In Time World Tour". After the engines of Flight 666 cooled down and Maiden took time off, they hit the studio again. Their latest creation is their fifteenth studio album, The Final Frontier, set for August. The tour to support the album (with Dream Theater as openers) kicks off June 9th, in Dallas. To whet the ravenous appetite of their fans, Maiden have released one song off The Final Frontier (which will spearhead the promotion of the album). The song is called "El Dorado".

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Heavy metal fans outside Sophia, Bulgaria might have to wait a while until the historic Metallica/Megadeth/Slayer/Anthrax bill comes their way, but thanks to the miracle of satellite transmission, portions of the evening's performance from the June 22nd Sonisphere Festival will be screened in theaters across the U.S, Canada, Latin America and Europe. So until the numbers and logistics can be worked out to bring the show to the rest of the world, this will be the only way the rest of us will see Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax on the same stage.

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