We have some bad news for The Big Four of thrash metal. Metallica, Anthrax, Slayer and Megadeth, it is time for one of you to step down or become “The Big Five” because Machine Head’s latest release is topping the Billboard charts. Machine Head have topped themselves with a #22 Billboard Top 200 chart debut for their new album, “Unto The Locust”, with over 17,000 albums scanned. Just to reiterate how big this debut is, we’ll put it in perspective for you. The band’s 2007 Grammy-nominated release, “The Blackening” debuted at #54 on the Billboard Top 200 chart. The good news for Machine Head only continues. “Unto The Locust” debuted…

Don’t let the tough exterior of thrash metal bands fool you because underneath it all they have the warmest hearts. We credit their kind demeanors to their undying passion for music that they instill within their fans. Let’s take the Bay Area thrash kings, Testament, to better illustrate the generosity of the genre. The band will again be offering special VIP/Meet & Greet Packs on their upcoming co-headlining tour with Anthrax with support from Death Angel. Fans can spend quality time with Testament. The group offered these packs on last year’s ‘American Carnage Tour’ also featuring Megadeth and Slayer, which presented fans with a unique and exclusive chance to spend…

Philip Anselmo (Down, Pantera, Arson Anthem, Superjoint Ritual) joined Scott Ian (Anthrax), David Ellefson (Megadeth), Mike Portnoy (Dream Theater), Frank Bello (Anthrax), Charlie Benante (Anthrax) and Kerry King (Slayer) on stage earlier this evening (Monday, September 12) at the second Metal Masters Clinic at the Best Buy Theater in New York City to perform two Pantera classics: “A New Level” and “Fucking Hostile”. Videos of the two performances can be seen below. Rita Haney, the girlfriend of late Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, recently called on former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott and singer Philip Anselmo to settle their differences in honor of Dimebag, who was shot and killed by…

Thrash metal fans pay close attention to what we are about to say. Anthrax and Testament, who haven’t toured together in more than a decade, are set to co-headline a U.S. tour beginning Friday, October 14th in Grand Rapids, MI. Anthrax will close all shows and Death Angel will be the main support for the entire tour. The coast-to-coast trek will travel through two dozen cities over a five-week period, with both Anthrax and Death Angel debuting brand new material for their albums, which are both set for a summer/fall release. Testament’s upcoming album is set to release in 2012. Alright, time to draw your eyes away from the this…

Long Island, New York is an area that is clouded by judgment from those living outside of it and from those within it. We know this Long Island “prejudice” exists because we are natives, born and raised and we have suffered the repercussions of it. Well, as more time passes, we tend to think of them as positive effects. For example, take a look at the Long Island metal band, This Is Hell. For us, growing up in a society ruled by trends, we chose to step outside of the box and design our own path. We think This Is Hell took the same approach. So, maybe it is best…

We guess it is safe to say summer is officially over; well for metal fans that is. The 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival wrapped up its summer tour last week in Dallas, TX. During the closing shows, several of this year’s festival artists took to the main stage to perform a special tribute to Dimebag Darrell by performing Pantera’s “Walk”. Check out the performance and watch the Mayhem family charge the stage. We wish we were able to see this metal gathering when we went to the Mayhem festival back in July. Oh well, we still got to chat with a handful of the Mayhem bands, like Megadeth, Kingdom…

Who would have ever thought metal music and baseball would have something in common? Well, you can thank Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine for bringing these two together. The lead vocalist and guitarist of Megadeth recently took part in MLB.com’s season long MLB Fan Cave series, by being one of the many attractions of the Cave. Check out the clip, where Mike O’hara is giving visitors a tour of the Cave and takes them to a booth where Mustaine plays a not surprisingly badass rift. You can hear Mustaine shred some more with Megadeth’s latest release, “Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?” The album has been digitally re-mastered for the first time and expanded…

We never consider ourselves to be judgmental people, but unfortunately we do have to admit that coming into The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival we were a bit nervous to chat with the metal musicians mostly due to the tough exterior they present on stage. After our numerous interviews at the festival, our preconceptions were extremely naive. All Shall Perish’s vocalist, Hernan Hermida, pleasantly put us to shame. All Shall Perish consists of Hermida, rhythm guitarist, Ben Orum, bassist, Mike Tiner, lead guitarist Francesco Artusato and drummer, Adam Pierce. The metal band has undergone several line-up changes, since their formation in 2002. Despite these internal struggles, All Shall Perish still…

Through our experiences at the 2011 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, we have taken an immense liking to metal music, but it still is refreshing to hear rock n’ roll music within the festival’s metal line up. So thank you, Red Fang, for adding some spice to the festival. The “outcast” band consists of vocalist and guitarist, Bryan Giles, vocalist and bassist, Aaron Beam, guitarist, David Sullivan and drummer, John Sherman. Red Fang dropped their self-titled debut in 2009 and recently released, “Murder The Mountains”, which The Decemberists’, Chris Funk, produced, on April 12th via Relapse Records. With two albums down, the hard rock band has been on the road,…

The Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival had a powerful line up of bands, which consisted of metal groups from the 80s, 90s and the 2000s. You could travel across generations of metal music by simply changing from one stage to another. The founding fathers at Mayhem would be the guys of Megadeth. The American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California formed in 1983 and has since then put out album after album. Let’s just put some Megadeth calculations out there for you ShockYa readers, so you get just how influential the band has been on the path of metal music. The quartet has released 12 albums, sold over 30…