Mahr’s Bräu, a renowned brewery in Bamberg, Germany, gifted Mastodon with its very own lager to honor the shredheads’ recent set on the German leg of the Sonisphere Festival. A limited, 200-bottle batch of Mastodon’s Premium Lager was waiting for the band as they rolled into the festival site over the weekend, all of which was most likely gone before they left. No word on whether or not they shared with the dudes in Linkin Park. (via The Daily Swarm)

Metal wouldn’t exist without three core things — intoxicants, babes and the BOOM. In this edition of Bombshell we have the trifecta for you; a legit babe who slays the mic with intelligence and beauty, as well as two seminal intoxicant heavy bands that have carved out a mark for a generation of new metalheads to adore (see: they bring the motherfuckin’ BOOM). In preparation for the onslaught of summer tours, check out what some of my current faves are getting into and get your pink ass out to the pavement to see them in full glory. I promise, with all the female advice you’ll get from this column, you’re one step closer to getting laid.

Metal has always been a domain consumed with masculinity, for better or worse there is an inherent testosterone burst in every metal laced musical endeavor. As a musician and a commentator, I have always been intrigued with other females in heavy music. In an almost voyeuristic fashion I’ve connected with many other females in metal and despite my power-dykish disposition, have realized in the end we’re all just ladies who love the music. Meeting with Grace Perry from Landmine Marathon was quite a surprise; tall, fit and well-spoken she could easily step off the pages of a Prada ad. But what impressed me most was her genuine personality and love for music. Librarian/student by day, death metal/sludge goddess by night, Grace has been upping the ante with her Arizona-based band for over five years. Recently signing on with Prosthetic Records in late 2008 the band released Rusted Eyes Awake a raw and cathartic throwback to the days where production was minimal and the doom sandstorm was king. Sizing up with a heavy dose of charm and intelligence, Grace’s stage presence and demeanor leaves her untouchable, the girl oozes a rare brand of sexuality, one any gal or strapping young lad can get into. Although classic ovary driven bands like Girlschool set a precedence for the caliber of female fronted metal, bombshells like Grace have reshaped the way non-metal elitists view ladies in the genre — with equal respect and fascination. Grace was on hand last weekend as part of the Maryland Death Festival and word on the street is she had a little something brewing connected to the event, so keep your peepers peeled and check out my hangout with Grace here.

*****

Thunderous. The minute I heard “March of the Fire Ants” from Mastodon, I knew that I had stumbled on something purely Earth shattering. Part 90s post-hardcore, part progressive meltdown, all the while remaining wholly booming, Mastodon has perfected the formula of a hook-laden metallic rock conquest. Forming out the the ashes of the upstate NY-based Lethargy, bassist/beard master Troy Sanders linked up with Brann, Bill and Brant (must be lonely being the only non B guy) in Atlanta, connecting together to fuse a definitive southern rock feel with crushing metal/doom undertones that sticks to your ribs. Graduating to the big leagues, Mastodon’s second major label release Crack The Skye is looming positively on the tongues of both fans and critics, drawing in listeners with unexpected harmony, finesse and careful song craft, all filtered though the ears of mastermind producer Brendan O’Brien. Mastodon’s swift rise to the top of the metal world can clearly be attributed to hard work, extensive touring and plenty of perseverance. I sat down with Troy Sanders before a sold-out headlining show at NY’s Fillmore at Irving (Irving Plaza always in my heart) to talk about the new album, a possible Crack the Skye movie and many more debauchery filled behaviors.

*****

Torche are a quintessential summer band, perfect for jumping into your fathers beat up Chevy, lighting an overstuffed spliff and cutting loose. The first time I saw Torche was at an Isis show in 2006 and, in all honesty, was not totally sold. Retrospectively, my apprehension made perfect sense — they were a but a budding baby at the time and needed some saucy metal breast milk! Since that time, Torche has swiftly grown into a sneak-attack band, offering listeners a fresh melting pot of doom, post-hardcore driven vocals coupled with dynamic structuring. Offering rock-driven metal in the way Cynic bless prog metal — tight, appealing packaging with attention grabbing elements that keep listeners coming back for more. Their 2008 release Meanderthal topped Decibel Magazine’s top-records of 2008, probably much to the surprise of their deaf metal lovin’ core audience. Torche have been grinding hard since Meanderthal’s release and have been spending most of their time on the road, planning to conquer Europe with the legendary Coalesce and Kylesa, as well as return to the US late summer to trek with Harvey Milk. Genre defying and poised for glory, I had a chance to sit down with them on their recent US tour with Dredg — don’t let the soft spoken demeanor fool you, these men all all business when they hit the stage.

Metal fans are blowing their proverbial load today as Mastodon drummer/lyricist Brann Dailor (formerly of the possibly even more awesome Lethargy) announced that the band’s recently released concept album Crack The Skye could be on its way to Hollywood — the band has apparently written a screenplay with a director who shall remain nameless and had interest from three others in creating the film adaptation.

Dailor told Billboard.com, “That’d be killer if it actually happens. That’s something that’s cool about making concept records, that opportunity for more to be done, artistically.”

If it’s made, the film would be pretty trippy since the plotline of the album involves space travel, aliens, worm holes, czarist Russia and that dude Rasputin. Fittingly, “I think it’s definitely the closest we’ve come to a fully cohesive story from start to finish,” Dailor told Billboard.

As with anything these days, whether or not the project gets off the ground is all about the Benjamins.

“It all comes down to money,” Dailor acknowledges. “We don’t want to half-ass it; we want to make it real and…awesome. But we’re in a time period where labels are doing significantly less, moneywise, or trying to cut back, and making movies isn’t exactly cutting corners. It’s hard for an A&R guy to go to whoever writes the checks and be like, ‘Yeah, this band that sells 150,000 records wants to make a million-dollar movie…’ But we’re not ruling it out yet.”

And it may not be a feature film, but this week you can grab the video for the Mastodon track “Divinations” from Crack The Skye for free on iTunes. The video was named “iTunes Video of the Week” for May 5 – May 11.

You may not know Red Fang by name, but if you’ve been near the internets recently, you’ve probably seen the video for their debut single “Prehistoric Dog”. It’s ‘gone viral’ as the kids say, and rightfully so: it’s easily one of the best videos of the last five years. Incorporating host of visual delights, including excessive beer consumption, live action role playing, creative recycling and Monty Python-esque gore, you owe it to yourself to seek it out immediately. In fact, the video is so good that you might be distracted from the fact that Red Fang are much more than an awesome video. That would be doing the four Portland natives a great disservice, as a trip through the self-titled Red Fang debut will assert quite definitively that they are nothing less than a full-on four-piece Metal onslaught.

It’s a good time to be in a metal band. Mastodon and The Sword are nabbing Grammy nominations while classic acts like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest draw the same huge numbers they did in their 80s heydays. Even more notably, the crowds are comprised of increasingly larger numbers of young fans with their parents. Who says metal doesn’t promote good family values?

Like The Sword, Red Fang owe more to the Black Sabbath or Motorhead end of the spectrum. There’s some heavy cowbell and ride action going on here, and it’s not even close to being ironic. Red Fang aren’t a one trick pony, either. On tracks like “Sharks”, they change tempos at will, and before you know it, you’re pretty much helpless to avoid flailing around like you’re a dozen beers in at a Melvins show. It’s not normally in my nature, but by the middle of said song, I was very glad that I live alone. By the end, I was pretty sure there were good reasons for that status. In my defense, the song is named “Sharks” and metal rules of conduct mandate a certain level on enthusiasm.

For a four-piece, Red Fang make a hell of a lot of a racket. There are times when they get almost Nirvana with it, due in no small part to drummer John Sherman’s non-stop pummeling. This guy hits hard, whether it’s on the swaggering “Good To Die” or in slower, sludgy parts like the ones on “Humans Remain Human Remains” that come close to the Melvins side of the Nirvana sound. Perhaps maybe a bit too much: the chorus hook and its similarity to “Heart Shaped Box” may very well precipitate a call from Ms. Love, especially given her recent squandering of her ill-gotten gains. Musical similarities aside, the vocals are hardly warmed over Creed-ified Kurdt Vedderisms. Props also have to be given to singer/guitarist David Sullivan. Here is a man with some pipes on him. He’s equally comfortable with a gritty rasp or a grungy yowl and adds the final piece to the headbanging awesomeness that is Red Fang. There’s a pronounced animal theme here, but lest you think they are a one trick pony, rest assured that the themes of fire, destruction, thunder and human remains are also addressed. Such things are comfortable in their familiarity.

All of the metal planets have aligned on Red Fang. If you consider yourself a fan of heavy music, it would be impossible for you to not like this record. Each track has a barbarian swagger that doesn’t ignore the fact that while we are basically evolved apes, we’re not dumb apes. Check the average Red Fang crowd maybe four beers into their set and tell me you don’t see evidence of Darwinism. Red Fang the band will definitely appeal to your primal side, but Red Fang the record shows that you can bang your head and still think with it.

The line-up for San Francisco’s second annual Outside Lands Music & Arts festival has been announced. The three-day festival will take place in late August at the Golden Gate park, and headliners include Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, M.I.A. Dave Matthews Band, and… Tom Jones. (If that’s not enough to make you want to go by itself, than we don’t know what to tell you.)

The festival runs from August 28-30, and along with it’s diverse line up, the event offers some of the best food and wine in the California region, as well as providing various eco-friendly options — like recycling and a solar powered cell phone charging station — for concert-goers.

Along with the aforementioned headliners, other acts on the roster include Modest Mouse, TV on the Radio, Mastodon, Built To Spill, Atmosphere, Deerhunter, Portugal. The Man and Matt and Kim, among a whole bunch more. Tickets for the Outside Lands Music & Arts festival go on sale this Sunday, April 19, at 10 a.m. Some of the proceeds for each ticket sold also go to a good cause, helping benefit San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department.

Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival Line-up
Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Incubus
Black Eyed Peas
M.I.A
Jason Mraz
Ween
The Mars Volta
Thievery Corporation
Modest Mouse
Band of Horses
TV on the Radio
Dead Weather
Atmosphere
Tom Jones
Silversun Pickups
The National
Q-Tip
Brett Dennen
Built To Spill
Mastodon
Raphael Saadiq
Calexico
Os Mutantes
Midnite
JJ Grey & Mofro
Kinky
Deerhunter
Lila Downs
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
The Dodos
Bettye LaVette
Dengue Fever
Heartless Bastards
The Dirtbombs
Lenka
Akron/Family
John Vanderslice
Matt and Kim
Portugal. The Man
The Morning Benders
The Duke Spirit
Zee Avi
Blind Pilot
SambaDa
Ryan Bingham
West Indian Girl
Extra Golden

The publicist would like us to refer to them as the Grammy-nominated hard rock juggernaut, but we fondly remember the day when Brann and Bill played in Lethargy, so we will always use the term metal when describing them. Therefore, the metal band Mastodon (who just so happens to have been nominated for an inappropriate genre Grammy), have confirmed their first tour in support of their highly anticipated March 24 release, Crack The Skye.

According to the same publicist, Mastodon’s first tour behind the new album will sweep across both the US and Canada, seeing them play Crack The Skye in it’s entirety to smaller theaters and clubs to insure a maximum and up close intimate environment in which to be exposed to the brand new songs as well as old favorites. Kylesa and Intronaut will be supporting Mastodon for the duration of the tour. Pre-sale tickets will go on sale this Wednesday March 3 on the band’s website, with general sales to begin Saturday, March 7.

The tour will kick off April 10 in Birmingham, AL and conclude on May 15 with their homecoming show in Atlanta, GA. The band has also announced they will release a special Limited Edition 12″ vinyl Paul Romano-album artwork picture disc of “Divinations,” backed with the instrumental Score version of the track on March 10 for sale exclusively at select Hot Topic retail locations.

Mastodon tour dates with Kylesa and Intronaut
04.10.09 – Birmingham, AL (Workplay Theater)
04.11.09 – New Orleans, LA (House of Blues)
04.13.09 – Lawrence, KS (Granada Theater )
04.14.09 – Boulder, CO (Fox Theatre)
04.16.09 – Phoenix, AZ (Martini Ranch)
04.18.09 – Indio, CA (Coachella)
04.19.09 – San Francisco, CA (Great American Music Hall)
04.21.09 – Portland, OR (Hawthorne Theatre)
04.22.09 – Seattle, WA (Neumo’s)
04.23.09 – Vancouver, BC (Commodore Ballroom)
04.24.09 – Calgary, AB (MacEwen Ballroom)
04.25.09 – Edmonton, AB (Starlite Ballroom)
04.26.09 – Saskatoon, SK (The Odeon)
04.28.09 – Winnipeg, MB (The Garrick)
04.29.09 – Minneapolis, MN (Fine Line Music Hall)
04.30.09 – Chicago, IL (Metro)
05.01.09 – Pontiac, MI (Crofoot Ballroom)
05.02.09 – Cleveland, OH (Beachland Ballroom)
05.04.09 – Montreal, QC (Le National)
05.05.09 – Toronto, ON (Opera House)
05.07.09 – Boston, MA (House of Blues)
05.08.09 – Philadelphia, PA (TLA)
05.09.09 – New York, NY (Fillmore @ Irving Plaza)
05.10.09 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall of Williamsburg)
05.12.09 – Washington DC (9:30 Club)
05.13.09 – Carbarro, NC (Cat’s Cradle)
05.14.09 – Ashville, NC (Orange Peel)
05.15.09 – Atlanta, GA (Center Stage)

Scion, one of the hip-hop culture’s greatest supporters since it’s inception, has recently taken its focus off its pet project and turned its attention to some of today’s best working metal bands for an all out showdown it Atlanta. With a line-up that is already over 20 bands deep and name drops like nobodies business, if this isn’t the metal show of 2009 Stateside, well then we don’t know what kind of shows you’re going to.

To take place on February 28th at The Masquerade in Atlanta, the official line-up includes the likes of Neurosis, Mastodon, Boris, High on Fire, Torche, Nachtmystium, Harvey Milk, Wolves in the Throne Room, Rwake, Toxic Holocaust, and many more. Corporate marketing incentives aside, if there is one show to loose a slight chunk of your hearing at this year, the Scion Rock Fest is it (unless that Sleep performance of Dopesmoker makes it’s way over here).