Remember those rumors a few years ago, that Ozzy Osbourne was looking to ditch longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde, and that Ozzy was even holding auditions for new guitarists? This all happened back in late 2005, before the recording of Ozzy's 2007 album 'Black Rain.' Well, Wylde ended up handling guitars for the disc and we all sort of forgot about Ozzy's plans to get a new axeman. Now, Ozzy appears to have ousted Zakk from his solo band for good, with Rob Zombie guitarist John 5 possibly stepping in to fill Zakk's oversized, Whiskey-stained shoes. For metalheads, this is big news. Hence, it leads this morning's installment of White Noise, your early morning dose of all things metal.

+ Kudos to Classic Rock magazine, for getting this scoop. According to CR, Ozzy Osbourne is searching for a new guitarist for his solo band. The magazine caught up with Ozzy last week in Norway, and discussed the matter with the self-proclaimed Prince of Darkness. "Well, I'm getting a new guitar player as we speak," Ozzy explained, "and everyone has been saying to me for a long time, 'Get Johnny 5!' And I tried him at one time and I didn't really give him a chance. We'll see, I don't know. I haven't fallen out with Zakk, but Zakk's got his own band, and I felt like my stuff was beginning to sound like Black Label Society. I just felt like I wanted a change, you know?"

According to Ozzy, he's even got a guy from Greece flying in to try out. He needs a guitarist because "I've got a new album, I'm working on it as we speak" with producer Kevin Churko. But that doesn't mean Wylde's contributions won't make the record. "Zakk came down and did a bunch of stuff and I don't know if I want to use it but I've got it there if I do," Ozzy says. Apparently, Zakk didn't know he was out as Osbourne's guitarist. He took to his Twitter account, saying, "I'm doing BlizzCon with [Ozzy] in August and supposed to finish up the [new Ozzy] CD in September...This is news to me. I haven't heard anything about this. Until I talk to the Boss, I don't know. I love Ozzy."

+ Korn has released a teaser video for its upcoming album, which they've been working on for months with producer Ross Robinson. Check that clip out here. According to frontman Jonathan Davis, the record will be "raw" and will be "recorded as a four-piece band. We really want to go back to that old-school vibe. It was just really intense and emotional and, you know, I have a lot of built-up aggression toward certain things that I need to get out for this record."

+ Mushroomhead and (hed) P.E. will be hitting the road this summer. The tour kicks off on August 11 in Sauget, Illinois, and runs through September 13 in Jacksonville, North Carolina.

+ Gwen Stacy are looking for a second guitarist. Interested? Send a video to the band "of you playing, and, if you are feeling up to it, singing at least one of our songs. Tell us a bit about yourself and your touring experience. Send us a list of your so-called 'awesome' gear. Then let us know how you feel about Michael Jackson's death." Send all that information to gsguitarsearch@gmail.com.

+ Godflesh's first few recordings, 'Pure,' 'Cold World,' and 'Slavestate' will be reissued as a repackaged 3-disc set on August 17. Unfortunately, it won't be released in the states, so you'll have to get an import, because the discs will feature unreleased bonus tracks.

+ So, remember that band Slaves on Dope? Apparently, they're staging a comeback. Vocalist Jason Rockman and guitarist Kevin Jardine have gotten the band back together, and are currently writing material for a new studio album. The band is 'encouraging our old fans and possible new ones to join us at our new Facebook page," where the band will be posting weekly clips from the studio.

+ Last year, Carcass reunited for a spate of awesome gigs both here and in Europe. But could there be another Carcass record coming down the pipe? According to Bill Steer, "it's simply not practical. I wouldn't rule it out entirely. That's just foolish. I mean, I think I was quoted once as saying, 'I'll never play in Carcass again,' but here we are... But Arch Enemy are extremely busy, and there's a fair amount of pressure on Michael and Daniel to limit their involvement with Carcass and concentrate on their main thing, Arch Enemy. So I really think something drastic would have to happen before Carcass would release a new recording."

+ David Taylor, the former lead vocalist for 1980s hard rock band Drive, was killed in a road accident late last month. The crash happened in June 25 while he was driving along a San Antonio interstate. Taylor lost control of his vehicle after a tire blew out, and was airlifted to an area hospital where he died of his injuries five days later. He was 44-years-old.

+ Dark Funeral is recording material for its next record. The band entered a recording studio on July 10 with producer Peter Tägtgren. There's no word on when the new stuff will be released, but the band is expecting to spend four to five weeks tracking the effort.

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