Frankly, we're tired of the media connecting horrific crimes to heavy metal. Whether it's Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Guns N' Roses or Metallica, bands have often been held accountable for the actions of their fans. Manson, they said, influenced the Columbine killers. And Slayer's music inspired three kids to kill in California in 2000. The Guns N' Roses song 'I Used to Love Her' spurred a man to kill his wife in 2006, the reports suggest. Then Metallica ... they helped bring about countless crimes, if the media is to be believed. Now, police in California have uncovered a 'body farm' in a garden, along with a CD from Cattle Decapitation, 2009's 'A Harvest Floor,' in the accused's home. Police are linking the album to the crimes, because the disc contains the track 'A Body Farm,' and now investigators are "looking into this tragedy as being a possible 'copycat crime' based on the band's disturbing music and lyrics." Anyone else think this is a crock, blaming metal music on offenses against humanity? People kill people, music doesn't. Why not blame the influence of the killer's parents for his actions? Why blame metal?

+ Slipknot will headline this year's SmokeOut festival, set for Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 in San Bernardino, Calif. Hosted by Cheech and Chong, and organized by Cypress Hill, the event will also feature performances from the Deftones, Bad Brains, Pennywise and Sublime.

+ Now that Dimmu Borgir's going through its own internal drama, frontman Shagrath is focusing on his guitarist duties in Chrome Division. The side project just parted ways with longtime vocalist Eddie Guz, "due to lack of dedication and commitment to the band," and have replaced him with Susperia's Athera.

+ Ozzy Osbourne's daughter, Kelly, is glad her dad got to perform with a different band at BlizzCon last week. "It's the first time that this band has all played together -- because there's a couple of new members," she said. Notice she didn't say 'fill-in' members, but 'new' members. "It's great to kind of -- especially for my dad -- to test it out on an audience like this that is so willing to have fun. It's fantastic. Sometimes it even shocks me that he still does what he does, but I guess when you're willing to do something, you're willing to do it."

+ AOL Radio's Metallica Sweepstakes is underway, and there will be 200 winners. What do you win? They're giving away 200 free live Metallica album downloads, courtesy of livemetallica.com.

+ Kiss is prepping a new iPhone app called 'Kiss Your Face.' It is a photo-customizing app that allows you to take pictures from your iPhone and make people look like a member of the band, white-and-black makeup and all. A press release says a "resulting Kiss-ified photo is great for use as your IM avatar or your profile picture in Facebook or other social networking sites."

+ Still have Aerosmith tickets, but never got to see the show because Steven Tyler took a nosedive? Well, refunds will be starting soon, folks. The band's site has information on how to recoup your cash.

+ Dark Funeral will release their new album, 'Angelus Exuro pro Eternus,' on Nov. 18.

+ Mortification frontman Steve Rowe has branched out and started a rock band side project, called Wonrowe Vision. "I have written a bunch of catchy old school rock tunes and ... it is sounding every bit how I envisioned it should. [It] is best described as old school heavy edge rock 'n' roll. Mort fans will hear influences from some of the more accessible Mort songs. The sound is simply more organic with a range of guitar tones. We are rehearsing the songs every two weeks with a view to record an album early next year, followed by some local shows."

+ Knives Exchanging Hands is over. The band isn't offering a reason for its split, but they are planning a spate of farewell shows, one booked for Burlington, N.C. on Halloween.

+ The mag is out of print, but Metal Maniacs has relaunched online. Check them out and get that free 24-track download they're offering.

+ A Girl a Gun a Ghost have split up, and no one noticed.

+ Between the Buried and Me are offering fans a chance to hear their forthcoming LP, 'The Great Misdirect,' ahead of the disc's Oct. 27 release date. Swing by the band's MySpace page if you're interested.

+ A Different Breed of Killer will soon hit the studio to start tracking 'The City,' their forthcoming album. No word on when the album might be in stores.

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