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Lava-spewing volcanoes look pretty damn cool on album covers, but the past week has taught us that volcanoes and metal don't always mix so well. As anyone who doesn't live in a torch-lit cave knows by now, an Icelandic volcano erupted April 15, spreading clouds of ash across much of Europe and grounding hundreds of planes...

Now that Scion's second annual metal extravaganza has come, seen, conquered and gone, we metal folk have some time to breathe easy (until Maryland Deathfest, anyway) and reflect upon shows gone by. During the blessed downtime, this Noisecreep writer had the very special privilege to speak via email with one Scott Kelly, an extreme metal icon and musical legend in his own right...

While Scott Kelly (Neurosis), Wino (Saint Vitus), Al Cisneros (Om, Sleep) and Dale Crover (Melvins) were combining their masterful minds below Bleeker Street, a line that included women in tall glittery boots, fishnets and bust-breaking corsets and men dressed just as club-ready was developing outside for a fetish party that was happening in the same venue...

This past week, metal was on the brink of clinching #1 on the charts thanks to an iconic rock band -- until some Hallmark mothers decided to purchase Michael Buble. Nevertheless as reported by our friends over at Metal Insider, the legendary rock act Kiss respectably took the #2 debut with 108,000 albums sold in its first week...

"Damn it, we missed Lichens," this writer grumbled to her companions as we finally got to Johnny Brenda's, one of Fishtown's nicer venues and home to more hipsters than you can shake an ironically-angled stick at. The bar downstairs hummed contentedly as the regulars settled in to while their nights away over warm PBR and overpriced 'local drafts,' but this cozy scene held nothing for u

ON A BOAT: Nola sludge kings Eyehategod have a few dates scheduled in the Northeast later this month. The shows feature an impressive supporting cast, including Pig Destroyer, Goatwhore, Anal Cunt, Howl, Unearthly Trance and Tombs, and one of the shows is actually on a boat...

As part of a spotlight on this psych-rock buzz band, the Village Voice has posted a sneak peak of their Oct. 20 debut album on its blog. Featuring artwork by Ryan Hamilton and a new track entitled 'Skyling Slip,' the Village Voice calls Naam "kraut-metal crushers" who "take the trippiest part of your favorite Hawkwind song and stretch it like space-taffy into hypnotic, riff-driven m

Massive doom supergroup Shrinebuilder -- featuring Scott Kelly of Neurosis/Tribes of Neurot, Scott 'Wino' Weinrich of Saint Vitus/the Obsessed/Spirit Caravan/Hand of Doom, Al Cisneros of Sleep/Om, and Dale Crover of the Melvins -- have released a long-awaited track to their MySpace page and to Kelly's radio blog Return to Zero...

Vinyl records should have been something dead and buried when the digital age took its big thick grasp, as the number one music store in the country became a digital one. But the truth is, vinyl might be a driving force, helping keep the aching music industry alive -- especially in the underground metal and punk community, which is what Eric Mueller from Pirate Press told Noisecreep in an intervie

PUTTING THE WEST COAST UNDER THE STENCH: Japanese death-doom-sludge trio Coffins (at left) have announced a west coast tour to precede their appearance at the 2009 LA Murderfest on May 9. The tour hits markets in Washington, Oregon, and California...