With Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water, the Limp Bizkit five-man assault crew bring it on like it never has before. With over 13 tracks, the quintet from Jacksonville, FL, that has spent the past four years turning the rock world on its head and spinning it round and round, is back with its third album, a set of songs that's deeper, denser and harder hitting than anything that has preceded it.

In the early '90s, heavy music looked to be going the way of the dinosaurs: Well-heeled Brit-pop and well-scrubbed pop-punk were thoroughly dominating the guitar-rock landscape, and the few surviving old-school metal acts seemed hopelessly unable to adapt. But somewhere within the vast, murky Southern California wasteland, a dynamic new species was being born, a forward-thinking beast that disregarded the mistakes of heavy bands past while meshing dark, urban rhythms and low-tuned guitar sludge with violent, expressionist blasts of hip-core noise.

Since the release of their debut album Dysfunction, Staind have built a remarkable success story. The band have scored three major hits with "Just Go," "Mudshovel" and "Home"; they've played for hundreds of thousands of fans on tours with Kid Rock, Monster Magnet, Sevendust and with their Family Values brethren Limp Bizkit and Korn; and they've sold over a million albums. More recently, Staind had an unexpected bit of luck that couldn't have happened in a better way or come at a better time. Vocalist Aaron Lewis' spur-of-the-moment acoustic performance of the song "Outside," from the Family Values Tour '99 live album, has grown into a #1 smash, some even say 'Song Of The Summer,' with the release of their latest album Break The Cycle.

LIKE LED ZEPPELIN BEFORE IT, METALLICA COMBINED RELENTLESS TOURING AND AN UNCOMPROMISING MUSICAL APPROACH WITH A CAREFULLY CULTIVATED AIR OF MYSTERY TO ACHIEVE ENORMOUS COMMERCIAL SUCCESS. THAT IT HAS BECOME ON OF ROCK'S MOST POPULAR GROUPS IS MADE ALL THE MORE AMAZING BY THE FACT THAT NOT ONE OF ITS PEER BANDS - WHICH WERE ALSO PLAYING A SPED-UP, HARDER-EDGED TAKE ON HEAVY METAL - HAS SUCCEEDED, OR SURVIVED, FOR THAT MATTER. AND EVEN THOSE WHO DON'T CARE FOR METALLICA'S MUSIC RECOGNIZE THAT FEW BANDS TREATED THEIR FANS AS WELL ONCE THEY REACHED THE TOP.

Over a period of several days, all four members of the Los Angeles-based heavy rock band System of a Down were psychologically examined for concise profiling by an area expert. Subjects, having completed 'Toxicity,' their "sophomore album" (note: industry term), were probed on the complex relationship properties linking the creation of inventive, melodic, fusion-minded metal to the sub-conscious discourse between childhood, ritual/habit, familial interplay and/or socio-political ideologies.

Describing themselves as extreme alternative, Fear Factory have been crushing the barriers between alternative, dance, industrial and metal since their earliest beginnings. Venting their frustrations through a gridlock of crunching riffs and barbarous electronics, FF have successfully experimented with formats and generic styles.

-I am what I create. Believing in my fat.. Integrity is my name. All that I am doing can never be ruined. My song remains insane.- "I dedicate this work of passion in memory of my loving Papino Graziano, Karina Cavalera, Dana Wells, Tio Mario, Tia Vera, and Chico Science. God bless you all - we'll see you all in a better place!!! " >>> Max C.

There's reason to be afraid. There's very good reason indeed, if you're someone who likes their music unchallenging, simple, and easy to define and digest. But if you want something dark, mysterious, savage, and unsettling, something that will force you to confront the unknown and possibly alter the way you look at the world, then prepare yourself for Mudvayne.

HAILED ON THEIR APPEARANCE IN 2000 AS THE NEW HOPE OF NU-METAL, MICHIGAN'S TAPROOT SPENT A COUPLE OF YEARS AS A COLLEGE BAND WHILE BUILDING A REPUTATION AS A POWERFUL LIVE DRAW.

Anthony Kiedis, John Frushiante, Flea, and Chad Smith are powerful as one entity because their individual spirit coordinates in the universe are very different from one another yet they are the perfect four musicians to be playing together. They are together as a band because their respective creative flows have been the heaviest when they get their collective creative flow together.

Rarely since the fiery crash of Buddy Holly's plane in 1959 have the words "Iowa" and "rock and roll" been used in the same sentence. As we've come to know it, Iowa means corn, livestock, conservatism, and precious little else. And like a thousand other landlocked heartland nowheres, it brims with kids dying from boredom, and with small-minded politicians trying to keep their little slice of Americana quaint, quiet, and soul-crushingly sterile. But the kids aren't all right - they're getting pissed.

As Godsmack's pointed, personal songs make instantly clear, lead singer Sully Erna is not one to mince words. So when the frontman states, in his firm Boston accent, that 'Awake' will "kick a new ass in this planet," you'd better believe him. "There's no rap, no techno, no gadgets; it's a hard, loud rock record. Period. No tricks," explains Sully, who produced the album with Mudrock [Godsmack, Powerman 5000]. "Awake digs a little deeper into what Godsmack is really about; and is versatile, from straight rockers like 'Awake' [the first single] to trippy, moody songs like 'Spiral.' Maybe some of the lyrics are harsh, but they're not negative." And, concludes the drummer-turned-singer, "there's no doubt it's us!"

One reason Maynard was drawn to L.A. in the early 90's was to explore the possibilities of sacred temple architecture and regeneration. Thus it is perhaps easiest to sketch a brief history of Maynard through some of the elements within his living space. The floor has a formation that's round on both sides and hi in the middle that is best measured with the equation DV/D = I (I being incidence); and a pack of gum, mo' happiness, and the apostle.

All five members of 311 grew up in the 1970's in Omaha, Nebraska. Nick Hexum, Tim Mahoney and Chad Sexton lived on the west side of town and went to Westside High School together. P-Nut and SA Martinez lived on the south side of town and went to Bryan High School together.

Back in 1995, we met Deftones with "Adrenaline," a combustible compound of razor-blade riffs, rumble, rage, and rap-ish delivery. The record, besides selling a half-million copies, laid the foundation for the heavy movement that followed and continues today.

For Kittie, it wasn't enough to tour with Slipknot. It wasn't enough to co-headline the Sno Core tour. It wasn't enough to co-headline the OZZfest 2000 sidestage with Soulfly. And it wasn't enough to be hand-picked by Pantera to join their Reinventing The Steel tour. In the world of heavy metal, it just wasn't enough to be the Cowgirls From Hell --Kittie wanted more. They wanted to follow-up their gold Artemis Records debut Spit, which soundscanned over 600,000 (over 100,000 outside the U.S.), with a sophomore release that would blur the lines that differentiate the sexes, resulting in an album that was nothing more than heavy metal, written and performed by heavy metal fans.

If there is a thread to carry through Coal Chamber's story, perhaps it is turbulence. Turbulence within the band - turbulence on stage - turbulence in the studio - turbulence in their personal relationships.

Appearing at Lollapalooza III in Philadelphia, Rage create a silent protest against censorship by standing naked on stage for 15 minutes without singing or playing a note. Each band member has duct tape across his mouth and a letter scrawled on his chest, spelling out "P-M-R-C."