The deluxe edition of the new Pig Destroyer album, Book Burner, comes with a bonus EP, Blind, Dead and Bleeding, full of hardcore-punk covers including songs by Black Flag, Misfits, Minor Threat, and more. You can stream the EP by clicking right here.

REVOLVER How did the event come about?
HENRY ROLLINS I’ve been working with Drop in the Bucket for three or four years. Whatever they need me to do, I say “Sure, I’ll help out.”  This year is a big benefit; the other ones were held at, like, hotels. You know, it’s clinking glasses and polite people. This is a much, much bigger affair; it’s a bigger chunk of beef they’ve bitten off. You know, live bands onstage, tickets etc., big venue. And so we’re stepping everything up.

Which performers are you most looking forward to seeing at the event?
I’m looking forward to the whole thing. I mean, I don’t really know what it’s going to be; I don’t know what Corey Taylor’s going to bring. I’m just glad he’s showing up. He’s a good guy. And Dave Navarro’s always fun; I’ve known Dave for over 20 years. I just wanna get onstage and tell these people about what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and start getting these acts on. And, you know, hopefully we put a lot of people in that building tomorrow night.

How did you first become aware of the scale of the problem in Africa?
Just by travel, by going to places like Djibouti, Madagascar, Kenya, Mali, Senegal, places like that, where you see, you know, water’s not that easy to get. Parts of India, water is hard to find. Like in northern Mali where I spent quite a bit of time, water is on your mind all the time. Even as a traveler, when you go buy five or six bottles at a store, you’re watching your water. It’s that one thing you and I can’t do without for very long. It doesn’t matter how cool you are or what label you’re on, thirst will kill you. Fast.

Is there something in particular that you’ve seen that really affected you?
Just walking around a bunch of really poor people living in a very challenging environment. Sometimes you wonder, like, Really, can’t you just move? Like, why do you have to live in the Saharan desert? What compels you to live in a sea of sand that tries to kill you by day and freeze you to death at night? When you look at these Tuareg tribes of people who live in Mali,  you’re literally like What are you thinking? I mean it’s the most inhospitable terrain and they call it home. So, OK, that’s them. But that can also be said of parts of Sudan I’ve been to. You’re like Really, this is brutal. It’s just they call it home. So just kind of being there and doing that gave me an awareness. I purposefully go into these environments in an attempt to learn. I put myself in these places.

Is it challenging to make more people aware of these problems, especially in the U.S.?
Well, I think, in America, Americans have so much to deal with right now. And so as America gets more serious and more involved and kind of cranked up trying to keep it cool, it’s a bigger ask to say, “Hey, stop what you’re doing and care about this,” when the immediate is now so iffy. And when people get really concerned with their own thing, their perimeter of responsibility and concern drastically reduces. And then when you get down to, “I’m thirsty and there might not be any water,” now we go into twilight zone, bomb shelter drama. America, obviously isn’t that desperate, but it’s hard to get people to look over here when what’s in front of them is so, you know, snapping back at them.

How can people who can’t make it to the event help?
Oh, that’s easy. They should go to DropintheBucket.org. Make a contribution online. That’d be a wonderful thing. And, you know, on kind of a more altruistic, kumbaya level, you do share this water and this food, and this world with everyone else and as life goes on for us, as your life goes on, I think the way to be part of the solution is to be more aware of the world. To basically look at the world in a big, wide shot and see yourself in that frame and as part of a much bigger picture. And whatever you can do, even if it’s, like, taking shorter showers or just being more aware of your consumption, really drilling down on your recycling. Just kind of pulling your head out of your ass.

Sometime in the middle of 2010, Eugene gave me a call and started talking about putting a band together. We picked up the conversation from time to time. The thought of making music with Eugene was compelling. I told him about a couple of songs I remembered from late in my Black Flag days that might be interesting to try out. He was all for it.

Around the same time, I rediscovered a trove of all of my writing going back into the ’70s and up to the early ’90s. I found the original handwritten lyrics for “No More,” “I’ve Heard It Before, “Spray Paint,” “My War,” “Padded Cell,” “I’m Dead,” and many more. I was reading them and thinking, “Damn, some of these are real good.” When I told Eugene about all of this, he was way into it. It’s awesome to finally bring these ideas to fruition. It’s not all about old stuff, though.

EUGENE ROBINSON I’ve known Chuck much longer than Chuck’s known me, having been a crazy fan and having seen Black Flag for the first time back when Dez was singing. Then I moved to California, and as these things go, meandering crossroads style, I met him, possibly via an interview. And thusly began the association.

Now, the idea had always been in my head to sing for him or with him. But there are only some times in life when the right chance shines the right way, and it makes a kind of sense that it didn’t before, and I am sensitive to that. And that sensitivity had me, after years of mulling it over, mentioning it to Chuck. After talking to the guys at our label, Hydra Head, and then having Chuck let me know that while we could get Dez and Robo, Ginn’s participation was not going to happen, it seemed that all signs were pointing toward what had been staring us in the face.

Rather than just do some retro thing, we could do something that no one else could do. Call it the lost Black Flag basement tapes or whatever: all of the Chuck Dukowski–penned tunes that went with him when he stopped actively playing bass in Black Flag were what we’d do. Songs that he had lyrics for, music for, and even in some cases had rehearsed and recorded. Given all of the great Flag songs he himself had written, it seemed we could actually put together a set of shit that would just kill you, and this would be outside of the Flag tunes that he had written—which, of course, were on the table for the live shows.

Chuck came up with the name, the music, and the lyrics, and we got Dukowski’s son, Milo Gonzalez, from Insects v. Robots, as well as CD6, on guitar. I came up with the voice and Oxbow’s former drummer Tom Dobrov. So, long answer, and bound to get longer. But you asked.

Black Face—there are several levels of wordplay in there that are simultaneously dumb and brilliant and thought provoking and enraging. Of all the names you could’ve chosen, why that one?
ROBINSON For precisely all of the reasons you mention. Through Oxbow and Oxbow’s live show, my involvement has always been on some agitprop edge of pushing tender spots. And this name worked on me in the same way Black Flag did when I first heard it: “Oh, like the bug spray?” And all of the cheap-seat laughter that that engendered, followed very quickly by a very, very heavy correction that was all about how else the name worked. To walk away from it only thinking about Al Jolson would be wrongheaded. But even if it is only that, I still like it.

DUKOWSKI I was throwing stuff out there, and when I tossed “Black Face,” Eugene stopped me. There was a sick racist drift in our culture that had people mocking black people while feeling the desire to channel some of their spirit, virility, and cool by wearing black face. Eugene is excited about taking on all of that. He also insists we perform “White Minority.” Let’s have a look at this fucked-up shit.

I also just like the concept of a mask. Masks are powerful; the Aztecs were super-interested in the power of costume and masks. Things like black face, haircuts, uniforms, tribal costumes, masks and assumed names all bring a transformative experience to the wearer. At the same time wearing black face is a mockery, it’s also a wish. Freud said sometimes we present our deepest desires as a joke.

There have been multiple attempts to resurrect some incarnation of Black Flag over the years with new people on the microphone. What makes this one different?
DUKOWSKI I don’t think there will ever be a real Black Flag reunion. For me, Black Face is a way to channel my Black Flag emotions and creative energy. Black Flag was not a “thing” for me. It is, and was, part of me, and that part of me needs to scream.

ROBINSON In my mind, this is no resurrection. I could have done this only one time in my life, and that time is now. Oxbow has a certain elegance to it, but the trajectory of my life since we recorded our last record, or even the Oxbow record we’re working on now, has been everything but elegant. I don’t drive a Benz. I don’t live in a mansion. And in general, not many give a fuck whether I live or die at a point in my life where someone should care. So Black Face makes sense to me emotionally in ways that it never could when I was 19. It’s a sledgehammer for a man desperately in need of a sledgehammer.

Chuck, you’ve had decades to keep all this material simmering. What do these songs mean to the 2011 version of you, and how do you think that comes across both on record and live?
DUKOWSKI It’s me, they’re me, and there is no distance. When you hear them, you’ll understand. It comes across.

Eugene, you’ve experienced many of these songs for the past 25-plus years of your life, too. What does it mean to you to actually be able to get in front of a microphone and do this?
ROBINSON It didn’t make itself known to me in any real way, even through the rehearsals, until we got into the studio. I stepped up to the mic and realized that I needed a moment because I, in all likelihood, was going to lose it. I have stepped up to a lot of microphones, and I have lost it a lot. But not like this.

Why have you decided to release your first material on vinyl?
ROBINSON All of the stuff I am releasing on Hydra Head these days will start like that. Oxbow’s next record, The Thin Black Duke, will play out over several 7-inches. Some other writer asked us if we were trying to thwart file sharers/music thieves, and I said that it’s not so much that but trying to return art and artifact to some sort of magical space. And as a lyricist, at least with the Oxbow stuff, I am fully fucking sick and tired of people asking me what the lyrics are because they’ve purchased a download and the lyrics don’t come with it. Besides which, for us, or me, it sort of recaptures that cool thing that kicked in when I actually tracked down some of those first few Black Flag 7-inches.

DUKOWSKI CDs and MP3s are great, and I listen to music all the time in these formats. But records are better than CDs both as a listening format and as an artifact. Their weakness is portability. I still own and play the first 7-inch I ever purchased, and it still sounds great. Time does not decay the sound. When I buy a new computer or don’t pay my data-storage fee, it’s not deleted.

Remember that between every two points there are an infinite number of other points. So, even the highest-resolution digital picture of sound leaves an infinite amount of that sound unheard.

OK, last question: Is this a real touring band, or something you guys have to get off your chest?
ROBINSON We’re going to tour. But is it on our chests? Are knives usually found on people’s chests?

DUKOWSKI How about yes and yes?

Photos by Raymond Ahner

To mark the occasion, the band has made one of the album’s tracks, “Twilight of the Dead,” available to stream and download for free. You can get the song by clicking here.

The Misfits have also just begun a North American tour in support of the record. You can see the full dates below.

10/04 W. Hollywood, CA, House of Blues
10/05 Tucson, AZ, The Rialto Theatre
10/06 Las Vegas, NV, House of Blues
10/07 Scottsdale, AZ, The Venue of Scottsdale
10/08 Albuquerque, NM, Historic El Rey Theater
10/09 Denver, CO, Summit Music Hall
10/10 Aspen, CO, Belly Up
10/14 Poughkeepsie, NY, The Chance
10/15 Auburn, ME, Club Texas
10/16 Danvers, MA, The Palace Ballroom
10/18 Asheville, NC, The Orange Peel
10/19 Murfreesboro, TN, Gilligan’s
10/20 Newport, KY, The Historic Southgate House
10/21 Cleveland, OH, Peabody’s
10/22 Detroit, MI, Harpos
10/23 Joliet, IL, Mojoe’s
10/25 Rochester, NY, Montage Music Hall
10/26 Toronto, ON, Phoenix Concert Theatre
10/28 Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom
10/29 Toledo, OH, The Omni
10/31 New York, NY, B.B. Kings
11/03 Towson, MD, Recher Theatre
11/04 Allentown, PA, Crocodile Rock
11/05 Clifton Park, NY, Northern Lights
11/06 Springfield, VA, Jaxx
11/07 Richmond, VA, Alley Katz
11/09 Mobile, AL, Soul Kitchen Music Hall*
11/10 Houston, TX, Stereo Live
11/11 Oklahoma City, OK, The Roxy
11/12 San Antonio, TX, Backstage Live Outdoors
11/14 Dallas, TX, Trees
11/17 Orlando, FL, Firestone Live
11/18 Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Culture Room
11/19 Daytona Beach, FL, Sickboys
11/20 Pensacola, FL, Vinyl Music Hall

Crusty thrashers Bison B.C.’s latest album, Dark Ages (Metal Blade), is so chock-full of memorable guitar work, we figured these guys must be authorities on great riffs. Turns out we were right. Below is vocalist-guitarist Dan And’s picks for the Five Best Riffs of All-Time and his thoughts about each one.

1. BLACK SABBATH, “Hole in the Sky,” from Sabotage, 1975
Trying to pick just one Sabbath riff as a favorite is tough because they wrote every good riff ever…even “Zero The Hero” has a killer riff. There are the obvious choices of “Paranoi,” “Iron Man,” “Children of the Grave” or the song “Black Sabbath,” which started it all, but this one opens my fav Sabbath record so it’s always stuck out for me. It might be the fact that it doesn’t start right away and you can actually hear Iommi turn up the volume on his guitar, put his hand over the strings to mute them then…BLAAADOWWWW! Get yer “G-word” on!

2. THIN LIZZY, “Chinatown,” Chinatown, 1980
The perfect song…I don’t know how else to describe it. Thin Lizzy were masters of the riff like no other. Each song a perfect tactical aural assault of endless guitarmonies and good times but this one captures the flag for me. Scott Gorham was the perfect Colonel for General Lynott's riff army. Whether he was battling beside Gary Moore, Snowy White, or Brian Robertson you can tell that he was the one leading the charge.

3. BLACK FLAG, “Loose Nut,” Loose Nut, 1985
A riff that manages to not only sound as sleazy and sloppy as the lyrics to the song but also manages to completely segregate the band from their raging punk output. That polarization started with the sludge fest that is the second half of ’84’s My War and of course ’85’s Slip It In is pretty much as sleazy as you can get, but it’s still filled with classic Black Flag sounding punk riffs. Loose Nut just changed it all. The whole album’s a mid-tempo face fuck to whatever poor kid would happen to be standing in the front row. It sounds like Nikki Sixx writing a Black Sabbath record. Grow yer hair and grind the air!

4. BUDGIE, “Napoleon Bona-Part 2,” Bandolier, 1975
It takes exactly 2:38 minutes to get through the whimsical, dream-like “Napoleon Bona-Part 1,” but once “Part 2” kicks in, look the fuck out! Yer welcome, Iron Maiden. Take this hammer to the back of the head, Metallica, and don’t fuck it up. Whoops, shit the bed there, buds! Budgie galloped like no other ever has or will…they did it best, hands down. There would be no N.W.O.B.H.M. or Bay Area thrash without Budgie, period. Unfortunately that also means we have them to thank for Dave Mustaine and the current influx of horrible, barely post-teen thrash-revival bands. Good job, Welshers!

5. (tie) MELVINS, “Revolve,” Stoner Witch, 1994 / HIS HERO IS GONE, “Like Weeds,” Monuments to Thieves, 1997
There are millions of awesome classic rock and blues riffs I would throw on this list, but in terms of influence on my playing, these two are huge. It’s hard to even break them down into “riffs” because they are both an endless barrage of awesome riff after awesome riff. I never thought I would ever talk about a crust song even having a “riff” but this His Hero Is Gone one has been stuck in my head for 15 years. Basically every single song I have ever written in one form or another at first was an attempt to create the perfect mix of these two songs. Sleazy/sludgey pop metal mixed with doom and gloom crust punk. Give me 10 more years and I bet you anything I’ll even be a 275-pound dude with an afro wearing a scotchguarded mudflap covered in spikes. UGH!

Honorable Mentions (because six riffs are never enough):

Van Halen, “I’m the One”
Rush – “Spirit of Radio”/“Limelight”
Captain Beyond, everything
Eagles, “Life in the Fast Lane”
Phil Collins, “Easy Lover”
Heart, everything
Kansas, “Carry On My Wayward Son”
April Wine, “Weeping Willow”
Replacements, “Bastards of Young”
Soundgarden, everything

Bison B.C. pic by Alex Divincenzo

Ever since that creepy witch woman stared out from that field on the cover of Black Sabbath's first record, album cover art has been a vital part of the heavy-music scene–that’s why any diehard fan has at least a few T-shirts or posters emblazoned with their favorite cover images. In Revolver's new "The Art of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal" Special Issue–available on newsstands now–we’ve tracked down and interviewed the artists behind the covers of such landmark records as Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy, Black Sabbath’s Heaven and Hell, Queen’s Queen II, Metallica’s Master of Puppets, Guns N’ Roses’ Appetite for Destruction, Pantera’s Far Beyond Driven, Korn’s Korn, Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral, Ministry’s Psalm 69, Lamb of God’s Ashes of the Wake, and many, many others. We’ve also unearthed all kinds of rare sketches, photo shoot outtakes, and alternate versions, taking readers through the whole creative process behind these iconic album covers. And we've profiled noted metal artists Ed Repka (Megadeth), Paul Romano (Mastodon, the Red Chord, Trivium), Arik Roper (High on Fire, Sleep), and Wes Benscoter (Slayer, Mortician, Dio, Nile).

And with your copy of the issue, you get to enter for a chance to have Benscoter paint your band's cover art. Click here, enter your info with a link where the Revolver editors can listen to your band, and make sure you have your copy of the "Art of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal" Special Issue handy. Good luck!!!