Artist Interview

Our friends in Eyes Set to Kill are releasing their fourth full-length, White Lotus (Maphia), tomorrow. But here you can hear the album, in its entirety, right now. Frontwoman Alexia Rodriguez fills us in on the album below. Look for more about the record, including a different interview with  Alexia, in the September/October issue of Revolver, which will be available everywhere on August 16 (or you can order it right here right now.) Let us know what you think of White Lotus in the comments.

REVOLVER What did you want to do differently on this album compared to past Eyes Set to Kill releases?
ALEXIA RODRIGUEZ In the past, we have had other guitarists write along with me. This is the first time I got to write both guitars and follow through with my own vision without having anyone else go against it.

What did Cisko Miranda bring to the group, creatively?
With our past members, I was the dominant one creatively. Cisko has been the only one I could write with without fighting or having intense creative differences.

How did doing your solo album inform how you, as a band, created this album?
I have always been the main writer of Eyes Set to Kill, and I knew that some of the songs I was writing wouldn't fit under our name. So I put these songs such as "Come Home," "Memories," and "Still Here" under my solo name. But as I recorded those songs on my own, I learned that Eyes Set to Kill fans could appreciate my acoustic songs, so that's why I covered some songs acoustically on White Lotus and did an acoustic version of our new song, "Harsh."

Why did you want to cover of Hole's "Doll Parts" and Nirvana's "Polly"?
I really wanted our fans to get to know who we are as musicians. We grew up on '90s alternative rock, and Hole and Nirvana were both my favorite bands. They both influence me tremendously. I love Courtney Love's voice and attitude and I love Kurt Cobain's intellect in his lyrics and the originality of his guitar playing. A lot of people don't respect him as a guitarist. I really believe he's one of the best songwriters of my time, especially since his influences were the Beatles and the Byrds.

What about the acoustic version of "Harsh"?
We play a lot of random acoustic gigs, so I thought it would be rad for the fans to hear that song the way I wrote it, and the way I will perform it on my own. We always try to include the fans as much as possible into our music. That's why we took two of our old EP songs and rewrote them for this release. Those songs used to be called "Pure White Lace" and "This Love You Breathe." But they are now called "Erasing Everything" and "The Secrets Between."

What are you proudest of about the album?
I'm most proud of Cisko's vocals. These are the first recordings we have had so White Lotus should be a treat for our fans since they have only heard him live and through YouTube. [Laughs]

Photo by Nathaniel Taylor

The inaugural 48 Hours Festival, powered by Rockstar Energy Drink, which promises to be "the world's biggest rock and roll party weekend," will take place this October 15 and 16 on the Luxor Festival Grounds in Las Vegas and will feature coheadliners Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, and Godsmack.

Over those two days, two stages will also feature more of hard rock and heavy metal's biggest names, including Five Finger Death Punch, Three Days Grace, Seether, Bullet For My Valentine, Hollywood Undead, Sick Puppies, Escape the Fate, Sevendust, Hatebreed, Adelitas Way, Rev Theory, 10 Years, Black Tide, Art of Dying, Eyes, Set to Kill, Butcher Babies, Valora, Hell or Highwater, Orange Blossom Special, and more.

But more than a music festival, 48 Hours is a full-on weekend party including oversized European festival style production and exclusive after parties—and even an after, after party at the famous Olympic Gardens.

Plus, fans will also have the chance to purchase and win exclusive VIP packages that offer experiences that could only be had at the 48 Hours Festival like: "The Godfather – All Access," which will allow fans to watch the show from the stage and backstage bar access, "All Excess – Cabanas" featuring full service cabanas with premium elevated sight lines, and "Debauchery VIP " with a VIP-only tent and private bar. Once-in-a-lifetime VIP concert experience packages will also be offered online. In addition, those in attendance will have a chance to be upgraded to VIP status as random winners will be announced on stage during the show.

Pre-sale tickets go on sale today. For tickets and more information, go to 48hoursfestival.com.

Critically acclaimed vampire-apocalypse horror-thriller Stake Land came out on DVD, Blu-ray, and two-disc special edition DVD on Tuesday. The film is set after a vampiric scourge has swept the nation, turning bloodsuckers against human and even human against human; it follows a young boy (played by Connor Paolo) who joins a mysterious traveller known only as Mister  (played by Nick Damici) heading to New Eden. Enter here for your chance to win one of five copies of the special-edition DVD of the movie, and read below Revolver's recent chat with actor—and co-writer—Damici.

REVOLVER What was the initial inspiration for the Stake Land script? What was your biggest goal for the script?
NICK DAMICI [Co-writer] Jim Mickle and I wanted to make a movie. That's it. Nobody was giving us the money so we brainstormed and decided we could try a web series, something we could do cheap and on weekends. We came up with [the characters] Mister and Martin, basically a man teaching a boy how to kill vampires. Each webisode would be a different type of vampire. We wrote about 40 eight-minute scripts and brought them to [director] Larry Fessenden who loved the idea but thought it would be better as a movie. He brought the funding to us and we turned those webisodes into Stake Land, mostly by condensing and creating the apocalyptic world.  My biggest goal was to take a very overused and cliché-ridden concept and bring it back to where we felt a vampire-apocalypse movie worked best. Dirty, gritty, and definitely not pretty.

How did you and Jim go about working together on the script? What did each of you bring to it, in particular?
Jim and I have been doing this for about 10 years now together so we've developed a pretty organic system of working together. We brainstorm. I do most of the hands-on writing and then Jim pulls it into place. We do that over and over until we feel it's right. Jim brings himself, his comparative youth—to me, that is—and his artful cinematic eye and intelligence and unwavering sense of truth. I bring my balls and my hack writing skills, spit it out with passion, and let Jim do the rest.

Did you always plan to play the character of Mister?
Yep. And I've taken some critical flack for writing myself starring roles in movies that I write. I'm fine with that. It's either play bit parts on tired television show as cops or hoods or pick up the pen and write something I want to do. I've been lucky enough to pull it off a couple of times.

Tell us about Mister.
His name says it all. He's an enigma. We don't know where he comes from or who he is. His character is developed by his actions…period. I based him essentially on John Wayne's character, Ethan, from [the John Ford-directed Western] The Searchers. Love him or hate him, you want him on your side when the shit hits the fan.

What did you relate to the most in your character? What did you relate to the least?
His sense of hatred most, but also his sense of hatred least. That's what makes him an enigma.

In the beginning of the movie, there's pretty gruesome scene involving a vampire in the rafter and a baby. Tell us about how that scene came to be and what it was like filming it.
That was the opening scene in the webisodes. We didn't want Martin to become sympathetic and just a victim. By demonstrating a willingness to kill off his whole family in front of him and to have him basically be helpless. Nailing that in by killing a baby seemed effective. Nothing is sacred and anyone who isn't strong enough or is unlucky enough becomes fodder. You know right off the bat you are not in Kansas anymore.

What was the most fun scene for you to film?
There's a bit where Connor and I are in the trunk of the car all snuggled up close. It's a dramatic moment, but when I looked down at him and lit the lighter, he was all smirks and cutey pie and it just busted me up. I still laugh about it. He's a terrific person and the most fun I had was working with him.

What was the most challenging scene?
Opening the barn scene, Jim Mickle had cold water pour down the crack of my leather pants for an hour.  Mister was not a happy cowboy.

What was the craziest thing to happen on set?
Danielle Harris, in the scene where I pick her up, she was so good, and when I looked down at her and her eyes all misty, it brought tears to my eyes, too. It was unexpected but somehow delightful to discover that Mister—and I—had that in me. I don't think I ever thanked her for it so I will now. Thank you, Danielle.

When you saw the finished film, what surprised you most about it?
That after writing it and filming it and living it for almost two years and being so inside of it, the film grabbed me and held on. I found myself along for the ride with these characters in this world.

What are you most proud of about the film?
I don't know if proud is the right word, but I feel good that all these people it takes to make a movie came together and got it done. I guess a little proud that Jim and I came up with an idea that moved people to action.

Finally, Revolver is a hard-rock and metal magazine. Are you a fan of that kind of music at all?
Well, I'm over 50 so I'm an [doo-wop band] Ink Spots kinda guy… I guess the closest I get to hard rock or metal is Queen. Van Halen, Def Leppard…. Does Elvis count?

Contributing writer Chris "Faygo" Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You and Venomous. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his New York metal band Flaming Tusk. If you click the picture of him to the left, it gets really big so you can blackmail him with it.

Confession time: I was a teenage Juggalo. Between the ages of 13 and 16, I loved the Insane Clown Posse. Their timeless rhymes regarding corpulent women, mythical jesters, and affordable soda pop instilled in me a sense of devil-may-care vulgarity that I cherish to this day. And though my tastes progressed towards Scandinavian melo-death and blistering blackened thrash later in life, the words of Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope remain face-painted on my heart. I, friends, am down with the clown. So when Revolver offered me the chance to interview ICP regarding the band's 12th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos (this year's lineup including everyone from Charlie Sheen to CKY and Bobby Brown to metalhead comedian Brian Posehen and takes place in Cave-in-Rock, IL, from August 11 – August 14), I happily poured myself a Faygo Diet Root Beer and emailed their publicist. A few days later, I received the call. "My name is J," chuckled the foul-mouthed harlequin on the other end, "and I'm violent."

REVOLVER How are things at Psychopathic Records with the Gathering of the Juggalos coming up?
VIOLENT J It's crazy. It's our Super Bowl, it's our Wrestlemania, it's our New Year's. And we pull it off pretty well for some people who have no experience with festival promotion. We don't have anyone here who used to work for Lollapalooza. We just decided to learn the ropes ourselves, and I think we've done a pretty good job.

As both an organizer and part of "the talent," how much are you involved in the organizational process of the Gathering?
A lot. We get together every day around this giant round table at the office—you should see this table, man, it's huge, it's presidential—and we go around, and every person says what they're working on at what time and place that day. Everyone hears what everyone else is doing, and can offer to help. It's a huge family. There are no ties and suits here. People wonder how we came up with the groups for the Gathering—it's 'cause we sat around wondering what would be cool as Hell! 'Aw, you know who would be cool?' 'Wouldn't it be great if we got such-and-such?' We don't look at who's touring, who's going to be in the area, who's the cheapest—we pull guys up out of obscurity. We get guys who've been sitting at home for two years. We see the people we want to see. They know about the Gathering, and they want to play the Gathering.

The lineup is kind of a ragtag team of musicians and performers. There's no real big mainstream headliner.
I think if you're currently blowing up, if you're the mainstream's favorite, you could never play the Gathering. But if you've had it once, if the world is pointing its finger at you, judging you, criticizing you, then you're OK by the Juggalos. But if you have hits on the radio, if you're what everybody's listening to, they'll kill you at the Gathering. Not that Tila Tequila wasn't bad [Ms. Tequila was battered with garbage to the point of physical injury at the 2010 Gathering], but I read in an article, and I think this is true, that she reminded everyone too much of the girl who wouldn't date you in high school.

Who's someone who you're interested to see perform at the Gathering?
The rapper Paris. Super hardcore Black Panther rapper. He has a song called "Bush Killa" about killing George Bush. He got thrown off of Warner Brothers for having an album cover with a bunch of dead cops hanging out of a cop car. He's so hardcore. And Bobby Brown! Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't think R&B could ever be played at the Gathering, but someone like him, who always has the finger pointed at him, might be able to make it.

How did Charlie Sheen get involved?
We were doing the Howard Stern Show, and somebody, maybe Howard, was talking about Bree Olson, one of Charlie's goddesses. We got to talking about Charlie Sheen, and someone mentioned how cool it would be to have him at the Gathering. Well, our manager Billy tracked down his manager, and they started talking. What's exciting is that Charlie Sheen isn't doing this for the money. I don't think Charlie Sheen needs the little amount of money we could give him. I think he just realizes it's something different. Here's a guy who's seen it all, but he's never seen anything like the Gathering.

Can you believe that ICP, a band who's never received any mainstream radio attention, are now putting on one of the most well-known American music festivals around?
Times are changing. Back in the day, it was all about the record companies. They were like giants, like gods. They were gonna decide who got famous, who MTV were going to be playing heavily. But now, with the Internet and the invention of YouTube, people are finding things on their own. There's no one on YouTube saying 'No' to anybody. There's no publicist, no sales manager, it's straight from the people, to the people. That's why record companies are dying. The days of the giant record company moguls, "You'll never work in this town again," they're gone. And I think ICP are shining examples of that. We've never had any help as far as the industry. Now, the downside of that is, nobody invites us to the Grammys. Nobody invites us to the American Music Awards, or the big Hollywood parties. We're selling millions of records, and no one has any idea why, because we're not part of that elite inner circle.

And you guys are stronger than ever now, what with the Gathering and the "Miracles" video blowing up.
Maybe this is just me being overly positive or conceited, but I still think we're going to be even bigger than we are right now. That's why Juggalos have always been so supportive and so passionate. Most people put on our record and hear a bunch of cursing from a couple of white guys in clown paint and think, What is this garbage? But the fans get into it, absorb it, and they find the treasures buried within. They see the real beauty of it. And I think the more attention ICP gets, the more people will see the beauty beneath the surface. And the real beauty of it is that ICP never had to change to do that. That's a huge part of our success—we never sold out. We never changed anything about ourselves. This is who we are. It's just that now, more people are hearing about it.

And yet even with an expanding fanbase, you've retained your really loyal diehards.
Of course. We love the Juggalos. We live and die and breathe Juggalo. Being a Juggalo is not an easy thing, walking around with an ICP shirt on or an ICP tattoo on your arm. We are the most hated band in the world, the most made-fun-of, the most disrespected—being a fan of that band is hard. That's what's so beautiful about the Gathering. When you come out and see 10,000 people who've also always felt like the underdog, it's wonderful. The feeling of the Gathering is way more wonderful than who's playing the Gathering. That love for one another is worth the admission a hundred times.

How do you strike a balance with the fans? Is there ever a moment where you say, 'We need more rap, we need more rock?'
That's the thing about Juggalos—no two Juggalos are exactly alike. I mean, what else out there in music is like ICP? There's really nothing like us. We've never been able to fit into any genre of music. Some kids love rock, and metal, and ICP. Some kids love rap and R&B music, and ICP. So one thing we've learned is that the fans come from all walks of life, and the one thing they have in common is their love of the Dark Carnival. Hell, even we don't see eye-to-eye with our own fans on things other than the Dark Carnival. I mean, they love Vanilla Ice at the Gathering! Would you say ICP is similar to Vanilla Ice? I wouldn't say so, but they love him! And it's always been that way. We've watched our own fans boo some of our favorite acts offstage when we brought them out on tour!

Funny you mention that—one of my clearest concert memories was watching Nashville Pussy and Suicidal Tendencies open for you guys in New York. The kids loved Suicidal, but they threw shoes and shit at Nashville Pussy until they left the stage.
See, and Nashville Pussy completed the tour with us, and in some cities, they did OK! It's hard to say who the Juggalos are gonna like. They're a group of different people with a strong common love.

In an exclusive career-spanning interview with Revolver, Disturbed frontman David Draiman sets the record straight about the band's upcoming "indefinite hiatus," which will begin after the band's South American tour.

"The absolute truth is we've been touring nonstop—make a record, tour, make a record, tour for 12 years straight, and it hasn't afforded us the opportunity to do anything else as artists and individuals," he says. "Our entire world has always been encompassed by Disturbed."

Several factors contribute to the band's decision to take time off, including the declining state of the music industry and the desire to explore other ventures, but right now Draiman is more concerned with quashing rumors and correcting erroneous reportage.

First and foremost, he insists there are no strained relationships within the band. "I want to make it very clear that it is absolutely, unequivocally not due to any animosity between band members because there is none," he says. "I just had dinner with everybody for [guitarist] Danny Donegan's birthday the other night. We had a great time. Danny and Mike [Wengren, drums] are standing up at my wedding, for God's sake. There's no animosity whatsoever. These guys are my brothers and we have a tremendous love and admiration for each other and this hiatus has nothing to do with any perceived or conceived infighting between the band members."

Although Disturbed's latest album, Asylum, has gone gold and the Mayhem tour (which also features Godsmack, Megadeth, Machine Head, and others) is one of the top summer concerts, drawing 10,000 to 15,000 fans per show, Draiman stresses that the instability within record companies and the music industry largely contributed to the band's decision to take time off.

"The state of the music industry is very apparent to everyone," he says. "I'm not enlightening anyone by saying that it is in a state of decline. I'm not enlightening anyone by saying it is in a state of reformation and it needs to figure itself out again. It's just a very difficult time to function as a musician within the music industry when personnel are lost left and right and people you've counted on for years are suddenly cast by the wayside. People are much more concerned with how the company looks on a balance sheet to a potential buyer as opposed to concerning themselves primarily with things like artist development. That's definitely a factor in why we chose to do this indefinite hiatus now. If things were gangbusters in the industry it would be much more difficult to turn away for a little while and concentrate on other things we'd like to do. It would be cutting off our nose to spite our face. Where things go with any of us in our own individual projects during this hiatus will determine how long it lasts or if it is, in fact, indefinite."

Also, Draiman says that while he does indeed plan to have children with his wife-to-be, his desire to start a family didn't play a role in Disturbed's decision to take time off.

"There's been a lot of speculation about that," he says. "Our decision to take this hiatus has nothing to do with that. The other three band members have had families and they've been bringing their children on the road from time to time, and Danny for the majority of the time that we've been on the road since he had them. His little girl is 7 years old already and she's been a very welcome facet of the Disturbed traveling world. Both of his children are adorable and we love them very much. Mikey's little girl has added to the equation and so has [bassist] John [Moyer's] wonderful family, and now it's my turn to start one of my own. But I've had my fiancée and my dogs out with me the whole cycle. They're really my support structure. None of us have any qualms about touring with the family or making them a part of it and trying to bring as much of home on the road with us. We would be prepared to continue if there weren't things we wanted to do individually as artists and creative people and if we weren't looking at the state of things as they are in the industry right now."

Finally, Draiman adds he was taken out of context by Billboard magazine when was quoted as saying the indefinite hiatus is partially due to "the demise of hard rock and metal right now."

"When I spoke about the demise of hard rock and heavy metal, I was talking about the disrespect for the genre, the fact that it is relatively ignored by the mass media," he says. "It's never given its due even though here we are on one of the biggest tours of the summer, yet the tour is relatively ignored and brushed under the carpet, with the exception of the metal press. We've always been champions of the genre, and I want to make it absolutely crystal clear that I've never been more proud to be a part of it. And I think bands like ourselves and Godsmack and certainly Metallica are making it very clear that hard rock and heavy metal are here to stay. They're not going anywhere. And we're very happy to have been champions of that cause and will continue to do that even during the hiatus."

To find out what the members of Disturbed plan to do during their time off, what their upcoming compilation will contain, and what the highlights and lowpoints of the band's career have been, read the full interview with Draiman and Donegan in the issue of Revolver that will hit newsstands in October.

Photos by Travis Shinn

Hard rockers Maylene and the Sons of Disaster will release their long awaited new album IV, which was produced by Brian Virtue (Jane's Addiction, Deftones, Audioslave), on September 27 via Ferret Music. In anticipation of the record, they're proud of unleash new song "In Dead We Dream." So crank up the volume on your speakers, hit play, and be one of the first to bang your head to the track! Then read what vocalist Dallas Taylor has to say about the song, and let us know what you think in the comments.

REVOLVER What's "In Dead We Dream" about?
DALLAS TAYLOR The song is about having a conflict with someone, and then they tell everybody their side of the story, bending the truth to feel like the victim and get all the sympathy when all along the tables are turned. But the other person involved doesn't care about trying to convince a bunch of people that this is the case, because they know in the long run people will see that person for their true colors anyways. It is also about wishing certain circumstances would be different and hoping you can turn a situation around, but knowing it is pretty much impossible to do so.

Which part of it did you come up with first?
The music came first. We wrote the song in the studio. It was pretty much last minute that the lyrics came about. We literally wrote most of the lyrics as I was going into the vocal booth to track the songs. The inspiration for the music just came about jamming in the studio, and the lyrics came from a lot of personal stuff that I have experienced in my life and in the past two years.

Was this an easy song to write?
It was a very easy song to write musically. As far as the lyrics and vocals, they were a little harder. We had written the song vocally but didn't feel it was fitting the music and so we rewrote it as we were going in to track it. Now I think the song makes the most sense and just feels right all around.

What sort of feedback have you gotten on this song so far?
We have been playing this song on our current tour and it has been going over amazing. People love it, and it seems to be making people very excited for the new record. It feels really good to play our new songs and get compliments on them every night. We are really excited about this record.

Sebastian Bach—who blew minds with his show-stopping performance with Asking Alexandria at the 2011 Golden Gods award show, and who is featured in the forthcoming issue of Revolver, out everywhere on August 16—unleashes his highly anticipated new solo album, Kicking & Screaming (Frontiers), on September 27. But today he's premiering the music video for the record's title track exclusive right here! Watch the clip below and let us know what you think in the comments.

Photo by Clay Patrick McBride

Kittie are releasing their sixth album, I Failed You (eOne), on August 30. But you can hear their song, "Empires (Part 2)," for the first time right here. Frontwoman Morgan Lander fills us in on the song below. Also, look for a feature on Lander's "Favorite Shit" in the Revolver coming out August 16. Let us know what you think of the song in the comments.

REVOLVER What's this song about?
MORGAN LANDER "Empires (Part 2)" is about the fall of something that at one time was considered great and indestructible. It likens a union, or relationship to the idea of a great empire, and as history has taught us, even the most mighty and powerful of empires crumble and fall eventually. Nothing is forever.

What is its relationship to the album's "Empires (Part 1)"?
Well, musically, "Empires (Part 1)" and "(Part 2)" are based around the same guitar chords and structure, and "(Part 1)" is more like a soft, acoustic introduction to the fury of the second part, much like a time of peace before unrest.

Which part of it did you come up with first?
"Empires (Part 1)" was the original concept, as written by Tara [McLeod] on her acoustic guitar. From there we built it into a two-part song, and one that fit with the intensity of the album, which made sense for Kittie to do, musically.

Was this an easy song to write or record?
It was really a very easy song to both write and record. Most of the main ideas were already in place, as Tara had demoed a few sections of it previous to our collaboration as a band. We all just work so well together when it comes to writing, that once we get going, ideas just flow out of us. It was relatively pain free, and the end resulted in one of my favorite songs on the album!

What sort of feedback have you gotten on this song so far?
So far, so good. People that have heard it, really dig the vibe of the song, and the chorus is so catchy! I can't wait for the masses to hear it.

Contributing writer Chris "Pear Vodka" Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You and Venomous. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his New York metal band Flaming Tusk. Many people call Chris an alcoholic. He prefers the term "mixologist." Join him as he makes a series of potables based on songs and albums by his favorite extreme-metal bands and serves them to his unwitting friends.

Ah, the dulcet sounds of Electric Wizard. With a brilliant mixture of Dennis Wheatley–inspired Satanism, bikerish sexuality, and chalk-white clouds of weed smoke, this British stoner-doom band has entranced potheads for over a decade with their crushing sound and brilliantly clever lyrical themes. (I'm especially a fan of their recent Hammer Horror-inspired trend of writing songs about "Count Drugula"). Their sound is like Sabbath on steroids, like H.P. Lovecraft's ghost screaming at the bottom of a lake of bong water, like the Devil we all love, the Man of Wealth and Taste, playing a game of poker with a pack of drunk werewolves. So, of course, I needed to make a drink for them.

This drink, named after the band's sextastic bondage dirge "Torquemada '71", reflects the band's style—delicious, infectious, sweet, but powerful as the dickens. I modeled the basic ingredients after a Zombie; I was saddened by not being able to find Tiki glasses in time for the mixing. The special additions were the nutmeg (stolen from a Rum Punch, for flavor), the Absinthe (to make it green, like, you know, weed), the limeade (ditto), and the ganja (originally, I planned to sprinkle some on top, but that's a waste). Let's stir this cauldron together and see what happens…

Electric Wizard's "Torquemada '71"

2 oz dark rum

2 oz light rum

1/2 oz pear vodka

2 oz limeade

1 ½ oz ginger ale

Absinthe

Nutmeg

Marijuana

Blend ingredients in a Collins glass (Tikis are also allowed) filled with ice. Float the absinthe on top, add a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. Smoke marijuana, then sip and feel the green.

Reactions:

ALEX: This is actually pretty tasty, in a sweet drink sort of way.

MADDY: Definitely a success. It's kind of a beach drink.

BERNARD: The absinthe adds some good flavor to it—a little minty, and nice.

ANDY: The weed helps, too.

FINAL RATING: HAIL! Though the ingredients were a little lady-like (pear vodka, really?), the resulting drink is absolutely delicious, and goes well with a cloud of smoke and a stupid grin. If you ever find yourself on a beach with a bunch of metalheads, definitely order a chosen few of these barbaric concoctions.

If you or your friends can come up with metal-themed cocktails, send your recipes to krovatinc@gmail.com. Remember, though, these should be metal-themed, not the usual fare like Blacktooth Grins and Butt Burners. Use your imagination, and get slaughtered!