Jere begins his Cutting The Crap series with some very serious crap: Van Halen III, a failed attempt by one of the world’s greatest rock bands to reinvent themselves in the grunge age.

The new video from Avenged Sevenfold. Need we really say more?

Dio died yesterday. He was the greatest heavy metal singer of all time.

Tim and Oswald review the new Godsmack album. Together.

Jere gets in touch with his angry inner-teen.

If you’re a socially angry, post-college, generally aggro dude like myself, there’s probably nothing that gets you higher than a band like Rise Against that includes scathing political commentary in their music. The straight forward Hatebreed-inspired hardcore of Monument to Thieves’ new self-titled album nails this particular style, with heavy guitars and rampaging vocals broken [...]

The Action Blast is undoubtedly one of the coolest new bands in Chicago. They played their first show in December and formed shortly before that, but their sound is fully-formed and exceptionally confident. We were lucky enough to score an interview with the band’s guitarist, Kevin Singleton, and he explained who the band is, what they do, and why they’ll never compromise or water down the intensity of their rock attack.

Metallica’s first legitimately great record expands the group’s parameters while remaining true to the pitch-black ethos established by their prior work.

A not-so-new video from the UK heavy metal band Architects. It’s got just shy of half a million views so it’s no mistake that this face-melting hard rock video caught the attention of the team over here at Assault HQ.

Just caught wind of this band from Jamey of Hatebreed on Twitter. Thy Will Be Done “Earth’s Final Embrace” video from their debut album, “Was And Is To Come”. The band is releasing their follow up to ‘Was And Is To Come’, “In Ancient Of Days” on June 30th, 2009 via Stillborn Records.

Ronnie James Dio’s masterwork remains fresh after twenty-six years. Come for the title track; stay for “Rainbow In The Dark.”

Ever since the first time I saw Thrice live at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago when I was 16 I knew they’d be big. It’s been awhile since I connected as much with them (musically) on anything they’ve released, but I remain a loyal fan nonetheless.

Drawing inspiration from first person self-viewing cameras, Your Demise has stumbled upon one of the most interesting thrasher metal videos I’ve ever seen.

Based on the title and cover art alone, you might guess this is a new Slayer release. Unfortunately, you’d be wrong – Congregation Of The Damned (Opens in iTunes) is the fifth release from California’s Atreyu, and it’s another predictable-but-pleasing collection of shouty metalcore. When we describe metal albums as “punishing,” that’s typically a compliment. [...]

The amount of enjoyment you get out of any Rammstein record depends on your ability to ignore certain factors that define their sound. First, there’s the whole foreign-language thing: the lyrammrics are almost exclusively in the band’s native German. Second, there’s the creepy cabaret element as a backdrop to all of their tunes. The band can pulverize with some truly explosive riffage, but, even at their most forceful, everything is accented with dance floor keyboards.

One of these Tuesday mornings I’m hoping that when I take a quick peak at the top songs in the “Rock” category on iTunes there will really be something is not only rock, but also good. I’m not one to complain and not do anything about it so I’ve taken it upon myself to hopefully bring you a few new songs that aren’t Daughtry, Creed, or John Mayer-esque in sound.

It’s been awhile since I’ve found some heavy metal worth enjoying, let alone a quality music video to accompany said heavy death metal. Dagoba, “The Things Within” is a badass music video. Check it out.

From the Broken, a new local Chicago band, have released a 3 song EP, and are playing in your neighborhood this summer.