Headbangers’ Brawl is a weekly column where Metal Insider’s Bram and Zach take a moment to debate and analyze two opposing sides of a topical issue occurring in the world of metal and/or the music industry.

On February 7, Van Halen will finally be releasing their long-awaited album A Different Kind Of Truth, their first with David Lee Roth since 1984. Chances are that you know about the uproar over the band reworking old demos for the album. Some songs like “She’s The Woman” are without question songs the band originally demoed in the 70′s, while fans have noted strong similarities in some of the recent samples and even the first single “Tattoo.” While many people’s first reaction may be of disappointment, all of the commotion also has some people asking “Who cares?” In fact, many will point out how many of Van Halen’s past songs were basically reworked demos. So is it really that big of a deal that Van Halen are doing that now? Well that’s the question Bram and Zach will be debating in this week’s Headbangers’ Brawl.

Zach: I’m not against the idea of Van Halen reworking or even reusing old demos at all. In fact, it probably would produce better material than if Roth and Eddie actually sat down now and tried to write together. I guess my problem with it all is how it seems like they (or their label, since let’s be frank, the band has done very little promotion themselves) are trying to push the songs as brand spanking new, which they are but only to a certain extent. It’s almost as if they don’t expect long-time fans to notice that some songs sound awfully familiar to an old demo (maybe 20 years ago it would’ve slipped, but not any more thanks to YouTube). If they were a little more open about how they reworked some old demos, this whole thing wouldn’t have caused such a stir. Then again, maybe they will end up playing that angle once they actually do press for the album.

Bram: I actually think it’s a dream come true for any Van Halen fan. The die-hards have known these songs as demos, but now the dust has been blown off them and they’ve been re-recorded for mass consumption. That’s an absolute win for people that have been following the band for over 30 years. And since there hasn’t been any Van Halen music for years, to hear songs that were written years ago sung by the person who originally wrote them is awesome. I also think it’s unfair to say that they’re trying to deceive their fans. As you said, they haven’t done press yet, but I’m sure in a week or two, there’ll a full-on media blitz as the album comes out. I’d be surprised if they don’t address it then. But for now, I think that recognizing the new songs as old demos is like an easter egg for the uber-fans, and as for everyone else, they’re hearing brand new VH songs! (more…)

It’s been four years since groove metal band Byzantine released Oblivion Beckons, their last album before disbanding. However, it was announced today that not only is their  classic lineup (including guitarist Tony Rohrbough who didn’t take part in the 2010 reunion) reuniting, but is also working on a new self-financed album.

Byzantine singer/ guitarist Chris Ojeda revealed the following in a statement posted on the band’s Facebook page:

“We’ve all kept in contact through the past few years and have worked on each other’s projects as well. With our guitarist Tony moving back to WV from NC, we decided it would be a perfect opportunity to hang out again and jam. Before we knew it, we were tossing around riffs and song ideas and realized we had what seemed to be the foundation for a pretty kick ass Byzantine album.

We are not focusing on playing live just yet. We all still live pretty far away from each other and have family and career obligations to meet. Our focus right now is to put together a real nice collection of songs that we and our fans can be proud of. Doing it on a smaller budget will be a little harder but it will be fun to take our time and be able to be creative on our own terms.”

The band’s statement also revealed that they would be using Kickstarter to help find financial resources for the album, stating the following:

“Since Byzantine is no longer tied to any record company, the band has decided to finance the recording of their 4th CD independently. The band will record most of the music themselves alongside engineer/producer and Gizmachi guitarist Jason Hannon of 7 over 8 Studios. Vocal tracking will be handled by Byzantine’s longtime engineer Aaron Fisher at 101 Studios. Ojeda states that no time frame has been set for the release and no show dates have been set.

In the meantime, Byzantine has decided to enlist the help of Kickstarter.com for the financing of the album. Kickstarter is the world’s largest funding platform for creative projects. It will allow the fans of Byzantine to help back the release of their new album through donations. Donations will be set up on a tier program and each tier will have incentives packages such as signed CD’s, back stage passes, official sheet music and early digital downloads, etc.”

At this moment, Byzantine have reached $ 1,171 of their $5,000 goal. It’s pretty cool to see a band, especially one as well admired as Byzantine, use online media to finance the recording of an album. You can find out more information about how to help Byzantine finance the new album via their Kickstarter page.

[Thanks Alan for bringing this to our attention]

Back in the early ’70s, the Osmonds were the shit, a family of squeaky clean Mormon kids that somehow became teen idols via their watered-down pop rock. It turns out that all you have to do to make them sound Satanic (or like at least ridiculous) is slow them down. “Crazy Horses,” apparently a song about air pollution, sounds downright sinister when slowed down from 45rpm to 33rpm (that’s old timey record talk). Blog Dangerous Minds posted this, and it’s easily my favorite thing on the internet today. Original cheesy video complete with chicken dance after the jump.

[via Kim, who probably won't play this tonight] (more…)

Metallica have been in search of a bassist numerous times. Numerous acclaimed bassists, including Primus’ Les Claypool, have at one point auditioned for the coveted role. However, apparently one bassist the band almost played with was…Hulk Hogan?

Well that’s what the WWE/WCW wrestling legend is claiming. While visiting UK tabloid The Sun’s offices, The Hulkster revealed the following:

“I used to be a session musician before I was a wrestler. I played bass guitar. I was big pals with Lars Ulrich and he asked me if I wanted to play bass with Metallica in their early days but it didn’t work out.”

He also claims that Mick Jagger’s then wife Jerry Hall tried to get him an audition with The Rolling Stones, but never got a call back. It’s unclear when exactly Hulk was “asked” to play in Metallica, but most likely either right before Cliff Burton joined the band or right after his death… Wait, what are we saying? We’re not even sure if this is true! Being old-school wrestling fans, we knew Hogan had played bass before becoming the wrestling icon he is today. But Hulk Hogan playing in Metallica? Then again, Metallica have had weirder collaborations.

Whether you take the Hulkster’s word or not, that’s what he claims. You can read the rest of The Sun’s interview with him online. In case you’re curious as to Hulk’s bass chops, you can watch old footage of him playing onstage after the jump as well. (more…)

It’s no secret that we here at Metal Insider love Faith No More. And Revocation’s latest album Chaos In Forms made it onto one of our contributor’s favorite albums of 2011 list. So that’s why it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we really like the Boston metal group’s cover of “Surprise! You’re Dead.”

Originally, Revocation’s cover of the Faith No More song (which appeared on 1989’s The Real Thing) was only available on the Chaos Of Forms iTunes deluxe edition. However, the band’s rendition of “Surprise! You’re Dead” is now available for streaming exclusively at Ultimate-Guitar.com. “Surprise! You’re Dead” is already one of Faith No More’s heavier songs, but Revocation make it even more brutal.

Go ahead and listen to Revocation’s cover over at Ultimate-Guitar, which comes just a few days before the band kicks off their upcoming tour with Children of Bodom on Monday (January 30) in Rochester, NY.