The new TESTAMENT! My chat with Pomo Indian and heavy metal legend, Chuck Billy!

Testament is a band that truly needs no introduction. Since the mid-1980s, the Bay Area quintet has been the unyielding flag-bearer for highly-skilled, innovative and monstrously heavy thrash metal. With a catalogue featuring ten studio albums (including the 2001 collection of re-recordings, First Strike, Still Deadly), five live albums, a string of DVDs and a host of “best of” collections, it is impossible to deny the legacy of the band.

In early 2010, Testament is hitting the road with metal titans Megadeth and Slayer for what has been dubbed The American Carnage Tour. Before heading out, we managed to score some time with Testament’s imposing front man, the charismatic Chuck Billy. Read on, as we discuss the excitement of the tour, the importance of loyalty, and the value of family. [Feature can be found here!]

Discussing the ongoing relevance of PANTERA with Revolver Magazine's Jon Wiederhorn

It has been five years since the tragic passing of Pantera guitarist and chief songwriter Darrell Abbott AKA Dimebag Darrell. Every year since his death, metal and guitar-centric magazines pay tribute to his life and accomplishments with old interview clips, new interviews with surviving members of Pantera, and even anecdotes from fans.

This year, however, Revolver Magazine has taken things a step further and devoted an entire section of its latest issue to discussing the magical, perfect storm that went into the creation of Pantera’s 1992 breakthrough album, Vulgar Display of Power. Spearheaded by senior writer Jon Wiederhorn (whose additional credits include talent coordinator and panelist for AOL Noisecreep's "Creep Show' Podcast, Noisecreep writer, freelancer for Inked and Guitar World, former editor in chief of MTV's Headbanger's Ball Blog, and ex- associate editor at Rolling Stone), the magazine painstakingly compiled new interviews with everyone imaginable who had anything to do with the inception of the album to paint a living memorial to one of heavy metal’s iconic guitar personalities.

Read on as we sit down with Wiederhorn and discuss what it was that made Dimebag and Pantera such revolutionary entities. [Feature can be found here!]

Discussing vocals on soundtracks with AVATAR and IRON MAN 2 songstress Lisbeth Scott!

Although you may not know her by name, you surely have experienced the vocal talents of Lisbeth Scott. Called upon to be the featured vocalist by many of Hollywood’s most noteworthy film music composers, Scott’s mesmerizing voice has contributed to many Hollywood blockbusters, including both Chronicles of Narnia films, the first two Shrek movies, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Munich, King Kong, The Sixth Sense, and The Passion of the Christ. She has also been featured on high-rating television series, like CSI, ER, The Tudors, and True Blood.

Currently, Scott can be heard in two films in theaters – Guy Ritchie’s revamp of Sherlock Holmes, and James Cameron’s sci-fi epic Avatar. She is also booked to lend her voice to 2010’s Iron Man 2, and has several other opportunities on the burner. Read on, as we get to know one of the “unsung” heroines of movie soundtrack canon. [Feature can be found here!]

Getting in the holiday spirit with A CHRISTMAS STORY soundtrack composer Carl Zittrer!

Christmas movie soundtracks are a rare commodity. Most are only in print for a very short span of time, to coincide with the movie’s original release or tied to a DVD release, and some have never even made the transition to a digital format. Even rarer are those iconic films that never, ever see an official soundtrack released. Until last month, a soundtrack for A Christmas Story simply did not exist in the retail industry.

However, thanks to the persistence of the film’s composers Carl Zittrer and Paul Zaza, in cooperation with Rhino Records and Turner Entertainment, a 20-song soundtrack to the late Bob Clark’s holiday hallmark is now finally available for movie fans to enjoy for years to come.

Read on, as composer and soundtrack producer Carl Zittrer illuminates us all about the extraordinary journey that was to become A Christmas Story! [The Story continues HERE]