At the same time as making the clip, Akerlund was also able to capture some behind-the-scenes footage, giving you a rare glimpse into the mentality of the musicians and a preview of the sheer scale & spectacle of the live show they will be bringing to Knebworth this summer at Sonisphere.

Behold a band who aren’t afraid to suffer for their art, whether that means being roasted by giant jets of flames, or – as with vocalist Till Lindemann, a man who keeps pain as a constant companion – having a hole bored in the side of his cheek to allow light to be projected into his mouth!

Genius? Insanity? You decide…

If this video is not automatically displaying in the Player on the right, you can select it from the Playlist: Sonisphere TV in the top left of the Player.

-How would you describe the new album, Mechanize?
Dino Cazares: Brutal.
Burton C. Bell: It’s more focused, more mature and more to the point. After 20 years we’ve become better at it and quicker at it. What was different is that we wrote it in four months.
DC: Quicker, being seasoned veterans and having some great musicians with us helped us write the songs real fast.

-Did introducing two new band members change the way you worked?
BB: Not at first. I mean of course Gene and Dino had to learn each other’s techniques.
DC: It didn’t take very long – really only a few days. People think we’re a futuristic band and write everything on the computer. In some cases there are parts like that, but for the most part we keep it in an old-school style where we just all sit in a room and write it out. I think then it comes out the most real and most natural.

-Your former members tried to stop you releasing the new album. What’s the current legal situation?
BB: We’ve settled to an agreement.
DC: Yeah, it’s all done

-So are they going to be making money out of Mechanize?
BB: Well, yeah.
DC: With a settlement, not everyone’s happy.
BB: Yeah, no one leaves a settlement happy.
DC: But I’m happy.

-Recently Dino you said you couldn’t have written another Fear Factory album with Christian and Raymond. Why?
DC: Because I believe their musical styles have changed. Arkaea was their last project band they did and they said that was supposed to be the new Fear Factory album. And if you listen to that record, my vision of Fear Factory is completely different.
BB: Mine as well.
DC: I honestly think if I had to make a record with those guys it would be drama on top of drama and a bigger compromise than I would be willing to give.

-How about going for a drink with them?
DC: No.
BB: Some friendships are meant to stick around, some go.

-But you two fell out when you originally split up. What happened?
DC: We were pissed off with each other for something
BB: Just egos. We were growing up in this band together and we became really big, really quick.
DC: It was his idea initially to bring everybody together, but things turned out different.
BB: Raymond told me he doesn’t even want to be in the band, so…

-A man v machine theme runs through your albums. What the back story to Mechanize?
BB: It’s Fear Factory. The philosophy that it’s always been: man vs machine. Sometimes that can be an actual machine and more in this case it’s metaphorical for government, institutions, any controlling figures that control through fear. It could be public education, religion, government, any authoritative institution really. It’s a soundtrack to today’s world.
DC: That’s really what Fear Factory means, anything that causes or incites fear.

-So who’s winning?
DC: The last time the machine was winning was on an album called Obsolete.
BB: The machine always wins.

-A lot of fans want to hear the old tunes. What kind of set can we expect at Sonisphere?
BB: It depends how long we get. We’ll play old songs and we’ll play new songs.
DC: Tonight we’re playing an hour 40 mins. At Sonisphere we’re going to have to cut that set list as I’m sure our set times will be a bit shorter. We’re definitely going to go through the classics though and then the most popular new songs.

-What will be the most essential thing on your rider?
DC: Jalapenos.
BB: Tequila

-Of the Sonisphere headliners who do you prefer: Rammstein or Iron Maiden?
BB: Do I have to choose? They’re both great bands.
DC: As long as I’d get to ride in the plane with Maiden, I’d choose them.
BB: Okay, if he picks Iron Maiden, I’ll pick Rammstein.

-If you could have any guest on stage with you this summer who would it be?
DC: Wow…Angus Young.
BB: The Edge?

-What do you think you’d be doing if you weren’t touring around Europe with FF this summer?
BB: I’d be working in a bar.
DC: I’d be doing what I was doing before…working in a hotel servicing women.

-Finally, what are two hardcore metallers like your selves listening to at the moment?
DC: We were listening to The Bee Gees the other night.
BB: Yeah, the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. It’s great.

If you want to see Fear Factory crank out their classics at Knebworth this summer click here

Our spontaneous ‘fashion critics’ on the Sonisphere Facebook Fan Page had a lot to say about this number:

Dan Moss – “It’s awsome, like Yin & Yang on speed!”

Bobby Kalafi – “That shirt is both beautiful and demented – just the way I like them =D”

Alex Bonami – “Two creatures eating eachother. Perfect fit for the band’s name!”

Amit Valand – “Awesome design! The colours are great! It’s like two Koi fishes in a fury!!”

Tami Fraser – “It’s a t-shirt that reminds you even pink things can have teeth!”

Danni Stamford – “I love the a stringy yin-yang design of the Pirhana-like fishes entwining, it’s awesome, and the purple matches my hair as the yellow matches my dread-lock, therefore it’s double awesome. Oh and because its Funeral For A Friend that makes it triple awesome. LOVE IT [:”

James Bentley – “The shirt looks like a toddler who drinks too much ribena threw up all over it and pushed the chunks around…in a good way.”

James Halstead – “I like it, it’s rebellious, it’s trendy and it’s original. Big thumbs up.”

Peter Fellows – “It looks like a lizard 69, what more do you need?”

Rory McLaren – “Anyone else think this looks like two zombie sperm eating each other?”

Click here to bag your t-shirt now from the Sonisphere Store!

How good is your Iggy?

The Sonisphere club nights are back and coming to a town near you, kicking off this month! With a bunch of new venues on board and more than 60 nights in over 15 cities between now and Sonisphere 2010 there are no excuses! So get yourselves down to one of these nights to hear tracks by your favourite Sonisphere Acts and get warmed up for Knebworth.

There will be tickets to win at every single club night – and a variety of weird and wonderful things that you have to do to get them. Can you handle putting up your tent whilst being sprayed with super soakers? How’s your best Iggy Pop impersonation? There will also be a handful of Sonisphere Rock Royalty VIP packages up for grabs so keep your eyes and ears open!

This is your chance to meet like minded fans, talk Sonisphere and buddy up before the big weekend. Enjoy!

TELL US ABOUT IT!
Why not send us a video clip or picture of you and your mates at a Sonisphere club night. We’ll put the best ones up on this website as well as our Facebook page – send to Sonispherefestivals@kililive.com

Sonisphere 2010 Club Nights:

we have just added a couple more nights including Cardiff Fuel launching this weekend the 13th and running another date in April on the 10th and nights in Exeter are on their way.

Formed initially as a tribute to last year’s Sonisphere headliners Metallica in 1993, Apocalyptica have become leading force in their own right. Armed with three cellos and a metal-as-hell drummer, don’t let the presence of classical instruments fool you – these Finns play hard and heavy, and will have no problem working up a frenzy amongst those in attendance.

Unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand for the last three years, Gallows is a name synonymous with attitude, aggression and hardcore punk rock. Since 2007, the fearless Frank Carter and co have punished music fans the world over with their refreshingly real take on punk, earning a reputation as one of the most formidable live acts on the scene.

A welcome addition to the Sonisphere line up, in their seven years Funeral For A Friend have chalked up some amazing statistics: the band have sold considerably more than a million records; all four of their albums have gone into the UK Top 20; they have three Gold records; have graced countless magazine covers, been the subject of broadsheet profiles and tabloid features; their tours sell out the nation’s larger venues in a matter of minutes; worldwide – from America to Russia, Singapore to Australia, Japan and beyond – they have a following more loyal than bands considered their equal. And, most importantly, they rock.

Making their Sonisphere debut this year are British Rockers Fightstar. 2009 was a hugely successful year for the London four-piece – a top 20 album with their third and most successful record, “be human”; two sold out headline tours which included Shepherds Bush Empire in November; an appearance at T4 on the Beach, Radio 1’s Big Weekend and the iTunes festival as well as having 4 singles playlisted at Radio 1. Their MySpace site has racked up 2.2 million profile views and the band drew huge crowds at the Download and Reading and Leeds festivals. All this leaves Fightstar more than qualified to deliver a memorable set at Knebworth and one you won’t want to miss.

Says frontman Charlie Simpson:
“Playing Sonisphere at the legendary Knebworth ground is going to be incredible! This festival has come out of nowhere to compete with the likes of Download and Reading/Leeds, so it will be an absolute must for any rock fan this summer. There are so many great bands playing over the three days and we are honoured to be part of the line-up.”

Flying in from Chicago, Madina Lake bring their catchy blend of pop-punk and alt-rock to the Sonisphere stage. Since their first outing here, the band’s rise in the UK has been nothing short of spectacular. First hitting the UK in support of Paramore in late 2006, the band found themselves selling out the very same venues they were opening at mere months later, and the success story snowballed from there. Sonisphere 2010 – apparently a lifelong dream for bassplayer Matthew Leone:

“Meeting the cast of “Revenge of the Nerds”, and playing Sonisphere are the last two things on my bucket list. Come August 2nd, I’ll be that much closer to calling it a life with no regrets.”

Family Force 5 is one of the great success stories of artist development in contemporary music today. Their debut CD has quietly scanned 125,000 + copies and their live show has been seen by tens of thousands, earning them a reputation as one of the hardest working band’s in America, with a performance that is second to none. You may have heard Fearne Cotton giving UK debut single Dance or Die a spin or two, or maybe you caught these guys tearing it up across the UK in February with Cobra Starship. Family Force 5 returns to the UK for their first ever UK festival performance at Sonisphere Knebworth

Look out for a very exciting announcement with more bands next week.

Friday 5th March see’s Heavy Metal Britannia at 9pm which charts the origins and history of British Heavy Metal and includes interviews with such legendary performers as Tony Iommi, Rob Halford, Lemmy and Maiden’s very own Bruce Dickinson.

The second is Heavy Metal At The BBC (10:30 PM GMT) and is a 30 minute compilation of performances by various metal bands recorded over the years.

And at 11pm has the special one hour edit of the spectacular Maiden Live Concert from the bonus disc in the Flight 666 DVD release.

Heavy Metal Britannia will be repeated on BBC4 on Sunday, March 7th at 9 PM and 10:30 PM respectively, with the Iron Maiden Live concert repeated at 1:30 AM (GMT) the following morning.

BBC Four is on of those freeview digital television channels if you don’t have it, check out the IPLAYER

The album was recorded during the band’s four night stand at Long Beach Arena, California, in 1984 as part of the World Slavery Tour.

In itself, this must-have shirt is a piece of gloriously gruesome art which you can wear to proclaim your love of Maiden at home and at Sonisphere, keep as a future collectors’ item or just scare kids with!

This unqiue and special t-shirt is available now from the Sonisphere store here.

Hire your tent and gear from Tangerine Fields and they’ll set up camp for you. All you have to do is turn up. Start the party earlier. Get home faster. Save the muscles and lugging for more important things like beer, wine, food and party clothes.

They are offering pitched 2, 4 and 6 man tents and all the gear you could ever need from sleeping bags to stoves. Better still tell all your friends. We’ll make sure you’re all camped together, no matter how late you get there.

Click Here for Pitched Tents

These offers are in the public camping area and don’t include site entry or Rock Royalty packages.

A = Arrested Development
While touring the US as part of Korn’s Family Values tour back in 98, vocalist Till Lindemann and keyboardist Christian Lorenz were arrested for “lewd and lascivious behaviour” in Worcester, Massachusetts. Local cops took umbrage to the two musicians simulating an excitable bout of man-on-man action during the song ‘Bück Dich’, and promptly carted the pair off to jail.

B = Berlin
As immortalised in their Live Aus Berlin DVD, the German capital is considered the band’s hometown. Built around the river Spree, its many tourism highlights include the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and street vendors selling a variety of meat-based treats.

C = Controversy
No strangers to controversy, Rammstein delight in eliciting outrage from the moral majority. If they’re not busy using their videos to paint Snow White as a junkie (‘Sonne’) or to celebrate the beauty of the oiled, naked male form (‘Mann Gegen Mann’), if something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing outrageously.

D = Dildos
Clearly a band with dildos on the brain, the ultra limited edition box set of new album ‘Liebe Ist Für Alle Da’ comes in a flight case that contains handcuffs, lube and six (yes, six) dildos, allegedly moulded on the, ahem, unmentionables of each member of the band.

For the rest of part 1 – A to M of Rammstein. Click Here

Just before the start of their first-ever proper UK headline tour the mighty Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher talk to Team Sonisphere about their new album, scoring the Jonah Hex movie soundtrack and why no other bands  on the circuit can party as hard as them.

-This is your first UK headline tour playing large venues. What can we expect?
We’re playing for about an hour and 20 minutes so we’ll do the whole Crack the Skye record and then throw in some oldies but goodies. We have our whole video wall with us. It’s part of the experience. We spent a lot of money making our own movie, hired actors, wrote scripts, got someone to direct it so it looks like a movie from the twenties or thirties. All the footage belongs to us.

I’m looking forward to seeing the great British crowds we’ve grown to know and love. They’re pretty much at the top of the hierarchy as far as fans go. They always bring it, they treat us really well and they love Mastodon. It’s always a good experience as there’s a lot of energy and the kids are really into it.

-You’ve been touring constantly for the past 18 months, when are you going to start work on the new album?
We haven’t had time to go home and really put anything together yet. But by the time August rolls around we’ll be ready to take a break for the rest of the year and that’ll be the time to get back in the studio and start putting down some new riffs and think about the new record.

- We understand you’ve got five new songs written for the new album. What will it sound like?
Not entirely sure. We have some left over stuff from Crack the Skye that we didn’t use that’s kind of more of a Remission feel like earlier Mastodon. Kind of heavier, grungier sounding stuff, but there’s also stuff we’re working on at the moment that’s a little more proggy. If it follows any sort of pattern I imagine a mixture of both again, so a Blood Mountain kind of record with a little more Crack the Skye elements going on hopefully.

-How did the Jonah Hex movie score come about?
The director Jimmy Hayward is a huge Mastodon fan and he’d been listening to Blood Mountain and maybe a little bit of Crack the Skye when he came up with the concept of writing the movie. And we’re all science fiction and comic book fans. He called us up and asked if he could fly us out to LA and see what happens. It was interesting and wasn’t like anything we’ve ever done before. It’s more about riffs, spur of the moment like watching a fight scene in Apocalypse Now or whatever and come up with some ideas.

-What are you listening to at the moment?
I think the coolest fucking record I’ve heard in a long, long, long time is Baroness the Blue Record. I’m a huge music snob, I don’t like anybody’s band. It’s their newest record and it’s fucking great, I can’t get it out of my head. The newest Mars Volta record is amazing. And Them Crooked Vultures record is pretty fucking awesome too. Those are my top three right now.

-Metallica are fans of yours. Will you ever be as big?
I don’t know. That’s pretty big and a pretty high bar to live up to. I hope so. That would be amazing. Every metal band strives to be as big as the biggest metal band in the world. But I think if I died tomorrow I’d be happy with all the stuff we’ve done and accomplished. Even being considered by Metallica to go on tour with them more than once is quite an accomplishment.

-Can you talk us through the guitars and rig you’ll be using over here?
There’s a 1980 or 81 tobacco sunburst E/2 Explorer by Gibson, which is one of my favourite guitars. It’s a newer purchase, but an old vintage guitar. I’ve got a 2007 or 2008 Les Paul custom Black Beauty. It’s probably the best-playing guitar in the world. I love it. I’ve got a black Explorer from the eighties, which is kind of a beater guitar, but it does the trick: sounds great, works good.

I just switched out one of my guitar cabinet speaker from these 75W Celestions to these 20W hand-wound Greenback speakers that I absolutely love. They break up a lot easier and give you a little more crunch in your face kind of sound.

How many times have we used this goofy picture?

-What are the most essential things on your rider?
Probably beer and water. Maybe some other things like fruit and vegetables and maybe some Gatorade, but beer and water are the top two.

-Mastodon have got a reputation for hard drinking and hard partying. Which bands out there can out-party you and who in Mastodon can party the hardest?
Jeez…fuck…I don’t know who can out-party us. I’m sure there’re bands out there that think they can, but we party pretty hard. We used to be a lot worse, but we’ve kind of chilled out a little bit.

I’d have to say Brent because he seems to wake up with a beer and go to bed with a beer with any kind of drugs you can imagine in between. But he doesn’t always keep it together so I don’t know how that counts.

-Where are you now?
Getting drunk in a bar in Vienna.

-You’re back on the Sonisphere tour this year. Looking forward to it?
Yes, a lot of those places we’ve never been to yet. Mastodon have never been to Poland and I expect the crowds over there are going to be raging, going fucking crazy to see the Sonisphere festival.

If you want to see them in Poland click here