Chimaira and Mushroomhead, two of Cleveland's best-known bands, will be featured on the soundtrack to Freddy Vs. Jason, the horror-franchise merger that comes to theaters later this summer.
The album, due to hit stores August 5, will feature the new Mushroomhead cut "Sun Doesn't Rise" and Chimaira's "Army of Me" (a B-side from the band's recent Impossibility of Reason LP), along with music by Slipknot, Sepultura, Killswitch Engage, and more than a dozen other bands. It comes out on Roadrunner Records, Chimaira's home label.
· The past few weeks have been a nightmare for Delusive Dream. The melodic metal band parted ways with singer Greg Gruben in the midst of recording its debut full-length, a follow-up to the 1997 EP "Lethargy." The band is looking for session vocalists to help finish the record before hiring a permanent replacement. Interested singers can e-mail guitarist Darrell Patrick at [email protected].
Phestur's door is also revolving: The hard-charging riff rockers replaced drummer Scott Munson with Les "ThunderFoot" Horton, whose debut comes on Phestur's forthcoming album, III. Ringworm's drum kit remains bare, after its recent split with Chris Dora. The hardcore band is seeking a replacement; if you're the one, write to [email protected].
Meanwhile, everybody's jumped ship from the modern rock band A Colder Year. The melodic Cleveland five-piece released a promising EP titled "Finding the Frequency" earlier this year. They've since found "personal differences" that led to their breakup.
· The Canton area is best known for the Football Hall of Fame, but the inaugural Mess Fest could bring honor to hard-hitters of a different stripe. The two-day event, kicking off Saturday, August 16, will feature more than two dozen tooth-rattling national and local acts, including Akron's criminally underrated hardcore hell-raisers Don Austin and lumbering sludgecore trio Fistula, Parma thrashards Soulless, and many others. It happens at the North Canton Knights of Columbus Hall (340 Mississippi Avenue); visit www.messfest.com for more details.
· The local concert-booking and promotions company Domain Cleveland is releasing its debut compilation. Featuring a strong lineup of local and national rockers, the album will pair area funksters Finless Brown and electro rockers Furnace St. with New Jersey hip-hop subversives Dalek and New York jazz provocateurs Drums and Tuba. Look for it later this summer; visit www.domaincleveland.com for details.
· One of Cleveland's brightest hopes, attitudinal rockers the Sign-Offs, are recording with esteemed producer Mike Wanchic, best known for his extensive work with John Cougar Mellencamp, as well as with Cowboy Mouth and Dwight Yoakam. The band laid down a number of tracks at Wanchic's Echo Park Studios in Bloomington, Indiana. After hearing a handful of the cuts recently, we predict that the foursome will land a new deal in the very near future.
