7th Signing

All five members of the Streetsboro metal band 7th Plague are juniors in high school, and before they even begin to think about finding a prom date, they have more pressing business to attend to: writing and recording their full-length debut for Metal Blade, the California label with a roster that includes Unearth and Six Feet Under, and a back catalog that features the first Slayer and Metallica recordings.

"We are honestly shocked," says Nick Borukhovsky, drummer and founder. "Metal Blade was the label we had all talked about since we were 14 and 15, when we started playing in this band. They have worked with the top metal bands in the world and never lose their sight of true metal. We just want to work hard, write songs, and stay humble."

The band was signed by the legendary Brian Slagel, who grew the label from a pet project to a company with subsidiaries in Japan and Germany. The initial deal is for one album, with options for three more. Band manager Neil Sheehan shopped the demo to Metal Blade, which was impressed with its combination of ornate harmonic riffs, classic thrash grooves, death growls, and metalcore screams. All album details are to be determined, but the band says it would like to record with local talent and release a disc in summer 2007. Don Debiase (Gatlin, APG) produced the band's current Forever in Terror demo.

Mistress Juliyana and Marianela of music network Fuse's metal showcase Uranium will host the 7th Plague show Saturday, April 25, at the Hi-Fi Concert Club (11729 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood). The 18-band fest kicks off at noon.

Though he is continuing to book shows at the Hi-Fi, Sheehan has abandoned plans to become a part owner of the club.

· Ozzfest is skipping the Cleveland-Akron area for the second year in a row. Organizers had no comment. Guess Northeast Ohio doesn't like metal.

· The Colin John Band is recording a new album in Oxford, Mississippi, with Jeffrey Reed (North Mississippi Allstars, the Gin Blossoms). With a working title of Fullmoon, Mississippi, the disc is set in a fictional town, with each song chronicling the life of a character. "I want the listener to hear it as a reader would interpret a book," says singer-guitarist John. "Similar to what Lou Reed did with his album New York, but in a rural blues context. The characters will include a preacher, a serial adulterer, a marijuana farmer, a pimp, and a hoodoo priest."

· Canton's Relient K is wrapping a headlining six-week club tour in support of its new Apathetic EP. After cracking Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart, the pop-punk band's "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" continues finding Top 40 successes across the country.

· A spokesperson for ex-Black Sabbath singer Ronnie James Dio told Scene that he wasn't invited to Sabbath's induction into the Rock Hall.

· Progressive house DJ Graph will play Miami's Ultra Music Festival Saturday, March 25, representing Cleveland at the international event headlined by the Prodigy, Paul Oakenfold, and the Killers. Graph won a Scene-sponsored three-night contest at Twist to claim the spot.