If you’re wondering where the great sample from The Ruins of Beverast’s ‘Between Bronze Walls’ came from, then you have to watch this movie. Aside from that particular scene, the movie is about a Voodoo cult trying to sacrifice Martin Sheen’s kid, so really it’s a win-win situation.

You can also find the full quote on IMDb.

MetalKult.com has posted a useful and highly amusing video featuring members of Amon Amarth explaining how to brew your own mead with just a few simple household ingredients. We’re not talking fancy equipment and fine-tuned recipes either - grab a gallon of water, throw some honey in, add some yeast and some fruit, and shake it up! It’s pretty obvious these guys have been doing this for awhile so I trust what they say, and actually now kind of want to try it myself.

» Brewing Mead with Amon Amarth video at MetalKult.com

A recent post on Decibel Magazine’s blog discussed underground metal and its appearances in pop culture. Apparently, Cameron Diaz is into heavy music, while Taylor Swift is curious and wants to learn more about it. Nicolas Cage’s son is also currently fronting an extreme metal band called Eyes of Noctum. Who knew?

Aside from what the article mentions, the first thing that comes to mind is Jim Carrey’s admiration of Cannibal Corpse, which helped them snag a cameo in “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective”. TV sitcom “Friends” also dropped a reference to extreme metal, with Lisa Kudrow’s character admitting she is a Carcass fan. And just recently, Ryan Adams (I’m not going to pretend I know who he is or what kind of music he makes) listed Xasthur as one of his current playlist favorites, which is both surprising and pretty damn cool.

Filmmaker Harmony Korine, who is best known for writing the “Kids” screenplay, has also expressed interest in the black metal subculture. He’s interviewed in the upcoming “Until The Light Takes Us” documentary, and he included music from Absu, Bethlehem, Burzum, and Bathory in the soundtrack of “Gummo,” which he wrote and directed. From the descriptions and reviews I’ve seen, it sounds like a fairly bizarre movie. One of these days I’m sure I’ll break down and watch it, since I can’t otherwise conceive of how Landfermann-era Bethlehem songs could find an appropriate place in such a movie.

The January Issue of Decibel Magazine features their annual list of the top 40 metal albums of the year. I’ll refrain from posting the full list here, but you can find it all over the Internet, including in this Decibel forum thread.

Obviously everyone’s top albums list for this year is going to be a little different, but since Decibel is an “extreme music” magazine, they try to please everyone with their choices. As a result, the list contains a great deal of metalcore, stoner rock, etc., but only a handful of black or death metal albums.

Most “best of” lists that come out this year will likely contain most of 2008’s higher-profile releases such as Opeth’s “Watershed,” Meshuggah’s “ObZen,” Nachtmystium’s “Assassins,” Cynic’s “Traced In Air” and Enslaved’s “Vertebrae,” as well as the new albums from Intronaut, Gojira, Esoteric and Amon Amarth. One surprise on Decibel’s list for me was “What You Were“ by North, a promising sludge/post-metal band from Arizona.

Three documentaries covering various aspects of underground music culture, “Until The Light Takes Us“, “Global Metal,” and Working Class Rock Star,” have all recently been released. Another documentary titled “Light In Darkness - Nemesis Divina“ about the Norwegian Christian black metal scene is also in the works.

“Until The Light Takes Us,” a feature-length documentary chronicling the Norwegian black metal scene, has completed filming and has been shown in a handful of film festivals worldwide. A wider release is planned in 2009. Check the film’s MySpace page for film clips and the latest updates.

“Global Metal,” is a documentary by Sam Dunn and Scott McFadyen about metal music’s impact across the world. The film has already screened at several film festivals internationally, and the DVD was released earlier this month. You can grab your copy from Amazon.ca. A trailer is available at the Global Metal website, and the latest release information is available at Global Metal’s MySpace page.

A new documentary titled “Light In Darkness - Nemesis Divina“ focuses on the seemingly paradoxical Christian black metal scene, and particularly the Norwegian bands Crimson Moonlight, Admonish, and Frosthardr. The film is produced by Stefan Rydehed, who also recently completed work on a documentary titled “Pure Fucking Mayhem“ about black metal band Mayhem. A trailer for “Light In Darkness - Nemesis Divina” is now available on YouTube, as are clips from “Pure Fucking Mayhem.”

Finally, “Working Class Rock Star” follows the lives and careers of extreme acts Tub Ring, Bloodshoteye and 3 Mile Scream, offering an inside look at what it takes to succeed in the world of underground music. The film runs 98 minutes and features interviews with members of several other underground acts, including Unearth, Lamb Of God, Dog Fashion Disco, Finntroll, Kataklysm, The Haunted, Himsa, Arch Enemy, Strapping Young Lad, and Bleeding Through. The film will be premiering later this Spring in Toronto, ON, with a wider release to hopefully follow. You can also currently pick up the DVD on Amazon. Check the Working Class Rock Star website for a trailer and release date info.

It doesn’t actually mention anything related to Justin’s drumming ability or Killswitch Engage’s music, but it’s damn entertaining anyway - MetalSucks recently interviewed Killswitch drummer Justin Foley on the subject of his beard.  Topics of discussion include how long it took him to grow it (a surprising 1.5 years), beard maintenance, whether it’s harder to eat with the beard (that’s a yes), and what he plans to do with it.  After having covered SF Weekly’s the Top 10 beards list, I felt I couldn’t let this one pass.  Definitely worth a read.

Swedish tech-metal band Meshuggah and death metal legends Deicide have recently decided to put modern technology to good use in promoting their new albums.  Meshuggah drummer Tomas Haake has announced a video drum competition, while Deicide is putting the creative burden of music video direction into the hands of their most talented fans with a music video competition.

The Meshuggah contest lets aspiring drummers record themselves drumming along to the track ‘Bleed‘ from the "obZen" album, which was released earlier this year.  Haake has stated that ‘Bleed’ is by far the most complex on the album, and even he had to spent a good deal of time practicing it, so fans should have their hands full replicating the performance.  Promising entries will be uploaded Meshuggah’s MySpace blog, which also contains some very intimidating drum tabs for the song.  The winner will be announced April 6th, with prizes including a signed copy of the album, a huge signed poster, and a congratulatory phone call from Haake himself.

Deicide, meanwhile, have announced an intriguing competition to create the best music video for the track ‘In The Eyes Of God’ off their upcoming release "Till Death Do Us Part."  Awhile ago I posted about the unfortunate lack of creativity among many metal videos, so I’m quite eager to see what the metal community comes up with.  Visit the competition page to download an mp3 of the song, video clips, logos, lyrics, and anything else to get the creative spark going.  The winning video director will receive an Ibanez bass signed by the band, bragging rights, and presumably the chance to create more metal videos in the future.   

I’ve always wished that metal music would find its way into more Hollywood films (Cannibal Corpse in Ace Ventura anyone?) but uh, this isn’t quite what I had in mind - a recent post by Seattle’s The Stranger brought to my attention the work of Matthew Barney, an experimental artist and filmmaker. Barney is the boyfriend of Icelandic singer Bjork, so you know he’s probably kind of strange.

Barney is most famous for The Cremaster Cycle, a series of five surrealist films exploring the process of creation, linked through the concept of the male cremaster muscle and the theme of sexual differentiation. Metal fans will be most interested in Cremaster 2, which includes Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo drumming while accompanied by… a swarm of bees. As weird as it sounds, the end result is actually pretty cool, almost making you wish that more bands used controlled bee noises as a primary instrument. Morbid Angel vocalist Steve Tucker provides some growls to go along with the insects and drums, and he was also a good enough sport to allow himself to be coated with bees while singing. You can check out a clip of Lombardo’s performance in the movie on YouTube.

Speaking of Dave Lombardo, check out this month’s Decibel issue for an interesting article about Lombardo’s initial clash with the rest of the members of Slayer, and their subsequent reunion. It really gives you an appreciation for Lombardo’s talent, and provides a glimpse into the various strong personalities of the band members in the early days of their career.

Head over to CallistoChaos.com to view a cool animation by Finnish animator/graphic designer Teemu Erämaa, featuring Callisto’s song ‘The Fugitive.’  It’s titled "The Light at the End of the World", and is almost like an animated short film, except way more dark and twisted.  The whole thing is about 7 and a half minutes long, with Callisto kicking in at about the 3:30 mark. 

The track comes from Callisto’s 2006 album "Noir," which is apparently pretty hard to find outside of Canada and various European countries.  You can get your hands on a copy through Fullsteam Records, or you can head to Callisto’s MySpace page if you’re content to just stream the track. 

The SF Weekly recently paid tribute to one of music’s enduring icons: the beard.  The article counts down the top 10 beards in today’s music scene (with pictures of course), covering everything from reggae and hip-hop to indie rock and metal.  Mastodon were the first act that came to mind upon seeing the headline, and sure enough Troy Saunders and Brett Hinds’ formidable facial hair made its way to #7 on the list.  And what list of beards would be complete without Kerry King’s notorious bald, tattoed head and evil-dwarf-style beard?  King makes Slayer the highest ranking metal artist on the list, coming in at #4.

The article makes no honorable mentions, so I’ll add my own:

Om’s Chris Hakius is certainly a worthy candidate.  Hakius announced this week that he is leaving the band, so maybe that disqualifies him.

It’s also hard to argue with Decrepit Birth vocalist Bill Robinson’s scraggly and dissheveled facial hair.  This guy is the real deal - when not growling and moshing at shows, he supposedly lives in a self-made dwelling in the woods surrounding Santa Cruz.