Former ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell, PANTERA guitarist Dimebag Darrell, NICKELBACK guitarist/singer Chad Kroeger, and DEFAULT frontman Dallas Smith have had reportedly had discussions about a future all-star collaboration. However, the combo hasn't gotten past the talking stage, according to Cantrell.

"Chad and I have talked about doing something, but we haven't really taken it any further than that," said the guitarist. "So, of course I'd love to do something with Darrell, anytime."

NECROPHAGIA have parted ways with PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo and have revamped their line-up with the addition of Iscariah (ex-IMMORTAL, bass), Frediablo (GORELORD/WURDULAK, guitars), Fug (WURDULAK, guitars), and Mirai Kawashima (SIGH, keyboards). The band—completed by mainman Killjoy and drummer Wayne Fabra—will shortly begin recording their new album, The Divine Art Of Torture, for a Halloween released through Season of Mist Records. Among the tracks set to appear on the forthcoming CD are:

01. Rue Morgue Disciple
02. Blaspheme the Body
03. Tombs Of Uncreation
04. Flowers of Flesh and Blood
05. Faceless

Killjoy describes the new material as "very heavy, violent and horror-filled. It is in many ways a homage to Brazilian director Jose Mojica Marins, aka Coffin Joe. His films are extremely blasphemous and his visions directly influenced the mood for writing The Divine Art Of Torture. NECROPHAGIA also plans to work with Mr. Marins on a video, as well as appearing on some new kult horror/gore DVDs which will be announced shortly."

Here are the sales figures for PANTERA's full-length studio albums in the US for the week ending February 17th, according to Soundscan (as reported by Metal Sludge):

Cowboys From Hell - 1,284,564 *
Vulgar Display Of Power - 1,770,521
Far Beyond Driven - 1,302,417
Great Southern Trendkill - 754,988
Official Live: 101 Proof - 571,819
Reinventing The Steel - 565,978

* Does not include sales made prior to the introduction of the Soundscan system back in 1991.

PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo has sensationally hinted to the Dutch Aardschok magazine that he may quit the Texas metal act before another studio album is recorded. In the March 2002 issue of the publication, Anselmo states that “PANTERA was my home for many, many years. I don't have a problem with anyone in the band. PANTERA gave me a lot, and I wouldn't be the same person without them. But I think we lost a piece of what we once stood for. Reinventing [The Steel] was a step in the right direction, but it's just not like it used to be anymore. There is a time [when] you have to say: enough is enough. I don't want to be a heavy metal grandpa. I'm 33 and have broken all the bones in my body serving PANTERA. But I'm not 22 anymore. I just don't get the feeling I used to singing 'Cowboys From Hell' or 'Walk'. No one knows what the future holds, but our last tour was with SLAYER, and I don't think there could be a better-ending tour. I don't want to go on and on like JUDAS PRIEST or SABBATH. I prefer [the] SOUNDGARDEN [approach], who called it a day at the peak of their fame.” When pressed to be more specific about what this meant with respect to PANTERA's future, Phil responded simply that “it means what it means, and we shall see...” [translated from Dutch by Frank Iking]

ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell will perform acoustic versions of the ALICE tunes "Got Me Wrong" and "Rooster" at the New Year's Eve show of GASOLINE, the metallic southern rock side project of PANTERA guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul, which is set to take place at Dallas' Bronco Bowl on December 31st. Also scheduled to appear on the bill are DROWNING POOL, SEVENDUST and UNION UNDERGROUND. GASOLINE, which is completed by PUMPJACK vocalist Thurber T. Mingus and bassist Sean Time, will follow up the Bronco Bowl performance with a midnight gig at Vinnie and Darrell's strip club, the Clubhouse.

"PANTERA hasn't played on New Year's Eve for a while, and sitting around the house watching Dick Clark ring in the new year kind of sucks," Vinnie Paul told MTV News. "That's why we put this thing together."

GASOLINE will play covers by TED NUGENT, THIN LIZZY and PAT TRAVERS, as well as six originals, all of which have already been demoed. At the moment, there are no plans for the group to release a studio album.

Also on the agenda for members of PANTERA is the upcoming sophomore release from DOWN, featuring contributions from PANTERA frontman Philip Anselmo and bassist Rex Brown, and the debut album from Paul, Darrell and Brown's much talked-about collaboration with country star David Allan Coe, which is going by the name REBEL MEETS REBEL. Described by Paul as a “country/heavy metal hoe-down," REBEL MEETS REBEL has reportedly finished mixing six songs so far, including the following:

01. Heartworn Highway
02. A Man With Nothin' Ain't Got Nothin' to Lose
03. One Night Stand
04. New York City Streets
05. Get Outta My Life

The title track (“Rebel Meets Rebel”) will allegedly be a duet with PANTERA singer Philip Anselmo. The album, the first right of refusal to which belongs to PANTERA's label Elektra, is tentatively scheduled to be issued sometime between March and the summer.

As for PANTERA themselves, the band is currently preparing the footage for an upcoming DVD, tentatively entitled Pantera 4, which is provisionally due for release in the summer.

"It will be another three years of video tape of us just being on the road, doing our thing," Paul told MTV. "Our fans love that sh.t and they're always coming up to us and mimicking things out of the home videos."

Fans anxiously anticipating another studio album from PANTERA should not hold their collective breaths—it is presently unlikely that the group's sixth major-label release will see the light of day before early 2003 at the earliest. According to Paul, “we've been on tour basically non-stop for 12 years and we've really never taken any time off. So at the end of our last tour we were like, 'Look, we all have some side projects we want to get out of the way. There's no hurry to get back in the studio, but when we all feel comfortable and ready to go we'll do it.' "

Japanese psychedelic black metallers Sigh have given, Gavotte Grim, as the title of the follow-up to Imaginary Sonicscape.

The band are already in the middle of writing for the album and it appears frontman Mirai says it'll be Sigh's "greatest progression yet." If Mirai stays true to his word, the metal world can only wonder what will be on Sigh's sixth studio album. In band related news, Mirai will take over keyboards and vocals, so the band can search for a permanent bassist. It looks like Yasuyuki of Abigail will be the man for the job, but Sigh isn't saying if he's an actual member yet.

In similar news, Sigh's Imaginary Sonicscape will be released on double vinyl on Sweden's Metal Fortress Entertainment. A release date hasn't been set yet. Sigh will also partake on the upcoming John Coltrane tribute, where the band will cover "Spiritual" from Coltrane's Village Vanguard album. The tribute album will be on Mainstream Records. Also, Enoch, featuring Mirai, Necrophagia's Killjoy and Pantera's Phil Anselmo, will not have their debut album happen anytime soon. The split 7" with Necrophagia has also been put on ice. Mirai cites the "current world climate" as reasons for these projects not happening.

Fans of Sigh can expect Gavotte Grim and the John Coltrane tribute album out sometime in mid- to late-2002. Gavotte Grim will be on Century Media Records.

The tentative title of the forthcoming sophomore effort from New Orleans’ DOWN, featuring PANTERA vocalist Philip Anselmo, PANTERA bassist Rex Brown, C.O.C. drummer Jimmy Bower, C.O.C. guitarist Pepper Keenan, and CROWBAR guitarist Kirk Windstein, is The Backwood Heavies. As previously reported, The Backwood Heavies will be recorded during November/December at former UGLY KID JOE guitarist Dave Fortman’s Balance Studios in New Orleans, where CROWBAR laid down their most recent effort, Sonic Excess In Its Purest Form.

In related news, New Orleans’ SOUTHERN ISOLATION (formerly BODY & BLOOD), which features in its ranks Phil Anselmo on guitar, Phil’s girlfriend Stephanie Opal on vocals, “Big” Ross Karpelman (CHRIST INVERSION) on keyboards, Kevin Bond (i.e. CHRIST INVERSION, CROWBAR, SUPERJOINT RITUAL) on bass, and Sid Montz on drums, will be issuing their self-titled MCD on October 30th via Baphomet/Housecore Records. The full track listing for the effort is as follows:

01. Blue Bird (Make You Shine)
02. I Got Lost in Myself Again
03. The Wall of You
04. Come Back and Let Me In (Going Down the Wrong Road)

SLAYER will reportedly carry on with their planned appearance at the revised dates on the upcoming European Tattoo The Planet tour, following PANTERA and STATIC-X’s decision to pull out of the trek. According to reports, SLAYER will head to Europe early next week to belatedly kick off the tour on Tuesday, September 18th in Leuven, Belgium. "I understand PANTERA's decision, but I think we'd be letting our European fans down if we cancelled the tour," said SLAYER bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. "We all have families, and are concerned about the potential dangers. But many kids in Europe have experienced attacks and assaults and terrorism throughout their lives, so I think SLAYER should make the effort to go over there and play for them. As a band, we simply refuse to play into the hands of these terrorists, we won't allow them to disrupt our lives any further." BIOHAZARD, who are currently in Los Angeles, California trying to get a flight out to Europe to play the rest of the dates on the tour with SLAYER, are hoping to make it to the European continent by Tuesday. Joining the two bands on the revised bill will be VISION OF DISORDER, who are currently overseas headlining several club gigs in the place of BIOHAZARD. The rescheduled Tattoo The Planet European tour dates are as follows:
Sept. 18 – Brabanthal - Leuven, BEL
Sept. 20 - Palavobis - Milan, ITA
Sept. 22 - Sporthalle - Stuttgart, GER
Sept. 23 - Philipshalle - Dusseldorf, GER
Sept. 25 - Spodek Sporthall - Katowice, POL
Sept. 26 - Zenith - Munich, GER
Sept. 28 - Omnisports de Bercy - Paris, FRA
Sept. 29 – Statenhal - Den Haag, NETH
Sept. 30 – Sporthalle - Hamburg, GER
Oct. 01 – Vega - Copenhagen, Denmark (SLAYER only)
Oct. 02 – Horvet - Stockholm, Sweden
Oct. 04 – Ishallen - Helsinki, Finland
Oct. 06 – Arena - Berlin, Germany
Oct. 08 – Vokhaus - Zurich, Switzerland
Oct. 09 – The Point - Dublin, Ireland
Oct. 11 – SECC - Glasgow, Scotland
Oct. 13 – Wembley Arena - London, England
Oct. 14 – NEC Arena - Birmingham, England
Meanwhile, STATIC-X have issued their own statement explaining their reasons for canceling their involvement with the festival. It reads as follows: "STATIC-X would like to offer extreme condolences and express our heart-felt support for all those affected by the disasters in New York City and Washington DC on Tuesday. We were all horrified and appalled at these events and our lives were turned upside-down. "We had a great time on our recent tour of Europe, May-June, with SLIPKNOT. We were all looking forward to seeing our friends and fans there, and were excited about the prospect of touring with PANTERA, SLAYER, and CRADLE OF FILTH. But we made the decision to cancel our participation in the ‘Tattoo The Planet’ tour, scheduled to begin on Sept. 14. "The past four days have been spent making arrangements and accommodations to try to do this tour. We were all waiting to fly to Europe. Due to safety, financial and scheduling reasons culminating today, we made the decision to pull out of the tour. We look forward to coming back to Europe in the near future in support of Machine! Wayne Static — Ken Jay — Tony Campos — Tripp Eisen Source: BLABBERMOUTH.NET

As previously reported, BIOHAZARD's forthcoming Uncivilization CD — due for release in Europe on June 25th through SPV/Steamhammer Records — is turning out to be a guest-heavy affair, with SEPULTURA's Andreas Kisser and Derrick Green appearing on a track called "Trap", SEPULTURA drummer Igor Cavalera playing percussion on the song "Gone", PANTERA's Phil Anselmo screaming his way through "HFFK (Hate, F.ck, Fight, Kill)", CYPRESS HILL's Sen Dog rapping on "Last Man Standing", and HATEBREED members contributing backing and lead vocals to various cuts on the CD (TYPE O NEGATIVE's Peter Steele also appears on an as-yet-unspecified track). BIOHAZARD have just returned from their recent South American jaunt, where they reportedly premiered new material to a great reaction from the group's rabid Latin American fans: "South America was awesome, we had a great time," guitarist Billy Graziadei told Metal Hammer. "It's so incredible to be able to tour countries like Chile where I can donate my precious digital camcorder to such financially handicapped people." Uncivilization has yet to receive an official US release date, but reports indicate that an announcement will be made shortly regarding BIOHAZARD's much-rumored signing with Sanctuary Records for the North American territory, with the album likely to be made available domestically through the label sometime in July. Uncivilization is tentatively scheduled to include the following tracks: 01. Unified 02. Population Control 03. HFFK (Hate, F.ck, Fight, Kill) (feat. PANTERA's Phil Anselmo) 04. Last Man Standing (feat. CYPRESS HILL's Sen Dog) 05. Getaway 06. Gone (feat. SEPULTURA's Igor Cavalera) 07. Treason 08. Never Turn Your Back On Me 09. Sellout 10. Crossed The Line 11. Trap (feat. SEPULTURA's Andreas Kisser). Source: BLABBERMOUTH.NET

BIOHAZARD are still in negotiations with several US labels for the release of the group’s forthcoming Uncivilization CD, which is scheduled to be issued in Europe through SPV / Steamhammer Records on June 25th. The album, which features guest appearances from PANTERA’s Phil Anselmo, TYPE O NEGATIVE’s Peter Steele, SEPULTURA’s Igor Cavalera and Derrick Green, members of HATEBREED, NAUGHTY BY NATURE and CYPRESS HILL, is reportedly the group’s most diverse effort to date, with several of the tracks marking a return to the group’s hardcore roots while others are said to be unlike anything the band had ever done before.