I know we’re a bit late on this, but this is just the kind of low-brow, tabloid shit we thrive on and I just can’t resist! Adding fuel to the fire that has been the ongoing feud between Dino Cazares (ex-Fear Factory) and now ex-Divine Heresy singer Tommy “Vext” Cummings (now in the recently reunited Snot), Cummings apparently attacked Dino and has wife backstage at the Rockstar Mayhem Fest this past weekend. According to the MySpace blog of Mrs. Cazares: [sent in to us by Noah Skape, among other readers]:

Last night @ The Metal Mayhem Festival, Having a great time with awesome friends backstage. Out of no where comes a beer and fist straight to my face (so horrifying and painful) that…..somebody (Tommy Vext). He has my husband by the hair (it all was so sudden) next thing you know the live nation guards pushed us all over stopping everything and it took several guards to take Tommy down, they took him down and he hit his head on the ground cutting his head open, and even then he was still pulling my husband’s hair, and not letting go.

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Back in April, I bemoaned the inevitably of a Snot reunion, and a whole bunch of you came to the group’s defense. So while I weep, you can all rejoice: guitarists Mikey Doling and Sonny Mayo (who is in need of some cash after getting his Sevendust pink slip), drummer Jamie Miller and bassist John “Tumor” Fahnestock (worst nickname this side of “Shit Stain”) are reuniting under the Snot moniker for two shows later this year, presumably with more to follow. I’d tell you about those two announced shows, but I don’t want you to go. I’m petty like that. Click to read more…

According to the “status” post on Fear Factory’s MySpace, the band will have a “New Album and World Tour in 2009!”

I guess this was inevitable, despite Burton C. Bell’s claims when we interviewed him a few months back that he doesn’t even like metal. Whatwith the Divine Heresy soap opera, the relative failure (commercially) of Bell’s Ascension of the Watchers, the rest of the dudes doing God knows what, and reports of Burton and Dino kissing and making nice at a show in LA a few weeks ago (I can’t find the source, but I remember reading that they chatted), the time seems ripe for an FF reunion.* I’d think there will be plenty of interest too, judging by the fervency of Fear Factory fans who comment on our site.

-VN

*After I published this article, Axl pointed out to me that this news does not necessarily mean that Dino is back in the band. Good point.

It’s been a rough, rough week for the fellas of Divine Heresy. First, as Axl reported on Tuesday, there was an altercation over the weekend at the band’s show in Poughkeepsie, NY the night before New England Metalfest, in which a shoving match ensued on-stage between vocalist Tommy “Vext” Cummings and guitarist Dino Cazares. Iann Robinson of None Louder reported:

“From what was being spread around the monitors were out and vocalist Tommy Vext couldn’t hear himself. After eight songs and fearing his voice might blow Vext requested the band cut the set short. Ex-Fear Factory member Dino Cazares shoved Vext and a physical altercation ensued. As far as we know the band is no more but that could change.”

The band subsequently canceled their appearance at Metalfest. Yesterday Cazares issued a statement through Headbanger’s Blog about the fight:

“He gave us 10 different reasons why we should stop — ‘My microphone doesn’t work, I got diarrhea, the monitors are f–ked up’ — whatever he could think of… And we decided that’s not fair to the fans. We wanted to give them a full show. We felt that he wanted to end the show early to go hang out at the New England Metal Fest, which we were supposed to be performing at the next day.”

Cazares also announced Cummings’ dismissal from the band and that the band was holding auditions for a new singer. The most recent twist is a video response from Tommy himself through Metal Injection. In the 8:45 minute exposition, Cummings explains the situation with the monitors, the altercation, and had this nugget to say:

“I’ve been suffering the indignities of Dino’s massive ego for as long as I’ve worked with him, and unfortunately everything I’ve heard about him had eventually come to fruition, and he is exactly as he’s been portrayed as by his ex-band members. And this happening now is the same reason why he’s not in Fear Factory anymore. It was a stepping stone in my life and I’m moving on.”

Soap opera time! It’s funny how years ago this would have all taken place through the press over a series of weeks or months, but now it happens in a matter of days with the wonders of the Interwebs. He goes on to say “It was the Dino Cazares show” and that he verbally and physically pushed members of the band around.

Watch Tommy’s full video response after the jump.

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Iann Robinson at None Louder is reporting that Divine Heresy broke-up on stage at this past weekend’s New England Metal & Hardcore Festival:

“From what was being spread around the monitors were out and vocalist Tommy Vext couldn’t hear himself. After eight songs and fearing his voice might blow Vext requested the band cut the set short. Ex-Fear Factory member Dino Cazares shoved Vext and a physical altercation ensued. As far as we know the band is no more but that could change.”

There’s been no official statement from the band or their label, and everything looks hunky dory on the band’s MySpace page; still, we consider Robinson a very reliable source, so I’m inclined to believe that this is real.

I’m sure that Fear Factory fans will celebrate this news as evidence that a full-on FF reunion is in the works (especially after Dino was spotted hanging out with Burton C. Bell a few weeks ago). Still, even if Divine Heresy were to break up, I’d hope it would be in a somewhat more amicable manner than this; when we interviewed the band back in November, they seemed like genuinely nice dudes who were really enjoying working together, and for former bouncer/security guard Vext, getting to front Dino’s new band must have seemed like winning the lottery.

Divine Heresy are suppposed to kick off their next U.S. tour May 9 in Philly; presumably we’ll get some kind of official word before then.

-AR

Gotta love these cool package tours. As you may have heard by now, Arch Enemy will be doing a North American headlining run in the spring, and if the chance to see these cats live isn’t enough to get you excited, well, they’ve thrown in melodic death metal heavyweights Dark Tranquillity, Dino Cazares’ Divine Heresy (read our interview with the band here), and one of our favorite power metal acts, Firewind. In other words, this is going to be an awesome show.Check out a complete tour itinerary after the jump.

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At some point, I would really love it if someone could explain to me what makes the Japanese so fucking special that they always get extra tracks with their album releases. Since I was a kid, I was perpetually aware that Japanese albums are superior to American ones, because they always have extra music on them. What’s the fucking deal?

ANYWAY, Divine Heresy are one of the many, many, many bands that have a bonus track on the Japanese version of their release, Bleed the Fifth, that was not released here in the States. Luckily for all the Dino Cazares fans out there, the band is now streaming the track, the typically upbeat monikered “Purity Defiled,” which means it’s only a matter of time until someone rips it into mp3 format, thus allowing all the group’s non-Japanese fans to have it on their iPods, too.

And while we’re on the topic: don’t forget to check out our interview with Divine Heresy. ‘Cause we did an awesome job, if I do so say so myself.

-AR