Michael Anthony is the kind of bassist that most hard rock bands would kill for. The former Van Halen, and current Chickenfoot member, not only knows how to anchor a groove, with his fluid bass lines, and tasteful fills, but he also has an almost angelic quality to his vocals, that compliments any singer he's playing with.

David Lee Roth, the original frontman of Van Halen, undoubtedly had the charisma and vocal dexterity to deliver their high-energy material perfectly, but Anthony's melodic backup singing definitely helped land the band a permanent place on the FM dial.

Doom-a-riffic power trio High on Fire, who defied industry trends and enjoyed a healthy first-week sales uptick on their fifth studio album, 'Snakes for the Divine,' recently premiered the roaring video for 'Frost Hammer.'

The vid, filmed on location in N.Y.C. and L.A. -- in addition to frenetic images and stark coloring -- features shirtless singer/guitarist Matt Pike, a hot chick, a slithery snake and a religious, Jesus-like figure. It's got potent imagery and riffs so muscular and masculine, they'll make you sprout testicles! So you can think while you get your headbang on.

Action! PR, the full-service, boutique agency run by former Relapse PR maven Carl Schultz that represents artists like High on Fire, the Sword and a host of others, will sponsor their first official South by Southwest showcase on March 17 at The Mohawk. The showcase will be HOF's sole SXSW performance and will also feature sets from Priestess, Zoroaster, Bison B.C., Gates of Slumber and Namm, thus making it a must-attend event. So if you're headed to Austin and liken yourself a consummate headbanger, enter this event into your festival to-do list and get there early!

"We approach PR from an A&R-type perspective," Schultz told Noisecreep about how the company, which specializes in forward-thinking music and pop culture awareness, chooses its clients and showcase participants. "Our SXSW show will feature an A-plus lineup of bands that are part of the Action! PR family. Myself and the Action! team consistently look for quality bands that are creative and unique. The passion we put into our craft each and every day is magnified by working with artists that we truly believe in. In a nutshell, we combine innovative ideas, progressive promotion and a whole lot of hard work to help our family of artists always stay two steps ahead of the pack!"

"I don't mind people saying what they want to say, but take the time to listen and understand reasons why, because there are legitimate reasons why this festival has been altered slightly," says Joe Litvag, Senior Vice President of AEG Live, of the newly revamped Rocklahoma to Noisecreep "I think once people understand and take the time to really put the facts together, they can walk away, not necessarily agreeing, but having the understanding as to why it had to change."

Change indeed. Rocklahoma was once known as the destination for fans of '80s metal: the more obscure, the better. Of course, music is a business, and if something isn't making money, it's not really working. This is where AEG Live comes into the picture. The concert promotion giant partnered with the Rocklahoma owners to give the festival a facelift, while not ripping it completely away from its '80s roots.

Dublin, Ireland's premier pagan metal iconoclasts, Primordial, will release their first DVD, the double-disc set 'All Empires Fall,' on March 16.

The first disc features a full 13-song concert recorded Jan. 24 in the band's hometown Dublin. The second disc includes seven songs shot at the 2008 Ragnarök Festival in Lichtenfels, Germany, two numbers from the 2008 Hove Festival in Arendal, Norway and three songs from the 2008 Graspop Metal Meeting in Dessel, Belgium, as well as a full 60-minute band documentary that includes interviews, rehearsal clips and archival footage. A deluxe version of 'All Empires Fall' will include two CDs of the Dublin concert.

Ryan Clark, vocalist extraordinaire of Demon Hunter, whose fifth opus, 'The WorldIs a Thorn,' is due out via Solid State on March 9, has also served as the art director at Solid State/Tooth and Nail for the past 10 years. Solid State has released all of Demon Hunter's records. While on paper, working for the label you are signed to might seem dubious or a conflict of interest, but it works just fine in practice. "It makes it easier," Clark told Noisecreep. "I am friends with everyone and know what they're doing. I connect with them on a peer level, and I understand how they work and can throw ideas in the pot of marketing and promotion."

Clark has designed the artwork and album packages for bands such as the Chariot and August Burns Red. Some bands give him carte blanch to do whatever he wants, while other bands are more involved in the process. "Those almost always come out better," Clark said about the covers where he is given free reign. "Some bands know exactly what they want and use [me] as a pair of hands, and that's fine, too."

If you ask anyone born after 1996 and beyond, they'll probably tell you that all music is supposed to be free, but that's not how it used to work all ye of the iPod and download generation. That's why we still get excited about a free label sampler, like the spring 2010 Facedown Records offering.

The sampler is 13 tracks strong -- with each track from a different band signed to Facedown proper, as well as the label's up-and-comer imprint Strike First Records, which is the label that new bands sign to and develop under, before being upstreamed to Facedown. It's all branches of the same tree. Facedown is a Christian label, proving that worship music doesn't need to be wimpy; in fact, making a joyful noise in praise of God certainly works when it's set to heavy riffs and throaty growls.