Artist: Various

Title: Headbanger's Ball

Label: Roadrunner Records

By Adam Bowman

A legendary show finally returns to the store shelves with "MTV2's Headbanger's Ball," a two-disc set which fires almost every single mainstream-and-under-the-radar metal band out there at you in an attempt to school your ass in what is heavy.

The first disc features the bands you've probably heard of. Godsmack, Static-X, Staind, Hatebreed, Mudvayne, Anthrax, Slayer...list goes on. Although nothing new shows up here, you can't go wrong when you combine Ill Nino's "When It Cuts" with Soil's "Pride" and Killswitch Engage's "Fixation On The Darkness" on the same disc. If you have a friend that wants to get their feet wet in metal, this is the disc for them.

Meanwhile, the second disc is for the hardcore metal follower. The people that quote Slayer on demand and carry a shotgun to Ozzfest so they can hunt down the P.O.D. fans. Lamb Of God, Meshuggah, Motograter, Lacuna Coil, Chimaria, and a ton of others show up here, and there's rarely a down moment. DevilDriver finally enters the spotlight with their Sum-41-by-way-of-Coal Chamber single, "I Could Care Less," while Poison The Well and 36 Crazyfists make impressive stands with "Botchla" and "At The End Of August," respectively. If you're wanting to hear what the bands you may not see on TV are up to, this is an excellent place to start.

"Headbanger's Ball" was a staple in the rise of hard rock and metal, as well as many rock bands that later became legendary. This album attempts to recapture that magic by showing off 40 different songs by 40 different bands. With the artists they've chosen, you're going to be hard pressed not to find at least one metal representative that could join the ranks of Nirvana, Guns'n'Roses, and others as Headbanger's Ball folklore alumni.