For those who missed it, the drummer for Lordi passed away. The band has selected a replacement for Tonmi Lillman, but the new-comer's character name and monster makeup have not been revealed yet.

”We don´t want to introduce a new character yet, because we feel it is still way too close to the time when Otus passed away. Making any kind of fuss about a new member would simply be too disrespectful. However, we need a drummer in order to play," Mr. Lordi says. 

The fine folks over at io9.com have started to throw together a list of the top 100 albums to listen to if you're into science fiction or fantasy. The first 29 (#100-71) have been posted, and there's a lot of good shit here, kids. Front Line Assembly, Mastadon, Black Sabbath, Voivod.

I think I'm starting to see a pattern.

But of course a lot of these albums would be metal albums! Metal was gestated by the brutal tales of far-away lands and fantastical creatures, tales as old as human memory. One need look no further than just the COVERS of any number of albums to see the wonderful thread that worms its way through metal music, and on the flip side of the "sci-fi/fantasy" coin you have the cyberpunk glow of an untold number of synthesizer-heavy bands, stretching from the 1970s towards the event horizon.

Go check out the list at io9.com, and make sure you chime in with suggestions.

I'm just gonna leave this here for right now...

This post should go live somewhere around 6:00am PDT, on the 17th of March. Chances are, you are just waking up to discover this post. Chances are, if it is still 6:00am PDT, I will have just enjoyed the first sip of Guinness for the day. That's right, folks, it's your old pal Dominus Maximus, come along with our 3rd Annual Irish Forge Radio.

The ancient Celts held 3 as a mystical number, and in honor of such, I tried to make the show a little more special by adding in a little of everything. Pub songs? Check. Instrumentals? Check. Rebel songs? Funny story songs? Check. Irish metal? Check. I only talk for a minute (if even that), and then we're off on a magical journey to the green fields of Eire for an hour. I broke the playlist up into smaller chunks (the easier to read while inebriated), and made sure to try and cut out that annoying hiss you get from songs recorded years ago in small pubs (I was less successful with this endeavor).

I've said enough, so I'm going to go back to drinking, and let you minions enjoy this episode while you try to play catch-up with me. Slainte

Bing Crosby - St. Patrick's Day Parade
Lorne Elliott - Tonight Is The Night
The Corries - The Bantam Cock
Black Irish Band - Black & Tans
The Dubliners - Hey Johnny McGorry

The Mahones - Drunken Lazy Bastard
The Irish Brigade - Kinky Boots
Spirit of Freedom - Stick Your Decommission
Wicked Tinkers - Farewell to Nova Scotia
The Blarney Lads - Father O'Flynn/Irish Washerwoman/Blackberry Blossom

Seamus Kennedy - Dear Boss
The Wolfe Tones - Follow Me Up To Carlow
Irish Rovers - Dublin O'Shea
The Chieftains & Sinéad O'Connor - The Foggy Dew
Primordial - Bloodied Yet Unbowed

The National Anthem of Ireland - Amhrán na bhFiann

If you're an American listener, chances are you've been bombarded by the inane cries of politicians as they verbally battle each other for supremacy in an arena of their own devising, and in the end, as the tagline for "Highlander" said, "There can only be one!"

So, being an Official American Citizen, you'll want to cast your vote for someone who doesn't decide that the Gubbamint should fuck you in the ass more than it already does.  But, at the same time, you'll want to keep to your metal roots. Oh, the choices! However shall you choose?

Luckily, Gawker.com has decided to interview famous American metal acts, and find out who they think should be running the show. Hopefully this will provide you some insight into the political leanings of your favorite bands, as well as help you choose your own candidate. Now, without further ado, we present to you: Gawker's Big Running List of 2012 Metal Endorsements. 

Well, Minions, we hope you had a good Internet Blackout day. We spent the day drinking, and repairing our website code, so now you can actually see what we're writing. Also, we got a new fancy image up top, courtesy of Dominus Maximus. (Wait, didn't he die?)

What was it all for? Check this story from the NY Times about the Feds shutting down (as of time of writing, megaupload.com is unavailable) and hauling Megaupload.com into court for "piracy." Sure, it's users probably upload a lot of pirated material, but the site itself is just a tool.

Now imagine this scenario, only the Corporations and Feds don't need to drop charges on a site. They just pull the plug because they feel like it. They can do this right now, but they want more legislation and more power.

Scary shit, huh? Total "1984"/Commie China bullshit, if you ask us. "BUT THIS IS 'MERIKA, HOME OF THE FREE EVERYTHING!" you may cry. Well, it's not gonna be free much longer, 

If you want to know more about the protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (which has apparently been abandoned to die on the House) and the PROTECT IP Act (Basically the same thing, but in the Senate), check out what Google, Mozilla, Wired, The Oatmeal, and Wikipedia have to say on the subject; for those of you with longer attention spans, you can read the full text of the pending legislation for SOPA here, and PIPA here.

Stay Brutal.

As promised we have this exciting picture freaturing it's proud owner Joe Letz of Combichrist!

Set 1

Creature Feature - Corpse in my Bed
Dog Fashion Disco - The Acid Memories
Stolen Babies - A year of Judges
Screaming Mechanical Brain - Smash TV

Set 2
Narcoleptic  - YouthMcAnarchy
The Adicts - Straight Jacket
Subhumans - Mickey Mouse is Dead
The Voids - LAPD
The Murder City Devils - Boom Swagger

Set 3
Allagoc - The Watcher's Monolith
Jesus and The Gurus - We Will Love You
Weedeater - God Luck and Good Speed

Shout of the Show - Walking the Room

Random Song

DVDA - America, Fuck Yeah

Set 1
Everything Goes Cold - Bitch Stole My Time Machine
Fader Head - Hammer of the Gods
Asthetic Perfection - Sacrifice

Set 2
Angel Spit - Like It!, Lick It!
Halo in Reverse - Modesty's Failure
Flowing Tears - Ballad of a Lonely God
Within Temptation - Murder
Alien Vampires- Evil Bloody Music

Set 3
Haggard - Observer
Leather Strip - Introvert
Oomph! - Labyrinth
Shiv-R - The End
69 Eyes - Hunger

Shout of the Show
Ninja Sex Party

Random Song

Freeze pop - Do you liike my Wang