Heavy metal headbangers, it's me...it's me...it's Rod T. Guess what time it is? It is mailbag time kiddies! That's right, this issue of THE Necrofile will be dedicated to you, my beloved reader. With the hot topic discussion that goes on here at the Necropad, yours truly has been bombarded with positive feedback and an unending supply of questions and answers. So, with me possibly being the most educated heavy metal student in the game (second only to the mighty EC), I have teamed up with my email host to tackle all of your questions, to end debates and controversy world-wide through my immense metal knowledge. So, take your shoes off, grab that mouse, and enjoy a grand question-answer session on the perfect platform....THE NECROFILE.

First up we get an email from Ross&Wendy (apparently someone looking into the possibility of a sex change) who wants to know what Double Trouble is and if it is a real studio.

Double Trouble Productions was a partnership formed by famed producer Micheal Wagner and Accept frontman UDO. The two combined in the early 80s to record and produce legendary acts like Raven, Streetfighter, and Faithful Breath. The production was very slick and had that German hard rock sound injected into it. Really Wagner is probably the one that benefited the most from this partnership. UDO has long been out of the company but Wagner still continues to this day, in fact the last thing that he did was the recording of Hammerfall's "Renegade" record under the moniker of Double Trouble Production, Inc. As far as a real studio goes, I believe it is Wagner's basement, located at his home in Nashville, TN. The Double Trouble studio may actually go by the name of Wireworld Studios now. The home and recording can be seen in Hammerfall's DVD "Templar's Crusade". On an interesting note Wagner looks like a very smelly man with a ton of wild dogs running rampant in his home.

Next comes a question regarding a mascot. Timster56 wants to know if there is an official name for the mascot or creature German power metal band Rage uses for their album covers.

Yes, the name that Peavy Wagner has given the "cyborg dinosaur thingy" is Soundchaser. The band even released a record under the mascot's name in 2003.

A question regarding Racer X member Jeff Martin is next. Suzy from Phoenix asks this: "I've heard that Racer X vocalist Jeff Martin has played drums in other bands. I've always assumed that the Jeff Martin they are speaking of is a different person than the guy singing for Racer X. I'm confused and wondering why Martin doesn't play drums in Racer X also".

Good question and one that even threw me a few years ago. Yes, THE Jeff Martin that sings for power rockers Racer X is in fact the same guy who has played drums for the legendary Michael Schenker group AND Badlands. This incredible vocalist has the ability to play drums in the style of John Bonham and Ian Paice, but for the most part seems to want to keep his role with Racer X simply in the vocalist slot. Pre-Racer X band Surgical Steel released an album with Martin playing both drums and vocals. That album also had a surprise appearance from Judas Priest mouther Rob Halford. But to answer your question, yes Martin is the guy that you will see from time to time playing drums. Depending on how long drummer Scott Travis stays out with Priest, you may see Martin playing some drums on a new Racer X release. Time will tell but for now I have read that Martin is playing some drums for George Lynch and maybe working on a solo album as well.

A wrestling-metal related question follows from MarkedToBill with "Who was the WCW wrestler that came out looking like a heavy metal guy, he always had a guitar and used it as a weapon. This was when WCW had NWO and all of that stuff".

Okay, the guy you are thinking of was called Van Hammer. He had long, curly blonde hair and was rather tall. He played mostly air guitar but occasionally would crank it up and play live. He was in WCW for about 8-10 years in some caliber, whether it was flat on his back or socializing with the NWO group. To my knowledge he was never in a heavy metal band, he just used that persona as a character gimmick. In the late 90s he switched his getup to a more hippy gimmick. Pretty lame!

A Laaz Rockit fan by the name of Knowyourenemy has asked where Laaz Rockit is at these days and if they have any plans of joining the "reunited".

YES, in fact it was disclosed last week that Texas thrash legends Laaz Rockit have returned to the scene after nearly twenty years of inactivity. Some of the band members have been busy in recent years. Guitarist Scott Sargeant spent some time with Skinlab and Killingculture. Guitarist Aaron Jellum has been spending most of his time in new band Warning SF. Drummer Dave Chavarri has been on recordings for M.O.D, Pro-Pain, and Ill Nino to name a few. I had read rumors that vocalist Michael Coons had become a heart surgeon but I've never had any concrete proof of that. Laaz Rockit even changed their name in '93 and became Gack with one release under their wings before completely disbanding. Now they are back in action and have disclosed this to the media:

Earlier this month, the original lineup reunited for the first time since 1991 to play 2 shows with Testament, including the prestigious Dynamo Festival in Holland. Their appearance at the Thrash Against Cancer benefit will be their first US show in over 14 years.

“We’re excited and honored to be a part of this show to help out such a worthy cause,” said guitarist Aaron Jellum. “It will be interesting to see all the old friends and fans again from the Bay area.”

Tickets for the Thrash Against Cancer benefit will go on sale Wednesday, June 1. The Pound amphitheater is located at 100 Cargo Way- Pier 96 (3rd St). This is an all ages event (21 years old w/ID to drink). Tickets are $40.00 in advance and will be available at The Pound SF’s box office (415-826-5009).

That is all the mail I have answered this week. Stay tuned and glued to your monitors, I will return again with a column's worth of metal prodding and poking, or I may return to answer more mail. Either way you are guaranteed another exciting issue of Necrofile, easily the web's most addictive newswire! If you have any questions for THE metal guru then don't hesitate to write in! I'm here to answer your pleas!

Metal!