Metal’s Jack of All Trades, Rob Zombie, has had many irons in the fire lately, leading us at Blog Rocking Beat to believe that coffin is not for sleeping after all, but just decoration.

Check it.

First, you induct Alice Cooper into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame along side Elton John and Neil Young, then jump into directing your first major television commercial entitled “The Torturer,” for the laundry detergent Woolite. What DO you do next? Well, if you’re musician/film director/screenwriter Rob Zombie, you maintain course on a very eclectic and busy year filled with robots, pyro, witches, loud rock’n'roll, evil, comedy, touring, paranormal activity, and who knows what else.

Zombie has announced that former Marilyn Manson drummer, Ginger Fish, has joined the Zombie fold and will make his debut on the band’s first major European tour in nearly 12 years, kicking off June 3rd in Nurnburg, Germany. Zombie and the band – Fish, guitarist JOHN 5 and Piggy D on bass – will play major European summer festivals including the UK’s Download, Italy’s Sonisphere, and Roskilde in Denmark, as well as headlining a slew of their own shows. Stated Zombie, “The band just got even weirder; and weirder is always better.”

Then, Zombie will join Slayer for the 12-city “Hell on Earth” North American tour. The co-headline trek kicks off July 20th at the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA, blazing across the country until it wraps up August 6th in Seattle, WA. San Francisco’s thrash-metal band Exodus has been confirmed to open all shows.

“Total destruction on stage and off is what this combination promises,” said Zombie. “Seriously, how much more Hell could you ask for? The answer is none more Hell.”

For the North American dates, Zombie will be bringing his full, legendary stage show out in full force. Audiences can expect an exploding, non-stop barrage of sin, sex and Satan, guaranteed to rip your face off. This will be a true rock’n'roll spectacle at its finest.

Immediately following the “Hell on Earth” tour, Zombie will begin production on his sixth feature film, “The Lords of Salem,” that he wrote and will direct. Set to be filmed in Los Angeles and Salem, MA, Zombie explains, “There were 20 people that everyone knows about, obviously all innocent, executed as witches in Salem. The basic premise of the film is that there was a small coven, actual witches, who were put to death secretly, and vowed one day to return to wreak havoc on Salem’s descendants.

“As it stands now, this is probably the bleakest of all of my films,” Zombie continued, “a long, slow decent into the bowels of Hell.”

And then there’s the Woolite commercial that was shot in Vancouver and completed in mid-April. “It’s a very bizarre TV commercial for a product like this,” said Zombie. “Honestly, I was shocked when they called me to do it.”

If all of this isn’t enough, Zombie just finished directing a special for Comedy Central entitled “Tom Papa: Live In New York City.” The special was shot over two days in NYC, and features comedian Tom Papa from NBC’s “The Marriage Ref” in his first stand-up special.

“Tom and I worked together on my animated film ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’ and had a blast,” says Zombie. “So when Tom asked me to direct his first special, I couldn’t refuse. He’s a brilliant stand-up comic.”

Rob Zombie Tour Dates

MAY
25 Ventura Theatre, Ventura, CA
26 Fat Cat, Modesto, CA
27 Crest Theatre, Fresno, CA
28 Knitting Factory, Reno, NV

JUNE
3 Rock Im Park, Nurnberg, Germany
4 Rock Am Ring, Nurburgring, Germany
6 Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen, NW, Germany (headline)
7 Astra Kulturhaus, Berlin, Germany (headline)
10 Sweden Rock Festival, Solvesborg, Sweden
12 Donnington Festival, Donnington Park, UK
14 Grose Freiheit, Hamburg, Germany (headline)
15 Paradiso, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (headline)
17 Hellfest Festival, Clisson, France
18 Sonisphere Festival, Athens, Greece
20 Gasometer, Vienna, Austria (headline)
21 Rockhal, Luxembourg, Luxembourg (headline)
23 Azkena, Vitoria, Spain (headline)
25 Sonisphere Festival, Imola, Italy
26 Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, Belgium
28 Olympia, Dublin, Ireland (headline)
29 Ulster Hall, Belfast, Ireland (headline)
30 Corn Exchange, Edinburgh, Scotland (headline)

JULY
2 Sonisphere Festival, Kalasatama, Helsinki, Finland
14 Chippewa Valley Rock Festival, Cadott, WI
15 KRRO KRROFest IV, Sioux Falls Stadium, Sioux Falls, SD
17 Hot As Hell Music Festival, Brady Theatre, Tulsa, OK

(Hell on Earth tour with Slayer)
20 Sovereign Center, Reading, PA
22 DTE Energy Music Theatre, Detroit, MI
23 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
24 Heavy T.O. Festival, Downsview Park, Toronto, ON
27 MTS Centre, Winnipeg, MB
29 Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon, SK
30 Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, AB
31 Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB

AUGUST
2 Save-On-Foods Center, Victoria, BC
3 Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
5 Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, Portland, OR
6 WaMu Theatre, Seattle, WA

Following the success of their uber-hot “Pinball Rocks” music game app, Slayer has just launched its official Slayer Mobile App for iPhone, iPod, and Android. The Slayer App, identified on your screen by Slayer’s iconic Eagle logo, is free and offers fans access to exclusive content, the latest band news, photos you can’t get anywhere else, the band’s social media feeds, music and music videos, a merch store, a fan wall, tour dates, and much more. Additionally, the menu functionality of the Slayer App will be available in multiple languages – French, Spanish, Russian, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, Dutch, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), and Korean.

The Slayer App is now available in the iTunes store – http://bit.ly/eegFca – and for Android – http://bit.ly/ekhtPB – so log on and get totally connected to Slayer.

Founding Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman stepped onstage with his band at this past Saturday’s Big 4 concert in Indio, CA, marking the first time he has played with Slayer since last October. In January, Hanneman contracted necrotizing fasciitis, likely caused by a spider bite, and has been undergoing surgeries, skin grafts and intense rehab since. Hanneman surprised the crowd of 50,000 when he walked out onto the stage, unannounced, and played the two-song encore, “South of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.”

Backstage in Slayer’s dressing room afterwards, Hanneman relaxed on a couch and said, “I’m the happiest man in the world.”

Gary Holt, guitarist for Exodus, has been the primary guest guitarist with Slayer since the band started its 2011 touring schedule in February, and will continue in that capacity until Hanneman has completely recovered.

Slayer has joined forces with O’Neal USA, one of the leading manufacturers of motorcycle and BMX accessories, to produce a limited edition of Slayer helmets that feature the band’s distinguished and celebrated artwork. The helmets will launch under the name of RockHard, and will be sold at all Cycle Gear locations and at finer motorcycle dealerships worldwide . In addition, each helmet will be certified and numbered with its own Certificate of Authenticity. Slayer’s RockHard Helmets go on sale on Monday, February 25 and once they’re gone–that’s it, man–they are GONE.

Every helmet will be boxed in a custom-made container patterned after the Anvil road cases, which are used to transport band equipment while on tour.

“The RockHard Helmet line, and the Slayer helmet in particular, has generated a huge amount of buzz with our retail outlet buyers,” said Jim O’Neal. “Personally, I’m very psyched about this product as it takes Slayer to another merch level.”

Oh yeah, and in case you are keeping track at home, Slayer just bagged another Grammy for 2008 Best Metal Performance.