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Pantera and Damageplan drummer Vinnie Paul, singer and lyricist Chad Gray and guitarist Greg Tribbett (both from Mudvayne) along with guitarist Tom Maxwell and bassist Jerry Montano (both from Nothingface) have combined forces to stop you in your tracks ...and listen to theirs.

HELLYEAH's self-titled debut features the best elements of these bands -- vocals that veer maniacally between singer and song, surging, southern metal guitar groove, throbbing bass lines and hammering, ground-shaking beats, all with a feel and flavor that's both contemporary and timeless.

While HELLYEAH didn't officially become a band until 2006, Gray, Montano and Maxwell actually started working together four years ago, after their two bands went on tour together. When they got back from the road, Gray flew from Illinois to Nothingface's practice space in Baltimore, Maryland to spend a couple days hanging out and writing songs. The jam produced the volcanic "Waging War," which appears on HELLYEAH.

"Everybody had a killer attitude and any of the hardships and usual rock n' roll bullshit I'd been through with Pantera and Damageplan didn't exist with these guys," Paul says. "Everybody was in the right frame of mind and we all wanted to go out and kick some ass."

"Doing this felt so right and so good," Gray says. "We all just wanted to throw down and do something that came from the heart and was all for fun and for the love of making music."

The five musicians decided to get together in the summer of '05 and agreed to meet in Texas. "Chasin' Jason" studio was in Dimebag Darrell's house, where Pantera, Damageplan and Rebel Meets Rebel had all recorded. "There was an amazing energy to that studio because a lot of really great music came out of there," Gray says.

How else can HELLYEAH's incredible productivity be explained? In their first seven-day session, the band wrote a song a day. The next two sessions were equally productive, filled with spontaneity and chemistry that ignited like a fire on gasoline. "We wrote everything on the spot because that's how Dime and I would do things," Paul says. "That way, we don't miss a single moment. If something's magic, it's there on tape. Each song started with either a drumbeat or a guitar riff that Tom or Greg had, and we went from there."

The love for music and hunger for living life on the edge shines throughout HELLYEAH. The songs are rebellious, aggressive and sonically diverse. The title track roars of feedback, kiss-my-ass vocals and take-no-prisoners beats. "Matter of Time" delivers a lethal combination of infectious grooves and deliberate brutality while "Goddamn" features nose-diving guitars, a shuddering down-tuned rhythm and caustic climaxing vocals.

Taking the music 180 degrees in the opposite direction, there's "Thank You," a tribute to fallen heroes that's driven by a marching beat, delicate arpeggios and an unforgettable chorus; the evocative instrumental "In the Mood" leading into the seductive bump-and-grind of "Star," and the infectious country-blues-ballad "Alcohaulin' Ass."

The band weeded through dozens of possible names, then chose HELLYEAH because they felt it represented the no-holds-barred spirit of the project. "It's a total attitude thing," explains Paul. "I don't know if they were joking the first time they mentioned it, but it's a common expression that we use a million times a day. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that's totally the tone of the band."

While Gray's lyrics on HELLYEAH cover a variety of themes and topics, including the rigors of being in a band ("You Wouldn't Know"), exploitation ("Waging War"), it's the title track and "Alcohaulin Ass" that demand attention and repetition. Both lend themselves to observations on living life and the armor created to continue moving forward -- with an attitude.

"My only real goal was to change up how I do things in Mudvayne," Gray says. "I wanted this to have its own life, so I wrote whatever was on my mind at any moment in time."

As committed as they are to HELLYEAH, none of the members have given up their other priorities. Gray and Tribbett are currently working on the follow-up to Mudvayne's 2005 gold album Lost and Found, Montano and Maxwell will get back together with Nothingface this fall and Paul continues to work on his record label, Big Vin Records with plans to release the Dimebag Darrell DVD "Dimevision 2," the follow-up to the Gold "Dimevision Vol 1: That's the Fun I Have," later this year.

The band will tour in support of HELLYEAH and the boys all look forward to tearing it up on the road.