Although new-metal bands remain all the rage, the year's biggest hard-rock tour remains steeped in tradition. As usual, Ozzy Osbourne headlines the bill, wrapping up the all-day festival with solo hits such as "Crazy Train" and a Sabbath nugget or two. Pantera delivers the type of Southern guitar-rock that Kid Rock loves, but you'll see Joe C in the NBA before you'll hear Philip Anselmo rap over his band's riffs. Godsmack wowed headbangers at last year's OZZfest with its heavier take on grunge, while Static X has elicited a similarly positive response for its adrenalized update of the industrial sound blazed by second-stage stalwarts Ministry. Some might place Incubus into the "new metal" category, but this quintet is much more reminiscent of late '80s Faith No More than late '90s Limp Bizkit. The rip-hop powerhouse P.O.D. is probably the biggest mainstream draw on the bill, while Queens of the Stone Age are the critical darlings, with Rolling Stone among their admirers. Methods of Mayhem packed its album with special guests, but it will be up to Tommy Lee to keep the party alive without celebrity assistance. Apartment 26 graduates to the main stage this year to greet a larger crowd with its rave 'n' rock attack. Soulfly, whose as-yet-unreleased album Primitive features a sublime percussive instrumental, brings its dense arsenal to the second stage, where it joins the talented teen metal queens Kittie, haunting gloom-peddlers The Deadlights, the frighteningly intense Disturbed, the Fred Durst-jilting buzz band Taproot, and the socially conscious Shuvel.
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