Metal In The Family

------------------------------- Concert preview

Ozzfest '99: Black Sabbath, Rob Zombie, Deftones, Slayer, Primus, Godsmack, System of A Down; second stage: Fear Factory, eight other bands; 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Grant County; sold out; Gorge Information Line: 206-464-2000, Ext. 7469. -------------------------------

If Lilith Fair represented a feminine perspective to rock, then this weekend's Ozzfest is sure to expose the male side - make that, the seamy and somewhat brutish male side.

Ozzfest will draw throngs of shirtless tattooed dudes with frizzy hair and sunglasses, sideburns and cutoffs. It will be one of the biggest collections of metal - from Black Sabbath featuring Ozzy Osbourne, to The Deftones - to converge under one tent to convey their ear-splitting message of rebellion.

It will also set you back $58 for each ticket.

The show is technically sold out, which means it will have grossed close to $1.1 million.

And it will, most definitely, take up a lot of your time. The music starts at 11:30 a.m. and isn't likely to end before midnight.

One group of faces to watch for in the crowded field is Biff Butler and his band, Apartment 26.

Butler is the son of Terry "Geezer" Butler, bassist for Ozzfest headliner Black Sabbath. The family ties didn't hurt, but Biff Butler's electronic-infused metal band - a la Nine Inch Nails - can hold its own; and the 19-year-old singer is simply honored to be a part of it all.

The younger Butler, interviewed by telephone during a tour stop in Dallas, says the whole thing has been amazing: crowd reactions, other musicians on the tour; everything about it has been wonderful.

He was born in 1980, well after Black Sabbath's hard-drugging days. (Geezer claims the band racked up a $75,000 cocaine tab while making "Vol. 4" in 1972.). The younger Butler says he remembers what it was like tagging along on Sabbath tours, but he saw his dad as any son would.

"It wasn't weird or anything because to me that was the only father I had. To me, he's the norm," said Butler. "But I got to spend a lot of time around a lot of musicians - which I couldn't help but be inspired by . . . whether it was the other members in my dad's band, the members in Ozzy's band or other bands who have toured with with Sabbath like Fear Factory, Sepultura or Pantera."

For the past year, Apartment 26 has been rehearsing at home in Lapworth, a village outside Birmingham, England, where the singer lives with his mother, father and younger brother. Geezer listened to them practice, but kept a respectful distance, never offering advice or even lessons on the bass he plays so well.

"It's probably a good thing," said Butler. "If I were to be on the Ozzfest trying to make a career playing bass, people would draw comparisons and I would obviously be inferior."

Sandwiched between Black Sabbath and Apartment 26 are several of metal's best bands, including: Rob Zombie, Deftones, Slayer, Primus and newcomers Godsmack and System of a Down.

Zombie has been touring steadily since late last year, first by himself and later with Korn. He has been playing songs from his ghoulishly funny "Hellbilly Deluxe" CD and White Zombie's ground-breaking "Astrocreep 2000."

In addition to 12 hours of constant music, Ozzfest features Never Never Land, a lawnside arcade of booths and goings-on. In Never Never Land, one can get pierced, tattooed or painted, and get autographs from selected bands.

There's even metal karaoke.