Meet Shinedown’s lead singer, Brent Smith, the gritty voice behind “Devour,” this year’s Night of Champions theme song.

So, you’re a big WWE fan?
Oh yeah. I grew up watching wrestling. I started tuning in back in the days of Jake the Snake, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan. I loved watching all the Superstars, although my favorite has to be Ultimate Warrior. And, of course, when Undertaker came on the scene, I was all about him.

What’s your favorite WWE memory?
I know everyone says this, but it has to be watching Hogan bodyslam Andre the Giant at WrestleMania III. My dad ordered the pay-per-view and let me watch it with him, which was a big deal. As a kid, that match was the one I always remembered.

Your song “Devour” will be the theme for Night of Champions. Psyched?
Man, it’s awesome. WWE has a big pulse, so it needs music that has a heartbeat – intense and aggressive. The fact that our music was chosen means it’s got all these qualities, which is exactly what we’re going for.

What can your fans expect from your new album, The Sound of Madness?
It sounds like nothing we’ve ever done before, and it’s the most aggressive and biggest sounding record we’ve done. Sonically, I wanted to push the envelope as far as we could. Basically, what I told our producers was, “When I’m dead and gone, I want people to remember that this was an album that needed to be made, that the world said it needed to be done.” And I think that it is.

If WWE signed you to a $1 million wrestling contract, what would your name be?
I’d be The Reverend, not because I’m religious, but because everyone calls me that when I’m performing. I always make sure the crowd walks out of the arena feeling motivated and positive. So I’d have to wear the spandex version of what a Reverend wears.

And your finisher?
Oh dang, I think I’d have to go with the Holy Ghost Piledriver!

Album Review
Shinedown
The Sound Of Madness
(Atlantic)
Shinedown’s third album, The Sound Of Madness, is a big, brash, chest-thumping rock throwdown that, at its best, approximates what Guns N’ Roses or Metallica might’ve sounded like had they never grown old and sad. Guitars thrash and stomp through the title track and the snarling “Sin With A Grin,” while “Devour” and “The Crow & The Butterfly” channel Use Your Illusion-era GNR in all their unapologetic grandeur. The power ballads, particularly “What A Shame,” veer disappointingly toward the Nickelback end of the spectrum, and “Call Me” suggests a dangerous admiration for those pretentious a-holes Live, but the low moments are relatively fleeting, redeemed soon enough by a ferocious riff, the crash of drums or frontman Brent Smith’s howl.

Guest Music Editor Shannon Moore says:
“I’ve only listened to Shinedown a bit, but I really like what I’ve heard. When they covered Skynyrd’s ‘Simple Man’ a few years ago, I thought they got it right on.”