MetalSucks

I will always remember the first time I heard Killswitch Engage. I was fifteen years old watching MTV after school when I saw the music video for “The End of Heartache.” [Our intern is a baby!!! - Ed.] Hearing that combination of melodic singing and big thick riffs just hooked me to the sound. All I wanted was to hear more of it, and Killswitch was happy to oblige. Since its inception in 1999, the band has been one of the best in the business at writing top notch metalcore songs.

When you have the man-sized balls, like the ones that allow Jesse Leach and Howard Jones to sing and not sound like pussies, and mix that with some catchy Swedish-style riffs, you have a metal recipe for success. Alive or Just Breathing and The End of Heartache are landmark records that set the tone for metalcore.

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I’ve never really wondered this about myself, but I guess it’s a good question:why the fuck am I still involved with metal?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer besides to say that no matter what I do, I’m always drawn to it. It’s almost akin to a sexual preference. You don’t choose it. It is what it is. People choose their sexual preference as much as they choose their fetishes, which is not at all. Well, I think tastes in music and art follow suit. Sure, you get college lesbians as much as you get people who take on the musical tastes of their significant others or social circle, but at the end of the day, I don’t think you can really choose what your tastes are. I think there’s some sort of brain wiring involved which dictates our taste preferences, and I’m just not privy to the actual process.

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Reader Tom Kelly recommended Tokyo’s Versailles to us, and while they’re obviously not actually the heroes from The Dark Crystal, they do seem to be basing their look on this things – if those things dressed less like characters from a fantasy story and more like porcelain Victorian dolls. Seriously, look at these androgynous crack heads:

Of course, I’d be willing to ignore the whole Henry James-character-yet-somehow-even-less-butch look if the music were good, but the music is pretty ridiculous. Actually, it’s pretty “meh” so long as there are no vocals. But then it becomes completely ridiculous.

After the jump, check out a ten a half minute epic karaoke song gone awry. Then stand up in Tom’s defense or call him names in the comments section.

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Though a known entity in Europe, industrial metal act OOMPH! haven’t had much recognition here in the U.S., largely because their lyrics to date have pretty much been in German. After all, Americans can only tolerate one such group at a time, and that group (for some stupid reason) happens to be Rammstein. Still, the forthcoming OOMPH! album Truth Or Dare is intended “for more international success” apparently, as it features re-recorded English language versions of their songs. Good luck with that, fellas.

Though the ridiculous, cliche-riddled video above for “Ready Or Not (I’m Coming)” wont likely win the group many new fans, it will however teach you how to count to ten in German! Right before the chorus comes up, follow the creepy child’s voice and you’ll be on your way to having a toddler’s capacity to recite numbers to disinterested strangers during your next trip to Deutschland.

Who says we don’t teach you stuff around here?!

-GS

As managing editor of Decibel, Andrew Bonazelli makes your life better each and every month by helping to give you an outlet to discover awesome new music, learn what your favorite bands are up to, sound more intelligent to your friends by plagiarizing opinions that aren’t your own, and have something to read in the bathroom.

Now, with the release of his second short novel, A Regular – the first literary endeavor from Vitriol Records, the label founded by Justin Smith of Graf Orlock/Ghostlimb/Dangers fame — Bonazelli has enriched your life even further, giving you something smaller and more portable to read in the bathroom. Bonus: the book also happens to be really, really good. Here’s a description from the publisher:

“A morose barfly drowns his misguided affection for barely legal trollops in crossword puzzles and wells whiskey. But Murray Baron isn’t just a regular at Seattle dive haven the Kapital — he exists in the bar in perpetuity, days and weeks bleeding formlessly into one another, punctuated only by cock-crushingly banal conversation. When he finally literally unseats himself to save a friend’s life, the decision ignites a series of overlapping absurdist confrontations straight from the id of a 12-year-old. Murray’s fate seems to have been halved into either suffocating barstool inertia or outlandish hyperactive lunacy, and only a highly dubious psychic can help him revisit the pivotal adolescent event that put him in this very literal state of arrested development.”

And if that doesn’t entice you, please be aware that the story also features a robot called “The Eraditroid.”

Awesome. Simply awesome.

After the jump, get the author’s thoughts on why metalheads should care about his book, how Linkin Park and Dennis Cooper have inspired his writing, releasing a novel through a record label, and willfully farting in public. (It’ll make sense if you read the book.) Plus, get a free excerpt from A Regular, so you can have a little taste of how great it is…

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Nowadays, classic metal seems all the rage — some cool kid told me this while walking to the market — and with MetalSucks doing the whole “Ten Great Bands That Inadvertently Helped Ruin Heavy Metal” thing, I got to thinking: how did metal become metal? We all know the Sabbath/Priest/Zeppelin “who started heavy metal” debate, but what about the in-betweeners that were probably “heavy metal” to my dad’s mom when Pops was just growing that ridiculous mustache and finding out that drinking beer was pretty cool once you got past that taste?

(Okay, full disclosure: I was drinking a beer and cranking UFO while reading the Van Halen story, so there.)

We’ve all known 3 Inches Of Blood for more than a few years at this point, but with the rise of bands like White Wizzard, Holy Grail, the criminally underrated Wolf, Gypsyhawk, RAM, and Cauldron waving the flag for the classic metal sound, I got to thinking about the bands that inspired them. These are groups where you could look back at them and say that they aren’t even definable as “metal” anymore.

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Loooong before affixing “-core” to a genre became an insult, ’90s SoCal punk rockers Strung Out were shredding it up on top of D-beats played faster than most tr00 drummers could blast if Dino Cazares was threatening to sit on them. Strung Out combined guitar acrobatics with Bad Religion-style anthemic punk before metalcore was even a word… shit, they did it before the Swedish bands that influenced metalcore even existed. Make no mistake about it, this band is punk rock, but they always found a way to let you know they were good at their instruments without bashing you over the head with it.

I was never a huge Strung Out fan so much as an appreciative admirer from afar. The only album of theirs I own is 2002’s An American Paradox, which I guess is one of their more “commercial” affairs. But MS reader Dustinwind reminded me of them by sending a cover of Ozzy’s “Bark at the Moon” from a b-sides and rarities collection released in 2009. The cover is distinctly punk in flavor and execution; it’s fast as fuck and really rough around the edges (in a good way). But it’s got a scorching guitar solo in the middle, and the fact that a punk band would cover a song like this at all demonstrates their obvious heavy metal influence.

-VN

Last week, Ozzy & Judas Priest were on trial for spreading suicide-inducing messages in their music.  How then were they able to escape liability for their actions? For simplicity, I’ll only refer to Ozzy’s trial. (For those of you interested in reading the full opinion, it can be found at McCollum v. CBS, Inc., 202 Cal. App. 3d 989. )

The court in Ozzy’s case rejected the McCollums’ claim on two different grounds.  First, the First Amendment provided an absolute bar to the claim.  Second, even if the McCollums could have gotten past the First Amendment bar, they could not have proven the foreseeability element of their negligence claim.

The First Amendment is a pretty amazing thing.  In case you forgot what it says, here it is:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or  prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Rather than trying to have the government control what could and could not be said, they washed their hands of the whole mess by granting free speech to all.  Until that time, England had only protected freedom of speech for Parliamentary debates, and France had recently enacted legislation similar to our First Amendment.  I don’t know all of the history here, so if you do, please edify the rest of us in the comments.

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Music dork alert.

The headline just about sums it all up, no? The flamenco guitar player’s name is Benjamin Woods and you can read more about him and his band at Flametal.com. Dude can play.

Thanks to loyal Suckalo Alex S. for the link.

-VN

Reader Nathan Shaw has brought it to our attention that After the Burial – whose new, still-to-be-titled album Vince suspects is gonna fuck your face off later this year – have posted a second webisode about the making of their latest release. The most exciting parts of these videos is always the too-brief snippets of new music we get to hear, and this one is no different. We’ve still only heard a bootleg of one new song, “My Frailty,” so every little note counts, y’know?

You can watch the first behind-the-scenes webisode here. ATB’s new album will be out sometime in 2010 on Sumerian.

-AR

The fates have aligned in such a way that I’ve repeatedly missed opportunities to see Landmine Marathon live. That’s a bummer, because I really dug their last two albums, 2008’s Rusted Eyes Awake and the just recently released Sovereign Descent. I’m sure I’ll get to finally check ‘em out sooner or later, though.

While I wait for that glorious event, a YouTube user known as “dstanfie23″ has uploaded an entire concert that the band recently did in Scottsdale, AZ. The quality of the footage is just okay, but, hey, better than nuthin’!

More after the jump…

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While we have no intention of going to see Kittie play with a bunch of clowns and The Insane Clown Posse, I suspect we will find our way to Soilwork’s next U.S. tour, which will be with Death Angel and feature support from Augury, Mutiny Within, and Swashbuckle. We haven’t gotten to check out the band since Peter Wichers re-joined, and, truth be told, it didn’t feel quite right without The Wichmeister.

And I promise never to refer to him as “The Wichmeister” again.

Dates after the jump!

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I’m not much of a fan of Municipal Waste, though I respect what they do and totally understand why so many people dig their scuzzy brand of revival thrash metal. It’s sometimes easy to overlook that hardcore punk and thrash have intertwined histories, with many of the former genre’s pioneers subsequently becoming thrash metallers. D.R.I., Suicidal Tendencies, and even the Cro-Mags have made a mark on both styles. So when I learned that Municipal Waste frontman Tony Foresta was also in a hardcore band, I just had to learn more.

They’re called No Friends, and if your love of hardcore begins and ends in the 1980s, then this one’s for you. Foresta handles lead vocals for the group, which also features dudes from New Mexican Disaster Squad. The four songs streaming at their MySpace page recall Circle Jerks, Dag Nasty, Government Issue, and a less dorky Descendents. You can download a free MP3 of “Never Ending Fight” if that sounds like something up your alley. While you’re at it, pick up a copy of their self-titled debut through their record label here. It’s just $7 for the CD version and $8 for the vinyl LP (which comes with a digital download card). Oh, and next month they’re hitting the road for some East Coast shows. Check out those dates below.

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Here’s some fan-filmed footage of Whitechapel’s latest exercise in having three guitarists all play the same part. It’s called “The Darkest Day of Man,” and presumably will be on the band’s new album, which should be out sometime this summer on Metal Blade.

In all seriousness: I don’t really dislike this band as much as Vince does, but their appeal is a little lost on me – especially after I saw them live earlier this year. But there were a lot of people in the crowd and those people seemed to frickin’ LOVE this band, so…

-AR

[via The PRP]

Let’s just get right to it: Kittie are going to be doing support for Insane Clown Posse on that group’s upcoming U.S. tour. Other artists on the bill will include Kottonmouth Kings, Coolio, and Necro, who you may remember as the “death rapper” (Still not sure what the fuck that means – in the pre-bling days all rappers talked about death a lot, so…) who dropped off of Sounds of the Underground in 2007 after getting heckled on a daily basis. (When we saw the tour, he tried to lead the crowd in a chant of “FUCK YOU FAT FAGGOT” against one such heckler. So Necro is intelligent and charming.)

This is the company Kittie will keep: a bunch of lame white-boy rappers, and Coolio.

Jesus H. Christ. Has it really come to this, ladies? I mean, I don’t really have anything against Coolio besides his own ridiculousness (there’s no joke I could write about him that would be funnier than just looking at the dude), but Necro strikes me as a true cretin (that “fat faggot” chant really rubbed me the wrong way, in case you can’t tell), and I gotta say, I have a retarded cousin, and calling ICP or Kottonmouth Kings “retarded” is a true insult to my mentally challenged kin. I may not like Kittie’s music, but they’re better than this.

-AR

As we first discussed more than a month ago, there’s been a rumor floating around that original Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach was going to perform with the band for the NY shows of their current tour; and, lo and behold, last night Leach did indeed show up to do five Alive or Just Breathing-era tracks (“My Last Serenade,” “Numbered Days,” “Self Revolution,” “Vida Infra,” “Temple from the Within) with the group. And, as if that wasn’t enough, three more (“Prelude,” “Life to Lifeless” and “Fixation on the Darkness”) for the encore – this time while the band reverted to its original line-up, with Adam D. playing drums and everything. Oh boy oh boy. Will Hawkins Photography has photos from the show; meanwhile, The PRP posted the de rigeur cell cam footage, which you can check out below:

SMN has now wondered aloud, “Does this mean that the former frontman will be staking his claim for a return to the fold?” And while I continue to hear people bandy that rumor about, especially in light of the mysterious and potentially scandalous circumstances under which Howard Jones seems to sitting out this tour. I don’t think it’s time to get too excited about that possibility just yet (if the idea of Leach re-joining the band even excites you in the first place), but I guess we’ll see what happens.

KSE play another show here in NY tonight, which I’m supposed to attend. So I may or may not have a first-hand report for you on Monday. If anyone went to last night’s gig, please let me know what time KSE took the stage. I need to sit through a set by The Devil Wears Prada like I need my left nut to fall off.

-AR

There are a handful of bands that I can say changed my fucking life. Nine Inch Nails are one such band. As a prematurely jaded adolescent, I’d been introduced to the violent industrial metal of the Broken EP and was intrigued. I bought the CD-single for “March Of The Pigs” the week it came out, and played it on repeat on my all-in-one stereo as well as in my Discman. The Downward Spiral hit stores the following month, and I eagerly snatched it up. Then fascinated with serial killers and true crime legends like Charles Manson, reports that the album was recorded in Sharon Tate’s house immediately grabbed me. But the music was more than mere gimmickry. I heard sounds I’d never encountered before, abrasive metal that didn’t come across as chauvinistic or boneheaded. Poring over Trent Reznor’s lyrics with the type of passionate attention only a teenager can, I connected with his rage, depression, and lust. Moreso than any other band before, I felt that I had found in Nine Inch Nails a band that I could get behind in a big way. Little did I know that their imminent success would spawn some of the most pathetic imitators, wannabes, and clowns ever to “grace” hard rock and metal with their presence.

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Congrats to kickoutthejamsman and The Overmatt, winners of the super awesome White Wizzard jeanjacket prize pack! The winning entries:

• kickoutthejamsman: “And the party for MetalSucks bloggers went pretty much as expected.”
• The Overmatt: “The Cazares family reunion always features the annual jam session.”

This week we’re giving away three copies of Revolver Magazine’s latest Tattoo Issue which features stories on the inked skin of Slayer, Ozzy, Henry Rollins, Slipknot, Guns N’ Roses and more in addition to Revolver’s usual music coverage. Just come up with a funny caption to the below photo [sent in by Voltron Futura]. Make sure to include your email address in the email field, or write it into the comment if you’re using Facebook Connect to access our site.

Vince comes home Sunday! Next week he should be blogging regularly again. (Anything you’ve read from his this week was written in advance of his trip.) Hoo-ray!

While you continue to pine for his return, The Number of the Blog has now posted part two of their interview with the man, the legend, the beard, Vince Neilstein. And by the way, the interview was conducted by deseee, and not, as I mistakenly said earlier this week, by groverXIII. Sorry, Number of the Bloggers.

While you’re there, you can suggest a question to ask moi for a future interview with the same site. I’m sure you can guys can think of some absolutely fucktarded shit to ask me, can’tcha?

-AR

“Bark at the Moon” is to Shadows Fall as “Holy Diver” is to Killswitch Engage. They’re both covers of classic solo tracks by former Sabbath vocalists, and both songs were released in their original incarnation in 1983. (The connection between the two songs gets even weirder if you consider that Vinny Appice played drums on “Diver,” while his brother, Carmine, appears in the original “Moon” video even though he didn’t play on the recording.) And just as I imagine that it’ll be some time before KSE ever play another set without doing “Diver,” so it seems that “Moon” is now a staple of the Shads’ live show.

The band recently played the song in Toronto, with a special guest appearance from Alex Skolnick on guitars. The influence of Testament on Shadows Fall has always seemed pretty clear, so it’s cool to watch them get to jam with one of their heroes. Bonus: you can imagine an alternate world where Skolnick left Testament in 1992 and became Ozzy’s guitar player. It would have been post-No More Tears, the last truly worthwhile Ozzy album; Skolnick might have saved us from another seventeen years of sub-par material and guitar squeals!

-AR

[via Metal Insider]