SERIOUSLY?
That band is called Dead by April. I’m telling you so that if anyone ever asks you “Hey, dude, you wanna hear some Dead by April?”, you’ll know how to answer.
-AR
Archive for March, 2009
CORPUS CHRISTI’S THE DARKER SHADE OF WHITE: JESUS WOULD RIFF HARDER
Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 12:00pm by Rob Miles
Based on the band name and album title, I wasn’t sure what to expect from these guys: Black Metal? Dark Ambient? Martial Industrial? Folk Metal? Somewhat generic Christian Metalcore?
Listening to the album opener “Parade Of Scars,” the telltale similarities to As I Lay Dying are immediately and glaringly apparent. Somewhat generic Christian Metalcore it is, then. I don’t know much about metalcore, but it seems like being into Jesus is an entrance requirement. Is there a sign hanging in Guitar Center across the country reading “You Must Be At Least This Filled With The Holy Spirit To Buy A Black Jackson Flying V and Line 6 Stack?”
GUNS N’ ROSES IS NOW A COVER BAND OF A COVER BAND
Directly from the horse’s mouth comes the news that “guitarist n’ songwriter [emphasis added to point out mental retardation] Dj Ashba… officially replaces current NIN guitarist Robin Finck” in Guns N’ Roses. “Once Dj’s name was in the hat, the hat disappeared!!” benevolent dictator Axl Rose exclaims, doing his best impersonation of my Uncle Morty.
Showing that Rose at least has a sense of humor, the statement concludes: “Now, one step closer to the abyss, Ashba joins a band who’s all time roster is nearly as long as it’s [sic] founder Axl Rose’s rap sheet!” Oh, Axl, you scamp.
THESE ARMS WILL FUCK YOU UP
I couldn’t find any footage of These Arms are Snakes performing live that accurately captured the spectacle I witnessed first-hand on Wednesday, but this video for “Horse Girl” has some shots of the band rocking out so it’ll have to do for now. While I can see many of our readers not being able to get into this band because of the higher punk to metal ratio, just trust me when I say that I was the same until I saw them live; and you will be too. TAAS still have some live dates in the Western U.S. on their current tour, so if you live out that way make absolutely sure you go see them.
-VN
SXSW METAL REPORT: THE FINAL DAY
So. Yesterday was a fucking whirlwind.
Salt Lick BBQ lunch, punctuated by the special rice krispie treat some guy had sold us the night prior. Kip and I were giggling like high school kids stoned for the first time as we were eating THE MOST FUCKING AMAZING BARBECUE FUCKING EVER. From there it was right back into it with a triumvirate of Peelander-Z, Rwake and proggy atmospheric rockers Maserati. Pound down a few Lone Stars, Coffee, Red Bull, keep going. We hit a quality standup comedy showcase next (Eugene Mirman, others) to break things up before indulging in delicious street tacos, then onwards to the Pelican / Dredg show at Emo’s. Once again, Dredg killed it (better sound this time), and once again I’m not much impressed by Pelican. Cut to 6am passing some bottles of cheap red wine around a hotel room with Dredg as I realized I had to leave for the airport… breakfast at Salt Lick offshoot in the airport, plane, pass out, New York.
Thank you to everyone we hung out with all weekend for making this our best SXSW yet. Fucking epic.
SXSW METAL REPORT: DAY 3 (OR: “NOT METALLICA”)
The big buzz on the street yesterday was that Metallica would be playing at the 2,100 capacity Stubb’s; was it worth getting there early to ensure a spot inside? The 8 semis parked outside the venue loomed large. Would us plebes even be able to get in? Some friends from the Relapse goon squad opted to try, and apparently getting in wasn’t quite the shit-show we’d anticipated. We opted for Whitechapel instead (bad decision), but did end up listening to three songs from outside the outdoor venue along with a few hundred other kindred souls.
While I was busy not seeing Metallica, I did catch Tia Carrera, Hesta Prynn, Jump Back Jake, Dance Gavin Dance, Whitechapel, Wolves in the Throne Room, Dredg, and then an epic DIY show/party on a bridge over the Colorado River with makeshift performances by Vivian Girls and Trash Talk. Highlights and lowlights after the jump.
IN WHICH WE HELD DOWN THE FORT
Vince, Kip, and Anton OyVey are all down at SXSW, but don’t worry about lil’ old me; Higgins and I got shit covered. Here’s what happened in the world of metal this week:
- We all finally got to hear the new Mastodon album! Needless to say, intense debate ensued.
- We spoke to Wolves in the Throne Room drummer Aaron Weaver and Lazarus A.D. bassist/vocalist Jeff Paulick.
- No penis? No Dir En Grey!
- Is this new Teagan and Sara shirt metal as fuck, or total hipster bull pucky?
- The Megatallica rivalry continued as we watched Dave Mustaine kill on Jeopardy and Lars Ulrich eat it on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
- Fieldy = Jesus
- Read Vince’s initial SXSW reports here and here!
Alright-y, then. Higgins and I are off to make like chimneys and blow smoke. See ya Monday!
-AR
METALLICA WILL BE INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK N’ ROLL HALL OF FAME BY… FLEA?
I know this probably too much Metallica news for one day, but fuck it, I gotta get this off my chest.
I don’t have anything against Flea. I don’t have anything against the Red Hot Chili Peppers. And I know that the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame is probably even more insignificant than the Grammys.
Still: I just can’t believe that in the entire world, there was NO ONE MORE METAL who could have inducted the band. I understand they want someone whose name they can say on TV to boost ratings, but there had to be SOMEONE more qualified. Is there a rule against having a band that was inducting do the inducting? Were the dudes from Black Sabbath not available? Slash? Eddie Van Halen? Alice in Chains? Marilyn Manson? ANYONE?
MORE FREE SHIT FROM TRENT REZNOR, INCLUDING NEW MUSIC FROM JANE’S ADDICTION!
Seriously, anyone who doesn’t love Trent Reznor has to be some kind of massive tool. As if all the crap he does didn’t already make him pretty much the coolest living rock star in the world today, he’s now giving away more free music – a sampler featuring some NIN songs, Street Sweeper tracks, and, perhaps most excitingly, new, Reznor-produced music from Jane’s Addiction.
WOULD YOU PAY $700 FOR THIS?
Thanks to The Deciblog for pointing us towards the website of Pierre Blanc, a gentlemen who makes heavy metal vases like the one you see above.
Seriously.
YOU CAN NOW DOWNLOAD A DEMO FOR GUITAR HERO: METALLICA ON YOUR XBOX 360…
…but I’m not really sure why you would. I mean, at this point, you probably already know if you enjoy Guitar Hero or not, and assuming you do like Guitar Hero, you probably know if you care enough about this game to pay 60 bucks for it. Still, if you’re bored and sitting at home and have a 360, the demo is now avail for free download on Xbox Live (PS3 owners are shit outta luck.).
Here’s some footage of “Dyer’s Eve” gameplay:
-AR
SXSW METAL REPORT: DAY 2
After yesterday morning’s scare, thankfully Kip turned up. On the couch downstairs at the flophouse we’re crashing at. Phew!
It was another fine day in Texas; 80 degrees, sunny, lots of metal. First up was Full Metal Texas, at which I saw Black Math Horsemen, Kylesa, Skeletonwitch and Fact. The End Records / MetalSucks showcase followed, at which Junius, Hull, These are They, Goes Cube, Tub Ring and Early Man rocked the confines of a tightly packed room that looked like an old European castle. My quick summary after the jump.
SOMETIMES CATTLE AIN’T THE ONLY THING THAT GETS DECAPITATED
We really like the new Cattle Decapitation album. We also really like their new video, “Regret and the Grave,” which debuted yesterday on Headbanger’s Blog. A little too literal a translation of the band’s running theme of a human slaughterhouse? Perhaps. But it’s still pretty creepy.
SENDING GOOD THOUGHTS TO ARSIS’ JIM MALONE
I’ve met Jim Malone twice, for an amount of time totalling maybe 120 seconds, maybe. The guy would not be able to pick me out of a line-up, I’m sure. But the last time I saw him, I didn’t even recognize him at first – he’d lost an incredible amount of weight. To tell the truth, I didn’t think he looked unhealthy – he wasn’t, like, Calista Flockhart thin or anything – in fact, I thought he looked pretty damn good.
But Arsis has cancelled a whole shit load of tour dates recently, and combined with the fact that they’ve gone through more line-up changes than Guns N’ Roses and Megadeth combined, it was getting to the point where our pals at Metal Injection were even worried that Arsis might be dunzo.
Luckily for fans of melodic tech death everywhere, this isn’t the case, and Malone has now explained all the Arsis drama in a statement:
MATT HEAFY TO TRAVEL TO THE MIDDLE EAST, BROKER PEACE BETWEEN JEWS AND ARABS
I don’t really understand all the vitriol that gets directed at Matt Heafy. Maybe I’m missing something; even if you don’t like Trivium’s music, I’m not aware of any incident that should make Heafy worthy of the Durstian levels of hatred people have towards the dude.
To that end: Metal Underground posted the below video of Heafy breaking up a fight from the stage at a show last week. I’m sure someone will say “Well, it’d be way cooler if he’d jumped into the crowd to break up the fight,” but we all know that that person is legally retarded, so whatever.
-AR
GET THRASHED: NEW MUSIC FROM WARBRINGER, AND A FREE BONDED BY BLOOD SHOW!
Some good news for thrash fans:
- Warbringer have posted “Severed Reality,” the first single from their new album Waking Into Nightmares, on their MySpace page. The song sounds more or less like Warbringer – which is a good thing. ‘Cause you don’t throw on a Warbringer album when you’re in the mood for Jesu, y’know? Anyways, the band apparently just filmed a video for the track with perennial MetalSucks fave David Brodsky, and Nightmares was produced by Gary Holt (yes, that Gary Holt), so expect more Warbringery goodness in the near future. Waking Into Nightmares drops May 19 on Century – but you can see the band live as they wrap up their MetalSucks sponsored trek with Soilwork, Darkane and Swallow the Sun, or their upcoming tour with Exodus. Get dates here.
- Bonded by Blood and their Masters of Disasters tourmates, Exmortus and Witchhaven, will be playing a FREE gig at The Water Grill in Brooklyn next Saturday, March 28. It’s thrash! It’s free! You live in America in 2009 and listen to metal so you’re probably poor! What’s not to love about a free thrash show? Details after the jump.
SO THE NEW GOD DETHRONED SONG IS PRETTY KICK ASS
The Netherlands’ God Dethroned is band # 2,586,923 that we don’t talk about enough around here. I wasn’t really that familair with them until 2006′s The Toxic Touch, but if you’re a fan of European melodeath, you should absolutely check this band out.
And here’s your chance: the group just posted a new song, “Under a Darkening Sky,” on their MySpace page. It’s our first taste of music from the band’s forthcoming album, Passiondale (And I wanna go on record right now as saying that I like the album’s name better in its original Dutch – Passchendaele – just because for some reason it makes me giggle. Passchendaele. Tee hee.), and I think it bodes well for the rest of the record.
And because I can just seem some idiot complaing that the name Passiondale sounds like some pussy soap opera, I would like to preemptively tell that person to learn your fucking history.
Passiondale will be released Metal Blade Records in Germany/Austria/Switzerland/Italy on April 24, 2009 and in the rest of Europe on April 26. I have no idea about an American release date but hopefully it will be somewhere in that vicinity, too.
-AR
THE NEW TERROR VIDEO WOULD BE BETTER WITHOUT ALL THE STUPID BOXING
Here’s what I really like about Terror’s new video for “Rise of the Poisoned Youth”: the way it captures the energy of their live show. If watching this thing doesn’t make you wanna get up on your desk and do a stage dive right now, I don’t know what will.
But I could live without the subplot about the boxers. We get it. You’re hardcore. You’re fighters. You never give up. You know what you’d see if you looked in the dictionary under the word “obvious?”
A definition of the word “obvious,” of course.
Terror are about to hit the road with All Shall Perish, Shai Hulud, and a bunch of bands I could give a fuck about. Still, they put on a pretty killer live show (again, see the above video). Get tour dates here.
And if you’re really bored, here are some photos of chicks in Terror panties.
-AR
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM DRUMMER AARON WEAVER ON BLACK METAL AS PROTEST MUSIC, WHY SCION IS SATANIC, AND THE GIANT WOLF CHASING THE SUN
Eight hours straight of phone interviews is nobody’s idea of a good time, especially when the guy doing it usually spends his non-band time working the land on a self-owned farm outside of Olympia, Washington. So Aaron Weaver, the drummer for black metal band Wolves In the Throne Room, must be commended for his affable mood during his revealing conversation with MetalSucks. Weaver has the hyper-articulate manner of someone that speaks not just to be heard, but to be understood; his loquaciousness is balanced by a humility about his band’s place in the world, and his own. Weaver talked to us about Wolves In the Throne Room’s third album Black Cascade (recently reviewed by our own David Bee Roth), and dispelled some myths about the oft-misunderstood eco-spiritualism that guides the band. Other topics of discussion: Is Scion a minion of Satan? Should we fear wheat? Answers to these questions and many more, after the jump.
SXSW METAL REPORT: DAY 1
Wednesday has done and drawn to a close, and an awesome day it was. Highlights included Young Widows, The Bronx, Fighting With Wire, Jucifer, El Mariachi Bronx (The Bronx as a full mariachi band), Valient Thorr, Pack of Wolves, These Arms Are Snakes, and finally meeting MS contributor Corey Mitchell in person. There’s so much to be seen today, Kip has gone missing, and I’m hungry, so I’ll make this quick:
