Mastodon are without a doubt one of the most important metal bands to come out of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal movement, if not one of the most important metal bands of this decade. Last week’s career-best debut of their new record Crack the Skye proves just that. While there will be always be some who don’t get or just don’t like Mastodon, we’re willing to bet most of you do. So which is their best album to date? It’s a tough call. Vote below then tell us why; and, of course, if you hate the band altogether, don’t be shy.

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Thanks to The Deciblog for reminding me of two things I somehow forgot:

1. Sunday was the seventh (!) anniversary of Layne Staley’s death.
2. Opeth covered “Would?”

-AR

Some time ago I found this live video of Killswitch Engage performing “Fixation on the Darkness” live in Brooklyn in 2002. Jesse Leach is on vocals, Adam D. still has blonde hair, and the rest of the dudes lack their bushy hair / beards of today. This is right before the band’s popularity exploded; Alive or Just Breathing had just been released, and you can feel the excitement emanating from the band… the performance sounds fucking vicious and passionate.

What I’ve always liked about Killswitch is their every-dude-ness; even though they’re now one of the biggest metal bands in the world, they still seem like normal, chill dudes you’d sit down with for a beer and some fart jokes. Nowhere is that more evident than from this humble performance in a small Brooklyn club. Minus the farts.

-VN

Chris Cornell has taken quite the public beating lately, from Trent Reznor’s Twitter taunting to the generally negative response to his recent Timbaland-produced album Scream. (Check out what our own Sammy O’Hagar had to say about it.) Well, perhaps on the advice of some stodgy A&R type at the bloated major label he happens to be signed to, he’s finally decided to respond to some of the criticism via the cutting edge music periodical known as The Washington Post. Below are some noteworthy extracts:

Click to read more…

As reported here previously, on Tuesday March 24, 3/4 of the incomparable Soundgarden reunited onstage at a Seattle concert venue. Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd tore through a short but potent set that featured three classic tracks: “Hunted Down”, “Nothing to Say”, and “Spoonman”. On the microphone was none other than MR. TAD DOYLE, the Seattle legend that previously brought us TAD and HOG MOLLY, two heavy ass projects that demolished any attempt to define the so-called grunge sound. (His latest endeavor BROTHERS OF THE SONIC CLOTH continues in that awesome tradition.)

Some reporters would have hounded absent frontman Chris Cornell for comment (full disclosure: I sent him an unanswered tweet), but being me I knew the man I really needed to talk to was Tad himself. Thankfully, he was gracious enough to reply to my inquiry and we efficiently arranged a call. If I learned anything from my twenty minutes on the line with him last week, it’s that your musical heroes can sometimes turn out to be totally awesome, down-to-earth people. Tad Doyle is a rock star devoid of ego and bursting with passion and sincerity under an otherwise laid-back personality. As you’ll discover for yourself below, he totally fucking rules.

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If the stereotype about Germans being all uptight n’ shit is true, then it would explain why the teutonic metalcore masters seem to be so obsessed with proceduralism. I don’t wanna spoil the “twist” of their new video, “Black Tears,” but like their last video, “Endzeit,” it hinges on the viewer’s interest in process and, more specifically, the answer to the question “What the fuck are these people up to?”

“Black Tears” comes off of 2008′s Iconoclast. The band has a DVD coming out, Bildersturm – Iconoclast II (The Visual Resistance) at the end of May on Century.

-AR

You know how I know IWRESTLEDABEARONCE are an awesome band? Because of how polarizing they are. Everyone who leaves comments on this site – fuck, everyone I’ve ever spoken to about the group – either loves them or hates them with a passion; they do not ever, under any circumstances, inspire a shrug. And isn’t that what you want from music? Or would you rather have Diecast’s career?

So. Sometime over the weekend, that clock on the band’s official website stopped counting down, and revealed the title and release date of IWABO’s Century debut – it’s called It’s All Happening, and it’ll see the  light of on June 2. There’s also a too-brief sample of a new song, “See You in Shell,” streaming here, and AN ENTIRE NEW SONG (!), “You Ain’t Family,” streaming on the band’s MySpace page.

Click to read more…

Really.

In case that new KSE song was too soft for ya: here’s Suffocation performing a new song, “Mental Hemorrhage,” off their forthcoming album, Blood Oath. I kinda wish it had some faster parts. Other than that, no complaints on my end.

-AR

[via Blabbermouth]

Hey y’all. First of all, thanks to everyone who wished me well during my “family emergency” on Saturday. I may have inadvertenly made it sound more grave than it was. In any case, I appreciate the good thoughts.

ANYWAY, I finally watched Fuse’s broadcast of the ceremony last night. First of all, my DVR cut off the end – did this thing seriously run past 1 AM EST?!?! – so I’ve only been able to watch the performances online. Still, here are my thoughts, not collected or organized in any particular fashion:

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Where to begin? So many debaucherous moments — too many beers, not enough whiskeys, a shit-ton of BBQ, and a helluva lotta MUSIC….yes yes, it was another sleep-deprived week in Austin, Texas, and at the end of it all, it was the best one yet.

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When Arsis main man Jim Malone released a statement last month explaining the band’s recent tour cancellations, I wrote that “you don’t have to do much reading between the lines to see what happened here.” That’s because Malone’s assertion that “there is no healthy way lose 100 pounds in four months, as I did late last year,” seemed like a pretty clear way of telling his fans that he had an eating disorder (and NOT, as some fans have hypothesized, a substance abuse problem).

Well, MetalSucks Maniac/fellow writer Carlos Ramirez as now confirmed as much in an interview he conducted for Noise Creep. Here’s an excerpt:

Click to read more…

Axl’s thoughts on the ceremony will appear a little later today, as promised. In the meantime, a metal guy who was there for his other gig graciously hit us up with the exclusive red carpet report. Enjoy!

Before Metallica showed up, Iron Maiden sneakers walked the red carpet to the 24th annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Concert, at Cleveland’s Public Hall Saturday, April 4.

The Maiden Vans were worn by Anthrax guitarist and VH1 talking head Scott Ian, who was there with drummer Charlie Benante. Ian said the new album is being mixed, and added that Maiden and Priest should be in the Rock Hall.

Click to read more…

In 2008, Canadian dronemeisters Nadja released 14 singles, splits, EPs, DVDs and full-length albums. Some were live; some were reworked versions of earlier albums; some were proper studio recordings. Traditionally, the covers album is a stopgap measure. Not so for this duo of guitarist/programmer/vocalist Aidan Baker and bassist Leah Buckareff. As one of the only types of projects that they haven’t already completed, Nadja’s permafried covers album When I See the Sun Always Shines on TV represents a necessity.

Click to read more…

And I don’t mean that as a knock against Killswitch Engage; I don’t think it’s any secret that Vince and myself are both huge fans of this band. But those lo-fi, fan-captured footage of the band performing a new song recently while on the Music as a Weapon tour suggests that their new, still-untitled, Brendan O’Brien-produced album will not be a radical reinvention of their sound.

Then again, what do I know? This isn’t a high quality clip, it’s not the whole song, and I suppose it’s entirely possible the new album will be all industrial, or acoustic, or feature lotsa hip-hop inspired phat beats. But somehow I doubt it…

Killswitch Engage’s latest album drops June 23 on Roadrunner.

-AR

Thanks to MetalSucks Maniac Byron Ward for the tip!

Sorry guys. I won’t bore you with the details… let’s call it a family emergency.

My apologies to all three of you were actually looking forward to it. I’ll be recording the ceremony on my DVR so I promise we’ll have a recap Monday.

-AR

Once upon a time, I couldn’t get enough of this Thrill Jockey band’s futuristic rock sound — from their stellar early albums to a couple very interesting collaborations with The Fucking Champs to tours with MetalSucks faves The Bronx and muthafuckin TOOL, Trans Am most definitely used to be the shit.

Alas, those daze are long gone(instein); compared to the band’s excellent, unique, and continually reinventive first six releases (an impressive and prolific run for anyone), the next Trans Am album, Liberation, felt rather lukewarm and stilted — the underlying focus of said record is a political attack on our nation’s dumbest
prezzaschmuck to date, a choice which noticeably detracted from TA’s ever-evolving musically creative voice.

The band released another full-length entitled Sex Change in 2007, which was somewhat of a return to form, but clearly the heyday of this exciting robotic-rock unit has passed.

Sniffles.

TRANS AM — “Carboforce”, from Surrender to the Night (1997)
-KW

Seriously. Ever since Metal Hammer gave us that Web of Death thing, I’ve been knee-deep in pussy. Incredible. It’s amazing that I’m even able to type right now, I’m so worn out. And that’s why you start a website. For the groupies.

Which brings me to my next point: now that we’re famous, we don’t want to be friends with you anymore. Don’t take it personally, we just prefer to rub elbows with other fabulous, famous people. You were great on the way up, but now? Fuck you. M’kay?

Here’s what else went down this week:

• We spoke with Lacuna Coil’s Christina Scabbia, and managed to get through it without embarrassing ourselves too badly.
• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima wrote another awesome guest blog from the studio, begging the question: is Dr. Mikannibal’s diet hot or not?
• The Haunted’s Peter Dolving lashed out against Lamb of God; you lashed out against Peter Dolving.
• NEW CONVERGE SONGS! NEW CONVERGE SONGS! NEW CONVERGE SONGS!
• Someone actually played IWRESTLEDABEARONCE’S “Tastes like Kevin Bacon” for Kevin fucking Bacon.
• How many Andrew WKs are there, anyway?

Alright. I’ve got like ten girls clawing at me right now, beckoning me back to bed. I’ll see you Monday, if they’ll give me a rest, already.

-AR

Because I am a) actually kinda curious how this is all gonna go down and b) a glutton for punishment (seriously, I own a humbler), I have decided to live blog Metallica’s induction into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame this Sunday night, April 4. The ceremony starts and 9 pm and will broadcast on Fuse; I have no plans to live blog the entire ceremony, but if you’re at home watching and want to see if I have anything smart/snarky/entertaining/ree-tah-ded to say, check back here. I’ll be updating through the Metallicats’ portion of the evening.

And don’t forget, there’s still time to enter our contest to win Metallica’s entire discography! So you should go ahead and do that if you haven’t already. We’ve gottan some hilarious, awesome entries so far but we want more. DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!

-AR

I really liked Born of Osiris the first time I saw them live, playing some dive with At All Cost (R.I.P.); I really liked Born of Osiris when I heard their Sumerian debut, The New Reign; and nearly two years after that album’s release, I only like it more than I did when I first heard it.

So. BOO has announced their new album, A Higher Place, which Sumerian will release sometime in June to coincide with the kick-off of the MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour (Did we mention we’re co-sponsoring that tour now? Well, we are. We’re pretty stoked about it, too. More on that Monday!).

There’s not much other news to report, other than, y’know, hoo-ray for a new BOO album! Here’s the band’s video for “Open Arms to Damnation,” from The New Reign. More updates as we get ‘em.

-AR