The release of Chimaira’s new skull crushing, testicle tearing album, The Infection, is now less than a week away, and will be streaming in its entirety on the band’s MySpace page as of tomorrow! To celebrate, we’re teaming up with the band and Ferret Music to give you the opportunity to win a limited deluxe fan edition of the album, signed by all six members of the band!

Here’s what’s in this ridiculously cool box set:

Metal Briefcase packaging (pictured above)
Chimaira Infection Logo Flag (pictured above)
CD/DVD Edition of the album (Features the bonus track “Revenge” and a “Making of” DVD)
“Syringe” USB in metal box featuring the bonus tracks “Convictions” and “Warpath”, The Infection demos, Wallpapers, Buddy Icons and more (pictured above)
Guitar Pick Pack featuring signature picks of all guitarists (pictured above)
Booklet featuring never before seen photos of the band in studio (NOT pictured above)
Laminate (NOT pictured above)

How friggin’ cool is that?

All you have to do to win is answer the following Chimaira trivia question:

CHIMAIRA BASSIST JIM LAMARCA’S FAMILY OWNS A PIZZA SHOP IN CLEVELAND. WHAT IS THE NAME OF THAT SHOP?

E-mail your answer as well as your name and mailing address to axl AT metalsucks DOT net by midnight EST on April 21, and be sure to put CHIMAIRA CONTEST in the subject line. We’ll randomly select one (1) winner from everyone who correctly answers the question, and that lucky son of a bitch will win the box set. Please note that this contest is open to U.S. residents only, as shipping costs are a bitch.

And don’t be too sad if you don’t win – you can always order one directly from Ferret!

After the jump, be sure to check out some awesome photos of the box set being assembled! And good luck everyone!

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Chalk it up once again to great European metal labels just not having enough juice to work their bands Stateside — but holy fuck, how have all of us been missing out on the orgasmicity that is Centaurus-A?? The band doesn’t have an American record label yet, but on the other side of the pond they’re on Listenable, which is really no surprise considering the same label puts out Gojira and Textures. Centaurus-A may be as good as either of those bands even if they sound like neither. The lazy journalist in me is just going to say they’re “progressive death metal,” though that simple classification doesn’t capture the nuance of their sound; there’s plenty of brutality, off-kilter time signatures, groove, wicked chops and occasional shred. If you enjoy Obscura, Arsis, Psycroptic, Gojira, Meshuggah and the like, you’ll eat this shit up; it’s fucking intense and you need to hear it for yourself. Check out the video below, then listen to more tunage on their MySpace page.

-VN

If you find yourself no longer able to whack off to Suicide Girls because they’re just not retarded looking enough for you, then I strongly encourage you to check out Rate My Corpse Paint, which is, in the words of brilliant Deciblogger Jeanne Fury, “the ‘Hot or Not’ for the kvlt crowd.”

Above are photos of Nekromaniak and Grindhouse Bub, who are currently the top rated chick and the third-top rated guy (The first two don’t even have any corpse paint on. Poseurs.). There’s plenty of NSFW pics of girls with truly horrendous bodies slutting it up (And I mean truly horrendous. Like, I looked at them and I might be gay now). But however you cut it, there’s no way this won’t provide you with hours upon hours of entertainment.

-AR

…or at least, he still talks to Kim Thayil, as evidenced in one of the former Soundgarden frontman’s tweets:

Kim just told me that it was pre 1990 that we played Ann Arbor at a place called the Blind Pig. Time flys!

So yeah. Let the reunion rumors run amok!

-GS

Oh boy oh boy. 4/20 is just days away. And for once, I plan to put aside my Jewish guilt and forget that it’s Hitler’s birthday and the anniversary of Columbine, and concentrate on the fact that it is, of course, a day to toke the ganj. As though we needed an excuse.

Suicide Silence are also excited about 4/20: according to the below teaser for their new album, No Time to Bleed, they’ll release a new song, the appropriately titled “Lifted,” on 4/20. So I guess we know what the Monday Song to Get Stoned To will be!

No Time to Bleed comes out June 30 on Century.

-AR

All you really need to know about Dallas-based “metal” band Free Reign can probably be gleaned from their facial hair, choice of t-shirts and menacing faux-scowls. But in case you’re a masochist for self-punishment and would like to hear what happens when three linemen from the Dallas Cowboys get together to start a band, you can listen to their music here.

-VN

[Thanks to MS Maniac David W. for the tip.]

The big frickin’ deal week before last was Metallica’s induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland. Last week, the focus of the Metal community’s honor is Metallica’s Lucifer, Dave Mustaine, at The Epiphone Honda Fury Revolver Magazine Golden Gods Awards. Anti-Metallica sentiment was aired freely and to shouts of encore! The name of Mustaine’s band was chanted pretty much all night (poor Atreyu guy). The event went down at Club Nokia in downtown L.A. on Tuesday night hosted by Rodrigo from Mr. Show (Brian Posehn). Honestly? It was pretty awkward and not very Metal. A ton of Metal people were there, mostly ticket buyers. The vibe started a bit chilly outside the venue, then spiked at Killswitch Engage and Maynard James Keenan (not together) before a nosedive from which even Megadeth could not recover. I had a GREAT TIME! Photos by Adam Haussman.

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We love Nachtmystium ’round these parts, so when a press release arrived via pneumatic tube at the MS Mansion today announcing that Nachtmystium have a new EP coming out on May 5th we were surprised, though most certainly elated. Seems quite soon, having released the colossally awesome Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1 not even a year ago. Naturally one would be inclined to think that the four songs comprising the Doomsday Derelicts EP are b-sides… but apparently the band is just that prolific, having recorded these tracks a good 6 months after the Assassins sessions. Whatever they are, we’re happy to take ‘em.

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New Jersey progressive death metallers The Binary Code have released a new song, “Suspension of Disbelief,” and I could not be more in awe (as if I wasn’t already). The new song, which comes from the band’s debut full-length to be released later this year, is the band’s most progressive, intricate, brutal and genre-challenging work to date. If the following bands mean anything to you, you owe it yourself to check out the new song: Gojira, Between the Buried and Me, Textures, Decapitated.

Once you’re through having your mind blown by the new song, you’ll need to see this band live; the young gents who comprise The Binary Code are some of the most next-level players I’ve seen anywhere, and will absolutely rip your fucking face off as your jaw drops to the floor in disbelief. The band has some upcoming dates around the Northeast with Tiger Flowers, culminating in a May 15th show at Brooklyn’s Trash Bar with recent Roadrunner-signees Mutiny Within and MetalSucks-faves Hung. Full dates are on their MySpace page. Get ready!

-VN

Now that we had made it through an acclimating day one with a big finish and an extremely metallic day two, it was truly time to ROCK. So many different kinds of music and events are represented during the always-craysee SXSW week in Austin, and on this third day we really began to take no prisoners.

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Looks pretty cool to me. Of course, they always have cool album art/merch, because, well, Mike D’Antonio is the man.

The album still doesn’t have a title SEE BELOW but it’ll be out June 30 on Roadrunner.

UPDATE: So according to a press release we just received, the title of the new Killswitch Engage album is… Killswitch Engage. This is technically the band’s second self-titled release after their 2000 offering released by Ferret. Hm.

-AR

This, MetalSucks Maniacs and Maniacettes, is the very definition of metal. I was SO this kid when I was 10, except it was Van Halen instead of AC/DC, and minus 100 pounds, give or take.

-VN

It’s only April and it’s already turning out to be an amazing year for grind – Napalm Death’s Time Waits for No Slave is the tits (read my review here), Brutal Truth’s Evolution Through Revolution kills (Satan Rosenbloom’s review coming soon), and we still have new music from Graf Orlock, Magrudergrind, and, knock on wood, Pig Destroyer to look forward to.

And, of course, there’s a new Agoraphobic Nosebleed album, Agorapocalypse, out on Relapse today. We’ll get to a review sooner or later, but for now you can judge for yourself – the entire album is streaming right here. Aside from the usual Scott Hull awesomeness, the band now counts Salome’s Kat as one of its three (!) vocalists.

Seriously, I love this fucking record. It’s just so snotty and brutal and… I can’t say enough good things about it. Please please please go check it out, and if you dig it, remember you can buy an actual copy as of right now.

-AR

Too cool for Hammerfall at the MS Mansion? HELL’S NO!

Hammerfall are so epic that when they fart, they fart Judas Priest riffs. Hammerfall are so epic that they counted to infinity – twice. When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Hammerfall. There is no theory of evolution; just a list of creatures Hammerfall have allowed to live.

I started my morning off by cranking some Hammerfall, and I suggest you do the same. Don’t front.

-VN

[Hammerfall's new record No Sacrifice, No Victory is out now on Nuclear Blast.]

Alright. First thing’s first: we have heard The Infection. It slays. Fucking SLAYS, dude. I’ll post a full review real soon, but for now, just know that listening to this record might kill your grandma.

As with Chimaira’s last album, Resurrection, there will be a special edition of The Infection that comes with a making of DVD directed by Todd Bell (who also directed the band’s excellent documentary The Dehumanizing Process). Here’s  a quick tease:

Now, obviously, that’s just a taste, but I already dig that guitarist Rob Arnold is being so straight-forward: yes, he thinks this is their best album yet, but, yes, he admits he always feels that way – so this isn’t your typical “THIS IS OUR MOST BR00TAL ALBUM EVER!” hype.

The Infection comes out one week from today on Ferret in North America and Nuclear Blast everywhere else.

-AR

Congrats to “tyler09,” the winner of last week’s photo caption contest. Tyler will receive a vinyl copy of Pack of Wolves’ Betrayer for coming up with this gem of a caption to the photo at right, which was actually the very first comment posted:

“Lil Jon…meet Lil Jonathan Davis”

This week we’re giving away some very special prizes: five signed copies of Progeny, the excellent debut album from Hung, one of New York City’s absolute best unsigned bands. Alls ya gotta do is come up with a funny caption for the below photo which is actually a picture of two of the members of Hung — but don’t worry, they can take your cheapshots, so let ‘em fly!

Nekrogoblikon are literally the only good thing iTunes has ever recommended to me. If you don’t know them, well, they’re this totally bitchin’ band that is crazy obsessed with goblins. Some of you will say that’s a gimmick. Those people clearly have no sense of what’s important in life. And I’ll tell you what’s important in life: goblins. And making records about goblins. Specifically islands of goblins. And armies of goblins. And Christmas armageddon with goblins.

We’d heard just about a year ago that this goblin-tastic outfit was working on a new offering, and then, nuthin’. It was as though the band had been gobbled up. Gobbled up by goblins.

But, hey, what’s this? The band DOES have a new album coming out! Thus spake Blabbermouth:

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I was very, very excited to learn that Skunk Anansie have reunited. But judging from the comments left below my post, the vast majority of you were not. Some of my favorite observations included “you’re a faggot,” “Axl=stroke,” and, my personal favorite, “you would love a band just because they have a black singer.” Which is totally true. It’s why I like Oceano so much.

ANYWAY, lucky for all of you, it’s our website and we can post whatever we want! And – BONUS! – you don’t have to read every post. You can pick and choose. It’s à la Carte here at MetalSucks.

So. Skunk played some small club shows in London last week, and Blabbermouth posted the below footage of a new song, apparently entitled “You Know.” The quality of the bootleg is pretty weak, but the idea of Skunk Anansie making new music gives me reason to grin.

See? It’s good. It’s good because they have a black singer. Stroke.

-Faggot

In honor of As I Lay Dying’s upcoming DVD release This is Who We Are (out tomorrow, 4/14/09!), Metal Blade Records has given MetalSucks an exclusive clip to offer fans a sneak peak. This Is Who We Are includes both a telling, behind-the-scenes documentary of the band’s life (produced by Denise Korycki of Killswitch Engage and God Forbid documentary-making fame) and a full set of the band performing live. There’s also a third disc included that features music videos and other bonus content. The special pre-order is all sold out, but starting tomorrow you’ll be able to order the DVD set at the Metal Blade Records online store. Enjoy the preview below.

[This exclusive has now ended.]

I am, without a doubt, the world’s shittiest guitar player. I can probably play you the worst renditions you’ve ever heard of Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” and Chimaira’s “Pure Hatred,” and if I concentrate really, really hard, I think I can pretty much butcher Slash’s guitar solo from “November Rain.” And that’s about it.

I blame lack of motivation to practice, my love of writing which always outweighed my like of guitar of playing, and the fact that my guitar teacher was a total square. If my guitar had been, say, a member of a totally awesome metal band like Dååth, I might have been much, much more inclined to learn my shit.

And, hey, look at that! Dååth’s Emil Werstler is now indeed offering guitar lessons:

“I have been teaching in the Southeast for years, and I actually enjoy the exchange of information. There are a lot of misconceptions about the art of guitar playing, and I’m totally into the idea of exposing the facts while nerding out nation wide.

“I will be offering anything from how to play Dååth songs to soloing strategies or anything else a serious guitar player would want to know.”

Click to read more…