Sounds pretty good despite the shitty audio quality, no? It’ll be interesting to see how the loss of Kris Norris and the addition of Mike “Lonestar” Carrigan affects the Darkest Hour sound. So far I’m liking what I’m hearing. LOVE the Lonestar solo around the 3:00 mark!
-VN
[Thanks: Zackage]
Congrats to the winners of our most recent funny photo caption contest. For the first time ever, one of our winners’ entries was actually a response to another, less funny entry (yay threaded comments!). The winners, captions, and prizes they will receive are as follows:
jimmy: “A nu-metal guitar hero would never have that many buttons.” in response to wags: “Guitar Hero: Nu-Metal! Now with your favorite hits from Stuck Mojo, Nonpoint, Saliva and MORE!!! *goatee and clown shoes sold separately*.” (wins: Longbox CD edition of Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s latest Agorapocalypse + CD of Brutal Truth’s latest Evolution Through Revolution and posters of both bands!)
jorbams: “BrokenCYDE adds live guitarist.” (wins: Regular CD editions of both of the above.)
Dane: “So metal, it’s plastic.” (wins: Regular CD editions of both of the above.)
This week we’re giving away a ginormous package of goodies from Spinefarm Records and Children of Bodom. Seriously, this is so much shit that when you get the box you’re not gonna know what to do with everything. Check it out:
Apocalyptica – S/T CD
Apocalyptica – Amplified: A Decade of Reinventing the Cello
Apocalyptica – Live (dvd)
April – Anthems for the Rejected CD
Brother Firetribe – Heart Full of Fire CD
Ensiferum: S/T CD
Ensiferum: Dragonheads CD
Ensiferum: Iron CD
Kalmah – For the Revolution CD
Kiuas – The New Dark Age CD
Moonsorrow – Tulimyrsky EP CD
Rotten Sound – Cycles CD
Children of Bodom:
Are you Dead Yet?
Blooddrunk
Chaos Ridden Years (DVD)
Chaos Ridden Years (CD)
Follow the Reaper
Hatebreeder
Something Wild
Tokyo Warhearts
Spinefarm Hoodie
Spinefarm Logo T-Shirt
Holy crap! Just come up with a funny caption to the below photo and it’s all yours.
I should’ve known that my interview with The Haunted’s Peter Dolving would come off as more of an armchair philosophy session than a by-the-numbers band interview. But that’s where I was hoping the interview would go, and that’s where it went. Dolving is your atypical metal frontman, as anyone who reads his blogs on the regular should be able to infer. Dolving was thoughtful, measured and articulate in his thought, pausing frequently to make sure the words he uttered carried the meaning he intended, and was anything but the macho metal man you might expect if your only exposure was seeing him perform on stage with The Haunted.
Dolving sure had a lot to say. He spoke about why touring musicians are inherently dysfunctional, what he did while the brothers Bjorler toured with the reunited At the Gates (“Cried a lot… I really did spend a lot of time last summer in a little crawled up package whimpering with a lot of snot involved.”), what it was like for him to go through therapy, what he hopes to accomplish via his controversial writing, the interactive nature of the Internet and how that affects communication, the haters on Blabbermouth (“… there is so much ignorance involved in the internet community.”), and the difference between having knowledge and being smart. Like I said, a philosophy session.
I’d eaten a “special” cookie a couple of hours before the interview that took a while to kick in, and I was kind of worried I wouldn’t be able to hold it together… but I think I pulled it off. This was the interview I was most looking forward to at the festival, and I’m quite happy with the results. Read our whole chat, after the jump.
It’s a big day for free shit: Revolver is currently giving away an mp3 of a new Suicide Silence song, “Lifted.” The track was already streaming on the band’s MySpace page, but, hey, now you can own a copy. For free. Neat-o.
-AR
Sumerian Records are the “it” label of 2009; those dudes are seriously killing it over there. Seeing the headline “<insert band name here> sign to Sumerian Records” in my RSS reader is always worthy of a click, because at this point you’re sure to get a quality listen. And their model for success is as forward thinking as the music of the bands they sign: capitalize on a burgeoning progressive death metal scene (Sumeriancore. Can we please get everyone to start using this term?) by tying bands into a business model based around a booking agency and package tours rather than selling records. Touring = Win, Selling Records = Fail. Brilliant! How come no one thought of this before? We’re scratching our heads. We’re not the only ones taking notice, either: read what Psyopus’ Chris Arp had to say about Sumerian Records when I interviewed him last month.
Anyway, meet Enfold Darkness, the latest additions to the A-Grade (except one band) Sumerian roster. Enfold Darkness take the trademark Sumeriancore proggy/techy/deathy sound and add their own blacky touch. It’s good. They got the chops. They got the songs. What else do you need? Check ‘em out on MySpace.
Enfold Darkness will release their Sumerian debut Our Cursed Rapture sometime this year. Stay tuned.
-VN
When news of Ex Deo, the new band featuring Kataklysm’s Maurizio Iacono, first began to bubble this winter, I yawned. I’ve always thought of Kataklysm as a solid, serviceable but not especially interesting group, so the prospect of a side-project of a band I’m not especially into in the first place wasn’t all that appealing. But now that new tracks from the Ex Deo debut Romulus are starting to surface I’m being forced to reconsider.
This shit is epic!
So. Blabbermouth tells me that a) they are adapting the entertaining book Lords of Chaos, about the history of black metal, into a movie, and b) some kid I’ve never heard of, Jackson Rathbone, is going to play Varg Vikernes. And people are apparently really, really upset about this bit of casting, either because Rathbone is a “teen hearthrob” who was in Twilight (or How Stupid Mormon Vampire Books for Little Kids Taught me to Save Myself for Marriage), or because he’s prettier than most girls you see at a metal show and they don’t know how to deal with that tingly feeling in their penis.
Those groovy folks at Roadrunner are giving away the title track from the new DevilDriver album, Pray for Villains, right here.
And I dig it. It sounds like DevilDriver, but a little faster than most DevilDriver, and a little more melodic (and no, that’s not code for “clean vocals” – Dez still sounds like he’s trying to hock a massive blood-tinged loogie). I also really like that herky jerky start-stop thing that happens in the last minute or so of the track.
So go download it and then come back here and let us know what you think. And don’t forget that DevilDriver are headlining this summer’s Thrash and Burn tour, which we’re co-sponsoring! You can get complete tour dates here.
-AR
Meet If These Trees Could Talk, an instrumental band from Akron, Ohio. If These Trees Could Talk border on metal the same way bands like Dredg, Muse, Maserati and Russian Circles do — for the most part they stick to delicate but rocking atmospheric grooves, but occasionally they kick it into high gear for cathartic headbang crescendos. If you’re a fan of well-crafted, intricate, moody music like the above-mentioned bands — in addition to other heady, cerebral rock acts like Tool, Mogwai, and Isis — my guess is you’ll dig this band. This is thinking man’s rock for listeners who revel in musical subtlety; no blast beats or cookie monster vocals to be seen here. For those questioning why this is on a metal site, go fuck yourself. Or just wait ’til the heavy part towards the end of the song kicks in.
ITTCT have been kind enough to offer us up a free track called “What’s in the Ground Belongs To You” from their album Above the Sky, Below the Earth. Stream or download it below. They’ll be releasing a new vinyl through Mylene Sheath sometime this Fall. Enjoy.
If These Trees Could Talk – “What’s in the Ground Belongs To You”
-VN
[Visit ITTCT on MySpace]
MetalSucks is proud to announce that we’ve stolen Daath’s Eyal Levi away from our friends at Headbanger’s Blog. We did this because we love Eyal, and also to spite Viacom. Eyal will check in with his column, “Jumping Darkness Parade,” when he can. We hope you enjoy!
Be safe. Travel safe. Drive safe. On and on and on. Everyone says that to me when I’m on tour. Family, friends, people at the clubs, people in other bands, etc. I’m always hearing about how safe I should be. In all reality, if I cared about my safety I wouldn’t tour. Not a chance.
I don’t have a lot to say about Warbringer’s new, David Brodsky-directed video, “Severed Reality,” other than it seems like a throwback to those old thrash videos where the band is playing live and the crowd is just murdering one another (Exodus’ “Toxic Waltz,” etc.). That’s not a shock, given that pretty much everything about Warbringer is a throwback… but that doesn’t make the video any less cool.
Warbringer’s new album, Waking into Nightmare, was released yesterday on Century and was produced by – speak of the devil! – Exodus’ Gary Holt.
-AR
Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Romeo Rose.
Yup, looks like… smells like… tastes like… yes folks, it’s a douchebag! In addition to being a “living Legend, a National Treasure, a [sic] Icon” of course. Congratulations, Romeo Rose. You make the rest of us proud of our meager existences. Thanks to MS Maniac RobotScythe for sending this in.
-VN
I’ve never particularly liked Goatwhore that much because…. well, I’m not really sure why. But let this be a lesson in why pre-conceived notions of a band should be left at the door, because the new Goatwhore track “Apocalyptic Havoc,” — now streaming on Metal Blade’s MySpace page — kicks all kind of ass. ALL kinds; badonkadonk, hairy, flat, skinny, you name it, the new Goatwhore track gets all up in there and rips it apart with the fury of diarrhea induced by a trip to a third world country. The riff that comprises the main section of the song is a fucking thrashy, southern, stoned-out steamroller of meaty guitar goodness. If the rest of the new album Carving Out The Eyes Of God (June 23) is like this track, consider me completely sold on Goatwhore. I’ll be sorry I ever uttered a negative word about these dudes.
-VN
So here’s the story: last week IWRESTLEDABEARONCE were in NYC doing press for their debut full-length, It’s All Happening. And as you know if you read this site on a regular basis, we love IWABO. So were totally bummed that, due to scheduling issues, we weren’t able to meet up with them for an interview.
Luckily, one of the band’s publicists, our good friend Leo Lavoro, volunteered to film and edit the band answering some questions we sent over for them. Leo did a killer job and we definitely owe him a beer or ten!
So here it is, our first video interview, with our favorite young experimental electrogrindeathpopwhateverthefuckcorers, IWRESTLEDABEARONCE. It’s All Happening will be out June 2 on Century Media!!!
Metal Injection reports that Mayhem have arrived in the U.S. without incident, which means that BLACKENEDFEST, the grimmest tour of the Spring, is set to kick off tomorrow night in NYC as planned! Says Mayhem frontman Attila Csihar:
“We had no problems whatsoever with immigration, and now we are very excited to de-consecrate the USA again after a decade of decay since our last tour here! Prepare to prove the falseness of all religions and inventing the order of pure fucking chaos! There is NO god but MAYHEM!!”
The spikey-armband-studded lineup also features Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered. We suggest you view this handy Corpsepaint 101 primer before attending.
Full list of tour dates and links to buy tickets after the jump.
I give the band credit for having the sense of humor to address Lambgoat haters head-on, but their answers are mostly kind of lame. You know what I’d like to see? The members of Oceano in a live chat room with the Lambgoat Van-Flip Brigade and the MetalSucks Haterade Mafia. THAT shit would be entertaining! Hey Earache, get on it!
Watch the lads of Oceano fire back at Lambgoat readers comment by comment in the Metal Injection-filmed video below.
-VN
Alright, in case ya didn’t know: prior to the borderline-unlistenable Angel Down, all of Sebastian Bach’s solo albums had titles based on terrible puns using his name – e.g. Bring ‘Em Bach Alive, Bach to Basics, etc. I don’t even have to tell you what a retarded conceit that was, but given that a) Sebastian Bach actually is retarded and b) Sebastian Bach’s remaining fan base is also retarded (hello, Karen James), this wasn’t surprising.
But we’ve been following Baz on Twitter these past weeks, and as it turns out, he actually feels the need to replace the word “back” with his name whenever possible. To wit, these tweets which I culled only from the last seven days:
Holy shit, has everyone already seen Mastodon’s performance from The Late Show with David Letterman last week? I mean, I love Mastodon – LOVE THEM – but fuck me, the vocals on this just sound horrible. I couldn’t even make it through the whole thing, it sounds so shitty. I knew that Mastodon’s vocals live never sound as good as they do on record, but this is just fucking PAINFUL.
-AR
Horns up for Kaitlyn Kerrane and Tristan Williams, both of whom correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Gastrorrexis. They each win a copy of Nightwish’s Made in Hong Kong (And in Various Other Places). Enjoy it, friends!
Also, fuck Colin F. He guessed that the band was Slipknot. I’m like 98.5% sure he was just kidding, but, still, it wasn’t funny and fuck him in the ear.
ANYWAY, this week’s logo was suggested to us (once again) by Attila Korsós. It’s a fucking doozy, but the prize is totally worth it: a special Roadrunner Records Top Shelf 2 Disc Edition of Type O Negative’s classic 1993 album, Bloody Kisses. In addition to the album itself – which fucking kicks so much fucking ass and Vince and I blasted I think about a gajillion times back when it came out – this version comes with a second disc of bonus tracks, PLUS an awesome booklet that includes a really, really, really detailed interview about the album, conducted by Decibel’s always awesome J. Bennett. Here’s an excerpt:
Who’s the girl moaning on “Machine Screw?”
KEYBOARDIST JOSH SILVER: That was an ex-girlfriend. But I didn’t actually screw her; she screwed me. And I mean that in every sense of the word… Type O has obviously spent a lot of time, regardless of what album it is, mourning relationships. Obviously Peter has had some troubled ones. “Nothing but love songs” – that’s been our slogan forever. They’re all love songs.
In conclusion: if you already know and love this album, this version will give you way more insight into its creation; and if you don’t know and love it, here’s your chance to own something awesome. I have three (3) copies to give away this week and then I’ll have some more for ya next week.
All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail with your answer, your name and address at axl AT metalsucks DOT net. We’ll randomly select three winners from everyone who gets it right, and announce his or her names next week.
Good luck, and remember: the answer still isn’t Slipknot.
-AR
Shortly after their new-asshole-rippingly good set at the 2nd stage of day two at the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last month, I caught up with Unholy, the latest in the continuing stream of unbelievable bands to release records that have “Prosthetic Records” stamped onto them. Seeing them perform live just an hour or two prior was actually my introduction to the band aside from a brief pre-show MySpace listen, but it proved to be all the introduction I needed. Guitarist/band-mastermind Jonathan Dennison (right) and vocalist Billy Price (center) spoke about how their deal with Prosthetic came about, what it’s like to be a new band that doesn’t necessarily fit into a specific trendy “scene,” their musical influences, life on the road, and the misery of unavoidable day jobs. Our quick chat, after I say “jump.”
Jump.
