Iron Maiden are at the point in their career where they can get away with just about anything (see: wearing their own shirts on stage). And while some “best ___ ever” claims are unquantifiable, some hold weight without a shadow of a doubt. Exhibit A: the new Iron Maiden video game is quite possibly the best thing ever. Not only is it timely by way of referencing the band’s recent Bruce Dickinson-piloted jet jaunt around the world, it’s fun as hell and easy to play. And like all classic, simple games, it gets fucking hard in a hurry…. which only makes you want to play again.

That sound you hear is the collective productivity of the entire metal-loving Internet population going right down the drain.

-VN

[Iron Maiden Flight 666 The Game, via MS Maniac "bear wizard"]

I really, really thought that Arsonists Get All the Girls might break-up. They’ve been through so many line-up changes and hardships since the release of  2007′s The Game of Life that you hardly could’ve blamed them if they’d called it quits.

But AGATG ain’t quitters. The game of life is hard, but they know about it, they know about it, the game, the game of life. And so they’re releasing a new album, Portals, on July 14.

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Saying your metal band’s got “The Bloodiest Music Video Ever” is kind of like saying your metal band’s new album is the most br00tal, pummeling, and best work to date; it’s certainly possible but we hear that shit all the time, and mostly it ends up being a load of crap. So if your label sends out a press release declaring you’ve got the absolute bloodiest video of all time and you even go so far as to register bloodiestmusicvideoever.com to debut the video, you better be able to back that shit up!

Fortunately for Victory Records’ Wretched (recent recipients of a MetalSucks 2.5-out-of-5 horns rating for their album The Exodus of Autonomy) their new video for the track “A Preservation of Immortality” is indeed really fuckin’ bloody — as well as twisted, morbid, dark and all that jazz. Whether it’s actually the bloodiest video ever made we can’t say, but we’d certainly think this video gives it a run for its money (plus: boobs!).

So, is Wretched’s new video the bloodiest ever? Head on over to bloodiestmusicvideoever.com to watch it, then tell us what you think in the comments. And be sure to include links to your own nominees for bloodiest music video ever.

-VN

When Sigh mainman Mirai Kawashima offered to do a series of blogs from the studio where the band is recording their new album, Scenes from Hell, it was an opportunity too cool for us to pass up. Below find Mirai’s third entry; you can find his first one here, his second one here, his third one here, and his fourth one here. Enjoy!

OK, this time we’ll give you the real studio report. So there’ll be no Dr. Mikannibal’s nude. I’m very sorry about that.

We’ve been in the studio for a while. Well, it’s a good studio. The engineer is great, so is the equipment. But the problem is the smell. The studio is in the basement and it smells very bad, it’s got a typical “basement” smell, you know, something truly musty and stale. And what’s worse is that the smell haunts you even after you leave the studio. I’ve already washed my hair twice, but I can still detect it…

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You know what I love about Shadows Fall? They’re just pure fucking shredders. It’s unfortunate that they got caught up in the whole “metalcore” tag, or for that matter any scene-y genre label at all, because if not for this fact they’d be in a completely different position today. Think about it: when Of One Blood came out in 2000 (and to an even greater extent, Art of Balance in 2002), no one in America was pedaling the kind of ’80s-influenced shred Shadows Fall were offering up on the regs. If the whole Massachusetts scene hadn’t blown up the way it did Shadows Fall would’ve surfaced as an oddity in the American metal scene, shredders amongst hordes of non-shredding masses. A true metal band in a sea of… not true metal bands.

All this occurred to me for two reasons:

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Between the Somalis and Jerry Bruckheimer, it’s just not cool to be a pirate anymore. Luckily Swashbuckle are here to restore the good name of pirates everywhere.

Here’s the band’s video for “Cruise Ship Terror,” off their Nuclear Blast debut, Back to the Noose, which drops July 24. It was directed by the ultimate pirate documentarian, Cap’n David Brodsky.

-AR

Out of the original crew that made “Appetite for Destruction”, Duff McKagan has emerged seemingly the least scathed. True, he had a nasty drug habit (which resulted in a near fatal pancreatic debacle), but unlike the rest of them, that drug habit didn’t balloon into questionable artistic endeavor after questionable artistic endeavor (see: Saul “Slash” Hudson), peeing on an airplane before sobering up and tumbling into obscurity (see: Izzy Stradlin), or a series of debilitating strokes (see: Steven Adler). And he also didn’t lay low for 17 years making an entertaining clusterfuck of an album that would become perhaps the railroad spike-sized nail in the coffin of the music industry (see: W. Axl Rose). No, Duff left the band, got a degree in finance, and went with the flow. And even if that flow lead him into dubious places (see: Velvet fucking Revolver), the man came out on the other side looking the least like a tool. Of course, being the Teflon member of the original/classic G ‘n’ R doesn’t necessarily make for a solid solo album, and Duff McKagan’s Loaded provides just what you’d expect from an ’80s sideman: half-assed songs played somewhat well, but with nothing to stop you from tapping your watch and wonder when said sideman is going to return to his day job. There’s nothing too embarrassing/offensive on Sick, but there’s nothing to justify its existence as anything more than a grizzly bone thrown to Duff obsessives.

Sick has two issues that ultimately sink the album as a whole: it’s too unfocused and has entirely too much filler. There are a few decent songs on the album– “IOU”, the surprisingly epic closer “No More” and the ballad “Mothers Day” stand out in particular– but there are even more decent parts of songs buried in boring-to-nauseating filler. If Duff either distilled the promising-but-doomed songs down to their interesting bones or just made the album 4 or 5 songs shorter, Sick would be an interesting post-G ‘n’ R jaunt. But, alas, Duff’s weaknesses as a songwriter essentially mar the album irrevocably, and it’s strengths are obscured by its many weaknesses. What promises to be a down and dirty punk/rock and roll record with likeable hooks devolves into a meeting at the corner of Fall Out Boy and Buckcherry.

Though, it is unfair to cast this record as a miserable experience. Duff’s nasally vocals do grate after a while, but they occasionally provide the sort of snotty attitude the music needs. And his ear for evocative basslines remains as impeccable as it was 20+ years ago, no matter how mediocre the music around it is. I suppose with the man’s ability to pull himself together along with his talents on his instrument of choice made me want to like Sick a lot more than I actually did. But alas, those looking for something unique and exciting from Duff McKagan’s Loaded are bound to be disappointed. One can only hope that whatever becomes of Velvet Revolver could maybe turn out something worthwhile, or– God for-fucking-bid– he, Saul, that Izzy guy, and Mr. Rose can get the old band back together. In the meantime, there’s Sick. You could do worse, I suppose. But you (and Duff) could do much better.

(2 out of 5 horns)

Noisecreep have unveiled their list of the Top 10 Death Metal Debut Albums (although the list is in no particular order), courtesy Friend of MetalSucks, Carlos Ramirez.

And for once, I don’t actually have any complaints. The list is pretty good.

That being said, I’m sure you folks will find something to bitch about, so… have at it!!!

-AR

If you’ve never seen IWRESTLEDABEARONCE live, you’re missing out. We’ve seen these guys and girl a few times now, including when they absolutely demolished The Bowery Poetry Club (of all places) at CMJ last year, and they are all that and a bag of chips (the kids still use that expression, right?).

Luckily for you, HardTimes.ca has an entire set from the band online right now, which you can check out below. Unfortunately the quality of the footage is sub-Metal Injection, but, still, it’s good to be able to watch the show from the same chair in which you usually masturbate.

In case I haven’t mentioned it before, IWABO’s Century debut, It’s All Happening, drops June 2 on Century, and the band is currently on a MetalSucks-sponsored trek with The Human Abstract and a bunch of other awesome bands. Get tour dates here.

-AR

Thanks to all the hep cats who e-mailed this to us!

At this point in the annals of MetalSucks history, an official interview with God Forbid is weird. Interviewing Doc Coyle “on the record” is kind of like interviewing your mom about her performance as your mother; like, are you truly getting the full skinny? But God Forbid are like family to us, and Doc was his usual self; honest, level-headed and frank. At New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last month, Doc told us what led to Dallas’ split from the band, how things with his replacement Kris Norris (of Darkest Hour) are going, the band’s current and future touring plans, critical response to Earthsblood, and breaking into the European market. Our chat, after the jump.

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Without fail, my favorite part of Decibel every month is their Hall of Fame series, in which they get some insanely truthful and in-depth interviews with bands about the making of classic albums (the rule is all the band members still have to be alive and able to discuss the record, so, alas, no albums by Death, Pantera, etc. will ever make the list). Awhile back it was hinted in the pages of Decibel that the best of these columns would be expanded and collected into one volume, and now said volume – Precious Metal – will be released on July 15 on Da Capo Press. It was edited by Decibel’s own master blaster, Albert Mudrian, who, in case ya didn’t know, also wrote the totally awesome Choosing Death, which I think everyone pretty much agrees is the definitive tome on the history of death n’ grind.

Precious Metal is already available for pre-order on Amazon and minus the cost of shipping, it’ll run you a measly thirteen bucks. And it will be worth every penny, I have no doubt…

-AR

Have you ever popped in a CD that you knew nothing about beforehand, had no expectations of whatsoever, and were so completely blown away by what lay within the “grooves” that you were forced to reconsider everything you thought about the state of heavy metal?

Nah, me neither.

That is…until I heard Mantic Ritual’s Executioner.

The Pittsburgh, PA thrash band, formerly known as Meltdown, have recently earned raves from the Godfather of Thrash, one Mr. James Hetfield*. That may be damning with faint praise these days, but the Metallica frontman is absolutely, 100% correct in his assessment that Executioner is the “Best Debut Thrash Album” of 2009.

I’ll go much further and stake my claim that Mantic Ritual’s Executioner is the best debut album by a band of any musical genre since the aforementioned Metallica’s Kill ‘Em All was released way back in 1983.

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Bravewords.com tells me that Germans balls-to-the-wallers Accept are going to reunite and tour with Mark Tornillo of TT Quick on vocals. No offense to Mr. Tornillo, I mean, I’m sure he’s a nice dude and a pretty good singer and all of that. But how can some schmuck from New Jersey replace fucking UDO??? Blasphemy! Just take one look at Udo in the video below and tell me how anyone other than that dude can fill the shoes of that dude. Not possible. I claim conspiracy and electioneering. Call your local senator and demand a recount immediately!

-VN

New music that might tickle your pickle…

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When I read that Repulsion, Pig Destroyer and Brutal Truth are all playing a show together at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on July 31, my head literally exploded. I don’t mean “literally” the way some people misuse that word; I mean I am actually typing this right now sans melon. Pretty crazy, I know.

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Back in March we reported that French tech-metallers Gorod had released a new song from their forthcoming Listenable Records album Process Of A New Decline, and that said song was ridiculously awesome. Gorod have just posted another new song on their MySpace page entitled “Programmers Of Decline,” an equally orgasm-inducing nugget of progressive tech-death that makes my dick hard in anticipation of the new record (for which no official release date has been announced). The new song is five solid minutes of techy, deathy, shreddy goodness; while I listen, I’m fantasizing about a utopian U.S. tour dream lineup featuring Obscura, Psycroptic, Arsis, The Faceless and Gorod. Never gonna happen, right?

-VN

Reader Eddie Linquist sent us this photo, which he took at Worlds of Fun in KC. He didn’t have more info, and I can’t find anything about it on Google, so if someone knows more about what the crap this is, let us know. In the meantime, I’m fairly certain the Metallicattorneys are gonna be on this like white on rice, if their past track record is any indication…

-AR

-AR

[via Blabbermouth]