Archive for June, 2009
Protest the Hero – Gallop Meets The Earth [Live CD/DVD] (Underground Operations/Universal)
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 1:57am by David WASG / Black Tusk – Low Country [Split 10" / Digital] (Hyperrealist / Volcom)
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 1:55am by David W#15: NACHTMYSTIUM – ASSASSINS: BLACK MEDDLE, PART 1
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 at 5:20pm by MetalSucksSPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER CHRISTOPHER R. WEINGARTEN OF 1000 TIMES YES
We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #15 album, coming in with a total of 117 points…
Nachtmystium, Assassins: Black Meddle, Part 1 (Century Media, 2008)
Blake Judd – Vocals/Lead Guitars
Jeff Wilson – Rhythm Guitars
Zion Meagher – Bass
Tony Laureano – Drums
Produced by Nachtmystium & Sanford Parker
Is it OK to like this band because “hipsters” hypothetically like this band?
FUNNY PHOTO CAPTION CONTEST: WIN DARKANE, DEVIN TOWNSEND AND EDGUY CDs!
LOLZ at the flame-war that erupted over last week’s funny photo caption contest; apparently our supposed “funny photo” was actually a famous-ish painting by artist Miguel Calderón, and some MetalSucks Maniacs took offense to us using it in a mocking light. To thee I say: our site is called “METAL SUCKS” for chrissakes, so get the sand out of your collective vaginas and stop whining. Fuckin’ A!
Anyway, die-hard MS Maniac Sammy won the signed God Forbid guitar with the following entry:
…and with that the ICP Special Olympics began….
Congrats Sammy, your 6,457 comments on this site have finally paid dividends. Maybe in another 2.5 years we’ll get you an amp rig to go with that axe. This week we’re giving away a package of CDs to one lucky winner: Darkane’s latest ripper Demonic Art, Devin Townsend’s excellent new solo release Ki and a collection of Edguy singles. Good variety, something for everyone. Just come up with a funny caption to the below photo!
SOME GOOD UNDERGROUND METAL BANDS SUGGESTED BY YOU METALSUCKS MANIACS
Sometimes we end up on press email lists for like, some underground hip-hop promoter or indie rock publicist who’s obviously never checked out our website. It’s super annoying (first world problems!). But lots of MS readers send us tips of new bands we should check out, and for the most part you guys have pretty good taste / know what we like; shocker! Here are a few that’ve impressed me the most lately.
Black Sun Aeon: In the Swallow the Sun / Agalloch / Daylight Dies / Moonsorrow school of dark, aching, melancholic metal, but, ya know, slightly different. [Sent in by Alexander S.]
White Arms of Athena – This band sent us a message on MySpace rife with faulty grammar and spelling mistakes which is usually a surefire sign for “suck.” But good God, this band fucking rules. They’re like a hardcore version of the myriad tech-death bands on the market right now… so I guess that makes them tech-core. Or is that just “mathcore”? I don’t fucking know… to me it’s good-core.
Outcast: Call it “The Gojira Effect,” but France seems to be pumping out quality metal bands at a phenomenal rate — or maybe they’ve been there all along and we just started noticing. MS Maniac “JTquake” describes Outcast as “full of musical bad-assery and [they] sound like the best parts of Neuraxis and Beneath the Massacre mixed up and twisted together.” I would’ve said Meshuggah and Machine Head, but I guess that just shows my (and his) age.
The Arusha Accord: Taking the Sikth torch and running with it, adding perhaps a touch more melody. Sent in by “J.”
Keep sending in those tips to news [at] metalsucks [dot] net.
-VN
TWO MORE REASONS WHY I DON’T NEED TO GO TO ATP NY
A couple of months back I complained about the expensive All Tomorrow’s Parties weekender in the Catskills region of New York. Though noise rock royals The Jesus Lizard and The Melvins are both scheduled to appear at the September festival, I just haven’t been able to justify the hundreds of dollars I’d have to shell out for tickets and to stay at some bullshit resort swarming with trustafarians. Thankfully, it turns out that we can all save our hard-earned dough (and avoid contracting swine flu), as both of these bands are planning other U.S. performances that wont break the bank.
MUNICIPAL WASTE: HOO-RAY FOR GANG SHOUTS!
“YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG ANSWER!!!”
I can’t wait to shout those words the next time I see Municipal Waste (or, if you’re hip, just “The Waste”) live. They come from “Wrong Answer,” an awesome new track the band is currently streaming on their MySpace page.
The track comes from Massive Aggressive, the band’s new record that will be released on Earache on August 25, just in time for your drunken Labor Day BBQ (unless you’re not an American reader, in which case you can just listen to the album while getting drunk for no good reason).
In conclusion, I need a beer.
-AR
LAZARUS A.D. UNEARTHS TESTAMENT’S THRASH DNA
Oftentimes, writers tend to fall in love with their own words and florid descriptions. I try to avoid this in my true crime books as I believe the stories themselves propel the tale along.
In music criticism, it’s even worse.
Who can come up with the most br00tal analogies or the wittiest put-downs or the sickest comparisons usually takes precedence over simply writing a straight-forward review of what the writer has just listened to or witnessed? Sometimes it’s not necessary to go into an overly detailed historical analysis of metal or an attempt to make a sociological connection between the music and its fans. I’m sure I’ve fallen prey to pedantic verboseness at times. But, hey, sometimes, it’s just better to tell the readers that “shit sucks” or “shit’s great.”
That being said, Testament and Lazarus A.D. fall into the “shit’s great” category, while Unearth falls into the “shit sucks” category.
GOATWHORE / DAATH / ABIGAIL WILLIAMS TICKET GIVEAWAY!
MetalSucks and Metal Blade Records are teaming up to give away one ticket for every stop of this summer’s Goatwhore / Daath / Abigail Williams / Abysmal Dawn and Success Will Write Apocalypse Across the Sky tour! What we’ve heard so far of the new Goatwhore record Carving Out the Eyes of God fucking rips; that shindiggy comes out June 23rd. And we’ve made no secret about how much we love the new Daath record The Concealers; that shit is criminally good. And with the other three bands on the bill you’ve got a nice, well-rounded tour package there with a bit of something for everyone.
All you have to do to win is email goatwhoretickets [at] metalsucks.net as follows; in the subject line, write GOATWHORE TICKETS / CITY, STATE / DATE OF SHOW, filling in the details for the show you’d like to attend. In the body of the email include your FULL BIRTH NAME, as winners names will be added to Goatwhore’s guest list at the show to be claimed by presenting ID. Those who do not follow these instructions precisely will be disqualified from the contest. One winner per city will be drawn at random and contacted by a Metal Blade Records representative two days prior to the show.
The tour kicks off June 25th in Jacksonville, FL and wraps up August 9th in Amarillo, TX; check out the full list of dates after the jump, then enter for your chance to win.
MOONSPELL, SAMAEL AND BOOK OF BLACK EARTH TO HIT AMERICA ON METALSUCKS-SPONSORED FALL TOUR!
Just because all the big bands are partying over at the European festivals at the moment doesn’t mean we aren’t already looking forward to the Fall,* when Moonspell, Samael and Book of Black Earth hit North America for a MetalSucks-sponsored run of dates this October and November. The “Night Eternal Above America” tour is an early candidate for one of the most exciting lineups of the Fall, and also features Germany’s Secrets of the Moon. Moonspell and Samael are pretty much legends at this point yet I’ve not seen either band live; I saw the final minute of Book of Black Earth’s set at this Spring’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival and instantly wished I’d caught the whole thing. We’ll have exclusive news, giveaways and more for the Night Eternal Above America tour as the dates draw closer.
Check out the list of confirmed dates after the jump.
ANYONE WHO SAYS DREAM THEATER ARE PUSSIES IS QUITE OBVIOUSLY A GIANT PUSSY
I mean, James LaBrie is still a complete ham but there’s no denying he’s talented as fuck, and John Petrucci’s chin-whiskers are looking quite manly these days (trying to nail him down for a “Beard on Beard” interview… stay tuned). Myung’s a beast, Rudess is a fucking virtuoso and Mike Portnoy is like the best drummer EVVVARRR. Stop fronting, people! Anyone who claims Dream Theater are pussies / aren’t metal clearly has some kind of fear of being emasculated. Get over it and rock out, dicks! Show me a man that doesn’t get an erection during that heavy riff part of “Pull Me Under” (DAH-DAH dun dun dun dun dun dun dun) and I’ll show you a fucking liar.
Here they are performing that boner-worthy riff at Download Festival in the UK this past weekend (read our own Anton Oyvey’s full festival report here). And after the jump, the new song “A Rite of Passage” which comes from the new album Black Clouds & Silver Linings, out June 23rd on Roadrunner. Get manly; listen to Dream Theater.
-VN
IF YOU NEVER SAW NINE INCH NAILS LIVE BEFORE, YOU MAY HAVE BLOWN IT
A Nine Inch Nails live show is, truly, something to behold. It won’t shock anyone that Trent Reznor puts a massive amount of attention and care into his concerts; not just in the selection of the set list, but in terms of the stage show, the lighting, the on-screen visuals, etc. You could argue that Reznor is over-compensating for the fact that his band requires samples and drum loops as much as they require excellent musicianship, but attending a NIN gig is never just going to see another concert; it’s going to have an experience. And Reznor always makes sure that his fans get their money’s worth.
But now those evil Viacom bastards are reporting that Reznor is retiring from the stage:
#16: MACHINE HEAD – THE BLACKENING
We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #16 album, coming in with a total of 115 points…
Machine Head, The Blackening (Roadrunner, 2007)
Robb Flyn – Vocals/Guitars
Phil Demmel – Guitars
Adam Duce – Bass
Dave McClain – Drums
Produced by Colin Richardson
With 2007′s The Blackening, Machine Head stormed back with a resounding shotgun blast from years of wallowing in irrelevancy, catapulting themselves back into metal’s mainstream with unanimous praise from longtime fans and critics alike. It’s not that Machine Head’s post Burn My Eyes efforts were downright terrible… actually, yeah, it pretty much is. While Machine Head could’ve spent the ’90s waving the “true metal” flag alongside Pantera, instead they chose to join the rap-metal circus and drown in a sea of mediocrity. With the addition of Phil Demmel on guitar for 2003′s Through the Ashes of Empires things started to turn around, culminating in The Blackening, an album that may end up standing as Machine Head’s career-best work.
DOOMRIDE THIS!
Last night Messieurs Neilstein, Wingerschmidt and Suarez attended the Brooklyn Vegan metal showcase at Club Europa where Wetnurse, Javelina, Howl, Clouds, Doomriders and a bunch of other sickly good metal bands slayed a devoted audience of Brooklyn metal die-hards.* Our hetero life-mates at Metal Injection were there to capture the rockage of Doomriders — the punk/noise/metal/blues-rawk band featuring Nate Newton of Converge and John-Robert Connors of Cave In — and they’ve already posted videos of four, count ‘em four, songs. Check them out performing “Black Thunder,” aka the best song ever, below, then after the jump check out footage of 3 brand new songs all set to appear on their forthcoming Deathwish Records summer release.
NARROWS GO TO GREAT LENGTHS ON NEW DISTANCES
The name Dave Verellen should mean something to anyone who laments the 2002 breakup of Botch, the esteemed hardcore act whose legacy has made it more popular now than when it was an active unit. As the voice of that group, Verellen deserves partial credit – and perhaps a little blame – for the glut of roaring metalcore vocalists that came in his wake. From a publicity perspective, this influence strengthens the already impressive pedigree of Narrows, his latest band featuring members of noteworthy heavy ensembles such as Unbroken and These Arms Are Snakes. As evidenced by its full-length debut New Distances, the group refuses to rest on its proverbial laurels and instead goes above and beyond its participants’ discographies, yielding something truly exceptional.
