I’ve known White Wizzard guitarist Erik Kluiber since 2001 or so, when his old-old band Inner Recipe was working the club circuit in Southeast Michigan. When that band changed their sound to an ’80s metal throwback (way before it was popular to do so), they also changed their name to Overloaded and did quite a few gigs with my own band (“Vince Neilstein was in a band?” I hear you asking. Yes, kids. We’ll get to that another time.). Kluiber was also one of MetalSucks’ earliest supporters (oldschool commenters like Sammy, Wayne and hibernum should know him as “ERiK”).

Now Kluiber is all big-time, having moved to L.A. to join White Wizzard whose MetalSucks-approved High Speed GTO EP dropped on September 8th on Earache Records. I caught up with Kluiber at the band’s recent show in Brooklyn supporting Ross the Boss; we talked about how he came to be a member of White Wizzard, moving to L.A., finally having the support of a record label after years of grinding it out, recording the band’s first full-length record, and what the future holds.

Click to read more…

Awhile back, there was a fan-filmed video of one of the dudes from Attack Attack! getting hit in the head with a cup of water (or, hopefully, something much ickier). And I found that video hilarious. The video is down now “due to a copyright claim” by the band’s label, Rise Records, but that’s bullshit. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of fan-filmed videos of Attack Attack! all over YouTube, all of which, theoretically, violate Rise’s copyright claim. This video was clearly taken down because it’s embarrassing to Attack Attack!

But I digress. I’m really just admitting that I found that video funny, because I’m a huge hypocrite.

See, I don’t find the below video of Doc Coyle getting hit with a cup of water while performing with Lamb of God funny because, well, a) I like God Forbid, b) I like Doc Coyle, and c) I like Lamb of God. So, yeah, I’m biased. If that’s shocking to you, you either don’t read MetalSucks very much, or are not very intelligent.

ANYWAY, one thing I do find funny about this video: Doc taking off his guitar and leaping down off the stage to confront his attacker. No, he doesn’t actually hurt anyone, but, man, I bet he put the fear of God (Forbid!) in whomever that dick wad was.

Skip to roughly 4:22 to see the whole thing go down. Hopefully whomever threw that cup woke up the next day to find that his testicles had, indeed, fallen off in the middle of the night. Assuming he had a pair to lose in the first place.

-AR

[via Blabbermouth]

As our friend John said to me last week, on the list of things a metal band should do, Skeletonwitch have a “check” under each and every “yes” column. This band is seemingly unable to do wrong. They rip faces off, and, what’s more, those faces are only too happy to have been ripped off. They are Metal with a capital “M.”

Skeletonwitch’s new album, Breathing the Fire (Prosthetic), doesn’t drop ’til October 13, but Terrorizer is streaming it right now. I suggest you go listen.

Then, as always, come back here and let us know you think. Although know we’ll judge you if you don’t like the album.

“Stand, Fight and Die” is my personal favorite track from the record. Just givin’ my two cents.

-AR

I’ve always found the changing of bands’ MySpace names to be an amusing but effective way of communicating a simple bit of news. For example:

• “LAKE BUKKAKE (ON TOUR NOW!!!)”
• “ANAL CHAINSAW (NEW ALBUM OUT THIS TUESDAY!!!)”

Exclamation points necessarily included.

So it with great excitement and wonder that MS Maniac Mark Moritz-Rabson noticed a recent change in the MySpace moniker of German awesome-core collective The Ocean: “THE OCEAN (in the studio)”. No exclamation points needed because The Ocean are way too cool for such shenanigans.

Click to read more…

…but it won’t make you splooge the way seeing them in really real life will. There’s just nothing that compares to actually being there. Still, this footage that Metal Injection has of our favorite Frenchmen playing the Garorock Festival in Marmande, France, might be the next best thing.

Watch more pro-shot footage of Gojira’s Garorock Fest performance at Metal Injection.

-AR

MS Maniac John Devos tipped us off to the existence of Vivian Black, with whom I was previously unfamiliar. And, honestly, I feel deeply, deeply ashamed. For Ms. Black is a true artiste, a creative genius of the highest order. Her thinking is just on an whole other level from most people. We can barely comprehend the ways in which she is pushing the envelope.

Here’s some background of Ms. Black, from the bio on her official website, which identifies Vivian as a “Vocalist & Author,” “Actress,” “Proucer & Director,” “Author” (but not vocalist this time!), and “Occultist“:

Vivian Black, is a multifaceted artist: actress of the horror genre, female Metal solo singer, creator of black metal performances, composer, screenwriter, writer, artistic producer and director. A talented woman, whose potential has not been recognized by show business, nor by most of the public of her native country.

This website will clarify, for the first time, who Vivian Black really is; her attributes and virtues, her artistic work, her talent spread out one hundred per cent, her real aims, her mythical and enigmatic personality, and the limit between reality and fiction, the character (or not) of the addressed by many “Witch of metal”, “Princess of darkness”, “Black witch”, or “Satanic singer”.

Is your mind blown yet? No? Well how about now?

Click to read more…

Because knocking on St. Anger never loses its appeal… even this techno re-imagining of Metallica’s “St. Anger” is better than the original. See also: the cover version by Theocracy’s Matt Smith.

[Thanks: Nicholas Antonio]

As an international jetsetting playboy, I am rarely in one place for very long. In a given week, I might dine with Saudi oilmen in Riyadh, ski the Swiss Alps with European fashion models, and canoodle with toothless crackheads in Detroit. That’s just how I roll, people. On a recent trip to London, I hit up the HMV on Oxford Street to buy a few dozen CDs to throw at beggar children in Jakarta. Little did I know that this same shopping excursion would yield the discovery of an incredible new noise rock band called Kong.

Billed by paleozoic British music rag NME as “the toxic shock syndrome version [of] Shellac and Fugazi,” the Manchester band’s debut Snake Magnet demanded an immediate purchase even without hearing a single note. And boy, was it worth it! The album is choc full of disorienting math rock grooves, slicing guitars, and belligerent vocals. Check out the bizarre fucking video above for the single “Leather Penny.” Now if you’ll excuse me, the stewardess has instructed me to turn off all electronic devices as we’re about to depart for Brussels, where I have plans to eat Belgian waffles with an art dealer… naked.

-GS

[Gary Suarez is so paid. He usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

Okay. So here’s a great example of the ways in which the mind works.

Last week Vince and I were talking about Devin Townsend, as we do from time to time. And later that night, I got a song from Vai’s Sex & Religion album stuck in my head. I used to listen to that album all the time when it came out in 1993, but I have no idea where the hell the cassette I once owned now resides, so I searched the net to see if it was posted somewhere.

Well, as it turns out, the song has a video. And I’m watching this video, and I realize, “Holy shit, that’s Devin Townsend doing vocals!” I have no conscious memory of every being aware that Townsend was the vocalist for that album, but I must’ve known; that’s why the song got stuck in my head in the first place, right? Psychology is weird like that.

By the way, even though they’re not in this video, Terry Bozzio played drums and T.M. Stevens played bass on Sex & Religion. TOO WEIRD!!!

What an amazing discovery. I feel so much cooler now. “Oh, yeah. I’ve been listening to Townsend since before anyone knew who he was.”

Click to read more…

If this video were as interesting as its disclaimer, Dark Funeral might really be onto something. But it’s mostly the same crap you’ve seen in a million other metal videos.

“My Funeral” comes off of Angelus Exuro pro Eternus, which Regain will release on November 18.

-AR

Thanks to Kog for the link.

Earlier last month Southern Lord announced a new trio of monthly Boris seven-inch records entitled Japanese Heavy Rock Hits. The first “volume” came out last week, and fans of the band’s droning metalscapes will almost assuredly be disappointed considering its official description:

The first 7″, Volume One, “8″, features two newly recorded tracks. On Side A, the title track “8″ continues the spacey hard-rock sound established on their classic albums Pink and Smile, building from a mono, lo-fi wall of feedback into a ripping, slab of lush vocals, crunchy guitar and thunderous drums. Things get switched up on Side B with “ねえエヴリワン/Hey Everyone”, a chewy bit of power-pop bubblegum that sees the band mining a much lighter source for their sound. It’s a reminder that the most daring thing this band can do is record something so straight-forward it could easily be misconstrued as “alt-pop”. Dont fret its still got a dark core and is unmistakably Boris! Gorgeous tip-on, heavy-weight cardboard jacket designed by Stephen O’Malley.

Click to read more…

On the way to Friday’s final-U.S.-appearance-ever Burnt by the Sun show, Axl and I were lamenting how fucking tough it is going to be to chose ten favorite albums at year’s end. Even in early August our preliminary lists of favorites hinted that some difficult choices would be in store, but with new albums out now or about to be released by Revocation, Converge, Between the Buried and Me, Baroness and more, this December shit is gonna get real, son. What’s even tougher is trying to remain unbiased when it comes to judging albums I’m super-stoked on because they’re new to me (i.e. Revocation) vs. albums that seem like old news already because they came out all the way back in January (i.e. Obscura).

Thankfully, Elise at Reign in Blonde has a solution: match up albums based on album cover similarity, and choose the winners from there. Way easier, more efficient, and less heart-breaking.

What are your top picks of ’09?

-VN

[PS: If you've got a spare moment, go vote in ex-Metal Edge editor-in-chief Phil Freeman's poll]

Your reputation precedes you. It’s a blessing and a curse. I know that there are some circles that know me as being a complete ass, and they’ve done their part to spread that about me. When I’ve encountered people they’ve spread the good word about me to, I’m usually met with “Wow, I didn’t realize you were actually cool to hang out with.” Or stuff of that sort. I’m referring to cliques from when I was in high school ranging to some people I know now. I also have positive things that are spread about me ,and it still hits me by surprise when there are positive expectations due to someone’s word of mouth about me. Positive or negative, it’s strange to me that some people have any pre-conceived notions about me. I should just get used to it.

But I’m sure that you guys have felt the same things in your lives. If you don’t live in a cave, or are not stuck in your mom’s basement playing W.O.W. 24/7, then you make your mark on the world. Whether it’s on an international level or just your small group of social and work peers or school or whatever it may be, you make your mark. You affect people. And people talk about you to each other. To what degree will always vary according to all the different social variables unique to your situation.

Click to read more…

I really dug Landmine Marathon’s last album, Rusted Eyes Awake, and although I’ve never gotten to seen ‘em live, I hear they kill. This is just a fuckin’ metal band, y’know? No core, no trends, no bullshit. They just came to rip your jugular out with their music.

The band has now announced the name of their next album, Sovereign Descent, which will be out in early 2010 on Prosthetic. There’s no cover art or single or anything yet, but there are some nifty behind-the-scenes videos. Here’s one of the group tracking guitar solos:

You can watch more videos about the making of the album here.

Get stoked for this one. I bet it’s gonna rip.

-AR

I’ve always felt that Belphegor are silly. There are plenty of black metal bands that I do not find silly, who for all intents and purposes dress, look and sound exactly like Belphegor . It’s just that whenever I see Belphegor I feel the uncontrollable need to giggle. Perhaps it’s because they’re so serious-looking all the time… what’s more hilarious than being super-serious? This new video for “Der Geistertreiber” does little stop my giggling.

If Belphegor do not make you giggle too, you might like to know that their new album Walpurgis Rites – Hexenwahn will be released via Nuclear Blast on October 20th (N. America) and October 9th (Europe).

-VN

More than any other band, Cradle of Filth seem to attract the attention of YouTube vocal covers done by bedroom-dwelling, suburban goth teens (see also: this cover of “Nymphetamine” starring hot twins). Since we’re obsessed with YouTube vocal covers and Cradle of Filth are inherently kinda funny, this provides us and the MS Mansion Monkeys with great amusement.

This cover of “Her Ghost in the Fog” is pretty brilliant if you ask us. The best part: “I know I look like shit right now but in an HOUR OR TWO I’ll look perfect and I will use the power of dark side that has been given to me to scream my ass off for you guys so rock on.” Notes MS Maniac BondedByBlood, who sent this clip in: “I saw him at a show last night and he wore the same hilarious makeup.” Sometimes I wished we lived in the suburbs so we’d see hilarious shit like this. NYC kids are too cool or something. This kid’s high-pitched screams are absolutely ace.

-VN

BondedByBlood

When I received an email boasting that “Miami-based rock band” Atom Smash would be in NYC, I was not expecting to like them. At all. But I clicked the link anyway, because I have a sick compulsion to listen to every single thing that comes through the MetalSucks Mansion inbox and mailbox… and I was delighted to find a decent, straight up modern rock band. No folks, this is not metal in the slightest, and it could easily be played on the radio alongside all sorts of bands we hate, but somehow it’s way better than Breaking Benjamin, Rev Theory or any of those other shit bands. Yeah, the band’s name is kind of silly (as if all metal band names aren’t?) and the singer’s a borderline yarler… but shit, this band is good! As in, good songs… remember those? Certainly, no one in this band’s gonna outshred Yngwie and no one’s trying to invent the wheel, but that ain’t the point.

If it were like 2003 I would’ve been all over this band. Atom Smash really remind me of the band Magna-Fi that made waves ripples around that time. Anyone remember them? They played the second stage of Ozzfest one year.

So if you’d like a break from Br00tal-O’s cereal today, give Atom Smash a shot.

-VN

In honor of Alaskan metalcore band 36 Crazyfists’ new DVD, Under a Northern Sky (in stores October 27), a list of 35 other famous, metal, heavy, and/or crazy fists:

Click to read more…

This new song from the Greatest Horror Director of All Time is actually called “What?” As in, “What? Is that Al Jourgensen singing?”

But, no, seriously. Is that Al Jourgensen singing? ‘Cause if it ain’t, he should sue.

Rob’s new offering, Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls, and the Longest Fucking Title Ever Given to an Album Not Recorded by Fiona Apple, comes out November 17.

-AR

Thanks to Jonathon Edwards for the tip!

Here’s the heavy metal blog-crossover project of the season: Invisible Oranges‘ Cosmo Lee has recruited Metal Inquistion‘s Sergeant D (Hey, those names rhyme!) to “compile a mixtape that would be a slam metal primer.” The mix includes fifteen songs from bands such as Devourment, Putrid Pile and “Completely Unreadable Band Logo of the Week” alum Guttural Secrete, and can be downloaded for free here. The Sarge even wrote some “liner notes” about each track to help educate those of us unfamiliar in the ways of slam.

Bonus: Cosmo admits that “After listening to [the mix], I still can’t tell any of this stuff apart.” So at least I’m not the only one.

-AR