Both Vince and myself posted earlier this week about the tragic untimely death last weekend of phenomenal drummer Gerhardt “Jerry” Fuchs…………words can’t express the staggering loss of this uber-kind & humble talent, but hopefully the below track will help paint a picture of the metronomic, humanly mechanical force that was Jerry behind the drum kit (one more firecracker here). From the propulsive rock-solid twos and fours to the stop-start staccato pocket grooves, all the way to the heady orgasmic maelstrom of fiery filles…..this guy was just unreal.

It breaks my heart to have to say this, but rest in peace my friend, and a million thanks for everything…..you will be severely missed by so many around the world.

I implore everyone to take inspiration from Jerry’s legacy in striving to share the amazing gifts we each have. No excuses!!

TURING MACHINE — “Swiss Grid”, from A New Machine for Living (2000)

…..and once more for good measure, the one-armed magical fille madness of Jerry Fuchs:

-KW

Today was Friday the 13th, but absolutely nothing bad happened to me. I mean, the night is young so shit could still go horribly awry I suppose, but all in all, I had a pretty good day – nay, I had a pretty good week. If only the same could be said for the world of metal. Here’s some disasters the plagued various musicians this week:

• Slash completed his decade-long indoctrination into the Metallica “Fuck Our Fans” Club.
• We’re not sure if Steven Tyler is still in Aerosmith or not, but we are sure that we don’t give a fuck either way.
• There was a lot of controversy over a really, really ugly painting.
• No can explain to me why I should care about Alter Bridge.
• Fear Faction ate s’more babies, released a new song.
• R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs.

And, oh yeah, some good news: MetalSucks is going to do a digital release of The Binary Code’s Suspension of Disbelief on December 15 for just five bucks! Get stoked.

Alright. I’m off to go hear Vince spin. Have a nice weekend everyone. Next week we have another extra, super-duper special surprise for you…

-AR

Not only is Behemoth’s Nergal a country singer with no sense of humor, but apparently he’s also a commercial star in his native Poland. I haven’t the foggiest idea what these clips are about or what’s being said in them, but they are automatically fucking hilarious by way of Nergal’s presence. Thanks to MS reader “Fersas” for sending them in.

All joshing aside, Behemoth’s Evangelion was undoubtedly one of the best metal releases of 2009 and it’s sure to make its way onto several MS staffers’ year-end lists.

-VN

The MetalSucks-sponsored Waste The World Tour (featuring Municipal Waste, with Goatwhore, Brutal Truth, Phobia and Cauldron on as support for various dates) is off to a wet start. On the tour’s fifth show — Wednesday night in Houston, TX — a fan decided it’d be a good idea to climb on the pipes hanging from the ceiling during Goatwhore’s set. ‘Cause, ya know, hanging from pipes is always a great idea. The sprinkler system erupted, flooding ensued, and the whole show was forced to evacuate the venue. Fortunately the Meridian had an extra room available, so after an hour of chaos the show went on, faster and harder than ever.

Make sure you catch this tour when it comes through your city. Dates after the jump. Please note that The Accused are no longer part of the tour.

Click to read more…

Our bromance love kittens over at Metal Insider — in response to the fake Necrophagist ukulele cover — dug up a video of some dude covering Iron Maiden’s “The Trooper” on a harp. Here’s to hoping this dude’s the one greeting me at the pearly gates or wherever I end up.

-VN

My efforts to have Sumeriancore added to Wikipedia have been squashed. MS reader Ty Winchester took is upon himself to write up the entry, but it was removed within a week due to being a “neologism.” You can still see a cached version of that Sumeriancore Wikipedia entry. Next up I tried UrbanDictionary.com… and got shot down by the site’s editors in less than 24 hours.

What the fuck? I feel Sergeant D’s pain.

At least there’s a Last.FM tag for Sumeriancore now, and industry people used the term at a CMJ panel last month. Sumeriancore will live on in our hearts and in our minds… and on this website. Fuck the haters!

-VN

Anthrax are doing a signing of their just re-issued for the umpteenth time Among the Living in New York this Sunday; Gary Suarez suggested one of us hit it up to ask them “What the fuck is up with John Bush?”, but that would mean I’d have to a) buy a copy of an album I already have and b) wait in line with a thousand other morons to ask a question I’ll never get a straight answer for anyway (I’ve tried, believe me).

Here’s a question for which you can get a straight answer, though: “What are Scott Ian’s top 10 thrash albums?” Because Mr. Ian has just posted his list at Noisecreep.

Humbly, he’s left Anthrax off the list; he’s also included a couple of albums I’d argue are not straight-up thrash, but I guess I’m not really in a position to tell Scott Ian what is or is not thrash.

Check out Scott’s list here, then come back and argue about it in our comments section.

-AR

I don’t think we’ve ever talked about Mini Kiss on the site before, but at this point, I strongly prefer them to the actual Kiss (or whatever is left of the actual Kiss). They play awesome old Kiss songs, the fact that they’re a straight-up cover band means that their wearing of the classic make-up is inoffensive, and, oh yeah, they’re midgets, which is still God’s best joke. I mean, besides tsunamis.

-AR

So it looks like Anvil’s comeback is gonna last through at least 2010: the band will have a small role in the upcoming film version of The Green Hornet, which will star Seth Rogen (who also co-wrote the script) and be directed by Michel Gondry, who helmed Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and about a gajillion awesome music videos. In other words: the movie might actually be good.

Sacha Gervasi, who directed the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil, recently spoke to MakingOf about Anvil’s role in the flick, which they filmed back in October. You can check out the video below. It’s kinda spoiler-ish, but not in a really major way – still, if you plan to see the movie and want to be completely surprised about how Anvil tie-in, I’d advise you not watch.

-AR

So I’m reading all about the “Royal Edition” of Mastodon’s Crack the Skye that’s coming out just in time for the holidays, and the above graphic from their website took me by surprise. Shipping deadlines not just for Christmas, but for Hanukkah! How considerate of those fine, southern gentlemen. I guess they want our Jew money, too.

About that Royal Edition, it’s pretty much just a repackaging of Crack the Skye with gold foil artwork and a “full-length Crack the Skye score.” I can’t find a description anywhere of what the hell that score actually is, but I’m guessing it’s the visual accompaniment the band’s been projecting on a screen behind them during their live shows. While I love Mastodon and I love Crack the Skye, I can’t see myself laying down $40 for an album I already have… and neither should you, considering there’s another awesome release coming out that same day that’s only going to cost $5!

-VN

In Russia, metal sucks you!

If not for our recent discovery (courtesy Invisible Oranges) of Tantal, I’d be inclined to think that all modern Russian metal is as good as Gorbachev was attractive or Stalin was kind-hearted. Between yesterday’s porn-y but awful video by  Stigmata and now the below clip from the Ruski’s in F.R.Y., it seems the former U.S.S.R. is in serious need of some fucking talent.

So let’s do the same thing we’ve been doing for chick-metal. If you know of any modern Russian metal bands that are actually good (and aren’t the aforementioned Tantal), let us know in the comments section below. Because as of right now, I do not hold the Rusian metal scene in very high regard.

-AR

Thanks to Chris Miller for sending us the video.

Tongue-in-cheek or not, Steel Panther’s Feel the Steel is so good it’s gonna make a serious run for inclusion in my year-end list. Everything about it is just done so well… everything! I know my man Anso is down with the Panther too. Can’t wait to see these guys play when I hit up L.A. in January.

-VN

Last night I finally got to see Periphery live. Vince has been raving about them since this past summer’s Thrash and Burn tour, and, as is so often the case, my de facto brother is right – these guys are the shit, and are gonna be huge. They had the crowd eating out of the palms of their hands, and, unlike some bands (I’m not naming names, but think Jack the Ripper), they actually have three guitar players for a reason.

Periphery will have an album out on Sumerian next year; in the meantime, enjoy this video tour blog they did for our friends at Metal Injection. And don’t forget to check out Periphery’s MySpace, too.

-AR

A reader named James (who runs this website) sent us the below video of two dudes doing an acoustic version of Megadeth’s “Lucretia.” And despite the fact that these guys looks like pretty typical frat house d-bags, it’s actually really good. The accompanying description on YouTube reads simply, “Bored and drunken, we decided to record some Megadeth.” Which is probably way cooler than whatever most people do when they’re bored and drunk.

-AR

Technically disqualified from my year-end list because their record came out in 2008… but damn, this Italian band is just plain awesome. I’ve been spinning Carnal Rapture’s 5-song demo pretty consistently on my iPod. Jazzy, techy, proggy, heavy, and most of all DIFFERENT metal… jam their song “Precious Time” below then listen to more on their MySpace page.

Carnal Rapture – “Precious Time”

-VN

The winner to last week’s funny photo caption contest was a no-brainer:

Nick Muffins Hochmuth: “I present a new breed of disgrace to humanity… The Joggalo.”

Well done sir! You’ll be receiving a Katatonia prize pack in the mail. This week we’re giving away 5 prize packages courtesy of Earache Records. Three 1st place winners will receive a Heavy Metal Killers compilation vinyl and a Heavy Metal Killers scarf (pictured here). Two runners-up will just receive a scarf. Yup, a scarf. Scarves are metal. They keep you warm! And it’s getting cold out there, kids. No one wants to be that dude at the show wearing shorts when it’s below freezing outside… that dude is such an asshole. Being warm is metal. There’s even a band called Scarve and they’re pretty rad.

So, just come up with a caption to the below photo [sent in by kenneth szidar] and they shall be yours.

We’re giving away free shit! Woo! Today’s grand prize is a 17″ tall desktop figurine of Jack Black’s character from Brutal Legend, from a limited run of only 1,000. Two runners-up will receive one of the two Brutal Legend t-shirts shown above. All you have to do to win is tell us in the comments what you’d do if you had the axe the figurine is holding. MetalInjection and MetalInsider are also running the same contest, so head over to those sites for more chances to win.

So let’s say you’re in a third rate metalcore band, and let’s say that you’re also in Russia, which isn’t exactly France in terms of being at the height of metal fashion right now. How do you get people’s attention? Well, putting titties in your video can’t hurt, right?

This band is called Stigmata. Needless to say, this video is NSFW.

-AR

[via Hornsup]

Israel’s Orphaned Land have just announced a February 9 release date for their new album, The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR, and, yes, we’re going to try and do one of those excellent Jew on Jew interviews that we sometimes do with a member of the band. But while those pieces usually tend to lean towards the, um, let’s say “sillier” aspects of Judaism, I have a feeling that the members of Orphaned Land might have something headier on their minds. I mean, check out what vocalist Kobi Farhi has to say about the album’s themes:

Click to read more…

That’s we told MS Intern David en route to this summer’s Mayhem Festival when he asked us what other bands he should listen to if he likes Gojira (and boy, the kid sure does love Gojira… we taught him well!). ‘Cause Gojira borrow a helluva lot from Morbid Angel; Joe-Jira himself will even tell you this. We then proceeded by blast Domination whilst mercilessly stuck in Dirty Jerz traffic.

This live video posted by Crustcake today was filmed at Wacken in 2006 which means that yes, that IS Erik Rutan on guitar!

-VN