Turns out we’re not the only ones excited about The Binary Code’s pending release of Suspension of Disbelief; the first-post/van-flippers over at Lambgoat are exclusively streaming the brand new track “Mechanical Seas” right now!

Having heard all of Suspension of Disbelief (since MetalSucks is releasing the album digitally — duh!) I’m having a hard time finding the words to express how fucking awesome the record sounds (courtesy of a killer mixing job by Knife the Glitter’s Kevin Antreassian). “Mechanical Seas” is definitely one of my favorite tracks from the record, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg compared to the rest of the mind-bending progressive death metal contained therein.

So go on and stream “Mechanical Seas” at Lambgoat. Suspension of Disbelief drops on December 15th for the whopping price of only $5 for a high-quality 320kbps MP3 digital download, or $15 with one of four sick t-shirt designs (and free shipping in the U.S.!). You can pre-order the record at The Binary Code’s webstore right now.

For a sample of what the rest of Suspension of Disbelief has in store, check out the medley containing clips from every song on the album posted on The Binary Code’s MySpace.

-VN

Photo credit: Justina Villanueva

MS Maniac Adrien Arnoux sent us an “outraged” email about the French remix outfit Hello, Atomic (actually just one dude) whose latest jawn “We Will Brokeback Mountain Yo’ Ass” is a mash-up of the main riff from Pantera’s “Cowboys From Hell” with vocal samples from Queen’s “We Will Rock” over the choruses and The Beastie Boys’ “Intergalactic” over the verses. It’d be awfully easy to be dismissive and hateful towards a remixer for butchering/stealing/raping/pillaging a sacred Pantera riff… but no, this shit is awesome. I support. And it turns out that Mr. Arnoux is the man behind the plan himself; nice work, dude!

For one, it’s well done; this isn’t some hack sloppily cutting and pasting together beats in GarageBand. On account of that, if this remix inspires just one kid to say, “That riff is pretty cool. What is it? Pantera? I’ll have to check them out,” and then that kid subsequently falls in love with Pantera… it’s all worth any supposed desecration this remix could’ve caused. I also happen to like the other two songs he mashed up with the Pantera riff; I’ve got mad love for Queen and mad love for NYC’s original Jew Yorker rappers The Beastie Boys.

Hello, Atomic also have a Refused vs. Gwen Stefani track on their MySpace page. +1. FTW. A+. etc.

-VN

Proving that you can make almost any awesome metal song sound like total garbage if you want to, Andy Rehfeldt (whomever that is) did the below “Radio Disney version” of Cannibal Corpse’s “Hammer Smashed Face.”

I don’t even think Demi Lovato would approve of this.

The upside is, I don’t think I’ve ever heard the lyrics to this song sung so clearly…

-AR

Thanks to Drewski for the tip!

Scar Symmetry’s decision to replace ex-vocalist Christian Alvestam with two dudes — one growler and one singer — was a goofy move on paper, and it looks kinda goofy on video too. At least in videos the band has the benefit of an editor who can cut between one vocalist or the other, or focus on one of the other band members. But live, this shit’s gotta be super goofy — what does one guy do while the other is singing; just stand there and head bang? Totally goofy.

Still, I got nothin’ but love for Scary Symmetry’s music. This year’s Dark Matter Dimensions wasn’t SS’s best but it’s solid, if predictable for the band at this point. They’ve just released a video for the song “Ascension Chamber,” and as is par for the course for Scar Symmetry the video is focused around cosmic/spacial themes. Peep it below.

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I feel like I’ve been ragging on Alice in Chains a little bit lately, and I feel bad about that because I’m a huge Alice in Chains fan and I love Black Gives Way to Blue.

That being said, the band’s latest video, for the beautiful “Your Decision,” is slightly worse than the video for “Check My Brain.” Which is weird, because the director, Stephen Schuster, also directed the band’s totally awesome video for “A Looking In View.”

My beef isn’t with the presence of some chick named Amanda Fields, who was apparently on Project Runway (I’ve never seen it). I mean, she’s either had too much work done or just naturally looks like a freakin’ alien, but that’s neither here nor there. No, my complaint is mostly that the video is just lame – it seems to be taking its cues from Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, but in the worst possible way. What the themes of that film have to do with this song isn’t clear, and a lot of the symbolic imagery subsequently feels forced and trite.

Still an awesome song, though.

-AR

When Trent Reznor announced he’d be taking NIN on hiatus after this most recent tour we were naturally skeptical. But apparently he spoke the truth, at least for the immediately forseeable future — why else would he be selling hundreds of pieces of road and studio-tested NIN gear? According to a post on the NIN official website [sent in by TomB via Pitchfork], Reznor:

Hundreds of items will be listed over the next several weeks such as guitars, keyboards, amplifiers, drums, staging, anvil cases, cables, rack/outboard gear, guitar effects, and pedal boards. Check the eBay page regularly for new listings, or follow @nineinchnails on Twitter for updates. More information can be found in the descriptions of each item.

Props to Reznor for using eBay to once again utilize the power of the Internet to connect directly with fans and cut out all the middle-man bullshit. There are currently about 20 items listed on the NIN eBay page — all guitars — with more promised in the near future. For my money (or someone else’s… ahem! <cough>Axl<cough>Hanukkah<cough cough>), the coolest item currently posted is the ESP guitar custom-painted with The Fragile album cover artwork (pictured above). The bidding is currently at $2,274 with 18 bids already in and over 5 days left. Good luck to whoever wants to win that one.

Save up for those instrument cables that may or may not have once been used by Trent, kids!

-VN

Inspired by our realization that William Murderface looks just like pop star Lady Gaga, MS reader “Contoberfest” wins the MetalSucks 2009 Suckies Award for “Best Use of Photoshop While on the Clock at Work.” The only way he could’ve done better is if he did it on his iPhone whilst on the shitter (at work, natch — THAT’s productivity).

-VN

Reader Mike Winston sent us a very articulate and well-reasoned e-mail regarding Mexico’s Here Come the Kraken, and it’s clear that he meant for us to write positive things about the band.

And so I’m a little sad to say that I think this band is trend-following drek. Sorry, Mike. I hope we can still be pals. I really do appreciate how much effort went into your e-mail, as opposed to the usual “CHECK THIZ BAND OUT THEY R00L!!!” we usually get.

Listen to some Here Comes the Kraken, then let Mike know what you think of ‘em in the comments section.

-AR

MetalSucks uber-Maniac Josh Kidd has recommended we check out Volbeat, whom he described as “Elvis metal.” (“Elviscore” would be inappropriate, since there’s no core whatsoever to the band’s sound.) I find that description about as enticing as the prospect of sitting through Metallica playing the entire St. Anger album live, but out of respect to Josh I did give Volbeat a listen, and, yeah, they’re not good. I hate Michael Poulsen’s vocals. Hate ‘em. It’s like someone took a moose rock singer and stuck him in a slightly more interesting band than, say, Nicklesuck or Theory of a Dead Suck or whatever. Not. For. Me.

Still, I don’t wish any will upon Mr. Poulson, who made headlines this week when he collapsed on-stage. Apparently the dude is okay and just has the flu or something, but still, that sucks.

Of course, it’s not gonna keep anybody from rubbernecking! So here’s video of the collapse. Skip to the 2:30 mark to see Poulson hit the stage (literally). And, by all means, feel free to tell me why I’m missing the mark on this band in our comments section below.

-AR