Props to Metal Injection for bringing Bunny Bissoux‘s limited edition screenprint, “Corpsepaint Creatures,” to our attention; this thing is like the greatest nerdy metal kid’s notebook doodle EVER. Check it out (click the image to enlarge):
Pret-ty, pret-ty cool. They’re being sold online for £30, which is roughly $46 U.S. without shipping; there’s only forty being printed, so if you want one, go grab it now before they’re gone.
-AR
I think we’ve all had a night or two out partying when that step was taken over the line between “appropriately intoxicated” and “scary fucked-up.” You’re not barfing, passed-out, or otherwise blissfully unaware — that’d be preferable to the creeping terror that descends on you when some switch is thrown in your brain and suddenly, blam-o, fun is a distant memory and life is totally incomprehensible and overwhelming.
The room you’re in is moving but it’s not, and you’ve been listening to your friend describe Reagan’s atrocities in Central America but actually the speaker is some bearded pervert who took your friend’s seat ages ago. You scramble to your feet, blurting, “I have no friends with beards!” but freeze when you see that this room has no door! You coolly plead for help from Jimi Hendrix, who’s kneeling inanimate at waist height, but then he swings out of sight and is replaced by your long-lost friend, who is demanding to know why you were arguing with the door. You try to explain that the Jimi Hendrix door poster is being a wise-ass, but it comes out in all vowels and, Jesus tap-dancing Christ, the place is turning into a real carnival of horrors now. In the kitchen, somebody’s fucking a horse to “New Sensation” by INXS and all you want to do is get out the door, lay down somewhere quiet, and pinpoint which of all the things you’ve blindly smoked has turned you into Ozzy for the night.
And that’s how you end up asleep between two dumpsters.
Yesterday you got your first taste of two full songs, “High on Hate” and “No Funeral,” from Nachtmystium’s upcoming masterpiece, Addicts; in the comments section, reader thrasheaderek helpfully pointed out that there’s also an e-card where you can listen to two additional tracks, “Nightfall” and “Blood Trance Fusion.” If you’re one of the readers who found “No Funeral” to be “shocking” or “interesting” or some other such word for “Wow, didn’t see that coming,” well… get ready to feel that way again. There’s ten tracks on the album, which means you’ve now heard 40% of it. The diverse and unexpected nature of the music should now be fairly clear in your mind.
Listen to the new tracks here. And if you’re already sick of me talking about Addicts, well… tough. It’s a great record and we’re gonna be splooging all over it quite a bit between now and its June 8 release.
-AR
Today is Earth Day, meaning we’re supposed to do our part to raise awareness about the problems facing our planet. Let’s not make this political; whether you believe global warning is an imminent threat or a giant hoax, I think we can all agree that preserving the wildlife, beauty, resources and health of this planet is a good thing. While it’s true that “Earth Day” should really be everyday, at least we’ve got a day like this that gives a reason to bring these issues to the forefront. So with that in mind I’d like to offer a few easy tips you can take with you in your every day lives that, if we all work together, will make a big difference in the health of our planet.
Is it possible that Lars Ulrich is such a douche chill that he won’t even put on his own socks? I mean, we know that the midget is a drummer with absolutely no relationship to his own feet (rimshot!), but I assumed he would, at the very least, have some desire to give the appearance of being above the age of three. But not so, says Contact Music:
The US heavy metal drummer is so demanding, he even likes to have a member of road crew put his socks on for him, according to the band’s singer, James Hetfield.
Speaking no Norwegian TV, James – who is joined in the band by Lars, bassist Rob Trujilo and guitarist Kirk Hamett – said: “For high maintenance and demanding it’s a tie for first place between Lars and Kirk.
“They need what they need, ‘Oh – my shoelaces are the wrong colour’, or, you know. It’s different, we all operate differently.
“I feel better when people are away from me and I can get into my own space; then Lars – he likes people plugging in his earphones, putting his socks on, all of this stuff.”
It’s good to be in the AC/DC business. This week, the band released AC/DC: Iron Man 2, a tie-in with next month’s blockbuster popcorn flick that’s really just a greatest hits package. There isn’t a single new song, or even a new recording of an old song, on the thing. It’s just some of the band’s most famous tunes with Iron Man and War Machine on the cover.
And it’s apparently on track to sell somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 copies in its first week of release. That seems like an insane number for an album with nothing new to offer. Are all of the people who bought this album kids who are just getting into AC/DC and found purchasing the collection to be cheaper than delving into the band’s discography? I might have believed this to be the case ten years ago, but today’s kids are way too savvy for that, aren’t they? They don’t really seem to care about album art, let alone a promo pic that’s readily available all over the internet; they’d just illegally download the tracks (AC/DC have yet to make their catalog available via iTunes) and make their own comp. So I have to think that the band’s older fans are the people buying this album in droves. To repeat: old people are running out and buying a bunch of songs they already own. WHY? Are they too lazy to rip all the songs and just make a mix? Do they not understand how to burn a CD (if people are still buying CDs I’m going to assume that they’re still burning them)? Or are they such loyal completists that they’ll sink money into anything with the AC/DC logo on it ? I’m not knocking AC/DC – I love their music, and good for them for once again being the richest dudes on the planet – but I really do find this to be a mystery.
While you ponder that, watch the below mash-up of AC/DC, Iron Man, and Dirty Dancing. The editing is kinda sloppy and obviously the special effects aren’t theatrical-release grade, but it’s still kinda funny.
The Iron Man 2 video game, which comes out May 4, which feature a lot more metal, with songs by Meshuggah, Soilwork, and a new Lamb of God track, “Hit the Wall.” You can watch a clip about the making of “Hit the Wall” after the jump.
When we announced the Summer Slaughter 2010 line-up last week, Vince wrote the following:
“Summer Slaughter is by far the best metal tour of Summer 2010. Rockstar Mayhem is lame, Ozzsharonfest is surely gonna be lame, and ‘The Cool Tour’ is, uh, not cool at all save a couple of bands.”
At least one reader asked, “What the heck is the Cool Tour?” While rumors of the package trek have been floating around the net for weeks, it was only officially announced at midnight: The Cool Tour seems to be the next of what could reasonably be called “The Ozzfest Second Stage Tours” – basically mid-sized package tours that take the best part of Ozzfest (the second stage – duh) and do away with the rest. And while any tour with that many bands on it is bound to have at least a few you don’t like (this year’s Summer Slaughter being a pretty remarkable exception to that rule), I have to agree with Vince: The Cool Tour does not really seem all that cool.
Remember, friends, as you pass by
as you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, so you must be.
Prepare yourself to follow me.
—From a headstone at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California
In the early nineties, Sean and I made a record called Human with the Florida band Death. In the month prior to our recording date, Chuck Schuldiner and Steve DiGiorgio made their way down to Cynic’s rehearsal studio in Miami to tighten up the songs with us. One night, I was driving the four of us back from the Coconut Grove area, where we had stopped for dinner after rehearsal. Just as we reached the fork in the road where Ingraham Highway splits with Matheson Avenue, I saw something strange. I noticed some tiny lights blinking off in the distance through green foliage and trees. I slowed down, saying, “Those lights look weird. Do you mind if we turn around and check it out?”
I pulled a U-turn and we made our way back to the edge of the lot. We parked and walked up to find two bodies, along with motorcycle parts strewn across the grass and shrubs. We saw one helmet on the ground and were able to piece together that they must have swerved off the road and bounced off the giant oak tree that grew in the center of the enclosure. I approached the first body and saw that it was a girl with long red hair. She was lying there, twitching and unconscious, her body twisted in an awkward and unnatural way. The man, who appeared to be severely injured, started moving slightly and was trying to say something.
Steve approached him and asked, “Are you OK?”
In a hushed and pained voice, we heard the man say, “Give me my gun.”
Congrats to MetalSucks uber-Maniac Mark Moritz Rabson, who correctly identified From Beyond Death as the band from last week’s logo. Mark wins a sweet copy of copy of Suicide Silence’s “Disengage” 7″ blue vinyl. I know Mark is pretty youngish, so I hope he either has a record player, or just really, really likes looking at pretty colored vinyls.
This week we’re teaming up with the very nice people at Earache to give away a copy of At the Gates’ new DVD, The Flames of the End. This three-disc set is a must-own: the first disc consists of an incredible feature-length documentary, Under a Serpent Sun: The Story of At the Gates, which was directed by guitarist Anders Bjorler; the second disc is the band’s complete reunion performance from Wacken ‘08 (clip above); and the final disc is a whole heap of other live footage, some of it dating as far back as 1991. It’s an amazingly comprehensive package that no At the Gates fan can afford to miss.
All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner and announce his or her name next week. And while we’re on the topic of At the Gates and this awesome DVD, don’t forget to read my interview with Anders Bjorler about the making of Under a Serpent Sun!
Even though Unreadable VIP Isaac Schwarz sent me another great logo to use this week, I’m actually gonna give the guy a vacation and use a logo that was suggested by reader David Foust instead. Thanks, David! And don’t worry, Isaac, I still love you.
Good luck everyone…
-AR
Good afternoon dudes! Today I’m taking the “day after” approach instead of the “day of” approach for two specific reasons: yesterday was the Levi/Werstler takeover (which I thoroughly enjoyed) and also – as mentioned by some of you before – it makes more sense to talk about the latest episode sooner (one day) than later (seven days). For me, L O S T has been intensifying its degree of sickness tremendously the past two weeks, so hopefully all of you were pleasured by “Everybody Loves Hugo” and “The Last Recruit” as much as I was!
The past two L O S T’s have been a lot of killer and miniscule amounts of filler, the result is that much of what we’ve been wondering and waiting for has been fulfilled: we now have an explanation for the Whispers, We have an answer for the Christian Shephard apparitions, its was confirmed that John Locke was chosen because he was easiest to manipulate, the Kwon’s finally reunited, and last but not least… a human explosion!
Who the hell is that lady behind Brendon Small and why is she undressing me with her eyes?
Amongst the many fashionable celebs* our platonic life partners at Metal Injection interviewed on the Revolver Golden Gods Awards blarpet was Metalocalypse co-creator/general Dethklok mastermind Brendon Small. Mostly they make pretty typical pre-award show small talk (Small talk?), but Brendon does reveal that he’s working on a solo album. Only, it’s not really a solo album. Or any different from Dethklok. To wit, Mr. Small reveals the following:
When sludge metal gets cut with other seemingly sympathetic genres, the outcome is sometimes good (Neurosis, Cult of Luna, Isis) but often boring and generally a misfire (the bands that rip off Neurosis, Cult of Luna, and Isis). But when The Abominable Iron Sloth dropped their riff-packed, industrial-sized bucket of sludgy stoner hardcore on metalheads and metal-hangers on in ‘06, it was a deceptively simple but incredibly effective mix of Eyehategod’s strung out, bluesy assault and hardcore’s deep, (sigh) infectious grooves that one wondered why such a synthesis of the two hadn’t been nailed so adeptly in the past. After four years and a few go-arounds in the band’s revolving door lineup, The Abominable Iron Sloth have finally gotten around to releasing a followup, The Id Will Overcome. And while it’s certainly not the streamlined riff-fest that their debut was, there are still moments where the band remind you of their prowess in the business of straddling the gap between genres: The Abominable Iron Sloth are far too repugnant for the compressed, formulaic landscape of modern, mall-friendly hardcore, but are also too tangible and surprisingly catchy to inhabit the same condemned squats where sludge metal’s kingpins presumably reside. They occupy a space all their own, and when they’re doing what they do best –playing a stoner/sludge riff for the moshcore kids — they’re just as epic as their borderline-ridiculous band name may suggest.
You know him, you loathe him… it’s Stuff You Will Hate‘s Sergeant D! When he’s not busy blogging about scene bands and other stuff that you will, well, y’know, we’re hoping to be able to trick him into making this new MS column an almost-regular thing. Please give him a warm MetalSucks flame war welcome!
Put down those limited edition Hydra Head CD-Rs and pick up your atrophied testicles — the weather is nice, it’s time for some slam metal! Dinosaur metal and beard metal are very popular here on MetalSucks, but the metalscape doesn’t have to begin with Baroness and end with Behemoth.
Much like Pride’s legendary fights of 2005-2006 may never be equalled, I’m not sure we’ll ever see a slam scene as exciting, fresh, and wiggerish as when Rest In Gore, Glossectomy, Gorevent, and Disconformity surfaced. Those were the salad days, and we may never see such a vibrant micro-community of pitt riffment, but the slam train keeps on rolling, with a ton of new bands keepin’ it fuckin’ sick.
On that note, here’s what I’ve been slamming to this spring…
There are two reasons that a John 5 interview could last for days. The first is that in just more than a decade, he’s already played guitar for David Lee Roth, Rob Halford, Marilyn Manson, and now Rob Zombie, none of whom are uninteresting conversation topics. And if that got old, he could discuss what it’s like contributing songs to Filter, Garbage, Avril Lavigne, Meat Loaf, Paul Stanley, Lynyrd Skynrd, and the friggin’ Scorpions. If he still has a voice, you could next ask him about his somewhat accidental/totally awesome solo career.
The second reason is that John 5 (né John Lowery) is a total music guy. And it’s totally effortless to talk music with total music guys. You could bump into him before a show and end up blowing off the headliner just to continue a breathless discussion of Van Halen at the bar next door. I can also imagine the results if I stopped at the guitar shop on my lunch hour to find John 5 lounging against an amp: We’d innocently start comparing Rob Zombie’s band to Ozzy’s and before you know it, it’d be sundown and I would be sneaking back into the office through a window. A bus ride to the beach would be disastrous ‘cause we’d undoubtedly miss our stop by miles while merrily disputing the merits of KISS. And so on.
Sadly for me but mercifully our transcribers, my talk with John 5 last week lasted but twenty minutes. He used the word “love” a lot to genially discuss his past and present collaborators, his fifth solo album The Art of Malice (get it May 11), this year’s Mayhem tour, and the Ozzy situation last summer. After that, we just talked about Van Halen a bunch – and might’ve gone on all day. But apparently he has things to do. About a million things.
Have ya heard? Since an instrumental track of “The Obsidian Conspiracy” leaked, we’ve teamed up with Nevermore to offer one aspiring vocalist the chance to perform their own lyrics and interpretation of the song live, on stage, with Nevermore!! There are still 9 days left to enter; simply record your own version of the song on top of the instrumental track found here then upload it to YouTube as a video response to the above video by April 30th. Axl, Vince and Warrel Dane himself will choose a winner, and that winner will be flown to a Nevermore show (to be determined), all expenses paid, to perform their version live with the band!
And there’s some great news today: this contest is now open to everyone ages 18 and older! So those of you 18-20 year olds who complained about the previous 21+ age restriction… now’s your chance to show us what you’ve got. The contest is still restricted to residents of the U.S., Canada and Europe, though… so, we’re sorry, but Japanese Nevermore fans are out of luck on this one (though you should still submit a video… why not?).
Be sure to read the official rules before entering.
I mean, that is COOL, dude. I don’t even know what to say… it’s so different from any album art Soilwork have ever had before, but it just looks so bad-assed to me. Do we think there’s any chance the music is gonna have some kind of Asian influence, too, or do we think they just used said influence for the cover because it’s awesome?
This + the return of Peter Wichers = me really excited to hear this puppy. Nuclear Blast will release The Panic Broadcast on June 25 in Europe, and presumably there’ll be a Stateside release roughly around the same time.
-AR
Axl and I were listening to a couple of tracks from the new Sevendust record Cold Day Memory last night. The gist of our conversation was “It’s amazing how much of a difference one person can make in the music of this band.” That person, of course, would be Clint Lowery, and his presence — absent for the past three albums — can be felt from the very first note. What Clint adds to the songwriting and production table has been pretty well-documented but he’s also an extremely talented vocalist, and his re-introduction to Sevendust makes the vocals on the album a whole lot stronger, a return to that patented “three voice” sound. In this exclusive clip of the DVD that accompanies Cold Day Memory we get a look into the vocal recording process of all three men who sing — Clint, drummer Morgan Rose and lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon — as well as interviews with all of the band members.
Check out the interview I did with Clint a few weeks ago about his role in the recording and production process of Cold Day Memory. And of course, pick the album up; it just came out yesterday.
-VN
[This exclusive has now ended.]
The Nachtmystium/Addicts flame wars have already begun. I know this because some fans – including one reader of this site – have expressed concerns over the band’s new logo in lieu of actually having new music to criticize. I recognize that logos often tell you what kind of band you’re about to hear, but… it’s not like Nachtmystium are a new band. And concern over logo changes make me think we’re all still suffering from the PTSD caused by Load – when Metallica’s long-time logo changed, that’s when the band really started to suck. But I promise you, Nachtmystium are not about to release a Load, or pull a Cryptopsy and put out a deathcore album. So why did they get a new logo? Is it because having a pentagram and inverted crosses probably makes the stocking of their albums and merch in certain venues less likely? Or were they just tired of the old one? I honestly have no idea what the answer is, but it strikes me as a moot point. Addicts is a truly great record, and their logo could be a poop smear for all I care – in fact, their new logo does kinda look like poop smears.
If people got in a tizzy over nothing more than a little over one minute of music and some album art, then I can’t wait to see what they have to say about the actual music, which is now starting to emerge into the world. First, we have some pro-shot German television footage of the band performing the opening track from Addicts, “High on Hate.” It’s actually one of the only kinda-sorta traditionalist black metal songs on Addicts, and isn’t really all that indicative of the sound of the album. Which is not to say that it doesn’t rule, because, clearly, it does.
Meanwhile, Stereogum is giving away a free mp3 of the song “No Funeral,” which, as I noted a few weeks back, is that rarest of commodities: a metal song you can dance to. You’re either gonna hear those keyboards and think “AL-RIGHT!”, or some homophobic slur is going to pop into your brain. Either way, I’d be surprised if anyone had a mild reaction to the song. Download it here.
-AR
Not since Spinal Tap has a band had this much bottom. According to Blabbermouth, ex-Burst guitarist Jonas Rydberg has joined the Gothenburg-based band Faster Katt as a bassist. Memfis’ Mattias Engström also plays bass in the group. Two bassists? Yep.
Faster Katt is absolutely nothing like what you’d expect a band with members of Burst and Memfis to sound like. Nor is it anything like what you’d expect a band with the name Faster Katt to sound like. It’s just… uhh… weird. It sounds like a tongue-in-cheek version of Muse without guitars or keyboards but with a psychiatric patient on vocals.
I’m guessing this is a more of a goof-off project then anything, but it’s interesting to see what one of the members of Burst has been up to since that band’s demise. Not that there’s anything wrong with Faster Katt, but let’s hope for something a little more straight-forward and metal in the future.
-VN
The MetalSucks co-sponsored Evisceration Plague Tour kicked off last night in Orlando last night… and 1349 weren’t able to be there (although, at least as far as I’m aware, headliners Cannibal Corpse and support acts Skeletonwitch and Lecherous Nocturne all played without issue). According to a statement from the band, both visa issues and that pesky Icelandic volcano are to blame, but whatever the cause, it’s a bummer, ’cause 1349 put on one heckuva show. The band hopes to join the tour in progress, but, alas, can’t make any promises that this will happen.
But here’s a pretty good consolation prize: Stereogum – who are really killing it today – are streaming 1349′s new album, Demonoir, in full. I honestly haven’t had time to check it out yet, but it’s 1349, so I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that it’s full of black metal badassery. Go here to give it a whirl.
And even if, Satan forbid, 1349 don’t make it across the ocean for the Evisceration Plague Tour, well, Cannibal Corpse, Skeletonwitch, and Lecherous Nocturne are obviously still worth the cost of the ticket. Get tour dates here.
-AR
