To celebrate the release of Sick of it All’s awesome new album, Based on a True Story, we asked SOIA vocalist Lou Koller to compile the definitive list of quintessential hardcore albums. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running one entry a day from Lou’s list of the top-ten (+1) hardcore records of all time for the next couple of weeks. You can read his first installment here, his second installment here, and his third installment here, his fourth installment here, and his fifth installment here; the sixth one is after the jump…

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When it comes to pirate metal bands I’m firmly in the Alestorm camp — I just don’t find Swashbuckle to be very musically interesting, sorry — but that doesn’t mean I take the whole thing too seriously. I mean… it’s pirate metal, c’mon.

At this year’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, Johnny Orlando Jr. — father of Johnny Orlando Jr. Jr., he of the famous “Where do babies come from?” interview — interviewed Swashbuckle frontman Admiral Nobeard for Metal Injection, and the results are predictably hilarious. Nobeard talks salad and getting caught with his pants down before Orlando Jr. gets him to challenge Alestorm to a cannon fight with all the requisite trash-talk.

This is why I like metal. It’s silly. Stop being so damned grim all the time.

-VN

[This is a re-post of the original contest announcement from May 12th. -Ed.]

Swedish metal kings Dark Tranquillity have been around for a long time; the number of members that have been in other successful (and not so successful) bands — and the number of other bands with whom those bands share members — simply boggles the mind. DT are like the godfathers of Gothenburg, the lynchpin of the whole damn thing. So to celebrate our sponsorship of Dark Tranquillity’s current tour with Threat Signal and Mutiny Within (dateshere) — and their new album We Are The Void — we’re having a contest in which we’re asking you to put it all down on (e-)paper.

So here’s what you’ve got to do: come up with the best and most creative Dark Tranquility “family tree” and create some kind of image or document charting the whole thing; it can be a traditional family tree, a venn diagram, a spreadsheet, pretty much anything that shows the relationships between all the various bands and members. All roads lead to Dark Tranquility, so remember to include as much as you can (i.e. In Flames, Soilwork, Scarve, Dimension Zero, etc etc etc). Simply email your image or document to news [at] metalsucks [dot] net with DARK TRANQUILLITY FAMILY TREE as the subject.

The deadline for entry is June 1st, the final date of the U.S. tour. The winner will be rewarded handsomely with a load of DT gear: CDs, special editions, DVDs, posters, shirts, basically anything the band and Century Media can find. This one should be a lot of fun for you Wikinerds, so let’s see what you’ve got. Good luck!

Click to enlarge… this might actually be more interesting than the site discussed below.

Here’s a marginally entertaining way to waste time at work.

You know that game “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?” I’ll assume you do, lest I think I even less of you than I do already.

So. A MetalSucks Maniac who asked to be identified only as “Bob” found this website, 6 Degrees of Black Sabbath. I don’t know why they chose Black Sabbath for their moniker, since the site is in no way specific to Sabbath; the site will basically connect any two artists you like in as few steps as possible – although there seems to be some lapses in its education. I tried to connect Guns N’ Roses to Iwrestledabearonce, and the site didn’t know who Iwrestledabearonce are. Or Brokencyde. Or Hollywood Undead. The site was, however, able to connect Cannibal Corpse to Ian & Sylvia in fourteen steps. Hm.

ANYWAY, as an example, here’s one Bob did, connecting The Acacia Strain to Ke$ha in seventeen steps. I’m sure the site will also help some of you cheat at our “Dark Tranquillity Family Tree” contest. Or, at the very least, help you procrastinate.

-AR

We’ve gotten a number of emails over the years about Australian heavy drum and bass group Pendulum arguing that they’re “metal,” or at the very least worth seeing live. And having finally seen the band live in New York last Summer I can say with certainty that both things are true. Though they’re a drum and bass band at heart, they are definitely a band — as in, lotsa guys up there on stage playing the music live as opposed to just a DJ and an MC or something — and they certainly incorporate elements of metal into their explosive, mind-blowing live show. They also covered “Master of Puppets,” a nod to their metal roots.

In the run-up to the new Pendulum record Immersion we’ve gotten a ton of emails that the record contains a a collabo with In Flames. In the metal world, seeing a “featuring” credit in a song-title is pretty rare — and yeah, In Flames recent output hasn’t been all that — but still, I was more than a little curious to hear this collaboration. Until now we’ve only gotten to see crappy live footage or we’ve been sent dead links, but finally, here it is: “Self vs. Self.” And it sounds more or less exactly like you’d expect — an In Flames song in all its dual-lead guitar harmony and Anders screaming glory — on top of a mild drum and bass backdrop. It’s pretty cool, and though I’m sure the rest of Immersion sounds nothing like this I’m still interested in checking it out.

-VN

Thanks: Raezzer

I don’t know about you, but I am PISSED OFF about this oil spill. It’s been a month and British Petroleum has done a pretty lousy job (certainly P.R.-wise) of containing the problem, the impact of which now stretches 150 miles from Alabama to Louisiana. You don’t have to be a Phish-lovin’ environmentalist to appreciate how fucked this situation is.

If, like me, you’re frustrated that we can’t do anything to stop this other than pressure the Obama administration to take some harsh fucking measures towards those fucking fucks at BP–and maybe take alternative energy seriously–you might want to do your part in supporting this really cool benefit show meant to support the victims of this catastrophe. Awesome noise rock weirdos Zs and Child Abuse are at the top of this June 2nd bill at D.I.Y. Brooklyn venue Shea Stadium, with sets by Walter Weasel’s Cellular Chaos and acclaimed industrial/experimental act Controlled_Bleeding. All proceeds go to the Greater New Orleans Foundation, “one of the oldest and largest philanthropic organizations in the region.” For more information on what this organization is doing in response to the oil spill, visit their site.

Though these days I spend most of my time on this site writing about hardcore, I haven’t forgotten about all the weird, wonderful noise rock that I used to cover consistently on this site. So for those of you who have been missing that coverage, I’m hoping you’ll be just as excited about this upcoming show as I am.

-GS

-AR

Despite what their name might suggest, This Will Destroy You are by no means a metal band. But I first read about them in Decibel and have subsequently fallen in love with them, so I’m taking a cue from Albert Mudrian and company and writing about them anyway.

So. Like I said – not at all metal. They make quiet (no pun intended), achingly beautiful, and, at least to my way of hearing them, often incredibly depressing music – but, like, depressing in the best possible way. You know how sometimes you hear a piece of music and you’re like, “How is it that random sounds artfully pieced together can trigger such emotions within me?” Pretty much everything I’ve ever heard by TWDY is that way. These dudes are magic. (Also not hurting my ardor for them: they write great songs to vaporize to.)

I’ve yet to see these dudes live, but it looks like I’ll get to remedy that little problem in the coming weeks – Lambgoat tells me they’re heading out on tour. Now, the risk with a band like this is always that their live show will be really boring, but I’m optimistic in this instance because, well, like I said, I really, really like this band.

Complete list of dates after the jump.

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A couple of weeks ago we got word that Scott Hull was putting together a second edition of This Comp Kills Fascists; that news alone was enough to make us excited, because a) we loved Comp volume one, and b) we’ll spend money on pretty much anything that has the words “Scott Hull” on it. (Pretty much anything. There are obviously exceptions.)

Now a complete list of bands that Hull has selected to appear on the comp has been released – although not a track list. I just think that’s worth mentioning because with bands like these, the songs tend to be pretty short, and on the last comp, all the bands got multiple songs – so if you look at this list and think “Gee, that’s it?”, well, it’s safe to assume that there will still be plenty of music to be had here.

Maybe even more importantly – since I don’t think this line-up is as overtly impressive as the one for Comp. 1 (which had Brutal Truth and Insect Warfare and some other “flashier” bands, at least inasmuch as there’s such a thing as a flashy grind band) – there’s now a preview page for the album, which is currently streaming tracks by Despise You, Apartment 213, Owen Hart, and Idiot’s Parade. So if you look at this list and you’re all, “Fuck are these dudes?,” well, head over there to hear some awesome awesomeness.

List of the included bands after the jump. And because I’m a swell fella, I’ve included MySpace links for all of them, so you can check ‘em out now if you’re not already familiar with them.

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Howard Jones missed the last KSE tour because…

HE WAS KIDNAPPED BY ALIENS WHILE ON A FISHING TRIP!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In all seriousness, though, I love this video, and here’s why:

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Examiner.com is reporting that Slipknot bassist Paul Gray, aka #2, was found dead by a hotel worker in Des Moines, IA this morning. He was 38.

According to Examiner.com, “Paul had a darker side to his life, dealing with drugs and alcohol abuse, and then getting married and expecting a child with his wife, Brenna, later this year.” No cause of death has been determined as of yet.

R.I.P. Paul. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on and personal experiences with Paul in the comments section below.

- Everyone at MetalSucks

“But then our A&R guy got canned and no one at the label cared about us anymore,” goes the old tried-and-true saying about great bands being lost in the record label shuffle.

But what about when the A&R guy, marketing guy, label founder and owner are all the same dude? And what happens when he leaves voluntarily? And your band isn’t even “great” to begin with?

What happens is that you’re staring a giant shitstorm in the face and your band is called 36 Crazyfists.

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“Journalism” (as opposed to the hack variety we peddle on this site) is a funny thing; you’re supposed to be, like, non-biased and stuff. Which is why the first paragraph from a Noisecreep post this afternoon about recent Century Media signees Vampires Everywhere written by the usually rock-solid Revolver and Decibel scribe Jon Wiederhorn gave cause for quite a chuckle:

In the land of ‘True Blood’ and ‘Twilight,’ the vampire reigns supreme, which helps explain the appeal of Los Angeles sextet Vampires Everywhere! among today’s youth. The creatures of the night play an ultra-catchy hybrid of goth, metalcore and pop that sinks its teeth deeper and deeper the more the listener is exposed to it.

You know and I know, and I know that you know, and you know that I know you know… that this band is absolute donkey scrotum. Anytime you’ve got to qualify a band’s appeal by naming qualities that “help explain” it, well, it’s pretty clear that you — and any human being with sane taste — think they suck harder than the way I got sucked into 6 seasons of L O S T only to have it all explained away by pseudo-religion.

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Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier is no longer the only prominent metal musician who advocates taking to the seas to help protect our underwater animal friends. The lads in Dillinger Escape Plan got all cuddly with their Angels for Animals campaign in 2008 and now they’ve joined up with PETA2 once again, this time to protest the clubbing of baby seals in Canada.

Yes, clubbing baby seals is not only a euphamism for praying on someone who’s helpless but also apparently a thriving industry in Canada, where last year alone the government allowed 75,000 baby seals to be clubbed to death by seal hunters. The below video is pretty gruesome, and it makes me wonder what excuse the Canadian government could possibly come up with to defend this arcane practice, the spoils of which have been banned in the U.S. and U.K.; “it’s an important part of the economy”? “it’s a long-standing tradition”? “baby seals are evil and deserve to die”? I haven’t the foggiest.

Though you’d be right to question what this has got to do with metal, it doesn’t really matter; Dillinger Escape Plan are trying to spread the word and they’re using their fame and place in the metal scene to do so. I’m all for that. Read more about how you can get involved here.

-VN

Canada’s Shame

It’s been a celebratory month of self-congratulatory pats on the back here at the MS Mansion; Decibel name-checked “Sumeriancore” in a full-page feature on Veil of Maya and Sumerian Records co-owner / ex-Reflux vocalist / Sumeriancore creator Ash Avildsen acknowledged the term in an interview with AP.* Next in our sites: Rolling Stone.

As for those dudes at The Number of the Blog, well, they were so enamored of the term from the get-go that they created their very own regularly recurring Sumeriancore Sunday column. And their latest featurette spotlights a band called I, Your Liege who hail from our very backyard in New York City; why we haven’t heard of this band yet is a mystery to me. But I’m thankful for the opportunity to discover them, ’cause I, Your Liege are pretty good; their brand of Sumeriancore utilizes atmospherics and non-traditional song structures instead of an over-reliance on breakdowns and shred (though the band members have got plenty of chops and certainly utilize both in limited measures). Think: more Conducting From the Grave, less Born of Osiris… with the sonic texturing of Shels.

It’s good stuff, and you should check ‘em out. Download their entire debut EP for free here.

-VN

*Although his crusade to get kids to start buying CDs en masse again is a total head-scratcher… especially for a label whose target demo is so adept at piracy.

Half-assed appropriations of black metal imagery can join ironic facial hair, fixies, and rapist glasses on the list of tiresome, worn out memes that hipsters keep trotting out long after they’ve worn out whatever welcome they had (see also the recent Reign In Blonde post on this subject). For most of us, the novelty of black metal wore off sometime in the mid-90s, but apparently it’s still fresh for Goldfrapp, the latest coked-up assholes to pat themselves on the back for discovering that corpsepaint is ridiculous.

To underscore exactly how late to the party these smug dickholes are, here are a few other things that happened in 1994 (the year Varg Vikernes was convicted of murder and put Scandanavian black metal on the map):

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According to Metal Injection, the long-rumored Mikael Akerfeldt / Steven Wilson / Mike Portnoy collaboration is finally underway, sure to cause prog fanboys the world over to immediately begin fapping at their keyboards. According to an interview in Chordstruck Magazine, Wilson — who worked with Opeth on Blackwater Park — has finally begun writing material with Akerfeldt after years of speculation, and the duo reportedly has about 15 minutes of music put to paper.

The most interesting part of the interview is Mike Portnoy’s vocal concern that the amount of Internet hype already generated will make it impossible for this all-star trio to deliver anything that could possibly live up to expectations: “…people start discussing and discussing and discussing and dissecting and anticipating…[building] up such a level of hype and expectation in their head that it’s impossible to ever satisfy.” He’s not wrong and we’re certainly not helping the matter, but come on, how can any self respecting prog metal fan not get uber boner-fied about the matching of three of the genre’s all-time greats?

We wait with baited breath.

-VN

I don’t really know Brazil’s Korzus all that well, even though they’ve been around forever and have some loose ties to Sepultura. But I sat down to watch their new video, for “Truth,” and at first I was all, “Oh, a generic Slayer riff. I can get behind that.” It sounded just evil enough for me to ignore the fact that, clearly, 8,976 other bands have already written this song.

And then the vocals kicked in.

Like I said, Korzus have been around forever, and I’m sure plenty of people love their singer, Marcello Pompeu. But I keep wondering what this song would sound like with someone other than Grover handling the vocals. Thoughts?

-AR

You’d think a song called “Slave New World” would probably have some pretty depressing lyrics, and Sepultura’s classic does, by and large, deal with a lot of nasty shit – “You censor what we breathe,” “senseless violence all around,” that kinda Hallmark stuff – but, like a lot of great metal songs, it also features a hopeful note: “We’re not slaves, we’re free.” That’s a confident, cathartic declaration right there.

So I guess it makes sense that Trivium’s video for their cover of the song is pretty much just all about having fun. No need for it to be all doom n’ gloom, right? Trivium aren’t slaves! They’re free!

Of course, it’s also possible that I’m just over-thinking any “meaning” behind the video, and that I should just shut up and enjoy it. I mean, I never over-think shit… right?

-AR