Holy shit, is it seriously August already? It’s gonna start getting cold soon. Motherfucker. Here’s what we did this week when we should have been enjoying the sunshine and fresh air:

• We’re streaming Dementia/Dyslexia, the Metal Blade debut of Fleshwrought,  a new project from Animosity/Animals as Leaders’ Navene Koperweis and Job for a Cowboy’s Jonny Davy.
• We debuted an EPK for Iron Thrones’ The Wretched Sun.
• We also debuted “Fear, Emptiness, Decibel,” a new column from the editors of our favorite metal rag.
• We had a little beard on beard action with Andy Williams from Every Time I Die and Liam Wilson from The Dillinger Escape Plan. We also spoke to Avenged Sevenfold’s Johnny Christ, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Jeff Tuttle and Pathology’s Dave Astor.
• We checked out the latest releases from Chimaira and Decrepit Birth.
• We schooled Korn’s Jonathan Davis on the BP Oil Spill.
• We questioned the sincerity of Max Cavalera’s claim that his collaboration with Fred Durst is all Ross Robinson’s fault.
• We questioned Glenn Danzig’s sanity. Again.
• We got pissy that Eddie’s not on the cover of the new Maiden album.
• We got boners watching 72 minutes of pro-shot Gojira footage.
• We did not get boners looking at Emmure noodz.
• We found the best bass player in the history of forever-ever-ever.

We’ll be hanging out at the Summer Slaughter show this Sunday here in NYC; if you spot us, please bring us presents. We like presents. Thanks.

-AR

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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

Inspired by Ozzy Osbourne’s recent declaration that Bruce Dickinson “needs a fuckin’ psychiatrist,” this week we decided to ask our writers:

WITH WHOM DO YOU SIDE IN THE NEWLY RE-HEATED OSBOURNES VS. DICKINSON FEUD?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

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Just in time for us to hit up Summer Slaughter on Sunday, Noisecreep has debuted the video for “Resonance,” from Decrepit Birth’s new Nuclear Blast release, Polarity (read Sammy O’Hagar’s glowing review here). And it’s a pretty sweet video. I think the editing could use a little more energy, but I like how it’s show. Also, the song crushes.

Like I just implied, Decrepit Birth are currently on the MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour, along with Decapitated, The Red Chord, The Faceless, All Shall Perish, Veil of Maya, Cephalic Carnage, Animals as Leaders, Vital Remains, and Carnifex. Get dates and details here.

-AR

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Jordan, drummer of San Francisco grind outfit Morning Ablaze, assures us that his band’s “ultimate goal in this musical life” is to “get completely crapped on by you guys,” and that watching their new music video for “Set to Destroy” will only waste 1:26 of our lives.

Unfortunately, Jordan loses on two counts: 1) this video and song are pretty awesome, and 2) the actual song is only like 0:30 long. Way to go, Jordan. For a bunch of self-professed lovers of Del Taco and vintage European porn you’d think these guys would know better!

-VN

Yeah I know that Vince already wrote about Armored Saint today, but it’s just about August, which means it’s just about dead, news-wise. And really, who’s gonna complain about too much Armored Saint? That’s like complaining about getting too many blowjobs.

So. Earlier today, SMN debuted Armored Saint’s video for “Left Hook From Right Field,” from La Raza, most recent release from Metal Blade. And it’s not like an amazing video or anything, but it is a really good song, and anything that combines Hasids with boxing can’t be all bad, right?

-AR

I’d never heard of Nevershoutnever before this morning, and now that I’ve seen their music video, I realize that I could have gone the rest of my life without ever hearing of them.

Even by pre-teen girl standards, that strikes me as pretty abhorrent, and I’m surprised that fundamentalists have yet to accuse it of encouraging rampant lesbianism in America’s youth.

Why am I even discussing this? ‘Cause the kid from Nevershoutnever now has a metal project, Eatmewhileimhot!, and Metal Insider is giving away their song “xBurritox.”

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As someone who came up in the 90s West Coast hardcore scene (see my post “5 Things I Miss About 90s Hardcore” for some especially ridiculous memories), I first came across Dave Astor when he was playing drums for Locust. I saw them back in 1995 with Man Is The Bastard at the Velvet Elvis in Seattle, and they blew me away. Back then, it was almost unheard of for hardcore kids with short hair to play blast beats, and while I kind of lost interest in them when they became The Locust, got scene hair and just generally became completely lame, they were definitely ahead of their time. Dave apparently agreed with me, because he quit to join the excellent Cattle Decapitation, then moved on to his current band Pathology.

Their new album on Victory just dropped, and it’s honestly one of the best straight-up, no-frills death metal records I’ve heard in a long time. With veterans like Dave and Matti Way (Disgorge, Liturgy, Cinerary) on board, their experience and craftsmanship really comes through. I know that 99% of MS readers will write it off because I like it, but this is one of the rare instances where they might actually be missing out on something they’d enjoy. It’s by far their best, combining melodic parts that somehow aren’t retarded with brutal slamz that will have you moshing around your room in seconds.

Dave is a man of few words, so I can’t say this is the most in-depth interview I’ve ever done, but he’s real nice and the Pathology record slaps, so pick it up on iTunes ASAP!

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I hate to sound like Bob Lefsetz, but you can’t manufacture fan endorsements. A fan endorsement — a.k.a. “word of mouth” — is probably the best advertising your product can get. The fastest way anyone will ever check out a band is when their friend comes them and says, “Yo, have you heard the new Such and Such record? It fucking rips, dude!”

And people are stupid, but they’re not that stupid. If, for example, I see a tweet from Gary Suarez where he says “Just downloaded the new Oceano, it rocks! DL here,” and then includes a link to the download, well, I know that Gary didn’t write that tweet. I know it’s something he had to do to download that song. I know this in part because I know Gary’s “voice,” and that ain’t it, but I also know because all official Gary Suarez tweets end with the hash tag “#srsly.” But the record label doesn’t know that, and they can’t make that adjustment to their stupid auto-tweet, so the whole thing just seems like a lame ploy. Which it is.

So. Scars on Broadway are offering their fans (all ten of ‘em!) a free download of their new song, “Fucking,” through one of these very programs whereby fans have to help the band spam other people, and I’m not even gonna give you the details, ’cause fuck that shit. Fuck it right in the ear. Besides, Blabbermouth posted the song, and there’s an embed code, so you can just listen to it below.

It sucks anyway. I’ve enjoyed some SOB in the past, but this just sounds like a lame band from Long Island trying to sound like System of a Down. Yech.

-AR

I’ve never been that into The Acacia Strain. Too breakdowny for my personal tastes. But I have to say, I’m really digging their new album Wormwood; it’s got a good balance between technicality, songwriting, and yeah, breakdowns. It’s not as much of a mind-fuck / as creative as The Red Chord’s latest, but it’s good. Suarez is gonna review it sometime soon, so until then you’ll have to take my word for it. The ripping track “Jonestown” is streaming on their MySpace for those interested parties.

MS reader Matt Millen filmed an entire Acacia Strain set last year when they came through his hometown of Ottawa with Despised Icon, and he was kind enough to send us links to his handiwork; the video and audio quality are great, so all you TAS fans out there oughtta really enjoy this.

The first bit is below and the rest after the jump.

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Were we expecting a new Devin Townsend release this year? I dunno. We got two last year, so to ask for more this year is probably greedy. And, honestly, I’m still listening to Addicted and Ki a lot right now. So I’m not gonna cry that we apparently have to wait at least seven more months for new music from Heavy Devy. From Mr. Townsend’s Twitter feed:

Also comforting: those are just The Devin Townsend Project releases he’s talking about. We also still have Ziltoid Deux to look forward to.

Shameless plug: In case you missed it, check out the posts Devin wrote for us when he took over MetalSucks for the entire release day of Addicted. It was probably our proudest moment in MetalSucks history. Seriously, I still can’t believe that happened. Holy shit.

-AR

It’s been so long since Konami announced Metalocalypse: Dethgame that I’d completely forgotten about it. The title was supposed to be released last fall as a downloadable game via the XBOX Live Arcade and Playstation Network stores,  but now we’re quickly barreling towards this fall (scary) and we haven’t heard any updates.

Well, guess why? From IncGamers:

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“Underdogs,” filmed on the Headbanger’s Ball Hell on Wheels Tour  in October 1987 at First Ave. in Minneapolis MN. The band is totally on fire, the crowd is beyond psyched, John Bush sounds great (and has hair). Awesome video — thanks to Christopher G. Palacios for sending it in.

-VN

For last week’s photo caption contest we gave away a couple of copies of The Ocean’s Heliocentric, complete with foil-stamped cover and individual tarot cards for each song. The music itself is damn fine too, as you should already well know. Our two winners are:

• Legions: Iron and Steel: “The latest Lucha Libre midget tag team sensation – MINIMMORTAL”
• Ken: “BM X. the newest in extreme sports.”

This week we’re giving away a package of 10 CDs from independent metal label Rotting Corpse Records! This is your chance to discover some new and gnarly music from the putrid metal underground. Just come up with a funny caption to the below photo and the package shall be yours — remember to comment with a real email address (or include it with your comment if you’re using FB Connect).

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Smart, funny, insightful, and honest, Decibel is the reason we stay on the toilet even though we finished pooing a long time ago and now our legs are falling asleep; the reason we were late for your aunt’s funeral; the only reason we actually know anything about pornogrind.

We’re thrilled that the Decidudes have stooped to being our friends, and will now be writing a weekly column for us: “Fear, Emptiness, Decibel.” In this inaugural edition, managing editor Andrew Bonazelli serves as the voice of dissent against this month’s cover story/Hall of Fame entry, Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come. You can buy the September 2010 issue of Decibel now wherever fine publications are sold, or, if you’re lazy/live in the middle of fucking nowhere, order a copy here.

Greetings, MetalSuckers. I’m the managing editor/token pathetic Mets fan at Decibel. I don’t really do much here except shoehorn bukkake references into captions and refuse to review anything until Hammerhead puts out a fourth full-length, but today I’m here to flog our glorious, vaunted Hall of Fame series. This month’s installment is Refused’s The Shape of Punk to Come, which is not only the HOF, but the cover, which shows how important it is to everyone at the office but me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the scene in Friday Night Lights where the fuckhead high school jocks take the field to “New Noise” is THE APEX OF PUNK ROCK and everything, but anyone who’s seen the sanctimonious beat-off otherwise known as the Refused Are Fucking Dead DVD has to kind of reassess the merits of this album, don’t they? Or, maybe not — I mean, Vincent Gallo’s one of the most pretentious dickheads on earth, and I Celebrate The Guy’s Entire Catalog, even the one where he drives for 90 minutes, then gets blown. Anyway, let’s just say the idiosyncrasies that many Refused fans find groundbreaking are precisely what annoy the shit out of the nonbelievers.

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Exclusive beard+shlong nature noodz pic brought to you exclusively for this interview by Jessica Curreri!

Last week I conducted a very special interview I’d been looking forward to for some time: Andy Williams and Liam Wilson, two of metal’s best beards, together on one conference call with me, self proclaimed Best Beard of metal writers. With the express purpose of talking about beards exclusively.

Pure hilarity ensued. Beard stories, beard grooming tips, the love adorned upon beards by loving fans (including a blood-soaked grab by a drunk, beaten-up homeless man), all-time beard heroes, and all sorts of other assorted beard talk. Since both Every Time I Die and The Dillinger Escape Plan are currently out on Warped Tour, the guys also shared their thoughts on the “punk rock daycare” nature of Warped and talked just enough trash about purple-pant wearing “boy bands.” Plus their unexpected newfound love for The All American Rejects.

Read our beardtastic talk after the jump!

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In case the cover art for their new album, New Blood, doesn’t make it clear — The Other are a horrorpunk band. Like pretty much all horrorpunk bands, it seems pretty clear that their biggest influence is the Misfits. I mean, just look at their singer, Rod Usher:

Not even subtle, is it? They’ve even got a picture of themselves with Jerry Only on their MySpace page:

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I hit up Warped Tour yesterday to check out Fight Fair, Breathe Carolina, Of Mice & Men, and some of my other favorite Hot Topic bands, and one of the things that struck me was how much deathcore merch the kids were rocking. I think I saw like twenty teenage girls in Suicide Silence, Bring Me The Horizon or Whitechapel shirts, which was kind of weird. Wigged-out symphonic deathcore mainstays Winds of Plague were also repped heavily by the kids, including these these interesting-looking teens who I accosted:

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The MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour — a.k.a. “The Best Package Fest of the Year” — is now underway, and to celebrate, we’re teaming up with The Red Chord to give away… well, actually, we’re not 100% sure what we’re giving away yet. But the band has promised us that it will be “something cool and autographed.” And IT’S THE RED CHORD. They’re brilliant. So you can safely assume that whatever the prize ends up being, you’re gonna want one.

Here’s how it’s gonna work:

• Most nights of the tour (but not every night, ’cause it’s metal and sometimes shit happens), The Red Chord will take a picture of the crowd.
• Once a week, we’ll post those pictures here, with one person circled.
• If you’re the circled person, send an e-mail to news [at] metalsucks [dot] net with the phrase RED CHORD SUMMER SLAUGHTER PIX in the subject line. Please include a photo of yourself to prove it’s actually you. If you think the photo won’t be enough, maybe you can scan your ticket stub or something, too.
• Each circled person will be entered in a drawing to win the super-duper awesome grand prize from The Red Chord at the conclusion of the tour. And hopefully by the time we post the second round of pics next week.

And that’s it! It should go without saying that you need to live in the U.S. to win this contest, so if you’re some weirdo who flew all the way from France for this tour and you get circled, you’re shit outta luck.

And so, without further ado, the first batch of photos…

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Sometimes bands sound better on paper than they do in execution. The allure of “a combination of X with Y + brutal death metal = THE GREATEST BAND YOU WILL EVER HEAR!” is pretty impossible to dismiss at first, but once the reality sinks in — that, yes, the band combines these elements, but for no particular reason — they become easy to ignore. Decrepit Birth appear to be this kind of band, what with combining melodic death metal, brutal tech-death, and prog in equal parts. But even though their last album, Diminishing Between Worlds, occasionally tilted into the territory of riff salad, the combination felt more organic than novelty. The impressive thing was that while there was no shortage of palatable, melodic riffs, they were also alarmingly heavy.

The band’s latest, Polarity, is where all that gels. Moving beyond the “OMG!” factor of being a successful hybrid of several genres, Polarity is the sound of a band coming into its own. Decrepit Birth are way better in reality than they are on paper, which is really saying something.

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‘Cause sometimes we like it slow.

• Mobius: Dooooooown. Temmmmmpooooo. Sloooooow. Dooooooom. You get the point. Raw and crusty, down and dirty doom from the Slovak Republic. For fans of bands like Batillus and Salome. [Thanks: Hopig Santourian]
• The Osedax: Heavy, sludgy, slow as fuck doom with good production that really captures the doominess in a clear and pure way. Similar to Mouth of the Architect and Rwake, but as reader Justin X XIII put in his email to us, “more listenable.” Right on.
• Mar De Grises: These Chileans play their doom with a Northern European panache; big, epic and melodic. Think Insomnium, Swallow the Sun, etc. Stream the track “Shining Human Skin” from their new album Streams Inwards, out August 30th, courtesy of Season of Mist: “Shining Human Skin” (mp3). [Thanks: Plinio Aguilera, Brandon Mickman]

-VN