And, I mean, they’re not wrong — we did, in fact, report the mid-tour (well, after only one date) departure of bassist Nathaniel Carter before anyone else did thanks to our army of sleuthing tipsters. Check out the above video interview from Aux.tv conducted during Arsis’ MetalSucks-sponsored Facemelter Tour with Dying Fetus in which they name-check your favorite metal gossip site.

For whatever reason I really haven’t listened to Arsis’ latest album Starve for the Devil all that much since it came out, which is too bad, because it really is good. I don’t love it as much as I did its predecessor We Are the Nightmare, but like vocalist/guitarist/genuisman James Malone says in this interviewit’s just as technical as Nightmare but it’s more song-focused. And Malone most certainly lets his inner hair metal fan shine brightly: “Skid Row with blast beats.” I love that description… so true!

-VN

Thanks: Lauren Vega

A reader who wishes only to be known as “Chew” sent an e-mail with the subject line, “My awesome cover of a Devil Wears Prada song.”

So, needless to say, I was intrigued. Either Chew doesn’t read MetalSucks and therefore doesn’t understand how much we loathe TDWP, or else he was being a sarcastic asshole. Which I can certainly appreciate.

So I opened the e-mail, and the message read, “you should post this, its fucking awesome and great.” And contained a link to the below video.

I’m still not sure if this dude was being sarcastic or not.

-AR

Mantric’s The Descent is really one of the better records to come out so far in 2010. Featuring three ex-members of Extol, The Descent is a whirlwind of metallic soundscapes, NeurIsis post rock, brute force and gentle jazzy psychedelia, rolled up into a modern progressive shell that pushes the outer limits of what is considered metal in 2010. We streamed the record when it came out this Spring, and through a few other posts over the months I can only hope I’ve given the band the exposure they need to reach the ears of you, the potential adoring listener.

Guitarist Ole Halvard Sveen hopes so too. He emailed us to thank us for the coverage we’ve given the band, we got to chatting back and forth, and bang! zip! boom! we ended up with this interview. Click through to read Olehalvard take on the split of Extol, the decision to form Mantric as a new project contain three of the same members, the band’s writing process, the album’s artwork and what lies ahead for the band.

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That’s right! Vince is finally popping his livecast cherry! Tune in to hear your two favorite idiots blabbering on about who the fuck knows what.

You can even call-in and talk to us – the number is 646-929-1357. If you’ve ever wanted to corner these two simultaneously, well, here’s your shot!

Listen to the brilliant minds that created MetalSucks get high and make asses of themselves here at 8 pm eastern/7 pm central. Should be a blast.

I like it when new bands draw influences from various odd places across the metal spectrum and combine them into something that works just right, despite the seemingly cobbled together musical blueprint. In the case of Lawnguyland, NY’s Ultrageist, these exceptionally talented musicians draw from bands as all over the map as Protest the Hero, Horse the Band and The Red Chord and end up with an amalgam of progressive metal and hardcore, at times crushing and at times jazzy, with hints of electronica scattered throughout. If the next generation of metal bands is as good as finding new, creative ways to write metal songs as Ultrageist, the kids are gonna be alright.

I’ve yet to see these guys play live, but I’ve got a feeling they bring a great show. We’ll let you know next time they leave Vinnie Boombatz and his hair-gel Guido brigade behind and venture into the big city. Check ‘em out on MySpace.

-VN

I’m seriously asking, ’cause now I can’t remember. I seem to recall “Get Inside” being like a more radio-friendly version of Slipknot (that was before Slipknot were actually fairly radio friendly), but you would definitely call it metal — I mean, you’d never hear that song and think “Gee, this band should tour with Nickelback.” Which is what their latest single, “Say You’ll Haunt Me,” makes me think.

Stone Sour’s latest, Audio Secrecy, comes out September 7 on Roadrunner.

-AR

Porno grind is a ridiculous genre, and unless you consider a band like Anal Cunt pornogrind (and you really shouldn’t), it’s a genre which has never, at least as far as my experience goes, yielded any bands that are any good — save for one: Lake Bukkake, who might be the single greatest band ever to destroy the NYC underground (and then completely drop off the face of the planet).

And I can’t say that Bear Party — which reader Bassquatch, who recommended them, classifies as “Queercore” — are really a good band. However, I do think they deserve some credit for being an openly gay band in a disappointingly homophobic community. (Especially disappointing when you consider that no style of music is more homoerotic than metal. Sorry, tough guys.)

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Video from the show in question by unartig

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mosh pit at Union Pool before — there might have been one at the Unsane show earlier this year, but I was so far back in the tiny room that I couldn’t see shit. Generally speaking, though, the small space combined with the bar’s proximity to hipster territory (zero feet, zero inches) means that the polite head bob is usually the preferred expression of appreciation. Which is fine with me, really. I’m an old man. My back hurts. It’s late and I’m tired. I need a mosh pit like I need a new Kill Your Ex album, y’know?

But there were pits a-plenty last night. In fact, all three of these excellent bands got the place moving to some extent or another (with a little help from a trio of zealous female fans). And even the cranky gramps in me couldn’t get too irritated about that; all three bands killed, and deserved every ounce of love the crowd showed them. (“I’m not used to seeing you happy,” Vince told me. “Aren’t you supposed to be angry about something?”)

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Oh, sure. A whole slew of awesome bands seem to be “taking a break” (see: Coalesce, Isis, and Buried Inside — and that’s just since May), but fucking Disturbed will live on forever and ever.

Here’s the statement from the band:

“So, after twelve years of being a band, countless tours around the world and records being released, we have made the decision to take some time to explore other interests in our lives. We’ve all reached a point where we feel like we need to take a step back from the band and pursue other things. PTW has been an all encompassing, full-time thing for such a long period that this isn’t an easy thing to do. We want to thank everyone who has supported us in anyway, whether it be buying a record or a shirt, to the occasional robbery from time to time. Once again, thanks for everything and we couldn’t have done any of this without you.”

So this is one of those non-breakup breakups, which still hurts as bad. Like when your ex told you “It’s not you, it’s me.” Yeah, well, whomever the fuck it is, I don’t get to see you naked anymore, and that hurts me. Hurts me deep inside.

Mourn in the comments section.

-AR

[via Gun Shy Assassin]

I know I just railed against expensive music videos in a rant last week. I stand by my assertion that music videos now serve a different purpose than they once did, and as such shouldn’t be held to the same standards. I’m a-ok with the band-in-a-warehouse thing these days. Really, I am. It seems silly to spend tons of money on a lavish music video when there’s little chance of earning it back and there are other, cheaper, better ways to promote a band. But the music video definitely still serves a useful, albeit different, function in the overall music marketing canon.

But that only applies to standard music videos. Pendulum’s new video for “Salt in the Wounds” is a completely different ballgame.

To my knowledge, no one’s ever made an interactive 360-degree music video before. Click and drag on the moving image in Pendulum’s new video to rotate the view of the camera to your liking, and zoom in or out to look at different parts of each scene. What a totally fun and new way to make a music video and directly involve the watcher. Since the technology is new (to a music video, anyway) and the idea novel, it’s also a great way to rope in potential new fans. A great use of marketing money, IMO.

Check out the video here. Thanks to Number of the Blog for tipping us off to it.

-VN

PS: If you’re questioning the relevance of Pendulum on a metal blog, do a quick site search.

Photo courtesy Hardcore Shutterbug, via Brooklyn Vegan

Well, here’s an idea so delightfully silly I’m shocked no one thought of it sooner: Phil Freeman has interviewed Eddie for Cleveland Scene. Yes, Eddie. Yes, the decaying corpse zombie that’s been Iron Maiden’s mascot for thirty years. And, yes, he’s a fictional character — but that hasn’t stopped Nathan Explosion or Andrew W.K. from giving interviews, so whatever.

Here’s an excerpt that tickled me:

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Not that anyone ever really asked for a djentified version of Soilwork, but Serbian (!) band TransakT.Inc. have taken it upon themselves to deliver us one. Or, I should say, Serbian man Petar Alargic has taken it upon himself, as TransakT.Inc. is a one-man project like so many “bands” in this genre. And so too like so many bands in this genre, their album is available completely for free.

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We’ll never get the trailer for The Expendables that we deserve — y’know, the one with “War Ensemble” in it — but I’ll definitely settle for one with Andrew W.K.’s “I Get Wet.” (The song selection seems especially appropriate since, as the cover for the album of the same name suggests, the liquid in question is not water.) This isn’t an official trailer  (it was made by The Monocular Group, whomever that is), but it is way better than the actual trailers for the film. Sure, it’s pretty misogynistic — Devin Faraci at C.H.U.D. points out that “about 90% of mainstream movies are geared towards men,” so the whole conceit of this thing is like “the male moviegoer version of those white middle class people who think the world’s against them.” But it’s still kinda funny.

-AR

Amidst all this talk of Joey Belladonna bending over and taking it from Anthrax, it’s been easy to lose site of the fact that Armored Saint released a pretty decent comeback album this year in La Raza. I was never as big of a Saint fan as I was of Anthrax, but there’s been enough cross-polination between the members that the presence of Bush’s voice on top of La Raza‘s already good songs almost makes it sound as if you’re listening to a Bush-era Anthrax record… almost. “Little Monkey” is my favorite track on the album and in my opinion the most Anthrax-y, both musically and lyrically. Check it out above and pick up La Raza here from Metal Blade if you like.

I also completely forgot about John Bush’s guest appearance on the Nuclear Blast All-Stars Out of the Dark project in 2007 helmed by ex-[at the time]-Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers. The album was incredibly solid through and through, and “Paper Trail” was one of the bestest songs on it. I find it fascinating that Wichers took on the task of writing a more “rock” oriented song, did a fantastic job with it, and how Bush’s voice really brought it home.

What can I say… I love John Bush’s voice. Enjoysies.

-VN

Andy Rehfeldt strikes again!!! The latest from Rehfeldt — a.k.a. “The dude responsible for the jazzercised Lamb of God, the Disneyfied Cannibal Corpse, and metallicized Louis Armstrong videos — is a death metal version of Conway Twitty’s “I See The Want To In Your Eyes.” As always, the syncing is near perfect (The Deciblog — where I first saw this video — notes that guitars and drums don’t match), and is consequently sure to induce giggles amongst bored and stoned metalheads everywhere. Thus… enjoy!

-AR

Welcome to the third episode of Cooking Contaminated, the brand new heavy metal cooking show brought to you by MetalSucks and your host, Eli Shaika. This episode features a special crab cake recipe concocted by guest shredder/cooker Jason Netherton of Misery Index, with a side of roasted corn and Creole melted butter sauce! Those juicy morsels of delicious sea goodness look soooo good. Jason is welcome over to the MS Mansion to cook for us any time he’d like. I hear there’s some good bird-watching to be done from our roof… hmmm….

After the jump you’ll find a list of ingredients so you can follow along at home. Also be sure to check out Episode 1 with vocalist Mike Hrubovcak of Monstrosity and his brother, bassist JJ Hrubovcak of Hate Eternal, and Episode 2 with Athon and James from Black Tusk.

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Vince got to check out NYC doomsters Moth Eater live last year, and he had nothing but excellent things to say about the show, calling the band “a wicked brew of southern soul and northern fury” that “combines sludgy, doom riffs with a Clutch-y blues rawk vibe and heavy, bellowed hardcore vocals.” And if that doesn’t immediately make you wanna check ‘em out, then I don’t think we can be pals.

Of course, you could give Moth Eater a listen on their MySpace page — but you could also head over to LoudTrax, who not only have an interview with vocalist John Alaia and bassist (and author of the upcoming metal-themed cookbook Mosh Potatoes) Steve “Buckshot” Seabury, but are giving away a FREE mp3 of “Aftermath,” a track off of ME’s new four-song EP, The Thunder God of Monster Island. Which, it’s worth mentioning, is a friggin’ awesome name for a record.

Go here to read the interview and download the track — it crushes. Or, you can just take our word for it that this band rips and download the entire EP; it’ll cost you a whopping four bucks, and it’s totally worth it.

-AR

How ’bout that World Cup loss to Spain, eh? Too bad for the Dutch.

-VN

Thanks: LETTHEDEATHMETALFLOW

As many of you know, I am the definitive authority on 90s power violence (if you don’t believe me, read this and weep). And no discussion of that topic would be complete without mentioning the legendary Black Army Jacket, one of the few bands in the genre who represented the East Coast. Aside from being power violence icons, they’re also genuinely nice dudes — a rarity in a scene often defined by uptight, stuck-up PC dickholes. Bassist Carlos Ramirez was kind enough to answer some of my stupid questions about their upcoming reunion shows, the bad old days of the 90s, and why hair metal is great.

Buy tickets to the NYC show here

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