So let me see if I have this straight: Korn paid what I assume was a large sum of money to have a big crop circle made so that they could play a ninety minute concert to no fans whatsoever so that they could make a video of said fanless gig and release it on the internet for free. Wow. That’s kind of amazing. It’s an almost complete waste of resources, AND a terrific promotional tool. And I mean both of those statements sincerely.

Of course people are gonna talk about this. But it is, in pretty much every way imaginable, an insanely poor use of time and effort. I mean, I didn’t even watch the entire thing – I looked at about a minute of them playing the opening track, and then I skipped ahead to see if maybe they let some fans come by later, and then I stopped again when I saw a pretty sunset and thought “Wow, that’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in a Korn video,” and then I fast forwarded again, and now I’m writing this.

And this must have cost a fortune, right? I’d be really curious to know if it any way translates to increased album or ticket sales for Korn. Seriously. I wanna know if this incredibly bizarre and effort-filled PR stunt paid off.

-AR

When I posted about the super-awesome totally FREE Metal Blade / Good Fight / Cool Tour Sampler available at Amazon, little did I realize that the sampler’s opening track is a brand spankin’ new song by none other than our favorite American thrashy melodeathsters The Absence. Silly me, ’cause if I’d bothered to look first instead rushing to get the article up in all my excitement about the freeness/awesomeness of said sampler, I would’ve been very stoked about new Absence music and definitely would’ve let you know about it.

So, allow me to make things right: there’s new Absence music, and it’s free! It’s the title track from their upcoming album Enemy Unbound, ripping live footage of which Axl posted in May, and no surprise, the track kills. We’re very excited for Enemy Unbound, which should be out later this year. So go and download the Metal Blade Sampler now to get the new Absence track — along with songs by Bison B.C., Brain Drill, Istapp, The Ocean, Skyforger, Woe of Tyrants, Cancer Bats, Son of Aurelius and more — for the unbeatable price of free.

-VN

By the time The Anti Mother came out in 2008, a not-unsubstantial portion of fans found themselves unable to come to grips with the more accessible and, yes, catchy sound Norma Jean had taken on. It’s hard to blame them for being cynical or even angry about it. After all, the Georgia metalcore act followed the Botch-esque mathcore masterpiece O God, the Aftermath with two Ross Robinson produced records which, each having its own merits, had veered them into much safer waters. Not content to live in the shadows of Tacoma, Washington’s cult heroes, Norma Jean dreamt bigger and built an even larger following over the years. But the past was clearly on their minds, as made evident by the 2009 tour where the group played Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child – a record that only two remaining members had even played on — in its entirety. Through press releases and public tweets, Norma Jean declared their next album to be a return to the group’s roots. So then, is Meridional a fan-friendly rehash of the old days, another broken promise, or something else altogether?

Click to read more…

Everyone’s favorite vegan death metal band, Cattle Decapitation, are gonna start writing their new album at the end of this year, which is great news ’cause, well, they’re motherfucking Cattle Decapitation.

Also great news: that they’re gonna do a headlining run, “The California Blood Tour,” before they start that process. (The name is a reference to the point of origin for the bands on the tour — they’re actually playing all over North America. A little confusing, but whatever.)

ALSO great news: that they’re taking some really cool bands with them on the trek, including the Sergeant D.-beloved Devourment and Burning the Masses, as well as MetalSucks favorites Son of Aurelius. (Knights of the Abyss, who I don’t know as well as I probably should, are also on the bill; Slaughterbox and Condemned will play select dates.) This will be SOA’s first time playing outside their general West Coast vicinity (at least as far as I know), and I can’t express how excited I am to finally see them live. And with Cattle Decap! Pinch me, for I must be dreaming.

Here are dates…

Click to read more…

So last week vocalist Snowy Shaw announced that he was quitting Therion, and then a rumor started that he was joining Dimmu Borgir as a replacement for ICS Vortex. And then yesterday Therion released their own statement regarding Shaw’s departure, and, well, honestly, I didn’t even bother reading it. Why? Because a) I’m not a Therion fan, b) I can’t take a dude who calls himself “Snowy” seriously, c) Snowy had already said he was leaving the band so whatever, and d) I’m an irresponsible elitist snob. For if I had read the press release, I might have seen what SMN did — that it all but confirms Shaw’s new gig as a Dimmu Borgirian. From the statement:

Click to read more…

Because you didn’t leak it; you released it. A leak, by its very definition, is accidental. We should know.

Got it? No more press releases saying you’ve leaked a new track? Great. I’m glad we’ve had this talk.

Sincerely,
Vince Neilstein

So we saw Maiden last night. Yeah, the setlist could have been stronger, but whatever. We had a good time, hung out with some good friends, marveled at how Bruce Dickinson, who will turn 52 in August, is in better shape than pretty much anyone else at any age. And as it turns out, if you drink a few beers and smoke a joint, “El Dorado” actually seems like a pretty good song.

And now the band has released a video for the title track from their latest album, The Final Frontier. And, uh… it seems like it should be cooler than it actually is. It tells a story, and cops from everything from The Empire Strikes Back to Alien to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and while I have no idea what the budget was, it does look like it cost a lot more than most metal videos these days. But the CG Eddie looks pretty weak, and, oh yeah, even though I don’t especially dig this track (I haven’t had any beer or weed today… yet), I think that, as a rule, bands should NEVER DISRUPT THE SONG WITH SOUND EFFECTS. ‘Cause first and foremost, the video should be a promotional tool for your music… right? I dunno. When I can’t hear the song because a monster is roaring or laser guns are firing or whatever, I get irritated.

The Final Frontier comes out August 17, and we’re pretty much all gonna buy a copy anyway, so whatever. Music video schmusic video.

-AR

Reader Steven Peyton sent in a really interesting interview with Necrophagist guitarist/mainman Muhammed Suiςmez conducted at this year’s Hellfest, in which the wily Turkish-German fret master answers that burning question to which we’d all like to know the answer: when will we be getting new Necrophagist music?? It’s been almost six years already since Epitaph.

Says Suiςmez, they’re finishing it up this Summer. Hoorah! He also shares some interesting thoughts about the relationship between the band, their management, and their label (Relapse), his approach to writing new music, and what he’s been doing in-between tours all these years.

It’s a long interview, so press “play” and leave this one on in the background as you go about your regular surfing routine…

-VN

Thanks: Steven Peyton

Last week DevilDriver began to unveil a feature-length, Daniel J. Burke-directed documentary, You May Know Us from the Stage, in increments via the internet. And that seemed really cool in theory — to release it to the fans for free like that — except that part one really wasn’t that interesting. But it was basically just an introduction, and now part two, which concentrates on the band’s early days, is out, and it’s a lot more fun to watch. Sure, there’s a certain amount of the band waxing their own car, but that’s to be expected; if you like DD, the nitty gritty of it is still worth your time.

DevilDriver recently completed recording a new album with producer Mark Lewis (a.k.a. “Lark Mewis”); presumably that will be out late this year or early next year.

-AR

UPDATE: A press release clears this up for good: “The title for the new album by Norway’s highly renowned psychedelic post-black metal band ENSLAVED will be announced on the band’s MySpace page on Thursday, July 15th. 12:00CET. Release dates will also be announced.” So there ya have it.

It’s no secret that Enslaved recently recorded a new album for an expected late 2010 release. But is it possible that the band getting ready to release the album suddenly and without any prior promotion, Trent Reznor-style?

Reader Cody Daniels e-mailed us yesterday afternoon to let us know that Nuclear Blast, Enslaved’s most recent label, has left the following message on the band’s Facebook page:

And then when you head over to Enslaved’s MySpace page, there is, indeed, a countdown in progress… a countdown that will end in a little more than two days (less, depending when you’re reading this).

But it seems pretty clear to me that whomever runs Nuclear Blast USA’s Facebook page just didn’t word the message clearly — in other words, that in three days we’re going to get an announcement about the new Enslaved album, not the actual album. I think it’s a safe bet that what we’ll end up with in two days is an album title, cover art, release date, and, if we’re lucky, a stream of a new song. But I can’t say for sure; as of this writing, Nuclear Blast hasn’t responded to our request for clarification.

So I guess we’ll find out soon enough. It would be really awesome to get a new Enslaved album this week… but I’m not getting my hopes up.

-AR

We at MetalSucks are high-powered metal journalists, and we often use our clout to attract expert testimony on taco riffs and the 167/8 time signature. Even so, I am awed that Allyson B. Crawford from BringBackGlam.com has partnered with the MetalSucks L.A. desk on a hard-hitting exploration of the Ten Most Essential Glam Metal Records coming next week exclusively to MetalSucks. For real, me and Allyson make Frost/Nixon look like Rachtman/Bach as we demolish myths and mine truths about the poofiest, spandexest, must-havest hair rock records.

And there’s more! Yes, the DF/B. Crawford face-off is a mere spritz of the hairspray madness of the MetalSucks week-long spotlight on hair/glam/sleaze/crotch-metal. It starts next Monday and that gives you seven full days to go see your cousin’s boyfriend Troy for an eight ball to snort right off your screen. Oh, and to answer your first question: Yes there will be BulletBoys.

-ADF

Is it just me or is Metal Blade Records on something of a win streak lately with their young band signings? While certain labels to remain nameless seem to be venturing into either mainstreamy/emoy metalcore or seem content to sign the same old same old or hedge their bets all on one sub-genre, Metal Blade’s young band roster is extremely diversified and remarkably clunker free. Let’s take a look at the band’s they’ve signed in the past couple of years:

• Aeternam: Classic American death metal mixed with a more melodic, epic, and Euro — but decidedly dark — sense of melody. Check out the song “The Coronation of Seth” on their MySpace page — pure win.
• Allegaeon: Technical melodic death metal that our own Sammy O’Hagar seemed to like and that our own Bob Cock seems to LOVE.
• Bison B.C.: My favorite of the Mastodon-inspired psych/stoner/crust metal masses with a good bit of originality. Incredibly fun to watch live.
• Istapp: Frosty Immortal-style black metal that indulges in every cliche in the book (in a good way) and isn’t mired in shit production.
• Barn Burner: Up-beat, throwback stoner metal ala The Sword that’s got some real soul and actual musicality.
• Fleshwrought: Johnny Davy’s and Navene Koperweis (ex-Animosity, Animals as Leaders) new tech-death project. Quality!

Click to read more…

So the Rockstar Mayhem tour is underway, and for the first stop in San Berdino, CA, Hatebreed brought Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe on stage for a rendition of “Doomsayer” from 2003′s The Rise of Brutality. And, honestly, I don’t understand why bands don’t do shit like this more often. You’ve got twelve bands all out on the road with one another for a month and thousands of excited fans — why isn’t everyone hopping on stage with everyone else? Even if it’s for something ridiculous: two years ago, “supergroup” Ladder Up an Ass was the highlight of Mayhem’s stop at Nassau Coliseum.

The Rockstar Mayhem tour is ongoing through mid-August. Most years all of the bands party together after every show; hopefully as they all begin to bond, we’ll see more of this kind of thing on future dates.

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

Back in April we told you that Pin, guitarist of the much beloved, now departed MetalSucks proverbial wet dream band SikTh, is back with a new SikTh-y new project called Aliases. Since SikTh fans are generally the kind of music dorks who troll message boards and update Wikipedia instantly with anything so much as the growth of a new testicle hair on any one member’s scrotum, I doubt that this was news to any existing fans but I do hope I turned a few new folks on to the magic of SikTh and/or Aliases.

Aliases have finally posted their first full song, “We Never Should Have Met,” the first with their new vocalist whose name doesn’t seem to be posted anywhere. The song is appropriately SikTh-y, although the lack of SikTh’s patented two-vocalist approach makes it different enough so as not to be too close for comfort. But isn’t too close for comfort kinda what we all want from any post-SikTh projects anyway? Regardless, the song rules. Check it out.

-VN

Thanks: Jesse Z., Alex Davis

The good news is, Kataklysm have unleashed a new track, “Determined (Vows of Vengence),” upon the world, and it’s our first chance to hear anything off of Heaven’s Venom, the band’s new album. The bad news is, either my computer is fucked, or my internet is fucked, or Kataklysm’s MySpace page is fucked, ’cause I can’t actually get the player to load. So I can’t say anything about the track — it could be an acoustic rap ballad for all I know. I mean, I doubt it. But I’m just saying.

Still, I like Kataklysm, so I thought it was more important that I tell you all the song is streaming, rather than just worry about my own selfish enjoyment. Listen to it here, then describe it for me in the comments.

Heaven’s Venom comes out August 13 in Europe and August 24 in North America via Nuclear Blast.

-AR

Even if I don’t necessarily agree with Gary Suarez’s assessment that Norma Jean’s latest, Meridional, is, like, the best thing ever, I do think it’s easily the best record they’ve made since O God, The Aftermath. It seems like a solid codification of the old, crazy-ass Bless the Martyr Norma Jean that I loved and the newer, Ross Robinson’d Redeemer Norma Jean, with whom I am considerably less smitten. And it’s entirely possible that I’m doing that thing where I complain about something heavy not being heavy enough — Gary thinks I just need to “PLAY IT LOUDER” and I’ll understand the full brilliance of this record. So who knows.

But now the band is streaming the full record in advance of its July 13 (a.k.a. “tomorrow”) release date via Razor & Tie. So you can just check it out and decide for yourself. I’m particularly fond of the song “Blood Burner” myself.

Once you’ve listened to it, engage in pointless arguing over its quality in the comments section below. I’m curious to know how other Bless the Martyr fans think it stacks up.

-AR

We kid!

SMNnews.com tells us that Converge have a new 7″ EP on the way called On My Shield, and while this isn’t huge news to me as I’m certainly not the world’s biggest Converge fan, I know that lots of you — Axl and Sammy O’Hagar among them — will be very excited at the prospect of new music from Converge so soon after the release of their latest album.

Click to read more…

Well, here’s a wacky story we couldn’t have made up.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Christopher Langone, a 42 year-old self-proclaimed “lifelong fan of Rush,” flew from Upstate New York to Chicago last week to see the band play an outdoor venue — only to find the show postponed due to rain. And since the ticket said “Rain or Shine,” Langone is claiming that the cancellation is a breach of contract, and has now filed a class-action lawsuit against Rush, suing them for the cost of his concert ticket, flight, and hotel. Langone admits that suing his favorite band “feels a little strange,” but since he can’t come back to Chicago for the still-to-be-announced make-up show, he thinks Rush should pick up his tab. (Like a gentlemen, he’s not trying to get the band to pay for the beers he bought for himself and buddies while they were pre-gaming.)

Click to read more…

Y’know what would be awesome? If the Teutonic Big Three (that would be Kreator, Destruction, and Sodom) all toured together. “Take that, American Big Four!” the line-up would seem to say, followed by spitting and some curses mumbled in German. And then everyone in the crowd would eat schnitzel and chug hefeweizen. I’d be so down for that, even if German people scare me the way change scares a redneck.

I came up with this ridiculous fantasy while watching the below excerpt from Sodom’s new DVD, Lords of Depravity, Pt II, in which they grace us with a performance of “Outbreak of Evil.” It debuted on Metal Injection today, and it looks pretty rad. And Kreator certainly killed it when we saw them live earlier this year. I’ve never seen Destruction live, but assuming they’re as good as these other bands, I think we could have a real night of fun drunken debauchery on our hands.

Lords of Depravity, Pt II was filmed at Sodom’s 25th anniversary (!) show at Wacken in 2007. It comes out July 27.

-AR

The mysterious Bird Lady of Redondo Beach relished the opportunity to show off her new BOO tattoo.

I always feel weird saying a really heavy band sounds a little less heavy to me than they used to, because, y’know, normal fucking people who don’t listen to this degenerate neanderthal music would never be able to tell the difference. People throw up their hands and are like, “Remember when In Flames were heavy?” or “Remember when Slipknot were heavy?” or whatever, and most of the population can’t tell the difference between Iowa and Vol. 3 or Whoracle and Come Clarity – it all sounds really fucking loud and angry to them. And the thing is, they’re not wrong; when metalheads complain that a still-heavy band isn’t heavy enough, they’re really just being macho assholes. I know, because I’m guilty of this myself sometimes — complaining about clean vocals or a lack of blast beats or whatever — and Vince makes fun of me for it on a regular basis.

So. Born of Osiris have posted a teaser for their new album on their MySpace page — it’s basically about sixty seconds each of three new songs — and while it’s almost impossible to make any intelligent judgments based on roughly three minutes of music, it does sound to me like the band is moving in a somewhat less heavy direction — but that doesn’t mean they’re gonna release a fucking Carly Simon album or whatever. Sure, save for the third song (which feels pretty The New Reign-ish to these ears) the music sounds less br00tal, with riffs that are aren’t as schizophrenic in nature and the keyboards taking a more central role. But it’s less br00tal the way All Shall Perish’s Awaken the Dreamers was less br00tal than The Price of Existence. Which is to say, the authority figures of my youth would still want to lock me in a room and hire an exorcist to check me out if they heard me listening to this.

Check out the teaser for yourself here. Presumably this album is coming out later this year via Sumerian.

-AR

Thanks to Ian Wilmot for the tip.