Municipal Waste is an awesome band, and a large part of their awesomeness comes from the fact that they’re just fun. I don’t mean the term “party band” to be a derogatory slander; their music just seems custom made for partying. Their last video, for “Wrong Answer,” was maybe the most perfect cinemetallic representation of the band I can imagine, but as much as I like the song “Acid Sentence,” its new, David McKendry-directed video just strikes me as kinda off. Metal Injection tells me that a company called Dapper Cadaver, who have worked on Dexter and Bones, did the effects, but that’s just about the only thing in the video that doesn’t look cheap; and the tone seems more suited to a death metal band that takes themselves (too?) seriously, not a band whose most recent albums includes songs with titles like “Horny for Blood” and “Upside Down Church.”

That album is called Massive Aggressive, by the way, it’s out now on Earache, and even if I don’t like this video, I can’t recommend the record enough. It rips.

-AR

Kind of amazingly, I haven’t seen Cannibal Corpse live since they absolutely wrecked the Rockstar Mayhem Fest’s second stage last summer — but I’m dying to do so. That was just a thirty minute set, after all, and you need way more than a half hour to really enjoy the Corpse.

And I’ll get my shot this fall: the band has just announced another headlining trek, this time with Dying Fetus, Vital Remains, and Devourment in tow. Devourment is the only one of those bands I’ve never seen live before, so I can vouch for Dying Fetus and Vital Remains — those bands put on killer shows. What an excellent line-up. If I close my eyes and think about this tour, I can already feel the stench of dude sweat permeating my nostrils.

Dates after el jumperoo.

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OR

Virginia Tech… Death Metal

OR

Virginia… Tech Death Metal

OR

Virginia Tech Death… Metal

Sorry, couldn’t resist.

The band in question is The Reasons Were Legion, who MS reader “grossj” proclaims are “the local death metal heroes of the mass murder capital of the world.” Though I’m not blown over by their music, I gotta say that they’re pretty good; If they had a decent recording budget to work with I’m sure they could create something that would give Son of Aurelius or Psycroptic a run for their money. Keep us informed of what these guys are up to, OK grossj?

-VN

Congrats to MetalSucks Maniacs Lindsay Lustrea, Steven Erlingheuser, Alfonso Zuniga, Jr., Brad Ewalt, and Franz Hoffman. They each correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Vertical Section Dismemberment Of Sexual Crotch, and each win a copy of Decrepit Birth’s awesome new album, Polarity. I don’t wanna encourage anyone to use drugs, but seriously, lady and gentlemen, get faded before you listen to that one — you’ll thank me later.

This week, the fine people at Ferret Music have donated some awesome prizes to coincide with the release of Knights of the Abyss‘ latest, The Culling of Wolves, which comes out one week from today (that would be August 17). One grand-prize winner will get a copy of the CD plus an excellent t-shirt; two runners-up will get the CD but no t-shirt. You can order the CD here or order a CD and t-shirt package here, or just enter this contest!

All you gots 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. ALL ENTRIES WITHOUT AN ADDRESS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one grand-prize winner and two runners-up and announce their names next week.

This week’s logo was suggested by a reader known simply as “Martin.” Thank you kindly, Marty. It’s okay if I call you “Marty,” right?

-AR

Triptykon’s debut, Eparistera Daimones, just came out earlier this year, and I imagine it will end up near the top of many year-end lists (including my own); but the band is doing a U.S. tour in October, and I guess in the name of having something brand-spankin’ new to promote (’cause some people can’t be bothered to remember what came out in February), they’ve announced that they’ll release a new EP, Shatter, via Century on October 26. It will consist of three previously unreleased tracks from the Eparistera Daimones recording sessions, plus live covers of the Celtic Frost classics “Circle of the Tyrants” and “Dethroned Emperor.”

And I’m sure the live covers will be great and all — I mean, Tom G. Warrior did write ‘em in the first place, so unless he went all Slash on us and added a rap section, it’s hard for me to see Triptykon fucking those up — but honestly, I’m just really, really super-stoked for the new original material. (Although I hated the demo version of one of those songs, “Crucifixus,” having heard how awesome the group ended up being, I’m willing to give the final recording of the track another chance.) I still listen to ED constantly, and the chorus of “A Thousand Lies”  (“DDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!!!!!!”) has become my strangle-a-hooker-to-death anthem of the year (not to be confused with my barfight anthem of the year, Lair of the Minotaur’s “Let’s Kill These Motherfuckers”). So, yeah, I will happily take three more songs… thanks!

-AR

Last week we introduced you to Crud Wizard, the blog of 9-year old metal scribe Ezra Lux. We admired the straight, no BS approach of Ezra’s writing; a 9-year old is gonna pretty much call it as he sees it instead of getting caught up in what’s “scene” or tr00/br00tal/kvlt, ya know?

Ezra’s most recent musing is a review of Slayer’s Reign in Blood. Check this snippet:

The sound of it is so chaotic, that it just stuns you a makes you say, “I like this. I want to hear more!” Their music makes me think of a boat on rough seas, and that boat has me on it. The reason I say that, is the riffs give you a sort of up and down feeling. If you think about it too much you might get nauseous.

I mean, right? So true. I won’t ruin the rest for you; read the full review here.

-VN

A very intelligent friend of mine tells me I’m wrong to write off Lady Gaga as the latest pop culture idiot I don’t really need to pay attention to; she “has a vision,” he tells me, and even if I don’t like that vision, he asserts, I have to respect it. And pretty much every metal girl I’m friends with went to her show at Madison Square Garden last month.

But I hate the Lady Gaga songs I’ve heard, and when I saw her on Saturday Night Live, she clearly hadn’t tested her ostentatious costume before the show, because it turned out to be so unwieldy that not only did she keep hitting herself in the head with the damn thing, but she couldn’t sit down at the piano to perform. And to me, when your costume is such a pain in the ass that you can’t do your job properly, guess what? Your “vision” values style over substance, and doesn’t deserve my respect.

And this video, of her dancing to “Metal Militia” at Lollapalooza this past weekend, doesn’t do much to change my mind. I’m sure someone will argue that I’m just being pissy because a non-metal person is using metal, but that’s not my beef at all — in fact, I don’t even think I’m being pissy so much as I’m just wondering aloud what the big deal is about Lady Gaga. This dance was clearly choreographed, but has all the skill and complexity of something staged for a grade school talent show. Strippers dance better than this, y’know?

Anyways, skip to the 1:30 mark if you’re curious.

-AR

Thanks to Javy M. for sending this in.

When you go to a KISS show, you expect certain things. Explosions, blood, loud noises, drunken fist-pumping, explosions, fire, platforms, explosions, demon/starchild/alien/cat faces, obnoxious amounts of sequins, and possibly even explosions. It might seem cliché and it might seem over-done, but that’s what comes to mind when you think KISS + concert. So it’s a good thing they know that, too, because their show at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA was the loudest, brightest, most epileptic-fit causing explosion, ever.

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Thanks to the magic of my DVR, I don’t really watch commercials anymore — but as I was fast forwarding between breaks on The Daily Show yesterday, I thought I saw Rob Halford. And then my mind went, “Are you stupid? No way you just saw Halford. In what context would he be on a commercial?” But then another part of my brain was like, “You write a metal blog for a living, dummy, and you need shit to write about. Go back and make sure.” So I went back.

And guess what?

It is Halford!

Unfortunately, every other part of the commerical sucks. But that just means you can stop watching after the first five seconds.

-AR

Of all the bands I ever expected to cover a Faith No More song, Aborted certainly never would’ve been on my list. But lo and behold, courtesy MetalSucks reader Josh, we’ve got an Aborted cover of “Surprise! You’re Dead!” on our hands. It’s a pretty straight-forward cover in that Aborted haven’t tinkered with the arrangement much, but naturally their version is totally, completely, brutally death metal-ified. It’s awesome. I never could’ve envisioned the song done this way, but somehow it works really well — the main riff that comprises the chorus almost seems like it was made to be a death metal riff. Bravo for Aborted for putting this together!

-VN

So on Friday night I got this e-mail from a reader calling him or herself (but probably himself) Darkplace Assistant:

Just a random idea that came to mind. It’d be kind of useful and cool to have a map of where the METAL stores are in whatever state you go to since there are so little of them.

And I agreed with Darkplace. (I assume we’re on a first-name basis now, me and Darkplace.) So I promptly dispatched a MetalSucks Mansion Monkey to the Neilstein wing of the Mansion with a correspondence* suggesting that we pursue this project, with the help of you, our faithful readers, of course.

And, hey, guess what? Vince tipped me off to the fact that there’s already a website, wheresthemetal.com, that provides this very service. You just enter the zip code you’re in, and it tells you where the closest metal shop is. For example, here’s a screenshot from when I entered the zip code of the Mansion:

Pretty sweet, right?

Give the site a once over now, and if you know of any local shops that aren’t coming up already, let us know in the comments section — we’ll pass the info along to the right people to have the store added!

-AR

*We’d tried having pneumatic tubes installed, but the monkeys kept getting sucked into them while “playing” after work. Fucking monkeys.

The guys that dreamed up Master Musicians of Bukkake knew full well that their band name would get you hornballs to pay attention. And hey, it worked.

The Seattle group features members of Sunn O))) and Earth and their music is basically like that of both groups — all sound effects and drone that go on forever and ever with no discernible structure — but done up in psychedelic/ambient form instead of a wall of fuzzy amplifiers. This would make good background music and that’s about it… I find it boring, as I do Sunn O))), and I certainly do not find it to be high art. But feel free to tell me why I’m wrong for not getting it in the comments, as you all have done so many times before.

Then again, from what I can gather from the copy on their MySpace page — and, of course, from their band name — these guys don’t take themselves too seriously. Which is good. Maybe they’re making fun of themselves? If so, I wholeheartedly support this project!

-VN

Thanks: AdamFuckingRahn

Monster Magnet are releasing a new album through Napalm Records in October called Mastermind. Considering that the band has never released a bad record (except maybe for the hiccup that was 2001′s surf rock-minded God Says No…which, in all fairness, wasn’t terrible, just not that good), and that vocalist / mastermind Dave Wyndorf hasn’t died (yet), this news should make you giddy with joy. Sure, he overdosed in 2007, but he epitomizes the ‘rock and roll attitude’ so much that his badassedness didn’t even succumb to near death. If anything, he probably saw the light at the end of the tunnel and told it to go fuck itself with a sweet guitar riff and more drugs. And really, that’s probably not far off the mark.

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Last week in a post about Maldivian metal band Serenity Dies I mentioned that the nearest country, India, wasn’t exactly a bastion of metal. Boy was I wrong, and you all really let me have it in the comments and via email. It’s been a topic of discussion on MetalSucks before, too. So, apologies to our Indian readers; I certainly didn’t mean to imply that India doesn’t have its fair share of good metal bands because it most certainly does… it’s just that for whatever reason those bands have yet to make their mark on the worldwide scene.

And wouldn’t you know it, MetalGF is in India right this very second! She’s visiting a friend, and they’ll be traveling to Mumbai, Goa, Delhi, and Manali over the course of two whole weeks. Even though she’s not into metal I tried to convince her to seek out a metal show while in India purely for the experience but she didn’t go for it. Maybe some of our Indian readers will be more successful in convincing her to scope out a metal show.

In any case, an MS reader who goes by the name “Acid Bath” and proclaims he’s “one of your biggest suckalos” sent us a very informative email with links to several Indian metal bands. And wouldn’t you know it, they’re all pretty good! Check ‘em out, with his descriptions, after the jump.

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I think Exodus are just swell. And Jon Schnepp, who directed this video, also directs Metalocalypse, and had a lot to do with the design of that terrific show.

So I’m giving everyone a free pass. I’m not gonna make fun of the video. The song is great and if some of you watch this and check out Exodus’ Exhibit B: The Human Condition as a result, well, that would be great. And then maybe next time, Exodus, you release anything that isn’t this as a video, okay? Deal?

Exhibit B: The Human Condition is out now on Nuclear Blast.

-AR

Last week we ran an exclusive excerpt from Dave Mustaine’s new autobiography, Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir, and gave one lucky MetalSucks reader a chance to meet Megadave himself at his Barnes & Noble book signing here in NYC tomorrow.

We’ve now selected a grand-prize winner… Alex! Here’s his winning entry:

Pick me! I’m in NYC!

I’ve been a Megadeth fan for my whole life! My brother who is 11 years older than me was a huge fan in the 80’s and early 90’s, as a result, I grew up listening to Megadeth. My first concert was Megadeth when I was 14 at the Electric factory in Philly on the Risk Tour. I have seen them four times since, and I have tickets to both legs of the american carnage tour. I own all of their studio releases. I remember looking at my brother’s Clash of the Titans ticket stub that he had taped to the room of his door, wishing that I could have had the opportunity to see that tour.

…for all intents and purposes, I will finally get to! Hell yes, So excited.

Mustaine is my heavy metal hero.

Well, Alex, now you get to meet your heavy metal hero. Congrats!

Read the five runner-up entries after the jump; each runner-up receives an autographed copy of Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir. Enjoy ‘em, kids!

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That’s Steve’s manly beard on the far left!

At this point Scion No Label Needed Contest winners Iron Thrones need no introduction. Their resulting debut full-length The Wretched Sun is fantastic, and you should check it out immediately if you haven’t already done so. We’re really happy that the band that won this contest is actually deserving of all the attention.

I caught up with Iron Thrones guitarist Steve Henningsgard via phone at the end of July when the band had just set out on their first East Coast tour with Last Chance to Reason. We spoke about the contest, the attention it’s brought them, the new album, working with a real producer, and the challenges and long road ahead the band still faces. Our chat after the jump.

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I like it when metal record labels throw us curveballs. No, I’m not talking about Vampires Everywhere, but how every now and then a metal label will take a chance on a band that’s only tangientially metal. While such moves often infuriate the label’s core, they serve as a refreshing break for the rest of us more open-minded fans and provide a glimpse into something new.

Take recent Relapse Records’ signees Horseback. Relapse has hedged its bets on the beardo metal (for lack of a better catch-all term) scene lately with new signings such as Black Tusk, Indian, Black Anvil and Mose Giganticus, and though it’s possible that Horseback will appeal to fans of those acts, the band really represents something else.

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I, like so many Cave In fans the world over, was elated when Cave In announced they’d be reuniting last year. And similarly, like so many Cave In fans the world over (I think?), I was lukewarm on their reunion EP Planets of Old. It was ok… it was certainly a little different for them while still sounding distinctly Cave In… but it didn’t quite scratch my itch the way I’d wanted it to. Maybe I’m alone in feeling this way… perhaps Planets of Old was met with widespread acclaim. I’m really not sure.

Whatever the case, I’ll get another chance to scratch that itch later this year when Cave In release their new 9-song full-length White Silence. Lambgoat is reporting that the album will be released “in the coming weeks” with mixing taking place later this month. The one curious line in the Lambgoat story (which suspiciously doesn’t cite a source) is this: “will consist primarily of new material.” Does that mean the album will also have some re-recorded or re-released songs (from Planets of Old perhaps?), remixes, or older b-sides? I guess we’ll see. I sure hope it’s an all-new full album as opposed to a few new songs with a bunch of re-heated leftovers.

Look for the album on Hydra Head later this year. More news, of course, as soon as we have it.

-VN

Fucking publicists.

Last month a story started going around that there was a new Van Halen album in the works for 2011, the first complete record to feature David Lee Roth since 1984′s, uh, 1984; then the band’s publicist/Eddie Van Halen’s wife, Janie Van Halen, called the new album “rumors” and said “I don’t have any updates at this time.” I said at that point that JVH might be “completely full of shit,” and as it turns out, she was. From The Hollywood Reporter:

“…a recent release announcing a re-upped deal between publisher Warner/Chappell and Eddie and Alex Van Halen stated that the band ‘is currently in the studio recording an album with Roth that is due for release in 2011.’”

So, there you have it. Unless someone at Warner really fucked up when writing that press release, there is very much going to be a new Van Halen album next year.

Celebrate or weep in the comments section below.

-AR

Thanks: Mick Stingley