Listening to my parents talk is increasingly hilarious, because their conversations are starting to closely resemble a George and Gracie routine. They’re both going deaf, and neither one’s memory is worth a damn, so “Please pass the salt” can become a thirty minute discussion; trying to remember the name of the movie they saw with the guy I like who does the thing that’s so funny that they think I should rent will absorb a week of our lives, easy. And my mom got an iPhone, which I told her would be a total waste of money, and it is, ’cause I keep having to re-explain how she can do complicated things, like add a contact. “It’s the icon that looks like an address book and says ‘contacts’ beneath it, Ma,” I keep telling her, but it’s like telling Zakk Wylde to cut it out with the guitar squeals already: totally futile.

I mention it ’cause, speaking of Zakk Wylde, he made a startling discovery over the weekend. From his Twitter account:

Yes, Jason, do tell: what is torrent????

I actually find this kind of adorable, the way I find it kind of adorable that I have to reassure my Uncle Lenny that alien robots aren’t invading, they’re just showing Transformers on television. Zakk resembles his former boss more and more with each passing year; it’s only a matter of time until he’s puttering around the house, playing a continuous game of “Why did I come in this room again?”

-AR

[via SMN]

People sometimes ask me why I spend so much time writing about Limp Bizkit if I hate them so much, and I really don’t have a good answer. I think it’s probably not dissimilar from the way my dad is always watching programs about the Nazis on The History Channel, even though he and his family just narrowly escaped from zee Germans with their lives — you wanna understand the monster that committed these atrocities, y’know?

And so with that in mind, I braced myself and listened to Limp Bizkit’s latest, “Walking Away.” And for most of the song, I was like, “Oh, great. A terrible alt-rock power ballad.” ‘Cause, y’know, I really thought we were finally done with those after Puddle of Mudd mercifully disappeared. In fact, the song is just so generic and lame that I wasn’t even gonna write about it; I was gonna save all my vitriol for the Gold Cobra review Vince tells me I absolutely must write (And “take seriously.” I have no fucking idea how to take a review of Limp Bizkit seriously, let alone write a serious review.).

But then at the 3:18 mark, I was caught totally off-guard — ’cause Wes Borland takes a guitar solo. I pinched myself, but I wasn’t dreaming; I looked out the window, but I had not somehow missed the start of the Apocalypse; I had the MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys run a quick lab test on my weed, but someone hadn’t mixed it with a stronger hallucinogenic. There really is a guitar solo in a Limp Bizkit song now.

Granted, it’s nothing that anyone with ten fingers and five minutes to practice couldn’t play, but still… it seems like just yesterday that Hetfield and Ulrich were able to bully Kirk Hammett into not taking solos because they might “date” St. Anger, and here we are, and Wes Borland is taking a motherfucking guitar solo. What’s next for Bizkit — blast beats?

-AR

[via The PRP]

Just a couple of weeks ago Rob Zombie gave an interview where he expressed displeasure over the way Ozzy Osbourne was stealing band members from him; now he’s quickly denied us of potentially weeks or even months of online shit-talking by releasing a statement which ostensibly absolves Ozzy of all responsibility for Zombie’s anger. From Zombie’s MySpace page:

“I am very happy to put this Zombie vs Ozzy crap to rest. I just got off the phone with Ozzy and all is good with us. I have known Ozzy and Sharon for many years and have never had any problems with them. In fact they have always been very cool and easy to deal with. So, needless to say I found this whole situation very strange and a real bummer. This whole thing was really always between my band and a certain ex-drummer not between me and Ozzy. I wish Ozzy nothing but the best. End of story.”

Click to read more…

I’m at a loss for words to describe how heavy Pristina’s new track “Salt Water Cthulhu” is. As Kirk Windstein might say, it’s “heavier than pre-op Johnny Popper bashing the living you-know-what out of Carnie Wilson in a tub of lard”… except if I’m being honest, it’s really heavier than that.  Parts of “Salt Water Cthulhu” approach Portal levels of heaviness… ok ok, I said “approach,” not “reach.” It’s the first I’ve heard from this Connecticut band, and I like what I’m hearing, a lot.

Check out the new track from Pristina’s forthcoming album The Drought (ov Salt and Sorrow), due September 28 on Trendkill Recordings (pre-order here). If the rest of the album’s got more of the same I’ll be a happy camper.

-VN

New BTBAM as soon as early 2011? Try not to wet your panties, but it could be so.

Reader Hayden Nease sent us a recent interview with progressive metal princes Between the Buried and Me in which bassist Dan Briggs reveals two interesting tidbits of information around the 8:00 mark:

• Guitarist Paul Waggoner will be filling in on a Lamb of God tour before the end of the year. Briggs doesn’t mention which LoG guitarist Waggoner will be filling in for or why, but history suggests perhaps Mark Morton wants to spend more time with his family [though this is pure speculation].
• BTBAM will be recording a new EP in December.

Huzzah! So, a BTBAM EP… what’s that, like one song? Still, new BTBAM music is always a treat and this EP means we won’t have to wait a full two years from the release of The Great Misdirect (in October 2009) to hear new music from the band. Good news indeed.

-VN

Everyone who likes to bitch that too many metal videos look like they were filmed in a warehouse will be happy to know that the new Son of Aurelius video, “Mercy for Today,” appears to have been shot in a greenhouse. Sure, it’s a non-functioning, kinda run-down greenhouse, but, y’know. It has lotsa windows!

Whatever. This song is awesome, and if for some reason you still don’t know Son of Aurelius, well, here’s a good chance to educate yourself — “Mercy for Today” is just the right mix of tech-y and hook-y, and a perfect example of what SOA is all about.

“Mercy for Today” comes off Son of Aurelius’ The Farthest Reaches, which is out now on Good Fight.

-AR

Well, this week is off to a not-great start.

First came the news that Behemoth’s Nergal is “seriously ill” and that, consequently, all Behemoth dates for the forseeable future have been cancelled; now Y&T bassis Phil Kennemore has announced that he’s been diagnosed with cancer. The silver lining, such as it were, is that while Kennemore doesn’t specify the exact type of cancer, he does say that his doctors believe the disease to be “treatable” and he should be back on his feet soon.

Here’s Keneemeore’s official statement:

Click to read more…

I’d love to talk to the talent booker that set up death metallers Blindfolded and Led to the Woods with a gig on the Australian children’s television show The Erin Simpson Show; what was he/she thinking? Is that person a metalhead attempting to purvey metal to the masses? Did they lose their job over this? Did someone pull a family favor? Is the “they practice in the shed behind our building” line really true or are Australian childrens’ television show producers just really open minded? For what it’s worth, the band ain’t bad (if generic). Thanks to Christian for the tip.

-VN

The metal world has taken some serious hits this year health-wise. Peter Steele, Ronnie James Dio, Debbie Abono, most recently Early Graves frontman Makh Daniels… and while Behemoth frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski’s diagnosis certainly isn’t death, it certainly isn’t good.

Nergal is “seriously ill and waiting for [his] multi-stage treatment,” and as such all planned tour dates including the upcoming MS-sponsored U.S. trek with Watain, Withered and Black Anvil have been canceled, according to an official message from Nergal himself:

I do not want to bore you with details, but I can no longer hide the fact that I am seriously ill and waiting for my multi-stage treatment, which can take up to several months. Thus, we have not choice but to cancel the coming summer festivals, planned for September and October tour of Russia and the Baltic States and the November tour of the USA. I’ve got a rather difficult period, and a lot of work but I became hardened in the fire, is not it? You know me, so that you know that out of this I will become stronger than ever. We will then rebook all the concerts and return with greater momentum. At this time, I feel good, my head is ready to fight the disease, everything is under the control of professionals. I have with me the most wonderful and loving woman, family, team, managers and people from publishing companies who are doing everything to support me. I do ask of you just a little bit of patience. I would add that the fact that in the near future we will not be touring but will not be in hibernation. We have a lot to offer you in the coming months, Behemoth will be working on many other fronts. In coming days expect release of our latest clip “Alas, Lord Is Upon Me.” Ensures that this is the most perfect, the most provocative and stimulating I have ever made a picture. In addition, we will finish work on the DVD release “Evangelia Heretika” which will be released in November of this year. We will keep you informed about what is happening in our camp. Horns Up!”

Whatever it is sounds really terrible and there are only a small handful of things it could possibly be, all of them bad. We’ll update you with more details as we have them available.

There’s not much else to say other than that this really, really sucks. While we don’t personally know Nergal the man, we intimately know Nergal the musician and hope he can get back to blackening our metallic souls as soon as possible. Speedy recovery to Nergal and best wishes to him and his family on behalf of everyone at MS.

KNDD 107.7 FM “The End” out of Seattle just premiered the new Soundgarden track “Black Rain. We didn’t even know there was gonna be a new Soundgarden track until someone at the radio station tipped us off to it yesterday… but hey, there’s a new Soundgarden track!

Now don’t get your hopes up too much — turns out it’s not exactly “new,” as it was recorded during the Badmotorfinger sessions in 1991. But still, it’s new as in it’s the first unreleased Soundgarden we’ve heard since we first slipped Down On the Upside into our boomboxes in 1996, and it’s still pretty exciting. “Black Rain” is one of the unreleased tracks from the Telephantasm retrospective, coming out on September 28th.

Here it is. Tell us what you think:

Soundgarden – “Black Rain”

Soundgarden made their triumphant live reunion this weekend in Chicago — first at an intimate club show and then at Lollapalooza. If you were there, tell us how it was!

-VN

So, yeah, it turns out there’s a burgeoning metal scene in Maldives, and we even know some peeps who have either worked there or may work there in the future. Does that mean we’ll take a vacation there soon? Fuck do we look like, Wes Borland?

Here’s some other shit that happened this week:

• We were re-joined by some old friends: Porn star Bobbi Starr talked about the world’s most metal porn, and Dallas Coyle pondered the road to happiness.
• We debuted an exclusive excerpt from Dave Mustaine’s memoirs, and are giving you a chance to meet the man himself.
• We spoke to Woody Weatherman from C.O.C. and Roxana Shirazi, author of The Last Living Slut.
• We checked out new releases by Clutch and The Acacia Strain and I Declare War.
• Sergeant D. taught us about the history of slam.
• We defended Eddie Van Halen from Dave Davies.
• We climbed a Wall of Douche.
• We met The Crud Wizard…
• …who is infinitely cooler than the dude from ICP’s ree-ree son.
• Also, BON JOVI + BOOBIES!!!

Okay. Gonna go to an awesome Cynic show now. Lates.

-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 this week by the rumor that Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler may be a new judge on American Idol, we decided to ask our writers:

IF YOU HAD TO PICK ONE METAL MUSICIAN TO BE A JUDGE ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

Click to read more…

The Grill ‘Em All food truck — Los Angeles-based mobile proprietors of delicious metal-themed burgers — is releasing its own BBQ sauce! And they want you to come up with a name for it.

The BBQ sauce is a concoction that Chef Ryan inherited from his grandmother; you can experience its fine flavor on the “Samoa Joe” burger they currently sell on the truck (along with cheddar, beer-soaked onions and pineapple… mmmmmm!). While Ryan currently just calls it “Grandma’s BBQ sauce,” we know that you can do better by coming up with something way more metal. The winning entry will be used as the official name of the BBQ sauce, sold in stores across the U.S., and we’ll also send you two bottles of the final product — one to use and one to keep — along with a Grill ‘Em All t-shirt.

So, give it your best shot; make it something metal, something fun! To enter, simply comment with your entry. (be sure to fill in a valid email address)

Catch Grill ‘Em All on The Great Food Truck Race TV show, which debuts on the Food Network on August 15th.

I love reading groupie biographies. It’s sort of a hobby of mine. I’ve read everyone’s, from Pamela Des Barres to Catherine James to Marianne Faithfull (she counts), and am eagerly awaiting the memoirs of Cherry Vanilla, the woman who heroically blew half of New York to get David Bowie on the radio. Some women go sexually apeshit on rock stars, others enjoy reading about it while maintaining a happily gonorrhea-free existence. It’s just how it goes.

When I first heard of The Last Living Slut: Born in Iran, Bred Backstage, I was rather intrigued. Mind you, I had some preconceptions because of the key words: “slut” and “Iran.” It’s one thing to fuck everyone from Autograph to Winger and write about it, but controversy for the sake of controversy is quite another beast (with two backs, har har).

Though I tried to brush off the combination of these topics as calculated edginess, I couldn’t help but soften to Ms. Roxana Shirazi. Her story runs the gamut from depressingly sad (getting bullied in middle school for being a foreigner) to hilarious (watching as Matt Sorum interrupts himself during a threesome to do push-ups because he’s in ‘such good shape”) to horrifying (falling in love with Dizzy Reed and having to abort his baby). Everything aside, she’s just a girl who loves her rock’n’roll. Naked or otherwise.

Click to read more…

The Acacia Strain, Wormwood
The New England band’s latest collection of heartfelt ballads to punch your girlfriend in the face to, Wormwood reiterates The Acacia Strain’s deathcore dominance. Showcasing a truly noticeable progression in the group’s sound, these twelve tracks cover such edgy topics as religious cults (“Jonestown”), serial killers (“Ramirez”), and domestic terrorism (“Unabomber”), all set to a barbaric barrage of brutal breakdowns. “Nightman,” a surprisingly faithful cover from the classic It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia musical episode “The Nightman Cometh,” displays an intentional humor so rarely present in this scene that so frequently takes itself far too seriously. By keeping his lyrics intelligible and insightful on cuts like “BTM FDR,” vocalist Vincent Bennett excels where so many frontmen in deathcore fail:

We are the atomsmashers
We do what can’t be done
You are the baby killers
We will explode the sun

Sure, they’re no Emmure, but they’re still pretty great.

(4 out of 5 horns)

Click to read more…

This guy really hates poser death metal drummers. Really hates ‘em! Like an Axl Rosenberg level of passionate hate. And as much as I wanna smack the guy for being an elitist prick who’s obviously got many years of practice under his belt and is flaunting it, at least he’s got the technique to back up all that talk. He’s got a point.

-VN

Thanks: Mike

By the time you read this I will either have just-completed or be wrapping-up an interview with Cephalic Carnage vocalist Len Leal; more specifically, I will have just-completed or be wrapping-up an interview with Cephalic Carnage vocalist Lenzig Leal on the topic of weed, and its usage in creating awesome, awesome death grind (“hydrogrind,” as the band calls it). It should go without saying that I’m really, really stoked to discuss two of my favorite topics with a man who I know is pretty much a Jedi master in both metal and marijuana — at Summer Slaughter last weekend, Leal was wearing a shirt that read “Party Organically,” with the letter “i” dotted with a weed life. Nice.

And look! How appropriate! Cephalic Carnage have now debuted a new track on Metal Injection, entitled… wait for it… “The Incorrigible Flame!” Does this have anything to do with weed? Who knows, I can never really understand what Leal is saying without a lyric sheet. But the song is awesome, and I’m inclined to believe that weed had something to do with its creation.

“The Incorrigible Flame” comes off of Cephalic Carnage’s latest, Misled by Certainty, which will be released by Relapse on August 31. The visuals in the above video come from its cover art.

-AR

This guy did it for Dio. Props.

-VN

Thanks: Nick Tieder

We’re still reeling from the passing of Makh Daniels, the twenty-eight year old vocalist for Early Graves who tragically died in a van accident earlier this week.

Now Trevor Phipps — front man for Unearth and head of Ironclad Recordings, the label to which Early Graves are signed — has released a statement on behalf of the band. That statement follows in full:

Click to read more…

As part of our sponsorship of the No Mercy Metal showcases here in NYC — the most recent of which was held July 24th at Santo’s Party House — we’ll be highlighting one band from each show here on MetalSucks in an effort to bring the best of the piping hot NYC metal scene to the rest of the world.

Civic duties once again prevented me from attending the show, but after checking out all the bands on the bill I’ve decided to award this month’s feature to Letchworth. Letchworth came all the way from Sharon Springs, NY (about 50 miles west of Albany) to hawk their metal wares in the bowels of NYC, but it’s easy to see why the audience in the above video (filmed at a different show) is so amped to see them. These dudes can all play their instruments well and have a good understanding of what makes for a solid song, and the put a lot of energy into making their live performance entertaining. Sure, their style is an undeniable nod to Lamb of God, but it’s not like that’s a bad thing. Definitely psyched to see these guys next time they make it downstate.

-VN