And I don’t mean that they literally killed someone.

What The Shads did do is slay  – in the figurative, idiomatic sense of the word — a gimongous (15,000 people) audience in the Philippines last year, and filmed and recorded the event to boot. The result will be Madness in Manila, a new DVD/CD set the band is releasing on October 26.

Noisecreep is offering the first taste of the Madness in the form of a stream of “A Public Execution,” the studio version of which originally appeared on last year’s Retribution.

As for the quality? It’s Shadows Fall! On a bad day, these dudes still rip, and this recording doesn’t sound like they were having a bad day. I can just see Brian Fair’s windmilling dreads in my mind’s eye. It’s making me realize I haven’t seen these guys live in too long. Sad for me.

Check out the live version of “A Public Execution” here. You can pre-order Madness in Manila here.

-AR

You know we’re teaming up with our bestest buds at Metal Injection and 1000Knives to put on a showcase at this year’s CMJ Music Marathon, right? It’s on Wednesday, October 20th at Club Europa in Brooklyn, and it’s gonna be one of the best shows of the year. WE SHIT YOU NOT. Which is why we’re not surprised that you’ve already bought a ticket. And if you didn’t, well, please allow us to give you five awesome reasons why you should:

1) IT’S A LIFE ONCE LOST’S FIRST NYC SHOW IN A YEAR AND A HALF. A Life Once Lost put on an absolutely KILLER show; we’ve seen them play festivals, we’ve seen them play basements, we’ve seen them play clubs and we’ve seen them play theaters, and they have never, ever done anything less than rip our faces off, eat those faces, shit out those faces, and then affix that shit on our skulls where our faces used to go. It’s been way, way too long since they played our neck of the woods, and the venue is so scared for its own well-being that they’re enlisting some Expendables-type soldiers of fortune to work security. Seriously.

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Kip sang the praises of Today is the Day’s In the Eyes of God back in 2008, but the album has just been re-issued by Relapse in a spiffy expanded edition that includes bonus tracks and Steve Austin-directed DVD. It’s streaming here, and if for some reason you’ve never listened to this record before, you should so that ASAP.

Promotional materials refer to the 1999 release as “noisecore,” which I guess is as apt a description of the album as you’re gonna get — but I’m a little wary of affixing the “core” tag to this music, for fear it might turn people off, and, really, TITD are genre-benders anyway. The album traffics in the same questioning of religion that’s so prevalent in death and black metal, but the music also contains elements of grind, crust, and drugged-out expermental shit. Regular readers of MetalSucks will know that I appreciate music that maintains a strong structure even as it thinks outside the box and kind of does whatever the fuck it wants, incorporating a vast array of influences; In the Eyes of God certainly meets that description.

And if that wasn’t enough to make you wanna check it out, this particular incarnation of TITD featured Mastodon’s Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher.

Listen to In the Eyes of God here. And in case you’ve never read them, here’s a completely fucking insane interview I did with Steve Austin in 2008, and here’s a completely fucking insane guest blog he wrote for us later that same year.

-AR

It’s been three years since Blotted Science released their one and only album, the erection-inducing The Machinations of Dementia, and one could be forgiven for fearing that we might never again hear from this actually-as-cool-as-it-sounds supergroup. But fear not, my fellow lovers of extreme music! Metal Injection tells me that Ron Jarzombek has revealed that the band is working on a new, four-song, twenty-two minute EP! And while a full-length would obviously be preferable, at this point I think I speak for all Blotted Science fans when I say, “We’ll take what we can get.”

But wait! There’s more! The group has a new drummer! Says Jarzombek:

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Of the five or so times I’ve seen King’s X live over the years they’ve only ever played precisely one song from Dogman, their landmark (and my personal fave) album: “Dogman.” Until last night, when their current support tour with reunited German metallers Accept rolled through NYC’s 9 Dollar Beer House BB King’s and the band dug deep into the Dogman catalog to whip out three additional songs from the aforementioned masterpiece: “Pretend,” “Complain,” and “Pillow.” It was a great day to be a King’s X fan, and the nearly-packed room most certainly showed their appreciation. Those songs, mixed in with modern day classics (“Pray,” “Go Tell Somebody”) and the usual staples (“What Is This?”, “Over My Head” complete with audience singalong) made for an awesome hour and 15 minutes of King’s X music. There’s not much more we could’ve asked for from an act that wasn’t even the headliner, but we did anyway and were treated with a non-obligatory encore; “We Were Born to Be Loved,” complete with the always impressive end-section jam out.

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“Bringers of Death” is a song Skeletonwitch recorded during the Beyond the Permafrost sessions but was previously available only as a b-side outside of North America; now it’s on that nifty new Adult Swim/Scion A/V free sampler, and it has a video and everything. Check it out below.

I have no idea who directed this video, but I do feel fairly confident that he or she was completely fucked up at the time of its design; it’s far too crazy to have been conceived by a sober mind. Which is to say: I really, really love it. Zombies and giant plush animals fighting for control of the mighty Skeletonwitch? What’s not to like?

Speaking of fucked up videos with giant animals — “Bringers of Death” reminded me of the below. It doesn’t really have anything to do with metal, but if you’ve never seen it before, hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.

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Man, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is having a rough month. First, his arch-frenemy Steven Tyler finalized a spot on that TV show about pre-failures caterwauling hit songs while nervous. And this follows know-it-all beardo John Kalodner’s description of Perry as “completely wrong,” “jealous,” and “ultra-pissed off,” which supposes that Perry hoped that the AI judge seat was to be shared by the Toxic Talkshit Twins. Actually that would’ve been cute, every week Tyler perched gamely on Perry’s lap, stroking his abs while some featureless shriek-droid performs “Don’t Stop Believin’” to a theater of fame-wet spectators. Well, that’s what I dreamt last night anyway. Cough.

Anyhow, when Perry awoke and rolled off a pile of my money this morning, he was probably too crabby to just ignore the announcement that his band is the latest victim of an Atreyu Cover Version attack. It happened to Bon Jovi in 2004, when Atreyu launched an emo-guided missile of Twilight-level corniness at “You Give Love A Bad Name” (I complained all about it on The Deciblog). Then, an unapologetic lameness mine overturned both Faith No More’s “Epic” and “Clean Sheets” by The Descendents in 2008 and holy shit let’s not validate that type of ear-terrorism with discussion of any kind. (It never happened if everyone on Earth denies it. You fuckin’ deny that shit.)

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Cradle of Filth’s new video has debuted on Fangoria. It’s for the song “Forgive Me Father (I Have Sinned),” from their new album, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa. Some random thoughts:

• I didn’t realize before that Dani Filth’s new Daryl-Hannah-in-Blade-Runner make-up had glitter in it. Between that and the snake dancer chick in the slinky sequined number, I’m ready to declare Cradle of Filth a glam band. (And Dani’s blue lipstick ain’t huring my argument, either.) I don’t care if Filth’s vocals sound like my Uncle Morty trying to reach the remote without getting out of his chair, or that he’s singing about religion; he’s singing about sex as a violation of religion, not how we’re all enslaved by Christianity or whatever. (I understand there’s a connection between the two — but, here at least, it’s specifically the sex part that interests Filth. In case the symbolism of the snake, the hovering over the chick’s bed, the Merchant-Ivory-esque longing glances through a confessional booth, the girl’s offering to give Dani “whatever will make you spend eternity with me,” and the fact that the band is performing in a giant vagina didn’t tip you off.) So this is really just a goth kid’s answer to “Talk Dirty to Me,” an allegedly rebellious, catchy pop metal song about fucking, designed for fucking.
• I’d like to thank whomever makes these decisions for hiring Bryce Dallas Howard to do the female vocals, instead of whatever the fuck that is that’s doing them in the new Dimmu Borgir song.

Head over to Fangoria to check out the video. Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa comes out November 9.

-AR

I must admit I’m quite fascinated by the idea of seeing Rammstein live at Madison Square Garden on December 11th, at what will be their first U.S. appearance since 2001. The band’s most recent album Liebe ist für alle da — featuring the now famous music video porn film “Pussy” — has gone on to sell 16 million copies (!!!) worldwide since its release last year, although how many of those were the special Dildo Boxset edition we can’t say, and this will be their only U.S. appearance on this tour.

But who cares about album sales? When it comes to Rammstein I want fire and a full-blown, completely over-the-top stage production! And according to the press release sent out about this show, we’re gonna get it: “Their formidable live show traversed Europe in twenty 18-wheelers packed with pyrotechnics, flame-throwers, bazookas and enough ordnance to level a small country.” Holy smokes; I can’t imagine they’ll be flying all that gear with them to the U.S. for one show, but I’m sure we’re still in for a treat. Count me in for this one.

Tickets go on sale on Friday, October 8 at NOON (EDT) and are available at www.ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com. The band also has a series of shows lined up in Central and South America immediately prior to the NYC date, so check those dates after the jump.

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We’ve seen Dave Mustaine play the song, and we’ve heard a crappy rip filmed directly from the television monitor of a gamer. But now you can finally listen to the studio version of “Sudden Death,” the new Megadeth song that appears in the just-released Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Stream it after the jump.

So what’s the verdict? It’s definitely a good song, although I don’t know that it holds up to the best material on Endgame; it actually reminds me more of the stuff on United Abominations, which was like the “Soooooo close, but no cigar” of comeback albums, a precursor to the treasures Endgame would hold (and certainly a vast improvement over The System Has Failed, which is ten different kinds of boring.) What’s my problem with it? Why, I’m glad you asked. Allow me to explain.

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I’m violating our usual posting schedule for the second time this week because this news is time-sensitive, and my fellow Reznorians will never forgive me if I don’t make them aware of this ASAP.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score for The Social Network is currently available at Amazon for three bucks… but only for forty-eight hours. After that the price is gonna rise to five bucks, which is still pretty cheap, but, y’know… these are tough times, so why not save the two bucks if you can? And I’m listening to this score right now, and it’s really great, so I don’t know why you’d hesitate anyway.

Also, if you want a higher-quality version of the soundtrack, you can now pre-order a CD, Blu-ray, or 180g vinyl here; all pre-orders come with an immediate download in your choice of format.

And as if all that weren’t enough, Reznor is holding a re-mix contest, natch. The grand prize winner gets a trip to LA to meet Reznor and Ross, and opening night tickets to see the flick. So that’s pretty sweet. The only hiccup is that the deadline is MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, so if you wanna enter, you had better get crackin’. Go here to get all the details and enter.

Finally, I leave you with this interesting observation that Renn Brown made over at C.H.U.D.:

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Eric Guenther may end up being the unsung hero of Dååth’s forthcoming, self-titled album, which Century Media will release on October 25 (pre-order it here). He’s not even technically a member of the band; his main gig is being the guitarist/vocalist for From Exile (read my love letter to that band here). But as he did for Levi/Werstler’s Avalanche of Worms earlier this year, he has made some truly invaluable contributions to Dååth. His synths aren’t of the “Dead on the Dance Floor” variety; they’re far more subtle, adding layers of sound and atmosphere that up the record’s epicness quotient, increase its replay value (I guarantee you, you’re not gonna pick up on everything Guenther is doing the first time you hear the album), and increase the music’s insistence that it be listened to with a good pair of earphones. Praise for Guenther’s augmentations may get lost amidst all the insanity that the rest of the band brings to the table, but without his presence, Dååth would be a completely different record.

I sat down with Guenther this past June, when I was in Atlanta visiting Dååth in the studio. He’s an incredibly smart guy (read the guest blog he wrote for us this past April here), and I think his approach to his particular job on the album was just right. Check out the full transcript of our chat after the jump.

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Rumors have been swirling around The Webernets all day that Sumeriancore rippers After the Burial — who I nominated as my “Band That Will Fuck Your Face Off in 2010” — have dropped off their current tour with Bleeding Through. The story was first reported by Lambgoat this morning and cited a reader tip that the band had already missed a couple of shows on the tour, allegedly following an inter-band fistfight, and that the group might be on the verge of breaking up.

An official statement from the band released exclusively to MetalSucks lends some clarity to the situation:

Following our show in Buffalo NY on Sept. 22nd, there was an argument that took place that deeply affected members in the band. The argument was 100% verbal, no physical violence took place. We decided at that time it would be the best decision to leave the tour and be at home in order to regain our composure and prepare for our end of the year plans.

We’ve never dropped off a tour before EVER. With that being said, we hope that all of our fans can understand that this decision was made with the long-term in mind, and that we are genuinely sorry we had to miss the shows in their cities. We’ll be back around very soon.

That’s all we know for now. Presumably After the Burial are still on target to release a new album at some point soon as they’ve been posting pre-production videos throughout the year, although it’s almost October and if an album’s not on the calendar by now it probably won’t see the light of day until 2011. And it’s certainly not out of the question that whatever caused this fracas could also spell delays for the record. Still, I’m looking forward to the record whenever it does come out, and I hope all is well in the ATB camp.

-VN

Photo credit: William Weigel for Small Town Photography

Congrats to reader Phil Kellum, who correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to Begrime Exemious. Phil wins a CD/t-shirt combo from Mutant Supremacy, whose new album, Infinite Suffering, just got a rave review from our very own Sammy O’Hagar. Crank that shit, Phil!

This week we’re back to giving away some extra goodies we have laying around the Mansion, ’cause you guys seem to be really into it when we do that. So I’ll e-mail the winner and give him or her a list of whatever CDs and/or DVDs we happen to have here at the Mansion, and said winner can take his or her pick of any THREE items. I’m a nice guy like that.

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 winner and announce his or her name next week.

This week’s logo was suggested by MetalSucks Maniac Devin Garvin. Initially, I told Devin that I couldn’t use it, that it was too hard. But y’know what? Fuck it. I’m throwing down the gauntlet. This is easily the hardest band logo we’ve ever run, and I wanna see if you pussies can figure it out. Best of luck to ya…

-AR

The Smoking Gun has posted a list of the per-gig earnings of some of the highest paid artists that toured this year, and a number them may interest you, our beloved Suckalos.

It will shock absolutely no one to learn that Kiss are number two on the list, and take home $500,000 a night, or that radio stalwarts Buckcherry and Shinedown respectively earn $100,000 and $85,000 per performance.

More surprising, to me at least, is that Bret Michaels gets $64,000 a night even without Poison (which means all those reality show appearances are good for something!), and that Warrant — FUCKING WARRANT — get $12,000 per show. I know $12,000/gig probably doesn’t seem like much when you consider what Kiss is getting, but I can assure you that it’s wwwwwaaaaayyyyyy more than pretty much all of your favorite metal bands are earning (unless you exclusively listen to Metallica or Korn or whatever). And that’s for a band who haven’t had a hit in two decades, and who are currently touring without their original singer, who also happens to be their most recognizable member.

The moral of the story, I guess, is that it pays to have a radio hit. As long as there’s someone who wants to hear “Cherry Pie” and “Heaven” live, Warrant will be richer than you.

Look at the complete list here.

-AR

[via Gun Shy Assassin]

When it comes to ordering Chinese food lunch specials you’ve usually got three choices of soup to accompany your generic American-Chinese dish; wonton, egg drop, and hot and sour. When I was kid I was all about wonton soup and ordered it every time without fail. These days I’m usually an egg drop or hot and sour man; I like my egg drop with a little pepper in it, and presuming the hot and sour is actually both hot and sour it doesn’t need any doctoring at all. I am currently enjoying some wonton soup for the first time in a long time, though, and I gotta say, it’s pretty tasty! Don’t count those wontons out, my friends.

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Say what you will about deathcore and “slam metal” (and if you’re someone who likes metal and you have access to the Internet, you probably already have several times over); at least they’re trying to shake things up. There are only so many ways you can approach ol’ meat-n-potatoes death metal, and after two-and-a-half decades of bands playing brutal, atonal riffs with some growling over it, a little change is welcome. Of course, one doesn’t immediately have to buy their weight in flat-brimmed hats and the sketchiest hoodies available in order to want something a little different from death metal. Pyrrhon know this, and play to both sides of the death metal spectrum really well. On the one hand, they’re unquestionably brutal; on the other, they’re stuffed to the gills with time signature changes and exceptional musicianship, like a slightly-more-human Necrophagist. Though this isn’t some next-level shit per se, it shows signs of creative life in lieu of bowing at the death metal altar then going home and plugging riffs into a formula. Heavy times call for heavy music, so clearly we need death metal. Pyrrhon fulfill that need quite nicely.

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Don’t ask questions, just watch.

Full credit to Sergeant D. for sending us this. As he so eloquently put it, “Fucking Euros.”

-AR

NYDM legends Suffocation are a rare breed, to say the least: they’ve been around for a long-ass time, but have never put out even a single shitty record. When it comes to choosing the best release in their catalog, it’s pretty tricky because so many of their albums slam so hard!! It’s tough to choose just one, so I thought I would turn to the readers of MetalSucks to help me decide which Suffo record will be enshrined as their finest.

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We’ve gotten a positively retarded number of e-mails asking us to post about the Adult Swim/Scion A/V free sampler that’s currently available for download, which is abso-fucking-lutely amazing, because we did a post about it a week ago. But on the off-chance that you still somehow didn’t know about it, well, now you do.

If you did know about it, you’ve already heard the new Withered track, “Extinguished with the Weary.” But in case you either still haven’t heard the track or just can’t bring yourself to delete any porn in order to make room on your hard drive for the sampler, the song is now streaming here.

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