MetalSucks is celebrating the season of the witch with the Munster Mash, a(n almost) weekly spotlight on metal covers of the Munsters theme. During the thrash/crossover era, every band and their moms busted it out at some point, either as a live staple or a hidden track.

This week’s take on the song is “Munster Mosh” by Virüs , pioneers of the ironic umlaut-U. The UK thrash band formed in 1986, split in ’91, and reunited in 2008. The TV-tune cover appeared on the band’s sophomore LP, 1988’s Force Recon, as a hidden track. Lead guitarist Coke McFinlay told MetalSucks how it became the band’s biggest sorta-single.

Click to read more…

FILE UNDER: shameless self promotion

I know we’ve had our differences in the past, MetalSucks readers, but at the end of the day we’re cool, right? Right? Yeah, I thought so. That’s why I’m so happy to invite you to check out my new band, Mouth Breather. It’s a cover band devoted to the music of noise rock sensations The Jesus Lizard, and on October 31, Halloween Night, we will have our live debut at Fontana’s in New York City! Also playing that night are Gods Of Fire — the headbanging heebs behind Hanukkah Gone Metal – and Punk Rock Heavy Metal Karaoke, the long-running NYC institution that allows you to get onstage and belt out your favorites from Black Flag, Iron Maiden, Van Halen and more!

You can RSVP for the event on Facebook, because that’s what the cool kids do these days on the online socializing networks. Hope to see you there!

-GS

I am a huge Pantera fan — in fact, they are probably my favorite metal band of all time. Ever since I saw them in back in 1991 or so (with Prong and Trouble, what a fucking show), they’ve been at the top of the heap when it comes to the NEW GENERATION OF POWER GROOVE. Clearly I wasn’t the only one who was heavily influenced by Pantera, as evidenced by this other band from New Orleans, called Exhorder, who totally ripped off Pantera’s style. I don’t remember them being popular back then, but I downloaded one of their albums off of Napster the other day and gave it a shot. But even though they aren’t very original, they’re pretty sweet and if you wish there were some new Pantera songs maybe getting some of the old Exhorder albums will be almost as good?? Especially if you like Cowboys From Hell, the album that Exhorder ripped off the most.

Click to read more…

Reader Jaime Abellar, who is presumably either from the Philippines or has spent a lot of time there, sent us a pretty lengthy list of bands from that part of the world that he thinks are worth checking out. I haven’t actually listened to any of these groups yet, but since I don’t know any Filipino metal bands (unless you count Death Angel, but I don’t for what should be obvious reasons), I thought I’d take some time now to go through these recommendations one by one and see if any of them are any good.

The bands and my reactions to said bands after the jump.

Click to read more…

Metal fans love to boast about how long they’ve been listening to extreme music. The longer you’ve been listening, the tr00er you are, I guess; you’ve suddenly earned the right to tell people how much awesomer everything was back in the day, and the longer ago an event occurred, the better it was. No joke, I bet that somewhere there’s some guy who was the first Sabbath show ever, and he thinks nothing has been as cool since.

So even if you got into metal when you were ten years old, there’s always some dude who wants to tell you how he was listening to metal when he was eight years old, and then there’s some dude who started when he was three, and there’s always that “I was listening to metal in the womb!” guy.

Well, hey, guess what? This is a real picture of a real fetus in a real womb, so I guess this lil’ sucker has us all licked:

The baby in question is a boy, and the proud parents are Jeff and Susan Snow from the non-metal band Invisible Music. Susan was apparently one of THREE women associated with the band who were all pregnant at the same time (although one of them isn’t actually a member of the group), but, clearly, she’s the one who gets bragging rights.

And even though everyone knows that horns are out and invisible oranges are in, I’m willing to let it slide, ’cause, y’know. It’s a fetus, and he probably can’t read MetalSucks yet to learn things like that.

-AR

Thanks to Adam Whitehead and Mykee Shaffer for the tip!

Earlier this month, we told you about new “Heavy Metal Halloween” contest, in which we’re teaming up with SPV to give away a prize pack full of awesome surprise goodies! We’ve already gotten some great entries, but there’s still time for you to try and win — the contest doesn’t end until midnight EST this Sunday, October 31!

In case you forgot, here’s how to enter:

Click to read more…

It’s always heart-breaking when an artist you admire associates him or herself with an “artist” who pretty much stands against eveything in which you believe. Thus is the case with Sevendust’s Lajon Witherspoon, who appears on the new (Hed) p.e. track, “Stand Up,” which is now streaming over at Noisecreep. We always try to defend Sevendust as the “good” nu-metal band here at MetalSucks, but then Witherspoon goes and does something like this and all we can really do is shrug and say, “Hey, but Cold Day Memory is really fun!” and hope you still believe us.

I guess the silver lining, really, is that Witherspoon’s vocals instantly elevate this song above all other (Hed) p.e. releases. But that’s a little like saying that a three-legged dog beat a two-legged dog in a race — Well no duh-skis, y’know? And my understanding is that Witherspoon is a really nice dude. So maybe he was just too kind to tell (Hed) p.e. to suck it. Or maybe he’s legitimately a fan of that band. I dunno. I read somewhere recently that Christopher Nolan likes Michael Bay movies, so I guess you can’t assume someone has great taste just ’cause you like their work.

Side note about the song: In the interview that accompanies the track debut, (Hed) p.e. is referred to as “the leaders of the Truth Movement,” whatever the fuck that is, and then front man Jared Gomes declares that he is “worried about all the anti-government sentiment that I find in the youth.” Because that’s what metal is really all about, dude: Trusting The Man. Thank God (Hed) p.e. are here to teach young headbangers to respect authority.

-AR

Graphic for the Rock Band Network Ziltoid by Rohan Voigt, who is also doing the Ziltoid comic

I haven’t picked up my colored-button toy guitar in some time, but here’s something which may very well motivate me to play Rock Band again. From Devin Townsend’s official Facebook page:

Good news, right? But wait! It gets even better!

Click to read more…

Ladies and gents, please meet Alyssa Lorenzon, the latest member of the MetalSucks Photo Squad. Because we’re not nice guys and we really wanted to test Alyssa’s mettle (or, rather, test her metal — tee-hee), we made her first assignment covering one of the world’s most fucked-up bands, Gwar, in one of the world’s most aggro citites, Philly. Luckily, Alyssa was more than up to the task, and captured some incredibly awesome pics. Check ‘em out after the jump.

If you haven’t had a chance to see Gwar on their latest tour, don’t fret — TheRave.com will be streaming the band’s show from Milwaukee on Halloween night (that’s this Sunday, you dopes) at 11 p.m. ET / 10 p.m. CT. If you order by the 30th, the stream will only cost $3.99, but even if you’re a dumb shit and forget to order until the day of the show, it’s still only cost you $4.99 — good deal!

Mutant cyborg and Gwar tormentor Sawborg Destructo gave MetalSucks this exclusive comment regarding the upcoming web-streaming disaster :

“Warning humans, the rouge Scumdogs GWAR will be attacking Milwaukee on Halloween night, and the best part is that you can tune in and watch as I, Sawborg Destructo, will finally destroy GWAR! Be prepared to have your eyes blown out of your puny human heads!”

Should be an awesome time! Go here to order the webscast.

And now Alyssa’s kick-ass photos….

Click to read more…

Getting signed still counts for something even in today’s increasingly divided, niche-driven Internet world; it’s all in the connections, and a little bit of a monetary investment doesn’t hurt either. When we last checked in with Canadian prog rippers Divinity they were busy melting faces with their 2009 self-released album The Singularity, having recently been dropped by Nuclear Blast. But the album was so good that Candlelight Records picked it up for re-release; since then we’ve seen the band getting a lot more press, better tours, and, most recently a real-deal music video.

I could totally do without the corny Naked Ahhnold Terminator-style CGI at the beginning and interspersed throughout this clip, but everything else about the video for “Lay in the Bed You’ve Made” is done just right, which is to say it’s full of clear, precise close-ups of the dudes playing their instruments and not much else. This is exactly what I think a music video should be in 2010, so I’d like to offer director Doug Cook a big Vince Neilstein pat on the tuchus. As for the song, the guys in Divinity themselves take care of making that as kick ass as possible; if you like this track at all I highly recommend checking out the album on Amazon for only $8.91.

-VN

We were sent the below video, for Destrage‘s song “Jade’s Place,” by the director, who goes by the moniker “The Jack Stupid.” And I’m not gonna knock his directing skills, ’cause I actually think the clip is pretty cool, in a Peter-Gabriel-video-from-the-late-80s/early-90s kinda way. I mean, if nothing else, at least you can’t say “Oh, we’ve seen eight bajillion variations on this same video.”

Unfortunately, the band has all the originality of last week’s South Park episode. They’re from Italy, but the music can best be described with a term our pal Juggalo Bob recently coined: “Re-Swede.” Except that just in case you’re not sick to death of Gothenburg rip-offs, they also dress like The Hives. Y’know, just to be extra irritating.

This isn’t the worst song I’ve ever heard — hell, twenty of you will e-mail us about way worse bands by lunch. But I’m so over this shit. As Eyal put it last week, “it is time for innovation and rebirth.” I’ve seen Xeroxes with more personality than this band.

-AR

Looks like the only Ratturday that’s gonna be celebrated any time soon is in my own living room; a monkey from the Axl Annex arrived at the Vince Division of the MS Mansion early this morning ooo-ooo-ing like a crazed chimpanzee, then proceeded to my computer and pointed my browser to Metal Sludge, where I read this:

A recent rumor has popped up about Robbie Crane no longer being in the band. We reached out to Robbie and asked point blank. His reply is below.
Sludge,

“As far as I’m concerned there is no Ratt to be “fired” from as Ratt is on an indefinite hiatus as we’ve finished the Infestation tour in Japan last week… Warren has dates with his and Dee Schnider’s Christmas band, Stephen has 4 to 6 months of solo dates, Carlos is working with Rudy and Vinny on an awesome new project and I’m touring with Lynch Mob over the next couple of months… Thanks for the concern…

Sludge out with your cock out! Robbie”

Click to read more…

We’ve received some pretty gnarly demo packages here at the Mansion including this work of craftsmanship, a hand-bound, tied, color vinyl-printed from Wrought of Obsidian, but the demo package in the above photo, posted on Season of Mist’s Facebook page, is gonna be hard to top.

The coffin-shaped press kit is the best attempt by Colorado Springs-based Alabaster Morgue to get the label’s attention, and get their attention [and ours] it most certainly did; unfortunately a caption posted with the above photo shows where Season of Mist’s staff’s collective heads are at: “let’s just say it’s the best LOOKING demo ever…”

Sorry, dudes. Maybe you should try stamping it with gold foil next time.

-VN

There’s a shitload of new releases out today, including the latest from Daath, Firewind, and Kylesa. Albums are normally released on Tuesdays here in the States, so I don’t know what’s up with this industry-wide one day exception, but there ya have it. You can start your week with some awesome new metal.

One of those releases, Kylesa’s Spiral Shadow, is now streaming in-full here, so you can preview it before you buy it. I’m not gonna weigh in on this one ’cause a) I honestly haven’t had a chance to listen to it and b) my number one homie Sammy O’Hagar is writing a review, and he’s a way bigger Kylesa fan than I am, so he’ll surely be much more insightful with regards to the music than I could ever be.

In the meantime, go here to stream the album and form your own opinion. Then come back and let us know what you think.

And if you live in the NYC area, Kylesa are doing a special surprise (oops, just ruined the surprise!) show tonight at Public Assembly in Brooklyn, alongside the mighty Hull. Should be a good time. Hit it up if you can!

-AR

In honor of my first-ever time seeing Helmet tonight (following the MS afternoon show at Fontana’s, of course), I’m reposting an oldie but goodie….first published on Nov. 26th, 2007

Helmet perfectly exemplifies where backbone groove finds its place into the world of metal. True — guitarist/monotone vocalist Page Hamilton has always provided the overall vision of this outfit, but it is mega-thick pocket drummer John Stanier that people usually seem to remember the most about NYC’s Helmet.

As far as I’m concerned, Meantime is one of the greatest heavy albums from the 90s, and I still rock that joint several times each year. Every song is a gem, and the style perfectly melds with both the melody and the fury throughout. After I discovered the awesome might of this record back in the day, I went on to check out subsequent release Betty and previous offering Strap It On, and both of these albums truly have their strengths but at the end of the day, Meantime is the one. Fierce and incendiary and yet pretty accessible for a hard pocket aggressive blend.

Click to read more…

As I sit here typing this, I’m just trying to remain upright. See, I just got back from a MASSIVE lunch with Vince and our buddy Juggalo Bob, courtesy Grill ‘Em All’s currently in-progress NYC “Victory Lap” celebrating their recent win on The Great Food Truck Race. And we definitely way over-ordered: four burgers and three orders of fries for just the three of us. It was one of the best meals I’ve ever had, but now I need to crawl into bed and weep for a little while. But the Grill ‘Em All victory lap continues tonight and throughout the weekend, and if you’re in the area and you don’t take advantage, you’re a fool. Get details on all their upcoming events here, and then read Vince’s interview with Grill ‘Em All’s Ryan Harkins here.

So, before I collapse and/or poop all over the floor, here’s what else we did this week:

• We debuted new music by Gwar, Triptykon, Star One, Disembodied, First Blood, and After the Burial.
• The Red Chord’s Greg Weeks pondered Dodge commercials, Dallas Coyle killed the album, Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable cleared up the meaning of the band’s latest album, Valley of Smoke, and Dååth’s Eyal Levi declared himself ready for a revolution.
• Anso wrapped up his epic chat with Atheist’s Kelly Shaefer, and we spoke to Dååth’s Emil Werstler, Star One’s Arjen Lucassen, and Firewind/Ozzy axe man Gus G.
• We checked out the latest releases by Cephalic Carnage, Krieg, and Brent A. Petrie.
• We gave a high schooler his first lesson in metal.
• We admired Will Smith’s daughter’s headbanging skills.
• We lamented Adam Lambert’s Metallica cover.
• We gave the ladies a lesson in metal etiquette.
• We considered money, music, and piracy.
• We actually had something nice to say about Earache’s Digby Pearson!

Okay, time for the poopin’! See ya Monday.

-AR

Damn. I haven’t written a blog for you guys while flying in quite a while. (Don’t worry, I still hate it, but 2.75mg of Xanax helps me forget.) So the question is, “Why have I not been writing to you from the air like I used to all the time?” Well, the fact of the matter is that I’ve basically been in a cave for the past few months making an album. Sure, we took a brief break and went to Germany for a few days for some Slayer shows (who wouldn’t),  but I was in no mental condition to write. I’m only now, five weeks from having finished the album, regaining my sanity, creativity, and motivation.

As I was packing for this trip to Mexico City I put my iPod in my carry-on (if you find the concept of rape disturbing, try to never check bags), and I realized that I haven’t added any new music to it in months. My two biggest gripes, both of which you are very familiar with by now, is the dismal state of metal audio production, and that the different scenes are just getting tired. I stand behind my idea that the “modern” metal sound of the early 2000s is going to sound as dated to us as 1980’s production pretty soon. I’m pretty confident that dudes who are all-out “scene” in their appearance will look back at themselves the way that we see Nu Metal bands from the late 90’s and wonder, “How was that the ‘in’ thing?” while privately hoping that their kids never see those photos. I feel like there’s an endless wave of copycat bands out there right now, and that the overall state of heavy music is such that we’re about to enter a down period, much like when death metal went back underground in the mid 90’s.

That’s not to say metal will die; it is time for innovation and rebirth.

Click to read more…

“Hey Vince…”

“Yeah, Kip?”

“Remember when we saw Earthless open for Baroness and one nob in the whole place claimed to not like them for no apparent reason?”

“Yes I do, and I will never understand that…”

“Me neither.  Thanks for the fictional yet accurate quotes.”

“My pleasure.  You rule.”

After seeing the almighty California instrumental psychedelic trio Earthless open for Baroness last year, I was hooked on their spontaneous, jam-heavy sound. Their show at the Mercury Lounge in NYC this Wednesday continued my love of their vibe, and I’m psyched (pun intended) fo much MO.

Guitarist Isaiah Mitchell has such tasty licks and solos and uses his effect pedals so masterfully that you almost forget just how thumping and tight the rhythm section is.  Bassist Mike Eginton holds down grooves like there’s no tomorrow, and drummer Mario Rubalcaba (formerly of Rocket from the Crypt, Hot Snakes, and now punk supergroup Off! as well), slays straightforward pocket jams with as much ease and finesse as he does syncopated freakouts.

Sounds like all sorts of 1969.

But don’t take my word for it…..check out these video clips from last Summer, and then run don’t walk to see them play live as soon as humanly possible.

Visit Earthless on TheirSpace

Check out bassist Mike Eginton’s wicked San Diego record store The Thirsty Moon

-KW

Do you ever think about how much you might misunderstand about some of the music you listen to? Specifically in the lyric department. Like, once you realize what a band is all about, it completely changes your perception of them? What if you stumbled upon some information revealing that AC/DC’s drink/fight/fuck lyrics were actually just metaphors for some deep theological debate?

I wouldn’t normally use this blog to throw out some unsolicited information on my band, but I feel like by not correcting some things I’ve seen, we’d be misrepresenting ourselves. I’ve read a couple reviews that are basically praising Intronaut for being total stoners, and applauding the title of our new record, Valley of Smoke, as some kind of monument for stoners everywhere. It’s true that some of us smoke pot, but I’d just like to set everyone straight and let you know that the title has absolutely nothing to do with weed or smoking anything at all.

Click to read more…

Welcome to the latest edition of “Freeloader” in which we review albums that you don’t have to feel like a douche for downloading for free. Today Satan Rosenbloom checks out the latest from Brent A. Petrie.

It says something that Mesa, AZ’s Brent A. Petrie uses his rather account-like legal name for this project, rather than something more descriptive like “Refracted Bionosphere” or “Celestial Mitosis” or “Djentleman Scholar.” Petrie’s just a regular dude. He posts regular dude pictures of himself on his website. He posts his personal e-mail address on his website. He plays everything on Vary Us, Artist himself. On one hand, this exploratory album is all about Brent A. Petrie, Creator of Music. On the other, I hear very little ego in it. No vocals, no flashy solos, no epic song lengths. Just deeply textured, often very heavy soundscapes.

Click to read more…