Paris is about to get a hot metal injection via Vince Neilstein and metalgf that’s sure to out-Eiffel The Eiffel!

Vince and metalgf are going to Amsterdam one week from today. After 4-days of weed and coffee-fueled city street meandering and [weather permitting] bike riding and [metalgf permitting] crazy raunchy threesomes in the red light district, we’ll head to Paris where we’ll spend 5 night and ring in the new year.

Why am I telling you this? Because we want to go to a metal show, of course! If you live in either Amsterdam or Paris and know of a cool show (even local bands) happening between December 23rd and January 2nd — or even if you’d just like to be hospitable for an afternoon or evening and shoot the breeze about metal, love, life and the pursuit of happiness — shoot an email to me at vince [at] metalsucks [dot] net. Let’s talk!

-VN

FEATURING MEMBERS OF KYLESA, DARKTHRONE, BRUTAL TRUTH, KATAKLYSM, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, TEXTURES, SWASHBUCKLE, THIS OR THE APOCALYPSE, DISFIGURING THE GODDESS, BURNING THE MASSES, CHRISTIAN MISTRESS, MISERY, AND GRIFTEGARD

For 2010, we decided to do something special as part of our regular end-of-year festivities here at MetalSucks — namely, ask musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year were. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of ten to twelve musicians at a time twice a day for the rest of the week.

After the jump, check out the seventh group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

(And please note that these are musicians and that they, um, have a lot on their minds. So some of ‘em named albums that actually came out last year. Please don’t freak out.)

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Congrats to MetalSucks Maniac Cyrena Hoaglund, who is the winner of our ABC’s of Metal Poster contest. Cyrena wins a Silver Metal Currency Paper of the beautiful and awesome 18×24 hand-printed silkscreen you see above. That’s gonna look great on your wall, Cyrena!

Don’t be too sad if you didn’t win — you can still order yourself a poster here. Better hurry, though, because there are only 80 prints. And if that’s not metal enough for you, there’s another version limited to only 10 prints that’s pressed on 18×24 stainless steel!

And here’s the correct key of which band logos go with which letters… a lot of you got this right, but  a surprising amount of you got it wrong, too…

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Why this song, why now? WSOU‘s Steve Stracq, a fellow Ratturday celebrator and surprisingly seasoned hair metal aficionado for his years, always seems to be playing this song whenever I tune in. Doesn’t matter when; I feel like every time I turn on SOU and hear Steve on the air there’s Dokken, and there’s “Breakin’ the Chains.”

But I don’t think I’ve ever seen the video until now. And… oh God, this video is horrible! Except for George Lynch’s chain-breaking guitar solo, which is full of pure, unadulterated win.

But I still got nothin’ but love for the song. This one’s for you, Steve… and if you’re DJing today or this weekend, spin this track for me! I know you’re reading this.

-VN

Axl already told you about The Chariot’s ridiculously cool music video for “David De La Hoz” and Noisecreep named it the #4 best metal video of 2010, but I think it bears repeating: holy shit is this video cool.

Not only did The Chariot film an OK Go-style video in which all the band members appear, not only did they enlist the help of an army of extra musicians, not only did they use half a dozen rooms in a recording studio and not only did they do the whole thing in one take with one camera… but they’re actually playing the song live. Not playing along to the album version of the track and dubbing it over later; playing the entire song live. So not only did they have to get the visual element right but they also had to play the song perfectly, have probably between 50 and 100 mics set up properly, have it recorded well and mixed afterwards. That is no small undertaking. Well done, guys!

In case you haven’t yet listened to The Chariot’s fourth album Long Live yet, you really ought to; it’s a fucking banger and a half. Check out a few tunes here.

-VN

So here’s the thing. I do not like Drowning Pool. And I do not like the song “Bodies.” And it’s possible my brain is just complete mush from editing and formatting literally over a hundred year end lists. But I have watched this video three times now, and it has me DYING with laughter. I feel like my mom — “Oh, it’s so CUTE!!!” I don’t know how anyone can not find enjoyment in this, unless that person has no soul. Or hasn’t spent the last three days editing and formatting over a hundred year end lists. That could be possible, too.

-AR

Thanks to both Mike Winston and Kenny for sending this to us.

Alright alright alright. I know everyone is still arguing about the best albums of 2010, but whatever. I’m over it. It’s done. It happened. It’s yesterday. 2010 is so 2010. It’s time to move on to 2011.

And the first great full-length of 2011, at least as far as this blogger is concerned, is Owen Hart’s Earth Control.

I don’t wanna say TOO much about how awesome this album is, ’cause I’m gonna post a full review in January… but I do wanna emphasize that it rules, and that it rules hard. Owen Hart were one of the best bands on the second volume of Scott Hull’s The Comp Kills Fascists last year, but I was still totally unprepared for Earth Control. Consider my socks knocked off.

Now you can get your socks knocked off, too — or at least a part of a sock or something. They’re streaming a track from Earth Control, “Methlahem,” over at Brooklyn Vegan. Guys. It’s ssssssoooo fucking good. Stop reading this, and go listen. Go listen, go listen, go listen. Like I said, I’ll have a review in January… and maybe we’ll be streaming a track of our own…

Earth Control comes out January 18 on Vitriol. Allow me to take this moment to once again remind you that Owen Hart are doing three shows with Graf Orlock this weekend, which I’m sure are gonna be insane — in fact, I’m totally jealous of anyone who gets to go, and anyone has a chance to go and doesn’t is just a damn fool. Dates after the jump.

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When Mike Portnoy announced he would be leaving Dream Theater, many of you speculated in our comments section that drum great Marco Minneman (who played in Necrophagist for a while, among countless other musical endeavors) might be on the shortlist of potential replacements. The following is of course completely reckless speculation and nothing other than conjecture, but a recent announcement has given at least a shred of credence to the possibility that Minnemann might be the man to warm Protnoy’s drum throne until he and the band mutually decide it’s time for him to come back.

Reader Dean Ferro sent us this link earlier this week, announcing a collaboration between DT keyboardist Jordan Rudess and Minnemann:

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So last year I predicted that whatever Pig Destroyer put out would be the best album of 2010, and then Pig Destroyer decided I should go fuck myself and didn’t release anything this year. Thanks, fellas. So selfish.

Oh, well. It was still a really good year for metal — in fact, I keep hearing people bitch about what a weak year it was, and I wanna spit in their mouths. I struggled pretty intensely with this list, and I could have added another fifteen albums easy. If 2010 seemed lackluster, I think it was only because coming after 2009, when it seemed like there was a goddamn motherfucking masterpiece released every other week, this year was bound to seem a little meh — it’s like last year was Jane Doe and this year was You Fail Me. Not as good, but still in no way something about which to complain. (And by the way, if I’m the sunniest dude in the room, then that room needs some hardcore psychoanalysis, pronto.)

So there are bands and albums that I raved about this year that didn’t make the final cut, and all I can say is, they were given very serious consideration, and these lists are pretty meaningless anyway — they’re just a snapshot of one person’s opinion during a particular time in a particular place. And my opinion during this particular time from this particular place is…

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No one reads these intro paragraphs, right?

You just skip to the list to look at our choices, definitely don’t read the descriptions we’ve written for each choice, and most of you just scroll down to see what’s been named #1.

Well, wait until you see what my #1 pick for 2010 is. Cries of “false metal” reverberating from around the country will be heard at the gates of the MetalSucks Mansion for days. Bring it on, fuckers.

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Funny that both of my parents are Leos but I end up being the lion…..ROOOAAAR.
It’s your creepy Uncle Wingerschmidt, back once again to make you feel uncomfortable in all the right ways… What a year huh? We laughed, we cried, we ate, we drank, we fucked, we rocked, we rolled, we smoked, we toked… Life got real and adventurous once again and at the end of the day we’re all simultaneously better and worse off whether we realize it or not. I can only imagine what 2011 has in store…

I have repeatedly voiced my opinion to Axl that this whole “Top 15″ shiz is pure poppycock — don’t the merits of a “best-of-the-year” list largely derive from the whiddling down of it? Thus this lion has compiled a TOP TEN canon for 2010 (along with five honorable mentions for team spirit’s sake, the album of the year to get stoned to, and my fave non-metal record of the year).

Shall we?
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Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli to get in on today’s needless-listing fun…

Demon Hunter — 7
The World Is a Thorn
Solid State

Admittedly, I’m just singling these guys out. My dream version of Decibel = no Jesus bands under any circumstances. Mind you, that version also entails a Hall of Fame on Nine Inch Nails’ Broken EP, which would have included a sidebar about the long-form video’s cock torture, butt rape and sewage guzzling. If Peter Christopherson and Bob Flanagan weren’t dead, that is. Good thing I’m not in charge.

GET ISSUE HERE.

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FEATURING MEMBERS OF GOD FORBID, AT THE GATES, DISFEAR, MACHINE HEAD, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, THE OCEAN, JUCIFER, THE BINARY CODE, HULL, DYSRHYTHMIA, INDIAN, AND DARKEST ERA

For 2010, we decided to do something special as part of our regular end-of-year festivities here at MetalSucks — namely, ask musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year were. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of ten to eleven musicians at a time twice a day for the rest of the week.

After the jump, check out the sixth group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

(And please note that these are musicians and that they, um, have a lot on their minds. So some of ‘em named albums that actually came out last year. Please don’t freak out.)

Click to read more…

15. Forbidden, Omega Wave (Nuclear Blast)

From one angle, it appears that the reactivation of long-dormant and underachieving thrash acts like Forbidden is a welcome trickle-down from Big Four hoopla. But after a few riveted listens to Omega Wave, one has to fight the sensation that this time around, the big guys are hogging the spotlight with unconvincing live sets and creatively bankrupt albums (If an album can even be mustered, huh, Anthrax?). Yet again, this situation might provide the sizable shoulder-chip that leads to artful, well-built outings like Omega Wave. So, yeah, just keep on suckin’, Metallica!

The jam that will hook you: “Swine”

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2010 has been one hell of a year for yours truly. I got the opportunity to interview several of my musical heroes, including Jello Biafra, Buzz Osbourne, and Mike Patton. In my capacity as MetalSucks’ Official Hardcore Correspondent, I brought the fucking mosh this year and kept you abreast of the goings-on, happenings, and arglebargle of the scene, discovering so many great young bands along the way. And so, I’m pleased to present this latest installment of SCRAPING GENIUS OFF THE YEAR with my Top 15 Hardcore Albums of 2010*…

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In 2008, my #1 album of the year was Nachtmystium’s Assassins: Black Meddle Part 1, a record of experimental bits still deeply rooted in the band’s particular brand of black metal. I’ll still throw it on every now and again, and it still sounds pretty damn exciting, sax solos and all (take that, Blackjazz!). But when Black Meddle‘s Part 2 came along this year, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Though folks could insist that maybe it was too challenging for me — perhaps even that I’m simple to the point of wearing overalls and a permanent grin — I still insist that something about it felt off. There’s “experimental” where bands try something decidedly different and execute it with resounding confidence, then there are bands that experiment with ideas out of their comfort zone, essentially throwing things at a wall to see what sticks. Black Meddle Part 2 felt like the latter to me. I found myself respecting its risks more than I actually liked their results.

But Addicts: Black Meddle Part 2 may be the centerpiece of metal’s mood in 2010: often challenging and complex, but also rewarding if you just gave it time. And many of my favorite albums this year were ones I didn’t like initially, if not actively disliked at first. But that spark of something brought me back to them, and ultimately, that often made them more rewarding than something I would have excitedly spun a dozen times or so, only to eventually get sick of and forget. Obviously not every album put up a seemingly impenetrable wall on first impression — High on Fire and Darkthrone both released pretty balls-out awesome records, too — but the year seemed to be rich in albums that challenged the notion that metal is chiefly a genre where one shoots first and asks questions later. For Christ’s sake, one of the year’s early triumphs was by an outspoken racist and anti-Semite who did a bid in Norwegian prison for stabbing a guy to death; everywhere, divisiveness seemed to be the governing feeling. But once things fell to one side or the other, there was quite a bit to choose from. My choices would be:

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FEATURING MEMBERS OF INTRONAUT, DARKEST HOUR, THE RED CHORD, KYLESA, GORGOROTH, CORMORANT, RETURN TO EARTH, KRIEG, LAZARUS A.D., HAIL OF BULLETS, AND BLOODHORSE

For 2010, we decided to do something special as part of our regular end-of-year festivities here at MetalSucks — namely, ask musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year were. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of ten to eleven musicians at a time twice a day for the rest of the week.

After the jump, check out the fifth group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

(And please note that these are musicians and that they, um, have a lot on their minds. So some of ‘em named albums that actually came out last year. Please don’t freak out.)

Click to read more…

1. Ludicra, The Tenant (Profound Lore)

While I’ve been impressed with every record that Ludrica has released, none of them was so evocative as The Tenant. Maybe it’s because for the first time, the band has forged a black metal that feels rooted in a reality I can understand — there are no forest rituals, mythical realms, or battles between good and evil, just five people’s poetic struggle against the spiritual deadness of city life. Or perhaps it’s because the dry production feels just as bleak as the outlook. Mostly it’s the songs, with their ornate yet perfectly balanced arrangements, a combination of austerity and energy that you don’t hear a lot in this genre.

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I actually really hate making best of lists. If it’s something stupid or silly like the “Top Five Best Bathrooms” I’ve ever used (in ascending order: Harrods in London, Beyti restaurant in Istanbul, Park Hotel in Japan, any and all bathrooms affiliated with the Oberoi Hotels, and my own back home that I don’t have to share with ANYONE) or “Arnold Schwarzenneger’s Top Seven Roles (again, ascending order: “Conan” in Conan the Barbarian, “Detective John Kimble” in Kindergarten Cop, “John Matrix” in Commando, “Julius Benedict” in Twins, “The Terminator” in The Terminator, “Harry Tasker” in True Lies, and “Prince Hapi the Ottoman Sultan” in Around the World in 80 Days), then I have a blast just thinking them up and recording them for posterity’s sake within the privacy of my own internet blog. But when it’s “serious,” then I get needlessly anxious. It puts all this weird pressure on me to get it right and stresses me out and I don’t like that. Oh, and I procrastinated on this for too long and now I don’t have time to finish it so I have the top ten rather than fifteen albums.

I’ll let the others take care of really analyzing and weighing options in terms of the year’s best. They can pick Daaths and Nachtmystiums until the cows come home, eat the cows, and then argue about the Kylesas and Mastodons until a new herd arrives (I’m also relying on their lists to refresh my memory and make me go, “Ohhh yeaaaah,” because half the things I thought came out this year were from 2009, like Wolf’s Ravenous and Ensiferum’s From Afar. Seriously, where the hell did this year go? Did Gojira’s new album come out last year, too?). My list consists of the albums I had the most fun with. Yeah, there’s probably a vast difference between what’s “best” and what I chose, but I’m writing this, so shut your whore mouth and enjoy. It’s the end of the year, time for merriment not mutiny. Or I don’t care, get as self-righteously outraged as you possibly can. I’ll be out of the country anyway.

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1. Gypsyhawk, Patience and Perseverance (Creator-Destructor)

I’ve listened to this band a ridiculous amount of times. Like, “Oh, last song… watch should I put on next? Well, let’s just hit play again!”-style. Amazing musicianship, solid songwriting, and beyond hummable melodies (right after this solo!) make for an amazing debut.

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