And just like that it’s almost January 18th, the day we release Volume 1 of NYC Sucks, our very own FREE digital compilation of the best bands in NYC’s roaring metal scene. Can you tell we’re excited? You’ve certainly heard of some of these bands before — or perhaps you haven’t — but either way there will be plenty of new music here for everyone to enjoy, hand-picked by Vince and Axl. And at the very least you’ll have a great snapshot of what it’s like to be a metalhead in NYC in 2010.

Volume 1 will be available as a free download and stream right here on MetalSucks this coming Tuesday. The download will come as a .zip package with 320kbps MP3 files and a .pdf of liner notes with info about all of the bands.

Here’s the tracklisting for Volume 1:

1. East of the Wall
2. Made out of Babies
3. Tiger Flowers
4. Black Anvil
5. Naam
6. Batillus
7. Meek is Murder
8. The Binary Code
9. Castevet
10. Hung
11. Wizardry
12. Pyrrhon
13. Mutant Supremacy
14. Incendiary

Volume 2 will follow on February 22nd. The cover and tracklisting are posted after the jump:

Click to read more…

Moonsorrow are one of the very few folk/pagan/whatever bands on the planet worth caring about, in no small part because they “prefer their folk metal to be serious,” as astutely noted by GroverXIII at The Number of The Blog. So how is it possible that Moonsorrow have a new album coming out — next month, no less — and no one is talking about it???

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Fieldy ain’t no Scotty Griffin.

There’s no actual connection between these two stories, besides the fact that they both made me laugh. And so:

Click to read more…

Well this is pretty much the best video ever of the week; Paul “Chimp Spanner” Ortiz trading licks with his dad Joe.

Joe Ortiz was in the guitar duo Heaven on Earth (MySpace, Wiki), signed to Atlantic Records in 1987… so the guitar is in Chimp Spanner’s blood. But Heaven on Earth has nothing to do with metal, shred or anything remotely related, yet here’s Papa Joe positively tearing shit up. I imagine Joe Ortiz as some kind of incredible musical genius who’s all like, “OH, you think THAT’S fast? Watch THIS!” and then proceeds to shred his little son’s face off despite having never tried before, the same way uber-talented jazz dudes make metal virtuosos look like complete pussies.

But the best things about this video have nothing to do with what’s actually played:

1. Joe Ortiz plays left-handed but plays a righty guitar upside down… even though he himself is actually right-handed. AND HE PICKS WITH HIS FINGERS!
2. The backing track. Oh, yes, the backing track!
3. The ’80s production quality and video effects, despite having been filmed in 2004.

Paul, I got mad respect for Chimp Spanner but you’ve got some pretty huge shoes to fill!

-VN

Sylosis
Edge of the Earth
Label – Nuclear Blast
Release Date – March 11, 2011

Sylosis made ripples with their 2008 Nuclear Blast debut Conclusion of An Age, but these modern UK thrashers are going to make waves with sophomore album Edge of the Earth, set to come out on March 11th. Sylosis play just the kind of modern thrash we like — enough of the old stuff to let you know where their influences lie but with plenty of modern inflection and lots of their own pizzazz — so it’s fitting that they’re worthy of being discussed in the same breath as bands like Revocation and Lazarus A.D.

Click to read more…

Our pals at Metal Injection have debuted Chelsea Grin’s new video, for the song “Recreant,” and in a clever bit of filmmaking, the director decided to have the camera bob up and down along with the band’s choreographed crabcore bouncing — y’know, so that if the song doesn’t make you vomit, the motion sickness will.

ANYWAY, I liked this song better when it was first recorded by Suicide for a Whitechapel Cowboy. But lacking anything even approaching originality or creativity has its benefits, too — for example, your video might be posted on MetalSucks, followed by the words “GET FUCKED.”

GET FUCKED.

-AR

Why, I was just complimenting Havok on the cover art for their new album, Time is Up, earlier this week — and now they’ve gone ahead and debuted a new song, “Scumbag in Disguise,” over at Metal Underground. It’s like they wanted to prove that I wasn’t wrong when I predicted “that the music will more than match the aardvark baby impalingness of the cover.” Because I know there’s this perception that both Vince and I myself hate all re-thrash, which isn’t true — we just hate ALMOST all re-thrash. But the power of Havok’s rockingness is so undeniable that I can’t bring myself to say a bad word about them.

Check out “Scumbag in Disguise” here, then let us know what you think in the comments section. And don’t forget that we’re streaming another song from the album, “Fatal Intervention,” here.

Time is Up will be released via Candlelight (How romantic!) on March 29.

-AR

MetalSucks devotee and The Number of the Blog scribe Alex P wrote a really interesting piece on music criticism over the holidays that I’ve been thinking about ever since I read it. Among the topics eloquently tackled; what is the place of music criticism? what makes a good critic versus a bad one? when is an author credible? what happens when music critics over-think and over-analyze? Here’s an excerpt:

The credibility of rock critics is often called into question, both of the individuals and of the discipline. For the individuals, credibility comes down to how frequently one hands out lavish praise, and for what artists. In metal someone praising the ingenuity of Bring Me the Horizon will quickly get laughed out (whether or not this is a good thing is a separate issue). The obvious cure becomes to be selective in one’s praises, but obviously a dishonest critic isn’t one worth trusting. I tend not to follow the opinions of critics who like only such bands as are safe to like, and I tend to disregard a music critic if his reviews perfectly match the general consensus in every case. Criticism isn’t, as I practice it, about being a universal tastemaker: it’s about exposing people with similar affinities to yours to music they’d enjoy, and to a certain extent it’s also about being a crotchety old man.

Click to read more…

I like music videos. I don’t mean just lame concert footage videos either. (I get it, Band, you can play your instruments like, really well. In front of people!) No, I mean the amazing, overblown, explosions and nonsensical storylines, holy shit is that a cameo by jailbait Keri Russell in bra?!, looks like it was directed by Michael Bay, epic mini-movies. In fact, Meat Loaf’s, “I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That),” has pretty much all of the aforementioned, except one. I won’t say which one, just look it up*. It is the most amazing seven minutes ever.  Except for the part where he prays to the god of, “Sex, and drums, and rock’n’roll.” Come on, now, you’re not fooling anyone.

The other night I couldn’t sleep. So I ended up watching music videos until the sun came up. I did not have a good day that day. Of course, I watched metal videos. (Okay fine, like half were Meat Loaf videos. He kind of hovers on the periphery of metal, right? He was in Rocky Horror Picture Show, he played a totally awesome biker named Eddie! Isn’t his daughter married to Scott Ian? Fringes, he’s on the fringes. Shut up, Meat Loaf is awesome. Even more so when I can’t type and write “Meat Load.” Good job proof-reading at 5:40 a.m.)

Videos were my first introduction to many bands. They were like trailers for records, and the more confusing and “deep” they were, the more interested I got. I’m not saying there are no good videos anymore, but I just can’t believe we live in a time where it’s no longer cool to shred shirtless on a cliff while your bandmate gets married but then it starts raining and the bride is dead and Axl Rose is swimming with dolphins while Stephanie Seymour beats up a girl in a bar. I mean, maybe it’s a good thing bands don’t go bankrupt after videos anymore. and the Guns N’ Roses trilogy more than borders on the ridiculous (Hi Shannon Hoon! I see you, there on the roof!) but let’s take a look at some that kind of stuck with me.

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Last week, we posted a mash-up of Coldplay and System of a Down that’s actually quite good; subsequently, a reader calling himself Bayon Etwork sent us a link to a mash-up of Coldplay and Dethklok that, while not as good as the System of a Coldplay song, still works pretty well. Check it out and see what you think:

And now, if you listen carefully, I think you can actually hear Charles Foster Ofdensen filing legal papers.

-AR

Iskald
The Sun I Carried Alone
Label – Indie Recordings
Release Date – January 17th, 2011

I’m glad when I can finally, finally find black metal bands that don’t simply focus on one idea, run with it, and make an albums full of songs that each sound more or less the same. Be it reclusive depressives (the legions of Darkthrone imitators) or experimental hipsters making something that is classified as BM but doesn’t really resemble it in any way (Nachtmystium), I can’t get into most of it.

Then, in 2006, I found Iskald. The band had just released Shades of Misery, which I was fully prepared to write off as another black metal horde band, until I stumbled upon one word in a review of the album: “uplifting.” Well, shit. I’ve never heard a black metal band be positively uplifting. So I had to check them out. What I found was a mixture of traditional melodic black metal and the bitter ferocity of traditional kvlt BM. And it’s awesome — especially considering how the band is only a two-piece, the complexity of the music and songwriting (yes, complexity in black metal) is astounding. The band describes their approach on the new album thusly:

Click to read more…

Genre-labeling can be a funny thing. So points out Stereogum “Haunting the Chapel” scribe Brandon Stosuy who had this to say about Louisville trio Young Widows:

It could be this morning’s KEN mode and Trap Them listening sessions talking, but pair those knockout efforts with bluesy, sludgy Louisville trio Young Widows‘ In and Out of Youth and Lightness and it feels like 2011’s going to be a good year for various shades of noise rock (or old-man punk or post-noise rock or noisecore or…)

Pigeonholing be damned, let’s all just get along and rock out with our collective cocks out (and jam out with our collective clams out) for a change because the new Young Widows track “Future Heart” provides us all with an opportunity to do exactly that. The one time I saw these cats live (Bowery Ballroom in 2009 with Russian Circles) they impressed the hell outta me with an intense live presence and simple but effective light show. This new track immediately struck me as being less heavy than what I’ve heard of theirs in the past, so, not being well-versed in this band’s discography, I confirmed that suspicion with a quick listen to some of their older stuff on their MySpace page. But you know what? It’s all good. In the land of the Super Brutal MS Mansion oftentimes a change of pace is quite welcome.

Check out “Future Heart” on Stereogum and look for In And Out Of Youth And Lightness on April 12 via Temporary Residence

-VN

I know that the guy from Atreyu isn’t really named Alex Fahrvergnügen, but I can never remember how you spell his actual name, and since he can’t be bothered to learn the proper spelling of one of the easiest words in the English language, I’m not sure why I should be expected to learn to spell his name right. I mean, it took me a long time to learn to spell Guy Kozowyk’s last name correctly without double-checking it on the interwebs, but there’s a major difference between Guy and Alex — Guy is talented.

Also, Guy has a band, whereas Alex, it would seem, no longer does.

The following statement from Mr. Fahrvergnügen was pieced together from Twitter:

Click to read more…

[This article is Part II of A.J.'s piece on writing with Creative Limitation. Read Part I here, and see all of AJ's Abstract Theory columns here.]

Much of this article will be spent discussing how composers of the past have created profound works of art while working within the artificial demands of creative limitations. Stravinsky once said, “The more art is controlled, limited, worked over, the more it is free.”

First, let’s take a look at a literal physical limitation found in Ravel’s “Piano Concerto for the Left Hand.” The piece was composed at the request of concert pianist Paul Wittgenstein. During World War I, Wittgenstein was shot in the arm, which led to an amputation after an infection. He was determined to continue his career as a pianist after his service in the military. Ravel’s approach to writing was affected by this restriction to write for one-hand piano, but if you listen to the music it is characteristically Ravel.

The ability to maintain a musical identity while also exploring new musical approaches is something that many great composers share.

Click to read more…

Last week we offered up two copies of The Ocean’s super-sweet Heliocentric digipak, complete with silver-embossed foil and individual song tarot cards. The winners of these little bundles of metallic joy are:

• jateeg: “Who’s got two thumbs and invited Varg to the PTA meeting? This guy.”
• Gatsu: “Crud Wizard is expanding, and warmly welcomes a new writer for the blog, Toxic Magician.”

This week we’ve got two copies of Cough‘s Ritual Abuse to give away courtesy of Relapse Records. As per usual, alls ya gotta do to win is come up with the funniest caption to the below photo (sent in by reader Logan Perley) and remember to use a real email address (or post it with your comment if you’re using FB Connect)!

[photo removed due to copyright owner request]

Yesterday, Sergeant D. posted a Metal Edition of the classic parlor game Marry, Fuck, or Kill, and you guys responded, uh, enthusiastically, surprising no one. And because we’re equal opportunity offenders — don’t forget that this is the site which posts leaked naked pictures of women and men alike — we decided that today we should post a metal d00dz edition.

So we sat down with the Mansion’s resident feminist, Leyla Ford, and presented her with some hot metal d00dz for a new game of MFK. Check out the results after the jump…

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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…

And now for another ball-garglingly bodacious round of Guess the Next Hall of Fame and Win a Six-Month Subscription to Decibel. Albert seems to think this won’t be an easy one to guess, but I disagree — I’m setting the over/under at the first seven comments, and taking the under (although feel free to ruin that by posting Three Dollar Bill Y’all$ eight times).

I’m reluctant to offer hints since I already think the artist quote is too much of a giveaway, but will say that this is a Reunion Band, and Reunion Bands drive me up the wall. I know nobody wants you to write new songs so your brilliant legacy isn’t sullied, and I know the intra-band hatred has calcified, but how about this? Write a new song. Take the hour out of your life. Maybe three, even. Play them out. I know how potent a force nostalgia is in the metal world —particularly at our magazine — but leave the cash-in shit to the Pixies and Pavement. Extreme music shouldn’t make that compromise, even if it’s a situation where nobody was cool enough to pay attention the first time. The sequel is never as good. Fuck victory laps.

Anyway, apologies for the sound quality of this clip. As our production guru Luke said, “The Krampus is bringing digital recorders to all the naughty little dB writers next year.” Here’s a transcription, if you’re fat and lazy:

People expected me to jump in the crowd, lose my clothes and be at least a couple of sheets to the wind. I don’t know how much of that was due to our fanbase, or if it was from the media attention we had gotten. People did seem focused on my, ahem, antics. I always think of stage-diving as something that predated us. When Southern California punk rock was really taking off in the early ’80s, it was an essential part of that experience. Black Flag had us beat by at least a decade.

DECIBEL HALL OF FAME MARCH 2011

DECIBEL HALL OF FAME MARCH 2011

-AB

Check out the February 2011 issue of Decibel to read their Hall of Fame entry on Corrosion of Conformity’s Animosity – or, better still, go ahead and get a full subscription to ensure you never miss a HOF!

Photo by Paul Birman

Wetnurse
TBA
Label – TBD
Release date – Tentatively sometime before Christmas 2011

New York City’s own Wetnurse are one of those bands whose music I have almost no idea how to describe; I mean, it’s like trying to tell a blind person what a color looks like. They mix elements of All Things Rock into one dirty, aggro, and wholly unique package, and if you’re not hip to them yet, well, you best get on that shit.

(Bonus: they are SO MUCH FUN LIVE, I don’t even know where to start. Gene Fowler has to be one of the most entertaining front men out there right now; he looks like he’s having an epileptic fit every time he takes the stage. And I mean that as a compliment.)

2011 marks Wetnurse’s tenth year of existence, and they’re hoping to celebrate the anniversary with a new release sometime towards the end of this year. Drummer Curran Reynolds (who, along with bassist Ryan Jones, is also now in the always-great Today is the Day) tells me:

Click to read more…

Word of who was gonna be on the bill for this year’s Scion Rock Fest, the totally free annual metal super-show, got out yesterday — hell, Wormrot even decided to just go ahead and confirm their presence at the festival. So in that regard, the official announcement of this year’s fest is a little anti-climactic.

Until you realize, holy shit — there really is gonna be a free festival with Morbid Angel, Obituary, Death Angel, Municipal Waste, Agalloch, Wormrot, Kvelertak, Atheist, Black Breath, Nails, Fuck the Facts, and tons more awesome bands. That is a fact about which one ought never to complain.

You can RSVP for the event here starting tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the finalized poster:

-AR

It all started when humble blogger Keith Spillett tried a little good ol’ fashioned investigative journalism for his blog Tyranny of Tradition, but it ended with an email from Sarah Palin herself praising trad metal outfit Ghost and condemning all of their fellow Swedes. How’d it get from there to here?

Spillett had been hammering Palin’s people for a response about her use of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Godzilla” as an entrance song for a campaign speech in 2008; after months and months of unreturned emails, Spillett’s inbox finally lit up with a response from Palin herself, and better yet, a follow-up including her thoughts on Ghost’s Opus Eponymous, an album that’s certainly got quite a bit of buzz in the metal community right now. Palin a metalhead? Who’da thunk it.

I’ll let you all read the entirety of Palin’s email on your own time, including bits about her love of Blue Oyster Cult and her TLC television show. But for now, the juicy bits:

Click to read more…