Maruta got a lot of attention last year when their drummer, Nick Augusto, joined Trivium; Maruta sound nothing like Trivium, but whatever gets people talking about them is fine. They are, in fact, a grindcore band, and a killer grindcore band at that; now Invisible Oranges is streaming a new song, “Strain.” Listen here.

The last thirty seconds of the song or so, when guitarist Eduardo Borja starts making his guitar sound the way I imagine Gene Hoglan stomping on a family of live squirrels might, is my favorite part. It’s like the song builds and builds, and then just erupts into physical violence. Excellent.

Listen here.”Strain” comes out off Maruta’s new album, Forward into Regression (See what they did there?),which comes out on Willowtip on March 8. Yep, pre-orders are up.

-AR

P.S. I really like that cover art, too!

I love Ihsahn, you love Ihsahn, we all love Ihsahn. His 2010 album After was my second favorite of the year, you all voted it as your #1 favorite of the year, and everyone seemed pretty darn excited when he announced last week that he’d contribute vocals to a new Devin Townsend track. Seeing as 65% of this site’s viewership is based in the U.S. and we get like a gazillion hits, wouldn’t you think it’s high time for Ihsahn to tour these United States?

MS reader Richard Donahue sure thinks so, and he’s even created a Facebook page to support the cause. The Facebook page specifically calls for Opeth to bring Ihsahn to the U.S. as support, which strikes me as overly ambitious since that’s asking two parties to get their acts together instead of just one (on top of which Opeth haven’t announced a U.S. tour or even their new album yet). But it’s the thought the counts, and if Ihsahn and his people see that there’s enough interest to launch a U.S. tour then presumably they will, with Opeth or otherwise.

So go on and “sign” the petition by clicking the “Like” button on the page. You’ll be glad you did when Ihsahn finally makes it here and you feel partially responsible.

-VN

Reader Keith Brown e-mailed us that very question, and then very politely asked, “Would you guys mind checking to see if anything’s heppening with them?” No, I wouldn’t mind, Keith! Three cheers to you for having some manners. You beat the dude who e-mailed us “SEND ME SOME NEWS RIGHT NOW” last week.

ANYWAY, I didn’t have to do any research to find out what happened to Psyopus, Keith, so it really wasn’t a big deal. And what happened is this: Psyopus went to live on a farm. Yep, it’s true! They’re living on a nice farm, where they have plenty of equipment and a big stage to play on, and kids who really love them and appreciate their music. They won’t be touring or releasing new records anymore, Keith, but isn’t it nice to know that they’re living on that awesome farm? You want them to be happy, right, Keith? We know ya do. And rest assured, Psyopus are very, very happy on their new farm.

So there ya have it. Psyopus. Living on a farm.

Look how happy Chris Arp is, Keith!!!

-AR

We seem to have great luck with Batillus and songs with the word “night” in their title. Last month, the band’s “The Children of the Night Make Their Music” appeared on volume one of our free NYC Sucks comp; now we’re debuting the first track from their forthcoming album Furnace, entitled ”…And the World is as Night to Them.” Coincidence?!?

Who cares? We’re just glad these dudes talk to us! In a short time, Batillus have established themselves as one of the premiere young doom bands on the scene, and every single moment of Furnace is testicle-tormentingly heavy, disgusting dirty, and uniformly excellent. If you don’t dig this song, check your pulse.

Furnace comes out April 19 on Seventh Rule; a limited edition (only 55 copies!) vinyl tour pressing, featuring art silk-screened by hand, will be available from the band directly at shows prior to that date. Keep up with Batiullus’ tour itinerary here.

NOTE: Due to some bizarre audio player snafu, you need to hit play, then pause, then play again to listen. Sorry! The crushing doom of Batillus has overwhelmed our puny player.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

When I last wrote about this ripping new[-ish] death metal band The Famine I lazily compared them to Dying Fetus, which I realized even then didn’t quite capture their sound. In light of last week’s stream, a much more apt comparison would be Abysmal Dawn; these dudes play fast and brutal death metal with a dose of Morbid Angel-style technicality and a hint of Slayer. This is shit to headbang too — HARD — no breakdowns, no bullshit, no “weedily-weedily.”

Oh, you’re hesitant to give them a shot because they’re on Solid State and you’re afraid they’ll ram Christ down your throat? Maybe this quote from vocalist Nick Nowell about the subject matter of “The Crown and the Holy See” — now streaming at Noisecreep — will put things into perspective for you:

The crown’ representing the state, and ‘the holy see’ representing the church. This song is about the latent racist, middle-aged guy who votes a straight party ticket because he slurps down his doctrine from AM radio and drives a $40,000 truck with a faded bumper sticker on it that has an American flag and says, ‘These colors don’t run!‘

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So apparently Cannibal Corpse were at the airport in Brussels, and they just spotted the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and, like, went up to him n’ shit, and he was totally cool to them. Oh! And Denise Korycki — who also shot the band’s amazing Centuries of Torment DVD, the documentary portion of God Forbid’s Beneath the Scars of Glory and Progression, and a thousand other awesome things you love — was on-hand to capture it on film. So we can actually watch it now!

Best part: Rob Barrett telling Jackson “I thought that was you!”, as though they were old pals. I mean, I don’t think Barrett intended it to sound that way, but it does, and it’s friggin’ hilarious. I also enjoyed the clearly not-quite-awake-yet Corpsegrinder. (At first I thought he might just be baked, but apparently the dude doesn’t smoke.)

Metal Insider (where I first saw this video) speculates that this clip might “be featured in the behind the scene specials for [Cannibal Corpse's new DVD] Global Evisceration,” and they’re probably 100% correct. We’ll find out when Evisceration is released via Metal Blade on March 15.

-AR

Here’s two things I don’t understand about “In Bloodred Shades,” the new Mercenary song (below):

• Why “bloodred” and not “blood red?”
• How do you challenge In Flames and then release something that sounds like it should have been on A Sense of Purpose?

I’ve been listening to this song and various tunes from The Hours That Remain back-to-back, trying to figure out why I like this less than the band’s old material, because in a lot of ways, the changes to the band’s sound have been minimal — they’re still powered by Gothenburg riffs and good cop/bad cop vocals, after all.

But…

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The record release season is now in full swing. New albums by Motorhead, Crowbar and Belphegor stand out today in a week that’s got some other relatively high-profile metal releases coming out as well. After the jump, Vic Vaughn slices and dices them all.

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HEY-OOO!!! Here’s a not-at-all-terrible way to kick off your Tuesday morning: two killer bands are now streaming their new albums in full. Depending on your tastes, you can get all slow n’ sloppy with it, or fast and technical. So:

• Crowbar’s Sever the Wicked Hand, which comes out today on eOne, is streaming here. I honestly don’t know what I can tell you about Crowbar that you don’t already know, unless you’re a noob; and if you are a noob, all you really need to know is LISTEN TO CROWBAR. Do it do it do it. BONUS: you can also read “Fifteen Things You Didn’t Know About Kirk Windstein,” by Kirk Windstein himself!, right here.
• Neuraxi’s Asylon, which comes out next week (specifically, February 15) on Prosthetic, is streaming here. Neuraxis make every other deedily-deedily-doo band you fuckers send us look bad; they are the definition of “good tech death.” So I hope you’re already hip to their talents. If not, here’s yer shot. Do it do it do it.

And if neither of those records make you happy, you’re a spoiled brat and you should go sit in the corner and think about what you’ve done. No joke, your mother and I are very disappointed in you, you little shit.

-AR

Every once in a while I get the urge to have some punk in my life. You know how they say, “If you used to be punk, you never were?” Well, I guess there’s a small part of me that will always have a soft spot for mohawks and anarchists (see: The Young Ones, Vyvyan and Rick). When it comes down to it, punk was my real gateway into metal, and when I hear elements of it pop up in some of my favorite metal bands’ songs, I feel like I should exchange knowing glances with them or acknowledge it in some way. Like, “Ahh, I know what influenced that.”

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(Photo by Chetan Patel for MetalSucks. More pics from their 2009 NYC show with Gojira here)

Good interviews are made by good interview subjects, not my own boring ass… and so it was with Josh Scogin, the verbose and opinionated frontman of The Chariot, whose recent album Long Live is still fucking my face off. The following is definitely one of the most engaging interviews I’ve done in some time.

Scogin had a lot to say about the reaction Long Live has received, particularly the fact that fans and music critics alike seem to dig it; mostly he’s just psyched that so many people like it and humbled by the fact that people whose job it is to listen to music all day hear something special in it. Scogin was happy to chime in on why he thinks that’s the case, four albums into the band’s career: the entire process of recording Long Live was filled with spontaneity, rare in this day and age of military-like pre-production and recording to click-tracks. This was especially true when it came to the mind-blowingly cool video for “David De La Hoz,” the idea for which was completely organic and spontaneous — but more on that from Scogin in the interview.

My chat with Scogin after the jump.

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I spend a whole lotta time complaining about mediocre bands — ones that are serviceable but completely un-original — and way too little time highlighting bands that are actually trying something new. So how about a few bands that do the latter, for better or worse?

• Vestiges: The only band I can think of that I could compare to Vestiges’ brand of black metal-inflected modern American metal is Austin, TX outfit Pack of Wolves, a great band in their own right that deserve way more attention for what they’re doing. Vestiges have a really unique blend of several metal genres and they really can’t be easily pigeonholed; this band is definitely worth a listen if you crave original metal.
• Dying Sun: Spaced-out, slow doom that’s produced with a whole lotta spaced-out ambience rarely heard in this genre. This is a really cool idea and not one I’ve heard before, but I find the production to be lacking; I really wish there was some more clarity in pretty much all of the instruments instead of everything sounding so washy (I’m sure this is intentional on the band’s part — but there has to be a happy medium between clarity and washiness) and the vocals are basically inaudible. STILL, this is perfect music to put on in the background for a one-on-one hang sesh with a good friend and a bowl of your greenest green.
• Slagduster: Axl nailed it when he described these guys as “nu-tech [-death].” I have no idea whether this is a good or bad thing… pretty sure it’s a terrible thing in the general sense… but these guys at least deserve points for trying something new. If Slagduster could stick to more of the Candiria parts and less of the Korn parts this would actually be really cool.

-VN

In 1968, Gary Moore (above, top left) was just 16 years old when he joined future Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott in the Dublin blues-rock quartet Skid Row*. So, Moore was a charter member of the Society of Overachieving Teen Guitarists that would later include Steve Vai (19, Frank Zappa), Zakk Wylde (19, Ozzy Osbourne), and Devin Townsend (19, Steve Vai). Pretty elite company.

After a pair of short stints in Thin Lizzy, Moore again reunited with Lynott in 1979 for the band’s seminal Black Rose: A Rock Legend (see Axl Rose’s Black Rose-themed tattoo here, upper left). More than twenty solo albums followed, including 2008’s Bad For You Baby.

British tabloid The Sun reports that Moore, 58, was discovered unresponsive by medical staff in a Spain hotel suite where there were “definite signs of alcohol.” The Sun also quotes a source at the hotel who has stated that Moore “seemed fine when he left [the hotel bar] around 11 pm.” A post mortem has been scheduled.

After the jump, check out the MetalSucks round up of tributes to Moore by members of Obituary, Opeth, Black Flag, Testament, Black Sabbath, and mo(o)re.

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Last month Vince gave you the heads up that Mr. Yngwie Malmsteen himself was gonna sit in with The Roots on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (The Roots serve as Fallon’s house band); well, that momentous occasion has now occurred, and our friends at Metal Injection have, very helpfully, edited all of Malmsteen’s clips together, so you can just see his parts of the show. The entire thing totals less than three and a half minutes, but Yngwie fits in all the Yngwesomeness he can in that time — in fact, one point, I’m reasonably certain that they had to cut him off ’cause he wouldn’t stop shredding. So, good to know the old boy hasn’t let all those cheeseburgers slow him down any.

Side note — Holy shit, Yngwie Malmsteen played with The Roots. Never thought I’d see that happen.

-AR

I’d never heard of Motherboar before readers Sage Francis and Phil Ward both e-mailed us about their new video, “Croctosquatch,” just two hours apart; Vince watched the clip first and recommended I check it out, and I’m glad he did! I’m lukewarm on the music, which strikes me as being able-but-typical beardo stuff… but the video itself, which is an homage to the kinds of 80′s slasher schlock and creature features I just can’t get enough of, is so much better than 99% of all other metal videos we’ve seen so far this year (or last year, for that matter). If you ever enjoyed a Friday the 13th movie or something like “The Raft” portion of Creepshow 2, definitely check this shit out… fair warning, it’s got lots of boobies and blood, so don’t watch it at work, okay?

“Croctosquatch” comes of off Motherboar’s The Beast Becomes The Servant, which was just released on Born of Fire Records. You can stream the entire album here.

-AR

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 Quarter the Villain’s Regicide EP.

“Right from the start I need to make it clear that your total lack of ambition disgusts me in general,” screams Quarter the Villain’s lead vocal dude at the beginning of “Choking A Sloth.” There are enough different vocal styles on the Orlando band’s recent EP, Regicide, to suggest he’s just playing one role of many in some tech-death multiple personality fantasia. But that phrase does a fine job of summing up Quarter the Villain’s music. Everything about this EP feels maxed-out and deliberately challenging. Stop-on-a-dime arrangements interrupt blastbeat sections with waltzes. Squiggly bass lines dry-hump deathcore chugs. Epic keyboard arpeggios, time-signature fuckery, frantic guitar filigree like good ol’ Dillinger used to make. “Choking A Sloth” even quotes the Super Mario Bros. underworld theme. This EP finds the uncomfortable spot where über-serious brutality meets ultimate dweebiness.

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MS photographic queenpin Jacqueline Cheng was on-hand to shoot Sevendust at their January 21st performance in NYC, alongside Suck and Suckturbed on this year’s Music As A Weapon Tour. That she was happy to oblige our request to shoot Sevendust is proof that we found the right girl to shoot photos for MS; that she said “my soul died” while watching Suck and Suckturbed is even further proof. Her photos are up to the high standards we’ve come to expect from her and include some truly excellent shots like the one above of frontman Lajon Witherspoon giving it his all.

If you’re wondering who that weird long-haired blond man in some of these shots is, that’s fill-in guitarist B.C. Kochmit (Dark New Day, Switched and new #hardrock band Eye Empire [also feat. Corey Lowery]) who took the place of Clint Lowery while Clint went home to witness the birth of his first child. Congrats, Clint!

Pics after the jump.

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Cavalera Conspiracy are giving away a new song, “Killing Inside,” for free download here (you gotta give up your e-mail address to get it, natch). It’s the first song we’ve heard from the Cavalera brothers’ eagerly anticipated new album, Blunt Force Trauma, and… I think it’s kind of a bummer.

Correction: half a bummer. Everything from Marc “Why the fuck is he wearing that backpack?” Rizzo’s guitar solo onwards is exactly what I want from CC — which is to say, it sounds appropriately like old school Sepultura, with plenty of thrash elements and lots of awesome shredding. (I may not like that Rizzo was once in Ill Nino, but I can’t fault his skills as a musician.) But the first half of the song is incredibly meh. I hate to sound like the typical lugheaded metal fan, but the shit needs to be faster and more vicious — even the superior second half doesn’t hold a candle to anything on the band’s debut, Inflikted. The riff that powers “Killing Inside” is slow and redundant and kinda reminds me of the riff from the Murderolls’ “Dead in Hollywood.” Which I doubt is what Max and Igor were going for.

Download the song here, and then let us know what you think in the comments section. Blunt Force Trauma comes out March 29 on Roadrunner; I’m holding out hope that this song isn’t representative of the quality of the remainder of the record.

-AR

Tomorrow sees the release of Crowbar’s new album, Sever the Wicked Hand, on eOne (you can pre-order a physical copy here or a digital copy here, and watch an EPK for the album here). To celebrate, Crowbar main man Kirk Windstein offered to tell MetalSucks readers fifteen things they did not already know about him. And far be it from us to say “no” to Kirk Windstein! And so, enjoy a rare intimate look into the mind of Kirk Windstein, directly from the man himself…

15) I’m addicted to diet soda and sparkling water! I’m always drinking one or the other.

14) I like to wake up no later than 7:00 a.m.

13) I love Journey.

12) My first arena concert was Van Halen, “The 80′s Invasion,” on the Women and Children First tour.

11) Ace Frehley is the reason I play guitar.

Ten more things you didn’t know about Kirk after the jump!

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The below video, which documents a metal-themed church in Colombia, was posted to YouTube in 2009, so I guess this isn’t exactly news; still, I’d never heard of it before MetalSucks Maniac Josh Kidd sent us the link today.

Of course, the existence of the church is sure to cause debate amongst metalheads — some will say that it’s awesome that these fans are worshipping their own way, and some will say that God has no place in metal, and that using extreme music to potentially recruit followers is manipulative. I can see both arguments; I’d much prefer we lived in a world where we were killing each other over something other than whose fairy tale is the right fairy tale, but if you have to go church… sure, why not?

I’m sure you’ll all have no problem debating the issue yourselves in our comments section. That would also be a great place for some of you to make idiotic Metal Church jokes, too.

-AR