Earlier this week we noted that a favorite band of ours had let the news of a new album fly completely under the radar. That band, Anaal Nathrakh, went and released a new song just two days later. Can lightning strike twice? Hey, Scar Symmetry, how ’bout it?

In case you haven’t gathered, Scar “Death Jovi” Symmetry appear to have a new album on the way, although MetalSucks has not heard an official peep from the band or from their label, Nuclear Blast, despite the fact the the supposed release date of April 15th is less than two months away. Can I get a “what the fuck?” in the house?

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In decades past, musicians and bands lay shrouded behind a curtain of secrecy; music videos brought fans a little closer to their idols, but for the most part band members were still completely mysterious individuals whose mystique was part of their appeal. Even the music videos often added to a band’s mystique. All this changed, of course, with the Internet; all of a sudden fans had instant access to every aspect of their favorite band’s lives through constant updates about studio progress, tour blogs, Tweets, Facebook posts from band members’ personal profiles and instant access to music at any time (the latter of which we really take for granted already).

For younger metalheads who were in their teens during the MySpace era, it must be hard to imagine that once upon a time we did not know what the members of our favorites bands were doing at any given moment, and oftentimes didn’t even know what they looked like. We had to wait for a live show to come around to our area once every two or three years, or at best hope that MTV would decide to play their music video when we happened to be watching. If we were lucky our favorite magazine that we punked down hard-earned bucks for would have a feature where we could learn precious information about a band.

To me nothing is more emblematic of this shift, the transparency of the modern musician, than the current trend of “playthrough” videos.

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Word on the street is that Dredg’s new album Chuckles and Mr. Squeezy — now set for release on May 3rd in the U.S. and roughly a week earlier everywhere else — is different. Like, very different. Vocalist Gavin Hayes told us as much back in November when he revealed in a MetalSucks interview that they were working with producer Dan The Automator, whose past production credits include the Gorillaz, Deltron 3030 and Head Automatica, but with the album’s pending release the press machine is gearing up and we’ll soon be hearing what he meant.

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The Haunted have released the title track from their new album, Unseen, on their Facebook page (and you don’t even hafta click the “like” button to hear it). It’s technically the third song we’ve heard from the album (first one here, second one here), but of those samplings, it’s the first high-quality, in-studio track, and thus might give us the best sense of what we’re in for.

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So asked reader Ray Pecheone in an e-mail he sent us earlier this week. And since I enjoy helping fans track down seemingly off-the-grid bands, I did some snooping.

So apparently the band did play at least one live show in the past few months — their first in awhile, as I understand it. A source also tells me that the group is hoping to record a new album this year, but that there’s no official word as of yet. Assuming that they do make a new album in 2011, though, it will be their first release in some time — their last was 2006′s Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead. (They did release a collection of demos, Regression Towards Evil, in 2007, but that doesn’t really count.)

So, uh, hope that helps, Ray! While you wait for Skinless to make an extra super-duper official return, you should know that they at least have a new t-shirt design (right)… and it’s pretty rad! You can order one here.

-AR

Allo allo alohoyus out there. Here’s a vid update from the beginning of the tour with Motorhead and Clutch. We are quite behind on these because EVERY SINGLE night is a totally sold out insane fury of sweat, smoke, booze, friends, fans, women, and loud rocknroll jams! So – getcher self a taste here and stay tuned for more updates and shit asap.

Beard love from Detroit,
Valient Himself

I recently got on the phone with Tommy Rogers, aka Thomas Giles, to talk with the BTBAM vocalist about his new solo record Pulse. Tommy had some interesting things to say about his new solo record, the record industry in general, his thoughts on being a “career band” as opposed to a flash in the pan, and how a band can never really be sure of their standing with fans.

Of course we got to talking all things BTBAM as well, not the least of which was their forthcoming EP The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues (which as of interview time had not yet been announced); Tommy tells us the EP is actually Part 1 of a two-part album suite, Part 2 of which will be a full album! Excite.

Read our chat after the jump.

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From Beastmaster:

“Over the last week I’ve noticed on the PRP that both Chelsea Grin and Within The Ruins have been denied entry into to Canada for their separate respective tours. Now granted, I don’t necessarily love these two bands, but I’m wondering if they are possibly related in some way…. Dun dun DUNNNNNNNN.”

Yes. They are both related in that I don’t like either of them. Unfortunately, I don’t control the Canadian government, so my guess is that they actually both just have merch dudes with records for possession or something idiotic like that. In any case, yes, I agree it’s ridiculous that Canada gets to be spared Chelsea Grin while Americans have to continue to endure them.

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I know I’ve been kind of obsessed (here, here, here, here) with The Deciblog’s “Justify Your Shitty Taste” columns, but can you really blame me? What’s more fun than watching people get upset over nothing?

I think you could count the positive reviews for Guns N’ Roses’ (really Axl Rose’s) Chinese Democracy on one hand; I oughta know, ’cause I wrote one of ‘em. I still take shit for that review, and I still stand by it. I completely, 100% understand why someone wouldn’t like Chinese Democracy, but I still completely, 100%, and without shame fucking love it.

And apparently, so does Decibel‘s Shawn Macomber because he has written absolutely EPIC defense (almost as epic as the album itself) of the record for this week’s “JYST.”

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This Will Destroy You has to be one of the best not-really-metal bands to inexplicably get tons of coverage from the metal media. (I think it’d Decibel‘s fault, actually — at least, that’s where I learned about the band.) I seriously have to question the sanity of anyone who does not like this band. THEIR MUSIC IS JUST SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL AND SAD, it makes me wanna cry every time I hear it. I’m getting kinda choked up just typing about them.

So. The band has just announced a new album, called Tunnel Blanket, and released a new song from that album, called “Communal Blood.” And if you’re a damn fool who isn’t familiar with the incredibleness that is TWDY, well, they’re giving away “Communal Blood” for free download. Check it out after the jump. IT’S JUST SO GODDAMN BEAUTIFUL AND SAD. It’s like the touch of God!!!

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If you don’t understand what that headline is a reference to, you’ve probably got the intelligence of the average fan of said band. And you probably believe in real-life transformers, characters from Street Fighter and the planet Nibiru.

Elsewhere, Deicide had a solid first week while Motorhead and Crowbar had solid second weeks on the Soundscan charts. Let’s check those out and see what else was poppin’.

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As a world-renowned music journalist, I am subjected on a daily basis to a barrage of emails from bands and publicists, all pleading for me to type something on their behalf. Each morning after my standing massage appointment, I set aside some time (usually 6-8 minutes) to quickly scan devote considerable attention to these promotional notices in case one would for make a juicy MetalSucks blog post. Lo and behold, in the latest Reaper Records update I found such a newsworthy item.

If you’ve read the headline of this post, then you’re already ahead in the game, kiddo. It seems that Terror frontman Scott Vogel and drummer Nick Jett have joined forces with Hatebreed bassist Chris Beattie, Trapped Under Ice guitarist Sam Trapkin, and noneother than Matt Henderson formerly of Madball and Agnostic Front. (If you don’t recognize who Matt Henderson is and why this is a big deal, catch up on your hardcore history here.) The most unexpected hardcore supergroup since Hazen Street, the appropriately named S.O.S. have yet to release any music, yet their very existence will bring excitement to all who care about metallic hardcore. Rumors of the group’s existence have been circulating for some time and the band’s Facebook page (which doesn’t even mention who’s in it!) is more barren than the cast of Sex And The City 2. A 7″ is due out this May on Reaper.

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The above has been posted on Extreme Noise Terror’s official website. The cause of death has not yet been released. He was only 46.

It’s always hard to know what to say in a situation like this. ENT are truly one of the godfathers of grind, and as a founding member of the band, Vane’s loss will certainly have a great impact on our community.

Our thoughts go out to Vane’s family and friends.

Here’s Vane and Extreme Noise Terror performing in 2008:

This is easily some of the best prog metal I’ve heard all year… which is an incredibly grand statement in a year when Scale the Summit, Protest the Hero, Devin Townsend, Mastodon, Dream Theater, Opeth and Meshuggah all have albums coming out or already out. (Side note: holy shit! 2011 is going to rule).

The band is stOrk, and if you’re a super prog-dork like me who revels in every Mike Portnoy side project, Ty Tabor jam session and Devin Townsend bowel movement then I can guarantee you will like this band.

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Last night whilst watching Lisa Ling‘s report on Transgender people in America on Oprah’s new OWN network ( \m/ ), I caught this commercial, which originally aired during the Superbowl, an apparent pitch to America’s youth to value honesty. It’s hard to imagine commercials like this having any effect, but it’s infinitely better than seeing a pro-Jesus ad or something of the like. And hey, for once a metalhead (or so he appears) is portrayed in a positive light! Whodathunk the same kids responsible for Columbine and the assassination attempt of Congresswoman Giffords would out-run a bus to return a lost purse? Then again, for a donut reward who wouldn’t?

-VN

Why, it was just Monday that we stumbled across news of a new Anaal Nathrakh album, Passion, and lookee what we have here! It’s cover art! And, better still, A NEW SONG! I knew I got out bed this morning for a reason.

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So Metal Insider tells me that “On March 3, guitar virtuoso Steve Vai and Berkleemusic (Berklee College Of Music’s Online Continuing Education Division) will attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the largest online guitar lesson.” I have no idea why Steve Vai would want to do this, other than to remind people who don’t read Guitar Geek Monthly that he’s still around, and he’s not the dude in Chickenfoot.

ANYWAY, as you can probably tell, I don’t really care about that, but I do care about anything Spinal Tap-related. So: Tap’s axemaster, Nigel Tufnel (really actor/filmmaker/hermaphrodite lover Christopher Guest, who doesn’t look a day over dead), has done this commercial on behalf of Vai’s endeavor. It’s actually not THAT funny, but it does exist, so, uh, yeah. Enjoy. Or don’t. I really have no emotional investment in your reaction either way. Anyone got a sandwich?

-AR

Crucified Mortals, Crucified Mortals

The press notes tell me that Crucified Mortals have been together for nine years, but that this is their first full-length; I’d be curious to know what they were doing all that time, ’cause it certainly wasn’t perfecting an original sound. In case the band’s moniker and cover art weren’t a dead giveaway, this is death metal. And it’s actually not at all terrible — the riffs are appropriately evil-sounding, and if you like Slayer-style one-million-notes-per-second-with-no-real-structure type guitar solos, CM are only too happy to oblige you. But the only way you’ve never heard this record before is if you’ve never heard a death metal record before.

(three outta five horns)

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Trying to keep up with the changes at a music festival is like trying to herd a pack of rabid cats. The South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival is the biggest musical kitty corral of them all. That’s why you have me here to help you make heads or tails of all your SXSW metallic/hard rock/punk rock/experimental/etc. needs.

There have been plenty of line-up changes since my last SXSW music post over a week ago. First on the list is the welcome news that NOLA-sludgekings eyehategod will team up with doom metal pioneers Pentagram to close out the conference on Saturday, March 19 (both bands will be going on after midnight, so, technically, they are playing on March 20) at the Scoot Inn. They’ll be joined by a stellar group of bands including Cough and Naam.

Other notable additions include YOB, Slough Feg, and Zoroaster.

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[A longtime MS reader who comments under the name "isntaTOTALdouchebag10" wrote us a series of emails about Daughters of Mara, calling them an "underappreciated rock gem" (an assertion with which I'd agree). He pleaded with us to write a post about them on MetalSucks, to which I replied "If you do it, I'll run it." So without further ado, here's isntaTOTALdouchebag10's unedited story on Daughters of Mara. -Ed.]

Daughters of Mara in a nutshell…formed briefly by Shawn Zuzek back in 06 or something, wrote a debut album for a major label but got fucked over and it was never released, yada yada yada…they broke up and now Shawn Zuzek does solo shit which is just as fucking awesome. OK now the music.

Everyone has their bands that when you hear other people of similar taste say “Oh, I don’t like them”, it causes our eyebrows to raise because in our opinions it is just so damn good. It’s different for everyone, Daughters of Mara are that band for me. This, their only album, has it all, tasteful in every way, heavy, melodic, a sense of groove, peaks and valleys, and best of all, memorable. Each song has something unique about it

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