Hats off to reader Derek Navardauskas, who correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Antediluvian. Derek wins some random shit of his choice from all the random shit we have laying around the MetalSucks Mansion right now. Yyyyaaaayyy, Derek!

This week we have another awesome prize for you: a copy of the new Abaddon Incarnate/Phobia split 7″, which is coming out on February 25 on Underground Movement. It features three new tracks from Irish grinders Abbadon Incarnate and four new songs from the already-legendary Phobia, so, yeah, you know you fucking want this. Only 500 copies of this bad boy will be pressed! You can pre-order it via PayPal by sending payment to ianlawless@gmail.com ($8.82/£5.50 in Ireland, $11.50/£7.20 in the rest of the world, and specify if you want a black vinyl or a white vinyl — the white ones are rarer, and are avail only via preorder). Or, of course, you can just enter this contest!

All you gots to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. ALL ENTRIES WITHOUT AN ADDRESS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner and announce his or her name next week.

This week’s logo was suggested by reader Gary Dreher. Thanks, Gary!

-AR

Just yesterday Darkest Hour debuted a new song from their forthcoming album The Human Romance, and, hey, lookit, they’re already streaming the full album! Check it out here!

I don’t quite gathered all my thoughts about the record just yet — we only heard it for the first time ourselves last week — but I do know that it’s as epic as a really epic thing, and I do know it’s really good. So just go listen.

The Human Romance comes out a week from today on eOne.

-AR

Children of Bodom are lucky that their song “Was it Worth It?” is pretty good, because the new video for said song makes no fucking sense whatsoever. The band is performing in front of some giant lights, and then there’s these dudes skateboarding around them, and, uh, that’s it. At one point one of the guys lights his skateboard on fire before riding it, which is cool in theory, but it’s not even filmed in a way which really allows you to see it. Gene Kelly used to insist on being filmed from head-to-toe when he did dance numbers, so people could really observe what he was doing, and understand how much skill it took; that would have been a good policy when shooting these skateboarders, but, alas, no such luck.

And what do skateboarders have to do with something being “worth it” anyway? I can’t help but think that a simpler, funnier version of this video would be just endless clips of skateboarders getting injured — then at least the visuals, when paired with the song’s title, would seem amusing. But I guess someone already made that video.

Children of Bodom’s latest, Relentless Reckless Forever, comes out March 8 on Spinefarm. Despite the crappy video, I’m still anxious to hear it.

-AR

We’re getting closer and closer to the release of The Human Abstract’s new album, Digital Veil, and now the band has unveiled another new track. It’s called “Complex Patterns,” and you can listen to it right here.

Seriously, if you’re not impressed with these tunes we’ve been hearing, I don’t wanna know you. I’ve only heard like half the album, and I’m already convinced it’s far and away the best thing the band has ever recorded. You know how people are always going on and on about the challenges of combining technicality with strong hooks? Well, The Human Abstract make that shit look easy. These songs are fucking KILLER.

Listen listen listen. Digital Veil comes out March 9 on eOne.

-AR

Dear record labels,

Please read this. All of it. Then kindly quit complaining about sagging revenues and scapegoating music piracy. You’re leaving money on the table.

Love,
Vince Neilstein

From AVC via The Guardian, written by Fred Wilson, a venture capitalist who spends upwards of $60 per month – and by his estimate around $2,000 annually – on music and music subscriptions:

I like to buy music. I buy it from emusic (where I pay $23/month for use it or lose it credits for music downloads), Amazon, and when in a pinch, iTunes. I also have two Rhapsody music subscriptions that cost an additional $20/month. My kids also regularly spend money on iTunes for music (often for tracks we already own somewhere else in the house). I suspect between all of this, our family spends well over $1000/year on mp3s, probably closer to $2000/year.

And yet, today I find myself pirating an album on the Internet. I thought I’d outline how this happened to showcase what a fucked up system we have for content sales on the web.

Click to read more…

Menhir, the new album from Stockholm’s Canopy, is apparently the band’s third album — but it’s the first I’ve heard of them. I was in the middle of listening to the first song off the album when I forwarded the e-mail announcing its arrival to Vince, encouraging him to check them out for a possible write-up in the future; now I’ve listened to the entire album, and I’m digging it so much that I’m just gonna steal them back and write about them my damn self.

Click to read more…

The fine folks over at the SXSW Film Festival just released their Midnighters and one MetalSucks monkey is going to be especially happy.

Check out this awesome international trailer for the Spanish apocalyptic virus flick, Phase 7, and revel in its immensity!

-CM

Corey Mitchell is a best-selling author of several true crime books.

Join Corey at Facebook and Twitter.

Back in December 2008, Ozzy Osbourne’s manager-wife Sharon hosted the reunion special of VH1′s Rock of Love Charm School and was being her usual unjustifiably smug self. But then RoL girl/giga-fox Megan Hauserman (above left) took the stage and had the nerve to return-volley each of Sharon’s old lady sour-grapes insults — culminating in a fist-pumpingly astute observation that Sharon’s only claim to fame is shepherding a sad drug casualty to creatively dubious solo success — at which point Sharon “doused Hauserman with her drink,” “punch[ed] and grabb[ed] her by the hair and refus[ed] to let go,” and “scratch[ed] her.” Three months later, Hauserman formally filed suit against Sharon for battery, negligence, and infliction of emotional distress.

The case was finally headed for court today — nearly two years after the filing — but then the parties reached a settlement Monday. It seems that part of the deal is non-disclosure of its terms, but two separate big-shot legal professionals I know each kinda conjectured to me that Sharon’s strategy likely was to wait for Hauserman to initiate settlement for a smaller amount in advance of the court date. But Hauserman doesn’t need quick cash ‘cuz she’s marrying a rich Italian hunk (as all babes should do), nor does it seem that Shosbourne holds any career leverage over her (or over anybody except for her kids, her manicurists, and Ozzy’s fleet of increasingly off-brand sidemen). So no dice. The concept of punitive damages is to ensure that even the very rich are held responsible for their wrongdoings; as such, it’s possible that Hauserman was awarded a sum large enough to be able to move me into a house opposite Osbourne’s from which I could moon, curse, and otherwise taunt Sharon on a daily basis. ‘Cuz fuck her.

Click to read more…

I tried to download Devin Townsend’s free new live EP yesterday but Inside Out’s website was so overloaded with traffic that I couldn’t get through. Kinda a good problem to have if you’re Devin, I suppose; too much popularity can’t be a bad thing. I just tried again and things went much more swimmingly, so if you had problems yesterday I’d recommend you give it another go.

With all the fracas surrounding the new EP, we completely overlooked this latest bit of Devin-related news: Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt, BTBAM’s Tommy Rogers and Gojira’s Joe Duplantier are all rumored to be contributing vocals to Devin’s forthcoming Deconstruction record. We say “rumored” because the speculation is only based on a series of Tweets by Devin, such as “Thank you Joe D,” but given Devin’s reputation and relationships I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume these guest spots are indeed happening. This on top of the confirmation earlier this month that Ihsahn will be contributing vocals too: yowza! I, for one, think Devin’s got an amazing voice of his own — often underrated in all the Devin hype — but I’m of course happy he’s enlisted such an A-list cast of characters to help out this time around.

Can’t wait for Destruction. Can’t wait for Ghost. Stoked.

-VN

New releases by Deicide, Neuraxis and Total Fucking Destruction top this week’s list of new metal albums available in the States. While the new one from Emmure is guaranteed to outsell them all (combined!), we can take solace in the fact that there a smattering of other great new releases too from the likes of Ava Inferi, Darkest Era, Rabbits, The Famine, and a whole lot more. Vic Vaughn breaks ‘em all down after the fold.

Click to read more…

Holy shit, did you know that Whitesnake are still around? It’s true! They’ve even released a new video, for a song called “Love Will Set You Free.” And even though David Coverdale now looks like he should be luring children into the oven in his gingerbread house*, the song is actually not awful, and the video is totally competent! It’s nothing you haven’t seen/heard before, but I’m just shocked that this isn’t embarrassing in every single way.

The band apparently has a new album coming out, called Forevermore, on March 29. Even though this song didn’t make me wanna kill anyone, I’m not going to listen to it — but I think I should be able to convince Leyla or Anso to do so.

-AR

*Seriously, instead of teaching abstinence in certain public schools, they should just re-film the video for “Here I Go Again” with Coverdale and Tawny Kitaen the way they look now. After seeing that, no teenager would ever feel the desire to have sex ever again.

Scale the Summit makes awesome party music, as I found out this Sunday when I had some folks over to the Vince Division of the Mansion to celebrate my birthday. It’s heavy enough to get the metalheads’ in the room bopping, but it’s not so abrasive that it’ll offend those who don’t like their music heavy. This applies for a lot of instrumental metal, actually; I tried it out with Animals as Leaders and was pleased to see a non-metalhead friend of mine doing a stationary headbang in a seat right next to one of the speakers.

But back to Scale the Summit. In case our world premiere of the new StS track “Whales” wasn’t enough for you, Prosthetic is streaming another new song, “Gallows,” over at their store. Just in case, ya know, you like it so much you actually feel like pre-ordering, you can do so right on the spot. Which I highly, highly, highly recommend; The Collective, officially out March 1st, is one of my favorite records of 2011 so far.

Head on over to Prosthetic’s store to stream “Gallows,” then come back here and tell us what you think.

-VN

When we got wind of the fact that Mastodon are getting ready to release a live album, Live at the Aragon, next month, one of our — well, maybe really just my — biggest concerns was the vocals. When I’ve heard Mastodon play Crack the Skye material live, the vocals have sounded pretty atrocious, and since Aragon features a performance of that album in its entirety, well, this fact might cause problems when trying to enjoy the live release.

Now the band has unveiled a clip from this upcoming CD/DVD set, of the song “Oblivion.” To the band’s credit, they vocals aren’t as bad as any of the times I’ve seen this song played live, and they don’t seem to have done any touch-ups in the studio the way a lot of other bands do. Not so much to their credit, the vocals are still lousy enough that I can’t imagine myself ever sitting around and listening to this thing in its entirety. I mean, if I was at a karaoke bar with some friends and one of them did this good a job with the song, I’d be like, “Oh, hey, that was pretty cool!” But this ain’t no karaoke version of the song.

What do you guys think? Is that an unacceptable vocal performance, or am I overreacting?

Live at the Aragon comes out March 15 on Reprise.

-AR

Well, here’s a real bummer. From God Dethroned’s official Facebook page:

Click to read more…

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Reviled by most, enjoyed by the smug, and shrugged off by the belligerently ambivalent. But while most of us couldn’t care less about this specific day in February, it’s still an annoyance that comes around every year. Kind of like the common cold.

Now, most places will have shitloads of “quirky” recommendations you can do with your special someone, even if you’re of the metalhead persuasion. You can hold sweaty hands in the privacy of your parents’ basement, pour each other some classy Motorhead wine, and share a blood pudding in the dreamy light of those church candles. It’s all very nice and sweet to be… nice and sweet.

But you know what’s better? DOING IT. With a killer soundtrack. So on this very special day, I’ve made you all a romantically inappropriate mix tape.

Picking “mood” songs is a little too obvious for my taste. I mean yeah, Faith No More’s “Stripsearch” (Actually, that might be more of a stripping song than a sexing one, but ,hmm, “Evidence” maybe? Heh, “Be Aggressive” might work for some. Either way, Patton’s voice = nudity.) and NIN’s “Closer” are both appropriate (for very different reasons), but that’s no fun. Go forth and find that special someone willing to get, get naked to these select songs. There’s a little something for everyone. St. Valentine would’ve wanted it that way.

Click to read more…

The devil must be in those cupcakes…

For more classic Stains go here.

-KW

I’ve been cranking Omnium Gatherum’s new album New World Shadows ever since the folks at Lifeforce Records granted us press access in early January, and now’s your chance to do so too: the entire album is streaming at RecordShopX.com for a limited time. Warning: be prepared for extremely good, colossal, epic, aching, melo-death/doom.

If you somehow still haven’t listened to Omnium Gatherum, you’re likely to think they’re the shit if you enjoy the following bands: Insomnium, Daylight Dies, Swallow the Sun, etc. I might even go so far as to say I’m enjoying New World Shadows more than I did Insomnium’s last album… woah! There, I said it.

New World Shadows is out now everywhere except the U.S., where it’ll arrive on March 1st. It’s really too bad that Lifeforce couldn’t coordinate a mutual international release date; money is being left on the table by forcing Americans caught up in the worldwide release hype to pirate.

-VN

Sooo… just thought we’d take this opportunity to remind you yet again that MetalSucks, with a special assist from The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley, will be presenting Heavy Metal Literature Night at at Hank’s Saloon in Brooklyn this Thursday, February 17. Members of God Forbid, Tombs, and, of course, this very website, will be doing readings from from some of metal’s greatest tomes, including Motley Crue’s The Dirt, Led Zeppelin’s Hammer of the Gods, Slash’s Slash, Marilyn Manson’s Long Hard Road Out of Hell, and more — kinda like what Will Forte does in the below video. Only we don’t make one of the biggest bombs of the year and get fired from Saturday Night Live at the end.

And, oh yeah, Vince is DJing!!! Come get st00pid with us. Thursday night. See ya there.

Holy crap, there’s a lot of new music coming out today. It’s like everyone knew that all the lonely metal heads would home alone jerking off, so they all released new songs at once. It’s hard to even keep up with it all!

One that’s worth keeping up with, though, is Darkest Hour’s “Love is a Weapon.” It’s another new song from their forthcoming offering, The Human Romance, and I think it’s my favorite yet.

Why? Well, for one thing, it amalgamates my two favorite emotions: rage and melancholy. But, perhaps more importantly, it just hits all my g-spots: it’s well-written, it’s well-played, and it’s well-produced, by some dude named Peter Wichers. I ain’t never heard of him before, but I think he could have a bright future ahead of him if he continues to do work as good as this.

To listen, go to the band’s Facebook page and tell the world that you want Darkest Hour to be your valentine. Let’s be real here, Mike Carrigan is prettier than your real valentine anyway.

The Human Romance comes out next Tuesday, February 22, on eOne. It is the perfect music to make love to.

-AR

So, the new DevilDriver album. Beast. I’ve heard it. I’ve listened to it a few times. In fact, I’m listening to it right now.

I like it. The thing is, DevilDriver are a Slayer band, which is to say that the changes to their sound from album to album are relatively minimal, which is to say that the success or failure of their albums are generally based upon one relatively simple matter: how well-written the songs are. The songs on The Last Kind Words were awesome, so the album seemed awesome. The songs on Pray for Villains were kinda meh, so the album was kinda meh.

Click to read more…