‘Cause that’s when not one but TWO new Devin Townsend albums, Deconstruction and Ghost, get released… at least in Europe. No word on release dates elsewhere, although hopefully his label, InsideOut Music, will recognize that having different international release dates in 2011 is completely fucktarded.
SO. FUCKING. EXCITED.
-AR
Italy has offered us many amazing things. Pizza, pasta, olive oil, hella wines, Sophia Loren….
And now we have The Secret. One of my faves we caught last week in Texas. Be sure to catch em stateside while you can.
Tour dates after il jomp.
-KW
So as it turns out, Periphery have a rather sizable online following. Hm. Who knew?
ANYWAY, here’s how we amused ourselves this week:
Alright, have a good frakin’ weekend everyone! See ya Monday.
-AR
Eli Shaika is back with more Cooking Contaminated freshness, this time with Javelina guitarist/vocalist “Chubbs.” With a name like that you’d expect only the best in the kitchen, and you’d be correct; Chubbs is a self-proclaimed chili expert, having both judged and won several chili cook-offs. Chubbs’ own chili recipe is an all-pork affair… bacon, pork tenderloin, ground pork, more bacon, more bacon, and more bacon. Couple that with Eli’s cornbread and you’ve got another winning meal. Bon Appetit.
American Idol week 10
Wed The final 11 perform the hits of Motown Records
Thur Live results + one freak-out
Misery Index Goddammit, I just knew that this was coming after Randy Jackson’s shout out to Motown founder Barry Gordy a few weeks back.
Tyler-o-meter Waaaaay too nice to this gaggle of lames
*
To borrow a phrase from Idol judge Jennifer Lopez, let’s talk a bit. First, I reiterate that the purpose of Idol Remains is to examine American Idol through a Heavy Metal microscope. If metallists have an edge on other genre fans, it’s our ability to identify the genuine, the real, and the compelling. We’re not about only beauty, but reality, force, and truth.
Therefore, to us, the American Idol construct sucks donkey balls. True, the show ultimately suffers only a moderate shortage of skilled singers, yet Idol’s bombastic production, ramped-up human drama, and hollow, obtrusive promotional partnerships cannot mask its dearth of credibility. See, I could stand up in English class and fluidly read from Crime And Punishment, but as I have not faced the challenges of life in 19th century Russia, my performance is bound to the realm of recitation. Likewise, nearly none of these Idol sucks emote or express in any real way. They are karaoke singers, impersonators, and students of mimicry. Not artists. Not in this lifetime.
And there is no place for these phonies in modern music. Their ranks are already swelled by the physically gifted and socially fortunate: ambitious models, drugged-out jewel thieves, puggish reality stars, and sidelining actors. Enough.
And yet, week ten of Idol was all about opportunity. Opportunity for training-wheels singers to exploit the pinnacle of American hit-making. Opportunity for big bonerz music producers and Idol minnows to hijack secondhand glow from Detroit’s finest bygone moments. Opportunity for Motown to hawk its back catalogue. Opportunity for the TV to help our society to tweak our ethnic and political history. Opportunity for Idol producers to preemptively explain the fallacy of soul music sung by the privileged and soulless (Motown’s hits were cough “music for everybody”). Best of all, it was an opportunity for all of us to glory in the majesty of Motown: It is not about chops; it is about emotion, experience, and backbone.
Idol so clearly lacks all three. So, only this last and most beneficial opportunity was missed. How sad. This show sucks! Alas, your Idol Remains recap of doom:
Not because they sit at home in their mom’s basement playing World of Warcraft all day… ok maybe they do that too, I don’t know. But because the hole in the floor you see in the above picture was caused by an overzealous fan at a house party Periphery played in Houston — the fattest city in the U.S. according to Jared Heselmeyer, who sent in the pic – after their official show in that city was canceled. Sez Jared about the craziness:
… in order to not miss out on the Houston crowd they managed to talk to some people and secure a new venue Houston’s House of Creeps. In actuality this “venue” is also a house where a few people live. With signs on the fridge that says “if you do not live here we should not see you in here.” With over 100 people in attendance a lot of people watched from outside the patio door and in the kitchen. I’ve never seen a toaster oven rattle so much. Add that many people in a house with no A/C and 1 Fan in the living room it heated up quickly. Being right next to the PA i couldn’t say if the sound was great but the show was fantastic. One of the owners managed to crowd surf which resulted in almost running into the fan. I’m pretty sure it was during Icaraus Lives when the floor cracked. Certainly the most unique concert of the year so far.
Sounds awesome. I wish I coulda been there… house shows rule.
Periphery are streaming a brand new track called “Frak the Gods” from their forthcoming Icarus Lives EP right here on MetalSucks; go listen now!
-VN
I don’t think anyone would actually equate Matt Pike’s recent good-vibe poolside interview to the famous so-sad-it’s-not-even-funny pool interview with W.A.S.P.’s Chris Holmes, but I definitely got flashes of the latter in this highly entertaining clip from Soundwave T.V. For one, Matt Pike seems to generally love life and be stoked on just about everything as opposed to being a pathetic sad-sack, and Pike strikes me as a much more down-to-earth working man than Holmes was. But this is MetalSucks, so you be the judge:
True to form, Pike is even wearing his favorite t-shirt.
-VN
[Read my recaps of Day One, Day Two and Day Three. -Ed.]
No Austin excursion for me and Kip is complete without another round of savory, tasty meat courtesy the Salt Lick, but due to our inability to find a ride out to Driftwood we had to get our BBQ on elsewhere. Rudy’s just outside of town came highly recommended by this trusted guy, so we piled into two cabs and headed out to… a gas station.
On Tuesday night Vince, myself, and our pal Juggalo Bob hit up Agalloch’s first-ever NYC show, and it was KILLER. I was totally exhausted and over-worked and ready for bed, and we got stuck kinda near the back so it was hard to see shit, and we still thought it was, like, one of the most epic things ever. Just in case there was any doubt that Agalloch own your ass.
If you weren’t there or, like us, had a shitty view of the action, don’t fret too much — ’cause (((unartig))) has, once again, captured some very nice live footage from the show. Check it out below.
Two words: “FUCK” and “YES.”
NPR’s also got audio of the entire concert streaming for free. Hooray for public radio!
-AR
[via No Clean Singing and Shay McCloskey]
Sorry, kids, but I am not a Gates of Slumber fan. They’re one of those bands, like The Sword, whose sound is ultimately just too self-consciously retro for my tastes. There are bands doing the whole classic-hard rock/metal thing but putting their own spin on it, like Dawnbringer and High on Fire, and then there are bands like this. Thank you but not thank you.
But I know that The Gates of Slumber have their following, and I know that at least some of that following reads this website, so they may be curious to know that TGOS have a new song, “Coven of Cain,” now streaming at The Deciblog. It does nothing for me, but, of course, you shouldn’t let my opinion influence you — just listen here and make up your own damn mind.
“Coven of Cain” from The Gates of Slumber’s latest, The Wretch, which comes out May 10 on Rise Above Records.
-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 three recent releases from Throatruiner Records.
Just because you’re offering your music for free doesn’t mean that presentation is unimportant. French label Throatruiner Records understands this better than most. Their press materials are thorough and totally professional, the bands they are all quality, they offer all of their albums for free download, and insist on awesome packaging to incentivize actual purchase. Since Throatruiner give us the goods gratis, we’re dedicating an entire installment of Freeloader to them.
As We Draw – Lines Breaking Circles
I washed my hands of “post-metal” long before Isis broke up. What began as a new way of writing songs, with process at the fore instead of structure, devolved into empty stylistic signifiers and soporific build-ups. As We Draw do it different. The French three-piece has some guitar atmospherics and climactic moments in common with yer Rosettas and Cults of Luna, but they offer a far more energized, varied take on post-metal than most of their contemporaries. The band uses its three-piece lineup smartly, making guitars subservient to the rhythm section on songs like “Shield” and “Draft,” pitting textured guitars in opposition to anchoring bass in “Shield” and “Drowned in Flames,” massing their vocals into gruff gang chants on “Sin of Addiction” and “Scum of the Earth.” Parts remind me of Cave-In’s Jupiter, parts remind me of ‘90s screamo. All reminds me of stuff I will listen to again.
(4 horns up)
Get it free here.
Okay so honestly I’m not really that knowledgable about Samael; they’re one of those bands that falls under the category of “there are just too many bands for me to know them all.”
But I just checked out the new song they have streaming on their MySpace page, “In the Deep,” and it’s so gosh darn catchy that I think I’m gonna hafta familiarize myself with them.
I mean, the track is nothing you haven’t heard before. It’s epic black metal with a typically ancient-sounding bent to it. But like I said, it’s just so damn catchy… as soon as I was done listening to it the first time, I wanted to listen again immediately. That’s always a good sign.
Headbang here. “In the Deep” comes off of Samael’s new album, Lex Mundi, which comes out April 29 in Europe and May 3 in North America via Nuclear Blast.
-AR
When you find yourself getting really pumped while watching the new Melechesh video, for the track “Grand Gathas of Baal Sin,” keep in mind that it’s not just because the song is awesome. Check out the editing, too — each cut is timed so perfectly to the music, in order to ensure that the viewer gets the maxium ugh! gut-punch. This is a good example of taking a pretty basic performance vid and finding a way to make something dynamic and exciting out of it.
Although, yeah, I don’t know why these poor dudes are wading through water. But whatevs.
Melechesh’s latest, The Epigenesis, is out now on Nuclear Blast.
-AR
Krallice’s completely fucking insane new album, Diotma, comes out via Profound Lore on April 26 (we should have a review well before then), and now the band has announced the first tour dates in support of that release. Alas, it’s only nine dates, but I’m sure that all of those dates will be killer — this band absolutely slays live.
And as a bonus, Withered will be on the same tour. Withered, too, just totally fuck shit up live. So you should definitely hit up one of these shows if you can.
Here are the dates, courtesy the good folks at Crustcake, in case that poster up there somehow confuses you:
It’s that glorious time of the year when all the bands who have braved the unknown and trudged down to Austin for FXFW triumphantly (one hopes) return to rock their hometowns one more time before fucking their own girlfriends and crashing in their own beds…
And in these here parts we can celebrate another successful run for Hull and Batillus, who both never fail to bring the thunder and ride the lightning.
I’ll be representin’ for our homies; will you??
Caltrop and Horseback will further fuel the fire…
Blast Batillus on th’information superhighway
-KW
Oh my gosh Lars Ulrich is such a dummy. All of the actors in the above scene from the upcoming HBO biopic Hemingway & Gellhorn (in which Ulrich portrays Dutch documentarian Joris Ivens) are looking in one direction, and looking in that direction in such a way that suggests that the focus of the scene is definitely over there, but Lars is looking in the other direction. HEY, IDIOT. SOMETHING IMPORTANT IS GOING ON OVER THERE. LOOK OVER THERE.
There’s a new Arsonists Get All the Girls song called “Avdotya,” and, sensing that this was probably not just some nonsense word the band made up but, rather, that my education has failed me yet again, I decided to Google it. Turns out it’s a Russian girl’s name, and depending on which baby name website you look at, it either means “pleasure,” “delight,” “good gift,” “well,” or “to seem well.” And while I can’t understand what the heck AGATG front man Jared Monette is screaming during the song, it’s that last name meaning that strikes me as being the most relevant to the song — I mean, if this is a love song for girl who is a delight, well, it is a terrible, terrible gift for that poor young woman. On the other hand, if it’s a song about a girl who seems well but maybe isn’t so much… well, that sounds about right.
Regardless of what the song is about, I enjoy it. It’s schizophrenic fuck-nuts shit, which is to say, it’s AGATG doing what they do best. I think that The Game of Life, the 2007 release that first introduced me to the band, is still my favorite of their releases, but this track definitely makes wanna hear the rest of their new album.
That album is called Motherland, by the way, and it’s coming out on Century on May 17. While you wait, you can stream “Avdotya” here.
The band is about to begin a tour with a bunch of other groups I don’t particularly care for, but I’m going to put the dates after the jump anyway, because AGATG are headlining, and because it seems like the menschy thing to do.
For those eagerly awaiting the results of our Catstacking contest, we’ll be announcing the winner in another day or two, so be patient. In the meantime we’ll dole out that Six Feet Under DVD we offered up two weeks ago. The winning caption to the photo at right:
This week we’ve got a copy of Return to Earth’s Automata and a copy of Hammers of Misfortune’s Church of Broken Glass, once again from Metal Blade. So do what ya’ll do best: come up with the funniest caption to the below photo and drop it in the comments. Remember to use a real email address (or post it with your comment if you’re using FB Connect).
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…
J. Bennett stopped by Decibel HQ last month; naturally, we took the opportunity to grab some adult beverages. It didn’t take long for me to punch up some Kylie in a jukebox that was doing just fine with Use Your Illusion and Ride the Lightning. Nor did it take some random backpatch hombre long—like maybe a second and a half—to cleanse the bar of Ms. Minogue’s exotic stylings with something off of Relentless. Little did this kid know that my drinking comrade was in town specifically to meet up with Bobby Liebling for our May cover story. Ah, the seren-dipshittery—a nice bit of low comedy before an interview that I assume blew even Bennett’s mind.
Said cover story is an instant favorite for multiple reasons, but I think number one is this brief aside from Sean “Pellet” Pelletier, longtime Liebling supporter/sufferer, describing the abode of the Pentagram mainman’s parents.
“There were Cocoa Krispies stuck to the ceiling because Bobby threw a bowl of cereal.”
That’s what I call living. I mean, you don’t need heroin and crack to do that shit, although I suppose it helps. On a moderately more serious note, while the cover’s in simple black and white, the issues detailed therein—loyalty, hedonism, spirituality—span a broad, colorful spectrum. Liebling has defied the odds in virtually every facet of his life—despite endless, infamous struggles with addiction, he’s concocted an absolutely essential proto-doom canon, and lived long enough to see a lethal cocktail of self-sabotage and bum luck transform into international adulation. Worthy subject matter—funny, heartbreaking and, again, sometimes mind-blowing.
And the rest of the issue is no slouch. We’ve covered the Napalm Death flexi already, but there are outlandish and informative features on Burzum, Gridlink, Kylesa, Krallice, Darkest Hour (specifically John Henry’s metal mutha), Obscura, the Scion Rock Fest and shitloads more. Hit it or quit it.
-AB
You can buy the May 2011 issue of Decibel here, or get a full subscription to ensure you never miss an issue, or of those awesome flexi discs!
I was minding my own business Wednesday night just jeering Carmelo Anthony and cheering Danilo Gallinari, when a friend’s friend whammied my world via donation of one single (!) blast of her super-weed. I knew the ganj was trouble cuz I immediately I began to hack, seize at my own chest, and think “Aw shit. So long, brain.” The remainder of the night was spent in a state of utter cluelessness, all half-formed sentences and puzzled looks. Confusion reigned. Like, I spent like two full minutes trying to fast-forward a regular broadcast of Breaking Bad. It was ugly.
I was pretty out of it, and though I’ve rallied this morning, I still feel pretty out of it. But not in the no-basic-comprehension-skills/can’t-work-a-TV-remote way. More in the sense that, duhhh, I didn’t even know Glassjaw had an EP out since January (thanks, commenters on Axl’s sexy response to Noiseceep’s best songs of 2011 so far thing). I also just discovered that Ghost’s Opus Eponymous is, like, bonerus colossus (thanks, publicity studs/foxes at Metal Blade) and that the Chicago jam “Feelin’ Stronger Every Day” totally jamz like W’OMG (thanks, mutinous car stereo).
Anyway, I’m not so humbled by my ignorance as to come down off my high horse. Maybe I’ll ask my high horse to dismount its high horse, but anyway as I thought of my favorite 2011 jamz so far, it occurred to me that I only overlooked the abovementioned awesome stuff cuz other awesome stuff has been occupying me — mostly the sleeper classic of 2011, Kampfar’s Mare (above). Nobody seems to be talking about this soon-to-be topper of many year-end lists, and that fills me with both elitist rage and writerly self-recrimination. So here, let’s fix this by all cranking the self-titled kick-off jam from Mare (below), which can be yours on Tuesday. Next, we’ll all talk about it and hype it up a ton, like we’ve done for the other awesome, deserving, all genre-fan-inclusive K-name band from Norway. This way, we all rock and feel super-smart! Win-win!
Kampfar’s masterful Mare is out Tuesday on Napalm Records. Get it or be ignorant.
