There’s a bunch of new shit streaming right now that I think may be worth your time, even if I don’t love of all it… if that makes sense. Anyways, rather than do a bunch of separate posts, I’m just collecting it all here, because I’m lazy like that. And so…
Cosmo Lee is leaving Invisible Oranges.
For the uninitiated, that’s something akin to Varg Vikernes saying he’s leaving Burzum. No disrespect meant to the other fine writers who contribute to IO, but that site lives, bleeds and IS Cosmo.
But then I read Cosmo’s statement on the matter and I immediately got it. It might not seem like it, but this here blogging thing is a lot of work, especially when it’s not your full-time job (but even when it is). Sez Cosmo:
I’ve done Invisible Oranges for four and a half years, putting in 30- to 40-hour weeks on it, seven days a week. (I can count on two hands the number of days I’ve taken off from the site.) This is my 1400th post for Invisible Oranges. Given that each post typically takes over three hours of work (a typical album review requires weeks (if not months) of listening, an hour to write, and an hour to edit and lay out), and an interview typically takes over five hours to transcribe, edit, and lay out, I’ve put in well over 5000 unpaid hours on this site. (Our advertising this year might have us breaking even in terms of server and other costs.) I’ve sunk thousands of dollars into this site, and I wouldn’t take a single one back. But eventually it will be time for me to move on.
Art of Sucking are the first sign to a new label owned by the two members of Disturbed whose names people actually know (that would be David Draiman and Dan Donegan, not Anonymous Drummer and Dude from Union Underground), and if you’re thinking “Hm, Disturbed are the worst thing to happen to humanity since the plague, so I bet they have shitty taste in music and signed an awful fucking band,” well, you’re right. Art of Sucking are fucking awful. It’s like Nickelback tried to rip-off A Perfect Circle and did what they do best, which is fail at everything that isn’t fooling lobotomized rubes into thinking they’re worth a damn.
But Art of Sucking’s new video, for “Die Sucking,” is kind of interesting, and by interesting, I mean in a “staring at one spot on the sidewalk for five minutes” kinda way. No joke, at least fifty percent of this thing’s running time is devoted to shots of the singer walking. I would have loved to have seen the production schedule for this thing: “Day 1, band performance. Day 2, dude walking — locations TBD.”
At least Hard Eight had the good sense to have their guy running and not just walking. Difference is, someone was paid to make this piece of crap:
I am going to hire a gypsy to put a curse on this band so that everything everywhere smells like farts to them always. It may not prevent them from making terrible music, but it will make me laugh.
-AR
[via Noisecreep]
Well THIS FUCKING SUCKS THE BIG ONE.
Kat Katz, who has to be one of the best goddamn motherfucking vocalists working in metal today, has posted the following message on her Facebook page:
Sumerian Records co-founder Ash Avildsen published a ballsy video yesterday in which he presents some facts and his own opinions on the issue of music piracy. Since Ash instructs listeners at the very beginning to “take 3 minutes of your day to listen to this message with an open mind, and then decide for yourself how you feel about the subject at hand,” I figured I’d do just that.
So… first, watch the above video.
OK, ready? Now let’s dive in.
So this is pretty cool… in theory at least. Last week, the videogame Homefront was released (I haven’t played it so I have no idea how it is, although I read some decent reviews), and yesterday, the makers of the game started giving away a FREE compilation of metal bands doing covers of war-appropriate songs, sometimes by other metal bands, sometimes by non-metal artists. You can download it here, and should get on that ASAP, as they’re only giving away 25,000 of the free downloads. As of this writing, DLs are still avail, though. Also, I’m sure this thing will remain all over the internet forever and ever, so don’t freak too hard if they’re all gone by the time you get there.
Another reason no to freak out too hard if you don’t get to download this puppy? Even though this is 100% free, like most cover albums, it’s not actually all that amazing. Let’s take a look at what the album has to offer, shall we?
Lately melodic death hasn’t been impressing anyone, including myself. And so I thought I’d take a look back at a record that never fails to give me that warm fuzzy feeling inside. Sure, everyone has a big ol’ boner for Tales from the Thousand Lakes, but the Amorphis album I prefer is the less-favored Eclipse. No offence to Lakes — I could muster a pretty impressive showing of lady wood for that album, too — but Eclipse? Ah, Eclipse!
Another tragic loss for metal: Exhorder bassist Frankie Sparcello passed away yesterday. More information about the cause of death has yet to be released.
Exhorder might be America’s answer to At the Gates — a legendary band who didn’t get the respect they deserved in their time, but ended up influencing a seemly endless amount of their followers, who subsequently popularized their sound. The band reunited in 2009 and were supposed to play Maryland Deathfest in May; no word yet on whether or not the band still plans to move forward in the wake of Sparcello’s passing.
Our thoughts are, of course, with Sparcello’s friends and family.
-AR
I read somewhere that Amon Amarth are like real-life Dethklok. I think it was actually Axl that tweeted it, and it stuck with me. It’s hilarious, and if you’ve ever seen them live, it’s pretty true.
Drummer Fredrik Andersson was kind enough to spare some time to talk about the band’s new album, Surtur Rising, their upcoming tour, and what Amon Amarth is really all about. Disappointing as it may be though, I don’t think they’ll be investing in Amorthsplosion Sauce any time soon.
Congrats to reader Monika Alexander, who correctly identified last week’s logo as beloning to the band Bile Nephrosis. Monika wins any three CDs or DVDs of her choice from the MetalSucks Mansion Archives. Hoo-ray for Monika!
So I’m upping the ante a little bit now, but I’m also changing the rules: I’m gonna send the winner FIVE CDs from the MetalSucks archives… but he or she will not get to choose. Sorry, it’s just getting to hard to keep an accurate inventory all the stuff we have lying around. But I promise, I’m not just giving away shitty demos by bands you’ve never heard of, and with five CDs in there, something will tickle you.
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 Jeremy Shaffer. Thanks for sending all the logos you guys! Keep ‘em comin’!!!
Reader Amelia Rupp suggested this week’s logo, and, uh… all I can say is, “Fuck.” Whomever wins this week is gonna really earn that shit.
-AR
[Read my Day One recap here. -Ed.]
If Kvelertak aren’t rich men by the time they release their next album they’ll have seriously blown it. Based solely on the power of their incredible live performances at SXSW, the first of which took place Thursday afternoon inside Emo’s at the annual MS-sponsored Full Metal Texas event, these six Norwegians had major U.S. record labels drooling, kissing the ground they walk on, drinking their piss, shoveling poop down their own throats and throwing gobs of money at them. Expect a major bidding war to erupt over Kvelertak; it’ll be interesting to see where their next album lands. But the truth is, it’s all deserved; Kvelertak RIPPED. Video after the jump!
Day 2 of SXSW also featured the live debut of T.R.A.M., an improvizational jazz/metal supergroup featuring Animals as Leaders’ Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes, Suicidal Tendencies drummer Eric Moore, and former Mars Volta saxophone player Adrian Terrazas at the WSOU showcase (along with Ultrageist and Meek is Murder). We also caught performances by Goes Cube, Yob and The Red Chord at Full Metal Texas.
New records by Born of Osiris, Tesseract, Protest the Hero, The Haunted and Agnostic Front oughtta peak buyers’ eyes at their favorite e-tailer today, while a handful of other releases are hitting the cloud as well. Check out Vic Vaughn’s preview of each after the jump.
I don’t even know what to say about this… each moment is more incredible than the last, but I don’t wanna spoil any of the glorious surprises. So just do yourself a favor and watch it.
-AR
Major props to Watson Mulkey for the tip!!!
I’ve never been particularly taken by Irepress before. I’ve got nothing against them at all, don’t think they suck, certainly wouldn’t wish van flips upon them… their music just never really resonated with me. But at the urging of self-proclaimed “Suckist” Dan Wolfson I checked out their new music video for the song “Cyette Phiur” and I’m quite glad I did. Their music is heavy, haunting and intricate in much the same way as bands like Rosetta and East of the Wall, but perhaps a touch less aggression than either of those bands. This newest jam seems just a bit more focused and clear than what I remember thinking of their music in the past, though that could just be revisionist history.
I’d love to smoke a doob and watch these guys these play an intimate club show sometime soon.
-VN
I understand that musicians have bills to pay and mouths to feed like anyone else, and that if there’s a way — any way — for you to make your living by playing music, well, that’s pretty fortunate.
Still, I’m always a little put-off when a musician I admire either has to or chooses to squander his talent by playing with some crappy band. Does anyone really believe that there aren’t better ways that current Korn-holers Ray Luzier and Shane Gibson could be spending their time?
So. Recently two more dudes I admire have joined bands I could live without: Kris Norris, formerly of Darkest Hour, has joined Straight Line Stitch, apparently on a full-time basis, while Gil Sharone, formerly of The Dillinger Escape Plane, plays on the new Otep album, Atavist. (I don’t get the impression that he’ll be touring with the band or anything like that, though.)
UPDATE: BOOO! Apparently these were part of an art project, and not a real advertising campaign. If the people who run the Smithsonian were smart, they’d purchase these. Anyways, thanks to Jonathan Delarosa for bringing the truth to light.
I saw these new posters for the Smithsonian on Badass Digest, and they amused me enough that I thought they were worth sharing. I don’t particularly have anything to say about them — I just think they’re a clever way to try and express that history is cool, which it is, despite how fucking boring your teachers were/are.
AT LAST!!! We first offered to play a part in the distribution of Meek is Murder’s Algorithms last summer, before we’d heard a single note of a single demo — such was our faith that this incredible band would make something truly memorable. And they haven’t disappointed. With the aide of the masterful Kurt Ballou as their producer/mixer, Meek is Murder have now delivered what Decoy Music recently called “a banger” that is “packed with energy and charisma.”
And now you can hear for yourself — ’cause Algorithms is out today! We’re streaming the entire thing below, so you know we’re not full of shit when we tell you that this album rules. And once you hear that we’re not full of shit, you can order the album here. The limited edition CDs are all sold out, but you can still get a high-quality digital download for just $5, or a download and t-shirt combo for just $15!
And now, with any further ado, we present to you Meek is Murder’s Algorithms. TURN THAT SHIT UP LOUD!
[sorry, this streaming promo is over. buy the album for just $5!]
Brian Haner, a.k.a. “Guitar Guy” or “Papa Gates,” is the father of Brian Haner, Jr., a.k.a. “Synyster Gates,” of Avenged Sevenfold fame. Like his son, the elder Haner is a guitar player — currently, I’m told, he’s rocking out with… Jeff Dunham. Yep. The dude with the puppet. Awesome, I know.
ANYWAY, Mr. Haner has now made “Saturday,” the one-bajillionth viral response to Rebecca Black’s “Friday.” It really is amazing how quickly this shit happens today; “viral” almost doesn’t do it justice. And all this “Friday” nonsense has happened so very fast that I’m afraid I’m already over it.
So while I appreciate, in theory at least, Papa Gates’ dark sense of humor, and the fact that he’s probably cooler than most dads (or more pathetic, maybe, depending on how you look at it I guess)… well, frankly, this is about as funny as you’d expect from a dude who spends his time working with Jeff Dunham.
-AR
Thanks to Carlos B. for the tip.
Did anyone watch Tommy Lee Goes to College when it was on? I didn’t. Yeah, it might have been funny to see the Motley Crue drummer — who I sincerely believe is at least a little bit retarded, in the truest sense of the word — fumble through college and possibly spread hepatitis and chlamydia amongst an entire sorority house. But the premise ultimately wasn’t intriguing enough to get me to tune in. And, honestly, if I was a student (or the parent of a student) at that school and I found out they were letting some dingleberry rock star and a television crew wander around and disrupt shit, I’d probably be pretty pissed.
Now Mr. Lee is getting ready to fuck shit up not just for college students, but for entire cultures. Says Bring Back Glam!:
The Deciblog are streaming a new Anaal Nathrakh ditty, “Paragon Pariah,” and in an accompanying interview, vocalist Dave Hunt instructs listeners to “set volume to ‘kill’ and press ‘blast.’” That’s sound advice — this song gets the combination of filthy fucking dirty and epically awesomely operatic just right, and played at a volume sure to scare your neighbors, it sounds especially beastly. Killer stuff.
Headbang here, then come back and let us know what you think. Anaal Nathrakh’s latest, Passion, will be released May 23 on Candlelight.
-AR
