It’s kind of a weird time to be a Chimaira fan — we know the band is working on a new album for a new label (eOne), and we’ve even gotten to hear the slightest sliver of new music, and yet the band has shed half its line-up since November. (Drummer Andols Herrick just announced his split with the group yesterday.)

I’ve said time and again that I’m really not worried about the ongoing quality of the band’s music, since none of the now-departed members were known for being the songwriters in the group, and, let’s be real, at the end of the day, it really is all about the quality of the songs. That being said, I understand why some Chimaira fans are feeling kinda anxious right now; as fans, these are musicians we’ve come to know and love (and Todd Bell’s various behind-the-scenes DVDs do a really incredible job of making fans feel like they know each member of the band, regardless of whether or not that’s actually true), so, yeah, one might find it a little disconcerting to see these guys fly the coop.

The band understands your concern, though, and are planning to address those concerns in a live chat tonight at 9pm EST/6pm PST. Says vocalist Mark Hunter:

“In addition to answering questions about the new album, we will discuss the past, the present, and the future. We’re looking forward to seeing you all, and please help spread the word. Thank you!”

You can watch the chat here. I’m not sure if I’m gonna be able to be near a computer at 9 pm tonight, so, um, everyone please watch/participate so you can fill me in later!

-AR

[via The PRP]

We’re sponsoring another tour! And for the third time in a little over a year, that tour will feature Revocation, one of our most favoritest bands. The tour also features White Wizzard — which will surely shock many who read this site regularly and probably made Jon Leon’s heart skip a beat when he found out — but lost in the shuffle over the years is the fact that we actually think White Wizzard are a good band (we just also love making fun of the blooper reel that is their constantly rotating lineup). Forbidden and Havok round out the bill, making this a fine, fine tour for thrash and old-school metal. The tour is hitting mostly smaller markets and a bunch of Canadian cities, so if you’ve never had the chance to see these bands because they never come near you this is probably your chance (sorry Florida… you’re still fucked). We don’t have a tour poster yet, but we gander we’ll be getting one soon.

Elsewhere on the Revocation front, the new album the band has been hinting at for a while finally has a name, Chaos of Forms, and Relapse Records will reportedly release it in August. It’s easily one of our most anticipated records of 2011 in no small part because drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne told us last fall that it features a full horn section.

Tour dates after the jump. Revo dudes, try not to get cornered by any creepy 15 year-old meth-heads in Reno this time.

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I’m gonna be honest — in case you can’t tell, I’m, like, way over it with All That Remains. But it’s not exactly a speedy news day, and you guys sure seem to enjoy debating about the quality (or lack thereof) of ATR’s music. Also, I’m not gonna lie, it’s good for search engine traffic, and if more people read MetalSucks, maybe more people will start listening to bands like Kvelertak and Wormrot.

So I’m posting ATR’s new video, for the song “The Last Time,” despite the fact that I turned it off the moment I saw angel wings.

Angel wings. Wow. Into self-parody, we have now officially descended.

-AR

[via Noisecreep]

Oh boy oh boy! We’re just days away from the release of The Great Mass, the new album from Greek metal titans, Septicflesh! But, as per usual, your pals Vince and Axl have managed to wrangle you an early taste of the goods — namely, the track “Oceans of Grey” If you like orchestral, operatic, epic, brutal fucking heavy metal, you will LOVE this… and if you don’t, well, we don’t wanna be friends with you anyway.

Check out the track below, then go here to pre-order The Great Mass before Season of Mist releases it on April 19. Septicflesh have just announced that they’ll spend the summer touring with Children of Bodom, Devin Townsend, and Obscura, which is a RAD line-up. Get dates here!

[this streaming promotion has ended]

You people are retarded. I really shouldn’t have been shocked at the averse reaction to my post about the new Amazon Cloud service, but sometimes I forget about the little Internet bubble I live in. People, listen up: in 10 years we’re all going to look back on today’s music collection habits and laugh at how we wasted all that money, time, energy and hard drive space worrying about storing music files because we felt a need to have them in our “possession.” Just like many of us have already realized how silly it is to amass gigantic CD collections that take up tons of space when we can still enjoy our music just as much while storing it on something the size of a book (note: I am not advocating piracy here, just medium of choice). And just like horse-and-buggy proprietors realized 10 years after Ford rolled the first Model T off the assembly line, “Hey, maybe there’s something to them there automobiles after all!”

I’m not wondering aloud whether this will happen with regards to music ownership/listening… I’m telling you that it definitely will. We will all stream our music “from the cloud” in a matter of time, and we’ll all wonder how we ever got along without it. Increased bandwidth will allow for excellent audio quality (HD cable, anyone?), it’ll be way easier than searching for and waiting to download a torrent, and it’ll be cheaper because there won’t be any physical media costs, shipping or middle-men taking a cut. And do give me the “What if the Internet goes down?” shpiel, because if that happens our entire world economy will collapse anyway.

But none of this will happen before label owners do their best to slow down the move to the Cloud in order to eke out every last cent the recorded music industry is good for. The latest fracas involves content owners (labels, publishers) arguing that Amazon should have to buy licenses from them in order to run the Cloud Player, because supposedly serving up music in this manner constitutes “streaming” even though it’s only for personal use. What a steaming, hot pile of bullshit. Thankfully Amazon isn’t caving in, as they clearly enumerated in a letter to said content owners [via Metal Insider]:

There has been a lot of discussion as to whether Cloud Drive and Cloud Player require licenses from content owners.  Here’s why they do not:

(1) Cloud Drive is a general online storage service for all digital files, not unlike Google Docs, Microsoft SkyDrive and any number of other internet file backup services.  It’s your external hard-drive in the cloud.  It requires a license from content owners no more than those other internet file back-up services do and no more than makers of external hard drives for PCs do.

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My usual source for Soundscan info is on vacation this week (asshole!), but thankfully the always-reliable Metal Insider is there for me with their weekly Metal by Numbers column. Rather than go through the whole chart since I don’t have it at my fingertips, let’s just focus on new releases that came out last week:

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It’s been more than four years since the release of Machine Head’s masterpiece, The Blackening, but it feels like an eternity. Not that the band hasn’t been keeping busy touring and touring and touring and touring and touring and touring…, but OH HOW I ACHE FOR SOME NEW MACHINE HEAD MUSIC. And I know you guys feel the same way — in fact, reader Ray Pecheone just e-mailed us this week to ask, “Any word on how the new Machine Head is coming along?”

Well, now we have word! The band posted the following message on their Facebook page earlier today:

For reasons I don’t really comprehend, said behind-the-scenes clip isn’t embeddable, but you can check it out here. Alas, there’s no samples of new MH music in it, but it’s still really entertaining stuff — I especially enjoyed Robb Flynn’s comments on Zach Galifianakis, who apparently serves as something of an inspiration to the band. The working titles for some of the new material is pretty great, too (sample: “Wharrr Weee Weee Weee”… which pretty much tells you what the song must sound like).

So, I’d be pleasantly surprised if this album actually came out this year, but at least we know it’s in the works. Machine Head are gonna have a helluva time topping The Blackening, but I’m rootin’ for ‘em!!!

-AR

[via Metal Underground]

I know that sometimes we, as a community, criticize certain metal singers — or, more accurately, a certain type of metal singer — for belly achin’ in their music about shit that happens to everyone and is of no real consequence even if it seems upsetting at the time it happens (e.g., “I hate my parents,” “I hate my job,” “My girl broke my heart,” etc.).

But at least Jonathan Davis never wrote a song about being really, really pissed-off when people brush his hair in knots.

Fucking. ADORABLE.

I hear Salome are looking for a new singer… can someone put this kid in touch?

-AR

Thanks: Chris

Zakk Wylde appeared on American Idol last night, accompanying contestant James Turbin on a cover of Sammy Hagar’s “Heavy Metal,” ’cause, I dunno, I guess he felt like he had too much cred left.

We’re not going to try and give you any actual detailed analysis of this blessed event, though, because, well… that’s why we have ”Idol Remains,” Anso DF’s stupefyingly entertaining weekly re-cap of the show! Anso suffers so we don’t have to… and, besides, his writing is far more enjoyable than the program itself. Just check out these rave reviews!

“‘Idol Remains’ make me sad I’m not actually on the show anymore :( :( :(”
-Paula Abdul

“‘Idol Remains’ is so good it, it makes me wish I could actually sing!”
-Phil LaBonte

“Where am I? Who’s talking? Hello? Is there anyone there?”
-Ozzy Osbourne

So what are you waiting for? Catch up on all of Anso’s “Idol Remains” here. His latest installment will run tomorrow afternoon!!!

So, I don’t like all the Celtic Frost albums I’m supposed to as much as I should. I mean, don’t get me wrong: To Mega Therion? Awesome. Monotheist? Excellent return to form. Triptykon’s debut? Motherfucker’s still got it, gym pants, eyeliner and all. But they don’t hit me like a great album’s supposed to hit you. What does, though, is Morbid Tales. Raw and primitive but not apathetic and sloppy, it rides that line between doom, black metal, and thrash on a fleet of mammoths (well, mostly because none of those things really existed in earnest yet). So while they would go on to do more interesting things as well as hilarious things (Cold Lake, of course), to my ears, none of what the band did (and, who are we kidding, are doing with Triptykon) is nearly as fierce or, arguably, as satisfying as Morbid Tales.

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Alright, so I was out of the office this afternoon at a meeting, and I walk out and check my e-mail on my phone to find like a thousand e-mails from readers pointing us towards this post on The PRP, in which drummer Andols Herrick announces his departure from Chimaira.

Here are some excerpts from Herrick’s statement:

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I love that “Tour Of Italy” sampler at Olive Garden where you get one of all their different appetizers!! I usually end up eating all the Parmesan Calamari Fritters first and being so full I can barely even get to the Tuscan Eggplant Fingers, but the point is that variety is the spice of life. I mean all of their appetizers are so good, how can you pick just one??? Each one is delicious in its own way, and the best way to enjoy them is by having a little bit of everything. And what is the only thing as varied, delicious and universally loved as Olive Garden? That’s right: fucking BREAKDOWNS!

Like the Tour Of Italy, there are a million different kinds of breakdowns, and they are all awesome in their own way. No single genre has a monopoly on it: there are breakdowns in pretty much every kind of music, and they all go hard. I think it’s a beautiful testament to how music brings us all together that whether you are into punk, hardcore, metal or whatever, we can all agree that breakdowns are the best part of every song!

In this post, I will share some of the greatest breakdowns throughout history, like the Tour Of Italy, only for moshing. It is far from a comprehensive list, just a sampler to get the conversation started. Check these out, post your favorite breakdowns in the comments, and help us answer the one of life’s big questions: what is THE BEST BREAKDOWN OF ALL TIME???

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If you don’t know who Bobzilla is, here’s the quick version of his resumé: he was the bassist in Damageplan with Dimebag and Vinnie Paul, and now he’s the bassist in Hellyeah. In other words, he has a history of working with members of Pantera in bands that aren’t nearly as good as Pantera was.

So. Yesterday, we got the following e-mail from an anonymous reader:

“BOB ZILLA’S NEW BAND ORPHANED TO HATRED HAS GOTTEN THE THUMBS UP FROM VINNIE PAUL HIMSELF! THEY JUST RELEASED A SONG OFF OF THE UPCOMING ALBUM MASTERED BY VULGAR’S HOWIE WEINBERG AND MIXED BY LONG TIME PANTERA ENGINEER STERLING WINFIELD!”

So first of all… Yeah, no shit “Vinnie Paul himself” gave Orphaned to Hatred the thumbs up. What’s he gonna do, say his own bandmate’s side project sucks? So that endorsement means about as much as one from Bobzilla’s mommy.

Second of all… I was immediately weary of Orphaned to Hatred’s apparent desire to exploit their Pantera connection, especially because that connection really isn’t all that strong — I mean, I had about as much to do with Pantera as Bobzilla did. Seriously. Maybe he knew those dudes and I didn’t, but neither of us were in the band, and we both probably purchased approximately the same amount of CDs, merch, etc.

But then I went to check out the band on their Facebook page, and I saw the below image, and that’s when I got really, really cranky:

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If they weren’t laughing with me, okay; if they want to laugh at me, it’s better than nothing.

– Peter Steele, 1962-2010

As far as I can tell, it was easy to laugh with Peter Steele. It seems like he invariably got the chuckling started himself; his companions merely could wait and watch, then break into laughter whether they wanted to or not. I get the same feeling watching his interviews. His joke might be brutally self-deprecating, but you laugh with a knitted brow. His remark might disregard standards of good taste or social sensitivity; you choke down tee-hees while scanning your proximity for aghast eavesdroppers. Or maybe he drops a bad pun or a hoary old uncle joke, causing you to mingle groans with guffaws.

We laughed at Peter, too. Once he, like, totally frenched an admirer on stage at The Ricki Lake Show. At the final stop of Type O Negative’s tour with Pantera, he instigated a multiple body pile-up on stage during a song. He inadvertently made it so that his bandmates would forever be asked to autograph pictures of his nude body. Only Peter.

In the first installment of our salute to Peter Steele, his friends, family, and bandmates talked to MetalSucks about their relationships with Peter, his modesty and talents, his genuine respect for fans, and his new commitment to a healthy life. In our conclusion, recurrent themes include the painful timing of his death and the future that could have been. Consider it: At one moment, Peter was poised to relocate to Staten Island to commence work on new Type O music; the next moment, he had gone and his surviving bandmates were left to contemplate a future without him. At one moment, his family was awaiting his return from Pennsylvania; the next, so began life in a world filled with little reminders of their special big man. At one moment, we had our laughs with and at Peter; the next moment, as he was dying far from his home and his family, we knew to expect no further fun and games from him. Then again, he might be laughing at us right now.

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The new Human Abstract album Digital Veil is so good. So, so good. And it just gets better with each listen; there’s so much happening from a musical perspective that it’s impossible to become bored. Have you checked it out yet? Grade A music of the highest caliber… the kind of compositions and arrangements most metal musicians wish they could write. Too bad for everyone else!

Even though The Human Abstract released a video for the Digital Veil title-track just 6 weeks ago, they’re already back with another one for “Patterns,” a less heavy but more intricate and classically-informed song. Whereas “Digital Veil” was a banger that served well to draw in first-time THA listeners that were all about the heavy, “Patterns” — with its three-part guitar motion, superb soloing and intricate overall orchestration — is a better representation of what the album is like as a whole. As for the video, the members of THA seem to have ditched their blank tank tops in favor of black tees… I guess they really black. I wonder if these two clips were filmed during the same session? Certainly possible.

The Human Abstract and Scale the Summit set out on the MetalSucks-sponsored “Pull Me From The Gallows Tour” across the U.S. starting May 13th. Dates here.

-VN

The ninth annual installement of Maryland Deathfet, arguably America’s best extreme music festival, is just around the corner! This year’s fest will take place from May 26 – 29, and, as usual, has a ridiculously strong line-up: Neurosis, Coroner, Voivod, Nuclear Assault, Corrosion of Conformity, Cathedral, Exhorder, Ghost, Kylesa, Exhumed, and tons more will all be playing during the course of the weekend. You can get more details and tickets here.

To celebrate this stupendous occasion, MetalSucks is teaming up with Relapse Records for an incredibly cool contest: THE MDF MVP. Here’s how it’s gonna work:

• Anytime between now and Monday, May 16 at midnight EST, send an e-mail to news AT metalsucks DOT net with the subject line “MDF MVP.”
• The contents of the e-mail should include anything and everything you think proves that you should be this year’s MDF MVP. How many other installments of the fest have you attended? Have any great stories? Pictures? Memorabilia? Memories of great or terrible bands? It’s up to you to convince the panel of judges that you deserve to win.
• Speaking of the panel of judges, look at the MDF MVPs we ‘ve rounded up to reign over this contest! Andres Erickson (General Surgery/Sayyadina), Matt Harvey (Exhumed/Depakitator), Rich Hoak (Brutal Truth/Total Fucking Destruction), Mike Hrubovcak (Monstosity), Mike Majewski (Devourment), Matt Moore (Absu/ Rumpelstiltskin Grinder),  and Proscriptor (Absu) will look over the entries and choose the MDF MVP!!!
• The winner gets  any 2 shirts, 1 LP, 2 CDs , and a  mystery prize from the Relapse booth at this year’s MDF (Relapse titles only).
• The winner will be announced the week of May 23.

And that’s it! This should be a really fun contest that separates the real fans from the chumps… so get crackin’ on those entries!!!

-Axl, Vince, and Everyone at MetalSucks

Yep: the awesome Last Chance to Reason, in keeping up with both the title of their Prosthetic debut, Level 2, and their general geekiness (“geekiness” in this instance intended as a constant), are releasing a video game in conjunction with the album — and are now giving away the first level of that game for free. Go here to download it.

I haven’t personally played yet, but based on the below video showing some game footage, this thing looks awesome as hell. It’s probably a little too sophisticated to be one of the old NES games we grew up and loved, but it does look like a classic Sega title, which is a close second.

Level 2 is out now on Prosthetic. You can stream the track “Programmed for Battle” right here on MetalSucks.

-AR

It’s true, and it’s finally here — after so many relentless album spins, Germany progressive metal collective The Ocean will finally grace our earholes stateside and decimate the back room at Public Assembly in Brooklyn. Add to the mix MS faves East of the Wall and death-grinders Flourishing, and you’ve got yourself one hell of a show.

Vince and I will most certainly be in tow and whiskey’d up, as will Toto and the Tin Man, and many more of your least-favorite NYC r-tards….

JOIN US.

Thanks to BBG from Brooklyn Vegan & Rich Hallford from 1000 Knives for making this show happen.   Dreams can come true.

Be sure to catch The Ocean on their MetalSucks-sponsored tour around ‘merica with Job For A Cowboy and BTBAM starting this Friday — tour dates after the jump.

-KW

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I mean their album cycles. Gosh, what did you folks think I was referring to?

ANWAY, the Origin/Hate Eternal album cycle. Hate Eternal’s new album comes out in May, and Origin’s Entity comes out in June. The bands are doing a co-headlining tour together this summer. And yesterday Hate Eternal released their first in-the-studio video, and today Origin have done the same.

And, honestly, Origin’s video isn’t as entertaining as Hate Eternal’s. But it does have some samples of new music in it, which is more than enough reason to watch it. I still haven’t heard Entity, but I have really, really high hopes for it.

Here’s the vid…

…Entity will come out June 7 on Nuclear Blast.

-AR

Here’s the album art for the new In Flames album,  Sounds of a Playground Fading. It’s not terrible, but it’s not amazing, either. I guess I’m mostly grateful that it doesn’t have a giant angry vagina on it.

Sounds of a Playground Fading will be out June 21 on Century. I want it to be good so very very badly…

-AR