I don’t know why, but I’ve had John Corabi on the brain recently. Maybe it’s ’cause Corey just wrote about the poor dude? I dunno. But last night I realized I’d never seen any footage of him performing live with Mötley Crüe during his brief tenure with the band, and went looking on YouTube for said footage. I found some okay bootlegs (“Hooligan’s Holiday,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Home Sweet Home”), and it looks like Corabi was actually doing a pretty good job — which isn’t really surprising. The one eponymous album Corabi made with the band is actually pretty good, even if it was pretty much damned right from the get go.

More interesting, though, is this footage I stumbled upon of Corabi and the The Crüe rehearsing. It’s professionally filmed, although for what, I have no idea, and it’s been on YouTube since 2008, so I’m kinda surprised that no one ever sent it to me before. But I love this kinda shit. I mean, I’m obviously never going to rehearse with Mötley Crüe, so this is a pretty interesting look into that process. It’s fun to see how these guys actually interact with one another, y’know? (My favorite part might be Mick Mars getting pissy become a tech scuffed the floor. Seriously.) Plus, it turns out Tommy Lee was always retarded, if that’s news to you.

More after the jump!

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This past December we gave you the heads up that Guy Kozowyk’s Black Market Activities had signed Fit for an Autopsy, the actually good deathcore band that features fromer Through the Eyes of the Dead vocalist Nate Johnson and guitarist Will Putney, who has already produced such killer records as The Human Abstract’s Digital Veil. Now The PRP tells us that the band’s debut album, The Process of Human Extermination, is complete and ready for release. It comes out June 21.

But wait! There’s more! As if the Johnson-Putney-Kozowyk connection wasn’t already enough to get you interested, the band has also enlisted some pretty excellent guests to appear on the record as well: besides Kozowyk himself (like you didn’t see that coming), Tim Williams of Vision of Disorder/Bloodsimple fame, Full Blown Chaos’ Ray Mazzola, and The Human Abstract’s Travis Richter all contributed vocals. So that sounds pretty enticing, to put it mildly.

Alas, there are no samples of Extermination available just yet — I mean, there’s a couple of songs on the band’s MySpace page, but I have no idea if those will appear on the album or not. In any case, I’m feeling really optimistic about this record… hopefully we’ll get to hear more soon.

-AR

One of you recently sent us the video for “No Salvation” by the band Hostile (and I lost your e-mail so I apologize for not properly crediting you by name), pointing out that the band was noteworthy because their bassist, Alex Hill, is the offspring of Ian Hill, who, in case you know nothing about anything, is the bass player for Judas Priest. In fact, it turns out that Hostile’s debut album, Eve of Destruction, was produced by K.K. Downing, who, of course, just recently left Judas Priest. And you’d hope that a) Ian Hill had transferred some of his talent via his sperm, and/or b) Downing was able to bring some of his Judas Priest magic to these Hostile proceedings.

Alas, your hope would all be for naught. Hostile is pretty terrible. I mean, I guess it starts off as passable enough Swedecore, but then the singer, who apparently has no higher aspiration than to be in Five Finger Death Punch, starts his bit, and the whole thing becomes more or less completely fucking awful.

And what’s kind of amazing about this is that Ian Hill is not the only child of a metal star who somehow totally failed to inherit any of his father’s talent.

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Here’s a problem I know we’ve all had from time to time.

So, you’re trying to weigh something. And, yeah yeah yeah, you know how many kilos it is, or how many liters it is, or whatever — but what you really need to know is, “How many Danzigs is that?” And then you have to break out your calculator and try to remember the Danzig Conversion Formula you learned in junior high school and it’s all just so annoying, right?

Well, no longer! Thanks to the incredible new website What’s That in Danzigs?, you can now convert various units of weight measurement (but not pounds, because FUCK YOU AMERICA) into Danzigs. For example, I typed in my own weight in kilos, and guess what?

Sad for me. I can just hear Glenn muttering: “I crap bigger than you.”

Reader Charles Atwood tipped off both us and our friends at Metal Insider about this site (I guess Charlie really wanted to see his name in lights! And by lights, I mean “on multiple heavy metal websites!”), and MI’s Bram Teitelman figured out a way cooler sample to provide his reader. Go here to check it out. Then go here to start converting shit into Danzig — the only system of measurement that matters.

-AR

They came, they rocked, they conquered: Kvelertak, Havok, Red Fang, Wormrot and Meek is Murder played our inaugural South by South Death show at this year’s SXSW and a jolly old time was had. On Tuesday we showed you a wrap video featuring clips of performances and interviews with all five bands, and today we give you several songs each of the performances by Red Fang, Havok and Wormrot (tomorrow: Kvelertak and Meek is Murder). All of this fine multi-camera /soundboard footage was provided by sponsor Roxwel.com, consistent purveyors of excellent live metal videos; thanks dudes!

Havok at South By South Death 2011
Watch Music Videos at www.roxwel.com

Red Fang and Wormrot after the taco.

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Who else is excited to hear the new All Shall Perish album, This is Where it Ends? This band absolutely RIPS, and I have a feeling that having the ridiculously talented Francesco Artusato on lead guitar is just gonna push ‘em to that next level.

The album comes out this summer, but now the band has unveiled the cover art. It’s by Brent Elliott White, who has also done album art for Death Angel, Job for a Cowboy, Whitechapel, and Carnifex, amongst others. And it’s some pretty bad-assed shit. I can kinda forsee some people with sticks up their tushies complaining that its too glossy, but it looks to me like the exactly the kind of thing I would have deliberately left out for my parents to find when I was a kid. I was sending a message, y’know? “DO NOT ASK ME TO EAT VEGGIES. DO NOT ASK ME TO CLEAN MY ROOM. DO NOT ASK ME TO STUDY FOR MY BAR MITZVAH. I AM NOT TO BE FUCKED WITH.” I was a rebel like that.

This is Where it Ends comes out July 26 on Nuclear Blast. Hopefully the band is not trying to tell us something with the title.

-AR

The Sonar in Baltimore, Maryland has been shut down due to an expired liquor license and a subsequent dispute amongst several of the people who run the venue.

“So?” you may be thinking. “Venues get shut down all the time. Such is life. Why should I care?”

Well, this particular venue was supposed to host Maryland Deathfest (plus two sold-out Deftones/Dillinger Escape Plan shows) at the end of this month. Which means the MDF, one of, if not the, most revered extreme music festivals in North America, only has a few weeks to find a new venue.

But don’t fret! According to Metal Underground, “The festival organizers claim to have a backup plan that should involve little to no inconvenience to ticket holders (even those coming from out of town) and will be releasng more details soon.” So it looks like the festival is going forward as planned, which is obviously a major relief. It would be a serious tragedy if the festival had been derailed because somebody couldn’t keep track of an important date.

The final line-up for the fest, as well as set times for each band, is after the jump, although please note that it’s all subject to change once the new venue is announced.

In the meantime, don’t forget that you still have ’til Monday, May 16 at midnight EST to enter the awesome MDF MVP contest we’re doing with Relapse. You could win any 2 shirts, 1 LP, 2 CDs , and a  mystery prize from the Relapse booth at this year’s MDF (Relapse titles only), and the contest is being judged by a who’s who of MDF luminaries: 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)! Go here for all details on how to enter.

And now those set times…

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Let’s pretend for a moment that Avenged Sevenfold don’t dress like a bunch of clown-faced goons that fell off the back of a truck carrying clothes rejected from Hot Topic. Let’s also pretend that they don’t indulge in ridiculous stage names that make ICP’s Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent Jay look like members of Mensa. Finally, let’s agree that music should be judged on its merit alone, not on a band’s tweeny fanbase. There… so how do Avenged Sevenfold actually sound?

Now the shut the fuck up and RECOGNIZE: Synyster Gates (aka Brian Haner Jr.) is a ridiculously good guitar player.

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Well, I fucked up and forgot to post this yesterday. Sorry.

ANYWAY, mazel tov to readers Eleazar Valdez and Joel Pospychala, who each identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Internal Evisceration. Eleazar and Joel each win an awesome awesome MetalSucks Fan Pack! And if you lost, don’t forget that you can still buy one of these bad boys at any f.y.e. for just ten bucks. Get the location of your closest f.y.e.here.

This week we’re back to emptying our coffers, so to speak. The winner will get five CDs from the MetalSucks Mansion Archives. The winner will be happy.

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 one winner and announce his or her name a week from today.

This week’s logo was suggested by winner Eleazar Valdez… which means Eleazar is really the coolest dude on the block this week.

-AR

Teenagers are always doing stupid, embarrassing shit in public, especially the ones who listen to metal. One of the most popular (and potentially humiliating) things a kid can do is enter their high school’s talent show, in particular if they make the mistake of playing a metal song in hopes of impressing their peers. For example, when I was in 9th or 10th grade, I was in a horrible band that played a Black Flag song in front of our school. Nobody thought it was cool, they just laughed at us. Thank god Youtube didn’t exist then, like it does for these dumb kids who embarrassed themselves by trying to be cool in front of their peers.

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Remember when this year’s Summer Slaughter (which we’re sponsoring!) was announced, there was this fan poll to determine who the last band added to the bill should be?

Well, Within the Ruins have been announced as the winners! They’ll join The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, As Blood Runs Black, Oceano, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Powerglove for all dates on the trek. Our own Dave Mustein wrote of the band, “WTR don’t suck live; their performance is nearly as good as on record, which is pleasantly surprising due to the ferocious technicality of their music.” So the band’s presence should just enhance your Summer Slaughter excitement.

Here are dates again, in case you need ‘em:

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Don’t believe there are good unsigned bands out there? Think everyone’s got a chance in this day and age of easy ProTools edits? I beg to differ. Let’s looks at Ever Forthright, Ironhide and So Hideous My Love, three new unsigned bands, after the jump.

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If you live in L.A. and you’re looking to break into the metal industry — or just have a passing interest in the business side of the metal/music world — you’re definitely not going to want to miss the Metal Meet-Up happening next Wednesday, May 11th. The event is taking place at the annual NARM convention and will be a great learning experience for anyone who attends. This year’s Metal Meet-Up panel will serve as a state of the address of the current state of  metal from a retail standpoint and will also focus on figuring out the best way to break a band. The panel includes this all-star cast of characters:

Moderator: Brian Slagel, President Metal Blade Records

Panelists:
Mike Gitter, A&R, Century Media Records
Jackie Kajzer, developer and host, Full Metal Jackie
Wayne Pighini, head of marketing, Vagrant Records
Bram Teitelman, editor, Metal Insider
Pat Egan, retail, Relapse Records

Visit Metal Insider for more details.

-VN

For all the shit we give hair metal bands we once admired around here, not all of them have aged so terribly. Sometimes they even surprise you and release something terrific. Last year, Ratt’s Infestation knocked us on our asses; just recently, Whitesnake caught us off-guard when their new album, Forevermore, actually turned out to be a whole lotta fun. (Extreme’s 2009 release, Saudades de Rock, was also quite good, although they’re not really hair metal.) My point just being that you have listen to these albums with an open mind, because sometimes these bands really pull their shit together and remind you why you ever liked them to begin with.

And sometimes they turn into Warrant.

The band’s new album, Rockaholic, comes out next month, and now they’ve released a video, “Life’s a Song,” to promote it. And the song totally fucking boring, the video so cheesy that Dino Cazares tried to eat it, drummer Steven Sweet apparently invented a time machine, went back in time to the 70s, doped a woman, shaved her bush, and used it as a wig, and — perhaps worst of all — the band has the cojones to use lots and lots of vintage footage — “Hey, remember when you loved us? YOU FUCKING LOVED US!!!” — despite the fact that Jani Lane, their most recognizable member, is no longer in the fold. (And this new dude, Robert Mason, is no Jani Lane. I mean he sounds like he can sing, but his vocals have as much personality as the name “Bob Mason” would suggest.) I think I even saw an old still featuring Jani in there, although my eyes may be playing tricks on me. What a load of crap.

Rockaholic comes out May 17 on Frontiers Records. It features a song called “Sex Ain’t Love,” so I guess we really are a long way away from “Cherry Pie.”

-AR

Deals like this just don’t come around every day… although they do seem to come around once every four months or so. Amazon is having another one of their so-cheap-it-makes-you-wonder-how-they-make-any-money album sales this month, and as with the last one of these they did back in January there’s a killer selection of metal albums, both classic and brand new. Here are just a few of the albums you can purchase for a mere 5 bones:

• Amon Amarth’s Surtur Rising
• Obscura’s Omnivium
• Iron Maiden’s A Matter of Life and Death
• A Perfect Circle’s Thirteenth Step
• Deftones’ White Pony
• Dio’s Holy Diver
• Kingdom of Sorrow’s Behind the Blackest Tears
• Between the Buried and Me’s The Great Misdirect

Any many, many, many more, 51 metal albums in total (of 1,500 overall), including albums by Avenged Sevenfold, Incubus, Ensiferum, Poison and on and on and on. All for only $5 each. A steal. Buy here now before you get stoned, forget, and come to realize this sale is over!

-VN

I haven’t been watching the HBO series adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, but I hear it’s awesome, and I suspect I’ll watch the whole thing in one big clump at the conclusion of the season.

But those of you who have been watching it — and the ratings tell me that it’s quite a few of you! — may enjoy Roger Lima’s metal cover of the theme music, which was originally composed by Ramin Djawadi (Iron Man, Clash of the Titans). It really does sound like it could be a Turisas song or something. This shit is definitely epic.

Lima is giving away a free mp3 of his recording here, if you wanna rock this shit properly.

And here’s the music in its original form, in case, like me, you weren’t previously familiar with it:

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I heard about, and then completely ignored, this photo album of Mastodon recording their new album. Why did I completely ignore it? Because I’ve seen bands record albums. It looks like dudes standing in a studio playing instruments. And unless you’re dealing with a band who haven’t recorded together in a very, very, very long time, well… that’s not too exciting. So these kinds of shots in and of themselves are usually not very cool.

Well, I’m an idiot. If I had looked, I might have seen this pic of Dave Grohl in the studio with the band:

Instead, I had to read about it on Heavy Blog is Heavy. D’oh!

ANYWAY, let us now analyze this photograph into, ahem, oblivion.

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In an alternate universe the world would be genuinely excited for new Anthrax featuring one Dan Nelson from Lawn Guyland, NY. In reality we have Joey Suckadonna ‘Thrax to look forward to on an album that will come out sometime never, and Nelson, a talented vocalist if you ask me, is left on the sidelines working on other things.

“Other things” is his new band Blackgates, also featuring superman-drummer Paul Bostaph (Testament, Exodus, Slayer, etc), guitarist Jeremy Epp and bassist Uriah Duffy (Whitesnake); the “supergroup” of sorts has a propensity to seem ridiculous before even playing a note. But ya know what? The two Blackgates songs I’ve heard so far are damn fine; solid riffing, sharp drumming and powerful vocals a good band makes. Stream via the ReverbNation widget below.

-VN

In the absence of any big metal debuts, this week I decided to run with a question posed last week: how does Amon Amarth’s current chart-buster Surtur Rising stack up against their past releases? After the jump, a look at those numbers.

Foo Fighters were #1 and Hollywood Undead were #2 for the third week in a row on the Top Hard Music charts; elsewhere, Otep Shamaya had a nice debut and shitstains on the ass of the universe like Winds of Plague and Asking Alexandria also had solid weeks. Whoopie.

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Few of us are so naive as to expect the members of a huge band like Metallica to retain any connection to reality. If we, the fans, have learned anything from rock docs and hammy celebrity bios, it’s that mega-success ensures isolation, and constructs a treadmill for goal-crazed egomaniacs forever in search of their next round of applause. Hey, that’s human; we search out what feels good, even if we must disregard what is right.

And there is little right about Monday night’s announcement of ticket pricing structures for the upcoming Big Four gig at Yankee Stadium. At best, or least, a would-be ticketbuyer shells out about $100+ to squint stageward from a neighboring zip code, and possibly even provide band management with advance notice of impending weather changes. At worst, leather coat and V-neck sweater types can populate the “front general admission” area in exchange for $225 (plus the above- and below-table fees affixed by each link in the live music production chain).

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