I like to think of myself as a little more open-minded than the average metal fan. If you look at my Zune playlist, you’ll find everything from As I Lay Dying to Killswitch Engage, from Lamb of God to Pantera, right next to Chimaira and DevilDriver — a pretty diverse mix to say the least, right??! As you can see, I am always looking for new music, but at the same time my Zune only has a 512MB hard drive so I can’t just buy every new metal album on the Zune Marketplace!

With that in mind I need your help. I’m really excited to learn more about GRINDCORE and DOOM METAL, but tbh I don’t know a lot about either one and like I said I only have so much space on my Zune, so I am trying to choose which one I like better!

Which do you guys think is better, GRINDCORE or DOOM??? What are the best artists in each genre?? What exactly is the difference between the two????? Please add your comments to the discussion! (Just click on the “ADD A REPLY” button to add a comment)

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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…

Mastodon’s on the cover of the October Decibel, and that’s four times total now, one more than any other artist. When you climb to that level of popularity—then for at least one glorious month park your ass comfortably atop it—polarization is inevitable. And if this achievement coincided with the release of Crack the Skye, arguably their most popular album and far and away my least favorite, I’d be rolling my eyes along with the haters right now. But what’s so interesting about Masto—and I think as good a reason as any to spotlight them four times—is that every album has so little to do with its predecessor. Love ’em/hate ’em/jack off to ’em/begrudgingly admire ’em, they’re doing exactly what they want and not sweating the consequences (wait ’til you hear “The Creature Lives”). Mind you, this is all really easy to say since I think The Hunter assimilates most of the awesome shit from Remission, Leviathan and Blood Mountain, and is crazy-catchy without being pandering, but the same sentiment goes no matter what they do. Mastodon are always at the cusp of evolution. They picked the right name.

Anyway, Kevin Stewart-Panko did the cover story, meeting up the dudes at the end of their two-year Skye touring cycle, and discovers why The Hunter is their first without a labyrinthine overarching concept. It’s in the webstore now, available for subscribers within two weeks, also featuring that ripping Skeletonwitch flexi disc.

-AB

Decibel’s October 2011 issue also features The Black Dahlia Murder, YOB, Today is the Day, Dimmu Borgir, Testament and a Queensrÿche/Operation: Mindcrime Hall of Fame. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss an issue?

Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based recording industry in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Song “Underwater Love”

Written by Patton (L); Gould, Bottum (M)

Released 1989

Appears on The Real Thing album

Produced by Matt Wallace

Guitars by Jim Martin

Key lyric ”It’s wonderful how the surface ripples/But you’re perfect, and I cannot breathe.”

Single? No.

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Yeah, I don’t think this gonna come as a galloping shock to anyone, but in case there was ever any doubt, the above tweet from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor has ostensibly announced an upcoming Slipknot U.S. tour.

I think this was pretty much inevitable. Maybe the band’s future was legitimately in doubt immediately following the tragic passing of bassist Paul Gray, but as soon as they announced European gigs, it was only a matter of time until U.S. shows were announced. In fact, I’m going to continue to stand by my prediction that there WILL be another Slipknot album as well.

Look: I’m not even trying to say anything negative about Taylor or Slipknot. I’m a Slipknot fan, and I’ve never hid that fact. When they tour the U.S., I’ll be stoked to go see them — they put on a fun show. I’m just saying, this news is about as surprising as the fact that the sun came up this morning.

-AR

[via Metal Injection]

Hardcore legends Agnostic Front have released a new video, for the song “My Life My Way,” which, wouldn’t ya know it, is the title track for their most recent release. Basically, the band acts as a semi-animated version of the album’s cover, and then that stuff is intercut with some vintage footage. And I honestly enjoyed the vintage footage more than the animation stuff, but it’s Agnostic Front, so I’m not gonna talk smack. Roger Miret probably takes dumps bigger than me, so, y’know.

My Life My Way is out now on Nuclear Blast.

-AR

I thought I was the last living blogger to give a shit about now-defunct West Virginia progressive metallers Byzantine. Not so! NoCleanSinging.com’s “MadIsraeli” recently put together a Byzantine career retrospective covering all three of their albums, complete with YouTube embeds of a few choice songs and, naturally, his own commentary. If you’re familiar with Byzantine, get familiar right quick; they’re one of those overlooked bands that didn’t get nearly enough love due simply to time and circumstance (wrong time, wrong place).

So what are Byzantine up to these days? The band reformed for a series of shows in 2010 around their home state after breaking up in 2008; I’m still waiting for them to come up to NYC. Ex-guitarist Tony Rohrbaugh recently released a solo instrumental album which you should most certainly check out; it doesn’t sound like Byzantine, but you can definitely tell one of the dudes from Byzantine wrote and plays on it, if that makes sense. And that’s about it. I’m just trying to do my part to make sure Byzantine’s legacy isn’t lost from the metal history books.

-VN

This past may, MetalSucks’ own Alyssa Lorenzon grew out her leg and pit hair, slapped on a Viking helmet, chugged some mead, and braved the smelly crowds of Philadelphia to capture Amon Amarth live in action during the first leg of their “An Evening with Amon Amarth” tour, in which they played both their entire new (awesome awesome awesome) album,Surtur Rising, and a set of classics. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we weren’t actually able to retrieve the photos until now! But here they are, in all their bearded glory. Check ‘em out after the jump.

And don’t forget: Amon Amarth are doing the second leg of this incredible tour right now! Get dates here.

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Nylithia have yet to let me down; they’re without a doubt one of the best unsigned bands out there today (someone grab them up right quick!). Their video for “Trainsaw” earlier this year was a blast, as was their 2010 video in which they simply broke a ton of shit in a junkyard. Even their cover of the Super Mario Bros. “Castle” theme we posted in 2009 was aces. A+++ WDBWA all around for Nylithia.

Nylithia write excellent songs with killer riffs — make no mistake about this, I wouldn’t be writing about them otherwise — but it’s their penchant for making entertaining videos that keeps me coming back for more every single time they release one. These guys are living proof of Axl’s theory that good music videos not shot in warehouses / open fields can be made on a shoestring budget. Let’s check out their new video after the jump [worth it, I promise!].

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Justin M. Norton over at Invisible Oranges has been killing it this week. Yesterday, he wrote a really great piece about entitled “Why Ghost Matters,” which you should definitely check out, especially if, for some reason, you’re still not convinced that those Swedes are the real deal; now, he’s unveiled his list of the Top 10 Metal Lyricists, which, I imagine, will cause exactly the kind of shit storm that makes the internet so damn fun in the first place.

And, hey, I don’t agree with all of his inclusions (although I certainly agree with some of ‘em, like one Mr. J.R. Hayes from Pig Destroyer). But, again, the debate is what’s so much fun about these kinds of things. Lists don’t really “mean” anything — they’re just the opinions of one individual or a group of individuals. But what’s great about them is that they get people thinking; even if you disagree with the choices, you have to figure out a way to articulate exactly why you disagree with the choices, to hopefully come up with a retort more sophisticated than “You’re wrong and you’re a douche for disagreeing with me.” (Although, clearly, some internetters fall back on that “reasoning,” too.)

Check out Norton’s list here, then come back and let us know who your own favorite metal lyricists are in our comments section. Two of my personal poetic heroes who I think definitely deserve to be on this list: Tool’s Maynard James Keenan and The Red Chord’s Guy Kozowyk. How about you cats?

-AR

When Keith Merrow posted a home studio walkthrough video last month he mentioned he was working on a death metal side project. This got internet metal nerds very excited, and since I’m an internet metal nerd… ya know.

Keith just sent me a recently uploaded video of himself tracking the guitars for said death metal side project, called Demisery, which he’s putting together with his friend Gord Olson. Given Merrow’s extraordinary talents shown on his solo work I shouldn’t be surprised that the guy can handle such complex death metal riffing so well, but still, I’m quite impressed! More impressive still is how different this stuff sounds from Merrow’s solo work; I have tons of respect for players who can handle multiple genres. According to Merrow, “There’s no core, no prog, no “djent”, this is a 100% Death Metal album.” By the looks of it, the man speaks truth.

No word yet on when the Demisery debut will come out, but as things tend to move pretty quickly in the home-recording world I’d wager it’s possible we see it by the end of 2011.

-VN

Last month, MetalSucks’ own Sergeant D. interviewed Cleveland’s legendary metallic hardcore band, Ringworm, about the art of partying; now the band (And its fans!) will get a chance to put those skills to good use. They’ve announced a U.S. headlining tour in support of their new album, Scars (out now on leading independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS), with support to come from The Greenery. If these shows feature even a modicum of the debauchery the band discussed in that interview, they’ll be more than worth the price of admission.

Here are tour dates, courtesy of Lambgoat:

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Opinions are like assholes; everyone’s got ‘em. Opinions (and assholes) even differ here within the MS Mansion. Which is why it blows my mind when readers accuse us of being paid to post positively about bands/products. With so much public disagreement between MS staffers how would that even be possible?

But I digress. Stray From The Path. Yesterday Axl didn’t seem too impressed with their new song “Mad Girl,” and I can’t blame him; I don’t disagree with his reasons for not particularly liking the song. But I’ve listened to the full album from whence it came, Rising Sun, and on the whole I’m liking what I hear. I’m not completely bowled over with love for Stray From the Path, but I get what they’re doing and they’re doing it well; aggressive post-hardcore with big, punchy production, angular guitar riffs and shouted (not screamed) vocals. They remind me of Refused. While copying Refused isn’t especially novel these days, Stray From the Path get it right, and they also bring enough of their own ideas to the table to keep things interesting. If you like Refused you’ll probably like Stray From the Path too. They get my stamp of approval.

Rising Sun comes out on August 30th via Sumerian Records and is available for pre-order now.

-VN

We’ve spoken many times here on MetalSucks about the disappointment of being really into a band’s album, going to see them live, and realizing that there was some in-studio chicanery involved in terms of making it sound like the band has certain capabilities which, really, they do not; conversely, we’ve also discussed how some bands are incredible live, but, for whatever reason, just can’t seem to release an album to match the awesomeness of their concerts. And I was thinking about this recently while engaging in a friendly debate with our old pal, Tommy Wee. Tommy thinks that making a great record is an artform unto itself — which is certainly true — and that, ultimately, it doesn’t really matter if the band or artist can’t do it live; the fact that they made a great album means they deserve kudos for that album, regardless of any other factors. (Tommy also argued that many of the modern production techniques I so loathe, like excessive use of autotune, are aesthetic choices, and not attempts to fool the listener into thinking the musicians have skills that they do not actually posses. This might be true, although I have a hard time believing you’ll ever read an interview where Katy Perry admits that she’s not a very good singer.)

So, I want to know what you think, beloved readers. Is it more important to be able to put out a terrific record, or to be able to put on a great show? Or is failure to be able to do both completely unacceptable? (‘Cause, of course, there are bands who can do both.) Answer in the poll below. I’ll be curious to see the results.

-AR

Yesterday, we got the sad news that the rumors are true — Travis Richter and The Human Abstract have parted ways. Of course, for adoring fans (this one included), the question remains: Why did they part ways?

Both MetalSucks and Lambgoat (and who knows how many other sites that haven’t reported it) received e-mails a few weeks ago which suggested that Richter didn’t want to leave his girlfriend behind when the band went on tour; now Richter himself has taken to Tumblr to give a slightly different explanation:

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Photos by Brian Schroeter

Though hard rock has arrived at retirement age, its senior classmen are flourishing on tour. Really, these years are the first in which old metal musicians exist, and 2011′s foundation will be built on someday by geriatric Gojira, decrepit Devin Townsend, crotchety Cave In, et al. Right around 2025, those bands might look to Ronnie James Dio, who played all aces til his final days; to Metallica, who in middle age flagged fast; to Judass Priest’s withdrawal from major touring (or whatever) and to the renaissance of Whitesnake, whose recent face-blasting gig with L.A. Guns and Skid Row was like a survival guide for bands seeking to enjoy fruitful third and fourth decades! I was there and learned a lot! Check it out:  Click to read more…

“La Hechicera de la Jeringa,” the title of the song in the new Premonition 13 video, apparently means “The Sorceress of the Syringe,” and that makes sense, ’cause you’d need to shoot something into your arm to think this was a good video. I mean, generally speaking, I think that anyone who says anything bad about Scott “Wino” Weinrich deserves a smack in the mouth, and I know that “retro Sabbath video” is probably what they were going for here, but sheesh, this is cheesy.

Premonition 13′s 13 is out now on Volcom, and I implore you to check it out despite this silly video. You can ever download two songs for free here.

-AR

Spurred by a lazy crossword clue in The Onion (36 down, four letters: “Faith No More’s only hit”), MetalSucks contributor Anso DF dedicates every single day in August to celebration and exploration of the San Francisco alt-metal greats. Here we prove that history’s greatest band landed more than one commercial hit (crossword answer: “Epic” natch), we revel in FNM’s embarrassing wealth of winning album tracks (themselves often fit for chart topping), and we dip into the staggering best of the b-sides (ditto). Along the way, we survey the context of FNM’s big break (amid similarly seminal acts Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and Ween) to the post-Nevermind, panic-based music commerce in which the brilliantly versatile, fearless powerhouse band operated until their 1998 demise. It’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Song ”Crack Hitler”

Written by Patton (L); Gould, Bottum, Bordin (M).

Released 1992

Appears on Angel Dust album

Produced by Matt Wallace

Guitars by Jim Martin

Key lyric ”In regards to/My usage of the drug … /It modified my personality/To the extent that I was/Highly irritable/I was like a crack Hitler.”

Single? No.

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Earlier this week, we reported a rumor that The Human Abstract have parted ways with vocalist Travis Richter, and replaced him with “an unknown kid from San Diego.” Now, Metal Insider has broken the news that Richter is indeed out of the band, and that said unknown kid from San Diego is named Ryan Devlin, and sings in a band called Corelia.

That’s crappy news, because, as Vince said earlier this week, Richter is “a rad dude, a talented vocalist, and seemed like a great fit personality-wise with the rest of the guys.” I also got to seem him perform with the band in May, and he was a killer front man, too.

But based on the one Corelia song I’ve heard — “Treetops” (below), featuring Periphery’s Spencer Sotelo and also originally posted by Metal Insider — Devlin sounds like he should be able to handle the job. I guess now all we can do is wait and see if he ends up being the permanent new singer for THA or what.

The Human Abstract’s tour with Periphery, Textures, and The Contortionist starts on September 2. Get dates here.

-AR

Alright, there’s been a bunch of new shit released today, but we got a little distracted making fun of unknown bands and sucking Devin Townsend’s kazoo. So now it’s time to play catch-up.

First up today: The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato has released  a cover “of a song called ‘Driving’. Originally written/recorded by Oupa,the solo project of Yuck frontman Daniel Blumberg,” according to Mr. Puciato. As Tracy Jordan once said, “I’m not familiar with about half the words in that sentence,” but I do dig the track. You can check out Puciato’s version below, or the original here.

Driving(Oupa Cover, Written By Daniel Blumberg) by Greg Puciato

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This needs no further explanation beyond this post’s headline. Perhaps it was created by whoever ended up with that old spatula Sir Townsend auctioned off on eBay. Ladies and gentlemen, “Supercrush” on Kazoos:

Supercrush! (Devin Townsend) – Kazoo by segritz

-VN

Thanks: Peter Brown