We here at MetalSucks (and our advertising agency, the Blast Beat Network) would like to get to know a little bit more about you. Not in a creepy way, of course; all info submitted will be completely anonymous, and you will not be tracked in any way, shape or form whatsoever. We’re just hoping to learn more about our readers so we can attract advertisers that are more relevant to your interests, i.e. more video game ads and less annoying “Surveys4Income” ads. So we figured we’d put together a quick survey asking some basic questions: do you play an instrument? how do you download music? how often do you buy metal t-shirts? Etc. That kind of thing… no rocket surgery here.

Everyone who participates will be entered to win a prize pack including a one-year premium subscription to Spotify, a grab bag of metal CDs, a MetalSucks t-shirt and a MetalInjection t-shirt. The survey will only take 2-3 minutes to fill out. Again, your info will be recorded anonymously. And there are no wrong answers… so please be as honest as possible.

Take the survey here!

Last week, I actually enjoyed a Pathology song, “Media Consumption;” now, with the release of “Opposing Globalization,” I’ve actually enjoyed two Pathology songs. I dunno, maybe I’m just burnt out on the stuff I normally listen to, but this shit just sounds so rockin’ to me right now. I’m starting to think that the band’s new album, Awaken to the Suffering, is going to win them The 2011 Acacia Strain Award for Band I Least Thought I Would Enjoy As Much As I Do.

You can check out most of “Opposing Globalization” in the video below. I say “most of” because you’ll have to skip to the 1:30 mark, since for some reason, whomever made this thing decided to be super-irritating and put the first minute-and-a-half of “Media Consumption” at the beginning before having that song cut off abruptly (the track is actually 2:12 long) and then playing “Globalization”… which also cuts off abruptly. Really it makes no fucking sense whatsoever; it’s like a marketing plan designed by an idiot who didn’t know that YouTube videos are allowed to be longer than three minutes. Hopefully a full stream of the song will be available soon.

Pathology’s Awaken to the Suffering comes out September 13 on Victory.

-AR

[via The PRP]

Mick Barr is probably best known to MetalSucks readers as one of the sick sick sick guitar players for Krallice, but he’s also involved in a ton of other projects, including his own solo work, which often attracts a very, very classy crowd (apparently Bjork is a huge fan).

Now he has recorded Coiled Malescence, his first solo album released under his own name (as opposed to the monikers Octis or Ocrilim, which he has utilized in the past). And while the record won’t be out until next month, our friends at The Deciblog are streaming it right now. In case above album art somehow failed to tip you off, it is trippy, trippy stuff; anyone looking for some kind of Steve Vai pop-metal guitar gawd album is going to feel let down. But if you’re looking for a dude just making incredibly crazy shit on his guitar, well, you are going to fucking love this album. I know I do.

Check out Coiled Malescence here. It comes out September 13 on Safety Meeting Records (vinyl) and Savage Land (CD).

-AR

Rwake’s Rest is one of the albums I am most anticipating salivating over this year, and it’s one of the albums you’re most anticipating ready to spread eagle for, too, assuming you have any damn sense at all. And this new, seven minute preview of the album — featuring snippets of each and every song — isn’t likely to make you any less randy. I shouted “OH, COME ON!” out loud at least three separate times when three separate song samples ended. It’s the musical equivalent of blue balls.

You will finally be able to blow your wad when Relapse releases Rest on September 27.

-AR

Learning is fun, so I had a killer time gabbing with producer Jay Ruston a couple Mondays ago. He shed light on the genesis of Steel Panther’s awesome debut Feel The Steel, explaining that work on those songs was commenced without label backing and in support of the band’s wishes to get original stuff into their live set. A few years later (now), Steel Panther is big as Beverly Hills boobz and all set to release their sophomore album on Fucktober 18, which according to guitarist Satchel’s internetting is named Balls Out. It’s an A+ title in the accuracy department — mine are out now and will soon be placed directly on this album — and, unlike Gash Bash and my suggestions last month, this title isn’t too dirty for mention in magazines and on the radio. So Steel Panther can continue to make like boners and get bigger until they explode.

Update New Steel Panther song “If You Really Really Love Me” debuted late Monday on BBC Radio 1. You’ll really really love it. Listen here.

-ADF

Steel Panther’s Balls Out falls out October 18 on Universal/Republic and features Dane Cook, Joe Elliott of Def Leppard, and Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy. 

(Ghost photo by Maija Lahtinen.)

I’m aware that this story has been out for some time and isn’t exactly “new,” but for whatever reason it’s barely been covered in the metal media until today. And so:

What a crazy day today is turning out to be for metal vocalists.

The members of Ghost go to great lengths to keep their true identities a secret — they perform in masks and disquise their voices in intevriews, and the members of the band other than the lead singer are simply called “Nameless Ghouls” — but it appears that the identity of frontman Papa Emeritus has been uncovered. From Metal Insider:

Click to read more…

Some Kind of Monster directors Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky have already made two documentaries about The West Memphis Three, with a third, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, set to debut at at the Toronto International Film Festival next month. (Although apparently without a new ending to reflect the trio’s recent release; Berlinger says that the pair have spent so long working on the movie, “it didn’t seem right to rush a new ending” at this point. They’re hoping to have the new ending ready either for October’s New York International Film Festival, or the movie’s HBO debut later this year.) Unfortunately, the audience for documentaries remains somewhat limited — while reality television is an ongoing sensation, unless it has adorable penguins in it, a non-fiction film will usually have a ceiling on how much money it can make.

And so it is not at all terrible news that Academy Award-nominated director Atom Egoyan has announced plans to make Devil’s Knot, a feature length biopic about the trio – Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley Jr., and Jason Baldwin.

Click to read more…

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 ”The Perfect Crime”

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

Released 1991

Appears on Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey soundtrack

Produced by Matt Wallace

Guitars by Jim Martin

Key lyric ”Look in the mirror/It seems you’re shrinking, miniature/And soon enough you’re gone.”

Single? No.

Click to read more…

Mushroomhead’s Jeffrey Nothing — that’s the bald singer who does the Mike Patton wanna-be vocals in the band, not the other guy who, like, screams and raps and stuff — has debuted a new solo track, “Death Masquerade,” on Revolver‘s website. And because no bands have parted ways with their singer in the last hour or so and I need shit to write about, I made myself listen to it.

Well, that’s a lie. I listened to about half of it. That was as much as I could take. It wasn’t the soporific “riff,” the mid-90s sound effects, the head-scratch-inducing vocals, or even the total lack of Pig Benis that finally broke me down — no, it was the terrible, amateurish production that made me give up. In this day and age, when there are dudes who are recording top-notching sound shit literally in their bedrooms and garages, it’s amazing that anyone, let alone anyone who makes music on a professional level, would release something that sounds like it was recorded in a potato sack. And yet, here we are.

Maybe Mr. Nothing was just trying to make me appreciate Mushroomhead? Like, “Hey, dickhead blogger, it could be way worse?” If that’s the case, then let’s have a hearty golf clap for the fellow who suddenly made me long for the days of turntables and Seal covers.

You can check out the song for yourself here. The New Psychodalia, Nothing’s solo debut, comes out October 11 via Suburban Noize.

-AR

We are proud to present an EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE from one of my favorite newer bands, EMMURE. It’s not only the second single from their latest album “Speaker of the Dead,” but in my opinion their best song. And remember, you saw it here first!!

For those of you who are reading this on your Zune, do not yet have a 56k connection, or for whatever other reason cannot watch the video, here are my notes:

Click to read more…

Click play on the above YouTube video. Do it if you like good metal.

If “In Crude, I Remain” by Orwell reminds you a tad bit of their fellow Wisconsonians in Iron Thrones you’ve actually hit the nail right on the head: Iron Thrones guitarist Steve Henningsgard produced their forthcoming album AVOHFASIH (out September 6th). No surprise then that Orwell kicks so much ass, as I wouldn’t expect Henningsgard to attach his name to anything that didn’t completely rule. Which isn’t to say that Orwell sound just like Iron Thrones — they’ve got their own thing happening — it’s just that there are clearly some sonic similarities. And that is a good thing.

Listen to the above track and let us know your thoughts.

-VN

In April, I wrote about “Make it Precious,” a horrible video for a horrible Ukrainian scenecore band called Make Me Famous. Now it’s come to my attention that the band has an acoustic version of the song, too, which is just… well, baffling, really. It’s hard to imagine that, say, Obituary ever would have done an acoustic version of “Slowly We Rot,” as that would be both weird and inappropriate — but there doesn’t seem to be even the slightest hint of irony to Make Me Famous’ new rendition of their “hit.”

The funniest part? That they maintain all the original lyrics to the tune. So my favorite line from the song — “Admit that I just did it bitch” — is no longer screamed furiously, but sung romantically.

-AR

Thanks to J.A.M. for ruining my morning.

Though nowadays my bailiwick at MetalSucks is hardcore, those who have followed this column from the start will recall that I started out with a focus on noise rock, a subgenre that peaked in the 90s and has experienced a glorious resurgence over the past several years. At the start, I used this space to turn readers onto bands like The Austerity Program, Cable, Disappearer, Goes Cube, Kowloon Walled City, Pissed Jeans, and Wetnurse, to name a few. You dig those acts, right? Yeah, I thought so.

Replete with a name straight of a cinephile’s spank bank, noise rockers 400 Blows have returned after six years of relative silence with Sickness And Health, and let me tell you, ladies (ha!) and gents, it’s a beaut! If you don’t recall them from earlier albums like Black Rainbow or tours with bands including At The Drive In and The Locust, here’s your chance to catch up with our exclusive stream of the new record!

If this sorta thing floats your boat, go ahead and pre-order the CD, download, and vinyl editions here. Hey, and this Friday, the band kick off a series of dates opening for noneother than those noise rock instigators Butthole Surfers!

[this streaming promotion has ended]

-GS

Richmond, VA stoners ov death Cannabis Corpse are currently burning their way through the European continent, with planned raids on Russia and the UK coming up quick, and yours truly is along for the ride to hustle merch and document the madness. Full disclosure: I work with the band and their label, but I’m doing this tour diary not as a sneaky promotional trick, but because I’m in fucking Europe with a bunch of awesome death metal dudes and wanted to write about the experience. So here goes.

Click to read more…

Something must be in the water; metal bands are losing vocalist left and right.

A few months ago we heard rumors that The Human Abstract and vocalist Travis Richter had parted ways. Being the occasional good journalists that we are, before running said rumors as truth we contacted the dudes in the band who quickly got back to us and essentially said, “Nope, it’s BS. Things are fine with Travis.” The band made good on that promise by going out and kicking ass on tour with him in May and June.

So when this piece surfaced last week claiming that an “anonymous source” says Richter and the band have parted ways, we were instantly suspicious and once again contacted various authorities for comment (including not only members of THA but their manager). Only this time no one responded to us.

Click to read more…

I really enjoyed “Living Weapon,” the new Warbringer track the band debuted last month; I’m enjoying the new new Warbringer song the band has just released, “Shattered Like Glass,” less. I think it boils down to the very simple fact that I don’t like the riff in the new new song as much as I like the riff in the old new song.

But it’s not a bad song, and there were bound to be some tunes on Warbringer’s new album, Worlds Torn Asunder, that I liked more than others, soooo… yeah, you should definitely check out this little ditty for yourself and make up your own mind. In fact, I’m curious to see what other Warreceivers (That’s what the band calls their fans, right?) think of “Glass” in comparison to “Weapon.”

Worlds Torn Asunder comes out September 27 on Century Media. The band will follow its release with a North American headlining run featuring Lazarus A.D., Landmine Marathon, and Diamond Plate as support. Get dates here.

-AR

The line-up for this year’s edition of the annual Thrash and Burn tour has been announced, and it’s terrible; so terrible that I don’t even have any witty way of expressing it’s terribleness. So I’m not here to make more jokes at the expense of some deathcore bands; I hope they all have fun on the tour, and I hope everyone who attends the tour has a terrific time, and I hope that all parties involved cherish the memory forever and ever and ever.

I would, however, like to discuss the fact that, as was the case with this year’s Summer Slaughter trek (which is organized by the same folks who do Thrash and Burn), fans are being asked to vote for one final band to join the bill. Because while some of the candidates are awful (Dr. Acula, The Devastated, etc.) and I don’t know some of the candidates enough to have any real opinion of them, one of the candidates is a band I actually like: White Arms of Athena.

Which is why I am here to ask you to please vote against White Arms of Athena being on this bill.

Click to read more…

According to the NY Post — The Fox News of NYC daily newspapers — a Bronx business group is worried that riots in the streets will accompany next month’s Big Snore show at Yankee Stadium. Cary Goodman, Executive Director of the 161st Street Business Improvement District, cited riots that occurred last year when would-be heavy metal concertgoers were shut out of sold-out performances in Colombia and Chile. Because the Bronx is totally just like Colombia and Chile.

Dear Mr. Goodman: cut it out with your blatant stereotypes. The only people who really care about this show and have $200 to burn are 40 and 50 year-old men from Ronkonkoma and Piscataway, not exactly the type to riot. Also: have you met Yankees fans? I’d way rather run into a metalhead in an alley than a drunk, lunk-headed, mongoloid Yankees fan. I rest my case.

Let’s give credit where credit’s due, though: at least author Candice M. Giove did enough research to make a clever Metallica-related pun to open the article.

-VN

Thanks: Metal Mykee

One of the most frequent criticisms leveled at TesseracT has to do with their (now ex-?) vocalist Dan Tompkins; he always seemed out of place on stage, a clean-cut gentlemen with a bunch of scraggly longhairs. Those who don’t like TesseracT will now seemingly have to find something else to pick on, as according to Got-Djent.com Dan Tompkins is out and Sky Eats Airplane vocalist Elliot Coleman is in.

Click to read more…

Metallica and Lou Reed have announced a November 1 release date for their collaborative album, which we now know to be titled Lulu. The album was apparently inspired by Marjorie Henderson Buell’s 1930s comic strip, Little Lulu, as well as the animated television series and films that the strip inspi–

Oh, wait. That’s not right at all. Here’s what actually inspired the album, according to a statement on the collaboration’s official website:

Click to read more…