While at work a few years ago, as I was hammering out document after document in my cubicle, listening to Wolves in the Throne Room battle the sound of my fingertips hitting the keyboard, a co-worker popped her head in letting me know that what I was listening to sounded like “funeral music” to her. Of all the niches I’ve heard Wolves in the Throne Room get thrown into, I thought this one was the most interesting. I guess I could see where she was coming from to an extent — the mournful vocals lent by Jessika Kenney on Two Hunters wouldn’t by any means seem out of place as an accompaniment to, say, a roaring funeral pyre. That very element, in fact, was what really took that album to another level for me. So of course I was glad to hear the beautiful, haunting voice grace the band’s newest release, Celestial Lineage.

Fans of Wolves in the Throne Room have come to expect a certain quality hard to exactly decipher or pinpoint with each anticipated album. That sort of earthen and, at the same time, undeniably ethereal sound, which invokes visions of rain soaked forest beds, or cavernous ruins of a long lost congregation of mystics. Of course, I could be completely alone in these specific conjurations, but the fact remains that the brothers Weaver continuously deliver not only meticulously well-constructed pieces, they create an intricate landscape with each note, each chord, each painful cry, taking the listener to another realm entirely. Rounding out the trilogy set forth with the sorrowful Two Hunters, and followed by the more punishing Black Cascade, the release of Celestial Lineage is anything but anticlimactic.

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We got all hot n’ bothered back in May, when Derek Rydquist (ex-The Faceless), Sacha Dunable (Intronaut/Graviton/MetalSucks columnist),  Charles Elliott (Abysmal Dawn), and Derek Donley (National Sunday Law/Graviton) announced the formation of a new project, Bewilderbiest. But now we’re even MORE hot n’ bothered to learn that not only has the band changed their name to a less schticky moniker, Bereft, but have also debuted a new song, “Withered Efflorescence,” on their Facebook page (“like” required).

The song is positively crushing, and, you should be happy to learn, sounds nothing like any of the bands of which these musicians have previously been members. It’s a long, slow, heavy-as-Dino-giving-Milano-a-piggy-back-ride doom number, which makes the band’s new name seem all the more fitting. Here’s a comment on the tune from Mr. Elliott himself:

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On December 31, 2008, Fantômas– the on-again-off-again supergroup featuring Mike Patton (Faith No More, Tomahawk, Peeping Tom), Buzz Osborne (Melvins), Trevor Dunn (Mr. Bungle, MadLove) and Dale Crover (Melvins, Shrinebuilder) — performed their 2001 album The Director’s Cut live at San Francisco’s Great American Music Hall. Nearly three years later the band is releasing The Director’s Cut Live: A New Year’s Revolution on DVD and as a standalone audio download via Ipecac Recordings.

As you’d expect from this rowdy cast of characters, the performance was electric. Check out the song “Cape Fear” from the show below. The Director’s Cut Live: A New Year’s Revolution came out yesterday and is available for order here; you can also download just the audio here.

Listen up, you dweebs: “A Coward’s Existence,” the new Fuck the Facts song, is totally ridiculous. Yes, that’s a compliment.

The first half of the song sees the band continuing to earn their status as one of the best grind bands on the scene today (if the section at the 1:03 mark, which has an airplane-taking-off quality to it, doesn’t make you wanna jump through a window, you must have no pulse), and then the second half of the song is just, like, totally epic. I thought the band’s most recent release, last year’s Unnamed EP, was fantastic, and I think this song already blows that whole record out of the water. It’s just fucking great.

Headbang here, then fuck get a circle pit going in our comments section. Fuck the Facts’ new album, Die Miserable, comes out October 11 via Relapse.

-AR

We got an almost funny number of e-mails complaining about the title of Megadeth’s new album, TH1RT3EN*, after it was announced. And, yes, it’s a very silly album title, and, yes, it seems to be stolen and only slightly altered from the name of a very boring horror movie. But, really, what does it matter? I thought The System Has Failed was overrated, but United Abominations was pretty good, and Endgame was a complete return to form for ‘Deth. If Mustaine and company can maintain (or maybe even surpass) that level of quality, they could call the album We <3 Hollywood Undead and it wouldn’t bother me that much.

Now the band has unveiled the cover art for TH1RT3EN, and, uh, okay. I know I’m one of the last .0001% of the population that actually cares about cool album art, and like I was just saying, if the record is good it really doesn’t matter, but… yeah this is pretty much a total bummer. The concept isn’t necessarily terrible, but the execution… maybe it’ll look better when the large, high-res version is released, but right now it looks like someone who isn’t very good at Photoshop (like me!) cut out the image of Vic and pasted it onto something else. This is the kind of sloppy thing unsigned bands usually send us — not legends like ‘Deth.

In fact, I actually prefer the cover art for the first single from the album, “Public Enemy No. 1″:

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Nope. Not if their new song, “Reduced to the Failure of Prayer,” is any indication. ‘Cause that shit is positively Satanic. In fact, it’s hard to listen to it and not picture cities tumbling, populations ravaged by plague and forced to watch Kevin James movies, fire, brimstone, torment, and complete fucking misery — y’know, all the most fun parts of the Bible. Get your neck-snappin’ windmill on here.

And good timing on the release of the tune, too, ’cause guess what? The awesome North American Khaos tour that we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie, and which features Arch Enemy, DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch (natch), and Chthonic, starts this Thursday, September 8!!! You do no wanna miss out. Get dates here. Skeletonwitch are also doing a bunch of off-dates with DevilDriver, and a bunch of headlining shows in the Midwest; you can get those dates here.

Forever Abomination comes out October 11 on Prosthetic.

-AR

It’s rare that MS contributor Grim Kim chooses to heap praise upon bands the rest of actually know and love, but there it is, dangling like a big, juicy meatball: Absu’s Abzu as one of her picks for favorite albums of 2011 so far, as of August 10th, a full two months before its October 8 release. Our love for Absu is so great that your editors actually requested the privilege of premiering a new Absu track to the world but were rebuffed, told the band only wanted to release one full track before the album comes out and that track had already been doled out. Don’t say we never try hard for ya.

Well, our one taste of new Absu is now here. It’s called “Abraxas Connexus” and it’s streaming over at Pitchfork. And it was worth the wait. With songs this good and production this clear the Absdudes could have Skeletonwitch fans hopping onboard the wagon, and the timing is perfect given the latter’s pending new album. Sure, Absu have been a band for longer, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Here’s Grim Kim back in August on their sound:

Absu exemplify USBM’s old school, the traditional and the esoteric, and stay true to their bloody roots. They worship the old gods, and have been around long enough to call them peers. Their latest album, Abzu, is an exercise in black thrash supremacy. Proscriptor’s still got it — not like that comes as any surprise.

Listen to “Abraxas Connexus” over at Pitchfork then come back here and tell us what you think in the comments. The record comes out on October 8th via Candlelight.

-VN

When we first heard about William Shatner and Zakk Wylde’s cover of “Iron Man” in February, I made fun of The Shat for thinking that following direction would somehow increase the quality of Wylde’s performance:

“Finally, he’s dying… and this is like hell for him… he is dying in hell. Now, if that adds any character to what you’re playing… if it becomes more stark, more hell…”

Now that I’ve heard the song, though, I realize I owe Shatner a massive apology. This version of the Sabbath classic does, indeed, feel like dying in hell.

Revolver Mag debut William Shatner Iron man feat. Zakk Wylde by Cleopatra Records

I have no idea when the rest of the album will be released, but when I see the Four Horseman racing across the landscape, I’ll know to check iTunes.

-AR

You know the deal… lots of great unsigned bands, so little time. Let’s do this:

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Click to enlarge the ridiculously sweet poster art by Rodney Githens from Vertebrae 33 and Metal Band Art

When we first announced The Metal Suckfest, we promised you that it was NOT just a bunch of tours already-in-progress, routed so that they all converge for one event. That it was NOT just bands that all sound alike and one would normally expect to find on the same bill. That it would be a wholly unique concert in which some truly incredible artists are coming together JUST to play THIS ONE SINGLE EVENT.

And now you know — we weren’t lying.

We are SO PROUD to announce the line-up for the inaugural Metal Suckfest, which will take place November 4 and November 5 at The Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan. As you can see, the bands range from thrash to death to grind to prog to noise rock to NWOAHM to stoner to we don’t even know what you call it, but they all have one thing in common — they are all fucking awesome, and they are all 110% MetalSucks approved. This fest is gonna be so great, we keep having to pinch ourselves to make sure it’s real.

Tickets go on sale Friday at LiveNation.com at 10 am. 12 noon. We’ll be announcing the final four bands on the bill shortly, but trust us — you don’t wanna wait to get your ticket.

Here’s the rest of the line-up:

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Municipal Waste
God Forbid
Today is the Day
This is Hell
Howl
Black Tusk
Magrudergrind
All Pigs Must Die
Ramming Speed
Prime Evil

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Cynic
Obscura
The Red Chord
3
A Life Once Lost
Scale the Summit
Last Chance to Reason
Fight Amp
Rosetta
Ultrageist

-Vince, Axl, and Everyone at MetalSucks

Congrats to readers Eva Nemec and “Rod Bender” (LULZ). They each correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Nylithia — a group Vince has rightfully praised right here on MetalSucks — and for their troubles, Eva and Rod each win a copy of the CD booklet for Stone Sour’s Audio Secrecy that has been signed by the band. Cherish them forever, Eva and Rod!

This week, we have another awesome prize, again courtesy of the nice folks at Roadrunner Records:  a copy of the CD booklet for Soulfly’s Omen that has been signed by Max Cavalera and company. Pretty sweet, right? And we’ve got TWO of ‘em to give away!

All you gotta 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 two winners and announce their names one week from today.

This week’s logo was once again suggested by reader Melissa Stern… thanks, Melissa!

-AR

To be in Anthrax today, it must feel like standing at the mouth of a transcontinental pipeline, squinting, feet poised to step out of dank darkness and into light. Cuz that tunnel reaches all the way back to 2003′s We’ve Come For You All and through a reunion tour with singer Joey Belladonna in 2005, a second parting with Belladonna and an attempt at redrafting singer John Bush in 2007, the late 2007 arrival of new singer Dan Nelson, the completion of Worship Music mark I, Nelson’s abrupt flake-out in July 2009, a few shows with Bush that Fall, the plan to re-enlist Bush full time (he declined), the second return of Joey Belladonna, and the second completion of Worship Music with Belladonna and producer Jay Ruston (Steel Panther, The Donnas). Got all that?

But after that stressfest — one nearly the duration of two presidential terms — Anthrax now emerges from the tunnel of stink into fresh air and sunny skies: The completed Worship Music rips. You love it. On it, drummer Charlie Benante and crew fold Joey into the modern Anthrax heavy rock sound (e.g. “Crawl” “The Devil You Know”) and roll out big, punishing waves on which Joey surfs, a melodic power-voice plowing forth atop a Thrash Metal rip curl (“Judas Priest” “Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t”). It’s crazy that there’s an album at all; Worship Music might’ve never survived its parents’ nutty divorce. But Worship Music lives and lives loud as the long-awaited modern Joe-thrax album, the never attempted sequel to 1990′s Persistence Of Time, as Anthrax’s challenge to Big 4 snorers who coast on fumes as relevance laps them, and as a modern metal instant classic.

About the whole ordeal and its happy ending, MetalSucks talked with an affably frank Charlie Benante, who betrayed no fatigue from answering a billion picky questions about the fans’ perspectives, the band’s stiff upper lip, their stone-faced guitarist, Persistence‘s status as a dark classic and harbinger of ’90s frown metal, Joey’s solo career, double albums, Jody Watley, and a prompt follow-up to Worship Music.

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I only just discovered Necroblashpheme a few weeks ago, but I have fallen in love with them — hard. Immediately after hearing the title track from their forthcoming EP, XXVI : The Deeper – The Better, I purchased a download of their last album, Destination: Nulle Part, without even hearing it first — and it was worth it. These dudes are the real fucking deal.

If you’re still not hip to them, hopefully the latest new track from XXVI will get you on board. It’s called “Seated to the Left of the Sick,” and like everything else I’ve heard by the band thus far, it is monstrous and totally killer. It’s so good that it makes me sad to hear that XXVI still has no official release date — I wanna hear the rest of the EP, and I wanna hear it STAT.

Seated To The Left Of The Sick by Necroblaspheme

Based on the comments left beneath my last post about the band, you cats are digging Necroblaspheme, too — which makes me happy. Nice when we can all agree on something. We’ll update you with more info on XXVI as we get it…

-AR

Thrash fans that are a) unwilling to shell out $200 for tickets to the Big 4 at Yankee Stadium, b) have a hankering to see Anthrax live anyway, and c) feel Testament were rudely snubbed from the Big 5, you’re in luck: Anthrax and Testament are co-headlining a U.S. tour starting in October!

To many this will surely qualify as way more interesting than the Big 4 show itself… and you know what? I really can’t disagree. Despite wishing John Bush or Dan Nelson had been the vocalist for Worship Music instead of Joey Bellardini, the album is darn good and has some really excellent songs that I’d love to hear live. Testament are great live and haven’t toured in a while, so I’d be excited to see them as well. And with Death Angel confirmed as the opening act, this tour is kind of like the who’s who of the tail-end of the original thrash movement.

Tickets are already on-sale here for Anthrax fan club members and will be available to the general public this Friday. Dates after the jump!

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September 27th might be the grandaddy of all metal release days of 2011, but there’s one big release coming out exactly a week before, too. It’s the album that metalsphere pundits are calling “not metal.” The album that Mikael Akerfeldt says is an ode to his prog rock influences. The album with awesomely ridiculous (and ridiculously awesome) cover artwork. Opeth’s Heritage.

Listening to the previously released song “The Devil’s Orchard” and this here new jam “I Feel The Dark,” one thing comes to mind: old school Opeth fans gonna be P-I-S-S-E-D pissed about the band’s sound on this record. I take the opposite viewpoint: I think it’s exciting and bold that they’ve decided to ditch boring growled vocals altogether in favor of something more dynamic and challenging. I really can’t wait to hear the full album.

-VN

Thanks: Nic Toumayan

That’s right — for the third year in a row, we are going to give one lucky (and talented) reader the chance to completely take over MetalSucks for the day! Whether you love MetalSucks or loathe MetalSucks, this is your chance to make the site everything you think it should be — even if for only twenty-four hours. We’ve had a lot of fun doing these in the past, and we’re always excited to see what the Temporary Editor-in-Chief comes up with.  So here’s how it works:

• TELL US WHY WE SUCK IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. Anytime between now and 8 a.m. EST this Monday, September 12, leave a comment below saying why MetalSucks, y’know, sucks. It can be as long or short as you want – it just has to be funny. And we mean actually funny — “U guyz r fags” is not funny and will not win. Axl and Vince will choose five to ten of their favorites to move onto round 2. Please note that YOU MUST REGISTER FOR THE COMMENTS WITH A REAL E-MAIL ADDRESS, as all finalists will be contacted by e-mail.
• VOTE FOR WHO YOU THINK SHOULD WIN. Those selected by Axl and Vince will then be announced later in the day on Monday, September 12, at which point you, the readers, will vote for your favorites. The poll will close at midnight EST on Friday, September 16, with the winner to be announced the following morning. And whomever wins gets to…
• TAKE OVER METALSUCKS ON FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23. All your stories must be turned in on Thursday, September 22 to be readied for publication. This is not because we want to look them over or edit them; on the contrary, we will be not be doing any editing or proofreading of any kind. You can say anything you want about anyone you want – you will be completely uncensored. You’ll need to provide the site slogan for that day. And if you want graphic(s) or video(s) to accompany a post, you will need to provide those, too.  We just need the stories handed in a day early so we can program them to publish the following day. That’s because, unfortunately, we can’t give you an administrative MetalSucks account, as that would allow you to delete previous posts, fuck up years of hard work, etc. But every story we run that day will be written by you, with your name on the byline. MetalSucks will be your site for one day. But there is one other catch:
• IF YOU WIN, YOU HAVE TO MEET YOUR DEADLINE. Failure to claim your prize or do your job as sole editor/blogger for the day will result in your name being published on your takeover day so all the world knows you were too lazy/pussy/whatever to follow through. And that will be the only story that runs that day. Also –
• THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE ARE INELIGIBLE TO WIN: Last year’s winner (in this case, Crack Hitler), anyone who is a writer for a blog or media outlet that we have linked to in the past, and anyone who has ever written or worked for MetalSucks in the past. Part of the point of this contest is to give a voice to the voiceless, so fair’s fair.

And that’s that.

Good luck, everyone. Now make us laugh.

-Axl & Vince

Talk about great timing — Cynic, who are scheduled to headline our inaugural 2-day festival The Metal Suckfest – will be releasing a new EP just one week later! According to a post on their label Season of Mist’s official website:

Forefathers of Progressive Metal CYNIC have recorded a new EP entitled “Carbon-Based Anatomy”, to be released on November 11th in Europe (November 15th in North America). Contrary to last year’s “Re-Traced”, this new EP exclusively consists of brand new material.

Here are the tracklisting and cover artwork of “Carbon-Based Anatomy”:

1. Amidst The Coals
2. Carbon-Based Anatomy
3. Bija!
4. Box Up My Bones
5. Elves Beam Out
6. Hieroglyph

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We hope you guys are ready to have your skulls crushed, ’cause boy oh boy, do we have one skull motherfucking crusher for you today — “Avalanche,” a  brand new track off Black Cobra’s brand new album, Invernal. (We’re also stoked to be debuting the totally killer album artwork, above.) As the song’s title suggests, the music conjures nightmarish images of trying to outrun a massive force of nature which, of course, will inevitably catch up with you, overpower you, and destroy you. If that ain’t fuckin’ metal, nuthin’ is.

Check out “Avalanche” below — you’ll be glad you did. Invernal, which was produced and mixed by the great Kurt Ballou, comes out October 11 on Southern Lord. Stay tuned to Black Cobra’s official website for more info.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

Confession: I far prefer Brutal Truth’s more recent work to the stuff I cut my teeth on back in the 90s. While some bands shoot their wad completely in the first three records (I’m looking at you, Metallica), other bands mature with age. Brutal Truth belongs squarely in the latter camp, with End Time standing as a perfect example of how the band has grown as songwriters.

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I can’t claim to be an expert on HateSphere, but based on what I know about the band, they seem to oscillate between groove metal and thrashier stuff. I really like the more groovy stuff (like the single “Drinking with the King of the Dead,” from 2007′s Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes), but the other stuff doesn’t do much for me. I don’t think it’s bad — I just don’t hear anything to really make it stand out from the pack.

So. The band’s new single, “Smell of Death,” showcases both of the band’s styles. Thus, I am of two minds about it — again, I really, really dig the groove stuff (like the almost-elephants-marching riff under the guitar solo), but I feel pretty meh on the rest. But I know there are some HateSphere fans out there, ’cause y’all e-mail us from time to time. So check out the track below, then let me know if you think I’m being too kind or not kind of enough in our comments section.

“Smell of Death” will be on HateSphere’s new album, The Great Bludgeoning, which comes out September 27 on Napalm Records.

-AR