Vince and I saw Opeth and Katatonia last night, but the song that was stuck in Vince’s head the entire evening — the song which he kept singing over and over and over again — wasn’t “The Devil’s Orchard.” It was “Curl of the Burl,” which, as you no doubt are aware by now, is the second track off of Mastodon’s latest, The Hunter (streaming here). In fact, I’d posit that one of The Hunter‘s greatest faults — besides the fact that there’s no way in heck the band is gonna be able to pull off the vocals live, of course — is that “Burl” and the song which immediately precedes it, “Black Tongue,” are the best songs on the record. That’s not to say that the rest of the album isn’t good — it’s very good — it’s just to say that I think they blow their wad a little early on this one.

ANYWAY, “Curl of the Burl” now has a video, which you can check out below. And, yes, it does continue the tradition of Mastodon having totally awesome videos. Seriously, somebody just give this band one of those stupid MTV VMA Lifetime Achievement awards already.

The Hunter comes out September 27 on Reprise/Warner Bros.

-AR

I’m not saying that MetalSucks’ boner-bursting August series 31 Days Of Faith No More featuring Anso DF set in motion events leading to an amazing first-ever Faith No More show with one-time FNM studio guitarist Trey Spruance this November, but um okay I don’t know how to end that sentence. Cuz that’s exactly what I’m implying: We made this happen. So you’re welcome. Keyboardist Roddy Bottum wrote on the internet Wednesday night:

Click to read more…

Last week was a big, big sales week for new metal releases, I’d imagine one of the highest cumulative tallies of the year so far. The #1 through #6 entries on the Top Hard Music charts could all be considered smashes in today’s relative terms, with Dream Theater, Anthrax and others making big splashes. Arch/Matheos, Vader and Wolves in the Throne Room also had nice debuts. Let’s look at the numbers:

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I frequent Tumblr every once in a while for the usual dose of cute cat antics and half-naked men. Occasionally, a hot metal (female) babe pops up on my feed. This in and of itself is not so surprising, since I actually follow Metal Babes. I have a delightful friend who is often posted there. Pictures on the Internet never stay contained though, and one particular image of her got passed around and garnered many, many notes. Mostly because she’s a pretty girl wearing a Lamb of God shirt, which automatically means she doesn’t really like the band, she’s just doing it for fashion.

Well, that’s just silly. Why would a pretty girl work to impress the most socially awkward of music fans? Yeah, stereotypes work both ways. However, it is kind of apparent that metal has become a fashion statement, and according to a recent piece on Metal Army, a really popular one.

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You MUST watch this video. You simply MUST. I really don’t wanna give it away, because as is so often the case, it’s funniest if you don’t know where it’s going; it’s simply labeled “Guitarist Fail” on YouTube, and I’m appreciative of that fact, because I was caught totally off-guard by the punchline. And then I watched it three more times, because it’s that fucking funny.

So stop reading this and hit “play.” The clip is only a minute long and it will be the funniest minute of your day…

See? Toldja.

-AR

MAJOR thanks to J.A.M. for the tip!!!

photo by Justina Villanueva

Guys, this new Fuck the Facts album, Die Miserable, is seriously kicking my ass. I seriously hope the band members are all really proud of what they’ve achieved, ’cause they have definitely taken shit to a whole new level. Like, I think I’ve mentioned this before, but the last time I got to see the band live, vocalist Mel Mongeon was so pregnant she looked as though she seriously might go into labor at any time, and she was still screaming her guts out*, and it was pretty much the most metal thing I’ve ever seen in my life. And Die Miserable feels like the band got together and said, “Let’s see if we can make some music to out-metal the metalness of that tour.” And then they did just that.

So. The latest track to emerge from this painfully great record is “Alone,” which is streaming over at The Deciblog, and which I am going to insist you check out right now. Go on. I’ll wait here.

…

…

Fucking SWEET, right? Now make a pledge to purchase Die Miserable when Relapse releases it on October 11. It’s totally worth it.

-AR

*In fact, that photo above is from that show; I was standing directly to the right of Ms. Justina Villanueva when she took it. You can’t see that Mel is preggers, but you can see how intense her performance was, so now just keep in mind that her stomach was the size of a watermelon and you’ll get the idea of how fucking nuts the show was.

Dates for a Guns N’ Roses tour of America have been slowly trickling out for the past couple of weeks, but even as the world’s last remaining Axl Apologist, I haven’t felt compelled to write about them, ’cause, well… the itinerary was clearly not at all complete, and I kept thinking that maybe there’d finally be some kind of proper tour announcement and we could put all the info in one post. Silly me.

Now Metal Insider says that the tour is a go, and I trust Metal Insider… but the tour schedule is still lacking in key information, like, oh, I dunno, venues and dates. And it’s worth noting that neither GN’R's official website nor their official MySpace page has any mention of these gigs. Even  fan site Here Today… Gone to Hell! — which is as close to a regularly updated official site as this version of the band may ever get (administrator Jarmo Luukkonen has toured with the band and was even thanked in the liner notes for Chinese Democracy) — only lists a small handful of them. That strikes me as being highly suspicious, because Rose has cancelled entire tours before and claimed he knew nothing about them until he read about the concerts on the internet (hell, he’s cancelled shows even when he did admit to knowing about them), so until there’s a press release with a statement from the man himself, I don’t think anyone should get their hopes up that this is really happening.

Click to read more…

Last year, Armored Saint reunited to release an incredibly awesome comeback album, La Raza — but it was a bittersweet return, ’cause the band didn’t tour behind it, save for a couple of shows on the West Coast and in Germany. When I interviewed him for the album’s release, vocalist John Bush told me that “The idea of doing shows, although it’s something I want to do, I also want to do it on my terms… we spent many a show playing to forty fans and various bartenders and cocktail waitresses and club owners and opening bands and their crew…I don’t want to do that again, quite frankly.” And that’s totally understandable and I can’t fault Bush for feeling that way. But, unfortunately, it meant all us East Coast fans were totally screwed.

But no longer! For the band has announced three dates in this part of the country, including their first show in NYC in two decades. And while that’s obviously not a full tour, it will still make it far easier for some of us who live in states with actual seasons to go see the band live. And, better still, these are some intimate venues, so you’ll get to see Armored Saint do their thing from very, very close-up.

And it gets cooler still! According to bassist Joey Vera, the band will be taking requests… mid-show:

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Ye ask, and ye shall receive; you asked Gwar’s Oderus Urungus another round of questions of great first-world significance, and now everyone’s favorite Cuttlefish of Cthulhu-donning intergalactic metaller is back with his answers.

1)     When you die, are you to be buried in a KISS kasket?

Fuck no! And learn how to spell. From now on, misspell something? No answer! Wait, I already did. Answer your stupid question, I mean, not misspell… although I am allowed to fucking misspell whatever I fucking feel like! You know why? Because I can’t spell! But this whole thing is pointless, being immortal, like the guys from Highlander, well, not the gay ones, the Kurgan was more my style. I heard that they are remaking The Thing, which was a remake of a remake to begin with. It was a fucking great remake, so I am sure they will fuck this one up, unless they pile in a ton of crappy CG, in which case it will suck even more.

2)     Who would win in a fight– Sonic the Hedgehog or the Cuttlefish of Cthulu?

My cock would rape the jaw off of that woodland pest and then split his pathetic rump with the sheer force of me achieving a semi-chub. The sad thing is that he would love it. Sad for me, as I would appreciate him not enjoying being raped to death. But I do what I do, and I do it well, and they beg for violent rape. Sometimes I think I torture you the most when I do absolutely nothing, or let my personal butt-boy, Dave Brockie, put out solo albums. Which is worse? Only my hairdresser knows for sure, and I don’t have one.

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When writing up new Charred Walls of the Damned jam “Zerospan” last month my pal Axl summed up his past and present feelings towards the band thusly:

Charred Walls of the Damned are a rarity in the metal world — a supergroup that’s actually super. And because I’m a big dumb idiot, I didn’t really get that into their eponymous debut last year; but now that I’ve heard their sophomore effort, Cold Winds on Timeless Days, I know I’m a big dumb idiot, and I can now remedy my previous blunder.

I’m with ya, Axl; for whatever reason I never paid last year’s debut much attention, but I’ve loved every bit I’ve heard of their new album Cold Winds on Timeless Days. It is simply not possible to listen to CWOTD’s new song “Ashes Falling Upon Us” without feeling like your invisible chalice full of your slain enemy’s blood absolutely must be raised to the sky. Something about Ripper’s voice just gets me, and the music perfectly fits the part.

Charred Walls of the Damned “Ashes Falling Upon Us” by Metal Blade Records

Cold Winds on Timeless Days comes out on October 11th via Metal Blade; pre-order it here.

-VN

You guys continue to impress me with the caliber of unsigned talent out there in the world. Keep it coming!

In this edition of Unsigned and Unholy we’ll look at ESM, Karhu and Ninjaspy, three of the most talented bands to hit my inbox in recent weeks.

Click to read more…

photos by Daniel Zetterstrom

In April, Jeff Loomis (#7 on our list of the Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists) and drummer Van Williams announced their departure from Nevermore. And while bands lose members all the time, few splits have ever rocked the metal world the way this one did. The idea of Nevermore without Williams and, especially, Loomis, seemed like blasphemy to a lot of fans — including this one. For Loomis is truly a guitar god; his style and sound define Nevermore, and if he retired tomorrow, his legend would already be assured.

But Loomis stayed quiet about the cause of the split, even as Nevermore vocalist Warrel Dane openly talked smack in the press. Instead of dwelling on the past, it seemed that Loomis wanted to concentrate on the future: In July, he teased a new solo effort — his first since 2008′s Zero Order Phase — and in August, he revealed that he’d recruited some pretty incredible collaborators for that album, including Soilwork drummer Dirk Verbeuren, and 7 Horns 7 Eyes’ guitarist Aaron Smith, who is producing the release.

And while there’s still no official release date or even a title for Loomis’ first post-Nevermore outing, he has, at last, started to speak out on the whirlwind year he’s been experiencing… albeit cautiously. He’s granted interviews to a few European magazines, but MetalSucks is the only North American media outlet with whom he has discussed — and, as we understand, will discuss — the break-up. And, yes, as card carrying members of the Cult of Loomis, we were only too thrilled to be able to get his side of the story.

After the jump, read everything Loomis has to say about what went wrong with Nevermore, how he feels about Dane’s comments in the press, the current status of his relationship with Dane and Nevermore bassist Jim Sheppard, and, of course, some juicy details on his new solo album.

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If my math is correct, the only band to ever go through more line-up changes than Guns N’ Roses is L.A. Guns. And since sometime around ’04/’05, there have been two versions of L.A. Guns in the world, neither of which seems to have a very stable line-up… although I guess, in all fairness, the version with vocalist Phil Lewis and drummer Steve Riley has the better track record, since they just keep losing bass players, and have managed to hold onto guitarist Stacey Blades (yes, the replaces a dude calling himself “Guns” with a dude calling himself “Blades”) for some time now, whereas the version with Tracii Guns himself goes through singers, drummers, and rhythm guitarists the way a thirteen year old boy goes through tissues.

But that doesn’t change the fact that, according to the most recent U.S. Census, if you are a musician living in the greater Los Angeles area, there is a 95% chance that you have been a member of a band calling itself L.A. Guns at some point in the past ten years. And if you’re somehow part of the 5% that hasn’t been in one of the bands, well, now here’s your chance, ’cause according to a posting on his message board, Jizzy Pearl has now split with Tracii Guns’ L.A. Guns:

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My fellow Chimairicans: I’ve got good news and really good news. So let’s start with the good news.

EMG Pickups is apparently holding a contest wherein contestants upload videos of themselves covering a Metallica tune (on EMG-equipped instruments, natch) to YouTube for the chance to win a shitload of stuff. And I don’t really care about that, but I do care that one of the contestants is Rob Arnold, who does a version of “To Live is to Die” that absolutely rips. Seriously, Kirk Hammett hasn’t sounded this good since before he went through menopause. Check out Arnold’s cover below:

Pretty cool, no?

But here’s the better news — more dates for the second leg of Chimaira’s headlining tour in support of their awesome new album, The Age of Hell, have gotten out, and they include a stop at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey for WSOU’s 25th Anniversary concert. WSOU is pretty much the best metal radio station on the East Coast and possibly the entire United States, so I’m thrilled that such a killer band is gonna help them celebrate their birthday. And since support on that tour is coming from Unearth, Skeletonwitch, and Molotov Solution, they’ll all be playing, too, which is in no way bad news. You can get more details on that show, including ticket info, from Metal Insider.

Here are all the dates for the first leg of the tour, which features Revocation, Impending Doom, and Rise to Remain; dates for the second leg of the tour are after the jump!

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(click here for a hi-res version of the tour admat)

Add it to the slate of awesome tours criss-crossing the U.S. this tour: Kvelertak and Skeletonwitch are teaming up for a co-headline run of the Eastern and Midwest U.S. this October with Zoroaster in support, and MetalSucks is bringing it to ya!

Kvelertak rocked the socks off of SXSW when they last visited the U.S. back in March; they were the buzz band of this year’s festival, and anyone who saw them couldn’t stop talking about their electric performances. Check out live footage of their headline show at the MetalSucks “South by South Death” showcase for a taste of what you’re in for. Skeletonwitch are perennial MetalSucks faves and their new album Forever Abomination comes out in October, so the timing is perfect for them to rip through some of their new tunes live and in the flesh. And for a special treat full of stoney, drony, weed- and beer-fueled psychedelic jams make sure you arrive early to catch Zoroaster.

The October 21st stop in Brooklyn also happens to be a a very special show: it’s the second annual Metal Sucks / Metal Injection / 1000 Knives CMJ showcase! Kvelertak and Skeletonwitch will co-headline while Zoroaster have the night off, and 3 more bands will be announced shortly.

Full list of tour dates after the jump.

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Back in July, Dave Mustaine announced that he was bringing Gigantour back in 2012, and now, in an interview with Street Date (above – skip to the 3:00 mark), Mustaine claims that Megadeth will soon be touring with Motörhead, Volbeat, and Lacuna Coil “this year coming up.” That’s a pretty loose time frame ,so it’s not clear if he’s referring to Gigantour or just a regular Megadeth tour. Although, come to think of it, Gigantour hasn’t had a second stage since 2006, meaning it’s usually just been a four or five band package anyway, so, uh, I’m not really sure what would differentiate this from a “proper” Gigantour.

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Wolves in the Throne Room | NYC @ The Bell House | 12 Sep 2011 from (((unartig))) on Vimeo.

Last week Axl and I were taxed with the decision of choosing between Wolves In the Throne Room and classic thrash not once, but twice. On Monday, September 12th, Wolves played mere blocks from the Vince Division of the MS Mansion at The Bell House, and Axl and I had for weeks been staunchly instisting on attending this show over the “secret” Anthrax show at the Best Buy Theater in Manhattan because we’re jaded bloggers. But as hype for the Anthrax show mounted we caved… and I do not think we made the wrong decision. The ‘Thrax played an awesome headline set including 3 new jams from the super-great Worship Music, there were myriad special guests and all-star jams, it was fun all around. On Wednesday the 14th Wolves played another set in Brooklyn, but this time we gave in to Big 4 hype and graciously accepted access to the Yankees press box from whence we live blogged. Again, do not regret; seeing a rock show in Yankee fucking Stadium was quite an experience (still, fuck the Yankees).

It’s unfortunate we didn’t get to see Wolves in the Throne Room this time around because they rarely come east and their live show is really something to witness. Watching this excellent footage by the always reliable (((unartig))) makes me feel like I really missed out. I can’t get into Wolves in the Throne Room records (although our own Kellhammer loves their new record Celestial Lineage); for me it’s all about the live show, getting lost in the soundscapes and atmosphere, just letting go and allowing the music to take you over. Next time.

-VN

[via Metal Injection]

A couple of weeks ago, MetalSucks’ own Nicholas Pell wrote a glowing review of the new Brutal Truth album, End Time, which I hope you all read. But if you didn’t, here’s the short version:

“On End Time, Brutal Truth don’t just regurgitate the same shit I’ve heard a zillion times since I first gave Anticapital a spin… they bring something refreshing to grindcore — namely, a sharp rock n’ roll edge that makes the genre about as catchy as it’s ever going to get… End Time doesn’t bring grindcore to the next level. On the contrary, it goes back to basics, setting a new standard for grimy, light-speed rock and roll.”

That is a really elegant and beautiful way of discussing what’s so terrific about End Time, and I literally could never have written it any better. And if, for some reason, you were not inclined to give End Time a spin based simply on the fact IT’S A NEW BRUTAL FUCKING TRUTH ALBUM, hopefully Nick’s review made you wanna give it a whirl.

And now’s your chance, ’cause the entire album is streaming at Hails and Horns right this very second. You should listen to it, and you should listen to it now, ’cause if you do, you will not need a drop of caffeine to kick-start your heart this morning. End Time is like eighteen cups of coffee all at once.

Headbang here, then act all jittery n’ shit in our comments section. End Time comes out September 27 on Relapse.

-AR

Devildriver are currently out on their MetalSucks-sponsored North American support run with Arch Enemy, also featuring Skeletonwitch and Chthonic (dates here). Devildriver guitarist Mike Spreitzer — who runs the recently re-launched guitar-centric site AllAxess.com with his DevilDriver axe cohort Jeff Kendrick — has taken some time out of his busy touring schedule to guide MetalSucks gearheads through a rundown of his live rig. Here’s Mike:

Click to read more…

Congrats to the reader Rik Mayer and Maddie Rose. They correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Fine China Superbone, and for their troubles, they each win a copy of the new reissue of Cephalic Carnage’s 2002 release, Lucid Interval. Crank that shit, guys!

This week, we have another awesome prize to give away – five CDs from the MetalSucks Mansion Archives. I can’t tell you what they are, but I can tell you that the winner will be one happy mofo.

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

Thanks to Melissa Stern for suggesting this week’s logo…

-AR