Must… listen… to… everything… to… find… the… diamonds… in… the… rough! It’s exhausting but ultimately worth it. These unsigned bands made me raise an eyebrow recently:

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Axl Rose fell down while performing “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” at a recent Mexico City concert. And that might funny in and of itself — I mean, who doesn’t love scadenfreude? — but what makes it absolutely hysterical is that Rose was not running or even doing anything especially physical at the time of the fall. He simply walked up to the lip of the stage, attempted to rest his foot on a monitor (or something) as he started singing, and just completely missed the target, consequently flailing his arms around and making old man noises before hitting the ground. At which point Bumblefoot, ever the loyal employee, stopped playing, looked kinda confused for a second, and then finally offered to help Rose up. (Rose declined; he also refused help from a stage hand.)

And while I’m totally speculating here, I’m guessing Bumblefoot’s hesitation was spurred by the following thought process: “If I don’t help him up he’ll yell at me for being an insensitive dick, and if I do help him up, he’ll yell at me for making him look weak in front of his fans… plus I’ll violate his ‘no physical contact’ rule, and that could mean the end of the tour. I’d better just lead the audience in an applause whenever he gets back up.”

Kudos to Rose for waiting until he was off-stage, out of the sight of cameras, to call someone a fucking idiot for allowing this to happen.

-AR

[via Bring Back Glam!]

The headline says it all. You can stream Lulu, Metallica’s new collaboration with Lou Reed, right now, right here.

Give it a listen, then come back here for what will surely be the most fun debate of the year: Is Lulu terrible, or really, really terrible?

The MetalSucks staff will weigh in with its thoughts before the album’s official release on November 1. Until then, you have the floor, dear readers.

Given the unprecedented amount of bands that are getting their starts via the Internet these days, it’s somewhat remarkable that any of them manage to make a name for themselves. Animals as Leaders, Periphery, Cloudkicker, and a fair number of similar projects have been getting the majority of the recent buzz, but Threat Signal were among the first to put music online and get a record deal from it.

All the way back in 2004, Jon Howard, Rich Howard, Kyle McKnight, and Adam Matthews wrote and posted the song “Rational Eyes” on GarageBand.com, leading to the eventual formation of a permanent band and the 2005 release of Under Reprisal. In 2009 they released the album Vigilance, which was received rather poorly.

The band is back with a self-titled new release that blends the brutality of their first release with the much-criticized and (now much-improved) melodic tendencies of Vigilance. I talked with extremely stoked vocalist Jon Howard last week about everything from the TS writing process to the band’s recent lineup changes and the state of the current metal scene.

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News flash: radio rock still sells. While most readers of this site will probably be disappointed to see the HUGE numbers sold by this week’s #1 and #2 Current Hard Music chart-toppers, there’s better news elsewhere in the form of debuts from Skeletonwitch, Charred Walls of the Damned and a ton of other bands you see listed down below in the “tags” field. Click through to learn more.

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Contest time!

The folks at F.Y.E. are having a big ol’ Sale O’ Metal in hundreds of stores nationwide in which they’re offering a select group of metal titles for the low, low price of only $7.99 each throughout the month of October. The latest records from Anthrax, Between the Buried and Me, Holy Grail and Obscura are just a few of the many titles up for sale; get the full list of albums, as well as participating F.Y.E. stores, here.

FYE has given MetalSucks a package of 11 of those CDs to give away to one of you lucky readers. All you have to do to win is leave a comment below telling us which of the albums listed here is your favorite, and why. Remember, this isn’t the writing portion of your SAT exam… so make it fun. We’ll choose our favorite entry at the end of October and contact them by email, so be sure to use a real email address while commenting. Good luck!

The Inaugural Metal Suckfest is almost here!!!! Twenty bands will DESTROY The Gramercy Theatre on November 4 and 5, PLUS there’s an awesome, five-band pre-party at the venue the night before, making this THE can’t-miss hang of the year.

Tickets are on sale now right here, and you can hit up the fest’s official website for more info on the shows, including the complete line-up. In the meantime, we’re counting down to this weekend of chaos and debauchery by speaking to one member from each band on the bill. We continue today with legendary guitarist Billy Riker of 3, whose new album, The Ghost You Gave Me, was released on Metal Blade last week.

Read our chat after the jump. And don’t forget to check back in the coming days and weeks for interviews with more of the musicians participating in this awesome event!!!

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The last thing a rock writer wants to do is to over-praise a killer new band, thereby upsetting the gentle balance of listener interest vs. listener expectation. So it’s by summoning every shred of restraint in my being that I don’t froth and foam about awesome Dutch occult-rockers The Devil’s Blood here on MetalSucks every goddamn day, or at least often enough to nauseate even their biggest supporters.

Granted, that self-control of mine is weak enough to allow for persistant drug, sex, and candy addictions, so in the spirit of meeting me halfway, I ask The Devil’s Blood to maybe tone down their blaring awesomeness — just so it’d be easier for me to shut the hell up about them. So far no such luck: In the run-up to their second album’s EU release — details of its US edition coming soon to MetalSucks so sit tight! – The Devil’s Blood has weekly premiered a beautiful and scary “art teaser” clip (above, more after the jump), each with about a minute of new music from the forthcoming album, The Thousandfold Epicentre. Sigh. Thanks for your “cooperation,” The Devil’s Blood.

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If Carbon-Based Anatomy, the new EP from Cynic, is any indication, then the band’s 2008 reunion released, Traced in Air, was just the tip of the sword in terms of what we can expect from their future. While distinctly Cynical, Anatomy doesn’t really feel like anything the group has ever previously released; guitarist/vocalist Paul Masvidal and drummer Sean Reinert sound somehow looser and more free than ever before, like a now-wholly autonomous artistic unit with no one to please but themselves. The results are mind bending and achingly gorgeous, if perhaps too brief to satiate the desires of Cynic devotees clamoring for new material.

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There’s a band MetalSucks readers NEED to get to know: Harpoon.

It sounds cliche, but in the case of these Chicagoans it’s so true; Harpoon don’t fit neatly into any pre-defined metal sub-genre. They’re grindy, but they’re too tight and precise, and their record is too well-produced to really be considered grind. There are harmonic elements of black metal and doom on their forthcoming record Deception Among Birds, but only in trace amounts. They veer towards progressive song structures, but there’s no wankery and too much hardcore influence to be labeled “prog.” They’re a little bit of everything yet wholly nothing. They’re just really, really, really good.

Stream two tracks below via Harpoon’s Bandcamp and Crustcake. Deception Among Birds will be released on October 25th via Seventh Rule and is available for pre-order here.

Harpoon – “Dreadnought” by crustcake

-VN

I don’t watch NCIS: Los Angeles, or the regular NCIS, for that matter, but last week the reader known “The Flying Scotsman” (That’s a silly handle, everyone knows Scottish people can’t fly!) tipped us off that a recent episode of the former show had included a pretty funny bit involving the names of various metal bands. At the time only the full episode was available for streaming, but last night Scott Ian from Anthrax — one of the bands referenced in the scene — tweeted the individual clip. So now that you don’t hafta skim the whole episode to get to the one metal-relevant joke, I thought you might enjoy seeing it.

And if not, well, blow me. I’m trying to keep you guys entertained, you could at least be grateful, dicks.

Funny, no? I think there’s actually a little bit more in the full scene, but you get the idea.

And then I found twenty bucks.

-AR

MetalSucks and Vertebrae 33 descended upon New York Comic Con this past weekend to create the most METAL booth at the entire convention. We passed out loads of free shit courtesy of our friends at Metal Blade, Live Nation, and, of course, ourselves, and wherever there’s free shit at Comic Con there are hordes of people ready to take it from you. We counted dude ponytails to pass the time until we got bored because it was too easy. Charred Walls of the Damned drummer / Howard Stern writer Richard Christy stopped by to sign autographed for a couple of hours, Paul Booth and Metal Injection stopped by to say what’s up, and several loyal MS readers introduced themselves to us. Good times.

But the real fun was in the people-watching; the costumes people trek across town to Javits Center are pretty outrageous. Lots of nerdy dudes and nerdy babes parading around gave us plenty to look at during the convention’s three full days. Check out some photo highlights from the MetalSucks Comic Con booth after the jump.

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Russian Circles’ new album, Empros, is streaming over at Spin right now. It’s the first time I’m hearing the full album, but so far, I’m liking what I hear. The word I’ve used again and again and again to describe this band’s music is “cinematic,” but I really can’t think of a more fitting adjective; every time I hear Russian Circles, it really does sound, to my ears at least, like they’re scoring some never-produced-film. Close your eyes and listen; that movie looks pretty awesome, doesn’t it?

Listen here, then let us know what you think in the comments section below. Empros comes out October 25 via Sargent House.

-AR

Decapitated’s MetalSucks-sponsored Carnival is Forever Tour with Decrepit Birth, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Rings of Saturn hasn’t made it to New York yet, but I’ve heard nothing but good things — not shocking, given the line-up. A reader recently e-mailed me to say that he’d nearly broken his neck in the pit, and I always take near-death experiences as the sign of a good show. So, yeah, you need to go to this.

But in case you were somehow not convinced, you should check Sick Drummer‘s below drum cam footage of Decapitated skinsman Krihm playing the song “Pest” from Decapitated’s recent comeback album/the tour’s namesake/one of the best albums of 2011, Carnival is Forever. ‘Cause rarely is the phrase “Sick Drummer” as appropriate as when applied to Krihm.

I mean that’s so good it’s just silly, right?

Here are remaining dates on the trek:

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(Has nothing to do with Keith Merrow but might share a common goal with him?)

Metal instrumentalist savant Keith Merrow has been teasing his new death metal side-project Demisery for quite awhile now so it’s about damn time he gave us something concrete to listen to. I kid; Keith, like most musicians, probably has a real job and possibly even a family, meaning he’s got little time to devote to pleasing Internet Metal Nerds and owes us absolutely nothing. But “Thralldom,” the first track I’ve heard from the upcoming Demisery effort Hive of Mutation, makes me remember all over again just why I love all of Keith’s work so much in the first place — dude’s insanely fucking talented! “Thralldom” makes the majority of death metal we hear on a daily basis sound not only light in comparison but pedestrian in nature. Keith takes your death metal, rips it up, stomps all over it then shoves it up your ass. “Thralldom” has catchy riffs without losing track of the art of songwriting, and, needless to say (but I gotta say it anyway), flawless execution… and to thank this is just a side project. That’s Gord Olson on the growls; I think my bowels just shifted.

I can’t wait to hear more. Keith tells MetalSucks he hopes to have the record out by year’s end.

-VN

(Click to enlarge Danzig’s bricks.)

Fucking Glenn Danzig, man. The guy has basically become an Internet meme unto himself, a near pop-culture hero.

Did Danzig really clean up his motherfucking bricks, bitch??? Does he actually own cats or is he just fucking with us? Does the man know he’s become a living legend / laughing stock? Did Danzig himself orchestrate this campaign in protest??!

This much we know for certain: Danzig and his motherfucking bricks, bitch, inspired an art installation at Funhouse Detroit, a “fun art” gallery located in the Russell Industrial Center in, duh, Detroit. The installation was built by Erichka Ilich, who offered this description via her blog:

The ["bricks, bitch"] IM conversation above was made into a stencil, and spray painted directly on the wall. On the opposing side of Danzig’s Pile of Bricks, we had the infamous video (cut down, and muted) of Danzig being punched in the face on a continuous loop. Like, four straight hours of Danzig getting punched in the face…over, and over, and over…

A++++++ WDBWA!

I hope some MS readers living in the Detroit area go and see Danzig’s motherfucking bricks, bitch, in person.

-VN

Not Seth Putnam

One mind-blowing aspect of Devin Townsend’s Deconstruction album is its coterie of guest personnel. A who’s-who of pivotal screamers, the list includes that awesome dude from Gojira, legendary super-stud Ihsahn, and extreme metal’s loveliest alto, Tommy Rogers from Between The Buried And Me. And though Townsend rightly rushes to downplay the distraction/sketchy motives of high-profile guest contributions, it’s exciting as shit for metal fans to have those guys — plus studz from Meshuggah, Cynic, and Gwar — all in one place.

Likewise, I super-hail Chino Moreno and his 2005 Team Sleep record, which finds the Deftones frontman enlisting the non-metal voices and pens of Helium’s Mary Timony and Rob Crow of Pinback (above). Each sings awesomely on at least two of the self-titled album’s jamz (e.g. “Our Ride To The Rectory” with Crow here). Just like Townsend’s gang on Deconstruction, Crow’s and Timony’s presence legitimizes the album (ie. busy, inspired aces wouldn’t appear on some hack shit) and helps it to achieve a specialness, like the NBA All-Star game or the time I ate a pizza that a bag of Cheetos had spilled onto (aka Cheetzza©). Best of all, it makes me feel in sync with another human being (Moreno) who happens to ass-worship Timony and Crow and um Moreno. It’s like finally somebody put my needs first when making an album!

Okay here we are at paragraph three, so I bet my editors would like me to deliver on the headline’s promise :) Speaking of Team Sleep MVP Rob Crow, you love the dude cuz he’s awesome (see also: Optiganally Yours’ Exclusively Talentmaker!), and cuz he’s metal (see: his non-serious doom metal project, Goblin Cock), and cuz on his new solo album He Thinks He’s People, he offers an affectionate tribute to Seth Putnam, the recently deceased Anal Cunt mainman and author of history’s best song titles. Check it out and chuckle after the jump!

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It’s all too easy for me to get a bit America-centric with hardcore, given the intense amount of activity and output from bands based on this continent. Fortunately, A389 Recordings keep an open, if depraved, mind, evidenced by their latest signing Unholy Majesty, a UK act that will surely appeal to devotees of the cult imprint. Akin to their countrymen in Rot In Hell, the band make a furious Ringworm-like noise on their 2011 demo (listen here, buddy), which A389 will release as a 7″ in December. I hope they retain the provocative cover art.

Now back to the American scene! Deathwish Inc. have announced that Loma Prieta will put out a twelve-track album with them. Previously, this Bay Area act has been doing it D.I.Y. for the most part, self-releasing a half dozen records since forming in 2005. Hooking up with Deathwish will surely raise their profile in the worldwide hardcore community, and the label’s capitalized on this with two t-shirts just in time for their October tourdates with bands like Ceremony and Griever. No word yet on I.V.‘s release date, but you can check out one of its tracks, “Fly By Night,” here.

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Hats off to reader Wayne Mendel.  He correctly identified last week’s logo as beloning to the band Astral Oath, and for his troubles, he wins five CDs from the MetalSucks Mansion Archives. Enjoy ‘em, Wayne!

This week we have another ridiculously great prize for you cats: two, count ‘em two, copies of Die Miserable, the incredible new album from Canadian grindcore masters Fuck the Facts. I’ve been singing this album’s praises for months now, so hopefully you’re already dying to check it out; I can pretty much guarantee that it’s going on my year-end list in December. It’s really just a beast of a record, and it will make you feel like this. So either get off your ass and order a copy, or enter this contest and keep yer fingers crossed!

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.

We have a great logo this week, courtesy of reader Nikolai Gawin. Thanks, Nik!

-AR

Well, here’s a story which is simultaneously crazy, awesome, and crazy-awesome. From Metal Injection:

“Last Saturday, October 8th, 2011, Cannabis Corpse’s van broke down and they missed their slot on the “Ritual Tour” that night with Black Dahlia Murder and All Shall Perish in Lancaster, PA. Through the band’s Facebook page, they were able to put out the word that the band wouldn’t make it and asked if anyone could help out with a DIY late night gig in the area. Rich ‘Bebo’ Abraham of Richolow Films, a Lancaster based metal music video company got in touch the band and coordinated a show for Cannabis Corpse right down the street from the BDM show to start at midnight. The guys made it to the venue in time to watch BDM and after the show marched with 100 local thrashers to a small venue up the street. A complete rager commenced. Richolow Films caught it all!”

The resulting video is below — and the whackiest part might be, it has more energy and a greater sense of fun that most live videos which weren’t done at the very last minute without any prior planning. Like I said, crazy-awesome.

Cannabis Corpse’s latest, Beneath Grow Lights Thou Shalt Rise, is out now on Tankcrimes.

-AR