I wasn’t familiar with Down I Go before MS tipster Fuzzy Dunlop’s email landed in my inbox last week, but they’re a band I won’t soon forget: not only is the video for “Poseidon,” above, one of the most original and creative videos I’ve seen all year (done on the cheap, no less), but the song is unstoppably catchy despite its angular dissonance. That chorus riff was stuck in my head for days after watching the video just once.
Based solely on this video, I’m officially stoked for Down I Go’s new album Gods, which will be released by shelsmusic on November 7th. Pre-order it here.
Monday, October 17th, 2011 at 1:00pm by Gary Suarez
Southern Lord‘s entry a couple years back into the hardcore arena may have puzzled some–myself included–but by now nobody can dispute that the label has put out some pretty nasty shit. 2011 releases from All Pigs Must Die, Balaclava, Dead In The Dirt, Sarabante, and Xibalba all-but change the face of a label that rose to prominence with a black metal and post-metal/drone discography. Hell, I’m certainly not complaining about this transition. Why should A389 have all the misanthropic fun?!
I’m pretty excited to give you guys an exclusive preview from Heartless, a Pittsburgh act that will put out its full-length debut on Southern Lord next month. Streaming below, “Late” will bring a devious smile to the faces of those enamored with Nails, Hatewaves, and other such acts. Pre-order this bad boy here. Next month, Heartless will head out on tour with like-minded A389 types Full Of Hell. Those dates are after the jump.
Monday, October 17th, 2011 at 12:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
Every day I go to my local corner store, and every day the Satanic Hispanics who sell flowers there are rocking DM gear, and I am often rocking similar gear, and so every day they give me a little nod, and I give them a little nod, and of course we’re social awkward betas who don’t even speak the same first language so we never actually communicate beyond that. But, based on their choice of shirts and hoodies, it’s clear that Krisiun is one of their favorite bands, and I should try to work up the nerve to ask them if they wanna write about Krisiun for us, ’cause a) the opinion of a Flower Dude is as good as any, and b) I am no Krisiun expert despite the fact that the band has been a staple in death metal for more than fifteen years now.
While I see if I can make that happen, you should know that someone who does know a heckuva lot more about this Brazilian trio than I do assures me that their new album, The Great Execution, is their best yet. And I know Vince enjoyed “The Will to Potency,” the new song from that album that they released last month. And I’m certainly digging “Rise and Confront,” the latest Execution track to be unveiled, which is now streaming on the band’s Facebook page. You don’t even have to “like” Krisiun to listen to it, so you should at least listen to it.
The Great Execution comes out November 1 on Century Media. I will see about having the Flower Dudes do a review for us.
I only heard Funeral For A Friend’s music cuz years ago some wise-guy listening station tricked me into granting an audience to their fancy debut album. I screwed up cuz my attention was devoted to picking gross hairs off these gnarly public headphones and to unkinking their fucked-up cord, and I thought I’d pressed the button to start the first album by prog-death awesomes Sikth. I stood there, FFAF started playing and I was all confused, thinking, “Wow, Sikth is way whinier than I expected.” Anyway, long story short, I discovered and corrected my error, rocked out to Sikth, and duh a week later slunk back to the record store to get the FFAF.
That was freaking 2003. I’ve stuck with them through a few years and a few albums whose target audience is way pussier than me. But this just in: This year Fh-Faff did a heavy record! Of course these are relative terms, but it’s heavy for them, and heavier than their heaviest, whose producer was Colin Richardson (Carcass). And they seem super-focused cuz for only the second time, a FFAF album has enough great songs to justify its existence; albums three through five (six?) were softer than lotion. Now the band sounds maybe like late Bad Religion via Gothenberg. Super memorable everything. There’s even a good guitar solo.
The best part is except for its pity hipster title and the song that shares it, 2011′s Welcome Home Armageddon basically represents my wish for tomorrow’s radio metal: ultra catchy but reverent and deftly heavy, not too sugary or bratty, instrumental passages/riff lengths appropriate to contemporary attention spans, crisp, and no grunting or baby screams. And absolutely, positively no sweaty muscles. Srs dear reader, go up there and click on that video, it’s slick! I mean, I get it if a metal dude wouldn’t want to support these relative cupcakes, but hey, just think if bands of this approximate style/quality got big and swept away the Nickelback-type douche stuff! I dream :)
-ADF
Funeral For A Friend’s Welcome Home Armageddon is the jam and you can buy it here. Or don’t, but for your future, click here.
Ne Obliviscaris have a really cool sound; they’re kind of like a black metal-tinged Opeth, but faster and heavier… and with violin. Their detailed, deliberate and classically-informed approach to songwriting certainly reminds me of Opeth, while the actual music, the notes being played, reminds me of… Ne Obliviscaris. They’re unique.
Monday, October 17th, 2011 at 11:00am by Axl Rosenberg
photo by Scott Irvine
Admittedly, I am not the resident doom expert at MetalSucks, but for my money, the genre is not having a terrific year. To wit: I have heard two doom releases which really knocked my beard off: Rwake’s Rest, and Batillus’ Furnace (my review here). I’ve spoken plenty about the former in the past few weeks, but it’s been a minute since I’ve had a good excuse to praise the latter; but now Batiullus have announced a new tour, so I get to come here and tell you once again CHECK THIS BAND OUT.
‘Cause not only is Furnace a fucking heavy, heavy, evil, evil, scary goddamn record, but this band is really a sight to behold in a live setting. My balls quiver with fear just thinking about it, y’know? And most of these tour dates feature at least one other super-awesome band — including The Atlas Moth, Kowloon Walled City, and Yakuza — so the likelihood that they’re going to be fun is, like, 99.9%. Seriously, don’t miss these dates.
Forget for a minute that Tom Morello is a very famous musician, and put aside your views on whether or not musicians should use their music as a platform to express political views. Now watch and listen to this interview with Tom Morello at the Occupy Wall Street protests — where he serenaded protestors last week — and as you’re doing so think of him of just one of 300-some-odd million U.S. citizens with an opinion to express, just like everyone else:
I don’t care who the guy in the above video is; his are some of the most well-articulated, smart, and reasoned opinions of the whole “Occupy” campaign I’ve encountered to date. Best of all, Morello does a great job of framing the issue not as Republican vs. Democrat — because it’s really not a partisaned issue at all — but as regular people vs. the entire government/corporation complex, regardless of party lines. Sure, Morello’s history leans very far left, but the “Occupy” movement is gaining steam precisely because it doesn’t recognize political affiliation. Tea Partiers should really be able to back its message too. Sure, certain groups are trying to co-opt the message, but Morello addresses that issue in the above interview too.
Now feel free to once again remember how famous Tom Morello is, how many people he can influence, that the guy’s a pretty fantastic musician and, oh yeah, has a degree in Political Science from Harvard. I’d say this is fairly important, wouldn’t you?
Endgame was sweet. United Abominations was sweet. Even The System Has Failed had some really good songs (although it had some duds too). No, MegaDave’s not breaking new ground or upping the ante, but when you’ve been doing it for 30 years already that’s not really expected. Sick riffs and decent songs are enough for me, and the last few albums have had tons of ‘em. For fuck’s sake, people en masse give Slayer a pass and they’ve written the same album ad nauseam forever.
But nothing involving Megadeth comes without controversy. Axl and I have both really been digging the first and second songs to be released from Megadeth’s admittedly embarrassingly titled TH1RT3EN, but the comments I’ve been seeing from you all on MS have been full of venom. “That main riff is suspiciously similar to ‘Hanger 18′.” “This track sounds like a leftover from Cryptic Writings- modern rock radio garbage.” “You gotta be trolling saying this is a good song.” “The lyrics sound like it was a bands first attempt at lyrics.” And on and on and on, with tons of negative comment “Likes” to boot. Can’t we all just get along?? Why can’t we just headbang together? Why’s everything gotta reinvent the wheel??? No wonder Dave Mustaine’s so f’ed up… dude’s been a lightning rod for most of his life.
A third song from wE SP4Ll lIkE 12-yEaR oLDs in Ao-HeLL-ChAtRoOmS-CiRCa-1994 premiered on Full Metal Jackie’s radio show last night; its subject matter is coincidental given my rant above. I liked the first two songs from the album more than this one, but it sure ain’t bad at all — lotsa sick Megadethy riffs. Have a spin below, then sound off in the comments:
Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 5:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
Friendly reminder: as of RIGHT THIS SECOND, the legendary Richard Christy from Death, Iced Earth, Control Denied, and, oh yeah, The Howard Stern Show, is at the MetalSucks/Vertebrae 33 booth at New York Comic Con signing copies of Charred Walls of the Damned‘s ridiculously rocking new album, Cold Winds on Timeless Days, which is out NOW on Metal Blade Records. He’ll be there ’til 7 pm, so there’s still time for you to hop on a bus, subway, or in a cab and get your ass down there — we’re booth #2625. Myself and/or Vince are also there now, and will be there tomorrow and Sunday, too, and we may have some other special guests in store for you yet. So come on by, pick up some free swag courtesy of Indie Merch and Metal Blade, hang out, whatever. It’ll be a blast! Get all the details here.
Dude I Know: Hey man, do you have a sec? I need to figure out which amp to get.
Me: Sure, what’s up?
Dude I know: My band is about to go out on our first tour in a couple of months and I need to get a guitar amp that’s going to hold up and sound great.
Me: Yeah, that’s pretty important. What do you have in mind? What’s your price range?
Dude I know: Price range is 800 – 1200 bucks. I really want to invest in something good. I’ve seen these amps on eBay…
[He proceeds to send me a link]
Me: Well, I’ve used all of those on tour and in the studio. Amp 1 sounds great but it’s really finicky. I’d never take it on the road. Even in the studio there’s no guarantee it’ll last the session. Amp 2 sounds decent and I’ve bought a few for my band. They all lasted roughly the same amount of time then died. Amp 3 is your best bet. Never died on the road, always sounds great.
Dude I Know: My favorite guitar player uses Amp 1.
Ahhh, it’s that time of year again. The now infamous Hottest Chicks in Metal — er, Hard Rock – issue has hit the stands, and legions of people who would otherwise be hard-pressed to remember the last time they even read an issue of Revolver are up in arms over its sexist, dehumanizing, and overall mad weak (Evanescence? Really?) content. In all the uproar, judgements, and debate about womens’ place within the world of heavy metal, though, it seems like a lot of people have forgotten the most important point: the women who are actually out there in the trenches laying down riffs, holding down the low end, wrangling the mic, and hailing Satan. In the interest of steering the conversation back towards the actual music, my next few posts are going to highlight some of the baddest bitches in the game — in doom, in black metal, in death metal, in occult rock, in grind, etc. There are so many crucial female bands and musicians who have made indelible marks upon this genre that it’d take a lot more than the sliver of time your attentions spans allow for me to write about ‘em all, so here are just a few of my favorites. This week, it’s all about the heavy…
Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 3:30pm by MetalSucks
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 Chris Letchford of Scale the Summit, whose most recent album, The Collective, was released earlier this year on Prosthetic Records.
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!!!
For a while I’ve been trying to pitch an interview to former Ozzy guitarist Jake E. Lee. Of course, I want to ask him about replacing Randy Rhoads for Bark At The Moon (yay!) and The Ultimate Sin (okay!) albums. And I’ve heard that he’s assembling a new band, so we’d discuss that, too. But mostly, I plan to break my wrist from petting Lee’s ballz about Badlands, his post-Ozzy heavy rock band. Well, wait, I mean, my wrist would break from petting them so thoroughly, not from using great force to pet them. I don’t want Jake to fear for his ballz here.
Ahem But it’s not just that Badlands was awesome, but interesting too. Their debut album, which I’ve privately retitled Bonerlands, convenes a creative team of super-stud Lee (fresh from parting with Ozzy), Ray Gillen (short-term singer for late Black Sabbath and early Blue Murder, total stud), drummer Eric Singer (now of Kiss, then going big like an Appice), and producer Paul O’Neill (the mind behind Trans Siberian sn’Orchestra, Savatage’s Streets: A Rock Opera). Weird team, right? It’s unclear how much Lee would ever discuss with me, cuz Badlands ended pretty acrimoniously (onstage arguments) and then sadly (Gillen’s fatal illness). But for now, let’s click play on “Devil’s Stomp” (above) and you’re jamming! Jake call me!
If you go to metal shows in or around New York City you’ve definitely seen Munsey Ricci, founder and president of Skateboard Marketing. The man’s been a fixture in the metal scene in New York for over two decades, first at record labels and then, for the past 20 years, as one of the most well-known and well-established indie radio promoters in the biz. To celebrate Skateboard Marketing’s 20th anniversary — an impressive accomplishment in any business let alone the grueling and unforgiving music industry — we caught up with Munsey to talk about the role of radio promotion in today’s scene, what it takes to keep a company going for so long, and the state of the industry.
Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month isDecibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…
Goatwhore’s Carving Out the Eyes of God settled in at #27 on our Top 40 Albums of 2009 list, and in the accompanying write-up, Liz Brenner enthused that the blackened-death clusterfuck was the sort of “neck-bulging, fist-extending sort of heavy that makes it hard to breathe freely or form sentences that don’t start with ‘fucking.’” I know we tend to get hyperbolic about NOLA sludge at dB, but… hold on, let’s get to a period. Fucking a. (You go, Liz.)
It’s so cool and gratifying when a solid, hard-working veteran band starts lurching towards greatness—unless you have your shit together from note one of song one on album one, evolution and development are pretty great things—and now we’re all psyched about album numero cinco, due in 2012. This month’s installment in the dB Flexi Series isn’t a sneak preview per se, but it’s the first piece of new music you’ve heard from Goatwhore in a long time—a cover of Motörhead’s self-explanatory and totally correct “(Don’t Need) Religion,” off 1982’s Iron Fist. The gents banged out the cover during sessions for the as-yet-untitled new Metal Blade LP, and you can stream it right here in advance of the hard copy, which will—as always—be available to subscribers only in the December Decibel.
The December 2011 issue of Decibel also features Megadeth, Municipal Waste, Animals as Leaders, Absu, and Russian Circles,and can be ordered here. But why not justget a full subscription to ensure that you never miss one of these awesome flexi discs?
In a perfect world all the bands I feature in these Unsigned and Unholy columns would have legions of fans supporting them, appear on worldwide tours and rake in bucketloads of cash from their music. Unfortunately our world isn’t perfect, but I do what I can to get the word out and hope that all of these excellent bands continue making music despite a market that’s incredibly over-saturated with mediocrity (even amongst signed bands). This week we look at new music from Blue Ox, The Fallen Divine and Damascus.
Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 1:00pm by MetalSucks
Few musicians will ever leave as lasting a legacy in the metal world as the late, great Chuck Schuldiner, whose singular vision manifested itself in the form of Death, a project which truly helped create and shape death metal for all time. On October 25, Relapse Records will celebrate this this legendary institution with a reissue of Individual Thought Patterns, the band’s fifth studio album, now newly remixed by Death mastering engineer Alan Douches, remastered, repackaged, and featuring tons of newly unearthed and previously unreleased demo and live tracks. This version of Individual Thought Patterns is an absolute must-own not just for fans not just of of Schuldiner and Death, but of metal in general.
Amongst the plethora of awesome bonus materials included on the new reissue is an entire live set that Death — then consisting of Schuldiner, drummer Gene Hoglan, bassist Steve DiGiorgio, and guitarist Craig Locicero — performed in Germany on April 13, 1993. MetalSucks can’t even find the words to express how proud we are to be debuting the first song from that set, the classic “Leprosy” which you can check out below. Play it loud, play it proud, and then pre-order the Individual Thought Patterns reissue right here.
Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 12:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
In case you somehow forgot, the totally kick-ass MetalSucks/ Metal Injection/1000 KnivesCMJ Music Marathon showcase at the always-fun Club Europa in Brooklyn will take place one week from tonight, on Friday, October 21. It’s being co-headlined by Kvelertak and Skeletonwitch, a duo whose presence should be more than enough to get you to buy a ticket, but there’s also three young, up-and-coming bands on the bill that are totally worth your time: Barn Burner, Battlecross, and Turbid North.
And in case you don’t believe us when we promise you that those bands may very well comprise a large portion of metal’s future, well, you should check out this awesome Turbid North live footage which recently popped up online. It’s so good it made me aroused and now I need to call my shrink and have some serious discussions about my sexuality.
Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 12:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
Sometimes I tell people I like Lacuna Coil and they look at me all cock-eyed, and then I have no choice but to look back at them all cock-eyed, ’cause, well, why the crap WOULDN’T you like Lacuna Coil? I remember the first time I ever heard of ‘em — I saw them open for Anthrax on the We’ve Come For You All tour in 2003 — and as soon as they were done, a WHOLE LOTTA PEOPLE, this blogger included, ran over to their merch booth and bought their then-newest release, Comalies. They were that kinda good. And what won us all over that evening? Yeah, the fact that Cristina Scabbia is hot probably didn’t hurt, but Eyes Set to Kill has twice as many attractive women in their band, and I ain’t never bought one of their records. The difference is that Lacuna Coil write songs which, although perhaps not the heaviest tunes ever composed, are as catchy as that shit in Contagion.
And the band’s new single, “Trip the Darkness,” ain’t no exception. A lotta bands that veer towards the poppier side of metal seem to run out of steam fairly quickly, but this is as fun a song as I’ve ever heard the band release. So if you’re in the mood for something that maybe doesn’t have a million notes a second but you will actually remember and have stuck in your head a few hours from now, head over their Facebook page to stream it now.
“Trip the Darkness” will appear on Lacuna Coil’s new album, Dark Adrenaline, which comes out January 24 on Century Media, and probably has a bunch of other references to the dark, too.
Friday, October 14th, 2011 at 11:30am by Axl Rosenberg
Earlier this week, it was announced that Every Time I Die had parted ways with bassist Josh Newton. Which, of course, raised a few questions, such as, “Who is the new bass player in Every Time I Die?”, “Is Newton still in The Damned Things despite the presence of now-former-ETID bandmate Keith Buckley?”, and “Does anyone have a Fig Newton for me? I suddenly have a really strong craving for Fig Newtons.”
Well, now at least two of those questions have been answered.
photo by Scott Irvine
