Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 1:20pm by Axl Rosenberg
Speaking of there being no God, guitarist Greg Tribbett — one of two members of Mudvayne who is also in Hellyeah (the other being vocalist Chad Gray, duh) — sent out the below tweet yesterday, instantly breaking the heart of anyone who hates mediocre corporate rawk:
This probably isn’t a shock to anyone, given that Mudvayne have already been on unofficial hiatus since 2009. Still, the knowledge that we’ll have to put up with Hellyeah through at least 2013 is, frankly, enough to make me hope the Mayans were right, and the world is gonna end sometime next year. In fact, I think “The ongoing success of Hellyeah” was one of the things they said would be a sign of the end times, wasn’t it?
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 12:40pm by Vic Vaughn
There are only four relevant releases this week, the signal that we’re entering the winter new release slump. 2011 has been a great year for releases, so this is fine by me. Check it out after the jump.
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 12:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
Martua — the totally excellent grindcore outfit known to idiots everywhere as “that band the drummer from Trivium used to be in” — have decided to call it a day. They’ll play their final show on Sunday, December 4, at at Churchills in Miami, Florida, which blows, because the chances of me getting down to Miami for a Sunday to say my farewells are slim to none.
Oh well. Here’s a statement from sole remaining original member Mitchell Luna, which was originally released to Lambgoat:
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011 at 11:20am by Axl Rosenberg
I have finally reached the point where I can’t even muster outrage or disappointment over Zakk Wylde’s career choices. Twenty years ago, I probably would have lept from an airplane without a ‘chute if the dude had asked me to. Ten years ago, if he had announced that he was doing a guest spot on, say, a new Dope record, I would have wept hot, burning tears of anger and betrayal. Now, it’s been announced that he’ll contribute a solo to the new EP by Black Veil Brides — a band whose music ranks somewhere in-between anal warts and sensitivity training with Phil Labonte on the list of “Things I Hope to Avoid” — and I can’t even muster a shrug. Like, I tried to shrug, and my shoulder muscles were all, “Dude, don’t even waste the energy.” And so here I sit, shrugless.
I’m gonna put about as much effort into this intro as McNulty does into not drinking.
Today’s first video comes from Anubis Gate, whose self-titled album released earlier this year rocks my world like my world hasn’t been rocked Queensryche started sucking. This video doesn’t so much rock my world, though; the off-center shots of the band members playing their instruments are kinda cool (it’s a novel idea), but I could do entirely without the shots of the singer scribbling the lyrics down on a piece of paper. It’s kinda like a lyric video, but not… and the whole angsty writing-the-lyrics-down-on-a-pad thing has been done almost as much as the band-in-a-warehouse thing. And all of a sudden there’s a party in the basement towards the end? Zuh? Narrative much? “Golden Days” is kind of an obvious choice for a single too, which I’ve got a problem with, because it doesn’t represent the generally heavier album well at all. Oh well; their loss.
Happy happy joy joy! Earlier this year, Periphery revealed that they were working on not one but TWO new albums for release in 2012, and now the band has revealed via a press release that the recording sessions for the first album, tentatively titled Juggernaut, have begun. Will they be working on the second new album at the same time, will that come later, or has the idea of releasing two at once been ditched? We really don’t know, but we do have this to offer from guitarist Jake Bowen:
We’ve got a ton of new songs ready that we can’t wait for you guys to hear. We’ll spend the winter in the studio with Taylor Larson (our good friend Nolly Getgood is co-producing with Misha Mansoor). We’ve decided to go a new direction with our music and we’re calling this new genre DjentSlam! JUST KIDDING! Get stoked!
DjentSlam aside, we expect big things from Periphery in 2012. Periphery are pretty much single-handedly responsible for the explosion of djent, so it’ll be interesting to see whether they take things in a new direction, ala Animals as Leaders’ second album, or they’re content to repeat the status quo and ride the wave. Fun times await. Watch the first of what promises to be many studio updates above.
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 5:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
photos by Gabrielle Duplantier
November 12, 2011. I’m in Long Island City, heading towards Spin Recording Studios, where the mighty Gojira have recently begun recording their new album with producer Josh Wilbur. It’s a big deal because a) it’s Gojira’s first album in more than three years, b) the band has just announced that they’ve signed with Roadrunner Records, and c) Gojira fucking rules, and I’m a massive, massive fan.
I’m still a good block-and-a-half away when I hear it. It’s so incredibly LOUD and metallic, it almost sounds like machine gun fire — but it’s too rhythmic to be a weapon. I decide it must be a street performer, banging on some sheet metal or something… except that I can see the street all around me, and it’s completely deserted. If it is a street performer, he’s very well concealed, and is apparently playing to an audience of no one.
By the time I arrive at the front door of Spin Studios — a large, steel entrance — the sound has become deafening. And as I peek through the small, submarine-like door window, I finally see the source of the sound: it’s Gojira skinsman Mario Duplantier, drumming on the door like the thunder god that he is.
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 4:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
The ink is barely dry on Van Halen’s new record deal with Interscope. So, of course, it’s time to start speculating about the actual contents of the band’s new record, which will be their first with David Lee Roth in almost three decades, and their first with Fatty Ding Dongs Van Halen ever. And who better to speculate than Sammy Hagar, a dude who hasn’t been in the band in six years and hasn’t recorded with them in sixteen?
Hagar has never been shy about discussing his old band (although, in his defense, it’s obviously difficult to be a former member of one the biggest acts in rock history and not get asked about that group on a regular basis), and in a new interview with Rolling Stone, the current Chickenfoot singer reveals that while the new Van Halen album will contain material none of us have heard before, that doesn’t mean it’s actually new:
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 4:00pm by MetalSucks
The “Stop Online Piracy Act,” currently working its way through the U.S. Congress, would shut down the Internet as we know it. Don’t believe the misleading title; this bill wouldn’t just stop piracy… it would stop the Internet.
Here’s what the Washington Post wrote about it last week, via Demand Progress:
Imagine a country where the government is able to shut down Web sites at the slightest provocation, where elected representatives invoke fears of “overseas pirates” to defend the interests of domestic industries, and where Internet companies like Google must cave in to the demands of government censors or risk being shut down.
No, we are not talking about China, North Korea or Iran — we are talking about the United States, where legislators in both the House and Senate are attempting to push through new anti-piracy legislation by year-end that would benefit Hollywood at the expense of Silicon Valley.
… The legislation is a ham-handed effort to shut down Internet piracy anywhere on the Web, but it confuses “piracy protection” and “censorship.” The bill also showcases a failure on the part of lawmakers to understand how the Internet works.
This is not being blown out of proportion; this is the truth. Sites like YouTube will be forced to go to unreasonably great length to police users’ contributions, and search engines like Google will have to drastically re-work their architecture to censor certain search results from appearing. A site like MetalSucks could be pulled down if a commenter decides to link to something we don’t have the rights to post, as innocuous as an album cover; it would be that easy. This bill would completely stifle innovation on the Internet, and would hamper the spread of innovation.
Yet the Stop Online Piracy Act and affiliated Protect IP Act actually stand a chance of passing through Congress. Send a letter to your local congressman by filling out the form here, which takes all of 15 seconds, telling them you oppose this legislation.
The year may be winding down but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still a few new releases coming our way. With new releases come streams, and today we’ve got three excellent ones for you: Vektor, Dirk Verbeuren’s Bent Sea, and The Fallen Divine.
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 2:40pm by Axl Rosenberg
I don’t know if this applies in other parts of the world, but here in ‘Merica, there’s a bizarrely large market for 80′s hair metal cover bands. The most pathetic ones are “tribute bands” that focus on one particular group (e.g., the “tribute band” Mr. Brownstone plays all GN’R songs) and whose members actually dress up like/pretend to be the original members of the band in question; somewhat less irritating are the ones that are basically bar bands that get up and just play a ton of covers by a ton of different artists. Winters Mistress, as far as I can tell, fall into the latter category.
Or, I guess I should say, fell into the latter category. Because, as demonstrated in the highly entertaining video below, the band broke-up. In the middle of a show.
Best parts about this:
The guitar player declaring “I’m going solo”… as though anyone gives a shit.
The vocalist attempting to continue the song without the rest of the band.
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 2:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
I caught the Mastodon/Dillinger Escape Plan/Red Fang tour when it stopped here in New York this past Saturday night, and, yeah the show all-around killed. But one of the undeniable highlights of the evening came just as DEP segued into the slower, more epic second half of “Sunshine the Werewolf” — ’cause that’s when I heard vocalist Greg Puciato call out, “Dimitri!” Which, natch, meant it was time for former DEP front man/current Argonauts vocalist Dimitri Minakakis to join his old band on stage.
And not only did Minakakis scream along with Puciato for “Werewolf,” but, of course, he also stuck around for the band’s final song of the evening, “43% Burnt.” Check out fan-filmed footage of the event below, starting at the 5:41 mark.
Random thought of the moment: Argonauts should tour with Dillinger. Someone make that happen, okay?
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 1:20pm by MetalSucks
Coalesce are not your average band, and Give Them Rope, the new re-release of the band’s groundbreaking 1997 debut full-length, isn’t your average reissue. Because not only does it feature the original album repackaged and remastered, and not only does it feature extensive liner notes from guitarist Jes Steineger — but it also features a second disc with 2004′s completely re-mixed and re-jiggered version of the release. That’s right: there are TWO versions of Give Them Rope included with this reissue. Pretty frickin’ sweet if you ask us.
MetalSucks is proud to be debuting the complete Give Them Rope reissue — yep, BOTH versions of the record — in advance of its release via Relapse tomorrow, November 22. You can stream it below, then go here to order yourself a copy. ‘Cause let’s be real: you NEED to own this.
And now, enjoy not one but two versions of the Coalesce classic Give Them Rope…
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 12:40pm by Axl Rosenberg
As I Lay Dying have released a new, P.R. Brown-directed video for their cover of Judas Priest’s “Electric Eye,” and while the special effects are undeniably cheesy, I still enjoyed the clip quite a bit. Why? ‘Cause it takes place in a world where, following the breakdown of their van, a road-crew-free AILD opt to carry their equipment through the desert, where they are attacked by a giant scorpion, at which point Jordan Mancino begins to play drums on the monster’s exoskeleton. My point being that the shoddy effects work adds to the charm of the thing — y’know, like the giant ants in Them!, or Sarah Jessica Parker passing for a human and not a horse in anything.
The video isn’t embeddable right now, so click here to see it. ”Electric Eye” appears on Decas, As I Lay Dying’s tenth anniversary celebration, which is out now via Metal Blade.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member but you’re not in any particular rush to receive that new DVD you just ordered, you can be rewarded for your patience in the form a $1 credit on Amazon’s MP3 store. Just select “FREE No-Rush Shipping” when you check out; you’ll receive your item in 5-7 days and you’ll get a $1 credit in the MP3 store when your item ships.
The credits must be redeemed by January 31, 2012, but from what I can tell there’s no limit to how many free $1 music credits you can accrue. So get your holiday shopping done early before there’s a need for rush shipping, then reap the benefits of plenty of free music for yourself, you Scrooge.
All of today’s featured unsigned bands share a commonality: they’re all influenced by classic death metal in some way, but don’t play by-the-numbers death metal by any stretch. All three of them take their influences and build upon them with other styles of metal, both new and old. Let’s take a look at new music by Descension Rate, Unbodied, and Last Transgression.
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 10:40am by Axl Rosenberg
One of the bonus tracks on Rihanna’s new album, Talk That Talk, utilizes the riff from Metallica’s “Wherever I May Roam,” and while that album doesn’t come out until Tuesday, this is the 21st century, so it’s already on YouTube, and you can listen now. Only a little bit of the ‘Tallica tune is in the song, and, as Metal Insider notes, it’s still, like, a gajmillion times better than that shit Metallica did with Ja Rule and Swizz Beatz… but then again, so is cancer, so whatever I guess.
But I think it’s worth noting that between this and her association with Slash and Nuno Bettencourt, Rihanna is definitely 23 years old, as she claims. Y’know, in case anyone was worried that she was lying.
Monday, November 21st, 2011 at 10:00am by Axl Rosenberg
In case both my headline and the above video are somehow confusing to you: yes, during this past Saturday night’s stop on his current solo tour, Corey Taylor did indeed reveal that Slipknot will be touring the U.S. this summer, and he did say that “there will be another Slipknot album,” although “we’ve still got a couple of years before” said album gets made.
I recently posted this message on my Facebook page, but most of my followers there are of the true crime persuasion. I’d love to hear from you Metal Suckahs as y’all are the ones any books about metalheads are going to be geared towards.
*******************
Yeah, yeah, I know, I know. I said I’d be in my cave finishing up my newest true crime book, TEACH ME TO KILL, but I already need a brain break.
As many of you know, I am branching out of true crime (don’t worry, I will always write TC books!) and into music autobiographies. My first book I will be helping out with is the autobiography of former Pantera lead singer/current DOWN singer Philip H. Anselmo and his incredible story.
I’m looking at the long-term picture here and hope to continue writing books about (and hopefully with) some of my favorite musical artists in the worlds of rock, rap, and heavy metal.
Please feel free to vote for one or more of the following artists whom you’d like to see me write a book alongside. Also, please add any artists I might have missed that you think I could do a good job with his or her book.
As of late, I have been revisiting my love affair with the sublime tunage of St. Louis’ Riddle of Steel (RIP).
This power trio wrote fantastic, inspirational, feel-good yet edgy songs that each told their own unique melodic story, and it’s continually a pleasure to re-spin both of the two albums I have of theirs. (UPDATE: just found out that there’s a 3rd full-length and an earlier EP as well, and I peed my pants a lil….Wingerschmidt Jr. got excited!) Sounds vaguely like a heavier Trans Am meets Zeppelin meets The Police, but I’m hesitant to compare them to anything too much cuz the music is so nicely original and quality in its own right. Not to get bromantic or nuthin but I’m pretty sure RoS played at one of the first shows I ever went to with Vince Neilstein, at Lit Lounge right here in NYfC… Awwww :)
Sadly the band broke up in 2009, but their rockin, earnest singer/guitarist Andrew Elstner now plays in Torche and Tilts, drummer Rob Smith plays with Traindodge, Life & Times, Roma 79 and Bitch Wizard, and excellent bassist/vocalist Jimmy Vavak is busy being a dad (which also rocks). These guys are surely missed by many, what stellar hooky songwriters…
I couldn’t find any tracks on YouTube from their first full-length Python (my fave, it super kills), so you guys are just gonna have to buy that one, and it’s sooooo worth it. That record features old drummer Dave Turncrantz, who shortly thereafter starting playing with Russian Circles. Plenty more Riddle of Steel tunes on YouTube and TheirOldSpace. Love love love this band!
