Who doesn’t love origin stories? Most people, because they’re usually clunky and slow the story down? Oh. Well, in some cases — or, in few cases — they’re fascinating, shedding light on a character or story you love, if not possibly outshining it altogether. And while Astomatous may not outshine the band some of them would join — nimble-fingered proggy black metal titans/objects of Sammy O’Hagar’s unending and slobbering adoration Krallice — they’re certainly a fascinating look into the past, as well as standing confidently on their own merits. In fact, despite being recorded five years ago — practically ancient in Twitter time — The Beauty of Reason, their sole release thus far (and available via their Bandcamp page), holds up unbelievably well.

Click to read more…

I’m way pumped that Steel Panther’s Balls Out album broke the Top 40 for first-week sales. That is awesome and it brings reality one teeny notch closer to my dream of a Ozzfest-sized mega-glam festival curated by SPanther and friends. In my fantasyworld, the bill would mix glory-era acts that still rip (Cinderella, Kix, Winger), now-dormant underdogs from that time (Junkyard, Dangerous Toys, Love/Hate), super-special events (Ozzy, Zakk, Geezer, and Vinny play all of No Rest For The Wicked; the returns of Badlands, Blue Murder, and Bonham) and most vitally a bunch of great, young glam bands like Crazy Lixx, The Last Vegas, and Crashdiet. This historic fest would hail the genre’s redwoods and fertilize its saplings for tomorrow’s party metal forests. Um yeah. And absolutely, positively no Eddie Trunk LOL.

But for now, the reality is that Sweden’s brightest glam light Crashdiet is in Los Angeles to kick off a run of West Coast dates (info here). Fuckin’ A right they are. The Little Glam Metal Band That Could looks ready to party in hair metal Graceland (above, with beardo), so expect some big-boner performances this week. Let’s consider it dress rehearsal for Steel Panther and MetalSucks’ MEGA-BONER FEST L.A. 2015. See you there!

-ADF

Get awesome Crashdiet tourdates here and records here. 

Yeah, you read that right. Cynic’s entire new EP, Carbon-Based Anatomy, is now streaming in full right here. You should listen to it. As you know from reading my review, it’s awesome. So I’m not even gonna type anything else. Just go listen right now, then indulge in a group hug/yoga stretch in the comments section below.

Season of Mist will release Cynic’s Carbon-Based Anatomy this coming Tuesday, November 15. The band is also currently on tour with 3 and Scale the Summit. Here are dates:

11/11: Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargos
11/13: St Paul, MN @ Station 4
11/15: Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
11/16: Salt Lake City, UT @ The Complex (UT)
11/17: Sparks, NV @ The Alley
11/18: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
11/19: Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
11/22: San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
11/23: Hollywood, CA @ Key Club

-AR

I have honestly never seen That Metal Show, but you’re goddamn right I set my DVR to record it tonight. ‘Cause tonight they’re gonna air the interview they conducted with Axl Rose a couple of weeks ago, and if I’m not mistaken, this is Rose’s first on-camera interview since 2002, and his first in-depth non-email interview since the release of Chinese Democracy three years ago.

“But what do you expect to see, dude?” you’re asking. “Axl is nuts. This won’t be good.”

I agree that Axl is nuts, but that’s precisely WHY I think this will be fun to watch. If the preview clips of the interview which have already been released (below) are any indication, Axl is a) in a good mood, b) paradoxically really upfront (he admits that he felt the pressure to finish Chinese Democracy and make it great, and he seems aware that a portion of his “fans” actually hate him) and not really upfront at all (he still refuses to take the blame for his tardiness), and c) completely paranoid and delusional in the most entertaining way possible (he thinks people see him as a dictator because of a joke Izzy made in an interview back in the 80s, and says he was pressured into touring behind Use Your Illusion). I mean, regardless of what actual, concrete info we actually take away from this interview, there’s no way it’s not gonna be good television.

The interview premieres tonight at 11 PM ET/PT on VH1 Classic, although if you don’t have cable, I assume it will be all over the internet in due time. Meanwhile, like I was sayin’ a second ago, you can check out a bunch of preview clips below and after the jump.

According to Metal Insider, there’s a rumor going around that the mostly-reunited Van Halen have signed a deal with Interscope Records to release their new album. And since Metal Insider is a great website that specializes in being on, y’know, the inside, I am leaning towards believing them that this rumor exists, and may even be not a rumor at all but the actual truth.

Click to read more…

In 2006, Vince and I got on a plane and went to the Download Festival in Donington, England, where we saw, amongst many other things, Metallica play Master of Puppets live in its entirety. And even though Cliff Burton was obviously not available to do the show, and Lars Ulrich’s drumming skills aren’t exactly top-notch anymore, and James Hetfield’s vocals have not leased but actually purchased a summer home on Planet Blows Donkeys, we had a great time. I mean, you kinda just had to have a couple of drinks, close your eyes, and go with it, y’know? ‘Cause why complain when they’re playing an awesome album at the end of a second day in the middle of an awesome fest where you literally have seen and will continue to see literally dozens of awesome bands? So, whatever.

To the best of my knowledge, ‘Tallica never pulled the same schtick with …And Justice for All, but apparently they are going to return to Download this summer to play the Black Album from start to finish. And that’s cool, ’cause it’s pretty much the last decent record they ever made, and it’s not like anyone is gonna pay to see them play Re-Load in its entirety.

Click to read more…

In the absence of new Faith No More (which seemed like it might actually be a thing for a minute earlier this week), Tomahawk has always been my favorite (read: most FNM-like) of Mike Patton’s myriad side projects. If I’m being honest, the Patton-led collabo — which also includes Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison, ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier and ex-Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn — kinda lost my interest with 2007′s Anonymous, a record that lacked gusto and reminded me a very mellow, spiritual version of Bungle. 2003′s Mit Gas is the record that hooked me, but 2001′s self-titled debut is a ripper too (stream it on Spotify here).

So it’s with cautious anticipation that I report that Tomahawk are working on a new album, according to their Facebook page. Hooray! Hopefully it’s more Mit Gas / self-titled and less Anonymous. Presumably we’ll find out in the first half of 2012, and presumably it’ll be issued via Patton’s own label Ipecac.

-VN

Thanks: Mykee Shaffer

If you thought that release of Worship Music meant that Anthrax could finally put all the Dan Nelson drama behind them, well, you thought wrong. The New York Post reports that the former ‘Thrax vocalist is suing the band for a whopping $2.65 million:

Dan Nelson says drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello and guitarist Scott Ian falsely stated in “numerous interviews” that he had “abruptly resigned” after getting sick, forcing a cancelation of a tour.

The $2.65 million suit also alleges that Benante last month told the rock-news site Blabbermouth.net that Nelson “was a bully.”

The Long Island native says his ex-bandmates’ “intentional defamation” has caused him a loss of income and damaged his reputation.

The Manhattan federal court filing further charges that Nelson co-wrote the tunes on the band’s latest album, “Worship Music,” but hasn’t gotten his fair share of the profits.

Click to read more…

Either the editors of Spin magazine don’t know what the word “cheeky” means or otherwise I don’t know what the word “cheeky” means, only I’m like 99.9% sure that I do know what it means. And Revocation’s new video, for the track “No Funeral,” is not “cheeky,” as it was described on Spin‘s website, where it debuted.

It is, however, quite good! It’s a performance video, but it’s really nicely shot; the angles are dynamic, and you can actually see the band doing their thing, which is always a treat given the fact that they’re top-notch players. But, yeah. Not very cheeky at all.

“No Funeral” appears on Revocation’s Chaos of Forms, which is out now on Relapse.

-AR

It’s been a big week for us Gojira worshippers. First, the band announced that they were in the studio working on a follow-up to the best album of 2008, The Way of All Flesh; then my man Vince Neilstein got all Woodward n’ Bernstein n’ shit and broke the story that the band has signed with Roadrunner a full 24 hours before it was officially announced. (Props to all the websites that used the story and didn’t credit Vince.)

Now Gojira have released a brief video of drummer Mario Duplantier in the studio, and you kinda-sorta get to hear some new music, but no not really. Actually all this video really tells us about the new Gojira album is that Mario’s drums will be awesome. As though there were any doubt…

-AR

Thanks to Ashley Lee for the tip!

Rammstein certainly understand the value of theatricality in metal, which must be why they’re one of the very few bands who pretty much never fail to ensure that their music videos are awesome. Their latest clip, for the new single “Mein Land,” is no exception. It parodies old ’60s Frankie & Annette-style beach movies and Baywatch, to boot, and, yes, it is incredibly entertaining from start to finish, as the band wrings humour out of sort of playing against type (Smiles! Bright colors! Sunshine!) but not really (Titties!!!!).

I’m especially fond of keyboardist Christian “Flake” Lorenz’s performance; in fact, ever since I saw the band live for the first time last year, I’ve been kind of enamored of Lorenz. In a band full of weirdos, he somehow manages to delightfully be the weirdest.

BTW, this video should probably be considered NSFW, even though there’s a lot less nudity than in some other Rammstein videos.

“Mein Land” will appear on Rammstein’s new greatest hits collection, Made In Germany 1995-2011, which comes out December 2 via Universal.

-AR

Last month, the University of Melbourne sent out apress release regarding a study recently completed by Dr. Katrina McFerran. Entitled “Heavy metal music has negative impacts on youth,” the press release claimed that Dr. McFerran’s research demonstrated that “Young people at risk of depression are more likely to listen habitually and repetitively to heavy metal music.” The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley took issue with this study and the subsequent press release in an editorial we published on Tuesday; then Dr. McFerran herself responded yesterday; and now, in what we swear up and down will be our last word on the topic, Justin will respond to the response in his post below. Enjoy, and try not to go cross-eyed.

TL;DR – Just read the first paragraph.

Dr. McFerran’s reply, while appreciated, is totally inadequate.

I was careful not to point to her directly in the previous piece I wrote.  Other than expressing some skepticism about the way that the data was analyzed, I kept in mind that the whole problem could have been the result of the University’s PR department going off the rails and hijacking the results of her study.  While this may still be the case, Dr. McFerran has had at least two opportunities to clear the air on a misinterpretation of the work that she and her team did, both in yesterday’s post on MetalSucks, and on Metal Insider.  In both cases, she dodged the question about why the University trumpeted her study as saying that heavy metal causes negative impacts. She seems very nice and the thoughts she shared on her field of study are interesting, but that’s all beside the point.  And the point is that she’s part of this dishonesty.

Click to read more…

Last week‘s prize was a 2x vinyl set of both versions of Coalesce’s Give Them Rope album, a most excellent haul if you ask me. The one lucky winner is:

• Guitarzan2112: “Dreidel of Filth.”

This week we’re giving away a limited edition Rush Moving Pictures lithograph signed by all three members of the band in anticipation of the release of their Sectors three-box set, which spans their entire Mercury Records career. This three-box (yeah, we said three BOX) set is ginormous, so all Rush fans should get up to speed on what’s included in the November 21st releases here (Sector 1), here (Sector 2) and here (Sector 3). Meanwhile, to win the signed lithograph (pictured here), you know what to do: leave a comment with the funniest caption to the photo below (sent in by MS reader Jason Solomon). Remember to use a real email address (or post it along with your comment if you’re using FB Connect / Twitter etc).

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

Our year-in-review issue goes to print in, like, minutes. (Hopefully I’ve had some semblance of lunch by the time Vince and Axl throw this post up.) So, let’s throw the usual rhetorical stalling out the window and get to the point: Guess what band will grace the cover of this hand-wringing/throat-slashing funfest and win a Decibot T-shirt. The only hint I’m allowed to give you is actually a really big one: They’ve never been on the cover of Decibel before. Hit it!

-AB

The December 2011 issue of Decibel features Megadeth, Municipal Waste, Animals as Leaders, Landmine Marathon, Hammers of Misfortune, and an awesome Goatwhore flexi disc, and can be ordered here. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss one an issue?

First, read vocalist — and now sole remaining original member — Mark Hunter’s statement on the matter. My own thoughts follow.

I would like to start off by thanking our fans for a great tour. This last run was a blast, and truly the most fun we’ve had in a long while. The energy from the audience was exactly what we needed, and a welcoming return. Thank you guys!

Unfortunately, as much fun as we were having, behind the scenes we were aware of some unfortunate realities that prevented us from “living the dream” and having the time of our lives. We had another bomb to drop on the fans.

Early in July we were informed that Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries would be leaving Chimaira at the end of 2011. Of course this was a huge blow, but there were no hard feelings. We understand that life invades art, everything runs its course, and we have to take different paths.

Click to read more…

Video games can be metal. I’m not talking put-on-big-hair-and-fight-demons-while-the-guitarist-shreds metal, but dark, creepy, rich, brutal, wading-through-blood-while-trying-to-hold-onto-your-soul metal. The sort of experience that’s intense and horrifying and makes you see, hear, and feel the world as a dangerous, wicked thing that wants nothing more than to consume your being. Sure, there’s plenty of demon fighting too, but I’m talking more about the general theme of the hardcore metal genres. Here are the seven most harsh, most dark, and in many cases most insanely awesome metal video games ever made.

And if you’re interested in big-hair-and-fight-demons metal, check out this older list. It has two titles that overlap, and then stays away from the creepy, crushing darkness of “truly” metal games in favor of huge swords and guitar solos. Because there’s nothing wrong with that if you like keeping your soul un-crushed.

Click to read more…

No, Scott Kelly doesn’t own a MetalSucks t-shirt (that we know of, anyway)… but reader Kieran M. does, and Kieran took a photo of himself in his MetalSucks t-shirt next to Scott Kelly after Neurosis’ set at Maryland Deathfest this past May. Coolness by association. Thanks for the love, Kieran!

The shirt Kieran is wearing was part of our FYE Fan Pack, which is now mostly sold out (there may be a few left in various FYE stores scattered throughout the U.S.). But we’re still selling our standard line of MetalSucks shirts (and hoodie!) and we’ve still got a few left of our limited edition “Appetite for Deconstruction” shirts featuring animated versions of our own faces, unless a certain someone decides to sue us.

For his troubles, Kieran gets a box o’ goodies from the MS Mansion; CDs, posters, stickers and the like. You can receive the same by donning your MS merch and sending in a fun picture of yourself to news[at]metalsucks[dot]net as part of our ongoing Show Us Your MetalSucks contest. You’ll also happen to be the stylish lad or ladess around.

I love the branding of Steven Wilson as a “rock renaissance man,” as dubbed so in a recent press release announcing his first-ever North American solo tour. I mean, he is, right? Aside from being the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of Porcupine Tree — one of the biggest prog bands of the past 20 years — the man’s a talented multi-instrumentalist, member of Blackfield, No-Man, and several other bands, an accomplished producer (including, most notably, Opeth) and he’s still somehow got time to forge a solo career and tour behind it. How does he do it?

Fewer questions, more rocking: Wilson is in North America right now touring in support of his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, with a killer backing band highlighted by Marco Minnemann on drums. Those folks who live in NYC — where the tour stops tomorrow — can also catch a rare in-store acoustic performance at J&R Music World this Friday, November 11th… which happens to be Veterans Day, meaning you might not even have to play hooky to go. For the rest of you, jump on this opportunity to see a special performance while you can, because it could be a long while before he’s back playing these songs.

Tour dates after the jump.

Click to read more…

What do Portal and Bloody Panda have in common? Well, on the most surface level, members of Portal wear executioners masks on stage, and members of Bloody Pan used to wear executioners masks on stage. On a somewhat deeper level, though, is the fact that they’re definitely both of the “love ‘em or hate ‘em variety.” I personally can’t stand Bloody Panda — the best description I ever heard of their work remains “It always sounds like the song is just about to begin” — but I know people who would gladly follow them around and sprinkle rose petals at their feet; similarly, I loves me some Portal, but I totally get why some people are like “Ugh! It’s just noise.”

And now the two groups have something else in common: Portal has remixed Bloody Panda’s “Saccades II” for the latter outfit’s upcoming remix collection, Summon: Invocation (which is apparently all remixes of a 2009 release, Summon, but I didn’t know that because, y’know, me no likee this band). You can stream that remix at Brooklyn Vegan.

Click to read more…

Into Eternity — a band of which Vince and I are both huge fans — haven’t released an album since 2008′s The Incurable Tragedy, and a large chunk of the touring behind that release was done without guitarist/creative head honcho Tim Roth. They did release a pretty good single, “Sandstorm,” back in July, but concrete news of a new album has not been forthcoming. And then, somewhere along the way, vocalist/glass breaker Stu Block joined Iced Earth.

And now the band is looking for a touring vocalist to fill-in for Block:

Click to read more…