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We love a good list to argue over here at MetalSucks, and we also love us some progressive metal. Based on the comments you guys leave here, I’d say y’all love both of those things too. So Noisecreep’s “Top 10 Progressive Metal Albums of 2011″ list should be right up your alley.

The list was written by Jeff Wagner, author of last year’s Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal, a must-read for any fan of prog. I’ve never doubted that Wagner, the ex-Metal Maniacs editor, doesn’t know his shit, but it’s always refreshing when someone who’s positioned himself as a historian of sorts is so in touch with the modern scene. Head on over to Noisecreep to check his picks; there’s a few albums you’d expect to see — Opeth and Hammers of Misfortune, to name a couple — and there are several surprises as well.

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L.A. Guns is one of the most successful and influential bands in the history of metal, an act who music is rivaled only by Black Sabbath and Metallica for its importance to the history of the music we love. So of course, it makes complete sense for there to be two versions of that band, one featuring a guy who is clearly a poor man’s stand-in (or a “Dj Slashba,” if you will) for the band’s namesake, and another which switches vocalists so often that even the members of the band aren’t sure who’s performing with them at any given concert.

And because the world has so great benefitted from having two versions of L.A. Guns, and because the members of those two bands make so much money and sell so many records competing with one another, Great White has now decided to get in on the act: vocalist Jack Russell recently announced the formation of “Great White featuring Jack Russell” while his former bandmates soldier on simply as “Great White.” And if that doesn’t seem like a sound plan to you, well, hey, guess what? It’s cool, because the Great White that doesn’t feature Jack Russell says Jack Russell can’t just start another band called Great White.

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I <3 Steel Panther! As much as I love their albums, I feel like they’re even funnier when they’re on-stage just yukking it up. Yeah, these dudes are phenomenal musicians, they write great songs and play some great covers, but half the fun of a Steel Panther show is all the between-song banter and comedy skits they do.

SP aren’t too good for a little unplugged action either. Today I give you two clips: 1) an acoustic performance of “17 Girls In A Row” they did for Kerrang! Radio last week, 2) a special X-rated rendition of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” a cappella. Enjoy.

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Lately, it hasn’t exactly been easy to get the pure Pathology live experience. For the death-slam metallers’ September tour with Grave and Blood Red Throne, vocalist Jonathan Huber was out of the line-up with a “badly broken leg.” Last November on the MetalSucks-sponsored tour with Nile, the band left the tour after a scary van wreck in South Dakota. Between those was a surely awesome Spring jaunt opening for Grave and Obituary — but that was worlds away in stupid Europe. Sigh.

So for a year now, I’ve kept muttering that Raineer Wolfcastle line from The Simpsons, when the muscleman stands by as Milhouse tries to beat a fitness test by holding in his gut: “We can waaait.” But hey here’s to patience cuz Pathology, with Huber back in the fold, just announced a headline tour to kick off in mid-January! No dinky 30-minute set for these slam bros!

But again, there’s a catch: It’s West Coast only, fools. That’s bummer news for some, but awesomeness for those who can recover lost time by hitting up multiple Pathology shows around Southern California (Simi, West Holly, Fullerton for starters) without breaking a sweat. And now I happily quote Wolfcastle’s next words to Milhouse, as belly finally cascades over belt: “Come to Papa!” See u there!

-ADF

Pathology’s awesome Awaken To The Suffering was my 16th favorite 2011 metal album. Get it here and get dates here. 

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Jeff Hanneman has been out of commission for most of 2011, even missing Slayer’s appearances at various Big Four shows, due to almost dying from a spider bite — which, as far as ways to almost die go, is incredibly fucking metal.

Now Hanneman has recounted the tale of his near-death experience in an interview with Classic Rock, and not only is it chock-full of surprisingly funny quotes (like the one in my headline) and details (his doctor at the hospital was a Slayer fan), but with the simple line “I could see the flesh corrupting,” it proves that Hanneman talks the same way he writes lyrics. Which is, y’know, awesome.

Here’s the juicy part of the interview:

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SPOILER ALERT: If MetalSucks ever does a list of the Top Live Modern Metal Bands or whatever, Tool is almost certainly going to be #1. Vince definitely thinks they’re the best live band on the planet — he often calls them the only band he’ll go see in concert anytime, anywhere — and while his passion for them probably surpasses my own, I definitely worship the pot Tool pisses in. I mean, not only does Tool sound fantastic live, but, y’know — LASERS!!!

So it’s hard not to be incredibly excited by the fact that the band is gonna do a tour starting next month. If you have the chance to see Tool live and you don’t go, you really should go lie down in traffic. They are just… mind-blowing.

Here are the dates so far… it’s hard for me to imagine that there won’t be more announced soon:

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I admit, I was lukewarm on The Contortionist at first. It took me spending three days on tour with them, Periphery, Textures and Stray From the Path this past fall to convince me that they weren’t just another BTBAM clone or run-of-the-mill Sumeriancore band. But now I’m a believer. The Contortionist are a dern talented bunch of young individuals; if these guys can harness that talent and focus, really focus, I believe they can write an album that’s truly unique and takes the metal world by surprise. Exoplanet was good, but it wasn’t that album.

The Contortionist will take another shot at greatness this coming winter; according to a recent interview with Guitar World, they’re currently writing a new album, plan to record it at Audiohammer Studios with Jason Suecof and Eyal Levi in February, and are eyeing a spring or summer 2012 release via Good Fight Entertainment. Suecof and Levi are some of the best in the biz, so if anyone can get the best performances and songs out of these dudes, it’s them. I look forward to seeing what they can come up with.

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The first trailer for Rock of Ages, the movie adaptation of the Broadway musical that uses a bunch of 80s arena rawk and hair metal tunes, has been released, and, never before has a story about rebellious youth been sold via the utilization of so many old people. (Y’know, in case there was any doubt that the only people who would ever wanna see these are middle-aged folks nostalgic for their youths.) I mean, I love Alec Baldwin and Paul Giamatti as much of the next guy, but I need to see Catherine Zeta-Jones belt out “We’re Not Gonna Take It” like I need prostate cancer. I’m not even sure I understand why the uptight conservatives would be singing the Twisted Sister song and not the loosey-goosey rock n’ rollers… maybe it’s meant to be ironic? Whatever.

Rock of Ages comes out on June 1, 2012.

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Congrats to readers Jason K. Zuehlke, Joshua Ray Jacobs, and Vaughn Fortier-Shultz; they each correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Parasympathomimetic Thrombophlebitis. For ruling so hard, each of these fine men wins a copy of Crows Into Swine, the new solo album from ex-Scar Culture vocalist, Pheroze. Enjoy the album, dudes!

This week we have another killer prize for you, courtesy of Peaceville Records: a copy of The Barghest O’ Whitby, the new EP from legendary doomsters My Dying Bride! You can watch a trailer for the single-track, 27-minute epic here. Then you can purchase the EP online in CD format here, or  or as a limited edition red vinyl here — or, of course, you can just enter this contest and keep yer fingers crossed that you win!

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 when we return from hiatus on Tuesday, January 3.

This final logo was suggested by reader Aldon Miller, and it’s a great one. Hopefully it’ll keep ya stumped into the New Year…

-AR

Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s third, and presumably final, documentary about the West Memphis Three, Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory, will air on HBO next year, and the trailer has now been made available. I obviously haven’t had a chance to see this one yet, but word of mouth from the festival circuit has been positive, and Berlinger and Sinofsky’s first two documentaries on the subject are stellar, so I’m very excited for this. Check out the trailer below:

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory airs January 12 on HBO. We’ll remind you closer to the date.

-AR

Everyone’s always complainin’ about how Roadrunner doesn’t sign metal bands anymore, but that’s a crock — I mean, they just released the new Korn album, fer Chrissakes!!!

What people should be really pissed about is that Listenable Records has just totally sold out by signing Outcast!!!! I mean WHAT THE HELL?!?! Why would the label that used to put out awesome shit like Gojira release this garbage now???????

The worst part is, the press release Axl forwarded me refers to these dopes as “djent metal mongers.” HOW IS THIS GARBAGE DJENT?!?! If I was Meesha Mansure, I would totally lose my shit right now!!!!!

The press release also says Outcast is French. I didn’t even know they had rap music in France!

So I’ll give credit where it’s due — for a coupla frogs, these dudes speak English real good.

-DN

I’ve some special treats for you today, loyal Suckalos. Our latest batch of unsigned gems includes the Devin Townsend-inspired Beyond the Epilogue, a bludgeoning blackened death outfit from Kenya (!) called Absence of Light, and Polish solo-instrumentalist grumusic. Listen and learn:

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All metal fans should be familiar with the work of artist Eliran Kantor by now; Kantor has done incredible work for Testament, Atheist, and Sodom, amongst others, including the stunning cover for Sigh’s 2009 Scenes from Hell. His work is really, well, genius.

Now Sigh have unveiled Kantor’s latest breathtaking masterpiece — the album art for their upcoming release, In Somniphobia. What does it have to do with fear of sleep? I’m not quite sure, although it definitely has a dreamy quality to it — at a first glance, it looks pretty straight-forward, but the more you study it in detail, the crazier and stranger it gets. You can check it out below, or go here to see a much bigger version.

In Somniphobia is scheduled for a March release via Candlelight Records.

-AR

The Stop Online Piracy act, or SOPA, is a scary, scary bill. It would ostensibly allow the government to shut down websites — ANY websites — at the drop of a hat due to any content which could be considered piracy. For example, MetalSucks could get shut down if a READER — not even a member of our staff — posted a link to ANY copyrighted materials, be it an illegal song download, a video, or even an album cover, in our comments section. Given how difficult it is for us to properly police the comments section, SOPA would probably mean the end of MetalSucks in no time flat.

And maybe you hate MetalSucks, and you’d be happy to see us go away. Fair enough. But SOPA could also mean the end of literally thousands and thousands of other metal and non-metal related websites. 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.

This bill pushes censorship while parading as “piracy prevention.” And the worst part is, SOPA is going to a full committee for a vote THIS THURSDAY, and will very likely pass. And if that horrifies you, well, it ought to.

Which is why we’re asking that you please, please, please call your congressperson today and let your objections be heard. It’s incredibly easy to do so, and will literally only take you a few minutes. Go here, enter your information into the form, and you’ll be connected to your congressman’s office within seconds. You can, and should, also sign this petition, although it’s for the Senate’s equivalent of the bill, which will not be voted on this Thursday.

‘Cause if you don’t, it’s not just the end of MetalSucks. It’s the end of the internet as you know it.

As part of an ongoing to effort to prove they’re not just a pop metal band that only teenge girls and mall goths (and teenage girl mall goths) like, Lacuna Coil have debuted their new video, “Trip the Darkness,” via Hot Topic. So that oughta settle that.

Anyways, it’s not like a great video or anything, but the song is as catchy as the flu to be sure, and for at least a portion of the video, Cristina Scabbia does not look like a beardless Gandalf, which is nice.

“Trip the Darkness” will be on Lacuna Coil’s new album, Dark Adrenaline, which comes out January 24 via Century Media.

-AR

In October, Axl Rose told That Metal Show that Duff McKagan’s Loaded featuring Duff McKagan was going to open some shows on GN’R current North American headlining tour. But then we didn’t hear anything else about it for over a month, so I think most people either assumed it wasn’t happening, or forgot about it all together.

But now it’s actually happening, and is happening this week, no less, in Seattle and Vancouver.

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Ten years ago today Death mastermind Chuck Schuldiner died of a brain tumor. It’d be hard to argue that Schuldiner didn’t have a massive influence upon all the metal that followed after Death; while Death may not have ever achieved close to the mainstream metal notoriety that Metallica and Pantera did, I can’t think of any single other band that had such a huge impact upon everything that followed.

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Schuldiner’s passing, NPR metal king Lars Gotrich collected eleven metal musicians and asked them to write about their favorite Death song and what it means to them. Among the musicians that penned brief pieces for NPR are three former members of Death (Paul Masvidal, Gene Hoglan and Richard Christy) along with members of Baroness, East of the Wall, Revocation and more. They’ve included streaming audio of their song picks, too; Death is definitely going to be soundtrack this afternoon.

Check out the Relapse Records webshop for all things Death.

-VN

So as everyone and their mother is aware by now, at each evening of Metallica’s four-night thirtieth anniversary celebration at the Fillmore in San Francisco this past week, the band played a previously-unreleased song from the Death Magnetic sessions, and then e-mailed studio versions of those songs to the members of their fan club. But if you want those songs and don’t wanna pay $45-$60 per year to be in the Metallica fan club, you’re in luck, because the band is now selling all four songs in one nifty collection called Beyond Magnetic. You can DL it via iTunes for four bucks. You should note that these are still rough mixes.

You can read the band’s official statement on the EP release here, although the only info I didn’t just sum up for you is the fact that in January the band will be announcing “a special interactive fan event [to take place] in June of 2012.” Unless it’s “Berate Lars Ulrich with a Megaphone” day or something, I’m sure it will be disappointing.

And I wish I had some clever capper for this blog post, but I mostly wrote about this to avoid getting a million e-mails from people going “Hey, why aren’t you writing about this?” I’m not spending four pennies on these songs, let alone four bucks. But, y’know, enjoy the new tunes if they’re your kinda thing!

-AR

Well, here we are. As Metalsucks will be closing up for the year on December 16th, this article concludes an entire year writing Shit That Comes Out Today for Metalsucks. I’ll be posting an update with my first article of next year if anything comes out in the meantime worth checking out, but for now check out three new releases coming out today.

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The full lineup for the 2012 edition of the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival, now in its 13th year, has been announced… and it’s a doozy. The fest will once again span three days at Worcester, MA’s Palladium in April, those three days are once again roughly divided by metal sub-genre, and one of those is once again likely to piss off metal purists.

If you live in or near Massachusetts, attending this thing seems like a no-brainer; all these bands in one place in one weekend is gonna be the metal party of the year, even if you don’t necessarily like every single band. Where I get stuck is whether or not it’s worth the drive up from New York since most of these bands will have NYC tour stops in the days or weeks before and after NEMHF, and many of the bands will inevitably be touring together anyway. But damn, with all the great sponsors involved this year the ticket prices are very affordable, especially considering all the star-power involved. After the jump, the lineup!

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