So call it old age or what have you, but this writer fell out of ”check” with “the scene” around June or so (as far as new stuff coming out), and was also astonished to see that Uriah Heep put out another album unbeknownst to him. Plus, a lot of the albums that made my list are traditionalist or power metal. Yikes.

Then there’s the plethora of stuff in the “I’ll get to it eventually” folder of my PC that did not get got to. And then there are the ones I just plain forgot about.

But, hopefully, the important thing isn’t missing a few releases here or there in our quest to be in touch even as aging metalheads. Hopefully, the important thing is still supporting the scene at shows, by buying merch or even continuing to purchase those pieces of plastic and vinyl they manufacture.

And so:

Click to read more…

Much like fellow Midwesterners Lazarus A.D., Illinois’ Diamond Plate refuse to just be another re-thrash band with no new ideas.They’ve always been a little more brutal than the froo-froo “I just found out about Exodus” crap that’s been forcefed down metalheads’ throats since about 2006 or so; their music is punctuated by beyond-their-age songwriting abilities, and structured solos that give life to their music.

This blogger ordered the group’s self-released Relativity EP on a whim for like $5 after what might have been a few too many at the pub and a subsequent late-night internet cruising session. And this blogger fucking loved it. So it was nice to see Earache pick the band up in October of last year. (Apparently head honcho Digby Pearson dug the band for quite some time and personally offered them the deal. No big surprise, I suppose.)

Now, gearing up for the release of the band’s debut full-length, Generation Why?, Earache has launched a stream of the song “At The Mouth Of Madness” (above). The album, which was produced by Neil Kernon (Judas Priest, Nevermore, Deicide), is out August 29, and apparently they’re hitting the road with Kittie and fellow Chi-towners Dirge Within later this summer. Dates after the jump!

Click to read more…

MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play guitar (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with John Petrucci from Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment…

Whether it’s the emotional David Gilmour-inspired bends, Hetfield-esque machine gun riffing or flat out blistering speed-sweeping, John Petrucci has always been not just a guitarist’s guitar player but a dynamic and engaging musician and composer with a wide array of styles. Whether it is within the confines of Dream Theater, Liquid Tension Experiment, or his solo material, Petrucci’s chops have consistently varied greatly across the prog-metal spectrum, while also standing out amongst his shredding peers on multiple G3 Tours alongside the likes of fellow guitar gods Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, and Eric Johnson.

Click to read more…

The album that I’ve tried to jock your face off for two years now is finally coming out. Oakhelm’s second album, Echtra, will see a late summer release through Forest Moon Special Products… and MetalSucks is beyond stoked to have an exclusive track from the band in conjunction with Forest Moon’s pre-orders, which launched just the other day. Check out the exclusive stream of Oakhelm’s “The Way Of Bleeding Bark” after the jump, along with more info on what will surely land near the top of this guy’s year-end list.

Click to read more…

MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play guitar (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with Testament’s Alex Skolnick…

If there’s one dude that has fused jazz and metal together by way of guitar better than Alex Sknolnick, I don’t think I’ve heard him yet. It probably doesn’t hurt that Skolnick studied under Joe Satriani. But when the then fifteen year old Alex Skolnick joined Legacy, the band that would go on to become Testament, he couldn’t have possibly imagined the kind of guitar icon he would become as one of thrash’s signature soloists, a touring part of Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s annual arena sell-out showcase, and his own acoustic jazz-metal hybrid band, The Alex Skolnick Trio.

Click to read more…

Photo by Josh Barry

Century
TBA
Label – Prosthetic Records
Release Date – TBA 2011

Century’s Black Ocean had riffs, rage, and just enough originality to give everything else out that year a run for its money as a personal favorite from 2008. And if the early — and still decidedly rough — mixes of the band’s follow-up are any indication, Century will be back at the top of the heap come the end of 2011, too. It’s not that the music is the most progressive or groundbreaking mix of hardcore and metal — it’s that the band does it so well.

Click to read more…

Oakhelm
Echtra
Label – Forest Moon Special Products
Release Date – Late Summer 2011

Oakhelm’s debut full-length, Betwixt aAnd Between, came busting out of the Northwest back in 2007 (already!). To black folk metal devotees, it was an awesome amalgamation of the experienced, genre-crossing members of Assück, Fall Of The Bastards, L’Acephale and Wormwood (among others); for the uninformed, it was just a great fucking album. And even though the follow-up was on my list of most anticipated records of 2010, Forest Moon Special Products‘ John Strachan assures me it’s coming out later this year.

Click to read more…

With Southern California black metallers The Funeral Pyre making this blogger’s year-end list (again) in 2010, what better time to catch up with frontman John Strachan than on the cusp of another year, jam-packed for the band with new tour dates, new music, and new(-ish) releases? Plus, he’s got a few picks of his own from last year — and a few gripes — to boot.

On the eve of the January release of a Vultures At Dawn 180 gram LP, MetalSucks took some time to talk with Strachan about the band, the album, and Forest Moon Special Products, Strachan’s record label with more than a few admirable releases under its belt. The conversation after the fold.

Click to read more…

1. Gypsyhawk, Patience and Perseverance (Creator-Destructor)

I’ve listened to this band a ridiculous amount of times. Like, “Oh, last song… watch should I put on next? Well, let’s just hit play again!”-style. Amazing musicianship, solid songwriting, and beyond hummable melodies (right after this solo!) make for an amazing debut.

Click to read more…

After a late night and a groggy start across two time zones, Slough Feg frontman/mastermind Mike Scalzi took a more than entertaining half hour out of his morning to speak with MetalSucks. Fun? Yes. Hilarious? Also yes. Informative? You have no idea. Boring? Fork no. Expect Slough Feg’s latest Profound Lore release, The Animal Spirits, to appear on this writer’s year end list. And if you haven’t listened yet: you’re missing out.

The man, the mystery, and the shredator at large up after the jump.

Click to read more…

If you were to ditch the corpsepaint, goofy poses, and gimmicks, but keep the razor-tight riffs, uhallowed Immortalisms, and jaw-dropping musicianship, you’d have Rimfrost. Jokes about their totally homoerotic name aside, this band is beyond competent at combining black metal’s rawness with Immortal’s, well immortal ability to write almighty riffs.

Click to read more…

With under two months to go before 2010 hits the showers, now is the time to highlight a few albums that might have flown under the radar throughout the year, but may very well be worth giving a listen. First up is the debut from Riotgod, a new band comprised of longtime Monster Magnet members Bob Pantella (drums) and Jim Baglino (bass), as well as Mark Sunshine (vocals) Garrett Sweeny (guitars) — the latter of whom filled-in for Monster Magnet following Ed Mundell’s departure after almost twenty years ago.

Click to read more…

Photo by Chris Roo

Back in August, I got a chance to talk with Yakuza front man Bruce Lamont about all things Yakuza, his band’s stellar new album, Of Seismic Consequence (which is a contender for this curmudgeon’s year-end “Best Of” list), his upcoming side projects and collaborations, his other fellow musicians from the Windy City, and Yakuza’s then not-yet-announced tour with Triptykon and 1349 — a tour that is now under way.

Unfortunately, then the Bob Cock penchant for procrastination kicked in. But whilst Yakuza are still in the midst of the aforementioned tour (get dates here), I present you with the always charming Mr. Lamont’s take on…well, just about anything he’s involved in nowadays – including an upcoming solo album.

Click to read more…

Full disclosure: Bob Cock has only listened to The Final Frontier once in its entirety. He also got it just a couple days ago and still has a few other things he’s working on, but this isn’t about excuses.

Let’s face it, though: once a band has become an institution like the almighty Iron Maiden, it’s not so much about the new albums as it is about the band’s legacy. Whether it’s classics (see: Powerslave, Fear of the Dark, Killers, Piece of Mind, etc.), the venerable band’s more recent “comeback” catalog (Brave New World, Dance Of Death, A Matter of Life and Death), the swing and misses (anything – aside from a few songs – with Blaze Bayley), or the underrated (Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, Iron Maiden), you know you’re going to buy it.

Click to read more…

Monster Magnet are releasing a new album through Napalm Records in October called Mastermind. Considering that the band has never released a bad record (except maybe for the hiccup that was 2001′s surf rock-minded God Says No…which, in all fairness, wasn’t terrible, just not that good), and that vocalist / mastermind Dave Wyndorf hasn’t died (yet), this news should make you giddy with joy. Sure, he overdosed in 2007, but he epitomizes the ‘rock and roll attitude’ so much that his badassedness didn’t even succumb to near death. If anything, he probably saw the light at the end of the tunnel and told it to go fuck itself with a sweet guitar riff and more drugs. And really, that’s probably not far off the mark.

Click to read more…

Anso can have Steel Panther, Vince can have Ratt, and you, Reader, can have Quiet Riot (even though Frankie Banali played in W.A.S.P. for quite a while, Quiet Right still sucks in this guy’s book). Pretty much everyone in Mötley Crüe has proven to be a scuzzbag in one form or another aside from Mick Mars — the poor guy — but if we’re doling out Sunset Strip bands to worship (that don’t feature Axl Rose — no fair), let me get first dibs on W.A.S.P. Sure, my family looks at me a little weird and even my best friend doesn’t “get it” when I crank the iPod or put Inside The Electric Circus on the turntable, but what do they all know anyway?

Click to read more…

At this point in time, you should probably know who Watain are. I mean, MetalSucks did debut the stream of their new album, Lawless Darkness, just a couple of weeks ago. Plus, there was Sworn To The Dark, a devilishly delightful slab of Swedish black metal that hit high marks across the proverbial board with metal critics, bloggers, and fans alike in late 2006/early 2007 (depending on which side of the pond you call home). More recently, there was Watain’s “Fuck The World Tour” in late 2008, which delivered on the promise of everything this guy had ever heard about a Watain live show.

It’s been a long four years since the release of Sworn To The Dark, but Watain has always taken their sweet, collective time putting out full-lengths. The good news, though, is that Lawless Darkness is as good as Sworn to the Dark, even as it manages to feel different thanks to slick recording and the surprisingly melodic, menacing approach this “evil” band commands.

Click to read more…

It might only be the beginning of 2010, but artist and Monstrosity vocalist Mike Hrubovcak is already stoked to know that the metal-minded artwork he’s done for the likes of Decrepit Birth, Braindrill, Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, Aurora Borealis, and Azure Emote (another criminally underrated, Hrubovcak-fronted band) will be featured in an upcoming Hollywood production with plenty of star power to go around.

Dream House, a Universal/Morgan Creek film helmed by Jim Sheridan and starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts, will hit theaters in 2011 and has a plot that’s fitting enough for Hrubovcak’s artwork: a family (Weisz and Craig) move into a new home to find out about a brutal slaying there earlier in its history, while the neighbor (Watts) is the only person able to lend any hint that the husband who allegedly killed his wife and children there may not be dead. Not only is it great exposure for Hrubovcak — who works as a graphic designer for an “adult novelty” company by day, as an artist using oil, airbrush, and photo manipulation for some of metal’s most brutal bands (with cover art to match) by night, and still finds time to participate in Monstrosity, Vile, and a host of other projects — but it’s great for metal. Where else can metalheads hope to see artwork from gruesome metal bands at the movies?

Hrubovcak’s VisualDarkness website has a ton of samples of his past works in his portfolio to check out, but for the uninitiated, the man’s done artwork for bands like Chainsaw Dissection, Fecal God, and XXX Maniak – so you should pretty much know what to expect.

Hrubovcak took some time to talk with MetalSucks about an upcoming showcasing of some of his works, how he deals with having so much on his plate, and zombies. Oh, come on, you knew that was coming.

Click to read more…

Nowadays, classic metal seems all the rage — some cool kid told me this while walking to the market — and with MetalSucks doing the whole “Ten Great Bands That Inadvertently Helped Ruin Heavy Metal” thing, I got to thinking: how did metal become metal? We all know the Sabbath/Priest/Zeppelin “who started heavy metal” debate, but what about the in-betweeners that were probably “heavy metal” to my dad’s mom when Pops was just growing that ridiculous mustache and finding out that drinking beer was pretty cool once you got past that taste?

(Okay, full disclosure: I was drinking a beer and cranking UFO while reading the Van Halen story, so there.)

We’ve all known 3 Inches Of Blood for more than a few years at this point, but with the rise of bands like White Wizzard, Holy Grail, the criminally underrated Wolf, Gypsyhawk, RAM, and Cauldron waving the flag for the classic metal sound, I got to thinking about the bands that inspired them. These are groups where you could look back at them and say that they aren’t even definable as “metal” anymore.

Click to read more…

What the hell does this interview have to do with March is Metal Month? We’re not entirely sure, to be honest. But it was offered to us as part of that ongoing event, and we wanted to do it! So we hope you enjoy. – Eds.

Deströyer 666 put out one of the best thrash/death/black/whatever you want to call it (how about “balls-to-the-wall riff fests?”) of 2009 with their fourth full-length, Defiance (which made my top twenty albums of 2009 list). The record marked the band’s return after some six years’ absence, as well as a tour of their homeland, Australia. Sure, that might not be a long time for Tool or Metallica, but Deströyer always seemed to fill time between LPs with a slathering of EPs throughout the band’s fifteen-year career arc.

Deströyer 666 were originally formed by guitarist/vocalist K.K. Warslut as more of an outlet for riffs that were thrashier than those he could utilize in Bestial Warslut, his then-main project. Fast forward, though, and it seems Deströyer 666’s priorities have shifted a bit over the years… and so have the members. Literally.

I recently spoke with lead guitarist Ian Shrapnel about all things Deströyer 666. Read our full chat after the jump.

Click to read more…