When MetalSucks contributor Christopher Roddy phoned Jesse Haff for his scheduled interview, the Daylight Dies drummer was busy working — on a holiday. As much as we love Daylight Dies and continue to spread the word to the masses, Haff pays his bills as the sole web developer for a 60-person media firm in Los Angeles, though he works from Brooklyn where he’s recently relocated from his native North Carolina. Though Haff was busy juggling work with rehearsing daily for the then-upcoming 10-date tour with Soilwork and Darkane, he still found time to give Roddy an incredibly engaging interview, offering insight into the band’s early days with Relapse Records, the band’s current state of affairs, and their writing and recording process for Dismantling Devotion and Lost to the Living. Read the full interview after the jump.

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Jersey Shores represents a new chapter in the the book of Akimbo. Using the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 as their source material they’ve managed to create a thoughtful, if unruly, thematic work that surpasses everything they’ve recorded to date. It’s not the sort of album you can recommend to just anybody, but there are some incredibly impressive moments of meditative, jammy hardcore that deserve some time in the limelight.

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While I can appreciate some good metalcore, the more poppy side of the subgenre grates on me considerably. I’m also not a Christian, not by any stretch of the imagination. But Haste The Day dig Jesus quite a bit — not that there’s anything wrong with that — and the songs on their new album Dreamer follow the predictable pop-metalcore format (screaming verses followed by a catchy, sing-song chorus interrupted by a chugging breakdown and closing out with more EMOtive singing). Suffice it to say, Dreamer is not for me.

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I loathe having to pare down every album I’ve listened to over the course of the year into a list of the “best 10.” I find it exceedingly difficult because there’s just no way to prevent great albums from being squeezed out. And while my list excludes phenomenal efforts by Meshuggah, Boris, Testament, Arsis and all the neo-Thrash acts who put out quality material in 2008, bear in mind that as a reviewer I’m always having to move on to the next writing deadline and don’t often get to revisit albums purely out of enjoyment. My ten picks represent the discs I have frequently fallen back on in those all too rare, carefree moments. Each of these inspired me to pull them back out for repeated spins when I should have been getting work done.

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MetalSucks contributor Christopher Roddy recently had the chance to chat with Clutch bassist Dan Maines. The two spoke about the band’s recently released live CD/DVD Full Fathom Five, side project The Bakerton Group, the band’s internal chemistry and what it’s taken to keep the same group of guys together for such a long time. Check out the interview below the fold.

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Of the startling number of bands who build a following, get signed and are allowed to successfully pursue their dream of becoming a touring/recording artist, many don’t make it too far. Some don’t progress much further and get dropped after an album or two, while some grow too stressed from the fatigue-inducing schedule and straining lifestyle, ultimately splitting up as a result. Such is the case involving the Bay Area act Light This City. After three well-received albums drummer Ben Murray and vocalist Laura Nichol could no longer accept the rigorous schedule and exhausting requirements of being in a band. As such, Stormchaser is the last CD we will see under this moniker, released posthumously by Prosthetic Records after the band’s breakup. While this is a shame considering how far this band has progressed in the past five years, it isn’t as though they’ve ever offered up a legitimate reason to be granted the status of “legendary” or even “memorable,” and unfortunately for them, Stormchaser is no different.

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If you’re not familiar with Viking Skull it’s probably because of the lack of Stateside availability of this UK band’s early material. All that’s about to change with a little help from our friends at Candlelight Records, and you stoner doom aficionados are going to eat this one up. If you take a foundation built on Black Sabbath, add the support structure of Thin Lizzy, wall it up with a thick layer of Motorhead and retrofit the whole package with the likes of Orange Goblin this is the house Viking Skull has built. Founded by vocalist Roddy Stone and Raging Speedhorn drummer Gordon Morrison five years ago, the act has put out a few well-received releases across the pond. Morrison left in 2006 and has since been replaced by CKY skinsman Jess Margera, brother of Bam of Jackass fame.

I admit I have a bias for this sort of material. I was raised on ’70s Sabbath and I never grow weary of the plodding rhythms or the sludgy riffs. High On Fireesque vocals — compromised by copious amounts of cigarettes and drenched in drams of whiskey — only sweeten the deal. Having toured extensively with Clutch, HIM and Dio, Viking Skull have strengthened their songwriting chops and seem much more focused on Doom, Gloom, Heartache and Whiskey than on past releases. Even so this isn’t a flawless release, yet when it hits the mark it’s like a round of buckshot to the backside.

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Okay, I’m going to come right out and say this but I don’t want it to deter you from exploring what I’m about to describe; Capricorns are a band from London who invariably fall into the doom/sludge category.

Wait! Don’t run away. Seriously, you should keep reading this time and I’ll even make it brief. While they’ve been labeled as such, Capricorns are so much more than your typical Neurosis knock-off. I really think they’re the sort of act that could change your mind about this style of music. The reason? Capricorns don’t wallow in dragging time signatures and brooding, growly vocals. In fact their latest effort, River, Bear Your Bones is completely instrumental. Thematically it explores the band’s own feelings toward living in close proximity to the great Thames river and “the London Towne that spreads from its banks like a concrete cancer.” Musically it has the hardcore edge of the best Black Flag material, the crushingly melodic undertones of a band like the Melvins and the sort of complexity in arrangement that made for the most memorable and engaging moments in Black Sabbath’s mid-to-late Seventies material. They’ve become a staple on Lee Dorian’s now 20 year old Rise Above Records label and have won over the admiration of many industry giants.

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When you’re a melodic death metal band from Finland what you really need are the multi-faceted talents of a producer such as Dan Swanö to bring out all the best elements of your music. Sure, an ability to write and play well are necessities but the proper direction and production can elevate your music from the ranks of the fledgling many to the proven few. Omnium Gatherum are an act with which you may not yet be familiar but, given the strength of The Redshift, you should be made aware. The reason? This release deftly surpasses the mediocrity of their past couple and even trumps their impressive 2003 debut, Spirits And August Light. The band have finally brought all the pieces together in a synergistic manner creating a cohesive and impressive work that should make their name more accessible to the larger community of metal brethren the world over. And their music will even appeal to our Sisters in Metal as well, so let’s not pretend this is all part of a special, masculine group. We can’t even get the handshake down.

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Italian avant garde Metal act Ephel Duath have been releasing impossibly complex music for about a decade now and each release is more intricate than the last. Imagine If Mike Patton fell asleep and began dreaming about John Zorn painting a portrait of Dillinger Escape Plan playing a Black Metal set. Yeah. Well, never mind all that for a moment because it happened to occur before the heavy drugs set in, apparently. The past, as they say, is prologue. On January 26th, 2009 the band will release their fifth album, Through My Dog’s Eyes, on Earache Records. This collection of songs, as the title suggests, is written entirely from the perspective of a dog.

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MetalSucks contributor Christopher Roddy recently had the chance to email a batch of questions to Early Man guitarist/vocalist Mike Conte. Conte answered the questions at length about his band’s new record Beware the Circling Fin (out TOMORROW on The End Records! Read Roddy’s full review here), the current re-thrash revival, his uber-religious upbringing, following your own muse, and more. Check out Conte’s answers after the jump, and be sure to stream and download the exclusive new Early Man track “Sinking the Blade” below!

Early Man – “Sinking The Blade”

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Allow me to begin by stating unequivocally that I am a Matt Barlow fan. I know there are plenty of Iced Earth devotees out there who were (rightfully) upset by Tim “Ripper” Owens’ unceremonious dismissal and felt he was a stronger vocalist for this act as they moved onward after Barlow, who struggling with his allegiances earlier this decade involving his love of Country, dropped out to take up law enforcement. But Barlow is family (he’s married to guitarist Jon Schaffer’s sister) and, I believe, he’s the more dynamic singer. His emotive wail often resembles Fates Warning’s Ray Alder. His subdued baritone comes close to Queensrÿche’s Geoff Tate. He can also reach the searing, Halfordesque heights Owens is known for though he tends to use them more sparingly. And then he has that snarling growl which is entirely his own. Beyond that he’s much more of a performer who falls into and maintains a character the way an actor might. I don’t dislike “Ripper” Owens but he doesn’t seem to embody the people about whom or situations about which he’s intoning quite as well as Barlow. Also, in a live setting he doesn’t really possess the energy one might want out of a frontman. He has an amazing voice that served the last couple Iced Earth releases well but I’m more a fan of the band’s earlier output, such as ’95′s Burnt Offerings and ’96′s The Dark Saga.

Enough with the diplomacy, though. You’re either going to dismiss this review based on my own stated preference or you’re going to hang in there with me for a spell. The Crucible of Man: Something Wicked Part 2 ends up a vital return for Barlow that, while it may fall short of Iced Earth’s classic material ends up more satisfying than its Part 1 predecessor.

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I don’t know what all the people who weren’t around for Thrash’s first run in the Eighties think about the sudden resurgence of the style but I’ve had mixed feelings about it. I really missed traditional Thrash throughout the Nineties and…Oughts (is that what we’re supposed to call them?). Sure, Thrash never really died and there have always been elements of classic Thrash in many of the acts that play Metal today regardless of the sub-or-microgenre with which they are associated; but having come of age in the early to mid Eighties and having been there for the dominant rise of this kind of music I never wanted it to diminish in popularity. Yet it did and there were new styles to take its place. The old acts that established the framework have kept going only to prove, for the most part, that Thrash Metal is a game best utilized through youth. And maybe my mixed feelings regarding all these young acts revolves around the fact that I’m not getting any younger either. It’s neither fresh or exciting to me nor does it further the Metal cause so much as derivatively reflect the glory years. Even so, I’ll be the first to stand up and trumpet that charging “lack of originality” against an act is disingenuous considering that every band carries its influences with them regardless of whether they make it obvious or not. If you think a band is “original” that just means you’re ignorant of their influences. As such I always feel conflicted when faced with a “new” Thrash Metal act.

I really dig Early Man, though. More than most any other neo-Thrash band out there they’ve managed to capture the essence of ’80s Metal for me, personally. From their Monitor Records Fuck You If You’re Talking To Me EP to their Matador Records Closing In album – both from 2005 – there’s been a raw, low budget feel to the music that carries through to their current output even though they now have the backing of The End Records. Their upcoming Beware the Circling Fin EP (out October 14th) was produced by Jack Endino (Nirvana, Mudhoney, Dwarves, High On Fire) and it retains a basement authenticity which makes the effort that much more endearing.

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I recently ran into a guy with whom I used to hang in High School back in the Eighties. We were both really into Metal and as the decade progressed our tastes kept leaning heavier. He got me into a little-known band that actually recorded under the name “Death” (“Dude! The album’s called “Scream Bloody Gore” – you’re going to LOVE this!) and I introduced him to a new act called Obituary that I believed would never be bested as far as heaviness and brutality were concerned (two decades later I still cling to that observation).

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Between soaring inflation and a lagging economy, jobs disappearing and wages stagnating everyone has had to cut back. Maybe you make fewer trips in your car to save on gas. Maybe you limit your groceries to the barest necessities. Maybe you’ve managed to talk your wife out of having another kid so you won’t need to worry about feeding one more person in your home. Maybe you’ve scaled back your band’s membership from four people to just two. Like Adai, for example. Hey if it can work for great acts like the White Stripes, Jucifer and Sunn O))) then why not? Besides, considering the number of inept producers and idiot engineers who can’t seem to figure out how to make the bass guitar audible in the final mix (poor, poor Robert Trujillo) why bother with one, right?

Adai consists of a drummer and a guitarist/vocalist. Their style of music is similar to doom/sludge but seems a bit more…shall we say, Progressive? The sound of the band isn’t mired in low-end feedback or paced with a dragging sluggishness. At times Devin M’s axework can be quite melodic but don’t kid yourself into thinking they’re big on Maiden. The vocals are sporadic, incidental and barely audible growls like you might expect from a drone act. By and large this EP, running just under 24 minutes, is instrumental; and while it can be hit and miss, it does showcase a couple musicians that might evolve into a convincing force within a subgenre whose adherents are largely devotional.

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When considering their latest album, it’s important to bear in mind the lasting power of Metallica’s legacy, especially when taking into consideration the weak efforts of the past couple decades. This is a band that had had a hand in building up the traditional Thrash framework throughout the 80s into an impenetrable fortress. But the castle has crumbled and they’re left with just a name. In the early 90s, they entreated us to take their hand and we would be off to the Never Neverland of mainstream success. But then Metal lost its foothold on radio and MTV, falling victim to the Grunge/Alternative phenomenon. Metallica forged onward but many were forced to ask: were they following their instinct, not a trend? Deep down inside fans felt the need to scream. The band seemed to be putting dignity to shame, with dishonor.

The Metallica of that decade was leaner, more open to pop constructs and, to their credit, this did translate into commercial success, along with a flurry of less-than-flattering press. Yet to longtime fans, when the circus rolled into town, they were playing the lead clown. Welcome to where time stands still. No one rocks and no one will. Hell, they even went country (for only one song, but still!). The band eventually lashed out at the fans and the fans revolted. Hey, honesty was our only excuse. They can try to rob us of it but it’s no use. Load, Re-Load and St. Anger each grew progressively worse. We were left to face the thing that should not be: a flaccid hard rock outfit of aging, emotionally unavailable sociopaths that had long ago lost their hunger and, subsequently, their edge. But please excuse them while they tend to how they feel. They went to therapy, filmed it and foisted it on a bewildered public. Fuck it all and fucking no regrets. Would there be a happy ending in this dark set? Did Metallica drift on numbered days?

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In spite of their Black Metal origins, Tiamat aren’t particularly heavy and even the “Metal” tag has become peripheral with a lot of their material. Yet the band still rocks hard at times and have expressed their myriad influences with a high degree of synergy over the years. If you’re looking for that chugga-chugga-bark-bark sound Tiamat won’t be your thing. Diverse, atmospheric, emotive (without being “emo”), deep and dark, frontman Johan Edlund has taken on the roles of spiritual leader and artistic director guiding the act through a variety of musical styles, as well as a variety of lineups.

With Amanethes, their ninth full length album, Tiamat seems to offer a kind of summary regarding everything they’ve done up until this time. The result is a ho-hum album that drags on a bit too long and wears its influences a little too overtly on its sleeves.

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Y’know when the last time I smoked weed was? June 22nd, 2005. Not long after that I won a bid for a new job, and when I went in for my physical they mistakenly administered a drug test. When the results came back positive for marijuana the company couldn’t exactly turn the other way in light of the results, regardless of the test being completely unnecessary. So I got put on the random testing circuit and was put through “treatment.” It sucked. For about a two year period I was subjected to drug tests monthly, sometimes even more often. Even though now it’s only every now and then, I am quite aware that it’s been three years, one month and eight days since the last time I got high.

Why am I telling you this? Because the entire time I spent listening to droning doom act Moss’s second full-length Sub Templum (three times in a row!) all I wanted to do was spark up a bowl. Instead I opted for Lagavulin 16 Scotch whisky from the island of Islay. The distillery sits right on the coast and captures fresh peat moss as the waves crash against the brick structure. One of the richest flavored Scotch whiskys, you can really taste the peat and distinct iodine flavorings along with the fermented grains. It’s one of my favorites. I plowed through over half a bottle.

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“Doom” always seemed like a silly name for a style of music, considering it isn’t used in everyday conversation the way “death” is. Death has serious, negative connotations while doom is more cartoony. People only use it in an exaggerated, comedic sense as in, “We’re all doomed!” Why
couldn’t we have called it Dread Metal? There’s a heavy sense of dread to this kind of music that’s much more malevolent considering “doom” expresses finality while “dread” can go on in perpetuity.

Possessing a Doom Metal sound with harsh, roaring Death Metal vocals, North Carolina’s Daylight Dies aren’t as heavy as some other bands but the aura they put forth is weightier than most. Lost To The Living is a reflective work featuring solemn meditations that occasionally rise up to strike with a biting force, but mostly offers lush instrumentation that will endear the act to existing fans and newcomers alike. There’s been a clear progression over the short career arc of Daylight Dies, and with Lost To The Living we get what could very well become the band’s masterwork.

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