I am old, married to a kindergarten teacher, and play Mr. Mom nine months out of the year. As a result, I can only go to concerts on weekends or during the sweltering months of summer.

This is my summer vacation (Part III).

WHO: RUSH
WHERE: Frank Erwin Center — Austin, Texas
WHEN: June 12, 2011

It’s been 28 years since I last saw Rush live in concert. I became a convert right around the time Moving Pictures came out, loved Signals, but moved on to heavier music (ie. Metallica/Slayer/Megadeth/Exodus/English Dogs) by my first year of college. Over the years I became less enthralled with Rush, but always respected their commitment to excellence in rock music. When I heard they were coming back through Texas this summer on their seemingly never-ending “Time Machine Tour” and would be playing Moving Pictures, front to back, in its entirety, I decided a nostalgia trip was in order.

My Old Fart bones were already exhausted from catching Mötley Crüe on Thursday and KEN mode on Friday, but the Saturday respite seemed to re-energize me. Besides, the guys in Rush are a collective 172-years old and choose to travel tens of thousands of miles to entertain poor sods like me. How hard could it be to drive one hour to Austin and stand on my feet for a few hours to catch one of the greatest bands on the planet? Not hard at all.

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Last year (and the year before) I got way too busy with this thing called life and missed out on a lot of quality music. I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.

Here are the July 2011 releases that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:

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Hopefully, you Suckahs have been following my Bleeders’ Lists this year. If not, you can play catch-up here – Missed Albums Finally Listened to from the First Half of 2011, June, May, April, March, February, January.

As of the end of June, I have listened to 356 new releases this year — each one all the way through. I have listened to several live releases and re-releases but did not include most of them on my lists. Surprisingly, just under 29% are Bleeders (or the best each month). This is nearly 15% higher than I expected, so that’s the first good thing. The second is that those 103 Bleeders comprise a vast array of what we call “heavy metal” and have made for a stellar year already.

Being a lifelong metalhead, there are obviously going to be certain acts I just don’t like — number one amongst those this year is Ghost. But my Bleeders’ Lists aren’t about what I don’t like, but rather what gets me stoked. I’ve listened to, literally, more than 10,000 metal releases and been to more than a 1,000 metal concerts. In other words, I’m jaded. So, when something excites me, I want to share it with everyone. Thankfully, I’ve been able to do that 103 times this year.

Below you will find my Top 10 of those 103 Bleeders with their original mini-reviews plus updated commentary.

Of course, I just heard the new Decapitated and have a sneaking suspicion it will be be firmly entrenched on my 2011 Top 15 list come December.

Enjoy. Despise. Eviscerate.

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I am old and married to a kindergarten teacher, therefore, I can only go to concerts during the sweltering months of summer.

This is my summer vacation (Part II).

WHO: ECOCIDE, KEN mode, DEAFHEAVEN
WHERE: The Ten Eleven – San Antonio, Texas
WHEN: June 10, 2011

After the previous night’s cockrocktravaganza (AKA Mötley Crüe), I needed something to get me grounded again. Nothing like a solo trip to a seedy bar in the seedier side of San Antonio to check out two seedy-ass noisy bands which have graced my Bleeders’ Digest lists this year. I dug both KEN mode’s Venerable and Deafheaven’s Roads to Judah, but the definitive nod must be given to the former for sheer testicle obliteration. As a result, I was stoked to catch Deafheaven first, followed by KEN mode. Weird line-up as the former tends to fall into the USBM category while the latter can best be pitted in the Quicksand and Poison The Well’s sandboxes.

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Last year (and the year before) I got way too busy with this thing called life and missed out on a lot of quality music. I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.

Here are the releases from the first half of the year 2011 that I missed for whatever reason that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:

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I am old and married to a kindergarten teacher, therefore, I can only go to concerts during the sweltering months of summer.

This is my summer vacation (Part I).

WHO:MÖTLEY CRÜE, POISON & NEW YORK DOLLS
WHERE: AT&T Center — San Antonio, Texas
WHEN: June 9, 2011

I can’t say I was too excited to check out this bill. I did give Mötley Crüe a solid review for their 2008 Crüefest that scooted into the now-defunct Verizon Wireless Amphitheater under the scornful eye of a vicious summer storm, despite the fact Buckcherry, Sixx A.M., and Trapt opened up for them. This time around, I can’t say their choice for major support would cause me to sport a woody. I mean, c’mon… Poison? 4srslz?

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Last year (and the year before) I got way too busy with this thing called life and missed out on a lot of quality music. I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.

Here are the June 2011 releases that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:

Click to read more…

Last year (and the year before) I got way too busy with this thing called life and missed out on a lot of quality music. I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.

Here are the May 2011 releases that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:

Click to read more…

Last year (and the year before) I got way too busy with this thing called life and missed out on a lot of quality music. I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.

Here are the April 2011 releases that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:

Click to read more…

-CM

Corey Mitchell is a best-selling author of several true crime books. Thanks for playing…

Join Corey at Facebook and Twitter.

Weed is an awesome so-called “drug”, but it’s NOT for everyone. And throughout certain periods of my life, it’s been that way for me too. Growing up it was fun and my friends and i smoked a whole lot (!) whilst jamming…but somewhere in my mid-twenties, it would/could make me paranoid and uncomfortable in my own skin, so I didn’t/wouldn’t partake as often.

I know it’s not the most popular thing to admit to around these parts, but I really like Slipknot (up through V3:TSV, that is). I appreciate the fact that they bring a fairly heavy sound to the masses, flip the bird at their detractors, and continue moving forward despite alleged inner band turmoil, an increasingly fickle buying public, and the death of bassist Paul Gray.

Their side projects, on the other hand, have all left me cold. Stone Sour, Murderdolls, To My Surprise, Dirty Little Rabbits – bah! Nothin’.

So, when I heard on Monday that M. Shawn Crahan AKA “Clown” was interviewed on some internet radio show about his latest project, The Black Dots of Death, I decided to investigate. I had no interest in the 30-minute interview, so I opted for Clown’s own promo video for the record instead.

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I met Mike IX Williams, the legendary vocalist for EyeHateGod/Arson Anthem/Drip/Crawlspace/Outlaw Order and author, last year at Philip Anselmo’s hidden home somewhere deep in the woods of Louisiana. I’ve gotten to know the man more this year as we have spent some time together in Fort Worth and Austin while on the road with Arson Anthem. I asked Mike if he would like to share his thoughts with the MetalSucks readers. He eagerly and graciously complied. – CM

Okay, so you’ve been slaving away in the piss hot steaming garage, or alternately, an ice cold freezing cement basement tomb, writing and playing extreme music with various people of dubious degree, quality and background. The torn carpeted walls smell of stale booze, melted wax and illegal left handed cigarettes and the old bass player vomited behind his Peavy cabinet two months before you kicked him out and its still not cleaned up. The new bassist is a fat stinking bastard who probably has head lice but definitely has bad breath and an alcohol problem but comes in handy because he plays like a cross between Tom Araya and Geezer Butler.

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If you follow my true crime writing career, you know that I have always been a defender against those who want to blame music and movies for the wretched deeds of serial killers, mass murderers, and other killers. I have even had others in my line of work attempt to blackball me for my passionate love of horror films and heavy metal. These folks cannot reconcile that an individual can enjoy the darkest side of entertainment and yet still be a pacifist who treats people with respect and sympathizes with those who suffer real world violence.

Last week, loyal MetalSucks reader Matthew Kurtz asked me if I would write something about the Columbine Massacre as today is the twelfth anniversary of that tragic school shooting. The focus here would be on how the media and certain insecure people opted to lay the blame of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold’s shooting spree on heavy metal music, specifically industrial artists Marilyn Manson and KMFDM, violent videogames, and everything else other than the killers themselves.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CRIME SCENE PHOTO AFTER THE FOLD!!!

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Yep, 4/20 gets a real downer with the rather unexpected news that Judas Priest founding member, guitarist K.K. Downing, has quit the band.

“It is with regret that Judas Priest announce that K.K. Downing has formally retired from the band and will therefore not be joining them on their forthcoming Epitath Tour.” – Official Judas Priest press release 4/20/11.

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More than twenty years ago I was interviewed by The Daily Texan, the University of Texas school newspaper, for my role (along with my still best friend, Ray Seggern) as co-host of “The Metal Show” for KTSB (now KVRX), the student-run radio station. One of the quotes I made then that still holds true to this day was that 85% of heavy metal was “crap,” and that the joy in being a metal DJ was finding the other 15% of diamonds in the rough and sharing it with others.

If anything, the crap quotient is probably a bit higher these days, what with so many people of less than stellar skills having cheap access to means of production and simple ways of distribution. Unfortunately, the level of song-writing skill hovers around the same mark, as least on a per capita basis. In other words, more bands simply means more crap to sift through.

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I’m probably the last guy around the MetalSucks Mansion that should be writing about pot.

Last time I smoked was over 20 years ago. I was riding around in a van with a couple of dudes from Deadhorse somewhere in Houston, Texas, having a great ol’ time. For some inexplicable reason though, I decided to give up the ganja then and there. There was no traumatic reason for doing so. I just knew I was done. Haven’t touched the stuff ever since.

So, instead of trying to opine about marijuana, I decided to turn to some of my metalhead friends in the business. I simply asked them to write down their thoughts on pot.

These are their stories:

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As some of you guys may or may not know, I am currently working with Philip H. Anselmo on his autobiography. In fact, the questions I get asked most often these days are, “How’s that book with Phil coming along?” or “When’s Phil’s book coming out?” or “What’s it like working with Phil?”

I can happily inform you that, though it is a slow process, Philip’s book is going to kick major fuckin’ ass!

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Duff McKagan, vocalist and lead guitarist of Duff McKagan’s Loaded, bassist for Velvet Revolver, and former bassist of Guns ‘n Roses, took to the interwaves (via phonerview) to slam the “reality” television show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.

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The MetalSucks CEOs thought it would be hee-larious to stick me, the straight one, in the driver’s seat on 4/20. You’ll find out later today exactly when I quit smoking pot. I have nothing against marijuana. It’s just not for me.

But for those of you who partake, enjoy this morning’s wake and bake.

It’s “4:20,” from Six Feet Under.

-CM

Corey Mitchell is a best-selling author of several true crime books and was one dark motherfucker when stoned.

Join Corey at Facebook and Twitter.