Six Feet Under vocalist Chris Barnes is scheduled to call my cell phone for an interview to discuss the new album Undead. I decide it would be cool if I switch my ringtone to “Hammer Smashed Face.” That way, when Barnes calls I’ll get a little sample of his work. So the call comes in but it’s not Barnes; it’s a Metal Blade employee connecting the call. My plot is foiled.

Barnes and I chat about how strange it is that a band like Cannibal Corpse even has a ringtone. Boy, times have changed; wasn’t Barnes targeted by former Senator Bob Dole back in the day? Now, he’s available on an iTunes ringtone. Even more unexpected, Barnes is best known in his adopted hometown of Tampa for a television ad where he talks about test-driving a Porsche Boxster and busts out a death-metal tinged sales pitch. When people stop him at home, they usually ask if he’s the guy in the Park Auto Mall ad, not if he’s one of death metal’s first-ever low growlers.  When I mention the ad he laughs for about thirty seconds and says, “Oh, God.”

Barnes was upbeat and animated as he discussed new album Undead and a new lineup that includes guitarist Rob Arnold (Chimaira), drummer Kevin Talley (Daath, Misery Index, Chimaira) and bassist Jeff Hughell (Brain Drill). Much like Ed Gein carved up body parts to make a suit, Barnes has cut and pasted musicians to make his ideal death metal band. Maybe he was excited I didn’t ask the question he probably gets asked twenty times a day: dude, when are you going back to Cannibal Corpse? Barnes told MetalSucks about the latest part of the musical journey that started in Buffalo, N.Y. and how many of his songs are more about confronting death and the desire to live rather than a gore-fest. Then, I was forcefed broken glass, pulverized, and murdered in the basement.

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Something I can now add to the “Didn’t Think I Would Ever Do That” list: calling Deicide frontman Glen Benton’s cell phone and reaching his voice mail. It’s a curt but somewhat friendly message, and I’m about to leave my number and scream “Pick up the phone, Jehovah you whore!” when the other line rings. It’s Mr. Trifixion, the guy that’s been pissing off parents and churches since he was barely out of high school. You might have to wait for a pew in a megachurch, but Satan returns calls fast.

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photo courtesy of Thrash Hits

If it weren’t for the dogged efforts of folks like Reed Mullin of Corrosion of Conformity, a good eighty percent of the bands regularly featured on MetalSucks wouldn’t exist. As the drummer and a founding member of COC, he is one of American hardcore and crossover’s founding fathers. COC – a skate park perennial in the 1980s – released the classics Animosity and Technocracy long before they became a household name. But Mullin did much more than record and tour. During some of the underground’s formative years he was one of the key tour bookers in Raleigh and put together shows featuring classic punk bands like Black Flag and the Minutemen and early crossover acts. He was one of a few bookers the that essentially created the touring infrastructure that now allows bands to go on the road and make a decent living.

Then commercial success called. While metal withered in the 90s COC was at a commercial peak with vocalist and guitarist Pepper Keenan, releasing the hit albums Wiseblood and Deliverance and touring almost nonstop. In the twenty-first century they have returned to their roots, first playing sets of their earliest material as a three-piece, then releasing an excellent self-titled album that features the skull that’s been seen around the world. Mullin talked to MetalSucks about old-school hardcore, new school COC and a particularly egregious catering bill.  It’s hard to believe Corrosion of Conformity has been playing music for more than three decades.

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MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine The Top 25 Modern Metal Drummers, 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 drums (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with Dave Witte…

Dave Witte is the only drummer that might be able to squeeze in this list on the strength of a roughly twenty-minute performance. Discordance Axis’ The Inalienable Dreamless is a grind classic ,and a big reason is Witte’s insanely fast, methodical yet unbelievably expressive drumming.

His  other work with the  now-legendary Discordance Axis is also beyond  worthy. But Witte’s story was only beginning in 2000, the year Inalienable Dreamless was released.

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MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Drummers, 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 drums (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with a drummer who has seemingly played with half the legendary thrash bands out there — Paul Bostaph.

A few foolish fans still think of Paul Bostaph as little more than the guy who kept Dave Lombardo’s drum stool warm for more than a decade. To do so is to miss the many reasons he’s one of the best drummers on the planet.

Let’s start with the proposition that playing Lombardo’s parts – and adding your own flavor – would be the musical achievement of a lifetime for most drummers. Bostaph did that every day for years. Then look at Bostaph’s recorded work with Slayer, which includes the underrated Divine Intervention, the punk cover album Undisputed Attitude, God Hates Us All, and the bad Slayer record. He never sounds like a Lombardo clone, yet the music is unmistakably Slayer.

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If you like death metal, than the new Asphyx album, Deathhammer (coming February 27 from Century Media — watch the video for the title track at Brooklyn Vegan), is a must-purchase.  You might as well pre-order the sucker now. Why settle for old school death metal imitators when the masters are still making incredible music? The album has it all: fast, unrelenting tracks like “Reign Of The Brute;” slow, driving songs like “Minefield,” and riffs aplenty.

The album also features another stellar performance from Martin van Drunen, arguably the best death metal vocalist ever (it’s him or Obituary’s John Tardy).

The death metal career man and beer enthusiast shows no signs of age or road weariness on this album; he sounds just as furious as he did when he sang “Dehydration” for Pestilence in the early 1990s. Despite his intensity, van Drunen is one of the funniest and most laid back guys playing music that’s essentially about killing people in horrific ways.  He talked to MetalSucks from the Netherlands about the new album and how he almost picked up bass guitar again.

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No regrets? A better title for Ace Frehley’s memoir might be No Consequences. Parts of Frehley’s life play out like an episode of COPS, except that the fuzz show up at a multimillion dollar mansion rather than a tenement. Cars are wrecked. Bottles of booze are chugged. Drugs are snorted. World class tools like Gene Simmons are annoyed. And in the middle of this, Space Ace manages to convince every kid with heavy metal dreams to pick up a guitar.

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photo by Daryl Darko

Cormorant describes themselves as a “100 percent self-funded labor of love.” Despite success they’ve eschewed labels, sold their own merchandise and taken as much time as needed to record. The San Francisco four-piece recently released Dwellings, which ended up on numerous year-end lists and earned critical praise. Guitarist and founding member Nick Cohon says the band’s success – both as an independent business and a musical group —is based on a combination of hard work and intuition. Cohon works full time as a project manager for a commercial electrical company specializing in solar installations.  But music is his passion, one he tackles with inspiration and business acumen. He talked to MetalSucks about the profits and perils of DIY publishing and falling asleep to death metal.

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photo by Daryl Darko

Aaron Gregory of Giant Squid wears so many hats that he’d easily clear out a headwear shop. He’s a former fish store owner, a student, a scuba diver, a graphic designer, and the guitarist and vocalist of Giant Squid. Gregory and his bandmates, including his partner Jackie Perez Gratz (also of Grayceon) recently released Cenotes, a more than worthy follow to the critically acclaimed album The Ichthyologist. Cenotes is also a key component to a storyline Gregory is creating for a graphic novel. Gregory’s fascination with the sea started when he watched Jaws as a kid. It scared him shitless, but changed his life. The new father discussed his aquatic fascination and Giant Squid’s new album recently with MetalSucks.

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