Too many folks have an unfortunate chip on their stupid shoulders about noise rock. “Ohh, it’s too screechy” some say, “why can’t there be more harmony and/or pleasurable melody?”

Well, admittedly on some level they have a point. But in another more open-minded way, these naysayers are missing out on a daring subgenre that deserves all of our patience and ears.

Thankfully certain bands have safely fused the gap between cacophony and dulcet tones, bringing stellar musicianship alongside groundbreaking experimentation.  It’s usually such acts that pave the way for new generations of fans and bands alike. And since 1983, the grandaddies of one such innovative sound has undeniably been the muthafuckin Melvins.

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NYC has been in a splooge-filled flutter this week largely due to the Refused reunion shows that hit on Sunday and Monday.  Only a scant few of us didn’t get to see one of these seminal events, but rest assured if you’re among the shmucks who didn’t make it out there are still tickets available for July’s Refused show at the new Williamsburg Park outdoor venue.  Sadly, I’m talking to ME.

But did you know that the title of the most-famous Refused album The Shape of Punk to Come is a reference to the classic 1959 Ornette Coleman album The Shape of Jazz to Come?

Well that Ornette album, much like the Refused one, was seriously challenging in its day (and frankly, even today) and I for one think it’s a mighty cool homage for a hardcore band to pay to one of the pioneers of free jazz.  There are even some nice jazz shoutouts including a “jazzy” walking bassline in the third track and vibraphone (allbeit along with electronics & non-jazzy drums) in track five.

After the JAZZ — I mean, jump — a few of my fave tracks from each album.

YES THAT’S RIGHT: JAZZ HERE ON METALSUCKS.

Get punked!

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It’s funny how one’s perception of one’s favorite bands can evolve over time. Naturally that has much to do with the (expected and/or unexpected) directions said fave bands take, not to mention the directions one’s own musical tastes go in. These elements can either clash and create new disappointments or perhaps enhance one’s respects for particular artists, but in any case it’s mighty difficult to sit in just one feeling about a band for the long haul.

Opeth and Mastodon are two groups that have been acquiring a fair amount of criticism as of late. Both bands’ new albums (Heritage and The Hunter, respectively) are under great scrutiny for largely being “too different” from previous offerings — which, frankly, is ridiculous; if you are a music listener who cares anything about artistry then you shouldn’t accept musicians who refuse to grow and simply re-hash alternate versions of their earlier works.

Yes, of course I get that when a heavy and/or proggy band becomes less heavy and/or less proggy that is justifiably a cause for alarm for many (myself included!), but if it’s simply the changes of a new sound or direction that freaks people out, then said people need to chill the fuck out and open their minds to something new. Click to read more…

Hopefully Chicago trio Czar has been on your radar for some time now, but if not here’s your chance to get down with one of the best new bands in quite some time. I included their excellent full-length debut Vertical Mass Grave (fabulously recorded by Matt Talbott, guitarist/vocalist of Hum) on my year-end list for 2011, and I’m foaming at the mouth for the upcoming rare chance to see these guys decimate live.

We’re now premiering their new video for “Family Crest” (for which we also premiered the track on this here site last Fall) off of said album. It reflects the band’s no-nonsense, robust and complex approach to musicmaking: it’s pretty much a performance video, but projections and glichy effects create an off-kilter take on a tried-and-true method.

I’ve been telling people that Czar’s sound is something like “Mastodon meets Helmet” (and I can hear some Gojira in there too), but frankly it’s so much more. As a former Thrill Jockey/Drag City enthusiast (Tortoise, Trans Am, Jim O’Rourke, etc), I often find Chicago musicians to have a unique take on melody, and Czar is no exception. They make challenging yet palatable sounds for a new age of metal.

Tour dates after the jump (including a kickoff show in Cleveland with Crowbar & Prong, and an NYC Precious Metal date with yours truly DJing!)

Click to read more…

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

I PITY THE FOOL

Click to read more…

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 Mastodon’s Brann Dailor…

From around the twenty-five second mark in “March of the Fire Ants” (off of 2002′s Remission), it becomes very clear that we are dealing with a different approach to drum chops.  Those snare rolls sound so fluid, so thorough, so precise yet still spontaneous — and THEN then groove really sets in and we hear the true might of one of modern metal’s greatest drummers.  Brann Dailor is clearly a well-rounded player — he’s got finesse for weeks, dynamics up the wazoo,  inventiveness til the cows come home — but it’s still those Mastodonian rolls that amaze us every time.  At first it’s easy to get swept up in the sheer ridiculousness of Dailor’s delicate, Bill Bruford-esque fills; however, over time one realizes that these amazing outbursts of controlled choppery fit so well in between bouts of fury and pure heaviness that our man Brann is hardly a one-trick pony.  Quite the opposite, rather. Click to read more…

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 Lamb of God’s Chris Adler…

Most of the commonly agreed-upon “greatest” drummers are ones that seem to achieve the impossible. Fills that defy space and time, syncopated double-bass runs that drop jaws, thick grooves that demand one shake one’s tush; these facets only begin to comprise the cannon of what makes a stellar drummer — obviously feel and creativity are both also essential, as well as the ability to strike the oft-difficult balance between neither under- or over-playing.

What resonated with me about Chris Adler’s playing upon the very first listen is that he brought such a wide melange of drum skills to the table (all of the above and more) and the guy didn’t even start out as a regular drummer, for chrissakes! Legend has it that Adler was a touring bass player in other bands before deciding to switch full-time to the drums.

Remarkable. Click to read more…

As we’ve been mentioning aplenty lately, this week Vince, Corey & myself (and surely many of y’all) will be braving the not-so-friendly skies to attend the booze-fueled shitstorm known as South by Southwest 2012. Amidst a maelstrom of whiskey, vomit, pizza, hot dogs, and beer, we are indeed planning to catch some music as well!  And despite not making it happen last year, both Vince & I are 1000% determined to traverse a half hour southwest of Austin to re-visit The Salt Lick in Driftwood for the juiciest, most succulent, best BBQ us damn Yankees Mets have ever had, although sadly we will have to make the mission separately with different pot cookie’d crews…  Another round of meat?

In addition to the unbelievably awesome lineup at the MetalSucks Official SXSW Showcase on Wednesday night, I for one am also super stoked about the ongoing, week-long, mostly local metal fest over at Hoek’s Death Metal Pizza on 6th Street.  Obviously this is a latenight destination of choice after you’ve unknowingly swilled back a roofie-spiked pint of beer whilst getting thrown out of the bar, but did you know that this no-bullshit pizza joint also has an awesomely intimate back patio with a stage where metal bands throw down & melt faces?

Put on by our friends at the Texas Metal Collective, this nonstop, always FREE party (if you’re 21+, otherwise it’s $10/day) promises a nonstop frenzy of amazing heaviness every day & night from Monday March 12th through Sunday the 18th that, aside from a scant handful of out-of-towners (including my band Family and our local Brooklyn bros in Tiger Flowers & Meek is Murder), primarily features a shit-ton of groups from all over the great state of Texas!  The list of bands represents Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi, El Paso, San Antonio, San Marcos, McAllen, Dallas, and MORE……not too shabby!  Let’s get toasted.

Full lineup here.  See you in the battlefield of rock, mofos….

-KW

We all know of the myriad culinary delights offered by our tepid neighbors to the north — Canadian Club whiskey, Canada Dry ginger ale, Canuckian bacon (mmmmm) — but this here webbersite is more focused on, how you say, MUSIQUE, so let’s instead turn our attenciones to the metale that’s come from our North American sister cuntry………crack open a Molson and let’s get this crackin!

Click to read more…

Pretty damn soon we will be writing a shitton of shiz about the annual shitfest known as SXSW (Shit by Shit-West), but let’s not forget that plenty more metal comes from plenty more spots in the dirty durty Sowf…….why just the other week the missus & I caught a sweet documentary directed by Rwake‘s own CT called Slow Southern Steel, which celebrates and examines the mentality, ethos, and joie de vivre of lovable rednecks who live, breathe, and shit heavy music.  The film went on a metal band-style tour (along with Zoaroaster & Hail! Hornet performing live), and whoops you missed it, ended its run on February 9th.  Sucks for YOU.  Hopefully the doc will find its way onto the waning DVD format and you can put your beady lil bug eyes on it soon enough….

BUT I DIGRESS.

Recently I reminded myself of the might and vicissitudinous majesty of the band Memfis, who I put on my top ten list for 2011.  Did you?  They rule.  Permit me to demonstrate:

And it got me thinking: how much metal comes out of Memphis???  Clearly, a lot.

But there’s also an indie group that takes its name from the other Sun city, a Broadway musical wowing purple-haired grannies (and my dad), and how could we forget this hip-hop gem from the early 90s?

However, despite all that I’m left wondering………what are the choice metal bands from Memphis, TN?????????  Google wasn’t much help.  My bros couldn’t think of any. I wish I had some kind of forum that could aid me in my quest……..maybe a website where I could pose such a query and dudes (and less than 10 dudettes) could suggest bands for my hungry earholes………guess I’ll just fist my bunghole while I think of a solution.

-KW

Here at MetalBeTerrible, we’ve been having quite a Lamb of God-centric week…

First, lil’ Vinnie Neilstein sang the praises of LoG’s comparatively tiny show at NYC’s Irving Plaza last Tuesday.

Then Samuel O’Hagar offered a review of the band’s new album Resolution (which we premiered a song from back in early December), claiming that LoG is “getting better” at LoG.

And now your creepy Uncle Wingerschmidt is here to remind y’all why we even liked these Richmond fuckers in the first place!  What follows is a collection of MY fave tracks off Lamb of God’s first four albums…
From New American Gospel (2001):

This weekend marked another year passing for yours truly, and what a madcap decadent pleasurable birthday it was :-)))))))

Some MS staff highlights from my rockin party:

1)  Sammy O’Hagar tried to fellate Higgins and got a faceful of frosting!  CAKE frosting, you dirty bird….

2) After “eleventeen” whiskeys Gary Suarez donkey punched a zebra.

3) Anso DF flew in on the wings of a transsexual angel.

4) Axl Rosenberg is still disgruntled.

5) I puked in the bathroom ten minutes before my band played.

6) Vince Neilstein insisted that he and MetalGF want to go on a bender with my lil old lady mama & me and put hot dumps in each other’s mouths….  I suggested the Hells Pleasure Metal Fest instead.

7) A tin man screamed loudly for an extended period of time and a scarecrow took a hit of weed.

Audio pleasure after the jump————>

Click to read more…

-KW

And so does Eddie Murphy:

Thanks to Billy from Demilitia for this one!

-KW

Thanks to Metal Mykee for this one….

-Santa

Five years ago tomorrow one of my greatest heroes died…  Never forget!

After the jump, a family selection of tunes by the one-and-only Godfather of SOUL…..

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Heyyo y’all & happy impending-end-of-the-year!!!!  Sure, life sucks and you’re smelly/ugly, but things are looking up in 2012, I swear!

So if you’re one of those woe-is-me/the-world-owes-you-something negative Nancys, turn that frickin frown inside out and get positive for once.  Maybe you’ll meet the love of your life tomorrow……maybe a suitcase of cash will cross your path…….maybe you WON’T have herpes after all….  Anything is possible, and while we of course need to be prepared for the worst, let’s also not rule out the best.

This Kansas classic contains some of my favorite riffs of all time….

Holy G.I.Joe!!  Prog-thrashsters Carrion Sun have a ridiculous video for a ripping song that will give you one to grow on….  (check em out on Facebook for more music & details on their 12/17 Record Release Show at the House of Blues in Houston, Tejas)

Follow me past the jump for some more musical reasons to simply carry on, son….

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photo by Metal Chris from DCHeavyMetal.com

It’s no secret that this guy gets down with reality tv from time to time.  Some of those shows are so intriguing, so trashy, so entertaining…..and some are just terrible.

VH1 crapfest Why Am I Still Single?! falls in the latter category, pitting a subpar alpha female matchmaker named Siggy & her lame team of “experts” (save for the twin blonde vanities…..twins, Max — boioing!) against New York City’s most socially inept daters.  I gave up on this show early on, but couldn’t help but be intrigued when ads for a recent episode boasted that one dater (contestant? victim? social pariah? what do you even call folks who go on these shows anymore???) was a heavy metal dude looking for love.

Well it turns out that dude is Bröhammer guitarist James Danzo and despite the consensus on the show that he’s a great guy, this earnest yet slightly rough-around-the-edges axe-slinger still gets predictably put through the ringer by the matchmaker’s crack(head) team.  Watch as James is reprimanded for his awful table manners by Siggy and her “expert etiquette coach Patricia” and given a new haircut by the buxom style twins….

I have it on good authority that going on reality tv yielded positive results for ol’ James — our boy has learned aplenty and can hopefully turn his newfound recognizability into dating gold.

And his band rocks!  Check them out on TheirSpace.  The bassist is a close personal bröbröcop who I’m told is hung like a donkey.

Bröhammer plays Brooklyn’s most metal venue Saint Vitus Bar tomorrow night (Friday 12/9) w/Mortician, Legionary, Blessed Ofal, and DeMilitiA….

-KW

Junior & I are presiding over an orgy of opinions, and you’re all invited to lube up and slide in….

Just when it seems like life can’t get any crazier, inevitably it does and another layer of the shell gets peeled away to reveal a whole new set of criteria for perspective. This year clean became the new heavy and introspective vulnerability came back in style (but did it ever really leave though?). So many great albums came out — old masters taking new forms, young turks carving new terrain, plenty of new sounds coming out of nowhere….frankly it’s been near-impossible to fashion this list in a distinguishable order. But I wasn’t about to give up, no way José!

So let’s get crackin.

You – love – IT.
And it loves you :) Click to read more…

As of late, I have been revisiting my love affair with the sublime tunage of St. Louis’ Riddle of Steel (RIP).

This power trio wrote fantastic, inspirational, feel-good yet edgy songs that each told their own unique melodic story, and it’s continually a pleasure to re-spin both of the two albums I have of theirs.  (UPDATE: just found out that there’s a 3rd full-length and an earlier EP as well, and I peed my pants a lil….Wingerschmidt Jr. got excited!)  Sounds vaguely like a heavier Trans Am meets Zeppelin meets The Police, but I’m hesitant to compare them to anything too much cuz the music is so nicely original and quality in its own right. Not to get bromantic or nuthin but I’m pretty sure RoS played at one of the first shows I ever went to with Vince Neilstein, at Lit Lounge right here in NYfC… Awwww :)

Sadly the band broke up in 2009, but their rockin, earnest singer/guitarist Andrew Elstner now plays in Torche and Tilts, drummer Rob Smith plays with Traindodge, Life & Times, Roma 79 and Bitch Wizard, and excellent bassist/vocalist Jimmy Vavak is busy being a dad (which also rocks). These guys are surely missed by many, what stellar hooky songwriters…

I couldn’t find any tracks on YouTube from their first full-length Python (my fave, it super kills), so you guys are just gonna have to buy that one, and it’s sooooo worth it.  That record features old drummer Dave Turncrantz, who shortly thereafter starting playing with Russian Circles.  Plenty more Riddle of Steel tunes on YouTube and TheirOldSpace.  Love love love this band!

-KW