It’s hard to believe Ronnie James Dio’s death was already two years. There’s certainly been no shortage of RJD tributes during that timespan, but that’s an embarassment of riches; no amount of homages could possibly do the man and his legacy justice.

The latest paen comes from 3 Inches of Blood, whose track “Look Out” from their rippingly good new album Long Live Heavy Metal is one big tribute to Ronnie. Despite having rocked this album several times since its release and the obvious song title, I never picked up on the lyrical nature of this song ’cause I tend to space out on lyrics. But this lyric video makes it all perfectly clear, and in fittingly epic visual fashion too. Here’s my favorite line from the song:

A king among his kind, he shared his wisdom,
even to the last in line.
His glory is divine,
capturing the essence of all that’s great and fine!

“He was a legend of our time,” indeed.

-VN

Venerable sock manufacturer Scion has been performing mitzvot for the metal scene all year by hosting record label showcases, flying all the bands and label staff out to L.A. on their dime, and letting the public in to rock free of charge. First came Nuclear Blast, then Prosthetic (click those links for video footage from each and behind-the-scenes looks at the labels’ operations). And now we’ve got footage from the Scion showcase for East Coast metal powerhouse Relapse Records, which took place in February at the Glass House in Pomona, CA.

Revocation, Exhumed, Black Tusk, Tombs and Royal Thunder rocked the house, and Scion put together video clips featuring super-crisp live footage and interviews with all of them. Hopefully they eventually post a “behind-the-scenes of the label” series like they did the prior two labels, ’cause I’d really like to know more about all the sick deals the cats at Relapse work out on a daily basis. But for now, check out this free downloadable sampler of live tunes recorded at the event and watch footage of all five bands below.

Revocation:

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I was shocked at the overwhelmingly positive comments under Tuesday’s post about Night Flight Orchestra, the dad rock band featuring Bjorn “Speed” Strid of Soilwork and Sharlee D’Angelo of Arch Enemy. Shocked in a good way, of course; I haven’t been able to get “West Ruth Ave.” un-stuck from my head ever since I heard it Monday night. Infectious! I’m just surprised to see so much positivity on MetalSucks surrounding such an un-brutal band.

Since Monday I’ve discovered two other Night Flight Orchestra songs on both YouTube and their Facebook page. Both songs have been out for over a year, although slightly re-jiggered versions will both be included on Internal Affairs (which comes out on June 18th). I don’t think either of these songs has the instant hit-factor of “West Ruth Ave.,” but they’re both fantastic and catchy in their own right and add to the awesomeness I can tell this album his in store. CANNOT WAIT FOR THIS ALBUM! Stream them both below:

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This one pretty much speaks for itself. I wonder which cost more, this tattoo or its inevitable laser removal procedure?

Either way, dude could really use a Slayer yarmulke to match his ink.

-VN

[via Metal Injection]

When all of humanity has been obliterated from Earth, aliens are going to discover our planet far into the future, figure out how to extract data from our old hard drives and servers and discover what a bunch of morons we all were. Come to think of it, aliens are probably monitoring our communications systems right now from thousands of lightyears away and laughing their asses off at the inane shit we collectively post on YouTube.

The Deciblog’s got a new post up featuring a bunch of videos that pair metal with beer-drinking, a fine match indeed. But the easy highlights are the videos by The Metal Madman™, a YouTube user of considerable muscular bulk, black tank-tops and backwards hats who prides himself on his ability to drink beer quickly. VERY quickly.

I watched the two Metal Madman™ videos posted on the Deciblog then quickly found myself down the rabbit hole of his YouTube collection. Here’s what got my started, courtesy Iron Savior:

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I AM SEVERELY JELLY of MetalSucks reader Marcus Przyborowski. Look at that salmon haul! I’ve done plenty of fishing in my time including a couple of salmon expeditions, but Marcus can throw a line in the water to catch these most delicious fish near his home in Sunnyvale, CA any time he wants, as he did on the opening day of salmon season in California a few weeks back. I mean, those party boats that go out from Sheepshead Bay for fluke all summer long here in Brooklyn are fun and all, but… not the same!

Marcus’ good fishing mojo was undoubtedly caused by his nifty (and now out-of-print!) MetalSucks t-shirt. And because he sent us a few pictures he’s entitled to a care package of metal goodies in the mail, courtesy of MetalSucks, as part of our ongoing Show Us Your MetalSucks contest.

The shirt Marcus is wearing is no longer available, but we’ve got plenty of other sweet designs available in the Official MetalSucks Merch Store, including the brand new “STUFF YOU WILL HATE” shirt designed by Sergeant D himself. Go and get you some, send us a photo of yourself wearing it, and we’ll send you some metal swag in the mail too.

-VN

Young and In the Way are scary. Like, really, truly scary, not fake corpsepaint scary; makes you wonder what happened to these fucked up human beings during their childhoods that made them the way they are today. I haven’t been as legitimately frightened by a band since I was 10 years old and saw this drugged out photo of Guns N’ Roses on the back cover of Appetite for Destruction. Or since my parents would take me through the streets of the East Village when I was a wee little one — well before the yuppie apocalypse turned Avenue A into Disneyland East — and I’d see mohawked punk rockers in leather and chains. SCARY! Who were these people???

I was dumbfounded when I saw Young and In the Way play SXSW in March, despite an audience of maybe 15 people watching. Get a taste of what I experienced — but with an audience 10x the size — from this footage CVLT Nation posted of the band playing in North Carolina this past Saturday. Their frontman performs like a man possessed.

Look for big things from this band very soon. They’re much buzzed about.

-VN

Ulcerate’s MetalSucks-sponsored North American tour, their first ever, kicks off this Friday in Philadelphia and we couldn’t be more excitebike! I’ve been peripherally aware of the band for years, but since my first real intimate Ulcerate lovefest came with 2011′s The Destroyers of All I was incredibly happy to hear from drummer Jamie Saint Merat in the interview we published earlier this week that approximately half the band’s live set will consist of material from that album. The Saturday night show in Brooklyn is going to be one seriously epic time.

While all of you surely know about Tombs, the first of three bands on the bill, you might not be aware of France’s Svart Crown, who will play right before Ulcerate. I will lazily describe them as Gojira-meets-Behemoth, but I’ll let this ripping live video of the band playing “Into a Demential Sea” do the real talking:

So, do like the headline says and get to the Ulcerate show early for Svart Crown. And Tombs too, but that should go without saying.

-VN

Did you know that  on June 19th Devin Townsend is releasing a gignormous box set, By A Thread – Live In London 2011, containing four DVDs and five CDs of his four performances of the entire Devin Townsend Project suite this past fall? Of course you know; you’re MetalSucks readers.

Devin’s label InsideOut Music has decided to give the world a taste of what’s in store on the audio portion of the set by releasing a free download of a live version of “Addicted.” It’s part of a sampler that also includes tracks from The Safety Fire, Leprous, Jolly and others, so why not go ahead and download it? It’s actually been out for a couple of days but Inside Out’s website has been down, so I’m just getting to it now. Devy sounds fantastic. Fair warning: you’ll have to pay the price of giving your email address, and the MP3s aren’t properly tagged.

-VN

We already posted Metal Injection’s multi-camera video footage of High on Fire and Intronaut at our second annual South by South Death showcase, held March 14th at the Barbarella Patio in Austin. Now it’s time to watch footage of all the rest of the killer bands that graced our stage: Nachtmystium, Darkest Hour, Black Tusk, Holy Grail and MonstrO. Watch it all below! You can check out all of Metal Injection’s SXSW coverage at this convenient linky dink.

Nachtmystium:

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“West Ruth Ave” might be the single catchiest song I’ve heard all year. No joke, this is like beyond Gotye levels of catchy! I’m hooked.

The song is by The Night Flight Orchestra, the new “classic rock” band featuring vocalist Björn “Speed” Strid from Soilwork and bassist Sharlee D’Angelo from Arch Enemy. It’s cool to hear Strid’s voice in a non-metal context; he sounds just as good and distinctive. And the band is absolutely slammin’.

I dare you not to bop your head and resist the urge to dance to the sweet, almost disco-like grooves of the song posted on Coroner Records’ Facebook page; you’ve got to give them a “Like,” which is annoying, but it’s worth it, promise. Internal Affairs comes out on June 8th and is available for pre-order now.

-VN

In March we learned from a highly reliable source that the reports of The Human Abstract’s demise were greatly exaggerated, and that a European headlining tour “may” happen this coming summer. No longer do you have to trust our word, because the band took to Twitter themselves yesterday afternoon to basically say the same thing: “Tour is on the horizon.”

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Ulcerate’s first-ever North American tour kicks off this Friday! We can’t believe it’s finally here, and we know we’re not the only ones; people in our circle and on the web have been buzzing about this limited East Coast run, with Tombs and Svart Crown opening, ever since it was announced.

In anticipation of the tour, I emailed Ulcerate drummer Jamie Saint Merat a bunch of questions about the band’s history, their thoughts on touring North America, their recent jump to Relapse Records, and what’s in store for the future. Our quick chat, below:

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Hot Water Music certainly aren’t metal and I don’t know very much about their history, but I do know this: if you came of age in the ’90s and listened to punk, they were a very important band to you. My experience with them has been limited — I saw them open for someone (can’t remember who) at NYC’s Wetlands in the late ’90s, and I’ve heard random tracks of theirs from time to time — but all of it has left a positive impact on me. And now I’m listening to their brand new “comeback” album Exister via Spin.com, their first release in eight years, and I’m understanding why people so love this band; they’re fucking great.

If you were ever into Bad Religion (which I certainly was), there’s no reason you won’t really like Hot Water Music too; both bands share a certain positive energy, musically speaking, in their composition, chord progressions and sonic makeup. I acknowledge this comparison doesn’t fully capture HWM and is ultimately lazy, but it’s the best I can do with my limited knowledge of punk. Chuck Ragan’s gravelly voice is captivating, perfect for the music and I absolutely love it. I’m not qualified to say how Exister measures up against Hot Water Music’s old material, but on its own it’s a helluva listen. Stream it here. I’m already on my second go-round of the whole album today. Exister comes out tomorrow, and can be ordered here (U.S.) and here (Europe).

-VN

Baroness have been playing a new song called “Take My Bones Away” live for several weeks now, but today we get our first listen to the real, crisp, recorded version that’ll be found on their forthcoming mega-album Yellow & Green. Stream it above, via Metal Insider!

“Take My Bones Away” is pretty indicative of Yellow & Green as a whole; it’s a pretty mellow album with a lot more melody than Baroness have ever used in the past. “Take My Bones Away” is actually one of the heavier tracks on the whole set. So if you’re one of those people who hates it when bands get less heavy, well… let this serve as a warning. But if you’re the type, like me, who loves it when bands continually evolve and stretch outside of their comfort zone, you’re gonna love what Baroness has in store for you come July 17th.

We’ve now heard Yellow & Green in full, and let me tell you: it’s a doozy! I liked it immediately, from the very first note. Some of the songs are so catchy I felt like I already knew them. I think I like it more than I liked Blue, although the verdict’s still out as compared to Red.

-VN

Original Ratt bassist Juan Croucier made his live re-debut with the band this past Ratturday, May 12th at the M3 Rock Festival in Columbia, MD after Robbie Crane, Ratt’s bassist since 1997, left last month to focus on Lynch Mob. For Ratt fans, this meant two things: 1) No songs written after 1991 were performed (except for a 0:30 sample of “Take A Big Bite” tacked onto the end of “Lack of Communication”) 2) Lots of songs written before 1991 were performed, including tracks the band rarely plays live these days (setlist).

This would’ve left fans like me who absolutely ate up 2010′s Infestation a bit PO’ed, but I’m guessing I’d be in the minority there. The same folks who attended M3 to see today’s lame versions of Skid Row and Warrant play the classic hits probably felt the same way about Ratt. But I know that if I’d paid good money to see a Ratt headline show I’d be highly disappointed. Ratt are the rare “legacy” band to actually deliver a quality comeback album — and it’s been recognized critically, too — so they should embrace it; Croucier better learn the Infestation setlist pronto!

Anyway, check out the entire set above. Bear with DeMartini’s out-of-tune guitar in the beginning; it gets better.

-VN

A number of metal record labels pulled their artists from Spotify last year claiming low payouts and unfair treatment to independent labels. But now it appears as if things are looking up for indies on Spotify; a confidential report forwarded to Evolver.fm from Merlin — an organization that represents independent labels and lobbies to get them the same treatment afforded the majors — claims that independent labels experienced a “major boost” in revenue from Spotify in the first quarter of 2012.

This is encouraging news for metalheads calling for their favorite labels to re-join Spotify. The information made public by Evolver.fm doesn’t specify the nature of the increased revenue — did Spotify actually increase their payout rates or is the higher revenue simply due to an increased volume of members and streams? — but either way, labels better take notice of the fact that Spotify is finally generating real income for independent labels, and by proxy, their artists.

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I hate to say “I told you so” I love saying “I told you so,” so please allow me this opportunity to gloat! Last month, via deductive reasoning based on Heavt MTL and Heavy TO festival billing, I concluded that Gojira and Lamb of God would soon announce a summer tour together. And I was right! Suckers!

Lambgoat is now reporting that Lamb of God and Gojira will tour together for a month and a half starting on August 1st, including the two Canadian “Heavy” festival on August 11th and 12th.

But I didn’t get it entirely right. I surmised that of the other bands playing the same festival days as Gojira and LoG, Dethklok would “make no sense stylistically speaking.” Guess I was wrong there. And truth be told, I guess it does make some sense; Dethklok are pretty fucking heavy, and so are Lamb of God and Gojira. Lamb of God and Dethklok will “co-headline” while Gojira support, but I’ve always found the idea of a “co-headline” somewhat ludicrous; whoever plays last is the true headliner.

Anyway, this is a really, really cool tour and I am extremely excitebike about it. Tour dates:

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TesseracT’s new acoustic EP Perspective – the EP that was inspired by an “Unplugged” session they shot in NYC for Metal Injection — is slated to finally come out on May 22nd. Although the EP is mostly re-recorded acoustic versions of their existing material, they’ve included a cover of Jeff Buckley’s “Dream Brother” too. And seriously, who doesn’t love Jeff Buckley? I don’t think I’ve ever met a single person who dislikes his music… he was just SO good it’s undeniable.

TesseracT’s cover of “Dream Brother” is great, and new vocalist Elliot Coleman‘s range is just a perfect fit to sing Buckley. Stream the song over at Metal Hammer then come back here and share your thoughts.

-VN

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Even though the “I’m pregnant / It’s yours” Craigslist Missed Connections personal ad from the Chicago Motorhead/Megadeth concert turned out to be a hoax, I haven’t lost faith in the endless comedic goldmine that is Missed Connections. Today’s post comes from an eagle-eyed MS reader, who we’re guessing either a) is the Tragedy fan / astronomy lover in question, or b) just happens to enjoy randomly browsing Missed Connections as much as we do. Either way, this post referencing a Tragedy show at Red 7 in Austin, TX is pretty funny:

I saw you sitting on the inside stage at Red 7 at the Tragedy show on Friday. You were with another girl and a guy. You had long brown hair, were wearing a black shirt with a star system on the map (which I found extremely captivating), and a black skirt. I was going to ask you about what you were reading, as I like girls that read, but you walked off with your entourage, and I proceeded to rage way too hard during Tragedy. I saw you again near the Hot Dog King stand, but you went the other way before I got a chance to talk to you.

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