So, uh, hey, did we happen to mention that The Metal Suckfest took place this past weekend at the Gramercy Theatre here in New York? Well… it did! And we had an awesome time. Twenty incredible bands all kicked our asses and shredded our reproductive organs; we are truly exhausted, and can’t wait to do it again.

In case ya weren’t able to attend, our friend Justina Villanueva was there to capture all the action. After the jump, check out some killer photos of Municipal Waste, God Forbid, Today is the Day, This is Hell, Howl, Black Tusk, Magrudergrind, All Pigs Must Die, and Ramming Speed. We’ll have some more great pics from night two of the fest later this week!

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On October 6th, the Frak the Gods tour — featuring Periphery, Textures and The Contortionist, with Stray From the Path taking the place of The Human Abstract — rolled through New York City for a very appreciative sold-out crowd at the Gramercy Theater. MetalSucks faves The Binary Code opened the show, and MS photographer Mariel “Tormentia” Pietrykoski was there to capture all the action. Take a look at her photos after the jump.

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On October 5, Gothenburg’s power-prog masters, Evergrey, arrived in San Francisco to decimate The Regency Center — and on the off-chance they couldn’t do it alone, they brought along the mighty Sabaton and Blackguard for the ride. Once again, intrepid MetalSucks photographer Miikka Skaffari was there to capture the action for you, our beloved readers — and, and once, he captured that action in style. Check out his awesomer-than-thou pics after the jump!

And while we’re on the topic, our pals over at The Deciblog have an awesome new interview with Evergrey vocalist/guitarist Tom S. Englund. Check that out here!

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MetalSucks and Vertebrae 33 descended upon New York Comic Con this past weekend to create the most METAL booth at the entire convention. We passed out loads of free shit courtesy of our friends at Metal Blade, Live Nation, and, of course, ourselves, and wherever there’s free shit at Comic Con there are hordes of people ready to take it from you. We counted dude ponytails to pass the time until we got bored because it was too easy. Charred Walls of the Damned drummer / Howard Stern writer Richard Christy stopped by to sign autographed for a couple of hours, Paul Booth and Metal Injection stopped by to say what’s up, and several loyal MS readers introduced themselves to us. Good times.

But the real fun was in the people-watching; the costumes people trek across town to Javits Center are pretty outrageous. Lots of nerdy dudes and nerdy babes parading around gave us plenty to look at during the convention’s three full days. Check out some photo highlights from the MetalSucks Comic Con booth after the jump.

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MetalSucks photographer extraordinaire Miikka Skaffari has done it again! This time he braved the pits of the Regency Center in San Francisco to bring you some totally awesome shots from The North American Khaos Tour, which we are very proudly co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie. Miikka was able to capture some totally killer photos of headliners Arch Enemy along with support acts DevilDriver and Chthonic. (For reasons beyond his control, he wasn’t able to get any pics of Skeletonwitch. We’re as bummed as you are. But we’re sure we’ll be able to get you some awesome SW shots during the band’s upcoming co-headlining tour with Kvelertak, which we are also proudly presenting.)

And don’t forget, there are still four dates left on the tour! They are…

Sept. 30 – Albuquerque, NM – The Sunshine
Oct. 01 – Denver, CO – The Gothic
Oct. 03 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Oct. 04 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues

Definitely check the tour out if you can, ’cause it rips.

And now, enjoy the awesome photos!

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MetalSucks’ own photographic genius Alyssa Lorenzon recently caught Wolves in the Throne Room at Broad Street Ministries in Philly, and, as always, she snapped some awesome pics you, our beloved readers, to enjoy. For better or worse, the band uses very sparse lighting and doesn’t allow flash photography, so this smaller-than-usual gallery has a, well… let’s call it a moody quality to all the photos. Still killer, though!

Check out all of Alyssa’s pics after the jump!!!

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Man — MetalSucks photographer Miikka Skaffari has really outdone himself this time! His photos always kick ass, but these latest shots, of Down performing in San Francisco last week, are a whole other kind of epic, epic, awesome, epic. See that shot above? That’s just a small taste of the killerness (killerocity?) of this batch of pics. Jump ahead to see the rest — they are really, ridiculously great!

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MS photographer Mariel “Tormentia” Pietrykoski attended the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival on July 31st right across the river from Philadelphia in Camden, NJ and did a spectacular job capturing the show’s bands as always. After the jump, check out her photos of All Shall Perish, Kingdom of Sorrow, Trivium, Suicide Silence, Unearth, Megadeth and Machine Head.

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This past may, MetalSucks’ own Alyssa Lorenzon grew out her leg and pit hair, slapped on a Viking helmet, chugged some mead, and braved the smelly crowds of Philadelphia to capture Amon Amarth live in action during the first leg of their “An Evening with Amon Amarth” tour, in which they played both their entire new (awesome awesome awesome) album,Surtur Rising, and a set of classics. Unfortunately, due to technical difficulties, we weren’t actually able to retrieve the photos until now! But here they are, in all their bearded glory. Check ‘em out after the jump.

And don’t forget: Amon Amarth are doing the second leg of this incredible tour right now! Get dates here.

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On Thursday, August 4, 2011, MetalSucks photog Miikka Skaffari braved the treacherous pits of Slim’s in San Francisco to bring you, our beloved readers, some awesome, awesome pics of Exhumed, Macabre, and Withered. And not only are the resulting photographs gorgeous, but they should more than whet your appetite for Exhumed’s upcoming, MetalSucks-presented tour with Goatwhore, Cephalic Carnage, and Havok. Get dates here.

And now, without further interruption, Mr. Skaffari’s metal-as-fuck pics…

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As we mentioned yesterday, this past Friday, Miikka Skaffari,  our newest member of the MetalSucks Photo Squad, went to the MetalSucks-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour in San Francisco… and boy oh boy, did Miikka ever deliver for his first-ever MS assignment. Dude captured some really, really awesome pics of a bunch of the bands on the bill, including headliners The Black Dahlia Murder (above), Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Dying Fetus, Six Feet Under, Oceano, and As Blood Runs Black. Check out all of Miika’s photos after the jump! And don’t forget that Summer Slaughter — which also features Fleshgod Apocalypse, Powerglove, and Within the Ruins — is still making its way across America right now! Get dates here.

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By all accounts, the Deftones’ two consecutive headline performances at New York City’s Best Buy Theater on May 13th and 14th were absolutely fucking awesome. For many, it was a chance to see a rare headline show by a band who doesn’t often makes it out to this coast. For my friend Eduardo, the May 14th show was a night of firsts: first metal show, first Deftones show, first moshpit, first (and second!) crowd-surf. For me it was a chance to get up front and get sweaty in the pit, something my old bones hadn’t done in quite some time. And for MS photographer Jacqueline Cheng, Friday’s May 13th show was an opportunity to snap some excellent pics of the Deftones and the two opening bands, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Funeral Party. Those pics after the mosh.

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You want Sepultura pics? We got ‘em, courtesy of MS photographer Mariel “Tormentia” Pietrykoski. Our favorite Brazilians tore through New Jersey’s Starland Ballroom with Belphegor and Hate in tow, and Mariel caught it all via her newfangled picture-taking-device. Have a looksee after the fold.

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The legendary Accept and also-legendary Overkill played the Best Buy Theater right here in New York City last month, and our homegirl/photographic wizard Alyssa Lorenzon was there to snap pictures, so that you, our beloved readers, could live vicariously through the magic of photography. And in case that epically epic photo of Wolf Hoffmann and Herman Frank didn’t give it away, Alyssa fucking killed it dead, as always. Check out her incredible pics after the jump!

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FOR SHAME if you missed Agalloch’s recent tour across the U.S. — these shows were the definition of EPIC. Luckily for you (whether you were at a show or not), MetalSucks photographer extraordinaire Alyssa Lorenzon was at the band’s gig at the Sonar in Baltimore last week to capture some typically-killer pics for us. Check ‘em out after the jump!!!

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It’s Alyssa Lorenzon for the win… again! This time the MetalSucks Goddess of Photography captured some killer pics of Cradle of Filth, Nachtmystium, and Turisas when they played the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey earlier this month. As always, Alyssa’s photos will make you feel like you were at the show, even if — sad for you! — you weren’t. Check ‘em out after the jump…

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MS photographic whiz Jacqueline Cheng was on-hand at NYC’s Best Buy Theater to shoot Motorhead on the fine evening of February 28th. Of course she was there… where else would she be on such a glorious night of rockage? Check her shots after the jump.

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On March 1, MetalSucks photographer extraordinaire once again braved the savage, stinky pits of the Trocadero in Philadelphia, all so she could capture these absolutely killer pics from the Finnish Metal Tour, featuring Finntroll, Ensiferum, and Rotten Sound. Bow down before Alyssa’s superior prowess with her weapon of choice — the camera. You are not worthy of photos so awesome, scum. But you get to enjoy them (after the jump) anyway.

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How does she do it? Jacqueline Cheng strikes again with another set of positively epic photos. The subjects: Times of Grace — featuring ex-Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach and current KsE guitarist Adam D., along with fellow KsE guitarist Joel Stroetzel on live guitar — at New York City’s Gramercy Theater on February 22, 2011. We weren’t in attendance, but these photos make us wish we were. Check them out after the jump.

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On February 15th, the Jagermeister Music Tour featuring All That Remains, Buckcherry and Hellyeah rolled through NYC’s Best Buy Theater. Gary Suarez published his controversial but hilarious thoughts on the show shortly thereafter, and now it’s Jacqueline Cheng’s turn… with her lens. One comment from the peanut gallery, then the pics: ATR frontman Phil Labonte has an American Flag tattooed on his entire upper right arm with “Liberty” spelled out in gothic lettering down the length of his tricep. Are you kidding me? Who the fuck is this guy?

Anyway, the pics:

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