MetalSucks

Hey, lookit! We just debuted a new Arch Enemy video, “Beast of Man,” earlier this month, and the band already has another one. Sweeeeet.

So here’s “Dark Insanity.” The track comes off the band’s recent Century Media release The Root of All Evil, and the footage is taken from their killer DVD, Tyrants Of The Rising Sun – Live In Japan.

Also: a friendly reminder (as though you’d forgotten!) that Arch Enemy will headline the MetalSucks sponsored Tyrants of Evil North American Tour 2010 with Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within starting in January. Get dates here.

-AR

I’ve never seen Rock of Ages, the “Broadway smash!” jukebox musical that incorporates (recycles) old hair metal and hair metal-friendly songs into what Variety tells me is the story of “two people who meet at the Sunset Strip club Rock of Ages, fall in love and try to stay together.” But I’m assuming it’s awful. I mean, on the one hand, if you’re gonna suffer through a Broadway musical, I understand the appeal of said musical at least featuring songs by Poison, Bon Jovi and Twisted Sister; but on the other hand, no I don’t.

ANYWAY, I mention all of this because Variety also tells me that Adam Shankman is going to be directing a feature film version of this show. Shankman presumably landed the job because he directed the movie of the musical of the movie Hairspray and the studio execs in charge needed 110% assurance that whomever they hired would do nothing original or creative whatsoever. He’s also directed such masterpieces as Bringing Down the House (Queen Latifah shows Steve Martin his inner brother), The Pacifier (Vin Diesel wears a tutu), and Cheaper by the Dozen 2.

Christ. They couldn’t even get the dickhead who directed the first Cheaper by the Dozen.

Rock of Ages has given the world one true gift, however – Bret Michaels getting whacked in the head at the Tony Awards:

Click to read more…

I just saw this “Advanced Fast Hand Finger Wizard Master Class” on Metal Injection and, well, like all things Metalocalypse, it’s definitely worth watching.

-AR

When it comes to being epic, Insomnium are second to few. We had the pleasure of catching them on one of their rare U.S. tours a couple of years back with Katatonia, Scar Symmetry and Swallow the Sun, a bill of massively epic proportions. They were indeed mighty. But the audience wasn’t nearly as psyched as they are in this video of the band performing “Down With the Sun” from their latest opus Across the Dark, sent in by MS reader Josh Kidd. This footage was filmed just a week ago in the band’s native Finland, which would explain the crowd’s level of enthusiasm. I’d love to see Insomnium in Finland… in a forest or on a boat, perhaps… that would be epic.

-VN

I’m totally into this Dutch band CiLiCe that one of our readers sent in earlier this week. These dudes are unbelievable… they’re the closest thing I’ve heard to former MetalSucks proverbial wet-dreams Sikth since… well, Sikth.

CiLiCe lose points, however, for not having their album available for download anywhere that I can find (I checked their MySpace, official website, iTunes U.S. and even iTunes Netherlands). You just lost ten bucks, dudes. What gives? I ain’t payin’ $20 for a CD to be shipped overseas. But you still rule.

Here’s their video for “God of Lies,” the first track from their recent [apparently un-downloadable] album Deranged Headtrip.

-VN

CiLiCe | MySpace Music Videos

Please allow me to digress from our regular subject matter to discuss another one of my great loves – namely, horror movies.

I saw Hatchet at the Tribeca Film Festival a few years ago. I was more than a little surprised to see Dee Snider sitting in the audience. As it turns out, Adam Green, the writer/director of Hatchet, is a huge Twisted Sister fan. He gave a whole speech before the screening, recounting a story of meeting Dee at a signing when he was a kid, and telling Dee how his music changed his life and inspired him to follow his dreams.  Years later, when he finally got to make his first movie, he reached out to Dee and invited him to the screening – and Dee showed up! How cool is that? And BONUS: Hatchet is an awesome movie. It’s a funny as fuck, gory as hell homage to the golden age of slasher flicks – namely, the 80s. Awesome movie.

Now Adam Green has directed the below “infomercial” with his friend, Paul Solet, who directed Grace – which is easily one of the most unsettling films I’ve seen in years. It’s increasingly rare to see original horror these days, let alone original horror that is genuinely disturbing – but Grace is that gem of a movie. No wonder it got a very limited theatrical run and is now on DVD. Maybe if it had been Saw XXI or whatever, the suits would have given a fuck.

ANYWAY, I love these dudes’ work, and I love this video. And knowing that many of you share my love of all things gore, I thought it was worth sharing. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

-AR

But it might make for a better video if it was.

Instead, Decadence’s “Silent Weapon” video gives us pretty typical people running through the woods imagery, and some shots of a swinging light bulb that we all saw in a hundred other metal videos about fifteen years ago.

Still, the song isn’t terrible. But I can think of another, much better female-fronted band from Sweden, who are about to embark on this totally awesome tour that we’re sponsoring. Just sayin’.

-AR

“Repulsive Salvation” is one of my favorite tracks from Skeletonwitch’s ripping new record Breathing the Fire, out today on Prosthetic Records (order here). I was lucky enough to be on hand for the David Brodksy-directed video shoot last month at Brooklyn’s famed Lucky 13 Saloon, surprisingly one of the few metal hangs in a borough you’d think would be full of them. While the band rocked out to the track over and over like their careers depended on it, I stood in the corner watching the band rock whilst getting my drink on with $1 Busch cans (win!). The dudes in Metal Injection were on hand to conduct an interview with the band, and in between takes we hung out and drank with the Skeletonwitch dudes and bar-owner Melody Henry like a big, happy family, with guitarist Nate Garnett as the jubilant uncle who has everyone in stitches every time the guy opens his mouth. Great times were had.

Enjoy the video below. Also check out the interview I conducted with guitarist Scott “Scunty D.” Hedrick and the band’s hilarious webisodes (the 5th of which was just released). And pick up the album; highly worth it!

In 2009, my primary interest in Billy Milano is reading the new and creative ways the dudes at Metal Inquistion come up with to give him shit (read here and here for examples). Still, I recognize that once upon a time the dude made good music, and about a gajillion of you e-mailed us the link to this video of him performing S.O.D.’s “United Forces” with Lamb of God (and Doc Coyle!) at a recent Metallica concert. So, y’know, let’s call this one a reader request.

-AR

Nuno Bettencourt is apparently going to be on CBS’ How I Met Your Mother. How I Met Your Mother is a shitty show, but I guess I should just be happy that Nuno is on television again? And I liked Jason Segel in Knocked Up and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, so there’s that.

Anyways, I have no idea at what point this video will actually air on the show, or how it ties into the plot of the show, or why anyone would watch the show to see if now that you can just watch it on the net anytime you like. Take what enjoyment you can from this.

And just for fun, here’s Extreme’s video for “More Than Words,” which was the inspiration for the above.

Click to read more…

The big beef on the Webernets this weekend concerned a Twitter fight between Shadows Fall frontman Brian Fair and All That Remains frontman Phil Labonte over the latter’s girlfriend. Yup, a Twitter fight. In the end it can most likely be chalked up to a bunch of drunks quibbling, but it sure is funny! Have a look at the Twitter war play by play over at Metal Injection.

Turns out All That Remains have a new video too, for the track “Forever in Your Hands.” I’ve been over All That Remains since the first time I saw them live and realized Labonte couldn’t touch those high notes he hits on record with the assistance of ProTools. Not that I was ever really into the band in the first place. But, ya know, some of you may dig this band… so here’s the video, which features cameos by God Forbid’s Byron Davis, Killswitch’s Adam D. and others.

-VN

For whatever reason, Katatonia is one of those bands that’s always just slipped beneath my radar. By all accounts I should be absolutely gaga about this band, so their impending release of Night Is the New Day (which I just got and will be spinning today) is providing a great excuse for me to go back and do some Katatonia edu-ma-cation. Here’s the video for “My Twin” from their 2006 release The Great Cold Distance; cool song, cool video.

What are your favorite Katatonia albums and songs?

-VN

I’m running out of ways to say “Skeletonwitch’s Breathing the Fire rocks.” We’ll run Bob Cock’s review next week, before Prosthetic releases the album on Tuesday. And reader Michael Bergin, Jr. tells us he got his pre-order in the mail already, so hopefully by now some of you are aware of how hard this record hits anyway. AND THE ALBUM IS STREAMING RIGHT NOW!!!

So in the meantime, enjoy what I assume is the final in-the-studio webisode! You can watch the first one here, the second one here, and the third one here.

-AR

I really never got into Savatage, and I don’t remember ever having seen this video for “Hall of the Mountain King” before. But reader Shane Gillis sent it in this morning, and anything with midgets, shredding, and Dio-esque vocals can’t be all bad.

This shit is ridiculous. It’s also metal as fuck.

-AR

Man, we just have not talked about Cephalic Carnage around here enough. In fact, I don’t even listen to enough Cephalic Carnage. This band is awesome. Why don’t I listen to them more? They even call themselves “hydrodeath.” They might as well call themselves “Axl’s dream genre.” And did you know that they actually have their own vaporizer? Not like one they own, I mean, I’m sure they own at least one vaporizer each, but, like, a Cephalic Carnage vaporizer? Now THAT’S some merch. Fuck beach towels.

Man, I am so high right now. What were we talking about? Oh, right. Cephalic Carnage made a VIDEO. Video, video… stick to the topic. Video. It’s for the song “Vaporized,” from 2007’s Xenosapien. If that was a Nuclear Assault song, it would be about death and destruction, but it’s not, so it ain’t.

Knock on wood, we’re getting a new CC album in 2010. So that’s something to look forward to.

-AR

Holy shit, the editing in this video in this video is fast. On the one hand, it kinda gives me a headache; on the other hand, I really dig rhythmic editing and like the thought behind this. Plus the song is awesome. So there’s that.

Axe to Fall comes out October 20 on Epitaph.

-AR

[via FEARnet]

There’s been a lot of talk lately about how Megadeth have made their best album in years, Slayer have made their best album in years, some people (but not me!) think that Metallica made their best album in years, and so on and so forth. But where’s the love for Exodus? They might not play venues as big as their aforementioned peers, but they started their own comeback in 2004 with Tempo of the Damned, and things only got better on their subsequent releases Shovel Headed Kill Machine and The Atrocity Exhibition – Exhibit A. Even if I personally didn’t agree with the decision to re-record Bonded by Blood with Rob Dukes, the band has been putting out “their best album in years” for five years now. And I caught them with Dukes last year, and they slayed. These guys are at the top of their game right now.

So I’m excited for their new DVD, Shovel Headed Tour Machine (Live At Wacken And Other Assorted Atrocities). It’s a three disc collection that will include a DVD of their live set from last year’s Wacken fest, a CD of that same show, and then another DVD with a documentary covering the aforementioned, all-important last half-decade. Plus I’m sure there’s a ton of bonus features.

Alas, the DVD doesn’t come out ’til January 15, but here’s a trailer to tide you over. Looks pretty rad to me.

-AR

I mean like it’s completely fucknuts that a band like this has a recording contract with a major label, right?? They’re good. Quite good in fact. Our own Anso DF loooooves Steel Panther and happily wrote up a piece for us when we premiered their webisode earlier this week. But does Universal Records really think they’re gonna recoup on these guys? Or did they sign them to a 360 deal and expect to make it all back on sales of Steel Panther leotards and Steel Panther-branded “Fat Girl” mayo? Beats me, but great for these guys, ya know? They’ve been grinding it out in the L.A. scene for a long time and I’m happy to see them making it.

Oh yeah, so this video for “Fat Girl.” It’s funny in all the right ways, as expected. Feel The Steel is (finally!) out now, bitches! Death to all butt metal!

-VN

As much as I still can’t accept the fact that someone other than Udo will be singing for Accept when they do their reunion tour, I will always be able to accept that Accept kick serious amounts of ass. So much ass that their photo is our Twitter icon (follow us!). So much ass that just watching this live video makes me need to take a shit. So much ass that because of this song they were the first band to have a lyrics warning sticker on their record in the U.S. (more info starting at the 2:15 mark). Thanks to my Facebook friend Carlo T. for inspiring this post.

-VN

I’m not nearly as big a Death Jovi Scar Symmetry fan as the right honorable Mr. Neilstein, but I do really like them (especially 2006’s Pitch Black Progress), and I was curious to see how this new vocalists situation played itself out.

So I’m a little sad to say that while I haven’t heard the band’s new album, Dark Matter Dimensions, as of yet, this song, “Noumenon & Phenomenon,” doesn’t do much for me. And neither does the video. In fact, the most interesting thing about this whole experience, for me personally at least, has been learning what “noumenon” means. I feel much smarter now. Thank you, metal, for once again broadening my mind.

Dark Matter Dimensions is out now on Nuclear Blast. Vince says it’s good so feel free to call me an asshole for not loving this song. Maybe hearing the whole album will change my mind.

-AR