MetalSucks

Obviously, my headline is a little sensationalistic. We waited a decade and a half for Chinese Democracy; it’s only been six (almost seven) years since the last Anthrax studio album, We’ve Come for You All. And wile CD apparently cost somewhere in neighborhood of $13 million dollars… well, I don’t know what the budget was/is on Worship Music, but I’m guessing Anthrax wouldn’t know $13 million dollars if it pooped in their eye.

Still, Chinese Democracy – which was finally released almost exactly one year ago – is the closest corollary I can think of to Worship Music, which is starting to reach mythological status.

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I’m not sure what the what is the difference between Peta and Peta 2, other than Peta makes awesome ads like this one…

…and Peta 2 makes less awesome ads like this one:

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Anyone remember this from a couple of years back?

Well that Taco Bell isn’t too far from the Mansion, and I’m ashamed to admit, but sometimes, in moments of stoned weakness, I purchased food there. But ever since that little incident, I haven’t eaten at a Taco Bell; I can’t. I know that ALL fast food is crap, but come ON, a man has limits.

Still, I guess it’s nice of them to start this whole “Feed the Beat” program, in which they basically give touring bands $500 worth of diarrhea food for free. And now Metal Insider is reporting that a handful of metal bands – including Atreyu, Iwrestledabearonce, Whitechapel, Municipal Waste and Earthless – are rumored to have been selected for the offer.

And as Metal Insider says, “tour support is tour support” – so I don’t blame the bands for participating. And the dudes in The Waste are probably fucked up half the time anyways, so they won’t be able to tell the difference. Meanwhile, Atreyu have been spewing crap forth from their mouths for years, so they might as well put some back into their mouths for a change.

-AR

P.S. I wanna give extra credit to Metal Insider, not just for originally reporting on this story, but for coming up with a headline that is vastly superior to my own. Nice work, Bram!

Technically disqualified from my year-end list because their record came out in 2008… but damn, this Italian band is just plain awesome. I’ve been spinning Carnal Rapture’s 5-song demo pretty consistently on my iPod. Jazzy, techy, proggy, heavy, and most of all DIFFERENT metal… jam their song “Precious Time” below then listen to more on their MySpace page.

Carnal Rapture – “Precious Time”

-VN

Does anyone even remember Cannae? They were on Prosthetic. Their last album, Gold Becomes Sacrifice, was produced by Jason Suecof. But that was in 2005. Their MySpace page hasn’t been updated since 2006, but it also says that someone logged-in a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, Wikipedia makes no mention of them breaking up.

I don’t ask because I like Cannae; I found Gold to be wholly unmemorable. I ask because it’s a slow news day, and it seemed more fun to discuss the band with you, our faithful readers, than to e-mail someone at Prosthetic and ask “What the dilly?”

Here’s “Rats, Snakes and Thieves” from Gold Becomes Sacrifice.

-AR

So some people are all up in arms about the above painting by the artist Tom Sanford, The Assassination of Dimebag Darrell, which will be going on sale at an auction later this month (read all about it here and here). I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, but I do want to make two quick points:

1. Metal fans really don’t get have the right to be offended by artistic portrayals of horribly violent acts, even if they’re based on a real incident. If you’ve ever enjoyed Slayer’s “Angel of Death,” you should understand my meaning.
2. It’s just a painting, and, really, the most offensive thing about it is how ugly it is.

Weigh in with your thoughts below.

-AR

…MS Maniac Daisy May Tinklepants just pointed out to us that the cover art for their new album, Revisions, is awfully similar to the cover art for Throwdown’s new album, Deathless. The two are being released too closely together for me to think that one is ripping off the other (also, their respective music is so dissimilar that I wouldn’t be surprised if either band didn’t care for the other’s work), so let’s just call it serendipity.

And, while we’re on the topic, here’s Slayer’s video of “Eyes of the Insane,” which the reader known only as “Jimmy” pointed out was the precursor for both of these covers.

-AR

So unless you spent your summer someplace where there’s no internet or any way to get metal news, you should be aware that Zakk Wylde a) has been replaced by Firewind’s Gus G. as Ozzy’s new guitarist and b) got the news when Ozzy did an interview announcing he was parting ways from his longtime axe-slinger, because apparently Ozzy and Sharon are too chickenshit to actually pick up the phone and make a difficult call. And so it would be completely within reason for Zakk to have nothing but terrible things to say about all parties involved – in fact, I kinda expected him to do just that. This is the man, after all, who threatened to kill Dave Grohl just for writing some riffs for Ozzy, and who basically attacked a journalist who repeated a rumor that Wylde’s pal Mike “Metal Mets” Piazza might be a homosexual.

But Wylde is actually taking the news really well, or, at least, he’s putting on a good face. From a recent interview with MusicRadar.com (via Blabbermouth):

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Apparently 3 have an album out. The band “3.” You know, the band whose logo looks like a giant dong on its side. The album is called Revisions; it came out on October 27th, yet I’ve heard nary a peep about it in the U.S. press. No interviews, no features, no “album art revealed!” or “new track streaming!”, no music video; barely anything at all.

Considering that their last album End is Begun was widely praised and the band did a well-received run on Dream Theater’s Prog Nation tour (also w/ Opeth), I’m thinking something has to be up in the 3 camp. What up? My three (!) theories as to what’s going down:

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Thanks to Rob Pasbani from Metal Injection for bringing this interview with Type O Negative’s Peter Steele to our attention. If you skip to roughly the fifteen minute mark, Mr. Steele starts to talk about… God. As in, he is now Saved, or a Believer, or whatever you’d call it.

Now, if Peter Steele wants to believe in God, that’s his right and who the fuck am I to judge him? As long as he doesn’t start preaching at concerts, I really don’t care one way or the other. But I do think it’s funny that (as Rob pointed out) this man is famous, at least in part, for this song:

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As you may be aware, Vince and I are both big fans of The Destro. So this news, which I read on Metal Underground, is pretty upsetting:

Brad Kirkland, bass player from Metal Blade recording artists THE DESTRO, reportedly disappeared before the band’s show on Tuesday, October 27 at Fubar in St. Louis, MO. The band called the venue and cancelled the show minutes before they were due on stage.

This is the second time in a month that a prominent metal band has completely misplaced a member; but unlike that other group, the dudes in The Destro are not total idiots, and actually make good music. It would be great if it turned out that Kirkland was just enjoying a lost weekend, because while that make him irresponsible, at least he’d be safe, and the only consequence would be that he make a sincere apology to any fans who got screwed out of a Destro gig.

More news as we get it.

-AR

Our inboxes are aflutter with fans celebrating today’s release of The Great Misdirect. Mostly they range in tone anywhere from “jizz” to “splooge” but never anything less.  Here’s a sample, sent in by MS reader Patrick Dorsey:

Hello, Axl and Vince. Longtime reader. First-time e-mailer. After hearing The Great Misdirect, I wanted to shout it from on top of a mountain. But I don’t have a mountain. I have you guys at MetalSucks. So here goes: Between the Buried and Me is the LeBron James of music right now. This is not hyperbole. That is all.

Can’t say I disagree with Partick’s assertion, but for me the verdict on this record is still up in the air. I’m currently just getting started on spin number 3. I mean it’s brilliant, there’s no doubt about that… but a record this dense takes MANY, many listens to fully internalize and it’s going to be a while before I decide how this one stacks up against the band’s prior work and if/how it marks a progression in their evolution.

Until then, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em… this one’s a doozy for sure.

-VN

MS Maniac Tim-o-tato has brought to our attention that the almighty Gojira are the latest band to produce a pair of kicks. Check it out:

I like ‘em. They’re simple. Tasteful, even – people might not really realize that you’re wearing sneakers emblazoned with the logo of one of the best metal bands in the world today (I can practically hear my mom asking “There’s a shoe company called Gojira?”).

Unfortunately, they’re stupid expensive – 95 euros, which is about $141 U.S. (and that’s not including shipping). Sheesh.

Hey, Vince – so about that Hanukkah present…

-AR

It’s safe to say that we’re addicted to Addicted here at the MetalSucks Mansion. The latest from The Devin Townsend Project is so infectious I keep expecting the CDC to quarantine us.

So Mr. Townsend is doing the rounds now, promoting the album, and he just gave a really terrific interview to our pals over at Noisecreep. A lot of the interview focuses on the dissolution of Strapping Young Lad, which I don’t find so interesting. It’s not that I don’t think SYL were an awesome band – both Vince and I fucking LOVED that band – but I’m glad they went out while they were still cool, as opposed to seemingly every other band on the planet, who apparently want little more than to get paid and disappoint their older fans by churning out lackluster product. And it’s not as though Townsend has dropped off the face of the planet or stopped making awesome music or whatever.

No, the part I find really interesting is where Townsend recounts 2006 stint on Ozzfest. Here’s an excerpt:

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Halloween is making me absolutely fucking crazy this year. You know how people get fed up with the mass-consumerism of Christmas and what it says about American society? I kind of see Halloween in the same light. As soon as October hits (and often even before), the grocery store isles fill up with candy and all anyone can talk about is “what are you gonna be for Halloween this year???”. There’s SO much emphasis and pressure on it that it just becomes crazy and stressful. Like on New Year’s Eve how everyone stresses about where they’re going to be when the ball drops… who fucking cares? It’s a damn cluster of lights signifying the fact that the earth has once again passed by an arbitrarily determined point in space. Get over it. Can’t we just leave Halloween be as a fun time for dress-up for the kiddies?

Maybe I’m just being an old curmudgeon. The ladies of Reign in Blonde took a stab at suggesting how some of their favorite metal musicians should dress up for Halloween this year. Doc Coyle as Wolverine? I like it.

Last year Frank @ Metal Injection went as a pagan metaller, full-on clad in skins, makeup and the whole 9. It was a brilliant costume I wish I’d thought up myself. This year we’re having a little party at the MS Mansion Vince Division and I think I’m just gonna be Louie and run around offering to dip my balls in things. What all do you have planned? Anything metal?

-VN

An initial impression of Axe to Fall, Converge’s latest bruiser, is that it’s a little too simplistic: the vast majority of the album find the band rocking more balls out than they have since their early days. Even “Worms Will Feed” and “Damages,” two slower tracks, feel more like uneasy breathing room than the expansive, emotional dalliances of You Fail Me’s “In Her Shadow” or No Heroes’ “Grim Rose/Black Heart.” Even despite Axe to Fall’s two further-out-than-ever-before closing songs, the majority of the album feels slight, missing a key element of what had made the band as exceptional as they are up until now. With No Heroes finding the band at once at their grindiest and most experimental, something about Axe to Fall feels empty.

Of course, initial impressions don’t do a Converge album justice; if the band are known for anything, it’s marrying the deceptively simple and the brilliantly complex. Despite its tendency to be more gruff than any modern Converge release, Axe to Fall features some of the band’s tightest, most interesting songwriting, as well as providing one of the most satisfying repeat listens of any Converge album. Compact but alarmingly dense, the band have never been this comfortable putting their heads down and charging at you, with a relentlessness that’s almost militaristic in its approach. More than just a bunch of throw-aways before its wildly expansive ending, Axe to Fall stands eye level with their genre-defining full length debut (Petitioning the Empty Sky) or their genre-shattering masterpiece (Jane Doe). Though foolish and cynical to think otherwise, the band are still as good as they’ve ever been, with no signs of coasting despite having been around exponentially longer than most of the hardcore bands they came up with.

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Or at least we hope. As Axl pointed out to me one time, it’s not that Sevendust have managed to outlast their nu-metal peers and persevere through hard times; even terrible bands like Static X and Dope have done that. It’s that Sevendust have somehow managed to avoid the critical backlash that was bestowed upon nearly everyone else from their era of metal. Maybe it’s because they’re a cut above most of those bands, because they’re so fucking great live, or because they never reached the level of popularity and/or ridiculousness of many of those bands; I think it’s all of the above. Even after a string of 3 very mediocre and rushed albums written without musical mastermind Clint Lowery in the band, Sevendust have somehow managed to retain their integrity through it all.

But now Clint is back in the band, and they’re recording their first album since early 2007’s Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow, with producer Johnny K behind the boards. There’s a lot of anticipation, but there’s also a ton of pressure.

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According to Media Newswire, Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid was one of six recipients of the 2009 Mayor’s Awards for Arts & Culture. The award is given to “individuals and organizations in celebration of their outstanding contributions to New York City’s cultural life,” and were presented by Mayor Michael Bloomberg himself (Also, Full House’s John Stamos, who is currently starring in Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway. Interesting.). Other honorees this year included the Thalia Spanish Theatre and my childhood favorite, The Big Apple Circus.

I think I can safely speak for both Vince and myself when I say that Vernon is one of our all-time favorite guitarists, and the award couldn’t go to a more deserving guy. And if you don’t believe us, you haven’t listened to The Chair in the Doorway yet, and shame on you.

Check out my interview with Vernon Reid here. He’s a really smart, really fascinating dude.

The Chair in the Doorway is out now on Megaforce.

Our friends over at Noisecreep have an interesting new interview with former Killswitch Engage front dude Jesse Leach. The gist of the interview is that he doesn’t regret quitting the band seven years ago, just before they were launched into the metal stratosphere, and much prefers making less money and being in bands no one seems to care about. (Okay, I made that last part up. But still.) Here’s the quote I found really interesting:

“I look at the band now, and I don’t even think twice. There’s no way in my brain I could fathom being on stage, doing what they’re doing. Maybe if it were on my own terms, but from what I’ve seen them do, they’ve kind of taken a goofier route with Adam D… I love it, I get it, I respect it … it’s very punk rock and tongue-in-cheek, but that’s not who I am.”

Of course I love Alive or Just Breathing, but really did not enjoy Leach’s Seemless project. Not even a little bit, not even when I was stoned. So, whatever.

He  is now apparently fronting a band called Empire Shall Fall, which is literally a one-word change from one of Leach’s lyrics for “Numbered Days.” Maybe Leach can recruit Kerry King to play guitar for that band, and they can be happily un-goofy together.

-AR

If you’re famous, one of the biggest problems with being dead is that you lose all control over how your “estate” (read: family that needs money) uses abuses your legacy. Case in point: Kurt Cobain is apparently going to be in Guitar Hero 5.

Now, I’m not one of these people who has a problem with Guitar Hero or rhythm games in general – I find them entertaining, and I’m not an alarmist who thinks they mean kids are gonna stop learning to play real instruments.

But I feel like Cobain is definitely the kind of stick-up-his-ass dude who would have a problem with Guitar Hero. Still, Francis Bean gotta eat Courtney Love gotta shoot up, so there’s Kurt in all his pixelated glory.

I’m shocked that Dimebag hasn’t been included in a rhythm game yet. I’d wager that his estate is working on that right about now.

-AR