If you think all Israeli metal sounds like Orphaned Land, well, you got another thing comin’. The raw, heaving, miserable fucking sludge of Dukatalon marks them as The Holy Land’s most unholy trio; they’ve been likened to Eyehategod, and it’s an apt comparison. It’s like they looked around went, “Well, this sucks — WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING DESERT,” and then made music to express the sensation of dying from thirst (slowly and agonizingly). Dukatalon make metal so thick that if you try to put your fist through it, you’ll just get stuck, consumed, and killed. It’s evil, evil, EVIL shit.

It’s also really, really, REALLY good.

Dukatatlon will release their Relapse debut, Saved by Fear, on December 14, but good ol’ MetalSucks already has a little sumpin’ sumpin’ for ya. Check out the new track “ZX” below, and then, once your mind is appropriately wrecked, you can pre-order the album right here. And, of course, you can sample some more music over at Dukatalon’s MySpace page.

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May the speculation and waiting end; now you can finally hear the second of two Ocean albums released this year, the stunning and expansive Anthropocentric. The album won’t come out until November 9th in North America, November 19th in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and November 22nd in the rest of Europe… but we’ve got it for you today to enjoy for the entire next week.

So; how does it stack up against this album’s counterpart Heliocentric? Is it indeed the “heavy” release that was promised? How does it compare to past Ocean albums? Should Robin Staps run for World President? You be the judge and tell us what you think in the comments.

Order the album here and help The Ocean recover what they lost last week when they became victims of an actual highway robbery in Spain, or donate whatever you can via PayPal.

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You may be familiar with guitar whiz/Carvin-endorsee SHRED SEAN from our earlier interview with him, guest spots with bands like Into Eternity, his solo work, or as the lead guitarist for Blessed by a Broken Heart. Sean clearly possesses a work ethic that would put a sharecropper to shame, because it doesn’t stop there. The latest addition to his resume is a DIO cover/tribute, featuring his bro Alan Tecchio of Watchtower, Hades, and some other bands I don’t know about. Only MetalSucks has the industry clout to bring you this EXCLUSIVE TRACK!!!

Shred Sean and Alan Tecchio – “Rainbow in the Dark”

Shred Sean and Allan Tecchio – Rainbow in the Dark

This is a DIY Garageband recording, so please don’t get all butthurt about the snare sound or whatever trivial detail you want to bitch about in a futile attempt at “sounding like you really know what you are talking about.” Nobody will think you are cool.

Check out Shred Sean on MySpace and look for some exciting news from Blessed by a Broken Heart soon!

-Sergeant D.

BOO-YA! We have a real treat for you today, kiddies: a brand-spankin’-new track from Havok‘s forthcoming Candlelight Records release, Time is Up. We give re-thrash bands a lot of shit here on MetalSucks, but Havok are no ordinary re-thrash band — sure, their music is distinctly old-school style thrash, but their songwriting skills and musicianship are a notch above the competition. And they put on a killer live show, too! Vocalist/guitarist Dave Sanchez assures us that Time is Up is “SO THICK IT’S GONNA GIVE YOU DIAREHHA,” and if “Fatal Intervention” is any indication, he ain’t lyin’! Like all of Havok’s music, it is, simply put, smokin’. Check it out below!

Time is Up will feature album art by Halsey Caust, who also did the cover for Havok’s last album, Burn, as well as multiple records for Toxic Holocaust. We’ll give you more details on the album’s release as we get ‘em. In the meantime, the band is still on tour with Wretched and Armed for Apocalypse through November 16; get dates after the jump!

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Album art credit: Dennis Konstantin

White Arms of Athena are one of my most favoritest unsigned bands. I first spotlighted them back in June of 2009, heard rave reviews about their live show from the dudes in The Binary Code [who played with them this past January in their hometown of Dallas], and last, but certainly not least, the dudes took serious care of us when the Heavy Metal Road Trip rolled through Dallas in March by providing us with some serious herbage.

On that fateful roadtrip stop in March the guys played us a few tracks from the album they’d just wrapped up with producer Jamie King, and to say the music blew our minds would be understating it; everyone there on the bus with us, including some grizzled metal industry vets, was seriously impressed.

Now that album is about to be released, and we’re proud to be able to exclusively premiere one of its tracks, the progressive masterpiece “Astrodrama.” This is some serious music, and the band has a bright future ahead of them; they probably won’t stay unsigned for long. Check out two more songs from the record on White Arms of Athena’s MySpace.

-VN

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For a hot minute my friend and I contemplated inviting Karl Sanders on our big trip to Egypt this past February. It had come to our attention that Nile’s guitarist had never been to the country all of his songs are about, and wouldn’t it be badass to take him around? But then we reconsidered; assuming he would ever even accept an invitation from us buffoons, what if we ruined Egypt for him? What if the mighty Karl Sanders was underwhelmed by the knowledge and ambition of us peons? Would we be embarrassed to jam Nile songs on our headphones whilst staring at the pyramids in awe? What if he got annoyed with our constant farting? Please Mr. Sanders, spare us for we must pass peacefully to the underworld! No, better not to take the risk; Mr. Sanders, you’ll have to make it to Egypt on your own time.

Nile have a new video for “Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld” which we’re premiering exclusively for you all below. They are about to embark on their second MetalSucks-sponsored U.S. tour in support of their recent album Those Whom the Gods Detest — with the incredibly awesome support bands Ex Deo, Psycroptic and Keep of Kalessin in tow — starting on Halloween. Get dates here. In the meantime, watch this video and ponder how we can get Karl Sanders a plane ticket to Egypt; think of the awesome music that would follow.

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Way back in January I named After the Burial’s as-yet-untitled album as my pick for our Albums That Will Fuck Your Face Off in 2010 series. It’s almost November now, but it’s finally time to let the face-fucking commence.

The album is called In Dreams, and Sumerian Records has announced that it’ll finally come out on November 23rd. Take an exclusive listen to the first track to be released from the album, “Bread Crumbs and White Stones,” below. For a track that clocks in at just 3 and a half minutes it displays a remarkable array of everything in After the Burial‘s sonic palette: it’s crushing, it’s melodic; there’s shred, there’s chug; it’s fast and it’s slow; it’s kinda hard to believe how short this song is given all that happens in it, and it’s a testament to why I like this band so much in the first place. And yes, it is most certainly fucking my face off. Have a listen, then tell us what you think in the comments.

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I was seriously excited to hear Silence Is Betrayal, the forthcoming album from San Francisco’s First Blood. Politically charged and heavier than heavy, the new record is a furtherance of the headstrong hardcore found on 2006′s Killafornia that will appeal to fans of Hatebreed, Madball, and Terror, the latter of which once included First Blood frontman Carl Schwartz. I’m stoked to be premiering “Enslaved”, one of the previously unheard cuts off Silence Is Betrayal, on the site today. Check out the stream of this metallic sumbitch below.

Silence Is Betrayal drops November 9th on Bullet Tooth Records. Pre-order it.

-GS

One of the most thrilling performances at this year’s New England Metal/Hardcore Fest came from a reunited Disembodied. Having arrived at the venue mere minutes before their scheduled start time, the Minneapolis band rushed their gear onstage and put on a cathartic, vicious performance of their savage, noisy brand of sludgy hardcore. I stood up front for the entire set, stunned and delighted by how intrinsically menacing they managed to be compared to the fest’s largely toughguy-heavy lineup.

After their set, I managed to get some time in with bassist Tara Johnson, who confirmed that they were working on new material. Finally, the first of these new tracks has been revealed, as the above exclusive video shows. Entitled “Caveat”, it wont come as any surprise to those familiar with Disembodied’s slow, crushing sound — and it gives a great deal of hope to fans that their next, as yet untitled album will slay. Perhaps this will be part of their set tonight at New York’s Mercury Lounge, where they open for the recently reunited hardcore act Strife.

-GS

Ayreon mastermind Arjen Anthony Lucassen is always keeping busy, and 2010 is no exception: Next week InsideOut will release Victims of the Modern Age, the second album from his Star One project. Featuring vocals by Russell Allen (Symphony X), Damian Wilson (Headspace, Threshold), Floor Jansen (ReVamp, ex-After Forever), and Dan Swanö (ex-Bloodbath, Nightingale, Edge of Sanity) and lyrics based on a series of classic, post-apocalyptic sci-fi films and television series — including A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner, and Firefly — Victims of the Modern Age is a must-have for fans of edgy-yet-melodic metal. MetalSucks is proud to debut the track “24 Hours,” which you can stream below. Once you hear how awesome it is, pre-order Victims of the Modern Age here.

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And after the jump, read my exclusive chat with Lucassen about the differences between Star One and all his other various projects, how he goes about collaborating with these legendary singers, Star One’s lyrical content, and what he has in store for fans after Star One…

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If you don’t know Dawn of Ashes, you should familiarize yourself with them right quick: The blackened death quartet recently released their excellent Metal Blade debut, Genocide Chapters, and will provide support for Dimmu Borgir on their upcoming North American tour. This band’s music is heavy as fuck and catchy as hell, and they’re poised for big things.

And if you don’t know Robert Kurtzman, well, shame on you. The guy is a legend in the horror movie game. As the “K” in K.N.B. EFX Group, he did special make-up effects for such classics as Evil Dead II, Predator, Night of the Creeps, Scream, Cabin Fever, and entries in the A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween franchises (amongst many, many more). He also came up with the story for, and co-produced, From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, and went on to direct such films as the original Wishmaster. In 2002, he left K.N.B., and has since formed Robert Kurtzman’s Creature Corps, continuing his incredible work in the world of things that go bump in the night.

Last week, Robert Kurtzman’s Creature Corps took over one of Ohio’s most notoriously haunted locations – The Bissman Building in Mansfield — for the filming of Dawn of Ashes’ new video, “Transformation Within Fictional Mutation.” Kurtzman produced the video along with Scott Licina and Tim Smith, and David H. Greathouse directed. As big fans of both Kurtzman’s work and Dawn of Ashes, MetalSucks was only too-happy when the Creature Corps approached us about debuting some exclusive behind-the-scenes pics from the shoot. Check ‘em out after the jump, but be warned: THEY ARE GORY AS HELL and definitely NSFW.

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BADABOOM! We promised you more awesomeness from Triptykon today, and here it is: an exclusive stream of Shatter: Eparistera Daimones Accompanied, the new EP from the legendary Tom G. Warrior’s incredible new band, a full week before its October 26 release via Century Media. Featuring three previously-unreleased songs from the Eparistera Daimones studio sessions, plus two covers of classic Celtic Frost tracks recorded live during the band’s headlining set at The Netherlands’ Roadburn Festival this past April, Shatter is just more proof that Triptykon are now a major creative force in the metal world.

Stream the EP below, and then go pre-order yourself a copy. You can also check out the killer video for the title track here. And don’t forget that Triptykon are continuing their U.S. tour with 1349 and Yakuza through the end of the month; get remaining dates here.

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Are you ready for new music from Gwar?!?! Well ready or not, here it comes! “Sick and Twisted” is your latest sampling of new music from Gwar’s forthcoming release, Gwar’s Bloody Pit of Horror. It might be the band’s most tasteless song EVER, so crank that shit loud and make sure to offend the neighbors, make your dad shit himself, your mom fist herself, and your grandma puke all over her poodle. Then go here to pre-order the album before Metal Blade releases it on November 9.

And don’t forget that Gwar are on tour right now! If you’ve ever seen the band live before, you know how much fun they are, and if you haven’t, well, don’t miss out! Get a complete tour itinerary after the jump, including FIVE NEW DATES which MetalSucks can now exclusively reveal to your, or beloved readers.

Finally — don’t forget to ask Oderus a question for the next installment of the “Ask Oderus” series he does exclusively for MetalSucks!

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Photo by Jessica Harvey

We’ve been hearing rumors about this for awhile now, but MetalSucks can now exclusively confirm that experimental prog-metal sextet Last Chance to Reason have signed with Prosthetic Records. Expect their debut for the label next year.

We’re always stoked when an awesome unsigned band finds a good home. We first saw Last Chance to Reason this summer, and their brand of techy, spacey, brutal-yet-melodic metal reminded us of a young Between the Buried and Me; we knew right away that they were something special. The dudes from Metal Injection and 1000Knives agreed, and we were all thrilled when we were able to add them to our joint CMJ Music Marathon showcase.

So this band obviously has a bright, bright future ahead of them. If you’ve never checked them out before, you can hear some of their stuff on their MySpace page. And if you live in the New York area, definitely come check them out at the aforementioned MetalSucks/Metal Injection/1000Knives CMJ Music Marathon showcase this Wednesday, October 20 at Club Europa in Brooklyn. The bill also features Car Bomb, This or the Apocalypse, Baptized in Blood, and, in their first New York appearance in eighteen months, A Life Once Lost. It’s gonna be killer. Get tickets here.

Madball‘s latest slice of hardcore heaven, Empire, comes out tomorrow on Good Fight! Since it’s THE LEGENDARY MAD-FUCKING-BALL, we’re gonna assume that you’re already stoked for it. As you should be. So here’s an early taste to slow your jonesin’ for another twenty-four hours: the new track “Invigorate.” WARNING: Listening to this song may cause you to want to punch someone in the face. So don’t play it around loved ones, okay?

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And as if that wasn’t enough, today Freddy Madball is wrapping up his list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Who are his number one and two picks? Skip to after the jump to find out…

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In a recent issue of Decibel Magazine, some writer who thought it’d be clever to base his writing alias on the name of our own esteemed Satan Rosenbloom summed up East of the Wall’s highly excellent 2010 release Ressentiment thusly: “Put simply, East of the Wall have written a minor prog-metal masterpiece without being assholes about it.” The same could be said for Intronaut’s Valley of Smoke; we cannot reiterate enough how good this album is.

Alright, maybe Intronaut are being assholes just a little bit… all three members are leaps and bounds better than you at their respective instruments — and at putting together prog metal masterpieces — and they want you to know it, but for the most part they don’t do so without losing track of what matters most, the song. Valley of Smoke is just challenging enough; four or five listens in and I still haven’t completely wrapped my head around this album, but like your morning brain state after each successive cup of coffee things are slowly coming into focus. And what’s in focus is absolutely phenomenal. That’s just the way music should be; challenging. You’re not always supposed to “get it” the first time through; what’s the point? If that’s what you want you may as well just crank Linkin Park to 11, dudebro. Each time I listen to Valley of Smoke things come just a little bit more into focus, facilitated by Josh Newell’s positively crushing, lush, and strikingly clear production. And it’s all worth it, because holy smokes is there a lot of great shit to listen to on this album.

Or, to put it more succinctly: “A++++ would do business with again great seller fast shipping! highly recommend”

Stream Valley of Smoke in its entirety below. Pre-order it here before it comes out tomorrow, along with some killer t-shirt designs.

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Last week Noisecreep debuted the track “A Public Execution” from Madness in Manila, a new DVD/CD set Shadows Fall are releasing on October 26 that chronicles their performance last year to 15,000 manic Filipinos. “I can just see Brian Fair’s windmilling dreads in my mind’s eye,” commented Señor Rosenberg upon hearing the live rendition of the track for the first time. Imaginary dread-windmills are no longer necessary, ’cause today we got our hands on the video for the track and we’re able to share it with you.

You gotta wonder, those dreads probably weigh a pretty good amount… does it hurt his scalp to windmill? Who would win in a neck muscle endurance contest, Brian Fair or Corpsegrinder? These questions may or may not be answered when Madness in Manila comes out on October 26th; pre-order it here. In the meantime, enjoy the performance below of one of our favorite tracks from last year’s album Retribution.

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So right now you’re probably thinking 1) “Hey, assholes, the NHL season actually started last night so this can’t really be a ‘preview’ in the traditional sense of the word,” and 2) “Hey, assholes, at least one of these artists isn’t actually signed to Relapse Records.” And, yes, we know we’re a little late, but this is metal, so who the fuck is ever on time? And, yes, we know that at least one of these artists isn’t actually signed to Relapse Records, but most of them are, and the fine people at Relapse really did all the work in putting this together, so ppppfffffttttt.

So. After the jump, you can find previews of how the freshly-begun NHL season is looking for the favorite teams of members of 3 Inches of Blood, -(16)-, Buried Inside, Cephalic Carnage, Cretin, Dekapitator, Exhumed, Fuck the Facts, Gravehill, Hero Destroyed, Indian, Misery Index, Mortuous, Repulsion, and Toxic Holocaust. Enjoy!!!

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To celebrate the release of Madball’s latest aggro masterpiece, Empire (two new songs streaming here!), we asked vocalist Freddy “Madball” Cricien to compile a list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running two entries a day from Freddy’s list every day for the next five days, leading up to Empire‘s October 12 release. You can read Freddy’s initial installment here and his second entry here; to follow, enjoy day three of the countdown…

6) SLAYER

I got into slayer later than most probably. Like I said, my background wasn’t in metal. For me, when it comes to heavy music, it was H.C. and then I got into other heavy stuff via friends, etc. You have to give Slayer props. They are as hard as they come, have crazy longevity, are super influential, and keep it real with their style/sound. They are classic. What more needs to be said?! FYI — they are one of Hoya Roc’s favorite bands!

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To celebrate the release of Madball’s latest aggro masterpiece, Empire, we asked vocalist Freddy “Madball” Cricien to compile a list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running two entries a day from Freddy’s list every day for the next five days, leading up to Empire‘s October 12 release. You can read Freddy’s initial installment here; to follow, enjoy day two of the countdown…

8) SUICIDAL TENDENCIES

This is a band that could be categorized as H.C., or, rather, H.C. punk. But over the years, they developed into their own thing. It’s hard to really categorize these guys, so I’m going to go ahead and put them on the list. They are legendary representatives of “heavy music.” I think they deserve to be here. Not to mention, they are one of my favorites. And believe it or not, Lights… Camera… Revolution! is the stand out record for me. People would probably assume I’d pick something older, because of my background, etc. But that record was the onefor me! All their stuff is solid. We’ve toured with them twice now. They are stand up guys and a great band… respect.

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