Ron Jarzombek is a name that’s too seldom heard outside of progressive metal circles, despite his extensive metal legacy. Sure, a handful of people may be familiar with Blotted Science — the so-called “supergroup” of which he is a part — but by and large, even those who know Blotted Science are unfamiliar with the man himself.

Jarzombek began his musical work with the underrated-yet-incredibly-influential prog band Watchtower in the 80s, then delved into the realm of technical instrumental music with Spastic Ink in the 90s and 2000s. Blotted Science’s debut, The Machinations of Dementia, was released in 2007, and  also featured Cannibal Corpse’s Alex Webster (who is still in the band) and Behold… The Arctopus’ Charlie Zeleny (who is not).

That band is now back after four years (with a new drummer, Obscura’s Hannes Grossman, to boot!) to release The Animation of Entomology, an EP centered around bugs and horror — so much that the songs were actually written to already-existing videos as kind of horror movie scores. You can see the video for the first one, “Cretaceous Chasm,” here; the second one, “Vermicular Asphixiation,” is here.

I Skyped with Ron last week to discuss the new EP and ended up learning a lot about Jarzombek’s musical history, Blotted Science, Jarzombek’s views on the current metal scene, and ESPN exercise videos.

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I don’t think I’ll ever be upset if a band I love starts getting more popular. Finally, they’re getting some recognition, and all the people I usually bug about the music I like can get some peace from me. Of course, there is a certain amount of smugness to “being there first,”  but what can you do? I try not to be too smarmy about it.

Insomnium is one such band. It’s no secret I enjoy my melodeath, but it seems so dismissive to label this band as such and leave it at that. I hesitate to describe their sound as anything but “haunting”  – the word could not be more apt. Seamlessly combining melancholic harmonies with harder solos, their music is just dark enough to offset the bittersweet lightness that pops up at unexpected intervals. Their newest album, One For Sorrow, marks their fifth release, and vocalist, bassist, and co-founder Niilo Sevänen was happy to talk about why they sound so sad.

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Interview and live pics by Emily Eve; girls on stage pic by Friedia Niimura

In one sense, making records is like using the toilet: It takes more to do number two than number one. And in the case of L.A. heavy metal semi-parodists Steel Panther, a follow-up to their wildly funny and compulsively banging 2009 debut Feel The Steel is an even bigger, stinkier challenge: This time, fans can see them coming, um so to speak. But in the spotlight’s glare, before expectant ears and faces poised to smile, lead singer Michael Starr and crew deliver a bigger, dirtier, and awesomer mass of heavy metal hilarity called Balls Out (available Tuesday). The 14-track tour de farce covers 47 amazing minutes, a range of hot-button rocker issues (drugs, gender roles, boners), and a load of singalong mega-choruses and nip-scorching guitar solos unheard since pro tools was just an aisle at Sears. To those somehow able to resist Feel The Steel, I say: You’re fucked now. Balls Out is stronger than you and your feeble protestations. Crank. It. Up.

This feat of skill and cocksmanship on display in Balls Out begs for investigation, so last week I went to hear firsthand how Steel Panther achieved the equivalent of making a Ghostbusters II better than its Ghostbusters I. And though it was a rainy, gusty Autumn night, the huge Steel Panther dressing room was buzzing heatedly as I sat down with Starr and lead bass player Lexxi Foxxx to get answers. Just nearby were lead guitarist Satchel (at whom I gazed lovingly whenever his inattention allowed) and lead drummer Stix Zadinia (with entourage) as the three of us gabbed highly about Balls Out, drugs, vaginas, immaturity, maturity, the guy from Nickelback, shaving stuff, the responsibilities of being Steel Panther, and much more.

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Hailing from the United Kingdom, Evile are sure standouts in the field of thrash, leaning more toward a gritty, Bay Area sound and aesthetic than cartoonish crossover revival. Their most recent Earache release, Five Serpent’s Teeth, continues along these lines, proving that the thrash revival may just be more than a passing trend. The album is especially impressive, given that the band suffered a tragic blow prior to its creation: Original bassist Mike Alexander succumbed to a blood clot in the lungs in October of 2009. Fittingly, Five Serpent’s Teeth includes a tribute to Alexander in the form of a riff he used when warming up before a show.

We recently spoke to lead guitarist Ol Drake about Alexander’s passing, Rock Band, touring with his idols, and the future of the Evile, as well as thrash at large. Read our full chat after the jump!

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Axl has blathered quite a bit in recent months about the awesomeness of the new Die Miserable album from Canadian death-grind-punk-whozit-whatsit-galore band Fuck the Facts. It’s left me quivering in the fetal position a few times, too, so we figured it was high time we found out what the band had to say about it? Read on for all the facts you could ever want to fuck from the band’s guitarist/founder Topon Das and vocalist Mel Mongeon.

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Given the unprecedented amount of bands that are getting their starts via the Internet these days, it’s somewhat remarkable that any of them manage to make a name for themselves. Animals as Leaders, Periphery, Cloudkicker, and a fair number of similar projects have been getting the majority of the recent buzz, but Threat Signal were among the first to put music online and get a record deal from it.

All the way back in 2004, Jon Howard, Rich Howard, Kyle McKnight, and Adam Matthews wrote and posted the song “Rational Eyes” on GarageBand.com, leading to the eventual formation of a permanent band and the 2005 release of Under Reprisal. In 2009 they released the album Vigilance, which was received rather poorly.

The band is back with a self-titled new release that blends the brutality of their first release with the much-criticized and (now much-improved) melodic tendencies of Vigilance. I talked with extremely stoked vocalist Jon Howard last week about everything from the TS writing process to the band’s recent lineup changes and the state of the current metal scene.

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If you go to metal shows in or around New York City you’ve definitely seen Munsey Ricci, founder and president of Skateboard Marketing. The man’s been a fixture in the metal scene in New York for over two decades, first at record labels and then, for the past 20 years, as one of the most well-known and well-established indie radio promoters in the biz. To celebrate Skateboard Marketing’s 20th anniversary — an impressive accomplishment in any business let alone the grueling and unforgiving music industry — we caught up with Munsey to talk about the role of radio promotion in today’s scene, what it takes to keep a company going for so long, and the state of the industry.

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I’m gonna tell you right now – I don’t usually get all “fan-girl” and nervous talking to people, even those I greatly admire on an artistic level. When I was told I was going to be interviewing Rex Brown, the fact that I was going to be talking to someone who helped mold my musical tastes as a kid didn’t hit me until probably an hour or so beforehand, and that’s when, admittedly, I started to get a bit weak in the knees. I started to remember so vividly hearing Pantera’s “Floods” for the first time on a family road trip to the Midwest, how it chilled me like nothing else ever had, and those days speeding down 95 in my first car blasting Cowboys from Hell. As one of the founding members of Pantera – up until their unfortunate end – he helped open the gates for a great deal of us to the world of metal. With his involvement in Down, as well as Crowbar, that love for many of us was kept alive.

Of course, with his recent departure from Down, some may have been wondering what else, if anything, Rex had next up his sleeves. Thankfully, there’s plenty.

As soon as I answered the phone, one of the first things Rex said to me (with a laugh) was that he’d been “giving interviews all day.” That in itself I thought was a true testament to someone who, even after over two decades working at it, is not looking to give up anytime soon – a fact that’s emphasized by his enthusiastic involvement with his new band Kill Devil Hill. The new project, featuring Vinny Appice (Heaven and Hell, Dio, Black Sabbath) on drums, Mark Zavon (Ratt, 40 Cycle Hum) on guitar and Jason “Dewey” Bragg (Pissing Razors) on vocals, is currently on tour and looking forward to releasing their yet-to-be-named debut album early next year on SPV/Steamhammer Records.

Talking with Rex was not only an experience in that he’s someone I have long admired; it was something getting to speak with someone so excited and hopeful about his current conquest. After over two decades playing music – through the triumphs as well as the hardships – to be as enthusiastic and passionate is not an incredibly common thing. I think that’s something that all of us can not only appreciate, but hopefully aspire to.

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Yes, it’s true: our interview with Enslaved’s brilliant bassist/vocalist, Grutle Kjellson, came at the end of a very long and stressful day involving behind-the-curtains technical issues here at MetalSucks, and another devastating loss by Vince’s beloved New York Mets. So, yeah, we may have had a few to loosen up before heading into Kjellson’s dressing room to chat. And, yeah, Vince’s can of Bud Light and Kjellson’s can of Corona were both the same color. So, yep yep, at one point, Vince did indeed pick up Kjellson’s beer and take a swig, and, yes, Kjellson did notice immediately. Lucky for us, he was cool about it.

Also lucky for us: the man is a great goddamn interview, and, it should go without saying, a great goddamn performer — later that night, Enslaved absolutely obliterated us, and their stellar performance more than made up for our otherwise crappy day, the embarrassing imbibing of the wrong drink included.

And so, after the jump, get Kjellson’s thoughts on the band’s latest North American headlining tour, their recent collaboration with Scion A/V, plans for their next album, the upcoming celebration party for their twentieth anniversary (!!!), and more.

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Producers are the silent contributors to the albums of your favorite artists; their role is incredibly crucial to the final product, but their contributions are rarely recognized.

Many music fans don’t know exactly what it is a producer even does, or they’re under the assumption that producers direct from afar and check-in occasionally — almost like a spiritual album-creation adviser — ala Rick Rubin. In the vast majority of cases that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I’d liken a producer’s role to that of a movie director’s; whereas as a director’s job is set up each shot perfectly and get the best performances out of his actor’s, a producer’s is to set up the conditions in which a band records and to get the best performances out of the musicians. To be specific: which band member records when, how many tracks they lay down, mic selection, mic placement, types of amplifiers and guitars, which pre-amps, compressors, processors and effects to use, etc, etc, etc — the producer has a say in all of that and works tirelessly on setting it all up until it sounds just right, a way more difficult task than it may seem. Many producers also help with song arrangements by making suggestions to the band for ways they can improve their songs by making small — or drastic — tweaks. Some producers also serve as mixers, the film analog of which would be the editor. Mixers do a whole lot more than just adjust sliders to make the levels of each instrument right; getting each instrument to “cut” through the mix so they’re all audible and clear is no easy task, and requires hours upon hours of relentlessly making minute adjustments to EQ settings, outboard effects (reverb, compressions, etc) and more. In short, producers are really fucking important and they rarely get the credit they deserve.

I find the art of production absolutely fascinating, and I love speaking with producers, getting inside their head, and finding out what makes them tick. Their vantage-point of music is much different than musicians’, and it’s a fresh perspective we don’t often hear much about.

Shane Frisby has been producing and mixing bands since he was a teenager on a 4-track in his bedroom, and he’s since graduated to owning and operating the Brick Hithouse in Massachusetts where he’s produced records by Bury Your Dead, The Ghost Inside, Sentinel and many more. When I catch up with Shane one Friday afternoon he’s in the middle of installing patch bays into his control room, a necessary evil he’d been putting off for eons. Read on to find out what Shane thinks about tips for getting started as a recording engineer, his own career trajectory, mixing and producing “transparency,” his favorite all-time producers and mixers and his thoughts on the new generation of so-called “laptop metal” producers.

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In all the discussion of thrash metal’s first big bands, too little airtime is given to the great Suicidal Tendencies. Launched by a teenaged Mike Muir in Los Angeles, Suicidal took root in punk and hardcore, landed an early MTV hit in the manic, careening “Institutionalized,” and attracted the ire of authorities via rumored gang ties and concert violence. And that was before ST solidified a line-up, one anchored by Muir’s bandmate in No Mercy, riff-god guitarist Mike Clark. The two Mikes rebooted Suicidal with the defiantly thrashy How Will I Laugh Tomorrow When I Can’t Even Smile Today, a major label-powered crossover hit which drew an even bigger target on the band for censorship crusaders and unwittingly helped to fertilize the coming crop of nu-metal self-pity peddlers.

But in the hands of Muir, personal woes weren’t excuses but motivation, and confrontation more often than wallowing; see 1989′s mini-album Controlled By Hatred/Feel Like Shit … Deja Vu, on which Muir continues to document disassociation for a society slow to acknowledge mental health realties. Suicidal’s peak came in 1990 with Lights … Camera … Revolution, an album-length indictment of society’s complicity in its own demise, all cowed by power-mongers, con men, and the self-righteous. This was a different era for metal; no commercial band had yet approached the blunt rage, contrarianism, and pervasive guitar solos of Suicidal Tendencies.

On the phone to MetalSucks last week from California, a typically expansive Muir downplayed his regard for the history of Suicidal, but even he looks back to past days on The Mad Mad Muir Musical Tour (Part 1), his forthcoming collection of new and vault tracks by re-punk era ST, his solo Cyco Miko project, and Infectious Grooves, the funk-metal clan Muir formed with ST bassist Robert Trujillo (now of Metallica). So I had all the license needed to drag Muir down memory lane to tour the land of Suicidal. Join us!

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Sean Dunne’s short documentary, American Juggalo (above), has become nothing short of a sensation. When readers first started sending us links to the doc, I thought it was great, but I also thought that it would be interest to a handful of music fans and pretty much no one else. I was dead wrong, though; suddenly movie blogs and the mainstream media starting giving Juggalo attention, comparing Dunne to some of the truly great legendary filmmakers like Frederick Wiseman and D.A. Pennebaker.

And Dunne deserves the acclaim. American Juggalo is insightful, even-handed, and even sympathetic to ICP fans. I know it’s good because it almost made me regret all the shit I’ve given Juggalos over the years… almost.

I reached out to Dunne via his website to see if he’d be game for an interview, and, happily, he was. Read our complete chat after the jump and find out the answer to the question: “Fucking American Juggalo, how does it work?”

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Kenneth Thomas, in a tunnel.

If you care about heavy music and still believe that art should trump commerce every time, you owe it to yourself to check out Blood, Sweat & Vinyl: DIY in the 21st Century. I’ve written about Kenneth Thomas’s music documentary in these e-pages before. After watching the film a second time, I’m even more convinced of its importance as both a document of bands that you rarely (if ever) got to hear from outside of the concert hall, and argument for the importance of underground music makers, making music underground. Thomas chose to keep the focus tight, centering on the musicians, artists and label heads associated with three independent labels that are doing things their own way: Hydra Head, Neurot Recordings and Constellation. While there are certain characters that emerge as the spiritual ballast for the film – Aaron Turner of Isis & Hydra Head, Steve von Till of Neurosis & Neurot, and Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, in particular – the overwhelming sense is of a giant inter-connected family of passionate people, united by nothing other than a desire to pursue truth and clarity through music.

Aside from a couple off-camera giggles during an adorable scene with Justin Broadrick (Jesu/Godflesh), Thomas himself doesn’t show up in his film. So we figured we’d find out what the director had to say about his opus.

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“Today kinda sucked,” Bob Wilson laments as the sun begins to set over Philadelphia. His band, Mother Of Mercy, had wrapped their far-too-early set at This Is Hardcore 2011 a couple of hours before, and a self-effacing form of Monday Morning Quarterbacking had been set in motion. “Nails and Ringworm were after us, so we probably sounded like fucking New Found Glory compared to that shit.”

Hardly. One of the few groups actually building on the crossover tradition rather than simply re-thrashing it, Mother Of Mercy sound distinctly unlike melodic pop-punk. While not as nihilistic as Nails or balls-to-the-wall as Ringworm, the band draws noticeable influence from artists like Danzig (note the album numbering system), Megadeth and Obituary, bucking the tough-guy machismo trend without much regard for categorization. Were their latest record IV: Symptoms Of Existence released on, say, Relapse or Metal Blade, as opposed to hardcore haven Bridge Nine, metalheads would already be embracing Mother Of Mercy. Such is the problem when straddling that line.

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pic via

Speaking about glam metal, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott claimed that Hanoi Rocks were the only band that “pulled it off.” And while Def Leppard is now lumped with glam bands like Poison, and are currently touring with Motley Crue, that doesn’t make his assertion any less true. Hanoi Rocks were originals. That angry, shithead punk mixed with the New York Dolls/Bowie glam sound that Guns N’ Roses did so well would not exist without Hanoi Rocks. “Paradise City” is actually a mix of different Hanoi Rocks riffs, and Andy McCoy, guitarist and co-founder of Hanoi, has claimed it’s just a slowed down version of “Lost in the City.” Their influence ranges far and wide, from Manic Street Preachers to Alice in Chains, and Michael Monroe was one of the original two founding members of the band. He and McCoy were the guitarist/lead singer duo that would’ve outshone even Jagger/Richards… had they got the chance.

In 2007 Hanoi Rocks released Street Poetry, but only two years later, McCoy and Monroe announced that they’d taken the band as far as they could. After playing farewell shows in Finland and Japan, Hanoi Rocks disbanded for good in 2009. It’s a shame that they’re known more for the fact that their drummer, Razzle, infamously died in the car accident where Vince Neil drove headfirst into another vehicle while inebriated, than they are for their music.

But while the band may be no more, Michael Monroe is certainly not done yet. Backed by a stellar group of musicians including Sami Yaffa (ex-Hanoi Rocks), Steve Conte (ex-New York Dolls), Dregen (Backyard Babies), and Karl Rockfist (ex-Steel Prophet and touring drummer for Danzig) ,he’s released Sensory Overdrive under his own name just this year. Michael was nice enough to take a few minutes to talk about what he’s been up to these days. In fact, he was so nice he called me before I was supposed to call him.

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Warbringer is a band that uses elbow grease: Screamer John Kevill and crew work hard, make forceful records, and tour enough to symbolically qualify as vagrants. But with less reliance on modern music marketing — and its shrieking tone, nagging omnipresence, and sweaty odor — how does a no-nonsense act like Warbringer find purchase on the sheer cliff face of success? It helps that their three albums create a Warbringer world, with listener-orienting devices like common track order schemes (think Metallica’s second, third, and fourth albums), common art design (twice with tattoo-able art by Dan Seagrave), and common title phonetics (War, Waking, Worlds). It helps also that Warbringer’s band personality is totally eyeroll-proof, just the shared vibe of five cool metal fans in cool metal t-shirts being cool and metal just like you.

And Kevill exemplified that friendly, frank chillness in a chat with MetalSucks this week — after which we just gabbed about general metal for an equal amount of time — as he discussed new album Worlds Torn Asunder, Warbringer’s first non-traditional producer choice, their new drummer’s attention to the three P’s, and keeping his band totally metal. Trends die, but there’s always an audience for the real. That’s Warbringer.

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Swedish death-thrash quintet The Crown is so awesome that their music overcomes your personal preferences and tastes. They represent a hot bikini fox that even your gf ogles, a burger whose aroma mesmerizes your vegan pals, a party joint on which squares toke sociably. So, extreme metallers can laud the quintet as the elite of their genre, while everybody else can say, “I’m not way into that scene, but I love The Crown.” They’re a common denominator, an irresistible force. Though their stuff is out there, it gets in you. Everybody saw Star Wars. Everybody reads In Cold Blood. Everybody can love The Crown. This is my belief srs.

And there’s more Crown to love as of last week when they announced their second reunion with original vocalist Johan Lindstrand. This follows a hiatus-breaking entry in the Crown discography, the tight, monochromatic Doomsday King (with ex-God Macabre screamer Jonas Stålhammer). It’s an unusual Crown album, admits guitarist Marko Tervonen, and one made under “difficult” circumstances. Its reception was unusual too: Some fans perceived a thematic about-face by the devilish Crown and firmly decried Doomsday‘s Christian-ish tone. About this mild backlash, a friendly and laughy Tervonen spoke with MetalSucks last week between answering a billion questions about the brief Stålhammer era, his awesome strategy for The Crown’s next classic album (forecast for a late Spring release), the new opportunity to reunite with Lindstrand, their slight tour schedule, families, friends, confusable album titles, and the songwriting arsenal/ball-crunching power of the “properly” reunited Crown.

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Last time we spoke with a member of Mastodon was when we interviewed Troy Sanders in person on the Rockstar Mayhem Tour in 2008. It was our biggest interview to date, and we were a bit starstruck. MetalSucks has grown leaps and bounds since then, and Mastodon have too; they’ve toured the world several times over and become without a doubt one of the biggest metal bands on the planet. This Mastodon interview session’s subject was guitarist Bill Kelliher; having now interviewed a number of my heros I wasn’t nervous like I was back in ’08, but it’s always a pleasure to speak with someone whose art you respect so much.

When I’m connected with Bill he’s cruising around Atlanta in his ’64 Pontiac Catalina “because it’s a beautiful day.” Doing nothing seems to be Bill’s preferred activity when he’s not on the road, which doesn’t happen much these days with Mastodon’s busy schedule. After his cruise and our interview, Bill was planning on a quiet night at home with the family: “I’ve got 2 little boys and usually it’s a birthday party or something that we’ve got planned – dinner parties or whatever. It’s always something. My wife and I are just like ‘let’s have a night to do nothing tonight.’ Sit on the couch maybe and watch a movie with the boys.” With Mastodon’s new album The Hunter coming out on September 27th and a headline tour with The Dillinger Escape Plan and Red Fang following shortly thereafter, Bill better squeeze in these nights while he still can.

The Hunter takes Mastodon in a different direction than their past two magnus opuses (opii?). None of the record’s songs are over 5 minutes long. According to Kelliher, the band just “dumped out [their] bag of riffs” and assembled them into songs that worked without worrying about a grandiose concept. “Can we just write a record and have fun and not have to have all these crazy stories and imagery? Can we do without that on this record?” Indeed they can and indeed they have. Kelliher’s thoughts on that and more after the jump.

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Well, we’ve arrived at my last post I’ll be making here during my 24 hour take over of Metalsucks.net and this one’s gonna be a doozy.

Before I get started I’d like to extend a sincere thanks to Vince and Axl for allowing me to come into their home and ruin it A.C. Slater style. I really appreciate the opportunity and I hope I didn’t do too shitty of a job.

The contest rules said I could post any-fucking-thing I want but I’m really wondering if this last post will be the “exception” to that rule?!  I will say this, if this is posted in full I will have the utmost respect for Ben Umanov (a.k.a. Vince Neilstein) because he’s gonna have to swallow some pride by allowing it to happen.

Just to be clear I mean no disrespect by anything that follows, it’s just something I personally feel needs to be addressed.

On July 25th, Ash Avildsen-the owner of Sumerian Records-posted a blog expressing his opinion on the whole Spotify/Metalsucks situation that’s been brewing on this site as of late while also taking some pretty strong shots at Metalsucks.net’s owner, Vince Neilstein.  Readers of this site have continually asked for a response from Vince, yet he’s remained silent; something that’s completely unlike him to do.  I strongly feel that Ash’s opinion should be made available to as many people as possible though.  Why?  Because we’re in a time where label after label is failing along with hundreds of thousands of bands and management companies.  Not Sumerian though.  They continue to grow at a pretty alarming rate and I think there is something to be said for that; they must be doing something right.

As an avid reader/loyal fan of Metalsucks I used to dig how Vince would post on a certain topic and give his well thought-out opinion in a calm and collected manor.  A great example of this was when Ash created a video sharing his opinion on music piracy.  Metalsucks featured it in a story along with a very fair analysis of it by Vince where he shared his opinion on what he agreed with along with what he didn’t-all while maintaining a certain level of respect.  That’s what get’s my respect and is a HUGE reason why I love Bob Lefsetz.  He’ll voice his opinion on a topic then when he does his follow up “Mailbag” newsletter he is pretty 50/50 in including ones from readers fully on his side all the way to ones totally tearing him apart; even ones where they say he’s an asshole that doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

With that said I think the whole Spotify debate that’s been raging on this site as of late has gotten really out of hand.  Vince almost seems to become enraged if someone doesn’t agree with his opinion on Spotify.  As the whole has progressed it’s seemed to be getting worse and I’ve started to think that he’s only posting interviews/opinions of others that are inline with his.  Yes, he’s posted responses from parties that disagree with him on the matter but they always seem to be ones that are really weak and easy for him to pick apart which of course makes it easy for him to come out looking completely right in the matter. With that said I think Ash’s blog was VERY well written and really provided some great insights into why it is important for labels to get revenue off of their bands music sales.  It was strong, concise, to the point, and was presented in a very easy to understand manor and I have a feeling that’s why Vince didn’t respond-it really called him out. Keep in mind they had no problem posting Ash’s response when it was attacking The Gauntlet.  Personally, I was anxiously awaiting what he’d have to say and was pretty bummed out when a response never came.

I do realize this is Vince’s site and he can do whatever the fuck he pleases but I also feel like there’s a certain responsibility that should be carried so you don’t come out looking like Fox News.  For many readers this is the ONLY site where they’re getting information on this whole Spotify thing and I strongly feel that they should be able to hear both sides perspectives so they can fairly form their own opinion on the matter.  After all, when a jury’s deciding which side to take in a trial wouldn’t it be a little unfair to the defense if the prosecution were the only ones allowed to make their case?

So first check out Ash’s entire blog which I’ve reposted below and after that you’ll find an interview I conducted with the man himself this week.  I had so many things I wanted to get his in-depth opinion on and he was kind enough to answer everything in full!

As for me, as I said in the beginning it’s my last post-I hope you enjoy it as well as everything else I posted today!  As for this post you may be asking yourself: is this the ultimate troll, a statement on unbiasedness, or a loving attempt at putting out the fire on those bridges?  I’ll let you decide…

Love your favorite guest writer in Metalsucks history,

Justin Gosnell

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Chris Adler is a man that needs no introduction.  He’s revered worldwide for his skills behind the drum kit and his band-Lamb of God-is absolutely one of the biggest metal bands in America today.  You’d think after becoming so renowned as a drummer and having his band take part in such huge events (world tour as direct support for Metallica anyone?!) he’d take it easy and just rest on his laurels.  That’s completely the opposite of the truth.

Chris continues to work harder than ever to this day to not only refine his craft but to also keep up with what’s going on in the metal world today.  Chris was gracious enough to spend some time with me where we discussed everything from his decision to switch from bass to drums, all the way to the details on his drum clinics, as well as his thoughts on Bandhappy.com.  

Check it out and troll away in the comments section.  For more info on Chris Adler and all his current actives be sure to check out his website by clicking here.  

-Justin Gosnell

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