MetalSucks

Okay, honest question. How many of you are still actually buying physical CDs? If you download illegally, I don’t care. Just let me know what your preferred habit is. I’m not a tool from a major label that’s going to sue you. I don’t give a fuck. I personally think that the Compact Disc is a medium that’s in its death throes. Either that, or it died and occasionally twitches. Either way, I just wanna know…. How do you guys prefer to get your music?

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This is a follow up to Vince’s blog on drum triggers. I’m with him.

There’s definitely a misconception out there that to trigger is to cheat. I’ll get this out of the way early: triggers are like any other tool. You can use them correctly, or not. Water can be used to give life or drown a person. Triggers can be used in a musical way for a style that demands them or they can be used to cover up a shitty drummer’s inability to hit consistently or like a man (no offense to all you female drummers out there).

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Shady times in Poland. We were a little bummed to begin with. Warsaw was coming up and we found out that Behemoth was playing in the same town as us. In their homeland. Ouch. When you get news like that your first feelings are, “Why bother with our show? Why not go hang out at their show?” That’s never a good idea. I remember when we were on the Dark Funeral/Naglfar tour in 2007 and we hit Phoenix, Arizona the same day as Behemoth and Job For a Cowboy. It seemed like a serious bummer, but somehow there were still around 200 kids at our show, which was on par for that tour. Same thing happened on this tour. There were like 400-500 kids at our show. I heard there were 2,500 people at the Behemoth show, but still, 400-500 kids made for good times.

The crowd was enthusiastic and other than the intense heat onstage, I thought it was great times. The promoter was super cool. The food spread he gave us was fit for an army. So many different kinds of everything. Meats, cheeses, breads, drinks, cereals, candies, fruits, yogurts, spreads, etc., etc., etc. His dinner was amazingly catered as well. So many different choices of pastas, meats, salads. The backstage area was huge. We were treated great.

Until the end of the night, that is.

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I’m in my bunk. Everyone else is asleep. We’re riding through some windy dark mountain roads somewhere in Germany on the way to the next show. I’ve got “Ghost of Perdition” by Opeth blasting on my headphones. Figured that I would give that a spin. I haven’t really listened to them very much lately. I kinda burned out on them for a while. I never stopped loving their music, but I think I just had more than my brain could handle. When I got into after the release of Blackwater Park, all the way through the release of Ghost Reveries, I’d say that Opeth were on my iTunes at least once a day. They are a band that I’ve listened to, and listened to again, and again, and again. There’s always something new to find in their music. Not only did I listen my ass off but I went to their shows whenever possible. I saw them at least six times before I even met them. I ended up dating a member of their crew for a little while, so that meant more and more Opeth shows. Basically, I know my Opeth, and from the musicianship to the composition I think that they are one of the greatest bands of all time.

That said, I haven’t decided to listen to them in about a year before tonight. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Albums that I just absolutely love, I would consider and just be like, naaah. Maybe it’s the mental equivalent of a water-soluble vitamin like C. Once you have your dosage, the rest just gets released with your urine. Maybe your brain can only handle so much of one type of stimulus for so long before it shuts off to it. I mean that’s happened to me with other bands.

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Those of you out there who are in bands that haven’t made it yet. I have a question for ya. Do you know why you want to do this? Have you really thought it out? There’s a reason I’m asking. I’m pretty easy to reach. I make myself very available online. I’m always into talking to fans, non-fans, whatever, I’m into conversation. Something that always comes up when people are asking me questions is how much money I make from DAATH. First of all, I’m not going to tell you how much money I make from anything. But I’ll say this: DAATH isn’t my only source of income, but all my income comes from music.

What people are trying to find out is if I make a lot of money at this, if I still have to have a day job, etc., etc., etc. No, I don’t make a lot of money at it. There isn’t much money to be made in metal. Most people in bands you listen to have jobs on the side. Whether they’re in music or not is a different story. Most people in metal bands cannot make all their ends meet from metal alone.

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Your reputation precedes you. It’s a blessing and a curse. I know that there are some circles that know me as being a complete ass, and they’ve done their part to spread that about me. When I’ve encountered people they’ve spread the good word about me to, I’m usually met with “Wow, I didn’t realize you were actually cool to hang out with.” Or stuff of that sort. I’m referring to cliques from when I was in high school ranging to some people I know now. I also have positive things that are spread about me ,and it still hits me by surprise when there are positive expectations due to someone’s word of mouth about me. Positive or negative, it’s strange to me that some people have any pre-conceived notions about me. I should just get used to it.

But I’m sure that you guys have felt the same things in your lives. If you don’t live in a cave, or are not stuck in your mom’s basement playing W.O.W. 24/7, then you make your mark on the world. Whether it’s on an international level or just your small group of social and work peers or school or whatever it may be, you make your mark. You affect people. And people talk about you to each other. To what degree will always vary according to all the different social variables unique to your situation.

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When did you guys start listening to heavy music? How many of you started listening this decade? I’m seriously curious about this. Those of you who started this decade… Are you sick of it yet? Are you starting to get sick of it? Does it excite you the way it did in 2004? For those of you who started earlier… do you remember what things were like 1990-1995? Remember when Megadeth was going multiplatinum, Pantera was flying in private jets, and Morbid Angel and Carcass were on major labels? Remember how that pretty much died off?

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You guys familiar with the phrase “Grass is greener?” Well, you should be. I think it’s human nature to get complacent and take for granted what we’ve got and think that what’s on the other side of the fence, or ocean, or job, or band, or girlfriend, or WHATEVER, is better and will make them happier. If they could just have “that” instead of “this,” then life would be better.

I’m thinking about this because I’m on tour in Europe right now. I love being on tour in Europe. I love being on tour in general. When on tour in the US, one of the questions I get asked constantly by friends or fans is whether or not the European audiences completely destroy the American audiences. People are living under the impression that Europe is some metal mecca and that you will instantly go over well here. Not the case. Also, over here people seem to think that America is the answer to your metal needs as a band, and if that they could just make it over there, then their answers would be solved. Also, not the case. Click to read more…

First of all, I have to say, if you’re into Muse then check out their new album, The Resistance, which comes out today. It’s fucking brilliant. They always manage to take a different approach from album to album, and this one continues on that path. Anyways, its great stuff and I recommend it highly.

I’ve had music writing on my mind a lot these days. Maybe its because I have a lot on my plate. The record I’m doing with Emil from DAATH and Cynic’s Sean Reinert needs to be delivered by the first of the year. It’s going to be released in the spring of 2010. My side project wants to record an EP of still to be written material this December. And last but not least, DAATH is looking to go into the studio in April to record our next one. We’d like for it to be out by the end of Summer 2010.

That’s a shit load of music to write in a very short period of time if you consider that we’re still touring. Some advice I get from people is “Don’t rush.” That’s good advice. None of this is going to be rushed and it will all get what it needs and wants so that it can grow into the work of art it deserves to become. I think I’ve figured out how to write on the road and this next tour will be the perfect situation for that. We are sharing the bus with a straightedge band. Can’t be partying like usual because my health could relapse. Instead of staring into space and wishing I could party, I’ll occupy my time with creative things. So I’ll be writing music on the road. And a lot of it!

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Quick announcement on my part: I’m going on tour next week. I’ll be in Europe – woohoo! Lineup is Unearth/Chimaira/Throwdown/ and DAATH. Those of you on the board who live in places we’re playing, come out and hang. I’d love to meet you guys in person.

While on tour I am going to do my very best to keep “Jumping Darkness Parade” going as frequently as I can, but bear with me on this one. Tour is an all-consuming experience. I’ve got some ideas up my sleeves, though.

So anyways, onto what’s on my mind right now….

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We’ve all fucked up. Some worse than others, but we have all fucked up. And if you haven’t fucked up, it’s because you haven’t had the chance. It’s hard to fuck up if all you ever do is go back and forth between this website and World Of Warcraft. Unless you fucked up at that. But that doesn’t count because it’s not real life.

I’m talking about real life. We’ve all fucked up. And most of us have gotten away with some shit we shouldn’t have gotten away with. GUILTY. I have done so many idiotic things that sometimes I wonder why I’m not dead or have a record (Criminal, not musical.). I could write a leaflet entitled, “The Joys of Driving Drunk,” but I won’t. I’m just gonna tell you guys here about some stupid shit I’ve done. I learned my lesson. You guys shouldn’t do this, but those of you who will aren’t gonna listen to me anyways so whatever… have fun!

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I know you’ve all experienced this. You get into a band. Your friend introduces their music to you, or you find them online, or however it is you discover bands. Their album or songs start to get stuck in your head. You start listening to them on your iPod, in your car, at the gym, wherever. You start reading up on them. You look for tour dates. You get excited because one’s coming up. You go see them. Lights go down. Its go time! AAANNNNNDDDD your dick goes limp, or pussy dries up, whatever the case may be, because these dudes just can’t pull off what you heard on their CDs.

But wait, everything sounds like shit in this club. Maybe it’s the soundguy. Maybe it’s just an off night. Maybe somebody’s mom just died. Who knows? So you give them the benefit of the doubt and you remain a fan. Then a few months later you get a chance to see them again, and same story. Limp dick bullshit. I’ve experienced that soooo much. In fact, I’d say that the majority of bands I’ve heard in this genre give me that feeling.

There are only a small percentage of bands that I think can really stand up to what they put down on CD. It’s not hard to understand why this happens.

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So I’m sure you’re all aware of this major lineup change for Dimmu Borgir. I’ve been a fan of that band since ’98, and I’ve liked every single one of their records except For All Tid. My favorite lineup of theirs was the Puritanical and Deathcult lineup. For me as a fan, the music those dudes made together is what really sealed the deal for me with that band. I still enjoyed some later stuff, but for me those two records are where it’s at.

I’m sure they’ll find some amazing people and continue to put out great records, but the band that I became a fan of is now altered. And that got me thinking. How many times has this happened, and when does it really matter?

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So Vince and I were talking the other day about this question that both of us have wondered about from time to time, and since then I haven’t stopped thinking about it. So here it is: DO ANY OF YOU GIVE A FUCK ABOUT LYRICS IN METAL?

Is it just the sound of the voice and how it works with the sound of the music, or is it also what the vocalist is saying that matters to you? I’m going to take a guess and say that fans of hardcore and straight edge bands really do care about the lyrics because the bands are representing the ideals and beliefs of their respective communities. But what about in death metal, black metal, or any other genre of metal? When you listen to Necrophagist or Cannibal Corpse or Suicide Silence, can you comprehend what they’re singing about, and do you even care? Is it what they’re singing about, or is it more what it sounds like with the music, or both?

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Wanna know what’s worse than cops that have decided to ruin your day? Customs officials that have decided to make an example out of you.

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Do you guys have any issues with cops? Ever been unfairly treated by one or many? No, this isn’t a defense attorney ad, but I’m just curious. You see, prior to one thing that happened on the last tour DAATH did (and, granted, it wasn’t HUGE), I had never ever been messed with by a cop. I’ve always treated them with respect, and somehow they’ve always treated me that way. And I KNOW that is a rare situation because I hear from so many people about how they’ve been brutalized or fucked with or just not treated right by some cops.

My thought has always been, who you gonna call at 5 a.m. if someone is rummaging through your house and you don’t own a gun? They’ll risk their lives for you, so with me, there’s always a baseline of respect. But this thing that happened to us sure did shatter that respect for at least one cop.

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The local band weekend tour. We used to do these back in our DIY days and I recommend that any band that aspires to touring full-time do some of these as well. The point is to get you ready for what you’ll encounter out there on a real tour. So you start with a weekend tour. If that goes well, see if you can handle a week. If that goes well, see if you can handle a week and a half. All this time keep doing little weekend runs in your region.

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Okay. It’s time for me to get the answer to a question which has been haunting my soul for a few years now. How many of you metal fans are musicians, how many of you are musicians in bands, and how many of you don’t play any instruments at all and just love the music? Please feel free to get as detailed as possible with your response.

DAATH is the kind of band that likes to meet all of our fans. Granted, we’re not as big as the Jonas Brothers yet, so we have time every night to talk to our fans. But regardless, we make a point of doing so. The grand majority, and I mean GRAND majority of fans we talk to, at some point will tell us about their band, or about a guitar they own, or about some sort of musical inclination they have. Is metal a style of music by musicians for musicians? Are straight up music fans that don’t play anything the minority? Or is it just that way in the more extreme genres of metal – since there aren’t as many fans to begin with are the people that are there just generally the bands in the scene?

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You guys have proven me right. At least I think you have. Could be that all the anti social, acne ridden, socially retarded, fucktard trolls decided not to comment on my previous post, but something tells me that this just isn’t the case. I think you guys came out en-masse and stated who you were. Haters and non-haters alike. Its cool to see you guys actually getting along for once, too.

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How many times have you guys heard the cliché about the fifteen year old pimple faced kid with no life sitting on the computer in his mom’s basement getting on Blabbermouth, or Lambgoat, or any of these sites, and just talking mad shit about whatever band or person of note they feel like lambasting? Well, I’m here to say that the fifteen year old we all refer to is just a stereotype.

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