MetalSucks

Pure fucking gold. I need one immediately. So do you.

-VN

Thanks: Metal Injection

Oh, sure, we’ve done Jew on Jew with a half-Jew and a dude who has spent a lot of time in Israel and is a self-proclaimed “bad Jew,” but Orphaned Land vocalist Kobi Farhi? The dude is FROM Israel! He calls himself a “proud Jew!” With all due respect to Eyal and Mookie, on the Jew scale they can’t even touch Kobi. Hell, the guy has probably forgotten more about Judaism than Vince or myself ever even knew.

With Orphaned Land’s excellent new album, The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR, out today on Century Media, now seemed like the perfect time to pick Kobi’s brain about all things Jew-y. After the jump, get Kobi’s thoughts on everything from serving in the Israeli military to the conflict in the Middle East to frum porn. L’chaim!

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With Orphaned Land’s new album, The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR, coming out Tuesday on Century, now seemed like a good time to take a look at some Israeli metal bands that aren’t as well known. Ready? Here we go…

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Deven Simmons! You mensch. You correctly identified last night’s trivia question: it was the Music as a Weapon IV tour with Disturbed, Killswitch Engage, Lacuna Coil and Chimaira where we first spotted Josh Kidd, the Heavy Metal Hasid. Deven wins a mystery prize from Century Media, and a dreidel from us.

IT’S THE LAST NIGHT OF THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, AND YOUR LAST CHANCE TO WIN!!! Here’s tonight’s trivia question:

• What is the name of Anton OyVey’s clothing line?

E-mail your answer along with your name and address to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 8″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 9 am EST on Monday, December 21. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 8’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S. Good luck…

-AR

Yaaaaaayyyyy for Martin Gutfeldt, who correctly answered last night’s trivia question: yes, twas I who took off for Yom Kippur. Martin gets a mystery prize from Century Media, and a dreidel from us. Hey, those are both things you can spin!

There’s still two more chances to win a little sumpin’ sumpin’ if you lost, though. So here’s tonight’s trivia question:

• At what show did the MetalSucks crew first spot Heavy Metal Hasid Josh Kidd? (Sorry, Josh, you’re ineligible for this one!)

E-mail your answer along with your name and address to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 7″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 5 pm tomorrow (Friday, December 18) evening. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 8’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S. Good luck…

-AR

Alright, technical snafus have passed and we are back, baby!

So mazel tov to Brandon Wagner, who correctly answered last night’s trivia question: yes, it was Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy who turned Vince down for our inaugural “Jew on Jew” interview. No, we’re not bitter about it. But fuck you, Mike. But, no, really, we don’t care. You schmuck.

ANYWAY, we still have three nights to go! Here’s tonight’s trivia question. Winner gets a mystery prize from Century Media and a dreidel from MetalSucks. Here we are:

• Which MetalSucks writer took a day off in observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur?

E-mail your answer along with your name and address to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 6″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 5 pm tomorrow (Thursday, December 17) evening. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 5’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S. Good luck…

-AR

First thing’s first: I hate to spoil everyone’s holiday fun, but when I ask you to include a certain something in the subject line for a contest and/or your name and address, and you DON’T do those things, what do you think that does for your chances of winning? Hm?

Okay! Now that we got that outta the way, yarmulkes off to Matt Poulter, who not only knows how to read and follow directions, but correctly answered last night’s trivia question: yes, Vince once wondered whether or not Sevendust’s Morgan Rose is part of the tribe or not, using a chart not unlike on you may have seen at a Nazi rally. Still funny, though. Matt wins a mystery prize from Century Media, and a dreidel from MetalSucks. Yay, Matt!

Don’t kvetch if you didn’t win, though. We’re only half done with the Festival of Lights! Here’s tonight’s trivia question:

• Which musician declined to be interviewed for Vince’s “Jew on Jew” interview series?

E-mail your answer along with your name and address to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 5″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 5 pm tomorrow (Wednesday, December 16) evening. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 5’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S. What? You want we should go broke?

Now… who has the Manischewitz???

-AR

Horns up for Tzvi Cederbaum, the quite certainly Jewish reader who correctly answered last night’s trivia question: it was The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman who gave a primer on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur earlier this year. Tzvi wins a mystery prize courtesy the good folks at Century Media, and a dreidel courtesy the not-so-good folks here at MetalSucks. Spin both of those in good health, Tzvi.

But don’t stick those lit menorah candles into your eyes if you lost – we’re not even half done with the festivities!

Here’s tonight’s trivia question:

• Vince once wrote a post wondering if which drummer from which band is a Jew?
  

E-mail your answer along with your name and address to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 4″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 5 pm tomorrow (Tuesday, December 15) evening. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 5’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S. You have it so easy! When we were your age we had to go PICK UP our prizes! Feh!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go eat latkes like they were going out of style.

-AR

A technical snafu prevented this from getting up on time last night. Apologies!

It will be a very happy Hannukkah for Joleen Greenland, who correctly answered last night’s trivia question: it was Genghis Tron’s half-Jewish Mookie Singerman who once joked to us that he had auditioned for Norma Jean and not gotten the gig because of his Semitic heritage. (At least,we assume Mookie was only kidding.) Joleen wins a mystery prize from Century Media, plus a dreidel from Uncles Axl and Vince.

But don’t schedule an emergency therapy session if you lost – there are still six more chance to win. Here’s tonight’s trivia question:

• Which musician did a primer on the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur as part of an in-studio video update earlier this year?

E-mail your answer along with your name and address to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 3″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 5 pm today (Monday, December 14) evening. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 2’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S.

Good luck!

-AR

Mazel tov to Kelly Certain, who correctly answered last night’s Heavy Metal Hannukkah question: Who did Vince interview for his very first entry in his “Jew on Jew” interview series? Well, duh. It was Eyal Levi, who are now proud to call part of the MetalSucks team. Poor bastard wishes he’d never met us.

ANYWAY, Kelly wins a mystery gift, courtesy Century Media, and a dreidel, courtesy Uncles Axl and Vince. Enjoy those Kelly.

And, hey, if you didn’t win last night, no need to weep into your matzoh ball soup – there are still seven nights to go. And remember: all trivia questions will have answers that can be found right here on MetalSucks. Now here’s this evening’s trivia question:

• Who once joked to MetalSucks that he auditioned for Norma Jean and was turned away because of his Jewish heritage?

E-mail your answer along with your name and address to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 2″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 5 pm tomorrow (Sunday, December 13) evening. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 2’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S. What? Do we look like we’re made out of shipping costs?

Did you know that dreidel’s were originally for gambling? It’s true. Dreidels are like the Jewish dominoes. Now if you’ll excuse me, Vince and I have a high-stakes back-alley dreidel game to get to.

-AR

Ahh, Hannukkah. The Festival of Lights. Like every Jewish holiday, is ostensibly boils down to “They tried to kill us, we lived, let’s eat!” Which, when you think about it, really is as good a reason to celebrate and exchange gifts as any.

So for the third year in a row now, MetalSucks is teaming up with Century Media to bring you Heavy Metal Hannukkah. Every night for the next eight nights, we’re gonna ask a trivia question that relates to both metal and Judaism. Of everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner to receive an awesome mystery prize from Century, as well as – what else? – a dreidel.

We’re changing things up a little this year – all trivia questions will have answers that can be found right here on MetalSucks. Make sense? Good. Here’s the question for the first night:

• Who did Vince interview for his very first entry in his “Jew on Jew” interview series?

E-mail your answer to axl [at] metalsucks.net with the phrase “HEAVY METAL HANNUKKAH – NIGHT 1″ in the subject line. All entries are due by 5 pm tomorrow (Saturday, December 12) evening. Shortly thereafter we’ll announce the winner and post night 2’s trivia question. And while you don’t have to be Jewish to enter the contest, you do have to live in the U.S. Money for shipping doesn’t grow on trees, ya know.

Now, time to go light the MetalSucks Menorah… good luck everyone!

-AR

As all of you goyim may or may not be aware, tonight is the first night of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights! In celebration we’ll have a very special contest for you that we’ll announce later today, but for now we’d like you to enjoy Gods of Fire’s “Hanukkah Gone Metal.” The track comes from the record of the same name, an 8 track affair (available on Amazon) that ends with a 9-minute epic about the Maccabean War. For any of you Jews who happen to be in NYC (which, let’s face it, is at least half this city), Gods of Fire are performing tomorrow at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn as part of the Major League Dreidel event (yup, you read that correctly).

Jews in metal, unite!

-VN

Do these three words inspire you with shock, awe and amazement? They sure do for me!

Meshugga Beach Party — sent in by of all people Vince Neilstein Sr., who I doubt is even aware of the existence of a metal band named Meshuggah — isn’t a beach party with our favorite poly-rhythmic Swedish headbangers, but is in fact a California-based band that dresses as hasids and boasts “Traditional Jewish folk songs… Instrumental Surf Music… WHO KNEW?”

Meshuggah Beach Party might not possess the same windmilling finesse as their Swedish counterparts, but they do have some pretty sweet choreographed stage moves (fast-forward to the 0:55 mark)… for a bunch of shlemiels, anyway:

I wish I would’ve known about these guys last year so I could’ve hired them to play my 2nd Bar-Mitzvah.

-VN

Israel’s Orphaned Land have just announced a February 9 release date for their new album, The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR, and, yes, we’re going to try and do one of those excellent Jew on Jew interviews that we sometimes do with a member of the band. But while those pieces usually tend to lean towards the, um, let’s say “sillier” aspects of Judaism, I have a feeling that the members of Orphaned Land might have something headier on their minds. I mean, check out what vocalist Kobi Farhi has to say about the album’s themes:

Click to read more…

A+ update Benjamin, A fucking plus.

For those of you goyim (that’s yiddish for “non Jews”) who aren’t familiar with the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur (which was this past Monday, hence Axl’s lack of posts that day), this video update from the Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman should serve as an excellent primer.

We also get an interview with producer Steve Evetts about new drummer Billy Rymer, and we get some footage of Weinman tracking guitars with the rest of the band’s tracks blaring behind him. Sounds like vintage Dillinger to me.

-VN

Reader Josh Kidd just tipped us off to the existence of an Israeli black metal band called Dagor Dagorath. And I, uh, actually can’t tell if they’re really Jews or not. For one thing, there are other Israeli black metal outfits with no Jews (see: Melechesh), and for another thing, Wikipedia tells me that “Dagor Dagorath” is ” is a fictional battle described in the legendarium of J. R. R. Tolkien.” (And, yes, I did have to look it up. I am indeed a dork about many things, but Tolkien bores me to tears.) So, nothing Jewey about that.

I also Wikipedia‘d (it can be a verb, right?) the name of DD’s new album, Yetzer Ha’Ra, and it does have Jewish connotations:

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A couple of weeks ago, Vince told you about some Hasidim in the Music as a Weapon IV mosh pit on that tour’s NJ stop. I was actually at that show (and by “at that show,” I mean “I watched Chimaira be awesome and then spent the rest of the night getting drunk/high with friends before driving home very, very, very slowly”), and even though these dudes were what everyone was talking about, I was totally bummed that I never actually got to see any of them.

Well well well… one of them, Josh Kidd, just e-mailed me. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that other Jews who like metal enjoy a site run by guys with names like “Rosenberg” and “Neilstein,” but, somehow, I was still floored when I got the e-mail. So much so that I’m willing to post this video of our fellow Chosen Person, David Draiman, giving them a shout-out from the stage, even though MetalSucks’  distaste for Disturbed is pretty well documented at this point:

Hilarious, right?

These cats even have their own Facebook group, if you’d like to keep in touch. They even utilize the Anton OyVey logo!!!

-AR

Following Disturbed lead-crooner David Draiman’s much-publicized split with his fiancee a few months back, everyone’s favorite yeshiva boocher revealed in an interview with Altitude that he’s playing the dating game, albeit in a cautious capacity. In a prior interview with Finland’s MusiikkiTV shortly after the split, Draiman revealed that his now-former fiancee’s heritage — half German and half Persian — had become what he called “a huge source of contention in my family.” For those who aren’t privvy to our near-daily assault of Jewicisms on MetalSucks, Draiman comes from an Orthodox Jewish background and has some 200 relatives living in Israel, including his brother and grandmother.

Might Draiman now be on the prowl for a hot, young Jewess? Seems he’s being a bit more selective this time around; “I went out in Chicago. Got a couple of number, went on a couple dates. They didn’t last through dinner,” says Draiman in the below interview Altitude. Ouch! D-man’s playing hard to get. If I were the mother of a Jewish girl in the Chicago area I’d be awfully mindful of who my daughter hangs around with, lest Draiman inject her with “The Sickness.” Oooo ahh ahh ahh ahh.

-VN

[Thanks: Warren U.]

When I posted the inaugural edition of Jew on Jew a couple of weeks back with Daath’s Eyal Levi, MetalSucks commenter nick abrahamson made a suggestion: “how about that dude from Ghengis Tron, he gonna be next??” Ye ask and ye shall receive, Nick.

Only when I pitched “that dude” (aka vocalist Mookie Singerman), I got the following response, despite what he said in a past interview with Paper Thin Walls: “This is a funny idea but technically i’m not even really jewish–only half on my dad’s side and from my understanding you gotsta come from a Jewish vagina to be a real Jew.  I’ve never celebrated any jewish holidays and the only time I’ve been in a synagogue was for friends’ bar mitzvahs in 7th grade so I don’t know how good of an interview i’d be about this…” That’s alright, Mook, fear not; we’re all inclusive Jews here at the MetalSucks Mansion. After the jump, the half-Jew centric interview I conducted with Mookie.

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Several weeks ago marked a momentous occasion: metalGF’s first ever metal show. The show in question was Sevendust at Irving Plaza; I figured what better introduction to the world of metal shows than one of the best live bands on the planet, even if not the most brutal? She had lots of fun, methinks, and made some funny observations (among them a fascination with mosh-pit culture).

After the show, metalgf remarked on drummer Morgan Rose — whom I’d told her to pay attention to because, ya know, he’s awesome — “He’s jewish, right? He has such a familiar face.” And this is a question I’ve myself often wondered. After the jump we take a look at this burning question and examine the physical evidence.

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