MetalSucks

In Axl’s post the other day about chicks in metal who rule harder than Leaves Eyes’ Liv Kristine, he asked our readers to share their favorite metal bands with females… and only ONE of you mentioned the fantastic To-Mera from the UK (clap clap clap for “Choronzon”!). To-Mera easily smoke any of the weak bands you all posted; they’re progressive, they’re inventive, they’re talented, and their singer Julie Kiss is a gifted and unique talent.

To-Mera’s 2008 release Delusions actually received an “honorable mention” in my year-end favorites list for that year; the record is that good. And apparently they just released a new EP called Earthbound. I’ve seen little to no press about this EP which is a shame because I definitely would’ve written about it leading up to its release. Following some investigation, I’ve discovered that the band parted ways with Candlelight Records after Delusions which would explain the lack of promotion behind Earthbound. I haven’t heard Earthbound yet but To-Mera do have the new song “Arcane Solace” and an album teaser streaming on their MySpace page, both of which sound like a logical continuation of Delusions. Gonna go buy the new EP on Amazon now… back for more later. [UPDATE: Apparently Earthbound isn't available digitally. What the fuck?? It's 2009, dudes. You just lost a potential sale, To-Mera. BOO.]

-VN

I’m not entirely sure what a “frost hammer” is – it sounds like the name of a band I wouldn’t like, actually – but it’s apparently the title of a new High on Fire song. You can watch bootleg footage of it being played live below, courtesy Blabbermouth.

Meanwhile, Snakes for the Divine has been announced as the tentative title of HOF’s new album, which will be out on E1 next year. Greg Fidelman, who produced the new Slayer album and worked on Metallica’s Death Mehgnetic, is producing. HOF are doing that whole Dethklok/Mastodon tour right now – if you’ve yet to see Matt Pike shake his flabby shirtless body, definitely go check it out.

-AR

MS reader AcidBeagle sent us the below YouTube embed of a brand new Them Crooked Vultures track called “Mind Eraser.” It’s pretty good (pretty, pretty, pretty good!), but that’s about as far as I’m going to go with it.

While the prospect of a Grohl/Homme/JPJ union was indeed tantalizing in theory, the partnership has turned out to be pretty “meh” in practice. It’s perfectly fine boogie/blues/whatever rock music, but would anyone ultimately give a shit if not for the star-studded cast of characters involved? Methinksnot, but you be judge.

-VN

So warneth Noisecreep, who debuted the new track “The Kicking Legs” by Salt Lake City, UT’s Gaza this morning. Gaza fit snugly between NeurIsis post-metal and Dillinger mathcore, mixing raw, lo-fi punk-inspired aggression with precise, spastic, calculated arrangements. Not my usual fare, but I can’t help but dig the juxtaposition of styles; the end result is something wholly fresh to these ears.

Stream “The Kicking Legs” on Noisecreep or download it for free here. The track comes from He Is Never Coming Back, out November 10th on Black Market Activities.

-VN

Pros and cons of streaming the new Throwdown album, Deathless:

Click to read more…

There’s nothing terribly innovative or groundbreaking about Italy’s Disarmonia Mundi but sometimes a healthy dose of pop-melodeath is just what I need (and God no, I’d never listen to that Sonic Syndicate abortion). More known for often partnering up with Soilwork vocalist Bjorn “Speed” Strid than anything else, Disarmonia Mundi are actually quite good at what they do even if they are essentially to Soilwork as Soilwork are to In Flames, a slightly poppier version of their forebears. I stumbled upon Disarmonia Mundi years ago because I was totally obsessed with Soilwork — ok fine I still totally love everything Soilwork do — and uncovered their linked histories via that bastion of music minutae AllMusic.com.

So Disarmonia Mundi have a new album on the way December 9th called The Isolation Game. The new record does in fact feature guest appearances by Speed Strid, a press release tells us, but to what extent isn’t quite clear. The band has a couple of new tracks streaming up on their MySpace. If you like this sort of music I imagine you’ll eat this up. If not… sucks for you.

-VN

Three cheers for Coalesce: they took a decade in between 0:12 Revolution in Just Listening and this year’s killer Ox, but now they’re making up for lost time.

OXEP, a new, seven-song EP which I’m guessing consists of songs that were recorded during the Ox sessions and just didn’t make the final cut for whatever reason, comes out November 10 on Relapse, but Lambgoat is streaming it right now. So if it’s another ten years ’til the band makes another full-length, at least we got an abundance of Coalesce in ‘09.

Now go give it a listen.

-AR

Since I’m not really a Dark Funeral fan, I have absolutely nothing intelligent to say about “Stigmata,” the new song that is now streaming on the band’s MySpace page, so I’ll just tell this completely inappropriate joke instead.

Jesus walks into an inn. He hands the Inn Keeper three nails and says, “Can you put me up for the night?” Rimshot!

Feel free to share your own tasteless Jesus jokes in the comments section below. Or just, y’know, talk about the actual music.

“Stigmata” comes off of Dark Funeral’s new, Peter Tägtgren-produced album, Angelus Exuro pro Eternus. It comes out November 18 on Regain.

-AR

Why don’t I listen to Ihsahn’s angL more often? That shit is hot, yo! It’s epic and melodic and hooky… it’s just a swell record. Damn you, lack of free time! DAMN YOU!!!

In case you’re wondering “Why is Axl talking about this,” it’s because Ihsahn has a new song, “Frozen Lakes on Mars,” currently streaming here (It is not, as far as I can tell, about a Total Recall winter getaway. Bummer.). And I’m listening to it as I type this, and, jeepers, it’s just terrific. Just terrific. That Ihsahn is a helluva guy.

Anyways, I suggest you check it out. It comes off of Ihsahn’s new album, After, which comes out January 26 on Candlelight.

I’m sure we’ll discuss more as that release date grows closer…

-AR

I have had Mutiny Within’s self-titled debut at the Mansion for about two weeks now, and I’m absolutely loving it. Loving it! Now’s your chance to experience a taste of what I’ve been jamming with a free download of album-opener “Awake,” available today only as a free download at RoadrunnerRecords.com.

This is the best “commercial” — for lack of a better word — metal record that I’ve heard in quite some time. While the mainstream metal canon has mostly stagnated over the past few years with rehash after rehash of umpteenth generation metalcore or breakdown-dominated deathcore, Mutiny Within have come along and finally added something different to the mix, adding a power Euro touch to their brand of American metal. The songs are top-notch, fist in the sky productions, led by the band’s razor-tight attack and Chris Clancy’s operatic vocals (for a sample of his vocal talents, check out this video). These songs aren’t catchy because the band are trying to write overtly catchy melodies… they’re catchy because they come from a genuine place (or at least I can surmise… who am I to make assumptions?).

Check out the free download of “Awake” while you still can, then come back here and let us know what you think. The band is currently on tour with Soulfly and will be making the rounds on the MetalSucks-sponsored Arch Enemy / Exodus / Arsis tour in early 2010. We’ve seen them locally here in NYC for years now, and they are not to be missed… that big sound you hear on “Awake” is not studio chicanery; it’s real.

-VN

So as if you didn’t know, the new Slayer album, World Painted Blood, comes out this Tuesday (or I guess Monday if you’re in Europe). But as usually happens these days, the record is now streaming in full right here. Go check it out.

I’ll have a full review next week, but allow me to stir shit up right off the bat:

World Painted Blood > Endgame > Death Magnetic

If only Anthrax had actually gotten an album out this year…

-AR

Thanks to the reader known only as “L” for the tip.

A little birdy came and told me that Karl Sanders has never been to Egypt.

What what WHAT?!?!

This perplexing nugget of information came up in conversation because yours truly just booked a flight to Cairo in February. There will definitely be a serious Nile listening session in effect when I visit the pyramids, and, if Egypt’s mobile technology allows, blog and Twitter updates from The Middle East will be aplenty. Better yet, I’ll be traveling with someone who lived there for 2 years and speaks Arabic, and for at least part of the time I’ll be staying with a local metalhead. I’m really looking forward to exploring the underbelly of Egyptian metal culture, whatever that entails… I’ll probably get a lot of confused looks when I tell folks I run a website called “Metal Sucks.”

We’re trying mightily to get Mr. Sanders to accompany us on our journey. We’ll see how that pans out. In the meantime, Noisecreep is streaming Nile’s new track “Utterances of the Crawling Dead” which comes from Nile’s new album Those Whom the Gods Detest, out November 3rd. You should listen to it whilst imagining the hilarity of this Jewish metalhead traipsing around Egypt this coming Winter.

-VN

UPDATE: HERE’S A QUOTE FROM DEVIN HIMSELF:

Oh ok…here it is. ‘Bend It Like Bender’

(You! …in the Nasum shirt! …look away!!!)

I know…I know…it’s a pretty bippy-boppy-Euro-type dance track, but you know? guilty as charged when it comes to loving that stuff. I remember hearing The Vengaboys ‘We Like To Party’ back when it came out and it nearly brought me to tears (I was cutting onions at the time…) something about EASY, FUN music that takes very little effort to enjoy…or detest as the case may well end up being .

So yeah, I wrote a song like that. ppppttthhhhhhhhhpppppppphhhhhhhh…..

I’m working on album three of the DTP quartet right now, Deconstruction. And it’s such brained out, complicated nonsense, that while I was writing it (all 4 albums were written during the same period) I remember just finishing the track ‘Traestorz’ (Deconstruction) and my brain was reeling. Super complicated metal madness, and I was like, ‘ENOUGH!!!’ and threw my lube down in revulsion and laid into Bender with a ‘phat ass beat’ y’all.

‘We are one and we have found they only wanted you around
To hold it down, so hold your ground,
We won’t be here forever!
We are young and we have fun and all we’ve found in being around is ‘All and all’ and ‘Holy cows’ While things keep getting heavy! Hang on to your man and Hang on to your woman and HANG ON!!!’

Whats it about? Ah, indeed young knave, gather ye round and I shall dispense the benevolent meaning of this cosmic connundrum upon thee:

ready..?

It’s a play on the title ‘Bend It Like Beckham’ and the robot from Futurama named ‘Bender’, because he’s into partying, and the records called ‘Addicted’. Yup. Oh…and ‘Bender’ and ‘Bekham’ both start with the letter ‘B’.

Anneke VanGeirbergen ladies and Germs…Anneke VanGeirbergen. Did I mention I love Abba as well? Well I do. AND we’re still metal.

Again, all 4 records were written together…which was good for me, because when I would get all antsy with Ki, I would unload with Deconstruction, then get offended by my own pretension and rock some good vibes with Addicted, then when I would feel like it was ALL stupid, I’d write for Ghost, and make some dead country voices.

So yeah, enjoy. Or don’t. I do.

Lastly, There’s a time and a place for fat, shirtless men with head tattoos to bump into each other and yell, and a time and a place for women to move like the beautiful creatures they are.

…just sayin’

dev.

SECOND UPDATE: I THINK THAT’S THE FIRST TIME DEVIN HAS ANNOUNCED GHOST AS THE TITLE OF THE FOURTH TDTP ALBUM. HOO-RAY!

The first time I heard “Bend It Like Bender” from The Devin Townsend Project’s Addicted, I honestly didn’t get the reference. I mean, I understood the play on the phrase “Bend It Like Beckham,” but I had no idea who “Bender” was. Vince and I grew up with a kid named “Bender,” but I was fairly certain that a) Devin Townsend does not know our Bender, and b) our Bender never bent anything of significance.

So I Googled the phrase Bender, and learned that the robot character from Matt Groening’s Futurama is named Bender Bending Rodríguez:

I never really got into Futurama, but if Devin Townsend likes it, I have to assume I’ve been missing out on something awesome.

ANYWAY, this is all me taking way too long to tell you that “Bend It Like Bender” is now streaming on Townsend’s MySpace page. But be careful before you listen to it – it’s so catchy you may only be able to get it out of your head if you blow your brains out.

Addicted comes out November 17 on InsideOutMusic. MetalSucks is still hosting an exclusive stream of the track “Universe in a Ball,” which you should definitely check out.

-AR

Honestly, I was never that excited about Them Crooked Vultures, for the simple reason that supergroups are anticlimactic nine out of ten times (and the fact that Queens of the Stone Age haven’t made a record I’ve wanted to listen to more than once since Songs for the Deaf didn’t help). Still, I was open to giving the band a shot.

Then I heard their first single, “New Fang.”

When Gary Suarez described this band’s music as “seriously generic and geriatric classic rock,” he wasn’t kidding.

Click to read more…

Canadian stoner metallers Priestess were way too cool for their alma mater RCA Records, for whom they released only one album — 2006’s Hello Master — before being dropped. The album undoubtedly underperformed by major label standards, even with that nice sync fee they got for the inclusion of “Lay Down” in Guitar Hero III. Fitting then that stoner stalwarts Tee Pee Records have picked up Priestess to release their next album Prior to the Fire in February of 2010. Tee Pee’s roster includes a lot of acts just a tad too like wayyy stooooned ouuut maaaan for this site’s tastes, but with the release of Iron Age’s stellar thrasher  The Sleeping Eye earlier this year and the announcement that Priestess have joined their ranks, things are looking a bit heavier at the Tee Pee camp.

Priestess have a new song called “Sideways Attack” up on their MySpace page. Me rikee… it’s a bit more up-tempo than a lot of the material from Hello Master and the production is super-dry but tight, not unlike that of Queens of the Stone Age’s Songs for the Deaf.

Priestess performed in NYC this week twice at the CMJ Music Marathon… if you were there, kindly fill us in.

-VN

Did anyone see South Park last night? I watched it in a drunken stupor but I think I enjoyed it. It was about rasslin’.

Speaking of which: while my childhood dog was named after Lex Luger, I haven’t watched wrestling since roughly 1992. But apparently Maylene and The Sons of Disaster have recorded a new song for the Jeri-Show Tag Team, whomever the fuck that is. Maybe these dudes know.

ANYWAY, the aforementioned Maylene have been interviewed by the WWE, which I think will excite some of you – if nothing else, they’re a pretty cool band. The video interview isn’t embeddable, but you can watch it by clicking on the photo below.

-AR

If you’ve never seen Suffocation live, well, you need to. Not only do they kill, but Frank Mullen is one of the funniest fucking front men ever.

I haven’t gotten to listen to the band’s new live album (actually recorded in ‘05), The Close Of A Chapter: Live In Quebec City, yet, so I don’t know it captures Mr. Mullen in all his gallows humor glory. But the record is now streaming right here, and even if all it does it showcase what a powerful live act this legendary death metallers are, well, that’s reason enough to give it a listen.

The Close Of A Chapter: Live In Quebec City comes out October 27 on Relapse.

-AR

Any time a press release comes in from Prosthetic Records announcing a new band signing, the link is always worth clicking. Take Norway’s Mantric, who despite their home country are perhaps the farthest thing from black metal imaginable. I’m really, really digging what Mantric have posted on their MySpace page; this is metal that’s cerebral, proggy (but not shreddy), jazzy, challenging and still accessible. Some of you might be excited to know that the band features ex-members of Extol. Color me psyched for their Prosthetic debut which is being mixed by Tue Madsen and is due out in February.

Oh hey and look at that slammin’ new MySpace design (part of which you’re looking at on top of this post)? It was hand-drawn by the illustrious Jesse Zuretti of MetalSucks faves The Binary Code. In case any of you guys out there who are in bands are looking for a spiffed-up new MySpace design.

-VN

Thanks to Adam for giving us the heads up that Pelican’s new album, What We All Come to Need, is now streaming on the band’s MySpace page. And… that’s really all I have to say about that. I kinda just wanted an excuse to post my favorite clip from Scarface. Sammy O’Hagar will have a comprehensive review of the album soon.

What We All Come to Need comes out October 27 on Southern Lord.

-AR

I’m not really a big Mudvayne fan, but I know a lot of you are. So it seems like my bloggerly duty to tell you that the band is streaming a new song, “Beautiful and Strange,” on their MySpace page.

And it sounds, y’know, like Mudvayne. If you like Mudvayne, I imagine you’ll like this song. If you don’t, I doubt this will win you over. At first I was like “Oh, listen to those drums, this is heavy!”, but then the song calmed down and just became a regular Mudvayne song. Not great, not terrible.

“Beautiful and Strange” comes from the band’s self-titled album, which will be out December 22. The cover art apparently looks awesome under black light.

-AR

Thanks to Kye for the tip!