What was once inconceivable is now a reality: A David Lee Roth-fronted Van Halen is set to release a new album! It took 28 years, a soul-crushing false start with Roth in 1996, the dumping of bassist/backing vocalist Michael Anthony, and a new label home, but A Different Kind Of Truth finally arrives today. However, a fair appraisal of Truth could be dicey: Fans might get swept up in the grand return of a pined-after loved one, while the indifferent can effortlessly cry foul at Truth‘s mining of 35 year-old material and at suspiciously deft Wolfgang Van Halen bass lines. And yet early reviews state that Truth is a remarkably authentic classic Van Halen experience.

Here’s what steps VH took to recapture that old magic:

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Hard to believe, but Paul Baloff, who many still consider the definitive Exodus front man, passed away ten years ago. So the band played a tribute show over the weekend, and Kirk Hammett showed up, hopping on stage to play “Whipping Queen,” a song he originally co-wrote and recorded for the band’s 1982 demo. And while I don’t forgive Hammett for “The Unforgive XIII” or whatever, I do think it was cool of him to come out and pay homage to Baloff, so… I won’t make fun of him until at least the next non-Exodus related Metallica post.

You can check out video of the event below. Former Exodus bassist Jeff Andrews joined the band for the tune, also, but no one cares about that guy. I mean, really, if the headline to this article had been “JEFF ANDREWS RE-JOINED EXODUS,” your reaction would probably have been, “Who?”

And here’s the original ’82 demo version of “Whipping Queen,” in case you’ve either never heard it before, or just want to stroll down memory lane for a few minutes:

-AR

[via The PRP]

Just yesterday, Bill Ward released a statement in which he threatened to bow out of the recently announced new Black Sabbath album and world tour unless he was given “a ‘signable’ contract.” Now Black Sabbath have announced via their Facebook page that they are, indeed, proceeding without their now-once-again-former drummer:

We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans…we have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open… We are still in the UK with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll… See you at Download!!!

- Tony, Ozzy and Geezer

Click to read more…

He Is Legend made two of the past decade’s awesomest, most infectious records, so I went straight to Bonersville upon their December announcement of an end to their two-year hiatus and a new album for 2012. Their first shows back were last week in North Carolina, a place I can’t locate on a map let alone visit (it’s over by Tennessee and Arizona right?), so I’m just happy as shit to enjoy some shaky, unflattering fan film of the jam (above). The clip reveals a rustless He Is Legend before a very happy crowd ripping happily — except for inscrutable guitarist/stud Adam Tanbouz, though his frownypants may relate to the usual technical wrangling during a gig’s first song. Fully mirin his Dark Funeral shirt.

-ADF

Read about He Is Legend here and here then get their stuff here.

UPDATE, 2:06 pm: Reader Joe Siegler tells me that Ward didn’t “hold out” in ’97 — he was never asked to re-join the band. I apologize for my lapse in knowledge of Sabbath reunion lore. If he really wasn’t asked in 1997, that makes this whole thing all the more dramatic and dispiriting. Original story follows below…

Hope you weren’t too excited about Bill Ward participating in the upcoming Black Sabbath reunion.

Ward has always been the hold-out with these reunions. He didn’t participate when the band got back together for Ozzfest in ’97 (although by 1998, he had indeed rejoing the band), and he wasn’t a part of Heaven & Hell, the Dio-era Sabbath reunion, either. Now, according to a statement on his website, he may not be part of the Sabbath’s recently announced new album and tour, either:

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We can’t say we saw this one coming, but with former Satan-worshipping metal musicians left and right claiming to have found God I guess we shouldn’t be that surprised; Tom G. Warrior has reunited Celtic Frost to play a one-off gig at the Bar Mitzvah of one lucky Shlomo Needlebaum. The website Tyranny of Tradition has the exclusive news break:

At first, Thomas Gabriel Warrior (or Fischer, as most adults like to call him) was dead set against the idea.  However, the chance to help a fan like Shlomo start the exciting journey into adult life along with a check for 50,000 dollars helped Warrior change his tune.  Warrior’s love of the traditions of Judaism were also a major influence on his decision.  “I have always had a special place in my heart for the Jewish people and particularly their traditions,” said Warrior decked out in corpse paint and a yarmulke before he strode on stage, “I often think of the great quote by the German poet Berthold Auerbach who said ‘Judaism lives not in an abstract creed, but in its institutions’.  UGH!”

In other news, Daves Mustaine and Ellefson are said to be catering the event with their propriety recipes for latkes, kugel, brisket, and smoked salmon they cure themselves in Megadeth’s rehearsal space. The Bar Mitzvah is BYOM (Bring Your Own Manischewitz).

-VN

Byzantine broke up before their time, mere days after the release of their magnum opus Oblivion Beckons. I cried.

But today there are so many good things to report that I can barely contain my excitement! To start, Byzantine are recording a new record — jubilation! They’re doing it with the “definitive” Byzantine lineup, and yes, that includes ex-departed guitarist Tony Rohrbough — double jubilation! And to top it all off they’re financing the whole thing themselves via Kickstarter, so you — YOU! — can donate to the cause and get something cool back in return while you’re at it.

Here’s the official statement from the band via their Facebook page:

Click to read more…

Heavy Blog is Heavy’s Alkahest is like the TMZ of prog metal; the dude picks up on so many Facebook and Twitter tidbits from prog metal bands in all corners of the world on such a regular basis that I’m convinced he’s either got an army of prog metal paparazzi or he just sits in front of the computer with Facebook on one monitor and Tweetdeck on the other while posting blogs to HBIH using his iPhone. I imagine his desk looks something like this. I mean that as a compliment, by the way, because Alkahest’s devotion to the interhole makes my job all that much easier.

This morning’s exciting news via Heavy Blog: posthumously legandary U.K. prog/tech metallers SiKth have launched an official Facebook page and opened a new merch store. But don’t get too excited just yet; SiKth claim they aren’t reuniting, at least not yet, but they’re certainly being awfully vague about their plans for the future and they’re certainly leaving the possibility open. Here’s the official statement from the band on why this, why now:

Click to read more…

Photo by Johan Lindstrand, The Crown

A few months ago, The Crown announced the return of screamer Johan Lindstrand, making theirs the first of some awesomely exciting late 2011 reunions. Soon to follow were At The Drive-In (read here), He Is Legend (here), and Refused (here), all acts sharing few aesthetics but linked by total awesomeness, undefinability, daring, and unexhausted creative potential. So it’s cosmically just that these rad, singular bands have heeded the voices ordering them back from the light at the end of the tunnel. Bonerz for all!

Back in September, MetalSucks got up in the face of Crown guitarist/producer Marko Tervonen to talk about their new album plans and stuff, and he revealed that around six songs were written. And today a pair of those songs are mentioned by Lindstrand in his report on Thursday’s rehearsal, the band’s first since his return:

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We can understand if you, metal people, just switched off your computers and partied all day after hearing Monday’s news that R&B recording artists Monica and Brandy have teamed for their first song since 1998 #1 super-hit “The Boy Is Mine.” But here’s what you missed:

Two of the ’90s most super-loved/short-lived post-punk acts also have reunited! El Paso’s At The Drive-In and Sweden’s Refused. U love! U so happy!

Here’s how it unfolded: Click to read more…

The musician John O’Brien, who passed away in August, was best friends with Dave “Slash Couldn’t Even Spell My Damn Name Correctly in his Autobiography” Kushner. And so the guitarist — unsurprisingly, the only member of Velvet Revolver to drop off the face of the planet when the band went on hiatus four years ago — organized a reunion of his most famous project for a memorial concert in O’Brien’s honor, which will take place on January 12 at the House of Blues in Los Angeles.

Yes, that means that Scott Weiland is going to be performing with Velvet Revolver again.

And while the gig is currently scheduled to be a one-off affair, now Kushner tells Rolling Stone that Weiland could ultimately end up coming back to the fold for good:

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Ever since Sanctuary reunited on the inaugural 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise this past January fans have been speculating as to when (and if) they’d get around to doing a few more shows. And, ya know, it’s not as if Nevermore’s busy schedule is providing any conflicts these days. Speculate no longer: the website for NYC’s Gramercy Theatre lists a January 11th, 2012 Sanctuary date, while a search on Ticketbastard turns up another date on January 7th, 2012 at Club Nokia in L.A. With only four days between two shows on opposite coasts, it’s likely those are the only two they’ll be playing this time around, but I wouldn’t be surprised if another major market fly-in such as Chicago or Dallas popped up around the same time-frame.

Pardon me if this old news, but I haven’t seen it announced anywhere yet — the band doesn’t appear to have official web properties of any sort and they haven’t sent out an email blast or press release of any kind either. So this is big news! Sanctuary’s prime came before my time, but I have an immense respect for their legacy and love Warrel Dane as a vocalist. Too bad Jeff Loomis won’t be involved this time around.

-VN

Thanks: The Thrillcall live events widget at the bottom of our sidebar.

After months of “speculation” (by which I mean we all knew this was happening, but no one would officially confirm it), Black Sabbath announced today at a press conference at LA’s Whiskey A-Go-Go — where they played their first American show back in 1970 – that they are, indeed, reuniting for both a world tour and a new album… which will be produced by Rick Rubin. Rubin says the band has written half the album already, and that recording will begin in early 2012.

The above video montage, also heralding the reunion, appeared on the band’s website at 11:11 am PST. The video also reveals that the band will be headlining this year’s Download Festival… so now we know who two of the headliners will be. I wonder if the only reason Metallica are playing the Black Album in its entirety is because of Black Sabbath? If so, that’s pretty silly. And it makes me wonder if AC/DC, doing all of Back in Black, will be the third headliner.

We know from Heaven and Hell that Tony Iommi still has some good riffs in him; now I guess we just have to wait and see if they can make this cool without Dio or what.

Debate in the comments section below.

-AR

Here’s a fun quote from a recent Sammy Hagar interview with Attention Deficit Delirium. Discussing the possibility of a reunion of the original Guns N’ Roses, Hagar says:

“They’ve proved it again and again and again that it ain’t [about] the money. They just don’t get along because Axl goes out for a lot less money with his version of Guns N’ Roses, and Slash goes out for a lot less money with Velvet Revolver or by himself. The amount of money they could make if they got it all back together, made a great record and toured the world would probably be as much as the Rolling Stones [get], and for them not to do it, it obviously ain’t about the money. Because they could do it. I would manage them. I’d be their manager and make sure they got the right deal from all the promoters. They could be the biggest band in the world if they wanted to.”

There’s three things I find funny about this statement:

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Legendary grinders Nasum (the name is Swedish for “sinus infection”) have announced a reunion…. sort of. The band abruptly (and very understandably) called it a day following the tragic death of guitarist/vocalist Mieszko Talarczyk in the 2004 Asian tsunami — but now they’ve announced that they will, at last, play a handful of farewell shows to take place in 2012, which will also mark their twentieth anniversary.

In the single funniest statement I’ve read in a press release in some time, the band had the following to say:

“You thought Nasum was dead? We are. This is not resurrection. It’s farewell, for good.”

Rotten Sound’s Keijo Niinimaa will handle vocal duties for these dates, which have not actually been announced yet. More details as we get ‘em. In the meantime, if you’ve never seen Nasum, this is gonna be your last chance… I recommend you don’t blow it.

-AR

Don’t fool yourselves by the constant he-said she-said back and forth between various Black Sabbath members: they will eventually get back together and tour, if not now then in the not-too-distant future. The latest fire-stoker involves Tony Iommi saying the band got together to rehearse… to which I say, big fucking deal.

I do not care about the umpteenth Black Sabbath reunion. They were extremely tired and old when I last saw them on Ozzfest ’05, meaning they’ll just be 7 years tireder and 7 years olderer if I choose to see them during their pending 2012 tour. No disrespect to their legacy; much, MUCH respect to this band’s profound influence upon all of metal. It’s just that enough is enough already. Stop beating the dead horse. I can think of a million ways I’d rather spend $80 (or more) + service fees than watching Ozzy hop around like a frog whilst spraying the audience with a water hose because it’s a gimmick that requires little to no movement.

Feel free to tell me why I’m wrong in the comments below.

-VN

I’m an irresponsible jerk who is way behind on my RSS reading, so I didn’t get to The Deciblog’s new interview with one mister Justin Broadrick until today. And fuck me naked with a spoon, because if I had gotten to it sooner, I would have been aware of this part of the chat:

Have you been writing for Godflesh?
JB: Really, really slowly. I guess because I’ve had my son, it’s slowed things down a bit for us. I mean, Ben Green got married last year and he still holds a very good job, so he’s very busy, we’re both very busy but we have a lot of ideas. Also, there’s no way we’d approach a new record just to milk the new-found popularity of Godflesh. I mean, it could take another year before we release something, and even the intitial impact of the reformation could have subsided by then, but that’s kind of meaningless, really, it’s just making another really good, cold and bleak record. And it’s more than in us, it’s in me, it still translates the same emotions that I’ve been struggling with all my life.

And news of new Godflesh is simultaneously profoundly excellent and profoundly anxiety-inducing.

Click to read more…

So long as Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, and Duff McKagan are all involved, no one would be more excited about a reunion of the original Guns N’ Roses than me. Yeah, I’d prefer if Steven Adler were the drummer instead of Matt Sorum, but that seems unlikely, and I’d be willing to settle. I’d be severely depressed about it, but I’d probably even be willing to settle for Gilby Clarke instead of Izzy if it came down to it. And I know there’s really no chance that the reunion would be great; Axl has turned into Yosemite Sam and Slash has a pacemaker and can’t run around the way he used to, so, at best, it would be a total nostalgia trip. But it would be a lot of fun, and given that Rose has completely failed to maintain a stable line-up of G&R (a.k.a. “Guns N’ Roses 2.0,” a.k.a. “Nu-GN’R”) anyway, might as well, right?

And now Guns N’ Roses are one of the fifteen finalist nominees for induction into the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. And it seems like they have a pretty decent chance of being one of the five artists who will actually get in, despite the fact that they only made four albums of original material in four years and only toured for an additional two, because, well, those albums sold a gajillion copies, and inducting them would, frankly, be good for business. And so, of course, people are starting to get really excited, because if they get inducted, maybe that reunion we’ve all been dreaming about for almost twenty freakin’ years will finally happen, right?

Only here’s the thing: There is absolutely no chance in hell that the original band will reunite, even if they are inducted into a meaningless museum.

Click to read more…

Today in news that will surely make Grim Kim happy: The Church Within-era line-up of The Obsessed (That would be Wino and future Goatsnakers Guy Pinhas and Greg Rogers) will reunite to play next year’s Roadburn Festival in Tilburg, Holland. I don’t really have anything clever to say about this, other than I wonder why poor Scott Reeder keeps getting left out of reunions. Nick Oliveri had to be dragged away by a SWAT team for Reeder to get invited to play with Not Kyuss!, and now this. And that’s like ten years after Lars Ulrich implied that he wasn’t a skilled enough bassist to be in Metallica in Some Kind of Monster. I mean, sheesh.

ANWAY, the fest takes places from April 12 – April 15; The Obsessed with play on April 14. I always tend to believe that these reunions are never really one-off deals, and that we’ll see the band announce some more appearances soon. But of course I don’t know that for a fact, so… if you’re dying to see these dudes, I’d start making travel plans.

-AR

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed us about this!

Yesterday, Eric Jarrin, who as the guitar player for Despised Icon until they broke up last year, e-mailed Vince to announce that he was re-joining the newly re-formed band Heaven’s Cry, who themselves broke up back in 2004. And Vince forwarded the e-mail to me, ’cause I’m the resident Despised Icon fan at MetalSucks.

But now I’m going to forward that e-mail back to Vince — or, y’know, maybe just wait for him to see this article — ’cause Heaven’s Cry really sounds nothing like Despised Icon, and are not my cup of tea at all: They’re a prog metal band with elements of power metal. In other words, they sound exactly the way you’d expect a band called “Heaven’s Cry” to sound.

I know that it must seem like I’m knocking them, but I’m not; like I said, this particular style of metal is, generally speaking, just not for me. I’ll leave it to the fans of this kind of stuff to weigh in on the worthiness, or lack thereof, of Heaven’s Cry.

You can see some old videos of the band performing on their official website, or listen to some old recordings on their MySpace page. The band will record a new album next year; in the meantime, Canadian fans can check them out when they open for Katatonia on September 18 at  Les Foufounes Electriques in Montreal.

-AR