Get yr swirl on kiiiiiiid…

(and yr whirl too)

-KW

I’m not puffing today, but this band makes me feel like I’m high anyway.  Check em out on MySpace, with or without ganja…

-KW

Maybe your betrothed decided to leave you behind this Valentine’s Day and run off to Europe or Egypt or wherever on their own adventure sans YOU ……..maybe you’re lying next to yr esweetie right now locked in loving embrace/fellatio……..maybe you have no significant other and you’re sitting by yourself concocting a heartattack pizza on the Domino’s website……… Whatever the case may be in this crazy mixed-up world of ours, rest assured your naughty Uncle Kip has selected a few tunes to get the blood flowing in the right direction:

BLACK MOUNTAIN — “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around” from Black Mountain (2005)………a stonery reminder to take care of those vulnerable hearts you love to toy with

MY BLOODY VALENTINE — “Only Shallow” from Loveless (1991)…………seminal shoegazers encourage only the shallowest of romantic encounters

LAMB OF GOD — “Beating on Death’s Door” from Sacrament (2006)…………….the proof is in the banana pudding lyrics (“Be careful what you wish for….you whore….She’s all yours now, so deal with it”) — Randy done had his girlfriend stoled? I have always been struck by the unexpected raw emotion in this song and continue hoping that LoG will someday once again open up like this.

Have a METAL St. Valentine’s Day, wherever you are…

-KW

-KW

Silver pants aside, Trans Am’s music (the early stuff in particular) carved an original and challenging sound from the get-go……the band somehow merged punkish sensibilities with electronic soundscapes with unexpected chops, and the result was a unique, forward-thinking stylistic adventure.

But it’s hard to accurately analyze these guys based on just one album; they’ve been around for so long now that it seems essential to note the various shifts and phases their sound has gone through. From the polished freight train self-titled debut powerhouse to the stripped-down might of The Surveillance to the dynamic ebb-and-flow of Surrender to the Night to the electroclash assault of Red Line to the vocoder-iffic travels of Futureworld and beyond…..Trans Am’s sound has (or had, up til a couple albums ago) consistently evolved leaps and bounds with each offering, a trait I for one almost always value in and of itself.

Some of you may disagree, but I personally think that the band’s recent efforts have fallen a bit short given the incredible foundation they had established. I guess we’re all entitled to our opinions, even if they’re wrong.

TRANS AM — “Ballbados” from Trans Am (1996)

TRANS AM — “American Kooter” from Trans Am (1996)

TRANS AM — “Love Commander” from Surrender to the Night (1997)

TRANS AM — “Carboforce” from Surrender to the Night (1997)

TRANS AM — “Surrender to the Night” from Surrender to the Night (1997)

TRANS AM — “Armed Response” from The Surveillance (1998)

TRANS AM – “Futureworld” from Futureworld (1999)

TRANS AM – “Cocaine Computer” from Futureworld (1999)

TRANS AM — “I Want it All” from Red Line (2000)

TRANS AM — “Village in Bubbles” from Red Line (2000)

TRANS AM – “Play in the Summer” from Red Line (2000)

-KW

Sandy Eigo’s EARTHLESS weave together a formidable blend of shredderiffic classic rock / psychedelic stoner metal, and while the at-home listening experience requires the full-stop, no talking zone-out attention many of us so rarely have in our daily routines, in a live setting this shit bops n bounces n totally slays through epically searching musical journeys in a supremely palatable and jaw-dropping way…

We saw these guys absolutely kill in November opening up for Baroness, and save for one poor shmuck who just couldn’t get into it, all the other heads in the room were completely blown.

EARTHLESS — “Sonic Prayer” from Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky (2007)

-KW

Once upon a time I was totally bowled over by this album…..instrumental groovin heavy-at-times artful guitar playin ROCK — what’s not to like?

Unfortunately the record mysteriously disappeared from my collection for quite a while, and from time to time over the years I have certainly felt the loss…….leave it to Mr. Wizard himself to recently re-introduce me to the sound I’ve been missing — thanks brah!!

HEROIC DOSES — “Crystals”

HEROIC DOSES — “Heroic Theme Song”

HEROIC DOSES — “The Mad Spackler”

(all from their self-titled album, 1998)

-KW

What’s the big flippin deal bout Jesus? Moses died for your sins too…

The real spirit of this Hallmark holiday is in kindess and doing good and blah blah blah and other nice shiz……so I’m going to do Chris Cornell a favor and remind him that Soundgarden should reunite before they get way too old and forget how to play such rippin classics like this one.

And you’re staring at me like I, I need to be saved?

SOUNDGARDEN — “Jesus Christ Pose” from Badmotorfinger (1991)

{two little-known trivia tidbits: 1) Soundgarden got their name from a wind-channeling pipe sculpture in Seattle entitled “A Sound Garden” and 2) Chris Cornell originally played drums and sang at the same time, whoa! More Soundgarden mp3s here.}

completely non-metal bonus song to chillax to:

TORTOISE — “In Sarah, Mencken, Christ And Beethoven There Were Women And Men” from TNT (1998)

{hopefully the dulcet tones of Tortoise will quell the darkest among us……Happy Jew Year!!}

-KW

If the MetalSucks Universe had been born one year earlier, we would have had many amazing albums to hype on our 2006 best-of lists, and one that would have most definitely ranked mighty high on my cannon was Intronaut’s first full-length, Void.

At the time (and to this day) Void — and its baby sister, preceding EP Null — sounded like nothing else. Merging a jazzy jamband sensibility with bone-crushing riffage, all under a progressive rock lens, Intronaut came out of nowhere and in many ways owned my ears for the better part of 2006.

Oh yeah, wait a second — Mastodon’s Blood Mountain and LoG’s Sacrament came out that year too, right?

Jeez, metal really sucks.

INTRONAUT — “Fault Lines”, from Void (2006)

-KW

I assume that the majority of you are all eaten out (!) after your many respective turkey (or tofurkey) fests…

But do any of you actually know the real origin of how Thansgiving got its moniker?

A long time ago, when the Pilgrams were raping and pillaging dem poor Injuns, a boorish chap by the name of William Sanford exclaimed (mid-plunder) to a trembling Native American farmer: “THANKS FER GIVIN US ALL YER LAND, RED MAN!!!!!!!!!!!”

And thus, not only was the name you now know to be Thanksgiving bestowed upon the holiday whence we sit down to stuff our faces with delicious bounty (much like the plethora of food those wacky Pilgrams stole from the Indians)………….but also, the rapper Redman got his name.

ENOUGH ABOUT AMERICA……….it’s time to revere an old favorite — unfortunately one of my 72 hard drives recently futzed out, so I can’t post any tracks per se, but you can go here or here to witness the awesome majesty that was (sad face) UK melodo-tech-mastermindzzz Sikth.

THE BRITISH ARE COMING, THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!

-KW

Follow me after jump to videos, yes? Crazy cooooooollll!!!!!!!!

Click to read more…

Both Vince and myself posted earlier this week about the tragic untimely death last weekend of phenomenal drummer Gerhardt “Jerry” Fuchs…………words can’t express the staggering loss of this uber-kind & humble talent, but hopefully the below track will help paint a picture of the metronomic, humanly mechanical force that was Jerry behind the drum kit (one more firecracker here). From the propulsive rock-solid twos and fours to the stop-start staccato pocket grooves, all the way to the heady orgasmic maelstrom of fiery filles…..this guy was just unreal.

It breaks my heart to have to say this, but rest in peace my friend, and a million thanks for everything…..you will be severely missed by so many around the world.

I implore everyone to take inspiration from Jerry’s legacy in striving to share the amazing gifts we each have. No excuses!!

TURING MACHINE — “Swiss Grid”, from A New Machine for Living (2000)

…..and once more for good measure, the one-armed magical fille madness of Jerry Fuchs:

-KW

“BAD MONKEYS!!!”

I swear to god, I’ve been woken up so many fuckin days round here by one of the fast-growing number of MetalNotSoGood staff members uncontrollably exclaiming the above, or a far grouchier expletive….for you see, we are always stepping in shit around here — how could you not when there are so many goddamn monkeys bouncing about, flinging all sorts of rancid poo at each other?

However, it is we who be the monkeys today, and here’s why: I recently made the sad discovery that we have never, ever, ever (never) written a single gosh darn post on the totally nutso and crazily unique seminal band Primus.

For shame!!

I was never a kill-dead-die-hard fan of these guys the way that so many became, but there was no denying the sheer talent and originality oozing from every song the band ever played.

Led by uber-bass-maniac Les Claypool, Primus skated a fascinating line between funk and metal, but ultimately there’s no real categorization to be made — the band has always had a sound unique unto themselves.

Clearly Primus sucks even more than metal does.

Dog will hunt…

PRIMUS — “John the Fisherman”, from Suck on This (1989)

PRIMUS — “Too Many Puppies”, from Frizzle Fry (1990)

PRIMUS — “Jerry Was A Race Car Driver”, from Sailing the Seas of Cheese (1991)

PRIMUS – “My Name Is Mud”, from Pork Soda (1993)

Note: the above tunes were some of the band’s more popular singles; to truly experience the insanity that is Primus, one must delve deep into the plasma pit that is each album…..don’t be scared!!!  You can take a leak right here.

Vids after the jumpjumpjumpjump.

Click to read more…

After refusing to battle hour-plus lines in our quest to eat the best of NYC’s dumplings, today I ended up comfortably toasted with Zena Metal and Relapse Bob listening to Ratt’s greatest hits collection, Ratt & Roll 8191. It was the perfect afternoon activity for a rainy Fall day that capped another week of late CMJ Music Marathon nights full of booze, music, and a festival-best performance by Boston shredders Revocation.

A greatest hits collection doesn’t necessarily convey the original artistic intentions and context of a band’s songs as thoroughly as listening to a full album does, but it does provide an interesting look into a band’s career arc. By the late ’80s Ratt had shifted towards the cheesier metal constructs and lighter pop-metal of then-popular bands like Warrant and Poison, and listening to their greatest hits collection underscores that transformation. The fact is, everything after 1986′s Dancing Undercover is doused in heapings of weak sauce, even the moderate hit “Way Cool Jr/” (which Zena Metal pointed out I liked for purely sentimental reasons… the song does kinda blow). But out of all of Ratt’s later material we all agreed that one song matched the edge and swagger of their earlier stuff — “Nobody Rides for Free,” a track that only appeared on the 1991 soundtrack for Point Break.

Stephen Pearcy looks absolutely ridiculous in this video, the first step of his descent into his current status of looking worn-the-fuck-out. Someone needs to add this man to Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians.

-VN

If you’re an asshole like me, then you probably missed New York’s only chance to catch the way-too-minimal St. Vitus reunion tour last night (with baddass Bay Area bandits Saviours opening). But if you’re anything like me, you surely had somewhere much better to be.

Truth is, I never got into St. Vitus in too big a way, but after seeing legendary guitarist Wino absolutely destroy a Valentine’s Day show with his now-defunct excellent trio The Hidden Hand some years ago in the East Village (with up-n-comers Kylesa opening, who nobody had heard of at the time), I’m ready to join forces with and follow the man into battle no matter what the project.

Okay, so Wino’s actually not playing on this track and admittedly this tune is pretty silly, but it’s hard to argue that it’s not a goddamn stonyyyyy song………especially when the weird guitar solo comes in around the 2:10 mark, accompanied by some trippy jump cuts, brah!

And thus, I feel compelled to bestow upon this soon-to-be legendary YouTube video from 1992 all seven possible MS horns — this is clearly gonna change the face of YouTube.

(7 out of 7 horns — top honors for YouTube videos)

Please remember, not only does my post reflect the opinions of every writer here at MetalSucks but each and every one of you readers as well……so no need to disagree.

For the scant handful of remaining St. Vitus reunion dates (in Worcester tonight with The Misfits and Type O Negative (whoa), then Baltimore, LA, and San muthafuckin Fran) and/or to listen to some of their early seminal recordings, check em out on MySpace.

After the jump, a shitty-quality video of Wino’s first ever performance with the band in 1986 at the Palm Springs Community Center, some killer Hidden Hand stuff, and a couple interviews with the man himself.

WUT WUT!!

Click to read more…

When I was a wee lad in 6th grade, a friend’s mother took said friend, his brother, and leel Wingerschmidt to the inaugural Headbanger’s Ball concert featuring Helloween, Exodus (who we’ve just revealed to be on a crazy upcoming tour with Arsis, Mutiny Within, and a mystery headliner who some have guessed will be Arch Enemy), and mighty NYC thrashsters Anthrax, who were touring in support of their awesome 1988 album State of Euphoria.

And unbelievably, my friend’s mother dozed off and fell asleep at the Headbanger’s Ball show.……now that is metal.

Take a look in these here webernet parts for the aforementioned Anthrax album, or feel free to pay some hard-earned dollars for a legitimate copy.

More old-school Anthrax shennanigans here.

-KW

“Metal” or not, I think we can all agree that Jane’s Addiction was a truly awesome and original band, and their seminal 1990 album Ritual de lo Habitual still sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard elsewhere.

If you don’t have this album, go mug an old lady for cash and buy it — yes buy — immediately.

JANE’S ADDICTION — “Three Days”, from Ritual de lo Habitual (1990)

-KW

Ever since energy drinks became the new weed, there are so many goddamn gears to be done grindeded…….and Bethesda, MD’s BULB aka Misha Mansoor aka guitar player for rad tech-prog band/recent-signee-to-Sumerian-Records Periphery (who Vince has raved about previously here and here) is crankin em out left and riggity-right…

This dude Misha seems to be so prolific that one awesome band outputting an ample amount of material is not nearly enough, so under the moniker Bulb (an old defunct band name) he continues to make tons of tracks and give them away for free online…….says-eth the young man himself:

Myspace doesn’t let you download songs for free anymore, and I’m all about
giving away ideas and demos and whatever for free, so you guys can
enjoy the songs, put them on your mp3 player, burn CDs for you and
your friends and just generally enjoy the music I enjoy making!

GO HERE: http://www.soundclick.com/bulb or http://www.soundclick.com/periphery

It’s the same site, but both names work for it in case you forget one!

There are about 130 songs/clips/random ideas up on there now and they are all up for download.

You do have to sign up if you aren’t already registered, but it’s quick
and FREE, and totally worth it since you can have tons of our music to
pick and choose from!

There’s no catch, all I ask is that in exchange you burn a bunch of cds
for your friends and help spread the word about Bulb and Periphery!!

Enjoy!!

-Bulb

I’m not gonna try to pick one that can represent this dude and his cannon, so follow the links above and check out his music.

If you are so inclined, you may also visit Bulb on MySpace, visit Periphery on MySpace, or read about the infamous MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys…….take your pick.

Now go get those gears a grindin!!

-KW

I’m told that up is the new down, polka is the new metal, and energy drinks are the new WEED, but I’m not sure that all those claims are entirely accurate.

Also, Burst is (soon to be was) an awesome band, and if you can catch them on their first/last US tour ever (until a reunion that a scant few of us will actually care about) with Zoroaster and MetalPoops bone-crunching/eco-friendful fave Gojira (for most dates), you shan’t be disappointed. I can safely say that we are all extremely excited to see this bill at a smallish venue in chipster Brooklyn — you’re invited too, so get a ticket before it sells out!

It’s a shame to see Burst go — the albums that they’ve released are all pretty awesome, and I believe that the more they were to tighten their vision, the more they could have crossed over into further popularity/acclaim.

Oh well.

BURST — “Nineteenhundred” from Lazarus Bird (2008)

For US tour dates, visit Burst on YourMySpace.

-KW

Obviously, the style of this song isn’t exactly de rigeur for Converge. Maybe that’s why it’s actually my favorite song off of No Heroes. In any case, I find it to be a very emotional song, and a great song to listen to when you’re high.

There’s some more material that’s kind of along these lines on Axe to Fall, by the way…

-AR