Mark Reale, guitarist of the band Riot, passed away yesterday at a hospital in San Antonio. He was only 56 years old.

Things went from bad to worse very quickly for Mark. He was hospitalized on January 13th in San Antonio due to complications of Crohn’s disease, a condition he’d battled for most of his life. The band and Mark then collectively made the decision that Riot would make their scheduled appearances without Mark, including their voyage on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise. Then, on January 20th, it was revealed that Mark had been in a coma brought on by a subarachnoid brain hemmorhage since January 11th and his condition was even worse than expected. Reale finally passed away last night.

As far as we know, the rest of the band is still on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise somewhere in the Caribbean Sea. Phone and Internet access aren’t readily available, but I’m sure they’ve been notified by now; they must be absolutely devastated that they can’t be with their brother. Our thoughts and best wishes are with Mark’s bandmates, friends and family.

To be honest I don’t think I ever listened to Riot prior to today, but it’s always a sad day when one of our metal brethren passes on. Listen to Riot on MOG and keep Mark in your thoughts.

- The MetalSucks staff

Well, here’s some incredibly shitty news to start your week. From Black Sabbath’s official Facebook page:

“With the news that Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, his bandmates would like everyone to send positive vibes to the guitarist at this time. Iommi is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan–the “IRON MAN” of Rock & Roll remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery.

Click to read more…

Well, this is upsetting.

On New Year’s Day, Wormrot were arrested in Kuala Lampur by the Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (Selangor Islamic Religious Department), according to True Cult Heavy Metal (via a posting on Wormrot’s Facebook page). Their crime? Daring to mingle with unmarried women.

Here’s the story from the band’s manager, Azean. I’m going to post this in full and then add my thoughts afterwards:

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As if Oceano’s now-confirmed break-up wasn’t enough to crush my spirits today, Deathwish just posted a statement from The Carrier confirming that, goddamnit, they’re disbanding too.

It’s with very mixed emotions that we announce that The Carrier will be breaking up this upcoming March. There are a lot of reasons that have led us to this decision, and it wasn’t an easy one. But ultimately, we all share a mutual feeling that we’re transitioning into different chapters in our lives—personally and musically. The overall mood of the band has changed profoundly since we first started, and frankly, we can’t continue to put forth the passion that we once had.

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I did a really good job of completely ignoring the metal world for the past two weeks, but when I finally glanced at my e-mails, I found dozens of reader tips directing to me a Facebook posting by The Human Abstract’s Henry Selva. You can read the entire statement after the jump, but the TLDNR version is “The Human Abstract is dunzo.” Which is terrific news if you hate great music.

Here’s the statement:

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Woods of Ypres founding member David Gold died in a car accident last night. Horrible, horrible, horrible news. We can only imagine the shock, sadness, rage and devastation David’s friends and family must be feeling right now.

After years of toiling in the underground, Woods of Ypres’ career was finally starting to take off, with their new album Woods 5: Grey Skies & Electric Light set to be released on January 31, 2012 via Earache Records. If there’s any silver lining to be seen here (and I know it’s hard to look at it that way so soon) it’s that the album will surely receive more exposure now — everything I’ve heard from it so far has been aces. Listen to a couple of those tracks here.

R.I.P. David. Best to your friends and family on behalf of everyone at MetalSucks.

Damone drummer Dustin Hengst has passed away, according to Metal Insider (citing other band members’ Facebook pages as sources). Metalheads probably know Damone best for their acoustic cover of Iron Maiden’s “Wasted Years” (above), but the fact is that their 2006 self-titled album was a hard rockin’ good time; check out the title track, also posted above. Out Here All Night was a really solid album through and through that I listened to quite a bit when it came out, so this news bums me out in a personal way. Very sad.

Out Here All Night and Damone’s 2009 swan-song Roll the Dice are both available in full on Spotify; check them out here.

-VN

How’s this for shitty timing? Just as Sylosis were poised to begin their first-ever U.S. tour, supporting As I Lay Dying, guitarist Alex Bailey breaks his wrist and will be forced to sit the whole tour out. We haven’t been able to determine how, exactly, Bailey broke his wrist — we’re being told he fell — but apparently he broke it in three places, so it’s a pretty serious injury.

Axl and I went to see a Sylosis headline show the other night in NYC — one of a small handful of dates leading up to the AILD support run — and while we thought the band looked a little funny up there with only three dudes and sounded a little funny with only one guitarist, we weren’t too sure because we’d never seen them before. Things became a little more clear when vocalist/guitarist Josh Middleton announced from the stage that Bailey had broken his wrist, and yesterday we were able to confirm the situation with the band’s publicist. Bailey made it to the U.S., played the first couple of shows, then broke his wrist. So the poor sap is here, in a foreign land for the first time, and he can’t even play to what are presumably some of the biggest audiences Sylosis has ever seen. I can only imagine how pissed and upset he is right now.

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For those of us that still get a little queasy inside when we think of the tragic bus accident that killed Cliff Burton, this has been a really tough past year and change to stomach. Bonded by Blood and The Chariot both experienced van accidents; earlier this month, Decapitated survived an emergency plane landing in Warsaw, four years almost to the day after the horrible crash that killed drummer Vitek and left vocalist Covan in a coma. The tail end of 2010 found All Shall Perish and Pathology enduring accidents unscathed, and Makh Daniels of Early Graves losing his life in a crash.

It’s an unfortunate fact of being a touring musician that driving conditions aren’t ideal, and the vehicles that scrappy metal bands can afford usually aren’t in the best of shape. All the more reason to thank whatever god you disbelieve in that the members of Philadelphia noise-rock band Gods and Queens (frequent gig-mates of our own Justin Foley’s band Austerity Program) are all still alive after their van skidded and rolled off a highway in the Czech Republic, en route to Dresden, Germany. Here’s the full story, from the band’s frontman Jamie Getz:

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After 13 years as a band and eight studio albums, Thrice have decided to take a break. My interest in Thrice has waned over the years — and I’m sure I’m not alone in that amongst metalheads — but I always respect a band that’s constantly changing, evolving, and pushing new boundaries, and Thrice were most certainly one of those (rare) bands.

No one fucked anyone’s girlfriend, got in a fight on the bus or became a pill-popping psycho; on the contrary, the reasons the band gives are pretty standard. Tired of being on the road, desire to settle down, wanting to spend time with family, etc. No drama. Here’s part of a statement from singer/guitarist Dustin Kensrue, posted on Noisecreep:

Thrice is not breaking up. If nothing has broken us up by now, I doubt anything ever could.

However, we will be taking a break from being a full-time band, and the upcoming tour in the Spring will be the last one for the foreseeable future.

Click to read more…

Speaking of there being no God, guitarist Greg Tribbett — one of two members of Mudvayne who is also in Hellyeah (the other being vocalist Chad Gray, duh) — sent out the below tweet yesterday, instantly breaking the heart of anyone who hates mediocre corporate rawk:

This probably isn’t a shock to anyone, given that Mudvayne have already been on unofficial hiatus since 2009. Still, the knowledge that we’ll have to put up with Hellyeah through at least 2013 is, frankly, enough to make me hope the Mayans were right, and the world is gonna end sometime next year. In fact, I think “The ongoing success of Hellyeah” was one of the things they said would be a sign of the end times, wasn’t it?

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

Martua — the totally excellent grindcore outfit known to idiots everywhere as “that band the drummer from Trivium used to be in” — have decided to call it a day. They’ll play their final show on Sunday, December 4, at at Churchills in Miami, Florida, which blows, because the chances of me getting down to Miami for a Sunday to say my farewells are slim to none.

Oh well. Here’s a statement from sole remaining original member Mitchell Luna, which was originally released to Lambgoat:

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Rarely do we just cut and paste press releases here at MetalSucks, but this is obviously a special circumstance, and you should know all the details without any of our usual editorializing. And so:

James Murphy, former guitarist of both Death and Testament, As well as founding member of the death metal band Disincarnate, has had a relapse of the  brain tumor that sidelined him back in 2001. Murphy stated that the tumor had returned but that it was a non malignant and that it was being treated pharmacologically. Unfortunately, those medications have serious side effects that have left him unable to work. The option for different medications is available, but at a cost of over $1000 a month, and he needs a minimum of 6 months of medication for treatment to be effective. With his medical expenses extremely high and James not being able to work due to the side effects of the current medications, the metal community is being asked to come together and help one of their brothers and donate to help him beat this once and for all.

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Gwar guitarist Cory Smoot (aka Flattus Maximus) is dead. His band members found him deceased this morning as they prepared to cross the Canadian border. MetalSucks just received the following statement by Gwar mastermind Dave Brockie directly from the band’s camp:

It is with a sense of profound loss and tragedy that the members of GWAR must announce the passing of their long time guitarist and beloved friend Cory Smoot,  also known to thousands of metal fans worldwide as Flattus Maximus.  Cory was found deceased this morning as the band prepared for a border crossing.  There is no word as to the cause of death and the members of GWAR are completely shocked and devastated that this has occurred.  At this point there is no word on arrangements and the disposition of the remainder of GWAR’s current North American tour, nor are there any details regarding long term plans.  At this point we are just dealing with the loss of our dear friend and brother, one of the most talented guitar players in metal today.  We ask that our fans and the media be respectful of our request for privacy for those that have suffered this terrible loss.  A full statement will be coming in the next day or so, in the meantime please give your thoughts and your prayers to Cory, his family, and all the people that love him.

-Dave Brockie-

This sucks more than words can possibly express. Our thoughts and condolences go out to Cory’s friends, his family, and of course his bandmates.

- Everyone at MetalSucks

Metalgf and I are almost done watching the entire series of The Wire. As much as we’d like to believe that what goes on in the show’s version of Baltimore is fictional and embellished for drama’s sake, startling events like this one serve as reminders that where there’s fiction it’s usually based on truth: last week, Sons of Azrael guitarist Tony Lorenzo was shot and robbed in Buffalo, NY, a city as notorious for crime and poverty as Baltimore. As of now, the 25 year old guitarist is paralyzed from the waist down, with a bullet lodged in his spinal column. Doctors have to wait for the swelling to go down before they can remove the bullet.

You can watch WIVB-TV’s full report on the incident in the video below. While New York state has a crime victim relief fund that helps reimburse for medical-only expenses, a PayPal account (helpingtony@gmail.com) has also been set up to help pay for Tony and his family’s personal expenses (renovating the home to accomodate a wheelchair, transportation, clothing, personal care etc.).

Best wishes to Tony — we wish him a speedy recovery — and, of course, his family.

-VN

Man shot in robbery may never walk again: wivb.com

Two perennial MetalSucks faves, both of whom had seemingly bright futures ahead of them not very long ago, are calling it a day. Well, only one band is admitting they’re calling it a day, while the other is using that old “indefinite hiatus” chestnut, but let’s be real, every broken-up band is on “indefinite hiatus” until they’re not, so, uh, yeah.

ANYWAY, here’s the sad news:

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As those of you who have attended the first four nights of the MetalSucks-sponsored “Carnival is Forever Tour” featuring Decapitated have probably already noticed, The Haarp Machine haven’t been in attendance. It’s yet another example of a band from abroad not being able to get their U.S. work visas in time. Getting visas must seem simple to those who haven’t been through the process, as you’d think these bands have plenty of time to prepare. But let us tell you, even with several months notice and paid experts helping out, these things get caught up in bureaucratic red tape all too often as there are several government offices the applications need to pass through. Our government does not make it easy, unfortunately. Most of all this sucks for The Haarp Machine, who probably already booked and paid for flights, gear rental, van rental, etc, and now have to forfeit a good portion of that money.

Anyway, fear not: the tour is trucking on as planned for Decapitated, who still have the most-excellent lineup of Decrepit Birth, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Rings of Saturn in tow. Remaining dates after the jump.

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So Bring Me the Horizon, a very mediocre band that a lot of you seem to love for reasons that are beyond me, played in Salt Lake City last night — home of Mormonism and, thus, sodomy — and some of the folks in the crowd started heckling the group and throwing shit at them. Needless to say, vocalist Oli Sykes did not appreciate this behavior, and said as much, which, in turn, a bunch of the hecklers used as an excuse to rush the stage and attack the singer. You can watch video of the incident below.

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(photo credit: Brooklyn Vegan)

The outside stage of the famous Emo’s club in Austin, Texas has rocked for the last time. After a 19-year run, the venue is shutting its doors and moving to a new location on East Riverside Drive, too far from downtown to walk. The indoor stage of Emo’s will remain open for the time being (and through SXSW 2012), but the writing is most certainly on the wall.

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If you live in the U.S. and you didn’t get to see one of Ghost’s first two North American shows this past May/June (like the one I reviewed), now would be a good time to start weeping. ‘Cause the band has been forced to pull the plug on their previously announced stint touring with Enslaved and Alcest later this month.

The culprit, according to a press release, is “last minute complications with the Ghouls’ visas.” Sigh. Ghost may be able to rise above the metal pack, but they can’t rise above red tape. Bummer bummer bummer.

The band is hoping to come back and do a full U.S. tour soon, and we will definitely let you know when/if those hopes become realities. In the meantime, take solace knowing that an Enslaved/Alcest tour is still totally worth your time, even if having Ghost on the bill would have made it that much more awesome. You can get tour dates here.

-AR