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So were pretty stoked about Hypocrisy’s upcoming U.S. tour with Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho playin the leed gee-tar, but then it looked like U.S. immigration might derail the whole thing. And now they have.
A very brief statement from the band reads:
“Make love not war sounds so absurd to me.” But not as absurd as the idea of Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt touring with Rihanna, and trying to pass it off as “a high-energy experience” that really fits “‘my’ style.” Because “Umbrella-ella-ella” really requires someone who can shred. I’d almost have more respect for him if he just said “The Extreme reunion tour didn’t pay as well as I hoped and I got rent to pay.”
The announcement follows Bettencourt’s cameo on How I Met Your Mother, which is being called “the best show on television” by people who can’t find their remote and are too lazy to change the channel manually.
In Russia, metal sucks you!
If not for our recent discovery (courtesy Invisible Oranges) of Tantal, I’d be inclined to think that all modern Russian metal is as good as Gorbachev was attractive or Stalin was kind-hearted. Between yesterday’s porn-y but awful video by Stigmata and now the below clip from the Ruski’s in F.R.Y., it seems the former U.S.S.R. is in serious need of some fucking talent.
So let’s do the same thing we’ve been doing for chick-metal. If you know of any modern Russian metal bands that are actually good (and aren’t the aforementioned Tantal), let us know in the comments section below. Because as of right now, I do not hold the Rusian metal scene in very high regard.
-AR
Thanks to Chris Miller for sending us the video.
A reader known only as “Mike” tipped us off that one of our most favoritest bands, Denmark’s Mercenary, has parted ways with three of its six members: vocalist Mikkel Sandager, drummer Mike Park Nielsen, and keyboardist Morten Sandager.
Rhythm guitarist Jakob Mølbjerg explains in a statement:
I’m still shocked about the unbelievably terrible tragedy that occurred this past weekend — Georgia-born Brooklyn fixture, masterful metronomic drummer Jerry Fuchs (Maserati, Turing Machine, !!!, The Juan Mclean, and more) fell down an elevator shaft late Saturday night and died shortly thereafter.
My interactions with Jerry were minimal, but every time we spoke I felt an overwhelming sense of kindness that informed me right away how good a person I was talking to. Even the first time we briefly met, I found Jerry to be so affable that we ended up deeply laughing at something or another like we had been friends since the 2nd grade. These are the types of people that we should always hope to surround ourselves with, and obviously the incredible news of his untimely death seems just plain wrong.
Before I ever met the man, I was a HUGE fan from afar — the first time I ever saw the fiery robo-prog band Turing Machine, there was no question from the beginning moments of the first song that the drummer up there was something extra-special. He played with such intensity and restraint, and witnessing Jerry’s talents behind the kit often reminded me how strong a musician can be simply with extreme precision, power, and spirit. For anyone who has ever seen him play live, you know how quickly he could get a crowd dancing and furthermore, how hypnotic the most straightforward basic rock beat always became in his hands.
Not to mention his crispy technique — those one-handed filles were deliciously ridiculous.
I can’t help but feel like the world has been robbed of a magnificent talent that was sure to have grown and grown to neo-Bonham-like status. But I also feel honored to have heard the music and met the man for a few fleeting conversations — whether it was down at SXSW or running into him at the music store up here in Brooklyn, every single conversation and live set I was ever fortunate enough to experience left me feeling a little better.
It seems friends and fans will be gathering this Thursday night at Enid’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at 7pm for an impromptu gathering to memorialize this legendary talent.
Links and videos after the jump.
Upon returning back to the Mansion from a bike ride on an unseasonably warm day here in Brooklyn, I was greeted with the following bit of very sad news: drummer Jerry Fuchs is dead at 34. Fuchs was the drummer for Maserati (as well as Turing Machine, !!! and others), a band I’ve written about several times over the past few months whose shows were positively mesmerizing. Fuchs was the backbone and focal-point of the band, his rock-solid skin-pounding the unquestionable propulsive force behind this rock/psych/groove outfit. Though Maserati aren’t metal, their hard-driving grooves and intricate musicality appealed to a lot of metalheads (including this one). I fully credit Kip W. and burger maestro The Rev with having turned me on to this excellent band at SXSW this past Spring; both raved of Fuchs’ skills behind the kit as a highlight of the band’s performance. I had the pleasure of seeing them again this past September here in Brooklyn; the show was stellar, and the band not only impressed MetalGF but blew headlining act Mono off the stage.
Now about his death… it’s even more bizarre than the band’s music. Apparently Fuchs died early Sunday morning when he fell down an elevator shaft. Talk about scary ways to end it all… wow. Reports Spinner:
Fuchs and a friend were in an elevator in a converted factory used as loft space when the elevator stopped “somewhere above the fifth floor,” the Buildings Department spokesman told the New York Post. The pair opened the elevator door and attempted to jump a few feet down to the fifth floor. The friend made the jump, but a piece of Fuchs’ clothing was caught on the elevator, “sending him swinging back into the crevice separating the elevator from the fifth floor,” the Post writes. Fuchs fell five stories to the bottom of the elevator shaft, where he lay “unconscious and unresponsive,” reports Gothamist. The musician was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition and died early this morning surrounded by “an entire waiting room of friends,” according to Chunklet, to which Fuchs was a contributor.
Crikee! One can only hope Fuchs fired off one last passion-filled drum fill in his head before meeting his ultimate demise. Watch the above video for just a small sample of what the man could do behind the kit. And listen to some Maserati tunes on MySpace today, wouldja?
R.I.P. Jerry (Gerhardt) Fuchs.
-VN
MASERATI: “Untitled” – Live at Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta GA, March 16, 2009 from Cassavetes Band on Vimeo.
We’re very excited about Hypocrisy upcoming U.S. tour with Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho on guitar. In fact, in the next forty-eight hours, we’re planning to run an interview that our own Anso DF recently conducted with Hypocrisy main dude Peter Tägtgren.
So it’s heartbreaking to report that the tour might go down the shitter, as Hypocrisy are just the latest in a long line of bands to run into trouble with U.S. immigration. A statement from the band follows:
The first press release into the MS Mansion inbox this morning bore a bit of bad news, at least for Canadian Slayer and Megadeth fans; Slayer have pulled out of the “Canadian Carnage Tour” with Megadeth, which was due to begin November 8th. The press release cites health concerns about bassist/vocalist Tom Araya as the reason for cancellation:
Slayer’s Tom Araya is currently under the care of a specialist for a back injury, thought to be related to his on-stage activity, and the physician has ordered an immediate surgical procedure to take place in Texas tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.
The press release doesn’t specifically say whether the tour — which also includes Machine Head and Suicide Silence — will continue on without Slayer, but it’s implied, saying more information regarding rescheduled dates will be release soon.
It’d be awfully easy to make a Dave Mustaine vs. Kerry King jab here, but instead I’ll take the high road and simply offer this: get well, Tom.
-VN
Former Danzig drummer Chuck Biscuits (né Charles Montgomery) has passed away from throat cancer. He was only 44.
There’s never anything you can really say in these situations… Chuck was an awesome drummer and was way too young to die. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.
Here he is with Danzig… I saw this video on Zena Metal and it seemed appropriate… she has more that you should go check out.
-AR
Now skip to the 3:54 mark to get Mr. Weiland’s thoughts:
Yesterday, October 19th, 2009 – a date which will live in infamy – Nick Barham, Rosie O’Donnell look-alike and lead vocalist for Attack Attack!, suddenly and deliberately quit the band. And only mere days before the group was scheduled to begin a tour with another one of the 21st century’s most groundbreaking musical acts, I Set My Friends On Fire.
There is terrible news, to be sure; indeed, I am having a hard time typing this through my tears. It feels like the days Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Stanley Kubrick, Norman Mailer, and Jesus Christ died, all rolled into one. It is a true, true tragedy.
When reached for comment, Barham said, “Like, what do you mean?”
I know we give Metallica all sorts of shit around here, and I’ve made several jokes about them not loving their fans – but this is pretty serious, and it’s very cool of them to get involved.
They’ve posted the following message on their Facebook page:
Animosity, largely revered as one of the best bands of their kind, are apparently throwing in the towel. A statement from vocalist Leo Miller to Lambgoat explains:
We didn’t report on this one yesterday, but rest assured we didn’t miss it: Blue Cheer frontman Dickie Peterson passed away yesterday of liver cancer. He was 63.
Blue Cheer are often credited as being the forefathers of proto-heavy metal, heaving gone on to inspire Black Sabbath with their work in the late 1960s. They were kind of the Faith No More to alt/nu-metal, the At the Gates to melodic death metal, the Cave In or Converge to metalcore; though they paved the way and largely invented a sound that would later blow up, they never quite got the credit they deserved. And since we’re pretty much talking about the creation of all of heavy metal here, Blue Cheer were/are a big fucking deal. Though the band denied their involvement in the birth of the genre we all love so much, listening to some of their material proves the Sabbath influence right away. Here’s a clip that Decibel posted yesterday of the band performing in Germany last year.
R.I.P. Dickie Peterson.
-VN
I’ve just received an e-mail from Earache Records alerting me that Mike Alexander, bassist for U.K. thrashers Evile, has passed away. He was thirty-two years old.
Evile members Matt Drake, Ol Drake and Ben Carter have released the following statement:
Awhile back, there was a fan-filmed video of one of the dudes from Attack Attack! getting hit in the head with a cup of water (or, hopefully, something much ickier). And I found that video hilarious. The video is down now “due to a copyright claim” by the band’s label, Rise Records, but that’s bullshit. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of fan-filmed videos of Attack Attack! all over YouTube, all of which, theoretically, violate Rise’s copyright claim. This video was clearly taken down because it’s embarrassing to Attack Attack!
But I digress. I’m really just admitting that I found that video funny, because I’m a huge hypocrite.
See, I don’t find the below video of Doc Coyle getting hit with a cup of water while performing with Lamb of God funny because, well, a) I like God Forbid, b) I like Doc Coyle, and c) I like Lamb of God. So, yeah, I’m biased. If that’s shocking to you, you either don’t read MetalSucks very much, or are not very intelligent.
ANYWAY, one thing I do find funny about this video: Doc taking off his guitar and leaping down off the stage to confront his attacker. No, he doesn’t actually hurt anyone, but, man, I bet he put the fear of God (Forbid!) in whomever that dick wad was.
Skip to roughly 4:22 to see the whole thing go down. Hopefully whomever threw that cup woke up the next day to find that his testicles had, indeed, fallen off in the middle of the night. Assuming he had a pair to lose in the first place.
-AR
[via Blabbermouth]
Hull, one of our very favorite New York metal bands, have been robbed at gunpoint while on tour with Batillus and Salome. No one was hurt, but the band did lose their wallets and now need to figure out some way to get home. Donations can be sent via PayPal to hullsounds AT gmail DOT com.
Hull aren’t just a great band – they’re also a great bunch of dudes, and totally undeserving of such a fucked-up occurrence. If you can afford to speare a few dollars to help them out, please do so. It is the very definition of “a good cause.”
-AR
I’ve just been bombarded with e-mails that Alabama-based label Acerbic Noise Development is in serious danger of going under. I’m not familiar with all the bands on this label, but the ones I am familiar with – like Dysrhythmia – are pretty awesome. And I’m sitting here now checking out some of the other groups on A.N.D. and they seem to have good taste. I am really, really enjoying Verse and Radiation right now, for example.
I hate to see a small label like this fall apart, especially when it seems like the people running it (and it appears as though a whopping two people are A.N.D.’s entire staff) are putting good music into the world. So while I don’t know if anything can actually be done to save the label at this point, I strongly encourage you all to check out their website, and/or the sites of some of their bands. If you can throw a little support their way, super.
A list of Acerbic Noise bands, with links to their web pages, after the jump.
This always just breaks my heart. I’ve only got 4 guitars, most of which I barely play, but if any single one of them were stolen I’d be crushed. Imagine having all of your stuff EVER including guitars you’ve had forever, thousands of dollars worth of amplification and other gear AND your clothes and fucking everything you own stolen. THAT’s what just happened to Poison the Well. I can’t even imagine. Yet the guys have the goodwill and positive outlook to soldier on and say, “Pissed about our gear and passionate about this band as ever.” From their MySpace blog:
So this morning we woke up at our delightful Marriot Courtyard hotel (priceline, get into it) and walked outside to get in the van to head to Chicago for our second show of the tour. Only problem, it isn’t there.
I’m not just speaking in the general sense. I mean, in this video, he announces “I’ve got something for all you,” then lets one rip.
What do you think that smelled like? I’d guess half-digested babies.
-AR
Thanks to Manfred Nuggets for the link.
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