MetalSucks

I really like the Rockstar Mayhem Festival – it’s like someone went to Ozzfest and figured out a way to make it way better. Having two side-by-side second stages was a stroke of genius; there’s no downtime in-between bands, because one act can set up while another plays. The mainstage has been solid, too, although there’s always one co-headliner that’s totally missable – in other words, Disturbed and Marilyn Manson played those slots. But so have Slayer, Mastodon, and a bunch of other great bands, so there’s that.

Well, our pals at Metal Insider are reporting a few rumors as to whom might be on this year’s fest, and it looks as though the skipable band this year may very well be Korn.

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In September we saw Alice in Chains play a pretty amazing show, and it looks like we’ll get a chance to see ‘em again in March: the band has announced a headlining North American tour, scheduled to begin in February.

If you’ve never seen AIC live, you need to. Even without Layne Staley, they kick ass in a major way. And now that Black Gives Way to Blue has been out for awhile, hopefully they’ll start to incorporate more new material into their set.

Dates after the jumperooni.

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Ever heard that Behemoth have breaks built into their set so they can run off stage and do some corpse paint touch-ups? To be fair, I’m not sure if the person who told me that was being honest or just joshin’ me, but it makes sense – the band definitely runs off stage from time to time, leaving the crowd to listen to pre-taped orchestral apocalyptic goodness.

True or not, it doesn’t change the fact that Behemoth absolutely crushed in their too-brief set on this past summer’s Rockstar Mayhem Yadda Yadda tour, or the fact that we were looking forward to seeing them do a proper headlining set. So now they’ve finally announced a tour – with Septic fucking Flesh, no less – and it’s hitting NYC the same night as the BTBAM/Cynic/Devin Townsend/Scale the Summit Orgasm Tour. I don’t know what rocket scientists set that up, but now metal fans in our area will have a tough decision to make. We are going to the Orgasm Tour, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish there were multiple mes, like in that awful Michael Keaton movie.

ANYWAY, here are dates for the Behemoth tour. We envy those of you who can make it.

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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:

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There are too many fucking metal tours happening in the U.S. right now. Whether this is a result of the decline of record sales is impossible to measure given the absence of a control group, but it’d be hard to argue that’s not at least a factor; lacking revenue from royalties, bands are having to go out on the road in order to make any money. The result is a complete oversaturation of the tour marketplace, and the result of that is that bands are right back where they left off, their audience spread too thin amongst too many shows.

Case in point, we’re right in the middle of 10 straight days of metal shows here in NYC. Several of these days have two or even three shows from which to choose:

• Thur, Nov. 12: Periphery, The Binary Code, Empyreon -also- Machine Head, Mutiny Within
• Fri, Nov 13: Krallice, Liturgy, etc. -also- Hung, Ikillya, Devil to Pay -also- The Austerity Program etc
• Sat, Nov 14: Skeletonwitch / Black Anvil -also- Metallica, Lamb of God
• Sun, Nov 15: Shrinebuilder / Rwake, Liturgy -also- Metallica, Lamb of God
• Mon, Nov 16: Aphonia, The Binary Code, Brock Murdock -also- The Jesus Lizard
• Tue, Nov 17: Valient Thorr, Red Fang -also- The Jesus Lizard -als0- Dark Castle, Wetnurse, The Atlas Moth
• Wed, Nov 18: Javelina, Black Tusk, Batillus
• Thur, Nov 19: Cave In, Trap Them, Narrows
• Fri, Nov 20: Baroness, Earthless

Not even halfway through this mess and I’m fucking beat.

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UPDATE: Testament are definitely doing this tour. There’s no mention of High on Fire in the press release – interpret that as you will.

Well, here it is, kiddies… the tour you’ve been waiting for… there’s not much else you need to know other than this:

1. There will be a limited amount of ten dollar tickets avail to each show.
2. Tour dates are after the jump.

Get stoked.

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The MetalSucks-sponsored Waste The World Tour (featuring Municipal Waste, with Goatwhore, Brutal Truth, Phobia and Cauldron on as support for various dates) is off to a wet start. On the tour’s fifth show — Wednesday night in Houston, TX — a fan decided it’d be a good idea to climb on the pipes hanging from the ceiling during Goatwhore’s set. ‘Cause, ya know, hanging from pipes is always a great idea. The sprinkler system erupted, flooding ensued, and the whole show was forced to evacuate the venue. Fortunately the Meridian had an extra room available, so after an hour of chaos the show went on, faster and harder than ever.

Make sure you catch this tour when it comes through your city. Dates after the jump. Please note that The Accused are no longer part of the tour.

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The Faceless’ Planetary Duality was one of our most favoritest albums of 2008, making both Axl’s (#2)and Vince’s (honorable mention) year-end lists. Since its release the band has been touring non-stop opening up for pretty much everyone — Meshuggah/Cynic, Cannibal Corpse, Obscura/Neuraxis, Misery Index, Atheist… these are all tours that have taken The Faceless out as openers over the past year, and that doesn’t even include stuff they’ve done outside the U.S. Jeez! It’s finally time for the band to headline their own tour (or at least co-headline with Dying Fetus), the Planetary Depravity Tour, which starts this Saturday night. If Warbringer are any indication, the scheme of having a young band support every band under the sun in order to build a fanbase can actually work, but I’ll still bet The Faceless camp are just a tad bit nervous to finally headline.

SO. The Faceless have announced via their MySpace page that they’ll be playing Planetary Duality in its entirety every night on the Planetary Depravity Tour:

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I’ve never seen Weekend Nachos live, but I would very much like to someday. Relapse Records – who have had a fucking AMAZING 2009* -put out their album Unforgivable earlier this year, and it kills. If the band can do anything to re-create that energy in a live setting, I bet bucket loads of blood, sweat, and healthy releases of raw aggression will ensue.

The band is setting out on a tour at the end of the month, and, just my luck, it’s not coming close to New York – most of the dates are out west. But I implore you to go see Weekend Nachos if you can, so that I can live vicariously through you, my beloved readers.

Dates after the jump.

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I know that with the postponement of the latest round of Megadeth/Slayer Canadian tour dates it’s tempting to say that the Mustaine-Slayer feud has finally reached critical mass, but I don’t actually believe that; we’ve been hearing rumors that the tour would finally come to America some time next year, and I think this is a case of some people who don’t really like each other realizing there’s more money to be made if they can keep their shit together. Or, put more simply: I actually believe that Tom Araya is sick, and that’s why the dates were postponed.

Which is why I also believe the Blabbermouth-reported rumor that not only is the MegaSlayer tour coming to the States in February, but that it will feature Testament and High on Fire, as well.

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We’re extremely proud to present to you what in our humble opinions is the coolest young band tour of early 2010; The Metal As Art Tour, featuring Hypno5e, Revocation and The Binary Code. While every band on the bill is different from one another, each brings a unique, artistic sensibility to their own brand of metal and all are some of the most forward-thinking metal musicians out there; hence “Metal As Art.”

We’ve raved about Revocation and we’ve raved about The Binary Code. We’ve yet to see Hypno5e, who are traveling all the way from France for this tour; but what we’ve heard of their new record (still in the works) is extremely promising.

The tour kicks off in New York City on January 6th, winds its way out to the West Coast and then comes all the way back East, ending in Trenton, NJ on February 6th, the day before the Superbowl. We’ll have plenty of updates leading up to the tour and along the way. Full list of dates, cities and venues after the jump.

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We’ve been raving about Sumeriancore upstarts Periphery for months now, and their first-ever U.S. headline tour (since signing with Sumerian, anyway) is finally upon us. The trek will be making just 9 stops, beginning this Sunday, November 8th in Richmond, VA. All dates also feature Mutiny Within and This or the Apocalypse — except a very special New York City show on Thursday, November 12th co-presented by MetalSucks, which will feature two of NYC’s very best metal bands: Empyreon and The Binary Code. Admission is only $8 and it’s an early show (starts at 7pm), so there’s no excuse not to drop by Santo’s Party House to get your metal on before going out on the town (or going home, for you oldies) on your Thursday night.

After the jump, check out the latest video update from Periphery.

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In news that will only bum out people who have never heard Addicted, Ki, Ziltoid (the album, not the guy who leaves comments here telling us how bad we suck), or any number of other Devin Townsend projects that aren’t Strapping Young Lad, The Formerly Skulleted One has announced that he will not be playing any SYL material on his forthcoming tour with Between the Buried and Me, Cynic, and Scale The Summit.

And there isn’t much more to say than that. I love SYL as much as the next drunken ree-ree, but Townsend has plenty of other great albums from which to pull material, and I’m dying to hear stuff from the last few records that has never been performed live before. And since he’s not the headliner and I imagine his set time will therefore be a little shorter than some of us might like, it’s only natural that he’d want to concentrate on stuff he wasn’t out on the road playing for years and years prior to SYL’s demise.

Or, put more succinctly: even though some idiots will surely bitch and moan, this isn’t a big deal, and this tour is still gonna be awesome.

Addicted, which really is fantastic, comes out November 17 on InsideOut Music.

-AR

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:

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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

Heathenfest America, the not-Paganfest-monikered tour which is otherwise basically Paganfest for all intents and purposes, gets underway next week! Break out those viking hats and beer steins and get on out there to catch Eluveite, Belphegor, Alestorm (the superior pirate metal band), Vreid and Kivimetsan Druidi at what’s sure to be the best / dorkiest / drunkest show of the Fall. Full list of dates for the MetalSucks-sponsored trek after the jump.

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As promised, here are the dates for that whole Between the Buried and Me/Cynic/The Devin Townsend Project/Scale the Summit North American Orgasm Tour 2010, which I’m sure actually has a much more “professional” name, even though calling it the “Orgasm Tour” would really just be truth in advertising.

ANYWAY, the dates. Okay, here we go. Get ready to celebrate or cry, depending on where you live…

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Thanks to MetalSucks uber-Maniac (I’m giving him an upgrade since he actually came to New York and sought us out at a show) Mark Mortiz-Rabson for alerting us to the following incredibly important message on Between the Buried and Me’s MySpace page:

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Djent flag-wavers and recent Sumerian Records signees Periphery are taking my advice and hitting the East Coast next month for a string of headline dates, welcome news to those of us who saw them absolutely decimate the crowd on this Summer’s hit-or-miss Thrash & Burn Tour despite an asscrack-of-dawn stage time (relatively speaking). To say that Periphery were the standout act of Thrash & Burn would be an understatement; they completely tour up a room that had to be for the most part unfamiliar with them. It was also immensely satisfying for me to finally see a band live that’s been e-famous for years.

The 9-date headline tour also features This or the Apocalypse and Roadrunner young guns Mutiny Within, starting November 8th in Richmond, VA and wrapping up November 16th in Providence, RI. If you don’t live in any of these limited markets, fear not — the band will definitely be touring a helluva lot in the coming months/years.

Full list of dates after the jump, and of course you can listen to the band on MySpace. Also check out our interview with Periphery’s Misha Mansoor and Alex Bois as well as this video of drummer Matt Halpern laying down some ridiculous grooves in the studio.

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Bummer. The Accused, who were scheduled to provide support for  some (but not all!) of the dates on the MS sponsored Municipal Waste “Waste the World” tour, have been forced to drop off due to “scheduling conflicts.” Oh well.

The good news is that Goatwhore are still doing all dates from 11/06-11/16, Brutal Truth are still doing all dates from 12/04-12/11, and Phobia, Cauldron, and, of course, The Waste themselves are still doing ALL dates. And hopefully a new support act will be named to step in for The Accused.

All of the bands remaining on the tour are killer. If you’ve never seen MW fuck shit up live, you ain’t seen shit. Get complete dates after the jump.

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