Are you ready to headbang so hard your frickin’ skull detaches from your neck, flies across the pit, and kills some poor dude on the other side of the venue?!?! We hope so, ’cause we’re teaming up with our brahs at Metal Injection to bring you what is sure to be one of the most intense tours of the spring: Revocation are headlining, with support coming from Cannabis Corpse and Ramming Speed. That line-up is ILL, isn’t it?

The tour kicks off in April. Get dates after the jump!!!

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It takes a lot for your average working class metal band to cancel a tour. As if van wrecks and health scares weren’t bad enough on their own, the lost income from not being able to tour — where bands these days make most of their income — just adds insult to injury. It couldn’t have been an easy decision for Fallujah and King’s X to both cancel tours this week, but tough times call for tough measures.

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Graf Orlock are surely one of the most invigorating grind bands on the scene today; not only is their music as mercilessly murderous as you’d want it to be, but their incorporation of elements from action films is brilliant, often completely recontextualizing the band’s music, rather than just allowing listeners to indulge in “Oh I get that reference”-style lulz. Takes their new EP, Los Angeles, for example: it’s available with three different versions of the cover art, all by the band’s own drummer, Alan Hunter, and all referencing Michael Mann’s classic 1995 L.A. crime saga, Heat. The movie isn’t just about cops n’ robbers — it’s about men who are incapable of putting human relationships before their professional commitments. Knowing that, it’s hard to listen to this new EP, which is named after AN ENTIRE CITY and features songs with titles like “No Attachments,” and think that Graf Orlock may be getting at concepts about modern society that are a little bigger than “It’s funny when Al Pacino screams for no discernible reason.”

MetalSucks is proud to bring you three awesome debuts from Graf Orlock today: the track “Couple Seeking Comfort/No Point” from Los Angeles, all three covers that will be available for the EP, and dates for the band’s upcoming Asian and European tours. Vitriol Records will release Los Angeles on April 10; pre-orders don’t go live until March 10, but we recommend that you set a reminder for yourself bookmark the pre-order page right now. Because only six-hundred copies of Los Angeles will be pressed, each one featuring ACTUAL BULLET HOLES shot into the cover by Graf Orlock frontman Jason Schmidt. (What else did you expect from the bands whose previous releases turned into a boombox and came wrapped in a Facehugger from Alien?) You can check out the first of the three covers at the top of this post; the new track, tour dates, and other covers are all after the jump.You can click on any the covers to see ‘em full-sized, in all their glory.

Now, enjoy ”Couple Seeking Comfort/No Point”:

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It looks there’s gonna be a Fear Factory headlining tour this spring. Shadows Fall will play direct support, while The Devastated, The Browning and Legacy of Disorder will come along for the ride too.

Our source? A venue called the Crofoot in Pontiac, MI (25 miles from Detroit) who let the beans out of the bag by posting a show info page and placing tickets on sale presumably before they were supposed to, as so often happens these days. In case the page gets pulled by the time you read this, we’ve posted a screen cap above to prove we’re not making this shit up.

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UPDATE, 2/22, 4:34 pm: Four more dates added. Thanks to Jonathan for sending ‘em in.

Are you guys sick of all these awesome tours being announced yet or what? Yeah, I didn’t think so. You can sleep in September. Maybe. Probably not. Oh whatever.

In case the giant poster at the top of this post didn’t give it away, the next trek about which to get excited will be headlined by the tech-death gods in Origin, with support coming from Cattle Decapitation, Decrepit Birth, Aborted, Rings of Saturn, and Battlecross; some bands I don’t really know are apparently also on the bill, although for what dates I have no idea. Whatever, you were in at Origin and Cattle Decapitation and Decrepit Birth ALONE, right? Everything else is just icing on the cake.

Here are dates, via Battlecross’ Facebook page:

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UPDATE, 2/27/12, 2:30pm EST: Scion is not filming a DVD. Read details about what they are doing here.

Original post:

Whether you think the car manufacturer’s involvement in metal over the past few years is good or bad for the scene (and we’ve certainly heard compelling arguments from both sides and everything in between), one thing is certain about Scion: they’re pumping a fuckton of money into it. Whereas their involvement until now has pretty much been relegated to the death/black/crust/grind/doom types of bands — the more “indie” metal scene — they’re taking a big jump into the metal mainstream with their latest venture, a sponsorship of the recently announced Meshuggah U.S. tour with Baroness and Decapitated.

A tour sponsorship is one thing — big whoop, logo on a flyer — but the real news here is that Scion will be filming and recording the whole thing. In a post to the Scion A/V Facebook page late last night, the car company’s metal division spilled the beans:

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Pictured left to right: Dave Mustaine, Rob Zombie, Sheri Moon Zombie

Megadeth and Rob Zombie have announced a co-headlining tour, and besides the fact that both acts are on Roadrunner, that seems to me like a pretty odd match. For one thing, musically, they really don’t have anything in common besides loud guitars. And for another thing, Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson are devout Christians now who think people can be healed by the power of prayer (and that gay marriage is wrong — more on that in half an hour), while Zombie presents himself as the very (admittedly very cartoonish) portrait of Evil. I mean, I guess if ‘Deth can tour with Slayer, than touring with a dude whose biggest hit is a song about a vampiric race car is really no big deal. Still, everything about this package seems odd to me. (“That’s what she said.”) I guess the moral of the story is, you’re nothing without your values and beliefs, unless those values and beliefs get in the way of you making money.

ANYWAY, here are dates courtesy of Metal Underground:

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Continuing the trend of announcing Metal Blade bands produced by Erik Rutan, Sumerian bands that are on Sumerian, and bands that everyone already knew were on the tour,  Goatwhore and Veil of Maya have both been added to Summer Slaughter. Goatwhore were officially announced via the festival’s Facebook page; VoM haven’t been yet, but Lambgoat says that when their new album, Eclipse, is released next week, it will be adorned with a sticker announcing the band’s participation. I guess the label thought that wouldn’t be letting the cat out of the bag too early, since no one purchases CDs anymore, and in theory, at least, that meant that no one would see the sticker. But someone did, so there ya go.

Aaaannnndddd… Holy crap, am I really gonna have to keep writing about this tour after every weekend? It’s a great line-up and I’m very excited to go see the show, but I am shit out of things to say about it already. Do you think if I stop writing about the tour, Vince will do it instead, or do you think MetalSucks readers will just have to learn about it elsewhere? I mean I could probably just ask Vince instead of rambling on about it in this public blog piece, but it’s too late, I’ve typed it now and there’s no going back.

Here’s a picture of an actual goat whore that I made because I was bored/horny:

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UPDATE, 2/17, 12:45 pm: I’ve just been informed that Clutch will, indeed, be going on first every night, and that both bands will be playing a full set. So, yes, you absolutely can go, enjoy an entire Clutch show, and then split. Phew!

Yesterday I got a press release titled “CLUTCH and HELLYEAH Unite For North American Co-Headlining Tour,” and I don’t mind telling you, I pretty much plotzed. I mean, I guess this tour kinda makes sense, in that both bands specialize in bluesy hard rock. But it really makes no sense whatsoever, in that Clutch would never ever ever write a song called “Alcohaulin’ Ass.” And aren’t, y’know, completely unlistenable garbage.

So. I have no idea which band is going on last every night, but the above poster suggests it’s Hellyeah. If that’s the case, well, there’s your silver lining — ’cause you can break out as soon as Clutch is done.

Also, if you live in Norfolk, Lancaster, Albany, Dayton, Oklahoma City, Raleigh, Rock Island, Detroit, or Flint, you’re in luck, ’cause Hellyeah isn’t playing those towns at all. On the other hand, if you live in Atlanta, Hartford, or Pryor, you’re fucked, ’cause Clutch isn’t playing those towns at all.

Here are dates:

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It’s not exactly news that the once very hairy ’80s revival festival Rocklahoma has eschewed its roots for what’s best described as “Red state rock” or “flyover rock,” but every year when the lineup is announced I cry a little tear inside for the lineups that once were and the lineups that could have been. Since the epic fail that was Rocklahoma 2009, AEG Live has taken over the festival and revamped the format, and presumably it’s working, because this is the third year in a row the festival’s billing has featured bands that were big in the year 2000 instead of the ’80s modern bands. And for the first time ever (I think), there are even a few bands that readers of MetalSucks might enjoy.

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UPDATE, 2/22, 11:28 am: Complete tour itinerary is now available below!

Back in October, Nasum announced that they were officially breaking-up (which everyone kind of assumed they had already done but I’m not complain), and were celebrating that break-up with a farewell tour, with Rotten Sound’s Keijo Niinimaa taking over vocals for Mieszko Talarczyk, who tragically passed away in the 2004 Asian tsunami.

Now the first batch of dates for that tour have surfaced… actually, I’m not clear if this is the first batch of dates or the only batch of dates… it doesn’t really look like there are any massive gaps in this schedule, but there is certainly room for the band to announce more gigs. In any case, you should try really, really hard to get your ass to a show, because after this, there will officially, 110% be no more Nasum, and the world will be a much more dreary place for it. And most of these shows have other awesome bands on the bill — like Brutal Truth, Exhumed, and every other band on this year’s Maryland Deathfest — so I mean come on, you gotta go!

Here are those dates, via Lambgoat:

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Marilyn Manson is a pretentious douche chill. I don’t deny this, have never denied this, and yet… I do consider myself a fan. The truth is, the guy makes catchy, industrialized pop metal — like Nine Inch Nails without all the genius baggage. The only album he’s ever made that I really out and out hated was 2009′s The High End of Low, which was like the world’s laziest attempt to continue the more-rock-and-less-electronica direction of 2007′s way-underrated Eat Me, Drink Me. So while I’m not exactly sitting in my chair strokin’ it in anticipation of his album, Born Villain, I am curious to hear it, sure.

And that release is apparently done, or close to done, ’cause Manson has just announced a U.S. headlining tour, which will kick off at the end of April. As is the case with all great pop metallers, Manson knows how to put on a fun, theatrical show with lots of production value, so assuming you don’t mind navigating a sea of overweight faux-goths, there are worse ways to spend your evening than at one of these concerts. Then again, I’m not going to tell you “OMG YOU MUST GO TO ONE OF THESE SHOWS!”, ’cause I’d be lying.

So, yeah. If you wanna go, here are dates, courtesy of The PRP:

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If, like me, you were bummed to find Iron Maiden playing too much latter-day material on their last North American tour, you’ll be stoked to know that, according to vocalist Bruce Dickinson, the band’s “intention is to play about two thirds of the original track list of Maiden England” on their just-announced new trek. And since Maiden England was made during the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son tour, it obviously has a lot of older shit on it!

Of course, Dickinson also promises that Maiden will play “other favourites we just know the fans are going to want to hear,” so maybe the last third of that set will be all songs from like Dance of Death or something. But I hope not. ‘Cause when Maiden brings it, man… they are one of the most fun live bands in the world.

And, oh yeah, Alice Cooper is opening until July 21, at which point Coheed & Cambria takes over . So that’s pretty sweet, too.

Here are dates, courtesy Metal Underground:

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As if you didn’t already have enough awesome shows coming up this spring, four bands have now announced two mini-tours, both of which are sure to be a lot of fun. So:

• Crowbar and Prong are doing a twelve-date U.S. run in April. I’ve somehow never snapped my fingers, snapped my neck to Prong live, but they’re obviously legendary, and I’ve always heard folks say nice things about their shows. And Crowbar are always great (duh). You can get dates for that trek here.
• Goes Cube and Exotic Animal Petting Zoo are doing a nine-date U.S. tour in late May and early June. Goes Cube, you probably know, are perennial MetalSucks favorites, and their most recent release, In Tides and Drifts, made my best of 2011 list; I’ve yet to get to check out ENPZ live, but we obviously thought highly enough of their new album, Tree of Tongues, to recently debut a track right here on MS. So I’m beyond stoked to hit up this show when it comes to town, as you all oughta be. Dates are here.

Last month, Overkill announced the impending release of their new offering, The Electric Age; so, no duh, touring was sure to follow. And now the band has, indeed, unveiled plans for a U.S. headlining run, with support for the always-awesome-live God Forbid, as well as Diamond Plate and Suidakra, neither of whom I’ve ever seen in concert (at least not that I can recall — I dunno, I abuse my brain a lot), but whatever, you had me at Overkill + God Forbid. You’d really have to hate fun with a fiery vengeance to miss these shows.

Dates are after the jump!

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(Click to enlarge/download. Artwork by Mike Wohlberg of tFk! Illustration.)

Last year, MetalSucks was proud to bring our own patented brand of mayhem to South by Southwest in the form of the South by South Death showcase; this year, we’re teaming up with our friends at Metal Injection, Metal Insider, Peavey, and ddrum to do it again — and if we can take a second to be not-at-all humble, we have REALLY outdone ourselves this time. ‘Cause on Wednesday, March 14, we are going to absolutely DECIMATE the city of Austin with performances by High on Fire, Darkest Hour, Nachtmystium, Intronaut, Black Tusk, Holy Grail, and MonstrO.

Go ahead and pinch yourselves, fools — that line-up is 110% real. And it’s 200% awesome.

Like was said, the madness begins on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 pm on the patio stage at Barbarella. It is going to be THE can’t-miss extreme music show of this year’s South by South West, so absolutely do not miss it.

Those with badges and wristbands will get in for free. There will be a limited number of tickets available to the general public (cost TBA) but this thing is gonna fill up fast, so if you don’t have a badge or wristband make sure you get there early! This venue is 21+; sorry guys.

FUCKIN’ MOSH.

Summer Slaughter has been officially announcing one new band that will be on the bill every Sunday for the past three Sundays. And while a) the bill is great and b) that’s a very clever way to make sure everyone is talking about the tour around the water cooler each and every Monday morning, it also promised to be a potentially anti-climactic way of unveiling this year’s line-up for the annual fest — ’cause the identities of six of the ten bands on the tour already leaked several weeks ago, and so far, all the billing announcements (namely Cannibal Corpse, Between the Buried and Me, and The Faceless) and have just confirmed that the leaks were accurate. Obviously, it’s not the fault of the fest’s organizers that someone on the inside had loose lips — but, still, it kind of eliminates the need for a piece-by-piece unveiling.

So it was a nice surprise to wake up this morning and discover that Exhumed — a band who had NOT been rumored to be part of the tour — have been added to the trek.

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An extremely welcome surprise in 2011 was Reports From The Threshold Of Death, a throbbing, gauzy dream-rock record from Boston’s Junius (read here). One shitty major magazine described Reports as the intersection of Neurosis and The Smiths, but a sharper listen reveals Deftones-sized hooks and melancholic majesty more akin to Loveless by My Bloody Valentine and Cave-In epics like “Seafrost” and “Paranormal.” I love! U love!

Junius embarks on a busy US tour next month (with O’Brother, dates below), and then heads to Europe in April, so fans have not long to wait for a consciousness-muddying headline set. But in the meantime, Click to read more…

[This post is being live-updated. -Ed.]

This past weekend Metallica got all sneaky and sent out a “Save the Date” for a big announcement happening today at 2pm EST / 11am PST. And here’s the news, via their LiveStream (which started about 15 minutes late, featured a quick trailer announcing the fest, then cut to the band members in a room addressing the camera directly in an informal Q&A session).

Metallica are hosting their own 2-day festival, June 23-24, 2012 in Atlantic City, NJ called “Orion Music + More”. They will headline both nights and will have 22 other artists performing. The official website for the festival is here. The festival is in partnership with C3 who also does Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

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[Updated with official tour poster, 2:16pm EST.]

Prepare to get stangry: we are about to announce the dates of a really sweet tour, and unless you live in or near a major city the chances are pretty high that it’s not coming to your town! If the members of Cannibal Corpse, Exhumed, Abysmal Dawn and Arkaik could speak to you, I’m sure they’d say “We really wish we could visit all of you! We don’t give any fucks about our families, comfortable beds, good meals or regular showers! All we care about is serving YOU, the people of South Dakota! Next time we’ll do a non-stop 150-date U.S. tour and we can all party together!” Or not. Because dudes in bands have lives. Folks of Florida, Montana and Nebraska: deal with it.

Lucky for you, this most brutal of spring tours actually DOES have dates in Florida (two!) and Nebraska. Sorry, Montana, you’re still out of luck. But if it’s any consolation, this tour is not hitting either New York City or Los Angeles, so at least you can revel in that.

Dates after the break [via Noisecreep]:

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