MetalSucks

…MS Maniac Daisy May Tinklepants just pointed out to us that the cover art for their new album, Revisions, is awfully similar to the cover art for Throwdown’s new album, Deathless. The two are being released too closely together for me to think that one is ripping off the other (also, their respective music is so dissimilar that I wouldn’t be surprised if either band didn’t care for the other’s work), so let’s just call it serendipity.

And, while we’re on the topic, here’s Slayer’s video of “Eyes of the Insane,” which the reader known only as “Jimmy” pointed out was the precursor for both of these covers.

-AR

3, one of the best not-really-a-metal-band to ever be signed to a metal label (Metal Blade) and tour with metal bands (Opeth, etc.), are going to make a video for the song “Rabid Animals” from their new album, Revisions. And that’s all well good, but here’s the really groovy part – they’re giving their fans a chance to be in the video. And you don’t have to spend any money, or win a contest, or anything like that.

Here’s a statement from the band:

Click to read more…

Back in March I bitched that this year’s Progressive Nation lineup — featuring Pain of Salvation, Beardfish, and Zappa Plays Zappa supporting Dream Theater — was decidedly less metal than last year’s lineup (which featured 3, BTBAM, and Opeth supporting DT — killer show) and wasn’t worth the price of admission to anyone under 50. A press release delivered good news to the MS Mansion earlier this week, announcing that Bigelf and Scale the Summit have replaced Pain of Salvation and Beardfish. Suh-weet!

Click to read more…

Apropos of nothing, we just wanna say: PLEASE DON’T SEE SAW V THIS WEEKEND. It’s time for that stupid fucking franchise to die already. If you’re in the mood for a horror movie because Halloween is coming up, there’s better fucking things you can rent. For fuck’s sake, just watch John Carpenter’s original Halloween again. Just don’t send the message that we want more of these inane fucking movies.

ANYWAY, here’s some shit that happened in the world of metal this week.

• Guns N’ Roses finally sent a single to radio and confirmed the release of Chinese Democracy. Enough of you cared enough to tell us you don’t care.
• We interviewed Opeth and 3. Progginess ensued.
• God Forbid’s new album got a title!
• Winds of Plague’s Kristen Randall thinks she’s Gloria Steinem. Thinking logical human beings everywhere strongly disagree.

Join us next week, same bat time, same bat channel!

I recently had the chance to sit down with not one but four members of Woodstock, NY’s prog-rock breakthrough act, 3. From inside their seventh floor hotel room dubbed “The Ivory Tower,” the band revealed the state of their current tour, their thoughts on last year’s album The End is Begun, and touring with bigger bands. Of course, in true MetalSucks style, their answers have a healthy helping of goofiness to them. Read the full transcript after the jump.

Click to read more…

The Progressive Nation tour hits New York City for two sold-out dates at the relatively intimate Terminal 5 next week, and we are beyond psyched. We’ve been talking about this damn tour since November for chrissakes, well before dates were announced.

A lot of folks I know that are going to Progressive Nation are least excited about the tour’s headliner, the mighty Dream Theater (the tour also features Opeth, Three, and Between the Buried and Me). To thee I say, you guys are fucking fools. Get over the need to prove yourself br00tal and enjoy one of the best, most enduring, and talented progressive metal bands of all time.

Take their cover of Pantera’s “Cemetery Gates,” featuring a battery of guest musicians and a Mega-special guest solo. What other band would choose this Pantera song as their homage? Few could even pull it off, let alone with this degree of awesomeness.

-VN

Because seriously, we were starting to think this whole thing was smoke and mirrors; but thankfully dates for the Progressive Nation tour featuring Dream Theater, Opeth, 3 and Between the Buried and Me have finally been announced. The North American trek covers 23 dates hitting mostly major markets and bookended by shows in Mexico and Puerto Rico (with Dream Theater and between the Buried and Me only). New York City and Calgary (of all places!) get two dates each. And the best part? This tour is playing intimate theaters! Terminal 5 in New York is a new venue maybe one and a half times the size of Irving Plaza — shit is not big! This is going to be awesome. Just don’t count on trying to pick up any chicks at these shows because the audience will be about 98% sausages, air-guitaring and air-drumming along wih every single note.

Tour dates after the jump.

Click to read more…

I know that Vince’s revelation that 3’s logo looks like a donger upset more than a few 3 fans who felt like now they could no longer wear the band’s shirts; but in all seriousness, we got nuthin’ but love for this band. They just hit the road with Chevelle, the special edition of their latest album, The End is Begun, hits stores on February 18, and sometime this year, they’ll be part of pretty much the best tour ever alongside Dream Theater, Opeth, and Between the Buried and Me. Check out their MySpace page for more details; in the meantime, here’s their David Brodsky-directed video for “All that Remains.”

[kml_flashembed movie="http://lads.myspace.com/videos/vplayer.swf" width="430" height="346" fvars="m=19948199;type=video" wmode="transparent" /]

-AR

Back when Vince did an interview with Between the Buried and Me bassist Dan Briggs, the two of them spent so much time just splooging about about how much they love Dream Theater that at some point Vince didn’t even bother to transcribe the conversation; it was just two metal dorks dorking out.

So I can only imagine their collective excitement over the announcement of Dream Theater’s “Progressive Nation” package tour, which will team the prog masters with Opeth, 3, and, of course, BTBAM themselves.

Click to read more…