MetalSucks

I deliberately made last week’s logo a heckuva lot of easier than normal, and I guess it worked, because for once, most of you correctly guessed the band’s name (and in case ya didn’t, it was “Immersed in Blood”). So the luck of the draw says that Dirk Agueros gets our last copy of Dragonforce’s ultra awesome Ultra Beatdown. Enjoy, Dirk!

This week the par-tay animals at Roadrunner Records have kindly donated five copies of Airbourne’s Runnin’ Wild for us to give away. This here’s drinkin’ music if ever there was such a thing; if you like loud, obnoxious hard rock, this album is a must-own!

All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail with your answer, your name and address at axl [at] metalsucks.net. We’ll randomly select five winners from everyone who gets it right (assuming more than one person gets it right this time), and announce his or her names next week.

I tried to actually make the logo hard again this week, so if you want a CD, you’re gonna hafta earn it!

-AR

MetalSucks recently had the opportunity to have an all-too-brief chat with Underoath bassist Grant Brandell at the Rockstar Mayhem Festival’s stop at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. Brandell had some interesting things to say about the tour, hanging out with other bands at the fest, and the band’s plans for the future. Check out the full transcript after the jump, then read David Bee Roth’s review of Underoath’s new album, Lost in the Sound of Separation, which was released earlier this week!

Click to read more…

Since the release last year of their Roadrunner debut, Runnin’ Wild, Australia’s Airbourne have practically skyrocketed to the top of the hard rock heap. They’ve already toured with such illustrious acts as Iron Maiden, Motorhead, and a some band called The Rolling Stones, appeared on talk shows, and, most recently, played the Rockstar Mayhem Festival. And they don’t show any signs of slowing down.

MetalSucks recently got to chat with lead singer/guitarist Joel O’Keefe at the Mayhem Fest’s stop at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. After the jump, read what O’Keefe had to say about hard partying, being the only hard rock act on an extreme metal tour, and the constant comparisons the band receives to AC/DC.

Click to read more…

A whole lot of you guessed that last week’s logo belonged to Celtic Frost – which was a good guess, considering that the second word in the band name was, indeed, “frost.”

Unfortunately, the logo belongs to Ewig Frost, not Celtic Frost. So while MetalSucks maniacs Nathan Griggs, Jeremy Bergerson, and Daniel Jaryniewich all win free copies of The Best of Spineshank, the rest of you do not. Sad for you.

This week, the fine folks at Roadrunner Records have supplied us with three copies of Airbourne’s Runnin’ Wild to give away. If you don’t know Airbourne, they’re keeping the spirit of Bon Scott-era AC/DC alive, so you’ll wanna check ‘em out.

All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail with your answer, your name and address at axl [at] metalsucks.net. We’ll randomly select three winners from everyone who gets it right, and announce their name next Monday.

Good luck…

-AR

Holy crap, dude. Did you hear about this awesome new tour? It’s gonna be rad, dude. It’s Desaster with Throwdown, Airbourne, and Trivium are the headliners. It’s called the “Close Your Eyes” tour, ’cause if you close your eyes, you’ll think you’re at some awesome show with Venom, Pantera, AC/DC and Metallica. For reals, dude!

What’s that, dude? Oh, you don’t know Desaster? Yeah, they’re these totally smart black metal dudes. Like, while those chumps in Sigh were off recording a tribute to Venom, this band just made an album that sounds exactly like Venom – and they don’t have to pay any of the royalties! I know, dude, it’s totally sick, isn’t? Totes sicko.

Cool, dude. So I’ll see you at the show. And, hey, did I mention the best part? Each ticket comes with a free blindfold! WICKED!

(one and a half out of five horns)

-AR

MetalSucks writer Vince Neilstein takes a look at recent releases from deathcore outfit Salt The Wound and Australian party-rockers Airbourne. Quick reviews after the jump.

Click to read more…

The Soundscan charts for last week have been released, and the Super-Duper Metal Tuesday releases charted extremely well. The Mars Volta’s Bedlam in Goliath edged out Bullet For My Valentine’s Scream, Aim Fire by a mere 700 copies for the #3 spot, while MetalSucks faves Protest the Hero debuted at #95 with Fortress, a feat for a band whose music is so challenging and intricate. Australian AC/DC-revivalists Airbourne just missed the Top 100 coming in at 106. Full list of charting metal and hard rock releases, plus sales figures and our commentary, after the jump.

Click to read more…

Over the past several days there have been a spate of press releases more or less confirming that the biggest metal tour this summer is going to be the newly corporate controlled christened Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour, whatwith Sharon Osbourne promising a limited run of Ozzfest dates this summer. So far the lineup is shaping up as follows:

• Slipknot and Disturbed will be co-headlining
• Dragonforce and Mastodon will round out the mainstage lineup
• Two sidestages:
  • Sevendust, Airbourne, Five Finger Death Punch, and 36 Crazyfists on one.
  • Machine Head, Black Tide, Suicide Silence, The Red Chord and Walls of Jericho on the other.

What a mess of conflicting emotions I have about this. I think it’s safe to say that no one who comes to this site gives two shits about Disturbed. I’m not big on Slipknot but I certainly respect what they’ve accomplished and haven’t ever witnessed the spectacle that is their live show, and I know Axl is gonna be psyched about this. Dragonforce and Mastodon: sweet. As for the side stages, there could be some difficult choices to make but hopefully the timing will stack up in such a way that Five Finger Death Suck and Black Tide are playing while other, cooler bands are on the other stage. Machine Head? Seen ‘em twice in 2007 but still, sweet. As for Sevendust, say what you will about their past several very mediocre albums, but the band always brings it live, and this is the first package tour of any sort they’ve been a part of since… man, I can’t even remember. Airbourne could be a good time in that AC/DC sort of way, and Axl’s been hyping Suicide Silence so I’ll give ‘em a shot. Our boys at Metal Injection love the Red Chord, so I’ll check that out too. Couldn’t care less about Walls of Jericho, except that my friend is in their music video.

On second thought, I guess there isn’t really that much of a dilemma: the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Tour is the tour to be at this summer, despite a few shitty acts. But when are there ever not any shitty acts?

-VN

The big Tuesday for politics may be next week, but today is the first important release date of the year for metal. Let’s take a look at what you can now easily pirate buy at your local record store on this fine day:

• Stonerider – Three Legs of Trouble (Trustkill) – Southern-fried rawk n’ roll, Crowes Mule & Roses, if you will.
• Bullet for My Valentine – Scream Aim Fire (Jive / SonyBMG) – One of the biggest releases so far this year, coming from Welsh second-gen metalcore quartet previously known as nu-metallers Jeff Killed John. (Read our review here.)
• The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath (Universal) – Fourth album from progiffied funk spazz freaks, ex-At the Drive In. (Read our detailed retrospective on the band.)
• Tiles – Fly Paper (InsideOut) – Progressive hard rockers from Detroit who have been round a while, and have toured with the likes of Dream Theater.
• Airbourne – Runnin’ Wild (Roadrunner) – Australian AC/DC-influenced AC/DC rock that sounds like AC/DC. Nuff said.
• Steve Stevens – Memory Crash (Magna Carta) – Solo shredfest from ex-Vince Neil and longtime Billy Idol axeslinger.
• Course of Nature – Damaged (Silent Majority) – Nickelcreedbenjaminseetherhinderback.
• Protest the Hero, Fortress (Vagrant) – Post-prog, shred-tastic, metal and hardcore-influenced amazingness. One of the most important records of 2008 so far.

… look no further than Australia’s (soon to be USA’s) Airbourne, who we first reported on back in July. Airbourne is part of the new crop of bands who sound exactly like their heroes (Airbourne:AC/DC :: Trivium:Metallica. Eat that, SAT) but in this case, how can you really complain? If you’ve got a hankerin’ for a song with nothing but juicy, crunchy Les Paul through Marshall A, E, D and G chords, Airbourne’s got ya covered. Check out the video for “Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast,” below, and if ya dig it check ‘em out on MySpace.
-VN

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/CgAgG68TRKE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]