Every Time I Die have parted ways with bassist Josh Newton, making him the forty-seventh bassist to ever hold that particular position in that particular band. (I’m exaggerating, of course… but not by much.) Based on statements from both Newton (“Thanks to all the ETID dudes and all who cared. ’twas fun. ch-ch-ch-changes…”) and the band (“The last 3 weeks have been the most grueling tour we’ve ever done and we have cherished every second. Rock In Peace, Josh Newton, we love you.”), the split appears to be amicable, which is always nice.

And, not to be insensitive or disrespectful, but it’s hard to imagine the loss of Newton will have any negative effect on the band’s sound; after all, the dude didn’t even join ETID ’til 2007, and only recorded one album, 2009′s New Junk Aesthetic, with them. (The band is scheduled to release a new offering next year, but it’s not presently clear if Newton had already recorded any parts for that offering, and, if he did, if those parts will remain on the final product or will ultimately be scrapped.) Every band has its core members who are ultimately the most important contributors, and in the case of Every Time I Die, that core — vocalist Keith Buckley and guitarists Jordan Buckley and Andy Williams — remains intact. So I don’t think ETID fans should be freaking out or anything.

I am curious to see whether or not Newton remains in The Damned Things, the supergroup which features other members of ETID, as well as personnel from Anthrax and Fall Out Boy. That band has something like eighteen guitar players, but at least as of now, Newton is their only bassist.

-AR

[via Lambgoat]

Holy shit, is it seriously August already? It’s gonna start getting cold soon. Motherfucker. Here’s what we did this week when we should have been enjoying the sunshine and fresh air:

• We’re streaming Dementia/Dyslexia, the Metal Blade debut of Fleshwrought,  a new project from Animosity/Animals as Leaders’ Navene Koperweis and Job for a Cowboy’s Jonny Davy.
• We debuted an EPK for Iron Thrones’ The Wretched Sun.
• We also debuted “Fear, Emptiness, Decibel,” a new column from the editors of our favorite metal rag.
• We had a little beard on beard action with Andy Williams from Every Time I Die and Liam Wilson from The Dillinger Escape Plan. We also spoke to Avenged Sevenfold’s Johnny Christ, The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Jeff Tuttle and Pathology’s Dave Astor.
• We checked out the latest releases from Chimaira and Decrepit Birth.
• We schooled Korn’s Jonathan Davis on the BP Oil Spill.
• We questioned the sincerity of Max Cavalera’s claim that his collaboration with Fred Durst is all Ross Robinson’s fault.
• We questioned Glenn Danzig’s sanity. Again.
• We got pissy that Eddie’s not on the cover of the new Maiden album.
• We got boners watching 72 minutes of pro-shot Gojira footage.
• We did not get boners looking at Emmure noodz.
• We found the best bass player in the history of forever-ever-ever.

We’ll be hanging out at the Summer Slaughter show this Sunday here in NYC; if you spot us, please bring us presents. We like presents. Thanks.

-AR

Exclusive beard+shlong nature noodz pic brought to you exclusively for this interview by Jessica Curreri!

Last week I conducted a very special interview I’d been looking forward to for some time: Andy Williams and Liam Wilson, two of metal’s best beards, together on one conference call with me, self proclaimed Best Beard of metal writers. With the express purpose of talking about beards exclusively.

Pure hilarity ensued. Beard stories, beard grooming tips, the love adorned upon beards by loving fans (including a blood-soaked grab by a drunk, beaten-up homeless man), all-time beard heroes, and all sorts of other assorted beard talk. Since both Every Time I Die and The Dillinger Escape Plan are currently out on Warped Tour, the guys also shared their thoughts on the “punk rock daycare” nature of Warped and talked just enough trash about purple-pant wearing “boy bands.” Plus their unexpected newfound love for The All American Rejects.

Read our beardtastic talk after the jump!

Click to read more…

Monday (actually sun down Sunday, but whatever) is Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish day of repentance. As you can imagine, I have a lot to repent for, so I won’t be doing any writing. Vince may or may not be here to give all the goy their bored-at-work dose of entertainment.

In the meantime, here are some fun things that happened this week:

• Dallas Coyle talked about “borrowing ideas” and talking shit, while Eyal Levi contemplated greener grass (not that kind of grass).
• We spoke to Every Time I Die’s Andy Williams and some of the dudes from Periphery.
• We suffered through the worst Metallica cover ever recorded.
• We wondered if Juggalos should be considered a gang.
• And it’s Gojira and Burst live FTW.

See ya Tuesday.

-AR

As one of the chief riff providers for swaggercore titans Every Time I Die, Andy Williams takes pride in making the discordant into catchy. For a perfect example of this, look no further than the band’s latest (MetalSucks-approved) album, New Junk Aesthetic. Distilling the band’s decade-plus essence into a tight half hour, it’s a satisfying mix of thunderous heaviness and easily the most appealing material the band have put to tape. But while he’s often overshadowed by vocalist Keith Buckley’s relentless wiseassery, it’s his and Jordan Buckley’s Skynard-by-way-of-Dillinger-Escape-Plan guitar work that make the band stand out and ultimately worthwhile.

A self-described “chatty Cathy,” Andy Williams was remarkably frank and refreshingly earnest in a recent interview with MetalSucks on the eve of the release of New Junk Aesthetic. Among other things, he discussed why he can listen to the new album and none of the band’s other material, his thoughts on the new Converge record, the changing landscape of the scene he came up in, and life over at ETID’s new label, Epitaph.

Click to read more…

Those that felt underwhelmed by Every Time I Die’s The Big Dirty (a company of which this writer is a part) need not worry – New Junk Aesthetic, their new album, has the energy, texture, and savagery the prior record lacked. And this isn’t to say The Big Dirty was a massive, St. Anger-style failure; it was just an alright album in the company of the splendid Southern-fried rock of Gutter Phenomenon or their debut, the up-there-with-Jane Doe lost metalcore classic Last Night in Town. And when viewed in retrospect, Big Dirty appears to be the band’s “growth” record: where they fumbled around, sounding somewhat bored and uninspired (though admittedly still pretty entertaining), perhaps even unsure of what to do next. New Junk Aesthetic is a band completely comfortable with itself, and pushing different boundaries because of that. Vocalist Keith Buckley belts out ridiculously catchy vocals hooks with his same refreshingly smarmy lyrical approach, while guitarists Andy Williams and Jordan Buckley tone down their Southern riff attack to eschew the risk of sounding like a novelty. The album finds the band at its most likable while occasionally incorporating a riff that wouldn’t sound out of place on their debut. If you liked Every Time I Die before, you’ll probably find reasons on this record to like them more. Click to read more…

With all due respect to Killswitch Engage skinsman Justin Foley, this shit is pretty sick:

Special thanks to MetalSucks maniac Morrizz for the tip. It’s been a slow fuckin’ news day if ever there was one.

-AR