MetalSucks

So as if you didn’t know, the new Slayer album, World Painted Blood, comes out this Tuesday (or I guess Monday if you’re in Europe). But as usually happens these days, the record is now streaming in full right here. Go check it out.

I’ll have a full review next week, but allow me to stir shit up right off the bat:

World Painted Blood > Endgame > Death Magnetic

If only Anthrax had actually gotten an album out this year…

-AR

Thanks to the reader known only as “L” for the tip.

Anthrax’s courting of John Bush is just going to drag on and on, isn’t it? It’s like Anthrax are reconnecting with an estranged ex-girlfriend on whom they’ve cheated, getting together to talk — or maybe to make out a little bit — time after time to rebuild trust. Won’t they just fuck and get it over with already? They know the sex was much better with their ex.

To be fair, John Bush was definitely wronged, whatwith how the band handled the whole Joey Crapadonna reunion. I can understand if Bush needs to go one step at a time.

But Scott Ian posted a video on Twitter of the band performing the classic “Only” at this past weekend’s Loud Park festival in Japan, and it’s great. The video was presumably shot by a roadie or tech, as it’s from the side/back of the stage.The band sounds good and it looks like they’re having fun. Won’t they just get together and fuck, full on penis-in-vagina already? It seems inevitable. They already have 5 dates on the books for Australia’s Soundwave festival in February/March. For how long will this courtship continue?

-VN

When Vince and I saw Alice in Chains last month, there was a lot of hub-bub in the crowd ’cause Scott Ian and his wife, Pearl “Meatloaf’s Daughter” Aday, were very visibly sitting in the VIP section of the balcony. But seeing Scott Ian at a New York metal show isn’t really that unusual, so I didn’t think much of it at the time.

As it turns out, though, Ian and AIC’s Jerry Cantrell are, indeed, friends – and now business partners. So says a press release:

Click to read more…

Dan Nelson is already a legend, and not necessarily in a good way. Like Gary Cherone or Blaze Bailey, he’s going to go down in history as a dude who was hired to be the new singer for a well-known band, only to get the boot fairly quickly; unlike Cherone of Bailey, the work he did with this particular well-known band will either never see the light of day, or slip out only as a bootleg. A fairly limited number of ‘Thrax fans ever got to see him perform live with the band, so really there’s only a small part of the population that has any sense of what his contributions may have been, positive or negative.

But Nelson is from Strong Island, and ain’t gonna let no Scott Ian or Charlie Bananas get him down. According to Metal Underground, Nelson has started a new project with drummer Paul Bostaph.

Click to read more…

In honor of Alaskan metalcore band 36 Crazyfists’ new DVD, Under a Northern Sky (in stores October 27), a list of 35 other famous, metal, heavy, and/or crazy fists:

Click to read more…

UPDATE: Directly from Megaforce: “No truth to it.” Sorry, kids.

Reader Greg Heerdt has helpfully pointed out that Amazon is now listing an October 20, 2009 release date for Anthrax’s Worship Music (or, at least, some import version of Worship Music - the previously announced European release date was October 23). I’ve reached out to the band’s label, Megaforce, to see if there’s any truth to the date or not…

Click to read more…

It was a mere two weeks ago that I was feeling pretty cynical about the prospects of a rumored Big Four tour becoming a reality. It just seems like there’s too much bad blood between too many of the bands for everyone to hit the road together.

But there’s also a lot of money to be made there, and in 2009 money wins every fight, even in the world of metal.

So here comes Robert Trujillo to get the rumor pot a-stirrin’ again. In a recent interview, the man/crab hybrid had this to say:

Click to read more…

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the U.S., which means we’re shuttering the Mansion early this week, and won’t be back ’til Tuesday. We’re sure you’ll find some way to live without us.

Here’s some shit that happened this week:

• We debuted a new track from Salome.
• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima sent in his final guest-blog from the studio, and revealed the track listing for the band’s upcoming album, Scenes from Hell.
• We chatted with Trivium’s Matt Heafy, The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad, Job for a Cowboy’s Brent Riggs, and All That Remains’ Phil LaBonte.
• We celebrated the triumphant return of Beavis & Butt-Head, and decided that in their particular relationship, Vince is the Beavis to Axl’s Butt-Head.
• Tom Araya thinks Dave Mustaine is a dick, Kerry King thinks Dave Mustaine is a dick, Scott Ian thinks Kerry King is a dick, and everyone in Dimmu Borgir thinks that everyone else in Dimmu Borgir is a dick.

Alright. I’m going to enjoy a little sunshine while I still can. See ya Tuesday!

-AR

Yesterday, Scott Ian tweeted a response to Kerry King’s accusation that Anthrax have “been in pieces for quite some time.” The tweet pointed towards a recent, possible one-off reunion show with John Bush; I eagerly hoped it was a sign that Bush is coming back to the band for good.

Well, we still don’t know if he is or not. But we do know that he’s gonna do another gig with the ‘Thrax, this time at the Loud Park festival in Japan this October. (Interestingly enough, Slayer and Megadeth are also on the bill.)

I take that as a good sign that Bush is, indeed, negotiating (or something) to re-join Anthrax. But obviously we need to wait for some kind of official confirmation from the group.

Fingers crossed…

-AR

Presumably in response to Kerry King’s claim that “There’s better options than Anthrax [for a tour mate] and that’s nothing against Anthrax, but they’ve just been in pieces for quite some time and that doesn’t make as much sense to me,” Ian tweets:

“Guess Kerry missed Sonisphere”

Does that mean John Bush is back for good? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

This tour is never fucking happening.

-AR

If any two of the big four bands tour together, I think it’d be a pretty sweet show. Any three? Fucking amazing. But all four? That would have to be some kind of miracle, right? I mean, half these dudes hate each other. King and Mustaine practically make their living talking shit about Metallica – and one another, for that matter. So it’ll never happen, right?

Well, King now tells Metal Hammer otherwise. Sort of.

Click to read more…

Here at the MS Mansion we make no apologies about being staunch John Bush supporters. Way before the current Dan Nelson fracas, way back in the prebuscent MetalSucks days of March 2007, we wrote an open letter to John Bush encouraging him to come back into the fold. We even accidentally started a rumor that ex-Ugly Kid Joe frontman Whitfield Crane would be a suitable Bush replacement, and nearly shit our pants when it was rumored that Corey Taylor was up for the job (remember that?)… but there’s no Bush like the real Bush. Needless to say we were beyond stoked when Bush rejoined the band for a few European gigs last month.

Friend O’ MetalSucks and fellow John Bush-supporter Carlos Ramirez has compiled a list for Noisecreep of the Top 10 John Bush-era songs, and the free streaming mp3s contained therein (!!!) provided the soundtrack for my afternoon smoke-a-thon yesterday. The list is top notch and reminds us just why we love John Bush so much. The one oversight is the omission of “Inside Out” from Volume 8: The Threat Is Real, which might be the single heaviest Anthrax song ever and should be a staple in any “best of” conversation regarding Bush.

Head on over to Noisecreep to read and listen. Make sure you click those streaming links multiple times so John Bush gets a few extra pennies in his pockets just in case that Burger King voiceover gig ever kicks the bucket.

-VN

Right after John Bush played what might or might not be a one-off reunion show with Anthrax, I wrote, “I’d love to post some footage of Bush performing a Bush-era song, but can’t seem to find any.” Well, the metal gods heard my prayers, and SMN News posted the below footage of the band doing “Safe Home.” And the quality of the footage is actually perfect – it’s not just some shit a fan captured on his or her cell phone! Band sounds good, too.

Click to read more…

The theme for this morning seems to be “terrible quality fan-captured live footage.”

Next up we have John Bush’s (apparently triumphant, if reports are to be believed) return to Anthrax this past weekend at Sonisphere in England. I’d love to post some footage of Bush performing a Bush-era song, but can’t seem to find any, so here he is doing “Caught in a Mosh.”

I continue to hope, dream, and pray that Bush returns to Anthrax full-time.

-AR

Now the nausea’s
In my guts
And I’m wrestling with doubt
The kind you get when your heroes
Sell you out
And as I watch the drawbridge come down
There’s mass extinction
On my mind
Human cruelty stains my thoughts jet black
I’ve got this feeling
Like things have gone too far and now we can’t get back

Here’s more fun shit that happened in the world of metal this week:

• We debuted new videos from Cradle of Filth and Arsonists Get All the Girls.
• We got exclusive tour blogs from Bison B.C.’s Dan And and Woe of Tyrants’ Chris Catanzaro.
• We spoke to members of Winds of Plague, Decrepit Birth and Born of Osiris.
• I counted down 50 things I love about Pig Destroyer, and then added a 51st.
• Ulrich Vs. Mustaine Vs. Ian and Zakk Vs. Ozzy made us laugh with glee.
• Kerry King Vs. Killswitch Engage was pretty funny, too.
• Dallas Coyle answered more of your questions.

Vince gets back from vacation tonight right around the time Repulsion take the stage, and then tomorrow, hopefully, Craig’s List will lead us to some Tool tickets. See ya Monday!

-AR

CORRECTION: PRATO’S QUESTION COMES FROM HERE. MY APOLOGIES TO PRATO. NO APOLOGIES TO MUSTAINE.THANKS TO BORIVOJ AT BLABBERMOUTH FOR SHOWING ME THE ERROR OF MY WAYS.

It has been a fantastic summer for feuds. Just, really top notch. Isis is mad at Revolver and I’m fairly certain that Revolver is mad at MetalSucks. Fear Factory would be like the new Van Halen, if Van Halen wasn’t still the new Van Halen. And I think it’s safe to say at this point that, pretty much no matter how this whole Dan Nelson/John Bush drama plays out, no one will ever take Anthrax seriously again (assuming they were still taking Anthrax seriously at all).

And now this. Ladies and gentleman, key founding members of three of the Big Four are now all ready to throw down. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I wish you could all see my face right now, ’cause rarely am I this happy.

It’s a long story, and, as is so often the case, I am really just playing The Daily Show to Blabbermouth’s CNN. Here we go:

Click to read more…

I’ve gotten a few e-mails today from people asking me where Vince is. Well, the truth is, Vince can’t write because he’s ill. And he’s quitting the site. No, really, he quit. We didn’t fire him. Swear it. We stand by that statement.

Here’s some other shit that happened in the world of metal this week:

• We’ve heard the new Alice in Chains album, and it is good.
• Gwar’s Oderus Urungus answered some of your questions, and will answer more in the future.
• John Bush is coming back to Anthrax because Dan Nelson quit. Oh, wait, no he didn’t. Yes he did. He probably didn’t, though.
• We spoke with Poison the Well’s Ryan Primack and Sunn O)))’s Greg Anderson.
• We checked out the latest releases from He Is Legend, Magrudergrind, Novembers Doom, and Clutch.
• Unfortunately, the 10th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos really is a real thing.
• Baby-eater Dino Cazares must be stopped!!!

Alright. Time to go buy a vaporizer of my very own. See ya Monday.

-AR

Some of you may already be sick of all this Anthrax nonsense, but I am not. In fact, it is entirely possible that I am enjoying even more than I am enjoying the Fear Factory drama. Probably because I actually care about Anthrax.

So. Reader Aleksander Sobecki sent us a link to this inteview with Scott Ian from Metal Hammer. I’m going to do very little editing to the actual text because it’s all pretty fun to read. I will, however, include my analysis after each chunk of text.

And away we go…

Click to read more…

While I am really really really really really really really hoping that John Bush returns to Anthrax on a full-time basis, I know that could wreak havoc with the dreams of many an Armored Saint fan.

But before anyone gets their panties in a twist: there’s a demo for a new Armored Saint song, “Loose Cannon,” that the band has made available as a free download. It was recorded with a drum machine, but hey, it’s new Armored Saint so who really gives a shit?!?

Download the track from Metal Blade’s website.

A press release tells me that “Armored Saint has finished up writing and will begin recording in early fall for a spring 2010 release on Metal Blade Records.” Hopefully right after John Bush re-records all the vocals for Anthrax’s Worship Music. ‘Cause the version with Dan Nelson just became a collector’s item.

-AR

Doesn’t Scott Ian seem like a really swell dude when you see him on TV? He’s not Lars Ulrich, who comes off as such a prick that when you hear he really is a prick you go, “Yeah, that makes sense.” If my only knowledge of Scott Ian was his VH1 appearances, though, I’d wanna invite the guy to my place to my Passover sedar.

But then you hear these stories that make you smack your forehead, like, say, suddenly inviting Joey Belladonna and Dan Spitz back to the band after the artistic (if not financial) triumph of We’ve Come for You All, and suddenly Ian – and his bandmates, for that matter – don’t seem like such nice fellas. To wit, this statement from Dan Nelson on his unceremonious departure from Anthrax: Click to read more…