FEATURING MEMBERS OF ARCH ENEMY, THAT METAL SHOW, BLACK ANVIL, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS, AND LEPROUS

Every year year, MetalSucks asks musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year have been. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of nine to ten musicians at a time two to three times a day for the whole week.

After the jump, check out the next group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

Click to read more…

MetalSucks photographer extraordinaire Miikka Skaffari has done it again! This time he braved the pits of the Regency Center in San Francisco to bring you some totally awesome shots from The North American Khaos Tour, which we are very proudly co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie. Miikka was able to capture some totally killer photos of headliners Arch Enemy along with support acts DevilDriver and Chthonic. (For reasons beyond his control, he wasn’t able to get any pics of Skeletonwitch. We’re as bummed as you are. But we’re sure we’ll be able to get you some awesome SW shots during the band’s upcoming co-headlining tour with Kvelertak, which we are also proudly presenting.)

And don’t forget, there are still four dates left on the tour! They are…

Sept. 30 – Albuquerque, NM – The Sunshine
Oct. 01 – Denver, CO – The Gothic
Oct. 03 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
Oct. 04 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues

Definitely check the tour out if you can, ’cause it rips.

And now, enjoy the awesome photos!

Click to read more…

The North American Khaos Tour, which we are very proudly co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie, is winding down — there are only five dates left! Hopefully you caught a show, or live in a city/town where you will be able to catch one of these last few shows, ’cause the line-up is killer, and the concerts have been a total blast.

Now headliners Arch Enemy have posted a behind-the-scenes video from the tour, which you can watch below. Support, in case you didn’t know, comes from DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic.

Don’t forget to check out the special Khaos-themed editions of “Rigged” that Arch Enemy bassist Sharlee D’Angelo and DevilDriver guitarist Mike Spreitzer did for us, too. And you can get those last five tour dates after the jump!

Click to read more…

Arch Enemy are currently out on their MetalSucks-sponsored North American tour with DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch and Chthonic (dates here). Devildriver guitarist Mike Spreitzer recently put together a Rigged feature for MetalSucks detailing his live guitar setup, and now it’s time for a little bit of bass love courtesy Arch Enemy low-end master Sharlee D’Angelo. Here’s Sharlee:

Click to read more…

For the latest edition of their ongoing series “The Fix,” our number one homies over at Metal Injection got Michael Amott and Sharlee D’Angelo to pick out some of their favorite videos, including clips from Fates Warning, King Diamond, Savatage, Queensrÿche, and Crimson Glory. Check that shit out below, ’cause it’s, like, way entertaining.

Don’t forget that Arch Enemy is currently headlining the North American Khaos tour, which we’re proudly co-presenting with  Full Metal Jackie. Support comes from DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic. You can get dates here.

And, of course, you can and should check out more episodes of “The Fix” over at Metal Injection.

-AR

While we continue to wait for that Killcorpse Murder project with Adam D., Corpsegrinder, and Shannon Lucas to get off the ground, here’s another newly-teased supergroup to get you all hot under the collar.

Noisecreep noticed on Friday afternoon that DevilDriver vocalist Dez Fafara and Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton announced — via their respective Twitter accounts, natch — that they were collaborating on “a bunch of KILLER tunes,” with Circus of Power, Soundgarden, and Trouble being cited as influences. And, uh, I really have no idea what that would sound like. I hear the aural relationship between Trouble and Soundgarden, but Circus of Power is where I get thrown for a loop.

ANYWAY, on Saturday The PRP strung together a bunch more of Fafara’s tweets, which seek to clarify/update the news:

Click to read more…

Nope. Not if their new song, “Reduced to the Failure of Prayer,” is any indication. ‘Cause that shit is positively Satanic. In fact, it’s hard to listen to it and not picture cities tumbling, populations ravaged by plague and forced to watch Kevin James movies, fire, brimstone, torment, and complete fucking misery — y’know, all the most fun parts of the Bible. Get your neck-snappin’ windmill on here.

And good timing on the release of the tune, too, ’cause guess what? The awesome North American Khaos tour that we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie, and which features Arch Enemy, DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch (natch), and Chthonic, starts this Thursday, September 8!!! You do no wanna miss out. Get dates here. Skeletonwitch are also doing a bunch of off-dates with DevilDriver, and a bunch of headlining shows in the Midwest; you can get those dates here.

Forever Abomination comes out October 11 on Prosthetic.

-AR

You know what’s an awesome way to prepare for the North American Khaos Tour, the super-incredible Arch Enemy/DevilDriver/Skeletonwitch/Chthonic trek we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie? By checking out this stream of Chthonic’s new album, Takasago Army.

Chthonic are the only band on that tour I’m only kinda-sorta familiar with — which is to say, I’ve heard some of their music before, but I’ve never seen them live. But this Takasago Army makes me wanna check them out that much more. It’s kinda like Dimmu Borgir, if Dimmu Borgir has more Asian elements to their music, and hadn’t completely lost the thread. This is some catchy, catchy stuff.

Headbang here, then come back and let us know what you think in the comments section. Takasago Army comes out September 6 on Spinefarm; the North American Khaos Tour starts September 8. Get dates here.

-AR

Arch Enemy’s North American Khaos headlining tour — which we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie and which also features DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic — starts next week!!! I’m so goddamned excited I can’t even tell you. I haven’t seen Arch Enemy live in, like, I dunno, two years I think? And they ALWAYS MURDER in concert.

The band’s new video, for “Bloodstained Cross,” isn’t doing anything to lessen my enthusiasm, either. It’s a collection of live footage — I’m assuming filmed at the band’s recent appearances at various summer European festivals, although don’t quote me on that — and just seeing how rabid those crowds are… man. Can I go see Arch Enemy tomorrow, pretty please?

“Bloodstained Cross” comes off of Arch Enemy’s latest, Khaos Legions, which is out now on Century Media. You can get dates for their upcoming tour right here.

-AR

Skeletonwitch have released the first in a series of webisodes chronicling the making of their new album, Forever Abomination. And I know there’s a real glut of in-studio webisodes being released in this day and age of flip cams and iMovie, but you should seriously check this one out, ’cause a) Skeletonwitch rules, b) you get to hear a little bit of new music, c) you actually do get some really good dish on the album, d) you get to learn a lot about new drummer Dustin Boltjes, e) it looks like it was shot by the people who made that movie Bellflower, and f) all of the above.

Forever Abomination comes out October 11 on Prosthetic. Skeletonwitch are going to be one of the support bands on Arch Enemy’s upcoming North American headlining tour, which we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie; DevilDriver and Chthonic are also on the bill. You can get dates for that tour here. Skeletonwitch are also doing a bunch of off-dates with DevilDriver, and a bunch of headlining shows in the Midwest; you can get those dates here.

-AR

Skeletonwitch must be one of the most metal metal bands out there right now; there’s no pretense to their music, no core, nothing about it that’s retro, nothing about it that’s trendy, no way to describe it as anything other than “fucking metal.” Combine this with the fact that Chance Garnette is absolutely one of the most entertaining frontmen on the scene today, and, well, it is absolutely no shock that people love this band. They are worth loving.

So you’ll be happy to know that their just-released new song, “The Infernal Resurrection,” does not disappoint. It is EXACTLY what a new Skeletonwitch song should be. Check it out:

The band has also unveiled the cover art for their new album, Forever Abomination, via that album’s pre-order page. Although it’s at a slight angle for some reason. Still looks pretty fucking cool, though:

Click to read more…

A bunch of big records came out last Tuesday: Suicide Silence, Fair to Midland, Sepultura and Decapitated. After the jump we’ll take a look at how those and a few recent releases sold over the past week.

But first, a follow-up on a question I asked in last week’s column: how do the numbers for Arch Enemy’s Khaos Legions stack up against their past releases? I don’t have week-by-week breakdowns for each album to compare to Khaos Legions‘ cumulative total of 13,944 after five weeks, but these total sales figures for Arch Enemy’s best-selling albums should provide some frame of reference:

Anthems of Rebellion: 74,712
Doomsday Machine: 108,036
Rise of the Tyrant: 55,812
Wages of Sin: 71,688

With Khaos Legions falling off the charts in week six, that means they sold less than 1,092 units last week, the minimum number required to crack the Top 100 Hard Music Chart. Based on that I’d say it’s going to be a tough climb for Gossow, the Amotts and co. to match their past success this time around.

ANYWAY, back to last week’s big releases:

Click to read more…

You will be happy to know that Limp Bizkit did not claim the #1 spot on the Top Hard Music charts again this week. That spot belongs to… Pop Evil. Who? Not Limp Bizkit, that’s who.

Aside from Unearth, there weren’t any notable debuts to chart last week. After the jump, a look at how the latest records from Black Dahlia Murder, In Flames, and many more fared on the marketplace of over-priced pieces of plastic and soon-to-be-obsolete digital files.

Click to read more…

Last year (and the year before) I got way too busy with this thing called life and missed out on a lot of quality music. I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.

Here are the June 2011 releases that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:

Click to read more…

MetalSucks tipster extraordinaire Hetal Bhatt sent us the below video, and while it has nothing to do with metal, it did make me laugh, and I did forward it to friends. So, enjoy:

And on that note, here’s some stuff we did this week:

• We debuted new music by Chimaira, Cannabis Corpse, and S.O.S.
• We debuted a new music video from Sleeping Giant.
• We got new gear tips from Periphery’s Misha Mansoor and Revocation’s Dan Gargiulo, and we spoke to Michael Amott from Arch Enemy.
• We checked out the latest releases from Decapitated, The Black Dahlia Murder, Limp Bizkit, and Wormrot.
• We pondered a world in which concertgoers can’t film shows with their iPhones.
• We marveled that anyone finds Tosh.0 to be funny.
• We wondered which deathcore frontman has the best tattoos.
• We found the worst line-up for a festival ever.
• We chose our favorite extras from the new Annotations of an Autopsy video.
• We broke the bad news that vocalist Chris Clancy and keyboardist Drew Stavola are both out of Mutiny Within.

You’ve got one more week with me and me alone before Vince comes back. Deal with it, fuckers.

See ya Monday.

-AR

Arch Enemy have never made an album I’ve disliked; in fact, they fall squarely into the category of “I Don’t Know Why Anyone Would Ever Complain About This Band.” They’re one of those groups, like Slayer, who just always manage to both stay true to themselves and bring the goods.

In fact, on their latest album, Khaos Legions, they’ve more than brought the goods — they’ve actually upped their game. This is the best-written, most-complete sounding album the band has made since 2001′s Wages of Sins. What spurred on this further increase in quality? Could it be because, for the first time in their existence, Arch Enemy took more than two years in-between releases? Or could it be because guitarist Michael Amott and drummer Daniel Erlandsson picked up a little extra awesome juice during their recent tours with Amott’s old band, the unfuckwithable Carcass?

As I learned when we spoke on the phone a few weeks ago, Amott himself is the first to confirm that both of these facts were contributing factors to Legions‘ excellence. I also got to ask him about reuniting with producer Rickard Bengtsson (who was on board for 2005′s Doomsday Machine), how the band are handling being their own managers now, and, oh yeah, about what fans can expect from AE’s upcoming, MetalSucks co-presented North American Khaos tour with DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic (dates here).

Read the full transcript of our chat after the jump!

Click to read more…

Vince isn’t here, so I guess it falls to me to take over his regular “Neilstein SoundScam” column… BWA-HA-HA!!!

Some of the more noteworthy sales stats from the latest Top Hard Music charts after the jump!

Click to read more…

That’s right! As many of you have correctly guessed by now, the headliner of the Magical Mystery Tour 2011 we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie is none other than the great Arch Enemy. Yep. We basically pulled the same trick on you that we did the last time we sponsored an Arch Enemy trek. Hey, we did say that this tour has a different line-up, and, technically, we weren’t lying!

And what a line-up it is! As you now know, Arch Enemy will be joined by DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic. Arch Enemy’s latest, Khaos Legions, might be their strongest album in years, which is saying something, since they’ve never made a bad record; DevilDriver’s recent Beast is, well, a beast; and while we haven’t gotten to hear any new Skeletonwitch or Chthonic material yet, people in the know assure us that it’s awesome — certainly all their old stuff is!

In other words: These shows are going to be ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INSANE, so make sure you get your ass to a gig!

Get tour dates after the jump! And don’t forget that Khaos Legions is out now on Century Media.

Click to read more…

June is going to be a huge month for metal releases and it starts with a bang today, the month’s first Tuesday. New releases by Morbid Angel, Arch Enemy, Job For A Cowboy and Amorphis are the biggest hitters, while new ones from Origin, Engineer, Gigan, Khann and Tombs are sure to put some hair on your chest. And that’s just a small sampling of all that comes out today. Vic Vaughn on each and every one of ‘em after the jump.

Click to read more…

We’ve previously proclaimed Khaos Legions to be Arch Enemy’s best album since 2001′s Wages of Sin, and the more I listen to it, the more confident I am in that statement. The album is just that right mix of heavy and catchy, and if you’re disappointed in the recent output from the previously-dependable Swedish melodeath scene (I’m looking at you, In Flames), then Khaos Legions should put a smile on your face.

The album is now streaming in full over at the band’s MySpace page, because apparently MySpace is still considered a thing in some circles. Give it a listen, then let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Century will release Khaos Legions tomorrow.

-AR