SEND EMAIL TO
NEWS [AT]
METALSUCKS
[DOT] NET
Two perennial MetalSucks faves, both of whom had seemingly bright futures ahead of them not very long ago, are calling it a day. Well, only one band is admitting they’re calling it a day, while the other is using that old “indefinite hiatus” chestnut, but let’s be real, every broken-up band is on “indefinite hiatus” until they’re not, so, uh, yeah.
ANYWAY, here’s the sad news:
Last week I wrote a little bit about how a lot of modern production techniques I loathe may actually be aesthetic choices; and I tried to keep that in mind as I attempted to listen to Dead Throne, the latest offering from The Devil Wears Prada. If, for example, the band didn’t favor such excessive use of autotune and vocoder, would the songs at least be solid?
From the ashes of early MS faves At All Cost rose Pack of Wolves, a ferocious metal outfit led by ex-AAC guitarist Trey Ramirez. Their 2009 release Betrayer was a beast of its own, but their new album Penance of Pestilence — slated for a Fall 2010 release — promises to be a completely different animal.
Pack of Wolves have two new members — Gabriel Bishop (bass) and Josh Holstein (drums) — and with those two new members comes an almost completely revamped sound. The Swedish-inspired harmony riffing that defined Betrayer (and Trey’s work with At All Cost) is left only in trace amount on the two new songs posted on Pack of Wolves’ MySpace page. In its place is a whole new palette of black metal-inspired grimness and dissonance, which when mixed with the aforementioned trademark sound makes for quite a unique sonic approach. Think Entombed (via At All Cost) meets Wolves in the Throne Room, and you might be close.
Check out Pack of Wolves on MySpace and be on the lookout for the new album this coming Fall.
-VN
Photo credit: Davis Ayer
Earlier this week I posted a report/review from a listening party for Korn III: Remember Who You Are. And, no shock, a flame war broke out in the comments section, primarily amongst my fellow Korn haters, and Korn fans. At least two Korn fans were posting under multiple handles, attempting to appear to several different people, presumably to make it look like there was more support for Korn in our comments section – which is wholly ridiculous. Korn don’t need more support in our comments section; that’s giving our comments section (or, for that matter, my review) WAY too much credit, in terms of how it will have an effect on the success of this record.
I’m always completely baffled when people get SO UPSET over something I or any of the other writers here at MetalSucks say. Let me ask you this question – and I mean this sincerely: who gives a shit what we think? To paraphrase The Dude, these are just, like, our opinions, man. We pose no actual threat to anyone. We like to think that our support for a band can help them out, but we’re not unrealistic about the amount of sway we have over our readers. We can’t write something and make Korn disappear anymore that we can write something and make At All Cost the biggest band in the world; we just don’t have that power. I’ve always thought that if you could let the ramblings of one blogger make you feel so angry that you need to devote hours of your life to telling him what an idiot you think he is (or sending him death threats – which has happened to us), you must have serious ego problems – there must be some small part of you that thinks, “What if this band I love really DOES suck? What does that say about me?” And that’s really silly, ’cause – duh – it’s all subjective. My opinion of a band doesn’t say anything about you, even when I joke that it does; all it really says is something about, well, my opinion of the band.
So. Korn previewed a few tracks from this album on Sirius/XM’s “Octane” – namely “Pop a Pill,” “Let the Guilt Go,” and “The Past.” I’m posting a video of that preview below. Now you can all listen to the music and make up your own mind, at which point you should feel free to completely disregard my own opinion of the record. And I know that typing this is a complete waste of finger-muscle energy, but try to keep the discussion in the comments section civil for a change, okay? It’s only a metal blog, people. We’re not curing cancer here; that’s Glenn Danzig’s job.
-AR
[via The PRP]
At All Cost may have broken up last year, but there ain’t no sex quite like break-up sex; the Austin, TX quintet will play two final “farewell” shows in their hometown and in Houston just a couple of weeks from now, offering fans of the band a chance to say a final goodbye. AAC were one of the very first bands MetalSucks really got behind, and their Century Media debut Circle of Demons ended up on both mine and Axl’s year-end lists for 2007.
There was some confusion about which members would be participating in these final two shows, as AAC had quite the rotating cast of characters over the years. Fittingly, the final shows will also feature a rotating cast of characters; according to bassist CleanBobby, he and singer Andrew Collins will both play the entire set, while the rest of the members take turns rotating in around them, presumably to play the songs they originally played on. That’s a pretty fucking cool way to thank everyone who contributed to the band over the years, and it’s a great way for such an awesome band to go out.
As it turns out, these two shows are also the last for The Jonbenet, a Texas band I’ve heard some folks rave about but I haven’t ever been able to dig.
The two final gigs are December 18th at Red 7 in Austin and December 19th at Walter’s in Houston. It’s a shame we can’t make it, but we know AAC will bring their A-game; they always do.
-VN
I’m all for break-up sex. Yeah, the relationship is over, and yeah, it might be kinda bittersweet, but you were into each once, so why not enjoy one last fuck, right?
To that end: I really appreciate it when a band announces that they are going to break-up, and plays a few last shows to give the fans a chance to say good-bye. Burst have done it, and now another long-standing MetalSucks favorite are doing it: At All Cost.
In December we told you about Pack of Wolves, the new(ish) project from former At All Cost guitarist Trey Ramirez; well, their debut album, Betrayer, is being released this coming Tuesday, March 10 on vinyl, and the band has announced its arrival in grand style – with a new video for the track “Concession.”
Only 350 copies of Betrayer will be pressed, and each one comes with a free digital download of the record, so you can listen to even if you’re not close to your turntable.
The band will also be playing this year’s SXSW; if you go the fest, make sure you check ‘em out!
-AR
Monday was 2008 Sucks day here at MetalSucks, but we rocked out the rest of the week with some ridiculous shit as per usual:
Tonight it’s new The End Records-signees Hull for Kip and me. Have a good one, everybody.
Back in April we told you about Pack of Wolves, a new project from guitarist Trey Ramirez, late of MetalSucks’ most favoritest totally underrated (and now, sadly, defunct) band, At All Cost. At the time POW (how’s that for band initials?) were unsigned…
…but Ramirez just e-mailed us to say that the group will be releasing their new album, Betrayer, on vinyl through Arclight Records on March 10. Three tracks from the album, “Walking Dead,” “Concession” and “The Death of my Old Self,” are currently streaming on the band’s MySpace page.
If you dug At All Cost, it’s hard for me to imagine you won’t dig Pack of Wolves; they’re not as druggy/experimental/whatever as AAC, but their riffs are just as tasty.
More info as we get it…
-AR
According to a recent post on SMNnews.com, ex-Darkest Hour guitarist Kris Norris will now be pursuing a career in producing in addition to putting out his recently completed solo album. While we certainly wish him all the best, the realist in me is privy to think that Norris’ career arc as a producer will closely follow that of Peter Wichers’, who left Soilwork in ’05 in favor of the producer’s chair only to rejoin Soilwork last month. Not that it can’t be done — Fear Factory’s Christian Olde Wolbers is someone who comes to mind as an example of a metal musician who’s made the successful switch — it’s just that the paycheck ain’t as reliable as the perpetual cycle of touring, merch and album advances (then again, Darkest Hour are on Victory Records, so all bets are off in the advances department). And it certainly isn’t as much fun!
The idealist in me, however, really hopes Norris succeeds, not just because of the warmth in our collective hearts but because ex-At All Cost guitarist and friend of MetalSucks Michael Carrigan (ex-Throeald) has been tapped as Norris’ replacement in DH, and that motherfucker is a sick guitarist deserving of his call up to the big leagues.
-VN
The chill of fall is in the air but the gossip mill never cools off at the MetalSucks Mansion. This week’s notables and quotables included:
See ya next week.
We’re late to the party on this one, but Darkest Hour have parted ways with guitarist Kris Norris. It’s very sad and blah blah blah and honestly, I don’t care that much. I like Darkest Hour but I’m just not emotionally involved enough in the idea of Norris remaining in the band for this to phase me the way, for example, news of Mark Morton leaving Lamb of God might.
What I do care about is that Norris’ replacement is Mike Carrigan (pictured above), a.k.a. lead guitarist for MetalSucks’ favorite underappreciated geniuses, At All Cost.
MetalSucks reader David A. has alerted us to the fact that one of our collective favorite bands, At All Cost, have possibly broken up. In a blog posted yesterday on the band’s MySpace page, singer Andrew Collins revealed the news that we can’t say we didn’t see coming, which is that the band is taking some time off to collect themselves and figure out what’s next (without using the words “break” and “up”). After guitarist Trey Ramirez departed last fall for Pack of Wolves, bassist Clean Bobby left after the Hatebreed tour to pursue other interests, and drummer Johnny Oswald put up a message on his own MySpace blog announcing his drum kit was for sale… things didn’t look too good. Apparently Century Media dropped the band in the meantime after just one album, and it all went downhill from there.
It’s been a while since we’ve written about At All Cost, the Austin, Texas metal quintet whom we wouldn’t shut up about last summer and whose phenomenal 2007 Century Media debut Circle of Demons placed close to the top of both mine and Axl’s year-end Top 10 lists.
Since we last saw them this past Christmas as part of Hatebreed’s Stillborn Fest (also featuring God Forbid, Agnostic Front and others), there have been some changes within the band. By that time guitarist Trey Ramirez had already departed (we’ve since written about his new outfit Pack of Wolves) and had been replaced by new guitarist Ryan (above, second from right). In an interview conducted that night that we never published, bassist CleanBobby told us he would be leaving the band and that’s exactly what happened, to be replaced by the dude above, middle, whom MySpace tells us is named Liam. We are also sad to report that the band also lost their unofficial sixth member, the collosal beard of lead guitarist Michael Garrison Throeald.
At All Cost has a couple of Texas dates posted on their MySpace page, and we can assume they’re working on new material in their down time. In the aforementioned interview Throeald told us the band was working on new stuff that was stonier and trippier than their past efforts. Color us interested.
-VN
So this Texas band Pack of Wolves are going to act as support, alongside Time of Cholera, on a brief upcoming tour headlined by Century. Now, the reason Pack of Wolves are worth paying attention to is because their guitarist, Trey Ramirez, used to be a member of At All Cost, one of MetalSucks’ most favoritest young bands in the whole wide world. Listen to the demos on Pack of Wolves’ MySpace page, and it’s easy to hear some AAC in there; in fact, the band often sounds like a more straight-forward, meat n’ taters, less trippy version of At All Cost.
Pack of Wolves are still without a label and the tour is coming nowhere near NYC, so I won’t be able to check ‘em out live; but I encourage anyone in the vicinity of this tour to go and let us know how the show was. All dates after the jump.
[Better late than never. This is the 6th and final installment of new MetalSucks contributor Corey Mitchell's reporting from South by Southwest 2008 in Austin, TX. Be on the lookout for more show reviews in the future from Corey. - Ed.]
BLACK TIDE/AT ALL COST/IN THIS MOMENT/JASTA @ RED 7 PATIO – Saturday, March 15, 2008 – 2:20 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.
Not feeling any older despite tossing back a few too many rum ‘n Cokes the night before, I ventured out one last time for my final metal fix of the 2008 SXSW Music Conference. Once again, I was headed toward another free show over at Red 7. The sun was scorching hot, not a cloud in the sky, and I was semi-interested in seeing teenage sensations…
BLACK TIDE
Okay, I’m sure you know all the hype. Every band member under the age of twenty, ridiculously good looking, led by frontman 14-year-old Gabriel, and signed to Interscope Records. It all sounds a little too Light of Doom-ish for my taste. In fact, it’s enough to make you wanna puke. But, again, I approached their set with an open mind, and again, I was pleasantly surprised.
I have no idea if this is true or not, but someone recently told me that Steve Austin (the legendary musician, NOT the pro-wrestler and NOT the Six Million Dollar Man) made current Today is the Day drummer Derek Roddy wear a bullet proof vest during his audition for the band so that Austin could shoot him as he played in order to test his skill under pressure. That seems incredibly extreme and totally fucking fuck nuts if it’s true, especially since Roddy’s skills have already been tested in Hate Eternal, but, uh, hey, it’s still a pretty cool story.
ANYWAY, Austin taking his band out on the road is always cause for excitement, but the fact that’s he taking a rotating support line-up of some of our favorite bands out there right now with him – including Rwake, Lair of the Minotaur, Fuck the Facts, and our friends in the most excellent At All fucking Cost – just makes this tour that much more worthy of your time and money.
After the jump, get a complete list of tour dates, along with a list of which bands will playing which shows.
I seriously want to punch these kids to a pulp whenever I see them at shows. Maybe the problem is that I’m going to the wrong shows? Alas… at the At All Cost show last Friday in New Jersey, Axl and I saw a couple of assclowns doing gymnastic moves in the pit during one of the opening bands’ sets. Gymnastics at a fucking metal show??? Someone please pass the Pepto-Bismol…
And now, please enjoy this video of more assclowns. [See this and more ridiculous hardcore dancing videos at The Deciblog]
“Your parents paid money to send you to a dance studio for this?”
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/X0ygBDvo13U" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
-VN
You guys own Circle of Demons, the latest from Texas’ At All Cost, right? ‘Cause if you don’t, you’re lame. I mean, seriously, it’s easily one of the best albums of the year (read our review here), and it costs all of eight bucks on iTunes. EIGHT BUCKS! Even you can afford that. Do yourself a favor: go get this fuckin’ album already. I’m sick of everyone trying to tell me how awesome As I Lay Dying are and not giving these dudes their due. ‘Cause if you don’t support this band now, in a few years you’re gonna feel like one of those idiots who weren’t into Faith No More. AAC are that hard to categorize, and that fucking good.
Here’s a little mini-doc on the making the video for the album’s title track.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/1Jdi3P4qBn8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
Watch the completed video here.
At All Cost are on tour right now with Dead to Fall and some other cool bands. They’re awesome live (read a review here). Get tour dates on their MySpace page.
-AR
