Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

Hey everyone. Hope you had a stellar break sharing Trans Siberian Orchestra dubstep mixes/thoughtless $25 Amazon gift cards with your loved ones. If the cover of the new Decibel is any indication—Ben Falgoust rocking a gotta-shit scowl while the other three dudes in Goatwhore do their best Mona Lisa impressions—2012’s gonna be another utterly fucked-up yet strangely satisfying year.

There’s a je ne sais quoi to NOLA metal bands, something iconic about the way they present themselves that’s tough to articulate, yet immediately identifiable. Everyone wears extra black, but they do it right. Like fellow N’awlins linchpins Crowbar, Eyehategod and Down, our February cover stars are among the hardest-working, no-bullshit, most authentic extreme bands around, qualities evident in their radical fifth LP, Blood for the Master. I just hope we remember the Goat when it’s Top 40 time at the end of the year—or, since we’ll all be obliterated, that Woody Harrelson and John Cusack remember.

The February dB also features our always, uh, completely accurate Top 25 Most Anticipated Albums of the Year preview, plus features on Black Tusk, Evoken, Will Haven and King Diamond, and Autopsy’s killer inaugural flexi. It’s up to you to see who else is representing on the gauntlet tip.

-AB

You can order the February 2012 issue of Decibel here. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss one an issue?

video via Metal Insider

Today is the last day of regular posting on MetalSucks for the remainder of the year. We’ll still have some posts now and then — our annual Heavy Metal Hanukkah contest starts next week, we might have a series of cool new guest blogs from an old friend for you, and, of course, if there’s any major breaking news, we’ll cover it —  but most of your regularly scheduled programming is going on hiatus while we enjoy the holidays.

But until we’re back, have fun reviewing our top stories from this week, won’t you?

• We debuted a new video from Novembers Doom, new music by Nylithia, and, thanks to our pals at Decibel, new music from Autopsy.
• Lazarus AD’s Jeff Paulick nominated Marion Barber for president and Jonah Livingston from Ramming Speed told us about his live drum set-up.
• We spoke to Devin Townsend and Repulsion.
• We checked out the latest release from Kevin Hufnagel and some free shit from Australia.
• We listened to more previously unreleased material from Metallica’s Death Magnetic sessions.
• We got excited about the line-up for this year’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival.
• We got even more excited to learn that Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin is a criminal.
• We accepted an apology from the world’s most pretentious metal band.
• The future ex-Mrs. Vince Neilstein serenaded us with a piano cover of Mastodon’s “Oblivion.”
• Dummy Nosenothing continued to know nothing. How come we don’t fire this idiot?

Thanks for another sucky year, gang. See ya in 2012!

-AR

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

Everybody loves a comeback. It’s why we still pay attention to Metallica (that’s why we still pay attention to Metallica, right?), why we were so psyched when Celtic Frost (almost) erased Cold Lake with Monotheist and the ensuing Triptykon action, and why there’s just a sliver of hope in your rotted heart that maybe Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy and the Haunted find the strength to stop fucking around sometime next year.

Autopsy’s Shitfun maybe wasn’t that egregious an offender compared to the above. Well, the cover was, although I enjoy imagining that thing as a Halloween-size Butterfinger. Anyway, after the death metal hall of famers dropped their 1995, um, turd, and transmogrified into Abscess, they were neatly filed in the “unlikely comeback” department. Then Macabre Eternal placed high on our ever-unfuckwithable Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2011 list, and We All Good Again.

We so good, in fact, that Autopsy are graciously keeping the hot streak ablaze on the latest installment of the Decibel Flexi Series, a special rerecording of “Mauled to Death,” which super-fans might remember from their ’87 demo. It’s raw, unmastered, polished only by sweet metallic purple on blue vinyl, and only for subscribers. Give it a test drive below, and since I won’t be annoying you next week, happy (barf) hellidays.

Autopsy “Mauled To Death” (2012 unmastered version) (dB014) by Decibel Magazine

-AB

The February 2012 issue of Decibel, which also features Goatwhore, The Black Dahlia Murder, Black Tusk, a preview of 2012′s most anticipated new releases, and a King Diamond/Abigail Hall of Fame, can be ordered here. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss one an issue?

Yes, we know we didn’t get to make our big announcement this week. Don’t worry — we’re just ironing out a few final details. It’s still happening. And we’re confident we’ll get to tell you next week.

In the meantime, here’s how we occupied ourselves these past five days:

• We debuted new music by Ghost Brigade.
• We spoke to Chris Reifert from Autopsy and producer Jay Ruston.
• We checked out the latest releases from Harm’s Way and Skin Like Iron.
• Vince went several rounds with Century Media over their decision to drop out of Spotify.
• We made fun of Dream Theater’s use of clip art on their new album cover.
• Sammy O’Hagar, Satan Rosenbloom, and Grim Kim counted down their favorite releases of the year thus far.
• Sergeant D. searched for the best neo-nu-metal band.
• We asked what you think of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster.
• We continued to celebrate 31 Days of Faith No More.
• ‘Merica.

photo by Maciej Mutwil

Chris Reifert is a man who likes to work slowly. His doom-drenched, depraved death metallic music is murderously slow. The long, long, long-awaited reunion of his band Autopsy took over a decade. Their ensuing brand-new full-length album, Macabre Eternal, materialized tantalizingly slowly.

He apparently also takes his damn time when it comes to answering interviews from keyboard jockeys like yours truly. His answers were worth the wait, though – and how could I possibly be irked at the man behind “Charred Remains?”

Check it out:

Click to read more…

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

For this week’s FED, I was all ready to write something (more) idiotic (than usual) about how we usually parcel out shirts, six-month subscriptions and Flexi series streams gratis, but this month—for the privilege of hearing the Black Dahlia Murder and special guest Jeff Fucking Walker covering Carcass’s Heartwork deep cut “This Mortal Coil”—you’d have to actually buy the magazine. Well, believe it or not, some enterprising young reader already ripped the fucking thing and posted it to YouTube. Which is cool and all, since we’re not officially streaming it. We’re particularly chuffed by said reader’s Senator Davis-channeling minor complaint “God damnit. I hate when the vocals first start it skips. My flexi must be flawed i cant get it to not skip there… shittttttttttttt.”

Anyway, go there and check it out. Strnad and Walker execute the most scintillating line trading since Marvin Lee Aday and Lorraine Crosby in “I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” As always, it’s totally exclusive to the Decibel Flexi series, on commandingly virile royal blue. Sharpen your scalpels (read: set aside some money) and start slicing (read: subscribe).

-AB

Decibel’s July 2011 issue also features Morbid Angel, Coroner, Baroness, Autopsy, Revocation, Wormrot, and an incredible article about album packaging. That issue is available here, but why not get a full subscription to ensure you never miss one of these awesome flexi discs?

[via Badass]

So the three-day weekend kinda threw our schedule out of whack; you may have noticed that we still haven’t finished announcing the line-up for our Magical Mystery Tour, and we didn’t get to finish our list of The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, either. Both of those blessed events will go down next week, though, when we’re back for a full five days! So get stoked.

In the meantime, let’s review all the fun we managed to pack into this week’s abbreviated set:

• We debuted new music from four bands signed to Black Market Activities — Ed Gein, Engineer, Fit For An Autopsy, and Khann — as well as new music from Bloodlights.
• We spoke to some guy named Devin Townsend.
• Woods of Ypres’ Shane Madden continued his exclusive tour blog for us.
• We checked out the latest release from Autopsy.
• We celebrated the amazing amazingness that is the album art for Opeth’s Heritage.
• We were not surprised to learn that Emmure’s Frankie Palmeri is completely lacking in originality.
• We wondered if metal is a movement of the youth, inapplicable in its rebellion and ferocity to us olds.
• We made the case for the movie Jennifer’s Body as an underrated cinemetal masterpiece.
• We actually had something nice to say about Limp Bizkit (sort of).
• We introduced you to the future of appliancecore.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone. You will always be at the forefront of our thoughts, dreams, and prayers.

-AR

What’s the point in resurrecting your band if the resulting reunion album is going to be a flaccid state of affairs? To make a few more dollars so you can better pay for your kids’ school clothes and cover your rent/mortgage? Of course, and that’s a damn fine reason.

Alright, so, to REPHRASE the question, what’s the point in fans paying attention to a reunion album if it’s just a weak rehash of a band’s glory days? The answer, of course, is that there isn’t one. Decidedly non-metal band The Pixies have it right: an extended reunion tour with absolutely no new material, keeping whatever legacy they already had mostly intact (Judas Priest have it backward: no more touring but more new music no one will care about). Because for every new Suffocation album, albums that stand up to their iconic predecessors, there’s a dozen similar to new Sepultura records, albums that fully exhibit the leathery skin, newly-formed jowls, formidable beer guts, gray hair, and phlegmy wheezing of the band at the helm (or whatever’s left of the band in Sepultura’s case).

So for Autopsy to return in 2011, one would hope that they wouldn’t be doing it for the money, but instead because the band have more to say. Having watched the genre they helped refine go from lanky, unwashed social outcasts to kids in cargo shorts, flat brim caps, and 8-string guitars (as well as socially awkward weirdos indulging in guitar wankery on YouTube), a new Autopsy album better mean something. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, Macabre Eternal, the band’s first album since their rightfully-maligned swansong Shitfun, means quite a bit. It’s not a winded Autopsy stumbling through slightly-rearranged classics; this is new Autopsy in earnest, familiar-yet-uncharted. It’s also top-fucking-notch death metal, grimy in all the right places and nimble in the others. It goes toe-to-toe with most other death metal kicking around right now, and there’d be no purpose to a new Autopsy album otherwise.

Click to read more…

Lotsa stuff happened over the long weekend while we were away, so yesterday we did our best to catch ya’llup. But Vic Vaughn would never leave you hanging, and as such here’s his take on all the new metal hitting the waves this week.

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Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

The only other time Decibel put Morbid Angel on the cover was our fifth issue, in March of 2005. David Vincent had just answered our dark prayers, returning to the fold to “focus on putting together a really brutal tour featuring classic Morbid Angel tracks.” That was radical enough, but what everybody was really rabid for was a new Vincent/Azagthoth collaboration, the first since ’95’s Domination. Predictably, Trey didn’t have much of a scoop for us: “We’re just taking this day by day. It takes so long to put an album together. I don’t think I’m at that point yet.”

Suffice it to say, it took him fucking long enough to get to that point. And in just under two weeks, if you’re not a metal journalist or friend of the band, you’ll finally get a thorough overview of what Tampa’s finest have been slaving away on: the deeply polarizing eighth album, Illud Divinum Insanus. And you’ll learn soon enough if your perspective mirrors the majority of those who have already heard it (mass facepalm) or if Azagthoth’s notorious experimental daring has paid off yet again. J. Bennett grills both principals and gets a pretty fascinating explanation for the startling new direction. It’s the big story in July’s dB, available in the webstore now, for subscribers within two weeks. This one doesn’t have a gushing Mars Volta review (sorry, J.), so it’s an improvement on multiple levels!

-AB

Decibel’s July 2011 issue also features Baroness, Coroner, Autopsy, Revocation, Wormrot, an incredible article about album packaging, and an awesome flexi disc of The Black Dahlia Murder covering Carcass’ “This Mortal Coil” with Jeff fucking Walker. That issue is available here, but why not get a full subscription to ensure you never miss one?

Yeah I just needed a snappy headline. Don’t worry. As far as I know, Autopsy are not constantly flirting with death.

ANYWAY, “Always About to Die.” It’s a new Autopsy song! It’s streaming right now on Brooklyn Vegan! You should listen. This slow, evil, groove-laden tune will be your first taste of the band’s first new full-length in fifteen years, Macabre Eternal. And it sounds like the band hasn’t lost any of their charm in the time that has passed.

Macabre Eternal will come out on May 31 via Peaceville. It’s turning out to be an insanely competitive year for death metal… I’ve already heard too many great releases in the genre to list here. I guess we’ll see how this new Autopsy record stacks up soon…

-AR

So Macabre Eternal, Autopsy’s first new album in sixteen years, is coming out in May, and now the album art has been released. And it’s totally bad-assed, even if it makes even less sense than most death metal album art. I mean, why are these two poor zombie dudes being made to schlep that giant skull? Who is it for? Why aren’t those other creature thingers in the background helping them? Someone obviously wants that skull badly enough that these guys are being made to/are willing to step over their own dead to get it wherever it’s going, but I still can’t help but think that it would have been easier to just FedEx the thing.

ANYWAY, Macabre Eternal comes out May 31 on Peaceville. It should be at least as heavy as a giant skull.

-AR

We’re just days away from Maryland Deathfest 2010, which will take place from May 28-30 in Baltimore, Maryland. This year’s edition of the annual fest promises to be the best one yet, with a line-up that includes Gorguts, Autopsy, Obituary, Entombed, Sodom, Repulsion, D.R.I., and a ton of other kick-ass bands. In anticipation of the event, we thought it would be fun to get some recollections of past MDFs from artists who were there. So we’re teaming up with Relapse Records to do just that! Read the raucous inaugural entry by Matt from Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, memories of a jam-packed day from Tomas Lindberg of Disfear (and At the Gates), how Pete Benumb of Agenda of Swine got swindled, John from Weekend Nachos’ memories of the Bolt Thrower show, and today’s final entries, a double-shot from Dan Lilker of Autopsy, Brutal Truth and Nuclear Assault fame, and Marc from Fuck the Facts. Have fun at MDF!

I am definitely looking forward to this year’s MDF for a very good reason – I will be playing bass for Autopsy there.

I’ve had the pleasure of playing MDF a couple of times with Brutal Truth and once each with Nuclear Assault and Venomous Concept, but even with all that in mind this will be a special one for me due to the honor bestowed on me by Chris and the guys by asking me to fill in on bass. As most people know, Autopsy has not performed live since the early 90s, so this will be the first show in a very long time for a band that was “kult” before that word was intentionally misspelled by a bunch of message board members.

I hope all you motherfuckers come down to witness a little death metal history!!

- Dan Lilker / Autopsy, Brutal Truth, Nuclear Assault

Click to read more…

Noisecreep have unveiled their list of the Top 10 Death Metal Debut Albums (although the list is in no particular order), courtesy Friend of MetalSucks, Carlos Ramirez.

And for once, I don’t actually have any complaints. The list is pretty good.

That being said, I’m sure you folks will find something to bitch about, so… have at it!!!

-AR

Since its inception in the late ‘80s, black metal has been one of the most rigid genres in terms of evolution and change. While bands like Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, and Behemoth trumpet the genre through its larger than life, orchestral origins, black metal’s “elite” have gained their notoriety through either a) being a part of the original church-burning generation and altering their sound as little as possible or b) miming the original church-burning generation as closely as possible, right down to the tape hisses and wall of buzz saw guitars. But after nearly two decades of existence and reverence in the metal and music worlds as a whole, many bands have moved away from their restrictive lo-fi roots and come to embrace different influences, resources, and inspirations. The band that has best exemplified this move from their base to the outer limits is Enslaved, one of Norway’s longest running black metal bands. Before American upstarts Nachtmytsium made it cool to melt your Burzum and Pink Floyd records together, Enslaved were dabbling in the dark power of psychedelia on Below the Lights and ISA. Though those who take black metal seriously insist that sticking to their guns has been the key to longevity, its shifts in sounds and ideologies has been what’s kept it alive. Those shifts have been most solidly illustrated by Enslaved, and has resulted in one of the most impressively consistent discographies in metal, right up through their latest genre-bending triumph Vertebrae.

Grutle Kjellson, Enslaved’s bass player and lead vocalist, has been with the band since the beginning. In an interview he was kind enough to grant MetalSucks via phone from his home in Norway, he talks about the importance of looking forward creatively, what influenced Vertebrae, working with longtime bandmate Ivar Bjornson in Enslaved and their experimental metal side project Trinacria, the overall importance of Pink Floyd on his band’s sound, and the fans that only want to hear songs off of their early ‘90s demos at their shows.

Click to read more…