Today is the day! The day Amon Amarth’s excellent new album Surtur Rising comes out (order here) and the final day of our Amon Amarth Viking Beard Contest which launched nearly three months ago. Which means today is the day that either 1) you send in pictures of the results of your [attempted] beard growth, or 2) you do not, because you wimped out and decided to shave.

So, if you recall, these are the rules:

1. You already sent in clean-shaven pictures of yourself when we launched the contest in January. If you did not send in a picture then, you can’t enter the contest. Sorry.
2. You grew a beard.
3. Today we give you a code. Take a picture of yourself holding up a sign that says “MetalSucks,” today’s date, and the code. The code is: AA08. Email said picture to news [at] metalsucks [dot] net with “AMON AMARTH VIKING BEARD CONTEST” as the subject.

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[UPDATE, Jan 5: New entry instructions for females! Read here.]

We are thrilled to present one of the most fun contests in our short history. Grow a beard, win a bunch of Amon Amarth shit. Interested? Read on.

Reader Jordan Wean actually suggested this idea to us back in November, and we loved it so much we knew we just had to do it. The only question was, “With whom?” And since the beard of Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg has few rivals, when Amon Amarth announced they’d be releasing their new album Surtur Rising on March 29th, 2011 we knew we’d found the perfect band, so we approached them about the idea and voila, contest!

Females, fret not: this contest is open to you, too! Read on.

The rules:

Step 1) Send us a completely clean-shaven picture of yourself NOW — before Tuesday, January 11th at 11:59pm EST — holding up a sign that says “MetalSucks” and the date. Send all entries to news [at] metalsucks [dot] net with the subject AMON AMARTH VIKING BEARD CONTEST.

Step 2) Grow a beard.

Step 3) On March 29th, the day Surtur Rising comes out, send us a new picture of yourself… same deal: hold up a sign with “MetalSucks” and the date, only this time you’ll also need to write a secret passcode on your sign that will be revealed on MetalSucks on March 29th.

FEMALE RULES: The same as above, but a little more X-rated! Yes, we’re completely serious, and no, we don’t mean your armpits. You can black out / blur out certain parts if you’re so inclined… or not. You must be 18 year of age or older to enter. but for your armpits or leg hair! We’ll be choosing one male winner and one female winner, both with an identical prize pack, so the playing field is equal for everyone.

The prize:

- a lock from Johan Hegg’s beard!
- the “super duper fan edition” of Surtur Rising, of which only a very small limited number will be made.
- a drumhead signed by the whole band
- a Metal Blade Records t-shirt and lanyard
- a MetalSucks t-shirt in the design and size of your choosing

Once we’ve received all the entries during the week of March 29th (Deadline for picture #2: Monday, April 4th, 11:59pm EST), Johan himself will go through all the entries and select a winner. There are no set parameters by which you need to grow your beard — viking style, Abe Lincoln, Rollie Fingers stache, Fu Manchu, or just plain ol’ au naturale… it’s all good by us! Bigger isn’t necessarily better… it’s the motion of the ocean!

Now, get to growing those beards. You’ve got 3 months!

Remember MS reader “Whiskey,” he who shaved his epic beard to win that Slayer Vinyl Conflict box set? If you somehow missed that story, well, now’s your chance to check it out. It involves Slayer, beards, and shaving beards in the name of Slayer; what else do you need to know?

One month later, here’s an update from the man himself:

Well, I just now realized that it’s already been a month since the shave… I’ve been reveling in my Slayer boxset, which I was surprised to receive less than a week after the shave and while my face was still on fire…What can I say? That box set sure does make me more productive around the house. I mean, you do dishes during “God Hates Us All” and tell me you didn’t accomplish the task in record time.

Since there was no necessity to shave anymore, I really just didn’t feel like it, and am starting on EPIC BEARD #2, THE BEARD THAT DESTROYS BEARD #1… sorry. I feel I have more dignity this way.

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Not quite a Nigerian 419 scam artist holding up an MS sign, but close enough.

The winner of last week’s photo caption contest did something so very special to win that Slayer Vinyl Conflict box set — containing all 10 of Slayer’s American Recordings released on 180-gram vinyl — that it warrants its very own post. You’ve all done a fine job with your comments and your Show Us Your MetalSucks entries… but this takes the cake, for once and forever.

The man from Healdton, OK who simply goes by the name “whiskey,” pictured above, took his plea directly to my email box. Here it is in all its glory:

Soooooo…. . I’m sittn here about to give myself a “Metalsucks” tattoo (tattoo artist in training) in complete Slayer font, I was honest to Oden, 5 minutes away from making this shit permanent….somehow thinking this is gonna be a fuckin done deal(drunk)…then…. th’ole lady asked what the fuck I was doing and I just tolder I’m trying to win this Vinyl set. Ya see, I fucking love vinyl. I don’t think there is a word to describe the way it makes me feel (not that there’s anything wrong with that)…..I remember when I learned of this one time fuckin Slayer pressing box set shit… I was amazed(read it from blabbermouth first…sorry) anyhow…. I have a few essentials, the entire Mastodon vinyl collection (minus “Lifesblood”…something about never pressing it on vinyl again or some bullshit…really grinds my gears) High on Fire, Graveyard, Dethalbum II, Rust in Peace, Limited Edition The Sword shit….ANYHOW…I’ve got over 100 badass vinyls collected so far, everything from original pressing Simon and Garfunkel – Sounds of Silence to the entire Chicago – Live at Carnagie Hall box set..but no fucking SLAYER!!!!.i FUCKING LOVE MUSIC, real; music, I FUCKING LOVE SLAYER, they have a special spot in my heart next to George Harrison, E.L.O. and James Taylor(weird I know)…… Let me get back to my point…my ole lady won’t let me do this goddamn tattoo right now, I haven’t shaved my fucking beard in at least 7 years, So here is the deal, No smartass smirky comment is gonna deserve or appreciate what the fuck you’re offering. They just wanna sale it on E bay for a quick buck or set it next to their Twilight series bookshelf because they don’t have an actual record player. I swear to fucking Slayer that if I am awarded this mother bitch whore of a box set I will shed this man-beard of 7 years and record it for you to see and share…I will then offer to grow back my facial hair in the style of Metalsucks.net‘s accordance, be it Fu Manchu, Joe Dirte or full on Vinnie “the brick wall” Paul nike swoosh sideburns…..what the fuck ever… I know I’m fucking begging but goddamnit, the “funny” would last so much longer if you could give a “FUCKIN FUNNY FOLLICLE” update…just think about it….

I mean, how could I have possibly said no to THAT?? So I took him up on the offer, insisting that he hold up a sign with “Metal Sucks” and the date and time in every photo he took, just to make sure this wasn’t something he did days or months ago that he was attempting to use to cash in for a prize now. And the man followed through:

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Lately I have been in close contact with some of the most epic beards I have ever seen in my life. Until now, I never put much thought into the beard.  Its around the scene I associate myself with, but that has been the extent of my true exposure and understanding of the facial shrub. If I can’t grow one, why the fuck would I care? I’m a selfish bitch. Well, I believe I’ve finally found a reason. As a matter of fact, I found many fucking reasons to say this: I FUCKING LOVE BEARDS. YES.

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At some point in the middle of this decade, beards on metal dudes became fashionable. Not goatees, not chin-strips, not ‘staches (the latter will never be fashionable in the highly homophobic metal community), but big, bushy, manly beards. But not all was hunky-dory in beard-ville; cries of “hipster!” and “beardo!” resonated through the land, with purists claiming beards are not metal. So…

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Seems like an odd time for Killswitch Engage to release a new video, seeing as they’re reportedly heading into the studio this month to record the follow-up to 2006′s Daylight Dies — but more Killswitch is never a bad thing, so fuck it, right? Live footage / road footage videos are great for record labels because they give the media a reason to continue talking about a band when the prior album cycle is over (touche!) and they don’t cost a penny to make outside of hiring some dude to chop together footage that’s already been filmed. So while there isn’t much new to see here, the live and behind the scenes footage used in this video shows KsE up to their usual backstage shenanigans and at the top of their live game, set to one of my favorite tracks from Daylight Dies, “This Is Absolution.”

Also: Justin’s Foley’s beard. In my now infamous “Beard on Beard” interview with Justin he threatened to be on the verge of shaving off his man-whiskers. Say it ain’t so! This video could be the last glimpse we get of Foley’s monstrous chin pubes.

-VN

Life on the road looks fun, doesn’t it?

In other news, guitarist Tim Millar’s beard is fucking FIERCE, dude! I positively cannot WAIT to see these guys open for Unearth on October 30th in NYC.

-VN

Justin Foley, the fire-maned skinsman for Killswitch Engage, has got one hell of a monstrous beard. You’ve no doubt seen it in the “Holy Diver” video (pictured above), but if you saw the band on tour recently you’d see that Foley’s man-whiskers have grown to catastrophic proportions. As an aspiring beardo myself, I was thrilled to have the opportunity recently to interview Justin — exclusively about his beard — both for the sake of interesting MetalSucks content and for my own beard-growing aspirations. Trust me, these things don’t just take care of themselves; lots of time and effort goes into keeping our face-pubes nice and healthy.

After the jump, Justin shares with us the history and inspiration behind his beard, his beard heroes, the recent trend of beards in metal, beard grooming tips, and a whole lot more. It’s every beard-grower’s dream.

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