Speaking of hopefully-future Killswitch Engage vocalist Ben Robson: Indigestion Collaboration, his project with guitarists Luka Žnideršič and Matthijs van den Hoven (who, Robson tells me, “do most of the work”), have released a new song and video, “Constipated” (I guess they really like writing songs about poo.). It’s typically awesome, especially when you keep in mind that the trio collaborates despite the fact that they all live in different countries! Modern technology, man. Crazy shit.

Here’s the video for the song; you can also stream it or download it here.

-AR

Yesterday we ran a very silly post in which we hypothesized about possible new vocalists for Killswitch Engage, except that the majority of candidates we named are not realistic possibilites (more on that in a second). I know that there are people who were bummed that we didn’t consider more realistic potentialities, but there was a reason we didn’t do that — it seems to us that Jesse Leach is really the only man for this job. (And, yes, we know that Leach just told fans via Facebook that “If I have something to say, I WILL say it. For the moment I have no comments on KSE.” But what do you expect him to say?)

Leach isn’t just the obvious choice — he’s really the best choice. Because his voice is still in great shape; because he’s a great performer; and because in 2012, we’d like to think that bands have learned from the Gary Cherones, Blaze Bayleys, and Dan Nelsons of the world. Being the third singer for a really famous band is a thankless task, even if you’re really talented. Tommy Vext, for example, is a great vocalist — but if he really did join KsE, he would face a momentous uphill battle to be accepted by fans and come out from under the shadow of Leach and Jones. And history teaches us that he — or any other singer, for that matter — probably would not win that battle.

So. This message on Killswitch’s official website certainly caught me by surprise…

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By now, all MetalSucks readers should know who Ben Robson is. But in case you don’t, he’s this very talented kid who won our Nevermore “Create Your Own Conspiracy” contest last year, and has since proven, time and time again, that he deserved the victory.

Now Ben’s one-man band, Robot Zombie Army, has unveiled its debut(ish) album, called the 42 EP, and it’s available for free download – at least, according to Ben, “until my 200 free download credits run out.” So you should hurry up and check that shit out. I know the above album art suggests it’s gonna be some schizo-ree-ree shit like Iwrestledabearonce — which I’d be fine with, although I know many of you would not — but rest assured, it’s really not like that at all. It’s more like Nevermore, except with a greater amount of humor and a lesser amount of drinking problems. I’m especially digging the title track myself.

-AR

We hate Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” with such a fiery passion that even the slightest hint of its infernal melody makes us reach for our revolver.

That being said, MetalSucks Maniac/Nevermore contest winner/all-around super-talented dude Ben Robson made this video of him doing a metal cover of the song while wearing one of the awesome, limited edition MetalSucks shirts that comes with our ten dollar FYE fan pack (use this store-finder app to find the location nearest you!), and, well, how could we not post it? Ben continues to display more talent than half the signed artists out there!

Ben is also apparently wrapping up work on an EP, which he hopes to release by the end of the summer. We can’t wait to hear it.

For sending in this video as part of our ongoing Show Us Your MetalSucks contest, we’ve sent Ben a box o’ goodies from the MS Mansion including CDs, posters, stickers, and whatever else we have around that we think might tickle your balls. You, too, can be the recipient of such a box of fun; just send in a pic of yourself donning your MS wear.

MetalSucks pseudo-celeb Ben Robson — he who won our Nevermore “Create Your Own Conspiracy” Contest back when Nevermore was actually still Nevermore — has released the second music video by his new “band” The Indigestion Collaboration. Robson, Slovenian guitarist Luka Žnideršič and Dutchman Matthijs van den Hoven all live thousands of miles apart from one another, but that hasn’t stopped them from creating killer music and an entertaining music video to match, which I picked up from The Number of the Blog:

Check out The Indigestion Collaboration’s first video for the song “Megapoop” here. It’s not so much a proper music video as it is basically a YouTube vocal cover featuring Ben Robson singing his own song, but it’s worth watching for the price of seeing Robson’s hilarious metal mannerisms we came to know and love through the Nevermore contest.

-VN

Because I’m not. Well, I guess that’s not fair. I’m not not a fan, I’ve just somehow never seen it. Hey, look, like I’ve said before, there are only so many hours in the day, and snarky metal blogs don’t just write themselves. I’m sure it’s great, though. Everyone says it is, anyway. I had never seen It’s Always Sunny in Phildelphia for THE LONGEST TIME , and then someone finally showed me an episode, and I was like, “Oh, this is fucking amazing!”, and then I watched the entire series-up-to-that-point in a weekend. I’m sure someday I’ll feel just as dumb for not having seen Tim and Eric sooner.

Why am I babbling on about my television watching habits? Because MetalSucks Maniac/super-talented dude Ben Robson sent us the below video, which is “a medley of songs from Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, redone into rock/metal styles” that he himself made. Again, having never seen the show, my appreciation for this is limited mostly to admiring Robson’s skills as a musician, but I imagine some of you will find it much lulzier.

You can check out more of Ben’s work here or here.

-AR

So hopefully you remember the incredibly awesome “Create Your Own Conspiracy” Contest we hosted with Nevermore last year, in which reader Ben Robson ultimately got to stand on stage with the band in front of a real live paying audience and sing his own version of the title track from The Obsidian Conspiracy. When Ben won that contest, his buddy, film student Kyle Heider, made a killer little mini-documentary chronicling Ben’s entire experience, which you can and should watch here. And since that time, Ben has proven that his winning was no fluke — he’s a really, really talented dude.

Well, as it turns out, Kyle ain’t no slouch either.

Via e-mail, Kyle tells me:

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Gotta love this Ben Robson dude. First, he won our totally amazing Nevermore “Create Your Own Conspiracy” contest last year. Then he proved he was no fluke by sharing some of his original music with us. And now he’s really topped himself with this video for for “Megapoop,” a new song he’s co-written with two European guitar players – Luka Žnideršič from Slovenia and Matthijs van den Hoven from the Netherlands.

This thing is ten times more entertaining than 98% of the so-called “real” music videos people send us — and the song rocks, too. Ben can sing his ass off, and he’s got some killer dance moves. It’s amazing that the internet has allowed him to collaborate with other musicians from around the world, but I really hope some decent American band swoops Robson up soon, ’cause I’m dying to see what he can do live.

And if you’re interested, here’s another video, of Žnideršič and van den Hoven playing an instrumental version of the song. It’s not quite as entertaining as Robson’s video, although it is definitely the first-ever metal act to have a choreographed stop n’ smile.

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Y’all remember Ben Robson, right? He’s the very lucky and talented dude who won our totally amazing Nevermore “Create Your Own Conspiracy” contest last year, and consequently got to perform his own version of the title track from The Obsidian Conspiracy with the band, live in concert.

Well, hey, last night, Ben e-mailed us the below music video he made for his song (apparently under the moniker “Robot Zombie Army”) “Faith,” which, before you even ask, I can tell you has nothing to do with either George Michael or Limp Bizkit. And since Ben’s dance moves are just so sexy, I’m only too happy to post said video here.

Ben tells he’s currently recording an album, and hopes to complete it by mid-March, so he can self-release it. There will be a better-produced version of this song on the album, but in the meantime, you can download the current recording here.

We hope you have enjoyed this latest update from the only man ever to threaten Warrel Dane’s job!

-AR

I can honestly say that the “Create Your Own Conspiracy” Contest we hosted with Nevermore earlier this year — in which we invited anyone with a microphone and the means to record it to write their own lyrics to the instrumental version of the as-yet-unreleased “The Obsidian Conspiracy” — was one of the most fun, if not the most fun contest we’ve held in the nearly four years we’ve been running this site. Watching all the entries come in was a blast — some of them good, some of them not so good — but what really made it special was that the winner, Ben Robson, really deserved it. His prize: the opportunity to perform his version of the song on-stage with Nevermore when they next came through his hometown of Pittsburgh.

That opportunity finally came a couple of weeks ago, and Ben’s friends Kyle Heider, Steph Malesic and a whole posse of friends were there with him to film the proceedings! Kyle put together a mini-documentary featuring some of Ben’s contest-winning submission, a pre-show meet-and-greet with Warrel Dane, and what you’ve all been waiting for — multi-camera footage of Ben’s legendary performance — and he’s released it exclusively to MetalSucks to share with you all today. Ben’s performance is epic in all its Penguins-jerseyed glory; it makes me smile even more than his wildly entertaining contest entry did, and that’s saying a lot. Put simply, Ben fucking killed it!

Ben came out again for the band’s encore of “Enemies of Reality” and performed it as a duet with Warrel Dane; that footage, as well as a video with just the “Obsidian Conspiracy” performance, is posted after the jump. Ben also wrote up a blog about the entire experience, and we’ve posted that after the jump too. Thanks to Nevermore, Century Media and Ben and everyone else who entered the contest!

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