Axl wore his most vile death metal shirt in an attempt to avoid being selected as a juror in this great City of New York, but lo and behold, his plan backfired and he was chosen anyway. So it’s been the Vince party over here since Wednesday with plenty of help from all of our most excellent contributors — special big ups to Anso DF for pitching in extra! Here’s what went down:

• We lost Riot guitarist Mark Reale. R.I.P.
• We premiered a new track by Pyscroptic, one by Exotic Animal Petting Zoo and all of Primal Fear’s new album Unbreakable.
• The Rockstar Mayhem Festival announced the first slate of bands on its 2012 lineup. Slipknot later spilled the beans that High on Fire are confirmed too.
• Ihsahn is guesting on the new Jeff Loomis solo joint and Jeff Loomis is guesting on the new Ihsahn solo joint. Will those two get a room already?
• The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman went all anti-drug on our asses.
• Tours and rumours of tours: The Mastodon / Opeth / Ghost tour is really gonna happen, Meshuggah, Decapitated and Baroness will hit the U.S. together (no dates yet), dates were announced for the Decibel Magazine Tour featuring Behemoth, Watain, The Devil’s Blood and In Solitude, while All Shall Perish, Fleshgod Apocalypse and other cool bands announced a tour too.
• Sammy O’Hagar reviewed Lamb of God‘s new album while Gary took a look at new hardcore 7-inches by Daylight, Unholy Majesty and Wrong Answer.
• We realized that Maynard James Keenan poops and pees and eats just like the rest of us.

We’ll be back next week for Axl’s triumphant return to the blogosphere. See you then.

-VN

Last week’s most amusing news item came from Dillinger Escape Plan singer Greg Puciato (above, center), who made public his thanks and apologies to local emergency responders who helped him out during a half-day drug freakout. (Reviewing Puciato’s account of the unnamed substance’s effects, one could settle on mushrooms as the likely culprit.) As party people, we at MetalSucks giggled knowingly at his beginner’s mistakes and cheered his quick rebound to good humor and sanity. Party loud, dude!

But Puciato’s boss, DEP founding guitarist Ben Weinman (above, left), isn’t as cool with his misadventure or his urge to chronicle it for the public. Nor with the potential he created for something other than Weinman to get credit for DEP’s genius. Our awesome buds at Metal Insider got the exclusive story from Weinman:

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At my first paid gig as a music journalimalist, my editor wasn’t really hands-on with workshopping or edits or assignments. Let’s call him the Rick Rubin of print editors, as he was grotesquely overpaid, forever claiming unearned credit, and often seen shoveling bizarre food up his blabhole.

But I did get his attention once when I blew a weekend assignment: After a day spent on my front lawn all screwy on mushrooms and stuff, I’d turned up to an exciting concert I was to review. Smiling, I gave venue security my name, waited to be waved in, but was then told rudely that the show had already ended, dumbshit!

Ended!? Wha?! The show had gone off as scheduled, I was repeatedly assured, so what the fuck time was it? I had definitely left home on time — had it taken me three hours to get there? How long had I been staring at that graffiti mural? And what was I hearing that sounded like the band playing just across the entrance? What was Prince doing there holding hands with Madeline Albright? Where was that scent of garlic bread coming from? What the shit? Glirgh!

Well, it turns out Dillinger Escape Plan singer Greg Puciato lost a similar battle with mind-bottling substances this weekend! Only he freaked out his gf and required the assistance of a small army of emergency staff! Puciato explained on his website:

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Some will say that it’s hypocritical of me to make fun of Bret Michaels for launching Pets Rock, a line of “rock and roll pet gear” that will be sold exclusively at Pet Smart stores starting next summer, even though I love Ben Weinman’s Garmutt apparel for dogs. But I assert that there are three key differences between the two companies, besides the fact that, y’know, Weinman is brilliant and Michaels is not so much brilliant. And those differences are as follows:

1. Like I said, Michaels’ products will be sold exclusively at Pet Smart; Garmutt only sells to “independent brick-and-mortar retailers… [not] big-box pet chains.” Point: Garmutt.
2. The name “Garmutt” is witty. The name “Pets Rock” clearly took all of two seconds for some schmoe to think up. I haven’t seen the Pets Rock products yet, but I’d wager we’ll be able to say the same about those items, too; Garmutt is famous for their “Master of Puppies” dog hoodies, but I bet the best thing Michaels’ team will come up will be something about cats and pussies. Point: Garmutt.
3. Weinman is a known animal lover who has done work for PETA. Michaels, meanwhile, has been mercilessly slaughtering golden retriever puppies for years in order to continue manufacturing his wigs. Dude wasn’t even nice to the dogs he slept with on Rock of Love. Point: Garmutt.

I defy you to argue against my logic. It simply cannot be done.

-AR

[via Noisecreep]

I guess Ben Weinman likes to keep busy. He The Dillinger Escape Plan’s guitairst, primary songwriter, and manager, and he’s got this new supergroup with Mastodon’s Brent Hinds, The Mars Volta’s Thomas Pridgen, and former Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery brewing, and now, according to the above video interview, he’s also working on something with Mike Patton.

That particular nugget of info comes at the 2:14 mark, but in case you’re technologically challenged and can’t figure out how to get to said 2:14 mark, here’s a transcript of what Weinman says when asked if he’ll ever work with Patton again:

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Speaking of supergroups that might actually be super…

Back in June, Mastodon’s Brent Hinds revealed that he was working on a new project with Ben Weinman (The Dillinger Escape Plan), Eric Avery (ex-Jane’s Addiction), and Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta) — which certainly sounds like a line-up worth getting all hot n’ bothered over. Of course, that’s four very successful dudes who all have their own stuff going on, and so, as Hinds put it, “it’s been hard to get together.”

But now it looks like there may be some progress being made! Writing on DEP’s official website over the weekend, Weinman dished the following info:

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My own fragile sense of mortality means that I’m still adjusting to the fact that the original bands from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal — commonly mislabeled as “metalcore” — are now hovering somewhere around their tenth year of existence. As I Lay Dying are the latest band to hit the one decade mark, and while I can’t say I was one of the cool kids who has known about them since the release of Beneath the Encasing of Ashes, I do remember when I first heard Frail Words Collapse, and it really seems like it was just last week.

But enough about my own neurosis. The story here is As I Lay Dying’s tenth anniversary, which they’ll celebrate by releasing an album entitled Decas. Mercifully, it’s not just a lame greatest hits collection — instead, it will feature three new songs, covers of classics by Slayer, Judas Priest, and Descendents, and remixes of old AILD tunes by the likes of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman, Big Chocolate, and Kelly “Carnage” Cairns. You can check out the first new tune, “Paralyzed,” below. It’s equal parts heavy and catchy, which is to say, it’s an As I Lay Dying song, and a good reminder of why the band grew to be so popular in the first place.

Decas will come out November 8 on Metal Blade, and you can already pre-order it here. And if that isn’t enough to give you your As I Lay Dying fix, the band will continue the celebration of their birthday with the ”A Decade of Destruction,” which starts at the end of November and will feature support from Of Mice & Men, The Ghost Inside, Iwrestledabearonce, and, maybe best of all, Sylosis, who I personally am absolutely dying (no pun intended) to see. Here are dates, courtesy of AP:

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Props to Metal Injection for unearthing this forty-five minute interview with Ben Weinman (#13 on our list of The Top Modern Metal Guitarists), which was conducted prior to the release of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s most recent album, Option Paralysis. Not only is Weinman is a great guitar player, and not only is Weinman a great songwriter, but he’s been in the business for more than a decade — no small achievement in this day and age — and he manages DEP, as well as being their driving creative force. (He’s also the sole remaining original member of the band.)

What’s great about long-form interviews like this is that it gives the subject a chance to get really, really in-depth. Weinman is open and honest here, and anyone who wants to make their living from metal — whether a DEP fan or not — should check this out. I’m only partway through, but it’s pretty terrific.

-AR

So how’s this for a new supergroup? Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds, The Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman, The Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen, and and  former Jane’s Addiction bassist Eric Avery are apparently joining forces to create a new project. And while I’m always a little bit suspicious of mega-all-star-team-ups like this — for every Murder Construct, it seems like there are ten The Damned Things — it’s hard not to get excited by that line-up.

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MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play guitar (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman…

When I was a kid, one of the reasons I loved metal, hard rock, and punk was because it felt legitimately dangerous. By and large, I do not get that feeling very much anymore. Maybe that was just youthful naivety, but somehow, I don’t think so, and the reason I don’t think so is this: The Dillinger Escape Plan still sound like an incredibly dangerous band to me, both as a performance act and as a creative force. Every time I hear a new DEP album, I think, “Boy, people are going to be pissed.” And every time I go see the band live, I think, “Holy shit, one of these dudes is going to die right here in front of this audience.” And I know it sounds weird, but those are both invigorating feelings to experience. They make me feel like I’m ten years old again.

And Ben Weinman, as the most consistent and driving creative force behind the band throughout their entire career, obviously has a lot to do with the band’s seemingly limitless ability to induce these feelings.

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They’re both gonna have members on tonight’s extra-special 100th episode of the Metal Injection Livecast, that’s what!!!

From a press release (What, you think we actually like the Metal Injection dudes? We only communicate via press releases!):

“The Metal Injection Livecast will be celebrating a milestone tonight, 100 first run editions of the live podcast. To celebrate this momentous occasion, the crew will be joined by some great guests. In the first hour of the show, Ben Weinman and Greg Puciato of The Dillinger Escape Plan will call into the show, and in the second hour, Mike ‘Gunface’ McKenzie and Greg Weeks of The Red Chord will join the show. Fans will be able to listen live starting at 8pm Eastern Time, and interact with the guests via a live chatroom as well as by calling into the show directly, via our fan line at 646-929-1357. An archived version of the episode will be posted shortly after the conclusion of the show.”

So if you’ve ever wanted to talk to these dudes without threat of one of them killing you (Puciato is a short guy, but not a small guy), here’s your chance!  Call in, talk to Greg Weeks about football… I’m sure he’s not sick of that. But above all else, just make sure you listen.

-AR

I know that some of you are so opposed to having fun that you’ll dismiss this video out of hand, but y’all can toss my salad, ’cause this is awesome.

As we first reported in March, actor Dennis Haskins – better known to the world as “Mr. Belding” from Saved by the Bell – reprises his most famous role in Iwrestledabearonce’s new video, “See You in Shell.” The clips also features references to a number of other classic vintage portrayals of teen life, but I’ll let you pick those out for yourself.

The clip was directed by Justin Beasley from KOTK Productions; he also did that video for The Demonstration’s cover of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Needless to say, I think that this is considerably better.

There’s a special edition of IWABO’s Century debut, It’s All Happening, coming out on June 29; in addition to the original, genre-defying album (see my review here), it will come with a bonus CD, It’s All Remixed, featuring – ah-doy! -  remixes by The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman and Mindless Self Indulgence’s Jimmy Urine, amongst others, as well as a DVD with studio footage and music videos.

-AR

[via The PRP]

Readers Matthew Mitchell and DruM both sent me a link to this Fox News interview with Ben Weinman, Greg Puciato, and Liam Wilson from The Dillinger Escape Plan. Needless to say, the joksters in DEP keep it entertaining – and bonus points to Puciato for his explanation of why Bill O’Reilly is a great inspiration to his vocals. (And if you don’t know what incident Puciato is referring to here, watch this.)

The video isn’t embeddable, but you can watch it by clicking on the screen cap below!

And by the way, in case you’re the only person in the world who doesn’t know this, DEP’s new album, Option Paralysis, is March 23. That’s just out one week from tomorrow!

-AR

Here’s a scenario about which I often wonder. Let’s say there’s a fan. And said fan thinks that Artist A is a capital-”G” Genius, and Artist B represents everything that’s wrong with the world. The fan screams this opinion to anyone who listen, and maybe even goes so far as to make it an intelligence issue – e.g., “Only a moron could ever like Artist B.” Now… how does reconcile this conflict when Artist A in someway associates himself with Artist B? We’ve seen that on this very site – everyone’s favorite MS reader, Ziltoid, has made endlessly disparaging marks about certain artists, and insisted only ree-rees like those artists, but then his hero, Devin Townsend, has praised some of those same artists. So does Ziltoid therefore think that Devin is a pea-brained man child, or does he shrug and say “Well, there’s room for gray area?”

I raise the issue because, according to The PRP, The Dillinger Escape Plan will tour this year with Iwrestledabearonce. That’s a great tour, if you ask me, but I know that a lot DEP fans think that that band is the second coming and the IWABO kids are the collective Antichrist. Of course, someone will say “Well, DEP have little to no control over which bands they tour with,” except that a) it’s my understanding that that’s not really true and b) DEP guitarist Ben Weinman has already worked with IWABO once before, on a remix for the iTunes version of their album, It’s All Happening. So clearly the guy doesn’t mind rubbing shoulders with these kids who are supposed to spell the end of good metal music as we know it.

I’m not looking for DEP to validate my opinion that IWABO are a good band. That would be ridiculous. But the announcement of this tour did me get thinking about the problems with making blanket statements like “Only assholes enjoy such and such a band.” And, yes, I’m fully aware I’ve made statements like that before. But I know good, smart people who enjoy or have enjoyed Limp Bizkit and ICP, and I know good, smart people who don’t see what the big deal is about Pig Destroyer, and while I do question these friends’ sanity, I’m not about to stop being friends with them just we disagree about whether or not Fred Durst is Adolf Hitler reincarnate.

So. DEP and IWABO. Two very forward-thinking bands, part of a package that makes perfect sense to me. I’m stoked for this one. There’s only two confirmed dates so far, but you can get those after jump.

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You’re Ben Weinman, you’re a genius, and for whatever reason, you’re remixing a Bring Me the Horizon song. What the hell are you supposed to do with it?

Change it to the point where’s it’s not at all recognizable, that’s what.

An anonymous reader sent me this video, which plays BMTH’s original “I’ve Read About Girls Like You On the Backs of Toilet Doors” side-by-side with Weinman’s remix, which is really just a completely different song with a few samples taken from the original. As a matter of fact, for most of the “remix,” it sounds like you could be listening to outtakes from some of the Aphex Twinier moments of Ire Works (“Sick on Sunday,” the intro to “Dead as History,” etc.). And that’s a good thing.

-AR

A+ update Benjamin, A fucking plus.

For those of you goyim (that’s yiddish for “non Jews”) who aren’t familiar with the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur (which was this past Monday, hence Axl’s lack of posts that day), this video update from the Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman should serve as an excellent primer.

We also get an interview with producer Steve Evetts about new drummer Billy Rymer, and we get some footage of Weinman tracking guitars with the rest of the band’s tracks blaring behind him. Sounds like vintage Dillinger to me.

-VN

As one of the chief riff providers for swaggercore titans Every Time I Die, Andy Williams takes pride in making the discordant into catchy. For a perfect example of this, look no further than the band’s latest (MetalSucks-approved) album, New Junk Aesthetic. Distilling the band’s decade-plus essence into a tight half hour, it’s a satisfying mix of thunderous heaviness and easily the most appealing material the band have put to tape. But while he’s often overshadowed by vocalist Keith Buckley’s relentless wiseassery, it’s his and Jordan Buckley’s Skynard-by-way-of-Dillinger-Escape-Plan guitar work that make the band stand out and ultimately worthwhile.

A self-described “chatty Cathy,” Andy Williams was remarkably frank and refreshingly earnest in a recent interview with MetalSucks on the eve of the release of New Junk Aesthetic. Among other things, he discussed why he can listen to the new album and none of the band’s other material, his thoughts on the new Converge record, the changing landscape of the scene he came up in, and life over at ETID’s new label, Epitaph.

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One of these days, I’m going to write a review for Iwrestledabearonce’s It’s All Happening. Swear it. In the meantime, as you could guess, I can tell you that I love the album and think you should buy it. So, that’s the short version.

The disc is finally coming out in Europe on August 31, and the band has launched a new website as a “virtual little treasure chest.” It’s all more or less bonus stuff that can be unlocked by forwarding the page to friends – in other words, X number of forwards unlocks Y cool shit. That’s a nifty little promotional tool.

Click to read more…

So by now everyone and their mother knows that The Dillinger Escape Plan have parted ways with longtime label Relapse Records. But one of the big, nagging questions – especially coming off the tremendous success of Ire Works – has been “Why?”

Well, our friends at Metal Insider recently caught up with DEP guitarist Ben Weinman to get some answers. Here’s an excerpt:

Click to read more…

So last week Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato and Ben Weinman got up on stage in Australia with Nine Inch Niles to help out with “Wish,” a song DEP had previously covered. Up ’til now, all we’ve seen is shitty cell phone capture of the performance – but now NIN have posted something considerably higher quality on their web site.

Not much to say here – you just gotta love it when there’s so many great musicians on one stage.

-AR