(Click to enlarge/download. Artwork by Mike Wohlberg of tFk! Illustration.)

Last year, MetalSucks was proud to bring our own patented brand of mayhem to South by Southwest in the form of the South by South Death showcase; this year, we’re teaming up with our friends at Metal Injection, Metal Insider, Peavey, and ddrum to do it again — and if we can take a second to be not-at-all humble, we have REALLY outdone ourselves this time. ‘Cause on Wednesday, March 14, we are going to absolutely DECIMATE the city of Austin with performances by High on Fire, Darkest Hour, Nachtmystium, Intronaut, Black Tusk, Holy Grail, and MonstrO.

Go ahead and pinch yourselves, fools — that line-up is 110% real. And it’s 200% awesome.

Like was said, the madness begins on Wednesday, March 14 at 7 pm on the patio stage at Barbarella. It is going to be THE can’t-miss extreme music show of this year’s South by South West, so absolutely do not miss it.

FUCKIN’ MOSH.

Talk about a first world problems: there are too many awesome tours coming down the line in the next few months! Too many great bands to see! Too many excuses to leave the house even though I’m high and it’s freezing out side! THERE’S TOO MUCH FUN TO BE HAD! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

The latest “Holy crap I have to go to that show” news comes in the form of a mini-tour from East of the Wall and Black Tusk, two great bands who put on killer live shows. On top of that, some of these shows are going to also feature Intronaut, and some of them will also feature Hull and Royal Thunder. I don’t know Royal Thunder, but if they’re on this bill, I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Here are dates, courtesy of The PRP:

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…

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?

For the third year in a row, MetalSucks asked you, our beloved readers, to tell us why you hate the holidays in exchange for some cool prizes — and boy oh boy, did you guys ever let your anti-holiday vitriol flow. There were some great responses, but, alas, there can be only one winner — and that winner is Tyler The Scrooge, who posted the below outpouring of holiday hatred:

Click to read more…

Just ’cause we’re Jews doesn’t mean we can’t get a lil’ Xmas spirit in the MetalSucks Mansion! That’s why, for the third year in a row, we’re launching celebrating Jesus’ birthday in style, with our Antichrist Christmas contest. And this year, our pals at Relapse Records are hooking up the winner up in style with an awesome prize pack that includes the following CDs:

• Brutal Truth, End Time
• Zombi, Escape Velocity
• Indian, Guiltless
• Inevitable End, The Oculus
• Black Tusk, Set The Dial

Friggin’ sweet, right? Santa is jealous.

All you have to do to win is tell us why you hate the holidays. You can leave your answer in the comments section below, and make sure you register with a real e-mail address, since the winner will be contacted by e-mail.

Unfortunately, only readers who live in the U.S. are eligible. Because while Santa might have nine magic reindeer, all we have is the USPS.

All entries are due by New Year’s Day. We’ll announce the winners the first week of January 2012.

Good luck, and HO HO HO! MERRY ANTICHRIST CHRISTMAS!!!

-Axl & Vince

So, hey, I dunno if you guys heard, but earlier this month we put on this totally rad festival, The Metal Suckfest? No big deal, it was just twenty awesome bands in two days, whatever.

So ANYWAY, our brahs over at Metal Injection were there to film another edition of their awesome “Ask the Artist” series, in which they — duhskis! – ask a variety of artists one particular question… in this case, “What sucks about metal?” Check out the answers from the bands that played The Metal Suckfest — plus a couple of incredibly handsome non-musicians (cough, Vince and I, cough, cough) below:

And don’t forget that you can check out more awesome installments of “Ask the Artist” right here. DO IT!!!

-AR

So, uh, hey, did we happen to mention that The Metal Suckfest took place this past weekend at the Gramercy Theatre here in New York? Well… it did! And we had an awesome time. Twenty incredible bands all kicked our asses and shredded our reproductive organs; we are truly exhausted, and can’t wait to do it again.

In case ya weren’t able to attend, our friend Justina Villanueva was there to capture all the action. After the jump, check out some killer photos of Municipal Waste, God Forbid, Today is the Day, This is Hell, Howl, Black Tusk, Magrudergrind, All Pigs Must Die, and Ramming Speed. We’ll have some more great pics from night two of the fest later this week!

Click to read more…

No surprise, but Evanescence and Five Finger Death Punch nabbed the #1 and #2 spots on the Current Hard Music charts for the third week in a row. The rest of of the Top 10 isn’t much better; aside from Foo Fighters (#4) and Mastodon (#8), the lot is pretty disappointing. BUT, there were solid debuts from Carnifex, Russian Circles (!), Structures, Black Tusk, Junius and more. Those numbers after the jump.

Click to read more…

Congrats to reader Charles Madison. He correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Zagharos, and for his troubles, he wins  five CDs from MS Mansion Archives. Invisible oranges up for Charles!

This week we have another ridiculously great prize for you cats, courtesy of Relapse Records: two, count ‘em two, copies of Set the Dial, the new album from Black Tusk. The band is scheduled to destroy this Friday at The Metal Suckfest (tickets on sale tomorrow for just $25!), and I can’t even tell you how stoked I am to get to hear some of these new tunes live. So either get off your ass and order a copy, or enter this contest and keep yer fingers crossed!

All you gots to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. ALL ENTRIES WITHOUT AN ADDRESS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner and announce his or her name a week from today.

This week’s logo was suggested by reader  Erick Sierra… thanks, Erick!!!

-AR

The Metal Suckfest is this weekend!!! And in case you’re not familiar with, or are somehow not sold on, the twenty incredible bands we’ve booked to play THE party of the year, we have scoured YouTube for recent live footage of ALL the artists playing the fest… so you can have a little taste of the madness we have in store for ya! (The exception is Prime Evil, who are actually reuniting after being dormant for some time. So their live footage is from back in the day.) Today, we’re posting clips of all the bands playing on Friday, November 4; tomorrow, we’ll post clips of all the bands playing on Saturday, November 5.

And don’t forget: TOMORROW and TOMORROW ONLY, ALL TICKETS TO THE METAL SUCKFEST ARE JUST $25 EACH with no added fees, regardless of whether you buy tickets online, or just walk up to the box office at the Gramercy Theatre. So if you don’t already have your tickets, make sure you take advantage!!!

And now, without further ado, enjoy concert footage of all the bands playing Day One of The Metal Suckfest!

MUNICIPAL WASTE

More after the jump!

Click to read more…

This week’s list of releases covers a lot of ground, between the sludge punk of Black Tusk, Noctem’s blackened thrash, a heavier side of Russian Circles, East of the Wall, Carnifex, Hammers of Misfortune and much more. Check it all out by clicking below.

Click to read more…

The Inaugural Metal Suckfest is almost here!!!! Twenty bands will DESTROY The Gramercy Theatre on November 4 and 5, PLUS there’s an awesome, five-band pre-party at the venue the night before, making this THE can’t-miss hang of the year.

Tickets are on sale now right here, and you can hit up the fest’s official website for more info on the shows, including the complete line-up. In the meantime, we’re counting down to this weekend of chaos and debauchery by speaking to one member from each band on the bill. We begin today with guitarist/vocalist Andrew Fidler of Black Tusk, whose new album, Set the Dial, comes out October 25 on Relapse Records.

Read our chat after the jump. And don’t forget to check back in the coming days and weeks for interviews with more of the musicians participating in this awesome event!!!

Click to read more…

Lots of new metal is out or is about to come out! I’ll put about as much effort into writing this intro as the Red Sox did into playing good baseball in September, so let’s just cut right to it:

Click to read more…

That’s right! Tickets for The Metal Suckfest — the two day festival with a line-up so ridiculously awesome we can’t believe we actually put this thing together — are ON SALE RIGHT NOW.

You can buy tickets to Day 1 (November 4) or Day 2 (November 5) individually for thirty bucks a pop — that’s just three dollars per band!!! — or, for your best value, buy a THREE DAY PASS! for seventy-five bucks.

“Wait, there’s a THIRD day?” you ask. That’s right! On November 3, the night before the fest officially kicks off, we’re hosting The Metal Suckfest Pre-Game, which will be headlined by legendary black metallers Mayhem and will also feature Keep of Kalessin, Hate, Abigail Williams, and Woe. Individual tickets to that show cost twenty-five dollars, but with your Metal Suckfest 3 Day Pass, you get a ten dollar discount. Pretty sweet, eh?

So GO BUY TICKETS NOW. The full line-up is after the jump, in case you forgot… do not forget that four more bands are still yet to be announced!!!

Click to read more…

Click to enlarge the ridiculously sweet poster art by Rodney Githens from Vertebrae 33 and Metal Band Art

When we first announced The Metal Suckfest, we promised you that it was NOT just a bunch of tours already-in-progress, routed so that they all converge for one event. That it was NOT just bands that all sound alike and one would normally expect to find on the same bill. That it would be a wholly unique concert in which some truly incredible artists are coming together JUST to play THIS ONE SINGLE EVENT.

And now you know — we weren’t lying.

We are SO PROUD to announce the line-up for the inaugural Metal Suckfest, which will take place November 4 and November 5 at The Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan. As you can see, the bands range from thrash to death to grind to prog to noise rock to NWOAHM to stoner to we don’t even know what you call it, but they all have one thing in common — they are all fucking awesome, and they are all 110% MetalSucks approved. This fest is gonna be so great, we keep having to pinch ourselves to make sure it’s real.

Tickets go on sale Friday at LiveNation.com at 10 am. 12 noon. We’ll be announcing the final four bands on the bill shortly, but trust us — you don’t wanna wait to get your ticket.

Here’s the rest of the line-up:

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Municipal Waste
God Forbid
Today is the Day
This is Hell
Howl
Black Tusk
Magrudergrind
All Pigs Must Die
Ramming Speed
Prime Evil

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Cynic
Obscura
The Red Chord
3
A Life Once Lost
Scale the Summit
Last Chance to Reason
Fight Amp
Rosetta
Ultrageist

-Vince, Axl, and Everyone at MetalSucks

Lesson #1: Do not wear a Black Tusk shirt on Christopher Street in the West Village. People get the wrong idea.

Lesson #2: Hiring John Baizley to do your album art is still a good decision. I know some people feel his distinctive style has worn out its welcome, but those people are wrong. Case in point: the cover for Black Tusk’s Set the Dial, which is pretty frickin’ sweet.

Set the Dial comes out October 25 via Relapse.

-AR

Even as someone who generally thinks that hip-hop has been in a pretty steady decline for, I dunno, at least fifteen years, I have a lot of respect for RZA, and Wu-Tang Clan in general; hell, I even chuckled at RZA’s not-especially-funny cameo in the not-especially-funny Due Date this past weekend. So I’m not-especially-put-off by the fact that he’s remixed Black Tusk’s “The Take Off” for a new Nike ad campaign, even though, in theory, the combination of rap, metal, and an evil corporation should induce homicidal feelings.

You can download the full remix here. I don’t actually think it’s very good — it sounds to me like RZA didn’t remix the song so much as he added a bunch of needless bleeps and bloops and other weird sounds — but it’s free so why not, right?

“The Take Off,” in its original form, appears on Black Tusk’s Taste the Sin, which is out now on Relapse.

-AR

[via Zena Metal Wants To Bitch Slap Yo' Ass]

Welcome to the second installment of Cooking Contaminated, the brand new heavy metal cooking show brought to you by MetalSucks and your host, Eli Shaika! This episode’s guests are Athon and James from Savannah metallers Black Tusk, who bring their road-tested stuffed blue cheese burger recipe to Eli’s kitchen, along with their own home-made barbecue sauce.

After the jump you’ll find a list of ingredients so you can follow along at home. Also be sure to check out Episode 1 with vocalist Mike Hrubovcak of Monstrosity and his brother, bassist JJ Hrubovcak of Hate Eternal.

Click to read more…

I know a bunch of people who seem to think that Black Tusk are the shit. I think they sound exactly like you’d expect any band that’s got a guy with a giant beard and artwork by John Baizley to sound like. And while this certainly isn’t a bad thing, it’s mostly a “meh” thing. Why do we need another band like this? We need it about as much as we need another durka durka chugga deathcore band or weedily weedily tech-death band… which is to say we don’t.

Black Tusk have a new song called “Embrace the Madness” streaming on their MySpace page. It comes from their forthcoming album Taste the Sin — out May 25th — and it sounds exactly like it’s been written by a band that’s got a guy with a giant beard and artwork by John Baizley.

Check out the song and listen for yourselves. Perhaps you can all tell me what I’m missing.

-VN