SHIT THAT COMES OUT TODAY – THE JANUARY 31, 2012 EDITION
Records by Alcest, Bleeding Through, Liberteer and Riotgod top this week’s slate of new releases. Oh, and we suppose Metallica have a “new” record out too. Those and more after the break.
Posts Tagged ‘bleeding through’
I NEVER THOUGHT I’D SAY THIS, BUT: MARTA IS NOW SOMEHOW THE WORST THING ABOUT BLEEDING THROUGH
When writing about a new Bleeding Through track called “Goodbye to Death” a few weeks ago, I noted that “I don’t find this band quite as irritating as I did even just a few years ago.” And now, having heard the entirety of their new album, The Great Fire, I can reaffirm this assessment. Bleeding Through are bad in a way which, by 2012 standards, seems quaint — adorable, even. The Great Fire isn’t good, but it’s not the worst album you’ll hear this year, or even this week; BT are gonna party like it’s 2005, and some people will find that really appealing, and good for them.
In fact, the album’s biggest weak spot is that very thing which I used to find Bleeding Through’s sole source of appeal — namely, keyboardist Marta Peterson.
BLEEDING THROUGH SAY “GOODBYE TO DEATH”
Bleeding Through have released a new song, “Goodbye to Death,” which you can stream below. It doesn’t do any more for me than any other Bleeding Through song I’ve ever heard, although, I gotta say, I don’t find this band quite as irritating as I did even just a few years ago. I think because since they’ve broken through, so many other far more offensive bands have emerged. Like, at least I recognize what Bleeding Through are doing as music, whereas a band like Emmure just sounds like someone was suffering from Montezuma’s Revenge in a recording studio.
“Goodbye to Death” will appear on Bleeding Through’s new album, The Great Fire, which comes January 31 via Rise.
-AR
I AM WAR: I AM BORED (BUT SURPRISINGLY NOT SICKENED)
I Am War is a new band that features both Atreyu vocalist Alex Varkatzas and Bleeding Through vocalist Brandan Schieppati, and while I’m sure the idea of that dynamic duo really, really excites some people, I am not one of them. That being said, the first song the band has unveiled — a demo entitled “The Poisoning” — is not nearly as intolerable as I would have suspected. For the most part, it’s just generic metallic hardcore; the only parts I out and out hate are the two deathcore breakdowns, the second of which seems to go on for-EVER. But the bottom line is, “The Poisoning” is more sleepy than it is offensive.
ANYWAY, you can check out “The Poisoning” for yourself below and make up your own mind. I Am War just signed with Razor & Tie and are expected to release their debut album in the spring.
-AR
LEYLA FORD WEIGHS IN ON THE REVOLVER “HOTTEST CHICKS” ISSUE
Let’s rant about the Revolver’s Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock list some more. God knows they deserve the attention.
The biggest issue at hand seems to be whether or not it’s sexist. It is. As a female and as a metal fan, I do, in fact, find it sexist. Look at the name. Referring to women as “chicks” on a nationally recognized and widely read magazine is sexist. It demeans women. I might be overreacting, I might be overly politically correct, but if you’re going to insist that it’s a celebration of talent, then why is it portraying women as objects right off the bat? I do give you points on being honest, though, Revolver. You could’ve gone with full denial and named it “The Most Talented Chicks in Hard Rock.”
My biggest problem with this issue is that it really has nothing to do with the music. Yes, the women who pose do it by choice, and hope that after all the gawking some reader might actually listen to their music, but ultimately, those readers probably won’t. Why? Because the magazine features bands and musicians who already have a fan base and a clear, set audience. People who know them will still buy their records, but I highly doubt some guy will be like, “Hey, that Amy Lee is quite the looker. I should probably check out her stuff.”
STEALING 18 VISIONS’ IDEAS: A BOOK BY THE 2011 METALCORE SCENE
This post originally appeared on Stuff You Will Hate, but Metal Sucks bossman/18V fan Vince Neilstein pointed out that I didn’t quite cover everything there is to say about 18 VISIONS. It is my mission as a human being to sing the praises of this legendary band, so it appears again here with an Anal Cunt joke in the title, a few small changes on my part, and some additions from Vince — we leave no stone uncovered when it comes to 18 VISIONS OF THE APOCALYPSE! — Sergeant D
In my opinion, one of the greatest tragedies of the late 20th/early 21st century is the demise and corresponding underrappreciation of Orange County metalcore pioneers 18 VISIONS. All jokes aside, I honestly love everything 18V did. I love every album, each for a different reason. And if they didn’t live up to their potential in terms of mainstream popularity, I seriously think it was because they were years ahead of their time — if you can find anyone who played deathcore, did the fashioncore thing, or integrated electronics before they did, it’s news to me. If 18V were ten years younger, they would be bigger than The Devil Wears Prada, Escape The Fate, and every other bands who’s essentially doing stuff they did as a DIY band a decade earlier.
Either way, the band broke up in 2006 after releasing what was, in my opinion, their best album. I got a chance to see them a couple of times on their final tour, supporting Hinder the first time and later at some fest in Christcore-capitol Dayton, Ohio with Damone and Staind. It was fucking sweet, just like every other time I saw them over the previous ten years or so. From day one until the end, 18V never faltered, never listened to the legions of haters that they attracted, and never stopped innovating in ways that still have yet to be completely appreciated or documented.
When I think of 18V, their career can be divided into three phases: 1) Chainreactioncore/Deathcore, 2) Fashioncore, and 3) Mansoncore – and we couldn’t cover 18V without covering phase four, the post-18V bands. In this post, I will share my thoughts on each phase, hopefully inspiring you to love 18V as much as I do!
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: SPECIAL THANKSGIVING EDITION
Wednesday, November 24th, 2010 at 2:00pm by MetalSucks
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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means we’re taking off early today and won’t be back ’til Monday. We’re sorry to leave non-American readers high n’ dry, but PLUS ONE FOR FREEDOM, MOTHERFUCKERS.
ANYWAY, in honor of the holiday, we decided to do a special Turkey Day-themed QOTW designed to make you feel all warm and cuddly inside:
WHAT (IN METAL) ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?
The MS staff’s answers after the jump.
AFTER THE BURIAL COMMENT ON TOUR CANCELATION RUMORS
Rumors have been swirling around The Webernets all day that Sumeriancore rippers After the Burial — who I nominated as my “Band That Will Fuck Your Face Off in 2010” — have dropped off their current tour with Bleeding Through. The story was first reported by Lambgoat this morning and cited a reader tip that the band had already missed a couple of shows on the tour, allegedly following an inter-band fistfight, and that the group might be on the verge of breaking up.
An official statement from the band released exclusively to MetalSucks lends some clarity to the situation:
Following our show in Buffalo NY on Sept. 22nd, there was an argument that took place that deeply affected members in the band. The argument was 100% verbal, no physical violence took place. We decided at that time it would be the best decision to leave the tour and be at home in order to regain our composure and prepare for our end of the year plans.
We’ve never dropped off a tour before EVER. With that being said, we hope that all of our fans can understand that this decision was made with the long-term in mind, and that we are genuinely sorry we had to miss the shows in their cities. We’ll be back around very soon.
That’s all we know for now. Presumably After the Burial are still on target to release a new album at some point soon as they’ve been posting pre-production videos throughout the year, although it’s almost October and if an album’s not on the calendar by now it probably won’t see the light of day until 2011. And it’s certainly not out of the question that whatever caused this fracas could also spell delays for the record. Still, I’m looking forward to the record whenever it does come out, and I hope all is well in the ATB camp.
-VN
Photo credit: William Weigel for Small Town Photography
BLEEDING THROUGH’S BRANDAN SCHIEPPATI: THE GREEN EGGS AND SLAM INTERVIEW
If you are reading MetalSucks, I assume that you hate Bleeding Through. They don’t have beards, don’t sound like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, or Cynic, but they do have short hair and breakdowns — in short, the formula for MS reader-repellent as far as I can tell. But even if you’re a butthurt internet metal dork, I hope you are at least smart enough to give them the credit they deserve. After serving time as a founding member of the equally-awesome and underrated 18 Visions (read my definitive history of 18 Visions on Stuff You Will Hate for more info), Brandan quit to do Bleeding Through full time — a decision that at the time we thought was ridiculous, but proved to be very smart. As one of the first groups to play what we now call “deathcore,” they’re also one of the very few bands from that era who’s not only still around but still relevant.
BT singer Brandan Schieppati is a busy man, getting ready for an upcoming tour as well as the launch of his Huntington Beach-based fitness company Rise Above Fitness, but he was kind enough to answer a few questions for me. I’m sure it sounds geeky, but I’ve been a big fan of BT since 2000 or so, so I was really stoked to do this interview — thanks to BT alumni Javier for setting it up!
THE HISTORY OF METALCORE/SCREAMO
First things first: screamo is literally worse than the Holocaust in my book. With a few notable exceptions, I absolutely cannot stand this shit. That said, with bands like The Devil Wears Prada and Underoath selling out huge venues, putting out platinum-selling albums, and selling truckloads of cookie-cutter merch to every angsty suburban teen within driving distance of a Hot Topic, it’s hard not to pay attention to the genre. I might not like it, but Kids These Days certainly do. My biggest question: Where the fuck did this shit come from??
As someone who saw the birth of metalcore and “true screamo”/skramz firsthand in the 90s, I am highly confused when I listen to these bands. On the one hand, they are not so different from anything that could have been on Victory or Indecision in the 90s (Earth Crisis, All Out War, Bloodlet). Obviously there are some things that have changed over time, but the fundamentals of metalcore are still there (see my post “The 5 Kinds Of Music Teens Are Into” for more details). On the other hand, the kids in Alesana, August Burns Red, and possibly even As I Lay Dying have no fucking idea who those pioneering metalcore bands are, much less that screamy vocals were born in the tiny basement shows and vegan bakesales of the 90s DIY hardcore scene.
PROBABLY THE LAST TIME I’LL POST A PICTURE OF MARTA FOR AWHILE
Bleeding Through’s new, self-titled album comes out tomorrow on Rise Records; after that, I don’t think I’ll have cause to write about these dudes and dudette for awhile (at least until they do a tour I actually care about), so it seemed like I better get a Marta picture in now. The band is streaming the entire album here; I actually managed to make it through eight of the twelve songs on the album, which is way further than I thought I’d get. But every song sounds exactly the same to me. Did these guys always play generic deathcore, or is that a new development?
-AR
JUST BECAUSE MARTA TOLERATES BOYS FARTING ON HER DOESN’T MEAN SHE LIKES IT
It’s shaping up to be a slow news day, so I thought I’d post this video interview that Total Rock recently conducted with Marta from Bleeding Through. We’re all so used to looking at pictures of her, but I don’t know that I’ve ever actually heard the sound of her voice before. For some reason I always assumed she’d sound a little bit more like Joan Rivers, but this works, too.
Bleeding Through have a new album coming out on some release date on some label. Hoo-ray.
-AR
ANAAL NATHRAKH’S MICK KENNEY MUST HAVE SELF-ESTEEM ISSUES
Have you ever seen some smokin’ hot chick with a dude who’s not only like one-tenth as good looking as she is, but isn’t particularly smart or funny or interesting or even rich? And you sit there and you go, “What the crap happened there?” That’s usually around the time a friend leans over and whispers “She used to be fat, before they met.” And you go “Ooooohhhhh.” Self-esteem issues: she used to be a behema, and even with all the weight she’s lost, she has no idea how fine she is now. As a friend likes to say, “We all had a shot.” Just shows to go ya that it pays to be an arrogant fart nugget who hits on anything with a hole and a pulse, ’cause sometimes it’s a former fatty who has totally devalued herself.
I don’t really know much about Mick Kenney from Anaal Nathrakh, but I guess he used to have a weight problem, because he’s started a new band, Sorrows, with Bleeding Through’s Brandan Schieppati. When you think of all the people in the world Kenney could have collaborated with… why choose the dude from a not especially good metalcore band? Somewhere the guys from Bury Your Dead are thinking “Shit! We all had a shot.”
Sadder still is that Sorrows just aren’t very interesting. Anaal Nathrakh are one of those bands that challenge our perception of what metal could be, in the best possible way; if you didn’t know that Kenney was involved in Sorrows, you’d probably never even give them the courtesy of sitting through an entire song before shutting it off and going about your day. But if you’re curious, you can listen to some of their stuff here.
And because this is kinda-sorta a Bleeding Through post, I’ve included the customary photo of Marta after the jump. Be forewarned, however, that the MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys made a time machine and snapped this pic in 2020, after BT have broken up and she’s settled into life as a mommy and homemaker. So she doesn’t look quite as hot as we’re all accustomed to:
ANGELA GOSSOW SLAMS REVOLVER’S “HOTTEST CHICKS IN METAL”
There’s a NSFW image after the jump. You’ve been warned.
Angela Gossow in the 2006 edition of Revolver’s “Hottest Chicks in Metal”
I love masturbating as much as the next guy who spends most of his day at the computer, but there’s no getting around the fact that Revolver’s annual “Hottest Chicks in Metal” issue – and now, apparently, accompanying calendar – is completely ridiculous. It has nothing to do with music, and there’s no equivalent issue for “Hottest Dudes in Metal,” because, well, metal is mostly a sausage fest and I imagine that a “Hottest Dudes” issue wouldn’t sell very well.
Now Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow – who has been featured in past “Hottest Chicks” issues – has spoken out against the concept… as if you needed another reason to love her. From a recent interview with KNAC:
OCEANO TAKE THEIR BAND DRAMA TO NEW, UMM, DEPTHS ON MYSPACE
…..AS some of you may or may not have heard, Guitarist, Andrew has parted ways with Oceano. This decision was reached through personal as well as minor quarrels amongst the band. We wont go too much further into detail as it seemingly is not a band issue any longer.
If we’re to use MySpace blog comments as our guide, the fan reaction to last week’s news of Andrew Mikhail’s less-than-amicable departure from self-proclaimed deathcore beef-bringers Oceano was generally postive. In a post marked “Andrew Leaves Oceano” the band acknowledged their former guitarist’s public denouncement of the group before assuring fans that tour plans were not changing in spite of this. Scrolling down the page, however, it seems Mikhail wasn’t entirely happy with the comments being made. Using the presumably Outkast-referencing handle “andrew3000.” he replied directly to Oceano saying:
THERE IS ONLY ONE “ANTI-HERO,” AND IT AIN’T BY BLEEDING THROUGH
There’s a really awesome metal song called “Anti-Hero.” A song that makes me wanna jump in the pit and hit someone smaller than me every time I listen to it. A song that helped make the band who recorded it one of my favorite in modern metal.
Wanna hear the song? Here ya go!
Oh, yeah. Bleeding Through’s new song is also called “Anti-Hero.” The lyrics include the line “I’ve heard enough of you!/Fucking go away,” which pretty much sums up my feelings about the track. But if you really care, you can listen here. The song will be on the band’s new, self-titled album, which comes out April 13 on Rise.
In conclusion, this:
NEW BLEEDING THROUGH COVER ART
Okay so obviously that’s not it, but longtime readers will recall I once vowed to post a picture of Marta every time I have to write something about Bleeding Through because, well, I think she’s hot, and I don’t think Bleeding Through are a very good band.
But the band is going to have a new, self-titled album coming out April 13 on Rise Records, and they’re popular enough that I suspect some of you must care. So if ya do, the actual cover art is after the jump.
And if ya don’t, well, we’ll always have Marta.
AT LEAST BLEEDING THROUGH’S MARTA IS GOOD AT SOMETHING
‘Cause lord knows, her band sure blows donkey balls. Check out Marta’s recent appearance on the Shockhound show “Stella Can’t Cook,” in which the not-as-hot-as-everyone-makes-her-out-to-be Bleeding Through keyboardist shows metalhead men with boners worldwide how to cook a Norwegian pastry.
-VN
BLEEDING THROUGH ARE ON FIRE
Headbanger’s Blog just debuted Bleeding Through’s new, David Brodsky-directed video for “Death Anxiety.” Vocalist Brandan Schieppati says, “The only thing we told Dave Brodsky, the director, is that we wanted it to feature the band playing the song and we wanted lots of pyro. And that’s exactly what we got!”
So here’s Bleeding Through, in all their pyromanic glory…
-AR
BLEEDING THROUGH DECLARE “WE’RE STILL NOT VERY GOOD” ON DECLARATION
“Finnis Fatalis Spei,” the opening of Bleeding Through’s latest, Declaration, is promising: it evokes a dark mood with a rich sense of melody and delightful faux-classical layering, complete with siren vocals by token hot girl/keyboard player Marta Peterson tastefully low in the mix. This all coheres into to morose buildup as the guitars predictably make their first appearance, climaxing with a tense final note, then a shitty-yet-effective sample to trigger the heaviness that will presumably follow. And because this is Bleeding Through, upon first listen, the cynic in you will be tempted to be immediately disappointed, to think that the first track – just under two minutes – will be the only thing remotely interesting about the album. Then the title track blasts in, with the grandiose intensity of decent symphonic black metal, almost taking a cue from Emperor’s Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk (arguably their most underrated effort) with tight, triggered drums, persistent guitars, and a subtle keyboard line like a mist around it all… then, twenty seconds in, the cynic in you is pleased, as a generic metalcore riff gets dropped in there like a dead kitten at a children’s birthday party, and you’re quickly reminded that this is Bleeding fucking Through, and that Bleeding fucking Through are still a generic metalcore band at heart. The rest of Declaration continues like this – flourishes of something interesting followed ever so dependably by Bleeding Through’s (and almost all post-Killswitch metalcore’s) hallmarks: generic breakdowns, reheated Swedish death riffs, forgettable vocals, and an overall air of crushing mediocrity. This is still Bleeding Through; shame on us for thinking that they’d make anything of themselves.
