To me, nothing is as fully sweet like pop music played heavy and with controlled virtuosity. It’s like a famous master chef whipping up simple, delicious hot dogs for my face; it seems foolish to abandon such classic fare to high-volume/low-margin assembly lines, right? Hence my devotion to the jamz of Rush, Bay Area thrash, Iron Maiden, Deftones, Devin Townsend, Love/Hate, Blessed By A Broken Heart, and tons more snappy songwriters with big boner crunch.

So I warmly welcome Look Right Penny, whose debut album Sugar Lane (out Tuesday) is a slam dunk of pop-djent metal. Click to read more…

We’re back! January 24th marked the first big release date of 2012, and now the numbers are in for the final first-week tallies. As expected, Lamb of God took the top spot in the Current Hard Music Chart (and #3 overall behind Adele [115,972] and Tim McGraw [67,530]), while Lacuna Coil landed at #2. New records by Blessed by a Broken Heart, Aborted, Primal Fear and Abigail Williams also ended up in the Top 100. Check out the numbers after the break.

Click to read more…

It’s funny. It seems like whenever I’m lukewarm on a blockbuster act, there comes along a different band that does their thing in a deeper, less entry-level way. Example: When I heard At The Drive-In’s Relationship Of Command, I felt like that energy was what Rage Against The Machine had been driving at. Same for Minus’s Jesus Christ Bobby and Converge. Or here’s an obvious one: Lacuna Coil and Evanescence.

Likewise, Blessed By A Broken Heart’s 2009 album Pedal To The Metal is what I’d hoped for from Avenged Sevenfold: A reformed metalcore band’s full-bore arena jamz no fucks given. Blessed, their name a vestige of their frowny past, still rocks the occasional breakdown, but mostly new album Feel The Power (out today) grafts high-level riffing to the sugary vibe of Journey and the pro-party platform of Andrew WK, like a perkier, shred-based Lostprophets for Christ. I phoned up singer Tony Gambino to talk all about Power, the mental stamina it takes to endure tr00 metal attitude, partying, the ’80s, and their rift with Century Media.

Click to read more…

I love fun so I read Sergeant D.’s site Stuff You Will Hate and his MetalSucks column Green Eggs And Slam for the laughs (ask my 310 dudes re: my overuse of D.-isms “Please… Be Safe” and “That’s it I’m coming up there”). But the bonus has been this shocking amount of killer macho veincore jamz — by bands I’d normally ignore with a vigilance but can’t resist in the funny context of SYWH/GE+S.

Let’s review a few of my favorite finds from 2011!

Click to read more…

I don’t even know how many people remember Sucked by a Sucking Suck at this point; they’ve either been dormant, or just without a decent publicist, for what seems like forever now. And, clearly, they were never that big a sensation; they used to be on Century, and I remember ordering something from CM Distro once, and finding that a copy of their album, Pedal to the Metal, was included with my purchase for free. (My dog had a delightful time chewing it to pieces. Thanks, Century!)

But I guess the band is back now, and they have a new track, “(We Will) Suck Forever,” now streaming over at Noisecreep. The song has a cool guitar solo, which makes sense, since their guitarist, Shred Sean, can really, well, y’know. But otherwise… holy shit, is it ever awful. It’s like Dragonforce covering Avenged Sevenfold covering Winger covering Journey; the level of sheen on the production is so high it’s actually blinding to listen to. (And toothless. I’ve met poodles who felt more dangerous than this band.) It’s the musical equivalent of a candy cigarette; a stupid concept that isn’t even vaguely delicious anyway.

So if you want an aural cavity, listen here. The band has a new album, Feel the Power, coming out January 24 via Solid State.

-AR

I suspect that Skip the Foreplay intended their name to have positive connotations, but, really, all it does it illustrate the fact that its members probably have no idea how to please a woman.

They certainly have no idea how to please anyone with eardrums and a brain. I’ve never encountered them before, but this morning, a reader (who I’m relatively certain has some association with the band, although I can’t tell for sure) sent us a barely-literate e-mail encouraging us to check out their video for “The City (We’re Taking Over),” and it’s the kind of thing which makes me perfectly okay with the idea of the world ending. It’s like somebody took the most generic core music available and mashed it up with the most generic electronica available and mashed that up with a crying baby on an airplane. It’s that level of irritating.

What’s worse is that it features guest appearances not only from some musicians I could give a shit about (members of Sucked by a Sucking Suck and Blind Witness), but also by former Despised Icon co-frontman Alexandre Erian, I guess because he thought I enjoyed and defended The Ills of Modern Man too much.

Today is gonna fucking choke on giant elephant cocks, I can tell.

-AR

As you might guess from the header image, I am anything but a Christian. That said, I’ve always been a huge fan of both Christians and their music — the vast majority of them are genuinely nice, thoughtful, considerate people who are great to be around and a positive influence on everybody. I love them! And when it comes to music, for whatever reason, they’ve always been a little ahead of the curve — I can only assume it’s because they had wealthy, supportive parents, unlike those of us who were raised by broke, alcoholic losers who ‘didn’t believe in organized religion.’ Thanks, mom :/ #losing

Anyhow, the truth is that many of the best metal and hardcore bands of the last 10-15 years are Christian, and I think it’s time we gave them the credit they deserve. Let’s put aside the dull, redundant debate over whether Christianity has a place in music or not (hint: the correct answer is “who gives a fuck”) and focus on what is important: these bands rly know how to MOSH 4 CHRIST!

In this post, I will list a few of my favorite Christian bands. I will skip many of the obvious, big names that all of us know about and focus on the older, smaller bands that haven’t gotten enough props- and as always, there will be a few bands who probably should be on here, but couldn’t be included because I ran out of space and/or my memory failed me.  Thanks to Christian Hardcore Records blog for refreshing my memory on a lot of this stuff– check it out if you are into any of these bands!

Click to read more…

So as you’re no doubt aware, Halloween is on Sunday, and as you’re hopefully aware, we’re holding a “Heavy Metal Halloween” contest with SPV. The deadline was announced as being on midnight on Halloween, the logic being that people would snap their photos before they went our partying; but Vince wisely pointed out that people might not get to upload those photos right away. So now we’re extending the deadline to midnight on November 1. Hope that helps! If you need a refresher on the rules, go here.

Here’s what else happened this week:

• We debuted a new music video by Nile.
• We also debuted new music by Havok, White Arms of Athena, and Shred Sean and Allan Tecchio.
• Daath’s Eyal Levi talked about trust issues while The Red Chord’s Greg Weeks talked about football.
• We spoke to J. Randall from Agoraphobic Nosebleed and our old pal Eyal from Daath.
• We checked out the latest release from Kylesa, and a new book by the Cro-Mags’ John Joseph.
• We went on a “Reader’s Choice” local scene binge.
• We prayed for the end of karate mosh pits.
• We watched Abigail Williams lob a dildo at Iwrestledabearonce.
• We defended Phil Labonte’s angelic singing voice.
• Sergeant D. taught you about bands you would have hated/ignored in ’95.

And that’s all she wrote this week. Don’t forget that our own Gary Suarez is playing in a Jesus Lizard cover band on Sunday night. Swing by if you can!

-AR

You may be familiar with guitar whiz/Carvin-endorsee SHRED SEAN from our earlier interview with him, guest spots with bands like Into Eternity, his solo work, or as the lead guitarist for Blessed by a Broken Heart. Sean clearly possesses a work ethic that would put a sharecropper to shame, because it doesn’t stop there. The latest addition to his resume is a DIO cover/tribute, featuring his bro Alan Tecchio of Watchtower, Hades, and some other bands I don’t know about. Only MetalSucks has the industry clout to bring you this EXCLUSIVE TRACK!!!

Shred Sean and Alan Tecchio – “Rainbow in the Dark”

Shred Sean and Allan Tecchio – Rainbow in the Dark

This is a DIY Garageband recording, so please don’t get all butthurt about the snare sound or whatever trivial detail you want to bitch about in a futile attempt at “sounding like you really know what you are talking about.” Nobody will think you are cool.

Check out Shred Sean on MySpace and look for some exciting news from Blessed by a Broken Heart soon!

-Sergeant D.

So this normally where we write some fairly meaningless bullshit as an intro to our weekly recap, but reader Sean Williams sent us a link to the below video update from one Mr. Devin Townsend, and we really can’t think of a better way to kick-off the weekend. As Sean put it, “Deconstruction AND Ghost as a double record? Holy fucking shit!” And it gets “Holy shittier” when we get to hear a little bit of new music…

Here are some other fun things that happened at MetalSucks this week:

• We debuted Joe Satriani’s first Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards webisode and new music by Sweet Cobra.
• Gwar’s Oderus Urungus answered more of your idiotic questions, The Red Chord’s Greg Weeks got unnecessarily rough, Daath’s Eyal Levi pondered the meaning of sacrifice, and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder’s Shawn Riley taught us how to make delicious hot wings.
• We spoke to producer/engineer/mixer extraordinaire Mark Lewis, The Contortionist’s Jon Carpenter, and Shred Sean from Blessed by a Broken Heart.
• We checked out new releases from Dawnbringer and Merkaba.
• We helped A Day to Remember struggle with young adulthood.
• We gave Jason Newsted a shoulder to cry on.
• We got excited that Byzantine are making a new record.
• The kid of the dude from the E-Street Band is out of Madball.
• We’ve decided that when we die, we want our ashes to be pressed into vinyl.
• Can you please help us find Elote 5?

Until Monday… don’t get alcohol poisoning…

-AR

One of the greatest tragedies since the Holocaust is the death of the shred guitar scene. As a kid, I worshipped at the altar of guitar heros like George Lynch, Michael Angelo, Vinnie Vincent, and Kane Roberts until Nirvana came along and made everybody forget that it’s cool to be able to actually play your instrument. While the world may have moved past the glory days of shred, there is one person who hasn’t: Shred Sean, best known as the guitarist for the Christian glamcore band Blessed By A Broken Heart.

I can’t think of a band that MetalSucks readers [Or writers. - Ed.] are more likely to hate at first glance, but you should give them a fair chance. In all seriousness, BBABH (and especially Sean) are one of the most authentic, dyed-in-the-wool metal bands you’ll find these days, despite getting no love from critics and elitists. Naturally, most of you are entry-level haters who will ignore their actual music and get butthurt because you don’t like the way they look (which is obviously tongue in cheek, not that that will keep you morons from getting angry), but I’m hoping that Blessed will start to get the credit they deserve as an extremely legit retro-metal band.

Thanks to Sean for keeping the spirit of shred alive, and keep your eyes peeled for a new Blessed album soon. True shredheads should read my earlier interview with Sean (where he seriously geeks out on shit like Paul Gilbert’s alternate picking technique and Jason Becker’s “unmatched sweep arpeggio skills”), and check out his solo material!

Click to read more…

I’ve always thought that ESCAPE THE FATE were a solid band, but to me they were kind of doing the same thing as Blessed By a Broken Heart, only not quite as polished or interesting. That’s not a bad thing by any means, but I’m excited to see that their new song takes things in a different direction, more along the lines of mid-period Linkin Park (before they started listening to too much indie rock) or the post-18 Visions band N3V3R EN0U6H. If you ask me, there are not nearly enough industrial-metal glam-goth bands out there these days, so I am stoked to see these youngsters carrying the torch!

Will ETF alienate their core fanbase of teenage girls who weren’t born when hair metal was relevant?? Will industrial nu-metal make a comeback this decade???? Will Blessed By a Broken Heart ever get the credit they deserve?? When (if ever) will post-hair metal become passe??

-Sergeant D.

You probably know Century Media for their work with groundbreaking, legendary artists like Stuck Mojo and My Own Victim, but they are also home to lesser-known bands like Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy, Nevermore, Warbringer, Terror, and deathcore sensations Winds Of Plague and Suicide Silence. In all seriousness, though, I’ve worked with CM in one form or another since the mid-90s, and have nothing but good things to say about the CM crew. In addition to Despise You frontman/ CM warehouse manager Chris Elder, one of the many great people at CM is A&R guy Steve Joh. With the label’s 20th anniversary coming up soon, I figured it would be a great time to catch up with one of the nicest guys in metal and give the label some much-deserved props. Thanks to Steve for his time and help, and thanks to CM for being cool enough to send me promos when I was a teenager with a fanzine back in the day!

Note: I am a fan of both WoP and Suicide Silence. Knowing that they are lightning rods for the (negative) attention of angry metal dorks, I included their names in the headline for this post in hopes of attracting maximum viewership, and therefore giving the most possible publicity to Steve and the bands. Thank you for participating in this exciting social media marketing initiative.

Click to read more…

What the hell, dude? First Marduk front dude Mortuus hit a kid who jumped on stage to try and hug him, then The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad followed suit; now some guy jumped on stage during a recent Kittie performance and tried to kiss front lady Morgan Lander… and she cracks him in the balls! So for once, a fan got a beat down and he actually deserved it.

Only problem is, it’s not a fan this time – it’s Tyler Whore, bassist for Sucked by a Sucking Suck. He’s apparently friends with the band. Guess Lander didn’t recognize him? Either that, or it was, uh, a Freudian slip, I guess.

Here’s video of the incident, courtest Hardtime.ca:

Thanks to the always-helpful Saul Hudson for the tip…

-AR

While I’ve been defending Roadrunner Records against Dave Mustaine, there’s been drama brewing in the Megadeth camp.

It all started when Mustaine gave a video interview to a Norway’s Lydverket blog. The half-hour long conversation was edited down to about four and half minutes for its final presentation, and a portion of that was devoted to Mustaine talking, for the trillionth time just this year, about being fired from Metallica. (This time he blamed it on the fact that he apparently decked James Hetfield back in the day for kicking his dog, because, y’know, Hetfield is a puppy-hating asshole and Mustaine is a saint and nothing is ever his fault.) And for reasons not entirely clear to me, Mustaine was seriously offended by the final video, and threatened that “as soon as I see that interviewer again, I am going to put him in a hospital.” (The journalist in question was actually a woman, but, hey, it’s hard to remember the little details when you never think about anything but yourself.)

Well, a full, unedited version of the interview has been released now, and as it turns out… Mustaine is the one who brought up Metallica. Mr. “I Don’t Want to Talk About Metallica Anymore.” Yes, the interviewer asks him to elaborate on his point a little, but he basically just starts talking about them, and going on and on and on… and then he brings up the whole Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame thing, which he was never asked about… I mean… Kerry King was right: give this dude some rope and he will hang himself. I’d call the dude an asshole, but really, this is just sad. Because Dave Mustaine is that guy who never got over his girlfriend leaving him, even though it was a million years ago and he’s now married to someone else.

Go to roughly the fifteen minute mark to see Mustaine bring up Metallica.

Click to read more…

Two of metal’s most prominent young bands now have front men who need serious medical attention and, as is so often the case these days, do not have the health insurance to pay for it. Find out how you can help after the jump.

Click to read more…

Into Eternity’s new album, The Incurable Tragedy, just dropped last week (read David Bee Roth’s review here), and now the band is getting ready to hit the road with Iced Earth – an appropriate tour mate for IE if ever there was one. Just one little problem: guitarist, founder, and all around main man Tim Roth won’t be on the tour.

In a War & Peace-length statement, the band explains…

Click to read more…

Official press release:

Sucking with the balls-suck rock n’ roll suckcess made sucky by Motley Suck but possessing the sucktastic spirit of Yngwie Sucksteen, Canada’s SUCKED BY A SUCKING SUCK are ready to put the suck in suck rock on this summer’s Suck the Suck Tour with arena suck anthems so sucky and insucktious they’ll be your new sucky pleasure. The suck kicks off this week so either see below or feel free to visit www.myspace.com/SuckedbyaSuckingSuck to view their complete sucking itinerary.

Click to read more…

Canadian metal emo-punk-core-whatever band Blessed By a Broken Heart, which Axl summarily described as “the screamo/metalcore band Rod and Todd Flanders might’ve started,” have issued a video update from their European tour. After watching their video update in shock and awe, I re-watched to figure out what I could make fun of for this post. But then I realized, well, the whole thing is fucking ridiculous. I’m sure the legions of Hot Topic kids who love this band will defend them in earnest in our comments section and the rest of you will take care of them. This should be fun.

-VN

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wzj3sFXn3FE" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

Blessed by a Broken Heart’s “Move Your Body,” from their forthcoming Century debut, Pedal to the Metal, is the funniest song I’ve heard in awhile; only thing is, I can’t tell if the band is in on the joke or not. I mean, any band that looks like that, has members with names like “Shred Sean” and “The Bird,” and features lyrics such as “Move your body/Move groove your body/ School’s out and it’s time to party” has got to be fucking joking, right? Then again, Poison were (are?) serious as a heart attack, and another, vaguely heavier Atreyu rip-off on the band’s MySpace page, “Show Me What You Got” (sample lyric: “Show me what you got/ You think you’re so tough/ Take your best shot”), seems less ironic in tone, if not quality. And BBABH are Christian, so it somehow seems entirely plausible that they’re just the screamo/metalcore band Rod and Todd Flanders might’ve started.

In any case, I imagine the Taste of Chaos crowd would actually eat this stuff up*; one Revolver cover and they’d be the least favorite band of every Meshuggah and Watain fan in the known world. But when I listen to them, I can’t help but think of that scene in Boogie Nights where Marky Mark and John C. Reilly are in the recording studio making that ridiculous Journey-type song. I mean, I really hope these dudes know how ridiculous they seem, ’cause if they don’t, they’re making Evergreen Terrace look like Cannibal Corpse.

I’d tell you when Pedal to the Metal hits stores, but there’s no release date listed anywhere on the band’s MySpace page or Century Media page. I do know that it was produced by GGGarth, which is almost never a good sign.

-AR

*By the way, I don’t know who started this ugly rumor that Vince and I are going to Taste of Chaos this year, but come on, dude! I have at least as many Joni Mitchell albums as I do Avenged Sevenfold albums, but I won’t be hitting up any MenopauseManias anytime soon, neither.