If, like me, you were hopeful that Opeth and Katatonia would use their recent U.S. tour as an opportunity to get up on stage and play some Bloodbath shit (since members of both bands are in Bloodbath — duh), you were probably disappointed… unless you live in Baltimore, where the two bands did, indeed, play some Bloodbath shit on the final night of the tour. But I forgive them for not doing the same when they performed here in New York. The bummer for people in Baltimore is that they have to live in Baltimore, so they deserve a special treat every now and then.

Here’s the de rigeur cell phone footage of the blessed event:

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

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 Opeth’s Mikael  Åkerfeldt…

Everyone knows Mikael Åkerfeldt as the leader of Opeth, as well as the vocalist and contributor to countless other widely regarded musical projects, like Bloodbath and Katatonia. But really, Akerfeldt isn’t just a superior songwriter and all-around musician — first and foremost, he’s a ridiculous talented, incredibly versatile guitarist, and is far and away one of my favorite modern players.

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You guys dig Bloodbath, right? Of course you do. Everyone does. I literally do not know any metal fans that claim not to appreciate their brand of old-school death metal. They’re the kind of band it just feels too goddamn good to listen to not to love.

So. Tomorrow sees the release of Bloodbath Over Bloodstock, a live DVD of the band’s performance at — duh — the Bloodstock Open Air Festival last summer in Bloodstock, England. (Okay that might not actually be the name of the place where the festival is staged. I’ll have my researchers check on that.) And in case the mere fact that a Bloodbath DVD exists isn’t enough to make you wanna buy it, the helpful folks over at Noisecreep have debuted a video from the performance, of the song “Eaten.” Which just might be the best song ever written about wanting to be a meal for a cannibal. It really captures the desire and longing of the would-be human snack so well, y’know?

It’s kinda awkward to watch Mikael Åkerfeldt rock the mic sans guitar (and to do vocals for a song originally performed by Peter Tägtgren), but this still looks pretty promising. Check it out below and then sound off with your opinions, which we all care ssssssoooo much about, in our comments section below.

-AR

Alright, seriously, I am over it with Andy Rehfeldt. His schtick of turning metal songs into non-metal songs and non-metal songs into metal songs was funny for awhile, but the joke is getting pretty old now. I appreciate how much work must go into making these things, but it’s time for him to find a new gimmick.

For better or worse, though, you guys seem to continue to dig Rehfeldt’s work, as evidenced by the e-mail we received from the reader known as Pahkmycah, which included a link to Rehfeldt’s latest: a Radio Disney version of Bloodbath’s “Eaten.” So I’m gonna post this, and you cats can all enjoy it, while I continue to serve my role as The Last Angry Man.

-AR

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Reviled by most, enjoyed by the smug, and shrugged off by the belligerently ambivalent. But while most of us couldn’t care less about this specific day in February, it’s still an annoyance that comes around every year. Kind of like the common cold.

Now, most places will have shitloads of “quirky” recommendations you can do with your special someone, even if you’re of the metalhead persuasion. You can hold sweaty hands in the privacy of your parents’ basement, pour each other some classy Motorhead wine, and share a blood pudding in the dreamy light of those church candles. It’s all very nice and sweet to be… nice and sweet.

But you know what’s better? DOING IT. With a killer soundtrack. So on this very special day, I’ve made you all a romantically inappropriate mix tape.

Picking “mood” songs is a little too obvious for my taste. I mean yeah, Faith No More’s “Stripsearch” (Actually, that might be more of a stripping song than a sexing one, but ,hmm, “Evidence” maybe? Heh, “Be Aggressive” might work for some. Either way, Patton’s voice = nudity.) and NIN’s “Closer” are both appropriate (for very different reasons), but that’s no fun. Go forth and find that special someone willing to get, get naked to these select songs. There’s a little something for everyone. St. Valentine would’ve wanted it that way.

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Ayreon mastermind Arjen Anthony Lucassen is always keeping busy, and 2010 is no exception: Next week InsideOut will release Victims of the Modern Age, the second album from his Star One project. Featuring vocals by Russell Allen (Symphony X), Damian Wilson (Headspace, Threshold), Floor Jansen (ReVamp, ex-After Forever), and Dan Swanö (ex-Bloodbath, Nightingale, Edge of Sanity) and lyrics based on a series of classic, post-apocalyptic sci-fi films and television series — including A Clockwork Orange, Blade Runner, and Firefly — Victims of the Modern Age is a must-have for fans of edgy-yet-melodic metal. MetalSucks is proud to debut the track “24 Hours,” which you can stream below. Once you hear how awesome it is, pre-order Victims of the Modern Age here.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

And after the jump, read my exclusive chat with Lucassen about the differences between Star One and all his other various projects, how he goes about collaborating with these legendary singers, Star One’s lyrical content, and what he has in store for fans after Star One…

Click to read more…

Describing Swedish melodeath supergroup Witchery back in May, Vince wrote that “their sound is decidedly thrashy; think faster Slayer-style with hints of death metal influence.” Maybe that explains why, as much as I admire these dudes’ day jobs, I’ve never gotten that into Witchery. I don’t think they’re bad; they just don’t do much for me. It’s telling that my favorite Witchery song is “Ashes,” a trick which is in no way indicative of their sound.

The band also plays up the melodeath aspects of the music on “From Dead to Worse,” the new song they’re streaming on MySpace, which must be why I like it. It’s not nearly as epic as “Ashes,” and I may very well forget how the chorus goes ten minutes after I finish writing this. But it’s definitely a good song.

Check it out for yourself. Witchery’s latest, Witchkrieg, is set for a June 29th North American release via Century.

-AR

OH, Bloodbath. How your sweet, melodious death metal titillates my eardrums so. Your fantastic album The Fathomless Mastery ranked #10 on Axl’s 2008 year-end list. When will you return to grace us with more old-school style death metal beatdowns? Soon, please; soon.

Thank you, MS reader Stephen Rafferty, for reminding me of this great band and their brutally low-budget and brutally death metal video for “Hades Rising,” (which yes, I know, we’ve posted before). Says Stephen, “I’m guessing the budget for this was about $100 and most of that was for beer. I mean, the band footage looks like it was shot by a cable access show in Idaho.”

-VN

Axl wrote about Soreption back in November, but judging by the amount of you who STILL email us about news articles / bands that we’ve already posted, you don’t always pay attention to the things we write. So let me say it this way:

THIS BAND RULES!

As MS reader Dan W. so succinctly put it, “It’s like Bloodbath meets The Faceless, or The Faceless minus aliens.” Soreption’s new album Deterioration of Minds comes out on March 3rd, and you can currently hear parts of two new songs on their MySpace page.

Go listen. DO IT.

-VN

An e-mail I received from long time reader Seveword earlier today:

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It was a short week, but despite Axl being under the weather and Vince gettin lucky in Kentucky, we still managed to get shit done around the ol’ Mansion, even without the help of our favoritest MS Mansion Monkey, Higgins:

• We’re making a list: we give you a hint, another hint and yet another hint. No, it’s got nothing to do with Jacob.
• Ozzy Sharon filed another ridiculous lawsuit, while Dillinger Escape Plan left Relapse Records sans-lawsuit.
• IWABO and Bloodbath released new videos.
• Killswitch Engage gave you a new song for free, we gave you a new Hull song for free, and Job For A Cowboy and Darkest Hour let you hear new songs for free. Crikey!
• We spoke with Nick Hipa of As I Lay Dying and J. Costa of Thy Will Be Done, the former about music and the latter about beards.
• Dallas, The Blogronaut and Eyal all wrote blogs.
• Best Band Ever announces festival appearance atop worst lineup ever.

I had a wisdom tooth pulled this morning so I feel like a giant sack of assholes at the moment, but hey, Percocet! See you tomorrow.

-VN

Bloodbath’s The Fathomless Mastery was one of my favorite albums of 2008, so I’m beyond excited that the band has finally made a video, for the track “Hades Rising.” Check it out, suckas.

Thanks to longtime reader Nikki Moody for the tip!

-AR

So this Burning Human record ended up being really fucking cool. Any time early press about a band loudly touts the fact that the band features a member of another more famous band (in this case drum-guru Jason Bittner of Shadows Fall) I’m naturally skeptical; but about 5 seconds of the new song “Tormented Mind” was really all I needed to convince me that Burning Human is completely capable of standing on their own as a brutal, crushing death metal band. Honestly, this is some of the finest straight up death metal I’ve heard since Bloodbath’s The Fathomless Mastery decimated my brain last year. “Tormented Mind” comes from their new album Ressurection Through Fire, produced by the legendary James Murphy (Death) and out on Koch/E1 tomorrow. Download it for no charge, guilt-free, below! Check out Burning Human’s MySpace page for an extra streaming track. Enjoy. [Click the below link to stream and download]

Burning Human – “Tormented Mind”

-VN

Thanks to all who entered our “Most Metal Face” Bloodbath Guitar Contest. Even to those of you who were too stupid to attach any picture at all, thanks for proving once again why metalheads are at the very top of the genepool hierarchy. We had a great laugh sifting through your attempts at metal faces; special shoutouts go out to Carl Gasbarro, Steven Albano and Adam Bailey for their top-tier metal mugs. But the lucky winner of the Bloodbath signature model Mayones guitar is Kaylin Cariens of Avondale, Arizona, pictured below in all her metal-faced glory. Thanks Kaylin, and keep an eye out for your new guitar in the mail!

2008 was a huge year for Sweden’s legendary Bloodbath, with their tremendous album The Fathomless Mastery receiving universal critical acclaim (including a #10 nod on our own Axl Rosenberg’s “Best of ’08″ list).

To celebrate, MetalSucks is teaming up Bloodbath to give away a really fucking sweet Per “Sodomizer” Eriksson signature model Mayones guitar. To win, all you have to do is:

1. Take a picture of yourself making your most metal face (if you don’t know what a “metal face” is, congratulations, you’re disqualified from the contest and probably should not even be reading this website)
2. Send in that picture using the form below, and fill out the rest of the required information.
3. Live in the U.S. Sorry international folks, but shipping a guitar across the world is muy costoso.

The winner will be selected on Monday, January 19th. This oughtta be fun; last time we did a “Metal Face” contest we got some hilarious entries. The signup form is after the jump, and only those who fill out the entire form will be considered. Have fun, and good luck.

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Alright. These three albums have little in common besides the fact that a) they’re all death-y and b) I’ve been meaning to tell you all to check them out. So here we go…

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Swedish death metal supergroup Bloodbath have returned with a four song EP, and it should surprise exactly no one to learn that Opeth vocalist Mikael Akerfedlt, returning to the band after his absence from 2004′s Nightmares Made Flesh, makes a fitting replacement for his own, um, replacement, Hypocrisy’s Peter Tagtgren.

But I have to wonder how much input Akerfeldt had as a songwriter this time out; there really isn’t a lot of ingenuity here, and the presence of former guitarist/drummer Dan Swano, who was generally acknowledged as the driving creative force behind Bloodbath, is sorely missed.

That’s not to say that the tracks on Unblessing the Purity are bad; that’s not true by any stretch of the imagination. They’re just unspectacular: the sense of groove that Swano brought to the proceedings is sorely missing here. (Think of the lumbering yet limber riffs of fan favorite “Eaten” or “Cancer of the Soul” and you’ll know what I’m talking about.) The band has replaced said sense of groove with speed and brutality, and while there’s not a damn thing wrong with that per se – this is Swedish death metal, after all – it ultimately never seems as, well, special as what Swano was able to achieve on Nightmares.

So, yeah, it’s good to have Akerfeldt back. But not so good that I don’t miss Swano.

(three and a half out of five horns)

-AR

How much more metal can you get than writing a song about cannibalism from the point of view of someone who gets off on the idea of being devoured? None. None more metal.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/eatlwRXpvo8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

-AR