MetalSucks

We loved the last tour blog that Bison B.C.’s Dan And did for us so much, we’re only all-too-happy to present another! Below, please enjoy part 1; check back tomorrow for part 2!

Sep 11 ‘09 (Vancouver BC @ Commodore)

I always love kicking off a tour with a show in Vancouver. It’s great to have one last chance to get completely loser pissed with our friends before we hit the road for however long. This time we were fortunate enough to finally share the stage with local good ‘ol boys The Golers and old pals 3 Inches of Blood. The Golers have been around forever and everyone should fucking hear them. They’re basically Vancouver’s Venomous Concept: relentless, break-neck speed pummeling. Is grind-punk a genre?

Show was fucking fun as all hell. It was 3 Inches record release show for Here Waits Thy Doom (which may or may not feature all of us doing backups on the song “Preacher’s Daughter”) and the place was packed! The cap of the Commodore is somewhere between 950 and 1000 and apparently it was like 15 tickets away from being sold out. Jesse from local grinders Zuckuss pointed out how fucking crazy it is that three local bands brought that many metal heads out of the woodwork. The night was bitter sweet though because not only was our good friend Ian unable to be there because of surgery but that night would also be my last chance to ever set foot in local punk/metal institution the Cobalt. I can’t even describe how awesome that bar and the staff are. The thought that it’s getting shut down by the fucking slum lords that own the building so they can cash in on Olympic fever makes me wanna tear someone’s head off. I’m consoled by the fact that I know bar legend/honcho Wendy 13 will soon enough have a new venue I can crawl out of at 5am reeking of Jager bombs. COBALT FOREVER!
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When I last spoke with Gojira’s Joe Duplantier about a year ago, the tone of the conversation was overwhelmingly positive; The Way of All Flesh had just been released to critical acclaim, the band had just come over to the U.S. for their biggest tour here to date (supporting In Flames) and everything was hunky-dory in Gojiraland. Fast forward a year, and the conversation is markedly different. Things are still fantastic for the band; The Way of All Flesh continues to sell and to be loved and they’ve toured non-stop all over the world with the likes of Metallica, Slayer and Lamb of God — but all this work has left the band exhausted.

In my recent chat with Joe before their headline show in Brooklyn last month, he explained the double-edged sword of the band’s newfound success — seeing the world, playing to sold-out audiences and opening for childhood heroes Metallica, while at the same time facing the realities of the constant grind of the road, living without a home and the hardships that come with being in a bus with the same 3 other dudes year-round.

Read my full chat with Joe after the jump, and also be sure to check out Axl’s show writeup (summary: they were FUCKING AWESOME!)

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Monday (actually sun down Sunday, but whatever) is Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish day of repentance. As you can imagine, I have a lot to repent for, so I won’t be doing any writing. Vince may or may not be here to give all the goy their bored-at-work dose of entertainment.

In the meantime, here are some fun things that happened this week:

• Dallas Coyle talked about “borrowing ideas” and talking shit, while Eyal Levi contemplated greener grass (not that kind of grass).
• We spoke to Every Time I Die’s Andy Williams and some of the dudes from Periphery.
• We suffered through the worst Metallica cover ever recorded.
• We wondered if Juggalos should be considered a gang.
• And it’s Gojira and Burst live FTW.

See ya Tuesday.

-AR

Last night I told Burst vocalist Linus Jägerskog -  a truly chill dude who not only works his band’s merch booth, but is more than happy to pose for photos, sign shit, etc. – that he broke my heart. How could this be the first time we were seeing them live? And why oh why was it the last?

Burst were fucking great, man. So great that when the shitard behind me yelled “Stand up, you faggot!” at guitarist Robert Reinholdz (who was, for reasons I’m not clear about, seated for the entire performance) and then called for Jägerskog to “hang yourself tonight,” I seriously considered throwing my beer at him. And if any band that wasn’t Gojira was going on after Burst, getting kicked out of the show to defend the Swedes’ honor might have seemed totally worth it.

But GOJIRA. Wow. Here are some random thoughts that ran through my brain as we watched them give the best show of the year so far for the second time this year:

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I’m told that up is the new down, polka is the new metal, and energy drinks are the new WEED, but I’m not sure that all those claims are entirely accurate.

Also, Burst is (soon to be was) an awesome band, and if you can catch them on their first/last US tour ever (until a reunion that a scant few of us will actually care about) with Zoroaster and MetalPoops bone-crunching/eco-friendful fave Gojira (for most dates), you shan’t be disappointed. I can safely say that we are all extremely excited to see this bill at a smallish venue in chipster Brooklyn — you’re invited too, so get a ticket before it sells out!

It’s a shame to see Burst go — the albums that they’ve released are all pretty awesome, and I believe that the more they were to tighten their vision, the more they could have crossed over into further popularity/acclaim.

Oh well.

BURST — “Nineteenhundred” from Lazarus Bird (2008)

For US tour dates, visit Burst on YourMySpace.

-KW

I haven’t sung the praises of Salome in awhile, so here goes: this band crushes. Everyone I know who has seen them live has just been floored with them. Guitarist Rob Moore and drummer Aaron Deal (read my interview with Mr. Deal here) play as though they’re actively attempting to use soundwaves as a weapon, and vocalist Kat… well, she goes to some other place. Like, she temporarily becomes psychotic or something. (Actually, maybe she’s always psychotic. I’ve never actually met her, but her art is pretty dark. I once considered buying a piece because I think it’s so cool, but I was afraid if women saw it on my wall, I’d never get laid again. Of course, right now I’m having trouble finding the link to the page where you can buy her art, but just take my word for it. It’s bleak.)

Now Salome have signed a deal to release their next full-length – actually, I think it’s their first full-length – through Profound Lore. That makes them label mates with Agalloch, The Gates of Slumber, Cobalt, Alceste, and some other awesome bands. In other words: it seems like a good fit.

The band is still writing said full-length, but they have a split with Thou coming out sometime soon (more details as I get them!), and I strongly encourage you to check out their EP in the meantime – or, even better, go see them live. As we reported before, they’ll hit the road in September on a tour with the equally fantastic Hull and Batillus, and will even be playing the MetalSucks co-sponsored Planet Caravan fest in North Carolina alongside Clutch, Kylesa, Burst, Wino, and a whole bunch of other great groups. Really. Go see them. It is truly a fucking experience.

Complete tour dates after the jump. If you don’t know Salome, visit them on MySpace ASAP.

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A couple of weeks back we reported on the sudden glut of U.S. metal festivals this year, the latest of which is the MetalSucks-sponsored Planet Caravan 2-day metal festival being held in Asheville, NC this September. Quick refresher: Clutch, Pentagram, Kylesa, Burst (first and last U.S. tour ever!), Wino and many others. Today we’re thrilled to announce that the already strong bill has gotten that much stronger with a slew of heavyweight bands added: Tombs, The Gates of Slumber, Zoroaster, Bison B.C., Sourvein, doom kings/queen Salome, and friends of MetalSucks Hull and Battilus, the latter 3 of which will be touring the U.S. together around that time. All of the newly added acts will perform on the also-newly added second stage, right next door to the Orange Peel mainstage at Mo Daddy’s.

If you live anywhere close to North Carolina, how can you even consider not going to this event? It’s going to be a fucking rager. Tickets are on sale here or at the Orange Peel box office.

-VN

A couple of weeks ago about 10,675 of you emailed us about the kinda-cool-but-not-really-all-that-exciting news that LoG and Gojira will be opening for Metallica on their fall U.S. tour; good for them and all, but tickets will cost a fortune and we’d much rather see each band in a smaller, more intimate setting. So of course now that there’s actually some legit, super-exciting news — that Gojira have scheduled a series of one-off headline gigs in between their shows with Metallica — the grand total of readers who have emailed us so far is…. zero. Seriously, fuck all of you. (update: ONE. Thank you once again to MetalSucks Maniac / our favorite metal Hasid, Josh Kidd!). Kids, Gojira’s NYC headline show earlier this year was easily the best show we’ve seen all year. Easily. “Holy” and “shit” don’t even begin to describe how we felt about the show.

Support on these dates, which start September 21st in Brooklyn, will come from Zoroaster (who are headlining the MetalSucks-sponsored North America is Doomed Tour this Summer) and motherfucking BURST! That’s right, motherfucking Burst, whom I’ve been imploring you all to check out for at least two years. All at the same tiny venue in Williamsburg where we saw Mastodon play Crack the Skye in its entirety; the place holds 300 people, 400 max.

Check out the full list of Gojira headline dates after the jump. If your city isn’t included, fret not — the press release we received says “more dates TBA.”

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At the beginning of the year I wrote a piece highlighting the sudden abundance of awesome metal festivals in the U.S.. Though our friends across the pond still retain an advantage in metal festivals in both number and size, 2009 saw a whole host of upstarts in the U.S.: Scion Rock Fest, L.A. Murderfest (in its 5th year), California MetalFest, Texas Metal Up Your Ass, Dudefest and of course long-established destinations such as Maryland Deathfest, New England Metal and Hardcore Festival and Dirtfest. SXSW and CMJ both made surprisingly strong showings for metal this year, too.

The party keeps on rolling into the fall with another brand new festival, Planet Caravan, to take place September 18th and 19th at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina. The lineup is headlined by Clutch and Pentagram, with Orange Goblin, Kylesa, Burst (!), Yob, Wino, Astra, and Revolution Mother rounding out the bill. I haven’t heard of Taddy Porter, Orchid, or Pick Up the Snake, but even if all 3 bands are terrible (highly unlikely) that’s still a fucking killer lineup!

MetalSucks is co-sponsoring the event so we’ll have more news as it’s available. Check out the press release and festival details after the jump.

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Metal Bastard tells us that Swedish metallers Memfis have got two new tracks up on their MySpace page. I’ve written about Memfis in this space before, but it bears repeating because you all have thick skulls: they’re an excellent metal band from Sweden (NOT melodeath/metalcore/Swedecore/whatever) whose 2006 release The Wind Up turned more than a few heads. Think a more death-y Burst mixed with the dramatics of Opeth mixed with… ya know, originality.

Check out Memfis’ MySpace for the two new tracks from an album whose name and release date have yet to be announced; then check out Metal Bastard to download a few MP3s; then watch the band playing “Dead Ends” live, below. If you can even handle it.

-VN

The chill of fall is in the air but the gossip mill never cools off at the MetalSucks Mansion. This week’s notables and quotables included:

• Original guitarist Peter Wichers returned to Soilwork and ex-At All Cost guitarist Mike Carrigan replaced Kris Norris in Darkest Hour; we rejoiced that great Soilwork music will once again be made and that Mike’s got a job. But the good was tempered by the bad as Christian Alvestam left Scar Symmetry and Spineshank reunited. There is no justice.
• Winds of Plague’s Kristen Randall showed the world her bewbs!
• We reviewed solid new albums by Into Eternity, Enslaved and All Shall Perish, and waxed ecstatic about Burst, Vince’s new proverbial wet dream.
• New videos from The Human Abstract and Amon Amarth are unbelievably epic.
• A scandal erupted involving the audio quality of Death Magnetic, alternate Guitar Hero mixes, and the now infamous “Better, Shorter, Cut” abridged edition.
• Vince & Axl [almost] reveal their true identities.

See ya next week.

Because they’re fucking awesome, because they are deserving of your attention, because too few people know about them, and because they have a new record coming out tomorrow, goddammit! Just do it. You won’t be sorry.

Lazarus Bird is the Swedish band’s fifth full-length and drops tomorrow on Relapse Records. Peep three new tracks on Burst’s MySpace page… And be amazed. Bands this interesting don’t go releasing records often. Go listen. Now. Do it!

-VN

And it’s a question I can’t answer just yet, because I haven’t heard all of Lazarus Bird, which drops September 16th on Relapse. But from the three songs I’ve heard on their MySpace page (”I Exterminate the I,” “Cripple God” and “We Watched the Silver Rain”), I can tell you this: it is without a doubt going to be fucking phenomenal. Like, you-need-to-drop-what-you’re-doing-and-go-listen-right-NOW kind of awesome.

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Am I the only one excited about the new Burst record? (well, I can think of possibly one other person). This Swedish quintet has straddled the line between Opeth and originality for several years, but from the sound of the new tracks posted on their MySpace page, with their new album Lazarus Bird, this time around they’ve planted their feet firmly on the “originality” side. Combining the band’s prog-metal meat with inventive psychadelic guitar work and an experimental stoner metal sensibility, the band has forged ahead in a new direction that’s had me playing the two new songs on repeat for the past 24 hours.

Don’t do yourself a disservice; go listen now.

Lazarus Bird drops September 16th (and 22nd in Europe) on Relapse Records.

-VN

Burst are a rare Swedish metal band that evaded the sensors of my supreme Swede-radar until recently when Andrew @ Aversionline wrote a quick bit about them. Burst are not your typical Swedish metal band — that is to say they aren’t melodic death metal — though they incorporate elements of that sound into their multi-pronged attack. Burst fall closer to the Refused side of the Swedish spectrum than anything, mixing punk-ish guitars with a metal sound and unique vocals that remind me a bit of Blindside’s Christian Lindskog. Doomier melodeath influences (like Insomnium or Daylight Dies) creep in here and there but for the most part the band stays aware from that sometimes over-saturated genre.

Watch the video for “The Immateria” below, from their 2005 album Origo. Burst is currently in the studio recording for a 2008 release on Relapse Records.

-VN

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