All Shall Perish have announced their next headlining tour, and my snarky headline aside, the line-up is actually not at all terrible. I’m not a huge fan of The Contortionist or Conducting from the Grave, but I certainly don’t hate those bands, and it was nice of Carnifex to be volunteer to provide an intermission for fans with actual taste. And, really, my desire to support ASP and Fleshgod Apocalypse is such that I can forgive a couple of Between the Babies and Me bands on the bill. (That’s what I call bands who sound kinda like BTBAM but look like they’re eleven years old. In case you were confused.)

So, yeah. Go to this. Really, those two bands alone will make the price of admission totally worth it.

Here are dates, via Lambgoat:

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via Badass Digest

Dj Slashba — noun – 1. A temp. 2.  A fill-in, placeholder. 3. A pretender to the throne. 4. Someone who keeps an unlit cigarette dangling from lips. 5. A retard.

Props to our friend Nick for teaching us a new term.

Here’s some shit we did this week:

• We got a tour of the live rig used by Obscura’s Christian Muenzner.
• We debuted new music by Czar, and, thanks to our pals at Decibel, Agoraphobic Nosebleed.
• We spoke to Nader Sadek.
• We checked out the latest releases from Locrian, The Wounded Kings, and Astomatous.
• We examined Slayer’s tour rider.
• We wondered if this commercial will really help sell lingerie or not.
• We over-thought the latest ramblings of Courtney Love.
• We contemplated the most over-used words in extreme metal writing.
• We considered the music of Fallujah.
• By special request, Sergeant D. reviewed Carnifex’s Until I Feel Nothing.

Next week we have some very cool interviews, some very cool music premieres, and, oh yeah, we gorge ourselves on Turkey and celebrate ridding ourselves of that pesky little Native American nuisance. See ya then.

-AR

I don’t usually take requests, but when I do they’re from bands on independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS — in this case, it’s death metal standouts CARNIFEX! Vocalist Scott hit me up on Twitter and asked if I would review their latest album, and I was more than happy to oblige since I’m a big fan of theirs!

Not sure how many of you were around back in the day, but these guys have actually been going strong since 2005, and they have a new album called Until I Feel Nothing. I’ll get into more detail about the record itself, but before I do that I have to I have to touch on what IMO makes this band something truly special: their innovative marketing and merch!

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.

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When I was fifteen years old, I had to sneak out of my parents’ house on a Friday night to go see GWAR and the Misfits play a Halloween show. Then I had to conceal my clothing from my parents, seeing as it was, y’know, soaked in blood, urine, and semen.

Here we are all these years later, pretty much right at the anniversary of that show, and GWAR are on a popular, mainstream late-night talk show. And yet, somehow, they seem no less rebellious than they ever were.

Which is all my way of saying, “GWAR rules.” And they do. They rule. Hard.

ANYWAY, here are some things we did this week:

• Speaking of GWAR, Dave “Oderus Urungus” Brockie himself provided us with more insights into the NFL. Meanwhile, several members of the Relapse Records family gave us the skinny on the new NHL season, and The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley pondered the pros and cons of new technology in music.
• We debuted Jucifer’s new video, for the song “Hiroshima.”
• We got exclusive specs on Contain Us, the new box set from The Devin Townsend Project.
• We spoke to Steel Panther and Niilo Sevänen from Insomnium.
• We checked out the latest release from Carnifex.
• We continued the Countdown to the Metal Suckfest and defended Danzig.
• We counted down the eleven cardinal rules of attending a concert.
• We wondered if nu-dethcore is the next big thing.
• We cried because even ex-members of Metallica make bad music now.
• We argued about the best debut albums of the past twenty-five years.

And that’s it! Have a delightful weekend, gang. We’ll see ya Monday.

-AR

Far be it from me to hate on anyone’s taste in music – to each their own. I’m sure if one were to wrassle my iPod from my (cold, dead) hands they’d find a number of artists and/or songs suitably mock-worthy. I earnestly try to give all (eh… most) genres a try, especially in the metal and hardcore realms. You never know, something could surprise you! In a way, Carnifex’s newest, Until I Feel Nothing, did just that – I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would.

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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.

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I continue to be more or less completely baffled by the popularity of Carnifex, who, as far as I can tell, are no different from a million other deathcore bands. But I know a substantial number of you seem to dig ‘em, and their new video, for the track “I Feel Nothing,” is actually not at all terrible, even if it would obviously be better with a Suffocation song. So here’s the clip, if you dig this kind of thing. If not… seen the new Jucifer video yet?

“I Feel Nothing” is the title track for Carnifex’s new album, which comes out tomorrow via  leading independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS.

-AR

When it comes to deathcore, there’s a pretty clear hierarchy: You’ve got the first-string bands like Suiside Silence, Whitechapel, BMTH and Winds of Plague at the top of the heap, the junior varsity, like, say, Chelsea Grin rounding out the middle, and then the 5 zillion generic also-rans/no-hopers at the bottom of the pile. Carnifex is an interesting one though, because I’m not quite sure where to put them, the bottom of the first string or the top of the JV team. I kind of feel like they are just floating out there, with no real clear sense of where they belong.

With that said, they have a new album on leading independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS coming out next month and just released a lyric video for the first single (above). Although it pretty much sounds exactly like their old stuff, I think that kind answers most of my questions about where they fit into the deathcore hierarchy. Is this style still a thing?? Seems very deathcore 2.0 to me — I expected them to copy Meshuggah and Korn like all the first-tier started doing last year. Also, the video itself is pretty facepalm inducing… if you feel like making your own DEATHCORE LYRIC VIDEO, apparently all you need is a torrent of After Effects and some freeware grunge fonts!

Anyway, if you are on the West coast, check them out on tour next month with Suffokate and the highly underrated FIRST FUCKING BLOOD! Hit them up on Facebook for a complete list of dates.

-Sergeant D.

Sergeant D. is a first-stringer every day on Stuff You Will Hate.

It has come to my attention that some people are still confused about the difference between SLAM METAL and DEATHCORE. While they may seem similar to the novice observer, the truth is that they couldn’t be more different — in fact, they really have nothing at all to do with each other (srs). Think of it like Islam and Christianity: they some common roots, but at the end of the day they really have nothing to do with each other and will never see eye-to-eye.

In a nutshell, deathcore is what happens when some pretty boys want to be rockstars, and think that it’s super cool and scene to be in a “sick metal band.” The end result is basically generic death metal with some equally generic breakdowns, but since the guys in the band are cute and have a lot of tattoos, kids eat it up and they sell lots of t-shirts at their Warped Tour booth when they’re not busy banging their jailbait groupies.

On the other hand, slam metal is grimy, blue-collar death metal that is pretty much the most extreme, inaccessible and brutal metal subgenre on the planet. Slam is pure brutality: none of the pagentry or larger-than-life personas of black metal, gimmicky costumes of neo-thrash or artsy nonsense of drone, stoner rock and all that, just CRUSHING FUCKING SLAMS. Even diehard metal fans (like the readers of this site) hate slam, so if you are in a slam band it’s because slam is in your blood, because you are never going to make a dime or get famous from it.

While deathcore and slam are almost completely heterogeneous, let’s acknowledge that there is a small amount of common ground (at least at a superficial level. In both camps, you’ll find lots of mesh shorts, sweatpants, weed references, and merch that prominently features controversial slogans in Impact font — but that’s about where it ends. To me, the differences could not be more obvious, but apparently some people still have trouble making the distinction between the two. Because I enjoy giving back to my community, in this post, I will go over a few easy ways that you can tell the two apart!

Click to read more…

From Beastmaster:

“Over the last week I’ve noticed on the PRP that both Chelsea Grin and Within The Ruins have been denied entry into to Canada for their separate respective tours. Now granted, I don’t necessarily love these two bands, but I’m wondering if they are possibly related in some way…. Dun dun DUNNNNNNNN.”

Yes. They are both related in that I don’t like either of them. Unfortunately, I don’t control the Canadian government, so my guess is that they actually both just have merch dudes with records for possession or something idiotic like that. In any case, yes, I agree it’s ridiculous that Canada gets to be spared Chelsea Grin while Americans have to continue to endure them.

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We don’t like Carnifex — in fact, we think they’re the only blemish on the otherwise pristine Summer Slaughter line-up — but we know at lot of you do really like Carnifex. Because you e-mail us about them. Constantly.

So here’s the band’s new video, for “Sorrowspell,” which sounds like the name of a pagan metal band but whatever. I think it’s a pretty standard performance clip, but, again, I’m really only posting it to remind you about Summer Slaughter, which is currently underway, also includes Decapitated, The Faceless, All Shall Perish, The Red Chord, Veil of Maya, Cephalic Carnage, Decrepit Birth, Animals as Leaders, and Vital Remains, and is, oh yeah, partially sponsored by us. Get dates here.

-AR

Yes, YES, YES!!! Talk about an awesome way to kick off the weekend. Cephalic Carnage have given the world its first taste of their new album, Misled by Certainty, in the form of “Abraxas of Filth,” which you can stream here. It’s awesome. From its opening notes I knew it was awesome, but then it just got more and more awesome, and then it exploded in a mushroom cloud of awesomeness. Well, awesomeness and weed smoke. I mean, you don’t listen to Cephalic Carnage sober, do you? I don’t think they’d want you to do that.

Holy shit. Listening to the song for a third time now, and it just keeps getting better and better. Go check it out already.

Misled by Certainty is out August 31 on Relapse, and is now avail for pre-order. And don’t forget that the band will be on the MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour, along with Decapitated, The Faceless, All Shall Perish, The Red Chord, Veil of Maya, Decrepit Birth, Animals as Leaders, Vital Remains, and Carnifex. The trek kicks off next week! Dates here.

-AR

It was just Monday that I was saying how stoked I am to hear Decrepit Birth’s new album, Polarity, and now the band are streaming a track from that forthcoming release, “(A Departure Of The Sun) Ignite The Tesla Coil.”

And it’s sssssssiiiicccckkk. Technical and proggy and just as shove-a-fist-up-your-enemy’s-ass-and-rip-out-his-intestines brutal as you’d expect from, well, any band that would call itself “Decrepit Birth.” And none of what I’ve just written is news to DB fans, but, y’know. Now there’s more of it! And it seems a lot “er,” too. As in, “proggier,” “heavier,” “betterer,” etc. So check that shit out and let us know what you think.

Polarity comes out July 27 on Nuclear Blast. Cutting and pasting from myself on Monday: Decrepit Birth will be part of the MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour, along with Decapitated, The Red Chord, The Faceless, All Shall Perish, Veil of Maya, Cephalic Carnage, Animals as Leaders, Vital Remains, and Carnifex. Get dates and details here.

-AR

The Deciblog unveiled the cover art for the new Decrepit Birth album, Polarity, this past Friday evening, and, y’know… it’s Dan Seagrave. He has a very distinct style, which you either dig or do not dig. Personally, I think it’s pretty cool, and it makes me that much more excited to hear the record.

Polarity comes out July 27 on Nuclear Blast. And don’t forget that Decrepit Birth will be part of the MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour – a.k.a. “The only can’t-miss summer festival this year” – along with Decapitated, The Red Chord, The Faceless, All Shall Perish, Veil of Maya, Cephalic Carnage, Animals as Leaders, Vital Remains, and Carnifex. Get dates and details here.

-AR

I really only know Johnny Orlando, Jr., because of the work he’s done with Metal Injection, but plenty of people have told me I’m an idiot for not paying closer attention to him. And based on the below video, in which Johnny Orlando , Jr., Jr. asks members of Fear Factory, Misery Index, Revocation and Carnifex that all-important question: “Where do babies come from?”

Kudos to Burton C. Bell for trying to give the kid an honest answer, although Gene Hoglan’s response is clearly the best. Reader Xavier Luxenburg suggests that the absence of a certain guitar player is “confirmation” of his baby eating, but I think that dude actually likes ‘em a little younger than this kid.

-AR

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

April 20th was circled in my calendar well in advance, and not just because it’s holiday we at the MS Mansion take very seriously — April 20th marked the biggest release date of the year thus far for metal releases with new offerings from Periphery, Ratt, Sevendust, another greatest hits repacking from AC/DC, Circa Survive, Airbourne and more. Let’s see how those releases fared in their first week out, as well as how other metal and hard rock records are performing after the jump.

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[UPDATE: Some dates have been changes since the above poster was released. Updated cities and venues after the jump.]

A lot of you thought that the “big surprise” we hinted at last week was the announcement of Summer Slaughter 2010 dates. By now it’s obvious that that wasn’t the big surprise, but lucky for you we’ve got Summer Slaughter dates today anyway!

In case you somehow missed the news, the MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour is without a doubt THE metal package tour to be at this summer with a lineup that’s sexier than Sammy O’Hagar and Kip W. having an orgy with the MS Mansion Monkeys. Decapitated, The Faceless, All Shall Perish, The Red Chord, Veil of Maya, Cephalic Carnage, Decrepit Birth, Animals as Leaders, Vital Remains… and, uh, Carnifex… will be taking the U.S. by storm this July and August. We’re beyond stoked for this lineup, and you should be too.

Dates are after the jump.

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Summer Slaughter is without a doubt the best metal tour hitting the U.S. pavement this Summer. The 100% confirmed, official lineup, which MetalSucks exclusively can reveal to you now, is…

DECAPITATED
THE FACELESS
ALL SHALL PERISH
THE RED CHORD
VEIL OF MAYA
CEPHALIC CARNAGE
DECREPIT BIRTH
CARNIFEX
ANIMALS AS LEADERS
VITAL REMAINS

I mean… wow. That lineup is unbelievably sexy and unfuckwithable. There isn’t a single band I could skip seeing other than Carnifex, and we gather many of you will feel the exact same way. There’s no doubt about it: Summer Slaughter is by far the best metal tour of Summer 2010. Rockstar Mayhem is lame, Ozzsharonfest is surely gonna be lame, and “The Cool Tour” is uh, not cool at all save a couple of bands. Comments tour founder and booking agent Ash Avildsen on how Summer Slaughter fits in (or doesn’t) with this Summer’s other metal tours: “I don’t think those tours really compete for many of the same fans as Summer Slaughter. This is focused on underground extreme metal rather than mainstream metal. All of our shows also have air conditioning.” Hooray for air conditioning!

The lineup is a shade younger than in years past, but young bands like The Faceless, Veil of Maya and Animals as Leaders are ones that are more likely to appeal to an older crowd than, say, Born of Osiris would. Avildsen knows exactly what he’s doing: “It’s a much younger line up this year, rather than a lot of older bands in the headlining positions. Tickets will be much cheaper for this same reason, coming in at under $20 in advance almost everywhere with the exception of LA and NYC. Most will be $18.” And it’s cheap, too… extra bonus.

Click to read more…

Judging by all the e-mails we’ve gotten, fans and industry-types alike are all hot n’ bothered for Carnifex’s new release, Hell Choose Me. And, I gotta say, the appeal of this band is way over my head. They sound like a million other death metal bands, with absolutely nothing to distinguish them from the crowd. Granted, they’re not a terrible band like, say, Abacabb, but if this is one of your favorite albums of 2010 so far, I have to imagine it’s because you haven’t heard very many other releases this year. What about Triptykon? Sigh? Dillinger? Ihsahn? Immolation? Arsis? Just wait ’til you hear the new Nachtmystium. Now that’s a fucking record.

Revolver just debuted the video for Hell Choose Me‘s title track today. You can check it out below. And then let me know why you all love this band so much. ‘Cause I just don’t hear it.

-AR