MetalSucks

I don’t know whether this is actually the case, but before I met Clint Lowery (we interviewed him right after he rejoined Sevendust in early 2008) he always struck me a super-serious dude. He always just looked so fucking serious up there on stage, counter to 7D bassist Vinnie Hornsby’s class-clown stage antics. But he was super chill and affable in person. And he always responds to my emails, no matter how annoying they may be (”Hey dude, wanna send me that unreleased Dark New Day album?” “Sorry man, I wish, but I can’t.”) Maybe it’s that whole newfound sobriety thing (congrats on two years, dude!).

Anyway I’ve really been enjoying these Sevendust video diaries from the studio. They’re updated several times daily and show a whole other side of the band, especially Mr. Lowery, who’s been handling the lion’s share of the camera work. Every time the camera clicks off he makes a silly face. It’s cute. Here we see him goofing off while Lajon tracks vocals. Wonder what song it is that they’re working on?

-VN

Or at least we hope. As Axl pointed out to me one time, it’s not that Sevendust have managed to outlast their nu-metal peers and persevere through hard times; even terrible bands like Static X and Dope have done that. It’s that Sevendust have somehow managed to avoid the critical backlash that was bestowed upon nearly everyone else from their era of metal. Maybe it’s because they’re a cut above most of those bands, because they’re so fucking great live, or because they never reached the level of popularity and/or ridiculousness of many of those bands; I think it’s all of the above. Even after a string of 3 very mediocre and rushed albums written without musical mastermind Clint Lowery in the band, Sevendust have somehow managed to retain their integrity through it all.

But now Clint is back in the band, and they’re recording their first album since early 2007’s Chapter VII: Hope & Sorrow, with producer Johnny K behind the boards. There’s a lot of anticipation, but there’s also a ton of pressure.

Click to read more…

• FORMER MEMBER OF GN’R NOBODY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT DELIVERS HIS REACTION TO CHINESE DEMOCRACY TO A MIRROR: “Yes, I listened to it on a long drive to Phoenix, Arizona,” ex-GN’R rhythm guitarist Gilby ‘I Swear I’m Not Izzy’ Clarke allegedly told “a fan” (actually his reflection). “But there was [sic] too many slow-to-midtempo songs on it for my taste and some of the solos are a little overdone; they don’t match the song.” When the “fan” flattered Clarke by saying the album’s solos would have been vastly superior had Clarke played them, he chuckled modestly: “You’re too kind. Too kind.”
• CLINT LOWERY SAYS DARK NEW DAY’S FUTURE “DOESN’T LOOK GOOD.” Also: water is wet.
• MEMBERS OF SHADOWS FALL AND FATES WARNING JOIN FORCES IN 80′S METAL COVER BAND NAMED AFTER THE “BAD” DOJO IN THE KARATE KID: Still less fucktarded than being named after the dude from The Neverending Story.

-AR

We can’t listen to metal all the time, but whatwith the massive amount of CDs and press packs we receive it’s hard to find time to get to anything else. Usually if I’m not listening to metal it’s ’70s soul/r&b/funk with some classic reggae or dub thrown in for the more “festive” occasions, but there were a few non-metal records releases in 2008 that snuck their way into my iPod rotation this year. (And if you missed it… check out all of the MetalSucks staffers’ picks for Best Metal Albums of 2008).

My picks, after the fold…

Click to read more…

Recently re-united with his brothers, Sevendust co-founder / guitarist / background singer / musical genius Clint Lowery just released a record of his own, Chills, under the moniker Hello Demons..Meet Skeletons. The mostly acoustic record — on which Clint plays all the instruments and sings all the vocals — is a deep, dark, haunting album that reflects an equally dark time in his life. Written in spurts over the past year or so, the music on Chills stands on its own as a creative work in his own distinct style but is far different from anything Sevendust have ever done.

Lowery’s patience has been tested in recent years — after writing an entire new Dark New Day album that will seemingly never see the light of day, Lowery left the band to re-join Sevendust on the eve of a new album release he had no part in writing. Anxious to get some music of his own to the masses, Lowery elected to record a solo album on his own between Sevendust tours — with production, engineering and mixing help from his brother Corey [also of Dark New Day, Stereomud and Stuck Mojo fame] — and to self-release it on the Internet. After an online ordering snafu that was entirely my fault, I ended up on the other end of an email string with Mr. Lowery himself and he agreed to answer a few questions via email, making him the only person ever in the history of MetalSucks to be interviewed twice — about two separate bands, no less. Read the 7D interview from this past April here, and the new solo EP interview after the jump.

Click to read more…

Every time we think Dark New Day is dead, caught between quitting guitarists and a label that doesn’t give a shit, they pop up with new songs or newslike a proverbial defibrillator. In a blog posted earlier today by drummer Will Hunt, the band revealed they’ve added a new guitarist (BC Kochmit, ex-Switched, Rikets) to replace Clint Lowery; interestingly, second guitarist Troy McLawhorn’s name is absent from the roster of members on the band’s MySpace page, perhaps because he’s busy with Evanescence.

Dark New Day has also posted two new tracks on their MySpace page. The band also revealed they have approximately three albums worth of material recorded, and that they plan on releasing a series of online-only albums featuring those cuts that won’t make it onto their eventual second album starting 6-8 weeks from now. Knock on wood. Hunt also promises the final record will come out soon.

The two new songs they’ve posted, “Fiend” and “I Don’t Need You,” are good songs consistent with the Dark New Day sound, no doubt benefiting from Lowery’s penmanship. How ironic is it that DND benefits from his writing while he’s back in Sevendust touring a mediocre album he didn’t even help write?

If anyone has mp3 rips of these new Dark New Day tracks please send to news [at] metalsucks.net.

-VN

When we interviewed Sevendust guitarist Clint Lowery last month, he made it pretty clear that he reads our site on a regular basis. And he was a super nice dude. And much, much bigger than I am. So I hate to think that he might be reading this, because I’m about to say something rude about the video for Sevendust’s new single, “Prodigal Son.”

This video sucks. It’s lame, it’s boring, it’s ugly, it’s cheap looking, it’s way too literal, it’s everything that gives videos a bad name. I mean there’s some side boob so that makes my inner Butt-head happy, but mostly, I just wish this video didn’t suck so bad. Check it out for yourself below; if you’re really, really lucky, Vimeo’s crappy stream will keep stopping and starting at random intervals as you try to watch it, before freezing your computer.

Clint, if you’re reading this, drop me a line. We’ll hook you up with a decent director for your next video, and all will be good in the hood.

-AR

“MetalSucks.net! I look at you guys all the time!” These are the first words out of Clint Lowery’s mouth when he greets MetalSucks on his tour bus. Our intrepid reporters quickly burst into semi-nervous laughter before Lowery admits that a statement he released on Dark New Day’s MySpace page was a direct response to an editorial our own Vince Neilstein had written about that band just days prior (he’ll also make reference to at least one other piece Vince has written during the course of our interview).

“I hope no one was pissed,” the surprisingly tall Lowery says apologetically in his thick Georgia drawl before he takes a seat on the nearby couch. It’s kind of a surprising to hear Lowery ask us if we’re cool with something he said, since we’re pretty much accustomed to being the proverbial Assholes. But it illustrates what a genuinely nice dude Lowery is, and how legitimately happy he seems to be back in Sevendust after a three album absence.

The fans are happy, too. Later that night, at the band’s gig at the Starland Ballroom in Sayreville, New Jersey, they create huge pits as violent as anything you’d ever see at a Hatebreed show, seemingly in Clint’s honor. This loyal and rabid fanbase is the reason Sevendust has survived while so many of their peers have fallen by the wayside. And with Lowery back in the band, it seems that they’re now poised to be more powerful than ever before.

After the jump, read Clint’s thoughts on leaving Dark New Day, returning to Sevendust, and what lies ahead for him and his bandmates.

Click to read more…

Seeing as Clint Lowery just rejoined Sevendust, really, who cares? Can we please just skip this album and go to the next one? Mmmkay, thanks guys.

[Read Vince's long review here]

-VN

(two out of five horns)

Head over to Sevendust’s MySpace page and you’ll find the message “Clint is back! More details to come…” Needless to say, this signals the return of guitarist Clint Lowery to the fold. Presumably this would mean that Sonny Mayo, who replaced Lowery, is out of the group… except both his photo and that of co-guitarist John Connolly are now missing from the “members” listing on the page. So for all we know, Mayo is still in and Connolly is out, or both of ‘em are out and Lowery is back in… we imagine this will get cleared up soon.

I guess this is good news, and I guess it was inevitable that Lowery would someday return to the fold – but the timing strikes me as odd. Sevendust are about to start promoting their new album, Hope and Sorrow, which comes out next week with and which features no contributions whatsoever from Lowery; meanwhile, the band Lowery left Sevendust to form, Dark New Day, just posted a new a song on their own MySpace page over the weekend (ironically titled “Goodbye”). Dark New Day’s MySpace page makes no mention of Lowery quitting the band, and the fact that his brother is also in the band would make you think he’s not gonna leave anytime soon; so is Lowery gonna be in two bands now? Even though they both sound nearly identical?

ANYWAY, if Lowery IS back, this would seem to make the band’s mysterious decision to drop off the Rockstar Energy Mayhem whatever the fuck its called tour even stupider; why reunite, get all that hype, and then waste it on a tour with fucking Saliva?

Hopefully someone will be wise enough to put out an official press release soon and clear up all the confusion. Color us intrigued…

-AR

Apparently Dark new Day (and ex-Sevendust) guitarist Clint Lowery (or someone close to the Dark New Day camp) reads MetalSucks — MetalSucks commenter Julie has informed us that Clint posted a public response on the band’s official website to our Nov. 19 article which asked “Is Dark New Day getting the shaft from their record label?“:

From: CLINT LOWERY ~ DARK nEW DAY
Regarding: Is DARK nEW DAY getting the shaft from their label?
posted at: www.darknewday.com
Date: November 24, 2007

It’s coming.

Nothing’s been released from the label yet because it’s still getting mixed and mastered.
They’re not gonna release or announce anything until they’ve heard the record completed.

I understand how people can speculate and assume the worst but rest assure this record’s not being overlooked or taken lightly by the label ((WARNER BROS.)) or the members of this ((DARK nEW DAY)) band.

This time of the year is called THE FOURTH QUARTER, and it wouldn’t be a good idea to release anything until next year because the industry kind of shuts down through the holidays.

Updates and artwork, etc., will be coming soon.

Thanks,

DARK nEW DAY

Well damn. I think your decision to wait out the 4th quarter is a wise one. We’re just worried, brother… we’re Dark New Day supporters through and though (click here for proof) and sincerely hope that the label is not, in fact, giving you the cold shoulder. I do wonder about the part of our post you didn’t address, though; that of certain key label personnel originally associated with the band possibly being dismissed. Lord knows in these major label lay-off happy times, all bands need someone fighting for them on the inside. Can’t wait to hear the new stuff, Clint.

-VN