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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Ever since Within the Ruins were chosen as the opening band on Summer Slaughter via popular fan vote there’s been speculation that some of the other bands who were up for that final slot would team up for a tour of their own. That tour — dubbed the Slaughter Survivors Tour — has finally been announced, and as with its namesake older brother, it’s a mixed bag.

Conducting From the Grave will headline, which for me is neither a great thing or a bad one; I liked their first album and enjoyed their set at NEMHF 2009, but felt that their follow-up album saw them regressing towards the genericness of their peers. I feel roughly the same way about The Contortionist; I could take them or leave them. Regular readers of MetalSucks know we LOVE Scale the Summit, so there’s that. Volumes play generic 2nd-gen djent, Structures play generic 3rd-gen Sumeriancore (but have sick choreographed stage moves, brah!!!), and Rings of Saturn have some kind of tech-deathcore / Psyopus-meets-Oceano thing going on that isn’t wowing me on first listen.

So that’s your tour, ladies and gents. One great band, a couple of OK bands, and a couple of shitty bands. In other words, this will be a great opportunity to catch Scale the Summit! Dates after the jump.

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About a month ago I asked what you all thought of Conducting From the Grave. The comments predictably descended into mongoloid Internet troll territory instantaneously, with some folks instantly brushing the band aside as part of a certain genre, others defending them, the former accusing the latter of being members of the band posting anonymously, and a whole lot of childish name-calling from all sides. Sheesh, people, can’t we keep some level of civility around here? [at least for posts not written by Sergeant D??]

Now it’s my turn. I hate to be “that guy,” but I liked their old album a lot more than what I’ve heard from the new one. Where When Legends Become Dust had a quirky sense of melody and technicality that was uniquely identifiable to Conducting From the Grave, new album Revenants sounds like any number of unsigned bands that send us material on a daily basis. The melodies are less unique, the song structures predictable, and the band seems to be bowing to the pressure of the Sumeriancore / deathcore / melodic tech-death genre tropes that their peers are following. It’s too bad because this was a band with a unique voice that I really thought could take it to the next level. Of course, I’ve only heard the two Revenants songs posted on the band’s MySpace page; maybe they’re most mainstream-y sounding songs on the album and I’m being too quick to pass judgment.

Tell me why I’m right / wrong / close-minded / condescending for expecting our readers to use the site’s “search” function in the comments below.

-VN

I’m hungover and struggling to put together coherent sentences, so instead of telling you what I think I wanna know what you all think. How do you feel about Sacramento, CA’s Conducting From the Grave?

My quick thoughts: I happen to think they’re pretty good. They’re on Sumerian but they aren’t really Sumeriancore; they have their own brand of flashy/technical metalcore-meets-death-metal — plenty of shred, no breakdowns — that I find pretty interesting. I rather enjoyed their 2009 debut album When Legends Become Dust, and here we are at only the end of 2010 and already they’ve got a new record coming on October 26th.

The new record is called Revenants, and a track from it called “And Our War Will Dawn” is currently up on their MySpace. Check that out and let us know what you think.

-VN

Cam Argon, a.k.a. “Big Chocolate,” is nineteen years old, and meanwhile, he’s the vocalist for at least three different projects, he’s a DJ, he’s in college getting his degree, and, oh yeah, now he’s directed the new Annotations of an Autopsy video, for the song “Bone Crown.” I mean, Vince and I have both been keeping really busy lately, working ridiculously long hours on a lot of projects both related to MetalSucks and not really related to MetalSucks, and this kid makes us look lazy. Cut it out with the being so productive, Cam! Slack off, watch some internet porn, take a nap for no good reason. Sheesh!

Don’t forget that AOAA are part of the <shameless plug>MetalSucks-sponsored Facemelter Tour with Dying Fetus, Arsis, Misery Index, and Conducting from the Grave. Get dates here. </shamelessplug>

-AR

I’m in the process of falling in love with Heirs to Thievery – and I think we all know that the courtship is the most exciting part of any relationship. I can’t decide which song is my favorite – I have it narrowed down to either the fifth track, “The Spectator,” or pretty much anything that comes after it – and it probably has some flaws, but I can’t really see them right now. Am I still gonna wanna hit that in six months? Only time will tell, but right now, I’m seriously considering calling Vince to be a witness and running down to city hall.

So the album comes out this Tuesday on Relapse, but you can fall in love with it right now – Heirs to Thievery is streaming right here. Don’t let your other albums see you headbanging to it or they might get jealous.

And, of course, don’t forget that Misery Index are part of the MetalSucks-presented Facemelter Tour 2010 with Dying Fetus, Arsis, Annotations of an Autopsy and Conducting from the Grave. The trek kicked off last night in Baltimore – was anyone there? Did Misery Index play much of the new album? Drop us a line and let us know how it was if you went. And the rest of you can get the ongoing dates here.

-AR

The MetalSucks-sponsored “Facemelter Tour 2010″ is sure to be the most bone-breakingly, ass-rippingly, and, yeah, face-meltingly br00tal tour of the season. Dying Fetus. Holy shit, do those dudes crush live. Arsis? Misery Index? If you ever wanna have childen, I hope you’ve donated sperm recently, because those bands are gonna crush your balls into dust. Sadly, I’ve never seen Annotation of an Autopsy or Conducting from the Grave live before, but given their excellence in the field of “FUCK YOU GGGRRRRR!!!” and brain-melting, it’s hard for me to imagine they’ll do anything but crack skulls and break necks.

And the tour kicks off tonight in Baltimore! Only pansies are gonna miss this thing… and you’re not a pansy, are you? So get dates here, and then get your ass out to a show. It will rule your world.

-AR

We’ve already heard a bootleg live recording of the title track from Misery Index’s new album, Heirs to Thievery; now the actual studio recording is streaming on the band’s MySpace page. And – no shocks here – it’s a scorcher. Alongside “Carrion Call,” the other new song from the album the band has released (and which has an opening riff that increasingly kind of reminds me of The Red Chord’s “Lay the Trap” – anyone else get that feeling?), it’s starting to become pretty clear that Misery Index have done it again. If this don’t scratch Vince’s DM itch, ain’t nuthin’ gunna.

Heirs to Thievery comes out via Relapse on May 11. And don’t forget that the band are on the MetalSucks-sponsored Facemelter Tour with Dying Fetus, Arsis, Annotations of an Autopsy and Conducting from the Grave. Get dates here.

-AR

I haven’t listened to the promo Relapse sent us of Heirs to Thievery, the new Misery Index album, because it has beeps over the music every thirty seconds or so, and, well, brutal death grind, lacking in melody though it may be, was not meant to be constantly interrupted by beeping. I’m really excited to hear this album, but when I do finally hear it, I want it to hear it properly.

So “Carrion Call,” the new studio recording the band has posted on their MySpace page, is our first real taste of Heirs (We’ve also heard a bootleg live recording of the title track). But it’s a good taste! Tastes like Misery Index. Mmm… Misery Indexxxxxxxx [slobbers].

Heirs to Thievery comes out, beep-free, on May 11. And don’t forget that the band are on the MetalSucks-sponsored Facemelter Tour with Dying Fetus, Arsis, Annotations of an Autopsy and Conducting from the Grave. Get dates here.

-AR

At MetalSucks we love tours that mix the old and the new (see also: The Tyrants of Evil Tour we sponsored which featured Arch Enemy, Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within), which is why we jumped at the chance to sponsor this Spring’s Facemelter tour, guarantee to melt faces with death metal spanning two decades. Tours like this offer the older bands a chance to reach younger fans, younger bands a chance to win over hardened OG heshers and you, the fans, a chance to learn about new music you’re pre-disposed to enjoy. Everyone wins!

Though Dying Fetus are the only true old schoolers on this tour — and by the way have you seen Dying Fetus live lately?? holy fuck, they alone will make this tour live up to its name — Misery Index and Arsis both have a bit of an old-school vibe despite their music’s firm roots in the present. And for the kids we’ve got Annotations of an Autopsy and Conducting From the Grave, two excellent new school death metal-inspired bands we’ve yet to see live.

Definitely one of the most exciting touring lineups of the Spring. Full list of confirmed tour dates after the jump, with more to be added soon.

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In yesterday’s self-aggrandizing Sumeriancore article many of you commented that you’d have liked to see Conducting From the Grave on this site, including MS commenter Brownsound who provided me with today’s headline. Yes, Conducting From the Grave completely melt brains, and yes, we HAVE written about them here before but they certainly do deserve more coverage.

Conducting From the Grave’s When Legends Become Dust melts all sorts of brains (even the MS Mansion Monkeys’!), and you should listen to a few of its songs on the band’s MySpace page. The band doesn’t seem to have any official music videos, but a fan did put together a pretty funny parody video of their song “Marching Towards Extinction,” posted below.

-VN

Have you heard the good news, brother? The New England Metal and Hardcore Fest has added a third stage for younger bands with whom concert goers might be less familiar.

Looking over the list, I already know  one terrible band that will be on this stage (Oceano) and two excellent bands that will be on this stage (Brother Von Doom and The Destro), but there are a lot of names here I’m not familiar with. Thus, I am now going to listen to some of those bands via various channels (really just one channel – MySpace) and make some snap judgements. So, in no particular order:

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