MetalSucks

Yesterday I had an experience that actually gave me some hope for the metal.

After some all out insanity caused by the arctic blast that came all over this country’s face I actually made it out to a show last night. Me going to a show isn’t what gave me hope by the way. I’ll get to that. Even though I don’t go to many shows anymore (try giving a shit about shows when you are involved with three digits worth of them every year), I went last night because Cynic were playing and I was basically helping them make sure that the first week of their tour wasn’t absolutely jacked for them.

What I mean by that is just that they got completely fucked on the travel due to weather. Three of them got stranded in LA, three of them got stranded in Chicago, their merch was never delivered, etc. See, it snows once a year in Atlanta and when it does this city goes to total shit.  Roads shut down, the airport shuts down, emergency services get stretched to the limit, businesses shut down, it straight goes to hell.  This place is not equipped to handle any sort of freezing winter weather incidents. Originally the idea was that Cynic would arrive on Friday and I would pick them up and we’d hang out a bit then they’d play a show on Saturday.

It turned into their management calling me Friday afternoon in the middle of a very professional freakout and telling me that on top of nobody knowing when the band was going to arrive into Atlanta, if at all, that UPS suspended all shipments that day and could I please go to the UPS headquarters and pick up 14 boxes of merch or they will not have any merch for who knows how many days into the tour. And by the way, the dudes are landing at midnight maybe, and by the way more of the dudes are landing tomorrow at noon possibly. None of this would be a big deal at all if the Atlanta roadways weren’t completely covered with ice. I mean sheets of ice. It’s not fun. I almost wrecked a few times. At one point the DAATH van did a 360 on ice and I promise I was going 10 mph.

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I guess that by now it’s old news that the drummer from AX7 is taking the celestial dirt nap for undisclosed “natural causes,” but I just realized that something is bugging me about this whole situation.

First of all, let’s establish something. I am NOT a fan of AX7. Never was, most likely never will be. I think that they’re killer musicians, especially their lead guitarist with the silly stage name, but that doesn’t make me a fan.

I’m not going to specualte as to why a 28 year old suddenly died because I know full well it was probably drugs, but I also know full well that not everyone actually lives out their image in real life. He could have had an un-diagnosed heart condition, or any other number of things that suddenly kill people of any age. So I’m not going to really sit around and guess what did him in, and honestly, I don’t really care.

Here’s what I do care about for some reason: the metal community once again showed me that with some exception, it’s just a lonely, dorky, socially inadequate boy’s club. I know that I’m going to get some hate for this, but whatever. Hear me out.

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Hello all. No year end list or rant about the state of bullshit… I just wanted to wish all you MetalSucks readers a Happy New Year from my hotel in NOLA. Emil is here as well as some other friends, and we’re just enjoying chilling after making an album that was basically like a three month long drag-out, blow-by-blow fight. Can’t wait for you guys to hear that stuff.  Should be soon. As we enter the studio for the next DAATH album this spring, that record should be hitting stores.  I’m also looking forward to blogging it the fuck up over the next year and interacting with all of you more. I’ve got a lot on my mind and I’m sure you guys do, too. So ’til then, party safe, and remember not to take Tylenol for your hangover. Stick to Advil.

Cheers,

Eyal

Ring in the New Year with Daath on MySpace.

Are you ever going to write again? Is your column at Metalsucks over? Where the fuck have you been? Why don’t you hang out? You better be ditching me for a really good reason! You’re in town? Why didn’t I know? Etc. Etc. Etc.

At first I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. If I did, I would’ve told everyone in my life that I was going to have to disappear for about a month or two but I was not expecting this to be such a gargantuan undertaking. But it is. When the questions as to my absence started coming in I didn’t make much effort to answer them because I figured the workload was going to lighten up a little. It hasn’t. Friends, fans, family members, band mates, business partners, ex-girlfriends, and more have all been hitting me up asking where the fuck I’ve been. When Vince wrote me and asked me where I was I figured ok, its time to come out of the cave for a moment.

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Here’s a funny story: earlier this year Daath’s Emil Werstler made one of those “Betcha Can’t Play This” instructional videos for Guitar World. Said video showed him playing so fast that some of the staff of that publication actually accused him of speeding up the video. Once he did another video, showing him at PRS clinic proving he could actually play that fast, was released, all was forgiven, and he’s now made a second “Betcha” vid.

It’s good to Werstler getting the credit he deserves. When Daath’s first album, The Hinderers, was released, none of the press concentrated on the dude’s prowess as a guitar player; now that all that shit about the band allegedly being Kabbalah obsessed mystics or whatever has subsided, it seems like people are more willing to focus on the things that actually make Daath worth listening to: great musicianship and excellent song writing skills.

Here’s the more recent “Betcha” segment; after the jump, check out the older one that got Emil accused of cheating, as well the PRS clip that proves that he is, in fact, just a supreme bad-ass.

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There’s a lyric in the song “Hour of Rats” from Fed Through the Teeth Machine, the album by The Red Chord, and this particular lyric has really taken hold in my brain as of late: “WE’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER TOO LONG TO BE FRIENDS.” What a simple, beautiful statement that I can 110% relate to these days. Hm.

Speaking of The Red Chord…

• We’re streaming The Red Chord’s new album, Fed Through the Teeth Machine, through Monday! It’s awesome, so definitely give it a listen, then go buy it when Metal Blade releases it on Tuesday, October 27! We also spoke to The Red Chord’s Mike “Gunface” McKenzie.
• We got a European tour wrap-up from Chimaira’s Mark Hunter, had a nice chat with Kowloon Walled City’s Jason Pace, and even played nice with Oceano’s Andrew Mikhail.
• Lord Gold from Horse the Band graced us with another awesome tour blog, Eyal discussed physical CDs, and Dallas explored the evolution and importance of deathcore.
• We checked out new releases from Converge, Ancestors, and Smite the Righteous.
• Janet Reno quit Attack Attack!
• We’re fairly certain that Dave Mustaine is still a Megadick. Actually, we’re positive.

Have a good weekend everyone…

-AR

Okay, honest question. How many of you are still actually buying physical CDs? If you download illegally, I don’t care. Just let me know what your preferred habit is. I’m not a tool from a major label that’s going to sue you. I don’t give a fuck. I personally think that the Compact Disc is a medium that’s in its death throes. Either that, or it died and occasionally twitches. Either way, I just wanna know…. How do you guys prefer to get your music?

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Photo by Mart Reinson

While winding down their recent European trek with Unearth, Daath and Throwdown, Mark Hunter, vocalist of perennial MetalSucks favorites Chimaira, was cool enough to answer some questions via e-mail. After the jump, get Mark’s thoughts on European audiences versus American audiences, eating at McDonald’s abroad, the joys of Don “The Dragon” Wilson, showers in Germany, and more.

And by the way, there’s a NSFW image in this interview. You were warned.

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Pretty big week here at the MetalSucks Mansion. We laughed, we cried, we fired someone, we rocked out with our cocks out. Here’s a rundown of the highlights:

• We debuted a new song by The Devin Townsend Project, a new video by Skeletonwitch, a new song by Javelina, and the cover art for Sigh’s new album.
• Horse the Band’s Lord Gold blogged about Nawlins and cocaine, God Forbid’s Doc Coyle gave us an exclusive statement about that whole cup throwing incident, Dallas Coyle is giving away music for free, and Daath’s Eyal Levi talked about a run-in with the Polacks and drum triggers.
• We spoke to Dethklok’s Brendon Small, Converge’s Jacob Bannon, Gojira’s Joe Duplantier, and Liturgy’s Hunter Hunt-Hendrix.
• We checked out new releases from Baroness, The Red Chord, Skeletonwitch, Immortal, Vains of Jenna, Vampire Mooose, and Javelina. Also, some asshole really likes Oceano.
• We’re sponsoring the incredibly awesome Tyrants of Evil North American Tour 2010 with Arch Enemy, Exodus, Arsis, and Mutiny Within!

Alright. I’m going to see Where the Wild Things Are now. I’m fairly certain that it is going to make me weep like Gary Suarez. See ya Monday.

-AR

This is a follow up to Vince’s blog on drum triggers. I’m with him.

There’s definitely a misconception out there that to trigger is to cheat. I’ll get this out of the way early: triggers are like any other tool. You can use them correctly, or not. Water can be used to give life or drown a person. Triggers can be used in a musical way for a style that demands them or they can be used to cover up a shitty drummer’s inability to hit consistently or like a man (no offense to all you female drummers out there).

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Shady times in Poland. We were a little bummed to begin with. Warsaw was coming up and we found out that Behemoth was playing in the same town as us. In their homeland. Ouch. When you get news like that your first feelings are, “Why bother with our show? Why not go hang out at their show?” That’s never a good idea. I remember when we were on the Dark Funeral/Naglfar tour in 2007 and we hit Phoenix, Arizona the same day as Behemoth and Job For a Cowboy. It seemed like a serious bummer, but somehow there were still around 200 kids at our show, which was on par for that tour. Same thing happened on this tour. There were like 400-500 kids at our show. I heard there were 2,500 people at the Behemoth show, but still, 400-500 kids made for good times.

The crowd was enthusiastic and other than the intense heat onstage, I thought it was great times. The promoter was super cool. The food spread he gave us was fit for an army. So many different kinds of everything. Meats, cheeses, breads, drinks, cereals, candies, fruits, yogurts, spreads, etc., etc., etc. His dinner was amazingly catered as well. So many different choices of pastas, meats, salads. The backstage area was huge. We were treated great.

Until the end of the night, that is.

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I’m in my bunk. Everyone else is asleep. We’re riding through some windy dark mountain roads somewhere in Germany on the way to the next show. I’ve got “Ghost of Perdition” by Opeth blasting on my headphones. Figured that I would give that a spin. I haven’t really listened to them very much lately. I kinda burned out on them for a while. I never stopped loving their music, but I think I just had more than my brain could handle. When I got into after the release of Blackwater Park, all the way through the release of Ghost Reveries, I’d say that Opeth were on my iTunes at least once a day. They are a band that I’ve listened to, and listened to again, and again, and again. There’s always something new to find in their music. Not only did I listen my ass off but I went to their shows whenever possible. I saw them at least six times before I even met them. I ended up dating a member of their crew for a little while, so that meant more and more Opeth shows. Basically, I know my Opeth, and from the musicianship to the composition I think that they are one of the greatest bands of all time.

That said, I haven’t decided to listen to them in about a year before tonight. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Albums that I just absolutely love, I would consider and just be like, naaah. Maybe it’s the mental equivalent of a water-soluble vitamin like C. Once you have your dosage, the rest just gets released with your urine. Maybe your brain can only handle so much of one type of stimulus for so long before it shuts off to it. I mean that’s happened to me with other bands.

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Those of you out there who are in bands that haven’t made it yet. I have a question for ya. Do you know why you want to do this? Have you really thought it out? There’s a reason I’m asking. I’m pretty easy to reach. I make myself very available online. I’m always into talking to fans, non-fans, whatever, I’m into conversation. Something that always comes up when people are asking me questions is how much money I make from DAATH. First of all, I’m not going to tell you how much money I make from anything. But I’ll say this: DAATH isn’t my only source of income, but all my income comes from music.

What people are trying to find out is if I make a lot of money at this, if I still have to have a day job, etc., etc., etc. No, I don’t make a lot of money at it. There isn’t much money to be made in metal. Most people in bands you listen to have jobs on the side. Whether they’re in music or not is a different story. Most people in metal bands cannot make all their ends meet from metal alone.

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Your reputation precedes you. It’s a blessing and a curse. I know that there are some circles that know me as being a complete ass, and they’ve done their part to spread that about me. When I’ve encountered people they’ve spread the good word about me to, I’m usually met with “Wow, I didn’t realize you were actually cool to hang out with.” Or stuff of that sort. I’m referring to cliques from when I was in high school ranging to some people I know now. I also have positive things that are spread about me ,and it still hits me by surprise when there are positive expectations due to someone’s word of mouth about me. Positive or negative, it’s strange to me that some people have any pre-conceived notions about me. I should just get used to it.

But I’m sure that you guys have felt the same things in your lives. If you don’t live in a cave, or are not stuck in your mom’s basement playing W.O.W. 24/7, then you make your mark on the world. Whether it’s on an international level or just your small group of social and work peers or school or whatever it may be, you make your mark. You affect people. And people talk about you to each other. To what degree will always vary according to all the different social variables unique to your situation.

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When did you guys start listening to heavy music? How many of you started listening this decade? I’m seriously curious about this. Those of you who started this decade… Are you sick of it yet? Are you starting to get sick of it? Does it excite you the way it did in 2004? For those of you who started earlier… do you remember what things were like 1990-1995? Remember when Megadeth was going multiplatinum, Pantera was flying in private jets, and Morbid Angel and Carcass were on major labels? Remember how that pretty much died off?

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I am SO PISSED that I missed Chimaira’s most recent tour (with Hatebreed), because a) Chimaira slay live and b) I’m fucking dying to hear some more material from The Infection in a live setting – when I saw the band on this spring’s Music as a Weapon tour, the album had literally just come out that day and the band were, consequently, only playing two new songs.

So. Rhythm guitarist Matt DeVries had to pull a Mark Morton and leave the tour early so he could get home for the birth of his new child, Austin (Mazel tov, Matt!); filling in for him is Daath co-guitarist/all around cool dude Emil Werstler. I am using this little fact as an excuse to post this video I saw on Blabbermouth of the Wersterful Chimaira performing “The Venom Inside.” Also, to point out that bassist Jim LaMarca seems to have shed his signature locks. That leaves DeVries as the only dude in Chimaira capable of windmilling. Just sayin’.

Chimaira continue to decimate Europe alongside Unearth, Throwdown, and our friends in Daath through October 12; then, at the end of the month, they hit the States again with Trivium, Whitechapel and Dirge Within. Get dates here.

-AR

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

Our boy Bram Teitelman at Metal Insider reports that Guitar Center – a.k.a. “the bane of Eyal Levi’s existence” – is now the defendant in a class action lawsuit, along with the National Association of Music Merchants (you know them as NAMM). See, as it turns out, those fuckers (I guess I should say “allegedly”) conspired to fix the prices of fretted instruments, even go so far as to as to attempt “to quash competition from online retailers by threatening to boycott manufacturers selling through online competitors.” Very nice.

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You guys familiar with the phrase “Grass is greener?” Well, you should be. I think it’s human nature to get complacent and take for granted what we’ve got and think that what’s on the other side of the fence, or ocean, or job, or band, or girlfriend, or WHATEVER, is better and will make them happier. If they could just have “that” instead of “this,” then life would be better.

I’m thinking about this because I’m on tour in Europe right now. I love being on tour in Europe. I love being on tour in general. When on tour in the US, one of the questions I get asked constantly by friends or fans is whether or not the European audiences completely destroy the American audiences. People are living under the impression that Europe is some metal mecca and that you will instantly go over well here. Not the case. Also, over here people seem to think that America is the answer to your metal needs as a band, and if that they could just make it over there, then their answers would be solved. Also, not the case. Click to read more…

First of all, I have to say, if you’re into Muse then check out their new album, The Resistance, which comes out today. It’s fucking brilliant. They always manage to take a different approach from album to album, and this one continues on that path. Anyways, its great stuff and I recommend it highly.

I’ve had music writing on my mind a lot these days. Maybe its because I have a lot on my plate. The record I’m doing with Emil from DAATH and Cynic’s Sean Reinert needs to be delivered by the first of the year. It’s going to be released in the spring of 2010. My side project wants to record an EP of still to be written material this December. And last but not least, DAATH is looking to go into the studio in April to record our next one. We’d like for it to be out by the end of Summer 2010.

That’s a shit load of music to write in a very short period of time if you consider that we’re still touring. Some advice I get from people is “Don’t rush.” That’s good advice. None of this is going to be rushed and it will all get what it needs and wants so that it can grow into the work of art it deserves to become. I think I’ve figured out how to write on the road and this next tour will be the perfect situation for that. We are sharing the bus with a straightedge band. Can’t be partying like usual because my health could relapse. Instead of staring into space and wishing I could party, I’ll occupy my time with creative things. So I’ll be writing music on the road. And a lot of it!

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