MetalSucks

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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Quick announcement on my part: I’m going on tour next week. I’ll be in Europe – woohoo! Lineup is Unearth/Chimaira/Throwdown/ and DAATH. Those of you on the board who live in places we’re playing, come out and hang. I’d love to meet you guys in person.

While on tour I am going to do my very best to keep “Jumping Darkness Parade” going as frequently as I can, but bear with me on this one. Tour is an all-consuming experience. I’ve got some ideas up my sleeves, though.

So anyways, onto what’s on my mind right now….

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We’ve all fucked up. Some worse than others, but we have all fucked up. And if you haven’t fucked up, it’s because you haven’t had the chance. It’s hard to fuck up if all you ever do is go back and forth between this website and World Of Warcraft. Unless you fucked up at that. But that doesn’t count because it’s not real life.

I’m talking about real life. We’ve all fucked up. And most of us have gotten away with some shit we shouldn’t have gotten away with. GUILTY. I have done so many idiotic things that sometimes I wonder why I’m not dead or have a record (Criminal, not musical.). I could write a leaflet entitled, “The Joys of Driving Drunk,” but I won’t. I’m just gonna tell you guys here about some stupid shit I’ve done. I learned my lesson. You guys shouldn’t do this, but those of you who will aren’t gonna listen to me anyways so whatever… have fun!

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I know you’ve all experienced this. You get into a band. Your friend introduces their music to you, or you find them online, or however it is you discover bands. Their album or songs start to get stuck in your head. You start listening to them on your iPod, in your car, at the gym, wherever. You start reading up on them. You look for tour dates. You get excited because one’s coming up. You go see them. Lights go down. Its go time! AAANNNNNDDDD your dick goes limp, or pussy dries up, whatever the case may be, because these dudes just can’t pull off what you heard on their CDs.

But wait, everything sounds like shit in this club. Maybe it’s the soundguy. Maybe it’s just an off night. Maybe somebody’s mom just died. Who knows? So you give them the benefit of the doubt and you remain a fan. Then a few months later you get a chance to see them again, and same story. Limp dick bullshit. I’ve experienced that soooo much. In fact, I’d say that the majority of bands I’ve heard in this genre give me that feeling.

There are only a small percentage of bands that I think can really stand up to what they put down on CD. It’s not hard to understand why this happens.

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So I’m sure you’re all aware of this major lineup change for Dimmu Borgir. I’ve been a fan of that band since ’98, and I’ve liked every single one of their records except For All Tid. My favorite lineup of theirs was the Puritanical and Deathcult lineup. For me as a fan, the music those dudes made together is what really sealed the deal for me with that band. I still enjoyed some later stuff, but for me those two records are where it’s at.

I’m sure they’ll find some amazing people and continue to put out great records, but the band that I became a fan of is now altered. And that got me thinking. How many times has this happened, and when does it really matter?

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So Vince and I were talking the other day about this question that both of us have wondered about from time to time, and since then I haven’t stopped thinking about it. So here it is: DO ANY OF YOU GIVE A FUCK ABOUT LYRICS IN METAL?

Is it just the sound of the voice and how it works with the sound of the music, or is it also what the vocalist is saying that matters to you? I’m going to take a guess and say that fans of hardcore and straight edge bands really do care about the lyrics because the bands are representing the ideals and beliefs of their respective communities. But what about in death metal, black metal, or any other genre of metal? When you listen to Necrophagist or Cannibal Corpse or Suicide Silence, can you comprehend what they’re singing about, and do you even care? Is it what they’re singing about, or is it more what it sounds like with the music, or both?

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Wanna know what’s worse than cops that have decided to ruin your day? Customs officials that have decided to make an example out of you.

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Do you guys have any issues with cops? Ever been unfairly treated by one or many? No, this isn’t a defense attorney ad, but I’m just curious. You see, prior to one thing that happened on the last tour DAATH did (and, granted, it wasn’t HUGE), I had never ever been messed with by a cop. I’ve always treated them with respect, and somehow they’ve always treated me that way. And I KNOW that is a rare situation because I hear from so many people about how they’ve been brutalized or fucked with or just not treated right by some cops.

My thought has always been, who you gonna call at 5 a.m. if someone is rummaging through your house and you don’t own a gun? They’ll risk their lives for you, so with me, there’s always a baseline of respect. But this thing that happened to us sure did shatter that respect for at least one cop.

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The local band weekend tour. We used to do these back in our DIY days and I recommend that any band that aspires to touring full-time do some of these as well. The point is to get you ready for what you’ll encounter out there on a real tour. So you start with a weekend tour. If that goes well, see if you can handle a week. If that goes well, see if you can handle a week and a half. All this time keep doing little weekend runs in your region.

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Okay. It’s time for me to get the answer to a question which has been haunting my soul for a few years now. How many of you metal fans are musicians, how many of you are musicians in bands, and how many of you don’t play any instruments at all and just love the music? Please feel free to get as detailed as possible with your response.

DAATH is the kind of band that likes to meet all of our fans. Granted, we’re not as big as the Jonas Brothers yet, so we have time every night to talk to our fans. But regardless, we make a point of doing so. The grand majority, and I mean GRAND majority of fans we talk to, at some point will tell us about their band, or about a guitar they own, or about some sort of musical inclination they have. Is metal a style of music by musicians for musicians? Are straight up music fans that don’t play anything the minority? Or is it just that way in the more extreme genres of metal – since there aren’t as many fans to begin with are the people that are there just generally the bands in the scene?

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You guys have proven me right. At least I think you have. Could be that all the anti social, acne ridden, socially retarded, fucktard trolls decided not to comment on my previous post, but something tells me that this just isn’t the case. I think you guys came out en-masse and stated who you were. Haters and non-haters alike. Its cool to see you guys actually getting along for once, too.

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How many times have you guys heard the cliché about the fifteen year old pimple faced kid with no life sitting on the computer in his mom’s basement getting on Blabbermouth, or Lambgoat, or any of these sites, and just talking mad shit about whatever band or person of note they feel like lambasting? Well, I’m here to say that the fifteen year old we all refer to is just a stereotype.

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Am I the only one here that thinks that American bands shouldn’t be allowed to wear corpse paint? There should be a law in the metal books that states it. There’s some rules that us American metalheads must follow, like the famous “Don’t Wear Your Own Band’s Shirt Law,” for instance. It doesn’t apply to Europeans and that’s okay, they’ve got their own set of laws. It applies to us, though, and when you break it, people get to talking.

Well, I think that corpse paint should fall under the “Must Never Be Applied To The Face Of An American” law. I think it should be punishable by excommunication from the community. I’ve got my reasons.

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I listened to The Infection over the weekend for the first time in a little while. Guess what? Still kills. I can’t wait to see some of this shit played live.

Here’s a not-so-great quality bootleg of the band playing the first cut off the album, “The Venom Inside.” As Vince says, “This song just makes me happy.” What a killer way to open the show. Sounds like the crowd is almost as loud as Mark Hunter.

Friendly reminder: Chimaira are on tour right now with Hatebreed, Dying Fetus, Toxic Holocaust and Winds of Plague. Then they head to Europe in September with Unearth, Throwdown, and our friends in Daath. You can get all the tour dates here.

-AR

I listened to the new Skeletonwitch album, Breathing the Fire, last night, and guess what? It pwns. THAT’S RIGHT, BALLS666. I’M GOING TO SAY “PWN” AS MUCH AS I FUCKING LIKE. YOU THINK THAT’S WORTH KILLING ME OVER?!? COME AND GET ME, COCKSUCKER.

Here’s some other shit that went down this week:

• As the headline says, Daath’s Eyal Levi is MVP for the week.
• We enjoyed an exclusive mp3 from Weekend Nachos.
• We spoke to a surprisingly upbeat Nergal from Behemoth.
• Holy shit, Sammy O’Hagar almost liked the new Winds of Plague album. Almost.
• R.I.P. Les Paul.

I’m going to see District 9 now. Have a good weekend, everyone.

-AR

So playing underground metal is interesting for various reasons. There’s a real hierarchy to it. It has its own set of stars. Its own celebs. Legends. Etc. But in the grand scheme of the music industry, it’s nothing but a drop in the bucket.

Forget Metallica and the huge bands. I’m talking about everything else. Maybe these days, when records don’t sell like they used to and metal sells like it always has, it’s a bigger drop in the bucket. But check this out. A metal band sells 100,000 units. I’ts something to open up champagne and do coke off of strippers asses over. Tour buses, flat screen TVs, WOW WE’RE ROCKSTARS. Do you guys realize that on a major label in the mainstream world, 100,000 units is an abject failure?

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Who here likes going to Guitar Center? The Kmart of music supplies. Going there always pisses me off because I get some dude in a button up silk shirt with embroidered flames shooting up it trying to convince me how the latest Crate amp is gonna blow the roof off the house. I JUST NEED SOME STRINGS AND SOME PICKS. Why does everything there take so goddamn long? I swear, it takes me an average of forty-five minutes to just buy a pack of picks.

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It’s been a doozy of a year for metal releases already, hasn’t it?

After the jump, the records I’ve been jamming the most so far that might or might not end up on my year-end Top 10.

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Where the hell does the time go? The year is more than half over already! Sheesh.

ANYWAY, here are, in alphabetical order, albums that have really knocked my socks off so far this year…

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