On December 8, 1996, I ventured out in the freezing Minneapolis night towards downtown music venue First Avenue to see Orange 9mm. Late-era Helmet guitarist Chris Traynor was in that band, as was future Glassjaw/Head Automatica drummer Larry Gorman at some point. I was on the club’s permanent guest list, so it took no doing to pop in for some opener’s thirty-minute set — even one I liked as mildly as I did Orange 9mm. My plan for the night was to hang for a bit, scam on suburban chicks made gooey by a trip into the big city, nod at some jamz, and split before the headliner and in time to watch TV at this girl Brooklyn’s house. I had it all worked out.

Well, my plan went immediately to shit cuz Orange 9mm had cancelled. But I must’ve felt frisky or high or something cuz I stayed for Downset and the show’s headliner, the Deftones, who had just begun their commercial ascent. That was unknown to me at the time, their music too, but my jaw hit the ground by song two. It was one of those holy-shit experiences. I loved them. Awesome.

The show ended, sweaty dudes with wallet chains began to file out, and I silently praised my own spontaneity and good fortune. I’d found a new band to love and that’s what we’re all in this for. To think, I might’ve bailed and missed the whole thing. But I stayed! Success!

Here I’ll stop setting the mood and come to the point: Right as I was feeling awesome, kinda replaying the Deftones’ set in my mind at a downtown bus stop, kinda crumpled over against the arctic wind, kinda dying for the next morning to come so I could get on the phone to Maverick Records for an interview, I got punched in the face. I had no idea what was going on. I went down pretty hard; I remember my sight kinda going blank, rolling and fuzzy for an instant like a black-and-white TV dropped from short height.

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We can’t believe it’s been seven years. This drink’s for you…

I’m not hip, so before this past Friday, when Corey Mitchell alerted us to the existence of the below interview, I had never heard of St. Vincent (né Annie Clark). But I’ve listened to some of her stuff on Spotify now, and while it’s not really my thing, there is some pretty cool guitar work going on.

And so it almost — almost – makes sense that St. Vincent is apparently a metal fan, with a special fondness for the one and only Dimebag himself. (She also apparently likes Maiden.)

And then I found twenty bucks.

-AR

[via MTV, or I guess MTV Hive, whatever the fuck the difference is.]

Art by Mike Capprotti

HOLY SHIT, YOU GUYS. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS?!?!?

I always thought that Jesus was made-up, like Luke Skywalker, or evolution, but after reading this, I am getting my ass to a church to start some serious effing repenting.

The Gazette says that this weekend at a Godsmack show in Dubuque, Iowa, FUCKING DIMEBAG showed up and gave some poor Godsmack fan a lesson in manners by ripping out the motherfucker’s tracheotomy tube. HOLY CRAP THAT IS AWESOME.

Brad Kluesner says he was minding his own business in the front row at the concert. That’s when he says a stranger to him, Darrell Abbott, started bothering him.

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If you don’t know who Bobzilla is, here’s the quick version of his resumé: he was the bassist in Damageplan with Dimebag and Vinnie Paul, and now he’s the bassist in Hellyeah. In other words, he has a history of working with members of Pantera in bands that aren’t nearly as good as Pantera was.

So. Yesterday, we got the following e-mail from an anonymous reader:

“BOB ZILLA’S NEW BAND ORPHANED TO HATRED HAS GOTTEN THE THUMBS UP FROM VINNIE PAUL HIMSELF! THEY JUST RELEASED A SONG OFF OF THE UPCOMING ALBUM MASTERED BY VULGAR’S HOWIE WEINBERG AND MIXED BY LONG TIME PANTERA ENGINEER STERLING WINFIELD!”

So first of all… Yeah, no shit “Vinnie Paul himself” gave Orphaned to Hatred the thumbs up. What’s he gonna do, say his own bandmate’s side project sucks? So that endorsement means about as much as one from Bobzilla’s mommy.

Second of all… I was immediately weary of Orphaned to Hatred’s apparent desire to exploit their Pantera connection, especially because that connection really isn’t all that strong — I mean, I had about as much to do with Pantera as Bobzilla did. Seriously. Maybe he knew those dudes and I didn’t, but neither of us were in the band, and we both probably purchased approximately the same amount of CDs, merch, etc.

But then I went to check out the band on their Facebook page, and I saw the below image, and that’s when I got really, really cranky:

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I mean, talk about a snub, right?!?

ANYWAY, tomorrow afternoon, Vince and I will attend the wedding of one of our oldest friends. A guy I have known since I was two years old. The very dude who was by my side the first time I heard Guns N’ Roses. I don’t think he had any idea at the time that I had just headed down a path from which I would never return. He works for a classy magazine now, and wears a suit and tie to work. I do this, and usually do it in boxers and a stinky shirt with some metal band on it.

I don’t have a point or anything. I’m just feeling reflective right now.

And now that I got that out of my system, here’s the rundown of things we did this week:

• We got a tour update from Valient Thorr’s Valient Himself.
• We spoke to Tommy Rogers from Between the Buried and Me, Oppu Laine and Mikko Kotomäki from Barren Earth, Kenn Nardi from Anacrusis, and Mike Riley and Dom Romeo from Pulling Teeth.
• We checked out new releases from As Blood Runs Black, Capsule, and Crucified Mortals and Nunslaughter.
• We checked out the newest lucky band to sign to leading independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS.
• We made the mistake of following Vinnie Paul onto his tour bus.
• We helped our friends at the Deciblog defend Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy.
• We listened to the worst dubstep metal bastardization yet.
• We got excited about the new Scar Symmetry album.
• We sent out well wishes to Vince Neil while he’s in prison.
• We read some fan mail.

Okay now I’m gonna go pick up my new suit for tomorrow! WHOO-HOO TO BEIN’ A BIG KID! See you peeps Monday.

-AR

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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

This week’s query was suggested by a reader identifying himself simply as “Andy” –

WHICH MODEL OF GUITAR IS THE MOST METAL?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

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So as part of the promotional efforts for the current Jagermeister Music Tour with Buckcherry, All That Remains, Hellyeah, and The Damned Things, a video has been posted in which Vinnie Paul gives a… uh… well, a tour of his tour bus. Sorry, I couldn’t think of a more elegant way to say that.

ANYWAY, Paul says he believes the bus should be “a nightclub on wheels,” and depending on how you feel about that statement, you will either find his bus to be incredibly awesome or incredibly tacky. Personally, I think it’s a little bit of both; it must be nice to be able to afford such a monstrosity, and I’d probably be a little disappointed if Paul’s vehicle of choice wasn’t somewhat outlandish… but on the other hand… uhhhh, really, dude?

By the way, I know that Gary Suarez already took this tour to task for its incredible amount of product placement, but if you do a shot every time Vinnie says “Jagermeister,” you will be very, very drunk by the end of this video. Did the makers of this video seriously think we’d forget the product they’re pushing, even with their logo in the corner the entire time?

-AR

[via The PRP]

Hellyeah have a new video for “Better Man,” a song unreasonable people would probably argue isn’t a power ballad. In the video, the band sits around someone’s house for no apparent reason and plays the song, all while remembering some pseudo-romantic tragic bullshit.

And if all this seems familiar, well, it ought to: sitting around a random house and playing a power ballad while remembering some pseudo-romantic tragic bullshit was one of hair metal’s silliest clichés. Take, for example…

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I’ve been mugged and I’ve been conned, but, luckily, I’ve never had a break-in. I imagine it feels like you’ve been violated; I know that might sound funny, but I don’t mean it to. Maybe it’s not as bad as a mugging in that there’s no threat of violence, but it’s way worse in that someone invaded your most personal space.

And so I feel a lot of sympathy for Machine Head’s Robb Flynn, who recently lost a lot of valuable stuff — including a guitar gifted to him by Dimebag — during a break-in. Here’s a full statement on the matter from Flynn, including an offer of a reward for anyone who can help retrieve the stolen goods:

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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

There weren’t any real hot button topics this week, so we decided to just play a fun game that used to keep Vince and Axl occupied for many a lunch period when they were kids:

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

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That’s how long it was before I heard a reference to the Black Tooth Grin, a drink which – in case ya somehow don’t know – was favored (and I believe created) by Dimebag.

I’m (obviously) all for commemorating Dimebag and celebrating his legacy when it’s appropriate. But why does it feel like Vinnie Paul constantly needs to remind us who his brother was? Does anyone in Hellyeah really think we’d forgotten? Maybe I’m not being fair, but this feels exploitative to me. It’s as though the band were aware that no one would care about them if they weren’t Vinnie’s first serious post-Dime project.

Also, the song, entitled “Cowboy Way” sucks as bad as the movie of the same title. That’s not surprising, but just in case you thought this band had maybe gotten better since their first album… the answer is apparently “Nope, they still make shitty music.”

You can listen to the song, below or, if you’re really so inclined, download it for free here.

-AR

Of course not every band can be a Pantera or Down, but I’d argue that out of any member of Pantera, one Mr. Rex Brown has the best track record for non-Panteric projects. He wasn’t in Damageplan, a mediocre band we all pretend didn’t exist in the name of not doing any harm to Dime’s legacy; he’s obviously not in Hellyeah, who I still can’t quite believe are a real band and not some elaborate prank; Pantera and Down are only ones of Phil Anselmo’s 1,384 bands that Brown was in. Yeah, Rebel Meets Rebel was way too redneck for this Noo Yawk Jew, but at least they didn’t have a song called “Alcohaulin’ Ass.” So three cheers of Rex.

Of course, now Rex has another new band, Arms of the Sun, so I guess it’s possible he’s about to fuck-up his batting average. The three songs on AOTS’ MySpace page really generic bar-band stuff that sounds like it might have been cat nip for the guy who signed Candlebox fifteen years ago, but again. “Alcohaulin’ fucking Ass.” So Rex gets to keep his title belt… for now.

Check out Arms of the Sun here, then tell me why I’m being too hard on Damageplan/RMR/Hellyeah/Superjoint Ritual/whatever in the comments section.

-AR

There’s not much to say, other than we miss ya, dude. We’ll do a shot for you.

-AR

It’s hard to believe that Dime has been gone for five years, but December 8 will be the anniversary of one of metal’s bleakest moments. To cash-in on commemorate the event, Metal Hammer have enlisted a bunch of well-known acts to record Pantera covers (but not Damageplan covers, because, y’know, let’s get real here) for a CD that will come with the magazine. Metal Hammer has done this a few times in the past – I remember they had they entire Master of Puppets album re-recorded by various bands, including Mastodon, Machine Head, Chimaira and Trivium when that album reached its twentieth anniversary, and some of it was pretty good.

Get the complete track list for Metal Hammer’s Dime tribute disc after the jump, along with my thoughts in bold.

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Today was Friday the 13th, but absolutely nothing bad happened to me. I mean, the night is young so shit could still go horribly awry I suppose, but all in all, I had a pretty good day – nay, I had a pretty good week. If only the same could be said for the world of metal. Here’s some disasters the plagued various musicians this week:

• Slash completed his decade-long indoctrination into the Metallica “Fuck Our Fans” Club.
• We’re not sure if Steven Tyler is still in Aerosmith or not, but we are sure that we don’t give a fuck either way.
• There was a lot of controversy over a really, really ugly painting.
• No can explain to me why I should care about Alter Bridge.
• Fear Faction ate s’more babies, released a new song.
• R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs.

And, oh yeah, some good news: MetalSucks is going to do a digital release of The Binary Code’s Suspension of Disbelief on December 15 for just five bucks! Get stoked.

Alright. I’m off to go hear Vince spin. Have a nice weekend everyone. Next week we have another extra, super-duper special surprise for you…

-AR

So some people are all up in arms about the above painting by the artist Tom Sanford, The Assassination of Dimebag Darrell, which will be going on sale at an auction later this month (read all about it here and here). I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, but I do want to make two quick points:

1. Metal fans really don’t get have the right to be offended by artistic portrayals of horribly violent acts, even if they’re based on a real incident. If you’ve ever enjoyed Slayer’s “Angel of Death,” you should understand my meaning.
2. It’s just a painting, and, really, the most offensive thing about it is how ugly it is.

Weigh in with your thoughts below.

-AR

If you’re famous, one of the biggest problems with being dead is that you lose all control over how your “estate” (read: family that needs money) uses abuses your legacy. Case in point: Kurt Cobain is apparently going to be in Guitar Hero 5.

Now, I’m not one of these people who has a problem with Guitar Hero or rhythm games in general – I find them entertaining, and I’m not an alarmist who thinks they mean kids are gonna stop learning to play real instruments.

But I feel like Cobain is definitely the kind of stick-up-his-ass dude who would have a problem with Guitar Hero. Still, Francis Bean gotta eat Courtney Love gotta shoot up, so there’s Kurt in all his pixelated glory.

I’m shocked that Dimebag hasn’t been included in a rhythm game yet. I’d wager that his estate is working on that right about now.

-AR

He’d of been 43 years old today.

Here he is shredding back when he was my age.

-AR

I just read this on the ol’ Bmouth:

SLAYER guitarist Kerry King, a close friend of the late “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott (PANTERA, DAMAGELAN), had the legendary axeman’s guitar in the studio during the recording process for SLAYER‘s new album, “World Painted Blood” (although he didn’t use it it during the sessions), still with the same strings that were on it the last time Dimebag played it. “The one thing that made me look at my lead playing a little differently was when Dimebag passed away,” revealed King. “Not that I’m going to fill Dime‘s shoes because nobody can do that, but I paid more attention to my leads while recording this album. I wanted to make them more memorable in memory of Dime.”

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