MetalSucks

[In addition to writing and performing in New Wave of American Heavy Metal pioneers Darkest Hour, guitarist (and BS degree in Social Work!) Mike Schleibaum also writes for his own informative and funny website Ask The Dude. The dude himself contacted us about writing a guest blog for MetalSucks, and somehow in between his various other activities that actually, ya know, pay the bills, he somehow found time to do it. We hope he'll be a regular contributor whenever time allows. Let us know what you think. -Ed.]

The Underrated: Entombed

Like many fellow dudes who have dedicated their lives to moshing hard and jamming heavy metal I find myself continuously on the hunt for new records that can make me feel the way I did the first time I heard Metallica’s Master of Puppets, At the Gates’ Slaughter of the Soul, or Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power. As age and experience wear away at me I find that sadly this feeling is harder and harder to obtain. I mean let’s face it, a good seventy percent of modern metal is total bullshit (and I think that’s me being nice since I know a few people are going to read this). Not only has the genre been raped by the mainstream and watered down by the internet, its safe to say that every Tuesday more and more “death metal” or “heavy metal” records hit the street here in the USA that have less and less to offer the genre and us listeners than ever before. I believe that metal actually doesn’t suck, and there are great metal bands out there who for whatever reason didn’t get the attention they truly deserve. The following is one dude’s opinion. I do not claim any of it as absolute truth but, if I can use this printed space for nothing more then to turn at least one more dude out there onto a record that has touched my life, then it was time well spent.

With that in mind let me turn the focus to one of my all time favorite metal bands, Entombed. Now there are some of you out there who just read this and are thinking, “Fuck this guy, Entombed is not underrated, they are known as one of the pioneers of Swedish Death Metal.” And to you dudes I say, “I know, but just hear me out.”

Click to read more…

According to a recent post on SMNnews.com, ex-Darkest Hour guitarist Kris Norris will now be pursuing a career in producing in addition to putting out his recently completed solo album. While we certainly wish him all the best, the realist in me is privy to think that Norris’ career arc as a producer will closely follow that of Peter Wichers’, who left Soilwork in ‘05 in favor of the producer’s chair only to rejoin Soilwork last month. Not that it can’t be done — Fear Factory’s Christian Olde Wolbers is someone who comes to mind as an example of a metal musician who’s made the successful switch — it’s just that the paycheck ain’t as reliable as the perpetual cycle of touring, merch and album advances (then again, Darkest Hour are on Victory Records, so all bets are off in the advances department). And it certainly isn’t as much fun!

The idealist in me, however, really hopes Norris succeeds, not just because of the warmth in our collective hearts but because ex-At All Cost guitarist and friend of MetalSucks Michael Carrigan (ex-Throeald) has been tapped as Norris’ replacement in DH, and that motherfucker is a sick guitarist deserving of his call up to the big leagues.

-VN

The chill of fall is in the air but the gossip mill never cools off at the MetalSucks Mansion. This week’s notables and quotables included:

• Original guitarist Peter Wichers returned to Soilwork and ex-At All Cost guitarist Mike Carrigan replaced Kris Norris in Darkest Hour; we rejoiced that great Soilwork music will once again be made and that Mike’s got a job. But the good was tempered by the bad as Christian Alvestam left Scar Symmetry and Spineshank reunited. There is no justice.
• Winds of Plague’s Kristen Randall showed the world her bewbs!
• We reviewed solid new albums by Into Eternity, Enslaved and All Shall Perish, and waxed ecstatic about Burst, Vince’s new proverbial wet dream.
• New videos from The Human Abstract and Amon Amarth are unbelievably epic.
• A scandal erupted involving the audio quality of Death Magnetic, alternate Guitar Hero mixes, and the now infamous “Better, Shorter, Cut” abridged edition.
• Vince & Axl [almost] reveal their true identities.

See ya next week.

We’re late to the party on this one, but Darkest Hour have parted ways with guitarist Kris Norris. It’s very sad and blah blah blah and honestly, I don’t care that much. I like Darkest Hour but I’m just not emotionally involved enough in the idea of Norris remaining in the band for this to phase me the way, for example, news of Mark Morton leaving Lamb of God might.

What I do care about is that Norris’ replacement is Mike Carrigan (pictured above), a.k.a. lead guitarist for MetalSucks’ favorite underappreciated geniuses, At All Cost.

Click to read more…

Funny things usually happen when musicians take their thoughts to the Interwebs. Such is actually not the case with Darkest Hour guitarist Mike Schleibaum’s new blog Ask the Dude [via Buzzgrinder], in which the college-educated shredder answers fan questions in a Dear Abby-style advice column. Recent topics include balancing being in a band while staying in school, the merits of taking music theory classes vs. learning by ear,  lead singer’s disease, and the gauge of his guitar strings. It’s actually quite a great read, and I have a feeling we’ll be linking back quite a bit more (RSS feed: added!)

-VN

[Ask the Dude]

As we first reported last month, At the Gates will tour the U.S. starting in July. Here’s the tour itinerary thus far:

July 10 – New York, NY – Irving Plaza
July 11 – Worcester, MA – The Palladium
July 12 – Montreal, QC – Le Medley
July 13 – Toronto, ON – Opera House
July 14 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
July 15 – Sauget, IL – Pop’s
July 17 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
July 18 – San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit
July 21 – Denver, CO – Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
July 23 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
July 24 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theatre
July 25 – San Francisco, CA- The Fillmore
July 26 – Pomona, CA – Glasshouse
July 27 – Hollywood, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre

Support will come from Darkest Hour, who I’m sure are thrilled to be touring with one of their biggest influences, and Municipal Waste.

Tickets for the NYC show were supposed to go on sale this morning, but the page mysteriously disappeared from the Ticketbastard website last night.

More to follow…

-AR

Our pals over at Metal Injection have boatloads of new videos from this summer’s Sounds of the Underground tour. They’ve already got interviews posted with members of Every Time I Die, Chimaira and the legendary Testament, and new interviews with Amon Amarth, Darkest Hour and Job for a Cowboy coming later this week. Also be sure to tune in for the hilarious Moscow Metal Minute search for the kings of blood and jizz, Gwar.

Visit MetalInjection.net for all the madness.

-VN

Legendary Swedish metallers In Flames have released the 4th video in the series of video diaries from the studio. The dudes from As I Lay Dying and Darkest Hour make an appearance in this one, as does the famous weekly “Naked Wednesday” event, of which the band seems to be very fond.

-VN

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