MetalSucks

Now the nausea’s
In my guts
And I’m wrestling with doubt
The kind you get when your heroes
Sell you out
And as I watch the drawbridge come down
There’s mass extinction
On my mind
Human cruelty stains my thoughts jet black
I’ve got this feeling
Like things have gone too far and now we can’t get back

Here’s more fun shit that happened in the world of metal this week:

• We debuted new videos from Cradle of Filth and Arsonists Get All the Girls.
• We got exclusive tour blogs from Bison B.C.’s Dan And and Woe of Tyrants’ Chris Catanzaro.
• We spoke to members of Winds of Plague, Decrepit Birth and Born of Osiris.
• I counted down 50 things I love about Pig Destroyer, and then added a 51st.
• Ulrich Vs. Mustaine Vs. Ian and Zakk Vs. Ozzy made us laugh with glee.
• Kerry King Vs. Killswitch Engage was pretty funny, too.
• Dallas Coyle answered more of your questions.

Vince gets back from vacation tonight right around the time Repulsion take the stage, and then tomorrow, hopefully, Craig’s List will lead us to some Tool tickets. See ya Monday!

-AR

CORRECTION: PRATO’S QUESTION COMES FROM HERE. MY APOLOGIES TO PRATO. NO APOLOGIES TO MUSTAINE.THANKS TO BORIVOJ AT BLABBERMOUTH FOR SHOWING ME THE ERROR OF MY WAYS.

It has been a fantastic summer for feuds. Just, really top notch. Isis is mad at Revolver and I’m fairly certain that Revolver is mad at MetalSucks. Fear Factory would be like the new Van Halen, if Van Halen wasn’t still the new Van Halen. And I think it’s safe to say at this point that, pretty much no matter how this whole Dan Nelson/John Bush drama plays out, no one will ever take Anthrax seriously again (assuming they were still taking Anthrax seriously at all).

And now this. Ladies and gentleman, key founding members of three of the Big Four are now all ready to throw down. This is a clusterfuck of epic proportions. I wish you could all see my face right now, ’cause rarely am I this happy.

It’s a long story, and, as is so often the case, I am really just playing The Daily Show to Blabbermouth’s CNN. Here we go:

Click to read more…

I’ve of two minds with regards to the just-released album art for Megadeth’s Endgame. On the one hand, it looks pretty cool. I on the other hand, I have no idea what the fuck I’m looking at. It appears to be a bunch of dudes… with mohawks… in prison jumpsuits… walking amongst rows of books… surrounded by flowers… in outer space. If you told me that Dave Mustaine was about to ask us all to drink some very special Kool Aid, I’d believe you.

No matter. Endgame is a very good album, and I’m all for anything that isn’t the cover to United Abominations. Yech!

Endgame comes out September 15 on Roadrunner.

-AR

I imagine that when the members of, say, Daath get together for rehearsal, no one expects to be paid for said rehearsal. They’re all dudes who are friends – some of them even grew up together, if I’m not mistaken – and it’s not like they’re making squillions of dollars playing metal. Rehearsal, then, has to be viewed as an investment – get better as a band, put on a good show for the crowd, and, knock on wood, your band will get bigger and the money will come.

I also imagine it’s different being in someone’s solo band. If your boss is Ozzy Osbourne or Axl Rose or Dave Mustaine or Trent Reznor, there’s going to be a lot of money involved, and your creative input is going to be somewhat limited (I imagine). I know for a fact that the members of nu-GN’R are paid an annual retainer, just in case they’re needed; I assume members of certain other solo bands are given a similar (if perhaps less lucrative) deal. And actors definitely get paid to rehearse; granted, the rehearsal rate is less than the performance rate, but the unions insist that if you want an actor there for rehearsals, he or she must be compensated.

Now. Sebastian Bach’s record sales obviously are not what they used to be. But the guy still opens for arena bands, routinely plays large festivals, and, by his own admission, gets paid very large sums of money to appear on crappy reality shows. Doing something like, say, paying for his band’s member’s gas so they can get to rehearsal seems reasonable, especially when you’re talking about dudes like Metal Mike Chlasciak, who, even if he’s not exactly Zakk Wylde, has played with dudes like Halford, and is definitely a “known entity.”

Well, Baz disagrees. He’s looking for a new guitarist and a new bassist, and, more specifically, he’s looking for someone to do it for bubcus. Check out this statement from the Old Dude Gone Wild:

Click to read more…

One of the many, many topics we discussed on Friday night’s Metal Injection Livecast (which I fully intend to keep plugging until you’ve all downloaded it) is the new Megadeth album, Endgame. Decibel has already asserted that it’s Mustaine’s best work since Rust in Peace; I think that might be pushing it a little, but it’s most definitely his best since Countdown to Exctinction.

At some point during all the yelling, MI’s Noa Avior tried to bring up Cryptic Writings a bunch of times as a good ‘Deth record that has been released in the years since Countdown. But because I’m a self-involved prick, I never even heard her, and that’s one debate we didn’t get to have.

So let’s have it now. Honestly, Cryptic never made that big an impression on me, although I do recall enjoying the single, “Trust.” It’s not the speed metal kinda thing I think most of us expect from Mustaine and whatever three other dudes are in his employ at any given moment, but it is a pretty good song.

So now I leave it to you Megadexperts to argue about the ins and outs of the rest of Cryptic Writings. Weigh in with your thoughts below.

-AR

[Sent in by Ash H. via TotallyLooksLike.com]

This Dave Mustaine talking about Megadeth’s recent tour with Slayer. I’ve added some emphasis:

“I’ve gotta tell you, the tour with Slayer was really, really cool. I saw Kerry [King]. Kerry was out watching us last night on two separate occasions, and although I didn’t get a chance to see [Slayer], it was really good to know that the ice is melting. I sent them over a couple of peace offerings on the way from Edmonton to Calgary and those guys had a nice trip on the way down in the bus — we flew.“

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There’s something reassuring about knowing that people one sometimes considers cooler than him or herself were not, in fact, always so cool.

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So that whole Slayer/Megadeth tour kicked off this week – still no U.S. dates announced, by the way – and, as is the general course of things these days, Megadeth played a new song, someone filmed that new song and stuck it up on YouTube, then it wound it up on Blabbermouth, and now I’m posting it here. Anyone else remember when video bootlegs were a somewhat more difficult item to come buy, purchased at shows and sometimes shitty flea markets and then inevitably shared and swaped with friends ? Oh, the joys of VHS to VHS recording!

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Thanks to our bro-bros at Metal Injection for bringing to our attention that one of the greatest metal documentaries of all time, Penelope Spheeris’  The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years, is now available online, in its entirety, absolutely free (And FYI, in case ya didn’t know – Spheeris would go on to direct another classic of cinemetal, the original Wayne’s World.).

For some reason this 1988 classic – which includes amazing interviews with Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Steven Tyler, Taime Down, Riki Rachtman, Bill Gazzarri, members of Poison, Kiss, and Armored Saint, and, most infamously, a very, very, very drunk Chris Holmes of W.A.S.P. – isn’t available on DVD, and I honestly don’t even know anyone who owns a VHS player anymore. So if for some reason you’ve never seen this film, you MUST watch it now – especially since I’m fairly certain that this is not a legal rip. Watch it now before the lawyers take it down.

-AR

Twenty days ago it was announced that Burton C. Bell and Dino Cazares would be joining forces for a new project with Gene Hoglan and Byron Stroud; at the time, I wondered why the hell what is basically a Fear Factory reunion wasn’t going to be called Fear Factory.

Well, turns out it will be called Fear Factory.

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Last week Dave Mustaine made some typically coy statement about touring with a band and squashing a “potential feud,” and using a mixture of common sense and sheer stupidity, I predicted that the band in question was Slayer.

And now Metal Underground says I’m right:

“Two of thrash metal biggest names will be joining forces for a tour together later this year. The event is expected to be announced officially next month along with details regarding support etc. Tour dates will be revealed shortly. By the Fall, both bands are expected to have released their new studio albums which are due to be released this summer.”

I have no confirmation of this news and haven’t seen it reported anywhere else, but I don’t mind admitting that I really, really hope it’s true. I don’t see how self-respecting metalhead could ever pass up the opportunity to see a Megadeth/Slayer co-headlining tour.

-AR

Thanks to MetalSucks Maniac Ryan Wineman for bringing the Metal Underground piece to my attention.

Baseball season officially got underway and New England Metal and Hardcore Fest is coming up next weekend. Surely all is peachy in the world then, yeah? Not so much.

• Dave Mustaine feuded with a mystery band, then kissed and made up before we even knew it.
• Protest the Hero released a new video and gave us a bunch of tickets for their tour to give away.
• We spoke with Daath’s Eyal Levi and TAD/Tadgarden’s Tad.
• Kip W. gave us two recaps (Day 1, Day 2) of our booze-fueled SXSW journey.
• Fear Factory got back together… except not.
• Ya’ll argued about which Mastodon album is the best and whether Jesse or Howard was/is the better KsE frontman.
• Ya’ll argued even more about IWRESTLEDABEARONCE and Oceano.
• We got an exclusive red carpet report from Metallica’s Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

See you next week. New England Metal and Hardcore Fest!!

Blabbermouth tells me that Dave Mustaine has released yet another of those bizarrely cryptic messages (No, I’m not going to make the obvious joke) he digs so much:

“Today is the 9th of April and I have agreed to doing something last night that I am sure a lot of people are going to be very excited about, and something that I had hoped would one day lead to another one of the potential feuds going away for good, if not for a long while.

“I can’t confirm the band or the dates yet, and I have to go get my youngster up for school. Rest assured, as soon as we are ready to announce it, you will be one of the first to know.”

Man, Mustaine loves his teases, don’t he?

Click to read more…

As reported here previously, on Tuesday March 24, 3/4 of the incomparable Soundgarden reunited onstage at a Seattle concert venue. Kim Thayil, Matt Cameron, and Ben Shepherd tore through a short but potent set that featured three classic tracks: “Hunted Down”, “Nothing to Say”, and “Spoonman”. On the microphone was none other than MR. TAD DOYLE, the Seattle legend that previously brought us TAD and HOG MOLLY, two heavy ass projects that demolished any attempt to define the so-called grunge sound. (His latest endeavor BROTHERS OF THE SONIC CLOTH continues in that awesome tradition.)

Some reporters would have hounded absent frontman Chris Cornell for comment (full disclosure: I sent him an unanswered tweet), but being me I knew the man I really needed to talk to was Tad himself. Thankfully, he was gracious enough to reply to my inquiry and we efficiently arranged a call. If I learned anything from my twenty minutes on the line with him last week, it’s that your musical heroes can sometimes turn out to be totally awesome, down-to-earth people. Tad Doyle is a rock star devoid of ego and bursting with passion and sincerity under an otherwise laid-back personality. As you’ll discover for yourself below, he totally fucking rules.

Click to read more…

Vince, Kip, and Anton OyVey are all down at SXSW, but don’t worry about lil’ old me; Higgins and I got shit covered. Here’s what happened in the world of metal this week:

• We all finally got to hear the new Mastodon album! Needless to say, intense debate ensued.
• We spoke to Wolves in the Throne Room drummer Aaron Weaver and Lazarus A.D. bassist/vocalist Jeff Paulick.
• No penis? No Dir En Grey!
• Is this new Teagan and Sara shirt metal as fuck, or total hipster bull pucky?
• The Megatallica rivalry continued as we watched Dave Mustaine kill on Jeopardy and Lars Ulrich eat it on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
• Fieldy = Jesus
  
• Read Vince’s initial SXSW reports here and here!

Alright-y, then. Higgins and I are off to make like chimneys and blow smoke. See ya Monday!

-AR

Fairly self-explanatory, isn’t it?

PART I:

Part II after the jump.

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Finally… we have a capable, intelligent, forward-thinking new U.S. president. No, it’s not Dave Mustaine. Here’s what else happened this week:

• We wondered aloud and speculated about Slayer’s co-headline tour, New England Metal & Hardcore Fest, Scion Rock Fest (aka Atlanta Metalfest), and The Faceless’ headline tour. This spring just got awesome.
• We ran to the hills to avoid a shitty classic metal cover. Meanwhile, we found Iron Maiden in Iran and on the big screen.
• We got sexi(vious) with members of Cynic and Textures.
• We looked at new releases from Satyricon, Cattle Decapitation, 16 and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder.
• Maynard got all Jiu-Jitsu on our asses and Carcass played a wedding.

Axl, myself and our girlfriends (we have girlfriends… whowouldathunkit???) are going to see The Dark Knight on the IMAX tonight. Hopefully weed will be involved. Later, suckaz!!

I don’t actually have any news about Dave Mustaine or the new Megadeth album. I’ve just been seeing the above headline or some variation thereof a lot as of late, and wanted to know what it would feel like to type it.

As it turns out, anticlimatic and a little douchey. Hm.

-AR

Be sure to check out the brilliant documentary Get Thrashed: The History of Thrash Metal, now out on DVD. The biggest revelation is that, according to Dave Mustaine, Dave Mustaine invented thrash. The below video is his direct transcribed quote starting at 3:33 (half of Satan???):

“The sad thing, and this is really strange, when Kerry [King] was playing with Megadeth I showed him a lot of my style. Kerry’s a good guitar player, for rhythm he’s great. In Metallica, I was the only guitar player and a lot of that rubbed off on James [Hetfield]. And in Megadeth it was all my guitar playing and hired hands who learned what I was doing.

So, out of all of this, and this is totally gonna sound arrogant and I’m sorry but I am just telling you the facts, I’ve affected three bands out of the Big Five.

Click to read more…