To me, nothing is as fully sweet like pop music played heavy and with controlled virtuosity. It’s like a famous master chef whipping up simple, delicious hot dogs for my face; it seems foolish to abandon such classic fare to high-volume/low-margin assembly lines, right? Hence my devotion to the jamz of Rush, Bay Area thrash, Iron Maiden, Deftones, Devin Townsend, Love/Hate, Blessed By A Broken Heart, and tons more snappy songwriters with big boner crunch.

So I warmly welcome Look Right Penny, whose debut album Sugar Lane (out Tuesday) is a slam dunk of pop-djent metal. Click to read more…

It’s been over three years since Deftones’ bassist Chi Cheng was in a serious car accident that left him in a coma. It’s been a long, difficult struggle for Chi and his family, but every little bit of news about an improvement in his condition, no matter how small, provides a much-needed boost of hope.

As shown in the following video posted on February 1st [via RoarRock], Chi is now able to move his leg when commanded:

A small step, sure, but still very encouraging. Chi is still otherwise unable to move or speak. More information, including how to donate to Chi’s medical care, is available at OneLoveForChi.com.

-VN

Perhaps inspired by last week’s stream of Deftones frontman Chino Moreno’s collaboration with Circa Survive’s Anthony Green, last week I finally got around to listening to the debut EP by another of Moreno’s projects, ††† (“Crosses”), his electronic collaboration with Far’s Shaun Lopez. I found the EP not just listenable but really, really good — after finishing it once, I started it over and listened to the whole thing again. Unlike our usual steady diet of metal, it was easy to let Crosses exist in the background while I worked, easy to enjoy the smooth electronic beats, blips, bloops and Chino’s distinct voice without devoting the music my full attention. Who ever said side-projects couldn’t be interesting?

Less than a year after the release of †, Crosses are back with their second EP… wait for it… ††. Rolling Stone is streaming the track “Prurien†” from the EP now, which you can and should listen to and download here.

Oh, and in case anyone is planning on reposting this and is wondering how you make the † symbol, it’s Option-T on a Mac (PC: I couldn’t tell ya). Copy-and-paste is sweet, too.

-VN

Photo credit: Tyler William Parker for Rolling Stone

Chino Moreno has always been one to extend his vocal talents far beyond the screaming, crooning and jumping around like a madman in high socks that he’s best known for as the frontman of Deftones. See his work with Team Sleep and Crosses, his guest appearances with Soulfly, Sevendust, Whitechapel, Korn, Norma Jean and many many more for proof that Chino’s ambition — and talent — runs deep.

The latest artist to receive the gift of Chino’s purdy voice is Anthony Green, best known as the heart-throbby lead singer of proggy alt-rockers Circa Survive, who will release his second solo record Beautiful Things on January 17th via Photo Finish. Anthony Green’s new song “Right Outside” has Chino all over it — it’s practically a duet — and the harmonies and vocal interplay are gorgeous, a whole different of Chino you’re probably not accustomed to hearing. Stream “Right Outside” at Rolling Stone, then come back here and tell us what you think.

-VN

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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How could they—how could they do this?! And to you of all people—

You, who so loyally downloaded each of their album leaks; you, who mobbed them outside their tour bus to plug your band they didn’t want to hear about at 1:45 in the morning; and, of course, you, who left an elitist comment on an MS thread about how KVLT they used to be and how nothing they’ve done recently is worth a damn—What nerve!

Bands change, and as human beings we’re hardwired to resist that. But deep down, in our own girly, paradoxical way, we sort of look for it, too. Ambivalence aside, if you were to investigate the primary reasons as to why the majority of the groups you like head south (not on tour), it would likely come down to the fact that they did actually change things. What you thought wasn’t broken they tried to fix anyway and now you’re left with an annoying buzz and a whole bunch of spare parts.

We go about saying “oh that band ‘sold out’” or “they used to be good, but now they’re just a bunch of pussycats.” But that’s not really all that descriptive. Music nerds love to complain, not explain, and maybe that’s the problem here. In this series we will explore the leading factors in a band’s artistic decline and examine just why it is that your rock gods of yester-year are now the radio slobs you can’t bear to hear.

Without further a do, Part 1!

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Deftones videos sometimes feature smokin’ scene chicks (here and here), but I even dig the ones in which singer/non-actor Chino Moreno stars awkwardly (here) and the ones comprised wholly of concert footage. And I endorse the latter as an ace advertisement for Deftones’ always-killer live shows and the hot Mexican emo girls who attend them. And that’s just what we have for Diamond Eyes‘ fifth official video, “Beauty School” (above), with bonus backstage peeks and a few choice shout-outs by drummer Abe Cunningham: He flashes a DVD of Abel Ferrera’s King Of New York and dons a T-shirt from Minneapolis venue First Avenue (as he did two Fridays ago at Lollapalooza). That shirt + Cunningham makes me flashback to a 1996 Deftones show at First Avenue after which my face was punched into a different area code. I’ll never again cooperate when an angry jerk asks me to allow him a running start.

-ADF

The Deftones tour is now winding through Europe and winding up in Russia, where the scene chicks are super-hot and, according to porn, will do anal with little cajoling. Cough dates here.

By all accounts, the Deftones’ two consecutive headline performances at New York City’s Best Buy Theater on May 13th and 14th were absolutely fucking awesome. For many, it was a chance to see a rare headline show by a band who doesn’t often makes it out to this coast. For my friend Eduardo, the May 14th show was a night of firsts: first metal show, first Deftones show, first moshpit, first (and second!) crowd-surf. For me it was a chance to get up front and get sweaty in the pit, something my old bones hadn’t done in quite some time. And for MS photographer Jacqueline Cheng, Friday’s May 13th show was an opportunity to snap some excellent pics of the Deftones and the two opening bands, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Funeral Party. Those pics after the mosh.

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We at MetalSucks got first crack at a Q&A with leukemia survivor Adam “Nergal” Darski in late March, at which point the Behemoth frontman sounded pumped for a return to action but still in the early stages of recovery; that is to say, the spirit was willing but the flesh weak, like in that Sting song. Since then, we tireless reporters/nosy jerks have been keeping two eyes on Nergal’s progress on the path to his band’s upcoming shows in October and, natch, to a lasting recovery.

And so we thank Hatebreed singer Jamey Jasta for sharing a pic (above) of himself and Nergal (probably) at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in London on Monday, at which Behemoth took home the Metal As Fuck award over Slipknot, Slayer, Deftones (?), and Zakk Wylde. For that big win, for his birthday on Friday, and mostly for his good and improving health, we say cheers brah! Win!

-ADF

Go here for info on how to help the battle against Leukemia. Here you can order Behemoth’s Abyssus Abyssum Invocat, a collection of out-of-print EPs Conjuration (2003) and Slaves Shall Serve (2005), live bonus tracks, lyrics, and new artwork.

Photo by Emily Di Frances

A few days before I crossed paths with the big Deftones and Dillinger Escape Plan tour last week, Deftones drummer Abe Cunningham told me that the band has only now emerged from years of intra-band discord and label battles. It kinda blew me away to hear that “it absolutely sucked” to be involved in the making of Saturday Night Wrist, a classic record which seems like the product of a thousand men’s pooled awesomeness, not of five embittered, isolated former friends (plus Bob Ezrin). The live shows from those fractious years gave no clue to their travails, either; they played awesomely killer always. Weird.

Cunningham’s words got me pumped to assess the newly happy, friendy, post-wake up call Deftones. The question: With no one to battle, would their blades grow dull? Does this band thrive on friction like fellow all-time raddest American bands Faith No More and Talking Heads? Are they poker-faced like other ego-rich Yank greats Slayer and Van Halen? Now that they are tight again, would their on-stage fury be sapped of its fuel?

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A dude could get used to the practice of semi-annually checking in with loud alternative rockers the Deftones. That’s the pattern at MetalSucks: Every other season, we pry into the personal and professional business of a band destined to be remembered as one of America’s all-time greatest (srs), the post-Cobain Faith No More and canonizer of real-head hall of fame acts like The Cardigans, Duran Duran, Suicidal Tendencies, and The Cure.

And the old Deftones — which, of course, were the young Deftones — seemed just as cocksure and drama-wracked as all those. However, this new, older Deftones is grooving smooth and hanging hard, said drummer Abe Cunningham in an epic gab with MS last week. (One never runs out of conversation topics with Deftones dudes.) Animated and way too modest, Cunningham talked me through even more Deftones details than I covered last time and last last time: The fun of recording awesome cover jams, their wake-up call when bassist Chi Cheng was seriously injured, his chemistry with Cheng’s replacement Sergio Vega and with singer Chino Moreno, their record deal then and now, and silly people like Helmet’s Page Hamilton and the big fat copycats in Shinedown.

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It occurred to me sometime this afternoon that Frankie Palmeri may very well read what I wrote about him earlier today, and decide the best course of action is to invite me onto his tour bus to settle our conflict through calm, intelligent discussion, only to sucker punch me when the bus door opens. Thus, I have come with a new rule for life: NEVER GO ONTO A TERRIBLE DEATHCORE BAND’S TOUR BUS. Seems simple enough!

While I contemplate Thanos Bison Reignz coming after me during a solar apocalypse, here’s a rundown of some of the fun shit we did this week:

• We broke the news of new System of a Down tour dates! I’m very proud of Vince for his investigative journalism skills on this one. He’s a regular Carl Bernstein, that one.
• We enjoyed another excellent tour blog from Eluveitie.
• We checked out the new release from Derek Roddy’s Serpents Rise.
• We wondered, “Is Hatebreed the best hardcore band of all time?”
• We whined about the Grammys.
• We made you a totally romantic Valentine’s Day mix.
• We learned the value of telling women we like metal up front.
• We discovered djentstep.
• We likened a Deftones concert riot to a Mad Max movie, ’cause we’re sensitive like that.
• Our friends at Decibel let you hear the previously unreleased Lamb of God tune “Hit the Wall.” Say “Thank you, Decibel.”

So, one last reminder: next week sees the release of Volume 2 of NYC Sucks, our totally free comp collecting awesome bands from the New York area. But if you’re a total sour puss and awesome free music does nothing for you, we’ll have some other fun shit, too. ‘Til then…

-AR

There’s a powerfully bittersweet scene in the Iron Maiden documentary Flight 666 in which a Costa Rican metalhead spends a few post-entry/pre-show moments lamenting the misfortune of Third World metalheads. He states:

When I was like 14 or 15, I heard Iron Maiden for the first time. [I thought,] ‘Oh, this is amazing! I-ron Maiden! Can you just imagine to see them live? Oh, [what a] shame — we live in the ass of the world.’ … [So, today's concert] is once in a lifetime! I have a friend who quit his job to be here today!

Though the show is hours away, the guy’s voice cracks with emotion and his gestures signify rising euphoria. He’s happy for himself and and those like him who waited most of their lives for the chance to see Maiden pound “the ass of the world” later that night. Intense, right? Now, swap out Maiden for the Deftones, Costa Rica for Thailand, and a full-tilt ass-pounding for a 90-minute delay followed by an outright cancellation. Yeah, then swap out euphoria for angry rioting:

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I was elated to see all the recommendations for good elephants marching riffs following my love letter to that conceit earlier this week. I was a little less elated to discover that there’s almost as much confusion over what qualifies as an elephants marching riff as is there over what qualifies as a taco riff.

For example, here are some excellent riffs by some excellent bands that some of you excellently suggested but which are, rather unexcellently, not elephants marching riffs:

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[UPDATE: Full tour routing has been posted here. - Ed.]

My good friend Eduardo, a non-metalhead (or “normie” as Juggalo Bob calls them), is a lifelong Deftones fan despite his status as a die-hard hip hip fan. As a youth growing up in Sacramento, CA Eduardo was ensconced in Deftones culture, kinda like you’d be hard pressed to find anyone born and raised in the NYC area who doesn’t like the Beastie Boys regardless of their other musical tastes. But the poor chap has never seen the Deftones play live. Since he moved to New York in 2005 and our friendship began we’ve been angling to see the Deftones live and for Eduardo to crowd-surf for the first time, but it’s just never happened. Deftones haven’t come to the East Coast much during that period, and when they have it’s been as support like on the recent BlackDiamondSkye tour. But we may finally get our opportunity.

The PRP is reporting [via Gun Shy Assassin] that Deftones will be touring this Spring with the Dillinger Escape Plan in tow. Three dates have already been leaked, so presumably more are on the way, and two of them are on the East Coast which bodes well for Eduardo and I. STOKED. That is going to be a moshfest of massive proportions. I hope Eduardo is prepared for the insanity! It’s always fun to see someone react to their first ever metal concert.

The three dates confirmed so far are posted after the jump.

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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 question was once again suggested by “Hipsters Out of Metal!” columnist Anso DF, and even though the Grammy nominations were actually announced last week, it still seemed like a fun debate to have. So:

WHAT ARE YOUR NOMINATIONS FOR BEST METAL GRAMMY?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

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While most new releases have trailed off into Christmas Music oblivion, there were still a few notable new metal albums trickling in last week. After the jump, a look at the meaningless sales numbers generated by new ones from After the Burial, Metallica, The Chariot and Yngwie Malmsteen with a look at a few other charting releases as well (take a look at the tags below if you wanna know who). Snarky commentary included, natch.

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One of the best things about the public library is the nerd-calming intimacy of ceiling-high bookshelves. It’s easy to feel calm and invisible amid the stacks, and therefore free to pursue the solitary nerdiness of books in, um, nerdy solitary. It’s a calming opposite of snooty record stores, where insecure dorkwads feel spotlit and browbeaten when, say, searching for a uncensored edition of Brandy’s Afrodisiac or buying a third copy of It’s Complicated.

So, yeah, the public library is actually quite private. Especially the unpoliced expanses of a major city’s main branch. That’s why so many times I’ve whirled around a corner to encounter a uppity homeless guy brushing his teeth (Honolulu), or a pair of crack bums in the throes of a mutual jack-off (Minneapolis), or a frazzled nanny stashing a soiled diaper in the Danielle Steel section (Santa Monica), or a teenaged Olivia Munn‘s whispered offers of a meth-for-homework swap (Shinjuku). You gotta stay on your toes. That doesn’t even count the everyday stuff, like the ever-present soiled condoms/female products, angry smears of feces, and seniors bickering with newspaper racks.

So to me, there is no more gratifying a fantasy than the new Deftones video for “You’ve Seen The Butcher” (below) off their horny Diamond Eyes record. It’s got a cozy library, some slamming pop metal, and buckets of blood where it belongs: coating the skin of four dozen sexy underwear chicks. And afterwards, there’s no need to blast yourself with a Purell canon. The only thing missing from the clip is a ZZ Top-style fool-to-cool resolution where I stumble upon the band and babes, drop my stack of stalker novels, and begin to twitch and sweat before being escorted into the band’s magical super-car for a full fashion makeover. Then straight back to the library to romance some bloody underwear hotties!

-ADF

The Deftones bring Diamond Eyes live to Europe in November/December then Australia in January. Dates here. Help Chi Cheng here.

Man, Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry is having a rough month. First, his arch-frenemy Steven Tyler finalized a spot on that TV show about pre-failures caterwauling hit songs while nervous. And this follows know-it-all beardo John Kalodner’s description of Perry as “completely wrong,” “jealous,” and “ultra-pissed off,” which supposes that Perry hoped that the AI judge seat was to be shared by the Toxic Talkshit Twins. Actually that would’ve been cute, every week Tyler perched gamely on Perry’s lap, stroking his abs while some featureless shriek-droid performs “Don’t Stop Believin’” to a theater of fame-wet spectators. Well, that’s what I dreamt last night anyway. Cough.

Anyhow, when Perry awoke and rolled off a pile of my money this morning, he was probably too crabby to just ignore the announcement that his band is the latest victim of an Atreyu Cover Version attack. It happened to Bon Jovi in 2004, when Atreyu launched an emo-guided missile of Twilight-level corniness at “You Give Love A Bad Name” (I complained all about it on The Deciblog). Then, an unapologetic lameness mine overturned both Faith No More’s “Epic” and “Clean Sheets” by The Descendents in 2008 and holy shit let’s not validate that type of ear-terrorism with discussion of any kind. (It never happened if everyone on Earth denies it. You fuckin’ deny that shit.)

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