Obey the Brave, the new project featuring former Despised Icon vocalist Alex Erian and ex-Blind Witness guitarist Jon Campbell, have released their first music video, for a song called “Live and Learn,” and I find that kinda silly, since we haven’t even been able to stream one single entire song by the band anywhere yet. Maybe OtB figured more people would check out a video online than would stream a tune? I’m not sure I agree with that logic, but fuck do I know?

ANYWAY, the video/song. Look. The song isn’t bad — but it is pretty generic 21st century metallic hardcore, and I’d be lying if I said I like it nearly as much as I like Despised Icon, who were one of those bands that actually gave deathcore a good name. I’m not sure I even would have made it through this whole clip if not for my respect for Erian and the work he did with his former outfit.

But watch the video below and make up your own mind… ’cause, as always, opinions are like assholes, blah blah blah.

Obey the Brave have also announced a bunch of tour dates to take place in and around their native Quebec. If you live in the area and wanna check ‘em out, said dates are after the jump.

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It’s no secret that I was way into Despised Icon before they broke up at the end of 2010. So I was excited to get an e-mail this morning from that band’s now-former frontman (or I guess I should say “one of their frontmen”), Alex Erian, announcing the formation of Obey the Brave, a new project which also features ex-Blind Witness guitarist Jon Campbell (no not that dude, they spell their first names differently).

Alas, we don’t actually know much about the band right now, as thus far they have only released the below video, in which they a) sit around a table and eat breakfast, b) introduce themselves to the camera and say nothing especially exciting in English for awhile, c) introduce themselves to the camera and say nothing especially exciting in French for awhile, and then d) around the 1:20 mark, finally let us hear a sample of their first single, “Live and Learn.” That being said, “Live and Learn” sounds like metallic hardcore done right — there’s a nice epic section towards the end of the sample that I really like — so fingers crossed, the band may turn out to be cool. Hopefully we’ll get to hear the full song soon enough.

While we wait for more music from the band, they’ve announced their first string of shows. Dates are after the jump; if anyone goes to see them, please drop us a line and let us know how they were.

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Yesterday, Eric Jarrin, who as the guitar player for Despised Icon until they broke up last year, e-mailed Vince to announce that he was re-joining the newly re-formed band Heaven’s Cry, who themselves broke up back in 2004. And Vince forwarded the e-mail to me, ’cause I’m the resident Despised Icon fan at MetalSucks.

But now I’m going to forward that e-mail back to Vince — or, y’know, maybe just wait for him to see this article — ’cause Heaven’s Cry really sounds nothing like Despised Icon, and are not my cup of tea at all: They’re a prog metal band with elements of power metal. In other words, they sound exactly the way you’d expect a band called “Heaven’s Cry” to sound.

I know that it must seem like I’m knocking them, but I’m not; like I said, this particular style of metal is, generally speaking, just not for me. I’ll leave it to the fans of this kind of stuff to weigh in on the worthiness, or lack thereof, of Heaven’s Cry.

You can see some old videos of the band performing on their official website, or listen to some old recordings on their MySpace page. The band will record a new album next year; in the meantime, Canadian fans can check them out when they open for Katatonia on September 18 at  Les Foufounes Electriques in Montreal.

-AR

I suspect that Skip the Foreplay intended their name to have positive connotations, but, really, all it does it illustrate the fact that its members probably have no idea how to please a woman.

They certainly have no idea how to please anyone with eardrums and a brain. I’ve never encountered them before, but this morning, a reader (who I’m relatively certain has some association with the band, although I can’t tell for sure) sent us a barely-literate e-mail encouraging us to check out their video for “The City (We’re Taking Over),” and it’s the kind of thing which makes me perfectly okay with the idea of the world ending. It’s like somebody took the most generic core music available and mashed it up with the most generic electronica available and mashed that up with a crying baby on an airplane. It’s that level of irritating.

What’s worse is that it features guest appearances not only from some musicians I could give a shit about (members of Sucked by a Sucking Suck and Blind Witness), but also by former Despised Icon co-frontman Alexandre Erian, I guess because he thought I enjoyed and defended The Ills of Modern Man too much.

Today is gonna fucking choke on giant elephant cocks, I can tell.

-AR

Ask 100 people their definition of deathcore, and you’ll get 101 answers, each different than the last. But the truth is that deathcore is actually really easy to define: it’s mallcore kids trying to play death metal, and try as they might, they will never quite get it right. Although that sounds like a criticism, it isn’t — the same raw, amateurish charm that made 80s hardcore like DRI and MDC great is the same reason why deathcore bands are awesome, even if they fail at their original goal of playing “sweet metal.”

Sure, their ham-fisted, clumsy attempts at playing “real metal” might be a little facepalm-worthy and/or lulzy at times, but on the other hand, they are a lot more interesting than the same old generic bullshit the br00tal death metal scene has churned out for years. Moreover, hardcore as a whole is just kids who try to play whatever kind of metal was cool 10 years earlier, so if you hate on deathcore you’re hating on the last three decades of hardcore!

In this article, I will present both a framework for assessing the history of deathcore, and my hypothesis about the future of the genre. Specifically, that deathcore has three, clearly-defined phases in its short history: Deathcore 1.0 (ripping off Gothenburgcore/melodeath), Deathcore 2.0 (ripping off br00tal death) and Deathcore 3.0 (ripping off djent/prog/wank/etc).

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It has come to my attention that some people are still confused about the difference between SLAM METAL and DEATHCORE. While they may seem similar to the novice observer, the truth is that they couldn’t be more different — in fact, they really have nothing at all to do with each other (srs). Think of it like Islam and Christianity: they some common roots, but at the end of the day they really have nothing to do with each other and will never see eye-to-eye.

In a nutshell, deathcore is what happens when some pretty boys want to be rockstars, and think that it’s super cool and scene to be in a “sick metal band.” The end result is basically generic death metal with some equally generic breakdowns, but since the guys in the band are cute and have a lot of tattoos, kids eat it up and they sell lots of t-shirts at their Warped Tour booth when they’re not busy banging their jailbait groupies.

On the other hand, slam metal is grimy, blue-collar death metal that is pretty much the most extreme, inaccessible and brutal metal subgenre on the planet. Slam is pure brutality: none of the pagentry or larger-than-life personas of black metal, gimmicky costumes of neo-thrash or artsy nonsense of drone, stoner rock and all that, just CRUSHING FUCKING SLAMS. Even diehard metal fans (like the readers of this site) hate slam, so if you are in a slam band it’s because slam is in your blood, because you are never going to make a dime or get famous from it.

While deathcore and slam are almost completely heterogeneous, let’s acknowledge that there is a small amount of common ground (at least at a superficial level. In both camps, you’ll find lots of mesh shorts, sweatpants, weed references, and merch that prominently features controversial slogans in Impact font — but that’s about where it ends. To me, the differences could not be more obvious, but apparently some people still have trouble making the distinction between the two. Because I enjoy giving back to my community, in this post, I will go over a few easy ways that you can tell the two apart!

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Well here’s a fun, intelligent, and above all else, exceedingly polite e-mail we got from reader Dan Wolfson last night:

Subject: PAINTED IN FUCKING EXILE YOU IDIOTS
From: dan wolfson
To: MetalSucks

WHY HAVE YOU NOT JIZZED OVER THIS VIDEO YET

FOOLS

So Vince actually had nice things (well, really, a nice thing) to say about this band as part of a Reader’s Choice round-up back in 2009, but as regular readers are aware, Vince is a much nicer person than I am. So please allow me to explain why I have not yet jizzed all over this video or this band:

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Remember when we posted Metal Injection’s totally awesome footage of Misery Index playing at the Brooklyn stop of Despised Icon’s farewell tour? It was two days ago, so you should.

Well, guess what? Metal Injection has now posted footage of Despised Icon playing at the Brooklyn stop of Despised Icon’s farewell tour! Below, you can check out “A Fractured Hand.” I like this song because the lyric I used for the headline often reminds me of my relationship with my family. Thanks for coming to drag me to rehab back when I was sucking cock for crack rock, mom and dad!

Unfortunately, this footage features no shots of Vince and myself wiggering out, or of the ugliest girl we’ve ever seen, and it only kinda-sorta gives you a sense of how big the pit was (no joke, the biggest pit I’ve ever seen at this particular venue and possibly in this particular borough), but I still enjoy it anyway.

Metal Injection have three more awesome clips of the last time Despised Icon will ever play NYC until they reunite in a few years; check those out here.

-AR

Earlier this month, we commemorated 9/11 the way any true patriot should — by going to the Brooklyn stop of Despised Icon’s farewell tour. Highlights of the evening included watching a bouncer threaten to beat the shit out of a 16 year old kid in a DI jersey who tried to sneak into the show, Vince and I getting drunk and doing the Panteradactyl all night, spotting the single ugliest girl we’ve ever seen in our lives (no joke, she looked kinda like this with tits), and, oh yeah, excellent sets from Despised Icon, Misery Index, and Revocation.

While we’re sad that you couldn’t all be there to share in the ridiculousness with us, we’re glad that our pals at Metal Injection were on-hand to capture some of the action. Here, for example, is an excellent video of Misery Index performing “We Never Come in Peace” and “Theocracy.”

You can also watch some killer footage of Misery Index performing “Heirs to Thievery” here. And I know that the MI dudes were filming during Despised Icon’s set, so hopefully we’ll get some footage of that soon, too.

-AR

Despised Icon are breaking up, and that’s a bummer, but at least they’re giving their fans one last chance to check ‘em out live before they call it quits. And if you’ve never seen Despised Icon in concert before, well, you really ought to — these dudes know how to bring it. And my recommendation should seem doubly impressive to you given that Despised Icon are basically French-Canadian wiggers, which, in theory, should really piss me off.

They’re bringing along Misery Index and Revocation, too — and both those bands absolutely slay live. These shows are gonna be fun, man.

Here are dates, courtesy of Lambgoat:

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In a move that will make the people that despise them despise them somewhat less, Despised Icon are breaking-up. They made the announcement today via MySpace, and while Blabbermouth reports that the statement has since been removed, no DI fans should get false hope – we hear that the band is really, truly over.

Which I find to be a bummer. 2007′s The Ills of Modern Man was a example of how deathcore doesn’t have to suck; while I enjoyed last year’s more traditionalist release, Day of Mourning, a little less, it was still totally solid. And I saw these dudes annihilate a live audience once. It would have been nice to seem them soldier on.

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The MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys work furiously to meet Lord Rosenberg’s demand that all snow in front of the Axl Annex be cleared immediately.

It’s fucking snowing out. Didja hear?

Here’s some cold, angry Despised Icon to kick-off what promises to be another cold, angry weekend.

And just to piss you off more:

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Mere hours before Gojira played the best show of 2009, our friends at Metal Injection interview G to the Jira main man Joe Duplantier, and even got him to pick his favorite metal videos. No shock: the man has good taste. So, needless to say, this is pretty awesome.

Vince’s own interview with Joe should go up sometime next week. You’ll wanna read that, too. Trust me.

-AR

While Despised Icon didn’t show up early to the deathcore party, they did manage to show up right on time with 2005’s laudably solid The Healing Process. Squarely at the intersection of technical death metal and tough guy hardcore, the band provided a then-fresh perspective on both genres with remarkable precision. Fast forward to 2009: deathcore is (relatively) big business now, and has, in its short existence, become a polarizing and ultimately tired genre. Any kid that grew up listening to breakdown-fueled hardcore can throw on a Suffocation shirt, meet a few other dudes that spend 8-12 hours a day practicing guitar, find a drummer one can trigger out of existence, and – BOOM! – you’ve got an honest shot at being signed to Sumerian or Victory. And yet, The Healing Process retains its fresh sound. This is, perhaps, the greatest disappointment in terms of Despised Icon’s latest outing, Day of Mourning: while there are certainly salvageable bits, it veers close to sounding like tired, triggered deathcore overall. Trying to keep up with the times has ultimately made the band a victim of them, and in a genre as massively overpopulated and interchangeable as deathcore, it’s an unwise decision to sound like anyone else.

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As evidenced by their new video, “Day of Mourning,” Despised Icon are the latest deathcore band to start making the move towards more traditionalist death metal (although co-vocalists Steve Marois and Alexandre Erian have retained their distinctly wigger sense of style). I’ve already heard some butt-hurt reactions from fans; like All Shall Perish’s The Price of Existence, DI’s last release, The Ills of Modern Man, was a kick-ass record that actually gave deathcore a good name (read Erik Thomas’ excellent write-up for Metal Review here), so some disappointed cries were bound to happen, I guess. Plus, nine times out of ten metal fans get pissy about the slightest change to a band’s sound anyways, so really any bitching and moaning is not shocking.

Everyone will get to decide what they think of DI’s musical evolution when Day of Mourning is released September 22 on Century. In the meantime, here’s the aforementioned video for the title track.

-AR

The MetalSucks co-sponsored Thrash & Burn Tour is currently about half-way through with its month-long U.S. trek. Those in California and the South have already gotten their Thrash on with MetalSucks faves Devildriver, Despised Icon, Veil of Maya, Periphery and Thy Will Be Done (among others), while those in the East and Midwest will get their chance in the coming weeks. After playing Baltimore last night, the tour picks up again tomorrow in New York City and then works its way through the Midwest, wrapping up August 24th in Minnesota. Is the end of August / summer really that close? FUCK!

Check out the full list of tour dates on the Thrash & Burn MySpace, and be sure to pick up your tickets in advance.

Everyone’s favorite French Canadian deathcore band, Despised Icon, have a new song, “MVP,” currently streaming on their MySpace page. The track comes off their new album, Day of Mourning, which drops September 22 on Century.

Preliminary thoughts: it’s a somewhat less core-y song than we’re used to from DI, but, frankly, I don’t find it as distinctive as anything from 2007′s excellent The Ills of Modern Man. Still, I’m anxious to hear the whole album and see what these fellas have cooked up.

Despised Icon are crushing skulls this summer on the MetalSucks co-sponsored Thrash & Burn tour. Get dates here.

-AR

Tickets for the MetalSucks co-sponsored U.S. Thrash & Burn Tour — headlined by DevilDriver and featuring Despised Icon, Veil of Maya, Periphery, Thy Will Be Done and others — have now gone on sale, and if you pre-order by the end of today you’ll also receive a free tour poster, and, if you order 4 tickets, a t-shirt! By ordering today (I feel like I’m selling a fucking Ginsu knife) you’ll also be automatically entered to win the “Ultimate Thrash & Burn Tour Package.” Only one winner will be chosen, and will receive:

The Ultimate Thrash & Burn Tour Package includes:
- A Thrash & Burn guitar, provided by Washburn
- Dinner with one of the Thrash & Burn bands of your choosing before the show
- A T-shirt pack, including a shirt from each band on the tour and a Trash & Burn tour shirt
- An autographed poster signed by all of the bands

Check out the full list of tour dates after the jump, and pre-order tickets here; remember, this deal is only good through today.

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I went to bed and when I woke up this morning a number of interesting bands had announced album titles and release dates for their new records. Wowza. So… here we go:

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As a co-sponsor of the 2009 run of the Thrash & Burn Tour, MetalSucks is pleased to announce the full, confirmed lineup of bands for this year’s trek. The tour will run through the U.S. from July 24th through August 30th, 2009, and will be headlined by MetalSucks-faves Devildriver. Support will come from Emmure, Despised Icon, My Children My Bride, Veil of Maya, For The Fallen Dreams, Oceano, Periphery and Red River Revival [UPDATE: Red River Revival will not be on the tour. -Ed.]

While we at MetalSucks can’t say we vouch for every single one of those bands, we appreciate the “something for everyone” angle of this year’s tour, and there’s absolutely no denying it; that is an amazing lineup, and if you aren’t interested in at least a few of those bands we highly suggest you stop drinking that Haterade pronto. We’ll be there for sure. We’ll have tour announcements for you leading up to and through the duration of the tour, including tour dates and cities very soon. As soon as we know, so will you!

See you this summer.