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There are two kinds of people who watch cartoons:
And I don’t think either one would be interested in a Def Leppard cartoon series that depicts “the five members of the group in a fictional, adventurous setting.” But that’s not going to stop the band from pitching one to the networks.
Let’s break down why this is a terrible idea.
Last year Baroness played a truly stellar set that left me weak in the knees; this year, despite having had actual knee surgery back in April, I felt pretty damn sturdy after dem “stoner-metal-meets-Ford-truck-jingle” Georgians finished their consistent yet largely humdrum set a couple weeks ago.
As many of y’all have commented recently, this year’s Blue Record is somewhat of a step down from 2007′s mostly strong Red Album (which in itself was a dilution in certain ways from the band’s prior EPs First and Second), and as can be expected, the live set has slightly suffered as a result. [Axl strongly disagrees. - Ed.]
Thankfully my assessment has more to do with the waning quality of songs/songwriting on the new album record — the band’s execution of said songs was pretty impeccable, and the energy was ferocious. But is that enough to sustain a whole set? Well, not for me — about halfway through I started getting bored by the even-keeled-ness of the sound — but I also feel compelled to recognize that the majority of the crowd seemed to by-and-large eat up every moment.
So who’s right? Well, as we hopefully learned last week, music criticism is not about right and wrong (despite some folks’ insistence on deeming others *wrong* for expressing their opinions, pedantic as they may be). I will continue to wish Baroness the best, and I truly hope that the next offering blows all previous efforts away. But I’d be lying if I said I’m not somewhat skeptical. Oh well — they can’t possibly fuck up a winning streak nearly as much as these watered-down dudes.
ANYWAY — the real question is, what be’d my favorite live set of the year?
Inspired by our realization that William Murderface looks just like pop star Lady Gaga, MS reader “Contoberfest” wins the MetalSucks 2009 Suckies Award for “Best Use of Photoshop While on the Clock at Work.” The only way he could’ve done better is if he did it on his iPhone whilst on the shitter (at work, natch — THAT’s productivity).
-VN
Them Crooked Vultures debuted in the Top 20… how ’bout that. Not surprising given the cast of characters, I suppose. MetalSucks guest blogger Devin mothafuckin’ Townsend debuted in the Top 200, while a few other metal releases maintained. It’s all holiday shlock and best-of compilations from hereon out.
[UPDATE: Devin will be calling in to the Metal Injection Livecast tonight at 8pm EST! Make sure you tune in; get details here.]
Soundscan shite after the jump…
Thanks to MS reader Kit Hart for pointing this out. The resemblance is uncanny!
-VN
I am working on my first, full blown musical… and yes (much to some folks’ chagrin), it’s a new Ziltoid record. It going to be called Z2, and I’m taking it to the moon.
MetalSucks photographer Diana Lee Zadlo was on hand at Philadelphia’s Electric Factory on November 1st to shoot the ruckus of Mastodon, Dethklok, Converge and High on Fire (for our own quick wrap of the NYC stop, check this out). Her stellar photography of all four bands, after the jump.
When we interviewed Metalocalypse creator / Dethklok frontman Brendon Small on behalf of our readers last month, he told us that members of Mastodon, members of In Flames, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Slash and others would all be doing voice-over work on the coming season of Metalocalypse. This alone gives reason to be excited about the new season if for some reason you wouldn’t be psyched about it anyway. Now we’ve finally got a sneak peak of one of the episodes, sent in by MS reader Christopher Silverio… and, no surprise, it’s funny. Season 3 begins November 8th!
-VN
Mastodon were damn good last night. It was my third time seeing them this year (!) and nothing is ever going to top seeing them at a 500-cap venue this past May… but I’ll fight you if you say Mastodon aren’t one of the greatest bands of our generation.
Dethklok were actually a lot more entertaining than I was expecting. The idea of seeing a cartoon band live is off-putting at first, but the bandmembers certainly have the chops and the video screen presentation made the whole thing work. It was fun.
Anyway, here’s the official video for Mastodon’s “Oblivion”; I’d post a live video, but the vocals are always embarrassing. Love this video anyway.
Sadly no beards attacked me and took me on magical journeys at the show last night (though Kip’s man-whiskers are looking mighty tough as of late). Did you read Tres Crow’s piece of creative writing, “The Mastodon Beard“? You should.
-VN
Not that we had any doubt Baroness’ Blue Record would have a strong debut, but it’s always nice to see the proof. And Skeletonwitch’s ripping new record Breathing the Fire had a great debut too; I’m elated to see the band sell as many records first week as they did. Elsewhere it was the usual radio rock / alt-metal suspects dominating the charts. Click through to see chart positions and sales figures.
I haven’t gotten to write a review of Brutal Legend yet because, well, I just haven’t had time to play all the way through the game, and it seems like writing a review of half a game or whatever isn’t fair. But I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played so far.
And it seems like the game owes a debt to Metalocalypse. Besides some similarities in general tone, style of humor, and a love of violence, there’s the fact that Legend takes place in a magical, faraway land where everything is related to metal and everything looks more or less like it belongs in Mordhaus. Obviously Metalocalypse already owes a debt to metal imagery as old as Sabbath itself, but… there’s definitely a connection between Dethklok and Brutal Legend.
So kudos to the fan who made the below video. At some point it might get yanked for copyright infringement, so enjoy it while you can… I have to say, it seems pretty impressive for something fan-made. And wouldn’t be awesome if there really WAS a Dethklok/Eddie Riggs crossover?
Major props to Christopher Silverio for sending this in… thanks, dude!
-AR
Pretty big week here at the MetalSucks Mansion. We laughed, we cried, we fired someone, we rocked out with our cocks out. Here’s a rundown of the highlights:
Alright. I’m going to see Where the Wild Things Are now. I’m fairly certain that it is going to make me weep like Gary Suarez. See ya Monday.
-AR
Last week we posted a call for questions to ask Metalocalypse creator / Dethklok frontman Brendon Small, and you all gave us your best questions in the comments. Later that day we hand-picked our favorite ones and got on the phone with Brendon to pass them along. Your questions his answers, below.
Five heavy hitting heavy hitters — Alice in Chains, Hatebreed, Austrian Death Machine, Steel Panther and Dethklok — all released new records last week. Solid 2nd and 3rd week performances from Three Days Grace, Muse, Megadeth, Five Finger Death Punch and others made it an all-around big week for metal. Let’s see how everyone fared after the jump.
Good morning, our fellow Metalocalypse and Dethklok lovers! So here’s the sitch. Vince is getting on the phone with Brendon Small in just a few hours, and he needs YOUR help getting some juicy questions for Brendon. Post a question in the comments section below by 3:30 pm EST today, and Vince will cherry-pick the best ones to pass onto Brendon. And if he chooses your question, well, maybe we’ll send you some banana stickers or something.
In case, for some inexplicable reason, you don’t know who Brendon Small is: the man – nay, genius – is the co-creator of Metalocalypse (as well as the equally awesome Home Movies), voices the characters of Skwisgaar Skwigelf, Pickles the Drummer, and Nathan Explosion, and will be the dude you see front n’ center when you go see Dethklok live. In other words, Brendon is the shit.
Dethklok’s Dethalbum II is out now on Williams Street Records, and the band is currently on tour with Mastodon, Converge, and High on Fire. Get a complete list of tour dates here.
The new season of Metalocalypse starts November 8 on Adult Swim. And the episodes are gonna be thirty minutes long now! Niiiiice.
-Axl & Vince
Wednesday night Vince and I went to Metal Insider’s totally bitchin’ Dethklok/Dethalbum II listening party, and while we did drink a lot of dollar beers and mack mad bitches (and by “mack mad bitches,” I mean “speak very politely to platonic friends of both sexes”), we could barely hear the album ’cause, y’know. It was in a loud bar and we were talking to people.
So we get to hear Dethalbum II for the first time with the rest of you. But I’m 99.9% sure it’s gonna rock.
It’s streaming right here. Give it a listen. It comes out this Tuesday on Williams Street Records.
-AR
Dethklok’s Dethalbum II promises to be twice as awesome as their Dethalbum – in fact, this record might actually make you kill people in horrifically violent ways, or be killed in a horrifically violent way, as the band’s fans often are on Metalocalypse. It’s that friggin’ good.
The album comes out September 29 on Williams Street, but our friends at Metal Insider are getting the party started early with a listening party here in NYC a week from today, Wednesday, September 23 at Fontana’s, the site of many an awesome metal party. This is your chance to get drunk, hear the record early, stalk Vince and myself, and throw yourselves at MI’s resident Quaker Jew, Bram Teitelman. Ladies, if you’re not a total cow and ask real nice, I’d wager Bram will sleep with you. Just putting that out there. He’s a very giving dude.
See ya there…
-AR
It’s past normal posting hours here at the MS Mansion, but as we were shuttering the gates for the day the Monkeys were going absolutely batshit so we went to go see what all the fuss was about… and apparently there’s a new Dethklok video that’s hit the web! The song is “Bloodlines,” and it’s on Dethklok’s new album Dethalbum II, available September 29th. Smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
-VN
Speaking of our friends at Metal Injection: they found these groovy clips which collect all the metal-celeb guest appearances on Metalocalypse. In case ya don’t know, everyone from Hetfield and Hammett to Corpsegrinder to King Diamond has done voice work for the show… one of many reasons why it’s worth your time.
Here’s the clips from season 1; check out season 2 after the jump. And don’t forget that Dethklok have a new album coming out, to be immediately followed by a ridiculously awesome tour with Mastodon, Converge, and High on Fire.
Comes out September 8 [UPDATE: release date is now Sept. 29. -Ed.] on Williams Street Records.
Suh-weet.
-AR
