Jeff Loomis has been teasing a new solo album since July of last year, with increasingly juicy bits of information slipping out all the time — like the fact that it will feature guest appearances from multiple former Megadeth guitarists (namely, Marty Friedman and Chris Poland), PLUS Tony MacAlpine, PLUS, oh yeah, some dude named Ihsahn.

Now here’s the most important tidbit yet: the album will be called Plains of Oblivion, and will be out on April 10. That’s the cover art below, and it looks appropriately epic to me.

One more thing: the track list for the album has also been released. I generally find track lists boring and not-newsworthy (“Ooh! There’s a song called ‘Escape Velocity!’” Okay, whatever, let me know when I can actually hear the damn song.), but in this particular instance, I think the track list actually is kinda newsworthy, for one simple reason: it lets us know that Attila Vörös, who was a live co-guitarist for Loomis in Nevermore, is also on the album. So, y’know, more reasons to get excited.

April 10 cannot come soon enough…

-AR

It’s pretty cool that we live in a time where it’s once again cool to be able to play your instrument, like, really well. Even five years ago a dude like ex-Nevermore guitar god Jeff Loomis would never have had a chance for his instrumental shred solo album to be celebrated in the media; shit, it probably would’ve just been outright ignored outside of instrumental guitar metal circles and guitar magazines. I mean, even with widespread appreciation for instrumental metal in 2012 it’s not like Pitchfork, Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan or NPR are suddenly gonna start jocking Jeff Loomis — being really good at an instrument is still uncool in those places and will be forever uncool (“it’s, like, totally soulless, man!”) until it’s ironic and meta to shred — but hey, differing opinions make the world go ’round, those metal outlets are all great at what they do, and fortunately for you we happen to be of the opinion that playing a million notes a minute fucking rules.

So: Loomis has been teasing his second solo album ever since quitting Nevermore and we’re finally starting to see what that album might look and sound like. Last week we learned that Marty Friedman, Tony MacAlpine and Chris Poland have all done guest solos for the album — how’s that for a legendary triumvirate? — and today we come to find out via a press release that the mighty IHSAHN — formerly of Emperor, currently of his own absolutely phenomenal solo band — will be lending his trademark black/death metal snarl to one track. Sez Loomis on how the collabo came together:

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Ihsahn has only performed once in North America thus far — at this year’s ProgPower Festival — which means that most of us who live in these parts have never had the opportunity to see the man perform his awesome, awesome solo work live in the flesh.

So hoo-ray for the below video, which is a relatively high quality of an Ihsahn performance in Tokyo from earlier this week. His backing band, of course, is the mighty Leprous, who are also quite cool, so this video is twice as must-watchable as it woulda been already. Enjoy!

-AR

[via Heavy Blog is Heavy]

Not Seth Putnam

One mind-blowing aspect of Devin Townsend’s Deconstruction album is its coterie of guest personnel. A who’s-who of pivotal screamers, the list includes that awesome dude from Gojira, legendary super-stud Ihsahn, and extreme metal’s loveliest alto, Tommy Rogers from Between The Buried And Me. And though Townsend rightly rushes to downplay the distraction/sketchy motives of high-profile guest contributions, it’s exciting as shit for metal fans to have those guys — plus studz from Meshuggah, Cynic, and Gwar — all in one place.

Likewise, I super-hail Chino Moreno and his 2005 Team Sleep record, which finds the Deftones frontman enlisting the non-metal voices and pens of Helium’s Mary Timony and Rob Crow of Pinback (above). Each sings awesomely on at least two of the self-titled album’s jamz (e.g. “Our Ride To The Rectory” with Crow here). Just like Townsend’s gang on Deconstruction, Crow’s and Timony’s presence legitimizes the album (ie. busy, inspired aces wouldn’t appear on some hack shit) and helps it to achieve a specialness, like the NBA All-Star game or the time I ate a pizza that a bag of Cheetos had spilled onto (aka Cheetzza©). Best of all, it makes me feel in sync with another human being (Moreno) who happens to ass-worship Timony and Crow and um Moreno. It’s like finally somebody put my needs first when making an album!

Okay here we are at paragraph three, so I bet my editors would like me to deliver on the headline’s promise :) Speaking of Team Sleep MVP Rob Crow, you love the dude cuz he’s awesome (see also: Optiganally Yours’ Exclusively Talentmaker!), and cuz he’s metal (see: his non-serious doom metal project, Goblin Cock), and cuz on his new solo album He Thinks He’s People, he offers an affectionate tribute to Seth Putnam, the recently deceased Anal Cunt mainman and author of history’s best song titles. Check it out and chuckle after the jump!

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If you’re a regular MetalSucks reader and you like Ihsahn — and there’s a good chance you do like Ihsahn very much considering MS readers voted his album After as their collective #1 favorite of 2010 — then you’re already familiar with Leprous whether you know it or not. The entirety of the dudes that make up Leprous are Ihsahn’s live backing band, meaning European readers who’ve been lucky enough to see Ihsahn live have basically already seen Leprous and any Americans attending ProgPower in Atlanta next month will get to see them too. That should be enough to immediately validate Leprous… but we’ve got new music for you too.

No coincidence then that the Leprodudes convinced Ihsahn to lend his trademark vocals to the track “Thorn” on their forthcoming album Bilateral, out August 22nd in Europe and August 23rd in North America via InsideOut Music (pre-order here). Leprous are more outwardly proggy than their work with Ihsahn might suggest, but no less skilled; Bilateral is an engaging and unique listen that’s sure to appeal to progressively minded metal-heads. Check out the worldwide exclusive premiere of “Thorn” below.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

Norwegian black metal is a genre whose history is fraught with controversy and full of murder and church burnings and all other manner of awfulness.  So, naturally, Norway has now given twenty of its diplomats “a black metal crash course,” according to this report:

“The objective is to show Norwegian culture in all its diversity. In the musical field, it goes from (Romantic music composer) Edvard Grieg to black metal,” its deputy head Steinar Lindberg said, adding he hoped to repeat the experience.

“In Italy, Japan or France, young people are learning Norwegian to decrypt the lyrics. Black metal is an export product and it’s important that future diplomats are interested in it,” he added.

Of course, I’m only kidding about the looming shadow of some assholes from twenty years ago being a good reason not to teach this stuff to Norwegian diplomats. Really, I guess Norway deserves a pat on the back for being so chill. So, y’know, three cheers for Norway.

On a semi-related note, my favorite part about the article where we found this story is that they opted not to use a photo of a member of Emperor or Mayhem or Enslaved, but, rather, a picture of Ronnie James Dio, who was neither Norwegian nor a black metal musician. Oh, the mainstream media. So lulzy when they try to cover metal!

-AR

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed us about this.

Last month, to celebrate Ihsahn’s  live U.S. debut at ProgPower USA on Friday, September 16, we launched what has to be one of our most exciting contests ever — the chance for one lucky MetalSucks reader and a guest not just to meet the former Emperor mainman, but actually hang out with him, share a few beers, pick up free swag, and watch his set from in front of the stage barrier, too.

Well, all the entries are in, and a winner has been selected: MetalSucks reader Jenn Lee. Congrats, Jenn! It’s not often that we’re actually jealous of the winner of one of our own contests, but we’re jealous of you!

And if you didn’t win, you can still attend ProPower USA and have a great time — beside Ihsahn, there’s lots of other cool artists playing the fest, including Sanctuary, Therion, and Dream Evil — so you know this is gonna be a good time! Get tickets here.

MetalSucks readers know we’re HUGE fans of Ihsahn, and were completely blown away by his solo release last year, After – which is why we’re beyond stoked that he’ll be making his live U.S. debut at ProgPower USA on Friday, September 16.

To celebrate, we’re giving one lucky MetalSucks reader and a guest the chance not just to meet Ihsahn at the festival — but to actually hang out with the legendary musician! Here’s how this is gonna work:

• Between now and Friday, June 10, purchase a ticket to ProgPowerUSA. Tickets are available here. In addition to Ihsahn, there’s lots of other cool artists playing the fest, including Sanctuary, Therion, and Dream Evil — so you know this is gonna be a good time!
• E-mail proof of your ticket purchase to progpowerusa AT gmail DOT com with the phrase “IHSAHN/METALSUCKS CONTEST” in the subject line.
• A random drawing will be held to determine the winner, who will be announced on Monday, June 13.
• That winner and a guest will get a private meet and greet with Ihsahn the day of the show. This will not be a simple stand in line/photo/autograph/ass out the door kind of situation — the winner will be able to hang out with Ihsahn for awhile, have a beer or two, get some cool swag, etc.
• The winner will also be given a special pass to watch Ihsahn’s entire set from in front of the stage barrier.

And that’s it! This has to be one of the coolest contests we’ve ever run. So go buy your tickets and enter now!

Good luck…

-Axl, Vince, and Everyone at MetalSucks

Ah, Valentine’s Day. Reviled by most, enjoyed by the smug, and shrugged off by the belligerently ambivalent. But while most of us couldn’t care less about this specific day in February, it’s still an annoyance that comes around every year. Kind of like the common cold.

Now, most places will have shitloads of “quirky” recommendations you can do with your special someone, even if you’re of the metalhead persuasion. You can hold sweaty hands in the privacy of your parents’ basement, pour each other some classy Motorhead wine, and share a blood pudding in the dreamy light of those church candles. It’s all very nice and sweet to be… nice and sweet.

But you know what’s better? DOING IT. With a killer soundtrack. So on this very special day, I’ve made you all a romantically inappropriate mix tape.

Picking “mood” songs is a little too obvious for my taste. I mean yeah, Faith No More’s “Stripsearch” (Actually, that might be more of a stripping song than a sexing one, but ,hmm, “Evidence” maybe? Heh, “Be Aggressive” might work for some. Either way, Patton’s voice = nudity.) and NIN’s “Closer” are both appropriate (for very different reasons), but that’s no fun. Go forth and find that special someone willing to get, get naked to these select songs. There’s a little something for everyone. St. Valentine would’ve wanted it that way.

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My bros from the popular easycore/pop band Fight Fair

Spend a few minutes observing the crowd at a metal show, flipping through the pages of Decibel, or reading MetalSucks, and jot down the first words that come to your mind. If you’re like me, your list will contain many of the following phrases: “low self-esteem,” “poor social skills,” “inferiority complex,” “outcasts,” “doughy physique,” “repellent personality” and “virgin.” It’s not just that I’m an ignorant, elitist dick, I also have the support of the world’s leading scientists:

Social animals in a hierarchic community have a certain rank. Three of these ranks have attracted special attention in ethology and been given special names: alpha, beta and omega.

A beta animal is an animal that will act as a new alpha animal if the old alpha dies. In some species of birds, the males pair up in twos when courting, the beta male aiding the alpha male. The beta male does not generally get to mate with the female birds, but if the alpha dies, he takes over the alpha’s females, becoming the new alpha. Omega (usually rendered ω-male) is an antonym used to refer to the lowest caste of the hierarchical society. An omega is subordinated to all others in the community. The omega is commonly the last allowed to eat.

Lettuce be reality, brahs: listening to metal is beta as fuck. But it begs the question: is there a way to be alpha, yet still listen to metal??? In short, the answer is YES, as long as you play your cards right. Because I find it so rewarding to give back to the community, in this post I will give you all the tools you need — details after the break!!

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Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli.

In 1998, there was Lords of Chaos. In 2008, there was Until the Light Takes Us. Somewhere between that, aired amongst a bunch of shitty Victory ads on Headbangers Ball, there was this. One might logically conclude that, between this biography, documentary and $100-budget commercial, the history of black metal has been comprehensively documented.

Not so! With this much personality, talent, vision, rampant egotism and disdain for non-Aryans, the genre remains entertainingly unstable — the more you talk to its original practitioners, the more weird new anecdotes bubble up to augment a perpetually-contested whole. That — along with the need to finance multiple third-term back-alley abortions for the staff’s favorite strippers — is why we’ve concocted our second exclusive Decibel one-off, the Black Metal Hall of Fame issue.

Our staffers busted ass to bring you eight tales from black metal’s vast crypt. Three of them you’ve never seen before — touchstones from Burzum, Satyricon and Rotting Christ — and the Darkthrone feature was only previously available in our HOF anthology, Precious Metal. This monster’s not included with subscriptions and is only available online and at select indie record retailers starting around November 8.

The final roster is, as you can see above, Immortal, Burzum, Venom, Darkthrone, Emperor, Satyricon, Enslaved and Rotting Christ. I’m too lazy to copy and paste the album titles, but are there any bands you’d prefer for a prospective round two? (Bear in mind that everyone’s gotta be alive to do these things, so no dice on Bathory and Mayhem.)

-AB

Please help the staff of Decibel finance all the necessary third-term back-alley abortions for their favorite strippers by purchasing the special Black Metal Hall of Fame issue here. You can also help contribute to this tremendous cause by buying yourself a copy of the December 2010 issue of Decibel or, better still, buying yourself a full subscription.

2010 is shaping up to be a great year for black metal; Ludicra’s fantastic The Tenant and Burzum’s comeback album Belus (love Varg or hate him) have already impressed and ex-Emperor frontman Ihsahn released a stellar new solo album in After (which admittedly isn’t very black metal at all). Much-hyped new releases from Nachtmsytium and Keep of Kalessin are on the way, Krallice are keeping busy on the road, and then there’s this: a rousing new track by New York City newcomers Castevet.

Castevet are new to me, although they released a 7″ in 2009; thanks to the gents at Crustcake for putting me onto them, both in person (thanks Gerf) and on the blog. Like Crustcake, new song “Grey Matter” has piqued my interest in new album Mounds of Ash, recorded by Krallice’s Colin Marston and scheduled to see the darkness of night on May 25th. The Marston matching is definitely a good fit; like Krallice, Castevet bring a certain amount of technicality to the table that isn’t usually present in black metal and mix it with blackened psychedelia. Maybe we’re witnessing the birth of progressive black metal first hand.

Check out “Grey Matter” below, courtesy of the band’s label Profound Lore.

Castevet – “Grey Matter”

-VN

A little more than one-quarter of the way through 2010, Ihsahn’s After still ranks at or near the top of my list for the year. It’s just so dynamic, so well-thought out, musically astonishing and full of subtleties… and it’s just as good with every repeated listen. Picking my favorites is not getting any easier as the year rolls on, though — new entries from Nachtmystium, The Ocean, Unleashed, Levi/Werstler, Nevermore, Son of Aurelius, Tryptikon and yeah of course Ratt are gonna make 2010 another stellar year for metal.

Of course Ihsahn’s live shows are just as awesome judging by the video below, my first glimpse at the ex-Emperor playing live. If Ihsahn ever decides to take his show to the roads of the U.S. there’s no way the production will match this, filmed at Oslo’s Inferno festival a week ago — like there’s no way we’d get all those lights or saxophone player Munkeby [of Norway's Shining, who also happen to have put out one of my fave albums of 2010]… but I’ll bet it’d still be pretty intense. Come on Vegard, do it.

-VN

I guess some metal dudes are annoyed by neo-thrash metal bands like Warbringer, Mantic Ritual, and Municipal Waste. No scene is fun for everyone, so whatever, to each his own and all that. But even if Whorebanger, Spandex Ritual, and Munificent Waste make music of no appeal to your fun-hating ear, frankly, I still insist that you acknowledge their value to metal as a genre. First, each makes music that sounds like five guys making music, which feels great when you’re overwhelmed by metal that sounds like the universe collapsing onto itself (SYL, Emperor), a jet landing in your eye socket (Hate Eternal, Minus’ Jesus Christ Bobby), or mankind’s overthrow by fridge-raiding Nazi robots from the future (Fear Factory). Of course, I love that enormity in metal, especially when it’s the expression of an awareness of Earth’s microscopic significance in the universe. But sometimes it’s more fun to just rock out with a bunch of heshers. That’s good thrash metal. It sounds great at the beach.

And a second and unexpected side effect of neo-thrash’s artistic and commercial successes is their impact on other metal bands. This is all conjecture and surmise, but Municipal Waste’s records are big winners, and now we got a goddamn fucking D.R.I. reunion tour to enjoy. And isn’t it reasonable to conclude that Warbringer’s success would provide a shot of confidence and vigor to elder thrash bands, like fucking awesome Overkill? If you’ve heard their excellent 238th record, Ironbound, you know it’s all energetic and snappy metal (normal for them), but also that it’s their most unabashedly thrashy record in forever. And few deserve wallet-love as much as Overkill, who, contrary to their name, exemplify the unpretentious hesher approach. (See The Years Of Decay‘s “I Hate” which features gang vocals that sound like six dirtballs hollering out the back of a van, not a million-strong army of angry mutant outcasts, like say “Hook In Mouth” by Megadeth.) Big sales or not, Overkill did their part and made a metal record to be reckoned with. For this, we can thank the best neo-thrash bands and fans. For the best parts of neo-thrash, we can thank Overkill.

-ADF

What do you think Varg is thinking about in this photo?

Reader K-Milo alerted us to the fact that Stereogum recently conducted an interview with the man of the hour, Varg Vikernes. Most of it is exactly the kind of idiotic nonsense you’d expect from this creep – he slams Wolves in the Throne Room (“I haven’t even heard about them before”) and a lot of his Norwegian peers (Enslaved, Immortal, Emperor) who are considerably more talented than he is (“These guys are fucking rats, or they play in bands with rats”) – but there is one section of note: when the topic turns to Vikernes’ political views and his fanbase:

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If not, you’re seriously missing out.

After is easily my favorite thing released so far in 2010, up there with Shining’s Blackjazz… with whom Ihsahn shares a saxaphone player, interestingly enough. Those expecting black metal akin to Ihsahn’s Emperor alma mater should look elsewhere, because you definitely won’t find that here. I find the music on After to be uncategorizeable other than just “metal” and [perhaps] distinctly Scandinavian. It’s avant garde, it’s experimental, it’s deep and it’s complex yet catchy and accessible, but it doesn’t come close to fitting into any pre-defined niche. It’s just really, really fucking good music, the kind you just know is the result of intense scrutiny of every single sound and note.

Check Sammy O’ Hagar’s glowing review of After as well as his fascinating interview with the man himself.

Ihsahn’s only got one song from the new album up on his MySpace page (“The Barren Lands,” all the way at the bottom of the player), but even this one song gives a good taste of what After is about (though by no means summarizes it).

-VN

Ihsahn’s After is perhaps the biggest curveball of his career thus far. At the very least, the man deserves credit for combining prog rock, technical death metal, and nimble saxophone accompaniment into something other than an unlistenable clusterfuck. But After is more than a non-clusterfuck: it’s easily the most distinctive of his post-Emperor work, if not possibly his best as a solo artist. For the first time, In the Nightside Eclipse sounds like an eon ago, if not foreign altogether.

Of course, Ihsahn is aware of this. The man sounds proud when talking about his latest, the last of his first trilogy of solo albums, as well as at peace with his past. In an interview with MetalSucks, he talks about After’s origins, the hypocrisy of the “black metal” mindset, the status of Emperor, and the surprisingly pragmatic reason why it took him so long to play out as a solo artist.

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Now’s your chance to have a listen to what might be my favorite album of 2010 so far, former Emperor frontman Ihsahn’s second solo album After. The entire album is streaming for free at Plugd. I’m really excited for you all to hear this record so you can tell me whether it’s just me or it really is fucking brilliant.

If you’re expecting the black metal drone of Emperor, don’t; Ihsahn’s solo work is something completely different, made to be judged on its own accord. After is a veritable melting pot of influences both from within metal and without, and while some black metal overtones occasionally make themselves known there is no mistaking that this is not a black metal record at all. It’s stylistically all over the map, yet it somehow holds together in one cohesive whole.

Stream After on Plugd. You’ll need to have a Facebook account to login.

-VN

Upon listening to Emperor for the first time in a little while when prepping for an interview with Ihsahn (coming soon!), I found it remarkable how the Emperor of In the Nightside Eclipse is a completely different band from that on their ridiculously dense blackened death prog swan song, Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise. Though one could argue that some of this had to do with the band’s multiple line-up changes, the band’s core – Ihsahn and guitarist Samoth – were present throughout. Using “evolution” in terms of the lifespan of a band was pretty much coined for groups like Emperor, seeing as they progressed from a scrappy True Norwegian black metal upstart to something beyond that altogether, becoming so different from their origin that they had to split up to pursue different avenues (Samoth with blackened death kingpins Zyklon and Ihsahn with his more expansive, prog-minded solo material). Emperor bucked the trend of picking a sound and sticking to it (and the genre’s general hypocrisy of staunchly preaching individuality while decrying any band that deviates from a certain set of rules as to what a black metal band is supposed to sound like) by being the band they needed to be, and though their reliance on keyboards and operatic singing may sound silly at first, Ihsahn’s compositional prowess (he composed all of Prometheus himself on top of working with Samoth for the rest of the band’s albums) would be a shame to ignore.

Which was what I always found disappointing about his solo work: while always quite enjoyable, it never really emerged from the shadow of Emperor. For every great, kinda-interesting-on-its-own moment, there’s been a riff that could have wound up on one of Emperor’s late-period works. The sense of constant evolution that drove the band has been sadly missing from Ihsahn’s solo material. Fortunately, on After, his latest, he emerges bravely with nothing reminiscent of his past. And while this will bring a tear to the eye of the dudes who shelled out a few hundred dollars to see Emperor play stateside a few years ago, the album is often exciting and brilliantly complex while being almost completely devoid of black metal. Closing out a trilogy of albums recorded under his own moniker, Ihsahn has made what is, at the very least, his most interesting album of solo material to date, if not (very easily) his best. Scoff at its lack of true-ness if you must, but After is an excellent album. Almost a decade after the dissolution of Emperor, the man has finally come into his own.

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Am I the only one here that thinks that American bands shouldn’t be allowed to wear corpse paint? There should be a law in the metal books that states it. There’s some rules that us American metalheads must follow, like the famous “Don’t Wear Your Own Band’s Shirt Law,” for instance. It doesn’t apply to Europeans and that’s okay, they’ve got their own set of laws. It applies to us, though, and when you break it, people get to talking.

Well, I think that corpse paint should fall under the “Must Never Be Applied To The Face Of An American” law. I think it should be punishable by excommunication from the community. I’ve got my reasons.

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