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So were pretty stoked about Hypocrisy’s upcoming U.S. tour with Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho playin the leed gee-tar, but then it looked like U.S. immigration might derail the whole thing. And now they have.
A very brief statement from the band reads:
If you read this site regularly you know I’m fascinated with temporary team-ups, like Dave Lombardo playing drums for Metallica or Doc Coyle playing guitar for Lamb of God. I just love these little glimpses into some alternate reality where great bands traded great musicians.
So here’s a good one: according to Metal Underground, Children of Bodom’s Alexi Laiho will be playing guitar with Hypocrisy on their upcoming North American tour.
Says Hypocrisy mastermind Peter Tagtgren:
With a new album, From Afar, in stores now, and a U.S. tour just about a month away, now seemed like a perfect time for a chat with bassist/lyricist Sami Hinka. New MetalSucks correspondent Joseph Strombladder got on the phone with the pagan metaller to discuss the process of writing the band’s music and lyrics, the differences between metal fans in the U.S. and abroad, making music videos, and more. Full transcript after the jump.
I like Ensiferum. Seriously, I do. But what the fuck is going on in their new video, “From Afar?” No one wanted to play their instrument? Or at least hold their instrument? Or even, y’know, move?
Maybe they just asked a former member of Dimmu Borgir to please pack their gear for them, and then he forgot. I bet that’s it. That has to be it. Right?
-AR
Ahh, Michigan. We have lakes. Big fucking lakes. We used to have a booming car industry, but unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months, you need not an explanation of why I won’t be speaking of that in this article. Besides, we harbor a little music festival every summer called Dirt Fest, a metal get together a few hours outside of Detroit, founded by two dudes looking to showcase their own band. Dirt Fest quickly became the summer festival for local bands looking for recognition and inspiration. It wound up becoming comparable to the one hot chick at the party which turned out to be a sausage fest – she ends up having such a good time that she lets everyone have a turn.
Anyhoo, thirteen lucky summers later and Dirt Fest is rocking a roster that has, in the past, included bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan and The Black Dahlia Murder. Obviously something is working if these bands are rolling through, so I decided to finally go check it out this year. Armed with nothing but a delicious bottle of Jagermeister and a set of tits everyone at the MetalSucks Mansion is dying to get a look at, I embarked on what turned out to be a very interesting day. My mouth already tasted like booze before noon…
Darkest Hour are currently out on the road doing the MetalSucks co-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour, and they’re doing a video tour diary for our gay lovers at Metal Injection. Check it out below.
It’s good to see that Lonestar is growing his mega-beard back. It’s also good to see his package.
ANYWAY, I’ve seen enough of the touring lifestyle to know that I don’t ever want to go on tour. But then again, it looks like these dudes are having so much fun…
Look for more Darkest Hour tour diaries at Metal Injection throughout the rest of the summer. And you can Summer Slaughter tour dates here. In addition to Darkest Hour you get Suffocation, Necrophagist, Ensiferum, Dying Fetus, Origin, Born of Osiris, Winds of Plague, and a bunch of other cool bands, so definitely check it out!!!
-AR
So the line-up for Summer Slaughter – a.k.a. the big summer package tour that isn’t Ozzfest, Mayhem, Warped, or Sounds of the Underground (R.I.P.) – has been announced, and, pretty much as expected, it’s totally solid. Yes, there are a few bands on the bill I don’t care for (I’m looking at you, Winds of Plague), but the presence of co-headliners Suffocation and Necrophagist, plus Darkest Hour, Origin, Born of Osiris, Dying Fetus and Blackguard pretty much guarantees this will be a day (well, late afternoon at least) worth your time and money. Especially since, unlike the aforementioned summer fests, this one plays smaller venues and comes at a cheaper price.
Also kind of advantageous: you’re basically just dealing with death metal on this tour. So… you pretty much know if you’re the audience or not for this tour.
No dates yet… stay tuned for more details.
-AR
I don’t know about you kids, but the inaugural run of Paganfest USA was the most fun I had at a show all year in 2008. Turisas, Ensiferum, Eluveitie and Tyr absolutely killed it, and the entire room was pumping their fists in the air to every song. And, oh yeah, we drank copious amounts of booze. My only regret: I didn’t wear a Viking costume.
Fortunately for me and my Viking gear, Paganfest USA will live on in 2009! Dates have yet to be announced, but the 2k9 incarnation will include Primordial, Eluveitie, Moonsorrow and Blackguard. See you there!
-VN
Don’t let the post-weekend hangover get you down; start your week off right by listening a new track from Sweden’s kings of viking metal, Amon Amarth. “Guardians of Asgaard” comes from their new album Twilight of the Thunder God due September 30th on Metal Blade, and the band will kick off a massive North American tour the very next day, which MetalSucks is proud to be sponsoring. Ensiferum, Belphegor, and The Absence will be opening – so ready your beer steins and viking helmets, and check out the full tour routing after the jump. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to enter our Amon Amarth Viking Video Contest to win a huge prize package of Amon Amarth swag.
Aside from having pretty much the best lineup of any festival EVER, Wacken just seems like a great fucking time, ya know? Nothing quite like 100,000 sweaty German metalheads congregating in one place — my Jew ass would fit in quite nicely, I’m sure.
This live footage of pagan/folk metallers Ensiferum just drives the point home. Look at how fucking amped that crowd is — it’s like Paganfest times 10. I can’t imagine anything being more fun.
-VN
After fellating Protest the Hero’s incredible early-2008 release Fortress for two months solid (culminating in my first ever 5 of 5 horns review), I was immediately let down by successive announcements that the band would be touring with shit emo bands through the entire summer. Finally someone in the band’s camp has come to their senses and packaged them with a lineup that will put them in front of the metal audience that NEEDS to know about this band. And finally, I will be able to go see them live. Lambgoat is reporting a fall tour with Protest playing direct support for Unearth, with The Acacia Strain, Whitechapel and Gwen Stacy also on the bill.
Anyone who went to the U.S. incarnation of this year’s pagan/folk metal festival Paganfest will tell you that it was positively one of the best, most fun concerts of the year so far (see also: live footage!). And anyone not smoking crack (and perhaps a few that do) will tell you that Eluveitie was one of the most exciting bands on the bill (no disrespect to Turisas, Ensiferum and Tyr who were also awesome. Well actually, Tyr was kind of a sleeper.) Eluveitie’s recent Nuclear Blast release Slania also happens to be one of my favorite records of the year, so when I was offered the opportunity to email a bunch of questions to Eluveitie mastermind Chrigel Glanzmann (vocals, mandola, acoustic guitar, tin and low whistles, uilleann pipes, gaita) I jumped at the chance. Chrigel shared his thoughts about the burgeoning pagan/folk metal movement, the obscurity of (and place in metal of) the hurdygurdy, the recent departure of Sevan and Rafi from the band, and the new (all acoustic!) album that is in the works. Read the interview after the jump.
As if this summer’s touring season isn’t already shaping up to be an excellent one — whatwith the likes of Metal Masters (Priest / Heaven and Hell / Motorhead / Testament), the At the Gates reunion, Boris/Torche, and a whole shitload of other great shows — this fall is already shaping up really fuckin’ nicely. This is terrible news for the rest of my social life, but fuck, how can I miss out on these awesome shows?
The MetalSucks sponsored super awesome fantastic Paganfest may be over, but if you missed it (or just wanna re-live a drunken night of heathen glory), our bro-bros over at Metal Injection have some awesome live footage from the final tour stop at B.B. King’s here in NYC.
Below, check out Turisas stealing the show with their rendition of “Rasputin.” Then head over to Metal Injection for more super duper sweet clips of Ensiferum, Eluveitie, and Tyr. And don’t forget to check out Vince’s recap of the night’s shenanigans!
-AR
The sense of community at the final stop of Paganfest USA — featuring Ensiferum, Turisas, Tyr, and Eluveitie — was unbelievable. These kinds of bands attract a very specific type of metal fan; perhaps a tad nerdier, weirder and a smidge smarter than the average bunch. After all, anyone who goes to watch a bunch of grown men dressed in fur loin cloths and full body-makeup play European folk songs in metal form can’t take their metal too seriously. But everyone in attendance at the sold out show at New York City’s BB King’s was there to fucking get down. Sadly I didn’t see any viking hats, but everyone had their beer steins raised high and kept them there all night long. There was a palpable feeling of excitement in the room — separate from the very obvious mass drunkenness — and everyone there was enjoying the hell out of these excellent bands in the most primal way. Excited chants of “hey! hey! hey! hey!” along with the beat, and fervent chants of each band’s name in unison were prevalent all night long. In short, the inaugural run of Paganfest was absolutely fucking awesome. This was one of the most fun metal shows of the year by far. After all, isn’t it supposed to be fun?
So from what I hear, Paganfest has been a colossal success thus far. I think more of you should be writing in and telling us how awesome this tour is, ’cause a) we’re co-sponsors of the tour and we like to think everything we touch turns to metal and b) we won’t get to go until the last night of the tour here in NYC, so we need to live vicariously through you cats.
Below is some more awesome live footage of Turisas, this time playing Paganfest’s stop at The Boardwalk in Orangevale, California on May 7, 2008. And below that is the itinerary for all remaining dates on the tour, because for many of you, it’s not too late to go. And tell ‘em Axl, Vince and Kip sent ya.
9 May 2008 Fat City San Francisco, California
10 May 2008 The Vault Long Beach, California
11 May 2008 The Cell Block Phoenix, Arizona
12 May 2008 Chics El Paso, Texas
13 May 2008 The Launchpad Alburquerque, New Mexico
14 May 2008 Crush Lounge Tulsa, Oklahoma
15 May 2008 Ridglea Theater Fort Worth, Texas
16 May 2008 The White Rabbit San Antonio, Texas
17 May 2008 Java Jazz Houston, Texas
19 May 2008 The Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia
20 May 2008 Volume 11 Raleigh, North Carolina
21 May 2008 Crocodile Rock Allentown, Pennsylvania
22 May 2008 BB Kings Blues Club New York, New York
-AR
So the MetalSucks co-sponsored Paganfest has commenced, and by the looks of the below footage of Turisas performing “Rasputin,” the fans are responding, um, positively.
Who would have ever thought that dancing the jig would have a place in the pit? Take that, karate-chopping asswipes of the world!
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After the jump, watch more footage by and of overly excited Paganfest fans, learn the true meaning of the phrase “Fuck the guitar solo,” and get a complete tour itinerary so that you can attend a Paganfest gig near you. ‘Cause if you don’t go, we’re sending Turisas to rape and pillage your hometown.
Well, the tour we’ve all been excited about since November, the MetalSucks co-sponsored Paganfest, start tonight, and guess what? The first date, at The Opera House in Toronto, is apparently already sold out!
And is it any surprise? This tour has four amazing bands – Ensiferum, Turisas, Tyr and Eluveitie – that are gonna make you want to chug mead from a stein, smack the bar wench on the ass, and then throw your arm around your buddy for a good old fashioned sing along. Nothing homoerotic about that.
Check out the Paganfest America MySpace page for more info. In the meantime, the complete tour itinerary is below. When it comes to this tour, make Harold and Kumar’s trip to White Castle your models: no matter how far you have to travel, no mater what treacherous terrain you must traverse, no matter what obstacles you must overcome, GET YOUR ASS TO ONE OF THESE SHOWS. And tell ‘em MetalSucks sent ya.
25 Apr 2008 The Opera House Toronto, ON – CANADA
26 Apr 2008 Medley Montreal, QC – CANADA
27 Apr 2008 The Palladium Worcester, Massachusetts
28 Apr 2008 Jaxx Springfield, Virginia
29 Apr 2008 Peabody’s Down Under Cleveland, Ohio
30 Apr 2008 Harpo’s Detroit, Michigan
1 May 2008 Chicago Powerfest (Pearl Room) Mokena, Illinois
2 May 2008 Station 4 St. Paul, Minnesota
3 May 2008 Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom Denver, Colorado
5 May 2008 Studio Seven Seattle, Washington
6 May 2008 Hawthorne Theater Portland, Oregon
7 May 2008 The Boardwalk Sacramento, California
8 May 2008 House of Blues Hollywood, California
9 May 2008 Fat City San Francisco, California
10 May 2008 The Vault Long Beach, California
11 May 2008 The Cell Block Phoenix, Arizona
12 May 2008 Chics El Paso, Texas
13 May 2008 The Launchpad Alburquerque, New Mexico
14 May 2008 Crush Lounge Tulsa, Oklahoma
15 May 2008 Ridglea Theater Fort Worth, Texas
16 May 2008 The White Rabbit San Antonio, Texas
17 May 2008 Java Jazz Houston, Texas
19 May 2008 The Masquerade Atlanta, Georgia
20 May 2008 Volume 11 Raleigh, North Carolina
21 May 2008 Crocodile Rock Allentown, Pennsylvania
22 May 2008 BB Kings Blues Club New York, New York
-AR
Here’s the video for Eluveitie’s new single,”Inis Mona.” It comes off of their latest album, the super awesome Slania, which is in stores now, and which I can virtually guarantee is better than any other new European melodic death metal album you might buy between now and May.
Yeah, I said it.
In case you somehow missed the 8 trillion other posts we’ve written about it, Eluveitie will join Turisas, Ensiferum, and Tyr and on this spring’s Paganfest USA tour, which MetalSucks is proudly co-sponsoring. That means that you should, like, totally go.
A complete list of tour dates to follow after the video…
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Their disco balls, that is.
OH! Rimshot!
This video, about the making of Turisas’ clip for “Rasputin,” is possibly even more entertaining than the finished product itself… although it does ruin the illusion that these cats dress like pagans all the time.
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You can watch the finished video for “Rasputin” here.
After the jump, find the obligatory tour itinerary for Paganfest USA, featuring Turisas, Eluveitie, Tyr and Ensiferum.
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