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There’s so much streamin’ going on right now you’d think a bunch of dudes were peeing on you. So without any further bullshit, here are three complete albums you can listen to right now if you wanna get your metal on:
In the last few years, something seemed to happen and I barely noticed. Suddenly, I’m no longer the young kid at the show. I’m one of the guys hiding out by the bar. I’m not crowd surfing, not covered in sweat with my shirt off, and I’m certainly not moshing. I’m also not randomly yelling “Slayer!”, but that seems to span all demographics. I became… (gulp)… an adult. I don’t know what the range is in the ages of the followers of MetalSucks, but I’ll assume that it’s a mix of younger and older metal fans. I am 29 years old, but I still feel relatively young and energetic considering my opening salvo. I’m the youngest member of my band, and younger than a good majority of my friends in bands and the industry.
With that said, I think there comes a time for all metal heads, and probably all adults for that matter, when you look at what is popular amongst the true youth culture (16-24), and you feel as if not only do you not relate to it, but it feels alien, as if it’s creation was not meant for your consumption (which it wasn’t) – and it also seems inferior to music that you grew up with. I’m only 29, and I’m already having “back in my day” moments. It kind of scared me, and I began to wonder if I was being obtuse and a little too set in my ways, or if my analysis was accurate.
In a way, Testament is like The Small Faces to Metallica’s Beatles and Slayer’s Rolling Stones: a band as virtuosic, productive, and creatively astute as their deified peers, but hamstrung by bad business breaks. Another factor is the absence of an outspoken know-it-all (Slayer, Metallica), a gimmicky mascot (Anthrax), or a Mustaine-esque diva (duh) to which Testament’s marketing efforts could be anchored. Aside from singer Chuck Billy’s serious illness a decade ago, the Testament story’s most noteworthy turns include little more than the defection of a jazz-crazy guitarist and a dickish but minor betrayal by metal’s most corpulent drummer.
Even if a hypothetical Testament: Behind The Music would clock in at about six minutes, an All-Star Tribute To Testament concert event could stretch across days to cover just the highlights of their dudless catalogue. (My personal best-of runs 175 minutes. Yeah baby.) And while the band is enjoying what guitarist Eric Peterson calls “a second wind” since the return of uber-guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Greg Peterson for the magnificent 2008 outing The Formation of Damnation, Testament remains supplicant to sexier tourmates Slayer and Megadeth in the opening slot on this summer’s rescheduled American Carnage Tour. That seems fine by the surprisingly affable (and occasionally merry) Chuck Billy, who spoke exclusively to MetalSucks about getting hammered in Europe, how Dave Lombardo’s enabled the awesomeness of The Gathering, the quest to control their back catalogue, and their exciting-as-fuck new setlist. Emphasis on “new.”
We knew that there would be a video for “More Metal Than You,” the song Brian Posehn co-wrote with Scott Ian for the former’s new album, Fart and Wiener Jokes, and here it is. (Also worth noting: the song features additional guest appearances by Lamb of God’s Mark Morton, Death Angel’s Mark Osegueda, Armored Saint’s Joey Vera, Dethklok’s Brendon Small, the always fashionable John Tempesta, and The Donnas’ Brett Anderson.) The animation style is fairly simple, but there are some real gems in here – including a moment when Posehn head-butts Sharon Osbourne, and then Ozzy gives him a high-five. Oh, if only Ozzy really did recognize that Sharon is a problem.
True story: when I first heard this song, I thought Posehn was saying “My cat’s name is ‘metal.’” In fact, until five minutes ago when I watched this video, I didn’t realize he was saying “Manowar.” Still really funny, though.
Fart and Wiener Jokes is out now on Relapse. I’m giving a copy away for this week’s Completely Unreadable Band Logo contest, so enter that shit now. Also, if you haven’t done so already, check out my interview with Posehn right here.
-AR
Like a lot of people, I first became familiar with Brian Posehn because of his time on David Cross and Bob Odenkirk’s brilliant HBO sketch comedy series, Mr. Show, for which he was also a writer. A few years after that show went off the air, my then-roommate and I went to see Posehn do some stand-up at a comedy club here in New York. I don’t think we were even there to see Posehn specifically – if memory serves, David Cross was the actual draw for us – but he was so funny that I actually laughed so hard I became winded and fell out of my chair. Since then, he’s been on a very, very short list of stand-ups that I never miss the chance to check out when they come through town. Mr. Show sketches about a fictional band called “Titannica” led me to believe that someone on the series’ writing staff was a metal fan, but I didn’t know that it was Posehn until later – and the revelation that he was just as obsessed with metal as I was only made him that much cooler.
Fart and Wiener Jokes, Posehn’s second album for Relapse, comes out today (and you can order a copy here). Like its predecessor, Live: In Nerd Rage, it features not only recordings of his brilliant stand-up, but also an original song he co-wrote with Anthrax’s Scott Ian (“More Metal Than You”) to poke fun at some of metal’s more regrettable foibles. It also has a metal cover of Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler,” and between the two music tracks, Posehn has managed to rope in guest appearances by such all-stars as Jamey Jasta, Mark Morton, Mark Oseguenda, John Tempesta, and Russ Parrish. Assuming you love great comedy and great metal, there’s no way you’re not gonna dig Fart and Wiener Jokes.
A few weeks ago I got to talk to Posehn about putting comedy albums out on a metal label, what it’s like to be friends with some of his boyhood heroes, the state of metal today, his take on the Anthrax vocalist situation, and more. He even turned the tables at the end and asked me a question! Read the complete transcript of our chat after the jump.
I hear people talk about Slayer’s Kerry King in tones that suggest that he is, like, commonly viewed as arrogant or something. And now you can tell by my tone that King rules, and that those who disagree can shampoo my crotch anytime on weekdays between the hours of noon and six. For one thing, you never hear is how King’s kick-assosity is contagious; this year, after our Golden Gods Blarpet mini-interview, I was so pumped up that I wanted to slap Jim Florentine and french Kat Von D in one motion. (After last year’s ceremony, I almost punched a hot dog vendor and licked Chuck Billy’s arm.) King is that type of guy, and once you realize this, you can see how Slayer grew into one of history’s greatest bands: good leadership.
After the jump, King and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and I chat about the American Carnage tour, Exodus, and meddling producers. Though to tell the truth, I don’t really feel like sharing it in light of the paltry number of comments on yesterday’s hard-hitting Deftones coverage. I guess your mother and I just expected better of you.
Exodus have unveiled another new song from their forthcoming Exhibit B: The Human Condition, this one entitled “Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer).” It seems to be about school shootings, from the point of view of the shooter. That’s a dicey experiment, given that a) non-metalheads are idiots and may very well think that Exodus are endorsing school shootings, and b) metalheads are idiots and may very well think that Exodus are endorsing school shootings.
Luckily, the mass media doesn’t know who the fuck Exodus are, so the chances that the band are actually accused of being responsible for a future school shooting seem pretty slim. Still, if ever these legendary thrashers were gonna be involved in their own “Angel of Death”-style controversy, well, this would be the song to put them there.
Check out “Class Dismissed” here. Exhibit B: The Human Condition comes out May 18 on Nuclear Blast.
-AR
Hoo-ray for reader Dave Kaminsky, who correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the charmingly monikered band, Sphinctral Impalement. Dave wins an autographed copy of Shovel Headed Tour Machine, the excellent new two DVD/CD set from legendary thrashers, Exodus! Cherish it forever, Dave.
March is Metal Month rolls on! This week we have a nice little piece of metal memorabilia in the form of this neat DEP Option Paralysis cube thingie. This is a nice tchake to play with when you’re high, no?
All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner and announce his or her name next week.
For the third week in a row, we have a logo suggested by reader Isaac Schwarz. Please keep doing my job for me, Isaac, it makes my life so much easier.
-AR
Call me crazy, but new Exodus music always interests me ten-thousand-fold more than new Slayer music. It’s like, with new Exodus there is at least the chance that you’ll hear something a little different instead of the same old (not that there’s anything wrong with the same old… but still). Maybe it’s because of all the line-up changes through the years. I mean ok fine on this last Slayer record we actually got a slow Kerry King solo which was at least something of a departure.
So Exodus have a new record on the way, Exhibit B: The Human Condition, the artwork for which Axl posted the other day. They’ve just posted a demo of track from that record called “Hammer and Life” on their MySpace page. I know it’s just a demo, but I really dig the dry (yet clear) mixing job. Musically speaking it seems a little thrashier in the vintage sense than anything on Exhibit A, but it’s definitely too soon to make any sort of sweeping judgment. Either way, I likee very much. More please.
Exhibit B: The Human Condition comes out on May 18th.
-VN
Hats off to Karina Rucinque. She correctly identified last week’s logo as that of the band Nasty Pig Dick. For her troubles, Karina wins a copy of Arsis’ new album, Starve for the Devil, signed by the band, and an Arsis poster that is also signed by the band. Congrats, Karina!
March is Metal Month continues now with another awesome prize: an autographed copy of Shovel Headed Tour Machine, the excellent new two DVD/CD set from legendary thrashers, Exodus. It’s Exodus! It’s autographed! You want it! Enter the contest!
All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner and announce his or her name next week.
This week’s logo was once again suggested by read Isaac Schwarz. You rule, Isaac!
-AR
Here’s the cover art for Exodus’ upcoming Exhibit B: The Human Condition. On the one hand, it’s a pretty heavy-handed play on a certain famous Da Vinci drawing; on the other hand, I still think it looks pretty cool.
Exhibit B: The Human Condition will be out this spring on Nuclear Blast.
-AR
If you’re a regular reader of this site by now you should know all about Mutiny Within, Roadrunner’s latest metal young guns. Their debut self-titled album comes out next Tuesday, February 23rd… and we’ll be streaming the whole thing here on Monday. In the meantime you’ll just have to take my word for it that the album is great, the perfect mix of pure American metal and Euro power written by guys with an amazing sense of songwriting for such a young set of dudes.
Mutiny Within just finished up their opening stint on the MetalSucks-sponsored Tyrants of Evil tour with Arch Enemy, Exodus and Arsis. During the tour’s final week I caught up with bassist Andrew “AJ” Jacobs to chat about the tour, the new album, the support Roadrunner has offered and what it’s like being a new band on the road.
I’m a Paul Baloff guy myself, but Steve “Zetro” Souza is still a legend – with all due respect to Rob Dukes, Souza is really the only guy besides Paul Baloff who could ever be thought of as the singer Exodus. I don’t know much about the circumstances surrounding his departure from the band (either time), but I guess it was amicable, ’cause he jumped on stage to do “Toxic Waltz” with the band last week in San Francisco. Check it out:
Souza’s last album with the band was 2004′s Tempo of the Damned. I’m sure this will start rumors that he’s about to come back again (again), but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
-AR
Thanks to all the old men who figured out how to use their grandson’s e-mail just so they could tell me about this.
Brian Posehn is easily one of the funniest stand-up comedians alive. I have never missed a chance to go see him live, and he has – quite literally – made me fall out of my chair from laughing so hard. Add to that the fact that the dude loves metal, and, well, he’s just so damn sexy I can’t handle it.
Posehn is the only comedian I’m aware of currently signed to Relapse Records. He’s that fucking metal. And he’s going to release another album through that label, entitled Fart and Wiener Jokes, on April 27. That too-small image above is the cover art, which is absolutely fucking EPIC.
Needless to say, I am insanely excited about this album, which, in addition to some sure-to-be uproarious comedy, is going to feature two songs – “More Metal Than You” (!!!) and a cover of Kenny Rogers’ “The Gambler” (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) – which will feature guest spots by Posehn’s buddy Scott Ian, Jamey Jasta, Mark Morton, John Tempesta, Russ Parrish, and, according to a press release, “more.”
So clearly, this is gonna own all our asses in April. You can pre-order the album in a variety of nifty packages here.
And I think I’ve posted this before, but it never gets old so fuck it:
No one can fault Dave Mustaine for putting together a tour in lieu of the stillborn American Carnage trek. But as always the Megadeth frontman aims for maximum annoyance and as such his new tour is a brazen approximation of Carnage minus Slayer. As a member of Slayer, Kerry King must be distressed to find that there’s a nearly identical alternative to his tour on the market — complete with Testament and Exodus, for a total of three thrash metal greats, just like Carnage — that’s sure to distract ticket-buyers and cool walk-up sales. And in light of the recent King-Mustaine cuddlefest at T.G.I.Friday’s, one could argue it’s yet another of Mustaine’s unconscionable and self-destructive backstabbings, at which he is only second to Eddie Van Halen in proficiency. (Unlike lead guitar playing, at which Mustaine is second in proficiency to dozens. Cheap shot alert!)
To make matters worse, ‘Staine and Megadeth will use the new tour to celebrate their last great record, Rust In Peace, y’know, to add a sack-tap to this already historic cockblock. So it was already getting silly by the time the announcement came yesterday that Megadeth’s only other real member, the embittered former Mustaine bum chum David Ellefson, he of history’s greatest metal bass performance and reams of anti-Mustaine bitching, would return to the pasty creases of the Mus-taint for bass duties on the big tour. Yet more juice for the non-Slayer shows. What’s next, the return of RiP guitarist Marty Friedman? (Um please?)
The MetalSucks sponsored Tyrants of Evil Tour, featuring Arch Enemy, Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within, is currently winding its way out west through Canada en route to its final stop in Hollywood on February 9th. MetalSucks photographer Jacqueline Cheng was on hand to catch the madness at the new York City stop on January 22nd — as was Axl — and her stunning photographs of all four bands are posted after the jump.
Last year, I got way too busy with this thing called life and ignored this other thing called metal. As a result, I missed out on a lot of quality music as was evidenced by my paltry contribution to the year-end MetalSucks Best Of 2009 lists.
I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.
Here are the January 2010 releases that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:
Blabbermouth posted the below footage of Arch Enemy nailing the crowd’s nuts to the wall in New York last week as headliners of the MetalSucks sponsored Tyrants of Evil North American Tour 2010 with Exodus, Arsis, and Mutiny Within. It only captures a teensy-weensy little bit of the amount of energy coursing through the air during this performance, but it will at least give you some sense of how great the show was.
It’s not too late to check out this awesome tour! Remaining dates after the jump.
When you’re a fickle, pouting drama queen, you’re going to leave a long list of ex-associates over a nearly 30-year career in metal. So it’s not numerically unlikely that lord of all paranoiacs Dave Mustaine would end up on tour with one of his many former-”best guitarist I’ve hired yet”s. In this case, it’s his most recent ex-not Marty Friedman, Glen Drover, whom Testament is enlisting for the just-announced Megatestodus tour. From Blabbermouth:
Well, ya gotta hand it to Dave Mustaine. He’s trying real hard to give the people what they want.
Following the postponement of the American Carnage tour with Slayer and Testament, Megadeth have announced a Rust in Peace twentieth anniversary tour of North America, to kick off in March. Not only will the band play Rust in Peace in its entirety, but they’ll have Testament (still playing The Legacy in its entirety) and Exodus playing support. In other words: whomever put this thing together is tugging on the same nostalgia strings that the Slaygadeth tour was supposed to pull on. Maybe Exodus don’t sell as many records as Slayer, but they’re still a hugely important part of the American thrash metal movement, and anyone who isn’t excited about this tour just because Slayer aren’t on it is probably pretty dopey.
Why, I just saw Exodus play the other night! And they killed! No less so than Megadeth and Testament (and Slayer), Exodus are experiencing a second golden age of their career.
Of course, there is something kinda funny about getting excited to see Megadeth do the entire Rust in Peace album when Dave Mustaine is the only remaining member of the Rust in Peace-era line-up. It’s like if someone were excited to hear Axl Rose and whatever other dudes he’s currently calling Guns N’ Roses play all of Appetite for Destruction, an album with which they have no actual association. That being said, this Mega-line-up is great, and Rust might be my favorite Megadeth album of all time… so I’m not gonna bitch too much. Maybe just a little. Okay I’ll keep quiet.
Get tour dates after the jump. And just as an FYI – the press release announcing this tour also promised that next week would bring new information on the rescheduling of those American Carnage dates, so if you’re such a sissy cry baby face that Exodus and the complete Rust and Legacy performances doesn’t substitute for Slayer, well, just sit tight. Click to read more…
