MetalSucks

I’ve never really wondered this about myself, but I guess it’s a good question:why the fuck am I still involved with metal?

Honestly, I don’t have an answer besides to say that no matter what I do, I’m always drawn to it. It’s almost akin to a sexual preference. You don’t choose it. It is what it is. People choose their sexual preference as much as they choose their fetishes, which is not at all. Well, I think tastes in music and art follow suit. Sure, you get college lesbians as much as you get people who take on the musical tastes of their significant others or social circle, but at the end of the day, I don’t think you can really choose what your tastes are. I think there’s some sort of brain wiring involved which dictates our taste preferences, and I’m just not privy to the actual process.

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Actually, there is no doubt that a preview of another new Levi/Werstler track has been posted. I just wanted to see how many times in a row we could phrase a headline as a question. Sorry.

ANYWAY, as I said, Levi/Werstler HAVE posted another preview of another new track, this one called “Casting The Molten Sea.” An like the other previews we’ve heard, it sounds pretty sweet – but it’s too short a taste! WE WANT MORE, GOD DAMN YOU!

Oh well. More we shall have on 4/20, when Levi/Werstler’s debut album, Avalanche of Worms, comes out on Magna Carta. In case you’re the one person who doesn’t know, the album also features drums by Cynic’s Sean Reinert, which is just that much more of a reason to get excited for the release. Pre-order that shit here.

-AR

So Vince is now out of town. Again. Luckily, we really do take after our namesakes; he loves to be out there among the people, partying like he might die tomorrow, and I am a grumpy, mean-spirited recluse. So expect lots of Axl crankiness next week.

In the meantime, here are some things that happened this week:

• Genetic’s Dallas Coyle discussed the importance of positive thinking, As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa pondered the various timelines on L O S T, Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable listed the five raddest sets of teeth in metal, Eyal Levi from Daath and Levi/Werstler wondered if anyone cares about guitar solos, and adult film actress Bobbi Starr told us the ten metal bands she wishes would gangbang her.
• We debuted new music by The Dillinger Escape Plan, Landmine Marathon, and Jucifer.
• MetalSucks readers interviewed Dark Tranquillity’s Mikael Stanne and Vince interviewed Sevendust’s Clint Lowery.
• Sammy O’Hagar reviewed Ov Hell’s The Underworld Regime.
• Is Nergal from Behemoth going to jail for destroying a Bible?
• The singer from DragonForce is available for a White Lion reunion.
• We raged against “Rage.”

And that’s it! Next week will see the debut of our irritating new list, as well as some other fun shit. Have a nice weekend…

-AR

How many of you actually listen to guitar solos? How many of you actually pay attention to the musicianship involved in a project? How important is that for you? I’m curious to hear about this from musicians’ and non-musicians’ perspectives.  I know that for me, as a listener, amazing technicality alone is only interesting for about two minutes, and then my mind wanders.

Actually, it’s more like ten seconds now. When I was a teenager learning to play guitar (still learning, by the way), I could stomach shred records in doses. Usually, there would be that one cool track where it was obvious that some feeling and time went into the composition. The rest of the album would be wank filler. There’s some exceptions, like the first Yngwie record or Jason Becker’s Perpetual Burn, but by and large that is a boring-ass genre. I can’t geek out to that stuff. I don’t care about the Olympics, let alone the Guitar Olympics. Boring!

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We’re a little late on reporting this, but there’s a sample of another new Levi/Werstler track, “Obsidian Fissures,” now streaming on their merch page. It’s maybe twenty seconds of the song, which is to say it’ll pretty much give you sonic blue balls. But that’s only because it’s so awesome.

Levi/Werstler’s debut album, Avalanche of Worms, comes out April 20 on Magna Carta, and features drums by the great Sean Reinert, of Cynic fame. While you wait (and pine for a longer taste of “Obsidian Fissures”), you can watch another clip of Emil playing some of “Dura Mater” below. You can also download some free guitar tabs here, so that all of you shred nerds can start trying to learn some of this shit.

And, finally, it’s worth noting that Eyal and Emil are currently accepting questions via their MySpace, Facebook and Twitter pages; they’ll answer the best ones in an upcoming video.

-AR

I’m really, really disappointed in you, male MetalSucksians. After reader Ashley sent in some epic photos of herself in a MetalSucks hoodie and not very much else, I predicted we’d get an identical pic from a wise-ass dude by the end of the week. Nope. Either no one thought of it, or no one had the balls to do it. For shame. And now what are the three ladies who actually read this site to look at? Pics of Lars Ulrich’s dick?

Oh well. Here are some other things that happened this week:

• We debuted new music by Daughters, Woe of Tyrants, Stigma and Nails.
• As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa wondered “Who is coming to the island on L O S T?”, while Eyal pondered whether it’s better to burn out or fade away.
• We listened to the God of War EP and new releases by Shining, Burzum, and H.I.M.
• Antonin Skullia taught us about the law of Metalocalypse.
• Did this shitty Matthew Fox show steal The Haunted’s logo?

And next week I expect you, our beloved readers, to be back up to your usual level of witty repartee.

-AR

There’s a certain look that some people who have made some very fucked-up choices tend to take on, and it really creeps me the fuck out. (Disclaimer – I KNOW THERE’S EXCEPTIONS OUT THERE.) Specifically, I’m talking about that look that ex-meth heads get when they “find God.” Raise your hand if you either know somebody who died of drug-induced stupidity, or know someone who’s death won’t surprise you when they kick the bucket via O.D. or a bad combination of drugs. (Raises hand). You know how when someone is deep into a drug addiction their personality, not to mention their physical appearance, changes for the worse? The substances take a firm grasp of their brain and physiology. Their priorities turn completely upside down. I don’t like being around to witness that because, honestly, I don’t trust the people going through it. Again, their priorities turn completely upside down. How many people here have known those who got so bad into it that they were at the point of ruining their lives? I mean wives or girlfriends leaving, family leaving, friends leaving, job loss, home loss, teeth loss, extreme weight loss, etc. Kind of like this example we all know and love -



(Raises hand). Have you noticed how it seems like they either die, end up in jail, lose their mind, or become a ridiculous “God” freak? My unprofessional theory is that when someone develops an addiction, they are literally answering to a higher power, which has control over their brain and body chemistry. When they kick the drug habit, on comes “the God habit.” They tend to go for the gold with the “God” thing about as hard as they did with drugs. I guess that could count as having gone insane, too. Despite being clean, they usually don’t get their lives back. Usually they have to rebuild with some like-minded people. I typically don’t like what they become, but then the question is – well, what’s worse? Actually dying, or becoming a shell of a human being? I know the real answer is dying. Obviously. But for the sake of discussion, let’s polarize the issue and compare which one is worse. So don’t slag me for being insensitive.

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I know that there are lots of reasons why the Levi/Werstler project may never get to do a live show (or, better yet, a tour, even): there’s the usual considerations about the costs (financial or otherwise) of being on the road, and the Daath boys are hitting the studio in the not-too-distant future to record their new album, plus you’d have to coordinate their schedules with that of Cynic’s Sean Reinert, who plays drums on the album – and that would probably be a major pain in the tuchus. Still, I hope against hope that they somehow end up on Prog Nation, or something awesome like that. It would be kind of a shame if videos like this one were the only chance fans ever have to see these dudes play some music from Avalanche of Worms:

I have no idea what that song is called, but I’m ready to hear the rest of it now.

We are going to continue to remind you all that Avalanche of Worms comes out 4/20 on Magna Carta pretty much until it’s out. You can pre-order it here.

-AR

I haven’t been able to shake this cold, and so I’ve actually been playing a lot of on-line Scrabble with a friend this week (because I’m just that cool). It would be really hard to play Scrabble at a metal show, though, not least of all because so many metal d00dz can’t spell.

When we weren’t beating this whole Uno debacle to death like it had just heckled us, here’s what was happening in the world of metal:

• We streamed Mutiny Within’s self-titled debut album, and premiered a track by Dallas Coyle’s new project, Genetic.
• God Forbid’s Doc Coyle defended mainstream metal, As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa discussed the cliffside cave list on L O S T, and, yeah, Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable and Daath’s Eyal Levi each weighed-in on a certain incident involving a certain card game.
• Each of the MetalSucks writers endorsed a finalist for the Scion No Label Needed Contest.
• We checked out new albums by The Breathing Process, Hayaino Daisuki, and Bane and Rhinoceros.
• We debated the morality of a label head posting a link to an album leak.
• We are woman, hear us roar.
• We looked at Mike Patton’s penis, and are now increasingly happy our shrink is coming back from vacation next week.
• Our homeboy Corey Mitchell is co-authoring Phil Anselmo’s autobiography!

Okay. Back to Scrabble! See ya Monday. Stay warm.

-AR

Everyone who knows me knows that I’m a peaceful guy. I have no violent tendencies and avoid fights at almost any cost. I know plenty of people who would be happy to hospitalize someone for me, and that helps me rest easy. Violence is not really something I concern myself with. That said, it is certainly a reality of life. Turn on the news, read the newspapers, or live in a poor neighborhood and you’ll see just how much a reality of life violence is. Understanding that human on human violence is a fact of life brings up the subject of categorization. These categories are simple. Are you justified to beat the fuck out of someone? Well, it depends. Right? Sometimes it’s all right. Sometimes it’s the right thing to do. And sometime it’s not the right thing to do. How do you decipher?

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If you’re like me and you love watching great guitarists play because you yourself are a terrible guitarist but you just love the grace it takes to be a good guitarist, than you will enjoy this clip of Emil Werstler playing some of “Dura Mater.” The song is the first taste of Avalanche of Worms, the debut solo/side/not-really-sure-what-to-call-it project from Daath’s guitarists (with Cynic’s Sean Reinert on drums!):

If for some reason you still haven’t listened to the complete stream of “Dura Mater,” well, you’re depriving yourself of awesomeness, and you should go listen to it now.

Avalanche of Worms comes out 4/20 on Magna Carta. And while we’re on the topic, you should also head over to Noisecreep for a pretty cool interview with Emil and Eyal – they talk about Avalanche and also explain a little bit more why Kevin Talley (who I can assure you is still very much the drummer for Daath) sat out a chunk of the band’s 2009 tour.

-AR

In my last blog I talked about selling out and what I really think it means. For those of you who don’t feel like reading last week’s rant, I’ll say it again: I think it means changing your sound in an unnatural direction in order to make more money. A bunch of you had opinions on this matter. I appreciated your comments. Very well thought out, and honestly a lot less mindless trashing than I was expecting.

Sometimes I write a blog and the comments are the only response I get. Sometimes I get e-mails and text messages for days with people sharing their thoughts on something I write. Well, this was one of those blogs. Who would’ve thought that a blog about selling out would get people from the metal community to share their thoughts?

Anyways, I talked about how a great record is a moment in time for the team working on it, and it can never be recreated. A friend of mine brought up the point that a great album is also a place in time for the audience receiving it.

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If you’re a regular reader of Eyal Levi’s blogs for this very site, than you’re already aware that he and his fellow Daath guitarist, Emil Werstler, have been working on a new, non-Daath record with Cynic drummer Sean Reinert. Well, hey, guess what? The album has a name now, Avalanche of Worms, and an oh-so-appropriate release date of 4/20 on Magna Carta. And as if all of that weren’t exciting enough, they’re already streaming a new track, “Dura Mater,” on their merch page (scroll down – the player is on the lower right hand side).

The track, it should go without saying, rips. It certainly has a Daath-y vibe to it – the long instrumental intro of the song “Translucent Potency” from The Concealers comes to mind – but it’s definitely not Daath. The music has been taken to a whole other level here. It’s shreddier and proggier than anything we’ve heard these fellas do before, but not at the expense of good songwriting – there is structure here, and strong hook. I dunno… it’s just good music, dude. I’m loving it, and can’t wait to hear the rest of the album. (It also bodes really, really well for the next Daath record – if this is the kind of growth Eyal and Emil are showing, the future can only be full of good things.)

You can stream “Dura Mater,” and pre-order Avalanche of Worms in a variety of sexy packages here. The project also now has an official website, a MySpace page and a Facebook page, so you can stay up-to-date on all their latest news. And, of course, we’ll give you more info as we get it…

-AR

“They sold out.” Three words that have been said about so many bands. But what does the phrase actually mean?

I know what I think it means. I think that selling out means changing your artistic direction drastically and unnaturally in an attempt to make more money.

Notice I said “unnaturally.” I said that because artists and bands change directions all the time. I know that some fans take this very personally. They can feel very strongly, and usually in a negative way, when their favorite band changes their sound or direction. A true artist follows their inner muse and nobody can predict where that shit will take them.

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If you loved Daath’s The Concealers as much as we did – and both Vince and myself included the album fairly highly on our 2009 year-end lists – than you’ll be as excited as we are to learn that there’s a buttload of activity going on in the Daath camp right now. For one thing, guitarist/MetalSucks columnist Eyal Levi and guitarist Emil Werstler have completed a solo/side album with Cynic’s Sean Reinert playing drums, and while we haven’t heard that record yet, we know people who have, and those people have good taste, and they assure it’s awesome. As though there were any doubt that it would be.

If that wasn’t enough, Daath have no apparently begun the songwriting process for their next release. I’m so stoked to see where Daath go from here, I can’t even tell you – The Concealers was a major evolutionary leap forward from the band’s first album, The Hinderers, and I’d wager we’re gonna get something pretty different once again. In fact, the band has said as much.

But why take my word for it? Here’s a lengthy statement from the band giving you the skinny on all their various goings-on:

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Alright, so reader C.J. Altman follows Atreyu drummer/auto-tuner Brandon Saller on Twitter I guess. And C.J. tipped us off that Saller tweeted about God Save RockandRoll, a blog run by his wife, who is apparently named Ashley Jean and looks kinda like Saller if Saller looked like a dude. But I’m already getting off-topic.

So. Ashley Jean’s blog, God Save RockandRoll. It’s not just a blog – it’s a blog with a purpose, a theme, kinda like this one you’re reading right now. Here’s an excerpt from Ashley Jean’s first post, which is a de facto mission statement:

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Well, you’ve done it! Once again, you guys have shown that when it comes down to it, metal is still about spreading the word.

So most of you know about some bands out there that you feel should have a shot for whatever reason. Some more legitimate than others. I’m sure some girlfriends posted about their boyfriend’s band. I KNOW of some band members that posted links to their own band even though I said not to do that. Hey, it’s a free world and all, but c’mon dudes and one dudette I know of. Can you hang up the self-promotion for one night? The idea was to let OTHER PEOPLE promote you.

Regardless of that, I also know that a good majority of these links are genuine recommendations. And that fucking rules. I gave this list to some A&R dudes at some labels and whether or not they listen is up to them but hey, they have the list and its mostly based on people’s recommendations. Over the course of the next few weeks I’m going to go down the list, and every band that is up there due to a legit posting is going to get a listen. And when I’m done I’m going to figure out if there’s any way possible to help spread the word further about them.

In the meantime, those of you who posted links to your friend’s band should take it a step further. Send your favorite tracks to ten of your friends. Burn some CDs for friends of yours. Whatever. Just help go beyond this list. This list is staggering to people because its so long, and I guarantee you that outside the music industry most people won’t check out every band (i.e., potential fans). Therefore, if you really care, you will put this in some people’s hands and help open their minds to it. Talk to you all soon.

-EL

Visit Daath on MySpace and become their fan on Facebook.

When I wrote my last blog, I wasn’t expecting a huge response. I was expecting pretty much what I got. A few people sharing their experiences at NAMM, and a few people calling me a negative nancy mainly because they weren’t there so they had no real concept of what I was getting at. I know it sounds negative and whiney but, hey, I call things like I see them. Not everything in life is fucking awesome, and some things are downright annoying. I illustrated a few of those things.

One of the things I touched on in my last blog was the inefficiency of handing out demo CDs at an event like that. What’s the point of giving out your music to people? Obviously it’s to get them to listen to it. To spread the word, if you will. If you play a numbers game, obviously the more you give out, the more people will hear and possibly listen to your music. The more that actually listen, the more that may possibly like it, and will be that much closer to becoming a fan.

I’m not claiming to be a master of statistics, but it seems to me like that numbers game will be slanted in your favor more if you hand those demos out to a group of people who want to hear new music in the genre you are closest to. For instance… if you play in a black metal band and you hand demos out to the crowd after a Behemoth show, there’s a decent chance that if you are good that somebody will pay attention. That’s a target market. If you are just handing out demos to people at an industry trade show, you are basically just taking shots in the dark. What use does an A&R rep at a huge amp company who doesn’t listen to metal have for your black metal CD? Coaster. If that.

That’s not the way to go about getting your music heard.

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Howard Zinn, Zelda Rubinstein, and J.D. Salinger all died within twenty-four hours of another. That’s crappy on all fronts, but right now I’d like to concentrate on Salinger.

On the one hand, it’s very sad that he’s dead because I happen to think he was a brilliant writer; on the other hand, it’s not like he’d written anything in a long, long, long time anyway, so it doesn’t feel like we’re really losing anything; on the other hand, his son Matt was one of the frat douches in Revenge of the Nerds and played the title role in the straight-to-video live-action Captain America movie, which is to say he and Mr. Salinger’s other remaining kin folk will almost certainly sell away his father’s ideals ASAP. Look for Catcher in the Rye 3-D, starring Zac Efron as Holden Caufield, to hit screens sometime in 2011.

Now that that’s off my chest, here’s a recap of what happened in the metal world this week:

• We definitely spoke to Lamb of God’s Chris Adler and think we spoke to the guy who may or may not actually be Andrew W.K.
• Eyal gave us a recap of NAMM, and The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley told us how he got into metal.
• Norway finally caught up with the nu-metal trend.
• The Insane Clown Posee have made multiple feature-length films. Gee, I wonder how we didn’t know that?
• Footage of a new Cynic song!!!
• Also, this.

Alright, it’s fucking freezing as fuck out there, but I’m gonna try and get my ass out and enjoy what’s left of my youth anyways. If you live in the NYC area, don’t forget that The Austerity Program play this Sunday January 31, in Brooklyn at Public Assembly (70 N 6th St) with White Suns, Immanent Voiceless, Daniel Malinsky. This your chance to thank Justin for all the awesome writing he did for us, or to tell him off for all the terrible writing he did for us, depending on your perspective.

See ya Monday!!!

-AR

Monday’s Jumping Darkness Parade post in which Eyal shared his gripes about the 2010 NAMM show was spot on; I’ve done NAMM several times (though not this year) and the level of wankery and hang-on-ery is indeed at an insanely intolerable level. But my favorite part of NAMM is always watching Michael Angelo Batio shred it up at the Dean Guitars booth. I’d use Michael Angelo Batio as an example to challenge Eyal’s assertion that “if you’re a guitar shredder, and that’s all you do, you better prioritize finding yourself a badass songwriter, or you are doomed. Accept reality now and suffer less later.” Because while Mr. Batio certainly isn’t a huge rock star he seems to have made a fine career  for himself out of his completely ridiculous guitar tomfoolery. Dudes like this LIVE for NAMM.

I luuurrrvvv Michael Angel Batio in a completely un-ironic way and I think Axl does too, albeit perhaps to a lesser degree. The double-neck guitar bit gets me every single time. Suckalo Hammer_Smashed_Hurtt surely wouldn’t approve, but I love Batio unconditionally. Dude can rip! Here’s his 2010 NAMM performance.

Oh, and that wig? Priceless. Total A+ material.

-VN