Back in November, I praised Greber, the new, guitarless grind project from Fuck the Facts bassist Marc Bourgon and The Great Sabatini drummer Steve Vargas. And I was pleased to see, upon skimming the comments section, that you guys were pretty into the band, too.

Well, good news then, friends: Greber are now streaming their entire debut offering, Hometown Heroin, here. They’re also selling digital downloads of the album via the nifty pay-what-you-like model (the minimum is a buck Canadian) that seems increasingly popular for bands that are just getting started and are looking to get their name out. Of course, you also have the option to buy a physical copy for a perfectly reasonable seven dollars.

So check out Hometown Heroin if you haven’t already. The band is also doing a nine-date Canadian tour later this month; you can get dates here.

-AR

Thanks to Matt McPhee for the tip.

FEATURING MEMBERS OF ARCH ENEMY, SUNN O))), MADBALL, FUCK THE FACTS, DOMMIN, DARK CASTLE, IMBROGLIO, EXHUMED, AND THAT METAL SHOW

For 2010, we decided to do something special as part of our regular end-of-year festivities here at MetalSucks — namely, ask musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year were. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of ten to eleven musicians at a time twice a day for the rest of the week.

After the jump, check out the first group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

(And please note that these are musicians and that they, um, have a lot on their minds. So some of ‘em named albums that actually came out last year. Please don’t freak out.)

Click to read more…

Metal bands without a bassist are nothing new (Pig Destroyer, Salome, etc.), and we’ve all seen metal bands without a drummer (Genghis Tron immediately comes to mind), but I honestly can’t think of a metal band that has no guitar player. The guitar is such an obvious cornerstone of metal that it’s as though the community made an unspoken pact to let any number of other instruments get left out in the cold, so long as there’s plenty of six-string action going on.

I don’t know if Canada’s Greber are actively standing up for the bass and drums, though, or if they just turned out to be sans guitar because their members aren’t guitar players, but whatever — they make it work, even without its most basic of instruments. A new project from Fuck the Facts bassist Marc Bourgon and The Great Sabatini drummer Steve Vargas, Greber describe themselves as “honest, losing man’s music,” which is actually a really good description — the music feels raw and barebones, and the emphasis on Bourgon’s Mo’nique-thick bass gives the band’s sound a sense of downtrodden defeat that is unparalleled in grind music.

Click to read more…

Earlier this week I had a dream that I was working with Atreyu. I don’t know in what capacity I could possibly find myself “working with” Atreyu, since I’m not a manager, nor a publicist, nor a label rep, and they’re about as likely to end up doing a guest column here as I am to give the new In This Moment album a perfect 5-horn review, but, hey, the subconscious works in mysterious ways. Why did I have Atreyu on the brain? Was my mind trying to tell me “The glass is half-full?” Do I have  a hankering to re-watch The Neverending Story? Did I just ingest too many different substances that night? I’ll have to bring it up in therapy next week.

Here’s other shit that happened this week, some of which, believe it or not, is even more terrifying than the thought of working with Atreyu:

• Freddy Madball is counting down his favorite hard and heavy non-hardcore bands of all time, TesseracT’s Acle walked us through the history of djent, The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley spoke to Converge’s Kurt Ballou about Taco Riffs, The Red Chord’s Greg Weeks made some suggestions for losing NFL teams, Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable contemplated the ways in which technology has changed touring, Daath’s Eyal Levi wondered, “Is this it?”, and a wide array of metal stars previewed the just-begun NHL season.
• We spoke to Kirk Windstein from Crowbar/Down/Kingdom of Sorrow, Sean Z. from Daath, Daddy X and Dirtball from Kottonmouth Kings, and Yoshiki Hayashi from X Japan.
• We checked out the latest releases from Abysse and Deafheaven.
• We contemplated trancecore.
• As the headline says, we heard the worst thing ever.
• We reviewed the history of terrible Limp Bizkit cover songs.
• We had fun with misheard song lyrics.
• We bemoaned the signing of another re-thrash band.
• We applauded Slayer fans’ desire to help the physically disabled.
• We had yet another laugh at Winds of Plague’s expense.

We have a special surprise for you next week. I can’t promise you’re going to like it, but I can promise you’re going to have a strong reaction to it. See ya then.

-AR

So right now you’re probably thinking 1) “Hey, assholes, the NHL season actually started last night so this can’t really be a ‘preview’ in the traditional sense of the word,” and 2) “Hey, assholes, at least one of these artists isn’t actually signed to Relapse Records.” And, yes, we know we’re a little late, but this is metal, so who the fuck is ever on time? And, yes, we know that at least one of these artists isn’t actually signed to Relapse Records, but most of them are, and the fine people at Relapse really did all the work in putting this together, so ppppfffffttttt.

So. After the jump, you can find previews of how the freshly-begun NHL season is looking for the favorite teams of members of 3 Inches of Blood, -(16)-, Buried Inside, Cephalic Carnage, Cretin, Dekapitator, Exhumed, Fuck the Facts, Gravehill, Hero Destroyed, Indian, Misery Index, Mortuous, Repulsion, and Toxic Holocaust. Enjoy!!!

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Fuck the Facts are doing one last tour this year before they start writing their next album, and you should really go see them, ’cause Fuck the Facts are fucking awesome. Plus, it seems like, whenever possible, they’re doing these shows with other excellent bands — the NYC gig, for example, features both Magrudergrind and Defeatist, who are, respectively, totally killer in their own right. But I’d go even if they weren’t playing with other cool bands. In fact, I’m tempted to get on a plane and go to Sydney, NS, just to see a band called “Fuck the Facts” play a venue called “Christ Church Hall.” ‘Cause, Jesus, that’s kinda funny.

Here are dates:

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Metal Injection has premiered the new Michael Panduro-directed Fuck the Facts video, “Wake,” and maybe if I was high, I would have some theories as to what the fuck is going on in said video. But I’m actually not high right now, and as it stands, I’m totally fucking confused. I still it’s pretty cool — A creepy kid! A zombie dude! A cute girl! Flying black squigglies! — I just can’t really posit a theory or get all deep n’ shit right now. But you should watch it, and tell me if you think you understand what the what. Especially if you’re high.

“Wake” comes off of Fuck the Facts’ self-released Unnamed EP, which is out now.

-AR

We’re just days away from Maryland Deathfest 2010, which will take place from May 28-30 in Baltimore, Maryland. This year’s edition of the annual fest promises to be the best one yet, with a line-up that includes Gorguts, Autopsy, Obituary, Entombed, Sodom, Repulsion, D.R.I., and a ton of other kick-ass bands. In anticipation of the event, we thought it would be fun to get some recollections of past MDFs from artists who were there. So we’re teaming up with Relapse Records to do just that! Read the raucous inaugural entry by Matt from Rumpelstiltskin Grinder, memories of a jam-packed day from Tomas Lindberg of Disfear (and At the Gates), how Pete Benumb of Agenda of Swine got swindled, John from Weekend Nachos’ memories of the Bolt Thrower show, and today’s final entries, a double-shot from Dan Lilker of Autopsy, Brutal Truth and Nuclear Assault fame, and Marc from Fuck the Facts. Have fun at MDF!

I am definitely looking forward to this year’s MDF for a very good reason – I will be playing bass for Autopsy there.

I’ve had the pleasure of playing MDF a couple of times with Brutal Truth and once each with Nuclear Assault and Venomous Concept, but even with all that in mind this will be a special one for me due to the honor bestowed on me by Chris and the guys by asking me to fill in on bass. As most people know, Autopsy has not performed live since the early 90s, so this will be the first show in a very long time for a band that was “kult” before that word was intentionally misspelled by a bunch of message board members.

I hope all you motherfuckers come down to witness a little death metal history!!

- Dan Lilker / Autopsy, Brutal Truth, Nuclear Assault

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A deleted scene from Iron Man 2? Nope, just one of the many cinematically stimulating moments in Maryland Deathfest: The Movie

Alright, I kinda don’t wanna talk any shit about Maryland Deathfest: The Movie for a number of reasons. I don’t know David Hall, the dude who made it, but I know he’s worked with a lot of cool bands I like, including Fuck the Facts and Today is the Day. Scott Hull mastered the audio, and I don’t think it’s any secret that if Scott Hull asked me to walk a few feet ahead of him and sprinkle roses in his path, I would happily do so. Maryland Deathfest is clearly one of the best U.S. festivals in all of metaldom, and I don’t want anyone to think I’m speaking ill of that fine institution, ’cause I ain’t. The first twelve minutes of the movie premiered earlier today at Metal Injection, and the Metal Injection dudes are like brothers to me, so I don’t want anyone to think that I’m disparaging that site. And I certainly don’t want anyone to think I’m trashing any of the artists in the movie, ’cause they really had nothing to do with its creation.

With all of that said, those first twelve minutes of this movie really do not make me wanna see the next twelve minutes.

Click to read more…

In case Justina Villanueva’s “Five Facts About Fuck The Facts’ Unnamed EP” wasn’t enough to make you wanna buy the band’s new seven-inch EP, now you can actually listen to it and see for yourself that it’s worth the price: the band is streaming the entire thing here. As Cosmo Lee pointed out last week, Unnamed is the very definition of “DIY” – “Vocalist Mel Mongeon designed the artwork, guitarist Topon Das recorded most of the instruments in his home studio, and the rest of the band pitched in with hand-cutting, hand-numbering, folding, and assembling the final product.” (Photos here.) How awesome is that? It doesn’t hurt that the music will rip you a new one, either.

So go listen to the album and then order yourself a copy. It’s all of six bucks. Seriously, don’t be a cheap skate.

And hopefully I’ll have a proper review up this week.

-AR

What can I say, I like my f’s.

1. When I imported this shit into iTunes, the artist name was NOT Fuck The Facts. Either that means that these dorks stole these five songs, or they don’t want me to leak it. But you know what, I’m gonna do it anyways. Actually, I’m not. It’s only six bucks. So I’ll just link you to the pre-order form.
2. Speaking of stolen music: the same day FTF sent me this EP, the new Burzum album, Belus, leaked. Now, there is something you all should know about FTF and Burzum: Varg Vikernes, the man behind Burzum and the once upon a time session bassist for Mayhem, is IDENTICAL to FTF bassist Marc Bourgon. 

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Remember Disgorge, Mexico, that weird ass looking movie I was talking about that was directed by David Hall and inspired by the Fuck the Facts album of the same title? Well, our PLPs (platonic life partners) over at Metal Injection have debuted a clip from the film, and – not exactly shocking – it’s weirder than Nergal singing country music. Check it, yo:

The song is “Kelowna,” by the way. If you can’t figure the name of the band that recorded it or which album it appears on, well, then, congratulations – you are a ree-ree and you can now go collect some disabilities payments from the government.

-AR

Did anyone see Today is the Day’s Axis of Eden DVD? I only got to see some of it, but it was some pretty trippy shit, and clearly there was a mind behind it that was as willing to think outside the box as TITD main man Steve Austin.

That mind belonged to filmmaker David Hall, who now returns with Disgorge, Mexico, a film based on the album of the same name (minus the comma) by Fuck the Facts (read our review of that record here). A press release tells us the following about the flick:

Described by Hall as “a substance abuse art house riff on the destructive and volatile nature of love,” Disgorge, Mexico: The Movie is a violent, hallucinatory depiction of one woman’s strange journey, set to the soundtrack of Fuck The Facts’ Disgorge Mexico.

Costumes for the film were created by Nekro, known for her costume design work for Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow.

Plus, Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s Jay Randall (who is easily one of the best tweeters in the world) says that “It’s like your eye is a cock, balls deep in a peyote button butthole.” So there’s that.

Disgorge, Mexico doesn’t have an official release date yet, but it should be out soon on DVD and as a digital download. You can check out the trailer by clicking the image below. If said image doesn’t make you extrememly curious, something is wrong with you.

-AR

It always happens this way; you wait and wait and wait for a band you love to come around, and when they finally do they’re playing at the same time as that other band you’ve waited and waited and waited for. So it is tonight in NYC, FOUR-fold. So if you’ve still got an open card for the evening, check out at least one of these awesome shows, and if you’re ambitious and have deep pockets lined with cab money, check out all four! It’s a great night to be a metal fan in NYC, with headliners Wetnurse, Origin, Amorphis and Kataklysm sitting atop 4 totally well-rounded and deep tour bills.

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This past Spring Vince and Axl had the privilege of meeting Topeka, KS-based technical death metallers Origin at the video shoot for their new song “Finite.” Antithesis, the album from whence it came, is a hell of a record (read Axl’s 4 out of 5 horns review here), and in between takes at the video shoot guitarist Paul Ryan told us a bit about its creation. So it’s with extreme honor that we present to you a MetalSucks co-sponsored Origin tour, featuring Misery Index and Fuck the Facts on select dates. The tour is currently winding its way through Canada and will hit a handful of Eastern and Midwestern cities through early October. Full list of remaining dates are after the jump.

And while you’re at it, check out some live footage at UVTV of Origin performing earlier this year in Rochester, NY.

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Welcome to Grind Aficionado, for the connoisseur with taste for subtlety and an ear for quality.

Our Pick of the Week is a new collection from the Fuck the Facts grindhouse titled Disgorge Mexico. Don’t be fooled by the name as this is actually a female-fronted, summer variety of grind prepared in Ontario, Canada, a collection that boasts 14 new and exciting flavors for 2008.

Click to read more…

That’s the question my girlfriend asked me while reading a press release about Psyopus over my shoulder.

Sigh. The joys of dating a non-metalhead.

ANYWAY, what said press release told me is that Psyopus will be heading out on tour at the end of this summer with Fuck The Facts, War From A Harlots Mouth, and Success Will Write Apocalypse Across The Sky. I mean, Success Will Write Apocalypse Across The Sky is possibly the dumbest name ever (and the initials spell SWWAATS, which is odd), but I don’t know their music, so for now I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.

ANYWAY, below, check out Psyopus’ video for “Pig Keeper’s Daughter,” and then, after the jump, get the tour itinerary for “The Grinding Into Cataclysm Tour.”

Psyopus- “Pig Keeper’s Daughter”

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Fuck the Facts have posted a new song, “Vangorge,” on their MySpace page… although it will apparently not appear on their forthcoming new album, Disgorge Mexico. So I don’t even really understand why they posted it. I guess for hardcore fans. Except I don’t know if a band this small-fry has any hardcore fans, save for their moms and significant others.

ANYWAY, here’s what band member Topon Das (fifty bucks say that kid got called “Tampon” a lot in high school) had to say about the song:

“I just uploaded ‘Vangorge’ to our MySpace player. This track was created during our 14 day road trip to write our new album Disgorge Mexico, using pre-production recordings we made at various stops along the way.

“Though this is not a song that will appear on the new album, ‘Vangorge’ still gives you a listen into the writing process of the new album as well as a distorted preview of some of the music that will be on Disgorge Mexico.”

God, I hope this isn’t a distorted preview of Disgorge Mexico, because it’s a really, really boring song. And I really, really wanna like this album. Maybe it’s just because I’m still so floored by Pig Desotryer’s Phantom Limb, but I feel like I haven’t heard a decent piece of grind in for-ever.

-AR

[Via Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. If anyone from Relapse is reading this, for the love of God, please start sending us press releases. You're literally the only label that still doesn't do that. Seriously. I just got a press release about Jason Mraz, and there's about as much chance that I'll write about him as there is that I'll finally give in and go to the Container Store with my girlfriend. We want to write about your bands. It's good for us and good for them. So just go ahead and add us to your mass e-mails. I know you can do it. I believe in you.]

Fuck the Facts’ Relapse debut, Stigmata High-Five, was a good enough slab of grind to make me wanna hear a new album from them, see what else they have up their collective sleeve. Looks like I’ll get my chance when the band release their new album, Disgorge Mexico, later this summer (again on Relapse). If you don’t know the band, here’s two songs off of Stigmata. Dig it.

Fuck The Facts, “The Wrecking” – Stigmata High-Five (Relapse)

Fuck the Facts, “Carve Your Heart Out” – Stigmata High-Five (Relapse)

-AR

I have no idea if this is true or not, but someone recently told me that Steve Austin (the legendary musician, NOT the pro-wrestler and NOT the Six Million Dollar Man) made current Today is the Day drummer Derek Roddy wear a bullet proof vest during his audition for the band so that Austin could shoot him as he played in order to test his skill under pressure. That seems incredibly extreme and totally fucking fuck nuts if it’s true, especially since Roddy’s skills have already been tested in Hate Eternal, but, uh, hey, it’s still a pretty cool story.

ANYWAY, Austin taking his band out on the road is always cause for excitement, but the fact that’s he taking a rotating support line-up of some of our favorite bands out there right now with him – including Rwake, Lair of the Minotaur, Fuck the Facts, and our friends in the most excellent At All fucking Cost – just makes this tour that much more worthy of your time and money.

After the jump, get a complete list of tour dates, along with a list of which bands will playing which shows.

Click to read more…