Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 at 4:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
Those mighty scum sucking space dogs in GWAR recently announced not only that they were doing a massive tribute concert for their fallen guitarist, Cory Smoot, but that they’d soon be embarking on a tour with Municipal Waste and Ghoul. Which is, like, the perfect line-up for a GWAR tour. ‘Cause if you split GWAR’s two personalities — fun fun fun and monstrous vicious violent — in half, you’d probably end up with two bands very much like Municipal Waste and Ghoul. So, A++++ job, whomever thought up this line-up.
ANYWAY, my point being, dates have now been released, so you can begin to make plans to attend. And I know I keep saying it over and over and over again, but seriously, do not forget that you can make donations to The Smoot Family Fund here.
Friday, January 20th, 2012 at 12:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
The first Cory Smoot memorial show, benefitting The Smoot Family Fund, was, by all accounts, a huge success (see footage from the concert here). So it’s no surprise that the band has announced a second memorial show, which will probably be an even bigger success, given that not only are GWAR themselves headlining, but they’re bringing Municipal Waste, Ghoul, and Suppression along with ‘em.
Here’s the announcement from GWAR’s Facebook page, which also announces that the band will be hitting the road soon with Municipal Waste and Ghoul… in other words, there’s gonna be another awesome tour for you to look forward to in the coming months:
“On Thursday, March 15th, 2012, the National Theater in Richmond, Va., will host the biggest Cory Smoot Memorial Show yet…join GWAR, Municipal Waste, Ghoul, and Suppression in an evening of bone-crushing delight…there will be raffles and prizes and excessive drinking and plenty of group hugs as we send off our Scumdog brother in the most grandiose fashion yet!!! ALL proceeds go to the Smoot Family Fund.The next day GWAR, Municipal Waste, and Ghoul shall depart on the second half of their U.S. ‘Return of the World Maggot’ tour. There will be a big press release next week with all the dates and details, so hang in there faithful bohabs, our Masters are returning to us!”
More details as we get ‘em. In the meantime, don’t forget that you can make donations to The Smoot Family Fund here.
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011 at 11:30am by Vic Vaughn
New releases from Animals as Leaders, As I Lay Dying, Beneath Oblivion, Leviathan, Whitechapel and My Dying Bride highlight this week’s packed slate of new releases. Let’s take a look at what’s in store for listeners after the jump.
Wednesday, October 5th, 2011 at 1:30pm by Kellhammer
October is upon us, and with it, the lot of us are bombarded with kitschy, brass-hinged, cardboard jack-o’-lanterns and rubber bats spewing over-dyed corn syrup via time-release mechanisms settled in their plastic innards. It’s a time of haunted hayrides, zombie-infested corn mazes, and other equally tepid Halloween-esque activities likely only to scare those under the age of six.
Now, imagine if you will, a world so ghastly, so horrifically twisted and hellish, even the most sadistic of creatures would break down in violent sobs at the very notion. A town so riddled with death and dire desperation that the streets overflow with tribes of gargantuan maggots and the most thriving business is that of the local coffin shop. Halloween isn’t just an overly-saccharin-ized holiday in this realm, and maybe this is why the anthems derived from this environment continue to bombard us with vigorous, horror-fueled thrash. That’s right; drenched in the bloodied sewage from the bowels of Creepsylvania, Ghoul has come back with Transmission Zero, and they’ve kept their riffs (and blades) sharp.
GWAR live is one of those things that I believe every man, woman, and child, should experience at least one before they die, preferably from a spot in the crowd that is optimal for getting sprayed with fake (I think/hope) urine, semen, and blood. Seriously. No joke. Sally Struthers should be on television begging you to donate money so children living in poverty can still go see GWAR. It’s that important.
And the band has just announced a North American headlining tour, so if you’re a GWAR show virgin, here is a fantastic opportunity to pop your cherry. They’re even bringing Every Time I Die, Ghoul, and Warbeast out on the road with them, for maximum awesomeness… no, that bill doesn’t really make much sense, but I don’t think there’s anyone that would really seem like an “appropriate” match to tour with GWAR, and all of those bands are good, so whatever.
Dates are after the jump, courtesy of Metal Underground. Don’t forget to wear a white shirt you don’t care much about for maximum fun and a free, one-of-a-kind souvenir from the concert.
I haven’t a clue how the folks (folk?) at Blot Und Eisen convinced Sigh’s Mirai, Faith No More / Mr. Bungle’s Trey Spruance, Eyehategod’s Michael IX Williams, Agalloch’s John Haughm and Ghoul’s Digestor to submit to the Rorschach aka “ink blot” tests… but there you have it, and the results are fascinating! The Rorschach Test, for those unfamiliar, is “a method of psychiatric evaluation created by Hermann Rorschach in 1921. Psychologists use the test to examine the personalities of their patients.”
Here are just a couple of samples:
Spruance: “An orthodox church.”
Haughm: “The sky…as seen from inside a shallow grave.”
Digestor: “Hard to clean mess.”
Williams: “Beard of a sideshow pharmacist on display in East Cambodia.”
Mirai: “Two Rabbits In The Bush.”
Haughm: “Two siamese twin elephant embryos trying to escape each other.
Me, I just see a bunch of vaginas. I won’t ruin the rest for you; check it out at Blot Und Eisen.
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010 at 12:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
The below advertisement is for software I’ve never heard of, Guitar Rig 2 (although I don’t claim to be an expert in music software). I stumbled across it quite by accident while YouTube surfing, and apparently it’s at least four years old, which makes the fact that I’ve never seen it before all the more surprising. In any case, it’s best that I don’t tell you much about it, lest I spoil the fun — so just watch.
Thursday, September 9th, 2010 at 10:30am by Axl Rosenberg
Cosmo Lee at Invisible Oranges called the below commercial, for next month’s Brainsqueeze Fest, ”the best ad I’ve ever seen for anything,” and it’s hard to argue with him. The spot is clever, funny, understand its target audience, and, oh yeah, small detail, makes it clear what it’s selling long before the product logo actually appears on screen. (Although, truth be told, it’s so damn good that even if it turned out to be an ad for Garnier Fructis, or Axe Body Spray, or Maximum Douche, or any other number of products, I probably would have purchased that item.)
I suspect that at least some of the ad’s success stems from the fact that it is truly DIY — it was made, in part, by musicians and indie label peeps involved with the fest. So its creators actually have a passion for what they’re selling, as opposed to some Madison Avenue executive whose attitude is ostensibly, “We’re being paid to shill for this product that no one actually needs and that doesn’t really do anything, so let’s not-so-subtly tell the viewer that his or her life sucks and will cease sucking only when they buy this useless piece of shit.” You should head over to Invisible Oranges to learn all the ins and outs of who did what — but I will tell you that the ten year old is MetalSucks’ favorite prepubescent blogger. No, I don’t mean Ziltoid.
Ads like this one can exist today because television is no longer required for broadcasting. That’s the good news. The bad news is, I don’t think this spot will ever actually run on T.V. But holy shit, it would be awesome if it did.
Brainsqueeze Fest takes place October 8 and 9 Oakland. The line-up is pretty killer, and includes Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse, Toxic Holocaust, Ghoul, and more. Get details and tickets here.
We’re just a couple of weeks away from Maryland Deathfest 2010, which will take place from May 28-30 in (duh) 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, and the latest from Tomas Lindberg of Disfear (and At the Gates) below. We’ll continue to post more MDF Memories from other metal dudes as the event draws closer. Enjoy…
In 2008 it was time once again for us happy chaps in Disfear to get the chance to (as Kevin Sharp recently put it) “do our song and dance at the MDF.” We had a good time there a couple of years earlier (2006), even though we had to rush out to play a show in Philly the same night (with our friends in Tragedy/ Forward/ Warhead). Great times! This time the scene is somehow similar; we have a show booked in Philly later on in the evening, in the same club even. We play with Kylesa, Trap Them, Straightjacket Nation and Thrones (!!!), so once again we have a long day ahead of us (and no room for hotel thrashing/late night sessions in Baltimore).
Thursday, November 29th, 2007 at 11:47am by Axl Rosenberg
I was really bummed out to learn that French grindcore band Ghoulunatics have broken up in light of their lead singer’s decision to quit the band – until I realized I was confusing them with Ghoul, the super great, super theatrical deathrash band that may or may not actually be from Romania. That’s not to say that Ghoulunatics aren’t a good band – I guess they’re alright – but, dude, come on: you gotta love fuckin’ Ghoul.
Anyway, this seems like a pretty good excuse to post some Ghoul and Ghoulunatics videos, so here ya go: after the jump, watch “Monstrueusement Votre” (which I think translates to “Your Monster” – my French is pretty rusty) from Ghouluantics, and a live video of Ghoul performing “Mutant Mutilator” at Maryland Deathfest earlier this year (they’ve never made a proper video, natch). I hope you enjoy at least one of these videos, and if you don’t – well, fuck you. Get your own website.
