MetalSucks

My final interview at last month’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in Worcester, MA was with As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa. I’d met Nick earlier in the day at an industry hang at which he told me he was a huge fan of the site. We instantly hit it off, so by the time our scheduled interview rolled around there were no awkward moments. When I approached him while he was warming up in the back lounge of the band’s spiffy tour bus we got right to it. Nick spoke about the band’s past appearances at Metalfest, touring with Lamb of God, partying with Children of Bodom, the advantages of having a nice tour bus, the band’s recently released DVD, and their plans for a new album in early 2010.

For more New England Metal and Hardcore Festival interview coverage, check out my festival wrap, as well as my interviews with J. Costa of Thy Will Be Done, Peter Dolving of The Haunted, Doc Coyle of God Forbid, Jonathan and Billy from Unholy, Josh and Troy from Cattle Decapitation, and Chris Arp of Psyopus.

My interview with As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa, after the jump.

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Why Should We Shut Up?

When I say ‘We’ I’m talking about the people out there who take their blood and put it to paper, celluloid or a digital hard drive. Seriously, why should we stop putting creations out there for everyone to judge? Do you honestly think that an artist doesn’t have any other thoughts or opinions but their art? It’s unfair, it’s nasty and I’m here to tell you we’ve got shit to say. It’s just sad that artists, musicians and filmmakers are maligned when they have something real to say. It may not be right but it’s as much from the heart as the art we create.

It’s about time the mentality of ‘entertain me and that’s it’ stops. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m wrong a lot of the time. I’ve predicted things right and I’ve predicted things wrong. But here’s the rub, when you put yourself out there you’re bound to fuck up more times than not. I learn more from my failures than I do from my successes. When you fail you realize your shit DOES stink, badly.

Look at my Terminator Salvation blog: I was wrong! Dead wrong! I didn’t see the movie but I don’t want to from the feedback I’ve seen. At least I had the balls to say what I thought. It was about a movie, but I said it, I lived with it, and I now admit I was wrong. It takes more to do that than to sit silent. I don’t mind being the butt of jokes or insults. It keeps me grounded to know I am flawed.

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Vince is in Kentucky scouting land for a SECOND MetalSucks Mansion and against the advice of Gary Suarez and my own instincts, I’m off to see Terminator Salvation. We shan’t be posting Monday ’cause it’s Memorial Day, but we’ll be back Tuesday. In the meantime, here’s some shit that happened this week:

• We did a video interview with IWRESTLEDABEARONCE! We also spoke with The Haunted’s Peter Dolving, God Forbid’s Doc Coyle, and Unholy.
• We stole Daath’s Eyal Levi away from Headbanger’s Blog.
• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima graced us with another totally excellent studio blog.
• Corey Mitchell says this is the best album of the year so far.
• Fuckface Durst finally went too far.

As Baz would say, “I’ll be Bach.”

-AR

At this point in the annals of MetalSucks history, an official interview with God Forbid is weird. Interviewing Doc Coyle “on the record” is kind of like interviewing your mom about her performance as your mother; like, are you truly getting the full skinny? But God Forbid are like family to us, and Doc was his usual self; honest, level-headed and frank. At New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last month, Doc told us what led to Dallas’ split from the band, how things with his replacement Kris Norris (of Darkest Hour) are going, the band’s current and future touring plans, critical response to Earthsblood, and breaking into the European market. Our chat, after the jump.

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Release schedules being as hectic as they are these days, it’s sometimes hard for all of us here at the MetalSucks Mansion to keep pushing albums we love in the months following their initial release.

So all of that being said, this is a friendly reminder that we think God Forbid’s Earthsblood is the shit, and if for some reason you still haven’t checked it out, you need to. Seriously. Go do it, we’ll wait here for you.

I’ll be seeing God Forbid along with Lamb of God, As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom and Municipal Waste tomorrow night in Philly (Ha-HA! You thought I was gonna say “tonight in NY,” didn’t you?). I am actively seeking drinking partners. Drop me a line if you’re gonna be there.

In the meantime, here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of God Forbid’s new video, “War of Attrition,” which should be released soonish.

-AR

The Rise Of Extremism and Terminator Salvation

A lot of you complained about my last blog and how I didn’t talk about metal and my decision to leave God Forbid. Unfortunately, some people just don’t get how certain things relate to each other and it’s not my job to help the short bus kids along. Don’t look in the mirror. I don’t want you to think I’m talking about you. You’re not that important. With that said, my Susan Boyle blog was completely metal and did relate to me exiting God Forbid even if I left before Susan Boyle became famous. It like Tupac making videos and albums after he was shot to death. We all know Tupac lives. He really does!

I’m going to talk about the most metal thing ever. Extremism and Terminator Salvation. If you saw the Terminator Salvation trailer before it was rated PG-13 you probably thought it was going to be the best movie ever. That trailer is absolutely bad-ass.

Here it is:

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Dallas Coyle has spoken to MetalSucks exclusively about his split from God Forbid earlier this week. Dallas would like the metal community to know that his split from the band has nothing to do with any familial issues with his brother, but that he has decided to leave the band for personal reasons. Beyond that, he wishes to remain quiet at the time and asks that his privacy be respected.

Here’s a statement from Doc Coyle:

“There have been a barrage of rumors and questions on whether or not Dallas has left God Forbid. It’s true that Dallas has left the band. It’s taken us a few days to confirm this definitely, and figure out what we were going to do considering the fact that we are starting a very important tour with Lamb of God this week.

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A lot of you have been e-mailing us about the rumors that Dallas Coyle has quit God Forbid.

As huge God Forbid fans ourselves, we understand your desire to know what the situation is ASAP. At this time, we do not know any more than you do. We trust that there will be a statement clarifying the situation in good time. In any case, when we know more, you will.

Thanks,

Axl, Vince, and Everyone at MetalSucks

Metal band names are funny. I mean, sooner or later there just aren’t going to be any new ways to come up with variations of “death,” “dead,” “dying,” etc etc, right? And it doesn’t seem like a metal band is going to name themselves “Riding my pony through a field of daisies” any time soon, although admittedly that would be the most br00tal / tr00 name for a metal band EVARRR!

So, Malefice. They haven’t reinvented the wheel band-name wise and they haven’t done so music-wise either, but both their band name and music are pretty fucking cool if you ask me (and by visiting this here webernet site you did ask me, thankyouverymuch). Think the neo-classical-cum-American-new-wave riffage of The Absence or After the Burial mixed with the groove and swagger of God Forbid, and you’ve got a close approximation of what Malefice sound like. Their Metal Blade Records debut (and 2nd album overall) Dawn of Reprisal is out now, and it’s really fucking solid. These Brits have chops, but they know how to use them to write songs rather than just wank around. Recommended if you like any of the aforementioned bands.

-VN

(three out of five horns)

[Malefice on MySpace]

MetalSucks is proud to offer two lucky San Jose, CA-area residents the chance to see one of the best lineups out on the road this spring: Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, As I Lay Dying, God Forbid and Municipal Waste… for free! Alls ya gotta do is send an email to lambofgodcontest AT metalsucks DOT net with your full name and address, and tell us why you’re the one who deserves to win. One lucky winner, chosen a few days before the show, will win two tickets, so you can bring a friend too. Have fun, and remember this is MetalSucks, not a fuckin’ high school essay contest, so make your entries funny. Good luck!

Lamb of God’s Wrath dropped 67% to #12, moving a still very respectable 22,146 units. They should cross the 100,000 mark next week. God Forbid’s Earthsblood dropped 54%, just barely out of the Top 200, but still shifted 2,493 units (check last week’s debut numbers for both releases here). Cannibal Corpse moved 1,389 copies of Evisceration Plague in their 5th week on the chart, and will cross 20,000 cume next week. Score! Elsewhere, acts like Nickelback, Hollywood Undead and Kid Rock shifted way too many albums, and that’s really all you need to know.

By the way people, these Soundscan numbers do include both physical and digital albums.

-VN

It snowed 8 inches in NYC on Monday, but we got back from the Scion Rock Fest in Atlanta just in time to deliver you our usual drudge report. Can you imagine if we’d been stranded? No MetalSucks for two days. What would you have done? Contemplate these noteworthy events of the week as you get ready to enjoy your weekend (65 degrees Sunday in NYC!):

• Mastodon release early contender for best metal video of ‘09.
• Watchmen got metal… or not.
• We spoke with NEMHF founder Scott Lee.
• Lamb of God and God Forbid make strong Soundscan debuts.
• We looked at new releases from Hatesphere, Wolves in the Throne Room, Abacabb, Centaurus-A and General Surgery.
• Chimaira released a new single and a super-duper-deluxe pre-order.
• We waxed ecstatic about the weed in Atlanta… oh yeah, and some bands played at the Scion Rock Fest too.
• Doc Coyle struck back at the Internet.
• MetalSucks got nominated for a Metal Hammer “Web of Death” Award!

Lamb of God and God Forbid dominated the metal charts in their Soundscan debut weeks. A quick look at the numbers of those and other notable releases after the jump with our own witty commentary, natch.

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The Adequate Response to Criticism; An Artist’s Perspective

Criticism. Criticism is something all artists who release their work on a broad scale must encounter. Many of us who do so approach these reflections in our own ways. On Metalsucks, my blogger brother, Dallas, has had the monopoly on providing that perspective in regards to God Forbid, which I think is unfortunate because I think it provides an inaccurate picture of the band’s collective or individual views. My motivations in writing this are not only to respond to the detractors of my band, but also to give an alternative view on the mindset of the motivations and mentality behind what we (who aren’t Dallas in God Forbid) do and what we hope to accomplish.

Not too long ago, Dallas released a blog insisting that he hoped our new album would get bad reviews in light of a theory that bad reviews would trigger some kind of reverse psychological effect in terms of success with the band. I guess that theory has some basis in the fact in that some bands whom although they don’t necessarily get critical acclaim, it isn’t directly tied to overall record sales or popularity (Disturbed, Insane Clown Posse, etc). The fact is, God Forbid has more or less gotten good reviews since the release of Determination, and maintained a good relationship with the metal media. In a sense, I feel like metal media has always been rooting for us. In that respect, I felt the assertion was off base because I felt pretty good about the new album. The only effect Dallas’s commentary would have is to make some people who would normally be allies into adversaries. I think what he was generally trying to say was that he doesn’t care what people think. What many people who respond to Metalsucks and Blabbermouth don’t understand is that he is mainly trying to push buttons, and even if the commentary is negative, you’re doing something right as long as people are talking about you. I think the jury is still out on that one.

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There comes a time in the career of every mega-successful band where they hit the cruise-control button. You know what I mean; think of any band that’s had any amount of real (metal-)mainstream success and I’ll show you the exact moment that band flipped on said switch and either started writing the same album over and over or went off into watered-down oblivion. It’s not that you can blame these bands, and I certainly don’t, but the neverending demands of being in a superstar band — constant touring, radio promo, press, music videos, personal appearances, endorsements, more touring, repeat — stifle innovation by design. When the grind finally ends and it’s time to record another record again, it worked well the last time out so why change it up? It’s not by choice but by necessity; it’s those in-between moments the biggest bands lack that allow them to grow, to reflect, to look at what their peers are doing, to keep up with the latest, and to strive and push harder and harder to take the band to the proverbial next level. Fortunately for God Forbid, now on their 5th full-length record, they haven’t reached this point of mega-success and they haven’t hit cruise-control. There have been plenty of in-between moments (4 years since their last album, Constitution of Treason, to be exact). God Forbid have never stopped pushing, never stopped challenging themselves, never lost the hunger, never stopped to smell the roses; because frankly there haven’t been many roses to smell. The result is that every album has been different — and better — than the one before it, and Earthsblood is no different; it’s their best album yet.

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What’s up everyone? Today is the day Earthsblood comes out and I’d like to thank MetalSucks for supporting the band and this record from even before they had a chance to hear it. What to say about Earthsblood? 1) The album kicks ass. 2) It’s getting great reviews across the board even though I requested that not to happen. 3) Don’t listen to me because I’m just a musician trying to create waves! I don’t know shit.

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As you are (hopefully) already aware, God Forbid’s latest opus, Earthsblood, hits stores today. Guitarists Doc and Dallas Coyle was cool enough to give us a track-by-track breakdown of each song on what is inarguably the band’s best record to date. Enjoy!

1.”The Discovery” – The intro for Earthsblood came about in a peculiar way. The original piece started with the doomy guitars that kick in around 40 seconds into it. We wrote it as part of our black metal side project called Hell Nigger. It was the outro for a song that we wrote in one day. Without the keys and stuff, it sounded more like Morbid Angel, but with the new album having a much darker tone, we thought it would make a cool intro to the album. The piano piece was actually played and composed (with some direction from Dallas and I) by my Dad, Kevin Coyle. We showed him the chords that the guitars were playing, and he started doing this arpeggiated Danny Elfman thing that just killed. Our Dad is a piano teacher and has been playing for like 40 years. He also played on our last album. The orchestration was performed by Michael Romeo from Symphony X. We met each other through our producer, Eric Rachel. He has his own home studio where Symphony X records their albums and this orchestration program that costs some ungodly amount of money, and takes 4 computers to run. Apparently, they use that program to do film scores. Mike is incredible, and I can’t thank him enough for adding some much virtuosity to the record.
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Our very own Dallas Coyle and his brother Doc of the mighty God Forbid made the long trip all the way from New Jersey to San Antonio, Texas, to premiere their long-awaited new CD release, Earthsblood.

Hosted by S.A. metal institution Robb Chavez of Robb’s Metal Works, the Coyle brothers stopped into the Cabo Grille to chat with fans, answer questions from the press, and drink beers while spinning their new record.

It was also the first meeting between two MetalSucks contributors (MS bloggers Dallas Coyle and Corey Mitchell pictured above with Doc Coyle and Antonia “Toni” Garcia of OMCTV).

The Coyles talked about the theme of Earthsblood, how they came about the artwork for the new record, their upcoming tours with Lamb of God and Mayhem Fest, the improbability of running their own record label, the effect an Obama presidency may or may not have on their career, and their sheer, unadulterated love for metal.

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Well, we’ve been hyping it for months, and now the time has finally arrived: God Forbid’s latest opus, Earthsblood, is streaming in its entirety on their MySpace page right now.

There really isn’t much left to say right at this point. We think the album is awesome; Vince will post a full review soon going into greater detail. So for now, just go check out the album for yourself, and then come back here to discuss.

-AR