My last blog was fucking hilarious. I mean, really. It was good. No, it was better than good. It was great. Besides some of my blogs that have nothing to do with metal (Susan Boyle) I was able to write something that wasn’t serious at all. And again, it was completely hilarious. The best part of the blog was -

Half of you mother-fuckos didn’t even get it!

And Jesus, it was sad. I mean, come the fuck on. What are you guys paying attention to? One of my choices for my year end list was Joe Duplantier  – For being ‘better than everyone else.’ Oh… and one of my favorites: Ivan Moody’s ‘VOICE’ from FFDP. His voice! His god damn voice?

Wake up, you assholes!
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A couple weeks ago, I did an interview with Metal Injection for a retrospective on the highlights, trends, and cultural significance of the heavy music scene from an insider’s perspective concerning the last ten years. Near the end of the interview, I was asked if there were any sub-genres or trends that I didn’t like, or that seemed to get on my nerves. I thought about it for a minute, and generally annoying things like nu-metal or screamo or stale metalcore just seemed obvious and an easy target, when something dawned on me. I was generally annoyed by the whole ReThrash scene.

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Last week, during one of my daily perusals of this very blog, I came across a rather scathing recounting of Killswitch Engage’s self-titled album, which came out earlier this year. This caught me a bit off guard, as I considered it to be one of my favorite albums of the year and a step in the right direction from Daylights Dies, which was at first very disappointing but grew on me after some time. I was even more surprised when I saw that most user comments tended to agree with the blog entry.

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Yesterday God Forbid announced that they’ll be playing a very special show on January 9 at Dingbatz in Clifton, NJ. Now, Dingbatz only holds about two-hundred people and advance tickets to the show are a whopping twelve bucks, so this is pretty cool in and of itself. But even cooler for those of us who can’t attend the show is the opening sentence from the announcement:

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These are fun. You guys have been sending in a LOT of links… here’s the best of the best, in this blogger’s humble opinion.

• Painted in Exile: At first I was skeptical of Byron W.’s claim that this Sumeriancore act is “quite interesting”… but it’s true. They’ve got a unique slant to their djenty sound.
• Keith Merrow: An extremely well-produced one-man metal outfit based out of Portland, OR… if you like Periphery (Misha Mansoor), new Decapitated drummer Krimh’s solo stuff, or the Chronicles of Israfel (about whom I posted last week), you’ll definitely dig this. [Thanks: David Blanton]
• Ryashon: Says MS reader Jason Lawson, “they’re two brothers, not ‘bruthas’, from PA that are in seperate [sic] mediocre death/metalcore bands. But together they’re…well, they’re just awesome.” This is truth. Epic instru-metal.
• Dissipate: Quality brutal tech-death sent in by their drummer, Jeff.
• Eyeless: Another (1) talented French metal band… kind of Chimaira-y, maybe just a little bit more technical. Fitting then that Mark Hunter did some guest vocals on their new album; God Forbid’s Doc Coyle does a guest guitar solo, too. [Thanks: Djabthrash]

Pretty big week here at the MetalSucks Mansion. We laughed, we cried, we fired someone, we rocked out with our cocks out. Here’s a rundown of the highlights:

• We debuted a new song by The Devin Townsend Project, a new video by Skeletonwitch, a new song by Javelina, and the cover art for Sigh’s new album.
• Horse the Band’s Lord Gold blogged about Nawlins and cocaine, God Forbid’s Doc Coyle gave us an exclusive statement about that whole cup throwing incident, Dallas Coyle is giving away music for free, and Daath’s Eyal Levi talked about a run-in with the Polacks and drum triggers.
• We spoke to Dethklok’s Brendon Small, Converge’s Jacob Bannon, Gojira’s Joe Duplantier, and Liturgy’s Hunter Hunt-Hendrix.
• We checked out new releases from Baroness, The Red Chord, Skeletonwitch, Immortal, Vains of Jenna, Vampire Mooose, and Javelina. Also, some asshole really likes Oceano.
• We’re sponsoring the incredibly awesome Tyrants of Evil North American Tour 2010 with Arch Enemy, Exodus, Arsis, and Mutiny Within!

Alright. I’m going to see Where the Wild Things Are now. I’m fairly certain that it is going to make me weep like Gary Suarez. See ya Monday.

-AR

At some point during the recording of Earthsblood, God Forbid announced that they had covered Muse’s “Stockholm Syndrome.” Since then, we’ve actually gotten a stupid amount of e-mails from people asking us when it was going to be released. And we really didn’t know. (I know we’re tight with some of the dudes from God Forbid, but it’s important to remember that we’re not actually in God Forbid, even if we sometimes air guitar to “The End of the World” and fantasize that we are.)

Well, the song is finally available as a single on iTunes. An it’s good! Muse are already one of the most metal non-metal bands out there, and GF completely succeed in turning the track into something metal as fuck. The guitars rip and Byron Davis screams in jjjuuuussssttt the right amounts. If you’re a God Forbid fan, it’s totally worth the buck it’ll cost you. And as a bonus, remember that it might be the last official God Forbid recording to feature Dallas Coyle (who handles most of the vocals, in addition to his usual guitar duties) ever.

For obvious reasons I can’t/don’t want to post the cover here, but below you can check out the video for Muse’s original, in case you’re unfamiliar with it.

-AR

In 2009, my primary interest in Billy Milano is reading the new and creative ways the dudes at Metal Inquistion come up with to give him shit (read here and here for examples). Still, I recognize that once upon a time the dude made good music, and about a gajillion of you e-mailed us the link to this video of him performing S.O.D.’s “United Forces” with Lamb of God (and Doc Coyle!) at a recent Metallica concert. So, y’know, let’s call this one a reader request.

-AR

I haven’t had much time to write my blog as much as I would like. To apologize I wanted to give you guys a free download of a small amount of music I’ve done since I’ve left God Forbid. This music is under my moniker Graphic Novel or [GN]. I scored a film a couple of months back and this is a sample of that ‘style’ of music I like to create. [GN] definitely is not metal by any stretch but it is some interesting stuff. I hope you kids here can appreciate something besides metal music.

Here’s the tracklisting for the songs cause I’m not sure they will go into your music player in the right order.

1. The Vultures Titles
2. Voices – Score
3. Settle The Score (Inst)
4. Fate-ality
5. Warren’s Fate
6. The Baron’s Theme
7. Push, Shove
8. Death Dance
9. Whistle Blower

The music ranges from horror score to electronica to weird remixes. It will only be up for three days so get it while it lasts you crazy fuckers.

[download is no longer available]

–D

As you are probably aware, God Forbid guitarist Doc Coyle recently filled-in for Lamb of God’s Mark Morton while LoG played support for Metallica. A video of Doc getting hit in the head with a cup of liquid while performing on that has been the source of much internet banter as of late (see above). Doc has issued the following statement regarding the incident exclusively to MetalSucks.

“I’m sure many of you have seen the video of me getting pegged on stage while I was on Metallica tour filling in for Mark from Lamb of God. Although 95% of the comments were really supportive, I just wanted to clarify a few things about the incident. First off, it was a beer, not a water. A big ol’ tall boy plastic cup of beer, and whoever threw it must have been a quarterback because it was full and hit me square in the eye at full steam. It felt like I got sucker punched. I had a mark by my cheek bone and it was swollen all night. I surprised I didn’t have a black eye. The way it hit me is probably the reason why I reacted the way I did. I’m no tough guy, but I wasn’t really thinking. I just reacted. I really don’t know what I would’ve done if anyone would’ve have owned up to to throwing it, but I have no clue if I would’ve hit the person. I can say that I’m not violent at all, and don’t think violence is a productive way to solve problems. I’m glad nothing came of it, but obviously the person was pretty cowardly to throw it and not own up to it. Anyway, shit happens. I just think it’s kind of funny how it spread on the internet. Beer in the face and all, it was still more than an honor to play with Lamb of God and open for Metallica.”

Awhile back, there was a fan-filmed video of one of the dudes from Attack Attack! getting hit in the head with a cup of water (or, hopefully, something much ickier). And I found that video hilarious. The video is down now “due to a copyright claim” by the band’s label, Rise Records, but that’s bullshit. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of fan-filmed videos of Attack Attack! all over YouTube, all of which, theoretically, violate Rise’s copyright claim. This video was clearly taken down because it’s embarrassing to Attack Attack!

But I digress. I’m really just admitting that I found that video funny, because I’m a huge hypocrite.

See, I don’t find the below video of Doc Coyle getting hit with a cup of water while performing with Lamb of God funny because, well, a) I like God Forbid, b) I like Doc Coyle, and c) I like Lamb of God. So, yeah, I’m biased. If that’s shocking to you, you either don’t read MetalSucks very much, or are not very intelligent.

ANYWAY, one thing I do find funny about this video: Doc taking off his guitar and leaping down off the stage to confront his attacker. No, he doesn’t actually hurt anyone, but, man, I bet he put the fear of God (Forbid!) in whomever that dick wad was.

Skip to roughly 4:22 to see the whole thing go down. Hopefully whomever threw that cup woke up the next day to find that his testicles had, indeed, fallen off in the middle of the night. Assuming he had a pair to lose in the first place.

-AR

[via Blabbermouth]

Monday (actually sun down Sunday, but whatever) is Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish day of repentance. As you can imagine, I have a lot to repent for, so I won’t be doing any writing. Vince may or may not be here to give all the goy their bored-at-work dose of entertainment.

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

• Dallas Coyle talked about “borrowing ideas” and talking shit, while Eyal Levi contemplated greener grass (not that kind of grass).
• We spoke to Every Time I Die’s Andy Williams and some of the dudes from Periphery.
• We suffered through the worst Metallica cover ever recorded.
• We wondered if Juggalos should be considered a gang.
• And it’s Gojira and Burst live FTW.

See ya Tuesday.

-AR

Partway through Gojira’s set last night, my knees got wobbly. At first I thought it was just a natural reaction the awesomeness of the French metaller’s ball-rattling live show, but then I realized: “Nope, nope. I’m just really fucked up.” So fucked up that I turned down weed – and I never turn down weed. I went back to the Mansion at a fairly reasonable hour (whereas Vince and Kip were still out partyin’), but since I woke up this morning, I’ve still been feeling the effects of last night’s debauchery. My head fuckin’ hurts, dude.

So with all due respect to you, my loyal readers, who I love and who ensure that we continue to have the best job in the world: I did not want to start my day by calling you “nitwits.” But you’ve left me no choice.

We got a whole bunch of e-mails this morning from people who were concerned because Mark Morton didn’t play with Lamb of God at last night’s LoG/GWAR/JFAC show. There seems to be some serious concern from these fans that the lead guitarist has quit the band.

And that would suck… if it were true. But Morton’s absence from this tour was announced over a month ago. He’s at home with his woman and their new baby, being a dutiful daddy. God Forbid’s Doc Coyle is filling in for him. In fact, here’s a video of Doc playing with the band that Blabbermouth posted yesterday:

So, everyone should remain calm. Mark Morton is still very much a member of Lamb of God. I’m sure he’ll back for the band’s next tour.

More disconcerting: a number of you who wrote in didn’t know who Doc Coyle is. Seriously people: God Forbid. Listen to them. They’re awesome and it’s good for you.

-AR

I haven’t done a blog in a while because the last blog I did really got me thinking about the mentality of people in the metal scene. Most particularly, the mentality of shit talking. We’re all guilty of it. I admitted to shit talking Bring Me The Horizon in magazines over in Europe when I was in God Forbid. I never heard them at that point. But now, I dig them and I feel pretty stupid for slagging them.

In my last blog I mentioned my excitement for the band Eryn Non Dae and how I was going to “borrow” some of their ideas for my new project. First of all, my last blog was PACKED with information about band business, touring and juicy tidbits of amazing knowledge :) But, the funny thing about the last blog was this guy ‘Jamie.’ Out of a five hundred word blog, he took the phrase “borrow ideas” and accused me and God Forbid of riding the coat tails of other popular bands. Killswitch was his biggest gripe. Then it was Opeth.

He claimed Gone Forever (2004) was a Killswitch rip and Earthsblood (2009) was an Opeth rip. This type of thing usually doesn’t bother me. In this instance I was fucking bothered. Jamie and I entered into a written brawl about the history of God Forbid and the intentions of our song writing for the last ten fucking years. Why would I waste my time to defend myself from this sort of claim?

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It’s been a doozy of a year for metal releases already, hasn’t it?

After the jump, the records I’ve been jamming the most so far that might or might not end up on my year-end Top 10.

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Where the hell does the time go? The year is more than half over already! Sheesh.

ANYWAY, here are, in alphabetical order, albums that have really knocked my socks off so far this year…

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It’s no secret that pretty much every band in metal wants to open for Metallica, even if that band’s best days are behind them – and God Forbid are no exception. Since we consider GF like family around the mansion, seeing them fulfill one of their ambitions and get to open for ‘Tallica would be pretty swell.

For better or worse, for right now we’re going to have to settle for Doc Coyle opening for Metallica.

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Now the nausea’s
In my guts
And I’m wrestling with doubt
The kind you get when your heroes
Sell you out
And as I watch the drawbridge come down
There’s mass extinction
On my mind
Human cruelty stains my thoughts jet black
I’ve got this feeling
Like things have gone too far and now we can’t get back

Here’s more fun shit that happened in the world of metal this week:

• We debuted new videos from Cradle of Filth and Arsonists Get All the Girls.
• We got exclusive tour blogs from Bison B.C.’s Dan And and Woe of Tyrants’ Chris Catanzaro.
• We spoke to members of Winds of Plague, Decrepit Birth and Born of Osiris.
• I counted down 50 things I love about Pig Destroyer, and then added a 51st.
• Ulrich Vs. Mustaine Vs. Ian and Zakk Vs. Ozzy made us laugh with glee.
• Kerry King Vs. Killswitch Engage was pretty funny, too.
• Dallas Coyle answered more of your questions.

Vince gets back from vacation tonight right around the time Repulsion take the stage, and then tomorrow, hopefully, Craig’s List will lead us to some Tool tickets. See ya Monday!

-AR

For my last blog, I decided to do a question and answer session with “The Hard R.” I thought I was going to get a couple of questions, but the amount that came in were pretty mind-blowing. The cool thing is you have real questions about the business, and I think I can shed some light on certain things. I never said I’m an expert but I can use my experiences to shed light on some of these questions. As far as my boy Sven asking about Coyle Media, I’ll break it down for you.

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Alright, people. I feel like fucking death. I just wanna go lie down and hopefully never wake up. Let’s get this over with:

• We finally finished the goddamn motherfucking list with “Albums We Wish Had Made It” entries from my man Vince (Soilwork’s Natural Born Chaos) and my girl Amy Sciarretto (DEP’s not-really-eligible Calculating Infinity).
• We got another exclusive world tour video tour diary from Misery Index. We also spoke with Johnny Kelly of Type O Negative and Seventh Void and got our bro-bros at Thrash Hits to do a video interview with Trigger the Bloodshed for us. Thanks, dudes.
• We lost IQ points just watching this video interview with the singer of Attack! Attack!
• We have it on good authority that there’s gonna be an Acid Bath reunion.
• Dallas Coyle is now answering your questions.
• So is Gwar’s Oderus Urungus.

We’ll be at Summer Slaughter on Sunday. If any of you spot us and want to buy us a drink, please, for the love of all things holy, don’t.

-AR