HUGE drop of new releases this week including much-anticipated new records from Mastodon and Machine Head, as well as a ton of excellent other stuff from Craft, Dead In The Dirt, Landmine Marathon and more. My release reviews are a bit shorter than usual just due to the sheer volume of material coming out this week, but I think I covered most points of interest. Check it out after the jump.  On a side note, Metalsucks wants to send a birthday shout-out to Rodney Githens, member of Vertebrae 33 and the artist behind the awesome Metal Suckfest poster.  Have a good one, dude.

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I can’t claim to be an expert on HateSphere, but based on what I know about the band, they seem to oscillate between groove metal and thrashier stuff. I really like the more groovy stuff (like the single “Drinking with the King of the Dead,” from 2007′s Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes), but the other stuff doesn’t do much for me. I don’t think it’s bad — I just don’t hear anything to really make it stand out from the pack.

So. The band’s new single, “Smell of Death,” showcases both of the band’s styles. Thus, I am of two minds about it — again, I really, really dig the groove stuff (like the almost-elephants-marching riff under the guitar solo), but I feel pretty meh on the rest. But I know there are some HateSphere fans out there, ’cause y’all e-mail us from time to time. So check out the track below, then let me know if you think I’m being too kind or not kind of enough in our comments section.

“Smell of Death” will be on HateSphere’s new album, The Great Bludgeoning, which comes out September 27 on Napalm Records.

-AR

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Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means we’re taking off early today and won’t be back ’til Monday. We’re sorry to leave non-American readers high n’ dry, but PLUS ONE FOR FREEDOM, MOTHERFUCKERS.

ANYWAY, in honor of the holiday, we decided to do a special Turkey Day-themed QOTW designed to make you feel all warm and cuddly inside:

WHAT (IN METAL) ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

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Nevermore’s MetalSucks-presented North American tour kicks off this Thursday in Vancouver. With support coming from Warbringer, Hatesphere, and Blackguard, these shows promise to kick all kinds of ass. And to celebrate, we’re giving away five pairs of VIP tickets to the tour! Here’s how to win:

• In the comments section below, tell us why you wanna see Nevermore live. Vince and Axl will choose their five favorite answers, and the writers of those entries will win a pair of VIP tickets to the show of their choice! Remember that this is MetalSucks, not Reader’s Digest, so the more entertaining your answer, the more likely you are to win.
• Make sure you specify which show you’d like to attend if you win. We can’t help you with transportation, so if you can’t actually get to one of these shows, don’t waste our time, okay?
• Make sure you register for the comments section with a real e-mail address, as all winners will be contacted via e-mail. If you connect to the MS comments section via Facebook, please leave your e-mail address in your comment, as we cannot contact winners via the social network.

And that’s it! Get a complete list of tour dates after the jump… and good luck!

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Someday I want to walk either up or down some stairs and then along a very bland-looking hallway towards the increasingly loud sound of people either chanting my name or the name of something cool with which I am closely associated – like a band, or, I dunno, this website. Of course, that’s likely never to occur, since I am not now, nor have I ever been, nor am I ever likely to be, in a real band, and you don’t often hear people chanting the names of bloggers or websites. Unless it’s Cum Fiesta. But, c’mon. MetalSucks is no Cum Fiesta.

(By the way, I didn’t put a note that Cum Fiesta is NSFW because, well, it’s called “Cum Fiesta.” If you clicked through and did not realize that it was going to be a porn site, please never reproduce, as there are enough idiots in the world as it is and we don’t need your gene pool to continue. Thanks.)

ANYWAY, I mention it because it’s how the new Nevermore video, for “Emptiness Unobstructed,” begins. And why wouldn’t you chant for Nevermore? Nevermore are fucking awesome. We’re sponsoring their North American tour with Warbringer, Mutiny Within and Hatesphere (dates here), and I totally intend to go, and I totally intend to start a “NEV-ER-MORE!” chant. Okay, I probably won’t do that because I’m not really an extroverted or even social person, but I will go to the show and chime in with a chant that someone else started.

In case ya haven’t heard, lemme drop some knowledge: “Emptiness Unobstructed” is off of Nevermore’s new album, The Obsidian Conspiracy, which is out now on Century. It’s awesome. Go get it.

-AR

[via Bloody Disgusting]

The fact that the Nevermore North American Tour 2010 has already been announced isn’t lost on us… but since any good metal tour auto-magically looks cooler with our logo followed by “Presents…” atop its bill, we figured we’d jump on and sponsor it! Neo-thrashers Warbringer, American neo-melodeathsters Mutiny Within and Denmark’s melodeath/thrashsters Hatesphere are on the bill as well, making for a fun bill of metal that will kick off in Vancouver on September 23rd, circle around the U.S., and wrap in Edmonton on November 5th.

What does this mean for us? Well, besides getting to stroke our ego every time we look at the poster, we get a pair of VIP tickets for every show. And for you lucky chaps, you get to be the recipients of said VIP tickets. Golly! Details for how to win those will be announced soon.

And even better, “Create Your Own Conspiracy Contest” winner Ben Robson gets his shot to perform his version of “The Obsidian Conspiracy” with the band in his hometown of Pittsburgh on October 25th; and since Century Media had graciously offered to fly him and a friend to a show for the performance, Ben gets to use that money to bring down a whole buncha friends and family instead. If you live in or near Pittsburgh, do not miss this special show!

Full list of tour dates after the jump. Sorry Floridians, but you get screwed once again (and as usual, not our fault!).

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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!

Somehow sandwiched between twin elders Sweden and Norway and spry youngster Finland, Denmark is certainly the middle child of metal’s Scandinavia. Ever the region’s Jan Brady (“Everyone’s always talking about Marduk! Marduk Marduk Marduk!”), the Danish seem to be getting shafted by Tr00 Norwegian Black Metal, melodic Swedish Death Metal, or Finland’s recent emergence as propagators of expansive post-metal (Cult of Luna and Callisto) and cheesy blackened death metal (Children of Bodom). Hatesphere’s latest, To the Nines, is a struggle to be known, clearly cribbing from Gothenburg but also trying to stand out among the region’s intimidating pack. But alas, while Hatesphere’s geographical cousins are growing up to be doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs, the band are content on being the night manager at Copenhagen’s answer to 7-11.

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Up until now, I’ve never heard a song by Copenhagen’s Hatesphere that I’ve enjoyed – but that all changed after I saw their video for “Drinking with the King of the Dead.” I’m not a huge fan of the vocals, but I think the groove-laden riff that propels the song is Panterrific.

From what I understand (and by “what I understand,” I mean “what I gleaned from this album review“), the song is a departure from the band’s usual style; I wonder how their core fan base would react if they put out an album with ten more songs like this, ’cause that’s a Hatesphere album I might be interested in owning.

Check out the clip below… if nothing else, it has lesbos and vomiting. And you can’t go wrong with lesbos and vomiting.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/pMloHIEzP2o" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

-AR