You’d think that something like forty years worth of PSAs in front of Saturday morning cartoons would enough to teach kids not to drink and drive, but I guess knowing isn’t half the battle after all. THANK GAWD, then, for Havok, whose new video, for the song “D.O.A.”, illustrates the point in the most metal way imaginable.

The clip originally debuted on Metal Injection; you can check it out below.

“D.O.A.” appears on Havok’s Time is Up, which is out now on Candlelight.

-AR

There’s still six dates left on Exhumed’s MetalSucks-presented tour with Goatwhore and Havok! The shows thus far have been completely fucking nuts, and we assume if you live near one of the remaining dates, you are going. But if for some reason you aren’t going, you should check out this sweet live footage from Metal Injection, ’cause it will make you wanna go.

See? Now you wanna go, right? So go! Remaining dates and ticketing info are available here. And you can check out more footage from the tour at Metal Injection: Goatwhore live and Havok live. Enjoy!

-AR

Over the weekend, we got an e-mail from Ron Blackwell — the vocalist for Danny Lilker’s black metal project, Nokturnal Hellstorm — informing us that he had recently proposed to his girlfriend onstage during an Exhumed show. I didn’t get to watch the video of the most romantic thing in the history of love until this morning because I was, y’know, kinda busy, but now that I’ve actually seen it, all I can is, holy shit, this is twice as beautiful as I imagined it would be.

I just cried a little. Anyone else just cry a little? I mean, that was fucking beautiful.

If you need a little romance in your life, don’t forget that Exhumed’s North American headlining tour with Goatwhore and Havok — which, hey!, we happen to be presenting — is ongoing through November 20. Get dates and links to purchase tickets right here.

-AR

[UPDATE, 4:30pm EDT: As some of you pointed out, Cephalic Carnage have, in fact, dropped off this tour. -Ed.]

Hell fuckin’ yeah, bitches! We are proudly co-presenting death metal masters Exhumed’s North American headlining tour, which, just to make extra-extra-sure you attend, features the unfuckwithable support line-up of Goatwhore (seriously fuck you if you don’t worship Goatwhore), Cephalic Carnage (best Entire Catalog to Get Stoned To ever?), and Havok (one of the only modern thrash band that actually matters). The tour was supposed to begin last night in Gallup, NM, but now that show has been pushed back to the end of the trek; alas, tonight’s gig in Amarillo, TX has been cancelled altogether.

But the tour will officially fo’ realz kick-off tomorrow night in Oklahoma City!!! You can get all the dates on the newly-updated itinerary, plus links to purchase tickets, right here. DO NOT MISS THESE SHOWS! They are guaranteed to be completely brutal and completely unforgettable.

If you missed the awesome Toxic Holocaust headlining tour we sponsored over the summer, don’t be too sad — ’cause the band just announced another trek, this one to start in February. Last time, the band had one punk band, Krum Bums, and one metal band, Holy Grail, playing support; this time, they’ll have two punk bands, English Dogs and The Casualties, and one metal band, Havok, as support. So I guess, like, go put some egg in your hair or whatever. I don’t really know where I was going with that.

ANYWAY, these shows should be shit tons of fun. Here are dates, courtesy of Metal Underground:

Click to read more…

[UPDATE, 4:30pm EDT, Oct 27: Cephalic Carnage have unfortunately dropped off this tour. -Ed]

MetalSucks is proud to be teaming up with our pals at Metal Injection and Hails & Horns to bring you what we think is gonna be one of the most brutal tours of the year: the incredibly fucking awesome Exhumed are headlining, and support is coming from Goatwhore, Cephalic Carnage, and Havok. This is one of those rare package tours where there isn’t a bad band on the bill — it’s gonna be the kind of show where you’ll wanna get there early to make sure you don’t miss a minute. There’s just absolutely no way that these shows will be anything less than insane.

Seriously, do NOT miss this tour — you’re gonna feel like a damn fool if you do. Dates are after the jump!

Click to read more…

Earlier this year, vocalist Wyatt Anderson re-joined White Wizzard, and Vince wondered aloud, “How long before he quits again, Matt Barlow style?” Well, the answer, apparently, was “Not very long at all.” From the band’s Facebook page:

So that’s not great news. But the silver lining is that, at least for the time being, Cellador vocalist Mike Germino is handling frontman duties for the band. I’m not a huge Cellador fan, but there’s no denying that Germino has a set of pipes on him. And if the below video, filmed during a recent stop on the band’s current, MetalSucks-sponsored tour with Forbidden, Revocation, and Havok, is any indication, Germino is killing it out on the road right now:

Click to read more…

Photos by Brian Schroeter

Has anybody else been to a show that was extra awesome cuz the turnout sucked? Low sales suck for the bands, and that sucks suckbags. However, under-attendance creates gigs that feel more like parties: The room is easily navigated and the few faces are soon familiar to you; at first, there’s a chill — in the case of the Forbidden, Revocation, White Wizzard, and Havok mega-jam this weekend, I overheard two pre-show conversations about how the show wouldn’t be worth it for the bands — but that chill passes, and is replaced with the “hey there you are let’s headbang” vibe; by end of show, there’s a bit of fondness for the others in the room, except for the one guy who barfed on something important and the tipsy chick blabbing to/about her scenebro bf. Totally like a party. I love parties.

Click to read more…

Two weeks from today, Havok will hit the road as part of an awesome MetalSucks/Decibel sponsored Forbidden headlining tour, along with Revocation and White Wizzard. Vince called it “the ultimate fun time happy tour,” and his assessment is 110% correct; these shows are just gonna be deliciously obnoxious music, flying hair, and waves of beer as far as the eye can see.

But Havok are gettin’ the party started early with their new video, “Covering Fire,” which debuted earlier today on Metal Injection. All you really need to know about the clip is that it has lots of fire and explosions — two things every metal vid should have — and the song owns your ass. Check it out:

“Covering Fire” comes off of Havok’s most recent release, Time is Up, which is out now on Candlelight. You should buy it. You should also say hello to the band when you go to their aforementioned concert with Forbidden, Revocation, and White Wizzard. Here are dates:

Click to read more…

A rip-roaring good time was had at our inaugural South by South Death show in Austin, TX this past March; Kvelertak, Havok, Red Fang, Wormot and Meek is Murder packed Headhunters on Red River St. and kept the energy level high throughout the afternoon. We posted Roxwel.com-filmed video footage of Red Fang, Havok and Wormrot’s sets here, and now, for your viewing pleasure, we give you Kvelertak and Meek is Murder. You can also check out an interview segment with all five bands here.

Meek Is Murder at South By South Death 2011
Watch Music Videos at www.roxwel.com

Kvelertak, after the jump. And HOLY SHIT did they kill it, getting that entire room into a frenzied mosh:

Click to read more…

They came, they rocked, they conquered: Kvelertak, Havok, Red Fang, Wormrot and Meek is Murder played our inaugural South by South Death show at this year’s SXSW and a jolly old time was had. On Tuesday we showed you a wrap video featuring clips of performances and interviews with all five bands, and today we give you several songs each of the performances by Red Fang, Havok and Wormrot (tomorrow: Kvelertak and Meek is Murder). All of this fine multi-camera /soundboard footage was provided by sponsor Roxwel.com, consistent purveyors of excellent live metal videos; thanks dudes!

Havok at South By South Death 2011
Watch Music Videos at www.roxwel.com

Red Fang and Wormrot after the taco.

Click to read more…

No longer do you have to take our written word for it; thanks to South By South Death 2011 sponsors Roxwel.com you can now see first-hand just how much fun we had at our inaugural SXSW showcase with Kvelertak, Red Fang, Havok, Wormrot and Meek is Murder. Roxwel did an incredible job capturing all the madness with multiple cameras, soundboard audio and interviews with all the bands, and now we relay said madness to you, oh faithful MetalSucks reader.

The first installment is a wrap-up video featuring clips of performances and interviews with every band on the bill; it sets the stage nicely for all the full songs Roxwel filmed from each band, which we’ll post in the coming days.

South By South Death 2011 Recap
Watch Music Videos at www.roxwel.com

This one’s gonna be a headbangin’ party: as previously announced, MetalSucks (along with Decibel) is proud to sponsor Forbidden, Revocation, White Wizzard and Havok on their upcoming U.S. and Canadian tour, and now we’ve got the poster to prove it.

This is like the ultimate fun time happy tour; if ever there were a show to get extremely drunk and rowdy at and to HEADBANG NON-FUCKING STOP, this is the one. Get ready; it starts in June. Dates after the jump.

Click to read more…

We’re sponsoring another tour! And for the third time in a little over a year, that tour will feature Revocation, one of our most favoritest bands. The tour also features White Wizzard — which will surely shock many who read this site regularly and probably made Jon Leon’s heart skip a beat when he found out — but lost in the shuffle over the years is the fact that we actually think White Wizzard are a good band (we just also love making fun of the blooper reel that is their constantly rotating lineup). Forbidden and Havok round out the bill, making this a fine, fine tour for thrash and old-school metal. The tour is hitting mostly smaller markets and a bunch of Canadian cities, so if you’ve never had the chance to see these bands because they never come near you this is probably your chance (sorry Florida… you’re still fucked). We don’t have a tour poster yet, but we gander we’ll be getting one soon.

Elsewhere on the Revocation front, the new album the band has been hinting at for a while finally has a name, Chaos of Forms, and Relapse Records will reportedly release it in August. It’s easily one of our most anticipated records of 2011 in no small part because drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne told us last fall that it features a full horn section.

Tour dates after the jump. Revo dudes, try not to get cornered by any creepy 15 year-old meth-heads in Reno this time.

Click to read more…

Last year (and the year before) I got way too busy with this thing called life and missed out on a lot of quality music. I am here to rectify the error of my ways, month by month.

Here are the March 2011 releases that got under my skin, burrowed their way into my brain, made my ears bleed, or simply tickled my unmentionables:

Click to read more…

I know it’s arrogant for us to pat ourselves on the back, but holy shit, did we kill it this week or what?

Here’s what we did:

• We brought you the first interview with Behemoth frontman Nergal since he was diagnosed with leukemia in August.
• We got the exclusive scoop on Melissa Auf der Maur’s collaboration with Shining’s Jorgen Munkeby.
• We debuted new music by Between the Buried and Me, Last Chance to Reason, and Havok.
• We debuted new videos by Protest the Hero and Becoming the Archetype.
• We also spoke to the legendary David Coverdale from Whitesnake.
• We checked out the latest release from Anthrax and Until Your Heart Stops.
• We told you what your favorite metal band says about you… and then we told you again!
• We got excited about the line-up for Summer Slaughter 2011.
• We wondered if Winds of Plague are the new Limp Bizkit.
• We protested shitty metal vocalists.

We aspire to make next week even biggerer and betterer! Check back then to see if we succeeded or not… ’til then, have a great weekend!

-AR

Biggest and best metal release day of 2011 so far? It certainly seems that way. New records from Amon Amarth, Becoming the Archetype, Blackguard, Cavalera Conspiracy — are you kidding me? there’s still more? — Goes Cube, Havok, Mercenary, Obscura and a Between the Buried and Me best-of comp (with a brand new release coming next week!) all officially come out today. If you’re a devoted metalhead with varied tastes you better have saved up, else you’ll be very, very poor come tomorrow.

Vic Vaughn takes a look at all those release — and yes, EVEN MORE — after the break.

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Why are Havok so much fun? Why are various inhabitants of the MS Mansion constantly touting their awesomeness while trashing other re-thrash bands? Why did everyone love their show so much at South by South Death in Austin? Is Denver the next Bay Area? Will you just click “play” already below to listen to their new album Time Is Up in its entirety?

Did you know that Time Is Up comes out tomorrow? And that you can order it here? Are you sick of all these questions yet? Would you hate us if we did this all day?

[this streaming promotion has ended]

[Read my recaps of Day One and Day Two. -Ed.]

The always-wise Antonin Skullia Esq. said to me on Friday that there’s no such thing as a “first annual,” just a “first ever.” Indeed. So please don’t think I’m gloating when I say that the first ever MetalSucks SXSW event South by South Death was a big success and surely worthy of creating a “second annual.” Meek is Murder, Wormrot, Red Fang, Havok and Kvelertak teamed up for for an excellent day of headbanging, beer-swilling, and sweaty, dirty metal in the cramped punk-rock confines of Headhunters.

And for the night-cap, the definitive most metal of non-metal bands: Chrome-E-Oh. Ohhhhh ohhh!

Click to read more…

I was not aware of the existence of Singlish until just now, when I watched the below video interview that Invisible Oranges‘ Cosmo Lee conducted recently with Wormrot — but I’m not at all surprised that it exists. Are the band’s lyrics in Singlish? I’ve honestly never really paid attention to what front man Arif was screeching, and, kind of unbelievably, I can’t seem to find any of the band’s lyrics online. One way or the other, though, this is pretty interesting stuff.

While we’re on the topic of Wormrot: if you’re at SXSW this week don’t forget that they’re playing MetalSucks’ ABSOLUTELY FREE South by Southdeath party at Headhunters, at 720 Red River, from 2-6pm this Friday, March 18th. Kvelertak, Havok, Red Fang, and Meek is Murder are also on the bill, and Full Blown Chaos’ Ray Mazzola is MCing. It’s gonna be a killer time so be there. And bring some weed for Vince — he does so much for you!

Wormort’s new album, Dirge, will be out May 3 on Earache. I’ve heard it. It will not disappoint you.

-AR