MetalSucks

NOTE: Devin Shidaker is no longer in Rose Funeral, even though for some reason he’s still listed as a member on the band’s MySpace page. Our apologies for including his name when we initially ran this story.

UPDATE: A source very close to the band tells us that this entire story is true. So that sucks. Original story follows…

Alright. So we’ve been getting e-mails about this since Thursday, and Vince and I struggled with whether or not to run anything about it because, well, the internet can be a terrible place full of nonsense, and we have no way to verify whether or not this event ever actually occurred. But now we’ve gotten so many e-mails about it, it seems like we have to say something.

Still, two disclaimers before we move forward:

1. This should be treated as an unsubstantiated rumor until further notice. Like I said, we’re currently unable to verify if there’s any truth to this story or not.
2. We’re not making any judgments, positive or negative, about Rose Funeral’s music. Whether or not we or anybody else thinks they’re a good band or not is the very definition of “beside the point” in this instance. The point is whether or not one or more members of the band did something really heinous.

And with that being said, here’s the story, as described to us via various e-mails from people who claim to have been present when this all went down…

Click to read more…

We’ve had the new Immolation album, Majesty and Decay, for a few weeks now, and, geepers, it’s swell, just swell. And as the headline says, track seven, a.k.a. “A Glorious Epoch,” is my favorite on the album.

And Immolation, or someone at their label, obviously thinks it’s a neat song, too, ’cause the band is now streaming it on their MySpace page! Along with the previously released (and MetalSucks-approved) track “The Purge,” this is Immolation fans’ second chance to hear some new music from Majesty, and, well, if they’re not already convinced the album is good, they’re never gonna be.

So stream the track here and then let us… ah, fuck it, you know the deal.

-AR

This ain’t exactly new news anymore, but I’ve been away for over a week so cut me some slack ok? NYC death metal OGs Immolation have a new song called “The Purge” posted on their MySpace page and it absolutely rips assholes, scrotums and vaginas. Sonically it sounds much better than anything they’ve done in the past and the playing is cleaner too — I haven’t heard their whole new record Majesty and Decay yet, but if the rest of it is this good then consider my psyched.

Majesty and Decay comes to the U.S. March 9th (and March 5th everywhere else), so we’ve only got to wait a little under 2 months to hear the rest of the Immolation pummeling. Immolation are currently bruising bodies all across the U.S. on the MetalSucks-sponsored Those Whom the Gods Detest Tour alongside Nile, Krisiun and Dreaming Dead (click for dates).

-VN

* I had to look up the meaning of “immolate” on Dictionary.com before writing this headline. True story.

Because Vince is in LA and I had a familial obligation, we totally missed the NY stop of this killer tour… But the now Abigail Williams-free, and the rest of the lineup is killer – Nile, Immolation, Krisiun and Dreaming Dead? That sounds like an awesome night of death metal to me.

Here’s some fan-filmed footage from the aforementioned NYC date, which I spotted on Blabbermouth. Get a complete list of remaining tour dates after the jump!

Click to read more…

… and the lineup is that much stronger for it, if you ask us, because they were kind of the odd band out on this tour anyway. Seems that drummer Ken Meyers has been injured, but no other details have been released.

The MetalSucks-sponsored U.S. trek also features Krisiun and Dreaming Dead, the latter of whom Axl recently realized are the cats pajamas and then some. The tour kicks off TODAY in Baltimore, so make sure you check the list of dates after the jump to see when it rolls through your town.

Click to read more…

This winter is shaping up to a great incredible one for U.S. metal tours.The European Summer festivals ain’t got nothin’ on us… ok, well yeah they do, but this winter’s U.S. metal tour slate is still most excellent.

There’s the much ballyhooed Between the Buried and Me / Cynic / The Devin Townsend Project / Scale the Summit North American Orgasm Tour, about which Axl shared his man-juice excitement yesterday. On January 15th death metal Egyptologists Nile kick off their mammoth Those Whom the Gods Detest Tour with Immolation, Krisiun, Abigail Williams and Dreaming Dead. Only five days later Arch Enemy embark on the MetalSucks-sponsored Tyrants of Evil Tour with Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within. The Pagan/Folk metal tour du jour this Winter is headlined by Korpiklaani with Tyr, Swashbuckle and White Wizzard in tow (the latter of whom are certainly not pagan or folk). And tomorrow The Metal As Art Tour featuring Hypno5e, Revocation and The Binary Code kicks off in Brooklyn and traverses the country for 31 days. Yowza!

Full lists of dates and venues for all four tours are posted after the jump. There’ve been a few venue changes so make sure you double-check… then feel free to bitch about how none of these tours are coming to your city and proceed to blame us.

Click to read more…

Nile, the reigning kings of extreme, technical, historically-themed brutality — and Immolation, New York based disharmonic-blackened-death-metal legends — are about to embark on the “Those Whom The Gods Detest” Tour in the new year! Joining them on the Decibel and MetalSucks-sponsored trek will be Brazilian death metal kings Krisiun, Abigail Williams, and Dreaming Dead.  The 32-date tour commences on January 15th, 2010 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Full list of dates after the jump.

Click to read more…

If there’s any justice in the world, The Red Chord’s excellent new album, Fed Through the Teeth Machine (read my four out of five horns review here), will cement Mike “Gunface” McKenzie’s status as one of his generation’s great guitar gods while introducing his truly unique playing to scores of new fans. Now The Red Chord’s sole axe slinger, Gunface really steps up his game on Teeth – the riffs and solos on this album are easily some of the year’s very best.

That being the case, I was very, very excited to have the opportunity to e-mail some questions to Gunface earlier this week. He follows bassist Greg Weeks and vocalist Guy Kozowyk as the latest member of The Red Chord to humor me by answering some truly idiotic (and hopefully a few intelligent) questions (I’m sure we’ll get to drummer Brad Fickeisen sooner or later). After the jump, get Gunface’s thoughts on the creation of Fed Through the Teeth Machine, writing solos, his various side projects, the value of the Death Star, and more.

Fed Through the Teeth Machine is out October 27 on Metal Blade.

Click to read more…

Noisecreep have unveiled their list of the Top 10 Death Metal Debut Albums (although the list is in no particular order), courtesy Friend of MetalSucks, Carlos Ramirez.

And for once, I don’t actually have any complaints. The list is pretty good.

That being said, I’m sure you folks will find something to bitch about, so… have at it!!!

-AR