UPDATED:

Hey, so you what did you guys think of the idea I posited last week for a new band ranking system? Thanks to Jason from IKILLYA for pointing out the existence of NextBigSound.com, a cool site that aggregates a lot of the data I suggested be included in the ranking, namely social network stats and other Internet metrics. While NextBigSound allows account holders to enter their own Soundscan data, I’d love to see all those things — along with torrents, merch sales, etc — combined into a single chart that’s published once a week and accessible to the industry, much like Soundscan is now. The grand picture is so much bigger than album sales now more than ever, and I think that needs to be reflected in the main chart people analyze. For the most part, it seemed like you guys were into the idea even if you questioned its feasibility.

Anyway, this week is pretty depressing sales-wise. One look at the top six records on this week’s Current Hard Music chart should make any metalhead cry. Since there weren’t many notable new albums released last week and you surely don’t wanna just read about Nickelsuck, I also included numbers of some older albums from earlier in 2011 that are experiencing holiday sales bumps.

Click to read more…

“The ’90s were a challenging decade for metal,” opens Loudwire writer Joe Robinson. You got that right! ’90s nostalgia hasn’t firmly set in for metal yet; Limp Bizkit’s new record tanked, less people are interested in Korn than ever, and some of the more credible ’90s acts from Europe never even stopped to take a drink of water. But that hasn’t stopped Loudwire from publishing a “Top 11 Metal Albums of the ’90s” list. For once, I think this topic is quite ripe for list-making given metal’s widespread unpopularity during the decade. Sure, decades themselves are artificial constructs with which musical trends don’t neatly align (hair metal was still huge in ’90 and ’91 and the true stuff was already filtering back in by the end), but they do provide convenient language for discourse, much like metal sub-genres aren’t always perfect but give us some kind of approximation of what a band sounds like.

Loudwire’s list is actually pretty solid; it’s hard to argue that any of these albums shouldn’t be included on a best-of-the-’90s metal list, and I love the inclusion of Alice in Chains and Tool. I could do without Korn’s debut, but I know it was important to a lot of people and it certainly left its mark on the metal landscape. I have a hard time believing Anthrax’s Persistence of Time would’ve appeared on this list had the band not just released a new album. The list completely omits European bands, and I think In Flames’ The Jester Race, Whoracle or Colony — any one of ‘em — deserve a nod for all the impact they had on metal to come. For that matter, how about At the Gates? Or Refused’s Shape of Punk to Come? And what ’90s metal list is complete without Nevermore or Iced Earth, two bands that essentially flied in the face of “cool” and held up giant middle fingers?

But whatevs… it’s a list, and therefore cannot be perfect. Go check it out here, then come back here with your arguin’ pants on and tell us what you think the comments.

-VN

Thanks: Andrew Robbins

In 2006, Vince and I saw In Flames and Trivium absolutely destroy the Bowery Ballroom Webster Hall [Whoops! -AR] here in NYC (with some help from DevilDriver and Zao). The show was so good that Vince still has the poster hanging on his wall (I think — I haven’t been to the Neilstein Wing of the MetalSucks Mansion in awhile). It was the kind of show where you leave and you don’t know if that’s your sweat and blood you’re covered in or someone else’s but you don’t really care.

Now In Flames and Trivium have announced a co-headlining North American tour, so we can all re-live the magic. Of course, a lot has changed since that last time we saw the two bands share a stage, but I’m still optimistic about these gigs. Even if In Flames play a few tunes off of Sounds of My Interest Fading and No Sense of Purpose, it will just provide some sure-to-be-needed piss breaks. And support will come from Veil of Maya and Kyng to boot!

Dates are after the jump.

Click to read more…

I’m going to put about as much effort into this introduction as Clown from Slipknot puts into making sense in interviews.

We begin today with Barn Burner’s new NSFW video, for the song “Scum of the Earth.” Barn Burner played at our CMJ showcase a couple of weeks ago and they absolutely SLAYED — in fact, it was my first time seeing them live, and they were so good that I am now a 100% bigger Barn Burner fan than I already was. And I think this is video is pretty good… not, like, the greatest thing ever made or whatever, but it’s fun and it conveys the energy of the song. Unfortunately, some people are really offended by it, apparently because they are strongly opposed to the way that condiments were haphazardly utilized in order to film the video. I mean, there are  starving children in Africa who, like, don’t even have any maple syrup or ketchup or mustard, and guitarist/vocalist K. Keaglesmith just let some girl pour it all over him? What a wasteful dick!

Click to read more…

The latest edition of Metal Injection’s “Ask the Artist” series — in which various artists are asked one uniform question (See what they did there?) —  poses the query “What are the best and worst stage moves in metal?” to various bands that were on this summer’s two biggest metal tours — Mayhem Fest and Summer Slaughter.

And it’s a great question to ask, because it’s certainly one that seems to come up in metallic circles quite a bit. Just recently, a publicist told me she understood that I didn’t like one of her bands because they played too much “breakdowncore,” and I told her the breakdowncore was silly, sure, but not as silly as they choreographed stage moves they used for each and every song. So it’s interesting to hear the thoughts of the musicians who actually have to be extra-conscientious of stage moves themselves.

Not shocking — a lot of the bands, including Trivium and Fleshgod Apocalypse, poke fun at crabcore and general scene-friendly stage moves. More shocking: so do Oceano.

Check out more of Metal Injection’s “Ask the Artist” videos here.

-AR

Last week I wrote a little bit about how a lot of modern production techniques I loathe may actually be aesthetic choices; and I tried to keep that in mind as I attempted to listen to Dead Throne, the latest offering from The Devil Wears Prada. If, for example, the band didn’t favor such excessive use of autotune and vocoder, would the songs at least be solid?

Click to read more…

In case the bad joke in my headline didn’t give it away, In Flames have dropped off of the remainder of this year’s Mayhem Fest. A statement by the group released over the weekend explains that “a serious terminal illness of one the band’s immediate family members” is the cause of the cancellation — which is a valid excuse if ever there was one — and promises that In Flames “will be back at the start of 2012.”

There’s not much analysis to be offered here; having a sick family member is a terrible thing, and very obviously needs to take priority over pretty much anything else. Whichever band member it is, we wish him well during this hard time.

And it’s a bummer for fans — even if Sounds of a Playground Fading wasn’t exactly the best album ever, IF can still bring it live. The silver lining is that lots of other great artists are still on the bill. Get remaining tour dates here.

-AR

I was listening to an interview with Sarah Vowell last weekend, in which she proclaimed that, as a writing exercise, she did not allow herself to use any F-bombs in her new book, Unfamiliar Fishes. I decided to do her one better this week — I did not swear at all. Unless you count “crap,” “drek,” or “sucks” as swear words, which I do not.

So that was fun.

ANYWAY, here’s some stuff we did this week:

• We debuted new music from All Shall Perish and Thou.
• We debuted new videos from Valient Thorr and Meek is Murder.
• Unearth’s Buz McGrath, Hatebreed’s Wayne Lozinak, and In Flames’ Peter Iwers told us about their live rigs.
• We spoke to Aaron Turner from Isis and Helms Alee.
• We checked out new releases from The Bronx Casket Co. and Bedlam of Cacophony.
• Even though Dime would never approve, we made fun of some poor kid.
• We continued to sing Spotify’s praises.
• We voted on our favorite album from The Devin Townsend Project.
• We were sexually aroused by the prospect of Disturbed breaking-up.
• We wondered whether or not the return of Megadeth’s Gigantour is a good thing or not.

Alright, we’re out. Have a nice weekend, gang!

-AR

Banner Designed by Cysquatch

Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (not really at all) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

We haven’t done one one of these all summer, but we came up with a fun one for this week:

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME AND PLAY ANY METAL BAND/MUSICIAN SOME OF THEIR MUSIC AND/OR SHOW THEM PHOTOS/VIDEOS OF THEMSELVES FROM THEIR FUTURE (OUR PRESENT), WHO WOULD IT BE AND WHY?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

Click to read more…

As part of our coverage of this year’s Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival – currently winding its way through North America — we’re bringing you a series of “Rigged” columns in which several of the tour’s musicians take you on piece-by-piece guides of their current live rig setups. Check out the rigs of Machine Head’s Phil Demmel, Unearth’s Buz McGrath and Hatebreed’s Wayne Lozinak. Here’s In Flames bassist Peter Iwers:

Peter Iwers here from In Flames checking in from the road on the Rockstar Mayhem tour. Let me tell you a little bit about the gear I’m using this time around.

Click to read more…

You will be happy to know that Limp Bizkit did not claim the #1 spot on the Top Hard Music charts again this week. That spot belongs to… Pop Evil. Who? Not Limp Bizkit, that’s who.

Aside from Unearth, there weren’t any notable debuts to chart last week. After the jump, a look at how the latest records from Black Dahlia Murder, In Flames, and many more fared on the marketplace of over-priced pieces of plastic and soon-to-be-obsolete digital files.

Click to read more…

First it was my turn to take a vacation and now it’s Axl’s; I haven’t spoken with him since he left for the lake house last Saturday and that’s a good thing, not because I don’t love the dude but because it means he’s having fun instead of stressing about work. Hopefully as I write this he’s stoned out of his gourd and enjoying something tasty from the grill. But guess what? I’m gonna be away again this coming Monday and Tuesday conducting super-top-secret business in L.A., meaning it’ll just be Axl and the rest of our fine contributors for the early part of next week. But don’t worry; come Wednesday things will be back to normal with our usual Axl + Vince full frontal attack.

Meanwhile, here’s what Axl missed this week:

• We premiered new music by ’90s hardcore legends Earth Crisis and new Metal Blade signees Battlecross, and we premiered a new video from Last Chance to Reason
• We spoke with In Flames’ Bjorn Gelotte and IKILLYA’s Jason Lekberg.
• Landphil pondered the best wrestling “shoots” of all time.
• We looked at new releases by After Oblivion, Doctor Midnight and the Mercy Cult and Michael Monroe while Corey Mitchell gave us the rundown of his bleeders and blowers for June.
• We checked out Mastodon’s “different” new album artwork.
• Sergeant D wondered whether or not melody has a place in metal.
• Periphery lost guitarist Alex Bois while Pig Destroyer gained drummer Adam Jarvis.
• The metal world chimed in on the Casey Anthony verdict; we chimed in on the metal world.

Adios.

-VN

There are probably very few metal fans that don’t have an immediate, vehement reaction to In Flames. Either they’re devoted and loyal, stubbornly sticking to the belief that the band can do no wrong; or they’re self-righteously angry, declaring that In Flames has let them down too many times, musically speaking. If there’s a middle ground, I’ve yet to encounter it. Everyone has an opinion and is more than happy to share it.

Well, so does guitarist Björn Gelotte. He and I had a nice chat recently, covering everything from the group’s new album, Sounds of a Playground Fading, to the internet, to loud family members, to Star Trek. Read the full interview after the jump!

Click to read more…

Vince will be back soon, but for now, “Neilstein SoundScam” is still in my evil hands. There were a lot of big debuts last week, so we’re gonna concentrate solely on those for this outing. After the jump, check out some of the more noteworthy sales stats from the latest Top Hard Music charts, including albums by August Burns Red, In Flames, The Black Dahlia Murder, Symphony X, Devin Townsend, and more!

Click to read more…

Every year in the summer I do the obligatory trek back home to Turkey. For most people, this is kind of a nuisance, but not that big a deal. However, I need to take at least two planes and cross the Atlantic to visit my family. This is why I usually go home onlyonce a year. Or whine at them to just come to me if they have to see me.

I grew up somewhere were we didn’t get many bands. I’m pretty sure that’s partly why I moved to a large city in the States. But when I found out that the Sonisphere Festival was hitting home sweet home, right when I was visiting, I took it upon myself to take my two youngest cousins and little sister. I figured it’s my duty to take them to their first metal show. We decided not to half-ass it. We’d stick it out from start to finish and see all five bands. One day of metal culminating in Iron Maiden. None of them had ever seen them. It was the most awful and awesome day.

Click to read more…

Holy shit, this is the biggest release day of the summer so far. Tons of good stuff from Devin Townsend, The Black Dahlia Murder, Helms Alee, Sourvein, Jungle Rot , and more.

Also, some stuff that just sucks.

Click to read more…

Tomorrow brings the release of a number of highly anticipated new releases, four of which are now streaming online if you wanna check ‘em out before you purchase ‘em:

Click to read more…

Here at MS we like to use the Reviews section to highlight smaller bands that we don’t otherwise talk about much throughout the regular course of our blogging. Said “regular course of our blogging” includes tons of articles about bigger bands’ albums, usually before release: song premieres (here or elsewhere), music videos, in-studio vids, album artwork, and so on and so forth. But when those albums do finally come out, well, a lot of the time they kind of fall off our radar. So what of those albums that we spend lots of time hyping? Full-on reviews are a royal pain in the ass to write, so today I’ll take a quick look at a few releases from the first half of 2011 and give them the proper review treatment in abbreviated form.

Click to read more…

Everyone whose parents raised them correctly loves Gojira, and so everyone whose parents raised them correctly has been eagerly anticipating the band’s seemingly-forever-in-gestation Sea Shepherd EP since, well, seemingly forever.

But now it looks like we might actually be getting close to its unveiling! Last week we got to hear a new song, “Of Blood and Salt,” which features guest appearances from Meshuggah’s Fredrik Thordendal and Devin Townsend’s Devin Townsend; now Gojira’s guitarist/vocalist/mastermind, Joe Duplantier, has given an interview with Metal Hammer in which he reveals that Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe (who previously appeared on the group’s “Adoration for None”), In Flames’ Anders Friden, and some dude named Max Cavalera are all going to appear on the release, too.

Click to read more…

I’m going to put approximately as much work into this introduction as Morbid Angel did the synthesizer work on their new album.

(That joke will seem hilarious in a few weeks, I swear.)

We begin today with the new In Flames video, for the song “Deliver Us.” It’s really just a performance video, except instead of sticking the band in a warehouse (or something that strongly resembles a warehouse), the director put each band member in a separate compartment on a ferris wheel. (Why a ferris wheel? I’d say it has something to do with the title of In Flames’ new album, Sounds of a Playground Fading, except most playgrounds I’ve seen/played in/been ordered by a judge to keep at least a five-hundred foot distance from do not contain giant ferris wheels.) And I can see how that probably seemed like a cool idea when they came up with it, but it actually gets pretty boring after awhile. So while The Third Man‘s place as “most riveting cinematic depiction of a ferris wheel” remains unchallenged, everyone involved in this video gets an “A” for effort!

Except for the people who wrote the song. ‘Cause fuck that noise.

Click to read more…