UPDATED:

I admit, I was lukewarm on The Contortionist at first. It took me spending three days on tour with them, Periphery, Textures and Stray From the Path this past fall to convince me that they weren’t just another BTBAM clone or run-of-the-mill Sumeriancore band. But now I’m a believer. The Contortionist are a dern talented bunch of young individuals; if these guys can harness that talent and focus, really focus, I believe they can write an album that’s truly unique and takes the metal world by surprise. Exoplanet was good, but it wasn’t that album.

The Contortionist will take another shot at greatness this coming winter; according to a recent interview with Guitar World, they’re currently writing a new album, plan to record it at Audiohammer Studios with Jason Suecof and Eyal Levi in February, and are eyeing a spring or summer 2012 release via Good Fight Entertainment. Suecof and Levi are some of the best in the biz, so if anyone can get the best performances and songs out of these dudes, it’s them. I look forward to seeing what they can come up with.

ORIGINAL POST:

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At least here in New York, we are now experiencing full-on the-sun-never-comes-out-and-it’s-cold-as-fuck weather — y’know, in case we somehow failed to realize that it’s October. Luckily, we have two terrific records with uplifting, happy-go-lucky titles to stream this morning, so that should perk you right the fuck up.

• Cold Winds on Timeless Days, the sophomore effort from all-star outfit Charred Walls of the Damned, is now streaming here. Jokes about its icy title and cover art aside, it’s actually a total scorcher, and features top-notch performances from drummer/mastermind Richard Christy, vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, guitarist Jason Suecof, and bassist Steve DiGiorgio. Metal Blade will release the album a week from today, October 11; that day is also the deadline to enter our totally awesome CWOTD/Richard Christy Photoshop contest, in which you can win a ridiculous amount of cool swag, including autographed symbols, drumheads, and, uh, a diaper that Mr. Christy himself wore. Enter here.
• Hull’s second full-length, Beyond the Lightless Sky, is now streaming here. Like all Hull music, it’s massive and monstrous and terrifying… like the soundtrack to every horrible feeling through your brain right before King Kong crushes you with his little toe or something. It also comes out one week from today, ‘cept via The End Records.

Now if you’ll excuse me, my apartment is freezing, so I’m gonna go kill the neighbors and use their bones to start a fire.

-AR

We’ve already gotten some good entries for our Charred Walls of the Damned/Photoshop Richard Christy contest, but I’m still waiting for one that makes me laugh so hard I wet myself. There’s still time for you to enter — the deadline is October 11 — so I’m hoping that there are plenty of you just taking your time to make sure you come up with something totally fantastic and hilarious.

And while you do not, why not check out “Admire the Heroes,” another new CWOTD track, which just premiered over at Metal Underground? As we’ve been saying for the past few weeks, the new album on which the track appears, Cold Wind On Timeless Days, will kick your ass so hard yo’ mama gonna feel it. Besides Christy’s always-stellar drumming, the record features guitars, production, and mixing by Jason Suecof [Actually Mark Lewis mixed the album, and tracked drums with Richard, and got all of the guitar tones. I'm a big dummy who can't properly read a press release. A million apologies.], who is a genius if there ever was one, bass by the great Steve DiGiorgio (Death, Control Denied, Iced Earth, Testament, a million other awesome bands), and glass-shattering vocals by the one and only Tim “Ripper” Owens. Seriously, I can’t even believe you’re still reading this and not listing to the song right.

Headbang here, then come back and exchange bro-fives in our comments section. Cold Wind On Timeless Days comes out October 11 on Metal Blade.

-AR

As we’ve said multiple times in the past few weeks, Cold Winds on Timeless Days, the sophomore effort from Richard Christy’s Charred Walls of the Damned, friggin’ KILLS. This supergroup which is actually super — it also features Tim “Ripper” Owens on vocals, Jason Suecof on guitars, and Steve DiGiorgio on bass — have made an album which, as Vince put it, is impossible to listen to “without feeling like your invisible chalice full of your slain enemy’s blood absolutely must be raised to the sky.” This is one of those records that is just pure metal, through and through.

To celebrate the album’s October 11th release (pre-order it here!), MetalSucks is proud to be teaming up with Metal Blade and the legendary Mr. Christy (Death, Iced Earth, Control Denied, The Howard Stern Show, etc.) himself for what is easily one of our coolest, and most fun, contests ever. Here’s how it’s gonna work:

• Download this picture of Richard Christy.
• Photoshop Richard into the most ridiculous, fun scenario you can imagine. Seriously, there are no limits here — do what ya gotta do to make us laugh.
• Send your entry, along with your name and address, to news AT metalsucks DOT net, with CWOTD CONTEST in the subject line. Please note that this contest is open to U.S. residents only.

And that’s it! We’ll select the three funniest photos to be the grand-prize and runner-up winners, respectively… and those winners will win some really, really, REALLY cool stuff. Check it:

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Charred Walls of the Damned are a rarity in the metal world — a supergroup that’s actually super. And because I’m a big dumb idiot, I didn’t really get that into their eponymous debut last year; but now that I’ve heard their sophomore effort, Cold Winds on Timeless Days, I know I’m a big dumb idiot, and I can now remedy my previous blunder.

Case in point re: me being a big dumb idiot and CWotD owning every and all asses: their new single, “Zerospan,” which you can check out below. I defy you to listen to it and not raise a pair of invisible elephantiasis-afflicted nuts towards the sky. It’s impossible. It just can’t be done.

Cold Winds on Timeless Days comes out October 11 on Metal Blade, and was produced by guitarist Jason Suecof. The rest of the band, in case you somehow don’t know, consists of legendary drummer Richard Christy, vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens, and bassist Steve DiGiorgio.

-AR

Job for a Cowboy’s first EP was called Doom, and their new EP is called Gloom, and, obviously, when you put those things together, you get… well, y’know. But it’s not all doom n’ gloom for JFAC — quite the contrary, in fact. It’s fitting that they’re re-introducing themselves into the world with another EP as they begin this new chapter in their careers, because the four songs on the Jason Suecof-produced Gloom — the band’s first release with a revamped line-up — are the best they’ve ever written or recorded. We don’t even think there can any argument against that statement. Their transition from deathcore band into a straight-up death metal band is now complete. JFAC are firing on all cylinders, baby.

But don’t just take our word for it. Metal Blade won’t release Gloom until June 7, but we worked it our special for you so you can hear all its brutal glory for yourself right this very second. No need to thank us, it’s just the kind of cool dudes we are.

So listen below, and then, afterwards, when you’ve managed to catch your breath, pre-order Gloom here.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

I know this isn’t realistic in today’s economic climate, but, no joke, everyone at Metal Blade deserves a bonus. On May 10, they’re release Hate Eternal’s orgasm-inducing Phoenix Amongst the Flames; then, less than two months later, on June 21, they’ll release Ritual, the new album from The Black Dahlia Murder. And at that point, they’ll have released what I think are the two best death metal albums of the year thus far.

Yep. Ritual fucking rocks. (Valnoir Mortsonge’s horny-making cover art is above.) It might be BDM’s best album yet. It’s every bit as catchy as Deflorate was, but way, way more raw. I hesitate to say more because I’m not sure what’s supposed to under wraps right now and what’s public knowledge. But there are some surprises here, I promise you. Cough cough, 100% real string sections, cough cough, not shitty sounding synths, cough.

Can’t wait ’til June to hear this bad boy? Well, lucky for you, there’s already a song from the album streaming online right now! It’s called “Moonlight Equilibrium,” and you can listen to it here. HOLY SHIT IS THIS A GOOD SONG. Go listen go listen go listen go listen.

Like I said, Ritual — which was produced by Mark Lewis and mixed by Jason Suecof, in case you had any doubt that it was gonna sound killer — comes out June 21. You can already pre-order it in a variety of formats here. I just spent $62 on a limited edition box set. No, I am not kidding. It looks freaking awesome (it comes with a cloth ouija board, incense, coffin nails, and a fucking sage wand, for crying out loud) and I’m excited to own it.

BDM will be on tour throughout the world starting next month. You can get all dates here. After the jump I’ve posted the itinerary for the MetalSucks-sponsored Summer Slaughter, which the band will headline and, presumably, dominate.

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I love interviews with producers and mixers. They’re the dudes behind the scenes who are rarely talked about or given much credit but whose skills and personality are SO important to the sound of the records we love… and those we hate too. In January we got a “behind the scenes” video with Colin Marston, in February we got a Q&A session with Sanford Parker and today we get a Metal Injection interview with Jason Suecof, the man behind albums by Atheist, Death Angel, Born of Osiris, Chimaira, Trivium and 10 gajillion other bands whose records you own. Lucky for me, and for you, too, if you’re a production nerd like I am.

Suecof is a character, as anyone who’s watched behind-the-scenes bonus footage connected to records he’s worked on surely knows. In the above interview he talks about his differing approaches to producing and mixing, how he got his start, his dog “Stinky” (yes, really), the possibility of doing a new Crotchduster record, and more. This one’s for Dime, bra.

-VN

See what I did there?

ANYWAY, I’m sitting here listening to said new DevilDriver song (which is available for download here for the low low cost of giving up your e-mail address’ cherry) for the second time now, my thought is basically this: it’s a good song, and I wonder if anyone besides the DevilDriver faithful will care.

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Jason Suecof is a genius. I don’t mean that in the metaphorical way; he really must be one the smartest guys in all of metal. I remember the “making of” documentary DVD packaged with some album he produced a few years back [Chimaira, I think] in which he picked up a guitar and started ad-libbing a parody of whatever band it was right on the spot, complete with riffs, leads and lyrics. He’s also fucking hilarious, as anyone who’s ever met him or seen interviews with him can attest to. And best of all, he’s got a sense of humor about himself.

While Suecof’s twisted combination of talent and comedy don’t often intermingle on the finished records that you hear, he’s done a series of parody songs over the years that show off both qualities and probably took him all of 5 minutes to write and record. The first, “Shadows Balls,” was — duh, a Shadows Fall parody — that perfectly nails all of that bands trademark sounds in one song. Now he’s decided to let the world in on an Ill Niño parody he tracked back in 2005, and, no surprise, it’s both spot on and fucking hysterical. Stream “Dill Piño” over at Gun Shy Assassin. I suppose that October of 2010 is a fine time to let this song out of the bag, as Ill Niño are about to drop a new record on leading independent label VICTORY RECORDS.

Yeah, you heard that chorus correctly: “You make me feel so real, so fucking unreal /  You make feel so unreal that I feel real.” Perfect.

-VN

I’ve always hated top-whatever lists. Best guitarist, best band, best blowjob, best double anal with a horse, whatever. I think that those lists are pretty much all slanted by politics, or bought and paid for. I first got that idea in my head when Titanic won as many Oscars as it did. There were so many movies that year that were far more deserving of the title that my faith in the award system died.

Jump forward about ten years. I just got back in town from the Revolver Golden God Awards. I’ll just say that I’m stoked they exist. Metal needs that in the U.S. I have no issue with their nominees and obviously you can’t pick everyone so this is definitely not directed at them. Again, THIS IS NOT DIRECTED AT REVOLVER MAGAZINE, but the concept of picking “best shredder” or “shredder of the year “is just one of those things you can’t accurately do with the amount of talent that’s out there. You want to nominate Zack Wylde or Dave Mustaine? Okay. That’s cool. Those guys have earned it. But when you leave the circle of greats and legends, how exactly do you pick a BEST shredder? I mean am I alone in thinking that when so many amazing guitarists are overlooked that the award itself loses its meaning? What guitarists am I talking about? Okay… I’ll name a few. In my opinion these guys should be winning all the awards. If I left someone out, it’s because either I haven’t heard of them, I’ve heard them and I don’t think they’re among the very best, I forgot to mention them, or I’ve heard them and I know for a fact that what you think is shredding is just studio trickery.

So here it is. My personal list of whom I think should be winning all the metal guitar awards. Am I biased? Maybe. But I’d like to also think that considering what I do for a living that I’m a good judge of competency in the field. This is in no particular order. These guys all rule for different reasons. (DISCLAIMER: Sorry that there aren’t videos for every dude I mention, but sometimes finding quality footage is tough.)

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I’ll admit it: I still do check Blabbermouth from time to time. Hard not to. It’s kind of a metal institution at this point. Here and there, when they publish first week numbers, I’ll read those if they concern a band I like, or am curious about for whatever reason.

I’m not a Demon Hunter fan, but I was down at Audiohammer when Jason Suecof was mixing their record, and so I’m familiar with their new record by twist of circumstance. (Believe me, I would have never gone looking on my own.) Anyways, when their first week numbers were published, I decided to check on that, and goddamn guys. 14k approximately. That’s what Suicide Silence does. That’s what DevilDriver does. That’s what bands that tour all the time and are always in the media do. Good for them. Congrats dudes.

Here’s why I find this interesting. Demon Hunter has never really been a touring act. They’ve never really been in the media too much before the present.  So what explains them selling records on par with bands that are always out there hustling? To answer this, I thought about what some bands in the past have pulled off without too much touring.

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If all Richard Christy ever did was play drums on Death’s phenomenal final album The Sound of Perseverance, it would be enough to secure his place in heavy metal Valhalla. That death metal classic gained so much from Christy’s nuanced performance that it’s almost criminal that he isn’t mentioned alongside your Lombardos, Reinerts and Dailors as one of the most creative drummers in extreme music. But you won’t find Christy complaining about lack of recognition, especially since he’s been so busy in the decade since Death’s demise. To fill in the gaps between his film directing and acting gigs (Christy played a Ku Klux Klansman in Harold and Kumar Go To Guantanamo), Christy has drummed for Iced Earth, Incantation, Acheron and Demons and Wizards. Of course that was all before he began his tenure as the resident prank caller on The Howard Stern Show. In fact, the only thing missing on Christy’s CV is a successful musical project of his own. That’s all looking to change with the forthcoming debut album by Charred Walls of the Damned, his new metal band with the ridiculous lineup of guitarist Jason Suecof (member of Capharnaum; producer/mixer for The Black Dahlia Murder/Trivium/All That Remains), bass god Steve DiGiorgio (Sadus/Death/Autopsy) and caterwauling vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens (Judas Priest/Iced Earth). Christy took some time to yak with MetalSucks about his many career paths and the truly bizarre genesis of that band name.

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These are some of my favorite producers and mixers for heavy music… It’s a challenging genre, and these guys are great in my opinion.

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Does anyone even remember Cannae? They were on Prosthetic. Their last album, Gold Becomes Sacrifice, was produced by Jason Suecof. But that was in 2005. Their MySpace page hasn’t been updated since 2006, but it also says that someone logged-in a couple of weeks ago. Meanwhile, Wikipedia makes no mention of them breaking up.

I don’t ask because I like Cannae; I found Gold to be wholly unmemorable. I ask because it’s a slow news day, and it seemed more fun to discuss the band with you, our faithful readers, than to e-mail someone at Prosthetic and ask “What the dilly?”

Here’s “Rats, Snakes and Thieves” from Gold Becomes Sacrifice.

-AR

If you enjoy melodic death-tinged power metal – and really, who doesn’t? – then it’s hard to imagine that you won’t enjoy Luna Mortis’ Century debut, The Absence. This shit is heavy, infectious, and epic as all get-out.

A big part of the reason why the album works is vocalist Mary Zimmer. A classically trained singer who once had aspirations of doing opera, Zimmer put to shame all the over-processed, auto-tuned vocalists that will inevitably let their fans down in a live setting. Her voice isn’t only powerful – it’s undeniably real.

Luna Mortis have just released a new, David Brodsky-directed video for the song “Forever More,” which you can watch above. They’ve also just hit the road with Edguy and Epicurean. You can get a complete tour itinerary here; then, after the jump, read my chat with Zimmer regarding all things metal. Raaaaar.

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Also quickly:

-AR

The first time we spoke to Dååth guitarist Eyal Levi, it was purely about being a Jew. That’s all well and good, but now that Dååth are about to release an excellent new album, The Concealers (out April 21 on Century/Roadrunner), it seemed like a mighty good time to actually speak to the dude about, y’know, music n’ shit.

In addition to being a ridiculously talented musician, songwriter, and producer, Levi is also just one of those people you meet who is all-around good dude. After the jump, get Eyal’s thoughts on the band’s new album, the media and metal scene’s perceptions of Dååth, why ATL purp is tops, and more.

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Few bands in modern metal are as exciting as Chimaira. That’s because few bands constantly undergo such a dramatic and undeniable evolutions from album to album – and do so with a bare minimum of line-up changes. From their 2000 self-released debut, This Present Darkness, right up to 2007′s Resurrection, Chimaira have never made the same album twice. Elements of thrash, death, groove, black, and even prog metal and punk abound, and, ultimately, the only thing you ever know for sure about a new Chimaira album is this: it’s gonna be heavy as a motherfucker, and just as catchy.

As the band – which includes guitarists Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries, bassist Jim LaMarca, drummer Andols Herrick, and keyboardist/sampler Chris Spicuzza – anticipates the April 21 release of their sixth album, The Infection, we were lucky enough to snag an exclusive e-mail interview with vocalist Mark Hunter. After the jump, read Mark’s thoughts on the group’s latest offering, the ongoing metamorphosis of their sound, reuniting with longtime producer Ben Schigel, the internet as a marketing tool, the state of his pure hatred, and more.

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