Although to be fair I do quite enjoy peanut butter in other applications — like in M&Ms, or celery with peanut butter on it like my mom always used to make me. So, reluctantly, I think I’m gonna get behind this upcoming “Maserati” tour with cautious optimism.

Quick recap: superman groove machine drummer Jerry Fuchs died last year in a tragic elevator accident in Brooklyn. Most of another Maserati album had already been recorded (including all the drums), so his bandmates decided to finish it up and release it as Pyramid of the Sun, out November 9th via Temporary Residence. All well and good. But this latest bit of news is a bit surprising; according to Brooklyn Vegan, Maserati have announced a fall tour. AE Paterra of Zombi will be filling Jerry’s vacant drum throne; no disrespect meant to Paterra, but Fuchs WAS Maserati and it’ll be hard to stomach watching them with someone else in that chair. But I’ve always loved Maserati’s music beyond just Jerry’s playing and I’m certainly willing to give it a shot. Dude knows he’s got big shoes to fill and I’m sure his bandmates do too, so they must’ve chose wisely.

Maserati – “We Got the System to Fight the System”

Maserati – “We Got the System to Fight the System”

Tour dates after the jump. That 11/13 date in Jerry’s hometown of Brooklyn is going to be uber-emotional. I’ll be there.

Click to read more…

I’m sitting here listening to to an advance promo of Maserati’s forthcoming album Pyramid of the Sun for the third time in just 24 hours, and it’s so good that I’m getting chills. So good for anyone, sure, as Maserati’s atmospheric, driving groove rock instantly captivated me the first time I saw them at SXSW 2009; so good for Maserati, as seemingly everything this band puts out is pure gold; and so good, first and foremost, when I think about how the drums were played by Jerry Fuchs, a master of his craft who was taken from us far before his time in a tragic accident in November of last year.

As one of Fuchs’ final recordings, Pyramid of the Sun stands firmly as a celebration of Fuchs’ legacy. The band belabored its completion for the better part of a year both before Fuchs’ death and after it. The press release that came with the promo claims Pyramid is “the most dynamic, melodic and tuneful Maserati album of the band’s decade-long career,” and I can’t disagree.

If you never saw Maserati live then I’m sad to say it’s going to be hard for me to capture the magic of Fuchs’ performances — and of Maserati as a whole — in words. The best I can offer you is a series of live videos Kip W. compiled shortly after his death and the video of “We Got the System to Fight the System,” a track from the new album, posted above. Fuchs was simply phenomenal; not flashy at all but still somehow obviously the lead member of the band, up on the edge of the stage in front of the other band members.

R.I.P. Jerry. I’m glad the band pushed ahead with this album to celebrate his legacy and introduce Maserati’s music to, hopefully, a whole new group of fans. Pyramid of the Sun comes out on November 9th via Temporary Residence.

-VN

In the second tragedy to befall a Brooklyn drummer this Autumn (the other being the freak death of Maserati’s Jerry Fuchs), Spylacopa drummer Troy Young was shot and killed in his own apartment, according to the NY Daily News [via Metal Insider]. Spylacopa was (is?) an experimental project that featured members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Candiria, Isis and Made Out of Babies. Young had also logged time in bands The Spines and State of Emergency.

“Drummer Troy Young, played on the Spylacopa EP, was shot to death in his apartment. Sad day. Talented drummer and nice person, 29yrs old,” read an update on Dillinger Escape Plan / Spylacopa frontman Greg Puciato’s Twitter page.

The Post reports that Young was shot once in the shoulder, and that the bullet pierced his heart. No suspects or motives are known at this time.

I can’t speak to Young’s talent the way I could to Fuchs’, as I’m really not too familiar with his work outside of Spylacopa… but any guy who can hang with the rest of those dudes has got to be quite talented. And any time the metal community loses a member is always a sad day. Please share your memories of Troy Young in our comments section.

-VN

Both Vince and myself posted earlier this week about the tragic untimely death last weekend of phenomenal drummer Gerhardt “Jerry” Fuchs…………words can’t express the staggering loss of this uber-kind & humble talent, but hopefully the below track will help paint a picture of the metronomic, humanly mechanical force that was Jerry behind the drum kit (one more firecracker here). From the propulsive rock-solid twos and fours to the stop-start staccato pocket grooves, all the way to the heady orgasmic maelstrom of fiery filles…..this guy was just unreal.

It breaks my heart to have to say this, but rest in peace my friend, and a million thanks for everything…..you will be severely missed by so many around the world.

I implore everyone to take inspiration from Jerry’s legacy in striving to share the amazing gifts we each have. No excuses!!

TURING MACHINE — “Swiss Grid”, from A New Machine for Living (2000)

…..and once more for good measure, the one-armed magical fille madness of Jerry Fuchs:

-KW

Today was Friday the 13th, but absolutely nothing bad happened to me. I mean, the night is young so shit could still go horribly awry I suppose, but all in all, I had a pretty good day – nay, I had a pretty good week. If only the same could be said for the world of metal. Here’s some disasters the plagued various musicians this week:

• Slash completed his decade-long indoctrination into the Metallica “Fuck Our Fans” Club.
• We’re not sure if Steven Tyler is still in Aerosmith or not, but we are sure that we don’t give a fuck either way.
• There was a lot of controversy over a really, really ugly painting.
• No can explain to me why I should care about Alter Bridge.
• Fear Faction ate s’more babies, released a new song.
• R.I.P. Jerry Fuchs.

And, oh yeah, some good news: MetalSucks is going to do a digital release of The Binary Code’s Suspension of Disbelief on December 15 for just five bucks! Get stoked.

Alright. I’m off to go hear Vince spin. Have a nice weekend everyone. Next week we have another extra, super-duper special surprise for you…

-AR

I’m still shocked about the unbelievably terrible tragedy that occurred this past weekend — Georgia-born Brooklyn fixture, masterful metronomic drummer Jerry Fuchs (Maserati, Turing Machine, !!!, The Juan Mclean, and more) fell down an elevator shaft late Saturday night and died shortly thereafter.

My interactions with Jerry were minimal, but every time we spoke I felt an overwhelming sense of kindness that informed me right away how good a person I was talking to. Even the first time we briefly met, I found Jerry to be so affable that we ended up deeply laughing at something or another like we had been friends since the 2nd grade. These are the types of people that we should always hope to surround ourselves with, and obviously the incredible news of his untimely death seems just plain wrong.

Before I ever met the man, I was a HUGE fan from afar — the first time I ever saw the fiery robo-prog band Turing Machine, there was no question from the beginning moments of the first song that the drummer up there was something extra-special. He played with such intensity and restraint, and witnessing Jerry’s talents behind the kit often reminded me how strong a musician can be simply with extreme precision, power, and spirit. For anyone who has ever seen him play live, you know how quickly he could get a crowd dancing and furthermore, how hypnotic the most straightforward basic rock beat always became in his hands.

Not to mention his crispy technique — those one-handed filles were deliciously ridiculous.

I can’t help but feel like the world has been robbed of a magnificent talent that was sure to have grown and grown to neo-Bonham-like status. But I also feel honored to have heard the music and met the man for a few fleeting conversations — whether it was down at SXSW or running into him at the music store up here in Brooklyn, every single conversation and live set I was ever fortunate enough to experience left me feeling a little better.

It seems friends and fans will be gathering this Thursday night at Enid’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at 7pm for an impromptu gathering to memorialize this legendary talent.

Links and videos after the jump.

Click to read more…

Upon returning back to the Mansion from a bike ride on an unseasonably warm day here in Brooklyn, I was greeted with the following bit of very sad news: drummer Jerry Fuchs is dead at 34. Fuchs was the drummer for Maserati (as well as Turing Machine, !!! and others), a band I’ve written about several times over the past few months whose shows were positively mesmerizing. Fuchs was the backbone and focal-point of the band, his rock-solid skin-pounding the unquestionable propulsive force behind this rock/psych/groove outfit. Though Maserati aren’t metal, their hard-driving grooves and intricate musicality appealed to a lot of metalheads (including this one). I fully credit Kip W. and burger maestro The Rev with having turned me on to this excellent band at SXSW this past Spring; both raved of Fuchs’ skills behind the kit as a highlight of the band’s performance. I had the pleasure of seeing them again this past September here in Brooklyn; the show was stellar, and the band not only impressed MetalGF but blew headlining act Mono off the stage.

Now about his death… it’s even more bizarre than the band’s music. Apparently Fuchs died early Sunday morning when he fell down an elevator shaft. Talk about scary ways to end it all… wow. Reports Spinner:

Fuchs and a friend were in an elevator in a converted factory used as loft space when the elevator stopped “somewhere above the fifth floor,” the Buildings Department spokesman told the New York Post. The pair opened the elevator door and attempted to jump a few feet down to the fifth floor. The friend made the jump, but a piece of Fuchs’ clothing was caught on the elevator, “sending him swinging back into the crevice separating the elevator from the fifth floor,” the Post writes. Fuchs fell five stories to the bottom of the elevator shaft, where he lay “unconscious and unresponsive,” reports Gothamist. The musician was taken to Bellevue Hospital in critical condition and died early this morning surrounded by “an entire waiting room of friends,” according to Chunklet, to which Fuchs was a contributor.

Crikee! One can only hope Fuchs fired off one last passion-filled drum fill in his head before meeting his ultimate demise. Watch the above video for just a small sample of what the man could do behind the kit. And listen to some Maserati tunes on MySpace today, wouldja?

R.I.P. Jerry (Gerhardt) Fuchs.

-VN

MASERATI: “Untitled” – Live at Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta GA, March 16, 2009 from Cassavetes Band on Vimeo.