MetalSucks

In no particular order…

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Holy shit. I wasn’t even out that late last night, but for some reason I am just so tired today that it feels like nothing is really happening. Am I really typing this? Did I really write something positive about Zakk Wylde? Can I please just go to sleep now? I’m just gonna go to sleep now.

Before I do, here’s some things that happened this week:

• We’re giving away a free download of Katatonia’s new song, “Forsaker.”
• We spoke to Hypocrisy’s Peter Tagtgren and Brian Cook from Russian Circles and These Arms Are Snakes.
• We checked out new releases from Slayer and Jesu.
• Otep Shamaya gives women in metal a good name – too bad she won’t be a woman much longer.
• Leaves’ Eyes singer Liv Kristine gives women in metal a bad name – or, at least, a silly one.

Alright, seriously, night-night time for Axl. I think Gary Suarez is going to the NYC Vader gig tomorrow; if anyone sees him there, give him a dead arm for me.

-AR

Former Godflesh/current Jesu mastermind Justin Broadrick has a Twitter account. Now while this could be troublesome/groanworthy news for some characters prone to oversharing (though certainly not in Metal Sucks’ case), for Broadrick, it seems fitting, given his prolific approach to music. His output is measured in months, not years, as is the case with most bands. To look at Jesu in its own timeline yields a recent string of iffy releases, like the band’s extremely boring split with Eluvium (repackaged as the Why We Are Not Perfect EP), and two so-so contributions to splits with Envy and Battle of Mice (though so-so in the most literal sense of the phrase, in that each split contained one song that was meandering and seemingly pointless, and one that stood among the best Broadrick has done under the Jesu moniker). However, to look at it in a regular spectrum, that was only 2008; one only needs to reach back to 2007 to find the magnificent full length Conqueror, still in the typical two year gap most artists have between records.

But in JB Time, this is an eternity. One may wonder if the man had knocked himself off kilter, that if Jesu’s best days were behind them. But with Justin Broadrick’s work with beard metal supergroup Greymachine and two releases with Jesu this year, he proves that at the very least has more interesting things to say, if not still capable of putting out the band’s best material in the future. Don’t call it a comeback, because, well, it isn’t. But when those slow, chunky chords first make their appearance on the Infinity full length or that Cure-on-a-7-string beauty rears its head on “Deflated” (off the Opiate Sun EP), it’s immediately clear that the Jesu magic is still there, and that while Justin is prone to get lost in the wilderness, he’s usually on his way back, often times a few months later.

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Where the hell does the time go? The year is more than half over already! Sheesh.

ANYWAY, here are, in alphabetical order, albums that have really knocked my socks off so far this year…

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The first time I heard Tombs‘ Relapse Records debut Winterhours was on the New York subway with iPod earbuds, which are clearly not the ideal conditions for developing an accurate initial impression of a band. I wasn’t impressed and turned it off after a few songs, likely in favor of something more familiar such as The Jonas Brothers. Recently though, I’ve given the record some undivided attention at home, where the sound is hardly state-of-the-art but at least it isn’t subject to train noises and obnoxious interruptions by my fellow passengers. Much to my surprise and delight, I fucking love Winterhours.

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For awhile now, we’ve been hyping Greymachine, the new project featuring Aaron Turner of Isis and Fighting with Revolver fame and Justin K. Broadrick from Jesu/Godflesh/Naplam Death. And now their debut album, Disconnected, is streaming in full right here.

I actually haven’t had a chance to give it a listen yet, but I’m all about anything and everything with the name “Broadrick” attached. So check out the record and then let us know whatcha think.

-AR

I first wrote about Greymachine last September, when I foolishly thought the band was called Grey Machine; then Gary Suarez wrote about them again back in May. There wasn’t a lot of actual news to report, though; the supergroup – which includes amongst it ranks Justin Broadrick, Isis’ Aaron Turner, Diarmuid Dalton of Godflesh and Jesu and Dave Cochrane of Head of David – had a free single avail for download or purchase on vinyl, but no release date for their full-length.

Well, now they have a release date. August 4 on Hydra Head. Mark it in your calendars.

That free single, “Vultures Descend,” is trippy as fuck, and if the thought of a Broadrick/Turner team-up doesn’t make your dick hard, you must need viagra. Or, y’know, be a lady.

Here’s “Vultures Descend.” We’ll give you more news on the album as we get it.

Grey Machine, “Vultures Descend” – from Disconnected (out August 4 on Hydra Head) [Download]

-AR

I know we have more than a few vinyl purists reading this column, so you’ll likely be interested to know that the Aaron Turner / Justin Broadrick collaboration Grey Machine (which we first told you about back in September) just released a 12″ single for “Vultures Descend” via beardo metal specialists Hydra Head Records.

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Does Justin Broadrick ever fucking sleep? It would be impressive enough that the guy puts out more music in a single year than most artists do in a five, but even more incredible is that pretty much all of it is awesome. It must just be in the dude’s DNA to make great music.

Broadrick’s latest project is Grey Machine, a collaboration with Isis’ Aaron Turner (Jesu’s Dave Chochrane and Diarmuid Dalton also contribute.). For anyone who misses the days when Broadrick’s music used to be on the heavier side of the spectrum (as opposed to the soothing, repetitive aural waves of Jesu), this is the perfect music for you: it’s obviously not Napalm Death, but it’s definitely more in the vein of Streetcleaner-era Godflesh. Which is not to say it sounds JUST like Godflesh – but that might give you some idea of the direction the group seems to be heading in.

The band has made a free mp3 of their song “Vultures Descend,” off their forthcoming album Disconnected, available for free download. Check it out below.

Grey Machine, “Vultures Descend” – from Disconnected (release date TBA)

Thanks to MetalSucks Maniac Alex for the tip!

-AR

A few weeks ago I wrote a post imploring everyone to go out and buy Jesu’s new EP, Why Are We Not Perfect? – without realizing that the release date had been moved from August 19 to today, September 9. Whoops.

So, really, seriously, truly – the album is out today, and you should buy it. It’s currently streaming in its entirety right here, so if there’s any doubt in your mind about Justin K. Broadrick’s awesomeness (and really, there shouldn’t be any doubt), you can experience the shoegazey goodness for yourself.

-AR

In 2006, San Francisco’s Giant Squid released Metridium Fields, which is, to put it mildly, a fucking doozy of an album. Lucky for all of us, then, the band has just completed work at that record’s follow-up, as singer/guitarist Aaron Gregory tells us in a press release:

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Three things you can never have too much of: weed, blowjobs, and Justin K. Broadrick albums.

So even though Broadrick has already done some beyond-excellent work this year (check out my review of his collaboration with The Swans’ Jarboe here), you should still be going out your way to buy the newly released EP from Jesu, Why Are We Not Perfect? (Watch a fan-made video for the title track above).

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Okay, so let’s just get the negative out of the way: I’m not crazy about “Decay,” the opening track from this eagerly anticipated collaboration between the seemingly tireless Justin Broadrick and former Swans vocalist Jarboe. It has a little too much of that kind of Bloody Panda-ish vibe, the one that makes you feel like you’re listening to the longest intro ever when you just want the friggin’ song to start already.

The rest of this album, luckily, is as fucking brilliant as the light bulb that adorns its cover art.

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This is old news by now, but it’s still worth mentioning just for the players involved: former Naplam Death/Godflesh/current Jesu mastermind Justin Broadrick has put together a new project with former Swans vocalist/keyboardist Jarboe, cleverly titled J2 (get it?). It’s not exactly metal – in fact, I think it’s safe to call it electronica – but, hey, it’s Justin Broadrick and Jarboe, so it’s worth your attention.

The first track by the band, “8mmsweetbitter,” can be heard on The End Records’ MySpace page; The End will release the full album on March 18.

-AR

And I mean that as a compliment: I fell asleep last night listening to the dulcet tones of Conqueror, and I woke up feeling pretty refreshed. That’s not really something I can do with, say, Agoraphobic Nosebleed. So I wanted to come in today and post some Jesu…

…’cept the esteemed Mr. Justin Broadrick is too smart to waste his money (or Hydra Head’s money?) on music videos. So here’s some fan filmed footage of the band playing “Conqueror” in London earlier this month (it’s not quite the complete song – I guess this particular audience member’s cell phone ran out of juice part-way through). I’ve yet to see these dudes live, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that Broadrick headbangs whilst on stage.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/0gTnFzKk_Hs" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

-AR