MetalSucks

Photo by Mart Reinson

While winding down their recent European trek with Unearth, Daath and Throwdown, Mark Hunter, vocalist of perennial MetalSucks favorites Chimaira, was cool enough to answer some questions via e-mail. After the jump, get Mark’s thoughts on European audiences versus American audiences, eating at McDonald’s abroad, the joys of Don “The Dragon” Wilson, showers in Germany, and more.

And by the way, there’s a NSFW image in this interview. You were warned.

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I am SO PISSED that I missed Chimaira’s most recent tour (with Hatebreed), because a) Chimaira slay live and b) I’m fucking dying to hear some more material from The Infection in a live setting – when I saw the band on this spring’s Music as a Weapon tour, the album had literally just come out that day and the band were, consequently, only playing two new songs.

So. Rhythm guitarist Matt DeVries had to pull a Mark Morton and leave the tour early so he could get home for the birth of his new child, Austin (Mazel tov, Matt!); filling in for him is Daath co-guitarist/all around cool dude Emil Werstler. I am using this little fact as an excuse to post this video I saw on Blabbermouth of the Wersterful Chimaira performing “The Venom Inside.” Also, to point out that bassist Jim LaMarca seems to have shed his signature locks. That leaves DeVries as the only dude in Chimaira capable of windmilling. Just sayin’.

Chimaira continue to decimate Europe alongside Unearth, Throwdown, and our friends in Daath through October 12; then, at the end of the month, they hit the States again with Trivium, Whitechapel and Dirge Within. Get dates here.

-AR

As I mentioned earlier this week, a little while back I got an e-mail from The Autumn Offering vocalist Matt McChesney to discuss an extremely negative review I’d given the band’s last album, Fear Will Cast No Shadow. McChesney could have been a total dick about the whole thing, but as it turns out, he’s a very even headed, intelligent, and cool dude. So what else was there to do but interview him about the band’s new album, Requiem, which will come out June 9 on Victory. McChesney was even good enough to let us debut the first single off of that album, “The Curtain Hits The Cast,” for which the band will shoot a video in the coming weeks.

I still haven’t heard the new album, but I do already like this song way, way more than anything from Fear Will Cast No Shadow; it’s catchy and it doesn’t sound overly processed, which, I think, is what The Autumn Offering were striving for. Check out the song below, and then my conversation with Matt McChesney after the jump! (FYI – for fear that this was all a set-up for Matt to have me murdered, the interview was conducted by e-mail.)

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Chimaira have never made the same exact album twice, so the only thing a listener can assume about a new Chimaira record is this: it’s going to be crushingly heavy. This band makes truly unpleasant, misanthropic Metal with a capital fucking “M.” Fuck, their most famous song is all about how they don’t like you very much.

The Infection is no exception. It sounds at once both distinctly like Chimaira and yet not precisely like anything the band has ever made before. The dichotomy of it, though, is that the vitriol is wrapped the catchiest and, in some ways, most optimistic music the Cleveland sextet has ever created.

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The release of Chimaira’s new skull crushing, testicle tearing album, The Infection, is now less than a week away, and will be streaming in its entirety on the band’s MySpace page as of tomorrow! To celebrate, we’re teaming up with the band and Ferret Music to give you the opportunity to win a limited deluxe fan edition of the album, signed by all six members of the band!

Here’s what’s in this ridiculously cool box set:

Metal Briefcase packaging (pictured above)
Chimaira Infection Logo Flag (pictured above)
CD/DVD Edition of the album (Features the bonus track “Revenge” and a “Making of” DVD)
“Syringe” USB in metal box featuring the bonus tracks “Convictions” and “Warpath”, The Infection demos, Wallpapers, Buddy Icons and more (pictured above)
Guitar Pick Pack featuring signature picks of all guitarists (pictured above)
Booklet featuring never before seen photos of the band in studio (NOT pictured above)
Laminate (NOT pictured above)

How friggin’ cool is that?

All you have to do to win is answer the following Chimaira trivia question:

CHIMAIRA BASSIST JIM LAMARCA’S FAMILY OWNS A PIZZA SHOP IN CLEVELAND. WHAT IS THE NAME OF THAT SHOP?

E-mail your answer as well as your name and mailing address to axl AT metalsucks DOT net by midnight EST on April 21, and be sure to put CHIMAIRA CONTEST in the subject line. We’ll randomly select one (1) winner from everyone who correctly answers the question, and that lucky son of a bitch will win the box set. Please note that this contest is open to U.S. residents only, as shipping costs are a bitch.

And don’t be too sad if you don’t win – you can always order one directly from Ferret!

After the jump, be sure to check out some awesome photos of the box set being assembled! And good luck everyone!

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I was kinda wondering whatever happened to Uranium, Fuse’s answer to Headbanger’s Ball. As it turns out, it’s still around – it just airs on Fuse on Demand. Which is good to know, especially since throughout April they have a special on the making of Chimaira’s The Infection, which is one of the 2009 releases that I am personally most excited about it. In case you couldn’t tell by my constant posting about the record.

ANYWAY, here’s a clip to get you all hot n’ bothered. Don’t you just wanna pinch Jim LaMarca’s cheeks?

Like I said, you can watch the entire thing on Fuse on Demand all month.

-AR

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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