MetalSucks

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.

Click to read more…

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

UPDATE: Pitchfuck now says this ain’t happenin’. Oh well. Thanks to Scott Casey for the heads up.

I imagine that there’s a certain percentage of the population that will never read any of Alan Moore’s work – including the graphic novels Watchmen, V for Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (but NOT the horrible movies they were turned into, all of which he has disowned) – because they assume that comics are, by their definition, for children and/or the emotionally stunted. And that’s too bad, ’cause Moore is a bona fide fucking GENIUS. The guy’s writing is just incredible. Plus, his ginormous beard is metal as fuck.

Now Moore is working on a semi-autobiographical multimedia project – a “photographic novel”  which will include a score with contributions from both Mike Patton and Justin Broadrick. The project is expected to be released in 2010 via Lex Records.

All I can say is: holy shit. A collaboration between any two of these artists would be more than enough to get my money. I can’t wait to see/hear what they’ve come up with.

-AR

[Thanks, Metal Insider!]

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.

Click to read more…

Cosmo Lee over at Invisible Oranges is on a Justin K. Broadrick kick this week. Lee says he doesn’t especially care for Broadrick’s more recent output, even if he loves the Broadrick of yore; I couldn’t disagree more, but, hey, I understand that Jesu ain’t for everyone.

In all honestly, Broadrick has been kind of untouchable in my mind. I’ve never heard him do anything I didn’t think was awesome – at least, not until now.

Click to read more…

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

Perhaps the only metal video (or any music video?) ever to be made about cock-fighting, Godflesh’s “Crush My Soul” just seems to fit so well with this shunned past-time. Conceptually and lyrically, you’re asking the wrong dude about the connection. Is Justin Broadrick insinuating that chickens’ souls are crushed? Does his soul feel crushed by a chicken? Does cock-fighting crush his soul? Does he just LOVE cock-fighting?

We may never know.

-VN

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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.

Click to read more…

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.

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-AR