What ever happened with that whole Howard Jones scandal? KsE, Roadrunner and Jones have done a great job of laying low while all the hubbub died down. Who knows if we’ll ever get an explanation as to what really happened… but I guess we’ll let bygones be bygones and mind our own business.

On a similar note, what ever happened to Lily Allen? I haven’t heard much from her since her smash album Alright, Still jumped across the pond and got American heads bopping (including mine) in the summer of 2006. There was a follow-up album I never checked out and then she seemed to fade into obscurity almost as fast as she appeared.

With that in mind, a mash-up of the backing track from Allen’s “Smile” and the vocals of Killswitch Engage’s “My Curse” seems pretty logical. It’s well done, too; definitely made me chuckle.

-VN

Thanks: the MS reader who sent this in whose email I cannot find

I remember reading an interview with Howard Jones around the time The End of Heartache came out in which he said something to the effect of, “You could play Slayer songs on acoustic guitars and they would still sound good.” His point being, of course, that a good song will always sound like a good song, period.

And the below video, of a couple of dudes doing an instrumental acoustic cover of Kvelertak’s “Blodtorst,” certainly bolsters Jones’ assertion. It would probably never even occur to me to want to hear an acoustic version of Kvelertak, because I think of them as a loud, obnoxious party band (I mean that as a compliment, by the way). But this works pretty well! And apparently, the band digs it, too.

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Metal Injection has launched this great new video series, “Ask the Artist,” in which they give you helpful tips for getting out tough stains. No, I’m kidding, they ask fucking artists things, that’s why it’s called “Ask the Artist.”

ANYWAY, the latest installment of the series has the MI dudes posing the question “What band got you into metal?” to current and former members of Dying Fetus, Killswitch Engage, Job for a Cowboy, Cephalic Carnage, Revocation, The Ocean, Lazarus A.D., and more.

My personal favorite answer probably comes from A Life Once Lost’s Doug Sabolick, not because I have any special affinity for the album he cites, but because a) it’s a pretty unique answer and b) I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard that album, and I like thinking that while I was rocking out to it with Vince in my parents’ living room, Sabolick was somewhere having his mind blown and his life forever changed. I like that we have that connection now. We’re like Fievel and Tanya from An American Tail, singing “Somewhere Out There.” Only not really at all.

Check out the rest of Metal Injection’s “Ask the Artist” series here. And, hey, while we’re on the topic, feel free to discuss the bands and albums that got you into metal in our comments section below.

-AR

The days when a musician stands a chance of making a living as a musician may very well be coming to a close. It’s one thing for the members of Crowbar Abortion to have to get jobs at the mall when they’re not on tour, but when even the dude from Guns N’ Roses is giving guitar lessons on his down time, you know times are tough.

Which gives a little extra edge to the below video, in which our doppelgängers at Metal Injection ask various musicians what they’d do with their lives if they weren’t in a band. Because that’s a question most metal musicians should probably ask themselves at some point or another.

Best answer comes from Revocation drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne, although I’m down the response A Life Once Lost’s Doug Sabolick and Bob Meadows provide, too.

This video is the first in a new series Metal Injection is doing, called, cleverly enough, “Ask the Artist.” Go here to make sure you stay up-to-date on all future installments, as I’d wager that they will continue to be this entertaining.

-AR

Teenagers are always doing stupid, embarrassing shit in public, especially the ones who listen to metal. One of the most popular (and potentially humiliating) things a kid can do is enter their high school’s talent show, in particular if they make the mistake of playing a metal song in hopes of impressing their peers. For example, when I was in 9th or 10th grade, I was in a horrible band that played a Black Flag song in front of our school. Nobody thought it was cool, they just laughed at us. Thank god Youtube didn’t exist then, like it does for these dumb kids who embarrassed themselves by trying to be cool in front of their peers.

Click to read more…

Remember when Adam D.’s hair looked like this? Good times.

Times of Graces, the Alive or Just Breathing-era Killswitch Engage reunion that doesn’t play any songs from Alive or Just Breathing, will spend their summer doing support of Underoath. (I’m sure there’s a “Underoath is Not-” joke to be made, but I’m not quite sure what it is. Underoath are Not-Botch? Underoath are Not-Good? I’m open to suggestions.) Other bands on the bill will be Stray from the Path and Letlive. Or, put more simply: I’m not going to this tour.

But you can! No judgments. Okay I might judge you a little but not so much that we can’t still be friends. Jesse Leach can still sing his ass off and Adam D. is still entertaining as hell to watch. I’m just a grumpy old man who wants to hear “Life to Lifeless” more than he wants to hear “Live in Love,” and doesn’t want to hear Underoath, Stray from the Path, or Letlive at all.

But if you’re not like me — and, statistically, a lot of you are not like me — here are dates. Enjoy the show!

Click to read more…

Shadows Fall’s Paul Romanko: Still without a side project of his own.

So two of the three current Shadows Fall-related side projects both released new music yesterday, and despite the fact that it is not particularly fair to either band, I am lumping these two projects into one post for the sake of my own comfort and convenience. My apologies to all parties involved.

And so…

Click to read more…

How does she do it? Jacqueline Cheng strikes again with another set of positively epic photos. The subjects: Times of Grace — featuring ex-Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach and current KsE guitarist Adam D., along with fellow KsE guitarist Joel Stroetzel on live guitar — at New York City’s Gramercy Theater on February 22, 2011. We weren’t in attendance, but these photos make us wish we were. Check them out after the jump.

Click to read more…

Back in 2008, legendary metalcore pioneers Overcast — who went on to be in a couple ofsmaller bands you may have heard of, like Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage — got back together to re-record some old tunes for a collection called Reborn to Kill Again. When that album was released, I interviewed vocalist Brian Fair (also of the aforementioned Shadows Fall), and I asked him if Overcast might ever write some new music together. His answer?

“We’ve actually talked about it because Pete [Cortese, guitarist] and Mike [D'Antonio, bassist] definitely have ideas for songs. We just have to make sure that they’re Overcast songs, you know? And not just a Pete song. Like I said, it has to be tuned to E and there has to be a mosh part that goes nowhere and there has to be random time changes for no reason. All those things have to be there in order to make it an Overcast song. We’re definitely not opposed to [writing and recording new material]. It may or may not happen, it depends on if the songs are quality.”

Well, I guess somewhere along the way these dudes either decided that these songs are not “Overcast songs,” or otherwise decided that it just wasn’t Overcast without guitarist Scott McCooe and drummer Jay Fitzgerald, or, uh, something else — because the band’s three most famous alumni (In case you’re dumb: D’Antonio went on to join KsE, Cortese went on to join Seemless) are now reuniting to form a new band called Death Ray Vision.

Click to read more…

I see a pattern developing in 2011; the only albums selling are old ones. It’s quite startling, in fact; it’s already mid-February and the new release machine is kicking into high gear, but the charts are still dominated by best-of compilations and classic albums from the likes of Metallica, Van Halen, Ozzy, Aerosmith (Idol Effect), and Guns N’ Roses and perennially charting butt-rock bands like Godsmack, Disturbed, Three Days Grace, Theory of a Deadman, Kid Rock, Linkin Park, Nickelsuck, etc etc etc. AKA bands that appeal to people mostly over the age of 30. Will 2011 be the year that folks stop purchasing music en masse? It’s too early to tell, but things are not looking good.

In any case, last week saw a variety of solid new releases in the metal world from Full Blown Chaos, Lazarus A.D., Thomas Giles (of BTBAM) and Abysmal Dawn. Not bands you’d expect chart-busting numbers from, but still, heavy hitters in our world. Sadly, only one of those bands was able to crack the Top 100 in the Top Hard Music Charts. We know better than to claim these numbers as a definitive measure of those bands’ popularity, but as long as record labels are the source of funding to launch these bands’ careers — and until there’s a better ranking system that incorporates record sales, merch sales and touring revenue into one chart — sales numbers will matter to some degree.

Let’s look at how last week’s new releases, and a few others, performed on the Soundscan charts.

Click to read more…

…the fuck?

So the Times of Grace tour is now underway, and I don’t think I was alone in wondering if the band would playing any vintage Killswitch Engage material out on the road. I mean, it would make sense — 3/5ths of the KsE Alive or Just Breathing line-up is Times of Grace, and, clearly, this is the big selling point for the group. I mean, you don’t just start out headlining on your first tour unless you’re a supergroup or, in this case, an unofficial reunion.

But now reader Tyler Lesniewski has e-mailed us a link to the setlist from the band’s first live performance, and guess what? There’s not a single KsE song on it.

Click to read more…

So Times of Grace, which is basically a reunion of Killswitch Engage’s Alive or Just Breathing-era line-up (seriously, they’re only missing two members), made their live debut last night when they kicked off their tour in Baltimore, and, well, wouldn’t ya know it?, someone filmed it on a cell phone. So here’s the footage. The quality is obviously not perfect, but it does look like the show was fun.

I’d be curious to know if they played any old KsE songs, but haven’t been able to find that info anywhere on the net yet… if you were there or know someone who was, please report!

More footage and remaining tour dates after the jump…

Click to read more…

I am in a seriously cranky fucking mood this morning, but I’m sure a new Ozzy video should cheer me right the fuck up. ‘Cause that shit always hit the spot, right?

Oh, wait. I must have been thinking of someone else, ’cause this video chugs monkey cum and asks for more. Actually, I guess it’s totally fitting for the song its attempting to sell: generic, boring, and sure to appeal only to the medically brain dead.

Click to read more…

As first reported last week by vocalist Jesse Leach, Times of Grace’s debut album, The Hymn of a Broken Man, has leaked onto these here internets. I suspect that many of you have already illegally downloaded it, ingested it, and shat out an opinion.

But if you haven’t, well, here’s your shot — Metal Hammer is now streaming the album in full. It seems like a lot of you are excited for this album; I was saying to a friend the other night that when people say they want a GN’R reunion, they really mean they want an Axl-Slash reunion, and when people say they want an Alive or Just Breathing-era Killswitch Engage reunion, they really mean they want a Leach-Adam D. reunion. So, uh, here ya go!

I haven’t had a chance to listen to the record yet, so I can’t really get in on the debate as to whether or not these dudes have created something which lives up to their formidable-if-brief legacy. Of course, you guys are free to rip each other all the new assholes you want in the comments section. So listen here, and then get a-rippin’. Roadrunner will officially and legally release the album tomorrow.

-AR

So The Hymn of a Broken Man, the debut album from Times of Grace, doesn’t come out until January 18, but it’s already leaked online. Now, obviously, an album leaking is nothing new in this day and age, but I had no idea about the leak — until vocalist Jesse Leach decided to vent about the leak on Facebook, at which point I read about it on Blabbermouth and Metal Underground. Over at Gun Shy Assassin, where Leach regularly contributes a column, Chris Harris has even posted a story imploring readers not to download the leak. And if you hadn’t already read about the leak from one of these, or any number of other, media sources, well, now you’re reading about it here on MetalSucks.

My point is simply this: I understand that Leach is frustrated that the album leaked. I don’t begrudge him his frustration. But all he’s done now is called attention to the leak, and made who knows how many more people aware of it.

Click to read more…

A screencap of the hard drive on which Unearth are tracking their new album. These are all working titles, natch.

Since Unearth split with drummer Derek Kerswill back in October, fans have been wondering who the metalcore pioneers would find to fill his spot. And while a full-time replacement has yet to be decided, the band has announced that Killswitch Engage (and maybe still Blood Has Been Shed?) skinsman Justin Foley (no, not the Justin Foley that sometimes graces this site with his presence) will play all the drums on their album. The band explains in a statement:

Click to read more…

I think I’ve used the phrase “elephants marching riff” on MetalSucks before, but during a hang sesh with Vince just before the holidays, I realized we don’t use it enough — especially considering how often we actually talk about elephants marching riffs. I don’t remember when Vince and I started using the phrase to describe these lumbering, brutally heavy riffs, but they are absolutely one of my favorite metallic tropes. I fucking LOVE a good elephants marching riff.

Like the taco riff, the elephants marching riff is a little hard to define verbally — but you know it the second you hear it. The easiest explanation is that it sounds MASSIVE and moves at the pace at which you suspect a giant beast of war — say, an elephant — might move. But it can’t just be slow — doom bands and, alas, deathcore bands write slow riffs all the time, but I’d rarely define them as “elephants marching riffs.”

For example, the section of Murder the Frail’s “Disturbia” which begins at roughly the 1:45 mark is leaden — but an elephants marching riff it is not:

Click to read more…

Well, I didn’t see this coming: Times of Grace, a.k.a. the Alive or Just Breathing-era Killswitch almost-reunion, are gonna do a tour. And I’m not being facetious when I say I didn’t see it coming — I sincerely didn’t think they’d tour, ’cause both Adam D. and Jesse Leach have, like, a gabillion other commitments. But I guess they’ve each cleared the month of February to hit the road. Support will come from Straight Line Stitch and War of Ages.

This announcement, of course, raises a few questions, like:

Click to read more…

A still from Times of Grace’s riveting new video. Kubrick couldn’t have shot it any better.

It was less than a week ago that Times of Grace, the new project for past and present Killswitch Engage members Jesse Leach and Adam Dutkiewicz, debuted their first video, for the song “Strength in Numbers,” and now they’ve already posted a second, “Where the Spirit Leads Me.” It’s debuted exclusively via Record Store Day and Metal Club, and while it’s not embeddable yet, you can check it out here.

The video itself is honestly not that interesting; it basically combines the worst parts of The Blair Witch Project (e.g., shaky footage of the ground) with stuff that seems more interesting when I watch it on The Discovery Channel (e.g., a swarm of flies doing… something). But it’s the second song we’ve heard from Times of Grace, and so it gives us a better sense of what the project is going to sound like — and, as we suspected, it’s apparently going to sound exactly like Killswitch Engage.

Click to read more…

Times of Grace, the new project for former Killswitch Engage vocalist Jesse Leach and ongoing Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, have debuted the video for their first single, “Strength in Numbers,” at Alt Press. We first heard this song back in October, and it still sounds more or less like Alive or Just Breathing or Maybe Just Enjoying a Quick Power Nap to me, but that’s really neither here nor there right now, as I think we need to hear more of the album before we can start making jokes about how Adam D. has apparently tapped out his massive encyclopedia of riffs.

No, instead I wanna talk about the video. It’s bizarre, isn’t it? I used to do volunteer work with schizophrenic homeless people, but I didn’t never get to go all Braveheart with ‘em or anything. Mostly, we just played Uno and other simple games in an environment specifically designed to keep them calm and away from makeshift weapons. (Although I do recall a particularly vicious spork fight one Thanksgiving.) But in hindsight, teaching them to have a crew to catch their back in case they ever need to fuck shit up would have been a much more effective lesson. If that nice Russian lady who loved to play dominoes just so she could yell “DOMINOES!” over and over again regardless of who won or if anyone at the table actually scored a point happens to be reading this, I’d just like to say: I’m sorry I failed you.

Times of Grace’s debut, The Hymn of a Broken Man, comes out January 18 on Roadrunner, and despite my snark, I am sincerely hoping that it beats my ass like I stole its locket.

-AR