MetalSucks

I’m not really a regular comics reader anymore so I have no idea if they still do this, but DC use to have this thing called Elseworlds where they basically reimagined the lives of various heroes – e.g., What if Superman had been Russian?, What if Batman was a vampire?, What if Wonder Woman had a dick?, etc. And I always really enjoyed those.

That same interest in the “what if?” questions must be why I’m also so fascinated when a band has to do a one-off gig without a key member and replaces said member with some other all-star musician – e.g., Metallica with Dave Lombardo and Joey Jordison, Trivium with Doc Coyle, and now Lamb of God with Unearth’s Buz “Banned from Wal-Mart” McGrath.

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We may have gotten more e-mails about the announcement that Lamb of God and Gojira will be providing support for Metallica on their upcoming tour than, like, any other topics ever all combined. Apparently you guys and girls are excited about this news.

And I understand… in theory. I’ll be happy if Gojira and LOG are exposed to a wider audience, but beyond that, I still don’t especially care (I can’t speak for Vince or any other MetalSucks Mansion inhabitant, of course).

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We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #2 album, coming in with a total of 247 points…

Lamb of God, As the Palaces Burn (Prosthetic, 2003)
Randy Blythe – Vocals/Guitars
Mark Morton – Guitars
Willie Adler – Guitars
John Campbell – Bass
Chris Adler – Drums
Produced by Devin Townsend and Lamb of God

I want to talk about what is arguably Lamb of God’s finest hour as a piece of this entire list. Because I could tell you “Oh it’s so brutal and it rocks so hard and it raped my sister and killed my dog,” but whatever. The bottom line is, if you don’t own this album, you really should.

No, I’m much more interested in what As the Palaces Burn represents. Click to read more…

SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER IAN CHRISTE OF BAZILLION POINTS BOOKS & SIRIUS XM RADIO

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #7 album, coming in with a total of 172 points…

Lamb of God, Ashes of the Wake (Epic, 2004)
Randy Blythe – Vocals
Mark Morton – Guitars
Willie Adler – Guitars
John Campbell – Bass
Chris Adler – Drums
Produced by Machine and Lamb of God

Hooray, it’s number seven — listen to all those nearly-unanimous cheers for Lamb of God!

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But at least now you all get to see how pretty I am.

-AR

So I just watched Faith No More’s Download Fest perf. I only saw one pair of boobies, and they were terrible boobies. On the other hand, FNM killed it and played “Take This Bottle” and Patton did part of “We Care A Lot” while doing sit-ups with the mic in his mouth, so ya take the good with the bad.

Speaking of the good with the bad: we started to unveil the results of our 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century… So Far poll/list this week, and as usual, y’all had something to say about it:

• SP420 thinks it’s “unbelievable that so many people hold” the #17 album, Hatebreed’s Perseverance, “in such high regard.” Sp420, Jamey Jasta will be at your house in one hour to discuss.
• ionlanach thinks that the #18 album, Lamb of God’s New American Gospel, is “Mediocre, just like everything Lamb of God have ever done.” Even Randy Blythe’s BBQ sauce is offended
• I hate you thinks that if the #19 album, Mastodon’s Remission, “was your first metal album, you are gay” and that “metal is obviously not your fortay.” In other news, I hate you doesn’t know how to spell “forté” correctly.
• Fufkin calls the #20 album, Shadows Fall’s The War Within, “metalbore.” While I don’t agree with him (her?), that’s just clever enough for me not to make fun of Fufkin.
• Robert thinks that the #21 album, Slipknow’s Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses, is “sort of a pile of shit.” Which leads me to wonder: at what point does something go from being “sort of” a pile of shit to, y’know, an actual pile of shit?

Next week we’re countin’ down albums #16 through #12. The picks are clearly either gonna make you guys really fuckin’ happy or really fuckin’ mad. I’ll give you a hint, though: they’re all metal albums.

-AR

We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and  April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. Today we present the #18 album, coming in with a total of 110 points…

Lamb of God, New American Gospel (Prosthetic, 2000)
Randy Blythe — Vocals
Mark Morton — Guitars
Willie Adler – Guitars
John Campbell — Bass
Chris Adler — Drums
Produced by Steve Austin and Lamb of God

Any fan attending any Lamb of God show in the last nine years has had absolute confidence in one aspect of the set list: they’re going to close with “Black Label.” It has been such a staple for the band that I can say with utmost certainty that should they continue for another nine years, this song will never go unplayed. Why would they rob their fans of the perfect closer? From the tension building intro with that insistent piccolo snare (dundundun pop pop pop pop pop pop dun dundun) to the crippling breakdown, there is so much finality in the song that an encore would undermine it completely. It’s the goddamn encore-annihilator! This is your last chance to dance, motherfuckers!!! This song makes teenagers want to rush each other to butt heads. When I was  just a wee sprite and I first saw the video, I thought I had finally discovered death metal. “Black Label” is violently heavy.

So could the message be any clearer on 2000’s New American Gospel when it appears as the opening track? Mike Tyson v. Hector Mercedes – 1985. First Round Knockout.

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My final interview at last month’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in Worcester, MA was with As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa. I’d met Nick earlier in the day at an industry hang at which he told me he was a huge fan of the site. We instantly hit it off, so by the time our scheduled interview rolled around there were no awkward moments. When I approached him while he was warming up in the back lounge of the band’s spiffy tour bus we got right to it. Nick spoke about the band’s past appearances at Metalfest, touring with Lamb of God, partying with Children of Bodom, the advantages of having a nice tour bus, the band’s recently released DVD, and their plans for a new album in early 2010.

For more New England Metal and Hardcore Festival interview coverage, check out my festival wrap, as well as my interviews with J. Costa of Thy Will Be Done, Peter Dolving of The Haunted, Doc Coyle of God Forbid, Jonathan and Billy from Unholy, Josh and Troy from Cattle Decapitation, and Chris Arp of Psyopus.

My interview with As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa, after the jump.

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At this point in the annals of MetalSucks history, an official interview with God Forbid is weird. Interviewing Doc Coyle “on the record” is kind of like interviewing your mom about her performance as your mother; like, are you truly getting the full skinny? But God Forbid are like family to us, and Doc was his usual self; honest, level-headed and frank. At New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last month, Doc told us what led to Dallas’ split from the band, how things with his replacement Kris Norris (of Darkest Hour) are going, the band’s current and future touring plans, critical response to Earthsblood, and breaking into the European market. Our chat, after the jump.

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Dallas may be laying off the haterade as of late, but thankfully Peter Dolving is always there in a pinch to take a big, giant swig of the Internet’s favorite, venomous beverage. In his latest rant sent to us in a press release, The Haunted frontman tells you why you should come see his band on their MetalSucks-sponsored North American tour (also featuring Merauder and The Agonist), and takes a swipe at Lamb of God as being part of the big, bad, generic, corporate metal machine:

Seriously folks. You could go out and see any of a number of bands in the next four weeks. What you’ll receive will of course be generic deliverance of generic metalcore by the numbers and certainly you won’t be more than slightly disappointed. The big one this time around out there being the Lamb Of God tour. Which will according to business-planned management crawl itself around the North Americas for the next year and a half or so like a big snake. You could dig that shit and think ‘Holy mutherfucking hell! That shit rocks!’ or you could go and see the Haunted once and for all prove what metal is all about. But only if you want to have a good time. Only if you want to feel alive. Only if you like that feeling of actually realizing everything is not fucked utterly and beyond belief. But I guess if you are a sad, self-pitying son of a bitch you won’t go. Oh what the hell, really, don’t go. Most of those who read this don’t really give a shit anyway do you? You’d rather stay in a saline filled tank fed intravenously with a constant intake of whatever, whoever carries the biggest gun and wad of dollars has to say wants to feed you.

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The infamous Now That’s What They Call Music comp, now it’s thirtieth iteration (!), will never stop selling. Nor will Hannah Montana. Given, it’s tough for any true metal band to crack the Billboard 200, but Mastodon did just once again that by notching a #11 debut with Crack the Skye, beat out metal-wise only by Papa Roach (ugh). Elsewhere, we got some surprises from Chris Cornell, Twiztid (!?) and others. Sales figures for those and other notable hard rock and metal releases after the jump.

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MetalSucks is proud to offer two lucky San Jose, CA-area residents the chance to see one of the best lineups out on the road this spring: Lamb of God, Children of Bodom, As I Lay Dying, God Forbid and Municipal Waste… for free! Alls ya gotta do is send an email to lambofgodcontest AT metalsucks DOT net with your full name and address, and tell us why you’re the one who deserves to win. One lucky winner, chosen a few days before the show, will win two tickets, so you can bring a friend too. Have fun, and remember this is MetalSucks, not a fuckin’ high school essay contest, so make your entries funny. Good luck!

Lamb of God’s Wrath dropped 67% to #12, moving a still very respectable 22,146 units. They should cross the 100,000 mark next week. God Forbid’s Earthsblood dropped 54%, just barely out of the Top 200, but still shifted 2,493 units (check last week’s debut numbers for both releases here). Cannibal Corpse moved 1,389 copies of Evisceration Plague in their 5th week on the chart, and will cross 20,000 cume next week. Score! Elsewhere, acts like Nickelback, Hollywood Undead and Kid Rock shifted way too many albums, and that’s really all you need to know.

By the way people, these Soundscan numbers do include both physical and digital albums.

-VN

It snowed 8 inches in NYC on Monday, but we got back from the Scion Rock Fest in Atlanta just in time to deliver you our usual drudge report. Can you imagine if we’d been stranded? No MetalSucks for two days. What would you have done? Contemplate these noteworthy events of the week as you get ready to enjoy your weekend (65 degrees Sunday in NYC!):

• Mastodon release early contender for best metal video of ‘09.
• Watchmen got metal… or not.
• We spoke with NEMHF founder Scott Lee.
• Lamb of God and God Forbid make strong Soundscan debuts.
• We looked at new releases from Hatesphere, Wolves in the Throne Room, Abacabb, Centaurus-A and General Surgery.
• Chimaira released a new single and a super-duper-deluxe pre-order.
• We waxed ecstatic about the weed in Atlanta… oh yeah, and some bands played at the Scion Rock Fest too.
• Doc Coyle struck back at the Internet.
• MetalSucks got nominated for a Metal Hammer “Web of Death” Award!

Lamb of God and God Forbid dominated the metal charts in their Soundscan debut weeks. A quick look at the numbers of those and other notable releases after the jump with our own witty commentary, natch.

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Thanks to Metal Injection for pointing out that A Life Once Lost have apparently started work on the follow-up to 2007’s Sacrament, Part II Iron Gag. In a statement, the band said “Now that we’ve heard Lamb of God’s Wrath, we know what our new album should sound like!”

In all seriousness, I shouldn’t give ALOL shit for aping LoG; for one thing, I actually really, really like ALOL’s music, and for another thing, they sometimes ape Meshuggah, too. So…

While we wait for the ALOL album later this year, here’s the band’s video for “Vulture” off of 2005’s Hunter, which is a rabid dog of  a record if ever there was one. That guitar solo is suh-weet!

-AR

Wrath, Lamb of God’s highly anticipated new album, opens with a track entitled “The Passing,” which has to be one of the best soft intros ever not written by Metallica in the 80s, before exploding with a typically rockin’ riff on the first real song, “In Your Words.” It’s a rousing start, and one which might lead the listener to think that Wrath is gonna be another winner from one of the American New Wave’s most popular and widely adored bands.

And then something strange happens: you wait for a chorus that never really arrives.

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I’m ’bout to go party at a triple-birthday event then get rowdy at an outdoor winter BBQ tomorrow afternoon (Bacon Explosion, anyone?). But not before I can tell you what went down on MetalSucks this week:

• Dallas broke the silence on Earthsblood and told the “Blabberbitches” to fuck off.
• Zakk Wylde recorded on a Dope song, throwing his last shred of cred out the window. Yeah, Dope.
• Metal Hammer released a shady list of the best death metal songs ever. But at least Metal Hammer is still around: Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs bit the dust for good.
• David Draiman hit the singles market. J-Date.com, here comes the sickness!
• We spoke with Sunn O))) mainman / Southern Lord Records founder Greg Anderson and Sylosis’ Josh Middleton.
• We told you what we think about the new release by Dimension Zero while we asked you what you think about Lamb of God’s latest.
• Sigh’s foxy Dr. Mikannibal got naked and drank cow’s blood.
• We took shots at Camp Kill Yourself and Insane Clown Posse, and their fans took shots at us.

Peace in the mideast.

-VN

Lots of you have been emailing us to tell us that Wrath has leaked. Thanks for the memo, but we’ve had it for weeks, you sillies! In any case, by now those with enough motivation and brianpower to seek out the leaked album have had a chance to listen to and digest the latest from Lamb of God, undoubtedly one of the biggest (and best, IMO) modern metal bands of the ’00s. So what do you think? How does it stack against prior LoG releases? Vote below, and tell us why in the comments. Then check out the very awesome “Escape the Plague” contest Lamb of God is running in conjunction with the new album release.

n