In an apparent effort to redeem bass players for their transgressions throughout this week, Madball four-stringer Hoya Roc has posted the above photo, which is apparently Dani Filth being restrained by a security guard at France’s recent L’ez Arts Sceniques Festival, although it’s not a good photo so who knows.

Roc also posted a comment with the pic, which suggests he hates CoF as much as some of you guys do: “When metal fantasy goes wrong!! Haha cradle of filth singer gettin yoked up by security.” Alas, Roc does not say what Filth did to provoke the guard. Still, I’m sure this will bring some of you a little joy.

-AR

[via The PRP]

S.O.S. are a bonafide hardcore supergroup featuring current and former members of Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Madball, Terror, and Trapped Under Ice. And, for once, a supergroup has lived up to expectations, and is more than just the sum of its parts. S.O.S.’s forthcoming EP, I Owe You Nothing, seems like a love letter to hardcore, a respect-laden tribute to the bands that inspired and creatively challenged its membership. Or, put more simply: this shit rips.

MetalSucks is proud to debut “Never a Brother,” one of the tracks from I Owe You Nothing, which you can stream below. The album comes out today via Goodfight Entertainment (as we exclusively reported it would back in March). You can order it from Good Fight in a variety of editions here, or get a vinyl version from Reaper Records here. And if you haven’t already, be sure to check out our interview with S.O.S. guitarist Matt Henderson (also of Agnostic Front, Blind Approach, and Madball fame) here.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

At this year’s Black N Blue Bowl, performers gave shout-outs to Trapped Under Ice so consistently that it became absurd that the Baltimore hardcore act wasn’t even playing the event. (They did play a rather memorable set at last year’s fest.) The band’s rise can only be described as meteoric these past couple years, but apparently that’s not enough for these guys. Drummer Brendan Yates fronts the SGT D APPROVED Turnstile, which recently released the Pressure To Succeed 7″ on Reaper, while guitarist Sam Trapkin is part of S.O.S., the supergroup we can’t stop talking about featuring dudes from Hatebreed, Madball, and Terror.

Now, TUI frontman Justice Tripp has gotten into the act with SAI NAM, a new project featuring two notable names in the world of NYHC: guitarist Mike Dijan (Breakdown, Crown Of Thornz, Skarhead) and drummer Lou Medina (Breakdown, All Out War, District 9). Justice first hinted about this project some months back via Twitter, but this week the band unveiled one of their tracks via Soundcloud and Facebook. “Comeback” is a barbed-wire wrapped brick of a track, and if this is what SAI NAM is all about, then I’m game for the pit beast of an LP these guys have in them. Check it out below.

Comeback by SAI NAM Band

-GS

Agnostic Front. Blind Approach. Madball. Guitarist Matt Henderson made his mark on all of them, and in doing so, on the still-thriving institution that is hardcore. It seems downright criminal that his name isn’t mentioned in the same sentence as Greg Ginn, given that most bands in the scene these days sound more like 90s Madball than Black Flag. Not that it matters to Matt, mind you, as I learned in my chat with this down-to-earth guy. Industry-hardened yet still affable, he’s more interested in S.O.S., the project he’s formed with members of Hatebreed, Terror, and Trapped Under Ice. The veritable supergroup’s forthcoming I Owe You Nothing EP seems like a love letter to hardcore, a respect-laden tribute to the bands that inspired and creatively challenged its membership. While we have to wait until June 21 for the Good Fight / Reaper release (pre-order here and here), Matt’s answers regarding the band as well as his place in the history of hardcore are worth reading.

Click to read more…

S.O.S., the new hardcore supergroup featuring current and former members of Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Madball, Terror, and Trapped Under Ice, have a new song, “Part of the Disease,” streaming over at Stereokiller. And while I do not really spend all that much time listening to hardcore these days, I gotta say, I’m digging this. It’s simple , it’s catchy, and it’s short. Kinda like that midget in Vegas who gave me the clap.

You’re moshing here. As our own Gary Suarez exclusively reported in March, S.O.S. have signed with Goodfight Entertainment, who will releases the band’s debut, I Owe You Nothing, on June 21; Reaper Records will release a vinyl edition that same day.

-AR

In a scene where yearly festivals are as abundant as they are sweaty, This Is Hardcore has emerged as the leader of the pack, unequivocally the most anticipated of all hardcore music events in America. Combining coveted reunions with plentiful appearances by modern acts big and small, the event brings revelers and pit beasts to Philadelphia for a humid August weekend. Part of the fest’s success stems from its notorious secrecy, and 2011′s is no exception. The lineup was embargoed until noon EST on Monday May 30, at which point tickets immediately went on sale online and at AKA in Philly. Extended from three to four days of music, the fest boasts performances from metallic acts like Madball, Maximum Penalty, Mother of Mercy, Nails, Reign Supreme, Ringworm, Suburban Scum, Terror, and Victims.

If you’re reading this now and you haven’t bought your ticket yet, you’re not attending This Is Hardcore 2011. Four-day as well as weekend passes sold out in less than 24 hours, and at the time of this writing, extremely limited numbers of single-day tickets were available. The full lineup, organized in order by day, can be found below.

Click to read more…

Last month, I told you about S.O.S., a bonafide hardcore supergroup featuring current and former members of Agnostic Front, Hatebreed, Madball, Terror, and Trapped Under Ice. Obviously, a band with that sort of pedigree surely couldn’t stay unsigned for very long. You’ll read it here first, folks: S.O.S. has partnered with Good Fight Entertainment, home to The Chariot, Disembodied, and, oh yeah, Madball.

Sometime in late Spring/early Summer, Good Fight will drop S.O.S.’s first release, an as-yet untitled CD-EP. (Hardcore elitists, fear not, Reaper Records will cover the vinyl.) But you can finally hear what the band sounds like in this awesome (and yes, exclusive) video below featuring the band recording with producer Dean Baltulonis (Goes Cube, Madball, Sick Of It All) at Wild Arctic Studios in Queens, NY. This short preview should leave no doubt in the hearts and minds of hardcore fans that this is going to be fucking solid.

-GS

As a world-renowned music journalist, I am subjected on a daily basis to a barrage of emails from bands and publicists, all pleading for me to type something on their behalf. Each morning after my standing massage appointment, I set aside some time (usually 6-8 minutes) to quickly scan devote considerable attention to these promotional notices in case one would for make a juicy MetalSucks blog post. Lo and behold, in the latest Reaper Records update I found such a newsworthy item.

If you’ve read the headline of this post, then you’re already ahead in the game, kiddo. It seems that Terror frontman Scott Vogel and drummer Nick Jett have joined forces with Hatebreed bassist Chris Beattie, Trapped Under Ice guitarist Sam Trapkin, and noneother than Matt Henderson formerly of Madball and Agnostic Front. (If you don’t recognize who Matt Henderson is and why this is a big deal, catch up on your hardcore history here.) The most unexpected hardcore supergroup since Hazen Street, the appropriately named S.O.S. have yet to release any music, yet their very existence will bring excitement to all who care about metallic hardcore. Rumors of the group’s existence have been circulating for some time and the band’s Facebook page (which doesn’t even mention who’s in it!) is more barren than the cast of Sex And The City 2. A 7″ is due out this May on Reaper.

Click to read more…

FEATURING MEMBERS OF ARCH ENEMY, SUNN O))), MADBALL, FUCK THE FACTS, DOMMIN, DARK CASTLE, IMBROGLIO, EXHUMED, AND THAT METAL SHOW

For 2010, we decided to do something special as part of our regular end-of-year festivities here at MetalSucks — namely, ask musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year were. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of ten to eleven musicians at a time twice a day for the rest of the week.

After the jump, check out the first group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

(And please note that these are musicians and that they, um, have a lot on their minds. So some of ‘em named albums that actually came out last year. Please don’t freak out.)

Click to read more…

Having spent much of 2010 on the road celebrating their landmark Victim In Pain album, NYHC originators Agnostic Front have apparently decided to work on new material. As per the band’s Facebook page:

The Godfathers of New York Hardcore, AGNOSTIC FRONT, will enter Mana Recording Studio in Tampa, FL tomorrow to begin recording the highly anticipated follow up to their 2007 release, Warriors. 15 new powerful and anthemic songs will be laid down by Erik Rutan under the watchful guide of producer Freddy Cricien of MADBALL. The record is rumored to be their strongest to date and an early 2011 release is expected.

Even with the obvious and unnecessary marketing copy, I’m thrilled to hear that there’s going to be another Agnostic Front record. What’s especially interesting about the album is that the band opted to work with metal producer Erik Rutan (of Morbid Angel and Hate Eternal fame), who also produced the recently released Madball album Empire. Evidently, Roger Miret, Vinnie Stigma, and the rest of the group are looking for a heavy metallic sound like what Rutan brought out on Madball’s last one. The above video comes from the aforementioned Warriors LP, and if this new record is a continuation of that sound, consider me officially fucking stoked.

-GS

I’m tired of posting the same old high-charting consistent sellers (heyo Disturbed, Linkin Suck, etc) and I’m sure you’re even more tired of reading about them, so this week I’d like to focus on the Top Hard Music Albums charts with a special emphasis on debuts. This week’s notable sales numbers with my own snarky comments (natch) after the flip.

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Seriously, if you haven’t read Vince’s epic story about how MetalSucks Maniac “whiskey” won last week’s last week’s photo caption contest, you need to go read it now. It’s pretty amazing. Whiskey’s mom even left a comment! We like to think of MetalSucks as something the whole fucking family can enjoy together, so that warmed the cockles of our collective heart.

Here’s some other fun stuff that happened this week:

• We debuted a performance clip from the new Shadows Fall live DVD, the new Intronaut album, and a new Madball song. PHEW!
• We spoke to Jeremy Creamer from Daath, Johnny Plague from Winds of Plague, Adam Warren from Oceano, and Ashmedi from Melechesh. Oh, and Anso unveiled part one of his massive two-part interview with Atheist’s Kelly Shaefer.
• We checked out new releases by Salome, Madball, Woe, and Arson Anthem and Ender. And a DWARR reissue!
• Greg Weeks from The Red Chord said good-bye to Randy Moss and hello to men wearing pink tights, Sacha Dunable from Intronaut contemplated the legalization of recreational marijuana use in California, and Eyal Levi from Daath discovered DestinAsian.
• Sergeant D. celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of Pantera’s Cowboys from Hell. Wait, what?
• We couldn’t figure out why everyone was so surprised that ICP are evangelical Christians.
• We found out the hard way that Attack Attack!’s music could be even worse than it already is.
• We took a slow ride on Metallica’s Lightning.
• We laughed at one shit stain calling another shit stain “a shit stain.”
• And, oh yeah! Gary Suarez took over the site for a day.

Next week is CMJ here in New York! If you’re in the area and looking for some awesome metal, check out our handy guide to all the festivities — including not one but TWO showcases sponsored by MetalSucks. We’re not gonna lie — we are going to be very hungover and tired next week. But that just means we’ll be crankier than usual. We’ll still be here with lots of debuts, interviews, and other assorted nonsense. Bring your mom! It’ll be fun.

-AR

Started as a sort of Agnostic Front side-project, Madball quickly morphed into a full-blown band with engaged and enraged vocalist Freddy Cricien at the helm. Those who can recall the days when Roadrunner was still a reliable imprint will no doubt have heard 1994′s Set It Off and 1996′s Demonstrating My Style, two of the finest metallic hardcore records of the 90s. Since then, lineup changes to the guitar and drum positions haven’t drastically altered the reliable, resilient Madball style or ethos. And while the Erik Rutan produced Empire is generally on par with the group’s heavier output of the last decade, this new album’s highlights put it more than a few steps ahead of Infiltrate The System and Legacy.

Click to read more…

Madball‘s latest slice of hardcore heaven, Empire, comes out tomorrow on Good Fight! Since it’s THE LEGENDARY MAD-FUCKING-BALL, we’re gonna assume that you’re already stoked for it. As you should be. So here’s an early taste to slow your jonesin’ for another twenty-four hours: the new track “Invigorate.” WARNING: Listening to this song may cause you to want to punch someone in the face. So don’t play it around loved ones, okay?

[this streaming promotion has ended]

And as if that wasn’t enough, today Freddy Madball is wrapping up his list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Who are his number one and two picks? Skip to after the jump to find out…

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Earlier this week I had a dream that I was working with Atreyu. I don’t know in what capacity I could possibly find myself “working with” Atreyu, since I’m not a manager, nor a publicist, nor a label rep, and they’re about as likely to end up doing a guest column here as I am to give the new In This Moment album a perfect 5-horn review, but, hey, the subconscious works in mysterious ways. Why did I have Atreyu on the brain? Was my mind trying to tell me “The glass is half-full?” Do I have  a hankering to re-watch The Neverending Story? Did I just ingest too many different substances that night? I’ll have to bring it up in therapy next week.

Here’s other shit that happened this week, some of which, believe it or not, is even more terrifying than the thought of working with Atreyu:

• Freddy Madball is counting down his favorite hard and heavy non-hardcore bands of all time, TesseracT’s Acle walked us through the history of djent, The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley spoke to Converge’s Kurt Ballou about Taco Riffs, The Red Chord’s Greg Weeks made some suggestions for losing NFL teams, Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable contemplated the ways in which technology has changed touring, Daath’s Eyal Levi wondered, “Is this it?”, and a wide array of metal stars previewed the just-begun NHL season.
• We spoke to Kirk Windstein from Crowbar/Down/Kingdom of Sorrow, Sean Z. from Daath, Daddy X and Dirtball from Kottonmouth Kings, and Yoshiki Hayashi from X Japan.
• We checked out the latest releases from Abysse and Deafheaven.
• We contemplated trancecore.
• As the headline says, we heard the worst thing ever.
• We reviewed the history of terrible Limp Bizkit cover songs.
• We had fun with misheard song lyrics.
• We bemoaned the signing of another re-thrash band.
• We applauded Slayer fans’ desire to help the physically disabled.
• We had yet another laugh at Winds of Plague’s expense.

We have a special surprise for you next week. I can’t promise you’re going to like it, but I can promise you’re going to have a strong reaction to it. See ya then.

-AR

To celebrate the release of Madball’s latest aggro masterpiece, Empire (two new songs streaming here!), we asked vocalist Freddy “Madball” Cricien to compile a list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running two entries a day from Freddy’s list every day for the next five days, leading up toEmpire‘s October 12 release. You can read Freddy’s initial installment here, his second entry here, and his third here; to follow, enjoy day three of the countdown…

4) SEPULTURA

Heavy as hell, groovy, and from South America… What more do you want? I got into their earlier records and that stuff can still “hang” today. Unique and hard… Not a bad combo. The new line up are doing their thing as well. Props to those guys!

Click to read more…

To celebrate the release of Madball’s latest aggro masterpiece, Empire (two new songs streaming here!), we asked vocalist Freddy “Madball” Cricien to compile a list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running two entries a day from Freddy’s list every day for the next five days, leading up to Empire‘s October 12 release. You can read Freddy’s initial installment here and his second entry here; to follow, enjoy day three of the countdown…

6) SLAYER

I got into slayer later than most probably. Like I said, my background wasn’t in metal. For me, when it comes to heavy music, it was H.C. and then I got into other heavy stuff via friends, etc. You have to give Slayer props. They are as hard as they come, have crazy longevity, are super influential, and keep it real with their style/sound. They are classic. What more needs to be said?! FYI — they are one of Hoya Roc’s favorite bands!

Click to read more…

To celebrate the release of Madball’s latest aggro masterpiece, Empire, we asked vocalist Freddy “Madball” Cricien to compile a list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running two entries a day from Freddy’s list every day for the next five days, leading up to Empire‘s October 12 release. You can read Freddy’s initial installment here; to follow, enjoy day two of the countdown…

8) SUICIDAL TENDENCIES

This is a band that could be categorized as H.C., or, rather, H.C. punk. But over the years, they developed into their own thing. It’s hard to really categorize these guys, so I’m going to go ahead and put them on the list. They are legendary representatives of “heavy music.” I think they deserve to be here. Not to mention, they are one of my favorites. And believe it or not, Lights… Camera… Revolution! is the stand out record for me. People would probably assume I’d pick something older, because of my background, etc. But that record was the onefor me! All their stuff is solid. We’ve toured with them twice now. They are stand up guys and a great band… respect.

Click to read more…

To celebrate the release of Madball’s latest aggro masterpiece, Empire, we asked vocalist Freddy “Madball” Cricien to compile a list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running two entries a day from Freddy’s list every day for the next five days, leading up to Empire‘s October 12 release. To follow, pelase find the first installment. We hope you enjoy…

10) LED ZEPPELIN

I wasn’t sure at first if I should put them on this list. They could be considered more rock than anything, and that would open up a whole other door of bands I love. But you know what? They’re heavy, so I’m going to throw them on my list. I grew up listening to my older brother Rudy’s Led Zeppelin records… along with a bunch of other eclectic stuff. I always loved Zeppelin. Great songs, unique sounding band, and the heavy-ness and groove of John Bonham’s drums was just amazing.

Click to read more…

So this normally where we write some fairly meaningless bullshit as an intro to our weekly recap, but reader Sean Williams sent us a link to the below video update from one Mr. Devin Townsend, and we really can’t think of a better way to kick-off the weekend. As Sean put it, “Deconstruction AND Ghost as a double record? Holy fucking shit!” And it gets “Holy shittier” when we get to hear a little bit of new music…

Here are some other fun things that happened at MetalSucks this week:

• We debuted Joe Satriani’s first Black Swans and Wormhole Wizards webisode and new music by Sweet Cobra.
• Gwar’s Oderus Urungus answered more of your idiotic questions, The Red Chord’s Greg Weeks got unnecessarily rough, Daath’s Eyal Levi pondered the meaning of sacrifice, and Rumpelstiltskin Grinder’s Shawn Riley taught us how to make delicious hot wings.
• We spoke to producer/engineer/mixer extraordinaire Mark Lewis, The Contortionist’s Jon Carpenter, and Shred Sean from Blessed by a Broken Heart.
• We checked out new releases from Dawnbringer and Merkaba.
• We helped A Day to Remember struggle with young adulthood.
• We gave Jason Newsted a shoulder to cry on.
• We got excited that Byzantine are making a new record.
• The kid of the dude from the E-Street Band is out of Madball.
• We’ve decided that when we die, we want our ashes to be pressed into vinyl.
• Can you please help us find Elote 5?

Until Monday… don’t get alcohol poisoning…

-AR