Things are looking up for Early Graves, who lost vocalist Makh Daniels in a devastating auto accident in August of 2010. In March of this year reports surfaced that the remaining members were working on new material, and this past August — almost exactly a year after Daniels’ passing — the band announced that The Funeral Pyre’s John Strachan would be their new vocalist moving forward.

Strachan made his live debut with the band at the Power of the Riff festival in Los Angeles and San Francisco in mid-August. Today, MetalSucks is thrilled to premiere an exclusive pro-shot video of Early Graves and Strachan performing “Goner” on that tour. Let’s all agree that Strachan was a great choice for Early Graves; he’s got big shoes to fill, but as this video proves he’s doing quite an admirable job of it. Here’s to wishing Early Graves all the best and hoping that this is the start of something great; those guys have been through a lot.

Does anyone notice a strikingly dark pattern here? Hmmm.

As the headline suggests, The Funeral Pyre’s John Stracham is the new vocalist for Early Graves (formerly Apiary), whose former vocalist Makh Daniels passed away last year in a tragic van accident. Strachan revealed his new gig in a guest blog at Gun Shy Assassin [via L.A. Weekly]. As far as we know this doesn’t mean Strachan is leaving The Funeral Pyre.

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Are the dudes at Heavy Blog is Heavy killing it lately or what? First they single-handedly got Devin Townsend to add Greg Puciato to the list of vocal collaborators on Deconstruction, all through the power of Twitter. Now they’ve done some bonafide real-deal journalism and picked up on the fact that Early Graves — whose vocalist Makh Daniels tragically passed away last August in a van accident – are back in the studio.

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We bid fuck off to 2010 tonight ,and that’s sad cuz this year contained the last days of  Type O Negative’s Peter Steele and metal’s Babe Ruth, Ronnie James Dio. We also have to prematurely turn the page on Paul Gray of Slipknot (see you in lefty heaven, dude), Bay Area legend Debbie Abono, and Makh Daniels from Early Graves. It’s like we’re leaving them behind in ’10 and will be forced to forge a path beyond 2011 without their support. What a rip-off.

Okay, this is turning into a real bummer and, worse, it’s redundant to our oft-blubbery reportage of these deaths and others. But today, let’s quickly acknowledge that outside of the MetalSucks coverage umbrella fell the passings of two friends of metal, actor Tony Curtis and filmmaker Satoshi Kon. Curtis may’ve been a marquee leading man and master of frantic comedy in the ’60s, but he first delivered the single greatest, metallist, brilliantest line of dialogue in the history of cinema in 1957′s The Sweet Smell of Success (see headline). Even Mike Patton and Tomahawk made it the refrain of their jam “Laredo” (above, at 1:40). Which is odd cuz that album also has a track named “Sweet Smell of Success.”

Then there’s Satoshi Kon, whose mind-mangling 13-part series Paranoia Agent is one of those works that metal people can love for its non-damning treatment of outsider fuck-ups and its flip, fatalist depiction of mankind’s collective narcissism. It brings to bear the desolate panic of Hitchcock, Lynch’s themes of futile struggle against unfathomable evil, and inevitable dead-end violence, as found in Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. Which is odd, cuz the star of that movie reminds me of Mike Patton.

Cheers everybody! See you back here in 2011!

-ADF

We’re still reeling from the passing of Makh Daniels, the twenty-eight year old vocalist for Early Graves who tragically died in a van accident earlier this week.

Now Trevor Phipps — front man for Unearth and head of Ironclad Recordings, the label to which Early Graves are signed — has released a statement on behalf of the band. That statement follows in full:

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A benefit and memorial show has been planned for Makh Daniels, vocalist of Early Graves, who tragically passed away on Monday in a van accident while on tour in Oregon. Everyone is encouraged to come and show support for someone who dedicated his life to touring and the metal scene, and to help his family with the costs involved with this tragedy. All proceeds from the door and a percentage of profits from the bar will be donated to Makh’s family.

MAKH DANIELS BENEFIT & MEMORIAL SHOW
Friday, August 6th @ The Bamboo Lounge
14308 Telegraph Road
Whittier, CA 90604
21+ over – $5 donation – 8pm-2am

Live performances from:
ANTAGONIST
EXHAUSTED PRAYER
DESTROY JUDAS
+ 2 more special guests

For those of you who can’t make it or are from another part of the country and would still like to contribute to the family, can make a donation here.

- MS dudes