Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 at 10:00am by Axl Rosenberg
The bad news is that drummer Derrick Nau has left the band, although apparently under amicable circumstances — in a statement, the group says that Nau ”is returning to art school and does not wish to be a musician anymore.” C’est la vie.
The great news is that the band has already named a replacement for Nau, and that replacement is Tony Laureano, who, the statement says, “will be playing drums on our April tour, new album, and for the foreseeable future.”
Welcome to the latest edition of “Freeloader” in which we review albums that you don’t have to feel like a douche for downloading for free. Today Satan Rosenbloom checks out the debut release from Derek Roddy’sSerpents Rise.
It seems like only yesterday that MetalSucks posted the he said/he said account of journeyman drummer Derek Roddy’s departure from Today Is the Day. We know from Steve Austin’s marathon bitch session with Axl back in 2008 that the TITD frontman found Roddy to be a whiny, egomaniacal toolbag that hated his fans and only cared about money.
While I don’t know enough about Roddy to confirm or deny those accusations, the distribution plan for the long-awaited debut by his instrumental Serpents Rise project paints Roddy as a lot more fan-friendly than Austin’s criticisms would suggest. Roddy’s talked to the press about his intention to release the album for free since 2006, the same year he left Hate Eternal; he released a number of free demo tracks via his website in 2008, and followed through with a free finished product in late 2010. And he’s also up-front about involving fans in the project. Quoth the Rowdy Roddy on his website forum: “Serpents Rise….is an instrumental entity…But, this does not mean that we are opposed to hearing what vocal possibilities exist….Whether in your car, in your bedroom, on stage covering one of our songs, posting clips of you singing our tunes on YouTube OR….in the event that we show up in your town…..you sing with us on stage! Have fun…create!” Does that sound like the sentiment of an egomaniacal toolbag?
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010 at 2:40pm by Sergeant D
When I am not trolling simple-minded, entry-level elitists, I enjoy the soothing, dulcet tones of some classic thrash or death metal. I am definitely not any kind of metal encyclopedia or authority on the subject, but I have realized that (sadly) I’m old enough to have heard a few bands that many younger metal fans have not, just because I have been exposed to a lot of bands over the years — sort of like an ancient desert tortoise who is not a historian, but has seen history unfold before his eyes simply because he is old as fuck. Because I enjoy giving back to my community, I will share some of my favorite older bands in case any of you might like them. If you want to hate on me, that’s OK, too, so feel free to tell me I’m a poser, that everybody already knows about these bands, that I got some trivial detail wrong, or whatever else you think makes you “sound like u rly know what ur talking about.”
Monday, September 20th, 2010 at 12:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
You may remember that last summer, Malevolent Creation guitarist Phil Fasciana claimed to have prevented a convenience store robbery by shooting the perpetrator in the face; he also claimed — and this was really the best part of his story — that the shop’s owner rewarded this mitzvah by offering him a free lifetime supply of chocolate milk. ‘Cause we all know that chocolate milk is what a man’s life is worth. Remember at the end of Die Hard, when John McClane saves the day, and his wife is all, “Oh, John, let’s make-up,” and he shoves her aside and goes, “No, just gimme my chocolate milk, bitch?” ‘Cause that’s just how shit like that goes down in real life.
You may also remember the shock we all felt when this highly plausible story turned out to be complete bullshit, and the heartbreak that ensued after Fasciana lashed out at interwebz dorks like us, insisting the story was true and telling webernet readers, “Get out of the house and maybe someone will try robbing and shooting you one day!!!!” Which is the reason I haven’t actually ventured outdoors since then; I’m just, like, super-afraid of becoming some chocolate milk fiend’s target, y’know?
And, hey, guess what? Looks Fasciana is acting like a nut case again!
Is it really possible that there isn’t already a well-regarded (e.g., not your’s cousin’s unsigned) death metal band with a song called “Slaughterhouse?” AMAZING! If genius really is the simple idea that somehow no one has ever thought of before, than the dudes in Malevolent Creation are geniuses. At least, when it comes to naming songs. Maybe not so much in real life.
ANYWAY, “Slaughterhouse” is the first track to be released from Invidious Dominion, Malevolent Creation’s latest. It is a true blue, honest-to-Satan old school death metal song, with no bells and whistles. Stream it here.
Invidious Dominion comes out August 24 on Nuclear Blast and was produced by Erik Rutan, who, at least as far as this metal nerd is concerned, can do no wrong.
Our friend Amy Sciarretto from Noisecreep reports that Birmingham City University (in England, not Alabama) is naming an award after everyone’s favorite heavy metal grandpa: the Ozzy Osbourne Development Award “will be bestowed upon the student that makes the most significant progress on their degree in the Media and Communication/Music Industry degree.” I assume that the Osbourne family donated a nice chunk of change to get the award named after him, but this doesn’t really make that much sense to me. For one thing, I don’t know if Ozzy has really shown any musical development in, oh, the last hundred years or so, and as much as I admire a lot of his past work, you’ll never convince me that the bulk of the credit doesn’t lie with his collaborators – especially given that the dude doesn’t actually play an instrument. And beyond that, fuck has Ozzy got to do with media and communication? If we’re talking about his work with various reality shows and what have you, well, then, shouldn’t the award be named after Sharon, since we have her to thank for Ozzy’s wonderful non-music endeavors.
But whatever. This piece of news got me thinking: what other awards could we name after heavy metal musicians? And so, after the jump, my suggestions for new university kudos monikered in honor of various other members of the heavy metal community.
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 10:30am by Axl Rosenberg
Exodus are hitting the road for a North American headlining tour this August, and that’s all well and good ’cause Exodus are swell and are one of those veteran bands currently enjoying a renaissance of sorts. That being said, I do think the support acts could be stronger -
In case you don’t recall, MC guitarist Phil Fasciana claimed last summer that he was a big hero after single-handedly stopping a convenience store robbery by shooting the perpetrator in the face. Accusations of the story being bullshit arose pretty quickly, and Fasciana responded by proving that he should never ever act as his own attorney.
Now Rutan – who has to be one of the most consistently inspiring forces in metal today – is set to start working in April on Malevolent Creation’s latest. While we pray he doesn’t piss off Fasciana and escapes with his grill intact, at least we know the new MC album will sound amazing.
No word on whether or not Rutan is being paid in chocolate milk.
Wednesday, July 8th, 2009 at 3:46pm by Axl Rosenberg
I don’t actually know very much about Malevolent Creation. For whatever reason, they just never came across my radar. I mean, I’ve heard of them, but I guess I never came to that point where a friend was like “Dude, check out this band!” or whatever, ’cause I never listened to them. I have no opinion about their music one way or the other.
But y’all have been e-mailing us all week about guitarist Phil Fasciana’s claim to Blabbermouth about being the next Bruce Willis n’ shit. In case you missed the whole story, Fasciana e-mailed “the CNN of heavy metal” and claimed to have kicked some ass and taken some names after walking in on a convenience store robbery in Ft. Lauderdale:
Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 3:53pm by Axl Rosenberg
Those uproarious chaps over at Metal Inquisition have compiled what they claim to be the Ultimate Florida Death Metal Mix (and, really, it’s tough to argue with them). The maverick known only as “Gene Hoglan’s Balls” writes:
“I love all kinds of death metal, but if I had to pick just one to listen to for the rest of my life it would be Florida Death Metal. And if I could only listen to one song from each of my favorite Florida Death Metal bands for the rest of my life I would come up with Metal Inquisition’s Ultimate Florida Death Metal Mix. If you’re a fan of Florida Death Metal, then you will love this. If you don’t know anything about Florida Death Metal, then prepare to be schooled.”
Fair enough. Lucky for all of you mavericks, copyright laws mean little to nothing these days, so the mix is avail as a free download. Get the full track listing and links to the download after the jump.
