MetalSucks

What the hell, dude? First Marduk front dude Mortuus hit a kid who jumped on stage to try and hug him, then The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad followed suit; now some guy jumped on stage during a recent Kittie performance and tried to kiss front lady Morgan Lander… and she cracks him in the balls! So for once, a fan got a beat down and he actually deserved it.

Only problem is, it’s not a fan this time – it’s Tyler Whore, bassist for Sucked by a Sucking Suck. He’s apparently friends with the band. Guess Lander didn’t recognize him? Either that, or it was, uh, a Freudian slip, I guess.

Here’s video of the incident, courtest Hardtime.ca:

Thanks to the always-helpful Saul Hudson for the tip…

-AR

Honestly, I find Lady GaGa’s pop-based performance art a lot more interesting than anything that came out of that pretentious conference which Axl posted about the other day.

Say. didn’t Marduk playing a show at Gramercy Theater the other night? Maybe the Times will review that too…

-GS

[Gary Suarez is kvlt. He helps manage Shadows Fail and the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

As we mentioned earlier today, next Thursday we’ll run the MS staffs’ various year end lists. Of course, that means that the MS staff has to start turning them in now. And as we’ve begun the editing process, we’ve been reassured of what we already knew: opinions are like assholes. Everybody’s got one. But what’s more fun than smoking weed, listening to good music, and engaging in intellectual (or semi-intellectual) debate with good friends? For our money, nothing. That’s why we started MetalSucks in the first place!

Here were some sources of intellectual debate this week:

• We looked at a series of dreadful demos, the last of which was epic (and not dreadful at all).
• We spoke with Eric Peterson of Testament and Robb Flynn of Machine Head.
• Devin Townsend got deep.
• Marduk’s Mortuus body-slammed a would-be hugging fan.
• Mastodon are officially on the radar of mainstream publications like Time.
• We mourned the loss of Dimebag Darrell 5 years ago this week.
• We proclaimed Hate Eternal and System of a Down underappreciated.

Now we challenge you to start guessing which albums which MS writers will name as their favorites. Anyone who guesses correctly wins the knowledge that they probably read this site way too much when they should be working, or fucking, or doing almost anything else.

And then on Thursday we’ll unveil all the lists.

-Vince & Axl

Jumping on stage at a metal show is a risky proposition. Some bands are totally cool with it, some bands aren’t. There’s also probably a right way and wrong way to do it; grabbing one of the musicians is probably not the best idea, although I certainly understand the desire to high five your favorite band member or whatever. But you have to know going into it that the band might not be as chill with the concept as you were hoping.

That being said… the below video showed up on Blabbermouth this morning, and, really, it’s not cool, or even especially funny. Basically this poor kid – who looks like he’s probably not sober but whatever – gets up on stage, tries to hug Marduk front dude Mortuus, and for his troubles… Mortuus flips him. Doesn’t just push him away, doesn’t just call for security or whatever, but full-on Mr. Miyagis the poor guy. It just strikes me as a gross overreaction. And we’re actually one of the sponsors of this tour… but I just can’t see my way to condoning the way Mortuus handled the situation.

Skip to the 1:16 mark of the below video to watch the incident, then weigh in and tell me why I’m right or wrong about Mortuus being really uncool about this.

-AR

After Corey Mitchell’s perfect review of their album Executioner, how could we resist running a tour blog from Mantic Ritual guitarist Jeff Potts? Read his first installment below, and if you’re very well behaved, others will follow…

Right now I’m sitting back stage at the Masquerade in Atlanta with the peculiar kind of sore throat that only comes from prolonged screaming and generally abusing the hell out of the vocal chords.  This doesn’t sound that weird for a guy who’s in a  thrash band on a black metal tour, but it’s actually pretty odd – because I’m the guitarist.

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The MetalSucks-sponsored U.S. Plague Tour 2009 is currently weaving its way across the country, and MS photographer Diana Lee Zadlo was on hand November 23rd in Baltimore to catch Marduk, Nachtmystium and Merrimack in action. The tour rolls through New York in a couple of weeks, and though we’re exhausted from a long Autumn full of shows we couldn’t be more excited to finish things off for 2009 with this awesome lineup.

Diana’s photos, after the fold…

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They say life is timing and that timing is mostly luck. Sinatra would add that luck is rarely a lady, and truly she’s been a monster bitch since the release of new records by Devin Townsend and Between The Buried And Me. Both clear contenders for top 2009 album honors, Addicted and The Great Misdirect have effectively deleted the rest of my music library and obscured about 40 new and attention-worthy metal records. See, just weeks ago, I was balls-deep in the Converge, Marduk, Municpal Waste, Cobalt, and old Trouble; today, my functioning memory is so dominated by Addicted’s melodies that I can’t recall even what the Converge record is titled. Worse, would-be essential outings from Porcupine Tree, Skeletonwitch, and Slayer still have their symbolic hymen intact, jilted and untouched by my ear-boner. Which is pure insanity under normal circumstances. (Some measure of karmic revenge comes via Decibel Magazine, which counts neither TGM nor Addicted among the Top 40 Extreme Albums of 2009.)

I can think of no worse fate than to have all the determination and frustration of making an album be rewarded by its adolescence being spent in the shadows of two all-time classics – even if only in the mind of one biased listener. And really, I can’t be the only one finding it hard to concentrate on other records, now identifiable as the sad victims of BTBAM’s and Townsend’s awesomeness. For other artists, it’s like discovering an abandoned cupcake store just before being struck by lightning. It’s like a modest movie about sexy teenage vampires opening unwittingly against Twilight. It’d be like the euphoria of a Tuesday-night smooch party with the office knockout being smashed to bits by news of a catastrophic terrorist attack in your distant home country (true story!). It’s not fucking fair!

-ADF

The MetalSucks-sponsored U.S. Plague Tour 2009 — featuring Marduk, Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack, and on select dates Black Anvil — is currently under way. The tour kicked off Friday in Worcester, MA, runs through the South, up the West Coast, and then cuts back through the Midwest, ending December 16th in New York. In a cluttered Fall tour marketplace, this is one that definitely stands out from the pack. Must-attend!

And if you didn’t hear, Nachtmystium’s Black Meddle Part II is currently in the works. By now pre-production should be complete and recording will supposedly begin in January for a Spring release. Stoked!

Full list of tour dates — with ticket buy links — after the jump.

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Some people are talented. Some people are awesome. An even rarer breed happens to be both talented and awesome. Photographer Justina Villanueva is one of those people. If you go to metal shows in New York or New Jersey, you may have noticed this diminutive young lady snapping pics of some of your favorite acts. You may have seen her work on websites like ours (ex. Alice In Chains at Irving Plaza) and BrooklynVegan (ex. Converge at Europa).

Now’s a great time to acquaint yourself with Ms. Villanueva’s work, as she has just released the premiere issue of her self-titled zine. Issue 1: Basements, Blood and Noise features spectacular shots of bands like Black Anvil, Burnt By The Sun, Marduk, Municipal Waste, and Poison The Well, as well as the aforementioned AIC. Whether you’re an old fucker like me or a youngster that has never so much as seen a zine, I strongly recommend that you buy yourself a copy.

-GS

[Gary Suarez is a lover of fine art. He usually manages Wholly Diver (a Dio tribute site) and the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

Nachtmystium’s Black Meddle, Pt. 1 was one of the best albums of 2008, ending up at the top or near the top of most MS staffers’ top ten lists that year. So, naturally, Nachtmystium fans everywhere have been asking the question, “Hey, where the fuck is Black Meddle, Pt. II?”

Well, hey, guess what? The band has issued an update to that very query on their MySpace page:

Click to read more…

Whomever thought this up is a fucking genius.

-AR

[via Metal Injection]

Of course you do! Sent in by an MS Maniacs who would probably like to remain anonymous:

This kid (who for some reason calls himself Smeagol) is pretty much well known as being the village idiot in the (not so booming) Northern Indiana metal scene. I was horrendously delighted to discover that he recently posted a terrible vocal cover of himself croaking and moaning along to Bleached Bones by Marduk.

Croaking and moaning indeed. Enjoy!

If Smeagol doesn’t turn you off of the whole idea, make sure you go and see Marduk with Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack and Black Anvil on the U.S. Plague Tour this fall. Full list of dates after the jump.

-VN

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I don’t know about you guys, but I’ve actually learned a lot from metal. For example, when I was a kid, I heard Axl Rose use the word “cunt” in the song “Bad Obsession” and subsequently asked my dad, “What’s a cunt?” To which he responded, “Your mother’s sister.” And I instantly knew exactly what a cunt was.

Metal continues to educate me every day, and this morning has been no different. Marduk have a new song, “Phosphorus Redeemer,” streaming on their MySpace page, and while I initially thought the title was just a nonsense combination of two words, it turns out that Marduk didn’t invent the phrase. Amazing!

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Following three very special U.S. appearances earlier this month in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York (effectively breaking their streak of visa issues), Swedish black metal battalion MARDUK will return for a full North American headlining tour this November dubbed the U.S. Plague Tour 2009. The band will be joined by Nachtmystium, Mantic Ritual, Merrimack and Black Anvil (on select dates).

Having missed Marduk at the aforementioned New York show and having been subject to at least 2 Nachtmystium cancellations in the past year, we’re psyched to be a part of this tour. Our own Corey Mitchell gave Mantic Ritual’s latest a five-out-of-five horns review, and Black Anvil are quite the talk of the town at the moment — we’re new to Merrimack, but we’ll certainly give them a shot. What a solid lineup. Full list of tour dates after the jump.

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The first time I heard Tombs‘ Relapse Records debut Winterhours was on the New York subway with iPod earbuds, which are clearly not the ideal conditions for developing an accurate initial impression of a band. I wasn’t impressed and turned it off after a few songs, likely in favor of something more familiar such as The Jonas Brothers. Recently though, I’ve given the record some undivided attention at home, where the sound is hardly state-of-the-art but at least it isn’t subject to train noises and obnoxious interruptions by my fellow passengers. Much to my surprise and delight, I fucking love Winterhours.

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Anyone following this year’s MetalSucks co-sponsored, Mayhem-headlined Blackenedfest tour should already know that this tour has been plagued from the start. First was the Marduk no-show (reportedly due to visa problems) followed by the Boise cancelation, then a message posted on Cephalic Carnage’s MySpace page this Monday announcing the band had decided to drop off the tour in Denver without any further explanation. The latest wrinkle is an exclusive, in-depth, first-hand report from Metal Injection roving reporter Justina Villanueva, who had been out on the road covering the entire tour for Metal Injection.

Reports Justina in her tour diary at Metal Injection:

I had my only Almost Famous moment of this tour in Denver, Colorado. We were not exactly in a descending plane but it definitely felt like we were. I watched Blackened Fest collapse within a matter of several hours. It wasn’t a short run of a tour but it’s demise was very short notice to the people involved.

Just after Withered left the bus to start their set, Cartel (tour manager) came onto the Cephalic/Withered shared mobile home to announce, “Guys, tonight might be the last night of the tour.” He started inquiring about who were the unnecessary people on the tour so he could free up bunk space. This included Sid, Leonard’s (Cephalic vocalist) son, and Chuck, Nick’s (Cephalic’s bassist) brother. Because we were in Denver, Cephalic’s home, the question at hand was easy to seal away: two free bunks. But, two free bunks doesn’t solve the extra 6 people still on Marduk’s money-swallowing bus. At that point in the night I knew one bus would be sent home and maybe some crew (most likely me too). But, I didn’t expect the actual outcome: a Mayhem only tour.

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The MetalSucks co-sponsored Blackenedfest, featuring Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered is currently underway and, from what I hear, absolutely slaying. As per usual, Metal Injection has been on hand to capture some excellent video footage from the shows. Here’s Cephalic Carnage doing “Kill for Weed” on the tour’s stop at this past weekend’s Maryland Deathfest; you can check out more videos from the tour right here. And get the remaining tour dates after the jump!!!

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Metal Injection reports that Mayhem have arrived in the U.S. without incident, which means that BLACKENEDFEST, the grimmest tour of the Spring, is set to kick off tomorrow night in NYC as planned! Says Mayhem frontman Attila Csihar:

“We had no problems whatsoever with immigration, and now we are very excited to de-consecrate the USA again after a decade of decay since our last tour here! Prepare to prove the falseness of all religions and inventing the order of pure fucking chaos! There is NO god but MAYHEM!!”

The spikey-armband-studded lineup also features Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered. We suggest you view this handy Corpsepaint 101 primer before attending.

Full list of tour dates and links to buy tickets after the jump.

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The grimmest tour of the Spring gets underway in less than one month, so be sure to get on your game and get tickets for the MetalSucks co-sponsored BLACKENEDFEST now, before they sell out! The spikey-armband-studded lineup features Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered, and is headlined by none other than the Norwegian kings of grim, Mayhem! We suggest you view this handy Corpsepaint 101 primer before attending, but we can’t promise that this tour will be more metal than these guys.

Full list of tour dates and links to buy tickets after the jump.

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MetalSucks is pleased to announce our sponsorship on what is without a doubt the darkest, bleakest, blackest lineup hitting North America this Spring — BLACKENEDFEST! The lineup is headlined by none other than the kings of Norwegian black metal, suicide and murder — Mayhem — and features Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered in support. That’s a fucking br00tal lineup if you ask us. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 13th — an appropriate date — so take a look at the full list of tour dates (with buy links) after the jump.*

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