No Clean Singing are totally killing it lately with interviews lately. Last month’s interview with Nachtmystium was a quality piece of journalism in which Blake Judd candidly shared his feelings about drug use, his record label, haters and more. The latest is a one-on-one with The Faceless mainman Michael Keene (recipient of a #12 ranking in our Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists list!), in which the talented guitarist/singer/producer gives some juicy quotes, including what the new album will sound like and how it feels to be the odd band out on Sumerian Records.

First thing’s first, new album tawk:

Talking of the new album, is there anything you’d like to share about it? You’ve previewed one song (“The Eidolon Reality”) already, so do you know what sort of direction, musically or lyrically, the rest of it is going to go in?

MK: Musically I think the new song that we posted, the pre-production track, is probably a pretty good indication of the musical directions, stylistically. Although I definitely think the album’s going to be a bit more… a bit broader… than anything we’ve done before.

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MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play guitar (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with The Faceless’ Michael Keene…

If Michael Keene ends up being the defining metal guitarist of his generation, no one should be surprised. His work is certainly far beyond a label as simple as “Sumeriancore,” even if The Faceless are are at the top of the Sumerian heap. Fact is, Keene is a metal dork’s wet dream — he’s a ridiculously good guitar player, a ridiculously good producer, and a ridiculously good songwriter, and his output is always proggy and challenging but fun, heavy as an orgy whose participants are all suffering from gigantism, and shreddy in just right the measure.

In other words: if Michael Keene’s only goal in life is induce envy and orgasms in metal fans and musicians everywhere, well, he has thus far succeeded and then some.

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I’m loving this new subgenre title Vince has coined - “Sumeriancore.” I love it because a) it instantly lets you know the band in question plays proggy tech deathcore, and b) if we’re gonna get silly with these subgenres names, let’s get really silly with them, right?

So, besides The Faceless, I guess my favorite Sumeriancore band (or, at least, my favorite Sumeriancore band that is actually on Sumerian) is Born of Osiris (whose debut, The New Reign, was actually produced The Faceless’ Michael Keene). Born of Osiris have the adorable nickname “BOO.” Just makes me wanna play with puppies every time I say it. “BOO!” Like the little girl in Monsters, Inc. Don’t ask how I know that. It’s definitely not because I use Pixar movies to lure small children back to the MetalSucks Mansion.

But I’m getting way off-topic here. Born of Osiris have posted a new song, “Now Arise,” on their MySpace page.

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Animosity’s Leo Miller is not a man of large stature, which is why it was so surprising to see him command the stage like a rabid dog upon catching them on the Metal Sucks-sponsored Job for a Cowboy/ All Shall Perish/ Annotations of an Autopsy tour. Miller and company brought the sort of frenetic energy necessary to translate their last two stellar full lengths – Empires and last year’s Animal – to life, which is by no means a small feat. In a time when death metal bands rely on either predictability or shifting between riffs too rapidly to savor, Animosity jump from thought to savage thought masterfully, producing blink-and-you’ll-miss-it excellence reminiscent of old Dillinger Escape Plan through a DM lens. Their records demand repeat listens, and reward greatly upon them. Miller’s gruff vocals and atypical lyrical approach help elevate the band to thinking man’s level, counteracting metal’s brutish stereotypes.

I managed to catch him – after three botched attempts – on my way out the door after Job for a Cowboy’s set in Providence at the end of last November, and goddamn, I’m glad I caught him. He possesses the kind of eloquence and thoughtfulness an examination of his lyrics would imply, and it was interesting to get a glimpse into the thought process behind the gut-wrenching Animal, easily one of my favorite metal records of 2007, if not in the last few years. Despite the difficult personal events that lead to the album, Leo had a positive tone to his voice throughout our entire conversation, touching upon the band’s plans for the future and his feelings on our next president.

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