FEATURING MEMBERS OF KYLESA, INSOMNIUM, ABORTED, MNEMIC, MARUTA, EAST OF THE WALL, BLOODIEST, BROKEN HOPE, AND IN DE GOOT ENTERTAINMENT

Every year year, MetalSucks asks musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year have been. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike have graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of nine to ten musicians at a time two to three times a day for the whole week.

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

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I’m not super into Mnemic, but they’ve definitely got my respect for a) writing a few really killer songs, and b) aping Meshuggah’s guitar and polyrhythm styles way before it was cool and trendy to do so (mixed with other styles instead of straight aping, no less). So it’s with something between an eyebrow raise and a shrug that I report that the band’s replaced three members; bassist Tomas ”Obeast” Koefoed left the band back in April, while drummer Brian Rasmussen and guitarist Rune Stigart — both original members — left more recently, as announced over the weekend.

Everyone is indeed replaceable. Guitarist guitarist Mircea Gabriel Eftemie is now the lone remaining original member of Mnemic. Is he the heart and soul of Mnemic, the Dave Mustaine of Megadeth or the Trent Reznor of NIN? Or will the recent lineup shifts have a larger impact on the band’s sound? I’m not well-versed enough in the band’s discography and history to know, but that’s what comment sections are for; tell us what you think of these lineup changes and whether you think they’ll have any effect on the band’s sound.

-VN

No longer is the MetalSucks live show slate confined to just North America; in case you missed it when we announced it a few weeks back, MetalSucks has decided to show some love towards our friends across the pond by sponsoring the Euroblast festival in Germany! Mnemic, Textures, TesseracT, Vildhjarta, Sybreed, Monuments and Chimp Spanner are just some of the awesome European bands that will play this 2-day, 2-stage festival in Cologne on the 21st and 22nd of October. If you’re anywhere within reasonable airplane or train distance of Cologne you simply can’t afford to miss out.

Watch the brand new trailer below and get excite:

MetalSucks readers love to complain that the tours we sponsor don’t come through their town, especially if said town is in Florida. While the fact of the matter is that we don’t have control over the cities that the tours we sponsor stop in, one of the many places our sponsored tours have never been to is Europe, anywhere at all in the diverse continent. To that end we’re one of many fine sponsors on this year’s Euroblast festival — their 7th year — a two-day event set to take place in Cologne, Germany on October 21st and 22nd.

Mnemic and Textures will headline, with support from TesseracT, Vildhjarta, Sybreed, Monuments, Chimp Spanner and a number of other awesome bands. If you’re a fan of progressive metal and you live anywhere within striking distance of Cologne (which is pretty much anywhere in Europe, since Europe’s train systems and regional airlines put those in the U.S. to shame in terms of affordability and convenience), there’s no reason whatsoever you shouldn’t be at this festival.

Find more info about the event, the bands, ticketing and more at the official Euroblast site.

As was the case last Wednesday, a whole buncha bands have all released new videos at once, and for convenience’s sake, I’m just gonna lump them all together in one post. If you don’t like it, go get a bowling ball, hold it over your head, and release the ball. Thanks.

First up we have “Unbreakable,” the new Raul Gonzo-directed video from Sumeriancore masters Veil of Maya. I’m not as big of a fan of this band as Vince is, although I certainly respect the heck outta ‘em, especially after seeing their live set at Summer Slaughter earlier this month. But I have no fucking idea what’s going on in this video. These people are connected to the band via wires and stuff, and, uh, I guess the music is, like, making them type real fast, and mash stuff with their hands, and, um, fingerpaint?, and, uh… then they put all this stuff in the oven, and it grows into a brain. I mean, I’m a college educated New York Jew, so I know from over-thinking stuff, but I don’t even know where to begin with this one. If anyone has any theories, by all means, put ‘em in the comments section. Otherwise I’m just gonna go with, “Hey, cool song!”

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Mnemic have released a video for “Diesel Uterus,” which comes off their latest album Sons Of The System. When the song debuted back in November of ’09, I referred to the band as “Mehnemic,” and this video doesn’t do much to change my opinion.

Also, I still have no idea what the fucking fuck a “Diesel Uterus” is. And unless the song is about a white room where you can see the film crew and their tracks as they make the video look cool but not much else, I’m guessing the director doesn’t know, either.

Sons of the System is out now.

-AR

Before I saw their video on Bouche de Bavard this morning, I’d never heard of M.A.N., “the group formed out of the ashes of Sweden’s TRANSPORT LEAGUE (featuring former MNEMIC frontman Tony Jelencovich).” And when I first started to watch this video, for the track “Logocide,” I was all, “Oh, hey, great! Another shitty band I can make fun of!” Because a) here is a song that is apparently either about the murder of logos or wood, b) everyone in the band dresses like a total tool and even though you should never judge a book by its cover sometimes it’s fun to do just that anyway, c) the wallpaper behind the band would strongly suggest that they filmed this video at my grand ma’s house on Staten Island, and d) the clear plastic gloves the guitar player is wearing would suggest that while he was at my grand ma’s house, he helped her dye her hair.

But I’m actually really digging the song, which alternately sounds like one the world’s better Meshuggah rip-offs and,well, Mnemic (or any number of Swedish melodeath bands). So, maybe not startlingly original, but still pretty cool!

“Logocide” comes off of M.A.N.’s latest, Massive Audio Nerve, which comes out in Germany at the end of this month. Or something. Anyway, the other shit on the band’s MySpace page doesn’t sound as cool as this song, so maybe this is one of those situations where you’re best off just getting the single.

-AR

Mnemic… a band I have almost no opinion of whatsoever. I don’t hate them, I don’t love them. They have one song I’ve enjoyed in the past, “Door 2.12,” and when I saw them live a few years back, I thought they put on a pretty good show. But, mostly, I regard them as “Mehnemic.”

They have a big following, though, and I imagine that following will be excited to hear their new song, “Diesel Uterus,” which is now streaming here. It sounds to me like a Mnemic song.

“Diesel Uterus” comes off Sons Of The System, which Nuclear Blast will release in January (15th in Europe, 26th in North America).

And that’s all I have to say about that. Here’s that song “Door 2.12,” just because.

-AR

These are some of my favorite producers and mixers for heavy music… It’s a challenging genre, and these guys are great in my opinion.

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If 2008 was the year of Gojira, then 2009 will most certainly be the year every new band looking for some traction starts saying they sound like Gojira. Especially bands from France. Take recent Metal Blade-signees END. (all capitals, followed by a period. not to be confused with The End, the Tool soundalikes from Canada, or The End Records, based right here in New York). A press release announcing the signing informs us that “Much like fellow homeland heroes Gojira, END. pull off a signature sound that can immediately be picked up by the metal critics.”  Sheesh, I guess they have my number!

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When a press release landed in the MetalSucks inbox a couple of months ago announcing that Fear Factory guitarist (and former bassist) Christian Olde Wolbers had released a signature Randall amplifier head and was currently booking interviews, I got to thinking. Could I possibly land an interview with Wolbers — who also happens to be a talented producer who worked on the recent Threat Signal record and tracked vocals for the new God Forbid album Earthsblood — ask him the one obligatory amplifier question, and then proceed to ask him questions about Fear Factory, producing, and his new band Arkaea? Yes, yes I could. And so I did. Our conversation, after the jump.

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Fiftywatthead – Fogcutter: The band’s name aptly described their sound, but the name of this record should actually be Ballcrusher. Giant-sized, Mastodonian stoner metal that invokes equal parts Neurosis low-end and Kharma to Burn riffage, but often veers a bit too jammy / rambly for their own good.

Fiftywatthead – “Fogcutter”

Silencer – Divisions: Modern melodo-Euro-death-thrash; like The Arcane Order or Soilwork’s heaviest through the lens of Mnemic or (sometimes, almost) Meshuggah. Good chops and solid songwriting but lacking in the dynamics department both song-wise and vocal-wise. Nevertheless solid.

Silencer – “betrayal and massacre: an overture to germania”

Both albums:

(three out of five horns)

[View Musings Part 1]

With One-Way Mirror, the not-quite supergroup of European metal not-quite royalty, this new band has created a surprisingly solid if not particularly revolutionary debut record. You get the impression that One-Way Mirror — which features Guillaume Bideau (Mnemic), David and Franck Potvin (Lyzanxia, Phaze I), Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork) and Loic Colin (Scarve, Watcha) — aren’t trying at all to reinvent the wheel so much as write catchy metal songs with a groove and conventional structure, and at that they’re mostly successful.

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One Way Mirror, a new metal supergroup featuring Guillaume Bideau (Mnemic), David and Franck Potvin (Lyzanxia), Dirk Verbeuren (Soilwork) and Loic Colin (Scarve) have released some tunes on their MySpace page. It’s pretty much what you’d expect from this cast of characters, though I don’t mean that in a bad way — a big Gothenberg sound mixed with a more groovy, alt-metal feel. Truth be told, there is some element of American butt-rock in here too, but damn, these are some fucking good songs. In fact, these are some surprisingly really good songs.

One Way Mirror drops June 27 (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy), June 30 (Rest of Europe), and July 22nd (US) on Metal Blade Records.

-VN

[One Way Mirror on MySpace]