MetalSucks

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?]

Anyone remember this from a couple of years back?

Well that Taco Bell isn’t too far from the Mansion, and I’m ashamed to admit, but sometimes, in moments of stoned weakness, I purchased food there. But ever since that little incident, I haven’t eaten at a Taco Bell; I can’t. I know that ALL fast food is crap, but come ON, a man has limits.

Still, I guess it’s nice of them to start this whole “Feed the Beat” program, in which they basically give touring bands $500 worth of diarrhea food for free. And now Metal Insider is reporting that a handful of metal bands – including Atreyu, Iwrestledabearonce, Whitechapel, Municipal Waste and Earthless – are rumored to have been selected for the offer.

And as Metal Insider says, “tour support is tour support” – so I don’t blame the bands for participating. And the dudes in The Waste are probably fucked up half the time anyways, so they won’t be able to tell the difference. Meanwhile, Atreyu have been spewing crap forth from their mouths for years, so they might as well put some back into their mouths for a change.

-AR

P.S. I wanna give extra credit to Metal Insider, not just for originally reporting on this story, but for coming up with a headline that is vastly superior to my own. Nice work, Bram!

So that was fun, wasn’t it? Devin’s site takeover gave me the day off, and I took advantage by getting in some QT with the MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys. There’s a precocious little fellow named Roberts who’s really shown some smarts as of late… watch out for that little guy in the near future! But for now it’s back to the regular douchebaggery courtesy Uncles Axl and Vince. Sorry folks, Devin day can’t be every day.

Pick-Axe Bobby sent in Roxwel.com footage of Municipal Waste playing the S.O.D. classic “United Forces” with Billy Milano at the Austin, TX stop of the MetalSucks-sponsored Waste the World tour. According to the aforementioned Roberts, this show was exactly one day after the Houston flood debacle. See? I told you he was smart. Even if you don’t dig The Waste or S.O.D. this video is worth the price of admission to hear Billy Milano talk his usual trash — nothing like telling your audience to “shut up” upon entering the stage and claiming Muncipal Waste play the song better than S.O.D. did. Gotta love Billy Milano.

-VN

Municipal Waste feat. Billy Milano – United Forces
www.roxwel.com

The MetalSucks-sponsored Waste The World Tour (featuring Municipal Waste, with Goatwhore, Brutal Truth, Phobia and Cauldron on as support for various dates) is off to a wet start. On the tour’s fifth show — Wednesday night in Houston, TX — a fan decided it’d be a good idea to climb on the pipes hanging from the ceiling during Goatwhore’s set. ‘Cause, ya know, hanging from pipes is always a great idea. The sprinkler system erupted, flooding ensued, and the whole show was forced to evacuate the venue. Fortunately the Meridian had an extra room available, so after an hour of chaos the show went on, faster and harder than ever.

Make sure you catch this tour when it comes through your city. Dates after the jump. Please note that The Accused are no longer part of the tour.

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Reader Brandon Fountain sent us a link to the below video of members of At the Gates and Municipal Waste getting drunk and/or high together on ATG’s awesome reunion tour last year. It’s not really all that exciting, but a) it’s a slow news day, b) it gives you the chance to live vicariously through these very talented musicians, and c) it’s a great excuse to remind you that we’re sponsoring The Waste’s “Waste the World” tour with Goatwhore, Brutal Truth, Phobia and Cauldron. Get dates after the jump!

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Bummer. The Accused, who were scheduled to provide support for  some (but not all!) of the dates on the MS sponsored Municipal Waste “Waste the World” tour, have been forced to drop off due to “scheduling conflicts.” Oh well.

The good news is that Goatwhore are still doing all dates from 11/06-11/16, Brutal Truth are still doing all dates from 12/04-12/11, and Phobia, Cauldron, and, of course, The Waste themselves are still doing ALL dates. And hopefully a new support act will be named to step in for The Accused.

All of the bands remaining on the tour are killer. If you’ve never seen MW fuck shit up live, you ain’t seen shit. Get complete dates after the jump.

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First of all, for our non-Chosen readers: groyse metsie is Yiddish for a bargain. Don’t say I never taught ya nuthin’.

So. For the month of October (or “Rocktober,” as some clever marketing types are dubbing it), Earache is offering a whole bunch of truly righteous albums from their catalog for download on iTunes at a retardedly low price: $5.99 in the U.S., £4.49 in the U.K., and 4,99EUR in Europe. (The press release tells me that “prices may vary in other regions.” Ha-ha.) Now, I know that most of us music snobs don’t like iTunes because the audio quality isn’t as high as it could be, and there’s a better-than-average chance that a lot of you own most of these albums anyway. But if you can get past the whole “IT’S NOT AS GOOD AS FLAC! Snort snort” thing and/or for some reason DO NOT already own most of these albums, it’s a really, really killer deal.

A complete list of available albums after the jump. At least six or seven of these are classics, and nine or so are still awesome and could be classics, so they’re totally worth the six bucks or whatever.

And then one of them is by Oceano.

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Our bro-dogs at Metal Injection were on-set for the filming of Municipal Waste’s “Wrong Answer” video last month, and have now posted their report – including an interview with vocalist Tony Foresta and bassist Landphil. There’s even a cameo by yours truly. MI’s Frank Godla shot me from a low angle, Michael Bay-style, so I’d look extra handsome.

While Frank and on-camera sexy d00d Rob Pasbani were doing their interview, I was on the other side of the set interviewing guitarist Ryan Waste and drummer Dave Witte. We’ll have the transcript of that interview, and some cool behind-the-scenes pics, for you sometime real soon.

-AR

At this point in time, unless you’ve lived in a cave for the past few years, you know that Municipal Waste’s previous three albums (and an EP) have been steeped in thrash, beer, and partying… in no particular order. In that brief time, Municipal Waste’s impending retro-thrash throwback almost single-handedly inspired a plethora of seventeen year-old kids to buy Reeboks and shamelessly – and unfortunately – unintelligently “borrow” Kreator, Exodus, and D.R.I. riffs coupled with an emphasis on party-centric lyrics and sharp, speedy riffs.

To The Waste’s credit, though, they’re one of the few bands that manages to bring something new to the table on a consistent basis. Over the course of the band’s brief history, Municipal Waste has shown evolution and gradual, albeit slight, updates and innovations to their sound, culminating in Massive Aggressive, which – as cheesy and clichéd as it is dub it this – is probably the band’s most mature offering to date.

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I got to visit the set for Municipal Waste’s new video, “Wrong Answer,” and when I first arrived, I didn’t even recognize guitarist Ryan Waste. In fact, my first thought was “What the hell is the dude from Waking the Cadaver doing here?”

Ryan was just in costume, of course. Directed by David Brodsky, the video, as Waste and drummer Dave Witte explained to me, literalizes the song’s lyrics and portrays a game show where answering a question incorrectly has deadly consequences. That might sound like the description for a Miike movie, but this being The Waste, it’s actually quite funny.

“Wrong Answer” comes off the band’s new album, Massive Aggressive, which Earache released this week. I’ll have my interview with Waste and Witte up soon; in the meantime, enjoy the clip…

-AR

Our friend Carlos Ramirez has posted a list at NoiseCreep of the “Top 10 New School Thrash Bands.” There are some really sweet bands on this list – Municipal Waste, Skeletonwitch, Warbringer, and Merciless Death all made the list – but I imagine many of you will be pissed by some of the exclusions (Lazarus A.D., Evile, etc.).

Check out the complete list, then come back and argue about it right here at “Fuck You” headquarters.

-AR

But at least now you all get to see how pretty I am.

-AR

“YOU’VE GOT THE WRONG ANSWER!!!”

I can’t wait to shout those words the next time I see Municipal Waste (or, if you’re hip, just “The Waste”) live. They come from “Wrong Answer,” an awesome new track the band is currently streaming on their MySpace page.

The track comes from Massive Aggressive, the band’s new record that will be released on Earache on August 25, just in time for your drunken Labor Day BBQ (unless you’re not an American reader, in which case you can just listen to the album while getting drunk for no good reason).

In conclusion, I need a beer.

-AR

I saw Municipal Waste live on that Lamb of God tour last month, and I have a whole new level of respect for these dudes. The band’s latest, Massive Aggressive, comes out August 25 on Earache, and I, for one, am pretty friggin’ excited.

Check out the artwork below… it’s so metal I could tie it around Lars Ulrich’s legs and sink that fucker to the bottom of the ocean.

-AR

My final interview at last month’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival in Worcester, MA was with As I Lay Dying guitarist Nick Hipa. I’d met Nick earlier in the day at an industry hang at which he told me he was a huge fan of the site. We instantly hit it off, so by the time our scheduled interview rolled around there were no awkward moments. When I approached him while he was warming up in the back lounge of the band’s spiffy tour bus we got right to it. Nick spoke about the band’s past appearances at Metalfest, touring with Lamb of God, partying with Children of Bodom, the advantages of having a nice tour bus, the band’s recently released DVD, and their plans for a new album in early 2010.

For more New England Metal and Hardcore Festival interview coverage, check out my festival wrap, as well as my interviews with J. Costa of Thy Will Be Done, Peter Dolving of The Haunted, Doc Coyle of God Forbid, Jonathan and Billy from Unholy, Josh and Troy from Cattle Decapitation, and Chris Arp of Psyopus.

My interview with As I Lay Dying’s Nick Hipa, after the jump.

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At this point in the annals of MetalSucks history, an official interview with God Forbid is weird. Interviewing Doc Coyle “on the record” is kind of like interviewing your mom about her performance as your mother; like, are you truly getting the full skinny? But God Forbid are like family to us, and Doc was his usual self; honest, level-headed and frank. At New England Metal and Hardcore Festival last month, Doc told us what led to Dallas’ split from the band, how things with his replacement Kris Norris (of Darkest Hour) are going, the band’s current and future touring plans, critical response to Earthsblood, and breaking into the European market. Our chat, after the jump.

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Next week the U.S. gets a new President, thank fucking God, and Relapse Records is celebrating by issuing a 7″ box set of their This Comp Kills Fascists compilation. How fucking awesome is that? Until then, here’s what we’ll mull over during the long weekend (MLK day in the U.S.):

• Would you like to suck my cock, Berzerker? Or would you just like to look at some bloody titties, Berzerker?
• Lamb of God announce most awesomest tour ever with As I Lay Dying (meh), Children of Bodom, God Forbid and Municipal Waste, while Killswitch Engage, Chimaira and Lacuna Coil will be worth the ticket price as long as we leave before Disturbed goes on.
• Best soundboard ever. (Hint: fun with David Lee Roth sound bites)
• Bring Me The Hair Irons Horizon continued being boring.
• We spoke with Gojira’s Joe Duplantier and Animosity’s Leo Miller.
• Behemoth’s Nergal showed his face, while this dude just buried his in a bunch of watermelons.

The rumors you’ve heard are now officially not rumors any more: Lamb of God are doing a headlining trek this spring, with As I Lay Dying, Children of Bodom, God Forbid and Municipal Waste as support.

There isn’t really a whole lot to say here; this tour is awesome, Lamb of God’s new album is awesome, God Forbid’s new album is awesome, and you’re all going to try your hardest to attend one way or the other. So let’s just go to the part where you get tour dates after the jump, m’kay?

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I love Municipal Waste, but their last video, for “Headbanger Face Rip,” blew goats. Advertised as being directed by Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman, the clip was really just a bunch of old Troma footage spliced together. Lame.

Now the group has released a new video, for the song “Sadistic Magician,” and while it was clearly still made on a budget (as most metal vids are these days), it’s all new footage – and it still captures the “We Don’t Take Shit Too Seriously” vibe of the band. It even out Tromas the Troma vid (note the abundance of green shit), probably because director Jeff Speed (that can’t be his real name, can it?) is, at this point, considerably less lazy than Kaufman, who now spends most of his time yelling at his underpaid employees and bemoaning the death of independent film.

-AR

[via Crustcake]

There’s lots of talk about thrash these days. Amidst killer “comeback” records by the likes of old-schoolers Testament, Exodus, and Death Angel, there’s been a spate of signings of young up and comers who hawk the thrash sound. Muncipal Waste, Warbringer, Bonded By Blood, Evile, etc are all young bands that ape the classic thrash sound to some degree. Not to take anything away from these bands, because they’re certainly talented — but the mass signing of old-school sounding thrash bands begs the question: is this a true revival, or a passing trend?

n