UPDATED:

Lately, it hasn’t exactly been easy to get the pure Pathology live experience. For the death-slam metallers’ September tour with Grave and Blood Red Throne, vocalist Jonathan Huber was out of the line-up with a “badly broken leg.” Last November on the MetalSucks-sponsored tour with Nile, the band left the tour after a scary van wreck in South Dakota. Between those was a surely awesome Spring jaunt opening for Grave and Obituary — but that was worlds away in stupid Europe. Sigh.

So for a year now, I’ve kept muttering that Raineer Wolfcastle line from The Simpsons, when the muscleman stands by as Milhouse tries to beat a fitness test by holding in his gut: “We can waaait.” But hey here’s to patience cuz Pathology, with Huber back in the fold, just announced a headline tour to kick off in mid-January! No dinky 30-minute set for these slam bros!

But again, there’s a catch: It’s West Coast only, fools. That’s bummer news for some, but awesomeness for those who can recover lost time by hitting up multiple Pathology shows around Southern California (Simi, West Holly, Fullerton for starters) without breaking a sweat. And now I happily quote Wolfcastle’s next words to Milhouse, as belly finally cascades over belt: “Come to Papa!” See u there!

-ADF

Pathology’s awesome Awaken To The Suffering was my 16th favorite 2011 metal album. Get it here and get dates here. 

ORIGINAL POST:

Click to read more…

I have great news, less-great news, and more great news. The great news is, like the headline says, Obituary are touring. The less-great news is, it’s only a small tour — seven dates, all on the east coast — so you may be shit outta luck this time. And the more great news is, they’re apparently in the midst of writing a new album, and guitarist Trevor Peres says that “Our goal is to be in the studio by January or February and to release the album in May or June of 2012,” and promises that “the album will be followed up by a ton of tour dates,” starting with hitting the European festival circuit, followed by a proper Euro tour, followed by a proper North American trek in the fall of 2012. So, assuming the world hasn’t ended by then, you should get these death metal legends live one way or the other sometime within the next year.

In the meantime, you get dates for this brief tour after the jump. Support will come from Denial Fiend, whose most recent album, Horror Holocaust, made our own Satan Rosenbloom’s Best of 2011… So Far list back in August. In other words, these shows should be a blast from start to finish.

And so:

Click to read more…

A brief period in the late ’80s and early ’90s yielded a fantastical number of cutting-edge metal bands. Today, fans of this pre-internet groundswell of proggy, arty, and otherwise undefinable bands can rejoice at the reactivation of Coroner, Anacrusis, and the great Atheist. But conspicuously absent is Milwaukee’s Realm, once most likely to succeed among their high-brow ilk. Realm is also noteworthy as Roadrunner A&R giant Monte Conner’s very first signing, one that preceded Sepultura, Obituary, and fellow Wisconsinites Last Crack. Aside from some classy but low-profile reissues of Realm’s dual masterpieces Endless War and Suiciety, Realm buzz has remained low — especially for a band who left fans hanging without completing their sure-to-be awesome third album. I tracked down founding guitarist Takis Kinis (also ex-Beatallica) to get answers to largely unasked questions, and his insights go beyond Realm minutiae to form a sort of Do’s and Don’ts manual for budding young bands. Incredibly, Conner himself took time to stroll down Realm’s memory lane and provide even more invaluable peeks behind the music business curtain (look for his comments in gray). Don’t understand how a brilliant band doesn’t “make it”? Want to avoid the pitfalls of youthful bravado? Thinking of covering a famous Beatles song? Just want to get hip to two of metal’s most overlooked masterpieces? Read on.

Click to read more…

In 1968, Gary Moore (above, top left) was just 16 years old when he joined future Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott in the Dublin blues-rock quartet Skid Row*. So, Moore was a charter member of the Society of Overachieving Teen Guitarists that would later include Steve Vai (19, Frank Zappa), Zakk Wylde (19, Ozzy Osbourne), and Devin Townsend (19, Steve Vai). Pretty elite company.

After a pair of short stints in Thin Lizzy, Moore again reunited with Lynott in 1979 for the band’s seminal Black Rose: A Rock Legend (see Axl Rose’s Black Rose-themed tattoo here, upper left). More than twenty solo albums followed, including 2008’s Bad For You Baby.

British tabloid The Sun reports that Moore, 58, was discovered unresponsive by medical staff in a Spain hotel suite where there were “definite signs of alcohol.” The Sun also quotes a source at the hotel who has stated that Moore “seemed fine when he left [the hotel bar] around 11 pm.” A post mortem has been scheduled.

After the jump, check out the MetalSucks round up of tributes to Moore by members of Obituary, Opeth, Black Flag, Testament, Black Sabbath, and mo(o)re.

Click to read more…

Bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall have both quit Six Feet Under. Butler told Blabbermouth that he’s off to join Obituary full-time (he’s been playing with them since last year), but no word on where Gall will seek employment. Butler makes it sound like everything ended in a happy place, but I’m always suspicious when multiple band members split at once.

Whatever. Butler and Gall were, along with Chris Barnes, both original members of the band (guitarist Steve Swanson joined in ’98, replacing, coincidentally, ex-Obitchuarian Allen West), but I feel like it really shouldn’t be that hard to fill their shoes; Six Feet Under’s brand of death n’ roll is so easy to write that, once upon a time, a tribute band was able to imitate their sound with enough skill to get Barnes to actually join the group. And Barnes has already revealed that he and Swanson have been working with a new writing partner for the past four months. I dunno who it is (it would be awesome if it was Chimaira’s Rob Arnold, who I think is a big Six Feet Under fan, but that seems unlikely given his commitments to both Cleveland’s Finest and The Elite), but I’m of the opinion that Barnes should just make nice with those Torture Killer dudes now and get them to be the new guys in Six Feet Under.

ANYWAY, here’s a fittingly romantic song by which to remember Butler and Gall — “Remains of You.” True story: for a long time, I thought Barnes was singing “I took my nuts to your head,” not “I took an axe to your head.” I still think my lyric is superior.

-AR

Bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall have both quit Six Feet Under. Butler told Blabbermouth that he’s off to join Obituary full-time (he’s been playing with them since last year), but no word on where Gall will seek employment. Butler makes it sound like everything ended in a happy place, but I’m always suspicious when multiple band members split at once.

Whatever. Butler and Gall were, along with Chris Barnes, both original members of the band (guitarist Steve Swanson joined in ’98, replacing, coincidentally, ex-Obitchuarian Allen West), but I feel like it really shouldn’t be that hard to fill their shoes; Six Feet Under’s brand of death n’ roll is so easy to write that, once upon a time, a tribute band was able to imitate their sound with enough skill to get Barnes to actually join the group. And Barnes has already revealed that he and Swanson have been working with a new writing partner for the past four months. I dunno who it is (it would be awesome if it was Chimaira’s Rob Arnold, who I think is a big Six Feet Under fan, but that seems unlikely given his commitments to both Cleveland’s Finest and The Elite), but I’m of the opinion that Barnes should just make nice with those Torture Killer dudes now and get them to be the new guys in Six Feet Under.

ANYWAY, here’s a fittingly romantic song by which to remember Butler and Gall — “Remains of You.” True story: for a long time, I thought Barnes was singing “I took my nuts to your head,” not “I took an axe to your head.” I still think my lyric is superior.

-AR

This post will be very concise and to the point: The other day I realized that nearly all metalcore/screamo/post-hardcore videos take place in a grassy field, and I will use this space to list several examples. I don’t know if you have ever tried to make a Wikipedia entry, but it’s really hard because some pedantic nerd/ass hole/etc. will delete it in like two minutes (like when I tried to make a Wiki for wigger slam back in the day), so I feel like MetalSucks is the best venue to document this phenomenon.

[Thanks to tween expert/post-teenager Elise from Reign In Blonde for a couple of these examples]

Click to read more…

In any band, there’s usually one member who’s the driving force behind the group, and carries the other guys: Greg Ginn, Les Claypool, Justin Timberlake… you get the idea. Such is the case with death metal legends Morbid Angel — the whole band essentially stands on the shoulders of one member, but it’s not the one most of you dorks are thinking of. Lettuce be reality, brahs: Pete Sandoval’s drumming is the definition of mediocre (and before you start arguing, remember that trusted, mainstream news outlets such as NPR have recognized me as an authority on metal drumming).

File this under “sacred cow barbecue” if you want, but I’ve finally come to terms with the truth about Morbid Angel: they have their moments, but are held back by Pete Sandoval’s dull, unimaginative playing (and consistently bad drum sounds). I’m not saying Pete is a bad drummer, because he certainly isn’t, but I am saying that his playing is several orders of magnitude behind Trey Azagthoth’s, and that the bad would be approximately 1 zillion times better if they had someone else on drums.

U MAD?? See if you don’t change your mind after the break…

Click to read more…

Word of who was gonna be on the bill for this year’s Scion Rock Fest, the totally free annual metal super-show, got out yesterday — hell, Wormrot even decided to just go ahead and confirm their presence at the festival. So in that regard, the official announcement of this year’s fest is a little anti-climactic.

Until you realize, holy shit — there really is gonna be a free festival with Morbid Angel, Obituary, Death Angel, Municipal Waste, Agalloch, Wormrot, Kvelertak, Atheist, Black Breath, Nails, Fuck the Facts, and tons more awesome bands. That is a fact about which one ought never to complain.

You can RSVP for the event here starting tomorrow. In the meantime, enjoy the finalized poster:

-AR

For some reason, internet metal nerds love to talk about drummers, even if they themselves do not play drums. Whether it’s “Who has the fastest double bass/blastbeats?”, “Should I use one bass drum or two?” or “What does Pete Sandoval’s drum throne smell like?”, there are few things more tiresome than the topic of metal drumming. What that in mind, in this post I will put the discussion of this topic to rest forever by conclusively saying all that there is to say about metal drumming. After this post has been published, anyone who still debates these points is as foolish, ignorant and stubborn as people who believe the Earth is flat or that God exists. So if you have anything to say, say it now, because this is it — this is your chance to become part of the moment in which we closed the door on dorky, redundant debates about metal drumming.

This is THE FINAL WORD on metal drumming!!!!

Click to read more…

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.”

Click to read more…

To celebrate the release of Madball’s latest aggro masterpiece, Empire (two new songs streaming here!), we asked vocalist Freddy “Madball” Cricien to compile a list of his favorite non-hardcore (but still heavy!) bands. Luckily for us and all of you, he agreed! So we’ll be running two entries a day from Freddy’s list every day for the next five days, leading up toEmpire‘s October 12 release. You can read Freddy’s initial installment here, his second entry here, and his third here; to follow, enjoy day three of the countdown…

4) SEPULTURA

Heavy as hell, groovy, and from South America… What more do you want? I got into their earlier records and that stuff can still “hang” today. Unique and hard… Not a bad combo. The new line up are doing their thing as well. Props to those guys!

Click to read more…

It bugs the shit out of me when sly show-off dudes all, like, casually mention that they’ve already heard a big album that everybody is waiting for even though its release date is months away and the shit hasn’t been leaked on the interslice or anything. That annoys everybody, yes indeed. It’s like, wow man, how did you pull that off? Fuckin’ phonies. But in other news, I’ve heard the new Atheist record Jupiter like 500 times! Bam!! It’s partly cuz I’m a high-powered Metalucks columnist with a crazy awesome bod (the “I’ve heard it” part); and partly cuz I’m undergoing some post-trauma SAF (Stoned As Fuck) therapy all holed up in my friend’s pad whilst he’s on tour with the Milwaukee Gay Men’s Chorus (the “500 times” part).

So I have free time and when not catching up on premium television, I’m balls deep in Atheist’s first record since 17 eternities ago. I even paused Bored to Death to peep Atheist drummer Steve Flynn break down his drum parts on Jupiter’s second track, “Fictitious Glide” (above). Flynn rips, the track slays, the record jams, but gosh I do not know what my man is wearing. He and ex-Obituary guitarist/DUI machine Allen West dress like they should be putting up volleyball nets or pointing at something with a clipboard. Okay, that was a cheap shot considering that my outfit for today is a towel stapled to a sofa cushion. The important thing is that Atheist rules! Still! AGAIN!!

-ADF

Atheist’s face-bangingly awesome Jupiter comes out November 9 on Season of Mist.

A while ago I got linked, I’m pretty sure it was from here, to this blog entry by a dude who calls himself Metallikris on his imaginatively-titled Metalliblog, in which he rates every metal musician of note that he’s met on a scale of 1 to 10 based on how nice they were to him. Now while I have a captive audience, that I can only assume our fine friend Metallikris is amongst (because he writes about this site on his blog), I would just like to ask…

What the fuck?

These people work their arses (ah-hem, asses. Sorry yanks) off for decades learning to play their instruments, fight the ridiculous uphill battle to start a band, do something original and actually get some recognition for it, do insane hours on tour, and then somehow their entire worth as a human being can be quantatively measured by how they deal with you wanting to get your photo taken with them after they’ve gotten offstage? What in the hell have you have you ever done in your life that gives you the divine power to judge ANYONE that way, let  alone talented, hardworking musicians who do things you never could?

When you say that Ralph Santolla should “get cancer quick!”or that Willie Adler’s wife is “probably fucking the local milkman”, you’re talking shit on real human beings in the name of getting some second-hand attention, and that’s just weak. And are you really surprised that Fredrik Akesson from Opeth was maybe just a little pissed off that you mistook him for Peter Lindgren, the guy he replaced in the band?

Now at this point I could drag out your self-edited imdb actor page or your hilariously self-important twitter account and let the metalsucks maniacs have their way with them, but instead I’m going to just say this:

Get a reality check, dude.

-Crack Hitler

I don’t watch Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC program on a regular basis the way I once did; if I was still a frequent viewer, though, I might have seen this little bit about the RNC’s decision to hold their 2012 National Convention in Tampa, and Maddow’s subsequent discussion of death metal. Instead, I only came across the clip ’cause reader Nikhil Krishnaswamy sent it to us. Thanks, Nikhil!

Maddow seems to be implying that death metallers from around the area are gonna make life a living hell for the Republicans, but I think that’s overly optimistic. There’s obviously a political component to death metal (I mean burning a fucking inverted cross into your noggin is a political statement as much as it’s an act of shock theater), but I don’t exactly see the members of Deicide and Obituary holding a protest rally outside the convention anytime soon, do you?

Meanwhile, it’s interesting to note that this isn’t Maddow’s first dalliance with metal. For one thing, there’s this:

Click to read more…

Alright! After an initial slow news week, 2010 is finally start to get back into the swing of things. Here are some highlights from this week:

• Vince got an exclusive interview with Obituary/ex-Andrew W.K. drummer Donald Tardy about the AWK conspiracy mystery. We also spoke to Richard Christy and Pelican’s Larry Herwig.
• We debuted new music by The Tony Danza Tap Dance Extravaganza, Karnivool, and Blood of the Tyrant.
• Dallas is giving away free music, Eyal’s faith in metalheads has been restored, and Justin pontificated on the format wars.
• These Arms Are Snakes are done…
• …but System of a Down are reuniting! Or maybe not. But maybe.
• The dude from Weedeater shot himself in the foot. Literally.
• We’re sponsoring The Red Chord’s Burgers & Bowling tour!
• Underoath don’t like abortions.

Next week we’ll have some previews of 2010 releases we’re stoked on for you. And Vince is gonna be in sunny Los Angeles, so you poor-ass muthafuckas is stuck with me. BWA-HA-HA-HA!!!

-AR

Boy oh boy have we got something good for you today.

Before the curtain fell on 2009 a curious video surfaced on the website RockFeedback.com (possibly filmed a year ago? I’m not sure), in which Andrew W.K. flat out admitted that “Andrew W.K.” was essentially a character played by different people, of which he (the one doing the lecture in the video) was the second. Andrew W.K. conspiracy theories have been running amok on the Internet for years, but it’s a rabbit hole we’re all too willing to go down given how interesting the whole thing is.

Then, in the early days of 2010, the MetalSucks Mansion telegraph wire blew up with an offer we couldn’t refuse — Donald Tardy, drummer of death metal legends Obituary and on Andrew W.K.’s breakthrough album I Get Wet (and subsequent 2+ year touring cycle) wanted to go on record with us about Andrew.

Intrigued, we set up a phone interview with Donald, and this past Tuesday at 4pm Vince got on the horn to attempt to settle this debate once and for all. Is Andrew W.K. one person? Has he been played by multiple actors? Who is Steev Mike? Surely a man that had worked so close with Andrew would know the answers… or perhaps not. Our full chat, after the jump, and as a bonus, some photographs of the I Get Wet recording sessions from Tardy’s personal collection.

Click to read more…

I barely remember the lost weekend I once spent in Baltimore. Was I bored, or just doing what I do? I dunno. I dunno.

Looks like I might be going back, though: D.R.I. have been added to the already stellar line-up of the 2010 edition of Maryland Deathfest. This is just the latest in a long line of good reasons to attend, not least of which is that it is, at least as far as I’m aware, currently the only scheduled U.S. appearance of Australia’s Portal, whose new album Swarth is currently frightening metalheads across the world. Throw in Converge, Magrudergrind, Entombed, Obituary, Watain, Melechesh, Jucifer, Gridlink, Gorod, 16, and a plethora of other awesome bands, and I think I could have a weekend in Baltimore even more lost than my last.

Get Maryland Deathfest’s complete line-up-to-date after the jump.

Click to read more…

Did you know that if you eat before you start slamming shots, you’ll get a little less drunk, but you’ll also have something to vomit up later? It’s true. Also, sometimes when you smoke weed, you get the munchies. These are just two great reasons why you should care about Hellbent for Cooking: The Heavy Metal Cookbook by Annick “Morbid Chef” Giroux. Showcasing “a varied menu of over a hundred recipes from thirty countries,” Hellbent for Cooking features recipes by members of Accept, Anthrax, Anvil, Armored Saint, Brutal Truth, Death, Electric Wizard, Eyehategod, Gwar, Judas Priest, Kreator, Mayhem, Melechesh, Nuclear Assault, Obituary, Repulsion, Saint Vitus, Sepultura, Sigh, S.O.D., Slough Feg, Thin Lizzy, Toxic Holocaust, and about a trillion others (you can get a complete list of contributing bands here).

MetalSucks is teaming up with Bazillion Points Publishing to give away three (3) copies of Hellbent for Cooking. All you have to do to win is create a picture that somehow connects metal to food and post a link to someplace we can view said picture in the comments section below. Use Photoshop to create an image of Lemmy eating a hot dog, use MS Paint to do a portrait of Metallica as the pepperonis on a pizza, whatever you want – it just has to be both food and metal related, and it has to amuse us. Vince and I will choose the three pics that make us laugh the hardest and those pics’ creators win the book.

This contest will end at midnight EST on Monday, December 14. Please note that this contest is open to U.S. residents only, as shipping costs are a bitch. And if you’re too lazy to participate, you can always just order a copy of the book here.

Good luck, and good eats…

-AR

I seem to recall an interview with Howard Jones from a few years back where, when discussing the importance of a good hook, he said something along of the lines of “You could play most Slayer songs on an acoustic guitar and they’d still sound great.”

While I doubt we’ll be seeing a Slayer edition of Unplugged anytime soon, reader Jon Dolente did send us the below video of someone calling himself “ALUxoxo” doing a cover of Mastodon’s “Oblivion” on the piano. So maybe if you can get that certain person in your life who hates metal to admit that this is very pretty, then you can play them the real thing (which isn’t really metal anyway but whatever), and then smoothly segue them into some Obituary and then… what? Too much too soon?

-AR