MetalSucks

Six times over the past 9 months I’ve received emails from Jordanian metal band Bilocate, several from the band’s bassist Hani Al Abadi himself. I have no excuses, really; I guess I’m just an asshole music journalist. So it wasn’t until Invisible Oranges proprietor and Decibel contributor Cosmo Lee wrote about Bilocate in both publications that I was jolted into realizing that I’d been missing out on a truly talented and worthwhile metal band. Better than a 1950’s Pabst Blue Ribbon commercial. Better than a Bacon Explosion for chrissakes.

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Horns up for Cody Rackley, the very lucky MetalSucks Maniac who correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to Antaeus. Cody wins a copy of the totally bitching Roadrunner United: The Concert DVD, which you’d have to be a total ‘tard not to enjoy. If you didn’t win, don’t weep: the DVD hits stores today, and is totally worth your hard earned moolah.

This week we have a super duper awesome amazing prize, courtesy the super duper awesome amazing people at Roadrunner: four autographed Opeth Watershed CD booklets, signed by all four members of the band. Please note that we’re not giving away any copies of the actual Watershed CD. Still, that shouldn’t bother you ’cause a) it’s been out for months and hopefully you already own it and b) this prize is so fucking cool in and of itself.

All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail with your answer, your name and address at axl [at] metalsucks.net. We’ll randomly select four winners from everyone who gets it right, and announce his or her names next week.

Thanks to longtime MetalSucks Maniac Mark Moritz-Rabson for supplying this week’s logo.

-AR

Shortly after the band finished their mind-bending set opening for The Black Dahlia Murder, Testament and Children of Bodom at New York City’s Hammerstein Ballroom, I had the chance to talk with Between the Buried and Me singer Tommy Rogers and bassist Dan Briggs. The guys spoke about the band’s new DVD Colors Live, their rigorous touring schedule in support of Colors, sharing the stage with their heroes in Dream Theater on the summer’s Prog Nation tour, and what the next Between the Buried and Me record is going to sound like. The full interview transcript, after the jump.

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2008 has been a fucking great year for metal, and in due time — Monday, Dec. 15, to be exact — Axl, myself and the rest of the writers of MetalSucks will all release our Top 10 year-end lists so you can incessantly argue over which great album was left off or tell us we’re assholes for ranking a certain album higher than it should’ve been.

But for now, ya’ll can argue about something else: here’s my personal short/working list for said year-end list containing all of my favorite metal releases from this year as well as a few that aren’t likely to make my own list but will surely be appearing on others’. Feel free to pipe in with your thoughts or to notify us of any egregious omissions before we put together our final, ordered lists. Regardless, it is going to be really fucking hard to pick just 10 of these and put them in order of awesomeness.

And, my favorite metal records of 2008 in no particular order are…

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Amirite or amirite?

-VN

[Thanks: Brett]

Metal Bastard tells us that Swedish metallers Memfis have got two new tracks up on their MySpace page. I’ve written about Memfis in this space before, but it bears repeating because you all have thick skulls: they’re an excellent metal band from Sweden (NOT melodeath/metalcore/Swedecore/whatever) whose 2006 release The Wind Up turned more than a few heads. Think a more death-y Burst mixed with the dramatics of Opeth mixed with… ya know, originality.

Check out Memfis’ MySpace for the two new tracks from an album whose name and release date have yet to be announced; then check out Metal Bastard to download a few MP3s; then watch the band playing “Dead Ends” live, below. If you can even handle it.

-VN

Apropos of nothing, we just wanna say: PLEASE DON’T SEE SAW V THIS WEEKEND. It’s time for that stupid fucking franchise to die already. If you’re in the mood for a horror movie because Halloween is coming up, there’s better fucking things you can rent. For fuck’s sake, just watch John Carpenter’s original Halloween again. Just don’t send the message that we want more of these inane fucking movies.

ANYWAY, here’s some shit that happened in the world of metal this week.

• Guns N’ Roses finally sent a single to radio and confirmed the release of Chinese Democracy. Enough of you cared enough to tell us you don’t care.
• We interviewed Opeth and 3. Progginess ensued.
• God Forbid’s new album got a title!
• Winds of Plague’s Kristen Randall thinks she’s Gloria Steinem. Thinking logical human beings everywhere strongly disagree.

Join us next week, same bat time, same bat channel!

A month or so ago Opeth came to New York’s Nokia Theater as part of an awesome (and diverse) package with High on Fire and Nachtmystium. It was one of those nights; a Monday or Tuesday, I was fucking exhausted from having traveled cross-country the night before, partied too many nights in a row, just worked a full day, interviewed the band before the show… and yeah, I was fucking beat. Being psyched to see Nachtmystium for the first time (they were AMAZING, by the way) and having seen Opeth before, I figured I’d stick around for a few songs of Opeth’s set and then high-tail it home. So when Opeth started, “One more song,” is what I kept telling myself. Until the next one… and the next… and the next. And before I knew it, two hours later, the show was over; Opeth were just so fucking phenomenal that I couldn’t bring myself to leave! I shouldn’t have expect any less.

But before the show, I got the chance to sit down with mainman Mikael Åkerfeldt and new guitarist Fredrik Åkesson to grill them about their Progressive Nation Tour with Dream Theater earlier in the year, their new album Watershed, how the band has managed to stay relevant and interesting over such a long career, and, naturally, Metallica. Our conversation, after the jump.

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Even the best package tours usually have at least one weak spot, band-wise; but the Opeth/High on Fire/Nachtmystium tour, which Vince and I got to check out last week, is pretty much perfect from start to finish.

And one of the reasons is – or guess now I should say “was” – the presence of Nachtmystium. Not only did they release one of the best albums of 2008, but they slay live.

Alas, they’ve now dropped off the tour, depriving anyone who is going to an upcoming date on this tour of one of the highlights of the evening.

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And it’s a question I can’t answer just yet, because I haven’t heard all of Lazarus Bird, which drops September 16th on Relapse. But from the three songs I’ve heard on their MySpace page (”I Exterminate the I,” “Cripple God” and “We Watched the Silver Rain”), I can tell you this: it is without a doubt going to be fucking phenomenal. Like, you-need-to-drop-what-you’re-doing-and-go-listen-right-NOW kind of awesome.

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I thought that last week’s logo, for the band Mala Fides, was way too easy, but I guess I was wrong: most of you were just way off base with your guesses (Atreyu? Really, guys?). Luckily for them, MetalSucks Maniacs Alex Gellman, Chris John and Roger Adrian all got it right, and all win one copy of Airbourne’s Runnin’ Wild.

This week, the very nice people at Roadrunner Records have given us one last copy of Opeth’s Watershed to give away. People are killing one another in the streets over this album, so you obviously need to own a copy if you want to be considered a real live human being.

All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail with your answer, your name and address at axl [at] metalsucks.net. We’ll randomly select one winner from everyone who gets it right, and announce their name next Monday.

Because I’m feeling generous this week, I’ll even give you guys a hint: it’s not Atreyu.

-AR

Am I the only one excited about the new Burst record? (well, I can think of possibly one other person). This Swedish quintet has straddled the line between Opeth and originality for several years, but from the sound of the new tracks posted on their MySpace page, with their new album Lazarus Bird, this time around they’ve planted their feet firmly on the “originality” side. Combining the band’s prog-metal meat with inventive psychadelic guitar work and an experimental stoner metal sensibility, the band has forged ahead in a new direction that’s had me playing the two new songs on repeat for the past 24 hours.

Don’t do yourself a disservice; go listen now.

Lazarus Bird drops September 16th (and 22nd in Europe) on Relapse Records.

-VN

Things were a tad slow at the MetalSucks Mansion this week, whatwith a lot of the U.S. still on holiday — but between bong rips and acid trips we somehow still found time to post about some events that went on this week:

• David Lee Roth got pulled over for speeding as he was trying to rush to the hospital for an alleged allergic reaction to nuts; or did he?
• Thousands of dental hygienically challenged guys with mullets are running around Oklahoma wearing Ratt and Ozzy concert shirts from a quarter century ago are at the 2nd annual Rocklahoma festival.
• At the Gates returned to the U.S.
• Act like a Viking, win some cool Amon Amarth stuff!
• Tweeny pop band Gym Class Heroes covered Lamb of God, igniting almost as much controversy as Fall Out Boy covering Pantera.
• Opeth and Amon Amarth announced two amazing U.S. tour lineups.
• All Shall Perish released two new songs from their forthcoming album.
• Ozzy Osbourne decided to toss that last remaining shred of credibility out the window by announcing plans to launch a variety TV show.

As if this summer’s touring season isn’t already shaping up to be an excellent one — whatwith the likes of Metal Masters (Priest / Heaven and Hell / Motorhead / Testament), the At the Gates reunion, Boris/Torche, and a whole shitload of other great shows — this fall is already shaping up really fuckin’ nicely. This is terrible news for the rest of my social life, but fuck, how can I miss out on these awesome shows?

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First of all, congrats to MetalSucks readers Eric Martin, Andres Nevarez, and Andy Robbins. Since they each correctly identified last week’s logo as that of the band Engorged Cadaver, they each win a copy of Nightwish’s Dark Passion Play. I hope they all find hours and hours of listening pleasure with their new free CDs.

This week, the fine men and women at Roadrunner Records have bestowed upon us two copies of Opeth’s Watershed to give away. This is one of the most highly anticipated, must-own releases of the year, so you’re gonna wanna get your copy if you haven’t already. All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail with your answer, your name and address at axl [at] metalsucks.net. We’ll randomly select two winners from everyone who gets it right, and announce their name next Monday.

I think this week’s logo is insanely easy, although a friend who just tried to read it assures me that’s not the case. I guess we’ll find out the hard way. In any case, thanks to MetalSucks maniac Michael Jones for submitting it.

Good luck…

Van Halen, U2, Metallica, Dave Matthews Band, Staind, System of a Down… Disturbed. Sigh. These are the elite ranks of rock acts to have three #1 debuts in a row.

Excuse me while I go vomit.

In other news, Opeth debuted at at #23 with 19,655 units shifted. But it kind of feels like getting a pair of socks for Chanukah when your brother got that sweet new video game.

-VN

Yes, that’s right- Journey. I will give specific examples below…

I wish I could say that Opeth is still carving new territory in the symphonic progressive death metal arena, but truth be splooged, they — or more accurately, Åkerfeldt & Co., are starting to sound like a watered-down version of the band’s former self. Which, as any old-school Opeth fan might suspect, is still mostly awesome.

Yes, for a group/visionary of this musical magnitude, it will take a while before the new new Opeth is actually not worth checking out, although in this case I will admit up front that the compositions are noticeably simpler throughout, and the lyrics — well, I’ll get to the lyrics, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.

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Judging by the massive success of the inaugural 2008 edition of Progressive Nation, Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy has already declared in a statement that he plans on resurrecting Progressive Nation for a 2009 edition “with a great list of bands that I am already considering.” Which is great news to us, because this year’s lineup of DT, Opeth, Between the Buried and Me and Three was fucking stellar. Allow me to make some suggestions to Mr. Portnoy for the 2009 run that have no basis in reality whatsoever:

• Protest the Hero
• Textures
• Sikth (bring ‘em back from the dead!)
• Arsis
• Dillinger Escape Plan

Anyway, back to reality: Portnoy also said the band plans to release a DVD later this year and that he aims to be working on a new album towards the end of the year (”when the kids return to school in September”).

Here’s a recent interview from Metal Injection with keyboardist Jordan Rudess, filmed at the first night of the Prog Nation stop in NYC.

-VN

The 5-man “drum off” in the middle of Dream Theater’s headlining set — at the first night of the Progressive Nation tour in NYC — was one of the most impressive things I’ve seen all year. Axl, Kip and I watched, stunned (and stoned), as the 5 drummers for each of the bands traded places, often two at a time at Mike Portnoy’s behemoth drum kit, in a maelstrom of drummers each amazing in their own right, trying to outdo one another. At a show where musicianship was the focus it stood out as the climax amidst amazing sets by Three, Between the Buried and Me, Opeth and Dream Theater, at a tour that lived up to its billing as one of the best touring lineups of 2008.

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Who’s psyched to see 4 incredible bands wank on their instrument all night long at the Progressive Nation Tour tonight featuring Dream Theater, Opeth, Three and Between the Buried and Me?

THIS GUY RIGHT HERE!!

Axl, Kip and myself will be at tonight’s show at Terminal 5 in NYC. Will you? Come say hello. I’ll be the dude in the Insomnium t-shirt and have a rather large beard, Axl has glasses and a neatly coiffed chin-strap beard, and Kip is taller than both of us and has blondish hair despite his Semitic ancestry. We’ll be the three dudes masturbating simultaneously to John Petrucci’s guitar solos.

And of course tomorrow we’ll be clad in our finest Viking helmets, steins raised high in the air at the final stop of the MetalSucks co-sponsored Paganfest (minus Kip).

It’s a fucking great week to be a metal fan in NYC.

-VN