“Hey guys, why haven’t you posted this yet?!! It only sounds like the single greatest piece of music ever, brah.”
-Drew Webb

“This should give you another Devin boner.”
-Brian Kessler

“MY DICK IS AFLAME WITH SEMEN.”
-Sam Payne

Well don’t hold back, fellas! Let us know how excited you really are about about this latest behind-the-scenes video from Devin Townsend.

Pretty cool, right? But wait! That’s not all. It seems that Devin recently made a love connection with The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Greg Puciato… via Twitter!

Click to read more…

I tried to download Devin Townsend’s free new live EP yesterday but Inside Out’s website was so overloaded with traffic that I couldn’t get through. Kinda a good problem to have if you’re Devin, I suppose; too much popularity can’t be a bad thing. I just tried again and things went much more swimmingly, so if you had problems yesterday I’d recommend you give it another go.

With all the fracas surrounding the new EP, we completely overlooked this latest bit of Devin-related news: Opeth’s Mikael Akerfeldt, BTBAM’s Tommy Rogers and Gojira’s Joe Duplantier are all rumored to be contributing vocals to Devin’s forthcoming Deconstruction record. We say “rumored” because the speculation is only based on a series of Tweets by Devin, such as “Thank you Joe D,” but given Devin’s reputation and relationships I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume these guest spots are indeed happening. This on top of the confirmation earlier this month that Ihsahn will be contributing vocals too: yowza! I, for one, think Devin’s got an amazing voice of his own — often underrated in all the Devin hype — but I’m of course happy he’s enlisted such an A-list cast of characters to help out this time around.

Can’t wait for Destruction. Can’t wait for Ghost. Stoked.

-VN

I love Ihsahn, you love Ihsahn, we all love Ihsahn. His 2010 album After was my second favorite of the year, you all voted it as your #1 favorite of the year, and everyone seemed pretty darn excited when he announced last week that he’d contribute vocals to a new Devin Townsend track. Seeing as 65% of this site’s viewership is based in the U.S. and we get like a gazillion hits, wouldn’t you think it’s high time for Ihsahn to tour these United States?

MS reader Richard Donahue sure thinks so, and he’s even created a Facebook page to support the cause. The Facebook page specifically calls for Opeth to bring Ihsahn to the U.S. as support, which strikes me as overly ambitious since that’s asking two parties to get their acts together instead of just one (on top of which Opeth haven’t announced a U.S. tour or even their new album yet). But it’s the thought the counts, and if Ihsahn and his people see that there’s enough interest to launch a U.S. tour then presumably they will, with Opeth or otherwise.

So go on and “sign” the petition by clicking the “Like” button on the page. You’ll be glad you did when Ihsahn finally makes it here and you feel partially responsible.

-VN

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…

Banner Designed by Cysquatch

Welcome to “Question of the Week,” a (sometimes) weekly debate amongst the MetalSucks staff regarding a recent hot button issue.

This week, Anso DF suggested the Question of the Week; unfortunately, he did so before Slipknot announced that they’re headlining the Sonisphere Festival this year, so it doesn’t seem quite as relevant anymore. Still, it was a fun question to answer, so:

TO WHAT EXTENT WOULD A SLIPKNOT BREAK-UP BE BAD FOR METAL?

The MS staff’s answers after the jump.

Click to read more…

The Internet united in one gigantic boner this morning when they turned on their Commodore 64s for the morning and read this, a news bit proclaiming that Opeth will enter the studio in January 2011 to record the follow-up to 2008′s Watershed. Any Opeth news is, of course, good news. But then there was this mystifying detail that caught my intrigue:

Jens Bogren will engineer the effort while mixing duties will be handled by Steven Wilson.

Zuh????

Click to read more…

Enslaved are in that rare category of bands: You can safely get excited every time they announce the release of a new album, because they’ll never let you down. Their latest offering, Axioma Ethica Odini, only proves this point — eleven albums and nearly twenty years into the career, Enslaved are at past the point where even the most-revered metal bands often seem to lose creative steam. But Axioma feels just as unique, challenging, forward-thinking, and just plain rockin’ as anything the band has ever done.

This past Friday, just hours before taking the stage for the kick-off of Enslaved’s North American tour as direct support for Dimmu Borgir, guitarist and co-founder Ivar Bjørnson spoke to MetalSucks about the concepts behind Axioma Ethica Odini, the value of albums having a “side A” and a “side B” (remember those?), American beer, and more. Read the full transcript of our chat after the jump.

Click to read more…

Damn. I haven’t written a blog for you guys while flying in quite a while. (Don’t worry, I still hate it, but 2.75mg of Xanax helps me forget.) So the question is, “Why have I not been writing to you from the air like I used to all the time?” Well, the fact of the matter is that I’ve basically been in a cave for the past few months making an album. Sure, we took a brief break and went to Germany for a few days for some Slayer shows (who wouldn’t),  but I was in no mental condition to write. I’m only now, five weeks from having finished the album, regaining my sanity, creativity, and motivation.

As I was packing for this trip to Mexico City I put my iPod in my carry-on (if you find the concept of rape disturbing, try to never check bags), and I realized that I haven’t added any new music to it in months. My two biggest gripes, both of which you are very familiar with by now, is the dismal state of metal audio production, and that the different scenes are just getting tired. I stand behind my idea that the “modern” metal sound of the early 2000s is going to sound as dated to us as 1980’s production pretty soon. I’m pretty confident that dudes who are all-out “scene” in their appearance will look back at themselves the way that we see Nu Metal bands from the late 90’s and wonder, “How was that the ‘in’ thing?” while privately hoping that their kids never see those photos. I feel like there’s an endless wave of copycat bands out there right now, and that the overall state of heavy music is such that we’re about to enter a down period, much like when death metal went back underground in the mid 90’s.

That’s not to say metal will die; it is time for innovation and rebirth.

Click to read more…

Last week we got to peep some performance footage from Opeth’s upcoming CD/DVD set, In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, and this week we get a clip from the behind-the-scenes documentary which will also be included in that package. And it made me laugh out loud. In fact, I don’t really wanna tell you too much about it, ’cause that might spoil your fun. Just watch. It’s short, and it’s enjoyable, I swear.

In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall comes out September 21 on Roadrunner. Hey, that’s next week!

-AR

I guess I’m confused about what kinds of bands the magazine Classic Rock covers. I would assume that it was mostly, y’know, classic rock. And even though Opeth play a form of rock music and are certainly already pretty classic, when I think “classic rock,” I don’t usually think “Opeth.” Or am I just really that old, and it’s time for “Bleak” to start getting played right in between The Stones and Floyd on the radio?

Whatever. Classic Rock debuted the below clip of Opeth performing “Dirge for November” from their upcoming DVD/CD, In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. And while we already knew that the audio portion of this set was gonna be pretty good, but this is our first taste of the visual. My film geek complaint is that there’s too many long shots, or, at least, too much time spent holding those long shots; I’d rather spend more time on the stage with the band, ’cause I already know what they look like from far away. Still, it’s Opeth, so you can’t really go too wrong, y’know?

In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall comes out September 21 on Roadrunner.

-AR

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

They can call it… FROPETH!!!

So remember how Opeth are releasing a live CD/DVD called In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, which, despite what the title would suggest, is not a collection of trip-hop covers of songs originally by The Brothers Johnson, but is actually a recording of Opeth in live concert at the Royal Albert Hall?

Well, they’re giving away a track from that album for free. It’s “Dirge For November,” if you’re curious. Yeah, you have to give ‘em your e-mail address, but while I can’t endorse that kind of behavior in some bands, I willingly endorse it from Opeth, ’cause they’re Opeth, and I’m biased in favor of good music like that. Also, I’m listening to it right now, and it sounds really good. So go get it.

In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall comes out September 21 on Roadrunner. You can order a super-duper special edition version right here. In case it comes up at dinner tonight, you ought to know that it was recorded at one of the only six shows the band did for their twentieth anniversary tour earlier this year.

-AR

The only problem with Opeth’s awesomer-than-awesome twentieth anniversary tour — in which they played Blackwater Park in its entirety, followed by a second set of rarities from the rest of their discography — is that it only played six shows in as many cities, which meant that a lot of fans didn’t get to experience it.

The band is doing their best to remedy the situation, though, by announcing the release of In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, an audio/visual documentation of one of these six already-legendary shows.

Click to read more…

Katatonia are awesome, and we’re pretty awesome, so when they were like, “We’re gonna do this awesome North American tour with two other awesome bands, Swallow the Sun and Orphaned Land, do you wanna sponsor it?”, we were like, “AWESOME!” And thus it was so.

And now the band has released an awesome trailer for the tour! I know, I know, tour trailers are not usually awesome, but this one is — ’cause it features critical praise from both us and — wait for it — Mikael motherfucking Åkerfeldt. And if you don’t take us seriously for some reason, well, Mr. Åkerfeldt is what the kids call “unfuckwithable.” Awesome!

If you don’t go to this tour, you’ll never have sex again. Get dates here.

-AR

Describing Swedish melodeath supergroup Witchery back in May, Vince wrote that “their sound is decidedly thrashy; think faster Slayer-style with hints of death metal influence.” Maybe that explains why, as much as I admire these dudes’ day jobs, I’ve never gotten that into Witchery. I don’t think they’re bad; they just don’t do much for me. It’s telling that my favorite Witchery song is “Ashes,” a trick which is in no way indicative of their sound.

The band also plays up the melodeath aspects of the music on “From Dead to Worse,” the new song they’re streaming on MySpace, which must be why I like it. It’s not nearly as epic as “Ashes,” and I may very well forget how the chorus goes ten minutes after I finish writing this. But it’s definitely a good song.

Check it out for yourself. Witchery’s latest, Witchkrieg, is set for a June 29th North American release via Century.

-AR

But he, like, totally had it coming. He was the singer for some band called Beneath the Sky.

I’m kidding. I don’t endorse violence against untalented people. Just front row games of Uno.

ANYWAY, here’s some other shit we happened this week:

• We’re streaming Watain’s Lawless Darkness and the Monolith/Voyager split.
• Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable talked about his new band and Sick of it All’s Lou Koller concluded his “Quintessential Guide to Hardcore.”
• We spoke to Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd and Heaven Shall Burn’s Maik Weichert.
• We checked out Thou’s Summit.
• We met the world’s youngest Nile fan.
• We wondered if Opeth ripped-off Immortal.
• We came up with awards that could be named after metal stars.
• Vince isn’t that into Kylesa, and has some advice for Portal, too.
• Anso thinks that No Prayer for the Dying is the worst Maiden album ever.
• As it turns out, Fred Phelps is still an idiot.

Next week we get to debut that video we were supposed to debut this week, and we have another stream, and some other stuff I’m probably forgetting. ‘Til then, enjoy your weekend!

-AR

Reader Rich H. (no, not that Rich H.) sent us the below video, which suggests that “The Lotus Eater” from Opeth’s 2008 opus, Watershed, is a rip-off of Immortal’s “Cryptic Winterstorms,” from 1992′s Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism.

Now, I fucking LOVE Opeth, so I hate to say negative about them… but it’s hard not to hear the similarities between the two riffs. It’s also hard to imagine that Mikael Akerfeldt hasn’t heard Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism. So… make of this what you will, I guess.

So, what does everyone think? Weigh in below.

-AR

According to Metal Injection, the long-rumored Mikael Akerfeldt / Steven Wilson / Mike Portnoy collaboration is finally underway, sure to cause prog fanboys the world over to immediately begin fapping at their keyboards. According to an interview in Chordstruck Magazine, Wilson — who worked with Opeth on Blackwater Park — has finally begun writing material with Akerfeldt after years of speculation, and the duo reportedly has about 15 minutes of music put to paper.

The most interesting part of the interview is Mike Portnoy’s vocal concern that the amount of Internet hype already generated will make it impossible for this all-star trio to deliver anything that could possibly live up to expectations: “…people start discussing and discussing and discussing and dissecting and anticipating…[building] up such a level of hype and expectation in their head that it’s impossible to ever satisfy.” He’s not wrong and we’re certainly not helping the matter, but come on, how can any self respecting prog metal fan not get uber boner-fied about the matching of three of the genre’s all-time greats?

We wait with baited breath.

-VN

Today is the day we finally get to hear new music from Norway’s Mantric, the band formed from the ashes of Extol (who called it quits in 2007). Like much of the Prosthetic Records roster, Mantric offer a proggy take on something a touch more accessible; in this case a captivating hybrid of Isis / Cult of Luna style heavy done up more intricately and ornately and with a touch of post-hardcore riffery and vocals. If Opeth ever decided to dabble in the Neurisis axis of metal and recorded with Kurt Ballou helming the boards it’d probably sound something like Mantric.

I’ve actually only heard the two songs posted on Mantric’s MySpace page, but today marks the U.S. release of their debut album The Descent (it came out yesterday in Europe). I‘ve been waiting for this one for a while, and I can’t to smoke a bowl and dig in.

Pre-order The Descent here for only $10, or $20 with a t-shirt.

-VN

I’ve always hated top-whatever lists. Best guitarist, best band, best blowjob, best double anal with a horse, whatever. I think that those lists are pretty much all slanted by politics, or bought and paid for. I first got that idea in my head when Titanic won as many Oscars as it did. There were so many movies that year that were far more deserving of the title that my faith in the award system died.

Jump forward about ten years. I just got back in town from the Revolver Golden God Awards. I’ll just say that I’m stoked they exist. Metal needs that in the U.S. I have no issue with their nominees and obviously you can’t pick everyone so this is definitely not directed at them. Again, THIS IS NOT DIRECTED AT REVOLVER MAGAZINE, but the concept of picking “best shredder” or “shredder of the year “is just one of those things you can’t accurately do with the amount of talent that’s out there. You want to nominate Zack Wylde or Dave Mustaine? Okay. That’s cool. Those guys have earned it. But when you leave the circle of greats and legends, how exactly do you pick a BEST shredder? I mean am I alone in thinking that when so many amazing guitarists are overlooked that the award itself loses its meaning? What guitarists am I talking about? Okay… I’ll name a few. In my opinion these guys should be winning all the awards. If I left someone out, it’s because either I haven’t heard of them, I’ve heard them and I don’t think they’re among the very best, I forgot to mention them, or I’ve heard them and I know for a fact that what you think is shredding is just studio trickery.

So here it is. My personal list of whom I think should be winning all the metal guitar awards. Am I biased? Maybe. But I’d like to also think that considering what I do for a living that I’m a good judge of competency in the field. This is in no particular order. These guys all rule for different reasons. (DISCLAIMER: Sorry that there aren’t videos for every dude I mention, but sometimes finding quality footage is tough.)

Click to read more…