Photo: Lisa Shelley

Is Spin making a big play in the metal space? Last week they premiered the entire new Lacuna Coil album and today they’ve got a brand new Pelican jam, the first to be released from their forthcoming Atraxia/Taraxis EP, out April 10th. Not that it really matters who’s streaming the thing so much as it does simply that the song’s streaming somewhere; so what are you waiting for? Go listen.

My first thoughts on “Lathe Biosas” (Greek for “live unnoticed”) are rather superficial, but they’re my thoughts nonetheless: I don’t like the production.

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In the absence of actual new music or substantial information of some kind, I find it kinda hard to get psyched up about the announcement of an album release date in all but a few special cases. But there have been a number of big release date announcements and rumors in the past few days, so I figured I’d lump ‘em all together and, as if you expected anything else, share my thoughts, hopes and dreams for each. Here we go:

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Kenneth Thomas, in a tunnel.

If you care about heavy music and still believe that art should trump commerce every time, you owe it to yourself to check out Blood, Sweat & Vinyl: DIY in the 21st Century. I’ve written about Kenneth Thomas’s music documentary in these e-pages before. After watching the film a second time, I’m even more convinced of its importance as both a document of bands that you rarely (if ever) got to hear from outside of the concert hall, and argument for the importance of underground music makers, making music underground. Thomas chose to keep the focus tight, centering on the musicians, artists and label heads associated with three independent labels that are doing things their own way: Hydra Head, Neurot Recordings and Constellation. While there are certain characters that emerge as the spiritual ballast for the film – Aaron Turner of Isis & Hydra Head, Steve von Till of Neurosis & Neurot, and Efrim Menuck of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, in particular – the overwhelming sense is of a giant inter-connected family of passionate people, united by nothing other than a desire to pursue truth and clarity through music.

Aside from a couple off-camera giggles during an adorable scene with Justin Broadrick (Jesu/Godflesh), Thomas himself doesn’t show up in his film. So we figured we’d find out what the director had to say about his opus.

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One of the things that I love most about underground metal is that so many diehard fans fulfill so many roles within the metal community. A lot of the kids that you see at the grind show are also in bands. The dude rockin’ out at the front might own a distro. That girl might run the screenprinting service where all the locals get their band shirts made. Another guy might be taking photographs for his blog, or promoting the show, or running a small label on the side. Extreme music requires extreme commitment.

Filmmaker Kenneth Thomas is one of those extremely committed folks. He’s a filmmaker with 15 years of experience, mostly in documentary work but also in producing music videos and EPK footage for Isis, Neurosis, Queens of the Stone Age and tons more. Back when he was living in Los Angeles, I would see Thomas at most every show I went to. Sometimes he had a film camera with him; sometimes he was just rockin’ out with everyone else. After five years of work, he’s just about to release his latest project, Blood Sweat and Vinyl: DIY in the 21^st Century.

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According to a recent interview on Crustcake’s podcast, Doomriders and Sweet Cobra are teaming up to release a new Devo-themed 7″.

No, your eyes do not deceive you. I wrote “Devo-themed.”

Apparently, Doomriders will cover Devo’s “Girl U Want,” while Sweet Cobra will tackle the band’s “Gates of Steel.” I just went on YouTube to get videos of Devo’s original versions of both songs, and, hey, guess what? They performed each one as part of an appearance on the short-live Saturday Night Live rip-off, Fridays, back in 1981 (see below video). I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or if this performance served as the inspiration for the Doom Cobras team-up, but I do know I wanna hear this split ASAP:

There’s no official release date for the split yet, but it will come out sometime soon-ish on Hawthorne Street Records. The Doomriders’ track was produced by the great Kurt Ballou; Allen Epley and Eric Abert from the band The Life and Times produced the Sweet Cobra portion. I don’t really know The Life and Times’ music, but I do know that they’re Pelican-approved, so I’ll give ‘em the benefit of the doubt.

-AR

[via The PRP]

I was elated to see all the recommendations for good elephants marching riffs following my love letter to that conceit earlier this week. I was a little less elated to discover that there’s almost as much confusion over what qualifies as an elephants marching riff as is there over what qualifies as a taco riff.

For example, here are some excellent riffs by some excellent bands that some of you excellently suggested but which are, rather unexcellently, not elephants marching riffs:

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Black Market Activities will release Mercy, the third full-length from Chicago’s Sweet Cobra, on September 28; since we’re debuting a track here on MetalSucks, it should go without saying that we think it’s pretty frickin’ cool. “Brux,” the opening track, has to be one of the catchiest songs we’ve heard all year; it sounds like Mastodon, if Mastodon were more interested in making sure they got stuck in your head and less interested in, like, orcs n’ shit. If the slip-slide riff and boppin’ drums don’t make you wanna get up and grab a hula-hoop, than you must have no pulse. This song is so infectious you’re gonna need to drill into your brain just to get it out.

Check out “Brux” below, and then pre-order Mercy here. It was produced by Sanford Parker (Pelican, Nachtmystium) and mixed by Kurt Ballou (Do you seriously not know who Kurt Ballou is?!?!), as if you needed any further incentive to buy a copy.

[this promotion has ended]

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

Larry Herweg’s role in Pelican is arguably its most distinctive and most controversial. Some say his on-par-with-AC/DC beats allow the winding guitar lines to breathe; others argue that his drumming is sub-par and holds the band back from greatness. What’s harder to argue is that Pelican’s latest, last year’s What We Come to Need, isn’t one of their best, a welcome return to evocative, slightly dark riffs after the stylistic shift of 2007′s City of Echoes. Some even thought highly enough of it to throw it on their year end list. And Herweg seems happy with the record, as well as sympathetic to those who found fault with the band’s previous album. In an interview with Metal Sucks, he discusses the meaning WWACTN‘s title and creation, “Final Breath”‘s controversial use of vocals and whether there will be more of them, and one reviewer’s nasty attack on his drumming technique.

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I’ve never really been a Pelican fan – but I guess I should be. I saw this clip, for the song “Final Breath,” on Metal Underground, and… wow. Consider my mind blown.

I want to compare it to Journey to the Center of the Earth (We do seem to be traveling through the center of the planet, no?), Fantastic Voyage (some of it kinda looks like we’re inside a human body), or a slowed-down version of the opening credits of David Fincher’s Fight Club (see previous parenthesis), or maybe even the Star Child sequence from 2001… but I don’t think that there’s any denying that the whole thing is vaginal. Is there an equation being made between birth and death? Am I just reading too much into this?

Whatever. It’s pretty cool regardless of what it means or doesn’t mean. And the fact that the song is gorgeous doesn’t hurt, either.

-AR

MetalSucks photographic wiz girl Diana Lee Zadlo bore witness to Black Cobra and Pelican’s performances at The First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia, PA on December 1st. Once again she’s been kind enough to let us premier her awesome photos. Check ‘em out after the jump… that is, if you’re not too riled up about that Village Voice piece like Kip and Justin are.

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Sometimes I feel fairly certain that a substantial portion of the people who leave comments on MetalSucks would be considered legally brain dead by most medical doctors. Having said that, I’m glad they read our website.

Here’s what happened in the world of metal this week:

• We spoke to Darkthrone’s Fenriz, Iron Age’s Wade Allison, and Swallow the Sun’s Juha Raivio.
• We debuted a new video from Austrian Death Machine.
• Everyone wants to kill everyone else because of all these decade end lists.
• Also, people are cranky about that Dimebag tribute album.
• Kip Wingerschmidt thinks that Stewert Voegtlin’s recent trashing of Baroness, Mastodon, Pelican and Neurosis was “eloquent.” The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley disagrees.
• Unfortunately, there is going to be a new Limp Bizkit album.
• Lambgoat is streaming “Mechanical Seas,” a new song by The Binary Code!
• I admit it: I left the ring stain on Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’ table.

Last night we went to a fancy-schmancy holiday party with an open bar and got faschnickered. Tonight I’m… going to a fancy-schmancy holiday party with an open bar. If I’m not here Monday, it’s because I died of alcohol poisoning.

Have a good one, y’all.

-AR

From time to time in the past we’ve exchanged e-mails with The Austerity Program‘s Justin Foley, and the dude’s e-mails were so goddamn funny (not to mention smart) that we finally asked him to write for us. Hopefully Justin’s contributions to MetalSucks will become a regular, or at least semi-regular, occurrence. Enjoy!

MORE COMPLAINTS ABOUT THAT BAD VILLAGE VOICE THING. I KNOW, IT’S BEST TO IGNORE THESE THINGS BUT I JUST CAN’T THIS TIME.

“O Confusion! Cruel mistress – thou who would lead thine servants to slaughter like a lamb also gets led (Ed – to slaughter). Cruel! Innocent lambs, gently editing metal blogs, knowing not of your unkind plans nor the wicked scroll of fate.” Henry VI, Act 4

Like many of you jokers, I was struck with a growing sadness as I read the nonsense that that nice Wingerschmidt boy posted the other day. Sadness because it really missed the main point about the Voice’s article –a refreshingly pure distillation of concentrated bullshit. Fortunately, I didn’t miss it and neither did many of those who commented. But just in case there’s any doubt, let me tell you why that Voice writer has it so, so wrong.

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Now I’m not saying I agree with all, most, or even any of the points made in Stewert Voegtlin’s recent bitter-tastic Village Voice article (aptly entitled “Sketchy Metal”), but holy jeez a voice of dissension should be appreciated, welcome, and even necessary at times, especially when certain bands are so blindly revered by so many…..and furthermore anybody who can bring such a well-worded subtly sardonic taste to their Hateology (free album title!) a la our own Gary Suarez deserves a complimentary bong hit.

The article starts out with an analysis on Pelican’s sound (or lack thereof), positing that the Chicago band’s thang never crystallizes into anything approaching authentic emotion, but that some bands that Pelican derives influence from (Trans Am, in particular) have made plenty of music worth veneration, especially back in the day.  Hmm……agreed.

I almost joined the Train of Descent (free band name!) recently myself when I was considering writing an article — which was to be called MASTODON EVOLVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THEIR SOUND ON CRACK THE SKYE….EXCEPT FOR THE LYRICS – about the many cliches held within several of the lyrics on Crack the Skye. However, after listening to the album a few more times to get a clearer context of the lyrics to the piece as a whole, I cleaned my shorts off and reconsidered libeling the best modern progressive metal band of the decade.

But Voegtlin? This guy ain’t takin no prisoners (pls disregard double negative)……my favorite gem of haterade enclosed within the article definitely has to be Voegtlin’s response to Baroness’ John Baizley’s claim that his band’s music is influenced by “fine art, cinema, and literature”:

[This is] as stiltedly silly as name-dropping higher mathematics, physics, or philosophy, when what the band really peddles is exactly the everything-and-nothing Hallmark heft so many claim to uncover in Pelican’s wordless, aimless songs. While Baizely’s predilection to hawk such High Times erudition makes him sound more puerile than he likely is, it’s difficult to imagine him honestly striving to disseminate meta-emotional discourse through music as transparently commercial as his band’s stoner-metal-meets-Ford-truck-jingle approach.

Yowza!!

More insightful dissin’ and the link to the actual article afterthejump.

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Pelican’s 2007 album, City of Echoes, was maligned by some upon its release, perhaps because of its penchant for shorter songs and Fugazian guitar interplay after the majesty of 2005’s The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw, an album full of epic-length tracks and panoramic sludge/doom riffs. The problem with this train of thought, of course, is that while City wasn’t as good as Beckon, it certainly wasn’t a bad album. The record, if anything, completely sidestepped Pelican’s biggest flaw: their occasional tendency to, in a longer song, circle around an interesting point without actually making it. Of course, gone were cinematic broad strokes of some of their best work. If only there were a way where they could combine reasonable song length with the evocative riff work the band are known for.

Luckily, they have found a way, and their latest album, What We All Come to Need, is nothing but that. While you won’t hear anything as heavy as “Mammoth” off their debut EP or as expansive as Beckon’s “Autumn into Winter,” their new album finds them both imaginative and self-aware. But even though they have a seemingly newfound sense of editing, WWACTN still features all the same trademarks that have made them great from the beginning: sinewy, heavy guitars; Larry Herweg’s workmanlike drumming (still a divisive part of the band); and absolutely no vocals (well, except on the last track, where there are). Whether you gave up on Pelican after City of Echoes or not, their new album features what they do best: telling stories in such a way that, after a song or two, you forget are without words.

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On paper, Washington’s Black Breath is not the sort of band one typically associates with Southern Lord. Dronesmiths Sunn O))), doomy stoners Eagle Twin, instrumental rockers Pelican, and black metalheads Wolves In The Throne Room all coexist comfortably together on the Californian label. Yet Black Breath’s hybrid of gutter-level punk and classic thrash metal somehow make sense, even if it doesn’t exactly seem appropriate for Southern Lord. Coupled with the August release of Seattle punks The Accused’s all new The Curse of Martha Splatterhead, it almost seems as though the ostentatiously hip imprint is slowly embracing a much less esoteric sound.

On November 10, Southern Lord will re-release Black Breath’s Razor To Oblivion mini-LP in CD format in advance of a proper debut album scheduled for early 2010. That forthcoming full-length was recorded earlier this year and engineered by Converge’s Kurt Ballou. Visit the band’s MySpace page to hear some tracks from Razor To Oblivion.

-GS

[Gary Suarez eats his pizza crust first. He usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

Thanks to Adam for giving us the heads up that Pelican’s new album, What We All Come to Need, is now streaming on the band’s MySpace page. And… that’s really all I have to say about that. I kinda just wanted an excuse to post my favorite clip from Scarface. Sammy O’Hagar will have a comprehensive review of the album soon.

What We All Come to Need comes out October 27 on Southern Lord.

-AR

Chicago instru-metallers Pelican have posted a new song, “Strung Up From the Sky” — from their forthcoming full-length What We All Come To Need (October 27th, Profound Lore) — on their MySpace page. Pelican quietly released a 3-song EP earlier this year called Ephemeral, and the upcoming full-length will be their first for the Greg Anderson of Sunn O)))-owned Southern Lord Records. As someone who’s never really been that into this band before, I really dug the EP and I’m very much looking forward to the new album: the EP and one new song are tighter, clearer and seemingly more structured than what I’ve heard from the band in the past. So – check that new song out now and enjoy it whilst we wait for another one to hit the ‘net before the album drops in 2 months.

-VN

So. Yesterday was a fucking whirlwind.

Salt Lick BBQ lunch, punctuated by the special rice krispie treat some guy had sold us the night prior. Kip and I were giggling like high school kids stoned for the first time as we were eating THE MOST FUCKING AMAZING BARBECUE FUCKING EVER. From there it was right back into it with a triumvirate of Peelander-Z, Rwake and proggy atmospheric rockers Maserati. Pound down a few Lone Stars, Coffee, Red Bull, keep going. We hit a quality standup comedy showcase next (Eugene Mirman, others) to break things up before indulging in delicious street tacos, then onwards to the Pelican / Dredg show at Emo’s. Once again, Dredg killed it (better sound this time), and once again I’m not much impressed by Pelican. Cut to 6am passing some bottles of cheap red wine around a hotel room with Dredg as I realized I had to leave for the airport… breakfast at Salt Lick offshoot in the airport, plane, pass out, New York.

Thank you to everyone we hung out with all weekend for making this our best SXSW yet. Fucking epic.

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Like my e-comrade Vince, I too am planning to check out Canadian stoner/doom/mammal metallurgists Bison B.C. at tomorrow night’s CMJ Metal Blade/Relapse/Lifeforce showcase at Knitting Factory (Also playing: Psyopus, Tombs, This Or The Apocalypse, Left To Remain). Now if, like me, the very thought of CMJ causes you to break out in painful hives and cold sweats, the next chance for New Yorkers to see Bison B.C. will be as part of the all-day long (4pm – 4am, apparently) Beasts Of The East festival (tickets here) on November 2nd at Club Europa in Brooklyn.

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