This week brings less than a ton of new metal, but it does mark the unveiling of a tasty upgrade to MetalSucks’ beloved Shit That Comes Out Today column. The new format makes it easy to preview tracks and peep cover art, but that’s not all: In the new STCOT, we boldly list a few similar projects (y’know, for context) and recklessly recommend which new records might deserve priority in your new record-buying plans (in case your budget doesn’t accomodate all the hot new shit). So, like it? Hate it? Check out this week’s shit then give us your input in the comments. 

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[UPDATE, 5:41pm EST: The new Gorod album will be called A Perfect Absolution. Check out the sick cover art at No Clean Singing.]

Original Post:

I hereby posit that Psycroptic, Spawn of Possesion, Obscura and Gorod are the four best tech-death bands in the world — THE BIG FOUR of tech-death — fight me on that claim if you dare. This year is shaping up to be an incredible year for top-notch tech-death, as three of those bands are poised to release new records in the first half of 2012. Psycroptic and Spawn of Possession have new albums coming out on February 7th and March 13th, respectively, and it appears if the wily Frenchmen in Gorod will have an album out very soon too. Get excitebike!

So, Gorod: they’ve re-signed with Listenable Records and they’re already recording a new album which will supposedly come out in March (though I won’t be surprised if that date is pushed back). They’ve released two studio updates so far, and unlike the videos some bands post consisting of nothing but dudes whacking about, these are both loaded with samples of new music! Watch and listen:

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So, hey, remember a couple of weeks back, when we debuted a new Psycroptic song, “The Throne of Kings,” from their forthcoming album, The Inherited Repression? And remember how awesome it was? How you were all, “WOW! Now THIS is what tech death is SUPPOSED to sound like!”? And then you were all, “I CANNOT WAIT to hear the rest of the album!!!”?

Well, hey, terrific news, ladies and germs: the full album is now streaming right here. It is, as we said when we debuted “Kings,” “an album full to the brim of ripperific rippers, sure to rip up all parts of your body and corners of your mind.” So, y’know, you could NOT listen to the whole album — but you’d be a real dope for passing up the chance.

Headbang here, then celebrate The Inherited Repression‘s imminent arrival in our comments section below. The album comes out February 7 via Nuclear Blast.

-AR

Axl wore his most vile death metal shirt in an attempt to avoid being selected as a juror in this great City of New York, but lo and behold, his plan backfired and he was chosen anyway. So it’s been the Vince party over here since Wednesday with plenty of help from all of our most excellent contributors — special big ups to Anso DF for pitching in extra! Here’s what went down:

• We lost Riot guitarist Mark Reale. R.I.P.
• We premiered a new track by Pyscroptic, one by Exotic Animal Petting Zoo and all of Primal Fear’s new album Unbreakable.
• The Rockstar Mayhem Festival announced the first slate of bands on its 2012 lineup. Slipknot later spilled the beans that High on Fire are confirmed too.
• Ihsahn is guesting on the new Jeff Loomis solo joint and Jeff Loomis is guesting on the new Ihsahn solo joint. Will those two get a room already?
• The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Ben Weinman went all anti-drug on our asses.
• Tours and rumours of tours: The Mastodon / Opeth / Ghost tour is really gonna happen, Meshuggah, Decapitated and Baroness will hit the U.S. together (no dates yet), dates were announced for the Decibel Magazine Tour featuring Behemoth, Watain, The Devil’s Blood and In Solitude, while All Shall Perish, Fleshgod Apocalypse and other cool bands announced a tour too.
• Sammy O’Hagar reviewed Lamb of God‘s new album while Gary took a look at new hardcore 7-inches by Daylight, Unholy Majesty and Wrong Answer.
• We realized that Maynard James Keenan poops and pees and eats just like the rest of us.

We’ll be back next week for Axl’s triumphant return to the blogosphere. See you then.

-VN

Psycroptic are far and away one of the best technical death metal bands in the world, so much so that MetalSucks specifically requested the privilege of being allowed to premiere to the world one of the tracks from their new album The Inherited Repression. “The Throne of Kings” is one of the rippingest tracks on an album full to the brim of ripperific rippers, sure to rip up all parts of your body and corners of your mind. And because Psycroptic would be just another tech-death band if not for their due diligence in songwriting, “Kings” is guaranteed to get stuck in your head, too.

Psycroptic – The Throne Of Kings by MetalSucks

The Inherited Repression comes out on February 7th in the U.S. and February 10th in Europe via Nuclear Blast; pre-order it here. Stream another track from Inherited, “Carriers of the Plague,” over at Psycroptic’s Facebook page.

What I’m digging about this new Psycroptic song, “Carriers of the Plague,” is that it’s technical, but it’s still, like, y’know, a song. I never feel too lost in all of the deedily-doodily; in fact, there’s one section which is just like straight-up hardcore, and it’s my least favorite part of the song because it’s almost too simple. But that’s a problem most of Psycroptic’s peers will never know, because it’s hard to know things when you’re lost up your asshole.

So I tip my hat to Psycroptic, for proving that writing memorable music and showing some chops on your instrument don’t have to be mutually exclusive skills. High fives all around, dudes.

You can check out the song here, then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below. The song will appear on the band’s new album, The Inherited Repression, which comes out February 7 in North America and February 10 in Europe via Nuclear Blast.

-AR

According to reports by SMN and other various metal sites across the web, Pathology, who are currently part of the MetalSucks-sponsored Nile headlining tour (along with Ex Deo, Psycroptic, and Keep of Kalessin), ”have been involved in a serious bus crash.” No further details are available at this time.

This is obviously horrible news… hopefully everyone is okay. We’re sending out good thoughts for the dudes in Pathology.

More info as we get it.

-AR

For a hot minute my friend and I contemplated inviting Karl Sanders on our big trip to Egypt this past February. It had come to our attention that Nile’s guitarist had never been to the country all of his songs are about, and wouldn’t it be badass to take him around? But then we reconsidered; assuming he would ever even accept an invitation from us buffoons, what if we ruined Egypt for him? What if the mighty Karl Sanders was underwhelmed by the knowledge and ambition of us peons? Would we be embarrassed to jam Nile songs on our headphones whilst staring at the pyramids in awe? What if he got annoyed with our constant farting? Please Mr. Sanders, spare us for we must pass peacefully to the underworld! No, better not to take the risk; Mr. Sanders, you’ll have to make it to Egypt on your own time.

Nile have a new video for “Permitting the Noble Dead to Descend to the Underworld” which we’re premiering exclusively for you all below. They are about to embark on their second MetalSucks-sponsored U.S. tour in support of their recent album Those Whom the Gods Detest — with the incredibly awesome support bands Ex Deo, Psycroptic and Keep of Kalessin in tow — starting on Halloween. Get dates here. In the meantime, watch this video and ponder how we can get Karl Sanders a plane ticket to Egypt; think of the awesome music that would follow.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

If you missed Nile earlier this year on the MetalSucks-sponsored Those Whom the Gods Detest Tour, this fall is your chance to get your fix of Egyptian-themed death metal. MetalSucks is proud to once again bring you a Nile tour, but this time around Karl Sanders and co. will be hitting cities they didn’t visit on their first go-round. And it’s a sweet deal too, ’cause in addition to Nile you’ll also get to see Maurizio Iocono’s Roman-themed Ex Deo, a rare U.S. appearance by Tasmanian tech-deathsters Psycroptic, Norwegian epic black metal maestros Keep of Kalessin and Sergeant D-approved slam deathsters Pathology.

Dates after the jump.

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November seems like an eternity from now given that April is almost over but it’s still blustery and cold outside, but when you’re a foreign band trying to tour the U.S. it’s never too early to book a tour; just ask any of the countless bands who’ve been denied entry to the U.S. because they couldn’t get their visa papers together in time. So although it’s more than 6 months away, Egypt-themed (but U.S. born) death metallers Nile — who recently wrapped up their MetalSucks sponsored Those Whom the Gods Detest Tour — have announced a Fall U.S. tour with Ex Deo, Psycroptic and Keep of Kalessin in tow. That’s a damn solid lineup, and at this early juncture I proclaim it the best Fall tour to be announced so far!

Nile are Nile, and I’ve actually never seen ‘em live; I look forward to getting pummeled live by the soundtrack that guided my camel journey to the Pyramids of Giza. I dig Maurizio Iacono’s Roman-themed Ex Deo project a whole lot more than I do his main squeeze Kataklysm, and ever since seeing the beyond-epic music video for “Romulus” I’ve wanted to see the band play live. Psycroptic are one of my absolute favoritest tech-death bands; their 2008 release Ob(servant) was one of my favorites of the year, and since they’re from Tasmania it’s rare for them to visit the U.S. And I’ve already waxed ecstatic about Keep of Kalessin enough in recent months for you all to know that I’d be stoked to see them live, especially since last time they reminded me of a troupe of Legolas look-a-likes.

Tour dates for the Those Whom the Gods Detest Tour II after the jump.

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Back in March we reported that French tech-metallers Gorod had released a new song from their forthcoming Listenable Records album Process Of A New Decline, and that said song was ridiculously awesome. Gorod have just posted another new song on their MySpace page entitled “Programmers Of Decline,” an equally orgasm-inducing nugget of progressive tech-death that makes my dick hard in anticipation of the new record (for which no official release date has been announced). The new song is five solid minutes of techy, deathy, shreddy goodness; while I listen, I’m fantasizing about a utopian U.S. tour dream lineup featuring Obscura, Psycroptic, Arsis, The Faceless and Gorod. Never gonna happen, right?

-VN

MS Maniac Tiagon sent us a link to a new track by the French “mighty shredketeers” (his words) Gorod. I’d never listened to Gorod before, but the “shredketeer” classification certainly seems apt and I highly approve. Gorod play the kind of progressive / technical death metal peddled by bands like Arsis, Obscura and Psycroptic; aka they’re fucking awesome. Do yourself a favor and go listen to their new song “Disavow Your God” on their MySpace page right now. The band expects to have an album out this summer on Willowtip.

-VN

MetalSucks, MetalInjection and BITPOM, in conjunction with EMI (which serves such labels as Century Media, Nuclear Blast, Earache, Candlelight, Season of Mist, Willowtip and Crash Music), are bringing metal to the masses with an extensive “March is Metal Month” campaign with independent retailers across the U.S.

During the “March is Metal Month” campaign, we’ll be running a series of 3 weekly “Show Us Your Metal” contests. To enter, take a picture of yourself at a record store doing something metal; throwing up the horns, making sweet love to a David Lee Roth Crazy From the Heat EP, posing in front of a Beyonce endcap in corpsepaint, buying something that costs $6.66, etc. Be creative! Send all submissions to news AT metalsucks DOT net along with your full name and address and “MARCH IS METAL MONTH” in the email subject line.

Congrats to Jake Kobrin who won last week’s prize, a ridiculously awesome Cynic box set, for the picture at left.

This week’s prize: Signed CDs and posters from Psycroptic and All Shall Perish, courtesy of Nuclear Blast. Send in all entries by the end of Tuesday, March 31st to win!

U.K. prog-death-thrashers (yeah, I said it) Sylosis are without a doubt one of the young bands that interest me most in 2009, thanks in no small part to the urging of several MetalSucks readers. Their Nuclear Blast debut Conclusion of an Age is a refreshing burst of modern thrash and death metal, rolled into a nicely accessible little package and sprinkled with prog influences that show the maturity and restraint of a band twice their young age. We’ll post an official MetalSucks review shortly, but in the meantime I was able to catch up with guitarist Josh Middleton to ask him a few questions about the formation of the band, the events that led to their deal with Nuclear Blast, their upcoming touring plans and their metal heroes.

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So many of you have e-mailed us this week to instruct us to post news about the fact that Opeth and Enslaved are touring together that I’m fairly certain posting news about the fact that Opeth and Enslaved are touring together is a complete waste of time; I mean, clearly, everyone and their mother is already aware of this tour.

I’m not saying this isn’t an awesome package – clearly, it is – I’m just saying, you’ve all sent us the news and the tour dates, so what can we tell you that you don’t already know? How about this: we will be at the show at the Starland Ballroom in NJ, and we will be high. Actually, you probably knew that already, too.

I’m putting tour dates after the jump, although I don’t for the life of me know why.

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Congrats to Steve, the winner of our most recent Funny Photo Caption Contest (which seems like it was forever ago). Steve wins a Knucklebonz 9-inch desktop statue of Dimebag Darrell (pictured here), thanks to our friends at TonesofDeath.com. You know we usually try to take the high road above cheap Gaahl jokes around here… but man, this was just too funny:

“KISS had their army, Gorgoroth has the Gaahl Scouts. They sell the blackest of thin mints.”

A+++++, Steve!

This week we’re giving away a CD copy of Psycroptic’s excellent late-2008 technical death metal masterpiece Ob(Servant). Just comment with a funny caption to the below photo and it shall be yours.

Tasmanian metallers Psycroptic’s Ob(Servant) didn’t make any MetalSucks writers’ year-end lists, (though it did make my initial short-list of albums to be considered for year-end top honors.) MetalSucks commenter “Anal Beadz” was quick to point out this omission in our final tally of year-end honors:

number of time[s] psycroptic’s ob(servant) mentioned in year end lists

…0

YOU FUCKING CUM DUMPSTERS

Mr. Beadz, I hate to say it, has us pegged. The more I listen to it, the more I’m starting to think I made a mistake by leaving Ob(Servant) off the final list; the album straight up pulverizes in the most artful way. Psycroptic’s brand of extraordinary mind-bending tech-death hits in all the right spots; crushing brutality, punishing grooves, weaving riffs, and stellar technical death metal musicianship. Anyone who splooged their pants over The Faceless’ excellent Planetary Duality (i.e. all of you) ought to give this band a fair shake.

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Tasmanian tech-prog-deathsters Psycroptic have released a new video for their song “Initiate.” If the brutality of this song and the close-up shots of the dudes playing their instruments aren’t ringing endorsements that Ob(Servant) is worthy of its inclusion in my short-list for best albums of 2008, I don’t know what is.

-VN

Things are heating up in the U.S. presidential race, and everyone from Vince to Axl to Dallas to the Blogronaut expressed their opinions; naturally you all got fired up too. But even politics as usual couldn’t stop the flow of happenings this week in the world of metal:

• Dallas apologized. Woah.
• Best Buy claims Chinese Democracy is finally coming out, but we’re skeptical. No word yet from Axl Rose.
• We debuted a new Early Man track and spoke with singer/guitarist Mike Conte, while Nathan Ells of the Human Abstract spilled the beans on just about everything.
• Testament was deemed one of the Top 40 greatest thrash bands of all time.
• We loved new albums from Gojira and Psycroptic. You loved arguing about them even more, especially the former. Meanwhile, new releases from Unearth and Cradle of Filth proved controversial.
• Protest the Hero’s van broke down; they danced.
• AC/DC’s Brian Johnson proved himself old and out of touch, but that didn’t stop us from asking for freebies to see his band live.

We out. See you Monday.

With ridiculously strong new albums by Arsis, Origin, Neuraxis, and others, 2008 is shaping up to be an exceptional year for technical death metal, if not THE exceptional year. And the new album by Tasmania’s (!) Psycroptic proves that the year isn’t over yet, but instead is still open to a few more focused and coherent yet tense and chaotic onslaughts, which Ob(Servant) most certainly is. Though they lack the penchant for melody of Arsis, the almost hilariously over-the-top musicianship of Origin, or the post-Decapitated barebones chugfest that is Neuraxis, the band manage to shine in the long shadows of their peers. This is not to say that the band aren’t great for many of the same reasons as their brethren (attention to musicality as well as technicality, great production, absurd speed, etc.), but it’s also not to imply that Psycroptic are the start of a derivative second wave of New Millennium Technical Death Metal. They’re a band brimming with personality, with part of that personality prone to tearing your fucking face off.

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