MARCH IS METAL MONTH IS UNDERWAY!!! And as Vince promised last week, there’s a free sampler now avail featuring artists from many of the participating labels. That means you can download tracks by Fear Factory, Ihsahn, Triptykon, Suicide Silence, Lacuna Coil, Queensryche, White Wizzard, and more, all for the cost of breathing. Head over to Amazon to get the absolutely free download.

We’ll also have lots more March is Metal Month goodness in the coming weeks, including additional interviews and contests. Keep checking back here, or head over to MarchIsMetalMonth.com for all the latest.

Was Rob Zombie never cool and I was just an idiot? Or am I right that he’s only recently become kind of a let down? I honestly can’t tell.

Anyways, even if we ignore the cheesiness of the fact that Zombie is obviously trying to cash-in on past glories by making a sequel album (Has there ever been a good “Part 2″ record? First person to say Operation: Mindcrime II gets a kick in the anus.), this cover art clearly comes from the Marilyn Manson school of “Have an intern whip something up on Photoshop.” Which is not only lame, but kinda weird: Zombie went to the prestigious art school Cooper Union.

You can do better than this, Rob. C’mon. Be cool again.

-AR

An interview with Disturbed’s Dan Donegan, from We Love Metal (by way of Blabbermouth)… the debate over what is or is not “nu metal” continues!

We Love Metal: A lot of people on the Internet call DISTURBED “nu” metal. Do you consider yourself nu metal?

Click to read more…

Been a while since we’ve done one of these. But an astute Noisecreep commenter named “Trav” pointed out that as he ages, Queensryche crooner Geoff Tate is starting to bear a striking resemblance to everyone’s favorite cowbell-player / all around creepy dude Christopher Walken. Don’t front.

-VN

I call bullshit. This new Queensryche song “If I Were King” — from the forthcoming album American Soldier (March 31st, Atco/Rhino) — sounds like a cheap imitation of the real Queensryche. It lacks balls, it’s cheesy, and Geoff Tate sounds like he’s going through puberty all over again. I suppose I loves me some Queensryche, but this just sucks. Even 2003′s Tribe was a decent record, probably because Chris DeGarmo came back into the fold to write and record it (though he bailed before the following tour). Operation: Mindcrime II was kind of a snoozefest, and now this… zzzzz.

Side note: premiering a new track on MP3.com? What is this, 1998?

-VN

Rocklahoma, the three FIVE day hair metal festival in Pryor, Oklahoma, kicks off its second annual event tomorrow. Hard to believe it’s been a year since last year’s massively successful event, but it has, and this year’s lineup is even more extensive than the last.

Pretty much every hair band ever — both those still on the touring circuit and a bunch of recent reunions — are playing. This year’s headliners are Queensryche, Warrant, Triumph, Bret Michaels and Ratt. Even bands that were peripheral but related to the ’80s hair scene have joined in the party, such as Extreme, Living Colour, Jackyl and Armored Saint. There are also two sidestages with a smattering of lower-level national and regional bands, though the Rocklahoma website makes this info hard to find.

Apparrently 100,000 people attended last year’s event; this seems crazy to me, but I guess it speaks to this music’s longevity. New MetalSucks columnist Michael S. Robinson plans to write a piece about this topic later in the week.

Any of our readers going to Rocklahoma? I know at least one person who is SUPER psyched!

-VN

Kind of like those Amazon CD recommendations, YouTube’s recommendation engine nailed it again this afternoon when it suggested Queensryche’s “Eyes of a Stranger” for my viewing pleasure (how do they know???!!). Somehow I’d never seen this video before, but it’s got everything you’d want out of a Queensryche video; Geoff Tate’s poofy mullet, cymbals hanging from chains, and a song from Operation fucking Mindcrime! Hey Judas Priest; you watching? This is how you do a concept album.

-VN

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Does a certain long-legged (and possibly male) movie vixen look like a certain ex-guitarist of Queensryche? Why yes, I think so.

-VN

[Thanks: MetalSucks commenter Gossamer Axe]

Queensryche have announced that they’ll play their album Operation: Mindcrime in its entirety at this summer’s Rocklahoma festival. The album is generally revered as a classic amongst Queensryche fans such as our very own Vince Neilstein.

To be honest, I’ve never gotten that into Queensryche, mostly because there’s something intangible about Geoff Tate that makes me want to punch him in the vagina. But plenty of people, including Vince, have told me that I’m missing out in a big, big way.

So debate amongst yourselves: in terms of being an Event with a capital “E,” does Queensryche’s performing of this album in its entirety rival Metallica’s performance of the complete Master of Puppets? Or it roughly akin to Poison performing Look What the Cat Dragged In from start to finish?

-AR

For some reason metal bands have particularly taken to covering Pink Floyd. Actually, pretty much everyone has taken to covering Pink Floyd because, well, they’re one of the best and most important bands of all time. But of all metal covers of Pink Floyd tunes, “Welcome to the Machine” seems to get the nod more frequently than most. There’s something about that plodding rhythm that is just so visceral and brutal and ripe for metal renditions.

Invisible Oranges recently posted the original along with Queensryche’s version from their 2007 release Take Cover and Shadows Fall’s version from The Art of Balance.

Pink Floyd – “Welcome to the Machine” (Wish You Were Here, 1975)
Shadows Fall – “Welcome to the Machine” (The Art of Balance, 2002)
Queensryche – “Welcome to the Machine” (Take Cover, 2007)

Which do you prefer?

-VN

Back by popular demand, more mothafuckin’ Queensryche today. The band is at the top of their game performing to a stadium full of fans, rebroadcast on MTV. Yes, MTV used to play metal, and yes, metal bands used to play stadiums. Hard to believe, I know. Perhaps more importantly, this video teaches us that Axl Rose was NOT the first to don spandex bike shorts on stage. Stick with it for the one-minute post-show interview with MTV octagenerian Kurt Scroter, in which the band prophetically states “We’ll take 10 years off, then come back and play ’90s stuff, which will be ‘in’ by then.” Oh, the irony.

-VN

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