The winner of last week’s Photo Caption Contest will get to enjoy a CD case pop-up flap of all the Rammstein dudes in their bathing trunks for all of eternity. Hooray! Put that on your cubicle desk and see what your co-workers think. He’ll also get a 7″ of the “Mein Land” single, previously available only in Europe. Here’s the winner:

• Phil Anshlomo: “This is what happens when you forget to change the pump filter on the gene pool.”

This week we’re giving away bunch of signed CD booklets from our friends at Roadrunner Records:

• Grand Prize: Opeth’s Watershed, Soulfly’s Conquer, Times of Grace’s The Hymn of Broken Man, and Stone Sour’s Audio Secrecy. We’ll also throw in one Richard Christy-signed signed booklet of Charred Walls of the Damned’s new one on Metal Blade Records, Cold Winds on Timeless Days, left over from his Comic Con / MetalSucks signing session.
• Runner-up: Times of Grace’s The Hymn of Broken Man and Stone Sour’s Audio Secrecy.

You know what comes next: leave a comment with the funniest caption to the photo below (sent in by regular Photo Caption Contest tipman Jason Solomon). Remember to use a real email address (or post it along with your comment if you’re using FB Connect / Twitter etc).

It’s been a long while since Roadrunner signed a reputable metal band on the up and up. Megadeth, Dream Theater, Rush and Opeth, some of their most recent signees, are all great bands to be sure, but all four were many albums into their career before moving over to Roadrunner. You’ve got to go all the way back to Trivium or possibly Killswitch Engage to find a metal band that Roadrunner scooped up from the underground and turned into a household name. Gojira are already established to some degree, sure, but while they’re loved and adored by the metal underground (relatively speaking), they’re not as well-known to mainstream metal crowds. Signing with Roadrunner signifies that both parties are ready to change that.

Can Gojira be the next household name in metal? They’re certainly good enough and have all the good-will of the metal underground backing them. Signing with a major label worked for Lamb of God and it sorta worked for Mastodon, but it was disastrous for Shadows Fall.

Anyway, Axl totally knocked it out of the park with an incredibly informative in-studio interview with Joe and Mario Duplantier last month; if you haven’t read it yet and you’re a Gojira fan, you owe it to yourself to do so right now. Decibel Magazine recently checked in with the latter, too, and got a juicy tidbit out of him about Gojira’s writing process. Unlike most bands these days who live in different cities and send files back and forth to write, Gojira actually still assemble in a room and jam everything out the old fashioned way! Quote:

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[UPDATE, 9:48am EST, 11/8]: Spin Studios has removed the above post from their Facebook page, which would seem to confirm that they goofed by posting it.

Original post:

After reporting this morning that Gojira were in NYC recording a new album and then speculating about what record label was funding the effort, the same anonymous Internet sleuth that tipped us off to the location of the recording sessions (Spin Studios in Queens) noticed a post on the Spin Studios Facebook page confirming that Gojira have landed with Roadrunner. Check the screen cap above, which also tells us that Josh Wilbur (of Lamb of God’s Wrath fame) is producing, and not Greg Fidelman or Rick Rubin.

So, there you have it: Roadrunner. Gojira. Josh Wilbur. Early 2012?

-VN

[UPDATE, 11:47am EST]: An anoymous tipster tells us they’re at Spin Studios in Long Island city. Spin Studios’ Facebook page “Likes” Roadrunner Records. All signs point to Gojira signing with RR.

Original post:

The last bit of non-news we got from Gojira regarding the Sea Shepherd EP suggested the long-awaited collaboration was finally nearing release after some of the session files had been lost on a crashed hard drive. The band also let us know that they’d finished writing an entire new record… and based on today’s news, it seems like we might get that new album before we get Sea Shepherd. Not that I’m complaining — new Gojira is new Gojira, no matter the form — but the band whipped us into a frenzy regarding Sea Shepherd and it now seems possible that it may never come out. I guess we’ll see.

But anyway, new Gojira is coming! The band landed in New York on Thursday, November 3rd and got right to work in the studio. They’ve posted a few photos from this past weekend’s session on their Facebook page, including a shot of New York City that would place the recording studio somewhere near the Union Square vicinity (those are the Zeckendorf Towers on the right). Which begs the question:

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I hail Roadrunner Records for their success at landing major label-weened acts like Megadeth, Ratt, Dream Theater, and as of today, fuckin’ RUSH. These are high-performance, self-steering acts with little need for career guidance or image interference, and who shouldn’t allow their profits’ to be diverted to cover losses incurred by ten shitty signings this year by Belinda the 22-year old A&R prodigy whose aged bf got her the job or Dan the radio personality’s son who spent $19 million on promotions for an Amerie collection.

Anyway, how about some exciting details of Rush and Roadrunner’s deal?! First, know that a RR press release states that a live album will come out ahead of new set Clockwork Angels; also, it calls this deal a “partnership,” which I’ve seen translated to “distro services and profit share.” But in an email today, RR A&R super-stud Monte Conner told me that Rush will be worked like any other RR band (i.e. publicity, promo, the whole whack). I also asked if RR bought out “Caravan” and “BU2B,” the jamz that Atlantic released as a single last summer; Conner said that the songs will appear on the album as planned. Next I’ll ask him how he plans to repair the rip in the fabric of time caused by having Rush, Dream Theater, and Opeth on the same roster. Stay tuned.

-ADF

Rush’s freaking 19th studio album Clockwork Angels is slated for 2012 release. Get “Caravan” b/w “BU2B” here. 

So earlier today we learned that Chris Clancy has left Mutiny Within because the band wasn’t making enough money, and now a former employee of the label to which that band used to be signed, Roadrunner Records, has been accused of embezzling more than four-hundred thousand dollars from the company.

So, at least somebody was making money at Roadrunner.

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Once a month we pick a band from Roadrunner’s SignMeTo platform that’s tagged their profile with “MetalSucks” to be featured on this here weblog. Have a listen to past months’ featured bands here. And so, without further ado, meet Mindshift, the June featurees…

Many of this site’s readers will probably write off Sweden’s Mindshift due to the lack of growled/screamed vocals, but that’s kinda what I like about ‘em; they’re clearly not concerned with fitting into any prescribed mold or being perceived a certain way by the metal scene at large. Their music is certainly metal, at least to some degree, though; heavy guitars and drums, challenging musicianship, progressive arrangements and scorching, expertly crafted guitar solos. To top it off they’ve also got good songs, so rare in this game, and their vocalist is a real winner in a sea of generic, unoriginal screamers. These guys remind me a whole lot of Iris Divine, who we’ve featured on MetalSucks before. Check them out if you have an open mind for good music that doesn’t necessarily fit into what you think of as “metal.” The second song, “My Infamy,” is in my opinion the better of the two posted tracks.

-VN

In March we announced our SignMeTo Roadrunner Records contest, in which we’re offering one unsigned band per month the opportunity to have a featured article on MetalSucks in conjunction with Roadrunner’s SignMeTo platform. Check out March’s featured band Spun in Darkness and April’s featured band Meadows End.

Pompano Beach, FL’s Written in Blood bare more than just a namesake similarity to recent Roadrunner signees Baptized in Blood; their brand of metal, like that of the latter, pays a hefty tribute to the ’80s with ballsy thrash riffs and twin-guitar leads around every corner. Where Baptized lean more Motley, Written lean more Metallica, but Written add a slight metalcore bent that serves their choice to stick with clean vocals quite well, ala Mutiny Within. Though Written in Blood don’t have the slam dunk songs or technical prowess of Mutiny Within, the three songs on their SignMeTo page show that they’re headed in the right direction; these Floridians have boatloads of potential.

-VN

I’m sure this is the exact scenario Axl and Vince dreaded when they left me in charge of the MetalSucks Mansion today. While they’re out plotting world domination, a press release came flying into my overly stuffed inbox from our good friend, Amy Sciarretto, PR goddess of Roadrunner Records.

The subject matter in question? The naming of the new drummer for “prog-rock” (their words) band, and perennial Vince Neilstein favorite, Dream Theater.

The Roadrunner press release states:

“Go to Dream Theater’s Facebook page on Thursday, April 21st at 11 AM to sign up for the mailing list and to receive more details about an exclusive and intimate look at the auditions, and to find out exactly when and how the momentous announcement about the band’s new lineup will be made.  Fans will be able to find out information about the band’s upcoming 2011 World Tour via Facebook, as well.”

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In March we announced our SignMeTo Roadrunner Records contest, in which we’re offering one unsigned band per month the opportunity to have a featured article on MetalSucks in conjunction with Roadrunner’s SignMeTo platform. Check out March’s featured band Spun in Darkness. Now it’s April… it’s nice out, it’s baseball season, and hey! time for another SignMeTo Pick of the Month.

The name Meadows End might ring a bell because I featured them in an Unsigned and Unholy column back in February. My assessment at that time was that they were “epicly dark like Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, Mar De Grises, Swallow the Sun, Daylight Dies, etc” but that they veered a little close to those bands’ patented styles to warrant too much attention. But then a funny thing happened; whilst perusing SignMeTo for this month’s pick, I clicked on Meadows End’s profile without realizing I’d already heard their music… and I instantly recognized the first song. I’ve checked out bands multiple times without knowing it until someone points it out; this even happens with signed bands. But great songs have a way of transcending all else, and the Swedes in Meadows End are most certainly great songwriters. I’ll stick to my guns that these guys aren’t reinventing the melo-doom wheel, but they’ve got hooks for days, and those hooks don’t compromise the band’s heaviness. And I still really dig the way these guys utilize keyboard parts. Check out three songs here.

Want to enter your band for next month’s competition? It’s easy; just sign your band up for a profile at SignMeTo and tag the profile with “metalsucks.” Read the instructions here.

A brief period in the late ’80s and early ’90s yielded a fantastical number of cutting-edge metal bands. Today, fans of this pre-internet groundswell of proggy, arty, and otherwise undefinable bands can rejoice at the reactivation of Coroner, Anacrusis, and the great Atheist. But conspicuously absent is Milwaukee’s Realm, once most likely to succeed among their high-brow ilk. Realm is also noteworthy as Roadrunner A&R giant Monte Conner’s very first signing, one that preceded Sepultura, Obituary, and fellow Wisconsinites Last Crack. Aside from some classy but low-profile reissues of Realm’s dual masterpieces Endless War and Suiciety, Realm buzz has remained low — especially for a band who left fans hanging without completing their sure-to-be awesome third album. I tracked down founding guitarist Takis Kinis (also ex-Beatallica) to get answers to largely unasked questions, and his insights go beyond Realm minutiae to form a sort of Do’s and Don’ts manual for budding young bands. Incredibly, Conner himself took time to stroll down Realm’s memory lane and provide even more invaluable peeks behind the music business curtain (look for his comments in gray). Don’t understand how a brilliant band doesn’t “make it”? Want to avoid the pitfalls of youthful bravado? Thinking of covering a famous Beatles song? Just want to get hip to two of metal’s most overlooked masterpieces? Read on.

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Last month we announced our SignMeTo Roadrunner Records contest, in which we’re offering one unsigned band per month the opportunity to have a featured article on MetalSucks in conjunction with Roadrunner’s SignMeTo platform. With today’s “thank fucking god winter is almost over” arrival of March 1st, so also marks our first contest winner.

Last Vegas, NV four-piece Spun In Darkness describe themselves as “old school death metal,” but that’s only part of the picture; what makes Spun in Darkness unique is the way they blend said old school DM with slow, crushing doom that’ll make your bones rattle and your brain quake. It’s like these dudes consciously took the best parts of both genres and blended them into one seamless package, although I’m sure the genesis of the band’s sound was a lot more organic than that; the slow, funeral march pace of doom mixed with the demon spawn riffs and clear production aesthetic of death metal is a winning combination if you ask me. Even when Spun in Darkness speed things up a bit they’re not chugging along at your typical death metal gallop, and just when you start to think “maybe these guys are really just a slightly slow death metal band” they take the tempo down to a near crawl for a monolithic Sabbath-inspired break. Check out “Black Castle” at their SignMeTo page; it’s my favorite of the bunch.

Want to enter your band for next month’s competition? It’s easy; just sign your band up for a profile at SignMeTo and tag the profile with “metalsucks.” Read the instructions here.

-VN

Roughly a year ago Roadrunner Records launched a beta of SignMeTo, a digital platform that allows bands to create artist profiles with streaming music, photos, videos, tour dates, a bio and all that jazz, with the added allure of the promise that actual living, breathing A&R reps for Roadrunner peruse the site regularly for the best in unsigned talent. Since then the Roadrunner tech team has made a number of modifications to the site to roll it out into the big time, and it’s bigger and better than ever.

Why am I telling you this now? In our ongoing quest to find the best unsigned metal talent the world has to offer (Exhibit A: our Unsigned and Unholy column), MetalSucks has teamed up with SignMeTo to run a contest. Once a month, I’ll be picking my favorite unsigned band from SignMeTo and writing up an article about them here on MetalSucks. That lucky chosen band will also be featured on the main page of RoadrunnerRecords.com (!) and receive a MetalSucks badge on their SignMeTo profile.

Here’s how to enter:

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In early 2007 Warner Music Group acquired a majority stake in Roadrunner Records. Since then, staff in various Warner divisions and departments have been performing services for Roadrunner artists, and Roadrunner’s A&R team seemed to shift their emphasis towards signing more mainstream acts that would benefit from big label machinery. Now the changeover is complete, and one of the world’s first and biggest metal labels is 100% owned by one of the “big four” major labels. Roadrunner founder and CEO Cees Wessels distributed the following internal memo, which Lambgoat picked up from Billboard:

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The announcement that Swedish trad metallers Grand Magus had signed with Roadrunner Records was a tad surprising given that label’s recent inclination towards either a) already developed acts with a legacy (Korn, Ratt), or b) more mainstream hard rock and metal acts. But hey, who’s complaining? If the success of every Nickelback and Theory of a Deadman means the label can take a chance on bands like Grand Magus and Baptized in Blood — and gives those bands the opportunity to record with a decent budget without forcing them to make artistic sacrifices — then hey, I’m for it.

We’ll find out how Grand Magus fair in the mainstream metal world when they release their Roadrunner debut Hammer of the North on June 23rd, but all indications from hearing the title track of the album are that they’re going to be just fine. I love the giant-sized bass tone and the thickness it lends the mammoth riffs, and vocalist Janne “JB” Christoffersson voice complements them perfectly to give the song a powerfully dark yet somehow epic feel. Dare I say JB reminds me a bit of Dio when he hits his upper register? Watch the new video for “Hammer of the North” below.

Listen to the older Grand magus song “Like the Oar Strikes the Water” here.

-VN

Dudes like Misha Mansoor are the future of the music industry. For the time being let’s not even talk about his band Periphery (who we happen to like very much), but the manner in which he’s making things happen for himself. Mansoor recorded his band’s album in his apartment — aka cheap — and because he spent years honing his recording skills, it sounds fantastic. Then he took the finished product and got it signed to five different record labels worldwide, yet he retains the ownership of his masters. That’s called smart business whether you like his band or not, and as new technology and the Internet make business models like this possible, expect more bands to follow suit in the very near future.

In my 20-minute phone chat with Misha on the eve of Periphery’s album release, we talked all about how he created his own little empire and what the implications may be, both for Periphery and the music industry as a whole. What you’ll find is a dude that “gets it” and whose expectations are firmly rooted in reality despite the fact that his band is blowing the fuck up. Our chat after the jump.

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Tomorrow is Halloween. This is great news, because it means that come Sunday (or Monday) people will finally fucking stop talking about Halloween. So sick of it already. When did I become so curmudgeonly? I’m gonna make a hell of an old man. Here’s what went down this week:

• Danzig drummer Chuck Biscuits died. Oh wait, no he didn’t.
• We debuted a new Mudvayne track and we posted live photos from Satyricon and Goatwhore/Eyehategod shows.
• We analyzed the business models of Earache and Roadrunner Records.
• The Boner Tour 2010 has been announced.
• Bison B.C.’s Dan And wrote two tour blogs for us while Horse the Band’s Lord Gold told us about women in diners.
• We spoke with Jucifer’s Amber Valentine and James Plodkin from Jodis.
• We’re giving away a buncha BTBAM shit and celebrating the release of their new album.
• We got all creative writing on your ass.

Our very own Corey Mitchell is gonna be on TV this weekend; he’ll be appearing on E!’s “20 Most Horrifying Hollywood Murders” on Saturday night at 6:00pm EST/5:00PM CST. In addition to his duties as the resident Mansion old fart, Corey writes books about true crime and is a respected authority on the matter so it should be an interesting (and br00tal) watch. Have a good weekend everyone.

Earlier this week Earache Records was the subject of an extremely long-winded rant about the state of the metal industry. Now it’s Roadrunner’s turn.

First we get a press release announcing that Roadrunner has signed heavy rock band Hail the Villain. MS reader “Shit Sandwich” alerted us that the label also recently signed indie rockers The Jakes. Then comes the latest fracas involving Rob Zombie suddenly pushing back the release of Hellbilly Deluxe 2 saying “everything was turning into a chaotic mess” which was actually code for “I’m jumping ship to Roadrunner.” Methods of Mayhem… let’s not even go there. And the label is touting Ratt’s new record as one of its flagship releases for early 2010. I mean, I LOVES me some Ratt, but seriously?

All this following the dismissal of long-tenured A&R man Mike Gitter a few months back. Gitter brought Killswitch Engage, Opeth, Megadeth and many others onto the Roadrunner roster.

What the?!?

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We’re big fans of late ’80s / early ’90s WWF wrestling at the Mansion. When we were kids, Axl and I used to have annual Wrestlemania parties where we got our friends together and got really high on Coke and Doritos and beat the shit out of each other with pillows. Fun times!

So naturally I’m elated to hear that there’s an iPhone app that’s an Iron Sheik soundboard featuring many of his great one-liners. SMNnews.com posted this clip of someone prank-calling Roadrunner Records with said soundboard. The poor girl on the other end of the line (who I’m pretty sure has buzzed us into Roadrunner’s offices on more than one occasion) is actually a pretty good sport about it.

-VN

Last year our own David Bee Roth, got to chat with 3 Inches of Blood vocalist Cam Pipes (who has maybe the most appropriate name for a singer ever). One of the topics that came up was the band’s break-up with Roadrunner:

One of the major events this year is that you’ve split with Roadrunner records. What happened to that relationship between the label and the band?

It was time for them to decide if they were going to pick up the option for the next record. They didn’t and we’re happy about it because we didn’t really like being with that label. There was a lot of things inside the label that we didn’t like in terms of how they showed their support for us and how they pushed our band in the press. We really didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things. They’re a really big corporate label now owned by Warner, so they’re moving strictly in a “We want to make money” direction and we weren’t putting up the numbers that they would have liked to see. We got dropped on the priority list time and time again and then they finally decided that it wasn’t economically viable to keep releasing this band. It’s enabled us to be a lot more creative on where we want to go. We’re not tied down to a long term contract anymore, so we can go explore other options and hopefully we’ll be a little more free to do certain things with a label that’s a lot more focused to promote us in a better way and [is] more geared towards our style.

Well, following in the footsteps of former and now once again current labelmates Daath (who I guess are still kinda sorta on Roadrunner?), it looks like 3IOB have landed on Century. Thus spake Pipes in a statement:

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