To me, nothing is as fully sweet like pop music played heavy and with controlled virtuosity. It’s like a famous master chef whipping up simple, delicious hot dogs for my face; it seems foolish to abandon such classic fare to high-volume/low-margin assembly lines, right? Hence my devotion to the jamz of Rush, Bay Area thrash, Iron Maiden, Deftones, Devin Townsend, Love/Hate, Blessed By A Broken Heart, and tons more snappy songwriters with big boner crunch.

So I warmly welcome Look Right Penny, whose debut album Sugar Lane (out Tuesday) is a slam dunk of pop-djent metal. Click to read more…

My heavy metal DVD shelf was once pretty bare, displaying only The Decline Of Western Civilization and a load of one-view concert films. But just since 2005, it’s been sagging under the weight of classy, addictively watchable feature-length documentaries like Heavy Metal In Baghdad, Get Thrashed, Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, Global Metal, and the Iron Maiden and Rush movies. The latter four come courtesy of industrious heavy metal anthropologists Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, both responsible for the launch of metal’s overdue efforts to canonize itself and shout down mainstream media’s 40-year campaign to paint metal as dumb, violent ape music. Pssht. Everybody knows it’s awesome, fun ape music.

Cough anyway Dunn and McFadyen are back with an 11-part mini-series airing Saturdays on VH1 Classic titled Metal Evolution. Think about it for a sec: That’s a total running time of about 440 minutes. If you’re not bonered about that, then … gosh, get your boner checked, okay? To date, three episodes have aired, each detailing the roots of metal in blues, jazz, and classical music; Saturday’s episode (above) traveled to England to gab with/about Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin (who, according to Dunn, declined to be interviewed due to an aversion to being associated with metal), and concluded with Judass Priest circa Sad Wings Of Destiny. Spoiler: Bruce Dickinson calls Eric Clapton “tame” compared to Ritchie Blackmore. SWISH! Episode schedule after the jump:

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We at MetalSucks have dealt with the paradoxes involved with conducting a poll to determine great guitar players (read our 25 Best Modern Metal Guitarists poll here)! So we get that in a unweighted vote, the top-ranked axemen may just represent those liked by the largest number of voters; i.e. a dude who we agree is pretty good may score higher than each of our individual favorite dudes.

So when Rolling Stone magazine enlisted a who’s-who of classic rock personalities for their 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time cover story, we prepared for some wacky aberrations. Let’s check out a few of the RS list’s inconsistencies:

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It was a week of polar opposites: on one hand, butt rock ruled as Disturbed nabbed the #1 spot on the Current Hard Music charts with Five Finger Death Punch and Evanescence firmly entrenched in second and third place. On the other hand Animals as Leaders scored a big debut, a big victory in the name of all that is right in the music world. As I Lay Dying and Rush also sold well. Let’s take a look at those and more after the jump.

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Last week‘s prize was a 2x vinyl set of both versions of Coalesce’s Give Them Rope album, a most excellent haul if you ask me. The one lucky winner is:

• Guitarzan2112: “Dreidel of Filth.”

This week we’re giving away a limited edition Rush Moving Pictures lithograph signed by all three members of the band in anticipation of the release of their Sectors three-box set, which spans their entire Mercury Records career. This three-box (yeah, we said three BOX) set is ginormous, so all Rush fans should get up to speed on what’s included in the November 21st releases here (Sector 1), here (Sector 2) and here (Sector 3). Meanwhile, to win the signed lithograph (pictured here), you know what to do: leave a comment with the funniest caption to the photo below (sent in by MS reader Jason Solomon). Remember to use a real email address (or post it along with your comment if you’re using FB Connect / Twitter etc).

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. 

I am old, married to a kindergarten teacher, and play Mr. Mom nine months out of the year. As a result, I can only go to concerts on weekends or during the sweltering months of summer.

This is my summer vacation (Part III).

WHO: RUSH
WHERE: Frank Erwin Center — Austin, Texas
WHEN: June 12, 2011

It’s been 28 years since I last saw Rush live in concert. I became a convert right around the time Moving Pictures came out, loved Signals, but moved on to heavier music (ie. Metallica/Slayer/Megadeth/Exodus/English Dogs) by my first year of college. Over the years I became less enthralled with Rush, but always respected their commitment to excellence in rock music. When I heard they were coming back through Texas this summer on their seemingly never-ending “Time Machine Tour” and would be playing Moving Pictures, front to back, in its entirety, I decided a nostalgia trip was in order.

My Old Fart bones were already exhausted from catching Mötley Crüe on Thursday and KEN mode on Friday, but the Saturday respite seemed to re-energize me. Besides, the guys in Rush are a collective 172-years old and choose to travel tens of thousands of miles to entertain poor sods like me. How hard could it be to drive one hour to Austin and stand on my feet for a few hours to catch one of the greatest bands on the planet? Not hard at all.

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BING! Still funny. Amazing.

I was kinda flattered last week when some people said they actually DO read the intros to “Worst Week.” So, uh, thanks for the ego boost!

In addition to Groundhog Day, here are some things we celebrated this week:

• The debut of new music from Scale the Summit and American Heritage.
• The formation of The Fred Durst Society of the Humanities and Arts.
• The announcement of this year’s line-up for The New Engalnd Metal & Hardcore Festival.
• The legacy of 18 Visions.
• The incredible comedic skills of Rush’s Neil Peart.
• The impending return of Beavis and Butt-Head.
• A new Protest the Hero song.
• Academy Award winner Francis Ford Coppola’s declaration that musicians shouldn’t be rich.
• Metal Injection’s Black Metal History Month.
• Dime.

Speaking of celebrating — don’t forget that Vince is DJing at Idle Hands Bar from 7 to 10pm tonight. All the cool kids will be there. You wanna be cool, don’t you?

-AR

Forget all labels of dorkiness / loserness / awesomeness you’ve previously bestowed upon yourself. World of Warcraft all-nighters? No biggee. Masturbating 5 times in a day? Child’s play. Practicing guitar scales in your bedroom for hours? That ain’t got nothing on this 11 year-old girl who taught herself to play Rush’s already insane “YYZ” on piano, by herself, USING HER FEET TO PLAY GEDDY’S BASS LINES. I’ll let MS Maniac Steve Stamopolous take it from here:

HOLY FUCKING SHIT

Is Steve right, or what? This is so nerdy / awesome that I don’t know what else to say, so I’ll let the video do the talking:

I’m not sure which is more mind-blowing: this performance, or the fact that the audience could barely muster a few claps afterwards.

Speaking of Rush, here’s 3 Inches of Blood covering Rush’s “Anthem” on their current tour with Eluveitie, Holy Grail and System Divide:

Click to read more…

I’m not a Rush fan; I think that the music is swell, but I can’t stand Geddy Lee’s stupid eunuch vocals. Sorry.

Still, this Funny or Die Sketch, in which Jason Segel and Paul Rudd reprise their Rush-obsessed characters from the movie I Love You, Man, is so great I just had to post it. All you really need to know going into it is that they get to meet Rush. And that Neil Peart, as it turns out, is a comic genius.

Enjoy.

I’m not a Rush fan; I think that the music is swell, but I can’t stand Geddy Lee’s stupid eunuch vocals. Sorry.

Still, this Funny or Die Sketch, in which Jason Segel and Paul Rudd reprise their Rush-obsessed characters from the movie I Love You, Man, is so great I just had to post it. All you really need to know going into it is that they get to meet Rush. And that Neil Peart, as it turns out, is a comic genius.

Enjoy.

Congrats to readers Sierra Brady, Chris Lincoln, and Will Goss. They each correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to the band Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, and for their troubles, they each win a copy of Metalocalypse Season Three — Sierra on Blu-Ray, Chris and Will on DVD. Enjoy ‘em, guys and girl!

This week we have another awesome prize, this time courtesy the good folks at Eagle Rock Entertainment. One winner will get the following four DVDs:

• Heaven & Hell, Neon Nights — 30 Years of Heaven & Hell — Live in Wacken
• Velvet Revolver, Live in Houston
• Black Sabbath, Classic Albums: Paranoid
• Rush, Classic Albums: 2112 & Moving Pictures

Pretty sweet, right? Of course, you can purchase any of the cinemetal masterpieces by visiting Eagle Rock Entertainment’s website, or just clicking the above links — but this is your only chance to win all four DVDs in one fell swoop!

All you gots to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. ALL ENTRIES WITHOUT AN ADDRESS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. (I really can’t stress this last bit enough, as week after week I get entries with no address, and I don’t understand what the fucking problem is.) From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select a winner announce his or her name next week.

This week’s logo was suggested by a reader known only as “Martin”…

-AR

Okay, let’s imagine you’re at a party on the beach, and as you’re packing a fourth slice of pizza into your face, you overhear someone state unequivocally that Bon Jovi and The Beastie Boys are more important than Rush. You’d grimace, but, hey, sales are sales and impact is debatable. It’s a party; be nice.

Then, as you resurface from a sand puddle gravity bong hit, that someone continues with an assertion that Rush is also less vital to modern music than the guy with the big spoken word hit about boffing mermaid chicks (or something) and, oh, let’s not forget the singer of a Phil Spector holiday song who went on to co-star in the Lethal Weapon films. (Jesus, does Scorsese get more than one vote?)

Finally, as you grit your teeth and instinctively glare at the source of these statements, your ears are raped by further by the spoken implication that Rush doesn’t measure up to the motherfucking J. Geils Band.

Party or no party, by now you’re mindlessly stomping this dumbshit into a dust just on principle. It’s like temporary insanity, right? “Had to be done,” you’d tell the judge. “Your honor, you’ve heard that song ‘Freeze Frame.’ Rush Pride for life!”

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Well, here’s a wacky story we couldn’t have made up.

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Christopher Langone, a 42 year-old self-proclaimed “lifelong fan of Rush,” flew from Upstate New York to Chicago last week to see the band play an outdoor venue — only to find the show postponed due to rain. And since the ticket said “Rain or Shine,” Langone is claiming that the cancellation is a breach of contract, and has now filed a class-action lawsuit against Rush, suing them for the cost of his concert ticket, flight, and hotel. Langone admits that suing his favorite band “feels a little strange,” but since he can’t come back to Chicago for the still-to-be-announced make-up show, he thinks Rush should pick up his tab. (Like a gentlemen, he’s not trying to get the band to pay for the beers he bought for himself and buddies while they were pre-gaming.)

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So, did you love the Rush movie premiere on Saturday? You bet you did! That shit was awesome! I mean, even peppered with commercial breaks of grueling duration on VH1 Classic, Rush: Beyond The Lighted Stage made an unmistakable statement: Rush is better than everybody.

Now, we all know about their engaging, evolving sound (over the course of 24 records) and that their concert experience is quite similar to an eye-rolling orgasm; plus, there are the little consequential benefits to Rush fandom, such as a near-total absence of casual fans (whose fleeting enthusiasm endangers a good concert vibe), and of course the fact that only at Rush shows am I the best-looking guy in my section (I pull Rush honeys like whoa!); and finally, we agree that Rush is only beginning to enjoy a critical thaw that is due them for 30+ years, and that Rush-hating mainstream music press is staffed by jelly-spined girl-worshippers who don’t like music so much as fall in proxy self-love with musicians.

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Last week this guy became an interwebz sensation, when everyone seemed to collectively realize all at once that he’s clearly the best drummer in the history of the instrument:

Now the investigative journalists at Metal Injection tell me that this God amongst men is named Steve Moore, and that he was recently interviewed by City Pages, who learned that – no surprise – he started out as a metal drummer:

Click to read more…

Anybody who’s been to a Rush live event can tell you that it’s totally magical, like some kind of parallel dimension of contentment. I suspect it has something to do with the men of Rush themselves: three virtuosos who share a incredibly deep understanding of what comprises transcendent, affecting music. So that means concertgoers step through the gates with firm confidence in place of the usual crossed-arm expectations. Each Rush show is like its own holiday, where the stresses of reality are replaced with rock music at its fullest, Kobe-level potential. Sigh.

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If you haven’t heard about the laughing stock that is Microsoft Songsmith by now you’re either dead, completely tuned out, or my grandma. In a nutshell, Songsmith is a new computer program released by Microsoft that automatically creates cheesy sounding, karaoke-style backing music to whatever you sing into it. It’s the modern-day version of those cheesy ’80s Casio keyboards that played a beat and chord progression whenever you hit a new note, only for your voice. But here’s the catch: it’s a complete piece of shit. Since its release a couple of weeks back, the Webernets have exploded with Songsmith-ed versions of famous songs, featuring publicly available a cappella tracks piped into this disaster of a computer program. And the results are simply marvelous and endlessly entertaining.

After the jump, a look at some of the tastiest Songsmith creations based on songs by your metal faves.

Click to read more…

First thing’s first: Axl and I are going to see AC fucking DC at Madison Square fucking Garden tonight. HOLY SHIT! Big thanks to the folks who hooked us up with tickets; you know who you are!

AC/DC also happens to have just released their own Rock Band “Track Pack,” a standalone video game available for around $40 featuring AC/DC’s legendary 1991 Live at Donington concert. This pretty much seals the deal for Rock Band as the instrument-based video game of choice for metalheads and hard rock fans; the list of available full albums already includes Judas Priest’s Screaming for Vengeance, Megadeth’s Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?, Rush’s Moving Pictures and Dr. Feelgood by Mötley Crüe. They’ve only got one Metallica song (“Enter Sandman”), but we’ll overlook that for now.

If we get a gaming system for the MetalSucks Mansion I’d definitely go for Rock Band, if only because playing the drums is so fucking fun. But we’d have to place a moratorium on drunk girls singing, because this is always, always annoying.

Since its inception in the late ‘80s, black metal has been one of the most rigid genres in terms of evolution and change. While bands like Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, and Behemoth trumpet the genre through its larger than life, orchestral origins, black metal’s “elite” have gained their notoriety through either a) being a part of the original church-burning generation and altering their sound as little as possible or b) miming the original church-burning generation as closely as possible, right down to the tape hisses and wall of buzz saw guitars. But after nearly two decades of existence and reverence in the metal and music worlds as a whole, many bands have moved away from their restrictive lo-fi roots and come to embrace different influences, resources, and inspirations. The band that has best exemplified this move from their base to the outer limits is Enslaved, one of Norway’s longest running black metal bands. Before American upstarts Nachtmytsium made it cool to melt your Burzum and Pink Floyd records together, Enslaved were dabbling in the dark power of psychedelia on Below the Lights and ISA. Though those who take black metal seriously insist that sticking to their guns has been the key to longevity, its shifts in sounds and ideologies has been what’s kept it alive. Those shifts have been most solidly illustrated by Enslaved, and has resulted in one of the most impressively consistent discographies in metal, right up through their latest genre-bending triumph Vertebrae.

Grutle Kjellson, Enslaved’s bass player and lead vocalist, has been with the band since the beginning. In an interview he was kind enough to grant MetalSucks via phone from his home in Norway, he talks about the importance of looking forward creatively, what influenced Vertebrae, working with longtime bandmate Ivar Bjornson in Enslaved and their experimental metal side project Trinacria, the overall importance of Pink Floyd on his band’s sound, and the fans that only want to hear songs off of their early ‘90s demos at their shows.

Click to read more…