MetalSucks

Holy shit. I wasn’t even out that late last night, but for some reason I am just so tired today that it feels like nothing is really happening. Am I really typing this? Did I really write something positive about Zakk Wylde? Can I please just go to sleep now? I’m just gonna go to sleep now.

Before I do, here’s some things that happened this week:

• We’re giving away a free download of Katatonia’s new song, “Forsaker.”
• We spoke to Hypocrisy’s Peter Tagtgren and Brian Cook from Russian Circles and These Arms Are Snakes.
• We checked out new releases from Slayer and Jesu.
• Otep Shamaya gives women in metal a good name – too bad she won’t be a woman much longer.
• Leaves’ Eyes singer Liv Kristine gives women in metal a bad name – or, at least, a silly one.

Alright, seriously, night-night time for Axl. I think Gary Suarez is going to the NYC Vader gig tomorrow; if anyone sees him there, give him a dead arm for me.

-AR

Instru-metallers Russian Circles’ new album Geneva is out now. Even Axl, who usually doesn’t get into all of the same instrumental / trippy / wank stuff that I do, is enjoying the album and described it as “really cinematic.” If you’ve yet to experience this amazing band, be sure to listen to a few tracks on their MySpace page and catch them on their current tour with Young Widows and Coliseum.

Current These Arms Are Snakes / ex-Botch bassist Brian Cook recently became a full-time member of Russian Circles after having recorded and toured with them on their last record Station. I recently emailed Brian a batch of questions about joining the band, recording the new album, balancing the workload between all of his projects, and what the future holds for Russian Circles, to which he was more than happy to respond in detail. My questions, his answers… after the jump.

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“Russian Circles” is like an onomatopoeia of band names; I have no idea what a Russian Circle is, but I do know that if the band name is spoken — not written — it’s accurate as fuck. Listen to any Russian Circles song and tell me their music doesn’t sound just like circles that are rushing, spiraling and spinning (hint: it helps if you’re stoned). Their excellent 2008 release Station was one of my favorite instru-metal releases of that year, and judging from the new track “Malko,” their new record Geneva (October 20th, Suicide Squeeze) will bring more of the same rushing, circling goodness.

Noise/post-rock fans, take note: ex-Botch, current-These Arms Are Snakes bass player Brian Cook is now a permanent member of Russian Circles. Yeah!

Listen to “Malko,” courtesy of The Fader, below:

Russian Circles – “Malko”

Catch the band on tour with Young Widows and Red Sparowes this fall. Dates after the jump.

-VN

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Meet If These Trees Could Talk, an instrumental band from Akron, Ohio. If These Trees Could Talk border on metal the same way bands like Dredg, Muse, Maserati and Russian Circles do — for the most part they stick to delicate but rocking atmospheric grooves, but occasionally they kick it into high gear for cathartic headbang crescendos. If you’re a fan of well-crafted, intricate, moody music like the above-mentioned bands — in addition to other heady, cerebral rock acts like Tool, Mogwai, and Isis — my guess is you’ll dig this band. This is thinking man’s rock for listeners who revel in musical subtlety; no blast beats or cookie monster vocals to be seen here. For those questioning why this is on a metal site, go fuck yourself. Or just wait ’til the heavy part towards the end of the song kicks in.

ITTCT have been kind enough to offer us up a free track called “What’s in the Ground Belongs To You” from their album Above the Sky, Below the Earth. Stream or download it below. They’ll be releasing a new vinyl through Mylene Sheath sometime this Fall. Enjoy.

If These Trees Could Talk – “What’s in the Ground Belongs To You”

-VN

[Visit ITTCT on MySpace]

Scale The Summit are an instrumental metal band. While that very fact might cause lots of you to excitedly skip to the next paragraph where I actually talk about the music, it will likely send just as many running to the hills. And that’s perfectly cool, because the type of heady, proggy music Scale The Summit peddle isn’t likely to appeal to a lot of folks anyway, regardless of whether or not there’s some dude screaming/growling/singing on top of it. This is the kind of band that musicians are gonna cream their pants over and most others will shrug in overwhelming “meh”-itude. But the fact of the matter is that Scale the Summit are immensely talented musicians and composers, and they just don’t feel like letting those pesky things called “lyrics” get in the way of enjoying what matters most, the music. If bands like Intronaut, Russian Circles and Cynic tickle your metal bone(r), Scale the Summit’s Prosthetic Records debut Carving Desert Canyons is likely to do the same.

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Not to sound like one of those lame Victory Records album stickers… but, to sound like one of those lame Victory Records album stickers, if you enjoy any of the above bands there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy Scale the Summit, a group of Houston progressive metal youngins whose Prosthetic Records’ debut Carving Desert Canyons drops on February 17th. The album is easily one of my most anticipated releases of 2009 — from a new band, that is — and it’ll be certain to get the prog masturbaters amongst you in a tizzy.

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This might read like the opening line of a badly written press release for a shitty local band, but fuck it: in a musical climate where even the most distinguished metal bands are easily associated with a particular sub-genre or movement, it’s incredibly refreshing to hear a band that succumbs to no cliches and creates a sound that is truly unique. The L.A.-based quartet and recent Prosthetic Records’ signees Scale the Summit do just that, creating a sound that’s completely one of a kind.

The songs on the band’s MySpace page from their self-released 2007 album Monument pummel, pound, and artfully weave and bob their way through myriad sonic landscapes and musical ideas. The band’s heady musical approach fuses the dynamics (and instrumental take) of Russian Circles’ proggier and heavier moments with the jazz-metal complexity of another California band pushing new boundaries, Intronaut — and injects it with a youthful exuberance only capable of emanating from dudes who really, really love their craft. The album they’re currently recording for Prosthetic is one of my most eagerly anticipated new releases from a new band in 2009.

-VN

[Scale the Summit on MySpace]

A few weeks ago, the Chicago-based rising instrumental metal band Russian Circles played at New York City’s Mercury Lounge as part of a short tour to whet the appetite of the masses for the release of their new record Station, out May 6th on Suicide Squeeze Records. Russian Circles were nothing short of fantastic, their aggressive brand of stoney metal punctuated by Floydian guitar work, ethereal soundscapes and dynamic drumming. Before the show, MetalSucks had the opportunity to sit down with Russian Circles’ drummer Dave Turncrantz to ask him about the new record, working with producer Mat Bayles (Mastodon, Botch, Vendetta Red, Norma Jean) the band’s formation and musical evolution, and their plans for the future. The full chat transcript after the jump.

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Saturday Song To Get Stoned To forefather Kip W. is on a ganj-induced bender somewhere in the mountains of southern Mexico this week, but don’t you worry, good ol’ Uncle Vince is here, spliff in hand, to get your weekend rolling right.

Get used to hearing about Russian Circles, because they’re one of those bands that the hipster metal press / blogosphere is jumping all over. But the praise is deserved. Though the Chicago-based two-piece (!) lacks a vocalist, their sound is ginormous — no White Stripes lo-fi shenanigans here. Russian Circles come off like a more psychadelic, jammier Mastodon, their doomy sludge coming at you like a killer whale only to get lost in a Bob Ross landscape of happy flowers and happy trees. And the band bares more than a passing similarity to 2007 dark-horse darlings Baroness, not that this is a bad thing at all. (P.S. Tool tapped Russian Circles to support their recent UK tour).

Russian Circles will hit the road in early ‘08 for a short, 10-date jaunt with New Jersey MC Dalek. Someone please explain that pairing to me. Anyway, hopefully Russian Circles will bring extra musicians with them on the road to recreate their recorded output in a live setting. Can’t wait to catch them live.

Spark up that spliff and get your day going!

Russian Circles – “Carpe” from Enter (2006)

-VN

[Hear more Russian Circles jams on their MySpace page]

Tour dates after the jump.

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