MetalSucks

It was a mostly Metallica week here at the MS Mansion, but it turns out that some other stuff happened too. In summary:

• We re-christened the site MetallicaSucks.net for a day — all of our writers each reviewed Death Magnetic to varying praise (or lack thereof).
• God Forbid debuted a new song. We likee. You likee.
• Lars Ulrich gave us tips for appearing taller than you really are, and Ronnie James Dio gave us hair care pointers.
• We spoke with Suicide Silence, Walls of Jericho and 36 Crazyfists.
• Saigon Kick will kick again in ‘09.

Also, we wrote a whole lot of other shit about Metallica or something. Next week we’ll be back to our usual shenanigans. Enjoy your weekend!

Axl and I have been waiting, oh, about 12 years for the inevitable “SAIGON KICK REUNION” headline to come across our ticker, and thankfully on this 10th day of September in the year 2008 A.D., we can celebrate. It’s no secret that we have a major hard on (non-ironically, thank you very much) for this awesome band; but we’ve also never gotten to see them live. So either Jason Bieler and Matt Kramer kissed and made nice, or that last Nonpoint record really bombed. But who the fuck cares? Saigon Kick are getting back together in 2009!

The catch: they’re reuniting for a one-off festival show in… Algona, Iowa??? Hopefully this means more festival appearances are in the works.

In the meantime, enjoy this priceless early ’90s timepiece video for “Hostile Youth” from the band’s landmark album The Lizard.

-VN

Publicists send us shit all the time, and 9 out of 10 times it blows goats but we listen anyway because every now and then there’s that occasional gem that shocks you and makes hours of brain-drilling listening all worth it.. Sikth’s Death of a Dead Day — originally released in 2006 — is that fucking good.

UK-based Sikth’s own brand of progressive metal mixes the breakneck hardcore spazzes and jazz freakouts of Dillinger Escape Plan or Between the Buried and Me, time-warp rhythms of Meshuggah, metallic melody of Dream Theater and bone-crushing breakdowns of Hatebreed all into one neat little package. But the band possesses a sense of songwriting and melody, like their UK prog-metal brethren Porcupine Tree, in which those bands rarely indulge. The musicianship all around is stellar, and vocalist Mikee Goodman shows a surprisingly versatile vocal approach, ranging from singing to screaming, growling, shouting, and everything in between. (According to Sikth’s MySpace page Goodman has moved on and they are searching for a new frontman. Hear that, aspiring vocalists?)

What’s more, the band produced Death of a Dead Day entirely themselves, with a precision mix job coming from Bieler Bros. Records (helmed by Jason Bieler, ex-Saigon Kick!) go-to-guy Matt LaPlant (Nonpoint, Skindred, Burn Season).

Why has no one ever mentioned this band before to me or anyone at the MetalSucks Mansion? This. Record. Fucking. Rules. The #1 sleeper hit of 2007 in my book, even though it was released in June of ‘06. See for yourself, below.

Sikth – “Bland Street Bloom”

Sikth – “Part of the Friction”

-VN

(four out of five horns)

[Visit Sikth on MySpace]