UPDATE: It looks like this is just temporary for Summer Slaughter, and Burnette is NOT out of Darkest Hour. So that ends me having five minds about this.

Last week, we got an anonymous e-mail from someone claiming that Salome drummer Aaron Deal had found a sweet new gig: bass player for perennial MetalSucks faves Darkest Hour. And at first we thought this tipster must be mistaken; after all, the band had made no announcement about parting with bassist Paul Burnette, who has been on all of their albums since 2003′s classic Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation. And Burnette was still listed as a member on Darkest Hour’s Facebook page.

But then a Google search brought us to a website called American Aftermath, which in turn directed us to this tweet from Salome’s label, Profound Lore, which also said that Deal was now in Darkest Hour. So it was starting to look like, yes, the Deep Throat of Darkest Hour was telling the truth.

And then we sent our newest member of the MetalSucks Photo Squad, Miikka Skaffari, to shoot some pics for us at Summer Slaughter in San Francisco this past Friday night, and, hey, guess what? He just happened to capture an awesome picture of Deal playing bass for Darkest Hour:

So, we doubt no longer: Mr. Deal has found a new home.

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NOTE: Yep, I originally said it was Aaron Deal and not Rob Moore. I’m a dope. Apologies.

When Kat Katz split with Salome back in March, I wondered if the band would even try to replace her. And I guess the answer is “No, they won’t,” because now guitarist Rob Moore is in a new band, Auroboros, and on their Facebook page, he is listed as “ex-Salome.” So, the good news, I guess, is that Salome get to go down in history as being one of those bands that did a few really, really killer things, and then quit while they were ahead.

The even better news is that Auroboros — which also includes former Baroness guitarist Brian Blickle — are fucking sweet. No, they don’t sound anything like Salome (they’re much more Baroness-y), but that’s fine, ’cause good luck putting together a new doom band that is superior to Salome, and also ’cause, like I said, Auroboros are frickin’ sweet.

And the bestest news is that Auroboros’ five-song demo is available for free download right here. So you are a goddamn fool if you don’t at least check it out. You can’t even really use lack of hard drive space as an excuse, ’cause you can also just stream the demo. So do it do it do it. You will be glad you did.

-AR

Thanks to Dayv for the tip!

I somehow missed the news that Batillus have a split 7″ with Mutilation Rites coming out next month; I thought their album Furnace, which is one my favorites of the year so far (read my review here), was all we was gettin’ from the doom crew in 2011.

But I was wrong! And gloriously so, if “Cast,” the new Batillus track streaming over at Stereogum, is any indication. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Kat Katz (ex-Salome, still Agoraphobic Nosebleed) lends some guest vocals to the song, but even if she wasn’t on it, it would still be a great example of Batillus firing on all cylinders.

Headbob here, then come back and let us know what you think. There’s also a Mutilation Rites song, “Golitath,” streaming in the same location. The split comes out July 12 on Shinebox.

-AR

I know that sometimes we, as a community, criticize certain metal singers — or, more accurately, a certain type of metal singer — for belly achin’ in their music about shit that happens to everyone and is of no real consequence even if it seems upsetting at the time it happens (e.g., “I hate my parents,” “I hate my job,” “My girl broke my heart,” etc.).

But at least Jonathan Davis never wrote a song about being really, really pissed-off when people brush his hair in knots.

Fucking. ADORABLE.

I hear Salome are looking for a new singer… can someone put this kid in touch?

-AR

Thanks: Chris

Well THIS FUCKING SUCKS THE BIG ONE.

Kat Katz, who has to be one of the best goddamn motherfucking vocalists working in metal today, has posted the following message on her Facebook page:

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Agalloch’s Marrow of the Spirit: Apparently not a candidate for best album of the year.

Yep yep yep: the right honorable Mr. Phil Freeman of MSN’s “Headbang” blog has revealed the 135 finalists which will soon be whittled down for his “Twenty Best Metal Albums of 2010″ list, which will presumably be published sometime in the coming weeks. You can go here to read it, and then leave Phil angry comments about how your favorite album isn’t even on this list of 135 records.

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Photo by Josh Sisk

I’m kinda running out of nice things to say about Salome’s Terminal (read my review here). Luckily, I don’t really hafta sweat it anymore — NPR is now streaming the entire album, so you can check it out for yourself, and then come back and tell me how brilliant I am for recommending this album to you. There’s a lot of you and only one of me, so I’ll just say “You’re welcome” in advance. You’re welcome. There. I said it.

Seriously, though, check out Terminal in its complete doomy glory right now. Profound Lore will release the album one week from today — that’s November 9, in case you’re bad with arithmetic.

-AR

Hard to believe it’s almost November already, but there ya have it. And while the bad news is that it’s only gonna get increasingly cold and dreary, the good news is that on November 9, Profound Lore will release Terminal, the debut full-length from Salome. If you’ve read my review, you already know that I think this album is fucking capital-”S” Sweet, and if you’ve listened to the already-released “Master Failure,” than you’re already excited to hear this monster.

Now our pals over at Brooklyn Vegan are streaming the title track, too. Seriously, the only reason not to check it out is if you hate yourself. You don’t hate yourself, do you? Oh, you do? Oh. Oh.

[long, awkward pause]

Well, listen to it anyway. Maybe then you’ll hate yourself a little less, ’cause at least you treated yourself to something cool. Then come back here and thank me for brightening your day a little. “Brightening” in this instance meaning “dooming.” Or whatever.

And while we’re on the topic of Salome, our friend “Grim” Kim Kelly also has a cool interview with drummer Aaron Deal over at Noisecreep — check it out.

-AR

Seriously, if you haven’t read Vince’s epic story about how MetalSucks Maniac “whiskey” won last week’s last week’s photo caption contest, you need to go read it now. It’s pretty amazing. Whiskey’s mom even left a comment! We like to think of MetalSucks as something the whole fucking family can enjoy together, so that warmed the cockles of our collective heart.

Here’s some other fun stuff that happened this week:

• We debuted a performance clip from the new Shadows Fall live DVD, the new Intronaut album, and a new Madball song. PHEW!
• We spoke to Jeremy Creamer from Daath, Johnny Plague from Winds of Plague, Adam Warren from Oceano, and Ashmedi from Melechesh. Oh, and Anso unveiled part one of his massive two-part interview with Atheist’s Kelly Shaefer.
• We checked out new releases by Salome, Madball, Woe, and Arson Anthem and Ender. And a DWARR reissue!
• Greg Weeks from The Red Chord said good-bye to Randy Moss and hello to men wearing pink tights, Sacha Dunable from Intronaut contemplated the legalization of recreational marijuana use in California, and Eyal Levi from Daath discovered DestinAsian.
• Sergeant D. celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of Pantera’s Cowboys from Hell. Wait, what?
• We couldn’t figure out why everyone was so surprised that ICP are evangelical Christians.
• We found out the hard way that Attack Attack!’s music could be even worse than it already is.
• We took a slow ride on Metallica’s Lightning.
• We laughed at one shit stain calling another shit stain “a shit stain.”
• And, oh yeah! Gary Suarez took over the site for a day.

Next week is CMJ here in New York! If you’re in the area and looking for some awesome metal, check out our handy guide to all the festivities — including not one but TWO showcases sponsored by MetalSucks. We’re not gonna lie — we are going to be very hungover and tired next week. But that just means we’ll be crankier than usual. We’ll still be here with lots of debuts, interviews, and other assorted nonsense. Bring your mom! It’ll be fun.

-AR

I’ve been waiting for Terminal, the debut full-length from Salome, pretty much since I heard the band’s self-titled EP back in 2007. And I’m happy report that it was worth the wait.

What sets Salome apart from the doom metal crowd is that they never do quite what one would expect from their genre. Doom’s most satisfying aspect might be, as the brilliant Justin Foley would put it, that the genre allows you really feel the weight and physical exertion of the music — but it’s biggest pratfall is that it can become redundant and boring in a hurry. For too many doom bands, drone isn’t the appetizer — it’s the main course. It’s like they’re testing the listener: “Oh, yeah? You think you’re hard? Well, how long can you listen to this shit? IT’S LIKE WATCHING PAINT DRY, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

And so by the standards of their peers, Salome might be considered progressive — downright schizophrenic, even. I will freely admit that I will most likely never listen to the seventeen minute experiment in feedback known as “An Accident of History” again, but unless you have really, really bad ADHD and literally can’t sit still under any circumstances, it’s the only cut on the album that will test your patience. For the most part, Salome songs are in a constant state of flux, seguing from one section of pure, unadulterated sonic evil to the next in a manner seemingly designed to repeatedly remind you, “Oh, hey, this band is awesome.”

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Alright, I’m gonna be straight with you: I partied way too hard last night and have not been to bed yet. I’m running purely on fumes and caffeine right now. I think if somebody put on something really fast and crazy right now, like, say, Necrophagist, my head would probably explode. I just could not handle it.

Hoo-ray for Salome, then, who made my night-turned-into-morning by not only announcing that their Profound Lore debut and first full-length, the seven-song, seventy minute long Terminal, is coming out on November 9 — but for also giving away a free mp3 of a song from said album. It’s called “Master Failure,” and you can check it out below.

It’s typically awesome, and, mercifully for my current condition, not fast (although definitely crazy). Salome really might be my favorite doom band out there right now — they just crush live — and I’m so freakin’ excited that they have an album coming out this year. And I’ll demonstrate even more enthusiasm when I don’t feel like I’ve got bricks attached to my eyelids.

SALOME, “MASTER FAILURE”

here.

-AR

Video from the show in question by unartig

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mosh pit at Union Pool before — there might have been one at the Unsane show earlier this year, but I was so far back in the tiny room that I couldn’t see shit. Generally speaking, though, the small space combined with the bar’s proximity to hipster territory (zero feet, zero inches) means that the polite head bob is usually the preferred expression of appreciation. Which is fine with me, really. I’m an old man. My back hurts. It’s late and I’m tired. I need a mosh pit like I need a new Kill Your Ex album, y’know?

But there were pits a-plenty last night. In fact, all three of these excellent bands got the place moving to some extent or another (with a little help from a trio of zealous female fans). And even the cranky gramps in me couldn’t get too irritated about that; all three bands killed, and deserved every ounce of love the crowd showed them. (“I’m not used to seeing you happy,” Vince told me. “Aren’t you supposed to be angry about something?”)

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Bad luck and terrible timing are the culprits responsible for the fact that I’ve yet to see Landmine Marathon live, but all that’s gonna change when they play Union Pool in Brooklyn with the equally-excellent Salome and Wetnurse next Tuesday. And as if I wasn’t stoked enough already, now here comes the band’s new, David Brodsky-directed video, for “Shadows Fed to Tyrants,” which portrays what appears to be pretty much the best house show ever.

Of course, Union Pool is way more chill (and possibly even smaller?) than this party; I’ve never really seen a pit there, for example. Still, I expect to have a lot of fun, or leave incredibly disappointed.

“Shadows Fed to Tyrants” comes off of Landmine Marathon’s latest, Sovereign Descent, which is out now on Prosthetic.

-AR

Photo by Jeremiah Cooper

Everyone says that Landmine Marathon kill live, but for no reason better than stupid ol’ shit luck, I’ve never actually seen them in the flesh. But guess what? They just announced a summer headlining tour! Which means I’ll get to check them out at last. I suddenly feel all tingly with excitement!

Bonus: for four of the dates – the two here in NY, the one in Philly, and the one in Baltimore – they’ll have Salome with them. And Salome are absolutely punishing live. Seriously. If you’ve never seen them live, feel bad for yourself.

But even the Salome-less dates oughta be a blast. Get dates after the jump…

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“With Hell for a Mouth,” live in Raleigh, NC

Virginia doom crew Salome have been busting eardrums and making waves across the Eastern half of the US on their latest tour, with stops at NYU (with Shrinebuilder/Wolves in the Throne Room) and at the SXSW madhouse, where they decimated showcases from Profound Lore/20 Buck Spin and BrooklynVegan alongside Coffinworm, Yakuza, The Atlas Moth, Zoroaster, Landmine Marathon, and tons more. The next leg of the tour is taking them through the Dirty South, and they’ve brought their buddy “Grim” Kim Kelly along for the ride to sling merch and document the whole thing, Almost Famous-style. You can read the first day’s report here, the second day’s report here, and the third day’s report here… and now we come to the bittersweet end…

Well, holy shit, Raleigh. Tonight was absurd, in about a million and a half different ways. We got to Slim’s and loaded in, then settled in for a longer than anticipated wait. The opening band, Gringo, kept pushing the start time back from 10, to 10:30, to 11pm; they finally hopped onstage at about 11:15.  During the interim I sold a few record, took a walk about the block, and, alongside Kat , Rob and Aaron, made the acquaintance of  a fellow named John. John was very drunk, and very talkative. During the space of a few minutes, we learned that not only was John an Iraq war veteran, he’d been blown up three times, sustained skull fractures and brain damage, smoked weed “to keep from killing himself,” and, just that morning, had been acquitted of a handful of drug charges (misdemeanors/felonies) “because,” he said as he tapped on his Operation Iraqi Freedom Veteran baseball cap, “of this.” God bless America, I s’pose. He stuck around for a couple more hours, arguing with Kat and I about vegetarianism, extolling the merits of drunk driving, and talking weed with Aaron, then disappeared a few minutes before Gringo’s set. He was still drunk as a skunk, and with a 45 minute drive ahead of him, we could only hope that luck was once more on his side and he’d gotten home safe.

Click to read more…

Virginia doom crew Salome have been busting eardrums and making waves across the Eastern half of the US on their latest tour, with stops at NYU (with Shrinebuilder/Wolves in the Throne Room) and at the SXSW madhouse, where they decimated showcases from Profound Lore/20 Buck Spin and BrooklynVegan alongside Coffinworm, Yakuza, The Atlas Moth, Zoroaster, Landmine Marathon, and tons more. The next leg of the tour is taking them through the Dirty South, and they’ve brought their buddy “Grim” Kim Kelly along for the ride to sling merch and document the whole thing, Almost Famous-style. You can read the first day’s report here and the second day’s report here… and now we re-join Kim and the band in Raleigh, NC…

Current time: 5:41pm
Current location: A Best Western in Raleigh, NC

So it’s almost 6pm, and we’ve just now woken up. Sounds like we must have been partying ridiculously hard last night, right? Not quite; after playing the show, loading out, and raging a respectable amount with Dark Castle, we decided to drive straight through the night from Atlanta to Raleigh. Aaron is a MACHINE,  and as soon as we got into the city and spotted a cheap-ish hotel, we were all down for the fucking count. With Domino’s ordered and much-needed showers showered, we’ve got a couple hours of downtime before heading down to Slim’s for the last show of the tour (with locals Gringo). Seinfeld marathon? Yes please.

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Virginia doom crew Salome have been busting eardrums and making waves across the Eastern half of the US on their latest tour, with stops at NYU (with Shrinebuilder/Wolves in the Throne Room) and at the SXSW madhouse, where they decimated showcases from Profound Lore/20 Buck Spin and BrooklynVegan alongside Coffinworm, Yakuza, The Atlas Moth, Zoroaster, Landmine Marathon, and tons more. The next leg of the tour is taking them through the Dirty South, and they’ve brought their buddy “Grim” Kim Kelly along for the ride to sling merch and document the whole thing, Almost Famous-style. You can read the first day’s report here… and now on to Birmingham, Alabama…

Current time: 2:14am
Current location: Jamie’s house in Birmingham, Alabama

“It’s whiskey, weed, and beer night here in Birmingham,” declared our host, Jamie, his good-natured drawl rising above the crackling Zeppelin record that had replaced the free jazz Aaron keeps cranking in the van. An affable chap with a talent for vegan cooking and a good ol’ Southern boy accent, he had set up the gig, made us dinner, kept us drinking, and was putting us up for the night in the rambling, comfortably worn-in house he shared with a handful of roommates and a menagerie of pets.  He’d come out to greet us as we rolled up to Magic City Wholesale a little after seven and helped us haul the now-familiar mountain of gear up a rickety flight of stairs, then produced a pot of curry something-or-other to take the edge off before Salome’s set.  The venue doubled as an art space and community center, and besides the usual broken windows and concrete you’d expect to find, was decorated with tons of off-the-wall art and murals. It was also cold as BALLS  inside– we couldn’t get over how damp and chilly Alabama was, especially after the Texas sunshine and muggy warmth of Louisiana.

The drive up wasn’t quite as eventful as yesterday’s, although, as usual, the hunt for vegetarian-friendly restaurants proved to be an adventure. We gave the Creole Bagelry an honest shot, but after realizing that they had not only were not serving breakfast items and employed the least-friendly Southerners we’d encountered so far, but were out of coffee on top of it all, we peeled out and drowned our sorrows at some overpriced sandwich place (instead of the $18 gallons of daquiris I suggested). Louisiana melted into Mississippi, we passed through a town called Philadelphia (!!!!) and when a gas stop took us through Meridian, Mississippi, we encountered one of the most depressing sights of the tour so far. The place was a goddamn ghost town. Desperation peered out of every boarded up window and empty storefront, dripped off every misspelled sign and leered at us from every shady check cashing stand. The streets were empty, the curtains were drawn tight, and Meridian, Mississippi, was clearly struggling to draw its last labored breaths. I’m sure there are dying towns just like it scattered across the country, but I’d never driven through a place that seemed so utterly devoid of hope. We were glad to get back on the highway.

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Virginia doom crew Salome have been busting eardrums and making waves across the Eastern half of the US on their latest tour, with stops at NYU (with Shrinebuilder/Wolves in the Throne Room) and at the SXSW madhouse, where they decimated showcases from Profound Lore/20 Buck Spin and BrooklynVegan alongside Coffinworm, Yakuza, The Atlas Moth, Zoroaster, Landmine Marathon, and tons more. The next leg of the tour is taking them through the Dirty South, and they’ve brought their buddy “Grim” Kim Kelly along for the ride to sling merch and document the whole thing, Almost Famous-style. First stop: Baton Rouge, Louisiana…

Current time: 3:13 am
Current location: A Super 8 somewhere outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Louisiana is a pretty desolate state to drive through. For hours at a time, you’ll be cruising down battered highways lined with billboards for “adult super centers” and “Buy 1-Get-11” fireworks stands (talk about recession-proof – if not death-proof – pricing!), staring out into the scrub pines and swamps in the shadow of a thousand Waffle House signs. It’s also not what I’d call “cosmopolitan” by any stretch of the imagination, judging from the reactions we got whenever we stopped to refuel and grab munchies. [Salome vocalist] Kat and Rob [Moore, guitars] look pretty “normal” by anyone’s standards, but Aaron [Deal, drums] and I caused some waves – he with his massive septum ring, tattooed arms and Wolfman beard, and me for my piercings, neck tattoos, 1” lobes and, especially, the inverted cross gracing the back of my Dragged into Sunlight hoodie.

“Dude, they were totally talking shit about you in there,” Aaron chuckled as we pulled away. “Did you see all the religious shit in there? I heard one of them say, ‘That one girl had an upside-down crucifix on her shirt, I never seen something like that before in my life!’”

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Here’s something you probably don’t care to know about me: I went to NYU. (I actually did my freshman year at a school called Bard, but gave up on living in a shack in the woods and transferred back to the city after that.) And when I was there, I don’t ever remember even meeting a metalhead, let alone seeing a school-sponsored metal show. I think they offered us discounted tickets to see some shit on Broadway. That was about as cool as it got.

But last night a reader (and current NYU student) known only as “Chris” e-mailed me to say that the NYU Program Board is presenting a show, cleverly titled “Almost the Ides of March: Et Tu Brut(al)?”, which will feature Shrinebuilder, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Salome. It will take place next Thursday, March 11. And the best part? Even for non-NYU students, tickets are only five bucks. (Students pay two bucks, which is the very definition of “a great deal.”)

Even if this concert wasn’t happening at my old school, it would be an incredible line-up for an incredible price. If you live the area, you really oughta check it out.

Get full details here.

-AR

There’s a NSFW image after the jump. You’ve been warned.

Angela Gossow in the 2006 edition of Revolver’s “Hottest Chicks in Metal”

I love masturbating as much as the next guy who spends most of his day at the computer, but there’s no getting around the fact that Revolver’s annual “Hottest Chicks in Metal” issue – and now, apparently, accompanying calendar – is completely ridiculous. It has nothing to do with music, and there’s no equivalent issue for “Hottest Dudes in Metal,” because, well, metal is mostly a sausage fest and I imagine that a “Hottest Dudes” issue wouldn’t sell very well.

Now Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow – who has been featured in past “Hottest Chicks” issues – has spoken out against the concept… as if you needed another reason to love her. From a recent interview with KNAC:

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