MetalSucks

Ever heard that Behemoth have breaks built into their set so they can run off stage and do some corpse paint touch-ups? To be fair, I’m not sure if the person who told me that was being honest or just joshin’ me, but it makes sense – the band definitely runs off stage from time to time, leaving the crowd to listen to pre-taped orchestral apocalyptic goodness.

True or not, it doesn’t change the fact that Behemoth absolutely crushed in their too-brief set on this past summer’s Rockstar Mayhem Yadda Yadda tour, or the fact that we were looking forward to seeing them do a proper headlining set. So now they’ve finally announced a tour – with Septic fucking Flesh, no less – and it’s hitting NYC the same night as the BTBAM/Cynic/Devin Townsend/Scale the Summit Orgasm Tour. I don’t know what rocket scientists set that up, but now metal fans in our area will have a tough decision to make. We are going to the Orgasm Tour, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish there were multiple mes, like in that awful Michael Keaton movie.

ANYWAY, here are dates for the Behemoth tour. We envy those of you who can make it.

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Between the Buried and Me bassist Dan Briggs currently holds the record for MetalSucks interviews at a healthy 3… which averages out to once a year in the history of this site. It’s no coincidence that we always end up talking to Dan over the rest of his equally talented band mates; the dude’s extremely passionate about his band and has a lot to say about the intricacies of their complex music.

Shortly after the release of their latest opus The Great Misdirect, I spoke with Dan by phone about the new record, how it compares to Colors, how it was written, BTBAM’s upcoming boner-factory tour with Cynic and Devin Townsend, and the band’s pending exit from Victory Records. Our chat, after the jump.

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As promised, here are the dates for that whole Between the Buried and Me/Cynic/The Devin Townsend Project/Scale the Summit North American Orgasm Tour 2010, which I’m sure actually has a much more “professional” name, even though calling it the “Orgasm Tour” would really just be truth in advertising.

ANYWAY, the dates. Okay, here we go. Get ready to celebrate or cry, depending on where you live…

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Thanks to MetalSucks uber-Maniac (I’m giving him an upgrade since he actually came to New York and sought us out at a show) Mark Mortiz-Rabson for alerting us to the following incredibly important message on Between the Buried and Me’s MySpace page:

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It’s been a doozy of a year for metal releases already, hasn’t it?

After the jump, the records I’ve been jamming the most so far that might or might not end up on my year-end Top 10.

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The second annual Progressive Nation Tour — featuring a re-jiggered and suddenly worth seeing lineup of Scale the Summit, Bigelf and Zappa Plays Zappa supporting Dream Theater — hit New York’s historic Beacon Theater on Sunday night. This year’s proggier leaning lineup (last year’s had Opeth, BTBAM and 3 in the support slots) brought out an older-skewed audience, but as is always remarkably the case with Dream Theater there were plenty of youngins in attendance. In fact, the most frequently spotted band t-shirt I saw all night was for The Faceless; stew on that one for a second.

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Back in March I bitched that this year’s Progressive Nation lineup — featuring Pain of Salvation, Beardfish, and Zappa Plays Zappa supporting Dream Theater — was decidedly less metal than last year’s lineup (which featured 3, BTBAM, and Opeth supporting DT — killer show) and wasn’t worth the price of admission to anyone under 50. A press release delivered good news to the MS Mansion earlier this week, announcing that Bigelf and Scale the Summit have replaced Pain of Salvation and Beardfish. Suh-weet!

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Seeing as we’re sponsors of the awesome Protest the Hero “Heads Will Roll” spring tour (also featuring The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Misery Signals, Scale the Summit and Fall From Grace), we figured it’d be fitting if we gave away a pair of tickets to each show date. Thanks to the fine folks at Vagrant Records, we’re able to do just that! The full list of tour dates is in the above graphic, and there is an additional date on May 15th in St. Paul, Minnesota at Station 4, not listed, that we will be giving away tickets for as well.

To win, sent an email to vagrantrsvp@gmail.com. Make sure the words “PROTEST THE HERO – (DATE / CITY / VENUE) – (FULL LEGAL NAME)” are in the subject line, written exactly in that format with the info for the show you’d like to attend. Only entrants who follow the instructions correctly will be considered for tickets. Winners will be selected randomly and notified via email if they are selected, and tickets can be picked up at door time at the will call window on the day of the show (winners will either be on Protest the Hero’s list or the Vagrant Records list).Good luck, and see ya in the pit.

Because the list of MetalSucks-sponsored tours going out this year wasn’t already kick-ass enough — whatwith the likes of the Soilwork / Darkane / Warbringer / Swallow the Sun joint, The Haunted tour, Paganfest 2k9, The Mayhem-headlined Blackenedfest and The Human Abstract / Iwrestledabearonce trainwreck — we’re now sponsoring another of the sexiest tours hitting the circuit. The Heads Will Roll Tour, commencing April 17th in Denver, CO, will be headlined by MetalSucks-faves Protest the Hero, and will feature support in various configurations from Misery Signals, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Scale the Summit, and Fall From Grace. Holy fucking crapticles is that an awesome lineup! The only bummer is that the highly awesome / MetalSucks-approved Scale The Summit won’t be on the NYC date, but so it goes.

The whole list of tour dates, as well as a full-size poster, after the jump.

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So Axl and I are shuttering up the gates to the MS Mansion when we get wind that there’s a new Lamb of God video for “Set to Fail” available. Fucking BAD ASS!!!

Before this event of over-arching importance occurred, here’s what we would’ve said was important this week:

• We spoke with Salome’s Aaron Deal and Chimaira’s Mark Hunter.
• No Ozzfest this year. We don’t buy the excuse that it’s because Ozzman’s working on a new album, but at least the Osbournes will be making asses of themselves on national TV again… oh wait.
• We watched Mastodon in the recording studio while we falsely assumed a new track of theirs appeared in a videogame trailer. No matter; Crack the Skye is coming March 24th and there’s a super-special limited edition package available for pre-order.
• Limp Bizkit announced their inevitable reunion. With Wes Borland. No surprise.
• We joined Twitter. Webernets, watch out!
• We looked at new releases by Scale the Summit, Obscura and the new DVD by Dir En Grey. The world previewed the new God Forbid record… and overwhelmingly liked it, by golly! In the Coyle Commune annex of the MS Mansion, Dallas slyly grinned while tapping his fingers slowly together and saying, “Exxxxxxcellent.”
• We pontificated the seemingly complete irrelevance of the Grammies and then immediately forgot about them.

Enjoy cuddling up with your shnookums (metal!) on Valentine’s Day tomorrow and celebrating a day called “Presidents Day” — even though no U.S. presidents were actually born on said day — by not going to work on Monday. Seeya Tuesday.

-VN

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]