My fellow Chimairicans: I’ve got good news and really good news. So let’s start with the good news.

EMG Pickups is apparently holding a contest wherein contestants upload videos of themselves covering a Metallica tune (on EMG-equipped instruments, natch) to YouTube for the chance to win a shitload of stuff. And I don’t really care about that, but I do care that one of the contestants is Rob Arnold, who does a version of “To Live is to Die” that absolutely rips. Seriously, Kirk Hammett hasn’t sounded this good since before he went through menopause. Check out Arnold’s cover below:

Pretty cool, no?

But here’s the better news — more dates for the second leg of Chimaira’s headlining tour in support of their awesome new album, The Age of Hell, have gotten out, and they include a stop at the Starland Ballroom in New Jersey for WSOU’s 25th Anniversary concert. WSOU is pretty much the best metal radio station on the East Coast and possibly the entire United States, so I’m thrilled that such a killer band is gonna help them celebrate their birthday. And since support on that tour is coming from Unearth, Skeletonwitch, and Molotov Solution, they’ll all be playing, too, which is in no way bad news. You can get more details on that show, including ticket info, from Metal Insider.

Here are all the dates for the first leg of the tour, which features Revocation, Impending Doom, and Rise to Remain; dates for the second leg of the tour are after the jump!

Click to read more…

(click here for a hi-res version of the tour admat)

Add it to the slate of awesome tours criss-crossing the U.S. this tour: Kvelertak and Skeletonwitch are teaming up for a co-headline run of the Eastern and Midwest U.S. this October with Zoroaster in support, and MetalSucks is bringing it to ya!

Kvelertak rocked the socks off of SXSW when they last visited the U.S. back in March; they were the buzz band of this year’s festival, and anyone who saw them couldn’t stop talking about their electric performances. Check out live footage of their headline show at the MetalSucks “South by South Death” showcase for a taste of what you’re in for. Skeletonwitch are perennial MetalSucks faves and their new album Forever Abomination comes out in October, so the timing is perfect for them to rip through some of their new tunes live and in the flesh. And for a special treat full of stoney, drony, weed- and beer-fueled psychedelic jams make sure you arrive early to catch Zoroaster.

The October 21st stop in Brooklyn also happens to be a a very special show: it’s the second annual Metal Sucks / Metal Injection / 1000 Knives CMJ showcase! Kvelertak and Skeletonwitch will co-headline while Zoroaster have the night off, and 3 more bands will be announced shortly.

Full list of tour dates after the jump.

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In case Chimaira’s upcoming headlining tour with Revocation, Impending Doom, and Rise to Remain isn’t enough for you, The PRP is now reporting that the band will also headline a second leg of that trek almost immediately after the first leg concludes — and this time support will come from Unearth, Skeletonwitch and Molotov Solution. As much as I love Chimaira and Revocation, that’s actually a way, way stronger line-up; I’m not really a Molotov Solution fan, but Unearth and Skeletonwitch are both great, and greater than great in a live setting. So I feel pretty confident that these shows will just be absolutely annihilative.

You can get dates for the first leg of the tour (with Revocation, etc.) here; only two dates for the second leg are available right now, more will be announced soon. In the meantime, those dates are…

11/17 Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance
11/25 Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Revolution Live

-AR

For the latest edition of their ongoing series “The Fix,” our number one homies over at Metal Injection got Michael Amott and Sharlee D’Angelo to pick out some of their favorite videos, including clips from Fates Warning, King Diamond, Savatage, Queensrÿche, and Crimson Glory. Check that shit out below, ’cause it’s, like, way entertaining.

Don’t forget that Arch Enemy is currently headlining the North American Khaos tour, which we’re proudly co-presenting with  Full Metal Jackie. Support comes from DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic. You can get dates here.

And, of course, you can and should check out more episodes of “The Fix” over at Metal Injection.

-AR

While we continue to wait for that Killcorpse Murder project with Adam D., Corpsegrinder, and Shannon Lucas to get off the ground, here’s another newly-teased supergroup to get you all hot under the collar.

Noisecreep noticed on Friday afternoon that DevilDriver vocalist Dez Fafara and Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton announced — via their respective Twitter accounts, natch — that they were collaborating on “a bunch of KILLER tunes,” with Circus of Power, Soundgarden, and Trouble being cited as influences. And, uh, I really have no idea what that would sound like. I hear the aural relationship between Trouble and Soundgarden, but Circus of Power is where I get thrown for a loop.

ANYWAY, on Saturday The PRP strung together a bunch more of Fafara’s tweets, which seek to clarify/update the news:

Click to read more…

Nope. Not if their new song, “Reduced to the Failure of Prayer,” is any indication. ‘Cause that shit is positively Satanic. In fact, it’s hard to listen to it and not picture cities tumbling, populations ravaged by plague and forced to watch Kevin James movies, fire, brimstone, torment, and complete fucking misery — y’know, all the most fun parts of the Bible. Get your neck-snappin’ windmill on here.

And good timing on the release of the tune, too, ’cause guess what? The awesome North American Khaos tour that we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie, and which features Arch Enemy, DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch (natch), and Chthonic, starts this Thursday, September 8!!! You do no wanna miss out. Get dates here. Skeletonwitch are also doing a bunch of off-dates with DevilDriver, and a bunch of headlining shows in the Midwest; you can get those dates here.

Forever Abomination comes out October 11 on Prosthetic.

-AR

It’s rare that MS contributor Grim Kim chooses to heap praise upon bands the rest of actually know and love, but there it is, dangling like a big, juicy meatball: Absu’s Abzu as one of her picks for favorite albums of 2011 so far, as of August 10th, a full two months before its October 8 release. Our love for Absu is so great that your editors actually requested the privilege of premiering a new Absu track to the world but were rebuffed, told the band only wanted to release one full track before the album comes out and that track had already been doled out. Don’t say we never try hard for ya.

Well, our one taste of new Absu is now here. It’s called “Abraxas Connexus” and it’s streaming over at Pitchfork. And it was worth the wait. With songs this good and production this clear the Absdudes could have Skeletonwitch fans hopping onboard the wagon, and the timing is perfect given the latter’s pending new album. Sure, Absu have been a band for longer, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Here’s Grim Kim back in August on their sound:

Absu exemplify USBM’s old school, the traditional and the esoteric, and stay true to their bloody roots. They worship the old gods, and have been around long enough to call them peers. Their latest album, Abzu, is an exercise in black thrash supremacy. Proscriptor’s still got it — not like that comes as any surprise.

Listen to “Abraxas Connexus” over at Pitchfork then come back here and tell us what you think in the comments. The record comes out on October 8th via Candlelight.

-VN

You know what’s an awesome way to prepare for the North American Khaos Tour, the super-incredible Arch Enemy/DevilDriver/Skeletonwitch/Chthonic trek we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie? By checking out this stream of Chthonic’s new album, Takasago Army.

Chthonic are the only band on that tour I’m only kinda-sorta familiar with — which is to say, I’ve heard some of their music before, but I’ve never seen them live. But this Takasago Army makes me wanna check them out that much more. It’s kinda like Dimmu Borgir, if Dimmu Borgir has more Asian elements to their music, and hadn’t completely lost the thread. This is some catchy, catchy stuff.

Headbang here, then come back and let us know what you think in the comments section. Takasago Army comes out September 6 on Spinefarm; the North American Khaos Tour starts September 8. Get dates here.

-AR

Arch Enemy’s North American Khaos headlining tour — which we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie and which also features DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic — starts next week!!! I’m so goddamned excited I can’t even tell you. I haven’t seen Arch Enemy live in, like, I dunno, two years I think? And they ALWAYS MURDER in concert.

The band’s new video, for “Bloodstained Cross,” isn’t doing anything to lessen my enthusiasm, either. It’s a collection of live footage — I’m assuming filmed at the band’s recent appearances at various summer European festivals, although don’t quote me on that — and just seeing how rabid those crowds are… man. Can I go see Arch Enemy tomorrow, pretty please?

“Bloodstained Cross” comes off of Arch Enemy’s latest, Khaos Legions, which is out now on Century Media. You can get dates for their upcoming tour right here.

-AR

Skeletonwitch have released the first in a series of webisodes chronicling the making of their new album, Forever Abomination. And I know there’s a real glut of in-studio webisodes being released in this day and age of flip cams and iMovie, but you should seriously check this one out, ’cause a) Skeletonwitch rules, b) you get to hear a little bit of new music, c) you actually do get some really good dish on the album, d) you get to learn a lot about new drummer Dustin Boltjes, e) it looks like it was shot by the people who made that movie Bellflower, and f) all of the above.

Forever Abomination comes out October 11 on Prosthetic. Skeletonwitch are going to be one of the support bands on Arch Enemy’s upcoming North American headlining tour, which we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie; DevilDriver and Chthonic are also on the bill. You can get dates for that tour here. Skeletonwitch are also doing a bunch of off-dates with DevilDriver, and a bunch of headlining shows in the Midwest; you can get those dates here.

-AR

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

This month’s Decibel Flexi artist is Skeletonwitch, who have forever endeared themselves to me by picking vintage SuperSonics gold on green as their color scheme. (Note: Skeletonwitch are not from Seattle and didn’t have shit to do with the colors.) Anyway, the music on it is pretty choice, too, especially if you’re an O.G. Witch fan. And I’m talking really O.G.—like, say, the Garnette boys’ (probably nonexistent) little sister. “Tragedy of Days” was the closing instrumental to their 2004 debut At One With the Shadows. You won’t find a review in the first couple issues of Decibel because AOWTS came out on Shredded Records (someone might wanna update the actual album’s Wiki page), and sells for a handsome $80 on eBay today. Anyway, the Flexi version of “Tragedy of Days” has full vocals, so it’s essentially a brand new song. Pretty cool move on their part. You can preview it here to make sure they didn’t ruin the jam you haven’t heard—they didn’t:

Skeletonwitch “Tragedy Of Days (dB010)” by Decibel Magazine

Then secure this gem by ordering the new issue in our webstore pronto.

-AB

Decibel’s October 2011 issue also features Mastodon, The Black Dahlia Murder, YOB, Today is the Day, and a Queensrÿche/Operation: Mindcrime Hall of Fame. But the only way to ensure that you get one of these awesome flexi discs is to get a full subscription.

Skeletonwitch must be one of the most metal metal bands out there right now; there’s no pretense to their music, no core, nothing about it that’s retro, nothing about it that’s trendy, no way to describe it as anything other than “fucking metal.” Combine this with the fact that Chance Garnette is absolutely one of the most entertaining frontmen on the scene today, and, well, it is absolutely no shock that people love this band. They are worth loving.

So you’ll be happy to know that their just-released new song, “The Infernal Resurrection,” does not disappoint. It is EXACTLY what a new Skeletonwitch song should be. Check it out:

The band has also unveiled the cover art for their new album, Forever Abomination, via that album’s pre-order page. Although it’s at a slight angle for some reason. Still looks pretty fucking cool, though:

Click to read more…

That’s right! As many of you have correctly guessed by now, the headliner of the Magical Mystery Tour 2011 we’re co-presenting with Full Metal Jackie is none other than the great Arch Enemy. Yep. We basically pulled the same trick on you that we did the last time we sponsored an Arch Enemy trek. Hey, we did say that this tour has a different line-up, and, technically, we weren’t lying!

And what a line-up it is! As you now know, Arch Enemy will be joined by DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, and Chthonic. Arch Enemy’s latest, Khaos Legions, might be their strongest album in years, which is saying something, since they’ve never made a bad record; DevilDriver’s recent Beast is, well, a beast; and while we haven’t gotten to hear any new Skeletonwitch or Chthonic material yet, people in the know assure us that it’s awesome — certainly all their old stuff is!

In other words: These shows are going to be ABSOLUTELY FUCKING INSANE, so make sure you get your ass to a gig!

Get tour dates after the jump! And don’t forget that Khaos Legions is out now on Century Media.

Click to read more…

So this being metal, the powers-that-be decided they wanted to shift the schedule for this tour announcement slightly. Apologies to those who were waiting impatiently for the reveal of the identity of the next band.

The good news is, many of you correctly guessed last week that the third of the four bands on the upcoming super-duper awesome tour we’re sponsoring is, indeed, DevilDriver. They’ll join the previously announced Skeletonwitch and Chtonic on the trek, which is sure to cause chaos and cruelty without beauty wherever it goes.

But who will headline this godless entity of a tour?!?! We’ll let you know one week from today — but for now, here are some clues…

• Like Skeletonwitch, two members of this band are related.
• This is their first U.S. tour in almost two years.
• They have a new album coming out very, very, VERY soon. Like, very soon.

So get with the guessin’… come next Monday, the complete line-up shall be unveiled!!!

-Axl, Vince, and Everyone at MetalSucks

Last week we began to unveil the line-up for the awesome new tour we’re sponsoring by providing you with three clues as to the identity of the first two bands (out of four total) on the bill; by now you already know that orient metal masters Chtonic are on the trek, and a lot of you correctly guessed that the second band is Skeletonwitch. And we’d be sad that you’re all so damn good at this, only we’re way too excited about this tour to be sad about anything!

So here are your three clues as to the identity of the third band on the bill…

• They have released a new album every other year since 2003.
• They have debuted multiple music videos on MetalSucks!
• One of their most famous anthems is about the weather on the West Coast.

Have you figured it out? Get all your guessin’ in now before we reveal who it is on Friday, June 3!

-Axl, Vince, and Everyone at MetalSucks

The bad news is that drummer Derrick Nau has left the band, although apparently under amicable circumstances — in a statement, the group says that Nau ”is returning to art school and does not wish to be a musician anymore.” C’est la vie.

The great news is that the band has already named a replacement for Nau, and that replacement is Tony Laureano, who, the statement says, “will be playing drums on our April tour, new album, and for the foreseeable future.”

Click to read more…

Well, the line-up for this year’s New England Metal & Hardcore Festival — one of the oldest and most revered extreme music fests in the U.S. — has been announced, and it’s… interesting. The fest returns to a three-day format after being only two days last year, but if I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the initial day will be a Thursday, not a Friday. And as reader Brian Kessler pointed out to us via e-mail, there are two noteworthy aspects to the lineup:

• It seems like metal and hardcore have been further segregated on the bill — Thursday appears to be almost entirely dedicated to deathcore and crabcore bands, Friday seems to be entirely devoted to hardcore bands, and Saturday is dominated by metal bands. There are pros and cons to this approach — the pro being that if you’re only a fan of one particular style of extreme music, you can cherry pick which day you’re going to attend, and the con being that new fans are less likely to be exposed to bands with whom they were not already familiar.
• There seem to be fewer “big name” acts. Sure, Hatebreed and Biohazard are on there, but that’s still a far cry from years’ past. In fact, plenty of big name who have new albums scheduled to come out this year — like Amon Amarth, DevilDriver, Arch Enemy, In Flames, and Children of Bodom — aren’t playing the fest.

Please note that I’m not knocking the fest — in fact, I think Saturday, April 16 is full of killer bands — and I don’t think every fest needs to be headlined by a band of Megadeth’s stature. I just think this particular line-up is… interesting.

Anyway, here’s the full bill:

Click to read more…

Well, the line-up for this year’s New England Metal & Hardcore Festival — one of the oldest and most revered extreme music fests in the U.S. — has been announced, and it’s… interesting. The fest returns to a three-day format after being only two days last year, but if I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the initial day will be a Thursday, not a Friday. And as reader Brian Kessler pointed out to us via e-mail, there are two noteworthy aspects to the lineup:

• It seems like metal and hardcore have been further segregated on the bill — Thursday appears to be almost entirely dedicated to deathcore and crabcore bands, Friday seems to be entirely devoted to hardcore bands, and Saturday is dominated by metal bands. There are pros and cons to this approach — the pro being that if you’re only a fan of one particular style of extreme music, you can cherry pick which day you’re going to attend, and the con being that new fans are less likely to be exposed to bands with whom they were not already familiar.
• There seem to be fewer “big name” acts. Sure, Hatebreed and Biohazard are on there, but that’s still a far cry from years’ past. In fact, plenty of big name who have new albums scheduled to come out this year — like Amon Amarth, DevilDriver, Arch Enemy, In Flames, and Children of Bodom — aren’t playing the fest.

Please note that I’m not knocking the fest — in fact, I think Saturday, April 16 is full of killer bands — and I don’t think every fest needs to be headlined by a band of Megadeth’s stature. I just think this particular line-up is… interesting.

Anyway, here’s the full bill:

Click to read more…

[UPDATE: Now with actual pics included! Sorry. -Ed.]

Earlier this week we shared with you some photos taken by Alyssa Lorenzon at the First Unitarian Church in Philadelphia on December 17th, 2010, and those pics were some of the bad-assiest, hairiest, most metal pics of Skeletonwitch we’ve ever seen. Fellow MS photographer Mariel Pietrykoski was on-hand at the same show and snapped some excellent pics of the other bands on the bill, A Life Once Lost, Job For A Cowboy and Misery Index. Those pics after the jump!

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And so all our photographic coverage of 2010 will soon finally come to a conclusion — but we’re not done with last year yet! For example, peep these incredible shots of Skeletonwitch, witch (rimshot!) MetalSucks photographer/all-around badass Alyssa Lorenzon took at the First Unitarian Church inPhiladelphia on December 17, 2010. We weren’t able to be there with Alyssa that night, but judging by the photos, the show was a lot of fun, and a total hair tornado. Check out  all of Alyssa’s pics after the jump!!!

Click to read more…