MetalSucks

Last week Axl posted a metal cover of the Super Mario Bros. theme song; it was pretty fuckin’ cool, but with all due respect I think Nylithia’s metal cover of the “castle” music theme, sent in by MS Maniac Scott Bahash, blows it away. You’ve got shred, you’ve got real drums (as opposed to programmed), you’ve got live video of the band playing, and I like that this version is way more interpretive as opposed to just a straight cover. The ending is absolutely epic, too:

MS Maniac Will Mellor sent in this 8-bit cover of Slayer’s “Angel of Death,” which is also pretty good:

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I was seriously worried about the fate of Demiricous, and with good reason, I’d say. The best band ever to sound exactly like Slayer that aren’t actually Slayer, the Hoosier quartet made two killer albums on Metal Blade (produced by Zeuss and ERIK FUCKING RUTAN, respectively) and were endorsed by no less a figure than Mr. Kerry King himself. But then they were, at least as I understand it, more or less completely ripped-off by their then-manager, and they finally parted ways with Metal Blade last year. No one could blame them if they broke up. Bands break up over much less these days.

But now Lambgoat is reporting that Demiricous is, in fact, alive and well, and will enter the studio in November to record a new five-song demo with Gates of Slumber drummer “Iron” Bob Fouts. They still don’t have a label and “will issue the material themselves.” That part confuses me a bit – I mean, I’m thrilled to get to hear new Demiricous music, but is it a demo to try and land them a new label, or is it a self-released EP…? Whatever. Why look a gift horse in the mouth?

Here’s the band’s video for “Vagrant Idol.” Holy shit, this song is heavy.

-AR

I’m usually anti-cover album – what’s the point, really? – but I have to admit that I’m more than a little curious to hear Children of Bodom’s Skeletons in the Closet… but mostly for non-metal or not-really-metal reasons. I mean, I’m sure that COB can pull off Slayer and Sepultura songs without breaking a sweat, but what’s it gonna sound like when Alexi and company do Creedence? Kenny Rogers? Pat Benatar? Their Brit-Brit cover (which will be on the new disc) sounded surprisingly Bodom-like, as though the Reigning White Trash Queen of Pop had never even existed. And can you think of another melodeathrash band more suited to do hair metal covers of Poison and W.A.S.P.?

So. Skeletons in the Closet comes out September 23 on Spinefarm. The band is now streaming two new re-makes, of Suicidal Tendencies’ “War Inside My Head” and Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell,” on their MySpace page. Throw back a few shots and play ‘em loud. That’s how COB would want it, motherfuckers.

-AR

It was a mere two weeks ago that I was feeling pretty cynical about the prospects of a rumored Big Four tour becoming a reality. It just seems like there’s too much bad blood between too many of the bands for everyone to hit the road together.

But there’s also a lot of money to be made there, and in 2009 money wins every fight, even in the world of metal.

So here comes Robert Trujillo to get the rumor pot a-stirrin’ again. In a recent interview, the man/crab hybrid had this to say:

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Our friends over at Noisecreep have an interesting new interview with former Killswitch Engage front dude Jesse Leach. The gist of the interview is that he doesn’t regret quitting the band seven years ago, just before they were launched into the metal stratosphere, and much prefers making less money and being in bands no one seems to care about. (Okay, I made that last part up. But still.) Here’s the quote I found really interesting:

“I look at the band now, and I don’t even think twice. There’s no way in my brain I could fathom being on stage, doing what they’re doing. Maybe if it were on my own terms, but from what I’ve seen them do, they’ve kind of taken a goofier route with Adam D… I love it, I get it, I respect it … it’s very punk rock and tongue-in-cheek, but that’s not who I am.”

Of course I love Alive or Just Breathing, but really did not enjoy Leach’s Seemless project. Not even a little bit, not even when I was stoned. So, whatever.

He  is now apparently fronting a band called Empire Shall Fall, which is literally a one-word change from one of Leach’s lyrics for “Numbered Days.” Maybe Leach can recruit Kerry King to play guitar for that band, and they can be happily un-goofy together.

-AR

It wouldn’t be Slayer cover art if it weren’t gruesome. And the cover for World Painted Blood is pretty gruesome.

Actually, it’s technically four pieces of cover art that all come together to make the big picture you see above. Says a press release:

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When he isn’t busy feuding with Dave Mustaine, Scott Ian or any given member of Metallica, Kerry King sometimes likes to take shots at the younger generation of metal musicians. Because, well,  Most recently, while touring with Killswitch Engage as part of the 2009 edition of Mayhem Fest, King claimed that he’s “offended by the silliness” of KSE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, whom King also alleged “puts his foot in his mouth all the time and says stupid shit.”

Well, it only took two months, but a member of KSE has finally responded.

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Seriously: wearing sun glasses indoors is such a douche bag move. It’s the kind of thing that makes me want to pick fights with strangers – I just wanna knock that shit right off their face. What the fuck is wrong with these assholes? You don’t look cool. You look like a twerp.

Of course, I’ll give Dave Lombardo a pass. Why? ‘Cause he just might be the greatest metal drummer of all time. Duh.

So here’s Metal Injection’s interview with Mr. Lombardo, which took place last month at Mayhem. Enjoy it, and disregard the skinsman’s decision to wear his shades in the middle of a windowless room.

-AR

It’s Labor Day weekend here in the U.S., which means we’re shuttering the Mansion early this week, and won’t be back ’til Tuesday. We’re sure you’ll find some way to live without us.

Here’s some shit that happened this week:

• We debuted a new track from Salome.
• Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima sent in his final guest-blog from the studio, and revealed the track listing for the band’s upcoming album, Scenes from Hell.
• We chatted with Trivium’s Matt Heafy, The Black Dahlia Murder’s Trevor Strnad, Job for a Cowboy’s Brent Riggs, and All That Remains’ Phil LaBonte.
• We celebrated the triumphant return of Beavis & Butt-Head, and decided that in their particular relationship, Vince is the Beavis to Axl’s Butt-Head.
• Tom Araya thinks Dave Mustaine is a dick, Kerry King thinks Dave Mustaine is a dick, Scott Ian thinks Kerry King is a dick, and everyone in Dimmu Borgir thinks that everyone else in Dimmu Borgir is a dick.

Alright. I’m going to enjoy a little sunshine while I still can. See ya Tuesday!

-AR

When we interviewed Tom Araya a few weeks back, I asked him if the Megadeth/Slayer tour that hit Canada earlier this year and will now make its way to Australia and New Zealand is ever coming to the States. His response?

“You know, [Dave Mustaine is] lucky we did the Canadian dates.”

Araya chuckled when he said it – the dude is too chill to really get angry angry, or at least that was my impression of him – but there was obviously some bad blood there. Shit-stirrer that I am, I made a feeble attempt to draw more ire out of Araya, with no love.

So kudos to Mark Eglinton from The Quietus, who Blabbermouth tells me got this little exchange out of Araya:

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Yesterday, Scott Ian tweeted a response to Kerry King’s accusation that Anthrax have “been in pieces for quite some time.” The tweet pointed towards a recent, possible one-off reunion show with John Bush; I eagerly hoped it was a sign that Bush is coming back to the band for good.

Well, we still don’t know if he is or not. But we do know that he’s gonna do another gig with the ‘Thrax, this time at the Loud Park festival in Japan this October. (Interestingly enough, Slayer and Megadeth are also on the bill.)

I take that as a good sign that Bush is, indeed, negotiating (or something) to re-join Anthrax. But obviously we need to wait for some kind of official confirmation from the group.

Fingers crossed…

-AR

Presumably in response to Kerry King’s claim that “There’s better options than Anthrax [for a tour mate] and that’s nothing against Anthrax, but they’ve just been in pieces for quite some time and that doesn’t make as much sense to me,” Ian tweets:

“Guess Kerry missed Sonisphere”

Does that mean John Bush is back for good? Pretty please with a cherry on top?

This tour is never fucking happening.

-AR

If any two of the big four bands tour together, I think it’d be a pretty sweet show. Any three? Fucking amazing. But all four? That would have to be some kind of miracle, right? I mean, half these dudes hate each other. King and Mustaine practically make their living talking shit about Metallica – and one another, for that matter. So it’ll never happen, right?

Well, King now tells Metal Hammer otherwise. Sort of.

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November 3 in the US, November 2 everywhere else. That comes directly from an official press release, so I think we can accept it as for reals this time.

The release also tells us that there will be “a limited edition CD with multiple CD covers, a deluxe edition CD/DVD, and a high-quality, 180-gram vinyl edition.” Presumably cover art is forthcoming.

I’m excited.

-AR

So maybe the Megadeth/Slayer tour won’t be coming to the States after all.

After successfully completing a very short Canadian run together, it looked like the two thrash giants had finally kissed and made-up. (The long-standing King/Mustaine feud is infamous.) Then Mustaine had to go and be a dick.

Well, now it seems that Kerry King has responded, albeit indirectly. Blabbermouth, transcribing from a video from a site called Metal Sickness, reports that King said the following at a press conference in Paris on Monday:

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I suspect that, save for the weirdos and closeted avant-jazz heads lurking among our readership, many of you are unaware of or oblivious to the work of Trevor Dunn. Of course, any Mr. Bungle fan will instantly recognize the name of that seminal band’s bassist. Produced by the influential and infamous John Zorn, its 1991 self-titled debut might be one of most bizarre albums in my collection of bizarre albums, blending bombastic hard rock, demented circus music, and freak jazz with thematic wit, irreverence, and depravity. In subsequent years, the Mike Patton-fronted group took a proverbial backseat to the vocalist’s work in the comparatively more successful Faith No More, leaving Dunn and his cohorts to pursue other musical ventures including Secret Chiefs 3. Though Mr. Bungle ultimately and mysteriously disbanded after the release of its third album California, Patton and Dunn would continue their musical partnership in the experimental metal supergroup Fantomas–a still technically active quartet that also includes Melvins’ esteemed axeman Buzz Osbourne and Slayer’s revered drummer Dave Lombardo–as well as the related Fantomas-Melvins Big Band and Zorn’s “Moonchild”. Separately, Dunn has spent much of this decade as a major player in New York’s avant-jazz community, featuring in countless groups and albums including his own Trio-Convulsant. MadLove, however, might be the most extraordinary (and frustrating) release of Dunn’s career given its curious straightforwardness and accessibility.

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Somebody call Frankie and Annette!

I don’t really go to the beach much these days (’cause the sun is so not metal, dude), but if I did, I’d definitely want this. Why? Because a) I’m a dork and b) hopefully it would scare some people.

No word yet on whether or not Cannibal Corpse are going to issue Tomb of the Mutilated-themed swim trunks. But while we’re waiting, here’s some photos of girls in Winds of Plague panties. ‘Cause, y’know, why not?

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Tom Araya needs no introduction. Seriously. We’re not introducing him. If you don’t know who he is, you have no business reading this website. Axl recently found out that our intern had never listened to Slayer, and you know what he did? First he got all the MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys to throw feces at the intern, and then he locked the intern in a room and made him listen to Slayer’s entire discography for days and days on end.

We will tell you this: Araya is a very chill, jovial dude; Slayer have a new album, World Painted Blood, coming out in October; and we successfully managed to make it through this interview at Mayhem Fest without peeing ourselves or dropping to our knees and shouting “WE’RE NOT WORTHY! WE’RE NOT WORTHY!” Although it was a struggle.

Our full chat with Araya after the jump.

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I picked up my copy of The New York Times this morning – yes, I still sometimes read a physical newspaper, ’cause I’m a dick like that – and was more than a little surprised to see Tom Araya’s photo alongside that of some distinctly non-metal performers on the front page of the arts section. Intrigued, I read the following:

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MetalSucks Maniac Matt Fields sent us the below video with this simple message:

“I really do not see what credential this man has to criticize Limp Bizkit.”

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