At age five, Tom Araya left Chile with his family to come to America. Fifteen years after that, he joined the then-fledgling band Slayer. Thirty years after that (i.e., now), Slayer enjoys acclaim only shared by Iron Maiden in consistency and intensity. And as Maiden is fronted by the greatest metal singer of all time, Slayer has Araya, metal’s most compelling, visceral screamer. Two notes are all he needs. I’d attend NASCAR if he were the announcer; if he were a salesman, I’d buy used toilets from the dude.

Word of Araya’s skillz (and cuddly-bear disposition) seems to have reached authorities in Chile, as Friday he was granted the key to the city of Viña del Mar, his birthplace. Araya said:

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SHAME ON ME! I almost forgot that today is June 6, a.k.a. “The Internatinal Day of Slayer,” until our friend Zena Metal reminded me (and by “me,” I mean “anyone who reads her website”). In any case, if you’re looking for a good excuse to drink Jäger until you puke and/or get right up in the face of some random person on the street and shout “SSSSLLLLAAAYYYYEEERRR!!!!“, well, now you have one. Just tell your boss you’re going home early because it’s a religious holiday. It’s cool, I’m sure he’ll understand.

To help you celebrate, here’s some video of the band in 1991, when Tom Araya could still headbang and Kerry King still had hair. WEIRD!!!

-AR

If you’re American, you already know it’s Memorial Day weekend, and, in fact, you’re probably either already on your way to the beach/a BBQ/a terrible summer movie/whatever, and are reading this after it was published. If you’re not American, all you really need to know is that we’re breaking out right now, and won’t be here on Monday. Usual tomfoolery will resume on Tuesday, May 31.

In the meantime, here’s how we kept busy this week:

• We debuted new music from Job for a Cowboy, Tombs, Unearth, and Vaulting.
• We spoke to Neil Fallon from Clutch.
• We continued to unveil our list of The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists.
• We checked out the latest releases from Dark Castle and Embers.
• Sergeant D. examined comedy metal.
• Leyla Ford examined Lady GaGa’s metal-ness.
• Anso wondered if Slayer pinball is better than recent Slayer albums.
• We got really excited about the new Gojira song.
• We got less excited about the new Bury Your Dead song.
• We watched you folks debated about the new Trivium song.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I am going to put these tips for using the toilet to good use before I head out for the weekend. See ya Tuesday!

-AR

Am I crazy or does World Painted Blood suck? Is Slayer moving forward or caving to the post-Slipknot shitty production trend? Am I a fossil who can’t deal with a classic band’s evolution? I love serial killers and hate religion, so what’s the deal? Why did critics splooge all over this record, and do fans agree?

During a recent plane trip, I played about four hours of Slayer pinball on my mobile tablet device — to the dismay of my westerly neighbor, who frowned from behind her religious-themed novel presumably at the game’s huge glowing pentagram — and it got me thinking about World Painted Blood. Like 2006′s mehtastic Christ Illusion, the 2009 record arrived amid a rush of acclaim — as though a spiteful metal media corps had a chance to bestow retroactive cheers upon a critically spurned but iconic band. Or maybe the album is awesome, and therefore deserving of warm reception even from fancy music writers at The Onion and All Music Guide. But I don’t think so.

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Max Cavalera is a name you’ve probably heard recently. His band, Cavalera Conspiracy, has been making waves in the metal world with their latest release, Blunt Force Trauma, and are currently on tour in the U.S. But here’s something you might not have known: he’s been at this for decades.

Max, along with his esteemed colleague and brother, Igor, made some of the most beastly and innovative thrash in the mid 80’s and 90’s in the highly influential, underground metal outlet, Sepultura (Portuguese for “grave”). Unfortunately personal differences in ’96 drew him away from the band. Upon relocating to the States, he focused his talents on a new project, the still-running Soulfly (English for “Mighty-Spirit-Mosquito”).

For years Max worked tirelessly with the group, releasing seven studio album’s and gradually building a cult following in the process. Now with a new band and his brother back at his side, the world is finally taking notice.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with the bearded bellower to get the skinny on the new album and see what he makes of his recent success.

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So we’re now five axe slingers deep into out list of The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists. We predicted that the list would get a lot of you angry, and, no shock, it has. Funny thing is, reading the comments, as of yet not one of you has correctly predicted which guitar player is gonna be #1. So, just lettin’ you know… you may be even angrier in the coming weeks, or maybe you’ll be less angry, but so far, it seems like you guys just do not see it comin’.

While you chew on that, here’s some other fun things we did this week:

• We premiered new music from Hate Eternal, Arch Enemy, and Nader Sadek.
• We enjoyed a new episode of “Cooking Contaminated,” this one featuring King Fowley of Deceased.
• We checked out the latest releases from Benighted and Zubrowska.
• We wondered if Metallica and friends have gone too far in their quest for the Big Fortune.
• We checked out some *real* hardcore.
• We weighed Donald Trump’s claim that President Obama was the first drummer for Overkill.
• We wondered why talent can’t be passed down via genetics.
• We weighed, compared and contrasted multiple metal concerts showcasing female-fronted bands.
• We prayed for Kurt Cobain to rise from his grave and off Miley Cyrus.
• We wondered whether or not Dave Grohl is gonna be on the new Mastodon album.

And so, in conclusion… I am going to get a slice of pizza now.

See ya next week.

-AR

Few of us are so naive as to expect the members of a huge band like Metallica to retain any connection to reality. If we, the fans, have learned anything from rock docs and hammy celebrity bios, it’s that mega-success ensures isolation, and constructs a treadmill for goal-crazed egomaniacs forever in search of their next round of applause. Hey, that’s human; we search out what feels good, even if we must disregard what is right.

And there is little right about Monday night’s announcement of ticket pricing structures for the upcoming Big Four gig at Yankee Stadium. At best, or least, a would-be ticketbuyer shells out about $100+ to squint stageward from a neighboring zip code, and possibly even provide band management with advance notice of impending weather changes. At worst, leather coat and V-neck sweater types can populate the “front general admission” area in exchange for $225 (plus the above- and below-table fees affixed by each link in the live music production chain).

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Since summer and, thus, summer festivals are almost upon us, I thought I’d take a closer look at Sonisphere, one of the biggest European music festivals. Mostly because I wanted to do some research on it, since  it’s the only festival in which I am indulging this year. Probably.

(Note: I don’t much like festivals, especially ones that are outdoors. The bands I like never play for that long ,and unless I want to be stuck in the way back, I have to suffer through all the other artists just to get a decent spot. Not to mention, the weather. I hate hot weather. I swear to God I was born with menopause, because I’m always having hot flashes. I try to spend my summers carefully planning my routes with air conditioning and avoiding any chance of getting damp that isn’t shower or pool/sea/any body of water-related. But no one likes a cranky, sweaty bitch, and I split my time between two especially humid cities, so I grit my teeth and steel myself for my few months of personal hell.)

The Sonisphere Festival has been around only since 2009, when Stuart Galbraith joined the events company Kilimanjaro Live. His idea was to hold a series of events that would change and adapt to wherever they were being held. That’s what is really interesting about Sonisphere — unlike a traveling festival with one specific list of musicians and bands that tour the continent, they have a changing roster of artists for each “territory.” In 2009, the Germany date featured Die Toten Hosen and The Prodigy, adding a more punk and house air to the festival, while the Sweden shows featured The Cult and Primal Scream to suit their audience. Of course, there are bands that headline each show (in this case it was Metallica), but I’ve never seen audience preference be such a priority for a huge festival.

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In news that should shock no one , following last week’s highly-discussable first-ever U.S. Big Four (I’ve decided I’m not writing “Big 4″ anymore, no matter what the posters say. I’m a grown up and I can take 2 extra seconds to actually type out a number.*) show, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax have announced another concert — this one on the East Coast. It will take place at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday, September 14.

A Wednesday in September. What a bunch of fucking assholes.

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(click to enlarge… so worth it)

OK, really, last Big Four post, I promise… at least until the inevitable announcement of more U.S. Big Snore dates reignites discussion about whether anyone really gives a shit. But I just couldn’t resist posting this gnarly photo of Jeff Hanneman’s spider-bitten, skin-grafted, surgically repaired right arm as he surprised an audience of 50,000 by joining Slayer for their two-song encore of “South of Heaven” and “Angel of Death.” That pretty much defines brutal.

-VN

Photo Credit:  www.AndrewStuart.me

Okay so I know we’ve just about run this Big 4 shit into the ground this week, but this is so priceless I just had to share it.

My friend, who we will refer to here only as M.A., lives in Los Angeles, and is not a metalhead. But her boyfriend is — or, at least, he’s a fan of certain bands from a certain era — and so it was with some curiosity that she accompanied him this past weekend to the Big 4 show in California.

So I shot her an e-mail this morning to see how she liked the show. What follows is her response. As metal fan, you will most certainly appreciate all her observations about the show:

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Someone has to say it: of all the hype, real or imagined, surrounding the first U.S. Big Four show in California this weekend and I, for one, am not buying it. Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax playing together at one show? Yawn.

Dave Mustaine can’t sing / is a boring performer. Even when they aren’t down a member, Slayer are stiff as boards and one show isn’t distinguishable from any other. Anthrax are playing with Joey Suckadonna, which could nevertheless be mildly interesting. Metallica are always great live, even if their new material isn’t. So I’d basically be going to see a Metallica show with tepid warm-up act Belladonna Anthrax and two sets of statues in between.

The specter of such a show during the bands’ primes — or even close to their primes, between 25 and 15 years ago — would’ve been incredibly exciting. Now it just feels like a cash grab for the bands, duping fans looking to relive their glory years by paying insane ticket prices on top of whatever they’ve got to pay the babysitter and spend on $4.50/gallon gas to get out to Indio. To me it all seems like a waste. If I wanted to see Metallica I had nearly half a dozen chances in the past few years and will surely have more; if I want to see Belladonna butcher Bush-era Anthrax songs I will no doubt have the chance to see that in the near future. So what’s the point?

On the other hand, you would’ve gotten to see this: [from Invisible Oranges]

Weigh in with your thoughts on the Big Four below. Did any of you go out to Indio this weekend?

-VN

Not much else to say, other than that this rules and that I particularly dig their outside-the-box interpretation of the verses.

-VN

Thanks: Amelia Rupp

Photo by Alison Webster

This month, brutal death metal trio Hate Eternal, led by producer/guitarist Erik Rutan, has been at the center of a pitched battle between MS co-lord Axl Rosenberg and MS writer-at-large Anso DF. The conflict? Is Hate Eternal’s forthcoming Phoenix Amongst The Ashes record awesomely killer (per Axl) or is it insanely ripping (per Anso)? Does it fuck the face and slam the nutz (Anso) or does it render each listener “so fucking happy to be alive” (Axl)? Can its production and performances better be described as a high watermark of contemporary metal (Axl) or as a gift from another realm to every living music listener (Anso)? Is Phoenix a shoo-in for metal album of the year (Axl) or does it crush every other record on earth (Anso)?

Welcome to our love war.

When the time came to phone up Rutan for a discussion of Phoenix and other Hate Eternal affairs, we at MetalSucks opted to settle this battle of agreement with an interview conducted by both Axl Rosenberg and Anso DF. Unsurprisingly, Rutan took on the task with good humor and ease, only succumbing to confusion at times when Axl and Anso simultaneously rushed to hail Phoenix and its predecessor Fury & Flames. In its unexpurgated glory, we present our very special double-team interview of the great Erik Rutan.

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I regularly lord it over everybody that I attended the final Pantera show ever! It 2001 at the inaugural Beast Feast two-day jam in Yokohama, Japan, also headlined by Slayer, Sepultura, and Machine Head. But by Pantera’s fest-closing set on day two, I was hardly in command of my senses because A.) drugs; and B.) late-night Skinless. See, for the truly metal and/or too high to find the train station, Beast Feast had an overnight gig nearby that bridged days one and two. And Skinless, taking the stage after the great Taiho, absolutely owned that show! They ripped! They raged! They rippaged! Memories.

So it sucks baboon balls to hear this bunch of boner-breaking jive from Skinless honcho Noah Carpenter:

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I was bummed last month when I heard that FUBAR‘s Dean “Deaner” Murdoch (Paul J. Spence) was detained at the Canadian border and would not grace the SXSW Film Festival with his presence. So, I took matter into my own hands and tracked the one-balled mustachioed metalhead down and asked him for some sticky pearls of wisdom. Instead, he gave me a Top 10 list. – CM

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I love that “Tour Of Italy” sampler at Olive Garden where you get one of all their different appetizers!! I usually end up eating all the Parmesan Calamari Fritters first and being so full I can barely even get to the Tuscan Eggplant Fingers, but the point is that variety is the spice of life. I mean all of their appetizers are so good, how can you pick just one??? Each one is delicious in its own way, and the best way to enjoy them is by having a little bit of everything. And what is the only thing as varied, delicious and universally loved as Olive Garden? That’s right: fucking BREAKDOWNS!

Like the Tour Of Italy, there are a million different kinds of breakdowns, and they are all awesome in their own way. No single genre has a monopoly on it: there are breakdowns in pretty much every kind of music, and they all go hard. I think it’s a beautiful testament to how music brings us all together that whether you are into punk, hardcore, metal or whatever, we can all agree that breakdowns are the best part of every song!

In this post, I will share some of the greatest breakdowns throughout history, like the Tour Of Italy, only for moshing. It is far from a comprehensive list, just a sampler to get the conversation started. Check these out, post your favorite breakdowns in the comments, and help us answer the one of life’s big questions: what is THE BEST BREAKDOWN OF ALL TIME???

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So Lambgoat tells me that Prosthetic Records’ latest sign is a band from Chicago, Black September. And trying to be a dutiful blogger, I’m listening this band for the first time now, and while their brand of black metal is nothing you haven’t heard before, it’s also pretty good stuff — nice riffage, appropriately vitriolic vocals, some songwriting chops… I could imagine this band being really fun live, too.

All of that being said, I really, really wish this band didn’t have the same moniker as the Palestinian terrorist group that kidnapped and murdered eleven Israeli athletes in addition to a West German police officer at the ’72 Munich Summer Olympics.

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While a press release assures us that Jeff Hanneman “has amazed his doctors with his speedy recovery from an infection thought to have been caused by a spider bite” and “has already been practicing with his guitar,” the Slayer guitarist apparently isn’t quite ready to step back into the fold yet. And Gary Holt, who has been filling in for Hanneman, has to go back to his own band — some group called Exodus. So, y’know, in case the headline didn’t already spoil the suspense… yep, Cannibal Corpse’s Pat O’Brien is the new temporary guitarist for Slayer.

O’Brien is just as strong a pick as Holt, if ya ask me; if Exodus are one of Slayer’s most revered peers, Cannibal Corpse are one of Slayer’s most accomplished disciples (no reference to the song intended). There can be no doubt that there would be no Cannibal Corpse without Slayer, and O’Brien’s style is a perfect fit for the latter band.

So Holt will continue to play with Slayer ’til April 4, and then O’Brien takes over. Here are the remaining announced tour dates with both axe men…

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I guess that Slayer/Marilyn Manson team-up from a few years back (no, not the Mayhem Fest one, the one before that) was a big hit, ’cause the band are once again doing a summer co-headlining tour with an industrial shock rocker who probably holds more mainstream appeal than they do — namely, Rob Zombie. I don’t know what the overlap of Slayer/Zombie fans actually is (Do Slayer fans think Zombie is too soft and poppy? Do Zombie fans think Slayer is too fast and lacking in hooks?), but it seems to me that this is exactly the kind of show where getting the cheapest seats available and drinking an INSANE amount throughout the evening would pretty much guarantee you a fun time.

Not hurting this line-up one bit is the fact that Exodus are playing support. It’ll be interesting to see if Jeff Hanneman has recovered and re-joined Slayer by the time this trek kicks off, or if Gary Holt will be pulling double-duty. Either way, awesome sauce.

Dates are after the jump… they’re only playing twelve gigs for whatever reason, so the vast majority of you should prepare to be sad (or indifferent, I suppose, depending on your own personal views about this line-up):

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