All signs pointed towards a new Probot record this year, whatwith recent news of Dave Grohl collaborating with such metal luminaries as Ratt’s Stephen Pearcy and Warren DeMartini and Slipknot’s Corey Taylor, but now it appears that’s not the case.

Taylor recently gave an interview to Artisan News Service at Zakk Wylde’s Celebrity Roast [above, via Metal Injection] in which he revealed that Grohl is working on a documentary about Sound City Studios — the legendary California studios where Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Slipknot and many others recorded groundbreaking albums — and he’s recording some kind of companion project on the original Sound City mixing console (now housed elsewhere) to go along with it.

It’s not quite a new Probot record but it still sounds pretty cool, yeah? The Grohl + Ratt combo in particular turns me on.

-VN

Following in Slash’s footsteps, Corey Taylor and Clown from Slipknot have now launched their own film production company, Living Breathing Films. And they apparently made the below short, Thy Shalt I, to show at the company’s launch party.

Now, one might reasonably assume that a short film produced specifically to be shown at a launch party would be some kind of statement of intent — in other words, a way of the filmmakers declaring, “This is the kind of work we intend to do.” But if we assume that that’s the case here, well, apparently Living Breathing Films intends to make boring, cheap horror movies that are completely lacking in tension, style, and narrative coherence. Thy Shalt I isn’t even fifteen minutes long, and I barely made it through a third of the thing before giving up. It’s not as bad as the worst student films I’ve ever seen, but it’s probably as bad as the second-worst tier of student films I’ve ever seen.

Hopefully, Thou Shalt I isn’t actually a declaration of intent, and has nothing to do with the movies these fellas plan to make. Either that, or the company’s active purpose is to cure insomnia. In which case, BRAVO!

-AR

[via The PRP]

The rumor was that this year’s edition of Mayhem Fest would feature Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Whitechapel; yesterday, we got confirmation that Slipknot are indeed headlining the outing, and now all the other bands have been confirmed, too. In fact, the only band on the bill that WASN’T rumored to be in the line-up is Asking Alexandria. I’m assuming the festival’s organizers kept that one top-secret on purpose; I mean, I wouldn’t want people to know I was working with Asking Alexandria, either.

All kidding aside, the only bands here I’d consider a total miss are The Devil Wears Prada and the aforementioned Asking Alexandria, and I’m aware that, yes, while I personally may loathe those bands, they will put butts in seats. The rest of the line-up is great; this is obviously Slipknot’s big U.S. comeback tour, and the combination of them and Slayer alone should pretty much guarantee that every metal fan in the country shows up for this thing.

Dates are after the jump, courtesy of Metal Inejection.

Click to read more…

Uh… whoops.

The full line-up for this year’s Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival isn’t scheduled to be unveiled until tomorrow — but a rep for Ibanez has now confirmed that the rumor that Slipknot will be one of the headliners on the this year’s installment of the tour. I don’t know if it was an accident and the guy didn’t realize he wasn’t supposed to say anything, or if he’s a marketing genius and he realized that letting the cat out of the bag early would get thousands of metal fans across the web to watch a video about the product he’s selling, but whatever I guess.

You can check out in the video below; the confirmation of Slipknot’s participating in the fest comes at about the ten second mark.

A source close to the festival told us over the weekend that several of the other rumored acts, including Slayer and Anthrax, will, indeed, also be on the this year’s bill. I guess we’ll find out for sure when the roster is officially announced tomorrow.

-AR

[via The PRP]

Here’s a totally accurate chronology of my Lacuna Coil fandom: I heard a killer LC jam on the radio and was awed by singer Cristina Scabbia. Then I saw a band photo and got awestruck this time by Scabbia the woman. Then once fourth album Karmacode came out in 2007, my awe umbrella’ed out to include the songwriters of Lacuna Coil and, upon 2009’s Shallow Life, also their producer Don Gilmore.

But here’s where I’ll get all Oprah: Though a huge fan of Scabbia’s voice and a forged-by-nature respondent to her wealth of physical charms, I find the most awesome Scabbia is not the singer or the super-fox; she’s most awesome at being a bud, an honest dude, and a great chat. When we connected last week to talk about Dark Adrenaline, the once-delayed sixth Lacuna Coil album (out tomorrow), she effortlessly plowed through abstract questions and hasty analogies, and totally got the vibe of my persistent nagging about sales, producers, and artistic integrity. It was awesome!

Click to read more…

Earlier this week, rumors began to circulate about the line-up for the 2012 edition of Summer Slaughter, and if they’re even kinda-sorta true, the package tour may have put together its best bill ever. Now, The PRP is reporting unconfirmed rumors about the line-up for the 2012 edition of Mayhem Fest, and it sounds like the organizers of that tour ain’t slouching, either: Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, Anthrax, The Devil Wears Prada, As I Lay Dying and Whitechapel are all said to be possibilites for this year’s installment of the festival.

Like I said, these are currently unconfirmed rumors, and even The PRP says that “a grain (or more) of salt should be taken” with ‘em. But can you imagine if that line-up is real? I actually think the bill has been on the weaker side for Mayhem for the past couple of years, but even with The Devil Wears Prada (who are horrendous) and Whitechapel (who aren’t horrendous but just really are not my thing) on the tour, having Slipknot, Slayer, Motorhead, Anthrax, and As I Lay Dying all on one show would make it unmissable. And I have to imagine that those would all be mainstage acts, which means there would still be X number of potentially awesome slots available on the secondary stages.

The actual, official line-up will be announced on January 25, so this time next week, we’ll know whether or not these rumors were not really rumors at all. Fingers crossed…

-AR

(Photo Credit: Jennifer Pottheiser for iHeartRadio)

I admit, I was skeptical about Scott Weiland’s decision to release an album of Christmas songs. I fucking hate Christmas songs. But you know what? He pulls it off.

Last night I had the opportunity to see Scott Weiland perform a private show in an intimate, 100-person setting with an 8-piece jazz band backing him up. Weiland came out wearing a white tux, his hair-slicked back all Bing Crosby-like, sobriety level dubious at best. The first three songs were all Christmas classics from his new album and he delivered them with startling sincerity and flair, his smooth baritone fitting the part perfectly. Then things got weird: an obscure STP song (“Wonderful” from 2001′s Shangri-La Dee Da) and a cringe-worthy cover of Velvet Revolver’s “Do It For the Kids,” followed by a convincing version of “Vaseline” that brought things back to reality and an impromptu jam to close the set. But you know what? He really seemed most at home, most comfortable, singing those Christmas songs.

Click to read more…

It’s no secret that Rick Rubin is what might be best described as a “hands off” producer. Based on what little I know about the guy, he wasn’t always that way — but these days, he has a reputation for being more a guru who comes into the studio X number of times a week and tells the band what they’re doing wrong before moving onto his next appointment. Y’know that image you have a record producer from A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica? Of the producer being present 24/7, and being so passionately involved with his work that he often argues with the band? Yeah, that ain’t Rubin.

Corey Taylor confirmed as much while discussing working with Rubin on Slipknot’s Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses during a recent stop on his solo tour. So that’s not really news. What is news that Taylor apparently hates the dude, who he calls “overrated” and “overpaid.” Check out video below:

In other news, Rick Rubin could probably give a fuck what Taylor or any other members of Slipknot think of him, because eighteen gajillion other bands will still pay him squillions of dollars to sit on their couch, eat his smelly blue shit, and tell them what he thinks of their record. But, hey… great work if you can get it.

-AR

[via The PRP]

In case both my headline and the above video are somehow confusing to you: yes, during this past Saturday night’s stop on his current solo tour, Corey Taylor did indeed reveal that Slipknot will be touring the U.S. this summer, and he did say that “there will be another Slipknot album,” although “we’ve still got a couple of years before” said album gets made.

Click to read more…

Eyal Levi from Dååth, Levi/Werstler, and Audiohammer Studios has obviously been in this business for some time now, and he’s learned a thing or two about a thing or two. This week, he imparts ten lessons about the music biz — and life in general — to you, our beloved readers, once a day, two installments at a time. You can read the week’s first two lessons here; check out lesson numbers three and four below!

#3: BE UNDENIABLE

I first saw Behemoth live when they toured with Suffocation sometime around 2004. I had only heard of them before that. Needless to say, this band blew me away. The sound was shit, as it always is at that club in Atlanta, but that didn’t matter. They came on stage and OWNED. I was captivated from start to finish of the set. And then I bought a shirt. That is such a rare occurrence that I remember it to this day. For me to go buy a shirt after seeing and hearing a band for the first time is not quite on the level of Haley’s Comet… but in the span of my own meaningless existence, it’s pretty remarkable. Anyways, Behemoth is now an institution in extreme music.

I remember the first time I saw Opeth on the Blackwater Park tour. I had kind of gotten into their music prior to that, but had not solidified my opinion on the band yet. When they finally played, I got this amazing feeling, as though I was watching something historical and religious go down. I had never seen or heard a band produce sounds and transitions and emotions that were so right and so on. I felt like people must have felt when they were first seeing the early metal bands in the 1970’s. I’m not exaggerating one bit. I was completely humbled and a fan for life. Obviously, the rest of the metal world eventually caught on.

Anyone here seen Muse live? I’m a sucker for great musicianship and songwriting, and Muse definitely have an ample amount of both. But that didn’t drive my loyalty towards them until I saw them live. Their show is easily one of the most incredible rock shows ever put on by any band ever ever EVER! To try and describe it will not do it justice. Just go see them. I saw them first in 2005, when they were playing small theaters. They are now headlining arenas. I guess enough people couldn’t deny their power.

Click to read more…

Interview and live pics by Emily Eve; girls on stage pic by Friedia Niimura

In one sense, making records is like using the toilet: It takes more to do number two than number one. And in the case of L.A. heavy metal semi-parodists Steel Panther, a follow-up to their wildly funny and compulsively banging 2009 debut Feel The Steel is an even bigger, stinkier challenge: This time, fans can see them coming, um so to speak. But in the spotlight’s glare, before expectant ears and faces poised to smile, lead singer Michael Starr and crew deliver a bigger, dirtier, and awesomer mass of heavy metal hilarity called Balls Out (available Tuesday). The 14-track tour de farce covers 47 amazing minutes, a range of hot-button rocker issues (drugs, gender roles, boners), and a load of singalong mega-choruses and nip-scorching guitar solos unheard since pro tools was just an aisle at Sears. To those somehow able to resist Feel The Steel, I say: You’re fucked now. Balls Out is stronger than you and your feeble protestations. Crank. It. Up.

This feat of skill and cocksmanship on display in Balls Out begs for investigation, so last week I went to hear firsthand how Steel Panther achieved the equivalent of making a Ghostbusters II better than its Ghostbusters I. And though it was a rainy, gusty Autumn night, the huge Steel Panther dressing room was buzzing heatedly as I sat down with Starr and lead bass player Lexxi Foxxx to get answers. Just nearby were lead guitarist Satchel (at whom I gazed lovingly whenever his inattention allowed) and lead drummer Stix Zadinia (with entourage) as the three of us gabbed highly about Balls Out, drugs, vaginas, immaturity, maturity, the guy from Nickelback, shaving stuff, the responsibilities of being Steel Panther, and much more.

Click to read more…

“Spit it Out” is not the Slipknot song you’d most expect to lend itself to an acoustic rendition — and yet, it is the ‘Knot number that vocalist Corey Taylor recently chose to perform during a tour in support of his new book, Seven Deadly Sins.

And you know what? It actually works pretty well! I find the original tune to be too rappy/nu-metally for my tastes — Iowa was actually the album that convinced me Slipknot were worthy (although there’s at least one regrettable rap-metal song on there, too)  – but re-imagined as a kind of folky lil’ ditty, I actually find it to be quite catchy. Check out the video below, via Artisan News Service:

Not too shabby, eh?

Meanwhile, Taylor has announced that he’ll be embarking on a solo tour starting next month, which will include acoustic and spoken word performances, plus a Q&A session. That could be fun. Dates are after the jump, courtesy Metal Insider:

Click to read more…

So I just tried to listen to this excerpt of the audiobook version of Corey Taylor’s debut as an author, Seven Deadly Sins, but I didn’t make it very far. Not ’cause Taylor’s voice is displeasing or the writing seems especially awful or anything. But ’cause Taylor talks about Cabbage Patch Kids, Fraggle Rock, and Beanie Babies all within the first minute. Holy shit, those are some timely references. I can’t believe that he didn’t also manage to give a shout out to his favorite movie star, Lillian Gish, or the recent discovery of a cure for polio.

Seven Deadly Sins is out now in a variety of formats via someone who publishes books.

-AR

[via Metal Injection]

To help promote their upcoming tour, on October 11 Judas Priest will release The Chosen Few, their umpteenth career retrospective, and one which does not feature any new material. The Chosen Few does have a hook, though — I mean, beyond the fact that the band members appear on the cover only as silhouettes, I assume at least in part to downplay the fact that a certain key member is no longer in the group.

No, the hook  (and this is actually a neat idea) is that the band has let a lot of other celebrity musicians — including Ozzy, Lemmy, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kerry King, Slash, and Vinnie Paul  – choose which songs would appear on the collection. And, yeah, it’s interesting to know that Zakk Wylde is way into “Grinder,” and and that Randy Blythe and David Coverdale might actually have something to talk about at a cocktail party, and that Joe Satriani likes his Priest heavier than I might have suspected.

But like I said, there’s no new material here, so I can’t quite imagine why anyone would want this album anyway. The coolest thing about The Chosen Few is seeing which dude chose which song, and you can do that after the jump. So, look, we just saved you ten bucks.

Click to read more…

Yeah, I don’t think this gonna come as a galloping shock to anyone, but in case there was ever any doubt, the above tweet from Slipknot’s Corey Taylor has ostensibly announced an upcoming Slipknot U.S. tour.

I think this was pretty much inevitable. Maybe the band’s future was legitimately in doubt immediately following the tragic passing of bassist Paul Gray, but as soon as they announced European gigs, it was only a matter of time until U.S. shows were announced. In fact, I’m going to continue to stand by my prediction that there WILL be another Slipknot album as well.

Look: I’m not even trying to say anything negative about Taylor or Slipknot. I’m a Slipknot fan, and I’ve never hid that fact. When they tour the U.S., I’ll be stoked to go see them — they put on a fun show. I’m just saying, this news is about as surprising as the fact that the sun came up this morning.

-AR

[via Metal Injection]

Oh, this makes me miss that kid Revrant so much! Anyone remember him?

ANYWAY, Disturbed are a terrible band, so it’s hard not to perk up when you find out that vocalist David Draiman recently said the following to an Idaho radio station:

“We don’t know what we’re doing… We’re not gonna do our own thing either. This is gonna be the last tour that the American people get to see us in for a while, if not indefinitely. We have some things going on internally, we have some personal things going on. So I don’t know. It’s hard to tell.”

Click to read more…

GothicKingCobra52 knows a LOT about metal, and you should watch his videos, so that maybe you can learn a thing or two about a thing or two.

For example, are you a young guitar player looking to learn how to sweep pick? Fret not, for GKC52 has a video instructing viewers about this very subject!

Click to read more…

Slipknot performed as part of this past weekend’s Athens edition of the Sonisphere festival. It was their their first show since the untimely passing of Paul Gray last year, and, therefore, their first show with former guitarist/current bassist Donnie Steele. And I think a lot of people were wondering how they would handle the transition; obviously, the band needed to pay tribute to Gray, but how would Steele appear on-stage? Would he Gray’s costume, the way Tommy Thayer basically pretends to be Ace Frehley when he plays with Kiss, or otherwise be given his own mask, the way Vinnie Vincent was given his own character when he was in Kiss?

Well, the answer is, “Neither.” The ‘Knot opted instead to have Steele stand off-stage, while Gray’s empty outfit stood by the drumer riser, scarecrow-like, for the duration of the show. And that might seem like kind of an odd decision, but, really, there’s no good or “right” way to handle a situation like this; there was going to be a certain amount of tension in the air no matter what, y’know?

You can check out more footage from the show, and the band’s complete set list, at Metal Insider. Meanwhile, there’s still no official word on whether or not there’s gonna be another Slipknot album, but I would bet a lot of money in favor of it happening.

-AR

We at MetalSucks got first crack at a Q&A with leukemia survivor Adam “Nergal” Darski in late March, at which point the Behemoth frontman sounded pumped for a return to action but still in the early stages of recovery; that is to say, the spirit was willing but the flesh weak, like in that Sting song. Since then, we tireless reporters/nosy jerks have been keeping two eyes on Nergal’s progress on the path to his band’s upcoming shows in October and, natch, to a lasting recovery.

And so we thank Hatebreed singer Jamey Jasta for sharing a pic (above) of himself and Nergal (probably) at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards in London on Monday, at which Behemoth took home the Metal As Fuck award over Slipknot, Slayer, Deftones (?), and Zakk Wylde. For that big win, for his birthday on Friday, and mostly for his good and improving health, we say cheers brah! Win!

-ADF

Go here for info on how to help the battle against Leukemia. Here you can order Behemoth’s Abyssus Abyssum Invocat, a collection of out-of-print EPs Conjuration (2003) and Slaves Shall Serve (2005), live bonus tracks, lyrics, and new artwork.

Jennifer’s Body was screwed before a single image flickered in public. The immediate reasons were twofold.

First, Karyn Kusama directed it. That would be that same Kusama whose gritty indie-film Girlfight was celebrated, but whose pricey, high fashion futurist Æon Flux was shredded by the studio and then released without reviewer pre-screenings. The press surveyed the carnage, located the person least responsible— ironically, Kusama — and promptly laid blame on her.

Around the same time, Diablo Cody was still flush with the out of the box success of her first screenplay, Juno. Was it time to knock the attractive ex-stripper down a few pegs no matter what she wrote? Yes it was.

So — deadset on consigning Kusama to the dustbin of one-hit-wonders and eager to loathe anything Cody crafted, the critics promptly lowered themselves to the occasion by trashing the hard-to-pigeonhole Jennifer’s Body on its release in 2009 for reasons that were united mainly by their inchoate ugliness. But later for what may have explained Body’s kneejerk drubbing.

For I am here to praise Cody/Kusama’s great film, which may have MetalSucks readers going, “What the fuck is Jennifer’s freakin’ Body release doing in the New York Times of Metal anyway?”

Click to read more…