Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 3:30pm by Axl Rosenberg
From a Rhythm magazine interview with Dave Lombardo that I saw on Blabbermouth:
Rhythm: Playing with METALLICA at Download in 2004 must have been quite an experience.
Lombardo: “Yeah. Show ‘em how it’s done! No disrespect to Lars [Ulrich], because Lars is great and he’s a very nice guy, but he needs to spend a week at my house and we need to sit down and play. I could show him — ‘No, Lars, like this!’… ‘Let’s chill, let’s relax, have some coffee and let’s play!’ Hahahahaha!”
If you’ve ever seen/heard this show, then you’re already aware that Lombardo ain’t dicking around – he and Joey Jordison both made Metallica sound at least 95% better (alas, Hetfield still insists on using those honky-tonk “wom-ahn” vocals he’s become so fond of). Check it out:
And while we’re on the topic, here’s Jordison playing with the band:
It’s easy to be jaded after attending a billion or so live shows, but climbing the hill up to San Manuel Amphitheatre, the site of Cypress Hill’s MetalSucks co-sponsored SmokeOut festival, I was transformed into a gawking greenhorn. (I would soon be treated like one, as well.) Behind my rib cage, calm battled with rising euphoria, and not only because I stood with a hefty joint in my shoe at the gates of a tri-county puff-athon on the nicest late-October Saturday ever; mostly, I was just tweaking to look in on a magnificent but savagely wounded band at this early stage of recovery. Yes, the SmokeOut would feature the Deftones, who have played around ten shows since an auto accident left their bassist, Chi Cheng, in a coma. And despite the puzzling news that to-be sixth album Eros had been shelved, the band already had been showing positive signs and seemed poised to reintroduce themselves via a violent new song (“Rocket Skates”) and a spritely, newly-slimmed singer (the gossip had Chino Moreno at anywhere between twenty and eighty pounds lighter). Exciting!
Two hours later, right before the Deftones took the stage, night had fallen, the denizens of the cheap seats waded ankle-deep in litter, and I was pissed off as shit.
Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 11:00am by Vince Neilstein
I’m all for heavy bands throwing ballads into the mix from time to time, but this performance of Slipknot playing “Snuff” on Jimmy Kimmel Live… bzzzzt, does not compute! I like the song, but this performance is just extremely weak. Nine dudes in scary tough guy masks playing a pretty love song causes all sorts of cognitive dissonance.
Side note: Kimmel really seems to be waving the heavy flag as of late. Of this, I approve.
Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 12:07pm by Axl Rosenberg
Scott Weiland’s been out of Velvet Revolver for quite some time now, and there’s still no word on their search for a new singer. I had assumed that they hadn’t announced anyone because they just couldn’t find someone famous enough. I mean, let’s be real – they’re not gonna hire some unknown. If they did, they’d fail to be a supergroup – they’s just be Slash’s Snakepit III. As it stands, Slash doesn’t know Dave Kushner’s name (he repeatedly identifies his co-guitarist as “Dave Kirshner” in his autobiography), and he’s known Kushner since they were kids; what the fuck would he do with an unknown singer?
I guess there must be some other issue, though – ’cause Corey Taylor, front man for Slipknot and Stone Sour, recently revealed that he tried out for the spot:
“I had a meeting with those guys, we did some demos together, and it just didn’t work — for whatever reason… It was just really cool. It was one of those things where it’s like I could have got to jam with legends, man, in my opinion. But, you know, it was cool, and I still know those guys, I still hang out with them, and I still have nothing but respect.”
So I gotta wonder why this didn’t work out. Taylor’s voice is comparable to Weiland’s, he’s well-known, he’d probably bring in some young kids who might otherwise not give a shit about Guns Without Rose, and he’s a very charismatic and entertaining band leader. So did his personality just not gel with that of the dudes in VR? Were they worried that with two other bands, he was already over-committed? Did Roadrunner (the label that distributes both Slipknot and Stone Sour) put the kibosh on the whole thing, as they allegedly did when Taylor almost replaced John Bush in Anthrax? We might never know, but I find the whole thing pretty curious.
Weigh in with your thoughts on Taylor as the new Axl Weiland below. And while you’re pontificating, enjoy this bootleg video of Taylor performing “It’s So Easy” with Slash. It might be the closest we ever get to seeing a Taylor-fronted VR.
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Vince Neilstein
We’ve got a pair of tickets for the two-day Smokeout Festival in California next weekend, featuring Slipknot and the Deftones, and we wanna give them away to you. The festival is a celebration of weed culture and music, featuring all sorts of seminars and informational sessions about Marijuana as well as band performances all weekend long. If we weren’t based out of NYC, we’d definitely be there.
Alls you gotta do to win our pair of tickets: tell us which member of Slipknot you’d most like to get high with, and why. Leave a comment below, and be sure you fill in a valid email address in the appropriate field. Winners will be contacted by email this Friday.
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 4:30pm by Eyal Levi
Those of you out there who are in bands that haven’t made it yet. I have a question for ya. Do you know why you want to do this? Have you really thought it out? There’s a reason I’m asking. I’m pretty easy to reach. I make myself very available online. I’m always into talking to fans, non-fans, whatever, I’m into conversation. Something that always comes up when people are asking me questions is how much money I make from DAATH. First of all, I’m not going to tell you how much money I make from anything. But I’ll say this: DAATH isn’t my only source of income, but all my income comes from music.
What people are trying to find out is if I make a lot of money at this, if I still have to have a day job, etc., etc., etc. No, I don’t make a lot of money at it. There isn’t much money to be made in metal. Most people in bands you listen to have jobs on the side. Whether they’re in music or not is a different story. Most people in metal bands cannot make all their ends meet from metal alone.
Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 3:00pm by MetalSucks
MetalSucks is sponsoring the return of the Smokeout Festival, which is being billed as “a two day mind-opening music festival and Cannabis Cup expo.” Sound interesting? Read on.
The event is taking place on October 23rd and 24th at the San Manuel Amphitheatre in San Bernadino, CA. Day one probably won’t be of much interest to most of our readers, headlined by Cypress Hill (the event’s curators) and featuring mostly hip-hop acts throughout the day; but day two is headlined by Slipknot with immediate support from The Deftones and also features Bad Brains, Pennywise and others interspersed throughout the day. Both days will feature all sorts of ganja-related madness; hemp industry exhibits, a glass art showcase, legal workshops and grow tip seminars, and a 4:20 movie night.
The best part: tickets start at only $29.50 for a two day ticket! Check back here soon, as we’ll be giving away a pair of tickets.
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 at 12:45pm by Vince Neilstein
Last Tuesday was a huuuuge week for new metal releases. Megadeth, Black Dahlia Murder, Shadows Fall, Living Colour, Dying Fetus, Porcupine Tree, Every Time I Die, Thrice and Ace Frehley all released new albums, and all charted in the Top 200! After the jump, let’s look at where they all ended up.
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Vince Neilstein
Behemoth vs. Winds of Plague; Poland vs. America; Corpsepaint vs. wigger hats; ugly men vs. hot chick; real metal vs. deathcore; substance vs. gimmick. Who won????
The answer, as well as more of this past week’s metal Soundscan chart positions and sales figures, after the jump.
Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 2:00pm by Axl Rosenberg
I have no idea what made me think of them – maybe I saw a tranny in the Village or something, or maybe it was just writing about Dope, since half the members of Murderdolls started in Dope and then there was a ridiculous flame war between the two bands. But, uh, somehow they popped in my mind.
We all know what Joey Jordison is up to, and Blabbermouth tells me that Wednesday 13 still has something resembling a career. I see Acey Slade walking around the neighborhood sometimes, so I guess he’s still DJing at Don Hill’s or some shit. Actually, that guy used to spin pretty good, if you were in the mood for hair metal and 70s rawk. I have no idea what happened to the other d00ds in this band, though. In fact, I don’t even know what their names are.
I’d still rather listen to this than post-Feelgood Motley Crue. Or most Stone Sour, for that matter. If for some reason those were my only choices. I can’t imagine any scenario in which that happened, but, hey.
Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 at 4:01pm by Vince Neilstein
This week in Soundscan, supergroup Chickenfoot shifted a ridiculous number of records. I’m baffled too. Elsewhere, Iron Maiden had a solid debut and bands like Nickelback, Hollywood Undead, Shinedown, Slipknot, and Metallica continued on with business as usual.
Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 6:12pm by Axl Rosenberg
So I just watched Faith No More’s Download Fest perf. I only saw one pair of boobies, and they were terrible boobies. On the other hand, FNM killed it and played “Take This Bottle” and Patton did part of “We Care A Lot” while doing sit-ups with the mic in his mouth, so ya take the good with the bad.
Speaking of the good with the bad: we started to unveil the results of our 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century… So Far poll/list this week, and as usual, y’all had something to say about it:
SP420 thinks it’s “unbelievable that so many people hold” the #17 album, Hatebreed’s Perseverance, “in such high regard.” Sp420, Jamey Jasta will be at your house in one hour to discuss.
ionlanach thinks that the #18 album, Lamb of God’s New American Gospel, is “Mediocre, just like everything Lamb of God have ever done.” Even Randy Blythe’s BBQ sauce is offended
I hate you thinks that if the #19 album, Mastodon’s Remission, “was your first metal album, you are gay” and that “metal is obviously not your fortay.” In other news, I hate you doesn’t know how to spell “forté” correctly.
Fufkin calls the #20 album, Shadows Fall’s The War Within, “metalbore.” While I don’t agree with him (her?), that’s just clever enough for me not to make fun of Fufkin.
Robert thinks that the #21 album, Slipknow’s Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses, is “sort of a pile of shit.” Which leads me to wonder: at what point does something go from being “sort of” a pile of shit to, y’know, an actual pile of shit?
Next week we’re countin’ down albums #16 through #12. The picks are clearly either gonna make you guys really fuckin’ happy or really fuckin’ mad. I’ll give you a hint, though: they’re all metal albums.
We recently polled a wide array of musicians, managers, publicists, label reps, and writers from within the world of metal to find out what they thought the 21 Best Metal Albums of the 21st Century So Far have been. Eligible albums were released between January 1, 2000 and April 1, 2009. Each panelist turned in a ballot, with their #1 album worth 21 points, their #2 album worth 20 points, and so on and so forth. The ballots are now in and we’ll be counting down one album a day until we reach #1. We begin today with the #21 album, coming in with a total of 104 points…
Slipknot, Vol 3: The Subliminal Verses (Roadrunner, 2004) Corey Taylor – Vocals
Mick Thomson – Guitars
Jim Root – Guitars
Paul Gray – Bass
Joey Jordison – Drums
Shawn Crahan – Percussions
Chris Fehn – Percussions
Sid Wilson – Turntables
Craig Jones – Samples, Media
Produced by Rick Rubin
It’s always good when you stir shit up right out of the gates, y’know?
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 4:00pm by Vince Neilstein
Am I the only person who thinks the pairing of Heaven & Hell with Coheed & Cambria for a tour this summer is fan-fucking-tastic? All the emails we’ve gotten so far about the tour of the “wtf are they thinking?!” nature, but to me this lineup seems perfectly natural. Ronnie James Dio sings about demons, evil, and sorcery; Claudio Sanchez has written all of his band’s material about some crazy fantasy story no one who actually has a life can make heads or tails of. Dio has a skullet; Sanchez has beautiful, flowing, curly man-locks. Tony Iommi laid the blueprint for stoner metal with his epic, tasteful playing; Sanchez takes the torch and runs with it, never a showboat. Both bands are fucking awesome and make great music, which, truth be told, is pretty similar to one another. What am I missing here?
Slipknot taking out Coheed & Cambria… now that was a head-scratcher. But Heaven & Hell? It’s a no-brainer. If there’s such a thing as a modern version of Dio-era Sabbath, Coheed & Cambria are that band. Count me in as psyched; I’ll be there rocking out while the rest of you suckers stay home. Full list of confirmed tour dates after the jump.
