MetalSucks

I had the displeasure of seeing Dope live once (don’t ask). They were playing at Don Hill’s, a club here in NYC that holds about 300 people, and, to my surprise, they actually managed to pack the place pretty full. So after the band before them concluded their set, Dope kept the crowd waiting for 45 minutes while their roadies set up elaborate stage dressing fit for an arena show: extra platforms and a new PA system and lighting rig (I guess the house systems weren’t good enough for the band) and giant wooden backdrops and a chain link fence (!) and who the fuck knows what else. This kind of shit really isn’t necessary for a small club gig, but it might have been forgivable had the band come out and rocked the kids’ faces off; instead, they came out and played for… 45 minutes. To repeat: the band played for as long as they kept the crowd waiting for them to play. In hindsight, it seems clear that all the rigmarole was really because without the fancy lights and props, the band knew they didn’t have much to offer.

I’m telling you this story because Dope will be opening for Black Label Society and Sevendust on their upcoming tour, which still strikes me as an odd package – that Zakk Wylde, who once proclaimed “Fred Durst can eat a dick” on his band’s DVD, would share a stage with not one but two nu-metal bands just seems weird.

Weirder still: Wylde has now recorded a track with Dope. Let me type that again, lest you think your eyes are failing you: DOPE HAVE A SONG ON THEIR NEW ALBUM WITH ZAKK WYLDE ON GUITAR.

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It seems like every day we get a press release here at the MS Mansion announcing that some respectable metal band has signed to Koch Records. High On Fire, Satyricon and Throwdown are the latest crop, having all signed to Koch within the past few weeks. Add that to the already formidable metal roster of In Flames, Otep, Hatebreed and Straight Line Stitch… despite a couple of admittedly terrible bands in that bunch, from a business perspective that’s some serious fucking firepower there, all added within the last year, give or take.

So what the hell is going on over there?

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I knew that day would come. There I was having the time of my life; tanning poolside at the MS Mansion, enjoying my dream of writing reviews for decent and better metal albums, then I was suddenly woken from my dream with a sunburn and a steaming pile of Straight Line Stitch in my lap. I sighed deeply because I knew this wasn’t going to go down easy, but I had to see it through. This is my job after all and I may not be a professional but I am honest. Sort of the opposite of the twit that wrote SLS’s MySpace bio:

“Armed with an unstoppable work ethic and a musical vocabulary that stretches from face-ripping metal to soulful, stratospheric rock … STRAIGHT LINE STITCH are poised to grab heavy music by the horns with… When Skies Wash Ashore. Though just 11 tracks in length, the album packs more dynamics and diversity than many bands’ entire catalogs.”

I think I just rolled my eyes hard enough to give me whiplash.

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Happy July 4th, everyone. Axl and I are closing down the MetalSucks Mansion a day early to get off of this swampy, hot, over-crowded island…. so this is it for us until next Monday. Enjoy your time-off; for our international readers, well… revel in the fact that you get *way* more days off than we lame Americans do throughout the whole year! Anyway, here’s what happened this week:

• Motley Crue and Shinedown had big sales debuts, while Disturbed and Kid Rock kept it going strong.
• The Human Abstract debuted more killer new music.
• We interviewed the brains behind one of our favorite albums of 2008 so far.
• David Draiman insists on having the last word in the ongoing Disturbed vs. Dillinger Escape Plan drama.
• The new Slipknot masks look kinda like the old Slipknot masks, but we like their new song.
• We asked what you thought of Straight Line Stitch; you answered loud and clear.

Cheers, everyone. Enjoy your time off.

-VN

That was the question asked by our own Axl Rosenberg in an editorial he wrote approximately 3 months ago; “Gee, I bet MetalSucks readers would LOVE to argue about this band.” As usual, the prophetic powers of Reb. Axl proved true, as Straight Line Stitch lovers and haters came out of the woodwork in equal measures to argue and argue and argue in our comments section, ranging from praise (”They really are an entertaining band to see.”) to hatred (”I only got through a minute of the song before I got bored.”) to elitist (”four outta five thumbs down, this mighta sucked a little less had the year been 1996″) to the adequate (”they are tight, fairly strong musicians it seems”) to the non-committal (”I can’t decide if I like them or not.”).

The band is back with a video for their song “Black Veil” from the album When Skies Wash Ashore, due later this summer via Koch Records (release date TBA). So, um, what do we think this time around?

-VN

I saw Straight Line Stitch’s video for “Remission” on Headbanger’s Ball over the weekend and thought to myself “Gee, I bet MetalSucks readers would LOVE to argue about this band.” There just seem to be so many different elements which you peeps will either love or hate. So I’m going to reserve my own judgement for now and just let you guys and gals duke it out. Watch the below and let us know what you think. I’m betting we get 50/50 positive versus negative reactions…

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/JsXK1w0Yrm4" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

-AR