It has come to my attention that some people are still confused about the difference between SLAM METAL and DEATHCORE. While they may seem similar to the novice observer, the truth is that they couldn’t be more different — in fact, they really have nothing at all to do with each other (srs). Think of it like Islam and Christianity: they some common roots, but at the end of the day they really have nothing to do with each other and will never see eye-to-eye.

In a nutshell, deathcore is what happens when some pretty boys want to be rockstars, and think that it’s super cool and scene to be in a “sick metal band.” The end result is basically generic death metal with some equally generic breakdowns, but since the guys in the band are cute and have a lot of tattoos, kids eat it up and they sell lots of t-shirts at their Warped Tour booth when they’re not busy banging their jailbait groupies.

On the other hand, slam metal is grimy, blue-collar death metal that is pretty much the most extreme, inaccessible and brutal metal subgenre on the planet. Slam is pure brutality: none of the pagentry or larger-than-life personas of black metal, gimmicky costumes of neo-thrash or artsy nonsense of drone, stoner rock and all that, just CRUSHING FUCKING SLAMS. Even diehard metal fans (like the readers of this site) hate slam, so if you are in a slam band it’s because slam is in your blood, because you are never going to make a dime or get famous from it.

While deathcore and slam are almost completely heterogeneous, let’s acknowledge that there is a small amount of common ground (at least at a superficial level. In both camps, you’ll find lots of mesh shorts, sweatpants, weed references, and merch that prominently features controversial slogans in Impact font — but that’s about where it ends. To me, the differences could not be more obvious, but apparently some people still have trouble making the distinction between the two. Because I enjoy giving back to my community, in this post, I will go over a few easy ways that you can tell the two apart!

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You’ve all read Decibel editor-in-chief Albert Mudrian’s Choosing Death, right? If not, you should get off your ass and do that; it’s the definitive history of death metal and grindcore, and whether you’ve been a fan of those genres since the day of Scum or you’re a youngin’ trying to figure out what the big deal about Carcass is, you are guaranteed to learn something from reading it.

Well, I’m super-stoked to let you know that Mudrian has now penned a second volume of Choosing Death — this one focusing on deathcore. Says Mudrian via press release:

“Deathcore is the definitive form of extreme music in the aughties. As Napalm Death, Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, and Suffocation were to my generation, so will bands like Suicide Silence, Oceano, Emmure, and Winds of Plague be to this generation.These bands are proudly carrying the torch of the brutal music we all love, so it only made sense to see to it that their story was told.”

And the best part is — MetalSucks’ own Sergeant D. wrote the introduction! So now you know you need that shit.

You can pre-order a copy of Albert Mudrian’s Choosing Death II right here — it hits shelves on May 24 via Da Capo Press.

-AR

No, wait, I think I typed that wrong. I mean, maybe Suicide Silence will/do have sex with everything, but they actually wrote a song called “Fuck Everything,” and I assume they mean that in a very nihilistic kinda way, not a voulez-vous coucher avec moi kinda way.

ANYWAY, “Fuck Everything.” A new Suicide Silence song that the band debuted live at some festival I’ve never heard of in Las Vegas. It sounds pretty Suicide Silence-y to me, but there’s a section right before the breakdown that could come right off of Slipknot’s first album, which makes sense, because I think in a lot of ways Suicide Silence aspire to be like Slipknot — really heavy but really, really successful. I mean, it’s telling that a lot of their deathcore peers moved closer and closer to more traditionalist DM with each release (see: Job for a Cowboy, Despised Icon, etc.), but Suicide Silence never did. They might be one “Heretic Anthem” away from making their Iowa. And this is an anthem so easy to learn that they’ve got the crowd screaming along even though it’s the first time anyone has heard the song. So, there ya go.

Check out the song below, then feel free to make snap judgments in the comments section. Suicide Silence’s new album should be out sometime this summer on Century Media.

-AR

[via Metal Injection]

From Beastmaster:

“Over the last week I’ve noticed on the PRP that both Chelsea Grin and Within The Ruins have been denied entry into to Canada for their separate respective tours. Now granted, I don’t necessarily love these two bands, but I’m wondering if they are possibly related in some way…. Dun dun DUNNNNNNNN.”

Yes. They are both related in that I don’t like either of them. Unfortunately, I don’t control the Canadian government, so my guess is that they actually both just have merch dudes with records for possession or something idiotic like that. In any case, yes, I agree it’s ridiculous that Canada gets to be spared Chelsea Grin while Americans have to continue to endure them.

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When  the line-up for this year’s Mayhem Fest was announced last week, we were told that more bands would eventually be announced. Not to sound like gloating pricks or anything, but we here at MetalSucks already knew that Trivium were gonna be on the bill, even if their involvement hadn’t been made public yet.

Well, now it’s public. Trivium are on the bill. They’ll be on the main stage along with Disturbed, Godsmack, Megadeth, Machine Head, and In Flames; the line-up is rounded out by second stage acts Unearth, Suicide Silence, Kingdom of Sorrow, All Shall Perish, Red Fang, and Straight Line Snooze.

When we saw the band at Mayhem in 2009, they were one of the dominant acts on the second stage; I will never forget wondering “Where the fuck is Paolo Gregoletto?” before realizing that he had jumped into the crowd and was playing amongst the thousands of rabid fans. And Trivium’s live show has increased in quality by 100% since they traded drummer Travis Smith for Nick Augusto last year. (Read Vince’s article on the matter here.) In other words: Trivium’s addition to the bill is a good thing.

Trivium are at Audiohammer Studios in Florida working on a new album with producer Colin Richardson even as I type this; I’ve heard that the goal is to get that record out in time for Mayhem. While we wait for more news of that release, here are Mayhem dates:

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I don’t think anybody ever really reads these little intros Vince or myself write every week, so I’m gonna dispense with one today, and if that makes you sad, uh, you’re weird.

Here’s how we got our pull this week:

• We debuted new music by Abysmal Dawn, Full Blown Chaos, and Årabrot.
• We spoke to Jeff Paulick from Lazarus A.D. and Ginger from The Wildhearts.
• We checked out new releases from Xasthur, haarp, and Hesper Payne.
• We watched a nerd’s video about seeing Sunn O))).
• We tried to understand why The Big Four are only doing one show in America.
• We debated the merits and demerits of this year’s Mayhem Fest line-up.
• We celebrated the way that metal makes everything better.
• We enjoyed some new All Shall Perish music (kinda).
• We prepared for Zakk Wylde to boldly go where no guitarist has gone before.
• We got even MORE excited for Meek is Murder’s Algorithms.

Next week we’re gonna, like, totally talk about metal n’ stuff. You should come back and read it, it will be fun.

-AR

The line-up for this year’s Mayhem Fest wasn’t s’posedta be announced ’til tomorrow, but Blabbermouth has posted it so I guess it’s go time. There are supposed to be more bands announced — I know of at least one group who are definitely doing this tour and aren’t on this list — but for now, here are the bands playing, and my thoughts on those bands (UPDATED with tour dates):

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Me BIG PIMPIN with a couple of my biatches at school lol, not everybody who listens to metal is a nerd!

Hey guys what’s up, thanks to Axle and Vince from Metal Sucks (link to their site) for letting me introduce myself to you guys!  I am a Junior in High School at Canyon Ridge High in Hesperia California, and pretty much just getting into metal. My uncle introduced me to these psyhcos of metal, he was in “Axle”s wedding (Axel isn’t his real name haha but I’m not telling you what his real name is you will have to find out!) and he has always been into metal, so I guess it runs in the family that we like Metal! I have been listening to metal of all kinds for like a year and a half now but I know there are a lot of bands I should check out but don’t know about and wanted to ask you guys for some ideas about what bands you think I should check out. I know you all are the experts lol!

BTW I only have dial-up 56K internet so I can’t use MySpace, Youtube, or BitTorrid or any of that so if you can just tell me stuff to buy that is what I’m looking for. My town doesn’t have a Hot Topics but they have a lot of stuff at Walmart so anything they have there they should also have at Walmart.

I like pretty much anything that is cool and heavy, so if there is anything you guys think I should check out just let me know (you can send an email to the comments and I will see it when I look at this), here is what metal bands I already like:

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This year’s Warped Tour has a formidable albeit small deathcore contingent, the core of which is comprised of Emmure, Whitechapel, and California’s tattooed sons Suicide Silence. Competing with the likes of Hey Monday, Andrew W.K., and All American Rejects for the coveted attention of overwhelmingly teenage festival attendees, the group made sure to bring the fucking mosh at the Long Island, NY stop. After some delay on my part catching Emmure’s lively set, I hurried back to the press area to interview laid-back-and-damn-cool guitarist Mark Heylmun about Warped, the boldly minimal video for “Disengage”, and why fans should buy the recently released “Body Bag Edition” of their latest album No Time to Bleed.

Oh, and dubstep. We talked about dubstep.

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Just so you know, when Vince and I cuddle, he’s usually the big spoon.

Here’s what happened in MetalSucks Land this week:

• Misery Index’s Jason Netherton joined us for the latest edition of Cooking Contaminated.
• Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable wondered if corporate-sponsored metal shows are killing the live concert market.
• We chatted with Soilwork’s Peter Wichers, Mantric’s Ole Halvard Sveen, and Black Army Jacket’s Carlos Ramirez.
• We checked out new releases by Norma Jean and Lightning Swords of Death.
• We celebrated the excellent year currently being enjoyed by Metal Blade Records.
• Korn played to the largest audience they deserve. (That would be an audience of zero.)
• New BOO means debates by you.
• Poison the Well poisoned our week.
• We were on the Metal Injection Livecast!
• Booty shake.

Next week is hair metal week! We’ll still be reporting on regular metal, too, so don’t freak out too hard. See ya Monday.

-AR

After the Pig Destroyer girl divorces me, I am totally gonna marry the Suicide Silence booty shake girl. (Warning: I guess this video is technically NSFW, even if there’s no actual nudity.)

Thanks to Cody for the tip!

-AR

See, Suicide Silence? Now this is how you make a bad video!

It seems like there were just a Hoglan-load of new videos released over the long weekend, and most of them are pretty frickin’ weak. That’s not really a shock, ’cause everyone knows that at least 99% of all music videos will make you wish you were Helen Keller. What is a shock is how terrifically terrible they are — in other words, that they are sure to engage your tickley parts. (The last one of these is kinda NSFW, I guess, depending on where you W. Fair warning.)

First up we have this band Magica. Like Suicide Silence, they have lots of boring footage of the band standing in front of a white backdrop, — but unlike SS, they intercut it with this way engrossing story about the lead singer getting purse snatched and then, like, going to the doctor and the priest and stuff. And when’s the last time you saw a metal video — or any kind of music video, for that matter — about a lady getting her bag stolen? This shit is original, son.

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Just about a year ago Suicide Silence released one of the best metal videos in recent memory for the song “Wake Up” — so why director Thomas Mignone thought it would be good to follow that up with a clip of the band just standing in front of a beige background, I dunno. I like Suicide Silence, I like No Time To Bleed, and I like this song — but holy shit, is this video ever boring.

In fact, while Slayer’s cheap ass vid for “World Painted Blood” is at least ROTFL-worthy, this is just sleep-inducing. If you’re gonna do something crappy, at least make it REALLY crappy so we can all have a laugh at your expense, y’know?

No Time To Bleed is out now on Century.

-AR

Reader Dan Metcalfe e-mailed me last night to let me know that Big Chocolate — who is already one of the busiest men in metal, even though I think he’s only like an ass hair older than the dudes in Black Tide — has started yet another project, this one with Suicide Silence vocalist Mitch Lucker. It’s called Commissioner, and they’re streaming their first track, “Consume,” right here.

And, uhhh… I don’t think this is anything I’d ever listen to. I don’t even know what the fuck you’d call this; it’s, like, death crunkcore, or something. It basically sounds like Nine Inch Nails if Nine Inch Nails was in no way, shape, or form melodic or radio friendly. So some of you may really dig this. And I’d give it another listen when there’s more of it… but my initial thought when playing the track was, “Ah-ha! I am finally an old man, for this makes almost no sense to me. Now why did I come into this room again?”

Check out Commissioner here. They don’t have any label deal or anything like that in place yet, so who knows what their future plans are.

-AR

You probably know Century Media for their work with groundbreaking, legendary artists like Stuck Mojo and My Own Victim, but they are also home to lesser-known bands like Lacuna Coil, Arch Enemy, Nevermore, Warbringer, Terror, and deathcore sensations Winds Of Plague and Suicide Silence. In all seriousness, though, I’ve worked with CM in one form or another since the mid-90s, and have nothing but good things to say about the CM crew. In addition to Despise You frontman/ CM warehouse manager Chris Elder, one of the many great people at CM is A&R guy Steve Joh. With the label’s 20th anniversary coming up soon, I figured it would be a great time to catch up with one of the nicest guys in metal and give the label some much-deserved props. Thanks to Steve for his time and help, and thanks to CM for being cool enough to send me promos when I was a teenager with a fanzine back in the day!

Note: I am a fan of both WoP and Suicide Silence. Knowing that they are lightning rods for the (negative) attention of angry metal dorks, I included their names in the headline for this post in hopes of attracting maximum viewership, and therefore giving the most possible publicity to Steve and the bands. Thank you for participating in this exciting social media marketing initiative.

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Congrats to Unreadable Logo Winners’ Circle album Ryan Wineman and Sean Murdock, who both correctly named From Beyond Death as the band from last week’s logo. Ryan and Sean each win a copy of Of Death and Ritual, the new EP from Culted. Niiiice.

This week the fine folks at Century Media have bestowed upon us one copy of Suicide Silence’s “Disengage” 7″ blue vinyl.   This single, to  be released only on vinyl and digital formats on April 20, contains both the album version of the song as well as a special remix courtesy of Big Chocolate (né Cameron Argon, of Disfiguring the Goddess and Burning the Masses). You can check out a sample of Big Chocolate’s crazy-ass remix here. The single also features some really sweet artwork by Joshua Belanger (who also did the killer cover Son of Aurelius’ The Farthest Reaches). In other words, this is vinyl is super-sweet – and we’re gonna give one away! (You can also order one for just five bucks here.)

All you have to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner and announce his or her name next week.

And here comes VIP Isaac Schwarz to do my job for me yet again…

-AR

One of the most prolific artists in the metal scene is Mark Riddick. He has created a tremendous amount of art for such bands as Beneath the Massacre, The Black Dahlia Murder, Gravehill, Internal Bleeding, and hundreds of others. He could quite possibly be the Norman Rockwell of zombie art. His lavish black and white illustrations take the viewer to a twisted land of corpses, demons and intestines. But what his work does not tell you is that he is a really nice guy, who is very supportive of other artists and a devoted family man. This interview was conducted via email, and I am astounded that he got back to me so fast, especially after hearing the rundown of an average day for Riddick.

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I am going to assume that a decent portion of the followers of this site are themselves musicians with bands of their own. That is generally how it goes with metal. There are seamless lines blurred between the “fans” and the “bands” because, like myself, many metal patrons represent both categories. Without this large sector of musician fans, technically proficient bands that cater directly to this base (like Dream Theater, Meshuggah, and Necrophagiast) would be much less successful. So to those musicians, I would like to use this blog to shine a light on one of the harsh truths in all music and entertainment that many musicians choose to ignore -

Image matters a lot in this industry. In fact, it’s probably just as important as the music.
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MARCH IS METAL MONTH IS UNDERWAY!!! And as Vince promised last week, there’s a free sampler now avail featuring artists from many of the participating labels. That means you can download tracks by Fear Factory, Ihsahn, Triptykon, Suicide Silence, Lacuna Coil, Queensryche, White Wizzard, and more, all for the cost of breathing. Head over to Amazon to get the absolutely free download.

We’ll also have lots more March is Metal Month goodness in the coming weeks, including additional interviews and contests. Keep checking back here, or head over to MarchIsMetalMonth.com for all the latest.

So apparently Ozzfest is coming back this summer, and is coming back as a traveling tour again (as opposed to the one-off fest it was in 2008). And that’s all well and good, only… who’s gonna be on the bill?

Mayhem, which is basically Ozzfest 2.0, has already scooped up a lot of big-name bands for the summer, including many who have played multiple past Ozzfests – namely Korn, Rob Zombie, Lamb of God, Atreyu, Shadows Fall and Hatebreed, the latter of whom I think have been on something like 90% of all Ozzfests ever.

Add to that other Ozzfest alum like Chimaira, In This Moment and Norma Jean, and some bands the kids today all seem to like, such as Winds of Plague and They Who Shall Not Be Named, and, well, that’s a whole bunch of potential mainstage and second stage draws right there.

Then there’s the mini-fests like Summer Slaughter. I can’t tell you which bands we already know are booked for some of these tours without betraying a lot of people’s confidence, but I can tell you that some great bands are now no longer available for Ozzfest.

And, oh yeah, Megadeth, Slayer, and Testament are now doing their American Carnage tour in the summer, so they’re out.

So who’s left? After the jump, I’m going to play my favorite game: it’s called “over-think about something incredibly unimportant.”

Before we proceed, it’s worth noting that I’m going to try and be semi-realistic when moving forward with some barely-educated guesses about who’ll be playing Ozzfest. If a band already has summer tour dates booked, I’m going to assume they’re not avail, although I acknowledge that they could cancel those dates in favor of playing for a bigger crowd. And I’m not even going to bother with bands like Pig Destroyer, Sigh, and Salome – bands that will play Ozzfest right around the time Joey Belladonna’s solo band plays four sold-out headlining shows at Giants Stadium. Also, obviously not all of these bands are gonna end up on the bill – these are just bands I think could end up there.

And so, without further bullshit…

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