It’s no secret that playing in a real metal band is a one-way, express ticket to poverty, obscurity and involuntary abstinence. I mean, if a legend like poor Lemmy is relegated to a shitty apartment in Hollywood, surrounded by a lifetime’s worth of dinosaur-metal detritus, I shudder to think how depressing the lives of lesser metal losers must be.

On the other hand, bands like Asking Alexandria, Suiside Silence, and Bring Me The Horizon are getting laid, paid and laughing all the way to the bank, much to the chagrin of metal purists. The handwriting is on the wall, and it couldn’t be any more clear: playing anything other than metalcore/deathcore is career suicide.

If you don’t believe me, check out this guided tour of BORN OF OSIRIS’ posh pad in Wheaton, Illinois (AKA The Temple Of Osiris AKA The House That Sumeriancore Built [or leases, at least]).

My notes:

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Longtime reader Brian Bode pointed out that we haven’t yet opined about After the Burial’s new album In Dreams, a complaint that a number of readers have also expressed. Brian was even so kind as to take matters into his own hands by starting to write a post for us:

IN DREAMS AND OUT OF A NIGHTMARE

We certainly have been waiting a while to speak of After The Burial’s new release on Sumerian, titled In Dreams. After predicting ATB to be one of the 10 Bands to Fuck Your Face Off in 2010 [and] premiering their song ‘Bread Crumbs & White Stones’, we finally had a chance to give this album a few listens.  What do we think of the album? Find out after the jump…

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After the Burial released their new album In Dreams on November 23rd just before heading out to California for their current tour with Winds of Plague. On the day of the album’s release I caught up with ATB guitarist Trent Hafdahl by phone; we chatted about the new album, new vocalist Anthony Notarmaso and his role in the writing process, what really went down when they dropped off the Bleeding Through tour this fall, their plans for 2011 and, of course, Sumeriancore. Our chat after the fold.

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It’s been a celebratory month of self-congratulatory pats on the back here at the MS Mansion; Decibel name-checked “Sumeriancore” in a full-page feature on Veil of Maya and Sumerian Records co-owner / ex-Reflux vocalist / Sumeriancore creator Ash Avildsen acknowledged the term in an interview with AP.* Next in our sites: Rolling Stone.

As for those dudes at The Number of the Blog, well, they were so enamored of the term from the get-go that they created their very own regularly recurring Sumeriancore Sunday column. And their latest featurette spotlights a band called I, Your Liege who hail from our very backyard in New York City; why we haven’t heard of this band yet is a mystery to me. But I’m thankful for the opportunity to discover them, ’cause I, Your Liege are pretty good; their brand of Sumeriancore utilizes atmospherics and non-traditional song structures instead of an over-reliance on breakdowns and shred (though the band members have got plenty of chops and certainly utilize both in limited measures). Think: more Conducting From the Grave, less Born of Osiris… with the sonic texturing of Shels.

It’s good stuff, and you should check ‘em out. Download their entire debut EP for free here.

-VN

*Although his crusade to get kids to start buying CDs en masse again is a total head-scratcher… especially for a label whose target demo is so adept at piracy.

Sumeriancore princes After the Burial [which begs the question... who are the kings of Sumeriancore? I seek our readers' input] are working on a new album, the title and release date of which have yet to be announced. But they’ve just posted a video of the pre-production sessions on their MySpace page, and we’ve re-posted it for you below.

Sounds like the follow-up to 2008′s Rareform [a re-vocaled / re-mixed / better-sounding version of which was re-released in 2009] will be just as shreddy, groovy and technical as its predecessor. Rareform was an underrated gem of 2008, a promising label debut from a band on the rise in a scene on the rise. Here’s to hoping they can avoid the sophomore jinx (2006′s independently-released Forging a Future Self not withstanding) by one-upping Rareform and distinguishing themselves from the growing Sumeriancore pack.

-VN

[Thanks: jtquake]

Before their 2010 Boner Fest Tour with Devin Townsend, Cynic and Scale the Summit, Between the Buried and Me are warming up with a quick jaunt through the southern and eastern U.S. with Sumeriancore favorites Veil of Maya. Veil of Maya have always struck me as Sumeriancore pioneers… they’ve got their own thing going, and they were definitely leaders, not followers, when that whole scene exploded a year or two back.

MS reader JR Major sent in a clip of Veil of Maya performing a new song at Emo’s in Austin, TX on the aforementioned current run with BTBAM. Check out the as-of-yet-unnamed new song below. Listen closely at the 2:38 mark.

-VN

In yesterday’s self-aggrandizing Sumeriancore article many of you commented that you’d have liked to see Conducting From the Grave on this site, including MS commenter Brownsound who provided me with today’s headline. Yes, Conducting From the Grave completely melt brains, and yes, we HAVE written about them here before but they certainly do deserve more coverage.

Conducting From the Grave’s When Legends Become Dust melts all sorts of brains (even the MS Mansion Monkeys’!), and you should listen to a few of its songs on the band’s MySpace page. The band doesn’t seem to have any official music videos, but a fan did put together a pretty funny parody video of their song “Marching Towards Extinction,” posted below.

-VN

Even if Wikipedia and Urban Dictionary deny the existence of Sumeriancore, at least someone is carrying the torch. A user named “MaidenPriest420″ (a great handle!) at SputnikMusic.com has compiled a list called “Best of Sumeriancore.” The list includes some of the usual suspects such as The Faceless, Born of Osiris and Veil of Maya, and some commenters are even suggesting additions like Broadcast the Nightmare and Periphery!

Sumeriancore 4evr.

-VN

My efforts to have Sumeriancore added to Wikipedia have been squashed. MS reader Ty Winchester took is upon himself to write up the entry, but it was removed within a week due to being a “neologism.” You can still see a cached version of that Sumeriancore Wikipedia entry. Next up I tried UrbanDictionary.com… and got shot down by the site’s editors in less than 24 hours.

What the fuck? I feel Sergeant D’s pain.

At least there’s a Last.FM tag for Sumeriancore now, and industry people used the term at a CMJ panel last month. Sumeriancore will live on in our hearts and in our minds… and on this website. Fuck the haters!

-VN

Just because Metal Inquisition’s Sergeant D failed at having his own self-coined micro-genre of metal added to Wikipedia doesn’t mean we’re not gonna give it a shot; where Wigger Slam was struck down by the Wikipedia fascists, Sumeriancore shall succeed because it’s decidedly more PC.

Folks, Sumeriancore isn’t just some mistake the MetalSucks Mansion Monkeys stumbled upon whilst banging away at their typewriters; it’s a real movement, and it’s making itself felt in the scene in a serious way. Phil Freeman of the quite-reputable Allmusic.com (ex-Metal Edge) referenced the term in his review of Born of Osiris’ A Higher Place, a review which is now being syndicated by hundreds of sites including iTunes, Best Buy and Barnes & Noble. Kids are debating the meaning of the term on MusicianForums.com, while over at the SMNnews.com forums a member of MetalSucks-faves The Binary Code poses this question to the masses: “Is my band ‘Sumeriancore’?” Even on Sumerian Records’ own Last.fm page, kids are e-yelling “SUMERIANCORE!” in the comments.

So let’s get this shit going. Despite what MS Maniac Caspar Colderson commented on yesterday’s Tesseract post, “Sumeriancore” isn’t yet in Wikipedia. Can someone who’s bored at work take a stab at entering it in? ‘Cause we can’t do it ourselves, lest we make the Wikipedia Gods angry. I like Freeman’s definition: “a blend of tech-death and hardcore played by preternaturally talented youngsters,” as well as “Any band that sounds like they are/could be signed to Sumerian Records (the Faceless, After the Burial, Veil of Maya)” from the aforementioned Binary Code post.

We’ll send anyone who helps out a copy of A Higher Place signed by Glen Danzig.

-VN

We’ve barely covered UK prog-techsters Tesseract on MetalSucks — save for a hilarious “music video” shot by some Subway Sandwich employees rocking out to the band whilst cleaning up at night — which kinda blows my mind, because this band is freakin’ awesome and I’ve been e-following them for years now. They’re pretty much the best Sumeriancore band in existence that hasn’t yet been signed to Sumerian Records, though they definitely pre-date this now wide-spread* sub-genre name.

Tesseract haven’t even released a proper studio album yet but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that follows this band on the Internet closely; people email us about them all the time. Apparently they’re doing some dates in their UK homeland next month, and though they’ve got a new song out there’s still no word on an album. Their new song “Lament” hit the UK radio earlier this week and summarily ended up on YouTube. Have a listen below, and if you’re lucky enough to live in the UK go see them live (dates on their MySpace page) and let us know how they are.

-VN

[Thanks: Jesse Z.]

*and by wide-spread I mean “only on MetalSucks.”

“Reliable news source” Lambgoat is reporting that San Diego, CA-based deathcore-ish band Sea of Treachery have either been booted from or left Sumerian Records, depending on who you ask. I’d never heard of this band, so in due journalistic diligence I did my research. I’d like to posit the following theories for why Sumerian kicked the band to the curb (because, really, why would any band leave a label with as much current clout as Sumerian?):

1. They suck.
2. They aren’t Sumeriancore.
3. The most popular song (by far) on their MySpace page is a cover of Paramore’s “Misery Business.”

Apparently the band is un-phased, as they’re currently recording a new album and have a mammoth U.S. tour booked for the fall.

Less bands like this and more bands like Periphery k thx.

-VN

The UK’s Fellsilent — a Sumeriancore band who are on, duh, Sumerian Records (and Basick in the UK) — have a new video for their track “Immerse” [sent in by Spencer B.]. The video itself is pretty cool with some neat-o lighting effects and a giant mosh pit, and makes me wish I was 19 again and tearing shit up in the pit. The song, on the otherhand… this band’s just got nothing original to offer. Fellsilent like their heroes so much that they cop Meshuggah riffs like they’re on sale at the 99¢ store (not to mention the patented Meshuggah forward-and-back headbang) and they even have two lead vocalists like Sikth, the band from which they steal their rhythm and lead guitar diddly-dos. They’re competent, sure, but being a competent rip-off artist of good bands does not a good band make by association. I call BS on Fellsilent. You be the judge.

-VN

FELLSILENT – Immerse (official video) from Basick Records on Vimeo.