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.

Over the weekend we got a couple of emails about a benefit project for ailing Deftones bassist Chi Cheng, helmed by Korn bassist Fieldy Arvizu. Fieldy has recorded a song with a star-studded cast of characters to help raise money for Cheng, whose medical costs continue piling up as he enters year two (!!!) of his coma induced by a car accident. The song, simply called “A Song For Chi,” is available for free download — although donations of any amount at all are encouraged — features members of Machine Head, Metallica, Killswitch Engage, Slipknot, Sevendust and a whole bunch of others.

Click to read more…

The latest Blabbermouth [via Rock N Roll Experience] news sure to cause an uproar: Burton Bell just gave an interview where he calls Deftones front man Chino Moreno “a dick,” Slipknot’s Joey Jordison a “sloppy” drummer, and asserts that the last few Ozzy albums have been full of “shitty music.”

And, hey, you know what? Horns up to Bell for being honest. Because while I don’t think Jordison is a sloppy drummer and I don’t know Chino well enough to classify him as a dick or otherwise, but Ozzy certainly has been making shitty music for at least three studio albums now. And why the fuck should we fault Bell for speaking his mind? It’s better than the usual being diplomatic bull crap.

Ironically enough, the last time I remember someone this prominent in the metal world really speaking out like this was Chino’s infamous Revolver interview in the summer of ’03, when he slagged every band he was about to hit the road with for that year’s Summer Sanitarium tour (including Metallica). What goes around comes around, I s’pose…

-AR