So yesterday, now-former Chimaira guitarist and current Six Feet Under six stringer Rob Arnold tweeted that “Work has begun on the new project with” Andols Herrick — the twice-departed Chimaira drummer whose most recent split with the band came about over a year ago and was announced this past April — and posted the above photo, I guess in case there was any doubt that, yes, work has indeed begun on a new project with Herrick. (Although this picture, which was posted a little while later with the caption “Metal is timeless,” is much more fun.)

And, hey, it’s no secret that I’m a massive Chimaira fan — so it’s not like I bummed that these dudes are working on something new together. I am, however, a little surprised. ‘Cause remember what Herrick said following his second departure from that band? Here, I’ll remind you:

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If I’m not mistaken, Chimaira vocalist Mark Hunter has now been interviewed for MetalSucks more times than any other musician — which is fine by me. Not only is he one of my favorite front men all of modern metal, but I always come away from these interviews feeling like I actually learned something about a band I love. In a world where it increasingly feels like too many folks are giving what I’d call “paint by numbers” answers to interview questions, Hunter’s willingness to be so sincere is always refreshing.

And, besides, Chimaira’s new album, The Age of Hell (out today on eOne — stream it here, buy physical copies here, or download it from iTunes here), is not only totally awesome, but it arrives admist a flurry of drama and controversy, as the band changed fifty percent of the line-up in the intervening years since 2009′s The Infection. So there was certainly plenty to discuss this go-’round!

After the jump, read the full transcript of my most recent chat with Hunter, in which he discusses those line-up changes, Hell‘s creation, the band’s upcoming tour plans, and much, much more.

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Guys, I honestly do not give a fuck if you wear your pants or not. But don’t make me feel like a dick for wanting to discuss relevant metal bands, as opposed to, say, sit around and wonder when Queensryche are get their shit together. (Short answer: Never. Long anser: Abso-fuckin’-lutley never ever never never.)

So. We might have to spend a portion of today catching up on shit that happened last week. For example…

As you know from reading my recent interview with Chimaira guitarist Rob Arnold, the band are currently in the studio recording a new album. And apparently they’ve been swept up in all the Charlie Sheen hysteria that’s been going on as of late (seriously, motherfucker hasn’t been on so many people’s minds since Platoon came out), so they decided to record a cover of The Troggs’ classic anthem, “Wild Thing” (below). For the youngsters out there: the song choice isn’t just a reference to Sheen’s recent behavior, but also to… well, just get your ass to Netflix.

UPDATE: Metal Insider tells me that this cover is now available for purchase on iTunes.

Chimaira’s new album should be out later this year on eOne.

-AR

Thanks: Ryan Badami

Hey studs and foxes, Anso here. Please accept my most gracious hugz in return for partying with me these last two days. Running this site in the absence of Axl and Vince has been so superfun thanks to you, our cherished MetalSucks readership. I learned a lot of stuff too, for example that I should hereby refrain from “ass fucking [my] boyfriends cock” [sic]. K I’ll work on that while you all re-live some hilarious, informative, and sexy moments from this week:

• We debuted new music by Maruta.
• We spoke to Rob Arnold from Chimaira/Six Feet Under/The Elite, Jack Strong from The Acacia Strain, Varg Vikernes of Burzum, and Takis Kinis from prog-thrash legends Realm.
• We checked out the latest releases from DevilDriver and Wino. Plus, hot hardcore 7″s and all the stuff that Corey Mitchell rocked in February.
• We reveled in official confirmation of the System of a Down tour story we broke ahead of everybody.
• We proffered scientific evidence that to be in a band is a poor life decision.
• We were wowed by Evan Brewer, player of two basses!
• We peeped Devin Townsend’s nod to Sinatra and incredible new jams from Scale The Summit, Between The Buried And Me, Graviton, and All Shall Perish.
• We cheered Taylor Momsen and her desire to “fuck for Satan.”
• We met the new Dragonforce singer. It’s not Corey Taylor.
• We took a stand against D.R.U.G.S.

You’ll have a couple days to de-Anso yourselves, but please do rush right back to MetalSucks on Monday for more hot action when the bosses return from muling heroin in from Ecuador their business trip and we resume our regularly-scheduled action. You may now put your pants back on!

-ADF

Photo by Scott Ferrara

Rob Arnold is a busy dude. As lead guitarist and one of the principal songwriters for Chimaira, he’s been one of the leaders of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal for more than a decade now; in 2009, he launched The Elite, a new project, with Bleed the Sky drummer Austin D’Amond; and then, just yesterday, it was announced that he’s the new guitar player for Six Feet Under, original Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes’ legendary death metal band that has long been known as one of Arnold’s favorite acts. Phew! Can’t accuse Rob Arnold of slacking off, that’s for sure.

The very first thing I did when I heard that Arnold was the latest addition to SFU (along with new drummer Kevin Talley, who, coincidentally, was in Chimaira from 2004 to 2006) was shoot him an e-mail to see if he’d be down to answer some quick questions about his latest creative endeavor. Luckily for us, he agreed! After the jump, read about how Arnold came to join Six Feet Under, the new material he’s working on with SFU, the band’s future touring plans, and, oh yeah, that new album that Chimaira is currently recording…

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Bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall have both quit Six Feet Under. Butler told Blabbermouth that he’s off to join Obituary full-time (he’s been playing with them since last year), but no word on where Gall will seek employment. Butler makes it sound like everything ended in a happy place, but I’m always suspicious when multiple band members split at once.

Whatever. Butler and Gall were, along with Chris Barnes, both original members of the band (guitarist Steve Swanson joined in ’98, replacing, coincidentally, ex-Obitchuarian Allen West), but I feel like it really shouldn’t be that hard to fill their shoes; Six Feet Under’s brand of death n’ roll is so easy to write that, once upon a time, a tribute band was able to imitate their sound with enough skill to get Barnes to actually join the group. And Barnes has already revealed that he and Swanson have been working with a new writing partner for the past four months. I dunno who it is (it would be awesome if it was Chimaira’s Rob Arnold, who I think is a big Six Feet Under fan, but that seems unlikely given his commitments to both Cleveland’s Finest and The Elite), but I’m of the opinion that Barnes should just make nice with those Torture Killer dudes now and get them to be the new guys in Six Feet Under.

ANYWAY, here’s a fittingly romantic song by which to remember Butler and Gall — “Remains of You.” True story: for a long time, I thought Barnes was singing “I took my nuts to your head,” not “I took an axe to your head.” I still think my lyric is superior.

-AR

Bassist Terry Butler and drummer Greg Gall have both quit Six Feet Under. Butler told Blabbermouth that he’s off to join Obituary full-time (he’s been playing with them since last year), but no word on where Gall will seek employment. Butler makes it sound like everything ended in a happy place, but I’m always suspicious when multiple band members split at once.

Whatever. Butler and Gall were, along with Chris Barnes, both original members of the band (guitarist Steve Swanson joined in ’98, replacing, coincidentally, ex-Obitchuarian Allen West), but I feel like it really shouldn’t be that hard to fill their shoes; Six Feet Under’s brand of death n’ roll is so easy to write that, once upon a time, a tribute band was able to imitate their sound with enough skill to get Barnes to actually join the group. And Barnes has already revealed that he and Swanson have been working with a new writing partner for the past four months. I dunno who it is (it would be awesome if it was Chimaira’s Rob Arnold, who I think is a big Six Feet Under fan, but that seems unlikely given his commitments to both Cleveland’s Finest and The Elite), but I’m of the opinion that Barnes should just make nice with those Torture Killer dudes now and get them to be the new guys in Six Feet Under.

ANYWAY, here’s a fittingly romantic song by which to remember Butler and Gall — “Remains of You.” True story: for a long time, I thought Barnes was singing “I took my nuts to your head,” not “I took an axe to your head.” I still think my lyric is superior.

-AR

The Elite, the new project featuring Chimaira guitarist Rob Arnold and Bleed the Sky drummer Austin D’Amond, has uploaded the second part of the mini-movie chronicling the making of their EP, WW3. Check it out below. I promise, it doesn’t all take place through the point of view of a bottle, just the first little bit. And if you haven’t seen it yet and need to catch up, check out part one here.

WW3 is out now, and if you like Chimaira, or Bleed the Sky, or any of what you heard in the above video, you should definitely check it out. In fact, here’s a link to where you can download it on iTunes for a whopping price of $4.95. You can afford that, you cheap fuckers.

-AR

Thanks: Kristoffer Infante

Remember last year, when I told you about The Elite, a new band featuring Chimaira guitarist Rob Arnold and Bleed the Sky drummer Austin D’Amond? Well, Mr. Arnold has now uploaded the first in what is apparently going to be a five-part mini-movie chronicling the creation of the band’s debut EP, WW3. Check it out below.

I can’t imagine that anyone who digs Chimaira wouldn’t also enjoy The Elite; I mean, the riffs are unmistakably Arnold. Check out The Elite here.

-AR

Thanks: Kristoffer Infante

If you read this site regularly, you’re already aware that I’m a huge Chimaira fan. In fact, I pride myself on knowing way too much about them.

I guess I haven’t officially reached stalker status yet, though, because until I read this interview with Chimaira lead guitarist Rob Arnold, I had no idea that the dude had another band – The Elite.

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