via Badass Digest

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First week back from the holidays, and already the vocalist for one of the most famous metal bands of its generation has split from the band. What drama does the rest of the year hold? Pontificate in the comments section while you enjoy these stories from earlier in the week:

• We debuted new music by Liberteer.
• The Safety Fire’s Dez Nagle gave us a tour of his live rig, while Lazarus A.D.’s Jeff Paulick kept us up-to-date on all things football.
• We spoke to Rick Jimenez from This is Hell and comic book author Matt Fraction.
• We checked out the latest releases from Face Reality, No Sir, and Step Aside, as well as The United States of Toil.
• We learned that in 2012, it’s cool to be tr00.
• We discovered the best worst new band of 2012 so far.
• We said good things about this band so other ppl will know them and they will get sucess andwe will all be all happy!
• We mourned the loss of The Human Abstract.
• We got a primer in how to start a djent band.
• We made a Stuff You Will Hate mixtape.

Next week brings more debuts, our special brand of 2012 release previews, and maybe, just maybe, if you’re real lucky, some snark, too. Weird for us, I know.

See ya Monday!

-AR

Long Island’s This Is Hell has been plugging away since 2004, building a fanbase over four heavy albums and hundreds of live shows worldwide. Given the slew of reunions in just the past year, a hardcore band actually staying together seems an extraordinary feat, some sort of rare bird to be studied or dissected. In this interview, conducted last year just prior to the release of their latest album Black Mass, I asked founder and songwriter Rick Jimenez about the band’s more metallic sound as well as his thoughts on the nostalgic “reunion culture” of hardcore today.

Click to read more…

So, hey, I dunno if you guys heard, but earlier this month we put on this totally rad festival, The Metal Suckfest? No big deal, it was just twenty awesome bands in two days, whatever.

So ANYWAY, our brahs over at Metal Injection were there to film another edition of their awesome “Ask the Artist” series, in which they — duhskis! – ask a variety of artists one particular question… in this case, “What sucks about metal?” Check out the answers from the bands that played The Metal Suckfest — plus a couple of incredibly handsome non-musicians (cough, Vince and I, cough, cough) below:

And don’t forget that you can check out more awesome installments of “Ask the Artist” right here. DO IT!!!

-AR

So, uh, hey, did we happen to mention that The Metal Suckfest took place this past weekend at the Gramercy Theatre here in New York? Well… it did! And we had an awesome time. Twenty incredible bands all kicked our asses and shredded our reproductive organs; we are truly exhausted, and can’t wait to do it again.

In case ya weren’t able to attend, our friend Justina Villanueva was there to capture all the action. After the jump, check out some killer photos of Municipal Waste, God Forbid, Today is the Day, This is Hell, Howl, Black Tusk, Magrudergrind, All Pigs Must Die, and Ramming Speed. We’ll have some more great pics from night two of the fest later this week!

Click to read more…

The Metal Suckfest is this weekend!!! And in case you’re not familiar with, or are somehow not sold on, the twenty incredible bands we’ve booked to play THE party of the year, we have scoured YouTube for recent live footage of ALL the artists playing the fest… so you can have a little taste of the madness we have in store for ya! (The exception is Prime Evil, who are actually reuniting after being dormant for some time. So their live footage is from back in the day.) Today, we’re posting clips of all the bands playing on Friday, November 4; tomorrow, we’ll post clips of all the bands playing on Saturday, November 5.

And don’t forget: TOMORROW and TOMORROW ONLY, ALL TICKETS TO THE METAL SUCKFEST ARE JUST $25 EACH with no added fees, regardless of whether you buy tickets online, or just walk up to the box office at the Gramercy Theatre. So if you don’t already have your tickets, make sure you take advantage!!!

And now, without further ado, enjoy concert footage of all the bands playing Day One of The Metal Suckfest!

MUNICIPAL WASTE

More after the jump!

Click to read more…

News flash: radio rock still sells. While most readers of this site will probably be disappointed to see the HUGE numbers sold by this week’s #1 and #2 Current Hard Music chart-toppers, there’s better news elsewhere in the form of debuts from Skeletonwitch, Charred Walls of the Damned and a ton of other bands you see listed down below in the “tags” field. Click through to learn more.

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The Inaugural Metal Suckfest is almost here!!!! Twenty bands will DESTROY The Gramercy Theatre on November 4 and 5, PLUS there’s an awesome, five-band pre-party at the venue the night before, making this THE can’t-miss hang of the year.

Tickets are on sale now right here, and you can hit up the fest’s official website for more info on the shows, including the complete line-up. In the meantime, we’re counting down to this weekend of chaos and debauchery by speaking to one member from each band on the bill. We continue today with legendary guitarist Rick Jimenez of This is Hell, whose new album, Black Mass, was released this week on Rise Records.

Read our chat after the jump. And don’t forget to check back in the coming days and weeks for interviews with more of the musicians participating in this awesome event!!!

Click to read more…

Since we revealed the initial lineup of The inaugural Metal Suckfest roughly one month ago there’s been rampant speculation as to who the four final “TBA” bands to be added to the fest would be. Naturally, some of that speculation was correct and some of it wasn’t. But no matter; today is the day when we let the cat out of the bag.

All Pigs Must Die and This is Hell will appear on Friday, November 4th alongside Municipal Waste, while 3 and Last Chance to Reason will open for Cynic on Saturday, November 5th. Thus completes the 20-band lineup! And don’t forget about our official Suckfest “Pre-Game” event on Thursday, November 3rd. So:

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 (PRE-GAME)
Mayhem
Keep of Kalessin
Hate
Abigail Williams
Woe

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Municipal Waste
God Forbid
Today is the Day
This is Hell
Howl
Black Tusk
Magrudergrind
All Pigs Must Die
Ramming Speed
Prime Evil

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Cynic
Obscura
The Red Chord
3
A Life Once Lost
Scale the Summit
Last Chance to Reason
Fight Amp
Rosetta
Ultrageist

Are you as stoked as we are? Can’t wait. Tickets are on sale now right here. Don’t forget to visit the official Metal Suckfest website for all the information you’ll need.

This is Hell is one of the few new hardcore bands I’ve appreciated in some time. Their new full-length, Black Mass, comes out on Tuesday (October 11), but Lambgoat has posted a full album stream, which you can check out below. I know it’s good because I was playing it really loudly this morning, and then my dog ripped the head off of his new stuffed toy and ran in a circle for thirty minutes while growling, the decapitated toy carcass hanging from his mouth. In other words, This is Hell = YOU’RE MOSHING!

This Is Hell – Black Mass by lambgoat

-AR

I don’t listen to nearly as much as hardcore as I did even just a few years ago, but our own resident hardcore expert, Gary Suarez, recently turned us on to This is Hell, and I gotta say… these dudes ROCK. They’re one of the first new hardcore bands I’ve heard in the 21st century that don’t strike me as just shameless rip-offs of either Converge or Hatebreed, and yet, they still give me that same Jane Doe/Satisfaction is the Death of Desire feeling of wanting to jump in the pit while simultaneously jabbing people with a shard of broken glass.

And now would be a good time for you to get to know the band if you don’t already, ’cause their new album, Black Mass, is coming out next month. You can stream a new song from that album, “Salt the Earth,” here. But be forewarned — you oughta wait until you’re somewhere with a big open space before cranking that shit. ‘Cause as Sergeant D. would say, This is Hell = YOU’RE MOSHING!

Mosh here, then let us know us know what you think in the comments section below. Black Mass comes out October 11 on Rise.

-AR

Click to enlarge the ridiculously sweet poster art by Rodney Githens from Vertebrae 33 and Metal Band Art

When we first announced The Metal Suckfest, we promised you that it was NOT just a bunch of tours already-in-progress, routed so that they all converge for one event. That it was NOT just bands that all sound alike and one would normally expect to find on the same bill. That it would be a wholly unique concert in which some truly incredible artists are coming together JUST to play THIS ONE SINGLE EVENT.

And now you know — we weren’t lying.

We are SO PROUD to announce the line-up for the inaugural Metal Suckfest, which will take place November 4 and November 5 at The Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan. As you can see, the bands range from thrash to death to grind to prog to noise rock to NWOAHM to stoner to we don’t even know what you call it, but they all have one thing in common — they are all fucking awesome, and they are all 110% MetalSucks approved. This fest is gonna be so great, we keep having to pinch ourselves to make sure it’s real.

Tickets go on sale Friday at LiveNation.com at 10 am. 12 noon. We’ll be announcing the final four bands on the bill shortly, but trust us — you don’t wanna wait to get your ticket.

Here’s the rest of the line-up:

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Municipal Waste
God Forbid
Today is the Day
This is Hell
Howl
Black Tusk
Magrudergrind
All Pigs Must Die
Ramming Speed
Prime Evil

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5
Cynic
Obscura
The Red Chord
3
A Life Once Lost
Scale the Summit
Last Chance to Reason
Fight Amp
Rosetta
Ultrageist

-Vince, Axl, and Everyone at MetalSucks

Well, the line-up for this year’s New England Metal & Hardcore Festival — one of the oldest and most revered extreme music fests in the U.S. — has been announced, and it’s… interesting. The fest returns to a three-day format after being only two days last year, but if I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the initial day will be a Thursday, not a Friday. And as reader Brian Kessler pointed out to us via e-mail, there are two noteworthy aspects to the lineup:

• It seems like metal and hardcore have been further segregated on the bill — Thursday appears to be almost entirely dedicated to deathcore and crabcore bands, Friday seems to be entirely devoted to hardcore bands, and Saturday is dominated by metal bands. There are pros and cons to this approach — the pro being that if you’re only a fan of one particular style of extreme music, you can cherry pick which day you’re going to attend, and the con being that new fans are less likely to be exposed to bands with whom they were not already familiar.
• There seem to be fewer “big name” acts. Sure, Hatebreed and Biohazard are on there, but that’s still a far cry from years’ past. In fact, plenty of big name who have new albums scheduled to come out this year — like Amon Amarth, DevilDriver, Arch Enemy, In Flames, and Children of Bodom — aren’t playing the fest.

Please note that I’m not knocking the fest — in fact, I think Saturday, April 16 is full of killer bands — and I don’t think every fest needs to be headlined by a band of Megadeth’s stature. I just think this particular line-up is… interesting.

Anyway, here’s the full bill:

Click to read more…

Well, the line-up for this year’s New England Metal & Hardcore Festival — one of the oldest and most revered extreme music fests in the U.S. — has been announced, and it’s… interesting. The fest returns to a three-day format after being only two days last year, but if I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the initial day will be a Thursday, not a Friday. And as reader Brian Kessler pointed out to us via e-mail, there are two noteworthy aspects to the lineup:

• It seems like metal and hardcore have been further segregated on the bill — Thursday appears to be almost entirely dedicated to deathcore and crabcore bands, Friday seems to be entirely devoted to hardcore bands, and Saturday is dominated by metal bands. There are pros and cons to this approach — the pro being that if you’re only a fan of one particular style of extreme music, you can cherry pick which day you’re going to attend, and the con being that new fans are less likely to be exposed to bands with whom they were not already familiar.
• There seem to be fewer “big name” acts. Sure, Hatebreed and Biohazard are on there, but that’s still a far cry from years’ past. In fact, plenty of big name who have new albums scheduled to come out this year — like Amon Amarth, DevilDriver, Arch Enemy, In Flames, and Children of Bodom — aren’t playing the fest.

Please note that I’m not knocking the fest — in fact, I think Saturday, April 16 is full of killer bands — and I don’t think every fest needs to be headlined by a band of Megadeth’s stature. I just think this particular line-up is… interesting.

Anyway, here’s the full bill:

Click to read more…

Sick Of It All has been representing New York hardcore for well over two decades, refusing to become a nostalgia act by regularly releasing albums of new material. Whether you love them for their rough and riotous initial records, the more accessible punkier albums during their Fat Wreck Chords days, or the heavy metallic sounds of their 21st century records, you’re undoubtedly familiar with the voice of frontman Lou Koller. With the fierce and undeniably memorable Based on a True Story, Sick Of It All show no signs of mellowing as they mature, as the below interview indicates.

Click to read more…

I still don’t really know who This is Hell are, but they’re one of the bands that did a Pantera cover for that Metal Hammer thing, and now said Pantera cover, “Rise,” is up on their MySpace page.

And if all their music sounds like this, then, well, I’m not too sad I’ve been unfamiliar with This is Hell up ’til now. This sounds more like the worst Every Time I Die wannabes ever than it does Pantera.

Check out the song here, if you must.

-AR

It’s hard to believe that Dime has been gone for five years, but December 8 will be the anniversary of one of metal’s bleakest moments. To cash-in on commemorate the event, Metal Hammer have enlisted a bunch of well-known acts to record Pantera covers (but not Damageplan covers, because, y’know, let’s get real here) for a CD that will come with the magazine. Metal Hammer has done this a few times in the past – I remember they had they entire Master of Puppets album re-recorded by various bands, including Mastodon, Machine Head, Chimaira and Trivium when that album reached its twentieth anniversary, and some of it was pretty good.

Get the complete track list for Metal Hammer’s Dime tribute disc after the jump, along with my thoughts in bold.

Click to read more…