In case my oh-so-witty headline didn’t give it away, Corrosion of Conformity are hitting the road for a U.S. headlining trek. I haven’t seen the reunited CoC, but I’ve heard some people say they’re great and some people say they’re not so great… I guess this will be my chance to finally find out.

Support on most dates is coming from Torche, Valient Thorr, and A Storm of Light, so that’s a pretty nifty line-up — regular MS readers will already be aware that we’ve very sweet on Valient Thorr. But the first show of the run, on January 22 in Asheville, NC, will have support from Hail!Hornet — okay whatevs — and a screening of Slow Southern Steel, the documentary about southern metal that CT from Rwake made. That could be pretty sweet, too.

Here are all the dates:

Click to read more…

Friendly reminder: as of RIGHT THIS SECOND, the legendary Richard Christy from Death, Iced Earth, Control Denied, and, oh yeah, The Howard Stern Show, is at the MetalSucks/Vertebrae 33  booth at New York Comic Con signing copies of Charred Walls of the Damned‘s ridiculously rocking new album, Cold Winds on Timeless Days, which is out NOW on Metal Blade Records. He’ll be there ’til 7 pm, so there’s still time for you to hop on a bus, subway, or in a cab and get your ass down there — we’re booth #2625. Myself and/or Vince are also there now, and will be there tomorrow and Sunday, too, and we may have some other special guests in store for you yet. So come on by, pick up some free swag courtesy of Indie Merch and Metal Blade, hang out, whatever. It’ll be a blast! Get all the details here.

And now, some other fun shit we did this week:

• We premiered a new live recording of Death’s “Leprosy” and new music from Trapped Under Ice.
• We spoke to Grutle Kjellson from Enslaved, Rex Brown from Kill Devil Hill/Pantera/Down, producer Shane Frisby, and Skateboard Marketing’s Munsey Ricci.
• Valient Thorr’s Valient Himself occupied Wall Street, GWAR’s Dave Brockie gave us the blow-by-blow on the NFL, and Eyal Levi from Dååth and Levi/Werstler and Audiohammer Studios got all Pacino-in-Heat on us.
• We checked out the latest releases from Warbringer and Årabrot.
• We continued The Countdown to The Metal Suckfest and launched a contest in which you can win some sweet swag and a meet and greet session at the show.
• We watched some inter-Emmure drama unfold.
• We begged Sasha Frere-Jones from The New Yorker to stop writing about metal forever.
• We enjoyed the use of Nine Inch Nails in the new trailer for The Avengers.
• We got excited about Cynic’s new line-up + song.
• We celebrated the best Dragonforce cover ever.

Have a terrific, relaxing weekend everyone. See ya Monday, if we don’t see ya at NYCC!

-AR

“I couldn’t sleep at all last night.”

My thoughts kept racing back and forth about what is happening in our country right now just underneath our noses.  SO CLOSE!  It’s so close!  It’s the same kind of close as when someone has stepped in dogshit and they walk into the room, and you kind of catch a whiff of it.  Enough of a whiff that you walk off into a corner and check the bottom of your shoe to make sure it’s not you.  THAT’s how close this happening is. Or THESE happenings are. The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to so many different cities that it’s pretty hard to keep up with what’s happening. I couldn’t sleep because this is something I’ve been dreaming about for a number of years. This is the beginning — NOT of a revolution (because revolutions just REVOLVE around and end up in the same place) but an EVOLUTION in our thought processes (taking us to a higher state of thought).

This gigantic hivemind group has come together despite their differences.  Despite the things that politicians would use against us to pull us apart.  They always pit the American people against each other.  Left or right.  Liberal or Conservative.  Black or white.  Rich or poor.  Gay or straight.  None of that shit matters.  That is the significance of the idea of the 99%.  There has been an unbalance in this country for too long.  The network or cable news wouldn’t let you in on this stuff.  It’s not them who’s out there protesting.  AND their paychecks come from those same people who’ve bought our government.  It took so goddamn long for something like this to happen.  And you know why?  Of course you do.  If you didn’t, you probably wouldn’t be wasting your time on the internet reading something that some rocknroll singer wrote.  There is about 1% in this country that have the bread to buy those in charge, reaping the benefits and the rewards of all of your hard work.  It’s the reason that most people give up voting.  They think, “Well, these candidates are all bought.  What does it matter?  What good will my vote do when in the end if either way it goes we’re all fucked?”

Click to read more…

I was listening to an interview with Sarah Vowell last weekend, in which she proclaimed that, as a writing exercise, she did not allow herself to use any F-bombs in her new book, Unfamiliar Fishes. I decided to do her one better this week — I did not swear at all. Unless you count “crap,” “drek,” or “sucks” as swear words, which I do not.

So that was fun.

ANYWAY, here’s some stuff we did this week:

• We debuted new music from All Shall Perish and Thou.
• We debuted new videos from Valient Thorr and Meek is Murder.
• Unearth’s Buz McGrath, Hatebreed’s Wayne Lozinak, and In Flames’ Peter Iwers told us about their live rigs.
• We spoke to Aaron Turner from Isis and Helms Alee.
• We checked out new releases from The Bronx Casket Co. and Bedlam of Cacophony.
• Even though Dime would never approve, we made fun of some poor kid.
• We continued to sing Spotify’s praises.
• We voted on our favorite album from The Devin Townsend Project.
• We were sexually aroused by the prospect of Disturbed breaking-up.
• We wondered whether or not the return of Megadeth’s Gigantour is a good thing or not.

Alright, we’re out. Have a nice weekend, gang!

-AR

If MetalSucks were left in charge of the Oxford English Dictionary we might just post a picture of Valient Thorr as the definition for “fun.” Everything we know about Valient Himself and his troop of merry metal warriors continues to perpetuate the image that Valient Thorr really do pretty much nothing in life other than drink beer and play rock music, with the occasional good deed thrown in for cosmic kharma. The brand new music video for “Sleeper Awakes” is no different; no kidneys were removed or implanted in the making of this video, but plenty of beer was swilled and lotsa rock music was played. VT just makes us feel good in that special spot, like a special drug that takes you to a far away land where nothing matter but beer, rock and having a good time (maybe that’s what life is actually all about and we’re just missing out). As always, the band has produced another entertaining clip that should leave all ho-hum videomakers jealous; watch the world premiere of “Sleeper Awakes” above. Better enjoy life today ’cause ya never know, you could be dead tomorrow.

Since experiencing Valient Thorr live is the very epitomy of experiencing Valient Thorr at all, make sure you catch them on tour in the U.S. this August!! We personally guarantee you will have fun. Dates after the jump.

Click to read more…

In case it isn’t readily apparent from the giant logo in the lower right hand corner, we “borrowed” this photo of the gig from Prefix.

I’ve never met anyone that outright hated Motorhead. There are people who are indifferent or don’t really like them, but full-on vitriol-spewing hate? Nuh-uh. Motorhead are amazing and wonderful and remind me why I love metal. I’m sure nay-sayers exist, and I pity them, for they have no joy in their cold, hard hearts. I, however, delight in gruff dirty rock n’ roll played really, really fast, and so I was psyched to see them live.

Click to read more…

[Read my Day One recap here. -Ed.]

If Kvelertak aren’t rich men by the time they release their next album they’ll have seriously blown it. Based solely on the power of their incredible live performances at SXSW, the first of which took place Thursday afternoon inside Emo’s at the annual MS-sponsored Full Metal Texas event, these six Norwegians had major U.S. record labels drooling, kissing the ground they walk on, drinking their piss, shoveling poop down their own throats and throwing gobs of money at them. Expect a major bidding war to erupt over Kvelertak; it’ll be interesting to see where their next album lands. But the truth is, it’s all deserved; Kvelertak RIPPED. Video after the jump!

Day 2 of SXSW also featured the live debut of T.R.A.M., an improvizational jazz/metal supergroup featuring Animals as Leaders’ Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes, Suicidal Tendencies drummer Eric Moore, and former Mars Volta saxophone player Adrian Terrazas at the WSOU showcase (along with Ultrageist and Meek is Murder). We also caught performances by Goes Cube, Yob and The Red Chord at Full Metal Texas.

Click to read more…

I mean, talk about a snub, right?!?

ANYWAY, tomorrow afternoon, Vince and I will attend the wedding of one of our oldest friends. A guy I have known since I was two years old. The very dude who was by my side the first time I heard Guns N’ Roses. I don’t think he had any idea at the time that I had just headed down a path from which I would never return. He works for a classy magazine now, and wears a suit and tie to work. I do this, and usually do it in boxers and a stinky shirt with some metal band on it.

I don’t have a point or anything. I’m just feeling reflective right now.

And now that I got that out of my system, here’s the rundown of things we did this week:

• We got a tour update from Valient Thorr’s Valient Himself.
• We spoke to Tommy Rogers from Between the Buried and Me, Oppu Laine and Mikko Kotomäki from Barren Earth, Kenn Nardi from Anacrusis, and Mike Riley and Dom Romeo from Pulling Teeth.
• We checked out new releases from As Blood Runs Black, Capsule, and Crucified Mortals and Nunslaughter.
• We checked out the newest lucky band to sign to leading independent music retailer VICTORY RECORDS.
• We made the mistake of following Vinnie Paul onto his tour bus.
• We helped our friends at the Deciblog defend Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy.
• We listened to the worst dubstep metal bastardization yet.
• We got excited about the new Scar Symmetry album.
• We sent out well wishes to Vince Neil while he’s in prison.
• We read some fan mail.

Okay now I’m gonna go pick up my new suit for tomorrow! WHOO-HOO TO BEIN’ A BIG KID! See you peeps Monday.

-AR

Allo allo alohoyus out there. Here’s a vid update from the beginning of the tour with Motorhead and Clutch. We are quite behind on these because EVERY SINGLE night is a totally sold out insane fury of sweat, smoke, booze, friends, fans, women, and loud rocknroll jams! So – getcher self a taste here and stay tuned for more updates and shit asap.

Beard love from Detroit,
Valient Himself

Ever been around a non-metalhead when you’re listening to something and bitching with a fellow headbanger about how it’s not heavy enough, or br00tal enough, or [insert synonym for "heavy" and "br00tal" here] enough? Well the below coming from Wulffmorgenthaler.com sums that situation up nicely…

By the way, how much does that dude on the left look like Valient Himself?

-AR

[via Metal Injection]

[Valient Thorr's eccentric mainman Valient Himself back atcha with another MetalSucks guest blog! In case you missed it, check his prior guest column, a wrap-up of his experience as a fan at the annual Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX.]

Alahoyus!

Hope everyone is having great holidays.  We are relaxing a bit after a loooong year, but we wanted to drop a little early present in your lap so you didn’t feel left out this season.  Back in October “we dropped the video for Double Crossed” a month after Stranger was released.  We were looking through all the footage and laughing at the great time we had making it.  We decided to show you a little bit of the “behind the scenes” that goes into making a video like that, and we put this together.  Truth be told, it came out every bit as entertaining as the video itself.

Here’s a few tidbits of info:

1- When the outtakes vid starts, you can see me freaking out after kicking a hole through the wall.  I had been waiting to do that for fucking HOURS.  And I only had one shot, so the pressure was on, if I fucked it up, everyone was going to be pissed.  And, whatever, it worked, so I was psyched.  Plus, we had been there drinking beers since 8am, and this was like 10pm.

Click to read more…

Allow me to shill for a beat before the weekend: If you haven’t already bought one of our new, limited edition shirts, go get yours now!!! They’re selling fast, and soon they will be the title of a God Forbid album. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

Here’s some other fun stuff we did this week:

• Valient Thorr’s Valient Himself gave us the rundown on Fun Fun Fun Fest, The Red Chord’s Greg Weeks found the CFL fun and confusing, Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable talked about the best and worst drives in the U.S., and The Austerity Program’s Justin Foley is the latest to weigh in on free metal from Scion.
• We debuted new music from Murder Construct.
• We spoke to Pentagram’s Bobby Liebling and Christopher Drew from Nevershotnever and Eatmewhileimhot.
• We checked out the latest releases from Riotgod, Electric Wizard, Rimfrost, and First Blood and Killing the Dream.
• We asked you about old school bands you wanted to like but couldn’t.
• We joined Gene Simmons, Slash, and Dave Navarro in having NOH8 for gays.
• We laughed at both Kirk Hammett and the little girl he kicked.
• We also laughed at Sebastian Bach’s frail ego.
• We got really excited about the new single from The Human Abstract.
• We also got really excited about Decibel‘s new flexi disc series.

Have a nice, relaxing weekend gang. We’ll miss you muchly, but we’ll see ya Monday.

-AR

We couldn’t attend this year’s annual Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, TX. But “The Most Fun Live Band In The World” Valient Thorr had an appearance at the 3-day event, so frontman Valient Himself decided to make a vacation of it by hanging out at the entire 3-day festival as a regular old fan and soaking in the fun (fun fun). Burgertime at the arcade, a Queen cover band, Weird Al, The Dwarves, a Sarah Palin decapitation by Gwar, High on Fire, getting in the pit for Suicidal Tendencies, tons and tons of beer… all in a weekend’s worth of fun (fun fun) for Valient Himself. Check out his recap of the weekend below.

by Valient Himself

Alahoyus, everyone.  This is Valient Himself.  I just got back from Texas, and I had such a blast, I thought I’d share my experience with you.  I’m writing to you on my brand new computer.  This is the first thing I’m typing on it, so I’m very excited.  So, finally our US tour in support of our new record has come to an end.  Last weekend we flew to Austin for the final show, and it was an honor to be asked to play amidst so many awesome bands at this year’s FUN FUN FUN FEST.  Ever since we were asked, we’ve had a collective boner about the lineup.  To our dismay the week before last, my favorite band of all time, DEVO, unfortunately had to cancel because Bob Mothersbaugh almost cut his thumb off or something like that.  Apparently it was pretty bad.  HOWEVER, we were not gonna let that deter us from having an awesome time, anyway there were a hundred other bands that were gonna rock as well.  And then, bang a few hours later, word comes through that the O.G. lineup of the Descendants were going to fill in for DEVO, playing their first show together in 8 years.  We’ll take it!  Awesome!

Click to read more…

Vince and Kip told me for months that I had to go see Valient Thorr live. “But I don’t really dig their albums!” I’d protest, and they’d reply, “No no no no no no no, you have to SEE them LIVE to ‘get it.’” So last month, Vince and I got really (really, really, really) drunk and went to go see them, and guess what? Vince and Kip weren’t lying. In concert, this band RULES. I would go see them live again literally anytime. Like, if my phone rings right now and it’s Kip and he’s all “Valient Thorr are playing in Staten Island in an hour,” well, the only correct response would be, “Which subway line do I take?” And there would be no more posts for the rest of the day, just like that.

So. The new Valient Thorr video, for the song “Double Crossed,” doesn’t quite convey the joy of seeing the band live… but it certainly is a heckuva lotta fun. It kind of reminds me of an old Twisted Sister video, at least in terms of its goofy tone.

My favorite part, though, is that Valient Himself has visible sweat stains right from the moment he gets up off the couch at the start of the video. Of course, it takes lots of big, hot lights to film these things, and we don’t know even know if it was filmed in chronological order, so it’s possible he had good reason to sweat. But I prefer to think that he’s just a slippery dude.

“Double Crossed” comes off of Valient Thorr’s latest, Stranger, which is out now on Volcom. You should buy a copy just so that this band keeps touring and comes to fuck up your town real soon.

-AR

Sir Sweatsalot Valient Himself leads the audience in mass synchronized rowing. Photo taken by yours truly.

“You had to be there.” It’s a phrase oft uttered by would-be storytellers who just can’t seem to convey the hilarity of said story to anyone who wasn’t, ya know, there. And it’s a phrase that perfectly applies to not just the particular Valeint Thorr, Junius and Howl show Axl and I witnessed in Brooklyn last week, but to each individual band in the broader sense. Try as we may, there’s no possible way we can convey to you how freaking awesome each band was at this show, and try as those bands may, it seems damn unlikely that any of these bands will ever be able to make a record that even comes close to approximating what it’s like to see them live. Simply put, these three bands are the very embodiment of “you had to be there.”

Click to read more…

Last week we offered up four limited edition colored vinyls of 36 Crazyfists’ latest Collisions & Castaways. I gotta say, the entries were pretty weak, both in number and quality, but we had to chose four winners anyway so here they are:

• chainchomp: “No really dude, you have a neon caterpillar on your junk! No homo.”
• Robb: “Harold and Kumar go to White Chapel.”
• Sacajawea: “As they stumbled out of the venue going on and on about how great the concert was, the opening band prepared to do their first song of the night.”
• Fish: “Just a little further Frodo.  You must destroy the ring.”

This week we’re offering one lucky winner a vinyl copy of Valient Thorr’s latest banger Stranger (reviewed by our own Urbandale Grimes) along with a VT t-shirt. Be sure to read my fascinating interview with Valient Himself and check them out on tour in the U.S. right this very moment. To win, just come up with the funniest caption to the below photo, and remember to use a real email address (or post it with your comment if you’re using FB Connect)!

In case you aren’t yet privy to the insanity that is Valient Thorr’s live show, most Earth citizens will have a chance to catch this monolithic act this fall when VT rolls through your city on their mammoth 7-week tour (already underway). VT must absolutely be experienced live to be experienced at all; in fact, I’m so sure you’ll have a good time that I’ll pay you back for your ticket if you go to a show and somehow don’t have the best time ever. That’s how sure I am that Valient Thorr will rock your buttocks. Take this excerpt from Valient Himself’s tour blog on The Deciblog:

Rocked hard every night.  Just treating my wardrobe poorly.  It’s just disrespectful.  I am gonna be so tough after this tour.  It’s true, you can always be tougher.  Because I am tough, and sometimes I say, how can I get any tougher?  And then suddenly, I’m like 30 percent tougher than I was before.  I’m not sure, but I think this may be an infinite process (if you work hard enough).  I’ll let you know how its coming.

Would you expect any less than full on rockitude from a man who makes such a statement? No, no you wouldn’t, because Valient Himself would not lie to you.

We’ll be getting tougher with Valient Thorr (and Junius and Howl) this Thursday at Brooklyn’s Southpaw. Will you? Remaining tour dates after the jump.

-VN

Click to read more…

There was something of a tornado here in Brooklyn yesterday, and even if you didn’t see the tornado itself you saw some of the craziest fucking weather ever. I know you folks out in Nebraska are thinking “So what?” but for us something like this happens about as often as an earthquake does for you. Shit was positively epic. Thankfully even the monkeys didn’t get all riled up like the dudes in the above video — although I think I saw Sammy hiding in the bathtub — and business carried on as usual as it did all week:

• We stroked ourselves just a little bit by celebrating our 10,000th post with a list of our top ten favorite posts ever.
• The return of Ask Oderus: You asked Gwar’s frontman your burning questions and he answered them. Also, Eyal wondered what makes a guitarist “great.”
• We premiered new tracks by Titan, Holy Grail, These are They and we premiered the new Firewind video.
• We spoke with Valient Thorr’s Valient Himself.
• Rumpelstiltskin Grinder changed their name to The Devil. Oh wait, no they didn’t.
• We ranked the Top 10 t-shirts worn by High on Fire frontman Matt Pike.
• We looked at new records by Drudkh and Winterfylleth and Skunk Anansie.
• We looked at our favorite new-school Iron Maiden jams and we wondered if Demolisher is the heaviest band on the planet.
• Tomas Haake may or may not have actually commented on my post about some dude covering Meshuggah’s “Bleed” by playing drums on his pillows. Tomas, if you’re reading this, I have mad respect for your drumming!
• Axl released Part 1 of his Daath in-studio report.

Hopefully no more tornados hit Brooklyn this weekend. Actually, if one could swoop right over Jerry Manuel’s home then hop-scotch over to Omar Minaya’s, I’d be OK with that.

-VN

Valient Thorr must be experienced live to be experienced at all. Sure, you can get down with VT’s delicious concoction of southern rock and punk on their records, but in order to truly appreciate and understand what this band is about you’ve got to see and be a part of the live show. Mainman Valient Himself is all too aware of this fact, and it’s a topic we talked about at length in my interview with him last week.  Turns out — surprise, surprise — that’s he’s got all sorts of theories about it, that a live show is the ultimate art form as a combination of audio, visual, and physical stimulation. The ideas he shared with me over the phone came off a whole lot like his infamous on-stage rants at VT’s shows. And if you’ve seen VT live, you know full well that said rants (VH describes them as “beliefs”) are some of the best in the biz.

We also chatted about Valient Thorr’s new record Stranger (out today! read a review by our own Urbandale Grimes here), their upcoming seven-week U.S. tour with Junius and Howl, how Valient Himself spends his time off, what it was like to work with producer Jack Endino, and how the band’s career might’ve been different if their records had been pushed in Walmarts the nation over.

I initially had a hard time reaching Mr. Himself on the phone, so he had to call me back from a landline at VT’s self-described “secret laboratory.” Our chat, after the jump.

Click to read more…

Thorriors of the world rejoice and once more cast off your deodorant. Sweaty eminence Valient Himself and his minions from Burlatia (located inside the planet Venus, in case you’re not up on your interstellar geography) have returned to get feral on the collective ass of the human race.

Not hip to Valient Thorr? Allow me to share the recipe. Start with five guys who look like they escaped the Dawn of Man exhibit at your local museum. Pulverize classic guitar rock (Ted Nugent, AC/DC, MC5), push tempos into the red and sprinkle with Anthrax-style choruses. Of course, it’s not Valient Thorr until you add the secret sauce, which is delivering this balls-out gumbo with the recklessness of genuine article punk and enough perspiration to submerge North Americans in an ocean of their malodorous secretions.

Click to read more…