In case your fall wasn’t already action-packed with awesome tours, The Chariot have announced a U.S. headlining run, which will start in November. Support will come from Vanna, The Crimson Armada, Former Thieves, and Listener, four bands I can’t really say anything about. But I can reiterate the message in my headline: Go see The Chariot, go see The Chariot, go see The Chariot, please please please do yourself a favor and go see The Chariot.

Here are tour dates, courtesy of Lambgoat:

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…

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…

I’m tired of posting the same old high-charting consistent sellers (heyo Disturbed, Linkin Suck, etc) and I’m sure you’re even more tired of reading about them, so this week I’d like to focus on the Top Hard Music Albums charts with a special emphasis on debuts. This week’s notable sales numbers with my own snarky comments (natch) after the flip.

Click to read more…

Here’s an interview our friends at Metal Injection conducted with our friends in IWRESTLEDABEARONCE at New England Metal & Hardcore Festival a couple of weeks back. It’s a spirited romp, as are most conversations led by MI’s Rob Pasbani (or, as many of you call him when he’s spotted out at shows, “Metal Injection Guy!”).

But in the interest of being completely honest, I should let you know that I’m really posting it as an excuse to remind you that IWABO are out on the road RIGHT NOW as part of a MetalSucks co-sponsored trek being headlined by The Human Abstract and also featuring Oh, Sleeper, Vanna, A Tragic Victory and To Speak of Wolves. All the cool kids are going. And if you don’t go, they’ll know you’re not cool and no one will ever want to make out with you or touch you where your bathing suit covers again. Seriously, I know a kid who missed the tour when it came through his town last week, and then he was instantly made a social outcast and hung himself. Peer pressure peer pressure peer pressure.

So watch this interview, then get tour dates after the jump, so that mommy and daddy will still love you and God won’t send you to hell.

Click to read more…

If you haven’t yet seen The Human Abstract you’re missing out on one of the finest progressive metal bands in today’s scene. And if you haven’t seen Iwrestledabearonce you’re missing out on one of the most mindfuckingly awesome experiences short of watching Fred Durst punch himself in the nuts repeatedly. Fitting, then, that MetalSucks is sponsoring a Spring tour featuring these two awesome bands as well as metalcorers Oh, Sleeper and Vanna! The tour kicks off April 30th in Anaheim, CA and winds its way east before returning to the left coast and wrapping up on May 28th in Hollywood. Expect more good things related to this tour from MetalSucks in the near future, including exclusive tour blogs and the latest updates. Be there!

Ice cream sandwiches… mmmmm.

-VN

AND THE HITS KEEP COMING!

As part of our ongoing effort to bring you the best live metal for your dollar, I’m proud to announce on behalf of everyone here at MetalSucks that’ll be sponsoring The Human Abstract’s headlining trek this Spring. 2006′s Nocturne announced THA as one of the most exciting prog-metal acts on the scene today, a status which last year’s Midheaven only expanded upon. And if you think that shit’s impressive on record, you’ve GOT to see them do it live – it is 100% guaranteed to induce orgasm. Add metalcore mavericks Oh, Sleeper and Vanna, PLUS MetalSucks perennial  favorite experimental electrogrind mind fuck act, IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, and you have one hell of a bill that you simply cannot afford to miss. And A Tragic Victory and To Speak of Wolves are playing select dates, too! Holy shit, these shows are gonna be fun.

Tour dates are on the poster above. We’ll post any updates we get, and, of course, check in from time to time to remind you that you need to go to these shows. ‘Cause you need to go to these shows. Seriously. Shouldn’t you be on line already? You better go get on line now.

-AR