MetalSucks

As part of our ongoing effort to bring brutal metal tours to you, our deserving (sometimes) readership, MetalSucks and Decibel are proud to present a Spring headline run featuring technical death metal legends Pestilence, their first US tour in over 16 years! The 17-date journey will kick off in Baltimore as part of the Maryland Deathfest on May 30th and close at the Gramercy Theater in New York City on June 17. Support will be provided by Warbringer, Vital Remains, Enfold Darkness and Sacrificial Slaughter. Advance tickets will go on sale for all shows via http://enterthevault.com starting today.

That’s a killer lineup. All dates are posted after the jump. Before you Floridians bitch about how there aren’t any Florida dates, you should know two things: 1) we have zero control over the cities and venues that the tours we sponsor play, and 2) face it, Florida is out of the way, dude.

Onwards…

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My lifestyle is such that I have ample opportunity to stare blankly into space and fantasize. And in those fantasies, I resemble the evil Vincent Ludwig in The Naked Gun and am similarly devious. Like, when I want my goons to depart a discreet conversation/bribe attempt, I’ll signal them by adjusting my cufflinks, that kind of thing. And all mega-powerful businessmen with awesome hair are driven by passion, so my (imaginary) days would be devoted to metal and the execution of my plan to manipulate city hall in order to convert the Sunset Strip into a historically accurate recreation of the ’80s hair rock scene, complete with Graceland-style museum pieces and human props a la Disneyland.

Back in reality, the Sunset Strip Metal Preserve and Theme Park project has been stuck in the research phase for a while, but at least that inertia allows for serendipitous nights like Sunday at The Whisky. It was then and there that Warbringer, along with four hours of local bands, unknowingly designed a working exhibit on the SSMP+TP experience: A neighborhood thrash metal show.

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A couple weeks ago, I did an interview with Metal Injection for a retrospective on the highlights, trends, and cultural significance of the heavy music scene from an insider’s perspective concerning the last ten years. Near the end of the interview, I was asked if there were any sub-genres or trends that I didn’t like, or that seemed to get on my nerves. I thought about it for a minute, and generally annoying things like nu-metal or screamo or stale metalcore just seemed obvious and an easy target, when something dawned on me. I was generally annoyed by the whole ReThrash scene.

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Australian metal troop The Amenta are currently touring the U.S. with Polish death troop Vader as one of way too many support bands who get abbreviated 20 minute sets on the tour. Thankfully, even with only a 20 minute set, The Amenta made traveling into Manhattan on a Saturday night worth it; their powerful set was equal parts modern death metal and neo-industrial and their stage presence was captivating. Place The Amenta firmly in the “bands to watch” category.

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Our friend Carlos Ramirez has posted a list at NoiseCreep of the “Top 10 New School Thrash Bands.” There are some really sweet bands on this list – Municipal Waste, Skeletonwitch, Warbringer, and Merciless Death all made the list – but I imagine many of you will be pissed by some of the exclusions (Lazarus A.D., Evile, etc.).

Check out the complete list, then come back and argue about it right here at “Fuck You” headquarters.

-AR

When people talk about neo-thrash bands like Warbringer, their words usually carry a subtle hint of disdain. I concede that it’s hard not to mention what they are (neo-Bay Area Thrash) before saying how good they are (very). But to brand Warbringer (or Municipal Waste) fetishizers of a bygone era implies something vaguely untrustable, beyond a mere affection for the Thrash idiom. And it’s true, there’s little about Warbringer that suggests an original vision. All the same, their debut full-length War Without End and now the Gary Holt-produced Waking Into Nightmares are too awesome to be the creation of some tribute band; it’s simply not possible that Warbringer is comprised of five masters of mimicry. Rather, it’s clear they feel that Bay Area-native bands did shit right. And now they do.

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When I was twenty years old, I was trying to stay awake during college classes, attempting not to get fired from my shitty job before I’d saved enough money to take one of those “middle class white kids backpacking through Europe” trips, and dating a girl who Vince liked to call “The Critic” for her alleged resemblance to the cartoon character of the same name.

John Laux is twenty, and he’s the guitar player for Warbringer, one of the top bands in the current thrash metal revival. He didn’t have to backpack through Europe because he’s, y’know, toured Europe. His band just released their second full-length, Waking into Nightmares (Century Media), which was produced by Exodus main main Gary Holt. If I get hit by a bus tomorrow, Laux will already have lived a much fuller, cooler life than I have.

I can’t hold it against the dude, though; he’s an awesome guitar player in an awesome band, and his success is well-deserved. John was recently cool enough to answer some of my retarded questions via e-mail. After the jump, get his thoughts on Warbringer’s latest, working with the legendary Mr. Holt, the perils of trying to help a drunken fan cross the border, and more.

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I don’t have a lot to say about Warbringer’s new, David Brodsky-directed video, “Severed Reality,” other than it seems like a throwback to those old thrash videos where the band is playing live and the crowd is just murdering one another (Exodus’ “Toxic Waltz,” etc.). That’s not a shock, given that pretty much everything about Warbringer is a throwback… but that doesn’t make the video any less cool.

Warbringer’s new album, Waking into Nightmare, was released yesterday on Century and was produced by – speak of the devil! – Exodus’ Gary Holt.

-AR

This past Friday, I decided to take a break from writing my latest book Savage Son to catch some old school, new school, and something-in-between-school metal. After spending a sweltering hot day at the San Antonio Zoo with my three-year-old daughter and witnessing a Gibbon monkey with an anal prolapse and a pair of crusty old horny humping turtles, I figured the Kreator-led Hordes of Chaos Tour at San Antonio’s Scout Bar might actually be a bit less mentally taxing.

It definitely was, but in a good way.

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Some good news for thrash fans:

1. Warbringer have posted “Severed Reality,” the first single from their new album Waking Into Nightmares, on their MySpace page. The song sounds more or less like Warbringer – which is a good thing. ‘Cause you don’t throw on a Warbringer album when you’re in the mood for Jesu, y’know? Anyways, the band apparently just filmed a video for the track with perennial MetalSucks fave David Brodsky, and Nightmares was produced by Gary Holt (yes, that Gary Holt), so expect more Warbringery goodness in the near future. Waking Into Nightmares drops May 19 on Century – but you can see the band live as they wrap up their MetalSucks sponsored trek with Soilwork, Darkane and Swallow the Sun, or their upcoming tour with Exodus. Get dates here.
2. Bonded by Blood and their Masters of Disasters tourmates, Exmortus and Witchhaven, will be playing a FREE gig at The Water Grill in Brooklyn next Saturday, March 28. It’s thrash! It’s free! You live in America in 2009 and listen to metal so you’re probably poor! What’s not to love about a free thrash show? Details after the jump.

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Watching Peter Wichers play with Soilwork last month at New York’s Highline Ballroom was like witnessing a homecoming of sorts. Sure, it wasn’t the very first show back for Wichers, a founding member and key songwriter who recently returned to the group after a four-year hiatus, who had already been playing with the band for weeks on tour with Darkane, Warbringer and Swallow the Sun. Still, it just felt so right. Without Wichers, Soilwork was like a lumbering beast doing its best Soilwork impersonation… but it wasn’t quite Soilwork. Sworn to a Great Divide was a decent album, but “decent” was exactly as far as it went. Before the show I caught up with Wichers to ask him about the circumstances leading to his return to the band, balancing life on the road and life with a family, what it’s like to play someone else’s material in your band, his production work on the Nuclear Blast Allstars project and Warrel Dane solo record, and what the future holds for Soilwork. Our chat, after the fold.

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So many of you have e-mailed us this week to instruct us to post news about the fact that Opeth and Enslaved are touring together that I’m fairly certain posting news about the fact that Opeth and Enslaved are touring together is a complete waste of time; I mean, clearly, everyone and their mother is already aware of this tour.

I’m not saying this isn’t an awesome package – clearly, it is – I’m just saying, you’ve all sent us the news and the tour dates, so what can we tell you that you don’t already know? How about this: we will be at the show at the Starland Ballroom in NJ, and we will be high. Actually, you probably knew that already, too.

I’m putting tour dates after the jump, although I don’t for the life of me know why.

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The splendidly worded (and completely, 100% grammatically correct) phrase above came from one of the Blabberbrats who was commenting on Soilwork’s new video for “20 More Miles.” And y’know what? I’m inclined to agree! Sure, this clip is the kind of slo-mo behind-the-scenes of a tour-type thing we’ve seen a million times before, but it still works, ’cause it’s fuckin’ Soilwork!

Don’t forget that Soilwork’s MetalSucks sponsored tour with Darkane, Swallow the Sun, and, depending on which date you attend, either Daylight Dies or Warbringer, kicks off this Friday. It’s gonna be a helluva time; get complete tour dates at Soilwork’s MySpace page.

-AR

What was already shaping up to be one of the most exciting tours of early 2009 just got even better. The North American jaunt, headlined by Soilwork with support from Darkane and Swallow the Sun, just added North Carolina’s princes of gloomy-death-doom Daylight Dies (read Chris Roddy’s glowing review of Lost to the Living) in place of Warbringer, who were forced to drop off due to recording obligations. It’s not that we don’t like Warbringer — in fact, they’re one of our collective favorite bands of the current re-thrash movement — it’s just that… dude, Daylight fuckin’ Dies!! And Swallow the Sun! On the same bill! Headlined (finally!) by a newly re-Peter Wichers’ed Soilwork!! Dude.

Head exploding. For serious. Full list of tour dates after the jump.

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There’s lots of talk about thrash these days. Amidst killer “comeback” records by the likes of old-schoolers Testament, Exodus, and Death Angel, there’s been a spate of signings of young up and comers who hawk the thrash sound. Muncipal Waste, Warbringer, Bonded By Blood, Evile, etc are all young bands that ape the classic thrash sound to some degree. Not to take anything away from these bands, because they’re certainly talented — but the mass signing of old-school sounding thrash bands begs the question: is this a true revival, or a passing trend?

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So you’re not even of legal drinking age yet, you’re in Warbringer, you’ve just released an awesome album on Century… what do you now?

Tour with every awesome thrash band you can and prove you ain’t just doing this for shits n’ giggles, that’s what. Warbringer just got done acting as support for Exodus; now Lambgoat reports they’re gonna head out on the road with Overkill, the latest thrash act blazing the comeback trail.

After the jump, get a complete list of tour dates for the tour, which will also feature Toxic Holocaust; below, watch Overkill’s new video for “Skull and Bones,” featuring guest vocals from Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe. While the clip is cheesy and cheap, the song itself is pretty killer.

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Okay, I have no idea who directed this video, but I think it’s pretty cool. It’s basically just the umpteenth variation on Metallica’s “One” – found footage intercut with performance clips – but I dig it… especially the way the band was filmed. They look badass.

Anyway, as most of you surely know, Warbringer’s Century debut, War Without End, is in stores now. Read our review here, then go buy a copy.

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-AR

MetalSucks recently had the opportunity to have a quick chat with Arsis bassist Noah Martin after their show at BB King’s in New York City on February 4th, 2008 with Exodus, Goatwhore and Warbringer. Martin had some interesting things to say about life on the road, the young lads in Warbringer, and Arsis’ new album We Are the Nightmare which drops April 15th on Nuclear Blast. The full chat transcript after the jump.

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The clock struck 7pm sharp and Warbringer wasted no time, launching right into their abbreviated set and taking advantage of every minute of their alloted time slot. It’s not easy being up first on a four-band bill featuring established acts like Arsis and Goatwhore and legends like Exodus, and it’s also not easy being by far the youngest. But Warbringer did a fine job, rocking the 100 or so folks who had shown up early to catch their set of non-stop vintage thrash.

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In a November 2007 Decibel article about the current thrash revival scene, Warbringer vocalist John Kevill told Kevin Stewart-Panko that “I don’t put any politics in my lyrics… Our music is about the riffs and a barrage of senseless violence and evil.” And even though it’s hard to imagine that politics really have nothing to do with the sudden increase of bands that look and sound like they just stepped out of a time machine from the Bay Area around the time Cliff Burton died, the point remains: these bands are out to have fun, dude. The fact that thrash has already been so readily absorbed into metal’s bloodstream is beside the point; the fact that so many bands have figured out a way to fuse it with death and hardcore does not mean the three genres must now remain forever fused.

So I’m pleased to announce that Warbringer’s debut full length, War Without End, more than lives up to the promise of One by One the Wicked Fall (which you can download for free, if for some stupid reason you haven’t already done so, by clicking on that banner to your left), and moves them to the head of the modern thrash class.

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