It’s no secret that the music industry is in a shambles, with both profits and revenues at an all time low. With Napster, eDonkey and Audiogalaxy more popular than ever, anybody with a DSL connection can download an album in a matter of hours, often at CD-quality 96 khz. While the unprecedented access that we the fans have to new music is amazing, it comes at a price: the ability for artists to eke out a meager living by making music.

Sure, on the one hand it’s pretty funny to think about, say, the bassist for The Autumn Offering working at his dad’s ravioli factory when they’re not on tour. Admittedly, the contrast between some D-level metalcore band’s onstage persona (“U MIRIN OUR STAGE PRESENCE BRAH?!”) and the sad reality of seeing them try four times to get their 1998 Saturn to turn over in the parking lot after the show is pretty amusing, but this isn’t high school. Music isn’t about who’s making money and who’s 27 years old and still thinks it’s cool to be in a band, it’s about COMMUNITY. To me, the scene is one big family, and I look out for my family members. Whether you are the “fuckup-idiot-with-a-heart-of-gold cousin that everybody feels sorry for” (Eyehategod) or “ridiculously good-looking older brother we r all jealz of” (Oli Sykes/Bring Me The Horizon), if you are family I will always have your back — and family members do not steal from each other!!

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Three cheers for Crack Hitler, who I think did a very admirable job of running the site on Friday. Sure, he only did six posts, but as I understand, he has a very busy job working at a hospital, which is certainly far more noble and important than running a snarky metal blog. And he brought some excellent music to our attention. Crack Hitler, sir, I applaud you.

Now back to the regular shit. Here are two cool tours that were announced while we were letting a reader from Perth call the shots:

• The Black Dahlia Murder have announced a headlining tour with Goatwhore and Arkaik. I don’t know Arkaik, but you had me at “Black Dahlia Murder and Goatwhore.” Vince has never seen BDM do a full headlining set, and, by Satan, I am going to make sure he finally breaks that cherry, ’cause these dudes kill live. These shows will provide enough fun to justify enduring all the B.O. that comes with a modern death metal sausage fest. Get dates here.
• Speaking of Goatwhore: For obvious reasons, Behemoth had to cancel their headlining run with Watain, Black Anvil, and Withered, so the former two bands are now doing their own tour with the sluttiest of all capra aegagrus hircus. Which, even without Behemoth and Withered, is still a really, really kick-ass line-up.  Get dates from The PRP.

-AR

That’s right, kiddies… Behemoth are gonna heat up your winter with some blazing hot metal forged deep in the fires of Hell! (Actually, Poland. But still.) If you’ve seen Behemoth live before, you know what a, well, behemoth of a show they put on; if you haven’t, you must hate yourself or something, and here’s your chance to remedy the situation. Plus they’re bringing Watain, Withered, and Black Anvil out with them! This is the kind of tour you dream about: four of the dingiest, dirtiest, most evil-sounding bands on the planet, all on one bill. We are so proud to be associated with this tour, we can’t even begin to tell you.

And as if that wasn’t great news in and of itself, Behemoth have also just revealed to MetalSucks that they’ll be releasing a live DVD called Evangelia Heretika this fall (date to be announced soon) so even those who aren’t able to attend the tour can get their fix of live Behemoth. A special pre-order package is available now for only $66.60 that includes 1 ticket to the show, 1 copy of the DVD, a tour poster, and a meet and greet with the band at the show; order here!

Dates and links to buy tickets, along with the album cover for Evangelia Heretika, after the jump!

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I had completely forgotten about Vince’s love of Bob Ross until his post yesterday. It would have been awesome if Bob had done an all-metal edition of his show, in which he discussed the joy of Ed Repka and Paul Romano. Learning about your craft is so metal! Thanks for reminding me, Vince, about what an inspiration Bob should be to us all.

Here’s some other things we did this week:

• We spoke to Anthrax’s Joey Belladonna, the legendary Wino, Harvey Milk’s Creston Spiers, and Cruel Hand’s Chris Linkovich.
• Vince, Axl and Gary discussed their favorite albums of 2010 so far.
• We’re giving away a free mp3 of Fistula’s “Ohio Death Toll Rising.”
• We checked out new releases by Kvereltak, Misery Index, Watain, and Parkway Drive.
• Anso reviewed the Big Four Live from Sofia, Bulgaria movie theater satellite thingy.
• Vince did a really a good job of impersonating Axl.
• Vince also discovered two new Sumeriancore bands that stink, and one that doesn’t.
• He also wondered: What is it with drummers wearing basketball jerseys?
• Guess what Serj Tankian thinks borders are?
• DEVIN TOWNSEND HEADLINE TOUR! DEVIN TOWNSEND HEADLINE TOUR!!!

A week from today, Vince and I see Faith No More in Brooklyn. So expect lots and lot of pointless pondering about FNM next week, ’cause that’s pretty much all I’m gonna be able to think about.

-AR

At this point in time, you should probably know who Watain are. I mean, MetalSucks did debut the stream of their new album, Lawless Darkness, just a couple of weeks ago. Plus, there was Sworn To The Dark, a devilishly delightful slab of Swedish black metal that hit high marks across the proverbial board with metal critics, bloggers, and fans alike in late 2006/early 2007 (depending on which side of the pond you call home). More recently, there was Watain’s “Fuck The World Tour” in late 2008, which delivered on the promise of everything this guy had ever heard about a Watain live show.

It’s been a long four years since the release of Sworn To The Dark, but Watain has always taken their sweet, collective time putting out full-lengths. The good news, though, is that Lawless Darkness is as good as Sworn to the Dark, even as it manages to feel different thanks to slick recording and the surprisingly melodic, menacing approach this “evil” band commands.

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Nevermore, Kingdom of Sorrow, Nachtmystium, Watain, Heaven Shall Burn, Whitechapel…. and, uh, Attack Attack!. All these bands released records last week, and after the jump we take a look at how all of those records performed. Metal Insider‘s Zach Shaw has done a fine job of collecting the data, but you’ll have to visit Metal Insider to get his cheeky commentary. The numbers — with my own cheeky commentary, naturally — after the jump.

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But he, like, totally had it coming. He was the singer for some band called Beneath the Sky.

I’m kidding. I don’t endorse violence against untalented people. Just front row games of Uno.

ANYWAY, here’s some other shit we happened this week:

• We’re streaming Watain’s Lawless Darkness and the Monolith/Voyager split.
• Intronaut’s Sacha Dunable talked about his new band and Sick of it All’s Lou Koller concluded his “Quintessential Guide to Hardcore.”
• We spoke to Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd and Heaven Shall Burn’s Maik Weichert.
• We checked out Thou’s Summit.
• We met the world’s youngest Nile fan.
• We wondered if Opeth ripped-off Immortal.
• We came up with awards that could be named after metal stars.
• Vince isn’t that into Kylesa, and has some advice for Portal, too.
• Anso thinks that No Prayer for the Dying is the worst Maiden album ever.
• As it turns out, Fred Phelps is still an idiot.

Next week we get to debut that video we were supposed to debut this week, and we have another stream, and some other stuff I’m probably forgetting. ‘Til then, enjoy your weekend!

-AR

It’s been more than three years since Watain‘s last album, Sworn to the Dark, was released, but the time is finally upon us for another offering from one of the most exciting black metal bands on the scene today. Lawless Darkness comes out June 8 on Season of Mist, but you can stream it right now on the player below. It’s raw, it’s epic, and it’s sure to be one of the summer’s strongest releases.

Once you’ve given it a listen and heard how awesome it is for yourself, you can pre-order Lawless Darkness in a variety of cool packages right here. And now, without further adieu…

[this promotion has ended]

I can’t wait to see a larger picture of the cover for Watain’s new album, Lawless Darkness; it looks like it might be all manner of awesome, but as it stands, all we have is the itty bitty picher below, which, um… well I can kinda make out some broken scrolls with Hebrew writing on them, and something is flying out of them – demons? Souls? Whatever comes out of the ark at the end of Raiders?

What’s that you say? Oh, it’s just Erik “E” Danielsson’s asshole after a night of too much Taco Bell? Ohhhh. Okay. Never-mind.

Lawless Darkness comes out June 7 on Season of Mist.

-AR

It’s beens exactlys four years and ones week since Watains releaseds Sworn to the Dark. That makes my souls colds and darks, likes the insides of Kirstie Alley’s beastlys anus. Buts finallys, now, we sees the lights at the ends of the beastlys anus: Watains is gonnas release a news albums on 7 June ons Season of Mist.

Thats alls I knows right nows. Erik Danielsson froms Watains says “May the gods unto which it is written be pleased!”, buts I bets godses gots nothings to dos with its.

-NC

Here’s the poster for this summer’s Sweden Rock Festival. You tell me what’s wrong with this picture:

Are people really like “Man, I can’t wait to see Slayer and Mastodon and Suicidal Tendencies… and Rick Springfield!”? Do we think there are a lot of Swedish Behemoth  and Watain fans who are also totally stoked to check out BTO? I guess I can see some of the over-forty set being just as excited to sing along with “Jesse’s Girl” as they are “Round and Round,” but if you’re the kind of person afflicted with that particular virus of 80s nostalgia, I don’t know what the hell you do while Danzig are on-stage. Grab a beer and wait for W.A.S.P., I guess?

Your thoughts?

-AR

I barely remember the lost weekend I once spent in Baltimore. Was I bored, or just doing what I do? I dunno. I dunno.

Looks like I might be going back, though: D.R.I. have been added to the already stellar line-up of the 2010 edition of Maryland Deathfest. This is just the latest in a long line of good reasons to attend, not least of which is that it is, at least as far as I’m aware, currently the only scheduled U.S. appearance of Australia’s Portal, whose new album Swarth is currently frightening metalheads across the world. Throw in Converge, Magrudergrind, Entombed, Obituary, Watain, Melechesh, Jucifer, Gridlink, Gorod, 16, and a plethora of other awesome bands, and I think I could have a weekend in Baltimore even more lost than my last.

Get Maryland Deathfest’s complete line-up-to-date after the jump.

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I love Watain – love ‘em – and the press release announcing their forthcoming North American “Fuck the World” tour made me giggle. I honestly can’t tell if these guys are goofing around or mean to be taken seriously – I mean, I’ve read some interviews with Watain in the past where they struck me as borderline humorless, but I don’t know how the fuck anyone could not find this tour announcement hilarious:

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Dis mornings, I wants chocolate chips pancake for brunch. Dats maybes more sugar thans any man shoulds have.

Watain ist more ebil than any mans should have. Lots of peoples think Sworn to the Dark ist the best black metal albums of 2007, eef not de best albums od 2007, periods. All I knows ist, ist reminds me I wants black coffee to go with my chocolate chips pancake.

Watain, “Sworn to the Dark” – from Sworn to the Dark (2007)

-NC