FEATURING MEMBERS OF GOD FORBID, SKELETONWITCH, CHARRED WALLS OF THE DAMNED, MUNICIPAL WASTE, TODAY IS THE DAY, LANDMINE MARATHON, AND SHAI HULUD

Every year year, MetalSucks asks musicians from across the vast spectrum of the metalsphere (or, in a few cases, the almost-metalsphere) what their favorite albums of the year have been. Death metallers, thrash metallers, black metallers, stoners, grinders, and djenters alike have graciously contributed lists to MS, and we’ll be running them in groups of nine to ten musicians at a time two to three times a day for the whole week.

After the jump, check out the next group… we hope you enjoy seeing what some of metal’s heaviest hitters were into this year as much as we have!

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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 drummer Curran Reynolds of Today is the Day (and Wetnurse, who, alas, are not playing the fest). TITD’s new album, Pain is a Warning, was released earlier this year on Black Market Activities.

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!!!

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Today really IS the day! After four long years, Today is the Day having an awesome new album, Pain is Warning, is out as of right now via Black Market Activities (read our own glowing review here). And we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than to debut one more song from the album. And so we proudly bring you “Death Curse,” a kick-ass metal anthem that could only have come from the twisted, brilliant mind of Steve Austin.

Stream the track below, then buy the album on iTunes for just eight bucks!!! It may be the best money you spend all week.

Today is the Day’s new album, Pain is a Warning, comes out on Tuesday, and all of the reasons you’re going to buy it are contained within our own Sammy O’Hagar’s review. Here’s a sample of that review:

“Pain is a Warning is filled with fucking cock rock. AC/DC riffs, fiery solos, twangy ZZ Top chorus riffs, and other pleasantly surprising flourishes pop up everywhere. That being said, implying that it’s a straight-up cock rock album — or a straight up any kind of album — is misleading. The band shifts gears from song to song, from the aforementioned cock rock… to breathy Sonic Youth quietness… to hardcore, complete with gang vocals. Even the more typical TITD fare… sounds bigger, more brash. Don’t get me wrong, this is clearly a Today is the Day album (Austin’s scream is pretty hard to mistake for anyone else, after all), but the revelations and asides feel fresh. It’s also the most listenable thing the band has released, and easily the most rocking.”

If that all sounds awesome, it’s because Pain is a Warning is, indeed, awesome. And you have one last chance to stream a new song before the album’s release: Brooklyn Vegan has debuted the track “This is You.” Check it out here, then celebrate the end of a too-long wait for a new TITD album in our comments section.

Pain is a Warning is out this coming Tuesday, August 16, on Black Market Activities.

-AR

Even in Today is the Day’s hard-to-classify catalog (Deeply disturbed psychogrind/doom with apocalyptic deathfolk influences? Intense grindy noisecore with suicidal outlaw country asides? Christ, who the fuck cares?), Pain is a Warning is somewhat of an anomaly. Granted, there are elements on it that have been touched on my the band before — big-ass riffs and quiet, contemplative moments — but… something’s missing. Early TITD albums (and Kiss the Pig, of course) were akin to starting up a conversation with the guy standing alone and twitching at the train station: he’ll be intense, at times hard to relate to, have some interesting things to say, and ultimately very much not for everyone. There’s been a tense wall of standoffishness to the band’s stuff, and that’s what made it great. If it was your thing, it was like someone was speaking to an intensely personal place. If it wasn’t your thing, it was incredibly unnerving. Even the folks in the middle would at least say it wasn’t a band they could listen to every day. That element is missing on Pain is a Warning.

Well, not completely, but it’s more manageable on their new album. And while the NEW THING=NO DEAL! kneejerk reaction awaits, Pain is a Warning, a curveball in a career full of them, is boldly different, and thus, fucking excellent. Whereas something like In the Eyes of God is taut and jittery like a rabid animal, Pain is a Warning is elephantine. We know what Steve Austin sounds like when he’s pissy, losing his religion, furious, murderous, bummed out, depressed, despondent, and fairly angry; what does he sound like when he just wants to bowl shit over? Pain is a Warning answers that question.

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What an awesomely massive week for Today is the Day fans. Just this past Monday, the new and improved TITD released the title track for their new album, Pain is a Warning, as a free download; now they’re streaming another new track, “The Devil’s Blood,” over at Revolver.

I’m a little wary of saying too much about Pain is a Warning, since our own Sammy O’Hagar is working on a review of the album, and I don’t wanna steal his thunder. The mere fact that it’s Today is the Day should make you wanna check out the song. And the added bonus of TITD now counting two members of Wetnurse among their ranks should really make you wanna check out the song. And now me telling you that song is some kinda goddamn awesome death n’ roll anthem (and I do mean ANTHEM) should make you really, really, REALLY wanna check out the song.

So check out the damn song already.

The Kurt Ballou-produced Pain is a Warning comes out August 16 on Black Market Activities.

-AR

Somehow, it’s fucking August already. So the bad news is, I forgot to send in my rent check on time again, and the good news is, we’re just a couple of weeks away from the release of Pain is a Warning, the awesome new album from Today is the Day.

And — HOO-RAY!!! — the increasingly-metal-friendly NPR is now giving away a free download of the title track. When I spoke to new TITD drummer Curran Reynolds (who also plays with the totally righteous Wetnurse, along with TITD bassist Ryan Jones) this past March, he told me that Pain is a Warning “is the most accessible Today is the Day record” and that mainman Steve Austin “is embracing rock more so than ever before” — and this song certainly demonstrates that. It manages to be a huge rock anthem — some of it reminds me of pre-pussification Queens of the Stone Age — without sacrificing any of the fucknutsness that has drawn so many of us to Mr. Austin’s work in the past. It’s friggin’ great.

Download the track here, then tell Josh Homme to toss Steve Austin’s salad in our comments section. Pain is a Warning – which, it’s worth mentioning, was produced by the legendary Kurt Ballou — comes out August 16 on Black Market Activities.

-AR

Oh, hell to the muthafuckin’ yes. After a long four-year wait, Today is the Day will finally release a new album, Pain is a Warning, on August 16 — and now they’re streaming a brand new track from the record, the appropriately titled “Expectations Exceed Reality,” over on their Facebook page.

And, no shock, it’s awesome. TITD mastermind Steve Austin brings his usual, singular brilliance to the song, and the band’s new members — Wetnurse’s Curran Reynolds (drums) and Ryan Jones (bass) — more than live up to the challenge of filling the humongous shoes of previous TITD members (like Mastodon’s Brann Dailor and Bill Kelliher, Derek Roddy, and Mike Rosswog, to name but a few… like I said, some humongous shoes to fill).

Headbang here, then celebrate the return of Today is the Day in our comments section below. And don’t forget to check out the interview I conducted with Curran Reynolds back in March, right after the band had completed recording the album.

Like I was sayin’ before, Pain is a Warning comes out August 16 via Black Market Activities.

-AR

Oh my fuck, you guys, IT IS 71 DEGREES OUTSIDE. I was gonna stay home and watch Vanilla Ice’s underrated cinemetallic classic, Cool as Ice, but instead I am getting stoned and going for a long, long walk in the sun. Quickly, before I ditch you losers to actually enjoy life, here’s what we did this week:

• God Forbid’s Doc Coyle weighed-in on Sergeant D.’s “band life is for losers” theory.
• We broke the news that hardcore supergroup S.O.S. has signed with Good Fightand got an exclusive report on the status of He is Legend from the band’s manager.
• We debuted new music by Napalm Death (thanks, Decibel!), The Haunted and Clutch.
• We said cel-lo to Grayceon’s Jackie Perez Gratz and got the skinny on the new Today is the Day album from drummer Curran Reynolds.
• We checked out the latest release from Total Fucking Destruction.
• We wondered if women make better metal singers than men.
• We examined the Kid Rock-Confederate flag controversy.
• We watched the worst video of 2011 so far.
• Dummy Nosenothing listened to the new Meshuggah song and then chased an ice cream truck.
• WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK…

Alright, I’m gonna go have some ice cream! ICE CREAM! YYYYAAAAAYYYYY!!!

-AR

Today is the Day, 2011: from left to right — Ryan Jones, Steven Austin, and Curran Reynolds. Photo by Karen Novak.

Curran Reynolds is not just a staple of, but a bona fide blessing to, the New York City metal scene. As both the drummer for Wetnurse and the mastermind behind Precious Metal, the city’s “best and longest running weekly event dedicated to heavy music,” the guy is a FORCE, and anyone who loves metal and lives in NYC should be grateful for him.

So. Wetnurse’s follow-up to Invisible City was my pick for Album That Will Fuck Your Face Off in 2011 (and if you’ve never heard Wetnurse before, please please please go listen to the on the second volume of our free NYC Sucks comp), but before that yet-to-be-recorded record ever sees the light of day, Ryenolds and his Wetnurse band mate, bassist Ryan Jones, will appear on another insanely exciting new release: Today is the Day’s Pain is a Warning. This will be Steve Austin’s ninth release for the constantly-pushing-the-envelope outfit, but it will be the first time Reynolds and Jones have recorded with the band — and you can hear the excitement in Reynolds’ voice. He is a huge fan living the dream — he really did get to go and join one of his favorite bands.

As I’m writing this, TITD is about ten days away from completing the album. Immediately thereafter they’re off to do a five-week tour of Europe (get dates here); in typically fuck-nuts TITD fashion, the very first show of that tour will take place at Litla Hraun prison, the only Maximum Security correctional facility in Iceland, which currently holds violent offenders, burglars, and drug traffickers, and Lucifer knows who the hell else. And yet, despite the busy schedule of completing the album/preparing for the tour/praying there isn’t a prison riot, Curran was cool enough to take some time out of his day and answer a few of my questions.

After the jump, read what he had to say about the new Today is a Day album, how he came to join the band, working with Austin and producer Kurt Ballou, and more.

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Photo by Paul Birman

Wetnurse
TBA
Label – TBD
Release date – Tentatively sometime before Christmas 2011

New York City’s own Wetnurse are one of those bands whose music I have almost no idea how to describe; I mean, it’s like trying to tell a blind person what a color looks like. They mix elements of All Things Rock into one dirty, aggro, and wholly unique package, and if you’re not hip to them yet, well, you best get on that shit.

(Bonus: they are SO MUCH FUN LIVE, I don’t even know where to start. Gene Fowler has to be one of the most entertaining front men out there right now; he looks like he’s having an epileptic fit every time he takes the stage. And I mean that as a compliment.)

2011 marks Wetnurse’s tenth year of existence, and they’re hoping to celebrate the anniversary with a new release sometime towards the end of this year. Drummer Curran Reynolds (who, along with bassist Ryan Jones, is also now in the always-great Today is the Day) tells me:

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The 2010 incarnation of the CMJ Music Marathon is almost upon us! A solid week of booze, partying and music in the streets and clubs of New York City makes us all just a little bit crazy every year, but there’s just so much fun shit happening all week that impossible not to heed its beck and call. Fortunately for you and for us, there’s plenty of metal at this year’s festival including some killer shows that aren’t even officially sanctioned by CMJ. Here’s a list of MetalSucks-approved events happening next week:

• Mon, Oct. 18: The Syndicate Conflict of Interest Party feat. Nada Surf, Reggie Watts, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and more. Drink specials. 7pm at Club Rebel. RSVP only.
• Mon, Oct. 18: Cattle Decapitation, Son of Aurelius, Devourment, Knights of the Abyss and Burning the Masses at Santo’s Party House. 7pm, $13 advance, 18+. This is not a CMJ-sanctioned event.
• Tues, Oct. 19: Nevermore, Warbringer, Blackguard and Hatesphere at The Gramercy Theater. 6pm Doors, $32.25, tickets available here. This is not a CMJ-sanctioned event.
• Wed, Oct 20: The MetalSucks / Metal Injection / 1000 Knives Official CMJ 2010 Showcase! Featuring A Life Once Lost, Car Bomb, This or the Apocalypse, Baptized in Blood and Last Chance to Reason at Club Europa, Brooklyn. 7pm, All Ages, and tickets are only $10 (buy them here).
• Thur, Oct 21: Metal Insider’s Mosh Potatoes book release party! Release party for the forthcoming metal cookbook Mosh Potatoes and listening party for the new The Damned Things album Ironoclast, with drink specials and yummy treats of recipes from the book. Idle Hands Bar, 5-8pm. Private event (if you think you should be invited, you should know who to contact).
• Thur, Oct 21: Skateboard Marketing / Nova Entertainment CMJ Showcase featuring SuperMetal Records / Megaforce artists Misery. 5:30-7:30pm, Bowery Poetry Club. Budweiser and Jaeger drink specials. First hour is RSVP only, second hour is open to the public and CMJ badges.
• Thur, Oct 21: Doomsday Mourning, Hivesmasher, The Judas Syndrome, Fin’amor at the Charleston in Brooklyn. 7:30pm doors, show starts at 8:30pm, 21+. This is not a CMJ-sanctioned event.
• Thur, Oct 21 – Sunday, Oct 24: The Grill ‘Em All burger truck guys will be here all the way from L.A. without their truck, making special guest chef appearances at area restaurants!! Get details here.
• Fri, Oct 22: Smell the Glove Party / Holy Grail Crisis in Utopia CD Release Party at St. Jerome’s (155 Rivington). No cover, 21+, 9pm.
• Fri, Oct 22: Tee Pee Records / Metal Insider Showcase: Naam, Priestess, Quest for Fire, The Atomic Bitchwax, Mirror Queen, Hopewell, and Weird Owl. 6pm, Union Pool, Brooklyn, $10/adv and $12/dos. Tickets available here.
• Sat, Oct 23: MetalSucks and 1000 Knives present: Powerglove, Wetnurse, The Binary Code, Pack of Wolves, Meek is Murder and Batillus. Free drinks courtesy of Sailor Jerry Rum from 4-5pm, and $3 drinks after that ’til they run out! 4pm, $10, 21+.
• Sat, Oct 23: Helmet, Intronaut and Fight Amp at the Gramercy Theater. 7pm, 16+, $29 (tickets available here). This is not a CMJ-sanctioned event.
• Sat, Oct 23: Brooklyn Vegan / Black Bubblegum CMJ Showcase featuring The Body, Cough, Inter Arma, Royal Thunder + more TBA. Union Pool, Brooklyn, 7pm, $5, 21+.

Whew… it’s going to be a punishing week! See you out there.

Earlier this week Vince discussed the Inspector Gadget theme, his most beloved cover from the new Powerglove album, Saturday Morning Apocalypse; now I’d like to discuss my own personal favorite track from that record.

Tim Burton’s 1989 version of Batman was a seminal moment in my moviegoing life. We waited on a line down the block to see the movie; the audience started cheering as soon as the lights went down even though absolutely nothing had happened yet; and then Danny Elfman’s now-classic march kicked in, and as soon as the main title came up, the crowd applauded with such force that I thought there might be a riot. At that point in my life, I’d never had that movie-as-a-rock-concert experience before. So even though the flick hasn’t aged very well, I will always have a soft spot for it in my heart.

And Danny Elfman’s score is still the best part of the whole thing. That music gets me pumped every time I hear it.

So Powerglove’s metallicized version of the song is something of nerd heaven for me. I might need to make it my ringtone, even.

Saturday Morning Apocalypse is out now on E1. As Vince mentioned, Powerglove are headlining the second of two MetalSucks CMJ Music Marathon showcases; this one will take place during the afternoon of Saturday, October 23rd at Fontana’s in NYC, and will also feature Wetnurse, The Binary Code, Pack of Wolves, Meek is Murder and Batillus. Sailor Jerry Rum will be providing rum mixed drinks for free from 4-5pm and for only $3 after that. That means that we’re all gonna be really, really, really drunk before nightfall, and then watch six totally kick-ass metal bands tear a small room to shreds. Holy shit I am so excited. Is it October 23 yet?

-AR

Yesterday Axl reminded you why you should attend the MetalSucks / Metal Injection / 1000Knives CMJ showcase featuring A Life Once Lost, Car Bomb, This or the Apocalypse, Baptized in Blood and Last Chance to Reason. And guess what? We’re doing two CMJ showcases this year! ‘Cause we love you like that, and we also love seeing our name on top of a flyer. Since the aforementioned showcase features a smattering of bands from across the metal record label spectrum, we decided to devote this one to honoring the best and brightest of NYC’s metal bands, with a few special friends as well. The lineup:

POWERGLOVE
Wetnurse
The Binary Code
Pack of Wolves (Austin, TX – ex-At All Cost)
Meek is Murder
Batillus

Saturday, October 23rd
Fontana’s – 105 Eldridge St., New York
4pm / 21+ / $10 (a limited number of CMJ badge-holders will be admitted, but event is open to the public)

As if that killer lineup isn’t enough to convince you to spend your Saturday afternoon headbanging, Sailor Jerry Rum will be providing complimentary cocktails from 4-5pm, and mixed drinks will be $3 thereafter so even the brokest of the broke can get their buzz on. See you at the show.

Video from the show in question by unartig

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mosh pit at Union Pool before — there might have been one at the Unsane show earlier this year, but I was so far back in the tiny room that I couldn’t see shit. Generally speaking, though, the small space combined with the bar’s proximity to hipster territory (zero feet, zero inches) means that the polite head bob is usually the preferred expression of appreciation. Which is fine with me, really. I’m an old man. My back hurts. It’s late and I’m tired. I need a mosh pit like I need a new Kill Your Ex album, y’know?

But there were pits a-plenty last night. In fact, all three of these excellent bands got the place moving to some extent or another (with a little help from a trio of zealous female fans). And even the cranky gramps in me couldn’t get too irritated about that; all three bands killed, and deserved every ounce of love the crowd showed them. (“I’m not used to seeing you happy,” Vince told me. “Aren’t you supposed to be angry about something?”)

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Bad luck and terrible timing are the culprits responsible for the fact that I’ve yet to see Landmine Marathon live, but all that’s gonna change when they play Union Pool in Brooklyn with the equally-excellent Salome and Wetnurse next Tuesday. And as if I wasn’t stoked enough already, now here comes the band’s new, David Brodsky-directed video, for “Shadows Fed to Tyrants,” which portrays what appears to be pretty much the best house show ever.

Of course, Union Pool is way more chill (and possibly even smaller?) than this party; I’ve never really seen a pit there, for example. Still, I expect to have a lot of fun, or leave incredibly disappointed.

“Shadows Fed to Tyrants” comes off of Landmine Marathon’s latest, Sovereign Descent, which is out now on Prosthetic.

-AR

Photo by Alyssa Scheinson

Last night I got to check out NYC death-grind trio Flourishing when they played a record release show for their new EP, A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World. A sort-of-but-not-really new project from Wetnurse project guitarist Garett Bussanick (who also handles vocals here), Flourishing went on pretty early and the crowd in the always-sweaty basement of Cakeshop was much smaller than a band this good deserves, but they still ripped.

Flourishing’s music is like the aural equivalent of being repeatedly penetrated with quick, short stabs from a dull, rusty, knife. There’s a constant contrast between that which is sharply in-focus and that which is painfully out-of-focus, like a series of fast camera-racks. One minute the band comes on like a dull, throbbing headache, and then suddenly they’re a mad scientist with an eyedropper full of acid. In other words, Flourishing are evil, but so is every other band like them; it’s the bi-polar manner in which they’re evil that makes them interesting. Tracks like “Fixture” and “Watching Sparrows” are dirty and polished at the same time. It’s a tricky balancing act, but these guys make it seem effortless. No wonder their MySpace page lists bands as disparate as Immolation, Godflesh and Deadguy as influences.

And, on a much simpler level, they’ve just managed to write some great fucking songs. A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World is only five tracks totaling less than seventeen minutes of music, but the strength of the song craft will instill within you a temptation to just leave it on repeat for multiple spins.

You really should check this band out. A Momentary Sense of the Immediate World comes out this Tuesday, March 30 on The Path Less Traveled Records. Crustcake has an interview with Bussanick, and a FREE mp3 download of “Watching Sparrows.” And for the third time in this one article, here’s a link to Flourishing’s MySpace page.

-AR

This Monday, August 24, Brooklyn noise rockers Goes Cube are playing a one-off show at Precious Metal, the NYC party (curated by Curran Reynolds of Wetnurse!) which showcases awesome heavy music every week at Manhattan’s Lit Lounge. Opening acts are DBCR and Easter, but perhaps the most exciting news is that I’M DJING THIS FUCKING THING. Now you have an opportunity to see me in the flesh, bask in my glory, baste in my gravy, and listen to me play songs you hate between sets from some great local bands.

It’s not like you’re doing anything else Monday night anyway, you sad lonely virgins.

-GS

[Gary Suarez likes puppies. He usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

Our hetero life partners are Metal Injection have captured some typically testicle-tickling footage of Genghis Tron, Tombs, Wetnurse and Black Anvil at a recent “Show No Mercy” gig – the concert writer Brandon Stosuy puts on in Brooklyn one Sunday out of every month.

Here’s a sample – more specifically, Genghis Tron performing one of my most favoritist songs of theirs, “Ride the Steambolt.” Go here to check out more awesome clips of GT as well as Tombs, Wetnurse and Black Anvil!

-AR

When you have the CFO of Freddie Mac killing himself, you can’t deny we’re in some pretty fucking awful economic times. Of course, The Austerity Program anticipated our financial ruin from the start, as the phenomenal noise rock band’s name suggests. Creating a big ugly sound like an even-angrier Shellac, this New York based duo shares your frustration and, as such, invite you to vent in the pit at during its headlining gig this Sunday April 26 at Brooklyn’s Union Pool with Wetnurse and Tournament.

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