MetalSucks

The first time I heard Tombs‘ Relapse Records debut Winterhours was on the New York subway with iPod earbuds, which are clearly not the ideal conditions for developing an accurate initial impression of a band. I wasn’t impressed and turned it off after a few songs, likely in favor of something more familiar such as The Jonas Brothers. Recently though, I’ve given the record some undivided attention at home, where the sound is hardly state-of-the-art but at least it isn’t subject to train noises and obnoxious interruptions by my fellow passengers. Much to my surprise and delight, I fucking love Winterhours.

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Anyone following this year’s MetalSucks co-sponsored, Mayhem-headlined Blackenedfest tour should already know that this tour has been plagued from the start. First was the Marduk no-show (reportedly due to visa problems) followed by the Boise cancelation, then a message posted on Cephalic Carnage’s MySpace page this Monday announcing the band had decided to drop off the tour in Denver without any further explanation. The latest wrinkle is an exclusive, in-depth, first-hand report from Metal Injection roving reporter Justina Villanueva, who had been out on the road covering the entire tour for Metal Injection.

Reports Justina in her tour diary at Metal Injection:

I had my only Almost Famous moment of this tour in Denver, Colorado. We were not exactly in a descending plane but it definitely felt like we were. I watched Blackened Fest collapse within a matter of several hours. It wasn’t a short run of a tour but it’s demise was very short notice to the people involved.

Just after Withered left the bus to start their set, Cartel (tour manager) came onto the Cephalic/Withered shared mobile home to announce, “Guys, tonight might be the last night of the tour.” He started inquiring about who were the unnecessary people on the tour so he could free up bunk space. This included Sid, Leonard’s (Cephalic vocalist) son, and Chuck, Nick’s (Cephalic’s bassist) brother. Because we were in Denver, Cephalic’s home, the question at hand was easy to seal away: two free bunks. But, two free bunks doesn’t solve the extra 6 people still on Marduk’s money-swallowing bus. At that point in the night I knew one bus would be sent home and maybe some crew (most likely me too). But, I didn’t expect the actual outcome: a Mayhem only tour.

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We regret to inform you that tomorrow’s MetalSucks co-sponsored BLACKENEDFEST show (feat. Mayhem, Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage and Withered) in Boise, Idaho has been canceled. The entire Idaho readership of MetalSucks over the past month totals 695 people, but hey, if we can save even one of you a potentially long drive for nothing, it’s worth it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

The MetalSucks co-sponsored Blackenedfest, featuring Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered is currently underway and, from what I hear, absolutely slaying. As per usual, Metal Injection has been on hand to capture some excellent video footage from the shows. Here’s Cephalic Carnage doing “Kill for Weed” on the tour’s stop at this past weekend’s Maryland Deathfest; you can check out more videos from the tour right here. And get the remaining tour dates after the jump!!!

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Metal Injection reports that Mayhem have arrived in the U.S. without incident, which means that BLACKENEDFEST, the grimmest tour of the Spring, is set to kick off tomorrow night in NYC as planned! Says Mayhem frontman Attila Csihar:

“We had no problems whatsoever with immigration, and now we are very excited to de-consecrate the USA again after a decade of decay since our last tour here! Prepare to prove the falseness of all religions and inventing the order of pure fucking chaos! There is NO god but MAYHEM!!”

The spikey-armband-studded lineup also features Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered. We suggest you view this handy Corpsepaint 101 primer before attending.

Full list of tour dates and links to buy tickets after the jump.

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The grimmest tour of the Spring gets underway in less than one month, so be sure to get on your game and get tickets for the MetalSucks co-sponsored BLACKENEDFEST now, before they sell out! The spikey-armband-studded lineup features Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered, and is headlined by none other than the Norwegian kings of grim, Mayhem! We suggest you view this handy Corpsepaint 101 primer before attending, but we can’t promise that this tour will be more metal than these guys.

Full list of tour dates and links to buy tickets after the jump.

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Are you hip to Hull yet? They’re one of our most favoritist local NYC bands, and we’ve been telling you shitheads to check them out for-ever. We were insanely excited when they signed to The End Records last year, and are even more excited now that the first album from that partnership, Sole Lord, has a release date: May 26.

Let me type that again: HULL’S SOLE LORD COMES OUT MAY 26. Brand it upon your brain.

Above is the cover art by Josh Graham (Neurosis, A Storm of Light), which I think is a pretty good visual representation of this group’s sound. But as they said on Reading Rainbow – don’t take my word for it. Check out their MySpace page or sweet new website. And if you live in the NYC area – they’re playing Union Pool in Brooklyn tonight with Withered, Book of Black Earth, and Hallux.

-AR

That I’m sitting here in the MetalSucks Mansion this snowy Monday morning has gotta be some kinda heavy metal miracle; as I type this, Anton OyVey, Rob Pasbani from Metal Injection, our friends from BITPOM.com, and a lot of other fine friends are still stranded in Atlanta due to the weather.

And honestly, there are worse towns in which to be stranded. To my shock, not only is the booze in Atlanta shockingly cheap, not only is the purp somehow completely fucking magical, but the city is about as chill as you could hope for. I kinda miss it already.

But enough wistful reminiscing. After the jump, get my thoughts on some of the best bands of Saturday’s totally excellent Scion Rock Fest!

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MetalSucks is pleased to announce our sponsorship on what is without a doubt the darkest, bleakest, blackest lineup hitting North America this Spring — BLACKENEDFEST! The lineup is headlined by none other than the kings of Norwegian black metal, suicide and murder — Mayhem — and features Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered in support. That’s a fucking br00tal lineup if you ask us. Tickets go on sale this Friday, February 13th — an appropriate date — so take a look at the full list of tour dates (with buy links) after the jump.*

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It’s should be no secret that this year has been jam packed with great extreme metal records, but what has really stood out for me in my recent listening is that for one reason or another the stars have aligned over the label Prosthetic Records. 2008 has seen their output of three new releases from recently signed, young bands. Besides having a label in common and touring together, all three of them have put out highly accomplished albums which we can only hope they’ll build a career on.

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Before their Spring show at NYC’s Knitting Factory with The Ocean, Kylesa and Withered, Axl, Vince and Kip triple-teamed Lair of the Minotaur mastermind Steven Rathbone to ask him questions about his band, their new album, the motivation behind their fantasy-tinged lyrics, and of course the band’s ridiculous BEST MUSIC VIDEO EVAAAR (warning: NSFW) for “War Metal Battle Master.” Read our interview after the jump (and also check out our interview with The Ocean’s Robin Staps from the same evening).

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Back at the end of May, Vince and Kip stormed into The Ocean’s show at New York’s Knitting Factory with an arsenal of questions for the band’s mastermind/guitarist Robin Staps (above, far right). So many questions, in fact, that combined with Staps’ incredibly verbose and articulate answers, we ended up with a fucking book instead of the normally terse interview pieces we do, which is the reason it’s taken us so long to transcribe (well, part of the reason anyway!). But for fans of The Ocean — and I know there’s a lot of you who read MS — the wait will be well worth it when you read what Staps had to say about his band, his thoughts on touring in the U.S., the writing and recording of the band’s incredible album Precambrian, and a whole assload of other shit. Enjoy!

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That much should be obvious just from listening to The Ocean’s latest album Precambrian, a sprawling, well thought-out work that is clearly the result of some heady, intense writing and a very active brain. When we interviewed Robin before The Ocean’s headlining gig at The Knitting Factory on Monday, May 26th, this became even more apparent; Robin was extremely well-spoken and articulate and had a hell of a lot to say (we’ll be publishing that interview soon enough). A recent column Robin did for MetalKult further exemplifies just what a smart dude he is. But before we get to that, I’d like to reflect on the aforementioned show for a moment.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT. Opening bands Withered, Lair of the Minotaur and Kylesa were pretty good and all… but The Ocean took the stage to finish off the night and made all of the openers look like little sissy amateurs. Seriously, it was that big of a difference. The Ocean’s level of professionalism and polish dwarfed everyone else’s, their stage presence was 10x greater, and their spartan but effective light show (consisting of nothing more than a few strips of LEDs hooked up to a midi sequencer) added to the drama, brilliance, and awesomeness of the show. A fucking brilliant US debut for The Ocean.

Anyway, back to Robin being a smart dude. It’s no secret that America is a pretty backwards place in a lot of ways, and that while we may lead the world in terms of certain cultural tastes, America is lightyears behind Europe when it comes to certain civil liberties and general common sense. After the jump, read what Robin (who is from Germany but has lived in and spent time in America) has to say on the matter.

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Rather than rehashing the same old Metallica and Disturbed arguments, how about some new shit this morning?

First up we have Adai, a duo from Denver whose forthcoming Radar Recordings record … I Carry was produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge, Cave In, Genghis Tron). Adai’s sound is stoney and droney, but at the same time sounds big and tight. Think a more focused Isis with the production of Mastodon’s Blood Mountain.

Adai – “Hawkins”

Next up is Withered (pictured above), a band whose rocktastic set opened up for Lair of the Minotaur, Kylesa and The Ocean this past Monday at New York City’s Knitting Factory. Withered’s sound is difficult to pin down — it’s part death metal, part retro-stoner / Williamsburg beardo hipster, part prog — but it’s all good. Their new album Folie Circulaire comes out on June 24th via Prosthetic Records.

Withered – “The Fated Breath”

-VN