The latest edition of Metal Injection’s “Ask the Artist” series — in which various artists are asked one uniform question (See what they did there?) —  poses the query “What are the best and worst stage moves in metal?” to various bands that were on this summer’s two biggest metal tours — Mayhem Fest and Summer Slaughter.

And it’s a great question to ask, because it’s certainly one that seems to come up in metallic circles quite a bit. Just recently, a publicist told me she understood that I didn’t like one of her bands because they played too much “breakdowncore,” and I told her the breakdowncore was silly, sure, but not as silly as they choreographed stage moves they used for each and every song. So it’s interesting to hear the thoughts of the musicians who actually have to be extra-conscientious of stage moves themselves.

Not shocking — a lot of the bands, including Trivium and Fleshgod Apocalypse, poke fun at crabcore and general scene-friendly stage moves. More shocking: so do Oceano.

Check out more of Metal Injection’s “Ask the Artist” videos here.

-AR

It’s a good day to be an After the Burial fan: the band has released not one but two music videos, plus additional dates for their previously-announced Crush ‘Em All trek with Veil of Maya, Misery Signals, and Within the Ruins.

So, let’s start by considering these videos, “Cinemetal Round-Up” style, shall we?

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While I would generally prefer it if all of metaldom would stay as far away from the phrase “Crush ‘Em” as possible from now until the sun dies and all of humanity is forgotten forever, there’s no denying that the Crush ‘Em All Tour II has a pretty solid line-up — After the Burial, Veil of Maya, Misery Signals, and Within the Ruins is not a bad night at the opera. The support acts which will appear on select dates — I The Breather, Structures, Volumes, and Your Memorial — are bands that I’m alternately less familiar with or less excited about, but whatever, this is still a totally solid bill.

Now the initial round of dates for the tour have been announced. There are pretty large gaps in this itinerary, so don’t freak out just yet if you don’t see a show on this list that you can attend. Unless you live in Bumblefuck, where metal tours never ever stop. Then you just have shitty luck and there’s no hope for you until you get the hell outta Po’dunk. Sorry.

ANYWAY, those dates, courtesy The PRP:

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I finally had to make myself stop listening to The Black Dahlia Murder’s new album, Ritual, on such a regular basis (e.g., twice a day for however many days since I’ve had it), because as a blogger I have a responsibility (or something) to listen to a wide variety of metal releases in order to discuss them on the site (or so I’m told).

My point being simply that the album is good to the point of total fucking distraction, and you should be prepared to be totally fucking distracted upon its release. And one such way to prepare yourself is to watch the twelve-minute-plus “making of” video the band has released to Bloody Disgusting. There’s some cool shit in there — Shannon Lucas being the sick drummer we all know him to be, Ryan Knight putting half the other guitar players in modern metal to shame, a live, real, flesh and blood violinist recording the album intro, and, of course, no small amount of BDM tomfoolery.

The video isn’t embeddable, but you can watch it by clicking on the below screen cap of guitarist Brian Eschbach’s ass forever traumatizing Jason Suecof’s dog, Stinky.

Ritual comes out June 21 on Metal Blade, and then TBDM hit the road to headline the MetalSucks-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour along with Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, As Blood Runs Black, Oceano, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Powerglove, and Within the Ruins. Get dates after the jump!

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As regular readers are aware, I’m usually dead-set against cover albums, which tend to feature meaningless, generally inferior versions of great songs the listener already owns in their original, classic forms.

But I’m willing to give Dying Fetus the benefit of the doubt that if they’ve made a covers album, it’s worth listening to. They’ve earned that much. Why? BECAUSE THEY’RE DYING FUCKING FETUS, that’s why. Duh.

So. In celebration of both their twentieth anniversary and their stint on the year’s edition of the MetalSucks-sponsored Summer Slaughter tour, this July the  band will release History Repeats…, which will not only feature the band re-imaging tracks from some of death n’ grinds finest (Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Bolt Thrower, etc.), but will also feature “Rohypnol,” a brand new song. You might know rohypnol as “roofies,” or “the date rape drug.” So this tune is probably a charming power ballad in the vein of Bon Jovi’s “Bed of Roses.”

History Repeats… comes out July 19 on Relapse, and is limited to 5,000 copies. You can get it a f.y.e. stores, or just pre-order it directly from Relapse.

The full track list for this bad mother is after the jump, along with those Summer Slaughter dates. Other bands on the bill are The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Oceano, Fleshgod Apocalypse, As Blood Runs Black, Powerglove, and Within the Ruins.

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Remember when this year’s Summer Slaughter (which we’re sponsoring!) was announced, there was this fan poll to determine who the last band added to the bill should be?

Well, Within the Ruins have been announced as the winners! They’ll join The Black Dahlia Murder, Whitechapel, Darkest Hour, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus, As Blood Runs Black, Oceano, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Powerglove for all dates on the trek. Our own Dave Mustein wrote of the band, “WTR don’t suck live; their performance is nearly as good as on record, which is pleasantly surprising due to the ferocious technicality of their music.” So the band’s presence should just enhance your Summer Slaughter excitement.

Here are dates again, in case you need ‘em:

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Within the Ruins’ new video, for the track “Versus” (which we actually premiered here at MetalSucks), was directed by David Brodsky. Which means a lot of thought and care went into its creation, and its a notch or ten above the usual garbage that passes for metal videos these days (Heavy Blog is Heavy, where I first saw the clip, notes that “Surprisingly for this day and age, it’s not a bland warehouse video.”).

It also means that this is the rare instance where I like the video better than I like the song.

I know our own Dave Mustein digs Within the Ruins and I respect his opinion, but… sorry, this band just ain’t for me. I can’t tell them apart from any number of their peers. In fact, I keep getting them confused with Wretched, which isn’t a terrific sign for either band.

ANYWAY, check out the clip and then side with either Mr. Mustein or myself in the comments section below. But really I’m right and you know it.

-AR

MetalSucks is oh-so-very happy to be teaming up with RED Distribution to bring you, our most beloved readers, the MetalSucks Fan Pack, which will be available exclusively at all FYE stores starting this Tuesday, April 12. Not only does this limited edition box full o’ metal come with a CD featuring twenty brootal tunes by twenty brootal bands (including Kvelertak, Trap Them, Believer, Napalm Death, TesseracT, Thomas Giles, Deicide and a bunch more) but it also comes with that HOLY SHIT THAT IS SO KILLER t-shirt you see above, which was designed by our friend Rodney Githens from Vertebrae 33 (you might also recognize his work from this sexy t-shirt and this Louvre-worthy poster that he did for us).

How much would you expect to pay for this incredible package? Twenty bucks? Fifteen bucks? Try $9.99. That’s right, gang — twenty songs from twenty bands and that guaranteed-to-get-you-laid t-shirt for under ten bucks.

But wait! There’s more! If you act now and head over to the official MetalSucks Fan Pack web page, you can get a coupon for 30%, which brings the price down to a mere seven dollars. Holy crap, that’s a metsieh if ever there was one.

So go here to get a complete track list of all the bands on the comp, and to use the nifty store-finder to locate the f.y.e. nearest to you. And, oh yeah, you can also enter to win this custom guitar:

So, yeah, that’s pretty fuckin’ bad-assed.

-Axl & Vince

From Beastmaster:

“Over the last week I’ve noticed on the PRP that both Chelsea Grin and Within The Ruins have been denied entry into to Canada for their separate respective tours. Now granted, I don’t necessarily love these two bands, but I’m wondering if they are possibly related in some way…. Dun dun DUNNNNNNNN.”

Yes. They are both related in that I don’t like either of them. Unfortunately, I don’t control the Canadian government, so my guess is that they actually both just have merch dudes with records for possession or something idiotic like that. In any case, yes, I agree it’s ridiculous that Canada gets to be spared Chelsea Grin while Americans have to continue to endure them.

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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…

If any of you read my interview with Within the Ruins this past summer you probably watched the music video for their song “Invade.” I’m happy to say that Within the Ruins have just released another awesome music video, this one a live clip for their song “Red Flagged.” And I’m also glad to find that WTR don’t suck live; their performance is nearly as good as on record, which is pleasantly surprising due to the ferocious technicality of their music.

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WTR also have a proper music video for the studio version of the song “Versus” being shot on January 29th. After the jump, read what the band has to say about the video and song:

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Congrats to grand prize winner A.J. Gregory and runner-up Erin Wood; they correctly identified last week’s logo as belonging to be Beatus. A.J. wins a sweet Helloween 7 Sinners denim jacket, PLUS a 12 x 12 7 Sinners poster signed by all the members of Helloween, PLUS a copy of the album; and Erin gets the same, minus the coat. MetalSucks: Where Kids Can Really Win!

This week we have another super-awesome prize to give away — a signed copy of Mosh Potatoes: Recipes, Anecdotes, and Mayhem from the Heavyweights of Heavy Metal, an incredible new book from Moth Eater bassist Steve Seabury that spotlights 147 (!!!) recipes for mouth-watering “opening acts” (appetizers), “headliners” (entrees), and “encores” (desserts), including dishes from such metal titans as Lemmy, Zakk Wylde, Joey Belladonna, Dave Ellefson, Jason Bittner, and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal… PLUS lots of great backstage stories and other metal-related shenanigans. Seriously, I’m salivating just typing about the book!!!

All you gots to do to win is identify the name of the band whose logo appears below, then shoot me an e-mail at axl AT metalsucks DOT net with your answer, your name, and your address. ALL ENTRIES WITHOUT AN ADDRESS WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. From everyone who gets it right, we’ll randomly select one winner announce his or her name next week.

Of course, if you’re too pussy to play my little game, you can always just pre-order a copy of Mosh Potatoes before its release next week. Also, our pals at RED Distribution are having their own excellent contest, “The Metal & Meat SweepSTEAKS,” in which they’re not only giving away a copy of the book, but also a customized autographed Skeletonwitch Epiphone guitar and a $150 Gift Certificate to Omaha Steaks. You can enter that contest here. And that’s in conjunction with The World’s Loudest Metal Sale at f.y.e. presented by Revolver, which is offering a shitload of metal albums for just $9.99, including the most recent releases from Between the Buried and Me, Skeletonwitch, Kingdom of Sorrow, Within the Ruins, and more. So get on that shit.

This week’s logo was recommended by reader John Lindmeier… thanks, John!

-AR

Like I said in my earlier post “VICTORY RECORDS DEFINED 90s HARDCORE,” I am a big fan of this leading independent label. With that in mind, I am very excited to share the latest episode of their branded video content product VICTORV. In their words:

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Opinions are divided on Massachusetts melodic technical death metallers Within the Ruins. Our own Dave Mustein is a big fan and he recently interviewed vocalist Tim Goergen and lead guitarist Joe Cocchi. I, for one, happen to think they’ve got pretty decent songwriting chops and a good sense of melody, and they don’t get weighed down by a lot of the plights that befall a million tech metal bands even if they’re not necessarily exploring new musical territory. So we’ve decided to premiere the song “Versus” from their brand new album Invade, out August 31st. Let us know what you guys think of it in the comments, as if you needed an invitation.

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FRIENDLY REMINDER: Vince and I are taking over WSOU tomorrow from 4 -8! It’s the only radio station on the eastern seaboard that’s actually worth a damn, and it’s gonna have the awesomeness that is US, so listen in!!! We’ll be taking callers, too. If you live in the area, it’s 89.5 FM on your radio; everyone else can listen on the Internet right here.

And now here’s some things we did this week:

• We spoke to Decapitated’s Vogg, All Shall Perish’s Ben Orum, Within the Ruins’ Tim Goergen and Joe Cocchi, and Iron Thrones’ Steve Henningsgard.
• We debuted a new track by Moth Eater.
• We wondered, “What’s the big deal about Lady Gaga?” as she danced to Metallica.
• We rocked out to a newly-released Soundgarden song, and we couldn’t believe that the new Limp Bizkit song has a guitar solo!
• We commended Australia for its populations’ collective child-rearing skills.
• We marveled at this nine year’s old review of Reign in Blood.
• We sang Monster Magnet’s praises.
• We asked you to help us complete this Metal Map of America.
• We watched Kiss put the “ass” in “Massachusetts.”
• We wished Behemoth’s Nergal a speedy recovery.

Okay. I hope to hear some of your voices tomorrow! Seriously, guys. Listen. Call. Don’t make me sad. If you do, we’ll schedule Nu Metal Week to take place ASAP.

-AR

Within the Ruins’ new video for “Invade.”

New England deathcore band Within the Ruins have been a favorite of mine for a little less than a year now. I though that their 2009 release Creature had a fresh new feel, especially when compared to the boring deathcore masses. It was technical and catchy at the same time without being overly repetitive. The band has always been fairly unknown, but their popularity recently started to increase coinciding with the pending release of their new album, from which two killer new songs have been posted. I recently talked with Tim Goergen, the band’s new vocalist (first half), and Joe Cocchi, the lead guitarist (second half), about their upcoming release.

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Here’s a band we get a lot of emails about but haven’t covered much to date: Massachusetts technical melodic death metallers Within the Ruins. Since their new album The Invasion drops on August 31st and they’ve already released two new songs from it on their MySpace page, now’s as good a time as any to give these guys some e-ink.

My take: Within the Ruins are a solid band with decent musical and songwriting chops. They kinda remind me of what The Black Dahlia Murder might sound like if they were aligned more closely with the tech-death scene; they’re technical but not overly so (no “weedily weedily”), and there’s plenty of Swedish-style melody working it’s way into the fabric of every concise song. That said, I’m not sure what separates this band from other similar ones (maybe I just need to listen more) and they occasionally veer too close to deathcore via the employment of tri-tone breakdowns… in other words there’s a whole lot of Triple A riffs. But there are plenty of sweet riffs too.

So what do you guys think of this band? After all, I’m just some lowly blogger / pseudo-journalist and you’re the consumer. Take a listen here then come back and comment to let us know.

-VN

Say what you will about Victory Records – and chances are you have, even if you’re in a band that was once on Victory – but it’s hard to find a label with a better sense of marketing and a better understanding of its audience. Its lasting success can of course be attributed to its decision to move away from the buzz cuts ‘n’ bros hardcore on which the label was initially focused and releasing albums of mutated ‘core (post-hardcore, metalcore and later deathcore) and fringe genres that the hardcore kids could grasp on to (third wave ska, indie rock, emo, etc.). A label that can run an ad on MTV2 for Hawthorne Heights, Aiden, and Silverstein one minute and another for BTBAM, Darkest Hour, and Emmure the next is one dedicated to survival, even in an increasingly splintered music climate.

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Have you heard the good news, brother? The New England Metal and Hardcore Fest has added a third stage for younger bands with whom concert goers might be less familiar.

Looking over the list, I already know  one terrible band that will be on this stage (Oceano) and two excellent bands that will be on this stage (Brother Von Doom and The Destro), but there are a lot of names here I’m not familiar with. Thus, I am now going to listen to some of those bands via various channels (really just one channel – MySpace) and make some snap judgements. So, in no particular order:

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