A few weeks back the rumor mill was ablaze with talk that the Big Four of Thrash (METALLICA, MEGADETH, SLAYER and ANTHRAX) talking about touring together. Those rumors have fizzled down and it seems like those four bands (well mainly the two bands whose names start with "Me") can't really put their differences aside.

So natually, new rumors are surfacing that instead of that tour, MEGADETH and SLAYER are planning a February 2010 US run with TESTAMENT and HIGH ON FIRE in tow. This sounds way more doable to me, and personally, I am way more excited to see High on Fire and Testament then I would be to see Metallica and Anthrax. Plus, this seems like a much more plausible tour to happen.

I sure hope it pans out. If it does, we will be sure to report about it as soon as more info becomes available.

REVOCATION's new album Existance is Futile(review here) is one album I simply cannot get out of rotation on my MP3 player. It's just so fucking good. I love the way they integrate hardcore cliches with death metal shredding to make something new and original. This band must be heard! So, with permission from Relapse we are posting a free MP3 download of one of my favorite tracks on the album, "Dismantle The Dictator." If you are not headbanging like mad by the chant-a-long, I don't know what to tell you.

Once you're done with the MP3, make sure to check out the four live clips of the band we recently posted.

And if you want to hear the entire Existance is Futile record, Relapse is currently hosting a stream of the whole shebang. Check it out.

REVOCATION - Dismantle The Dictator [3:58m]

 

Play Now

Wow! MetalSucks has alerted me to the fact that BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME announced on their MySpace page that in January of 2010 they will be out on the road with CYNIC, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and SCALE THE SUMMIT. Holy shit… if they need a title for the tour, I got one: Sploogefest. Because that's what will happen when I see it. ThePRP has posted some unconfirmed dates. No idea where they got the dates as I couldn't find them anywhere else, but we're going to post them here anyway. When we get the official press release, you better believe we will post about it… UPDATE 10/27/09 – We just got a press release from Devin Townsend's label with a press release announcing the full schedule for the tour… (more…)

We missed this over the weekend, but apparently MASTODON confirmed what we originally posted last week that they will be working on scoring the 2010 DC-comic adaptation of Jonah Hex staring Josh Broland and Megan Fox.

The band will be working with John Powell and the movie's director, Jimmy Hayward. The band also mentions that guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds makes a cameo in the film. Sounds like a winner to me!

HALLELUJAH! Only a few weeks after the three-day slaughterfest that was MDF 2009, the madmen behind the whole thing (Ryan and Evan) have announced the initial lineup and dates for next year's edition.

The festival will take place from May 28th to May 30th, with venue information to be released at a later date. The first bands to be confirmed are as follows:

ENTOMBED / OBITUARY / PENTAGRAM / EYEHATEGOD / SINISTER / INCANTATION / PORTAL / HAEMORRHAGE / IMPALED / GRIDLINK / INGROWING / GRIDE / MASSGRAVE / 16 / BIRDS OF PREY / FUCK THE FACTS / TOMBS / HOWL

Start planning your trip down there NOW-  judging from the massive success and insanely stacked lineup of the 2009 edition, this one's going to be an absolute behemoth. I'm dying to see how they'll top this year's lineup – they've already got Eyehategod, Entombed, and Pentagram, so I'm going to sit back and hope they can convince Hellhammer or Nihilist to reform and play a few tunes. Wishful thinking? Almost definitely, but hey, a girl can dream. Check out some of the five million videos Metal Injection has from MDFs past, and get STOKED.

God damn, what a year to be a metal fan. New Alice in Chains, new Slayer and NEW MEGA-FUCKING-DETH! Roadrunner have posted a free 24-hour MP3 download (in exchange for your email addy) right here. This new song is pretty awesome, leading me to believe this is some of the heaviest stuff the band has written. The band's last album United Abominations was definitely listenable and I think this one will be as well, especially with the addition of mega-shredder Chris Broderick (who we've interviewed).

MEGADETH's upcoming CD, Endgame which comes out September 15th.

What do you guys think of this track?

The clip above is definitely the front runner for best metal viral video of 2009, and really I don't see anything topping this. For those of you too lazy to watch (wtf is wrong with you?) it depicts a Sabbath superfan on line at a recent Heaven and Hell signing going nuts about the fact that he is going to meet, as he puts it, the Gods of heavy metal. And, clearly Heaven and Hell agree. They are calling on all of you to help track down this superfan. They are so serious about this they are offering a reward of a "Deluxe Radio City Box Set and a signed Devil You Know Poster" to the first person that tracks him down. That's a bounty and this is seriously hilarious. Could they have a concept for a new music video surrounding the dude (ala Weezer) ? Whatever it is, I want to see more of this guy. I'M GONNA FUCKIN FAINT!

UPDATE: Sabbath Fan has been found in this video as well, he is in the opening montage and then again around 2:50.

I don't know why anybody would want this, unless their name happens to be Varg or Hellhammer, but the fine lads at GrowUpPunk have found this (literally) metal crib. Not too safe if you ask me. But quite awesome. More death metal baby merch can be found at Coolbuzz.

Metal Injection's resident hardcore bro Sean Gresens aka Spleen_Latifa just so happened to attend last Saturday's CONVERGE show at Club Europa in Brooklyn, NY. CONVERGE happened to play 2 new live songs. Sean just so happened to have a camera and taped the whole thing for all you junkies to see. Do you see how much Sean loves you? Over the next few days, we will be uploading the band's entire set from that night. We have already posted 4 songs online. Above, you will find the first (untitled) new song the band played. Jacob Bannon and crew played a second new song, which we uploaded here. We also posted Plagues and No Heroes so far. Come back throughout the week as we post the rest of the band's set from the show!

GOJIRA may get all the credit as the French buzz band of the moment, but when you want to talk about shredtastic and relentless bands, lest ye forget about GOROD. MI junkie keepitwolfson tipped us off that our French buddies have just posted a new mp3 on their MySpace page. The track is called Disavow Your God, clocks in at 5:03 and doesn't let up for a second.

Seriously, stop reading this, click this link and go have your mind blown. And, if that isn't enough, we have some video footage to keep you occupied until their new CD, Process Of A New Decline comes out (expected by the Summer).

Soundscan numbers are usually such a waste of time that we don't even bother to report them, but a glance at this week's Billboard shows a huge development. Crashing its way into the #2 position with 67,630 sold (between albums by TAYLOR SWIFT and THE JONAS BROTHERS) is LAMB OF GOD's Wrath. Yes, this is the Lamb of God you're thinking of, and no, they haven't gone soft.

There's more–GOD FORBID scored their best-ever chart position, #110 with 5,393 copies of Earthsblood sold. Take note, RIAA: Awesome, reliably heavy bands can storm the charts next to all those teenybopper acts, and neither Lamb of God nor God Forbid needed a huge push from radio, TV or any mainstream magazine to earn their fanbases. Touring, consistency and worth of mouth are just as effective as the millions of dollars labels put into media blitzes, and if good bands put out good records, people will buy them. Even if MTV and Rolling Stone don't tell us to.

Congratulations and thank you to both Lamb of God and God Forbid, and special thanks to everyone who stuck it to the industry by coughing up a few bucks last week. Pat yourself on the back by enjoying Lamb of God's new video for "Set to Fail" and a video of God Forbid recording Earthsblood, after the jump. (more…)

Yes, YES and YES!! Protest the Hero have announced they are hitting the road for a headlining run. I am super stoked for this as I keep missing those shred-masters. The band will be taking out Misery Signals, The Number Twelve Looks Like You, Scale the Summit and Fall From Grace but the lineup for each show doesn't necessarily include all those bands.

That's a pretty stacked lineup as is, but I am completely sold on just seeing Protest the Hero. If you haven't checked out PTH, maybe these videos can help you familiarize yourself in time for this tour. Full dates after the jump… (more…)

YES! YES!! YES!!! Just in time to bring some chaos into 2009, my favorite live act, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN have announced a handful of east-coast shows. Earlier today, the band left this message in their Myspace blog:

Hey everyone, happy belated new years and holidays and what not. Lets get right down to it. We're playing a few shows IN A FEW WEEKS on the East Coast! BAAAM! That's right! Bet you didn't expect that when you woke up this morning. Little band, you may have heard of 'em, called The Dillinger Escape Plan, about to bulldoze your fucking town. You might wanna show up. We're probably gonna play five or so in all, but the first three are confirmed, and it's the three cities that I like to call the Triforce Of Godliness. The Holy Trinity of Dillinger cities. The three major hometowns. It goes a little something like this:

February 5th – The Barbary – Philadelphia, PA
February 6th – Ottobar – Baltimore, MD
February 7th – The Studio @ Webster Hall – New York, NY

Well, we're certainly there. The band also plans to have shows in "New Jersey and/or Boston" and will be the first headlining shows the band has done in almost a year and these will also be the first shows the band has done with new drummer, all but confirmed to be Billy Rhymer, a virtually unknown prog drummer from Long Island, NY. For those of you that are close to these venues, I cannot recommend witnessing this band enough. But don't take my word for it, see for yourself!

So apparently, instead of taking the traditional route and advertising on TV, billboards, etc, Scion has decided to host music festivals instead as a means of promoting their brand. Strange? I thought so too, until I saw the lineup for their "Rock Fest." Holy mother of fuck, I don't care WHAT they're selling – any company that brings together the likes of NEUROSIS, HARVEY MILK, NACHTMYSTIUM, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, KRALLICE, ZOROASTER, and SALOME (for FREE) is a-okay by me.

According to their official site, the Scion Rock Fest will take place on Saturday, February 28th at the Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia. The show will go from noon until midnight and attendees must be at least 18 years old. Tickets are, apparently, free; no word yet on how one will be able to go about getting one's grubby paws on one of these golden tickets (though our brodudes over at MetalSucks.net will be giving some away to a few lucky readers).

THE LINEUP (read 'em and weep!):
NEUROSIS
MASTODON
CONVERGE
HIGH ON FIRE
BORIS
1349
CRYPTOPSY
TORCHE
NACHTMYSTIUM
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
BARONESS
HARVEY MILK
KYLESA
ZOROASTER
WITHERED
KRALLICE
TOXIC HOLOCAUST
SKELETONWITCH
RWAKE
A STORM OF LIGHT
WARBRINGER
SALOME
SUIDAKRA
TYR
ALESTORM

With, apparently, more to come, if their website is to be believed. I don't know about you, but as soon as I saw this confirmed, I hopped online and booked a flight for Hotlanta. Honestly? If you have any of your wits, limbs, or available personal days left, you're a sucker if you don't do the same.

Our brosephs at MetalSucks (via Metal Bastard) have alerted us that a bootleg of a MASTODON track called "Divinations" has leaked. The bootleg comes from the band's appearance on last year's Bonnaroo festival. While the audio is pretty low-fi, it does get me really really pumped for their new CD, Crack the Skye, which should see a release soon. What do you guys think? More info on the CD can be found here.

UPDATE: The MP3 below was replaced with a nice message for our friends at MetalSucks, but we did find another version of the MP3 here

Way back in March we posted that Florida tech-death experts, INTO THE MOAT have announced that they put the finishing touches on their new record. Since then, the band has almost been M.I.A., but over the holiday break they finally resurfaced with a new MP3 for the track "From 1000 Meters" (available now on their MySpace page) but also with a firm release date for their next LP, The Campaign: February 17th.

Full tracklisting after the jump… (more…)

Oh fuck yes! For all of us who sadly missed GWAR's Electile Dysfunction Tour, the fine folks over at HardTimes.CA snagged a glorious medly of the scumdogs of the universe at their finest. See John McCain get his ass handed to him and much more below.

And for even more GWAR goodness, check out yet another awesome interview with Oderous. Make sure to watch all the way to end, as Oderus gives his own rendition of an R Kelly song.