Ex-Andrew W.K. Drummer Isn’t Sure What’s Going On Either

Our buddies MetalSucks.net are on the Andrew W.K. conspiracy beat as well, and they’ve posted a lengthy interview with Obituary and former Andrew W.K. drummer Donald Tardy.

Tardy’s take? He’s pretty sure/adamant there is only one Andrew W.K., though the conspiracy “proof” throws him off, too.

We’re hoping to be at Andrew’s February 23 public Q&A, live-blogging what’s sure to might be a strange conclusion development to this story.

Black Metal Symposium To Bore Brooklyn To Death

Our friends at Metal Sucks let us know that there’s going to be a black metal theory symposium at Public Assembly in Brooklyn on December 12. Some of the papers being presented include:

“The Counter-Reformation in Stone and Metal: Spiritual Substances”

“Black Confessions and Absu-lution”

“The light that illuminates itself, the dark that soils itself: blackened notes from Schelling’s underground”

“BAsileus philosoPHOrum METaloricum”

There also be a showing of two artists.

This makes sense to a degree. Black metal is by its very nature, full of intelligent elitists. And it’s kind of clever the way two of the above papers have band names in the titles. On the other hand, really? We’re not anti-intellectualists at Metal Insider, not by a long shot. But hearing six hours of smug discourse on why an artist uses darkness as a metaphor and how their country’s nationalistic politics informs their work sounds like the opposite of how I’d want to spend an afternoon. It might be fun to show up in a Disturbed t-shirt and keep interrupting the presentations to ask when the bands start, though. If you’re interested, you can find out more information here.

The Miseducation Of Born Of Osiris

This interview is a week old, but I need to make sure everyone has seen it.

Our buddies at MetalSucks interviewed Born Of Osiris, an upcoming bunch of young whippersnappers who apparently have no idea who Fear Factory, Glenn Danzig, Gorgoroth, Susan Boyle or Barbara Bush are.

Oh, to be young.

[Via MetalSucks]

Lars Ulrich Vs. Scott Ian Vs. Dave Mustaine

It’s been one hell of a summer for band feuds, and between Fear Factory, Anthrax/Dan Nelson and Ozzy/Zakk, you can imagine my exhaustion.

I’m just too worn out from all this to process some press-driven drama about Scott Ian spreading rumors to Dave Mustaine about Lars Ulrich possibly nearly being kicked out of Metallica over 20 years ago. But I’d be remiss not to report on it, so here’s a link to Axl Rosenberg’s extensive coverage at Metal Sucks.

Iron Maiden/The Monkees Mashup Is Actually Not Terrible

This is one of the best random genre mashups we’ve heard. Thanks Metal Sucks!

Not Crab-core, Just “Signature Crouches”

The above caption, taken from a New York Times profile of the crab-core, screamo-crunk-autotune-infested 2009 Warped Tour, is great on so many levels. Who is this Jon Caramanica, and why is a credible establishment like the New York Times hiring someone who takes this shit seriously?

I’ve been trying to write about this growing phenomenon little as possible (except for this, which I just didn’t have the conscience to let slide), as I think it only gives credence to this silly trend. Plus there’s enough hate out there as it is, and the Insider is all about rainbows and sunshine. I’ll just let Axl at Metal Sucks take this one:

The above photo of Attack! Attack!, from the NY Times review of this past weekend’s Vans Warped Tour, has one of the funniest captions I’ve ever read.

Unfortunately, the author, Jon Caramanica, praises Attack! Attack! for having “one of the day’s best sets.” But he does include this tidbit, which made me giggle:

The gentleman with “Kill All Posers” scrawled across his upper back in black marker let 3OH!3 know exactly how he felt during its midday set on Saturday at the Vans Warped Tour. Sidling through the crowd bopping feverishly to the band’s dopey, energetic blend of electro, hip-hop and punk, he kept two middle fingers raised and his face squarely on his destination, somewhere far away.

I’d love to buy that dude a beer. I’d also love to know what the fuck he was doing at Vans Warped with a “Kill All Posers” shirt on in the first place.

Massive LULz: Metal Legends’ High School Yearbook Photos

Props to Axl at Metal Sucks for finding this gem: high school yearbook photos of Dave Mustaine, James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett (pictured). Click through for more, including Eddie Van Halen, Axl Rose, Slash, Tommy Lee, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, and Jon Bon Jovi.

Suddenly I don’t feel so bad about my senior year, terrible, overly-gelled mane. And I’m pretty sure that I once stuffed Kirk Hammet into a locker and made him do my algebra homework.

Fear Factory: Nu-Metal Or Not?

All this Fear Factory brou-haha got me dusting off my old copies of Demanufacture and Obsolete, and apparently I was not alone as MetalSucks’ Vince Neilstein started pulling up old videos and debating whether or not the band was/is nu-metal.

I always thought they were unfairly lumped in with the rest of those late 90’s bands, but the video he found sure does make a good case. I also thought they never got enough credit (if you think someone should get credit for this) for starting the whole screamy verse/catchy chorus thing that would eventually define metalcore. What do you think?

New DevilDriver Video

Our bro-bros at MetalSucks have the exclusive video premiere of the title track from DevilDriver’s latest, Pray For Villains. Watch it now!

The Dramatic Demise Of Blackenedfest Tour

The MetalSucks/MetalInjection-sponsored Blackenedfest Tour, featuring Mayhem, Cattle Decapitation, Cephalic Carnage and Withered has not been without its share of problems. First Marduk no-showed, followed by a Boise cancellation, then Cephalic Carnage dropped off. The latest bit of drama is being reported through an exclusive in-depth tour diary by Metal Injection’s Justina Villanueva, who reports on a desperate, money-strapped incident:

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.

Read the entire fascinating look inside the collapse of Blackenedfest here. Mayhem will now continue their headlining tour alone, as Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered have now dropped off completely.

The coverage lacks Mayhem’s perspective of the whole thing, as Villanueva found herself on the other side of the fence. We invite anyone in the Mayhem camp to contact us at tips [at] metalinsider [dot] net for further comment.