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Category: RAGE

So There’s This Documentary About Juggalos

Sep.28, 2011

American Juggalo from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

Apparently someone decided to film a documentary during the infamous Gathering of the Juggalos. Bless him. American Juggalos is pretty neutral and doesn’t give this subculture a ton of shit, but I always thought the whole juggalo thing was silly and most of the self-proclaimed ones I’ve met in person have been quite unpleasurable. This documentary only serves to reinforce this idea. Seriously, after the intro not even two minutes in, someone shouts “suck my nuts” at the camera. What sticks in my craw though is this rant from a woman over three minutes in:

“[Juggalos] are kind people that people look down upon because they listen to weird shit. They didn’t like their music or their appearance so they turn them away.”

I don’t think it’s because they listen to weird shit so much as they listen to lowest-common denominator poser-hip hop. I listen to “weird shit” too, but my weird shit has been critically acclaimed. But music taste is subjective and I get it, but what really annoys me the most about Juggalos is their perpetuation of the ignorant redneck stereotype. Sure, just like any group, there are great people (a few of them pop up throughout the documentary), but when you have loud and flamboyant wannabe trailerpark gangsters with pot tattoos that fail to construct a single sentence that doesn’t rely on expletives, then I can’t help but to feel nothing more than annoyance at this whole subculture. The local church is turning your friend away because it shows a lack of tact and common sense to not walk around with green braids, cursing like a sailor and smelling like weed.

You can be a pleasant person and listen to whatever music you want. I enjoyed Bring Me The Horizon‘s latest album, but I’m not going to get neck tattoos and obscenely large ear gauges. I enjoy some black metal, but I’m not going to run around the forest in corpse paint wearing spikes. Don’t make yourself a caricature and this won’t happen. Plain and simple.

So that’s enough of that. The documentary was seriously shot quite well for it essentially being a series of embarrassments, so give it a view and rage at the idiocy.

[via Metalsucks]

- JR

Tags: American Juggalo, Gathering Of The Juggalos, Insane Clown Posse

Can Someone Spare Some Preparation H? Randy Blythe Needs Some To Soothe His Massive Butthurt.

Filed Under: Editorials, RAGE

Sep.19, 2011

The word “djent” in and of itself is enough to bring any meaningful discourse to a grinding halt, as you can see above. Like it or not, it’s a thriving and lively force in metal culture and it’s best to come to terms with it now, because it’s unlikely to fade for another year or so, and even then you’re going to have the same sort of second and third gen revivals and knockoffs that metalcore has been seeing. Then again, everyone has their opinions and is entitled to them, but it’s always hilarious when someone gets a little too excited over something as trivial as this, especially if they’re in a position of celebrity. Enter one Randy Blythe, vocalist of seminal metalcore band Lamb of God.

The PRP has ran a colorful news piece this past weekend that highlights Blythe’s twitter tirade, where he touches on lack of innovation and the always controversial djent (and apparently a knock at crabcore as well):

“THE STUPIDEST name yet for ANOTHER “genre” of metal. If you call yerself “djent”- cap yerself NOW”

“THERE IS NO SUCH FUCKING THING AS “DJENT”. ITS NOT A GENRE. I’m sorry, it’s STUPID AS FUCK. Metal already WAY over classified.”

“…all this BULLSHIT “Deathcore” & “Djentcore” & fucking “Cantplayinreallifebutcanonacomputer-core” it’s just a NAME”

“People can call themselves WHATEVER THEY WANT- it’s fucking heavy metal- this sub-classifying shit is a pathetic attempt to say that you are re-inventing the wheel. YOU ARE NOT. ITS FUCKING HEAVY METAL. Get over it. “Djent”? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

“I can say that I am a fruit bat, copy fruit bat movements, & soon all my friends will too. Then we will have fruitbatcore. Can we fly? NO.”

“No, Meshuggah is NOT “djent”. Meshuggah is MESHUGGAH. FUCK.”

View Full Article »

Tags: Black Sabbath, djent, Lamb of God, Metallica, Periphery, Randy blythe, TesseracT, Uneven Structure, Vildhjarta

Creation Records Founder: “I Laughed At PIAS Warehouse Fire”

Filed Under: General News, RAGE

Sep.08, 2011

I was tipped off about this interview with Creation Records founder Alan McGee by our bros at British Tech Metal last night, and I won’t lie: it irked me.

McGee, who is responsible for Primal Scream, The Jesus And Mary Chain and Oasis, made the comments in his keynote speech at Australia’s BigSound festival. He is quoted as saying:

“I read that the Sony PIAS Building burnt down. I’m probably the only person who thought that was funny. I call that a result. Got rid of all the shit music. And you get paid for it, the stuff you couldn’t sell.”

He’s touted as a music indutry veteran, but his remarks display either a sore lack of knowledge or a woeful arrogance. He also said “I don’t really like music,” and “With music it’s never enough for anybody…everyone wants to be Jagger or McCartney.” What the hell he’s doing opening a massive musical event like BigSound or running a new label, Poptones? Outside Glasvegas and The Libertines he isn’t fussed on much these days.

View Full Article »

Tags: Basick Records, British Tech Metal, PIAS

The HAARP Machine Were Denied Entry Into The USA. Is Racial Profiling To Blame?!

Filed Under: General News, RAGE, Tours and Rumors of Tours

Sep.06, 2011

It would appear that UK-based latest Sumerian-signees The HAARP Machine were denied entrance into the USA this Labor Day weekend as they were coming over to prepare for their supporting gig for Decapitated. Now, there’s typically problems that arise every now and then when a foreign band tries to come over to tour and get denied, but this time it seems that there COULD be a deeper sociological issue at play here.

Let’s just cut straight to the issue here. It’s nearing the 10th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, and since then, anyone who looks even remotely of Middle-Eastern descent have been getting the short end of the stick when it comes to traveling in the United States. The community seems to be abuzz with trickling claims of racial profiling, and I can see how it would appear to be the case in The HAARP Machine’s instance.

The band’s guitarist is Al Mu’min, seen upper left in the above photo. Unfortunately, coming to America for him may be problematic for obvious reasons, all of which are—obviously—a complete and total bullshit product of senseless fear and racial profiling. Add that to the fact that it’s a week before 9/11′s tenth anniversary, the band are hauling large boxes of electronic equipment, gear, and instruments and that the band’s name itself references a conspiracy theory involving The US Government (hell, their equipment probably has “The HAARP Machine” written on it)… it’s just a terribly unfortunate coincidence that the ever-paranoid TSA and US Government are naively reading too much into. The fact that they’re a death metal band doesn’t help much either, I’m sure.

Of course, there COULD be a reasonable explanation, but I don’t hold much hope for reason. It’s senseless fear at play here, I’m sure. We’ll follow up with official word if/when we get it.

- JR

Tags: Decapitated, The HAARP Machine

Help White Arms Of Athena Open Up Thrash & Burn!

Filed Under: RAGE, We Ask You

Aug.22, 2011

We absolutely love White Arms Of Athena, and if you’re a regular reader of this site, we assume you happen to be fond of them as well. Why wouldn’t you be? Their debut album Astrodrama is like the sexy lovechild of BTBAM and Cynic. Now it’s time to give back for the excellent tunes; White Arms are currently in the running for an opening spot on this year’s Thrash and Burn tour. Help an up-and-coming prog band prevail in a sea of mediocre bro-core.

I mean, just look at this bullshit:

You can help bring justice to music. Go like Winds of Plague (yeah, I know…) on Facebook and vote for White Arms of Athena. I’d better see a rise in their percentage, or I’m going to be sorely disappointed in you folks. And before you get all “but Jim, it would be a disservice to WAOA and their fans to have them on board.” That’s not the point, silly! White Arms need more exposure, and even if the odds of them winning are not likely, hopefully they’ll become more noticed if they get more votes.

So do your duty. Vote White Arms.

- JR

Tags: White Arms of Athena, Winds of Plague

The Spirit Of Revolution Or Utter Fucking Insanity?

Filed Under: Audio, General News, RAGE

Aug.09, 2011

This is London at the moment. Yeah…fuck.

So as you’ve probably heard, some serious shit is going down in London this week. What started as a protest of the fatal shooting of a known gang member in possession of a firearm has turn into three nights of some pretty hardcore rioting. Over 250 people have been arrested, and millions of pounds of damage done, including the razing of Sony’s London warehouse which contained Basick Records international stock and serves as a distribution centre for PIAS, which houses a lot of independent labels’ stock. Artists such as Fucked Up, Young Guns and Frank Turner (more on him later) are reported to be affected, although we can now confirm that those hoping to get Aliases preorders worldwide will NOT be affected (hooray!). Tip of the iceberg, trust me.

Damage aside, there’s a lot of talk about why this is happening; it’s clearly more than one man’s death. Is this the start of serious social and political upheaval in Britain, or is it just a violent bunch of bastard little shits, bored and wanting to loot because the opportunity has presented itself?

I lean heavily towards the latter. I’m more worried by the minute. I actually live in London, and although I’ve not yet seen anything first hand (despite being not far from the initial shooting about five minutes after it happened), it seems to be mostly youths, and they’re posting pictures of themselves stealing really valuable items. Does that really seem like the actions of someone who cares about political change?

It got me thinking about true revolutionary music – songs and artists that have the real spirit of change at heart – not these mindless mungos destroying people’s property and livelihoods.

So to distract me from the prospect of people I know and care about being hurt or their lives destroyed, here’s a rundown of some of the true political greats:

View Full Article »

Tags: After The Rush Hour, Frank Turner, Liberation Frequency, Million Dead, pg.99, Plan B, Punk Rock in the Wrong Hands, Refused, Thatcher Fucked The Kids

Sony And PIAS Distribution Centre Destroyed In London Riots

Filed Under: General News, RAGE

Aug.09, 2011

I’ll talk a little bit more about this in an hour, but I think this is worthy of its own discussion.

This morning, firefighters were still trying to control the above fire at Sony’s warehouse in Enfield, north London after it was set ablaze by rioters late last night. As I’ve learned more and more about this situation it’s broken my heart a little more each time.

Apart from the 20,000 square metre warehouse being Sony’s only depot for CDs and DVDs in Britain, it was also home to a huge amount of UK independent label record stock. PIAS used it as a distribution centre for many indie labels, including XL, Domino, Brownswood and Sonic Cathedral. Some 165 businesses are thought to have been affected, including our favourite homies at Basick Records, who stocked international releases there. This means those awaiting their Aliases pre-orders for Safer Than Reality outside the UK are likely to face a wait if they haven’t been sent already.

From NME:

“The financial implications are serious. While the stock is insured – for cost price, not sale price – the loss puts a virtual stop to Sonic Cathedral’s release schedule and any associated profits.”

From Sonic Cathedral boss Nathaniel Cramp:

“Nothing’s going to be sold for months, and I don’t know what will happen. There’s no way of distributing records. My back catalogues are all gone. I can’t afford to get another run done for older releases. Everyone’s going to have to think about the next few months. It’s a reminder of how on a knife edge these things are – some labels and shops are going to be really affected by it. It just shows how precarious the indie thing is.”

This is utterly heartbreaking. It’s a bad time for independent music lovers everywhere, metal or otherwise. Make sure to help them in any way you can – if you can – and above all offer them your sympathies. I’m sure they’d appreciate it.

- CG

Tags: Aliases, Basick Records

YES! New Design The Skyline Song!

Filed Under: lolwut, New music, RAGE

Jul.26, 2011

Alternatively; Design The Skyline change their sound, and it still fucking sucks.

In case you didn’t catch it, my enthusiasm was sarcastic. We all know Victory Records’s ‘are you fucking kidding me’ signing, Design The Skyline (unfortunately), but in case you don’t, here’s the link back from when I “broke the news”. You’re welcome.

Hawhaw.

Anyway, the song that they debuted with was utterly terrible, and now they’ve come up with another song:

Well, in the name of trying to be positive, it’s not as horrible as their previous song. The production is awful, the vocals are barely audible (thank god), and the song is just bland – but it’s better than their previous song. Still, I don’t get what Victory Records are trying to do here. Who listens to this stuff?

As my compatriot Gunnar said, “they’ve just sold out faster than anyone I’ve ever known. This is one of the biggest A Skylit Drive imitations I’ve ever heard.” Hmm. Indeed.

Whatever the fuck it’s called will be out far sooner than any court order should allow; dogs will howl; mothers will miscarry. God might even bring about judgement day early. Who knows?

- NT

Tags: Design the Skyline, Victory Records

OMG HNNNG

Filed Under: RAGE, WILD SPECULATION!

Jul.21, 2011

This Old Man Gloom fiasco, started a couple of months ago, is starting to pees me orf. I blame that talentless hack* Kurt Ballou entirely; he started, and then quashed the rumour that the band, for whom he produces, would be putting out their highly anticipated fifth studio album soon. These guys, somewhat under the radar for many, are a quality force in sludge metal – when they’re not busy with their primary bands – and so naturally I got excited at the prospect.

Well, The PRP have reported that buried somewhere in the recently released Hydrahead Records advert is a sneaky clue – the phrase “OMG 5 2012″ written on a book in the background – giving rise to the prospect of a new album next year.

I can’t actually see it myself, unless it’s the book between ‘Cave‘ and ‘In‘, but if you can spot it in the large version of the ad (here) then let us know.

Whilst you do so, listen to the opening track form the band’s last album. It’s fucking awesome and may possibly crush your balls/ovaries.

Tags: Cave In, Hydrahead, Kurt Ballou, Old Man Gloom

Tosh.0′s Web Retardation

Filed Under: lolwut, RAGE, Video

Jun.23, 2011

Brüs in blogging Metal Injection and Metalsucks picked up on this a bit earlier, so I don’t know how much there is to add in terms of rage at how dumb this is, but in the void of anything else interesting to post at the moment, you’re getting your say to us as well.

Apparently Daniel Tosh is some sort of comedian and has a show that is for some reason called Tosh.0. Apparently last year he was beating The Daily Show on average ratings, which if you look at the level of humour in this, is absolutely gobsmacking.

Tosh.0
Tags: Tosh.0 Videos,Daniel Tosh,Web Redemption

Now, I’m not saying these kids don’t suck, because they do, but they’re kids. Give them time, a few more years of music lessons, and wait for them to realise that they do in fact need a guitarist (or that they should become a sweet tech-bass band), and maybe they’ll suck less. Or give up.

It’s plainly obvious how cheap a shot this is, but what’s most annoying is how most people won’t know what utter horseshit this is – they’ll just laugh at the third-rate comedy and continue to think we’re all weird. Which we are. But not in that way.

Fuck.

[If you're like me and couldn't view the video embedded, find it here.]

- CG