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MetalSucks

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MetalSucks
Type of businessPrivately held company
Type of site
Online newspaper
Available inEnglish
FoundedBrooklyn, New York City, U.S.
December 2006; 17 years ago (2006-12)
Headquarters
Brooklyn, New York City
,
U.S.
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Axl Rosenberg (Matt Goldberg)
Vince Neilstein (Ben Umanov)
URLwww.metalsucks.com
RegistrationOptional
Launched2006; 18 years ago (2006)
Current statusActive

MetalSucks is a heavy metal music-themed news website. The site features reviews, interviews, information on latest metal releases and blog-like posts from the writers, most notably Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg.

History

The site was founded in December 2006 by authors Ben Umanov and Matthew Goldenberg who use the pen names Vince Neilstein and Axl Rosenberg.[1][2]

In April 2009, MetalSucks was awarded Metal Hammer's Web of Death Award for "Best Reviews" for its "honest, insightful, unpretentious – and fun – reviews."[3]

On April 12, 2011, F.Y.E. released the MetalSucks Fan Pack, a CD compilation that included 20 bands and a T-shirt. The item was exclusive only to F.Y.E. stores.[4]

On August 15, 2011, MetalSucks announced The Metal Suckfest, a two-day music festival to take place in Manhattan on November 4 and November 5 of that same year. Municipal Waste and Cynic were announced as headliners.[5] If the inaugural festival is a success, there are plans to make it an annual event.[6]

Controversies

Converge album leak

On October 4, 2009, one of the writers for MetalSucks was accused of leaking the album Axe to Fall by Converge onto the internet prior to its official release.[7] The site formally apologized for the leak.[8]

Axl Rosenberg's statutory rape joke

On May 18, 2011 founder Axl Rosenberg made the following comment when asked about the origin of his pen name. "A lot of people think it's so we can do undercover investigative journalism and express our honest opinions without fear or reprisal, but that's not true at all. It's just that if the father of a fourteen year old girl you met at Avenged Sevenfold show is looking for you, and he thinks your name is 'Axl Rosenberg', it's going to be a lot harder for him to track you down."[9]

Years later this remark began to generate controversy contradicting the progressive message Metalsucks was attempting to get across in its modern form prompting Rosenberg to issue an apology.[10]

Confrontations against alleged racist musicians

Black metal musicians

In July 2016, MetalSucks featured a negative piece on black metal band Deströyer 666. In a Facebook post the site stated, "Deströyer 666 frontman K.K. Warslut is a racist, and apparently doesn't mind being labeled one, as he calls his fans 'faggots' and 'pussies' at an NYC show earlier this week."[11] The post linked to a page on their site where they expanded on the moment and the history of K.K. Warslut in the metal community, stating "Earlier this week, we reported that K.K. Warslut, frontman of Australian black metallers Deströyer 666, has alarmingly racist, misogynistic and violent tendencies."[12] In response, the band claimed they have received death threats, and published the personal information for Goldberg and Umanov. MetalSucks eventually deleted all negative articles about the band and apologized for the posts, citing their regret that the band had received death threats because of the posts.[13][14]

In August 2017, MetalSucks published an open letter by The Anti-NSBM Working Group to Hells Headbangers Records, a metal record label, that they alleged sold music by white supremacists.[15]

On February 28, 2018, MetalSucks wrote about controversy surrounding Norwegian black metal act Taake.[16] On March 27, 2018, MetalSucks posted a photo they received of Watain touring guitarist Set Teitan giving the Nazi salute.[17] The band refuted the photo stating, "The gesture on that picture was done in jest that’s as much as we have to say about that." On March 30, 2018, MetalSucks followed-up by posting both the band's denial and video of the same guitarist doing the same salute in 2011.[18]

On April 4, 2018, MetalSucks (expanding on a 2016 story by Swedish outlet The Etc.[19]) reported members of Swedish black metal band Marduk allegedly bought items from a National Socialist group with the intent to distribute.[20] Marduk would go on to deny the claims.[21] In February of that same year, MetalSucks reported that the band had a concert cancelled in Oakland due to security concerns.[22] Vince Nielstein wrote, "The Swedish black metallers have been plagued by accusations of Nazism for some time. These accusations seem to stem from misinterpretations of their work, although it’s easy to see how those misinterpretations come about."[22]

On April 11, 2018, MetalSucks wrote a lengthy editorial about the owners thoughts and feelings on the topic of Nazi imagery in the metal scene along with what they considered to not to be acceptable usage and what was based on history and context.[23] The article included Anti-Semitic insults they had received due to their multiple articles and posts regarding the topic in the past.[23]

On May 3, 2018, MetalSucks posted a second editorial about Nazism and racism in the metal scene called, "Of Course Black Metal Is Racist—It’s Evil". In it they recapped events that had happened in 2018 on that topic to that point in time.[24]

On December 20, 2018 Adam "Nergal" Darski (of Polish black/death metal group Behemoth) took to his personal Facebook to respond to an email his management received from MetalSucks regarding a photo of Nergal with Rob Darken of Graveland who MetalSucks accused of National Socialist associations as well as the Bölzer shirt Nergal was wearing in the picture, another group accused of NS ties; according to Nergal, MetalSucks was requesting comment from Nergal on the matter. Nergal later noted that he's aware of the situation and disagrees with Darken's political views.[25] Nergal has since referred to MetalSucks as "the biggest troll" and "least reliable source of information".[26] The article was subsequently never published.

Pestilence

On July 24, 2018, MetalSucks reported on a 2017 Facebook post belonging to the Pestilence vocalist and guitarist Patrick Mameli. In the post they alleged that Patrick Mameli, on his personal Facebook page, response to a photo of him with blonde dreadlocks, responding to a comment that compared his look to Milli Vanilli with the statement in his native Dutch, "Je zegt dat ik een neger ben?" The site translated "neger" to English as the discriminating vulgarism nigger. Along with the comment, MetalSucks also alleged that the singer also "propagates Jewish stereotypes."[27] Despite MetalSucks claims about the Facebook comment, there was a backlash of commentators who argued that Facebook's built-in translation of the word gave a "more-offensive" variant while other translators such as Google Translate returned either "black" or "negro".[28]

In response, Pestilence posted a statement, reading in part, "PESTILENCE nor myself are in any way a political band. We do not condone or support nazism or racism in any way. Pestilence exists only to create awesome music for our listeners and fans." Patrick Mameli adding in the statement, "On being a racist, 'for god's sake, my 'soon-to-be' wife is ASIAN, how could I be rasist?"[29] Pestilence also claimed that their tour was canceled due to the controversy generated from the article.[30] The website responded with the comment, "For the record, we were fans not that long ago."[31]

References

  1. ^ "About MetalSucks.net". MetalSucks. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  2. ^ "How the Co-Founder of MetalSucks Made His Dream Into His Day Job". CreativeLive Blog. 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
  3. ^ "Web Of Death Awards: The Winners". Metal Hammer. 2009-04-01. Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  4. ^ "PRESENTING THE METALSUCKS FAN PACK, EXCLUSIVELY AT F.Y.E. | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2011-04-08. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  5. ^ "MUNICIPAL WASTE, CYNIC Confirmed For 'The Metal Suckfest'". Roadrunnerrecords.com. 2011-08-16. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  6. ^ "Vince Neilstein of MetalSucks on Their Upcoming Two-Day Concert Festival". Noisecreep. 2011-08-17. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  7. ^ "Don't Download the Leaked Converge: An Open Letter to Fans". Noisecreep. 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  8. ^ "REGARDING THE LEAK OF CONVERGE'S AXE TO FALL". MetalSucks. October 6, 2009.
  9. ^ Ramirez, Carlos. "A Conversation With MetalSucks Founder Axl Rosenberg". Noisecreep.
  10. ^ "Yes, I Made Those Jokes, and Yes, I Am Sorry". MetalSucks. April 13, 2018.
  11. ^ "MetalSucks.net". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  12. ^ "Deströyer 666 Frontman K.K. Warslut Digs in on Racist Comments at NYC Show | MetalSucks". 2016-07-15. Archived from the original on 2016-07-15. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  13. ^ "On Threats, Censorship, and Destroyer 666 – The Toilet Ov Hell". www.toiletovhell.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  14. ^ "Death Metal Underground: #Metalgate: Destroyer 666 Doxx MetalSucks". www.deathmetal.org.
  15. ^ "An Open Letter to Hells Headbangers Records to Stop Releasing and Distributing Metal by White Supremacists | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  16. ^ "The Problem with Taake Isn't Just the Swastika Chest Paint Incident | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  17. ^ "Watain: Photo of Guitarist Giving the Nazi Salute Surfaces Online | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-03-27. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  18. ^ "Video: Watain Guitarist Set Teitan Gave the Nazi Salute at Another Show | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  19. ^ Söderin, Eigil (2018-04-04). "Black metal-band avslöjade med NMR-kopplingar". ETC (in Swedish). Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  20. ^ "Members of Marduk Bought Nazi Propaganda Tied to National Socialist Party | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  21. ^ "Marduk Members Deny Purchasing Nazi Propaganda Tied to National Socialist Party | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  22. ^ a b "Oakland Metro Operahouse Cancels Marduk Show "in the Interest of Public Safety" | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  23. ^ a b "Nazi Imagery: Why Watain and Marduk Don't Get a Pass While Slayer and Metallica Do | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  24. ^ "Editorial: Of Course Black Metal Is Racist—It's Evil | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-05-03. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
  25. ^ "BEHEMOTH!". www.facebook.com.
  26. ^ "Adam Nergal Darski". www.facebook.com.
  27. ^ "Pestilence's Patrick Mameli Scolds Facebook Follower with a Racist Slur, Propagates Jewish Stereotypes, Defends Donald Trump and Fox News | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-07-24. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  28. ^ "Pestilence's Patrick Mameli Scolds Facebook Follower with a Racist Slur, Propagates Jewish Stereotypes, Defends Donald Trump and Fox News | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 24 July 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  29. ^ "Pestilence (official)". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
  30. ^ "death metal vets Pestilence's tour cancelled after racism accusation". BrooklynVegan.
  31. ^ "Pestilence Shows Cancelled "Thanks to MetalSucks and Their Followers" | MetalSucks". MetalSucks. 2018-07-26. Retrieved 2018-07-27.
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