Last summer or something I tried to go down to UC Berkeley to see Dethklok of Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse perform a free show. We got there so early, there was no one online. That’s when we found out Berkeley is the best university ever, because it’s got a bar right there on campus. We ended up drinking a few pitchers of this strong, cloudy ale that completely demolished us, and by the time we stumbled out of the bar, the line was a mile long.

We waited all night, but didn’t get in. We also found out why Dethklok hates their fans so much, because a lot of the kids waiting in line were complete tools.

Now, Dethklok, the most brutal animated metal band on Earth, is ready to hit the road for reals. With actual tickets and everything.

The Dethklok tour will begin on June 2nd and run through early July. Tickets will range from $20 to $25, and Chimaira and Soilent Green will be in support. Full list of dates after the jump. (more…)

Gods of the Earth is turning out to be a prophetic title for The Sword’s latest album. First off, congrats goes to the band for topping the Billboard Heatseeker chart this week and also showing up at 102 on the top 200. Not bad for an indie metal band from Texas. I don’t know if that means their rich yet, but I’m sure they’ll have extra cash for medieval weapon replicas and sweet bongs.

They also premiered a new video for my favorite song on the new album “Maiden, Mother and Crone,” which you can view on the MTV’s Headbangers Blog. It’s got beards, eerie backgrounds and a hot, witch-y chick, so pretty much everything you could ever want from a metal video.

If that weren’t enough, the band will now tour with fuckin’ Metallica in Europe. No shit. The Sword/Metallica tour starts in June in the most metal place on Earth, Norway. With any luck, the boys from Austin will remind Metallica that they used to be a metal band.

I’d like to think that some of this success has to do with me blogging about them everyday. Just saying.

Here are The Sword’s dates with Metallica:

06/16: Bergen, Norway @ City of Bergen Festival*

06/18: St. Petersburg, Russia @ SKK Hall*

06/20: Riga, Latvia @ Skonto Stadium*

06/22: Bologna, Italy @ Parco Nord*

06/23: Bucharest, Romania @ Cotroceni Football Stadium*

06/25: Sofia, Bulgaria @ Levski Stadium*

06/27: Istanbul, Turkey @ Inonu Stadium*

I just got off the phone with Fred Mascherino of The Color Fred (and formerly of Taking Back Sunday). No shit, Fred has to be one of the nicest people in melodic post-punk pop-rock (or whatever you want to call it. You tell me.). Actually, maybe I’ll ask him what I should call it (besides damn good) when Synthesis meets up with him for an interview at Ryan’s. We’ll also be filming some of his live show at the Senator Theater (look to www.youtube.com/synthesismagazine in the next couple of days for the goods). The Color Fred is currently on tour with Chiodos, MxPx and Protest The Hero.

Here’s a video of the recording session of The Color Fred’s debut album, “Bend To Break,” courtesy of Equal Vision records.

Tour Dates after the Jump:
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Fresh from tearing it up at SXSW, Dizzee Rascal will head on the road with El-P for a string of major city dates in the US (and one stop in Canada). Dizzee Rascal’s new album, Maths + English is due out April 24th on Def Jux.

May 8 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
May 9 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
May 10 New York, NY - Webster Hall
May 11 Boston, MA - Middle East
May 12 Ottawa, Ontario - New Capital Music Hall

May 14 Detroit, MI - Crofoot Ballroom
May 15 Chicago, IL - The Abbey
May 16 Minneapolis, MN - Triple Rock Club
May 19 Seattle, WA - Neumos
May 20 Portland, OR - Berbati’s Pan

May 21 San Francisco, CA - 1015
May 22 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey

I got the full album copy of The Sword’s sophomore album Gods of the Earth just a couple days ago. It’s sweet. If you’re the law abiding type, you’ll have to wait until April 1st to get your hands on it yourself (I’m not going to share mine with you, so don’t ask), but you can at least listen to it on the band’s MySpace page. It’s not as sweet as actually having the album, but it’s still pretty sweet.

Upon the release of Gods of the Earth, The Sword is going to be all up in your business. The band will embark on two headlining tours: a West Coast leg from April 14th through the 29th; an East Cost leg from May 9th through the 29th; and a spot on Bonnaroo with a whole bunch of awesome bands. If you happen to be planning on catching The Sword on their West Coast tour (as I will be), be sure to get there early and check out San Francisco’s Slough Feg, because they’re pretty fucking rawk. All sorts of concert dates after the jump. (more…)

In a move that will probably be somewhat polarizing for the Radiohead crowd, experimental trash rock group Liars has been slotted as main support on select US tour dates.

Liars most recent eponymous album was released in 2007 and received accolades from The New York Times, Rolling Stone and a bunch of other publications that a lot of people read, and it even impressed the austere tastemakers over at Pitchfork. Their single “Plaster Casts of Everything” made Pitchfork’s Top 100 singles of 2007 (no. 48) and the video for which also appeared on their Top 50 videos list. And look! You can watch it right here below. If you’ve had too much coffee (or heavier mind altering substances) today, you might want to hold off. Tour dates after the jump.

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