SYL sucks

Strapping Young Lad - You Suck

I was going to wait until this album actually comes out so I could tell you to go buy it right away, but after dealing with public transportation today (subway flooded, spent 45 minutes waiting for a bus in the rain, etc.), I was really in the mood for some angryness and nothing hits the spot quite like SYL.

A lot of bands straddle the line between extreme metal and self-parody, but SYL is the only one that I know of that really does it on purpose. A major element of SYL's thing is making fun of heavy metal clichés. The catch is that in the process, they also manage to be one of the heaviest, most entertaining, and just best bands in the genre.

This quote from Devin on the Century Media site about their attitude towards playing Ozzfest pretty much sums it up:

"We were very inspired with the idea of doing Ozzfest, and the concept we are running with on this record is really based around abhorring the current music scene, yet being a part of it in some weird way. SYL is ready to be a subversive product for the unwitting 14-year-olds to scream along with. We also intend to sprinkle a little ugly around all the pretty bands this year. You can think of us as the proverbial pubic hair in the cheesecake of this year’s festival."

Their new album, The New Black, comes out soon and I'll try to remember to post a link to buy it when it does. In the meantime, if you want to annoy your neighbors and stomp around the house drunkenly smashing furniture and punching holes in the wall, any of SYL's previous albums ought to work nicely as the soundtrack: City, SYL, or Alien.