PERIPHERY COVER MICHAEL JACKSON, AUGUST BURNS RED COVER THEMSELVES

• Periphery, an MS fave appearing on this year’s Thrash & Burn tour with Veil of Maya and Devildriver, have posted their own version of Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” on their MySpace page. It’s a pretty fresh Sumeriancore take on the track, and I laud that they didn’t chose to cover a more predictable Jackson tune that’s been done by other metal bands ad infinitum (see: Billie Jean, Beat It, etc). New Periphery vocalist Chris Barretto fucking nails it without overdoing it; psyched to see this guy live. Check out the rest of the band’s super-awesome tracks while you’re at it. [Thanks: Metal Injection]
• August Burns Red have released the new track “Ocean Of Apathy” on their MySpace page, and it’s essentially a re-jiggered cover of everything else the band has done to date. ABR are definitely better than other Christian metalcore acts like Underoath, but in 2009 there ain’t a whole lot of room to do anything new with metalcore. I’m sure the ABR Christian Haterade Mafia will be lambasting death threats upon the Jews of this here site in mere moments, but whatever. Meh.

-VN