A month ago I posted a news item about Finntroll that intrigued me: In conjunction with the launch of a European tour called Heidenfest (which is still going on), they released a “tour edition” of their excellent 2010 album Nifelvind that included covers of three songs that I had a tough time imagining them playing: “Insect” by Oingo Boingo, “Can You Forgive Her?” by The Pet Shop Boys, and “The God That Failed” by Metallica. This last Finntroll cover was previously included in a 20th anniversary tribute to The Black Album that Metal Hammer compiled and released this past summer, but the song included on the tour edition has an alternate ending.

Of course, as a died-in-the-wool Finntroll fan, I had to get this tour edition, (a) because as cool as I wish I were, in reality I’m just an embarrassingly obsessive metal nerd, and (b) because I’m a died-in-the-wool Finntroll fan. It arrived in the mail on Friday. It features new artwork by the band’s guitarist Skrymer (which you can see above) and an extra CD that included those three cover songs. It’s being sold at CMDistro. If you’ve already got Nifelvind, you’d really have to fall into Category (a) or (b) like me to get this, because all you’ll be getting for the money that you don’t already have is the nice new digipack cover art and those three songs.

To help you make up your mind, I’m going to stream all three of the covers after the jump. My favorite is the Metallica cover, maybe because it was a metal song to begin with, but the other two are more appealing than I thought they’d be. As I should have known from listening to Nifelvind and Nattfödd, this band is capable of performing well in a wide variety of musical styles, and as groverXIII pointed out in a comment on the earlier post, I should have been able to imagine the Pet Shop Boys cover from listening to “Hel Vete” on the Trollhammaren EP (2004).

“INSECTS”

“CAN YOU FORGIVE HER?”

“THE GOD THAT FAILED”

Here are the remaining dates on the Heidenfest tour, which includes Turisas:

16.10.2011 (BE) Antwerp – Trix
17.10.2011 (DE) Lindau – Vaudeville
18.10.2011 (IT) Bologna – Estragon
19.10.2011 (SI) Ljubljana – Cvetlicarna Mediapark
20.10.2011 (HU) Budapest – Club 202
21.10.2011 (AT) Vienna – Arena
22.10.2011 (AT) Linz – Posthof
23.10.2011 (AT) Innsbruck – Hafen

September is behind us. Here in Seattle, it was such a beautiful month that it seemed like nature’s compensation for how late the summer started. Unfortunately, with September’s end, we’re on a short track to the onset of winter, which means about six months of short, cold, grey, ceaselessly wet days. Ain’t that just fuckin’ great?

Well, bitchin’ about the winter ahead won’t change one fucking thing. I prefer to think instead about the deluge of new metal that’s headed our way and try (momentarily) to forget about the deluge of rain on the horizon. Which brings us to the latest monthly edition of METAL IN THE FORGE.

You know the drill:  In these posts, we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including occasional updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know their music yet. In this series, we cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — this isn’t a cumulative list. If we found out about a new album before August, we wrote about it in previous installments of this series. So, be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported earlier. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. As usual, also feel free to tell us about how we fucked up by omitting releases that you’re stoked about.

ABIGAIL WILLIAMS: “Abigail Williams will begin recording their third full-length album today. The process begins in the band’s new home of Southern California as the band enter Keene Machine Studios with The Faceless’ Michael Keene and Abigail Williams’ mainman Ken Sorceron engineering. Former Abigail Williams and Black Dahlia Murder drummer Zach Gibson will be playing on the album, as previous band mate Ken Bedene focuses on The Aborted. . . . The new album has an anticipated January release, followed by additional US tours supporting Dark Funeral and then Deicide.”

AMON: “AMON, the resurrected Florida-based death metal band featuring former DEICIDE members Eric Hoffmann (guitar) and Brian Hoffman (guitar), will film a new music video on October 22 in Clearwater, Florida with director Chris Nemzek (former CROSSBREED guitarist). AMON has set an October 31 release date for its new album, “Liar In Wait”.

ANIMALS AS LEADERS: “Progressive instrumentalists ANIMALS AS LEADERS will release their second full-length album, “Weightless”, in North America on November 8, in mainland Europe on November 4 and in the U.K. on November 7 via Prosthetic Records.”

ANAAL NATHRAKH: “U.K. extreme metallers ANAAL NATHRAKH — consisting of Mick Kenney and David Hunt — are currently working on the follow-up to “Passion”, released earlier this year via Candlelight Records. Hunt commented from the studio, “The songs we’ve recorded so far have come out very well. They are stylistically quite heterogeneous yet somehow sounding focused at the same time. And there’s one section that’s completely from left field, which we’ve included as a personal tribute. It’s all still in a raw, hardly mixed and not-yet-mastered state, but it’s all sounding quite powerful.”

A PLEA FOR PURGING: “”The Life”, a brand new song from the Nashville, Tennessee-based Christian metal/hardcore act A PLEA FOR PURGING, can be streamed in a new YouTube clip. The track comes off the band’s new album, “The Life & Death Of A Plea For Purging”, due on November 8 via Facedown Records.”

BIOHAZARD: “”Reborn In Defiance”, the long-awaited new studio album from New York hardcore metal legends BIOHAZARD, will be released on January 20, 2012. The CD will be made a vailable via Nuclear Blast outside of North America, with a U.S. label partner soon to be announced. The band will celebrate the launch with a record-release party in its hometown of Brooklyn, New York before setting off on an extensive international tour.”

BLEEDING THROUGH: “Orange County, California’s BLEEDING THROUGH is working on material for its next album, tentatively due in early 2012 via the Portland, Oregon-based independent record label Rise Records.”

CANNIBAL CORPSE: “Cannibal Corpse has begun recording their twelfth studio album at Sonic Ranch studios in Texas with producer Erik Rutan. The band has spent months writing the album and has recorded at Sonic Ranch in the past, but never with Rutan at the helm. More details on the album, including art, songs, title and more will be revealed in the months to follow. For now, the band is hard at work forging their next death metal offering.”

CARNIFEX: ““Until I Feel Nothing” will be released on October 25 via Victory Records. Produced by Tim Lambesis (AS I LAY DYING), the follow-up to 2010′s “Hell Chose Me” “captures an in-your-face extremity that drips with malice and ferocity, solidifying the effort as the most anticipated album of the year,” according to a press release. The cover artwork was created by famed comic book illustrator Menton3 (Silent Hill, Monocyte).”

CITY OF FIRE: CITY OF FIRE, the band featuring Burton C. Bell (FEAR FACTORY), bassist Byron Stroud (FEAR FACTORY, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD), guitarist Terry “Sho” Murray, and drummer Bob Wagner, will enter the studio this week to begin recording its sophomore album.”

CLOCKWORK SPIRIT: “AMARANTINE, the Helsinki, Finland-based metal band featuring members of AJATTARA, KIUAS, LIE IN RUINS and HANGING GARDEN, have changed its name to CLOCKWORK SPIRIT to coincide with the release of its self-titled debut album. Due on October 28, the CD will be distributed by the German label Dance Macabre Records and will initially be available only in Europe.”

CRADLE OF FILTH: “The UK’s premier extreme metal antagonist, Cradle Of Filth, has revealed the track list and artwork for the band’s upcoming CD/DVD mini-album entitled, Evermore Darkly…. The follow-on from last year’s, Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa, will hit stores in North America on October 18 through Nuclear Blast Records. Artwork comes courtesy of Natalie Shau, whom also contributed the cover art for Darkly, Darkly, Venus Aversa.”

CYNIC: “Progressive rock/metal band CYNIC will release a new EP, “Carbon-Based Anatomy”, on November 11 in Europe and November 15 in North America via Season Of Mist. Unlike last year’s “Re-Traced”, this new EP consists exclusively of brand new material.”

DYING FETUS: “DYING FETUS, HAIL OF BULLETS, WACO JESUS, SUFFOCATION and LOCK UP are among the artists who are featured on the “Death Feast Open Air 2010″ DVD. The set, which has a running time of almost two hours, was filmed and recorded during last year’s edition of the Death Feast Open Air festival on June 10-12, 2010 in Hünxe, Germany. As an extra bonus, the DVD includes a 30-minute special from Death Feast Open Air 2011. You can pre-order the “Death Feast Open Air 2010″ DVD for 15 euros (plus shipping and handling) at the Death Feast Open Air shop. Delivery starts November 1.”

FINNTROLL: “Finnish metal marauders FINNTROLL will release a special tour edition of their last album, “Nifelvind”, at the end of September. The digipak tour edition comes with new artwork by the band’s guitarist, Skrymer, and an extra CD including three brand-new cover versions: “Insects” (OINGO BOINGO), “Can You Forgive Her?” (PET SHOP BOYS) and “The God That Failed” (METALLICA). The cover versions were recorded and mixed at Sonic Pump Studios between June 27 and July 4 by FINNTROLL and Nino Laurenne.”

GOATWHORE: “Video footage of New Orleans natives GOATWHORE performing a brand new song, “Beyond The Spell Of Discontent”, on September 16 in Fort Walton Beach, Florida [has been recorded]. The entire concert is available at Tyronehood.tv. GOATWHORE recently entered Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida with producer with Erik Rutan to begin recording the follow-up to its most successful album to date, “Carving Out The Eyes Of God”. An early 2012 release via Metal Blade Records is expected.”

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE: “With a newly rejuvenated lineup and its signature sound intact, San Francisco’s HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE has returned with “17th Street”, a brash and heartfelt song cycle, blending the best elements of NWOBHM, thrash, doom, and American folk music while somehow sounding unlike any of these. Due in Europe on October 24 (three days earlier in Germany), “17th Street” takes the band’s inimitable sound to a new level . . . . “I can see how someone could find it an upbeat record,” says John Cobbett, guitarist and producer of the band, also of underground metal legends LUDICRA and SLOUGH FEG. “There are glimmers of hope there. But if you listen carefully to each song, you’ll find that each one has its own point of view; you might find hope, or something very different, very dark.”

I DECLARE WAR: “Seattle’s I Declare War is back with their sophomore Artery Recordings album, the self-entitled “I Declare War”. The album will be released on October 11th. “I Declare War” is produced by Andreas Magnusson (The Black Dahlia Murder, Haste The Day). The album is the first the band recorded with new vocalist, Jamie Hanks.”

JOB FOR A COWBOY: “Arizona extreme metallers JOB FOR A COWBOY have entered Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida to begin recording their next album for an early 2012 release via Metal Blade Records. The band is once again working with producer Jason Suecof (TRIVIUM, CHIMAIRA, DEVILDRIVER), who helmed the group’s latest EP, “Gloom”.”

KORN: “KORN will release its tenth studio album, “The Path Of Totality”, on December 6 via Roadrunner Records. But this one is unlike any KORN record. It’s even unlike any record released before. “The Path Of Totality” is an experimental album which finds KORN shifting gears and exploring new territory. For “The Path Of Totality”, the band collaborated with some of the leading dubstep and electronic producers in the world, including Skrillex, Excision, Datsik, Noisia, Kill the Noise, and 12th Planet. The result is something completely new, yet utterly and definitively KORN.”

KRISIUN: “Brazilian death metallers KRISIUN will release their new album, “The Great Execution”, on October 31 in Europe and November 1 in North America via Century Media Records. The band’s eighth studio CD “musically expands KRISIUN trademark high-speed death metal violence with a heavily increased amount of diversity ranging from extreme tempo variations over distinct rhythm patterns to clean guitars and even Flamenco parts!” according to a press release.”

LIKE MOTHS TO FLAME: “Ohio-based metalcore quintet LIKE MOTHS TO FLAMES has inked a European deal with Nuclear Blast Records. The band’s full-length debut, “When We Don’t Exist”, is scheduled for a November 11 release.”

METALLICA/LOU REED: “The musical collaboration between Lou Reed and METALLICA, “Lulu”, will be released on November 1 in North America via Warner Bros. Recordsand one day earlier (October 31) in the rest of the world through Universal Music.”

MORBUS CHRON: “The fine folks at Invisible Oranges are currently streaming MORBUS CHRON’s full-length debut “Sleepers In The Rift” in its entirety! The latest offering from the Swedish makers of audio filth is set for release in North America via Pulverised Records on September 27, 2011. A throwback to crude, early ’90s death metal, the hellions from MORBUS CHRON rekindle the vital atmosphere of this genre. “Sleepers In The Rift” was produced by Nicke Andersson (ex-Entombed), features artwork by Spanish fantasy/horror artist Raul Gonzales (Deceased, Abraxas, etc.) and will prove to be one of the finest hours in blistering, old-school death metal; the mortuary is now open and no corpse shall be spared! Prepare to be gut-fucked. Slay your ears HERE.”

MY DYING BRIDE: “Following the release of Evinta earlier this year, in which the band marked 20 years of existence with a release of symphonic compositions re-imagining past My Dying Bride themes, the UK doom legend now presents its latest chapter in the form of new EP, The Barghest O’ Whitby, to be released November 7th through Peaceville Records on CD and limited vinyl. This single track, 25-minute epic represents the epitome of poetic grace and funeral soundscapes from one of gothic doom’s most celebrated acts. With a masterful blend of pounding guitar riffs and sombre atmospheric passages, My Dying Bride embarks on a chilling journey through superstition and folklore.”

NIGHTWISH: “Finnish/Swedish symphonic metallers NIGHTWISH will release their new album, “Imaginaerum”, in Finland on Wednesday, November 30 and the rest of Europe on Friday, December 2 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD will be made available in North America through Roadrunner Records.”

NOCTURNAL RITES: “Swedish power metallers NOCTURNAL RITES are currently rehearsing new songs and are preparing to start recording them in a few weeks or so. In the meantime, the band has released “a little trailer to let [the fans] know [the group is] still alive!”"

REDEMPTION: “REDEMPTION, the U.S. progressive metal band featuring in its ranks guitarist/songwriter Nick van Dyk and legendary FATES WARNING vocalist Ray Alder, will release its fifth studio album, “This Mortal Coil”, on September 26 in Europe and October 11 in North America via InsideOut Music.”

RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER: “Candlelight Records has announced the worldwide signing of thrashers RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER. The Philadelphia-based band is already working on its new album, titled “Ghostmaker”, expected for release early spring 2012.”

SHADOWS FALL: “Massachusetts metallers SHADOWS FALL will enter the studio in October to begin recording their new album for an early 2012 release.”

SHINING: “Norwegian “blackjazz” outfit SHINING (not to be confused with the Swedish extreme metal band of the same name) will release its first-ever live DVD and CD, “Live Blackjazz”, on November 11 via Indie Recordings. The effort was produced by SHINING frontman Jørgen Munkeby and was mixed by Sean Beavan (MARILYN MANSON, NINE INCH NAILS, SLAYER). The mastering duties were handled by Tom Baker (MARILYN MANSON, NINE INCH NAILS).”

SLIPKNOT: “It’s been 10 years since SLIPKNOT unleashed its second album, “Iowa”, on the world. . . . To celebrate the album’s decade of existence, the band is releasing a special, tenth-anniversary edition of this landmark release, which will drop on November 1. . . . Disc One will comprise the original “Iowa” album along with a remix of “My Plague” as an added bonus track. Disc Two will include the full live audio from the legendary “Disasterpieces” DVD, where the band’s 2002 show at the London Arena was captured by 30 cameras and released as a concert film. The DVD will include “Goat”, a new film directed by M. Shawn Crahan featuring never-before-seen interviews and footage showing the madness that surrounded the “Iowa” era, plus four music videos.”

SOULDRAINER: “Swedish death metallers SOULDRAINER will release their second full-length, “Heaven’s Gate”, on November 25 via ViciSolum Productions. The follow-up to 2007′s “Reborn” was recorded at Empire Studio in Frösön, Sweden and was produced, mixed and mastered my Marcus Edvardsson.”

STORM CORROSION: “STORM CORROSION, the much-anticipated collaboration project between OPETH’s Mikael Åkerfeldt and PORCUPINE TREE’s Steven Wilson, has completed work on its self-titled debut album for an April 2012 release through an as-yet-undicslosed record label.”

SWALLOW THE SUN: “Finnish doom metallers SWALLOW THE SUN check in with the following update: ‘During the well-deserved break we took from shows this year, we’ve been preparing new music, and now we are happy to announce that we have entered Drumforest Studios at Viitasaari to record our fifth full length album, which will be released February 1, 2012 by Spinefarm Records.’”

TAAKE: “TAAKE’s fifth full-length album, “Noregs Vaapen”, was released in Europe on September 20 via Dark Essence Records and will be made available on November 1 in the USA.”

TERROR: “On November 1, Los Angeles hardcore/metal band TERROR will release the “Defining The Faith” DVD as part of the special deluxe reissue of the group’s latest CD, “Keepers Of The Faith”. Produced, edited, and authored by Carlo Oppermann and Ambitious.Films, “Defining The Faith” features a full live set that is composed of three different TERROR shows in three distinct settings: a small club, a big hall, and a massive European festival.”

TESTAMENT: “TESTAMENT has been spending time in the studio recording its new album, “Dark Roots Of Earth”, tentatively due in February 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records.”

UFOMAMMUT: “Italian masters of thunderous psychedelic doom UFOMAMMUT have inked a deal with Neurot Recordings for the release of their next album. . . UFOMAMMUT is in the studio at this very moment working on their next epic.”

VENOM: “VENOM, the hugely influential U.K. outfit now celebrating a full 30 years since the release of its “Welcome To Hell” debut, will have a brand new studio album released on November 28 via Spinefarm Records/Universal. Titled “Fallen Angels” and featuring 13 fresh recordings produced by mainman/bassist Conrad “Cronos” Lant, this is the follow-up to 2008′s “Hell” release, and sees the trio (completed by guitarist Rage and drummer Dante) adopting a style highly redolent of classic early VENOM with modern studio technology employed only to increase the general level of nastiness.:

VOIVOD: “Canadian metal innovators VOIVOD are continuing to write and demo new material for their upcoming album, tentatively due in early 2012. The follow-up to 2009′s “Infini” will contain the band’s first music to be written with new guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain (MARTYR) following the passing of original axeman Denis “Piggy” D’Amour in 2005.”

I doubt I’ll be able to continue doing this on a regular basis, but for the third day in a row, here’s a round-up of news I saw and music I heard today that I thought were worth sharing.

KRISIUN

It’s been three years since Krisiun released Southern Storm, and that’s far too long to wait for another slab of death metal bestiality from these Brazilian kings of the genre. Today’s wonderful news is that Krisiun will be releasing their eighth studio album, The Great Execution, on October 31 in Europe and November 1 in North America via Century Media Records.

A press release explains that the album “musically expands Krisiun’s trademark high-speed death metal violence with a heavily increased amount of diversity ranging from extreme tempo variations over distinct rhythm patterns to clean guitars and even Flamenco parts!” In addition, “Krisiun only used analog gear and instruments this time to avoid the compressed sound that so many musicians produce today. This wise decision resulted in a more organic sound, with the songs on The Great Execution possessing both warmth and rawness, which are so often lost through digital production. The low end is deeper, with drums that pound instead of bounce and guitar tones that sear rather than hiss.”

That just sounds fuckin’ peachy, don’t it? And what about that album art up above, by by Japanese artist Toshihiro Egawa (Suicide Silence, Heaven Shall Burn, Devourment, Dying Fetus)? Metal As Fuck.  (more after the jump . . .)

Since Krisiun is on my mind, here’s a video for the song “Sentenced Morning” off Southern Storm. Face-peeling tech-death don’t get much better than this.

FINNTROLL

Back in the day, before I purified myself and began listening to metal 99.9% of the time, I used to listen to Oingo Boingo, that fun-loving, slightly unhinged pop-punk band fronted by Danny Elfman, who of course has gone on to fame and fortune as the Oscar-nominated creator of movie scores. So guess who is covering an Oingo Boingo song on their next release? Finntroll. Uh huh, that’s not a typo.

Back in the day, the same day when I used to listen to Oingo Boingo, I used to listen to The Pet Shop Boys — Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe — an electro-dance-focused duo who got hot as part of the New Wave movement and have sold about 100 million albums since then. Guess who’s covering The Pet Shop Boys? Uh, yes, that would be . . . Finntroll.

Back in the day, I also used to listen to Metallica. Okay, I still do every now and then. Guess who’s covering Metallica? Right again — Finntroll.

I can sort of imagine a Finntroll cover of Metallica’s “The God That Failed”, but my imagination fails me on the other two. The idea is just as weird as that news we reported earlier this week about Anaal Nathrakh covering a ska song by The Specials. But, of course, since Finntroll is purely awesome, I of course am anxious to hear what they do with these covers. I am perhaps even slightly more anxious because of this statement by Finntroll’s Henri “Trollhorn” Sorvali about the band’s decision to cover Oingo Boingo’s “Insects”:

“Because we don’t know how to play funky horn sections, we replaced them with Kazoos and various squeaky bladders. And instead of slap bass, we slapped the crap out of various ethnic percussions.”

The three cover songs will be included on a special tour edition of their last album, 2010′s Nifelvind. The tour album will include 2 CDs plus the new artwork you see to the right. It will be released near the end of this month in Europe, and fans in North America can purchase the CD at www.cmdistro.com. Oh hell, I feel compelled to play those first two songs Finntroll is covering, just so you can get confused, too:

HOUR OF PENANCE

In the racetrack of my mind, this band and Fleshgod Apocalypse are neck-and-neck in the sweepstakes of Italian death metal. I’ve said before that the band’s 2010 album Paradogma was one of the best releases of 2010. They’re one of those bands whose new music I’ll buy without hearing it, because I’m confident it will be good.

Today I saw the welcome news on HoP’s Facebook wall that they’re recording a new album for release in 2012 and that a live video of the band performing a new song, “Sedition Through Scorn”, has now become available on YouTube. The audio isn’t great, because this is a fan-filmed clip, but it’s good enough to make me say (excuse me a second while I clear my throat . . . ugh . . guh . guhg . .ugh . . .

FUCK YEAH!!!

June is behind us, July lies ahead. Here in the U.S., we’re about to start the long weekend leading up to Independence Day, when Americans celebrate the birth of the nation by buying explosive ordinance wherever fine explosive ordinance is sold and lighting up the night sky (in addition to blowing the shit out of objects and sometimes themselves). People will also be exposing unsightly parts of their bodies wherever sun can be found and eating large quantities of health food prepared on outdoor grills. Our Founding Fathers would be proud of what they wrought!

Because the last month has ended, that means it’s time for another installment of METAL IN THE FORGE, in which we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including occasional updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know their music yet. In this series, we cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — this isn’t a cumulative list. If we found out about a new album during May or preceding months, we wrote about them in previous installments of this series. So, be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported earlier. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. And feel free to tell us about how we fucked up by omitting releases that we overlooked.

ABORTED: “Death metal psychopaths ABORTED have entered Hansen Studios in Ribe, Denmark with producer Jacob Hansen (INVOCATOR,HATESPHERE, VOLBEAT) to begin recording their seventh full-length album, “Global Flatline”, for a late 2011 release via Century Media Records. 15 tracks of “the most brutal and intense material the band has written to date” are laid down for the effort, with 12 tracks set to appear on the regular CD and the rest to be used as bonus material.”

ABORYM: “Legendary Italian industrial/post-black metallers ABORYM have inked a worldwide deal with Agonia Records. The band’s sixth album will be released in 2012 and it will coincide with the group’s 20th anniversary.”

ADRENALINE MOB: “ADRENALINE MOB, the new band featuring former DREAM THEATER/AVENGED SEVENFOLD drummer Mike Portnoy, SYMPHONY X frontman Russell Allen, guitar virtuoso Mike Orlando (SONIC STOMP), bassist Paul DiLeo and STUCK MOJO/FOZZY axeman Rich Ward, has posted audio samples from its upcoming debut album on the group’s Facebook page (you must “like” the page in order to hear the samples).”

ALL SHALL PERISH: “Oakland, California extreme metallers ALL SHALL PERISH will release their fourth full-length album, “This Is Where It Ends”, on July 26 (North America) and July 29 (Europe) via Nuclear Blast Records. A pre-order package containing the new CD, an official ALL SHALL PERISH “party tech” 34 oz. mug and shot glass, a new ALL SHALL PERISH shirt, and five ALL SHALL PERISH condoms is now available for “only $32 dollars.” A press release states, “For the price of two CD’s you can get drunk, have safe sex, and still support an incredible band. What are you waiting for? ”

AMON: “Former DEICIDE members Eric Hoffmann (guitar) and Brian Hoffman (guitar) recently resurrected their pre-DEICIDE band AMON with Jesse “Jecheal” Jolly (PROMETHEAN HORDE, DIABOLIC, SUCCESS WILL WRITE APOCALYPSE ACROSS THE SKY, AFTER DEATH) on vocals/bass and and Mike Petrak (LEPROSY, SUCCESS WILL WRITE APOCALYPSE ACROSS THE SKY) on drums. The Florida-based quartet entered RedRoom Recorders in Tampa on December 10, 2010 with producer Mark Prator to record its new album, entitled “Liar In Wait”.”

ANIMALS AS LEADERS: “ANIMALS AS LEADERS is currently recording its second CD with drummer Navene Koperweis handling production duties. A fall release is expected.”

BLUT AUS NORD: “”777 – The Desanctification”, the eagerly awaited second part of BLUT AUS NORD’s “777″ trilogy, is currently being recorded and will be released via Debemur Morti Productions this coming September.”

CADAVERIA: “CADAVERIA, the Italian band featuring former OPERA IX vocalistCadaveria and ex-OPERA IX drummer/NECRODEATH vocalist Marçelo Santos (a.k.a. Flegias), has issued the following update: “Well, we can say the new album is almost done! We are finishing the mix and refining the last tracks and, during the next week, we will begin working on the mastering. It is now early to talk about an official release date for CADAVERIA fourth full-length. However, we can assume it could be in stores before the end of this year.”

CHIMAIRA: “A 43-second video teaser for “The Age Of Hell”, the new album from Cleveland, Ohio metallers CHIMAIRA, can be seen here. The CD is due in August in North America, South America and Japan via eOne Music.”

CIPHER SYSTEM: “Nuclear Blast Records has announced the signing of the Swedish futuristic and extreme metal act CIPHER SYSTEM. 15 years after the birth of the band, CIPHER SYSTEM returns with what has to be described as a masterpiece in a genre where innovation has become sparse, putting their murderous machinations on public display, forged with fearsome skill and precision: “Communicate The Storm”. Packed in the rapturous art of a true genius of darkened visuals, Seth Siro Anton (SOILWORK, PARADISE LOST, SEPTICFLESH), and with a mix once again stemming from the hallowed grounds of Studio Fredman, this colossus of an album is sure to send tremors throughout the scene when it hits the street on September 9.”

DECAPITATED: “Polish technical death metal band DECAPITATED will release their fifth studio album, “Carnival Is Forever”, in North America on July 12 viaNuclear Blast Records.”

DENIAL FIEND: “Horror metal supergroup DENIAL FIEND will release its second full-length album, “Horror Holocaust”, on August 2 via Ibex Moon Records. Recorded at Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida, the long-awaited follow-up to 2007′s “They Rise” is the band’s first CD to feature DENIAL FIEND‘s current lineup of drummer Rob Rampy (D.R.I.), vocalist Blaine Cook (THE ACCUSED), bassist Terry Butler (DEATH, SIX FEET UNDER, MASSACRE) and guitarist Sam Williams (DOWN BY LAW).”

DESCENDING: “After a long period of intensive work in Greece and Sweden along with producer Fredrik Nordström (IN FLAMES, DIMMU BORGIR, ARCH ENEMY) at Fredman studios, Athens, Greece-based death/thrash metal band DESCENDING has completed work the follow-up to its debut album,“Enter Annihilation”, which was released in European and Japanese markets in 2008-2009. The new CD, “New Death Celebrity”, will be made available on September 23 via Massacre Records. A single, “How Much This Life Weights?”, is now available for free download at this location.”

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA: “Dayton, Ohio Christian metalcore band THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA has set “Dead Throne” as the title of its new album, due in the U.S. on September 13 via Ferret Music and one day earlier internationally through Roadrunner Records.”

DIR EN GREY: “Japanese rockers DIR EN GREY will release their eighth studio album,“Dum Spiro Spero”, two years and ten months after “Uroboros”, which garnered overwhelming support as the strongest and the maddest record resonating across the globe.”

DOMINANZ: “DOMINANZ, the atmospheric metal band from Norway, will release its new album, “As I Shine”, in Europe on August 19 via Industrial Silence Production and Rock N Growl Distro/Cargo Records. The CD was recorded and mixed at Conclave Studio by Bjørnar E. Nilsen and Roy N. Mathisen and mastered at Earshot Studio by Herbrand Larsen.”

DOWN: “DOWN guitarist Kirk Windstein has confirmed to Radio Metal that the band is planning to release four separate EPs over the course of the next couple of years. “We’re going to do four EPs, and they’ll all be different,” he said. “We have many elements to our sound, so each one will have its own characteristics. Like, for example, this one we’re writing right now and are about to start recording will be really hard, with heavy DOWNstuff. Then we’ll have a mellow one, then a doom one — you know, slower and doomy stuff. A little bit of everything.”

DYING FETUS: “Maryland-based extreme metallers DYING FETUS will enter the studio in November to begin recording their new album for an early 2012 release.”

EAST OF THE WALL: “Technical metal subversives EAST OF THE WALL have completed the recording process for their upcoming third full-length, The Apologist, the highly anticipated opus set for release this October on Translation Loss Records for the CD and digital release, and on Antithetic for the vinyl release. The album’s official release date, track listing and more will be announced within the next few weeks.”

GENERATION KILL: “GENERATION KILL, the crossover metal outfit featuring EXODUS frontman Rob Dukes, has set “Red White And Blood” as the title of its debut album, due on September 16 in Europe and September 27 in North America via Season Of Mist. A digital single containing the CD’s title track and a cover of the NINE INCH NAILS classic “Wish” will precede the full-length effort on July 4.”

GHOST BRIGADE: “Finnish metallers GHOST BRIGADE will release their third album, “Until Fear No Longer Defines Us”, on August 19 in Europe and August 23 in North America via Season Of Mist.”

GOJIRA: “The GOJIRA EP (Sea Shepherd) is tentatively scheduled for release in September, with a new full new album to follow later. Regarding what the new GOJIRA material sounds like, Duplantier said, “It’s GOJIRA but wiser and heavier.”

GORGORTH: “”Under The Sign Of Hell 2011″, the re-recording of GORGOROTH’s third album, will be released by Regain Records and has had it release date pushed back to August 29 from the previously announced June 20 due to “manufacturing problems.” On the LP, Pest and Infernus repeat their roles as vocalist and guitarist/bassist, respectively, from the original 1996 recording, while Tomas Asklund handles the drums.”

HACKNEYED: “German death metal lunatics HACKNEYED will release their third album, “Carnival Cadavre”, on August 22 in Europe and August 30 in North America via Lifeforce Records.”

HATESPHERE: “Danish thrashers HATESPHERE have entered Antfarm Studio in Aarhus, Denmark with producer Tue Madsen (SICK OF IT ALL, THE HAUNTED, GOREFEST, MOONSPELL) to begin recording their new album for a September release via Napalm Records.”

INSOMNIUM: “Finnish melodic death metallers INSOMNIUM have set “One For Sorrow” as the title of their new album, due in October via Century Media Records. The CD was recorded in Gothenburg, Sweden with sound engineer Daniel Antonsson (also bassist in DARK TRANQUILLITY and guitarist in DIMENSION ZERO) and at Fantom studios in Tempere, Finland, where the album is also currently being mixed by Samu Oittisen.”

LANDMINE MARATHON: “LANDMINE MARATHON are recording the follow-up to 2010′s “Sovereign Descent”. Once again, the band’s as-yet-untitled fourth CD is being tracked at guitarist Ryan Butler‘s Arcane Digital Recording Studios, where he’s recorded past efforts from the band, as well as those by MISERY INDEX, PHOBIA, THE FUNERAL PYRE and many more. LANDMINE MARATHON is about to enter the mixing stage and is aiming for a late fall release.”

LEVIATHAN: From the Profound Lore label — “We will be releasing the next full-length from the cursed U.S. black metal enigma LEVIATHAN in the late stages of the fall (if all goes accordingly to schedule). Recently the notorious Wrest has tracked the new album with Sanford Parker at Engine Studios in Chicago and will be laying down the final touches to this hateful, wretched piece of tormenting dismal black metal art soon enough. Beware…”

MACHINE HEAD: “San Francisco Bay Area metallers MACHINE HEAD have set “Unto The Locust” as the title of their new album, due in late September via longtime label Roadrunner Records. The CD was recorded at JingleTown Studios in Oakland, with frontman Robb Flynn producing, and it is sure to level anything and everything that happens upon its path.”

METALLICA: “Producer Rick Rubin, who is also co-chairman of Columbia Records, tells Billboard.com in a new interview that METALLICA is “about to start writing” material for the follow-up to 2008′s “Death Magnetic” album, Rubin‘s first collaboration with the group. “I had a meeting with [METALLICA drummer] Lars [Ulrich] in San Francisco… to explore what the focus was going to be this time around,” Rick says.”

NIGHTRAGE: “Multi-national thrashers NIGHTRAGE have set “Insidious” as the title of their fifth album, due on September 27 (one day earlier internationally) via Lifeforce Records. The CD features guest appearances by Gus G. (OZZY OSBOURNE, FIREWIND), Tomas S. Englund (EVERGREY), Apollo Papathanasio (FIREWIND, SPIRITUAL BEGGARS), John K (BIOMECHANICAL) and the band’s former frontman Tomas Lindberg (also known for his work with AT THE GATES, THE CROWN and LOCK UP).”

PUSCIFER: “PUSCIFER, the project ringleader Maynard James Keenan describes as “‘Twin Peaks’ in the desert,” will release “Conditions Of My Parole” on October 18 via Puscifer Entertainment. “Man Overboard”, the first single from the album, will be available via iTunes and other digital service providers on July 19.”

RINGWORM: “Cleveland, Ohio hardcore heavyweights RINGWORM will release their fifth album, “Scars”, on July 19 via Victory Records. Twenty years after its 1991 birth, RINGWORM “rise above with the brutal new release to remind fans why they are the pioneering visionaries of the hardcore genre known as ‘crossover,’” according to a press release. ”

SKELETONWITCH: “Athens, Ohio’s SKELETONWITCH has set “Forever Abomination” as the title of its new record, due in the fall via Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to 2009′s “Breathing The Fire” is being recorded at a Los Angeles studio with producer Matt Hyde (SLAYER, MACHINE HEAD, KREATOR).”

SOULDRAINER: “Swedish death metallers SOULDRAINER have inked a deal with ViciSolum Productions. The band’s second full-length album will be released in the fall. . . . SOULDRAINER previously decribed the new material as “beautiful, evil, slightly more aggressive and heavier” than that on “Reborn” (2007). The band added, “Prepare for an epic death/doom album so heavy it will blow your face off.’”

SPAWN OF POSSESSION: “Drummer Henrik “Morris” Schönström of Swedish technical death metallers SPAWN OF POSSESSION has entered Pama Studios in Kristianopel, Sweden with engineer Magnus “Mankan” Sedenberg to begin recording the band’s new album for a fall release via Relapse Records. The CD will contain nine tracks plus an instrumental intro.”

SPINEFARM ALLSTARS: “Finnish record label Spinefarm Records will celebrate its 20th anniversary by organizing a “summer camp” in July where members of various bands signed to the company — including those from SHINING, MOONSORROW, SWALLOW THE SUN, FINNTROLL, MEDEA and ENSIFERUM — will collaborate with each other in creating and recording new songs. The resulting album, tentatively titled “Spinefarm Allstars”, will be released before the end of the year.”

TESTAMENT: “San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans TESTAMENT have just entered the studio with British producer Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE, MACHINE HEAD) to begin recording their new album for a late 2011 release.”

YOB: “Doom metallers YOB will release their sixth album, “Atma”, on August 16 via Profound Lore Records. The follow-up to 2009′s “The Great Cessation” is described in a press release as “dirtier and sludgier than ever before.” The CD features guest appearances by NEUROSIS’ Scott Kelly on the tracks “Before We Dreamed Of Two Mastered” and “Adrift In The Ocean”.”

No, we’re not re-starting our seemingly endless series on Finnish metal. This is just a heads-up that the second installment of THE FINNISH METAL TOUR is on the horizon. The first installment last year was one of the best shows we saw in 2010, and the next one is already causing near-sexual forms of arousal here at NCS.

Okay, maybe that was too much information. Let’s just say we’re looking forward to the new tour and leave it at that.

Here’s the arousing line-up: Finntroll, Ensiferum, Barren Earth, and Rotten Sound.

Up above is a video trailer for the tour hosted by keyboardist Kasper Mårtenson (ex-Amorphis) and guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö (Kreator) of Barren Earth. And in case your eyes cross as you try to read the dates and places as they scroll across the bottom of the video, we’ve got the full schedule after the jump.

Be still my beating . . . heart.

The dates and places are as follows:

• 1/31 Orlando, FL The Club at Firestone
• 2/1 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
• 2/2 Louisville, KY Headliner’s Music Hall
• 2/3 Tulsa, OK Marquee
• 2/4 Austin, TX Emo’s Alternative Lounging
• 2/5 Dallas, TX Ridglea Theater
• 2/6 Amarillo, TX The War Legion Underground
• 2/7 Tempe, AZ Clubhouse
• 2/8 Los Angeles, CA Key Club
• 2/9 Ramona, CA Ramona Mainstage
• 2/10 San Francisco, CA DNA Lounge
• 2/11 Portland, OR Hawthorne Theatre
• 2/12 Seattle, WA El Corazon
• 2/14 Calgary, AB The Republik
• 2/15 Edmonton, AB Starlite Room
• 2/16 Regina, SK The Exchange
• 2/18 Minneapolis, MN Station 4
• 2/19 Chicago, IL Reggie Rock Club
• 2/20 Detroit, MI Blondie’s
• 2/21 Cleveland, OH Peabody’s
• 2/22 Toronto, ON Opera House
• 2/23 Quebec City, QC Imperial de Quebec
• 2/24 Montreal, QC Metropolis
• 2/25 Rochester, NY Montage Music Hall
• 2/26 New York City, NY The Gramercy Theatre
• 2/27 Worcester, MA The Palladium
• 3/1 Philadelphia, PA The Trocadero
• 3/2 West Springfield, VA Jaxx
• 3/3 Charlotte, NC The Casbah
• 3/4 Raleigh, NC Volume 11

Another day, and two more entries on our list of the year’s most infectious extreme metal songs.  For a full explanation of what we mean by “most infectious”, read this. And to see the songs we’ve named so far, click the Category link over on the right called MOST INFECTIOUS SONGS-2010.

In a nutshell, what we’re doing is listing, in no particular order, the catchiest songs from a wide range of extreme metal sub-genres — not necessarily the best metal of the year (though lots of these songs would qualify for that kind of list), but the ones that most effectively got our heads and other parts of our bodies moving, and then continued to ring in our tiny brains even after they ended.

We ended Part 3 of this series with a band from Finland — Kalmah — and we’re starting Part 4 with another unique Finnish juggernaut: Finntroll. And then, in keeping with the folk-metallish theme of today’s entry, we’re following that up with a song from Switzerland’s Eluveitie.

Times like this, I wish I had really long hair, because these songs make me want to whip it around in a big fucking windmill. On the other hand, with my luck it would be caught in an air intake vent and be torn out by the roots. Or the cat would freak out and leap for my head with claws bared. So, maybe it’s just as well.

Where was I?  Oh yeah. Two more songs!  (read on, and listen, after the jump . . .)

FINNTROLL

Finntroll’s 2010 album Nifelvind made the best-of-2010 album lists posted by several of our guest contributors last week. If we’d made our own best-album list, it would have been on that one, too. There’s much more diversity in the songs than you typically find in an album, and Nifelvind turned out to be one enormously pleasant surprise after another. We can’t do better than quote Timbus (Nekrogoblikon), from his guest post last week:

“Oh man, these guys surprised the FUCK out of me. Just when I thought that Finntroll was moving off into irrelevance, they drop this fucking monster. Their previous effort, Ur Jorden Djup, had recovered their black metal roots that were almost completely gone on their previous two albums (Nattfodd and Jaktens Tid), and so I had assumed they were going to do one of two things – release an even more drony black metal effort, light on the keyboards and heavy on the blasting, OR something incredibly silly to try and win their fans back.

“Instead, they got back to what they do best – finding the perfect balance between being a heavy earnest death metal band and being a catchy pagan/folk performance act. They brought back weird instruments (this album has kazoo on it, no bullshit) and did some very off-the-wall things (two versions of the same song, metal & acoustic). Also, this album is self produced, and it sounds AMAZING.”

The song from Nifelvind that we’ve picked for our “most infectious” list is called “Solsagan”. It’s just a fucking great song, and we had the pleasure of hearing Finntroll perform it live earlier this year in Seattle. Listen, or re-listen, as the case may be:

Finntroll: Solsagan

UPDATE: As discussed in the comments below, there was another obvious candidate for this list from Nifelvind — “Under Bergets Rot”. And it happens that the official video for the song is a kick to watch. So, we decided to stick it in right here:

ELUVEITIE

Eluveitie’s 2010 release is called Everything Remains As It Never Was. My NCS collaborator IntoTheDarkness named it to his short list of the year’s best five albums, calling it the “best folk metal album of the year — super catchy”.

Whether the album is one of the year’s five best is a debatable proposition.  One could argue (as our guest contributor Andy Synn did in one of his posts last week) that Eluveitie chose “to consolidate their sounds, rather than really attempt much further progression”, and that the album doesn’t stand up to the quality of Slania or Spirit.

Whether you loved the 2010 release or were disappointed at its unevenness, we think it was worth the price of admission based largely on the strength of one song. “Thousandfold” is a soul-stirring marriage of Celtic folk melody (implemented with hurdy gurdy, violin, pipes, and flute, of all things) and Gothenburg-style melodeath riffage. It stomps and exults, and when Chrigel Glanzman bellows the chorus — “Behold! / All our gold! / Thousandfold!” — we want to bray right along with him (even though we haven’t a clue what the lyrics mean). Start windmilling:

Eluveitie: Thousandfold

There’s a video for this baby, too, with over 2 million YouTube hits.  Might as well serve it up, too:

Let’s pause for a moment and take stock of what we’ve done with this tribute series so far:  We’ve covered a pretty wide range of melodic death-metal bands, both globally known names and newcomers. We’ve featured some purveyors of funeral doom. We’ve written about some of the biggest names in Finnish black metal. What are we still missing?

HUMPPA METAL! Yes, in response to overwhelming popular demand, today we’re shining the spotlight on two bands who have incorporated traditional Finnish humppa into their metal in quite different ways. You could also think of this post as a dip into the waters of Finnish folk-metal, though in our opinion that isn’t really a fair characterization of one of these bands.

What, you may ask is humppa? Let’s see what The Font Of All Human Knowledge has to say on the subject:

Humppa is a type of music from Finland. It is related to jazz and very fast foxtrot, played two beats to a bar (2/4 or 2/2). Typical speed is about 220 to 260 beats per minute. Humppa is also the name of a few social dances danced to humppa music. All dances involve bounce that follows the strong bass of the music. . . . The name humppa was invented by Antero Alpola for a radio show in the 1950s. He picked it up from German Oktoberfest where the locals used the word to describe the playing of the band. The band probably used a tuba, as the sound of tuba on the first beat is like hump, the second beat coming as a pa. (The related German style is known as oompah.)

As far as we can tell from afar, humppa isn’t the sort of music that many people in Finland buy for their listening pleasure. Instead, it’s music that people dance to, and it’s played in dance halls in cities large and small. As we’ll see, it has also been incorporated into metal by two bands whose fame has spread well beyond their home country — Finntroll and Korpiklaani.  (more after the jump, including tracks to hear . . .)

FINNTROLL

Finntroll was founded in 1997 and has produced six studio albums, including this year’s Nifelvind, and two very popular EPs (Visor Om Slutet and Trollhammaren). Over time, the band has undergone significant line-up changes, including the retirement of the band’s original vocalist (“Katla” Jämsen) due to a vocal chord tumor, the death of its original guitarist (Teemu “Somnium” Raimoranta, who fell off a bridge), and the firing of Jämsen’s replacement (Tapio Wilska).

The band’s thematic focus on trolls and Finnish legends, and of course its incorporation of humppa rhythms, has often resulted in its classification as a folk-metal band. But Finntroll is at least equally influenced by black metal. Earlier this year, your three NCS co-founders saw Finntroll when they played Seattle as part of the FINNISH METAL TOUR 2010 (along with Swallow the Sun and Moonsorrow), and here’s what we wrote then, comparing Finntroll to Moonsorrow:

Finntroll also combines elements of black-, death-, and folk-metal, but to my ears at least, the sound has a more pronounced black-metal influence than in Moonsorrow’s case. It just sounds more evil. The combination of that strain of grim nastiness (particularly in the vocals) with the bouncing rhythms of folk metal and hammering death-metal riffs is striking and, as it turns out, really infectious.

So, you can definitely push the humppa factor too far in describing Finntroll’s music. As former vocalist Wilska stated in a 2005 interview, “The things we take from Humppa are the alternate picking bass lines accompanied with the drumbeat, and the use of accordion. That’s about it.” Of course, there aren’t a lot of black- or death-metal bands that use the accordion, so there is that. But listen to this awesome song from 2010′s Nifelvind and see if you don’t agree about the black-metal influence:

And yes, we have to show you “Trollhammaren”, from the band’s 2004 album Nattfödd. (when Wilska was still the vocalist). Those of you who know the song would think us cruel if we left this out, and for those who don’t know the song, it’s a massively infectious, humppa-metal masterpiece.

One more Finntroll video — just one — because this song is as fun-loving as “Solsagan” is evil, and the animation in this video is way cool. The song is another one from Nifelvind:

For more info on Finntroll, here are links:

Official Site

Facebook

MySpace

KORPIKLAANI

Korpiklaani started life as a folk music band — folk music, not folk metal. It traces its root to a folk band called Shamaani Duo (later called Shaman), which was formed by vocalist/guitarist Jonne Järvelä. In 2001, Järvelä provided some guest vocals on Finntroll’s Jaktens tid album, and that provided the impetus for his shift into metal, and the re-naming of the band in 2002 as Korpiklaani (“clan of the wilderness” or “forest clan”).

Where Finntroll relies heavily on keyboards to execute its blackened folkish melodies and humppa-inspired rhythms, Korpiklaani are traditionalists: No keyboards or synths, but violin, woodwinds, jouhikko, djembé, and of course the accordion.

And where Finntroll can sound downright evil at times, Korpiklaani is at heart a party band. Many of their songs are about beer and drinking. In fact, The title of their last album, Karpelo, means “party” in English.

And, of course, Korpiklaani makes extensive use of humppa. Here’s the band performing “Happy Little Boozer” live in 2006 at Wacken. This looks like it was a fuckin’ good time. Drink up and get your humppa on.

Korpiklaani has a new album on the way — their seventh. Here’s a blurb about it from the band’s official web site:

We have been pretty busy finishing our upcoming album Ukon Wacka. Ukon Wacka, or Ukon Vakat, is a pagan sacrificial feast from ancient times, on which a special made beer richly flowed. As can be expected from the title, this album has an ancient and very folky feel and is totally in Finnish. To make the lyrics understandable for non-Finnish people, we will add an English description/translation in the booklet as usual.

The album consists of 10 songs, among which you will find a song name Tequila, which is especially written for (and inspired by) our South American fans, with whom we celebrated such hard times, and who welcomed us so warmly, when we were touring in South America. Another surprise is the title song, Ukon Wacka, in which a special guest features: the famous Finnish singer Tuomari Nurmio! Last but not least features a tribute song (Päät pois tai hirteen) to the Finnish rock band Peer Günt, a great and underestimated band. We hope and expect that this album will give you as much joy as we had making it; a big folky feast for all!

You only have to wait a bit, the release date is scheduled for February 4th 2011.

For more info on Korpiklaani, here are the links.

Official Site

Facebook

MySpace

Ah, fuck, how ’bout one more Korpiklaani drinking song? Why not. This one’s from Karpelo. I get drunk just watching this thing. Go ahead, turn it up loud and humppa ’til it hurts.

Fair warning: This will be one extended session of spittle-flecked frothing at the mouth, because we haven’t been this blown away since stumbling into a full-fledged Seattle windstorm last winter. So get the safety glasses on and strap on sanitary masks if you got ‘em.

The subject of our enthusiasm is Nothnegal. They’re a band from The Republic of the Maldives that now includes two non-Maldivian heavyweights — drummer Kevin Talley from Dååth and keyboardist Marco Sneck from those Finnish swamplords Kalmah. They’ve got a four-song EP to their credit called Antidote of Realism and they’ve just signed with Season of Mist for the release of their debut album early next year.

Oh yeah, they’re also playing with Arch Enemy this month and touring Europe in the fall with the likes of Rotting Christ, Samael, and Finntroll.

And we’d wager that most of you have never heard of them. Until earlier this week, we hadn’t either. But this band shows all the seismic signs of an impending Vesuvius-sized eruption onto the scene — and based on the band’s output to date, it would be well-deserved.

If you like technically immaculate, headbangingly compulsive, Scandinavian-style melodic death metal played at autobahn speed, stay with us after the jump. Among other things, we’ll stream all four tracks from that EP and we’ll show you how to download a cut from Nothnegal’s forthcoming debut album.

Long-time readers of NCS will know that we’re drawn to bands from countries that aren’t known for their metal scenes. We know how fucking difficult it is to make a career in an extreme metal band anywhere, but it seems to us that in some places, the hurdles must be even higher than in others.

The Republic of the Maldives must be one of those high-hurdle places. It’s an island nation in the Indian Ocean consisting of over 1,000 islets, about 200 of which are inhabited, spread over 90,000 square kilometers of ocean. The most populous of those islets, Malé (pictured to the right), has only about 100,000 people.

By total population, the country is the smallest in Asia, and with an average ground level of about 5 feet (1.5 metres) above sea level, it’s the lowest-lying country on the planet. According to The Font of All Human Knowledge, the highest point of land in the Maldives is only 7′ 7″ (2.3 metres) above sea level — which makes the islands especially vulnerable to tsunamis, and to anything else that causes the ocean to rise.

Rising ocean levels associated with global warming threaten one day to completely submerge the country. In fact, the current national government has set in motion plans to buy land in India, Sri Lanka, and/or Australia as the site for a new homeland. As President Mohamed Nasheed said, “”We do not want to leave the Maldives, but we also do not want to be climate refugees living in tents for decades.”

We’ve got an old friend who actually managed to visit the Maldives (it’s a serious hike to get there from the U.S.) and came back raving about its beauty and the friendliness of the people. It certainly seems to be an unusual place in many respects — but we would guess it’s not exactly the best launching pad for an extreme metal band.

Somehow, Nothnegal have succeeded in achieving lift-off.

Apparently, the band started off as an Arch Enemy and Children of Bodom cover act, and then started creating their own songs, which resulted in the Antidote of Realism EP. That EP featured Risto Ruuth from Finland’s Eternal Tears of Sorrow doing a guitar solo on “Web of Deceit” and the aforementioned Marco Sneck providing keyboards on the EP’s title track. And it was produced by Anssi Kippo, who has previously worked with Children of Bodom and Norther, among others.

You can hear the influence of all those Finns on the EP, with more than a passing resemblance to Children of Bodom. The songs feature supercharged convulsive riffing, blistering guitar solos, merciless blast beats and double-bass fills, and keyboard melodies that alternately arc over the mayhem of the other instruments and join with them in a dizzying race around the track.

The vocals on the EP add a blackened element to the style by serving up Nordic-style, acid etched viciousness, and the collective result is a powerhouse rampage filled with memorable melodies and deep, rhythmic grooves.

All the technical acrobatics wouldn’t have carried Nothnegal beyond the sinking shores of the Maldives without a talent for harnessing all that technical skill to distinctive songs, but they’ve got that, too. All four songs on Antidote are strong, marred only slightly by abrupt endings on a couple of them, and it’s not all thrash and burn.  There’s an interesting Celtic-influenced folk melody that appears via the keyboards on “Temptress of Shadows” and a repeated refrain of clean singing at the end of “Now I’ve Waken” that’s carried aloft by an anthemic melody that stuck in our heads long after the song ended.

Someone, somewhere, will probably complain that on Antidote, Nothnegal gets carried away with its stylistic homage to Finnish/Swedish MDM, to the point of mimicry. We don’t feel that way, but the band itself may. We saw this on the band’s MySpace blog, commenting on the new album that’s in the works:

We focused mostly on creating a more unique sound which differentiates us more and the result turned out to be almost something completely different from what we had with “Antidote of Realism EP” but we still managed to keep the melodic keyboard elements intact while getting them to sound darker and [more] epic than before.

We have 9 songs completed for the album and they have some really heavy/thrashy/groovy riffs, with Kevin keeping the  drums aggressive and technical while Marco have the keyboards dark and yet melodic. We are very excited about everything and impressed with outcome of the combined effort from our new lineup and the material we are coming up with this time. The songs contain a little bit of everything from thrash metal, groove metal, death metal to black metal and doom so we believe that the material is quite diverse as well. Apart from that, we have also incorporated some atmospheric ambient sounds/noises in the songs which are unique to the Maldivian environment.

We would have been quite happy with more music like what’s on Antidote, but at the same time we’re interested to see how this band continues to grow. We do have a sign of what’s to come — a single from the forthcoming album that’s available for free download from the band’s official web site. It’s called “Absolute Blood Unification”, and it does reveal some changes in the sound, though we’d call them subtle instead of dramatic.

The keyboards are still in evidence and contribute significantly to the song, but they’re less prominent in the mix than on Antidote. There’s still plenty of speed, power, and technical proficiency — and the chorus is just as infectious as the hooks on the EP. Perhaps it has something to do with Kevin Talley’s presence (whose drumwork is as physically jolting as you would expect), but this song reminds us of Dååth — and that ain’t a bad thing at all, in our book.

For comparison purposes, here’s one of the tracks from Antidote of Realism, and then after that you can hear the new song:

Nothnegal: Web of Deceit

And now here’s “Absolute Blood Unification”. If you like what you hear, we’ve put up a link below the player that will allow you to download the song for keeps.

You can download “Absolute Blood Unification” by jumping to this location.

UPDATE: Nothnegal has just created a ReverbNation page, which means we can now grab a widget that should allow you to stream all 4 songs from the EP — which is very cool, because we had a helluva time picking just one for you to hear.  Voila:

TOUR INFO

As we mentioned earlier, Nothnegal is scheduled to support Arch Enemy on their first-ever performance in the Maldives on July 23, and Kevin Tally and Marco Sneck will be performing for the first time in the band’s lineup for that show.

We also mentioned that Nothnegal will be joining a totally ass-kicking European tour this fall with their new label-mates Rotting Christ, Samael, Metsatöll, and Finntroll. If we weren’t so fucking far away, we’d be there in a heartbeat. Here are the tour dates:

26.11.2010 BE – Vosselaar, Biebob
27.11.2010 DE – Essen, Turock
28.11.2010 NL – Leuwaarden, Romein Popodium
29.11.2010 DE – Hamburg, Markthalle
30.11.2010 DE – Braunschweig, Meier Music Hall
01.12.2010 DE – Ludwigsburg, Rockfabrik
02.12.2010 DE – Berlin, K17
03.12.2010 DE – Leipzig, Hellraiser
04.12.2010 DE – Lichtenfels, Metal Meeting
05.12.2010 CZ – Zlin, Masters of Rock Cafe
06.12.2010 HU – Budapest, Wigwam
07.12.2010 SI – Ljubljana, Kino Siska
08.12.2010 IT – Milan, Generali Magazzini
09.12.2010 AT – Wien, Szene
10.12.2010 DE – Munich, Backstage
11.12.2010 AT – Kufstein, Kulturfabrik
12.12.2010 CH – Pratteln, Z7
13.12.2010 FR – Lyon, Ninkasi Kao
14.12.2010 ES – Barcelona, Salamandra
15.12.2010 ES – Madrid, Heineken
16.12.2010 FR – Toulouse, Phare
17.12.2010 FR – Limoges, CC John Lennon
18.12.2010 NL – Eindhoven, Eindhoven Metal Meeting
19.12.2010 DE – Frankfurt, Batschkapp

More than a month has passed since we posted our last update about the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise, and we figured it was time to check in again.

Since our last update, Exodus, Forbidden, and Testament have signed on. That’s a heavyweight injection of Bay Area thrash into this floating festival (we’ll give you the complete current line-up of 18 bands after the jump). Plus, in related news, the Swedes have gotten in on the act by putting together their own metal cruise (more on that after the jump too).

If you don’t know what this cruise is, we’ll fill you in: The organizers have chartered a cruise ship (Royal Caribbean’s “Majesty of the Seas”) capable of carrying 40 metal bands (which means they’re still targeting 22 more bands to fill out the line-up) and 2,000 fans, departing Miami on January 24, 2011 for a 5-day, 4-night cruise in the Caribbean, including a stop at the Mexican island of Cozumel.

The 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise has got great potential — both good and bad. It could be a truly awesome experience. It could also be a clusterfuck of cosmic proportions. And there’s no way to know which it will be until that cruise ship limps back into port, probably on fire, at the end of the voyage.

We’ve got some thoughts about what could make it orgasmically good, and what could make it suck big-time. But we’d bet the farm that unless Royal Caribbean is run by metalheads (not likely), they have no fucking idea what they’re about to get themselves into, and that increases the risk of suckage.  (more thoughts, and other related stuff, after the jump . . .)

By way of background, the promoters say that each band on the cruise will play twice at different venues on-board this massive 12-deck ship, with no two bands playing at the same time — which means, as the promoters have said, that the performances will ”essentially go round the clock.”

They’re also promising “bars that never close . . . and an opportunity to mingle side-by-side with the artists in this incredibly fan-friendly scenario that has no comparison.”  Oh yeah, they also have this policy published on their web site:

“70,000 Tons of METAL has a zero tolerance policy regarding the use, possession, purchase or distribution of illegal controlled substances. Any violation of this policy will result in disembarkation from the vessel as well as the individuals being turned over to the local law enforcement officials for appropriate legal action. In such cases 70000tons of METAL shall not be liable for any refund or other compensation or damages.”

Also, it stands to reason (though we don’t know this for a fact) that the bands will be segregated on one or more of the nicer decks with security access points so that drunken metalheads like you and me don’t knock on their doors in the middle of the night looking for autographs or vaporizers.

So, with that background, here are our updated thoughts about what would make this gig orgasmically good — and what would make it a cosmic clusterfuck:

ORGASMICALLY GOOD

The bands mix together on stage and play impromptu jams (there are some potential super-group combos in this line-up that are mind-blowing to consider)

The band members actually do mingle round-the-clock with the paying metalheads down in steerage.

The on-board venues where the bands are scheduled to play are actually big enough to accommodate everyone interested in hearing them.

The drinks are cheap and plentiful.

The crew are friendly, tolerant sorts.

The percentage of assholes among the passengers is small.

The Mexican police on Cozumel are looking the other way.

Most of the passengers re-board in Cozumel without having contracted the tourista.

COSMIC CLUSTERFUCK

The bands hole up in their assigned quarters and don’t come out except when scheduled to play or sit at autograph tables.

You can’t get in to see the bands you most want to see because the ship-board venues to which those bands were assigned are too small, and you were too lazy or fucked up to get there early.

The cruise ship gouges you for every red cent you have for drinks and for other “extras” that you consider necessities.

The crew are hardasses and they really meant it when they said “no illegal substances on board.”

“Disembarking” you for violating the illegal-substance policy means pitching you over the side into shark-infested waters.

Every fellow metalhead you rub shoulders with turns out to be an asshole.

You get so hammered the first night out of port that you spend the rest of the cruise moaning in your bunk.

The cruise ship has the audacity to make you pay for the vomit stains on your cabin carpet.

The Mexican police on Cozumel decide that anyone who looks and dresses like you must have already committed some kind of fucking crime.

Half the passengers come down with explosive diarrhea after the visit to Cozumel.

The ship is assaulted by a rogue wave.

Like we said, there’s no way to know how much of the good and how much of the bad will happen until we’re looking backward at this thing after it’s over. But hey, that’s what an adventure is all about, right? Doing something potentially awesome even when there’s some risk involved. So, even though we’ve been having some fun at the expense of this cruise promotion, it really does sound like something worthwhile.

We promised to give you the complete current lineup, and we don’t lie:

AMON AMARTH
DEATH ANGEL
EPICA
EXODUS
FINNTROLL
FORBIDDEN
MOONSPELL
OBITUARY
RAVEN
SAXON
SODOM
SONATA ARCTICA
STRATOVARIUS
SWASHBUCKLE
TESTAMENT
TROUBLE
ULI JON ROTH
WITCHBURNER

[UPDATE:  For our latest update on this cruise, visit this location.]

Earlier in this post, we mentioned that the Swedes had gotten in on the act with a metal cruise of their own — though it’s a considerably scaled-down version of the 70,000 Tons of Metal outing.

It’s called the Close-Up Båten cruise, and it will leave the port at  Stockholm, Sweden on September 9 for Åbo, Finland, and return the following day.  For those of you who happen to live closer to Stockholm than to Miami and are getting hot about the idea of listening to metal over open water, here’s the line-up for that cruise:

MESHUGGAH
DARK TRANQUILLITY
THE KRISTET UTSEENDE
CRASHDÏET
GRAVE
CRUCIFIED BARBARA
RAUBTIER
HELLSONGS

It’s only a two-day outing, and we’re guessing that there might not be a lot of sun-bathing opportunities during September in the Baltic Sea — but Meshuggah? Dark Tranquillity? Grave? Hell yeah!

On the night of April 21, The Finnish Metal Tour 2010 played Seattle’s El Corazon, and two of your NCS Co-Authors were there to bear witness and file this report — along with a big batch of our amateurish photos.

With the likes of Finntroll, Moonsorrow, and Swallow the Sun on the bill, we expected nothing less than excellence on stage, and that’s what we got. Which brings to mind a question we’ve had before:

How does a country with only 5.4 million people produce so many awesome metal bands? We still don’t know the answer. But whatever the explanation, here’s hoping it doesn’t stop. Judging by the reaction of the full house at El Corazon, we’re not alone in feeling that way.

Before the procession of Finns took the stage, two local bands got the growing crowd nice and warmed up.

BLOOD AND THUNDER

This five-piece Seattle band plays Gothenburg-flavored, melodic death metal, driven at a galloping pace by some flashy keyboard and guitar work. They’ve got some good song-writing chops, too. The songs were memorable, and we’ve been drawn to the band’s MySpace page to listen again.

They’re one of those rare bands whose lead vocalist is the guy behind the drum kit, and his evil, death-metal vocals make a nice contrast with the memorable melodies. We were told that the band has finished tracking a debut album, to follow an EP released last year. We definitely want to hear it. A strong start to the night!  (our concert notes continue after the jump, plus lots of photos at the end . . .)

7 HORNS 7 EYES

This was the third time we’d seen these dudes this year as local support for a national tour, and they continue to impress in a big way. Every time we hear them, we adjust the description of their music, but we think we’ve just about got it down now: technical, somewhat blackened, melodic mathcore progressive death metal. Got that?

This is music you can get lost in just as much as you can bang your head to it. It’s a creative blend of styles that works really well, and their live playing continues to be sharp as tacks. We’re hungry for the album they’ve got in the works.

SWALLOW THE SUN

Alexis has been singing the praises of this band since the last time she saw them live, but the experience was a first for me. Man, was she right!

Anyone who’s heard the band’s albums knows that they have a talent for melding doom and death metal into a concoction that is by turns mesmerizing, beautiful, and brutal. And they bring all of that to the stage — meticulous playing that creates an array of shifting moods, and is shitloads of fun to watch. They sure has hell had the crowd at El Corazon in a trance, broken only by the wildly enthusiastic response as each song ended.

If you have the chance to see this band in the flesh, don’t pass it up. It’s the kind of performance that sticks with you.

MOONSORROW

This is another band Alexis had seen before (and raved about), but it was another first for me. And again, I was really fucking impressed!

Moonsorrow has been around since 1995, and their musical style has shifted over time, but it has always been distinctive. Stylistically, the songs combine black metal, death metal, and pagan metal, with keyboard-generated sounds of folk instruments. The result is a galloping fusion of neck-snapping fun, and the crowd response was boisterously enthusiastic.

These dudes bound around the stage with hair flying and heads banging, and they are a hoot to watch. They played a long set, and no one wanted it to end.

FINNTROLL

Finntroll also combines elements of black-, death-, and folk-metal, but to my ears at least, the sound has a more pronounced black-metal influence than in Moonsorrow’s case. It just sounds more evil. The combination of that strain of grim nastiness (particularly in the vocals) with the bouncing rhythms of folk metal and hammering death-metal riffs is striking and, as it turns out, really infectious.

Though the hour was late, the crowd at El Corazon stayed wholly into this performance, and it was another one that will stick in the memory a long time.

And now, more photos.  Lots more.

BLOOD AND THUNDER

7 HORNS 7 EYES

SWALLOW THE SUN

MOONSORROW

FINNTROLL