SEEN AND HEARD: PALLBEARER, BLOOD OF KINGU, YOUNG AND IN THE WAY, CANNABIS CORPSE

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Jun 042014
 

You may have noticed that over the last three or four days I haven’t written as much for the site as I usually do. The explanation, as usual, is my fucking day job. It’s going to continue to impinge on blog time for another day or two. But I find myself with a sliver of free time at the moment, so I thought I’d collect some new things that I discovered over the last 24 hours.

I’ve found so much that I’m dividing the discoveries into two collections, this being the first. With luck, more will come later today. I’m going to start with a couple of album announcements.

PALLBEARER

I really loved Sorrow and Extinction, the 2012 debt album by Pallbearer from Little Rock, Arkansas. I was hardly alone. It was deluged in critical praise and made heaps of year-end lists. Today Profound Lore announced that Pallbearer have completed work on a new album entitled Foundations of Burden and that it will be released in NorthAm on August 19. Continue reading »

TOURISM: KING CRIMSON MOUNTS A U.S. TOUR

 Metal News  16 Responses »
Jun 042014
 

The last time King Crimson mounted a tour was in 2008, and I’m sure many people thought that would be the last reunion (and the last hurrah). But founder Robert Fripp has decided to do it at least once again. He has assembled a new King Crimson roster for a group of select U.S. dates this coming September and October, starting in Albany, NY, and finishing in Seattle (be still my beating heart!).

This time, Fripp has assembled three (!) drummers — Gavin Harrison, Bill Rieflin, and Pat Mastelotto — and a bassist-singer (Tony Levin) in what Fripp has called the “front line”. And in the “back line” will be two guitarists (Fripp and Jakko Jakszyk) and a flutist-saxophonist (Mel Collins). This should be… interesting, to say the least. Continue reading »

TOURISM: AMON AMARTH, EYEHATEGOD, FIELDS OF ELYSIUM

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May 302014
 

I’m slowly moving back into what I normally do at this site after more than a week of living in the world of Maryland Deathfest, first by attending it and then by re-living the experience in NCS posts. And part of what I do is attempt to highlight news items of interest. I’m a bit late featuring the three collected here, but I think they’re worth mentioning, even if tardily.

AMON AMARTH

Beginning in September and running into November, Sweden’s Amon Amarth will be touring the US and Canada. Sadly, they will only have the Viking ship on stage at the October 18 New York City (Manhattan)  date, which is a show that’s part of Decibel magazine’s 10th anniversary celebrations. At that show, the UK’s Vallenfyre will also be appearing.  I would give your left arm to see that show.

Except for that New York City event, Skeletonwitch will also be a part of this tour, which makes it doubly enticing. Sabaton will be on the tour as well. However, although Vallenfyre will be playing the Manhattan date in place of Skeletonwitch, Skeletonwitch and Evoken will be playing later that same night at St Vitus Bar in Brooklyn; that show is also part of the Decibel anniversary festivities. I would give your right arm to see that one. Continue reading »

A NEW SÓLSTAFIR ALBUM COMING IN AUGUST

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May 282014
 

Just last week, Iceland’s Sólstafir absolutely floored me (and hundreds of other fans) with their performance at the 12th  edition of Maryland Deathfest. Hot on the heels of that trump, Season of Mist has just announced that the band will be releasing a new album named Ótta on August 29 in Europe and September 2 in North America.

According to the press release, “As the name suggests, Ótta will include eight songs, which titles will be unveiled later in June.” Pre-orders will start at the SoM e-shop (here) on June 10.

And that’s about all I have to say about that.  I have to go now and change my shorts.

MARYLAND DEATHFEST: A TRAVELOGUE (Part 2)

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May 262014
 

I’m already experiencing post-coital tristesse (yeah, look it up) after 4+ days of M D Effing.  I’m now sitting in the lobby of my hotel with my two Seattle friends killing time before we drive from Baltimore to D.C. for our flight back home. I thought I might as well take advantage of the lull and bang out some more thoughts about my Maryland Deathfest XII experience.

Although this was my first MDF, I gather from talking to people who had attended many of the previous festivals that the logistics of this one were the best yet. I know I was really impressed with everything. The biggest venue (and the one making its first MDF appearance this year) was the Edison Lot — just a gigantic parking lot in the shadow of an overhead freeway that MDF took over for the last 3 days.

It was more or less a huge rectangular space with two big stages set up at opposite ends. A smaller rectangular space was carved out by a chain link fence that ran the length of the lot, and that area was lined on both sides with small, open-air, tented booths, every one of them offering merch of different kinds — tons of shirts, vinyl records, tapes, CDs, patches, pins, posters, and more. At one end of that space was an even larger tent (which was almost fully enclosed) filled with many more merch tables: Continue reading »

MARYLAND DEATHFEST: A TRAVELOGUE (Part 1)

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May 252014
 

“Having a great time.  Wish you were here.”

As I warned you I might do, I’ve decided to put together a small diary of my excursion to Maryland Deathfest this year. I intended to write something day by day, but somehow the waking hours have flown by, so I’m a few days late. I thought about writing nothing at all because of the possibility that it could be seen as obnoxious, kind of like the first sentence in this post, except with more words. Obviously, that risk hasn’t stopped me.

As I write this, it’s mid-day on Sunday, with one full day of the festival still to come. So far, it has been an incredible experience in every way. The music has been fantastic. The venues have been great. The organization and logistics for an undertaking of this size and complexity have been very impressive. We’ve had beautiful weather, and all the people I’ve met, without exception, have been beautiful, too.

And that last point is really the first one on which I ought to elaborate. Continue reading »

A METAL DUDE IN THE CONCERT HALL — THE STORY OF FLORIAN MAGNUS MAIER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 242014
 


(photo by Natalia Kempin/Natalia Die Hexe, used with permission)

(Andy Synn provides the following introduction to a new documentary now streaming over the web.)

Dark Fortress are, without a doubt, one of my favourite bands, and their last albums, Ylem, is similarly one of my favourite albums.

Why am I telling you this? Well it just so happens that Dutch public-service broadcasting network NTR has just released a 50-minute documentary on the band’s frontman Florian Magnus Maier (aka Morean) and his composition of a double-guitar concerto entitled “Schattenspiel” (“Shadowplay”) for the Zaterdagmatinee, whose premiere performance took place at the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Now I actually already knew that Florian/Morean was a gifted composer (go me), with some impressive credentials to his name, but actually watching him piece the whole thing together, keeping all the changes and instruments in his head at the same time, really gives you a whole different insight into the process and the man behind it. Continue reading »

A NEW MIDNIGHT ALBUM IS COMING: “NO MERCY FOR MAYHEM”

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May 212014
 

Were you paying attention yesterday? Did you see the post I wrote about the new, free Hells Headbangers compilation? Did you see that it includes a new track by the band Midnight? Well, if you did, you might have guessed what I’m about to confirm: Today, Hells Headbangers announced that Midnight’s new album No Mercy for Mayhem will be released August 19.

I’ve been waiting for this info because the band’s 2011 debut Satanic Royalty was one of my favorite albums of 2011. It sort of came out of nowhere (except for select people in the underground who already knew what was up with Midnight), and made quite a splash. I have little doubt the new album will get 10 times the exposure. There will probably be a full-album stream on NPR. Album teasers will probably be played in movie theaters before shows. Discount coupons in the newspapers.

Okay, probably some of those things won’t happen once the new Midnight promo shot gets into circulation. This is it: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MASTER’S HAMMER, AZOOMA, DAY OF DOOM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 192014
 

To help start the new week, here are some new songs and related news that I came across over the weekend.

MASTER’S HAMMER

The Czech band Master’s Hammer began recording music in about 1987, with a 14-year hiatus between their third album in 1995 and their fourth one in 2009. Their sound evolved over those many years. In Darkthrone’s biography (here), Fenriz has referred to the band’s debut album Ritual as “actually the first Norwegian black metal album, even though they are from Czechoslovakia”, but later releases incorporated wide-ranging styles of music, including folk and classical.

Yesterday Master’s Hammer released their sixth studio album, Vagus Vetas, through the band’s own label, Jihosound Records, where it’s now available for order. Physically, it’s a very attractive release (some photos of the CD and the 12-page illustrated booklet that comes with it can be seen here), and it includes 12 songs. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any one of them on-line, but I do have a teaser video. Continue reading »

LABEL FOCUS: EKTRO (WITH PLAIN RIDE, RANGER, BEGRAVNINGSENTREPRENÖRERNA, SHAVED WOMEN, AND CIRCLE)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
May 172014
 

Here’s how this post came about:  I listen to Soundcloud every day, following links in our emails or ones I see on Facebook. Usually they’re advance tracks from new albums, and I’m trying to decide whether to write about them. Yesterday I listened to one solely because the band had the longest one-word name I’d ever seen.

When a song finishes on Soundcloud, another one generally starts playing, whether you want it to or not. That also happened yesterday, and it drew me into other bands on the same label as the first one — Finland’s Ektro Records. I’ve written about that label’s releases in the past, but infrequently.

So I had the impulsive idea of writing about a group of songs from recent Ektro releases that I found on Soundcloud. And I decided to do the same thing tomorrow, focusing on another label with which I’m even less familiar.

In the past I’ve found Ektro’s releases very interesting, though a high percentage of them aren’t straight down the metal fairway. The ones you’re about to hear aren’t either. But they’re not down the middle of any fairway — which is why I’m digging them. Continue reading »

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