VARG VIKERNES FREED BY FRENCH POLICE AFTER FAILING TO FIND EVIDENCE OF A TERRORIST PLOT

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Jul 182013
 

Earlier this week we posted about the arrest of Burzum’s Varg Vikernes in France on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack. Based on reports at that time, the evidence justifying the arrest seemed thin. To close the loop on this story, French authorities have now released Varg after two days in custody.

According to news reports, the police failed to uncover evidence of any terrorist plot. However, it appears Varg will be charged with violating French law relating to incitement of racial hatred. If Varg’s writings violate French law, something about which I know nothing, it seems that such charges could have been brought long ago. This has the appearance of a face-saving maneuver, and though defending himself will no doubt be expensive, my guess is that Varg will relish the publicity, as well as the opportunity to write about his false arrest.

Here are excerpts of a July 18, BBC News report about Varg’s release:

“A Norwegian neo-Nazi musician has been released two days after he was arrested in central France on suspicion of “preparing a major terrorist act”.

Kristian Vikernes was arrested after his wife bought four rifles.

Officials say questioning of the suspect did not bring to light any evidence of a terrorist plot. Continue reading »

JUCIFER: NEW VIDEO, NEW SONG, NEW ALBUM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 172013
 

I’ve heard a lot of thoroughly pulverizing metal performed live, but I’ve yet to hear any band who are more gut-liquifying than Jucifer. In the one and only time I’ve managed to catch them live (despite the fact that they’ve been touring non-stop for almost two decades), my jaw hung open the entire set, even while mercilessly headbanging. I was too stunned to close it, not only because the decibels were threatening to un-do the structural integrity of my body but also because the husband-and-wife duo of Gazelle Amber Valentine and Edgar Livengood were so riveting to watch.

On July 17, Jucifer will be officially releasing their new album, with the Cyrillic title of за волгой для нас земли нет. It means “There is no land beyond the Volga”, though people are already just calling it “The Russian Album”. Inspired by the time Jucifer have spent in Russia as well as their longstanding interest in Russian history, it’s described as “a concept album dedicated to the people, events and geography of Volgograd – more famously known as Stalingrad”.

As noted, the new album will be released on July 17 in a limited edition 6-panel digipak, and digitally via Nomadic Fortress (Jucifer’s own imprint) and Mutants of the Monster – the label run by C.T. Farris of Rwake, and David Hall of Handshake Inc.  A vinyl version of the record, and North American retail CDs, will become available in October.

And now to the three main draws of this post. First, NPR has created a killing video of Jucifer laying waste to a D.C. venue in January with a medley consisting of “Throned In Blood” (from the album of the same name) bookended by two songs from the new album — “Pavlov’s House” and “Shame”. It’s really superb, and provides as good a sense as you’ll get of what it’s like to be confronted by Thee White Wall without experiencing it in the flesh. Continue reading »

TOURISM: LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, TESTAMENT, AND HUNTRESS

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Jul 172013
 

Rumors of this tour have been circulating, but now it’s official: Lamb of God, Killswitch Engage, Testament, and Huntress will be joining forces in a North American tour that begins in October and will hit 28 cities before it ends right after Thanksgiving. Tickets go on sale this Friday.

Check out all the tour dates after the jump. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: KRALLICE, STOMACH EARTH, AND OCCULTIST

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Jul 162013
 

Did you miss our usual daily round-up yesterday? Well, you’re not alone. I missed it, too. In other words, I failed to write one. Instead, I decided I ought to do some of the work I actually get paid to do, even though I didn’t have a gun to my head. What a dumb idea. That meant I had to spend a few hours late yesterday and last night catching up on what I missed in the world of metal instead of continuing my experimentation on the development of pocket-sized nuclear fusion engines and the negotiation of lasting peace in the Middle East. But, you know, a person’s got to have his priorities straight. Here’s what I found:

KRALLICE

I like Krallice. I also like synchronicity. Less than a week ago I reported that Krallice spent a week in the studio this month recording three songs for a forthcoming split release with a project of Blut Aus Nord’s Vindsval named Vjeshitza. And then last night I found that the unparalleled (((unartig))) had filmed a Krallice set at Public Assembly in Brooklyn on July 14 that included two untitled new songs. Could these be two of the songs on the forthcoming split? Oh, I bet they are.

The videos are kind of dark, but the sound quality is good, as it usually is with an (((unartig))) production. But you should boost the volume so you don’t miss Mick Barr’s guitar leads, or for that matter what Nick McMaster, Colin Marston, and Lev Weinstein are also doing. Continue reading »

VARG VIKERNES ARRESTED ON SUSPICION OF PLOTTING A TERRORIST ATTACK

 Metal News  36 Responses »
Jul 162013
 

This is breaking news, and therefore the details are sketchy and, as is often true with early reports of just about anything scandalous, there may be inaccuracies. However, news reports have appeared in Europe that Burzum’s Varg Vikernes has been arrested at his farm in France by the Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence (DCRI) on suspicion of plotting a terrorist attack. Reports indicate that Varg’s wife Marie Cachet has also been arrested.  I’m just going to quote THIS REPORT at Euronews for now (with a few comments after that), and update the post as more info becomes available (additional info has appeared at French publications, such as this one):

“Black metal musician and neo-nazi sympathiser Kristian “Varg” Vikernes was arrested in southwestern France on Tuesday after his wife bought four rifles, raising suspicions he could turn to violence, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.

The police suspect the Norwegian national of planning a “massacre” and searched his house for weapons and explosives. His wife, a French national and a member of a shooting club, had recently legally purchased four rifles.

The anti-terrorist prosecutor has been put in charge of the investigation. In a statement, the French Ministry of the Interior deemed him “likely to prepare a large-scale act of terrorism.” Continue reading »

PLAY VELCRO BALL WITH ARSIS AND GET A HAIRCUT FROM JAMES MALONE

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Jul 162013
 

The day will come when crowdfunding campaigns reach the saturation point, but we’re not there yet, and we may not ever get there if more bands become as creative as Arsis.

You may remember that earlier this year Arsis was to be part of the End of Disclosure North American Tour along with Hypocrisy, Aborted, and Krisiun. And then, as we sadly reported here, Hypocrisy was forced to drop off the tour due to delays in obtaining visas, and that led to Aborted’s cancellation as well. But instead of just writing off the whole enterprise, Arsis and Krisiun soldiered on, despite the negative impact of those last-minute cancellations. That bought them a lot of respect from a lot of people, including me; I saw the Seattle show on that tour, and those bands killed it, despite playing to an embarrassingly small audience.

But what goes around comes around, and we gleefully reported that Arsis had become part of another North American tour beginning in August with Wintersun, Fleshgod Apocalypse, and Starkill. But this is going to cost Arsis a pretty penny, as it turns out, and they’re making an appeal to fans to help them underwrite the expense. Before you blow this off, check out some of the perks they’re offering. Continue reading »

ATTENTION EUROPEANS: AMON AMARTH AND CARCASS ARE COMING YOUR WAY, YOU BASTARDS

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Jul 152013
 

I love our European brethren and sistren so much that I’m belatedly sharing this news even though it makes me slightly bitter. Okay, more than slightly bitter. More accurately, it makes me want to bite you in my bitterness.

This fall Amon Amarth and Carcass are linking horns in a tour called DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH IV, and they’ll be joined by UK’s Hell. The flyer you see up above just spotlights the UK dates on the tour, where Bleed From Within will also join the tour. But many other countries will be visited as well.

That’s really all I have to say about this. The complete tour dates can be seen after the jump.  Bastards. Continue reading »

ALTAR OF PLAGUES BREAKS UP

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Jul 152013
 

Times passes, things change, bands break up, musicians move on. And now it’s happening to Ireland’s wonderful Altar of Plagues. It’s sad news, as it always is when a band whose music you dig calls it quits. In this case, as you’ll see, the creativity of AoP will likely continue in some other form. Here’s a statement from guitarist James Kelly that just appeared on AoP’s Facebook page:

“Altar of Plagues will conclude this year.

I decided before writing “Teethed Glory and Injury” that it would be our final album. It was executed with this fact in mind. I can state it no more simply than this; it is time to move on.

We considered whether or not we would say anything at all regarding this. But at the very least, we would like to give people an opportunity to see us perform again should they care to. And so, these upcoming shows will be our final.

Our very final performance will be on October 19th, at Unsound Festival Poland. As a festival that celebrates the eclectic and the eccentric, I can think of no other place that would be more appropriate for this occasion. It is exactly the type of environment in which I have always aspired to share our work, and it will be a celebratory occasion to conclude at what I believe will be the peak of our existence as a group. Continue reading »

A LIFE ONCE LOST BREAKS UP

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Jul 122013
 

Well, I just saw some very sad news via Lambgoat: A Life Once Lost is breaking up, again, and it sounds like this may really be the end. I’ve been a big fan for a long time. A Great Artist, Hunter, and Iron Gag, in particular, got so many plays in my car that I feared the CDs would eventually just melt. So this really is a bleak development. I’m just going to quote verbatim from the Lambgoat story:

“This has slipped under the radar for the past week, but A Life Once Lost frontman Bob Meadows recently sat down with the Doylestown, PA edition of the blog Fig to discuss his transition from musician to carpenter. The interview (which you can read here) seems mundane enough until you get several questions into the interview, at which point the following exchange takes place:

This time in your life also marks the end of your popular metal band, A Life Once Lost, fill me in on this new phase. Why leave the band after 14 years of success?

I feel like I need to step back a little bit from that to just better myself as a person. I just felt like I wasn’t really able to handle that aspect of being in a band or that commitment. I really had to put so many things aside. I’m 33 years old now and I feel like my life has been on hold since I was 19. I’m not complaining about where it’s taken me, it’s been pretty awesome. I’ve been able to put out 6 records, film videos, see countries I would have never seen before and I’ve taken a band further than a lot of people have in their lifetime. It’s a lot of fun and it feels really rewarding.

… Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ULCERATE, TWILIGHT OF THE GODS, CRAVEN IDOL, EVOKEN, CRYPTOPSY

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  19 Responses »
Jul 122013
 

Here’s a collection of items I saw and heard yesterday while surveilling the interhole. The featured bands are Ulcerate (New Zealand), Twilight of the Gods (multinational), Craven Idol (UK), Cryptopsy (Canada), and Evoken (US), .

ULCERATE

The new album from New Zealand’s Ulcerate has been high on our “most anticipated” list for this year, and yesterday finally brought a lot of fresh news. The title of the album is Vermis, it includes 9 tracks, it’s nearly 55 minutes long — and it will be released by Relapse on September 17 in North America (September 13 in Germany and the Benelux countries and September 16 in the rest of the world). Pre-orders for the album and related merch are being fielded at this location. You can see the newly unveiled album cover above.

Yesterday also brought a video teaser for Vermis. It includes just an itty-bitty, teenie-weensie snippet of music, but it was enough to rattle my teeth. I think, just to be safe, I’ll make a dental appointment for the day after I get my hands on this album. The teaser is next. Continue reading »

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