May I have your attention please.
You now have the opportunity to listen to the entirety of Autopsy’s new album, The Headless Ritual, which will be released tomorrow (order info is available here).
The stream was launched today exclusively at Noisey.com and you can find it by clicking this here link. I think you’ll enjoy what you hear.
Should you have any penetrating thoughts about the album after it penetrates you, we would welcome your comments.
Thank you for your attention.
Summer is here, and that means the long string of European metal fests has begun un-spooling, sadistically torturing those of us who live light years from those venues. But even those of us in the U.S. can be consoled in our longing by the knowledge that, here and there, our own summer will be dotted with some outstanding convocations of metal. I’m spotlighting one of those in this post, but I also want to spread the word about a noteworthy come-on for one of those European festivals.
PUNK IS DEAD
The sharp-eyed among you will remember that I’ve already given passing mention to the Punk Is Dead Fest (at the end of this review), but it’s just so damned hot shit that I wanted to give it more complete attention. First, gave upon the final flier for this festival, which was designed by Ethan Lee McCarthy of Clinging To The Trees Of A Forest Fire and Primitive Man. Feel free to click on it for a bigger version upon which to gaze: Continue reading »
Yours truly has been keeping both bloodshot eyes peeled for info about the next album by Vasaeleth. Keeping my eyes open without blinking for hours on end makes them hurt quite a lot, and this may explain why I sometimes make whimpering noises. However, we must all endure pain for our pleasure, because this is the way of the world. Of course, much of the time we must endure pain to no good end at all. This also is the way of the world.
Aw fuck, where was I? Oh yeah, waiting for Vasaeleth. Well, my painful vigilance was rewarded this afternoon with a boatload of information. First, Profound Lore confirmed the title of the new album (All Uproarious Darkness) and announced its release date (August 20). Second, PL unveiled the album’s cover art, which you can see above. It was painted by the viciously talented Antichrist Kramer. It’s quite eye-catching, don’t you think?
And finally, we have been given a new song to hear, one bearing the title “Paradise Reconsecrated”. I’m of two minds about the song. In one of my minds I’m being torn apart by wild, voracious beasts who are growling and shrieking and tearing and swallowing whole in a feast of ravenous abandon. In my other mind, I’m enveloped by a blackened death metal tornado, the air being sucked from my lungs while the guitars grind and moan and squeal, the bass thunders, and the drums rumble like an earthquake; and then I’m eaten alive by wild animals. It feels so good. Continue reading »
Sweden’s The Haunted have been quiet for a while, and I had my doubts about whether the band would ever return to form after losing three members last year, and after what I considered a downturn in the quality of their output even before then. As an enthusiastic fan of the band’s earlier albums, this was a depressing state of affairs. But recently The Haunted have been hinting at a revival, with a new line-up, and today the new line-up was announced. Damnation, it’s a strong return!
As described in a just-released video on YouTube, founding member Peter Jensen succeeded in convincing two former members of the band to come back — vocalist Marco Aro (The Resistance, Face Down), who was with the band for The Haunted Made Me Do It, Live Rounds In Tokyo, and One Kill Wonder, and drummer extraordinaire Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, Paradise Lost), who was one of the band’s original members at the time of their self-titled debut in 1998.
But that’s not all. Guitar wizard Ola Englund (Feared, Six Feet Under) has also joined the line-up, and that’s another very strong addition.
There will undoubtedly be fans who will pine for the departed frontman Peter Dolving, but I for one am pretty damned excited about this revamped line-up. And not only because of the names now involved in the project: the video includes snippets of music from the new line-up’s rehearsal, and it sounds kickass. Watch it and listen after the jump. Continue reading »
Happy fucking Saturday to one and all. In this post I’ve collected information about a random assortment of new tours that have recently been announced. But first, I have to mention a tour that it seems was announced a bit prematurely.
FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE – ANAAL NATHRAKH?
Two days ago it was announced that Fleshgod Apocalypse would be leading ‘The Lords Of Extremity Tour‘ in the UK this October, with support from Anaal Nathrakh, Bound By Exile, and Scordatura. There were press releases, official-looking poster art, and sponsorship by the likes of Nuclear Blast and Terrorizer. And who in their right mind would miss the chance to see Fleshgod Apocalypze and Anaal Nathrakh on the same bill?
There was just this one little problem. Here’s a statement that appeared on Anaal Nathrakh’s Facebook page about 3 hours ago:
“For anyone hoping to see us in the UK in October: It appears we have been announced for a string of UK dates with Fleshgod Apocalypse in October. We did NOT agree to play these shows. Repeat: at no point have we ever said that we would play these dates, or that Mick would even be in Europe at the time. Continue reading »
Not much to say about this other than: go to Ultimate Guitar via this link if you want to hear all of Amon Amarth’s fine new album before its release date.
If your immediate question is, “Who are Amon Amarth?”, I’ll have to get back to you.
This is a round-up of carefully selected items I saw and heard yesterday while prowling through the filthy chambers of the interhole. As usual, I’ve made an effort to include a variety of metal, so you don’t get too comfortable. Comfortable isn’t what we aim for around here.
CRIMINAL ELEMENT
Criminal Element is a band that until yesterday had completely slipped beneath my cracked radar screen. I learned about them from my NCS compadres TheMadIsraeli and DGR. They came into existence in the vicinity of 2005, and at the time of their first EP (Career Criminal), the line-up boasted two members from Suffocation (Derek Boyer and Terrance Hobbs) and one from Dying Fetus (Vince Matthews, and when the band first began Sparky Voyles from Dying Fetus was also on board)).
In the current incarnation of Criminal Element, Boyer, Hobbs, and Matthews are joined by Darin Morris from Misery Index (at one point Adam Jarvis and Mark Kloeppel from Misery Index were also part of this project). With a line-up like that, you can understand why I paid attention when I learned that Criminal Element released a new album (Modus Operandi) in April. Continue reading »
Man, what a day this has been. We’ve had so much to tell you about since the sun came up, somewhere up above the dank cloud layer in the Pacific Northwest. At least I’m pretty sure the sun is up there. The latest piece of exciting news comes from the mighty Fleshgod Apocalypse. They have just revealed the title of their new album (Labyrinth) and the cover art (above) by Colin Marks (Origin, Kataklysm), as well as the street dates: Labyrinth will be released on August 16, 2013, in Europe and August 20, 2013, in North America via Nuclear Blast.
Allow me now to share with you two quotes from the band’s announcement. First, from drummer extraordinaire Francesco Paoli:
Labyrinth is going to be THE album for FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE. It’s the perfect combination of all our strong points with the best production we’ve ever had. It’s definitely the most FLESHGOD thing we’ve ever thought with the most FLESHGOD riffs, lyrics, melodies, drum parts, solos, etc…We went deep inside the core of this music, we broke it, and we finally unleashed these eleven songs.
I want to be honest, it needed so much work and time to come up with this but now I’m like, ‘ok next time will be tough to reach this point!’ Honesty and quality pay, always, and all of you guys supporting the band DESERVE THE BEST. You might think that I’m overrating it just because it’s our ‘child’ but, trust me, this album is fuckin’ dangerous. Just take your time, listen to it and get lost into the Labyrinth. Continue reading »
As you may know, we don’t usually feature news items without music to hear, but this is Gorguts we’re talking about. When it comes to technical death metal, they occupy a place in rarified air, and I’ve been anxiously awaiting their new album since learning in February that they had signed with Season of Mist.
And today SoM released the album’s title — Colored Sands — and its release date: September 3rd in North America (and August 30 everywhere else), plus that very cool cover art you’re looking at.
It has been a long wait. The band’s last album, From Wisdom To Hate, was released 12 years ago. But the new line-up holds tremendous promise: vocalist/guitarist Luc Lemay (of course), drummer John Longstreth (Dim Mak, Origin, The Red Chord, Skinless, etc., etc.), bassist Colin Marston (Dysrhythmia, Indricothere, Behold… The Arctopus, Krallice), and guitarist Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia, While Heaven Wept). Continue reading »
I’ve written about California’s P.O.O.R. (Point of Our Resistance) before, but not as much as they deserve. Their debut album Extinction of Trust, released earlier this year, is a goddamn pulverizing grind assault. The riffs are massive and crushing, the off-the-hook drumming packs a visceral punch, and the songs deliver a ton of groove to go along with a vicious beating.
Extinction of Trust is a genuine sonic rampage, but it never falls prey to same-iness. P.O.O.R. pick just the right moments to shift into lower gears before opening up the flamethrower again and shooting a blast of ignited gasoline straight to the listener’s head. And despite the generally balls-to-the-wall attitude of the whole thing, there are some memorable melodies and a lot of rhythmic and riffing variety woven into the mayhem. It’s definitely a grind album, but you’ll get the feel of death metal, thrash, punk, and even a bit of Motörhead and Bolt Thrower along the way.
All of which is to say that P.O.O.R. do what a lot of grind bands do not do: They give each of their songs its own personality — which is saying something, because Extinction of Trust includes 24 songs. Continue reading »