VALLENFYRE UPDATE

 Metal News  6 Responses »
Sep 022011
 

About five days ago we ran a post about a mysterious new UK death metal band called Vallenfyre who had recently signed to Century Media basically on the strength of a two-song 7″ single. Granted, after listening to excerpts of that single, it became immediately apparent why a venerable label like Century had signed this band, because the music is motherfuckin’ titanic.

In that earlier post (which generated quite a lot of interest as it turns out), I explained that despite hunting high and low over the trails of the interwebs, I had found very damn little information about the band. At the end of the post, I ventured a guess, based on the maturity of the music and appearance of the band members that they “have been metalling for a while, with other outfits.”

Well, holy fuck, was that a good guess. Today, Century Media released some additional details about Vallenfyre. For example, here’s who is in the band:

* Gregor Mackintosh (PARADISE LOST) – Vocals and Lead Guitar
* Hamish Glencross (MY DYING BRIDE) – Rhythm and Lead Guitars
* Mully – Rhythm Guitars
* Scoot (DOOM, EXTINCTION OF MANKIND) – Bass
* Adrian Erlandsson (AT THE GATES, PARADISE LOST) – Drums

Good lord, is that an impressive collection of talent or what. And coincidentally, it wasn’t so long ago that we posted a feature about Adrian Erlandsson and his brother Daniel (here). But wait, there’s more: Vallenfyre’s debut album, A Fragile King, will be released on October 31 in Europe and on November 1 in NorthAm. And there’s still more (after the jump). Continue reading »

A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR YOUR LABOR DAY UN-LABOR

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Sep 022011
 

There’s something about the lure of free metal. I suppose, in a sense, all metal is free these days if you’re willing to torrent it, but I’m talking about metal that’s intended to be free. And the subject of this post is intentionally free metal from Victory Records — a Labor Day Sampler that includes tracks from 16 different bands.

What caught my eye about this offer is the second song on the sampler — since by coincidence it’s the Pathology track we featured in our last post yesterday — “Media Consumption” — from their as-yet-unreleased second album. The sampler also includes a demo track from God Forbid plus tunes from the likes of Jungle Rot, Ringworm, Within the Ruins, Carnifex, and Snapcase, just to mention the bands that interest me the most.

After the jump, we’ll show you the complete run-down of the sampler’s 16 tracks. To download it, visit the Victory Records facebook page here, where you’ll have to “like” them to access the download. Continue reading »

LEVIATHAN: “HER CIRCLE IS THE NOOSE”

 Metal News  7 Responses »
Sep 022011
 

Leviathan is a one-man American black-metal project whose alter ego is Jef Whitehead (a/k/a Wrest). Whitehead has been making Leviathan music since at least 1998, including 15 demo’s, 7 splits, two EPs, and four full-length albums, the last of which was 2008’s Massive Conspiracy Against All Life. Whitehead also collaborated with Nachtmystium’s Blake Judd and the multi-talented Sanford Parker in a project called Twilight that created a highly regarded 2010 album entitled Monument To Time End. Despite my continuing efforts to become better educated about black metal, my exploration of Leviathan has been limited (by time) to just a few tracks from the last album, but it’s clear that the name is one to conjure with in circles of the black metal intelligentsia.

Over the last year, Whitehead has gained notoriety for reasons other than his prowess as a creator of distinctive music: He is facing criminal charges for assault on his former girlfriend. You can read about the details here or here. In an interview of Blake Judd conducted earlier this year by our own BadWolf, Blake Judd questioned the accuser’s credibility, and he doesn’t appear to be the only person who’s doing that, but the charges are still pending.

Today, Pitchfork published an interview of Whitehead, the first time he’s given an interview in close to a decade. In addition, Pitchfork premiered a new song from Leviathan’s next album, True Traitor, True Whore, which is scheduled for release by Profound Lore on November 8. Pitchfork’s Brandon Stosuy, who conducted the interview, has heard the album and calls it “one of the best metal albums of the year.” In a different interview, Chris Bruni, the head of Profound Lore, called it “very creepy, dark, eerie, and quite disturbing and unnerving” and “different than anything Leviathan has done.” I haven’t heard the album, but I did listen to the new song.

It’s called “Her Circle Is the Noose”. It’s a harrowing piece of music, clattering with off-kilter drumming, shrouded in a haze of melodic tremolo chords punctured by electronic pulses, and charged with Whitehead’s visceral, hair-raising vocals. Worth hearing — which you can do by following this link.

ALL PIGS MUST DIE CURATES A FREE MIXTAPE

 Metal News  10 Responses »
Sep 012011
 

All Pigs Must Die is a band I discovered for the first time watching them kick the holy bejesus out of an audience at a Seattle club on August 18. They were taking part in Southern Lord’s The Power of the Riff tour. I mainly went to see Pelican, but discovered a lot of other awesome bands in the process, APMD being one of them (see our partial review of that show here). Southern Lord has just recently released the band’s debut album, God Is War, and it’s a hard-to-define amalgam of punk, hardcore, crust, black metal, and death metal that’s beastly.

But God Is War isn’t the main reason for this post. The main reason is that APMD was persuaded by CVLT NATION to select songs for a mixtape that the site released for free download yesterday. The band explained what they did: “This is a selection of songs from bands that have have influenced us as a whole and as individual players. Our goal was to put together a range of music that has contributed to our musical output as a band, rather than compiling a list of more obscure songs we may each be listening to at the moment. So while you may have heard much of this before, we hope you enjoy hearing it all at once.”

Perhaps reflecting the eclectic mix of styles you can hear in APMD’s own music, the mixtape is a wide-ranging compilation, and a fucking good one to boot. In toto, it’s an hour and a half of music, and includes songs by 27 bands. Just a few examples: Electric Wizard, Amebix, Leviathan, Neurosis, Blue Oyster Cult, Pentagram, Hawkwind, Entombed, The Secret, Dismember, Trap Them, Black Sabbath, and Nick Cave. To stream all the music and to download the mixtape, visit the CVLT NATION page via this link. We’ve also included the full track list after the jump. Continue reading »

THE LINDGREN DIET: DAY TWO

 IQ Subtraction, Metal News  8 Responses »
Sep 012011
 

Earlier this week, we introduced you to a revolutionary new holistic health regimen for metalheads that we’ve dubbed “The Lindgren Diet”. This isn’t just a formula for shedding unwanted pounds. It’s a magical recipe for mental well-being and overall physical health that will produce a “new you”. Developed by Ola Lindgren, the frontman and guitarist for Grave, the legendary Swedish death metal band, it’s taking the world by storm — and rightly so.

Eating right has never been easier — and it won’t leave you feeling hungry or deprived. There’s no need to count calories, carbs, portion sizes — or anything else. It’s just that easy! Ola Lindgren shows you how. Drawing on his own experience maintaining the physique of an Olympic swimmer despite the demands of the extreme metal lifestyle, he has crafted an easy-to-follow diet program that doesn’t require hard-to-find ingredients or long hours in the kitchen. Let other people do the preparation for you! All you have to do is consume — and then watch yourself be transformed.

I’ve been on the diet since Monday, and I can tell you that I’m already feeling the burn! I’m sleeping better, feeling more energetic during the day, and experiencing greater mental acuity. And that’s just from following the first daily intake regimen that Ola rolled out when he launched his blog, “Lindgren’s Health Blog 666”. But now Ola has given us the next installment in his recipe for whole-body perfection. I can’t wait to work this meal plan into my daily routine! Check it out after the jump. Continue reading »

CHTHONIC: FULL STREAM OF “TAKASAGO ARMY”

 Metal News  No Responses »
Aug 302011
 

Taiwan’s Chthonic is the source of not one, but two of the best metal videos of 2011. We featured one of them here and the second one here. Chthonic is also the source of one of the year’s most interesting albums. Oh hell, why pussyfoot around? In my opinion, it’s also one of the year’s best metal albums.  Our own Andy Synn was pretty high on it, too, as you can tell from his review.

The album was released in certain parts of the world weeks and weeks ago, but it’s not scheduled for official release by Spinefarm Records in NorthAm until September 6. The band will be following that up with a three-week North American tour in support of Arch Enemy, accompanied by DevilDriver and Skeletonwitch. Fucking tasty line-up, that one.  The tour dates, which thankfully include The Emerald City, are after the jump.

But the main reason for this post is to alert you that the entire album is now available for streaming at AOL.  It’s worth hearing, and HERE is the link. Continue reading »

THE LINDGREN DIET

 IQ Subtraction, Metal News  43 Responses »
Aug 302011
 

If you’re like me, you could stand to shed a few unwanted pounds. You get in the habit of drinking a few too many beers on a regular basis, you let your diet go to hell, you sit on your ass for too many hours every day, and before you know it your previously sleek self with the body that made members of the opposite sex, or the same sex, pant after you like dogs in heat has become something that causes you to get rid of all the bathroom mirrors.

But don’t abandon hope! You, too, can have a body like Ola Lindgren, the only constant member of Grave, the legendary Swedish death-metal band. Lindgren is somewhere in his 40s and undoubtedly has decades of crap food and heavy drinking behind him. But that hasn’t stopped Lindgren from staying in fighting trim, with sculpted abs and the kind of body-fat percentage that would make a marathoner jealous.

Some of you would probably guess that Lindgren stays in shape by burning thousands of calories performing on stage in a rigorous touring schedule. But that would be wrong. You don’t have to be a popular death metal musician and vocalist to stay in shape. All it takes is the right diet.

And now, for the first time, Ola Lindgren has revealed the secrets of staying trim in the underground metal scene, with daily diet regimens that will take off those unwanted pounds and keep them off! Yes, you too can have a body like Ola Lindgren’s, and all you have to do is subscribe to “Lindgren’s Health Blog 666”. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

RUMOR MILL: TODAY IS THE DAY AND MAGRUDERGIND AT SUCKFEST?

 Metal News  28 Responses »
Aug 292011
 

The two-day NYC metal festival called SUCKFEST that’s being sponsored by our friends at Metal Sucks has caused an emotional war among my schizophrenic selves. On the one hand, the ugly green-eyed monster part of me is jealous that they’re pulling this off when the only tour we’ve sponsored to date is a figment of my imagination. On the other hand, my metal-blogger self is really proud that MS is able to pull of something like this. And on the third hand, the fanboy part of me is genuinely excited by the line-up that’s been announced so far — Municipal Waste and Cynic as the two headline acts, with The Red Chord, Obscura, and Rosetta on the bill as well — and 15 more bands yet to be announced.

Now, I’m having yet another internal warring conflict over this festival. Compared to the bad old days, when about 20 people read our site (most of whom were our institutionalized relatives), we’ve become more responsible. Usually (usually), we no longer try to steal other people’s thunder by “premiering” songs from unreleased albums without permission or tossing up unauthorized song downloads, and we try to maintain standards of high journalistic integrity, which means we now only make up about 50% of the news stories we report here.

But we’re not completely house-broken yet, and so I can’t resist the impulse to report a rumor that Today Is the Day and Magrudergrind are also going to be playing at the SUCKFEST on the first day (Nov. 4), headlined by Municipal Waste. I sure as fuck hope this is true, because those two bands are among my favorites. Today Is the Day is nothing short of legendary, and Magrudergrind may well be the heir-apparents to Pig Destroyer.

All wishful thinking aside, I do consider my source of this info to be reliable, or I wouldn’t be sticking my neck out to report this. So, with apologies to Metal Sucks, Today Is the Day, and Magrudergrind for a bit of thunder-stealing leakage, I’m goin’ with it. And if I’m wrong, well fuckit, it won’t be the first time.

VALLENFYRE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  20 Responses »
Aug 282011
 

Yesterday I spent some time on Blabbermouth catching up with metal news I’d missed over the last week. One of the reports caught my eye. It was about Century Media’s signing of a UK death metal band called Vallenfyre. Here’s what I read:

Just like SONNE ADAM from Israel, VALLENFYRE debuted with a seven-inch single on the underground label Imperium Productions and also shares a similar approach of mixing classic death metal with doom and in case of VALLENFYRE some British crust on top.

Commented Jens Prueter, head of A&R, Century Media Records Europe: “I was already blown away by VALLENFYRE’s old-school orgy of doomy and crusty death metal riffs when I heard the first demo last winter and the new seven-inch sounds even better. So I couldn’t hesitate to offer them a deal straight away. That’s how we signed GRAVE and ASPHYX over 20 years ago — and we all know that it was a good decision. So welcome to another chapter of Century Media’s death metal legacy.

“VALLENFYRE’s debut album, A Fragile King, is already recorded and will be released in late October 2011.

“If you like a mix of early ENTOMBED, CELTIC FROST, AUTOPSY and AMEBIX, you should hurry up to buy the last few copies of the ‘Desecration’ seven-inch single, which was limited to only 500 copies by Imperium Productions.”

All that peaked my curiosity, even making allowances for the well-tuned PR hype. So, I poked around to learn more about this band — and found almost nothing. But what I did find has gotten me extremely interested in this album. (more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

HATESPHERE

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Aug 282011
 

Is this a badass album cover or what? Yes, I’m still catching up on last week’s news, and when I saw this, I damn well came to a full stop. Not only because of the artwork, but because Denmark’s HateSphere is one of those bands whose new music I think is always worth checking out (and this comes from someone who’s not a huge thrash fan).

Their next album may be especially worth our time, for three reasons. First, how can you go wrong with an album called The Great Bludgeoning? Second, the band’s line-up has changed since their last release in 2009 (To the Nines). Esben “Esse” Hansen (who also sings in As We Fight) joined the band as vocalist in June 2010, and a bass player with a punk background named Jimmy Nedergaard (Gob Squad) joined more recently for the recording of the new album. I’m curious about how those changes may affect the band’s sound. (Actually, we already have evidence, as you’ll hear.)

Third, the band claims that for the new album, they’ve taken a “more old-school direction” than they did on the last release, with a lyrical focus on “aggressions, drinking and hate”. So in other words, it will be an upbeat, family-friendly affair. Yay!

Oh yeah, one more thing: There’s a teaser clip available now, which will musically tease you. It’s after the jump, along with info about the album artist, the release dates, and a few other factual morsels. Continue reading »

 Older Entries  Newer Entries