ANOTHER OPETH OPDATE

 Metal News  15 Responses »
Jun 012011
 

Yes, that’s the opdate, right op there at the top of this post — the just-disclosed cover for Opeth‘s next album, Heritage. The artist is the very talented Travis Smith, who has done many other Opeth album covers in addition to cover art for dozens of other bands you’ve heard of.

So, all you album art critics out there, what do you think? With one lingering reservation, I think it’s damned cool. I love the vibrant colors and the arrangement of fantastical images, and the suggestion of the demonic underground feeding life to the green Opethian tree from which an endless line of fans is feeding (or at least that’s how I’m interpreting it).

The lingering reservation stems from those heads of the band members in the tree. It adds to the psychedelic aura of the whole picture, but it’s also a bit campy.

Coming back to the colors, much of what Travis Smith has done for the band in the past has been sombre and monotone (though there have been exceptions). After the jump, I’ve collected all of the cover art he’s done for the band in the past. Take a look — and by all means, let’s hear what you think of this cover.

ALSO, I’ve now got the detailed reactions to this cover of NCS writer BadWolf. He and I each wrote our thoughts without seeing what the other thought. Among other things, he sees this cover as a sign (among others) that Heritage will not be a metal album. Check out what he has to say after the jump, too. Continue reading »

“NEW” MUSIC FROM BEHERIT: “AT THE DEVIL’S STUDIO 1990”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 302011
 

No secret that we’re Finnish-metal fanatics here at NCS. Also no secret that we’re doing our best to become better educated about black metal. Put those two pieces together and you get this post, which is based on news that will be headline-type stuff for true black-metal fans. But first, some background for those readers who aren’t already KVLT (lifted from something we wrote back during our month-long FINNISH METAL WEEK series):

“Beherit” is the word for Satan in Syriac, a dialect of the ancient Aramaic language. It’s also the name of an influential black-metal band formed in 1989 by Nuclear Holocausto (Marko Laiho), Black Jesus (Arjo Wennström), and Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen). After releasing two albums, the second of which (Drawing Down the Moon) appeared in 1993 and became a BM classic, the band broke up.

Beherit then rose from the ashes in 2008, with original members Nuclear Holocausto (having returned to Finland from Thailand) and Sodomatic Slaughter joining newcomers Ancient Corpse Desekrator and Abyss. After 14 years of silence, the band released their third album, Engram, in 2009.

And now the news: Beherit is releasing, for the first time, their true debut album, originally recorded in 1990. In the band’s words: “You NEVER HEARD this recording or the two previously UNRELEASED tracks featured! Finally unearthed from Sodomatic Slaughter’s personal collection after being lost for the last 20 years. Recorded as a duo by Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance and Sodomatic Slaughter in Ala Ky Studio and mastered in 2010 by Joona Lukala.”

The album will be released in June 2011 on vinyl, CD, and tape. After the jump, we’ll give you the track list, ordering information — and a music player that will stream two of the tracks. Be forewarned: This is vicious stuff AND the music will start playing as soon as you go past the jump. Continue reading »

THE ROLLING STONE METAL AWARDS (INDIA): YEAR TWO

 Metal News  No Responses »
May 292011
 

(NCS contributor Siddharth Darbha joins us today with a report on the nominees for India’s biggest metal awards show.)

The Rolling Stone Metal Awards is back. Being India’s most popular and highly dedicated metal award ceremony, we at NCS cannot let this pass unnoticed. We briefly mentioned the 2010 edition of the Awards last year (here), with our congratulations to Demonic Resurrection and Infernal Wrath.

With nominations invited from across the country, the grandeur has been amplified multifold this edition. This shall be the event’s second year. It is slated to be held on 19th June. Funny bone tickler Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy (Scribe) will be hosting the event, which will also feature live sets by Bhayanak Maut, Artillerie, Exhumation and Noiseware.

The category list has been lengthened, with the net set being : Best Album Artwork, Best Metal Drummer, Best Metal Guitarist, Best Metal Bassist, Best Metal Vocalist, and Best Metal Keyboardist, the nominees for which can be found here, in addition to three other categories open for public vote.

The complete panel of judges is yet to be announced, but Marty Friedman (Megadeth) is definitely in!

Apart from the aforementioned panel of judges, there are three categories open to public vote via Facebook. Make your vote count or check out India’s best releases this year. We’ve got the list of nominees for the three public-vote categories after the jump. Continue reading »

CONGRATS TO BLOOD AND THUNDER

 Metal News  5 Responses »
May 282011
 

The local metal scene in the Seattle area is really hopping with talent these days. One of the bands whose fortunes we’ve been following for a while is Blood and Thunder. We’ve written about them several times in the past (for example, here and here). In addition to being very talented young musicians, they’re also a group of really nice people — James Furrow (keys), Billy Keller (guitar and backing vox), Ryan Yancey (lead vox and drums), Jeff Weaver (guitar), and Nick Hughes (bass). And they’ve been supporters of our humble site, which we appreciate.

After a fair share of ups and downs in the production process, Blood and Thunder have finally completed work on their debut album — Dawning of the Ancients. To celebrate the occasion, the band headlined a CD release show at Seattle’s Studio Seven last night, and my NCS collaborator Alexis and I were there.

We arrived too late to catch some of the early acts, but had a head-banging good time listening to Deathmocracy, After the Fallout, and Unhailoed — all of whom performed very strong sets.  The music was quite diverse and a good showcase for the strength of Seattle’s metal scene.

And, as we knew they would, Blood and Thunder killed it at the close of the night. Their stage presence and musicianship just gets stronger and stronger every time we see them. We snagged a copy of the CD, and you can expect a review of Dawning of the Ancients in the not-too-distant future. For now, congratulations dudes!

(Follow Blood and Thunder on Facebook here.)

THE NUMBER OF THE BLOG CRAWLS FROM THE GRAVE

 Metal News  No Responses »
May 282011
 

Our allies in blog, The Number of the Blog, have managed a resurrection. After being out of commission since May 23, thanks to being fucked like a tethered goat by their web host, the TNOTB site seems to be back up and running this morning.

Or rather, back up and crawling, smelling of the grave, hungry for blood and baby flesh, and whatever else those dudes subsist on — and no doubt overflowing with bloggerish effluvia that they just can’t wait to eject into the byways of the almighty Web.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

(Congrats TNOTBers!)

70,000 TONS OF METAL TO SET SAIL AGAIN; JUST BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T SINK THE FIRST TIME DOESN’T MEAN IT WON’T HAPPEN NEXT TIME

 Metal News  11 Responses »
May 272011
 

We had lots of fun last year with the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise, thinking of all the things that could go wrong (for example, this). You can’t blame us, can you? Seriously, the idea of putting about 2,000 metalheads on board a ship with 40 metal bands and 24/7 bars and shoving it off into the Caribbean just seemed like an invitation to disaster.

Our fun-poking stopped, of course, when the cruise happened, no one died, and it appeared that everyone actually had a pretty good time. The tour organizers must have made some money on the thing, because now they’re launching a reprise of the cruise, scheduled to sail from Miami on January 23, 2012. Public ticket sales will start on May 31. Instead of voyaging to a Mexican island, as they did this past January, the new 4-day cruise will be bound for the Cayman Islands, where they have pubs.

Ten bands have already signed on for this next edition of the cruise, including Amorphis, Moonsorrow, and Pestilence. You can see all the names of those adventurous 10 right after the jump.

Did any of you go on the first cruise? Was it worth it? Did people actually die, and it just got covered up? Continue reading »

NEW GOJIRA SONG: “OF BLOOD AND SALT”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  26 Responses »
May 262011
 

I’m in a hurry, so no words, other than to say my new hero (and occasional NCS writer) Siddharth Darbha just e-mailed me a link to this, which purports to be a new Gojira song from their long-awaited EP, The Sea Shepherd, and that it purports to include guest participation by Devin Townsend and Fredrik Thordendal (Meshuggah).  I have to go change my underoos now.

OPETH OPDATE

 Metal News  10 Responses »
May 262011
 

I’ve been thinking about Opeth, and it has affected my word formulation. It’s some kind of temporary phonemic speech disorder, I think. But I’m not sure. I’ll have to continue thinking opon it. But for now, onward and opward!

So yes, I’ve been thinking about Opeth because some additional details were released this morning about their next album, entitled Heritage, which will be their tenth.

First, it will be released on September 20 by Roadrunner Records. Second, it was produced by the band’s vocalist/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt and it was mixed by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) and Åkerfeldt.  Third, Travis Smith (who has created many other Opeth covers) worked with Åkerfeldt to create, design and execute the album’s artwork.

Fourth, Åkerfeldt had a few things to say about the album: “It will be our 10th album/observation. I dig it; we all do. In fact, it feels like I’ve been building up to write for and participate on an album like this since I was 19.” He also had some intriguing things to say about the music — which we’ll quote for you after the jump. Continue reading »

THE NUMBER OF THE BLOG: “IT’S JUST A FLESH WOUND!”

 Metal News  5 Responses »
May 252011
 

Some of you are likely regular readers of The Number of the Blog, in addition to our own humble site. If so, you may have noticed that TNOTB has been out of commission for a few days. We’ve been in contact with our metallic brethren and sistern at TNOTB and thought we’d tell you what we know.

It appears that TNOTB’s web host — the company that provides the servers that host the TNOTB site — has run into a bit of a problem. If you visit the TNOTB site, you’ll see a nasty announcement stating: “This Account Has Been Suspended.” Now, before you start thinking that TNOTB is just a bunch of deadbeats who don’t pay their bills or have run afoul of Homeland Security, you would see the same message if you were to visit the home page of TNOTB’s web host — which suggests to us that the web host is renting their servers from some other company and THEY are the deadbeats.

In other words, thanks to their douchebag web host, TNOTB has been the victim of non-consensual anal penetration, without so much as a reach-around. But, while seriously butthurt, TNOTB has refused to surrender. They are hunting for a new web host, and in the meantime they’ve gone old-school in a very funny way.  See what we mean after the jump . . . Continue reading »

BURY YOUR DEAD: SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE!!!

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
May 242011
 

Well, fuck yes. If we had any doubt that Bury Your Dead had shaken off the detritus of melodic metalcore and gotten back to their fuckin’ hardcore roots, those doubts are dead, gone, cremated, and the ashes scattered to the winds — because as of about 45 minutes ago, the band uploaded their first new song since Mat Bruso rejoined BYD.

Most of our current readers won’t know this, but the really old-timers will: We started this site, and picked the name NO CLEAN SINGING in protest over what happened when Mat left BYD, when Myke Terry stepped up as the new vocalist, and when the band thereafter went right off the rails and into metalcore no-man’s land.

So, you can imagine how stoked we were to find out that Mat was coming back to BYD. Actually, you don’t have to exercise your imaginations, because we laid out our feelings pretty clearly in this post. Since then, we’ve been waiting patiently for new music — for confirmation that BYD was back in the nasty, brutish land of no clean singing. Actually, we really didn’t need proof — for fuck’s sake, Mat now uses “nocleansinging.com” as the web site URL in his Twitter account (“@SoAloneSoAlive”) — which is just too cool for words.

But need it or not, we’ve now got our confirmation. The new song — “Slaughterhouse Five” — is a fuckin’ jaw-breaker, a badass sledgehammer of hardcore and metal, a fine sign of what’s to come on that new album. Go past the jump to have a listen, and get some more news about the album and BYD’s touring plans. Continue reading »

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