SHINING UPDATE

 Metal News  No Responses »
Feb 242010
 

Not long ago we frothed at the mouth over the latest release (Blackjazz) by Norwegian avant metallers Shining. As we noted, the music isn’t for everyone, but if you’re looking for something wildly inventive and wickedly insane, Blackjazz is worth your time. Today we discovered that Shining has released a video of the song “The Madness and the Damage Done.” It’s built from live footage of the band’s concerts in Trondheim and Stavanger last month, and it’s hot shit. If you’re epileptic, don’t watch this.


SHINING (NOR): The Madness and the Damage Done

SHINING – Norwegian Blackjazz | MySpace Music Videos

MORE 2010 SICKNESS (Part 2)

 Forthcoming Albums, Listmania, Metal News  No Responses »
Feb 232010
 

We’re now almost two months into 2010, and it’s already time for our second update to the list of forthcoming new albums we posted on January 1.  (See the original list here and the first update here.) Below is a list of still more projected new releases that we didn’t know about on January 1 or at the time of our last update about a month ago — and there’s a lot of them.

Once again, we’ve cobbled together news blurbs about bands whose past work we’ve liked, or who look interesting for other reasons. Needless to say (but we’ll say it anyway), these are bands that mostly fit the profile of music we cover on this site.

So, in alphabetical order, here’s our list of cut-and-pasted blurbs from various sources over the last month about forthcoming new releases:

1349: “Prosthetic Records will release the brand new album from Norwegian black metal legends 1349 in North America via an agreement with Indie Recordings. The new CD, which promises ‘a return to the band’s more traditional, raw-yet-technical black metal sound,’ is due on April 13. In support of the yet-to-be-titled record, 1349 will embark on a North American tour in April and May as the support act for CANNIBAL CORPSE (alongside SKELETONWITCH and LECHEROUS NOCTURNE).”

ABACABB: “ABACABB are currently out on the road headlining the Hot Dice On Black Ice Tour featuring Upon A Burning Body!. The tour just hit Texas and will be in California this weekend. Following the tour ABACABB will enter the studio with producer Will Putney at Machine Shop in New Jersey and will have a new album to be released sometime this summer.”

AEON: “Swedish death metallers AEON have set Path Of Fire as the title of their third album, due later in the year via Metal Blade Records. The CD was recorded in September 2009 at Empire Studio in Östersund, Sweden and was mixed the following month at Mana Recording Studios in St, Petersburg, Florida by Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, MORBID ANGEL, CANNIBAL CORPSE). The mastering was handled by Alan Douches at West West Side Music (CONVERGE, HATEBREED, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) in New Windsor, New York.”

AMORPHIS: “AMORPHIS will release its first-ever live DVD, Forging The Land Of Thousand Lakes, in early June via Nuclear Blast, in time for the band’s 20th anniversary. The filming took place on November 20, 2009 at Club Teatria in Oulu, Finland, where AMORPHIS was supported by STRATOVARIUS and BEFORE THE DAWN. In addition to the full-length live show, the anniversary DVD will include plenty of bonus material documenting the band’s impressive career.”   (much more after the jump . . . ) Continue reading »

YYZ

 Metal News  1 Response »
Feb 202010
 

This post is about Rush, “YYZ”, and Xerath (pictured above), in that order, and includes a video that will make you smile and maybe even laugh. Most likely you have no idea what we’re talking about. But look, it’s Saturday (for most of you). What else have you got to do while you’re recovering from whatever damage you did to yourself last night?

Rush is a 3-man Canadian rock band that’s been around for more than 30 years. There was a time when it would have been unnecessary to explain who they are, but times change.

Over the course of their career, they’ve accumulated 24 gold records and 14 platinum records (three of them multi-platinum). They rank fourth – behind the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Aerosmith – for the most consecutive gold or platinum albums by a rock band. Industry sources have estimated that worldwide, Rush has sold more than 40 million units.

Apart from being wildly popular for a long time, Rush has also been musically dynamic and inventive and has influenced many metal musicians over the years, including bands such as Dream Theater, Primus, and Symphony X.

Rush’s best-selling album of all was 1981’s Moving Pictures, which was certified quadruple platinum. The album was full of pop-friendly prog rock that got lots of radio play and greatly expanded Rush’s audience. It included one instrumental song called “YYZ” that sounds remarkably fresh today, after almost 30 years. (stay with us — more after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION

 Metal News  6 Responses »
Feb 192010
 

What do the following people all have in common?

* Gene Hoglan (FEAR FACTORY, DETHKLOK, DEATH, DARK ANGEL) – Drums
* Kevin Talley (DAATH, CHIMAIRA, MISERY INDEX) – Drums
* Larry Tarnowski (ICED EARTH) – Lead Guitar
* Brendon Small (DETHKLOK, “Metalocalypse”) – Lead Guitar
* Andy LaRocque (KING DIAMOND, DEATH) – Lead Guitar
* Michael Angelo Batio (MAB, NITRO) – Lead Guitar
* Roland Grapow (HELLOWEEN, MASTERPLAN) – Lead Guitar
* The Heathen (ZIMMERS HOLE) – Vocals
* Bill Hudson (CELLADOR, POWER QUEST) – Lead Guitar
* Emil Werstler (DAATH) – Lead Guitar
* Rob Caggiano (ANTHRAX) – Lead Guitar
* “Metal” Mike Chlasciak (HALFORD, SEBASTIAN BACH, PAINMUSEUM) – Lead Guitar
* Steve DiGiorgio (SADUS, DEATH, TESTAMENT, ICED EARTH) – Bass
* Alexei Rodriguez (PRONG, 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, WALLS OF JERICHO) – Drums
* Eyal Levi (DAATH) – Lead Guitar
* Sean Reinert (CYNIC, AEON SPOKE, DEATH) – Drums

The answer is:  All these people will be making guest appearances on the forthcoming debut album by a relatively unknown, unsigned, two-man band from Chicago called Asylum.  Even Slash couldn’t line up talent like this for his upcoming solo album (not that we give a crap what Slash does, just sayin’). How in the world did this come about?  Read on after the jump . . . Continue reading »

REVOLVER GOLDEN GODS AWARDS (AND WE THOUGHT THE GRAMMY’S WERE OVER)

 Metal News  No Responses »
Feb 172010
 

We announce this breaking news: Billed as “America’s first-ever hard rock and heavy metal music awards show,” the second annual Revolver Golden Gods Awards will take place Thursday, April 8, in downtown Los Angeles. The nominees in nine different categories — plus the recipients of this year’s Golden God Award and the Revolver Golden Gods Lifetime Achievement Award — were revealed today at a press conference.  (trying to stifle a yawn . . .)

New for this year, fans everywhere can cast their vote beginning today to choose who will take home the awards for “Best Guitarist,” “Best Drummer,” “Best Vocalist,” “Album of the Year,” “Best Live Band,” “Best Underground Band,” “Most Metal Athlete,” “Hottest Chick(s) in Metal” and “Comeback Of The Year.” Voting starts today at: http://www.revolvermag.com/goldengods and ends on Wednesday, March 31. You can see the complete list of nominees after the jump.

Looking at the list of nominees, we’re really trying to figure out why we should care. For the most part, the only nominees of any interest to your NCS Authors are those nominated for “Best Underground Band.” We wonder, what does that make the nominees in the other categories, if they’re not “underground”? Mainstream metal? Radio-friendly metal? Yesterday’s metal?

Yeah, pretty much. Really, with a few exceptions, the other nominees look like the kind of metal you’d find on a list of Grammy nominations.

Our mood?  Basically, bored shitless.  (but, because you may care more about this than we do, we’ll report the list of nominees after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

METAL STAMPAGE?

 Metal News  No Responses »
Feb 162010
 

The dream has come to an end. Norwegian extreme metal veterans Keep of Kalessin took third place in the grand final of the national Eurovision Song Contest called “Melodi Grand Prix” which was held on February 6 at the Spektrum in Oslo. The winner of the final, Didrik Solli-Tangen, will be the one to represent Norway at the international Eurovision Song Contest 2010.

It’s pretty cool that an extreme metal band made it to the Norwegian national finals and actually placed in the top 3.  And all is not lost. By advancing to the finals, the band earned the right to be featured on a special set of stamps issued by the Norwegian Royal Mail — an honor that is normally reserved for the royal family or historic figures. Keep of Kalessin and the other “Melodi Grand Prix” finalists were presented with the stamps at a small gathering at the home of “Melodi Grand Prix” host Per Sundnes on February 5.

The set of stamps is pictured above.

Can you tell which one is for the metal band?  Can you?

By the way, the dude who won is in the stamp at the bottom right corner of the photo. Don’t know what he sounds like. Don’t want to know. Wouldn’t want to receive any mail with that stamp on it, that’s for damned sure. Particularly because if anyone in Norway mailed me anything, it would probably take about 12 of those stamps to get it here, and wouldn’t that be a grisly sight.

But I will say this: wouldn’t it be fucking cool if the U.S. Postal Service issued a series of stamps featuring metal bands? They’d probably lose their financial ass if they did that, but hey, I’d buy ’em. I bet you would, too. Write your fucking congressman and let’s start building pressure for metal stampage here in the U.S.!

You think extreme metal is too narrow an interest to merit some fucking stamps? Think again. For cryin’ out loud, go here if you want to see the kind of commemorative stamps planned so far for 2010. It includes stampage series on Mother Teresa, Cowboys of the Silver Screen, the Mackinac Bridge, Love, Kate Smith, the Sunday Funnies, and Scouting (among other things). Would you buy any of that shit? Nah, I wouldn’t either.  But what if they sold stamps that looked like this:  (after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

HOLY SHIT!

 Metal News  2 Responses »
Feb 152010
 

We had to look deeply into our official extreme music blog Thesaurus to find the right words for our reaction to the report we just saw about a new tour. “Awesome” was just too trite. “Stupifying” was too understated. And then there were those two words that just perfectly captured our feelings. Yep — HOLY SHIT!

Get your battle axes and fur pelts out of storage, strap on your drinking horns, and send the women, children, and livestock into the hills.  The Norsemen are coming!

The bands: AMON AMARTH, ELUVEITIE, HOLY GRAIL.

The tour dates and places?  See below. But what really counts is they’re stopping in Seattle! (in addition to some other perfectly decent cities)

4/8 Los Angeles, CA @ House Of Blues
4/9 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom w/ Fear Factory
4/10 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater
4/11 Seattle, WA @ Showbox
4/12 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw
4/14 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall
4/15 Edmonton, AB @ EEC
4/16 Saskatoon, SK @ The Odeon
4/17 Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick
4/18 Minneapolis, MD @ Station 4
4/19 Chicago, IL @ Logan Square
4/21 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
4/22 Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
4/23 Quebec City, QC @ Imperial Theatre
4/24 Worcester, MA @ Palladium (New England Metal and Hardcore Festival)
4/25 New York, NY @ Fillmore at Irving Plaza

WHAT THE FUCK?!?

 IQ Subtraction, Metal News  No Responses »
Feb 152010
 

We apologize in advance for the following post. It’s the latest bizarro episode in the long-running soap opera that Gorgoroth has become. We can’t think of why it would have any redeeming value for you. But the story is just so fucking ridiculous that we couldn’t resist.

The immediate controversy concerns the release by Swedish label Regain Records of a live performance by black-metal legends Gorgoroth and a resulting lawsuit brought against Regain by former Gorgoroth members Gaahl and King ov Hell. Over the last week, Gaahl and King, on the one hand, and Regain, on the other, have engaged in a MySpace exchange over the resolution of that legal case — and someone is either lying or deeply confused.

Just in case you might not find this as funny as we do, we’ll give you the Cliff Notes version of the exchange first — but to appreciate the full, whacked-out hilarity you would need to read the details supplied after the jump.  Cliff Notes version:

Gaahl/King opening salvo: Fuck you Regain Records!

Rejoinder by Regain: No, fuck you, you corpse-painted morons!

Reply by Gaahl/King: I beg to differ — fuck you, you pencil-necked bean-counters!

Now, the details . . . (after the jump) Continue reading »

A MARRIAGE MADE IN HELL: BIG CHOCOLATE AND BURNING THE MASSES

 Interviews, Metal News  2 Responses »
Feb 142010
 

If you’re a follower of Cameron Argon (a/k/a “Big Chocolate”), Disfiguring the Goddess, and/or Burning the Masses, we’ve got treats in store for you today: breaking news updates, a mini-interview with Big C that includes some info we haven’t seen anywhere else, some hot-shit music to stream, and a cool tour poster. If none of these names means anything to you, but you like innovative, brain-cleaving death metal, then stay the fuck with us and expand your musical horizons!

THE BACKSTORY: Back in 2008, we stumbled across a 6-song DIY EP (still available on iTunes) by a “band” called Disfiguring the Goddess. It immediately grabbed us by the throat and wouldn’t let go — a raw, distorted vortex of brutal, slamming death metal marked by some truly distinctive vocals. We hunted around for more info and discovered that DTG was pretty much the alter ego of a young dude named Cameron Argon.

Since the EP, Argon has generated a handful of additional DTG songs with ex-Misericordiam blaster Phil Cancilla on drums and Joe Broodle on guitar. (We wrote about DTG‘s most recent output back in early December in a post you can find here.) All the music is absolutely cool shit, and it has spawned a cult following based largely on the vocal work of Cam Argon, who the inimitable Sergeant D over at Metal Inquisition has called “quite arguably the best guttural death metal vocalist on the planet.”

Lots of DTG‘s devoted followers have wondered when the band would actually release an album, and others have wondered if Argon would hook up with some other, more established band in need of a vocalist. That speculation was fueled at one point by Argon’s decision to join the Russian brutal slam metal band Abominable Putridity for some live shows in Moscow last summer, and he appears to have recorded one-off vocals for some other bands, including this one for unsigned Indiana blasters Dissever the Tyrant. But Argon has been in no hurry and seems just as dedicated to finishing his education as expanding his death metal horizons. (continue reading after the jump . . .) Continue reading »

IN FLAMES UPDATE (and it’s not good news)

 Metal News  No Responses »
Feb 132010
 

Your NCS Authors have been devoted fans of In Flames for a very long  time. We’ve seen their live shows in the Northwest every chance we get, we’ve met the band, we dig the music. So we were kinda stunned to see the news that guitarist Jesper Strömblad, who founded the group in 1993, has announced his departure:

“I have decided it is best for me to leave In Flames and to quit the band permanently. The last 17 years have been a blast, and I am proud to have been part of this great journey, with the most talented and amazing people anyone can wish to have the privilege to work with. I’m also the luckiest guy in the world, to have the BEST fans in the world, who have been supporting me during my difficult times. It means the world to me, and I’m determined to fight and defeat my demons once and for all…. and by the help from you guys, I’m on my way. I’m far from done with music, metal, or whatever my direction is taking me, so be sure to hear from me in the future.”

The remaining members of the group had the following to say:

“We are losing a great guitar player and musician, but in order to keep a very dear friend this is probably for the best. If this feels right for Jesper we are behind him 100% on his decision. It is way too early to speculate about the future and possible replacements and things like that. However, we can assure you that In Flames will continue as a band, release albums and tour the World. The door to In Flames is always open to Jesper. We are, and will always be behind Jesper 100% on his way to recovery.”

Jesper has been in rehab for alcohol abuse for the last year, though his appearance playing live with the band in December (see the video we posted here) lifted our hopes that he was headed for a comeback. All we can say now is, SHIT! This is a major league bummer.

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