GOATWHORE: “FBS”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 292014
 

I’ve not been paying much attention to new song and video premieres or metal news since leaving town for Maryland Deathfest last week and I’ve fallen way behind. But I did just see what you’re about to see in this post — a pair of brand new goodies from NOLA’s Goatwhore relevant to their new album Constricting Rage of the Merciless.

First, we have the cover art created by Jordan Barlow. Very nice.

Second, we have a lyric video for an advance track from the album named “FBS”. It is also very nice (I’m pretty sure I heard them play this on the recent Metal Alliance tour). It’s a nasty, thrashy stun-gun of blackened speed metal with riffs galore and an off-speed instrumental break that’s just as cool as the pedal-to-the-metal parts. Continue reading »

A METAL DUDE IN THE CONCERT HALL — THE STORY OF FLORIAN MAGNUS MAIER

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 242014
 


(photo by Natalia Kempin/Natalia Die Hexe, used with permission)

(Andy Synn provides the following introduction to a new documentary now streaming over the web.)

Dark Fortress are, without a doubt, one of my favourite bands, and their last albums, Ylem, is similarly one of my favourite albums.

Why am I telling you this? Well it just so happens that Dutch public-service broadcasting network NTR has just released a 50-minute documentary on the band’s frontman Florian Magnus Maier (aka Morean) and his composition of a double-guitar concerto entitled “Schattenspiel” (“Shadowplay”) for the Zaterdagmatinee, whose premiere performance took place at the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

Now I actually already knew that Florian/Morean was a gifted composer (go me), with some impressive credentials to his name, but actually watching him piece the whole thing together, keeping all the changes and instruments in his head at the same time, really gives you a whole different insight into the process and the man behind it. Continue reading »

A NEW MIDNIGHT ALBUM IS COMING: “NO MERCY FOR MAYHEM”

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 212014
 

Were you paying attention yesterday? Did you see the post I wrote about the new, free Hells Headbangers compilation? Did you see that it includes a new track by the band Midnight? Well, if you did, you might have guessed what I’m about to confirm: Today, Hells Headbangers announced that Midnight’s new album No Mercy for Mayhem will be released August 19.

I’ve been waiting for this info because the band’s 2011 debut Satanic Royalty was one of my favorite albums of 2011. It sort of came out of nowhere (except for select people in the underground who already knew what was up with Midnight), and made quite a splash. I have little doubt the new album will get 10 times the exposure. There will probably be a full-album stream on NPR. Album teasers will probably be played in movie theaters before shows. Discount coupons in the newspapers.

Okay, probably some of those things won’t happen once the new Midnight promo shot gets into circulation. This is it: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: ACXDC, DEMONIC RESURRECTION, JOHN GALLOW, LAZER/WULF, ORIGIN, VINTERSORG

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
May 212014
 

By the time you read this I will have embarked on my journey from Seattle to Baltimore for the Maryland Deathfest. To be precise, I’ll probably be with the TSA at Sea-Tac having my rectum probed before hobbling to the departure gate (who knew that the Ghost butt plug would refuse to come out unless you could plead with it in Sumerian?).

Because of that trip, time is short and so, as I did yesterday, I’m just throwing a whole bunch of song streams (and a few links) at you, with few words of my own. This is all new metal I found yesterday that I liked. Presented in alphabetical order:

ACxDX

ACxDC are from SoCal. The last time I wrote about them was almost two years ago, soon after one of vocalist Sergio’s newborn twins (Savina) had to have surgery to repair a hole in her heart. After many short releases, they finally have recorded a debut album named Antichrist Demoncore. Yesterday an advance track from the album premiered. Its name is “Destroy Create”. It’s a powerviolence assault, both searing and crushing, and maybe more complicated than you might be expecting. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DEAD CONGREGATION, GOD MACABRE, INCANTATION, THE LION’S DAUGHTER, VAINAJA, YOB

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  9 Responses »
May 202014
 

As a result of unusually pressing personal and job-related commitments, and making sure I have enough clean underwear for my MDF trip tomorrow, I haven’t had time for proper write-ups on all the good new songs I came across yesterday. But I have a sneaking suspicion you’ll be happy just listening anyway. So here goes — a big load of music streams (or links) in alphabetical order and damn few words from me.

DEAD CONGREGATION

Promulgation of the Fall, the new album I’ve written about before by the excellent Greek band Dead Congregation, is now streaming in full and available for acquisition on Bandcamp. Part of me thinks this moots the point of a review. Part of me wants to lavish my praise in print anyway. We’ll see — but you should damn sure listen below: Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: MASTER’S HAMMER, AZOOMA, DAY OF DOOM

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
May 192014
 

To help start the new week, here are some new songs and related news that I came across over the weekend.

MASTER’S HAMMER

The Czech band Master’s Hammer began recording music in about 1987, with a 14-year hiatus between their third album in 1995 and their fourth one in 2009. Their sound evolved over those many years. In Darkthrone’s biography (here), Fenriz has referred to the band’s debut album Ritual as “actually the first Norwegian black metal album, even though they are from Czechoslovakia”, but later releases incorporated wide-ranging styles of music, including folk and classical.

Yesterday Master’s Hammer released their sixth studio album, Vagus Vetas, through the band’s own label, Jihosound Records, where it’s now available for order. Physically, it’s a very attractive release (some photos of the CD and the 12-page illustrated booklet that comes with it can be seen here), and it includes 12 songs. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any one of them on-line, but I do have a teaser video. Continue reading »

LABEL FOCUS: LAMECH RECORDS (WITH LVXCAELIS, SAPIENTIA, MYSTRUIN, HETROERTZEN)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
May 182014
 

As explained yesterday, I impulsively decided to write a weekend series on labels whose releases I have rarely (if ever) written about. As in the case of Ektro Records (featured yesterday), I happened upon the songs in this collection at Soundcloud. All of them are by bands whose music has been released by an underground Swedish label named Lamech Records, whose web site is here. I was unfamiliar with all four bands featured here before checking out these songs, but I really like what I’ve heard.

LVXCAELIS

LvxCaelis are from Santiago, Chile. It appears they have released a 2010 demo named Nigredo – The Dead Head and an album in 2012 entitled Mysteria Mystica Maxima XXIII. The song I stumbled across on Soundcloud is “Darkening Sun. Evolving Chaos”, which will apparently be included on a forthcoming four-song Lamech release called Slaughtering of the Lamb.

The song is aptly titled. It is the sound of the sun being eclipsed, and chaos does indeed ensue as murky, eviscerating riffs vibrate ominously and the drums blast and rumble. As grim and frostbitten as the melody is, the music nevertheless has the power to set a hook in your head, even though the vocalist is trying to tear it off at the same time. A really good fusing of black and death metal. Continue reading »

LABEL FOCUS: EKTRO (WITH PLAIN RIDE, RANGER, BEGRAVNINGSENTREPRENÖRERNA, SHAVED WOMEN, AND CIRCLE)

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  10 Responses »
May 172014
 

Here’s how this post came about:  I listen to Soundcloud every day, following links in our emails or ones I see on Facebook. Usually they’re advance tracks from new albums, and I’m trying to decide whether to write about them. Yesterday I listened to one solely because the band had the longest one-word name I’d ever seen.

When a song finishes on Soundcloud, another one generally starts playing, whether you want it to or not. That also happened yesterday, and it drew me into other bands on the same label as the first one — Finland’s Ektro Records. I’ve written about that label’s releases in the past, but infrequently.

So I had the impulsive idea of writing about a group of songs from recent Ektro releases that I found on Soundcloud. And I decided to do the same thing tomorrow, focusing on another label with which I’m even less familiar.

In the past I’ve found Ektro’s releases very interesting, though a high percentage of them aren’t straight down the metal fairway. The ones you’re about to hear aren’t either. But they’re not down the middle of any fairway — which is why I’m digging them. Continue reading »

NEW SONGS: VADER, VALLENFYRE, AND VOLTURYON; BARGHEST AND BONGRIPPER; DENIED

 Exceptions to the Rule, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
May 162014
 

Lots of new songs appeared today. I picked six to play for you, despite the fact that I could maintain alliteration for only two groups of them. In a rare display of concision, I will be concise. If you don’t find at least one thing to like in here, there may be no hope for you.

VADER

I’m borrowing Axl Rosenberg’s introduction to the new Vader song at Metal Sucks because it made me laugh:

Vader have released a new song, “Triumph of Death,” which you can stream below. It’s a visceral track which, believe it or not, may make you tear up a bit, as its subject matter is one to which we all relate: a metalhead is forced against his will to go see the (Hed)P.E. and SOiL tour, but he ultimately manages a bittersweet victory when he kills himself mid-show by inhaling next to a guy in a Primer 55 shirt, thereby attaining sweet release. The metal community has lost too many good men and women that way, and I commend Vader for calling attention to these tragedies.

Continue reading »

REMNANTS OF 2013 (PART 4)

 Album Reviews, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHORT BUT SWEET  6 Responses »
May 162014
 

(Austin Weber puts the spotlight on a big load of 2013 (and 2012) releases that he feels were overlooked. This is Part 4 of a four-part piece. Previous installments appeared on each of the preceding three days.)

SNAKE BAPTIST

Snake Baptist are a group I found through The Number 12 Looks Like You Facebook page when I recently scrolled through it. Even though they are broken up, I curiously checked their page after listening to #12 all day. I felt moved that day by the somber intro to #12’s “Jay Walking Backwards”, as they were a band who my late brother and I mutually enjoyed. So the sadness contained in that intro really hit me hard for some sentimental reason.

Anyways, on to the serpentine bastards in Snake Baptist. Basically, they mix The Sawtooth Grin type of chaotic grind (a comparison helped by the presence in the band of The Sawtooth Grin’s vocalist Rich) with a Dillinger tinge, and then make the sound more insane with a scalding powerviolence influence. Continue reading »

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