MY DYING BRIDE: “KNEEL TILL DOOMSDAY”

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Aug 252012
 

October 15 is the appointed date for Peaceville Records’ release of A Map of All Our Failures, the 12th studio album from My Dying Bride, in this, the 22nd year of their existence. I’ve previously quoted guitarist Andrew Craighan’s memorable description of the album as “a controlled demolition of all your hopes”. My hope at the moment is that the album will be demolishing. There is some reason to believe it will be.

Today, via an e-mail from Peaceville, I heard an edited version of the first track on the album, “Kneel till Doomsday”. Not only is Peaceville streaming the song, they’re also making it available as a free download to fans who sign up for the band’s mailing list. There hasn’t been much fanfare about this yet on a Saturday, but I did manage to find an embed code for the player so you can listen to the song after the jump. I also found it on My Dying Bride’s official web site, which you can access via this link.

The demolition of hope, indeed. This edited version of the song is about five minutes long, and even in that abbreviated length it’s a dynamic, riveting piece of music. At the outset it’s ponderous, bleak, and crushing, but it begins to move with increasing speed — without losing the black aura of hopelessness — before fading out following a return to the chain-dragging weight of the beginning. The vocals are both clean and harsh, the riffs infectious, the atmosphere doomed (of course). Have a listen . . . Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: INCANTATION, SHINING, MEANKIND, AND EVIL ENTOURAGE

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Aug 252012
 

The ol’ fucking day job has had its claws in my viscera the last couple of days, and I haven’t been able to focus my bloodshot eyes on happenings in the metal world as keenly as I’d like. But that vice-like grip has eased somewhat, so it’s time to begin catching up. Here are some items of interest I saw and heard yesterday.

ITEM ONE: INCANTATION

I saw the news that Incantation (pictured above) is at work on their eighth album, to be entitled Vanquish in Vengeance, which is projected for a November release on Listenable Records. I saw this statement by John McAfee:

“The title track is about the massacre of Saxons in the town of Verdun in 782, called on by order of King Charlemagne. As an album title it has a different meaning to me. Vanquish in Vengeance symbolizes the long history of the band. We have fought many battles over the years to keep things going. We have always stayed true to our original vision and have never caved into trends. After a long wait between albums we are back with a vengeance with some of our darkest and heaviest material to date.” 

“Darkest and heaviest material to date”? That would take some doing.  “We have always stayed true to our original vision and have never caved into trends”? True dat. I’m ready for new Incantation.

ITEM TWO: SHINING

I like the music of Sweden’s Shining. I saw that Shining have a new album coming. Instead of persisting with the Roman numerals as on previous albums, this eighth one has a name: Redefining Darkness.

I also saw that Shining’s main man Niklas Kvarforth recorded two teaser videos for the album. In one, he’s having a rub-a-dub-in-the-tub using the favored lubricant of all trve black metallists. He’s also licking something that looks vaguely familiar. I’d say this one is not safe for work, but you’re not working now, are you? In the second video he multitasks, explaining Shining’s self-mutilating mission while taking a shit. Continue reading »

THINGS SEEN AND HEARD: haarp, SKÁLMÖLD, BLOODRED HOURGLASS, AND GOBLIN

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  8 Responses »
Aug 232012
 

I thought this artwork was cool. It’s name is “Ocean In Motion” and it was created by Oana Cambrea. It has nothing to do with the rest of this post. I just wanted to put it someplace where I wouldn’t lose it. It did make me think of synchronized swimming, though something like this would have been much more fun than the event as it’s performed at the Olympics. Anyway, at the end of this post I have the only example I know of where synchronized swimming was metal. But onward to other new metal things I saw and heard recently.

haarp

Speaking of cool album art, I saw the cover of the next album from NOLA’s haarp. It’s called Husks and it’s set for release on September 18, 2012 through Housecore Records. I didn’t really dive deeply into this band’s last album (2010’s Filth). I remember listening to one track at a time when I was in a hurry, I didn’t immediately fall in love with it, and I moved on to something else.

This new one was recorded by Housecore’s Phil Anselmo (Down, Pantera) and mastered by Pig Destroyer’s Scott Hull, and that gets me interested in giving this band a second chance. Based on a press release, it appears there may be some new twists in this album, in addition to the band’s core mix of hate-filled sludge and grind. Check out the cover after the jump, and one more piece of related artwork created for haarp. Continue reading »

MASACHIST: “SCORNED” ON THE WAY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Aug 232012
 

Masachist is a Polish band I feel I should have known about before now, given that they include two members of Vesania — drummer Dariusz “Daray” Brzozowski  (formerly with Vader, and live drummer for Dimmu Borgir) and bassist Filip “Heinrich” Halucha — and two former members of Decapitated — vocalist Wojciech “Pig”/”Sauron” Wasowicz (Anal Stench) and bassist Heinrich again — in addition to whirlwind guitarists Thrufel (ex-Azarath) and Aro (Shadows Land, Torquemada).

The band released their debut album (Death March Fury) in 2009, and they have a follow-up entitled Scorned due for release on September 3 via Selfmadegod Records. Yesterday the band released a song from the new album called “Opposing Normality”, which follows a previously released track, “The Process of Elimination”. Both songs are definitely worth hearing.

The music is bone-jarring death metal, fast and technical but somewhat unorthodox in its approach, with scale-leaping, minor-key riffs, unexpected ambient passages, and eerie soloing. There’s an alien quality to the songs, both machine-like and insectile, like the scurrying and swarming of a hive of bio-mech centipedes the size of mastiffs. It’s both brutal and otherworldly, like a death metal version of Blotted Science.

I’m digging this strange brew, but I’m curious what you make of it. Check out the two songs after the jump and leave some comments. Continue reading »

AUTHOR AND PUNISHER: “TERRORBIRD” (THE VIDEO)

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Aug 222012
 

In March of this year, BadWolf introduced us to Author and Punisher via this post about the artist and his new album Ursus Americanus, which was released in April by Seventh Rule Records (and is available for streaming and purchase here). For those who missed that, Author and Punisher is the industrial solo project of one Tristan Shone, who has become something of a geek hero by creating his own bizarre machine instruments.

To quote BadWolf: “Author and Punisher pulls influences from the more drone/groove oriented Industrial of Godflesh, as opposed to the thrashier (and poppier) Ministry school. . . . The songs on Ursus Americanus roll over the listener with heft and weight sorely lacking in most modern Industrial music. . . . I wager Tristan Shone could make a decent living off science fiction and horror film composing if he weren’t an employee at the National Center for Microscopy. . . . During my second run-through, I closed my eyes and imagined technological carnage unfolding against the movie screen that is the inside of my eyelids.”

Well, BadWolf doesn’t have to rely solely on his imagination any more. Thanks to the awesome DECIBLOG, I discovered this morning that Author and Punishment has released a new music video for a song from the latest album called “Terrorbirds”. BadWolf streamed a live version of the song with his March review, but this new video provides a horror story to go with the music. It was directed by Augustine Arredondo and stars Rob Crow (Pinback, Goblin Cock), and it’s delicious. Now we know what a Terrorbird is.

Watch it after the jump. Continue reading »

RED THINGS SEEN AND HEARD TODAY: SATAN’S WRATH, RED DESCENDING, P.O.O.R., AND MARK RIDDICK

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  14 Responses »
Aug 212012
 

In browsing today’s happenings in the world of metal and pulling together items to share with you in this post, I noticed a coincidence: All of these items have something to do with red. I don’t know what that means. Probably nothing. I hope I’m not bleeding inside.

ITEM ONE: SATAN’S WRATH

I saw that Metal Blade had established a landing (or launching) page for a new album entitled Galloping Blasphemy by a two-man Greek “Satanic blackened thrash” band by the name of Satan’s Wrath. It’s due for release on September 25 in North America and a few days earlier in Europe. The album cover is above. It’s red.

I was intrigued by two things about this release. First, the band’s bio claims that they are “the only band in the world in communication with thy master through ceremonial black magic and necromantic rituals” and that “one member alone controls 13 satanic covens worldwide and organizes the most hideous sabbaths which our lord graces in the form of the black goat.” It also seems to dedicate the album to the glory of Belial, Lucifer, and Astaroth. I’m guessing you probably won’t find this CD at Walmart.

Second, I saw this quote from Brian Slagel, the founder and owner of Metal Blade: “When I first heard Satan’s Wrath it transported me back three decades to the early days of the label when I loved bands like Slayer . . . and Possessed . . . . What will always impress me about the heavy metal genre is its ability to borrow from the past and boldly wear it’s influences on its sleeve, while still sounding fresh and relevant to the time it was created. Satan’s Wrath are one of those bands . . . .”  Continue reading »

TOURISM: NAPALM DEATH AND CONVERGE ANNOUNCE HEADLINING TOURS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

Here are two new tours that metallic denizens of the U.S. and Canada should know about, both of which were announced today. One is co-headlined by Napalm Death and one by Converge. And what a nice coincidence that is, since not long ago we got a Napalm Death / Converge split release, from which we’ll play some music after coughing up the tour details . . . Also, both tours are stopping in Seattle, which makes me all smiley.

NAPALM DEATH / MUNICIPAL WASTE / EXHUMED

This tour is actually billed as a co-headline gig by Municipal Waste along with Napalm Death. I decided to put only Napalm Death in the headline mainly because it fit better with the recent release of that split. Exhumed is also along for the ride as direct support, which makes this tour even more awesome. But that’s not all! Depending on the dates, one of the following four bands will also be performing:

Sci-fi Arizona thrashers Vektor, Canadian punk band Dayglo Abortions, Bay Area crossover band Attitude Adjustment, and Colorado speed thrashers Speedwolf.

But wait, there’s still more!

Again depending on the locations, fans will also get to see guest sets from U.S. grindcore bastards Repulsion, Chicago punks Dwarves, and Seattle’s Martha Splatterhead’s Revenge. Continue reading »

“M” IS FOR MONDAY: MY DYING BRIDE, MORS PRINCIPIUM EST, MALIGNANCY

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

Well, this worked out well. Monday’s suck, of course. But Monday is the “M” day of the week, and lo and behold I have news about three M bands.

MY DYING BRIDE

These legendary doomsters have completed a new album, which will be entitled A Map of all our Failures. It’s scheduled for release by Peaceville on October 15 (October 16 in the US, in recognition of our former colonial status). There will be a double vinyl and special edition CD/DVD in addition to the normal CD format, and bundles that include a shirt, too. And guess what? The pre-orders begin today, at this location.

I haven’t heard any music yet, but I have seen a quote from guitarist Andrew Craighan, who describes the album as “a controlled demolition of all your hopes”. I would expect nothing less.

I also learned that the band will be embarking on a European tour in December in support of the album, as well as an appearance at the UK’s Damnation Festival in November. An initial schedule of tour dates can be found here.

MORS PRINCIPIUM EST

In late July, I posted a bunch of news about this excellent Finnish band, which included the fact that they were finally recording a new album after many long years following the release of 2007′s Liberation = Termination. At that point, I had no details. Now I have a title: …And Death Said Live. I also have an approximate time frame for the release — December 2012 (on AFM Records). And, I have this very nice album cover art: Continue reading »

IN FLAMES: LIVE AT WACKEN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  6 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

In Flames was my gateway into the more extreme forms of metal, and although they have slowly morphed into a band that straddles the divide between hard rock and metal, they still occupy a special place in my black heart. They were one of the headliners at the ginormous Wacken Open Air festival in Germany earlier this month, and ZDFkultur (the digital TV channel of a public-service German television broadcaster called ZDF) provided a live stream, which I wasn’t able to see.

Fortunately, ZDFkultur has provided a video recording of the In Flames performance online at this location, and I’ve also found a YouTube embed of the same recording. It’s a helluva spectacle, and the stage set for the first song (“Cloud Connected”) is extremely cool. The lighting and other visual effects and the multi-camera angles all through the show are top-flight, too. It includes the following songs, as well as two band interviews.

Jester’s Door (intro)
Cloud Connected
Where the Dead Ships Dwell
Only for the Weak
Reroute To Remain
Delight and Angers
The Quiet Place
Fear Is the Weakness
Alas
The Mirror’s truth
System
Deliver Us
Take This Life

The player at the ZDFkultur site includes an index that allows you to advance quickly to any song in the set. The YouTube embed of the concert is right after the jump. Continue reading »

SONIC THUGGERY: RINGWORM AND DISENTOMB

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  2 Responses »
Aug 202012
 

When it comes to metal, there’s a time and a place for complexity and nuance, and there’s a time for getting elbowed in the nose, punched in the kidneys, and ruthlessly choked out. You know, the kind of music where you listen to it, and for a couple hours after you’re nervously looking for blood in your piss and feeling around for loose teeth. When you’re in the mood for that kind of sonic thuggery, look no further than the music featured in this post.

RINGWORM

This Cleveland hardcore metal band is the real deal, and by “real deal” I mean no bullshit, no pretensions, high intensity, honest vehemence and vitriol. Their vocalist calls himself Human Furnace, and if you’re going to wear that moniker, you sure as shit better be able to walk the walk. James Bullock really walks the walk, and by “walk the walk” I mean gargle with battery acid and spit it out along with esophageal blood.

I’m pretty new to this band, despite the fact that they’ve been around for 20 years (though about half that time they were on hiatus). Their latest album, Scars, was released in July 2011. But what really grabbed my attention recently is a new live album that A389 Recordings plans to release on August 23. It will be a 12″ vinyl entitled Stigmatas In the Flesh. It was recorded in 2010 at A389’s 6th Anniversary Bash. I’ve only listened to a few of the tracks so far, but man, it’s really blistering. And by “blistering”, I mean it will cause your skin to peel for weeks. Continue reading »

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