MDF BLOG BREAK

 Mosh Pit  11 Responses »
May 232015
 

 

That photo up there was taken shortly before Vallenfyre began their set at Maryland Deathfest XIII yesterday, with Waltteri Vayrynen perched behind the drum kit. Later, the band’s frontman Greg Mackintosh growled during a break in the action: “When we formed this band in 2010, we had a dream that someday we would perform in a parking lot in Baltimore. And now, praise be, we are living the dream, in a Baltimore parking lot.”

One of the better stage lines delivered during the fest so far, but some truth in it too, at least for me. For the second year in a row I’m having a hell of a time at this festival — deafened, sleep-deprived, with sore feet and an aching back — but living the dream. And the fest is only half-done. Continue reading »

ARCH ENEMY HEADLINES SUMMER SLAUGHTER 2015

 Metal News  11 Responses »
May 222015
 

 

Over time I’ve come to enjoy tours that mix and match, that cross genres and by doing so introduce Band Y to fans who come to see Band X. Of course, there’s also a risk in this strategy, especially if what you’re mixing are all well-known bands, and the fans of some wouldn’t be caught dead in the presence of the others. I’m thinking there might be some of that risk in this year’s edition of the SUMMER SLAUGHTER TOUR.

Arch Enemy has been announced as the headliner — and bear in mind, this is Arch Enemy with Jeff Loomis in the line-up. Obscura are on this tour, too, along with Cattle Decapitation and Beyond Creation. And then these bands are also on the line-up: Continue reading »

DANIEL CAVANAGH — “MEMORY AND MEANING”

 Album Reviews, Exceptions to the Rule, Off Topic  4 Responses »
May 222015
 

 

(Andy Synn reviews the crowd-funded solo album of Daniel Cavanagh.)

As the old saying goes, “when the cat’s away, the mice will play”. And with both Islander and Badwolf currently semi-AWOL from the site due to attending MDF, it’s definitely time to play…

In that spirit, and as part of my continued quest to drag down the good name of this site, I hereby present to you the entirely clean-sung, all-acoustic, and almost completely un-metal, covers album by Anathema guitarist/co-vocalist Daniel Cavanagh.

Let the games begin! Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: DEW-SCENTED — “AFFECT GRAVITY”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 222015
 

 

Germany’s Dew-Scented have been discharging blasts of electrifying death/thrash since the early ’90s and they’re now about to unleash their tenth album, Intermination, via Prosthetic Records. Today we bring you the premiere of the new album’s fourth song, “Affect Gravity“.

The dismal, dissonant sounds at the outset of the song are immediately arresting, but the music becomes downright explosive moments later when the full band joins the fray in a tumult of jabbing riffs, booming drums, hammering bass, and scorching vocal howls. It’s a turbocharged rocket-ride of a track that also includes a completely electrifying guitar solo. Heavy, venomous, galvanizing music that will shoot a megawatt charge of energy straight down your spine… and a hugely appealing teaser for the new album. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: LYCHGATE — “AN ACOUSMATIC GUARDIAN”

 Premieres  3 Responses »
May 222015
 

 

In February of this year I came across the debut of a song from the new album by Lychgate — An Antidote for the Glass Pill —  that stopped me dead in my tracks. That song (“Letter XIX”) was so striking, and so strikingly different, that I became both intrigued and anxious to hear more. And now the time has arrived when we can all hear more, because we have the privilege of premiering a second track from the album: “An Acousmatic Guardian“.

Lychgate features the talents of vocalist/guitarist Greg Chandler (Esoteric) and guitarist/organist/keyboardist Vortigern (The One, Spearhead), as well as T.J.F. Vallely (Macabre Omen) on drums, A.K. Webb (Ancient Ascendant) on bass, and  guitarist S.D. Lindsley. Together they have created some very distinctive and unusually compelling music. Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: UNMOTHERED — “UMBRA”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
May 212015
 

 

I continue to have a weakness for metal bands from Austin, Texas, the place where I was born and spent my formative years and to which I still return a couple of times a year. But I’m not so weak-minded about bands from Austin as to lose a sense of perspective about the music — and I’m pretty sure Unmothered’s new EP would have blown me away even if I’d grown up in Bangkok.

This new three-song offering is entitled U M B R A and it’s being released by Crowquill Records on May 26. Today we give you the chance to hear the EP for yourselves before jumping for it on the release date. Since you can listen for yourselves, I’m not sure there is much to be gained by writing about U M B R A, but I can’t help myself. Continue reading »

AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: CONNOISSEUR — “POT HOLE”

 Premieres  1 Response »
May 212015
 

 

When you’d like to smooth out the start of your day with a bong-load of assistance and you discover to your shock that your stash is as empty as the void in your forgetful head, what the fuck do you do? Some people might let out a long sigh and begin quietly weeping. That ain’t Connoisseur’s style, as you’ll find out in the video we’re premiering today for a song called “Pot Hole“.

The song comes from the band’s new album Stoner Justice, which is being released in June by Tankcrimes Records. Stoner Justice was originally released as an EP last year but has been remastered and expanded to fourteen tracks, including a professionally recorded live set from the Tankcrimes Takeover show on February 13, 2015. As you can see, the new album also includes killer cover art created in a collaboration by Skinner (Mastodon) and Hal Rotter (Atriarch, Cough, Eyehategod, Skeletonwitch, etc.). Continue reading »

AN NCS PREMIERE: MARUTA — “SLAYING JEHOVA”

 Premieres  2 Responses »
May 212015
 

 

Miami’s Maruta will soon see the release of their third album, and their first for Relapse Records — Remain Dystopian. In advance of the album’s street date, Relapse is rolling out five new songs from the album on five days in a row, and today we bring you the premiere of the fourth of those tracks: “Slaying Jehova“.

This is an absolutely savage minute-long assault of hyper-speed grind, an explosive rush of dissonant, raking riffs, near-inhuman drum fusillades, and beast-like roars. To be honest, it’s too much to take in on one listen, and the eerie guitar leads must have some psychoactive substance in them, because the first thing I wanted to do after hearing it the first time was to continue pressing play, without even consciously thinking about it. Continue reading »

SHADES OF BLACK (PART 2): GALVANO, DEUIL, FORNDOM, CALIGULA

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC, SHADES OF BLACK  4 Responses »
May 212015
 

 

(This post was supposed to appear yesterday, following Part 1 (here), but my trip to Baltimore for Maryland Deathfest and the pre-fest show last night derailed those plans.)

I think once upon a time I explained that when I use the title Shades of Black in posting about collections of new songs, it doesn’t necessarily mean that what follows will be black metal (though that’s usually what follows). Sometimes the music has strands of recognizable black metal instrumentation mixed with other motifs. Sometimes it’s a matter of shared spirit. Sometimes, the music is just bleak and crushing.

I’m reminding you of this because I doubt anyone would call all of the following songs “black metal”. But I sure as hell do like all of them, and hope you do, too.

GALVANO

It was almost two years ago when I last wrote about this two-man sludge metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden — July 4, 2013, to be exact. Back then, the subject was a song from their last album, Two Titans. Now they have a new full-length named Trail of the Serpent that’s being released on May 25 by Candlelight Records. (with vinyl coming in July via Pelagic Records). Thanks to an alert from Bandcamp yesterday I learned that a new song named “Stench of Prey” is now available for streaming. It is one hell of a song. Continue reading »

TRUE WIDOW, KING WOMAN, AND GLACIERS — LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO, MAY 17, 2015

 Concert Reviews  2 Responses »
May 202015
 

 

(Ben Manzella wrote this review of the performances by Glaciers, King Woman, and True Widow in San Francisco on May 17.)

As the transition of spring into summer begins, it’s been a state of confusion within San Francisco. Yes, the light of day sticks around until 8PM almost nightly now; but the weather has been colder than average. This past Sunday, with the cold, came local bands Glaciers and King Woman opening for True Widow at Bottom of the Hill.

While all the bands had a rather fuzzed-out, doomy sound in their own ways, it was Glaciers who started the night and they definitely brought energy to the room. Continue reading »

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