TOURISM: SOILWORK, JEFF LOOMIS, BLACKGUARD, THE BROWNING, WRETCHED

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Oct 302012
 

Sweden’s Soilwork have been working with producer Jens Bogren on a new double-CD album, The Living Infinite, which will be released sometime next year by Nuclear Blast. Today, they announced the first North American tour in support of the album — and it’s a mammoth one. It will begin on March 12, 2013, in West Springfield, Virginia, and finish on May 7 in Worcester, Massachusetts.

I’m sure I’ll see this tour, especially because it’s coming to a relatively compact venue in Seattle, but also because I still have a warm spot in my heart for Soilwork despite a musical trajectory over time that’s been less than completely satisfactory, given my tastes. With a new double-CD worth of new music to promote, I suspect there won’t be much room for the really good, hard, older stuff, but we’ll see.

Also, Jeff Loomis is along for this ride, and I’d see this show even if he were the only name on the bill.

The line-up on the whole is curious — you certainly can’t accuse the organizers of lacking a taste for musical variety. In addition to Soilwork and Loomis, the tour will include Blackguard, The Browning, and Wretched. As for me, I’ve never been able to get into Blackguard, The Browning are a guilty pleasure, and Wretched — they kick ass. And what do you think? Continue reading »

TUESDAY TUMULT: MITOCHONDRION, RETALIATORY MEASURES, PAROXSIHZEM, VON, AND VOYAGER

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Oct 302012
 

Here’s another daily round-up of tumultuous metal (and artwork) that caught my attention while I rooted around the interhole over the last 24 hours. In no particular order:

MITOCHONDRION

These Vancouver-based beasts have two releases on the near horizon. First, Dark Descent Records will be releasing a 7″ single named Antinumerology that includes two new Mitochondrion songs: “Insummation” and “137 (Antinumerology)”. The striking artwork has been created by Richard Friend (Loss, Father Befouled), and you can see it on the right (click the image to see a larger version). I haven’t found a release date yet, though it looks like sometime in 2013.

Second, Siege Engine Records will be releasing a double LP version of the band’s 2011 album, Parasignosis. The label is giving away a free test press copy of the LP, though you have to be on Facebook to enter the contest. To do that, “Like” the Siege Engine Records Facebook page and then click on the “Contest!” link toward the top of the page and enter the e-mail address associated with your Facebook account.

The artwork for the LP was created by Alexander L. Brown, and apparently will include a Parasignosis poster that looks stunning (not sure if this will be sold with the LP or separately). A detail from the poster is up above. A photo of the whole thing is just after the jump, and more detail shots can be seen here. This is really great work. Continue reading »

TODAY IN THE WORLD OF SHIT: SANDY AND NERGAL

 Metal News  47 Responses »
Oct 302012
 

Every day brings shitty news, both large and small. We usually don’t write about shitty news. We usually try to write about things that make the shit in life more tolerable. So I guess you could call this post a different kind of Exception to the Rule.

SANDY

Who came up with the name of “Sandy” for this storm? Sandy is a freckle-faced girl with a beaming smile and sparkling eyes, wholesome and playful, the girl next door. If the hurricane naming gurus wanted an “S” name for this thing, they should have gone with something like Shedim.

Sandy made landfall at 8 pm, Eastern Time, last night, with hurricane-force winds extending up to 175 miles from the center of the storm and tropical-storm-force winds spreading out 485 miles from the center. At least 17 people have been killed so far and this morning more than 7 million people are without power in a multi-state region.

Businesses and schools are closed, roads are closed, subway and commuter trains have been shut down, more than 13,000 airline flights were canceled, even the Erie Canal was shut down. In Manhattan, waves topped the sea wall in the financial district, sending cars floating down streets and flooding the Ground Zero construction site. The Jersey Shore was devastated. A well-known replica of the H.M.S. Bounty was sunk off the North Carolina coast. And on and on and on.

The fuckin’ thing has even extended its reach into the Midwest. Chicago officials warned residents to stay away from the Lake Michigan shore as the city prepares for winds of up to 60 mph and waves exceeding 24 feet well into Wednesday. And though the storm has been downgraded from hurricane status to a tropical storm, it’s not finished wreaking havoc on the Northeastern US and Canada. Continue reading »

DRUG HONKEY: “GHOST IN THE FIRE”

 Album Reviews  25 Responses »
Oct 302012
 

(photo by Burton Rast)

Surly, don’t-fuck-with-me poses are a dime a dozen when a metal band holds still for a promo shoot. I’m pretty sure that in Drug Honkey’s case, this is no pose. And if you think these dudes look like badasses, their expressions are downright friendly compared to the music on their latest album, Ghost In the Fire.

This album is the fourth for them and the first for me, so I won’t be comparing it to their previous work. That would be pointless anyway, since diehard fans of the band have undoubtedly worn out their earholes with the music by now (Ghost was released in May) and have drawn their own comparisons. Instead, this very tardy review is for people like me in my pre-Ghost state — people who haven’t yet exposed themselves to what Drug Honkey do.

And what they do is manufacture atmosphere — blasted, burned, and black. They suck all the air out of the room and fill the void with a psychoactive fog that’s the stuff of nightmares.

They make the sound of a gutted city whose lifeless buildings are crumbling, imploding, and burning like giant waste bins beneath the bridges of catastrophe. It’s the noise of giant earth movers digging mass graves. It’s the soundtrack to the sun burning out and the planet freezing in utter darkness. It’s a recording of demons convulsed in the throes of insanity. Continue reading »

NEW FULL-ALBUM STREAMS: DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT, A BAND OF ORCS, ATRIARCH

 Metal News  4 Responses »
Oct 292012
 

This is just a quick note about three full-album streams, two of which began today and one that started last Friday. In my humble opinion, these are albums worth hearing. They provide, after all, a better vehicle than any review for deciding whether the music is worth getting.

DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT

I’m very high on Widowmaker, the new album by UK’s Dragged Into Sunlight. I explained why in this review. I also pointed out that the album is really best considered as one long song divided into three parts. At the time of my review, the only thing available for public streaming was a preview clip. That was better than nothing, but for an album conceived and executed as a single work, there’s really no substitute for hearing it in that way. You can (and should) do that at the Terrorizer site: HERE

A BAND OF ORCS

We’ve written quite often about California’s A Band of Orcs. Because we are no fools. Because when the Domination comes, only select humans will be spared. By sucking up relentlessly, I figure we’re improving our odds of survival. Orcs are mercurial and prone to unpredictable behavior when their blood is up, so there are no guarantees. So I’m performing a further act of obeisance by telling you that the Orcs’ debut album is now streaming in full. Continue reading »

DEVIN TOWNSEND’S “THE RETINAL CIRCUS”: A REVIEW

 Concert Reviews  18 Responses »
Oct 292012
 

(UK-based NCS writer Andy Synn delivers these thoughts on “The Retinal Circus”, Devin Townsend’s tour de force show on October 27 at the Roundhouse in London, with video clips at the end — including a high-quality stream of the entire show.)

Steve Vai. Metaphysical musings. Harold. A gospel choir. Anneke Van Giersbergen. A white suit and top hat. Sexy cat-people. Angry monkey men. Religion, War. Flame-throwers and angle grinders. Ziltoid. The 6th Dimensional Planet Smasher (and his hot slave girl).  Mrs Ziltoid. Giant green vaginas. Baby Ziltoid!!! Vampires, drink, and drugs. Clown-midgets. Aliens!!!

[Takes a breath]

Unexpected acoustic ballads. Shameless hippy sing-alongs. Lighters in the air, arms-waving stadium-rock. Steve Vai’s abusive, talking skull. Jed Motherfucking Simon. STRAPPING YOUNG LAD.

Cherry blossom trees and proposals of marriage. Life. A wedding soundtracked by an utterly stunning rendition of “Kingdom”. Devin’s inner demons. Aerial acrobatics. Love? Fan-waving and pole dancers. Torrents of confetti. Going from Heavy to Big. Glorious “Grace”. A down-home finale with couches, bearded ladies, and a miniature marching band like some sort of off-the-wall take on the end of Lord of The Rings.

That was The Retinal Circus. Continue reading »

BLOOD MOON MUSIC: OCCULTATION, GUTTURAL SECRETE, CHROME DIVISION, AND WINTERFYLLETH

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  4 Responses »
Oct 292012
 

Early this morning, October 29, 2012, the moon was full. In certain older civilizations in the Northern Hemisphere, this full moon in what we know as October was a celebrated event. In olde England, it marked the beginning of winter and was known in the Anglo-Saxon tongue as “winterfylleth” — winter full moon (and yes, now you know where that wonderful English black metal band got their name).

Native American tribes in what is now the northern and eastern United States called it the Full Hunter’s Moon. It was a time when the leaves were falling from the trees and the deer were fattened for the winter — a good, well-lit time to hunt and store up meat for the bleak months ahead.

It has also been known as the Blood Moon, which of course makes it metal. This year it may really be a blood moon in the eastern U.S. With the moon in its full phase, high tides on Earth will rise about 20 percent higher than normal, and NASA experts say this will significantly amplify the storm surge that Hurricane Sandy will bring to the eastern part of the country, exacerbating what are already expected to be life-threatening floods that this super-storm will inflict on our shores.

To our brothers and sisters in metal who live in the vast swath of territory likely to be impacted by Sandy, and who probably can’t read this because their power is already out, be careful and stay safe. Looks like today will be ugly.

So, not so much in celebration of the Blood Moon as in commemoration of it and in respect for the power of nature, I’ve rounded up new music and a video, from these bands: Occultation, Guttural Secrete, and Chrome Division. Of course, there’s some Winterfylleth at the end, too. Continue reading »

KONKEROR: “THE ABYSMAL HORIZONS”

 Album Reviews  10 Responses »
Oct 292012
 

(TheMadIsraeli reviews the debut album by a Michigan band known as Konkeror.)

Sometimes it just baffles me how a breakout band doesn’t get noticed when their debut absolutely slays, like, everything.  Konkeror are definitely one of these bands. Not only have they released a debut of extremely rare killer-quality material, they very well may have one of the best albums of the whole year.

Konkeror are extremely no bullshit, no frills, ballsy, thrashy, Middle Eastern death metal from the outskirts of Detroit who bring riffs that tame serpents, create sand storms, and slay prophets of old, accompanied by feral snarling vocals and a killer drummer whose got a sense of regality and Middle Eastern groove in his work.  It’s an album loaded with influences from Melechesh, Nile, Vader, Obituary, and Immolation.

To repeat: It’s a wonder to me how a debut as killer as The Abysmal Horizons has flown under so many people’s radars.  These guys are the real deal.

All of this is immediately apparent in the ass kicker of an opener, “I, Monolithic”.  A foreboding acoustic intro followed by a doom riff with badass solo work ushers in a torrent of blackened death metal ferocity.  The riffs here just catch your ear, attach to your memory like leeches, and mummify you from the inside out. Continue reading »

“THAT’S METAL!” – BUT IT’S NOT MUSIC (NO. 66)

 That's Metal -- But It's Not Music  25 Responses »
Oct 282012
 

Hey, happy Sunday. It’s THAT’S METAL! time. Time for pics, videos, and news items that I thought were metal even though they’re not music.

I have seven items for you today.

ITEM ONE

The first item is that horrifying creature at the top of the post. Actually, it’s not really a monster. It’s an Old English Bulldog named Coraline. Sexy beast, isn’t she?

I’ve used some pics by photographer Seth Casteel in a previous THAT’s METAL! installment. He takes photos of people’s pets. But he also takes pics of dogs like Coraline underwater, usually while they’re going after a tennis ball. Dogs are like that. If you threw a tennis ball into a pool for a cat to chase, the cat would look at you as if to say, “Really? You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me.”

Since the last time I used some of Seth Catseel’s photos from his Underwater Dog series, he’s come up with some new ones, and he also now has a book of them for sale. In addition to the fact that the quality of the underwater photos is amazing, they continue to capture man’s best friend looking really scary and really alien, which of course makes them really metal. Continue reading »

VASSAFOR, PAROXSIHZEM, KHORS, GEHENNA

 Free Shit, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Oct 282012
 

Here’s a smattering of powerful music and eye-catching album art I heard and saw yesterday that helped make a wet, gray, cold Seattle day more tolerable — despite the fact that all of the music displays the results of blackening.  But I still want my summer back.

VASSAFOR AND PAROXSIHZEM

I was snooping around the Dark Descent web site looking for news about a release I’ve been expecting. While I was there I spied the two album covers you see at the top of the post. I knew little about the bands, but I thought the album covers were very cool. If you click on them, you’ll see larger versions.

The one on the left is for an album entitled Elegy of the Archeonaut, which collects selected tracks by an Auckland, NZ band named Vassafor. The album will be released at the end of this month and includes music from Vassafor’s early releases as well as unreleased versions of songs and covers. Coincidentally, one of those covers is Vassafor’s version of Beherit’s “Beast of Damnation”, which was also covered by Beyond Mortal Dreams in their excellent EP that I reviewed earlier this week. The killer album cover was created by Aaron Aziel, who’s also from Auckland.

I learned that Vassafor released an album earlier this year named Obsidian Codex, and I found two tracks from it on Soundcloud, both of which can be downloaded for free HERE. More about those after the jump.

The art on the right is for a forthcoming, self-titled debut album by a Toronto blackened death metal band named Paroxsihzem. It’s also scheduled for release by Dark Descent at the end of the month. I haven’t yet found who created the artwork. The artwork was created by the band’s vocalist, Krag. Intrigued by the artwork, I found a Paroxsihzem track called “Nausea” for streaming on Bandcamp. Continue reading »

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