NEW VIDEOS: HOODED MENACE, DOWN, AND RED ELEVEN

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Sep 282012
 

(Artwork by Sandro of Undead Creep.)

Not long after I posted that new Gojira video earlier today, I found three more new videos that I thought were worth sharing with our readers. The bands are: Hooded Menace (Finland), Down (US-NOLA), and Red Eleven (Finland).

HOODED MENACE

I’ve been writing a lot about this Finnish group’s new album, Effigies Of Evil, which is out now on Relapse. Of course, the one thing I haven’t yet written is a review, though I haven’t given up hope that I’ll find time to explain in more detail why I think this album is so titanic.

The latest from Hooded Menace is a music video premiered today by Metal Injection for “Crumbling Insanity”. The video was directed by Justin Oakley for Burial Offerings (Ulver). It intersperses footage of the band performing with images of such things as crucifixion, impalement, murder, and the collapse of churches. The song well-represents the talent of Hooded Menace for blending necrotic melodies, hard-charging death metal riffs, and the suffocating weight of funereal doom into a potent brew. Here’s the video: Continue reading »

GOJIRA: “EXPLOSIA” LIVE

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  1 Response »
Sep 282012
 

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’m in the middle of a work-related trip that isn’t leaving me much blog time, and things won’t get back to normal until I get back to Seattle on Sunday night.  I do plan to catch up on what I’ve missed, as best I can, between now and Monday.

Here’s one thing I missed: Yesterday, Metal Sucks exclusively premiered a video of Gojira performing “Explosia” live in New York City last month. By the time I realized the video was out, the band had posted it on YouTube, so you can check it out here after the jump.

The video syncs the album track of “Explosia” to the performance footage (and accelerates some of the frames in a way that was fun to see). I go back and forth, but today I think “Explosia” is my favorite track on L’Enfant Sauvage, so any excuse to hear it again is welcome. Continue reading »

ANAAL NATHRAKH: “VANITAS”

 Album Reviews  5 Responses »
Sep 282012
 

(Andy Synn reviews the highly anticipated new album by the UK’s Anaal Nathrakh.)

“The more things change, the more they stay the same“ is usually used in a negative context. Not here. The consummate ease with which Anaal Nathrakh vomit up quality album after quality album, all without straying too far from their core sound, makes that statement one of unshakeable intent, reaffirming the band’s commitment to sheer sonic superiority.

It takes a masterful band to truly embrace their sound and continue to push it for all it is worth, without falling into a comfortable rut or succumbing to the lure of the ‘new’, but Anaal Nathrakh have always been anything but comfortable. Masters of the lethal musical arts, with each album their unholy fusion of blackened fury, grinding filth, and industrial-strength death metal power is re-tooled and reworked to further plumb the depths of humanity.

With Vanitas Anaal Nathrakh have produced their most melodic, yet also most blackened, record in years, with a heavier focus on intense, virulent remolo melodies and bleak, haunting moodscapes. Closest in character to Eschaton, the main touchstone for the music is the work and sound of Emperor; the soaring, almost arrogant, clean vocals recalling Ihsahn at his finest, while their juxtaposition against flaming torrents of scalding riffage and twisted, contorted song structures echoes a similar ability to effortlessly strike multiple targets at once – the melodic, the blistering, and the crushingly heavy – without weakness or hesitation. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: FLOOD THE DESERT — “STOLEN PROPHETS”

 Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET  7 Responses »
Sep 282012
 

(Not long ago BadWolf reviewed a live show in Grand Rapids that included a band named Flood the Desert that made quite an impression. Now BadWolf reviews their debut release.)

When I last checked in with Flood the Desert, they were nearly done completing their first official release. Just a few months later I have the finished product sitting on my iPod. Stolen Prophets is the debut four-track EP by this Grand Rapids, Michigan power trio.

First and foremost, Flood the Desert know how to play their instruments. I hear their material and think “this is what it was like to see Dream Theater in 1988,” except Flood the Desert pull it off as a three-piece and without pompous vocals slathering everything. In fact, the band is so proud of their instrumentals that they offer instrumental versions of each track. Both versions are worth your time.

Stolen Prophets clocks in at just shy of a half hour, and runs a wide tonal gamut in that brief time. If you’re looking for music that can take you somewhere else when you close your eyes, Flood the Desert are that band. They keep things relatively low on extremity—no song here gets much heavier than any given track on Mastodon’s Crack the Skye—and opt instead for a cleaner sonic palate. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: DEAD RIVER RUNS DRY — “WINTER”

 Album Reviews, Free Shit, SHORT BUT SWEET  5 Responses »
Sep 272012
 

Well, despite my predictions earlier today, I managed to find time to write another post. To be more accurate, I came across a new discovery that compelled me to make time for another post.

Dead River Runs Dry is an Australian band who e-mailed me early this morning. In fact, the e-mail was the first thing I saw when I fired up my computer after dragging my sorry ass out of bed following a grand total of 3 hours sleep. In a fit of impulsiveness I decided to listen to their music before moving on to anything else because I liked their name. It didn’t hurt that they also linked to a laudatory feature about themselves, with an accompanying interview, that appeared at DECIBEL magazine’s web site (though I read that only after listening to the music).

They’ve self-released a four-song demo entitled Winter that they’re distributing for free, and that of course was another plus. And the final plus is that Winter kills.

With their music, Dead River Runs Dry paint a portrait of a torn and blasted wasteland — damned, desolate, and dangerous. Yet it’s a landscape with its own bleak beauty and vibrance. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: RED FANG, POSTHUM, DISSIPATE, REANIMA, AND NEUROGENIC

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  3 Responses »
Sep 272012
 

This may be the last, in addition to being the first, post of this Thursday. Long airplane trip ahead, followed by driving, followed by work. If there’s wi-fi on the airplane or I get a break tonight, you may hear from me again. Otherwise, happy trails until tomorrow.

In this post, I’ve once again collected some recent discoveries, and because this may be today’s only post, I’ve really loaded it up with new metal. Musically, the shit is all over the map.

ITEM ONE: RED FANG

I do love me some Red Fang, even when the music isn’t accompanied by one of this Portland’s band’s hilarious videos. Yesterday they released a new single — “Crows In Swine” — which is available on iTunes. I thought maybe the song was about a ground-breaking new recipe, and I probably would eat crow if it was wrapped in bacon.

It turned out not to be a recipe, but another heavy-riffing, skull-banging, full-throated, doom-shrouded piece of stoner goodness. My only problem with the song is that it ends too soon. Continue reading »

SEEN AND HEARD: DYING FETUS, GOD SEED, VILDHJARTA, PIG DESTROYER ON PIANO, AND A BAND OF ORCS

 Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  5 Responses »
Sep 262012
 

Yours truly is on the road again, and by “road” I mean in airports and on airplanes and therefore spending hours of tedium separated from the internet. As a result, the postings between now and Monday are going to be scattered and probably fewer than normal. I did have time last night and this morning to survey what’s been happening over the last 24 hours and found the following nuggets of interest.

ITEM ONE: DYING FETUS, ET AL – “THE BLOOD OF POWER TOUR”

I started posting about this tour when there was no official announcement and just a few dates had surfaced, because I was so fuckin’ excited about it. Yesterday it became official. I saw on Metal Sucks (which is co-sponsoring the tour) that Dying Fetus, Cattle Decapitation, and Cerebral Bore will indeed be touring the U.S. in November and December.

But this official announcement has revealed something I didn’t know: Malignancy will be taking the place of Cattle Decapitation during the last week of the tour. The two bands are very different, of course, but they’re both just excellent at what they do. If you want a taste of Malignancy’s forthcoming album (which is amazing), check out this post. Tour dates are right after the jump. Continue reading »

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME: THE “ASTRAL BODY” VIDEO

 RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  7 Responses »
Sep 262012
 

Unless you’ve been dwelling in a cave you probably know that Parallax II: Future Sequence is the name of the new album by Between the Buried and Me. Metal Blade will release it on October 9 (pre-order here). This morning, the band’s first music video from the album premiered at AltPress.

Provocative still frames from the video have been dribbling out over the last week, but to see the completed product is a real trip. The character in the video makes a real trip, too, in a sequence that links to the narrative concept of the album. The animation is very well done and a shitload of fun to watch, and it syncs perfectly with the music.

And the music? It’s an intricate offering of technical, progressive metal that is nevertheless extremely melodic and engrossing.

The video is worth seeing and hearing. For now, the AltPress video premiere is an exclusive one, so go HERE to see it and then let us know what you think in the Comments.

KREATOR / SWALLOW THE SUN: ACE OF SPADES, SEPT 24, 2012

 Concert Reviews  7 Responses »
Sep 262012
 

(In this post DGR reviews the performances by Kreator, Swallow the Sun, Solanum, Blessed Curse, and Black Mackerel at Sacramento’s Ace of Spades on Sept. 24, 2012.)

I understand that there are people out there who don’t have weekends off and likewise work crazy schedules where their two days off aren’t in succession, but Monday shows always seem a little crazy to me. Few people are brave enough to venture out of their homes, knowing full well they either have Tuesday off or have work the next day, to attend a show on a Monday.

I also know that being in a band is a 7-day per week job, so Monday on their end is just another day. But I’m musing about Monday shows in part to explain what seemed like a somewhat small turnout for this one.

Ace Of Spades was about 1/3rd full, which is around 200-300 people, which is a lot, but Ace Of Spades is a pretty big place and this is the first time I’ve ever seen a show where people had space to pit, rock out, and in general have their own personal space without having to worry about crashing into other folk. Parking was also easier than hell to find this time, too.

I’d like to extend a fuck yeah to those of us who did go to a show on a MONDAY, because damn, it seemed like we had a hell of a time, didn’t it?

Continue reading »

THE MONOLITH RISES

 Metal News  17 Responses »
Sep 252012
 

It’s time. Time for a big plug about an ambitious new metal site about to be born. Some of you have been hearing rumblings about this project for a while, but the rising has now finally begun. Its name is THE MONOLITH.

I’ve been a behind-the-scenes, fly-on-the-wall witness to the development of this project for quite a long time, but have been keeping my gabby yap shut until it reached the point where the principal organizers began disclosing information publicly, and that’s now happening. So here’s a recap of what’s been revealed to date (and more information will be coming soon). In the interest of full disclosure, please be aware that although what follows is based on publicly disclosed info, these are my words and they haven’t been reviewed or approved in advance by The Monolith’s operators. Also be aware that lots of the people involved in this venture are friends of mine.

THE CONCEPT

This isn’t going to be just another metal blog (for example, the awesome Par Olofsson has designed the site’s artwork), although it will certainly include the kind of content you would expect from a metal blog. It’s billed as “an entertainment hub for alternative culture, focusing on music (and film) from the very darkest corners of the human mind”. So what exactly does that mean?

Well, at its core it’s about trying to build a community of people who are passionate about metal and who want to collaborate in supporting the scene and seeing it progress in a positive way. The site already seems to have attracted the backing of lots of artists, fans, label reps, PR folks, etc.

The Monolith will, of course, include the kind of free online content that readers have come to expect from a top-flight metal blog — breaking news, album reviews, interviews, song and album premieres, etc. — and the mission will be to generate positive, interesting, and entertaining writing. The names of all the writers haven’t been revealed yet, but I can tell you they’re an experienced, knowledgable, multi-national collective of people whose names you will recognize and who have experience writing for or running their own blogs. I’m expecting good reading from them. But there’s a lot more in store, too. Continue reading »

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