AN NCS EP PREMIERE (AND A REVIEW): BLACK ANVIL — “MILES”

 Album Reviews, Premieres, SHORT BUT SWEET  No Responses »
Feb 262019
 

 

On March 4, 2014, Selim Lemouchi took his own life at the age of 33. As the founding member and guitarist of The Devil’s Blood, in which he was joined by his sister Farida, Lemouchi created emotionally powerful occult rock music that was beautifully evil and haunting, a combination of darkness and grandeur that reflected and channeled Lemouchi‘s Satanic spiritualism. The music made strong and lasting connections with many listeners, and led to friendships among fellow musicians, among them, members of New York City’s Black Anvil. Their new EP, Miles, was created as a tribute to him.

Initially, Miles consisted of just the title track and a cover of Mercyful Fate‘s “A Corpse Without Soul”. Work on it was put aside for a time while Black Anvil focused their efforts on their 2017 album, As Was. After returning to Miles, the band wrote and recorded one more original song, the opener “Iron Sharpens Iron”, and recorded a cover of The Devil’s Blood‘s “Everlasting Saturnalia” to round out the EP. Working with their friend Steve Macioci of STB Records, the band have readied Miles for release in March, in remembrance of, and dedication to, their lost friend Selim Lemouchi. We have a full stream of the EP for you today. Continue reading »

THE DEVIL’S BLOOD, ORCHID, AND UNCLE ACID

 Exceptions to the Rule, Metal News, RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC  No Responses »
Apr 132013
 

I went hunting for new music this morning and found a trio of songs that just cried out to be bundled together. Crying makes me uncomfortable, so I relented. All three songs are exceptions to our rule around here. All three songs reach back into the 60’s and 70’s for their inspiration. None of them is a skull-cleaver or a face-melter, but they’ve nonetheless wormed their way into my head. Before I de-worm myself with something that’s more typical for this site, I’m sharing the experiences.

THE DEVIL’S BLOOD

On January 22 of this year, this occult Dutch group announced that they were disbanding, but would be releasing additional recordings before disappearing into the void from whence they came. The first of those is a full-length album entitled III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars, which Metal Blade plans to release on June 11.

Selim “SL” Lemouchi has explained that all of the songs are demos recorded in his home recording studio and given only “a simple mix”. The first song from the album that debuted yesterday is “White Storm of Teeth”.  Continue reading »

AN NCS INTERVIEW: SELIM LEMOUCHI (THE DEVIL’S BLOOD); THE DECIBEL TOUR

 Interviews  5 Responses »
Jul 022012
 

Photo by Sandra Ludewig

(On April 11, 2012, BadWolf interviewed Selim Lemouchi, the guitarist and composer for Dutch occult rock band The Devil’s Blood.)

Selim, the creative force behind The Devil’s Blood, loves to talk. His English really is eloquent, and, though it may not be clear from the interview below, he spends a great deal of time thinking before he answers a question. His responses echo the music he writes; both unfold in long passages that dwell on ugly subjects, but do so with lush beauty.

The first night of the Decibel Magazine tour, we spoke at length about Selim’s satanic beliefs, the role of music in religion, the American government’s war on terror, and the creative process behind making psychedelic doom metal/classic rock revival jams.

———

It’s your first date of the tour and you’re fresh now, clean of blood. How do you feel?

Not really clean yet. I haven’t had a shower in four or five days. Coming here and charging up for the tour was a really exhausting experience. A lot of financial issues needed to be taken care of. We all felt pretty tired and beat-up. From note one all of that was gone, and the powers that we seek to invoke became awakened in us immediately. So we ran with it—we ran with the wolves and howled at the moon and the moon answered. Tonight was an auspicious start to an auspicious tour.

 

This tour is groundbreaking in America because I don’t think i’ve seen a tour in my lifetime so dedicated to satanism.

It would have been ridiculous to do it any other way. For us to tour with bands we don’t respect in an ideological sense is something we would not look forward to, especially if it’s twenty-five or more events. We feel very strongly about what we’re saying, and I know for a fact the other bands feel very strongly about what they are saying. I’ve said in the past we disagree on many points and come together on many others. To be able to grant four unique entities a stage to transform into an altar is something that has been lacking in music for a long time. We’ve seen too many fashion statements, too many gimmick bands. Too many people only concerned with the bottom line. For us the only thing that is interesting is to speak with his words and see with his eyes and to use our hands to do his work. When that’s possible it’s a very blessed occasion. Continue reading »

TOURISM

 Metal News  3 Responses »
Jan 222012
 

I’ve been catching up on metal news today and came across news of three upcoming U.S. tours that are . . . newsworthy, to say the least.

I’m guessing this first one will be old news to many of you, since it surfaced on Friday, but it has sure produced some tumescence in your humble editor’s loins today. Behemoth, Watain, The Devil’s Blood, and In Solitude will be hitting the road for The Decibel Magazine Tour, a 26-date trail of wreckage across the U.S. starting in April. It will be the first Behemoth tour for Nergal since being diagnosed with and beating leukemia. That’s a cool tour flyer by Justin Bartlett up there, too.

More details, including tour dates, venues and ticket info, will be announced at www.decibelmagazinetour.com on January 24th.

But that’s just for starters. Mastodon’s Troy Sanders recently confirmed that his band plus Opeth and Ghost will be embarking on a North American tour of their own. During a recent interview at a Belgian radio station, Sanders stated: “We go to Australia to take part in the Soundwave Festival, which is going to be lovely, take a short break. Do a North American tour with Opeth and Ghost. And then take another break and come back over here for the European festival season.”

I have a feeling a few people will buy tickets for that tour. No further details are available at this time. (found this news via Loudwire)

And that’s not all. Would you believe a 30-date tour of the U.S. this summer by Agalloch?!? Continue reading »