by BBG

We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans...we have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open... We are still in the UK with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll... See you at Download!!!

- Tony, Ozzy and Geezer

The above statement (in a Facebook post!) comes in response to the public statement that Bill Ward made about not wanting to sign their contract.

by BBG

DOWNLOAD:Noisear - "Endless Reincarnation" (MP3)

Unearthly Trance at Saint Vitus (more by Greg Cristman)


Unearthly Trance shows are few and far between nowadays, but the band will awaken from their live slumber to play Acheron on March 1st as part of a bill that includes The Communion, Water Torture, and Syphilitic Lust. $8 gets you in the door. Check out the flyer below.

Horseback has completed their new LP Half Blood due via Relapse this Spring. Details are limited so far, but Roadburn has more details about the record and its "amalgamation of drone, doom, black-metal, psychedelia, post-rock, noise, and ambience recorded with a wide array of instruments including guitar, bass, drums, keys, piano, bells, contact mics, field recordings, drum programming, noise and various signal processors." Yep, sounds like a Horseback record!

Check out a new Noisear track from their upcoming three-way split with Antigama and The Kill above. The track features vocals by Mitchell Luna of ex-Maruta fame.

Perdition will join Varix, Murderer and Sad Boys at Heaven Street Records TONIGHT (2/3). Door entry will cost you zilch and beers will cost you a dollar. Sounds like a winning night of furious, crusty punk to me.

Drainland will share a split 7" with Crows due on Suburban Mayhem Records. Stream the material from that release below.

Slices are preparing their new LP Still Cruising for Iron Lung Records. Look for it in the coming weeks and stream "Greensleeves" from the LP below.

One interesting and important footnote to the upcoming Behold the Arctopus show at Saint Vitus on Feb 24th... Support will come from Mindless Blasting and Geryon, two bands which feature Mick Barr with Nondor Nevai and Nick McMaster with Lev Weinstein respectively. Basically, a night of Krallice-related projects... should be interesting. Tickets are on sale.

Like Flipper, a reunited Sleepytime Trio are playing a show at SXSW in Austin this year.

No NYC dates, but Ringworm, Cancer Bats & Primitive are touring from Ohio to SXSW and then back to Ohio together. OFF! were also recently announced on the SXSW lineup.

Mastodon/Opeth/Ghost tickets went on sale earlier today.

Saturday's Ceremony, Pissed Jeans, The Rival Mob, Hoax, Kim Phuc, Gods and Queens show @ Le Poisson Rouge is now sold out.

Converge announced a tour.

YOB recently visited NJ with Tool. Right before that, they headlined their own show in Chicago with Anatomy of Habit and an opening set by YOB's Mike Scheidt who is going to release a solo album this year on Thrill Jockey. BV Chicago has pics from the Chicago show.

If you missed it, check out my interviews we just posted with English Dogs guitarist Gizz Butt and Mark "Barney" Greenway of Napalm Death. (Pilgrim too actually.)

A list of suggested NYC shows with song streams, the "Beaten & Left Blind" video by Landmine Marathon, and a set of European SUNN O))) tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Evillive (Unearthly Trance, Noisear, Horseback, Slices & more)"

by BBG

Cut Hands, who you may know as William Bennett of power electronics juggernaut Whitehouse, will play a select set of shows in the US in February. The tour, which mostly focus on the East Coast/Midwest, will kick off in Los Angeles on 2/14 (how romantic!) and eventually make its way to Brooklyn's Public Assembly on February 24th. The show will also feature appearances from Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280, Veiled, & David E. Williams as well as DJs Pieter Schoolwerth, Caleb Braaten & ning nong; tickets are on sale.

Pop. 1280 recently celebrated the release of their new LP, and will play Saint Vitus on March 3rd (tickets).

Meanwhile, power electronics, noise and the avant garde are the focus of the ongoing Hospital Productions curation at The Stone. Tonight (2/3) the space will welcome Hell Hoarse and Luke Moldof + Reuben Son.

Check out a version of Xeno & Oaklander's "Sets & Lights" recorded in London last July , alongside all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Cut Hands going on tour, playing Public Assembly with Xeno & Oaklander, Pop. 1280 & more (dates)"

by BBG

Gizz Butt

To certain fans of punk, crust, and metal, Gizz Butt may be a familiar face. Gizz Butt recently logged time performing Crass tunes as a member of Steve Ignorant's Last Supper, is the current bassist for UK thrash greats Sabbat, served as guitarist for the live lineup of The Prodigy and is currently one of the driving forces behind the reformation of the English Dogs: Forward Into Battle lineup.

Gizz Butt, who was a member of the band during that classic period, is preparing to hit the road with the English Dogs for a string of US dates that include the upcoming show at Europa on 2/12 (tickets). We cornered guitarist to discuss the upcoming tour, the reunion, Rudimentary Peni, Rachmaninov, Excel and his thoughts on the "other" English Dogs. The results are below.

Continue reading "An interview with English Dogs guitarist Gizz Butt"

by BBG

Converge at House of Vans (more by BBG)


Converge have been grinding away on a new record, but will head out of their caves to play a string of mostly-Northeastern US dates with Loma Prieta (who we recently profiled) and Git Some (ex-Planes Mistaken For Stars). That includes a stop in Brooklyn at Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 14th with Pianos Become The Teeth. Loma Prieta is unfortunately sitting out the MHoW date, but we'll let you know if they add another area show instead. Ticketing info for MHoW is forthcoming.

Meanwhile, Converge drummer Ben Koller will spend the days leading up to the tour as drummer for the mighty All Pigs Must Die. The band recently played Acheron with Seven Sisters of Sleep (who went on to play A389 Anniversary) and will hit Knitting Factory on March 9th as part of a round of dates with Narrows. Tickets are still available.

All tour dates and some video below...

Continue reading "Converge announce tour, including Music Hall of Williamsburg (dates w/ Loma Prieta & Git Some)"

Things got a little worse for the reunited Black Sabbath who are already struggling with Tony Iommi's ongoing battle with lymphoma. The band, who is reportedly working on new material and are scheduled to begin touring in May, received an open letter from original drummer Bill Ward who is unahppy with the band's insistence that he sign an "unreasonable contract" (again). He swears though that his "position is not greed-driven." and that he's "not holding out for a 'big piece' of the action (money) like some kind of blackmail deal." Read it in full below...

Continue reading "Bill Ward threatening to back out of Black Sabbath reunion"

by BBG

Napalm Death at Gramercy (more by Justina Villanueva)

Mark "Barney" Greenway and his co-conspirators in Napalm Death are back with Utilitarian, their new Century Media-released LP due on Feb 27th in the EU and Feb 28th in the US. We recently dropped a new track from the grindcore pioneers and now have cornered their long-time frontman for a short interrogation on the new record, their plans for the immediate and longer-term future, and what it means to be punk in the 21st century. The results of said discussion are below.

Continue reading "an interview with Mark "Barney" Greenway of Napalm Death"

by BBG

Pharaoh Overlord

Much like in their related band Circle, Jussi Lehtisalo, Janne Westerlund and Tomi Leppänen inject their fair share of oddity into their Pharaoh Overlord project. Primarily based in the stoner-krautrock genres, Pharaoh Overlord, which now contains Faust great Hans Joachim Irmler, ventures into hynotic space-blues, jazzy passages, and even some ambient in their unique melting-pot longplayer Lunar Jetman, due on 2xLP via SIGE Records (up for pre-order) and CD via Ektro. Check out the opening cut from the LP, "Rodent" and "Cardinal" both streaming below.

Meanwhile, kraut-prog-metal-all-of-the-above band Circle is ALSO preparing a new studio record of their own (aren't they always?), due via Hydra Head in time for Record Store Day. Look for details regarding Manner in the coming weeks but in the meantime, look for a new live LP from the band via Ektro. Serpent, a live album pulled from an October 2011 show in the UK, is currently up for preorder and you can stream two songs from that release below.

In related news, Ektro has also released a retrospective of Finland's Death Trip as well. Death Trip combined slithering punk with the gothic post-punk touches of The Birthday Party and the brutality of the mighty Brainbombs, and you can eulogize their passing with Pain is Pain - The Complete Death Trip 1988-1994. Stream a pair of tracks, "Chainsaw Goddess" and "Death Trip", both of which are below.

All streams are below, along with some video.

Continue reading "Pharaoh Overlord and Circle prepare new LPs via SIGE/Ektro; Ektro released a Death Trip retrospective"

by BBG

Buzzov-en at Maryland Death Fest (more by BBG)

Posted to Facebook on Wednesday evening:

I am the singer and man who started buzzoven.I am in recovery from drug addiction and would love to share my journey with anyone who wants maybe to stop drinking or using drugs. This helps me!!

Meanwhile, I'm waiting anxiously for new music when he's ready, and some of his bandmates are out on the road in Hail Hornet.

by BBG

Old Baby

Evan Patterson will step out of his role as honcho for Young Widows to front Old Baby, a new project featuring members that have served time with Slint, Shipping News, Phantom Family Halo, and many other projects. The band's new LP, entitled Misunderstanding Human Behavior, is due via Hawthorne Street at the end of February. Check out "Pale as Man" streamable below.

The band will celebrate with a trio of dates in the Northeast, including 2/11 at Saint Vitus with Phantom Family Halo and The Loom (who played Mercury Lounge last night). Tickets are on sale.

Phantom Family Halo is also welcoming a new release, and the Saint Vitus appearance will be its coming out party. When I Fall Out is due on 2/14 via Knitting Factory Records, and you can stream some material at their Facebook page.

All tour dates and that song stream is below.

Continue reading "Old Baby (mems of Young Widows, Shipping News) readies new LP, teaming with Phantom Family Halo for release party"