by BBG

After expansive releases like Of Sound Mind lit up the critical press in 2009 (we posted a track back then), Ancestors retreated back into their riff cave to further their progressive vision for their new release. The result is the Invisible White EP, a 29 minute progressive odyssey that borrows elements from 70s fuzz, Pink Floyd, Yes, and plays like a pensive soundtrack in a room full of ganja smoke. Check out the epic EP closer "Epilogue" which makes its debut in this post, streaming below. Look for the release on Tuesday (6/21) via Tee Pee.

Ancestors currently have just one day on their calendar, and that's tonight (6/17) at Three of Clubs in LA. Sister band Night Horse have no dates at all. We'll let you know if that changes.

Meanwhile Night Horse vocalist Sam Van Velde will see the release of the three album discography from his prior pastime, Bluebird. The LA band will see the reissue of said material via Tee Pee on August 13th. The triple album, entitled Saguaro (1995-2003), will feature 2003's Hot Blood, 2000's The Two and 1999's High Atmosphere EP along with "various singles and compilation tracks".

Song stream, and some video is below.

Continue reading "Ancestors releasing new EP (song premiere)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Blood Red Shoes @ MHOW

After Chris left the BV Loft Party all the way back on Friday, October 22nd, he headed over to Music Hall of Williamsburg for the Blue Flowers-presented CMJ showcase for a lineup of mostly UK bands including Chapel Club, Everything Everything, and Blood Red Shoes (who toured North America with Sky Larkin in October). Pictures from that show are in this post.

The occasion (to post these belated pics)? SXSW has already announced an initial lineup of bands playing in Austin from March 16-20, 2011, and Chapel Club is on that list (and I wouldn't be surprised of the other 2 mentioned bands end up coming too). Also on the list: Lia Ices, Braids, Asobi Seksu, Wye Oak, Suuns, Sun Airway, A Place to Bury Strangers and more. Full list under the rest of the MHOW pictures, below...

Continue reading "Chapel Club played CMJ w/ Everything Everything & Blood Red Shoes (pics), playing SXSW 2011 (intial lineup)"

words by Kim Kelly,

Goatsnake at Roadburn! (Erik Luyten)

Kim Kelly knows her (good) metal, and as such, we couldn't think of a better ambassador than this Philadelphian/writer for Terrorizer/Hails & Horns/Metal Injection. Kim checks in from Roadburn (April 15-18, 2010) in Tilburg, Holland, where she will take in some of the best metal bands currently in existence (and some resurrected from the grave), reporting back on what havoc the riff, and the volcano, hath wrought... - BBG

====

ROADBURN DIARY - DAY 1 (Thursday, April 15)

The road to Tilburg is a very long one, indeed - at least if you're coming from the mean streets of Philadelphia. After an 8am flight from Newark that landed at Heathrow at 8pm London time (before the volcano!), a few restless hours of sleep in a hostel (where a very nice Scottish boy had acted as my human alarm clock after I discovered that both my US and UK cell phones weren't working), an hour-long bus ride to Standsted Airport (chauffeured by a rough-looking lad who spent the trip dancing in his seat to Lady Gaga and singing along under his breath), an hour flight to Eindhoven, twenty minutes on a bus to the city's central train station, forty minutes on the train to Tilburg, and a five-minute walk with my Terrorizer mates to the Grass Company cafe/weed emporium, I was finally there - the stoned Mecca that is Roadburn.

continued below...

Continue reading "Roadburn Festival 2010 kicks off despite the volcano - our Day 1 report includes Goatsnake, Eyehategod, a wedding & more"

by BBG

Laura of Kylesa (more by Paul Birman)

Earlier I discussed my favorite LPs of the year, but why leave the fun to just one? I asked some of my favorite artists and promoters for their 2009 highlights. The responses were great. You already saw some of them. Justina listed some quotes, Liam Wilson talked about Philly, and Josh Graham listed good things about 2009. They continue below. You'll find lists of favorite songs and albums of the year, not to mention answers to crucial questions like:

• What are Coalesce's favorite pizza toppings?
• Which one of my top 20 artists of the year tried to get in a cab with Kirsten Dunst?
• What is the #1 sauce/condiment of 2009?

Continue reading "The Year in Metal continued (BBG asked countless others to make lists... and here they all are)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Ancestors - The Ambrose Law" (MP3)

People use the word "epic" too often nowadays.

Whether for good reasons: "@ahj Yup! Chlamydia free. EPIC WIN!" [holymolydotcom]

Or for bad: "Free lunch at work = win. No sweets served with said lunch = EPIC FAIL." [strangedesign]

Does anyone really know the meaning of epic? I'm pretty sure that Ancestors (or anyone that has seen them play) do, and during SXSW I experienced that first hand. Anyone can riff like the 70's through a haze of ganja smoke, but Ancestors do it particularly well. The proggy-yet-surprisingly-heavy crew ripped through some epic material during their set at Room 710 in Austin, with one then-unreleased song leaving a specific impression. That song proved to be the 13+ minute "The Ambrose Law", which the band laid to tape for their upcoming LP Of Sound Mind (out Oct 2nd via Tee Pee Records). Download that track above. Full tracklist below.

Of Sound Mind features contributions by cellist Ramiro Zapata, Sera Timms of another SXSW 2009 fave, Black Math Horseman, as well as solo artist/contributor-extraordinaire David Scott Stone (Melvins, Unwound, Lavender Diamond, Joe Lally). The LP was recorded by Pete Lyman, the guilty party behind LPs for The Mars Volta, Qui and No Age.

As discussed before, Ancestors (not to be confused with the black metal band) members Brandon Pierce and Justin Maranga (not to be confused with Jonah Matranga who plays Southpaw Monday 8/10) are also doing time in Night Horse, a project which surfaces in NYC twice in the next couple weeks, Aug 13th @ Piano's and Aug 16th @ Union Pool. More dates HERE. Check out a video of that band performing at SXSW below....

Continue reading "Ancestors - new MP3 from new album 'Of Sound Mind'"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Nebula - "Pulse" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nebula - "The Dagger" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Night Horse - "Good Bye Gone" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Entrance Band - "Grim Reaper Blues" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Naam - "Kingdom" (MP3)

Nebula, inna black-metal stylee

Call it the unofficial Tee-Pee-clusterfuck week if you want, but for nine days this August, four separate tours featuring bands on their label will pound NYC with a barrage of shows, with a few shows falling on the same day.... sigh.

First up, the psychedelic LA band Nebula have announced a US tour with The Entrance Band. That includes a stop at Santos Party House on August 22nd with Naam. Tickets are on sale. Nebula are touring to promote their Heavy Psych (the LP name and in practice), which will pounce on an unsuspecting public on July 7th via Tee Pee. Check out "Pulse" and The Dagger" from that LP, both of which are downloadable above.

The Entrance Band (an Ecstatic Peace-signed band who are sometimes just called "Entrance") are also touring with Sonic Youth even sooner. In fact they are playing United Palace in NYC with them on July 3rd (tickets are still available).

The Entrance Band is one of a few openers that are scheduled for the Sonic Youth tour which has Sonic Youth taking July 4th and 5th off. The Entrance Band aren't taking as long of a vacation though. You can catch them headline Southpaw in Brooklyn on the 5th (this Sunday) with TK Webb & the Visions. Tickets are on sale.

Meanwhile, another Tee Pee band from the westside is hitting the eastern shores within a week of Nebula's show at Santos AND have a release coming on the same day as Heavy Psych. Night Horse, who share guitarist Justin Maranga and drummer Brandon Pierce with the mighty Ancestors (not the black metal band), have scheduled a pair of NYC area dates for the second week in August. They play Pianos on August 13th with TK Webb & The Visions and Union Pool on August 16th with Tournament and Orphan. Night Horse will release the first of a three part split 7" series planned for this summer with Dirty Sweet. Look for that 7" on July 7 and check out the first track, "Good Bye Gone", available above.

Next up, Swedish doom-proto types (or is that doom-prototype types?) Graveyard are scheduled to tour the US with CKY (yes, the one with Bam Margera's brother) which includes a NYC date at Gramercy Theater on 8/13, same night as Night Horse at Pianos. Tickets are on sale.

Oh, and did I mention The Warlocks shows at Bowery Ballroom and Maxwell's on August 14th & 15th respectively? Tickets are still available (BB here, Maxwell's here).

Although Ancestors are NOT on the road in any significant fashion, they recently announced their new album, the massively epic Of Sound Mind. Featuring contributions from David Scott Stone (Unwound, Melvins) and Sera Timms (Black Math Horseman), look for Of Sound Mind to hit stores on Oct 6th via Tee Pee Records. MUCH more on this record to come... highly recommended.

Full tour dates for Nebula, Night Horse, The Entrance Band, and Graveyard are below.

Continue reading "Nebula, Graveyard & Night Horse & the Entrance Band tour (not together) - 2009 dates (Sonic Youth, TK Webb too)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Minsk - "Three Moons" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Magrudergrind - "Excommunicated" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Magrudergrind - "Lyrical Ammunition For Scene Warfare" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Afgrund - "Klinisk Digital Kyla" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Afgrund - "Borja Fran Noll" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thou - "Into The Void" (Black Sabbath cover, MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thou - "Sweet Leaf" (Black Sabbath cover, MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thou - "Lord Of This World" (Black Sabbath cover, MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thou - "Black Sabbath" (Black Sabbath cover, MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Pyramid - "Visions of Gehenna" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gnaw Their Tongues - "Rife with Deep Teeth Marks" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Complete Failure - Heal No Evil (ZIPPED MP3 Album)

Lots of ground to cover, since we missed ya last week, so lets get right to it with the mighty Minsk! The Chicagoan's new album With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone is out now, and it definitely delivers on the promises of The Ritual Fires of Abandonment. Highly recommended, as evidenced by the monstrosity "Three Moons" available for download above!

At The Charleston on 5/29, I managed to catch the pummeling Magrudergrind along with the equally awesome powerviolence of The Endless Blockade. The pair are touring surrounding their MDF appearance, and while TEB doesn't have a new album out, Magrudergrind DOES; a self-titled LP available now via Willowtip! Cop that here, and cop a pair of songs from the record above!

Also up at Willowtip, the new LPs by Defeatist and Afgrund! The new Defeatist LP, Sharp Blade Sinks Deep Into Dull Minds, is actually a compilation of previous EPs and other releases, but definitely provides a good preview as to what these grinders are about before their new LP drops (soon). Meanwhile Afgrund's new LP, Vid Helvetets Grindar, is also on preorder. Check out the band's deathgrind-y groove on tracks like "Klinisk Digital Kyla", "Borja Fran Noll", both downloadable above.

Check out two noteworthy streams... Khanate's Clean Hands Go Foul and Xasthur's All Reflections Drained. Both albums are out NOW via Hydra Head Records. In the meantime, check out an awesome interview with James Plotkin of Khanate and make sure and buy that Khanate hunting knife too!

Goes Cube are finally home from their tour promoting the massive Another Day Has Passed. Their "homecoming show" is scheduled for tonight (6/5) at Union Hall with The Detachment Kit amd The Thin Man. Tickets are still available.

Ancestors have completed recording their follow-up to last year's Neptune With Fire. Featuring four songs, and three interludes, I had a chance to preview a few tracks which are definitely as epic as their previous material, and just as compelling. Look for Sera Timms from Black Math Horseman and David Scott Stone to make an apperance on the as-yet untitled LP, and look for more news very soon!

A member of Pelican and a member of Tombs have agreed to a "bro tat" commemorating their current tour together. So what you say? YOU can decide what it is! Pictures from their recent show together at Irving Plaza are HERE in case you missed them.

Iron Age and Sex Vid are in town this weekend. More info, dates, and an MP3 from Iron Age's Tee Pee Records debut, HERE.

Liturgy have been added to our Northside Festival showcase. Howl have been added to the roster of Relapse Records, and we just got word that so were Black Anvil!

Black Pyramid has released their new self-titled LP on the doom stable Meteor City Records. While vocalist Andy Beresky comes off sounding like J.D. Cronise at times (NOT a bad thing), these Massachusetts boys definitely are in a whole different category than The Sword. With an ability to balance their bombastic blues riffs with stylistic touches of the greats (ie Electric Wizard, Sleep, Pentagram, etc) without sounding derivative, check out a video for Black Pyramid's "And The Gods Made War/Visions of Gehenna" below and download "Visions of Gehenna" above! Full BP tour dates are below, including their appearance at the Stoner Hands Of Doom Festival.

That video and Thou, Indian, Ulver, Brutal Truth, Wolves In The Throne Room, Municipal Waste, and Narrows as This Week In Metal Continues...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (06/05/09)"

words & photos by Black Bubblegum

Ancestors @ Room 710 in Austin - March 19, 2009

My SXSW adventure began Wednesday morning at the airport. Talk about starting things off on the wrong foot! A woman fell into a diabetic coma (she was ok later that morning) on my 6:30AM flight. That led to an unplanned stop in NOLA which was followed by a layover in a fogged up Houston Airport... to say I was a little late to our own day show at Emo's was an understatement. Unfortunately, Trash Talk were wheeling their amps out the door when I got there (which meant I also missed Garotas Suecas and Psychedelic Horseshit), but I managed to catch Trash Talk vocalist Lee cruising around, with a microphone grill imprinted on his forehead. His pain, our pleasure...

Continue reading "Black Bubblegum's SXSW-metal recap - part 1 "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: TK Webb & The Visions - "Teen Is Still Shaking" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Graveyard - "Thin Line" (MP3)

Witchcraft

Swede mages Witchcraft have a handful of planned dates trickling out, including a show at Bowery Ballroom on September 17th with compatriots (in nationality and inspiration) Graveyard and Brooklyn's own TK Webb & The Visions. Tickets go on sale August 1st at noon. Peep the list of dates so far, down below.

Witchcraft is also on board for Lollapalooza 2008 - the only band playing Lolla AND the dying Ozzfest in the same week. Unfortunately, like Radiohead and Rage Against The Machine, Witchcraft's performance won't be viewable from the live stream. Wilco, Broken Social Scene, The National, The Raconteurs, Stephen Malkmus, and many others will be though.

Witchcraft will also be intersecting with a Witch (minus the -craft) tour in LA with Ancestors. Starting September 19th, Graveyard is touring with The Sword and Clutch.

Ancestors have a new album on the way, Neptune With Fire, due on August 19th on Tee Pee. Ancestor, the new album by TK Webb & The Visions, is due September 2nd on Kemado. Dates below...

Continue reading "Witchcraft - 2008 Tour Dates (Lollapalooza/Ozzfest/NYC)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: U.S. Christmas - "The Scalphunters" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lions Of Tsavo - "The Hooven Swarm" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Lions Of Tsavo - "Body Drift" (MP3)

Intronaut

Intronaut is about to get prehistoric on dat azz, when the new LP Prehistoricisms (full tracklisting below) hits the shelves on September 16th via their new label Century Media. Metalkult has a preview in the form of "Australopithecus" which is downloadable at their site. .Tickets are still on sale for their show at Knitting Factory on August 8th with Behold The Arctopus, Mouth Of The Architect, Deadsea, and Wetnurse (one helluva bill). Mouth Of The Architect drops Quietly this week and Wetnurse drops Invisible City on September 30th. Deadsea's S/T record is out now, catch it at their myspace. "Prehistoricisms" album art there to the right.

I have heard from a very credible source that the mighty sunn 0))) will return to NYC to play a special show in celebration of the ten year anniversary of The Grimmrobe Demos. Um, yowsers. As details come in, you'll get em.

Sweden's Burst have posted two new tracks from and announced a release date for (September 16th in the US) their new record Lazarus Bird. Dig on "Cripple God" and "(We Watched) The Silver Rain" streaming at their myspace. The band has commented "Expect an album that will NOT be Origo Part 2, but something new", and if this is any indication, should be a good 'un.

Speaking of good 'uns, the Bowery Ballroom show on July 25th featuring Early Man, Valient Thorr, and the mighty Monotonix should be a grand ole time. Wanna get in gratis? Email us at BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Denim Vests) with your first & last name, and we'll randomly pick two winners and drop 'em a pair of tickets each.

Lions Of Tsavo, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Akimbo, Obituary and more below...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (07/24/08)"