by JJ Koczan

We continue with JJ's report from Roadburn in Tilburg, Holland. If you missed it, you might want to start with Day One. Here is Day Two (Friday April 23, 2009)...

Cathedral LIVE at Roadburn (Erik Luyten)

It's really easy to tell as you walk around Tilburg who is here for Roadburn and who isn't. Even when I first got here from Amsterdam on the train, the front of the station looked like an Eyehategod show could have broken out at any minute, all the bearded longhairs and black t-shirts, including my own, standing around looking for a bus or a cab. Like some kind of convention for the International Society Of Social Awkwardness. But oh, we do have a good time.

The thing about the "doom scene," as much as there is one, is that it's really more of a community. Maybe it's because the majority of its patrons are a little older, a little more stoned, a little more concerned with paying their rent, but there are way fewer scene rules than, say, in black metal, where the contest to be more kvlt than thou goes on ceaselessly. Certainly there's a uniform -- see "beards and t-shirts," above -- but there are some normal looking dudes running around here and no one really gives a crap one way or the other what they look like. I'd say it's refreshing, but it's been this way for as long as I've been into doom, so it's nothing new.

This is easily the best festival I've ever seen. The fact that I'm here still astonishes me. Yesterday, as I watched Angel Witch demolish bands half their age (though Saviours would answer back heartily later on), I couldn't help but look around me and be amazed at the gathering of riff worshippers. The Atomic Bitchwax, for example, played to a Green Room so packed that people were lined up into the hallway watching them through the open doors. I've seen the Bitchwax plenty of times in our shared home state of New Jersey, and most of those shows have been relatively empty. Here you can barely go from one part of the venue to the next without doing a bump 'n grind on some poor schlub. It's something to get used to, but I made a conscious decision to take a different approach to day two than I had to day one.

continued below...

Continue reading "Surviving Roadburn, Day Two: Riding To The Sabbath"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Grails w/ Simeon of Silver Apples - Silk Road (MP3)

Grails at Knitting Factory, Nov 2008

Grails have posted a NSFW preview of their upcoming DVD, Acid Rain, due on April 7th via Temporary Residence Limited. Check it out below. "A year in the making", Acid Rain contains six music videos, video shot on their European tour, an entire live set recorded 11/16/07 at the Knitting Factory in NYC (when they toured with Om), and general weirdness like "vietnamese instructional videos of 'what to do in case of rat infestation'" (a direct quote from Emil Amos). Schweet.

Speaking of Grails live at Knitting Factory, the last time the band touched down here was during a collaborative set with Silver Apples as part of the Hallejuwah Fest. Their set was, to quote Kelly LeBrock from Weird Science, "a mind scrambler". Luckily, Radio23.org was able to capture the audio from "Silk Road" and make it available for download... check it out above.

Grails, along with Earth, Grey Daturas, and Tribes of Neurot (aka the experimental ambient nom de plume of Neurosis) were recently added to the Beyond The Pale Festival at Roadburn. For those counting at home, that officially tips the festival scale from stupid awesome to seriously-fucked-up-that-it's-sold-out.

"Acid Rain" DVD trailer below...

Continue reading "Grails - Acid Rain DVD trailer & live (w/ Silver Apples) MP3"

DOWNLOAD: Black Anvil - "Ten Talons Deep" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Transitional - "This Paradise Pt. 1" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Capricorns - "November Suicides" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Capricorns - "The Bell Rang Backwards" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Phobia - "Protest/Solution" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Phobia - "Savannah's Assault" (MP3)

Agalloch

Folkin' black proggers Agalloch has announced that they are at work on their fourth LP, the follow-up the the critically acclaimed Ashes Against The Grain! The band recently parted ways with The End and "have received several offers ranging from the ridiculous to the very interesting" with respect to a new home, but no decision is expected until 2009. Meanwhile, Agalloch also announced the release of The Demonstration Archive, a retrospective of songs from 1996 - 1998 before they signed to the label. For more info on The Demonstration Archive, including how to pick it up, head here.

As we announced a couple weeks ago, doomy instrumental trio Capricorns have released River Bear Your Bones in jolly old England, but the US will see the record on September 30th. Have no fear, as we have posted 25% of the whole record (above) for you to download!

Intronaut's new record, Prehistoricisms, is up for preorder, with or without a limited edition tee ($4 more). Check out "The Literal Black Cloud" from Prehistoricisms here.

Black Anvil

World, Black Anvil. Black Anvil, world. I wish it was that easy, because word needs to get out on these grim lords constructed from ex-members of Kill Your Idols. Drawing from early black metal and thrash and with only an occasional foray into Emperor-style tremolo picking, their new LP Time Insults The Mind is an unholy creature of shadow. Check out "Ten Talons Deep" available for download above and the video of the band tearing through "Deathsomnia" (also from Time...). and pick up the record at Momentum Records when it drops. The band is also playing Traxx in Ronkonkoma on August 23rd and The Charleston on Sept 30th.

That video, plus Neurosis, Coalesce, Converge, Municipal Waste, Rosetta, sunn 0))), Corrupted and more after the jump...

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