photos by Keith Marlowe, words by BBG

It was the metal equivalent of the first day back at school on January 6th when Europa hosted the first killer show of the year featuring doom gods/recent Metal Blade signees Pentagram, the great-and-currently-working-on-a-new-record Hull, all-female Judas Priest cover band Judas Priestess (get it?) and Bezoar. Bursting at the seams, Europa was packed-solid with doom fanatics who were unashamed to start the pit by the time that Judas Priestess set it off. Killer show from all bands.

More pictures from Europa, including one of Pentagram's setlist, are below.

Continue reading "Pentagram played Europa w/ Hill, Bezoar & Judas Priestess (pics & setlist)"

by BBG

Pentagram at BB King's (more by Nathaniel Shannon)

"Long-running D.C. doom legends PENTAGRAM, with riff-meister Victor Griffin back in the fold, will record their new album, "Last Rites", between November 29 and December 21 for a late March/early April release via Metal Blade Records. The effort will be a double-disc set consisting of the new studio album and a DVD of the band's performance at this year's Maryland Deathfest, which was held on May 28-30, 2010 at Sonar in Baltimore." [Blabbermouth]

A list of song titles are below, and Pentagram, whose current members are Bobby Liebling (Vocals), Victor Griffin (Guitar), Greg Turley (Bass), and Gary Isom of Spirit Caravan (Drums), will play Europa in Brooklyn on January 6th with the help of Hull, Judas Priestess and Bezoar. Tickets are on sale. The show will be Pentagram's first NYC appearance in close to a year. They played BB King's with The Gates of Slumber in on January 17, 2010.

The Gates of Slumber will enter England's Orgone Studios with Jaime Gomez Arellano (Ghost, Angel Witch) to work on their follow-up to Hymns of Blood and Thunder. Look for that LP this spring via Rise Above Records, and look for Gates at Roadburn 2011 along with all of the other jaw-dropping artists who are playing.

All Gates of Slumber dates, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Pentagram sign to Metal Blade, schedule a show"

DOWNLOAD: People of the North - Tunnels (MP3)

Oneida's Ocropolis @ ATP NY 2009 (more by Ryan Muir)

Started by Kid Millions and Bobby Matador of Oneida, People of the North is an ongoing but sporadic outgrowth of that restlessly experimental Brooklyn assemblage. Since the first tour in early 2003, POTn has served as another language emanating from the screaming mouth of the O. It has always included Kid and Bobby, and usually other members of Oneida as well. The entirety of Oneida has performed together under the POTn label at venues including the Frying Pan and the Mercury Lounge.

People of the North has provided compositions that have worked their way into Oneida's most cherished repertoire, including "Up with People" (from Happy New Year) and "Lavender" (from The Wedding).

While there are no clearly defined boundaries separating POTn from Oneida, it might be fair to say that the music tends to be more staunchly devoted to minimalism, repetition, improvisation, and sternness than the wide-ranging efforts of the big brother band.

Deep Tissue was recorded at the Ocropolis in early 2009, with the participation of much of the O. The sessions were deep, and the skies were gray." [Jagjaguwar]

People of the North's Deep Tissue was released by Jagjaguwar in April. There are four songs on the album. You can download one for free above.

Catch People of the North live Friday night at Bowery Ballroom where they'll be opening for Portishead side-project BEAK>. Tickets are still on sale. It's BEAK>'s only NYC appearance, and one of only four they're playing in the U.S. Another one is Saturday at ATP upstate. The other two are in California (and they're all listed below).

Not leaving town this weekend and can't make it to ATP? Todd P and friends present another reason to not feel so bad, and Oneida (who were a big part of ATP NY in 2009), are involved in that too. Oneida will headline a 17+ band lineup (that also includes Oneida side-project Man Forever) at Monster Island on Saturday. The "Monster Island Block Party" kicks off at 2pm and is free. Full lineup and more details with all Oneida and BEAK> dates, below...

Continue reading "Monster Island Block Party Saturday, People of the North opening for Beak> Friday & other Oneida dates"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: La Otracina - "Raze The Sky" (MP3)

Incorporating elements of hard rock, punk, and metal, La Otracina still know how to lock into a heavy-psychedelic groove, and they do it well. The retro-leaning band will show off some of those XL riffs on a new LP Reality Has Got to Die out now digitally via Holy Mountain Records. Hard formats are due in September. Spacey but not meandering, gently melodic but with cojones, La Otracina pummel on burly tracks like "Raze The Sky" available for download above.

La Otracina's genetic make up is similarly awesome, featuring members of Titan, Children, and the dearly-departed Nebula (who played the BV day-party at Fontana's last year). The trio will show off their chops at a number of NYC shows in the coming weeks including Coco 66 Wednesday (7/28) with Telecult Powers & La Big Vic, August 27th at Union Pool with a killer teaming of Bezoar, Naam, and Wizardry, and September 16th at Union Pool with Mondo Drag and The Main Street Gospel. Full tour sked and some videos are below...

Continue reading "new La Otracina LP (MP3) & upcoming shows (dates) "

Saturday September 5th @ MONSTER ISLAND | MONSTER ISLAND BLOCK PARTY 2009

| Golden Triangle
|| K-Holes
||| Knyfe Hyts 81
|||| Cult of Youth
||||| Oneida Jah Division Ensemble
|||||| Georgiana Starlington
||||||| X-Ray Eye Balls
|||||||| DubbKnowDubb
||||||||| Trilateral Commission
|||||||||| Buckets of Blood
||||||||||| Bezoar
|||||||||||| Psychothriller

|| dj Hairwaves
|| 2 ART OPENINGS OUTDOOR INSTALLATIONS ALL DAY BBQ

Oneida is playing the block party as/with Onieda Jah Division Ensemble. Jah Division is a dub/reggae Joy Division cover band that has released an EP on Social Registry, who even when not in "Ensemble" format, share drummer Kid Millions with Oneida. Next weekend, Oneida visit ATP NY, where their Oneida present The Ocropolis is set to run all day Sunday.

Another of the mysterious bands on the bill is Knyfe Hyts 81. The band tweeted that "KNYFE HYTS 81: ZARG and SHHA (Knyfe Hyts, Ex Models) + LUUUK BRODY (Yeasayer, Ex Models)....Think Blade Runner!".

UPDATE: The final lineup for this is in the comments...

More info on Monster Island, and live clips of Oneida playing Dublin this August, are posted below...

Continue reading "Monster Island Block Party this Saturday in Brooklyn"

by Black Bubblegum

The black metal star, with the star of classic cinema such as Ghost Rider, Next, Knowing, and Captain Corelli's Mandolin.

In 1987, actor Nicolas Cage was "Raising Arizona." Three years later, he began raising future underground black-metal singer Weston "Arcane" Cage....

Weston tells BostonHerald.com. "I have a dark maniacal side and sometimes I want to decimate every person in the room. But I also want to enlighten. We have a variety of different fans and get different reactions."

He adds... "I come from a lineage of great artists," he said. "I just want to contribute to my genre and honor my family."- [Boston Herald via Blabbermouth]

That "undergound black metal band" is Eyes of Noctum, whose debut album, Inceptum was recorded by Fredrik Nordström (Dimmu Borgir) and features Hellhammer (!?!?!?!) (Mayhem, Satyricon, Dimmu Borgir) and Snowy Shaw (King Diamond, Therion, Mercyful Fate). Eyes of Noctum play two nights in NYC starting tonight (7/17), and though I wouldn't necessarily recommend this band, they are playing with the mighty Malkuth at Studio @ Webster Hall and then again on July 20th (Mon) at Europa with the also awesome Villains and Bezoar. Advance tickets for tonight are here while tickets for Europa are here.

Snowy Shaw rwas recently interviewed by SickDrummer.com where he spoke on his current projects as well as his time with Eyes of Noctum:

SDM: Tell us about your relationship with Fredrik Nordstrom. Do you ever do studio sessions for him?

Snowy: Fredrik and I are great friends, and occasionally I do sessions for him or in his studio.

Most recently was last summer for a band I think is called Eyes of Noctum with Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage's son as the leader/singer. Fredrik just called me one night, asking me to attend in the studio as some sort of coach for this poor young LA drummer who simply couldn't get it down, so after having wasted several days, Fredrik as the producer just had to take charge of the procedure and get things moving. I got there the next morning thinking I'd be coaching the guy, then understand they expect me to do ghost drumming, then the next day I'd be listed as the drummer. I'm a very quick learner, and although I don't consider myself a very good black metal drummer (since I hit the drums very very hard, playing that ultra fast gets tricky), but I did my best to please them with all their wishes and requests, and I nailed it all in a few days time, and everybody was happy.

Tour dates below...

Continue reading "Nicolas Cage's son's black metal band (is in NYC) (tour dates)"

words by Black Bubblegum, photos by Tim Griffin

Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk headlined the "weird & heavy" festival, known as The Beasts Of East fest, at Europa in Brooklyn on Sunday(11/2). Bison BC (pics here), Casket Architects, Bezoar, The Body, Wizardry (pics here), Wetnurse, and many others were also on the bill. Unfortunately, Harvey Milk was a trio - newest member Joe Preston was nowhere to be found. More pictures from the show, including a shot of HM's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Harvey Milk, the Body, Bezoar, etc.. @ Europa, NYC - pics"