photos by Jason House, words by BBG

After a triumphant showing at Cake Shop, 108 ripped Death By Audio a new one later that night (1/8) with support from Primitive Weapons, Heavy Breath, and Black Kites. Was Death By Audio 108's last NYC show ever? Only time will tell.

More pictures from Death By Audio are below.

Continue reading "108, Primitive Weapons, Heavy Breath & Black Kites played Death by Audio (pics)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Gods & Queens - Untitled II EP (RAR'd MP3)

Zann

Germany's Zann will team up with Gods & Queens and Black Kites for a killer three band bill at Stolen Sleeves TONIGHT (9/10). The German hardcore band is prepping to release the X 7" on Protagonist Music. Black Kites recently dropped an LP on the same label, entitled Songs Written While Things Were Changing. Order a copy. Gods & Queens recently played Death By Audio with another German hardcore band, Planks, and released the available-for-free-download-EP Untitled II. Dig on that above.

Video of Back Kites and Zann from a recent show is below. Shit is brutal.

Continue reading "Zann, Gods & Queens & Black Kites (show tonight) "

words by Lindsay Maharry, photos by Lionel Bergeron

Ceremony at ABC No Rio

Ceremony and Black Kites played Death by Audio on August 8th. Ceremony also played ABC No Rio one night earlier. The shows were in support of their new LP Rohnert Park, out now on Bridge Nine Records. Punch was scheduled to head out with Ceremony, but were forced to drop off the tour due to the singer breaking her ankle.

Black Kites played their set at DbA in front of the stage, level with the crowd. It was technically their record release show for the new 12", Songs Written While Things Were Changing, released by Protagonist Music. The LP follows the New Jersey three-piece's first release, Advancement to Ruin's from RTF Records (and a split with Brooklyn's Swallowed Up on Hydrogen Man Records).

Singer Jeff Guerriero's desperate vocals command attention and balance with guitarist Tom Schlatter's style (The Assistant, You and I). They tore through a great set- check BlacK kites out again on August 28th at ABC No Rio, where they will kick off a partial US tour with Germany's Zann. And if you want to really be entertained, check out Jeff Guerriero's alter ego as professional wrestler, "Jeff Cannonball," at one of his flamboyant matches as part of National Wrestling Superstars. Seriously, I went to one in February. It was really fun.

Bay Area hardcore band Ceremony made the room explode. Ross Farrar is a great front man, diminishing the distinction between stage and crowd. Drummer Val Saucedo (Punch, Loma Prieta) filled in, speeding up songs that were incredibly fast to begin with. Guitarist Anthony Anzaldo danced and spun around in lace fingerless gloves up to his elbows. The result was a room full of energy; people were on the stage and Farrar off-stage about half the time, as he screamed with a mic cord around his face and shirt over his head. Ceremony is hard, and totally original.

Ceremony will remain touring on the East Coast, playing the Philadelphia fest This Is Hardcore on August 13th. They launch a European tour in October. It might be a while until they're back around here again.

Pics from the ABC No Rio show continue below...

Continue reading "Ceremony played ABC No Rio (pics) & DbA (review)"

words by BBG, photos by Samantha Marble

Avi of Magrudergrind avec dudes going apey

Few genres of extreme music necessitate the technical proficiency and stamina required to play grindcore music. It features brief, violent bursts of blast-beat drumming accompanied by chugging, down-tuned guitars and vocals that are screeched, barked, growled, and always incomprehensible. The differences between acts are indecipherable to the uninitiated (twelve-tone music and Corsican polyphony present the same problem), but for the masochistic grind enthusiast, few groups reach the brutal purity of the Washington, D.C., band Magrudergrind. -[The New Yorker]

Magrudergrind and Defeatist delivered positively blistering sets (as expected - they both destroy), but the biggest surprise to me was Psychic Limb. Fronted by NYC artist Brian Montouri, the band played a spazzy-pummeling grind that was beyond fun, though a little on the way-too-short side (10ish minutes). Catch them if you get the chance, but don't blink.

PL shares a member with Ramps, who was sandwiched in between them and Defeatist. If you missed Ramps, then you're in luck; the band will hit The Charleston on 2/6 with Sourvein (but not Bezoar).

Magrudergrind will be back in NYC on 2/20 with Misery Index at Union Pool (tix), one show of a greater tour between the pair. Magrudergrind is also confirmed for MDF 2010.

Tons of pics, and some must-see Magrudergrind and Psychic Limb video below...

Continue reading "Magrudergrind, Defeatist, Ramps, Psychic Limb & Black Kites @ Cake Shop - pics & video"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Magrudergrind - "Excommunicated" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Magrudergrind - "Lyrical Ammunition For Scene Warfare" (MP3)

Magrudergrind

We are proud to announce the latest in the ongoing BV series of heavy music (this time in conjunction with 1000 Knives): Magrudergrind will team up with Defeatist, Black Kites, and Ramps to decimate Cake Shop on 1/23 as part of our first hardcore matinee. $8 will get you in the door, although you may need a stretcher to get out.

Magrudergrind are also on board for Maryland Deathfest 2010, which recently added a pre-party featuring greats like General Surgery, Birdflesh, Iron Lung, PLF, and many others. Tickets are available here. The full lineup for MDF is below.

Magrudergrind's new S/T full length was recently named one of Decibel's top 40 albums of 2009. The band is also scheduled to play Hellfest with Godflesh as well as team up with Pulling Teeth when DRI hits Baltimore on 12/13. DRI was originally scheduled to impact Gramercy Theater on 1/17/10, but tickets were taken off sale.

Full MDF lineup, and flyers for the BV/1000 Knives show as well as the MDF Pre-Fest are below.

Continue reading "Magrudergrind playing Cake Shop (BV Presents), Maryland Deathfest (lineup) & Hellfest (dates)"

by Black Bubblegum

They say that the clothes make the man, but in the music world, the drummer makes the band. That's the only way to explain the string of successes that have followed Dave Witte since he first sat behind the kit as a member of the influential yet under-appreciated Human Remains. Since then, Witte has played with some of the greatest bands in the heavy underground, laying the back beat to names as powerful as Municipal Waste, Discordance Axis, Anodyne, Black Army Jacket, Melt Banana, and we can't forget about Burnt By The Sun.

Burnt By The Sun recently released their swansong, Heart of Darkness, via Relapse Records. In celebration of this last LP, the band will embark on final tour of Europe in October with only one US date scheduled: October 2nd at Cake Shop with Tombs, Black Anvil, Bloodhorse, and Torchbearer. Considering the band members' current undertakings, it isn't out the question to say that this could be their last show for a very very long time.

With that as a primer, I fired some questions at Dave Witte about Municipal Waste, the end of Burnt By The Sun, and the possiblity of him returning to the kit for Human Remains, Discordance Axis or Black Army Jacket. The conversation is below....

Continue reading "an interview w/ Dave Witte (of Burnt by the Sun, Municipal Waste, Human Remains, Black Army Jacket...)"

by Black Bubblegum

Charles Maggio of Rorschach

June 1993 at ABC No Rio with Assuck & Scrog.

That's the last time that the mighty Rorschach blessed NYC. The band called it quits shortly after, splintering into projects like Gern Blandsten Records, Beautiful Skin, Deadguy, Kiss It Goodbye, and tons more, but those great successes only highlighted an undeniable fact: Rorschach were innovative and before their time.

After deciding to reunite earlier this year in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Remain Sedate LP, Rorschach announced a short east coast tour. The band is currently in the midst of that tour, which impacts Asbury Park in their native New Jersey tonight (9/24) and Santos Party House TOMORROW (9/25, tix here).

We spoke with the mighty Charles Maggio (Vocals, owner Gern Blandsten Records) to get to the bottom of the reunion and what we can expect going forward....

Continue reading "an interview w/ Charles Maggio of Rorschach (who are in the middle of their short run of reunion dates)"

by Black Bubblegum

Rorschach-a-rockin'

According to the great folks at Prank Records, you now have the ability to mark a date on the calendar with respect to the impending Rorschach reunion.

"All original lineup, all original roadies, Jon Hiltz of Born Against on the sound board." September 23rd to the 27th. Details are Still being worked out, but so far it looks like this:

Continue reading "Rorschach reunion dates - 5 shows - Santos in NYC included"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Black Kites - "Advancement To Ruins" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Grayceon - "It Begins, And So It Ends" (MP3)

Yob

The mighty YOB have revealed details on their upcoming new album for Profound Lore! In a blog post entitled "Tracking And Mixing Is Done", the band offered the following update:

The new album has been tracked and mixed. It will be mastered at the end of the month by Billy Barnett at Gung-Ho Studio in Eugene, Oregon. Sanford Parker did such a fantastic job and was so easy to work with. Truly professional and amazing at every turn. We are confident our friends worldwide are going to dig our new vibes channeled through Sanford's engineering wizardry.

The album will be titled The Great Cessation with 5 songs clocking in @ 62 minutes... The tentative release date is late July... The titles: Burning The Altar, The Lie That Is Sin. Silence Of Heaven, Breathing From The Shallows, The Great Cessation

DOOM!

As we mentioned before, 108 will be in NYC on April 25th, bringing along with them the mighty Pulling Teeth, who just dropped their new album Paranoid Delusions, Paradise Illusions. Tickets are still available, or you can win a FREE pair of tickets and a copy of Pulling Teeth's new CD! Details on how to win are below, before the tour dates.

Black Kites

Black Kites have dropped their new LP, Advancement To Ruins, and it is a manaical chunk of crust-laden hardcore that reminds me of Acme, Cursed, Disembodied, and a ton of other bands that I WISH the hardcore community would look up to. Comprised of ex-members of The Assistant, This Ship Will Sink, You and I, and current members of Zhenia Golov, check out the title track available for download above, and pick up the record at Ride The Fury Records. In the meantime, look for the NJ trio to play June 13th at ABC No Rio, as well as a few other shows around the tri-state. Full tour dates are below.

Pentagram will team up with Nachtmystium for a handful of dates on the west coast and in Blake's native Chicago. Nachtmystium's new EP Doomsday Derelicts drops on May 15th via Battle Kommand/Century Media. Pick it up before one of them gets killed in a drive-by. Pentagram played Webster Hall earlier this year.

Footage of Crom Live at Cake Shop, 1349, Anaal Nathrakh, Napalm Death live footage, and so much more as This Week In Metal continues...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (04/24/09)"