by BBG

Harvey Milk at LPR (more by Meghan McInnis)

Harvey Milk will play shows at Brooklyn's Union Pool on March 13th, 14th, & 15th, their only announced dates at the moment. Tickets for both 3/13 and 3/14 go on sale on Monday (2/7) at 9AM, but tickets aren't listed for 3/15 yet.

The Harvey Milk dates are presented by The Blackened Music Series, who also curated the previously mentioned Lustmord/Void Ov Voices/Robert Piotrowicz show on April 10th at The Abrons Arts Center as part of Unsound 2011. Tickets for that show also go on sale at 9AM on Monday.

They announced their return earlier this year along with the promise of nine American shows. Well, counting Canada there are now actually at least 15 Godspeed You! Black Emperor shows coming up in America and two of those are in NYC!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Brooklyn Masonic Temple
317 Clermont Avenue at Lafayette, Fort Greene, Brooklyn
8pm doors / 9pm show / $25 general admission / Tickets on sale here
Co-presented by Wordless Music and The Blackened Music Series

Thursday, March 17, 2011
The Church of St. Paul the Apostle
405 West 59th Street at Columbus Avenue, NYC
7pm doors / 8pm show / $25 general admission / Tickets on sale here
Co-presented by Wordless Music and The Blackened Music Series

It will be their first NYC shows in eight years. All dates below...

Continue reading "Godspeed You! Black Emperor touring North America in 2011 (dates), NYC shows on sale NOW "

by BBG

BXI

ATP NY have a plethora of exclusives upstate in early September, and now they're bringing one to NYC. On September 7th, The Blackened Music Series and ATP will combine forces for a show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple where sunn o))) & Boris will perform Altar in its entirety (a NYC first) and BXI will make their US debut! The melancholic and heart-wrenching Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter will sweeten the deal/provide awesome contrast for the rage. Tickets are on sale.

The show is one day before Sleep smokes out the same venue with Lichens and the newly added A Storm of Light (tickets still on sale for that too)...

As previously discussed, BXI is the collaboration of Boris and Ian Astbury (The Cult) who will release their debut EP in September via Southern Lord. The four song EP will feature three new tracks, as well as a cover of The Cult's "Rain". Dig on the EP cover, as well as a video of BXI in action (performing The Door's "The End") in Sydney Australia below.

Reminder, Boris plays MHOW on August 6 with Torche and Russian Circles (the day after UNSANE/Keelhaul at Santos!). Tickets are on sale.

The Altar flyer, a BXI video and cover art, below...

Continue reading "Boris will perform 'Altar' w/ sunn o))) & w/ Ian Astbury as BXI (all at the same NYC show!)"

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?

Find out the answers to those questions and more, below...

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

by BBG

Immortal likes their corpse paint. Still. (photo by Peter Beste)

After triumphant shows in LA & NYC (BB Kings) in 2007, Black Metal pioneers Immortal are returning to our shores. Norwegian black metal comes to NYC just in time for... spring. And Easter. March 30th, to be exact. The Blackened Music Series hosts the show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple and tickets are now on sale in two levels, regular and VIP, which includes a meet & greet pre-show, laminate, a poster, and many other goodies. The show is part of short tour dubbed "Blashyrkh in North America" according to the foursome:

"North American hordes, we are coming your way! After the fantastic experiences we had in New York and Los Angeles in 2007, we are returning next year, and this time we will make sure we visit our Canadian hordes on the East coast as well! We will see you during Easter 2010, which will be a dark and cold one!"

Immortal went back to the studio earlier this year and returned with All Shall Fall, their first rager since Sons of Northern Darkness in 2002. The reception for the record has been positive overall (including mine) and it did well on the Decibel top 40. Pick up a copy of that LP via the band/CM distro.

The only other US show is again in LA. A few Immortal videos with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Immortal returning to North America - 2010 Tour Dates "

by BBG

On Sunday at Le Poisson Rouge, Shrinebuilder played an overwhelming show -- almost meditatively focused, one whose afterimage is likely to stay with those who saw it. It's a band of willful musicians in their 40s from around the country who have given their adult lives to slow-and-heavy music: Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Scott Weinrich of the Obsessed and Saint Vitus, Al Cisneros of Om and Dale Crover of the Melvins. Shrinebuilder is as loosely based in doom-metal as Krallice is in black-metal: it might be the starting place, but it's not the ending place...

In a set that lasted about an hour and a quarter, the band elongated all the songs from its new, self-titled first album, and played a cover of Joy Division's droning "24 Hours" -- a perfect and surprising choice. (It's hard to imagine the two Scotts, stolid American grizzlies, as secret Anglophiles.) As the last song, "Pyramid of the Moon," swept to its end and Mr. Crover socked the last beat, the crowd erupted almost involuntarily, as if it had been punched. -[New York Times]

To quote myself, "Shrinebuilder = amazing". Thanks to all who came to the BV sponsored presentation of Shrinebuilder, Rwake and Liturgy as part of The Blackened Music Series. The Sunday (11/15) show at Le Poisson Rouge was a success on many fronts: a searing performance from a quartet of bonafide legends, amazing support from rarely seen Rwake (in the Northeast anyway) and the promising Liturgy, and a packed house! Most importantly though, that packed house showed that the metal underground is thriving, and that intelligent, thought-provoking, and challenging heavy music can triumph.

The Sunday night Shrinebuilder show at LPR was the conclusion to three nights of "Blackened" music in NYC. Friday (Krallice) and Saturday (Skeltonwitch) were both at Union Pool.

On Monday (11/6) Shrinebuilder flew to Austin for a show that night...

"Then went downtown to Emo's to catch Shrinebuilder, a super group of Wino, Al Cisneros (Sleep, OM), Dale Crover (Melvins, Nirvana) and Scott Kelley (Neurosis). Got there to stand in line, which was around the block soon after. Chilly night, glad I bundled up. Opening band Sub Oslo was really good, very trippy cosmic Reggae. Shrinebuilder was of course amazing..." [Danny G]

Their next scheduled show is Apr 17, 2010 in Tilburg, Holland for Roadburn.

Pics, video (courtesy of No Gods, No Vegetables) and the set list from the NYC Shrinebuilder show, below...

Continue reading "Shrinebuilder played Le Poisson Rouge in NYC w/ Rwake & Liturgy (pics, video & setlist) "

words by BBG, photos by Chloe Rice

Skeletonwitch

Metal Underground: You've toured with some great bands already. Like you said, you just got off the Children of Bodom tour, Danzig, which had to be really cool, and many other people. Who's been your favorite to tour with?

Scott (of Skeletonwitch): I don't think I could pick a favorite. We haven't had a bad experience. Especially, the bigger tours; definitely not. Maybe some smaller, earlier tours when we were in the pick-up truck which just sucked sometimes on our own account. But, everybody's been cool to us; Glen Danzig was fucking awesome. One of the coolest guys ever, took care of us and everything. Same thing with Amon Amarth and same thing with Bodom.

Chance (of Skeletonwitch): Yeah, we would run out of beer, Bodom would [say]," Take some of ours, we have too much." I have negative [to say] about the large tours. I'm glad to be a part of it.

Scott: A lot of bands won't tell you if it was bad. But, really, it wasn't. Like, I got nothing; don't have any dirt on anybody. Everybody was cool.

Metallica, schmetallica. The biggest metal band EVAR was filling MSG at that moment, but metalheads rejoiced for a different reason in Brooklyn, as Skeletonwitch and Black Anvil destroyed Union Pool on Saturday night (11/14). It was the second night in a row of the three-night Blackened Music Series weekend which ended Sunday at Le Poisson Rouge with Shrinebuilder. It started Friday at Union Pool with Krallice - a mayhem-filled show. I didn't think it could get any crazier on Saturday, but once Skeletonwitch demanded a circle pit, and GOT ONE, I knew I was wrong.

There are many that do blackened thrash, thrash, or some variant thereof, but what separates the 'witch (and Municipal Waste, DRI, and a select few others for that matter) from the pack is that the boys don't take themselves too seriously. Every song was introduced by a tongue in cheek intro ("This one's about Satannnnnnnnn!") by vocalist Chance, and followed by the nail-cuffed Ohioan zig-zagging across the stage, pointing at audience members and crowdsurfers while screeching out lyrics. Many PBRs went into the wildman's perfomrnace/theatricality, and all I could do was beam from ear to ear. Skeletonwitch is a very fun live band.

The show was the last US date in 2009 for the hard-touring Skeletonwitch. They're prepping to hit Europe in the tail end of November and December. All dates and more pictures from Union Pool, below...

Continue reading "Skeletonwitch & Black Anvil @ Union Pool in Brooklyn - pics"

by Black Bubblegum

Eagle Twin

As members of a secretive brotherhood, Freemasons are no strangers to conspiracy theories. They've heard it all before: that they're child-sacrificing cult members, or religious zealots plotting a New World Order with the Jews, or satanic anti-religious alien spies.

With Dan Brown's newest novel, "The Lost Symbol," hitting bookstores on Sept. 15--much of it rumored to center around Masonic myths--the Masons are in preemptive damage-control mode. [Religion News]

Now that Dan Brown wrote a book on the Masons, it's safe to say that mom, dad, grandma, and my 14 year old cousin will probably know a thing or two about the secret society. Thankfully, Southern Lord will cast a little darkness back upon the Brooklyn Masonic Temple when the label hosts an absolutely mind-bottling lineup of sunn O))), Earth, Pelican, and Eagle Twin on 9/22 as part of The Blackened Music Series. Tickets are still available, though if you're lucky, you can WIN A PAIR as well as a copy of sunn O)))'s Domkirke 2xLP! Just email us at BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with the subject line of "pronounced sunn not sunno" (include your first and last name).

The Blackened Music series is also responsible for Nadja and Mick Barr, which takes place on Saturday at Union Pool (9/19). Tickets are on sale.

Continue reading "sunn O))) coming soon to the Masonic Temple -- win tix"

by Black Bubblegum

Mick on stage with Krallice @ The Studio @ Webster Hall (more by Paul Birman)

Besides the previously mentioned Maze Installation running at Death By Audio, Mick Barr has his hands full with two more shows that lean more towards the heavier side of things.

First up, Mick is scheduled to play Union Pool on September 19th with dark droners Nadja as part of the ongoing Blackened Music Series. Tickets are available, get 'em here. The show is part of a US tour for Nadja, who are promoting as many as FIVE new releases and three upcoming ones: Autopergamene for Essence Music, as well as White Nights/Drone Fields DVD and Under The Jaguar Sun 2LP for Beta-Lactam Ring Records. Sheesh.

The second (actually first) show for Barr is part of the ongoing Show No Mercy series. That takes place at Public Assembly on Sept 6th and will feature the Gnaw, Castevet, and Period. Dig on the flyer for that show below. You want to go for free? I have TWO PAIRS OF TICKETS available for giveaway, just email us at BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM with the subject line of "Barr" (include your first and last name).

After the Mick Barr/Nadja gig, the next show in The Blackened Music Series will be the sunn 0)))/Earth/Pelican/Eagle Twin mega-event at Masonic Temple on 9/22 (tickets) followed by the Brooklyn Vegan sponsored presentation of Shrinebuilder at Le Poisson Rouge on 11/15!

Full Nadja dates, the Josh Graham designed sunn 0))) flyer, and the Seldon Hunt designed SNM flyer are below...

Continue reading "Nadja touring, Mick Barr playing Brooklyn shows (2009 dates) "

by Black Bubblegum

Behold the Shrinebulder (album art)!

It kinda goes without saying that anticipation is on high for the forthcoming self-titled Shrinebuilder LP (due on Neurot in late Oct/early Nov). Add in the fact this mega-terrific supergroup, made up of Al Cisneros of Om, Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Wino of St Vitus/The Obsessed, and Dale Crover of Melvins, have hinted at multiple live dates. Chicago was the first, and now we can reveal details on the first east coast date!

BrooklynVegan is proud to announce that we will team up with the shadowy folks behind The Blackened Music Series (who brought you Repulsion / Brutal Truth / Pig Destroyer) to present the NYC debut of the mighty Shrinebuilder on Nov 15th at Le Poisson Rouge! Tickets are on sale. Details regarding supporting acts are to come, but you can bet that it's gonna be huge.

Wino is hitting the road with Clutch, including a pair of dates at Irving Plaza (10/9 tix, 10/10 tix). Oh, did I mention that he and f'n Saint Vitus are playing Europa?!?!? Tickets for St Vitus are here.

Melvins are playing with Weedeater and Evil Army, supporting Down at Nokia on 9/11. Tickets are still available.

Om have a pair of shows in NYC, Bowery Ballroom on 10/13 (tix here) and Europa on 10/11 (tix here). Om's new record, God Is Good, is due on 9/8 via Drag City.