by BBG

Ghoul at California Discord Fest (more by BBG)

Ghoul will play a string of East Coast dates surrounding their Maryland Deathfest appearance, including one in Brooklyn on May 23rd at Saint Vitus with Population Reduction (mem Voetsek). Ticket info is forthcoming.

All tour dates and a pair of album streams, including their latest LP Transmission Zero, are below....

Continue reading "Ghoul schedules shows around MDF, playing Saint Vitus w/ Population Reduction (dates & streams)"

words by Kim Kelly, photos by BBG

Adorior @ Rites of Darkness

Rites of Darkness is in full swing, with both pre-fests done and dusted (check out photos of the Bond's show here) and Day 1 still ringing in our ears. On Friday evening, doors opened at 4pm and the opening band, Houston death metallers Warmaster, got short shrift: the line of black leather-clad punters wound 'round the outside of the building waited impatiently for the singular door-person to check their IDs well into and past their set (from what we could hear, their crushing, Bolt Thrower-inspired cacophony deserved better).

Philly black-thrashers Infernal Stronghold (who just got back from a short tour with Absu) ripped through a short set of urban blasphemy, taunting the still-lethargic crowd ("I didn't realize we were gonna be playing a fuckin' nursing home!") until the room filled up and the front row got violent. Ritual Necromancy brought the Incantation worship (filtered through a few grimy layers of doom and blackness), then Grave Upheaval filled the entire fucking room with (funeral) fog, which helped distract a bit from the monotony of their muddy, unfocused material.

Dispirit, who had appeared at the prefest and were hastily added to the fest proper, were once again at the top of their game; their hypnotic, atmospheric black metal rituals captivated and impressed. London horde Adorior, one of the most anticipated acts of the fest, delivered a wickedly intense, utterly savage set of thrashy death/black. Their imposing, leather-and-spike-clad frontwoman Melissa screamed bloody gore, sneering and mocking the "whiners and bitches" who'd been complaining about the fest and unveiling a new song: "This one's about fucking surviving, you know? This is "Gutters of Cum."

Canadian black/death cult Weapon were up next. This was their first-ever time playing the United States, and the maniacs down the front made their appreciation known, as a sea of fists and deafening roars greeted the quartet between every merciless cut of raw, sinewy death, blackened and tempered with shades of Middle Eastern melody. Afterwards, the mighty Demigod, Finnish gods of death, took the stage to play their seminal classic Slumber of Sullen Eyes in its entirety. "Amazing" is the only word that comes to mind; they were utterly on point, totally focused, and devastatingly heavy - a well-oiled war machine. The show closed out with two-man black metal institution Inquisition (who recently laid waste to NYC with Disma). Dagon's vocals, always a matter of contention, were a bit too loud, but the overall effect was fluid and damn near trance-inducing.

Stay tuned to BrooklynVegan for continuing coverage from Rites of Darkness 2011. Check out more pictures from Day 1 below...

Continue reading "Rites of Darkness 2011 -- Day 1 pics & review"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Dispirit - "Untitled rehearsal track" (MP3)

Dispirit

Rites of Darkness doesn't start for another few hours but the die-hards have already arrived in San Antonio, and spent their time at one of two pre-fest parties last night (12/8). I attended the "official" pre-party, featuring a headlining appearance from Ares Kingdom (mems Order from Chaos), spirtual black-metallers Dispirit (mem Weakling, Asunder, The Gault), death-metallers Drawn & Quartered, epic black metal from UK's Wodensthrone, Vasaeleth (mems ex-Demoncy, Dagon), and locals Sturmgewher (who I missed). Though Ares Kingdom ripped (especially guitarist Chuck Keller), Dispirit was clearly the highlight for me, combining psychedelia, epic black metal and an abundance of fog to create the prefect atmosphere for their extended compositions. Wodensthrone and Vasaeleth were also personal favorites, the latter playing Incantation-style death metal while the former specialized in sprawling pagan black metal.

Make sure and pick up a copy of Dispirit's cassette at your favorite local distro, and download a rough mix of a rehearsal track above. Stay tuned to BrooklynVegan for continuing coverage from Rites of Darkness 2011. More pictures from the pre-fest at Bonds 007 last night are below...

Continue reading "RItes of Darkness kicked off pre-fest last night with Ares Kingdom, Dispirit and others (pics)"

by BBG

Inquisition at Maryland Deathfest (more by BBG)

NYC's Studio at Webster Hall will soon host a trifecta of black metal greatness! Inquisition will headline the venue on December 2nd with a rare appearance from Mortuary Drape and Negative Plane. Tickets are on sale.

Italy's Mortuary Drape and Inquisition will then tour their way to Rites of Darkness 3 in San Antonio, Texas where they'll join the newly added Disma, but NOT Urfaust:

URFAUST vs RITES OF DARKNESS III

URFAUST is very sad to announce that we have to cancel our Intoxication Ritual at Rites of Darkness III in Texas, USA.
Our last Alcoholic Rites on US soil where splenditory, so this is just fucked up...
Nothing more to say about this, we hope to return to the USA and Rites of Darkness in 2012!
All hail the madness!
Cheers,
Ix & Vrdrbr on behalf of Urfaust

Three day passes for Rites of Darkness 3 are on sale. Pictures from Urfaust's recent Brooklyn show HERE.

All known Inquisition dates, the full Rites of Darkness lineup, and some video is below.

Continue reading "Inquisition & Mortuary Drape playing NYC w/ Negative Plane before Rites of Darkness 3 (lineup & dates)"

photos by Adam Murray and Genie Sanchez, words by BBG

Morbid Angel

Two outdoor tents, a club, and a theater hosted 26 bands. Perhaps by design, the premises lacked alcohol (except for the theater). So bad behavior was scarce. Fans happily bounced from venue to venue, queuing for some bands (Wormrot, Floor, Atheist, Obituary, Morbid Angel), and eating burgers from the Grill 'Em All trucks. To order the Witte Burger (beef, bun, cream cheese, deep-fried bacon, beer-and-Sriracha-soaked onions, malt vinegar aioli), my friend Robert merely pointed several feet away, where Dave Witte himself was standing.
-[Invisible Oranges]

Saturday (3/5) was the left coast's turn for Scion Rock Fest 2011. The one day, multiple venue festival relocated to Pomona, CA this year, and housed legendary names like Morbid Angel, Obituary, Integrity, Agalloch, and many more alongside names of tomorrow and underground favorites like Bastard Noise, Anaal Nathrakh, Floor, Wormrot, and many more.

Kvelertak were supposed to play too. but their passports and visas were stolen at the airport moments before they boarded the plane to the US. As a result, they'll also miss some days of the Weedeater/Zoroaster tour, but should "be in the states by Friday" (3/11). That means they should have no trouble making it to SXSW where they're on board to play Full Metal Texas. The band was replaced in Pomona by Black Cobra.

More pictures and some videos from Scion Rock Fest 2011, below...

Continue reading "Scion Rock Fest 2011 in pics & video (Morbid Angel, Obituary, Integrity, Agalloch & more) (but not Kvelertak)"

by BBG

Dispirit at Elbo Room (more by Taylor Keahey)

Even though it's now "sold out" (but there's a waiting list), Scion Rock Fest has finalized their free festival lineup, adding Anaal Nathrakh, Immolation, Atheist, Anaal Nathrakh, Dispirit, Cough, and Dark Castle to an already jaw-dropping lineup that includes Morbid Angel, Agalloch, Floor, Black Breath, and many others. Full lineup is below, including the finalized flyer.

Dispirit features John Gossard (ex-Weakling) and they released their Rehearsal At Oboroten cassette last year, and it made quite a few Best of Lists.

Immolation played NYC last year, as did Cough who played the BV-BBG Official Showcase for CMJ. Dark Castle has played NYC a few times last year, and DC drummer Rob Shaffer also sat behind the kit for Monarch.

Agalloch will be in NYC in March.

Continue reading "Scion Rock Fest final lineup (Dispirit & Immolation included)"

words by BBG, Elbo Room photos by Taylor Keahey

DOWNLOAD: Man's Gin - "Solid Gold Telephone" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Man's Gin - "Smiling Dogs" (MP3)

Smiling Dogs by Man's Gin

Simply put, Cobalt is my shit. In release after release of riveting blackened war metal (including recent fave Gin), Cobalt has proved a laser-pointed focus on well-crafted and incendiary songwriting. With half of the band (Phil McSorely) tending to the duties of soldier-at-war, multi-instrumentalist Erik Wunder delved into new directions with his solo project Man's Gin. Due at the end of August via Profound Lore is the band's debut album Smiling Dogs, an effort more akin to a southern-fried acoustic Alice-in-Chains that dips its toes into the same gothic blues-y gene pool that produced bands like Wovenhand (who is coming to NYC with Sareena Maneesh) and Dax Riggs (him too). Dig on the title track and "Solid Gold Telephone" which makes its first appearance above. It's a surprising turn for the man associated with such destructive output in the past, but a fascinating one nonetheless.

Man's Gin will play NYC on August 1st, alongside Altar of Plagues (who we interviewed), Velnias, and Castevet at The Studio at Webster Hall. Tickets are still available. The show takes place two days before another BV event in the same venue with Black Cobra/Howl/Struck By Lightning/East of The Wall. Tickets are still available for that as well.

Altar of Plagues and Velnias are currently on the road together, and the band teamed up with Dispirit (who we profiled here) and headliner Inquisition (who played NYC in May) at the Elbo Room in San Francisco on July 16th. Pics from that show are below...

Continue reading "a Man's Gin MP3, Altar of Plagues live pics (Inquisition too)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Coffins - "Black Fog of Burning Flesh" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Coliseum - "Everything To Everyone" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Suma - "Headwound" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dispirit - "Bitumen Amnii" (MP3 Excerpt)
DOWNLOAD: Dispirit - "Ixtab's Lure" (MP3 Excerpt)
DOWNLOAD: Leng Tch'e - "Wirehead Imbeciles" (MP3 Excerpt)
DOWNLOAD: Thou - tracks from Dwell in the Darkness of Thought and Drink the Poison of Life EP Split (rar)
DOWNLOAD: Moloch - "Dry Cough" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ghast - "Crawl, Blighted and Afraid" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Fistula - "The Ones That Got Away" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Aun - "Drainbow" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Thou - tracks from Tears That Soak A Callous Heart Split (rar)
DOWNLOAD: Ramesses - "Khali Mist" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Endless Blockade - "Clean & Prone" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Masakari - "XVI Rapid Dominance" (MP3)

Thou at Scion Rock Fest (more by Christopher Mumma)

The grotesquely prolific Thou is forever on the move, and in addition to their out-now Baton Rouge, You Have Much To Answer For EP and the upcoming studio LP Summit due in July on GIlead Media (CD) and Southern Lord (Vinyl), the band has a pair of splits on deck. First up is the band's split with The City Is The Tower entitled Dwell in the Darkness of Thought and Drink the Poison of Life. Thou contributes two songs of the five, both of which are available above. Preorder that record.

Last, but certainly not least, the band has split with fantastic UK sludge-doomers Moloch, due on Perpetual Motion Machine in 12" and cassette formats (preorder it). Download one Moloch track, "Dry Cough", and all of Thou's contribution to that split above. Moloch has a badass debut 10" on Feast of Tentacles and recently contributed a Rorschach cover to Clone Vol II (which also featured Thou, Shadow Of The Torturer, and many others)

Landmine Marathon have filled out the rest of their US tour dates which include two NYC shows, July 13th and Union Pool and July 15th at Cake Shop both with Salome. Meanwhile, Salome is currently working on their new LP, and debut for Profound Lore.

Profound Lore has signed Agalloch! The band is currently crafting their new LP in their lair in Portland through the end of July. More details are forthcoming. Aesop Dekker of another fantastic west coast black metal band, Ludicra, serves as their drummer. While we're on the subject of Ludicra's new LP The Tenant is out on 2LP courtesy Throne Records.

continued below....

Continue reading "Short Wave Warfare (6/18/10)"