photos by Taylor Keahey and Sarah Coulter, words by BBG

"Pentagram was very solid last night. Too bad the crowd was a bunch of hipsters with no respect." -graveyarns

"A lot of dudes with a Hipster Metal Parking Lot look at the Pentagram show. Might need to trip some of them." -Mr. Dave Hill

Pentagram @ Mezzanine (by Taylor Keahey)

"The headliners for the Power of the Riff fest were none other than doom legends Pentagram. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from them as Victor Griffin hasn't been in the band for a long long time and they've had a revolving door of musicians for quite some time now. Also, I wasn't very into their latest comeback album Last Rites, so I was a tad skeptical I would enjoy their performance. The one thing I did know was that I was more than ready for Victor to lay down some serious doom riffage. They opened with new song Treat Me Right off their latest and right away sounded fantastic. Bobby Liebling's voice has certainly held up over the years and he was belting out classics like Relentless, Forever My Queen and All Your Sins like they were going out of style. Victor's evil riffs rained down upon the crowd who eagerly lapped them up and were thirsting for more after each song. For the encore they came out with The Ghoul before finishing with two more before letting the audience catch their breath. As for my skepticism, it was smashed to bits and a serious appreciation for what they've meant to doom and metal in general was cemented in me with their performance. I hope Pentagram continues on down the dark path for a while more...." [ILSYDHT]

The Power of The Riff "tour" has now come to a close after a pair of dates in Seattle at Neumo's on 8/18 and The Highline on 8/20. You saw pictures from the Los Angeles show and from Elbo Room in San Francisco. Now here is a set of pics from the third west coast date which took place at the Mezzanine in San Francisco on August 16th with Aeges, Baptists, Early Graves, Masakari, John Cobbett, Alpinist, Pelican, and Pentagram. They continue below.

Pentagram is now touring the East Coast with Jeff The Brotherhood and Valient Thorr. That tour hit Le Poisson Rouge last night with ELKS. Pictures from that NYC show are on the way. Meanwhile check out Power of the Riff below...

Continue reading "Power of the Riff in San Francisco in pics (Pentagram, Pelican, Early Graves, Masakari & more)"

photos by Adam Murray, words by BBG

"The Power of The Riff" has completed three days of their five date West Coast tour, logging shows at Echo/Echoplex in Los Angeles on 8/13 (pics HERE), Elbo Room in San Francisco on 8/15, and last night (8/16) at Mezzanine in San Francisco.

Bands that played over the course of the three days include Pentagram, Winter, Noothgrush, Trap Them, Acephalix, Black Breath, Eyehategod, Pelican, All Pigs Must Die, Early Graves (with new vocalist John of The Funeral Pyre!), Seven Sisters of Sleep, Masakari and many more.

Pictures from Echo/Echoplex adorn this post. More of them below.

And for the curious, yes, you read right. The show was one of the first to feature the return of Early Graves after the untimely passing of vocalist Makh Daniels. Glad to see that they are back in action!

Pentagram with Jeff The Brotherhood, Valient Thorr are about to head out on tour. Get your tickets for the NYC show at Le Poisson Rouge with ELKS.
Win a pair at our Facebook.

More pics below...

Continue reading "Power of the Riff in LA in pics (Pentragram, Early Graves, Eyehategod, All Pigs Must Die, Winter, Pelican & more)"

by BBG

R.I.P. Makh Daniels (more by Samantha Marble)

CENTRAL POINT, Ore. -- A van carrying nine members of two California-based "death metal" bands lost control crashed on Interstate 5 in Central Point when the driver fell asleep, killing one passenger and injuring two others just after 5:30 AM Monday.

Oregon State Police say the van, pulling a trailer, was carrying members of a San Francisco-based death metal band to California when it crashed in the southbound lane between the Central Point and Blackwell Road exits.

OSP didn't release the names of the band and van occupants. But KTVL has confirmed the van was transporting the two bands Early Graves and The Funeral Pyre.

OSP says a 2003 Chevrolet extended van pulling a utility trailer was traveling southbound on Interstate 5 near milepost 34. The van contained nine adult males returning to California from Eugene where they played at a weekend outdoor concert.

The van's driver reportedly fell asleep and he lost control. The van and trailer traveled off the right shoulder, rolled and came to rest off the freeway in a grassy area. None of the nine occupants were using safety restraints and the adult male victim was ejected from a rear cargo area where he and two others were. The victim was pronounced deceased at the scene by responding emergency medical services personnel.

The driver and one passenger were transported by ambulance to Rogue Valley Medical Center for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. -[KTVL]

The Gauntlet is currently reporting that the "adult male victim" is Early Graves vocalist Makh Daniels. So sad to hear this news... our condolences go out to Daniels's family, the Early Graves guys, and The Funeral Pyre.

Early Graves and The Funeral Pyre were last in NYC in mid-July at Union Pool (view video from that show courtesy Metal Injection), supporting EG's incredible new LP Goner.

UPDATE:

Memorial Service for Makh Daniels: Monday August 9th @ 2-5pm. Location: Good Shepard Funeral Home/ 901 Oceana Blvd Pacifica, California. Please bring a food item along w/ you... and please re-post this information so others may attend to pay their respects.

--

words by BBG, photos by Samantha Marble

Early Graves shows Union Pool what they're made of....

The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves teamed up with Valdur and Mutilation Rites at Union Pool on Saturday, part of a larger tour for TFP/EG and a string of east coast dates for Valdur.

Both The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves have new albums out now; TFP dropped Vultures in early June, and Goner hit stores shelves two weeks after via Iron Clad Recordings. Valdur has a freshly minted LP, Raven God Among Us, out very soon on Bloody Mountain Records.

Valdur and Mutilation Rites will team up again at Lit Lounge tonight (7/19) at Precious Metal alongside Syphilitic Lust, who is also scheduled to play The Charleston on August 14th with Unearthly Trance, Coffinworm, and Archon.

More pics from the Union Pool show are below...

Continue reading "The Funeral Pyre, Early Graves, Valdur & Mutilation Rites @ Union Pool (pics) "

by BBG

Speaking of LA, they have another noteworthy festival happening in August, though that show focuses more on the heavier side of things. August 8th will mark The Power of The Riff Fest at The Echo and Echoplex in LA with the return of Corrosion Of Conformity III (aka Animosity era!), Goatsnake, From Ashes Rise, Trap Them, Repulsion, Nails, Coliseum, Black Breath, Eagle Twin, Early Graves, and many others. The Converse-presented show is FREE (wow), but requires an RSVP. Poster and full lineup below.

The original 3-piece Corrosion of Conformity also have a handful of other dates scheduled around that time. Unfortunately none on the east side of the coast (for now), but they are listed below. Three of the dates, including The Power of the Riff, are being called the "Southern Lord West Coast Tour" which all include the lineup of Goatsnake, Eagle Twin, and Black Breath (poster below).

Nails will be in Brooklyn on September 23rd alongside Strong Intention and Venomous Concept at Europa. Tickets are still on sale. Nails are also on the lineup of Philly's 3-day This is Hardcore Fest.

Unfortunately most of this stuff does not include NYC action, though we have two sunn o))) & Boris shows to look forward to, not to mention Boris/Russian Circles/Torche, and SLEEP. Coliseum was just here last week.

Dates and stuff below...

Continue reading "Corrosion of Conformity touring as original 3-piece (dates), playing LA's Power of the Riff Fest (lineup)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Early Graves - "Give Up" (MP3)

Early Graves might need a therapist. Just two tracks into their new LP Goner it becomes apparent, dudes have a lot of anger on their hands. Hopefully it's catharsis?

At the center of the Early Graves sound is metalcore, but not the false "open drop-D" "chugga-chugga" variety; no flat-billed hats, basketball shorts, or designer Nikes here. Crust and thrash also do battle with the metalcore influences, but in the end, ferocity reigns supreme. You'd expect a record with this much venom to come from Feral Ward, Prank, Youth Attack or another label that specializes in the outer reaches of crust/hardcore. It's quite an achievement.

Goner hits store shelves via Metal Blade/Ironclad on June 22nd (preorder it). Check out one of those tracks, "Old Bones", available for download above, stream the title track at their myspace, and "May Day" at MetalSucks.

Full tour sked (including July 17th at Union Pool with The Funeral Pyre) and some videos below...

Continue reading "Early Graves releasing 'Goner' - new MP3 & 2010 tour dates"

by BBG

Nominon

Nominon will bring a dose of icy Swedish death metal to a sizzling Bowery Electric on July 6th as part of a tour with Infinitum Obscure and Quinta Essentia. The bill will be rounded out by the dark blackened doom forces of Evoken (who cancelled their Roadburn appearance due to volcanic ash) and thrashers Mutant Supremacy. Tickets are on sale. The show marks Nominon's first foray into the US since the release of their new album Monumentomb, out now on Ibex Moon.

It's not the only show that Mutant Supremacy has laid out, as the band is also scheduled to play Europa twice in the coming months. First, look for the Brooklyn team on June 20th with At War, Midnight, Crucifist, and others as part of a post-Punk Island show (tickets). After that, make sure and catch them when the band opens for Floridian dark lords Malevolent Creation and Gigan on July 29th as part of a larger tour for the duo. Tickets are on sale.

Mutilation Rites are also scheduled to play that June 20th show before hitting the road through early July, eventually playing Union Pool on July 17th with The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves. In addition, the band will play Lit Lounge with Valdur on July 19th and Europa TWO more times: with Belgian black metallers Enthroned (their first show since 2001) and Destroyer 666 (!) on August 4th (tickets) and then with Hellbastard and Atakke on Oct 8th (tickets). The Enthroned date at Europa is part of a larger US tour with D666, and a world tour for Enthroned.

Malevolent Creation is also scheduled to play NYC again, this time supporting Exodus alongside Holy Grail and Bonded By Blood at Gramercy Theater on August 28th. Tickets are on sale.

Full tour dates for all bands and some videos, including the new video from Hellbastard are below...

Continue reading "Nominion, Mutant Supremacy, Mutilation Rites, Hellbastard, Enthroned, Gigan & Exodus - playing shows & touring (dates)"

by BBG

The Funeral Pyre at SXSW (more here)

With their new LP Vultures At Dawn due on June 8th via Prosthetic Records, blackened death-dealers The Funeral Pyre will hit the road with the crushing hardcore combo Early Graves for a string of dates that will include a BV/1000 Knives show at Union Pool on 7/17 with upstart black-metal killers Mutilation Rites.

Meanwhile, Mutilation Rites has a few other dates on their calendar including June 1st at Public Assembly when the band will team up with Australian BM badasses Nazxul (who are playing MDF this weekend) and New England's Witch Tomb. The show kicks off at 8PM and $15 gets you in.

June 20th will see Mutilation Rites at Europa with a killer bill of bands including At War, Midnight (who are playing the the Punk Island Festival that day), Deathrash, Crucifist (also playing Punk Island), and Mutant Supremacy. Tickets are on sale.

Both Mutilation Rites and Mutant Supremacy played Party Expo on 5/25 with Cannabis Corpse.

Early Graves are currently streaming the title track from their forthcoming LP Goner, at their myspace. Harsh, pissed off hardcore of the 1000MPH sort, Goner impresses me more with every listen. Make sure and pick the LP up when it drops on June 22nd and get out to see the band on July 17th. Seriously badass.

Vultures at Dawn is The Funeral Pyre's fourth LP since their inception in 2003. Check out a track, "Personal Exile" streaming at Metalsucks. The band recently played SXSW, tagging both the BV/1000 Knives/Crustcake Pizza Party on 3/18 as well as the Prosthetic Showcase the night before.

Dig on the show flyer, all dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Funeral Pyre & Early Graves touring, Mutilation Rites shows"

DOWNLOAD: Ehnahre - "Part II" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wetnurse - "Not Your Choice" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Agenda Of Swine - "Amongst The Forgotten" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Early Graves - "Safety Net Acrobats" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Wrnlrd - "Breath Of Doors" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Behexen - "Born In The Serpent Of The Abyss" (MP3)

Enslaved's Vertebrae

Enslaved announced domestic details of their new album "Vertebrae"..... it's due October 28th at their new home, Nuclear Blast! As previously reported, the band is ready to pounce on Europe with Stonegard & Krakow in tow. In related Enslaved news, Herbrand Larsen of has been tapped to produce the new album by the Gaahl/King Ov Hell version of Gorgoroth. The band will enter the studio on August 25th to record eight new tracks written by King ov Hell with Frost of 1349/Satyricon/Keep Of Kalessin fame on drums. 1349 will be at Nokia on Sept 6th (stoked! tix still avail) with Carcass, Rotten Sound, Suffocation, and Necrophagist. Satyricon recently announced the title of their new album due on November 3rd, The Age of Nero.

Boston's Ehnahre, featuring former members of Kayo Dot, will drop The Man Closing Up on Sept 1st via Sound Devastation Records. The gloomy experimental death/doom band enlisted Nick Zampiello (ISIS, Old Man Gloom, Mare, etc) to master the record, Jonah Jenkins (Only Living Witness, Raw Radar War) on guest vocals, as well as appearances by ex-Kayo Dot-ers Forbes Graham & Greg Massi. Check out on "Part II" (downladable above) featuring vocals by Jonah Jenkins!

Early Graves (fka Apiary) dropped We: The Guillotine on August 19th. Featuring a guest shot by Eugene Robinson (Oxbow), Steve Austin (Today Is The Day) appears on (vocals and guitar) and produced the record for Ironclad (Trevor from Unearth's label) Check out "Safety Net Acrobats" above.

Nifelheim, Lamb Of God, Wetnurse, Kylesa, Integrity, Withered, Om and more below...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (08/20/08)"