by BBG

"Giant squid sound like June of 44, neurosis and system of a down made an awesome three way music baby." [SethCDiamond

"hey LADIES, it's a great weekend to be a WOMAN in PUNK! canadian riot grrrls WHITE LUNG are in town tonite @ 538 johnson + tmw @ the acheron" -Maria Sherman

Giant Squid @ Saint Vitus

Translation Loss celebrated their roster at two shows in the East Coast, including NYC at Saint Vitus on 4/21. The Philadelphia-based record label looped in west-coast cello-centric metal crew Giant Squid for the special occaision, filling out the rest of the bill with appearances from Rosetta (who headlined the evening), Fight Amp and East of the Wall. Pictures and video from Saint Vitus on Saturday are below.

Shortly after the close of the show, I braved the elements to head to the sweltering-hot-and-obscenely-packed Acheron to catch the tail end of Crazy Spirit before White Lung hit the stage for their second of two NYC shows (the first was at 538 Johnson the day before). Thankfully, I missed a fight that broke out at the venue during the show and managed to catch all of the bratty-punk set by White Lung who, despite microphone issues and too much stage volume (which forces the vocals too high in the PA), were totally fun and unique. Video from Acheron is below.

If you missed Fight Amp, the band will be in NYC very soon... look for the Am-Rep-meets-hardcore trio to bless Union Pool on June 14th as the special guest for the previously announced Harkonen/The Atlas Moth/Whores show as part of the BrooklynVegan-BBG/Brutal Panda Northside showcase. Tickets are still on sale OR you can use your Northside badge to get in.

All pictures and video from Acheron and Saint Vitus are below.

Continue reading "Rosetta played w/ Giant Squid; White Lung played w/ Crazy Spirit; Fight Amp added to Northside show (dates/pics/video)"

by BBG

Rosetta at Gramercy Theater (more by Di Lynn Ring)

Whenever vocalist Mike Armine isn't handling vocals over spacey post-hardcore riffs with his band Rosetta, you can probably catch him crouching in the corner activating some of the samples and ambient tracks that provide texture and depth to their live show. Now Armine is welcoming an LP of tracks that further explore his ambient tendencies with Verse & Cleansing Undertones of Wake/Lift, a full-length that delves head-first into waves of noise, tones, and feedback, abandoning some of the clenched-fist approach of Rosetta in favor of introspection. Stream all of Verse & Cleansing Undertones of Wake/Lift below and look for the LP on Translation Loss Records this week.

Rosetta released a split with Junius and the The Determinism of Morality LP last year, and recently played with Kings Destroy at Saint Vitus on March 14th. The band will return to the space on April 21st as a special guest where they will join Giant Squid, Fight Amp and East of The Wall. Tickets are still available.

All tour dates and that Mike Armine stream below...

Continue reading "Mike Armine welcomes a new LP (stream it); Rosetta added to Translation Loss bill (dates)"

by BBG

Jackie of Giant Squid at BV/Profound Lore SXSW (more by Samantha Marble)

Fight Amp, Giant Squid, East of The Wall and special guests will team up for Translation Loss showcases at North Star Bar in in Philadelphia on 4/20 (with Rosetta) and at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn on 4/21 (with special guest TBA). Tickets for both shows are on sale (at the links).

Giant Squid, who released the Cenotes EP last year, is celebrating its vinyl release with these shows. The band currently have no other new releases on the way but their labelmates Fight Amp do...

Studio time is officially booked for our next full-length! Starting April we're recording to 2" tape at Gradwell Studios here in South Jersey, same place we used for our splits with Black Tusk, Kowlloon Walled City, and Ladder Devils. Here come the bummer jams...

Meanwhile, East of the Wall are hitting the road for a string of US dates with Hull and Black Tusk. You can also catch Brett from East of the Wall at Union Pool as part of Argonauts. All tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Translation Loss schedules label showcases with Fight Amp, Giant Squid, East of the Wall and more"

by BBG

Its easy to see why members of East of The Wall and So Is The Tongue would get along; both bands clearly have similar record collections and traffic in technical rock with touches of metal, hardcore, psychedeila, and jazz. But more importantly, both bands understand that might does not mean right; So Is The Tongue never succumb to the trappings of overt-technicality at the expense of good songwriting.

Members of East of The Wall, So Is The Tongue and El Drugstore helm the imprint Nefarious Industries, who will release the sophomore So Is The Tongue LP on January 17th. Stream all of said LP, A Child Of Divorce, below. The record was produced by Colin Marston (of Krallice, Gorguts, Dysrhythmia, etc, the latter of which recently announced signing to Profound Lore) and is available now at the band's store.

NYCers can catch So Is The Tongue at their record release celebration at Lit Lounge on Monday (1/16) with Iceland's Lazyblood and So Hideous, My Love.

All tour dates and that stream is below.

Continue reading "So Is The Tongue releasing 'A Child of Divorce' (stream it now), playing record release party at Lit (dates)"

photos by Greg Cristman

While Coke Bust/Masakari/Sick Fix/Grudges was tearing down Acheron on 11/19, a much larger show was brewing at Terminal 5 featuring Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan and Red Fang as part of the trio's tour together. Mastodon's set covered their entire recorded output, including newer tracks like "Curl of The Burl" all the way to earlier favorites like "March of The Fire Ants" and, according to the set-list, "Iron Tush" (aka "Iron Tusk").

The sold-out show also featured an appearance from original DEP vocalist Dimitri Minkanakis (now a member of Argonauts) who joined the band on stage for performances of "Sunshine The Werewolf" and the classic "43% Burnt". Video of that is below.

While Argonauts have no upcoming dates, Brett of Argonauts will play Public Assembly on 12/14 with his other project East of The Wall. They'll be joined by Tournament (who play an Acheron benefit tonight with Hull/Naam), Family, and Fashion Week. The band is finishing up their US tour post-the release of their latest LP The Apologist.

Pictures, video and the Mastodon setlist from Terminal 5 is below...

Continue reading "Mastodon, Dillinger Escape Plan & Red Fang played Terminal 5 (pics, video & setlist) ------- East of The Wall playing Brooklyn"

by BBG

Brett of East of The Wall, his head on a swivel (more by BBG)

New Jersey quintet East of The Wall walk the line between stunning instrumental prowess and keeping it heavy on the live stage, which is one reason why they'll be a formidable match for like-minded Brooklyn heavyweights Dysrhythmia at Union Pool on 10/22. The 1000 Knives CMJ showcase will also feature appearances from City of Ships and Meek is Murder, and $10 gets you in.

Before Saturday arrives (if you aren't heading to the BV-Rocks Off boat show the same night), make sure and prep for the show by digging into The Apologist, East of The Wall's new declaration of dizzying riffs interjected with moments of first-pumping brutality. NPR recently made one track available for stream, but you can stream the entire LP now in full below, and for the first time. Order your copy via Translation Loss.

Stream The Apologist in full, and check them out on tour at the dates below.

Continue reading "stream East of the Wall's new LP, see them on tour, at CMJ"

by BBG

Crosses is a new crew that features Shaun Lopez of FAR and Chino Moreno of Deftones, and the trio (Chuck Doom rounds it out) have released a new EP for download. Get it for the price of your email address. Though the pedigree of this might indicate something on the heavy side, Crosses definitely resembles Chino's Team Sleep or with moments of (gulp) witch house present. No word on what is next for the trio, but one thing is for sure, Ritualz, AKA †‡†, is not pleased. He tweeted "only thing i can think of right now is that if you have a blog post about that fat fuck stealing my shit to let people know please" and "woke up to attacks by deftones fans. basically they're mad because i came up with the crosses first and they hate everything not deftones?" No word on a response from Chino

Meanwhile, Dave Witte has gathered up an impressive crew of musicians for his latest project Argonauts. Witte will join The Dillinger Escape Plan vocalist Dimitri Minkanakis, East of the Wall bassist Brett Bamburger, and fellow Burnt By The Sun member John Adubato. Though the band has yet to post a new song (they will in the near future according to a recent Facebook post), they are scheduled to play the Gwar-B-Q in Richmond, VA on September 17th. There they'll join Gwar (duh), Darkest Hour, Kepone, Mensrea, DBX, Groundscore, Battlemaster, White Cross, The Occultist and Bloody Crackdown as part of the day-long affair.

by BBG

Flourishing @ Public Assembly

Flourishing hasn't existed quite as long as Wetnurse, but Wetnurse/Flourishing guitarist Garett Bussanick has already cranked out a pair of Flourishing releases in as many years. The second release for the band he also sings for is due on August 2nd via The Path Less Traveled Records. The Sum Of All Fossils features eight tracks of atonal eclectic guitar wizardry that crosses barriers between grind, death metal, prog, and post-hardcore. Check out the lead track from the LP, "By Which We're Cemented", streaming below for the first time.

Flourishing will team up with Humanity Falls to play Port 41 in NYC on July 10th as part of a larger tour for Humanity Falls and their touring partners The Leviathan's Mandible. All tour dates are below along with a new Humanity Falls track and a stream of their 2010 LP Ordaining The Apocalypse.

Humanity Falls will link up with the the Ash Borer/Ruin Lust tour at The Meatlocker in NJ on 7/12. That's one day after Ash Borer play NYC for the first time at Tommy's Tavern (not at Semi-Legit as previously announced. the show was moved). July 16th at Acheron is still on, and with support from ITHI.

Back on 4/13 while Floor was blasting down the walls and Hawks were trying to keep their pants on at Music Hall of Williamsburg, The Ocean were playing with the always impressive East of The Wall and Flourishing at Public Assembly next door. A set of belated pictures from Public Assembly are in this post. They continue, along with album details, streams, and tour dates, below...

Continue reading "new Flourishing LP (song premiere) ++ dates & belated pics from Public Assemblys show w/ The Ocean & East of The Wall"

by BBG

The Ocean in Karlsruhe, Stadtmitte (photo by Michael Gebhardt)

The Ocean released their latest LP Heliocentric last year, and will head out on tour in April of this year. They play a rare show in NYC, their first since touring with Kylesa, Withered, and Lair of The Minotaur in 2008, at Public Assembly on April 13th with East of The Wall & Flourishing .

The NYC date is one of three headlining dates for the band before they head out on tour with Job For A Cowboy, Between The Buried & Me & Cephalic Carnage. That trek begins at Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale, NY on 4/15 (tickets), and swings through New England Metal & Hardcore Fest on 4/16. There the band will share a bill their old tour-mates Withered, who will loop back to NYC on on their tour with Krallice, Ipsissimus, & Cleric.

All The Ocean tour dates and some videos, below...

Continue reading "The Ocean heading out on tour (2011 dates)"

photos by Samantha Marble, words by BBG

Compared to fellow Georgians Mastodon & Baroness, Kylesa have always been sort of the underdog. Now entering their 10th year as a band, it seemed like sweet justice on Wednesday (1/26) to see the band pack a headlining show at Santos Party House, and play with another THREE underrated bands in their own right.

Rosetta, East of The Wall, and Fight Amp all deserve bigger audiences than they usually draw. East of The Wall's Isis-meets-jazzy-tech is technically astounding, brutal, and endlessly watchable. Fight Amp conjure the best of Am-Rep, leaning towards hardcore. Rosetta's post-rock-meets-hardcore is spacey, atmospheric, emotional, and a live juggernaut.

I could tell from not only the crowd's size, but from some of the faces, that Kylesa's new LP Spiral Shadow has been attracting attention from some different corners of the music world. Nevertheless, the bulk of the crowd popped for fan fave "Hollow Severer" (from 006's Time Will Fuse Its Worth). Material from personal fave Static Tensions received the same warm welcome... if by welcome you mean stagedives and windmills. It was another excellent set from this crew, who unfortunately had some extra work to do the next morning.

More pictures from the show and the setlist are below...

Continue reading "Kylesa played Santos Party House w/ Rosetta, East of The Wall and Fight Amp (pics & setlist)"

by BBG

Megasus rages

Acheron was beatdown by four killer bands on Friday (8/13), including the first ever NYC dates for Megasus, Judas and The Love Below who played along with the fantastic noisy hardcore trio Pollution. Pollution headlined the evening and totally impressed along with the incredible Megasus (featuring Brian Gibson of Lightning Bolt on drums), who exceeded all of my expectations. Both Pollution and Megasus are must-see, and luckily you will get a chance to see Pollution in the coming weeks; they play 538 Johnson on August 25th and Acheron with Shitstorm on 9/1.

Judas and The Love Below were playing dates on the way to their appearances in Philly at This is Hardcore the following day. Ryan of Pollution would play a show the next day as well, this time as part of his doom-y alter ego Unearthly Trance at The Charleston with Coffinworm.

Reminder: The Acheron will host KEN Mode , and Castevet TONIGHT (Tuesday 8/17) as part of a BV/1000 Knives show. Festivities start at 8PM. Unfortunately, I have just been informed that East of The Wall has been forced to cancel their appearance due to a medical emergency, but the rest of the show will go on. The band WILL make it up by playing another BV event in the near future. Details forthcoming!

Pics and video from Friday, below...

Continue reading "Megasus, Judas, Love Below & Pollution played the Acheron (pics & video) + KEN Mode, but not East of the Wall tonight"

by BBG

Magrudergrind supporting Verbal Abuse (more by Keith Marlowe)

With all of the BrooklynVegan-related shows on the horizon, it can be hard to keep up. That said, we have some recent additions to some of our upcoming heavy music bills to report.

Atakke has been added to the upcoming Fuck The Facts / Magrudergrind / Defeatist destruction campaign THIS SATURDAY (8/7) at Cake Shop. Atakke recently roughed up the audience at Acheron supporting The Body. Fuck The Facts will have a new cassette entitled Live In Whitby available at the show, with the remainder showing up online after the tour. Get a copy and download one and pay-what-you-want.

Fresh off of wowing the crowd at Black Cobra, East of The Wall will support KEN Mode and Castevet at Acheron on August 17th.

Tombs have been added to the upcoming Black Army Jacket reunion at Cake Shop on Sept 4th. The show is just two weeks after the band plays Death By Audio on 8/22 with Planks.

And a reminder, Unsane/Keelhaul/Pigs/Disappearer take on Santos TONIGHT (8/5) (tickets) and Pollution, Megasus, The Love Below, and Judas destroy Acheron on August 13th at 8PM. Interested in seeing Unsane, Fuck The Facts, KEN Mode, or Pollution? I have two pairs of tickets available for EACH. Info on how to win, Pollution flyer, and some video is down below...

Continue reading "upcoming metal shows (and a chance to win tickets) "

words and photos by BBG

East of the Wall

Primus be damned. Black Cobra raged out at The Studio at Webster Hall on Friday (7/30) with help from Rhode Island killers Howl, the Ohio freight train known as Struck By Lightning and the incredible and beyond-under-rated East Of The Wall. All four bands delivered dependably massive sets in the Studio space, though as a veteran of shows with BC/Howl/SbL, I was most struck by the five piece lineup of East of The Wall (they played with four on tour, and at SXSW). Incredible night and thanks to all who came/were involved.

East of The Wall plays again TONIGHT (8/2) with Name, Meek Is Murder, and Iron Thrones at The Charleston.

More pics from the show, and some video, below...

Continue reading "Black Cobra, Howl, Struck by Lightning & East of the Wall played The Studio @ Webster Hall (pics, video) "

words by BBG, photos by Keith Marlowe

The Giraffes on a Rocks Off Boat Cruise

Goes Cube will play June 11th at the Bell House, possibly their final show in 2010:

As individuals, it's a major year for us, as well. This summer, Matt Tyson (bass) and his wife will welcome twins into the world. Meanwhile, David and his wife are moving out of New York City to an undisclosed location (even to them) somewhere out west.

Obviously, with such big plans (the next full length, the EP), this is not the end of Goes Cube. No way.... The soonest we will be conceivably playing again in NYC would be this fall (we've already been invited to play CMJ). However, depending on how things go, it may be longer than that. And consider this: the next time we DO play NYC, it will be as a touring band. After all, it's not worth David coming all the way back to NYC for one show.

So, it stands to reason we'd put together a really fun show to celebrate.... Joining us on the bill will be two bands who have become incredibly close friends of ours, influences on our music, and who we've shared the road with: The Giraffes and East Of The Wall.

Goes Cube recently released "Property" b/w "The Ban Has Been Lifted" 7" via The End Records. Want one? I have FIVE available for giveaway! Details on how to win are at the bottom of this post.

For those of you who can't make it to the Bell House, you will get a shot to catch East Of The Wall in NYC at The Studio At Webster Hall on July 30 with Black Cobra, Howl, and Struck by Lightning (tickets), and/or The Charleston when they play with Name on August 2nd.

Meanwhile, The Giraffes have been ragin' away, most recently on a Rocks Off Boat Cruise on June 3rd. Pics from the (absolute) mayhem are below...

Continue reading "The Giraffes played a boat (pics), playing w/ Goes Cube (their last show for a while) & East Of The Wall in Brooklyn"

words by BBG, photos by Samantha Marble, BBG

East of The Wall, in full on crushing mode (by Samantha Marble)

East of The Wall and Goes Cube are finally home. The pair hit the road for SXSW shortly after their 3/5 show at Union Pool and have been skipping around the US ever since, with Goes Cube tagging The End's official showcase on 3/18 and East of The Wall playing a succession of shows including Goodbye South By at Red 7 on 3/21 (pics of both below). The bands are finally back on tri-state soil and will play a FREE in-store at Generation Records TODAY (3/30) at 6:30 with Descender.

East of The Wall's appearance at Goodbye South By on 3/21 at Red 7 was a jaw dropper. The NJ band play a smoking instrumental prog/hardcore hybrid that is technical with out feeling wanky. Think Pelican with the occaisional hardcore vocal and a little more tech, but with TONS of energy.

Flyer for the record store show, more tour dates, and SXSW pics, below...

Continue reading "Goes Cube & East of the Wall played SXSW (pics), playing free in-store @ Generation Records (today) & other dates"

by BBG

Goes Cube (more by Paul Birman)

Cable will celebrate the 10th anniversary and re-release of Northern Failures with a show at Union Pool on 4/16 with Translation Loss's Slacks and Goes Cube.

Northern Failures ...ranks as the overall fan favorite. The more jagged, angular sounds of the first two records were smoothed over and a more rock and riff oriented groove crept in. Yet it still remained distinctly Cable and decidedly heavy. It was also the start of their collaboration with producer Steve Austin [of Today Is The Day]. -[StonerRock]

Goes Cube is also scheduled to play The Charleston TONIGHT (2/19) with Rosetta and East of The Wall. It's one of a number of shows for GC/EoTW. The pair will hit the road for a number of dates on their way to SxSW, including a tour kickoff on 3/5 with The Austerity Program at Union Pool. Upon their return, both bands will hit up Generation Records for an instore on March 30th. Full tour dates are below.

East of The Wall also has another NYC show this weekend with Descender, Surrounded By Teeth, and Beauty Apes at Lit Lounge on Monday (2/22). The band will release Ressentiment via Translation Loss this July; stream a pair of tracks from that record at their myspace.

Goes Cube have a new seven inch, "Property" b/w "The Ban Has Been Lifted" out very soon via The End Records. Snag yourself a copy, or try your luck at winning one of these limited edition hand-numbered joints for FREE. Details at the bottom of this post.

Tour dates and some videos are below...

Continue reading "Goes Cube & East of the Wall tour dates (2 Brooklyn shows, 1 tonight, a show w/ Cable, SXSW & more) ++ win a 7" "

by BBG

Tombs at Cake Shop (more by Samantha Marble)

As previously discussed, Tombs will do battle with Rosetta, Irepress, and Junius at the Studio @ Webster Hall today (Saturday, 12/12, tix here), but that isn't the only show scheduled for the Brooklyn killers/year-end list toppers.

BrooklynVegan is proud to present Tombs with Rosetta, City of Ships, and Battlefields at Union Pool on January 22nd in association with our friends at 1000 Knives. Flyer for that show is below.

In other Rosetta news, the band recently dropped a three way split with Year of No Light and East Of The Wall on Translation Loss. Pick that up here. The East of The Wall lineup on the split differs slightly from the lineup today:

EAST OF THE WALL is excited to announce its new lineup. Joining the band are guitarist Chris Alfano and drummer Seth Rheam. Both played in the band Biclops with EAST OF THE WALL bassist Brett Bamberger and guitarist Kevin Conway. Due to the merging of the two bands' lineups, all music created by the aforementioned collective, along with guitarist Matt Lupo, will be released under the name EAST OF THE WALL. This will include the release of the groups next record, Ressentiment, due out next summer through Translation Loss Records.

With this lineup change, EAST OF THE WALL has parted ways with original drummer Mike Somers. The band would like to thank Mike for his outstanding musicianship and hard work since the inception of the band.

January is turning out to be a nutso month, with the previously announced Magrudergrind/Defeatist show at Cake Shop and HopeCon/Blacklisted at Cake Shop (TICKETS), not to mention the previously discussed Disembodied show at Santos.

Rosetta/Battlefields/City of Ships & East of The Wall dates, along with the Tombs flyer, below...

Continue reading "Rosetta touring w/ Battlefields (dates), playing NYC show w/ Tombs (BV presents), released split w/ Year of No Light"

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...)"