photos by Greg Cristman, words by BBG

"Ghost isn't playing" - Ryan Jones

"Enslaved is playing at the Gramercy tonight. Their fan base looks exactly like what you would expect them to look like." - William Hart

Enslaved @ Gramercy Theatre

Despite a sizeable loss with the subtraction of Ghost from the lineup, the Enslaved/Alcest tour has soldiered on with Junius picking up the slack. The trio of bands hit NYC at Gramercy Theater on Sunday, 9/25, one of their first dates on a tour that ends on the West Coast in October.

All three bands have recent releases to celebrate; Enslaved released a new EP, Alcest has the recent Le Secret EP, and Junius has a new LP in Reports From the Threshold of Death via Prosthetic. Alcest is also planning to release a new LP due early next year, though details are still forthcoming.

More pictures and setlists from Gramercy Theater are below.

Continue reading "Enslaved, Alcest & Junius @ Gramercy Theatre (pics, setlists)"

by BBG

Junius at Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 (more by BBG)

As reported, Ghost had to drop off the previously discussed US tour with Enslaved/Alcest. It's a hard road to try and find a replacement for a tour of that magnitude, especially at this hour (the tour kicks off next week!), but luckily we can exclusively report that the road-dogs in Junius will step to the plate in their stead! Tickets are still available for 9/25 at Gramercy Theater with Fin'amor. All dates are listed below.

For the unfamiliar, Junius owes as much debt to guitar-drenched alterna-pop of the 90s as they do to Isis or Mogwai. Their alternately pulverizing and melodic tunes use emotionally charged clean vocals as a centerpiece, yet always seem sincere, somber, and never sappy. Junius are preparing to release Reports From the Threshold of Death, the band's new album of expansive and epic space-rock on 10/25 via Prosthetic Records. Check out a track from that album, "All Shall Float", for the first time below!

Reminder: Junius have a split with Rosetta on the way via Translation Loss as well. Alternative Press has a song from that one.

All tour dates, the album art, and the song stream are all below...

Continue reading "Junius replacing Ghost on Enslaved tour (dates), releasing new LP on Prosthetic (song debut)"

Ghost @ The Studio at Webster Hall (more by Greg Cristman)

Everybody,

Due to some last minute complications with our visas, we have been forced to cancel our North American tour.

We are sorry towards the other bands on the tour, Enslaved and Alcest, and we wish them a very joyful tour without us.

And we are most of all tremendously sorry towards all of our fans.

This is truly beyond our control and we are making everything within our (His) powers to be able to come back to the US as soon as possible and perform for all of you.

Thank you all for your support!

Our most malicious of wishes

/A Nameless Ghoul
on behalf of GHOST

In related news, the mysterious GHOST frontman's identity may have been revealed.

Continue reading "Ghost cancel tour, Enslaved & Alcest still playing"

Just wanted to take a second to also say that our thoughts and condolences are with the people of Norway today.

The above is a selection of tweets from Norwegian musicians that have graced the pages (and stages) of BrooklynVegan in the past. Blabbermouth has a list of reactions from more in the metal community (from Norway and elsewhere), including the above-pictured message from Enslaved who said, "Our deepest condolences and thoughts go out to everybody touched by the fathomless tragedy that struck Norway yesterday. This is indeed a day for afterthought."

photos by Greg Cristman

Ghost @ The Studio

After a strong reception at the close of Maryland Deathfest 2011, Sweden's Ghost headed to NYC to play the Studio at Webster Hall on June 1st with a stellar supporting cast of Sabbath Assembly and Natur. Ghost closed their NY set with their creepy cover of The Beatles "Here Comes The Sun" which appears as a bonus track on the Japanese version of their new album Opus Eponymous. Another highlight of the show, captured in the pictures above and below, was the unholy communion, wine and wafers included, delivered by the deathly priest frontman as the band played album cut "Ritual". More pictures from the show are below.

And it was just announced that Ghost wil hit the road to support Enslaved with Alcest as part of a US tour this fall. NYC gets a date of its own, Gramercy Theater on September 25th. Tickets go on sale at noon on Friday (6/10). Full tour schedule is below.

Enslaved recently released a new EP, The Sleeping Gods, via Scion that is available for free download. Stream it in full, with the dates and pictures, below....

Continue reading "Ghost consecrated the Studio w/ Sabbath Assembly & Natur (pics), touring w/ Enslaved & Alcest (dates)"

by BBG

Enslaved at Terminal 5 (more by Greg Cristman)

Following the release of Magrundergrind's Crusher EP, Scion A/V is welcoming their latest release to the metal world, a brand new EP from Enslaved! The Sleeping Gods is another 30 minutes of progressive metal from the longstanding Norwegian crew, and will be the follow-up to 2011's Axioma Ethica Odini, which was a favorite among many last year. Download/stream a pair of new songs from that EP for the first time below, and look for that free downloadable five song EP later today (5/10)

Enslaved, who was profiled by Slayer Mag and will appear in the upcoming collection, have a few tour dates scheduled for the coming months though nothing in the US so far. The band recently toured the states with Dimmu Borgir, hitting Terminal 5 along the way.

All tour dates and those song streams are below.

Continue reading "Enslaved releasing free EP (listen to 2 songs now)"

photos by Greg Cristman

Enslaved

Enslaved supported Dimmu Borgir (not to be confused with Dimmu Burger) alongside Blood Red Throne and Dawn of Ashes at Terminal 5 on Monday 11/8. The show is part of a larger tour in support of new LPs, as both Enslaved released their newest LP Axioma Ethica Odini and Dimmu dropped Abrahadabra via Nuclear Blast in late September.

More pictures from Terminal 5 and current tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Enslaved played w/ Dimmu Borgir @ Terminal 5 (pics) "

by BBG

Enslaved at The Grand Ballroom in 2009 (more by Chris LaPutt)

Enslaved will hit the road with Dimmu Borgir (vom), Blood Red Throne, and Dawn of Ashes for a string of dates entitled Darkness Reborn, which will impact Terminal 5 on 11/8. Tickets go on sale Friday (9/17) at noon (with maybe an AmEx presale at 11AM Wednesday).

The progressive black metal band will welcome their new LP, Axioma Ethica Odini, via Nuclear Blast on 9/28 (currently on presale). Enslaved recently launched a contest for a fan-filmed video to the song "Ethica Odini" which includes a free download of the track. For rules/regs and the MP3 (in exchange for your email addy) head to the video site.

All tour dates and some video is below...

Continue reading "Enslaved touring with Dimmu Borgir, playing T5..."

words by Kim Kelly, photos by Erik Luyten

Eyehategod

It's been a long few days for Kim Kelly, who is currently gallavanting around Europe with Mike Scheidt and YOB, but the metal maven filed the below Roadburn report to tie up the rest of her time at the 2010 edition of the epic festival that took place during an equally historic time. If you're just joining us, check out Kim Kelly's report from Day 1 before continuing below... - BBG

Continue reading "Roadburn Festival 2010 in review"

words by Kim Kelly,

Goatsnake at Roadburn! (Erik Luyten)

Kim Kelly knows her (good) metal, and as such, we couldn't think of a better ambassador than this Philadelphian/writer for Terrorizer/Hails & Horns/Metal Injection. Kim checks in from Roadburn (April 15-18, 2010) in Tilburg, Holland, where she will take in some of the best metal bands currently in existence (and some resurrected from the grave), reporting back on what havoc the riff, and the volcano, hath wrought... - BBG

====

ROADBURN DIARY - DAY 1 (Thursday, April 15)

The road to Tilburg is a very long one, indeed - at least if you're coming from the mean streets of Philadelphia. After an 8am flight from Newark that landed at Heathrow at 8pm London time (before the volcano!), a few restless hours of sleep in a hostel (where a very nice Scottish boy had acted as my human alarm clock after I discovered that both my US and UK cell phones weren't working), an hour-long bus ride to Standsted Airport (chauffeured by a rough-looking lad who spent the trip dancing in his seat to Lady Gaga and singing along under his breath), an hour flight to Eindhoven, twenty minutes on a bus to the city's central train station, forty minutes on the train to Tilburg, and a five-minute walk with my Terrorizer mates to the Grass Company cafe/weed emporium, I was finally there - the stoned Mecca that is Roadburn.

continued below...

Continue reading "Roadburn Festival 2010 kicks off despite the volcano - our Day 1 report includes Goatsnake, Eyehategod, a wedding & more"

photos by Chris La Putt, words by Black Bubblegum

Good things don't always come in pairs, but the Opeth/Enslaved tour did, and the bands gave a second helping to the NYC-area last night (5/26), a little less than a month after they played Starland Ballroom in NJ. About.com was at that Jersey show:

The Norwegian band [Enslaved] has slowly evolved from a Viking/black metal hybrid to include more progressive influences, sounding like a trip to hell with Wish You Were Here blasting out of the car speakers. Their 45-minute set was workman-like in its execution, with little time for interaction with the crowd...

For two hours, Opeth tore the roof off the Starland Ballroom. The Swedish band played material from nearly every album, only skipping Orchid. Opening with a new tune, "Heir Apparent," frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt had a commanding stage presence from the start. Joking around with the audience about Skid Row, Bon Jovi, the swine flu, and the well-known New Jersey record store Vintage Vinyl, Åkerfeldt has a quirky sense of humor that was front and center throughout the live set....

The band sounded tight and avoided the sound issues that Enslaved ran into earlier in the night. The crowd responded well to the Watershed material, as well as fan favorites "Deliverance" and "The Leper Affinity." ...As a live band, Opeth has loosened up over the years, with Åkerfeldt breaking out of his shell and communicating better with the crowd... Opeth is arguably at the top of their game right now, and their live show is one of the reasons for that.

Continue reading "Opeth & Enslaved @ Grand Ballroom in NYC - pics "

tonight in NYC
* DANCE
* Toadies @ The STone Pony
* Momus & others @ Starr Space
* Enslaved @ Gramercy Theater
* Crackleknob @ Issue Project Room
* The Bangles @ B.B. King Blues Club
* Adventure, Ear Pwr, Javelin @ Cake Shop
* J. Gräf Sheppard, The Jungle @ The Stone
* Sam McPheeters, Red Dawn 2, Pink Reason @ Monster Island Basement
* Allen Toussaint's The Bright Mississippi Band @ Village Vanguard
* Hoods, Huff This, Amelia Jackie, Sasha Dobson @ Pete's Candy Store
* Red+Meth+Epmd+Brand Nubian+Nore+Black Sheep+Lords of the Underground @ BB King's

Tonight's Enslaved show at the Gramercy Theater is a one-off stop for the band who is on a tour with Opeth which hits the Grand Ballroom in NYC on Monday.

Momus also has a much bigger show coming up at Highline Ballroom.

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

words by Black Bubblegum photos by Justina Villanueva

Enslaved and Opeth are currently stunning audiences across our fair country. The madness began on May 1st when the duo (with no openers!) kicked off their tour at Starland Ballroom in NJ...

"The music was loud, furious, and frenetic. The crowd was moshing like mad. The very ground was shaking. It was a good show, to say the least." [The Mosh Pit Diaries]

Continue reading "Opeth & Enslaved touring, played Starland Ballroom, NJ -pics "

by Black Bubblegum

Opeth @ Terminal 5 - May 21, 2008 (more by Chris La Putt)

Just in time to kick the summer off RIGHT, Opeth have lined up a North American tour with Enslaved (!) that will bring the pair to the NYC area on 5/1 at Starland Ballroom (on sale 2/6 at noon) and 5/26 at The Grand Ballroom at Hammerstein (on sale 2/4 at noon). Full tour dates are below.

Opeth dropped one of my favorite albums of 2008 and Enslaved dropped the excellent (cut me some slack, I had to draw the line somewhere) Vertebrae in 2008. Bloodbath, which features members of Opeth and as well as Katatonia, recently completed shooting a video for "Hades Rising" from their new-ish record The Fathomless Mastery.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Opeth & Enslaved - 2009 Tour Dates"

by Black Bubblegum

Bolt Thrower

Maryland Deathfest added a bunch of big names to the 2009 lineup, but debatedly none are as massive as Bolt Thrower. It will be the band's first show in the US in 14 years! SMNews caught up with the band who offered a statement:

"Due to the fact that we are not real festival lovers or great fans of flying, the chances of us ever coming to the States for a one-off show was always very small.... we've finally given in. It's hard to believe that it's been 14 years since we last played in the US, so we are very happy to announce that we are finally coming back. BOLT THROWER will be playing Maryland Deathfest VII, on May 22-24, 2009, at Sonar, Baltimore, MD.

Also, in a few weeks time we will be announcing the only European festival show we will be playing next year. We'll keep you posted on both shows as soon as we have more info."

Enslaved recently dropped their new record Vertebrae, AND announced dates for a North American Tour in 2009 with Swallow The Sun and Keep Of Kalessin! The tour will last through the month of May. The NYC date is May 24th a the Blender Theater. Tickets for all shows are on presale at enterthevault.com until Nov 26th. After that check Ticketmaster. All dates below...

Continue reading "Bolt Thrower added to Maryland Deathfest VII, Enslaved announce tour dates (Blender Theater)"

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)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: U.S. Christmas - "The Scalphunters" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lions Of Tsavo - "The Hooven Swarm" (M4A)
DOWNLOAD: Lions Of Tsavo - "Body Drift" (MP3)

Intronaut

Intronaut is about to get prehistoric on dat azz, when the new LP Prehistoricisms (full tracklisting below) hits the shelves on September 16th via their new label Century Media. Metalkult has a preview in the form of "Australopithecus" which is downloadable at their site. .Tickets are still on sale for their show at Knitting Factory on August 8th with Behold The Arctopus, Mouth Of The Architect, Deadsea, and Wetnurse (one helluva bill). Mouth Of The Architect drops Quietly this week and Wetnurse drops Invisible City on September 30th. Deadsea's S/T record is out now, catch it at their myspace. "Prehistoricisms" album art there to the right.

I have heard from a very credible source that the mighty sunn 0))) will return to NYC to play a special show in celebration of the ten year anniversary of The Grimmrobe Demos. Um, yowsers. As details come in, you'll get em.

Sweden's Burst have posted two new tracks from and announced a release date for (September 16th in the US) their new record Lazarus Bird. Dig on "Cripple God" and "(We Watched) The Silver Rain" streaming at their myspace. The band has commented "Expect an album that will NOT be Origo Part 2, but something new", and if this is any indication, should be a good 'un.

Speaking of good 'uns, the Bowery Ballroom show on July 25th featuring Early Man, Valient Thorr, and the mighty Monotonix should be a grand ole time. Wanna get in gratis? Email us at BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM (subject: Denim Vests) with your first & last name, and we'll randomly pick two winners and drop 'em a pair of tickets each.

Lions Of Tsavo, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Akimbo, Obituary and more below...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (07/24/08)"

DOWNLOAD: Enslaved - RUUN (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tera Melos - When Worms Learn To Fly (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weedeater - Potbelly (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Avatar - Schlacht (MP3)

Motorhead's Lemmy

You need the heavy? Austin is bringing it this year! To recap, we have
already
discussed
quite
a few
amazing
bands
and
showcases
so
far, so lets get to some of the other ones that are must see!

Continue reading "Black Bubblegum's guide to METAL @ SXSW 2008"

by Avi Roig

1349 from Norway

Hello Brooklyn Vegan readers! As the executive director of Scandinavian music website It's a Trap!, I consider it my civic duty to inform you about multitude of Nordic acts visiting the United States and appearing at this year's SXSW festival in Austin, TX. Not only does it help fulfill our educational obligations as a non-profit organization [501(c)(3) status pending], it's also simply the right thing to do.

but first, this show alert:
TONIGHT - March 10, 2008
@ Knitting Factory in NYC

Øyafestivalen vs. OhMyRockness
8pm - Pains of Being Pure At Heart (NYC)
9pm - Hanne Hukkelberg (Norway)
10pm - Shining (Norway)
11pm - Videohippos (Wham City, Baltimore)

Continue reading "music from Norway - touring, @ SXSW 2008 & in NYC tonight"

by Black Bubblegum (a BV metal correspondent)

Dillinger Escape Plan @ Blender Theater, NYC - Dec 16, 2007 (CRED)

How long until A.O. Scott and Elvis Mitchell start reviewing films with "two devil horns up" or "4 1/2 Pentagrams"? First, the NY Times article on Sunn 0))) & Boris, then more recently articles on Enslaved & Behemoth, and now Dillinger Escape Plan? Great article that, although short, captures some of the fury that is a Dillinger Escape Plan show..... You know your metal band is doing something right (or reeally wrong?) when the New York Times describes your show as a "thickly textured maelstrom".

More metal below....

Continue reading "this week in METAL (12-26-07)"