Frightened Rabbit @ T5, Nov. 2010 (more by Lionel Bergeron)

SXSW has just announced another round of bands for the 2013 edition of the annual music festival that will happen March 12 - 17. This brings the total current number of acts to around 1300. Someome of the highlights include Vampire Weekend, Frightened Rabbit, The Thermals, Black Lips, Camera Obscura, Merchandise, Bleached, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Eagles of Death Metal, Parenthetical Girls, Indians, Night Beds, IO Echo, KEN Mode, Prince Paul, Pure Bathing Culture, Sepalcure, UK motorik post-punks TOY, Finnish instrumentalists K-X-P, Toronto's Moon King, UK indie rockers Splashh (not Brooklyn Splash with one "h") and loads more. Head to BV Austin for the whole Round 3 list.

photos by Greg Cristman

"Barney" Greenway of Napalm Death @ Gramercy Theatre, 10/27/2012

Grindcore pioneers Napalm Death played Gramercy Theatre on 10/27 with party-hearty thrashers Municipal Waste, death metal gore freaks Exhumed, and technical-metal favorites Vektor. Though Napalm's set was plagued with technical difficulties, the remainder of the bill delivered solid sets that got the crowd moving at the sold-out show. Pictures from the mosh/stage-dive-tastic event on Saturday adorn this post.

The show was one of three excellent heavy shows that Saturday before the storm, with the other two being Tombs/-16-/Serpentine Path/Pyrrhon at Saint Vitus and Boston Strangler/Perdition/Crazy Spirit/Waste Management/Prisoner Abuse at Acheron.

The tour soldiers on, with Napalm Death and Municipal Waste also scheduled for a date with Fun Fun Fun Fest. More pic from Gramercy are below.

Continue reading "Napalm Death, Municipal Waste and Exhumed played Gramercy Theatre with Vektor (pics)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Napalm Death at Maryland Deathfest 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Municipal Waste, Napalm Death and Exhumed will team up for a US tour together (!), calling on a rotating support cast of Vektor (who just played Saint Vitus), Dayglo Abortions, Attitude Adjustment, Speedwolf, Repulsion (who will play POTR East) and Dwarves.

Look for them to hit Fun Fun Fun Fest along the way, and NYC is in the crosshairs for this mammoth tour, hitting Gramercy Theater on October 27 with Vektor on board as support. Tickets are on sale, and tour flyer  and all listed tour dates are at the bottom of this post.

Municipal Waste released The Fatal Feast earlier this year, while Napalm Death released Utilitarian. I interviewed "Barney" of Napalm Death earlier this year if you missed it as well.

Meanwhile, Blag Dahlia of Dwarves will be in NYC very soon.

All dates and the MWaste tour flyer are below.

Continue reading "Municipal Waste, Napalm Death & Exhumed - 2012 tour dates"

by BBG

Seven Sisters of Sleep at A389 2011 (more by BBG)

Seven Sisters of Sleep (mems Tafkata) are two for two with releases in 2011, dropping both their excellent debut and their similarly crushing split with Children of God this year. Get both at A389. Though no full East Coast trek has been planned, Seven Sisters of Sleep will join the great All Pigs Must Die, labelmates Low Places, and NYC's Grudges for an NYC date at Acheron on 1/20, just a few days after the always awesome A389 Anniversary show at Sonar in Baltimore with Eyehategod, Gehenna, and many others.

All Pigs Must Die was recently given an "honorable mention" in Pitchfork's top metal of 2011 list (though no shout out for Seven Sisters of Sleep). Check out the full list, along with some streaming APMD material and a few videos below...

Continue reading "Pitchfork lists the best metal of 2011, All Pigs Must Die & Seven Sisters of Sleep schedule a Brooklyn show"

photos by Jonathan McPhail, words by BBG

Goatwhore

Exhumed teamed with Goatwhore, Havok, and Brohammer at Europa on Wednesday night (11/9), as part of the latter three's tour together. Exhumed's appearance was the most rare after being away from the road and on mini-hiatus for a few years (save for an MDF appearance), but it was Goatwhore who drew the most excitement, probably due to the fact that the band is on the road constantly. By all accounts, the kids also went nuts for high-energy thrashers Havok.

Pictures of all four bands, some video, the Exhumed album stream, and tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Exhumed played Europa with Goatwhore, Havok, and Brohammer (pics/video)"

by BBG

Leviathan's True Traitor True Whore

Leviathan's True Traitor True Whore was hands down my most anticipated release of this year, especially considering my reverence for his last LP Massive Conspiracy Against All Life. True Traitor True Whore is Jef Whitehead's personal statement toward the recent charges brought upon him, according to his interview in Pitchfork, and it is also one of his most daring and overtly "rock" leaning records yet. TTTW is one of my favorite sort of records, opening itself up more and more with repeated listening, and is definitely another notch in his already storied career as an outsider artist. Stream three Leviathan tracks below, which previously posted at Pitchfork (x2) and Invisible Oranges, and get your copy via Profound Lore.

The same night that Torche and Part Chimp attack Mercury Lounge (11/9), Exhumed will team with Goatwhore and Havok to play Europa. Tickets are still available to both Europa and Merc, but I have a pair of tickets available for giveaway for the Europa show. Head below for more details on how you can win. The Torche/Part Chimp split, which we previewed recently, is currently streaming in full at Spin.

Concussion will hit Public Assembly on 11/10 with Worms In Women And Cattle (Pippi Zornoza from the live incarnation of Wold), Syphilitic Lust, and Sannhet.

And last but not least, The Ocean have added a show at Saint Vitus on 11/8 with Family, Alekhine's Gun, and The Binary Code. All US dates and some in their home base of the EU, are below.

More details on how to win those Exhumed tickets, an incredible Neurosis video and more suggested NYC shows are below.

Continue reading "Evillive (special Leviathan edition)"

by BBG (who is in California right now)

Ghoul in Orange County

Try as you might, you could not escape the Dystopia chants at an otherwise quiet industrial park in Orange County on Sunday night (9/25). It's understandable considering the greatness of Dystopia, and the fact that 2/3 of its members were playing in newer projects (Ghoul and Mange).

The two day at California Discord Fest, which originally featured appearances from Rattus, Dropdead, Despise You, Lack of Interest, Ghoul, Mange, ACxDC, Murder Construct, unannounced guest Exhumed and many others, was pared down considerably after a 9PM police visit on Saturday broke-up the show at its original location at The Vortex in downtown Los Angeles. Unconfirmed rumors blame a lack of correct permits. Regardless, locals quickly picked up the slack with house shows that night, a set by Magrudergrind included, and two new shows were scheduled for Sunday.

Though the bulk of the local lineup did not play (including Lack of Interest and Despise You), the two Sunday makeup shows were quickly scheduled outside the city in Fullerton with Dropdead, Exhumed, Ghoul, and Mange. The shows were set in a practice studio approximately a fifth of the size of the original venue and it was soon invaded by a swarm of punks, a good number of which did not get in due to capacity. Rattus, in their reported final US appearance, played the early show at the venue which I unfortunately missed due to a miscommunication (fail on my part).

The late (6PM) make-up show on Sunday featured a headlining appearance from Dropdead, who teamed with Exhumed, Ghoul, and Mange. Dropdead was great as usual, though the band has been sticking to a similar script with respect to set list for years now; the band hasn't released any new material in a while save for splits with Converge and Look Back and Laugh (who they covered at the show). Exhumed's booming death metal that wowed me at Maryland Deathfest didn't disappoint either, so make sure to catch them in NYC at Europa on 11/9 (tickets are still available). Mange, who opened the show and struggled with equipment diffuclty, played a more-sludge-leaning version of powerviolence that had the crowd primed for faster material; this was definitely a crowd built for speed.

But my clear favorite was definitely Ghoul (possibly due to never seeing them before), whose crusty thrash was both powerful and campy. Shrouded in blood-soaked hoods, the band ripped through a set of oldies and new material while costumed "guests" came on stage to soak the crowd with fake (?) blood. Ghoul is definitely a fantastic live band, and their low-tech approach to stage gore will fit perfectly with tour-mates Gwar (who hit Irving Plaza on 11/23, tickets). Make sure and get there early.

More pictures from California Discord Fest, including Ghoul and Dropdead setlists, are below. A second set of photos, which includes some of the bands from Saturday before the fuzz broke up the party and that Magrudergrind house show, are on the way.

Continue reading "California Discord Fest was shut down, but Ghoul, Exhumed & Mange did get to play a show (pics)"

by BBG

Exhumed at Maryland Deathfest (more by BBG)

Exhumed's gore-obsessed and tongue-in-cheek death-grind makes a triumphant comeback on All Guts, No Glory, the band's first LP of new material in eight years. The LP, out now via Relapse Records, is streaming in full below. After a triumphant East Coast showing at Maryland Deathfest, Exhumed have resumed their road duties and are currently on their first leg of dates with Cephalic Carnage and Withered. The second leg of dates kicks off in the tail-end of October with Cephalic Carnage and Goatwhore, and will include the East Coast and November 9th at Europa. Tickets for the Brooklyn show are on sale.

All tour dates and the album stream is below.

Continue reading "Exhumed released new LP (stream it), touring w/ Cephalic Carnage & others (dates)"

words & photos by BBG

Neurosis

After a day of heavy music that culminated in the last US set from Cathedral, the second day of Maryland Deathfest was marked by sets from Neurosis, Aura Noir, Corrosion of Conformity, Funebrarum, Marduk, Exhumed, Kylesa, Machetazo, Cripple Bastards, Pulling Teeth, Nocturnal, The Impalers & Nails. Save for the latter two (and COC), I was able to catch all of them... with my favorite sets of the day going to Neurosis, Cripple Bastards, Funebrarum, and Exhumed.

Neurosis's set touched on songs from their latest Given To The Rising and reached back as far as Souls at Zero for "The Web". The band closed with "Through Silver In Blood" which, considering I had met the album's producer Billy Anderson earlier in the day, had a special meaning and power on top of the band's already considerable weight. Favorites like "Locust Star" and "A Sun That Never Sets" also made an appearance during the band's incredible set. The full setlist is listed below. A picture of Exhumed's is down there too.

Marduk

Marduk, Aura Noir, Black Anvil, and Panzerfaust are on a tour that hits Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 3rd. Tickets are still available. Their full list of dates is below.

A ton more pictures from Friday, below...

Continue reading "Maryland Deathfest 2011 -- Day 2 in pics & review (Neurosis, Cripple Bastards, Funebrarum, Exhumed, Marduk, more)"