Entries tagged with: Hail of Bullets
words & photo by BBG
Inquisition

After Cathedral and Neurosis on days one and two respectively, Voivod headlined the large outdoor stage at Maryland Deathfest on Saturday (5/28), with Inquisition heading up the indoor stage at Sonar.
Though there are no pictures of Masakari, Mammoth Grinder, Creative Waste, Cretin, & Blood Freak, I did catch sets from the headliners as well as Avulsed, The Kill, Drop Dead, Doom, Defeated Sanity, Acid Witch, Hooded Menace, Cyanide, In Solitude, Impaled Nazarene, Hail of Bullets, Nunslaughter, and Exhorder.
Voivod

A crusty and furious set from Doom, an awesome and energetic set from Voivod, blackened doom destruction from Hooded Menace, Austrailian grinders The Kill and Detroit doomers Acid Witch were definitely my favorites, but I also thoroughly enjoyed what I saw of Hail of Bullets (around half of their set) as well as the political and furious Drop Dead.
Hooded Menace play Union Pool TONIGHT (5/31) with Negative Plane, Anhedonist, and Ilsa (who we interviewed) as part of a BrooklynVegan event. Online ticketing is not available, but there are tickets at the door for $13. Doors are at 8PM and the show starts at 8:30.
Tragedy, who played MDF Day One, also plays a show in Brooklyn tonight.
More pictures from the third day at Maryland Deathfest are below...
by BBG
DOWNLOAD: Thou - "By Endurance We Conquer" (MP3)
Sleep at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more)

Lists are very subjective. A "best of" list is always an amalgam of personal experiences - that fateful moment when you press "Play" for the first time, in addition to a grade of excellent songwriting. The records I've listed below had a profound impact on me this year, as did many of the shows that I attended and put on in the past twelve months. I'd like to thank all the artists who made this list as well as the ones who didn't, in addition to people like 1000 Knives, Osiris, Bill Dozer, Ian Dickson and venues like Union Pool, The Studio at Webster Hall, Acheron, Santos Party House and a slew of others for keeping heavy music alive in NYC. But mostly, thank YOU, the reader and the listener!
Alright, enough with the sappy bulshit, let's RAGE...
Continue reading "the year 2010 in Metal (BBG's favorite records & live shows) "
by BBG
Hail of Bullets (photo by Caroline Traitler)

After pummeling us with ...Of Frost and War and the equally crushing Warsaw Rising EP, Hail of Bullets have returned with a new LP called On Divine Winds. Due on Metal Blade on 10/12, the record sees the band continuing their obsession with war, and in particular WWII, with the focus now shifted onto the Japenese Empire. It's complete with the crusty and sickening riffs that you'd come to expect from ex-members of elite euro-death soul-shatterers like Asphyx, Bolt Thrower, and Pestilence. Dig on the severity known as "Strategy of Attrition", streamable below. On Divine Winds is currently up for preorder.
Hail of Bullets currently have a few dates in store for the EU, and only one for the US; the band will appear at Maryland Deathfest alongside recent new additions Kylesa, Citizen's Arrest (who are playing NYC with Mind Eraser and Asshole Parade), Dead Congregation, Dropdead (who just played NYC), Funebrarum (featuring Daryl of Disma and Citizen's Arrest), Hatred Surge, Masakari, Regurgitate, Nocturnal, and many many others.
All tour dates, the MDF lineup, some video and the song stream are below.
by BBG
DOWNLOAD: Altar of Plagues - "Atlantic Lights" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Breath - "Children Of The Horn" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Celeste - Morte Nee(s) (Zipped LP)
DOWNLOAD: Get Rad - "Life Without A Plan" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Get Rad - "Honest Man/Wild Man" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Inter Arma - "Epicenter" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ufomammut - Eve Snippets (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Nachtmystium - "No Funeral" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Yakuza - "Stones And Bones" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sayyadina - "Razor Discipline" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Culted - "Spirituosa" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Year of No Light - "Hierophant" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Castevet - "Grey Matter" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Deathwish MMX Spring Sampler (Zipped MP3 files)
Twilight

Surprise! After a few CDs made their way into record stores accidentally (I am told) Twilight, the Blake Judd/Wrest project that now features N. Imperial (Kreig), Aaron Turner (Isis), Stavros Giannopoulos (The Atlas Moth) and Sanford Parker (Minsk) is out NOW on CD via Southern Lord! The record was engineered by Sanford Parker, who also contributed synths, and features eight tracks with Robert Lowe (Lichens) contributing vocals to three of them. No official word on a release date for the LP, but get out and order a copy... I think I may enjoy it more than the new Nachtmystium. Speaking of the new Nachtmystium, Stereogum recently premiered the keyboard heavy "No Funeral" from the forthcoming Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. II. Dig on that above.
Call me obsessed, but the new Black Breath, Heavy Breathing, is on serious rotation lately- much like their previous EP Razors To Oblivion was last year. The new LP has Kurt Ballou's dirty little fingers all over it, bringing their rich early Swedish death metal meets hardcore sound to life, as exhibited in "Children of The Horn" available above. Get Heavy Breathing now via Southern Lord. Black Breath will open the BV/1000 Knives/AEG Live Converge extravaganza at Santos Party House on 5/6 along with Touche Amore and Lewd Acts. Make sure and get their early (their live show is worth it), and get your tickets in advance (it WILL sell out). Seriously brutal and fun stuff... you gotta love a band that screams "reject Christ, spit on the cross" at the top of their lungs. Or am I alone on that one?
Though it only lasts two tracks (but conversely- 35 minutes), the new EP from Altar of Plagues, Tides, is every bit as powerful as White Tomb, one of my favorite LPs of last year. AoP's new Tides EP is currently up for pre-order via Burning World Records (cop it), but until that package arrives, make sure and dig on "Atlantic Lights" from the EP (50% of the record!) , which makes it's world premiere here!
An LP from last year that was just too good to be free was Celeste's Misanthrope(s). With a potent mix of black metal, furious hardcore, and even melody, it was a seriously underrated record that deserved much more attention than it got. Even though Misanthrope(s) is barely in the rear view, the band has released their new LP, Morte Nee(s) for FREE download (get it above). Make sure and order a copy of the LP for yourself via Denovali as well though, it's one to keep for posterity.
Richmond's Inter Arma totally floored me at The Charleston with their furious mix of black metal, southern stoner style and Neurosis-style imperial riffage. Besides being a jawdropping live band, Inter Arma has also put together a pretty memorable record as well in the form of Sundown, out soon on Forcefield Records. Featuring members of another great Richmond band, Bastard Sapling, check out the band when they hit the road in July, but until then, check out Sundown!
A darkness has settled over the land... details on Watain's new album have been revealed! Entitled Lawless Darkness, the effort was recorded at Necromorbus Studio (Deathspell Omega, Funeral Mist, Ondskapt, Nominon, Unanimated et al) in Alvik, Sweden, and is due on June 7 with the below cover art and the tracklisting as listed down below. The release follows their picture disc EP Reaping Death which quickly disappeared, though the CD single is currently available.
That Watain cover, plus news on Blood Revolt (Primordial + Revenge), Loss, Man Is The Bastard, Hail of Bullets, Woe, a new Inquisition LP, and more as Short Wave Warfare continues....