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

Kuxan Suum at Acheron (more by BBG)

Though previously listed with the same lineup as the show they just played at Acheron, this Friday's 9pm Black Twilight Circle show at The Charleston will feature an almost entirely different lineup with Raspberry Bulbs, Volahn, Arizmenda, Shataan, and The Haunting Presence. Black Twilight Circle also visit WFMU that day (10/7).

The show is also one of two upcoming shows for Raspberry Bulbs who will also join Villains, Occultation and Skull at Saint Vitus on 10/18 (tickets).

Speaking of black metal, the.... New Yorker wrote a piece:

The fertile and fractious U.S. scene in the genre known as black metal can be understood through a familiar moment in rock history. In the sixties, British bands like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones mined American blues, first copying their heroes and then creating something vivid and novel. In the nineties, a range of American acts began drawing from the work of Norwegian metal bands that were famous mostly for a look and for several unpleasant events. The Norwegians were largely faithful to the "corpse paint" costume, in which the face is covered in white makeup, with black circles drawn around the eye sockets. Upside-down-cross pendants and spiked bracelets were common accessories. The tabloid-worthy events centered on a musician named Varg Vikernes, of the one-man band Burzum, who encouraged and participated in the burning of churches. In 1993, while playing bass in a band called Mayhem, he murdered the guitarist, a man known as Euronymous.
Until recently, it was a legacy that the genre couldn't shake. But now American bands such as Liturgy, Krallice, Absu, Leviathan, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Inquisition have left a fair amount of the pageantry behind--not to mention the violence--and helped to create a community, as well as a musical moment that is rife with activity...

The article goes on to talk about Wolves In the Throne Room's recent show at The Bell House.

Wolves in the Throne Room, who premiered a track at NPR, have also since received 'Best New Music' from Pitchfork.

Speaking of Liturgy, The Quietus recently interviewed Aaron Weaver of Wolves in the Throne Room . They discussed, among other things, Liturgy and its place amongst the "black metal elite": Aaron Weaver says:

"Wolves in the Throne Room has absolutely received the same kind of criticism, because over the years I've said the exact same thing [as Hunter regarding black metal's ability to be positive and optimistic]. That's something that I believe very strongly. I think that maybe the difference is that I've always said that we don't play black metal. I refer to Wolves in the Throne Room as a black metal band just sort of out of convenience. But I've also been really clear over the years that I do think that true black metal, which is a worthwhile and very powerful thing, does need to be negative. It does need to be rooted in the darkest aspects of the human experience - bitterness, negativity, hatred, violence, tribal warfare, mass murder, these sort of things lurk in the human experience, and it's always been there. And true black metal channels that incredibly destructive and insane and violent energy."

Read the whole thing HERE.

Liturgy's tour with Boris hits Irving Plaza later this month.

by BBG

Rorschach at The Charleston (more by Ryan Muir)

While we wait for the Maryland Deathfest lineup to expand, one of those bands have slipped past the goalie! Rorschach will play Maryland Deathfest and will presumably be announced with their final batch of artists in the coming weeks. Final bands announced! and they are: AGALLOCH, ARCHGOAT (Finland), BRUJERIA (Mexico), YOB, BLACK WITCHERY, DYING FETUS, UNANIMATED (Sweden), MORGION, RORSCHACH, NEEDFUL THINGS (Czech Republic), DIE PIGEON DIE (Australia), and EXTERMINATION ANGEL.

Show No Mercy returns with an interview and a new song from Leviathan. The interview is short and Whitehead doesn't exactly delve deep, but it and the song are both definitely worth a listen.

Cannabis Corpse will support The Black Dahlia Murder and All Shall Perish at Knitting Factory on 10/11 as part of a larger tour together. Tickets are on sale, and their full tour schedule is below.

Vanishing Leper is Justin Detore (Mind Eraser/Rival Mob/Righteous Jams etc) and Jordan Darby (Dry-Rot), and the band is currently streaming a new EP and are preparing it for a limited release on Cold Vomit. Listen below.

The always fun Skeletonwitch are on the road with Arch Enemy, Devildriver, and Cthonic for a show at Best Buy Theater on 9/9. Tickets are still available

Kvelertak is coming.

Absu added more dates since we first posted. Original post updated.

Rise And Fall have a new 7" on the way entitled "Deceiver", alongside a reissue of Hellmouth. Look for both on Deathwish.

Portal are currently tracking their new LP.

Mastodon's Remission has been repressed on 2xLP.

We recently debuted new songs by Falloch, Rosetta, Battlefields, Bosse-de-Nage, and The Atlas Moth.

Have a fun weekend. More NYC shows listed below. What did I miss?

Continue reading "Evillive (Rorschach, Cannabis Corpse, Skeletonwitch, more)"

by BBG

Twilight 2010. That's Jef Whitehead, second from the left

"A tattoo artist raped his girlfriend using tattoo tools above a near West Side tattoo parlor, authorities allege.

Jef Whitehead, 42, allegedly choked and beat his 26-year-old girlfriend unconscious by banging her head against a wall above Taylor Street Tattoo and Piercing, 1150 W. Taylor, in t he early hours of Saturday morning.

He also attacked her with a pair of scissors, it's alleged. When she regained consciousness she discovered she had been sexually assaulted with the tattoo tools, Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Tom McGuire said. Whitehead then allegedly knocked her out again, McGuire said. When the victim woke up she was in the street outside the parlor, he added. A heavily-bearded and tattooed Whitehead was dressed all in black as he appeared before Judge Israel Desierto Sunday morning.

Wearing a hooded sweater with the words "stop the madness" printed on it, he was ordered held on bail of $350,000. Whitehead is from California but he and his girlfriend had recently arrived in Chicago and were considering making it their permanent home, McGuire said." [Chicago Sun Times]

What the article doesn't mention is that Jef Whitehead, aka Lurker of Chalice aka Leviathan, is also a highly regarded US Black Metal musician. Leviathan's Massive Conspiracy Against All Life was one of my favorite LPs of 2008 and his catalog has quite a few other highlights. Whitehead, aka "Wrest", also collaborated with Nachtmystium and Sunn O))) among others, and was also a member of the band Twilight alongside Aaron Turner (Isis), N.Imperial (Krieg), Blake Judd (Nachtmystium), Stavros Giannopolous (The Atlas Moth), and Sanford Parker (Minsk). The "supergroup" released Monument to Time End last year and it ended up on a few "best-of" lists.

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Orcustus - "Asphyxiokenisis" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Subrig Destroyer - "God Of Furnace" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Disappearer - "A Skull Full Of Bats" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Roller - "Rattle Of The Shaman" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gnaw Their Tongues - "Rife with Deep Teeth Marks" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Velvet Cacoon - "Funeral Noir" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Arrows Of Filth & Impurity - "Damn, Girlfriend, That Napalm Exfoliates As It Burns" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Black Arrows Of Filth & Impurity - "If Shit Were Gold, The Poor Wouldn't Have Assholes" (MP3)

Orcustus

Orcustus, a vile and caustic black metal crew that at one point featured Infernus and Tormentor of Gorogoroth, have released their long-time-coming LP via Southern Lord. Try and choke back the vomit while you check out "Asphyxiokenisis" above, and pick up the LP here.

While we're on the BM tip, a misanthrope who released my second favorite record of last year, Leviathan, has dropped a new split entitled Sic luceat lux with Greek black metallers Acherontas. Pick it up at Zyklon-B Productions.

Converge is currently in the studio recording their new album, fingers perched with on twitter. Meanwhile, Nate of Converge dropped some details on the new Doomriders record, Darkness Come Alive, which he professes to be "not as [much of a] party record" and a "little more serious". More in an interview here.

Speaking of Doomriders, Boston's Disappearer (also featuring Jebb Riley) have released The Clearing on Magic Bullet Records in CD and 2LP formats. Pick it up here, and dig on the MP3 for "A Skull Full Of Bats" above!

20 Buck Spin is repressing one of their greatest releases, the Graves At Sea / Asunder split. Pick that up here.

Red Sparowes have announced that they will hit the studio in August to record their LP follow-up to Amorphisms EP. Follow Red Sparowes on Twitter.

UK doomers Moss have a new 10" EP, Tombs Of The Blind Drugged, due this month via Rise Above Records. Preorder info isn't available yet, but when it is, you can pick it up here.

Black Arrows of Filth & Impurity. I know, the name is kind of a mouthful... but the names of the bands that are associated with this death/grind/ambient crew are pretty common around these parts: Demiricous, The Dream Is Dead, and Racebannon. BAOFAI drop their new album 1984 (Eternal) on Gilead Media and are streaming four tracks at their myspace, but have dropped off "Damn, Girlfriend, That Napalm Exfoliates As It Burns" and "If Shit Were Gold, The Poor Wouldn't Have Assholes" above! Pick up 1984 (Eternal) here.

Call me a loyalist, but I had the feeling that after being somewhat disappointed by In The Absence Of Truth, Isis would come back as strong as ever. Make sure and check out Wavering Radiant on May 5th or now, if you are a record fiend or feel like streaming it all at their myspace. Look for Isis at Irving Plaza on June 2nd with Tombs & Pelican (tickets here), and check out the video for "Holy Tears" below!

That video, Subrig Destroyer, Beherit, Velvet Cacoon, sunn 0))), Nattefrost, and more, as This Week in Metal continues!

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (05/02/09)"

by Black Bubblebgum

sunn o))) @ Knitting Factory (more by Damien Neva)


Ya hear that rumble? Thats the sound of great records perched in the distance waiting to descend on 2009 (more on that later). While this year will bring about great music and another set of "next big things", let's take the time to be thankful for 2008 and all of it's memorable records and shows. Here are my favorite records of 2008:

Continue reading "the year in Metal (Best of 2008, what's coming in 2009)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Opeth - "Lotus Eater" (edit) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Gates Of Slumber - Ice Worm (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Gates Of Slumber - Trapped In The Web (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Leviathan - Made As The Stale Wine Of Wrath (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lurker Of Chalice - I (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wold - Frost Crystal Symmetry (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ascend - Ample Fire Within (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wolfbrigade - "Prowler" (MP3)

Intronaut Live in Barcelona, 2007 (buckyrocks)

New Century Media signees Intronaut will be back in town in August 8th at the Knitting Factory (on sale NOW), this time bringing Behold... The Arctopus and Mouth Of The Architect! Following up last year's excellent yet grab-baggy The Challenger sort-of-EP, the boys will head back into the studio in April to record a new LP. Mouth Of The Architect have a new album on the way as well, Quietly, and you can preview first single "Hate And Heartache" at the Translation Loss MySpace.

Speaking of Colin Marston, the new record for his black metal project with Mick Barr, Krallice, is in the can and is due in July via Profound Lore. Mick Barr's Ocrilim are on board to play a Todd P show opening for the mighty Thrones at Death By Audio on May 22nd. Thrones, aka Joe Preston of Melvins, High On Fire, and many other esteemed projects was spotted playing guitar with the mighty Harvey Milk at SXSW and WFMU has the whole thing available for download.

more...........

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (05/02/08)"