Converge at Decibel, 2013 (more by Shaun Regan)

Converge will team with Meek Is Murder, Trenchfoot and Dead Serious at Saint Vitus on May 25 and tickets are on sale. The show is part of a weekend that will see the Massachusetts hardcore quartet also head toward an appearance at Maryland Deathfest, joining names like Bolt Thrower, Infest, and more. All dates are listed below.

Speaking of Maryland Deathfest, the festival recently announced the cancellation of Gehenna "due to pressing legal matters" and the addition of Ringworm. Tickets are still available for Maryland Deathfest.

Dates below...

Continue reading "Converge playing NYC before Maryland Deathfest"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Black Breath at Precious Metal, May 2009 (more by Paul Birman)

I can't tell you how many great bands I have seen over the years at Precious Metal at NYC club Lit Lounge on Mondays. The series, curated by Wetnurse/Today is the Day member Curran Reynolds, is responsible not only for the first appearances from some favorite bands but also many many personal friendships forged in that dingy basement. Now after more than six years as a series, Precious Metal is coming to an end:

Friends, I am proud to announce the Grand Finale of Precious Metal. After 6.66 years and over 300 events, the series I started in May of 2006 will come to an end on January 21, 2013.

We had a good run! Monday after Monday, we brought all sorts of heaviness from across the city and around the globe (Iceland, Italy, Australia...) into the den of Downtown grime and glamour that is Lit. These forces combined and added up to something special. I like to think we played a part in the resurgence of a New York City metal scene, one which now looks stronger than ever.

Upcoming events at Precious Metal include this Monday (12/17) with Tiger Flowers, Meek is Murder, I am Heresy and Black Table;  January 7 with Ghostlimb & The Year is One and yours truly on DJ duties; January 14 with Jar'd Loose, Gentlemen, End it and DJ Mike SOS; and the finale on January 21, a benefit for South Sound featuring Hivesmasher, Fashion Week, Flaming Tusk, SOS and DJ Zeena Koda. Make sure and get to the shows and wave goodbye to metal in the Lit Lounge basement. It will be missed.

Head below for the full statement on the end of Precious Metal NYC.

Continue reading "'Precious Metal' at NYC's Lit Lounge coming to an end in January with South Sound benefit"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Canadians Vilipend aren't making any new friends with their vitriolic new LP Inamorata and that's the way they like it. Apparently the band isn't so chummy with landlords either, after bassist Michael J. Crossley was denied an apartment due to his "nefarious" associations. Quoth Crossley's potential landlord:

"I will be straight up with you both. We were quite ready to make a decision in your favour the other night.

However, upon investigation of the band Vilipend, it has brought forward some concerns for us. We are uncomfortable with the energy that this music manifests.

We really enjoyed meeting with you both and you have shown both professionalism and patience in this process. We thank you for that. However, we feel it is not the best fit for our house and our other tenants."

Inamorata isn't exactly unicorns and rainbows. The new LP, due via A389 Records on 8/16, carries on in the tradition of noisey hardcore like Converge and Botch with elements of sludgy misanthropy throughout. Check out "Last Stand of the Hopeless Romantic" which rears its ugly head for the first time below, alongside another three tracks from the record.

Vilipend are on the East Coast with NYC's Meek is Murder this August, and will swing through Lit Lounge on 8/20 to play a show with Tiger Flowers. All streams and tour dates are below.

Continue reading "Vilipend releasing 'Inamorata' (streams), prepping for a tour with Meek is Murder, bumming out landlords"

by BBG

Converge at MHoW (more by Johnathan McPhail)

As previously mentioned, Old Man Gloom (mem. Converge and Isis) have expanded their East Coast tour that will culminate at a show at Europa with The Austerity Program and Psychic Limb.

Converge frontman Jacob Bannon has announced plans to release a split under the moniker Wear Your Wounds with Revelator (Ben Chisholm of Chelsea Wolfe's backing band) on the other side.

We've already mentioned how Converge has been added to a monumental show with Rorschach and Xaddax (who are throwing a record release show on Tuesday at DBA).

It might be cause of today's status as an unofficial holiday of sorts, but there are a hefty amount of shows going on in the next few days... one bigger show that has seemingly flown under the radar is sweep-picking death-metal lunatics Origin with Cattle Decapitation, Decrepit Birth, Aborted, Rings of Saturn, Battlecross, Face of Ruin at Europa on April 24th. Tickets are still available, OR you can try and win a pair. Details are below. The show is part of a larger tour for the band and dates are also below.

On their way to Chaos in Tejas, The Mob (UK) will stop into Brooklyn to play Death By Audio on May 29th. The UK anarcho-punk band will be joined by Sickoids, Nomad, and Anasazi at the venue, and it'll set you back $10 at the door.

Speaking of release parties, Levil Uniform, the skater/extreme music zine, will be throwing a shownext friday at the Grand Victory for their fifteenth issue with local crew Syphilitic Lust and others playing through out the night. That same night, the great Hank Wood & The Hammerheads will bless Don Pedro's.. details are below.

Obnoxiously fun punk band Beer & Cable will officially christen the recently relaunched Acheron on May 5th as part of a show with The Regressives, Agitator, ZTs and Trepanning.

Some interesting additions to some May shows also happened this week. Meek Is Murder was tacked onto the coming Tournament show at Acheron on 5/4, while the supporting bill for the previously discussed Power Trip bill was fleshed out to include Crushed and Brain Slug.

More suggested shows, a stream of the new Rwake 7" (which only be available at their merch booth for Maryland Deathfest X, don't forget about their NYC show), a Code Orange Kids video, Homewrecker featuring Dylan Walker from Full of Hell, and a Black Breath video from their latest LP is below (don't forget about their NYC show). What did I miss?

Continue reading "Evillive (Old Man Gloom, Origin, Rwake, The Mob, Code Orange Kids, Black Breath)"

by BBG

Like pretty much any genre of music that dares to call itself a "scene", NY hardcore is littered with bands that ape a very shallow pool of few. Tiger Flowers is a NYC hardcore band, but they don't subscribe to many of the trappings that befall so many of the Madball/Terror worshippers of today. Instead, the band takes influence from elders who pushed the genre into new directions, like Deadguy, Converge, and Rorschach, and add in metal influences rooted in hardcore like Unsane and Today Is The Day. What emerges is a cocktail of furious hardcore interjected with chaotic blasts of screaming feedback, time changes, doomy-riffs and most importantly, delivered with tons of live energy.

Its a bit hard to believe that a live band as potent as Tiger Flowers have yet to release their debut EP, but The Path Less Traveled Records will right that wrong when they release it on September 20th. Fans of Tiger Flowers are most likely familiar with some of these live staples like "Drag" or "Last Horse". Listen to studio versions of both below, the latter of which makes its debut in this post. If Tiger Flowers can do this much harm on their first EP, its hard to imagine what they'll do with a long-player.

Tiger Flowers have a couple dates lined up in the coming weeks, including a FREE Record Release party on 9/19 at Saint Vitus with Meek Is Murder and State Graves. Tiger Flowers will also play Precious Metal on 10/10 with Toronto's Vilipend. Meek is Murder also plays Acheron on 9/18, the night before Saint Vitus, with Southern Lord signees Dead In The Dirt, In The Shit & Scowl.

Song streams and some video is below.

Continue reading "listen to new Tiger Flowers, see them live (Meek is Murder too) --- song premiere & dates"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Meek is Murder - "(null)" (MP3)

Meek is Murder at Cake Shop (more)

Some bands might be intimidated to share a bill with live greats like Gaza and Tiger Flowers, but Meek is Murder is not just any band. This grindy-mathy trio exemplify the word "spaz", whether that's in their complex and off-kilter hardcore-influenced math-terpieces, or at their electric live shows that see the band members performing in the audience, on the floor, and playing right in front of you.

Meek is Murder have attempted to bottle said live chaos with Algorithms (apropos), their new LP due via the MetalSucks label on March 22nd. Over 10 tracks of grindy madness inspired by "computer science", the band proves that their muscle isn't limited to the close quarters (thats what she said) of a live show and that MiM have some songs to back it up. Of course it never hurts when Kurt Ballou (Converge) is behind the boards, so you know brutality will be fully on display on tracks like "(null)" which you can download above and stream below. Pre-order Algorithms and grab a Meek Is Murder demo on the Metalsucks compilation NYC SUCKS Vol 1.

Meek is Murder will celebrate the new LP with a trip to SXSW before turning back to NYC to play a release party on 3/24 at Union Pool with East of The Wall and Wizardry. All tour dates, the song stream and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Meek is Murder releasing 'Algorithms' -- new MP3 & tour dates"

by BBG

Gaza headlined Cake Shop on November 21st with Tiger Flowers, Meek is Murder, and Elitist, the first stop after their stint with The Red Chord on the "To Catch a PredaTOUR". In their first ever NYC appearance, Gaza's atonal and punishing riffs caused a ruckus on the floor of the venue as the band pummeled the moshing masses with tracks like "Calf", "Windowless House", and a new and unreleased track written since their mammoth 2009 release He is Never Coming Back. Fantastic live band.

Support was similarly impressive. Much like Gaza, Tiger Flowers also trotted out new material in their appearance but also relied on standards like "Last Horse" and "The Weight". Meek is Murder's tech-y screamo was highly energetic and powerful in the live setting, featuring a moshing bass player and a spastic frontman. Their Mosquito Eater EP is available for purchase or for free. Of the support, Elitist was the biggest surprise. The Portland band's gale force destruction reminded me of Trap Them, Clinging To The Trees of A Forest Fire, and a host of other bands that blend the intensity of hardcore, sludge, and grind with a blackened aesthetic. Look for their new material to be released on Season of Mist.

More pictures from the show are below...

Continue reading "Gaza, Tiger Flowers, Meek is Murder, Elitist @ Cake Shop -pics "

words by BBG, photos by Wilfredo Suarez

Tiger Flowers

Twas a late night, but a successful one. Meek Is Murder intersected with the ongoing Tiger Flowers/March of Echoes tour, adding in Flourishing (mem-Wetnurse) and the great My America for a show at The Charleston on 2/19. I unfortunately had to skip out before Meek Is Murder played their set, but caught all of the stellar support....

Continue reading "Tiger Flowers, March of Echoes, Flourishing & Meek is Murder @ The Charleston - pics & video "