by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Rotten Sound - "Plan" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Maruta - "March Forward (Into Regression)" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Maruta - "Hand Of THe Overseer" (MP3)

Rotten Sound

With all of the love floating around for the new Trap Them LP (totally warranted), I'm a bit puzzled that their future European tour mates Rotten Sound hasn't rattled as many cages. Rotten Sound's Cycles was a burner, and similarly the band's new LP Cursed pulls from grimy Swedish death metal and combines it with Nasum's grind annihilation. Cursed is due on Relapse Records on March 15th and features "Hollow" and "Self" (both in video form below), as well as "Plan" which you can download above (for the first time) and stream below. Preorder a copy, it rules. Rotten Sound recently played Gramercy Theater and will hit the road of Europe with Trap Them/Gaza in early April.

One grind band that is getting its fair share of attention is Florida's Maruta, whose new LP Forward Into Regression is currently streaming in full at MetalSucks (you can also grab three of those songs for download above). Preorder that LP via Willowtip.

In other news, Holy Grail will team up with Cauldron for a North American tour that will include May 4th at Union Pool. All tour dates are below. Holy Grail released their latest LP Crisis in Utopia via Prosthetic this past fall.

Malignancy will team up with Humanity Falls, Andromorphus Rexalia, Respawn The Ancients, Ambient Death and Legionary to play Manhattan's Bowery Electric on 3/20. Humanity Falls is also scheduled to take on Party Xpo in Brooklyn on 3/26 with Backslider.

After a successful show supporting Eyehategod, Misery Index will return to NYC to support the tongue-wagging NYDM team Suffocation. Look for the pair plus more TBA at Santos Party House on May 15th. Tickets are on sale.

France's Celestia will team up with Forteresse to play Santos Party House (South Pole) on April 29th. Tickets are on sale. Celestia released Archaenae Perfectii in 2010 via Apparitia Recordings

All tour dates, more suggested NYC shows, and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Evillive (Rotten Sound, Maruta, Holy Grail, Malignancy, Misery Index & more upcoming heavy shows & tours & MP3s too)"

photos by Samantha Marble, words by BBG

The Eyehategod / Misery Index / Magrudergrind / Strong Intention destruction train came into Europa station on Friday night (2/18) bringing along a sold out crowd (and quite a few fresh faces). If you're familiar with Eyehategod live in their last few rounds, then Friday's setlist wasn't much of a surprise except for new matieral like "New Orleans is The New Vietnam". Watch one of the new songs in a video from the Philly show at the end of this post.

Mutilation Rites also opened the show at Europa, and would later join Woe and We Are All Savages (but not Magrudergrind) for a late-night show at The Charleston.

More pictures & video from Europa below...

Continue reading "Eyehategod, Misery Index, Magrudergrind, Strong Intention & Mutilation Rites played Europa (pics & video)"

by BBG

Eyehategod at Europa (more by Samantha Marble)

The Gauntlet: Did you have any 'Spinal Tap' moments [in 2010]?

Mike "IX" Williams of Eyehategod: Maybe only driving around the country in the shape of a crooked pentagram because of poor tour routing. Also we've played in a couple clubs on this last tour that were seemingly built for Spinal Tap only!

The Gauntlet: What were some of your favorite releases from 2010?

Mike "IX" Williams of Eyehategod: 2010 saw a new Killing Joke album and I been digging on that a ton. A few other records I like are the Crazy Spirit 7", new Autopsy, Sleepies, Triptykon album, Double Negative new one, Die Wasted cassette, Floor box set, everything on Housecore Records....

The Gauntlet: What's on your ipod?

Mike "IX" Williams of Eyehategod: Gawd, everything from Hawkwind, Talking Heads, Brian Eno and Theatre of Hate to State of Alert, Warhammer, The Spits, Zero Boys. It goes on forever....Saccharine Trust, Testors, Rolling Stones, Viletones, L.A. Stains, Deadbeats, David Allen Coe, Fuck-Ups, Jesu, The Lewd....

Arson Anthem, the supergroup containing Phil Anselmo, Mike Williams and Hank Williams III, has a few southern dates in the near future too. All tour dates and some video is below.

Continue reading "Eyehategod playing shows w/ Misery Index (2011 dates)"

by BBG

Wormrot

Singapore grind trio Wormrot, who released one of my favorite LPs of 2009 (which has since been reissued by Earache this year), will play Santos Party House on September 2nd alongside Order of Ennead (members of Deicide, also Earache), Mobile Deathcamp (which features Beefcake of GWAR) and Skull Crusher. Tickets are on sale.

Cannibal Corpse will play Santos on Nov 19th with Dying Fetus, Vital Remains, and Devourment. Tickets are on sale. The show is one of two at Santos for Devourment, as the band will also support Cattle Decapitation a month prior (10/18, tickets).

Merauder has been added to the previously discussed Inside Out show at Santos on August 14th (tickets).

Early Man will headline Europa on 10/10 with an assist from a pair of other Earache bands, Evile and Bonded by Blood. Tickets are on sale. The band is on the run promoting their new LP Death Potion, out now via The End.

Revocation and Misery Index will support Despised Icon at their last ever NYC show alongside The Judas Syndrome and Everything's Ruined at Europa on 9/11. Tickets are on sale. Misery Index released Heirs to Thievery earlier this year via Relapse. Full tour dates for the whole trek is below.

Howl was just in NYC with Black Cobra, and now the Rhode Island band will loop back to NYC to play Southpaw with Valient Thorr and Junius on September 24th. Tickets are on sale. Full Valient Thorr dates are below....

NYC's Hallux will celebrate the release of their debut LP alongside Malkuth and Bad Girlfriend at Union Pool on September 9th.

Tour dates and some video is below....

Continue reading "Wormrot, Early Man, Evile, Bonded by Blood, Cannibal Corpse, Merauder, Revocation, Misery Index, Valient Thorr & other upcoming shows & tour dates"

by BBG

Misery Index at Union Pool (more by Samantha Marble)

Small Brown Bike have added a free show with Bridge & Tunnel at Generation Records in NYC on May 14th at 5PM. It's the same day as the show at Cake Shop which is part of a four date tour. Tickets for Cake Shop will also still be available at the door (the advanced sale is sold out), and you can win a free pair! More details are at the bottom of this post with all dates and the Generation flyer.

It's one of two upcoming in-store shows scheduled at Generation. The second takes place on June 7th when Misery Index plays the store in celebration of their new LP Heirs To Theivery, out on TUESDAY (5/11) via Relapse Records. Stream the entire record now.

Misery Index is currently on the road with Dying Fetus, Arsis, Annotations Of An Autopsy, and Conduction from The Grave, a tour that will hit the Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale on June 6th. Tickets are on sale.

Videos and all dates below...

Continue reading "Small Brown Bike (at Cake Shop this week) & Misery Index (new CD streaming) add Generation in-stores & other dates"

words by Ilya Blokh, photos by Samantha Marble

Misery Index

You can judge the intensity (and quality) of a show by what remains on the ground after the crowd clears. Usually there are beer bottles- sometimes a stray shoe or a cell phone. After Concussion, Mutant Supremacy, Magrudergrind and Misery Index tore apart The Union Pool on Saturday, February 20th there were two items of note: a bullet and a tooth.

Local act Concussion opened with a short but sweet set of pummeling thrash - I was psyched to finally see them play with a decent sound system. They have a good mix of fast riffs and technical guitar lines, but shine especially when they find a moment to slow things down and build up tension. They recently added two new members (Dan from Haunted Castle/Mutilation Rites and Matt from The Dip), have been playing a ton of shows, and are planning to record new material soon.

Mutant Supremacy were up next, with a straight-forward, conservative take on old-school death metal. It was a bit too wall-of-sound for me, though I dug the alternating high/low pitched vocals. There was even an appropriately cheesy band/fan exchange (all of it growled): "Thank you." "You're welcome." "No one is welcome here."

Magrudergrind tore through a blistering set of short, nasty, delicious songs that finally got the crowd moving. These three unassuming looking dudes have the grindcore/powerviolence thing down to perfection - nothing too techy or melodic, just blindingly fast grind that only lets up for a brief moment here and there. They've got great stage presence, and their banter and bizarre sound-samples are a welcome breather between songs.

Misery Index finally took the stage and, despite the intensity of the preceding acts, raised the bar all the way to the fucking roof. Constantly shifting from chugging, groovy riffs to breakneck speed, all of it backed up by unrelenting blast beats and chunky growled vocals, they are the sonic equivalent of swinging a wrecking ball around a room. Several minutes into their set the crowd virtually exploded and didn't let up until the last discordant note dropped out of the air. Things got surprisingly explosive for The Union Pool - a place where crossed-arms and flaccid head-bobbing are the norm - and much of the audience ended up seeking refuge on top of the bar.

In short, an amazing performance - Misery Index could easily be playing Gramercy, Irving, etc, so I'm glad they stick to smaller venues. Magrudergrind and Misery Index will be touring for the next month and putting at least a few dentists to serious work.

More shots of Misery Index and Magrudergrind (none of Mutant Supremacy or Concussion, sadly) are below.

Continue reading "Magrudergrind & Misery Index played Union Pool - pics"

by BBG

Misery Index at BV-BBG CMJ (more by Samantha Marble)

In lieu of my forthcoming Short Wave Warfare column (formerly known as This Week in Metal), I figured I would present a short blast of interesting shows coming up - for the dark side in you.

The biggest news of the pack is that Death metal greats Deceased will team up with the defenders of the filth, Superchrist, for the Slaves To The Grave tour which includes Union Pool on April 17th. Deceased is scheduled to make an appearance at MDF this year, while Superchrist is recovering from the release of Defenders of The Filth last year.

All Deceased tour dates and many more upcoming shows, continued below...

Continue reading "upcoming shows & dates (Deceased, Misery Index, AxCx, Magrudergrind, Mammoth Grinder, Naam & more) "

words by BBG, photos by Samantha Marble

Kat of Salome

After a massive afternoon, the party was just getting started when Gloominous Doom kicked off the BrooklynVegan-BBG/Relapse CMJ showcase at Fontana's on 10/23. Nebula, Ume, Goes Cube, Naam, and Crystal Antlers all played killer sets in the afternoon, but I was itching for sheer brutality. Fortunately, I had seven great preformances to keep my energy going on through the night.

The Gloominous Doom opened the show, and every metal bill could use a band like this. Metal is a very self-serious genre which is great in some respect, but laughable in others. It's always refreshing to see a band like this, Municipal Waste, or on a local level, Copremesis, come in an make people realize that metal can be fun/wacky too. GD plays what has been described as kitchen sink metal, a bit of death metal, grind, and even ska (!), playing songs with titles like "Urine Trouble". Good times, and by the way, NO ONE rocks a cowbell like Jeff GD (on his prosthetic leg!).

Howl followed GD, and obviously I have gone on record about how killer this band is on its EP and live, but in the basement of Fontana's, their sound seemed especially large. If you dig EARLY Mastodon, crust, and even (Stockholm) Swedish Death Metal (Entombed, etc) make sure and pick up their EP. Look out for an interview with vocalist/guitarist Vincent coming soon.

Complete Failure was after Howl, a band that I have been a fan of since seeing them with the great Antigama at Europa. Anchored by the killer fills of Mike Rosswog (ex-Circle Of Dead Children/Today is The Day) and featuring a thrashing wildman in Joey Mack on vox, Complete Failure do a great crusty grind hybrid that is absolutely fierce live. ComFail recently let me post their entire album for FREE DOWNLOAD, which thankfully has popped up all over the net. These guys rule.

Black Anvil followed, and hopefully you know by the amount of times I have seen them, that these ex-Kill Your Idols folk would tear Fontana's a new one, and they did. The band also previewed some new tracks from their upcoming LP.

Revocation was next up, dispelling the notion that technical death metal can't still be brutal. Tons of live energy from these youngn's, and you can expect to hear much more for them in the near future. Their new, and highly praised album, Existence is Futile is out NOW.

I have a soft spot for Salome, and this band was beyond destructive at this show. Bowel-shaking riffs and stunning vocals were only equaled by tense moments of feedback and silence before the world came crashing down again. A seriously epic performance from this band... I can't wait until their new album blasts off on Profound Lore! And to the wise-ass audience member, it is NOT pronounced "salami" (ha).

Misery Index capped off the night, opening with what could be one of my favorite intros this side of the "Imperial Theme" from Star Wars... "We Never Come in Peace" from Traitors. Brutal, intense and unbelievable set from this Baltimore crew who pulled mostly from their latest LP, Traitors. Misery Index is currently cranking out new jams for the follow up to Traitors, so look for that next year!

To conclude, thanks again to everyone who made it out to Fontana's during the day and/or night. I'd like to personally thank all bands that played, Fontana's, CMJ, Betsey and Relapse Records, and especially Dave Ehrlich from Relapse. Most impoortantly, I couldn't have done it without the support of you. Many thanks!

More pictures below...

Continue reading "BV-BBG official 2009 CMJ show - pics (Salome, Misery Index, Howl, Revocation, Black Anvil, Complete Failure & more)"

by Black Bubblegum

Trap Them played BV-CMJ in 2008 (more by Leia Jospe)

Besides the killer Coalesce show at Europa, and the upcoming Shrinebuilder @ Le Poisson Rouge, you can mark you calendar with ANOTHER important day before the year is up.

I am proud to announce my FIRST OFFICIAL CMJ SHOWCASE (BrooklynVegan - BBG) which we are co-presenting with the good folks at Relapse Records. It's scheduled to go down on Friday October 23rd as part of an all day extravaganza at Fontana's on the Lower East Side!

The "official" part of the party kicks off at 7:30pm. That's the part of the night that costs money and will be listed in the CMJ guide (and is open to a limited number of CMJ badgeholders for free). Earlier in the day we'll be hosting the "unofficial" part, a 100% free day party at the same venue.

The shows will feature guitar cabinets courtesy of our good friends at Main Drag Music, stiff drinks by Hornitos, as well as FREE Miller Lite and High Life and Vitamin Water while supplies last! (more sponsors TBA if we get them)

The daytime lineup (one of three BrooklynVegan day parties during CMJ this year) will be announced in full soon, but will focus on the heavy side of things (and is partly revealed below). The official show lineup (one of two BrooklynVegan official showcases this year) has a little bit of everything for the heavy music fan: thundering political deathgrind, rumbling doom, crusty grindcore, and even thrashy-ska performed by a man with a prosthetic leg! It goes like this....

Continue reading "Black Bubblegum & Relapse Records do CMJ - a 2nd BrooklynVegan official showcase & a day party"

by Black Bubblegum

Misery Index @ Europa (more by Justina Villanueva)

Political deathgrinders and the world's most ardent supporters of Assuck, Misery Index, will team up with Criminal Element (mems Suffocation, Misery Index), Mortal Decay, Pyrrhon, and The Communion for a show on 9/18 at Red Star Bar in Greenpoint. Advance tickets are $13 and available at Generation Records.

Both Mortal Decay AND Criminal Element will also appear at the upcoming New Jersey Deathfest featuring appearances from Incantation, Goreaphobia, Mortician, and many many others. The show goes down across TWO venues (Dingbatz in Clifton and Hartleys in N.Arlington) between 10/17 and 10/18.

Flyers for both shows, as well as a pair of Misery Index videos are below.

Continue reading "Misery Index playing Brooklyn +++ NJ Deathfest is coming"

photos by Justina Villanueva, words by Black Bubblegum

The oh-so-Brutal Truth

Pummeling, fist-pumping, extreme grindcore was the order of the day at Europa in Brooklyn on Sunday (5/17). It was day two of the Auditory Assault Festival, and the godfathers of modern grind, Brutal Truth, met up with the mighty Misery Index, Rotten Sound (who released one of my fave records of 2008), Crowpath (them too), Total Fucking Destruction (with Richard Hoak of BT), Pigsty, Jig-ai, Sulaco, and others. Many bands on the AAF roster were making their first pit stop towards their eventual destination, Maryland Death Fest, which goes down this weekend in Baltimore with Bolt Thrower, Mayhem, Pestilence, Napalm Death, and about 50 of their closest friends.

The cavalcade of NYC shows surrounding MDF continues as Antigama / Complete Failure impacts Europa TONIGHT (5/20), Mayhem / Marduk / Cephalic Carnage / Cattle Decapitation Lair Of The Minotaur / Withered hit Irving TOMORROW (5/21, tickets here), Wolves In The Throne Room hit Europa on FRIDAY (5/22, tickets here) and then again on TUESDAY (5/26, tickets), Trap Them at Lit Lounge on MONDAY (5/25), and last, but certainly not least, Unearthly Trance / The Endless Blockade / Magrudergrind at The Charleston on 5/28.

Brutal Truth will be back in Brooklyn on July 31st with Pig Destroyer and Repulsion, who are playing ALL of the influential Horrified, as part of The Blackened Music Series at Brooklyn Masonic Temple. Tickets are now on sale.

Tickets are also now on sale for our own showcase happening at Europa on June 14th.

More pictures from the Auditory Assault Festival below....

Continue reading "Auditory Assault Fest assaulted Europa (pics) + upcoming metal shows & tix (like MDF, Repulsion & BBG @ Northside)"

by Black Bubblegum

Brutal Truth @ Maryland Deathfest 2007

Maryland Deathfest's belligerent younger sibling, Auditory Assault Fest, takes place THIS WEEKEND in Brooklyn on May 16th and 17th At Europa. Tickets are still available in daily and two day pass increments.

It was also announced that there will be an afterparty on Saturday (5/16) at The Charleston featuring Buckshot Facelift (ex-Biolich), The Communion, and PurseSnatcher.

AAF set times and poster below...

Continue reading "Auditory Assault Fest this weekend - set times & afterparty"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Slough Feg - "Tiger Tiger" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Prizehog - "Husky" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wildildlife - "Shining Son" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Funeral Mist - "Jesus Saves" (EDIT) (MP3)

Slough Feg have announced their new album, Ape Uprising, due June 3nd on Cruz Del Sur! Recorded by Justin Phelps and Justin Weis (again), and later mastered at Traxwork studio. Check out the Larry Luna cover art above. Iron Kodex will do the vinyl honors for Ape Uprising in "the end of April" in a limited edition run of 666 copies. Slough Feg will join the mighty Absu, Wildildlife, and many others as part of the WFMU/Acquarius Records show at Spiro's on March 20th during SXSW. Prizehog is also along for the ride... check out "Husky" downloadable above, and pick up their CD-R at Aquarius Records!

Karma To Burn are BACK and have scheduled a short tour of the east coast, though no NYC date is scheduled.... you'll have to travel up to Danbury to check 'em out on Apr 22 at Cousin Larry's. Full tour dates are below.

The music portion of SXSW kicks off in Austin today (3/18). if you're there, stop by our party and check our our guide for even more heavy show options, or just to grab all the free music.

Church of Misery have completed recording of their new album, Houses of the Unholy, and are streaming a new song, "El Padrino", at their myspace. Look for the new record on Rise Above Records, which is on pre-order here.

Zoroaster, The Gates of Slumber, and Serpentcult are tripleteaming the US, having added US dates including a night at The Studio @ Webster Hall on August 9th. Ticket info is forthcoming. Zoroaster recently dropped Voices of Omens on their own Terminal Doom Records, while Serpentcult recently dropped The Weight of Light on Rise Above.

Funeral Mist's Maranatha is out NOW. Check out an edit of "Jesus Saves" available for download above.

Cattle Decapitation were already on their way to NYC to play with Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Withered, AND the just-added Lair of The Minotaur at Irving Plaza on May 21st (tickets here). But NOW the band has added another NYC show, part of yeat another round of dates for the band, but this time as headliners! Ticket info is forthcoming for Cattle Decapitation, Rose Funeral & Woe of Tyrants at The Studio @ Webster Hall on May 1. Full tour dates are below. In related news, make sure and check out the mighty Withered (who absolutely killed it at Scion) when they headline Union Pool on April 16th!

Bison BC & Children will team up for a show at Death By Audio on April 18th, linking up with Violent Bullshit (ex-Panthers), Circle of Buzzards (with Bob D'Amico and Jason Lowenstein of Sebadoh and Fiery Furnaces) and Naam. Children's new record is due on Kemado on April 14th, no word on the title yet. Bison BC are riding high off of their killer record from last year, Quiet Earth, and Death By Audio will be the bands first appearance since they played Europa with Harvey Milk. Full Bison BC tour dates are below.

The Devil & The Sea

One record that I gave alot of spins in 2008, but didnt make my year end faves was The Devil & The Sea's Heart vs Spine (pick that up here). The band is gearing up to tour the Northeast and have added a date at The Charleston on Mar 31st with another band that has been ringing my ears lately, Music Hates You. Full tour dates are below.

Justin K Broadrick dropped a MEGA-update on all of his projects, including Jesu, GreyMachine (with Aaron Turner), White Static Demon, Solaris BC and his many many remix projects. On the Jesu front, look for TWO live LPs, Opiate Sun EP in July, Infinity in June, Heart Ache reissue with a bonus Unreleased EP from 2003, and a reissue of the ENVY/jesu with an "Unconfirmed Bonus Mix". Check out the full update here.

Grief have called it quits... again. Sob. Their appearance at Maryland Deathfest has been cancelled as well. In honor of the fallen, Kill That Cat posted a video from a show before they kicked the bucket for the first time. Check that out below.

That video, and news on Atheist, Craft, Obscura, Municipal Waste, and soooo much more as The Week In Metal continues!...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (03/18/09)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Maruta - "The Collapse" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Kill The Client - "Divide & Conquer" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Copremesis - "Zombie" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Defeatist - "Isolation Tactics" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Misery Index - "Conquistadores" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Crowpath - "Plague Bearer" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rotten Sound - "Targets" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Gadget - "HSN1" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jig-Ai - "Shu-Lin" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sulaco - "Model Of Inefficiency" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Sayyadina - "My Say Shall Be The Last" (MP3)

Rotten Sound

The ante has been upped. The previously mentioned Auditory Assault Festival just got a little more serious with the addition of THREE bands that made my list of favorite records in 2008... Rotten Sound, Crowpath, and Misery Index! Dig on the NEW lineup which now also includes Lethal Aggression, Entrails Massacre, Sulaco, Man Will Destroy Himself, Maruta, and Copremesis....

Continue reading "Auditory Assault Festival adds good bands, have some MP3s"