photos by Samantha Marble & BBG, words by BBG

Tombs @ Lovejoys

After a day of mayhem and floorpunches with Ringworm on Friday (3/18), the BrooklynVegan/Profound Lore Records day show on Saturday at Lovejoys centered more on the metal side of things. The 3/19 show featured nine bands in total, of which four called the label home. The amazing Tombs headlined, and I couldn't help but feel a large share of local (NYC) pride since three of the nine bands call Brooklyn home (Tombs, Castevet, Batillus).

more below....

Continue reading "BV/Profound Lore Day Party @ Lovejoys - pics & video (Tombs, Bruce Lamont, Mike Williams, Batillus, Dark Castle & more)"

by BBG

Flyer, with art by Glyn Smyth of Scrawled Design

I am ecstatic to announce my partnership with the great Profound Lore Records for an Austin day party at Lovejoys (604 Neches St, right downtown) on March 19th! The free day show (lineup above) will run from noon-7pm and include Dark Castle, The Body, Deafheaven, Wolvhammer, Grayceon, Castevet, Batillus, Altaar from Norway (!), and the blasting NYC killers Tombs. Set times and more details are forthcoming but in the meantime save the date!

Altaar @ by:Larm 2010

March 19th is the last of FOUR BV DAY PARTIES catering to fans of heavy music, including the previously discussed Full Metal Texas show on 3/17 at Emo's with Trap Them, Rwake, Hull, All Pigs Must Die, and the recently added Kvelertak! Details on March 16th and 18th are still to come.

Moments after the BrooklynVegan/ProfoundLore day party comes to a close, the official Profound Lore SXSW showcase will begin at Valhalla! That show kicks off at 7PM and will feature a headlining set from Slough Feg, as well as performances from KEN Mode, Castevet, Grayceon, Bruce Lamont, and Wolvhammer. Check out the incredible show poster below and get a screened copy of it at the show from the artist, Glyn Smyth of Scrawled Design.

Bruce Lamont plays Union Pool in Brooklyn on SUNDAY (2/27) with Lichens, Kevin Hufnagel & Cocaine & Abel. Union Pool will also host The Body TONIGHT (2/22) with Braveyoung & Elks.

Show flyers, a stream of Deafheaven's awesome demo and more pictures of the mighty Altaar from Norway's by:Larm 2010 are below!

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan & Profound Lore present a Free Day Party @ Lovejoys (lineup, related shows, live Altaar pics & more)"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: The Howling Wind - "Teeth of Frost" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Palace of Worms - "Rite of Blood" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Unholy Grave - "Little Bastards" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Coffinworm - "Start Saving For Your Funeral" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Darkthrone - "Eyes Burst At Dawn" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wolvhammer - Dawn Of The 4th (Zipped MP3, Mediafire)
DOWNLOAD: Panopticon - "Beginning Of The End" featuring Rob "The Baron" Miller (MP3 Snippet)
DOWNLOAD: From Ashes Rise - "All In Due Time" (Live) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Alcest - "Percées De Lumière" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Wormrot - "Indonesia" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Jucifer - "Rifles" (MP3)

Ryan of The Howling Wind w/ Unearthly Trance (more by Samantha Marble)

Ryan Lipynsky probably best known for his role as doom-destroyer in Unearthly Trance, but he's been around the block with projects as varying as Motive, Pollution, Thralldom and The Howling Wind, who will release their latest LP Into The Cryosphere via Profound Lore in April. The Howling Wind, which includes Tim Call of Parasitic Records, Aldebaran, and others, toils in icy doom and black metal much like the ripping "Teeth of Frost" available above. The band also has the Mortuary Library 7" due out later this year via Parasitic.

In related news, NYC doomers Unearthly Trance have hit the studio to record their new album V with Sanford Parker. The band currently has one show on their calendar, April 21st at The Charleston with Lair of The Minotaur as part of a string of East Coast dates in celebration of Evil Power, their new album due out on their own The Grind-House Records imprint. Look for that LP in middle April.

Raw and punishing Japanese grind returns with Grind Killers, the new LP from Unholy Grave! Recorded live in a Dutch studio in September 2008, these 23 tracks were mastered last year and will see a release on Selfmadegod Records in March 2010. Check out "Little Bastards" available for download above. Meanwhile, Selfmadegod will also release a Peel Sessions disc with Agothocles recorded in 1997 and The Grind Years from Psycho.

Coliseum with new drummer Carter Wilson (far right)

Coliseum has signed with Temporary Residence Limited! The band has completed recording their new LP with J Robbins which will see the light of day this summer and will feature appearances from Will Oldham, members of Young Widows, Jason Noble, and many others. Congrats boys!

Harvey Milk will release their new album, A Small Turn of Human Kindness via Hydrahead on May 18th! Can't wait. The current tracklisting is below. Make sure and catch Harvey Milk with Coalesce and The Atlas Moth on tour and at Le Poisson Rouge on 3/8 (tix).

The "De-cancellation Tour" routing is almost complete! Make sure and catch Ludicra on the road this spring doing select dates with Krallice including Europa on 4/18 as part of a BV/Osiris presentation! Tickets are on sale. Full tour routing is below.

The dark forces of Coffinworm have revealed more details from their upcoming shadowy effort for Profound Lore, When All Became None. Sanford Parker has helmed the sludgy blackened doom LP, which features six tracks and is due for release in April. Dig on "Start Saving For Your Funeral" from the LP, downloadable above. Coffinworm will appear at the BV/CC/1000K Pizza Party alongside Zoroaster, Landmine Marathon, and many others. Album art is below.

That album art, and news on Corrupted, Triptykon, Autopsy, Black Shape of Nexus, Virus, Darkthrone, Rosetta, and so much more, as Short Wave Warfare continues...

Continue reading "Short Wave Warfare (03/3/10) "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Hammers Of Misfortune - "Rats Assembly" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Hammers Of Misfortune - "Church of Broken Glass" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ludicra - "One Thousand Wolves" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ludicra - "In The Greeenest Maze" (MP3)

Hammers of Misfortune

Bay Area metal staples and two sides of the John Cobbett coin, prog-power-metal gods Hammers of Misfortune and blackened killers Ludicra, are hitting the road in August. On the EAST COAST. That's right, the pair have lined up an East Coast tour in August including an NYC date, August 11th, at Santos Party House! Ticket info is forthcoming, as well as (we hear) more dates as well.

Hammers of Misfortune dropped their double LP, Fields / Church Of Broken Glass, via Profound Lore/20 Buck Spin in the tail end of 2008. Ludicra's last release was 2006's Fex Urbis, Lex Orbis on Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles imprint.

John Cobbett, formerly of Slough Feg, has also contributed to Amber Asylum. Ampber Asylum has a new LP and recently dropped a new MP3.

Dates below....

Continue reading "Hammers of Misfortune & Ludicra - 2009 Tour Dates & MP3s"

words & photos by Black Bubblegum

Absu @ Spiro's, March 20th at WFMU/Acquarius Records SXSW Showcase

Much like Cynic, Carcass, and At The Gates before them, fallen metal heroes Atheist are BACK. A few weeks ago, the Atheist camp let loose that they were booking shows for summer 2009 and "into 2010". One of those shows, Maryland Deathfest on May 22 - 24 at Sonar in Baltimore, MD, was revealed six months ago, but we now have word that Atheist will play BB Kings with The Faceless, Psyopus, The Agonist, and Gnostic on July 12th! Ticket info is forthcoming. Full Atheist tour dates are below.

Atheist are a technical death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984, whose music combined brutal riffs with subtle latin music arrangements and elements of jazz. Their second album, Unquestionable Presence, released in 1991, has been regarded by some critics as one of the most influential technical death metal albums of all time. -[Wiki]

Another upcoming show at BB Kings features a band that I was fortunate enough to catch in Austin... Absu! Absu will be joined by Glorior Belli, Austin's own Averse Sefira, and Sothis in a previously announced US tour that will make it's NYC stop on June 21st. Tickets are still available, including a VIP meet & greet before the show.

Absu, Wildildlife, and Slough Feg as well as Obits and many many esteemed others played Spiro's on March 20th as part of the WFMU/Aquarius Records showcase. Although there were some sound issues, Absu were phenomenal and it seemed like they could have (and wanted to) kept on playing well past their slot time. Slough Feg was equally as impressive; those riffs were somehow even more soaring live than on record. Although Wildildlife in the live setting lose some of the quirky experimentalism that makes their records so unique, they were great in a wholly different sort of way.

Absu's new self-titled album, their first in eight years (!), is out NOW on Candlelight. Wildildlife recently reissued the Peas Feast 12" on Crucial Blast. Slough Feg's new album, Ape Uprising is due on June 2nd via Cruz Del Sur.

More Absu, Wildildlife and Slough Feg pics, and all tour dates, are below...

Continue reading "a NYC Atheist show; Absu, Wildildlife, Slough Feg SXSW pics"

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)"