Steve Von Till with Neurosis at Maryland Deathfest 2011 (more by BBG)

As discussed previously, three titans of metal have combined forces for the unlikely cause of a tribute album. Wino (Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, many more), Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till (both of Neurosis) all tackle Songs of Townes Van Zandt, a collection of covers available via Neurot Recordings now. Stream Scott Kelly's rendition of "St. John, the Gambler" as well as Steve Von Till's "Black Crow Blues" below, the latter of which is making its first public appearance here.

In related news, Wino & Conny Ochs released their Heavy Kingdom LP earlier this year (stream it) and the pair will hit the road in the US for a string of dates. Look for the pair to hit Saint Vitus on August 22nd, tickets are on sale.

A listing of all Wino/Conny Ochs dates are below, along with streams and the Songs of Townes Van Zandt tracklisting.

Continue reading "stream a new track from Scotty Kelly, Wino & Steve Von Till's Townes Van Zandt covers LP; Wino & Conny Ochs touring"

by BBG

Art for Songs of Townes Van Zandt

After having performed material by Townes Van Zandt solo and through various collaborations on stage over recent years, on solo releases and on random live collaborations, the aptly entitled Songs of Townes Van Zandt brings several songs each from Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till and Scott "Wino" Weinrich together in praise of his deep musical influence on them all. Through a personal contact of the artists, newly-formed label My Proud Mountain was founded specially in order to release this tribute, with Neurot Recordings handling the North American release of the album on June 12th.

These three titans of metal will combine for three songs each on the release, so fans of Scott Kelly, Wino, Steve Von Till, and Townes Van Zandt should keep an eye out for the record. Stream Scott Kelly's cover of "St. John, The Gambler" below.

In related news, Neurosis, which contains Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till, have completed mixing their new album (!) in Chicago. Still no word on album title or release, but its expected to (finally) be released by the end of the year. Stoked. The band also recently reissued the Sovereign EP.

In other Wino news, the Saint Vitus frontman will team with Conny Ochs to play all of his recently released Heavy Kingdom LP at Roadburn this week. Saint Vitus are preparing to release their new LP Lillie: F- 65 via Season of Mist, and have released a new video for "Let Them Fall" Check that out alongside the stream for "St. John, The Gambler" and some Scott Kelly tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Scotty Kelly, Wino & Steve Von Till cover Townes Van Zandt for an upcoming LP; Neurosis completes mixing theirs"

by JJ Koczan

We continue with JJ's report from Roadburn in Tilburg, Holland. If you missed it, you might want to start with Day One. Here is Day Two (Friday April 23, 2009)...

Cathedral LIVE at Roadburn (Erik Luyten)

It's really easy to tell as you walk around Tilburg who is here for Roadburn and who isn't. Even when I first got here from Amsterdam on the train, the front of the station looked like an Eyehategod show could have broken out at any minute, all the bearded longhairs and black t-shirts, including my own, standing around looking for a bus or a cab. Like some kind of convention for the International Society Of Social Awkwardness. But oh, we do have a good time.

The thing about the "doom scene," as much as there is one, is that it's really more of a community. Maybe it's because the majority of its patrons are a little older, a little more stoned, a little more concerned with paying their rent, but there are way fewer scene rules than, say, in black metal, where the contest to be more kvlt than thou goes on ceaselessly. Certainly there's a uniform -- see "beards and t-shirts," above -- but there are some normal looking dudes running around here and no one really gives a crap one way or the other what they look like. I'd say it's refreshing, but it's been this way for as long as I've been into doom, so it's nothing new.

This is easily the best festival I've ever seen. The fact that I'm here still astonishes me. Yesterday, as I watched Angel Witch demolish bands half their age (though Saviours would answer back heartily later on), I couldn't help but look around me and be amazed at the gathering of riff worshippers. The Atomic Bitchwax, for example, played to a Green Room so packed that people were lined up into the hallway watching them through the open doors. I've seen the Bitchwax plenty of times in our shared home state of New Jersey, and most of those shows have been relatively empty. Here you can barely go from one part of the venue to the next without doing a bump 'n grind on some poor schlub. It's something to get used to, but I made a conscious decision to take a different approach to day two than I had to day one.

continued below...

Continue reading "Surviving Roadburn, Day Two: Riding To The Sabbath"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Steve Von Till - "Western Son" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Scott Kelly - "Ladder In My Blood" (MP3)

Scott Kelly, live at the Roadburn Festival 2008 (moose23)

Neurosis's frontmen, Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till, both have new solo records on deck which have had their release dates pushed back to May 20th (The Wake and A Grave Is A Grim Horse respectively). As a consolation, Neurot dropped a little preview for us in the form of the MP3s above.

Scott Kelly is currently working on the new Blood & Time record, as well as Shrinebuilder with Wino (St. Vitus, Hidden Hand, etc), Dale Crover (Melvins), and Al Cisneros (who has a new drummer in Om) which is due in 2009 on Neurot. Combat Music Radio is also still going strong. Steve Von Till is working on a Limited Edition release of his Harvestman soundtrack to the film "Hate2O". Both are writing new music for Neurosis and Tribes of Neurot.

VBS.tv recently released video from the Neurosis show at Brooklyn Masonic Temple, and although it is nowhere near the majesty of their live show, check out Neurosis battling their way through "The Doorway"...

Continue reading "new albums & MP3s from the Neurosis frontmen ++ videos"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: The Sword - "Fire Lances Of The Ancient Hyperzephyrians" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Soilent Green - "Antioxidant" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Iron Maiden - "Intro", "Aces High", & "Two Minutes To Midnight", Live in Tokyo Feb 16th, 2008 (VIDEO, WMV)

Neurot Recordings have announced details for THREE Neurosis-related releases in the next two months! First up, a new solo album from the mighty Scott Kelly, who will release The Wake on May 5th, his first release in the seven years since his debut Spirit Bound Flesh. Two weeks later, the world's most intense elementary school teacher Steve Von Till drops A Grave is a Grim Horse, his first non-Harvestman release in six years (Harvestman recently collabo'd with Fear Falls Burning). More details on A Grave Is A Grim Horse can be found here. The third we knew about, but has now gone official: A Storm Of Light's debut And We Wept the Black Ocean Within will be released on June 2nd. Read our recent interview with Josh Graham here.

Tickets for the previously mentioned second At The Gates show go on sale Thursday April 3rd at 10 AM here. Tomas Lindberg's other band, the mighty Disfear, have announced a few more dates, including another show in Brooklyn at Europa on May 22nd with Trap Them and Bloodhorse! Ticket info for Disfear at Europa isn't available, but there are still tickets for their show at the Knitting Factory. New tour dates are down below.

MUCH MORE..............

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (04/02/08)"