by BBG

DOWNLOAD: The Atomic Bitchwax - "The Local Fuzz" EDIT (MP3)

Black Skies has cancelled their appearance at Acheron, but will double up on Brooklyn shows TONIGHT (5/20) as part of a larger tour. First up is their appearance at Saint Vitus where the band will open a Tee Pee Records show featuring appearances from The Atomic Bitchwax, Mirror Queen, Weird Owl, and Heliotropes. Black Skies goes on at the early hour of 7:30PM, so get your Happy Hour on and party with the band.

Alternatively, if you can't make it to catch Black Skies at Saint Vitus, the North Carolinians will headline Union Pool later tonight on a lineup that also includes Syphilitic Lust, Company Corvette, and Gondola. The show kicks off at 9PM.

Black Skies has a new LP, On The Wings Of Time, currently available on their Bandcamp (stream it below). Produced by Kyle Spence of Harvey Milk, the thundering record is anchored by bluesy southern doom that touches into punk rock, and features dueling male/female vocals.

Both The Atomic Bitchwax and Weird Owl (not to be confused with Weird Al, who played New Brunswick yesterday) have new albums on deck too, with the former releasing The Local Fuzz on 6/21 and the latter releasing Build Your Beast A Fire on 7/26. Check out an edit of the 42 minute jam "The Local Fuzz" above.

The Union Pool show isn't the only date scheduled for Syphilitic Lust either, as the sleaze-rock locals will also support thrashers Nocturnal on May 25th at Bowery Electric with Witchaven and Villains. Nocturnal are currently touring the East Coast on their way to Maryland Deathfest (which is now back at Sonar). Speaking of Villains, if you missed it, their new album Road To Ruin is out now via Nuclear War Now.

All tour dates, the album stream, some video of Black skies performing the new material and The Atomic Bitchwax at Roadburn is below.

Continue reading "Black Skies released an LP, on tour, playing NY twice tonight, once w/ the Atomic Bitchwax (whose LP is coming soon)"

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: Coalesce - "Questions To Root Out Fools" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Brutal Truth - "Sugardaddy" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Agoraphobic Nosebleed - "Agorapocalypse Now" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: General Surgery - "Restrained Remains" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lord Mantis - "Lord Mantis"
DOWNLOAD: Mournful Congregation - The June Frost Medley (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Atomic Bitchwax - "Revival"
DOWNLOAD: Weekend Nachos - "Pain Over Acceptance" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Weekend Nachos - "Shot In The Head" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Ruins - "Suicidal Pulse" (MP3)

Coalesce LIVE at Scion Rock Fest (photo by Mike White)

Relapse is KILLIN' IT in the 09 so far. In one month's time, Relapse will destroy the Earth with THREE grind releases that could all potentially make my list of favorites for the year! First up, Mumakil's new album Behold The Failure which is out NOW on Relapse. Made up of ex members of Knut, Behold The Failure has been in constant rotation since it dropped on Mar 31st. Hear the whole thing here. Then on April 17th, Relapse aims to make you empty your wallets, by releasing both the new Brutal Truth (Evolution Through Revolution) and Agoraphobic Nosebleed (Agorapocalypse) on THE SAME DAY. In other ANb/Brutal Truth news, if you skate, dig on the ANb, Total Fucking Destruction (featuring Richard Hoak of BT), Crom, and Cryptic Slaughter decks for sale here. ANb and Crom dropped a split 7" which is fading fast.... head here to scoop it before it goes bye-bye.

A month or so after the grind mayhem, Relapse will drop the new Coalesce, Ox, their first record since the classic 0:12 Revolution is Just Listening which was release TEN YEARS AGO. The quartet recently debuted two new tracks; check out "Wild Ox Moan" streaming at their myspace and download "Questions To Root Out Fools" above!

Swedish gore-grinders General Surgery will drop their new album Corpus In Extremis on Listenable Records on April 7th, which includes the massive "Restrained Remains" available for download above! Check out their myspace page or their home page for a preview, dig on the album cover (to the right), and swing way low for tour dates.

Malkuth's latest record Sefirah Gevurah is out NOW on Hospital Productions. Pick it up here. The band has one show on their itinerary... May 9th at Starr Space in Bushwick. Mark your calendars.

Mournful Congregation recently dropped their new LP, The June Frost, on Enucleation Records, and if you like your guitar chords served up in first-gear (or maybe even in neutral) this funeral doom opus is for you. Check out the above snippet MP3 featuring moments from The June Frost above, and pick that record up here. For more on the band, check out an interview with Mournful Congregation here.

The Atomic Bitchwax will re-release their LP TAB4 on Tee Pee Records. Check out "Revival" available for download above and look for the record on 4/21.

The previously mentioned Atheist tour has expanded. Check out current tour dates below. Tickets for their July 12th show at BB Kings are currently on sale.

Weekend Nachos have offered up two new songs from their upcoming LP Unforgivable due on Deep Six Records in May. Check out "Pain Over Acceptance" and "Shot In The Head" downloadable above.

Xasthur's new full length LP on cassette, All Reflections Drained has sold out. "The 2xLP should be out shortly"

More on The Auditory Assault Festival, Om, Coffins, Dark Castle, Lord Mantis, The Holy Mountain, Church of Misery, Minsk, and sooo much more as The Week In Metal continues...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (04/09/09)"