by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Titan - "Wooded Altar Beyond The Wander" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Royal Thunder - "Mouth of Fire" (MP3)

There was a time when "prog" was short for progressive, as in furthering an idea... in this case, a theme or a riff. Nowadays the name "prog" can just be slapped on any band that wants to riff for 30 minutes, which just makes "prog" a synonym for "boring". Brooklyn's Titan specializes in the right kind of prog that builds and evolves upon their heavy guitar and keyboard riffs without seeming like a crew of musicians freshly out of music class ("Hey Mom! Look at this uber-complex scale I can play!")

Titan recently signed to Relapse Records, and will release their new LP Sweet Dreams via the label on 10/12. The LP was recorded at Translator Audio in Brooklyn with Brendan Tobin (of Made Out of Babies), and is the first to feature ivory-tickler extraordinaire (and Maserati member) Steve Moore on bass and synth. Dig on the third burner "Wooded Altar Beyond The Wander" above and preorder the LP or CD.

The band will celebrate the release of Sweet Dreams with a pair of shows in Philadelphia and NYC, with Union Pool on 10/24 getting the nod and support coming from some serious badasses in Royal Thunder and Dark Vibes. Ticket info is forthcoming.

Atlanta badasses Royal Thunder recently signed with the label as well, and will re-release their debut EP via the label. The x-track EP will see a re-release on LP and CD in November, and will feature "Mouth of Fire" available for download above.

Titan dates, as well as some recent Royal Thunder videos, is below...

Continue reading "new MP3s & Relapse albums from Titan & Royal Thunder (and some upcoming shows too) "

by BBG

Saviours at Union Pool (more by Paul Birman)

Saviours will team up with Priestess, Hamsoken (black metal featuring Nick Forte of Rorschach), and new Relapse signees Titan for a show at play Santos Party House NYC on August 22nd. Ticket info is forthcoming. The show will be the first for Saviours since supporting Saint Vitus in October of last year, and will take place a day after appearing at Ozzfest in Camden (tickets still available). Priestess last played NYC in April supporting High On Fire at Gramercy.

Titan have recently completed their new album Sweet Dreams for their new label Relapse Records. Recorded with Brendan Tobin (of Made of Babies, etc) at Translator Audio in Brooklyn, the LP will hit shelves on October 12th.

Saviours are currently touring Europe with Weedeater and Black Cobra. Black Cobra will be back in NYC on July 30th with the great Howl, Struck By Lightning, and East of The Wall at The Studio at Webster Hall. Tickets are on sale. It's not the only great metal show coming to that venue; Zoroaster, Black Tusk, Dark Castle, and Hull play there this Friday (July 9th). Tickets are on sale.

All Saviours dates, and some videos are below...

Continue reading "Saviours, now on tour w/ Weedeater & Black Cobra, add a NYC show w/ Priestess & Titan between Ozzfest dates "

by BBG

Pittsburgh instrumental duo Zombi, not to be confused with Zomby, return to NYC with Steve Moore's other project, Titan, and Bassoon to play Europa on 3/11. Tickets are on sale. It's one of two shows the band has lined up, with the other in Philadelphia at Johnny Brenda's set for 3/12.

Steve Moore recently released a new remix of Ursula 1000's "This Magick" and a streaming live show from 2008.

Continue reading "Zombi announces March shows (Brooklyn w/ Titan) "

In their disheveled attic studio, the members of Gay Beast don't talk mathematics. Early on, they don't talk much at all. Today, singer and keyboardist Dan Luedtke is busy screen-printing the inserts for the vinyl version of the band's latest spazz-rock collection, Second Wave. The process, it seems, is nearly as painstaking as creating an actual Gay Beast tune, minus the eyeballs-on-fire jitters their adrenal scores provoke...

City Pages: How did you become involved with your label, Skin Graft?

Luedtke: Our friends in AIDS Wolf are on the label. We were looking for a label, putting together demo packages, trying to do it differently this time, trying to be more proactive. They were going to sign two bands for '09. The label owner lives in Vienna, so there was a bit of a courting period, talking to each other on the phone.

Explain the new record's title, Second Wave.

Luedtke: Second Wave relates to second-wave feminism, and the songs include portraits of different feminists. Before this record, we did a split 7-inch about Donna Harroway. There's a song about Andrea Dworkin. For me there's an interest because I feel it intersects with queer politics a lot. We can look at what feminists worked on as a way to talk about personal politics and strategies for changing things. There is a lot of interest with the second-wave feminist era because there was a lot of idea creation happening. Modern, radical ideas, some of which were far-fetched and impractical. People wanted something so badly they'd make up new means for accomplishing it.

The noisy Minneapolis band kicks off a three night stay in in NYC, tonight (6/3), with a show at the Silent Barn featuring Satanized, Joe Lentini and Hot Guts. They'll be at Bruar Falls June 4th with Talk Normal and Body Type[s], and at the Market Hotel on June 5th with Titan, Child Abuse, NYMPH and Liturgy.

Gay Beast's Second Wave LP came out a few weeks ago, at the end of May on Skin Graft Records. Check them out for yourself. There's a video of Gay Beast at NYC's Cake Shop in 2006, with all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Gay Beast - making noise in NY this week -- 2009 tour dates "

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Nebula - "The Dagger" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dark Castle - "Awake In Sleep" (MP3)

Dark Castle

DIY is the name of the game for Florida's Dark Castle, as the duo has garnered a ton of buzz on the southern metal scene as of late due to their self-released EP and incessant touring. The northeastern touring love is on the way (this summer?), but in the meantime, Dark Castle's new LP, Spirited Migration is out NOW in digital formats (iTunes, amazon) with one of those amazing tracks, "Awake In Sleep" available for download above! Spirited Migration is due on May 26th in hard formats (CD, Vinyl) via the mighty At A Loss Records, so y'all wax lovers betta recognize!

Nebula will illustrate truth in advertising on July 7th when the trio drops their new album, Heavy Psych. Tee Pee Records will plead guilty to releasing the follow-up to 2006's Apollo, which includes "The Dagger" downloadable above. For the unaware, Nebula features former members of Fu Manchu, Mondo Generator, and Karma To Burn (who recently played Lit).

Australia's dark kings of blackened thrash, Destroyer 666, will release their NEW album on July 14th via Season of Mist! Defiance will be D666's first release in six years and first LP in seven, and will have artwork that'll look a little somethin' like this:

Another set of Aussies, black metallers Nazxul, will release their first new material in more than ten years via Moribund! Look for more details on the new album, Iconoclast, in the months ahead as well as some US dates.

Show No Mercy on June 7th at Public Assembly is SET with the recent additions of the the ungodly Woe, Black Anvil, and Snake Sustaine (mems-ALOL) to the previously announced Salome. While we wait for the show, you can check out some recent interviews that the guys in Woe did here, here and here. Flyer is below.

Obscura has pulled out of the previously mentioned Relapse Contamination tour due to sickness, rendering all dates after May 11th cancelled. That includes NYC's date at Fontana's.

News and videos from Clutch, Ocean, Swarm Of The Lotus, Torche, Cripple Bastards, Orange Goblin and More, as This Week In Metal continues!

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (05/08/09)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Maserati - "Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sage" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zombi - "Spirit Animal" (MP3 Snippet)
DOWNLOAD: Mono - "Ashes In The Snow" (MP3)

Zombi (photo by Shawn Brackbill)

Zombi is a space rock duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, consisting of Steve Moore on bass and synthesizers and Anthony Paterra on drums. The group makes use of looping to create multi-layered compositions. They have toured with Don Caballero, Isis, Orthrelm, The Psychic Paramount, Daughters, Red Sparowes, These Arms Are Snakes and Trans Am.

Zombi does not f around. The proggy duo have scheduled THREE releases for the month of February... read 'em and weep Axl Rose.

First up is Spirit Animal, Zombi's poppin' fresh LP due on Feb 3rd via Relapse Records. The band is currently streaming snippets of a pair of tracks at their myspace and made one of those snippets available for download here... check out "Spirit Animal" above.

Zombi's second release is decidedly different... the Sapphire 12" will be released on Throne Of Blood (aka The Rapture's label). Look for that on dancefloors, in February as well.

Finally, Zombi have paired up with Maserati to release a split LP on Temporary Residence Limited, due in, you guessed it, February. The kind folks at TRL have made one of those Maserati tracks (and an intro) available for download. Check out "Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sages" above. Maserati will be embarking on a short East Coast tour, hitting Le Poisson Rouge along the way on March 10th. Tickets are on sale.

While we are on the Temporary Residence Limited tip, labelmates MONO have dropped of an MP3 from their upcoming LP Hymn to the Immortal Wind check it out above. Tickets are still available for their 10th anniversary show at The Society For Ethical Culture with a 23-piece orchestra.

And that's not all for Steve Moore... the Zombi multi-instrumentalist wears many faces, a few of which will be showcased in the coming weeks. Look for a solo Steve Moore to hit Connolly's with Future Islands and Anamanaguchi on Jan 16th, and then again at Cake Shop with Jonas Reinhardt and ARP on Jan 30. He's also in Titan (who have no shows scheduled at the moment) and Lovelock who play Jan 23rd with College, Anoraak, and Russ Chimes as part of the Valerie party at Webster Hall.

All Maserati, Steve Moore, College, and Anoraak dates (none for Zombi yet), below...

Continue reading "Maserati, College & Anoraak tour dates, new Zombi releases, Steve Moore shows, Valerie & MONO"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Night Horse - "The Dark Can't Hide You" (MP3)

Saviours Live at Europa (Mindy)

Titan will play the Charleston in Brooklyn on Oct 16th with Villains and a "special guest" from Oakland who is on Kemado Records. Hmmm... they might as well just come out and say that it's Saviours, who we already know are in town with Iced Earth and Into Eternity at the Nokia Theater that night (tickets are still available).

Meanwhile, Titan's labelmates and Californians Night Horse, are doing QUINTUPLE (thats 5x) duty out on the East Coast, playing three CMJ shows as well as celebrating the release of their new record The Dark Won't Hide You on Tee Pee (check out the title track above). First up for Night Horse is a show at The Charleston (that album release party) on Oct 21st with Pollution and Acid Tiger and Said Fury. Second and third, a loft party on Oct 24th with It Lives & Mythical Beast followed by a late night show at The Studio @ Webster Hall with Monotonix. Numero four, a Tee Pee day Party on Oct 25th with Weird Owl and It Lives.

Night Horse

At a fifth show, Night Horse will link up with Titan to pummel Europa with King Tuff (mem Witch), The Weight, Weird Owl, and Hopewell as part of Tee Pee's CMJ showcase at Europa on Oct 22nd. Tickets are on sale.

Later this month Steve Moore of Titan (and also Zombi) will play Unsound at Fontana's on Halloween with Nadja, Black Sun, and Menace Ruine.

Aidan Baker of Nadja recently dropped Fantasma Parastasie with Tim Hecker on Alien 8.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Saviours surprise show, Titan, Night Horse & Tee Pee CMJ"

DOWNLOAD: Marissa Nadler feat. Black Hole Infinity - No Surprises (MP3)
(more Radiohead covers)

On the 40th anniversary of the summer of love, Heeb Magazine presents Diamond Days, a four-day celebration of ’60s-inspired psych and prog rock happening July 19-22 in Brooklyn. The indie extravaganza of freak folk and acid punk will showcase nearly 50 bands and benefit the City Reliquary, a Brooklyn-based museum and civic organization dedicated to neighborhood beautification and restoration.

Tickets cost $25 for four-day passes and $10 for single-day passes, and are available online through PayPal and at Sound Fix (110 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn), Other Music (15 E. 4th St., Manhattan) and Rockit Scientist (33 St. Marks Pl., Manhattan).

Familiar names playing the festival include Marissa Nadler, These are Powers, and Sunburned Hand of the Man. Titan are supposed to be good. Who do you recommend from the full schedule (which is listed below)....

Continue reading "Diamond Days Festival - July 19-22 in NYC"