by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Thou - "By Endurance We Conquer" (MP3)

Sleep at Brooklyn Masonic Temple (more)

Lists are very subjective. A "best of" list is always an amalgam of personal experiences - that fateful moment when you press "Play" for the first time, in addition to a grade of excellent songwriting. The records I've listed below had a profound impact on me this year, as did many of the shows that I attended and put on in the past twelve months. I'd like to thank all the artists who made this list as well as the ones who didn't, in addition to people like 1000 Knives, Osiris, Bill Dozer, Ian Dickson and venues like Union Pool, The Studio at Webster Hall, Acheron, Santos Party House and a slew of others for keeping heavy music alive in NYC. But mostly, thank YOU, the reader and the listener!

Alright, enough with the sappy bulshit, let's RAGE...

Continue reading "the year 2010 in Metal (BBG's favorite records & live shows) "

by Kim Kelly

Tom Warrior at Gramercy Theater (more here)

Thomas Gabriel Fischer - Tom G. Warrior to you - is one of extreme metal's truly legendary figures. He is the definition of a lifer. From the first primal screams of Hellhammer through the incredibly influential and ever-tumultuous Celtic Frost to his latest endeavour, the darkly cathartic Triptykon, the man has spent well over half his life creating, appreciating, and inspiring metal, and his fans love him dearly for it. However, as he was quick to remind your humble narrator, Tom is still a mere mortal, made up of the same flesh and blood and heartache as you, me, and the legions of metalheads the world over that call him their hero. He has had his doubts, his failures, and his own demons to fight, but has risen above to offer us yet another chance at redemption.

Our interview took place in a cramped office backstage at New York City's cavernous Gramercy Theatre. As paint-streaked members of 1349 wandered by and the dull roar of excited fans outside filtered through the door, Tom offered up an deeply personal and intensely honest look at his new band, his past, and himself. It was an honor and a great pleasure to speak with him, and I hope you enjoy delving into this admittedly gargantuan account. Only one question remains...are you morbid?

continued below...

Continue reading "The Emperor's Shattered Throne: A Conversation with Tom G. Warrior (of Hellhammer, Celtic Frost & Triptykon)"

words and photos by BBG

"Very late in the evening of October 5, 2010, Triptykon arrived at John F. Kennedy airport in New York, flying in from London. The very next day, we played the group's first concert on North American soil, at the Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan, thereby embarking on the Weltenbrand co-headlining tour of the US and Canada, together with 1349.

"The Gramercy was filled with long-time friends and new acquaintances alike. Painter/tattoo artist Vincent Castiglia, who is such a major contributor to Triptykon's first album, publisher Ian Christe of Bazillion Points, who gave me the astounding news that my second book Only Death Is Real will already go into its third printing run, the extraordinary Kim Kelly, HR Giger's US agent Les Barany, who photographed and filmed the concert, master sculptor Eli Livingston, the artist behind HR Giger's jewelry and Celtic Frost's pendant, who showed me the prototype of a proposed miniature sculpture based on 1984's The Sitting Death Hellhammer EP cover drawing. There were many more. How good it felt to return to touring in North America, finally, after the past three eventful years." [Tom G Warrior]

Ungh! Gramercy Theater echoed with the trademark Tom Warrior grunt as Triptykon played their first show on US soil in NYC on Wednesday night (10/6). The show, which featured appearances from 1349, Yakuza, and locals Immolith was the first for the Trip/1349/Yakuza package, which will last through the end of the month.

Although Triptykon did play some choice Celtic Frost material (setlist below... "Circle of Tyrants", no "Usurper"!), all three bands are touring in support of their latest recorded output: Triptykon has the new Shatter EP along with the Epistera Daimones full-length. 1349 unleashed Demonoir earlier this year, and Yakuza's Of Seismic Consequence is out now via Profound Lore.

More pictures from the show, including Triptykon's setlist, are below...

Continue reading "Triptykon (Tom Warrior), 1349 & Yakuza kicked off a tour @ Gramercy Theatre in NYC (pics & setlist) "

by BBG

Triptykon's set was one of the most highly-anticipated of the entire fest. Would Tom G. be able to pull it off? As the curtains lifted and the first few notes were struck, my fears were immediately laid to rest. Warrior and his three compatriots tore through new material off their debut Eparistera Daimones like men (and woman!) with something to prove, and whipped the hundreds of longhairs in the audience into a headbanging frenzy by dusting off a handful Celtic Frost chestnuts ("Circle of the Tyrants", "Procreation of the Wicked", "Dethroned Emperor", and more), and bringing out Nocturno Culto (Darkthrone) to do some guest vocals. Here's hoping they make it overseas sometime soon! - Kim Kelly at Roadburn

The full tour routing hasn't been announced, but it looks like the US will get paid a visit from the great Tom Warrior and his new project Triptykon along with 1349 and Yakuza! Those dates include Gramercy Theater on October 8th (!!!) and tickets go on Live Nation presale at 10AM on 7/23, with regular sale 24 hours later.

Triptykon, 1349, and Yakuza have all released new LPs in the past year. Triptykon's year-end-list-topping LP Eparistera Daimones and 1349's Demonoir is out NOW via Century Media. Yakuza's Of Seismic Consequence is out now via Profound Lore. All three LPs are fantastic, with Eparistera Daimones in particular being an absolute must hear.

All known dates, as well as a few videos, are below...

Continue reading "Triptykon touring US w/ 1349 & Yakuza (dates include NYC)"

words by Kim Kelly, photos by Erik Luyten

Eyehategod

It's been a long few days for Kim Kelly, who is currently gallavanting around Europe with Mike Scheidt and YOB, but the metal maven filed the below Roadburn report to tie up the rest of her time at the 2010 edition of the epic festival that took place during an equally historic time. If you're just joining us, check out Kim Kelly's report from Day 1 before continuing below... - BBG

Continue reading "Roadburn Festival 2010 in review"

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

Rwake (more here)

How do you improve on Shrinebuilder in the flesh? Rwake and Liturgy have been added as support at the upcoming Shrinebuilder show at Le Poisson Rouge on 11/15. Tickets are still available!

Shrinebuilder has also announced their participation in a particularly STACKED Roadburn 2010, along with the new Tom Warrior project Triptykon, the reunion of Goatsnake (!), Thor's Hammer, and acid-folkers Comus who will play their First Utterance LP in it's entirety(!). Oh, and did I mention Candlemass will be performing Epicus Doomicus Metallicus and the festival will also feature appearances from Yob, Moss, Altar Of Plagues, Mouth of The Architect, and many more. Must. Go.

Rwake are currently working on their follow-up to Voices of Omens, and are also scheduled to play Chicago with Shrinebuilder. Rwake has also been added to the Hellfest 2010 lineup which also includes Immortal, Atheist, Black Cobra, Bloodbath, Suffocation, Weedeater, with another 80+ bands TBA.

Wino of Shrinebuilder plays with his solo band at Irving Plaza tonight (10/9, tix here) and tomorrow (10/10, tix here) supporting Clutch, and will be back next week with Saint Vitus at Europa (10/16, tix here)!

Both CT (of Rwake) and Scott Kelly (of Shrinebuilder & Neurosis) host weekly podcasts on Combat Radio, and both are highly recommended.

Al Cisneros of Shrinebuilder will showcase Om over two nights in NYC, Sunday 10/11 at Europa (tickets here) and tuesday 10/13 at Bowery Ballroom (tickets here).

Dale Crover of the Melvins (who plays drums in Shrinebuilder) recently played ATP and Nokia Theater with Down, and have a remix album out NOW entitled Chicken Switch. The LP features contributions from Merzbow, Lee Ronaldo, Matmos, and many others.

Full Shrinebuilder, Rwake and Liturgy dates, as well as a few live videos are below...

Continue reading "Rwake opening for Shrinebuilder ++ Roadburn & Hellfest 2010 lineups ++ Wino, Om, Saint Vitus & more upcoming shows"

by Black Bubblegum

Ocean

My favorite of the two Oceans, the one missing a definite article in front of their name (Ocean of Maine), will be the next heavy band to headline Show No Mercy at Public Assembly (Feb 15th). As part of some sort of bizarre doom-off, Ocean will try to out rumble and underpace the mighty Salome, Riff Cannon, and Batillus who are also on board for the (anti-) festivities. Both Ocean (profiled here) and Salome (who we profiled in August) released full-length LPs last year... Pantheon of The Lesser and S/T respectively. Riff Cannon will drop their debut LP in 2009 and Batillus recently made their new self-titled EP available for free download here.

Speaking of Salome, lead vocalist Kat will make her first Agoraphobic Nosebleedappearance on Agorapocalypse, the latest LP from Scott Hull's pummeling grindcore project. Due April 14th, Agorapocalypse won't be the lone AnB in 2009; the band plans a series of splits for this year with a wide array of bands including Despise You, ANS, Agents of Satan and Thrones!

Mayhem, Marduk, Cattle Decapitation, and Cephalic Carnage have added a date together in Seattle Washington @ Studio Seven on June 5th. Pleasegodletitbeafulltour... Pleasegodletitbeafulltour... Cattle Decapitation's The Harvest Floor dropped on Jan 20th.

Brutal Truth recently announced their involvement in the Auditory Assault Festival (with Gadget, Kill The Client, Jig-ai and others), and now comes word that the band will have released their new record before then! Enter Evolution Through Revolution, recorded at Watchman Studios by Doug White (Psyopus) and due on April 14th via Relapse. Stokeage. Brutal Truth drummer Richard Hoak will do double duty at the Auditory Assault festival, also playing with his Total Fucking Destruction project.

Isis announced their new album, Wavering Radiant, due on May 5th via Ipecac Records! Produced by Joe Baressi (Tool, Queens of The Stone Age), look for the wax to hit the streets on Apr. 21. Tool's Adam Jones contributed guitar tracks to a pair of songs on Wavering Radiant.

Sweet do, Jared Big Business!

Big Business have announced their new album, Mind The Drift due in April via Hydra Head Records. Produced by Phil Ek (The Shins, Earth, Fleet Foxes, Built To Spill), the record is the first to feature new guitarist Toshi Kasai. Stream the new track "Gold and Final" at their myspace.

Ahhh... NOW I know why 1349 are heading out on tour.... Revelations Of The Black Flame is the name of the recently announced new album by the black metallers! Recorded at StudioStudio Nyhagen in Bøverbru, Norway, 1349 have enlisted Tom Gabriel Fischer to help man the boards! Look for it sometime this spring. Meanwhile, Tom Gabriel Fischer's new venture post-Celtic Frost, Triptykon, is currently in the demo phase. 1349 will be at BB Kings on March 2nd, tickets are available here.

The sickos in Sourvein have scheduled a few new dates, including an NYC date that looks to be part of an upcoming US tour. No details just yet, but set aside April 19th until then. Tour dates below.

The previously announced Converge show at Europa on March 27th (tickets here) just got a little bit nuttier with the addition of Genghis Tron, Ceremony, Rise and Fall, and Pulling Teeth.

Lair Of The Minotaur's new DVD, WAR METAL BATTLE MASTER is out NOW at Southern Lord. Meanwhile, bassist Nate Olp (Demiricous) has been sent in to replace the departed DJ Barraca for live gigs. DJ recently left LOTM to joined Harpoon, who's new record, Double Gnarly / Triple Suicide is due on Feb 10th via Interloper Records.

News on Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition, Weekend Nachos, Carcass, Blut Aus Nord, Lamb Of God, Javelina, and more below...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (01/23/09)"

by Black Bubblegum

This graphic seems, unfortunately, rather appropriate.

Cursed are through. From their blog:

"Yeah, you heard.... We got robbed at the very end of tour in a totally unreal, extremely sketchy series of events that still makes no sense at all, only leads to paranoia, anger and a total loss of faith. Passports, money, all the costs of the tour. Either way, whoever did it, it was a bullet in the head, the end of the line.... Minus a few fucked up shows, it was probably the best tour we ever had. Thanks everyone for your good wishes. I'll elaborate when I'm home next week, for now - yes it's true, and yes it's over."

Read the whole thing here.

Mastodon are set to enter the studio to begin recording their follow-up to their critical and commercially successful Blood Mountain. Matt Bayles will NOT be on the boards for this one, as the band has opted for megaproducer Brendan O'Brien (Bruce Springsteen, RATM, -gulp-Korn-gulp-) to record their Czarist Russia-themed LP.

Vice's "Heavy Metal In Baghdad", a documentary on essentially the only heavy metal band in the war-torn region, hits theaters on a limited run in NY and LA on May 23rd (@ the Clearview on Broadway at 62nd, get your tickets here), followed by a DVD release (with requisite bonus features) on June 10th. This digitally-shot indie, about a band called Acrassicauda trying to survive in the warzone known as "liberated" Iraq, is as much about the power of music as it is survival in modern day Baghdad. Check out the trailer here, and the myspace for Acrassicauda.

So now that Wolves In The Throne Room (sigh) is officially off the bus of the Boris/Torche lovefest, how do you fill those mighty shoes? Replacements have been announced and depending on where you live, you'll either get the mighty Nachtmystium (who have Assassins out June 10th) or Clouds (featuring ex-Cave-In dude Adam McGrath). Clouds, who are promoting their own record, We Are Above You due June 17th, are on board for the Webster Hall show (tickets are still on sale).

Speaking of ex-Cave-In, Stephen Brodsky is performing a free show at Generation Records on Sunday May 25th at 7pm.

continued....

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (05/24/08)"