Nails at Saint Vitus, 5/3/2013 (more by Lukas Hodge)

The monster IO-sponsored bill of hardcore-influenced favorites Nails, Xibalba and Early Graves featuring Nails, Xibalba and Early Graves came to a close in Philadelphia, one day after a showing at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn on May 3. Brooklyn's White Widows opened the evening, and riled up the crowd with a surprise appearance from Incendiary vocalist Brendan Garrone. Check out  video and more photos from the show at InvisibleOranges.

In related news, both Xibalba and Nails will return to the East Coast to play This is Hardcore at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia on August 8 - 12, joining names like Sick of it All, Trapped Under Ice, Kid Dynamite, Modern Life is War, Rival Mob, Ringworm, Absolution and others. Four-day passes are on sale now and full lineup is below.

Continue reading "Nails, Xibalba, Early Graves & White Widows played Saint Vitus; This is Hardcore expands lineup"

California hardcore crew Nails are streaming the entirety of their new LP Abandon All Life, which is currently causing quite the stir. Stream it in full below courtesy of Revolver, and get yours at Southern Lord.

Nails will hit the East Coast in late April / early May as part of an Invisible Oranges sponsored tour with Xibalba and Early Graves. Tickets are still available for the NYC show at Saint Vitus on May 3 with White Widows.

All dates, tour flyer and the album stream are below.

Continue reading "Nails streaming all of their new LP, 'Abandon All Life'"

Nails, who recently dropped a new track from their forthcoming LP Abandon All Life at Pitchfork, will hit the road as part of an Invisible Oranges-sponsored trek in late April. The dates are limited, but include a stop in NYC at Saint Vitus on May 3 with White Widows. Tickets are on sale.

Nails recently completed a round of dates with NYC's Incendiary, Twitching Tongues and Death Threat. Pictures from the San Francisco date at Gilman are available at IO.

All Nails dates, and the tour flyer and song streams are  below.

Continue reading "Nails, Xibalba & Early Graves on tour in Northeast, including NYC at Saint Vitus (dates)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

One Tail One Head at Inferno Festival, April 2012 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

2012 was a year of considerable personal growth for me, as a person, a photographer and a music fan. As I recounted in my favorite photos of 2012, I got to shoot some of my favorite bands of all time and travel the globe in search of new ones. The beginning of the year was spent dealing with personal drama, and if it werent for key records in my life I shudder to think at where I would be right now. To every band on this list and many who aren't, I cant thank you enough.

First order of business, my musical pallette is much much larger than just a series of metal records. This is NOT a list of my favorite records of the year, because that would surely include other entries from across many different genres. This is, however, a list of some of my favorite heavier records.

To me, the term "heavy" can be defined in many ways, from the elongated riff on a doom record to a noise squall to a particularly punishing punk-rock beatdown. While most of the following records are "heavy" in the traditional "distortion and loud guitars" sense, a few are not. You'll see metal, you'll see deathrock, you'll see raw punk, you'll see hardcore, and many spots in between in the numbered list below. And to answer your question, yes you'll see Swans... right beside D-Clone and Asphyx.

My favorite records of 2012 are below. Hopefully you'll see a connection in favorites or maybe discover something new. Regardless, I hope you found your own favorites of the year whether in this list or outside of it.

Continue reading "The Year in Heavy (Fred Pessaro // BBG's favorite metal, punk & other records of 2012)"

photos by Greg Cristman

Pentagram / Agnostic Front at Warsaw 9/1/2012

Saturday built upward from Alpha & Omega and Xibalba, young hardcore bands from California; the crowd endured Hoax, from western Massachusetts, a band with only a couple of EPs, whose volatile singer came down from the stage to the floor, inviting physical aggression and getting it. And the lineup worked toward the clomping meat-and-potatoes, early-'80s hardcore of Negative Approach -- established in Detroit 1981, reformed in 2006 -- and Agnostic Front, established in 1980, reformed in 1997, from New York and don't you forget it.

Agnostic Front's set was the hometown party: beefy guys from the old days at CBGB came out to support the band as it played uniformly streamlined versions of songs from the ratty old records "United Blood," "Victim in Pain" and "Cause for Alarm," responding to calls for circular mosh pits, pumping their fists to the generalized anti-authority chants: "We gotta stick together/and fight 'em all now!" And then many of them cleared out, leaving a sparser crowd for Pentagram, the early doom-metal band from Virginia whose prematurely ancient singer, Bobby Liebling, persists with effort. -[NY Times]

Continue reading "The Power of The Riff East day 1 in pics & video (Pentagram, Agnostic Front, Negative Approach, Hoax, Xibalba, more)"

by Fred Pessaro // BBG

Xibalba's 'Hasta La Muerte' art by Dan Seagrave

If we were to go strictly by the books, I really really should hate Xibalba's Hasta La Muerte. The reality is far different though. The So-Cal crew specializes in simple hardcore that focuses on breakdowns and clearly takes influence from bands of that grew up in the shadow of Madball. Yet Xibalba's absolutely furious vocals and mammoth, down-tuned hardcore stylings set them apart from the pack, making this record unique from the legions of flat-billed, Nike-clad, camo-short-wearing crews out there. Stream all of Hasta La Muerte below.

Don't forget, you can catch the animal-stylings of Xibalba at Power of the Riff East, where they'll team up with Agnostic Front and Pentagram to tear down Warsaw on September 1st. Tickets are still available for their appearance as well as for the second day (tickets here) with sunn o))), Repulsion, Winter and so many others.

Stream all of Xibalba's new LP (available via Southern Lord), and catch them on tour at the dates below.

Continue reading "Stream Xibalba's 'Hasta La Muerte.' catch them on tour including Power of The Riff (dates)"

BrooklynVegan and Scenic are proud to announce our involvement in the first-ever East Coast edition of The Power of The Riff! The two-day event happens Labor Day Weekend and will feature a kick off party on the day before (8/31) and pre/post parties on the days of the shows. Save the dates, September 1st and 2nd at Warsaw in Brooklyn where you'll catch:

THE POWER OF THE RIFF 'EAST'
September 1st and 2nd 2012

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Pentagram
SPECIAL GUEST playing a special album set
Poison Idea
Negative Approach
Xibalba
Alpha & Omega
Power Trip

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
SUNN 0)))
Winter
Repulsion
Unearthly Trance
Salvation
Dead In The Dirt
+ 1 more band TBA

The Warsaw show is The Power of The Riff's first venture on the East Coast after two years of successful events in Los Angeles (pictures of year 1 HERE, year two HERE). Organizers / creators Greg Anderson and Sam James Velde are in the eye of the hurricane, tapping into a line up that represents the forefathers, current touring acts, plus shedding light on "up and coming" and local acts. Year three on the West coast kicks off on August 11th at Echo/Echoplex in LA with OFF!, Dr.Know, Repulsion, Noothgrush, Xibalba, and many more. Check out the flyer below along with video from 2011.

BrooklynVegan and Power of The Riff combined forces for both a day and night show during SXSW this year. If you missed it, check out pictures from our Converse/Thrasher Deathmatch party (HERE, HERE and HERE) as well as our official showcase.

Continue reading "The Power of The Riff comes to NYC with sunn 0))), Pentagram, Winter, Poison Idea, Negative Approach + more"

by BBG

Seattle doom crew Samothrace's last LP was nothing short of amazing, and now the band is perparing their new LP for release on 20 Buck Spin. Look for Reverence to Stone on July 31st via the label, and check out the art above.

Xibalba's last LP (that we streamed in full) was the kind of raw-beatdown style hardcore that I could get with. Primal, thick guitar-tone sets this band apart from the pack of current modern hardcore bands, and now you can hear their latest track "Sentenced" from their forthcoming Hasta La Muerte via Pitchfork.

Kayo Dot will hit the road for a short tour in mid-July, including two NYC shows at St. Vitus on 7/11 with Mossenek and MV Carbon (tickets) and Bowery Electric on 7/19 with Triple Cobra & Big Con. Full tour schedule is below.

Bosse De Nage specialize in eclectic black metal and will release their new LP III via Profound Lore next week! Stream the new song "The Arborist" below and order your copy via the label. Their last LP (which we streamed in full) was one of my favorites of last year.

Profound Lore is also preparing to release the new LP by The Howling Wind, featuring Ryan of Unearthly Trance (who played all of In The Red at Acheron this week) and Tim of Aldebaran (who released their new LP recently). Stream a new song from Of Babylon below.

All suggested shows, video from last night's Dragged into Sunlight show, and more is below. Who will I see at the BV-BBG/Brutal Panda show with Harkonen tonight?

Continue reading "Evillive (Samothrace, Xibalba, Kayo Dot, The Howling Wind, Bosse De Nage + more)"

photos by Harriet Roberts & Keith Marlowe

OFF! at The Bell House

The Power of The Riff is entering its third year on the West Coast and much like the last two years, the festival will invade Los Angeles during a weekend in middle August. Encompassing 16 bands over two stages at The Echo and Echoplex on August 11th, look for appearances from OFF!, Dr.Know, Repulsion, Noothgrush, Xibalba, Eagle Twin, Power Trip, Ancestors, Alpha & Omega, Gaza, DNF, Retox, The Love Below (who play NYC next week), Avon Ladies, Cop and Hordes. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (6/9) at noon for those East Coasters looking to make the trek.

Off! played a surprise show at Bell House last week with The Bronx after both played local shows in the area at Bowery Ballroom and as part of a Rocks Off Concert Cruise respectively. Pictures from that Bell House appearance are below.

Continue reading "The Power of The Riff LA announces lineup, pictures from the OFF! and Bronx show at Bell House"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Hatred Surge - "Brutal Tyranny" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Scapegoat - "Jailed" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: STAB - "Blinded By Force" (MP3)

Disma at Union Pool last year (more by BBG)

Save the date folks. August 6th will unleash the most holiest of lineups as part of a record release for Disma's brand new tower of destruction, Towards The Megalith (due via Profound Lore in July). Disma will celebrate their record release at Saint Vitus with the return of Coffinworm (!), an exclusive east coast appearance from Loss (who I recently interviewed), and the mega-destructive Oak from Baltimore (who killed it at MDF)! Ticketing information is forthcoming, but the show will be $15 and kick off at 8PM. More details as they come available. The show is one of a few scheduled for Coffinworm this summer, and one of only two East Coast dates so far.

Indian team up with Bloodiest and Hallux at Union Pool TONIGHT (6/25) Win a pair of tickets at our Facebook page.

--
Dark Castle at Scion Rock Fest (more by Adam Murray)

There are a few must-see shows this summer, and Yob/Dark Castle/Batillus (yep! thats right... Batillus just added) is definitely one of them. The trifecta of doom killers at Le Poisson Rouge on July 12th is one of the biggest doom shows of the year, as the Yob/Dark Castle tour checks into the tri-state area as part of a larger US tour that preceeds a European one. Tickets are still available. Both Yob and Dark Castle played Scion Rock Fest (the former in 2010, the latter in 2011) and if you missed the LA show (like I did) then live vicariously through videos of the band at the fest, which make their debut below.

Batillus play NYC again 11 days later (7/23) with Mutilation Rites and Phantom Glue at Saint Vitus. The tour is part of a larger set of dates for Batillus & Mutilation Rites in celebration of their split 7" with Shinebox Recordings. All tour dates are below.

Painkiller have a few new releases including the new Scapegoat LP, the Brutal Supremacy 2x7" (with Mind Eraser, Hatred Surge, Scapegoat), a Stab cassette, and various represses by Vaccine and others. Check the webstore for more details, and download tracks from those releases above. In addition, Painkiller also has a new 7" by Put To Death, which features members of Mind Eraser and Hatred Surge playing "some good old fashioned No Comment style PV".

Pollution has called it quits. Bum. Out.

Sourvein have a new LP in Black Fangs (out now) , and the band will hit the road for a string of dates that will include Saint Vitus on July 8th. Full tour schedule is below.

More suggested NYC shows, tour dates and videos below...

Continue reading "Evillive (Disma, Indian, Dark Castle, Batillus, Scapegoat, YOB, Pollution, Sourvein, STAB & more)"

by BBG

California's Xibalba (not the Mexican black metal band of the same name) know their way around a downtuned groove. One listen to their new LP and it becomes apparent that not only does the band love its low-to-floor guitar sound (seriously doomy!), but they're not afraid to break it down for those in the mood to pick up some change. With their almost baritone guitar sound coupled with frontman Nathan Rebolledo's uber-pissed vocals, Xibalba distinguishes themselves from the droves of Hatebreed/Madball-sound-alikes.

Get therapy guys! Or maybe just keep on making brutal releases like the self-titled debut which is still available on vinyl via A389, and will soon be released via CD with additional material as Madre Mia Gracias Por Los Dias via the venerable Southern Lord on 6/21. Stream all of Madre Mia Gracias Por Los Dias below.

Xibalba are currently touring the East Coast and will play Party Expo TONIGHT at 7PM (6/16) with Cipher, Doomsday Mourning, and Brooksite as part of a string of dates with Foundation. Get out and try to buy some merch, they'll need all the dough they can get without a van... All tour dates, the LP stream, and a recent video for "Cold" is below....

Continue reading "Xibalba releasing LP on A389 & Southern Lord (stream it now), touring (dates include Party Xpo tonight)"