by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: -16- - "So Broken Down" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Obscura - "Universe Momentum" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: JODIS - "Continents" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Satyricon - "The Sign Of The Trident" (MP3)

Happy New Year and Welcome Back to The Week In Metal! We took some time away, but believe me, the hate only grew STRONGER.

Wolves In The Throne Room have emerged from the dark forests of the Pacific Northwest to announce a pair of new releases and drop more details on their previously announced upcoming live LP, Live At Roadburn 08! First up, the Malevolent Grain EP will hit Southern Lord with a 180-gram LP bang, with Conspiracy Records dropping a small pressing of picture discs for the record (a limited batch of CDs will be available on tour). Then on March 31st, the band will drop Black Cascade their new full-length on Southern Lord! Both Malevolent Grain and Black Cascade were recorded by Randall Dunn/Mell Dettmer and are the first to feature new guitarist (former touring member) Will Lindsay of ex-Middian / Age Eternal fame. In addition, WITTR's Live at Roadburn 08 will be released with a companion DVD available with the first pressing of 500 copies, with 150 coming in gold vinyl with a silkscreen. Full WITTR tour dates are below, including their date at Scion Rock Fest.

Obscura, an astonishing tech-death band from Deutchland that may or may not be named after the classic Gorguts LP, are streaming a trio of new tracks from massive and recommended upcoming LP Cosmogenesis. Relapse has been kind enough to allow one of those tracks to be made available here for download... check out "Universe Momentum" available above! Cosmogenesis impacts on Feb 17th.

Tombs is pulling double duty on Feb 21st, having scheduled a day show at ABC No Rio with Black Anvil, Woe, and Bastard Sapling and a Winter Hours Record Release show with Defeatist, Engineer, and The Wayward later that night at Death By Audio. Winter Hours is due on Feb 17th via Relapse.

YOB have announced that they will hit the studio in late March with Sanford Parker to record their new album of "5 songs hitting about the 60+ minute mark". Look for it to surface in late summer 2009. In the meantime, Northwesterners can catch the band at their first reunion gig on 2/28 at The Ash Street Saloon in Portland, Oregon.

Shrinebuilder

Shrinebuilder is in progress! The band blogged through the weekend as they completed recording of their debut album for Neurot.

The previously announced Down/Weedeater/Evil Army tour has been postponed.

With a tagline like "2 stages + 2 days = Total Brutality", you better f'n deliver. That said, The LA Murder Fest will turn those sunny California skies black on May 9th & 10th when Coffins, Landmine Marathon, Ghoul, Stormcrow, Agenda of Swine, and Lack of Interest hit the stages of The Knitting Factory in Hollywood! Also on the bill are sickening sludgemeisters -16-, who's new record Bridges To Burn drops on Jan 20th. Check out "So Broken Down" available for download above from the record and to all y'all left coasters, support the band when they hit the road with Giant Squid! Tour schedule is below.
General Surgery will also report for duty at the LA Murderfest, and recently announced the release of their split with Butcher ABC. Look for it on CD via Obliteration Records on January 11 (email grindrock@hotmail.com for a copy) and limited-to-1,000 LP in February via Living Dead Society/Coperaction Records (email unsane_crisis@hotmail.com for a copy). The band will also hit the road with Ghoul following the Murderfest and leading up to Maryland Death Fest (thx SMNNews). Full tour dates are below.

Malkuth, an absolutely killer black metal band featuring members of No Neck Blues Band, have scheduled a show on 1/25 at Public Assembly with Villians, Castevet, and Ipsissimus. Malkuth recently released Mutus Liber out on Hospital Productions and are prepping their second LP for the label.

Converge have scheduled a show at Europa on March 27th! Tickets are on sale. Converge has been added to the Scion Rock Festival in Atlanta... yet one more reason to go! (Thanks Chris!)

Also recently added at Europa, Young Widows will team up with The Austerity Program, My Disco, and Tournament for a show on April 1st! Ticket info is forthcoming, full Young Widows tour dates below. Tournament is lined up to play with Kylesa, Tombs, and Black Anvil at The Charleston.

Satyricon's new record The Age of Nero drops on Jan 13th via KOCH Records, and I have to say that I definitely enjoyed it a hell of alot more than Now, Diabolical. Check out the video for "Black Crow On a Tombstone" below and dig on "The Sign Of The Trident", which the band has made available for download above! Satyricon will hit the road opening for Cradle of Filth at Starland Ballroom on Jan 15th (tix here) and have scheduled an NYC date at Nokia Theater on Feb 27th (tix here).

That Satyricon video, Mastodon, Khanate, Burnt By The Sun, Dillinger Escape Plan, Coliseum, Amenra, Pestilence and more as The Week In Metal continues...

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (01/13/09)"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Fun Fun Fun Fest (a music festival this weekend in Austin) successfully mixes punk, indie, singer-songwriter, hardcore, dance, hip-hop, metal, comedy, new and old. For instance, after blowing my mind to the thrash metal stylings of Municipal Waste, I immediately ran over to catch the end of Bishop Allen's family friendly indie rock set. I like that. One of the bad things, like most festivals, is how much overlaps. On Saturday I had to completely give up seeing The National, Z-Trip, Neil Hamburger, Yacht, and Hawnay Troof. Tonight (Sunday, November 9th), I'll probably have to miss all of Clipse, Tim & Eric, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, in favor of seeing Bad Brains. I also have to decide between Bouncing Souls and Minus the Bear.

Highlights from day one (yesterday, Saturday) included Dead Milkmen, Municipal Waste (wall of death), Dead Milkmen, Walter Schreifel's solo set (Rival Schools was good too), Dead Milkmen, Killdozer (killed it), Dead Milkmen, Dan Deacon (camp counselor of the year), Dead Milkmen, and Krumbums (punk is not dead). What I caught of Octopus Project, Trail of Dead and Deerhoof was also great. If I say anymore, I'll be late for Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears and/or Kevin Seconds. For now, here are some more pictures from day one...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008 - (some of) day one in photos "

by Black Bubblegum

Young Widows

Young Widows are hitting the road in support of their new Kurt Ballou-produced debut for Temporary Residence Limited, Old Wounds (up for pre-order NOW). The tour includes one date at Death By Audio on Oct 25th. Full tour dates are below.

Meanwhile, in a dimly lit smokey-filled section of Portland, YW labelmates Grails announced a new album of their own, Doomsdayer's Holiday, due Oct 7th (NSFW cover art below). Doomsayer's is the follow-up to the recently dropped Take Refuge In Clean Living (on Important) and the band is streaming the first taste, "Reincarnation Blues" at their myspace. Doomsdayer's Holiday goes up for pre-order on Sept 1st on CD and 180 Gram vinyl in 4 different variants (two different covers, and three different vinyl colors: black, a metallic gold/clear mix, or metallic silver/clear mix).

Speaking of Grails, Emil Amos's other band, Om are opening for Dinosaur Jr in CT and NJ. The NJ show is at the Stone Pony on September 24th. Tickets are on sale. The CT show is September 19th at Toad's Place.

Om and Dinosaur Jr. are both also playing the ATP Festival in upstate New York along with touring partners Meat Puppets, Built to Spill, and The Drones who are all playing Toad's Place together on September 17th. Every band mentioned in this paragraph also has one or more NYC shows coming up, except Om. Dinosaur Jr, BTS & MP are at Terminal 5. The Drones are playing Pianos and Union Hall.

All Om & Young Widows tour dates (and that NSFW cover art), below...

Continue reading "Om, Young Widows & Grails - 2008 tour dates, albums, stuff"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Young Widows - "Old Skin" (MP3) from Old Wounds
DOWNLOAD: Young Widows - "The Heat Is Here" (MP3) from Old Wounds
DOWNLOAD: Young Widows - "The Charmers" (MP3) from Settle Down City, Out Now.

We previewed it a couple weeks ago, and now we have a taste. For those who missed it, Young Widows announced Old Wounds due this fall on Temporary Residence Limited (home of Explosions In The Sky, Mono, and more recently, a Genghis Tron Remix LP). Comprised of members of the celebrated but fallen Breather Resist, Old Wounds is produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge) and is one of a series of releases due from Young Widows this fall (look for another four seven-inches). If your tastes veer anywhere near the early 90s noise punk of Steve Albini and his cohorts (Shellac, Jesus Lizard, etc), Dischord staples like Fugazi or Jawbox, or more recent bands like Fight Amp and Made Out Of Babies, you'll want to check out "Old Skin" and "The Heat Is Here" from the new album Old Wounds available for download above. Some videos below...

Continue reading "Young Widows - new Temporary Residence album & MP3s"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: COLISEUM - Fall Of The Pigs (MP3)

Relapse announced their scorched earth campaign across Austin! High on Fire, Coliseum, Municipal Waste, Genghis Tron, Vverevvolf Grehv.....Ouchie. Me need plane tickie. Well, at least I can take comfort in the fact that Coliseum answered my prayers by setting up a show at Europa in Brooklyn on May 4th with Young Widows and Tombs (check out a new song here). Tickets are on sale.

Continue reading "Coliseum in Brooklyn, Relapse Records @ SXSW, Tour Dates"

by Black Bubblegum

Both Coliseum and Baroness have announced separate tours with before they hit the road with Converge/The Red Chord/Genghis Tron. Baroness will be joined by Young Widows (who recently signed to Temporary Residence) for their new Kurt Ballou-produced LP (does he produce everything?) and will be in NYC to open the Dalek/Russian Circles show @ Mercury Lounge. Now if we can only convice Evan Patterson to persuade his brother Ryan to play a Coliseum date in NYC soon..... All dates below...

Continue reading "Converge, Red Chord, Genghis Tron, Coliseum, Baroness, Young Widows, Russian Circles... - updated 2008 Tour Dates"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Disfear - "Get It Off" from "Live The Storm", out 1/22 (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Lair Of The Minotaur - "Horde of Undead Vengeance" from "War Battle Metal Master" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Rwake - Leviticus from "Voices Of Omens" (MP3)

A Storm Of Light

How do you top what will surely be one of the greatest metal shows of the year? Try adding A Storm Of Light - the new project from Josh Graham (recently ex- Red Sparowes, Battle Of Mice, Neurosis visuals)! Graham, Domenic Seita (ex-Asea), and Pete Angevine (Satanized) will open the January 25th date @ the Brooklyn Masonic Temple (now sold out), but not before playing Union Pool on Jan 20th with Ghastly City Sleep & Titan. Stream their new track, "Mass" from their upcoming LP "And We Wept The Black Ocean Within" @ MySpace. (and look for my interview with Josh coming very soon!)

D-Beat fiesta up in this mutha! Swedish D-Beat badasses Disfear will release their new crusher-of-an-album, "Live The Storm" on 1/22 via Relapse. Produced by Kurt Ballou (Converge, et al.), the album features the first go around by ex-Entombed axeman Uffe Cederlund.... Download "Get It Off" above!

more below.....

Continue reading "This Week In METAL (1/18/08)"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Unearthly Trance - Permanent Ice (MP3)

That's it. I'm calling Mayor "Doomberg" (as El-P calls him)! We need to get one of those keys-to-the-city and have the week of the 21st designated as official Neurosis & pals week.

First, you have the two killer Neurosis shows back to back at a Masonic temple (Jan 24th & 25th... and possibly with Mastodon in tow). Then on the 26th Scott Kelly (of Neurosis & now Shrinebuilder fame) and Jarboe (Swans) play a solo show at the Pussycat Lounge! Make sure to stay and check out NYC mainstays Unearthly Trance lay waste (flyer).

Speaking of the guys from Unearthly Trance..... check for them as they embark on a tour with the always great Pelican and Black Cobra (mems Acid King, and recently off tour with The Sword). Dates at the end of this post.

More below......

Continue reading "this week in METAL (01-04-07)"