…ed with conviction. You only need to see live footage to know this band are, well, awesome. 2. Noctum, a band I plain out avoided, because they were Swedish. Not that I despise, or are allergic to Swedes, it’s just the total overload of bands sweating out of that country, with marketing in full force, I don’t even bother Fortunately I did bother after some film clips I saw of these chaps tantalizing me with feelings of “I have heard something like…
…eth and Katatonia-influened dark/black metal without losing their folk edge, Kaarna may come across as an odd collection. Fully embracing their folk side, Kaarna is a double album that consists entirely of the band’s acoustic pieces. This was done partly due to the rarity of some of the tracks, so the October Falls die-hards probably understand the value of having these all collected in one convenient place. Do not approach Kaarna expecting anythi…
…l legends JUDAS PRIEST are streaming an audio sample of the song “Metalizer,” which comes from their new Redeemer of Souls album. The clip also features guitarist Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner discussing the song, and can be seen below. The album will be released through Epic/Columbia on July 15. JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton said that fans should not expect wild experimentation. “Sometimes in the past we may have come under fire for bein…
…ish metal legends JUDAS PRIEST have released an audio sample of “Battle Cry,” a song from their forthcoming Redeemer of Souls album. The album will be released through Epic/Columbia on July 15. JUDAS PRIEST guitarist Glenn Tipton said that fans should not expect wild experimentation. “Sometimes in the past we may have come under fire for being too adventurous musically – so we have listened,” he said. “From start to finish, Redeemer Of Souls is 18…
…the show, and we were living in the life of JUDAS PRIEST, all those decades, in one show, night after night on the world trek, and I think that really did something to us eternally; as musicians, it should do when you tour. So we realized that this next record really had to be really strong, full of energy, because it’s relentless, the tracks are relentless. The energy that you feel off Redeemer Of Souls is replicated in that direction time and ti…
…ward-winning producer Nick Raskulinecz, who is known for his work with RUSH, DEFTONES, FOO FIGHTERS and ALICE IN CHAINS. The cover artwork was created by Oakland-based artist Skinner, who specializes in “psychedelic nightmare paintings,” and can be seen below. MASTODON singer and bassist Troy Sanders told Paste Magazine: “It’s… a work of art for sure. It’s… very eye-opening, very striking. It’s from another dimension, and a lot of our music is gea…
…Moving off topic, you did the (Revolver) Golden Gods awards last night. You, coming from a small town in Brazil to something like this, what’s the best way to describe the experience? Cavalera: You know, I have to say, I didn’t know what to expect. I did one two years ago where I played with Devildriver, but this was a lot bigger. There was more interviews going on and the “Black Carpet” was going on. It’s all for metal. That makes me happy, becau…
…turn to San Diego’s North County Superior Courthouse in two weeks. Lambesis, 33, pleaded guilty in February to hiring a hit man to kill his estranged wife, Meggan. The singer’s attorney offered no stipulated plea deal, which means the judge has the freedom to apply whatever sentence he determines appropriate, with a maximum of 9 years in state prison plus 4 years parole after release. The family of the victim, Meggan, is expected to speak to the c…
PHOBOCOSM, the dark death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada which features former members of VENGEFUL, has inked a deal with Dark Descent Records for the release of its debut album, Deprived. Due late in the year, the album was mixed and mastered by Colin Marston (GORGUTS, DYSRHYTHMIA, KRALLICE) and Chimère Noire (PORTAL, ABYSSAL) is currently working on the abum’s artwork. The label issued the following statement: “I first contacted this…
…revolving door of top notch drummers (including Derek Roddy, Tony Laureano, and Tim Yeung), Aurora Borealis have yet to really reach that upper echelon of death metal in their 20 year existence. World Shapers marks the band’s sixth full-length album, and first for the Xtreem Music label. The first band reference that comes to mind when hearing Aurora Borealis is that of Angelcorpse. Vicious blackened death metal that doesn’t ease off of the blast…
…ey into depravity. Given the Cannibal Corpse cover (the excellent “Stripped, Raped, and Strangled”), it would be easy to pigeonhole the band squarely into the dime-a-dozen US brutal death metal scene. However, the joke would on you, as Gaped work overtime to bring in a number of older Swedish influences, the biggest highlight being a slight feeling in the guitar tone of Hypocrisy’s Osculum Obscenum and Penetralia. There are also some vibes that fa…
…nts of Nails and beholden to the same kind of suffocating power. Eventually, however, the song slows to a noise-laden crawl and with a sample playing overtop, a maelstrom of shit sees the song eclipse. Whether taken as pieces or as a whole, IV.I.VIII is an experience unlike most others. Continual props to Profound Lore for finding and maintaining the absurd level of quality that they (he?) do, this release kills. Tales of languishing and the fury…
…he message and philosophies of leftist linguist, anarchist, and all around academic, Noam Chomsky. A rather interesting idea… It’s a brief EP, three songs in about 15 minutes. No vocals, by conventional definition, but rather a series Chomsky of speeches and debates set to heavy metal. The music itself doesn’t really follow or adhere to any specific genre; you get quite a range throughout. On the first track they open in almost black metal fashion…
…ing that he hired a hit man to kill his estranged wife. According to Radio.com, Lambesis’ attorney offered no stipulated plea deal, which means the judge has the freedom to apply whatever sentence he determines appropriate, with a maximum of 9 years in state prison plus 4 years parole after release. Sentencing is set for May 2 in front of the Honorable Judge Carlos Armor. Prosecutors alleged Lambesis had twice told a man at a gym that he wanted hi…
…ght on schedule. Maybe after The Animal Spirits, I had nothing to say, like, “Eh, maybe I don’t have anything to say for heavy metal.” Maybe I did have something to say once I got into it. I could say a bunch of stuff to fill the air, but I don’t know…I wanted to continue to have with fun with this, and I didn’t urgently have anything to say. But then I noticed was talking about stuff…I had something to say about the world, technology and what’s g…
…ile it would be a reach to call Cripple Bastards a grind institution, they have established themselves as one of Europe’s better bands of this style. There’s not a gonzo sample size to pull from, though, but Nero in Metastasi gets settled pretty quickly, and without incident. Not much else one can ask from a grind album… Cripple Bastards official website…
…and not fully take the commercialized bait and cling onto their ability to write compact numbers, they should have no problem improving upon the base created with Diving into a Blind World. – David E. Gehlke (Spectral Flood on Bandcamp) SteelSwarm – The Ultimate Offering Formed in 2007, meaning right smack dab in the middle of the retro-thrash boon, Australia’s SteelSwarm are comprised of the brother pair of Jamie and Dane Simms. Their four-song T…
…f the songs run over 10 minutes). Opener “Chiaroscuro,” beyond the amusing sample, is a meditative and ritualistic affair, ebbing and flowing around a central theme for the bulk of its time, along with featuring the vocals of a very familiar voice. “Next Stop, Universe B.” is a brief, rock-happy affair that pairs nicely with its follow-up “The Ghost of Valentine,” a building and mostly ambient affair of resounding beauty. The real joy of this work…
…roduction techniques, another plus in an era where it’s so easy to punch in, sample, and manipulate what gets done in the studio so you wouldn’t know the difference between human and computer performance. Overall, Back with a Vengeance contains all the dual guitar flash and dash, pumping rhythms and double bass/ fill work that makes heavy metal such a special genre for anyone 18 to 80 and beyond to hold up with eternal glory. So dust off the back…
…it actually playing the parts until we got the takes we needed, tuning the drums in between takes, switching snares for different songs etc… No plugins were used in the process either other than for very surgical tasks and special FX. All other processing are real chambers, hardware reverbs, delays, compression and EQ. Five times more work, but five times more fun and inspiring plus it’s five times more fun to listen to.” The Monster Within track…
…h. “I’m quite honored to receive this. Apparently you can’t apply for this scholarship, a board of legendary musicians decide that you’re the right person for this award. I had never even heard of SKAP before they contacted me. I’m happy and surprised there’s some focus on heavy Swedish music and genuinely chuffed that they focused in on me. Through time I’ve been handed some awards and whatnot, but this one resonates more in me personally. No gli…
…’re moving forward, and not interested in looking back. Kisser: We are a very honest band. We’re not here to fool no one. This is Sepultura and it is who we are. We respect so many eras of Sepultura and our fans know that. Our past is the best, it’s rich and beautiful…this band coming from Brazil, coming out of South America and still doing stuff today. It’s great and we’re still here, enjoying what we’re doing. We’re very honest in what we do, an…
…k figures). David Konow, author of the heavy metal history “Bang Your Head”, writes: “This book is the biography the band has always deserved. ‘Slayer 66 2/3′ goes in deep, covers an enormous amount of ground, and it was clearly a labor of love. Metal is an important part of music history, and SLAYER will always be one of the most important bands in the genre. A book documenting the good, the bad, and the ugly without spin or sensationalism has be…
…to finish the album, with acclaimed producer/engineer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, PRETTY MAIDS, AMARANTHE) handling the mix at his Hansen studio in Ribe. Delivering the Black combines the strongest PRIMAL FEAR moments ever, with a well-balanced typical PRIMAL FEAR trademark riff vibe, crushing songs and some very ambitious musical journeys. The centerpiece of the album are two epic tracks, “When Death Comes Knocking” and the 10-minute opus “One Night I…
…reate custom brews tailored to the artists’ specific tastes. According to Bloomberg, the idea behind Signature Brew is simple: Let a band sample a range of beers, write down what its members like and don’t like, and then create a brew specifically for them….
…is Premier Kit sounds so damned good again. Looks pretty much like a total sample-free album again. Jan is laying down his bass tracks and I will get back to vocals and mixing right after finishing the mix of the new STORMWARRIOR album (which will be awesome). We also did a nice photo session for the album artwork while Felipe is working at full throttle on the artwork. Final delivery deadline for the audio master is December 18th. We also managed…
…sied up with echo and various effects. Of course, when one does such things, comparisons are sure to be in tow, like the ones regarding Noctum and their fellow countrymen, Witchcraft. “At first it was pretty annoying, and then you realize that papers/internet will always try to compare you to another new band instead of concentrating on the band in question,” says Rosen. “I think it’s lazy as hell from the reviewer’s point of view and not even wor…
…to finish the album, with acclaimed producer/engineer Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT, PRETTY MAIDS, AMARANTHE) handling the mix at his Hansen studio in Ribe. Delivering the Black combines the strongest PRIMAL FEAR moments ever, with a well-balanced typical PRIMAL FEAR trademark riff vibe, crushing songs and some very ambitious musical journeys. The centerpiece of the album are two epic tracks, “When Death Comes Knocking” and the 10-minute opus “One Night I…
…it actually playing the parts until we got the takes we needed, tuning the drums in between takes, switching snares for different songs etc… No plugins were used in the process either other than for very surgical tasks and special FX. All other processing are real chambers, hardware reverbs, delays, compression and EQ. Five times more work, but five times more fun and inspiring plus it’s five times more fun to listen to.” The Monster Within track…
