…veral close allies to wage this new battle in a collaborative strike. Proudly going to war as part of the La Fin Absolue Du Monde campaign are San Francisco-based Creator-Destructor Records as well as NYC-area-based The Compound. La Fin Absolue Du Monde will see killer deluxe CD and vinyl pressings and will see North American release on May 27th, just one day after ENABLER marks their debut invasion of the annual Maryland Deathfest. Stated foundin…
…loping to be found as well, such as on “Shadows Glide.” The guitars have a bit of that typical stoner “fuzz” to them, but they do retain a bit of their own flair throughout. The rub? Well, most of the tracks do keep to the mid-tempo pacing and the songs seem to start off strong but then fizzle out as the disc progress. By no means are they weak tracks, it just begins to feel a bit more predictable, and the riffs begin to stick out less and less. T…
…l back-catalog of mid-paced gravedigging metal, in addition to their recently revamped lineup, beginning May 18th, COFFINS will plunder Chicago, Cleveland, Brooklyn and Philadelphia before closing down the run with their return to Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore on May 22nd, their first time storming MDF since their set at the 2010 edition of the event. COFFINS will be provided with support from Chicago death’n’rollers BONES on the tour dates lead…
…nclude RAMMING SPEED and MAMMOTH GRINDER. The journey precedes the previously announced TOXIC/ EXHUMED European invasion set to commence February 22nd. Comments TOXIC HOLOCAUST gravel-throated ambassador Joel Grind, “I’m proud to announce our West Coast tour with gore metal maniaxxx, EXHUMED. I guarantee no necks will be left un-wrecked after this onslaught of beer, waste and gore!” Adds EXHUMED head mischief maker Matt Harvey, “In our continuing…
…released all year, and with phenomenal musical acumen, these guys absolutely, positively rip! (Check out “Sadness in Summer Rain”) Best newcomer of the year: Caladan Brood / Xanthochroid. No doubt that since my favorite album this year is also their debut, I have to give this distinction to Caladan Brood. But, I also want to give a co-naming to a band that likely missed many a list last year due to their December 2012 release date, and that is Xa…
…ok “Murder In The Front Row”. Illustrations include lost artwork and an early flyer by Albert Cuellar, the “Live Undead”/”Hell Awaits” cover artist who went on to work with Tim Burton, SUBLIME, and Sir Mix-A-Lot. The book also includes Jeff Hanneman’s original diagram for the “Live Undead” cover (spoiler: it’s stick figures). David Konow, author of the heavy metal history “Bang Your Head”, writes: “This book is the biography the band has always de…
…d theme is the album art, done by Raymond Swanland, attention-grabbing with its comic book-like style. The energetic artwork illustrates a number of the album’s leitmotifs and lyrical depictions of suffering, depravity, death, torture, famine, and predominantly an alien apocalypse. Dynamically, Deeds of Flesh can be applauded for their thunderous use of tremolo amongst all instruments. Taking the brutality of hardcore metal, the darkness of black…
…the song is about the 1990 Kevin Bacon film about a ground-dwelling alien invasion set in the desert, the band weighs in with an official explanation: “Tremors is a song about giving up. Things just don’t get better sometimes. People go bad and you lose the ones you love to death, to drugs and to the darker places in life. It’s not easy to go through life and expect every day to be better than the one before it. Bad shit happens and it’s going to…
…rn Crusade. Jason Newsted re-enters the metal fray with Heavy Metal Music. Ukraine’s Munruthel nearly score a perfect ten with CREEDamage. Mike “Gunface” Mackenzie releases his solo album, Stomach Earth. The news in ten 1. Death Angel announces a fall North American tour. 2. Inter Arma makes plans to hit studio less than a year after the release of Sky Burial. 3. Unisonic back to work, this time on album #2. 4. Iced Earth wraps recording for their…
…s an absolutely enjoyable journey of musical depth and weight. It features guest vocals from Arkona’s Masha “Scream” as well as one of best Bathory covers that you’ll hear. This multi-instrumentalist seems, to me, to be painfully unknown or at least, under-reviewed. Not unlike another criminally unknown artist (an Aussie who goes under the name Aquilus), Munruthel deserves to be heard, for he has created something truly special. Munruthel on Bandc…
Kansas City-based eletronic metallers THE BROWNING have posted the lyric video for “Gravedigger,” a song from their Hypernova album, which is set for an October 1st release in the USA via Century Media/Earache Records, and on October 7th in Europe via Earache Records. The video can be viewed below. Comments vocalist Jonny McBee: “It has been a crazy two years for THE BROWNING. We have done crazy tours all over the world and I am so proud of every…
…VADER’s lead guitarist Marek Pajak recently recorded guitar solos for the new HELL:ON album titled The Hunt. HELL:ON is finishing up the recording of their fourth full length album at T.A. Productions in Kiev, Ukraine, which is slate for release this fall via Ferrum Records. Andy LaRocque, who renowned for his works with heavy metal band KING DIAMOND will also be a special guest on The Hunt….
…g up in the Great White North.” Adds FOZZY’s Chris Jericho: “After our highly successful U.S. tour last summer on Uproar, we’ve been chomping at the bit for the right opportunity to return to North America… and now it has arrived! “To tour with the legendary SAXON is a metal dream come true and the perfect way to satisfy all of our AMAZING fans in the U.S. and Canada and to make tons of new ones in the process. “Get ready for ‘Sacrifice And Sin’…w…
…guitar and drum bombast and wondrous imaginative titles like “The Unicorn Invasion of Dundee” and “Beneath Cowdenbeath.” The musicians of Gloryhammer fluctuate between mid-tempo anthems in a Powerwolf meets Manowar manner like “Hail to Crail” and “Quest for the Hammer of Glory” and then shift into overdrive for the pure speed adrenaline rush of a Dragonforce-like “Amulet of Justice.” Guitarist Paul Templing and drummer Ben Turk deliver the right…
…ums The cover artwork for “Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife” was “painstakingly handcrafted” by Dan Goldsworthy (ACCEPT, HELL,SYLOSIS). The art depicts the great hero Angus McFife, questing valiantly through the frozen highlands, wielding the Hammer of Glory. “Tales From The Kingdom Of Fife” track listing: 01. Anstruther’s Dark Prophecy 02. The Unicorn Invasion Of Dundee 03. Angus McFife 04. Quest For The Hammer Of Glory 05. Magic Dragon 06. Silent…
…ist. Of course, being able to perform the songs in their entirety, especially live, and be able to add loops and the like and still have left a guitar at the bottom. So it feels absolutely great. At the same time it helps considerably when writing songs and trying out new ideas when you can benefit from the possibility of having two guitars to work with. Blistering.com: I’m sure you’re getting this a lot, but the new album at various points, is si…
…snow-covered mountainous glory – aren’t the only black metal band from the Ukraine worth fussing over. Obviously, Khors is the other and if their countrymen weren’t so imposing and majestic, they’d be the first name in Ukrainian black metal. And there’s no real signpost for Khors like Burzum is for Drudkh; rather Khors is their own secular entity and band that should be taken seriously thanks to the strength of their fourth full-length,Wisdom of C…
…ion” off 2005’s breakout Atavism. What makes most of this work so effectively is how decidedly simple most of the riffs and melodies are, yet they’re performed with such a degree of earnest, that it’s one of those albums that gets embedded in one’s head…and is in no hurry to leave. When stacking this up next to the band’s prior releases (which includes the time when they were “The Lord Weird Slough Feg”), The Animal Spirits ends up somewhere in th…
…onic come across like a mix between Abigail Williams and Devildriver. Vocally Freddy Lim has a good voice and, like the rest of the music, keeps it steadily in the mid-range, so the Dani Filth glass shattering squeals are kept to a minimum, which is quite nice. The likes of “Hearts Condemned,” “Rise Of The Shadows” and “Venom In My Veins” are feisty tracks with a lot of oomph and melodic bloody rose thorns acting as hooks. That nice sense of melod…
…ters , thus resisting the temptation to speed things up, which would probably soil this well-plotted land of Gothic BM gravestones. Across the board, Mysticism gets high praise here, as it’s the type of release that ultimately props up black metal and keeps the subgenre fresh and varied. However, don’t mistake this as your dyed-in-the-wool Cradle of Filth “Goth” BM outing – this is darkness, a dish best served cold, Ukrainian-style. www.myspace.co…
