Thursday, January 31, 2013

Melodic Death Thrashers CHARIOTS OF THE GODS Unleash New Music Video 'Tides of War'; Performing At Drummondville Metal Fest V


L-R : Mathieu St-Amour (guitar) | Rich O’Neil (drums) | Renaud Jobin (vocals) | Payam Doryani (bass) | Dimitri Gervais (guitar) – Photo credit : Alexandru Petrosan [Download - High Res Press Photo]

    Releasing their debut their full length album 'Tides of War' yesterday on Tuesday, January 29th, Ottawa, ON's melodic death thrashers Chariots of The Gods are proud to unleash their new music video in support of the annihilator on BlankTV at the following link below.

Music Video - Chariots of The Gods - Tides of War
chariots of the gods -
  
 Produced by award winning producer/engineer/mixer Glen Robinson who has worked with names such as The Ramones, AC/DC, GWAR, Annihilator and  Voivod, COTG's new album delivers 14 epic, crushing tracks to follow up their well received 2010 debut EP 'Reverence,' which the band aggressively toured in Quebec and Ontario, sharing the stage with names such as Misfits, Voivod, Despised Icon, Kataklysm, Blind Witness, Misery Index, Martyr, Fuck the Facts, Blackguard, Neuraxis, The Agonist, Reanimator and Insurrection.

    The metallers have released two singles off the album 'Unbound' featuring guest vocals by Aleksi Sihvonen of Norther and a FREE DOWNLOAD of the title track, both can be heard and purchased with the album at the following locations on bandcamp and iTunes. 


Track Listing - Tides of War
1. Overture
2. Seventh Weapon
3. Blind Assassin
4. Ambrosian Wings
5. Tides of War [Free Download - http://chariotsofthegods.bandcamp.com/track/tides-of-war]
6. Revillusion (1905)
7. Snow Falls On The White River (1914)
8. Severing The Bloodline (1917)
9. Collapse of An Empire
10. Red Skies
11. Nebula
12. Starborn
13. Unbound (feat. Aleksi Sihvonen)
14. Annihilation of The Gods

   In additional news, COTG will be performing at this year’s Drummondville Metal Fest V on Feb 9th with the province of Quebec's top metal talents Cryptopsy (Montreal), Ghoulunatics (Montreal), Bookakee (Montreal), 101 Proof (Montreal), Trollheims (Trois-Rivieres), Odium (Walkerton, ON) and L’Habit Me Suce Le Moine (Drummondville) along with a show date in Montreal, QC the following week on Feb 16th with Burning The Oppressor and La Corriveau (Quebec City).

For more info on Chariots of The Gods please follow them at these links:


Show Dates
Feb 9, 2013 – Drummondville Metalfest V @ Salle Gaston Mandeville – Drummondville, QC – w/ Cryptopsy, Ghoulunatics, Bookakee, 101 Proof, Trollheims, Odium, L’Habit Me Suce Le Moine - Show Details
Feb 16, 2013 - Montreal, QC - L'Hemisphere Gauche - w/ Burning The Oppressor, La Corriveau - Show Details


Kaotoxin Records Reissues ANTROPOFAGO Debut





After the release of their, free, Between Fear and Madness digital EP in November 2012 and before unleashing their brand new, second, full-length, Kaotoxin Records is proud to give worldwide release to ANTROPOFAGO's 2011 self-released  full-length debut, Beyond Phobia(19/20 - MetalSickness, 15/20 - VS-Webzine).
Playing a dark kind of technical Death Metal, that VS-Webzine likened to "a mix of Gorod and Deeds Of Flesh," ANTROPOFAGO self-released their debut in 2011, before getting signed to Kaotoxin late last year. Beyond Phobia is 12 tracks of intricate, psychotic, sometimes melodic, sometimes blasting, Death Metal with a focus on a sharp guitar work (Antropofago counts in their ranks Hugo Mermet, luthier for Gorod, Insain and more...) and catchy song-writing with a lyrical fetish for everything twistedness, psychosis, phobias and the likes.
Like all Kaotoxin releases, the album is available for free full streaming at listen.kaotoxin.com.

Release dates:
- Label mailorder: Jan.29th
- France: Feb.04th (through Season Of Mist)
- UK & Eire: Mar.05th (through Code7)
- Digital, US & Canada: Apr.09th (through MVD)




The Between Fear and Madness digital single, featuring the previously unreleased "Cannibal Way of Life" and pre-production version of "Paranoid Visions (Part 2)" from the band's forthcoming sophomore release, is now available for free at listen.kaotoxin.com. A bonus version that includes a re-worked version of "Bloodred Honeymoon" - which originally appeared on one of the band's early demos - is available on iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Spotify, etc. and all major digital platforms. Details on ANTROPOFAGO's next album, scheduled for release later this year, are coming soon. 

ANTROPOFAGO Is:
Melmoth: vocals
Gordon Huillery: guitars
Hugo Mermet: guitars
Alaric Déléris: bass

This Town Needs Guns - 13.0.0.0.0



After listening to the incredible album 13.0.0.0.0 put forth by the incredible band This Town Needs Guns, I have but one question…

Why does your press kit go on and on about being a pop outfit?  Why does it say you decided not to chase a pop payout?

You aren’t a pop band.  You don’t even have pop vocals.  You sing.  You sing very well.  However, there is nothing about you that screams “pop-band”. 

This, my friends, is thinker’s rock.  You could actually call this the anti-pop.  Pop-rock is often rock at it’s most simplest.  This isn’t simple.

  It’s catchy enough and it isn’t distorted.  It doesn’t have overtones of anger.  However, it’s aggressively performed music with some of the most impressive guitar work I’ve heard on any album outside of shred metal bands like Wretched or amazingly intricate artists like Between the Buried and Me. 

Make no mistake, This Town Needs Guns is nothing like the previously mentioned bands.  They’re definitely a band that is easy to listen to.  They have beautiful melodies and stuttering rhythms that wind together within ever-changing time signatures. 

It’s a beautiful musical tapestry.  The rhythmical drumming by Chris Collis’ is extremely well done.  However, they fall to the wayside when it compares to the incredible guitar work and vocals.   The harmonics and plucking of Tim Collis’ guitar lead the way and the falsetto-crooning of Henry Tremain keeps the listener into the mood of the music.  

I have a very difficult time describing what I hear.  It doesn’t seem out of place with any of the bands that I love.  I could see them on tour with Thrice, Lower than Atlantis, Arrow Haze, We’re Doomed or any other band in that indie-heavy rock/punk vein. 

Although they’d also fit right in with lighter fare, like Mutemath or Death Cab for Cutie.  I don’t know.  All I know is that they’re amazing, and have skyrocketed to the top of my favorite bands.  Check them out. 
Straight A’s from The Professor. 

--The Professor







Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Power Thrashers Edge Of Attack Post Behind The Scenes Video For 'In Hell'


Left to right: Dallas Dyck (Rhythm guitar), Roxanne Gordey (Vocals), Jurekk Whipple (Lead guitar, vocals), Denver Whipple (Bass), Trevor Swain (Drums) | Photo credit: Alicia Beisel Photography
   Grande Prairie, AB power-thrash five-piece Edge of Attack whom are gearing up for the release of their self-titled debut album next week on Tuesday, February 19th via Halifax metal label Spread The Metal Records, have posted behind the scenes video from their upcoming music video directed by Karen Michelle Meola in support of their second single 'In Hell'.
To view the video please visit the following link below.
edge of attack -
In addition, the band has posted a video teaser on Blank TV, which can be viewed the following link here. (http://youtu.be/yIU9giaRHwA)(please feel free to share and embed on social networks)
edge of attack -
Album pre-order available at the following link here. (http://spreadthemetalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/edge-of-attack)
Produced by EAO guitarist/vocalist Jurekk Whipple, the debut features ten tracks of haunting vocals, shredding guitars, complex bass lines, furious drumming plus choral and symphonic arrangements along with guest artists by solo artist Ivan Gianinni, Ryan Boivard (Hallows Die) and Pellek (Damnation Angels).
Edge of Attack - Track Listing 
1. In Hell 4:36
2. The Haunting 5:08
3. Demon (Of The Northern Seas) feat. Ivan Giannini 5:04
4. Take Me Alive 4:24
5. In The Night 4:27
6. Edge Of Attack 5:07
7. Rise Above 5:55
8. Forever 3:46
9. The Damned feat. Ryan Bovaird 6:01
10. Set The World Aflame feat. PelleK 8:29

Finnish Death Overlords KRYPTS To Unleash Unending Degradation On February 19th Via Dark Descent Records




 

  
Easily one of the most anticipated Finnish death metal releases of this decade, Unending Degradation from Helsinki's KRYPTS has been set for a February 19th release date on Dark Descent Records with vinyl treatment coming from Me Saco Un Ojo. 
Festering in the underground since their inception in 2008, KRYPTS are prepared to set free their debut full-length. While the trademark KRYPTS' sounds from the 2009 demo and 2011 EP are there (lumbering low-end, bone-crunching riffs and toxic vocals), Unending Degradationshowcases a band which has honed their craft and is ready to deliver one of 2013's must-have death metal releases. 

The band is currently streaming the song "Open the Crypt" at krypts.bandcamp.com and a video preview for "Beneath the Archaic" is up at this location.

Pre-orders are now being taken at www.darkdescentrecords.com/store

Open the Crypt and enter...



1. Introeon: Perpetual Beyond
2. Blessed Entwinement
3. Open the Crypt
4. Dormancy of the Ancients
5. Inhale...
6. The Black Smoke
7. Day of Reckoning
8. Beneath the Archaic
  



Otso Ukkonen - Drums 
Ville Snicker - Guitars 
Antti Kotiranta - Bass/Vocals

The Sword – Apocryphon



I’ve always found it amusing how fans expect a band to basically just put out the same album time after time, and just lose their shit when that doesn’t happen.  I don’t really follow that stuff too much, but apparently that happened with “Warp Riders”, the last album put out by The Sword.  I mean, if they had gone all Justin Bieber on us, then yeah, bash away.  But just because they veered away from the sound of the first couple of albums and incorporated some more groove and doom elements is no reason to give up on what was a really good release.  Hell people still like Metallica even after those last two steaming piles of shit they dropped on us.

Sorry fans, but I’m gonna tell you that The Sword have blessed us with “Apocryphon”, it’s pretty fucking awesome, and it grooves like a mother.  I have had this on constant repeat in my car for about 3 weeks now and don’t plan to take it out of rotation anytime soon.  The riffs and grooves that these guys have put down to 1’s and 0’s are really, really good.  So if you’re a fan of this band, it might be time stop trolling the internet, come up out of mom’s basement, and realize that change is good.

One of the things I’ve read about this album is that the song writing has taken a more personal twist, as opposed to previous songs that were all sci-fi and fantasy stuff.  Listening to the tracks and even reading the lyrics, I’m just gonna take someone’s word for that, because I still hear a lot of the previous topics, but then again, maybe JD Cronise has gone all Jedi on us and just incorporated his personal life into the fantasy stuff in such a way that it just subliminally works its way in.  Either way, the lyrical content is entertaining and I think I already said that the music is a monster.

Personal favorites have to be track 3, “Arcane Montane”, which is some pretty heavy music that really swings, and if you know me you know that’s right in my wheel house.  Track 4, “The Hidden Masters”, is also really good.  There are some light, delicate parts right before the heavy comes in and beats you about the head and shoulders in a good way.  “Dying Earth”, the fifth track, also does that light/heavy thing but in a slightly different way.  Those are my favorites but the whole thing is really worth listening to.

I got the deluxe version of this release so there are also some killer live tracks and a fantastic cover of the old ZZ Top number, “Cheap Sunglasses”, which is very well done.  Pretty faithful to the original with just enough little twists to make it their own, which in my opinion is how a cover should be done.  In covering this song you can definitely hear where their bluesier influences come from, which you might expect from a Texas band.

So what should you do?  Check this disc out post haste.  And as always, don’t go in with preconceived ideas of what The Sword should sound like.  As the great George Clinton said, “free your mind and your ass will follow”.

 - ODIN





Tuesday, January 29, 2013

En Route To Heavy MTL: Oderus Urungus (Dave Brockie) of GWAR To Guest Judge Round 2



   Following the success of the inaugural edition in 2012, Dungeon Works Productions and Evenko are proud to present En Route to Heavy MTL 2013 and the selected twenty bands that will be battling it out over the next five months to win one of two opening slots at this year's 2013 HVY MTL.

Battle 2 of the BOTB will take place on Thursday, February 7th at Les Katacombes (1635 St-Laurent Blvd) with special guest judges GWAR's vocalist Dave Brockie best known as Oderus Urungus, along with Slaves on Dope vocalist and CHOM 97.7FM DJ Jason Rockman, plus award winning producer/mixer Glen Robinson (GWAR, Voivod, Grim Skunk) (more credits can be found here), along with local music industry for the alternative metal night.

Competing bands: Alternative Metal Night
Ogenix - http://www.reverbnation.com/ogenix
Projekt F - http://www.projektf.net/
D.O.T. - http://www.facebook.com/dotarmy
Truth or Scare - http://www.reverbnation.com/truthorscare

Event Details:
Ticket Purchase: http://www.admission.com/event/en-route-vers-heavy-mtl-2013-bataille-2-billets/704421 & La Boutique Labyrinthe: 486 Ste. Catherine Ouest
Date: Thursday, February 7, 2013
Time: 8:30PM
Cost: $12 Advance / $15 Door
Rounds to come! 
Progressive Death Metal Night:

Brought By Pain - http://www.facebook.com/broughtbypain
Pronostic - http://www.facebook.com/pronosticofficial
Tunguska Mammoth - http://tunguskamammoth.bandcamp.com/
Derelict - http://derelictmetal.com/
Prog/Power/Epic Metal Night:
Transcend - http://www.reverbnation.com/transcendband
Eclipse Prophecy - http://www.facebook.com/eclipseprophecy
Kalter (Quebec City) - http://kalterofficial.com/
Unbeing - http://www.unbeingmusic.com/
Deathcore Night:
Rosewood - http://www.facebook.com/RosewoodMTL
Self Collapse - http://www.reverbnation.com/selfcollapsemetal
Of Temples - http://www.facebook.com/oftemples
Death Lullaby - http://www.deathlullaby.com/

Horn's Newest Anthology of Quasi-Musical Advice and Counsel


I haven't listened to much new stuff, lately, I'll be honest. What follows below is a Stygian tour through the only new(ish) released to attract my darkest of hearts.

Dark heart? I dunno. It's off-white, anyway. Kind of an "egg cream" white, one might say.

Pig Destroyer, Book Burner: Their ...And Justice For All-- No low end, weirdly boxy production that somehow contributes to the overall pure dexterity and fury of this band. This and Monolith of Inhumanity fucking tower over ever other grind/ death grind release this year. My no. 3 of the year.

Anaal Nathrakh, Vanitas: No appreciable evolution over their previous LP Passion... but this English black/industrial outfit still show you how pure, literal, psychotic rage sounds. Top of the year.

Weapon, Embers and Revelations: The thrash metal band that wants to be as mysterious and eeeeevil as black metal bands.

Dysrhymia, Test of Submission: Instrumental sludge/ prog that will fuck your stoned ass up. Pelican on benzedrine and a pharmaceutical-grade nootropic stack...

Witchcraft, Legend: If Mikael Akerfeldt was born 20 years earlier and formed Opeth as a hard rock act. Great. No. 2 of the year.

The Shrine, Primitive Blast: serf/stoner rock played by overstimulated teenagers who just discovered how much they like weed, and punk rock... MRSA-catchy songs on this bad boy, these Beach Boys of punked-out hardcore and blues rock....

Car Bomb,  w^w^^w^w  -- that cover; sounds like Meshuggah and/or Helmet covering the
Crumbsuckers and/or Scatterbrain and/or Thought Industry.... Dillinger Escape Plannish....

--Horn

Monday, January 28, 2013

COLDSTEEL Releases Title Track Off Forthcoming EP America Idle



Breaking a 20-year silence, NYC underground thrashers COLDSTEEL have released the title track off of their forthcoming EP, America Idle, as a digital single. The song is now available for purchase through Amazon.com, CD Baby and iTunes. 

COLDSTEEL vocalist Troy Norr had this to say about the track, 
"'America Idle' is a song written by the people for the people and has a close tie in to the anguish experienced by many people in current day society."
America Idle will be released on February 20th through Stormspell Records. The EP will be available as a digital download through iTunes, Amazon.com, CD Baby and other online music retailers. The CD version and 12" Vinyl LP (Limited to 1,000 units) will be available through Stormspell Records, www.coldsteelny.com, and CD Baby. A 12" Vinyl Picture Disc (Limited to 200 units) will also be available exclusively throughwww.coldsteelny.com. Conceptually, America Idle expresses current societal anxiety and proclaims an anthem to rouse the unbreakable spirit of America.    

On the live performance front, COLDSTEEL's first show in 20 years will be on April 9th as direct support for UDO at Revolution & Bar Music Hall in Amityville, NY. Advance tickets can be purchased at  coldsteelny.com/merchandise. 

Direct purchase links for "America Idle" digital single:

 

"Grab this release whether you are an American fearing for your country's future or whether you are an old fan waiting years for a sign or plainly you wish to listen to something made by veteran hands." - Metal Temple

"Five tracks that are filled to the brim with meaty guitar tones, solos, grooves and just sheer power." - With Guitars
 


Metal Messiah Radio recently interviewed vocalist Troy Norr (also of KING DIAMOND tribute band THEM) and premiered America Idle in its entirety. Check out the podcast here.

Norr also spoke to AOL Noisecreep's Carlos Ramirez last year about the long awaited return ofCOLDSTEEL. Read the interview at this location. 

For a full band bio, visit www.coldsteelny.com/biography.

Revenge of the Quick Ripple Bursts - The Stoned Out Edition: Featuring Monobrow, Snail, and Firelord

Grab your bong, turn on the black light.  Gather the boys.  We got some riffmania for you.



 Monobrow - Bennington Triangle Blues

My bias:  I'm not a real fan of instrumental rock.  I tend to cling to melodies and hooks, and those are usually conveyed in lyrics, not musical passages.  I'm even less a fan of instrumental doom/stoner because the plodding nature of doom riffs gets real repetitive without the singing.  Monobrow are making me re-think that strategy.

Bennington Triangle Blues is the second album from this instrumental stoner/doom three-piece and it is one monolithic achievement of swirling, fuzz-laden heaviosity.  Forget lyrics, these guys mix in enough dynamic time changes, blistering guitar, and chest-crushing riffs to make the album obliterate all my reservations.  Side one alone, through it's three songs "Starship Holodecks & Chicken Soup," "This is Herman Nelson" and Stone High in Transit" create an aural journey of stellar seeking exploration.  Paul Slater may just be stoner rock's first true guitar hero, whipping through riffs and effect laden melodic passages with ease before tearing into some true doomed out shredding.  With any three-piece, especially an instrumental band, the bass and drums have to be amazingly tight to carry the extra weight of awareness, and Brian Ahopelto and Sam Beydoun are as tight and locked in as a sealed rocket door.

A killer album of mood and atmosphere and sonic exploration of acrid haze and distant galaxies.  Definitely worth checking out. 






Snail - Terminus

I dig what Snail are doing.  Take the foundation of stoner groove, but play with it.  Toss in some 80's metal drive, some 90's grunge, some retro-2000 psychedelia, smother the whole concocton with a layer of doom, let ferment, then unleash upon an unsuspecting public.  Nice formula.

Apparently Snail have quite a history that spans back almost 2 decades.  I know not of this, nor their last release, Blood.  All I know is that Terminus is bludgeoning my skull right now, particularly the retro-riffy pure rock of "Galaxy's Lament" with it's staggering riffing and just too-sweet melody.  "Recurision" is an onslaught of post-Ozzy bliss, while songs like "Matchbook" come on heavy and slow as tar before mixing it up (1:36 in) with a perfect breakdown to 6 impeccable piano notes.  "Hippy Crack" tears it up with a grunge ferocity while never losing it's heavy fuzz or groove, while "Burn the Flesh" is a certified, 5 star heavy psych freak out.

A vast multi-textured journey through the stratus of metal from eons past til now.  






Firelord - The Burning E.P.

This isn't a new one, but definitely worth talking about.  Firelord are another power trio, this time hailing from Italy.  And let me tell you the emphasis here is on the word power.  These guys use bulldozers and all sorts of heavy equipment to move earth and mountain under the mass of their riffs.  5 songs here, the last being a slaying cover of Earthride's "Fighting-Devil's Inside You."

Like the best of stoner rock, this one is laced with the PCP of doom bludgeoning, and amped up with the crystal meth of fierce riffing and a heady groove.  Way fuzzed out riffs come from all angles and merge into one TCA haze of burning intensity.

I'd easily put these guys up on the same shelf of the other leaders of stoner riffery from the undergound, like Borracho.  Not as much dynamic shifting as SuperGiant, not nearly as much modern metal influence as Snail, and not not as bluesy as Hong Faux, Firelord like their stoner rock straight up, Sabbath-inspired and growled out with honesty and ferocity.  I could listen to a track like "Riding with the Death" forever.  Definitely check it out.

--Racer


Sunday, January 27, 2013

INFINITUM OBSCURE To Release The Luminous Black MCD OH BEARER OF LIGHT, YOUR LIGHTNING BOLTS FINALLY BEGIN TO STRIKE!! INFINITUM OBSCURE entered Audio Zombie Recordings in Tijuana, México on Saturday January 5th 2013 and recorded a new single entitled The Luminous Black with producer Diego Soria.



 
1- The Luminous Black (ode to the Fallen Angel)
2- Path to Apocalypse
3- Through Blood by Thunder (Bathory cover)

The Luminous Black will be released via Deathgasm Records during February 2013 and will be limited to a one time pressing only. The single will be unveiling what's to come in INFINITUM OBSCURE's upcoming full length album.

INFINITUM OBSCURE will be touring the United States of America in April 2013 as direct support for legendary Swedish Death Metal pioneers SORCERY. Tour dates will become available soon via Hate War Productions.

There is still no set recording date for the new album, things are finally beginning to materialize... but it will be recorded and produced once again by Bill Metoyer at Skull Seven Studios in Los Angeles, California and will be mastered by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio in Sweden. It will also feature once again the majestic artwork of Ketolahelvete.

The full length will be released during 2013 in the U.S.A. via Deathgasm Records (CD format - digipack and jewelcase) and in Europe via Blood Harvest Records on 12 inch vinyl format.

INFINITUM OBSCURE was founded in late 2000 by Roberto Lizárraga with the sole purpose of expressing a personal vision of Death and existence in the form of obscure Death Metal.
The band has released one split (on CD and 10" mini LP formats), 2 full-length albums (on CD and LP formats), one 7" EP, and two demos (one on Cassette and one on CDR), between 2003 and 2009 and are currently working on their third full-length album.

Their last album, entitled Sub Atris Caelis (2009) was produced by the legendary Bill Metoyer and mastered at the reknown Necromorbus Studio in Stockholm, Sweden, rendered by the artwork of the infamous Ketolahelvete.

In April 2012, INFINITUM OBSCURE completed a short, seven date European tour, as support for DEAD CONGREGATION. The "Congregation of the Obscure European Tour 2012" was the band's first time in European soil.

During June/July of 2010. INFINITUM OBSCURE completed a three week U.S. tour in support of NOMINON. The "Death Metal Darkness U.S.A. Tour 2010" was the band's first extended tour in the United States of America.

Other smaller tours have included two Mexican tours (2006 with BELPHEGOR and 2007 with WATAIN), a West Coast US mini tour (2006 with DESTRÖYER 666), three date mini US tour (2010 with DEFILED), a Mid-West US mini tour (2003 with THE CHASM and OBEISANCE) as well as a two date mini tour in their home state of Baja California (2002 with ANGELES DEL INFIERNO), as well as several Festival appearances in Southern California.

Between 2002 and 2010 INFINITUM OBSCURE have shared the stage with other great bands such as DISSECTION, UNLEASHED, , NOMINON, BELPHEGOR, DEAD CONGREGATION, HIRAX, GORGOROTH, USURPER, INCANTATION, DEMONCY, INQUISITION, MORTEM, THE CHASM, SADISTIC INTENT, KULT OV AZAZEL, BEHEMOTH, URGEHAL, AGENT STEEL and many, many more. 


Photo Report from NAMM day 3

George Duke







Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) - NAMM show press conference 1/23/13




D'addario VIP Party NAMM



NAMM

















Kyle Gass Band