This afternoon we learned some sad news. Just like pretty much all small, independent record labels nowadays, Hydra Head Records has been struggling financially for some time. And now, it turns out that the label, which has been around since way back when I was in high school, and has been responsible for some great releases by Pelican, Sun O))), Old Man Gloom, and many, many others, is being forced to shut down operations.
Seriously, that’s a tough question. Must-see shows don’t come around all that often, and even less frequently on a Monday night… but by some strange, freak-of-nature coincidence, there will be two of them taking place in town tonight!
Here are the details for each of them, and then — I dunno, you can flip a coin or something:
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Appearing tonight at Roboto are a pair of bands visiting our fine city from Minneapolis! Neither one (apparently) believes in using Facebook, but you can check out False‘s self-titled LP of angry black metal at the Gilead Media Bandcamp page (here) and Bellow‘s self-titled EP of atmospheric doom on their own Bandcamp page (here — download for free, or pay whatever you like!). Kicking things off will be Egality from Derry, PA, and Wrought Iron from Pittsburgh!
RSVP for this event here.
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Chicagoan black/doom metal band The Atlas Moth‘s An Ache for the Distance (Profound Lore Records) made countless year-end best-of lists in 2011. You can listen to the album here, then you can hear the band tonight at the Moose! Featuring the much-hyped local hard rock supergroup Supervoid as well as the Burgh’s prog-metal darlings Falling Upward.
PS: The poster shown here is an old image; the date was changed since then, so disregard where it says “Sunday” — honestly, the show is tonight (Monday)!
RSVP for this show here.
Hardcore band Consumed with Hatred from Baltimore is coming to visit the Mon Valley, appearing tonight with Pittsburgh punks Scattergun, horror punk band MITS from Mon City,
California (PA) punk band The Lady and the Monsters, and finally, crust/grinders Flesh Addict from Belle Vernon!
It’s a lot of bands for one billing, but things get underway pretty early — 6pm — so come on down! Once again, the name of the game is no drugs, no violence, no drama; respect the venue, respect each other, have fun!!
RSVP here. Or even if you aren’t able to make it to the show tonight, check out the page anyway — it’s my first-ever attempt at creating a Facebook event! (Note: Valley of Steel is not affiliated with the booking or organizing of this show, just trying to do my part to help spread the word!)
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Here’s a show that should need very little in the way of introduction: Pittsburgh’s legendary hardcore/crossover metal band from the late 80’s, Castle Blood, is reuniting, and hitting the Pub tonight! Joining them will be Rabid Reason from Kent, Ohio, as well as Pittsburgh’s own Lythem.
RSVP for this historic event here and here.
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Come celebrate the release of Liquified Guts‘ brand-new full-length album — feast your eyes on the 70’s AM radio inspired cover (pictured below), then feast your ears on the putrid hideousness lurking within! Plus, get another chance to see the newly reunited Castle Blood (if, for example, you find yourself attending a different show Friday night), along with the incredible talents of MorgueMart and Lady Beast! Just $5 to get in the door!
Well folks, it’s finally here — the show everyone’s been talking about all summer long! You can catch the epic melodic doom majesty of While Heaven Wept in their only headlining appearance (as they prepare to join Cormorant and Primordial for a string of dates, beginning tomorrow night — more info here)!
A couple of heavy hitters in the local scene (Argus and Vermithrax) will be kicking things off tonight, so you won’t want to miss this one!
Allure of the Earth – While Heaven Wept, Argus, Vermithrax video flyer from Jim Pitulski on Vimeo.
Alright folks, you know who Jello Biafra is — former Dead Kennedys frontman, who went on to invent pudding pops, and then embarked on a long solo career that has involved a combination of spoken word and music projects.
Some time later, Biafra formed a band called Jello Biafra and the Axis of Merry Evildoers with guitarist Ralph Spight, drummer Jon Weiss, and basist Billy Gould. With the addition of second guitarist Kimo Ball, the band was renamed Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine.
Fast forward a couple more years, Jon’s brother Andrew Weiss has replaced Gould, who went back to doing the Faith No More thing, and now the band is on tour, with a stop in Pittsburgh tonight!
Joining them at the Altar Bar will be Pittsburgh’s own Scattergun and Charleroi’s MorgueMart (both of whom put on shows that come highly recommended by this blogger!) as well as The Lady and the Monsters (a punk band, who I don’t really know anything about — yet — besides the fact that they come from California, PA).
Buy tickets from Ticketfly here, get more information from Drusky Entertainment here, then RSVP to the Facebook events here and here.
Hello again, readers, and a happy Wednesday morning to you! My vacation has ended and I’m back to pollute your in-box and/or RSS reader with random ramblings and desultory dialogue.
…and music, of course. After all, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it — to discover some new tunes, not to hear me whine about how lousy my day was at work or whatever?
So then, let’s get straight to it, shall we?
Looking for something to do tonight? Head out to the Pub to catch Ripple Music recording artist Devil to Pay, coming to visit from Indianapolis. Joining them will be locals Iron Crown and Argus (be sure to get there early, as Argus says they’re taking the stage first, and dusting off a few songs they haven’t played live in a long time — or ever, in some cases!)
More details and RSVP here or here.
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Another great band from Indiana (these guys are from Fort Wayne) are also coming to Pittsburgh tonight: horror punkers Lurking Corpses. They’re making an appearance at Howlers, alongside local punk rockers Mud City Manglers, and opening the festivities with some Pittsburgh-style death metal will be Abysme (whom you might remember from the Iron Atrocity V.1 compilation).
More information and RSVP here.
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How’s this for a fun Friday night? The Moose will be full of heavy rock ‘n roll craziness as FFITPL take the stage (of course you remember them, from when I reviewed their self-titled CD earlier this year, right?), with two other local bands, German Shepherd, and the newly-formed Supervoid. Best of all, the whole thing is absolutely FREE!!
More information and RSVP here.
So I guess somebody told the folks at Allure of the Earth that I’d be taking a few days off work this week, and I’d probably appreciate something fun to do on Tuesday night in order to celebrate my freedom. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence. In any case, check out this cool show happening tonight at Mr. Roboto!
Biipiigwan are taking their filthy sludgefest out on the road — coming all the way from Ottawa, Ontario to pollute our fine city. The band is a new discovery for me (new as in, I first heard of them when this show was announced), but I’ve downloaded their 2010 demo album as well as their EP from earlier this year, so now I feel much more enlightened. You can too, if you check out the Bandcamp widgets below.
Nibaak EP (2012)
God’s Hooks (2010)
If you like what you hear, both of these are also available on CD — at their Bigcartel webstore, or I presume you’ll be able to grab a copy in person if you come to the show. Joining these Canadian visitors will be Pittsburghese instrumental metal wizards Solarburn (who put on a mind-blowing live show) as well as fellow locals VEGA (whom I have not yet had the chance to see play, but they’ve been described as “vintage metal” — hear for yourself at ReverbNation).
The scheduled start times are as follows: [Solarburn 7:45 | VEGA 8:30 | Biipiigwan 9:15], and the whole shebang should be wrapped up by about 10:30, so there’s no excuse not to make it there — even though it’s a school night or whatever.
Hey readers, if you happen to live on the east coast anywhere between the D.C. region and New England, listen up! The Washingtonian stoner/fuzz metal band Borracho recently announced a string of dates running throughout the Labor Day holiday weekend, so if you’re anywhere near that area you’ll want to pay close attention to this.
We’ve talked about this band a few times, starting with a mention on the list of top 2011 releases, and including features on a couple new videos over the past several months.
Here’s what the guys said about these tour dates:
Borracho LIVE on the Tres Hombres Tour!
All work and no play makes Borracho want to hit the road! We’ve been spending too much time in the lab writing for the new record and we really need some fresh air! So, we’re hitching up the wagons and heading north Labor Day weekend for a short tour en route to the 12th annual Stoner Hands of Doom festival in New London, CT.This will be our second appearance at the festival, and the tour will bring us to the city of brotherly love and New England for the first time. We’ll be playing four dates, kicking off in our home town of Washington DC, travelling to Philadelphia, PA and Boston, MA before our Sunday showcase at SHoD. We’ll be joined on these shows by One Inch Giant from Gothenburg Sweden, Black Thai from Boston, and Fire Faithful from Richmond VA. Spread the word! See the details on each show below, and on the Shows page of our site.
We’ve also mentioned One Inch Giant around these parts before, and although I might not have written about them (yet), I’ve also really enjoyed what I’ve heard from Black Thai and Auroboros. Fire Faithful is a name that’s unfamiliar to me, but they’re definitely in good company — as far as I can tell, the line-up for any one of these shows will be well worth checking out…
- Thursday, 30 August – DC9, Washington DC – w/ One Inch Giant, Auroboros
- Friday, 31 August – Gunners Run, Philadelphia PA – w/ Black Thai, One Inch Giant
- Saturday, 01 September – O’Brien’s Pub, Allston MA – w/ Black Thai, Fire Faithful
- Sunday, 02 September – Stoner Hands of Doom XII @
The El ‘n Gee Club, New London CT – (full details and schedule here)
So once again, be sure to check out Borracho and friends if they’re coming near where you live. One of these days I hope these guys decide to venture out a little further — at least to this side of the Allegheny Mountains (the closest they’ve come to the Pittsburgh area, as far as I am aware, was a show a while back in York PA, which is still a few hours away from here). But for those of us across the rest of the country and the rest of the world — they did say something about writing a new record, so how cool is that!!?
Hello there. It’s Monday morning. It’ll be a shorter week than usual, for me, because I’ve got a couple vacation days leading into the three-day holiday weekend (Labor Day is Monday in the U.S.A.). So, I suppose the knowledge that I’ll only have to suffer through a few days (rather than a whole week) makes it easier to bear, but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s Monday morning.
So the best thing to do, that I can think of, is to go grab a cup of coffee, and blast some music into our ears until we can’t feel feelings anymore. I like my metal like I like my coffee: black, and strong enough to tear your soul apart.
Valley of Steel 