Category Archives: New Releases

Fatality – Psychonaut (New Album // Coming to Pittsburgh TONIGHT!)

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psychonaut cover image

 

Fatality – Psychonaut (self-released, 28 June 2013)

 
Hey, guys and gals! Remember Fatality? I first introduced you to this cool Canadian thrash band last summer when they were holding a contest, but at the same time I wrote a few words about their 2011 T.F.E.S. EP. That three-song release is still available to download for free (I’ll toss the Bandcamp widget at the bottom of this post), and the title track (“Thrash Fuck Eat Sleep”) is still one of the catchiest pieces of thrash metal I’ve heard in ages.

Anyway, the guys have a brand new album out now — they released Psychonaut two months ago, and since then they’ve been jaunting all across the United States and Canada on what they’re calling the “Towards Disastour”. (It’s a play on words, because there’s a song on the new record called “Towards Disaster”. Funny, right? These guys are just full of hilarity — just check out vocalist Spencer Le Von‘s ongoing tour blog over at Dead Rhetoric, or his series of Backseat Podcasts, or the band’s blog which he occasionally updates “with fervent apathy”. Seriously, check that shit out.)

The Towards Disastour tour is coming to a close tonight — Wednesday 28 August 2013 — with a stop in Pittsburgh, PA. Readers who live nearby are highly encouraged to come on out to Howlers in Bloomfield tonight. The show will also feature local thrash/traditional heavy metal greats Vermithrax and the NWOBHM-flavored Lady Beast (see full details about the show here). If you need more convincing than that (or if you live somewhere far away and won’t be able to go see the band in person tonight), keep on reading and I’ll tell you a little more about the new album Psychonaut.

 
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VOS Videography 2013: A Mid-Year Retrospective (Part 17)

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VOStube

 

Mr. Smalls Theatre (Millvale, PA), 18 May 2013

 
Ghost!

 
“Infestissumam” & “Per Aspera ad Inferi”

 
“Prime Mover”

 
“Elizabeth”

 
“Stand By Him”

 
“Year Zero”

 
“Ritual”

 

Mr. Smalls Theatre (Millvale, PA), 27 May 2013

 
Melvins!

 
I got a few videos of their amazing double-set performance on Memorial Day in Pittsburgh. I just haven’t had a chance yet to get them edited and uploaded! (There are a few that are well over 20 minutes in length!) So keep an eye on this space; they will be coming soon!

 
NAVIGATION
 
Part 1 (28 December – 18 January)
Part 2 (01 – 09 February)
Part 3 (16 February)
Part 4 (22 February)
Part 5 (23 February)
Part 6 (02 – 09 March)
Part 7 (10 March)
Part 8 (14 March)
Part 9 (16 March)
Part 10 (22 – 24 March)
Part 11 (28 – 29 March)
Part 12 (02 – 11 April)
Part 13 (12 – 19 April)
Part 14 (20 – 26 April)
Part 15 (04 – 05 May)
Part 16 (11 – 17 May)
 
Part 18 (31 May – 20 June)
Part 19 (23 – 30 June)

Breaking News: TrollfesT Begins Work On Another New Album!

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trollfest-recording

 
I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the TrollfesT Facebook page (if not, then you should be ashamed of yourself!), but all this week they’ve been teasing the fact that some sort of major announcement would be made on Thursday. Guess what: now it’s Thursday. And here’s what I’ve just learned…..

 

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Fuck Yeah! New The Matador Album Coming Soon!

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the-matador

 
The last time we heard anything out of this group of Queenslandians was two years ago, when their debut Descent Into the Maelstrom dropped out of nowhere (which I originally learned about thanks to the terrific folks over at Heavy Blog is Heavy). That disc’s combination of raw emotion — ranging from soul-crushingly heavy ugliness to soul-wrenchingly mournful beauty, and all points in between — really grabbed me and still hasn’t let go. Later that same year, when I started writing about music myself, it was the natural choice for my first review. (Note that this was a brand new experience for me at that time, and I had no idea what I was doing — unlike now, over eighteen months later, where I still have no idea what I’m doing!)

Anyway, that particular release was pretty monumental — not because I chose to write about it when my journalistic career was in its infancy, but totally on its own merits. If I hadn’t arbitrarily chosen to exclude the small handful of albums I wrote about from my year-end list, I can assure you Descent would have found its way to the very top of my Top 11 of 2011. So after numerous reports of line-up changes and rumors about writing and recording, it’s with great excitement that I’ve received official news about the band’s follow-up, which I will now pass along to you…

 
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The Secret Dethlehem Code, Deciphered (FOR REAL This Time)!

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4 13 13

 

I WAS SO CLOSE!

 
 
…by which, of course, I mean that my article from a few days ago analyzing Dethlehem‘s mysterious image (above) speculated that the answer had something to do with Dethlehem doing something. That much of it turned out to be absolutely 100% accurate. (The rest of what I wrote, not so much. Although those who are interested in the ins and outs of the recording process still can benefit greatly by visiting producer Patrick Lammie‘s blog as he details the creation of the band’s third full-length album!)

So what I thought was a crazy eye thing actually turned out to be a representation of a magical portal; the fact that the middle part of the “eye” looks like the number zero wasn’t just a coincidence; the other numbers superimposed on the image, surprisingly, had NOTHING to do with an encrypted message, but rather they indicated a significant date. That date, 04.13.13, was this past Saturday — and at some point during that day, the band uncovered a really exciting secret project…..

 
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Slaves BC / Cousin Sleaze – Split 7″

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SleazeBC-cover

Slaves BC / Cousin Sleaze – Split 7″ (self-released, 11 April 2013)

 
 
Several months ago, I wrote about a new EP from the Pittsburgh-based dark, caustic hardcore/metal band Slaves BC, which was titled we mean nothing. If you’re feeling especially adventurous, you could look it up if you searched for it, but I’m not linking to it here. Because honestly, it was among the worst articles I’ve written, and I wouldn’t advise taking the time to read it. Instead, just listen to the songs and download the EP, which you can do it you follow the Bandcamp link at the end of this page.

About that review — I’ve noticed sometimes when I really like something or really connect with a piece of music on some level, I feel inadequate to convey that in words, and so I end up rambling about some other nonsense that isn’t related to the actual music. In this case, we mean nothing. centers around the concept of someone struggling and perhaps questioning the validity or value of religion — and I sort of ran with that idea, focusing more on people who place too much value on religious principles, at the expense of common sense and moral decency.

Sort of lost in all of that was my opinion of the actual music — dark and caustic, as I just said; abrasive, ultra-heavy. Some music is described as “doom metal” which usually seems to foretell a bleak, dire outcome; some music is “post-apocalyptic,” representing that tragic new reality. What Slaves BC bring is more like DURING the apocalypse: there isn’t doom coming, it’s happening RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

Anyway, one thing I did point out in that review was that the sound had improved dramatically over their first release, the demo album This World Shall Pass Away. With that in mind, the appearance of any new Slaves material should be really exciting. And GUESS WHAT — today we have exactly that! Two new songs, to be exact, coupled with a pair from the band’s comrades from New York, Cousin Sleaze.

The four-song split is available as of today on CD (if you come to the bands’ joint release show TONIGHT at The Smiling Moose in Pittsburgh — see below for details), and the 7″ vinyl version (in three different colors) can be ordered now, and will be out in the very near future!

 
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Borracho – Mob Gathering 7″

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Borracho - Mob Gathering 7- - cover

 
It’s been nearly two years since Borracho, the heavy stoner-fuzz-rock band from Washington DC, graced the world with their debut album Splitting Sky. Since that LP was released (and subsequently landed on my Top 11 of 2011 list), there has also been a 7″ single (and video) for “Concentric Circles”, a video for “All in Play”, and a 10″ single for “Plunge/Return” (which was included in the digital and CD versions, but didn’t fit on the vinyl pressing of Splitting Sky).

Now, all that has been really cool, but we haven’t heard any NEW songs in a while! Well as it turns out, that’ll be changing soon, because in a few months the band will have a follow-up album out…

 

[In mid-February], we entered the studio to lay down brand new music for a proper follow-up release. We’ve reunited with Splitting Sky producer Frank Marchand at his brand new Hudson Street Sound studio in Annapolis MD. The as-yet untitled record will be co-released on limited edition 12″ vinyl by No Balls Records (Germany) and Ghost Highway Recordings (Spain) in June.

 
So that’s pretty exciting, huh? But that’s not even all of the good news I have for you! Although it’ll still be a few more months ’til we get some new material, right now you can get treated to some OLD stuff — plus select east-coast cities are due to be visited by the band this weekend!

 
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Dendritic Arbor – Sylvan Matriarch

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SylvanMatriarch

 

Dendritic Arbor – Sylvan Matriarch (self-released, 26 March 2013)

 
Good morning, folks! What’s new with you?? I have to tell you a story about what happened to me recently, but it’s a little bit embarassing…

So I’m sure you all remember Quercus, guitarist/vocalist for that band of black metal eco-terrorists Dendritic Arbor — he and I had a conversation about his band last month when they were performing at the Winter’s Wake pre-fest show (which you can read here). As you’ll recall, there was some discussion at that time about their forthcoming release Sylvan Matriarch…

Anyway, fast-forward to a couple days ago, and I got a message from Mr. Quercus, where he asked me whether I do album reviews on this website. Well. That was sort of a reality check for me — I know that I’ve been very preoccupied lately and have been writing very, very little. And what I have been posting recently has largely consisted of interviews, either conducted by myself or by someone else. But at that moment I realized, geez, you really couldn’t tell just by looking — unless you were to dig pretty deep — that reviewing music is sort of supposed to be the primary purpose of this website!

So I got my hands on a copy of Sylvan Matriarch, which is officially available today — it actually went up on Bandcamp yesterday, but tonight Dendritic Arbor will be playing a show to celebrate the release. I’ve got all the information you need about the album, the show, AND a special super-limited bundle were you can get a whole bunch of goodies for a really low price, IF you’re one of the first few people to jump on this deal!

 
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Winter’s Wake Winterview: Drones for Queens

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dfq-wa-cover

 
We’re drawing closer and closer to the Winter’s Wake 2013 Thursday Night Pre-fest Show! Here’s one more interview with a band that’s playing tonight!

I already wrote about this particular band a few months ago, but here’s the responses I got to some questions I asked Drones for Queens:

 
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Toxic Holocaust / Municipal Waste “Toxic Waste” Split Now Expanded To Fourth Pressing!

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toxic-waste-cover

 
So, this just happened.

Despite being available for free download since last June (see the Bandcamp player below), this 12″ split has burned through nearly four thousand copies since it first went on sale back in May. I guess that’s some positive news amidst all the doom-and-gloom we keep hearing about the record industry in general, and particularly about physical media.

So if you haven’t gotten your hands on one of these yet, or if you’re such a die-hard collector that you’re making sure you have at least one of each color variant, looks like there’ll be another five hundred up for grabs soon!

 
Tankcrimes Records says:

TOXIC WASTE UPDATE!!!

The 4th pressing of this beast has been ordered! (It’s only been out 8 months, you guys are insane!) There are less than a dozen copies remain of each color variant from the 3rd press, if that’s important to you it’s time to act.

http://www.bluecollardistro.com/tankcrimes/product_info.php?products_id=7913&cPath=1597_1624&store=0

4th press is 500 on orange vinyl. Available in March.

 
Listen to/download Toxic Waste here:

 
———————————————–
Municipal Waste: website, Facebook, Myspace, Reverbnation
Toxic Holocaust: Facebook, Myspace, Reverbnation, Bandcamp
Tankcrimes: website, Facebook, Myspace, Bandcamp