Category Archives: New Releases

Get ’em While They’re Hot: Three Free HUGE Compilations from Grip of Delusion Radio!

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Check this out! The nice people at Grip of Delusion Radio have put together a gigantic compilation in three volumes (over one hundred songs altogether!) and they’re yours for the taking, absolutely free of charge. There are some pretty awesome bands represented here, including a couple I’ve written about in the past (Vulture and Undersmile) and one that I’ll be reviewing very soon (Fire in the Cave), plus Banda de la Muerte, Heavy Lord, Forged in Flame, Wo Fat, Cultura Tres, Thorr Axe, Behold! The Monolith, Shroud of Despondency, and tons more!!

These were just released on Sunday (01 April) and by Monday they had already run out of free Bandcamp downloads! But mere minutes ago, it was announced that due to the generosity of The Soda Shop, they’ve just added on another thousand downloads… so hurry up and grab one while you still can!

See the Bandcamp widgets below for each of the three volumes, where you can download them if you like (or just listen to the songs and then download your favorites)…

If the Bandcamp well runs dry again, don’t fear, they have alternate download capabilities on this page — including a link to Mediafire (where you can grab the songs one at a time) and Dropbox (which offers all three volumes in a single Gig-and-a-half bundle).

 

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The “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week: Obscurcis Romancia

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Well, it’s Monday again, and that can only mean one thing.  It’s time for the “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week!  As you are already aware, this is that thing where I go to the “Sign Me to Roadrunner Records” website and check out the messages that bands have written to me asking for a review of their music.  Then I pick one at random (where “at random” usually means “whoever wrote to me the longest amount of time ago”), I listen to the songs they’ve got posted, then I write about them here so YOU can discover some awesome new music. 

This week we’ve got a nice sample of black metal from the frozen tundra of the far north — except instead of northern Europe like you might be expecting, this is northern North America.  Specifically, we’re looking at a band who come from the French-Canadian province of Québec, who call themselves Obscurcis Romancia.  If you couldn’t decipher it yourself, the band’s name (which seems to be a hybrid of French and Latin, as far as I can tell) translates to something like “Obscured Romance.”  They play a fantastically proficient form of classically-influenced black metal, and they’ve also recently released their second full-length album (details on how to get your hands on a copy, later in this post!)

 

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Upcoming Shows: Iron Atrocity Benefit, Vulture CD Release, Ernie and the Berts

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This post goes out to anyone who will be in or around the Pittsburgh area this weekend and can’t find anything to do: GET YOUR ASS OUT TO SOME SHOWS, because there are some awesome ones happening all three nights!! Check out the details below, and get excited!

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Iron Atrocity Vol.2 Benefit Show

at The Smiling Moose bar on the South Side
1306 East Carson Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
Friday, 30 March 2012 – doors open at 9:00, show runs until 1:30am
21+ only, $5 per person (suggested minimum donation)

For more details, see the Facebook event page.

You’ve seen me talking about Iron Atrocity, the free compilation of the Pittsburgh metal scene many times before, and for good reason. There’s lots of great stuff on the first volume (don’t belive me? Download it here!), and there promises to be just as much awesomeness when the second one rolls around.

Innervenus, the local record label and music collective responsible for assembling this compilation, held a Kickstarter fundraising campaign recently to help finance the production of the CD. That was mostly successful — at least, enough pledges were made to cover about two-thirds of their target, while the Innervenus staff ended up supplementing the remainder out of their own pockets.

Well, some nice folks decided to throw together another benefit show to help offset some of those costs, and that show is happening this Friday night.

The Smiling Moose Facebook

Iron Atrocity Facebook
Innervenus Facebook, Website

 
 

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If that isn’t already too much excitement for you to handle, there’s plenty more on the way…

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Get ’em While They’re Hot: Free Meshuggah Track Download, Ticket Giveaway

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Well, the nice people of Scion A/V have done it yet again, hooking you up with some more free metal.  This time around, they’re letting you grab the song “I Am Colossus” from Koloss, the new Meshuggah album that was just released on Nuclear Blast.

Here’s what Scion had to say about the band and this song:

The larynx-lacerating, off-the-meter metal of Swedish powerhouse Meshuggah is so distinctive that it birthed its own sub-genre, called djent. On this exclusive single for Scion A/V, the band plumbs heavy grooves as only they can. Turtle-paced but with tightly-coiled potential for acceleration, “I Am Colossus” is one of the best Meshuggah songs in their gem-stuffed discography. Power up.

FREE DOWNLOAD OF MESHUGGAH’s “I AM COLOSSUS” HERE.

 
 

And if that isn’t enough for you, Scion A/V is also giving away a pair of tickets to every Meshuggah show on their upcoming tour with Baroness and Decapitated.

  To enter for a chance to win:

1. Read the RULES and TOUR SCHEDULE: http://www.scion.com/Meshuggahsweeps

2. Follow ScionAV on TWITTER: http://www.twitter.com/ScionAV

3. Tweet “@SCIONAV #Meshuggah [date of show]”

Each winner will be chosen at random from the entries provided for each show. Winners will be contacted via Twitter one day before the concert with details on how to redeem the tickets.  Tour dates are listed below…

 

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Out Today: Vulture – Oblivious to Ruin

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Vulture – Oblivious to Ruin (27 March 2012, Innervenus Music Collective)

 

I’d to apologize to you in advance for the following review, because what I am about to bring to your attention is going to seriously fuck up the rest of your day.

Today marks the official release of Oblivious to Ruin, the debut LP from “Steel City Sludge” purveyors Vulture. These Pittsburgh natives have been around for a few years now — they had previously recorded a self-titled EP at the end of 2008 with a different singer (this was recorded in Virginia with the assistance of Gwar‘s late guitarist Cory Smoot). The following year, though, they swapped for new frontman Justin Erb, and soon started working on new material.

The first material anyone heard out of this revised line-up was the track they recorded in early 2011, exclusively for the Iron Atrocity Vol. 1 compilation: “Prick of Misery” . That song was definitely one of the highlights from that collection, so of course I was excited not long after that when I learned Vulture had teamed up with Innervenus to put together a full-length album.

The band returned to the same studio in Akron, Ohio, where “Prick” had been recorded, and once again they worked with Complete Failure‘s James Curl. After hammering away at it through August and October 2011, Oblivious to Ruin is now ready to be unleashed upon a thoroughly unsuspecting public.

 

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In Case You Missed It: Krampus – Kronos’ Heritage

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Krampus – Kronos’ Heritage (Self-released, 24 August 2011)

Good afternoon, readers.  So how is your day going so far?  Mine’s almost over, but still it seems to be dragging on far too long.  I could sure use a break, and I’d be willing to bet you feel the same.  I’ve decided to take a  folk-metal break, care to join me?

Amazingly, just a few short years ago I had no idea that there existed such a thing as folk metal.  I’ve been a long-time fan of the orchestral and symphonic stuff that sometimes gets incorporated into black or power metal, and any other music that brings together unexpected juxtapositions of style or instrumentation, but for whatever reason, I’d just never really been exposed to the folkier stuff.  Once I did discover it, though, I instantly was knocked off my feet, and ever since then I just can’t get enough.

Today I’m taking a quick look back at the EP Kronos’ Heritage, released last summer by the Udinesi octet Krampus.  Just a quick look, though, because the EP is only three songs, clocking in around twelve minutes.  Following that, I’ll also be glancing ahead, because right now this troop of Italians is busy laboring on their forthcoming debut release for  Noise Art Records, which is due out late this year.

The Krampus, as I understand it, is a scary monster with goat-like features, somewhat like a satyr, which originally came from the pagan folklore of the pre-Christian Alpine lands, but nowadays is thought of as the Christmas demon, serving as a counterpart to Saint Nicholas in many central European countries, and coming around to deal with the naughty children who don’t deserve any gifts.  Similarly, the band that shares its name with this creature seems to be intent on punishing those who have misbehaved, except in a metaphoric sense: here, the “children” represent all of mankind, and the “misdeeds” for which we are to be reprimanded involve polluting and destroying the planet on which we live.

 

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Just Released: No Anchor – Rope/Pussyfootin’ 7-Inch

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No Anchor – Rope/Pussyfootin’ 7-Inch (Self-released, 17 March 2012)

Good morning, readers. It felt like this week was never going to end, but it’s finally Friday! All we need to do is fumble our way through one more day, then the weekend will officially be here. Pretty awesome, huh? Although sometimes even just one eight-hour day still feels like it lasts forever, and besides that, it’s hard to get excited about anything this early in the morning, right?

Well don’t worry, I’ve got something to help you survive one more workday. Go grab a cup of coffee and get your headphones on, and brace yourselves for some grungey noise-rock all the way from Queensland! Brisbane’s No Anchor have just unleashed a brand new 7″ with four songs (three of which are free to download!) over an eight-minute span that should give you just the jolt you need.

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Just Released: Hail Spirit Noir – Pneuma

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Hail Spirit Noir – Pneuma (Code666, 5 March 2012)

(This is the second in a series of two album reviews today, for two very different, yet equally awesome, Central Macedonian bands. To read about Descensus Ad Inferos by Erevos, head in this direction.)

 

Pneuma (πνεύμα, or Spirit in English) is the debut release from Thessalonian duo Hail Spirit Noir, which consists of Haris (synths) and Theoharis Liratzakis (guitar/vocals), both of whom serve in those same roles in the avant-black ensemble Transcending Bizarre?.  HSN has been in existence for about two years now, and much of this time was spent composing the material found on Pneuma, which was then put to tape at Lunatech Studios (near Mount Olympus), rounded out by guest musicians Dim Douvras on bass (who also mixed the recording), Ioannis Giahoudis on drums, and Dimitris Dimitrakopoulos who provided additional vocals.  Acclaimed Swedish engineer Jens Bogren then mastered the final product, and earlier this month Code666 Records made it available worldwide.

At least, that’s what happened according to the record label’s official press release (which also refers to the group’s music as “psychedelic prog black to tear your psyche apart”).  Now, I’m not trying to imply that any of this information is inaccurate in any way.  But having listened to this album pretty much nonstop for several days, I’ve found that what these guys have crafted is so uniquely compelling, I would have been willing to believe it if I had been told there was a bit more to the story of its inception than that.

 

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REPOST: Help Make Iron Atrocity v.2 a Reality!

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Ladies and Gentlemen, one last time I am bringing this to your attention, because this fine organization who is so instrumental in supporting great local music could really use some support from all of you right now. 

There is now less than one day remaining in this fundraising campaign.  If you have been waiting until the last minute, THIS IS IT.  Don’t put it off until tomorrow (Friday), because the deadline is 5am tomorrow morning.  As of the time I am posting this, they have only raised approximately HALF of their original goal.  That leaves less than twenty-four hours to make up the other half!

For those unfamiliar with exactly how Kickstarter works, you don’t need to worry if maybe you don’t get paid until tomorrow and you’ve been trying to wait until then to send in your donation.  This is just a pledge, you aren’t paying anything yet, until after the deadline has passed.

Note: If the pledge drive doesn’t meet its goal before the deadline, it will fail, no money will change hands at all, and the terrorists will have won.  We can’t let that happen.

So get to clicking: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/240758996/iron-atrocity-v2, and show your support for local music.  Please, if you have anything to spare — $10, $5, even $1 — it all adds up.  But do it now, there is no more time to put it off any longer.

Thank you.
—Valley of Steel

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(previously posted on 15 February, 2012):

You might remember I talked about this project before — back in November I posted about some upcoming Molasses Barge shows which included a benefit show in Decmeber to support the Iron Atrocity v.2 compilation.

If you don’t remember, Iron Atrocity is a digital download (available free by visiting www.ironatrocity.com) or CD compilation (I do not know if any copies are still available, but it was given out for free at shows associated with Innervenus or any of the bands on the CD) which highlights some of the best in Pittsburgh-area metal music today.

Well, the second compilation in the series is currently in the works, and the folks at Innervenus are trying to raise a little extra capital to get this thing off the ground…
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Just Released: Melvins – The Bulls & the Bees (Free Download!)

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Melvins – The Bulls & the Bees (13 March 2012, Scion A/V)

I’ve just got two things to say: first, there is a new Melvins EP, and second, it’s absolutely free to download. Really, that should be all you need to hear.

The generous people who run Scion A/V have done it again, putting out a handful of songs by an incredible band for no cost or obligation at all. I still don’t know what they get out of it (I’ve grabbed a copy of each one of their free releases so far, but I’d still never be caught dead behind the wheel of one of their ugly-ass cars!), but I sure am thankful they keep on doing what they’re doing.

This time, as you can see, they are featuring a five-song collection by the Melvins, who surely need no introduction to anybody reading this. But just in case you just immigrated to this planet from Pluto, or you have been in a coma since Ronald Reagan’s first term as U.S. president, let me bring you up to speed. These guys almost single-handedly invented sludge, grunge, and stoner metal. At the very least, they were highly influential in the genesis of each of those styles, and have been consistently churning out quality tunes for almost three whole decades.

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