Allure of the Earth: Winter’s Wake Line-Up **ALMOST** Complete!

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*** NOTE: ALL THE FINAL DETAILS FOR THE WINTER’S WAKE FESTIVAL HAVE BEEN COLLECTED AT THIS LOCATION: https://valleyofsteel.net/2013/01/28/winters-wake-2013-presented-by-allure-of-the-earth/ ***

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Ladies and Gentlemen, three more bands (***) were just officially announced for the upcoming Winter’s Wake festival!

At this moment the nearly-complete line-up is scheduled to run as follows:

 

FRIDAY, 22 February 2013:

*** Vektor (sci-fi thrash from Philly)
Black Anvil (black metal from NYC)
GNAW (experimental industrial/drone/noise, from NYC)
Vit (experimental black/doom/folk from Ohio)
Liquified Guts (brutalgoredeathgrind from Pittsburgh)
*** Meth Quarry (Grim “Dirge” Hardcore from Pittsburgh)

 

SATURDAY 23 February 2013:

Dream Death (doom metal from Pittsburgh / exclusive area appearance for 2013!)
Blood Ceremony (occult doom rock from Toronto)
Evoken (death-doom from NJ)
Occultation (traditional metal from NYC)
Vattnet Viskar (black metal from New Hampshire)
*** Derketa (doomy death metal from Pittsburgh)
Molasses Barge (doomy traditional metal from Pittsburgh)
Vulture (doomy sludge metal from Pittsburgh)

 

So that’s where things stand as of right now.

LAST UPDATED 10 January 2013: There will be a pre-show (no details available yet) on Thursday the 21st! More information about that, plus the full details (including venue and ticket information) for the festival will be announced on Wednesday, the 2nd of January, 2013. very, very soon. We hope. Any further information will be shared with you here at Valley of Steel, as soon as we learn anything ourselves! Stay tuned!

Facebook event page for Winter’s Wake: http://www.facebook.com/events/147586328726944/

http://allureoftheearth.com/

Supervoid – Endless Planets EP

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Supervoid – Endless Planets EP (self-released, 11 November 2012)

Good afternoon, all you fine people! How are things where you are? Here it’s been rainy and nasty, and of course it’s Monday which is never good, but I’m actually feeling pretty good. For one thing, the day’s over, which means I get to go home. But mostly, I’m starting to feel healthy again!

You may have noticed things have been quiet around here for a while. Part of the reason is all the normal crap that keeps me busy and unable to write as often as I’d like to. But a bigger part — at least for the past two weeks or so — is the fact that I have felt like absolute garbage. My normal yearly sinus infection, which tends to completely drain my energy and make my whole body tired and sore for a few weeks (plus my chest, throat, nose and sinuses feeling congested and clogged — which is miserable enough as it is, but also makes it tough for me to listen to music because my ears don’t work right and my head hurts from feeling stuffed up and in general I’m in a very foggy and cloudy state). But I’ve been to the doctor and got some antibiotics, and they’ve finally started taking effect over the past day or two, so I definitely feel like I’m on the road to recovery.

I’m still pretty exhausted and blah, but no more than on any other workday. So, hooray for just feeling marginally lousy, rather than completely and utterly terrible! BUT ENOUGH ABOUT ME.

With a few exceptions, I’ve really been slacking as far as writing anything here, and I’ve been especially remiss in my duties to share new music with you readers. Here it is, nearly the end of the year, and I’ve got a virtual stack of music I’ve yet to write about, which figuratively is towering over me as I sit here. I’d better get moving!

***

Here, for example, is something that I’ve been hanging onto for the past few weeks, and kept meaning to write about and share with you — because it’s a really incredible discovery, and I sure hope you all aren’t upset that I didn’t tell you about it sooner!

Endless Planets is the debut release from a relatively new band from the Pittsburgh area called Supervoid. Formed in 2011 by a couple Dethlehem ex-pats, and current and/or former members of several other bands across the region, the band decided to take time to perfect their style of space-rock/stoner/psychedelic/prog-metal before revealing themselves to the public. (By the way, check out this interview with The Sludgelord for more information about the band’s formation and their journey up to this point in their career.)

They had their debut performance at the end of August, and a few more shows since then, attracting a good bit of attention in the local music scene along the way. During that time, the band got together at Pittsburgh’s Treelady Studios to lay down some demo tracks — which they then decided to release in the form of this two-song EP.

Clocking in at around sixteen minutes, Endless Planets serves as a great introduction to Supervoid, as it showcases the band’s talent and is representative of the range they span as performers and songwriters. Plus, it’s available to download for free, so you have no reason not to grab yourself a copy — and once you do, you’ll understand why everyone who has seen this band has been so impressed, and you’ll find yourself anxiously watching to see where this quintet is heading next…

 
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Allure of the Earth: More Bands Announced for Winter’s Wake!

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*** NOTE: ALL THE FINAL DETAILS FOR THE WINTER’S WAKE FESTIVAL HAVE BEEN COLLECTED AT THIS LOCATION: https://valleyofsteel.net/2013/01/28/winters-wake-2013-presented-by-allure-of-the-earth/ ***

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Good afternoon, folks! We are getting closer to knowing the full line-up for next February’s two-day Winter’s Wake festival!

As revealed last week, this Allure of the Earth Productions event is taking place between Friday and Saturday, 22-23 February 2013, in Pittsburgh.

Dream Death, Blood Ceremony, Occultation, GNAW, Vattnet Viskar, Vit, and Vulture were all included in that initial announcement, but today there are four more bands confirmed:

 

 
Once again, there’s a lot to be excited about here… and I’ll be sure to update you readers with plenty of information about all of these bands sometime before the show happens, so keep watching this spot!

Also, over the next several days AOTE is expected to finally reveal the remaining bands (which includes one more headliner), in addition to ticket information and everything. So stay tuned for that, too!

UPDATE 19 December: three more bands have been announced…

http://allureoftheearth.com/

Borracho – Plunge/Return 10″ Single Now Available

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borracho-plunge-return

 

Borracho – Plunge/Return 10″ Single (Strange Magic Records, 27 November 2012)

 
So over the course of the past year or so, you’ve been following along with everything I’ve written, including all the mentions of Washingtonian heavy fuzz-rock band Borracho, right?

Including when I named their album Splitting Sky as one of my Top 11 of 2011 over at No Clean Singing? (Which reminds me, I promised to send them another list this year, so I guess I should start thinking about that, huh?)

Presumably, on my recommendation, you went straight out and bought a copy of that album. Now, if you got the CD or the digital download (including the download that comes free with the vinyl LP), then you are lucky enough to have the full album including the massive epic final track “Plunge/Return”.

However, if you do have that vinyl edition, you probably noticed that it’s about eleven and a half minutes shorter than the digital formats — because that last song just didn’t fit. And even though you have listened to the version you downloaded, the purist in you wishes that you had all of the album’s tracks on vinyl, right?

Well finally, your prayers have been answered.

 
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Allure of the Earth Announces First Wave of Bands for Winter’s Wake Festival!

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*** NOTE: ALL THE FINAL DETAILS FOR THE WINTER’S WAKE FESTIVAL HAVE BEEN COLLECTED AT THIS LOCATION: https://valleyofsteel.net/2013/01/28/winters-wake-2013-presented-by-allure-of-the-earth/ ***

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Ladies and gentlemen, it’s here: half of the line-up for the two-day Winter’s Wake festival has been confirmed!

Brought to you by Allure of the Earth Productions, this event will be held on Friday and Saturday, 22-23 February 2013, in Pittsburgh.

There will be fourteen bands altogether between those two days, and seven of them were announced today:

 

 
Lots more details will be emerging soon (possibly as soon as next week) — such as the exact location, ticket information, the remainder of the bands, and scheduled times — and I will be sure to share all of that with you as soon as I hear anything! So stay tuned!

UPDATE 05 December: four more bands have been announced!

UPDATE 19 December: three more bands have been announced, leaving just one more to be confirmed…

http://allureoftheearth.com/

What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (29 November 2012)

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Drusky Entertainment Presents:

Texan Psychobillies Reverend Horton Heat

with The Cheats, Ben Dumm and the Deviants, The Turbosonics

 

at the Altar Bar

1620 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh (Strip District)

 

Thursday 29 November 2012 | 7:30PM (6:30 Doors) | $17 ADV / $20 at Door | 21+ only

 
With a history dating back nearly three decades now, the legendary country/punk/rock trio Reverend Horton Heat nevertheless seem to have no intention of slowing down their nearly nonstop touring schedule.

In fact, the band (who just recently signed with Victory Records) have tourdates scheduled all over the country, nearly every night for at least the next three-and-a-half months (see the full list here).

 

 
Appearing along with a handful of highly-respected local opening acts that range from punk rock to surf music, this is pretty much guaranteed to be a memorable night. Get more info on the show here, buy your tickets here, and don’t forget to RSVP here!

MAKE – Axis EP

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MAKE – Axis (01 November 2012, Black Iron Records)

 
Hellooooooooo out there, readers! I vaguely remember that I used to do this thing where I’d listen to music, and then write about it, and then you’d read it and listen to the music too, and then everyone was happy. I don’t know why I haven’t been doing much of that recently — I guess a variety of reasons which could pretty much be summed up as “life getting in the way” — but I do want to get back into the habit.

Today let’s talk about this EP that was released by the North Carolinian post-atmospheric-ambient-blackish-doomy band MAKE back at the beginning of this month. I told you it would be coming (here and here) and if you’ve been reading my stuff for a while you already know how much I fawned over their debut LP Trephine (reviewed here).

Somehow during the course of all of that, I neglected to share the preview video for the EP — for which I apologize, but I shall make up for it by adding it here:
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (26 November 2012)

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Opus One Productions Presents:

GWAR – Fate or Chaos Tour

with DevilDriver, Cancer Bats, Legacy of Disorder

 

at Mr. Smalls Theatre

400 Lincoln Avenue, Millvale PA

 

Monday 26 November 2012 | 7:15pm (doors 6:30) | $29 | ALL AGES

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Happy Black Friday!

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Well, good day to all you fine people out there! It’s the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S., traditionally known as Black Friday — and legions of idiots have been lining up outside retailers for hours (or days, in some cases) to get their hands on TVs and junk at discounted prices.

I hate shopping, and I hate crowds of people (or more accurately, I hate most people in general), so would be pretty much the worst possible time for me to go out. Therefore, I won’t be anywhere near any stores today.

However, there are some other good deals out there, if you know where to look — lots of record labels and music stores are offering discounts or bonus gifts or incentives — and this is stuff that interests me way more than anything that people will probably be fist-fighting for at Wal-Mart or Target!

Since many of you readers probably feel the same way (why else would you be reading a music-related blog?) I’ve thrown together an assortment of these special offers right here in this post, for your shopping convenience. Enjoy!

 

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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (22 November 2012)

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Happy Thanksgiving, y’all!

Turkey and beer and football and… every obnoxious relative that you only see on holidays, which you only need to spend about five minutes with them to remember why you only see them on holidays.

If this sounds familiar, later this evening you’re probably going to be looking for something — anything — as an excuse to get out of the house for a while.

As luck would have it, there’s a show happening later that might be just what the doctor ordered.

 
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