Looking for some live entertainment to entertain yourself with in Pittsburgh on this Friday evening? Here are some great options you might wish to consider…..
Carpathian Forest Frontman: “Fuck You All!!!”
Formed more than twenty years ago (in Norway, despite the eastern European name) and with a plentiful number of releases under their (presumably studded leather) belts, black/blackened thrash band Carpathian Forest have remained relatively quiet over the past few years.
Naturally, as is often the case when longstanding groups lapse into a period of inactivity, whispers began to circulate through the grapevine that their dissolution was imminent, as well as a variety of reasons for this turn of events — most prominently (again, as is often the case) being attributed to a communication breakdown or a falling-out among the band’s members.
Recently, though, the band have been appearing on a gradually increasing number of festival line-ups for 2013 (including a first-ever appearance in these United States!), and so it has become clear that these rumors have been exaggerated — if not outright fabricated.
Vesperia – Voyage from Vinland (FREE DOWNLOAD, LIMITED TIME ONLY!!)
Vesperia – Voyage from Vinland (self-released, 08 January 2011)
Ladies and gentlemen and whoever else might be out there reading this:
This coming Saturday — the 20th of October — blackened folk/pagan metal band Vesperia are headlining a show in the band’s hometown of Oshawa, Ontario (city motto = “Prepare to be amazed.” I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.) Also appearing will be Battlesoul, Will of the Ancients, and Unbowed, and for more details on the event you can check out this page.
Anyway, in celebration of this occasion, Vesperia wanted to do something special for their fans. Giving away downloads of their new demo EP from earlier this year (The Swordsman) wouldn’t work though, because they’ve already done that (see here for a full write-up about that release) — so instead they’ve decided to give away their previous album for free!
Voyage from Vinland was actually the first (and only) full-length album released by Bolero (in January of last year), prior to that band changing its name to Vesperia. But the whole thing — all eleven tracks, forty-five minutes of it — has been re-released digitally under their new name on their Bandcamp page, and for this week ONLY you can download all of it absolutely FREE! This is only supposed to last until Saturday’s show, though, so ACT FAST!!
What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (18 October 2012)
Drusky Entertainment Presents:
The Misfits
with special guests The Attack, Revenge Memorial, Gods & Aliens, A Lovely Crisis
at the Altar Bar
1620 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh (Strip District)
Thursday 18 October 2012 | 7:00pm Show, 6:00 Doors | $23 ADV, $25 at door | ALL AGES
It’s the motherfucking Misfits, what more is there to say? The band was formed thirty-five years ago, and even though bassist (and now vocalist) Jerry Only is the only original member remaining, their popularity has never wavered. They’re currently touring the nation with Florida’s The Attack, and now visiting Pittsburgh alongside a handful of local openers.
Come on out to the Altar Bar tonight — (and see if perhaps the atmosphere of the venue inspires Jerry to dust off some of the tunes from his old Christian metal band Kryst the Conqueror!)
Get your tickets here, or find more info at the Drusky concert calendar here, or Facebook events here and here.
Some Shocking News About Krampus’ Drummer
(NOTE: this photo is apparently now outdated)
The mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, for all its over-the-top ridiculous storylines and dialogue, nevertheless must have been extensively researched prior to being written and produced. So often do touring and recording artists encounter similarly ludicrous situations (or similarly terrible luck) resembling the fictional band from that film, that “a Spinal Tap moment” has basically entered our lexicon as a widely-understood descriptive term for such an event. In fact, I’ve heard that many longtime music industry veterans don’t even see the movie as a comedy, because so much of it rings just a little too true-to-life.
Having said all that, I’d like to share a bit of news with you, which honestly can only be accurately described as “a Spinal Tap moment.”
Northern Italian modern folk metal octet Krampus recently found themselves temporarily reduced to a septet, as they are currently finalizing the process of replacing their drummer.
Effective immediately, the band announced, former drummer Carlo is no longer a part of the band, due to the fact that he has been struck by lightning.
Continue reading
Coming Soon: Fen Wrapping Up Work on Third Album
So here’s some more exciting news coming from Italian label Code666 Records: the final details are coming together for a forthcoming release by UK progressive/atmospheric black metal band Fen, which the band just finished working on — this will be their third full-length album, and also their third release through Code666.
Not only that, but Fen have also renewed their contract with the label for another three album deal!
Frontman The Watcher stated:
We have been happy with the way we’ve been treated by Code666 in respect of the first three albums, and were impressed by the enthusiasm that the label has always shown for Fen and the faith they have placed in us, so it was logical for us to continue a relationship that was obviously working well.
Coming Soon: Saille Working on Sophomore Album
Hey, folks. Here’s some interesting Monday afternoon reading for you — there have been some new developments in the world of Belgian melodic black metal band Saille, which I will gladly share with you now.
First and foremost, the band announced that they’ve been working in Aartrijke (Belgium)’s Shumcot Studios, alongside producer Reinier Schenk, recording their second album — the follow-up to 2011’s Irreversible Decay.
Keyboardist Dries Gaerdelen commented,
When creating our new album, I did research on and was inspired by several ancient destruction rituals. The new songs are therefore darker, faster, more aggressive and create a feeling of unease.
The lyrics, written by frontman Dennie Grondelaers, explore the history of those death rites. With the drums being recorded a while ago, we’ve all got a “recording state of mind” and have a feeling we’re creating more than just songs. We’re looking forward to unleashing our creations on the audience, both on cd and live!
What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (14 October 2012)
Drusky Entertainment Presents:
Converge All We Love We Leave Behind U.S. Tour
with Torche and Kvelertak
at Altar Bar
1620 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh (Strip District)
Sunday 14 October 2012 | 6:00 doors / 7:00 show | $15 ADV / $17 DOS | ALL AGES
Facebook event here, more information from Drusky concert calendar here, buy your tickets here.
Check out the full list of dates for this tour here.
What To Do In Pittsburgh Today (13 October 2012)
Okay folks, tons to talk about and not a whole lot of time.
There is so much happening today, I’ve got to get moving very soon if I want to even hit half of these events. And I do, at least.
You will too, so you won’t want to sit here all day and read a bunch of crap. Let’s get straight to the good stuff, shall we…
VOS Interview: A Drummer Double Feature! Molasses Barge vs. Vulture!
Hello folks, and a happy Friday to you! Just when it felt like it would never happen, the weekend’s finally here. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be an especially good one, because there’s a ton of amazing shows and events happening! I’ll have more on that later, so stay tuned.
One of them in particular stands out, though — tomorrow night at the 31st Street Pub is the first date on the joint headlining tour between Relapse Records artists 16 and Tombs. That by itself is reason enough to get excited, but opening the show will be two of my absolute favorite local bands, the heavy doom armada that is Molasses Barge and Steel City sludgelords Vulture!
I’ve only seen Molasses Barge once before (and it was over a year ago! — read more about that here), and (believe it or not) although I’ve been listening to Vulture for a long time, I’ve never had the chance to see them play live yet! So needless to say, I’m really looking forward to this show. I’ve already got my tickets (they can be ordered here) but if you don’t, it’s just twelve bucks when you show up at the door. More info on the show itself can be found here.
Anyway, in anticipation of this event, I decided to get a couple of interviews lined up. If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you may have picked up on the fact that I often tend to focus on drumming while listening to music. It’s just the way I hear things, I guess — and I don’t know if it’s because I play drums (occasionally) or if I chose to play that instrument because it’s something I pay a lot of attention to.
In either case, the drumming in each of these bands’ genres is one of the main things that attracts me to those particular styles. So, it only seemed natural for me to talk to the two bands’ drummers. Here, then, are the questions and answers from Molasses Barge’s Wayne Massey and Vulture’s Kelly Gabany…
Valley of Steel 