The Last Trollfest Post, I Swear! (Before the New Album is Released)

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So okay, I know there’s been an awful lot of attention paid to the “True Norwegian Balkan Metal” collective known as TrollfesT. There’ve been video trailers, free songs to download, and all kinds of other stuff floating around. Well, here’s one more update about the band, where I’ve collected some of the latest bits of information and news, as we inch closer to the official release of their fifth album, Brumlebassen (out via Noise Art Records on the 24th of August — that’s tomorrow!)…

 
Just the other day, the band released a track-by-track video guide to the new record, which can be seen below:

 
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Get a Sneak Peek at Krampus’ Debut Full-Length!

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Survival of the Fittest, the debut full-length album by Italian folk metal octet Krampus will be here in just two more days!

As you might recall, back in June I shared the announcement of the album title, artwork, and tracklisting. This came on the heels of a pair of reviews of the band’s prior works: the Shadows of Our Times EP from March 2011 and the Kronos’ Heritage EP from August 2011.

Well, since then, there’s been a flurry of activity in anticipation of the new album’s official release (via Noise Art Records) on the 24th of August…

First of all, the band launched a brand new website. Check it out for all the latest news and information in the world of the Krampus.

 
Then, they put out a video trailer for the Survival album:

 

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Music Makes Miserable Monday Mornings More Manageable

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Good morning, Readers!

I hope you are doing well today. Personally, I’m really not sure yet, really not quite conscious enough to even have a general positive or negative impression of today, so far.

But regular visitors here might be familiar with my often-stated opinion — an opinion that I understand is a bit controversial and unconventional (although I think many people secretly agree with me, but I just happen to be the only one brave enough to come right out and say it) — that Mondays completely suck.

But fortunately, there’s also a correllary to that particular theory, which is that Mondays suck just a little bit less when there’s good music, so I’ve found a few songs I’d like to share with you on this Monday morning, to try and ease the pain somewhat!

 
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Some Incredible Events Today In Pittsburgh And Kent, Ohio! (18 August 2012)

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Hey readers! Did you see my post yesterday about the Lady Beast record release show? Just curious, because that was absolutely the most pathetic excuse for writing a post that I’ve ever done. Like a sentence and a half and a “here, check the Facebook event for more details”…

For that, I apologize. I know I’m always going on and on about being so busy and not having enough time to write as much as I want to, and it probably gets annoying to read, but it’s true — and I wish there was something I could do about it. Maybe I should leave the “What to do in Pittsburgh” stuff up to The Pittsburgh Scene, or MoshPittsburgh. I dunno. But, there are two HUGE events happening today, one right in town, and the other just about two hours away, and I couldn’t possibly neglect my duties to inform you about these!

As always, I’m sorry if I missed anything, please be sure to let me know in the comments (or send me a message on Facebook), and also as always, stay tuned because –honestly– there are more reviews and stuff forthcoming!

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (17 August 2012)

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Cobra Cabana Records Presents:

Lady Beast Official Record Release!

with Zeitgeist, Molasses Barge, Murderess

 

at Gooski’s Bar

3117 Brereton Street, Pittsburgh (Polish Hill)

 

Friday 17 August 2012 | 9:00 pm

 
This will be an amazing show — the Lady Beast debut full-length is finally here! Check out the Facebook event page here for more details…

Michale Graves – War of Information Tour Update + Drug Bust News

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Good morning, my dear friends and faithful readers! I’ve got more news to report and more album reviews to share, and it’ll all get published eventually so bear with me — it just happens to be a pretty busy time of year for corporate office job slaves such as myself (what with everyone around me taking week-long vacations constantly, leaving me with piles of excess crap to deal with).

Anyway, I wanted to remind you about the Michale Graves “War of Information Tour” that’s still going on (read my earlier post about the tour here or just catch a summary of the remaining dates at the end of this one). Particularly for western or central Pennsylvania readers — note that there’s a stop in Altoona tonight, and once again The Cheats will be enlisted as an opening act!

While we’re on the subject, though, I also wanted to pass along a little tidbit of news (courtesy of Screaming Crow Records) that you might have missed hearing about…

UPDATE – 18 September 2012 – click here to see the latest additions to the War of Information Tour dates!

 
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Now Available: Laster – Wijsgeer & Narreman (FREE Download!)

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Laster – Wijsgeer & Narreman (cassette release 01 June 2012, CD release 01 August 2012; both via Dunkelheit Produktionen)

 
Good afternoon, readers! Are you having a good day so far? I hope so. I know it’s still Monday, but at least it’s almost over, right?

Anyway, I’ve got an excellent serving of black metal I’d like to share with you all. Laster (“libel” or “defamation” in English) is a two-piece band from the Netherlands. Each of the members is also involved in other musical projects, but they both use initials as pseudonyms (and both are credited with “vocals and all instruments”) so it isn’t much use trying to discuss that.

In fact, outside of their city (Utrecht) and country of origin, pretty much everything else about this band is mysterious. They don’t even have a Facebook or Myspace page (as far as I have been able to discover). In a way it’s a shame, because I do like to find as much information as possible so I can be more knowledgeable about what I’m writing about.

At the same time, isn’t part of the allure of black metal its arcane nature, that sense of mysteriousness? Perhaps sometimes the ease with which the internet has put nearly limitless information at our fingertips can actually detract a bit from the magic? Turn the extraordinary and unique into something familiar and commonplace?

In any case, that’s the extent of the details I am able to share. Even the EP title and each of the three song titles have aluded my translation (via Google) abilities. I’ve been able to pick out a few words, but not enough to decipher anything meaningful. For example, the record is called Wijsgeer & Narreman; apparently the first word means “philosopher” or “sage” but the second part has no results however hard I try searching. Perhaps one of my helpful Dutch friends will want to offer some assistance?

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (13 August 2012)

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Allure of the Earth Productions Presents:

Goatwhore, Exhumed, Cerebral Bore, Wrought Iron

 

at the 31st Street Pub

3101 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh (end of the Strip)

 

Monday 13 August 2012 | 10pm | $10 | 21+ only

 
Well, the Summer Slaughter Tour won’t be stopping in Pittsburgh this year — they’re going straight from yesterday’s Heavy TO Festival in Toronto to Cleveland’s House of Blues tomorrow (full list of dates here).

However, some of the bands associated with that tour — and, I might add, some of the ones that I’d be most interested in seeing! — have decided to take advantage of their downtime today, by putting on an abridged version of Summer Slaughter at the 31st Street Pub!

Tonight’s show will feature Goatwhore — whom some people neglect to take seriously on account of them having a sort of goofy name, but believe me, these New Orleanians are the real deal, blackened as a Cajun catfish. The tourmates accompanying them will be Californian goregrind legends Exhumed and Scottish female-fronted brutal deathcore band Cerebral Bore. To kick off the festivities, local support will be provided by Pittsburgh’s own blackened-grind miscreants, Wrought Iron.

 
Find more details on the show, and RSVP, here and here.

Coming Soon: New Daylight Dies Album – Details Revealed

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Ladies and gentlemen, here’s another bit of news I am very pleased to pass along to you. This was actually announced a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t really get a chance to write about it until now.

Daylight Dies is an excellent, excellent melodic-death/doom band, which I was first introduced to with their appearance on a couple Relapse Records samplers (Contaminated 5.0 and VI included the songs “I Wait” and “The Line that Divides,” respectively, both taken from the band’s debut full-length, 2002’s No Reply) — the same way I discovered Neurosis (“The Tide” and “A Sun that Never Sets,” respectively, appeared on those same collections) and literally dozens of other artists that I fell in love with in the early part of this millennium.

Anyway, fast-forwarding through the next decade, Daylight Dies went on to sign with Candlelight Records and put out two more albums, and now we find that Candlelight is set to release a third (the band’s fourth overall, for those keeping score at home)…

 
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Toxic Waste Split – 3rd Pressing Now Available!

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Good morning, readers, and a very happy Monday to you!

Or at least, a non-terrible one, if at all possible.

Remember the Toxic Waste split? Where Tankcrimes put together a couple songs by Municipal Waste and a couple by Toxic Holocaust, put them on each side of some uniquely colored vinyl, then slapped some ridiculously cool artwork on the front?

If not, I’ll give you a quick refresher on all the press coverage we’ve done so far: here was the story from May, about the initial pressing, which goes into a bit of detail about both bands, and the artwork, and also described the brilliant glow-in-the-dark vinyl (which was already sold out forever ago). Here was the story from June, right around the same time the first pressing was released, saying that the first thousand had already disappeared, but that a second set were available (and also that the four songs could be downloaded FOR FREE).

Well, the second thosand records also got snapped up pretty quickly — at this time there are still a few of the “Highlighter Yellow” and the green-yellow-blue “Striped” available, but less than a dozen of those are left! The “Toxic Spill” variety from the second batch is completely gone.

But don’t despair, because the those nice people that run Tankcrimes Records have announced that a third run has been produced, and they now have another thousand copies in stock — this time you can get Toxic Waste in the colors you see pictured above: 400 copies in “Slime” green, 350 in “Xtra Wild Party Blue,” and then 250 in “PP Spill” (clear vinyl with a big piss-yellow spot in the middle — yeah, they went there).

Once more, you can pick up one of these records (including the quickly-dwindling supply of second-editions) here.

And if you still haven’t heard it, you can listen to the split (and download the songs free) here:

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