Hey Pittsburgh, it’s Friday! The weekend is just about upon us, so of course everyone is looking for something to entertain themselves with over the next few days, right? I’ve got all the answers RIGHT HERE!
Upcoming Shows: Chrome Waves Tour Starts Tonight!
Okay, folks, listen up. Here’s another tour you need to know about. It’s only nine days long and only covers the north-eastern quadrant of the United States, but if you live in or near any of the cities listed below (including Pittsburgh!) you won’t want to miss Chrome Waves. How’s this for a super group: Stavros Giannopoulos (The Atlas Moth), Jeff Wilson (Wolvhammer, ex-Nachtmystium), and Iron Bob Fouts (The Gates of Slumber)!
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Currently Touring: The Catalyst
Here’s another announcement about a current U.S. tour, which somehow slipped past me until after it actually got underway. If you live in Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, or Texas, then I am very, very sorry.
Just like Windhand, whose summer tour I wrote about yesterday, The Catalyst also come from Richmond, Virginia, and also are with Forcefield Records. These folks are really starting to make waves with their grunge/noise-rock/hardcore sound (Decibel Magazine mentions the “multi-directional weirdness of their AmRep-meets-Melvins-meets-thrash-meets-Lollapalooza-when-it-was-cool sonic soup”).
Their new album Voyager is set to be released on 04 September, in a 12″ vinyl format with full-color gatefold. However, you can get your hands on it earlier: during their tour, the band will have an advance limited run of the LP on clear and orange haze vinyl (limited to 200 pieces) available.
If, however, The Catalyst aren’t coming to your city (or if you live in one of the places they’ve already played), you can also pre-order a copy from Forcefield (here), limited to 100 copies in an orange and yellow swirl with black and red splatter. The pre-orders will ship on 13 August, so you’ll have it very soon — and around three weeks before the official release date!
Damnit! Windhand Tour Started Last Week! Anyway, Here’s the Details…
In reviewing their self-titled debut album, Cvlt Nation calls Windhand “way more than a band that you should be on the look out for, they are a group of humans that will change the way you hear doom.”
With members who’ve also done time in bands like Alabama Thunderpussy, The Might Could, and Facedowninshit, Windhand are gaining enough recognition and accolades to stand out in what sometimes seems like a pretty crowded field of female-fronted occult doom, and rightfully so.
…Which is why I was pretty pissed off when I came across this announcement about their month-long U.S. tour, a week after the tour had already started — particularly when I discovered that they had already been to Pittsburgh last weekend and I hadn’t even heard anything about it until now! Clearly, I’ve been spending way too much time dealing with less-important bullshit (work, for example), and not enough time paying attention to goings-on in the world of good quality music!
So anyway, all of us folks who live in the northeast, and some parts of the midwest (Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan earlier this week) have already missed out — unless some of you readers have been more perceptive than me, and managed to catch one of those shows. But for the rest of you, who live all over the middle of the country or in the southeast, you’ve still got a chance. A full list of tourdates can be found below.
What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend (3-4 August 2012)
Hey yinz guys, good afternoon! As I write this, Thursday is approaching an end, which means the end of the work week is not too far off, meaning it’s almost time for the weekend to start! Probably the best news I’ve heard all day.
Do you have your weekend plans all figured out yet? If not, then please allow me to offer a few suggestions — I’ve got the details about some shows taking place around town on Friday and Saturday, and trust me, you aren’t going to want to miss these!
(Unfortunately, a few of these do overlap, so you’ll definitely be missing something, no matter what you end up doing… #firstworldproblems)
Just Released: MAKE – Trephine
MAKE – Trephine (Devouter Records, 30 July 2012)
Well hello there, readers! I know it’s been a long-ass time since I’ve posted anything, and for that I apologize. Things have just gotten super-busy at work and at home, and so there’s barely been any time for writing … I definitely hope to get some more posts published in the very near future, because I do have a ton of stuff to share with you! To start with, here’s my review of an amazing album that just came out on vinyl…
Originally self-released digitally and on CD in March of this year, Trephine by Chapel Hill’s MAKE is now available via Devouter Records as of this Monday (30 July).
As you’re surely aware, a trephine is a special type of saw used to cut a hole in the skull, allowing a brain surgeon access to operate.
Similarly, the album Trephine will enter your head, forcing its way deep into the recesses of your mind, but there’ll be no anesthæsia here; you’ll be fully aware the whole time, to witness the journey down to the darkest depths of your psyche.
Upcoming Shows: What To Do In (And Around) Pittsburgh This Weekend (27-29 July 2012)
What’s up, readers!??
Pittsburgh metal. Good stuff. FREE. Read about it, download it. You won’t regret it, and I won’t stop bugging you until you do it. Seriously.
A whole bunch of the bands who have songs on that comp are playing shows this weekend, along with a whole bunch of other bands. If you’re in the Pittsburgh region over the next couple days, you’ll want to pay attention because here’s your guide to what awesomeness you might have missed if I wasn’t here to help you out!
Get to Know: Cenobite (Review of ‘The Black’ EP)
Cenobite – The Black (05 July 2011)
Okay, first of all I feel like I need to clear this up right away: regardless of how it might sound, a “Cenobite” is not a unit for measuring computer memory. Don’t go into your local electronics store and try to buy a 50 Cenobite hard drive or something.
No, as my research has taught me, the word stems from the Greek roots κοινός (“common”) and βίος (“life”), and refers to individuals involved in the practice of communal living, as typified by Buddhist or Christian monks.
Researching a little bit further, I found that the name was also used for the race of formerly-human beings who live in an extra-dimensional void (but can be summoned to earth through a portal created by solving a complex puzzle-box) in the Hellraiser series of movies and comic books.
As I understand it, these creatures were named Cenobites because their apparently-religious-like devotion to hedonism and sadomasochism had ultimately transformed them into a state where they had completely lost all semblance of humanity, just like monks’ religious-like devotion to — well, to religion — inspires them to give up all earthly possessions and pleasures and enter a communal living environment. I guess.
I’d heard of the Hellraiser series before, but never actually knew anything about it until I read all this stuff earlier today. The funny thing is, the brief overview of the characters, and the synopsis of the first film’s plot that I read, both sounded awfully familiar to me — when I remembered that there was a Mortician song that incorporated a lengthy sample (as many of their songs do) where they talked about these demon-like beings who’d been summoned by using a box, and then they wanted to take somebody back to another dimension of hellish torture, someone who had escaped from their clutches previously. So I poked around a bit more, and found that the song “Hell on Earth” (from Zombie Apocalypse) did, in fact, make use of a sample from the original Hellraiser movie.
Isn’t it funny how sometimes a quick search on Wikipedia can turn into a whole chain of discovery?
Upcoming Shows: Orwell to Embark on a West Coast Tour
Hey readers! Here’s information about yet another tour that I’d like to share with you. Once again, this isn’t coming anywhere near my neighborhood, but the message I got from Orwell referred to visiting some foreign lands for the first time (this will be the Wisconsinians’ first trip to several of these western locales) and they politely asked for these details to be shared — which I am more than happy to do.
Any of you who live on the other side of the Mississippi, you need to check out the dates listed below. If, like me, you don’t happen to live near any of the scheduled stops for the band’s tour, you should still keep reading anyhow, because I’m also going to tell you how to grab a copy of their album A View of Heaven from a Seat in Hell totally free!
Coming Soon: The Faceless Reveal Details for New Album
Well. The last time we talked about those darlings of progressive death from California, The Faceless, it was way back in January when they had announced — and then dropped out of — a co-headlining tour with Dying Fetus. Around that time, and ever since then, there have been whispers about the band working on a new album. Now, thanks to Hold Tight! PR, I’m happy to announce that some details (including the official release date and a video trailer) have emerged…
Valley of Steel 