Upcoming Shows: North American Assault Tour and North American Devastation Tour

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Hello again, readers. I’ve got two more North American tours to share with you, one that centers around assault, and one that promises devastation.

As it turns out, neither of these tours will be visiting Pittsburgh, but coincidentally, they both DO have stops in Delaware. (If you didn’t see this post from earlier this month, you’re probably wondering why that’s significant. I’d been informed by a certain resident of that state that tours rarely bother stopping there, so it’s now kind of turned into a running joke to point out exceptions to that rule.)

Ironically, it just so happens that the same person who’d been complaining about the dearth of metal shows in his home state — a loyal blog reader/commenter who calls himself Utmu — was the one who pointed out this first tour to me!

 
Continue reading →

Cormorant Are Touring All Over the U.S.! (Well, not ALL Over…)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Regular readers of this blog (or the occasional random Googler) will already be familiar with my feelings on Californian blackened progressive metal band Cormorant. For anyone else who might be unaware, here is a brief overview of their discography which I wrote upon the occasion of their most recent release, Dwellings, back in December.

Knowing that this DIY band manages to put together strings of tourdates fairly infrequently, it’s always a big deal when they announce some shows. However, when I saw Primordial (Irish black-metal-turned-blackened-doom-metal, of whom I’m also really really fond) announce a jaunt through the eastern U.S., and Cormorant’s name appeared on the poster too, well I almost passed out.

Unfortunately, on closer inspection (and with helpful guidance from Cormorant bassist Arthur von Nagel), I realized that these two bands — along with the epic/melodic doom band While Heaven Wept — were only playing most of the dates listed.

While Pittsburgh’s Smiling Moose bar is shown in the image (see below), the asterisk next to that date, according to the legend at the bottom, means “WHW only”.

I’ve heard that that literally means “WHW only”… I’ve also heard (from Bandsintown, and later from Primordial themselves when they shared that event) that Primordial would indeed be playing Pittsburgh that night. Later, Primordial’s wall post was deleted, although the Bandsintown event remains. And the dude from Meatmeadmetal tells me that Metal Blade has confirmed there will be no Primordial.

What a huge fucking mess — I have no clue what’s happening. Opening bands at the Pittsburgh date will also include two local greats, Argus and Vermithrax. Those are both worth seeing, and if you like While Heaven Wept, then there’s another plus. Go check out the show, maybe Primordial will show up, maybe they won’t. Maybe fucking Black Sabbath will reunite with Bill Ward for one night only and play a secret show at The Smiling Moose. I wouldn’t be surprised by anything at this point.

Personally, I can’t help feeling a good bit of disappointment at the absence of Cormorant; however, Cleveland is only a few hours away, so ‘Burgh-area fans may want to keep that possibility in mind… or possibly Rochester or Philadelphia, if you’re feeling especially adventurous.

 
Anyway, here is the tour poster, in all of its bewildering confusingness, followed by a full list of dates:

Continue reading →

Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend (20-21 July 2012)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Hey! Have you seen the new Iron Atrocity Vol.2 compilation? If you live in the Pittsburgh area, or if you live anywhere and just want to discover some amazing music — that’s totally FREE to download — then you need to go check it out right now!

After you’ve read that post and downloaded the compilation… seriously, do it… then come on back here because I’ve got some shows to tell you about for this Friday and Saturday!

 
Continue reading →

Get Yourself Some FREE Pittsburgh Metal: Innervenus Music Collective – Iron Atrocity v.2

Posted by valleyofsteel on

 

Innervenus Music Collective – Iron Atrocity v.2 (Innervenus Music, 03 August 2012)

 
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past nine months, or have never ever seen a post on this blog before, chances are you’ve heard me talking about the Iron Atrocity project. This is purely a labor of love by the wonderful folks who run the Innervenus Music Collective, and designed as a showcase for the array of high-quality metal (and other related music) we’ve got here in the Pittsburgh area.

It’s been a long time coming, and there have been many trials and tribulations along the way, but the second edition of this compendium of local talent has been completed! Just like volume 1, this new collection will be handed out for free by Innervenus-related bands at shows and other events (beginning with the Iron Atrocity Vol.2 release show, which is scheduled for Friday 03 August 2012), but also just like its predecessor, the compilation can be downloaded for free — and it’s available right now!

The new CD has assembled tracks — some newly recorded, exclusively for the compilation, some taken from recent releases — from sixteen different local bands, all of whom have been mentioned on this website in some form or fashion, at one time or another. Nevertheless, I’ll give you the full rundown on all the songs, about an hour and a quarter in all, that will be yours FREE when you grab this download. All you need to do in return is listen and enjoy, spread the word, and whenever possible, show your support by heading out to some shows (or buying some merchandise)!

 
Continue reading →

Get Yourself Some FREE Canadian Metal: Canuck Metal Vol. 2

Posted by valleyofsteel on

 

Heavy Metal Music Association of Canada – Canuck Metal Vol. 2 (01 July 2012, LoudTrax)

 
The H.M.M.A.C. recently announced the release of their second collection of Canadian metal music (actually, it was about two weeks ago — the official release was on Canada Day)!

If you missed out on the first volume from back in October, it’s no longer free, but you can still grab a copy for really cheap right here from LoudTrax.

Spanning a variety of hard rock and heavy metal as wide as the Canadian countryside itself, Canuck Metal Vol.2 includes an hour’s worth of songs from a bunch of bands that might be familiar to you, and some that might not be but should be!
 
Continue reading →

Get Yourself Some FREE Chinese Metal: Rock in China – Core in China Compilation

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Core in China - cover art #1 (by Joe Wu)

 

Rock in China – Core in China (15 May 2012, Rock in China Records)

 
Hello readers! As you may have noticed, I’m pretty interested in learning about where different bands come from, and I try to seek out material from places that are unfamiliar to me. Well until now I’ve never written about any music from China, so when I learned about the Core in China Project, I decided it would be a great opportunity to share something that was totally new to me, and probably new to you as well. I’d never heard of Rock in China Records before this compilation was brought to my attention, but I think it’s really cool what they are doing — working to help Chinese musicians find greater exposure across the world.

Despite the censorship and controls on the internet within the Chinese borders, it seems that many people have managed to gain access to foreign recordings and videos somehow, and then post them to websites within that country (which basically serve as Chinese versions of Youtube, etc.); through these means, young bands have been inspired by some of the trends that are taking place across the world and are now able to produce their own take on many new musical genres and sub-genres.

Core in China (described as a “free online compilation of Chinese Metalcore, Deathcore, Nintendocore, Hardcore and Screamo bands that have been selected via an open song submission process from January to May 2012”) is an attempt to document some of what is happening within China (also including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Inner Mongolia). It was officially released online about two months ago, as a free download.

Since this compilation covers a pretty wide range of material, I wouldn’t expect most people to fall in love with everything you’ll find here (for me, personally, it breaks my heart — and also makes my ears bleed a bit — to find that the awful trend of abusing auto-tuning has found its way to that part of the world), but this is a cool way to discover some music you might never have been exposed to otherwise. With around ninety minutes of music, there should be a little something for everyone here!

Below, I’ll give you a brief run-down on what you can expect from the tracklisting, as well as where you can get more information on the project and the bands, and finally where you can grab these free tunes!

 
Continue reading →

Out Last Week: Monsterworks – Man::Instincts (FREE Download!)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

 

Monsterworks – Man::Instincts (Mortal Music, 10 July 2012)

 
Whoah.

Despite all my attempts to stay alert and focused on doing my job, I think I might have accidentally dozed off a little bit just now.

And let me tell you — I had one fucked up dream.

Picture this: King Diamond and his band, Chris Cornell and the rest of Soundgarden, Rob Zombie, Glen Benton and the rest of Deicide, and all four dudes from Mastodon somehow all met up at a party, where they ended up playing cards and drinking and having a good time, and suddenly they decided they wanted to collaborate on a musical project. All of them.

Naturally, with so much talent in the room, nobody could decide who should be the vocalist, so they figured the only fair way would be to let everyone sing — sometimes they’d take turns, or sometimes they’d all join together in like this massive heavy metal choir. Something like the chorus in the Blue Öyster Cult song “Extra Terrestrial Intelligence,” just on a much grander scale.

Another issue arose when it came time to start writing songs, since they all came from such diverse musical backgrounds. But this supergroup soon discovered that they at least had some influences in common — all the great old-school metal, proto-metal, and hard rock bands. So they let this sound be the foundation for their new music, and as they began working together on the songs, they found that the little bits of death metal, stoner metal, thrash, NWOBHM, and whatever else kept creeping into the writing process seemed to mesh together surprisingly well. (I know it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense — I told you it was a pretty crazy dream!)

 
Continue reading →

Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (17 July 2012)

Posted by valleyofsteel on

 

Allure of the Earth Productions presents:

Sons of Tonatiuh, Vulture, and Sistered

 

Mr. Roboto Project

5106 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh (Bloomfield)

 

17 July 2012 | 7:00pm doors | $7

 
http://www.facebook.com/events/285866544829061/

 
Atlanta’s Sons of Tonatiuh are making their way up to Pittsburgh tonight, to contaminate the Mr. Roboto Project with their southern sludge metal. This show is part of the band’s “Beckoning the End Tour,” which will continue through the end of the week with stops in Philadelphia, New York, Virginia, and North Carolina (see the image above). See their website for full details, including more upcoming shows in August and September.

 
Their new album Parade of Sorrow (just released in June) is available to hear or buy through Bandcamp…

 
…and here’s a video for “Consumed” from their 2010 self-titled LP (also available on Bandcamp).

 
 
Joining them will be those titans of Steel City Sludge, Vulture (who can also be heard on Bandcamp), and Cosmic Stoner Punk band Sistered (surprise, Bandcamp again).

Just Announced: New Grave Digger Shampoo!

Posted by valleyofsteel on


 

 

 

 

 
More info: Grave Digger Shampoo, Chris Boltehdahl, Troy Polamalu.

Watch the original Head & Shoulders commercial here.

Upcoming Shows: Some Bands are Playing in Delaware!

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Hi. I’m in Delaware.


 

 
Good evening. I’d like to take a few moments to talk to you about the state of Delaware. For any foreign readers (or Americans who are just really bad at history and geography), Delaware is one of the fifty states that comprise the United States.

It’s noteworthy for being one of the original thirteen British colonies that declared independance from the UK and went on to form the USA. Furthermore, its biggest claim to fame was being the first out of those thirteen states to adopt the new national constitution.

In the two centuries that have passed since that time, Delaware has done pretty much nothing else to distinguish itself. This is clear if you ever see the license plate on one of the state’s cars: they all have a slogan that says “The First State.”

If you look at a map, Delaware is a skinny little piece of land hanging off the southeast corner of Pennsylvania — as if Philadelphia just came out of the bathroom and failed to notice it had a piece of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of its shoe. In fact, I suppose you could say Delaware is to Philadelphia pretty much what New Jersey is to New York City.
 

 

That’s weird, you know so much about Delaware. Who are you, fuckin’ Joe Biden?


 

 
Well despite all that, the residents of this state seem to think there is something more to the place where they live. I am basing this observation entirely on the one person I know who lives in Delaware, who happens to be a frequent reader and commenter on some of the same metal blogs that I read and comment on.

Recently he said something about how Philadelphia seems to attract all the good shows, and maybe if that city were destroyed, more bands would come to Delaware instead. I can sort of relate to this; although I live in the same state, I am almost six hours away from Philly, but it seems that many national touring bands feel one stop in Pennsylvania is sufficient. If I’m lucky, they’ll also come to Cleveland (Ohio) but that’s still three hours from here.

Anyway, the point of all this is that I just saw (via the always-helpful folks at Clawhammer PR) not one, but TWO bands who are playing shows in Delaware in the near future! Both are part of mini mid-Atlantic tours, and of course neither of them are coming anywhere near Pittsburgh, but when I heard about this, I felt it was my duty to pass the information along.

If you live in Philadelphia, Virginia, or New Jersey (or on the west coast), there’s some good news for you here as well.
 

 

Continue reading →