In Case You Missed It: Fire in the Cave – Self-Titled

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Fire in the Cave – Fire in the Cave (28 February 2012)

 
Happy Friday!! I’m so ready for the week to be over so I can get my ass home! No more school for a few months, no more work for a few days, nothing to do but kick back and… do all the shit I need to take care of around the house, that I’m unable to do during the week. Sometimes it feels like I barely get a single minute to myself, to relax or whatever. I’ll be honest with you — I’m always amazed (and, I’ll admit, sometimes a little jealous) when I hear about one of my colleagues in the music-writing world being in a band, on top of the writing and also having a “real” job and whatever else they’ve got going on. I hardly find the time to go to shows as often as I’d like, let alone to be able to rehearse beforehand, or even to put in the effort to recruit a bunch of people to even get started in the first place! But like I said, there are some people out there that manage to do it all, and I definitely respect that.

Case in point is Jarad Oates, editor/writer for Orlandooom!, plus an occasional guest columnist for … well, as far as I can tell, pretty much every other Florida-based music-related publication in existence. In addition to all of that, he’s also a member of Orlando swamp-metal warlords Fire in the Cave, for whom he contributes caveman-esque (no pun intended) bellowed vocals. A couple of months ago, that band self-released a self-titled EP, and I’d like to share that with you now.

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Breaking Up is Easy to Do: Averse Sefira Have Officially Disbanded

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So you know that thing when you’re watching the news, and you hear that some famous person died — an actor or comedian or somebody — who was pretty old and whom you hadn’t heard anything about in years?  And you don’t want to be rude or anything, but your immediate reaction is to think, “Oh, I didn’t even realize he was still alive”?  Yeah, just like that.

Long-running Texan black metal band Averse Sefira have officially announced that after more than fifteen years, numerous tours across Europe and America, and four highly acclaimed albums (most recently, 2008’s Advent Parallax), they’ve decided to disband. 

The two remaining founding members of the band, vocalist/guitarist Sanguine Mapsama and bassist Wrath Sathariel Diabolus have both issued a formal farewell message on the band’s blog.

Their most recent two albums, the aforementioned as well as 2005’s Tetragrammatical Astygmata are both available for purchase as digital downloads, on CD, and (for Advent Parallax, on LP) from their Bandcamp page.

The official Averse Sefira website is here.

Happy International Ne Obliviscaris Sharing Day!

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And, as promised yesterday, here it is!


 
 
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Now, get sharing! You can RSVP to International Ne Obliviscaris Sharing Day here.

Here is the link to pass along to all your friends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wa4zqBwPVE&feature=youtu.be

 
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New album Portal of I can be pre-ordered here; the official release date is the 7th of May.

Ne Obliviscaris: website, Facebook
Welkin Records: Facebook

Get ’em While They’re Hot: Download a Brand New Bonded By Blood Song for Free!

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Good morning.  Do you like free music?  Do you like thrash metal?  Of course you do, I was only kidding.

Bonded By Blood, who are associated with the contemporary “re-thrash” revivalist movement (and not, as the name implies, an Exodus tribute band), are putting out a new album, The Aftermath, on the 3rd of July (2nd July in Europe) through Earache Records.  In anticipation of that forthcoming release — their third full-length and fourth overall — they’re offering up a brand new track from that album for you to download for FREE!

Also I’ve got some pre-order info as well as tour dates to share with you, so keep on scrolling…

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Cover Me: Shining Does Katatonia, Meatshank Does Metallica (With a Little Help from Overkill Drummer and Friends)

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We all love a good cover, right? Of course, nobody can quite agree on the definition of a “good” cover — but most often, these are usually the ones that honor the spirit of the original while taking them in a new direction, or those that are totally unexpected choices for the band doing the covering. Anyway, I’ve got two brand new ones for you in this post, and you can be the judge!

 
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First, Swedish atmospheric/depressive blackened death metal band Shining has released the first song from its upcoming covers EP Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt. Scheduled to come out 16 May 2012 from Spinefarm Records, this will feature versions of songs by Katatonia, Kent, Imperiet, and Poets of the Fall. Apparently, the renditions here are different enough from the typical Shining material, that frontman Niklas Kvarforth issued a statement (the quote here is taken from a paraphrasing of that statement, which was published in a press release by the band’s management), saying that this EP

…is definitely not a change of direction for the band. It was recorded at the same time as the band’s as yet untitled eighth album, and represents some of the artists and music that Shining’s members like and listen to. The fact that some Shining followers will be ill at ease with the material is, according to the band, irrelevant.

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Tomorrow is International Ne Obliviscaris Sharing Day!

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So what in the hell does that mean, you may be asking yourself. Well isn’t it obvious from the name? Tomorrow (3 May 2012) starting at 5 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (that’s GMT+10, so for example, it would be 8 am in the UK, or 3 am on the American east coast), a brand new song will be available for your listening pleasure — courtesy of Melbourne-based, violin-centric, progressive metal band Ne Obliviscaris. And, well, I’ll let them explain the rest:
 

Do you have good manners?

From very little we’re taught that sharing is the polite thing to do. So later today at 5pm (AEST), May 3, 2012 we are going to put up a new song from the album ‘Portal Of I’ (out May 7!), and in return all we ask of you guys is that if you like it, share it!

Let’s see how many people we can get sharing this song and how many people we can get to hear it!

Don’t hog it all to yourself, be polite and share.

 
You can RSVP to International Ne Obliviscaris Sharing Day here.

**Update: head on over here to check out the new song!**

New album Portal of I can be pre-ordered here; the official release date is the 7th of May.

Ne Obliviscaris: website, Facebook
Welkin Records: Facebook

Happy May Day! (Review of Krampus – Shadows of Our Times)

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Krampus – Shadows of Our Times (Self-released, 31 March 2011)

Happy May Day! Also, happy International Workers’ Day, for those readers lucky enough to live someplace that celebrates that holiday — I hope you’re enjoying your day off work as much as I am not enjoying my day not off work. Which is to say, quite a lot. But there’s nothing to prevent me from imagining I’m someplace else; I do it pretty much any other day, anyway!

Now, to be honest, as an American I really don’t know anything about May Day celebrations except for what I’ve seen in movies, so basically I am picturing a bunch of people in old-fashioned clothes, dancing in a circle with a bunch of ribbons tied to a pole, while playing some folk songs. There’s lots of flowers and happy shit all around, and people are celebrating springtime and nature and generally acting like a bunch of hippies. Actually, that sounds pretty fucking lame.

So naturally, in my imagined celebration, I need to make some serious modifications. First of all, any hints of happiness and dancing has got to go. That would just make me more depressed, and frankly, I’d be better off just being here at work, totally miserable. No thanks. We can swap out the folk music for some folk metal, and instead of the springtime celebration of nature… well, I don’t mind the pro-nature sentiments, but I need everyone to be all pissed-off about it, like they’re ready to smash someone’s face in.

Then it hit me — some really angry folk metal that’s rooted in pagan celebrations and violently pro-environment while being equally anti-humanity, that sounds awfully familiar. Time to break out some Krampus!

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Contest Alert: Win 3 Free CDs from Doomentia

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Happy Tuesday, readers!  Just passing along the word about another great contest sponsored by Metalhit and Metal Maniacs.  This one offers you the chance to pick up three brand new CDs from Doomentia Records!

  • Horn of the Rhino – Grengus
    “A collusion of sludge, doom and heavy fuckin’ metal”
  • Moonless – Calling All Demons
    “Slow bonecrushin’ rock ‘n’ roll”
  • Horse Latitudes – Awakening
    “A vortex of hypnotic slow groove”

All you have to do to enter is CLICK HERE, then fill out your name and address.  Good luck!

The “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week: Mind Structure

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Good evening, readers!  Well, another Monday has come and gone.  That’s okay by me; coming back to work after a three-day weekend is never fun, and I am glad to get it over with as quickly as possible.  Before the end of the day, though, I need to check in with the “Sign Me to Roadrunner Records” website to find something good to listen to, so that I can share it with you!  Today, I found a message that I’d received from Mind Structure, a band whose members come from the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv (Київ) and Kryvyi Rih (Кривий Ріг) asking for a review of their music.  Now, I’m familiar with Kyiv (also called “Kiev”), which is the capital of the country, but Kryvyi Rih was brand new to me.  Thankfully, I have Wikipedia to help me; it informs me that this city is located in the middle of a large iron mining region, and in fact, that it’s one of the most important locations in eastern Europe’s steel industry.  Sounds like a place I can relate to!  Besides that, I had such success listening to Ukrainian black metal last week, I figured it would be a good idea to check out someone else from that country.

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Upcoming Shows: Sabaton Swedish Empire Tour

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Sabaton Swedish Empire Tour

Hey readers! If you’re looking for something to keep you busy on a boring Monday evening, head on down to Altar Bar in the Strip, because I’ve just learned that Swedish power metal giants Sabaton are swinging through town tonight as part of their Swedish Empire Tour through North America! I would’ve posted this earlier but I just found the above poster this morning, which local thrashers Sick Twisted Debauchery had linked to on their Facebook page last night. (People need to tell me about these things sooner so I have time to pass the word along to you!)

Anyway, details for this particular show are reprinted at the bottom of this post, after a list of all the confirmed dates remaining on the tour…
 
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