Hello, readers! How are you? I think I’ve officially recovered from the holiday weekend and am ready to get back into the swing of posting updates. Did you have a nice Easter? I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to Ghost, since I finally got around to picking up Opus Eponymous on CD almost two weeks ago. I like it a lot, but I’ve kind of got a funny feeling about it. I haven’t tried slowing it down or playing it backwards or anything, but I get the impression that there might be some kind of hidden evil messages or something. Oh well. Hey, speaking of which, they’ll be coming to town in just a few more days! In fact, they’re just one of a whole slew of awesome bands playing in Pittsburgh over the coming weekend. Just keep on reading for all the details on this show and tons more.
Upcoming Shows: Warriors of Metal Open Air (WOM Fest V)
…and while we’re on the subject of metal festivals on American soil that don’t suck…
Here’s the latest info on Ohio’s Warriors of Metal Festival, which is being held on the 29th-30th of June this year (which is, coincidentally, the same weekend as the birthday of a certain metal blog writer/editor!) in Pataskala, Ohio (just east of Columbus). Tickets are on sale now at this location; $50 for both days or $30 for either Friday or Saturday ($40 for both or $25 each if you buy your tickets in a four-pack, and youth tickets are also discounted).
This open-air festival is now in its fifth year, and this year’s headliners include two legends of American heavy metal: Wichita’s Manilla Road and Helstar from Houston, Texas! Plus, there will be a pre-show in Columbus on Thursday night, the details of which have not yet been announced can be found here.
UPDATE, 15 MAY 2012: I’ve just learned that the 2012 Promo Video for Warriors Of Metal Fest V Open Air has been released. The video was produced by the vocalist & guitarist of the Brazilian Thrash Metal band Machinage.
Upcoming Shows: Maryland Deathfest (MDF X)
As everyone knows, almost all of the awesome metal tours and festivals take place over in Europe. They’ve got Wacken Open Air in Germany, Download Festival at Donnington Park in England, Metalcamp in Slovenia, and what seems like millions of others — all with the most incredible lineups imaginable. Meanwhile, the rest of us are pretty much just forced to contend with tours that have a far-too-high ratio of shitty-to-good, like Ozzfest or the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival.
Well, with a few exceptions, and probably the biggest exception each year is the Maryland Deathfest. This weekend-long metal party is held annually in the city of Baltimore, which as everyone knows was named for the seminal 1970s metal band Sir Lord Baltimore.
This year, the Deathfest is taking place between the 24th-27th of May, and tickets are available for three out of those four days. As we’ve recently discussed, Morgion had to pull out of their scheduled performance, but there is still a fuckton and a half of awesomeness in the lineup.
**Update (3 May 2012) — the official time-slot schedule has been released; details below**
Upcoming Shows: Across Tundras Heading Across the U.S.A.
Hey, just a quick heads-up so you can start getting excited about this: Nashville, Tennessee’s Across Tundras are heading out on tour in just a couple of days, and will be making their way back and forth across the country, almost non-stop for two months. A full list of dates can be found at the end of this post, including a few yet to be confirmed or still needing booked.
But first, here’s a small sampling of what’s in store for you if the band is coming near where you live (spoiler alert: they are coming to Pittsburgh!) If the name wasn’t already in use for a similar genre, I’d be tempted to call this desert rock, because in my opinion that expression suits this music perfectly: it’s very mellow and introspective, sometimes sparse, and it’s extremely heavy without being especially loud. I don’t know if that makes sense, when you read it, but have a listen and see what I mean…
Hey, Look: A New Borracho Video (Plus Drinking Game)!
You remember Borracho, don’t you? Their debut LP Splitting Sky landed on my Top 11 of 2011 list which was ever so graciously published by No Clean Singing. In that list, I referred to the band as “Fuzzy, grungy, balls-out stoner metal from the District of Columbia,” because that’s exactly what it is.
Anyway, just yesterday they sent out an email announcing that they were releasing the first official video from that album, for the single “Concentric Circles.” The video “frames the band’s live show energy and punctuates it with vintage clips of destruction, atrocity and mayhem,” and those clips are the key to the drinking game that accompanies it! As they explained:
… it wouldn’t be a proper Borracho project without an official drinking game to go along. So before you press that play button, grab many beers, assemble a throng of your closest head-banging friends and challenge them to a round of “Boom!” – a beer down for every explosion you see. That’s right! We’ve got your buzz all worked out: every time something blows up, you drink! It’s that easy.
Let’s Start the Day with More TrollfesT News!
Good morning! Tuesday’s post about the release of a new TrollfesT song attracted a lot of attention, which is great — I’m excited to hear some new music out of these guys, and I’m glad to see so many other people feel the same way.
Well, guess what! Since then, I’ve stumbled upon a whole treasure trove of new information — including the track listing and the story behind the new album Brumlebassen (due in August from Noise Art Records) plus the cover art (see above)! Additionally, there’s been a bit of a line-up change in the works which was just made official in advance of the band’s performance at Inferno Festival (which is taking place later today in Oslo).
So! First things first, here is how the band describes the concept for their upcoming fifth album:
Like all TrollfesT’s albums, Brumlebassen tells a story about one of the characters that inhabit the fantastical universe created by the band. This time the story is about Brumlebassen the Bee Keeper, whose task it is to care for the bees and brew the Honey Mead that is much loved by the Trolls. Brumlebassen adores his bees so much that he would secretly like to become one of them himself and he is therefore depicted wearing a bee costume!
I don’t know about you, but to me a story about a troll who wants to be a bee sounds awesomely hilarious. I can’t wait.
MDF Update: Apparently Morgion was Scheduled to Perform? Anyway, That’s Been Postponed.
NOTE — Updated 07 January 2013 — This post originally referred to Maryland Deathfest X (which took place in May 2012). However, Morgion was announced as one of the confirmed performers for this year’s MDF XI (scheduled for May 2013). Recent reports (see the comment section, below) are indicating that this may not be happening as planned, either. Stay tuned, and I promise to share all the facts with you as soon as I have heard anything from an official source. But it’s not looking real optimistic at the moment.
UPDATE #2 — 08 January 2013 — Okay, it’s now been made officially official, Morgion will not be playing in 2013 either. Possibly not at any other time in the future, either.
Ok, first off, what the hell!!? I know I’ve been super busy with work crap and school crap and all kinds of other crap lately, but how did I miss the news that Morgion — the legendary doom metal band from the 90’s and early 2000’s — was getting back together to play at this year’s Maryland Death Fest!?!?
Anyway, so I’ve just learned that the band has been forced to postpone their previously-scheduled reunion performance. It was going to take place at MDF on the 25th of May, but… (as drummer Rhett Davis, formerly of Morgion and now with Gravehill, explains):
It is with great regret that I must inform you all that Morgion must postpone our performance at this year’s Maryland Death Fest, on Friday May 25th. Jeremy (Peto – Bass/Vocals) recently sustained a quite serious neck & back injury, serious enough to where he must undergo surgery and months of physical therapy. Needless to say we are all very concerned for his health and well-being, we must ask you to be patient with us just a lil’ bit longer! On the positive, we have our Rabid Decay Demo – Live Rehearsal Demo – Travesty 7″ EP re-release on CD called God of Death & Decay on Dark Descent Records, as well as the double gatefold Solinari vinyl release on Parasitic Records due before MDF! I do have to stress this is NOT a cancellation, this is a postponement… Our sincere apologies for this, but the circumstances are quite serious and we hope our fans/friends understand and wish Jeremy a speedy recovery!
Now Hear This! Previously Unreleased TrollfesT Song Now Streaming
Over their nearly-decade-long existence, TrollfesT (who inexplicably describe themselves as “True Norwegian Balkan Metal”) have really built a name for themselves, as much for their unique folk instrumentation as for the drunken party environment that surrounds everything they do. By all accounts, their live performances are truly something to behold — and for those who live in Europe you just may get a chance to witness this, as they are playing at Norway’s Inferno Festival this Thursday (05 April) before embarking on a tour with kindred spirits Korpiklaani this month, as well as dates in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as part of MetalFest in July, Slovenia’s Metalcamp in August, and finally the Heidenfest tour in October and November.
For those of us who live elsewhere and aren’t lucky enough to be able to attend any of these festivals or tours, we can take heart in the knowledge that sometime this summer the band’s fifth album Brumlebassen will be released by Noise Art Records, but maybe that isn’t quite enough for you — perhaps you are still feeling left out?
Sadly, I can’t magically make the band appear in your city (although they did mention on Facebook, a while back, that they’d love to come to the U.S. — they just need enough people to go to their local venue owners and concert promoters and demand it! ask politely), but what I can give you is a sneak peek at a song that was previously only available at live shows!
Get ’em While They’re Hot: Three Free HUGE Compilations from Grip of Delusion Radio!
Check this out! The nice people at Grip of Delusion Radio have put together a gigantic compilation in three volumes (over one hundred songs altogether!) and they’re yours for the taking, absolutely free of charge. There are some pretty awesome bands represented here, including a couple I’ve written about in the past (Vulture and Undersmile) and one that I’ll be reviewing very soon (Fire in the Cave), plus Banda de la Muerte, Heavy Lord, Forged in Flame, Wo Fat, Cultura Tres, Thorr Axe, Behold! The Monolith, Shroud of Despondency, and tons more!!
These were just released on Sunday (01 April) and by Monday they had already run out of free Bandcamp downloads! But mere minutes ago, it was announced that due to the generosity of The Soda Shop, they’ve just added on another thousand downloads… so hurry up and grab one while you still can!
See the Bandcamp widgets below for each of the three volumes, where you can download them if you like (or just listen to the songs and then download your favorites)…
If the Bandcamp well runs dry again, don’t fear, they have alternate download capabilities on this page — including a link to Mediafire (where you can grab the songs one at a time) and Dropbox (which offers all three volumes in a single Gig-and-a-half bundle).
The “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week: Obscurcis Romancia
Well, it’s Monday again, and that can only mean one thing. It’s time for the “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week! As you are already aware, this is that thing where I go to the “Sign Me to Roadrunner Records” website and check out the messages that bands have written to me asking for a review of their music. Then I pick one at random (where “at random” usually means “whoever wrote to me the longest amount of time ago”), I listen to the songs they’ve got posted, then I write about them here so YOU can discover some awesome new music.
This week we’ve got a nice sample of black metal from the frozen tundra of the far north — except instead of northern Europe like you might be expecting, this is northern North America. Specifically, we’re looking at a band who come from the French-Canadian province of Québec, who call themselves Obscurcis Romancia. If you couldn’t decipher it yourself, the band’s name (which seems to be a hybrid of French and Latin, as far as I can tell) translates to something like “Obscured Romance.” They play a fantastically proficient form of classically-influenced black metal, and they’ve also recently released their second full-length album (details on how to get your hands on a copy, later in this post!)
Valley of Steel 