Upcoming Show: Dream Death Reunite for One Night Only!

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Yes, that Dream Death. The Pittsburgh doom legends from the 1980s. The ones who attained cult status in local metal lore, after they had split up and reconfigured themselves as Penance. They recently posted an update on Facebook announcing that they were getting back together the last line-up of the band (which included all of the founding members except for bassist Ted Williams, meaning that this also includes all the members of Dream Death who later went on to form Penance) for a one-time-only show!

 

Pittsburgh metal legends Dream Death are reuniting for one show.

This will be the line up of:
Brian Lawrence (Goodbread)
Mike Smail
Terry Weston
Richie Freund

With special guests Argus and one more TBA. 21+

Saturday, April 21, 2012
9:00pm

31st Street Pub
3101 Penn Ave. (Penn Ave @ 31st St. Bridge)
Pittsburgh, PA 15201

 

Update, 5 March 2012:

The band has announced that tickets for this event are now available!

Tickets for the April 21st show are now available.

Tickets can be purchased for $15 at Smails Custom Drum Shop.
www.smailscustomdrumshop.com

The following options are available:
Check or Money Order
Cash
Paypal

Make Checks and Money Orders payable to Mike Smail

134 Market Street
Kittanning PA 16201
724-548-4725

PayPal Paypal Address is: mike@smailscustomdrumshop.com

** IMPORTANT **
Please include your return address so the tickets can be mailed back to you.

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You can find out more by visiting the following links:
Dream Death: Facebook
Journey into Mystery album (CD – rare, out of print! | MP3 Download)
Pittsburgh Sludge Metal live album (CD)

Penance: Facebook
Parallel Corners album (CD)
Alpha & Omega album (CD | MP3 Download)

Argus (featuring vocalist Brian “Butch” Balich, also currently of Penance and Molasses Barge):
Facebook / official website
Boldy Stride the Doomed album (CD | MP3 Download)

Closer to Hell: Facebook
Read the Valley of Steel profile of this band as the “Sign Me To Roadrunner Records” Band of the Week

31st Street Pub: Facebook

In Case You Missed It: Sanctorum – Semper Fidelis

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Sanctorum – Semper Fidelis (Auburn Fox Records, 21 March 2011)

Hello, friends.  I have to tell you, I am beginning to write this review once more, with some amount of trepidation.  That feeling has nothing to do with the album or the band in particular, but this is now the third time I’ve decided to sit down and write this, and the first two were cut short because I became otherwise distracted by some catastrophe.   Well, maybe that’s too strong of a word, but in any case, I’ve experienced a couple of unfortunate mishaps, each of which had me preoccupied on those particular days. So I’m hoping the third time will be the charm, for this review of Semper Fidelis, which happens to be the third album from Colcestrian metal band Sanctorum (following 2008’s Ashes of Redemption and their 2006 debut The Heavens Shall Burn).

This latest album is actually almost a year old by now, although I’ve only had a copy of it for the past two months — I actually just discovered the band after I reviewed My Ruin‘s A Southern Revelation when it was released back in December. Right around that same time, I learned that the bands would be performing together on an extensive tour across the UK (which, incidentally, just concluded last night in Sanctorum’s hometown of Colchester).

Anyway I hope I haven’t already frightened you away by talking about my own bad luck, because believe me– though I might have had some problems getting the opportunity to actually write about this album, there’s been no shortage of chances to listen to it, which I have done many, many times over these two months. (And, I might add, with no harmful side effects!)

So, keep on reading and I’ll finally get a chance to share this music with you, that I have been meaning to do for so long!

Continue reading →

Now Available for FREE: Sangre – The Great Tribulation

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Sangre – The Great Tribulation (JMD Distribution, 9 August 2011)

Hey! Remember last week when I told you about the new Kosher Komp compilation from Kosher Metal? The one that had a shit-ton of great songs on it, by a bunch of different bands, all for free? If not, go grab it now! Seriously. I’ll be waiting here when you get back.

Ok now, where were we… ton of great songs, bunch of different bands, right. One of those bands was the Inland Empire metal band Sangre, with their songs “The Great Tribulation” and “Forever I”. If you liked the blend of blackened prog-thrash presented in those two songs, then do I have some good news for you! Continue reading →

The “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week: Amorphead

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Hello, and welcome to another installment of the “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week feature, which is a profile of a band I’ve discovered on the “Sign Me to Roadrunner Records” website.  As always, you’ll find a huge variety of material here; each week you’ll have the opportunity to listen to a few songs from a different band you might never have heard before.  My hope is, you might find something you really dig, and then when they explode in popularity and sell a million records, you can scoff at all the bandwagon-jumpers, saying you’ve been a fan since the beginning.

Today’s featured artist is Amorphead, who describe themselves as “melodic death and groove metal,” from Catanzaro, Italy.  Since forming in 2007, the band has toured all over Europe, “meeting the approval of the public,” and they have had two releases so far: an EP entitled Psychotic in mid-2009, followed by Chaos Expression which emerged on 3 March 2011.  The two songs we’ll talk about today were taken from that second EP.

Continue reading →

Get ’em While They’re Hot: Kosher Komp Vol. 2 Now Available!

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Hey folks, just a quick heads-up about a huge FREE metal compilation that was just released by the folks at Kosher Metal.  They are an internet radio station that plays nothing but metal music.  In case you are wondering about the name, there are multiple meanings of the word; in this case, I’m pretty sure they are referring to metal that has been brined with large quantities of garlic.  Or you can read their explanation here.

Anyway, here’s the official trailer for the compilation, and further down you can see more information, including where to download it, and all that fun stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXq_mYbXcIQ

Continue reading →

Out Tomorrow: Kruds/Rampant Decay – Split 7″

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Kruds/Rampant Decay – Split 7″ (3 February 2012, PATAC Records)

Particularly observant readers may have noticed a slight change to the layout of the blog this week.  For those of you who read the mobile version, or get updates by email or RSS, or those who have just discovered the Valley, I’ll give you a hint.  For the first time ever in the extensive (coming up on four months soon!) history of the VoS, I’ve added an advertisement to the sidebar of the page.  Now, before you all panic, or start writing me scathing emails about how I’ve sold out or whatever, let me explain.  First of all, in order to sell out, I’m pretty sure technically you have to be making some money — and I hardly have the volume of traffic where that would be very plausible.  No, I’ve basically just put in a link to PATAC Records because it’s good to support small, independant companies, and in particular I have a lot of respect for their business model.  Essentially, it works like this: all of their releases are available for you to listen to or download for free (or for whatever price you think they are worth), and when you find something you really like, you can buy it on CD or vinyl (or grab one of the bands’ t-shirts or whatever).  Simple, but effective.

So anyway, the point of all of this is basically just to introduce the new release I am listening to today.  This 9-minute, 6-track split between Kruds of San Antonio, TX, and Rampant Decay from Providence, RI, has been available for streaming or downloading since 17 August 2011, but PATAC has announced that it will be available to purchase on 7″ record starting tomorrow (3 February 2012).  See below for how to grab the free download, but this one’s already worth the purchase price of the physical copy just for that awesome cover art of a hippie getting scalped by a machete, amirite??

Continue reading →

Upcoming Shows: GHOST, Mastodon, Opeth

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This news update is brought to you today by the department of IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

So you might remember a while back when I was whining about the fact that Ghost, having recently cancelled a U.S. tour, announced that they’d be returning to this country, and hitting several major cities but none that are near me.

Then I proceeded to whine some more, at every opportunity I could.  Mostly on Facebook.  Especially when some jerk a highly-esteemed fellow blogger bragged about seeing the show up in his corner of the country.  Well, obviously the band have been paying attention and they got sick and tired of my nonstop whining.  Because lo and behold, yesterday they put out an official announcement:

Children of America,

As whispered about these last weeks, we are in fact returning to haunt your vast lands again in April and May, together with Mastodon and Opeth.
Go to http://ghost-official.com/ to see the dates

Malicious wishes

/Papa Emeritus 1 and his Nameless Ghouls

The news gets better, because this tour is making a stop in Pittsburgh — on 15 April at Stage AE.  It appears that Mastodon and Opeth are alternating dates for headlining, and on this particular date it seems that Mastodon will be the one on top.  Not that it matters, because I wouldn’t mind seeing either one of them.  Hit the link above to see the full list, or just check it out right here, beyond the jump.

Continue reading →

Just Released: Mondvolland – Pestvogel

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Mondvolland – Pestvogel EP (Self-released, 28 January 2012)

I’ve learned that internet radio can really be a blessing during a long, boring day at work. There are stations out there that specialize in literally any genre or style you can imagine. I can usually find one that suits whatever mood I’m in on any given day, and as an added bonus, I often end up discovering new bands I never heard before. Whenever I hear a song I really like, I usually stop what I’m doing to search for that band on Facebook so I can “like” them and then keep informed about what they’re up to.

This is how I came across a band called Mondvolland; once upon a time I was in a folk-metal mood (when this happens, Warrior Radio is usually my drug of choice), and I heard some excellent quality blackened folk, which turned out to be by this Dutch group.

Fast-forward to December, and I started seeing updates from the band about some new material they were recording. I asked them at that time to please let me know when they had anything finished, because I was anxious to hear it. Well as it turns out, I didn’t have to wait long, because this week I got an email from bassist/vocalist/co-founder Mickeal who told me they had just put out a press release: to give fans a taste of the new direction the band are taking, they decided to release a 3-song EP to download for free!

Continue reading →

The “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week: Victorian

Posted by valleyofsteel on

Hello, and welcome to another installment of the “Signmeto” Unsigned Band of the Week feature, where I post a profile of a band I’ve discovered on the “Sign Me to Roadrunner Records” website.  As always, the material here may be of varying quality, but each week you’ll have the opportunity to listen to music from a  different band; my hope is, maybe you’ll find something you really dig.  Then one day, when they explode in popularity and sell a million records, you can scoff at all the bandwagon-jumpers, saying you’ve been a fan since their first demo recording or whatever.

Today’s featured artist is Victorian, a symphonic/gothic metal band from Indonesia.  As I understand it, they have been around since January 2008, and started out with only male vocals.  After some lineup changes and about a year of inactivity, the band was reignited in mid-2010, deciding to instead feature a female vocalist.  Their first demo single “Beginning of Sorrow” was released in early 2011, and the band has stated that they are hoping to expand their reach beyond their hometown of Bandung (West Java), especially using the internet as a means of promotion “with hope of acceptance from the metal lovers in Indonesia and abroad.”  I first heard these guys in early 2011 and fell in love with that first single.  Then, they contacted me in September saying they had added a second single, called “Weak” and they were looking for some opinions.  After the jump I’ll tell you more about these two songs and you’ll get a chance to discover them for yourself.

Continue reading →

6 FREE CDs… It’s a Doom Metal Extravaganza! Enter to Win Now!

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Enter to WIN 6 Free Doom Metal CDs

 Brought to you by our friends at Metal Maniacs and Metalhit.com…

  • The Howling Void – Megaliths of the Abyss
  • DOOM:Vs – Aeternum Vale
  • DOOM:Vs – Dead Words Speak
  • Celestial Season – Forever Scarlet Passion
  • Remembrance – Fall, Obsidian Night
  • Saturnus – Veronika Decides to Die

All it takes is your name, email address, and mailing address, that’s it… good luck!!

If you win, let me know, or maybe you could show your appreciation by sending me half!