Migration Fest – Tickets On Sale Now! – Pittsburgh, July 2018

 
Back in December we told you that this year Gilead Media + 20 Buck Spin‘s extravaganza Migration Fest would be coming to Pittsburgh in July. At that time the majority of the line-up had been announced. Well, within the past week, the remaining holes in the schedule have been filled in, and tickets have gone on sale! There are some names here we’ve written about before, and several more that we plan to sometime in the near future. Stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, check out the complete updated list down below, and then grab your tickets before they all sell out!

 
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Psycho Las Vegas 2017

 

Psycho Las Vegas 2017

Thursday 17 August through Sunday 20 September 2017

at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, 4455 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas NV 89169

 
This weekend-long party in Sin City will feature some folks that you’ll recognize from previous mentions right here at Valley of Steel (Neurosis, Conan, Fister, Melvins, Hollow Leg, North, Ruby the Hatchet, Slomatics — just to name a few). Some other highlights will include Inter Arma, Black Anvil, Minsk, Goya, Manilla Road, Mouth of the Architect, Pelican, Vhöl, Year of the CobraYOB, Pentagram, Corrosion of Conformity, Sleep, Psychic TV… oh yeah, and King Diamond performing the whole Abigail album!

More details:
http://www.vivapsycho.com | http://www.facebook.com/events/1636267026703732/
 
Tickets:
3-day (Friday through Sunday) passes, and single-day tickets for Thursday Pre-Party, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday currently available at http://psycholv2017.eventbrite.com

 
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North – Siberia (2006-15), Metanoia (2014-15), Through Raven’s Eyes (2015), Light the Way (2016)

NorthSiberia (self-released, 01 May 2006 / re-released by Prosthetic Records, 02 June 2015)

 

NorthMetanoia (self-released, 11 March 2014 / re-released by Prosthetic Records, 02 June 2015)

 

NorthThrough Raven’s Eyes (Prosthetic Records, 14 August 2015)

 

NorthLight the Way (Prosthetic Records, 18 March 2016)

 

Well. Today is going to be all about North, a band who (naturally) come from the extreme southern part of Arizona, and who, as we mentioned a while back, are touring across the country with Conan. As you can see from the title of this post and that series of album covers just above, there’s going to be a ton of material to go over, so that’s all the introduction we have time for …

 

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Druids – Cycles of Mobeum; If These Trees Could Talk – The Bones of a Dying World (2016)

Druids_albumartwork

DruidsCycles of Mobeum (Sump Pump Records, 03 June 2016)

 

If These Trees Could Talk - The Bones of a Dying World

If These Trees Could TalkThe Bones of a Dying World (Metal Blade Records, 03 June 2016)

 

Okay people, today let’s take a look at another two bands. Both of these are American — one from the Hawkeye State, the other from the Buckeye State — and each of them will be releasing the third album of their respective careers tomorrow (Friday the 3rd). When I came across these two albums recently, it was my first time listening to either of these bands, but right away I found them both to be quite enjoyable (albeit in different ways). I’ve got a feeling you may agree. So let’s get started, shall we?

 

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Two Reviews: The Swan King and Jar’d Loose (2014)

Last So Long

The Swan KingLast So Long (War Crime Recordings, 03 June 2014)

 

JL Turns 13

Jar’d LooseTurns 13 (CD/digital on The Path Less Traveled Records; vinyl on Threshold of Pain Records, 27 May 2014)

 

For those keeping track at home — yeah, this is the fifth article I’m publishing, as well as the seventh and eighth albums I’m reviewing, this week. That’s got to be some kind of a record. If I can keep up this level of productivity, it’ll only take me about two whole years to get caught up with all the stuff I want to write about. IF bands would just stop releasing new stuff during that time. Which is about as likely to happen as me being able to continue writing and publishing stuff at this current rate.

Oh well, here are two albums I’d like to share with you that were released within the past two weeks, by two different bands from Chicago, who have been travelling together on a mini-tour for about the past week or so, including a stop in Pittsburgh tonight (Saturday, 07 June – more info here) before heading back home to the windy city for a joint record release show tomorrow night (more info here)…

 

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The List of 2013 Year-End Lists

Photo Collage - 2013 Shows - by Mrs. Valley of Steel

Click for full-sized image

 

Hey folks — a very Happy (Belated) New Year to all of you! 2013 definitely turned out to be an interesting year for me, with lots of big changes, new projects, new responsibilities, etc., but an unfortunate side-effect of some of that was (as you’ve surely noticed) that the amount of time I’d been spending writing really tapered off as the year went on, to the point where I didn’t post
anything here for the last few months! Well, as you may have seen, I’ve started writing reviews of some new 2014 releases — and as time allows I promise I will also be sharing plenty of older stuff I’ve missed writing about, because believe me there has been a TON worth sharing!

But more on that later. As I started doing last year, I’ve once again put together a collection of various people’s “best of” lists from 2013. Admittedly I sort of got a late start on this (I didn’t even put out the open invitation until after most websites had already finished with publishing all their year-end stuff), but several people have answered the call and contributed some really interesting lists that you’ll want to check out…

 

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The Huge List of 2012 Year-End Lists!

Well, friends, here we find ourselves in the waning moments of 2012. It’s been an interesting, eventful year that’s had lots of high and low points — a ton of excellent new music has been released and quite a few brand-new bands have emerged that I’d fully expect to be making some serious waves in the near future.

One of the best things about 2012, for me personally, was that I found myself (and my wife) going to lots more shows than in recent years, and as a result I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of new people — as well as starting to take a way more active role in the local music scene.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a suggestion from one of those people I’ve gotten to know in the past year (I won’t say who — he said he preferred not to be given credit for the idea, although I will say that it’s somebody who contributed to this). The idea was to collect top-ten lists from various folks in the Pittsburgh metal community.

So I put out an open invitation for any musicians or other people who are involved in the scene in some way — I was looking for anything, whether it was the traditional “Top Ten Albums” or something totally off-the-wall like someone’s ten favorite sandwiches they ate during the year. Really, the only rules were that it had to be a list, and involve something from 2012.

 
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Sad News: Hydra Head Records Shutting Down

 
This afternoon we learned some sad news. Just like pretty much all small, independent record labels nowadays, Hydra Head Records has been struggling financially for some time. And now, it turns out that the label, which has been around since way back when I was in high school, and has been responsible for some great releases by Pelican, Sun O))), Old Man Gloom, and many, many others, is being forced to shut down operations.

 
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