Slaves BC – we mean nothing. EP

 

Slaves BCwe mean nothing. EP (self-released, 26 October 2012)

 
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PREFACE/DISCLAIMER:

Somehow this article turned out way longer than I originally intended, and the majority of it is way off-topic.

If you’re a big fan of my rambly writing style, feel free to keep reading.

But if you’re just interested in reading about some quality crust/hardcore/metal with a sprinkling of death/stoner/doom elements… you won’t hurt my feelings if you skip ahead to the next line of asterisks (where it says “Moving right along…”).

And if you really hate reading and just want to get to the music, you can skip all the way to the last set of asterisks, just above the Bandcamp player at the bottom.

 
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So I don’t know if you heard about this, because it didn’t get that much attention in the news or social media recently, but the other day there was an election held here in America.

In case you weren’t paying attention, the president was running for re-election, and quite a few seats in both houses of congress were up for grabs. And as it turned out, whichever political party was already in charge of those governmental positions basically stayed in charge of them. There may have been a few swaps here and there, but overall not a whole lot changed.

Naturally, the folks who wanted the party with more control to retain that power were delighted, and the others were disappointed, and there was a widespread reaction of surprise at just how evenly divided the votes were in some cases.

However, one thing that was made clear by the final results: America was not interested in electing the candidates who kept insisting that raping women is “God’s Will” — as that entire contingency ended up losing their respective contests.

Personally, I applaud this outcome, as (in my opinion) it seems to represent a triumph — for a majority of the voters living in each of those states or congressional districts, anyhow — of morality, human decency, and modern scientifically-based medical knowledge over ignorance.

Nevertheless, this is America, and of course we are all granted equal freedoms under our constitutional amendments — and many people are now worried that there is no outlet for the ultra-religious nut-jobs to voice their opinion publicly. (Okay, to the best of my knowledge no one is actually worried about that, just bear with me here…)

So that brings us to today’s discussion of the Pittsburgh-based hardcore band Slaves BC.

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (02 November 2012)

Hello out there! It’s been quite a wet and wild week, but the end is finally in sight!

It’s Friday, and the weekend is nearly here — which of course brings with it plenty of opportunities to get out there and check out some shows, right? Of course it does.

And I’ve got some pretty good shit to share with you, happening tonight, right here in Pittsburgh! You might want to hold onto your hat…

 
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Hounds of Hate – Cassette 2012 (Free Download!)

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Hounds of HateCassette 2012 (BHF Records, 22 October 2012)

 
Hey, good afternoon! Hope everything’s going well for you, dear readers. Here, it’s still pretty damn dreary and wet, but it looks a little bit less black outside than it has for the past few days — seems like that bitch Sandy might finally be leaving us alone.

Anyway, that’s all pretty much off-topic from what I wanted to tell you about this afternoon, which is how you can get your hands on some FREE music by a group of guys from my local area (not exactly the same part of town as me, but they’re from a little further downriver along the same valley that this website was named after) — plus how you can get a chance to see them play live (if you live in the midwestern or eastern United States, that is)!

 

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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (30 October 2012)

Hey out there in Iron City land! Trick-or-Treat cancelled or postponed in your neighborhood and now you’ve got nothing to do tonight? Why not try this on for size…

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (27 October 2012)

Hey Pittsburgh people! It’s the weekend before Halloween, so you know what that means — lots of people going out to bars dressed in stupid outfits! Also there are tons of bands playing all over town, so here are some of the spots you may wish to check out this fine Saturday evening…

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (22 October 2012)

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Drusky Entertainment Presents:

My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult 25th Anniversary Tour

with Left Spine Down, Venus in Furs, and Una de Luna

 

at the Altar Bar

1620 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh (Strip District)

 

Monday 22 October 2012 | 7:00PM Show, 6:00PM Doors | $18 ADV, $20 DOS | 21+ only

 
My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult (TKK) began their career twenty-five years ago with Chicago’s Wax Trax! Records, and are now considered highly influential in the hybridization of industrial rock with electronic dance music. To celebrate this quarter-century milestone, the band is currently touring all over the country (see the full list of dates in the image at the top of this page), including a stop at Pittsburgh’s Altar Bar tonight.

Along for the ride is Canadian cyberpunks Left Spine Down (LSD), and starting things off for the evening will be a pair of local electronic artists, Venus in Furs and Una de Luna.

Grab your tickets ahead of time here, then check out more details at the Drusky Concert Calendar here and on the Facebook event page here.

What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (19 October 2012)

Looking for some live entertainment to entertain yourself with in Pittsburgh on this Friday evening? Here are some great options you might wish to consider…..

 
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VOS Interview: A Drummer Double Feature! Molasses Barge vs. Vulture!

Hello folks, and a happy Friday to you! Just when it felt like it would never happen, the weekend’s finally here. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be an especially good one, because there’s a ton of amazing shows and events happening! I’ll have more on that later, so stay tuned.

One of them in particular stands out, though — tomorrow night at the 31st Street Pub is the first date on the joint headlining tour between Relapse Records artists 16 and Tombs. That by itself is reason enough to get excited, but opening the show will be two of my absolute favorite local bands, the heavy doom armada that is Molasses Barge and Steel City sludgelords Vulture!

I’ve only seen Molasses Barge once before (and it was over a year ago! — read more about that here), and (believe it or not) although I’ve been listening to Vulture for a long time, I’ve never had the chance to see them play live yet! So needless to say, I’m really looking forward to this show. I’ve already got my tickets (they can be ordered here) but if you don’t, it’s just twelve bucks when you show up at the door. More info on the show itself can be found here.

Anyway, in anticipation of this event, I decided to get a couple of interviews lined up. If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you may have picked up on the fact that I often tend to focus on drumming while listening to music. It’s just the way I hear things, I guess — and I don’t know if it’s because I play drums (occasionally) or if I chose to play that instrument because it’s something I pay a lot of attention to.

In either case, the drumming in each of these bands’ genres is one of the main things that attracts me to those particular styles. So, it only seemed natural for me to talk to the two bands’ drummers. Here, then, are the questions and answers from Molasses Barge’s Wayne Massey and Vulture’s Kelly Gabany

 

 

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh TONIGHT (7 October, 2012)

 
Hey sports fans! Here’s a real quick update, while it’s halftime, to let you know what’s going on out there after the football game ends…

Celebrate a Steelers victory by heading out to Garfield Artworks to enjoy an evening of live music — since this weekend has been sort of less eventful in Pittsburgh than most.

 
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Incantation Reveals: a New Album is Coming Soon!

 
After more than two decades, American death metal pioneers Incantation just keep going and going, showing neither any signs of slowing down nor any inclination to follow the latest fad or change their style… despite the fact that sole original member John McEntee is now working with (if my counting abilities are accurate) the three-hundred-eighty-seventh different line-up of the band since its inception in 1989.

In the years since then, Incantation has made its mark as one of the very first bands signed to Relapse Records (growing alongside that label during their decade-long relationship), and as one of the originators of the New York Death Militia sound (remaining very close to former labelmates Mortician, and even sharing bandmembers with their NYDM brethren from time to time). In addition to having an ever-shifting cast of characters, the band has also called various locations its home — New York, Ohio, and Johnstown, PA.

Throughout this history, Incantation has put out numerous demos and EPs, participated in countless splits and compilations, and released a total of eight LPs. After a trek through Brazil earlier this year and several stops at European festivals during the summer, the guys have returned home to the States and announced that album number nine would be arriving sometime next month via the label that has handled their past few releases, Listenable Records.

 
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