Autarch / Soothsayer – Split (2016)

Posted by valleyofsteel on 22 May 2016

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Autarch / Soothsayer – Split (self-released 27 May 2016; vinyl via Replenish Records 12 June 2016)

Two years ago this week, Asheville neo-crust band Autarch saw their debut full-length on vinyl. When I wrote about that album, The Death of Actiacus, a few days later, I noted that the band’s tour was headed here to Pittsburgh on that particular evening — and that one of the local bands joining them at that show would be the fairly-newly-formed (at that time) Soothsayer, who draw on many of the same atmospheric/blackened/crust elements as their North Carolinian counterparts.

Well, I can tell you that particular show turned out to be a pretty great experience all around, and I’d also like to share some new information that was just brought to my attention. This Friday — almost exactly two years after their performance together that night in Pittsburgh — Autarch and Soothsayer are jointly releasing a split record. That album is available to order right now, so I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you all a little more about it …

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HATEBREED and DEVILDRIVER Coming to Pittsburgh — Win FREE Tickets!!

Posted by valleyofsteel on 20 May 2016

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Opus One Productions Presents:

Hatebreed‘s Concrete Confessional Tour

featuring DevilDriver and Act of Defiance

Tuesday 07 June 2016

at Mr. Smalls Theatre, 400 Lincoln Ave. Pittsburgh (Millvale) PA 15209

ALL AGES, 8:00 show / 7:00 doors, $25

Tickets are on sale NOW at Ticketweb… OR you can WIN a pair of tickets FREE, courtesy of Opus One Productions and Valley of Steel! Keep on reading to find out how…

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Ruby the Hatchet – Ouroboros, Mars Red Sky – Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (2016)

Posted by valleyofsteel on 18 May 2016

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Ruby the Hatchet – Ouroboros (RUR Records, 29 April 2016)

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Mars Red Sky – Apex III (Praise for the Burning Soul) (Listenable Records, 20 May 2016)

Good afternoon. Today I’d like to talk to you about two different bands who each fall under the general umbrella of “psychedelic/stoner rock.” Both have new releases out (recently, or within the next two days), and both will be hitting the road (separately) playing various shows and festivals across the USA over the next few months. First I’ll introduce you to those recent releases, and then head down a little further to the comments section where I’ll share the scheduled tour dates!

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Tombs & Hivelords On Tour / Win FREE Tickets For Pittsburgh Show!!

Posted by valleyofsteel on 09 May 2016

Tombs and Hivelords Announce Spring Tour Dates

Hey folks! I’ve got some quick tour announcements to pass along to you… starting this weekend there will be a handful of northeastern U.S. dates featuring Philadelphia’s blackened experimentalists Hivelords (whom you may remember from our review of their 2013 album Cavern Apothecary) and Brooklyn’s post-black luminaries Tombs (whom we’ve mentioned before — nearly four years ago — when they came to Pittsburgh with 16 and we did an interview with the drummers of local openers Molasses Barge and Vulture).

Since then, both bands have undergone line-up changes — Hivelords now features two new guitarists (including Evan Void, formerly half of that band’s frequent tourmates Sadgiqacea), and Tombs has replaced some of its members on at least two occasions (also, coincidentally, including new guitarist Evan Void) resulting in essentially a wholesale overhaul for that band.

They’ve both also put out new material with their respective new line-ups: Hivelords‘ album Tapered Limbs of a Human Star came out in 2015 via Anthropic Records, while Relapse Records released Tombs‘ new EP All Empires Fall in early April this year.

And now, these two bands will be performing together on a series of dates, the details of which will be shared with you as you continue reading below. Further down, we’re also including the remainder of Hivelords‘ currently announced dates through mid-summer; and finally, details specific to both bands’ stop in Pittsburgh next Saturday, including your chance to WIN FREE TICKETS to that show!

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Lord Mantis Interviewed By Slaves BC!!

Posted by valleyofsteel on 28 April 2016

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Lord Mantis interviewed by Slaves BC

So tomorrow — Friday the 29th — the new Lord Mantis EP NTW will be released, the band’s first recorded material since their big line-up shakeup (and merger with Indian) last year. You can read all about those changes, and take a look at that new EP as well as their previous album, 2014’s Death Mask, all right here. But beyond just reading about my thoughts and reactions to this new and old material, perhaps you might be interested in learning more about what’s been going on with the band — in their own words?

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Nekrogoblikon – Power (2013), Dethlehem – Destroyers of the Realm (2015)

Posted by valleyofsteel on 26 April 2016

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Nekrogoblikon – Power (self-released, 27 August 2013)

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Dethlehem – Destroyers of the Realm (self-released, 06 January 2015)

Hey, folks. Today’s theme is going to be fantasy-RPG-inspired metal. I know that sounds oddly specific, but there are a couple bands in that realm I’d like to discuss, and they both just happen to be playing a show together later this week. First, Californian horde Nekrogoblikon, as you may have guessed, write songs that are based on goblins — those devilish inhabitants of folklore, who in this instance resemble the nasty green creatures of Warhammer and later fantasy games, more so than the bumbling little muppets from Labyrinth, for example. The band has been around for a few years — the EP I’ll soon talk about was released nearly three years ago, in fact — but since they’re currently on a raid across the country, it seemed like as good of a time as any to share their music with you today. Nekrogoblikon‘s tour will be storming through Pittsburgh in just a few days (accompanied by Urizen from Fort Worth), and when it does, rest assured that a ragtag band of local heroes will be ready for them.

Regular readers of this website are already familiar with Pittsburgh’s own Dethlehem, perhaps from the time we did an interview with them, or from any number of other times the band has been mentioned here. For those who somehow managed to miss out on these guys previously, imagine a group of musicians who have gathered together in precisely the way a typical Dungeons & Dragons adventuring party would: someone who has good fighting skills, someone who knows magic, people who can specialize in lead guitar or rhythm guitar or bass guitar, someone who is good at sneaking around quietly and gathering information or stealing things, folks with vocal skills and drumming know-how, and so on. Basically, a group of people whose strengths and weaknesses can complement each other, and who can work together harmoniously.

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