Maelstrom – Of Gods and Men (2020)

MaelstromOf Gods and Men (self-released, 22 May 2020)

 

Hey, folks. Better make sure you’ve got yourselves strapped in, because we’re taking a trip in the “Way Back Machine.” Although Of Gods and Men, the debut full-length album of Long Beach (Nassau County NY)’s Maelstrom, was released mere days ago, this is a story that starts off much, much earlier than that.

Here at Valley of Steel I first became aware of this trio back in October 2012, when I checked out ThrashHead Magazine‘s second A Gallery of Rogues compilation. (As an aside, the magazine doesn’t appear to exist anymore but that 45-song collection is still free to download.)

At that time, one of the tracks that I pointed out as a highlight was “Arise” — which also appeared on the band’s EP It was Predestined, which was being re-released that same month by IME.

I hadn’t been aware of it at the time, but the mini-album had initially been released independently several years earlier (in 2008), by a newly-reformed Maelstrom. The group had called it quits fifteen years prior to that, after having produced a pair of demo tapes (in 1989 and 1991) that collectively featured the original recordings of the three songs that would later become It was Predestined.

The EP, out of print by now, had grabbed my attention back in 2012 just as much as that first song had done — and so when I recently learned that there would finally be a full-length record (32 years after the band was founded), well, that was certainly some exciting news I just had to share with you lucky readers.

 

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Conan / Slomatics – Split (2018 Reissue)

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Conan / SlomaticsSplit (original release 2011 / to be RE-re-released by Black Bow Records, 01 June 2018)

 

Almost two years ago, the 2011 split record between these two bands, each of whom has been discussed multiple times on this website (Conan | Slomatics), got the re-release treatment on a really cool picture disc by Black Bow Records. We discussed that right here.

But in case you missed it (or if you DID manage to snag one of those copies, but you wish you had a second one to listen to!), Black Bow is doing it again! This time on 180g heavyweight vinyl (for the first time ever) in a peculiar shade of “ogre green” (also for the first time ever). Keep reading to revisit our review of these songs from the 2016 release, and then find where you can buy a copy of the new edition.

 

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Conan / Slomatics – Split (2016 Reissue)

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Conan / SlomaticsSplit (original release 2011 / to be reissued by Black Bow Records, September 2016)

 

Yesterday when we talked about Slomatics‘ first two albums, I mentioned that the band has signed with Black Bow Records, who has rereleased those two albums in advance of the band’s new record due later this year. But this partnership was not the first time they’ve dealt with that label OR its owner Jon Davis. Slomatics and Davis‘ band Conan — from Merseyside County, England, just across the Irish Sea from Belfast — had put together a split record back in 2011. After that limited-edition vinyl quickly sold out, Black Bow put out another pressing of the split in 2014, which also wasn’t around for very long.

And now, they’ve announced that there will be a new batch coming soon — only 200 copies will be made available this time, and each record will be pressed onto a full-color representation of that incredible cover art! An exact release date hasn’t been set yet, but pre-orders are on sale now, and they’re expected to begin shipping around early September.

 

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Who Wants Some Free Music?

Hello there, folks! In case you can’t read a calendar (or you just woke up from a coma or something), it’s Monday again. So that means back to work, or school, or whatever the hell you do all day. Generally this isn’t really a good thing. But, once you see what I have to share with you, maybe you won’t mind as much…

See, I didn’t really get around to doing a lot of writing over the past week, besides a couple updates about shows happening in the Pittsburgh area over the weekend — if you hadn’t noticed, my last article before those was on Tuesday, when the Doommantia Vol. 1 benefit compilation for Ed Barnard was released.

Since then, I’ve bought myself a copy and downloaded it, and believe me it’s well worth at least the minimum purchase price — which, once again, goes towards helping out a friend in need. If you missed the news last week (or if you saw it and said you’d come back to it later and then forgot about it) you can check iit out here.

Anyway, I was saying I hadn’t really written much since then. That’s mostly due to the fact that things were so busy at work last week. But don’t worry, I spent tons of time listening to music and finding some good quality stuff to pass along to you!

Besides the Doommantia compilation, I’ve run across several more good ones recently, many of which can be downloaded for FREE, and I’d like to tell you about those today!

 

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Free Music Alert: New Compilation from ThrashHead Magazine

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Hey, Readers!  How are you on this fine Saturday evening?  Just wanted to throw up this quick update to let you know about a great new collection of FREE music you can download right now from ThrashHead Magazine!

This was brought to my attention when Armor Column posted about it on their Facebook page — the collection A Gallery of Rogues includes a song of theirs, plus a whole bunch of other great bands, like: Hellbastard, Helm, Humungus, Amebix, Arkham, Rezet, Cormorant, Ramming Speed, Out of Tune, Hell’s Thrash Horsemen, Resistant Culture, Conan, Hellkrusher, Impalers, Suicide State, Occultist, Hot Graves, SMD, Toe Tag, Slomatics, Monger, Insane, Rat Damage, Worshit, Juventud Podrida, Cain, Aphatos, Fucktard, Krang, Hollow Leg, Church of Disgust, Violentor, and Randomorder!

Grab it here:

Enjoy…

 
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ThrashHead: website, Facebook