Apostle of Solitude – Of Woe and Wounds (2014), Devil to Pay – A Bend through Space and Time (2016)

Apostle of SolitudeOf Woe and Wounds (Cruz del Sur Music, 04 November 2014)

 

Devil to PayA Bend through Space and Time (Ripple Music, 12 August 2016)

 

So — maybe you’ve noticed a running theme this week — but once again I’m sharing some music with you from a band that will be playing at The Maryland Doom Fest this weekend! That would be Apostle of Solitude, whose latest album Of Woe and Wounds has been hovering on my to-do list ever since it was released nearly three whole years ago. And while I’m at it, there’s another album I’d like to bring to your attention, last year’s offering by a band who are Indianapolis neighbors (and even overlap by one guitarist) with Apostle of Solitude, and whom we’ve spoken of highly in the past, Devil to Pay.

 

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Hollow Leg – Murder, He Whose Ox is Gored – Paralyzer, Cave of Swimmers – The Sun (2017)

Hollow LegMurder EP (digital: Argonauta Records, 03 March 2017; cassette: Southern Druid Records, 16 June 2017; Crown, Murder Edition CD: Argonauta Records, 30 June 2017)

 

He Whose Ox is GoredParalyzer 7″ (Chain Letter Collective/Void Assault Records, 16 June 2017)

 

Cave of SwimmersThe Sun 7″ (Southern Druid Records, 03 July 2017)

 

Today I’ve got three different releases to share with you. Don’t worry, I won’t take up too much of your time — each of these has just two or three songs. But more importantly, all three come from bands who have had some pretty incredible previous releases we’ve already talked about: Hollow Leg, He Whose Ox is Gored, and Cave of Swimmers. So you can already be guaranteed these will all be great, too!

Oh yeah, and if you scroll on down to the comments section, you can take a peek at the dates for Hollow Leg‘s current tour which centers around an appearance at The Maryland Doom Fest on Saturday (24 June)!

 
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Borracho – Atacama (2016-17), Beastmaker – Inside the Skull (2017)

BorrachoAtacama (Kozmik Artifactz, 02 December 2016 CD/digital, 10 March 2017 vinyl)

 

BeastmakerInside the Skull (Rise Above Records, 19 May 2017)

 

Hey folks, let’s take a look at some recent (and semi-recent) releases from another two bands who are appearing were scheduled to appear at this weekend’s Maryland Doom Fest, one of whom will still be performing* — specifically, they’re both kicking off the festivities Thursday night at the Pre Fest Party. Representing the east coast, D.C.-area heavy-fuzz dealers Borracho, clearly no strangers to this website, dropped their third full-length at the tail end of 2016, while left coast doomsters Beastmaker saw the release of their second LP just last month. Listening to either of these would absolutely be time well-spent, so please feel free to continue reading …

Beastmaker has announced that they will be unable to make it to this year’s Doom Fest. Borracho is still slated to be there Thursday night!

 

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Wretch – Wretch (2016)

WretchWretch (Bad Omen Records, 26 August 2016)

 

From the instant I first heard 2008’s Conqueror, I’ve been a huge fan of Indianan doom titans The Gates of Slumber. Certainly one of the greatest highlights of running this website was getting the opportunity to chat with that group’s founder, guitarist and vocalist Karl Simon, back in 2013 — and then a few days later actually meeting him and bassist Jason McCash in person before their incredible performance at the Winter’s Wake festival in Pittsburgh. Tragically, the following year would see the loss of iconic bassist McCash, and a grieving Simon decided to put the band permanently on hold.

Since that time, though, he seems to have felt the need to continue expressing himself musically, and with the help of bassist Bryce Clarke and drummer Chris Gordon (who has done previous tours of duty with both TGoS and fellow Indianapolitans Devil to Pay) formed a new trio named for his previous band’s final album, 2011’s The Wretch. By last summer this new group had put together an album’s worth of material and released their self-titled debut, which happened to be one of the best things I heard last year. And now I’d like to share that record with all of you, in advance of Wretch making an appearance at The Maryland Doom Fest later this week (along with a handful of other shows — scroll down to the comments section for more details)

UPDATE 21 June 2017: all Wretch shows that were scheduled for this week have been cancelled.

 
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Shadow Woods Metal Fest (September 2017, White Hall MD)

Shadow Woods Metal Fest

Thursday 14 September through Sunday 17 September 2017

at Camp Hidden Valley, 4722 Mellow Rd, White Hall MD 21161

21+ ONLY

Weekend pass (includes on-site tent camping) $175; cabin bunks available for an additional charge; single-day tickets also available.

 
Shadow Woods Metal Fest, the Mid-Atlantic’s only open-air camping heavy metal gathering, is back for its third year featuring 39 bands from all genres and subgenres of heavy metal spread out over three days and four stages, tucked away in a summer camp in eastern Maryland.

Performers will include a few that we’ve written about before (like Castle, Green Elder, and Hexis), some we haven’t quite gotten around to YET (including Panopticon, Dead in the Manger, Foehammer, Nechochwen, Sloth Herder), and literally dozens more!

 
More details: http://shadowwoodsmetalfest.com
Tickets: http://shadowwoodsmetalfest2017.bpt.me

 
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The Maryland Doom Fest (June 2017, Frederick MD)

The Maryland Doom Fest

Thursday 22 June through Sunday 25 June 2017

at Cafe 611, 611 N Market St, Frederick MD 21701

 

All Ages | 3 day weekend pass $69 | Friday or Saturday single ticket $35

Sunday single ticket $20 | Thursday Pre Fest Party $30 ($10 with weekend pass)

“A 4 day weekend of doom metal in its purest form.”

 
THIS WEEKEND, starting with a pre-fest party Thursday night, will see the return of DOOM to central Maryland — featuring quite a few bands we’ve written about in the past (Pilgrim, Brimstone Coven, Black Tar Prophet, The Atomic Bitchwax, Lifetime Shitlist, Borracho, Apostle of Solitude, and Hollow Leg) along with a few others we’re big fans of (including Cavern and Pittsburgh’s own Horehound), plus TONS more!

More details: http://www.themarylanddoomfest.com
http://www.facebook.com/events/1794418777500202/
Tickets: https://www.themarylanddoomfest.com/tickets

 
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The Pod – The Pod (2017)

The PodThe Pod (Accident Prone Records, CD/digital 02 June 2017; LP 25 August 2017)

 

I’ll admit, I don’t really listen to electronic or synthesized music, because I have trouble getting into anything that’s too inorganic or artificial. Just a matter of personal taste, I guess, but whenever something shows up in my inbox that’s full of bloops and beeps and (especially) fake digital drums, it generally finds its way to the trash folder pretty quickly. Not intending to offend anybody here, I mean I understand there is certainly a market for that type of thing because it does appeal to a lot of people, but I just happen not to be one of them — and it wouldn’t make any sense for me to waste my time trying to write about something that I just don’t understand (or for you to waste YOUR time reading it).

However, when I find out that there’s a drone-ambient-synth project created by Mr. Scott Endres, guitarist and one of the songwriters for MAKE (one of my favorite bands, as you surely have noticed by now), and someone with whom I know (via the magic of social media) I share a rather large overlap in musical taste — well, I’m going to take notice, and give it a chance. I’m glad I did. Now I’ll share it with you, and I think you’ll be glad too.

 

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Faces of the Bog – Ego Death (2016)

Faces of the BogEgo Death (self-released, 04 October 2016 / vinyl DHY Records, 22 September 2017)

 

Okay, stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Band from Chicago, influences are a blend of all things heavy (including a generous helping of noise rock and post-metal), and they just happen to be produced by Sanford Parker.

It doesn’t matter to me how many times they keep remaking this same movie, I’ll keep coming back to see it every time. Here’s Faces of The Bog‘s debut album, which they released in fall 2016. Tour dates for Ohio and western Pennsylvania THIS WEEKEND, plus a few more throughout the midwest over the rest of the summer, can be found down in the comments section.

 

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Tengger Cavalry – Die On My Ride (2017)

Tengger CavalryDie On My Ride (M-Theory Audio, 02 June 2017)

 

Hey folks! Got some breaking news for you: I’ve just learned that Tengger Cavalry, famous for blending traditional Mongolian music within the context of modern metal, have put out a brand-new album a few days ago and simultaneously embarked on a North American tour! So of course I wanted to take this opportunity to pass along the information to all of you. First, we’ll address the new music, which they’re now streaming in full, then down below (in the comments) I’ll share the list of dates …

 

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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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