He Whose Ox is Gored – Rumors (2014); The Camel, the Lion, the Child (2015)

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He Whose Ox is GoredRumors (Bleeding Light Records, 28 October 2014)

 

Cover by Myke Pelly

He Whose Ox is GoredThe Camel, the Lion, the Child (Bleeding Light Records, 09 October 2015)

 

Hey, guess what: there’s a great band on tour that’s scheduled to play in Pittsburgh tonight (Wednesday, 7 September 2016) — Seattle’s psychedelic doom quartet He Whose Ox is Gored! This is happening at The Smiling Moose, 1306 East Carson Street, South Side. Doors open at 5:30 and the show starts at 6 — also performing will be Retox, Silent, and Netherlands.

Have you heard about this? Perhaps not, because I haven’t been able to find a Facebook event or any other sort of mention of the show, ouside of a mention on the calendar section of the venue’s website, and this being included in lists of tour dates shared by the bands themselves.

It’ll really be a shame if folks miss out on this just because they didn’t know it was taking place, so this seems like a great time to share the following review of a couple HWOIG releases — specifically their debut EP from 2014, and first full-length album from 2015. These are both pretty incredible and I’ve been meaning to write about them for the past year or two anyhow, so here goes! If you like what you hear, please be sure to spread the word, especially if you live in Pittsburgh or near any of the band’s other remaining dates! (Those will be listed down in the comments section.)

 

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I am the Trireme – Gnosis: Never Follow the Light (2015)

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I am the TriremeGnosis: Never Follow the Light (Horror Pain Gore Death Productions, 30 June 2015)

 

Hello out there — and a happy Saturday to you! Hopefully you’re all in the midst of celebrating a nice long weekend (at least for those of us in the U.S.) in classic unofficial-end-of-summer style, with plenty of food cooked over charcoal, and definitely plenty of bottles of fermented beverages. Not to mention lots of good music. Seems like a perfect time to get out there and catch a show, whether it’s at an outdoor festival or somebody’s basement, or whatever.

If you happen to live somewhere near Pittsburgh, might I suggest this one: locals United By Hate are playing at the Rock Room in the Polish Hill neighborhood, and kicking off a bit of a tour; that trip will take the band through Philadelphia on Tuesday night, where they’ll be performing with that city’s I am the Trireme, who are returning the favor by making the trip out here to play at tonight’s Pittsburgh show! Sorry if that sounded a bit confusing, but to make a long story short, if you live in western Pennsylvania you’ll get to see both bands tonight, while our cross-state neighbors will have that chance on Tuesday the 6th.

I just happened upon this information randomly on Facebook, and it reminded me that I had been meaning to write something about IATT‘s album Gnosis: Never Follow the Light ever since I first heard it when the City of Brotherly Love based label Horror Pain Gore Death released it last summer. Mostly based in blackened and death metal, the album impressed me with its range and variety, and I think you’ll agree if you check it out …

 

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Shadow Woods Metal Fest (September 2016, White Hall MD)

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Shadow Woods Metal Fest

Thursday 15 September through Sunday 18 September 2016

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

21+ ONLY

Weekend pass (includes on-site tent camping) $130 in advance or $150 at gate; limited cabin bunks available for an additional charge; single-day tickets also available.

 
In exactly two weeks, the weekend-long sylvan music and camping party Shadow Woods Metal Fest will kick off for the second year. Described by its organizers as “some of the best music the underground music community has to offer, all while camping in beautiful surroundings. The festival features bands spanning the musical spectrum from folk to doom to black metal to experimental and are carefully curated for their uniqueness in the current musical landscape.”

More details: http://shadowwoodsmetalfest.com
Tickets: http://shadowwoods2016.bpt.me/

 
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Sonic Unrest Tour: Periphery / Chon / Sikth / Toothgrinder Coming to Pittsburgh!

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The Sonic Unrest Tour

Featuring Periphery, Chon, SikTh, and Toothgrinder

at Mr. Smalls Theatre

400 Lincoln Ave, Pittsburgh (Millvale) PA 15209

Saturday 27 August 2016

7:00 pm | $20 adv – $22 at door | All Ages

More Details: http://www.facebook.com/events/2069430906614728

Buy Tickets: http://www.ticketweb.com/mrsmalls

 

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Win FREE Tickets for GHOST BATH in Pittsburgh!!

 
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Steel Bridge Promotions Presents:

Ghost Bath

with Numenorean, Frosthelm, and Slaves BC

Friday 16 September 2016

at The Smiling Moose, 1306 E. Carson St., Pittsburgh (South Side) PA 15203

21+ only | 10:00 | $10

 
Tickets are on sale NOW at this link… OR you can WIN a pair of tickets FREE, courtesy of Steel Bridge Promotions and Valley of Steel! Keep on reading to learn more about the show and to enter for your chance to win …
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Goatcraft – All for Naught (2013), Yersinia Pestis (2016)

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GoatcraftAll for Naught (Forbidden Records, 20 March 2013)

 

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GoatcraftYersinia Pestis (I, Voidhanger Records, 15 July 2016)

 

The past few days, we’ve talked about a few different musical groups; while a few of them might be tangentially associated with some form of metal bands, generally these have all been of the non-metal variety, using traditional folk, classical, orchestral, baroque, or chamber ensemble instrumentations, and playing compositions that would be classified as neoclassical or neofolk. Today we close out the week by taking a look at a solo musician from San Antonio, who goes by the same Lonegoat, as the sole member of Goatcraft, whose piano-and-keyboard-only creations have prompted him to coin the term “necroclassical.”

 

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Disemballerina – Undertaker (2014), Poison Gown (2016)

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DisemballerinaUndertaker (Graceless Recordings, 28 June 2014)

 

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DisemballerinaPoison Gown (Minotauro Records, 10 July 2016)

 

Moving right along with our theme of not-exactly-metal music, today we’re going to cover a pair of albums by Portlandian trio Disemballerina. This ensemble first came to my attention about two years ago when harp/viola player Myles Donovan had contacted me about their album Undertaker, which had been mixed and mastered by Tad Doyle and released via the Loss-owned Graceless Records. It was described as “something like doomed chamber music,” and had cover art that was taken from a series of images where the harpist had placed found bird carcasses (in this case, a blue heron) into the photocopier at Kinko’s. With a pedigree like that, of course I was instantly intrigued.

Disemballerina, it turns out, had been formed back in 2009 by Donovan and guitarist Ayla Holland. The two have worked with a number of other musicians over the years, but their line-up is currently set with the inclusion of cellist Jennifer Christensen. Last month, the “doomed chamber” group had another album emerge — Poison Gown — through Italian label Minotauro Records, and so today we’ll tackle both of those records.

 

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The Obelisk All-Dayer (Aug 2016, Brooklyn NY)

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The Obelisk All-Dayer

at St. Vitus Bar

1120 Manhattan Ave., Brooklyn NY 11222

Saturday, 20 August 2016 | 21+ only | 2 pm – 2 am

 
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supercorrupter – Amps. Anecdotes. Annihilation.; Horseburner – Dead Seeds, Barren Soil (2016)

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supercorrupterAmps. Anecdotes. Annihilation. (self-released, 30 June 2016)

 

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HorseburnerDead Seeds, Barren Soil (self-released, 08 July 2016)

 

Hey all you music lovers, or people who are indifferent about music but afficionados of rambly written words! There’s more of both of those in store for you today. I’d like to share recently-released albums by a pair of local (regional) bands: supercorrupter (formerly known as The Gingerdead Men and containing members of various other area groups such as DeathCrawl and Showboy) from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio (between Akron and Cleveland), and Horseburner from Parkersburg, West Virginia (about halfway down the state, going north-to-south, and right at the edge of the Ohio River). Both of these just happen to be appearing at Ohio’s Blackout Cookout next month, but why not give them a listen today?

 

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The Ravenna Arsenal – I. (2013); Gholas – Litanies (2014)

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The Ravenna ArsenalI. (self-released, 23 February 2013)

 

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GholasLitanies (Dullest Records, 11 February 2014)

 

Hello out there, folks. Hope this week has gone well for you all. Over the past few days — during which things got pretty crazy busy, to the point where I didn’t have any time to get anything written — I’ve heard some pretty incredible brand-new releases, and I definitely look forward to sharing those with you. But not quite yet; instead, today we’re going to turn back the calendar a little bit, and spend some time with a couple of my favorite releases from years past that I just never quite got around to writing about yet. These were featured in my Top 13 of 2013 and Top 14 of 2014 lists, respectively, chiefly due to the fact that both of these bands know how to write a hell of a song. These are both albums that I’ve listened to front-to-back like dozens of times, and I feel pretty certain you’ll agree that every single song on each is of excellent quality …

 

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