The Maryland Doom Fest (22-24 June 2018, Frederick MD)

 

The Maryland Doom Fest 2018

Friday 22 June through Sunday 24 June 2018

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

3 day weekend pass $79 (tickets here)

Friday $35 (tickets)

Saturday $35 (tickets)

Sunday $30 (tickets)

 
Starting ONE WEEK from today, the annual “weekend of doom in its purest form” will be taking place once again in the middle of Maryland. Check out the list of bands below, then click on those ticket links above!

For more details, visit the official website or this year’s Facebook event page.
 

 
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Ruby the Hatchet – Planetary Space Child (2017)

Ruby the HatchetPlanetary Space Child (Tee Pee Records, 25 August 2017)

 
I’m putting the finishing touches on writing this article during breaks between watching Philadelphia’s hockey team getting demolished during the first game of this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. Entirely by coincidence, that city (a place whose biggest claim to fame is striking a beloved holiday character with snowballs) happens to be the home base of psychedelic ensemble Ruby the Hatchet. But I’ll implore you not to hold that against them.

As you may recall, we wrote about this band’s 2012 debut album Ouroboros when it was reissued back in 2016, and then last summer we mentioned that they would have a new album out soon. Today we’re discussing that album, as RtH prepare to head out on a whirlwind tour of the country over the next few weeks (kicking off this Friday, 13 April 2018). Check out the full list of dates at the bottom of this page.

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Psycho Las Vegas 2017

 

Psycho Las Vegas 2017

Thursday 17 August through Sunday 20 September 2017

at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, 4455 Paradise Rd, Las Vegas NV 89169

 
This weekend-long party in Sin City will feature some folks that you’ll recognize from previous mentions right here at Valley of Steel (Neurosis, Conan, Fister, Melvins, Hollow Leg, North, Ruby the Hatchet, Slomatics — just to name a few). Some other highlights will include Inter Arma, Black Anvil, Minsk, Goya, Manilla Road, Mouth of the Architect, Pelican, Vhöl, Year of the CobraYOB, Pentagram, Corrosion of Conformity, Sleep, Psychic TV… oh yeah, and King Diamond performing the whole Abigail album!

More details:
http://www.vivapsycho.com | http://www.facebook.com/events/1636267026703732/
 
Tickets:
3-day (Friday through Sunday) passes, and single-day tickets for Thursday Pre-Party, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday currently available at http://psycholv2017.eventbrite.com

 
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FREE SLEEP TICKETS FOR SOLD-OUT PITTSBURGH SHOW. THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

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Opus One Productions Presents:

Sleep

featuring Windhand

Wednesday 22 June 2016

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

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

 

As you are all surely aware, tickets for this show have been completely sold out for MONTHS. Since basically like twenty minutes after they went on sale. But as a special treat for our loyal readers, we have a pair of tickets to give away for FREE, thanks to the nice people at Opus One Productions.

 
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Good Gnus (New Stuff From Inter Arma And Today Is The Day!)

Gary-Gnu

 

Good Gnus!

 

Hey, good afternoon! We’ll be returning to our regular schedule of album reviews and snarky remarks shortly. But first I wanted to pass along a couple of tidbits that have hit my in-box courtesy of Earsplit PR. Apparently there will be some new material emerging in the near future from two bands who both happened to be among the most impressive live acts I’ve seen in the past year: Inter Arma and Today is the Day. Also Inter Arma has a shit-ton of tour dates coming up over the next couple of months, including a stop in my nearest metropolis — and perhaps a city near you as well. You’ll find the full list below.

 

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The List of 2013 Year-End Lists

Photo Collage - 2013 Shows - by Mrs. Valley of Steel

Click for full-sized image

 

Hey folks — a very Happy (Belated) New Year to all of you! 2013 definitely turned out to be an interesting year for me, with lots of big changes, new projects, new responsibilities, etc., but an unfortunate side-effect of some of that was (as you’ve surely noticed) that the amount of time I’d been spending writing really tapered off as the year went on, to the point where I didn’t post
anything here for the last few months! Well, as you may have seen, I’ve started writing reviews of some new 2014 releases — and as time allows I promise I will also be sharing plenty of older stuff I’ve missed writing about, because believe me there has been a TON worth sharing!

But more on that later. As I started doing last year, I’ve once again put together a collection of various people’s “best of” lists from 2013. Admittedly I sort of got a late start on this (I didn’t even put out the open invitation until after most websites had already finished with publishing all their year-end stuff), but several people have answered the call and contributed some really interesting lists that you’ll want to check out…

 

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The Huge List of 2012 Year-End Lists!

Well, friends, here we find ourselves in the waning moments of 2012. It’s been an interesting, eventful year that’s had lots of high and low points — a ton of excellent new music has been released and quite a few brand-new bands have emerged that I’d fully expect to be making some serious waves in the near future.

One of the best things about 2012, for me personally, was that I found myself (and my wife) going to lots more shows than in recent years, and as a result I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of new people — as well as starting to take a way more active role in the local music scene.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a suggestion from one of those people I’ve gotten to know in the past year (I won’t say who — he said he preferred not to be given credit for the idea, although I will say that it’s somebody who contributed to this). The idea was to collect top-ten lists from various folks in the Pittsburgh metal community.

So I put out an open invitation for any musicians or other people who are involved in the scene in some way — I was looking for anything, whether it was the traditional “Top Ten Albums” or something totally off-the-wall like someone’s ten favorite sandwiches they ate during the year. Really, the only rules were that it had to be a list, and involve something from 2012.

 
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Currently Touring: The Catalyst

 
Here’s another announcement about a current U.S. tour, which somehow slipped past me until after it actually got underway. If you live in Indiana, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, or Texas, then I am very, very sorry.

Just like Windhand, whose summer tour I wrote about yesterday, The Catalyst also come from Richmond, Virginia, and also are with Forcefield Records. These folks are really starting to make waves with their grunge/noise-rock/hardcore sound (Decibel Magazine mentions the “multi-directional weirdness of their AmRep-meets-Melvins-meets-thrash-meets-Lollapalooza-when-it-was-cool sonic soup”).

Their new album Voyager is set to be released on 04 September, in a 12″ vinyl format with full-color gatefold. However, you can get your hands on it earlier: during their tour, the band will have an advance limited run of the LP on clear and orange haze vinyl (limited to 200 pieces) available.

If, however, The Catalyst aren’t coming to your city (or if you live in one of the places they’ve already played), you can also pre-order a copy from Forcefield (here), limited to 100 copies in an orange and yellow swirl with black and red splatter. The pre-orders will ship on 13 August, so you’ll have it very soon — and around three weeks before the official release date!

 
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Damnit! Windhand Tour Started Last Week! Anyway, Here’s the Details…

 
In reviewing their self-titled debut album, Cvlt Nation calls Windhand “way more than a band that you should be on the look out for, they are a group of humans that will change the way you hear doom.”

With members who’ve also done time in bands like Alabama Thunderpussy, The Might Could, and Facedowninshit, Windhand are gaining enough recognition and accolades to stand out in what sometimes seems like a pretty crowded field of female-fronted occult doom, and rightfully so.

…Which is why I was pretty pissed off when I came across this announcement about their month-long U.S. tour, a week after the tour had already started — particularly when I discovered that they had already been to Pittsburgh last weekend and I hadn’t even heard anything about it until now! Clearly, I’ve been spending way too much time dealing with less-important bullshit (work, for example), and not enough time paying attention to goings-on in the world of good quality music!

So anyway, all of us folks who live in the northeast, and some parts of the midwest (Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan earlier this week) have already missed out — unless some of you readers have been more perceptive than me, and managed to catch one of those shows. But for the rest of you, who live all over the middle of the country or in the southeast, you’ve still got a chance. A full list of tourdates can be found below.

 
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