Monday Metal Update

by crustcake gerf (NYC)

Holy muthafuckin metal mania-- 2008 is starting to heat up!

Stockholm's finest, the mighty Opeth are making the rounds in Stateside in '08 as part of the 'Progressive Nation' tour. Also on the bill: Dream Theater, 3, and Between the Buried and Me, who were in the Big Apple last fall. Tickets are starting to pop up for some of the dates, but no NYC or LA tix available yet. Soon.

May 2 - Los Angeles, CA - Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, 3, Dream Theater @ Gibson Amphitheater

May 21 - New York, NY - Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, 3, Dream Theater @ Terminal 5
May 22 - New York, NY - Opeth, Between the Buried and Me, 3, Dream Theater @ Terminal 5

Opeth will be releasing Watershed, their highly-anticipated ninth studio LP, on June 3 via Roadrunner.

Speaking of highly-anticipated forthcoming albums, Miami thunder-pop extraordinaires Torche have made available a track from their sophomore LP, Meanderthal, which is due out a week following The Sword's mighty second coming. Check out the track, called "Piranha," at Torche's MySpace. It's got teeth.

Looks like we're getting a healthier dose of Torche this year-- Meanderthal has 13 tracks, three more than on their debut and six more than on last year's In Return. Meanderthal can't come soon enough-- the grooves on my In Return 10" are starting to wear out.

Still no NYC or LA dates, but Torche will be in the Hydrahead showcase at SXSW. If you're lucky enough to be going down to Austin, be sure to check out Solid PR's Showcase as well.

Solid PR - 2008 SXSW Showcase - Friday March 14th @ The Scoot Inn in Austin, TX @ 6pm

Outdoor Stage:
High On Fire
Unasne
Man Man
World/Inferno Friendship Society
Fucked Up
Paint it Black
Saviours

Inside Stage:
An Albatross
Team Robespierre
Foxy Shazam
Icy Demons
Buffalo Stance
The Chandelierres

If, like us, you can't afford to get down to Austin, not to worry. Our friends in the east can choose from the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest in Worcester, MA, or the Maryland Deathfest, in... Maryland.

Appearing at the Maryland Deathfest (5/23 - 5/28): Disfear-- whose Live the Storm has set the bar for metal in '08-- Anaal Nathrakh (their only scheduled US appearance)-- whose Hell is Empty, and all the Devils are Here made beatmasterspeech's top ten of last year-- and a bunch of brutally-named bands to boot (e.g. Torsofuck, Squash Bowels, Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition). Tix on sale now.

And for our friends on the left coast, there's LA Murderfest 4.0 (4/18 - 4/20). The lineup is quite astounding, including The Red Chord, Impaled, Genghis Tron, Magrudergrind, Vital Remains, Trap Them, human-hating vegetarians Cattle Decapitation, crustcake favorites Baroness, legendary grind pioneers Extreme Noise Terror, the mighty Converge, and more. Tickets will be available soon.

Not to worry, New Yorkers-- Converge, The Red Chord, Genghis Tron, and Baroness will be hitting our neck of the woods as well, on April Fool's Day.

April 1 - New York, NY - Converge, The Red Chord, Genghis Tron, Baroness @ Blender Theater

Trap Them will also be swinging through NYC, first on March 12 (with locals Tournament, who made little impression on me when I saw them last year) and then again on June 16 with Deathwish labelmates Killing the Dream.

March 12 - New York, NY - Trap Them, Tournament @ Charleston
June 16 - New York, NY - Trap Them, Killing the Dream @ Knitting Factory

So, it looks like I have a bit of a conundrum... You see, hardcore heros (and beatmasterspeech and Tomas Lindberg faves) Tragedy will be in town on my birthday, May 2. Also playing that same night? Ministry and Meshuggah. Luckily, M&M are playing the night before, May 1, as well. Also luckily, May 2 falls on a Friday this year, so I can make it a one-two punch of hardcore aggression and industrial+uber-technical metal mayhem without having to drag my ass into work all hungover. Happy birthday to me!

May 2 - New York, NY - Tragedy , Systematic Death , Government Warning , Disnihil @ Knitting Factory (tix)

April 5 - Los Angeles, CA - Ministry, Meshuggah @ House of Blues
April 6 - Los Angeles, CA - Ministry, Meshuggah @ House of Blues

May 1 - New York, NY - Ministry, Meshuggah @ Irving Plaza (tix)
May 2 - New York, NY - Ministry, Meshuggah @ Irving Plaza (tix)

Still with me? Chicago instru-metalists Pelican are hitting the road with Black Cobra and Unearthly Trance (whose Electrocution is out March 18 via Relapse).

May 4 - Brooklyn, NY - Pelican, Black Cobra, Unearthly Trance @ Music Hall Of Williamsburg (tix)
May 29 - Hollywood, CA - Pelican, Black Cobra, Unearthly Trance, Thrice, Circa Survive @ Avalon

Looks like I'll have a chance to make up for cutting out early on Hate Eternal the last time they came to town-- they'll be back in NYC on April 28, this time with Soilent Green and blackened-NWOBHM-thrashers Skeletonwitch. Hate Eternal's Fury and Flames is out tomorrow on Metal Blade. Fury and Flames' cover are was done by the talented Paul Romano (Mastodon, Dead to Fall, Earth).

Hate Eternal recently released the David-Brodsky-directed, Brooklyn-warehouse-set video for the song "Bringer of Storms."

And finally, speaking of Earth, Dylan Carlson and Co.'s sixth album hits stores next Tuesday. Via Brooklyn Vegan:

Dylan Carlson & Earth will release their latest opus "The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull" on Feb 26th, a twangy, dark western soundtrack-y effort that serves as a likely follow-up to last year's "Hibernaculum" and even features appearances on four tracks by the awesome Bill Frisell.

[MP3] Trap Them - "They Followed the Scent of Jihad All the Way to Thieves' Paradise"
[MP3] Earth - "Omens and Portents I: The Driver"
[MP3] Opeth - "Ghost of Perdition"