Every single Wednesday without fail, your hosts post a suitably stale video clip that we think needs to be revisited. Click here for more Crusty Clips. Got a clip you think we should post? Send it to crustcake@gmail.com.
by The WZA'd (ATX)
As a thirteen-year-old boy living in South Florida, I spent a lot of my time listening to 949 Zeta, the modern rock station. While it had plenty of terrible bands on it - Nickleback and Creed come to mind - it also turned me on to acts like Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, The White Stripes and Queens of the Stone Age.
When it came out, "No One Knows" hit me like a drunk with a brick. It still does.
After that, I went out and found Songs for the Deaf, which became my gateway drug into everything heavy (along with Zeppelin and Sabbath). For years, it was my rock Bible, and I would refer to it in dire times.
Recently, I've noticed that Decibel seems to be including it on their Top 100 Greatest Metal Albums of the Decade special issue, and I can't be more thrilled. In celebration, I'm posting a clip of the band playing one of my favorite cuts from that album, "A Song for the Dead," live in 2002. The lineup is considered by many fans to be the band's best, and perhaps the peak of their career - but I'll let you decide.
November 25, 2009
CRUSTY CLIP OF THE WEEK: QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE - 'A SONG FOR THE DEAD'
November 24, 2009
CRUSTCAKE PICKS - NEW CAKE IN THE OVEN: SKAGOS' ÁST
by Van Damned (ATX)
Download: Skagos - "Blossoms Will Sprout from the Carcass" [MP3]
Skagos meant "stone" in the old tongue. The Skagosi named themselves the stoneborn, but their fellow northmen called them Skaggs and liked them little. – George R. R. Martin, A Feast for Crows
The first full-length from British Columbia's Skagos, Ást*, opens with three-and-a-half minutes of hollow, murmuring tape drone – the echoing wind between snow-shrouded evergreens, no doubt. Like the storm-hardened stone clans from Martin's epic fantasy series, Skagos' entire character is a mirror-pond reflection of the ecology that defines it: hemlocks, cedars and firs, granite, slate, moss and lichens, cold, damp mist and endless, torrential rain. The Cascade range, which covers southern British Columbia, the bulk of northern Oregon, the whole of Washington state, and Idaho's panhandle, has proved to be fertile ground for a new, purely-North American strain of black metal, as lush and atmospheric as the forests it calls home (see: Velvet Cacoon, Fauna, Leech and Wake). Cascadia, as championed by these independent-to-the-point-of-secession, atavistic, vegan anarchists in places like Salem, Tacoma and Komoux Valley in Coast Salish territory, is both home and a rallying-cry.
Concepts like bio-sustainability, escape and freedom, and the rejection of traditional consumerism, form the architecture of Skagos' esoteric approach to black metal. "I believe that there is a very strong resurgent culture emerging within the insanity of our modern world," said bassist Raymond Hawes. "I think that it is a mindset that can come upon nearly anyone after they've opened themselves to the wisdom of instinct, or rather, ancient memory, and have attempted to reconnect themselves with the true forces of our world. Freedom is obviously of utmost importance, as an anarchist."
The rest of "Colossal Spell," those three-plus minutes of eerie, wind drones and deep delay are an understated prelude to the 50 minutes of true Cascadian black metal that follow. "The Drums Pound Every Night in a Glorious Celebration of Life" opens with a regal intro riff, the kind Ihsahn or Tom Warrior would be proud of, before trailing off in a near-liturgical ringing guitar chime. The rest is sweeping waves of Filosofem-worthy, minor-key, mid-paced blackness interspersed with swells of major-key, post-Aaron Turner dynamic shifts and molten Azagthoth churn. The album's standout is "Blossoms Will Sprout From the Carcass," which begins with a psych-flavored spiraling guitar motif and low-end vocal drone that ramps into an upbeat, blackened gallop that wouldn't be out of place on Instinct:Decay. Then in one swift move, guitarist/vocalist Isaac Symonds and Hawes (Iskra), Skagos' core, pull the rug out with with an absolutely-stunning, subsonic Gregorian vocal drone/chant and majestic horns that fade into gorgeous vocal harmony – and this is only at halftime. Without giving too much away, other movements include crashing stabs of distortion and noise at SUNN-level tempos, snaking feedback loops, folk instruments and more of that mournful, sleet-covered black metal peculiar to the region.
"...With a Warm Recollection" is all slow-boiling, bowed guitar drone, softly-strummed campfire acoustics and hand drums, elegiac keys and violins that ebb into the colossal "Caliginosity," another epic beginning with an echo-heavy, finger-picked acoustic intro that segues into more dark, endless drifts of (dutifully frost-bitten and snow-covered) orchestral, blackend gallop. Like the triumphal dawn on an icy, winter solstice morning, "A Night That Ends, As All Nights End, When the Sun Rises" again brings out the acoustic guitar and hand drums for an extended intro jam. Only halfway through does the double-tracked tremolo icicle plunge, heralding a trailing departure into that smeary, rain-drenched, double-kick thunder pioneered in these mist-shrouded mountains. "The album deals with the passage of summer unto winter, the spiraling iteration that is infinity," Hawes said in a post about the album on the band's blog. "From the first storms of summer, to the beautiful rot of fall, to the endless, freezing fog of winter, the album covers every moment. Spring has come, and the release has met it's first light. We are cleansed."
Though Eternal Warfare released Ást as a limited-to-300 cassette in March of this year, Skagos just released their first CD EP, Litha MMIX (Things Behind the Moon), featuring two teaser tracks from Ást and a re-working of Wolves in the Throne Room's "Of Vastness and Sorrow." Litha was originally available at Skagos' live counterpart Kamlaniye's shows during their mid-summer rituals. Even newer is a split cassette with Seattle's Wake, The Groan of Ancient Pines (Eternal Warfare). Upcoming: a CD version of Ást, an early 2010 release for their second full-length, An-Archic, and a possible three-way split with Panopticon and Throndt. "Ást and An-Archic are interdependent to one another in a cyclical manor: summer unto winter, winter unto summer," Hawes said. He said Skagos also has plans to release both in a double-CD digipack.
Now I would be editorially remiss in not mentioning Cascadian black metal's arguable superstars: the deeply polarizing, yet undeniably influential Wolves in the Throne Room. And while their phenomenal success has been met with cries of falseness from local scenesters, it's evident that the sound they helped engender resonates with people and in places far out from under the shadows from Mt. Rainier. Unfortunately for Wolves, corporate acceptance does not guarantee inventive songwriting, which is how Ást came to outshine Black Cascade in terms of cohesion, composition and innovation.
*meaning "pure love" in Icelandic and, interestingly, in Faroese, spoken by the people of the Faroe Islands, a small island group halfway between Iceland and Scotland who share close cultural ties with Iceland, yet are under Danish political authority. Faroese is believed to be among three insular Scandanavian languages, along with Icelandic and the now-extinct Norn, that desceded from Viking-era Old Norse. "Ást means cherishing the hardships of those you love, for you know that afterward they will be stronger for it," Hawes said. "Skagos sees winter as the earth's ást unto all living things." In an additional note, the pagan, folk metal band Týr, so-named for the war god son of Odin, hail from the Faroe Islands.
Continue Reading...
CRUSTCAKE PICKS CHICAGO SHOWS 11/25 -12/02
Photo and picks by guest blogger Carmelo Espanola (CHI)
Aaah, it's that time of the year again. Where friends and family gather together to celebrate the long revered tradition of Thanksgiving. Where we sit down on the table and eat traditional fare such as turkey (or tofurkey for our veggie friends), green bean casserole and pumpkin pie. Where our siblings would talk on and on about how successful they are in their careers. Where our childhood friends force us to play football outside in the cold. Where we stay up all night so we can go get trampled upon by crazy soccer moms at Best Buy...
...but for those of us Chicagoans who dread having to go do these totally un-metal activities during this holiday, have no fear! Despite the rather empty streets, there is actually a good number of shows to go to during this week.
On the night before Turkey Day, Georgia's Black Tusk and Florida's Dark Castle are playing a free show at the Cobra Lounge with local favorites Plague Bringer (pictured above) and The Atlas Moth. On the other side of town, Baroness are bringing their southern flavored metal to Reggie's Rock Club with the doom of Earthless from Maryland and U.S. Christmas from North Carolina. Your wide eyed folks might just ask you where you got that new beard from.
After Thanksgiving, noise rock OG's The Jesus Lizard play 2 sold out shows at the Metro on Friday and Saturday. David Yow and the dudes have been destroying eardrums for over 20 years, and they can surely still kick everyone's asses as evidenced earlier this year at Pitchfork, Fun, Fun, Fun Fest and the Vice anniversary party. Be prepared for David Yow's balls to land on your face. Hard.
Not lucky enough to get into one of these Jesus Lizard shows? Dude Fest alumni Weekend Nachos are gonna kick off their west coast tour with a show at the Albion House on Friday. This is a tiny basement, and the Nachos put on a ferociously wild show wherever they go, so don't be surprised if you get caught in a sweaty pile-on with a bunch of crazy dudes and dudettes.
Need a breather from all the craziness? The Empty Bottle hosts a free show with the cello-powered drone riffs of Helen Money, the Death In June meets Black Sabbath sounds of Anatomy of Habit and the experimental musings of Fielded. However, if you prefer to continue the wild and crazy pace of the weekend, Japanese pyscho-grinders Melt Banana will satisfy these at the Bottom Lounge with Triclops! and 97-Shiki.
To cap this week off with a bang-OVER, Municipal Waste will decimate Subterranean with Off With Their Heads, Phobia and Cauldron. Stage dives, circle pits, sing alongs, and all out tomfoolery are mandatory.
Have a safe holiday and enjoy the shows!
CRUStCAKE PICKS CHICAGO SHOWS 11/25 -12/02Wednesday November 25 - Black Tusk, Plague Bringer, The Atlas Moth, Dark Castle @ Cobra Lounge (FREE)
- Baroness, Earthless, U.S. Christmas @ Reggie's Rock Club
Friday November 27 - The Jesus Lizard, Model/Actress @ Metro
- Weekend Nachos, Like Bats, The Catburglars, RazorxFade @ Albion House
Satrday November 28 - The Jesus Lizard, Triclops! @ Metro
Monday November 30 - Helen Money, Anatomy of Habit, Fielded @ Empty Bottle
- Melt Banana, Triclops!, 97-Shiki @ Bottom Lounge
Wednesday December 2 - Municipal Waste, Off With Their Heads, Phobia, Cauldron @ Subterranean
November 20, 2009
CRUSTCAKE PICKS - NEW CAKE IN THE OVEN: PYRAMIDS WITH NADJA'S S/T
by Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)
Listen: Pyramids with Nadja - S/T [Stream]
Denton, Texas' Pyramids and Toronto's Nadja are both often accurately described as "lush," though the bands arrive at that point through entirely different vessels. Pyramids, drawing heavily from dream pop, are more concise with their songs. They also experiment with electronic elements and some rather Transilvanian Hunger-like drum bursts. Najda are much more drawn out, using ambient music as a compositional style for a heavily-layered take on metal. Most of their records (and they've got an extensive discography) follow this template, with subtle differences between each, a rather Motörhead-ish quality despite the fact that Lemmy would balk at writing a seven-minute song, much less a 17-minute one. Both bands can either sound delicately warm or punishingly cold, but Nadja is more explicit with those distinctions, while in Pyramids, those feelings tend to ebb and flow throughout the songs.
So what would happen if the two got together?
Nadja (above) essentially stretches out Pyramids on the bands' debut collaboration. Pyramids still have their brittle melodies, kraut electronics and ear for dynamics, just elongated by Nadja's song lengths. So do their guts spill out and make a dreadful mess of things from being stretched so far? Quite the opposite: the bands meld together quite well. Pyramids interject a percussive feel to these songs, and given that Nadja are not known for their drum work, this contribution is invaluable. This is noticeable on the opener "Into the Silent Waves," with its occasional lo-fi, low-rumble, war march drums breaking up the lull in the middle of the track. The album drifts, no doubt, but at least there's a few bumps to make your inner ascension (or declension, depending on how you roll) a more interesting ride.
Both bands also tend to put out a mind-fucker here and there, and the middle two tracks, "Another War" and the 21-minute epic "The Sound of Ice and Grass," are certainly mind-fuckers. "War" features sections of broken piano and slightly out-of-tune indie singing that forces you to let your guard down once you've become accustomed to the drone. In fact, the drone is more like a battle and the piano parts are like the lucid moments when the gunfire stops. "Ice" gradually shifts from lonely piano to unsettling guitar drone, then fades out with some Fennesz-esque glitch and soft shrieks of feedback. Subtlety does not equal pussyfooting here.
The most "metal" track on here would be the closer, "An Angel Was Heard to Cry Over the City of Rome." Alternating between a surging beat and other-worldly drone, it's this track where each band's style is most recognizable, yet it's hardly a botched skin graft. Like all the tracks, it possesses a semi-conscious narrative: this one being akin to fading in and out of witnessing total destruction. Whether that destruction is yourself, "Rome," or a loved one, well, it is what you make of it. Noise, ambiance, charging drums, drone, delicateness - they all come together in this track. An immensely heartfelt closer, bar none.
Usually in collaborations, there tends to be an overpowering force rather than a harmonic convergence between collaborators. Pyramids with Nadja is refreshingly the latter. Balancing the delicate and the overbearing is quite difficult, but both bands are able to do it successfully on this album. Recommended.
November 19, 2009
MAMMOTH GRINDER TO RELEASE CD ON RELAPSE, GO ON TOUR NEXT YEAR
Relapse Records announced it will publish Mammoth Grinder's album Extinction of Humanity in CD and digital formats December 8. The Austin threesome released the album on vinyl and tape earlier this year. For those of you with a vinyl fetish (like us), you can still buy the wax through Cyclopean Records, who also released an album by our other favorite Austin band, Iron Age. Pre-order the CD here.
This year, Relapse also published Weekend Nachos's previously-vinyl-only album on CD. Here is a label that knows good music! It's good to know that Mammoth Grinder, our favorite charging, sludgy death dealers, are receiving nation-wide recognition. It helps that they're going on tour next year, and trust us when we say that their live show is not to be missed.
Dates below.
Mammoth Grinder tour (All dates but the first are with Memphis's Dead City):January 2 Oklahoma City, OK @The Conservatory
January 3 Kansas City, MO @Scion Lab
January 4 Indianapolis, IN @1511 House
January 6 Cleveland, OH @Tower 2012
January 8 Haverhill, MA @Anchors Up
January 9 Manchester, NH @Rocko’s
January 10 Brockton, MA @Tiger’s Den
January 11 Philadelphia, PA @Kung Fu Necktie
January 12 Brooklyn, NY @The Charleston
January 13 Baltimore, MD @Charm City Art Space
January 15 Charlotte, NC @Lunchbox Records
January 16 Atlanta, GA @PS Warehouse
January 17 Jackson, MS @121 Studio
January 18 Memphis, TN @Hi Tone
EYEHATEGOD TO POLLUTE WEST COAST
So, West Coast. What up. Heard that Eyehategod was gonna roll through next month. Them Louisiana boys are some big-time shit-kickers. It ain't called the Dirty South for nothin', you know. Our boy The WZA'd saw them in Austin not too long ago and almost didn't make it out alive. You better stock up on whiskey. And heroin. And horny sisters. Just want things to run smoothly, bro.
Oh, you need an itinerary? Here you go:
Eyehategod West Coast Tour12/4 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
12/5 Portland, OR @ Satyricon
12/6 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater w/ Cephalic Carnage
12/11 San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
12/12 Los Angeles, CA @ Ultra Violet
12/13 Tempe, AZ @ Clubhouse
LIVE REVIEW: GWAR AND JOB FOR A COWBOY
GWAR
When: November 11, 2009
Where: Gothic Theatre, Englewood, CO
With: Job for a Cowboy, The Red Chord
by Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)
At most metal shows, the dress code is "none more black." At GWAR shows, however, if your shirt isn't covered in blue blood and green bile, you weren't really at a GWAR show, were you? The group of intergalactic badasses, led by vocalist and Fox News' Red Eye's interplanetary correspondent Oderus Urungus, always bring a hellishly good show with them, where no human goes unsacrificed. GWAR brought their freak show to the Gothic Theatre on November 11 in support of Lust in Space, and global destruction almost materialized.
Sadly, I was not able to see Massachusetts' The Red Chord open. I was really looking forward to seeing the band that mixed death metal and hardcore before "deathcore" became a Jim Crow-esque tag amongst metalheads. Alas, the first band I saw play was one of metal's most polarizing: Arizona's Job for a Cowboy, for whom the "deathcore" tag is often used in the manner just mentioned. Their set, if you kept an eye on the crowd, was a microcosm of the attitudes towards them in the metal sphere: some fanatics, a few die-hard haters wishing GWAR would eat them, and a lot of people who didn't care. In fact, the floor was the opposite of a hurricane. There was a violent eye in the middle of stock-still masses of storm clouds, standing impatiently, waiting to swallow Oderus Urungus' bloody sperm. The most interesting aspect of Job for a Cowboy's set, however, was their conscious eschewing of their deathcore past. Most of the setlist consisted of their more straight death metal tunes, and the only pre-Genesis songs they played were "Knee Deep" and "Entombment of a Machine." Furthermore, in those two songs, vocalist Jonny Davy did not pig squeal at all, opting for more traditional death vocals instead. Pig squeals are god-awful, but was the move artistically genuine or superficial? I'm still pondering that. To Job for a Cowboy's credit, when certain members of the crowd begin yelling "GWAR! GWAR!," they took it rather well and used it to prompt the usual "give it up for (band)" shtick, a standard part of most bands' routines.
In all truth, most of the crowd was there for GWAR – and GWAR only. Before the space warriors took the stage, a "Behind the Music" parody and mini-documentary called "Behind the Murder" was shown. The film gave us a glimpse at guitarist Balsac the Jaws of Death's sensitive side and Oderus Urungus' struggles with crack cocaine. Of course, once the flick ended and GWAR appeared, the crowd went NUTS. They soaked up all of the blood and piss coming out of the cannon GWAR's slaves bring out early in the set. This intensity was consistent throughout the show, whether the band was executing "Michael Jackson" or killing a homeless alien. Whether you like the band's music or not, you have to give it up for the band keeping up with the act for more than 25 years.
Most GWAR concerts and albums are based around a story, and this time, GWAR are forced to once again combat Cardinal Syn, from the Ragnarock album. Cardinal Syn is an evil Catholic robot on a quest to homogenize the universe and turn GWAR into a Christian rock band. Complicating matters was that Oderus Urungus has lost the Cuttlefish of Cthulhu, either because he left it in the ass of a transvestite or a clerical error in Tulsa, Oklahoma (crack affects your memory, you know.) As a result, he was forced to use a human penis to perform such daily tasks as raping babies and forcing members of the audience to give fellate him. In the end, however, Cardinal Syn went down and GWAR scored themselves a boulder of crack. Overall, the story wasn't as tight-knit as the stories from the Beyond Hell and election tours ("Hilary Clinton" getting her tits ripped off is still one of my favorite GWAR moments), but it was still entertaining to see a Catholic robot get his ass kicked.
Worth 20 bucks? To you, the concert-goer, I'd say yes.
November 18, 2009
CRUSTCAKE PICKS: DENVER SHOWS 11/19 - 11/25
by Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)
The Municipal Waste tour might be skipping over Denver, but that doesn't mean there won't be anything massively aggressive going down up here.
Maynard James Keenan's everything-and-the-kitchen-sink project Puscifer will roost in the Paramount Theatre for a two-night stint. If you've seen Tool live at least once, then you'll know that Maynard is not a "Hello, Cleveland" sort of dude. And for once, the weed smog might rival that of Boulder's (which, by the way, not only has medical marijuana clinics but a fucking marijuana church!).
If you prefer your metal on the posty side, fear not, for Russian Circles will be playing the Marquis Theatre Saturday. Expect plenty of beards and ear plugs. Attack Attack! are playing the same right, but we advise against going, because, as per a certain South Park episode, little vaginas might start popping up all over your skin.
Monday will be a motherfucking showdown. In the red corner, we've got two heavyweight champions, Hatebreed and Cannibal Corpse. In the blue corner, we've got Converge, whose nimbleness should not be mistaken for a lack of sonic heft. Bulging necks or an art gallery full of neck tattoos? Who will win the match? We're rooting for Converge.
Click below for more info.Friday November 20 - Puscifer, Neil Hamburger, Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival @ Paramount Theatre
Saturday November 21 - Puscifer, Neil Hamburger, Uncle Scratch's Gospel Revival @ Paramount Theatre
- Russian Circles, Git Some, Young Widows @ Marquis Theatre
Monday November 23 - Hatebreed, Cannibal Corpse, Unearth, Hate Eternal, Born of Osiris @ Ogden Theatre
- Converge, Signatures, Ruining Seed, Spoken in Fire @ The Black Sheep
HYPOCRISY CANCEL U.S. TOUR DUE TO IMMIGRATION ISSUES
Well, shit.
After battling to get into the country, Sweden's Hypocrisy have canceled their U.S. tour with Ensiferum, Blackguard and Swashbuckle. We previously reported that Canada's Ex Deo had to drop off the tour, also due to problems with immigration. Man, this tour just has no luck, does it? We're still confident the rest of the bands will kill it though, and we eagerly await the return of Hypocrisy to our shores.
The band released the following statement:
“We regretfully have to officially announce the cancellation of our tour in North America. We’ve tried everything so far and it seems like the process will take longer than expected for one of the members in the band. We will try to come back as soon as possible, as we want to show our U.S. fans that we care for them and we are ready to play the new songs live!”Click below for remaining tour dates.
Ensiferum and Blackguard
11/17/09 The Galaxy Theatre – Santa Ana, CA
11/18/09 The Key Club – Hollywood, CA
11/19/09 DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA
11/20/09 Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
11/21/09 Studio Seven – Seattle, WA
11/22/09 Rickshaw Theatre – Vancouver, BC – CANADA
11/23/09 The Warehouse – Calgary, AB – CANADA
11/24/09 Starlite Room – Edmonton, AB – CANADA
11/25/09 The Exchange – Regina, SK – CANADA
11/27/09 The Zoo – Winnipeg, MB – CANADA
11/28/09 Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
11/29/09 House of Blues – Chicago, IL^
11/30/09 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH^
12/01/09 The Opera House – Toronto, ON – CANADA*^
12/02/09 Imperial de Quebec – Quebec City, QC – CANADA*^
12/03/09 Le Medley – Montreal, QC – CANADA*^
12/04/09 The Palladium – Worcester, MA*^
12/05/09 Irving Plaza – New York, NY*^
* - w/ Swashbuckle
^ - w/ Ex Deo
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SLAYER/MEGADETH/TESTAMENT TOUR THE U.S.
Slayer, Megadeth and Testament, legends in thrash and metal all, are set to tour North America early next year in support of new albums World Painted Blood, Endgame and The Formation of Damnation, respectively. The former two albums recently came out to critical acclaim, with most reviewers citing welcome returns to form for the two mega-watt headliners.
This announcement for the "American Carnage" tour comes in midst of rumors about a "Big Four" tour that would have included Metallica and Anthrax instead of Testament, and later rumors that included fellow Bay Area-heshers High on Fire. We haven't seen hide nor hair of High on Fire in any recent press releases regarding this tour, though, so we're speculating that they will instead be back in the studio finalizing their new album (set to be released January 23rd) after pausing to tour in support of Mastodon and Dethklok, as well as with Lamb of God on a small Australian tour that will end mid-December.
Tour dates below.
Slayer/Megadeth/Testament Tour:1/18 Seattle, WA @ WaMu Theatre
1/19 Portland, OR @ Memorial Coliseum
1/21 San Francisco, CA @ Cow Palace
1/22 Long Beach, CA @ Long Beach Arena
1/23 Phoenix, AZ @ Dodge Theatre
1/25 Denver, CO @ Magness Arena
1/26 Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
1/27 El Paso, TX @ El Paso Coliseum
1/29 Houston, TX @ Verizon Wireless
1/31 Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium
2/1 Duluth, GA @ Gwinnett Arena
2/2 Louisville, KY @ Broadbent Arena
2/4 Minneapolis, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium
2/5 Chicago, IL @ UIC Pavilion
2/6 Detroit, MI @ Cobo Arena
2/9 Wallingford, CT @ Chevrolet Theatre
2/11 East Rutherford, NJ @ Izod Center
2/13 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Center
2/14 Lowell, MA @ Tsongas Arena
2/16 Quebec City, QC @ Pavillon de La Jeunesse
2/18 London, ON @ John Labatt Centre
2/19 Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
2/20 Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre
2/22 Moncton, NB @ Moncton Coliseum
2/23 Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre
November 17, 2009
CRUSTCAKE REVIEWS: SAKES ALIVE!! - ACT II 7"
by theseseans (NYC)
Download: Sakes Alive!! - "The Open Maw" [MP3]
Following their excellent Act I, upstate New York's Sakes Alive!! deliver Act II, second in a three-part seven-inch series. Within the string of releases, Sakes Alive!! spread a full-length's worth of material over three seven-inches, each released on a different label. Act II follows Act I in general terms of style: melodic punk rock with a healthy dose of vocalist Chris Vandeviver's blackened howl. The songs themselves, however, are much darker. Said Vandeviver:
I view each seven-inch as part of a "trilogy". For example, Star Wars has "A New Hope," which is the solid, classic 'hero-saving-the-day' type of movie ("Act I.") The sequel is always a cliff-hanger of sorts. "Empire Strikes Back" gets dark, and we're not so sure where the hell things are gonna go – Han Solo is frozen, Luke's father is Darth Vader, the team is separated, etc... – ("Act II.") That's where we are in our trilogy.On their own, these songs are peculiar, lacking the movement of Act I's natural surge and swell. "The Open Maw" begins with low-fi everything only to explode after Vandeviver delivers an indecipherable intro. "Big Bang" uses unexpected minimalism as the song drifts between a lack of guitar to awkward guitar melodies and a verse/chorus that seem almost one. "Image Of Modern Man" doesn't seem like a closer, but maybe that's the point. When looking at these songs as the middle part of a full-length, "Image Of Modern Man" works perfectly; the song doesn't feel like an end, it makes me want more. The Empire Strikes Back, indeed.
Act II doesn't have the bite of an explosive beginning or the closure of a well-paced end. It does, however, display strong and creative songwriting, capable of style-blending without sacrifice. After listening to Act II, I am left with the strong desire for Act III. For that alone, this release is a resounding success.
Complete with a lyric sheet inside, the packaging for Act II is simple but very effective. The graphics are busy and present details easy to overlook, but the artistic scope never out goes beyond it's means. At the end of the day, this is a 7" and the art work is simple enough to be appropriate, to not feel excessive or get wrapped up in it's own complexity.
Audio: 7/10
Visual: 7/10
[Front Cover]
[Back Cover]
[Record]
[Pre-Order]: Sakes Alive!! - Act II
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SUFFOCATION RELEASE VIDEO FOR "CATACLYSMIC PURIFICATION"
New York's long-standing death metal stalwarts Suffocation have released a video for "Cataclysmic Purification," the lead track from this year's stellar Blood Oath. The video was directed by legendary hardcore videographer David Brodsky of My Good Eye.
Relapse also recently released The Close of a Chapter, a live Suffocation album recorded in Quebec in 2005. You can buy that here.
PENTAGRAM TO PILLAGE NORTH AMERICA WITH THE GATES OF SLUMBER
Photo credit: HeadovMetal
Real talk: are you ready for the legendary Pentagram AND The Gates of Slumber to be in town? More importantly, are your lungs, liver and eardrums ready? Well, you better find out by January, as the two groups will embark on a short U.S. tour then. "Killer" is putting it lightly.
Pentagram have been bursting with energy after a successful summer tour with Nachtmystium and a confirmed appearance at next year's Maryland Deathfest. If you don't know the reputation of the band, especially its impeccably-dressed frontman Bobby Liebling, are you really a headbanger? Get Day of Reckoning and fix that, sucka. The Gates of Slumber are also on a roll as their totally badass new album, Hymns of Blood and Thunder came out back in September to critical acclaim and a massacre of poseurs (well, one can wish on the latter.) They're lifers who worship their Manilla Road and Saint Vitus records, but also have some new tricks up their sleeves.
Confirmed dates after the jump.
Pentagram with The Gates of SlumberJanuary 15 Springfield, VA Jaxx
January 16 Philadelphia, PA Polaris
January 17 New York, NY B.B. King Blues Club
January 18 Richmond, VA The Hat Factory
January 21 New Orleans, LA The Howlin' Wolf
January 23 Atlanta, GA The Masquerade
January 26 Des Moines, IA Vaudeville Mews
January 27 Madison, WI High Noon
January 28 Cleveland, OH Peabody's
January 29 Detroit, MI Blondie's
January 30 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
November 16, 2009
LIVE REVIEW: EYEHATEGOD, KEGCHARGE, MAMMOTH GRINDER, CURSE THE HEAVENS
by The WZA'd (ATX)
Eyehategod
When: Friday, November 6th, 2009
Where: Emo's Inside, Austin, TX
With: Kegcharge, Mammoth Grinder, Curse the Heavens
After the Eyehategod show, I got home and looked at my shirtless self in the mirror. Bruises covered my ribs and sides. There was a dark spot under my right eye where my face collided with the back of somebody’s head. With the arm-band I had on for Fun Fun Fun Fest (which took place the following morning), I looked like an escaped hospital patient.
It was a hell of a night. Three local bands opened for New Orleans’s Eyehategod, but they weren’t your usual 6th street bar bands – Curse the Heavens, Mammoth Grinder and Kegcharge each played strong, straightforward sets. Curse the Heavens started the night with some noisy, up-tempo sludge and were really good for the first 15 minutes, but they would have benefited from a more concise set. Mammoth Grinder, on the other hand, rocked Emo’s with relentless bottom-heavy death metal. Kegcharge changed the mood with a bit of classic D-beat crust, which brought out all the punks in the audience. Much headbanging occurred for each band.
Then it was time for Eyehategod. True to form, each member slowly made his way to the stage. The speed at which they began their first song was agonizing. Drummer Joey LaCaze took his sweet time bringing his sticks down, and after every hit came a wave of feedback-laden drone. Tension built in the club until finally, after a minute or more, the band jumped into “Blank” and I jumped into the pit, happily doomed to suffer physical pain.
Everything was perfect: the pit was violent, the band was in time and loud. The crowd roared with the beginning of each familiar song (they played all the good ones, of course) and the pit surged with enthusiasm. Stagedivers turned into crowdsurfers turned into moshers and headbangers. Mike Williams didn’t pass out until the end, after they played “Take as Needed for Pain.” He fell, but landed on a cushion of hundreds of gentle, admiring hands.
It all makes sense now - there’s nothing close to seeing Eyehategod play live. Simply put, their records do not do them full justice: drunk or high, sloppy or together, conscious or not, Eyehategod are meant to be experienced up close and personally. And you can't get much closer or more personal than standing in the pit, receiving a high-five from a beyond-messed-up Mike IX and screaming “burn her!” with the rest of the audience.
Special thanks go to Chuck Loesch for getting Van and I into the show. He DJs No Control Radio on 101X every Friday from 10pm – 1am. He plays metal. You know, the good stuff.
PIG DESTROYER TO RELEASE NEW ALBUM IN FALL OF '10
Pig Destroyer have finally finished work on their new home studio (after recording in the basement of one of their parents' houses for the last few years) and are writing material for a new album, which will (hopefully) be recorded this winter and released next fall. We don't have any more information than that because there isn't any, but for now we can certainly speculate on how good the album is going to be.
Mmmm. Now that's some good speculatin'.
WEEKEND NACHOS TO TOUR AFTER FEASTING (ON TURKEY, STUFFING)
Download: Weekend Nachos - "Nights" [MP3]
[Stream]: Weekend Nachos - Unforgivable
Starting the day after Thanksgiving, Chicago's Weekend Nachos will hit the road in support of their massive (and quite frankly, intimidating) full-length, Unforgivable. Beginning with the band's hometown, Weekend Nachos will take their refreshingly grind-y spin on hardcore due west. Enjoy the download and stream above; tour dates after the jump.
Weekend Nachos 2009 Fall tour datesNovember 27 Chicago, IL Albion House
November 28 Cedar Falls, IA 1108 House
November 29 Lincoln, NE Ghost House
November 30 Denver, CO Blast-o-mat
December 1 Albuquerque, NM Peace and Justice Center
December 2 Tempe, AZ The Slurp
December 3 Murrieta, CA Galindos
December 4 Fresno, CA Chinatown Youth Center
December 5 Oakland, CA Your House
December 6 Boyle Heights, CA The Blvd.
December 7 Tucson, AZ The Living Room
December 8 El Paso, TX No Man’s Land
December 9 Austin, TX Snake Eye’s
December 10 Houston, TX The Third Floor
December 11 Little Rock, AR Vino’s
December 12 Champaign, IL Terror House
November 13, 2009
CRUSTCAKE PICKS - NEW CAKE IN THE OVEN: COALESCE'S OXEP
By The WZA'd (ATX)
Download: Coalesce - "Through Sparrows I Rest" [MP3]
Earlier this year, Coalesce came back into our collective consciousness like some phantom-of-the-hardcore-opera and proceeded to capture our hearts with the incredible Ox. The album was largely a return to form, with instrumental "Americana" interludes that opened up their dense, noisy hardcore and gave the band a new aesthetic.
November's OXEP, a companion EP to Ox, finds Coalesce exploring that aspect of their music more fully. "Through Sparrows I Rest" is a dirge-y, trudging beast of a song that takes one of the interludes on Ox and adds a flatbed-load of heavy. "Absent in My Death" begins with soft Morricone-esque guitar before the bass kicks in, but the yelling passes almost as soon as it starts, leaving the listener feeling like something important happened, just out of reach.
Crustcake caught up with guitarist Jes Steineger to ask a few questions about Coalesce's change in direction on their latest EP and the meaning of Americana to him.
"I’ve always thought of Coalesce as having two aspects that make it what it is: the complex dimension of our friendships with one another and the feeling of freedom we derive from playing the songs live," Steineger said. "Nothing about OXEP subverts those two aspects of what Coalesce is. It serves the exact same ends."
Steineger takes a philosophical viewpoint on their live shows, comparing them to "Pentecostal and Charismatic frenzies or shamanistic New Orleans voodoo practices," saying that "it all ultimately trades in rationality for emotion and that’s what I find in the kind of Americana I think Coalesce constitutes."
But what about this Americana concept? Steineger's explanation was, unsurprisingly, romantic as it was practical. "It captures a few sentiments I have about my earliest past, the sorts of family gatherings I grew up with in the country, the smell of diesel fuel and dirt from my family’s farm, a sense of identity that wasn’t abstract and intellectual but concrete and immediate. The musical dimension of Americana is really just the significance of self-identity that one assigns to the types of music that have come from American culture."
Sidestepping the touchy subject of American colonization and indigenous subjugation, Steineger instead mentioned he thinks of Americana as "that perspective which identifies some cultural artifact, in this case music, within the heritage of one of those American [subsets that make up the American working class]. Coalesce is surely such an artifact, one that is specifically identifiable by its Midwestern character."
We're glad they are, as OXEP is a fantastic 16-minute coda to one of the year's best albums, bar none.
Buy Coalesce - OXEP [here]
DARK CASTLE, THE ATLAS MOTH BRING EVERYTHING TO THE ROAD
If you could only see one tour this year, we might just suggest Dark Castle and The Atlas Moth's trek across the country*. Tall order we know. There are other shows we would rather see. But if you had to get everything, everything, in one show and have it really be good? This is the show to see. NYC gets a peek at all this goodness this Tuesday the 17th, at Union Pool, presented by Brooklyn Vegan. Dark Castle's doom is quality; The Atlas Moth bring psych-metal some much needed balls. For this show, New York bands Wetnurse and Tiger Flowers (metal/hardcore done with invigorating zeal, aka how the fuck haven't we heard these guys before?). Each band does something a little different and they all do it exceptionally well and you'll get to see this show in a real venue. No cartoon fans there to heckle, no over priced tickets. Hell, you might even have a shot at picking up the bartender.
Dates below.
* = Okay, so the whole tour isn't together, but there's a good stretch together. Here's all the dates.
The Atlas Moth 2009Nov 10 2009 The Triple W/ WETNURSE Richmond, Virginia
Dark Castle 2009 tour dates
Nov 11 2009 Starlight Ballroom W/ WETNURSE Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nov 12 2009 The Sidebar W/ WETNURSE Baltimore, Maryland
Nov 13 2009 Court Tavern W/ WETNURSE New Brunswick, New Jersey
Nov 14 2009 The Sweatshop W/ WETNURSE Providence, Rhode Island
Nov 15 2009 Unit 11 W/ WETNURSE Allston, Massachusetts
Nov 17 2009 Union Pool W/ DARK CASTLE & WETNURSE Brooklyn, New York
Nov 18 2009 The Spot W/ DARK CASTLE Akron
Nov 20 2009 Elbow Room W/ DARK CASTLE Ypsilanti, Michigan
Nov 21 2009 Mac Bar W/ DARK CASTLE Lansing, Michigan
Nov 22 2009 Carabar W/ DARK CASTLE Columbus, Ohio
Nov 23 2009 Belvederes W/ DARK CASTLE Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nov 24 2009 The Vollrath W/ DARK CASTLE Indianapolis, Indiana
Nov 25 2009 Cobra Lounge W/ DARK CASTLE Chicago, IllinoisNov 6 2009 The Warehouse w/ The Atlas Moth, Hollow Leg Jacksonville, Florida
Nov 7 2009 Lenny’s w/ The Atlas Moth, Music Hates You, Across Tundras, Subrig Destroyer Atlanta, Georgia
Nov 8 2009 The Village Cup w/ The Atlas Moth St Laurens, South Carolina
Nov 12 2009 Anti Pop Festival @ Wills Pub w/ Black Cobra, Black Tusk & more Orlando, Florida
Nov 13 2009 Farm 255 w/ American Cheeseburger Athens, Georgia
Nov 14 2009 Static Age Records w/ Kakistocracy, From The Depths Asheville, North Carolina
Nov 15 2009 Legit Biz w/ Irata Greensboro, North Carolina
Nov 16 2009 The Marblehaus w/ Salome, Darsombra College Park, Maryland
Nov 17 2009 Union Pool w/ The Atlas Moth, Wet Nurse, Tiger Flowers Brooklyn, New York
Nov 18 2009 The Spot w/ The Atlas Moth, Rue, Sofa King Killer Akron, Ohio
Nov 19 2009 Cameron’s w/ Beast In The Field, Balboa, Sleepless Malice Flint, Michigan
Nov 20 2009 Elbow Room w/ The Atlas Moth, Ganon Ypsilanti, Michigan
Nov 21 2009 Mac’s Bar w/ The Atlas Moth, Satyrasis, Genocya Lansing, Michigan
Nov 22 2009 Carabar w/ The Atlas Moth, Struck By Lightning Columbus, Ohio
Nov 23 2009 Belvederes w/ The Atlas Moth, U.S. Christmas, Mahanaga Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Nov 24 2009 The Vollrath w/ The Atlas Moth Indianapolis, Indiana
Nov 25 2009 Cobra Lounge w/ The Atlas Moth, Black Tusk, Black Cobra, Plague Bringer Chicago, Illinois
Nov 28 2009 Madison/Milwaukee, WI @ TBA Madison/Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Nov 29 2009 The Aquarium w/ Battlefields, Wolvhammer Fargo, North Dakota
Nov 30 2009 Washington St. Arts Center Vermillion, South Dakota
Dec 1 2009 The Industry w/ Aseethe, Cloud Burial Iowa City, Iowa
Dec 2 2009 Cafe Berlin w/ Nonservium, Foriegn Theaters Columbia, Missouri
Dec 3 2009 Magruder’s w/ Dead Commuter Wichita, Kansas
Dec 4 2009 The Conservatory w/ Komarov, Dead Commuter Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Dec 5 2009 Phoenix Project w/ Vorvadoss, Four Days To Burn Dallas, Texas
Dec 6 2009 The Alamo w/ Four Days To Burn, Vorvadoss, Vaste Burai Ft. Worth, Texas
Dec 7 2009 Emo’s w/ Baroness, Iron Age Austin, Texas
Dec 8 2009 Warehouse Live w/ Baroness, Iron Age Houston, Texas
Dec 9 2009 One Eyed Jacks w/ Baroness, Iron Age New Orleans, Louisiana
Dec 10 2009 The Social w/ Baroness, Iron Age, Torche Orlando, Florida
KATATONIA RELEASE VIDEO FOR 'DAY AND THEN THE SHADE'
Swedish doom/death/goth band Katatonia have released their new video for "Day and Then the Shade," a song from their album Night is the New Day, which came out last week through Peaceville Records. The video chronicles a few lonely women losing their minds in a forest, complete with blood-oozing tree stumps and worm feedings. More importantly, the song itself continues in the direction of Katatonia's latest work, incorporating more rock and less death. While it might be a hard sell if you're a Brave Murder Day acolyte, you can judge the video's merits for yourself below.
LAUDANUM HEAD WEST - WEST IS DECIMATED
That's right folks - the west coast is gone. We're transmitting this from a post-Laudanum-west-coast-tour future, and let us tell you, it is bleak. We thought that with California's tolerance for doom and earthquakes we'd easily be able to fend off the crushing doom ambiance from Laudanum, but we were wrong. We logged the dates certain communities were destroyed by this steamroller of a band... click below for details. And if you're in the past, the lottery numbers for next week were- agh!
Laudanum 2009 tour with Japan's Black Ganion11/20- Eugene, OR. @ Epic Space w/ Casu Marzu
11/21- Portland, OR @ Plan B w/ Atriarch
11/22- Seattle, WA @ The Funhouse w/ Book of Black Earth
11/23- Olympia, WA @ Northern w/ Society Nurse & Funerot
11/24- Ashland, OR @ Stillwater w/ Ritual of War
11/25- San Francisco, CA @ Annie’s Social Club w/ Lethe & Worm Ouroboros
11/26- Live on KFJC Radio 89.7 / Broadcast On-Line
11/26- San Jose, CA @ The Gingerbread House w/ Bird
11/27- Los Angeles, CA @ The Relax Bar w/ TBA
11/28- Los Angeles, CA @ The Boulevard w/ Valdur & Lightning Swords of Death
11/29- Berkeley, CA @ Gilman w/ In Disgust & E Coli
ISIS, BARONESS BOTH RELEASE BEARD-SCRATCHINGLY GOOD VIDEOS
Both Baroness and ISIS have released videos for songs from their latest albums, Blue Record and Wavering Radiant, respectively. While these bands don't have all that much to do with each other, we think it's interesting that their videos share thematic elements. Without getting too philosophical on you, we'll just mention that they both deal with rebirth in differing kinds. Figuring the rest out is up to you.
The video for Baroness' "A Horse Called Golgotha" was directed by Joshua Green, who also directed their video for "Wanderlust." ISIS' video for "20 Minutes/40 Years" was directed by Matthew Santoro.
To view the ISIS video – and for some useful scientific information – click below.
One of the interesting things about this video is the use of (spoiler alert!) ferrofluid. We here at Crustcake didn't know what ferrofluid was, or that it even existed, before this video, but after a little research we know this: in short, it's a magnetic liquid. If you want to know more about how cool ferrofluid is, we recommend this video.
November 12, 2009
THE BLACKENED WEEKEND: SHRINEBUILDER, SKELETONWITCH, KRALLICE
Hey New Yorkers, ready for a three-day metal mini-fest featuring some of today's most forward-thinking heavy bands? The Blackened Music Series aims to bring you just that, starting this Friday.
The "Blackened Weekend" will first bring you a showcase of New York's burgeoning black metal scene, with performances by Krallice, Liturgy, Malkuth and Black Anvil, in addition to sets by Orphan and Skeletonwitch to keep things lively.
After all that, the mighty Shrinebuilder makes their New York debut, with Rwake and Liturgy opening. More details below.
Buy tickets here.
The Blackened Weekend:Friday, Nov. 13: Krallice, Liturgy, Malkuth, Orphan at Union Pool (curated by Speck), $10
Saturday, Nov. 14: Skeletonwitch, with Black Anvil at Union Pool, $10
Sunday, Nov. 15: Shrinebuilder, with Rwake and Liturgy at Le Poisson Rouge, $20
CRUSTCAKE PICKS: DENVER SHOWS 11/12 - 11/18
by Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)
Recovered from the GWAR show (Crustcake review coming soon!) the other night, Denverites? Here's some more metal to feed your addictions.
If you like your crust on the sludgy side (or your sludge on the crusty side), Santa Rosa, California's Litany for the Whale will plenty satisfy you. They'll be playing at the small 3 Kings Tavern, but their sound is anything but minuscule. Perhaps one day, Litany for the Whale be huge and you can boast you saw them in a tiny club, kind of like I do about seeing Mastodon years ago. The WZA'd reviewed their record earlier this year, so you know those Cali boys have got crustcake's seal of approval.
Make the jump for more shows and info.
While it won't be the retro-mania of last week, Monday will bring about a lot of old hesher-ready partying when 3 Inches of Blood roll into town with 'cake favs Saviours. Saviours got a good reaction when they played with Kylesa last month, and we're willing to bet many Mile High residents are anxious to see them again. If you're feeling a little more mainstream, Wolfmother will be playing the same night at the Ogden Theatre. I think you will know who we prefer...but if you wanna spend the extra money, that's your prerogative.
Tech-death more your thing? Gorge in masturbatory pleasures when The Faceless and Dying Fetus team up at the Marquis Theatre on Wednesday. Both bands will make sure to play at the speed of light, and twice that if they're feeling vigorous. Vital Remains will also be there to provide a little Satanism with those constant arpeggio runs. Be careful though, you might be so tech'd out, you may start craving some Bone Awl.Sunday November 15 - Litany for the Whale @ 3 Kings Tavern
Monday November 16 - 3 Inches of Blood w/ Saviours, Holy Grail @ Marquis Theatre
- Wolfmother, Heartless Bastards, Thenewno2 @ Ogden Theatre
Wednesday, November 18 - The Faceless, Dying Fetus, Vital Remains, Enfold Darkness @ Marquis Theatre
CRUSTY CLIP OF THE WEEK: MORBID ANGEL - 'WHERE THE SLIME LIVE'
Every single Wednesday without fail, your hosts post a suitably stale video clip that we think needs to be revisited. Click here for more Crusty Clips. Got a clip you think we should post? Send it to crustcake@gmail.com.
by The WZA'd (ATX)
Sometimes a little chugging is all I need out of a death metal song. That's why I'm such a big fan of "Death Walking Terror." Morbid Angel know the wonders of the slow death chug (Ed. note: Hell, they practically invented it,) but unlike Cannibal Corpse, they're also smart enough to add liberal amounts of classical-flavored groove, not to mention Pete Sandoval's unparalleled maelstrom of double-bass kicks. Add that all together and you get ... slime? Sure. We'll bite. "Where the Slime Live," from 1995's classic (and totally fucking crushing) Domination, is one of Morbid Angel's most accessible and head-bangable songs and, as you'll see below, it's no wonder the track continues to rank among their most-popular songs.
This video is from their 2006 Wacken showing, but the song is old enough for it to be considered "crusty." Besides, it's a great video, and David Vincent makes a hilarious face 20 seconds in.
CRUSTCAKE PICKS: ATX SHOWS 11/12 - 11/16
by Van Damned and The WZA'd (ATX)
Hey there, Austinites. We know we already posted the bulk of this already, but we figured you might need the reminder. There is, after all, a lot to choose from. So here are your show picks for Thursday-Monday. Have a good time!
Virginia's crossover throwbacks Municipal Waste bring their "Waste the World" tour to Red 7 this Thursday. Perennial favorites Goatwhore return with some seriously feisty blackened thrash and crustgrind stalwarts Phobia open. Might want to bring a poncho to this one, as more than a little beer will surely be spilled in honor of the "Terror Shark." You'll just have to see it for yourself.
Friday, of course, is that one tour we've been salivating over for months. You know, that one. Anyway, by this point you shouldn't need us to tell you about the four bands playing, or how ass-kickingly awesome the whole show will be, or how much of an idiot you'll be for not going. We feel that, by now, the point should be pretty clear.
Saturday, the "Tour from Afar," featuring Finnish folk heroes Ensiferum, high-seas pirate metallers Swashbuckle and Blackguard and Peter Tägtgren's long-running Swedish death brigade Hypocrisy, comes ashore at Emo's. Our very own Andrew Wilhelm wrote a fine post about the tour's unfortunate loss of Canadian death gladiators Ex Deo. By the way, did you know that Tägtgren owns his own village? Yeah, neither did we. (Update: Well now it looks like Hypocrisy's having trouble with their visas. WTF, U.S. State Department?)
Tired yet? Don't be. A scant two months before they return to Texas with the mother of all progressive/technical death-jazz-fusion tours, Raleigh, NC's Between the Buried and Me bring the shred to Emo's Sunday night. Opening are Sumerian Records' Chicago deathcore peddlers Veil of Maya, eight-string axe-wielder Tosin Abasi's (Born of Osiris) Animals as Leaders and local deathsters Falsetta.
Finally, your Ten Days of Awesome Fucking Metal culminates with the last (of five) U.S. performance by drool-worthy super, supergroup Shrinebuilder Monday at Emo's. You might remember them from us here at the 'cake jocking their collective nuts since way back in December of 2007(!) but if you don't, here's an easy reminder: Neurosis + Sleep + Melvins + Wino = Shrinebuilder. Hope that's clear enough for you. Do not. Miss. This. Show.
So that's it. Hope you've saved your pennies, boys and girls, 'cause this is gonna be Epic with a capital E.
The only advice we got for you is this: consider earplugs.
INCREDIBLE, UNPARALLELED LINEUP OF SHOWS:Thursday, November 12th
Municipal Waste, Phobia, Goatwhore and Cauldron @ Red 7
Friday, November 13thMastodon, High on Fire, Converge and Dethklok @ Austin Music Hall
Saturday, November 14thEnsiferum, Hypocrisy(?), Blackguard, Swashbuckle @ Emo's
Monday, November 16thShrinebuilder @ Emo's
November 10, 2009
LIVE REVIEW: BONE AWL, CELESTIA
All photography by Fred Pessaro
by theseseans (NYC)
Bone Awl
When: Sunday, October 25, 2009
Where: Public Assembly, Brooklyn, NY
With: Celestia, Agrath
Opening the October 25th edition of Brandon Stosuy's excellent "Show No Mercy presents..." series, Agrath greeted me with full corpsepaint, skull-adorned instruments and frantic tremelo picking. I only caught two quick songs, but the band's over-the-top appearance, awesomely cryptic stage banter (delivered in a screeching black metal howl, natch) and seemingly competent material left a brief – but good – impression. I later found out that they were from Queens and was really impressed. From what little of them I did see, I did not get a "local band" feel.
Public Assembly was unusually packed for Bone Awl (above): I heard one audience member drove all the way from Maryland for the show. The crowd was was rambunctious and excited. Pits broke out, the crusties surged, beer was spilled. Fueling all the pushing and shoving was the California duo's primitive black metal/punk rock attack. Supplemented by the addition of a bass player, Bone Awl had an extra layer of force, the effectiveness of which was seen in the excitement of every squished patron present.
While Bone Awl's recordings take ownership of thin, noisy production, their live show was undoubtedly lifted by the addition of a stand-in bass player. The next night at Eyehategod, people were still raving about Bone Awl's performance. "They were incredible," one concert-goer raved, citing "black metal vocals over apocalyptic drums." I couldn't agree more. Sometimes Bone Awl really do sound like a march towards the end of everything. The only thing that surprised me was the mild reaction from Brooklyn Vegan's Fred Pessaro, who, after shooting the band, declared, "well the last time I saw them there was fucking circle pit!" Point taken, New York loves Bone Awl.
France's Celestia followed, delivering a solid, theatrical black metal performance for their only 2009 U.S. show. They, however, were bass-less and the sound was thin. During an over-long set-up, piped-in classical music meandered throughout the hall and the crowd began to thin. Bone Awl were the clear favorites, but Celestia came in force. The Avignon duo, here reinforced by a live drummer and additional guitarist, performed long and hard: stoic stage presence, full paint, black robes. Their delivery was spot on; their material, excellent. Bone Awl were just a hard act to follow.
Bone Awl
Celestia
End of the Night
November 9, 2009
FRESHLY BAKED: PLANNING FOR BURIAL
In "Freshly Baked," we feature promising young bands or bands that are otherwise lacking the attention we think they deserve.
[Stream]: Planning For Burial - Leaving
by Andrew Wilhelm (Denver)
On their Myspace, the only photos of Matawan, New Jersey's Planning for Burial are a few pictures of an organ and a close up of a few drums. No pictures of the band members exist. In fact, the band doesn't even bother using mysterious pseudonyms, as the band members are listed as "Guitar, Machines, Organ, Cymbals, Snare, Kick, Glockenspiel, Microphone, Cassette Recorder." Fuck me, we've got some real esoteric shit here.
To call this band "post-metal" or "post-rock" would be deceiving, as Planning for Burial are "post" both of those forms. In fact, the band itself might be "post-life" music, as the loneliness and darkness of the sound reflects being torn of all life, all happiness, all memories. Take for example, the song "Being a Teenager and the Awkwardness of Backseat Sex," off of their debut, Leaving. Getting laid in your dad's BMW during the big rivalry game is a great subject for a power-pop song. Stating the title blatantly, rather than using kitschy euphemisms, only highlight the mournful feedback drift and drum patterns that reverse the joy of such a subject. Young lust this ain't.
Like Isis, the vocals in Planning for Burial's music are somewhat drowned in the mix, but they add an ethereal gloominess highly appropriate for the music. The most metal part of the band comes from the blackened doom sludge that's incorporated in more of a ghostly fashion, rather than a straight-no-chaser bludgeoning. Post-rock structures are heavily used, and given the nature of the music, with plenty of minor keys. Remember Explosions in the Sky's most recent album, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone, and how it was dreary for a band known for uplifting songs? Planning for Burial is that, amplified by a million. Piano and organ are peppered in here and there, and when they're used, you're in for some real fucking funeral music. These elements most stand out during Leaving's closer and title track, which is a little over 13 minutes of unadulterated, melancholic drone. Lustmord may take you to the depths of hell, but Planning for Burial, with this track, take you into cold space, hovering over all that once was.
As Hellhammer once said: Only death is real. The band isn't named Planning for Burial for nothing.
Leaving is set for a physical release early next year.
