Rolling Metal 2017

wonder what the venue is going to say

Ultha apparently have jewish members too

This did actually happen, Neanderthal. The promoters have announced that the venue forced their hand.

well, Woe confirmed that that's what the promoters said (the official promoter's statement on FB, which I had translated from German to English, states they can't say the reason why, but that it was not their decision but solely the venue's).

I trust that Woe is being truthful though. this is an unfortunate and silly reason to remove someone from a festival in the days leading up to it. I don't want to poison the well for the rare black metal bands that actually espouse leftist ideology given how toxic so much of the BM scene is (less so than in the second wave but still).

ahh nm I also see the venue confirmed it now too. that's fucked.

wonder if the anti-Nazi laws in Germany got them skittish even though said bands aren't Nazis themselves and even Inquisition isn't sporting any banned images.

One of my favorite trad metal bands, Voltax from Mexico, have just released their fourth album (their first since 2013), No Retreat...You Surrender. You can get all four of their albums on Bandcamp for $18 US after conversion from pesos. You should do it, too, 'cause they rule.

https://voltax.bandcamp.com/album/no-retreat-you-surrender

Mastercastle's Wine of Heaven is a pretty rad symphonic power-metal record on first listen -- midtempo, not super tweaky speedy stuff, actually with some weird downtuning stuff that's p uncharacteristic of the genre...the singer's chops aren't in the Tarja class, more rock than aspirational-opera, but this record is really working for me this morning. RIYL Epica and would be interested in kinda more down-homey Epica

The new Suffocation album leaked over the weekend - more than six weeks before street date. That really sucks for them.

Just got a press release saying that Van Records now has a US officer and distro through Revolver here. That's pretty great as getting their stuff inexpensively was always a challenge and they invariably have an album or two a year I really like - this year it was Dread Sovereign, last year it was Mourning Beloveth and Urfaust.

guys this Lich King album is *fantastic*
http://music.lichkingmetal.com/album/the-omniclasm

also, second thrash album this year to feature the a pro-LGBT tune (but the first to feature a song about the horrors of child-rearing, to my knowledge)

jeez gridlink is intense

the Skadi album linked upthread is gorgeous

Loudness were all set to kick off their tour at Reggie's in Chicago tonight for a tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of their Lightning Strikes album. They've been doing this for decades, and I highly doubt there were any errors on their part on the paperwork. Bands are losing not only money in these last-minute cancelled tours, but the chance to do this again as clubs and promoters will be hesitant to book them again if this might continue to happen. Eventually fewer acts will attempt to come to the U.S. Yes the bureaucracy has always been ponderous for the smaller groups (bigger arena acts usually have more clout/resources to grease the gears), but is getting worse.

"Due to the new strict policies the US government has placed on foreigners entering the country, Loudness was denied entry into the United States and sent back home this morning."

Christ that sucks so bad. Prepping an int'l tour is a fuckload of work for a lot of people. Pointless, stupid.

Craven Idol
The Shackles of Mammon
(Dark Descent Records)
Release Date: 4/17/2017
Formats: CD/LP/Tape/Digi

http://www.unholymedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Craven-Idol-Cover-CC.jpg

http://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-shackles-of-mammon
http://open.spotify.com/album/5K3wsOktVasuHBuRCmPCAr
http://decibelmagazine.com/blog/2017/4/6/album-premiere-interview-craven-idol-smash-the-shackles-of-mammon

Very pissed off blackened metal with a lot going on undeneath the palpable anger. As Sean Frasier says at Decibel,

The Shackles of Mammon captures Craven Idol at their most frenzied, surging with the might and majesty of extreme metal's first wave.

"Besides keeping true to our foundations, I wanted to create a much more pissed off and furious record," shares guitarist/vocalist S. Vrath. "We wanted to draw more on our black/thrash/crust influences such as (Germany's) Poison, Bathory, and Master’s Hammer rather than Manilla Road, Venom, and Candlemass. I’m not saying those elements are missing, but the former is certainly more prevalent this time 'round."

guys this Lich King album is *fantastic*
http://music.lichkingmetal.com/album/the-omniclasm

Totally reverent, yet totally relevant as far as I am concerned.

Also, I love it that "Crossover Songs Are Too Damn Short" is the shortest song on the album!

seanwayne, formerly of this parish will be raging Loudness got cancelled

Where is he anyway? I miss the big lug.

he's on FB. I think he joined a band who tours japan a lot funnily enough

we need to get the hairy old git back on here

OK this Artificial Brain album's fucking crazy good

Like it starts off with some discordant death metal stuff done really well but keeps mutating and somehow manages to be a little catchy. Also some melodic parts remind me of StarGazer, which is about the highest compliment.

I wrote about Tokyo Blade.

listening to Artifical Brain, some very (to my ears) Gorguts-y stuff going on, or like a more brutal take on Stargazer. Ha and I just read your comment Jon

god damn, local news clip on the death of Internal Bleeding drummer (and firefighter) William Tolley

on a much much brighter note, there's a teaser clip for the new Progenie Terrestre Pura, coming at the end of May, and it sounds even cooler than the debut

well, I guess I can't link to the embedded video for some reason, but the PTP thing is on the Avantgarde timeline
https://www.facebook.com/avantgardemusiclabel/

edit: good grief I suck
https://www.facebook.com/avantgardemusiclabel/videos/10154277503982260/

Decibel Metal & Beer Fest starts today! Woo!

new mesarthim dropped https://mesarthim.bandcamp.com/album/presence-e-p

track one turns into straight techno about halfway through lmao

they did it again

really enjoying the smooth '90s r&b-ish backbeat on "presence"

actually there's a swing to it and a playfulness in the synth playing that makes me think they were going for a metal "my prerogative" feel

enjoying this blog featuring posts of plagiarism in metal cover art https://artplagiarism.wordpress.com/

features a mix of no-name bozos and p well known bands

Watching this Van Halen show from 1983 (remember when Van Halen counted as metal?) and trying to imagine the balls it takes to put the drum solo after the second song of your concert.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY3vt-48Zzk

track 3 of the new mesarthim has started and...um...holy shit

nothing that brad said up there is in any way misleading

I have bought every mesarthim release and I plan on keeping it up, excited to dive in

The new Obsessed album is a lot better/more interesting than I thought it would be. Wino runs pretty hot and cold for me; I loved Spirit Caravan, and the second and third Obsessed albums, but could easily live without ever hearing Place of Skulls, the Hidden Hand, or any of his solo albums ever again, especially not the acoustic ones. But this new Obsessed record is really good - he goes even more early '70s than before (Thin Lizzy and Mountain covers, a talkbox), without losing his essential biker-doom awesomeness. Highly recommended.

I, too, reviewed The Obsessed record. I also liked it.
It has a live Stinking Lizaveta review as well.

That plagiarism blog is amusing!

I'm digging this Tehom "The Merciless Light" CD on Blood Music (a label I'm starting to think of as relatively reliable). Very 1989-1991 sounding death metal, a lot of Morbid Angel (AoM/BaTS) riff influence, nice guitar tone, nothing new but fun. Also metal album #751 with a stylized occult anus on the cover.

http://i.imgur.com/OutrKhk.jpg?1

Also the dude from Exocytosis posted about this band on FB and they're kind of amazing, like NYC 80s scum rock, Jesus Lizard and King Crimson rolled into one. Not really metal but I dunno someone here might dig it and I couldn't think of where else to put it.

http://the-mass.bandcamp.com/album/ghost-fleet

Yeah, The Mass are great. I reviewed that album for The Wire.

Cool! Any idea if there was/is going to be a physical release?

new blood command album is out!!! it fuckin rips!!!!!! https://bloodcommand.bandcamp.com/album/cult-drugs

Playing the new Body Count now. There is some serious fucking shredding going on on this album.
― Don Van Gorp

Oh yeah, the Body Count album is out now. I'm gonna check that out today.
― jmm

I finally checked it out on Spotify and yeah, this is good. I wasn't expecting much for some reason as I recall only the debut being good and I haven't listened to that in years but this is really solid.

new Schammasch coming. last one continues to captivate, really a wonderful, excessive trip

https://schammasch.bandcamp.com/album/the-maldoror-chants-hermaphrodite

Nobody discussed it above but has anyone checked out the Nergal's Me And That Man project Songs of Love and Death?
It came out in January but the CD evidently had a US release date at the end of last month.
It's not metal but, with Behemoth's frontman, of obvious interest to metal fans.
It's also very, very good - Nick Cave meets Johnny Cash.

Nick Cave meets Johnny Cash

Exactly why I deleted the promo unheard.

My what a rebel.

I've never liked Nick Cave. And the whole "metal dude gets old, goes 'dark country'" thing is...not for me.