Rolling Metal Thread 2009

Not strictly a metal release, but certainly of interest to many here. Promos for the new SubArachnoid Space on Crucial Blast should be going out soon. Highly recommended. Production is by Steve Lobdell (ex-Faust).

I love SubArachnoid Space, Ned does too. There's a few fans on here.
I didn't know they had left Relapse.

SAS has been off Relapse for about 7 years haha. Check out their two most excellent releases on Strange Attractors Audio House. Particularly The Red Veil.

But honestly, Eight Bells is the best thing Melynda's ever done.

You know Mason's been out of the band for years, right?

Oh i have the red veil. I dunno why I thought they were still on relapse! Musta been thinking of another band!

I kinda lost interest in SubArachnoid Space after their studio debut on Relapse, Endless Renovation. Too many guest players and nonessential extra instruments. The two live and/or live-in-studio discs they did before and after it, Almost Invisible and These Things Take Time, were enjoyable, though.

Man, I wish the Mastodon/Converge/High On Fire tour didn't include fuckin' Dethklok. I might as well just come out and confess: I don't find Metalocalypse funny. I've watched about half of each season on DVD and never laughed once. What a waste of an hour of my life their set is gonna be.

Yeah, Converge opening for Dethklok just doesn't feel right.

(I like the show, though)

I saw Dethklok live and it was better than Dragonforce...

I'm not into early SubArachnoid, personally. To me it's all about the latest few. The band is darker and more focused than it was in the early days.

I thought the red veil was the best thing theyve done

Wow Nate. Psyched for that fest.

Meanwhile over at Slate, the piece is called 'The Healing Power of Death Metal' but it's not the full focus of the program discussed. Still, it comes from one of the participants and it's a good phrase for sure.

anyone hear greymachine yet? i like it a lot. i'm actually surprised bye how much i'm liking it, as justin broadrick's stuff tends to bore me after awhile.

i think i need to work a bit on proofreading things before i submit them...

And it concludes thus:

As for popular music, the University of Vermont researchers found that within each genre, the emotional charge of lyrics remained stable between 1960 and 2007. But the overall trend was downward, as metal came of age in the 1970s, punk in the 1980s, and later hip-hop, each exploring darker themes more explicitly than their predecessors in the 1960s.

The low point, lyric-wise, was around 2003. Maybe coincidence, but that was the year Darkthrone released its album “Hate Them.”

I decided to sell my Lolla tix, made a tidy profit, am going to see Graveyard tonight at HOB, and then over to Cobra Lounge for the free Alehorn of Power fest. This is a good day. Anyone else going? Slough Feg, Hammers of Misfortune, Bible of the Devil, etc.

I'm seeing Heaven & Hell with Neurosis on Saturday. Giddy.

Couple of weeks wait (the 15th?) for Ocean & Bloody Panda at a dry cleaners. Should be interesting, to say the least.

I'm going to the Heaven & Hell/Coheed & Cambria show in NYC, and might go see Ross The Boss, Raven and White Wizzard in Brooklyn at the end of this month.

Phil, what do you think my chances are of meeting the guys backstage? Are they approachable or totally off limits? I'll have press pass & photographer in tow...

Also I'm tight with Neurosis so they'll help...

Graveyard's Joakim Nilsson has some really impressive pipes. Amazing live show. CKY has quite the teen skater-punk fanbase, even though they're now more in doom/prog metal territory, with maybe a bit of QOTSA influence. I wasn't impressed, but the kids sure love 'em. Biked over to Cobra Lounge for Alehorn of Power and Slough Feg were great as usual too. Again, Bible of the Devil has some enthusiastic fans. I kind of liked the moments where they sounded a bit like both Thin Lizzy and The Hold Steady, but they get a bit sloppy and boring for my taste. Ludicra were impressively frightening, Hammers of Misfortune not so great, better on albums than live. I'm on the guestlist for Heaven & Hell in two weeks, looking forward to it.

I have been enjoying the new CKY album off and on quite a bit. The guitar riffs are crunchy 'n' catchy, but what I really like are the keyboards, which are very 80s AOR-prog (Rush, Asia).

The album isn't bad at all. Which is why I was surprised by how rudimentary they sounded live, and no keyboards.

I haven't been on here for a while, but I thought I'd chime in on a few things

RE: Adrian Bromley's record collection. Apparently the guy that bought it presented himself as a collector, got the whole thing for a great price (about $1 each) and then started selling it on eBay a few months later. I'm not commenting on it one way or another, but I do know a few very disappointed people that were close to him

RE: Banzai Records. Like Adrien said, we were really lucky to have Banzai in Canada. There was actually a second label doing the same thing up here at the time too, Fringe Records out of Toronto. They would license SST, Alternative Tentacles, Death Records, Metal Blade, Neat Records titles and release them here. I still have the first Corrosion of Conformity, Husker Du's New Day Rising and Flip Your Wig and Onslaught's The Force on Fringe. Fringe also had an imprint called Diabolical Force that put out the first few Sacrifice albums, the Razor albums after Attic dropped them and bands like Slaughter (Canada, you know, the one that Chuck Shuldiner was in but quit because he couldn't handle the cold weather up here).

Some of the legality of the Banzai releases have come into question over the years. I know that Jag Panzer sued them over the Banzai issue of "Ample Destruction" - I never owned that album but my friend Albert has three of them in his basement. I still have about 20 of the Banzai releases on vinyl, but I did sell off my doubles of the Metallica albums when my first son was born. I have a mint copy of "Ride The Lightning" at home that I bought recently for $15 - they go regularly at record shows for $75 now...

Wow that's disappointing to hear about Adrian's records. I can say that none of them cost me that much...

I picked up the YOB cd today in Glasgow.

There was actually a second label doing the same thing up here at the time too, Fringe Records out of Toronto. They would license SST, Alternative Tentacles, Death Records, Metal Blade, Neat Records titles and release them here.

I had no idea! Their distribution must have been really subpar, because all SST stuff was really hard to find out on the prairies in the 80s.

Weekend poll: What's your favorite way to experience live metal? Go vote and drive my traffic numbers up, please.

Looks like I'm with the majorit. Small, hot club thanks.

Really, really excited over the upcoming Absu tour. Last time they toured (can't believe that was twelve years ago - this almost counts as a reunion!) they were incredible. Any reports from the US tour last June?

Voted for DVD while practically drooling about coming Gojira show so I am a shallow hypocrite.

Listening to the three-track Coffinworm demo right now, some pretty great blackened doom. They've got a full-length due out on Profound Lore next year.

Speaking of demos, those three Saviours seven-inch singles they just put out are so killer. Really bodes well for the new full-length. They continue to improve greatly with each new release.

hey yall i haven't listened to any new (non-BM) metal in t minus 2 months, what happened in that time!?

Goatwhore blew my face off. Behemoth returned to form. Bloody Panda got even cooler. That Magrudergrind album is cool.

Don't forget Yob!

YOB!!!

i have the ahab and bloody panda albums to listen to.

nice, thats good to hear about behemoth, im gonna check that out right now actually

Yeah, that's YOB's best album to date, in my opinion. I have to give the Ahab a spin. Their last album was cool, but those darn beeped Napalm promos are never fun.

well the proper version is out now. will pick it up when i can

(ie the proper rip is also available now the albums out)

I yelled at Nathan (Napalm publicist) via email, and real copies of Ahab and Syrach showed up in the PO box this week.

now thats what i call tcb

playing the new Cynic for the first time in ages. "Nunc Stans" is amazing.

If you like Cynic, check out that new Augury. Awesome album. Love the use of melodic-but-not-wimpy vocals, it's something you don't usually hear in tech-death metal.

new stuff by the devil's blood coming out in september, apparently. anyone heard the album?

Heaven & Hell was so fantastic and inspirational. They're all in great form, Dio sounded fantastic (reaching for extra notes and nailing all of them). Vinnie's drum solo was a blast, Iommi's solo was moving, and the new material sounded great. Big shout out to the light and stage crew as the gargoyles and lights were top notch.

It was so great to see these guys be classy and excellent. It's always a bit embarrassing when Ozzy is in the house, flubbing notes. None of that with H&H.

I'm liking this Witchbreed album, Heretic Rapture. Good, principled dark metal, derived from gothic and progressive and black metal but mainly just heavy. Female singer, but more in the bluesy mode than the operatic. Not sure you'd guess from just listening that Moonspell's original bassist is involved, but it doesn't really matter.

I'm seeing Heaven and Hell tomorrow night, can't wait. They were fantastic opening for Judas Priest last year.

Adrien -- have you listened to the new Echoes of Eternity yet?

Haven't yet, but I should give it a listen today. Thanks for reminding me!