Rolling Metal 2016

^^^ You caught me at just the right time with that, been listening to Sacrilege and English Dogs... itch scratched.

I'm definitely going to listen to that Book of Sand album later, the guy has some interesting ideas though I haven't been massively impressed by the execution of anything he's done yet.

I really like the new Cobalt & I got sent an advance of the new Sumac which is probably going to be the album to beat this year.

holy FUCK the Wormed album!

i like to imagine the vocalist looks like Rocksteady from the Ninja Turtles when he screams like this

Man the music there is good, but those vocals. Sounds like a Tibetan monk with strep throat.

The contrast between the vocals and the music is one of the best things about them. I described their last album as sounding like a caveman running around a spaceship.

Nah that dude does not sound like a caveman. Paul Baloff sounded like a caveman. That dude sounds like one of the aliens from V with a guinea pig stuck in his gullet. It's like a modern super-extreme!!!! style I'm not into.

I liked the Putridity album last year so I suspect I'm gonna dig this guy's vocals, excited to hear something heads are going pretty nuts about

lol the monk with strep throat thing is so otm. the only diff between you and I is that I see that as totally awesome.

I have no problem w/ Wormed's vocals. Stoked to dig into the new one, Exodromos was something else.

I'm not into the BREEEEE BREEEEEE vocals, I'll leave it at that.

Anyway, Sindrome's demos got reissued by Century Media with a second disc of a live bootleg. I've always liked those dudes' music even if the singer did write an angry letter about a review I wrote of one of their demos. It's really solid thrash stuff, they should've gone somewhere but their second demo came out in '91 and, well, who wanted to sign thrash bands in 1991?

This may be of interest to some folks here. The Numero Group is putting out a 3CD/5LP box of all White Zombie's pre-Geffen Records material in early June. I reviewed it for The Wire, and heard that all the music had been remastered by WZ guitarist Jay Yuenger. Since, when the early stuff was reissued in 2008 as part of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, it was mastered from vinyl (seriously, on a major label release), I was curious about what Numero was gonna be willing/able to do. So I emailed Jay and asked. Here are the answers I got.

1) Did you remaster the early material from the original tapes? If so, did you get those with Rob's help/permission, or from some other source?
All the early material is from the original tapes, and the transfers are hi-def, 24 bit. It took a long time and a lot of work, but Rob signed off on this stuff.

2) There are several previously unreleased songs from the Pig Heaven session, and two from Gods On Voodoo Moon that are also very rare. Was there additional material that you/Numero chose not to include?
No, everything from the sessions for the early 7"s is included.

3) I have heard that the version of Make Them Die Slowly that the world is familiar with was version #3 or #4 of that album - are there other tapes, and if so, do they sound substantially different? When remastering this box, were you able to do anything with/to/about Bill Laswell's production choices?
Okay, here's the official timeline on this, and I checked with Sean [Yseult, bassist] to make absolutely sure I'm giving you the correct info. The album was recorded three times. The second version was never finished, was aborted when Laswell stepped into the picture, and the third version is the one that was released.

The first version is very interesting. It was totally finished, mixed and everything, but the masters have vanished. I contacted everyone I could find who had anything to do with this version, and nobody knows a thing. What we do have is Sean's cassette of the mix, which came straight off the board, and it's a fascinating document - the sound is much more powerful, the band sounds great, and this version of the album fits into the timeline, the transition between the art-noise-damage sound and the metal sound, much better. It makes much more SENSE as part of the history of the band.

I transferred all the material from the cassette, which includes a few songs that nobody's ever heard, and cleaned everything up, and it actually sounds pretty good. We're hoping that we'll be allowed to let people hear this stuff at some point, but we couldn't include it in the box set.

super interesting. guy who wrote the liner notes to this is a friend of mine and a good writer, stoked to see what he put together. I saw them on the Soul Crusher tour in L.A. in May of '88 and that was a blistering show, didn't really get into the Big Popular Band era of them but they're interesting imo

Always wanted to hear these old albums. Like smithy I never cared for their popular era bar a couple of great songs but I'm damn sure I'd like this stuff as i like a lot of music from that scene

A weird comparison popped into my head at one point: during the peak of their art-noise era (basically, Psycho-Head Blowout and Soul-Crusher), WZ were to Led Zeppelin what Pussy Galore were to the Rolling Stones.

sounds like i really need to hear them

it was weirdly hookless stuff though. like, you had to listen and listen and listen to really get an angle on it, but it was so assaultive that that was a challenge. spent a year or two pretty into 'em

got this box in mp3 promo form last week, never checked this stuff out before but Make Them Die Slowly especially is really great

I loved MTDS when it came out. The terrible Bill Laswell production is actually... distinctive? I'd love to hear an alternate or live version of that album from that period, though, that shit must've been crushing live.

Bill Laswell has to be one of the most instantly maligned but formerly in demand producers the world has known.

Checking out the St. Francis Duo album Peacemaker Assembly. Not metal, but metal-adjacent: Stephen O'Malley on guitar, and UK improv hero Steve Noble on drums. This is their second album; the first came out in 2012. Relatively close in spirit to the Sunn O))) album Pentemple, where they had the dude from Striborg (I think) on drums.

Playlist somewhat updated for March.

ILM's Rolling Metal Thread 2016 Spotify Playlist

Back when I was buying any used cheapish vinyl I could find I picked up a copy of "Soul-Crusher."
Took it home, played it, really didn't get it, but kept it as I didn't part with things.

A few years later and I literally move back to NYC when I get press passes to the 1989 CMJ because I did not have enough money to go and come back. My hatred of northern Virginia, living with my parents and my restaurant jobs were a palpable consideration in my dumb decision.

That convention was so amazing to me being an unjaded fanzine editor who was just absorbing any and all music that I could get my ears on. Got to see Sepultura's first ever American performance at an S&M club (a place I would not long afterwards also see my first ever S&M). Although Bob Mould's show was not a CMJ event, someone tried to sell me tickets before finally coming back and saying "Eh, just go." So I did and my mind was blown.

Anyway, that year was the legendary show at the Loeb Student Center at NYU with Soundgarden ("Louder Than Love" just came out) alongside Primus (unsigned), Prong (still on In-Effect/Combat), Bullet Lavolta (criminally underrated Boston band on RCA somehow) and of course... White Zombie! Signed by Geffen but before releasing anything by the label.

The performance blew me away! They were fantastic!

I wandered backstage (nobody stopped me for reasons I still don't understand) and met Sean and Rob. I blurted out in my socially retarded way "I got 'Soul Crusher' and I hated it! But I loved the show!"

They seemed to appreciate my dumb honesty and we became friends. Wound up seeing them all the time back in the day, and Rob but especially Sean were always really nice to me. It was nice to see them take off like they did.

I will have to get that boxset. My old vinyl copy died with the rest of my vinyl in the Great Basement Flood of 2010.

Skuggsjá, the piece that Enslaved and Wardruna were commissioned to write to celebrate 200 years of the Norwegian constitution (!) has been recorded and released as an album. It's really good.

Yes, it most definitely fucking is! Love the heaviness but also the horns and Viking vibe. The people who decry Enslaved's progressive direction should definitely check this out because it's very heavy but also very smart.

It can be streamed here: https://skuggsja.bandcamp.com/album/a-piece-for-mind-mirror

one-man blackened death metal project The Wakedead Gathering, surprisingly coherent (not sure I know other one-man DM bands), with a dark, old school vibe. Demigod is the first old band that springs to mind with this stuff, but thinking fans of the 2014 Domains album might also like.

Many thanks for the attention drawn to The Wakedead Gathering, whose most recent two albums I now have in my possession. Music, lyrics, general vibe are all incredible.

Consider me a convert as well, really solid stuff here. Bonus points from being from my old stomping grounds of Columbus, Ohio who had a very fertile metal scene when I lived there (Deadsea, Teeth Of The Hydra, Eye - who did an album with Mexican Summer and just signed with Laser's Edge and play a particularly heavy psyche-rock a la Hawkwind and Uriah Heep, Skeleton Witch played there a lot before they were signed and Acheron is based out of there)... It's nice to see the area still fly the flag of quality and relatively unique metal.

not sure I know other one-man DM bands

Immediately springing to mind is Hooded Menace's Lasse Pyykko's Claws, pretty good SweFinDeath with doomishness. Put out a full length on Razorback in 09:
https://razorbackrecords.bandcamp.com/album/absorbed-in-the-nethervoid

And I guess Dan Swano's Moontower could count here.

Any others? ilm powers, activate!

Ritual Chamber! Again, doomish death.

this is actually from December 2015, but I just heard about it: Kthoniik Cerviiks - SeroLogiikal Scars (Vertex of Dementiia)

https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/khthoniik-cerviiks-serologiikal-scars-vertex-of-dementiia

Tech-death-prog on Iron Bonehead. Can hear bits of Bolzer, Gorguts, Voivod, Stargazer, Thantifaxath. Just a whole range of cool reference points, but to my ears, this still sounds unique. Anyone know these guys?

also this new record by Zealotry: https://lavadome.bandcamp.com/album/the-last-witness

Actually not out yet, so I can only hear one track, but it's a doozy. Gorguts/Demilich/Immolation strange heaviness

Listening to the Spotify Metal Playlist now...
The Cobalt song is *not* the metal Cobalt!

This is the song on the playlist:
https://soundcloud.com/edouard-gonzalez/cobalt-echoes

I know they changed but not *that* much! :)

New Howls of Ebb is up to stream

http://i-voidhangerrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cursus-impasse-the-pendlomic-vows

been playing the fuck out of the Wormed lately. I feel like even though they scratch a different itch, they kinda do for me what Cryptopsy did for me in the 90s/00s. its chaotic as fuck but it's fully-formed.

can't wait to see these dudes at MDF

xp Also says it will be their "penultimate" release. Kind of wonder if that's true or they're misusing the word penultimate.

my guess is they're using it in the incorrect "OMG REALLY ULTIMATE" sense

THIS SO ULTIMATE GUYS

it was already ultimate and then we penned that shit up

new Amon Amarth is really stickin to my ears, moreso than the last one.

can't wait to see em on tour. it'll be a first.

omfg

http://www.metalinjection.net/latest-news/deaths-scream-bloody-gore-reissue-bobblehead-coming

i want that fuckin' bobblehead

I have zero desire to own that type of stuff normally but come on... that's awesome.

there's no way I'm not buying that.

Yeah I want one too, hope they're making more than 2 I guess

Hey anyone heard of B.A.R.F.? Blasting All Rotten Fuckers from Montreal. Trying to figure out why no one ever talks about these dudes. Unless Ignorance Chaos Suicide is their only good album or something.

GUNS N' ROSES NORTH AMERICAN SUMMER STADIUM TOUR

All dates, cities and venues below subject to change.

Thursday, June 23, 2016 Detroit, MI Ford Field
Sunday, June 26, 2016 Washington, DC FEDEXFIELD
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 Kansas City, MO Arrowhead Stadium
Friday, July 1, 2016 Chicago, IL Soldier Field
Wednesday, July 6, 2016 Cincinnati, OH Paul Brown Stadium
Saturday, July 9, 2016 Nashville, TN Nissan Stadium
Tuesday, July 12, 2016 Pittsburgh, PA Heinz Field
Thursday, July 14, 2016 Philadelphia, PA Lincoln Financial Field
Saturday, July 16, 2016 Toronto, ON Rogers Centre
Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Foxboro, MA Gillette Stadium
Saturday, July 23, 2016 East Rutherford, NJ MetLife Stadium
Wednesday, July 27, 2016 Atlanta, GA Georgia Dome
Friday, July 29, 2016 Orlando, FL Orlando Citrus Bowl
Sunday, July 31, 2016 New Orleans, LA Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Wednesday, August 3, 2016 Arlington, TX AT&T Stadium
Friday, August 5, 2016 Houston, TX NRG Stadium
Tuesday, August 9, 2016 San Francisco, CA AT&T Park
Friday, August 12, 2016 Seattle, WA CenturyLink Field
Monday, August 15, 2016 Glendale, AZ University of Phoenix Stadium
Monday, August 22, 2016 San Diego, CA Qualcomm Stadium

lol St Louis was originally on the list

http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/kevin-johnson/guns-n-roses-spokesperson-discusses-the-st-louis-show-s/article_34382f10-7d2f-590e-ae38-cf58fc2c598d.html

Man, that Ripper album. Bassist is NUTS. And audible. I hope he doesn't quit metal to play fusion or something.

Just got a promo for a new Nervosa album coming out in June. They're a Brazilian all-female thrash trio on Napalm who sound a lot like Destruction. I liked their first EP and first full-length back in 2014; intrigued to hear this one.

I like the Ripper album -- really, it's one of the most faithful old school death-thrash albums I've heard. Death/thrash (along with black thrash) is one of my favorite kinds of metal to listen to, so I have a feeling I'll be spinning this album a lot this year. The bassist seems very DiGiorgio to my ears, which is probably part of the point. Still, at this point, I hear a little too much early Death/Kreator/Possessed, so hopefully after a few plays, I'll hear more of what Ripper actually bring.

(also, last few years, there is always a band who makes me think stuff like this -- last year it was Inculter, year before it was Vampire. I still listen to those bands, so am hopeful for Ripper)

Yeah, DiGiorgio was the first thing that came to mind, though this guy doesn't hit chords for emphasis like Steve did. They're definitely sort of beholden to their influences, but it's thrash; I'd love to hear a new thrash band that was really doing something different but it's just always going to remind me of older stuff, it's kind up to how ferociously you can play. Or what other genres of metal you can fold in...

yeah, thrash is weird as far as how much you can mess with it and have it still be thrash. I feel like particularly now, retro thrash is the expected method -- bands like Vektor are about as "new" as you can be, and to my ears, those guys aren't really unique sounding at all, just "modern". For some reason, you just can't fool around in the genre like you can in pretty much every other kind of metal.

IMO, thrash in this century that tries bring something new would be stuff like the Cadaver Inc record from 2001. It's a one-off mix of thrash, death and black metal, with bits of prog in there too -- and surprise, you hardly hear people talk about it today.