For all you fans of Viking metal brutality, check out the following video for the title-track off of Amon Amarth’s latest album, Twilight of the Thunder God (Metal Blade Records). In fact, we’re told that this version is so violent that the MTV censors wouldn’t even play it. Enjoy!
Revolver Magazine has just posted an exclusive online interview with Torche guitarist Juan Montoya (above, second from right) and Harvey Milk bassist Steven Tanner. In the interview, the ever-amiable Montoya interviews his hero in hopes of getting “to know about you, man.” Below is an excerpt from that interview:
JUAN MONTOYA The new album is just brilliant, man. It’s amazing. I love it. We listen to it like crazy. Not to hype up the interview, but it’s true. It’s very soulful, man. You guys are a heavy band, but you guys are so dynamic. I think it’s more than the heaviness that Metallica have, it’s that heaviness that bands like Pink Floyd have.
STEVEN TANNER Uh, you just mentioned two bands that we despise.
MONTOYA Oh, fuck. Who cares?
TANNER Have you heard the new Metallica? God, it’s so shitty.
MONTOYA [sounding optimistic] Yeah, I heard a couple songs. And, you know…
TANNER That guy can’t play drums, man. He just cannot play drums.
MONTOYA I don’t know. It’s weird, because I grew up listening to Metallica…
TANNER Oh, I did, too.
MONTOYA And it’s just, I think they still have a lot more in them. It’s just their lifestyle is so distracting, man.
TANNER I think they should just practice.
To read more Metallica bashing and Slayer praising, go to Revolvermag.com.
Vertebrae, the new album from the Norwegian masters of progressive/experimental metal ENSLAVED, is currently being streamed on the band’s MySpace page.
Read what our reviewer thought about the album HERE.
The new album is also available for streaming in its entirety (for a limited time!) at the groups MySpace Page. The CD will be released in Europe on September 29 via Indie Recordings and in North America on October 28 through Nuclear Blast Records.
Vertebrae was recorded during the first months of 2008 — then mixed by Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE) and mastered by the legendary George Marino in Sterling Sound. Produced by Ivar Bjørnson, Herbrand Larsen and Grutle Kjellson, Vertebrae is “one of the strongest albums to emerge from the extreme metal scene,” according to a press release. “The sound, songs and atmosphere mark a great leap for the band and genre as a whole.”
The album will be supported by extensive touring starting with the the “Vertebrae European Tour” in November/December 2008 also featuring STONEGARD and KRAKOW.
To watch our interview with Kjellson and Bjornson, click HERE.
And while you’re at it, click HERE to check out our live videos from ENSLAVED’s 2007 NYC show.
I had never heard Pharaoh before I received their third release, Be Gone on Cruz Del Sur (via The End Records distro). I was, however, aware of a couple of its member’s histories.
I knew drummer Chris Black as the “hidden member”/creative consultant of Chicago psych black metallers Nachtmystium. But what was more compelling to me personally, was the history of Pharaoh’s singer, Tim Aymar, who was also the singer in Chuck Schuldiner’s band Control Denied.
I am a huge Chuck Schuldiner fan, and Death is one of my favorite bands of all time. But, to be honest, even though musically I always thought Control Denied was amazing, I never really got into Aymar’s vocals. To me they felt really mismatched with the music and not strong enough to compete with Chuck’s amazing guitar work. So needless to say I was surprised when I gave the Pharaoh record a spin. Apparently all Aymar’s voice needed was a different context for it to shine—it sounds killer on Be Gone.
Aymar has a nice grit in his voice and offers up some really great melodies on Be Gone. At times he even reminds me of Blind Guardian’s Hansi Kurch, especially in some of the choruses. Check out “No Remains,” which reminds me a lot of some songs on Blind Guardian’s Nightfall in Middle-Earth.
Tim Aymar
Overall, Be Gone is a really solid power/progressive/traditional metal album. What’s more, it’s surprisingly tasteful. I know, I know. Not a description typically applied to the power metal genre. Hell, most of the time I don’t even want my power metal to be tasteful. I want it to be bombastic like Rhapsody, minstrel-ly like Falconer, or overly overdubbed like Blind Guardian. (I mean, we’re talking hundreds of guitar tracks, which as we all know is both totally awesome and supremely lame).
My love of power metal aside, I am kind of burnt on that whole over-the-top scene. If I had to point to what put the final nail in the coffin for me, I’d say it was Dragonforce’s ridiculous, every-song-sounds-the-same, million-note-solos over a Fat Wreck Chords drum beat thing. Which is why it’s so refreshing to hear a down-to-earth power metal band like Pharoah.
Even the press photo that came with the promo CD is in good taste. No super-serious poses. No costumes or floor-length leather duster coats. Just a bunch of dudes who look like they just got off work and needed to take a photo to get the label off their backs. I mean, just look at Tim Aymar in his big, baggy Death shirt. He even reminds me of Kurch in this old live Blind Guardian video, where he’s wearing a gigantic thrift store Charlotte Hornets shirt while they play. Now that lack of pretense is some charming shit.
I didn’t get any lyrics with my CD, but I am assuming there isn’t an epic multi-album spanning narrative like a Rhapsody record, which is good. When I checked out their website, I learned that the overarching lyrical theme of Be Gone is the inevitable disappearance of mankind.
But when I hear lines like “I hope there’s a place for you and me. When we are buried at sea” I have confidence there is enough bravado to please diehards. What can I say, it sounds good to me.
Now back to the music. Be Gone is a surprisingly solid record, and not overly long. Chris Black’s drumming is fairly reserved for the style of metal that Pharaoh plays, which I think is in service to the record as a whole. His playing never really gets over the top and gives it a more classic metal vibe. Guitar-wise it is a great mix of fairly technical multitracked guitar work, as heard on track like “Red Honor.” Although the weird Star Wars nod in the middle of that song seems a little strange, unless of course the song is about Star Wars. Then godspeed.
I also noticed some good bass lines, which a lot of times is the forgotten instrument in the mix, especially in power metal. Throughout Be Gone, I can’t escape the classic rock/classic metal feel. To me this really helps ground the album. A good example of this feel is on one of the album’s standouts “Dark New Life,” which benefits from the guest guitar work of Riot axmen Mark Reale and Mike Flyntz.
I was thinking I was totally burnt on power metal. But Pharaoh’s new record is making me think I am about to revisit some of my older Blind Guardian records, as well as the other albums in the Pharaoh catalog. I knew I should have gotten that Blind Guardian hoodie I saw in a flea market when I was in Italy. Regrets.—Geoff Garlock
New York city based extreme metal outfit SUFFOCATION have just announced their signing to indie metal stalwarts Nuclear Blast Records.
For 18 years now SUFFOCATION has been creating music that has become the very standard by which we judge all things extreme. Their fusion of technicality, groove and sheer unrelenting brutality has been imitated but never quite duplicated. Milestone records such as “Effigy of the Forgotten”, “Pierced from Within”, “Despise the Sun” and soon to be classic self-titled record, have influenced a wealth of today’s best musical talents and continues to this day. That is why it’s that it is with great anticipation and excitement that we await, as do many extreme metal fans, the release of SUFFOCATION’s Nuclear Blast debut, “Blood Oath”.
A Nuclear Blast representative commented on the signing:
“It is an honor to announce that Nuclear Blast and SUFFOCATION are finally joining forces! Nuclear Blast is proud to welcome one of the most popular and important bands in death metal history, and without a doubt the heaviest f#!@ing metal band ever come out of New York! This is a dream come true for the staff as well, as we are all huge longtime SUFFOCATION fans. There’s no doubt that the band is one of the most influential bands ever, as we hear their sound even in most of today’s ‘scene’ bands! We cannot express how happy we are as we’ve known the guys for some time now. We would like to thank them and their management for helping making this happen. The future looks bright! Stay tuned because 2009 will bring you ‘Blood Oath’. You’ve been warned!”
SUFFOCATION has released the following collective statement:
“After 20 years of discovering the right and wrong relationships in our career, we are proud to announce that Nuclear Blast will be our new record label for 2009 and home to SUFFOCATION. Joining the Nuclear Blast family is an honor and it’s wonderful having so many great label mates. After all these years of playing in the death metal world, Nuclear Blast has remained at the top of the metal food chain bringing great and powerful bands to all who love the hard and heavy.
“We’ve had great success with the relationships acquired since our return and we feel Nuclear Blast will only add to that success. We as a band are looking forward to being offered bigger and better opportunities, while helping the extreme metal scene grow and gain the recognition it deserves. Look for our Nuclear Blast debut, ‘Blood Oath’, in early 2009!”
SUFFOCATION recently completed a North American tour as direct support to reactivated UK melodo-death/gore/grind legends CARCASS. The package also included appearances by 1349, ABORTED and ROTTEN SOUND.
Below is the first in-the-studio update from Cannibal Corpse, as they work on the follow-up to 2006’s Kill. The death metal band’s expansive DVD, Centuries of Torment was recently released on Metal Blade Records.
“Hey everybody, Alex [Webster, bassist] from Cannibal here checking in from Mana Studios in St. Petersburg Florida. Paul [Mazurkiewicz] has finished all the drums tracks for our new album, and we think he did an amazing job. Things really went smoothly with the drum tracking this time, and that gave us a little extra time for Paul to get creative with some of the drum parts. Everything is still fast and brutal as you’d expect, but there are a few different rhythmic ideas happening that we think our fans will appreciate.
“The next step for us will be to start working on a guitar sound, and then begin guitar tracking. The sound of the rhythm guitar is one of the most important things on a metal album, so we will take our time and make sure that we get the heaviest sound possible. The recording of the rhythm guitars will be something we’ll take our time with as well. Rob [Barrett], Pat [O'Brien] and producer Erik Rutan are truly perfectionists when it comes to guitar tracking, they’ll settle for nothing less than a flawless performance. That kind of dedication can make for a challenging recording session, but when the end result is a crushingly heavy album it’s more than worth the time and effort.
OK, that’s all for now. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks, we’ll have lots of cool info for you such as the new album’s title, song titles, studio photos, and more.”
British death metal act IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION are in the middle of recording their first ever full-length album. The young five-piece entered Grindstone Studios in Suffolk on September 1st with producer SCOTT ATKINS to record their debut album. After previously announcing the title of their debut album as The Legacy, the band have now revealed that the official final title of the album is Of Winter Born.
Drummer SAM BAILEY reports from the studio: “Recording with Scott has been awesome, he knows exactly what we want to accomplish and how to achieve it. We can now reveal that our album is entitled ‘Of Winter Born’, and there are 10 tracks on the album, and 8 out of 10 are brand new songs. The new songs are a lot more death metal influenced – we really analyzed what we want to sound like and have taken a gigantic step from our older songs, along with really refining our technical ability. We are also going on tour in Europe for two weeks the evening we finish this album and we cannot wait!”
Immediately after wrapping up recording, IGNOMINIOUS INCARCERATION will be heading out on tour in Europe with BRING ME THE HORIZON. Catch them at the following shows: (more…)
Savannah, GA’s BARONESS has announced a string of headlining tour dates in support of their most recent release, Red Album.
BARONESS will team-up with label-mates COLISEUM and MINSK for this November tour kicking-off in Columbus, OH. A listing of confirmed tour dates and cities can be found below.
BARONESS are currently set to embark upon a cross-Canada tour with GENGHIS TRON and BISON B.C. next week in Montreal. This 2008 edition of the Exclaim Magazine Aggressive Tendencies Tour will work its way westward, concluding in Portland, OR. Immediately following, BARONESS will join OPETH and HIGH ON FIRE for a three-week U.S. tour starting in San Francisco, CA on October 6th. A complete listing of BARONESS tour dates can be found below with more to be announced soon.
I have a confession to make: It has taken me a while to fully process my thoughts about Enslaved’s latest album Vertebrae (Nuclear Blast).
But first let me step back. Years ago, when I first heard of Norway’s Enslaved, I never paid much attention to them. My brain just automatically lumped them in with other early Norwegian black metal acts like Emperor, Darkthrone and Mayhem—a whole section of metal I always found surprisingly boring. Not to mention the sketchy politics.
But then I heard the Viking/black/progressive metal of Enslaved’s 2003 album, Below the Lights. From the moment the Genesis-style mellotron keys entered the beginning of “As Fire Swept Clean the Earth,” the prog lover in me was hooked.
The 2004 follow-up, Isa, was a great record, although it also took me a while until I was really was able to get into it fully. And to tell the truth, I am still waiting for that day to come with 2006’s Ruun.
Which brings us to Vertebrae.
When I first listened to Vertebrae I feared that this might be where I parted ways with Enslaved. I think that’s always my fear with bands I love, especially in metal—that they will put out too many similar-sounding records and I’ll get bored with that sound. Or that they’ll stray too far from the original sound that drew me in, which is what I initially thought when I first spun Vertebrae.
But I know myself, and I know how I need to listen to these records. So after a few more listens through headphones—which is the ultimate way to really pass judgment on a record—I came to a verdict.
This might be my favorite Enslaved record since Below the Lights. And that record hit me hard.
Let me explain my initial worries a little more. Opener “Clouds” starts with a keyboard intro that is much closer to an Eighties sound, rather than the organic Seventies rock/psych/Pink Floyd vibe that Enslaved usually weaves into their songs. It is borderline Horse the Band territory, which is no good. When the actual guitars kick in, though, the keyboard riff makes more sense. But it is still troublesome.
My other main worry was Vertebrae’s clean vocals. Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with there being actual singing on metal records. I have always liked Enslaved’s clean vocals, handled by keyboardist Herbrand Larsen, and thought that they added a great layered quality to the songs when paired with bassist Grutle Kjellson’s growls.
The main problem for me on Vertebrae seems to be how they were recorded. There is something about the tone and how they’re multi-layered on “Clouds,” and especially in the quiet section of “To the Coast,” that for whatever reason reminds me of the clean vocals on the most recent Isis album, In the Absence of Truth .
Which is a bigger problem because those vocals remind me of that terrible band 311. Remember that waste pile of a song “Amber”? I know, it sucks, right? I was really worried that that song would get stuck in my head and every time I listened to Vertebrae I would have visions of P-Nut bobbing around like a jackass.
Ultimately (and thankfully), I have been able to get beyond those initial problems, and I have come to really embrace Vertebrae. It is a solid record, and a solid listen all the way through.
Musically it is a great mix. I love guitarist Ivar Bjornson’s riffs. There is an organic rigidity that always appeals to me when listening to him play. A song like the title track feels almost mechanical in the tightness of it, but not because all the drums have been triggered and the song has been Pro-Tooled to death. It feels like the work of a band that is unbelievably tight and confident in their songs.
Every song feels very meticulously crafted down to the exact rhythms of Ivar’s picking. It doesn’t feel like anything is left to chance, including the recording. There really are a lot of layers to work through on Vertabrae, which is no doubt thanks, in part, to their work with mixer Joe Barresi (Tool, Melvins). You really need to digest Vertebrae over many listens to properly hear everything that’s going on. In fact, there are so many little, subtle moments that you just might miss them at first. But it’s exactly these nuances that move the songs to the next level.
It reminds me a lot of the Deathspell Omega records, not in musical terms but purely in the recording. Just like on Deathspell records like Kénôse and Fas-Ite; Vertebrae contains so many brilliant guitar moments and little riffs tucked into the recording, that it can feel like an Easter egg when you find them.
Any other band would overplay these riffs and put them front and center for all to see. But like Deathspell Omega, Enslaved seem so confident in their songwriting ability that they use tons of little mind-blowing riffs as the subtle, but powerful, trellis on which their ambitious songs are built.
So I say get Vertebrae and listen to it a lot. Over and over again. And listen to it on headphones. As with all classic Enslaved records, it seems to get better over time. So if you’re like me and miss some of its nuances at first, don’t be disappointed, because one day down the road it’s going to hit you. And when it does creep up on you, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.—Geoff Garlock
Machine Head have announced the release of the special edition version of The Blackening, orginally released in 2007.
The Blackening Special Edition is two disc CD/DVD set that will feature an assortment of extras, including rare bonus tracks such as covers of Iron Maiden’s “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” over an hour of live performance footage from With Full Force, Download and Rock in Rio festivals, three uncensored music videos for “Aesthetics of Hate,” “Now I Lay Thee Down” and “Halo,” a “making of” featurette on each video, “The Making of The Blackening” and expanded artwork.
There’s also what many hardcore fans have been rabidly waiting for: four never-before-seen performances of Machine Head celebrating the 10th anniversary of their debut album, Burn My Eyes, captured in Philadelphia in 2004. This special edition is a must have for any fan of this Bay Area band that is steadily carving out “legendary status” for itself within the metal scene.
Machine Head spent the summer headlining the second stage of the first annual Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival and the band will cap off two extremely successful years as direct support on Metallica’s U.S. headline tour in December 2008 and January 2009. Metallica frontman James Hetfield was quoted in Revolver as saying, “The Blackening [is] unbelievable. Unbelievable sound and power. It sounds like a band on fire. They have really turned it on again for me.”
The Blackening Special Edition is due in stores October 28, 2008. For those of you who can’t wait, check out a preview clip of the live footage here: (more…)
