Chicago psych-metallers MINSK have begun work on their third full-length and follow-up album The Ritual Fires Of Abandonment. The album, titled With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone, is being recorded at Volume Studios with the band’s Sanford Parker producing the effort. With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone is expected to see a Summer ’09 release date via Relapse Records.

Additionally, MINSK have announced a number of regional shows for late February, touring alongside SWEET COBRA. The band will also be performing as part of Roadburn 2009 in the Netherlands in April. MINSK will appear along with NEUROSIS, BARONESS, SAINT VITUS, CATHEDRAL, MONO and many more at this already-sold-out festival. A complete listing of MINSK tour dates can be found below with more to be announced soon.

MINSK Tour Dates:

February 26 Lansing, MI Mac’s (w/ IF HE DIES HE DIES)
February 27 Creve Coeur, IL American Legion (w/ SWEET COBRA)
February 28 Chicago, IL Cobra Lounge (w/ SWEET COBRA, YAKUZA)
February 29 Indianapolis, IN Melody Inn (w/ SWEET COBRA, THE GATES OF SLUMBER)

April 23 Tilburg, Netherlands Roadburn Festival

Photo by Rob Rush.

New York’s extreme metal act SUFFOCATION has announced its “Blood Apocalypse” tour with support from WHITECHAPEL, DECREPIT BIRTH, VEIL OF MAYA and PSYCROPTIC (select dates).

“We are looking forward to this upcoming tour and playing with all the bands involved. It will be the first run on our 20-year celebration in the genre!” says drummer Mike Smith. “We thank all our friends and fans in advance for their participation in the upcoming ‘Blood Oath’ sessions across the world. We look forward to the mayhem it will create!”

Check out the dates below:

With WHITECHAPEL, DECREPIT BIRTH, VEIL OF MAYA:

Mar. 11 – Long Island, NY – Crazy Donkey
Mar. 14 – Springfield, VA – Jaxx
Mar. 15 – Virginia Beach, VA – Masonic Temple
Mar. 16 – Wilmington, NC – The Soapbox
Mar. 17 – Raleigh, NC – Volume 11
Mar. 20 – Lafayetta, LA – Grant Street Hall
Mar. 21 – Ft. Worth, TX – Ridglea Theatre (w/ CARCASS, SUICIDE SILENCE)
Mar. 22 – Corpus Christi, TX – House of Rock
Mar. 24 – El Paso, TX – Chic’s
Mar. 26 – Palmdale, CA – The Crossing
Mar. 27 – Phoenix, AZ – The Marquee Theatre

With WHITECHAPEL, DECREPIT BIRTH, VEIL OF MAYA, PSYCROPTIC:

Mar. 28 – Anaheim, CA – The Grove (California Metal Fest)
Mar. 29 – Sacramento, CA – The Boardwalk
Mar. 30 – Modesto, CA – Modesto Virtual
Apr. 02 – Colorado Springs, CO – The Black Sheep
Apr. 03 – Lubbock, TX – Tequila Jungle
Apr. 11 – Madison, WI – The Loft
Apr. 17 – Worcester, MA – New England Metalfest
Apr. 18 – Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock

A new track from French experimental black metal masters BLUT AUS NORD entitled “The Formless Sphere (Beyond The Reason)” is available for streaming on the Candlelight Records MySpace page. The song comes off the band’s new album, Memoria Vetusta II – Dialogue With The Stars, which is scheduled for release on February 23.

Click HERE to listen to the track.

Commented the band’s singer/guitarist Vindsval: “This album is extremely important for us, we have already composed two amazing songs in the majestuous vein of ‘Fathers Of The Icy Ages’. This time you won’t find any industrial sounds or disharmonies on the album.

The tracklist for Memoria Vetusta II – Dialogue With The Stars is as follows:

01. Disciple’s Libration (Lost In The Nine Worlds)
02. Antithesis Of The Flesh (…And Then Arises A New Essence)
03. The Alcove Of Angels (Vipassana)
04. …The Meditant (Dialogue With The Stars)
05. Acceptance (Aske)
06. Translucent Body Of Air (Sutta Anapanasati)
07. The Formless Sphere (Beyond The Reason)
08. The Cosmic Echoes Of Non-Matter (Immaterial Voices Of The Fathers)
09. Elevation (The Dawn Of The Gods)

BLUT AUS NORD’s latest album, “Odinist”, was released in October 2007 through Candlelight Records.

Formed in 1994, BLUT AUS NORD have enjoyed a steadily increasing worldwide sales and fanbase. Metal Maniacs, Terrorizer, Kerrang!, Decibel and many others commend the band’s sinister sound, often likened to a metamorphis of DARKTHRONE, NEUROSIS and GODFLESH.

Swedish metallers Opeth will return to the U.S. for a third tour run, in support of Watershed, will kick off on May 1 in Sayerville, NJ. Enslaved have been confirmed as direct support.

The tour dates are as follows:

May 1—Starland Ballroom, Sayerville, NJ
May 2— House of Blues, Boston, MA
May 3—Medley, Montreal, QUE
May 4—Sound Academy, Toronto ON
May 5—Mr. Smalls, Pittsburgh, PA
May 6—House of Blues, Chicago, IL
May 8—Sokol Auditorium, Omaha, NE
May 9—Fox Theater, Boulder, CO
May 11—Knitting Factory, Boise, ID
May 12—Roseland Theater, Portland, OR
May 13—Senator Theater, Chico, CA
May 14—Regency Center at Grand Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
May 15—The Glasshouse, Pomona, CA
May 16—Avalon, Los Angeles, CA
May 17—Rialto Theater, Tucson, AZ
May 19—Scout Bar, San Antonio, TX
May 20—Diamond Ballroom, Oklahoma City, OK
May 21—New Daisy Theater, Memphis, TN
May 22—Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN
May 23—Newport Music Hall, Columbus, OH
May 24—Clutch Cargo’s, Detroit, MI
May 26—Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center, New York, NY
May 27—9:30 Club, Washington, DC

Photo by Christer Lorichs.

Reunited U.K. melo-death/gore-grind legends, CARCASS, will return to the United States this March for the “Exhumed to Consume II” tour. The follow up to last years highly successful “Exhume to Consume” tour will feature SUICIDE SILENCE, SAMAEL, ARSIS and PSYCROPTIC plus a few special guests on select dates. Vocalist/bassist and all around optimistic person Jeff Walker commented:

“Well, I’m pleased to announce that CARCASS is gonna settle it’s unresolved scores in the U.S.! There was some slight whimpers of discontent that we didn’t hit some cities such as Chicago and Denver last time round – places that were always hot spots of enthusiasm for us. So we’re coming back in March to finish off our unsettled business! We seemed to have had a profound influence on your economy and gas prices have gotten cheaper haha! That’s doesn’t mean we’re not gonna come through and provide some value for your buck with some old (and new) school friends and comrades such as SUFFOCATION, SAMAEL, BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, EXODUS, SUICIDE SILENCE etc. – check out locally as for who is on the bill where! And hey, I couldn’t think of anywhere better to be on my 40th birthday than the Sunshine Theatre in Albuquerque, New Mexico! We promise this will be the last time we darken your shores (I said that with my fingers crossed behind my back)!”

Check out the dates below: (more…)

Early next month, Sweden’s Meshuggah (above) and Florida’s Cynic, will embark on a three week North American tour sponsored by Myspace Music. Both bands continue to pound pavement in support of their most recent releases – Meshuggah, behind their brutal March 2008 offering obZen, and Cynic behind their inspired November 2008 return Traced In Air.

In addition to the tour, the bands have joined together to launch an online video channel that gives fans a glimpse into what’s happening on the road, behind the scenes, with regular updates from tour stops, artist-on-artist interviews, and much more. In addition to videos uploaded by the bands themselves, Cynic and Meshuggah are opening the channel to their fans, and calling on them to send in footage – camera phone or otherwise – from the shows, documenting their own experience of the tour.

All concert-goers need to do is send their shots to mctour@kyte.tv, and if accepted, the clips will be available for the entire metal world to see. The channel will be available 24 hours a day on both Cynic and Meshuggah’s websites and Myspace pages. Code to embed the channel on your own websites, blogs, and social networking portals is below, along with a full itinerary of dates, the official tour poster, and purchase-links for obZen and Traced In Air.

Check out this channel below:

Meshuggah And Cynic 2009 Myspace Music Tour Dates:

02-01 House of Blues – Anaheim, CA
02-02 House of Blues – San Diego, CA
02-03 House of Blues – Hollywood, CA
02-04 Slim’s – San Francisco, CA
02-06 El Corazón – Seattle, WA
02-07 Hawthorne Theatre – Portland, OR
02-08 Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC
02-09 Knitting Factory – Spokane, WA
02-11 Gothic Theatre – Englewood, CO
02-12 People’s Court – Des Moines, IA
02-13 Station 4 – St. Paul, MN
02-14 The Eagles Club – Milwaukee, WI
02-15 House Of Blues – Chicago, IL
02-17 Phoenix Concert Theatre – Toronto, ON
02-18 Club Soda – Montreal, QC
02-19 Irving Plaza – New York, NY
02-20 Recher Theatre – Towson, MD

Evisceration Plague, the new album from Tampa, Florida-based death metal veterans CANNIBAL CORPSE, is available for streaming in its entirety at the band’s MySpace page.

Click HERE to listen.

Evisceration Plague is scheduled for release on February 3, 2009 via Metal Blade Records. The follow-up to 2006’s Kill was produced by Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, MORBID ANGEL) at his Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Commented bassist Alex Webster: “In CANNIBAL CORPSE, our goal has always been to try and make each new album we record our heaviest. That goal was a bit more challenging this time since we were extremely satisfied with our last album Kill, but we knew that by working with producer Erik Rutan at Mana Recording Studios again, we would be able to start at that same level of heaviness and take it even further. Now that we can hear the finished product, I would say we’ve been able to achieve this goal, and I think our fans will agree. Evisceration Plague has the best guitar sound we’ve ever recorded, and the entire band has never played with more precision and power. We can’t wait until you all get a chance to hear the album in early 2009, because we think you’ll be as happy with it as we are.”

Evisceration Plague track listing:

01. Priests of Sodom
02. Scalding Hail
03. To Decompose
04. A Cauldron of Hate
05. Beheading and Burning
06. Evidence in the Furnace
07. Carnivorous Swarm
08. Evisceration Plague
09. Shatter Their Bones
10. Carrion Sculpted Entity
11. Unnatural
12. Skewered From Ear to Eye

Kylesa have posted “Said and Done,” a new song from their forthcoming album Static Tensions (Mar. 17, Prosthetic Records) on the band’s MySpace page.

“’Said and Done’ was the first song we wrote for Static Tensions and has a little bit of everything that can be heard on the album. We think it is a good introduction,” explains guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants.

Pre-order details for the album can be found on both the aforementioned MySpace and at Prostheticrecords.com. The pre-order special includes a limited edition t-shirt and CD for $20. Static Tensions’ artwork (above) was created by Baroness’ John Dyer Baizley and was produced by the band’s own Phillip Cope (Baroness, Withered).

Dates below w/Amebix: (more…)

Thrash vets ANTHRAX will be returning with Worship Music,, the band’s first new studio album in six years and a full-on supporting world tour. Worship Music is set for a June release on Megaforce Records. The album marks the studio debut of new singer Dan Nelson who joins long-time members Scott Ian (rhythm guitar), Frank Bello (bass), Charlie Benante (drums), and Rob Caggiano (lead guitar).

In addition, 2009 marks the 25-year anniversary of the release of Anthrax’ debut album, 1984’s Fistful of Metal. “I can’t even process that it’s been 25 years,” said co-founding member Ian. “It’s insane to me, because when you think about it, who does anything for that long, let alone in the same band? Start making a list of bands that are still around 25 years after their first album, and it’s going to be a pretty short list.”

About Anthrax’s new Worship Music, Benante explains, “This album has been in the making for two and half, maybe three years. After the reunion tour ended, we all went our separate ways. I started to write songs again, but I had no voice for them in mind, I didn’t know who would be the singer. So Scott, Frankie and I got together and just started putting some songs together. This was pretty much the way ‘Spreading the Disease’ was done, too – we wrote those songs without a definite singer in mind. Then, in October of 2007, I was talking to Rob Caggiano who said he found this guy in Long Island who he thought would be really good – Dan Nelson. So I did some research, called him up, and few him out to Chicago.”

According to Bello, it didn’t take much time to realize that they had found their man. “Dan brought in the obligatory ‘breath of fresh air,’ but it really WAS. He has a killer voice and he’s a good guy, and really fits Anthrax. The guy sings like nobody I’ve heard – I’m really proud of what he’s done. This is the new Anthrax – yes, it does sound different, but it’s in the same heavy/melodic vein. I don’t compare it, I just see it as, ‘I love the challenge of having a new Anthrax.’”

“While making this album,” added Nelson, “I found that if I just tried to approach my vocals from the heart, to not over think anything, I could bring a fresh, heavier yet still melodic approach to an already brutal style of music. Being the singer of Anthrax has already proven to be a great opportunity to play with great musicians.”

Shortly after the line-up was solidified, Nelson (more…)

French black metal act GLORIOR BELLI have issued the following update:

“The French purveyors of Luciferian illumination will soon enter the studio to record their new full-length called Meet Us At The Southern Sign, to be released in 2009 via Candlelight Records worldwide. This new effort comprises of eleven tracks — every note of which adores and glorifies the name of Lucifer: Bringer of the Forbidden Light. GLORIOR BELLI will impose itself upon the intoxicated scene of blinding and false prophets. None shall prevent the flame from burning ever bright; none shall interfere with the wrath of the Beast!”

Check out the teaser video for the CD below. (more…)