The original lineup of Canadian speed metal band Exciter is performing together for the first time since 1985 at the 2016 Calgary Metalfest.
No CommentsTags: canada, Exciter, festivals, Heavy Metal, reunion, Speed Metal
Mortuary Drape West Coast Tour
Italian black metal band Mortuary Drape are embarking on a short tour of the North American West Coast next week.
2 CommentsTags: Black Metal, mortuary drape, tour dates, upcoming tours, US tour
Invisible Oranges Interviews Fred Estby
Hipster metal blog Invisible Oranges, who put women bragging about how attractive they are over the music, have posted an interview with Fred Estby of Dismember. Fred reveals pertinent information about the drum recording conditions in Sunlight Studios and the small knobs amidst the fluff. Invisible Oranges also included a version of that one promotional picture of Fred that’s seemingly attached to every interview with him.
5 CommentsTags: Dismember, Fred Estby, interview, Invisible Oranges
Sadistic Metal Reviews — September 1, 2016
Humans are by nature delusional. They overestimate their importance and demand that reality fit their simple expectations. And yet, they are very good at mastering known skills, so they are highly proficient, but void of purpose. This hollowness is the left side of the metal Bell Curve, and to separate it from the good stuff, we have Sadistic Metal Reviews!
12 CommentsTags: ananku, autokrator, Cortege, meterosexuality, sadistic metal reviews, Serpent Ascending, todenlebend
Negra Modelo Rebrands
For some time, Negra Modelo has been my go-to beer. The shelves are stuffed with variety, but much like metal, most of it straight-up fails by being too proficient.
9 CommentsTags: art, beer, economics, Heavy Metal, negra modelo
Gridlink – Longhena (2014)
Longhena is grindcore that is actually musical. Takafumi Matsubara (Mortalized) became the sole guitarist after Orphan and brought a longer, more narrative, heavy metal sense of songwriting to Gridlink’s hyper proficient blend of their musical influences. The riffing varies from post-hardcore chord progressions to New Wave of British Heavy Metal harmonies of the type originated by Thin Lizzy. Somewhat shocking for a grindcore band not Carcass or Bolt Thrower, Matsubara actually progressive his riffs to tell short narratives in short, cyclical compositions varying from one to three minutes in length, usually climaxing in a bittersweet, often melancholic solo. The drumming is blasting, inspired, and semi-tasteful, with fills that feel almost as if they are about to go off the rails but return to be properly enslaved by the riffing. Vocals are reminiscent of Assuck with lyrical topics ranging from nuclear holocaust to anime and lamentations of the destruction of the player-controlled spaceship in shoot ’em up arcade game. All melodically and lyrically reflect upon listeners certain Buddhist mental concepts of the emptiness, nothingness, and meaninglessness of human existence and suffering.
40 CommentsTags: 2014, gridlink, Grindcore, Heavy Metal, Longhena, post-hardcore, review, Takafumi Matsubara, technical metal
Dave Lombardo To Drum For Misfits
Dave Lombardo – formerly of Slayer, currently with Suicidal Tendencies, and one of the best metal drummers of all time – will man the kit for the Misfits at Riotfest this Sunday according to his Funbook page:
7 CommentsI’ll be performing this Friday with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES – OFFICIAL and then Sunday with the Misfits at Riot Fest !!!
Tags: dave lombardo, festivals, misfits, new drummer
The Metal Mixtures
Those of you who read our pipe smoking FAQ may have found your curiosity piqued; you may even have experimented with this strong psychoactive chemical and its benefits, especially if you absorb it through your mouth and not your lungs. At that point, you may wish for some top-notch leaf to explore.
28 CommentsTags: DIY, homebrew, pipe tobacco, the metal mixtures, tobacco, tobacco blends, trade economy
Meditations on Ananku
Article by Lance Viggiano.
Ananku is random stereotypical sentimentality in terms of both pseudo climactic release and legacy nostalgia underscored by the crooning of its capricious composer. One may skip to any moment of this record and find a passable to competent riff which invites the listener to further explore its contents. Yet to sit through the work in succession, the order – or lack thereof- is much akin to a dreamlike state. Waking life is a comedic but rationally apprehensive continuity; whereas the experience of dreaming is much like thumbing through to one’s favorite moments in no particular order and therefore as a whole Ananku betrays its efforts at thematic unity. The forces behind Serpent Ascending make a noticed use of genre firmament however indecisive haste fashioned for itself a fallen world.
17 CommentsTags: 2016, ananku, Black Metal, i voidhanger records, Jarno Nurmi, metal art, Philosophy, Serpent Ascending
Conqueror – War Cult Supremacy (1999)
Conqueror wanted to be a part of the “scene” but did not have musical ideas. The band discovered that the muddied sound of early Beherit and Blasphemy circa Fallen Angel of Doom could be used to obfuscate their dearth of ideas. Furthermore the hostility between the Norwegian scene and the rest of black metal could be amplified under false pretenses while not offering any truly satisfying alternative themselves. Basically, point to candy assed pop drivel like Dark Funeral but go to the other end of the spectrum entirely with a paper thin wall of television white noise with a drunken chipmunk howling nonsense. Conqueror’s “music” is structured which ironically stands contra to the concept of all out war. A little anarchy would at the very least allow the essence of battle to bubble up from the pot. Instead it’s a tame morass of very low effort grindcore riffs and mostly incomprehensible low E-string noodling. The best that can be said about Conqueror is that J. Reed has an identifiable sound.
108 CommentsTags: 1999, canada, conqueror, drone, Grindcore, Hardcore Punk, hipster bullshit, noise, nuclear war now! productions, scenesters, War Cult Supremacy, War Metal
