Following up on the extreme success of their latest studio album release “Death…The Brutal Way” and its “Live Death Doom” DVD/Live-CD successor, Dutch Doom Death Metal legends ASPHYX are currently busy with the final recordings for their newest studio effort, programmatically entitled “Deathhammer”.

The band checked in with the following status report about the new album:

“By now, all the guitars, drums and bass tracks for the upcoming “Deathhammer” album are recorded. Drums were recorded in the classic Harrow Studio, known from the ASPHYX classics as “The Rack” and “Last One On Earth”. The guitars and bass were recorded in The Mörser Studio. In a few weeks the vocals will be recorded in the Harrow Studio as well and then Dan Swanö will do the album’s mixing and mastering, just as on “Death…The Brutal Way” and “Live Death Doom”.

“Deathhammer” promises to be a darkened successor of “Death…The Brutal Way”. Almost every band is praising their newest album to be heavier and more brutal than the previous one, but actually in this case it’s the harsh truth. “Deathhammer” is in every way heavier, doomier and darker. Maybe it’s because of the fact that most of the songs were written in late Autumn/Winter?! We do not know…but it’s easily our heaviest effort so far!”.

“Deathhammer” is scheduled to be released via Century Media Records in early 2012.

For the rest of this year, ASPHYX will be playing a string of quality shows in Europe, including an appearance at this weekend’s underground institution NRW Deathfest on Saturday, September 17th, 2011 at AJZ Bahndamm in Wermelskirchen, Germany. Additionally, ASPHYX have chose to perform two very special “full album setlist” concerts on October 15th at Metropool in Hengelo, The Netherlands (where the band will be playing their complete “Last One On Earth” album) and at this year’s Eindhoven Metal Meeting on December 16th at Effenaar in Eindhoven, The Netherlands (where the band will be playing their complete “The Rack” album for its 20th anniversary of release). Do not miss these truly special events…

Upcoming ASPHYX live shows in 2011:

17.09.2011 NRW Deathfest – Wermelskirchen (Germany)
23.09.2011 Vera – Groningen (The Netherlands)
24.09.2011 Salzmann Factory – Kassel (Germany)
01.10.2011 Skullcrushers – Dresden (Germany)
15.10.2011 Metropool – Hengelo (The Netherlands) * Special “Last One On Earth” show!
12.11.2011 Stromgitarrenfest Vol. 2 / H.O.F. 23 – Berlin (Germany)
10.12.2011 Madrid In The Dark Festival – Madrid (Spain)
16.12.2011 Eindhoven Metal Meeting – Eindhoven (The Netherlands) * Special 20 years “The Rack” show!

www.facebook.com/officialasphyx
www.asphyx.nl

Time to learn to quilt:

A San Francisco artist who goes by the name Ben Venom has come up with an unusual use for those old heavy metal shirts — he sews them into quilts.

And the results are on exhibit in galleries in the Bay Area and Birmingham, England.

Venom says his concert T’s were logical materials because “they’ve been lying around my closet for years. Like my Testament shirt was completely threadbare; you could see my nipples through it,” he says, “It’s not very heavy metal to wear that out in public.” – NPR

It’s a good idea. When a tshirt is too worn thin to wear, make it into a quilt and gift a family member with it. Guilt works.

Autonomy – Post Incubation Perios
Braced For Nails – I The Obscenity
Iniquitous – I Abomination
Mourning – Dark Autumn
Vaginal Bear Trap – From Parts Unknown
Diamanthian – Bound By Chains Of Purgatory
Blast Perversion – Stabbed By A Stripper
Disfigured – Cadaver Meatballs
Dismemberment – Undefined
Severence – Marred Souls
Grotesque Formation – Basement Decompositions
Engaged In Mutilating – Engaged In Self Mutilating Behavior
Ingurgitate – I Have Created
Diminished – Obsessed By Tyranny
Funeral Rites – Lucifers Triumphant March

• Podcast

I’ve never heard this band, and this post is about critics, not the band:

ABHOR’s masterful (and MORIBUND debut) “Ab Luna Lucenti, Ab Noctua Protecti” is released! and lately, it’s been slaying the critics worldwide, as these snippets are testament to:

•“Abhor seem to want to transcend, and judging by the quality of the songwriting, musicianship, and esoteric hymns found here, they have succeeded” – Zero Tolerance [5/6 rating]

•“The two different elements, raw and symphonic, combine very well…intersects nicely with moments of despair and melancholy” – About.com

•“Packs in enough weird character to make this well worth the time of occult metal voyagers” – MetalReviews.com [8/10 rating]

•“A pretty successful effort, and an enjoyable and accessible listen” – Eternal-Terror.com [4/6 rating]

•“An epic release and could end up making my top ten list at the end of the year” – Wickedchannel.com

•“So different and a refreshing change from either the full-on symphonic or grim black metal you get most of the time” – Absolute Zero Media webzine

Yes, they rave about everything.

And yet… and yet there’s a lack of real substance.

What can we learn about The Critics?

Bill Zebub has a radio show Monday nights midnight-3am on 91.1FM.

• WFMU live stream

Free Thrash show in Philadelphia
Saturday, October 1
2:00pm – 6:30pm

FDR Skatepark (Entrance at 20th & Pattison Avenue)
Philadelphia, PA

FREE * All Ages

Bands:

Anvil Bitch – Legendary Old School Philly Thrash, Tearing it up since 1985!

Condition Critical – New School Ragers from South Jersey. Think Kreator meets Morbid Saint & Demolition Hammer in the middle of hell.

Bitchslicer – Obscene Philly Thrash since 2001

Possessor – Pure EVIL New School Thrash from Virginia since 2009

God Sex Weapons – New School Bangers from Levittown, PA

Special Guest:

DJ GR/EG – Host of Philly’s Metal Mondays & Hessian Aggression, who will be spinning nothing but the finest old school metal on vinyl between bands.

• Event on FacePalm

In 1994, Nile recorded a demo, Worship the Animal. This is from their early years when they still wrote death metal riffs, before the indie/rock/prog influence took hold. It will be released on October 11 on Goomba Music.

• Nile – Worship the Animal demo (1994) [Mediafire, 32mb]

Rigor Mortis and four modern metal bands are going to tear up the outskirts of Houston, Texas on Saturday October 1 from 8 – 11 pm.

You all know Rigor Mortis as innovators in the realm of non-effete melodic metal, intricate song structures, daring instrumentals and a bizarre and disturbing sense of humor. Now you have a chance to see the original line-up live, after a short drive (by H-town standards) and some metalcore.

• Rigor Mortis, Carry the Storm, Critical Assembly, Decimation Theory, and Mechanisms of a False Reality – Live In Houston, Texas – Saturday, October 1

Review up.

The Dallas Observer has set up a democratic poll to very democratically elect a local band as “Best Metal Act” of the year.

Naturally, every band and their dog’s dogs are gaming this system, in tribute to the true nature of democracy (buying votes with lies).

That means that in order to compete, all contestants need to rig the vote… see where this is going?

• Dallas Observer: Polls: Best Metal Act

Warbeast is the latest band of Rigor Mortis vocalist Bruce Corbitt, who is also interviewed on our site.

He could use your votes.