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NEWS: EYEHATEGOD: New Orleans Volume Dealers Premiere "Medicine Noose" Video At Revolver; US Live Assaults Rage On ...

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Louisiana's favorite emperors of amplification, EYEHATEGOD, today premiere their brand new video for "Medicine Noose," via Revolver Magazine. The clip was shot in various locales around New Orleans by renowned artist/director Josh Graham of Suspended In Light, and captures perfectly the song's dark, riotous, fuck-all essence. 

Roll your eyes on over to Revolver to view the video along with some words from vocalist Mike IX Williams about the track.

EYEHATEGOD's chart-leveling, self-titled new studio offering -- their first full-length in nearly fifteen years -- was released on May 27th and continues to earn the adoration of fans and media both stateside and beyond. "Their albums take on a life of their own, personifying what life is like in the lower middle class and working class neighborhoods of the various backwaters of forgotten America," relays About.com, crowning the record, "a classic of the genre." Noisey dubs Eyehategod, "...the record that EHG fans have been waiting for; a stomping and venomous set of eleven tracks that reignite the band's amazing propensity for down-trodden, electric blues," Consequence Of Sound christenes it, "...a worthy comeback and their most entertaining release since 1996's Dopesick," adding that it's both, "urgent and raw, as if the band hasn't aged a day, especially in the case of Williams. His volatile howl hits adolescent highs and scratchy lows on opener 'Agitation! Propaganda!' and the song's d-beat gallop is a welcome dose of speed before the relentless, sludgy grooves that follow," while Metal Insider notes earnestly, "To say that this album is 'a triumphant return,' or 'the album we've all been waiting for' are elephantine understatements. This album holds its own against some of the best of their canon and that alone makes it one of the best metal albums you'll hear this year." Adds MetalSucks pointedly, "it's really fucking good." EHG graces the cover of the July issue of Decibel Magazine, available now. Purchase your copy at THIS LOCATION.

EYEHATEGOD continues to crumble stages across the US on a near month-long live assaullt with metallic hardcore unit, Ringworm, and ravaging punk metal culprits, Enabler. Relays The New York Times in a recent recap of their Brooklyn performance, "Something happened to EYEHATEGOD
in the last decade... some kind of stability - a realization of exactly what the band has and how to use it. It has a very good new and self-titled album, its first in fourteen years. And its show at Club Europa, in Brooklyn, on Saturday night, fell in line with the last three I've seen by the band, before and after Mr. LaCaze's death from respiratory failure in August. It was an extended family of riffs, played over the new drummer Aaron Hill's weaving, swinging drum patterns, and under the singer Mike IX Williams' wretched howl and crinkly-eyed, mirthless smile. It was low-end body music, half-slovenly, half-graceful, impossibly deep - music for moving to in fluid motion...This was a band built on a narrative about doing the opposite of what it thought people wanted: playing slow and messy music in a fast and virtuosic time, the 1980s speed-metal moment. Now, it's hard to understand it any other way than an act of refined generosity. It doesn't matter how many copies of the new album are sold. Few have done better at creating success out of failure. [Read the full review HERE]."

Additionally, the band recently announced a special one-off live date where they'll return to Brooklyn, New York's Acheron with support from Iron Reagan, Vektor and Strong Intention. See all confirmed dates below.

EYEHATEGOD w/ Ringworm, Enabler [remaining dates]:
6/12/2014 Birdy's - Indianapolis, IN
6/13/2014 Cobra Lounge - Chicago, IL
6/14/2014 Pyramid Scheme - Grand Rapids, MI
6/15/2014 Bottom End Bar - Appleton, WI
6/16/2014 Triple Rock - Minneapolis, MN
6/17/2014 Diamond Pub - Louisville, KY
6/18/2014 Fubar - St. Louis, MO
6/19/2014 Hi Tone - Memphis, TN
6/20/2014 Southport - New Orleans, LA
6/21/2014 Dollhouse - Savannah, GA
6/22/2014 Orpheum - Tampa, FL
6/23/2014 Looseys - Gainesville, FL
6/24/2014 Zydeco - Birmingham, AL
6/25/2014 The Handlebar - Pensacola, FL
End Tour

7/15/2014 Acheron - Brooklyn, NY


Eyehategod is available via Housecore Records at THIS LOCATION. 

For all EYEHATEGOD coverage in North America, contact liz@earsplitcompound.com.

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Source: Earsplit PR
Posted By Savannah

NEWS: UFOMAMMUT Announces Fifteen-Year DVD And Requests Participation From Diehard Fans ...

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Celebrating their fifteenth year permeating the planet with their otherworldly, distinctive brew of beautifully destructive doom metal, Italian trio UFOMAMMUT is finalizing months of work on a massive DVD release documenting these years. But more than simply a document to the band's works and accomplishments over the past decade and a half, this special video release is meant to directly reach out to the band's diehard fanbase, as the members of UFOMAMMUT want their widespread worldwide family involved in the celebration.

The band posted this announcement on their website this week, stating: "We're working at a DVD for our 15 years as a band. Since the beginning we've been strongly grateful to all of you for following and supporting us during these years in our sonic adventure. So, we'd be totally honored if you could send us a short video clip (ten seconds maximum) about 'You and UFOMAMMUT.' You can do whatever you want, say whatever you want; just tell us why you're doing it, what you think/feel about UFOMAMMUT in the way you prefer." [view full post HERE]

The top fifteen submissions chosen will receive a free copy of the DVD as soon as they're manufactured.

Deadline for submissions is next Friday, June 20th.

Send all submissions to: booking[at]supernaturalcat.com using a file sharing platform (Wetransfer, etc.) - be sure to include your email and contact info.

Stand by for more on UFOMAMMUT updates as they confirm new international performances, complete work on the DVD and much more over the coming weeks.

For coverage of UFOMAMMUT, in North America contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and in Europe contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

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Source: Earsplit PR
Posted By Savannah

Of Doomed Morale - "Arcas & Callisto" ...

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Let’s be completely honest, the majority of metal these days has lost its deep underbelly of hatred and disgust for the world that we live in. It’s as if the metal community has lost its integrity and completely forgotten about the dark, hopeless and destructive side of the music we love. All I can say is that for as long as I can remember, I have been waiting patiently for a record to come along, sweep me off my feet and wrap me into a very tight cocoon. A cocoon so tight that it crushes my ribs together like empty eggshells. A record so powerful, so embedded with grittiness that you can literally fill your fingernails birthing dirt underneath them. Of Doomed Morale might have presented that record to me but it was not on a golden platter, yet more like a casket filled with spiderwebs and rotting insides.

“Arcas & Callisto”, the debut full-length from this Canadian duo, is hitting on all cylinders. Filled with eight tracks that will punish your eardrums into a coma-like state, Of Doomed Morale have put aside the average, run-of-the-mill doom/drone record and said “fuck this, we are doing all of this our own way”. Pretty risky if you ask me but with a record that clocks in at nearly fifty-two minutes in length, it’s a ride that you will never forget.

“Helike”, the fourth track on the record, is something of its own kind of monster. With extremely deep tuned guitar riffs, vocals that are filled with gut wrenching screams, it’s a full throttle roller coaster ride that takes no prisoners for a single second. As if the first three tracks weren’t really doing it for me (believe me they were), I feel like I’ve been pushed against a cement wall of spikes and thrown around by this whirlwind fuzz and sound. Not complaining, in the slightest because I can openly admit that I fucking loved it.  It isn’t just this one track either, it’s the whole damn record that pulverizes you to death with no sign of stopping to heal those bloody wounds.

It’s pretty simple, do yourself a favor and do whatever it takes to get your hands on this record. Buy it, download it, steal it, kill whomever you must but this record needs to be apart of your collection. I stand strong against that and so will you once you hear what these guys are capable of.

Words: Nicholas Williams

Facebook - HERE
Bandcamp - HERE

Heads Up: Serpent Venom's "Of Things Seen & Unseen" Hardcoverbook Available For Pre-Order ...

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Check out this very sweet packaging for the soon-to-be-released new Serpent Venom album. As usual with this label and band, it looks amazing. Not to be missed...




 SERPENT VENOM - Of Things Seen & Unseen Hardcoverbook in Slipcase The book is a landscape block of 210mm by 161mm with a spine of 6.85mm and it is bound in buckram and litho printed in full colour with metallic ink. The cardboard slipcase is also printed with a design in metallic ink. Inside the book there are images that are also full colour, the band photograph a black and silver duotone.

The booklet contains a series of abstracted images set beside the printed lyrics marking an imagined metaphoric metaphysical path through the door. Some images have greater abstraction than others but should be seen alongside the songs they reflect or represent. They are not pure illustrations as they do not paint a clear picture. The images use symbols, composition colour and shape to interpret a perceived meaning or aspect of within the lyrical content.

1. The Penance You Pay
2 .Sorrow's Bastard
3. Death Throes At Dawn
4. The Lords Of Life
5. I Awake
6. Let Them Starve
7.Pilgrims Of The Sun
8. Burning Free

Pre-order: HERE



Link: Church Within Records @ Facebook
Words: Savannah & Ed
Source: Church Within Facebook





NEWS: LYCUS: Tempest US Tour Part II Begins This Week ...

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Oakland-based funeral doomsmiths, LYCUS, begin their first East Coast-bound tour in just two days, as the Tempest US Tour Part II gets on the move.

This Friday, June 20th the Tempest US Tour Part II begins in Los Angeles, from there arcing through the Southern end of the country and up to the Northeast where they'll invade Brooklyn to perform on the last evening of the five-day Martyrdoom 2014 Festival on July 1st alongside Vilkacis, Evoken and Lord Mantis, and headlining 20 Buck Spin labelmates Mournful Congregation. The days after Martyrdoom will see the band trekking across the Midwest and back to California, the entire continent being traversed and back again in the seventeen-city run.


LYCUS will be delivering material from their colossal debut LP, Tempest, released in 2013 by 20 Buck Spin. Recorded and mixed at hometown Earhammer Studios with Greg Wilkinson (Brainoil, Pallbearer, Samothrace, High On Fire), the band seemingly adds new vitality to the funeral doom genre with Tempest, the album earning the #18 spot in Decibel Magazine's top 40 albums of the year. In the preceding 9/10 review of the record, Decibel stated, "a symphony of cell-decaying hymns and chanted vocals that crumple under the gravity field of a vast, blackened, panicked interlude," and Pitchfork praised the band, affirming, "It's difficult to make a subgenre like funeral doom feel fresh and vital, but Lycus are trying their damnedest to do just that... with Tempest they've harnessed the elemental power of an oncoming storm." Its devastation had Stereogum issuing, "It's that moment of cathartic victory right before everyone dies at the end of a Senecan tragedy - awful, but somehow satisfying." Metal Insider championed the record's dark qualities, calling it, "...an album so full of loss, so full of depressive grief, that if you closed your eyes and stared into the darkness long enough you may lose yourself and never make it back," and Heavy Planet agreed: "This is one awfully, beautifully dark record. Wholly and unrelentingly painful, Lycus walk into grief with thick skin and mud-caked fists."

LYCUS Tempest US Tour Part II:
6/20/2014 The Complex - Los Angeles, CA
6/21/2014 Wallstreet Warehouse - Phoenix, AZ
6/22/2014 Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
6/23/2014 The Lost Well - Austin, TX
6/24/2014 Mudlark Theatre - New Orleans, LA
6/25/2014 The Boro - Murfreesboro, TN
6/26/2014 The Meridian Coffeehouse - Williamsburg, VA
6/27/2014 Bar Clay House - Baltimore, MD
6/28/2014 Golden Tea House - Philadelphia, PA
6/29/2014 Dusk - Providence, RI
7/01/2014 Saint Vitus Bar - Brooklyn, NY @ Martyrdoom Fest
7/02/2014 Gooski's - Pittsburgh, PA
7/03/2014 Live Wire Lounge - Chicago, IL
7/05/2014 Bar Bar - Denver, CO
7/06/2014 Shred Shed - Salt Lake City, UT
7/08/2014 The Black Lodge - Seattle, WA
7/09/2014 Rotture - Portland, OR


Stream and purchase Tempest digitally HERE  and order the CD and LP versions HERE.

For coverage of LYCUS and all 20 Buck Spin artists contact dave@earsplitcompound.com.

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Source: Earsplit PR
Posted By Savannah

Past Lives: Goat w/ Holy Wave 6.17.14 Union Transfer, Philly, PA ...

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Hovering perilously close to gig # 50, last night Union Transfer hosted myself and my lady friend for my 47th and her 6th overall.

Holy Wave?  Holy Shit!  Never heard these cats prior, but I am sure listening now.  I ALMOST dug their set more than Goat's, but Goat added the visual factor to put them over the top.

Holy Wave, a five piece consisting of two guitarists, the drummer, and a key man and a bass man who each switched to each other's other instrument halfway in.  That was pretty interesting.  Sound-wise, what I basically heard was this: take the overall insistence of the riff in Ghost In The Trees by Thee Oh Sees.  Now slow it down slightly and extrapolate it over a full set.  Got it?  Good.  Now add the throbbing bass of Canned Heat in 1970.  Got that?  Okay, cool.  Now, take the Beatles in 1967 and Hawkwind in 1973 and have them fake fight over whose turn it is to drop an acid solo.  Got all that?  Really?  Because I still don't. 

Holy Wave


I'm dying to pick up an album now, though.  Very chugging, poppy, and trippy all at once.  Outstanding work that's unlike anything I've heard.  They absolutely have their own sound and I'll be listening from now on, and hope you do as well.

Ah, the headliners.  Goat, hailing from some tiny forest town in Sweden, came out and rocked their voodoo, and I'm so glad I finally caught their show.  I've dug on their album on the label's Bandcamp for two years now I guess (thanks Kojak for the recommendation!!!!) and frankly I was floored.  This was my first gig in a decade that also served as visual stimuli- the last being Neil Young on the Greendale tour with that entire town set-up.  Luckily, like Neil Young, Goat also has the songs to back it up.  If I was buying a ticket for the visual entertainment, I'd be seeing a film. 

The five men of Goat, two strats(!), the fattest sounding Rick ever (Apologies to Al/Sleep), the war drum afro funk tom tom tom tom tom tom hitting drummer, and the djembe guy, all masked and black and silver and gold, laid the base for the two singers/dancers/hand-percussionists to ooh and ahh over.  The closest thing I can say that I've heard to this band is possibly the Derek Trucks Band on a tear, but instead of jamming and noodling and prowess, Goat goes for the riff, the pop, and the feel of the music instead.  VERY different approach to the similar rhythms, but Goat makes it fun whereas an hour of Derek Trucks Band can kind of get boring. 

They're not quite a jam band.  Not really pop.  Way more than "stoner rock".  The music is very textured and fluid, yet at the same time very catchy and coherent.  Like Holy Wave, I've never heard these sounds put together quite like this.  It's time for a follow-up, no?

Goat
 

Cheers to Frank for talking music.  Old heads at shows does my heard good.  Fuck at 30 myself, at an all ages show at UT, I'm probably closer to being an old head than a young one myself.  Screw it, as long as the music stays this infectious and grooving, you can expect my ass to be standing up front, headbanging.  The younger kids were...dancing...which threw me way off.  If anything all ages shows to me mean young idiots moshing to weed music, which never made any sense to me.  I nearly felt out of place in my Pallbearer shirt, save for that other guy in a Pallbearer shirt (Hi, other guy!).  There was a young hippie girl with flowers around her head. 

Obviously, Goat is stretching boundaries and inviting all listeners in, which widens their audience and hopefully makes them hit the US sooner than later next time.  I'm proud of them.  They've really developed an inviting sound that can catch anyone's ear, stoned rocker, doom enthusiast, afro rhythm fiend, hippie, punk, they were all there.  Good for them, I say.  They already had a fan in me, but now they've a repeat gig attendant.  My lady friend was equally moved, and we will be waiting for our next ritual.

Succumb to Goat, it's quite painless and fun, I assure you.

Thanks for reading as always, and look for a King Buzzo review from me next month, right here.

Holy Wave @ Bandcamp
Goat @ Facebook

Words: SabbathJeff


NEWS: IDES OF GEMINI: Ethereal Doom Contortionists Prepare To Release, Old World New Wave; Artwork + Track Listing Revealed ...

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Ethereal doom trio, IDES OF GEMINI, are preparing to unveil their sophomore offering, Old World New Wave, via Neurot Recordings this Fall.

IDES OF GEMINI features guitarist Jason Bennett, drummer Kelly Johnston-Gibson and the haunting vocal prowess of singer/bassist Sera Timms, also of Los Angeles dark-psych conjurors Black Mare. The follow-up to the band's 2012 Constantinople debut, which Pitchfork christened "darkly beautiful," and Terrorizer likened to, "a metallic-filtered kinship to Cocteau Twins and Mazzy Star," Old World New Wave was recorded at Valley Recording in Burbank, California, engineered and mixed by Chris Rakestraw (Danzig), mastered by Grammy award winning producer Matt Hyde (Slayer) and boasts the striking hand-drawn cover art of Johnston-Gibson.

Comments Timms of the offering, "For Old World New Wave we all really coalesced as a band, and were able to work off one another's strengths. J came up with the basic concept and musical framework of the album, and Kelly and I gave it form and identity. For me, my own personal musical identity, taste, preferences etc. were eclipsed by the power of the music which worked as an animate force unto itself -- so much so that I cannot listen to any of it objectively, or tell you if it's good or bad, but I can tell you that it's distinctively IDES OF GEMINI."

Adds Johnston-Gibson of the images surrounding the record, "The artwork is an interpretation of Sera's lyrical narrative, which carries over themes from Constantinople, as well as symbolic of transformations experienced by us as individuals and inevitably as a band. The minimalist, direct style of the cover and accompanying illustrations is indicative of our energies combined to create one clear, singular force, as experienced through the music, while the visual content has more to do with the story: essentially a conflict between opposing energies leading to destruction, therefore allowing a clean slate for integration of opposites into a resurrected whole."

Old World New Wave Track Listing:
1. Black Door
2. The Chalice & The Blade
3. Seer Of Circassia
4. White Hart
5. May 22, 1453
6. The Adversary
7. Fememorde
8. Valediction
9. Scimitar


Old World New Wave will be released on CD and digitally via Neurot Recordings and on vinyl via SIGE Records on September 16th, 2014. In the meantime, check out the teaser video at THIS LOCATION.

For all IDES OF GEMINI coverage in North America contact liz@earsplitcompound.com, in Germany contact ansgar@community-promotion.com, and in the rest of Europe contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

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Source: Earsplit PR
Posted By Savannah & Ed


Conan - Blood Eagle ...

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Alright kids, have a seat, crack open a Robert E. Howard book, and put on your favorite battle helm; this one is an all-out, low-end assault on the eardrums.

Conan's most recent release Blood Eagle is the group's most refined offering to date.  But that doesn't mean that they've lost their edge; instead, they've sharpened it to a fine point whilst retaining the characteristic bludgeoning force with which the trio has hammered listeners from the beginning. 

The production on Blood Eagle is top-notch, especially for such a sonically demanding piece of music: there's clarity, punch, and, of course, serious low-end weight.  I'm talking Jabba the Hutt sitting on your chest weight.  One of the key elements of the production is the clarity in the impossibly low-tuned bass and guitars. 

The drums still retain their punch through the wall of noise while the sparse vocals (or battle cries, as would be more appropriate here) sit nicely, if not a little too quiet, in the dense mix.  Even in the heaviest, lowest-tuned, moments — the second half of "Foehammer" and the entirety of "Total Conquest" come to mind — the instruments do not succumb to muddiness or become indistinguishable muck.  Sonically, Blood Eagle lives up to its namesake: brutal and precise.

It seems as though Conan has been doing their homework and listening to some High On Fire because Blood Eagle is faster and more aggressive than previous albums, featuring a number of riffs that raise tempos from trudge to barbarian charge to warhorse gallop and beyond.  Songs like "Foehammer" and "Gravity Chasm" pummel listeners as if they are on the receiving end of a mammoth cavalry charge (let that image sink in) while "Altar of Grief" and others opt for a slower, more typical pacing.  Nonetheless, the tempo effect is great: the faster, groovier riffs get listeners banging their heads whilst providing a convincing juxtaposition to the low and slow brutality that makes Conan legend (again, "Foehammer"  is fucking heavy).

Blood Eagle is not a concept; it is not a convoluted album-spanning storyline; there is no metaphor, no deeper interpretation.  There is only war, only blood-drenched combat in realms both fantastic and primitive.  There is no need for spiritual investment.  Go ahead, pump some iron while listening; you'll lift cars.  Play it while you're LARPing; you'll conquer the entire battlefield, smashing heads with your foam warhammer.  To each his (or her) own, but one thing is certain: Blood Eagle is a quality piece of heaviness deserving of a place on year-end lists all around.  So, in closing, buy this album if you'd like to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.

Words: Ian Fetters

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Video: TROUBLE ~ Fan-Filmed Footage Of Richmond Concert ...

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Fan-filmed video footage of TROUBLE's June 18 performance at Strange Matter in Richmond, Virginia can be seen below.
TROUBLE played its first show with the band's new lineup — featuring singer Kyle Thomas and bassist Rob Hultz— on October 12, 2013 at the Day Of Doom festival in Barcelona, Spain.
Hultz is no stranger to the heavy metal, hard rock, and doom metal genres as his lengthy music resume boasts. While still in high school, he joined an East Coast hardcore band called SOCIAL DECAY which served as his introduction to recording and touring. After a decade, he left with the guitar player to form the doom metal band GODSPEED and was signed to Atlantic Records. Their debut album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York and produced by Rachel Bolan of SKID ROW. The band was represented by Gloria Butler Management and toured with iconic bands such as BLACK SABBATH, DIO and CATHEDRAL, to name just a few.

In 1996, Hultz helped form SOLACE, another notable doom metal band, which was signed to Meteor City Records, and played large arenas, clubs, and festivals such as Roadburn and Hellfest. Their last recording, "A.D.", was released on Small Stone Records in 2010 and voted Best Metal Album of the Year on iTunes. Since then, Hultz has lent his talents on projects for LETHAL AGGRESSION and DISEASE CONCEPT.

"The Distortion Field", the first studio album in six years from TROUBLE, sold around 760 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 25 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
Released in Europe on August 23, 2013 via FRW Records, the 12-song follow-up to 2007's "Simple Mind Condition" was helmed by veteran producer Bill Metoyer (SLAYER, W.A.S.P., ARMORED SAINT, DARK ANGEL, SACRED REICH, CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER, D.R.I.) and marks the recording debut with TROUBLE of lead singer Kyle Thomas following the departure of the group's frontman of four years, Kory Clarke (of WARRIOR SOUL fame).


Source: Blabbermouth
Posted By Tony Cooper

Dedicated to Ed Barnard who is in terrible shape at the moment. No one can do anything about his health woes but you can make life just that little bit easier but throwing some coin his way. Please donate or buy a download and help take some of the pressure off his financial strain. You think you are in debt? Take a few minutes to remember there are millions of people far worse off than you are and Ed is one of them, please consider helping out. Thank you.....
- Savannah & Tony C

NEWS & Video: New Song Premiere: NOVEMBERS DOOM's 'Just Breathe' ...

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The song "Just Breathe" from Chicago death/doom metallers NOVEMBERS DOOM can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. The track is taken from the band's ninth studio album, titled "Bled White", which will be released on July 15 via The End Records. The follow-up to 2011's "Apothic" was recorded at Belle City Sound with engineer Chris Wisco (JUNGLE ROT, NACHTMYSTIUM) handling recording and co-production duties, and Dan Swanö (BLOODBATH, NIGHTINGALE) spearheading the mixing.

Comments NOVEMBERS DOOM frontman Paul Kuhr: "'Just Breathe' breaks new ground for NOVEMBERS DOOM. We incorporate a softer element in the vocal, making it a bit more personal sounding, while attempting to keep things heavy and moving. Also, listen closely… Is that actually a hint of something positive in the lyrics? Darkness mixed with light? Hey, they can't all be miserable!"
Ever since its humble beginnings in 1989, NOVEMBERS DOOM has striven to create its own unique brand of dark, brooding and melancholic metal music. Constantly evolving and pushing the restrictions of minor genre tags, the band has created a unique and identifiable sound, making its mark in the metal world.

Consisting of founder/vocalist/lyricist Paul Kuhr, Larry Roberts (guitar), Vito Marchese (guitar), Mike Feldman (bass) and Garry Naples (drums), NOVEMBERS DOOM has garnered international success by performing with such bands as AGALLOCH, SATURNUS, AJATTARA and NIGHTINGALE, as well as making high-profile festival appearances at Brutal Assault, Graspop Metal Meeting and Caos Emergente.

"Bled White" track listing:
01. Bled White
02. Heartfelt
03. Just Breathe
04. Scorpius
05. Unrest
06. The Memory Room
07. The Brave Pawn
08. Clear
09. The Grand Circle
10. Animus
11. The Silent Dark
 
"Every time a band writes and records a new album, they always say things like, 'This is our best yet!' and it usually isn't," says Kuhr.

"Is this our best yet? I'll let you decide that, since opinions are all objective. What I will say is this... We approached 'Bled White' differently than the past. We put a lot more focus on vocal melodies and harmonies this time around, creating a new soundscape for NOVEMBERS DOOM. The music is punishing at times with my heaviest growls to date, and others will take you to a new place entirely for us exploring new ground. It's very different at times, but it remains NOVEMBERS DOOM.
"I won't say it's our best, but I'll tell you it's the one I'm most proud of... OK. It's our best yet."
The band plans to tour the U.S. and Europe in 2014 in support of the new studio release.



Source: Blabbermouth
Posted By Savannah

NEWS: YOB: Doom Metal Trio Announces Mammoth UK/European Tour In Support Of Clearing The Path To Ascend ...

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Long-running Oregon doom metal conjurors and recent Neurot signees, YOB, will embark upon a massive overseas trek this Fall. Slated to commence on September 3rd, 2014 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the band will levy their cathartic riff rituals upon twenty-eight cities, the tour coming to a close on October 11th, 2014 at Desertfest in Antwerp, Belgium. YOB will be joined by Little Rock doom bringers, Pallbearer.

The tour coincides with the release of the trio's long-awaiting new full-length, Clearing The Path To Ascend. Recorded at Gung Ho Studio in Eugene, notorious for its reserve of vintage equipment, alongside longtime collaborator/iconic sound-sage Billy Barnett, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Beastmilk, Nails) at Audiosiege Engineering, the four tracks comprising Clearing The Path To Ascend don't simply offer a vacuous glimpse into the already riff-soaked doom genre; these songs demand the tandem attention of mind, body, and soul, etching a mark across a sound that finds YOB as formidable as they've ever been. True ascension requires a destruction of those barriers that prevent any movement forward. Unsurprisingly, YOB pummels any and all of these obstacles with absolute authority, clearing the way for a genuinely visceral listening experience and climbing upward into a realm that sets the band in a heavy metal place that has been and will always remain wholly their own.

YOB UK/EU Tour 2014 w/ Pallbearer:
9/03/2014 Tivoli de helling - Utrecht, NL 
9/04/2014 The Fleece - Bristol, UK
9/05/2014 Roadhouse - Manchester, UK
9/06/2014 Audio- Glasgow, UK
9/07/2014 Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, UK
9/08/2014 The Underworld - London, UK
9/10/2014 FZW - Dortmund, DE
9/11/2014 Vera - Groningen, NL
9/12/2014 Atlas - Aarhus, DK
9/13/2014 Truckstop Alaska - Gothenburg, SE
9/14/2014 Hostsabbat @ Betong - Oslo, NO
9/16/2014 Tavastia - Helsinki, FI
9/17/2014 Slakthuset - Stockholm, SE
9/18/2014 Loppen - Copenhagen, DK
9/19/2014 Connewitz - Leipzig, DE
9/20/2014 Firlej - Wroclaw, PL
9/21/2014 Bi Nuu - Berlin, DE
9/23/2014 Klub 007 - Prague, CZ
9/24/2014 Arena - Vienna, AT
9/25/2014 PMK - Unnsbruck, AT
9/26/2014 Gaswerk - Winterthur, CH
9/29/2014 Le Romandie - Lausanne, CH
10/02/2014 Razzmatazz3 - Barcelona, ES
10/03/2014 Villamanuela - Madrid, ES
10/04/2014 Amplifest - Porto, PT
10/05/2014 ES ESonora - Erandio, ES
10/10/2014 Kyttaro Club - Athens, GR
10/11/2014 Desertfest - Antwerp, BE


Clearing The Path To Ascend will be released on September 1st, 2014 in the UK and Europe and in the US on September 2nd, 2014 via Neurot Recordings.

For all YOB coverage in North America contact liz@earsplitcompound.com, in Germany contact ansgar@community-promotion.com, and in the rest of Europe contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

YOB @ Facebook
Neurot Recordings Official
Neurot Recordings @ Facebook

Source: Earsplit PR
Posted By: Savannah

The Atlas Moth - "The Old Believer" ...

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With one look at the artwork for The Atlas Moth's new album The Old Believer, you can tell something is… wrong.  It's like there is something we are missing, something hidden just below the surface. 

The woman on the cover looks regal and disturbed at the same time, all whilst an unsettling, esoteric emblem hangs above her head like a cryptic halo.  There is a palpable sense of unease about the album just from looking at the cover. 

This uneasy feeling evolves into dread as the artwork beneath the pallid white top layer is revealed upon being submerged in water: it is the same regal women, only now she is surrounded by gothic architectural darkness. 

Her flesh is shorn away, revealing only a bleached skull; the esoteric symbol above transforms into a sickly red, neon sign.  Of course — as the band has reassured its fans — once the water dries, the image returns to its original state.

The stunning transformation that the artwork undergoes is a perfect vehicle for describing The Atlas Moth's sonic journey on The Old Believer.  The first thing listeners will notice is the balanced interplay between the harsh vocals and singing.  Most of the tracks on The Old Believer feature a good deal more clean singing than the band's previous efforts, which allows for more moments of melody and, dare I say, catchy choruses (listen to "The Sea Beyond").  Guitarist David Kush's gravelly, whiskey-soaked vocals rise above the dense atmospheric mix to offer melancholic soliloquies.  Guitarist Stavros Giannopoulos' grating, black metal-esque vocals (think Ihsahn) add just enough harshness to the band's sound for fans of the extreme to latch onto, especially on moments like the end of "Wynona," where Giannopoulos' tortured, soul-shredding screams leave listeners drained.  The close interplay between layered screams and hoarse yowling — which is particularly effective on stand-out tracks "The Sea Beyond" and "City of Light"— provides an interesting and fitting juxtaposition to some of the album's lighter moments.  Who am I kidding?  This band does not do "light."  The Old Believer is an all-around heavy album both sonically and emotionally.  Period.

The Atlas Moth replaced their drummer before recording The Old Believer; but, despite the line-up shake-up, the band's rhythm section remains solid and lays down grooves with authority on each of the ten tracks.  However, the guitars and atmospherics are the MVPs on this album.  The band fully utilizes their three guitar attack with an abundance of multi-part harmonies and spacey octave riffs.  Atmospheric effects, equal parts dreamy and eerie, are then layered over the sludgy foundations.  "Halcyon Blvd's" intro features a soft synth line that evokes some of the sounds heard previously on An Ache for the Distance before evolving into an echoing guitar-led riff.  "City of Light" also opens with synth; this time it's an arpeggiated analog line accompanied by an airy pad, sounding like something that could have easily come from a Zombi record (at least until the vocals kick in).  The track "Collider" even features guitar effects that bring old sci-fi laser sounds to mind.  All the effects, delays, big reverbs, synths, and layering leaves the mix very dense, and at times it is hard to dissect exactly what's going on.  But then again, this isn't a record to pick apart.  Let its entirety wash over you; worship the sacred noise.

The Old Believer is, for the most part, built upon a solid foundation of mid-tempo tracks that cruise through 51 minutes of playtime, which is my one grievance with the album.  Many of the songs seem to plod along at the same tempo, offering little variation and feeding from the energy of previous tracks.  This presents a problem as the album seems to lose its momentum around the half-way mark.  However, stand-out tracks like the excellent "The Sea Beyond" and the title track, make up for the perceived momentum loss and homogeny.  The Atlas Moth have made an Old Believer out of me.  Are you ready to convert?  The title track calls to us all: "We have a place for you here / Tune to our frequency / Leave your friends behind / Break with your decency / And peace will find you."

Words: Ian Fetters

The Atlas Moth @ Facebook

Waingro - Waingro ...

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The past few months a lot of albums have not only met my expectations, they’ve exceeded them.  Maybe it’s got something to do with the quality and amount of drugs i’ve been doing. One of these is a beaut of a record by Vancouver B.C.’s Waingro. An odd moniker some may scratch their rookie heads at, but to those of us on the cool side of the street, the name Waingro suits this crew of miscreants, which is Brian Sepanzyk guitar/vox, Nate Pennell on bass(that tone!!), and drummer Ben Nesdoly just fuckin’ fine.  The S/T Waingro kicks off with “Firebird” which is the perfect track to get them elbows flying and beers cracked, or vice versa. After the commanding “Bathed in Tongues”, tracks “Tailwind”, and “Force Fed” continue to throw out plenty of razor solid hooks a la the Cenobites in Hellraiser.

Fans of stalwarts The Bronx and Trap Them might hear a bit of influence at times throughout the record, which leaves me fairly chuffed. But this troop of doom is out to blaze their own trail. Sepanzyk keeps his wickedly energetic 120 grit roar in the right spots giving the three plenty of room to let the listener hear some fantastic chops. And chops there is. The secret weapon here is Benny who’s on fire with smart hook laden fills which kept me howling out loud at how amazing yet effortless his playing seems without coming across as cocky. But it’s not all about aggression and aluminum baseball bats to the face. These fellas know how to shift gears into a completely different state of mind. Interludes “Matador”, “St.Regis”, and “Arboria” to me showed a bit of a Queens of the Stone Age slant.

Or maybe it was due to me forgetting I had turned on 2 nitrous tanks in the house, but I swear they fit together somehow. I pointed this out to my cats and I’m pretty sure they’ve been making fun of me ever since. . The Crown ‘n’ Tits production job done by that wizard Jesse Gander (Haggatha, Rotting Hills, Percheron) at Rain City Recorders (Van, B.C.) keeps the gas floored on this album which is a fucking ride filled with pleasured screams, faster than a blackjack dealer fills, and a conquering bass akin to a swift black Dayton to the chest. A solid debut which I’m sure will grab a lot of fuckin’ people by the collar and demand repeated listens while living rooms get destroyed.



Words: Matt Berube

Waingro @ Bandcamp

NEWS: WO FAT - Dallas Stoner Doom Peddlers Stream Instrumental Version Of The Conjuring Via The Obelisk ...

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Today, the volume squad at The Obelisk is pleased to douse your Monday blues in riff-centric sanctity with the instrumental version of The Conjuring, the latest long player from Dallas stoner doom peddlers, WO FAT.

Brimming with nearly fifty pavement-rumbling minutes of meticulously executed, spliff-torching thunder, WO FAT proves that they're in the upper tiers of the vast stoner/doom metal universe alongside and comparable to acts like Nebula, Black Pyramid, Ufomammut, Elder, and undoubtedly Fu Manchu.

Small Stone Recordings dropped this bomb of raging fuzz-tone amplification and soulful, cosmic destruction earlier this month via digital download, CD, and 180-gram vinyl with deluxe jacket and poly-lined sleeves, pressed in transparent red and black schemes, each limited to 250 copies (with an included download).

In celebration of its release, The Obelisk is offering up the whole psychedelic ride in instrumental form.

Relays The Obelisk, "I'm not sure what prompted... WO FAT to produce an instrumental version of their latest and fifth album, The Conjuring, taking away the vocal work of Kent Stump and Michael Walter to leave just their guitar and drums, respectively, and the bass work of Tim Wilson, but if you want to apply the old stoner rock cliché, it definitely fits: 'It's all about the riffs, man.' That's been the case, more or less, all along for the heavy fuzz-rocking three-piece, but this instrumental take on The Conjuring brings into focus more than ever before just how righteous WO FAT's nod is, how fluidly they roll from groove to groove. Even a shorter song like the just-under-seven-minute 'Read The Omens' - which in its vocalized incarnation is among the record's catchiest pieces - works smoothly as an instrumental moving between its riffs... Whether it's an airy Stump lead, smooth fill from Wilson or perfectly placed crash from Walter, the instrumental The Conjuring highlights just how dynamic and powerful a trio they've become."

Get truckin' at THIS LOCATION.

There's been a creature lurking in the woods since WO FAT's 2006 debut, The Gathering Dark. Their second album, 2009's Psychedelonaut, pulled back on the threat some to lighten the mood, but whether it's the motor-driven rush of "Read The Omens" or the you're-already-lost-in-it riff-exploration of seventeen-minute closer "Dreamwalker," The Conjuring is indeed a backwoods ritual. Bluesmen have sold their souls for less. Topped off with a mastering job from Nolan Brett at Stump's studio and an otherworldly cover courtesy of Alexander Von Wieding, the beast that WO FAT's tectonic riffage calls to earth has never seemed more real or more alive than it does on The Conjuring. Much in the same vein as their last two offerings - 2012's The Black Code and 2011's Noche del Chupacabra - The Conjuring boasts big jams and brawny riffs, the sort of record that turns the vaguely interested into converts and makes the corners on squares look even sharper.

"...one of the heaviest and coolest stoner acts." - Sputnik Music

"The band's power lies in how loose they feel; they don't rely on theatrics or clever bridges but instead sound confident swinging a bluesy sledgehammer of a riff right into a free-burning solo." -- MetalSucks

"WO FAT have become not only the standard bearers for traditional stoner rffing, but also one of heavy rock's most essential and forward-thinking acts." - The Obelisk

"...if you love extended, psychedelic riff fests, you have absolutely come to the right place. Spark up what you got and settle down for some heavy, heavy sounds." - Sea Of Tranquility

"The Conjuring is the trio at their most confident and awe-inducing, doling out heaviness like heavy ain't no thing. So be careful jamming this album beside a bonfire. There's no telling what may come crawling out of the cinders." - The Metal Observer

Facebook
Small Stone Official
Small Stone Records @ Facebook

Source: Earsplit PR
Posted By Doctor Doom

Hawkmoth - "Calamitas" ...

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Ok, so health and other things aside, some badass records got tossed my way from them maniacs at Doommantia. This one came from a long ways from where I lay my head is the instrumental sounds of the cataclysm from Sydney Austraila.  HAWKMOTH!!! 

The first riff came on and instantly I thought of lighting a fire, cracking half a dozen Natural Lites, and driving my truck thru my neighbors fence! Extinguishing in the overflowing bath starts you up and bang! Slams on the breaks into an awesome clean passage. The album is full of these.

Hitlers Dogs keeps things moving albeit at a variety of tempos powered by catchy as hell riffs and some great drums. When Tundra came on I got a Coal Chamber vibe for about five seconds and that was it.

The build up through the last half of that tune was enough to make nearly put fists through Gyprock. Emotional. By this point I'm officially a fan. To me instrumental acts are like playing roulette. The payoff can be really rewarding with albums by great musicians but at times things can be known to get waaay too fuckin noodly and showboaty(is that a word). Wank wank wank wank.

Guys just showing off. Not the case here. These fellas know when to pull back on them reigns during an song. To keep the ebbs and flows going throughout each song was a pleasure to my ears. My cats too. They never left the room. These ;ads do an amazing job of taking an unpretentious rock riff and ram it headfirst into a sludged out doom riff!

The results of this are hook laden instantly memorable songs. Definitely drygulched by this fuckin gem that’s for damn sure. My cats think it’s the perfect record for summer. I say good call cause the three of us had been waiting for one.



Words: Matt Berube

Hawkmoth @ Bandcamp

NEWS: ELECTRIC WIZARD Unveil 'Time To Die' Artwork ...

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Visually intoxicating, uncompromisingly heavy and revered for making music and lifestyle one, ELECTRIC WIZARD will release its eighth full-length album, "Time To Die", later in the year via Spinefarm Records.

Says ELECTRIC WIZARD founding member Jus Oborn: "All of our albums in the past have had a theme — revenge, drugs, black magick — and the theme of this one is death. Of course, death to us really means rebirth, so this album is a manifestation of a very primal occult belief in the final sacrifice.

"We have gone full circle — it was inevitable, but we had to do it. We had to kill the band so we could be reborn. It was the only way to ensure we could come back even stronger."

The artwork, once again created by Oborn, is an extension of that theme; this is further solidified by the LP gatefold image, which will be revealed soon.

Formed by vocalist/guitarist Jus Oborn in 1993, ELECTRIC WIZARD — based in the U.K.'s South-West — has thus far released seven studio albums — an increasingly influential body of work recorded on vintage analogue gear with as little technology as possible intruding on the signal ("Pro Tools is for pussies!").

Result: some of the heaviest, dirtiest, most evil-sounding audio ever put to tape, and more importantly to vinyl, with both "Come My Fanatics" (1997) and "Dopethrone" (2000) being lauded as landmark releases.

A cultural as well as a musical force, ELECTRIC WIZARD has left an indelible mark on a host of different genres, the likes of doom, stoner and sludge; at heart, however, they stand as an iconic British metal band, cast in the great tradition, with lyrics and artwork reflecting the hypnotic weight of the music, and subject to the same intelligence and detail.

Wreathed in occult ritual and drug-culture references, with classic '70s horror an inspirational seam, ELECTRIC WIZARD is poised to turn a page; there's the new deal with Spinefarm Records, plus — after a nine-year hiatus — the return of Mark Greening (the drummer on "Dopethrone"), who completes the lineup of Oborn, American guitarist Liz Buckingham, a key member since 2003, and new bassist Clayton Burgess (SATAN'S SATYRS).

Fueled by strong emotion and the harder sounds of late-'60s Detroit, the remodeled lineup — isolated by choice, giant stacks glowing red — set about crafting an eighth studio album to both rival and exceed the milestone recordings of the past, with Buckingham keeping things suitably monolithic and the band generally looking back to some of their earliest influences.

Toerag Studios in London was once again charged with capturing "The Sound," and (encouragingly) words like "raw", "hateful" and "sickeningly heavy" are being traded.

NEWS: YOB: Oregon Doomsmiths Post Second Clearing The Path To Ascend Video Teaser; US Tour Dates Announced ...

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Oregon doomsmiths, YOB, will released their long-awaited full-length, the aptly titled Clearing The Path To Ascend, via Neurot Recordings this Fall. Recorded at Gung Ho Studio in Eugene, notorious for its reserve of vintage equipment, alongside longtime collaborator/iconic sound-sage Billy Barnett, and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, Beastmilk, Nails) at Audiosiege Engineering, Clearing The Path To Ascend is undoubtedly the crowning achievement for a band whose journey now nears two decades of creating music as commanding as it is cathartic.

As is the YOB way, the tracks here don't simply offer a vacuous glimpse into the already riff-soaked doom genre. These songs demand the tandem attention of mind, body, and soul - etching a mark across a sound that finds YOB as formidable and unequaled as they've ever been. The path to ascend is clearly an arduous one, fraught with the peril of mediocrity. Thankfully, YOB pummels that path, climbing upward into a realm that sets the band in a heavy metal place that has been and will always remain wholly their own.

As a precursor to the release, YOB is offering up a second Clearing The Path To Ascend video teaser. Produced by William F. Haldane of Solder House, the near four-minute video details the writing process, concept and emotional journey that embodies the record as a whole.

Lose yourself at THIS LOCATION.

In related news, YOB will bring their otherworldly riff rituals to the stage later this month on a handful of West Coast live excursions that will include performances in Sacramento, Oakland and Seattle as well as a headlining performance at Portland's Hoverfest alongside Witch Mountain, Lord Dying, Eight Bells and more!

The tour comes in advance of the band's previously announced overseas trek this Fall. Slated to commence on September 3rd, 2014 in Utrecht, the Netherlands, the band will level twenty-eight cities, the tour coming to a close on October 11th, 2014 at Desertfest in Antwerp, Belgium. YOB will be joined by Little Rock doom bringers, Pallbearer.

YOB TOUR DATES:
7/25/2014 Starlite Lounge - Sacramento, CA w/ Giant Squid, Will Haven
7/26/2014 Oakland Metro - Oakland, CA w/ Black Cobra, Augurs
8/09/2014 El Corazon - Seattle, WA w/ Wounded Giant, Transient
8/23/2014 Hoverfest - Portland, OR w/ Witch Mountain, Lord Dying, many more... UK/EU Tour 2014 w/ Pallbearer:
9/03/2014 Tivoli de helling - Utrecht, NL
9/04/2014 The Fleece - Bristol, UK
9/05/2014 Roadhouse - Manchester, UK
9/06/2014 Audio- Glasgow, UK
9/07/2014 Brudenell Social Club - Leeds, UK
9/08/2014 The Underworld - London, UK
9/10/2014 FZW - Dortmund, DE
9/11/2014 Vera  - Groningen, NL
9/12/2014 Atlas - Aarhus, DK
9/13/2014 Truckstop Alaska - Gothenburg, SE
9/14/2014 Hostsabbat @ Betong - Oslo, NO
9/16/2014 Tavastia - Helsinki, FI
9/17/2014 Slakthuset - Stockholm, SE
9/18/2014 Loppen - Copenhagen, DK
9/19/2014 Connewitz - Leipzig, DE
9/20/2014 Firlej - Wroclaw, PL
9/21/2014 Bi Nuu - Berlin, DE
9/23/2014 Klub 007 - Prague, CZ
9/24/2014 Arena - Vienna, AT
9/25/2014 PMK - Unnsbruck, AT
9/26/2014 Gaswerk - Winterthur, CH
9/29/2014 Le Romandie - Lausanne, CH
10/02/2014 Razzmatazz3 - Barcelona, ES
10/03/2014 Villamanuela - Madrid, ES
10/04/2014 Amplifest - Porto, PT
10/05/2014 ES ESonora - Erandio, ES
10/10/2014 Kyttaro Club - Athens, GR
10/11/2014 Desertfest - Antwerp, BE


Clearing The Path To Ascend will be released on September 1st, 2014 in the UK and Europe and in the US on September 2nd, 2014 via Neurot Recordings.

For all YOB coverage in North America contact liz@earsplitcompound.com, in Germany contact ansgar@community-promotion.com, and in the rest of Europe contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

YOB @ Facebook
Neurot Recordings Official
Neurot Recordings Facebook

Leucosis - "Leucosis" ...

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This sound crashes out of your speakers with a force that will blow you away. Leucosis starts their oeuvre slow and heavy, they tweedle around so the sound can grow from a leaking form into a outbursting squall, only so it can fall back into silence. To restart, regain its force for the next tune.
In the self-titled album Leucosis, the drums are mixed perfectly with the vocals and guitar, giving the tune into firm ground, attributing to its blackish character. Distinctive by a melancholic gloomily style, their atmosphere is dark, heavy and oppressive.

In the song Anaesthesia, the sound swells smoothly from a tangled ordinance, into a grinding rush, supported by vocals, similar to black metal vocalists, heavy like lead. Until it falls back, nearly drying up, solely to come back with another heavy guitar riff. By loosing its force again towards the end of the song, it connects smoothly to the next tune.

The Song Taiga starts with a classic guitar riff full of despair. Collecting itself to be fulfilled by its vocalist. He connects all the strings of the song, and gets displaced by a distorted guitar riff. Again smoothening towards the end, falling into silence. Preparing for the next song.

All in all, the self-titled album Leucosis approaches the sleep, the lack of sleeping. Its side-effects. Towards death by choice. This album is a must have for all fans of Deathheaven and Wolves in The Throneroom.



Words: Luis Luethi

Leucosis @ Bandcamp

Dying Sun - "Transcendence" ...

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Dying Sun have their roots in Frederick, Maryland. Their sound led by the vocalist has a hateful touch, expressing black despair. The surface on which his voice aground's, is composed minimalistic, strongly distorted and alternating between high and low pitched vocals. Giving the songs a miserable and also a lunatic mode of expression.

The first two albums 12212010 and 5125 are in their style very similar. Both are based on simplified melodious but very heavy guitar riffs, supported by a non-stopping drums in the background. Sometimes, like in the song Silence is Surrender they add a synthesizer, adding a minimalistic overtone, creating a ghostly atmosphere in phases where the music gets a settled character, taking a pause from the rush but still emitting an afterglow. Dying Sun composes their songs by focusing on its limits. The songs start doomed, lost in the wasteland, following into a more melodic form, gently or brutally introducing the vocalist. It is a search for the climactic scene, slowing down towards the end and disappearing like a decaying current.

Transcendence, their newest oeuvre, has just been released in January 2014. The band fiddled around with their style and their experience they have already collected in their first two albums. All in all the music got slower, got a stronger Black Metallic aspect and they added more melodies. The high pitched vocal got a more melodic character, giving it more form and a higher complexity. It gained a deeper characteristic out of it. Also, it seems like they know better where their music is leading, what they can accomplish with their style. The songs constructions are more focused, earmarking the climax.

The sound of Dying Sun is very charismatic and they have their very own style. Their music is ambivalent and therefore it feels genuine. The conflicting nature of the vocalist fits the minimalistic ground, on which the sound sprouts.



Dying Sun @ Bandcamp

Words: Luis Luethi

Sinistro - Sinistro ...

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Sinistro is a Portuguese doom metal band, part of the label Raging-Planet. In June 2012 there has been an article about the upcoming doom and stoner metal scene in Portugal, and Sinistro is one of the bands that has been mentioned at the edge. Now 2 years later they have released one album and an Ep, and another one is in production. Raging-Planet is a label that supports a lot of different metal styles, and I can recommend to take a look at their Bandcamp page, since there can be found so many different hardcore music styles, reaching from melodic death metal to indie and experimental punk, or black metal. Holocausto Canibal is one of the bands I can recommend, next to Sinistro, from the label Raging-Planet.

Click Here For Raging Planet Bandcamp

Sinistros first self-titled album protrudes by a minimized but wicked cover art, but also with their leaden and gloomy doom metal. The first song Ruas Desertas starts slow an calm, the becoming of the song is hidden. You would not expect where the music will take you, until a heavy guitars enter with a tremendous density, supported by a leaden bass and subsequently dull vocals. The songs tension lasts to the very end and abruptly stops there, leaving the stage for the next song, which changes the theme, but is still connecting to the last song. They tag their own music as "film soundtrack", and listening to their music really feels like listening to a small spooky story. They can produce a cinematic effect with their tunes. They play around, vary between themes and giving the songs different whims. The album and every song has its Pink Floydish moods.

The first EP Cidade is produced with Patricia Andrade. For this cover they cut down the last cover artwork, only using the triangle, what precipitates to an extraordinary CD case. Patricia Andrade supports Sinistros tunes with her vocals and now and then only uses her speaking voice. Together with the split of the EP into 2 songs, her voice, sometimes spoken or only whispered in the background, other times sung and possessing oneself of the whole oeuvre, the whole EP reminds me an audio book. Telling its story, with a much more emotional touch in comparison with the last album, but still having a gloomy style.

With Sinistro III now being in production, the Portuguese doom scene has huge potential and keeping an eye on it is indeed a good idea.

Words: Luis Luethi

Doommantia - portugal-from-fado-to-doom
Sinistro @ Bandcamp
Raging Planet afogada-em-v-mito Track
Raging Planet @ Bandcamp
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