Wednesday, November 30, 2011

DREAM THEATER: NOMINATED FOR GRAMMY FOR "ON THE BACKS OF ANGELS"



Long Island, New York progressive metal legends DREAM THEATER have been nominated for a Grammy Award for the tune "On The Backs Of Angels" from the bands latest release "A Dramatic Turn Of Events" unleashed this year on ROADRUNNER RECORDS.

FROM DREAM THEATER:
Woo Hoo! "On The Backs Of Angels" is nominated for a Grammy in the Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance category!
Others in category are Megadeth, Foo Fighters, Mastadon and Sum 41!

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

NPR: (NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO)TOP METAL RELEASES OF 2011


YES, NPR (National Public Radio) supports extreme metal. NPR have announced their top metal releases of 2011, impeccable taste, btw.

FROM NPR:
I made it my personal goal to listen to more death metal in 2011. We all have our blind spots and this was a gaping wide hole in my horn-raising knowledge. I'm happy to report that I spent a massive amount of time and cash on these filthy sounds, and particularly fell hard for such harbingers of death like the Nuclear War Now! and Hells Headbangers labels. Strangely, when it came time to rank my 25 favorite metal albums of the year, that investment only landed one album in my top ten: Ulcerate's The Destroyers of All, maybe the most inside-out album of the bunch. What can I say? I'm a creature of doomed and blackened habit.


The Best Outer Sound Albums Of 2011

Hear The Year-End Discussion On All Songs Considered
Black-metal had a strange year: Liturgy pissed off everybody over a thoughtful philosophy that was dwarfed by Hunter-Hunt Hendrix's outsized personality (surprise, an opinionated metalhead!). It created some of the most interesting, albeit tiring, conversation around the genre in some time. (And after much contemplation, Aesthetica was a solidly good, but not revolutionary, record). The year's best black-metal goes to bands that I hesitate to categorize as such: Altar of Plagues is far too spacious and wandering, Ash Borer is the promising next step beyond American innovators Weakling (far more than other copycats), and Negative Plane seems to get at the genre's inherit weirdness more than most, but doesn't care.

Metal's urge to cross genres was also strong in 2011. Tombs, Ulcerate and Flourishing illustrate this aspect best, each exploring the extremities of sound to all ends, tempering blast beats with caustic melody, gutteral darkness with post-punk misery and all sorts of seamless, unlikely pairings.

I'd be remiss to not acknowledge the free-for-all efforts of Bandcamp-based labels like Grindcore Karaoke, Throatruiner, Seventh Rule and, recently, Handshake Inc. There are many more, but these labels have shown that great music doesn't always need a heavy publicity push or a physical product to show merit. Grindcore Karaoke, in particular, is to be commended for over 100 (!) releases in 2011 alone that are actually all worth hearing. That's unheard of.

For some reason, I always limit myself to 25 albums. It makes me ask myself what I really loved and what will still spin on the turntable (or iPod) years from now. You can listen to the top ten of those picks below and let Google guide the rest. As always, I couldn't possibly hear every metal record released in 2011 (though I damn sure tried), which is why reading other year-end lists (and your comments) makes for good filling-in of the gaps.


The Best Metal Albums Of 2011


1. Cormorant, 'Dwellings'
Song: The First Man
Add to Playlist
Dwellings is an emotionally and musically complex progressive metal album which wrestles with our desperate and sometimes violent attempts to secure a place in history. It's a heady concept, for sure, and normally I'd eye such academic subject matter with a suspicion, but Cormorant instills an emotional weight into each story and each flawless riff. There's a surprisingly swinging rhythm section between blast beats and an attention to dynamic songwriting that often goes missing in the work of technically-adept metal bands that like to dismantle the genre.

Stream Dwellings in its entirety here and pre-order at Bandcamp.



2. YOB, 'Atma'
Song: Prepare the Ground
Add to PlaylistPurchase Music
"Prepare the Ground. Awaken." The last words from Atma's lead-off track have been my mantra since August. And that's what YOB's second album since the band's 2009 return from a brief hiatus (and sixth overall) is: A metallic mantra based on repetition that reaches deep spiritual meditation. But outside that ritual is an enveloping doom metal record that sees Mike Scheidt and company stretching beyond the riff. There is a flowering soul here, perhaps best exemplified in Scott Kelly's (Neurosis) anguished guest appearances throughout. The riff is not the thing, the thing is the thing.



3. Tombs, 'Path Of Totality'
Song: Silent World
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Tombs' second album obliterates everything in its path, gnashing blackened gutter-teeth in the shadowy depths of New York City, which is appropriate given its cryptic lunar-eclipse-referencing album title. It's hard to believe that a distinguished sound this massive and diverse — meshing Godflesh-like industrial poundage, primal grind, droning Joy Division misery, and wintry Darkthrone blast beats — comes from only three members, and that all comes together as something completely new.

Path of Totality is available from Relapse Records.



4. Witch Mountain, 'South Of Salem'
Song: Wing of the Lord
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First of all, South of Salem is the best-sounding metal record of 2011. Witch Mountain's first record in a decade was absolutely made for vinyl and the mastering favors a rich, round ring that demands a vintage pair of speakers. Nothing flashy here, just a great live-in-the-room sound. Second of all, few can match vocalist Uta Plotkin's raw soul, a gut-level howl that can just as easily turn into a sinister coo. Finally, those massive, rumbling doom riffs aren't just there to get your slow-motion headbang on (well, they're good for that, too), those riffs want to bore into your skull, crack open a beer and make you a lifer.

South of Salem is available at Bandcamp and will get a re-release by Profound Lore in 2012.



5. Hammers of Misfortune, '17th Street'
Song: Grain
Add to PlaylistPurchase Music
Yes, I was bummed that Ludicra broke up this year, too, but if that gives guitarist John Cobbett more time to focus on Hammers of Misfortune, I'm willing to make the sacrifice. 17th Street was my most anticipated album of 2011 and it did not disappoint in the least. Cobbett loves the hard rock gods of old — Thin Lizzy, Queen, Iron Maiden — and what he takes away is an understanding that solid songwriting can run through his rigorous twists and turns. Just listen to "The Grain" and try not to get the chorus stuck in your head for days.

17th Street is available from Metal Blade Records.



6. Deafheaven, 'Roads To Judah'
Song: Violet
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In recent years, shoegaze and black metal have seemed like a luscious idea: Take the dreamy noise of the former and marry it to the harsh mistress of the latter. Too bad most of the results have been uninspired. After a promising demo, Deafheaven signed to Deathwish Inc., a hardcore label good at finding youthful acts (and attracting like audiences) — an odd move, but ultimately a winning decision. My Bloody Valentine's gauzy sheen and post-hardcore's heart-on-sleeve passion drive the turbulent, blackened waters on Roads to Judah, probably one of the more honest displays of anguish I've heard from a genre that tends to be angry for anger's sake.

Roads to Judah is available from Deathwish Inc.



7. Negative Plane, 'Stained Glass Revelations'
Song: The One and the Many
Add to PlaylistPurchase Music
Sometimes black metal is at its best when it's bonkers-gone-mad weird. Look elsewhere on this list and you'll notice the one-man-hammered-dulcimer faunaphiliac Botanist. And just barely making the cut was Kurdaitcha by global-beat-trance-freaks Mamaleek, seriously one of the strangest black metal records I've heard in years. But strip away the relentless reverb from Negative Plane's second album, Stained Glass Revelations, and what's left is a blackened King Crimson experiment. Or take any of the Possessed guitar solos from Seven Churches, back it into a corner and put it in one of those stretching torture devices ... well, you get the picture. That doesn't make Stained Glass Revelations any less bizarre, just that its abstract Romanticism is every bit as black metal as Darkthrone.

Stained Glass Revelations is available from The Ajna Offensive.



8. Ulcerate, 'The Destroyers Of All'
Song: Burning Skies
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Set in dark earth tones, Ulcerate's third album, The Destroyers of All, is like a hulking Georges Braque painting come to life. The New Zealand trio reaches inside technical death-metal's machine-gun blast beats and riffs and pulls out a knotted series of entrails. The effect is something like Deathspell Omega's consistently brilliant black-metal abstraction, and likewise makes good use of industrial melody to break up the insanity.

The Destroyers of All is available at Bandcamp.



9. Krallice, 'Diotima'
Song: Telluric Rings
Add to PlaylistPurchase Music
As always, Krallice continues to be very good at what it does, that being mind-melding, long-form discourses through the polymath-metal-cal strata. Eight months after Diotima's release, I'm still finding new layers and new riffs that sharply counterpoint a frankly unbeatable rhythm section on the band's third album. Krallice gets the hipster tag sometimes, but Diotima is not so-called highbrow black metal. It's total sense-obliteration.



10. 40 Watt Sun, 'The Inside Room'
Song: Restless
Add to PlaylistPurchase Music
Sad bastards have a place in heavy music — Harvey Milk, Mournful Congregation, and Loss, to name a few — after all, what's more depressing than a bunch of grizzly dudes strumming slow and low at full volume? But sadness can be pretty, too, and former Warning member Patrick Walker gets that. The songs on 40 Watt Sun's debut, The Inside Room, are bleak and beautiful, full of melancholic melodies, a funereal pace and Walker's desperate yearning.

The Inside Room is available from Metal Blade Records.


11. Trap Them, Darker Handcraft
12. Altar of Plagues, Mammal
13. Ilsa, Tutti Il Colori Del Buio
14. Nader Sadek, In the Flesh
15. Today is the Day, Pain is a Warning
16. Disma, Towards the Megalith
17. Batillus, Furnace (stream)
18. Autopsy, Macabre Eternal
19. Mournful Congegation, The Book of Kings (stream)
20. Ash Borer, Ash Borer
21. Blasphemophager, The III Command of the Absolute Chaos (stream)
22. Exhumed, All Guts, No Glory (stream)
23. Botanist, I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose from the Dead
24. Robocop, Robocop II (stream)
25. Flourishing, The Sum of All Fossils (stream)
CONGRATS TO ULCERATE-\m/ -l-

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: ANNOUNCES MORE SUMMER 2012 EUROPEAN TOUR DATES



New Jersey rock legend BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN has announced more dates for his anticipated summer 2012 EUROPEAN tour as a new as of yet untitled release is on the way.

FROM BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN:
Bruce's 2012 European dates:
Date City Venue On Sale
13 May Sevilla Estadio Olimpico 14 Dec
17 May Barcelona Estadio Olimpico Lluis On Sale
25 May Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena On Sale
27 May Cologne Energie Stadion On Sale
28 May Landgraf Pink Pop 3 Mar
30 May Berlin Olympia Stadion On Sale
2 June San Sebastian Estadio Anoeta 2 Dec
3 June Lisbon Rock in Lisbon 3 Dec
7 June Milan Stadio Meaza On Sale
10 June Florence Stadio Francesco 1 Dec
11 June Trieste Stadio Trieste 1 Dec
17 June Madrid Estadio Santago Bernabu 1 Dec
19 June Montpelier Park & Suites Arena On Sale
21 June Sunderland Stadium of Light 1 Dec
22 June Manchester Etihad Stadium 1 Dec
24 June Isle of Wight Isle Of Wight Festival On Sale
4 July Paris Bercy On Sale
5 July Paris Bercy On Sale
7 July Roskilde Roskilde Festival 30 Nov
9 July Zurich Stadium Letzigrund 12 Dec
11 July Prague Synotip Arena 5 Dec
12 July Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium On Sale
14 July London Hard Rock Calling 3 Dec
17 July Dublin RDS 1 Dec
21 July Oslo Valle Hoven 30 Nov
23 July Bergen Koegen 30 Nov
27 July Gothenberg Ullevi 30 Nov


Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

EXAMINER.COM: BEST METAL RELEASES OF 2011



Arts and Entertainment website EXAMINER.COM have posted their best metal releases of 2011.

FROM EXAMINER.COM:
What, already? Yes, the end of the year upon us, and while the rest of the world was awash in turmoil and anxiety, 2011 proved to be a surprisingly good year for metal. We got back some veteran input along with a few fresh cuts from relative newcomers, and it made for one hell of a good ride. Here's a quick and easy rundown in case you didn't already have these releases on your Amazon wish lists.

1. Disma, Towards the Megalith (Profound Lore Records) - New Jersey metal veterans floor it to 88 miles per hour and take us back to the best days of American death metal.

2. Autopsy, Macabre Eternal (Peaceville Records) - Bare-knuckled, no frills sickness from Reifert and company. More polished than previous releases, but they were due for it.

3. Craft, Void (Carnal Records) - Swedish black metal outfit wields filthy grooves that work a lot better than you might imagine.

4. Absu, Abzu (Candlelight Records) - The Texas warlocks are back off the leash with this 100-yard dash of maniac occult metal.

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5. Goreaphobia, Apocalyptic Necromancy (Dark Descent) - A steady grower of an album with a weird but engaging sensibility. Death metal for Venom fans.

6. Death Strike, F-ckin’ Death (Dark Descent reissue) - Good the first time around, and even better now. The definitive death metal template on gold wax? Yes!

7. Ravencult, Morbid Blood (Hells Headbangers) - Sounds like E Watain fronting Aura Noir, but from Greece. Sold!

8. Blaspherian, Infernal Warriors of Death (Deathgasm) - Classic New York death metal by way of Texas, these guys rode shotgun on Disma’s time travel excursions.

9. Immolation, Providence (Scion A/V) - A flash mob beating in EP form, featuring their best production ever.

10. Cianide, Gods of Death (Hells Headbangers) - Burly and lurching Celtic Frost worship is a perennial favorite.

Honorable Mention: Morbid Angel, Illud Divinum Insanus - This insulting piece of garbage reminds us why all the above releases deserve support.

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
CONGRATS TO: CRAFT, IMMOLATION, AUTOPSY and ABSU

HAIL HORNETS: ANNOUNCES WINTER 2012 U.S. DATES WITH ZOROASTER



North Carolina, USA based sludge/metal warriors HAIL HORNETS have announced a winter 2012 U.S. tour with ZOROASTER and a viewing of the southern metal documentary "Southern Steel".

FROM RELAPSE RECORDS: ‎Hail!Hornet Announce US Tour with Zoroaster! Each show will include a showing of C.T. from Rwake's documentary 'Slow Southern Steel'!
FROM HAIL HORNETS:

Jan 20 The Soapbox Wilmington, NC
Jan 21 Tremont Music Hall Charlotte, NC
Jan 22 The Orange Peel Asheville, NC
Jan 23 The EARL Atlanta, GA
Jan 24 The Muse Nashville, TN
Jan 26 Market Street Cinema Little Rock, AR
Jan 27 Hi-Tone Cafe Memphis, TN
Jan 28 One Eyed Jacks New Orleans, LA
Jan 29 Dirty Dog Bar Austin, TX
Feb 01 The Beaumont Kansas City, MO
Feb 02 The Turf Club St Paul, MN
Feb 03 Reggie's Rock Club Chicago, IL
Feb 04 Ruby Tuesday Columbus, OH
Feb 06 Johnny Brenda's Philadelphia, PA
Feb 07 The Black Cat Washington, DC
Feb 08 Europa Brooklyn, NY
Feb 09 Strange Matter Richmond, VA
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

SAINT VITUS: ENTITLES FORTH COMING RELEASE "Lillie: F-65",Out first quarter 2012.



Los Angeles, California, USA Doom legends SAINT VITUS, recently signed to SEASON OF MIST, have entitled the bands anticipated new release "Lillie: F-65" due out first quarter of 2012 on SEASON OF MIST.
Also, SAINT VITUS have been confirmed to play the 2012 edition of HELLFEST set to take place 5/15, 16 and 17th, 2011 Clisson, France.

FROM SAINT VITUS:
SAINT VITUS to play Hellfest 2012

BLACK SABBATH
+
ACID KING / ALL PIGS MUST DIE / ALPHA TIGER / AMON AMARTH / AUGUST BURNS RED / BETRAYING THE MARTYRS / BLOOD RED THRONE / BRAIN POLICE / BRUJERIA / BRUTAL TRUTH / CANNIBAL CORPSE / CHANNEL ZERO / DARKEST HOUR / DEATH ANGEL / DEVIL DRIVER / DJERV / DOG EAT DOG / DO OR DIE / DYING FETUS / EMMURE / ENDSTILLE / ENSLAVED / L ESPRIT DU CLAN / EXODUS / EXTINCTION OF A MANKIND / GAMABOMB / GIRLSCHOOL / GLORIOR BELLI / H2O / HOODS / INTEGRITY / LIZZY BORDEN / LYNYRD SKYNYRD / MACHINE HEAD / MADBALL / MERRIMACK / MOLLY HATCHET / NASUM / ORIGIN / PENTAGRAM / SACRED REICH / SAINT VITUS / SUICIDAL ANGELS / TAAKE / VOMITORY / WALLS OF JERICHO / WHITECHAPEL / YEAR OF NO LIGHT / YOB

plus over 60 more bands

FROM SEASON OF MIST:
SAINT VITUS' forthcoming album is entitled "Lillie: F-65". Out first semester 2012.

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Metal-\m/ -l-

Monday, November 28, 2011

PITCHFORK AND DECIBEL (METAL ZINES) TOP 40 OF 2011



Metal webzine PITCHFORK and extreme metal magazine DECIBEL have unleashed both zines top 40 metal releases of 2011.
(EDITORS NOTE: ITP V.011 will have the top 10 or 20 releases of 2011 by the end of the year or early 2012 as some releases in my top 10 or 20 of 2011 I didn't have the time to review, but did listen to and enjoy. ITP V.011 BEST OF 2011 is not to be confused with ITP V.011 RE RATE)
FROM PITCHFORK MAGAZINE: TOP 40 METAL RELEASES OF 2011:

The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011
Counting down the year's best metal.
By Brandon Stosuy, November 28, 2011

I've been making these sorts of lists long enough to know they're not an exact science, and they don't please everyone. In the end, they're snapshots that remind the individual stressing out over said list about what was important to them within a particular time span. They're also fun to argue about. So read on for my Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011, along with a slew of Honorable Mentions and explanations as to why bands including Liturgy and Leviathan did not make the list.

40. Weekend Nachos: Worthless [Relapse]

39. Skeletonwitch: Forever Abomination [Prosthetic]

38. Peste Noire: L'Ordure à l'État Pur [Transcendental Creations/Tour De Garde]

37. Absu: Abzu [Candlelight]

36. Machine Head: Unto the Locust [Roadrunner]

35. Mournful Congregation: The Book of Kings [20 Buck Spin]

34. Vanhelgd: Church of Death [Nuclear War Now!]



33. Negative Plane: Stained Glass Revelations [Ajna Offensive]

32. Rwake: Rest [Relapse]

31. Sonne Adam: Transformation [Century Media]

30. Mitochondrion: Parasignosis [Profound Lore]

29. Gridlink: Orphan [Hydra Head]

28. Loss: Despond [Profound Lore]

27. Drugs of Faith: Corroded [Selfmadegod]
26. Atlas Moth: An Ache for the Distance [Profound Lore]

On their sophomore LP, the psychedelic, progressive Chicago quintet uses multiple vocalists, three guitarists, bass, and drums to create a kaleidoscopic rush of colorful sludge, post-rock, doom, lighter-lifter metal, and clear-headed pop. This band makes catchy, ambitious music, and they did a better job at being Mastodon this year than Mastodon themselves.


"Holes in the Desert"


25. Atriarch: Forever the End [Seventh Rule]

Funeral-paced Portland deathrock quartet Atriarch, featuring members of Graves at Sea, Trees, Final Conflict, and Get Hustle, create shambling, ritualistic drone that gets its talons into you via crusty howls, a colossal dynamic, and the overall feel of continuing ritual: Their four-song, 36-minute debut comes to one intense culmination after another.

"Shadows"


24. Necros Christos: Doom of the Occult [Sepulchural Voice]

On their second album, the German blackened death quartet Necros Christos, aka "Dead Christ," create a deeply atmospheric blend of Eastern incidental music, somber church organs, Absu-like philosophies, and death growls. Vocalist/guitarist/mastermind Mors Dalos Ra is an occult thinker who plots his 23-song albums based on numbers, the dusty books he's read, and-- thankfully-- catchy riffs.

"Necromatique Nun"


23. Indian: Guiltless [Relapse]

Chicago quartet Indian's crusty, blasted-out third full-length Guiltless is one of the heaviest records of 2011. The doom guitars are sturdy, droning, down-tempo, and desolate, but it's the little details-- Sean Patton's "noise," the exhilaratingly bleak, strangulated vocals of guitarists Dylan O'Toole and Middian/Wolves in the Throne Room/Nachtmystium multi-tasker Will Lindsay-- that make it click.


"No Grace"


22. Deafheaven: Roads to Judah
[Deathwish Inc.]

On San Francisco quintet Deafheaven's four-song, 38-minute full-length debut Roads to Judah, the group blends shredding West Coast black metal, Explosions in the Sky dynamics, a healthy My Bloody Valentine infatuation, a floor-punching hardcore sensibility, and anguished (but romantic) vocal eruptions by clean-cut frontman George Clarke. If they toured with Liturgy, web boards would implode.

MP3: Deafheaven: "Violet"

21. Thou: The Archer & the Owle EP
[Robotic Empire]

The prolific, DIY-minded Baton Rouge quintet landed near the top of my list last year with the gorgeous sludge funeral Summit. Their first of two 2011 EPs comes with a cover of Nirvana's "Something in the Way" and locates a similarly sky-melting place. Like the rest of their material, it's incredibly well wrought, anthemic, and, somehow, life-affirming. (Plus, you can't fuck with the occasional piano and horns.)

"Voices in the Wilderness"


20. SubRosa: No Help for the Mighty Ones [Profound Lore]

This Salt Lake City "female dominated" doom-pop quartet has plenty of 1990s alt hooks in their violin-lined, stoner-folk sludge. No Help for the Mighty Ones was mixed and mastered by Marduk bassist Magnus Devo Andersson, but will have no problem appealing to the more adventurous Breeders fans out there.


"Beneath the Crown"


19. Vastum: Carnal Law [20 Buck Spin]

Crusty San Francisco quintet Vastum features members of Acephalix, Infest, and Saros/Amber Asylum/Hammers of Misfortune. (Those last three via guitarist/co-vocalist Leila Abdul-Rauf, who shows up on this list twice.) Originally issued as a demo, this five-song debut retains a cassette-trading feel: dirty, dense death metal, not the shiny, tech-y breakdown-happy sort. (And feel free to mull their subject matter, which includes "themes of sexuality and psychic disfiguration" via Georges Bataille and the psychoanalyst Jean Laplanche.)

"Primal Seduction"


18. Altar of Plagues: Mammal [Profound Lore]

The Irish black metal quartet's sophomore LP-- after well-played EPs-- is their most blistering, experimental, patient, and majestic collection to date. It's not empty, rarefied black metal-- the stuff comes with muscular, working-class grit. Vocalist/guitarist James Kelly has said Mammal is about death, but despite the dark atmosphere, lyrics like, "The brother, the mother, the sister and the son/ All of them are gone," and the title's suggestion that in the end we're just animals, this is fist-pumping/goosebump-raising music.

"Feather And Bone"


17. Krallice: Diotima [Profound Lore]

In 2011, Krallice have taken on an a darker, weirder, stronger, manlier, more death-infused shade. They've grown more comfortable as a band and, importantly, co-vocalist/bassist Nick McMaster-- who only handled "additional vocals" and live bass in 2008-- has substantially increased his writing role and makes his presence felt via deep death grunts that collide nicely with Mick Barr's more ghostly banshee howl. Time to forget the Weakling comparisons; no one else is, or has ever, made music like this.

"The Clearing"


16. Trap Them: Darker Handcraft [Prosthetic]

Entombed-loving hardcore crew Trap Them's Kurt Ballou-produced third full-length arrived with a new drummer, ex-Coliseum pounder Chris Maggio, and frontman Ryan McKenney writing his catchiest throat-shredding vocal lines to date. Outside of that, you've got early Black Flag energy, the dense atmosphere of guys who like their Swedish death metal, and layers of discordant-but-melodic axes that do their part to worsen your tinnitus while inspiring plenty of d-beat/rock 'n' roll dancing.

"Evictionaries"


15. Ash Borer: Ash Borer [Psychic Violence]

This punk-infused California black metal quartet's self-titled proper LP debut features three songs that combine for nearly 40 minutes of blistering, expansive punk-infused black metal. (They remind me of Bone Awl, largely because of the grain of their guitar buzz.) The wordy titles match the song lengths, but somehow it all feels intensely honed. The band features a member of the sci-fi black metal duo Servile Sect, and things are pretty apocalyptic here, too. They should've been a bigger part of this year's USBM discussion.

"Rest, You Are the Lightning"


14. Autopsy: Macabre Eternal [Peaceville]

Bay Area punk-inflected, horror-obsessed death metal pioneers Autopsy's suffocating 68-minute "comeback" record Macabre Eternal arrived shortly after drummer/vocalist Chris Reifert and guitarist Danny Coralles pulled the plug on their other band, Abscess, in June of last year and started focusing full-time on Autopsy. Abscess' Dawn of Inhumanity was one of my favorites last year, and Autopsy's higher-fi Macabre Eternal-- with plenty of those rickety guitar solos and plenty of crust-- is even better. Not bad for a bunch of old-timers.

"Hand of Darkness"


13. Morne: Asylum [Profound Lore]

The Boston post-sludge quintet first got a boost when Darkthrone included their name in the Dennis Dread drawing on the cover of 2010's Circle the Wagon. But even without Fenriz's backing, their brilliant seven-song, hour-plus sophomore full-length-- featuring their most beautifully heavy, deeply atmospheric, patiently devastating recordings to date-- would've done the trick.


"My Return"


12. Hammers of Misfortune: 17th Street
[Metal Blade]

For the past decade and change, San Francisco's Hammers of Misfortune have done progressive metal right: Their ambitious, impeccably rendered compositions make room for honest emotion alongside the larger concepts. Led by John Cobbett (ex-Ludicra, Slough Feg), the band's fifth studio album 17th Street was a song cycle about "loss and endings" that felt more like a new beginning. And not just because it featured new members guitarist Leila Abdul-Rauf (Saros, Amber Asylum, Vastum) and power-piped vocalist Joe Hutton (the Worship of Silence), though their presence definitely helped.

"17th Street"


11. Exhumed: All Guts No Glory [Relapse]

I've been surrounded by sickness and death the past couple of years, so the raw-yet-playful obsession with life's circle via songs like "Your Funeral, My Feast", "Through Cadaver Eyes", and "I Rot Within" on thrashing San Jose goregrind heroes Exhumed's first album in close to a decade felt right. Call it dark comic relief. Or, if you're not a lyrics person, focus on the putrid atmosphere, melodic grinding, and memorable old-school buzzsaw riffs.

"Through Cadaver Eyes"


10. Primordial: Redemption at the Puritan's Hand [Metal Blade]

You won't hear many things as demanding of lighters (or armor) as the pagan Irish group Primordial's seventh album. Charismatic vocalist A.A. Nemtheanga-- sort of the bald, heavy metal Daniel Higgs-- could make a shopping list feel like an battle cry about a huge, bloody war. In this case, he's bellowing over the best songs of the band's two-plus decades-- folk and black metal-inflected classic metal that spirals and extends and, somehow, keeps getting bigger. This thing has a way of making slowly rotting in front of your laptop feel epic.

"Bloodied Yet Unbound"


09. In Solitude: The World, the Flesh, the Devil [Metal Blade]

In Solitude's young frontman Pelle "Hornper" Åhman doesn't slather as much facepaint as fellow satanic Swedes Ghost, but his twin-guitar-toting, classic cult metal-invoking Uppsala-based quintet's vintage-sounding second full-length The World, The Flesh, The Devil should be even more appealing to fans of Mercyful Fate. (As a bit of trivia, the title track was the first song to make my son throw the horns-- he was six months old at the time.)

"The World, The Flesh, The Devil"


08. Yob: Atma [Profound Lore]

Oregon trio Yob's "comeback" album The Great Cessation landed at No. 6 on my 30 Best Metal Albums Of 2009. At the time, I mentioned mainman Mike Scheidt's masterful "Wino-on-Deathspell Omega" vocal performance plus those endless doom riffs equaled pure American doom gold. Two years later, the five-song, 55-minute Atma is a crustier, sludgier, dirtier, more in-your-face collection that manages to feel both down-to-earth intimate and outer-realms airy by the time you reach the end of closer "Adrift in the Ocean".

"Prepare the Ground"


07. Circle of Ouroborus: Eleven Fingers [Handmade Birds]

This Finnish duo have been finding ways to straddle its love of Joy Division and corpse paint for a number of years. Their newest, Eleven Fingers, is their best yet. Mastered by James Plotkin, it's out on Handmade Birds, the new imprint by R. Loren (Pyramids, Sailors With Wax Wings), and it's the strongest, most concise example of this band's dark and depressive blackened post-punk.

MP3: Circle of Ouroborus: "Warpath"

06. Wolves in the Throne Room: Celestial Lineage [Southern Lord]

On what could be their last black metal album before they go full-on folk, the atmospheric "eco-spiritual" Olympia duo Wolves in the Throne Room created what felt like American black metal's idiosyncratic defining record of 2011, a mix of ethereal female vocals, woodsy atmospherics, and blistering extended post-Weakling black metal riffage. In some ways Celestial Lineage feels like a throwback when compared to the claustrophobic experimentation of Leviathan's headier pieces or the genre-shifting hyper-speed "occult metal" of contemporary Absu. Unlike a lot of that other stuff, though, it also feels like a classic.

"Thuja Magus Imperium"


05. Disma: Towards the Megalith
[Profound Lore]

Disma are a rank, heavily down-tuned, and against-all-odds "catchy" quintet from Clifton, NJ, featuring ex-Incantation vocalist Craig Pillard, along with onetime Incantation guitarist Bill Venner, bassist Randi Stokes (ex-Methadrone), and a couple of members of Funebrarum (guitarist Daryl Kahan, drummer Shawn Eldridge). Their official debut full-length, Towards the Megalith, is the perfect blend of miasmatic vocals, putrid old-school atmospherics, and well-wrought riffs.

"Of a Past Forlorn"


04. 40 Watt Sun: The Inside Room
[Metal Blade]

Ex-Warning vocalist/guitarist Patrick Walker's new doom trio 40 Watt Sun stands up to the old, classic material: The five down-tempo songs on the London-based group's 47-minute debut The Inside Room update Warning's production, weave in pensive acoustic moments, and locate a vaster sounding explosiveness without straying from the script. There are also those sweeping hooks, painful, introspective lyrics, and Walker's clear, soaring voice-- elements that could be cheesy if not handled with such delicacy or well-earned confidence.

"Restless"


03. Ulcerate: The Destroyers of All
[Willowtip]

New Zealand trio Ulcerate's gorgeous, technically dead-on third album, The Destroyers of All, weaves epic post-metal into frantic atmospheric death squalls. Featuring one of the year's most compelling rhythm sections, it's a beautiful blizzard of sound that feels chaotic and supremely controlled. Ulcerate create death metal you can feel comfortable comparing to Deathspell Omega. Or, Isis-- at their best-- giving a go at the Portal song book. Or, a Chariots of Fire marathon during a hailstorm.

"Cold Becoming"


02. Tombs: Path of Totality [Relapse]

The Brooklyn trio is quintessentially New York-- reminiscent of early Swans, Unsane, and a bunch of the hardcore I liked as a kid-- but also weaving in an epic dark metal vibe. Vocalist/guitarist Mike Hill, a guy who lifts weights before practice, is also the city's most compelling frontman. (It helps that his rhythm section-- who play like they're in a street fight-- will also eat you for dinner.) If you're at all interested in noise-rock, sludge, black metal atmospherics, or post-punk, you should be into Tombs' peerless sophomore album-- a violent, beautiful marriage of no-bullshit toughness and moving, surprisingly delicate ambitiousness.

"Path of Totality"


01. Blut Aus Nord: 777: Sect(s) / The Desanctification [Debemur Morti]

This year, the long-time avant-garde black metal project of mysterious French multi-instrumenatlist Vindsval released the first two installments of the 777 trilogy, the pummeling "rock"-oriented Sect(s) and the discombobulating, cavernous, tripped-out The Desanctification. Together, these almost 90 minutes of music find Blut Aus Nord continuing to redefine what, in 2011, has become a genre difficult to rekindle in honest ways. Beyond the experimentation, both of these records also really move-- you could almost dance to the latter. As more and more obscurantists lineup to be interviewed or open Facebook pages, it's also a treat to have BAN remain basically as hooded and anonymous as when things started in 1994.

Check out the closer to Sect(s) and the opener to The Desanctification below, and look for part three of the trilogy in March 2012.

"Epitome VI"


"Epitome VII"


Honorable Mention [in no order]:

Branoil: Death of this Dry Season [20 Buck Spin], Young Widows: In and Out of Youth and Lightness [Temporary Residence], KEN mode: Venerable [Profound Lore]; Mamaleek: Kurdaitcha [Enemies List]; Batillus: Furnace [Seventh Rule]; Maruta: Forward Into Regression [Willowtip], Flourishing: The Sum of All Fossils [The Path Less Traveled], Wolvhammer: Obsidian Planes [Profound Lore], Corrupted: Garten Der Unbewusstheit [Nostalgia Blackrain], Thou: To the Chaos Wizard Youth EP [Vendetta], Antediluvian: Through the Cervix of Hawwah [Profound Lore], Cianide: Gods of Death [Hells Headbangers], Immolation: Majesty and Decay [Nuclear Blast], Speedwolf: Ride With Death [Hell's Headbangers], Ravencult: Morbid Blood [Hells Headbangers]; Raspberry Bulbs: Nature Tries Again [Seed Stock], Futur Skullz: Futur Skullz [Kemado], Desolate Shrine: Tenebrous Towers [Hammer of Hate], Rotten Sound: Cursed [Relapse], Bringers of Disease: Gospel of Pestilence [Translation Loss], Locrian: The Clearing [Fan Death], Engineer: Crooked Voices [Black Market Activities], Portrait: Crimen Laesae Majestatis Divinae [Metal Blade], Noisear: Subvert the Dominant Paradigm [Relapse], Morbus Chron: Sleepers in the Rift (Pulverised), Owen Hart: Earth Control [Vitriol], Gates of Slumber: The Wretch [Rise Above/Metal Blade], All Pigs Must Die: God is War [Southern Lord], False: False [Gilead Media], Cynic: Carbon-Based Anatomy EP [Season of Mist]; Solstafir: Svartir Sandar [Season of Mist]; Glorior Belli: The Great Southern Darkness [Metal Blade], Nunfuckritual: In Bondage to the Serpent [Debemur Morti], Rue: Thorns [Shifty], The Swan King: Eyes Like Knives [Seventh Rule], Craft: Void [Southern Lord], Unkind: Harhakuvat (Relapse), Vreid: V [Indie], Seidr: For Winter Fire [Flenser], Russian Circles: Empros [Sargent House], Servile Sect: Trvth [Handmade Birds], Harpoon: Deception Among Birds [Seventh Rule].

Miscellany:

-- I like, and admire, WOLD's Freermasonry [Profound Lore], as I do all their records, but for various reasons I feel like I should never subject their releases to the structure of a list.

-- Same goes for Liturgy's Aesthetica [Thrill Jockey], a very good record that sounded better live (drummer Greg Fox will be missed). I didn't want to include it above because it deserves its own citation. In many ways it was the album of the year-- the conversations it sparked, the shifts it suggested, the masks it removed, the hate it inspired, and, hell, the simple forward momentum of that music. Too much time was spent getting angry at frontman Hunter Hunt-Hendrix, though, for basically having interesting and smart opinions about black metal. It's amazing to me the drivel some folks prefer from their "grim" frontmen.

-- Speaking of which: Jef Whitehead, aka Wrest of Leviathan, continued to come off like Beavis & Butt-head, something that ultimately turned me off to True Traitor, True Whore (Profound Lore), a record I liked before I was unable to shake his frat-boy non-singing voice from my head. (Ditto, for different reasons, Burzum.)

-- Another album that deserves it's own honorable mention is Botanist's I: The Suicide Tree / II: A Rose from the Dead [tUMULt], an, as tweeted, "eco-terrorist black metal" project using voice/drums/dulcimer on tracks about plants & flowers. Truly weird, engrossing stuff that, again, doesn't seem to conform to a list's hierarchy.

-- It's worth noting that I put Inquisition's Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm at No. 5 of my 2010 list, so I didn't include it here. If you haven't listened to it, you really should.

-- Speaking of the past, I listened to Dragged Into Sunlight's Hatred For Mankind quite a bit, but since it has an original release date of 2009, before Prosthetic's 2011 reissue, I didn't include that either.

-- Endnote: 2011 will go down as the year I got sick of talking about black metal.

DECIBEL MAGAZINE's TOP 40 METAL RELEASES OF 2011:
1. Tombs – Path of Totality
2. Opeth- Heritage
3. Mastodon – The Hunter
4. In Solitude – TheWorld. The Flesh. The Devil
5. Brutal Truth- End Time
6. Hate Eternal – Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
7. YOB – Atma
8. 40 Watt Sun – The Inside Room
9. Inquisition – Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual…….
10. Junius – Reports From The Threshold of Death
11. Graveyard – Hisingen Blues
12. Primordial – Redemption at the Puritan's Hand
13. Exhumed – All Guts, No glory
14. False – False
15. Autopsy – Macabre Eternal
16. Revocation – Chaos of Forms
17. Trap Them – Darker Handcraft
18. Obscura – Omnivium
19. Drugs of Faith – Corroded
20. Subrosa – No Help for the Mighty Ones
21. Ulcerate – The Destroyers of All
22. Fucked Up – David Comes to Life
23. Atriarch – Forever the End
24. Disma – Towards the Megalith
25. Moab – Ab Ovo
26. Gridlink – Orphan
27. Skeletonwitch – Forever Abomination
28. Vallenfyre – A Fragile King
29. Crowbar – Sever the Wicked Hand
30. Mournful Congregation – The Book of Kings
31. Machine Head – Unto the Locust
32. ABSU – Abzu
33. Negative Plane – Stained Glass Revelations
34. Origin – Entity
35. Darkest Era – The Last Caress of Light
36. Deafheaven – Roads to Judah
37. Hammers of Misfortune – 17th Street
38. Krallice – Diotima
39. Rwake – Rest
40. Graf Orlock – Doom Box

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
CONGRATS TO: TOMBS, MITOCHONDRION, RWAKE,MOURNFUL CONGREGATION, HATE ETERNAL, BRUTAL TRUTH, EXHUMED, ABSU, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, KRALICE AND ULCERATE

MORBID ANGEL: Illud Divinum Insanus "The Remixes" DUE TO BE UNLEASHED 2/24/2011



Florida death metal legends MORBID ANGEL shall release an industrial remixed version of the bands latest release, Illud Divinum Insanus "The Remixes" (2 CD SET)is due to be unleashed 2/24/2011 on SEASON OF MIST.

FROM SEASON OF MIST:
39 artists from the electro / indus / dub scene, each remix a song from Morbid Angel's latest offering "Illud Divinum Insanus". Featuring Laibach, Combichrist, Punish Yourself, Micropoint, Treponem Pal and many others.
CD 1:

* LAIBACH - "I Am Morbid" (Wall Of Morbid Mix)
* CEVIN KEY/HIWATT MARSHALL - "Omnidead"
* BRAIN LEISURE - "Too Extreme" (Black Symphony Edition)
* THE TOXIC AVENGER - "10 More Dead"
* MALAKWA - "I Am Morbid"
* SYNAPSCAPE - "Too Extreme"
* PUNISH YOURSELF VS. SONIC AREA - "Destructos Vs The Earth" (Doomsdaymarchmix)
* HIV+ - "Too Extreme"
* MICROPOINT - "I Am Morbid"
* JOHN LORD FONDA - "Too Extreme" (Metallizer Remix)
* EVIL ACTIVITIES - "Radikult"
* MIXHELL - "Too Extreme"
* BLACK LUNG - "I Am Morbid"
* MONDKOPF - "Radikult"
* XYTRAS - "Existo Vulgoré"
* TOXIC ENGINE - "I Am Morbid"

CD 2:

* AHNST ANDERS - "I Am Morbid"
* NACHTMAHR - "Destructos Vs. The Earth"
* TIM SKOLD - "Profundis / Mea Culpa"
* BLACK STROBE - "10 More Dead"
* CHRIS POHL - "Too Extreme"
* PROJECT PITCHFORK - "Destructos Vs. The Earth"
* TREPONEM PAL - "10 More Dead"
* SCOTT BROWN - "I Am Morbid"
* FIXHEAD - "Radikult"
* DJ RUFFNECK - "I Am Morbid"
* IGORRR - "Remixou Morbidou"
* TAMTRUM - "I Am Morbid"
* TEK-ONE - "10 More Dead"
* ADRIAN - "I Am Morbid"
* THE HORRORIST - "Existo Vulgoré"

Digital Download Card:

* COMBICHRIST - "Destructos Vs. The Earth"
* CHRYSALIDE - "Nevermore"
* ASCHE - "Destructos Vs. The Earth"
* SYLVGHEIST MAELSTROM - "10 More Dead " (Deconstructed)
* DEAD SEXY INC. - "I Am Morbid"
* ROGER ROTOR - "Radikult"
* THE PROCESSUS - "I Am Morbid"
* MULK - "Existo Vulgoré"


FROM MORBID ANGEL: Illud Divinum Insanus "The Remixes" TRAILER:


Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

GODS AND QUEENS: Philadelphia Trio Involved In Serious Van Accident in Czech Republic



Philadelphia based rock trio GODS and QUEENS were involved in a serious van crash on a self booked tour of the Czech Republic. Members of GODS and QUEENS have sustained serious injuries.

FROM EARSPLIT PR:
Philadelphia-based GODS AND QUEENS were involved in a serious accident while on their current self-booked European tour this weekend in the Czech Republic. Several of the members and their traveling friends received very serious injuries in the brutal accident, which destroyed their van, equipment and personal gear.

The band are now struggling to cover their bills and are reaching out for the public’s help. Please go drop a meager $1.99 on their latest untitled full-length album via the band’s Bandcamp page at this location to help these hard-working bros cover their hospital and travel expenses to bring them home.

The full initial statement released by GODS AND QUEENS frontman Jamie Getz is below:

—————-

I´m going to try and make this as short as I can. After all these years of touring in unsafe vans, and doing stupid things, I guess I was overdue for this… We had a serious van accident in route from our show in Graz, Austria to Dresden, Germany, somewhere along the highway in the Czech.

I was asleep in the back of the van, so I’m unsure of what exactly happened. All I know is I felt the van skidding out and we started to slide and roll over. Not sure exactly how many times the van flipped but it was more than enough. I started screaming for everyone to tell me they were OK. Gertjan check, Ben check, Sara check, and I didn’t hear Jeff.

Ben pulled me out through the windshield and I took off running, screaming for help with blood pouring down my face. I honestly though Jeff was dead. A car stopped and a slew of women started screaming at me and I was screaming at them. We were in the middle of nowhere and as I was running two things came to mind, I think Jeff is dead, and I hope I don´t get shot like Artimus Pyle. A woman pulled me into her house and her husband and son ran to the van crash site. I found Gertjan, and he said everyone is OK. The family started talking to me via Google Translation telling me everyone is safe and that an ambulance is on the way.

The ambulance comes takes us to a hospital, we get taken care of… sort of. The police arrive on the scene and inform us that we aren´t leaving until the medical bills are paid in full. They were so kind enough to escort Sara and myself to an ATM machine to pay the entire lump of the bills in full on the spot. Even after we signed some strange papers saying we have 30 day with proof of citizenship, etc. What the fuck ever right? We asked where Gertjan was, and their response was…prison. 300 phone calls and around €3,000 later we are out of the damned Czech and safe in Germany.

Long short, we are all somewhat OK. Jeff broke his collar bone, Ben got his hand jacked up, I am pretty alright, Gertjan is OK, as well as Sara. The van is destroyed. Booking these tours ourselves really made me realize that we are 100% on our own. We had no one to call, no one to “rescue” us. I made 3 phone calls and the entire German punk scene came to our rescue. God damn thank you. Our new friends from Dresden, Germany came to get us at the drop of a hat, no questions asked. Thank you.

So here it is, we are 3 grown adult males in our 30´s who play in a punk band. We are all stage hands at R5 Productions in Philly. That´s what we do to enable us to be here in Europe doing this. Never in our lives have we needed help like we do now. If you want to help us, please go to www.godsandqueens.bandcamp.com and purchase a record for $1.99. If you ever laughed at one of my awful jokes, or spend hours talking with us after a show, and you would like to help, please do. I always thought our band would have too much pride to ask for help, but I am pretty sure we all agree that this time we need it. If you would like to help in any form please do jamiegetz(at)gmail.com is the paypal address if you are inclined to do so. We will also accept first class upgrades on US Air, Delta or Virgin.


Thanks.
Jamie/Gods & Queens

http://www.godsandqueens.bandcamp.com
http://www.godsandqueens.wordpress.com
http://www.facebook.com/godsandqueens
http://www.twitter.com/godsandqueens

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

LAMB OF GOD: ANNOUNCE SOUTH AMERICAN, MEXICAN SPRING 2012 TOUR DATES



Virginia based metal/core thrashers LAMB OF GOD have announced early spring 2012 SOUTH AMERICAN and MEXICAN tour dates with support from HATEBREED and LACUNA COIL.

FROM LAMB OF GOD VIA SKULL AND BONES.COM:

Dear Mexico and South America, Lamb of God loves you too! The brutality is expanding south of the border early in this cycle. I can't wait to see some of the photos / videos roll in from your particularly brutal shows! Keep up the good work!

Lamb of God continues the international part of their 2012/13 Resolution tour with seven South American shows and one show in Mexico. Support on all shows will be Hatebreed with Lacuna Coil added to the bill in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. Following are the dates:

Saturday, March 31st- Sao Paulo, Brazil- Espaco Lux
Sunday, April 1st- Curitiba, Brazil- Curitiba Master Hall
Monday, April 2nd Buenos Aires, Argentina- Microestadio Malvinas Argentinas
Wednesday, April 4th- Santiago, Chile- Teatro Caupolican
Friday, April 6th- Quito, Ecuador- Teatro Bolivar
Saturday, April 7th- Bogota, Colombia- Teatro Metropol
Sunday, April 8th- Caracas, Venezuela- CIEC Caracas
Tuesday, April 10th- Mexico City, Mexico- Jose Cuervo Salon

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

AMON AMARTH: CONFIRMS WINTER 2012 RUSSIAN AND UKRAINE DATES



Swedish Viking metal warriors AMON AMARTH have confirmed a winter (February) 2012 tour of RUSSIA and the UKRAINE.

FROM AMON AMARTH:
Amon Amarth returns in 2012 to Russia and we will also do our very first show in Kiev, Ukraine!

Kiev was a very important city for the Vikings so it is with great honor we can finally announce a show there! We also look forward to return to the land of the Rus!
17.02.12 Kiev / Bingo club
18.02.12 Moscow / Milk club
19.02.12 St.Petersburg / Glav club

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

ITP V.011 UPDATE: DECAPITATED, HATE ETERNAL REVIEWS POSTPONED UNTIL NEXT WEEKEND/METAL NEWS FEATURES THIS WEEK

ITP V.011 UPDATE: ITP V.011 REVIEWS (DECAPITATED, HATE ETERNAL) is POSTPONED until next weekend, I'm tired, stressed and have an unimaginable amount of disproportionate bureaucracy and red tape to deal with, and I'm pissed and I'm going to hold someone accountable.

So, while I'm trying to feel better after getting sick (toothache/cold), ITP V.011's author has ben cramming in the reviews.
OK, this repetitive journal entry seems redundant, I'll have to be more organized and post the metal news features, lmao. Yeh, you're probably saying "I want NFTEMU, DAMNED IN BLACK and HUMANITY IS DOOMED, get it over with." I'm working on it.



Yes, the ITP V.011 news feature procrastination CONTINUES, as I write about writing ITP news features, more so than actually getting it done, I know, pathetic, LMAO (although blogging isn't high priority). I was wondering if writing the metal news features monthly (NFTEMU, DAMNED IN BLACK and HUMANITY IS DOOMED) would be a little redundant, (I used to post ITP METAL NEWS FEATURES MONTHLY).. I'm thinking about perhaps posting the metal news features bi monthly or quarterly, per quarter touring cycle. There fore, more potential time for ITP V.011 REVIEWS:

ITP V.011 UPDATE: ITP V.011 REVIEWS:
12/2/2011: DECAPITATED: CARNIVAL IS FOREVER
12/3/2011: HATE ETERNAL: PHOENIX AMONGST THE ASHES
?
MONDAY: 11/28/2011: ITP V.011 NOTES FROM THE EXTREME METAL UNDERGROUND
TUESDAY: 11/29/2011: ITP V.011 DAMNED IN BLACK (BLACK METAL NEWS)
WEDNESDAY 11/30/2011: ITP V.011 HUMANITY IS DOOMED (DOOM METAL NEWS)
ITP RE RATE (RE RATE OF OVER OR UNDER RATED REVIEWS): (2009, 2010, 2011) will be posted in early DECEMBER.

ITP V.011 THE ART OF DANCE NEXT WEEKEND OR LATER THIS WEEK
ITP V.011 REVIEWS ITP V.011 REVIEWS WILL BE POSTED ON WEEKENDS as will be announced mid week on the disclaimer on the right of this journal.

Through everything I've been through, I've been very dedicated to writing and keeping ITP updated even if it meant using public access 'puters through some dark times in my life. I can NOT express the dedication of ITP's READERS and thank them enough as ITP's readers are international from my homeland in the USA to Norway, to Australia, to South America, Germany, UK everywhere. ITP's author/editor thanks YOU the READERS, a mighty SALLLUTE and HAILS to you all for being dedicated readers. I would honestly be writing ITP even if no one read it, as an expression, but I must give the metal horns to ITP's readers as YOU INSPIRE ME.


ITP REVIEWS will be on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (time, mood and stability permitting).
It's time to get to WORK on ITP V.011, long hours as it will be. Yes, I said I would do this late last year, and it is officially DONE. ITP's author JUST started an account for this blog on TWITTER. Again, I just started the ITP V.011 TWITTER account in JUNE, so it will take me a while to build a following and to follow others. Keep in mind I'm a NUBIE to TWITTER as I will have an secondary private TWITTER account for myself. I'm digging TWITTER already.Do NOT add ITP V.011 if you're a phisher or SPAM BOT, because we hate that crap.
Look to the RIGHT of this journal (DISCLAIMER) for ITP V.011 anticipated weekly review schedule..Please TWEET me your band news and tour dates @ITPV011, send me a bulletin or message to SWORDSANDGRAVES@MYSPACE or add me on MYSPACE, TWITTER or Individual Thought Patterns V.011 on FACEBOOK.:Looks to the RIGHT of ITP V.011: I've also added ITP V.011 on a NETWORK of Extreme Metal blogs VIA FACEBOOK and BLOGSPOT entitled NETWORKED BLOGS hit me up for an add as I don't want to lose touch with my metal compadres and I want to meet new metal heads as I really do enjoy the extreme metal bloggers on BLOGSPOT and elsewhere on the net. All bands on MYSPACE add me on FACEBOOK and I might even start a secondary FACEBOOOK account. So please, all friends on MYSPACE for SWORDSANDGRAVES, ITP V.011 on FACEBOOK, BLOGGED, BLOGCATALOG and technorati.com follow ITP V.011 on TWITTER.

FOLLOW ITP V.011 ON TWITTER:
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Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

Sunday, November 27, 2011

NOH8: Harvey Milk's Legacy of Hope

Noh8-campaign-logo2
NOH8, (A pro marriage equality, anti bigotry, anti bullying photo campaign) are celebrating the life of the late San Francisco City mayor and gay rights activist HARVEY MILK. BTW, HARVEY MILK was originally from Woodmere, NY and a graduate of SUNY ALBANY.

FROM NOH8:
"If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door." - Harvey Milk

Whether you experienced his legacy in real time or learned about him for the first time through MILK, the 2008 Oscar-Award-Winning biopic of Harvey's life, many of you have been affected by Harvey Milk's story. Harvey Milk made it his mission to fight for the gay community and achieve equal rights and treatment for all people, and he often spoke about how important visibility was to changing the climate and humanizing the gay community.

For those unfamiliar with his story, Harvey Milk became the first openly gay man to be elected to office in California when he was elected San Francisco City Supervisor in 1977; his very public story giving hope to LGBT people all over. Tragically, Harvey Milk was assassinated by a colleague less than one year later on this date - November 27th, 1978.

One of the many things that made Harvey remarkable was that he was just a regular guy. He didn't grow up with aspirations to be an activist, or even a politician; but when he saw the world around him changing, Harvey decided he had to do something about it. Harvey showed us that anyone can get involved and make a difference if they really dedicate themselves to it. Before he knew Harvey, Cleve Jones wasn't an activist either - but something in him changed. NOH8 Co-Founders Adam Bouska and Jeff Parshley didn't have any formal training or aspirations to be activists either, but their reactions to Prop 8 stirred something in them; and all it takes is taking that reaction - that passion - and channeling it to speak out in your own way.

Harvey Milk lived his life openly and honestly for the sake of the greater good so that someday, others didn't have to live in fear. That visibility, according to Harvey, would directly lead an opposing vote to realize that they knew at least one gay or lesbian person who would be affected by discriminatory legislation.



Activist Cleve Jones and San Francisco City Supervisor Bevan Dufty

Harvey Milk became the man who was willing to risk everything for his rights and the rights of his community, and his story continues to inspire us while giving hope to new generations of LGBT youth. The NOH8 Campaign has been honored to have the support of Cleve Jones, a fellow gay rights activist and close personal friend of Harvey's, as well as L. Stuart Milk, Founder of the Harvey Milk Foundation and Harvey's nephew (pictured below). During the first NOH8 photo shoot in San Francisco, City Supervisor Bevan Dufty - representing Harvey Milk's same district - came to support as well.

As a start up not- for-profit organization, the Harvey Milk Foundation's program goals – to empower local, regional, national and global organizations so that they may fully realize the power of Harvey Milk’s story, style, and collaborative relationship building - are large and bold as Harvey taught us! The Foundation, through Harvey’s dream for a just tomorrow, envisions governments that celebrate the rich and universally empowering diversity of humanity, where all individuals – gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, the young, the disabled – all who had been excluded can fully participate in all societal rights without exception.


This last February in San Diego, the Harvey Milk Foundation teamed up with CESCaL (The Center for Excellence in School Counseling and Leadership) to host Supporting Students - Saving Lives: The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, & Ally (LGBTQIA) Youth. Organizers of the conference invited the NOH8 Campaign to set up at the event, where several educators assembled to have their NOH8 portraits taken. Many of them were eager to share their photos with students, and post them in their offices. We were so inspired by their work that the NOH8 Campaign will be a sponsor of the 2012 CESCaL Conference to be held this upcoming February 17-19 (2012).

This year's CESCaL Conference comes at crucial time as the state prepares to institute a California law passed this year mandating the inclusion of the historical contributions of LGBT figures as well as the disabled. The FAIR Education Act would make sure that stories like Harvey Milk's are taught to youth in schools - some of whom might really need to hear a story like Harvey's. The idea of this measure is the very type of thing Harvey Milk fought for.

Earlier this year, during the NOH8 Campaign's trip to San Francisco, we made it a priority to visit Harvey Milk's former camera store in the Castro; now converted into an HRC Action Center and Store with a work space for The Trevor Project's crisis and suicide prevention call center. The space that once acted as the headquarters for Harvey's historic campaign as well as his home still carries so many reminders about Harvey Milk's life and legacy. At the time, the city's new GLBT History Museum featured some of Harvey's keepsakes including his kitchen table, some of his clothes, and even his megaphone. Being so close to Harvey was an incredibly moving experience, and we only wish everyone could have the opportunity to witness it first-hand.

Even though we never had the privilege of meeting Harvey Milk, many of us still refer to him as "Harvey" as if we knew him; because we feel like we do, in a greater sense. Because of the work Harvey did, we all know who he is; and by knowing his story, so many people have been empowered to make a change in their own lives so that others know their own story.

We at the NOH8 Campaign hope to honor Harvey Milk's legacy by making it our mission to help as many people share their stories as possible by putting a face to the fight for equality one portrait at a time. Harvey always wanted to inspire hope; we only wish he had the chance to see just how much hope he has given LGBT people all over the world.

We remember you today, Harvey. Thank you for giving us hope.



HARVEY MILK

May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978


Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ THANK YOU HARVEY MILK AND RIP

GOREGON METAL FEST 2012: June 22nd and 23rd 2012 @ Branx. Portland, OR



Promoters for the 2012 GOREGON METAL FEST set to take place June 22nd and 23rd 2012 @ Branx. Portland, Oregon have announced the first bands confirmed.

FROM GOREGON 2012 PROMOTERS:
Next 5 bands confirmed for GMFIII are D.I.S.(ca), TRANSIENT(or), EX DEMENTIA(nj), ELITIST(or), and VIOLENCE OF HUMANITY(or)!!! Next update in a few weeks... you just might shit yer pants.
Confirmed bands so far:
PHOBIA(ca)
GRAVEHILL(ca)
D.I.S.(ca)
EX DEMENTIA(nj)
SORROWER(az)
TRANSIENT(or)
COFFIN DUST(pa)
RITUAL NECROMANCY(or)
ELITIST(or)
WEREGOAT(or)
VIOLENCE OF HUMANITY(or)
THEORIES(wa)
NIGHT NURSE(or)
DR. LOOMIS(or)

MORE BANDS TBA
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

HENRY ROLLINS: ANNOUNCES WINTER 2012 SPOKEN WORD TOUR



Post punk icon and spoken word artist HENRY ROLLINS has announced a winter 2012 European and U.S. spoken word tour.

FROM HENRY ROLLINS:
0907 hrs. At the office. Traditionally, this is the weekend when I get off the road for a little while and catch my breath. This year will be a little different. I will be in and out of town for another month or so.


I got back from Cuba a couple of days ago. It was an interesting trip and if you have not been, you might want to put that one on your list of places to go.


There is no way I could live there. It’s too slow moving and non moving for me. There are parts of Havana that are falling apart and while it looks somewhat beautiful in its decay, it’s still falling apart.


I didn’t meet any Cuban people who anything less than incredibly friendly. Cuba is a tremendous piece of land as far as what I saw. I wonder if there were parts of the country that Cuba didn’t want me to see. That’s the thing I couldn’t stop thinking about when I was there—that I was being told the better part of the story.


I did get to go to Hemingway’s home there, I never thought I would see that place. His writing room was worth the trip.


A lot going on this week. If you are in the Los Angeles area and have the time, there is a benefit happening for Drop In The Bucket. http://www.dropinthebucket.org/


It’s Wednesday night at the Avalon. I will be your host with the most. You can go here for more information: http://www.dropinthebucket.org/news/corey-taylor-and-friends.


December will be the month of the Dinosaur!: As you might know, earlier this year, Dinosaur Jr. played dates on the East Coast and rocked their Bug album in its entirety. I interviewed the band onstage before they did the set. It was not only a great time but also some of the best damn Dinosaur Jr. shows I have ever seen and I have been checking them since 1986. We are doing it again on the West Coast this December. Below are the dates. I can’t wait.


12. Costa Mesa CA @ Segerstrom Center for the Arts
13. Solana Beach CA @ The Belly Up
14. Los Angeles CA @ The Music Box
15. San Francisco CA @ The Fillmore
16. Portland OR @ the Crystal Ballroom
17. Seattle WA @ The Showbox
18. Vancouver BC @ The Commodore Ballroom


Also, on January 5, I will be at Largo with Jeff Garlin. He’s a cool guy and this should be a great night. http://largo.laughstub.com/show.cfm?id=121034. This is a charity event. All proceeds will go to Drop In The Bucket.


I don’t know if I have gone through all this with you yet but as I do at the beginning of a tour, I wanted to give you a few of the stats.
Next year, I will start a tour called The Long March. It will go through 2012 and hopefully into 2013. If you look on the site, there are dates set until about June. About seventy-five shows are on sale at this time.
I am getting a lot of letters from people asking why I am not coming to their city. Chances are, I am, just in the second half of the year. Someone wrote me from Minneapolis asking if I was going to go there. As if I would EVER leave out Minneapolis! No way. So, yes, I will be all over for quite awhile. You know me by now, I live for the tour. Being off the road, while now and then is not bad but for the most part, I would rather be out there, in it, doing it and having to prove it night after night.


What I am asking is this. If you don’t see your city listed, check this basic tour sketch below. It is what we hope will be the plan. This is at least, what we are working on at present. Things in life do not always go as planned but this is at least what we are trying for:

2012
January: UK / Europe
February: Europe
March: USA
April: New Zealand / Australia
May: Australia / South Africa
June: Canada
July: TBA
August: Europe (Festivals, Edinburgh!!!, etc.)
September: USA
October: USA
November: USA
December: USA / TBA


That’s it, basically.


There are some ideas I have been working on that I will write about when I can. I will post them on the site. Cuba gave me a lot to think about. The Republican debates as well.


There’s a lot of stuff I have to get on today, so I better close. Thanks for reading this. Henry

11-30-11 Avalon
Hollywood, CA, An Evening with Corey Taylor & Friends, hosted by Henry Rollins for Drop in the Bucket
12-12-11 Segerstrom Center For The Arts
Costa Mesa, CA, interviewing Dinosaur Jr.
12-13-11 Belly Up Tavern
Solana Beach, CA, interviewing Dinosaur Jr.
12-14-11 The Music Box
Los Angeles, CA, interviewing Dinosaur Jr.
12-15-11 The Fillmore
San Francisco, CA, interviewing Dinosaur Jr.
12-16-11 Crystal Ballroom
Portland, OR, interviewing Dinosaur Jr.
12-17-11 Showbox at the Market
Seattle, WA, interviewing Dinosaur Jr.
12-18-11 Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver , BC, interviewing Dinosaur Jr.
01-05-12 Largo
Los Angeles, CA, Jeff Garlin in Conversation with Henry Rollins for Drop in the Bucket
01-12-12 Bridgewater Hall
Manchester, UK
01-13-12 Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow, UK
01-14-12 Carnegie Hall
Dunfermline, UK
01-15-12 Tyne Theatre
New Castle, UK
01-16-12 Memorial Hall
Sheffield, UK
01-17-12 St George’s
Bristol, UK
01-18-12 Academy
Oxford, UK
01-19-12 Wulfrun Hall
Wolverhampton, UK
01-20-12 Royal Festival Hall
London, UK
01-21-12 De La Warr Pavillion
Bexhill, UK
01-22-12 Vicar Street
Dublin , Ireland
01-29-12 Garage
Saarbrucken, Germany
01-30-12 Gloria
Cologne, Germany
01-31-12 Huxley’s
Berlin, Germany
02-01-12 Fabrik
Hamburg, Germany
02-03-12 Bremen
Copenhagen, Denmark
02-05-12 Tradgarn
Gothenburg, Sweden
02-06-12 Palladium
Malmo, Sweden
02-07-12 Rival
Stockholm, Sweden
02-10-12 Posthof Linz (Grosser Saal)
Linz, Austria
02-11-12 Konzerthaus (Mozartsaal)
Vienna, Austria
02-12-12 Muffathalle
Munich, Germany
02-13-12 Alte Feuerwache
Mannheim, Germany
02-15-12 Alcatraz
Milan, Italy
02-16-12 Estragon
Bologna , Italy
03-01-12 Rialto Theatre
Tucson, AZ
03-02-12 Kimo Theater
Albuquerque, NM
03-03-12 Murchison Performing Arts Center
Denton, TX
03-05-12 House of Blues (New Orleans)
New Orleans, LA
03-06-12 Workplay Theater
Birmingham, AL
03-07-12 40 Watt Club
Athens, GA
03-08-12 House of Blues (Florida)
Lake Buena Vista, FL
03-09-12 Revolution
Fort Lauderdale, FL
03-10-12 Capitol Theatre (Florida)
Clearwater, FL
03-11-12 Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
03-12-12 The Orange Peel
Asheville, NC
03-13-12 Bijou Theatre
Knoxville, TN
03-15-12 Union Transfer
Philadelphia, PA
03-16-12 Baltimore Soundstage
Baltimore, MD
03-17-12 Carnegie Lecture Hall
Pittsburgh, PA
03-18-12 Town Ballroom
Buffalo, NY
03-20-12 Headliners Music Hall
Louisville, KY
03-21-12 State Theater (Kalamazoo)
Kalamazoo, MI
03-22-12 Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor, MI
03-23-12 Turner Hall Ballroom
Milwaukee, WI
03-24-12 The Pageant
St. Louis, MO
03-26-12 Boulder Theater
Boulder, CO
03-27-12 Belly Up Aspen
Aspen, CO
03-29-12 Mystic Theatre
Petaluma, CA
03-30-12 Downtown Brew
San Luis Obispo, CA
03-31-12 San Diego Woman’s Club
San Diego, CA
04-18-12 The National Theatre
Melbourne, VIC
04-19-12 The National Theatre
Melbourne, VIC
04-22-12 Her Majesties Theatre
Adelaide , SA
04-24-12 Panthers
Newcastle, NSW
04-25-12 The York Theatre (Seymour Centre)
Sydney , NSW
04-26-12 The York Theatre (Seymour Centre)
Sydney , NSW
04-29-12 Darwin Entertainment Centre
Darwin, NT
05-01-12 Tanks
Cairns, QLD
05-02-12 Powerhouse
Brisbane, QLD
05-03-12 Powerhouse
Brisbane, QLD
05-05-12 Theatre Royal
Hobart, TAS
05-06-12 The Street Theatre
Canberra , ACT
05-08-12 IPAC
Wollongong, NSW
05-10-12 Margaret River Cultural Centre
Margaret River, WA
05-11-12 Astor Theatre
Perth, WA
05-12-12 Astor Theatre
Perth, WA



Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

ITP V.011 UPDATE: MORE REVIEWS (DECAPITATED, HATE ETERNAL) WILL BE POSTED BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND/METAL NEWS FEATURES WILL BE POSTED THIS WEEK



ITP V.011 UPDATE: MORE REVIEWS (DECAPITATED, HATE ETERNAL) WILL BE POSTED BY THE END OF THE WEEKEND/METAL NEWS FEATURES WILL BE POSTED FIRST HALF OF THIS WEEK.
11/27/2011: DECAPITATED: CARNIVAL IS FOREVER
11/27-28/2011: HATE ETERNAL: PHOENIX AMONGST THE ASHES (OVERNIGHT)
MONDAY: 11/28/2011: ITP V.011 NOTES FROM THE EXTREME METAL UNDERGROUND
TUESDAY: 11/29/2011: ITP V.011 DAMNED IN BLACK (BLACK METAL NEWS)
WEDNESDAY 11/30/2011: ITP V.011 HUMANITY IS DOOMED (DOOM METAL NEWS)
ITP RE RATE (RE RATE OF OVER OR UNDER RATED REVIEWS): (2009, 2010, 2011) will be posted in MID DECEMBER.

ITP V.011 THE ART OF DANCE LATER THIS WEEK
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

ITP V.011 REVIEW: LEVIATHAN: TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE



BAND: LEVIATHAN (San Francisco, California, USA) GENRE: BLACK METAL/AMBIENT RECORD LABEL: PROFOUND LORE RECORDS RELEASE DATE: 11/8/2011









PREVIOUS RELEASES (CATALOG): (SPLIT-SIC LUCEAT LUX-Leviathan/Acherontas-2009-ZYKLON B PRODUCTIONS), MASSIVE CONSPIRACY AGAINST ALL LIFE-(2008-MORIBUND RECORDS), THE BLIND WOUND (EP-2006), THE SPEED OF DARKNESS (EP-2006-VIVA HATE RECORDS),SAPHTHURAN/LEVIATHAN (SPLIT-2006-BATTLE KOMMAND RECORDS),HOWL MOCKERY AT THE CROSS (2005-MORIBUND RECORDS), TOTENHANZ II/POTRAIT IN SCARS (SPLIT-2005-
ISO666 Releases),A SILHOUETTE IN SPLINTERS (2005-PROFOUND LORE)) DEMOS TWO THOUSAND (2005-BFD RECORDS), LEVIATHAN/XASTHUR (2004-PROFOUND LORE), BLACK METAL AGAINST THE WORLD (2004-SPLIT-Funeral Winds / Leviathan / Ad Hominem / Eternity-UNDERCOVER RECORDS), TENTACLES OF WHORROR (2004-MORIBUND RECORDS), CREBAIN/LEVITHAN (SPLIT-2004-tUMULt), THE TENTH SUB LEVEL OF SUICIDE (2003-MORIBUND RECORDS), LIVE IN ETERNAL, SIN AND THE SPEED OF DARKNESS (SPLIT-IUVENES/LEVIATHAN-2003-NO COLOURS RECORDS), VERRATER (2002-COMPILATION-tUMULt RECORDS)

DEMOS: Time End Demo (1998)
Three (Demo 3) Demo (1998)
MisanthropicNecroBlasphemy Demo (2000)
Shadow of No Light Demo (2000)
Seven & Slaveship Demo (2000)
Video Brolo (Demo 8) Demo (2000)
V (Demo 5) Demo (2000)
Sacrifice Love at the Altar of War (2001)
Nine (Inclement Derision) Demo (2001)
Howl Mockery at the Cross Demo (2001)
Ten Demo (2001)
Intolerance (XI) Demo (2001)
White Devil, Black Metal Demo (2002)
The 10th Sub Level of Suicide Demo (2002)
XV Demo (2002)

BEST RELEASE (s): THE TENTH SUB LEVEL OF SUICIDE (2003), MASSIVE CONSPIRACY AGAINST ALL LIFE (2008), THE BLIND WOUND (2006), A SILHOUETTE IN SPLINTERS (2005)

TRACKLISTING:LEVIATHAN:TRUE TRAITOR,TRUE WHORE:
1. True Whorror
2. Her Circle Is The Noose
3. Brought Up To The Bottom
4. Contrary Pulse
5. Shed This Skin
6. Every Orifice Yawning Her Price
7. Harlot Rises
8. Blood Red And True




ITP RATING: *** 1/2
PRODUCTION: ***
SONGWRITING: *** 1/2
PERFORMANCE: ****


Founded in 1998, San Francisco based black metal project LEVIATHAN is the brainchild of WREST (AKA: Jef Whitehead). LEVIATHAN is a one man black metal project as all instruments are recorded and performed by WREST. WREST has contributed to ambient extreme projects SUNN O)))(Black One & Solstitium Fulminate), TWILIGHT, KRIEG, NACHTMYSITIUM and LURKER OF THE CHALICE.

LEVIATHAN was put on hold after the release of the critically acclaimed 2008 release "Massive Conspiracy Against All Life" after a legal battle against LEVIATHAN's former label MORIBUND RECORDS. In 2011, LEVIATHAN re activated and inked a deal with PROFOUND LORE RECORDS.

LEVIATHAN's WREST (Jef Whitehead-tattoo artist) was arrested and charged with criminal sexual assault and aggravated domestic battery on 1/9/2011 (Chicago, Illinois: http://www.suntimes.com/news/crime/3229375-418/according-whitehead-police-tattoo-report.html) and held on $350,000 bond after allegedly attacking his girlfriend and raping her with tattoo tools. Whitehead was released on $100,000 (bail dropped) bail. The criminal case vs. Jeff Whitehead is still pending as the re activated LEVIATHAN have unleashed a new offering, a middle finger against his enemies and critics entitled "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE".

LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR,TRUE WHORE" kicks off with the track "True Whorror", a trippy grunted intro, non English spoken word segues into a blast beat hell ride with screamed vocals evoking the first wave of black metal. Dissonant, punky riffs paint the portrait of "True Whorror" as LEVIATHAN delves into a psychedelic horror trip out (3:40), psychotic and tortured. \m/ \m/

LEVIATHANS's "Her Circle Is The Noose" enters mid pace, with varied, tribal drumming, employing enough psychedelic reverb to provoke psychotic hallucinations. WREST's vocals are tortured screams from the abyss of despondency as the song varies tempo with tight blastbeats and a perfectly timed scream, (2:52) as if this is last day of your existence, and release from life's mundane tortures is a relief.

LEVIATHAN's "Brought Up To The Bottom" evokes traditional black metal with awesome guitar effects (:32) and perfectly timed blast beats accentuating a misanthropic hell ride. Quality, melodic and varied riffing flow freely to the surface of LEVIATHAN's "Brought Up To The Bottom" as the tune floats into your subconscious.

LEVIATHAN's "Contrary Pulse" evokes a dramatic intro of psychotic screams, and snare military styled drumming before segueing into beautiful melodic riffing and back into misanthropic chaos. Bi Polar in song structure, LEVIATHAN's "Contrary Pulse" wavers back and forth from beautiful, melancholic textures to apocalyptic, psychotic episodes ending in ambient beauty.

LEVIATHAN's "Shed This Skin" enters with some truly disturbed spoken word before segueing into blast beats (:46), shifting into spoken word and whispered vocals, evoking a creepy atmosphere and wooh..(2:11), a truly horrifying vocal segues into tight blast beats evoking a traditional black metal hellride... LEVIATHAN's "Shed This Skin" evokes a jazzy passage, as if MR. BUNGLES tripped out on DARKTHRONE releases (2:47). LEVIATHAN's "Shed This Skin" continues to spit in the face of all detractors with a quality back and forth interplay of tight, and kult, sludge passages into blastbeats.

LEVIATHAN's "Every Orifice Yawning Her Price", enters with an gorgeous ambient acoustic intro into a quality back beat of dark black metal. Employing light keyboards and WRESTS tortured rasps, LEVIATHAN's "Every Orifice Yawning Her Price" is the projects most accessible track to date. UNTILL..WREST's mood changes as LEVIATHAN evokes a psychotic/psychedelic passage as by now the listeners serotonin levels have dropped, and the song sinks into a dark abysmal, depressive, despondency.

LEVIATHAN's "Harlot Rises" evokes mid pace, with quality syncopated drumming, as WREST's sick rasps segue into some quality, and bizarre riffing. WRESTS's drumming is creative, carrying the composition as "Harlot Rises" trips out into a bizarre psychedelic passage (1:57) and a sludge, crusty black metal interplay. LEVIATHAN's "Harlot Rises" wondrous experimentation twists and turns from blackened crust, to sludge to the most ambient psychedelic textures, all in a blink of eye.

LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" closes with the track "Blood Red And True", a sludgy black metal composition of enough spite, venom and creepy atmospheres to over turn grave stones. LEVIATHAN's "Blood Red And True", again evokes a psychedelic trip out, (2:47) employing effective spoken word vocals as the song sobers into a bi polar sludge anthem, picking up the pieces and frayed ends of loyalty and betrayal.

LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" was intended to be a personal and spiteful release as reflected in the song titles. LEVIATHAN's psychedelic and ambient dirges are often misplaced and in-cohesive, trading in the musical misanthropy for ambient downfalls, as "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" doesn't rip you a new asshole, sounding more like LURKER OF CHALICE.

A bone to pick with LEVIATHAN's production as drums are turned down or are too loud, as the mix for "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" does not do this ambitious release justice.
Ideally, LEVIATHAN's experimentation of combining punkier black metal, crust, sludge, with psychedelic textures is an ingenious one, the execution of quality riffing and songwriting is lacking although WREST's drumming can be creative. When LEVIATHAN's musical ambitions are realized and correctly executed, it is truly mesmerizing, horrifying and groundbreaking.

Despite, imperfections and it's bi polar delivery, LEVIATHAN's "TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE" is an intriguing release with it's share of genre bending moments.

I shutter to think what WREST can accomplish in the context of LEVIATHAN if he's angry, so should you.


ITP RATING: *** 1/2
PRODUCTION: ***
SONGWRITING: *** 1/2
PERFORMANCE: ****

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

Saturday, November 26, 2011

CANNIBAL CORPSE: ANNOUNCES SUMMER 2012 FRENCH DATE WITH CHILDREN OF BODOM



Florida, USA death metal legends have announced a summer 2012 French date with Finnish extreme metal warriors CHILDREN OF BODOM. No word as of press date if this scheduled (6/20/2012 ETIENNE, FRANCE) date will be a part of a FULL summer 2012 European tour with CHILDREN OF BODOM.

FROM CANNIBAL CORPSE: France with COB!
6/20/2012 ETIENNE, FRANCE @ LE FIL

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

ITP V.011 UPDATE: REVIEWS THIS WEEKEND, METAL NEWS FEATURES FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK

ITP V.011 UPDATE: I'm STILL working on the review of the new LEVIATHAN release "True Traitor, True Whore" as that will posted later today, I'm tired, and that was the longest discography I've had to write in a while, lol.

So, while I'm trying to feel better after getting sick (toothache/cold), ITP V.011's author has ben cramming in the reviews.
OK, this repetitive journal entry seems redundant, I'll have to be more organized and post the metal news features, lmao. Yeh, you're probably saying "I want NFTEMU, DAMNED IN BLACK and HUMANITY IS DOOMED, get it over with." I'm working on it.



Yes, the ITP V.011 news feature procrastination CONTINUES, as I write about writing ITP news features, more so than actually getting it done, I know, pathetic, LMAO (although blogging isn't high priority). I was wondering if writing the metal news features monthly (NFTEMU, DAMNED IN BLACK and HUMANITY IS DOOMED) would be a little redundant, (I used to post ITP METAL NEWS FEATURES MONTHLY).. I'm thinking about perhaps posting the metal news features bi monthly or quarterly, per quarter touring cycle. There fore, more potential time for ITP V.011 REVIEWS:

ITP V.011 UPDATE: ITP V.011 REVIEWS: (Sorry about the LEVIATHAN spelling error, tired)


11/26/2011: LEVIATHAN: TRUE TRAITOR, TRUE WHORE (LATER TODAY)
11/26/2011: DECAPITATED: CARNIVAL IS FOREVER (OVERNIGHT)
11/27/2011: HATE ETERNAL: PHOENIX AMONGST THE ASHES
MONDAY: 11/28/2011: ITP V.011 NOTES FROM THE EXTREME UNDERGROUND
TUESDAY: 11/29/2011: ITP V.011 DAMNED IN BLACK (BLACK METAL NEWS)
WEDNESDAY 11/30/2011: ITP V.011 HUMANITY IS DOOMED (DOOM METAL NEWS)
ITP RE RATE (RE RATE OF OVER OR UNDER RATED REVIEWS): (2009, 2010, 2011) will be posted in early DECEMBER.

ITP V.011 THE ART OF DANCE NEXT WEEKEND
ITP V.011 REVIEWS ITP V.011 REVIEWS WILL BE POSTED ON WEEKENDS as will be announced mid week on the disclaimer on the right of this journal.

Through everything I've been through, I've been very dedicated to writing and keeping ITP updated even if it meant using public access 'puters through some dark times in my life. I can NOT express the dedication of ITP's READERS and thank them enough as ITP's readers are international from my homeland in the USA to Norway, to Australia, to South America, Germany, UK everywhere. ITP's author/editor thanks YOU the READERS, a mighty SALLLUTE and HAILS to you all for being dedicated readers. I would honestly be writing ITP even if no one read it, as an expression, but I must give the metal horns to ITP's readers as YOU INSPIRE ME.


ITP REVIEWS will be on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (time, mood and stability permitting).
It's time to get to WORK on ITP V.011, long hours as it will be. Yes, I said I would do this late last year, and it is officially DONE. ITP's author JUST started an account for this blog on TWITTER. Again, I just started the ITP V.011 TWITTER account in JUNE, so it will take me a while to build a following and to follow others. Keep in mind I'm a NUBIE to TWITTER as I will have an secondary private TWITTER account for myself. I'm digging TWITTER already.Do NOT add ITP V.011 if you're a phisher or SPAM BOT, because we hate that crap.
Look to the RIGHT of this journal (DISCLAIMER) for ITP V.011 anticipated weekly review schedule..Please TWEET me your band news and tour dates @ITPV011, send me a bulletin or message to SWORDSANDGRAVES@MYSPACE or add me on MYSPACE, TWITTER or Individual Thought Patterns V.011 on FACEBOOK.:Looks to the RIGHT of ITP V.011: I've also added ITP V.011 on a NETWORK of Extreme Metal blogs VIA FACEBOOK and BLOGSPOT entitled NETWORKED BLOGS hit me up for an add as I don't want to lose touch with my metal compadres and I want to meet new metal heads as I really do enjoy the extreme metal bloggers on BLOGSPOT and elsewhere on the net. All bands on MYSPACE add me on FACEBOOK and I might even start a secondary FACEBOOOK account. So please, all friends on MYSPACE for SWORDSANDGRAVES, ITP V.011 on FACEBOOK, BLOGGED, BLOGCATALOG and technorati.com follow ITP V.011 on TWITTER.

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Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-

Friday, November 25, 2011

BEHEMOTH: CONFIRMED TO HEADLINE (FRIDAY) 2012 BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR



Polish blackened death metal warriors BEHEMOTH have been confirmed as headliners of Friday's 2012 BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR set to take place 8/10-12/2012 CATTON HALL UK.

FROM BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR PROMOTERS:
Polish blackened death metal monsters BEHEMOTH have announced an exclusive UK festival appearance at BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2012. Originally scheduled to perform at the 2010 event, the band were forced to cancel after frontman NERGAL was diagnosed with Leukemia. After undergoing treatment including a bone-marrow transplant, the enigmatic frontman is fighting fit and ready to bring BEHEMOTH’s brutality back to the UK:

“We couldn’t do the show for obvious reasons last time, I was in a deep shithole with my sickness, but I really felt obliged to come back and do BLOODSTOCK as soon as possible. We are really fortunate that they invited us back, we couldn’t turn it down, and this is the perfect opportunity to make this up to the people that missed us last time. For us it’s a great pleasure to come back to the UK after two years, and I can promise we will bring full production - lights, pyro - it’s gonna be awesome and we can’t wait. This is not only the first time we headline a festival, but also our first open air appearance in the UK, so it’s gonna be special!”

"Bringing Behemoth back to Bloodstock in 2012 was our mission, they have been one of the MOST requested bands we have ever been asked for” states festival booker Vicky Gregory. “We know the fans will give them one hell of a reception. The show is their full production and what better place for them to return than as headliners for the Friday night”

Their ninth studio album, 2009’s “Evangelion” saw BEHEMOTH make a giant leap from a cult black metal act to internationally acclaimed metal act, gracing magazine covers and even newspapers across the globe, truly breaking out of the underground despite the uncompromising and fiercely brutal ten tracks it contains. Having the honour of being opening band at the first ever performance of Metal’s Big Four - Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax - at Sonisphere Poland in 2009, BEHEMOTH are no strangers to the big stage and this exclusive headline appearance - their first outdoor show in the UK, and only festival performance in this country in 2012 - will be a triumphant return, and one that will no doubt be talked about for years to come.

BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2012 takes place at Catton Hall August 9th - 12th. With four day camping tickets on sale for just £90 (plus booking fee) until December 16th - a MASSIVE saving of £25 - there is no reason to wait.

Tickets for the 2012 event are on sale now at www.bloodstock.uk.com


BLOODSTOCK OPEN AIR 2012 9th - 12th AUGUST 2012
Line Up So Far:

RONNIE JAMES DIO STAGE

ALICE COOPER

ANVIL - WATAIN - PARADISE LOST - DIMMU BORGIR - HATEBREED - CORROSION OF CONFORMITY - SANCTUARY - GRAND MAGUS - THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER

SOPHIE LANCASTER STAGE

ORANGE GOBLIN - ANAAL NATHRAKH -

www.bloodstock.uk.com

Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-