Brooklyn, NY‘s Tombs—featuring guitarist/vocalist (and sometimes MetalKult contrib) Mike Hill, drummer Justin Ennis and bassist Carson Daniel James—are currently writing the follow-up album to their self-titled EP (Black Box Recordings / Level Plane).
Tombs will record their new full-length and Relapse debut this August, which will see an early 2009 release. Audio samples taken from Tombs self-titled release, as well as demo material from their forthcoming full-length, can be heard now via the band’s MySpace: MySpace.com/TombsBklyn.
Additionally, Tombs have announced a number of European tour dates for this fall. These dates will include a performance at the Trainspotting Fest in Germany alongside Capsule, Ultra Dolphins, Pulling Teeth and more. A listing of confirmed Tombs tour dates can be found below with more to be announced soon. (more…)
Bay Area trio Totimoshi is set to release new album, Milagrosa, on July 8 via Volcom Entertainment with a national tour kicking off on Aug. 5.
The 11-song album was produced by Helmet guitar player Page Hamilton and recorded by Toshi Kasai (Big Business, Melvins). The first single from the new album, “Sound The Horn,” can be previewed on the band’s MySpace page at www.myspace.com/totimoshi.
The tour with Nebula is preceded by a hometown record release show on July 8 at 12 Galaxies where Totimoshi will be joined by friends, Big Business.
MTV’s Headbanger’s Blog is hosting the new Judas Priest album, Nostradamus, for your streaming pleasure. To check out a preview of the Metal God’s latest, craziest double-disc concept album, go to (more…)
The Melvins embark on their first tour in support of their upcoming album, Nude With Boots, on July 16 with a show in the lovely seaside town of Santa Barbara.
More dates to be added soon but here’s the first leg. Nude With Boots is set for a July 8 release via Ipecac Recordings.
Jul. 16, 2008 Santa Barbara,CA @ Velvet Jones w/ Big Business
Jul. 17, 2008 Sacramento, CA @ The Boardwalk w/ Big Business
Jul. 18, 2008 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s w/ Big Business
Jul. 19, 2008 Reno, NV @ Club Underground w/ Big Business
Jul. 21, 2008 Modesto, CA @ Fat Cat w/ Big Business
Jul. 26, 2008 Seattle, WA @ Showbox at the Market
Jul. 29, 2008 Teton Village,WY @ Mangy Moose w/ Big Business
Jul. 31, 2008 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre w/ Big Business
Aug. 3, 2008 Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon w/ Big Business
Aug. 4, 2008 Chicago, IL @ Double Door w/ Big Business
Aug. 5, 2008 Detroit, MI @ Small’s w/ Big Business
Aug. 6, 2008 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop w/ Big Business
Aug. 7, 2008 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom w/ Big Business
Aug. 9, 2008 Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club w/ Big Business
Aug. 10, 2008 Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street w/ Big Business
Aug. 12, 2008 New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place w/ Big Business
Aug. 13, 2008 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg w/Big Business
Aug. 14, 2008 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom w/ Big Business
Aug. 15, 2008 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar w/ Big Business
Aug. 16, 2008 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle w/ Big Business
Aug. 17, 2008 Atlanta, GA @ The Drunken Unicorn w/ Big Business
Aug. 18, 2008 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club w/ Big Business
Aug. 20, 2008 New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacks w/ Big Business
Stockholm, Sweden-based heavy metallers Grand Magus have completed work on their new album, Iron Will. The record will see a July 8, 2008 North American release date via London, England based label Rise Above Records.
Boasting an epic sound that melds sledgehammer metal with triumphant, soaring melodies, a fist-pumping gallop and the forceful, convincing vocals of front man and guitarist JB, Grand Magus deliver a vigorous strain of metal that values musicality, craftsmanship, and nuance as well as forcefulness.
Recorded at Sweden’s Resync Studios with producer Oneman, Iron Will is the sound of a band on top of its game, delivering true heavy metal with absolute conviction. From the ominous bell tower toll leading the opening salvo “Like the Oar Strikes the Water” to the NWOBHM thunder of “Iron Will” and “Silver Into Steel” through the monolithic, nine-minute closing colossus “I Am The North”, one thing is most abundantly clear; the way Grand Magus combine their melodic / harmonic sense with powerfully loud, balls-to-the-wall aggression shows them as both headbangers and craftsmen.
The final track listing for Iron Will is as follows:
1.) Like the Oar Strikes the Water
2.) Fear Is the Key
3.) Höuding
4.) Iron Will
5.) Silver Into Steel
6.) The Shadow Knows
7.) Self Deceiver
8.) Beyond Good and Evil
9.) I Am The North
The brand new Grand Magus track “Like the Oar Strikes the Water”, described by JB as “a resounding blow against false prophets and all denial of the power of the mind,” has been posted online at this location (more…)
Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine will be the first musician to utilize a fan-centric video widget to keep in touch with fans while on the road for Gigantour. The innovative video widget created by San Francisco-based Ojingo Labs takes the interactive fan experience to a whole new level by “connecting fans to their favorite bands.”
By downloading a custom widget fans will be able to video message directly with the band online, and with their cell phones - creating a highly personalized experience for the fan to share with their friends and family. Each week will offer a different theme of interactions including one week where bands can upload videos of their own renditions of their favorite Megadeth songs for comments and critiques.
Fans earn points towards contests by receiving higher votes on the video submissions and for passing it along to friends. The promotion also involves a chance for fans to win a trip to Los Angeles to attend Dave Mustaine’s Guitar Center session at Guitar Center Hollywood where they will be presented with a signed Dean guitar. Guitar Center sessions, is an intimate education based program, that will feature informative and provocative panel discussions and serves as an incubator for musicians to gain insight and knowledge from their heroes and network with their peers. Ten runners-up will receive copies of the four-CD+DVD “Warchest” - the ultimate MEGADETH collection featuring more than six hours of digitally remastered content.
Withered, the Atlanta based quartet whose debut album, Memento Mori was one of the most talked about releases in recent extreme music, is set to release their new album, Folie Circulaire, on June 24 via Prosthetic Records.
The 10-track album was produced by Phillip Cope (Kylesa, Baroness) and features artwork by Paul Romano as well as guest vocals from Napalm Death’s Barney Greenway and a cover of Necrophobic’s “Into Armageddon.”
To download an MP3 of “The Fated Breath” go to (more…)
Berlin, Germany’s extreme metallers THE OCEAN are about to embark on their first U.S. tour in their 7+ years of being a band, in support of their latest release Precambrian. Supporting THE OCEAN will be Lair of the Minotaur and Kylesa (co-headliner), Intronaut, Withered, and The Destro on select dates.
Make sure to visit the Legions of the Winged Octopi Tour MySpace page for details on how to win free tickets, merch, and CD’s from The Ocean! http://www.myspace.com/legionsofwingedoctopitour.
Add the bands Legions of the Winged Octopi Tour contest widget to your MySpace, Facebook, and any other networking or blog sites! Get The Ocean’s tour/contest widget HERE
THE OCEAN’s first Metal Blade release Aeolian, which came out in spring 2006, proved this was a band not to be ignored internationally. The reactions to the album – for the first time on a worldwide scale – were indeed amazing. The disc was ‘Album of the Month’ in the Swedish Close Up magazine, while Kerrang! called it “complex” and “mercilessly tight”, rewarding it with 4 Ks. Revolver gave Aeolian a 5 out of 5 ranking and stated: “THE OCEAN make the guitar / bass / drums axis seem monstrously huge, bringing a symphonic richness to the music without sacrificing its ear-bludgeoning quality”.
At the end of 2006, the band commenced work on Precambrian, a double album which was released November 27th 2007. Its concept and album artwork evolve around the early days of our planet, when mother earth was a hostile and uninhabitable place devoid of life and reigned by fire, sulfur and streams of red-glowing lava. The two disk CD is composed of a mini-CD with 22 minutes playing time entitled ‘Hadean/Archaean’, and a full-length CD with 61 minutes playing time, entitled ‘Proterozoic’, both referring to successive geological eras. Guests on the album include Caleb Scofield (CAVE IN, ZOZOBRA, OLD MAN GLOOM), Nate Newton (CONVERGE, DOOMRIDERS), Dwid Hellion (INTEGRITY), Tomas Hallbom (BREACH), Eric Kalsbeek (TEXTURES) and musicians from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.
Guitarist and founding member Robin Staps had this to say about touring North America for the first time:
“It’s not easy for European metal bands to tour in North America and we’ve been wanting to get over there for a long time, so we’re very happy that the extremely positive feedback that ‘Precambrian’ has received in Canada and the US finally makes it possible now. This is a killer package that you don’t wanna miss”
THE OCEAN - Legions of the Winged Octopi North American Tour (more…)
With a title like Hammer Battalion, what would you expect? Yeah, possibly the heaviest Unleashed album yet… Out on June 9th, this juggernaut of Swedish death shows the act at their most volatile.
The battle call has been raised! With their unstoppable new album Hammer Battalion, Sweden’s mighty Unleashed have forged the blood and spirit of their Viking ancestry into a modern weapon of Death Metal mastery. A true rallying cry for the dedicated metalhead legions around the globe, Unleashed has done what previously seemed impossible: raising the intensity level without losing their trademark skill of melding uncompromising brutality with extreme listenability. Experience and believe!
Hammer Battalion takes a battle-hardened axe to the misguided concepts of self-subjugation, transparent corruption and unneeded suffering in the name of religious figureheads and provides a perfect link between the ancient struggles of their Nordic forefathers and the ills of our modern society. The blistering “The Greatest Of All Lies” and “Long Before Winter’s Call” take on old religious myths re-cast as pure fact, while “Your Children Will Burn” serves as a warning of the consequences of blind faith. “Whatever is done in the name of different religions is often done against Mother Nature,” notes vocalist/bassist Johnny Hedlund. “And she has the means of striking back.”
Hedlund and company have not only worn their Viking heritage on their sleeve for years, they’ve also proven to be one of history’s most important flag bearers for metal-heads around the globe. At its heart, Hammer Battalion serves as a testament to these legions of proud fanatics, and delivers a commanding message loud and clear. “Rebellion is rising,” notes Hedlund when discussing the album’s title track. “We will form a number of battalions all over the world with warriors who are not afraid to fight. We are tired of being sitting ducks for bullshit authorities who know nothing better than to oppress us for reasons they won’t explain. We will take command of our own lives and get to work. Either like the chameleon – smoothly changing colors to benefit our survival, or by the furious rage of a Viking warrior - whichever suits us best. To the common man, his various pathetic and hollow forms of music is a hobby. Our music is a way of life. Join your local Hammer Battalion or start one yourself!”
Hammer Battalion proves to be a high point in the career of a band who has had many. For nearly 20 years, the warriors of Unleashed have been the ultimate embodiment of Death Metal - employing a driving fortitude that has helped them to become one of the top extreme bands on the planet. Always unyielding and without a hint of compromise, they have remarkably brought the spirit of the Viking past and the glory of pure Death Metal together in this new century. While the Hammer Battalion hordes are assembling around the globe, Unleashed are preparing their live assault on Europe and North America. To Valhalla!
For more info check out www.unleashed.se and www.myspace.com/666unleashed
TOXIC HOLOCAUST has entered the studio this week to begin recording their Relapse debut, An Overdose Of Death…
TOXIC HOLOCAUST’s Joel Grind is teamed up with legendary producer Jack Endino (HIGH ON FIRE, ZEKE, DWARVES) at Soundhouse Recording studios in Seattle, WA. This will be the first TOXIC HOLOCAUST recording where Grind has not recorded and performed all instruments himself as he has also enlisted good friend and ZEKE drummer Donny Paycheck to lay down the drum tracks.
Grind recently checked in from the studio: “My first experience in a real studio has been going well. Working with Jack Endino has been very smooth, he is on the same page as I am when it comes to what things should be sounding like. So far we have only laid down the drums and some guitar tracks, but they are sounding killer! It’s shaping up to being a savage record!”
Additional studio updates will be made available via the TOXIC HOLOCAUST MySpace during the course of the recording. An Overdose Of Death… is expected to see a late Summer release date.
TOXIC HOLOCAUST has also recently been added to the North American leg of the AT THE GATES reunion tour. This tour, which also includes DARKEST HOUR and MUNICIPAL WASTE, will kick-off on July 9th in New York City. TOXIC HOLOCAUST will follow-up this tour with an appearance at the Hole In The Sky Festival in Norway and a Fall tour with OVERKILL. A complete listing of TOXIC HOLOCAUST tour dates can be found below with more to be announced soon.
Additional information on TOXIC HOLOCAUST can be found via the band’s MySpace: www.MySpace.com/ToxicHolocaust.
