Metal Riot

Venomous Concept want to handle all your hedge trimming needs.

Ok, so today we have a slew of bad ass or downright hysterical shit to share with you riff lovin’ pond scum out there. Let’s go!

Venomous Concept, the Poison Idea and grind-influenced brain bashin’ mosh worthy killer project (featuring members of Brutal Truth, Napalm Death and Corrupt Moral Altar) are gonna be touring with fuckin’ Brujeria! That is a one two punch and a lot of work for Shayne! Aggression and Sangre round out a great package.

Our pal Pope Richard at Blackened Death Records has unveiled Warbrother, a ridiculous Hulk Hogan themed War metal parody. The songs are kind of sung like Hogan would phrase them – without any off the cuff racist slurs, thankfully – and the music kicks ass. I am way more interested in this release than Chris Hemsworth cosplaying as the Hulkster. In a post Gawker environment where Hogan was happy to buddy up with the gross Peter Thiel, ugh…barf up some Budweiser, brother, but I aint watchin’ your pending biopic. I always like Junk Yard Dog and The Ultimate Warrior better anyway, but this record kicks fuckin’ ass and will certainly upset edgelords.

Get tickets HERE for tickets to the big newly announced KORN/AIC tour. That is ALICE IN CHAINS, not AOC/Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I feel like AOC would actually kick ass fronting Korn or Alice. We already know she can dance ! But I think there is that one Korn tune about Obama being an illuminati puppet or something, right? Anyone remember that? I don’t know how she would feel about that number.

Anyway, H09909 being on this is pretty awesome. They are going to make a huge dent more and more if they keep landing killer opportunities like this. I have always thought Underoath was one of the most overrated bands of all time in the scene by far, and I still haven’t heard Fever333 but this is going to be a big ticket worth knowing about.

In case you missed it somehow, Slipknot have released a new song. It’s pretty damn awesome and has a lot of vibes that remind me of the classic debut. Definitely got me rocking Halloween a little harder last night. Horns to the masked marauders.

#AllOutLife
New Track Out Now
Watch/Listen: https://t.co/ocEwpFbGmi pic.twitter.com/Oo2Z990GWU

— Slipknot (@slipknot) October 31, 2018

#WeAreNotYourKind. Watch the brand new video for #AllOutLife here: https://t.co/ShFtxAiPeM pic.twitter.com/GNN3U1pHSx

— Slipknot (@slipknot) November 1, 2018

Void Vator

This used to be a funhouse
But now it’s full of evil clowns
It’s time to start the countdown
I’m gonna burn it down down down
I’m gonna burn it down

Hey y’all. No, I am not gonna be writing about Pink here today despite quoting her song “Funhouse” above. I just figured it was a good way to segue the title of this article into news about Slipknot, since they have masks and stuff.

Mr. Corey Taylor says…the new Slipknot album is now in the demo stages and is gonna be “Iowa levels of heavy”, which is to say not as heavy as, say,  Xibalba but heavier than Stone Sour or the last album. So that is still pretty darn heavy. The band are hoping it will land on the 20th anniversary year of their debut, making a neat little bloody perfect crop circle to pit within.

Somewhere between Black Label Society and Pop Evil lives the new performance video from Void Vator, a hot little number called “Until It’s Gone”. The video sort of features the band rockin’ out, partyin’ and bein’ dudes, but not every music video has to be rocket science or…I was gonna say brain surgery but we do cover a lot of death metal on this site and so we are fans of gory brain surgery videos, actually. “Until It’s Gone” is off their 2017 released debut EP, Dehumanized. Dudes, that is pretty close to the name of one of my favorite Dio-helmed albums of all time but I dug your video so we will let it pass this time. Just don’t call the next EP Heaven & Smell or something. Or…do? That might actually be awesome.

This band has some rockin’ vibes and seem like they love what they are doing. A lot of bands have to pose these days or seem to be cooler than thou so it is nice to see a band just letting their hair down and laying down some big fat heavy rock action.

Anyway, Void Vator has ALSO announced their SOUTHWEST 2018 TOUR. Launching July 19th in Las Vegas, the tour will wind through Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico before winding down Phoenix on July 28th. Check the dates out on their Facebook page.

The most extreme item on this Friday news list of note is that Axis Of Despair have two new tunes out, “The Wolven Law” and “Crush The Empire”. These new songs follow the already released and self-explanatory “A Life Of Ceaseless Grind.” If you like grind and real rollicking hell punk you will eargasm to this immediately and then perish only to have your organs re-animate and burst forth still dancing and raging from your flesh prison and doing a little organ jumping bean grind ritual mosh with each other…nevermind. It all goes off the rails so fast around here. Where was I?

This Swedish grindcore group was formed by current and former members of Nasum, Coldworker, Infanticide, Volturyon, Livet Som Insats, Nervgift, Overtorture. Shit, you had me at Nasum. Their Contempt For Man full length is gonna be out this year on Southern Lord. Southern Lord are once again having a virtually unstoppable year. I am still ass kicked by Jesus Piece, Baptists and the new Eagle Twin. Damn, dudes!

But yeah, check yourself out Contempt For Man‘s presently consumable onslaughts over at Bandcamp HERE. This band is certainly a wrecking crew. My neck hurts after like five minutes of this music. Love the dry, harsh vocal sound over the brittle tones and explosive performance energy! Top notch.

Some people who are more kvlt bag on In This Moment because they are (gasp) melodic and poppy at times, theatrical and very popular. Guess what? They are blowing away acts much bigger than them on the regular and won me over hugely after I finally saw them live. Maria Brink couldn’t possibly be more committed to what she is doing and “Roots” is sure to win more converts as she leads her band in a song of strength and resilience. They put in 100% in presentation, a huge layered rock sound and striking energy and passion. Check out this latest cut from Ritual.

Arguably the biggest rock record of the Summer has arrived! Pick up Stone Sour‘s new Hydrograd HERE today. It has been a lot of fun to see this band grow as a more and more unique entity of their own over the years, creating compelling songs with huge hooks that truly show a belief in hard rock, balladry or whatever the heck they do. Cheers. That cover art REALLY reminds me of Boysetsfire’s great Tomorrow Come Today record, but the bands are of course very different.

http://opethbook.com/

It is hard deciding if the best approach to reviewing such an exhaustive and important milestone  for Opeth as The Book Of Opeth, a super rewarding and fans in mind work of art (would you expect anything less?) from one of metal’s most revered bands, with a more exhaustive or impressionistic approach.

Aesthetically, it is as stunning visually as any of the band’s greatest achievements. The moody respect for the essential mystery of nature and the spirit and cerebral leaning craftsmanship with an emphasis on complexity has carried over, albeit instead of actual riffs we have the stories in the book which allow a hand swiped view through the foggy window of awe; a peak into the inner workings of a group who have earned every inch of respect over the past 25 years and change.

Much like the crucial Decibel anointed Choosing Death or Only Death Is Real from Bazillion Points, this Opeth doozy is fun while chock full of enough respect for sociology and the genre to warrant such an endeavor even if the band wasn’t as important as they ARE. You really get a sense of their development over the course of hundreds of killer photos, lush layout page detailing and fantastic reflections from members. Like Sean Yseult’s recent I’m In The Band or even, say, the massive Emperor 24 vinyl box set which the mere thought of makes me weep and shiver, this is a serious fucking beast of merchandise of the highest order and a celebration of accomplishment with a major sense of adventure and wonder for the entire business of it all. More than a labor of vanity or love, this says pay attention, this is about the collective work of amazing lives.

More below.

“Hate By Design” is here with a great lyrical message for the whole world/scene.
Watch now at www.killswitchengage.com (and see sick new merch) or below.

Incarnate – now available for pre-order.
It is unleashed 3/11/16 via Roadrunner Records.

Feelin’ Jesse’s Only Living Witness shirt in the clip. And the verse riffage is maximum kill.