Metal Riot

French black metal terrors PLEBEIAN GRANDSTAND have announced the completion of their anticipated third album «False Highs, True Lows», recorded and mixed by Amaury Sauvé at The Apiary Studio (Birds In Row, The Rodeo Idiot Engine, Calvaiire…) and mastered at New Alliance East (Converge, Gaza, Cave In…). The record is due out this spring on Throatruiner Records (LP, CD) and Basement Apes Industries (CD). The cover art for «False Highs, True Lows» and the band’s new website are now online – plebeian-grandstand.com

Fiendish riff obscurists Krallice have digitally released a new EP called Hyperion HERE.

A CD version, limited to 500 copies, is available for Pre-order as well.

In case you want to read about something other than everyone on the face of the Earth quitting Emmure, ABIGAIL WILLIAMS will kick off a month-long US tour on January 30th. The journey will commence with five headlining shows before a near three-week run supporting Fleshgod Apocalypse and Carach Angren.

The band continue to evolve ever darker and their latest slab The Accuser was ranked as my #1 most interesting extreme metal album  alongside bands like Brothers Of The Sonic Cloth, InAeona and other standout records you may have missed this year. It is a big step forward for the group, who have developed into something substantially usince their early symphonic days.

Dates BELOW.

The poseurs were put soundly to bed, when Vision of Disorder fans danced on their heads…

While their have been death metal Christmas endeavors before and plenty of
movies where Santa was a killer or more tame fare like The Grinch, the joy of
Christmas can be confusing to metalheads. We thrive on depression and rage, or
at least wallow in dank cellars rolling in cold puddles and moaning as our
laundry piles up. But anyway…We decided to make your shopping easier this
year. Assuming you have anyone to shop for. If not, keep these babies to
yourself in the spirit of giving the darkness only to someone who will really
enjoy it. Cuz Santa all mixed up from strong nog spells Satan, and Satan is greedy!

But seriously, check out our list of neat stuff. That is, if you haven’t spent all your shekles already on punk rockers Bad Religion’s always weird yet surreal and awesome Christmas music from a few years ago (since, ya know, Christmas is kind of associated with religion! And Starbucks!!).

Gift ideas BELOW!

The UK’s elusive and deeply talented Nhor returns with another record that encompasses a certain holistic wholeness of self, from artwork, naturalism and awareness of space that is a hallmark of each release from this artist. Whether nature illustrations with attention to every line to black metal that mines a stone strong heart for courage to a philosophical current between the records of a respect for the massive, interconnected Universe, this project could easilly find fans among the appalachian meets black metal set or wolves in the throne room types or traditional fans of pagan metal. There is nary a hint of dogma here, orthodox and anti-cosmic types be damned (which, they’d be into, haha)

Momenta Quintae Essentiae is a beautiful, sparse and contemplative record. It’s closest cousin in the Nhor catalogue is Upon Which Was Written In The Stars, an early, gentle piano driven EP.

Momenta Quintae… is equally thoughtful yet more seasoned. The effortlessness of the compositions is pretty astounding, as you really sort of by default slip into allowing the music to happen as an experience without picking it apart. “Ante Primam Lucem”, for example, rolls calmly for 6:09 of very unselfconscious and to the matter piano playing. Fans of Helen Money, Solstafir, Alcest or other bands who develop through tempo control will appreciate the lack of a rush to the material. It exists, almost like classical compositions, on its own firm terms. Unlike some classical, however, nothing is ever overstated. “Hedera” is simple and beautiful enough to be part of a hand binding ceremony. I also like “Nosce Te Ipsum” because the music slightly reminds me of the quiet intro riff to “One” by Metallica.

This is a much less dark release than the brilliant and breath taking Within The Darkness Between The Starlight, a BM record I’d highly recommend as an all time favorite of recent years. However, the light play of music here is a welcome body of work, like ripples on a lake you are relaxed and burdens can be released in a less abrasive and more natural way.

Another big creative victory for Nhor and perfect for reading at 2am or a lonely autumn day.

Waking up this morning after a late night following all the unified support around the world for the victims of the Paris attacks of 2015 (as they will undoubtedly always be remembered), I am thankful for my life. Thankful, heading into late November, for my dog and my ability to wake up, smoke a bowl and listen to Bog Oak or Nate Hall’s Electric Vacuum Roar. Thankful my dear friends in Paris from Noisemag.net are safe. Thankful for the odd quirk that at least from this tragedy The Eagles Of Death Metal are now certainly a household name.

I was at a bar last night while following the developing story and speaking to my friend James Felice of folk band The Felice Brothers about how most people want peace around the world. I think even the people who would love to point fingers or not let go of anger can agree that, factually, peace is health and war is more akin to death.

It is interesting to me how some of the people who I admire, of whom Krieg‘s guiding force Neill Jameson is a prime example…some of the people who make the harshest or edgiest music also have the sensitivity and awareness to grasp that we all share a certain interconnectivity, whether we like it or not. Jameson was quick on his Facebook to post criticizing people who were saying “who cares” since the Paris attacks didn’t happen at a “real metal” show, just as he has spoken out against misogyny in the rock world and regularly deplored the state of the American record buyer’s mental faculties in his funny Decibel columns.

Now his main project Krieg has teamed up with experi-metal noise pioneers The Body to create one of the great collaborative records in recent memory. Along with the recent Gnaw Their Tongues/Dragged Into Sunlight co-helmed effort, it is cool to see bands doing these Marvel team ups and delivering new directions.

The music is uncompromising and matter of fact as it burns like industrial black sludge that has contacted human skin mercilessly. This is like an ulcer becoming a black hole. But you can’t stop listening and get pulled in deeper. It will be way too intense for some casual metal listeners who are more akin to understand the fun loving Airbournes or the standard thrash metal fan, for example. Nothing against those templates. But this is almost like having someplace to put all that darkness and let it out of the metaphorical rotting and mystery filled burlap sack for a minute, because you can’t keep that shit pent up inside you without causing yourself or others harm.

We need movement and conversation and even, at times, a way to scream things out in a productive way before we can return to sensible, forest quiet.

Read a full conversation about the record BELOW.

Guitarist/warlord of the night Jeff Wilson sometimes hits me up with tour news or to shoot the shit. It’s always good to talk the dude as he is a musician who does a lot of things on his own terms. Jeff, in the future, you don’t have to politely ask me to post stuff. Your music is way better than a lot of crap I’ve written about, so just send me tour dates and say ,”here ya go, fucker” and they will soon appear on this site in slim hope that more people will read them then the uptick in traffic we get when we post about stupid mallcore shit (less often, since I am doing the majority of the writing around here now…hahaha). I have a lot more respect for Jeff’s music and so will post about that instead of Five Finger Death Punch in hopes that when I get to Hell the devil will grant me a flaming key of blackened pitch to my own little burnt gingerbread house as a reward and while other bloggers must listen to Falling In Reverse forever I will thankfully get a sip of the river of forgetfulness and that actual Hell on Earth will be erased from my musical memory banks.

Wolvhammer are better than about 99% of the metal bands in the world right now and the other 1% are their peers. Likewise Atriarch. These are two of the bleaker but more truthful acts out there, bands you can lean on in lean times to get you through ugly shit. This is not jock jam metal, bright day at a festival shove mosh metal or idiotic hard choreography repressed homosexual mook metal. This is hit the bottom and come back stronger than ever, vomiting shadows on fake people, elephant in the room, ugly ass Satan metal that actually matters and can save lives.

Says Jeff: After a bit of a live hiatus this year due to cancellation, migration, inebriation and the lot; I’m really stoked to get back out on the road with Wolvhammer in December. We’ve got big plans for this one, playing songs from the entire discography, some never performed before. With our most crushing live lineup to date and the ever flawless Atriarch in tow, this run of dates on the west coast is not to be missed.

If you haven’t heard Crawling Into Black Sun  yet or An Unending Pathway, you are an asshole.

Wolvhammer / Atriarch Desanctifying North America Pt. 2 dates BELOW.