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Lecherous NocturnePhoto by Nex Cultus Photography Here’s an interesting ongoing death metal tour: Lecherous Nocturne with Gigan. Lecherous Nocturne are supporting The Age of Miracles Has Passed (Unique Leader, 2008). It took me a while to get into it, as I have tired of brutal/technical death metal. (I reviewed their previous album here.) Once I […]

UrgehalPhoto by Jess Tonight Urgehal and Spearhead begin a US tour. (See dates below.) This is a big deal, as both bands rarely play the States. I have a soft spot for Urgehal‘s Goatcraft Torment (Agonia, 2006), as it was the fifth album I reviewed for this site. The album itself has no soft spots. […]

Flyer by Atsuhiro Saisho Tonight Batillus begin an Eastern/Midwest US tour alongside Salome and Hull. (See dates below.) I first wrote about them here. Now they have a new track, “The Division,” that really excites me. It features the addition of vocalist/keyboardist Fade Kainer, with black metal influences coming to the fore. Distant caveman vocals! […]

Hammers of Misfortune New York got a taste of San Francisco recently from Ludicra and Hammers of Misfortune. Its bands are diverse, but San Francisco underground metal has a distinct flavor. A certain twangy grit runs through bands like Ludicra, Hammers of Misfortune, Saros, Slough Feg, Grayceon, Totimoshi, and Neurosis. If it were a material, […]

Photo by Hope Helvete Metal’s most underrated band, Ludicra, is touring at last. For years, fans have begged the San Francisco group to visit. But work, life, and other band obligations have pinned Ludicra to the West Coast. Guitarist John Cobbett is in Hammers of Misfortune, who accompany Ludicra on this tour. Bassist Ross Sewage […]

Frank Mullen gets Wired According to Suffocation frontman Frank Mullen, the Summer Slaughter tour was this year’s “death metal stimulus package.” 2009’s lineup featured around a dozen bands. On this first date of a two-night stand in New York City, the lineup slimmed down. The tour’s metalcore/deathcore bands, all with three-word names (Winds of Plague, […]

Fuck the Facts Fuck the Facts and Dreaming Dead played at The Arena in Philadelphia on July 4. The Arena hosts boxing and wrestling matches; parts of Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler were filmed there. It is a big room with a high ceiling. Early in the afternoon on this first day of the Hostile City […]

ASG‘s Win Us Over (reviewed here) was my favorite record last year. This was not due to its style, as stoner rock/metal is usually not my bag. Rather, it was because it had songs — strong, soulful, memorable ones. It was one of those records where the start of each song perks up one’s ears […]

Doomriders On June 14, Club Europa hosted the BrooklynVegan-BBG Showcase, curated by brooklynvegan.com’s Black Bubblegum. It should have been called Sludge Fest. The lineup featured Doomriders, Clouds, Sourvein, Unearthly Trance (replacing the injured Zoroaster), Javelina, Cough, Howl, Wetnurse, and Liturgy. I arrived during Howl‘s set. They justified their recent signing to Relapse with big riff […]

Absu Booking tours must be a bitch now. People have less to spend, so it takes more to get them to come out. Tours now are often traveling festivals, with huge, multi-band packages. Cancellation by even one act can be disastrous. If the contract between venue and booker specifies performers by name, and the booker […]