Steven Wilson covering Cardiacs

This is a bit late isn’t it? Well, better late than never as they say. Last December, a tribute album was released to raise funds for Cardiacs chief Tim Smith who suffered a stroke in 2008. The album is called Leader of the Starry Skies and can be purchased HERE.

Porcupine Tree mainman Steven Wilson provided a cover of ‘Stoneage Dinosaurs’ for the release, unsurprisingly, as Cardiacs are clearly a hugely influence on Porcupine Tree. Listen to the cover below and check out the rest of the album which also features Oceansize and Rose Kemp.

Fights & Fires, Only Fumes & Corpses - The Lower Deck, 24/2/11

A very brief live review of Fights & Fires and Only Fumes & Corpses in the Lower Deck last Thursday, also with Twisted Mass and Sickener. Click HERE to read the review.

New Ulver track

Norwegian avant-garde outfit Ulver have released a new track – ‘February MMV’. The track is taken from their new album The War of the Roses, the follow up to 2007’s breathtaking Shadows of the Sun album.

Ulver have always been a band that has defied classification and thus ‘February MMV’ is difficult to describe. After multiple listens though its quality really emerges and the swaying electronics and beats coupled with Kristoffer Rygg vocals create a haunting but beautiful atmosphere.

Listen to the track below:
February MMX by ramble_on

Thomas Giles - Pulse

This is Between The Buried And Me frontman Tommy Rogers' new solo album Pulse, released under the pseudonym Thomas Giles. Click HERE for the album review on Drop-d.

TesseracT interview

The time is nearly up on us for TesseracT to deliver their long awaited debut album One. The band have been touring heavily in the lead up to this and that included a short three date tour of Ireland last weekend. Click HERE for the interview with the band prior to their Dublin show.

From The Bogs of Aughiska interview

From The Bogs of Aughiska is the dark ambient project of Conchúir O’Drona. Click HERE for the interview.

Between The Buried And Me sign with Metal Blade

Well, the tell tale signs were there long enough and now it’s official, Between The Buried And Me sign with Metal Blade Records. BTBAM were long signed with Victory Records and, now with that expired, have inked a worldwide deal with Metal Blade that will see the release of their new EP The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues on April 12th. Front man Tommy Rogers also recently released his solo album Pulse, under the pseudonym Thomas Giles, on Metal Blade.

Guitarist Paul Waggoner commented on the label: “Their commitment to heavy music over the years is inspiring and we look forward to becoming a part of the ever-growing legacy of the label.”

“We are confident that our dedicated fans will appreciate it and hopeful that we will gain the attention of some new ears as well,” he added.

Below is a new teaser video for The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues:

TesseracT - Fibbers 18/2/2011

TesseracT brought the groove to Dublin last Friday in stunning fashion. Click HERE for the review of the show with support from Hero In Error, Red Enemy and Insanity.

Fen - Epoch

Pine scented black metal from the UK. Fen deliver their impressive second album Epoch. Click HERE for the review.

Refraction interview

You may recall Refraction being mentioned on The Grind That Annoys in recent times. They released their debut self titled album last month and have an album launch show coming up on March 4th. Click HERE for an interview with drummer Karl Leavey about the album and Refraction’s future.

Another new Scale The Summit track

‘Whales’, released two weeks ago, clearly was not enough to sate our appetites for the new Scale The Summit album, The Collective. The band has released another salvo for the album – ‘Gallows’.

Somewhat similar to its predecessor, ‘Gallows’ trades a lot between the grandiose riffs and dizzying technicality and its lush, more mellow moments. Guitarists Chris Letchford and Travis Levrier are simply stunning right here.

The Collective is released on March 1st, which couldn’t come sooner.

Some new Cloudkicker stuff

Ben Sharp, or Cloudkicker to you, has posted an alternative version ‘We're Goin' In. We're Going Down.’ on his Tumblr page.

“Someone asked me for a midi file of the drums in “We’re goin’ in. We’re going down.” recently, which gave me a reason to open it up again and noodle around. I wondered what it would sound like with just bass, drums, and background ambient guitar tracks. As it turns out, it sounds pretty cool!”

Check out the alternative version HERE and listen to the original below.

Braveyoung - We Are Lonely Animals

Braveyoung release their full length follow up to 2009 EP Bloom. Click HERE for the review of We Are Lonely Animals.

New Liturgy and Wormrot tracks

New York avant-garde black metallers Liturgy have released a salvo from their new album Aesthethica, which is released April 11th. The track entitled ‘Returner’ can be heard HERE.

The track is three and a half minutes of near-anthemic chaos. The riffs are crudely hooky and the shrieking and somewhat mystic vocals. Aesthethica will be the follow up to 2009’s Renihilation through Thrill Jockey.

Click HERE to listen the track.

It was only last month that Wormrot released a new track from next album Dirge, to be released in May. It was called ‘Manipulation’ and can be heard HERE. Well, the manic Singaporeans have treated us to another barrage from their latest sessions. This time it’s ‘Erased Existence’.

Like all their material, and pretty much most grindcore bands, the track is a short torrent of ear abusing violence, at 45 seconds. Unsurprisingly, it’s ferociously brutal. At this rate, Dirge should be a stormer.

Earth - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I

Drone doom overlords Earth are back with the first part of their new twin album concept - Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light. How does it compare to 2008's stunning The Bees Made Honey In The Lion's Skull? Well, click HERE for the review now.

New Tesseract track

UK prog metal act Tesseract have released a new track from their debut full length One, entitled ‘Nascent’, which can be heard below and it’s remarkable to say the least.

The almighty groove of Concealing Fate is still present on ‘Nascent’ with the riffs being relentlessly slick and unavoidably catchy. Vocalist Daniel Tompkins is, unsurprisingly, on top form with his stunning voice. One couldn’t come sooner.

One is released March 21st and can be pre-ordered HERE. Tesseract plays three Irish dates next week:
18/02/2011 Fibbers, Dublin

19/02/2011 An Cruiscan Lan, Cork

20/02/2011 Bakers, Limerick

Nascent - TESSERACT by Daniel Tompkins

Vaccine - Crimes In Blood

Fancy some vicious powerviolence? Good, because Vaccine are just what you need. Crimes In Blood is the new 5" from the Massachusetts outfit. Click HERE for the review.

New Cavalera Conspiracy track

Cavalera Conspiracy have released a new track, ‘Killing Inside’ from their upcoming second album Blunt Force Trauma, released March 29th on Roadrunner.

The intro is questionable and the track takes for too long to really incite anything at all and is of course heavily characterised by Max Cavalera’s bark. The song is moodily plodding along until about the 1.50 mark when the wholly underrated Marc Rizzo comes into the fray with some tasty riffs. That said, it’s a little too late to fully redeem ‘Killing Inside’ from being forgettable, though it does throw a spanner in the works. Let’s hope the album offers much more.

Blunt Force Trauma will be the follow up to 2008’s Inflikted, the reunion album of the long estranged brothers Cavalera. Listen to ‘Killing Inside’ below and is also available for free download HERE.

Procession + more, The Pint - 4/2/11

A live review of the Chile's mighty Procession and their live show in Dublin's The Pint last Friday witn support from Wound Upon Wound, Brigantia, Brains and War Iron. Click HERE for the review.

Gary Moore passes away

Legendary guitarist Gary Moore has passed away. The former Skid Row guitarist and affiliate of Thin Lizzy and Phil Lynott died in Spain while in his sleep. He was on holiday. Moore was 58. No details have emerged yet as to the cause of death.

Our condolences go out to Moore’s family, friends and bandmates.

UPDATE:
A statement from Thin Lizzy reads:
"It is with great sadness we hear of the passing of Gary Moore. Our thoughts go out to Gary's family at this time and our memories of Gary and his contribution to Thin Lizzy and music in general will live on forever."

Abysmal Dawn - Leveling The Plane Of Existence

Another top quality death metal release for 2011. This time it's Abysmal Dawn with their third long player, Leveling The Plane Of Existence, a powerful progression for the band Click HERE for the review now.

New Scale The Summit track

It was Protest The Hero earlier this evening and now it’s Scale The Summit. Today has been a good day for some new music emerging. This is ‘Whales’, the first taster of Scale The Summit’s new record The Collective.

Unsurprisingly, ‘Whales’ is lushly layered and rife with enthralling melodies just like last album Carving Desert Canyons. Of course, it’s the staggering guitar work that’s the centrepiece of Scale The Summit, as gorgeous leads are weaving around in ‘Whales’. But it’s complemented by the thick bass bed and powerful yet tasteful drumming from Pat Skeffington.

The band has a tall task in following up 2009’s Carving Desert Canyons but if ‘Whales’ is anything to go by, they may accomplish it with aplomb.

You can listen to the track HERE or down below:

New Protest The Hero track

Protest The Hero have debuted the first single from their new album Scurrilous, released March 22nd.

The track entitled ‘C’est La Vie’ will be the first track on the new record, so it’s vital that it sets a strong tone. The track is heavier than previous outings and noticeably thicker in texture. Vocally, Rody Walker is on powerful form too.

It’s not possible to fairly judge this track at all given that the two predecessor records each took their own time to fully unravel themselves. But with ‘C’est La Vie’ in tow, there’s no reason to believe that Scurrilous won’t be another remarkable album from Protest The Hero.

C'est La Vie (Pre-Order Scurrilous Now!) by VagrantRecords

New Bacchus track

Galway hardcore/crust band Bacchus have released a new track, ‘Parasite’ from their new LP, which will be upon us soon hopefully. The track can be heard on their tumblr page or below.

At just over three and a half minutes there’s enough here in ‘Parasite’ to really sate the appetite for this next Bacchus release, which should undoubtedly be nothing but an improvement on its already strong predecessors.

Parasite (from forthcoming lp) by bacchus hc

Silent Stream Of Godless Elegy - Návaz

Czech folk metal pioneers Silent Stream Of Godless Elegy have just released their new album Návaz through Season Of Mist. Click HERE for the review and see how the albums fares against the myriad other folk metal bands.