New Ihsahn track

Ihsahn will release his fourth album, Eremita, next month and a new song, ‘Introspection’, is streaming below, featuring a guest appearance from Devin Townsend, whose returning Ihsahn’s favour of appearing on his album, Deconstruction, last year.

Eremita will be the start of a new saga for Ihsahn, as his last album After concluded a specific trilogy of albums, so Eremita will be a clean slate and time for change. What hasn’t necessarily changed though, rather evolved, is Ihsahn’s unique song writing. From Emperor to his solo work, he’s always progressed in stunning fashion, now delivering the most enthralling prog metal in years. Have a listen to ‘Introspection’ for proof.

New Old Man Gloom song

In case you somehow missed it, Old Man Gloom are back with a new album, something I’m very excited about and now you can check out a new song via Pitchfork – ‘Common Species’.

This song lays down a pretty rousing preview for the new album, No. First erupting with some typical sludgy riffing and Aaron Turner’s caustic bark, ‘Common Species’ is a beast from the start. This year we’ve seen a return to Turner’s heavier tendencies, vocally, with this and the hardcore project, Split Cranium.  After the dissonance, the song then descends into a crushingly slow doomy verse with Caleb Scofield’s equally scary bark to be heard in the background. Have a listen HERE and once again, keep an eye out for the album review shortly.

Second new Panopticon song streaming

Last week Decibel debuted the first taster of the new Panopticon album, Kentucky, with ‘Bodies Under The Falls’, and now Hammer Smashed Sound are streaming another new song, ‘Black Soot and Red Blood’ along with a detailed and intriguing review of the album. If you’ve read anything about this record, you’ll know that it’s quite emotionally charged with the tales of Kentucky coal mine workers. Panopticon’s music has always been political and this is just a new shape of that, and the concept looks at the miners’ struggle with governments and unions. ‘Black Soot and Red Blood’ once again shows how Austin Lunn has beautifully meshed black metal with American folk music, specifically old coal miner songs on this record. Coupled with a powerful protest account sample, this song is, much like all of Panopticon’s albums, unnervingly intense and affecting. Listen to the song below and check back soon for the review.

New issue of One More Robot out now

The new issue of One More Robot is out now – the subculture issue. This edition explores the history of subcultures in Dublin and my contribution is the six page feature on Dublin’s goth scene, which I thoroughly enjoyed doing as I got to chat with some very interesting people. Check it out. The issue is available in The Rage, The Winding Stair Book Store and some other independent stores around Dublin and of course, online HERE.

Martyrdöd - Paranoia

Swedish crust fiends Martyrdöd will release their new album, Paranoia, on Southern Lord, their first for the label. Check out the review HERE.

Idylls - Farewell All Joy

Brisbane’s mathcore lunatis Idylls have released their new LP, Farewell All Joy and it’s one of the best mathcore records of recent years. Find out why…HERE.

So, that new Down song...

Ok ok! I’m finally posting this. The new Down song has been spreading fervently online over the last 48 hours, much like lice in a playschool. If you missed it, Down played a new song live this week called ‘The Misfortune Teller’. It’s taken from their new EP which will be released in late summer, apparently. The band is working on a series of four EPs, one a year, each exploring a facet of the band’s sound.

One of the problems with this performance is that in typical Anselmo fashion, he stops the song to motivate the crowd some more and the band even lose time of the song and have to stop to gather their bearings. It somewhat hampers your chance to soak the track in. However, ‘The Misfortune Teller’, from what we can hear, sounds like Down doing what Down do best. Last album, Over The Under, came out in 2007 so a new release is long, long overdue.

Mauser - Isolation EP

"Noisy, chaotic and severe are a few of the words that spring to mind when Mauser play". The Floridian hardcore punks have just released their new 12" EP, Isolation. Click HERE for the review now on CVLT Nation.

New Panopticon track

Panopticon are streaming a new song now via Decibel. ‘Bodies Under The Falls’ is taken from the new album, Kentucky, released next month. The one man band, helmed by A. Lundr, has always implemented a beautiful juxtaposition between grandiose black metal and American folk music and this album “marries traditional coal mining songs with harsh, expansive black metal”.

When you first hit play on ‘Bodies Under The Falls’, you could easily be turned off. It starts with some vexing cacophonies but quickly focuses on the task at hand. Using the usual stunning lead guitars, string arrangements, searing vocals and the now infamous banjo, this is Panopticon in excelsis. Listen HERE and await Kentucky with bated breath.

SKVLT - 4 Songs

Massachusetts’ SKVLT have released a new 7” - 4 Songs. It’s a brief listen but a totally blistering one of corrosive hardcore punk. Click HERE for the review.

FilthFest 2012 line-up announced

The line-up for Dublin’s FilthFest 2012 has been announced, with Germany’s Instinct of Survival as headliners. This will be the German crust band’s first Irish show and they’re joined by UK hardcore mob Freebase. Like last year, the rest of the bill is packed out by the filthiest this island can offer – Coldwar, Twisted Mass, Bacchus, Putrefaction and ZOM. This year appears to be just a one day affair opposed to last year’s two dayer with Doom and Wormrot headlining. Nonetheless, this year’s filth will amass on September 8th in The Pint (of course), it’s €10 in and will have the usual stalls and BBQ. Here’s the blurb for the show and the poster below and some more info HERE.

"This will be Germany's Sons of Stench Crust Instinct of Survival's first trip to Ireland and a must for fans of Deviated Instinct mixed with early BoltThrower. This year also sees the return of the legendary UKHC Terrorists Freebase now made up of 2 original members Mark (Vox) and Nick (Guitar) they have drafted in the talents of Ian Glasper (Stampin' Ground) on Bass and Ade Stokes (Stampin' Ground) on Drums and Ryan (Assert) on Guitar, a new 7" and demo comp cd are out now."

Dweller on the Threshold - Dweller on the Threshold

Featuring members of Ampere and Death to Tyrants, Dweller on the Threshold have released their new self-titled album, a mixed bag of genres taking in folk, post rock and hardcore to name a few. Click HERE for a review of this blend.

Eternal Helcaraxe - Against All Odds

Cavan epic black metallers Eternal Helcaraxe have released their debut full-length Against All Odds now. Check out the review HERE now on CVLT Nation.

New Deathspell Omega track

The French black metal enigmas Deathspell Omega will return next month with a new EP – Drought. Currently, Decibel is streaming a song from the EP, ‘Abrasive Swirling Murk’, which is our first salvo of the new effort. Like all Deathspell Omega material, the song hits you with overwhelming force and on first listen it’s virtually impossible to figure out what’s going on. It’s that bemusing factor that’s made all their albums so enthralling and evocative. The song is only 3.47 minutes long but still has a serious amount of activity to take in and comprehend. Delve in if you dare. Click HERE.

New Lentic Waters track

A while ago I was regularly playing the new Planks tune, ‘It Fell To The Snakes’ which is planned for their split release with Lentic Waters, who have now so kindly released one of their songs for streaming called ‘Menschlichkeit’. For the unfamiliar, Lentic Waters play some heavy emotionally draining hardcore, with some screamo elements and some faint “neo-crust” (that damn term) flourishes too, regarding the latter, it makes them quite suitable for a split with Planks. Check out their new song ‘It Fell To The Snakes’ HERE and listen to ‘Menschlichkeit” below.

Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I

After five long years since releasing their demo, Ne Obliviscaris have finally released their first full-length album, Portal of I. Worth the wait? It many regards, yes. Click HERE for the full review.

Paradise Lost - Tragic Idol

Paradise Lost have just released their 13th album, Tragic Idol. Veterans in nearly every sense of the word, the album is another impressive outing for the band. Click HERE for the review now.

Officium Triste cover Anathema

One of Holland’s death doom’s finest, Officium Triste posted a cover of Anathema’s ‘Sleepless’ last night. The song features on Anathema’s first album Serenades, a definite influence on the overall sound of Officium Triste so a cover isn’t all that surprising. What is surprising though is how this usually great band has released such a dire cover. Granted, it’s probably just for fun and it’s unclear if this will feature on any upcoming releases, the next being a split with Ophis called Immersed, coming out next month, and a new full-length is still in the works. Click HERE to check out the artwork for Immersed and listen to ‘Sleepless’ below.

FUBAR post new song

Dutch grinders FUBAR have posted a new song from their LP Lead Us To War. ‘The Burden on the Back of the Unknown Men’ is a ferocious fucker to say the least and the slick production job on this tune hasn’t hampered the savagery of the band’s delivery in the slightest. I got into this band a little while ago because they did a split LP with Splitter, from Sweden, which was utterly devastating and then I caught them playing in Dublin last February to a paltry crowd on a Sunday night in The Thomas House, who despite the glum atmosphere thanks to the poor turnout, were pretty good. This new LP should also be pretty good if this song is anything to go by.

New Gospel of the Horns track

Australian blackened thrashers Gospel of the Horns are prepping the release of their new EP, Ceremonial Conjuration and are currently streaming a new song called ‘Sorcery & Blood’ via CVLT Nation. Gospel of the Horns play no frills old school thrashy metal with lots of black metal flourishes peppered throughout. This new song is exactly that with searing, spat vocals and buzzsaw riffing from start to finish. Click HERE to stream it now.

The EP is coming out next month through Irish label Invictus Productions.

Rats Blood demo

If you frequent hardcore gigs in Dublin then you’ll doubtless be aware of Rats Blood at this stage. If not, then here’s your chance to catch up. The band has released their debut demo tape, with eight tracks of scorching hardcore punk executed with reckless abandon. Check out the review HERE as well as two tracks to stream too. This is also my first piece for CVLT Nation, which I’m quite happy with. Give it a read. 

Storm Corrosion - Storm Corrosion

The debut album from Storm Corrosion, the long time coming collaborative effort of Steven Wilson and Mikael Akerfeldt, is sure to astound and bemuse in equal measure. Just what have they created? Click HERE for the review on Drop-d.

New Baroness song, Take My Bones Away

For weeks now, Baroness have been teasing us all with various tidbits of news regarding the forthcoming expansive double album, Yellow & Green; from portions of the artwork to rather sparse snippets of music. Now, the band is streaming a new song in full, ‘Take My Bones Away’.

The song is a lush cloak of riffs but also still has the southern drawl that the band so expertly finds a balance between. This band’s ability to pen unforgettable melodies should never be overlooked. The last two efforts, Red Album and Blue Record, showed that Baroness have a unique skill in peeling off stunning riffs and the guitar playing here is what makes this song but John Baizley’s vocals are nothing to sniff at either. Another impressive album appears to be on the cards for Baroness. 

Sleep - Dopesmoker (Remastered)

"This is an album that hardly needs an introduction". Sleep's hour long stoner metal benchmark, Dopesmoker, has been re-mastered, repackaged and unleashed once again upon the world, thanks to Southern Lord. Click HERE for the full lowdown as well the details on next week's Dublin show.

New track download from The Universe Divide

The Universe Divide have emerged again today with a new song from their forthcoming full-length debut record Nihil Ultra. The trio, featuring bassist Gael Pirlot and guitarist Chris Rushing formerly of Canvas Solaris, have served up this eight minute long slab of progressive instrumental metal, ‘Death of the Sun (Day 1)’, which lays down a solid foundation for the follow-up to last year’s stunning EP effort – Dust Settles on the Odontophobes. The song is rife with their dizzying tech metal and just at the 2.50 minute mark even lays down some almost black metal-like atmospherics in the guitars meanwhile the song also utilises some of the tribal instrumentation found on the EP.

Once again the band has worked with Jamie King (Between the Buried and Me) in the studio. No release date has been set for Nihil Ultra yet, however the band has also revealed today that drummer Jason Parker has left the band, and no news about a replacement has surfaced.

Click HERE for the free WAV download of ‘Death of the Sun (Day 1)’ now on the band’s site.

New Beau Navire track

Oakland screamo/hardcore band Beau Navire has a new LP in the works called Lumens and here’s a new song off it called ‘Prism’. As expected, it’s a short barrage of searing screams and unhinged melodic guitar work. For something so brief, ‘Prism’ delivers a lot. Have a listen and keep an eye out for the LP soon, via Moment of Collapse.

   Beau Navire - Prism by ReactwithProtest

Light Bearer - Celestium Apocrypha: Book of Watchers

It really is time that I write something about this; it’s been a couple of weeks now. Light Bearer released the song they recorded for a split LP with Northless a few weeks ago, ‘Celestium Apocrypha: Book of Watchers’, a 21 minute sprawling and captivating work of art. Last year’s debut album Lapsus, as you may know, is a staggering record and was my album of the year. From that album, the band has expanded upon nearly all of their strengths.

The variety of vocals are what make this song so special. One time Fall of Efrafa vocalist Alex has really found a new verve and purpose in this band, slowing his crusty bellow down to fit the slow, trudging, but altogether uplifting sound of the band. Meanwhile other members of the band deliver searing complementary vocals that totally enrich the experience.

Instigating with a monolithic riff that’s utterly hypnotic in its meandering melody, ‘Celestium Apocrypha: Book of Watchers’ begins dragging you to and fro, from dense Neurosis-worshipping passages through to a mellow, atmospheric mid-section with ceremonial clean vocal harmonies. From there the band exhaustively cling onto you, scaling and scaling to a simply awe-inspiring close. To say that Light Bearer have the sound of a band that truly feel alive is a gross understatement.

Where ‘Celestium Apocrypha’ lies in the concept that the band is exploring in their albums is unclear, it may be a standalone piece. What is certain though is that this is an engrossing achievement and new album, Silver Tongue couldn’t come sooner.

The Light Bearer / Northless split LP is released in June via Halo of Flies, Alerta Antifascista and Moment of Collapse.

Wreck and Reference - No Youth

No Youth is the first full-length from Californian electronic noiseniks Wreck and Reference. What does it sound like? Well, that’s the hard thing to figure out. Click HERE for the review.

Metallica play The Struggle Within for the first time live

Metallica played their first date, in Prague, of their European tour where they’re playing The Black Album in its entirety. To much surprise, the band will actually be playing the album in reverse so ‘The Struggle Within’ opened and ‘Enter Sandman’ closed. This was the first time that ‘The Struggle Within’ was played live and boy does it show. The performance can be described as sketchy at best and Rob Trujillo’s backing vocals need to be reined in a little bit, sometimes bellowing just too hard thus drowning out Hetfield. This is the first show so one can assume that the band will tighten up in the coming weeks after they get into a groove.

A Joyful Slog

A Joyful Slog is a documentary made by Dublin Community Television, directed by John Breslin, on independent music in Ireland. The hour long film features many familiar faces so it’s worth checking out. Have a look below.

Cryptopsy perform new song live

We all know the score with Cryptopsy’s last album, The Unspoken King. Die hards hated it… ok, a lot of people hated it, including many casual Cryptopsy fans. Why? The band took a detour into near-deathcore territory, laden with keyboard passages and breakdowns, as well as clean singing from then new vocalist, Matt McGachy. Unfortunately, the guy got off to a bad start with first impressions. In short, this wasn’t the same band that released None So Vile. But four years later, original guitarist Jon Levassuer has returned to the band and a new album is in the works. Now, we have this clip of the band performing a new song live – ‘Amputated Enigma’.

First off, the sound quality of this live clip leaves a lot to be desired. The levels keep hopping up and down so passing any kind of serious judgement on this song is going to be bullshit, to be frank. What is certain from the video though is that the band is not maintaining the path that The Unspoken King trod on.

Dan Briggs, Between the Buried and Me & Trioscapes interview

Yesterday evening I interviewed Dan Briggs from Between the Buried and Me about his new jazz-fusion project, Trioscapes, as well as the new BTBAM album. If you read this blog regularly in any way then you’ll know that Between the Buried and Me are one of my favourite bands so doing this interview was a pleasure to say the least. Click HERE to read it now on the Molten website.

Photo: Chuck Johnson

Shining cover Katatonia

Sweden's depressive black metallers Shining are planning the release of a covers EP called Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt, and are now streaming their cover of Katatonia’s ‘For My Demons’, from their 1999 album Tonight’s Decision. Instrumentally, the cover is quite tight and doesn’t deviate from the original. On the vocals front, Niklas Kvarforth, who has used clean vocals much more on recent albums, makes him the focus of this rendition. As covers go, this is rather inoffensive, much unlike the overall aesthetic of Shining. The covers EP, to be frank – the horrendously titled Lots of Girls Gonna Get Hurt will also feature covers of tunes by Kent, Poets of the Fall and Imperiet. It’s out June 1st.

Russian Circles & Deafheaven - The Button Factory, 28/4/12

Russian Circles stopped off in Dublin last Saturday along with Deafheaven during their European tour. Enemies were local support, click HERE for the live review now.

Wheels Within Wheels / Merkaba split cassette

When two bands, both of colossal sound, come together for a split release, its effect can be so resoundingly striking that it’s difficult to put into words. The Flenser’s newest black metal split cassette features two of Kentucky’s finest in ambient and atmospheric BM – Wheels Within Wheels and Merkaba, and the result of this collision on this monstrous 40 minute tape is surreal. Each contributing a 20 minute long track, both bands deliver some stunning epic black metal from start to finish.

Wheels Within Wheels instigate with ‘Your Body, Your Blood’, which opens with a vast trudging instrumental passage reminiscent of Year of No Light until the four minute mark when the music abruptly cuts out and seeps into solemn, ambient realms. Scaling in tension, vocals eventually enter through the haze of noise from the infernal depths, drenched in distortion.

It’s not until past the 11 minute mark that any kind of discernible riff joins the fray, and from their Wheels Within Wheels plunge ‘Your Body, Your Blood’ into a psychedelic, meandering work of atmospheric black metal, playing out until the song’s intense close.

Flip the tape over then and allow the trio of Merkaba to drag you away into their world. Erupting with more typical black metal blasting and haunted howls, their song ‘Lament’ is a cavalcade of bilious aggression and eventual serenity, soaked in a scathing production.

After the hail of fury begins the peter out, Merkaba soon reveal another side to themselves. Descending into heavily ambient passages, the band then swan in and out of harsh aggression and swooning melody; how this band manages to harness so much scope within this one 20 minute song is utterly breath-taking.

By 12 minutes, Merkaba has undressed the entire song to bare, mellow verses, eventually building and building in intensity before blossoming into a beautiful and graceful crescendo where clean guitars and synths cascade through the air, colliding to enchanting effect.

These are two exhilarating sides to one split, taking you through various climes of cosmic and atmospheric BM. It’s out now on The Flenser.

8/10

Old Finch demo emerges

A previously unreleased demo from Finch has found its way onto the ol’ internet. The band, who broke up in late 2010 (for the second time), was supposedly working on a new album. Their second album, Say Hello to Sunshine, is a stunning record, one where they went rather leftfield from their early emo influenced post hardcore. After their return with an EP in 2008, they appeared to be going off again in the direction of first album, What It Is To Burn. With this new (old) song emerging, it’s quite clear that this would have been the case had the third album ever been made. Maybe it’s good that that album was never released. I’m going to go listen to Say Hello to Sunshine now.