SEEN AND HEARD: BOLT THROWER, FINNTROLL, AND KING LOSES CROWN

Hey mutants, welcome to the 14th of February at NO CLEAN SINGING. To begin, I’d like to share with you a trio of interesting items I spied last night: a goddamn club tour by the almighty Bolt Thrower, a brand new song by a buncha filthy Finnish trolls, and how daily life might look with robots among us.

BOLT THROWER

It has been known for months that Bolt Thrower will be one of the headliners at Maryland Deathfest this year and will also be making a followup appearance at the Chaos In Tejas festival in Austin, which begins in late May. But yesterday Bolt Thrower announced that they have added a limited string of club dates while they’re here in the States. This is mainly a West Coast thing, so those of you who are scattered throughout the vast wasteland to the east, you have my deepest sympathies.

For all the club shows, Bolt Thrower will be supported by Benediction — and fuckin’ Autopsy will also be on the bill for two of the California dates. Here’s the schedule:

 

23.05: Maryland Deathfest, MD
25.05: Pomona, CA – The Glass House [w/ Autopsy]
26.05: Oakland, CA – Metro Operahouse [w/ Autopsy]
28.05: Portland, OR – Star Theater
29.05: Seattle, WA – Neumos
31.05: Chaos In Tejas, TX
01.06: Chicago, IL – Reggies

According to Bolt Thrower’s announcement, tickets are on sale now and can be purchased through the venues.

(Thanks to Steve Wynter-Murdoch for the tip on this awesome news.)

FINNTROLL

Oh lordy, I am so ready for Blodsvept. That’s the name of Finntroll’s sixth studio album, which is due for release by Century Media on April 2.

You may remember that in January I posted an inked-but-not-colored version of the album art by Finntroll guitarist Samuli “Skrymer” Ponsimaa. As you can see, the finished album cover is now out, and it kills.

Yesterday brought us the debut of the album’s title track, which the band says “sets the tone for this new abomination of an album”: “This song is perfect for driving – Driving for your life, that is, while being chased by a gang of trolls, in a catapult, on a motorway! Pull out your sun-spectacles from your glove compartment and honk if you love blood and guts!!!”

Oh lordy, I do like this “Blodsvept” song, but it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. It greets you with an almost industrial rhythm, drops down into a folk-metal interlude, and then hits the accelerator again for the finish. It’s a sure-fire mosh trigger and more infectious than chlamydia.

http://www.facebook.com/officialfinntroll 

 

KING LOSES CROWN

I get a flood of e-mails every day from bands, record labels, and PR agents, because I am very important. I am so important that I lack the time necessary to carefully scrutinize all of them or listen to all the new music they deliver unto my august self. I do scan all of them, and sometimes I stop and listen when the words fire some random trigger in my head. Which is what happened when I read a press release about a Bay Area trio who call themselves King Loses Crown. They have a six-song EP entitled You Can’t Escape due for release on February 19.

Specifically, two things peaked my interest. The first was a quote from a writer who called them “darker than Devo, faster than Depeche Mode, denser than Killing Joke.” Once upon a time, eons ago, I was into all three of those bands. The second thing was the report that they released a music video created by movie and visual effects director Jim Mitchell (Jurassic Park III and the Harry Potter series).

The song featured in the video is “My Revenge”. The music isn’t really metal — it’s more industrial punk. But it’s a catchy-as-fuck number and it does stir up dormant but pleasant memories of those 80’s bands named above. The video itself is very fucking cool, and very fucking funny. It effectively captures what urban street life might look like if robots were among us. Check this out:

http://www.facebook.com/kinglosescrown