SEEN AND HEARD: FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE, VALLENFYRE, NILE, CANNABIS CORPSE, GOATCRAFT, DEFECT DESIGNER

I’m still on vacation, and probably should be vacationing instead of spending time on the internet catching up on what’s been happening in the world of metal. Honestly, I expected that nothing would be happening without me there to notice it. You can imagine my shock and dismay in discovering that the world continues to turn even when I don’t pay attention to it. Something is seriously wrong.

Honestly, I didn’t try to dig too deeply into what I’ve been missing, but I did manage to fight through my depression and found a batch of recent things worth mentioning before returning to fucking off.

FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE

The last time a band’s merchandising ploy pulled me up short was when Ghost B.C. started selling dildos and butt plugs. But it happened again yesterday when, thanks to a link sent my way by The Autistic Metalhead, I discovered that Italy’s Fleshgod Apocalypse had started selling their own brand of pasta. It’s true. They’ve got four varieties and they’re shipping worldwide. In my case, it would cost 28 Euro, plus 20 Euro for shipping and handling.

I’m a ginormous fan of FA and I have a history of spending money on ridiculous things, but even I have my limits. An online currency converter tells me that it would cost $65.24 to have this pasta delivered to my door. I looked to see if the pasta was made from fetal tissue or human skin, y’know, because this is billed as extreme food, but since it just appears to be… pasta… I think I’ll pass. But hey, if you’re tempted, you can order here:

http://www.fleshgodapocalypse.com/pastaNA.html

 

VALLENFYRE

We published not one but two reviews of Vallenfyre’s 2011 debut death-doom opus, A Fragile King, in addition to a shitload of other posts about Vallenfyre after we first discovered their existence. For me, that album was one of 2011’s highlights. If Vallenfyre is a new name to you, check out the line-up:

Gregor Mackintosh (Paradise Lost) – vocals
Hamish Glencross (My Dying Bride) – guitar
Scoot (Doom, Extinction of Mankind) – bass
Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, Paradise Lost, The Haunted) – drums
Mully (a local friend of Gregor’s) – second guitar

What I discovered yesterday is that we’ll be writing about Vallenfyre again — because they announced last week that they’ll be recording a second album in January, with none other than Kurt Ballou (Converge). It’s projected for release next April by Century Media. Hell yes.

https://www.facebook.com/Vallenfyre

 

NILE

I spotted the following announcement from Nile on Facebook, which refers to the flyer you see above:

Can you spot the special announcement in this photo? Post your thoughts in the comments! / We are looking forward to touring North America once again this April and May with 27 shows supported by three of the best local bands in every market. On this tour we will play a massive set with music spanning our entire career, including several Never-Before–Heard –Live Nile Songs!

Exclusive pre-sale tickets are available now at EnterTheVault.com.

I can dig that. In case you can’t read the flyer, here are the dates:

4/14 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
4/15 Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
4/16 Albany, NY @ Bogie’s
4/18 Rochester, NY @ Montage Music Hall
4/20 New York City, NY @ Stage 48
4/21 Montreal, QC @ FouFounes
4/22 Quebec City, QC @ Imperial de Quebec
4/23 Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
4/24 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
4/25 Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
4/26 Milwaukee, WI @ Rave
4/27 Joliet, IL @ Mojoes
4/29 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
5/1 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater
5/2 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
5/3 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
5/6 West Hollywood, CA @ House of Blues
5/7 Tempe, AZ @ Club Red
5/8 Las Vegas, NV @ LVCS
5/10 Oklahoma City, OK @ The Chameleon Room
5/11 Dallas, TX @ Trees
5/12 San Antonio, TC @ Green Room
5/13 Houston, TX @ Scout Bar
5/14 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
5/15 Tampa, FL @ Orpheum

 

Okay, enough with the news, how about some music? Here are three new songs I heard yesterday.

 

CANNABIS CORPSE

If you don’t know about Virginia’s Cannabis Corpse already, I’ll just quote the band’s own description of themselves: “weed-themed death metal band honoring the Floridian fathers of the genre”. And you know who they’re talking about, don’t you?

On January 7 they’re releasing a split with Ghoul via the Tankcrimes label. Last week CVLT Nation premiered one of the new tracks from the split, “Shatter Their Bongs”. This is both funny and awesome, because these dudes can really play. The split can be pre-ordered HERE.

 

 

GOATCRAFT

Goatcraft is a one-man band from San Antonio, Texas. Goatcraft’s second album is named The Blasphemer. It will be released next year by I, Voidhanger Records. According to an announcement I saw, “The album is divided in four sections, each one with a central theme based on William Blake’s art and theological interpretations.” It includes, for example, a four-part piece named “The Great Red Dragon”.

Here is the album’s third track, which began streaming recently. I’m quite taken with it. There is only one instrument.

 

 

DEFECT DESIGNER

Defect Designer are a multinational band whose frontman and songwriter Dmitry Soukhinin was originally from Novosibirsk in SIberian Russia and now dwells in Oslo, Norway. For their second album, the band enlisted drummer Flo Mounier (Cryptopsy) as well as Greek guitarist Stelios Mavromitis. Over the weekend they released a lyric video for a new song named “Yellow Grimace”.

The video was directed and edited by Richard Oakes of DarkFable Media, and it’s fun to watch. But you’d better watch closely, because the words fly by really quickly — and so does the blazing, head-scrambling music.