Dec 172013
 

Before this morning I was already excited about something coming our way in 2014 from Gilead Media, that oh-so-tasteful little label run by Adam Bartlett in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. I’m talking, of course, about the 2014 GILEAD FEST coming next July 18-20. I’m planning to go, in part because one of my favorite co-workers is actually a native of Oshkosh and seems interested in attending the show even though he’s not a metalhead (though he has an amazing array of other musical tastes, with that one glaring omission). I’ll remind you after the jump who is scheduled to play at that festival.

But the point of this post is to provide additional reasons to be excited, because today Adam provided a full rundown of the Gilead release schedule for 2014. And man, there are a lot of gems on the line-up. For example, on February 25, Gilead will be release Heathen, the fourth album from doom titans Thou. And on the same day, Gilead will be releasing a self-titled 12″ from Geryon, the bass-and-drum death metal project of Nick McMaster and Lev Weinstein (which I’ve already had the pleasure of hearing, and it’s great). You can see the cover art for both of those after the jump.

And there’s more. Here’s the rest of the Gilead release schedule following those two lead-offs for 2014, along with Adam Bartlett’s notes about each one: Continue reading »

Apr 212013
 

Happy Sunday, motherfuckers (and I mean that in the most affectionate possible way). My ass is dragging this morning because (duh!) last night was Saturday night. I won’t go into detail about what I did, but it was the kind of activity that produces Sunday morning ass-dragging. Still, I found time while attempting to kick my ass-gear out of idle to listen to a scattering of new music, some of which I’d like to share with you now.

ALRAUNE

Allow me to introduce you to Alraune. They are from Nashville, but there ain’t no country in their music. There is, instead, a whole lot of napalm, poison, razor blades, heavy drum artillery, and truckloads of musical talent. They’ve put a two-song album preview up on Bandcamp. The songs are named “Exordium” and “Kissed By the Red”. They’re both about 8 minutes long. I love them both.

“Exordium” is a black metal blast furnace — a strong, hot wind of hell-ripping guitars, off-the-hook drumming, and throat-ruining shrieks — and as added bonuses, it includes not only an ass-kicking black ‘n’ roll break and but also very cool melodic lines that slither through the music like snakes. Continue reading »