Sep 172021
 

 

As I explained in the last post, I’ve collected a massive number of new songs and videos that appeared over the last week. I alphabetized them by band name and then divided them into segments. In this installment we pick up with “C” and make it to “G”. More segments tomorrow.

THE CORONA LANTERN (Czech Republic)

It’s always fascinating to learn what The Corona Lantern have gotten up to when they make a new release, and this first song is yet another fascination. Heavy and plundering, it heaves and hammers, with gloom-drenched and narcotic riffs that scrape, claw, and moan in misery, and flickering leads that wail and become a fever of agony. The wide-ranging yet perpetually terrifying vocals will put the hair up on the back of your neck too. Continue reading »

Dec 222012
 

Much earlier this month we reported the announcement of the VOICES FROM THE DARK tour of North America, co-headlined by Marduk (Sweden) and Moonspell (Portugal) and including the talents of Inquisition (U.S.), The Foreshadowing (Italy), and Death Wolf (Sweden) (which features members of Marduk). At the time of our earlier report, no dates had yet been announced. Now they have.

I’m gratified to see that it will be stopping in Seattle. I know this will make you happy, because I know you want me to be happy and I am indeed happy about this tour, especially because of the chance it will give me (finally) to see Marduk and Inquisition. Maybe you will be able to see this tour, too. But if not, I will still be happy, and therefore you will still be happy.

FEBRUARY

2/20 Springfield, VA @ Empire
2/21 Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance
2/22 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
2/23 New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
2/24 Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
2/25 Toronto, ON @ Wreck Room
2/26 Millvale, PA @ Mr. Small’s Theatre
2/27 Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s
2/28 Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4 Continue reading »

Sep 212012
 

Today I spent a little time with Belphegor and Cradle of Filth. Despite the title of this post, I don’t really consider them in competition with each other. They’re really in different leagues, and interleague play hasn’t started yet. I know they’re in different leagues because the uniforms are different. Belphegor are in the helmeted-and-gas-masked division and, as you can see below, Cradle of Filth are in the eyeliner-and-funny-hats division:

Cradle of Filth have a new album — The Manticore and Other Horrors — that will be released on October 29 (EU) via Peaceville Records and October 30 (NA) via Nuclear Blast USA. Today I listened to one of the tracks from the album. Belphegor have a new album due for release in March 2013, and today I watched a video of drum and bass tracks being laid down at Erik Rutan’s Mana Studios in Florida. Continue reading »

Oct 012011
 

September is behind us. Here in Seattle, it was such a beautiful month that it seemed like nature’s compensation for how late the summer started. Unfortunately, with September’s end, we’re on a short track to the onset of winter, which means about six months of short, cold, grey, ceaselessly wet days. Ain’t that just fuckin’ great?

Well, bitchin’ about the winter ahead won’t change one fucking thing. I prefer to think instead about the deluge of new metal that’s headed our way and try (momentarily) to forget about the deluge of rain on the horizon. Which brings us to the latest monthly edition of METAL IN THE FORGE.

You know the drill:  In these posts, we collect news blurbs and press releases we’ve seen over the last month about forthcoming new albums from bands we know and like (including occasional updates about releases we’ve included in previous installments of this series), or from bands that look interesting, even though we don’t know their music yet. In this series, we cut and paste those announcements and compile them in alphabetical order.

Remember — this isn’t a cumulative list. If we found out about a new album before August, we wrote about it in previous installments of this series. So, be sure to check the Category link called “Forthcoming Albums” on the right side of this page to see forecasted releases we reported earlier. This month’s list begins right after the jump. Look for your favorite bands, or get intrigued about some new ones. As usual, also feel free to tell us about how we fucked up by omitting releases that you’re stoked about. Continue reading »

Nov 162010
 

[EDITOR’S NOTE: Today we have another guest post by ElvisShotJFK. He has filth for you. As in, Cradle of . . . or maybe not.]

Back when Napster ruled college dorms, it allowed people to download and listen to all kinds of music that they might not have otherwise been able to hear. What started off as a simple idea snowballed into a fight with labels and artists picking sides; some were against the practice, while some embraced what it could do for their exposure.

Most people may remember Metallica’s role in the downfall of Napster, armed with 60,000 pages of user info.To many, the band seemed hypocritical, considering the tape trading that preceded the widespread usage of the internet that fueled the metal masses. However, Metallica did have a good reason to be concerned, but I think they handled it poorly and instead of looking at the immediate problem they faced (a leaked demo of “I Disappear”), they went for the symptom – the users of Napster. Napster’s founder didn’t help matters any when he showed up at the VMA’s wearing a Metallica shirt, then joked that he borrowed it from a friend.

Years have gone by and the Napster of old is long gone, as are some of its alternatives. While peer-to-peer is still around, torrents and hosting sites like Rapidshare, Megaupload and dozens of others serve the same purpose, but without many of the actual benefits. If someone had a bunch of stuff you were familiar with and liked, chances are he or she also had some other stuff that you’d like, not to mention the possibility of finding demos, rare tracks and bootlegs. Plus, not every download means a lost sale, but that’s a matter for another time.

Legal issues aside, there was another dark side to Napster and its kind — people who had no fucking clue who made the songs. “Weird Al” Yankovic was credited to almost every unknown funny song (or parody), while many a metal song were attributed to the big names, Metallica and Megadeth at the top of the heap.

Sadly, this trend continues to this day, and thus I present to you two songs attributed to one band, this band being Cradle Of Filth, who I’ve been a fan of for many years. I’m not here to defend the band, because they don’t need it and I’m not trying to change anyone’s mind about them. That’s not why I’m here, and I don’t mind if you don’t like the band. I do mind some of the attitudes people have toward the band, but there’s not really anything I can do about that.

So, let’s move on to the songs, after the jump. Continue reading »