Damn, this caught me off guard. As announced yesterday (but not yet with much fanfare): On December 8, 2013, at an institution of higher learning named Northumbria University in the town of Newcastle on Tyne in England, a tremendous line-up of metal bands will be performing on two stages. The event is named The Northern Darkness Extreme Music Festival 2013, which is a good name, because it’s definitely northern and it will most likely be dark there in December . . . and the bands are pretty damned dark, too. Check this line-up, which isn’t even complete yet:

Napalm Death (UK)
Graveworm (Italy)
Ragnarok (Norway)
Enthroned (Belgium)
Melechesh (Jerusalem)
Unfathomable Ruination (UK)
Hour of Penance (Italy)
Primitive Graven Image (UK)
Dyscarnate (UK)
Xerath (UK)

I’ve heard of Newcastle Brown Ale, but being a halfwit from Seattle I had no idea where Newcastle on Tyne was located, so I looked it up. It’s way the hell up in the northeast of England, about eight miles from the North Sea and not far from the Scottish border. Did you know that Venom came from Newcastle? Continue reading »