Sunn 0))) - Europe, October 2009

17 oct. SUNN O))) @ LUFF / Lausanne
18 oct. SUNN O))) @ Feierwerk / Munich
19 oct. SUNN O))) @ Kantine / Koln
20 oct. SUNN O))) @ Tivoli / Utrecht
21 oct. SUNN O))) @ AB Box / Brussels
22 oct. SUNN O))) @ Manufaktur / Schorndorf
23 oct. SUNN O))) @ Berghain / Berlin
24 oct. SUNN O))) @ Ut Connewitz / Leipzig (w/ Daniel Higgs, James Blackshaw)
25 oct. SUNN O))) @ Unsound Festival / Krakow
27 oct. SUNN O))) @ A38 / Budapest
28 oct. SUNN O))) @ Teatar Ltd / Zagreb
29 oct. SUNN O))) @ Interzona / Verona

Unfortunately Dead.

Recently I have been rediscovering Czech death metal legends Krabathor, in particular 1993's Cool Mortification.
I used to be fascinated by the fact that there were bands coming out from behind the Iron Curtain playing gritty thrash and death metal at the end of the eighties, it's hard enough for bands to exist in an underground in a free country, it must have taken total dedication for bands like Tormentor, Krabathor etc to continue to perform and record under such oppressive regimes.
I think it's strange that there will not be a set of circumstances anywhere in Europe for the foreseeable future that will help mould aggressive metal in the way that Communism did during the eighties.
Formed as Krabator in 1984 and releasing three demos, Petr Krystof changed their name to Krabathor (I have no idea of the significance of the extra H) for the release of 1991's Pocity Detronizace demo.
Krabathor released six full length albums (from Only Our Death is Welcome in '92 through to Dissuade Truth in 2003) and were so consistently brutal that when Bruno Kovaric left, fucking Paul Speckmann joined. A good starting point for the uninitiated would be the 2005 best of 20 Years of Madness on Lava Productions.
My personal favourite is 1993's Cool Mortification, I love the drumming from Petr Kopecek on this one. Krabat(h)or's story features quite heavily in Albert Mundrian's book Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore, and you can find more information on the band at their official website.

Unfortunately, the band haven't recorded together after the release of 2003's Dissuade Truth, Paul Speckmann returning to Master.

Much Loved

Worship

«Hostile crossfire finished eight lives, bowels bury me alive, green hell swallows a silhouette...I could get away»

Mind Slip

Sad news recently that I completely forgot to mention on here.
English Doom titans Olde Crone are, sadly, no more. Their debut LP on psycheDOOMelic was one of the highlights of this year, and I'm a bit sad that I won't get to see the likes of Blue Iris or Norse Torch played live now. Ah well, I can always turn down the lights, turn up the death decks and enjoy with some Oktoberfestbier.

I'm sure Lyndon, Foxy and the lads have got something rotten planned for the future...

When Attention Just Isn't Enough

My goodness. I'm in danger of becoming a living, breathing, Justin broadrick fanpage.
Out now on Hydra Head Industries the Disconnected LP (and the Vultures Descend 12") from Greymachine.
Featuring current and ex-jesu members Justin Broadrick, Diarmuid Dalton and Dave Cochran, with Aaron Turner from Isis, this CD is not what I was expecting at all. Being as old and cynical as I am, I'd seen the promotional material from Hydra Head and thought they were trying to hard to give a late eighties industrial feel to it, a bit of Godflesh Spin.
As it turns out, on listening to the album, this was completely justified.
I expected some form of mix of Justin's more ethereal stuff (Sun Down/Sun Rise) and the more reflective passages of Isis, for some reason, and instead, it's a total late Eighties/early Nineties sludge bludgeon. A sludgeon if you like.
Think Love, Hate (Slugbaiting), and I'm really, really reminded of the version of Pulp from the 1989 Godflesh Peel Session that had Kevin Martin on saxophone.
This is material I would love to see played live.
A very interesting debut, looking forward to hearing more from Greymachine.
Get over to Avalanche Inc's Greymachine page and have a listen to Vultures Descend.

Simply Stunning

jesu return with the long awaited long player "Infinity", and it's a bit of a surprise.
Every bit as ethereal and beautiful as anything JKB has ever released, the hour and a half here sees a solo Justin playing all instruments and visit some quite aggressive places with the music. Some bits chug along in a (dare I say it) industrial style (think Swans) and the digital drums give it the feel of older, more harsh jesu releases; Heart Ache springs to mind immediately (check out the double kick pattern around 25 minutes in).
For me, personally, as a JKB obsessive, this is the kind of territory I've been waiting for him to revisit since before the release of Heart Ache.
Whilst it's still quite heavy, it still retains that organic, uplifting, downright hopeful feel that characterises jesu, especially the stuff that Justin produces alone.
The vocals are harsh, again Swans-esque, moving from the more familiar clean jesu vocals to a snarling, shouting mode.
A worthy addition to a varied and complex discography...up there as a contender for release of the year.

(I didn't mention the G-word once)
GET A COPY OR BE SQUARE AS.

Bloodstock 2009 - Live Report

Hello from Derbyshire!

How's the world treating you gang? SJW here, sitting in the media tent at Bloodstock with my lovely lady by my side... we're here checking out the cider in the VIP tent. Oh and there's some bands on here too, haha.

BLITZKRIEG


The weekend started off well... on Friday morning. Yes, we have 3 day weekends here in England. Blitzkrieg got the ball rolling good and proper with a wonderful set of 80s NWOBHM riffs. Indeed, they played *that* song.

MILLION DOLLAR RELOAD


Never heard these guys before, for my sins. A bit too "nu metal" for THEE CLAW, but I was impressed by their set. Think they are Irish maybe? I am ignorant as hell here, heh. Check Million $ Reload out, one for the future maybe.

ENTOMBED


Been waiting for a chance to see LG and the guys for some time now. They only had a 30 minute slot here (they played at about 3pm, such a waste of a great headline act!). Half way through the show LG threw his setlist out to the crowd and the wind blew it directly into my hand. It was as follows:

Satan (Intro)
Serpent Saints
Eye For An Eye
W.I.S.
D.D.D.
Like This w/ Devil
C.R.A.
Demon
Wolverine Blues
Out Of Hand
Masters Of Death

I'm reading that directly from the setlist, so see if you can work out what those shortened names mean for me ok!

I will post up a few more photos when I get back to Claw Towers ok.

We also checked out a fair few bands in the unsigned acts tent. The Bloodstock oraganisers have gone out of their way to promote a huge stack of new and upcoming talent at the 2009 B.O.A... good on em that's what we say! We were especially impressed by THE GODS OF HELLFIRE, a band from Bradford / Rochdale. They're a 5 piece act and I've got hold a copy of their demo here which I will review once back home. Great stuff, very high impact metal act.

Ok, today is the final day of bands so I better get out there and soak up the final few hours of heavy mattel that is on offer! Today's line-up includes BEHOLDER, SABATON, GIRLSCHOOL, EQUILIBRIUM, ANATHEMA, TURISAS, MOONSPELL, AMON AMARTH, SATYRICON and headliners EUROPE! Haha, that's is going to be so much fun, Europe showing the heavy rock world how it's done properly. Go on, Joey Tempest lad!!

This Bounty Hunter is Our Kind of Scum

SJW is our man on the spot again at the Bloodstock Open Air Festival in England.
Here he is with two people auditioning for places on the team of Thee Claw.
Sorry guys, but NO HANGERS ON!!! You can follow SJW's adventures, live, via our Twitter page.

UPDATE: Sodom played fucking Blasphemer(!) and Thee Claw is loved by all underground legends.

RIP Les Paul

Les Paul died today, at the age of 94.
I was going to do a big post about it, but instead, here is a photo of Øystein Aarseth (who is also dead, but not aged 94) playing a Les Paul.

Take it away, Euro!