Thee Claw

Wode - 2011 Demo

2012-01-24T03:32:00.001-08:00

There's something happening in Manchester, something dark.

Joining the ranks of blistering Black Metal from a city that seems to be turning into England's answer to Bergen (cold, wet, dark) are a new name, WODE, who present a three track demo of grim BM.

Much like fellow citizens Pine Barrens, Wode as as far removed from the bloated pomp of late 00s theatrical black metal as is possible.
Opening track Trails of Smoke is all blastbeats and tremolo picking, bringing to mind Arckanum with an underlying veneer of urban filth.
The blistering pace continues through Earthwrath, the second track, which is, quite frankly a big, black, whirling maelstrom of a track that rattles along, Beherit-style with enough South American type recklessness that it feels it might fall apart at any time, before all coming together and shuddering to a halt just a little over three minutes later.
Glorious.
Final track, Last Days, starts with a doomy dreary intro before the chaos rears up again, beneath this track's frostiness you can pick up a punky feel to the riffing, not in an obvious way like Darkthrone do or Venom have done on occasion, but more in the sneery, cynical attitude you suspect is behind it.
In essence then, a fine fist in the face of all the pomposity that crept into black metal towards the end of the last decade, and along with Pine Barrens and Wynterfylleth, another powerful band coming from sprawl of Mancunia.
Ones to keep an eye out for on 2012.

The demo is available to buy/download from the band, but hurry, only 100 cassettes have been created!!

The band are at tumblr, for now here is a stream of the first track;

Blood Cult Reborn

2012-01-21T04:48:00.000-08:00

Long time Claw Faves Grimpen Mire have a new track available for streaming, Blood Cult Reborn.

It really is the shit.

Eyes and ears open for a new release soon!

Desertfest

2012-01-13T07:40:00.001-08:00

What a lineup!!

UK People!

2012-01-09T10:43:00.001-08:00

Thee Claw's top-tip-two thousand-twelve, Purson, are in session in BBC Radio tonight (Jan 9th)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0198j3c

Cheers gang!

2012-01-06T16:23:00.001-08:00

Still waiting to hear back from Iron Maiden!!

2011 - Patchie

2012-01-02T06:25:00.001-08:00

There were an awful, awful lot of top releases, of which I know I have missed many, but here are a few highlights for me.

Ravens Creed - Nestless and Wild
-total thrash/death madness, true heavy metal!
Tree of Sores
-Unique future-crust, psychedelic crushing doom.
Anathema - Falling Deeper
-re imaginings of some of my favourite songs ever written, transcending genre.
Sigiriya - Return to Earth
- eclectic and unique, riding a wave of fuzz on a surfboard made of your favourite records.
Lifer - Cursing them Out
-good old 90s style head stomping metal. A breath of fresh air.
Arkham Witch - On Crom's Mountain
- British Steel. Lovecraft bangs his head and worships these riffs.
Lifelover - Sjukdom
- even more poignant after the death of B.
Peste Noire - L'Ordure à l'état
- utter headfuck of a black metal masterpiece.
Hateful Abandon - Move
- post-punk influenced urban blight
Rawhide - Branded for Life
- Sleazy rock n roll, like Entombed doing Motörhead.

Gig of the year has to go to Iron Maiden at the Belfast Odyssey Arena, not just for the show but the entire experience of a wonderful city in some beautiful surroundings.
Special mention to Ravens Creed, Arkham Witch and Sigiriya for the Devil's Church gig, which again was an awesome day out!

Now…off to await the big announcement Iron Maiden have planned for 9pm tonight…

Patchie

1989

2011-12-30T11:18:00.001-08:00

Still holds up pretty well 22 years later…I dread to think what it would be like if the same magazine did it now though.

How many do YOU own?

Kerrang! 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time poll from 1989

1. Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti
2. Van Halen - Van Halen
3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
4. Montrose - Montrose
5. Guns n'Roses - Appetite For Destruction
6. Def Leppard - Hysteria
7. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
8. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland
9. Aerosmith - Rocks
10. AC/DC - Back In Black
11. Aerosmith - Permanent Vacation
12. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
13. Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks Here's The Sex Pistols
14. Rainbow - Rising
15. Deep Purple - In Rock
16. Metallica - Ride The Lightning
17. Judas Priest - Sad Wings Of Destiny
18. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin
19. Def Leppard - Pyromania
20. Aerosmith - Live Bootleg
21. Kiss - Alive
22. Blue Öyster Cult - Secret Treaties
23. Motörhead - No Sleep 'Til Hammersmith
24. Rush - 2112
25. New York Dolls - New York Dolls
26. AC/DC - Powerage
27. Slayer - Reign In Blood
28. UFO - Lights Out
29. Metallica - Kill 'Em All
30. Van Halen - Women And Children First
31. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
32. Journey - Escape
33. Legs Diamond - Legs Diamond
34. Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
35. Deep Purple - Machine Head
36. Kiss - Destroyer
37. Aerosmith - Draw The Line
38. Meat Loaf - Bat Out Of Hell
39. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
40. Bad Company - Bad Company
41. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced?
42. Metallica - ... And Justice For All
43. Rush - Moving Pictures
44. Bon Jovi - Slippery When Wet
45. Motörhead - Overkill
46. Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance
47. UFO - Strangers In The Night
48. Black Sabbath - Vol 4
49. Bryan Adams - Reckless
50. Thin Lizzy - Live And Dangerous
51. Moot The Hoople - Live
52. Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic
53. Black Sabbath - Master Of Reality
54. Bon Jovi - Bon Jovi
55. The Stooges - Funhouse
56. UFO - Obsession
57. Black Sabbath - Sabotage
58. Motörhead - Ace Of Spades
59. Ted Nugent - Ted Nugent
60. Iggy And The Stooges - Raw Power
61. MC5 - Kick Out The Jams
62. Blue Ã–yster Cult - Agents Of Fortune
63. Angel - Angel
64. Judas Priest - Unleashed In The East
65. Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast
66. Def Leppard - High 'n' Dry
67. Van Halen - 1984
68. Magnum - Chase The Dragon
69. Iggy Pop - Instinct
70. David Lee Roth - Eat'em And Smile
71. Thin Lizzy - Thunder And Lightning
72. Blue Öyster Cult - Some Enchanted Evening
73. Judas Priest - Stained Class
74. Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies
75. Deep Purple - Made In Japan
76. Van Halen - Van Halen II
77. Magnum - On A Storyteller's Night
78. Michael Bolton - Everybody's Crazy
79. Black Sabbath - Mob Rules
80. ZZ Top - Eliminator
81. Whitesnake - Ready An' Willing
82. Iron Maiden - Live After Death
83. Boston - Boston
84. Starz - Violation
85. Rush - Rush
86. Anthrax - Spreading The Disease
87. Foghat - Foghat Live
88. Queensryche - Rage For Order
89. David Lee Roth - Skyscraper
90. Mother's Finest - Iron Age
91. Iron Maiden - Iron Maiden
92. Blue Öyster Cult - On Your Feet Or On Your Knees
93. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Smash Hits
94. Starz - Starz
95.Saxon - Wheels Of Steel
96. AC/DC - If You Want Blood - You Got It
97. Uriah Heep - Look At Yourself
98. Queen - A Night At The Opera
99. Iron Maiden - Killers
100. Vinnie Vincent Invasion - Vinnie Vincent Invasion

Playlist of the Week (SJW Edition)

2011-12-23T06:55:00.001-08:00

Listening:

BASTIONS "Hospital Corners"
BOSSE-DE-NAGE "II"
BRUTAL TRUTH "Walking Corpse 2112"
THE HEAVY EYES "Heavy Eyes"
LOW "C'mon"
METALLICA "2011.12.07 San Francisco (Night #2)"
ORANSSI PAZUZU "Kosmonument"
U.S. CHRISTMAS "Run Thick In The Night"

Watching:

A Charlie Brown Christmas
Black Mirror (Episode 3 "The Entire History of You")
Louis C.K. - Live at the Beacon Theatre

Suicide Rex

2011-12-14T04:40:00.000-08:00

Our favourite Northerners (real Northerns that is) BLACK SUN are back with a new track! Suicide Rex is the name of their new demo and here it is for you to check out. Thee Claw has been in love with the twisted sounds of the BS vibe since forever now, we wish for the same feeling of delight to be instilled within each and every one of our readers. And now it can, just click on the following link!

X

2011-12-12T10:52:00.001-08:00

Ten years since "Evil Chuck" Schuldiner passed away...ten years.
That's a whole generation that didn't get to see him play live, a whole generation who didn't get to feel the anticipation of waiting for a new Death/Control Denied album.
Imagine the progression extreme metal guitar may have experienced had he been with us a decade longer.

We miss you, Chuck.

Exclusive: BLACK MAGICIAN

2011-12-06T20:25:00.001-08:00

Thee Claw presents an entire set (over 30 minutes in total) from Liverpool-based doom merchants Black Magician.

Recorded in near darkness at a gig in their home town on 3rd Dec 2011.

Vocals - Liam Yates
Guitar - Kyle Nesbitt
Bass - Kabir D'silva
Keyboards - Matt Ford
Drums - Jay Plested

http://www.facebook.com/Blackmagiciandoom

Enjoy.

Trivia: This show took place at the exact same time and date as doom legends Cathedral played their final show in London.

Ride the tiger

2011-11-30T02:23:00.001-08:00

It was with a heavy heart this week that we read of the closure of one of Liverpool's live venues, The Masque on Seel Street in the city centre.

A unique (at least in Liverpool) venue with a bar capable of holding gigs, a 600 capacity "theatre" with banked standing area and balcony and a loft which was also an amazing area to watch bands.

We've seen many awesome shows there over the years, standouts thy vine to mind being Orange Goblin in the loft, Galhammer and Sontaran Experiment in the theatre, back up to the loft for General Surgery, a triumphant return to Liverpool by Deicide in a packed whirlwind of a show in the theatre, which we had to watch teetering on the edge of a step in the balcony such was the madness down the front. Our very own Skum played there a few times in his old band, and it will be sorelyissed.

In recent times it had become home to Merseyside based promoters Whiplash, whose tireless work brought back the underground feel Liverpool had during the early nineties when all the underground greats came through the city playing venues like the Flying Picket, the Royal Court Basement Bar and Planet X.

It seems the venue was owned by the group in charge of (amongst other things) the Jacaranda club (where the Beatles first played) and that closed earlier this month, and the rest of the properties have collapsed "like a house of cards" as one report put it earlier this week.

I'm sure that there are people involved in the wider metal community who wish Sal and everyone else involved with Whiplash Promotions all the best fortune in finding a new home, and watch this space, we'll keep you updated.

Exclusive: Cruel Force Photoset (Live Evil 2011)

2011-11-19T10:18:00.001-08:00

Here's a few of the photos we got of the mighty German rockers CRUEL FORCE during their set at Live Evil Fest in Camden Town London last month. The crowd went wild for their black thrash stylings, and we can't blame em for that! Their new record "Under The Sign Of The Moon" is certainly a piece of work. Be sure to check it out if you get a chance!

Further concert photos to be made available from us right here on this page soon, for our thrasher brethren worldwide.
Stay tuned!

HAIL! Taxi!!!

2011-11-17T23:03:00.001-08:00

Happy birthday to Kirk Hammett of Exodus.
Your antics in "A Year and a Half in the Life of…" have kept us amused for many years, as have your slightly skewiff onstage noodlings.
You are our least disliked member of Metallica, put your feet up and get the kids to do the dishes today.

Happy Birthday.

Exclusive: Ravens Creed at Live Evil Fest 2011

2011-11-15T07:36:00.001-08:00

Take a knee, troops! Time to take a few minutes to check out a new communication that we have received from the mighty RAVENS CREED: Showing them tearing it up at The Underworld in Camden Town, UK during the 2011 edition of Live Evil Fest.

Das Klaw has been a big fan of Thee Creed since back as far as their appearance at The Fenton (infamous Leeds sweatbox) as a 5-piece back in 2008. The current line-up (including our friend and co-conspirator Mr Al Osta) have been cutting their chops up throughout Europe in the past year, bring military tinged Venom-worship to a festival near you.

Your life needs more Ravens Creed. We foresee an underground revolution happening for these guys in 2012 with the release of new material and a stack of live shows.

Ravens Creed's debut album "Albion Thunder" and the "Nestless and Wild" E.P. are both available now through Doomentia Records.

Wolverine Blues (Alternative Lyrics)

2011-11-14T15:20:00.001-08:00

Before you read any further, please turn your speakers up high, press "play" on this YouTube video, then read on!

Entombed: Wolverine Blues

War trampoline!
Easter bayou team you could seed,
"Watch your log" you told Pat,
To pudding and cake is to put two in Ed.

An avid oat impression,
Lice fuck in-laws.
You and them are gay pie crust.

On a missing tropical brie,
(Haaaam!) I Hope he saves a ball if I knead some feet.

Otter leaves beer lisps,
Boy you lost your flash,
I coddled ham in tights, like I'm Wooorf!
And I have all waifs honking for warts.

Another old Imprezza,
Lysol king lost.
You and them are gay pie crust.

On a missing tropical brie,
(Haaaaam!) I Hope he saves a ball if I knead some feet.

Bitch huts,
Abel, get out the glock,
Here's my comb.
Pow Boom Pow!
I have the most fishes...
A ball!

Music by: Entombed
Lyrics by: The Unknown Headbanger

A few more photos from Live Evil Fest...

2011-11-10T15:42:00.001-08:00

Incoming

2011-11-07T12:05:00.001-08:00

To say we are excited about this would be an understatement.
Tickets available for the Liverpool date from http://whiplash4metal.com

Motörhead, Liverpool University, November 6th 2011

2011-11-07T01:59:00.001-08:00

You can always be sure that winter has finally arrived in the North of England when you go to watch Motörhead on their customary tour.
For the first time in a few years we had the pleasure of simply travelling into Liverpool for the gig, instead of travelling over to Manchester. No real photos either tonight gang, we were too busy enjoying ourselves.

Support came from UK Subs (who we had missed) and Anti Nowhere League who played a solid set; watching them from the side of the stage and singing along to the likes of We Are The League made me feel thirteen again. When they finished, Animal strutted off the stage and through the crowd, straight into me, and I covered my boots with Strongbow. Punk's not dead!!
Just before the ANL's set, a rumour was going round that Motörhead weren't going to make it as there had been an accident on the motorway and that everyone would be refunded at nine thirty. As we were pondering this in the bar we heard the familiar rise and fall of an air raid siren…not only are Motörhead in the building, they're about to come onstage!!
We run to the (it must be said, pretty intimate) main room just in time to hear the opening notes of Bomber, Phil prowling the stage whilst Mikkey (surely one of the best drummers in metal today) bashes away and Lemmy, gnarled anti-hero extraordinaire, marshals everything from behind his Rickenbacker. Bomber is unbelievably followed by Damage Case, and I can already go home happy!
You almost always know what you're going to get from Motörhead, Stay Clean with THAT bass solo, Iron Fist fooling the uneducated into thinking Ace of Spades is about to start, but mid-way through the set, a sweat-soaked Orgasmatron completely takes me by surprise, Lemmy bathed in green ghost light as he sings of banners drenched in blood and crowns studded with eyes. Powerful.
Towards the end of the set, Lemmy puts his bass down, Mikkey comes out from behind his set and sits down with an acoustic guitar and they play Whorehouse Blues, which is a nice change of pace.
In an episode we are sure to repeat hundreds of times, during Killed By Death we noticed we were stood next to Carcass frontman Jeff Walker, so started singing "stood by Jeff" at the top of our lungs, to much bemusement on behalf of anyone around us. Of course, Ace of Spades, your dad's favourite Motörhead song, gets the crowd going nuts and set closer Overkill is still not long enough, and never will be, because you know when it's finished you have to go home.

And Lemmy gets to smoke behind his amps.

Incoming…

2011-11-06T15:40:00.001-08:00

Wolfsbane, Liverpool.

Holy shit

2011-11-06T13:45:00.001-08:00

Motörhead opened with a one two of Bomber and Damage Case. Less blogging, more gig. See you later!!!

R.I.P. Cory Smoot, Part 2 - An Update From Dave Brockie

2011-11-06T04:06:00.000-08:00

“After a restless night spent hurtling through the desolate Canadian wilderness, I crawled from my bunk on the tour bus to face reality, grudgingly aware that the the dark dream that gripped us would not fade with the day. We have lost a brother, a husband, a son, and one of the most talented musicians that ever slung an ax. Cory Smoot, longtime lead guitar player for the band GWAR, has passed at the age of 34.As the singer of GWAR and one of his best friends, I feel it is my duty to try and answer some of the questions that surround his tragic and untimely death. I know the sense of loss and pain is far greater in scope than in the insulated environment of a band on tour, and I will do my best to provide what clarity and comfort I can.

The most glaring question is how? And unfortunately that is the hardest question to answer. The truth will not be known until the medical officials have finished their work. All I can do is relate what we saw with our own eyes.The last time I saw Cory was after our show in Minneapolis on Weds. night. It was a great show at First Avenue in Minneapolis, one of our favorite places to play. Cory was happy. He was excited about the band and especially the new studio he was building in the Slave Pit back in Richmond. He was deeply in love with his wife, Jamie, and was busily planning their family and future in the beautiful home they had. As usual, after some autographs and banter, I was probably the first person in their bunk as we got ready for a big drive into Canada, and Cory and the rest of the guys were not far behind. As I fell into the slumber that only playing GWAR shows can induce, everything seemed right in the world.

We found Cory the next morning as we collected passports for a border crossing. He was in his bunk, unresponsive, and it quickly was clear that he was dead. It was without a doubt the most horrible moment of my life. That’s all I can say about it. Within moments everybody was off the bus, standing in a wind-swept parking lot in the middle of nowhere, trying to come to grips with the shock of it. First the ambulance arrived, and then the police, but there was nothing that could be done other than fully investigate the scene and remove Cory with care and respect.

We are completely devastated and shocked beyond belief. One night we had our friend and colleague, happy and healthy in the middle of our best tour in years- and the next morning, so suddenly, he was gone. Never have I seen starker proof of the fragility of life. Cory will be transported home to Richmond over the next few days, and an announcement regarding services will be made soon. We ask everyone to respect the families wish for privacy, and especially to keep his wife, Jamie, in your thoughts and prayers.

As we work our way through these difficult days the question is — what will GWAR do? After a lot of consideration, we have decided to carry on with the tour. Although the great temptation would be to return home, curl into a fetal position, and mourn, we can’t do that. First off, Cory wouldn’t want that. He would want us to go on and would be pissed if we didn’t. Plus we know the fans don’t want us to quit. They are going to want a chance to come to grips with their loss, and there is no better place to do that than at a GWAR show. Though it’s hard to believe, I think we all would feel a lot worse if we stopped. For better or worse we have to see this through.That doesn’t mean that Cory will make his final journey without us. When the arrangements have been finalized, Cory’s best friend and GWAR’s music tech Dave “Gibby” Gibson, and myself will return home to attend the services and pay the proper respects to our comrade.

Out of respect to Cory, we have officially retired the character of Flattus Maximus. Flattus has decided to return to his beloved “Planet Home”, and will never return to this mudball planet again. And this is a sadder place for that.Just the other day I heard Cory tell a story about how some 20 years ago he was fourteen years old, at his first GWAR show, grabbing at the rubber feet of our then- current Flattus, and how blown away he was at the fact that now HE was the one getting his feet pulled by the same kid that he used to be. Cory was always in awe of the patterns of life and went through it with a wide-eyed amazement that translated through his playing. I’ve never known anyone who could pick up literally any instrument and rock it the first time he touched it, and more than that make it look easy. Behind that rubber monster outfit, and sometimes even obscured by it, was one of the most talented and beautiful people I have ever known. I know everyone who’s life was touched by Cory truly loved him, as do we, his bandmates and brothers.

There should be some kind of announcement soon regarding services, etc. It would be great to have a memorial show at some point soon, where some of the bands that Cory worked with could come together and show their love for this truly amazing man who left us all too soon and will be sorely missed by many, many people.”

Rumour Mill

2011-11-04T09:26:00.001-07:00

What could it mean? Is it really the worst kept secret in Metal?

I foresee a Claw road trip in much the same manner as those to see Maiden, Heaven and Hell or Metallica.
Big, brash, loud.

Devil's Rain

2011-11-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to get excited about new Misfits material, I'm sure any longtime readers of this blog know how we felt (all three of us) about the band when we were growing up, and how we feel about what they've been doing since they reformed. However, I was putting together a Hallowe'en playlist lately and it had a lot of Misfits on, naturally, and I even threw tracks in like "Dig Up Her Bones", because regardless of how I feel about the multi faceted marketing machine the Misfits "brand" has become, the two albums without Danzig have got some decent songs on.
SO… let's move on a bit and review their latest album, Devil's Rain, which, rather unbelievably, is their first album of all new material since 1999, when this photo of Patchie, Skum and Jerry Only was taken. See how much we love the Misfits that we are wearing the band's shirts to their gig, an honour normally reserved only for Maiden and Motörhead.

Anyway, I digress.

Devil's Rain is a whopping sixteen(!) track monster of an album, but is it any good? Well, the answer is yeah, it's alright.
Probably not the most intellectual review you're going to hear, but it's the truth.
I'm going to get it out the way now and say it right at the beginning of the review; it's too long, and although I enjoyed it greatly and will listen to some of the tracks again (more of that later), it is to my mind, the weakest album the Misfits have ever recorded.

But, when you consider that the company it's keeping includes Static Age, Walk Among Us, and Earth A.D., that's not too bad an achievement.
But, sixteen tracks…sheesh.
If they had trimmed it a bit it would have been as good (if not better) than Famous Monsters or American Psycho; all the woah-woh's are there, the fast bits and slow bits, the horror imagery (and an absolute fucking STORMER of a song in "Father" which works not because it's a classic Misfits track, but because it sounds like an old NWOBHM track. Had this song been a b-side on a Neat Records or Bronze single in the early eighties, Thee Claw would be burning it onto every mix cd we ever make) are all there, but it's spread too thinly over too many tracks. I know they've had a lot of time out of the studio so there's been an awful lot of time to write songs, but it's too much, even though the songs are quite short. And don't let Dez sing on stuff if he isn't going to sound like Dez.

For completists and the curious, but you MUST all hear "Father".

R.I.P. Flattus Maximus (of GWAR)

2011-11-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

Flattus Maximus was the lead guitarist in the heavy metal band GWAR. He is known by his red face, white dreadlocks, dinosaur-head shoulder pads and reptile feet. The name "Flattus" implies (verified by various concerts) a flatulent character. His speaking mannerisms suggest a childlike intelligence and naivety (until recently; his entries in the current website's blog depict a different, more violent Flattus).

On November 3, 2011, GWAR released a statement to MetalSucks.com that Cory Smoot had died:

"It is with a sense of profound loss and tragedy that the members of GWAR must announce the passing of their long time guitarist and beloved friend Cory Smoot, also known to thousands of metal fans worldwide as Flattus Maximus. Cory was found deceased this morning as the band prepared for a border crossing. There is no word as to the cause of death and the members of GWAR are completely shocked and devastated that this has occurred. At this point there is no word on arrangements and the disposition of the remainder of GWAR’s current North American tour, nor are there any details regarding long term plans. At this point we are just dealing with the loss of our dear friend and brother, one of the most talented guitar players in metal today. We ask that our fans and the media be respectful of our request for privacy for those that have suffered this terrible loss. A full statement will be coming in the next day or so, in the meantime please give your thoughts and your prayers to Cory, his family, and all the people that love him."

- Dave Brockie

Photography on this page: Suzi Zobair
Photos taken during GWAR's set at the 2010 Bloodstock festival in England.

Megadeth Perform Symphony Of Destruction (in Full Halloween Costumes)

2011-11-01T13:59:00.000-07:00

Check this shit out!

Really dig these costumes that Megadeth wore when performing on the Jimmy Kimmel show for Halloween 2011. But we are surprised how MegaDave (AKA FrankenStane) was able to stop his latex head from falling off whilst headbanging!

Awesome stuff, we love a bit of Megadeth here at Claw Towers!

Wolvserpent, Islington Mill (Salford UK) - 28 October 2011

2011-10-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

It's been quite some time since we last showcased some drone here on Thee Blog, but this was certainly a great set from drone-doom-duo WOLVSERPENT, a pairing coming our way from Boise, Idaho (the very same place as our dear friends in UZALA). Here they are playing at Islington Mill (Salford, UK) during their recent European tour with WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM.

Be sure to try and check out their new record, Blood Seed, via 20 Buck Spin.

This is slow hypnosis of the most sinister kind... We like it a lot!

Wolvserpent - Official
Wolvserpent - FB
Wolvserpent - My_____
Wolvserpent - Blogspot

Pagan Altar @ Live Evil Fest 2011

2011-10-27T10:41:00.001-07:00

Love some PAGAN ALTAR? So do we!

The boys ripping London a new hole, at The Underworld on 22 October 2011.

Clip: Aura Noir @ Live Evil Fest 2011

2011-10-24T07:56:00.000-07:00

A sneaky 45-second HD teaser clip to give you guys a taste of AURA NOIR's set at Live Evil Fest (23rd October 2011 at The Underworld in Camden Town, London, UK). Such a great set, by far and away the best act on the bill. Which is not to say anything bad about the rest of the bands playing by the way - not at all - it's just that Aura Noir were on fire at this particular show!

We saw some outstanding stuff down their in the basement of The Underworld, including the sheer Satanic joy of ANTICHRIST and the up-and-coming delight that is MORBUS CHRON. Can't say much bad about the entire event really.

Huge props to the promoters for laying on such a fine series of bands for the many thrashers who made the journey from all around the world for this great festival.

Here's to Live Evil 2012!

Live Evil 2011 (Day 1)

2011-10-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

Howdy from London gang. SJW here, about to hit the hay for the night... we have been here for Live Evil fest, a 2 day celebration of NWOBHM-style heavy metal. Some great acts on show here today, with lots more to look forward to tomorrow.

Okay, I am about to fall asleep while sitting on the couch, so enough of this for now. Full report to follow! Here's a couple of pics to whet your appetite.

Pine Barrens, Liverpool (2011.10.18)

2011-10-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

PINE BARRENS played a show in Liverpool tonight (Tues 18th Oct). Great set, about 25 minutes at most. These guys played at separate gigs with both YOB and 1349 earlier this week, so they're certainly getting live hours under their belt of late. Looking forward to hearing some new recordings from them soon.

http://pinebarrens.bandcamp.com/album/demo-2010

Pine Barrens - Liverpool, 18 October 2011 (Part 8 of 9)

Yob (13 Oct 2011) Star And Garter, Manchester, UK

2011-10-14T08:41:00.000-07:00

And, hell, here's a bit of video footage from the very same gig for good measure.

Señor Abbath Está Loco

2011-10-11T13:11:00.000-07:00

Photo taken at an Immortal gig in Mexico recently.

Oh, Abbath, you fun loving black metal comedian you.

Upcoming

2011-09-22T08:37:00.000-07:00

Lazarus Blackstar:

Bri Doom - Bass
Gordon Wilkinson - Drums
Lee Baines - Guitars
Izak Gloom - Guitars
Mik Hell - Vocals

Black Magician:

Kyle Nesbitt - Guitar
Kabir D'silva - Bass
Matt Ford - Keyboards
Jay Plested - Drums
Liam Yates - Vocals

Venue: The Black Swan, Bradford, UK
Date: 26 November 2011
Entrance: Free

Upcoming

2011-09-18T21:01:00.000-07:00

News taken from the Future Noise website about a show happening in Manchester UK next week:

Future Noise presents: Cut Hands + guests

Endtyme Records presents the first in a series of monthly extreme and experimental music events. These unique events, part band night/part club night, will feature a heady mix of challenging live acts interspersed with guest DJ’s spinning the best in DOOM / DEATH / BLACK / GRIND / NOISE / INDUSTRIAL.

The night is headlined by Cut Hands, an ‘afro-noise’ project featuring none other than William Bennett of Whitehouse fame on Friday 30th September 2011 at Night And Day Cafe, Oldham Street, Manchester.

The full line up features:
Cut Hands
Gum Takes Tooth
Blue Sabbath Black Fiji
Pine Barrens
From The Bogs Of Aughiska

Doors open at 8pm, tickets available via this link
https://www.theticketsellers.co.uk/buy_tickets/events/?id=10017500

I'm So Bad Baby I Don't Care

2011-09-14T04:54:00.000-07:00

Great gig in Liverpool last night - A Motörhead tribute act called Stone Deaf Forever, fronted by our good friend and long-time collaborator Benny Killhamster, AKA Thee Iron Skum, AKA H.

Benny Killhamster of Stone Deaf Forever

A great set - quite long too! - with all the classics you know and love. And a great turn out for the show, with plenty of faces from around the area who you would be very happy to see attending your first public show.

Congrats to the SDF boys, hopefully the first of many gigs for this great 'Head tribute band!

Tonight

2011-09-13T05:24:00.000-07:00

Stöne Deaf Förever - UK's premier Motörhead tribute act.

Stöne Deaf Förever! Tonight in Liverpool, their 1st public gig. See thee there.

INCOMING!

2011-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Mutiny Events in association with Candlelight Records Present:

ORANGE GOBLIN
ANAAL NATHRAKH
ALTAR OF PLAGUES
WINTERFYLLETH
THE ROTTED
OCTOBER FILE
XERATH
EASTERN FRONT
FALLOCH

Sunday 13th November
Moho Live, Tib Street, Manchester

£15 adv from Mutinytickets / Ticketline.co.uk / Seetickets.com / Wegottickets.com

Doors 2.00pm

DIRECT LINKS TO TICKETS:

http://mutinyevents.bigcartel.com/product/candlefest-manchester-sunday-13-nov

https://www.ticketline.co.uk/order/tickets/13262299/candlefest-manchester-moho-live-2011-11-13-14-00-00

http://www.seetickets.com/Event/CANDLEFEST/Moho-Live/585178

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/134208

Patchie's Record of the Week

2011-09-06T23:13:00.000-07:00

Rawhide - Branded for Life EP

I was going to start this review off by saying "imagine, Motörhead on speed" but then I though, no, that is Motörhead.

So, imagine, being on speed, listening to Motörhead on speed, but this Motörhead have been listening to a load of garage rock and going crazy worshipping bands like Midnight and Venom.

If this doesn't get you interested then I don't know what will.

Just 4 tracks on this EP giving you a taste of what these Swedes are all about, like a d-beat version of WBTD that you can sing along to.

THe first song, the title track has a grimy rock n' roll feel to it, bringing to mind sunglasses indoors, cigarette smoke and old, old leather jackets, a barnstorming start to the EP.

Out of Track starts off with a more slowed down intro, before careering off into a Poison Idea style stomper, excellent guitar solo in this. By the time I was up to Through My Eyes, I was considering whether I can get away with wearing cowboy boots, it's that cool. Another great fists in the air chorus on this one. EP closer, Sanitarium Blues is a UK Subs style pogoing monster of a track, which I can imagine blasting out of the windows of Thee Clawmobile as we hit 105 down the M62.

All in all it's a solid, rocking punk stormer of an EP, and I can't wait to hear the full length.
Keep an eye on these guys, keep an eye on your girl when they're around.

In a nutshell: Motörhead and Venom meet for bare knuckle fight behind a nightclub that The Damned are playing at, and create the sound Darkthrone have been after for a few years now.

Get yourself over to PATAC and get it ordered. First come, first sleazed.

Fenriz’ Metal Merchants Festival DJ Set, Vol. II

2011-09-04T04:38:00.000-07:00

Huge props to †ROCKWELL† and the guys over at Vice for posting the latest DJ set list by brother Fenriz from the 2008 (or was it 2009?) Metal Merchants Festival in Oslo. Yes, this list is now a couple of years old but, hey, the music is even older than that and let's be honest about 98% of people will never have heard more than a handful of these tracks anyway.

What we're saying is, basically, this is an example of the shit you should be feasting upon on a regular basis if you want to carve yourself a niche as an "old school" thrasher. (Not that you can ever hope to technically be considered old school if you are only just starting out now anyways, but you get our meaning!)

All of the following is lifted directly from the VICE Magazine website. Thee Claw recommends that you go check it out, they have a lot of other shit there that you're sure to gain some insight from.

Fenriz Metal Merchants DJ Set (2008) Vol II

TRACKLISTING:

1. UFO (ENGLAND) - “ROCK BOTTOM” (1974)
2. MINDLESS SINNER (SWEDEN) - “MASTER OF EVIL” (1983)
3. KARNAX (CANADA) - “TO HELL” (2007)
4. ATTACKER (USA) - “BATTLE AT HELM’S DEEP” (1985)
5. PAGAN ALTAR (ENGLAND) - “PAGAN ALTAR” (1982)
6. EM RUINAS (BRAZIL) - “BURN IN HELL” (2007)
7. COVEN (USA) - “GENERAL’S EYE” (1987)
8. OMEGA (USA) - “SHADOWS OF THE PAST” (1987)
9. LUZBEL (MEXICO) - “HIJOS DEL METAL” (1986)
10. THOR (CANADA) - “WHEN GODS COLLIDE” (1985)
11. MANILLA ROAD (USA) - “HAUNTED PALACE” (1987)
12. OZZY (ENGLAND) - “S.A.T.O.” (1981)
13. CLOVEN HOOF (ENGLAND) - “THE GATES OF GEHENNA” (1984)
14. RAT ATTACK (USA) - “REAPER’S PREY” (1983)
15. ACCEPT (GERMANY) - “FREE ME NOW” (1979)
16. EXCITER (CANADA) - “RISING OF THE DEAD” (1983)
17. ARIA (RUSSIA) - “ANTICHRIST” (1991)
18. SCORPIONS (GERMANY) - “ROBOT MAN” (1975)

Fuck yeah.

Note: We just decided... It would be so easy to simply add the original download link for you to grab a copy of this compilation, but then that would be a bit wrong of us, don't you think? We reckon so. So instead let's just all agree that you will go to the Vice page for the compilation and get the link from over there.

http://www.viceland.com/music/2011/08/fenriz-metal-merchants-mix-vol-ii/#more-14860
http://afistinthefaceofgod.blogspot.com/

Happy thrashing!

Black Bart Blues

2011-08-23T07:39:00.001-07:00

July 11

2011-07-26T07:45:00.001-07:00

On the Death Decks this month:

Tree Of Sores

Iron Witch - Single Malt

Lifer - Cursing Them Out

Thorns - Stigma Diabolicum

Sabbat (UK) - History of a Time To Come

Emperor - In the Nightside Eclipse

Masacre - Ola de Violencia

Hadez - Extreme Badness on the World

Storm - Nordavind

Hateful Abandon - Move

Peste Noir - L'Ordure à l'état Pur

Damnation 2011: "The Cat" Is Back

2011-07-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

English thrashers EVILE and Finnish folk metallers TURISAS are the latest names added to the DAMNATION FESTIVAL 2011 bill.

The duo - who will play the Jagermeister Stage at Leeds University Union on Saturday, November 5 - are joined by the progressive death of XERATH and a unique, one-off showing of A MAN CALLED CATTEN performing a Medulla Nocte.

Paul Catten said: "After listening to the Medulla Nocte albums for the first time in many years, I knew I had to play these songs one last time.

"A Man Called Catten is a tribute to this material, and my chance to do them justice...playing them as they were meant to be played; live, fast and very loud. I'm ecstatic to be able to perform them at Damnation where I have great memories from previous performances, and this is the one and only time you will hear a set comprising of nothing but Nocte tracks. Relive your youth…the fucking Cat is back!"

Festival director Gavin McInally added: "Evile opened Damnation Festival when we still called Manchester home and following their meteoric rise - which is sure to continue with their new album - it's fantastic to finally have them back at the festival, adding a much needed dose of thrash.

Turisas will no doubt be a surprise addition to many fans but when men with swords tell you they need a home for a night, you throw open your doors! We're looking forward to a battle with some beers at Damnation as they trek across the country on their UK tour.

"Xerath are a certain to kick-off proceedings in style while the prospect of seeing Paul Catten tearing through Medulla Nocte classics at his vicious best is going to leave the rest of the Terrorizer Stage will a difficult set to follow!"

Tickets are on sale, priced £29 and are available from See Tickets, Ticketline and Leeds Tickets

Tickets are also now available the official Damnation site and Facebook via Ticketscript

For more information visit the official Damnation Festival sites:
Web || Facebook || Twitter || Myspace

THEE CLAW says:

Nice work, Damnation gang! Turisas are a favourite of ours - well of SJW's at least - check out this pic of him and Warlord roaring at a camera phone at Bloodstock a couple of years back:

Photo: Warlord getting bothered by a bald Scouser.

More of that Viking shit will fit the bill nicely!

Plus the return of Paul Catton (Murder One, Medulla Nocte, Lazarus Blackstar, The Sontaran Experiment, etc, etc!) - We haven't seen the big C in action since his gig in Liverpool back in March '08 when touring with Gallhammer. And he is playing a set of Medulla Nocte stuff too... All Our Friends Are Dead! Hell, let's even dare to hope that he wears the same stage outfit he donned for the afore-mentioned Liverpool gig too.

Iron Witch - Single Malt EP

2011-07-24T07:53:00.000-07:00

IRON WITCH
Single Malt EP
Witch Hunter Records

New out on Witch Hunter Records is the debut EP from Liverpool sludgers IRON WITCH.

What we have here are five tracks of downtuned fuzzy riffage, like a more accessible Charger or Weedeater.

Unlike labelmates Tree of Sores who have a uniquely British sound, IW go for the more in-vogue NOLA style sludge that we've come to know and love over the 23 years since Eyehategod formed,

Opener A .45 to Pay the Rent goes straight into some EHG style stomping, and sets the scene for the rest of the EP, with a bass-heavy fuzzy crawl, moving into the more upbeat Single Malt, which contains a repetitive, tortuous riff towards the end. The drawn out hangover claustrophobia of Booze Blues sticks to the ol' sludge maxim that if a riff is half decent it's the only one a track really needs so run with it and jam it. Seven minute closing track The Cruelty of Mankind starts off at a snail's pace, seemingly crossing over into more doomy territory for a while before moving back onto more familiar sludge ground about two and a half minutes on, albeit with a more metallic, punky edge, something I feel they do just as well if not better than just the straight ahead sludge stuff and would love to hear more of in the future!

Iron Witch will be playing the following dates soon; so get along and see 'em.

Tue, Jul 26 7:00 pm The Caledonia Liverpool
w/ Crows, Curb Crawl, GWC + Black Veins

Thu, Aug 4 7:00 pm Zanzibar Liverpool
w/ Entropy, El Schlong, The Bendal Interlude + Scare Tactics

Sat, Aug 6 7:00 pm Terrorizer Grindhouse @ The Snooty Fox Wakefield
w/ The Prophecy, Iron Void + Poison Dwarf

Fri, Aug 19 7:30 pm EP Release Show @ The Caledonia
Liverpool
w/ The Bendal Interlude, Zangief + Gurt

Mon, Aug 22 8:00 pm Green Door Store
w/ Enos + Gurt

Sat, Sep 3 7:00 pm Asylum 2 Birmingham
w/ Magma Rise + Iron Void

Tumblr

2011-07-15T05:29:00.000-07:00

We now also have a tumblr page at http://theeclaw1986.tumblr.com/ because, well, we have five years worth of "behind the scenes" type photos that nobody's ever seen, and we haven't seen ourselves for years, and would just clog this page up if we posted them on here.
So, follow the link if you're interested in seeing us drunken all over Europe!

And what do you mean, "Why 1986?"!

Lifer - Cursing them Out

2011-07-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

LIFER
CURSING THEM OUT
Label: House of Doom

When you're like us, and you're of a certain age, and you've been a metalhead for more of your life than you haven't been a metalhead, you qualify as a lifer.

LIFER, from Swansea, certainly are that.
Featuring members of such luminaries as Acrimony, Rectify and Black Eye Riot (I fucking loved that band, especially No Hope, No Future, No Worries!) have an impeccable pedigree, and meld together all their influences on debut Cursing Them Out, which sounds just like a gang of lifelong metalheads recording an album. They couldn't have called the band anything else! There's everything here, from Crowbar-esque sludge riffery, to some COC sounding grooves, and a feel like a more modern version of Exhorder thrashing in parts.

With a band bringing together such experience and distilling it onto CD there would be room for it to not quite work, but this album never lets up, and never hits any flat points, it's all go, all the time.Web and Roy knock out some top riffs, like I say able to go from thrash to groove to sludge effortlessly, Dibble and Greg are a rhythmic force to be reckoned with Greg's drumming in particular make me raise my eyebrows and try to tap my feet along to Reach, which also saw me headbanging around the living room. I keep doing this to Broken Bones too, from around 2:36 to the end.

When I was a 13 year old, I'd have killed for this album, I'd have worn the tape out in my walkman, staggering home from the woods full of warm cider..
I don't have to kill for it now, but I'll always be full of warm cider, and I might just wear the CD out because this week I've realised... I AM A LIFER.

THE DEVIL'S CHURCH

2011-07-14T15:18:00.000-07:00

The Devil's Church All-dayer.
Venue: Rio's Bradford
Line up: Druganaut/The Dead Ressurected/Domes of Silence/Severed Heaven/Arkham Witch/The Aftermath/Sigiriya/Ravens Creed

Last weekend we made the short trip over to Bradford to see a hellish lineup of bands at Rio's.
I was personally very excited because three of my favourite, and I feel most exciting, bands in the UK were going to be playing, and so it was that we arrived in West Yorkshire to a sountrack of Deep purple, Celtic Frost and a display of glorious sunshine, full of Theakston's Old Peculier. Well, I was at least.

We arrived in time to go for a little stroll around, have a drink in The Empress and then a few more (ahem...can you see where this is going?) in Rios before the first band come on, Druganaut.
Filthy, downtuned, Northeast sludge that makes me feel even hotter and more uncomfortable than I am in the upstairs tin box of Rio's. Most enjoyable, although I don't seem to have any photos? Anyway, check out their page on Soundcloud for their EP Shake Your Bones.

Next up, The Dead Resurrected.

This was the first time I'd seen or heard them, playing some awesome, downtuned sludge and roll, The DEAD Ressurected feature an almost who's-who of metal, and make a damn good noise doing it. Really enjoyed the swampy grooves on offer here, well worth checking out! Total filthdoom!

I now have a confession to make, after this set finished we went off in search of food and what have you, after all we had been on the road since early in the morning and needed real ale and felafel.
To this end, I missed Domes of Silence completely, and only got back around thirty seconds away from the end of Severed Heaven's set, sorry about that, we owe both of you a proper review.
But! We did venture over to the 1 in 12 in search of food and managed to get a guerrilla photo shoot of Yorkshire Anarcho punks Trauma Unit rehearsing....

Go and check them out if, like me, you like your punk a bit crusty!!!

Anyway, we had three of our favourite bands in the UK coming up after this, starting with the true metal stylings of Arkham Witch. They play a brand of metal that is rooted firmly in the underground, but with enough of that unique quality that means they can literally appeal across genres. From the punky NWOBHM singalong Let England Prevail through some more melancholy and dark tracks like Suicide 75, I enjoyed their set greatly.

Whenever I shake my head at another glossy metal mag with bands like the Black Veiled Brides on the cover, I console myself with the fact that my heavy metal is safe in the hands of people like Arkham Witch.

The Aftermath - Again, we completely missed these!! Apologies guys!! I can't even find a link to them anywhere online, any help would be appreciated!

Sigiriya were the next band I got to see, I'd been looking forward to seeing them for ages, and they were kind enough to let us hear their album Return to Earth before almost anybody else.

They sound so tight on the CD, and they ain't no slouches live either. Sometimes bands have a problem transferring that to the stage but these guys are seamless together, my head was bobbing, my feet were tapping, my fists kept going up in the air involuntarily, I must have looked like I was having some kind of seizure to the untrained eye. awesome, you should all check them out if you haven't already.

One of the best bands in the UK right now, jamming your life to fuck.

Next up were Ravens Creed, who are, quite literally, my favourite band in the UK right now, and one of Thee Claw's definite favourites. They come on stage and just literally tear through all their stuff; it's a good few songs in before newest member Al talks to the crowd. Ravens Creed are an absolute fucking powerhouse onstage.

It's like I've jumped in a tardis and gone back in time to watch Venom play in a Geordie boozer.

Al patrols the stage like an angry doberman spitting out lyrics and rattling your fillings with roars, and its an absolute crying shame that there were so few people here to see this.

Panzer Maniac is the standout track of the set for me, and I can tell you this much, after they have played at the Live Evil festival, they will be talked about in hushed tones like Aura Noir et al, in short they will be everyone's favourite "true" band, and quite rightly so. Fraser and Jay fit together seamlessly, Jay's skills are as ever, ridiculous behind the kit, and Steve shreds right over them and together, they sound so unmistakenly British.

I heard that Kam Lee heard Nestless and Wild and it's what prompted him to try to get Massacre back together recently.

Ravens Creed are going to be everywhere soon, and you probably heard it here first.

Good on you lads, hurry up and come back!

Black Breath, Manchester (UK) 12 July 2011

2011-07-13T03:07:00.000-07:00

Bands: Black Breath / Black Mass / Minister Of Justice / Poison Planet
Style: Thrash/Black/Punk
Venue: The Star & Garter, Manchester (UK)
Date: 12th July 2011
Promoter: Mutiny Events

How's it going people? SJW here once again with some photos from last night's BLACK BREATH show in Manchester (at our favourite of all venues, the Star & Garter). Although I am not the resident reviewer in our family (that would be Patchie), I thought that I would at least write you a few words about this great show from close-to-the-beginning of the current Black Breath European summer tour. We had the pleasure of seeing these guys right here (at the very same venue) back in November, in the depths of an English winter. Last night's show could not have felt more different though. At some points towards the end of the night the heat in the venue was close to 35°C according to the gauge on my watch (which is around 95°F for our American friends out there!)... and by the way there's no air-con in the S&G and not much in the way of ventilation either (though a couple of us did manage to open a single window half way through the final set of the night). But that is all part of the charm of this particular venue... it's a fucking deafening cauldron of noise and heat! TURN IT UP!!

The show went down very well with a great turn out, though the crowd didn't go ape-shit as it normally might in Manchester (let's blame the heat), though the Black Breath encore did seem to get a nice reaction.

The rest of the bands on the bill played nice sets too - Thee Claw is particularly taken with local outfit MINISTER OF JUSTICE, who were on stage early but made a definite impact with the set. Check them out here.

Okay, that's enough words. Here's some BLACK BREATH photos from the show they played here at the Star & Garter, Manchester, 12th July 2011.

Photo of the Day: Pissman @ Hellfest 2011

2011-07-11T15:01:00.000-07:00

Spotted this gentleman (and his "bag") in the crowd during Church Of Misery's set at Hellfest. Simply had to snap some photos of him "in full flow":

We have just been having a gentle peruse of the photos that SJW took over at that fest this year (photos that we are yet to have a proper look through by the way) and this crazy bastard randomly appears in about half a dozen of the CoM set's crowd photos, in each of them he is liberally waving his satchel full of urine around while dancing like a nut to "El Padrino" while the rest of the crowd around him do there best to stay the fuck away from him, in case the bag rips open as he flings it about wildly.

If you happen to know Pissman in real life, be sure to tell him that Thee Claw asked to pass a message to him. And that message is: "Piss off!"

Metal Will Never Die

2011-07-10T03:48:00.000-07:00

Today would have been Ronnie James Dio's sixty-ninth birthday.
Thee Claw were lucky enough to see him twice in the space of a year, with ~~Heaven and Hell~~ Black Sabbath and with Dio. We miss you man.

Enjoy.

Ar Eh.

2011-07-09T16:11:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to see him reunited with Lemmy at Donington a few years ago....I think we may even have a video somewhere....fucking hell...speechless....

Live Evil Festival 2011

2011-07-06T06:13:00.000-07:00

Live Evil Festival is an International Heavy Metal Festival presenting underground Black metal, Thrash, Speed, Death, Heavy Metal, Metal Punk and Doom bands from around the world. The bands who play it are picked by Fenriz and taken from his Darkthrone band of the week blog. The festival remains 100% committed to the bands who play it. “As Wolves among sheep we have wandered” - Darkthrone 1991.

Live Evil Fest 2011 - London

Link - http://www.liveevilfestival.com/

Thee Claw says: ‎22nd & 23rd October 2011 - London. We will be there. Hopefully some of you guys will be too! Hell yeah.... I mean, just look at the damn line-up! In Solitude, Age Of Taurus, Morbus Chron, Witchgrave - Aura Noir. Plus our good buddies RAVENS FUCKING CREED! This is a line-up not to be missed.

Fenriz's band of the week selections, all in one place!

Terror

2011-07-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hey gang... SJW here. Hardcore punk band TERROR play Manchester here in the UK tomorrow. I saw them a few weeks back at the Hellfest festival in France, where they instigated anarchy. I kinda want to see them again tomorrow, but I somehow imagine that it's going to quickly descend into chaos! (Pic below is from the Hellfest show... that dude's stage-dive was more like a stage-jump though!)

Still tempted to go along though! Terror always put on one hell of a gig.

The Devil's Church (All-day Show) Bradford, July 2011

2011-07-03T03:55:00.000-07:00

Great gig in Bradford yesterday. Shame there weren't more people there!

The Amenta, Hour of Penance, Belphegor, Deicide @ The Masque, Liverpool 27/6/11

2011-06-30T00:01:00.000-07:00

Bands: Deicide / Belphegor / Hour Of Penance / The Amenta
Style: Thrash/Death/Black
Venue: The Masque Theatre, Liverpool
Date: 27th June 2011
Promoter: Whiplash

On Monday night, probably the most high-profile metal tour to come to Liverpool since Sepultura back in the early nineties rolled into town, and of course, the crew of das Claw were there to witness the whole spectacle.

First up were Australians The Amenta, whose dark take on Death Metal seemed nothing too extraordinary, electronic/ambient/industrial elements aside. The fact that I had to struggle to hear them in the seemingly cavernous space of the Masque's large room probably didn't help either, sorry guys.

Next up, Hour of Penance, who again (from where I was stood stage left) suffered from a terrible sound, Paolo's vocals being so low down that it was literally like watching an almost instrumental set, apart from when the backing vocals came in. Shame, as I was kind of transfixed by their technical death/black metal, bringing to mind a more brutal Emperor.

Any problems at the sound desk were fixed by the time that Austria's Belphegor took to the stage, blasting out their brand of blackened death metal, whipping the crowd up and winning over new fans, although I resisted the urge to buy Belphegor underwear from the merch stall afterwards!

Strangely, this was my first time seeing Deicide, which is odd because I think that from that early crop of super-influential and genre defining Death metal bands from the late eighties/early nineties, up until Monday there was only really Glen and the boys that I'd never seen. Make no mistake, the insane vocal sound on the first Deicide album influenced legions of Black Metal hordes in the early nineties even if they don't like to admit it, partly because of a large section of the music press' seeming vendetta to make Glen Benton into some form of cartoon character in the at the time. This lineup features founder members Benton and Steve Asheim on drums, along with Jack Owen and Ralph Santonalla on guitars.

They come onstage in front of what must surely be a full house, and absolutely pummel the crowd with four or five songs without a break whilst the crowd pummel each other. Seriously, I haven't seen a crowd go this apeshit for literally years, anywhere. Dead by Dawn is tossed into the set ridiculously early (I think like the second track?) and the crowd go insane. There is a small barrier along the front of the stage, and another one right above it to create a kind of tunnel for photographers, but the crowd are reaching right across and snapping the two together bang! bang! bang! against each other, only a brave man, a fool, or our very own SJW would venture in there for a photo! Playing a good mix of old and new tracks and some favourites of mine (Lunatic of God's Creation, Kill the Christian, Once Upon the Cross) and every track is delivered with such brutal ferocity it's hard not to get carried away.

Someone dives off the PA and manages to land about forty feet away from the stage right in the middle of the pit to huge cheers from the crowd.
Afterwards, we see a girl getting put into an ambulance on a stretcher, with her head and neck in a brace.
Deicide? They came, they saw, they handed us our arses.

In photos - The Amenta, Hour of Penance, Belphegor, Deicide (Liverpool June 27th 2007)

2011-06-29T23:52:00.000-07:00

Tank86 - Rise

2011-06-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

A couple of years ago back in 2008, at Roadburn, I was given a copy of Dutch band Tank86's second EP Behold which I reviewed here.
The guys got back in touch with us recently to give us the heads up on their debut full-length on Rising Magma Records, the aptly named Rise.

So, for the past week or two we've been giving it some heavy rotation at Claw towers, and we love it.

Eight tracks of instrumental fury, backed with reflective passages too, this is an instrumental band with one foot firmly in the doomy/epic camp, some huge and even evil sounding riffs within.

Dark, doomy, early-Cathedralesque guitar parts, and real headbanging riffs, with amazing drumming, I mean like really, I'm loving the drumming on this. It's always hard to keep my attention throughout a purely instrumental album, and only Tank86, Kong and the much missed Capricorns have been able to do so in the past.

They're well worth seeking out, you can find them on the web here and their record label here.
There's a digital download available on Bandcamp as well for €6 which works out at 75cents a song, so pick it up for the price of a few beers, well worth it! I'm looking forward to checking the band out live at some point in the future; I'd really love to experience this at full volume!!

Vibrating Vessels

2011-06-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's only seven seconds long, but it's one of my favourite videos ever and I love reposting it.

Filmed back in 2009 at a sunnO))) ritual at Corsica studios in London, it's beer bottles riding a sonic wave to get off the stage.

Unlucky, lad (part four).

2011-06-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Diner, We've got pies and cakes.

I Like It When you Die: Seth Putnam, Dead At 43

2011-06-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

(Pre-note: If this blog post comes across as though we are being cruel or insensitive towards Seth Putnam's passing, that is not the intention. Thee Claw fucking loves the music of Seth Putnam and Anal Cunt. We just realise that his brand of "humor" is not properly reflected in the way that people simply say "R.I.P." whenever someone dies, even if the person in question was not a peaceful soul during their lifetime. Now that's been made clear, read the fuck on...!)

The legend that is Seth Putnam has died. To celebrate, laugh at the unfortunate and listen to his records. Also, do not say "R.I.P." like a stupid fucking cunt. Seth had no time for peace. Let's hope that his undying soul is currently somewhere horrible, getting poked up the ass by Rene Auberjonois in a fiery hell while being forced to listen to love songs for the rest of eternity. It's what he would have wanted after all.

That all said though, Thee Claw has to give huge props to the man for the music and the obscene lyrics he helped bring to the world. Some sick shit, but some funny shit too.

Question that I want answering about what happens next: Since Seth ran his own record label (Wicked Sick), what happens with that now? Does someone else go to his house/apartment (where I assume he kept all of his merch and shit) and take over the running of his affairs? How much of a say do Josh and Tim get in any of the music that's unreleased? Was the fabled Picnic Of Love 2 already recorded? And was anything else? If so, will it be released? Any other stuff in the bag that is maybe sat on his home computer, waiting to be commited to wax and made available, maybe that could be arranged via Seth's long term collaborator, Limited Appeal Records. I mean, so many people will be talking about Putnam's death right now (with it being a news item) but soon all that will dry up and all that will be left is his music.

Finally, Josh and Tim, hope you guys keep doing what you do. Thee Claw knows that you guys were a huge factor in the AxCx legacy.

TRIBUTES:
Link to Grim Kim's original post that let everyone know about Seth dying.

Æthenor, Mugstar, Conan, Ex-Easter Island Head, The Kazimier, Liverpool

2011-06-11T03:52:00.000-07:00

A couple of firsts for us; first time at a new (for us) venue, the Kazimier, Wolstenholme Square in Liverpool, better known as the original home of dance music's "superclub" Cream, and our first time watching a show put on by Behind The Wall of Sleep.

We arrive just in time to hear the end of Ex-Easter Island Head's set, dreamlike drones played on horizontal guitars.
I was a bit disappointed we'd wandered in so late because I could have really got my teeth into more of this. alas, next time, eh?

Conan take to the stage next, and this was our first time of seeing them.

The Horseback Battle Hammer EP has had a lot of play at Claw Towers, and as such I was personally really looking forward to seeing them for the first time and they didn't dissapoint. Jarring low-end drones give way to thundering headbang-demanding riffs, three lads shake the world and halfway through the second track hipsters exit to the beer garden in a huge skinny jeaned conga.

Conan are worth keeping an eye, and two ears, on.

Another first for us now, Mugstar are a name I've heard a lot, but not a band I've heard, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Hawkwindy/Floydy with a decidedly modern twist, putting me in mind of a both Gong and Kong, but neither at the same time. An absolute musical enigma.

After what seems like an eternity, Æthenor finally take to the stage.

It works on record, we've seen them at Roadburn a few years ago (2007, I think), and really enjoyed it, but tonight, they didn't really do it for me. Have a look yourself.

Three out of four ain't bad though? And the Kazimier is an exciting, intimate yet chilled out venue, and I got to see a band i'd been looking forward to and two more I'd never heard but will be checking out now!

Next Week...

2011-06-09T03:37:00.001-07:00

See thee there!

Sigiriya - Return to Earth (Patchie Review)

2011-06-02T03:23:00.000-07:00

Claw favourites Sigiriya have given us an exclusive listen to their eagerly awaited long player Return to Earth...and it's amazing.
Remember that film where Kyuss build a mountain out of Black Sabbath albums and Thin Lizzy chased them up it, throwing early nineties Sub Pop albums at them which they deflected with a copy of Confessor's Condemned? No? Well this will give you an idea of the soundtrack to it.

Sounding completely effortless, and really quite accessible, this seven track monster rocks and gallops along, with more drawn out, jam-style introspective moments that build to a crescendo of fuzz leaving you absolutely floored.
Recorded in Mwnci studios with Gethin Woolcock and mixed by Billy God Damn Anderson, this low-slung fuzzfest has to go down as one of the releases of the year and we're only halfway through it.
Dark Fires is a galloping, heads down, fists in the air rocker, and on this release, vocalist Dorian Walters really lets rip on songs like Death Trip to Eyriri with a quite unique blend of soaring vocals with just a tiny tiny hint of that old, underground Sub Pop-esque sound. People who were disappointed with the recent Kyuss Lives reunion could do a lot worse than checking them out.
My favourite is the stomping Robot Funeral, where drummer Darren Ivey holds together some drawn out riffs and chugging, rolling parts with equal ease, with awesome leads from Stu O'Hara floating over the top whilst Mead's Geezer Butler-esque bass work lollops all over the fretboard in the background.
Absolutely awesome, and I can see why SJW has been raving about them since he saw them back in March last year and now I can't wait to see them.
Return To Earth is out on The Church Within records from Germany.

In a nutshell? Makes me feel ten feet tall walking around listening to it on headphones, Metal as Fuck listening to it loud on the stereo. Rifftastic. Wait, then buy.

Ears and Eyes here.

If you heard a thud coming from the North West of England....

2011-06-02T02:58:00.000-07:00

...it was me falling over.

REFORMED industrial metal pioneers GODFLESH head up the latest bookings for Damnation Festival 2011.

Joining them at Leeds University Union on Bonfire Night, Saturday, November 5 will be post-rockers GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT, who top the third stage and the atmospheric black metal their fellow Irishmen ALTAR OF PLAGUES.

The three bands expand on the already diverse bill for 2011′s finest UK metal event, so far boasting Ulver, Decapitated, Doom, Amplifier, Shining, Dragged Into Sunlight and Astrohenge, with mainstage headliners amongst the many more still to be announced.

Tickets are on sale now priced £29 and are available from See Tickets:www.seetickets.com, Ticketline: www.ticketline.co.uk and Leeds Tickets:www.leedstickets.com

Tickets are also now available the official Damnation site and Facebook via Ticketscript: http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk/tickets

For more information visit the official Damnation Festival sites:

Web – http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/damnationfestival
Twitter – http://twitter.com/damnationfest
Myspace – http://www.myspace.com/damnationfestival

Burial - Basement Torture Killings - Abbadon Incarnate - General Surgery; Liverpool, 28th May 2011

2011-05-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

OR - Chapter 26 (in which Patchie falls back in love with Death Metal)

Well, last Friday Thee Claw convened for an all-too-rare three pronged gig attack, with some Death metal going down in the hometown.

We arrived too late for openers Burial, but are assured by those who did witness that we had missed out.
Sorry guys, We'll be earlier next time!

So, the first band we got to witness were Londoners Basement Torture Killings (BTK) who take to the stage looking for all the world like escapees from Ravenhill Hospital. Their brand of technical death/grind a la Exhumed is based, pleasingly, around the old genre staples of serial-killer and gore lyrics, plenty of good stuff from their latest release "The Second Cumming".
Unnerving.

Next up were Irish band Abaddon Incarnate; no gimmicks or anything here, just a cracking mix of all our favourite subgenres coming together at once to great effect, unleashing a buzzing wall of noise. When blasting and grinding, they are as tight as anything, with triple vocal attack(!), but when they loosen up a bit, Clandestine-esque riffery buzzes through your brain, the drill-bit sharpness of the Sunlight studio captured perfectly. They have a split with Phobia available now on Underground Movement - get it.

Introduced by the diminutive but revered Jeff Walker (local boy does good) , Sweden's General Surgery take to the stage dressed in medical overalls, splattered in blood and gore, and proceed to dissect every one of us.
General Surgery are something of a grind supergroup (I hate to use that term) with members of Birdflesh, Bombstrike and Crucifyre in the lineup, and much like our very own Raven's Creed, this pedigree gives undoubted credibility to the boys from Stockholm.
We all get covered in blood, a death/crust/grind tornado blew it's way through Liverpool and we were all left reeling.
General Surgery never let up, even when they slow down it's to the pace of a saw through bone.

Well done to the Whiplash team for another amazing night (Death/Black party in the bar afterwards was a blast too!) see you at VADER!!!
Burial
BTK
Abaddon Incarnate
General Surgery
Whiplash Promotions

This Just In - New Oncle Tom Angelripper Album Cover!

2011-05-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

SODOM fans rejoice!

New record from Oncle Tom Angelripper is on the horizon. The man himself has been busy in the studio, recording "Nunc Est Bibendum", to be released some time later in 2011.

Get it on!

General Surgery, Liverpool, UK (27.05.2011)

2011-05-28T04:38:00.000-07:00

Straight off the bat - A few photos from the GENERAL SURGERY gig last night for ya! More photos and review/blurb to follow!

Bands: Burial / Basement Torture Killings / Abaddon Incarnate / General Surgery
Style: Thrash/Death/Grind
Venue: The Masque Theatre, Liverpool
Date: 27th May 2011
Promoter: Whiplash

Great gig!

This Week: General Surgery in Liverpool

2011-05-25T11:04:00.000-07:00

We'll be there, hope you guys will be too!

Promoter: WHIPLASH

Sigiriya: Return To Earth

2011-05-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

New record soon to be made available from SIGIRYA (ex-Acrimony), all round great guys. Thee Claw looks forward to getting hold of a copy of this new offering to give you guys a full-on review very soon!

As written on the Sigiriya Facebook page:

NEWS!!!! Our Debut album will be released on The Church Within Records Germany. Stoked!

In the meantime, if you’d like a sneaky taste of the tracks:

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/sigiriya
MYSPACE: http://www.myspace.com/sigiriyawales
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_108700382523395

- Sigiriya

Ravens Creed - Nestless And Wild

2011-05-22T02:55:00.000-07:00

We've had it for a while now, but we're so bad at getting together to actually LISTEN to stuff......
...but then we thought, sod it, if Antisect can get together, then so can we.

So, we convened the other night with some HEAVY METAL and some BROWN ALE, partly to give a spin to our old muckers' Ravens Creed's new 7" - Nestless and Wild.
Here we have four tracks of raging old style metal from some of the most respected musicians in the British metal underground, having cut their teeth in well respected, stiff-upper-lipped-cup-of-tea-ello-guvnor institutions like Cerebral Fix, Sabbat, Skyclad etc, and regardless of a recent line-up change have gone from strength to strength. Planting one foot firmly on a monitor at the front of the stage is "recent" addition vocalist Al Osta, spitting out lines like our old mates Kam Lee (doss) or Mr Conrad Lant - indeed, such Venom worship would seem trite if it wasn't so convincing.
As such, we were grinning at each other when the line "Lay down your weed to the gods Ravens Creed" leapt out of the speakers from 1982, and when the riff followed there may even have been a fist in the air!

Put together amazingly by Doomentia, white heavyweight vinyl in a glossy sleeve with a fold out lyric sheet/unlucky-jesus-lad insert, and containing more authentic British Steel than you can shake your fist at, Ravens Creed are, as we keep telling you, a band you should be listening to, and going to see whenever possible.

In a nutshell: Kam Lee does vocals on Phantom Lord being covered by Hellhammer.

Band
Label

*and I didn't mention our mate Ben Ward once. Until now :-)

Pine Barrens (Live, Feb 2011)

2011-05-12T06:12:00.000-07:00

Here's a video we recorded at a gig back in February of friends of thee blog PINE BARRENS - Great sounding footage (for a change), click and enjoy the best and the brightest that the Manchester music scene has the offer in 2011!

Website (with download links): HERE

ANOTHER PERFECT DAY

2011-05-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

The one and only Motörhead will be embarking on their annual tour this November. The band will be supported by Brit punks Anti Nowhere League and UK Subs.

Catch the bands on the following dates:

NOVEMBER 2011

WEDNESDAY 2 WOLVERHAMPTON CIVIC HALL
THURSDAY 3 NEWCASTLE CITY HALL
SATURDAY 5 O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW
SUNDAY 6 LIVERPOOL UNIVERSITY – MOUNTFORD HALL
TUESDAY 8 BRISTOL COLSTON HALL
FRIDAY 11 NORWICH UEA
SATURDAY 12 LONDON HMV HAMMERSMITH APOLLO
MONDAY 14 PLYMOUTH PAVILIONS
TUESDAY 15 SOUTHAMPTON GUILDHALL
THURSDAY 17 NOTTINGHAM ROYAL CENTRE
FRIDAY 18 O2 APOLLO MANCHESTER

Hole in the Sky call it a day...

2011-05-10T05:05:00.000-07:00

From the official HOLE IN THE SKY website:

This is it, number twelve – The Last Supper. It was not an easy decision to make, but as they say – all good things must come to an end, and we feel that instead of run the risk of making Hole in the Sky a less inspired affair, we have chosen to go out on a high note.

We do that by assembling what we honestly think is our most diverse and spectacular lineup to date. The Last Supper is the perfect combination of tradition, rising stars and underground talent.

Norway has been on the forefront of extreme metal for 20 years and in that respect we have invited four of the pioneers within the genre, four bands that has been crucial to the legacy of Hole in the Sky to celebrate. Immortal, Satyricon, Enslaved and Mayhem will all be performing a headline set during the festival, and we’re positive that all of them will deliver something to remember.

Alongside legendary artists such as industrial legends Godflesh, doomster Saint Vitus and black metal juggernaut Marduk, we’re proud to announce the addition of rapidly growing acts such as Primordial and Wolf, together with veterans Mortuary Drape, Helheim and Vomitor.

The whole package has always been important thing for Hole in the Sky and if you look at the program you will see that there is some kind of thread going through the different stages and days. Dwelling in the underground black metal scene one day, going through doom and traditional metal, via alternative, before ending up with the grand finale with Norwegian bands only, starting with the Satyricon set on Friday and closing off with Immortal on the same stage Saturday.

We can also introduce two new elements to the festival, a very special opening show with Wardruna at Logen Teater, presented by Amber Booking in cooperation with Hole in the Sky, and finally the Vomitor-headlined Assault stage at Garage. The Assault stage concerts will run in the afternoon Saturday and will not interfere with the shows at USF.

But, enough ranting – this is about the music and the experience. See you all in August for one final supper.

Hole in the Sky Chapter XII – The Last Supper

Wardruna (Wednesday, Logen Teater)

Part 1 (Wednesday, Garage):
Dark Endless

Marduk
Black Witchery
Mortuary Drape
Archgoat
One Tail, One Head

Part 2 (Thursday, Garage):
The End of the End

Saint Vitus
Grand Magus
Pagan Altar
In Solitude Devil

Part 3 (Friday, USF):
The Dawn of a New Age

Satyricon
Godflesh Primordial Ghost
Negative Plane
Wolf

Part 4 (Saturday, USF):
A Perfect Vision of the Rising Northland

Immortal
Mayhem Enslaved
Virus Helheim

Assault stage (Saturday, Garage):Vomitor
Diskord
Nekromantheon

The Eternal Myth and Paradox

2011-05-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

So it seems that the rumours are finally true; Antisect have reformed, with the dates for a tour in 2011-12 coming our way soon.
I'm unsure how to feel about this; on the one hand, I'll have the chance, hopefully, to hear some of the songs that inspired not only myself, but an entire generation of punks/metalheads/bikers whatever, but on the downside...why? Why now? And is it true they don't believe in Animal Liberation anymore? More questions have been added to the Antisect mythos than have been answered here.....

Tree of Sores - S/T Album

2011-05-10T04:52:00.000-07:00

It's taken me so long to get this review up for one reason or another, but one of the main reasons I held back was to make sure I wasn't over reacting.

The main reason for this is that Tree of Sores' debut (on Witch Hunter) is one of those rare releases that wears it's influences proudly, but still manages to bring them together in such a way that you can't put your finger on the band, you're drawn back again and again to try and discover what makes this album so compelling.
Amongst the waves of Amebix-style crust bleakness, melodies and grooves that bring to mind Damad/Kylesa at their most hypnotic. When I first heard Monolith by Amebix, I listened to it over and over again for about two months; I did the same with this album, and that's pretty good company to be in. After a dark, blackened crust type intro that the previously mentioned 'bix would be proud of, the album winds it's way through five tracks, each one claustrophobic yet with all the expanse of sound normally associated with po-faced post-rock shoegazers, giving the songs an oddly uplifting feel not unlike jesu, even on From Within, with it's Killing Joke-esque tribal drumming from Ben and "plea/response" vocals from Matt and Talia, but especially on Sandford which brings to mind British post-punk being played in a darkened squat, the ending of the song being total late Godflesh/early jesu bigness..
One of the benefits/disadvantaes of popping this review out so late is that I've had the fortune to read other reviews of the CD; a lot of people seem to be missing is that this album makes one feel insignificant, compressed and crushed by such a rolling black ocean of sound, preferring instead to cop out and compare them to Neurosis, a comparison I don't think is fair, as Neurosis have never sounded so wounded and utterly fucking fed up; a feeling that brings to mind two of their home county's enduring locations, the moor and the coast of the North Sea. I'm looking forward to catching the band live and seeing how they evolve in the future.

In a nutshell: Amebix and Killing Joke have a knife fight with jesu and Kylesa, causing Antisect to reform.

Tree of Sores (paywhatyouwant/myspace/facebook/twitter)
Witch Hunter Records

Damnation Fest 2011 - Update

2011-05-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

Damnation Festival announces 3 more bands for its 2011 line up

AVANT-GARDE Norwegians ULVER will play their first and only UK show outside London when they headline the Terrorizer Stage at Damnation Festival. The experimental collective will top the bill in an exclusive performance where they will showcase material from their latest 'War of the Roses' offering.

Joining them will be the black jazz of their countrymen SHINING and London's doom tinged instrumental four piece ASTROHENGE at Leeds Union University on Bonfire Night, Saturday, November 5.

The three genre-morphing acts add to the already stellar lineup of Decapitated, Doom, Amplifier and Dragged Into Sunlight at the seventh edition of the UK's finest metal event, with headliners and many more bands yet to be announced across at least three stages.

Festival director Gavin McInally, said: "We're generally excited about the bands we confirm, but the capture of Ulver for an exclusive show - and their first in the UK outside the London - is a bit special.

"The unique black jazz of Shining and experimental slabs of metal of Astrohenge are also fitting examples of what Damnation Festival is all about - offering fans something a bit different to well worn line-ups hosted across the country.

"We're throwing everything we have at making this line-up our best yet and with the continued support of the fans, Damnation Festival 2011, will be another blinding chapter not to be missed."

Tickets are on sale now priced £29 and are available from See Tickets: www.seetickets.com, Ticketline: www.ticketline.co.uk and Leeds Tickets: www.leedstickets.com

For more information visit the official Damnation Festival sites:

Web – http://www.damnationfestival.co.uk
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/damnationfestival
Twitter – http://twitter.com/damnationfest
Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/damnationfestival

Zangief (Wolstenholme Projects, Liverpool UK, 06.05.2011)

2011-05-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Bands: Ninkharsag / Iron Witch / Amateur Video / Berskowitz / Zangief
Style: Doom/Punk/Metal
Venue: Wolstenholme Projects, Liverpool
Date: 6th May 2011
Promoter: Iron Witch

Late for an important date so I've only a few moments to show you some photos from Zangief's set from this gig. Good stuff guys.

Playlist 5/11

2011-05-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

Tree of Sores

Horslips - The Táin

Crass - Feeding of the 5000

Amebix - Monolith / Arise

Gang of Four - Peel Sessions

Sepultura - Morbid Visions

Pagan Altar - The Time Lord

Whiplash summer

2011-05-06T11:15:00.000-07:00

Tickets Etc

Lang lebe der Klaue!!!

2011-05-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

We're not dead, not yet.

It's been a while, but armed with a space bar and a slew (a veritable slew) of releases to review, coupled with a summer of actions (I foresee Deicide and Iron Maiden at the very least) means that you haven't heard the last of us.

Not yet.

Blood Red Throne (Masque Theatre, Liverpool UK, 03.05.2011)

2011-05-04T02:36:00.000-07:00

Bands: DIAMANTHIAN & BLOOD RED THRONE
Style: Death metal
Venue: Masque Theatre, Liverpool
Date: 3rd May 2011
Promoter: Whiplash Promotions

DIAMANTHIAN

BLOOD RED THRONE

Verdict: Another great gig from Team Whiplash!

Beecher (Moho Live, Manchester, UK, 29.04.2011)

2011-05-01T06:48:00.000-07:00

Here's some stuff from a great gig that I got to shoot a few days ago. No words, just photos.

Band: BEECHER
Venue: Moho Live, Manchester
Date: 29th April 2011

Watain (Liverpool Masque), 9th March 2011

2011-03-10T01:41:00.000-08:00

Date: Wednesday 9 March 2011
Venue: The Masque Theatre, Liverpool, UK
Line-Up: Aosoth, Shining, Watain
Promoter: Whiplash

Swedish black metallers WATAIN played a show in Liverpool yesterday evening, their 2nd gig in this city in 6 months. Their very powerful stage show was in full effect with lots of corpse paint, lots of fire... and gallons of blood!

Tonight's show holds the current record for being the smelliest gig I've ever attended. STENCH is the word even! But then I guess it's not black metal unless it stinks to high heaven, right?

WATAIN setlist:

1) Death's Cold Dark
2) Malfeitor
3) Storm of the Antichrist
4) I Am The Earth
5) My Fists Are Him
6) Reaping Death
7) The Serpent's Chalice
8) Wolves Curse
9) Total Funeral
10) Waters of Ain

Total Funeral was fucking intense. The show ended with E dousing the crowd with a pot of pig's blood. None of this "fake blood" bollocks here thanks! Fucking brutal gig.

Listening

2011-03-09T06:48:00.001-08:00

We're still fucking here

2010

2010-12-30T03:05:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again, where we look back on what's gone on in the past 12 months.
Normally there would be a load of gigs in my list as well, but not this year.
There has, however, been a wealth of releases in 2010, so much so that when I was compiling this list I was utterly amazed that some of these were only released this year!
So, in no particular order, let's see what we've got.

Ghost - Opus Eponymous
Long awaited debut by Rise Above's new signings. Initially a bit disappointing after the Mercyful Fate-esque darkness of the preceding 7" and demo, however, a grower that is actually just as good, if not better than them.

Black Breath - Heavy Breathing
Skogsberg-worshipping Seattleites kick out the jams on this from Southern Lord.
Total Motorhead/Crust punk knife fight in Chris Reifert's back yard.

Watain - Lawless Darkness
Harking back to the good old days of early black metal, Watain strip down to a melodic Hellhammer/Sodom type vibe, a refreshing change from overproduced modern black metal.

Darkthrone - Circle the Wagons
What can be said about Gylve and Ted that hasn't already been said on here? Polarising opinions again, they are back with a slab of 80s Metal, filthy crust and dark humour that is over the head of quite a few people in the so-called scene.
Total class.

Iron Maiden - The Final Frontier
The build up to the release of each new Iron Maiden album raises the same questions, and each time Maiden answer them emphatically. As relevant as any release on this list, The Final Frontier is Iron Maiden's best album for 20 years.

Black Sun - Twilight of the Gods
Glasgow terrorist's sixth album shifts through anger, sorrow, hate, anger... it's a very angry album.
Don't listen to it whilst you're driving.

Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2
Shifting away from all out Black Metal, more experimental prog/hard rock influences creep in, which is no bad thing. Still filthy.

Alcest - Écailles de lune
French Black Metal that is as far away from LLN as you could imagine. Introspective and brooding, akin to Amesouers etc (there are two members of the band in Alcest after all). Rewarding, kind of post-Black Metal. Now that symphonic BM seems to have gladly bitten the dust, we seem to be moving off in two directions; vltra-kvlt and feeling sorry for ourselves. I like both.

Electric Wizard - Black Masses
Spooky cover of Venus In Furs aside, Electric Wizard have released an album that has had people scratching their heads, I'm on the side of people who actually like it. They've made an artform of jamming a riff until it means something else.

Kylesa - Spiral Shadow
It would have been hard to top last year's Static Tensions, and Kylesa do, and don't at the same time.
Energetic and dynamic, set side by side with mellower, trippy passages. The only respect in which it doesn't top ST is because it shouldn't have to.

Xasthur - Portal of Sorrow
Guess which branch of Black Metal Xasthur's (apparent) final album falls into? That's right.
Cloying and suffocating, you get drawn in to this album before you realise there's only one way out.

Cathedral - The Guessing Game
Twenty years on, and Cathedral are still releasing fresh sounding albums like this.
A double disc with songs covering all kinds of ground.

Deathspell Omega - Paracletus
Quite experimental, even by DSO's standards, a less polished release than we are used to, and absolutely all over the shop. Manic and demanding, but rewarding.

Autopsy - The Tomb Within
I know it's only an EP but hopes were high for this one and Reifert and the boys didn't dissapoint.
In no way is this a tribute or cash in, the new tracks here sit comfortably against their back catalogue.

Grand Magus - Hammer of the North
A worthy follow up to 2008's Iron Will, this saw the development of the band into a more classic-sounding metal band, without ever quite crossing over into the pastiche of metal that is power metal.
Every song on the disc is an anthem, and it gets better with every listen.

Orisha Shakpana - Spectral Duppymaan Black Metal

Jamaica's Lord Ifrit plays all instruments on this, and embraces the evil of man that is evident on the islands in the Caribbean to create some 80s style, hissy, monochrome, necro Black Metal.

Jamaica is just as scary as anywhere in Europe, filled with it's own mythology the heat and darkness of the islands can be felt throughout this album.

Even finishes off with a Slayer cover.

All Pigs Must Die - All Pigs Must Die
A couple of "big" names in this group (Ben Koller, Kevin Baker) but don't worry about that, this is nast WB2D style hardcore with a metallic edge. Reminds me of mid-period Discharge.

Bongripper - Satan Worshipping Doom
Sleepy instru-Mental fuzziness from Chicago. Four songs; HAIL - SATAN - WORSHIP - DOOM.
Does exactly what it says on the tin.

Conan - Horseback Battle Hammer
Local boys come good. Stringbending, skullrattling low end dementia, momumental riffs in a sea of overdrive.
For fans of sunn/Burning Witch etc.

Grave Desecrator - Insult

Coming out of The Brazilian darkness...Rio's favourite sons return with more ultra-thrash.
Much respected at Claw Towers, this Sodom/Hellhammer/Sarcófago style classic has been getting a lot of airplay.

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Enslaved - Axioma Ethica Odini

Enslaved sit atop mountains at the top of the world with the latest in their fusion of psychadelia, black metal and full on vikingness. Did Vikings listen to prog? They do now.

A great mix of the epic and the claustrophobic, Enslaved transcend their Black Metal roots to create a unique fusion of seemingly unrelated genres, prog-rock style basslines mixing with tremolo picked guitars, leaving me thinking more than once of ships sailing out from harbours under cold, cloudless night skies.

A prime example of where Black Metal should be in 2010.

Which brings me nicely onto the Turkey Of The Year...I don't know what exactly it was that I expected, but you still let me down Varg. Belus was as if time had stood still, but not in a good way.

Like when you bump into an old friend you haven't seen for years and he's still telling the same jokes.

Reissues:

I know that they don't really count, but I must draw your attention to two reissues from this year, namely the Sanctuary Records deluxe editions of Black Sabbath's Seventh Star and The Eternal Idol, two massively underrated albums from a turbulent era of Sabbath's past, both firm favourites with Thee Claw.

It's the extras that really shine here; nine tracks from a 1986 gig with Ray Gillen on vocals, and the Gillen version of The Eternal Idol, remastered and properly produced.

No Presents For Christmas

2010-12-25T05:48:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas to all you dirty Christians.

A belated GET WELL SOON to KING DIAMOND after his triple bypass surgery a couple of weeks ago. (I bet you he actually got lots of fucking presents this Christmas!)

Food For Thought - Roadburn's Top10 List Of 2010

2010-12-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

We are still mulling over our favourite albums of the past 12 months, but that's not stopped our friends over at Roadburn posting up their faves for 2010 already! Check it out:

ROADBURN - Top 10 records of 2010 list

Interestingly Jurgen has chosen Satan Worshipping Doom by BONGRIPPER, while Walter has - perhaps unsurprisingly! - plumped for TRIPTYKON's epic Eparistera Daimones record.

Right now I am in a bit of a quandry, partly because it's been such a great year for new records, but also because I haven't actually heard everything that is out there yet... I want to sit down with the proper CDs (LPs if possible) for new MOTORHEAD, SODOM and even ANAL CUNT records, so I can give them the attention that they deserve and even to check out the artwork and inlays of the work. The music is not the only thing that goes towards a great album in my opinion (although clearly that is going to be what it all boils down to in the end!).

Someone wrote online somewhere recently (on Twitter I think) that Top 10 lists are a pointless exercise, because there's no real way that any sane person could possibly listen to EVERYTHING that gets released in the record industry in one year. That's obvious. But, at the same time, I love reading other people's T10's and I always make an extra effort to try and find the more obscure stuff that I see people giving their thumbs up to. I love the whole process.

So yeah, be sure to click on the link (the one that's a bit further up this post) and go see the Roadburn guys Top 10's and see what you think. Those guys really know their stuff and they have a great knowledge of what's new and what's upcoming so maybe you should try and track down some of the records that they have put in those lists that you ain't heard yet. I know that I will.

R.I.P. Armando Acosta

2010-11-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

The sad news that Armando Acosta, legendary drummer with SAINT VITUS, has passed away at the age of 58. Saw him in action at the 2009 Roadburn festival (photos included). I was fortunate enough to meet him and take a few photos of him, though only in passing. A real nice guy, laid back and unassuming.

Here's a pic I shot of him with my buddy Ben, a long time VITUS aficionado.

You can be sure he will be missed.

Black Breath @ Star & Garter, Manchester, UK [2010.11.22]

2010-11-23T07:36:00.001-08:00

Date: Monday 22 November 2010
Venue: Star & Garter, Manchester, UK
Line-Up: Closure, Hang The Bastard, Rot In Hell, Black Breath
Promoter: Say It To My Face

CLOSURE

HANG THE BASTARD

ROT IN HELL

BLACK BREATH

...you weren't lying about the stacks huh Kam mate!

Barred For Life

2010-11-18T12:38:00.000-08:00

Emerging from the fog of war that was the American Hardcore rebellion of the 1980's, few bands have experienced as much posthumous popularity as southern California's Black Flag. Shrouded in myth and illuminated as the inventors of the Punk Rock DIY ethos (yes, the entire thing), their individual contribution to Hardcore's golden age cannot be taken for granted.

A resurgence of the band's legend comes complete with a resurgence of the band's logo, THE BARS, as a defacto icon for an entire generation that grew up on a steady diet of Regan-esque bullshit and skateboarding.

THE BARS cum ink-in-skin are a statement dying to scream to the world, "we've been lied to again...!" Punk is still dead but its ideals are now being transmitted through time and space by this icon and by its wearers. And, predictably, we are here to tell the story. So stay tuned as we prepare to come to your town and give your story a shot. You don't have to be a Henry Rollins or Dez Cadena to find your way into BARRED FOR LIFE so start talking or forever keep your fucking story to yourself.

People with Black Flag tattoos (send us your pics) and anyone interested in reading and/or seeing this project evolve.

News To Make Your Head Explode: WINTER To Play Roadburn 2011

2010-11-18T04:28:00.000-08:00

Legendary doom pioneers Winter, along with Earth, Scorn, Beaver, Aluk Todolo, Menace Ruine, Hooded Menace, The Secret and Atilla Csihar’s Void Ov Voices, have been confirmed for Sunn O)))‘s curated event at Roadburn Festival 2011, set for April 15th at the 013 venue in Tilburg, Holland.

THEE CLAW says: WHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?!?!?!

More ?!?!?!'s to follow soon!

This week:

2010-11-14T12:59:00.000-08:00

On the Playlist:

Hateful Abandon - Famine
Peste Noire - La Sanie des siècles
Watain - Lawless Darkness
Nachtmystium - Addicts: Black Meddle Pt. 2
Alcest - Écailles de lune

Maiden Come Home

2010-11-11T14:03:00.000-08:00

From the official site:

UK Fans! We promised you’d be next and true to our word…here’s the full list of Maiden’s UK Tour dates 2011:
JULY
Wed 20 Scotland, Glasgow SECC
Thu 21 Scotland, Aberdeen AECC P&J Arena
Sat 23 England, Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Sun 24 England, Sheffield Motorpoint Arena
Wed 27 England, Nottingham Trent FM Arena
Thu 28 England, Manchester MEN Arena
Sun 31 England, Birmingham NIA
AUGUST
Mon 1 Wales, Cardiff CIA Arena
Wed 3 Northern Ireland, Belfast Odyssey
Fri 5 England, London 02 Arena

This will be an extensive 10 city arena tour for the final run of dates on their FINAL FRONTIER WORLD TOUR 2010/11. For the first time in many years, the band will be playing shows across the full length and breadth of the UK, including places they’ve not visited for up to three decades!
Steve Harris comments; “Everything in the Maiden camp has been so full on these last five years or so that we haven't travelled around the UK to play for our home fans for almost that long. These fans supported us by coming to Twickenham Stadium, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Download and more recently Sonisphere so we thought we should get off our backsides and do the travelling this time and get round the country to see them all. We very much look forward to playing all four home countries and a couple of places we haven’t been for a very long time, Aberdeen and Belfast! And playing the O2 gets us as close to the East End of London where Maiden started off than we have been for many a year, probably since the Ruskin Arms! All in all l think this is going to be a very special series of shows and a wonderful way to end this whole world tour.
“We intend to take the full stadium show into the UK arenas and fit everything we possibly can into each venue. The set list will be different to this year’s tour. Of course we will play more songs from the new album and some other recent material, but we intend to include a healthy dose of older fan favourites too for those who haven’t seen us before, plus a spectacular light show and stage set, not forgetting, of course, …Eddie!”
The UK shows will be the culmination of The Final Frontier World Tour, which began in June 2010 with a hugely successful 25 date tour throughout North America, followed by selected European stadium and festival shows, including Knebworth Sonisphere in the UK. As recently announced, early next year Ed Force One will fly the band, crew and equipment 50,000 miles around the World visiting thirteen countries before the band take a short break prior to the extensive European Tour (more announcements soon) of which the UK is the final leg.

Looks like London for us!!!

TFD - Meat Without Feet

2010-11-11T09:42:00.001-08:00

On a huge TOTAL FUCKING DESTRUCTION kick this past couple weeks. Hurry up with the new record Rich!!

Total Fucking Destruction - "Meat Without Feet" - MDF VIII from Hellbound.ca on Vimeo.

Total Fucking Destruction perform 'Meat Without Feet' with guest vocalist Jane Vincent from Abiku at Maryland Deathfest VIII.

'Meat Without Feet' appears on the new full-length by TFD, which hits worldwide in 2011.

Filmed by Handshake Inc., presented by Hellbound Metal (Hellbound.ca)

SOUNDGARDEN On Conan

2010-11-10T11:02:00.000-08:00

Just a quick one today...

Great seeing SOUNDGARDEN playing a song on the new Conan late night show on TBS yesterday. We've missed Kim Thayil's guitar tone SO much!

(Just sayin'.)

The Rest Of The Bands At That GRAVE DESECRATOR Show...

2010-11-09T12:00:00.001-08:00

Shit! It's been almost a month since I took the following photos at the GRAVE DESECRATOR show in Manchester (an all-dayer called "DEAD EVIL FEST") and I've only just taken a look-see at what the pictures turned out like. I'm a lazy fucking bastard... apologies to anyone who I've told "Yeah man, I'll get those photos sent to you in a few days." Little did I realise at the time that I had been shooting the photos in RAW format (meaning you have to sit at a desk for hours pouring over each and every frame one by one, adjusting and then reformatting each to jpeg or what have you) and, just to compound that a bit further, I took about 650+ pics during that day. All in some ridiculous format that I'd left the camera switched to from the day before. Idiot!

Anyway, here's a photo from each of the bands that played before GRAVE DESECRATOR. For photos of the headline band, see the original post!

PARASITIZED

DECREPID

THE GODS OF HELLFIRE

TOWERS OF FLESH

CLOACA

SEREGON

SEREGON were a right royal ballache to shoot, mainly because they moved so damn fast and never took a second to stay still! Which is great for a metal band, but so frustrating for a photographer haha.

More photos available on request: Leave a comment and I promise to get them to you sometime before the next century begins.

UGH!

2010-11-07T03:06:00.000-08:00

Post Sunn show pic, London, early hours of 23rd Feb 2009. Take me back there please.

Not So Strange Bedfellows

2010-11-06T02:33:00.000-07:00

On a friend's recommendation I recently got a copy of English band Hateful Abandon's 2008 début Famine (Into the Bellies of Worms).
It was sold to me on the strength of being "Joy Division worshipping Black Metal" and that's not far wrong, You can hear elements of all kinds of dark late seventies/early eighties pop on here, think Killing Joke, Warsaw, Public Image, even Bauhaus and The Fall mixed in with modern black metal a la Amesoeurs or Lifelover, which aren't as different as you think, I mean there are themes of alienation and misanthropy running through the output of all these bands.
When it all comes together, such as on the track Boiling Seas, what you have is a truly unique sound that works unbelievably well, but don't expect a BM album, as with Amesoeurs etc, black metal is only one of many influences here and is not worn on the sleeve.
There's more to come soon, I believe they have finished sessions for an upcoming release recently, and I look forward to hearing more from them.

Hateful Abandon Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/hatefulabandon

Upcoming - BLACK BREATH - Manchester S&G - 22nd November 2010

2010-11-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

Say It To My Face presents:

BLACK BREATH
http://www.myspace.com/blackbreath
Motorhead & Discharge mixed with Entombed on Southern Lord Records

ROT IN HELL
http://www.myspace.com/rotinhellband
Holy Terror on Deathwish Inc. New album coming soon...

HANG THE BASTARD
http://www.myspace.com/hangthebastard
Raw Sorcery from London

CLOSURE
http://www.myspace.com/closurehc
Leeds finest

Monday 22nd November
The Star and Garter, Fairfield Street, Manchester
£8 adv from Ticketline.co.uk
Doors 7.30pm

http://www.starandgarter.co.uk/

Iron Maiden Mystery...

2010-11-02T11:04:00.000-07:00

....some noises on Twitter that there was going to be an announcement on Iron Maiden's official website this week, then today, this:

So, at six O'clock the announcement is made aaaaannnnnddddd.......

So, those tourdates in full:

FEBRUARY Fri 11 Tue 15 Thu 17 Sun 20 Wed 23 Thu 24 Sat 26 Sun 27	Moscow, RUSSIA SINGAPORE Jakarta, INDONESIA Bali, INDONESIA Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA Brisbane, AUSTRALIA Sydney, AUSTRALIA	Olympiski Singapore Indoor Stadium Stadium Utama Gelaro Bung Karno Senayan Garuda Wisnu Kencana Hisense Arena Entertainment Centre Showgrounds (Soundwave Festival) Eastern Creek Raceway (Soundwave Festival)
MARCH Fri 4 Sat 5 Mon 7 Thu 10 Sat 12 Sun 13 Thu 17 Fri 18 Sun 20 Wed 23 Sat 26 Sun 27 Wed 30	Melbourne, AUSTRALIA Adelaide, AUSTRALIA Perth, AUSTRALIA Seoul, KOREA Tokyo, JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN Monterrey, MEXICO Mexico City, MEXICO Bogota, COLOMBIA Lima, PERU Sao Paulo, BRAZIL Rio De Janeiro, BRAZIL Brasilia, BRAZIL	Showgrounds (Soundwave Festival) Bonython Park (Soundwave Festival) Steel Blue Oval (Soundwave Festival) Chamsil Gymnasium Super Arena Super Arena Banamex Theatre Foro Sol CC Sapo Estadio San Marcos Morumbi Stadium HSBC Arena Nilson Nelson Parking Lot
APRIL Fri 1 Sun 3 Tue 5 Fri 8 Sun 10 Wed 14 Sat 16 Sun 17	Belem, BRAZIL Recife, BRAZIL Curitiba, BRAZIL Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA Santiago, CHILE San Juan, PUERTO RICO Sunrise, Florida, USA Tampa, Florida USA	Parque De Exposicoes Parque De Exposicoes Expotrade Velez Sarsfield Estadio Nacional Coliseo De Puerto Rico Bank Atlantic Center St Pete Times Forum
JULY Jun 30 - Jul 3 Fri 1 Wed 6 Fri 8 Sun 10	Roskilde, DENMARK Gothenburg, SWEDEN Oslo, NORWAY Helsinki, FINLAND St Petersburg, RUSSIA	Roskilde Festival Ullevi Stadium Telenor Olympic Stadium SKK Peterburgskiy

With the following cryptic message tagged onto the bottom:

UK fans - don't worry, we most certainly haven't forgotten you... you're next!