Fuck 2009

Just a few little odds and ends before what was, for me personally, a very bittersweet year finally leaves us.

Gig of the Year
I didn't get out much this year, but for me, the gig of the year was Church of Misery at Manchester's Star and Garter back in May. Amazing turnout, three great bands (support was from Firebird and Charger), and a setlist and performance from COM that pleased nearly everyone in attendance.  Judging by the amount of new faces and the much hated Down t-shirts, maybe this will prove to be the moment that our underground went that little bit more overground? Time will tell. Check it out again if you missed it forst time round, I'm in there somewhere, stagediving in a Sarcófago shirt:







Release of the year:
Oh yeah, I've already done that. I feel though that I really, really must mention Mayhem's Life Eternal (Saturnus/Season of Mist) again. Is this because I have one and you probably don't? No, not at all. I urge all of you without a copy to get hold of one because it's an important document in the Mayhem story, as much as Out from The Dark or any number of Dead/Maniac/Messiah bootlegs.
It helped me appreciate one of my favourite second wave Black Metal album even more.
Plus, it's an amazing package.

Idea of the Year
Four words: BLACK SUN DRUM CORPS






Hopefully be able to get out next year and get the life frightened out of me by Thee Claw's favourite noisemongers.  I haven't seen them since May 2008, which is too fucking long.

Label of the Year
There's no competition here at all.
Nuclear War Now have been releasing quality stud and bullet belt ridden music for a while now, but this year I'd be hard pushed to find something they have put out that wasn't enjoyed in Thee Claw's underground bunker during 2009.

The Die-Hard editions are always well received, and even risk-of-the-year Sister Devil by post-Von outfit Sixx totally exceeded all expectations.
The line up of Germany's NWN Fest was unbelievable and I'm looking forward to what they bring our way during 2010.

A parting thought;
As I've stated before, this year has been a bit of a mad one. As the year draws to a close I hear stories of semi-talented, but rich, kids buying their way onto bills; Festival Tickets only available to those with credit cards and enough disposable leisure time to sit in fron tof their PC on the day tickets go on sale, and every other worthwhile release being limited to 2000 on limited edition gold-encrusted stone tablets with a xeroxed marker and free sharpie for $300, later to go on eBay for $3000.
Metal shouldn't include everyone, because it's outsider value is a massive part of it's appeal, but let's not make it a rich man's game, because if that's the case, I too want out.
And as for hollywood films and symposiums about Black Metal....don't.

Sunn 0))), Islington Mill, Manchester, 8th December 2009

KATATONIA @ Rio's, Leeds (07 November 2009) "Murder"

Went along to watch Swedish doomers KATATONIA last night, at Rio's in Leeds. Went along with our good buddy DesignVoid. Great show, though it was done & dusted by 22:00 (Rio's becomes a nightclub after a Saturday night gig you see). As such I think they might have cropped their set from the usual 18 songs to about 12. Jonas (AKA Lord Seth) used mainly "clean" vocals, right up until the last song of the night, Murder, which you can watch below.



In case you weren't aware, 2 of the guys from KATATONIA (the afore mentioned Jonas "Lord Seth" Renkse - he plays bass for Bloodbath - and lead guitarist Anders "Blakkheim" Nyström, who is on the far left in the Youtube clip above) are also in the Swedish death metal supergroup band BLOODBATH. Their E.P. Breeding Death from back in the year 2000 is one of THEE CLAW's favourite death metal records, you should check it the fvkk out!

The new KATATONIA record, Night Is The New Day, is available from Peaceville and all good record stores. I bought myself a copy of it recently from my local HMV of all places... I mean, just how mainstream can you get?!

Many thanks for the good people at Rio's in Leeds for sorting out the photo accrediatation for us.

Dying Inside (Live @ Roadburn 2009)

Upcoming (More!)

Winters in Osaka / xJonathan Rossx / The Ergon Carousel / Insect Warfare - 7th October 2009, Manchester Star & Garter

INSECT WARFARE


ERGON CAROUSEL


xJONATHAN ROSSx


WINTERS IN OSAKA



Grindcore lunacy. Quote of the night: Shane (xjonathanrossx) - "Hi we're xjonathanrossx and we're going to play you 20 songs as fast as possible."

Absu / Pantheon I / Razor Of Occam / Zoroaster - Manchester, UK (2nd Nov 2009)

Say It To My Face Present:-

ABSU
Crushing Mythological Occult Black Metal from USA
http://www.myspace.com/absu

PANTHEON I
Extreme metal from Norway on Candlelight Records
http://www.myspace.com/pantheoni

RAZOR OF OCCAM
Blackened Thrash featuring members of Destroyer 666
http://www.myspace.com/razoroccam

ZOROASTER
Psychedelic doom metal from Atlanata, USA
http://www.myspace.com/thezoroaster

Monday 2nd November @ Moho Live, Tib Street, Manchester
http://www.moholive.com/

Tickets £10 adv from www.ticketline.co.uk and www.seetickets.com
Doors 7.30pm

Lazarus Blackstar, Bradford, 28 Sept 2009

Almost forgot to mention, I went along to a fine gig a couple weeks back that included a set by one of THEE CLAW's favourite UK acts, LAZARUS BLACKSTAR.


We have seen LBS a few times now, early on with Paul Catton (STUNTCOCK, MEDULA NOCTE) on vocals and then again when MIK HELL took over in that department.

I want to let you know, these guys are so much improved since the last time we saw them (also in Bradford at the 1 In 12 I think). Admitedly, I don't know their set. I recognise riffs of course, but I don't think that knowing their names of songs is the most important thing here. LAZARUS BLACKSTAR are high-volume, tuned-down, dirty, nasty, slow-paced and generally tight in their style of playing.

It is also worth mentioning that Mik's really settled into the front man role (yes, really - front man!), in which he appears to relish the opportunity to convey his utter disgust of the crowd before him. Well, not so much disgust maybe... his lack of concern with any sort of audience reaction to the performance of the band. I don't know if this is a contrived mood that he's projecting, or if it's sincere revolt. Either way he really brings something to the band as a whole. He's not up on that stage to make friends. THEE CLAW has been saying this for a long time: Dirty Scouser frontmen are the way forward!


LAZARUS BLACKSTAR will no doubt bring out a landmark full-length and everyone will be raving about them, in a depressingly doom-laden kind of way. I would like to see headline slots and US tours in their future.

LBS are next playing in our neck-of-the-woods on November 8th 2009 at the Star & Garter. See you there.

LAZARUS BLACKSTAR MYSPACE PAGE

Upcoming - Gates Of Slumber, Birmingham

Dead Congregation @ Manchester, Nov 2009

DEAD CONGREGATION (GRE) www.myspace.com/deadcongregation
SCYTHIAN (ENG) www.myspace.com/scythiandeath
GRAVE MIASMA (ENG) www.gravemiasma.co.uk
BURIAL (ENG) www.myspace.com/burialtheband
CRUCIAMENTUM (ENG) www.myspace.com/cruciamentumuk

NOTE: Same day that WASP play Manchester.

Promoted by Clanglestrim Pro-Duck-Shins

First Listen - Megadeth "Endgame"

 

Opener Dialectic Chaos is a two and a half minute instrumental, much like Into the Lungs of Hell from So Far So Good So What, leading into modern thrasher This Day We Fight!.
Evident immediately during the first two tracks is how Dave Mustaine has taken the classic feel of Megadeth and put a modern spin on it. It's a lead guitarist's wet dream, the solos coming and going throughout the songs as fluidly as they ever have.
44 Minutes, another Megadeth song about automatic weapons, chugs along in the vein of Countdown to Extinction/Youthanasia era 'Deth, followed by het penger 1,320 and halfway through the album I realise how good Megadeth still are. Sure they had that wobble with Risk but that was Lars Ulrich's fault right? This is like putting on a comfortable pair of thrash metal slippers, which is no bad thing. Detractors will say "this bit off this song sounds like Take No Prisoners" or such like, but I don't care.  Have Megadeth become the AC/DC of metal? No, not at all, but you can sort of expect what you are going to get from Megadave these days.
I always said that the only way I'd get into a new Megadeth album was if Dave went back on the brown, as those first three albums where he's fucked will always figure right up there in Thee Claw's top 100 albums of all time, but this is a good, solid, meaty album that could have come out at any point in Megadeth's discography and been a success, and you can't really ask for more than that can you?
My only gripe is that there isn't a song about heavy metal on here.

Sunn 0))) - Europe, October 2009

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

Mind Slip

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

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

When Attention Just Isn't Enough

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

Simply Stunning

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

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

Scorn 0)))

There was an interesting point in the Friday night schedule at this year's Supersonic Festival (Birmingham, UK) when SUNN 0))) and SCORN both played separate sets in different rooms, at the exact same time. I personally took the plunge and watched SUNN 0))) (my 8th time I think). But I really wish that I had taken the opportunity to check out SCORN... even if only for a few minutes... after all, anything involving Mick Harris has got to be worth checking out. Ah well, I made my choice and I will stick with it. SOMA & THEE LORD rarely fail to deliver and they didn't on this occassion either.

But.

I am hearing that there was a chance to experience a totally unique performance, by BOTH bands at once, at the same time, in one go. What?? Rumour has it that Birmingham was treated to a weird-yet-huge humming sound, across a half-mile radius of the inner city. However I imagine that there was also a small pocket of space in the Custard Factory complex, located somewhere between the 2 sets being played where, if you chose your positioning carefully, you had an opportunity to centre yourself on a patch of ground where the sounds of the 2 artists combined together to create a one-off, unrepeatable band - SCORN 0))).

The source of the legend is none other than Sir Walter Of Roadburn, who described hearing the event from afar as follows:

Another highlight was definitely Scorn 0))). It was incredible to hear Sunn 0)))'s low end assault and Scorn's industrial dub step on top of it. It was like seeing this imaginary band at the bar near stage 2. I went back early on Friday night, and while staying at the Paragon hotel (which was like a mile away) I could hear Sunn 0))) perfectly at my hotel room. What do you expect from 131 db's???? It was also utterly surreal when walking back, accompanied by Sunn 0))) and seeing some industrial wasteland in Birmingham by night. This had a profound impact on me.

What chance luck this man has! This is as rare as a solar eclipse landing on your doorstep. No wait, rarer still. At least you can predict solar eclipses, for Christ's sake.

The only thing that can possibly make me feel better (for being present but not witnessing this enormous yet unnoticed occurrence) is that I was at the THORR'S HAMMER / CORRUPTED show in London 2 days later to watch Runhild from TH crowd surfing during CORRUPTED'S set. But then, again, that also meant I wasn't back at the Custard Factory to see GOBLIN doing their thing.

Scheduling can be both the bane and the elixir of life. Your choice which way you see it folks!

Thorr's Hammer (Supersonic, Birmingham, UK)

Wish you were there.

Supersonic 2009

Hello from Birmingham!

Well, not Birmingham really - more like a motorway services just outside Brum. We're here on the road again, on our way from Superonic to London for tonight's show at Scala with The Accused, Thorr's Hammer and Corrupted. Right now everyone in our group is pretty hung over and needing more sleep. Rock and fucking Roll or what!

We've already been through 2 days of Supersonic, Fri & Sat, and it was a good event for sure. Lots of top bands played, and we were there to check em out on your behalf. That's what we're here for, after all. The first night (Friday) included performances from ATOMIZED, KYLIE MONOISE, SUNN 0))), VENTIAN SNARES and more. Yesterday (Saturday) we checked out ROSE KEMP, IRON LUNG, THE ACCUSED, THORR'S HAMMER, CORRUPTED and a whole host of other good shit that I can't recall right now (or can't spell even haha).

Really enjoyed catching up with all of of friends from around the UK, including the boys from BLACK SUN (Russell is a legend), THEY ARE COWARDS (all of them!), plus others.

We checked out a couple of Q&A sessions that were held in the Supersonic cinema space (perfomance space even), including one about the state of the independant music scene in the digital age. later on there was a great half-hour interview with the guys from Sunn 0))) and Nick Bullen (he of NAPALM DEATH and Grindcore renoun). A great excuse to sit down in a darkened room for 30 minutes and get an education about the roots of the music that we know and love, all being told in the home of metal, Brumingham.

Okay, time to get back on the road. Only 150 miles (or so) to London now, and guess what, I'm the damn chauffeur. Haha, big mistake! Once we get to the hotel down the The Smoke then I'm hoping they will have some in-room internet access. If so, photos to follow.

One last note - if you are a fan of cider, see if you can track down agreat brand called Hogans. Fucking lovely stuff.

Our Man On The Spot

SJW is living it up at Birmingham's Supersonic Festival, before heading off to London tomorrow for Corrupted and Thorr's Hammer.
Expect muchos photos when he gets back, and maybe some words too.

For now though, you can get regular updates on our Twitter Page.

Next week...

 

Stay tuned for photos and reviews from the jewel in Birmingham's crown.