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Instrumental rock titans Mogwai, whilst not necessarily heavy, are fucking awesome, and your should definitely go out and get your ass to see their upcoming U.S. tour, which was just announced by guitarist Stuart Braithewaite.

Early 2011 saw them release the excellent Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (truth), and the year that followed was their busiest yet with no fewer than 124 shows in something like thirty different countries – but as Stuart said in a statement; “the only blemish on an otherwise brilliant year was us twice having to postpone shows in North America. Firstly because of a visa delay and secondly because of ill health.”

The dates in question were in Washington and Boston – and Mogwai have promised to honour all tickets bought for these dates on the new run.

This is likely to be their last major tour for a little while (whether or not this has to do with the recent robbery of their jam space in their hometown of Glasgow whilst they were in Australia we’re not sure…), so you’d do well to head on out and support them. I’m sure they could always use it!

Dates after the jump mo’fuckas!

- CG

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If you’re too slow to work the title out, you inbred child of your mother’s brother and his female kinsperson, then let me spell  out the details for you: tech-metal hillbillies Protest The Hero, faeces-throwing chugga chimps Periphery, The Mighty Raven himself Mr. Jeff Loomis and UK pyromaniacs The Safety Fire are thought to be be touring them United States Of ‘Murica this March!

I think I’ve eaten too many e-numbers today. Bear with me.

So yes, the word going round the interwebs (and you can blame Lambgoat is this is wrong) is that these four worthy acts will be teaming up for four weeks from late March to hit the road in a town possibly but not necessarily near you, depending on your arbitrary scale of nearness. Yes.

Nothing official as of yet, so again, don’t shoot me if I’m wrong, but dates are thought to be as follows:

3/25 Chicago, IL @ Bottom Lounge
3/26 Lawrence, KS @ Granada
3/27 Dallas, TX @ Trees
3/28 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
3/30 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine
3/31 Phoenix, AZ @ Club Red
4/1 Los Angeles, CA @ Key Club
4/2 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
4/3 Portland, OR @ The Branx
4/4 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
4/6 Salt Lake City, UT @ In The Venue
4/7 Denver, CO @ Summit
4/9 St. Louis, MO @ Pops
4/10 Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave II
4/11 Detroit, MI @ Magic Stick
4/12 Columbus, OH @ The Outland Ballroom
4/13 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
4/14 Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
4/16 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
4/17 Orlando, FL @ The Social
4/18 Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theater
4/20 New York, NY @ Gramercy
4/22 Philadelphia, PA @ Trocadero

Not a bad line-up at all. Protest The Hero and Periphery both seem to have been on an endless string of tours with amazing line-ups of late. Long may it continue, no?

- CG

It’s finally here; Opeth and Mastodon have announced their co-headlining North American ‘Heritage Hunter Tour’ featuring the loveable Swedish Satanists Ghost. The tour is rather extensive, going from April 4th through May 12th and will see Mastodon and Opeth swapping out closing spots.

Without further ado, here are the dates!

* Denotes Opeth closing show
** Denotes Mastodon closing show

04 Apr – Portland, ME @ State Theater**
05 Apr – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theater*
06 Apr – Montreal, QC @ Metropolis*
07 Apr – Toronto, ON @ The Sony Centre For The Performing Arts*
09 Apr – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory**
10 Apr – Wallingford, CT @ The Dome**
11 Apr – New York, NY @ Roseland**
13 Apr – Chicago, IL @ Riviera Theater**
14 Apr – Grand Rapids, MI @ Intersection**
15 Apr – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE**
16 Apr – Knoxville, TN @ TN Theater*
18 Apr – Oklahoma City, OK @ Diamond Ballroom**
19 Apr – Dallas, TX @ Palladium*
20 Apr – San Antonio @ Back Stage Live*
21 Apr – Corpus Christi, TX @ Concrete Street*
23 Apr – Denver, CO @ Fillmore*
25 Apr – Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues**
26 Apr – Hollywood, CA @ Gibson*
27 Apr – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theatre*
28 Apr – Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort**
30 Apr – Seattle, WA @ Paramount Theater*
01 May – Vancouver, BC @ Orpheum*
03 May – Edmonton, AB @ Edmonton Events Ctr*
04 May – Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Hall**
05 May – Saskatoon @ The Odeon**
06 May – Winnipeg, MB @ Burton Cummings*
09 May – Washington DC @ The Fillmore*
10 May – Charlotte, NC @ Fillmore**
11 May – Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues*
12 May – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade Music Park**

Tickets go on sale February 3rd, but presales will be available starting February 1st at this location.

I am beyond excited for this. Anyone else making the trip out to Knoxville?

- JR

Australian tech-death outfit Psycroptic have a new album coming out next week called The Inherited Repression , their fifth in a long thirteen year career. Throughout that time they’ve been fairly solid, changing only one member (vocalist Matthew Chalk making way for Jason Peppiatt about mid-way through that period), and the cohesion really shows on the new record – which I reviewed a few weeks ago and you can find through this conveniently-placed link hyar.

Don’t just take my (golden) word for it though: it’s now streaming on Guitar World! SO MANY RIFFS.

The Inherited Repression will hit stores February 10th on Nuclear Blast. We recently got to chat with one of the Haley brothers, drummer Dave, so be on the lookout for that soon!

- NT

Eluveitie – Helvetios

Eluveitie

Helvetios

01. Prologue
02. Helvetios
03. Luxtos
04. Home
05. Santonian Shores
06. Scorched Earth
07. Meet The Enemy
08. Neverland
09. A Rose For Epona
10. Havoc
11. The Uprising
12. Hope
13. The Siege
14. Alesia
15. Tullianum
16. Uxellodunon
17. Epilogue

[02/28/12]
[Nuclear Blast]

I’ve never been too familiar or fond of Eluveitie, the Swedish folk-metallers, or folk metal in general—I much prefer the drastically different sounds of folk rock— but 2012 seems to be passing by at a snails pace, and I was desperate for a new release that could spark some sort of fire in me, so I gave Helvetios—their fifth studio album; a sprawling concept album that stretches just shy of the one hour mark—a spin. I wasn’t expecting much, but I figured it would be better than nothing. With that in mind, let me say just how wonderful it is when a band completely shatters your expectations, and has you re-evaluate your thoughts behind them. With this album Eluveitie have done something right, and set a phenomenal precedent for the rest of the year.

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Prog metal guitar virtuoso Jeff Loomis (ex-Nevermore) has finally made an announced on his upcoming album, Plains of Oblivion. His sophomore solo effort was produced by 7 Horns 7 Eyes‘ Aaron Smith and will include a handful of guest artists, including the likes of Ihsahn and Marty Friedman, among others. Check out the tracklist below:

01 Mercurial (featuring Marty Friedman)
02 The Ultimatum (featuring Tony MacAlpine)
03 Escape Velocity
04 Tragedy And Harmony (featuring Christine Rhoades)
05 Requiem For The Living (featuring Attila Voros)
06 Continuum Drift (featuring Chris Poland)
07 Surrender (featuring Ihsahn)
08 Chosen Time (featuring Christine Rhoades)
09 Rapture
10 Sibylline Origin

Looks like it’s gonna be killer. I’m particularly interested in hearing how the Ihsahn collaboration worked out! Speaking of which, Loomis has reciprocated the solo album guest solo, and will be featured on Ihsahn’s upcoming solo album. NEAT. Can’t wait for that!

Plains of Oblivion is due out April 10th on Century Media Records.

- JR

As polarizing as the band are, iwrestledabearonce won me over with last year’s Ruining it for Everybody. I think the record was legitimately fun and enjoyable, and I don’t really understand where all these accusations of the band being all ironic about their music came from. Sure, they don’t take anything seriously and they like to have fun, but you can sort of tell they write and play their music because they care, not because of some inside joke that amounts to, “it’d be kinda funny if we were in a shitty metal band, you know?”

Or I could be wrong. Whatever. It’s hard to tell these days.

Based on what I’ve heard, IWABO can put on a good live show. I’ve never seen them personally, but I know Noyan and our good friend Tre Watson saw them last year and they ended up playing instrumentally because vocalist Krysta Cameron was sick, and they thought the set was excellent. Maybe some cities on their upcoming Road To Metalfest tour (featuring the likes of Molotov Solution, Glass Cloud, and The Greenery) will be as lucky and feature the band as instrumental. Not that I hate Krysta with a passion (only slightly!), or anything. It’d just be rad as shit. Fingers crossed!

Here are the dates, below.

04/16 Oklahoma City, OK – Conservatory
04/17 Memphis, TN – New Daisy Theater
04/18 Knoxville, TN – Valarium
04/20 Springfield, VA – Empire
04/21 Worcester, MA – The Palladium (New England Metal And Hardcore Festival)
04/23 Pittsburgh, PA – Altar Bar
04/24 Evansville, IN – Boney Junes
04/25 Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theater
04/26 Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews
04/27 Iowa City, IA – Blue Moose
04/29 Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
04/30 Albuquerque, NM – Launchpad
05/01 Flagstaff, AZ – Cinnabar

- JR

This weekend, our very own and very talented Chris Collins attended Dallas, TX’s Winter Jamboree Fest and managed to snap pics of Whitechapel, Volumes, Structures, Stray From The Path, In Search of Sight, and The Plagued, as well as a group shot of Volumes, Structures, and Counterparts.

After the jump, browse Chris’ shots from the fest!

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Faith No More have got to be my favorite not-really-metal-but-almost-sometimes-I-guess rock band ever. The band was definitely highly influential, and they released some of the greatest albums of the 90′s; Angel Dust is one of my favorite records of all time! Their reach is so broad—from jazz to metal and everything in between—that it’s no surprise why many bands have covered Faith No More over the years. Their classic song ‘Surprise! You’re Dead!’ was actually recently covered by up-and-coming modern thrash frontrunners Revocation. If you’re not all that familiar with Faith No More and their diversity, this track was on The Real Thing, the same record as the rap-rock hit ‘Epic,’ and Revocation covered it quite faithfully without having to add much of their own flair to bring it where it is now, above. They did an excellent job on it, and I’m sure they did the band proud.

Seriously, The Real Thing runs the gamut from thrash, rapping, a bluesy piano-oriented song about a pedophile, and a totally badass ‘War Pigs‘ cover—that album is insane. Look into it if you haven’t heard it yet. In fact, go out and listen to their whole discography. You won’t regret it.

- JR

 

Been wondering where the weekly run-down of new music went? Well, releases are typically very slow for December and January, so I put the column on a bit of hiatus, to be put back to use ‘whenever I felt like it.’ However, this month has been surprisingly good for new releases and I figured I’d full you guys in on the music that was put out in the month of January. Here’s what we’ve got:

JANUARY 10th:

  • Blut Aus Nord – 777 – The Desanctification (Season Of Mist)
  • Enter Shikari - A Flash Flood Of Colour (Hopeless)
  • Thy Catafalque – Rengeteg (Season Of Mist)

JANUARY 17th:

  • Attack Attack! – This Means War (Rise)
  • Buck Satan & The 666 Shooters – Bikers Welcome, Ladies Drink Free (AFM Records)
  • Everything Went Black – Cycles Of Light (Prosthetic Records)
  • Loincloth – Iron Balls of Steel (Southern Lord)

JANUARY 24th:

  • ††† – EP †† (Self-released)
  • Abigail Williams – Becoming (Candlelight)
  • Aborted – Global Flatline (Century Media)
  • Blessed By A Broken Heart – Feel The Power (Tooth & Nail)
  • Dodecahedron – Dodecahedron (Season Of Mist)
  • Lacuna Coil – Dark Adrenaline (Century Media)
  • Lamb Of God – Resolution (Epic)
  • Nothengal – Decadence (Season Of Mist)

JANUARY 31st:

  • Alcest – Les Voyages de L’Ame (Prophecy)
  • Bleeding Through – The Great Fire (Rise)
  • I Exist – II: The Broken Passage (Prosthetic)
  • Liberteer – Better To Die on Your Feet Than Live On Your Knees (Relapse)
  • Metallica – Beyond Magnetic (Warner Bros.)

And that’s it, for the most part! We’ll begin running the column regularly until there’s a lull in the releases again. Now go and catch up on the new music.

- JR


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