Coming off the critical success of their new EP Species at War, Finnish grindcore aficionados Rotten Sound have announced a North American headlining tour throughout the month of May. Featuring a revolving-door of support from the likes of Black Breath, Early Graves, and more, the 21-date trek will hit the following cities:
What a year. Here is a summary of my most pleasurable listening experiences. Quick shout outs to Gaza, Eldrimner, Acrania (Mexico), Disfiguring the Goddess, Gods of Eden, Trash Talk, Xibalba and TesseracT who just barely missed the cut. Sorry guys.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy my list. I didn’t mess around. Just meat and potatoes. Also, I’d love it if you left a comment validating my list or insulting me for terrible taste! Either way, happy doomsday!
Black Breath‘s Sentenced To Life has been one of those albums that initially got lost in the noise of the early releases this year. However as the smoke has cleared and a lot of the bigger names have stepped aside, it’s become somewhat of a hidden gem, full of crunchy and crusty riffs and hugely infectious ‘shout-a-longs’. So given Scion’s track record so far, it’s not surprising that they also picked up on this criminally underrated slab of Entombed-core and whilst it’s not the in-depth masterpiece that graced the recent Atlas Moth video, the rough around the edges veneer it takes on suits the track perfectly and does justice to the ‘No Sleep ‘Til Death‘ mentality that seems to surround the album.
I seriously have to wonder how much money Scion are throwing into these bands and videos. Surely they can’t be making much of a return? However, with the recent announcement of this year’s Scion Fest it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon. And as for Nick Frost? Well it was the first comment on the Youtube page and now I can’t un-see it, it’s literally uncanny.
- DL
The previously announced Southern Lord summer package tour featuring Black Breath, Martyrdod, Burning Love, Enabler, and more now has dates available. If only Summer Slaughter were so quick with their turn around, eh?
Here are the dates. Make it out, hardcore fans.
6/19 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon w/ Poison Idea
6/20 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater w/ Poison Idea
6/21 San Francisco, CA @ The Mezzanine w/ Noothgrush
6/22 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst w/ Pelican, Noothgrush
6/23 Pomona, CA @ The Glass House (Southern Lord label showcase) w/ Pelican
6/24 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah w/ Pelican
6/25 Phoenix, AZ @ Chasers
6/27 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada w/ Power Trip, Wild//Tribe
6/28 Austin, TX @ Red 7 w/ Power Trip, Wild//Tribe
6/29 Houston, TX @ Walter’s w/ Power Trip, Wild//Tribe
6/30 New Orleans, LA @ Three Ring Circus w/ Dead In The Dirt
7/1 Atlanta, GA @ 529 w/ Dead In The Dirt
7/2 Raleigh, NC @ Kings Barcade w/ Dead In the Dirt
7/3 Richmond, VA @ Strange Matter w/ Dead In The Dirt
7/4 Baltimore, MD @ Talking Head Lounge at Sonar w/ The Secret
7/5 Boston, MA @ Radio Bar w/ The Secret
7/6 Brooklyn, NY @ Acheron w/ The Secret
7/7 Philadelphia, PA @ The Barbary w/ The Secret
7/8 Dayton, OH @ Blind Bob’s w/ The Secret (*NO Martyrdöd)
7/9 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle (no Martyrdöd)
7/10 Milwaukee, IL @ Borg Ward (Black Breath, Enabler ONLY)
7/11 Minneapolis, MN @ Medusa (Black Breath, Enabler ONLY)
7/13 Spokane, WA @ TBA
7/14 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater (Black Breath ONLY) w/ Autopsy
- JR
While I am BEYOND EXCITED for Summer Slaughter Tour this year, some metal fans out there aren’t too keen on the likes of Periphery, Veil of Maya, etc. Understandable, I suppose; we all have our tastes and there’s nothing wrong with that so long as you’re not an asshole about it. For those waiting for a more underground package tour to come to fruition, you’re in luck, because Southern Lord’s putting something together.
Here’s the scoop from the press release:
Southern Lord this week confirms a devastating label tour package for this June and July, bringing some of the label’s newest and most promising acts as well as some major players on the eclectic but lethal roster together for a near month-long trek across the face of America.
Organized and booked by Southern Lord founder Greg Anderson, the core acts for the tour include the Ontario-based hardcore/rock outfit BURNING LOVE (featuring ex-Cursed vocalist), the dark lords of Swedish crust MARTYRDOD making their debut U.S. appearance, Milwaukee’s punk/hardcore crossover outfit ENABLER and Seattle’s powerhouse d-beat/death-infused hardcore bastards BLACK BREATH. Special additional performances from POISON IDEA, NOOTHGRUSH, PELICAN, POWERTRIP, WILD/TRIBE, DEAD IN THE DIRT, THE SECRET, ALL PIGS MUST DIE and more will join some of the shows regionally as well.
The final routing is still being plotted and finalized, and a fully confirmed itinerary will be publicized in the next two weeks as it all takes shape.
So there you go, hardcore fans! Dates are to be announced soon, and we’ll fill you in when they’re available.
- JR
Wolfbrigade aren’t a band I’m familiar with, despite having a career stretching back to 2001 and playing under the name Wolfpack for five years prior to that. However thanks to the combination of the impeccable taste of American Aftermath and the work of Southern Lord records, I’ll get a chance to hear the new full length Damned from these Swedish d-beat merchants in April with ‘Peace Of Mind‘ being the brilliant first impression. Fans of Black Breath, Disfear and Dead In The Dirt should easily find something to love about ‘Peace Of Mind‘ whether it be the scorching tremolo leads, the deep hardcore shouts or the pummeling drums.
Colour me excited.
- DL
Black Breath found their mark with me by releasing one of 2010′s finest hardcore albums, Heavy Breathing. I find it hard to get into a lot of hardcore sometimes, but that album really hit the spot, and so I’m pretty stoked to find that they’ll be hitting the road this spring, trekking across mainland Europe and the UK with a varying mix of Tormented, Victims, Christian Mistress, and a one-off with Saviours.
With Victims & Tormented:
03/29 Rotterdam, NET
03/30 Antwerp, BEL – Trix
03/31 Kortrijk, BEL – De Kreun
04/01 Nottingham, UK – Stuck On A Name Recording Studio
04/02 London, UK – The Underworld
04/03 Manchester, UK – Islington Mill
04/04 Cardiff, UK – Clqb for Ibach
04/05 Nantes, FRA – Le Ferrailleur
04/06 Bordeaux, FRA – Heretic Club
04/07 San Sebastian, SPA – Mogambo
04/08 Madrid, SPA – Sala Caracol
04/09 Barcelona, SPA – Razzmatazz 3
04/10 Toulouse, FRA – La Dynamo
04/11 Schaffhausen, SWI – Tap-Tap
04/12 Stuttgart, GER – Juha West
04/13 Tilburg, NET Roadburn Festival
04/15 Hamburg, GER – Hafenklang
04/16 Lund, SWE – Hemgarden
04/17 Stockholm, SWE – Debaser
With Tormented:
04/18 Oslo, NOR – Revolver
04/19 Gothenburg, SWE – Truckstop Alaska
04/20 Lyngby, DEN – Templet (feat. Saviours)
With Christian Mistress & Tormented:
04/21 Berlin, GER – Festsaal Kreuzberg
04/22 Dortmund, GER – FZW
04/24 Chemnitz, GER – AJZ Chemnitz
04/25 Vienna, AUT – Arena
04/26 Bologna, ITA – Alantide
04/27 Milan, ITA – Lo-Fi
04/28 Wangen, GER – Jugendhaus Wangen
04/29 Helmond, NET – Lakei
If that weren’t enough, the band will soon be announcing runs in other countries, including June/July U.S. dates, Japan in August, as well as Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. They will also be playing at this year’s SXSW, at the Power of the Riff showcase at the Scoot Inn.
The reason for all of this is probably that Black Breath’s new album Sentenced To Life is due out March 27th via Southern Lord, so there’s a fair whack of promoting to do! We heard the new track ‘Mother Abyss‘ a few weeks ago, and it promises to be awesome.
- CG
The first time I heard Black Breath was, unbelievably, on the radio. Every Sunday night on the classic rock station they have a section of the show run by Metal Hammer that plays everything from Pantera and Sepultura to Ghost and Chthonic, while I got over the novelty of hearing extreme metal on the radio – the sound of ‘Eat The Witch‘ blaring through the tiny radio speakers certainly got my attention and I made a mental note to check out Black Breath the next time they reared their ugly little head.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wait long as the band have announced they will be releasing their new album Sentenced To Life on the 12th of March through Southern Lord Records. The artwork may be a throwback to the cheesey leather and metal covers made famous by bands like Anvil and Razor but the band also released the track ‘Mother Abyss‘ alongside it showing that they’re still the crusty crossover titans we’ve come to love. ‘Mother Abyss‘ is one hell of a mission statement – the screeching leads sit perfectly with the thrashing main riffs and points to all the perfect influences such as Trap Them and All Pigs Must Die.
I don’t know about you guys, but March is looking pretty amazing at this rate. Last year we had Prog Metal March, this year we simply have Awesome Metal March.
- DL
All Pigs Must Die01. Death Dealer
02. Pulverization
03. Sacrosanct
04. God Is War
05. The Blessed Void
06. Third World Genocide
07. Extinction Is Ours
08. Sadistic Vindicator
My first run in with All Pigs Must Die came about during a recent gig which involved them and Trap Them playing a ‘versus set’ where they would switch out every few songs and alternate periodically. With only low quality footage available online, it was doomed to only be documented with a hugely over driven sound that meant everything became a smear of distortion. So, in the end, both bands sounded extremely similar… Thankfully, due to the wonders of modern technology in being able to take a snapshot of a bands sound at any time (in this case, in the form of recent release God Is War) we can now all bear witness to the fact that in the studio both bands sound extremely similar…
THE POWER OF THE RIFF01 ALL PIGS MUST DIE – “Pulverization”
02 BAPTISTS – “Good Parenting”
03 EYEHATEGOD – “Jack Ass in the Will of God”
04 MASAKARI – “Trapped In The Mold”
05 ALPINIST – “Hak Nam”
06 SKIN LIKE IRON – “Consequences”
07 EARLY GRAVES – “Wraiths”
08 SEVEN SISTERS OF SLEEP – “Sundown”
09 PENTAGRAM – “Call The Man”
10 BLACK BREATH – “Children Of The Horn”
11 PLAGUES – “Breathing”
12 HARASSOR – “Glory Raped”
13 ACEPHALIX – “Interminable Night”
14 BLACK COBRA – “Negative Reversal”
15 ÆGES – “Roaches”
16 SLAVE – “Rise Of Shame”
17 TRAP THEM – “Carnage Incarnate”
18 NOOTHGRUSH – “Oil Removed”
19 PELICAN – “Strung Up From The Sky”
20 WINTER – “Eternal Frost”
Southern Lord Presents Free 20-Song THE POWER OF THE RIFF Mix Tape
In preparation for THE POWER OF THE RIFF 2011, with five West Coast shows announced to take place later this month, Southern Lord is giving away a brutal 20-track mix tape featuring artists set to appear during the upcoming melee! The free download includes tracks from ALL PIGS MUST DIE, BAPTISTS, EYEHATEGOD, PENTAGRAM, BLACK COBRA, PELICAN, NOOTHGRUSH, WINTER, TRAP THEM and more, as well as a collection of flyers from all of the upcoming TPOTR shows, which are listed after the jump…
