Okay, so maybe it is, but it doesn’t make this any less awesome. This brilliant mashup takes one part Every Time I Die‘s “Ebolarama“, mixes it with Norma Jean‘s “Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste“, and throws in a little KRS-ONE for good measure. The result? Well, see for yourself:
These things often have the potential to be either terrible and/or boring, but this manages the feat of just being good.
Major props to The Legion of Doom for making this. I know it’s pretty old at this point, and some of you may have heard it already, but I thought it was at least worth sharing on a painfully slow news day.
Not content with calling it quits after their current Explosions II tour, Norma Jean will be embarking on the Explosions II Part Deux tour across North America this spring, alongside After The Burial, Motionless In White, For The Fallen Dreams, and Stray From The Path. Personally I’d be most interested in seeing Norma Jean and After The Burial, but it looks like they’ll be getting the most stage time on this tour anyways so it’d be worth it. Plus, thanks to Peter we already know that Norma Jean put on a great show. I myself had the pleasure of seeing After The Burial recently and I enjoyed their set, although I’m more of a fan of Rareform and they played mainly newer material. Even though the tour dates are displayed on the flier, I’ll go ahead and post them after the jump to make it a little easier on your eyes. Aren’t I such a sweetheart?
As I promised when I posted about this tour back in January and saw Norma Jean play at the Nile Theater live on March Second for their Explosions II tour, here’s a review of the gig.
Just as expected, Norma Jean did not disappoint. Their set was pure energy with every member playing their heart out, lead by their very passionate front man Cory Putman. I’m going to try to piece together the show as best as I remember it. I won’t have you believe this is exactly how their set list was played. I’m too active a concert-goer to take notes. I headbang, I jump, and I scream every lyric I know when I’m at a small-venue concert.
01. The New Hell
02. Ad Mortem
03. We Are The Wolves
04. Turner Classic Diaries
05. Bigger Cages, Longer Chains!
06. The Crown and the Holy See
07. VII The Fraudulent
08. A Pavement of Good Intentions
09. A Fragile Peace
10. Pyrithion House
11. To The Teeth
[02/15/11]
[Solid State Records]
Stand out death metal from new and up-and-coming acts is hard to come by. In an abysmal sea of endless breakdowns and mediocrity, it seems that the only ones making killer death metal these days are the already established acts that stuck with it. Enter The Famine. For a band featuring an ex-member of Demon Hunter, they pack quite a punch. Their second album, The Architects of Guilt, is a breath of fresh air both musically and thematically in a scene that’s full of… well, scene.
So, Darkest Hour, Born of Osiris, As Blood Runs Black, and The Human Abstract are going on a bit of a tour starting next month with a few friends; Sleeping Giant, In The Midst of Lions, and This Or The Apocalypse plan on showing up for a few dates! The Atticus Metal Tour III kicks off late February 25th and concludes March 27th.
Is it bad that I don’t remember the first two Atticus tours at all?
2/25-Washington, DC @ 930 Club (DH CD Release Show)
2/26-Virginia Beach, VA @ Skate High
2/27-Greensboro, NC @ Greene St
2/28-Pittsburgh, PA @ Diesel
3/01-Joliet (Chicagoland), IL @ Mojoes w/ IN THE MIDST OF LIONS
3/02-Sauget (St. Louis), IL @ Pop’s w/ IN THE MIDST OF LIONS
3/03-Covington, KY @ The Madhatter w/ IN THE MIDST OF LIONS
3/04-Detroit, MI @ Harpos w/ IN THE MIDST OF LIONS
3/05-Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave w/ IN THE MIDST OF LIONS
3/06-St. Paul, MN @ The Station w/ IN THE MIDST OF LIONS
3/07-Iowa City, IA @ Blue Moose
3/08-Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
3/09-Colorado TBA
3/10-Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Sound w/ NORMA JEAN, STICK TO YOUR GUNS
3/11-Reno, NV @ The Alley
3/12-Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades
3/13-Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
3/14-Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
3/15-Boise, ID @ The Venue
3/17-Santa Clara, CA @ The Avalon w/ SLEEPING GIANT
3/18-Modesto, CA @ Seasons Hall w/ SLEEPING GIANT
3/19-Anaheim, CA @ The Grove – CALIFORNIA METALFEST V w/ AS I LAY DYING & SUICIDE SILENCE
3/20-Tucson, AZ @ The Rock
3/22-Tulsa, OK @ Marquee Theatre
3/24-Indianapolis, IN @ Emerson Theatre
3/25-Dayton, OH @ The Attic
3/26-Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club w/ THIS OR THE APOCALYPSE
3/27-Albany, NY @ Northern Lights w/ THIS OR THE APOCALYPSE
I should’ve posted on this earlier, but its here now. Norma Jean is finally getting a very deserved headlining tour after their release of Meridional, and I have to admit I’m fucking stoked. The last time I saw them live they put on a very rowdy show, playing a varied set and maintaining all the energy expected from Norma Jean. What I must admit I’m not stoked about is this lineup. I personally never got into Stick To Your Guns, or Impending Doom. Of Legends stands out somewhat, and they have the potential to at least grow on me. I wish they had a better supporting cast, but I do realize that a lineup like this has the potential to draw new listeners and increase sales. Regardless of the opening acts, Norma Jean as a headliner will be worth the price of the ticket alone. I’ll be doing my best to offer a nice review of this concert after I see them at the Nile Theater March 2nd.
So here’s the new Norma Jean Architects artwork. It looks better than Hollow Crown but my spidey senses are telling me the actual music won’t. As for the tracklisting:
1. Day In Day Out
2. Learn To Live
3. Delete, Rewind.
4. BTN
5. An Open Letter To Myself
6. The Blues
7. Red Eyes
8. Stay Young Forever
9. Heartburn
10. Year In Year Out / Up And Away
Well, there isn’t much to take away from that because Architects’ track names always suck, but whatever.
The Here and Now is set for January 24th 2011 on Century Media.
Today I was scrolling through my Facebook updates only to find that The Chariot has uploaded a new track titled “The Audience” from their newest record on their Myspace! I was never a fan of The Chariot until I saw their very intense live performance with Norma Jean. Their older work seems to be hit and miss with me, but their most recent album Wars and Rumors of Wars was practically flawless. Their sound evolved to something much more fluid and concrete while maintaining the chaos that they’ve always been known for.
The newest track seems to continue right from where they left off, and that’s a good thing. In addition, they’ve signed to Good Fight Music! This is exciting, as Good Fight Music is a rather new label (compared to Nuclear Blast, Metalblade, Century Media, etc.) that enjoys the company of bands like The Contortionist, Son of Aurelius, and I Am Abomination. Given their latest release, plus the new label signing I’m completely stoked for Long Live, due out on November 23rd!
If you’ve never given The Chariot a chance, give this video a listen and enjoy one of the muddiest head-whipping breakdowns you’ve heard.
It’s been a while since I’ve done a Hits From the Inbox column. I think I’ll bring it back for use more often! This rendition of Hits From The Inbox features a two-fer of new bands for you to sink your teeth into: New York sludge/noise rock band Komondor and UK metalcore act What The Night Brings.
First up, Komondor!
Taking a big influence from sludge, noise rock, post-punk, and stoner metal, Komondor‘s bassist/vocalist Lazlo describes their music as “sounding like Eyehategod covering Boston, but playing the songs backwards. Or maybe Daydream Nation with all the good parts taken out played (again) backwards but slower with a man yelling on top of it. Better yet, maybe we sound like Venom playing Captain Beefheart… well we hope to be sounding like that soon.” I think you’re right close there, Lazlo. This music is filthy, in the best way. I think I might need a tetanus shot.
Listen to their whole album The Giant Is Coming & The Giant Is Going To Kill You below, and click through to make a purchase if you’re feeling generous and awesome.
Next, What The Night Brings.
What The Night Brings fits right at home with the type of music that most often gets posted on HBIH. It’s very slightly progressive influenced metalcore, complete with some djenty sounding sections and gang vocals, sounding somewhere between Born of Osiris and Norma Jean, almost. WTNB have one EP out now called Tides, which you can listen to via PureVolume. You’ll have to click through for that one since PureVolume doesn’t give embeds, apparently. Check them out!
That’s it for this time! Check out the contact page (link above) to send us your music. We may or may not get back to you, as we’re pretty busy most of the time, but who knows. You might end up in this column!
Oh wait, nevermind. That’s just the new, watered down version of Architects. I’ve skewered this song before, but now the band are streaming the song on MySpace.
While I have to admit the song is catchy as fuck, it marks the decline in quality in the band’s career in an attempt to gain a higher international audience, and of course, more money. Hollow Crown was great in its sort-of-proggy song structure where the odd chorus was saved for later and played maybe once or twice for effect and then threw a bunch of riffs and odd time signatures. This seems like an attempt to appeal to a more mainstream audience. The song’s good and everything… but it’s just not Architects good.
I’ve said my piece. You can judge for yourself over at the band’s myspace. You can either back me up on this or tell me how much of an idiot I am in the comments section. I want to get everyone’s opinion on this one.
The Famine
