Originally known as SORCERER, HOLY GRAIL is made up of former members of Earache NWOBHM-wannabes WHITE WIZZARD. You’ve probably scene HOLY GRAIL live before you had the opportunity to listen to them on record, as they have become road warriors as of late – most recently completing a trek with EXODUS and MALEVOLENT CREATION in addition to jaunts with 3 INCHES OF BLOOD, SAVIOURS, AMON AMARTH and even a slot at the 2010 Wacken Festival.
Now that you are familiar with their history, let’s get it out of the way and say that HOLY GRAIL is much better than WHITE WIZZARD – much less gimmick, much more metal prowess. ‘Crisis in Utopia’ was tracked with Danny Lohner from NINE INCH NAILS and has already received heavy amounts of praise and anticipation. This disc will meet fans and press alike with exactly what they wanted, amazing musicianship, catchy choruses and a young fiery take on old school metal that will gain comparisons to IRON MAIDEN and ARMORED SAINT, or perhaps even AVENGED SEVENFOLD due to the raspy voice of James Luna.
Simply put, this album shreds. There had been a lot of talk that HOLY GRAIL ran into problems in the studio during the making of ‘Crisis in Utopia’ but, if that is in fact true, the album made it through unscathed. The only point of contention is that the album seems a little raw and frayed at the edges in some places. Some will say that it takes away from the album; others will say it’s exactly what the band was looking for. Either way, HOLY GRAIL has crafted an extremely fun record and if you fancy yourself a NWOBHM-revivalist, you will surely find some of the best riffs of the year with ‘Crisis in Utopia’! Out October 26th via Prosthetic Records!
One of the OGs of the sludge scene, CROWBAR is back and more disgusting than ever! The band recently inked a deal with E1 for their next full length and now the label that seems to be signing EVERY heritage act in metal will also reissue the band’s three most influential records: ‘Crowbar’, ‘Live+1′ and ‘Time Heals Nothing’.
Kirk Windstein and co. are also going to do a brief jaunt through the south, playing two shows in Texas and two in their home state of Louisiana. Hopefully we get a proper tour soon, but for now: catch ‘em if you can!
While sending us his latest blog, ODERUS URUNGUS from GWAR mentioned that there is a hot story about his band of intergalactic party monsters that will be breaking tonight on FOX NEWS RED EYE. He didn’t tell us exactly what’s happening but apparently it will change the face of the metal world forever!
If you are a fan of GWAR or simply a supporter of metal, you do NOT want to miss this. FOX NEWS RED EYE airs nightly beginning at 3AM Eastern / Midnight Pacific. Greg Gutfeld might be the best host in FOX NEWS history – even if he does look like every prick who beat you up at a bar.
Despite most people not being familiar with GAMA BOMB, they sure manage to tour a lot. I would tell you more about them, but I really don’t know much aside from the fact that Earache gave away their album for free and they tour with a lot of retro thrash bands. What do you think? Should I know more about this band? Should I care? Is thrash throwback dead?
Catch GAMA BOMB live in North America at the following shows:
GAMA BOMB w/ EVILE, BONDED BY BLOOD
Oct 22 – Dante’s – Portland, OR
Oct 23 – El Corazon – Seattle, WA
Oct 24 – Red Room – Vancouver, BC
Oct 25 – Third – Prince George, BC
Oct 26 – The Mead Hall – Edmonton, AL
Oct 27 – Exchange – Regina, SK
Oct 28 – Royal Albert Arms – Winnipeg, MB
Oct 29 – Crocks 16 South Cumberland St – Thunder Bay, ON
Oct 30 – The Rox Tavern – St Cloud, MN
Oct 31 – The Dojo – Indianapolis, IN
Nov 01 – Music Hall – London, ON
Nov 02 – Broadway Joe’s – Buffalo, NY
Nov 03 – Championship Bar and Grill – Trenton, NJ
GAMA BOMB w/ FORBIDDEN, EVILE, BONDED BY BLOOD
Nov 04 – Jaxx – West Springfield, VA
GAMA BOMB w/ OVERKILL, FORBIDDEN, EVILE, BONDED BY BLOOD
Nov 05 – Montage Music Hall – Rochester, NY
Nov 06 – Crazy Donkey – Farmingdale, NY
Nov 07 – Cub Hell – Providence, RI
Nov 08 – Sonar – Baltimore, MD
Nov 09 – Canal Club – Richmond, VA
Nov 10 – Amos – Charlotte, NC
Nov 11 – Volume 11 – Raleigh, NC
Nov 12 – Hooligan – Jacksonville, NC
Nov 13 – Club Firestone – Orlando, FL
Nov 14 – Culture Room – Fort Lauderdale, FL
Nov 15 – The Masquerade – Atlanta, GA
Nov 16 – Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH
Nov 17 – Newport Music Hall – Columbus, OH
Nov 18 – Diesel Nightclub – Pittsburgh, PA
Nov 19 – Rocko’s – Manchester, NH
Nov 20 – Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ
GAMA BOMB w/ FORBIDDEN, EVILE, BONDED BY BLOOD
Nov 21 – Mavericks – Ottawa, ON ***
Nov 22 – Foufounes Electriques – Montreal, QC
Nov 23 – MOD Club – Toronto, ON
Nov 24 – Blondies – Detroit, MI
Nov 25 – The Muse – Nashville, TN ***
Nov 26 – Phoenix Hill Tavern – Louisville, KY
Nov 27 – Reggie’s Rock Club – Chicago, IL
Nov 28 – Rave – Milwaukee, WI
Nov 29 – Station 4 – St Paul, MN
Dec 01 – Scout Bar – San Antonio, TX
Dec 02 – Emo’s Alternative Lounging – Austin, TX
Dec 03 – Scout Bar – Houston, TX
Dec 04 – Trees – Ft. Worth, TX
Dec 05 – The War Legion Underground – Amarillo, TX ***
Dec 06 – The Rock – Tucson, AZ
Dec 07 – U.B.’s – Mesa, AZ
Dec 08 – Whiskey a Go Go – West Hollyood, CA
Dec 09 – Ramona Mainstage – Ramona, CA
Dec 10 – New Oasis – Sparks, NV
Dec 11 – DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA
Dec 12 – Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA ***
Dec 13 – Cheyenne Saloon – Las Vegas, NV ***
*** Without FORBIDDEN
GAMA BOMB w/ DRI, EVILE
Dec 15 – Gator’s – Farmington, NM
Dec 16 – Club 21 – Pueblo, CO
Dec 17 – Bluebird Theatre – Denver, CO
Dec 18 – Club Vegas – Salt Lake City, UT
Since signing with Prosthetic Records, WITHERED have become one of the best selling, most well known black metal bands in the States. Blending in death metal and doom, the sludgy southerners have churned out excellent black metal since 2008’s ‘Folie Circulaire’ and have toured relentlessly throughout the US – including being announced as part of DANZIG’s upcoming ‘Blackest of the Black Tour’ alongside POSSESSED, MARDUK and TOXIC HOLOCAUST.
Now WITHERED has their sites set on releasing a new album – ‘Dualitas’ on October 26th via Prosthetic. ‘Dualitas’ is a bit of a departure from ‘Folie Circulaire’, but that is meant in the best possible way. The band has found their sound more so with this record. The production quality is better, the song structures are much better and the use of growls and more bottom-end vocals are far improved. Basically, WITHERED has come into their own with ‘Dualitas’ and will definitely establish themselves as one of the most talked about bands in the US scene with this release.
“Seek The Shrouded” is currently the song from ‘Dualitas’ that gets the most play on my iTunes. The track sees WITHERED in a chaotic state, sweeping through a death metal frenzy into a churning black metal storm, before descending even further into a sludgy almost doom-metal instrumental section. ‘Dualitas’ as a whole leaves WITHERED sounding like a much greater beast than they were perceived as previously.
WITHERED brought their A-game and will have a lot to show for it when they release this album. Decibel Magazine has even scored it a 9-out-of-10 and I feel like metal heads around the world will agree. ‘Dualitas’ is violent, dissonant look at a band that is just coming into their prime. Get ready.
Here’s Washington DC legends VOID leaping into action in 1983. Guitars were a’ squealin’, dudes wearin’ tight shorts and TED NUGENT T-shirts. VOID (best known for their side of the Dischord split 12” with FAITH) were early players in hardcore-to-metal transmogrification. Dudes like ROB ZOMBIE swear up and down by ‘em – in fact, if you go back to early Zombie, the stuff sounds like VOID on cough syrup!
OCEANO have made quite a name for themselves since erupting on the scene with their 2008 Earache Records debut. Now the band is back, a little older and a little wiser. They are preparing to release ‘Contagion’ through Earache on November 9th and have now announced plans for their first headliner across North America in the band’s history.
The ‘Contagion Across the Nation’ tour will feature CHELSEA GRIN, ATTILA, IN THE MIDST OF LIONS and MONSTERS and will run throughout the month of November. If you want to mosh and/or pick up change, get out there yo!
11/5 Detroit, MI @ Hayloft
11/6 Indianapolis, IN @ Emerson Theatre
11/8 Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
11/9 Holyoke, MA @ Waterfront
11/10 Montreal, QC @ Underworld
11/11 Providence, RI @ Jerky’s
11/12 Farmingdale, NY @ Crazy Donkey
11/13 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
11/14 Richmond, VA @ The Hat Factory
11/17 Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music Hall
11/19 San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
11/20 Dallas, TX @ Rail Club
11/22 Wichita, KS @ Oz Cafe
11/23 Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground
11/24 St Paul, MN @ Station 4
11/27 West Dundee, IL @ Clearwater Theatre
Oderus Urungus here, with my first Metal Army blog in a while. They said I did one before, but I don’t remember doing it.But that’s nothing new…after all, I am pretty much completely wasted all the time! But I am pretty sure I am doing one now.
O.K., here we go…ummm…oh yeah! I remember now! Aren’t you sick of people saying stuff is “over” before it really is? For instance, George Dubya Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq, way before they were, and now Obama is saying they are over again. And even though the “combat operations” have been declared over not once but twice, people are still getting the shit blown out of them. If that’s what war is like after it is declared over, I’d hate to see what it’s like while it’s going on! Wait! What am I saying? I would love to see that!
I don’t get it! These are supposed to be the smartest people in the world! And now Obama is saying that the recession is over. Is it? How do I know it even started? And I’m not gonna listen to you, Obama…you are the same guy that said you were done fighting in Iraq, but you still have tens of thousands of troops there! They’re not over there to race camels, you know. Speaking of camels, have you seen those fucking camel-spiders? And speaking of camel-spiders, did you see that show on National Geographic that was all about how Stalin wanted to mate apes and with human women and come up with some kind of super-ape that would be the perfect soldier? You didn’t? Well neither did I! (more…)
Comeback Thrashers FORBIDDEN have unveiled a new track, “Forsaken at the Gates”, at their official MySpace. The track comes from ‘Omega Wave’, out October 26th via Nuclear Blast.
UK titans ARCHITECTS are back with a new effort. “Day In Day Out” comes from ‘The Here and Now’, which is expected in early 2011! The band is planning a European tour with BRING ME THE HORIZON and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA. Check MySpace for the new single and tour dates!
Perennial Mario Cart champions POWERGLOVE have also unveiled a new cut from their newly released ‘Saturday Morning Apocalypse’. “Transformers” is now available on MySpace and the album is available everywhere!
Windy City Warriors OCEANO have unveiled “Weaponized” on their official MySpace. The track is taken from ‘Contagion’, the brand new album to be released November 9th via Earache Records.
Now, I like a fair amount of hip-hop. I listen to KANYE, JAY Z, THE ROOTS, etc from time to time and I actually am one of the few metal heads who could be considered a legit fan of hip-hop. However, this dude just fucked the game up for EVERYONE!!!!
