I officially live in the mountains… just in time for winter.
Northwest Terror Fest is returning in 2023, and the lineup is pretty darn stacked. Yob, Wormrot, Horrendous, and obviously many more. That festival is set for May 25 through 27 in Seattle, and tickets go on sale this coming Friday. Get the full scoop here.
With Focus turning 30 in 2023, Cynic are paying homage to late members Sean Reinert and Sean Malone, while marking the anniversary of that album, with two special performances. They’ll be performing on the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise, which is set for January 30 through February 3, and then at ProgPower USA on September 6 in Atlanta. These are their first live performances since the passing of Reinert and Malone.
Switching things up fairly aggressively, we have news from Lordi. They’ve just signed on with Atomic Fire Records, so it seems that their next chapter is being written, and new music is on the horizon. We’ll keep our eyes out. For now, if you happen to be in Europe, they’re currently on the road basically through May. (Not really… more like until December, and then again in April and May).
Swedish death metallers Souldrainer unveiled a visualizer for the new track “End of the World”. That’s the closing track from Departure, which is out on December 9 through Black Lion Records.
Good morning, it’s time to metal. Yes, this thing still exists. Here’s some metal stuff you might have missed from…recently:
As per usual, a whole bunch of bands dropped new music over the weekend, including Skyeater, Heresiarch and more. Check out Josh’s recap for the full list.
Behemoth drummer Inferno is going to be sitting out the band’s upcoming tour with Slayer to go do dad stuff. Understandable. Congrats to him. Filling in will be Jon Rice, formerly of Job for a Cowboy. I’m okay with this because of the formerly in that sentence.
Corey’s off doing mountain things for the weekend. I think. Whenever he’s not here, I just tend to assume that’s what he’s doing. Anyway, you’ve got me on these suckers for the next couple of days. So let’s get to it, shall we?
The saga of Dave Mustaine losing the plot continues: apparently, country star Steve Wariner is going to be appearing on the as-yet-untitled upcoming Megadeth album. Because, you know, Super Collider wasn’t enough of a departure.
Looks like Mastodon‘s going to have a new beer on the market. The “Motherpuncher” IPA is farmhouse-brewed with passion fruit. Color me thirsty.
My Dying Bride have announced their new album, Feel the Misery, will be dropping September 18. This should be interesting.
Anyone planning on heading to 70,000 Tons of Metal next year? Well you’re in luck: the first wave of bands has been announced. Can’t say I’m exactly chomping at the bit based on these first 10 bands, truth be told.
In an enormous victory for fans of normal-style capitalization everywhere, Disturbed frontman David Draiman has cancelled his Twitter account.
And finally, Cradle of Filth released a new song whose title is far too long for me to want to type out here. You can watch / listen to it below, if you care to:
I didn’t care to. Anyway, that’ll do it for tonight. Check back tomorrow for all the usual shenanigans!
Once again, we’ve hit the midway point of the week. So once again, it’s time for you to weigh in on things we’ve pondered over the past week. Now, as you know, we tend to go to a lot of shows. I mean… A LOT of shows. And naturally, those experience have been shared with you time and again. Staying on the subject, but instead going the opposite direction, I’m curious…
WHAT’S YOUR MOST SOUGHT-AFTER CONCERT EXPERIENCE?
Wolves in the Throne Room. Because shows lit by candle flames.
That’s right–this week, we’re talking shows you most want to see, but haven’t yet. Personally, I can think of a ton. First, there are all the bands I want to see that I have yet to be able to. I think of Hypocrisy, Amorphis, and Blind Guardian. Let’s not forget Wolves in the Throne Room. From everything I hear, their live shows go beyond most others. It’s a must and it hasn’t happened yet.
But those are just the individual BANDS I want to see; there are far more experiences that I’ve been after as well. For example, 70000 Tons of Metal, Wacken Open Air (haven’t officially gone and I ain’t gonna jinx shit with this one), and countless other European metal festivals. Despite everything on my metal bucket list, there’s one experience I am after that might be even more difficult to come by, and that is a floor ticket to see Rammstein live in Germany.
Rammstein. Because shows lit by bigger flames.
Now, I will surely take some shit for this from the more-elitist-than-I crowd, but frankly, no fucks are given. Dan and I have had the pleasure of seeing these guys live on two separate occasions in two separate indoor arenas. And all those experiences did was take a band I was curious about and amused by, and turn them into one my most-listened-to artists and an act I will see live pretty much anytime they are within 500 miles of me. The show is that good. But it could be better. How?
First, floor tickets. Seriously. The only thing better than feeling the heat from the fire being thrown and seeing the jizz from Till’s penis cannon spraying everywhere is being right in the action, on the floor, being the one sprayed by said jizz and burned by said fire. And the moshing. The absurd Rammstein mosh pits. But again, this band is amazing live and the only way to make that live experience better is by being in the action, not so much watching it from a distance. The other piece is seeing this in Germany. Everyone knows that Rammstein is “Made in Germany,” and let me assure you, their German fans are very, very proud of that fact. I can only imagine their live shows, with that German crowd, from that floor. It would be the most unreal experience ever.
Full disclosure: this choice was in part inspired by Germany’s absolute THRASHING of Brazil in the semifinals of the World Cup yesterday. The sound of crying Brazilians is still ringing in my hears. To the final!
Anyway, comment below. Let me know what experience you are the most after.
Afternoon, metalheads! Gotten a chance to listen to Episode 7 yet? Well now it’s time for an all-new edition of The Dump, where we compile all of the content we mentioned–but couldn’t share–in this week’s episode, and let it all out for you here. We’ve got some links, Spotify playlists, you name it. Again, you’ll want to take a full listen to the episode to give everything its proper context, but for now, let’s get right into it!
Nine Circles 
