clutch – Nine Circles

Initial Descent: September 11 – 17, 2022

September 12, 2022September 8, 2022JoshLeave a comment

Tribal Gaze – image courtesy of Sidney Stauts

It’s amazing the crap we deal with on a day to day basis. Utterly amazing…pretty much all I’ve got for an opener AND it’s only Monday. Go figure. However, we’ve got some aggressive tunes to soothe the pain this week in the form of a destructive death metal debut from Tribal Gaze and yes this is the the same Tribal Gaze that put out that barnburner of an EP last year. Next up is a long awaited diesel fueled rock storm from Clutch, an extreme and obtuse outing from Destrage, a consistently METAL outing from Wolfheart, and a crap ton more in the list that follows. Do what you do best and go show all these bands some love via whatever purchasing outlet you land on. It’s as easy as copy / paste from here and the rest is history. Happy hunting and we’ll see you here throughout the week.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 245 (8.20.2022)

August 20, 2022ChrisLeave a comment

After years of seeing that cassette logo at the top of every edition of the Nine Circles Playlist (brought to you now for the 245th time) I finally caved and bought a cassette deck for my stereo system. I have a few tapes lying around from niche labels filled with strange and discordant sounds, so why not? Maybe I’ll even find those old mix tapes I used to have in college and see if they’re still in a playable condition…music as archeology, you know?

I don’t know if anything in this week’s playlist is available on cassette, but I can provide definitive proof you can find it on YouTube. The gang brings in tracks from Sarattma, the return of Toxik, as well as new music from Clutch, Revocation, Conan, Conjurer, Lathe, Ripped to Shreds and An Abstract Illusion. We throw in some shoegaze and indie from My Bloody Valentine and Broken Social Scene to break up the extremity (although I still think MBV’s Loveless is one of the most extreme albums to ever come out) before wrapping it all up with some classic tracks, including a live cut from Opeth, some Testament, Merauder, and Watchtower, among others.

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Get listening. Stay safe. See you next week.

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– Chris

CANTO: Stormruler, Lacuna Coil, Clutch, and More

August 16, 2022August 16, 2022CoreyLeave a comment

The new Soilwork is awesome. Chris wrote a whole review about it. Read it.

Lacuna Coil are releasing Comalies XX, a remade version of their iconic 2002 album marking its anniversary. That will be out on October 14th through Century Media, and a clip for “Tight Rope XX” is available here.
Clutch is popular, so we’ll jump there next. They unveiled a new single and video, titled “Slaughter Beach”, which can be viewed here. That track, naturally, is taken from Sunrise On Slaughter Beach, which drops one month from today through Weathermaker.
Labyrinth of Stars, the new project featuring members of Valborg and Lantlôs, are streaming a new track over at Brooklyn Vegan titled “Dissolving Into The Eternal Nothingness”. That’s the latest from their debut album, Spectrum Xenomorph, which drops on September 30th through Translation Loss.
We’re going to close with something I’ve been anticipating for a bit now, and that is the latest from Stormruler. Their new album, Sacred Rites & Black Magick is set for an October 14th release through Napalm Records. Check out the video for the title track here. It rules.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Behemoth, Tombs, Clutch, and More

June 15, 2022June 15, 2022CoreyLeave a comment

This weird week is only getting weirder!

Let’s start off with a Tombs cover of the GG Allin track, “Commit Suicide”. That single is taken from their upcoming new digital EP titled Ex-Oblivion, with the final single becoming available about a month from now.
This came in yesterday, but I still feel obligated to share it. New Clutch! Check out “We Strive for Excellence”, and jump on one of their recently announced North America dates in September and October.
Gothic metal legends Crematory revealed a new music video for “Trümmerwelten”. That track is taken from their recently released latest album, Inglorious Darkness, which is out now through Napalm Records.
And closing out our day, we have the latest new tunes from Behemoth, this one titled “Off To War!”. As a reminder, Opvs Contra Natvram is set for a September 16th release through Nuclear Blast. Pre-order that here.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Cave In, Pyrithe, Ithaca, and More

April 5, 2022April 5, 2022CoreyLeave a comment

Slowly, but surely, I am catching up on life.

We’ll open with the latest from Cave In. The second single from Heavy Pendulum was unveiled today, titled “Blinded By A Haze”. And yes, it’s another good one. As a reminder, that album is out on May 20th through Relapse Records.
If you missed it, Pyrithe announced details surrounding their long-awaited debut full-length not too long ago. Monuments To Impermanence is out on April 29th through Gilead Media, and today they shared a new single through Decibel. Give “Ekphrastik I” a listen here.
Pivoting to some tour news for the sake of mixing things up, Moonspell have announced North American dates with Swallow The Sun and Witherfall. Those dates are in August and September, and tickets are available here.
Ithaca shared a new track today, titled “In The Way”, which is the opener from They Fear Us. Their second album is set for a July 29th release through Hassle Records.
Texas death/black metal act Haunter shared a clip from “Chained At The Helm Of Eschaton”, a track taken from Discarnate Ails. That album drops next month through Profound Lore.
Closing with new material from Clutch feels like the right thing to do, so here’s the video for “Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)”. Fun fact, that video was directed by David Brodsky. Of course, it’s can be streamed here as well.