cynic

CANTO: Fires in the Distance, Cynic, Capra, and More

CoreyLeave a comment


I have gone three days without beer! …But I’ve still had bourbon.

  • A couple premieres from Prosthetic to lead off with. First, check out “Caustic Burns” from Blindfolded and Led to the Woods over at Decibel. That’s taken from Rejecting Obliteration, a May 19 release.
  • From there we have Fires in the Distance, who shared “Crumbling Pillars of a Tranquil Mind” through Invisible Oranges. Air Not Meant for Us is out on Friday.
  • Atheist and Cynic announced a North American tour in June and July. That kicks off on June 10 and will feature the 30th anniversary sets celebrating Cynic’s Focus and Atheist’s Piece of Time, Unquestionable Presence, and Elements releases. General admission tickets open Friday.
  • Across the Atlantic, Capra have announced a European tour covering the end of July and most of August, around some festival dates. Looks like more dates are coming, too. That doesn’t suck.
  • Last but not least, a new clip from Avatar for “Chimp Mosh Pit”. Dance Devil Dance is out now through Black Waltz Records, and they kick off a tour supporting that album at the end of the week.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Cynic, Lordi, Souldrainer, and More

CoreyLeave a comment


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.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

CANTO: Arch Enemy, White Ward, Imperial Triumphant, and More

CoreyLeave a comment

After a couple days off, I am back to close out the week.

  • We’ll open up with some new material from White Ward that actually premiered yesterday. But since I’m a degenerate, you get it today. Check out “Cronus” here, the second track taken from False Light. As a reminder, that album is out on June 17th through Debemur Morti Productions.
  • Cynic released a live video of “King of Those Who Know”, with footage taken from a 2010 performance in Mexico City. Give it a watch here.
  • Imperial Triumphant is dropping a new album on July 22nd. Spirit of Ecstasy will be out through Century Media, and “Maximalist Scream” is available for streaming now. That track features Snake from Voivod, which is awesome.
  • Funeral Chic have announced that their third full-length album, Roman Candle, will be out on July 29th through Prosthetic Records. Check out the lead single, “Spit & Crawl”, with accompanying music video, here.
  • Arch Enemy is pretty reliable when it comes to new music videos, so that’s how we’re going to head into the weekend. Check out the clip for “Sunset Over The Empire” below. And if you want to purchase the single, you can do so here. They also have a new album out o July 29th through Century Media titled Deceivers. All kinds of good stuff.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Missed Connections: Looking Back on 2021

IanLeave a comment
Best of 2021

Oh hey, you thought lists were all done?  Nope, I’ve got one more in the tank and some more albums to talk about.  I wrote one of these lists last year, amid a flurry of excitement and trepidation that I had missed something truly great, which is kind of a silly thing to worry about now that I think about it.  Of course I did then, and of course I do now.  There just isn’t enough time in the world for me to take every great album in, even in the span of a whole year.  And, not least of all, new bands and new albums are always being thrown my way thanks to the good folks we have on staff.  So, here I sit with some leftovers of 2021, albums that for whatever reason didn’t jump out at me right away but have since found their way into my heart.  Don’t consider these throwaways; they stack up to anything on anyone else’s list, and in fact, many of them WERE on other peoples’ list and that’s what brought them to my attention.  Just consider it a nice bonus present, post-holidays.

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CANTO: Animals As Leaders, Mizmor, Carnation, and More

CoreyLeave a comment

Last one this week. Probably not… let’s be real.

  • Animals As Leaders have (finally) announced a new album. Parrhesia is set for a March 25th release through Sumerian Records, their first since 2016. Pre-orders are up here, and be sure to check out the video for the new track, “The Problem of Other Minds, here.
  • We’ll move onto the news I’m most excited about today. Mizmor is releasing a new album on January 14th through Gilead Media titled Wit’s End, which will include exactly two tracks… both of which will be inevitably massive. Pre-order it here.
  • I love me some Moon Tooth, so here’s some of that. They released an acoustic version of “Nymphaeaceae”, a track that was originally released back in October. It’s expectedly great in either form.
  • And we’re going to close out with a couple items from the Season of Mist camp. First is Cynic, who dropped a new track and drum play-through, titled “In a Multiverse Where Atoms Sing”. That is, of course, taken from Ascension Codes, which is out a week from tomorrow.
  • Finally, we have the new live video from Carnation for “Napalm Ascension”. That comes from the physical release of their Galaxy Studio Sessions performance, which can be pre-ordered here. That one is set for a January 7th release.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb