helloween – Nine Circles

CANTO: Obsequiae, Overkill, Machine Head, and More

March 14, 2023March 14, 2023CoreyLeave a comment

Life is chaos, so these may not come around as frequently as they used to.

I was psyched to see this emerge today. Check out this multi-camera video of the Obsequiae Fire In The Mountains set. If you look closely enough, you may see some of 9C’s own in the audience and/or photo pit. I personally haven’t looked close enough to confirm or deny.
New Jersey progressive outfit East of the Wall are releasing their sixth full-length, A Natural Second, on June 30 through Translation Loss Records. Give “Detonator Gauntlet” a listen over at Decibel.
Machine Head announced some upcoming U.S. dates. Public tickets sales for their Electric Happy Hour (Live) tour go on sale this coming Friday. Those links, along with the schedule and any other details you may need, can be found here.
Thrash legends Overkill are releasing Scorched on April 14 through Nuclear Blast, and today they unveiled a visualizer for the second single from that collection. Give “Wicked Place” a listen, and watch, right here.
Helloween are returning to North America for a handful of dates in May and June, and they’ll be joined by special guest HammerFall. Tickets are on sale now at this location.
It’s time for me to move on with my evening, so we’ll wrap up with the latest from Sortilège. Check out the new music video for “Vampire” below. Their recently released new album, Apocalypso, is available through Season of Mist.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Best of 2021: Chris’s List

December 29, 2021December 22, 2022Chris4 Comments

The beginning is the end. Literally, in this case. I started this post with the entries for my list a few weeks ago, wrote my 1,000 word review (sorry) on my Album of the Year and concluding paragraph right before Christmas, and now here I am in the vaporous ether before the new year pondering the introduction.

And there are no words left.

I’ve wrangled with the why, trying to make sense of the music I consume and what it says, and I hit a point where trying to find an answer was…pointless. Not because it’s unimportant to know, but in the last two years the rest of the world became so much harder to deal with, life became so much harder to deal with, something in my brain went into emergency mode and just shut down the logic circuits, sending one single message over and over again:

“Stop thinking, stupid. It’s just music.”

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CANTO: Blood Incantation, Helloween, Behemoth, and More

December 17, 2021December 17, 2021CoreyLeave a comment

And on this day, we drink bourbon.

Blood Incantation have a new album on the way. Timewave Zero is out on February 25th through Century Media, and is available for pre-order here.
Black metal duo Austere have signed on with Prophecy Productions/Lupus Lounge, with plans to release their third full-length sometime in 2022 after a decade-long hiatus. Looks like they’ll also be releasing some past recordings as well, so good stuff all around.
Malefic Throne have set the release date for their self-titled Hells Headbangers debut EP. It will be out on January 28th on CD and cassette (vinyl to come later), and you can check out “A New Hand Upon the Blade” right now.
Helloween gave us a new video today, for “Out For The Glory”. That track, of course, is taken from the self-titled album that dropped back in June. Pick that one up through Atomic Fire, if you haven’t already.
May as well end with Behemoth, who have shared the final video from In Absentia Dei. Check out the clip for “Slaves Shall Serve” below. Man, I forgot how monstrous that track (and album) was. You can purchase that live album here, if you feel so inclined.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

Nine (or so Heavily Qualified) Circles ov…2021: A Mid-Year Report

July 6, 2021July 3, 2021Chris2 Comments

Wait…so the guy who only wrote a total of 10 freakin’ reviews this year thinks he has any weight when it comes to a mid-year report? Well, uh…I guess that’s why I put the “heavily qualified” in the title of this post?

But seriously, I’ll be the first to admit that metal hasn’t really been my #1 go-to when it comes to music lately, but like everything else, what you see on the Internet never tells you the whole story. I haven’t been writing nearly as much about the genre lately, but I have been listening. Listening, and refining. Finding the things that really resonate despite the press and the push of PR, or what the pundits tell you on the 1,001 other sites out there scrambling for clicks. And what I’ve discovered is that more and more I’m coming to the sounds that drew me to the genre: thrash riffs, lots of melody, and tasty solos. So yeah: expect some old school bands putting out great records more than 30 years into their existence here. And maybe a few newer bands as well.

Is that qualified enough for ya? Then let’s dig in.

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CANTO: Amorphis, Times of Grace, Insomnium, and More

May 22, 2021May 22, 2021CoreyLeave a comment

OK, Saturday Canto because many things happened yesterday that I probably shouldn’t ignore entirely.

I have to be honest, I’ve seen Amorphis twice live now, and while they were good, the sets also weren’t all that memorable. That said, this clip of “House of Sleep”, taken from Live At Helsinki Ice Hall, is absolutely incredible. That album, along with the Vinyl Collection 2006 – 2020 boxset, is available now through Nuclear Blast.
The latest from Vulture, Dealin’ Death, saw its official release yesterday through Metal Blade. To celebrate the release, they also dropped a new music video (one of a few we’ll share today) for the title track. Give it a watch here.
And then we have Helloween, who unveiled a new track from their self-titled album, set for a June 18th release through Nuclear Blast. This track is called “Fear Of The Fallen”, and you can give the lyric video a watch here.
Times of Grace revealed their first new track (and video) in a decade, titled “The Burden of Belief”. The project featuring Jesse Leach and Adam D of Killswitch Engage have lined up July 16th as the release date for Songs of Loss and Separation, through their own Wicked Good Records.
And we’ll wrap things up with the stunning new single from Insomnium, “The Reticent”. Feel free to purchase and stream the single here, and/or watch the video immediately below.