prophecy productions

CANTO: RIP Mark Shelton, Crowhurst, Pestilence and more!

DanLeave a comment

mark-shelton-manilla-road

Weekend time. Let’s do this.

  • Leading off with some sad news from Manilla Road: founder Mark “The Shark” Shelton passed away unexpectedly at age 60. No further details are available, but…this really sucks. A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover the associated expenses, and we encourage you to donate if you can.

  • Next up, Crowhurst has signed with Prophecy Productions. They (he?) will also be playing Prophecy Fest in Brooklyn this November. So, good stuff if you’re into Crowhurst.

  • Not sure if y’all heard, but Pestilence — or more to the point, mastermind Patrick Mameli — has had himself a bad coupl’a days on the internets. As a result of his, erm…activities…the band’s North American tour has been cancelled. It’s unclear whether this will affect their participation at next year’s assorted Deathfests, but at least he has those Dexter Holland-Offspring dreads going for him? (/kills self)

  • This one’s from Sunday, but seeing as this is the first Canto post of the week…Bloodbath has apparently finished recording their next album. Want more information? Well, you’re S.O.L. That’s literally all they’ve told us.

  • Interesting little Metallica tidbit here: in Spotify’s latest earnings call, CEO Daniel Ek revealed that the band uses listener data to tailor its live setlists on a city-by-city basis. That’s…honestly, just a really neat and forward-thinking thing! Good on ’em. Unfortunately, there’s probably about a thousand basement chuds who are gonna protest it BECAUSE VIOLATION OF ARR FREEDOMS or something.

  • And finally, let’s close it out with a couple of cool humans doing a cool thing. Psalm Zero‘s Charlie Looker arranged a cover of Pyrrhon‘s “Empty Tenement Spirit” for a 17-piece orchestra, and then Pyrrhon frontman Doug Moore sang along during the live performance.  Check it out:

Goddamn, that was one of the neatest things I’ve seen in quite a while. Anyway, that’ll do it for now. Have a good weekend — especially if you’re at Migration Fest — and check back soon for more updates!

Keep it heavy,
Dan

Album Review: Khôrada – “Salt”

Chris1 Comment

Khôrada - Salt

The impressionistic artwork that adorns the cover says it all: a being, stitched together from the bones, blood and sinew of many things.  The semblance of something recognizable, but also out of joint.  Dark and disturbing, but backed by a pastoral beauty.  Art is subjective, and whether I’m looking at the image painted by Cedric Wentworth or listening to Salt, the debut from Khôrada, I’m left with the same impression, of recognizing frameworks and influences even as the whole defies easy categorization.  In other words, the best kind of music to my ears. Continue reading →

Initial Descent: July 15 – 21, 2018

JoshLeave a comment
Khôrada
Khôrada

Kicking off another week, first thing, here on Initial Descent. None of you spoke up and said you hated the move to Monday so you’re stuck with it but I can’t think of a better way to get the momentum going than some new metal. Let’s do this.

First up is the fantastic debut, Seasons of Salt, from Khôrada which sees ex Agalloch and Giant Squid members unite to form a dark and challenging but beautiful piece of work. Mutilation Rites return with their fiery and filthy brand of black / death metal on Chasm, Future Cult sees The Lion’s Daughter mix extreme metal with 80s style slasherwave which equals a big score, and Wölfblood pull all the stops on their motorpunk, speed warped EP Nightriders which finally sees physical release so get on it.

There you have it, week is officially kicked off. Great openers but there’s many more to get into so stick around. We’ll be seeing you here throughout the week. Continue reading →

CANTO: Daughters, Tombs, Maryland Deathfest and more!

DanLeave a comment

daughters band studio photo

Four out of five on the Canto posts. Oh well, I guess Corey’s eating a shoe. Anyway, here’s some news to close out your week:

  • Leading off, it’s new-release Friday! A whole bunch of great bands dropped new stuff today, including Imperial Triumphant, Deafheaven, Obscura and more. Check out Josh’s full list in this week’s Initial Descent post here.

  • Providence, RI vets Daughters released “Satan in the Wait,” their first song in more than eight years. The band also announced they’d signed with Ipecac Recordings, with plans to release an album sometime later this year.

    • Continue reading →

Initial Descent: May 13 – 19, 2018

JoshLeave a comment
Amorphis
Amorphis

I won’t bore you to death with whatever sentiment I had on my mind because this is a week of new releases that deserves your full attention. Much. Good. Stuff. Leading things off are two legendary bands that combined, not counting a few bumps in the road, have 56 years of experience between them. The first of which, Amorphis, return with their melodically inclined heavy metal on Queen of Time and in my hours upon hours of listening to it since yesterday I firmly believe this is some of their best work. Yea, tall order I know, just give it a spin. Second up is At the Gates on To Drink From the Night Itself which took a little more time to really get into but the second half of this thing is a full on blast of epic proportions and “In Death They Shall Burn” is one of the best songs they’ve done in ages. Two great albums from two great legends BUT there’s more — The King Is Blind dropped an out of nowhere demo on us, The Ides of March, and their brand of grind/death/doom just gets better and more extreme as they age. (Guys, put a purchase option on the bandcamp page, PLEASE). Last up in the top slots is Seattle’s The Dark Red Seed with their debut full length Becomes Awake, dark folk hits me square in the right spot and this album has done that in spades. Killer opening with these four but there’s many more that are just as good waiting below. Enjoy and we’ll see you on the flip-side. Continue reading →