Zao – Nine Circles

CANTO: Månegarm, Darkest Hour, Origin, and More

March 17, 2022March 17, 2022CoreyLeave a comment

And today we drink stouts and red ales at a slightly higher rate than usual.

Psycho Las Vegas has announced a fresh wave of artists, and holy crap is this thing stacked. Emperor, Mayhem, Mercyful Fate, Carcass, High On Fire… I mean the list goes on and on. Get the full scoop, plus tickets options, here.
Alright, we’ve got some tours to share. We’ll start with Origin, Abysmal Dawn, Tombs, and Killitorous. Those are May and June dates, and yes, that is a stacked bill. Factoring in their adjacent tour with Misery Index, and it’s going to be a beast of a year for Origin. Tickets are available here.
And then we have Darkest Hour, who are bringing Deliver Us on the road this coming July. Support will be in the form of Toxic Holocaust, Zao, and Bloodlet on select dates. Tickets are on sale now at this location.
Wardruna have released a new video for the live version of “Skugge”. Check it out here. First Flight of the White Raven is out on April 22nd, and can be pre-ordered here.
We’ll wrap up with some Swedish folk metal, in the form of Månegarm. The new video for “En snara av guld” is available below, the second single taken from Ynglingaättens Öde. That album is out on April 15th through Napalm Records… a label that owes me an email and two albums I ordered last year. Casual FYI.

“Ein Bier… bitte.”
– cmb

The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 206 (11.20.2021)

November 20, 2021ChrisLeave a comment

That’s it: we’re officially in End of Year™ territory now. The big guns are coming out, as Decibel Magazine preemptively shared their Top 40 of 2021 prior to publication in the vain hopes of staving off blogs who simply post the list for views. I’d rather give them the props and the views, so head over there to check it out. In the meantime I’m on my fifth listen of the new Stormkeep and debating how high to have it on my own list. Because yeah…it’s gonna be there.

But enough of that. Welcome to Volume 206 of the Nine Circles Playlist, where we may or may not have some music that will appear on own own lists. In addition to our fearless editor Josh priming the pump with Stormkeep he’s heavily digging the latest from Hypocrisy and Sanguisugabogg. Angela has fallen hard for the hardcore punk coming from Fucked Up and the murky psychedelic cosmic stoner sounds of Tortuga. Buke never fails to bring the classic heavy to the list, so buckle up for some new retro courtesy of Haunt and Traveler as well as old school flavor from Judas Priest. Jon emerges from the snowy depths of the Great North to champion new stuff from Archspire and Every Time I Die. Vincent wallows in the despair of heavier fare from Emma Ruth Rundle, Lantlôs, and Dream Unending. As for me? I’m sitting here in the CLOUDS with Enslaved, digging the skramz of Warren of Ohms, and am in hook line and sinker with Josh about the new single from outlaw country bastard Paul Cauthen.

Country as Fuck, folks. No better way to close out the playlist this week. See you next time!

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– Chris

Nine Circles ov…Recent Albums I Only Have Time to Review in One Sentence…Part III?

April 27, 2021March 20, 2023ChrisLeave a comment

I mean…it may be Part III, but who’s keeping track? Anyway, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and the metals are flying fast and furious enough that there’s a veritable cornucopia of releases worth your time. I mean, not my time…I’ve been busy, you know? Work, um…more work… that one YouTube video I’ve benn playing on repeat forever (it’s this one, by the way).

Really there’s no excuse for not enlightening you, the honorable and erudite Nine Circles reader, on my pithy and concise views of what’s been popping’ on the metal threads the last few weeks or months that our staff haven’t already covered. So for this edition of Nine Circles ov… sit down and fasten those seatbelts as I once again provide one-sentence reviews of stuff that’s been floating my proverbial boat.

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The Nine Circles Playlist Vol. 169 (2.20.2021)

February 20, 2021February 20, 2021VincentLeave a comment

Hello and welcome again to another Saturday morning mixtape. This week, we have the excellent new single from Gojira, my favorite Sad Boy Jams, and quite a bit more metalcore than we’ve had on here in a while. Check it out below.

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– Vincent

Josh Thieler’s Favorite Records of 2018

January 3, 2019January 3, 2019hardcorejoe5 Comments

2018 has been quite the year. It was a roller coaster personally, nationally, globally, and in the realm of metal. There are people that I loved that are gone now. There are people who are gone that I should have loved more. I failed a lot of people. I’ve struggled in so many ways. If you are curious about that, just listen to the last Slaves BC record or read any interviews I did during that release cycle. I got fatter, fitter, quit smoking, joined five or six more bands, did artwork for some bands, did PR for some others, and spent a lot (but never enough) of time with my wonderful wife and animals.

Anyway, I listened to a ton of music again in 2018. I didn’t get a chance to talk about any of it very much, but I listened to a ton. 2018 was another fantastic year for metal/hardcore/whatever. I’ve been altering this list for months and I had a real hard time narrowing it down as much as I did. Just like last year, I have compiled my favorite 50 full length metal/hardcore records, favorite 10 non-metal records, and my top 10 favorite EP’s/singles/etc.

I made this playlist with one track from each of the records that are on Spotify for you to listen to a sampling of everything below. Thank you for checking this out and here’s to a better 2019!

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