some Bay Area bands that should be on your radar...

I decided to put together a list of all the good Bay Area bands I've seen in the past month that are either totally local or just a little below the radar... almost every show I go to I see a local/regional band I've never heard and love it, I needed to share the love!

Jesus Fucking Christ - I'm sure some of you know them, scathing Poison Idea/Accused/old Neurosis style punk from Oakland that includes Dave Ed, bassplayer of Neurosis... lit their drumkit on fire this past Friday night and sonically owned live. check out their new LP "Life's Hateful Seed"!

Fix My Head - played with JFC the other night, totally fast oldschool Japan-style punk in the style of Gauze, SOB, Outo, etc... extremely catchy and nasty. if they come to your town, you should probably wear a helmet if you don't want a mic thrown at your face. just released a new EP called "Empty Slogans"

Stormcrow - you probably know about these dudes, but you might not know they're confirmed for MDF this year and have a split coming with Coffins!! real powerful live, check out their splits with Laudanum, Massgrave and Stormcrow, it's all good stuff. new material is way more death/doomy and epic.

Laudanum - schizophrenic sludge/drone for fans of Burning Witch/Khanate, Thorr's Hammer and other angry slow painful music. just put out a split with Stormcrow, haven't heard it yet but I can only expect it'll be A class..

Abrupt - also fast nasty punk kinda like the aforementioned Fix Your Head. with a bit more metal, has a rad female singer and the guitarist from Born/Dead. Sadly I think they played their last US show last week, atleast for awhile. they have a new s/t LP out and I wanna get my hands on it.

Population Reduction - Just put out a split with Abscess, brutal stoner thrashing deathgrind... for fans of Groinchurn, Terrorizer, Morbid Angel, Insect Warfare and assorted death and destruction! check out their LP "Each New Birth A New Disaster", you'll be happy you did.

Acephalix - rocking crust/metal from Oakland, for fans of Parasytic, Syphilitic Vaginas, Inepsy, Nux Vomica, etc., has a bit of everything. you can find their demo pretty easily on blogs, pretty pro sounding and worth checking out... good music to wake you up in the morning and kick you in the balls.

Saros - sounds a lot like Lesbian, Ludicra and Rwake; ie. sludge and black metal in a slightly post-metal flavored soup of heaviness. opened for YOB, definitely cool live.

Acts Of Sedition - These guys play locally constantly but are always quality, just released a split with Maladie, if you're into Harm's Way and Left For Dead and The Swarm and other heavy & fast hardcore you'll probably dig it.

Born/Dead - you might know them already, they've been laying down fist pumping d-beat hardcore not unlike State Of Fear, World Burns To Death, The Holy Mountain, etc. for I think about a decade. just played their last US show last week.

Thousandswilldie - fuckin insano fast grind from San Fran. tons of 10 second songs, lightning fast blasts, great if you're into PLF and Assuck. threw tons of blood all over Gilman and was yet another band to light their drumkit on fire in my presence. bad ass.

Instant Asshole - the only one of these bands that I haven't actually seen... totally forgot to see them at a FREE midday benefit show yesterday in Oakland and I'm kicking myself. really fast snotty punk/hc that sounds like Youth Of Today, Deep Wound and Born Against in a blender. vocals kinda sound like Jello Biafra. check out their split w/Mouth Sewn Shut!


I strongly recommend myspacing as many of these that sound interesting to you as possible, download and/or buy some albums and look out if they tour your way. I'll try and get some links up for listening for you lazy types, and maybe buying/downloading for some.

Oi!

HATE

I know. I'm a horrible person. I was so amped when I made this fucking blog and honestly, I just am not checking out more thrash and early heavy metal right now. I haven't stopped listening to it, I've just reached a momentary zenith where I've checked out the records that I want to, I know what I like and the few releases I'm still checking out are just not cutting it for me. It's kind of disappointing.

Likewise, I never made the upload for these last few albums. Please do leave a comment if you want to check them out, and I will make the time.

I have been getting most of my music through other blogs these days - and this is the primary reason why I haven't been posting new things. Not just because I'm listening to a lot more powerviolence, grindcore, hip hop and 70's ambient than thrash these days, but because there's no creativity in posting straight from another blog!! So I'm gonna namedrop a few particular blogs that have brought me some incredible stuff. There's been a lot, but these have been the best of the best.


TRUE PUNK AND METAL
Run by Nate Wilson, owner of Gloom Records and member of various Bay Area and upstate NY bands, this is one of the best blogs in existence for the music of it's namesake. Every kind of metal and punk is there, complete with histories and how it related to his life as he checked out all of these records growing up. So much music knowledge and perspective can be gained just be reading it, let along checking out the albums on it. HIGHLY, expressly recommended. Only issue with it is that he has dark grey text on a black background... no point whatsoever in that, I always have to highlight to read things.

COSMIC HEARSE
Run by Aesop of Bay Area black metal band Ludicra (awesome band), this blog has just about everything, but most prominently black metal, 80's hardcore and 70's rock. Like True Punk And Metal, a lot of these have personal stories, and either way all of them have great histories and/or great reviews of the records that let you know why you should hear them. So much good and challenging music, most of which you've never ever heard.

MAD BLASTS OF CHAOS
Run by a guy from New Zealand who plays in Gawj, Coffee Rage and some other NZ punk bands, it focuses, but is not limited to, Japanese and European punk/hardcore and powerviolence/grind. So many awesome releases, especially if you're into Japanese thrash hardcore like Gauze and Deathside. I can't express enough how many good albums I've checked out thanks to this blog, the guy's taste is unmistakeable. Also great histories and bios on this one.

BUDDHA KHAN
This blogger duder runs Buddha Khan records, from what I understand he pretty much puts out his friends wierd or basement punk/powerviolence/experimental projects/bands. My own band Kaiser Wave is supposed to be on their upcoming Buddha Khamp but who knows when that will ever happen!! BACK TO THE POINT, this blog has a multitude of great pxvx, pop punk, all sorts of genres of music both extremely underground and extremely popular. I've found some excellent gems here.

SICK MUSIC FOR SICK MINDS
Like the other blogs I've just blogged to you about, this one has more powerviolence/80's hardcore than anything but somehow has every genre of music known to man shared throughout it. The guy has great taste and great insights and some really wierd gems in there. Appreciated and should be czeched.

big dump...

I actually stole this from my post on stereokiller that I'd made for people getting into thrash, picking all stuff that I hadn't put up on here already... I felt I should pass this onto my blog as my next post because it's been awhile.

I'll try and have uploads as soon as possible. All these albums are most definitely worth your time. ENJOY!!!



SLAUGHTER - Strappado ('86) - If Bolt Thrower was the death metal/grind version of Sacrilege, then Repulsion was the grindcore version of Slaughter... grimy, repetitive, fast pummeling thrash bordering on grind, most definitely some of the fastest beats of their time (this was in 86). Big influence on Death, so much so that Evil Chuck moved to Canada for 2 weeks to play with them (and then deciding they weren't the band for him... and going back to the states). one of my faves and an undisputed classic.



SEVENTH ANGEL - Lament For The Weary ('91) - If you mixed "And Justice For All" with Cenotaph (Mex) and a hint of Deinonychus you'd sort of have this... like a doomy, near suicidal version of classic Bay Area thrash, lots of great dual guitar and a really heavy, dark tone. I think the fact that they're Christian is one of the things that made this band NOT one of the most respected bands in the 80's... one of the few great thrash bands from the UK.



HOLY MOSES - Finished With The Dogs ('87) - Nasty female fronted German thrash metal, in fact probably the nastiest you could hear in the 87 as far as the ladies are concerned... I guess you could compare it to Destruction and 'Chemical Exposure' era Sadus but with better vocals and not as great riffs.



STONE - No Anaesthesia! ('89) - This is one XWHISKEYX would probably dig a lot... very Bay Area sounding like Megadeth, Heathen, Death Angel but with gruffer vocals. Super good musicianship, lots of shredding and dual guitar, almost a slight alternative feel in some songs. this one could have definitely been a revered classic if it saw the light of day. from Finland (in fact, opens up with a dual guitar version of their national anthem).



CABAL - Midian ('90) - BADASS! One of the best death-thrash albums of the 90's by far, lots of great riffs abound, great for fans of Protector, Death, Agressor, Epidemic and other later thrash and early death metal. kill christ, look for this. has Killjoy from Necrophagia on vocals, but way better than Necrophagia IMO.

HERESY - 1985-1987 ('06)

The UK's Heresy was one of the most important bands to ever play fast music, one of the first to be considered grindcore and very influential to powerviolence as well. They're one of my favorite bands and the personal biggest influence in the stuff I do in my band.

Fast punk riffs blend over frenetic blast beats and shouted vocals. You can hear a lot of the early Boston scene i.e. Siege, Deep Wound, SSD, etc as well as bands such as Void and Ripcord but they most definitely had a sound of their own and were much more pummelling. It's insane how fast this band was for their time!! In the mid-80's when they would play with Napalm Death they'd have drum-offs between Heresy's drummer Steve Charlesworth and ND's Mick Harris where each band would play a song one after the other and try to play faster than the other... essentially how grindcore started.

This album collects, remastered, their '85 6 song "Never Healed" flexi (their best material IMO), their previously unreleased 7-song first demo, their 4 song "Thanks" 7" and a couple other extras. The band broke up in '88, releasing their last album in '89 with labels releasing a bunch of post-humous stuff afterwards, this came out in 06 on Boss Tuneage records. 80's UK hardcore for the win!!

upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?jy1xat7hprb

tracklist:
1. Never Healed
2. Deprived
3. Mentally Conned
4. Blinded By Power
5. Heresy (Instrumental)
6. Cries Of Want
07. Intro + Disfigured World
08. Never Healed
09. Despair
10. Deathbiter
12. More Blood Is Shed
13. Dead
14. Visions In Fear
15. Path To Decadence
16. Make The Connection
17. Trapped In A Scene
18. Network Of Friends
19. Acceptance

INCUBUS - Serpent Temptation ('87)

Before the terrible radio rock band, the name "Incubus" was a name to be totally feared. That's because the death/thrash band Incubus was maybe the fastest thrash band in existence when this came out.

The production on this album is muddy as hell, but it sort of fits in with the atonal and emotionless mood of this album. The vocals are a midrange rasp low in the mix, the guitars are fuzzy and the drums are really the only thing mixed pretty well, which is good because FUCK they're impressive. It's a shame the production is amateur because the riffs are memorable as hell and the dynamics really suffer from the lack of coherence. With a Reign In Blood production I firmly believe this album could have blown this band into the spotlight to make them one of the most impressive of the 80's.

Check this beast out. It was written the same year as Pleasure To Kill, Reign In Blood and Master Of Puppets and it's nastier than all of them. Sadly this band is no longer around, largely because of the bullshit they had to go through changing their name when the popular Incubus decided to copyright the name and threaten to sue until they changed it to Opprobium, which they did practically nothing under.

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?enhe8jq5iij

tracklist:
1. The Battle Of Armageddon
2. Voices From The Grave
3. Sadistic Sinner
4. Incubus
5. Blaspheming Prophets
6. Hunger For Power
7. Serpent Temptation
8. Underground Killer

He taunts my soul and he twists my mind
The blood of my victims is all they can find
I dismember the body as its blood is being sprayed
I gaze in splendor at the mess I have made

CARCASSVOICE the show... done for summer

Carcassvoice, my radio show, is done now until the fall season.

check wruv.org around September to see where I am on the schedule, and in the mean time I'll try to post any dates I might be on subbing for other DJ's over the summer.

I know I haven't updated this in awhile. New albums will be up soon.

SLAYER

LEGEND - Death In The Nursery ('82)

For Spencer!

This is one of my top 5, maybe even top 2 favorite NWOBHM records ever. Legend hailed from a tiny island from the UK which they rarely left, and self pressed only 2,000 copies of this record which have all sold out, so needless to say it's a very rare piece of music, and like Detente's debut it often goes for prices reaching $150 or more. Their biggest break was an opening slot for Thin Lizzy in 1984, and was also one of their last shows until they reunited in 2002. But enough small history...

To the music... the production (self produced, of course) is a warm almost AM radio sounding affair, albeit clear and concise, and really sets it apart from the other metal of the time which had that big heavy bombastic sound. The vocals are almost folky and sweet with a great deal of conviction, and the guitars are remniscient of early Iron Maiden and Cirith Ungol with possibly King Crimson and other 70's prog & rock. Every member was talented and the lyrics show the intelligence of the band with diatribes of politics, religion, morality and psychological struggles. The songwriting is reserved enough that you're not overloaded with riffs and solos. Overall it's like "Sad Wings Of Destiny" meets Maiden's s/t, meets King Crimson and Budgie, all recorded with lo-fi production and tastefully low on the flashyness... you may know what I mean when you hear it.

I simply cannot say enough about this album. Hear it for yourself.

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?y2ley2zn2ml

Tracklist:
1. Choices
2. Warrior
3. Time Bomb
4. Lazy Woman
5. Why Don't You Kill Me
6. Anthrax Attack
7. Prisoner
8. Death In The Nursery
9. Prologue


Running forever in circles of hate, clinical bars keep us tight
Hoping for fools to unleash us in haste, to prove to the world of their might
Created to kill in obscene trails of pain, to blot out the source of the light
A subtle but deadly supply on the wind, it gives them no reason to fight

HELLWITCH - Syzygial Miscreancy ('89)

Florida's not really known for it's thrash metal... maybe that's why these psychos skirted the line between thrash and early death metal. Probably the fastest thrash band to ever come out of the Sunshine State, Hellwitch mixed Sadus and Epidemic style vigor and rage with Atheist/Cynic style technicality in parts, but for an overall much rawer and more basement sounding execution.

Seriously - when the opening beats of "Nosferatu" hit you and you hear the incomprehensible alien solo mixed with blast beats, it's possible that your skull might fly off your head and your guts will forget where they are.

Get past the terrible cover and logo and get your ears to this slab of boundless nastiness.

upload link: http://rapidshare.com/files/106741621/Incubus__US_-__1990_-_Beyond_The_Unknown.rar

Tracklist:
1. The Ascent
2. Nosferatu
3. Viral Exogence
4. Sentient Transmography
5. Mordrivial Dissemination
6. Pyrophoric Siezure
7. Purveyor Of Fear

DETENTE - Recognize No Authority ('86)

There are 3 bands out there that really garner my attention for female fronted thrash: Holy Moses, Sacrilege, and Detente. Detente had the legendary Dawn Crosby on vox who would later go on to Fear Of God (not the grind band). This release wasn't really ahead of it's time but it doesn't sound exactly like any other thrash release even though it's hard to pinpoint what made their sound original. Drumming is fast paced and the riffs are catchy but lethal... instrumentally they could draw comparisons to Razor but with more NWOBHM and crossover thrash leanings. What brings them above the pack is Crosby's seething and awesome vocals, and they are the main reason that this is one of the most sought after albums in metal. I have seen this go for $150 on eBay and I'm sure there's some poor souls who've paid more. Cover is punk as shit.

It's recently been reissued, forgot by who, on CD, for all those who want a physical copy but can't find the vinyl (at least at an affordable rate).

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?wid9tjgdtjyv

Tracklist:
1. Losers
2. Russian Roulette
3. It's Your Fate
4. Holy Wars
5. Catalepsy
6. Shattered Illusions
7. Life Is Pain
8. Blood I Bleed
9. Widows Walk
10. Vultures In The Sky

Can't you see we don't care about you?
Can't you see we don't want your kind?
We give you weapons to kill each other
Can't you see, or are you blind?
You're doing just what we want you to do
killing off your population
We've got you by your stupid pride
Rewarding it with frustration

EXUMER - Possessed By Fire ('86)

Germany is so awesome. When people think Germany they just think of the unholy trinity of Kreator, Sodom and Destruction, but when you look around at where thrash bands come from you'll find that besides the US, most of the best thrash bands (and most thrash bands in general) come from Germany... followed closely by Brazil. Besides the given three, my favorite German thrash band is Exumer, and if you've heard the those three bands you know exactly what to expect on their debut "Possessed By Fire"... With this album, think Pleasure To Kill meets Bonded By Blood and with a better album cover than both!

Untainted excellence through and through. Songwriting is memorable and top notch, the Baloff-meets-Angelripper vocals are frantic but cocky, the musicianship is confident and classy, everything falls into place on this album. There's nothing blinding or groundbreaking to see here, just everything done right; a benchmark of what a good thrash album should be. The only thing that takes them away from the crown of 4th greatest band of Teutonic thrash is the fact that they burned out so quick. Of course this came out in '86... when else would you expect?

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?xtlmmmzm1m3

Tracklist:
1. Possessed By Fire
2. Destructive Solution
3. Fallen Saint
4. A Mortal In Black
5. Sorrows Of The Judgment
6. Xiron Darkstar
7. Reign Of Sadness
8. Journey To Oblivion
9. Silent Death

The key in hand to set their bodies free
Forceful eyes and they do catch me
My mind twisted in two, my throat is cut
Secret whispers speed, drive me nuts
I am possessed by fire!

CORONER - No More Color ('89)

The second greatest band to ever come from Switzerland! (the first being the almighty Celtic Frost o'course) Coroner played a style of technical thrash metal that unlike many of their peers under the "tech" label, kept it very catchy and filtered their immense talent through solid songwriting and sweet riffs. Some of the solos have some jaw-dropping sweeps and certain riffs are quite mountainous in density but for the most part they kept a level playing field. The vocals are decidedly Tom Warrior/Mike Schmier-ish, the guitar production is quite terse and the drums are a little distorted.

If you want overall just pure quality thrash metal, check out this album and every album from Coroner. Later stuff gets more proggy and experimental and less fast, earlier stuff is faster and less technical... I feel this album brings it all together the best.

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?mjm3l5j1d0a

tracklist:
1. Die By My Hand
2. No Need To Be Human
3. Read My Scars
4. D.O.A.
5. Mistress Of Deception
6. Tunnel Of Pain
7. Why It Hurts
8. Last Entertainment

Exposed victims and their hopeless runs
Breathe in dust with a boot in their neck
The fear in their eyes
Make spectators hearts
Beat the slow rhythm
Of executed "justice"

CODE RED - Buried In The Battlefield demo ('07)

I thought that I would include something newer in this blog for a change. Code Red hails from Japan and as you might guess from their name, this band sounds a lot like Sodom but much more fast and spunky. Recent Japanese thrash seems to be forming somewhat of its own style; hyperfast riffing, frantic drumming, upbeat tunes, vicious vocals, like German thrash on crack. Agressor (France) sort of had this style down back in the early 90's but without the musicianship that this wave of madmen possesses. If you like this demo, check out Terror Squad and Fastkill for some more badass Japanese thrash.

They made a full length after this last year but I thought it sounded a little contrived... look them up on myspace and decide for yourself. One of the better demos of last year.

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?kva12wovtrm

Tracklist
1. Hunger Island
2. Toward To The South
3. Destroy

CENOTAPH - Riding Our Black Oceans ('94)

So there's at least 4 Cenotaph's out there, all death metal bands... one from Turkey, one from Italy, one from the US... but the Cenotaph from Mexico was the most original in my opinion and with this sophomore release made one of my favorite death metal albums ever. Riding Our Black Oceans at it's core is truly melodic death metal, but I cringe to use the term, as this is nothing like the Gothenburg style of Dark Tranquillity or In Flames - but you could make an early Edge Of Sanity comparison. Cenotaph on this album plays mournful, gut-wrenching 90's era death metal remniscient of a more melodic mid-period Death or Pestilence. The vocals are deep, but more of a bark, and at times even get to weeping. The musicianship is top notch, and the riffs are memorable as hell. The production's organic, but clear, and in the CD's liner notes it mentions that the album was not mixed or mastered, and completely analog, as they care about being "true" (LOL!). Anyways, this to me is extreme metal with honesty and conviction, and a true quality album if you ever get your hands on it. Since you probably won't, thus has my blog once again done a service by providing this fine album to you in a neatly packaged zip file.

Of note as well is the fact that every album by this band sounds like a different band, the first album "The Gloomy Reflection Of Our Hidden Sorrows" is eerie, belchy crushing death/doom, the next album after Riding Our Black Oceans, "Saga Belica" is pretty much a thrash album, and the last album is different too (they had 4 of them). First one's worth checking out if you find it.

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?bijxc2oywbg

Tracklist:
1. The Solitudes
2. Severance
3. Grief To Obscuro
4. Macabre Locus Celesta
5. Among The Abrupt
6. Infinitum Valet
7. The Silence Of Our Black Oceans
8. Soul Profundis
9. Ecstacia Tenebrae

"I implore with fear my sword that is hate
with purgatory emotional sensibility
I ride in this night of the stars
fighting for the domination of my own
light of darkness
trying to catch the wind in my fist"

NECRODEATH - Into The Macabre ('87)

Probably the most renouned Italian thrash band next to the legendary Bulldozer, and like the former a very clear influence on black metal, Necrodeath made their first mark on the world with this debut album chock full of blast beats and eery Exorcist interludes. The album has a very dark and haunting feeling, some of the guitars sort of feel like keyboards sometimes and the musicianship occasionally gets ahead of itself as they strive to play at the most breakneck speeds possible. Musically it sounds a bit like a muddier prime era Slayer or a much faster Destruction, with a little bit of early Cenotaph (Mex) thrown in. The riffs aren't world class, guitar tone can be a little hollow, but the atmosphere is unmistakeable. If you want a vicious spooky album to play on a dark stormy night, this is your pick.

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?m2z1bxul131

Tracklist:
1. ...Agony/Flag of the Inverted Cross
2. At The Mountains Of Madness
3. Sauthenrom
4. Mater Tenebrarum
5. Necrosadist
6. Internal Decay
7. Graveyard Of The Innocents
8. The Undead/Agony (Reprise)

"Belial at my fuckin' side
You pray the unblessed grave
Symbolical dimension places my body rots away
Biblical verdict of heaven
Accept the words of hell
Sign your desperation to the sudden death in spell"

for those who read this blog locally

Major band spammage here... See my band's first show at the Spectrum and tear shit up with us. We also could have room for another band on the bill, if you are in a band and want to play this get in touch with me.




you can hear songs here:
Draize - vicious sludgy grind from Boston
http://www.myspace.com/draizeband

Ripshit - pissed off female fronted punk/hc/fastcore from CT
http://www.myspace.com/ripshitct

Kaiser Wave - BTV powerviolence/hardcore insanity
http://www.myspace.com/kaiserwavevt

Schedule of Festivals coming up worldwide

I've been busier and lazier at the same time lately so this blog after starting with a bang has slowed down a little... I've got no work today and might not for a couple so I'm getting back to business on it. Expect a couple uploads and don't forget to check this blog regularly.

To prove that I'm not totally lazy I'm gonna post a list that I compiled of various metal festivals around the world. this is by no means comprehensive and I haven't kept up in a few weeks but it should give you a taste of how much Europe kicks America's ass when it comes to metal festivals. some of these have since had a number of bands added.



February 8-9
Royal Metal Festival in Aarhus, Denmark
Artillery, Dodheimsgard, Exmortem, more tba

February 16
NWOBHM Festival in Athens, Greece
Tygers Of Pan Tang, Cloven Hoof, Jaguar, Elixir, more

March 7-8
Atarfe Vega Rock Festival in Atarfe, Spain
Saxon, Ratt, Exciter, Slaughter, My Dying Bride, Mayhem, Destruction, Grave Digger, Katatonia, Symphony X, Unleashed, Within Temptation, Belphegor, Korpiklaani, Kotipelto, Angelus Apatrida, Danger Danger, Tribal, more

March 19-22
Inferno Fest in Oslo, Norway
Satyricon, Destruction, Overkill, Behemoth, Tristania, 1349, Shining, Cult Of Luna, more tba

March 28-29
Ragnarok Festival in Lichtenfels, Germany
Agalloch, Haggard, Battlelore, Negurã Bunget, Unleashed, Primordial, Skyforger, Menhir, Sear Bliss, Black Messiah, Helrunar, Aaskereia, Winterdome, Аркона, Sworn, Trimonium, Svartsot, Hellsaw, Killing Spree.

April 17-20
Roadburn Festival in Holland
Celtic Frost, Trouble, Isis, Cephalic Carnage (doing Halls Of Amenti), Electric Wizard, Witchcraft, Earthless, Lesbian, Cult Of Luna, Nadja, Church Of Misery, Dixie Witch, Electric Orange, Year Of No Light, Acid Mothers Guru

May 9-11
Rock Hard Festival in Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Immortal, Celtic Frost, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Enslaved, Volbeat, Moonsorrow, Napalm Death, Helstar, Jorn, 15 more to be announced

May 10-11
Festung Open Air in Bitterfeld, Germany
Enslaved, Nifelheim, Angelcorpse, Arkhon Infaustus, Flesh Made Sin, Dissimulation, Svartahrid, The Batallion, Revege, Code, Solstafir, more

May 23-25
Maryland Deathfest in Baltimore, MD, USA
Nuclear Assault, Grave, Anaal Nathrakh, Repulsion, Monstrosity, Blood Duster, Macabre, Martyr, Deranged, Dead, Impaled, Fuck...I'm Dead, Disavowed, Squash Bowels, Disfear, Phobia, Gadget, Hellnation, Flesh Parade, Ghoul, Sublime Cadaveric Decomposition, Coffins, Defeated Sanity, Torsofuck, Gruesome Stuff Relish, The Day Everything Became Nothing, Waco Jesus, Japanische Kampfhorspiele, Engorged, Sleep Terror, The Arson Project, Afgrund, Behold...the Arctopus, Infected Malignity, Keitzer, Kalibas, Defeatist, Copremesis, Decrypt

June 12-14
Death Fest Open Air in Hunxe, Germany
Malevolent Creation, Cock And Ball Torture, Decrepit Birth, Unmerciful, Fleshless, Brodequin, Pyrexia, Decapitated, Holocausto Cannibal, Japanische Kampforspiele, World Downfall, Inhumate, Degaze, Incision, Kronos, Gorod, Inveracity, Rompeprop, Deranged, Impaled, Avulsed, Defloration

June 20-22
Hellfest in Clisson, France
In Flames, Carcass, Dimmu Borgir, Opeth, At The Gates, Sonata Arctica, Testament, Angra, Satyricon, Septic Flesh, Forbidden, Obituary, Anathema, Ministry, Sodom, Mayhem, Marduk, Paradise Lost, Primordial, My Dying Bride, Shining, Dying Fetus, Necrophagist, Anaal Nathrakh, Benighted, Watain, Belphegor, Evile, Cult Of Luna, Eluveitie, The Old Dead Tree, Meshuggah, Municipal Waste, Legion Of The Damned, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Madball, Alchemist, Job For A Cowboy, Rotten Sound, Ghost Brigade, Sick Of It All, Himsa, NOFX, Born From Pain, 7 Seconds, Arkhon Infaustus, Ava Inferi, Baroness, Coalesce, Origin, The Ocean, Treponem Pal, Ultra Vomit, Year Of No Light, Comeback Kid, Today Is The Day, +30 TBA

June 27-28
Bang Your Head Festival somewhere in Germany
Judas Priest, Queensrÿche, Saxon, White Lion, Great White, Yngwie Malmsteen, Forbidden, Obituary, Rage, Grave Digger, Agent Steel, Tankard, Onslaught, Ensiferum, Korpiklaani, Lizzy Borden, Breaker, Týr, Age of Evil, Contracrash, Secrecy

June 27-29
Gods Of Metal Festival in Bologna, Italy
Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Carcass, At The Gates, Meshuggah, Yngwie Malmsteen, Enslaved, more

July 4-8
Metalcamp in Tomlin, Slovenia
Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel, Helloween, Behemoth, In Flames, Apocalyptica, Ministry, Finntroll, Wintersun, Rage, Tankard, Brainstorm, Kataklysm, Heaven Shall Burn, Skyforger, Sahg, Alestorm, Mercenary, Mystic Prophecy, Dark Fortress, Drone, Perishing Mankind, Penitenziagite , Gorilla Monsoon

July 24-26
Headbanger's Open Air in Brande-Hörnerkirchen, Germany
ABANDONED, AMULANCE, ANCESTRAL, AXE HAMMER, BLACK HAWK, BLAZE BAYLEY, DEADLY BLESSING, DEATH SS, DÉTENTE, IMPALER, LETHAL, MESSENGER, MORTAL SIN, NEW EDEN, PARADOX, PRAYING MANTIS, REBELLION, RESISTANCE, SEASON OF THE WOLF, SEVENTH CALLING, SODOM, SWEET SAVAGE, THE GATES OF SLUMBER, WILD DOGS

July 25-26
GRIND THE NAZI SCUM festival in Bruckenkopf
Suppository, Bloody Phoenix, Afgrund, Mumakil, Entrails Massacre, World Downfall, Tinner, Poostew, Maggot Shoes, Necromorph, Cause of Divorce, Trauma Moralis, Boiler, Cruel Execute, Die Pest

July 27-29
Tuska Festival
Amon Amarth, Behemoth, Carcass, Entombed, Kiuas, Korpiklaani, Kreator, Mokoma, Stamina, The Sorrow, Tyr

August
Wacken Open Air in Wacken, Germany
Iron Maiden, At The Gates, Carcass, Kreator, Obituary, Children Of Bodom, Sonata Arctica, As I Lay Dying & Killswitch Engage & Hatebreed ew, Lord Belial, Crematory, more

August 7-9
Party.San Open Air in Bad Berka, Germany
Bolt Thrower, Obituary, Behemoth, Impaled Nazarene, Týr, Maroon, Kampfar, Legion of the Damned, Skyforger, Endstille, Vreid, General Surgery, Lividity, Insision, Defloration, Deadborn, Purgatory, Hail Of Bullets

August 14-16
Summer Breeze Festival in Dinkelsbuhl, Germany
Helloween, Paradise Lost, Kataklysm, Exodus, Heaven Shell Burn, Ensiferum, Marduk, Primal Fear, Korpiklaani, Pro-Pain, Destruction, End Of Green, Sonic Syndicate, Neaera, Mageherz, Primordial, Saltatio Mortis, Behemoth, The Vision Bleak, Eluveitie, Graveworm, Autumn, Endstille, Orphaned Land, Born From Pain, 3 Inches Of Blood, Tyr, Delain, Hail Of Bullets, Gorerotted, Novembre, Dark Fortress, Blood Red Throne, Fleshcrawl, The Ocean, Textures, The Old Dead Tree, Ahab, Enemy Of The Sun, more

November 8
NWOBHM II in Athens, Greece
Grim Reaper, Tokyo Blade, Witchfynde, more

SOOTHSAYER - Have A Good Time ('89)

Quebec's Soothsayer were one of the most original, energetic, fun and underrated crossover thrash bands of the 80's; definitely one of my favorites. Think for a sec about Metallica's "Kill Em All", Gammacide's "Victims Of Science", DRI's "Crossover" and everything Suicidal Tendencies did in the 80's, throw that all in a blender and up the speed and quirkiness factor times a few and you sort of have Soothsayer's debut full length. This is hard for me to write about because even though you can hear elements of all of those in their sound, there's so much they put into this album that I struggle to do them justice. There's songs about violence at shows, world peace, zits, flies, baseball, ET (yes, Spielberg's ET) and everything under the sun - they didn't take themselves too seriously, which was both a blessing and a hindrance, because they sounded awesome when they got down to their game. Their English also wasn't top notch, but I think it added to their quirkiness.

There's still so much I could say about this album - I'm going to instead mention that Soothsayer played a reunion show in Montreal in August 07 and did not miss a single beat - they broke up shortly after the release of this album, and after all these years came back and played a perfect set - the singer sprinted from one end of the stage to the other as I took part in one of the greatest circle pits I've ever been in. Great, great times.

Their 1986 "To Be A Real Terrorist" demo is at least as well regarded, and is faster and more raw than the album in question, but I chose not to review it as it doesn't match this album's personality and memorability. In '86 Pleasure To Kill press shoots, you can see one of the Kreator guys wearing a Soothsayer shirt - so you could say it was influential.

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?m2zjxnmtzum

Tracklist:
1. Free Violence
2. Dig
3. Buzz Fly
4. The Game I
5. 101
6. Go Team Go
7. E.T.
8. The Game II
9. Pimple Sprayer
10. Together To Make A World
11. Changes
12. Rock'N'Roll Forever

"Look now there's some bad guys trying to take control
Maybe it's just to be like a great macho,
Please don't pay attention
Just stay away from them
They'll feel so stupid alone, feel so frustrated inside
And we'll still have a good time"

BROCAS HELM - Into Battle ('84)

This is one of the most legendary cult heavy metal bands to ever come out of the US. In the early 80's when the British explosion was happening, very few bands in America were carrying the torch of true epic heavy metal, yet these guys took what the Brits were doing and expanded upon it doubly with stunning technicality and prog rock level songwriting. Imagine the first couple Maiden records, speed them up times two, up the chops, sacrifice some melody and inject them with free jazz on acid, and you sort of have Brocas Helm. The craziest thing is that after all these years this band has gotten back together and made an album (came out in 05 I think?) that is ON PAR with Into Battle - check that one out eventually too, but first go with the essential classic and let these 10 tracks of madness tear apart your speakers. This piece of music is boner city for me. The only thing that brings it down in my eyes is that subpar cover - all those epic fantasy album covers of the 80's and one of the best of the era gets a brushed text plate??

Tracklist:
1. Metallic Fury
2. Into Battle
3. Here To Rock
4. Beneath A Haunted Moon
5. Warriors Of The Dark
6. Preludious
7. Ravenwreck
8. Dark Rider
9. Night Siege
10. Into The Ithilstone

Upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?wxjzly1mmyi


"Now lurking near the Eastern gate
I hold a crystal blade
It's edges greened with venom stain
It's orc-hilt pitted jade

I feel his will gush through my brain
In endless waves of gore
Yet, still the question breathes within
Who am I waiting for?"

DEMOLITION HAMMER - Epidemic Of Violence ('92)

I suppose I'm starting off this thrash blog with the most extreme albums first, because Demollition Hammer was possibly the most brutal thrash band to ever exist. Besides being up high in the speed register, the production on this monster is like the wall of bricks that graces the album cover, and their cheesy name suits them fine. The vocals are pissed as hell, and the drums are like machine gun fire. There's seriously a song on the album about volcanic eruptions... besides the flowery topics of cannibalism, human dissection, extreme misanthropy, and abortive homicide worthy of death metal albums... I'd say the lyrics in their venomous rage are almost as sweet as the album itself. Besides the extreme nature of the music, overall the material showcases some serious tightness and an attention to detail, there's good riffs all around which might get overlooked in light of the music's intensity. This band is one of my faves of all, one of those bands I try to show to everyone and I don't see that changing.

These dudes hailed from good old NYC and split up in the mid 90's.

tracklist:

1. Skull Fracturing Nightmare
2. Human Dissection
3. Pyroclastic Annihilation
4. Envenomed
5. Carnivorous Obsession
6. Orgy of Destruction
7. Epidemic of Violence
8. Omnivore
9. Aborticide

upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?9ymtbxcic1j

Internal organs severely ruptured from
Infinite barrage of sledgehammer blows
A slashing maw
Immense bite radius
Piscatory savagery
Mob feeding pattern
Fierce competition for the sparse
Remains of a carcass torn to shreds
Perditious abomination

ATTOMICA - Disturbing The Noise ('91)

I first heard this in the car of Russel from Vulcan (mass props for this, sir!!) at Maryland Deathfest '07, on absolute full blast volume, and I thought the car would either explode or grow rocket boosters. This is easily one of the tightest, fastest thrash albums of all time. Earlier Attomica was sloppy, old Sepultura/Sarcofago sounding primitive thrash - which makes sense, as they're from Brazil - that bordered on black metal and had the occasional hyper fast blast beat. This album still carries a Sepultura comparison, but think "Beneath The Remains" on overdrive, or Slaughter's "Strappado" if it sounded crystal clear and was even faster, plus "Reign In Blood" thrown in for good measure. The drumming on the fast parts of this album exceeds the speeds of most grindcore bands. The vocals are a mid-to-low range bark and somewhat hardcore-sounding, remniscient of the aforementioned Slaughter (of course we're talking about the Canadian legends... I'll put them up in the future). Unfortunately the rest of the album does not match up to the first 3 tracks, but when you're looking for something to totally bludgeon you and have no care for melody or emotion, this is what you should pull out.

tracklist:
01. Ways Of Death
02. The Chainsaw
03. Deathraiser
04. Violence And Terror
05. Blood
06. From Beyond
07. Forbidden Hate

upload link: http://www.mediafire.com/?a9yry0jbwjz