' upcoming release schedule is bonkers -- in addition to the new Beastmilk and Hexvessel 7"s, as well as the "Dawnbearer" 2LP repress, they've also got like 5 new releases coming out every week from May through June. Here's the Finnish/Scandinavian highlights:
05/09 - Sähkö-Isku - Sata kaljaa 12"
05/09 - Kovaa Rasvaa 7"
05/09 - Problems? - Ei tää lama päähän käy 7"
05/09 - Unicef - Käkimassaa 7"
05/09 - Kollaa Kestää - Jäähyväiset aseille LP
05/16 - Abhorrence - Completely Vulgar 2LP / CD
05/23 - Jess and the Ancient Ones LP/CD
05/23 - Callisto - Noir 2LP
05/23 - Sarcofagus - Envoy of Death LP
05/23 - Sarcofagus - Go To Hell 7"
05/23 - Kimmo Kuusniemi Band - Moottorilinnut LP + DVD
05/30 - CMX - Kolmikärjen veljeskunta 4LP
05/30 - Musta Paraati - Peilitalossa LP
05/30 - Reverend Bizarre - Crush The Insects 2LP
05/30 - Rattus - WC räjähtää LP
05/30 - Mana Mana - Maria Magdalena 7"
06/06 - Pelle Miljoona & NUS LP
06/06 - Pelle Miljoona & 1980 - Pelko ja viha LP
06/06 - Carpathian Forest - Strange Old Brew LP
06/06 - Candlemass - Ancient Dreams 2LP
has announced the signing of Finnish occult rockers Jess and the Ancient Ones and will be releasing their debut 7" on October 26 with a full-length LP to follow next year.
Svart will also release the new Fleshpress album "Acid mouth strangulation", their fifth overall, on the same date. In a similar vein, look for the new album "Holy testament I" from like-minded black/doom-metal act Sink which will be unleashed in 2012. Preview that one below:
Beyond all that, the label will also be doing a bunch more reissues (as usual), including stuff from Mana Mana sideproject Silmienvaihtajat, murder-punks Rytmihäiriö, cult punk-rockers Stalin, death metallers Disgrace and Xysma as well as the previously announced CMX 4LP box, the rest of the Sarcofagus discography and lots more. Start saving now -- shipping from Finland ain't cheap!
Finnish vinyl fetishists will be releasing the LP version of Oranssi Pazuzu's excellent black-metal/dub record "Muukalainen puhuu" in the near future in a "delirious glow-in-the-dark gatefold" edition that will probably be well-worth the ridiculous import price. They're also putting out a 2xLP reissue of Katatonia's brilliant "Discouraged ones" album with the "Saw you drown" EP tacked on as a bonus. No exact release dates for either, but they say they are currently being manufactured and should be ready in a month or two. Beyond that, I'm most stoked to see that they'll be doing a CMX 4xLP box this spring as there's zero chance of me ever finding anything by that band here in the US.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU, 100% pre-millennium edition:
01. TALK 1
02. Honey Is Cool - Bolero
03. Beyond Dawn - Addictions are private
04. Commando M Pigg - Baby doll
05. TALK 2
06. Kent - If you were here
07. Fireside - Let Rasputin do it
08. CMX - Ainomieli 97
09. Docent Död - Bensin i blodet
10. TALK 3
11. Bitch Boys - Automobile
12. Nicolai Dunger - This town
13. Broder Daniel - I'll be gone
14. Starmarket - Ten seconds
15. TALK 4
16. Madrugada - Beautyproof
17. Breach - Black sabbath
18. Silverbullit - Thank you Mr.
19. Camouflage - Syster sol
20. TALK 5
21. Entombed - Lights out
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers. Next week's show will feature tunes from my top 10 albums of the year.
Swedish death-metal act Torture Division have a new demo posted for free download: http://www.torturedivision.net/
The band features members from The Project Hate MCMXCIX and Vomitory and perform in the classic old-school Swedish style.
More Finnish weirdness for you today courtesy of CMX, a long-running act that rose out of the mid-80s hardcore scene. But don't go into this expected the usual fast/harsh punk because they quickly abandoned that approach and started to incorporate more mainstream rock and progressive influences into their sound. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is pretty much all I know. According to Wikipedia the band is fairly renown at home, which makes sense considering how much they remind me of Kent at times. It's that big, melancholy rock sound, though in CMX's case, it's filtered through that odd Suomi sensibility that touches so much of their music. This particular song is a gem simply because it manages to match classic Finnish tango with pop, prog and hardrock. It's that kind of eclecticism that makes Scandinavian music so great! It's the old being made new again, the past and present coming together. And yet, still the past -- this came out in 1994, after all -- but it doesn't sound dated to me. Weird for weirdness sake almost never works; these guys make it sound natural.
01. Tobias Hellkvist - Besviken
02. TALK 1
03. The Deer Tracks - Yes this is my broken shield
04. The Tallest Man On Earth - Pistol dreams
05. White Knives - Death is king of the dancefloor
06. TALK 2
07. Abcess Exil - Kanske du förstår
08. Sällskapet - Nordlicht
09. KTMK - Kalinka
10. The Kid - Transient dance
11. TALK 3
12. Commando M. Pigg - This thing
13. I Are Droid - Sevenfold
14. Johan Heltne - Din alkoholism är ingen alkoholism
15. TALK 4
16. Zeigeist - Wrecked metal (cello version)
17. CMX - Nainen tanssii tangoa
18. Broder Daniel - Love doesn't last
19. TALK 5
Reminder: my show on Sirius Left of Center (channel 26) airs Sundays at 11pm ET with repeats on Monday.
01. Lögnhalsmottagningen - Bodybuilder
02. TALK 1
03. Svart - Carl du lever i en dröm
04. Majessic Dreams - Beautiful days
05. Antennas - Lies (Oscar Tillman remix)
06. TALK 2
07. The Sound O.E - Universal tourist
08. Kaipa - Nattdjurstid
09. Murmansk - Pale
10. TALK 3
11. On Volcano - Ride the wolf
12. Markus Krunegård - Samma nätter vänter alla
13. Ondo - Mahavishnu
14. TALK 4
15. Popsicle - Hey princess
16. CMX - Tulikiveä
17. Ström i P2/Håkan Lidbo - Strömavbrott (Boeoes Kaelstigen Etsi remix)
18. TALK 5
19. The Goner - Kill them all save Simon Joyner
20. Cult of Luna - Eternal kingdom
21. Montys Loco - Ages ago
22. TALK 6
23. Mattias Alkberg BD - Allting är drömt
24. Masshysteri - Monoton tid
25. Ljudbilden & Piloten - You know you're doing OK
26. Abduktio - Thermador
27. TALK 7
28. Hebosagil - Big sun
29. Anna Ternheim - To be gone
30. Kusowsky - Tjuvar
31. Fredrik - 1986
32. TALK 8
33. Johan Heltne - 16 Avenue de l'Opera
34. Cortex - Arkham
35. Kleerup - Until we bleed (ft. Lykke Li)
36. TALK 9
37. Coldworker - Citizens of the cyclopean maze
Heads-up: my show is moving to a new time next week! Starting on Sunday, June 8 my show will be on at 11pm Eastern / 8pm Pacific with a repeat on Monday at the exact same time. I'm also paring down to an hour of programming a week, so expect all-killer/no-filler from here on out! Also, seeing as how I'm leaving for Sweden on June 9, this week's coming show will be a Hultsfred Festival special so mark your calenders, update your alarm clocks or do whatever it is you need to do to remind yourself to listen in!
01. Petter - P 02. Sebastian - Sebastian 03. Christer Sjögren - King creole 04. The Knife - Silent shout 05. Rigmore Gustafsson - On my way to you 06. Laleh - Laleh 07. Magnus Uggla - Ett bedårande barn av sin tid 08. Björn Skifs - Decennier sånger från en annan tid 09. Andreas Mattsson - The lawlessnes of the ruling classes 10. Thåström - Skebokvarnsv 209 11. Sanna Nielsen - Nära mej - nära dej 12. Cue - Guide in blue 13. The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity 14. Lisa Ekdahl - Pärlor av glas 15. Bodies Without Organs - Prototype 16. In Flames - Come clarity 17. Agnes - Agnes 18. Thåström - Solo vol 1 19. Darin - Darin 20. Son of a Plumber - Son of a Plumber
It seems that the Koch International release of Entombed's new album "Inferno" was premature. The label received it from Music for Nations with the understanding that it was good to go, but went ahead without letting the band know, and also without having a signed contract. Anyhow, it's been pulled and will see a 'proper' release on Threeman/Century Media sometime early next year. What a mess. In related news, Entombed's personal label Threeman will get the vinyl releases of the band's last three albums "Uprising", "Morning Star" and "Inferno" later this month. The labels other planned releases are as follows:
The Project Hate MCMXCIX - "Hate, Dominate, Congregate, Eliminate" out August 25 Alpha Saphari (formerly known as Washoe) - currently recording album , tentative title is "Commercial Suicide"
Danish dance sensation Junior Senior will be on Regis and Kelly on Monday. Check local listings for channel and airtime.
Oh man, Mikkey Dee from Motörhead pulls no punches! Read what he has to say about Hammerfall:
Look at a band like Hammerfall and shit. They're going through the roof. When kids come up to me and say "Iron Maiden, they're almost as good as Hammerfall," there's something wrong, you know? I saw two kids with Iron Maiden-shirts, in Stockholm when me and Lemmy were there doing press, and I was sitting in the lobby waiting to get to the airport and I saw two eleven-year-olds with Iron Maiden t-shirts and I said, "Yeah, that's a great band you've got there" and they said, "Yeah, they're almost as good as Hammerfall, they sound exactly the same."
Then you realize there's something wrong here, you know. It's not a shit band, but it's incredible that they can hit the way they did. Anders is a great friend, and I hope to see Jens tonight. Someone told me that the Stratovarius guys are here. And the bass player, Magnus, he was the first bass player in Geisha. I fired his ass. He's an old friend since 25 years ago. So I'm glad for Magnus, and I'm glad for Anders. And Stefan is a good guy, the bald guitar player, he's good, but Joacim and Oscar, they can suck my cock. Because they really think they're god's gift to the planet, and I used to say don't shit on the ladder because you're going to climb on it on the way back. They pissed me off too much, let's say two years ago, by being rock stars. I've done this now for 22 years, around the world, and I'm no fucking rock star, I'm a normal guy, and I have a million friends around the world. They did a couple of fucking club shows and they were being the biggest rock stars you've ever seen in Gothenburg. It pissed me off because they were treating me almost the same way, and I said you should kiss my ass instead of throwing me out of the dressing room, you know? So I was pissed off. And Anders and Magnus, they had a long talk with Joacim and Oscar and said "Mikkey is really fucking pissed." So Oscar called me and he apologized and says he was so scared every time I showed up anywhere, and I said, "Oh, I'm not going to beat you up but you're still a fucking asshole." So they're like that when they see me. But I don't agree with that; I have a problem to see these fucking guys when they play one year then they're bigger than Mick Jagger. And the way they became big is by ripping off Helloween, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, even King Diamond stuff. I hear a complete rip off of some harmonies that are complete King Diamond stuff... And Helloween. And Accept. So, I mean, good luck to them, because I'm glad Magnus finally has a band, because he lived in an apartment of 27 square metres, for almost 20 years. He never had any money, he always played bass, he always stuck to his hard rock, and then he got a chance. I remember him calling me and saying, "Mikkey, I'm playing with a band called Hammerfall soon and we're going to do a tour," and I go, "Fucking great for you, Magnus." And then when Anders came into the band, he's a great drummer, that other guy was a fucking joke. So I'm happy for them. But I just can't agree on this rock star image, especially Oscar.
Read the rest of the interview with Metal Rules here. He actually talks a bit about the Scandinavian hard rock scene and dishes some dirt on W.A.S.P. and King Diamond, too.
The nominees for Norway's Alarm Awards have been announced. A sampling of the categories:
Pop: Jim Stärk, Monopot, Loch Ness Mouse, Hello Goodbye, and Thomas Dybdahl Rock: We, JR Ewing, Gluecifer, Madrugada, and Gåte Metal: Satyricon, Immortal, Red Harvest, Khold, and Arcturus Live: Turbonegro, Jaga Jazzist, Gatas Parlament, JR Ewing, and Ralph Meyers & the Jack Herren Band
The Moonbabies report that they are now 3/4 of the way through recording their new album. It's scheduled for a March release on Chalksound in Europe and A Bouncing Space Recordings in the US. Here's a bit of what they had to say about it:
The new album sounds (at this point) like a hybrid between the more melodic parts of "June and Novas" and something totally colorful, new and unexplored. I definitely think we'll break some new ground with it. We started with a lot of songs and are on our way to narrowing down to twelve, or thirteen tracks. Funnily enough right now, we are working on an album of songs with no names. Unimaginary working titles like "apples" and "fear" are what we call the songs until they get finished lyrics and a real name, and it has been really hard to come up with the right titles for the this album. The best one's so far I think are "Bang goes another day" and "Fieldtrip U.S.A"... those I am proud of.
The band also finished their first ever video for the song "Over My Head". Filmed by the Swedish production company Colony and shot in Malmö, you can view it right here. (Requires Quicktime)
TSOOL is now confirmed to be entering the studio in January to work on their next record. Of course, you should have already suspected as such, but now we've got an official statement. As for their upcoming appearance on Late Night with David Letterman, frontman Ebbott had this to say:
"Being on the show will hopefully make a breakthrough easier, but you never know what effect these things have. But it's great fun!"
A Saturday Night Live appearance is apparently in the works, too. Pretty exciting!
Win some exclusive Motorpsycho stuff from NRK Stereo. (In Norweigan)
Recording of the new Entombed record is already beginning to wrap up. Expect a March release on Music for Nations.
Even more Entombed related news:
The band's Threeman Recording label is actually starting to get down to business. Entombed-side projects Murder Squad and The Project Hate MCMXCIX will be the first releases. There's also plans to do vinyl versions of the albums "Uprising" and "Morning Star".
Project Hate has parted ways with vocalist Mia Ståhl. That means they're looking for replacement female singer. Check their website for more details.
Washoe has apparently changed their name to Alpha Safari.
Uffe's old band Haystack has plans to do a one-off reunion gig in the near future. No date yet, but here's the band's lineup: Uffe - Guitar, vocals; Johan (Backyard Babies) - Bass; Jonas (The Maggots) - drums