Up for download this week is StonerRock.org‘s Stoner Rock Comp Vol. 9. You can download all 9 volumes for free, but this is the latest, being released last year. Below is the band/tracklist. You probably won’t be familiar with many if any of the bands unless you’re a hardcore underground stoner rock fan, which I am not. Regardless, I think it’s a great way to discover new bands. You can even download various album covers (like the one above) if you want to make your own CD’s. You can download individual songs or the entire album and preview the tracks before downloading.

Download Stoner Rock Comp Vol. 9

Disc 1

1. I Klatus – “Antediluvian Knowledge”
2. Sandia Man – “Skins of the Fathers”
3. Mengele – “Wizard Dust”
4. Kin of Ettins – “Waking Memory (Mountains)”
5. Old One – “Over the Hill”
6. Face on Mars – “Jump the Gun”
7. Ol’ Scratch – “Draconain March”
8. Misericorde – “Wicked World”
9. American Freeway – “Got ‘Em Got ‘Em Need ‘Em Got ‘Em”
10. Queen Elephantine – “Chariot in Solemn Procession”

Disc Two

1. Dwellers – “Ode to Inversion Layer 1″
2. Whores of Tijuana – “Blue Ball Blues”
3. Stone Axe – “Ain’t Gonna Miss It”
4. Grifter – “The Voices”
5. Trash Titan – “The Dog Song”
6. Mico De Noche – “Mower”
7. Shellfin – “The Extent of It”
8. Aeolian Race – “Hawks”
9. The Next Hundred Years – “Black Unicorn, White Unicorn”
10. Hugenelk – “Sunken Treasure”
11. Houdini – “The Rotation of the Element”

The Sword will be hitting the road to promote and tour their upcoming album, Warp Riders. They have U.S. tour scheduled, followed with a huge European tour and a short tour of Australia with the Soundwave Festival. They will be touring the U.S. with Karma To Burn and Mount Carmen. You can get tickets on presale starting Friday at the link below. Here is the presser:

The Sword Announce Fall 2010 Tour of U.S. and Europe

The US tour begins on Friday, October 1st in Los Angeles and ends in Chicago on October 23rd. Tickets go on pre-sale to fans beginning Friday, July 30th and to the general public beginning one week later on Friday, August 6th.

The European tour begins in Antwerp on November 8th and ends in Belfast on December 12th. Tickets are on sale now!

We’re also happy to announce we’ll be touring Australia with the Soundwave Festival in late February/early March 2011. For more information, visit our Performance page here.

2010 U.S. TOUR With Karma To Burn & Mount Carmel
Pre-sale Username: thesword / password: tickets

10/01 Los Angeles, CA El Rey

10/02 San Francisco, CA Regency

10/03 Portland, OR Roseland

10/04 Seattle, WA The Showbox

10/06 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre

10/12 Atlanta, GA Masquerade

10/13 Asheville, NC Orange Peel

10/14 Roanoke, VA Martin’s Downtown

10/15 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of the Living Arts

10/16 New York, NY Webster Hall

10/17 Boston, MA Royale Boston

10/19 Cleveland, OH House of Blues

10/20 Washington, DC 9:30 Club

10/21 Huntington, WV V Club Live

10/23 Chicago, IL Metro

2010 EUROPEAN TOUR

11/08 Antwerp, Belgium Trix

11/09 Hamburg, Germany Molotov

11/11 Stockholm, Sweden Gote Killare

11/12 Malmo, Sweden KB

11/13 Oslo, Norway Garage

11/15 Berlin, Germany Magnet

11/16 Munich, Germany 59:1

11/17 Vienna, Austra Szene

11/18 Milan, Italy Live Club

11/19 Graz, Austria PPC

11/21 Zurich, Switzerland Dynamo

11/23 Koln, Germany Underground

11/24 Paris, France Le Fleche D’or

11/26 Uden, Holland De Pul

11/27 Kerkrade, Holland Rock Temple

11/29 Portsmouth, UK Wedgewood Rooms

11/30 Bristol, UK Fleece & Firkin

12/01 Birmingham, UK Bar Academy

12/03 Leeds, UK Cockpit

12/04 Glasgow, UK G2

12/05 Newcastle, UK Academy II

12/06 Manchester, UK Academy III

12/08 Nottingham, UK Rescue Rooms

12/09 London, UK Islington Academy

12/10 Brighton, UK Audio

12/11 Dublin, Ireland Dublin Academy

12/12 Belfast, Ireland Stiff Kitten

2011 SOUNDWAVE FESTIVAL

2/26/11 Brisbane, AUS Soundwave Festival

2/27/11 Sydney, AUS Soundwave Festival

3/04/11 Melbourne, AUS Soundwave Festival

3/05/11 Adelaide, AUS Soundwave Festival

3/07/11 Perth, AUS Soundwave Festival

So the rumors have been bouncing around about Thomas Gabriel Fischer (Warrior, whatever) and his newest band Triptykon doing a U.S. Tour with 1349 and Yakuza. Livenation.com had some dates posted, but you never know the full story until you get the all-telling press release. Well, it’s here via Fresno Media.

TRIPTYKON ANNOUNCES LINE-UP FOR FIRST AMERICAN TOUR
“Weltenbrand Tour 2010” coming this fall

Tom Gabriel Warrior (vocals, guitars) describes his emotions of anticipation on this new undertaking: ”Ever since my earliest days in Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, I have been extremely fortunate to be able to count on the support, fanaticism, and immense loyalty of the North American metal scene. The recognition my work has received there eclipses anything I have ever encountered in my own native country. Of the 125 concerts performed on the final Celtic Frost tour in 2006 and 2007, for example, a full 71 were played in North America. Some of these performances rank among the most memorable ones in my entire career.”

“It is thus an immense honor for me to now bring my new group Triptykon to North America for the first time. Triptykon is further pursuing the path I once began with Hellhammer and Celtic Frost, and I am looking forward to continuing to forge this darkest of musical alliances with all of you. We shall all celebrate masses of unleashed heaviness and morbidity. Only death is real!”

The main purpose of Triptykon is to continue where Celtic Frost left off and to satisfy Warrior’s undying passion for extreme music. Indeed some of the material Fischer was working on post-Monotheist ended up on Triptykon’s debut album, Eparistera Daimones, so it stands to reason, besides the obvious fact that Fischer fronts Triptykon, the two are sonically and spiritually closely connected. As can be expected, Eparistera Daimones is therefore a musical leviathan. Next to Warrior, Triptykon features V. Santura (guitar, vocals), Norman Lonhard (drums, percussion) and Vanja Slajh (bass). Eparistera Daimones was produced by Tom Gabriel Warrior and Triptykon guitarist V. Santura. Like Celtic Frost’s universally praisedMonotheist album, Eparistera Daimones was mastered by Walter Schmid at Oakland Recording in Winterthur, Switzerland.

Stay tuned to www.myspace.com/triptykonofficial for more info regarding Triptykon and the “Weltenbrand Tour 2010”.

10/6-New York, NY @ The Gramercy Theatre
10/7-Boston, MA @ The Middle East
10/8-Baltimore, MD @ Otto Bar
10/9-Philadelphia, PA @ Polaris
10/10-Montreal, QC @ Les Foufounes Electrique
10/11-Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
10/13-Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
10/14-Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
10/15-Detroit, MI @ The Majestic Theatre
10/16-Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
10/17-St. Paul, MN @ Station 4
10/19-Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theatre
10/21-Seattle, WA @ El Corazon
10/22-Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
10/23-San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
10/24-Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey Theatre
10/25-Tucson, AZ @ The Rock
10/27-Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee
10/28-Fort Worth, TX @ Ridglea Theatre
10/29-Austin, TX @ Emo’s Outside
10/30-Houston, TX @ The Warsaw

Hey guys! My name is Masaki Murashita. I’m the singer/guitarist of a Phoenix-based Metal band called Hemoptysis (He-mop-ti-sis). First of all, I would like to thank Scott for giving me this awesome opportunity! I’m honored to have my blog on hookinmouth.net!

I will be posting my blogs here, writing tips and advice for my fellow musicians and friends. And for those metalheads who are not in band, you can get some ideas of what it’s like being in a band chasing the dream. Alright, let me start my first blog!

I am going to write about what musicians need to be prepared for before going into the recording studio. Since my band, Hemoptysis, is now in the studio and recording a full-length album, I think it is a good time for me to talk about it. I am also an engineer and Artist Relations Representative for producer Ryan Greene (NOFX, Mr.Big). I’ve seen a lot of issues in studios, so I can give you some basic thoughts for you.

One of the first dreams of every musician would be either playing gigs or recording their material to CD. Though recording is becoming ridiculously cheaper than it was, it is still a lot of money to invest without having the financial support of a record label. For those of you who have never experienced recording in studios, here is some advice for you:

1. Make sure all of you in the band can play in time with the click of a metronome. Practice with a click all the time.
2. Make sure your gear is set up right. Guitarists and bassists: The last thing you want is your guitars to not stay in tune and waste studio time. Remember, studio time is a hell of a lot more expensive than taking your guitar to the shop for set up.Drummers: Replace all your drum heads with new ones before hand to make sure your gear is ready to play and sounding it’s best.
3. Everybody needs to know what he or she is playing. The studio is not a place to write songs unless you have a huge, unlimited budget. Also, you need to be capable of playing different things on the spot, like different fills for drummers, harmonies or different phrases and solos for guitarists and bassists, and so forth. When you have a REAL producer, he or she will most likely suggest some ideas based on their experiences to make your songs unique. You as a player must be able to try some new ideas. It will bring you to the next level as a player.
4. Be objective and open minded. It is really important and really hard to be open minded for some people because, obviously, their song is their baby and sometimes it’s not easy to listen to other people’s opinion. However, everybody’s bottom line is the same, “to create the best product,” so you must be able to step back and listen to your producer or bandmates’ opinion, unless you want to jerk off in your own little world, in which case being in a band and/or having a producer may not be for you.
5. Singers, don’t even try to sing notes you can’t hit in the studio. Sure we have a technology to tune it to the right note, but you must think about what it will sound like live. If you can’t hit that note at the shows, it’s embarrassing and people won’t respect you as much becase they will think you didn’t hit that note on the cd they bought, either.
6. Don’t try to play things out side of your ability. Again, you must be able to nail the part pretty quick, and if you are not comfortable enough playing it yet, don’t try it until you are sure you can knock it out quick. That will save studio time and will make the cd sound more like you and natural sounding instead of sounding pushy and awkward.
7. Relax. It can be really stressful when you make mistakes over and over when you are tracking. However, the more you stress out, the more time you will take to get the part right because you will be holding drum sticks too tight, or pushing your strings too hard, or bending intonation . That will make it sound out of tune or like it doesn’t match with the other tracks. Sometimes it is really hard to be relaxed, especially when you are running out of time, but it is what it is. Just relax and breathe and you’ll be fine.

Those are the some of the things that came straight to my mind. There’s more, obviously, but you may need to work on some of these things if you record in a studio. The important thing is learning what you need to do to get to the next step in your career and become a better player.

~Masaki

Kataklysm‘s 2008 release, Prevail, was easily one of my favorite albums of that year. So much that I named it as my favorite album of the year. Looking back I really don’t know what I was thinking with all the great albums that came out that year. While it was a great album, I don’t know to this day what made me choose it as my top pick of that year. It was the first full Kataklysm album I heard, only hearing a few songs from compilations before that. After that I bought 2006′s In The Arms Of Devastation, another great release by this band. Sadly, I have yet delve into the rest of Kataklysm’s back catalog.

2009 saw the release of Ex-Deo‘s Romulus, frontman Mario Iacono’s side project, which I thought was another exceptional album. I ached for more Kataklysm. Thankfully we will see the release of their 11th full length album, Heaven’s Venom. Heaven’s Venom will see it’s release on Nuclear Blast Records on August 24th.

The first song on Heaven’s Venom, Soulless God, starts off with a quote from the 2006 movie Rocky Balboa. The whole “The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows…”. Now I don’t think they quoted it word for word, but you get the point. This leads in to the song and it’s a great start to a very hard hitting album that continues with the aural pummeling until the very end.

Just as Kataklysm know how to do, they bring heavy and catchy riffs into the game with memorable choruses while using the typical vocal variations that they are known for. The mix on the album is extremely well balanced while placing the machine-gun style blastbeat drumming not too high or low, preventing percussion dominant songs. That’s one thing I hate about a lot of blastbeat death metal drumming. Sometimes it has a tendency of being too powerful and overwhelming everything else.

While progression and pushing into anything out of the norm is not necessarily Kataklysm’s selling point, they are consistent with putting out solid albums full of enormous, chugging riffs and fist pumping anthems (and not in the “NJ Shore” kind of way). Kataklysm is one of those bands that when you hear one of their songs, you immediately know who it is. While Heaven’s Venom may not be as catchy as Prevail, it is still a very well put together album from the “northern hyperblast” band. I just wish they would push the envelope a little more and not play it so safe. Don’t get me wrong. Heaven’s Venom is an intense ride from beginning to end and has everything that a Kataklysm fan could ask for. This should be a fun album to see them support on tour.

You can listen to the first single, Determined (Vows Of Vengeance) from Heaven’s Venom on Kataklysm’s Myspace and preview the rest of the songs on iTunes.

Preorder Heaven’s Venom at Nuclear Blast’s Online store.

Heaven’s Venom Track List

1. A Soulless God
2. Determined (Vows Of Vengeance)
3. Faith Made Of Shrapnel
4. Push The Venom
5. Hail The Renegade
6. As The Walls Collapse
7. Numb & Intoxicated
8. At The Edge Of The World
9. Suicide River
10. Blind Savior

Decrepit Birth mix an incredible amount of melody and feeling into their music. The notes that drag out after a beautiful lead are the ones that are most memorable and make it easy to recognize a DB song. Polarity does for Diminishing Between Worlds what Diminishing does for …And Time Begins. Polarity improves on Decrepit Birth’s sound and takes it a step further.

The production on Polarity is top notch and a huge step up from Diminishing. As usual Bill Robinson’s vocals are still a bit low in the mix, but it seems that they layered them enough to give it a little more depth this time around. Matt Sotelo’s leads and solos are nothing short of what I expected out of Matt. The incredibly melodic signature that he has rings out vividly through each song. What I don’t like about the album is the double kick, because at times it seems a little too machined, if you know what I mean.

Unlike most melodic death metal bands, Decrepit Birth are different in the aspect that they can slow down the guitar rhythms, yet keep the overall rhythm of the song up-tempo while mixing in very spacious and almost surrounding sounding melodic leads. It’s what makes Decrepit Birth different from all the other melo-death bands. Well that and the hell of a showman that Bill Robinson is on stage.

The lyrical content is as usual deep and not your typical gore, violence or Satanic driven lyrics. Overall the album is great and if you’re already a Decrepit Birth fan then you will probably love it. Polarity is an album full of ferocity and feeling. Decrepit Birth knows exactly what works for them and where their sound belongs in a genre full of redundancy. There hasn’t been a death metal band like this since Chuck Schuldiner’s Death.

During my review of Warp Riders, I mentioned that I was hoping there would be a vinyl release of the album. Well there is. There is also this killer package you can purchase for $50.00 that includes a huge Warp Riders poster, a cool, retro looking baseball jersey with a faux iron-on, the cd, a sticker and a limited run of single disc, gatefold purple vinyl. The first 500 will be autographed by the band. Can’t afford this package or not a collector of vinyl? You can also preorder this package that is only $25.00 and comes with a t-shirt, a sticker, the cd and an 11X17 folded poster. For all other The Sword Merch, visit The Sword’s Official Merch store

My good friends over at The Number Of The Blog are proud to present their first sponsored summer tour. Iron Thrones, the winners of Scion’s No Label Needed Contest are setting out on their very first “legitimate summer tour”. The 12 date tour starts out on July 29 in Chicago and ends on August 13 in Marshaltown Iowa. It also appears that they have a few dates that need openers. So if your band doesn’t suck too bad, you might just be able to open for them. Visit TheNumberOfTheBlog for more details on opening for them or helping out as a street team member. Tour dates after the fold.7/29/10 Chicago, IL @ The Double Door w/ The Alaya Conscious, Hessler
7/31/10 Columbus, OH @ The Summit w/ The C.O.A.S.T., Artillery Breath
8/01/10 Aliquippa, PA @ The Fallout Shelter w/ Sathanas, Dethlehem
8/02/10 Brooklyn, NY@ The Charleston w/ East of the Wall, Name, & more!
8/03/10 Allenstown, NH @ Ground Zero w/ TBA
8/04/10 Worcester, MA @ Tammany Hall w/ Irepress, Frozen
8/05/10 Philadelphia, PA @ The M Room w/ Monolith, Willing Swords
8/07/10 Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero w/ TBA
8/10/10 Clarksville, TN @ The Coup w/ Evolve or Die
8/11/10 Nashville, TN @ The Muse w/ TBA
8/12/10 St. Louis, MO @ The Firebird w/ Ashes and Iron
8/13/10 Marshalltown, IA @ The American Legion w/ Anno Domine, Tony Rocky Horror

This book is a collection of work by Christophe Szpajdel, an artist whose fans in the underground black metal community worship him as the Lord of the Logos. It includes hundreds of powerful logos, each of which captures the force of this musical genre anew. Through his surprising use of aesthetic influences such as art deco and nature, Szpajdel has brought a new dynamic into the gothic visuality of heavy metal. This publication, which is done in the style of a black prayerbook, shows not only how he has succeeded in leaving his own visual mark on this music, but how he has also expanded the canon of forms it uses.

You can find it at Gestalten and Amazon.com

Thanks to Ivan of Metalgasm and Met.al for bringing this to my attention. On a side note, Ivan’s URL shortening project Met.al, for metal related URLs turns 4 months old tomorrow.  Met.al has been used 7000 times to shorten links and has seen 250,000 clicks in it’s short 4 months.

This weeks free and legal download comes from French progressive metal band Derelict Earth. The sole band member, Quentin Stainer does the guitars, the bass and the “programming”. I assume the “Programming” means drums but I’m not sure. Regardless, this album is quite good though the production sounds a bit weak. But shit, you’re getting the album for free and it’s quite enjoyable. Stainer lists some of his influences on Derelict Earth’s Myspace as Opeth, Death, Agalloch, Cynic, Atheist, Coroner, Gojira, Nevermore, Solitude Aeturnus. The Myspace page explains the band as follows:

Derelict Earth is a french progressive metal solo project by ex-Silmarillion lead singer and guitarist Quentin Stainer. With extremely various musical influences ranging from classical music to black metal, Derelict Earth’s music aims convey emotions and feelings through rich harmonies while remaining easy listening. Started in Toulon in 2009 with a song entitled “Scabrosus” (which would became “The Darkest Serenity” shortly after), the writing and recording of the first album “Sins of the Siblings” was completed in late December. A second album is in writing process now.

Download Derelict Earth – Sins Of The Sibling

If you plan on hitting up the American Carnage Tour this summer and are a Megadeth fan that has the extra money to spend, you can now purchase the Ultimate Fan Package from ILoveAllAccess.com. The Ultimate Fan Package gets you the following:

• Choice of a general admission ticket with priority access, or a reserved ticket in first 10 rows lower bowl
• Meet and greet & photo op with Megadeth
• Pre-show party
• Exclusive Megadeth gift bag
• Ultimate Fan souvenir laminate
• Early entrance to venue
• Crowd-free merchandise shopping
• On-Site ILAA Host (Second Leg Only)
• Parking

Your next question might be “What is this going to cost me?”. Well the answer is $250.00. Might sound like a high number for some, but if you’re a die hard fan, then it’s all worth it.  For dates and purchase visit ILoveAllAccess.com.

Livenation has posted 8 dates for former Celtic Frost frontman Tom G. Warrior‘s (Fischer) Triptykon to tour this October in North America. With the debut of their album, Eparistera Daimones last March on Century Media records, the band heads out in support of. Two of the confirmed dates include Norway’s 1349 and Chicago’s Yakuza. I’m certainly hoping that more dates are posted and this tour makes it’s way within reasonable driving distance AND it includes Yakuza. I would love to be able to catch both of these bands in one shot. Yakuza recently released their 5th full length album, Of Seismic Consequence on Profound Lore. 1349 also released their 5th full length album in April on Prosthetic records and was co-produced by Tom G. Warrior. Here are the confirmed tour dates so far.

10/7 – Middle East – Cambridge, MA (with 1349 and Yakuza)

10/8 – Gramercy Theatre – New York, NY

10/13- Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH

10/15 – Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI

10/16 – Bottom Lounge – Chicago, IL

10/17 – Station 4 – St. Paul, MN

10/29 – Emos Austin – Austin, TX (with 1349 and Yakuza)

(Photo by Axel Jusseit)

Less than 2 years after the release of Opeth The Roundhouse Tapes DVD, Roadrunner Records and Opeth will be releasing a DVD of Opeth Live at the Royal Albert Hall in London England in celebration of Opeth’s 20th anniversary. Not only will this have a DVD release but there will be other packages that will include vinyl and cd’s. It looks to be a pretty nifty little package. I enjoyed The Roundhouse Tapes very much and it’s alway fun hearing Mikael Akerfeldt talk on stage. The following was ripped straight from Opeth’s Myspace.

As part of the ongoing celebration of their 20th anniversary, Swedish progressive metallers OPETH will release live footage and audio from the band’s recent performance at London’s famed Royal Albert Hall. “In Live Concert at the Royal Albert Hall”, due on September 21 via Roadrunner Records, is a fierce testament to OPETH’s continued success in the progressive metal community.

Twenty years and nine records into their legendary career, OPETH’s “progressively creative spirit” (ARTISTdirect) remains unwavering, propelling the band through the “Evolution XX: An Opeth Anthology” tour, which brought the Swedish titans to six of the world’s most unique venues, and now, with the release of “In Live Concert At The Royal Albert Hall”, into the homes of their fans.

The performance at the Royal Albert Hall (recorded on April 5, 2010) includes two sets, the first consisting of the band performing 2000′s now-classic, breakthrough epic “Blackwater Park” in its entirety, and the second, a chronologically arranged selection of material from the rest of OPETH’s extensive catalogue, totalling almost three hours of music. It is, like the rest of OPETH’s greatest work, “purposefully warped in all the right places” (Decibel). The front cover artwork concept pays tribute to DEEP PURPLE’s “Concerto for Group and Orchestra”, underlining the band’s longstanding love for their prog-rock roots.

Thinking back to the concert, frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt says “OPETH had a magical night playing the Royal Albert Hall. It was a dream come true, and now afterwards, it still feels like a dream. We got it all on film, and this, our third live recording and DVD, might be my personal favourite.

“One couldn’t help to think of all the fantastic artists that played there over the years. Looking back at this night of celebration brings me fond memories of our 20th anniversary — this package is the delayed birthday present.”

The release will be available as three very special configurations:

01. Limited-edition vinyl box set, which includes:

• Double-DVD set of OPETH’s performance at the legendary Royal Albert Hall, in its entirety, including bonus features.
• A set of four 180-gram LPs of the concert’s live audio in its entirety. The vinyl is housed in black poly lined inner sleeves which are packaged as two double gatefold set with exclusive artwork. Vinyl only available in this box set.
• Exclusive, numbered lithograph with artwork designed by Mikael Åkerfeldt and long time OPETH designer Travis Smith.
• 20-page, LP sized booklet printed on coated paper stock that chronicles the night’s events in photos.
• Expanded, exclusive artwork and more.

02. Five-disc set that consists of two DVDs and three CDs. The set not only includes the legendary evening captured on video, but the concert’s live audio in its entirety as well.

03. Double-DVD set of OPETH’s performance at the legendary Royal Albert Hall, in its entirety, including bonus features.

The concert feature will have 5.1 Dolby Surround, produced and mixed by Jens Bogren on all three configurations. The bonus features consist of a 45 minute ´fan questions´ interview and 45 minute documentary named ´On Tour with Opeth´.

Track listing is as follows:

Set 1

* The Leper Affinity
* Bleak
* Harvest
* The Drapery Falls
* Dirge For November
* The Funeral Portrait
* Patterns In The Ivy
* Blackwater Park

Set 2

* Forest Of October
* Advent
* April Ethereal
* The Moor
* Wreath
* Hope Leaves
* Harlequin Forest
* The Lotus Eater

I don’t know if that is the actual cover being used for the DVD but it’s what they had posted in their myspace blog. Might just be a joke, I don’t know.

Acoustic duo Rodrigo y Gabriela and famed producer Jason Suecof are both guest performers on the new Death Angel album Relentless Retribution, due out on September 14th on Nuclear Blast Records. Rodrigo y Gabriela are featured in the song “Claws In Deep” and Jason Suecof does a guest solo in the song “Truce“. Relentless Retribution was recorded and produced by Suecof in Audiohammer Studios in Sanford, Florida. Death Angel will be direct support on Soilwork’s upcoming Panic Over North America tour. Below is the tracklisting for Relentless Retribution.Relentless Retribution Track Listing:
1. Relentless Revolution
2. Claws In So Deep
3. Truce
4. Into The Arms of Righteous Anger
5. River Of Rapture
6. Absence Of Light
7. This Hate
8. Death Of The Meek
9. Opponents At Sides
10. I Chose The Sky
11. Volcanic
12. Where They Lay

It’s almost hard to believe that the punk movement happened over 30 years ago. I was still barely just born but it was happening. Hippies were seeing their era slowly dying as the Viet Nam war came to an end and the youth of that time were in revolt. This was a whole new revolution. It wasn’t a revolution of hugs, drugs and flower power. It was a revolution with aggression. Rock and roll would breed a heavier, angrier sub-genre. Punk was the new wave of controversial music and amongst a sea of half-ass bands was a “band with no name”.

Amebix started out as “The Band With No Name”. The British anarcho-punk band was among many that would see a short lived run before the punk era died out with many other fads of the mid 80′s. Not without a fight, England’s Amebix, with founders Rob “Barron” Miller and brother Chris “Stig” Miller would release 2 Lp’s, 3 Ep’s and 3 live albums before going on a 21 year hiatus in 1987.

Fast forward to 2010 and Amebix have remixed and released a 4 song Ep of past hits after reuniting in 2008. Redux was remixed by current drummer Roy Mayorga, better known for his drumming in Stone Sour and Soulfly. Redux features Amebix’s songs ‘Arise’, ‘Winter’, ‘Chain Reaction’ and a live version of “Progress?’.

Not being familiar with Amebix, I did some research on the band and I found the originals of each song streaming and decided to compare them to the remixed versions. The originals sound like obvious, low-budget early 80′s production. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That is still something that most music fanatics love to hear. We enjoy that old, organic sound. The remixes resurrect the songs and bring them back to life with a modern sound and feel. Good, timeless music has the ability to still grab and move you, no matter how old or rough sounding as it may be. All four songs on the album are simple yet the bring an extremely large amount of energy and aggression “Arise” has that fist raising anthem-like message of stop being part of the problem and make yourself part of the solution. “Arise. Get off your knees. GET-OFF-YOUR-KNEES!“.

If you’re a metal fan, especially of the earlier generation that appreciates the influence what punk had on metal and it’s early evolution, then you will surely enjoy Amebix and their Reduc Ep.  Redux was released on June 28th on Profane Existence and is available in as a digital download, CD and even a 12″ vinyl Ep. If you want to learn more about Amebix, visit their official site. You can listen to the tracks from Redux below and if you’re interested in purchasing the album or other Amebix merch, visit their Merch site.

I hate trying to write a review from a stream, but this is one of those times that I have no other choice as that’s all I was provided. The Sword‘s third album, Warp Riders comes out on August 14th on Kemado records, but I have had the pleasure of sampling or rather streaming the album for review ahead of time.

Early into recording, the band said that this time around was going to be very different and it had a lot of fans worried. What was exactly “Different”? Was it going to go all totally mainstream rock with a more radio friendly sound? Were they going to experiment with other instruments or something? Whenever you tell fans that your next album will be different every thought that goes through their mind is a worried on. We don’t like bands to try to fix something that’s not broken. As a Sword fan, I assure you, there is nothing to worry about.

From Age Of Winters to Gods Of The Earth we saw improvements in production a bit but overall it was just another great ‘Sword record. Nothing overdone or too fancy. With the first single that was released first via iTunes and then made available for free download was Tres Brujas, which translates to Three Witches. The Sword writing songs about witches? No Way! So there is no big change in the basic theme of the band. Still going for a medieval and mythical folklore theme to their songs. Well, most of them anyway.

The albums kicks off with a  3 minute, 43 second instrumental called ‘Acheron/Unerthing The  Orb’ which does have the fast paced thrash sound we’re used to. A ripping solo follows and chugging signature ‘Sword riffs even things out. A nice start.  The extremely catchy ‘Tres Brujas‘ is followed up by “Arrows In The Dark”, with wind howling and an eerie feeling lead before wrapping your head around more heavy riffs and cool fills. A song basically about being on watch in the night with your weapon at hand. A story in it’s own. Three songs in to it and no complaints yet.

The fourth song, The Chronomancer I: Hubris is a 7 minute, 35 second second that lyrics don’t kick in until just under two minutes. At first I thought it was an instrumental and was starting to get bored with it before the singing kicked in. Still no complaints as this song will keep you moving. The Lawless Land follows up the first Chronomancer song. Yes there are two parts. Anyway, Lawless land starts off all psychedelic with a  Zeppelin-esque (The Ocean) vibrato guitar effect but then kicks in to 2 gear with a blues/rock sounding tune that has a nice mid-tempo gallop to it. I really like the bass work of Brian Richie in this song, even though it’s nothing epic or complicated, it just rides nice. Half way through the album and still no complaints.

Astraea’s Dream delves a little deeper in to the, perhaps, experimental phase of this album by kind of starting out a little slower and more 70′s sounding, but picks up the speed a little more once it kick in. Filled with some great solos, Atsraea’s Dream is a nice instrumental and seems to actually go by pretty fast. Almost too fast. The title track, Warp Riders fits the name well and as you can guess from the title and from the lyrics is about time travel. This is a bit out of the normal lyrical theme of the band but it’s a nice change to hear them talking about space and the universe and shit, instead of the typical stuff we have come to expect J.D. Cronise to sing about. Night City sounds very dated, but in a good way. Almost could be an early KISS song, but KISS would have found a way to ruin this song.

The last two songs on the album are The Chronomancer II: Nemesis and (The Night The Sky Cried) Tears Of Fire. Again, two minutes in to the next Chronomancer song and I wait for singing. Oh, wait, there it is at 2 minutes, 26 seconds. Awesome solos and thrash and groove filled riffs. Tears Of Fire closes out the album well. The nicely placed solos in this, with the rhythm kind of remind me a lot of Achilles Last Stand from Led Zeppelin’s Presence.

Overall if you were expecting The Sword to make a big change in their music, they have…but they haven’t. The ferocity is still there but the edge is taken off of most of it with a much more classic, 70′s sound. What I see the most change in is the overall sound, but still in a good way. The crushing, thrashy riffs of the last two albums make way for more classic rock/metal grooves and licks. A little more melody here and there and even more clarity in the vocals than the last two albums. Kyle Shutt’s and J.D. Cronise’ guitar work is as usual very good and the solos are more classic rock, Sabbath/Zeppelin sounding and don’t get too wanky, if you know what I mean. Trivett Wingo’s drumming is stellar as expected and very organic sounding as they normally are. I like hearing real drums, instead of triggers.

So yes, I really dig this album. The album art reminds everyone of the Atari 2600 days, which if everyone remembers, looked really cool and had you excited for an 8 bit game back in the 80′s. You’d get it home, pop it in to start playing, just to find out that the actual gameplay was nothing like the front cover. Fortunately The Sword make the inside of the album just as cool as the cover. It will look splendid on vinyl, which I’m sure they plan on releasing.

Bottom Line: The Sword churn out another classic metal album but with more classic rock feel and inspiration this time around. Still heavy as Dumbo’s balls and hard as Pinocchio’s pecker.

2008 proved to be a great year for metal releases. As the norm, it also proved to be a great year for highly anticipated albums being disappointments. That’s expected though. Looking back at my Top Ten Albums Of 2008 when I wrote for Metal Martyr, it makes me wonder. Kataklysm? Number 1? I don’t know what I was thinking there. I mean I like Kataklysm and everything but Prevail as my top pick of 2009? Anyway, let me get to my point.

In 2008 I kept hearing great things about Enslaved‘s Vertabre and I don’t think it was until 2009 that I actually got around to listening to Vertabre. It would have made my top 10 if I had, but it seems every year I miss a few good albums that would have made my list. So with the new Enslaved album coming out later this year, I’m definitely going to be on top of this one. 2009 has had almost too much to offer as far as new album releases and there is still more to come. Axioma Ethica Odini will see a North America release on September 28th on Nuclear Blast Records. The cover was designed by Norway’s Truls Espedal, who has done every album cover since 2001′s Monumension.

Here at Hook In Mouth I’m always trying to find ways to grow. It’s been a pretty rough first year for this blog with motivational problems and shitty servers. 2010 has been a great new beginning for the blog and things are picking up. Something new that should have been tried a long time ago is a “featured band”. Going forward I’m going to try more of these and I honestly don’t know why I haven’t tried this before.

The first band to be featured is Phoenix, Arizona’s Hemoptysis (hence the logo and name plastered all over the blog). Let me quote myself from my review of their Who Needs A Shepard Ep:

Formed in 2007 by frontman and guitarist Masaki Murashita and drummer Travis Thune, Hemoptysis (the medical term for coughing up blood) mixes a sound of old school thrash and death metal with a modern feel to it. Hemoptysis self produced Ep, Who Needs A Shepherd?, was recorded by Steve Conley from F5.

Since reviewing this Ep, the band has been busy touring and writing their new, full length record, which they are currently in the studio recording right now. The new album will be produced by Ryan Greene, who has also produced for Alice Cooper, Mr. Big and Megadeth. Hemoptysis is Masaki Murashita is the vocalist and guitarist, Ryan Miller on Lead Guitar, Sunao Arai on Bass and Travis Thune on the drums. They are currently unsigned but hold various endorsements from the likes of Jackson guitars, EMG pickups, Peavey and Krank Amps.

They have made a full length video from their re-recorded single “Shadow Of Death” that Ryan Greene produced and it came out great. When I first made contact with Masaki, I was impressed enough to ask if they had submitted their Ep to any labels. He clearly stated that the band wasn’t rushing in to things and that they wanted to establish themselves before pursuing a label. A year later and they were in the “No Label Needed” contest sponsored by Scion, up against many other great bands.

Now I can’t sit here and say that I know everything about Hemoptysis. Fortunately, we’re going to learn plenty about them as over the next couple of weeks I conduct an interview in both type and skype, as well as holding a contest for some cool Hemoptysis prizes and Masaki Murashita is even going to write some blogs about whatever he wants to. I’m excited and look forward to learning about and hopefully promoting a worthy band in a sea of worthless bands.

In the meantime, you can check out Hemoptysis Myspace and listen to some of their tracks of off the Who Needs A Shepard Ep in the sidebar. Stay tuned for more!

Hemoptysis on Myspace

Hemoptysis Official Webpage

Hemoptysis On Facebook

If you would like your band [that doesn't suck] to be featured, please use the Contact Page and we’ll see about setting you up for future features.