AMEBIX Announce New Album Title & Release Date

This is the most important announcement of my career, and one that means a lot to me as a friend to and massive fan of the band. Please spread the word.




AMEBIX Announce New Album Title & Release Date

The darkest hour is upon us. The legends have returned.

AMEBIX, one of the best-loved and most influential bands in heavy music, have spent the last two years working towards this, a defining moment in their storied career - the release of their first collection of all-new material since 1987.

On September 20, 2011, upon the cusp of the autumnal Equinox, the new AMEBIX album will be released. Entitled Sonic Mass, these nine songs represent the past, present, and future of the band, and will enthrall and inspire longtime fans and new converts alike. As dark, crushing, and honest as anything on their classics Arise! and Monolith, but imbued with a lifetime of hardship, raw emotion, and eternal hope, Sonic Mass is the album AMEBIX have always wanted to create.

The album was recorded at Rock Cottage in Derbyshire and The Lodge Studios in Northampton, England, and engineered, mixed and produced by AMEBIX drummer Roy Mayorga. Sonic Mass will be released digitally and on CD by Alternative Tentacles, with a deluxe 12" vinyl edition from Profane Existence.

Formed in the late seventies and hailed as the godfathers of crust punk and extreme metal, AMEBIX had long lain dormant until the addition of drummer Roy Mayorga (Nausea, Crisis, Soulfly, Stone Sour), a DVD release, and a string of 2009 reunion shows reignited the flame. The band's resurrection first resulted in the release of 2010's Redux EP, which features live and rerecorded versions of several of the band's best-loved classics, including "Winter," "Chain Reaction," and the immortal battle cry, "Arise." The songs were remixed by Mayorga and Redux is available from Profane Existence on CD, 12" LP and digitally.

Now, the time has come to finish what they started. A whole new chapter in the AMEBIX saga has begun.

AMEBIX IS
Rob Miller: Vocals/Bass
Stig C Miller: Guitars
Roy Mayorga: Drums/Keyboards/Mandolin



Photos from the recording sessions for Sonic Mass can be viewed HERE. All photos by Fin MacAteer.

http://amebix.net/
http://www.profaneexistence.org/
http://www.alternativetentacles.com/

Castevet, Lake of Blood, Seidr, Falls of Rauros played two blocks from my house.

And I wrote about it for Brooklyn Vegan.

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/01/castevet_played.html


CASTEVET, LAKE OF BLOOD, SEIDR, FALLS OF RAUROS Played the Acheron


It was bitter cold outside,. A starless sky and biting wind provided the perfect setting for a black metal ritual, as soiled snowdrifts hugged the sidewalk and surely made load-in a nightmare for the quartet of bands slated to perform. Those that braved the winter chill and got to the Acheron in time for the first band were richly rewarded.

Falls of Rauros’ set unfolded over a series of long, gorgeously-crafted atmospheric black metal compositions. Their sprawling odes to the wilderness and man’s primal past recalled the power and delicacy of Drudkh and Agalloch, with a taste of Ulver’s Kveldssanger and a hungry intensity all their own. Unfortunately they’d already sold out of CDs by the time they rolled through Brooklyn, but this Maine collective are working on new material for an upcoming release that will undoubtedly surpass even my high expectations.

Louisville, KY’s black/doom cult Seidr have long been a favorite of mine, and did not disappoint. The band, which includes Austin Lunn of Panopticon, was unafraid to allow beautiful melodies to shine through the thick black fog that envelops their funereal dirges. Their performance was absolutely riveting – total catharsis, and the strongest set of the night.

California black metallers Lake of Blood commanded our attention, and got it. While their imposing frontman roared and raged down on the floor with a whiskey- and blood-drunk crowd, the rest of the band closed their eyes and hammered away, churning out riff after riff of darkness and light. They managed to sound melodic and refined without sacrificing any of the barbarity and speed that keep underground black metal dangerous – impressive, to say the least. Look for a new album from these guys as well.

Castevet still stand out as one of NYC’s most engaging live acts, and closed out the evening with a bang. If you haven’t seen them yet, you’re fucking up. Luckily, they’ll be back at the Acheron with Phantom Glue and brother band Defeatist – don’t miss out.

Albums I'm Looking Forward To Hearing In 2011:

Adorior – TBA 3rd album

Antediluvian / Adversarial – split album

Ascended / Helcaraxë – split 7″

Bastard Sapling – TBA debut album

Burial Invocation – TBA debut album

Cruciamentum – TBA MLP

Gallhammer - TBA album

Gates of Slumber - The Scourge of Drunkenness

Gospel of the Horns – TBA mCD

Katharsis / Teitanblood – split

Kerasphorus – TBA 7″

EYEHATEGOD - TBA

Morbid Angel – TBA “I” album

Petrychor - TBA

Repugnant – TBA second album

Revenge – Scum.Collapse.Eradication

Revenge / Black Witchery – TBA split

Sanguis Imperem – TBA debut album

Scythian / Kawir – split 7″ (spoiler alert: the Scythian track rulezzz)




and probably a million more I'm forgetting about.


A couple upcoming releases that I can PROMISE you are awesome:

Altar of Plagues - Mammal

Amebix - Sonic Mass

Crowbar - Sever the Wicked Hand

Necros Christos – Doom of the Occult

I like band tattoos.

And I really LOVE EyeHateGod.

Take as needed for pain, bitches.

Tumblr

Hi!

I just figured out how Tumblr works (sort of) and decided to make one for my PR company, Catharsis PR. Once I caught myself posting non-work stuff on there like five seconds after I made it, I decided to make another one just for me to dick around on. Here are the links, let's be friends.

CATHARSIS PR

GRIM KIM





TODAY'S PLAYLIST:

ASCENSION - With Burning Tongues demo
BOLT THROWER - Realm of Chaos
APPALACHIAN TERROR UNIT - It's Far From Fucking Over
STEVE VON TILL - A Grave is a Grim Horse
JOHNNY CASH - American V: A Hundred Highways
THE GAULT - Even As All Before Us

I'm making a mix CD for my boyfriend, thus the more mellow stuff near the end of the evening. Yeah, I'm aware that I am 1. a massive sap, and 2. stuck in the early 2000's. Come at me, bro.

To Separate Flesh From Bone - Happenings and Discoveries

The above photo was snapped by my beloved friend Samantha Marble to accompany a piece that ran on NPR.org this past week as part of the Record's "The Year in Music" retrospective series. Entitled "2010's Best Writing About Metal," the post rounded up a handful of pieces that its author thought particularly exemplary, and I'm pretty chuffed that my "Metal Etiquette: A Ladies' Guide to Concert-going" (Metalsucks) was chosen. Many thanks to Lars Gotrich for the honor. You can read the writeup and find a link to the original article here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2010/12/30/132413390/the-year-in-music-2010s-best-writing-about-metal

Sam, my roommate Karlynn Holland and I spent a good couple hours Immortal-izing my face, shooting in the snow outside Sam's apartment, spooking unsuspecting passersby,, and breathlessly giggling at the sight of my dumb ass in full-on Abbath mode. You can see a couple more photos here - I look like a dude, but am totally okay with it. Talk about ravishing grimness. Hah! http://samanthamarble.tumblr.com/

NEWS FROM THE DEPTHS (THAT CAUGHT MY ATTENTION):

Clandestine Blaze released a new album on longtime allies Northern Heritage at the tail end of 2010, and it completely snuck under my nose! I haven't gotten my mitts on it yet, but according to the NH website,

"2010 album of Clandestine Blaze underlines the core of black metal as it has been interpreted by it. Utmost focus on the core elements of riffs, melody, song structures and lyrics, leaving out everything unnecessary. In stripped down simplicity of sound, music and artwork it continues logical journey since Church Of Atrocity, with more distorted, lethal and fierce sound."

There's a new Mgla on the way, too! Stoked.

Fans of Cruciamentum should hit up Metal Ireland and check out a cool new interview with Dan, conducted by Andy from Dublin doom titans Wreck of the Hesperus: http://www.metalireland.com/2010/12/26/cruciamentum-interview/ Cruciamentum's 2009 EP 'Convocation of Crawling Chaos' is a proclamation of intent and an essential listen for anyone who gives a damn about the current state of underground metal ov death.
Listen and worship: http://www.last.fm/music/Cruciamentum




Negative Plane have a brand-new record due out on Ireland's truly barbaric Invictus Productions in early 2011. Invictus will also be releasing an LP for Canadian black/death warriors Antediluvian, who are planning a split with brothers in arms Adversarial as well.

Altar of Plagues have completed their new album for Profound Lore, which is currently being mastered by the immortal Necromorbus. Can't spill any more details, but trust me - this will be the one of the best albums of 2011.

Much-loved Necros Christos affiliates Drowned have come to their senses and gotten together to record new material, though no hope (as of yet) of catching the Teutonic death/doom beasts live:

"11/2010
A new line-up has been coagulated earlier this year, involving Tlmnn on guitar, G.ST (also in Essenz) on bass and T.E. (also in Essenz and Android Empire) on drums. We are currently working on material for an upcoming full-length album.
MDR will remain available for future vocal recordings, albeit his participation in live shows is unlikely due to the ever more time-consuming nature of Necros Christos.
Because of this circumstance and also in order to focus on songwriting, Drowned will not play live in the near future."





My good friends Craven Idol will be releasing their debut EP Ethereal Altars on Hammer of Hate/Vengeful Atakkk - black/thrash supremacy! Speaking of the London scene, my mates Scythian (warlike black/thrash) will be releasing a split 7" with Greek horde Kawir in the coming months.




PLAYLIST FOR THE DAY:

Some new discoveries have hit my headphones today; I'm taking advantage of my newfound downtime to greedily devour as much new-to-me (and underappreciated) UGBM/UGDM as possible. Lots of demos, lots of new blood and surprisingly, lots of American stuff.

SKITSYSTEM - Stigmata (2006)
SOMBRES FORETS - Royaume De Glace (2008)
GOAT HORN - Trinza After Sunset demo (1999)
CASTLE OF PURITY - s/t demo (2009)
ETERNAL DIRGE - Morbus Ascendit (1992)
GAROTTE - Count the Almounds (2010)
ROMAN CROSS - Rain rehearsal (2008)
GRAVE MIASMA - Realm of Evoked Doom rerelease (2010)