Well, that was fast; just one week after announcing they’d left long-time label Prosthetic for the scene-ier pastures of Rise Records, The Acacia Strain have already released a new song. A full new record is planned for October, but that hasn’t stopped basically the only OG deathcore band left that’s worth listening to from putting out “Servant In The Place Of Truth” now, a full six months before the album’s release. My guess is that this is actually a B-side left over from the Wormwood sessions, but that’s purely conjecture.

As for as TAC songs go this one is pretty boilerplate, but boilerplate TAC is better than most deathcore bands on their best days. This song’s certainly got some awesome moments, the best of which is the hearty “BLEH!” at 2:45. Perfect.

“Servant in the Place of Truth” is available for purchase at Amazon.

-VN

In June, nearly seven months to the day after GWAR guitarist Cory Smoot’s (a.k.a. “Flattus Maximus”) tragic death, Metal Blade will release When Worlds Collide by The Cory Smoot Experiment. Originally intended to be a concept album called Religion is Fiction that would feature guest vocals by such Richmond, VA metal luminaries as Lamb of God’s Randy Blythe and GWAR’s own Dave “Oderus Urungus” Brockie, Smoot decided to complete the record on his own when scheduling conflicts prevented those recording sessions from taking place. And thus, perhaps even more so that he originally intended, When Worlds Collide will be uniquely Smoot’s vision, and will stand as a final towering testament to his talents.

You can now stream a track from When Worlds Collide, “Countdown to Oblivion,” below. Collide comes out June 5; you can pre-order it, and/or donate to the Smoot Family Fund, here.

-AR

Storm Corrosion, the new project from Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt and Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson, have released their first single and video in the form of “Drag Ropes.” As advertised, the music is not at all metal — but it is really, really cool. Make sure you give it a listen, even if you’re not the kind of person who is normally inclined to enjoy this sort of thing.

Bonus: The video, which features sparse-yet-haunting animation (and obeys my golden “keep the band outta it” rule!) is also totally sweet. Director/animator Jess Cope deserves a big round of applause for this one.

Storm Corrosion’s self-titled debut comes out May 8 on Roadrunner.

-AR

At last, Fear Factory have released their new single, “Recharger.” As longtime readers know, I’m not really a Fear Factory fan, in no small part because every single song they’ve ever released sounds exactly the same to me — and this one is no different. It could be from any Fear Factory album and I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

That being said, I know a lot of you really love Fear Factory, so I hope sincerely hope you enjoy this.

“Recharger” will be on Fear Factory’s new album, The Industralist, which comes out June 5 on Candlelight.

-AR

[via Skulls N Bones]

I’m totally blown away by Cyclone Temple’s I Hate Therefore I Am, a sparkling thrash metal masterpiece from 1991. Powered by mega-riffist Greg Fulton (above, second from left) and two of his former Znöwhite bandmates, I Hate was ripped like a steroid-amped Anthrax and equally as impressive for its presciently personal lyrics. In fact, when we think of the acts that primed the pump for pity-partyers like Korn, we must place Cyclone Temple alongside Suicidal Tendencies and Nine Inch Nails. In a good way. I so love!

But I was one of few fans: Cyclone Temple, their bugfuck-awesome guitarist, and I Hate didn’t reach many ears. Worse, the band’s scant momentum was sapped by key line-up changes and the loss of their record company home. Their next releases were hardly available, then Cyclone Temple disappeared. Bummer.

Flash forward a million years: Last month Divebomb Records announced plans to remaster and rerelease I Hate‘s follow-up My Friend Lonely on a single disc with the Building Errors In The Machine EP, and that its liner notes were authored by awesome Carlos Ramirez, editor of AOL’s Noisecreep. Awesome! I contacted Ramirez to gab with a fellow fan about Cyclone Temple’s awesomeness, his involvement in the reissue, his thoughts on the band’s bad luck, the current status of Fulton and bassist Scott Schaefer, and the chances for an I Hate-era line-up reunion.

Click to read more…

The Sword debuted a new song during a recent performance in Austin, TX, and like all songs by The Sword, it basically sounds exactly like Ozzy-era Sabbath. I don’t really have anything else to say about it; it’s just good to know that if Ozzy, Tony, and Geezer completely blow their reunion and release some total piece of crap, we’ll always have The Sword to fall back on. Ooh, I made a little pun by accident!

The Sword’s new album should be out later this year via Razor & Tie.

-AR

[via Metal Insider]

I really dug “Biggest Fan,” the first single from Sevendust members Clint Lowery and Morgan Rose’s new project, Call Me No One. It reminded me a lot of the Foo Fighters, which isn’t at all at bad thing.

So I was stoked to see that the band now has another new song, “Last Parade,” streaming (below). And when it started, I was like, “Yeah! This rules!” But then it ended super-abruptly; the entire thing is a mere two-and-a-half minutes, which is no big deal, but it kinda feels like it’s just getting started when it concludes. Oh well. I guess it’s better to leave us wanting more…

Last Parade comes out June 6 via Seven Bros. / Asylum Records.

-AR

Kataklysm have released their new single, “Iron Will,” which you can stream here, as well as the video for that single, which you can check out below. It’s basically everything awesome we’ve come to expect from Kataklysm: chunky groove-death brutality and an anthemic chorus rounded out by a heavy-as-fuck elephants marching riff. In other words, it’s a stellar example of why we love this band so much. Watch:

“Iron Will” comes from Kataklysm’s upcoming multi-disc CD/DVD set, The Iron Will: 20 Years Determined, which comes July 3  in North America and July 6 in Europe via Nuclear Blast. The band will celebrate Iron Will‘s release by headlining the MetalSucks-presented tour of the same name, with support coming from Origin, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Vital Remains, and Rose Funeral. Get dates here.

-AR

I’ve been raving about it for months: I selected it as an Album That Will Fuck Your Face Off in January, we premiered the opening cut in February, and we’ve generally been posting about it any time we’re given any excuse to. And now’s your chance to finally hear it: 7 Horns 7 Eyes amazing debut album Throes of Absolution is streaming in full right now at No Clean Singing.

If iTunes play counts were the sole determinant, Throes would be my de facto #1 album of 2012 so far. Here’s what I had to say about it a few months back:

Throes is intensely dark and foreboding, unrelentingly heavy and crushing, all the while uniquely melodic, artful and overtly DRAMATIC — similar to Nevermore. But where Warrel Dane’s patented croon defined a big part of Nevermore’s sound, 7 Horns 7 Eyes are all ball-rattling, bone-shaking, deep, deep, DEEP growls. The kind that would literally scare small children. And yes, make no mistake about it: this metal is technical in nature (as if Loomis’ involvement didn’t tip you off), so there are plenty of ever-shifting time-signatures, classical-inspired melodies and beautifully-crafted guitar solos to go around. Prog metal and death metal fans alike should find a whole lot to love about this album.

Stream it now at No Clean Singing. The Soundcloud embed is wonky so you’ll have to use the custom player below it; make sure you select Track 1 before starting. Throes of Absolution is out now via Basick Records.

-VN

Stuck by Lightning‘s capital-”E” Evil sophomore effort, True Predation, has achieved a true feat: it’s likely to appeal to a wide range of tastes, but it isn’t the least bit polished or immersed in trends. Two years ago, our own Satan Rosenbloom described the band’s 2009 debut, Serpents, thusly:

“Struck By Lightning sound like Mastodon and High on Fire’s d-beat-crazy lovechild. Except when you’re listening to their debut record Serpents, you don’t think about the influences – you think about what a fucking kick-ass record it is.”

Brooklyn Vegan, who are streaming two new Struck by Lightning songs from the band’s forthcoming True Predation, notes a heightened black metal influence on the new material, which is also accurate — but I can’t imagine the adjustment will detract from the enjoyment of hardcore fans, death metal fans, or stoners. The band would seem just as at home on tour with Howl a tour with Converge or a tour with Skeletonwitch. Really, the only prerequisite for enjoying Struck by Lightning’s music would be liking songs that make you feel as though wild wolves are ripping you to death. And if that doesn’t sound appealing, well… didja hear that Nightwish and Kamelot are touring?

Please, please, please do yourself a favor and go to Brooklyn Vegan and check out the Struck by Lighting songs “Funereal” and “We Are All Just Rotting Corpses,” the latter of which is easily an early candidate for “Anthem of the Year.” Struck by Lightning’s True Predation comes April 24th on Translation Loss. You can pre-order it here.

-AR

You like Junius, If These Trees Could Talk, Constants and Caspian. You also like Dredg and Mogwai. Sometimes when you’re feeling crazy you even get a little ballsier with East of the Wall.

You follow?

Well then, my instrumental spacey post-metal adoring friend, you’re definitely gonna dig Frames. Check out the song “End of a Decade” in the Soundcloud player below, which recently premiered through Blistering. I especially dig the Hammond B3 organ in the song’s mellow middle section, and I love the use of keyboards/piano/orchestration throughout. But I really like this entire track. If you dig what you’re hearing, check out another song called “Departure” streaming over at Amp Magazine (warning: autoplay enabled).

The new Frames album In Via will be available April 24^th via SPV/Steamhammer (pre-order).

-VN

As if last week’s debut of a previously-unreleased Pantera song, “Piss,” wasn’t enough to make all the Dimebag Faithful get blackout drunk with joy, this oughta do the trick: the just-unearthed “Twisted” is basically a Dime solo track, with the guitarist even going so far as to handle vocal duties (not shocking — Dime was actually a pretty good singer, and his live backing vocals attest). Metal Insider observes that the song “sounds like it could’ve easily been a Rebel Meets Rebel tune,” although there are some heavier, more Pantera-esque sections, too, not to mention a nifty Dime solo. Check it out:

Click to read more…

Before there were blogs there were these things called magazines, and the only metal magazine we still get excited about reading every month is Decibel. Here’s managing editor Andrew Bonazelli…

John Milton has influenced global pop culture in some pretty weird ways. On this side of the pond, it’s manifested in memorable Al Pacino and Brad Pitt histrionics. On the other side, West Yorkshire’s inimitable death/goth/synth/doom/you-name-it practitioners Paradise Lost have been doing the man’s work proud for nearly a quarter-century. The quintet continues to bravely forge their own path 13 albums into their storied career, occasionally to their detriment, but generally in a way that continues to command the admiration of both curious dilettantes and hardcore fans. And now they’re Decibel’s June flexi disc honoree. Extremely limited quantities of that flexi are available here, and you can check out a stream of “The Last Fallen Saviour,” an exclusive b-side from the Tragic Idol sessions, right here.

And if you’re as psycho for these icon-oclasts as we are, stay tuned next week for all sorts of major PL announcements.

-AB

The May 2012 issue of Decibel also features Pantera, High on Fire, Torche, Unsane, Suffocation, and Prong, and can be ordered here. But why not just get a full subscription to ensure that you never miss an issue?

It’s been nearly five years since the release of Behold… The Arctopus’ last full-length, Skullgrid, but that should change soon: the band is readying a new album, called Horrorscension, for release later this year on a label still to be determined (assuming they don’t just self-release). And now they’ve debuted a song from that album, entitled “Disintegore,” which you can stream below.

It’s typically jazzy, schizophrenic stuff from the experimental outfit, which, in case ya didn’t know, features Colin Marston (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts) playing one of those nutty Warr Guitars. If you’re expecting something linear, well, you must not know this band. So get ready to lose your mind:

More details on Horrorscension‘s release as they become available…

-AR

[via Heavy Blog is Heavy]

Wow, that headline sounds yucky. My apologies.

ANYWAY, you may or may not be aware that Dave Lombardo, the twenty-first best drummer in modern metal, has had a side project called Philm in the works for a minute now. Well, the band will finally release their debut, Harmonic, next month, and are now streaming a song over at Terrorizer. I’d tell you what it’s called but I can’t because nowhere is the title of the track listed. But title or no, I like it! It’s way different from anything Lombardo has done before — the drummer himself says that the music is “like taking all the heavy songs of the ’60s and bringing that era to a modern plateau, then blending them with the modern trance and psychedelic sounds of today” — but his performance is typically excellent.

Check out the tune here, then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below. Harmonic comes out May 15 via  Ipecac.

-AR

Good news for you if you’re going to this year’s tenth annual Maryland Death Fest next month: David Hall’s Handshake, Inc. will be selling a special, limited edition 7″ from Rwake. Entitled Forge, it features two live If You Walk Before You Crawl You Crawl Before You Die-era recordings, and — here’s the bummer for those us not attending MDF this year — it’s not getting a digital release, and it’s not being sold elsewhere, making it a genuine collector’s item.

The silver lining is that Decibel is streaming Forge right now, so at least you can hear it and know what you’re missing. Better to have loved and lost than blah blah blah, right?

Check out Forge here. Maryland Death Fest takes places May 24-27 in Tokyo Baltimore; get more details here.

-AR

Be’lakor, the Australian band that Axl called “the best unsigned band in metal” way back in 2007, have finally been called up to the big leagues; fresh on the heels of a new deal with Kolony Records, Be’lakor will release Of Breath and Bone on June 1st worldwide.

Based on the song “Remnants” the band just released, which you can stream below, June 1st can’t come soon enough! To quote Axl, Be’lakor specialize “in the same kind of doomy, prog-infused melodic death metal as acts like Insomnium, Agalloch and Daylight Dies,” and “Remnants” shows that they’re stepping it up to the next level with even more epic, grandiose production, songwriting and arrangements. Can’t wait for this record to drop.

-VN

Presumably you’re already excited for Mares of Thrace’s new album, The Pilgrimage, because I told you to get excited about the album, and you should always do everything I say without question. So, great news, folks: now you can stream the whole album! And you should do it, on account of the whole “I say ‘jump’ you say ‘how high’” thing. But also because if you don’t listen to it, you’re really only hurting yourself. This album kicks ass.

Additionally, I command you to read this epic two-part interview that The Bravest Man in Metal, Kevin Stewart-Panko, conducted with the duo for Decibel: part 1, part 2.

The Pilgrimage will be released on April 24 on Sonic Unyon. The band is heading out on tour later this month; dates are after the jump!

Click to read more…

I’m listening to Torche’s Harmonicraft for the first time myself as I’m sitting here typying this, but just a few songs in, I’m ready to give it a thumbs up. The cover art — which I think is really, really cool — is a bizarrely perfect visual representation of the music on the album: it’s all very bright and energetic, and yet, there’s a weird darkness and melancholia to large portions of it. It’s like… longing expressed as incredibly catchy metallic pop-fuzz-punk? Does that make any sense?

Our new critic, Mad Sourman, should be handing in a review soon, and hopefully he’ll be able to explain Harmonicraft in a more articulate manner than myself. But in the meantime, feel free to formulate your own opinion by streaming the entire thing here. As an added bonus, the stream comes complete with a track-by-track breakdown from bassist Jonathan Nuñez. He says that “Reverse Inverted” is “the blaze-one-up track,” which I guess explains why I dig it so much.

Harmonicraft comes out April 24 via Volcom.

-AR

UPDATE, 2:38 pm: The music, alas, has been removed, but here’s the album art as a consolation prize… thanks to BallesdeMerde for sending it in:

Two words:

Fuck.

YES.

Video has been removed. Bummer.

L’Enfant Sauvage comes out June 26 on Roadrunner. Read the interview I conducted with Joe and Mario Duplantier when they were in the studio recording the album here.

-AR

Thanks to Jesper for the tip!