The bad news is that drummer Derrick Nau has left the band, although apparently under amicable circumstances — in a statement, the group says that Nau ”is returning to art school and does not wish to be a musician anymore.” C’est la vie.

The great news is that the band has already named a replacement for Nau, and that replacement is Tony Laureano, who, the statement says, “will be playing drums on our April tour, new album, and for the foreseeable future.”

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There’s nothing I shouldn’t like about 1349′s latest album, Demonoir: it’s the band at blazing black-metal-at-grindcore-speed again, and its experimental parts feel appropriate, even necessary. But something feels about it hollow: the flesh, bones, and organs are all there, but is there any soul (even a black one) beneath them? How could an album with so much in common with one of my favorite black metal albums ever — the band’s 2005 eviscerator Hellfire – leave me cold?

Then it dawned on me: Revelations of the Black Flame, the album between the two. A dull, pointless affair with experimental black metal (and I even LIKE the genre from time to time: Wold’s Screech Owl and Leviathan’s A Silhouette in Splinters got quite a few spins back in the day), I tore it a new asshole back in ’09 and still stand by that action; after the straightforward destruction of Hellfire, it was a confoundingly sharp left turn for a band doing so much right. The parts on Demonoir that I would usually enjoy felt empty because of this, in that perhaps they were being employed to get back into the good graces of the fans they’d possibly alienated. There’s nothing tangibly wrong with Demonoir, but I can’t help but feel its revived sense of purpose is cold and calculated.

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BADABOOM! We promised you more awesomeness from Triptykon today, and here it is: an exclusive stream of Shatter: Eparistera Daimones Accompanied, the new EP from the legendary Tom G. Warrior’s incredible new band, a full week before its October 26 release via Century Media. Featuring three previously-unreleased songs from the Eparistera Daimones studio sessions, plus two covers of classic Celtic Frost tracks recorded live during the band’s headlining set at The Netherlands’ Roadburn Festival this past April, Shatter is just more proof that Triptykon are now a major creative force in the metal world.

Stream the EP below, and then go pre-order yourself a copy. You can also check out the killer video for the title track here. And don’t forget that Triptykon are continuing their U.S. tour with 1349 and Yakuza through the end of the month; get remaining dates here.

[this streaming promotion has ended]

Photo by Chris Roo

Back in August, I got a chance to talk with Yakuza front man Bruce Lamont about all things Yakuza, his band’s stellar new album, Of Seismic Consequence (which is a contender for this curmudgeon’s year-end “Best Of” list), his upcoming side projects and collaborations, his other fellow musicians from the Windy City, and Yakuza’s then not-yet-announced tour with Triptykon and 1349 — a tour that is now under way.

Unfortunately, then the Bob Cock penchant for procrastination kicked in. But whilst Yakuza are still in the midst of the aforementioned tour (get dates here), I present you with the always charming Mr. Lamont’s take on…well, just about anything he’s involved in nowadays – including an upcoming solo album.

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Video by popas7

After Celtic Frost disbanded and Tom G. Warrior announced the formation of Triptykon, he assured fans that his new project  ”will sound as close to Celtic Frost as is humanly possible.” That wasn’t just self-serving hype: Triptykon is not Celtic Frost in name only.

Seeing Triptykon live highlights this fact: Their set last Thursday evening here in Manhattan (with co-headliners 1349, who, unfortunately, I missed) was dominated by songs spanning the entire spectrum of Celtic Frost’s catalog, including Morbid Tales (“Circle of Tyrants,” “Dethroned Emperor”), Into the Pandemonium (“Babylon Fell”), and Monotheist (“Synagoga Satanae”). Triptykon might have new members, but they’re not a new band; they’re Celtic Frost with a very intense-looking woman, Vanja Slajh, playing bass instead of a very intense-looking man, Martin Eric Ain.

And will due respect to Ain, you probably won’t miss him.

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So that rumored North American tour with Triptykon, 1349 and Yakuza is no longer a rumor — it’s a really real thing with confirmed dates. Which is sweet! It’s a great line-up. And they’re all touring behind strong albums. Also, hopefully I’ll now get to live out my fantasy of screaming “DDDDDDDDIIIIIIEEEEE!!!!” along with a few hundred other metal fans when Triptykon play “A Thousand Lies.”

Here are dates:

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I woke up this morning to see a post on Crustcake celebrating the news that Triptykon will tour with 1349 and Yakuza later this year — and that said tour will include a handful of U.S. dates. This would obviously be a terrific tour — Eparistera Daimones is still one of the best albums of 2010.

The only thing is — and I don’t mean to cast dispersions on Crustcake, a site I love — I’m not sure where the heck this info is coming from. As I write this, we haven’t received any press release here at the MetalSucks Mansion, I haven’t seen the news reported anywhere else, and the MySpace pages for Triptykon, 1349, and Yakuza all lack the American tour dates in question.

So did Crustcake get an inside scoop? It’s entirely possible. We’ll wait (and pray!) for official confirmation from the band before we get too excited… but in the meantime, here are the dates Crustcake is reporting:

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The MetalSucks co-sponsored Evisceration Plague Tour kicked off last night in Orlando last night… and 1349 weren’t able to be there (although, at least as far as I’m aware, headliners Cannibal Corpse and support acts Skeletonwitch and Lecherous Nocturne all played without issue). According to a statement from the band, both visa issues and that pesky Icelandic volcano are to blame, but whatever the cause, it’s a bummer, ’cause 1349 put on one heckuva show. The band hopes to join the tour in progress, but, alas, can’t make any promises that this will happen.

But here’s a pretty good consolation prize: Stereogum – who are really killing it today – are streaming 1349′s new album, Demonoir, in full. I honestly haven’t had time to check it out yet, but it’s 1349, so I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that it’s full of black metal badassery. Go here to give it a whirl.

And even if, Satan forbid, 1349 don’t make it across the ocean for the Evisceration Plague Tour, well, Cannibal Corpse, Skeletonwitch, and Lecherous Nocturne are obviously still worth the cost of the ticket. Get tour dates here.

-AR

In his review of The Underworld Regime, the debut album of “black metal dream team” Ov Hell, our own Sammy O’Hagar wrote the following:

With a group of dudes as impressive as this, all the great things about black metal are all but guaranteed to show up. And they do: the riffs are wall-to-wall excellent, Shagrath’s vocals — even despite the fact that I’m not particularly fond of Dimmu Borgir — are solid, and I’ll be damned if there’s a better drummer in black metal than Frost that’s not named Trym or Hellhammer (and even then, it’s a three-way tie). Ice Dale and Teloch even manage to throw in a spidery arpeggio every now and again to keep things from devolving into a haze of tremolo-picked minor chords. Yes, it’s cheesy, but like good power metal, it fully and unironically embraces it, transforming what most would make a groan-worthy affair into chest-beating awesomeness.

That sounds like something you’d wanna listen to, right? Well, now you can! Even though Prosthetic won’t release the album until April 13, our PLPs (that’s “platonic life partners”) at Metal Injection are streaming The Underworld Regime right now. Ov Hell features members of Dimmu Borgir, Gorgoroth, 1349, Enslaved, and Satyricon, so you just know it’ll be ebil. Listen now.

-AR

This is probably old news that I completely missed by not reading a press release carefully enough, but apparently Tom G. Warrior was a producer on 1349′s new album, Demonoir. Now, you should already be stoked that 1349 have a new album coming out – even if the album somehow sucks, these guys will have to tour behind it, and 1349 put on a really fun show. (And I recognize that this very grim band probably wouldn’t want their concerts categorized as “really fun,” but, y’know, I had a good time and maybe even smiled when I saw them live. Sue me.)

But I doubt the album will suck, and the presence of Warrior (or, ahem, Fischer) is that much more reassuring. Celtic Frost’s Monotheist was the shit, and honestly, I like Triptykon’s Title I Can Never Fucking Remember How to Spell Correctly even more. I’ve been cranking it a lot. It’s heavy, it’s epic, it’s atmospheric, and the production is top-notch. In other words: Tommy Boy is really on top of his game right now, and if he brought even just a wee bit of his mojo to 1349′s table, Demonoir will be that much better for it.

Demonoir comes out April 27 on Prosthetic. And if you haven’t yet read D.X. Ferris’ interview with Tom G. Warrior, you should go do that now. You’ll, like, learn stuff n’ shit.

-AR

Which tour would that be? Why the MetalSucks and Decibel-sponsored Evisceration Plague Tour, of course! Featuring Cannibal Corpse (duh), 1349, Skeletonwitch and Lecherous Nocturne, this tour is guaranteed — as Axl so eloquently put it — to make audiences suffer and cum blood, leaving them stripped, raped and strangled, disfigured with hammer smashed faces, a skull full of maggots and their decency defiled. If you’re not excited about this tour then you must actually be sane and well-balanced and you’re no friend of ours.

Check out Cannibal Corpse’s new video for “Priests of Sodom” and read about why we ranked them the #10 Greatest Band to Inadvertently Ruin Metal.

Full list of tour dates after the jump. You Florida folks can finally stop bitching because you’ve got FOUR dates on the tour (new Ft. Lauderdale date just added!). And for the love of God people, we don’t book these tours… we just sponsor ‘em… so don’t blame the messenger!

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If yous nevers seens 1349 in concerts, yous has nots livededs. I knows religions is bads and stuffs, but its likes a religious experience. Likes when yous really needs to gos numbers twos, and yous dos not thinks you ares goings to make its, and then you dos? HAIL SATAN! It’s as Antichrist Christmases miracles! That ees whats 1349 ees likes in concerts.

Band hases a news albums coming out, Demonoir, on April 27. News song, “Atomic Chapel,” ees streamings on your spaces rights now. Hopefullys theys comes backs tos thees shitholes yous calls “America” soon, ‘cuz Axl n’ Vinces wills nots let mes leaves theese infernals place. Ebil bastards.

-NC

I suppose I distrust supergroups because it’s too easy. Throw a bunch of dudes in bands people like together and it should instantly equal something people like/something people will throw money down to hear. And while there are exceptions (Them Crooked Vultures, Shrinebuilder, Cream) to the eating-up-downtime/cash grab rule, it’s more often than not the standard (see: Damn Yankees, Chickenfoot, a library’s worth of other names). But occasionally bands fall right in the middle, where they’re not in it for breaking new ground but also aren’t in it to exploit listeners to get a new yacht (or a first yacht). And along with that comes a sense of nothing-to-lose, in that the bandmembers will have their more-successful day jobs when the project ends, so why not have a good time in the meanwhile? And this is the case for black metal dream team Ov Hell, which includes members of some of the most important bands in Norway. Jagged yet refined and mean but kind of fun, Ov Hell manage to sound pretty decent on their debut, The Underworld Regime. Not quite a classic but certainly more than a distraction, Ov Hell are some of black metal’s most essential dudes flexing their frostbitten muscle, and that’s certainly never a bad thing to hear.

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Cannibal Corpse are one of death metal’s founding fathers and the most br00tal band in the history of br00tality. And they just keep getting better with age: their latest album, Evisceration Plague, may be their best yet.

MetalSucks is proud to be teaming up with Decibel to present The Evisceration Plague Tour, Cannibal Corpse’s first headlining run since they destroyed the Hot Topic stage on 2009’s Rockstar Mayhem Festival. And with support coming from 1349, Skeletonwitch, and Lecherous Nocturne, these shows are guaranteed to fuck crowds all over North America with a knife, making them suffer and cum blood, leaving them stripped, raped and strangled, disfigured with hammer smashed faces, a skull full of maggots and their decency defiled. PHEW!

Seriously, these shows are gonna kill. (SHIT, I DID IT AGAIN!) Pre-sale tickets and VIP Premium Packages will be available through Artist Arena starting this Wednesday, Feb. 17th at 3 PM local time, while supplies last. Get complete dates after the jump.

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1349’s Hellfire was pretty damn close to a perfect black metal album: nothing but top notch frostbitten riffs played at grindcore speed with Ravn’s lunatic vocals over them and production grimy enough to evoke the necessary rawness but not obscure the music at its heart. At once precise and uncompromising, the album eschewed the genre’s weak points and simply tore the guts out of whomever cared to listen. Much like Anaal Nathrakh, Hellfire was an example that I pointed to when people dismissed black metal as a poor/embarrassing man’s death metal.

Of course, this may be the bulk of the weight in my big ol’ bag of fucking disappointment with the band’s follow up to Hellfire, Revelations of the Black Flame. Just when the band were appearing to be brutal enough to ascend black metal’s negative connotations, Black Flame finds them taking an unfortunately masturbatory turn into the realm of avant-garde black metal, at once trying to challenge the norms and boundaries of black metal while embracing its most ridiculous aspects.

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[The SXSW madness may be over, but we've still got reviews for you from writer Corey Mitchell. His writing makes me feel like I'm swigging back Tecate in the hot Texas sun... almost. - Ed.]

ENSLAVED / 1349 @ KENNY DORHAM’S BACKYARD – Friday, March 14, 2008 – 6:30 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.

Talk about a bizarre line-up – current electro-pop sensations The Raveonettes opening up for the gods of Norwegian Viking metal, Enslaved, and Norwegian black metallers 1349. The setting was almost as unusual, but also what makes SXSW so unique – it literally was in someone’s backyard. Throw up a stage, a barricade, cook up some BBQ, and offer up free beer and you have yourselves one hell of a party in the unforgiving 90-degree Texas heat.

Kenny Dorham’s backyard is located over on the east side of Austin – you know; the part of town they don’t include in their Chamber of Commerce pamphlets. After not quite sure how to find the “venue,” I spent some time driving around the eastside, which has truly gotten worse in the eleven years since I last lived in Austin. The area where the concert was to take place, however, seems to be a part of a mini-revitalization based around the music scene. Let’s hope this show added to the improvements in the area.

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