Sometime over the past week or so the following message appeared on the Bandcamp page of NYC tech metal legends Behold… The Arctopus:

2001 – we spawned.
2012 – we respawned.

Which would seem to indicate that Colin Marston and his troupe of instrumental savants are waking from their 3-year slumber, right? Exactly! If the above short message isn’t enough to make you believe, how about some live shows? Behold… The Arctopus will be playing two hometown Brooklyn shows on February 16th at Public Assembly (with Zevious and Child Abuse) and February 24th at St. Vitus (with Geryon [Nick McMaster and Lev Weinstein of Krallice playing "brutal, bizarre death metal!!"] and Mindless Blasting [feat. Mick Barr of Krallice]).

Behold the Arctopus 2k12 is a little different than the last go-round, but the lineup is no less awesome: Mike Lerner (Nader Sadek) and Weasel Walter (founder of The Flying Luttenbachers, whoever they are) will round out the lineup with band mastermind Colin Marston (Gorguts, Krallice, Dysrhythmia).

Stream the entirety of BTA’s Skullgrid album after the jump and get excitebike about the possibility of a new record this year:

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The good news is, the always jaw-dropping instrumental prog metal outfit Dysrhythmia (featuring bassist Colin Marston, who was named #15 on our list of theTop 25 Modern Metal Guitarists) have released a demo for a new song, entitled “Running Towards the End.” And the great news is, they are giving away that demo for free. Download it right here. Like all Dysrhythmia, it will take ten or twenty listens to full grasp every nuance of the song, and like all Dysrhythmia, those ten or twenty listens will be highly enjoyable.

Hopefully this means we’ll get a new Dysrhythmia album in the not-too-distant future, too.

Do some forward-thinking here, then partake in a group hug in our comments section below.

-AR

[via East of the Wall's tweet]

Trendy Internet meme aside, there is really no other way to describe Dysrhythmia than “a lot like Dysrythmia;” they’re that singular in their sound.

So kudos to Invisible Oranges‘ Cosmo Lee (as always) for recognizing the band’s incredible talent and calling our attention to this high-quality footage of two brand new songs (the same ones captured at Union Pool back in March), shot at the sweaty show at the Silent Barn in Queens, NY that Kip W. and I attended this Spring. Drummer Jeff Eber’s parents were there too; talk about support, I’ve seen those two at every NYC show the band has played. The Silent Barn, as endearing as it is, ain’t exactly no high class joint (“brothel” would be a lot more accurate). Awesome!

In case you missed it, we named Dysrhythmia bassist Colin Marston as #15 on our list of the Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists. Those bass skills you see in the above video? Not even his primary instrument.

No word yet on a follow-up to 2009′s excellent Psychic Maps, but the rumor mill says 2012 is a good bet.

-VN

MetalSucks recently polled its staff to determine who are The Top 25 Modern Metal Guitarists, and after an incredible amount of arguing, name calling, and physical violence, we have finalized that list! The only requirements to be eligible for the list were that the musician in question had to a) play metal (duh), b) play guitar (double-duh), and c) have recorded something in the past five years. Today we continue our countdown with Colin Marston from Krallice and Behold… The Arctopus…

Colin Marston is one of the youngest guitarists on our list, and his primary creative outlets (Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Behold…the Arctopus) haven’t yet reached the legendary status of so many of the other bands graced by the other 24 inductees. But in terms of his stylistic breadth and the scope of his abilities, Marston is in a league of his own.

There isn’t a signature Colin Marston guitar sound or style. Instead, Marston expertly adapts his talents to fit the project in question. On one end of the spectrum is Byla, the ambient guitar duo that Marston shares with Kevin Hufnagel; the project is all about abstraction and texture. On the other end is Behold…the Arctopus, a band that thrives on over-the-top virtuosity, deployed in the wackiest of ways – and let’s not forget that Marston executes all of Behold…’s atonal tone rows on a 12-string Warr guitar, which means he’s essentially shredding on two instruments at once. Somewhere in between those two poles is Krallice, in which Marston’s guitar lines intertwine with Mick Barr’s, creating ever-shifting harmonic patterns that tickle the ears like few black metal bands do. No matter what the guitar idiom, Marston has mastered it. No wonder that Luc Lemay asked him to join Gorguts as bassist. By the looks of the live footage from Gorguts’ 2010 mini-tour, it would seem like Marston’s fitting in just fine.

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Another Krallice album, another Sammy O’Hagar review.

I considered this when Axl offered up the band’s latest for me to give my thoughts on; I briefly considered turning it down and going with, I don’t know, Emmure or some shit. But my gut told me that, even only three albums (in as many years) in, Krallice were due for a major upgrade, and I could still approach Diotima (their newest, out April 25) with a fresh perspective. Even as an atypical black metal band, they seemed to be evolving exponentially and fascinatingly. And, as almost always, I was absolutely right: Diotima is a major advancement, expounding on their already-ample potential. While not such a drastic leap as to be able to dismiss their first two records, their latest shows a sense of solidifying. The elements are still there, but there’s tinkering. While this album certainly won’t win them a lot of new fans — almost half the album is comprised of songs over ten minutes and their trademark tapestry of interlocking guitar parts is as complex as ever — it does display a confidence and swagger indicative of a band finding comfort in what they do. They sound content in being a high profile band instead of a third-string side project. However, they by no means sound complacent.

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I have recently come across not one but two black metal videos which feature nuns and nudity. Clearly, this is an important artistic trend in our culture which simply cannot be ignored. We must watch these videos, probably multiple times and certainly in a private setting where we will not be distracted or disturbed, to ensure that we have analyzed their content to the greatest extent possible, and fully grasp their meanings.

(Needless to say, these videos are NSFW.)

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On Friday night I got to see Dysrhythmia not only play their first show since August, but also debut some new shit for a packed room at Union Pool in Brooklyn. And if you’re jealous that I was there and you weren’t, and that I got to hear some new Dysrhythmia and you didn’t, well, you oughta be.

Lucky for you, the always-reliable Joshua James (a.k.a. (((unartig)))) was there to video the show, and he got some great footage of two new songs. So now you can be a little less jealous. I still breathed the same air as Colin Marston’s awesome haircut and you didn’t, so I still win.

-AR

Colin Marston of Behold… The Arctopus, Krallice, Gorguts and Dysrhythmia is one of those incredibly talented dudes who does it all and makes my jealousy bones fill with tension. Aside from being an incredibly accomplished guitarist and bassist and a member of FOUR (!) sweet bands that are all active, he runs his own studio in Queens, NY where he and his Newsted have recorded, produced and mixed countless metal albums. Whatever assclown is on the cover of your favorite guitar magazine this month, he probably isn’t half as talented and versatile as Marston.

The Deciblog has premiered a video of Marston taking Scion A/V on a tour through his studio, and since we delight in this kind of nerdery and know you will too we figure it’s highly worthy of a re-post. Colin talks about his guitars (look at that Warr!), his amp setup, how his studio is set up and his thoughts on the digital vs. analog recording debate. I recommend full-screening this video for maximum dorkery.

-VN

It takes cojones to put two drastically different albums together at once, even more cojones to organize the contributions of two-dozen collaborators. In the case of R. Loren, whose two new projects Sailors with Wax Wings and White Moth were both released in October on Angel Oven Records, we’re not talking 24 random kids from the local high school brass band. The sonic mastermind, best known for his blurry experi-metal outfit Pyramids, contracted folks from Swans, Godflesh Slowdive, Unwound, My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Current 93, Frodus and Atari Teenage Riot and more. Many of them he was e-mailing out of the blue. That’s, like, post-cojones. No wonder the lengthy process of completing the two albums nearly drove Loren insane (more on that later).

But the iconic guest spots spread across these two albums are only a small part of what makes them special – indeed, the many contributions are naturally subsumed into each album’s whole, and that’s necessary for their absorbing power. Listen to the rapturous immersion of Sailors With Wax Wings, and the detailed digital anarchy of White Moth, and you’ll detect something greater than an assembly of musicians at work in the studio. Read on for Loren’s thoughts on the creation of, and concepts behind, the two albums.

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I was catching up on my Deciblog today when I came across the below video for “And Clash and Clash of Hoof and Heel,” by Sailors with Wax Wings. The outfit is apparently a side-project for Pyramids’ R. Loren, so I now have to admit that although our friend Corey Mitchell is a Pyramids fan, I really don’t know much about the band and can’t comment on them. But I can say that between the quality of the below song and the list of guests who apparently appear on the Sailors with Wax Wings album (including but not limited to Katatonia’s Jonas Renkse, Swans’ Ted Parsons, My Dying Bride’s Aaron Stainthorpe, and Colin “Best Haircut EVER” Marston from Krallice, Dysrhythmia, Gorguts, Behold… The Arctopus, and a million other bands), I plan to check this record out ASAP.

As for the video itself, well… it’s pretty bizarre. I kept expecting there be some kind of “twist” or whatever, but, nope. Just pure, unadulterated strangeness. Still, I was never able to take my eyes off of it… I find it oddly compelling. Hypnotic, even. And, like I said, I dig the music.

Check this out, then weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section below.

-AR

So Vince and I checked out Gorguts, Portal, and Krallice (and, yes, some of Bloody freakin’ Panda) last night… needless to say, it was an all-around excellent experience. I’m gonna try and get a review of Portal’s performance up later today, because I think they specifically deserve some attention, so unique is their stage show. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t show Gorguts and Krallice some love, too, ’cause those bands kill.

The good news/bad news of the evening was that Gorguts mainman Luc Lemay announced from the stage that while he and the rest of the group’s current line-up (which includes Dysrhythmia’s Kevin Hufnagel on guitar, Krallice/Behold… the Arctopus’ Colin Marston on bass, and Origin’s John Longstreth on drums) are working on a new album (as expected), they won’t hit the studio until “late fall” or “Christmas,” which means this release obviously won’t see the light of day ’til 2011.

But they did perform a new song, which, for now, is simply called “Number Three;” and they’ve been performing it this entire tour, I guess, ’cause our buddies over at Metal Injection have some righteous footage of the band playing it in Boston earlier this week. Check it out:

Gorguts, Krallice, and Portal all play Philly tonight and Maryland Deathfest this weekend. You absolutely should not miss them.

-AR

2010 is shaping up to be a great year for black metal; Ludicra’s fantastic The Tenant and Burzum’s comeback album Belus (love Varg or hate him) have already impressed and ex-Emperor frontman Ihsahn released a stellar new solo album in After (which admittedly isn’t very black metal at all). Much-hyped new releases from Nachtmsytium and Keep of Kalessin are on the way, Krallice are keeping busy on the road, and then there’s this: a rousing new track by New York City newcomers Castevet.

Castevet are new to me, although they released a 7″ in 2009; thanks to the gents at Crustcake for putting me onto them, both in person (thanks Gerf) and on the blog. Like Crustcake, new song “Grey Matter” has piqued my interest in new album Mounds of Ash, recorded by Krallice’s Colin Marston and scheduled to see the darkness of night on May 25th. The Marston matching is definitely a good fit; like Krallice, Castevet bring a certain amount of technicality to the table that isn’t usually present in black metal and mix it with blackened psychedelia. Maybe we’re witnessing the birth of progressive black metal first hand.

Check out “Grey Matter” below, courtesy of the band’s label Profound Lore.

Castevet – “Grey Matter”

-VN