photo by Scott Irvine

Admittedly, I am not the resident doom expert at MetalSucks, but for my money, the genre is not having a terrific year. To wit: I have heard two doom releases which really knocked my beard off: Rwake’s Rest, and Batillus’ Furnace (my review here). I’ve spoken plenty about the former in the past few weeks, but it’s been a minute since I’ve had a good excuse to praise the latter; but now Batiullus have announced a new tour, so I get to come here and tell you once again CHECK THIS BAND OUT.

‘Cause not only is Furnace a fucking heavy, heavy, evil, evil, scary goddamn record, but this band is really a sight to behold in a live setting. My balls quiver with fear just thinking about it, y’know? And most of these tour dates feature at least one other super-awesome band — including The Atlas Moth, Kowloon Walled City, and Yakuza — so the likelihood that they’re going to be fun is, like, 99.9%. Seriously, don’t miss these dates.

Here’s the tour itinerary:

Click to read more…

How did I miss this? Oh, right… I was too busy giving away hundreds of CDs in the best trade EVER! (more on that soon).

But while I was busy packing up boxes in exchange for water foul (!?), our pals at Crustcake premiered a new Fight Amp song. For those unawares, Fight Amp are one rip-roaring beast of a virgin-tight live band (and Cosmo Lee thinks so too) that absolutely must not be missed whenever the chance presents itself. But in the meantime we’ve got “Thankless,” a new track from the upcoming three-way 12″ split with Gary Suarez ball-tinglers Kowloon Walled City and Ladder Devils entitled Lose Lose Lose. The record will be available from Brutal Panda Records and is available for pre-order now, but the release is limited to only 300 copies so be sure to get your order in.

“Thankless” is a ripper of a track that brings the trademark powerful yet fuzzy bass and crushing, jagged rhythms that fans of this band have come to expect. The mix is a little bizarre and the drums are curiously low, but Fight Amp are a band that’s all about POWER, and the mix does a fine job of capturing that. Check out “Thankless” over at Crustcake.

-VN

Before me, Kowloon Walled City were a bunch of nothing nobodies turning tricks in Tenderloin tenements. I discovered them, presented them to the MetalSucks masses, interviewed them, ranked them highly (#10) on my Best Albums of 2009 list… and what do I get? Email after email from frontman Scott Evans bitching and moaning that I don’t cover them enough!

“Waaah, we have a new split vinyl release with Fight Amp and Ladder Devils. Why haven’t you written about it?”

“Waaah, we’re touring the East Coast with Batillus for two weeks. Why won’t you post the tour dates?”

“Waaaaaaaah…”

Click to read more…

Back in January, Mayhem announced a tour with some ridiculously awesome support acts, including Ludicra, Krallice, and Tombs; then, in true Mayhem fashion, they cancelled the tour just a couple of weeks later. And I think pretty much everyone had the same reaction: “Ludicra, Krallice, and Tombs should just tour without Mayhem.” Because it was still an incredibly strong bill even without the black metal legends.

Well, hey, guess what? Ludicra are doing just that! They’ve announced the wittily monikered “De-Cancellation Tour 2010,” which will find Krallice doing even more dates than they were scheduled to play with Mayhem, and even has Tombs tagging along for a handful of shows. Various shows will also feature support from a diverse line-up of other kick-ass bands, including Lair of the Minotaur, Slough Feg, Ocean (not The Ocean, but still a great band), and Kowloon Walled City, so I’d say “To hell with Attila.”

Get dates after the jump. And it’s worth noting that Ludicra’s excellent new record, The Tenant, is available now on Profound Lore Records via the label’s website. Sooner or later I’ll try to write something a little more proper about that album, but for now I’ll just say “Buy it.” It has the MS seal of approval.

Click to read more…

We loved the last tour blog that Bison B.C.’s Dan And did for us so much, we’re only all-too-happy to present another! Below, please enjoy part 2; you can read part 1 here.

Sep 28 ’09 (Albuquerque NM @ Launch Pad)

The first thing that struck me about this venue was the framed posters that line the walls… Melvins, High on Fire, Fu Manchu… some killer bands have been through here over the years. I was also struck by how nice and clean Albuquerque seemed. I would later find out that the town is ranked in the top five for violent crimes in the US. Okay then, never mind.

Played with a rad band called Roñoso. Weirdest guitar tone ever but it totally worked in their crust-saw sound. Kylesa sounds fucking huge tonight. Their (hilarious) sound guy Dave is working the system like it owes him money… and it probably does.

Click to read more…

There’s a lyric in the song “Hour of Rats” from Fed Through the Teeth Machine, the album by The Red Chord, and this particular lyric has really taken hold in my brain as of late: “WE’VE KNOWN EACH OTHER TOO LONG TO BE FRIENDS.” What a simple, beautiful statement that I can 110% relate to these days. Hm.

Speaking of The Red Chord…

• We’re streaming The Red Chord’s new album, Fed Through the Teeth Machine, through Monday! It’s awesome, so definitely give it a listen, then go buy it when Metal Blade releases it on Tuesday, October 27! We also spoke to The Red Chord’s Mike “Gunface” McKenzie.
• We got a European tour wrap-up from Chimaira’s Mark Hunter, had a nice chat with Kowloon Walled City’s Jason Pace, and even played nice with Oceano’s Andrew Mikhail.
• Lord Gold from Horse the Band graced us with another awesome tour blog, Eyal discussed physical CDs, and Dallas explored the evolution and importance of deathcore.
• We checked out new releases from Converge, Ancestors, and Smite the Righteous.
• Janet Reno quit Attack Attack!
• We’re fairly certain that Dave Mustaine is still a Megadick. Actually, we’re positive.

Have a good weekend everyone…

-AR

San Francisco’s Kowloon Walled City are an integral part of the short history of Scraping Genius Off The Wheel. One of the reasons why I started this here blog column at MetalSucks was to document what I recognized as a New Wave Of American Noise Rock. The band’s 2008 Turk Street EP turned me on to their sound, which was like Unsane and Zozobra locked in some sort of mutually gratifying sexual position. Since then I have spent a fair amount of virtual ink extolling the virtues of this vile bunch of sonic sludge slingers. To mark the arrival of Kowloon Walled City’s debut full-length, I managed to squeeze some answers out of guitarist Jason Pace.

Click to read more…

Since the Kentucky Grilled Chicken fiasco, we’ve all developed a deep-seated mistrust of things purported to be free. Yet San Franciscan noise rockers Kowloon Walled City want to re-instill that sense of HOPE everyone felt this time last year when Barack Obama ran for President against a grumpy old man and Tina Fey’s retarded cousin. How do they propose to do so? By giving away their brand new full-length album gratis on the Intarwebs!

Right now, right this very fucking second, you can visit Kowloon Walled City’s website and download their entire Gambling on the Richter Scale LP. If you are now, or have ever been, a fan of Unsane or artists on the Amphetamine Reptile roster, you’re going to fucking LOVE this album. And if you happen to be a generous soul eager to reward bands that selflessly provide awesome music at no cost, then consider purchasing a copy of the just-released vinyl version of Gambling on the Richter Scale, which also comes packaged with a free CD version. I’ve been raving about Kowloon Walled City for so long I’ve forgotten how much they bribed me to mention them in the first place. NOW THAT’S SOME TASTY CHICKEN, AMERICA!

-GS

[Gary Suarez is almost over his jet lag. He usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

When a band names its debut full-length Gambling On The Richter Scale, you pretty much expect it to be heavy as fuck. If San Francisco’s own Kowloon Walled City’s two new tracks (now streaming here) from said forthcoming record are any indication, you’d be goddamn right.

Click to read more…

I’m very pleased to share with y’all the exciting news that San Francisco’s bad-ass motherfuckers Kowloon Walled City will release its new album with Perpetual Motion Machine, home to other rad acts such as The Catalyst. Boasting a sound that gives noise rock royalty like Unsane a run for its money, the sludgetastic band has been blogging away about at its website about the recording of this as-yet untitled album, which will be available in LP and CD formats. From the studio photos I’ve seen, they’re subsisting primarily on Easter candy and energy drinks, though I’m sure there’s some Rice-A-Roni around there somewhere.

If you weren’t paying attention the last time I talked about this awesome band, you can still download a free copy of the Turk Street EP. Or, you can continue to be a fucking douchebag and not get wise to one of the best contemporary acts representing The New Wave Of American Noise Rock.

-GS

[Gary Suarez would really like to know whatever happened to predictability. He also writes for Brainwashed and usually manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]

I’ve been to San Francisco once, and as a born-and-raised New Yorker I was kinda surprised that I sorta liked the place – in a totally heterosexual Jesse-from-Full-House-way. At one point during this trip, my gracious hosts intentionally drove me through the Tenderloin, a notorious neighborhood home to roughly 300% of the city’s vice and poverty. Given that Kowloon Walled City rehearses in this classy part of town, it’s no surprise that the band draws inspiration from its squalor and sin, and that makes the music just terrific.

Click to read more…