Ludicra have posted the following message on both their official website and Facebook page:

“Ludicra has officially disbanded. It’s been a great and rewarding ride. We would like to thank all who’ve supported us and been involved.”

And that’s it. That’s the end of Ludicra. (I guess I should add, “at least for now.” In this day and age, I don’t think one should ever discount the possibility of an eventual reunion.)

Over at Invisible Oranges, Cosmo Lee writes that “I feel as if a friend has died,” and while I’m not as massive a diehard fan as Lee is (he says they’re his favorite band), I do understand the sentiment; this sucks, and it’s hard to find any words which will express its suckage in a meaningful way. The group just released an amazing album, The Tenant, last year, and that record made multiple year-end lists here at MetalSucks, including  Vince’s, Satan Rosenbloom’s, and Grim Kim’s – in fact, the latter two writers both named it the best album of the year. Ludicra weren’t just still artistically viable — they were still artistically vibrant.

I’m glad the band is going out on such a high note, but that’s just about the only aspect of this news I’m glad about. What a major, major bummer.

Let’s remember them in the best way possible:

-AR

Thanks to everyone who e-mailed us about this.

Hey dudes and ladies, sorry I haven’t been posting much this month. I’ve been travelingeven more than usual, and haven’t had much time to sit down and write down much of anything besides flight confirmation numbers and directions to wherever I happen to be sleeping any given evening. Cheers once again to those of you who went out and soaked up the riff-tastic metal circus that was Metalliance (especially those wonderful souls who came up to hang out or bought me a drink!), and mad love to everyone who survived that tour, especially the eternal road dogs in The Atlas Moth and Howl and my tour family on the Saint Vitus/Crowbar bus.

As soon as that madness ended, I flew over to Ireland to stay with my boyfriend J. for a couple days and get ready for my next adventure: reprising my now-yearly pilgrimage to the mighty Roadburn festival in Tilburg, Netherlands. He and I met there last year (he was playing, I was covering, the rest is history) so it was due to be special for more than the usual reasons, which are pretty fucking good reasons in and of themselves!

Roadburn is the best heavy music festival in the world, hands down. A bold statement, sure, but anyone who’s ever played, worked, or attended the event will agree with me. Yeah, the lineups are always amazing, and yes, the venues – the 013, which is separated into the Main Room, Green Room, and Bat Cave, and the Midi Theatre — are killer. The separate building for merchandise, vinyl distros, and movie screenings doesn’t hurt, nor does the charming ambiance of Tilburg itself.

The real heart and soul of this festival comes from outside, though; from the big-hearted organizers Walter and Jurgen, from the efforts of Roadburn public relations guru Yvonne (without whom the whole damn thing would have fallen apart), and from the thousands of fans and bands that have come together, united by an overwhelming sense of community and goodwill. Everyone at Roadburn is absolutely 100% thrilled to be exactly where they are. There is a reason that this year’s edition sold out – sold OUT – in fifteen minutes, and it’s not just because Swans, Godflesh, Winter, and Sunn 0))) were playing (though that can’t have hurt, either). I made it to my first Roadburn in 2009, and have made it a point to come backevery year since – I’ve heard the same pledge from a lot of first-timers, and I know a few people that are already saving pennies for next year!

This year’s lineup was insane (as always). To give you an idea, I wanted to be sure to catch Alcest, Year of No Light, Acid King, Winterfylleth, Zoroaster, Wovenhand, Naam, Blood Ceremony, Pentagram, Today is the Day, Cough, Godflesh, In Solitude, Wardruna, Soilent Green, Count Raven, Earth, Place of Skulls, Winter, Trap Them, Sabbath Assembly, Summon the Crows, Corrosion of Conformity, Menace Ruine, Sunn 0))), Hooded Menace, Grave Miasma, Scorn, Candlemass (performing Epicus Doomicus Metallicus in its entirety!), Black Math Horseman, Master Musicians of Bukkake, Weedeater, Rwake, Ludicra, Evoken, Ramesses, Shrinebuilder, Yakuza, The Gates of Slumber, Swans, Ufomammut, Blood Farmers, Coffins, Dead Meadow, and Sourvein … and that’s just me. There were plenty of other bands that I either had seen many times, was unfamiliar with, or just didn’t want to see (which is rare at Roadburn, but there’s a first time for everything).

Of course, since it’s a massive festival full of people from all over the world, a lot of whom I love dearly, I managed to miss tons of bands, but I’m okay with it. I’ll see most of them again, and Roadburn isn’t totally about the music. It’s about the experience, man.

Here are a few highlights from this year; third time’s the charm!

Click to read more…

It’s pretty rare that a band touring one single region of the country they’re already from is news; then again, not many bands are the mighty Agalloch. This is the first time they’ve come to our neck of the woods in seven years, so, yeah, it’s kind of a big deal. Sez gee-tarist Don Anderson:

“After seven years we are pleased to announce that we are returning to the East Coast for a series of performances with our good friends and fellow Profound Lore recording artists Worm Ouroboros. We’ll also be playing dates in both select areas of the South and Canada. The last time we played on the East Coast was in February of 2004 with The Gathering and Novembers Doom. People can catch ongoing updates on the upcoming tour via our official Facebook page.”

Worm Ouroboros, in case you don’t know, shares drummer drummer Aesop Dekker with Agalloch (and Ludicra, for that matter), so… hope that dude is in good shape!

ANYWAY, these shows should be killer; I’d also imagine they’ll be sold out, so you best go get your tickets ASAP. Here are dates, courtesy of Metal Underground:

Click to read more…

The below advertisement is for software I’ve never heard of, Guitar Rig 2 (although I don’t claim to be an expert in music software). I stumbled across it quite by accident while YouTube surfing, and apparently it’s at least four years old, which makes the fact that I’ve never seen it before all the more surprising. In any case, it’s best that I don’t tell you much about it, lest I spoil the fun — so just watch.

This is so much better than that cell phone ad with Rob Halford, or that beer ad with Motorhead, or pretty much any metal-themed ad I’ve seen this year that isn’t this one. As my man Vince likes to say, A+++++++, would do business with again.

-AR

‘Cause two excellent free samplers have been released within the last 24 hours:

• Good Fight have released a free sampler featuring songs from Cancer Bats, Son of Aurelius, The Contortionist, This or the Apocalypse, and more. None of the music is new, but if you’re not familiar with these bands, well, here’s your chance to become familiar with them, all for the the low low price of free. Get it here.
• Adult Swim and Scion A/V have also released a free sampler, and this one includes a new Withered song, “Extinguished with the Weary,” plus “rare or unreleased” tracks from Jesu, Skeletonwitch, Death Angel, Kylesa, Torche, Ludicra, and more. I haven’t had a chance to listen to any of it yet, but, again, it’s new or rare music from a bunch of awesome bands and it will cost only the energy it takes for you to click the “download” button, so go get it here.

-AR

Cosmo Lee at Invisible Oranges called the below commercial, for next month’s Brainsqueeze Fest, ”the best ad I’ve ever seen for anything,” and it’s hard to argue with him. The spot is clever, funny, understand its target audience, and, oh yeah, small detail, makes it clear what it’s selling long before the product logo actually appears on screen. (Although, truth be told, it’s so damn good that even if it turned out to be an ad for Garnier Fructis, or Axe Body Spray, or Maximum Douche, or any other number of products, I probably would have purchased that item.)

I suspect that at least some of the ad’s success stems from the fact that it is truly DIY — it was made, in part, by musicians and indie label peeps involved with the fest. So its creators actually have a passion for what they’re selling, as opposed to some Madison Avenue executive whose attitude is ostensibly, “We’re being paid to shill for this product that no one actually needs and that doesn’t really do anything, so let’s not-so-subtly tell the viewer that his or her life sucks and will cease sucking only when they buy this useless piece of shit.” You should head over to Invisible Oranges to learn all the ins and outs of who did what — but I will tell you that the ten year old is MetalSucks’ favorite prepubescent blogger. No, I don’t mean Ziltoid.

Ads like this one can exist today because television is no longer required for broadcasting. That’s the good news. The bad news is, I don’t think this spot will ever actually run on T.V. But holy shit, it would be awesome if it did.

Brainsqueeze Fest takes place October 8 and 9 Oakland. The line-up is pretty killer, and includes Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse, Toxic Holocaust, Ghoul, and more. Get details and tickets here.

-AR

Ludicra’s “De-Cancellation Tour” — waged in the face of Mayhem dropping off the bill and guitarist John Cobbett’s hospitalization — may have ended, but Cobbett’s (also of Hammers of Misfortune) outrageous medical bills certainly haven’t been forgotten. Neither has Ludicra’s excellent release The Tenant. And since we know all too well how hospital stays can cost a small fortune here in America  – and since it’s the least we can do to help pay back Cobbett for giving us such great music — we’d like to draw attention to a fundraiser organized by Umlaut and Sensory Abuse.

Umlaut and Sensory Abuse are offering a limited edition Ludicra print with the proceeds going to help John Cobbett with his existing medical expenses. Sensory Abuse’s iconic live shot was taken at the final show of Ludicra’s U.S. Tour at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco on May 8th. This is a limited edition of 66 hand-numbered prints, each of which measures 19″x13″ and is printed on heavy, canvas-like paper stock. For delivery within the U.S. the print will cost $20 (shipping included). For International Orders please add an additional $5. The prints will be appropriately sent in a black mailing tube. Every little bit helps, and with only 66 copies available they’re sure to go fast; order here.

-VN

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

Krallice blew my mind when I first saw them at the 2009 incarnation of Scion Rock Fest in Atlanta, and since then I’ve been fighting to re-live that very special performance. When they played Union Pool in Brooklyn a couple of months ago the venue was so packed that I was essentially just listening to them play from outside; not a good experience. And though I missed their recent April 18th performance with Ludicra at Club Europa in Brooklyn, I’ll have a chance to see them again with Gorguts and Portal when they come back to Brooklyn in May. If it’s even close to as epic as the April 18th video below, I can’t wait.

-VN

Krallice | NYC @ Europa | 18 Apr 2010 from (((unartig))) on Vimeo.

Ludicra’s The Tenant is a damn fine black metal record; Invisible Oranges‘ Alee Karim calls it his favorite of 2010 so far. While Karim cites the album’s lyrics as a strength and likens them to his own experiences of living in San Francisco (where Ludicra also call home), I’m just gonna have to take his word for it as I rarely if ever listen to metal lyrics. But what I like about Karim as a writer is that his reviews are always balanced, and he devotes just as much time to describing the music as he does the lyrical themes. I hate when reviews only focus on lyrics, or worse, try to connect the album to some grand over-arching theme that does nothing but attempt to justify the writer’s ginormous student debt incurred by that useless college English degree. Just tell me what the music sounds like and I’ll fill in the rest of the blanks… ya know? The latter is perfectly acceptable as long as the music gets some page time, too. But every time I read an article by Sasha Frere-Jones I feel like I’m reading something by that grumpy graduate student instructor you had in college who’s always got a huge chip on his shoulder because his degree only amounted to teaching a bunch of college stoners. We get it, dude, you’re smart.

But this post is about my crush on Ludicra’s new album, not on Karim’s writing style. Here’s what he says about the music on The Tenant:

The lush production soars without sheen. Guitars sound like guitars, not digital chunks, twisting around each other in mournful wails, triumphant resolutions, and dreamy chords. Ludicra balance the beautiful and the ugly like few can. This is partly thanks to the vocals, which sound equally convincing as black metal wraiths and angelic choir. Blackened storms of guitars give way to melancholy acoustic interludes propped up by tribal drums. Savage post-punk segues effortlessly into atmospheric arpeggios. Black metal, shoegaze, classic rock, and blackened folk all rear their heads, but Ludicra never fall prey to the indulgences of genre-hopping.

Interested? Invisible Oranges has an mp3 of “Truth Won’t Set You Free” posted at Invisible Oranges. Listen if you know what’s good for you, and check out Ludicra on their current tour (with Krallice on select dates).

-VN

Poor John Cobbett. Ludicra just put out an excellent new album, The Tenant, but the guy has still suffered from some crummy luck, to put it mildly. First, Mayhem canceled the tour Ludicra was supposed to play support on; then they decided “Fuck Mayhem, let’s do it on our own,” and announced a “De-Cancellation” tour.

And then Cobbett’s appendix burst.

And then the doctors at San Francisco General Hospital misdiagnosed Cobbett, gave him a clean bill of health, and sent him home.

Which is how he ended up in the Olympia ER, which is where he remains as of this writing (see photo above). And because this is America, where decent health insurance is unafuckingffordable, John needs help paying all the medical bills.

According to a statement from the band, there are multiple ways you can help John out:

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…

There’s a NSFW image after the jump. You’ve been warned.

Angela Gossow in the 2006 edition of Revolver’s “Hottest Chicks in Metal”

I love masturbating as much as the next guy who spends most of his day at the computer, but there’s no getting around the fact that Revolver’s annual “Hottest Chicks in Metal” issue – and now, apparently, accompanying calendar – is completely ridiculous. It has nothing to do with music, and there’s no equivalent issue for “Hottest Dudes in Metal,” because, well, metal is mostly a sausage fest and I imagine that a “Hottest Dudes” issue wouldn’t sell very well.

Now Arch Enemy’s Angela Gossow – who has been featured in past “Hottest Chicks” issues – has spoken out against the concept… as if you needed another reason to love her. From a recent interview with KNAC:

Click to read more…

An anonymous industry insider close to the Mayhem camp has contacted MetalSucks with the news that the Norwegian black metallers have canceled their tour with Ludicra, Krallice and Tombs. Says the MetalSucks tipster, “I can 100% guarantee that this is true.”

The tour was scheduled to start in New York City on April 7th and wrap up in Los Angeles on April 25th (dates here).

This following last year’s doomed-before-it-even started Blackenedfest Tour. That tour’s original bill featured Mayhem, Marduk, Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered. Marduk didn’t make it to the U.S. due to visa issues, and the other three bands dropped off after an all-night argument in Denver. Mayhem finished up the tour alone.

We’ll post more news as this story develops…

Black metal legends Mayhem have announced another North American tour, and while that might be good news in and of itself, I’m actually more excited about their announced support acts for this trek: Ludicra and Krallice. I’ve never seen Ludicra live but I’ve been listening to them a lot as of late, and Krallice put on a truly transcendental show. Even if Mayhem somehow ended up sucking the big one, you’d probably get your money’s worth just from these first two bands alone.

This is gonna be a solid tour. Get dates after the jump…

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Shame on me for just recently discovering Ludicra. But three cheers for the fact that running a metal site exposes me to awesome new music on a fairly consistent basis. As a wise lyricist once wrote, ya take the good, ya take the bad, ya take ‘em both and there ya have the fact of life.

So. Ludicra. Their new album, The Tenant, comes out March 3 on Profound Lore, and, no shocks here, it’s pretty awesome. And the band must know it, because they’re giving away a free mp3 of a new song, “A Larger Silence.” Take that, MySpace streams!!!

This shit is epic. And balances the heavy with the melodic without sounding like another bullshit metalcore re-hash. I’m stoked to hear the rest of the album.

Download the mp3 below…

Ludicra, “A Larger Silence” – from The Tenant

-AR

Last week I solicited suggestions for awesome bands with female members that we don’t routinely write about here at MS, and a bunch of you obliged. So now I’m gonna try and actually listen to some of these bands over the next few days.

Ludicra was the very first band suggested, but the reader known as “lo;” Arthur von Nagel of Cormorant and sometimes MetalSucks and then Ziltoid chimed in with their seal of approval, too. Then last night the band came up again when we got a press release announcing that Ludicra are “putting the finishing touches” on their fourth full-length album, The Tenant, which will be out on Profound Lore in March 2010.

So, yeah. Let’s start with Ludicra.

Click to read more…