Hour of 13

After one critically-acclaimed eponymous debut two years ago, a well publicized fall-out with their former label and a short period of line-up instability, the original duo, rounded on vocals by Philip Swanson from the criminally-underrated and now sadly defunct Upward of Endtime, Hour of 13 are about to release both The Ritualist, their second full-lenght on German label Eyes Like Snow, and their first seven inches on Svart records from Finland, the later including a Saint Vitus cover (“Darkness”) on its B-side.

Here’s what Terrorizer’s Oliver ‘Zoltar’ Badin had to say about  Hour of 13’s eponymous debut full-length: Funny how sometimes after you’ve spent years absorbing all kinds of metal you’re easily drawn back to where it all started: hot on the heels of Pagan Altar’s amazing comeback and Witchfinder General’s recent collections, the NWOBHM movement seems to be more alive than ever in 2008, more keen than ever to embrace a classic doom metal sound, a great example of which can be found here by Hour Of 13.

Hour of 13 - Hour of 13

The true beauty of their eponymous debut is to be found in its lyrics, sung by great vocalist Phil Swanson, also frontman of the sadly overlooked Upwards Of Endtime. Penned by multi-instrumentist and former black-metal musician Chad Davies, they’re picturing a Hammer movie-like world of satanic rituals and sacrificed virgins, all for the glory of the Great Horned One. Scary stuff! -Oliver ‘Zoltar’ Badin, Roadburn.com, March 2008.

Continue reading: BAND OF THE DAY: HOUR OF 13 | Terrorizer.com.

Karma to Burn - London 2009 by Falk Hagen

The band have also extended their European tour and will be playing the Roadburn Festival on Friday, April 16th.

Continue reading:  KARMA TO BURN FINISH UP NEW ALBUM | Terrorizer.com.

Godflesh

According to Justin, the band’s lineup for the Hellfest performance will consist of Broadrick and Green, accompanied by various “machines and projections.”

Justin explained to U.K.’s Terrorizer magazine the reasons behind the band’s return to the live stage.

“It wasn’t remotely planned”,  he said. “Whenever it’s been mentioned previously, I’d stated categorically not, regardless of the color of the offers. But, somehow, this started to make sense late 2009, and once I put it to Ben G.C. Green in no uncertain terms, it made sense to him, too. Not having to support a record or a label and just do as we wish on our terms is exciting, and to play as Godflesh were originally designed is even more thrilling. Not that this may be repeated at all after Hellfest; we’e literally taking it as it comes.”

Terrorizer: What else have you got planned?

Justin: “Godflesh will not commit to anything but Hellfest currently. I am unsure as to where we will go from there, if we go anywhere at all.”

Terrorizer: Obviously, I’ve got to ask, what are the odds of any new Godflesh material?

Justin: “That is fairly minimal. We are more than happy to return to our old sound for a show, but uncertain how we could do this in the context of new material. We’ve both moved on so much, but we will not rule out any possibility currently.”

Terrorizer: What do you think makes a reunion worthwhile?

Justin: “I consider it more worthwhile for those who never got the chance to experience the band live, especially under great conditions, as in projections and big stage / sound.”

Continue reading:  BLABBERMOUTH.NET – GODFLESH Mainman Doesn’t Rule Out Possibility Of New Material.

In addition to the festival Black Math Horseman collaborated with director Whitey McConnaughy who has directed music videos for Band of Horses, Red Fang, Mudhoney, and Gossip, to name a few. These videos were filmed live in various locations in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland. Converse has premiered the video for Black Math Horseman’s ‘Tyrant’ on their website. Whitey filmed Black Math Horseman at night performing the track live in Los Angeles using a thermal imaging camera. Check out the video down below:

Continue reading: BAND OF THE DAY: BLACK MATH HORSEMAN | Terrorizer.com.

Check Black Math Horseman out at these dates:

17.04 – Roadburn Festival – Tilburg, NL
18.04 -London, UK
20.04 – Hafenklang – Hamburg, GER
21.04 – Steinburch – Duiburg, GER
22.04 – DB’s – Utrecht, NL
23.04 – Connewitz – Leipzig, GER
24.04 – Beatpol – Dresden, GER
25.04 – Yacht Club – Brno, CZ
26.04 – Cafe Cairo – Würzburg, GER
27.04 – Sedel – Luzern, CH
28.04 – Rosenkeller – Jena, GER
29.04 – TBA – Berlin, GER

Omega Massif

It was a band indeed, and I sure didn’t need any further reminding of the fact. It was a band whose gig I had painfully abandoned halfway minutes earlier, and precious few other artists in this world other than Scott Kelly would have pried me away from it. Omega Massif were playing in the Bat Cave, and if you know the 013, then you know how much of a racket it takes for a band to be heard from one room to another. More than heard, it was felt. That vibration was Omega Massif’s colossal, fat ass, tectonic movement-like low end obliterating everything in its path, so unfortunately we really couldn’t ask them to stop, because once the German four-piece get going, it’s like trying to stop a ten ton boulder from rolling down a snowy hill.

Continue reading:  BAND OF THE DAY – OMEGA MASSIF | Terrorizer.com.
Please click HERE for the audio stream of Omega Massif – live at Roadburn 2009.

Kayo Dot

Here’s the PR wire:  Coyote, Kayo Dot’s fourth studio album, is a single, narrative-driven, long-form composition written with story and text provided by a close, terminally-ill friend of the band, Yuko Sueta, in the final stage of her life. Coyote was once again engineered by Randall Dunn (SunnO))), Earth, Six Organs of Admittance) in Seattle, Washington, forging a new genre of “goth fusion” which combines elements of early Cure, Faith and the Muse, and Bauhaus with Herbie Hancock’s psychedelic album, Sextant, and Scott Walker’s recent album, The Drift. The lyrics and story were constructed with deliberate melodrama to pay homage as well to the intended gothic vibe, expressing the protagonist’s loneliness and longing to be in a better place, and her journey through her own personal looking-glass through a hallucinatory world of fear and wonder.

The musical objective this time around was to create a piece of music that uses the sonic aesthetic of this specific era of gothic art-rock integrated with a more modern-classical approach to form and architecture. To achieve this, Kayo Dot has put together a new instrumentation, which features trumpet (provided by former Candiria trumpet player Tim Byrnes) and alto saxophone at the lead, backed up by violin, keyboards, piano, organ, bass guitar, percussion, and a pronounced lack of guitar across the album. This album also marks the return of former Kayo Dot member, Terran Olson, whose contributions were heard on the band’s 2003 debut, Choirs of the Eye, as well as with Kayo Dot’s alter-ego, Maudlin of the Well. The music is also more rhythmically-driven than any previous Kayo Dot work, and being a performance-oriented composition, it was recorded mostly live (similar to 2006’s Dowsing Anemone with Copper Tongue). Coyote also brings back some of the aggression absent from 2008’s Blue Lambency Downward.

Altar of Plagues

Their Profound Lore album White Tomb became collectively one of our favourite albums of 2009 and now 2010 is proving to be an even more promising year for the act, with a forthcoming EP release on Roadburn Records as well as appearing at the festival alongside Enslaved, Goatsnake and Shrinebuilder. Not only they they’ve talked of more extensive touring and just recently, signed to Candlelight Records. Top one lads! Hopefully a new album will sate our appetite for the Irish melancholy soon.

via BAND OF THE DAY: ALTAR OF PLAGUES | Terrorizer.com.

Taint - Roadburn 2008

Culminating with the 12-minute title track, and the electrically charged live set from Taint’s Roadburn 2008 festival, you’ll agree that this release will stand alone in it’s own right. In All Bees… Taint have continued to blissfully marry the righteous riff, the pocket groove and the soul searching melody they’re renowned for. James ‘Jimbob’ Isaac’s vocals have taken another evolutionary step, with a broader range and even more emotive quality.

Continue reading: TAINT STREAM NEW EP ‘ALL BEES TO THE SEA’ ON THEIR MYSPACE PAGE | Terrorizer.com.
Please listen to the audio stream of Taint – Roadburn 2008 HERE.

The Roadburn Festival is known for creating indelible memories in the minds of its attendees, and the 2008 edition, as any of you who weren’t there can easily see by its mighty line-up, was quite fertile in that department. However, in the middle of all those heavyweights, there is one particular memory that stands out for me from that year – stepping into the Green Room of the 013 to see a German band that I knew by name only, called Black Shape Of Nexus.

When this serious-looking fellow in an Iron Monkey t-shirt wearing a collar microphone around his neck stepped onto the stage, some eyebrows were raised, but they soon went down again when the band started playing. Everything went down, really.

Continue reading: BAND OF THE DAY – BLACK SHAPE OF NEXUS | Terrorizer.com.
Please listen to the audio stream of Black Shape of Nexus – Roadburn 2008 HERE.

The fest has been eager to book the mighty hard hitters Cathedral for quite some time and this time they finally made the schedule work. Cathedral have been pioneers within the British doom scene for almost 20 years, never afraid to explore new territories and always coming across as fresh and revitalising.

The Devil's Blood

Another first is the fantastic Dutch occult rockers The Devil’s Blood. Their debut album The Time of No Time Evermore is nothing short of a unique piece of classic hard rock melted together with tasteful hints of  ’70s prog and psychedelia. Hole In The Sky is extremely honoured to be granted with their first and exclusive appearance on Norwegian soil. This incredible band will also be playing in London in February – see the attached image for sexy details. Be there!

We’re also excited to see the rising Greek death metal force Dead Congregation after a storming London set last Saturday.

Tickets are on sale, including a limited number of 4-day passes only available until the 24th of December.

Continue reading: FIRST BANDS FOR HOLE IN THE SKY ANNOUNCED | Terrorizer.com.