Kaizen

I started this blog a long time ago with the idea that it would simply be a personal space to vent my frustrations as a wayward twentysomething.  Then, a couple years ago, I revamped the entire thing into my own little shrine to metal.  I put a fuckload of work into this site and even went as far as to get a second writer, hoping that one day I’d run the next MetalSucks.  Seriously.  But, despite a few good interviews, some decent reviews and some great editorials, real life took over.  I could never be an Axl Rosenberg or Vince Neilstein.  I have a day job (I’ve had a few since the inception of the metal version of the site), kids and too many responsibilities to focus on getting 10 posts a day.  And, not just 10 posts a day, but 10 GOOD posts with content, media, links and the stuff that attracts readers away from the multitude of really good, established metal blogs.  But, I can’t not write.  And jotting down ideas on notepads, in my phone and on scraps of paper just wasn’t cutting it.  I enjoy blogging.  So, I’m going to continue.  But, in a fashion closer to the original idea for SFUTG.  I’m going personal again. But, not woe-is-me personal.  I’m going to let my stream of consciousness flow into this thing, categorized by the things I love most.  Critical views on religion, politics, sci-fi, fantasy, sports, wrestling, technology and, yes, metal.  I’m not going to limit myself to one topic and I’m not going to pretend that everything has to fall into a predetermined slot.  And, most importantly, I’m not going to care about attracting readers.  Because, in all honesty, reading multi-topic blogs is like reading one of the overly published multi-mags of the 90s; none of which are still in print.

So, the site will change.  The layout, the ideas and the bullshit I post.  I can’t wait.  It’ll be, for me, the best way to start and end a day.

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Posted on Saturday, September 15, 2012 by , Reply

A Grand Declaration of Return

So, neither W nor I have been posting a whole lot lately. Unfortunately, linking posts like this are necessary when the writers of the site have pressing day jobs and/or kids/families/duties to our land. This is another of those posts. We’ll get back to it as soon as real life allows. It’ll happen. Sooner rather than later.

Until then, check out Necroblaspheme.

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Posted on Tuesday, September 6, 2011 by , Reply

Black BULLETin: Gorgoroth Again

The Black BULLETin is a column in which we (mostly W, but sometimes Q…maybe) post shit that we think is awesome in the world of black metal.  Deal with it.

Guess what?  Gorgoroth are in the news again.  Seriously, I saw this on CNN!  No, I didn’t.  But, I did read a story on the Blabs about the re-recording of Under the Sign of Hell being delayed because Regain Records is broke as fuck.  Sucks for Gorgoroth and Regain.  Hopefully, the re-recording does get released before too long.  Honestly, I’m not sure why Gorgoroth is redoing Under the Sign of Hell and not a Gaahl fronted re-recording instead.  I’d love to hear Pest doing Twilight of the Idols.  The quote from Gorgy’s site is as follows:

Infernus and Gorgoroth were informed this weekend by Regain Records that because of Regain’s current financial situation, it will once again be necessary for the label to postpone the release of Gorgoroth’s upcoming album “Under the Sign of Hell 2011″, which was scheduled for release on 29. August 2011. The master tapes were handed over to Regain by the band in April this year, and so it is of course very disappointing for the band that the label for the second time is not able to meet the set release date. Therefore, to avoid this happening again, no new release date will be given by the band until Regain can sort out their problems and provide a new date with 100% certainty.

Definitely a bummer, but not the end of the world.  Their new album should be out before too long along with a probable lineup change.

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Posted on Sunday, August 28, 2011 by , Reply

Review: Kampfar – Mare

Dark, crushing and Ladies Home Journal? Doesn’t really seem to go together, does it? But, leave it to Kampfar to find a way. Of course there aren’t any mentions of that particular publication within this album; however, there is something unusual for black metal. What is it? It is women’s advocacy. I know what your thinking; “What the fuck?!?” or “Super lame!!!”, but it is not. Kampfar’s newest album Mare is nowhere near “lame” or “soft”. Instead, Mare is a triumph of black metal musicality and a way of showing that black metal bands and fans are not just mindless, cave-dwelling saprophytes.

Musically, Mareis what you would expect from Kampfar or most black metal bands. Throat rasping vocals, icy cold riffs and tremolo picking galore, but all the songs are about famous women in ancient culture or about the plight of women. I think it is great that a metal band has shown interest in this while reaching out to a new audience and displaying some social awareness and intelligence.

Kampfar - Mare

I must say that I rather enjoyed Mare. It is a quality black metal release from one of the few, non-satanic black metal bands that exist. Kampfar seem to prefer the description of “pagan”. The album itself is about 49 minutes long across 9 tracks. All of the tracks are in Norwegian except two; Mare, and Blitzwitch. Both of which are in English and both are among the best tracks on the album. Kampfar play a slightly different form of black metal, in that blast beats are rare and the pace is usually mid to slow, but I think most black metal fans will enjoy the music
on this release as the riffing is excellent and has that wind-blown, tundra coldness that we so enjoy.

The production is another highpoint on Mare. Vocals, guitars and drums all shine through as clear as Finnish vodka, a rarity among black metal releases. I attribute this to the fact that the album was recorded at Abyss studios in Sweden and produced by none other than Peter Tagtgren. Tagtgren is an excellent musician himself…anyone heard of Hypocrisy or Pain? He has produced albums for other excellent black metal acts like Immortal and Dimmu Borgir. All and all, Mare is a great album full of awesome, frigid black metal and a nice message.

Overall 8/10

Mare is available now from Napalm Records.

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Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by , Reply

Black BULLETin: Gorgoroth Goes on Tour

The Black BULLETin is a column in which we (mostly W, but sometimes Q…maybe) post shit that we think is awesome in the world of black metal.  Deal with it.

Awesome news for Gorgoroth fans!!!! Just the below release alone is exciting enough, as it was an awesome album already but now re-recorded with better production and with the AWESOME line up from 2009′s Quantos album. I am really looking forward to this, as a tour this big will likely produce a DVD too. The info below was all swagged from Gorgoroth’s site, so go check it out and don’t give me credit for the stuff below. 

The Sign of Hell Tour 2011 – Tour Dates

In autumn 2011, Gorgoroth will embark on the band’s longest tour yet, namely “The Sign of Hell Tour 2011″ of Europe, to promote the band’s latest recording, “Under the Sign of Hell 2011″. This album, a complete re-recording of the band’s 1997 album “Under the Sign of Hell”, was recorded last year with financial support by Bergen Kommune, and is scheduled for release on 29. August 2011 by Regain Records. Accompanying Gorgoroth on the tour is Vader and Valkyrja. The tour is arranged by Massive Music.

At the moment, the tour consists of the following dates, but more dates are likely to be added:

03.11.2011 – Denmark, Copenhagen @ The Rock
04.11.2011 – Denmark, Aalborg @ Aalborg Metal Festival, Stadthalle
05.11.2011 – Sweden, Gothenburg @ Musikens Hus
06.11.2011 – Sweden, Stockholm @ Klubben
09.11.2011 – UK/England, Manchester @ Moho Live
10.11.2011 – UK/England, Liverpool @ The Masque
11.11.2011 – UK/Northern Ireland, Belfast @ Spring & Airbrake
12.11.2011 – Ireland, Dublin @ Button Factory
13.11.2011 – UK/Scotland, Glasgow @ Classic Grand
14.11.2011 – UK/England, London @ Camden Underworld
15.11.2011 – UK/England, Bristol @ The Fleece
17.11.2011 – Holland, Amersfoort @ De Kelder
18.11.2011 – Holland, Rotterdam @ Baroeg
19.11.2011 – Belgium, Louvain-la-Neuve @ Mass Deathtruction Festival, La Ferme du Biéreau
20.11.2011 – Germany, Essen @ Turock
24.11.2011 – France, Savigny-le-Temple @ L’Empreinte
25.11.2011 – Switzerland, Dietikon @ Sounddock
26.11.2011 – Germany, Lichtenfels @ Christmas Metal Festival, Stadthalle
29.11.2011 – Austria, Vienna @ Szene
30.11.2011 – Hungary, Budapest @ TBC
01.12.2011 – Romania, Cluj-Napoca @ Euphoria Music Hall
02.12.2011 – Bulgaria, Sofia @ Yubileina Hall
03.12.2011 – Greece, Thessaloniki @ Eightball Club
04.12.2011 – Greece, Athens @ Gagarin 205
07.12.2011 – Croatia, Zagreb @ TBC
08.12.2011 – Slovenia, Ljubljana @ Menza Pri Koritu
09.12.2011 – Italy, Rome @ Init Club
10.12.2011 – Italy, Pinarella di Cervia @ Rockplanet
11.12.2011 – France, Montpellier @ Secret Place
13.12.2011 – Portugal, Porto @ Hard Club
14.12.2011 – Portugal, Lisbon @ Cine-Teatro de Corroios
15.12.2011 – Spain, Seville @ Sala Custom
16.12.2011 – Spain, Valencia @ Durango
17.12.2011 – Spain, Barcelona @ Mephisto
18.12.2011 – France, Grenoble @ TBC

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Posted on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by , Reply

Shows (Those Things to Which I Rarely Go)

I used to go to shows.  I used to see things that came to my town and even travel outside the walls (but, not north of The Wall) of my comfort zone to see plenty of awesome stuff.  But, it’s been a while.  A loooooong while.  Every time a metal tour hits the road, I check the dates and there’s generally a venue within 3 hours of me I could hit.  3 hours…LOFUCKINGL.  I have a shit job (which = shit pay) and a family, so luxuries such as metal shows are reserved for YouTube and the occasional DVD purchase.  Yes, it sucks to see tours like Decapitated/Fleshgod Apocalypse pass within 2 hours, through Columbus, Ohio and not be there.  But, this is the way of things.  Pimpin’ ain’t easy.

I need to live in a town that has not only better opportunities for me as a professional (insert profession), but as a metalhead with a hankerin’ for some live, mosh-inducing calamity.  Enter Tucson, Arizona.  This city is one that could most likely be my next residence.  My fam and I have friends there and are looking for a change of scenery.  Don’t get me wrong, I love WV, but it’s not really the land of open doors.

The average WV metal show

Good jobs don’t fall like rain ’round here.  Not that jobs are jumping out in front of oncoming unemployed folk anywhere in the country, but it’s fairly bad here.  Anyway, fuck talking points that border on politics.  I was talking about metal.  Tucson has this venue called The Rock.  In doing a little research on the town, I clearly had to see what the metal scene was like.  If you check out their site, you’ll see that there are fuckloads of awesome shows there in the next few months.  Devildriver/Skeletonwitch, Periphery/The Human Abstract/Textures, Underoath/Chariot/Comeback Kid/This is Hell (actually, they’re playing here as well…and j/k, that show is going to suck balls), Black Dahlia Murder/All Shall Perish/Cannabis Corpse and Chimaira/Impending Doom/Revocation are all going to be at The Rock between now and the end of October.  That may not seem like a lot of awesome shows for someone who lives in NYC or L.A., but that’s fucking HUGE for someone like me.  We’ll probably get a lot of insertcore shows, but nothing that I could put myself through.  We had some great promoters in this town once upon a time and still have one guy who really does a great job in getting metal(ish) bands that appeal to a huge audience…just not me.

So, despite opportunity and pro-family reasons, moving to a town where a metal show could simply be a night out and not a voyage is something that would really be awesome.  This post is now over.

Wait, I could always hit the Behemoth/Cannibal Corpse tour…in Europe.  Assholes.

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Posted on Sunday, August 21, 2011 by , Reply

The Three are Free

Not much to say that hasn’t been said.  It’s nearing the end of the day and every major news outlet in this country has put it on the front page.  They’re free.  18 fucking years of bullshit.  Yes, they had to plead guilty and, yes, that is ridiculous.  But, they’re free.

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Posted on Friday, August 19, 2011 by , Reply

Free the Three

The story of the West Memphis Three is about as metal of a story as there is.  If you don’t know it, the short version is that three little boys were brutally murdered and the cops didn’t have a suspect.  So, they turned to three guys who listened to metal, dressed in black and had a couple Anton LaVey books, started a satanic panic, forced a confession from one of them (the one with a borderline retarded IQ) and convicted them without a shred of physical evidence.  Damien, the apparent ringleader, got put on death row and Jason and Jessie got life in prison.  Two HBO documentaries have been made and a massive campaign has been raging to free these guys since their imprisonment almost 18 years ago.  I’ve been heavily into this story and staunch supporter of The West Memphis Three for well over a decade.  In fact, the novel Devil’s Knot: The True Story of the West Memphis Three is sitting on my desk right now.  Metal bands have come out in support of and written songs about these guys for years…this is something any metalhead can get into and throw some support toward.  You can do all your research and learn about everything here.

Today, this story was broken on Reuters.  The Three’s attorneys have been trying to get a retrial for ages now and after years of attempted appeals, new DNA evidence being entered into court and the insane groundswell of support from folks like me and celebrities like Johnny Depp, Eddie Vedder, Henry Rollins and Metallica, it looks like they could be on their way home for the first time.  I couldn’t be more pumped about this.

Zao did this…

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Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2011 by , Reply

Review: Fleshgod Apocalypse – Agony

I hate to add another sub-genre to the already bloated sea of sub-genres, but I may have to just for this band. If you are familiar with Fleshgod Apocalypse then you may understand why. If not, then hopefully I can explain. Imagine if you took the symphonic pomp and beauty of Dimmu Borgir’s best symphonic oriented releases and combined that with sheer tech-death brutality of Nile or Behemoth and you would end up with Fleshgod Apocalypse. I welcomed this with open arms and reveled in its disgusting and pummeling beauty…Symphonic Tech-Death Metal. Not since I discovered Nile and Behemoth many years ago have I been so excited about the musical talent and ferocity of a band. Fleshgod Apocalypse is truly something special.

Fleshgod’s latest album Agony is a triumph of epic proportions; so many wonderful elements of metal’s best acts blended together in an amalgamate of perfection. Agony will soothe you with its majestic, symphonic beauty while simultaneously smashing your face with non-stop, sweltering double bass runs and deep, grinding riffs, and that is just the music itself.

AGONY!!!!

The vocals from vocalist/guitarist Tommaso Riccardi will remove what is left of your body like a warp speed katana. Guttural growls and roars are abound in the vein of Nergal of Behemoth, and just when you can’t take anymore bassist Paolo Rossi will shatter your psyche with his wine glass breaking, power metal high notes. Yes, this album contains all of this and it is awesome! I dare say I have not heard such technical mastery since the last Nile and Behemoth releases. It is that good, as I hold Nile and Behemoth in the highest regards.

Fleshgod Apocalypse hail from Italy and this is their third release. They have one previous LP, Oracles and one EP, Mafia. All of their material is excellent but Agony is in a class of its own, or sub-genre, I should say. Looking for something unique? Something brutal? Something majestic? Something that is just plain, fucking awesome? Then pick up a copy of Fleshgod Apocalypse’s Agony. I can’t imagine how you would be disappointed and, if you are…you aren’t metal; I suggest you pickup the latest offering from Nickelcrack, or Gagsmack.

Overall 9.5/10

Available now from Nuclear Blast Records.

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Posted on Thursday, August 18, 2011 by , Reply

Review: Atriarch – Forever the End

Atriarch already have quite a bit of cred before their debut album, Forever the End, is released.  Decibel is streaming it and called it “A towering, grief-stricken album, these four songs are able to balance a fierce rawness with swells of atmosphere that keep pushing songs forward without turning towards prissy symphonics,” giving it a 9/10 rating.  Pretty impressive shit.  So, today, I sat down and listened to it a few times through.  I usually do that with any album I plan to review, but this was so good that I couldn’t help but keep it on repeat.

This epic, dooming, atmospheric piece of blackened crust drops in a little over a week (8/24) from Seventh Rule Recordings and is a massive achievement in the ambiance that many blackened artists attempt, but just can’t quite grasp.

Atriarch - Forever the End

It’s part Batillus, part Burzum, part Ahab and all fucking awesome.  Slow riffs morph into powerful marches which slow to almost chant-worthy, spine chilling dissonance.  For four tracks, Atriarch dominate what should be a huge subgenre with as much power as the legions of painted, lo-fi black metallers.  This is the stuff of overcast skies and bleak futures.  It’s slow driving and haunted forests, painstaking survival through decimating circumstance and a triumphant upheaval of metal standards.

Buy this shit right now.  You can get it here on August 24, 2011.  It’s a solid, as Decibel previously said, 9/10.

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Posted on Sunday, August 14, 2011 by , Reply

The Bled

So, The Bled broke up.  Bummer.  Normally, when any insert-core band breaks up, I couldn’t give half a shit.  But, I did go through a ‘core phase in the early/mid-00s and a few of those bands have stuck around and continued to enjoy a few rotations now and then.  The Bled are one of those lucky few.  Pass the Flask is really the only album of theirs I really got into.  I tried the others, but nothing got me like this one.

The Bled

Yes, it’s fringy metalcore packed full of “I’m pissed and sad at the same time!” lyrics, but it still rules.  Not sure exactly why.  They have breakdowns (which I generally hate), they lack guitar solos (which I love and, in bands like this, are replaced by breakdowns), but Pass the Flask is a record I can listen to from start to finish and not mind the attributes of these bands that I generally hate.  Zao is another.  Earlier As I Lay Dying as well.  Some of them survive the swell of impending doom that consists of 10,000 cookie cutter bands with the same sound.  There are always a few gems and they’re not always the guys that started the whole movement/genre.

Anyway, if I wasn’t on antibiotics and unable to drink, I’d pour one out for The Bled.

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Posted on Friday, August 12, 2011 by , Reply

Some Words on the Spotify Debate

The battle between Vince of MetalSucks and Century Media over CM’s decision to pull their music from Spotify has been heating up.  Everyone else on the metalnets is chiming in (including Spotify).  Now, Vince’s and CM’s arguments are both worth reading.  Head over to MS and check them out.  Both sides of the argument contain completely valid points as well as plenty of chin-scratching, psdeuo-reasoning.  Clearly, I wish that CM was on Spotify.  CM holds the license to so much good metal (Arch Enemy, Deicide, Insomnium, etfuckingcetera).  I own quite a bit of it, but the new stuff that I want to hear, but can’t afford is unavailable on my new, ultimate favorite in the history OF ALL TIME program, Spotify.  So, I head over to Grooveshark and usually find it there.  So, all is well at the end of the day, but if I were to pay the $10/month for Spotify, I’d be fucked on the go.

DO IT!

I’d plug my iPhone into my car and be without anything CM that didn’t have a playlist made from my own collection.  Bastards.  Extra work for me, the consumer.  I think not.  Actually, it’s not that huge of a deal and I’m running my point completely off the rails.

I’ve run the gamut of methods of music and posted about it before when I first praised Spotify.  Rhapsody, Mog, Pandora, Last.fm, Grooveshark, physical/digital purchases and a long-running (but, luckily retired) habit of pirating music.  All of them have their benefits and many of them have their downfalls.  What I noticed with Spotify was that it, being totally legitimate, still had a huge selection of metal.  Pandora and Last.fm aside, in the streaming world, that’s a huge plus for metalheads.  Clearly.  But, every program has its downfalls.  Mog only had one Immortal album; a live Wacken gig.  Rhapsody suffered in the same ways with other bands (which I can’t remember right now and don’t feel like researching).  Grooveshark has tons of awesome bootlegs and live shows, but doesn’t have a lot of really obscure black metal that I want to hear.  They all are awesome, but suck in a lot of ways.

Spotify has the potential to dominate the streaming market and, for metalheads like myself who doesn’t indulge in physical music mediums anymore, that’s a big deal.  Century Media pulling away puts a huge dent in my willingness to continue usage of this thing.  I mean, I’m listening to Tsjuder right now on Spotify, but when I get the urge in a bit to listen to a Nevermore album, I’ll be shit out of luck.  If Spotify was my only means of music, that would be colossal bummer.

Get with it, Century.  Come on.  For the fans.  For the kids.  For the sake of not being assholes.

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Posted on Friday, August 12, 2011 by , Reply

Review: Avichi – The Devil’s Fractal

Finding legitimate USBM is a task that seems exceedingly difficult. The ever-mysterious Avichi has, at least in my opinion, finally given American black metal fans something to brag about. Hailing from Illinois, Avichi is a solo project by Andrew Markuszewski. Those of you who are black metal fans may recognize the name as a member of Nachtmystium, but unlike Nachtmystium, this doesn’t ooze pretentiousness or just otherwise suck. In stark contrast to Nachtmystium, this project follows the very recognizable standards of black metal laid forth long ago by the massive European scene. Avichi does it so well that, with no prior knowledge of this band, you would instantly assume that this is the latest black metal from Scandinavia.

One cursory glance at the cover art for The Devil’s Fractal and instantly you will know what lyrical content awaits inside…yes, it’s Satan! Unlike that other black metal band mentioned above. Musically, The Devil’s Fractalis a relentless, scathing affair consisting of seven tracks and spanning a total of 53 minutes.

Avichi - The Devil's Fractal

You will hear enough minor chord riffing, rasping, reptilian vocals, double bass runs and blasphemy soaked lyrics to quench even the most insatiable, black metal thirst. Much to my delight, though sure to displease some, The Devil’s Fractal is very well produced. I know many prefer the lo-fi production in black metal and, with some bands, so do I. This is an album that is so densely layered and so thick in its sound that lo-fi would’ve likely been detrimental to its overall enjoyment.

The Devil’s Fractal is not an easy listen. The music is full of hidden treasures that will likely require multiple listens to hear. To me, this is a good attribute for an album since you will get plenty of play time out of it. Do not expect to pop this in as background music; this requires your undivided attention. The stand out tracks for me were “Sermon on the Mount” and “The Devil’s Fractal Pt. II”. Oddly enough, those are the first and final tracks respectively. I like to think of it as the massive bookends to the library of evil between. Andrew Markuszewski performed all music, lyrics, production, vocals, guitars, synth, and bass for The Devil’s Fractal. Charlie Fell, also of Nachtmystium, performed session drums for the album and does an excellent job. Overall, I highly recommend this album to anyone, but especially to those who are already big fans of black metal. Be warned though, this is a difficult album. It is extremely anti-religious and
musically complex. If you have qualms with that then avoid The Devil’s Fractal, if not then I implore you to pick up a copy and play it as loud as you can tolerate over and over again.

The Devil’s Fractal is available now from Profound Lore Records.

Overall – 9/10

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Posted on Friday, August 12, 2011 by , Reply

Awesome News

For the first time in the history of  this blog (which is fairly extensive, although very short as a metal-only thing), I’ll soon be taking on a second writer.  He’ll be covering some things that he’s more knowledgeable on and some things that I just hate writing and he doesn’t.  It’s going to rule.  He’s well versed in extreme metal and doubtlessly has the writing chops to keep all 3 of you glued to the screen on a constant basis.  Stay tuned for his first post and every single one thereafter…or NEVER SPEAK TO ME AGAIN!!!!!

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Posted on Saturday, August 6, 2011 by , Reply

The Blabbzorz

I don’t really do news on this site.  I’ll comment on news articles and slobber my 100% correct opinion all over them, but I really don’t break news stories (unless they’re local WV things) like some of the better blogs out there…or like the self-proclaimed CNN of metal news, Blabbermouth.  This was a conscious decision from the start because I don’t have the contacts in the industry other fucks do.  That’s fine.  The only reason I do this blog is because I lurve the heavy metals and like talking about the shit all the fucking time.  So, in the interest of the phantom/spam people that actually visit this site, I’ve decided to put a Blabbermouth feed in the right hand column.  So, now this IS a news site!  Eat that, Roadrunner.

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Posted on Friday, August 5, 2011 by , Reply
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