Saturday 31 January 2009

Your last chance to enter the Metaholic Band Contest!

Today, 31st of January, is your FINAL chance to enter YOUR band into this years Metaholic Band Contest! Yes, if you haven't entered by the end of today, you will not get a chance to take part, and you'll have to wait until next year for the next one!

The bands who have entered so far are as follows:

Argentina


Enchained Souls


Australia


Orpheus

Blatherskite

Troldhaugen

KnightQueste


Brazil


Kylen 'Morgue


Estonia


Plagueround


Germany


Shotgun Justice
Buried In Between


Mexico


Imperium


Sweden


Arcosolium

Kill On Sight


United Kingdom


Sanity Falls

Silent Descent

Adust

Beyond Redemption

Sanctum Incendia

Troika

Save The Rebellion

Through Reverence

SubVerSi0N

Lycan's Blood

Vantage Point

Harvest The Sun


United States of America


Stormglass

Disobey

Till Doomsday

Third Gear Pinned

Tattermask

Tyrant Virus

Wednesday Night Church Fight

For more information on how to sign your band up, head to our previous blog on how to enter:

http://metaholicmusic.blogspot.com/2008/11/metaholic-band-contest-2009.html

Don't miss out on a chance to get our readers checking out YOUR band (so they can decide who to vote for to represent which country)! It's free publicity, it's got to be worth it!

Elimination Gigs!

Elimination are to do two upcoming gigs:

One in their home town of Ipswich on the 7th March at PJ Mcgintys, and the other being in London on the 13th March at The Rock Attic.

I highly recommend checking this band out for yourself, especially fans of bands such as Gama Bomb and Evile. You can listen to tracks from their "Nightmare Asylum" album on the bands MySpace page.

Thursday 29 January 2009

Mental Interrogation: The Return

Last year, I started trying to interview a band every week in the Mental Interrogation. Unfortunately, towards the end of last year, I wasn't getting enough bands interested in taking part, and with other personal issues, I stopped doing these interviews. But I feel that February is the month to relaunch this weekly grilling of bands!

The thing is, I would love us to have some new questions to ask, and I would LOVE if you, the readers of Metaholic Music, would have a think about what you'd like the bands to answer! You can give us as many ideas as you want, and we'll pick out the best ones to ask the bands every week. Just respond in our comments (at the bottom of this, there is a "comments" thing for you to click on).

I would like Metaholic Music to be as much YOUR metal blog as it is ours, and I personally would like to have as much input from our readers as possible!

We have got the first band lined up for the first Interrogation of the year, but if you are interested in taking part, then please send us an email to:

metaholicmusic@live.co.uk

Thanks a lot guys and girls!

Wednesday 28 January 2009

EVILE-WARPATH-MUTANT UK TOUR

Thrash metallers EVILE are set to do a UK tour in April with support from WARPATH and MUTANT.

15 Birmingham, BarFly
16 Newcastle, Academy 2
17 Manchester Academy 3
18 Dublin IRE, Fibber Magess
19 Cork, An Crusicin Lan
20 Glasgow, BarFly
21 Edinburgh, Studio 24
22 Sheffield, Corporation
23 London, Underworld
24 Hammerfest, Prestatyn
26 Leed, Rios
27 Nottingham, Rock City

Tuesday 27 January 2009

Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles Presents:


CANNIBAL CORPSE with The Faceless, Neuraxis, and Obscura

Thu/Apr-02 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
Fri/Apr-03 Memphis, TN New Daisy Theatre
Sat/Apr-04 Tulsa, OK The Marquee
Mon/Apr-06 Salt Lake City, UT Club Vegas
Tue/Apr-07 Boise, ID Knitting Factory Concert House
Wed/Apr-08 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory Concert House
Fri/Apr-10 Vancouver, BC Croatian Cultural Center
Sun/Apr-12 Edmonton, AB The Starlite Room
Mon/Apr-13 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall Ballroom
Tue/Apr-14 Regina, SK Riddell Centre
Wed/Apr-15 Winnipeg, MB The Garrick Centre
Fri/Apr-17 St.
Paul, MN Station 4
Sat/Apr-18 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom
Sun/Apr-19 Grand Rapids, MI The Intersection
Tue/Apr-21 Montreal, QC The Medley
Wed/Apr-22 Ottawa, ON Babylon
Thu/Apr-23 Quebec City, QC Theatre Imperial
Fri/Apr-24 Poughkeepsie, NY The Chance
Sat/Apr-25 Richmond, VA Alley Katz
Sun/Apr-26 Jacksonville, NC Hooligan's Music Hall
Mon/Apr-27 Jacksonville, FL Freebird Live

Sunday 25 January 2009

Your last week to register for the Metaholic Band Contest

This coming Saturday, 31st of January, is the final day to register your band for the Metaholic Band Contest and represent your country!


Click here
for more information on how to register your band!

It's a good way to get extra exposure for your band, a chance to be heard by potential new fans!!! So make sure you register today!

Saturday 24 January 2009

Morbid Angel Australia & New Zealand tour

The legendary Morbid Angel have announced their return to Australia and New Zealand after a long 13 year gap! Through late May and early June, they will be playing one NZ show and four unmissable Aussie shows.

Those dates are:

Saturday May 30th - Transmission Room , Auckland
Monday June 1st - Billboards Nightclub, Melbourne
Wednesday June 3rd - Capitol, Perth
Friday June 5th - The Metro, Sydney
Sunday June 7th - The Arena, Brisbane

Tickets on Sale from Monday January 27th!

Friday 23 January 2009

Submerged In Dirt

Oklahoma death metal band Submerged in Dirt recently dropped their bassist and went back to their previous one, Justin, and the band is once again a whole.
The band is still scheduled for recording in Wisconsin, come May.

The guitarist Royce is recovering from a minor surgery a few weeks ago, he had his middle fingertip partially amputated after an accident at work but he's doing well and still playing amazingly.


These guys are killer! You suck if you don't concur.

Submerged In Dirt Crushes Your Soul

www.myspace.com/submergedindirtband










Thursday 22 January 2009

The community of heavy metal - where's that then?

Those of you who have seen Sam Dunn’s docu-film “Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey” will know he set out to study the music we love as a culture as much as for the art form – as he’s an anthropologist.

Culture would, however, denote a sense of a shared passion and of community, something Mr Dunn focuses on. But there’s a flaw in his reasoning.

You do see this sense of community forming at the big festivals like Download and Bloodstock. These festivals have the infectious spirit of a huge group of like-minded people uniting to have fun and enjoy the music we all love. The fact the world outside the festival’s bubble doesn’t understand? We just don’t care.

Moshers, metalheads, Goths – call us what you like – we’re heavy metal fans and we are proud of it!

So why do we not get this same spirit found at the festivals in the local scene here in the Steel City (Sheffield, UK)?

Something that’s become very apparent is the idea of “true metal” – only metal which falls into this category, usually the most extreme forms of black, death and doom, is considered to be the real thing – everything else is “poser” or “fake”. So apparently, if you can’t growl like Nergal of Behemoth or you don’t have the scream of Mortuus from Marduk, you just aren’t metal?

To me, metal is an art form that has to be reckoned with. In the late 70’s and early 80’s it was actually one of the most popular forms of music, despite the efforts of many in authority in America and elsewhere. Despite a drop in popularity from those dizzying heights, it maintains a vast and loyal fan base who are enduringly passionate for the music. In the words of Rob Zombie – “I’ve never heard “Yeah, I was in to Slayer, one summer!” I’ve never met that guy!”

And whether the metal in question is black, death, power, symphonic, progressive, battle or any other of the prefixes it acquires, on a basic level it has the same elements as all the rest – it’s metal, pure and simple. And metal is a force all of its own.

Heavy Metal is the kind of music that speaks to the outsiders and the loners, the people who never fitted in to the model society had laid out for them for any number of reasons. We all know we are set apart by being fans of metal music – we’re considered society’s outcasts as a whole because we dare to follow the music that doesn’t confirm to the prescribed format, and doesn’t set out to please the masses. Metal is as it is, you take it or you leave it, and if you don’t like the message it gives out, well then, don’t listen. And that is the attitude of a united front.

So why are we splitting ourselves up even further into silly factions of what’s “true” and what isn’t? Surely all the music which falls under the bracket of “metal”, like it or not, is speaking on the same level?

What a lot of people don’t accept is that metal, by its nature as a type of music, is also an art form. Art and music both have to change, they have to grow and evolve with time. Those that don’t frankly just don’t last long. Moving with the times can sometimes mean commercial success on a given level. But wait! That’s not metal, that’s selling out!

I hate to break this to the True Metal Elitists out there, but if metal didn’t have any viable commercial success at all, there would be no albums, no metal club nights, no live gigs and definitely no festivals. And what, pray tell, would be the point of that? Yes, the message would still be there loud and clear – but a message is there to be shouted from the rooftops and heard by anyone who will listen, not to be hidden away to die unheard?

If heavy metal had no commercial success at all, if it had died on its feet back in the days of the mighty Black Sabbath, then think of what we would be missing from our lives, and think of the unspoken numbers of people that metal reached out to and helped, who wouldn’t ever have received that comfort because there was no success and therefore, frankly, no music. For example, what’s wrong with a Grammy for Best Metal Performance? The bands we love are artists at the end of the day, and they deserve some kind of recognition by the masses for their dedication and brilliance.

Put in that context, is commercial viability really so “not metal?”

All these silly things are splitting the metal fan base apart for no good reason – society by its very nature would do that job quite happily for us, so why are we doing it for them?

If we’re a community of outcasts, as Mr Dunn suggests in his film, isn’t it about time we banded together again and acted like a one?

Tuesday 13 January 2009

The Berzerker Aussie Tour

Tasmanian industrial brutality, otherwise known as The Berzerker, have now are set to embark on an all new Australian/New Zealand tour. The band will be taking The Amenta along with them for the ride, and also having local supports at each show.
More information can be found at www.myspace.com/theberzerker or in the flier below.


Metaholic End of year Poll

Greetings metalheads! It's been a short while, but now that we have left 2008 in it's wake and are heading for a whole new year of metal, it's time for our first ever Metaholic End of year Poll. We're asking you, the fans, to tell us what you thought were the best and worst of 2008.
To do just that, simply send in your reply to metaholic.mat@gmail.com by Feb 15th and the results will be put together, and posted shortly after.

So here are all the appropriate bests and worsts of Metal in 2008. Time for you to have your say.

Best Album
Worst Album

Best Live Act

Worst Live Act

Best Guitarist

Best Drummer

Best Bassist

Best Vocalist

Worst Vocalist

Best New Band
Worst New Band

Best Festival

Best Album Art

Worst Album Art
Most looking forward to in 2009


Send your answers to me at metaholic.mat@gmail.com by Feb 15th. And please, tell your friends to take part aswell. But remember, there's only one submission per email address.

Stay brutal!

Saturday 10 January 2009

SOULFLY ANNOUNCE TOUR EP


SOULFLY are to release a digital EP to coincide with their February tour. The ‘Blood Fire War Hate’ tour EP will hit stores on 9th February 2009 and will feature the following tracks, which were all recorded live in Poland in 2005:

1. Blood Fire War Hate (Album version)
2. Prophecy (live)
3. Downstroy (live)
4. The Frontlines (live)
5. Living Sacrifice (live)
6. Mars (live)

This will Cooincide with the upcoming tour.

Jan. 28, 2009 - Stuttgart, Germany @ LKA
Jan. 29, 2009 - Cologne, Germany @ Live Music Hall
Jan. 30, 2009 - Eindhoven, Netherlands @ Effenar
Jan. 31, 2009 - Lille, France @ Splendid
Feb. 1, 2009 - Portsmouth, UK @ Pyramid Centre
Feb. 2, 2009 - Oxford, UK @ Zodiac at Academy
Feb. 3, 2009 - Bristol, UK @ Academy
Feb. 4, 2009 - Dublin, Ireland @ Academy
Feb. 5, 2009 - Belfast, Ireland @ Spring & Airbrake
Feb. 6, 2009 - Glasgow, Scotland @ ABC
Feb. 7, 2009 - Manchester, UK @ Academy 2
Feb. 8, 2009 - Leeds, UK @ The Cockpit
Feb. 9, 2009 - Nottingham, UK @ Rock City
Feb. 10, 2009 - Wolverhamton, UK @ Wulfren Hall
Feb. 11, 2009 - London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
Feb. 12, 2009 - Paris, France @ Bataclan
Feb. 13, 2009 - Cler. Ferrand, France @ Coop. de Mai
Feb. 14, 2009 - Bilbao, Spain @ Kafe Antzokia
Feb. 15, 2009 - Madrid, Spain @ Sala Heineken
Feb. 16, 2009 - Lisbon, Portugal @ Coliseum
Feb. 17, 2009 - Barcelona, Spain @ Sala Apolo
Feb. 18, 2009 - Toulouse, France @ Bikini
Feb. 19, 2009 - Fribourg, Switzerland @ Fri-Son
Feb. 20, 2009 - Zurich, Switzerland @ Xtra
Feb. 21, 2009 - Milan, Italy @ Rolling Stone
Feb. 22, 2009 - Rome, Italy @ Alpheus
Feb. 23, 2009 - Treviso, Italy @ New Age
Feb. 24, 2009 - Graz, Austria @ Orpheum
Feb. 25, 2009 - Saarbrucken, Germany @ Garage
Feb. 26, 2009 - Salzburg, Austria @ Rockhouse
Feb. 27, 2009 - Linz, Austria @ Posthof
Feb. 28, 2009 - Worgl, Austria @ Komma
Mar. 1, 2009 - Vienna, Austria @ Gasometer
Mar. 2, 2009 - Wiesbaden, Germany @ Schlachthof
Mar. 3, 2009 - Wuerzburg, Germany @ Soundpark Ost.
Mar. 4, 2009 - Berlin, Germany @ Huxleys
Mar. 5, 2009 - Chemnitz, Germany @ Sudbahnhof
Mar. 6, 2009 - Czech Republic @ Metalmania Festival
Mar. 7, 2009 - Poland @ Metalmania Festival
Mar. 9, 2009 - Budapest, Hungary @ Diesel Park
Mar. 10, 2009 - Ljubljana, Slovenia @ Media Par
Mar. 11, 2009 - Zagreb, Croatia @ Tvonica Club
Mar. 12, 2009 - Belgrade, Serbia @ SKC
Mar. 13, 2009 - Athens, Greece @ Gagarin
Mar. 14, 2009 - Thessaloniki, Greece @ Milos Apothiki Stage
Mar. 15, 2009 - Sofia, Bulgaria @ Universiada Hall
Mar. 16, 2009 - Bucharest, Romania @ Sala Polivalenta
Mar. 17, 2009 - Kiev, Ukraine @ Club Bingo
Mar. 18, 2009 - Vilnius, Lithuania @ Forum Palace Galaxy
Mar. 19, 2009 - Riga, Latvia @ Dream Factory
Mar. 20, 2009 - Tallin, Estonia @ Rock Cafe
Mar. 21, 2009 - Helsinki, Finland @ Nosturi
Mar. 23, 2009 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Tyrol
Mar. 24, 2009 - Gothenburg, Sweden @ Tradgarn
Mar. 25, 2009 - Oslo, Norway @ Rockefeller
Mar. 26, 2009 - Malmo, Sweden @ KB
Mar. 27, 2009 - Copenhagen, Denmark @ Rock

Support for these dates comes from Phoenix, AZ based outfit, Incite, who are fronted by Max’s stepson, Ritchie Cavalera!

Check out www.soulfly.com for further touring and release information.

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Graspop Metal Meeting first bands announced

The names of the first 25 acts to play in Dessell, Belgium this year have been announced on the festivals official website.

Heaven & Hell, Disturbed, Volbeat, Papa Roach, Blind Guardian, Anthrax, Trivium, Sacred Reich, W.A.S.P., Devil Driver, Epica, Legion Of The Damned, Parkway Drive, God Forbid, Kataklysm, Firewind, Laaz Rockit', Keep Of Kalessin, Scar Symmetry, Samael, Dagoba, Negura Bunget, Taake, Eths and olves In The Throne Room

Note that none of these bands are headliners. So we should be in for another good one this year.

The festival will take place between June 26th and 28th, 2009.

Thursday 1 January 2009

gODGRINDER's Best Metal Albums of 2008

Let's face it: 2008 has probably been one of the crappiest years in recent memory for, well, everyone. Unless you're a metalhead; then this year was fan-freakin-tastic. Here is a list of my top picks for 2008 in alphabetical order:

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Aborted – Strychnine.213

Released a little more than a year after “Slaughter and Apparatus,” this album sees the Belgian bruisers dishing out another infectious and groovy slab of gore-grind debauchery. Two albums in less than two years, a seemingly endless touring schedule, and their own TV channel on the web make Aborted one of the hardest-working bands in modern metal.


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Abysmal Dawn - Programmed to Consume

This album is a high-energy affair which strikes a refreshing balance between modern technicality and old-school crunch. Not a reinvention of the wheel by any stretch of the imagination, but they have the chops to hold their own with any of the more prolific acts out there. Plus, the fact that they opened for Emperor helps their street cred just a touch.

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All Shall Perish – Awaken the Dreamers

2008’s follow up to “The Price of Existence” finds the boys in ASP sharpening their claws with an melodic, yet incisive deathcore opus. While they might have pulled back the throttle a bit, the album still has teeth as Eddie Hermida belts forth venomous diatribes against the government and corporations. The source material isn’t original in the least, but its execution is nearly flawless.

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Arsis – We Are the Nightmare

The word “technical” gets thrown out a lot in death metal circles, yet bands whose proficiency barely extends beyond sweep picking get lumped in with truly extraordinary guitarists like Arsis’ James Malone. Make no mistake; this is technical (yet melodic) metal at its cleanest and most brilliant. All non-believers are instructed to catch Arsis live and then report back.

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Bleeding Through – Declaration

“Declaration” represents the culmination of a musical evolution which saw Bleeding Through shift from a throwaway metalcore act to a more credible, symphonic black metal direction. This album is their best yet, and one of the few out there today where haunting keyboards add to the proceedings instead of detracting from them (Here’s looking at you, Winds of Plague). This is a GREAT album.

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Burning Skies – Greed.Filth.Abuse.Corruption

This album stands out as one of the fastest, most chaotic slabs of aural aggression to be released this year. Is it the most technical or even the most original sound? Not by a long shot. But one must admire the balls-to-the-wall manner in which the proceedings are carried out. This is an exhausting, but satisfying listening experience.

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Daylight Dies – Lost to the Living

Doom metal seems to be making something of a comeback, and Daylight Dies are leading the charge. “Lost to the Living” is a powerful, dense, and melodic effort. Few bands can plumb the darkest corners of human emotion as adeptly as these gentlemen, and present a work which is truly introspective and avoids the cliché of hopeless whining (My Dying Bride comes to mind) that often permeates this genre.

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The Faceless – Planetary Duality

The Faceless’ sophomore effort is a jaw-dropping display of technical might, with a rhythm section and lead guitarist who both play as if possessed by some otherworldly force. True to what has become the “Sumerian Sound,” every instrument comes through clean as a whistle, allowing the listener to absorb every nuance of every perfectly-played note. No studio tricks, no distortion, and no effects to cover up any blemishes in the playing; these guys lay it all out there to show the world just how f**king good they really are.

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Heaven Shall Burn – Iconoclast

If one can make a single statement about Heaven Shall Burn, it is that they sure know how to open an album. Just like 2004’s “Antigone,” “Iconoclast” opens with “Awoken,” a soft, sorrowful string arrangement which simultaneously lulls and builds tension in the listener just before “Endzeit” bludgeons us upside the head. The album doesn’t let up the entire way and serves as a prime example of how to do melodic DM right. If this album doesn’t get your heart racing, you’re probably dead.

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Hollow Corp – Cloister of Radiance

The progressive-post-hardcore crowd had a good year in 2008 with solid releases from bands like Gojira and Mouth of the Architect. However, “Cloister of Radiance” is arguably the most solid of them all. When bands make music this good, it makes life as a metalhead worth living.

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Ishahn – Angl

The sophomore solo effort from the former Emperor frontman is just as varied, but more accessible, than 2006’s “The Adversary.” This album is a dark, harsh progressive black metal beast which proves to the world that, despite Emperor’s infamy and notoriety across the globe, Isahn’s music career has not even peaked yet. In fact, he’s probably well into his stride and there’s very little stopping him from making the shift from cult metal hero to out-and-out icon.

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Illdisposed – The Prestige

Many a music snob would cry foul at this album’s inclusion on this list. Largely overlooked by the music press and fans at large, it is one of those rare gems that snuck in under the radar. Is the music the most technical or original? Not by a long shot. But somehow everything on this CD came together really well. Catchy guitar hooks, memorable melody lines, and awesome drumming make this one stand up to repeated listenings. In other words, it f’ing ROCKS.

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Kataklysm – Prevail

Let’s get something out of the way now: “Serenity in Fire” sucked. Nearly all hope for this band was lost until they came back with 2006’s “In the Arms of Devastation,” which turned out to be one of the strongest and most satisfying releases of that year. “Prevail” continues that tradition with a solid batch of aggressive death metal completely devoid of pretense. They came to destroy and take no prisoners and that’s exactly what they did. Here’s hoping they can keep up this momentum because if they can, they will certainly become one of the more prolific metal acts in the world.

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Meshuggah – ObZen

One of the more anticipated albums of the year, “ObZen” sees Meshuggah returning to “form” (I use the term loosely) after 2005’s experimental (and somewhat disappointing) “Catch Thirty Three.” The entire band plays more than competently on the CD, but the real highlight is Thomas Haake’s drumming. How he managed to lay down the rhythm patterns he did, especially on the album’s strongest track “Bleed,” is nothing short of awe-inspiring.

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Misery Index – Traitors

In 2008, life for people all over the globe all but went to hell as the result of corporate greed and governmental corruption, and Misery Index have provided the soundtrack to the entire debacle. This album sees the group at their most pissed off as they level scathing indictments at the people who have benefited the most from the world’s misery. It will be interesting to see how many bank burnings get attributed to this disc.

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Misery Signals – Controller

This album is nearly perfectly executed. Lush acoustic soundscapes interspersed with harsh metalcore dirges and heart-wrenching lyrics. The emotional and sonic depth of this album cannot be overstated. It is not only one of the best metal albums of 2008, but possibly of the last decade.

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Plague Bringer – Life Songs in a Land of Death

This genre-defying effort comes to us courtesy of two very pissed off men and a drum machine. While the rawer nature of the disc has many music critics quick to slot Plague Bringer into the “grindcore” canon, the compositions on this album are too long and too epic to draw an accurate similarity with acts like Pig Destroyer or Agoraphobic Nosebleed. It is “machine metal” to be sure, but is so innovative that it escapes comparison with anything out there today.

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Psycroptic – Ob (Servant)

Hailing from Australia, Psycroptic popped up on the radar with Willowtip’s 2007 re-issue of their “Symbols of Failure” album, which apparently also caught Nuclear Blast’s attention. “Ob (Servant)” is just as strong as “Symbols,” with a vocal and guitar attack which wouldn’t sound out of place on any of Decapitated’s better efforts. Are they a Decapitated copycat? Not in the least. But with Decapitated’s uncertain future, Psycroptic are well-suited to take up their mantle if called to it.

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The Rotted – Get Dead or Die Trying

From the ashes of the UK’s Gorerotted comes an album with the same kind of tongue-in-cheek humor as their previous efforts but with much stronger songwriting. This album’s strength lies in its catchiness first and sonic intensity second.


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Scar Symmetry – Holographic Universe

This album strikes the ideal balance between melodic death metal and power-prog, with crunching guitars and guttural growls paired beautifully with verdant synthscapes and soaring clean vocals. The energy of this album is undeniable and it will be interesting to see where their career takes them with the departure of the original vocalist and introduction of two new vocalists. One of the best this year by far.

So there you have it. While 2008 has been an awesome year for metal, pending releases from Deadlock, Antigama, Satryricon and more promise to make 2009 even better.