The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits has killed the MP3 codec it developed in the late 1980s. All licensing programs for MP3 related patents and software they have developed have been terminated as of April 23rd. Fraunhoffer states that the MP3 codec will be replaced by the improved AAC ones and MPEG-H.
11 Comments
Dave Mustaine revealed in a recent interview with Hong Kong newspaper the South China Morning Post about Megadeth’s first Hong Kong show that he doesn’t headbang or practice guitar anymore due to prior injuries:
18 CommentsThe hardest thing was not headbanging – I just do it without thinking. You don’t know what it’s like to be in my body. There are some days when my left hand can’t even play. I don’t practise – I save it all for the tour.
Tags: Dave Mustaine, mainstream metal, megadeth, Speed Metal
Kaeck‘s Stormkult, The Best Underground Metal Album of 2015, is coming to vinyl courtesy of Heathen Tribes. The vinyl LP will feature remastered sound with a little less mud and a tad more room overhead. The LP will come in gatefold packaging befitting the lyrical and compositional themes. It will be strictly limited to 200 copies. If you are a black metal analog fanatic and miss out, you will be sorry for sure.
11 CommentsTags: Black Metal, Dutch black metal, Heathen Tribes, kaeck, remaster, the netherlands, vinyl
Interview contributed to Death Metal Underground by Chris Annunziata.
Chris Annunziata, host of The Metal Teddy Bear Experience show on 90.3 WMSC-FM, interviewed Mikael Akerfeldt of death ‘n’ toll turned seventies style rock band Opeth at the Starland Ballroom on March 7th. Chris steadfastly transcribed the extensive interview and most graciously submitted it us. Mikael discusses his touring experiences with Megadeth and Gojira along with his childhood security blanket and love of raw meat. The recorded version is at the end.
11 CommentsTags: Dave Mustaine, death 'n' roll, hard rock, interview, opeth, radio, Sweden
Havukruunu, despite their Burzum like cover, worship Bathory‘s Blood Fire Death and 1980s synth pop on Kelle Surut Soi. Havukruunu attempt the folk choruses, epic atmosphere, and melodic solos as Quorthon did in his successful attempt at mixing black and speed metal. Unfortunately for my ears, Havukruunu are not so successful on Kelle Surut Soi.
6 CommentsTags: 2017, black 'n roll, Finland, funderground, glam metal, havukruunu, kelle surut soi, naturmacht productions, review, synth pop, synthpop
Earache Records announced a reissue of Morbid Angel‘s last great record, Blessed Are the Sick, as part of their “Full Dynamic Range” series. The Full Dynamic Range reissues are sourced directly from the analog mix tapes or digital Betamax or DAT ones with no compression applied in mastering when released on CD, LP, or lossless FLAC formats. They all sound great for the most part and far better than most other vinyl reissues that just print whatever the current CD master is to wax using direct metal mastering. The digital (CD/FLAC) Carnage, Carcass, Realm of Chaos, and Altars of Madness ones are the best sounding versions of those albums by far.
5 CommentsTags: blessed are the sick, death metal, earache records, full dynamic range, morbid angeld, reissue, remaster, vinyl
Incantation‘s debut and best work, Onward to Golgotha, remains the deepest death metal album I have ever experienced a quarter century after its release as of today. With material (“Unholy Massacre” and “Profanation”) dating back to the initial founding of Incantation by guitarist John McEntee and drummer Paul Ledney, Onward to Golgotha was a record influenced as much by Bathory and Beherit as it was Morbid Angel and Autopsy.
17 CommentsTags: 1992, anniversary, Black Metal, craig pillard, death metal, incantation, jim roe, john mcentee, miran kim, onward to golgotha, paul ledney, progressive, relapse, relapse records
Readers can probably infer from the title, logo, and cover of Unstoppable Power that this Condor are not the Colombian heavy metal / progressive rock act. Norwegian Condor plays rocking speed metal similar to the Canadians Exciter and Razor. Riffing is primarily in the Motorhead influenced style of those two mixed with the chromatic, tremolo-picked styles of early Slayer. Leads are Slayerian noise bursts or imitations of Kirk Hammet. Norwegian Condor’s drumming is mostly crusty, background d-beating which lends the music some extreme percussive aggression not found in many 80s speeding oldies.
6 CommentsTags: 2017, beer metal, condor, norway, review, Speed Metal, unstoppable power
Death Metal Underground finally has crowned a winner of our Real Sex with Social Justice Warriors Short Story Contest. GGALLIN1776’s morbid visions of bloody leftist degeneracy have been pounded into our staffs’ brains like a pistol butt cracking open a teenage thug’s skull:
40 CommentsTags: antifa, antifascist, antifascists, communism, communists, sjws, socialists, stupidity
