Anheuser-Busch InBev / Florida Ice and Farm Company S.A. – Labatt Blue & Occult Burial – Hideous Obscure (2016)

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Occasionally an artist’s work and the chemical inspiration thereof are inseparable and must be experienced together. Occult Burial’s recent ersatz, Hideous Obscure, was inspired by the sloppy, mid-Eighties Teutonic speed metal recordings of Sodom, Kreator, and Destruction which were all written and performed under the influence of a copious deluge of the cheapest Euro pilsner poured down their throats by the liter. This proto-underground beer metal was composed so as to be musically comprehensible to even the drunkest bar patrons still standing in the audience. Lacking even the melodic narratives of Motorhead standards, rocking rhythms, groovy powerchord progressions, and catchy choruses repeated ad nauseam over speed metal gallops and pick-up drum beats, hammering the basic riffs and leads into the heads of all the long-haired drunks tackling one another protected only by jean and leather jackets. To get into the garage practice space, inebriated mindset of these Canadian imitators of the imported speed metal of their fathers, I decided to pick up the Genesee-brewed as mandated by the Obama administration modern recreation of what those in my generation considered a northern, imported treat alongside the likes of St. Pauli Girl, Beck’s, and Guinness Extra: Labatt Blue.

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None So Vile Turns Twenty

cryptopsy - none so vile

Cryptopsy‘s None So Vile turned twenty this month. A more successful turn off your brain death metal work than Cannibal Corpse, simplified and straightforward deathgrind song structures allowed each musician ample opportunity to show off and drop jaws. Unfortunately aggression and technical showmanship can only cover up for so many repetitive mosh, hit people verses, funky slap bass, and taking three steps back towards verse-chorus-verse speed metal songwriting from their inspiration Suffocation. Nevertheless, None So Vile remains worthy of the occasional, once every couple of years listen due to Jon Levasseur’s superb heavy metal leads when not caving skulls in with a rock or something and Flo Mournier’s over the top ferocity that the original Dark Legions Archive review famously compared to a police beating.

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Megadeth Fall 2016 American Tour w/ Amon Amarth, Suicidal Tendencies, Metal Church, and Havok

megadeth fall 2016 tour

Megadeth are touring the US with Amon Amarth and a host of other mainstream metal acts this fall. The band tends to turn Dave Mustaine’s vocals way down in the mix so you don’t have to hear how awful he sounds nowadays so this might be worth going to if you really love Megadeth.

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Vomitor – The Escalation (2012)

vomitor the escalation

Article by Lance Viggiano.

The Escalation perfects the misunderstood Australian art of Cimmerian metal – a deliberately low-brow affair which has little tangible relationship to the Common Practice Period and therefore easily panned. Vomitor deliberately flaunt rock’s loud and emotive ethos through boorish motifs qualified further by a thin and mid-centric texture executed in characteristically poor-taste. Constructed primarily out of recombination of past forms, The Escalation is a deliberately retro affair which succeeds by forming a singular and immediately identifiable voice. Historical precedence for this identity is found in the work of Spear of Longinus – specifically the first demo contained within Black Sun Society. Vomitor do not present a way forward for metal; instead the entity finely maps a territory which was discovered but left largely unexplored by ancestors who clung to the safety and security of the coastlines looking into an inhospitable thicket which obscures a familiar but nonetheless unique landscape.

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Upcoming Törr Reissues

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Törr’s first two albums, Armageddon and Institut klinické smrti, and are being reissued on CD for the first time since their original release by Dark Symphonies / The Crypt. Czech black metal completionists should keep an eye out later this year. In the meantime, check out Death Metal Underground’s recent Master’s Hammer and Root reviews.

TÖRR (CZ) Armageddon + Institut Klinické Smrti official CDs / LPs coming from DARK SYMPHONIES / THE CRYPT

We are proud to announce our cooperation with cult Czech Black/Death/Thrash metal band TÖRR to reissue their classic debut album “Armageddon” featuring the bonus tracks from the “Vlalka S Nebem” single, as well as their sophomore album “Institut Klinické Smrti”. Extremely hard to find nowadays, we are pleased to make these long lost gems available again! Both releases will be mastered from the original analog sources for the best possible sound.

Both CDs will be designed after the original 1990 and 1991 CDs respectively, taking elements from the original layout with attention to detail, even down to the logo and typeface for a touch of nostalgia. Also featured are unpublished band photos, lyrics and new liner notes by original vocalist / bassist Vlasta Henych.

CD Limited to 1000 copies worldwide! Stay away from BOOTLEGS! Support the band and official releases!!

Also we will be pressing both releases on vinyl in both black and color vinyl options, limited to 500 copies each and housed in 350 gram gatefold jackets.

Coming later this year

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Manilla Road – Dreams of Eschaton Released

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Manilla Road‘s unreleased “Mark of the Beast” album, recorded between Invasion and Metal, has been pressed to CD and LP by High Roller Records as Dreams of Eschaton. This is the highest fidelity version yet, pressed from a collector’s tape that originated from Mark Shelton himself as detailed on the Nuclear War Now! forum:

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Аспид – Кровоизлияние Released on Bandcamp

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Аспид’s (Aspid) lost early 90s technical speed metal album, Кровоизлияние (Extravasation), has been released as a pay as you go, CD-quality lossless FLAC digital download on Bandcamp by Metal Race. Prior to Metal Race’s recent CD from the original DAT tape of the mix supplied by the band that was hard to get outside of Russia, Кровоизлияние was only available on the extremely limited original LP and a horrible sounding CD from a secondary source that was slightly sped up. Listeners worldwide may now enjoy some of the best post 1980s speed metal, resembling a more progressive Destruction.

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Master’s Hammer – Ritual (1991)

Master's Hammer - Ritual

Ritual is the pinnacle of the Central European black metal style characterized by continuing the riffing tradition of traditional heavy metal and strict adherence to speed metal song structure; Hellhammer, Mercyful Fate, Slayer, and even Megadeth influences are easily heard along with Bartók’s folkishness and Chopin’s romanticism. While their compatriots Root presaged the Hellenic scene, Master’s Hammer’s operatic use of the mellotron inspired the divergent atmosphere Emperor employed on In the Nightside Eclipse.

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