Metal Bulletin Zine: May 2018

Thursday, May 24, 2018

interview: Labyrinth Entrance

Labyrinth Entrance is the extreme metal solo project of the musician named Hunger (Norway/Poland). In 2018 LE has its debut recording published and it is called Monumental Bitterness and it is divided into six sections, each one called Canto. Find out more about LE in this interview and hear the complete recording at the link at the end of this interview.

Monumental Bitterness definitely lives up to its name! The official information says that Hunger plays all the music on the album. Can you help us here in the United States to learn more about Hunger? What motivated you, Hunger, to start Labyrinth Entrance? Did anyone help you to make the album?

It's Hunger here. Labyrinth Entrance is my own solo project created round two years ago in a quite natural way. For many years I spent playing the guitar I used to focus on the old school death metal and especially American one due to the simple fact that I had been brought up on this music. Before joining Stillborn as their bass player, I had recorded EP Horror of Naatu with the help of August (the drummer in Stillborn). Afterwards it appeared a rather difficult period in my personal life with lot of problems whirling around, and at that time the first sounds of Monumental Bitterness began to form in my mind. I literally closed myself in four walls for a couple of days and that's the way how the main skeleton of the album has been created. I managed to include in this album all the emotions dwelling inside me, but also the sounds and motifs that I couldn't fit into HON music but that have been going through my head for a long time. When I possessed a certain outline of the album, I came up in the studio at the other end of Poland and there, with the help of Darek G. during 4 days I recorded the instruments and after a few months I recorded the parts of the vocals.

Do you prefer to play drums or to program the drums on the album?

As far as the drums are concerned Monumental Bitterness used the drum application to create drums tracks. When I was young I played drums in my own death metal band but in this case what I wanted to achieve on my album in many moments required really high technical skills and I couldn't afford it for the time being. Generally, I wanted the drums to sound powerful and I believe I achieved the goal. I am very satisfied with them. In fact, what counts for me is the real sound flowing from speakers and not the amount of money spent for the arduous recording of drums. That's why I did not ask for the help of my friend drummers.

Do you prefer to work alone? Is it faster to do something by yourself than having meetings or discussions about how something should be done?

The fact that I create two separate metal projects on my own is not connected that e.g. I do not want to cooperate with other musicians. The prosaic reason is lack of the time and my actual family circumstances. I have 3 children and I work in Norway, which is connected with frequent travelling. I simply do not have enough time for traditional rehearsals with my friends. I play at Stillborn where I fulfill my music aspirations as a professional crew member in man-of-three metal "beast."

Here in the U.S. I have not read much about the musician named Hunger. Who is Hunger? What other bands or projects have you done? What is the situation for Hunger as a musician in Poland?

Regarding my position in the Polish "metal underground"- despite the fact that I have been a musician for a long time, I perform on stage for about 5 years. We play with Stillborn both in Poland and in Europe, we just released another EP. My separate solo projects remain just studio projects. Soon I will be recording the first full album with HON and next year I plan to release the second album LE. I am promoted by the GodzOvWar Prod. label in the media and it goes professionally both when it comes to LE and Stillborn.

Can you tell us about your vision with Monumental Bitterness? When you began the project, did you have a vision of a melancholic, doom and black metal album?

Concerning the leitmotif of MB, the whole album is my own concept presenting the hell on the basis of Dante's "Inferno". When I started composing the album, I did not have any lyrical vision, I only knew that I wanted to record a depressive and melancholic album because that exactly reflected my state of mind at that time. And after watching INFERNO, I was enchanted by the enormous amount of paintings and visions which Dante contained therein. Then I knew that this is the direction which I want to follow. I have read several studies on this outstanding work and all the lyrics based on them, I even used some complete fragments from the original.

Canto II is a very good melancholic, melodic track, but towards the end it goes into the speed of black metal. It is an instrumental song. What made you decide not to have lyrics on this song?

As for Canto II, it is an instrumental piece, because its structure and the emotions that I have included in it are complete, and from my point they do not require any text, what's more I think that there is even no place for that. Additionally, in fact the whole album originally was supposed to be instrumental, but Greg from GOW persuaded me to try to create and record some vocals parts and today I'm happy that I have agreed because I'm finally very satisfied with the whole. This is a very personal album for me.

On the other hand, Canto III is more of a headbanging heavy metal song, in particular extreme metal. How do the Latin lyrics fit into the overall picture of Canto III and Monumental Bitterness?

Canto III is probably the most outstanding form the whole album. This was confirmed also by the amount of opinions of people who listened to it. This song is probably the best one I've ever created. I like it very much. Latin fragments of text are the above-mentioned original fragments of Dante. My parts of the lyric express all the fears and frights about the death and what is after. This is my own Monumental Bitterness. The song consists of two parts, where the second one is a monotonous slow motif colored with keys, trumpets and strings that leads to the unknown.

Canto IV almost reads like a story about kings and struggles in context of the kings. And Canto V certainly increases the tension to the conflict of murderers, traitors and destruction. When you were thinking about the conclusion to the overall story of Monumental Bitterness, how did you imagine that it should end?

Despite the fact that each of the individual songs differs significantly from the others, when you listen to this CD you can have the impression that the whole album is something like a single piece divided into parts. The same applies to lyrics. They all merge into one whole and tell about the fall of a man, his vanity and powerlessness. About sins, guilt and punishment. That there is the Hell and everyone can get there.

Now the album is complete, where does Monumental Bitterness fit in with the future plans for your project?

As for my future plans, I already have about 50 minutes of material for the second LE album and it will be completely different from Monumental Bitterness, although it will not lose climate contained in the LE. This project allows me to compose music without any limits and when composing songs I do not care if any piece stylistically fits to another one, no matter it is death metal, black metal or any other kind of music. That's why I have heard many opinions that LE music cannot be pigeonholed, because all included genres interference with each other in a skillful way creating the coherent whole.

Do you think that you ever want to perform live with some session musicians?

Playing LE live would be quite difficult to perform, because I used a lot of effects while recording and would require a lot of efforts to reproduce it all live. Besides, I wouldn't like to hear the live version in a small club with a poor sound system. I think that the whole atmosphere of the album could disappear in such conditions. This CD has a very special sound and I would like it to be remembered as it is.

Finally, how can your fans support your music?

The album is available on the CD version on the GOW Prod. website and all information about the LE can be followed on the official Facebook page, although to be honest it is not rich with the content because I do not belong to effusive people. I encourage everyone to open their minds to go deeper into Monumental Bitterness and rethink their lives from scratch. Thank you for LE's interest and for an interesting interview.

Regards - Hunger

facebook.com/labyrinth.entrance

godzovwarproductions.bandcamp.com/album/monumental-bitterness

interview: Voidthrone

Just like that, Voidthrone has returned with a new recording in 2018 called Kur, which follows the 2016 title Spiritual War Tactics. One way to think of Voidthrone is dissonant extreme metal. Fortunately, the new recording is available for listening now and you can hear for yourself the band’s interpretation of black metal. Be sure to check out the links at the end of this interview.

Hello. This is Metal Bulletin zine. On Metal Archives it says that Voidthrone began in 2016. Who are the members of the band now and what they do in terms of instruments and other responsibilities for the band?

Mac Boyd: Guitar

Ronald Foodsack: Guitar. Recording/mixing. Oil painting on Kur cover

Zhenya Frolov: Vocals

Joshua Keifer: Drums

Austin Schmalz: Bass

Is it true that the band began in 2016? So then, how is it possible that there already was an album in 2016? Was the music already written and all that was needed was the personnel for a band to record it?

Dan (Morris, previous Voidthrone vocalist): The band started with just Ron and Josh jamming together in the Winter of 2015. We were terrible. Ron had just returned from France where he sang in a death metal band called Obnoxious and had not really played guitar in about 3 years. We also didn't know what we wanted to play yet. We waited a few months until we got better and had something that resembled a couple songs. A full line up was realized in 2016, which is also the time when we adopted the name Voidthrone. Another name we almost went with was Rotfeast, but that sounds like a 90s old school death metal band. Anyways, spring 2016 is when we had a solid line up with what you may call all of the original members. This line up was steady enough to write more material, record, and eventually start playing shows.

The 2016 album is called Spiritual War Tactics. Can you take us back to the debut and tell us about your vision of the album? Musically, what did you have in mind for your band?

Musically, the intent was to create music that would make the listener curious, but uncomfortable. We wanted to incorporate dissonance in the music but still provide some hooks and payoff for the listener. It's the contrasts that make music impactful. When writing songs, we stop after playing a riff and ask each other, "how does that riff make you feel?" It might seem humorous, but it is sometimes best to develop songs based on the feeling born from the seed riffs.

Conceptually, what spiritual war were you thinking of? How do you see the spiritual war taking place generally in the world and locally in the Seattle region? How does it manifest itself? What is your role in the spiritual war?

Dan: The spiritual war was not one that conflicts in an outside sense, but more as an inner conflict. Going to war with one's demons and not knowing what the correct voice of reason is. SWT starts in the physical realm and morphs into a tale of metaphysical revenge ending with total consciousness in the "spirit realm". The metaphors used in some of the lyrics revolve around a tribal warrior who is betrayed by his own people and comes back as a spirit. We sketched out the general lyrical concept for the SWT album on a dry erase board and this helped frame things.

For you, how does your thinking about your music a couple of years ago compare to now that you have two recordings under your belt? What have you discovered about yourselves as musicians as your journey deepens and continues? For instance, are you running up against contradictions or into certain turning points in your views of your music, black metal and the execution of the musical ideas? What are your learning?

The songs on Kur feel more like songs and are probably more coherent. They are less of a giant mess of non-repeating riffs than SWT.

On Spiritual War Tactics, we wrote the songs in the order of their appearance on the album. In that way, you can see perhaps how we grew musically. The first song on SWT, for example, has some more generic metal riffs à la Behemoth, Deathspell Omega, 90s death metal, etc. Now we have a much better idea of what our general sound and vision should be and what Voidthrone sounds like. This makes it easier to write.

We have discovered that we still write most of our best riffs and song ideas by jamming together and improvising. This is probably not typical for this style of metal. This can often not be the most efficient way to write music, but it is very fun and results in unexpected sounds. We have learned that it is absolutely key to be willing to throw away riffs. There are good riffs and ideas buried under a vast number of bad riffs. You just have to be confident enough to let mediocre-but-acceptable riffs go if they don't work or make sense.

By the way, are you all in other bands in the Seattle region? If so, what bands are those?

No.

This year there is a new recording by Voidthrone and it is called KUR. In terms of musical directions, in your own view, where have the new songs taken your sound as a band now with a second work completed? Does it sound like you expected in your mind or did you realize that your creation took on a different form? If so, what did you think when you first heard the whole recording as a finished work?

Feeling/soundwise, the album sounds almost exactly the way we wanted it too, so we are thrilled with the result. It is a short album, but we tried to expand our range and have lots of contrasts and small nuances from song to song. Musically, most of the songs were not very deliberately written - they developed as we wrote and discovered them. The only exception is "Phantasm Epoch" which was designed to be short, fast, and aggressive at the prodding of Dan, our old singer who has since moved to California.

Because we recorded and mixed the album ourselves, it was difficult to have an objective ear when it was first complete. You get burned out for a few weeks after hearing the same song countless times! However, listening to it now, it feels rich, emotional, and gets our blood pumping. We're proud of it.

What does KUR as a word? Is it KUR or Kur? After the provocative title of the debut, why a more mysterious title for the album? What purpose does the title serve in relation to what you want for your music now?

Zhenya: I take the title as 'Kur', personally! Kur is a Sumerian word for their version of the afterlife. It's a featureless landscape filled with the afterimages of all people that have ever lived. All they do is wander in isolation and eat dust. That's what everyone looks forward to upon death. A friend told me about it a long time ago, and the existential horror that comes with that concept left an impression! I think the fear of total isolation is relatable to most social creatures and I think the Nihilistic emptiness allows for a certain freedom of direction for us.

How did you go about recording the new music? Are you knowledgeable enough to do it by yourselves or do you prefer at this point to work with some experienced people that bring out a better sound for you? Are there good places in Tacoma to record? And in Seattle?

Ron: I recorded everything at my house, which also happens to be where we practice. We recorded scratch guitars to click tracks, then recorded the drums in my garage. After that, we tracked the bass and guitars direct. We reamped the guitars through a Mesa Boogie oversized cab. The heads used were a Peavey 5150 and an Orange CR120. Reamping the bass didn't turn out very good, so we just used plugins for the bass amp sound. Vocals were recorded last, also in the garage. In the middle of all this, my wife gave birth to our son! It was tricky tracking guitars with a sleeping baby, but fortunately he seemed to like the white noise of black metal guitar.

As for the mixing, I mixed Kur using Cubase 8 in my office. I have been using Cubase for a while and it is the DAW I am comfortable with. That being said, I do not do this for a living. Consequently, the mixing takes a long time since I am often figuring things out as I go or am agonizing over small decisions, like which reverb sounds best on the drums, fixing errors I made, etc. It was fun but a very time intensive, inefficient process, and involved lots of late nights. I am glad I do not do this full time! Nevertheless, it was enjoyable and part of the experience. We save a lot of money doing things this way. We probably mess a lot of things up too, but everything we do is DIY (like the album art).

However, for mastering this time we sent our music off to Audiosiege mastering in Portland. It was a smart move - it was relatively affordable and ultimately effective. We got a much fuller and less fatiguing sound that we had on Spiritual War Tactics, which I mastered myself with Ozone. If any of your readers have any questions about recording or mixing, let me know. I will do my best to answer them.

It is common to see bands posting online that they have tickets for a certain big show with an artist that is from out of town. In that situation, does a band pay hundreds of dollars by buying tickets and then attempting to sell them to the fans? Is this the pay-to-play that so many bands have spoken about? What is your opinion about it? Is this the state of the music business for metal bands? In your own observations, does this method of doing things result in money losses for the bands participating in it?

Zhenya: We haven't yet completed our first pre-sale show process, so I can't totally comment on the outcome. That in mind, there does seem to be an obligation for bands to peddle tickets to people and groups (Muted by 90% of Seattle Metal and Punk Scene, probably… Sorry, dudes!). While stressful, it does require a fair bit of reaching out, which is a nice way to talk to people and get them to listen to The Word of the Void. It's a pleasure to share something we think is cool and are proud of. I think the pay to play model makes sense from a venue's perspective, but shuts out a lot of people that are starting out and may not have resources. It'd be a step forward if the expectation to sell tickets was explicit and transparent. Then, at least, the awkward dance of negotiating with venues would be more straightforward. I don't know what the "standard" way of doing anything in music is yet. Hoping to get there!

What is next for your band now that there are two albums done? Do you have any plans that you want to tell us about?

Josh: More visceral presentation and music.

Mac: Dissonant melodies.

We aim to advance our sound and allow plenty of time to experiment on the outer edges of our musical bubble. We strive to be more visceral and breathtaking. We need to have dissonant melodies. We must spread our otherworldly sickness - the beautiful Void.

What do you have in terms of merchandise for fans to support your music? For the album's online availability, what are some places where you have your music?

If people want to sport our profane name, they can do it with shirts, stickers, and patches! We're proud to say that all of the design on our current goods is done by Voidthrone's own, Dan Morris. Any artists working with our incomprehensible prophecies must be hand-picked and have a grasp of the foul divine.

Anything else that you want to tell us?

Death to false metal.

voidthrone.bandcamp.com/releases

facebook.com/voidthrone/

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Metal Bulletin Zine

P.O. Box 1339

Lake Stevens WA 98258 USA

Washington state concert calendar, updated May 24, 2018

Friends in the state of Washington,

Is there a metal music show in your area that is not listed in this calendar? Does your local metal band have a show coming up and is not listed here? Is your band's name spelled incorrectly? Are the dates wrong? If you have information about shows/updates/cancellations, please get in contact with Metal Bulletin zine.

Washington state concert calendar, updated May 24, 2018

NOTE: Apparently the news is that Studio Seven in Seattle is shut down; therefore, shows that were schedule for Studio Seven will not be happening there anymore. Friends, if you have more information about those concerts, feel free to get in contact with Metal Bulletin Zine. Thanks. ---MMB

May 24 Bat, Midnight, Wormwitch, Substratum at El Corazón, Seattle

May 24 Tetrachromat, Designer Disguise, Hexengeist, Pill Brigade at The Mirkwood, Arlington, WA

May 24 Jesus Wears Armani, Bleed the Stone, The Face of Loki at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

May 24 Hands of Deliverance, Discord Curse, Becomes Astral, Empyrean, Born Without Blood at Substation, Seattle, WA

May 25 Hemlock, Sevidemic, Prophets of Metal at Eagles 2485, Kennewick, WA

May 25 Arisen from Nothing, Salem Knights, Massacre at the Opera, Damn the Flood at The Mirkwood, Arlington, WA

May 25 Necrosomnium, Empyrean, Dilapidation, Draconian Summoning at Columbia City Theatre, Seattle, WA

May 26 D.R.I., Deathwish at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

May 26 Anvil, Shadowside, Skelator at Highline, Seattle, WA

May 26 Hemlock, Sevidemic, Lost Eye Dentity, Prophets of Metal, The War Within at Studio Seven, Seattle, WA

May 27 Hemlock, Sevidemic at The Pin, Spokane, WA

May 28 Power Trip, Sheet Mag, Fury, Red Death at Neumos, Seattle, WA

May 28 Helles, Born Without Blood, others at Substation, Seattle, WA

May 30 Tetrarch, Somewhere to Call Home at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

May 30 Face Mason, Saint Helen, Born Without Blood at Substation, Seattle, WA

May 31 Corvoid, Children of Atom, No Such Season, Emanon at Tony V’s, Everett, WA

May 31-June 2 Northwest Terrorfest at Neumos, Barboza, Highline, Seattle, WA

June 1 Hexengeist at Substation, Seattle, WA

June 1 Born Without Blood at Tim’s Tavern, Seattle, WA

June 1 Countless the Dead, Alignment, Imposter of Humanity, Monsters Among Gods at Le Voyeur, Olympia, WA

June 2 Insomnium, Oceans of Slumber, Anthrocene, ApHelion at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 2 Headbang at the Harbor: Dismembering Mary, Monsters Among Gods, others at Raymond Theatre, Raymond, WA

June 2 Battle for Mordor: Blood and Thunder, ReEvolution, Odyssian, Oxygen Destroyer, Dilapidation, Violent Hallucinations, Simulation Theory at The Mirkwood, Arlington, WA

June 2 Born Without Blood, Jugs of Blood, Ocreata at Le Voyeur, Olympia, WA

June 2 Metal Night: Sponsored by the CIA (Suicidal Tendencies tribute), othersat Bubba’s Roadhouse, Sultan, WA

June 3 GBH, The Accüsed at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 4 Aborted, Psycroptic, Ingested at The Pin, Spokane, WA

June 4 Primitive Man, Addaura, Isenordal, Doom Lit Sky at Mootsys, Spokane, WA

June 5 Sleep, Bell Witch at The Showbox, Seattle, WA

June 6 Behold the Octopus, Spacebag, Xoth at Highline, Seattle, WA

June 6 Devastation on the Nation: Aborted, Psycroptic, Ingested, Disentomb, Arkaik, Venom Prison, Vale of Pnath, Primordial Atrocity at Tony V’s, Everett, WA

June 7 The Skull, Earthride, Hyborian at Highline, Seattle, WA

June 8 Hailshot, Kamikaze Zombie, others at Skylark Lounge, Seattle, WA

June 9 I Am Infamy, Groundfeeder, Toarn, Within Sight, Vesuvian at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 10 HammerFall, Flotsam and Jetsam, Skelator, Convergence at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 10 Skulls, Crematory Stench, Disembowel, Oxygen Destroyer at Erebus, Kelso, WA

June 11 Vintersea, The Devils of Loudun, The Anima Effect at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

June 12 Vintersea, The Devils of Loudun, The Anima Effect at The Pin, Spokane, WA

June 14 Queensrÿche at Clearwater Casino, Suquamish, WA

June 15 Shizerdome, Dilapidation, Effluvia, The Accüsed at The Valley, Tacoma, WA

June 15 Simulation Theory, ApHelion, Weaponlord, LUNGS, Orator at The Mirkwood, Arlington, WA

June 15 Black Sabbitch (Black Sabbath tribute) at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 15 Filth; Insvrgence; Loser; Scourged, Imposter of Humanity at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

June 15 Blistered Earth (Metallica tribute) at Union Square, Longview, WA

June 15 Neck of the Woods, Darkness Stole the Sky, Monsters Among Gods at Ben Moore’s Olympia, WA

June 16 Filth; Insvrgence; Loser; I, Detest at The Pin, Spokane, WA

June 16 Blistered Earth (Metallica tribute) at Louie G’s, Fife, WA

June 16 Bitter End, Coven, Accused AD at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 16 Uli Jon Roth at Studio Seven, Seattle, WA

June 16 Obsidian, Oxygen Destroyer, Born Without Blood, Schmutzhund at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

June 16 Washington Deathfest III: Infernal Legion, Thou Shall Kill, Cryptic Enslavement, When The Broken Burn, Divide Paths, Helles, Religicide, Shred Bundy, Whythre, Voidthrone, At Home In Hell, ApHelion at Erebus, Kelso, WA

June 16 Noceur, Xoth, Blood and Thunder, DTI at Boscoe’s, Bellingham, WA

June 16 Chemical Rage, Neck of the Woods, Sins and Sinners at Eagles 2485, Kennewick, WA

June 17 Volumes, Upon a Burning Body at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 18 Voidthrone, Grave Gnosis, Skulsyr, DTI at The Valley, Tacoma, WA

June 18 Isenordal, Void Omnia, Addaura at Black Lodge, Seattle, WA

June 19 Isenordal, Void Omnia, Czar, Goon at The Valley, Tacoma, WA

June 19 The Devils of Loudun, Beekeeper, Iron Nightingale at The Kraken, Seattle, WA

June 19 The Body, Lingua Ignota, Bloom Offering, Lye Feast + Scarcity at Highline, Seattle, WA

June 20 Isenordal, Void Omnia, Addaura at Cryptatropa, Olympia, WA

June 21-25 Thirst for Light V festival: Addaura, Alda, Isenordal, Void Omnia, many, many others in Raymond, WA

June 21 Gloam, Drawn and Quartered, Blood Atonement, Cerna Krev at Highline, Seattle, WA

June 23 The Accüsed AD, Rat King, Effluvia, Speaks in Tongues at Erebus, Kelso, WA

June 24 Will Haven, Heiress, Into the Storm, Old Iron at Highline, Seattle, WA

June 24 Ancient Elm at The Pin, Spokane, WA

June 26 The Faceless, Lorna Shore, Dyscarnate, Nomvdic at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

June 28 Krallice, Wayfarer, Addaura at Highline, Seattle, WA

June 28 Crimson Guardian at Hogan’s Pub, Clarkston, WA

June 28 Orator, Empyrean, Necrosomnium, Melancholia at The Shakedown, Bellingham, WA

June 30 UADA, Wolvhammer, The Black Moriah, DTI at Studio Seven, Seattle, WA

June 30 Spectral Voice, Superstition, Mortiferum, Cerebral Rot at Highline, Seattle, WA

June 30 Sweatfest 2K18 at El Corazón/Funhouse, Seattle, WA

July 6 I Am Morbid, After the Fallout, Thou Shall Kill at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

July 6 Neurosis, Converge, Amenra at The Showbox, Seattle, WA

July 7 Crimson Guardian, Morbid Fascination, others at Erebus, Kelso, WA

July 7 Glass Canons, Wet Temple, Tetrachromat, others at Mirkwood Public House, Arlington, WA

July 7 Hell’s Belles (AC/DC tribute) at 7 Cedars Casino, Sequim, WA

July 7 Oxygen Destroyer at Alki, WA

July 9 Mortuary Drape, Volahn at Highline, Seattle, WA

July 12 Crimson Guardian, Incidia, Divine Skies at Central Saloon, Seattle, WA

July 12 Inanimate Existence, The Last of Lucy, Aethereus, Odyssian at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

July 13&14: WADM Metalfest at Erebus, Kelso, WA: Cursed, Oxygen Destroyer, Hang the Kode, Battle Ace Massacre, Inside Defiance, Crüd Güns, Simulation Theory, Noose; Aggression, Violent Hallucinations, Antiform, Hyborian Rage, Pre Embalmed, Dilapidation, After the Fallout, Trojan Swamp Monster

July 14 Queensrÿche at Lucky Eagle Casino, Rochester, WA

July 14 Crimson Guardian, Eroder at Anchor Pub, Everett, WA

July 14 Damn the Flood, Casualty of God, Zenith, Whythre at Louie G’s Pizza, Fife, WA

July 14 Havok, Extinction AD, Vultra, InComing Days at The Pin, Spokane, WA

July 15 Havok at Revolution, Seattle, WA

July 19-21 The Backyard Festival (40 bands/2 stages) at Louie G’s Pizza, Fife, WA

July 20 Rest, Repose; Drewsif Stalin, For the Likes of You, As Pillars Fall, ReEvolution at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

July 20 Red Fang at The Pin, Spokane, WA

July 23 Isenordal, Suicide Forest at Highline, Seattle, WA

July 27 Demon Hammer, Oxygen Destroyer, Kömmand at McCoy’s Tavern, Olympia, WA

July 28 Zero Down (album release show), Detonator, The Plot Sickens at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

July 28 Soiree Macabre III: A Flourishing Scourge, Voidthrone at Barboza, Seattle, WA

July 29 Hell’s Belles (AC/DC tribute) at Stones Summer Jam, Seattle, WA

August 4 Blistered Earth (Metallica tribute) at The Emerald of Siam Thai, Richland, WA

August 8 Night Demon, Blood Star, Demonhammer at Highline, Seattle, WA

August 9 Pathology, Within Destruction, Parasitic Ejaculation at Tony V’s, Everett, WA

August 10 Pathology, Within Destruction, Parasitic Ejaculation, Transcribing the Necronomicon, Cold Hearts, Xingaia at The Pin, Spokane, WA

August 17 The Accüsed at Slim’s Annual Hillbilly Headbanger’s, Seattle, WA

August 19 Alice Cooper at Angel of the Winds, Everett, WA

August 20 Powerglove, Xoth at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

August 20 Apotheon, Aethereus, Enigma, Increate, Odyssian at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

August 22 Lamb of God, Napalm Death at Knitting Factory, Spokane, WA

August 24 Slayer, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Testament, Napalm Death at White River Ampitheatre, Auburn, WA

September 3 Vicious Rumors, others at The Pin, Spokane, WA

September 4 The Exploited, Total Chaos at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

September 8 Effluvia, Oxygen Destroyer, Disease at Le Voyeur, Olympia, WA

September 15 Speaks in Tongues, The Crüd Güns, DTI, others at The Valley, Tacoma, WAj

September 15 Northwest Tribfest at Historic Everett Theater, Everett, WA: tribute bands Dr. Crue, Infinity Project (Journey), Blistered Earth (Metallica), Second Sting (Scorpions), Almost Human (Kiss)

September 17 Alestorm, GloryHammer at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

September 20 Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, Blood and Thunder at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

September 22 Coven, Disciples of Dissent, others at Wally’s House of Booze, Wenatchee, WA

October 3 Graham Bonnet Band, Zero Down at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

October 15 Enemy Soil, Antigama, Violent Opposition, Treasonist, The Drip at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

November 2 Second Sting (Scorpions tribute) at Tulalip Casino, Marysville, WA

November 10 Dilapidation, Oxygen Destroyer, Effluvia, Drawn and Quartered at The Valley, Tacoma, WA

December 28 Zoso (Led Zeppelin tribute) at Knitting Factory, Spokane, WA

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Lake Stevens WA 98258 USA

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Tuesday, May 8, 2018

this Thursday in Everett: Nasty Bits, Substratum, Weaponlord

This is happening this coming Thursday, May 10th, at Tony V's in Everett!

"We are descending upon Everett for the very first time, bringin' the heavy metal thunder! Grab your axes, sharpen your steel, hail the victorious and get ready to SHRED! Get down on your knees cause we're bringin the sleaze to all you rockarollas that crave that high octane speed!"

21+/$5

Doors @7/Show @8

Nasty Bits

Substratum

Weaponlord

weaponlord.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/weaponlordseattle

substratum-seattle.bandcamp.com/releases

facebook.com/substratumseattle/

facebook.com/NastyBitsSeattle/

Ghostblood has an announcement: Honey, I Raised the Dead

Ghostblood

Honey, I Raised the Dead

Release date: April 20th, 2018

label: independent

What an achievement. Raising the dead is not easy. Believe you me, I have tried to do it repeatedly and I have succeeded, at most, only a few times. In the prehistory, history, posthistory, and mythology of humanity there are but a couple of entities that actually done it on a consistent basis, night in, night out. Raising the dead is just hard; there’s no way around it. It is what it is. In fact, if you are looking for a how-to manual, you’ll be hard pressed to find it. On the other hand, Lazarus would be able to give you all the information about his case. Check in with him for sure.

It is what is. Leave it to our very own Washington state mutant cannibal thrashers Ghostblood, who have returned with their classic line-up by popular demand, to turn the tables on the living and open a can of whooping on the dead. I think that when you hear this album you will forcefully agree with me that the dead messed up big time when they died because the party is about to begin and they left too early, right when things were about to get good. Never leave a party too early, dead people.

Summer time is here, the ice cream man is here, stop him when he passing by, and fire up the barbecue grill, the drinks are cold, the dead are bold, stories are going to be told and there is a new Ghostblood album to behold. They have retained the services of the three amigos responsible for the swamp thrash of the 2015 debut Blood from Beyond the Grave, a party favorite every time. Continuing right from where they left off, they have ratcheted it up the intensity, going crazy between thrash and death metal, and they are churning out the sounds perfect for all the seasons, from Halloween parties to horror movie chase scenes to mosh pits and more, like Gwar, Ghoul, Motorhead, Freddy Krueger and Mr. Jack Daniels coming together for a summertime barbecue party in a basement or car trunk near you.

Ghostblood features fast rumbling songs with growled vocals (and a variety of screams, and a few other different vocalizations, like some low, guttural growling) with some moments of blasting. The band’s vocalist/bassist plays the bass like a guitar and you can never, ever say that you do not hear the bass on this album. The bassist is without a doubt the best bass player in the entire band of Ghostblood. Put together the thundering bass with the manic drumming and the vibe is mosh, mosh, mosh and bang your head whether you are the purgatory and alive and dead. Besides twisted riffs of horror and merriment, the solos go from wild to wacky to wtf to fun in the sun run nun.

Here we are, friends. What started out as swamp thrash is turning into quite the band. Two albums now, and playing shows all over Seattle, Olympia, Bellingham (but not yet in Arlington, what is up with that?), you cannot ignore the zombie thrash union of extreme metal, horror and comedy that this band is heating up in the cemetery bar for the day and the nighttime.

Visit Seattle for the weather, stay for the Ghostblood. As the band likes to say when they are on the stage, “We are Ghostblood and we play rock and roll.” (This last statement is not verifiable.)

ghostbloodmetal.bandcamp.com

facebook.com/ghostbloodmetal

Washington state concert calendar, updated May 8, 2018

Friends in the state of Washington,

Washington state concert calendar, updated May 8, 2018

May 9 Feral Light, Witch Ripper, Breag Naofa at Highline, Seattle, WA

May 10 Weaponlord, Substratum at Tony V’s, Everett, WA

May 11 Forever Convicted, DTI, Divine Skies, The Crüd Güns at Mirkwood Public House, Arlington, WA

May 11 Mark of a Modern Man, Ergo I Exist, Namea at The Kraken, Seattle, WA

May 12 Whythre, Born Without Blood, Effluvia, Orator, ShizerDome at Obscurus, Everett, WA

May 12 Hell’s Belles (AC/DC tribute) at Swinomish Casino, Anacortes, WA

May 12 As Pillars Fall, Separating the Seas, Within Sight, Down the Scope, Perfect Zero at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

May 13 Dead Horse Trauma, Lydia Can’t Breathe, Motorgrater, Stress Fed at Eagles 2485, Kennewick, WA

May 13 Soulfly, Nile, After the Fallout, Devilation at Studio Seven, Seattle, WA

May 14 Silent Scream, Madrost at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

May 14 Dead Horse Trauma, Lydia Can’t Breathe, others at Studio Seven, Seattle, WA

May 15 Rampage, Tigerblood at Tony V’s, Everett, WA

May 16 Satyricon, Goatwhore, Inquinok, Voidthrone at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

May 16 Tyr, Orphaned Land, Ghost Ship Octavius, Aeternam, Blood and Thunder at Studio Seven, Seattle, WA

May 17 Cough, Grime, Serial Hawk, Isenordal at Highline, Seattle, WA

May 17 Wretched Fuck, Xingaia, Sentient Divide at The Observatory, Spokane, WA

May 18 ApHelion, Whythre, Vesuvian, URDR at The Mirkwood, Arlington, WA

May 18 Monsters Among Gods, Anchor Point, Odissia, The Accüsed AD at Safe House, Seattle, WA

May 18 Noceur, others at Make.Shift, Bellingham, WA

May 19 The Accüsed AD, others at Safe Manette Saloon, Bremerton, WA

May 19 Hells Bells at The Point Casino, Kingston, WA

May 19 No One Lives, Three Chord Killer, Bacon Grenade, Religicide at Anchor Pub, Everett, WA

May 21 The Convalescence, Deadbeat Blackout, Sabertooth at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

May 22 Obituary, Pallbearer, Skeletonwitch, Dust Bolt at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

May 22 Obituary after-show: Ghostblood at Funhouse, Seattle, WA

May 23 Texas Hippie Coalition, Kobra and the Lotus, Fallen Kings, Black Sun Moon, others at El Corazón, Seattle, WA

May 23 The Black Dahlia Murder, Homewrecker, The Convalescence, The Drip at The Pin, Spokane, WA

May 23 Isenordal, Geist, Witch Bottle, Eneferens at Highline, Seattle, WA