Halloween Metal in the Mail - Skálmöld, Death Angel & Battlecross

Halloween turned out to be nothing but treats around here as the November issue of Decibel, complete with spooky Skeletonwitch cover, contributed to a nice metal mailday. The debuts from both Skálmöld and Battlecross landed in my mailbox along with some backcatalogue items from Death Angel. All of this on the eve of another trek to the Alrosa Villa to catch Exhumed, Goatwhore, Havok and the almighty Kingsblood (so far, anyway - they kicked my ass the first time I saw them and I am hoping round two delivers another knockout). Wrap this all up and Halloween is better than, well, Christmas.

Agnes, Abigail and Anna Müller - A Few Halloween Favorites

With Halloween upon us it seems natural, if not totally clichéd, to run through some Halloween-themed favorites. For me, the season is less about music and more about movies but both play an integral role in my enjoyment of this time of year. While certainly not the most esoteric list, there are a few things apart from Thriller and Friday the 13th to which I return to year after year:

Awesome shit that is awesome

So driving home, I turned off the Jungle Rot for a rare moment, switched to XM and rediscovered that nothing beats Whitesnake on the car radio. Really. Nothing. At least for a white dude who saw Witchboard in the theater. Coverdale is down on love and, once and for all, he doesn't give a damn. He has played the fucking crying game for the last time. Until the next time. Saints and Sinners, incredible as it is, pales in comparison to the soaked-in-Kitaen-stank eponymous '87 masterpiece which, for some reason, leads me right into '88 and Action Jackson. Sharon Stone nude when we needed her to be, Vanity nude when Sharon Stone wasn't and Craig T. Nelson as the baddest martial artist in Detroit. Who, by the way, can also drive a car up a fucking flight of stairs. Indoors. The whole damn exercise makes me want to throw someone out a window, across a street and through another window. Which Action Jackson does. The only thing missing is Arnold's bicep and, to remedy that yearning, Lich King's "Predator" hits the stereo as soon as I step into the house.

The Condemned - Dismemberment - 2011

One of my favorite recent discoveries has to be Dismemberment, a death/thrash four-piece from right here in the heart of Ohio. I only recently became aware of the band due to their inclusion on the Immolation/Jungle Rot/Gigan bill and quickly fell in love with their The Condemned EP, most of which is available on their Reverbnation page. I happily reported a week ago that the band live more than delivered and am anxiously awaiting a full-length follow-up.

Kingsblood & Havok (oh, yeah, and Exhumed, too...)

Is Tuesday the new Friday? Just read Columbus-based purveyors of metallic excellence, Kingsblood, were added to the Exhumed/Goatwhore/Havok (and, apparently, no longer Cephalic Carnage) stop at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, November 1. I think I need to be there. Praying for more than three songs this time and, Crom willing, merch. And, goddammit, I gotta see Havok.

November 8 is Priest in Cincinnati and as long as Halford doesn't lay the Harley down I have faith it may rock as well.

Killer New Videos from Jungle Rot and Immolation

No, I cannot get over Jungle Rot and Immolation. Sorry. I will sometime but, right now, I am happy just to live in the past. And by "the past," I mean two or three days ago. So between repeated fond remembrances of the Alrosa Villa, I am more than happy to check out two new videos: Jungle Rot's "Rise Up and Revolt" and Immolation's "Illumination." And, yeah, you can still catch 'em live if you hurry.

Immolation • Jungle Rot • Gigan - October 14, 2011 - Alrosa Villa, Columbus, Ohio

Friday the 14th saw a marathon of metal invade the infamous Alrosa Villa as six bands lined up to deliver a bill headlined by Immolation, Jungle Rot and Gigan. I'd never been to the Alrosa before and was excited to make the 80-mile trek to see my own metal saviors, Jungle Rot, as close to home as possible. Of all the bands on the bill I was lucky enough to be excited to see three as The Metal Advisor had recently turned me onto Immolation and local (Laurelville, Ohio) band Dismemberment have a phenomenal EP up on Reverbnation that I couldn't wait to hear live.

The Alrosa Villa is your typical unassuming metal venue on the overgrown outskirts of town. Given its tragic spot in metal history you almost expect the place to be somehow sinister but, on the contrary, it was absolutely fine. Nice, even. Staff from security to the bar was friendly, there was ample parking, plenty of space and, above all, more than enough sound to go around.

Vaulternative offers Frank Zappa at Carnegie Hall 4-CD Set from October 11, 1971

Zappa.com announced pre-orders today for a $42.00 four-disc set covering two complete shows at Carnegie Hall from October 11, 1971. The email ad advertises full-on "King Kong" and "Billy the Mountatin" as well as opening performances from the Perusasions. Check it out at Barfko-Swill right now. Scheduled to ship on or around October 31, 2011.

Cruddy Video: Devil at the Wheel

ROCKTHOUGHT tweeted 'bout Halloween tunes today and got me runnin' down my mind's playlist. Crud's On Monster Island is still haunting my stereo and will likely ride right into the witching season. So, that said, enjoy a tune from their also-excellent debut, Devil at the Wheel, and, afterward, get your ass over to Crud313 for show dates, track samples, shopping and more.

Worth the Effort: Exit the Dragon - Urge Overkill - 1995

Remember 1995? The internet was still brand-spanking new and we all still bought records in record stores and you didn't swap files or sample snippets. You discovered great bands live, at the recommendation of a friend or simply by chance and followed them. Even researching a discography was a chore and you could still be surprised by a dusty record bin find of a platter you never knew existed by your favorite band. Alternative radio had experienced a boom since 1992 and for a music-loving kid in college, these were golden years.

The Devil's Rain - Misfits - 2011

While there have been near infinite variations of Misfits lineups for recording and touring, including several vocalists who never did make it onto record, The Devil's Rain is the proper debut of original compositions by Misfits Mk3, helmed by original bassist and now lead vocalist, Jerry Only. Longsuffering punk side/axeman Dez Cadena marks his first decade with the "new" version of the band on his second full-length appearance and Eric "Chupacabra (formerly known as Goat)" Arce debuts on drums (based on the 'fits history, don't get too comfortable on that stool, pal).

Expectations were as low as could be yet, somehow, my hopes were high for The Devil's Rain. I did not hate the Project 1950 covers album though I saw no reason to call it a "Misfits" record. Why not "American Legends of Punk" as the exact same band was credited on the Osaka Popstar release? Likewise, I actually enjoyed the recent "Land of the Dead" single. And, besides, the Mk2 Graves era was almost impossibly good. Different, yes, but undeniably good. That couldn't all be Michale Graves, could it?

Beach Boys' SMiLE Sessions Box Set will be a Day One Purchase for Me

Out November 1, 2011, this set includes:

5 CDs / 2LPs / 2 7" singles

• Three-dimensional shadow box lid featuring the original artwork of Frank Holmes.
• 60 page case bound book
• Timeline
• Sessionography
• Lyrics
• Frank Holmes drawings
• Producer's Notes
• More than 60 previously unreleased photos
• 6 panel folder holding 5 CDs and singles. Features photos of original session tape boxes.

7" vinyl singles

• "Heroes and Villains" in sleeve art
• "Vega-Tables" in sleeve art

 

Gatefold 2 LPs

• Features full tracklisting of proposed unfinished album +Stereo mixes and session highlights (not available on CDs)
• 12" x 12" booklet created for original release features:
• Photos by Guy Webster
• Drawings by Frank Holmes
• 24" x 36" poster of Frank Holmes cover art

Available for pre-order at Amazon here and also available in a 2-disc version.

Wallpaper Among Us: 13 of My Favorite Pieces of Danzig Art

a promo slick from the 6:66 era.
I like this one solely because labels
promoting bands in this manner
seems so quaint nowadays.

Long ago and far away, I was unmarried, childless and invested solely in selfish pursuits. One of the less chemical of these was lurking around record shops, collecting music like a fiend and befriending clerks and label reps in the process. I had many musical tastes but chief among these was - and has always been - the music of Glenn Danzig. As a result, I started to accumulate posters and swag a'plenty and, before long, had a home more or less exclusively decorated in homage to this master of the dark arts. A long overdue garage clean-up had me pulling many of these from dusty tubes this weekend and I thought I'd share in the event there may be any other nostalgic fiends out there who, like me, just cannot let go of this stuff. It's all in rough shape thanks to a frozen pipe way back when and, admittedly, years of neglect. Still, I am trying to convince the wife it just may liven up the spare room in, of course, the basement.

III - Chickenfoot - 2011

God bless Sammy Hagar. The man never stops. Van Halen and Montrose's best albums behind him (not to mention a slew of solid solo slabs), he has continued to crank out unapologetically big and loud rock and roll regardless of what happens to be en vogue at any given moment. And kudos to Michael Anthony, Joe Satriani and Chad Smith for going along for the ride as together they have created what, at the moment, may be the only big American rock and roll band standing that remains absolutely invulnerable to subgenre trappings.  Only their cross-pond cousins, Black Country Communion, offer a nearly identical trajectory and comparable discography.