Recently, I traveled to Philly to see King Giant perform at The Barbary in Philly. King Giant, as expected, was lovely, but the trip itself was a bit odd. For one, I was the only black person there. For two, I arrived about an hour and a half early. For three, the crowd was almost 100% middle-aged bikers, one of whom had a Confederate flag in tow. Feeling somewhat uncomfortable, I ended up striking up a conversation with a nice lady outside, which, in addition to passing the time, put me generally at ease.

That nice lady turned out to be Lorraine “Dirty” McGurty, one of the guitarists in American Speedway, a “speed rock” (sounds kind of like crossover/Southern punk/thrash) band based in Philadelphia. American Speedway has been around since 2007, earning acclaim through locally released albums, singles, and radio play. I went to college for five years in Philadelphia and spent about two of them buddying up with people in the punk scene, and somehow I never got to see these people perform until last week. Shame on me!

American Speedway’s show was high-energy from start to finish, and my only complaint was that their audience was too damned small. I’m sure this was due to showtime confusion, but whoever came late was really robbed of the opportunity to rock out. Below is a live performance of “One Foot In One Foot Out” — they’re great in the studio, but lots of fun live.

Official Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/americanspeedway
Official website: http://www.americanspeedway.net/

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Century Media announced on their official website today that they have signed legendary Seattle metallers, Sanctuary to a worldwide deal with the label.

Sanctuary, who released two albums Refuge Denied and Into The Mirror Black before disbanding in 1992, reunited in 2010 for a handful of reunion shows. The response was so overwhelming that the band decided it was time to get the band back together.  Singer Warrel Dane and bassist, Jim Sheppard, who went on to form Nevermore, who are currently on hiatus, said of their new deal with Century Media:

Warrel Dane: “Having been with Century Media since 1995 with NEVERMORE, it was a very comfortable decision for SANCTUARY to sign with them. Century Media has a great team that always delivers for all of their bands. I’ve known most of them on a first name basis for many years and I look forward to this new chapter in history.”

Lenny Rutledge: “I can speak for every member of SANCTUARY when I say we are all excited to join the Century Media family. We now have the opportunity to work with the best metal record label on the planet. We are looking forward to creating great music with an awesome team behind us.”

The current line-up for Sanctuary is: Warrel Dane – vocals, Lenny Rutledge and Brad Hull – guitars and Jim Sheppard – bass and Dave Budbill – drums.

For more on Sanctuary, visit their official Facebook page here or via Twitter and for updates on the new album.

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Today’s From The Vault marks the anniversary of Ronald James Padavona better known as Ronnie James Dio’s death. Ronnie who passed away three years ago at the age of 67 from stomach cancer left the music world a legacy that will be remembered forever.

Ronnie began his music career in 1957 with a band called The Vegas Kings which Ronnie started out playing bass in. Eventually Ronnie began singing and changed the band name, as well as his name to Ronnie Dio after mobster Johnny Dio. In 1967, after his previous band disbanded, Ronnie formed Electric Elves, later shortened to Elf and recorded three studio albums while securing the opening act slot with Deep Purple. Ronnie caught the ear of Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and recruited Ronnie for his new band Rainbow after splitting with Deep Purple. Rainbow released their debut album in 1975 called Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow. However after releasing two more albums as well as a live album, Dio and Blackmore split due to creative differences, as Blackmore was looking to take Rainbow in a more commercial direction.

In 1979, Ronnie replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath and the band subsequently released Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules which put Sabbath back on the map. During the mixing of Live Evil, tensions erupted causing Dio to quit and form his own band, Dio. The band released their debut album Holy Diver in 1983. Dio went on to subsequently release 10 albums and although members changed over the years, Ronnie was always touring and recording.

In 2006, Ronnie joined Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice for the Heaven and Hell tour and had been touring with Heaven and Hell up until it was announced that he had cancer in 2009. Heaven and Hell cancelled their upcoming summer tour and Ronnie fought to get back to what he loved, however his health deteriorated and he passed away on May 16, 2010 at 7:45AM. His wife, Wendy Dio formed  The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund, a non-profit charitable fund dedicated to support cancer prevention research, raise awareness and educate the public about early detection in Ronnie’s honor.

Rest In Peace Ronnie!

For more on The Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund visit Dio’s website here

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Photo credit: death-illustrated.net.

I don’t know how I managed to live nearly 26 years on this earth without ever having heard stoner pagan metal. All I know is that I’m glad this lengthy spell is over. Today, while looking at the Facebook wall of a casual acquaintance, I discovered that he was in a band called Lovijatar, listened to their entire album on Bandcamp on the spot, and immediately fell in love. I can not for the life of me figure out whether I have been so devoted to the power/thrash side of folk metal that I’ve simply overlooked the existence of the stoner pagan metal sound or if Lovijatar are truly in a class of their own. Either way, Lovijatar rules, and my life is appreciably better for having heard them.

Based in Helsinki, Finland, Lovijatar was founded in 2010 by Battlelore’s Jussi Rautio, and Elephant Bell’s Mikko Nevonen and Tommi Vaittinen. The three sought to create folk metal that reflected their Finnish heritage with a bit of a stoner edge. Bassist Sami Ollikainen and Mikko Nevonen rounded out the lineup shortly thereafter, and the band released their debut album Hämärän Kulkija (“traveler of the twilight”) in January 2013. The entire album is available on their Bandcamp page — the physical album is, for obvious reasons, sold out, but the digital version is there.

Below is the song “Louhen Lahjat” (“the gifts of Louhi [the mythical queen of Pohjola]“). Go to their Bandcamp page to hear the rest though — if anything, you owe it to yourself to hear two metal subgenres that go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Official Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Lovijatar
Official Bandcamp: http://lovijatar.bandcamp.com

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Finnish power metal giants Stratovarius were added to the Tuska 2013 lineup today, as well as other hometown favorites Lama, Dreamtale, and Betrayal At Bespin. The 3-day festival’s running order has not yet been set in stone, nor has the lineup, but Stratovarius will headline on Sunday, June 30. So far, the Tuska schedule is as follows:

Friday, June 28
KING DIAMOND
BOLT THROWER
AMORPHIS
WINTERSUN
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
IHSAHN, ABHORRENCE
TORTURE KILLER
LEPROUS
DREAMTALE
KUOLEMANLAAKSO
SEREMONIA
TOMBSTONED
CUT TO FIT

Saturday, June 29
TESTAMENT
KREATOR
STAM1NA
SOILWORK
LAMA
WE BUTTER THE BREAD WITH BUTTER
BLACK CITY
VON
URFAUST
LOST SOCIETY
DARK BUDDHA RISING
DR. LIVING DEAD!
DE LIRIUM’S ORDER
WHISPERED
BLOODRED HOURGLASS
RATFACE
BALTIMOR

Sunday, June 30
NIGHTWISH
ASKING ALEXANDRIA
STRATOVARIUS
AMARANTHE
BARBE-Q-BARBIES
DEATH HAWKS
SANTA CRUZ
BETRAYAL AT BESPIN
KHROMA

Tickets for Tuska 2013 are on sale HERE, so get ‘em while they’re hot!

The post STRATOVARIUS, LAMA, DREAMTALE, BETRAYAL AT BESPIN ADDED TO TUSKA LINEUP appeared first on HearEvil.

Folk/Viking metal band Týr are in the studio again, following drummer Kári Streymoy’s exit, and they’ve recruited George Kollias to record with them. Kollias, best known for his work with Nile, has also drummed with Nightfall, Cerebrum, and Sickening Horror. Týr have been in the studio for the past two weeks recording an as-of-yet unnamed seventh full-length album, due for release this fall through Metal Blade Records.

You can see a video of Kollias tracking drums on Metal Blade Records’s YouTube Channel or, naturally, below. More studio news soon to come!

The post TÝR RECRUIT NILE’S GEORGE KOLLIAS AS SESSION DRUMMER appeared first on HearEvil.

It’s ’cause I’m black, right? (Photo credit: Frank Marshall/Vice.)

People don’t even ask me about metal music from Botswana — they ask about the scene. What the hell am I supposed to think about the scene? I’ve never been to Botswana, I’ve never been anywhere near Botswana, and I have never met anyone who’s been to Botswana. What meaningful opinion could I possibly have? I know there are only two reasons you could possibly give half a damn what I have to say about these people:

1) You feel, due to certain pigmentational similarities between myself and them, that I should have stronger opinions than average about what they do

2) You view them as some sort of sideshow-esque novelty and want someone to gawk with

Anyhow, I have decided that you all have to stop asking me about this, mostly because it’s weird but also because I don’t feel like answering the question anymore and frankly it’ll be nice to convert my annoyance directly into pageviews. Here is a handy-dandy FAQ to settle the question once and for all:

What do you think about the Botswana metal scene?
It’s cool.

Does it surprise you?
Not at all, because metal exists on every single continent, including probably Antarctica by now. Penguin metal would probably surprise the hell out of me though.

What else do you think about the Botswana metal scene?
Nothing. Literally nothing. So stop asking.

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Today we take a trip back to 1988 to Toledo, Ohio to a track from the band Damien from Toledo, Ohio off the album of the same name, Every Dog Has It’s Day.

The lineup for Every Dog Has It’s Day includes Kevin “Killer” Kekes – bass, Johnny “Evil” Cappeletty – drums, Chuck Stohl and Fritz Adamshick – guitars and Randy “Wolf” Mikelson – vocals. The song received some airplay on MTV’s Headbangers Ball and Randy even appeared on an episode of the Morton Downey, Jr. Show about the PMRC’s role in metal. (Along with The Great Kat and J.J. French from Twisted Sister).

While the band never seemed to gain momentum they are still together today, playing shows in honor of their 30 year anniversary. For more on Damien, visit the Facebook tribute page or via MySpace.   Check out the video below for Every Dog Has It’s Day, as well as The Morton Downey, Jr. show with Randy talking about what metal means to him and the PMRC. (You can catch him around the 49:58 mark).

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Earlier today, folk metal band Týr announced that they and drummer Kári Streymoy have split. Streymoy had been in the band for 15 years, but experienced back problems that sidelined him for much of 2008 and ultimately led to his departure from the band. Týr’s official statement reads as follows:

We regret to inform you that Kári Streymoy and the rest of the band have parted ways.

Kári suffered a back injury in 2008, and since then he has had some issues with his drumming. That is the main reason that the co-operation has been problematic for some time now, and we finally decided to part ways.

We want to thank Kári for his time in the band. It’s been great to have you with us, we wish you the best of luck in the future and we hope you recover fully some day.

More details to follow on who we got to fill in for Kári in studio. I think most of you are in for a big surprise.

Heri, Terji & Gunnar

News of Streymoy’s departure comes less than a week after their Paganfest partners Heidevolk’s announcement that vocalist Joris den Boghtdrincker had left. Insert wild speculation about Trollfest, Ensiferum, and Helsott here.

Check out a clip from Streymoy’s last performance with Týr below:

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It almost felt like a cheat to write about a supergroup, but then I realized that Kuolemanlaakso is based in Finland, a country with a lower population than my home city. Kuolemanlaakso is a five-piece death/doom metal band featuring current and former members of Swallow The Sun, Barren Earth, Chaosweaver, Verjnuarmu, The Nibiruan, Elenium, Cult Of Endtime, and Discard. Initially the side solo project of Laakso (aka Chaosweaver’s Max Power), the band, which was founded in 2010, evolved when Laakso’s demo caught the attention of other local musicians. By the end of 2012, they had a full-length album under their belt, titled Uljas uusi maailma (“brave new world”).

Kuolemanlaakso not only add some much-needed edge to the Finnish metal scene — they also do it in their own language! Aside from Teräsbetoni, the only Finnish bands I can think of who release Finnish-language material are doing it for the folk factor. It’s very different (and very awesome) to hear people using the language to make harsher music.

After only one year as a full-fledged band, Kuolemanlaakso have proven themselves impressive enough to gain a spot in the Tuska lineup. Tuska Open Air 2013 will take place between June 28 and June 30 in Helsinki at Suvilahti, and it is ALWAYS A GOOD TIME I PROMISE. Running order hasn’t been announced yet, but if for some reason you can’t make it, Kuolemanlaakso will also tour with Jess & The Ancient Ones on the following dates:

15.05. Yo-Talo, Tampere.
16.05. Henry’s Pub, Kuopio.
17.05. Klubi, Turku.
18.05. Tavastia, Helsinki.

Last but not least, the band released their first music video a couple of weeks ago. It’s for “Ikiuni,” and you can watch it below. Kauniita unia, folks!

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