On a frozen and blustery early November day Evanesence brought their “Synthesis Tour” to Brooklyn’s lovely King’s Theater. The restored vaudeville theater is astoundingly cool. Regal even. The setting was perfect for Evanescence’s tour which featured a different symphony orchestra accompanying the band in every city and played for the official record release of their Synthesis (BMG) album.
Goth pop/rock due The Haxans have shared their new music video for their track ‘Young Blood’. The track comes from their new album Party Monsters which is out now via Red Music. The Haxens are comprosed of singer Ash Costello of New Years Day and multi-instrumentalist Matt Montgomery (a.k.a. Piggy D) of Rob Zombie. Watch the clip for ‘Young Blood’ below.Continue reading
Lacuna Coil
09-29-2017 – Playstation Theater, New York, NY
All Photos By Julia Sariy PhotographyContinue reading
It’s not uncommon for bands that have been around for a long time to ‘go back to their roots’ and rehash styles they’ve long since got bored of and moved on from. But despite nearly 30 years in the business, UK veterans Paradise Lost are yet to become a nostalgia act.Continue reading
April 14th lives on as a day in infamy in the music world as the anniversary of the passing of one of its absolute legends, Peter Steele. Best known as the frontman behind Type O Negative and Carnivore. Peter, who passed away at age 48 in 2010, would be 55 this year.Continue reading
A sure sign that time is passing quickly was the sudden realisation that multi-instrumentalist and driving force par excellence of Crippled Black Phoenix, Justin Greaves has been putting forward the sonic ideas for this project for nigh on twelve years now. I could scarcely believe it but then, as Greaves and his co-conspirators have never been ones to rest on their collective laurels, delivering music that is hard to pigeon-hole but easy to love, then one can be forgiven for not paying attention to old father time.Continue reading
Already the première progressive music event in America, the 17th edition of Prog Power USA is taking place this weekend in Atlanta, GA. As is the case, the festival has once again booked and announced the performers for next year’s event, before the current fest is over. Continue reading
Day 3
Myrkur has generated lots of attention, and seemingly Amalie Bruun, primus motor, has received threats to her life for being a female musician doing the post black metal thing. It seems to be the ultimate blasphemy to certain individuals, that probably haven’t been there from the inception of the scene nor have they understood the rebellious primary foundation of the initial scene, where most of the legendary figures embrace both musical diversity and experimentation. I must admit to first seeing it as yet another cash-cow of everything that is black metal, like most things these days, it seems. However, with the release of her début album, M (Relapse), she won me over. Therefore I really wanted to catch her full set, as this would be my first exposure to her music in a live setting. Sadly, we didn’t manage to be at the festival site until Myrkur were in the middle of their set. Yet, even from afar, in between all the bustle from festival-goers elsewhere on the site, her angelic voice penetrated and created a welcoming atmosphere.
Gojira were simply incredible! It’s not the band I have played the most, although I became a fan around From Mars To Sirius (Roadrunner). But as a live band they are simply amazing! The level of musicianship, the songs’ ability to balance brutality and catchiness… It’s simply one of the best live bands in the metal genre these days, just like Behemoth. Both bands are able to create this energy that just makes the audience feed from it for the entire time the show lasts. With a set consisting of twelve songs, and with a good variation of songs from all their five albums, the show had a little for everyone of their fans. But maybe the most spectacular about the show was seeing them perform ‘Stranded’ live for the first time. That song manages to take some minor details and create an enormously catchy extreme metal song.
The mood was entirely different as we entered the tent stage again to catch Swedish gloomsters Katatonia. The band used to struggle live, but has since the mid 2000’s also become a live band worth catching. Their new album, The Fall Of Hearts (Peaceville) is really good, and it was nice to get to hear a couple of songs from it. The only negative aspect of the show was really that it didn’t last long enough, and that they neglected their back catalogue somewhat. Then again, they played ‘Nephilim’, and ‘In The White’, two personal favourites of mine, and two songs I never had expected for them to play. And of course the band played the hits, and by saying that, I am thinking of ‘My Twin’, and ‘July’.
Finishing off the Tuska experience: Children Of Bodom. Actually they seem to be more about calling themselves The Children of Bodom Hate Crew these days, which makes Alexi Laiho slightly come across as an emo boy at 37 years of age with mascara and nailpolish and an attempt at the teenage rebellion thing going with his image. Musically on the other hand the band are rock solid, and if you enjoy seeing keyboards tilted forwards to show off solo skills or you enjoy endless solos more reminding of power metal than extreme metal, I’m sure this would be the show for you. I, as you might have figured out, think Children Of Bodom are a bit too cheesy to my taste. I enjoyed my sixth serving of muiku immensely more than this last Tuska headliner.
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WORDS BY PÅL LYSTRUP
PHOTOS BY TJ FOWLER PHOTOGRAPHY
The old adage is that there is no true substitute for experience. While for the young and easily impressionable tend to view that sentiment as trite, it rings mightily true for Katatonia on their 10th studio album, The Fall of Hearts (Peaceville). Over twenty years of masterful work are on display over the course of 12 new compositions in which hardly a moment feels out-of-place or without purpose.
All of the familiar elements from Katatonia’s previous works are present, ranging from the doom/death of songs like ‘Serac’ and ‘Sanction’ to numbers dripping with weariness and melancholy such as in ‘Old Heart Falls.’ Take note young musicians, you don’t have to always aim to reshape the genre. Sometimes just a strongly honed craft and sound songwriting chops are all that is needed.
Need an example on how to appreciate these Swedes’ proficiency? Check out how Jonas Renkse’s dusky vocals interplay so well with the serpentine guitar work on ‘Takeover.’ And notice how said flowing guitars work their way seamlessly right into ‘Serein.’ Much praise to veteran guitarist and producer Anders Nyström and recently added Tiamat axeman Roger Öjersson for their precise and lush fretwork.
But it’s not just a guitar showcase and subtle elements such as new drummer Daniel Moilanen’s slight yet echoing cymbal and footwork add much more dimension to ‘The Night Subscriber’ and ‘Passer.’ Mixing and mastering were of course handled by veteran engineer Jens Bogren to ensure maximum aural richness and clarity.
The Fall of Hearts’ greatest strength is in its precision and economy of song. Lesser outfits would have buckled under the weight of gothic miasma or overindulgence. Author Malcolm Gladwell argues that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. Katatonia have obviously put in their time.
8.5/10
HANSEL LOPEZ
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To celebrate the recent release of their new album Fiber, Atlanta’s Dead Register teamed up with Ghost Cult to give away a prize pack including a CD and a t-shirt. The winner is Jonathan Meyer of Montclair, NJ! Congrats Jonathan and thanks to all who entered. More contests are in the works so follow Ghost Cult for more prizes!
Formed in 2013, Dead Register plays a mix of goth rock and doom, sometimes described as “post-Goth” “doom-gaze”, that will find fans from bands such as Type O Negative, Soundgarden, Killing Joke, Skinny Puppy, Pinkish Black and more. The band is comprised of front man/bassist M. Chasta, his wife Avril Che, and drummer Chad Williams. Stream Fiber (AVS Records) at this link:
Order Fiber from Dead Register at Bandcamp here: